Saturday, July 24, 2010
Birth Stories
So as many of you know, I am a self described "Blog Junkie". Lately I've come across a lot of blogs about Mom's sharing the stories of the births of their babies. I think I need to jump on this bandwagon, because, well...who wants to forget something so amazing. Who wants to forget the pain and joy and love one feels during such a magical event. I sure don't. Although, my "baby girl" is 10...going on 18, and my "little guy" is 7...but the size of a 10 year old, I have decided to do this. To share my wonderful experience, my life changing moment. Stay tuned for some laughter, tears, and some TMI.
Sunday, July 11, 2010
Road Trip
Brian and I took a short trip down to the Tuscany region. I have to say, this is by far, my favorite region...not that I've been to all that many, but the times I have been to Tuscany I have fallen in love with it. The drive alone is so relaxing. Instead of the hustle and bustle of Milan we look forward to entering, what seems like, another world.
Of course, leaving Milan is always interesting. First, we must attempt our feat through the overly aggressive driving only to enter the rather amusing driving of the Autostrada. We quickly learned that the lines on the Autostrada are pretty much just a suggestion and that driving "in" a lane, isn't too popular. But, it's still a much more relaxing drive since we don't have Motorinos (Scooters) or Motogrande's (Motorcycles) coming at us from all directions. There aren't horns blaring every 10 seconds and even though many times, people will drive half in one lane and half in the other, it is much more relaxing.
Down the Autostrada we go. Charley is enjoying the drive just sleeping in the backseat. I hang out with Brian just chatting and taking in the scenery. Almost immediately after leaving Milan...about 20 mins in our drive (once we get on the autostrada), the scenery dramatically changes. The tall, dull colored office buildings and apartments, almost magically transcend into rolling green hills and fields of wheat or flowers or just meadows of vast green nothingness, except for an old Villa and maybe a barn. Occasionally, in the distance, atop the hills you can see a church bell tower watching over little villages. There are old, run down buildings that I wonder what it was. Was it a barn or maybe a villa?
Five hours later, we pull into the town we will be staying in for the next couple of days, Chianciano (Key-on-chee-on-oh). Our friends, NC & NA, were there with lots of welcoming smiles. After all, this was going to be a special day. E was to be baptized in the same church her Mommy and Daddy were married at six years earlier. Our friend NC, has grandparents that live in this town. Her Mom, Sister, Brother-in-law, and two nephews came to see the new little addition and to visit family. I must say, from the moment I met P & M, (who are 8 & 5, respectively), I knew they were smitten on their baby cousin. Any time she made a peep, they were right by her side. What a lucky girl to have such love around her. The church was beautiful. Built in the early 1600's (I believe) it was small but bright. The priest told us that the farmers would bring their flock of sheep through to have them blessed. The church has gone through quite a bit of renovation, but everything inside is still original, just getting some TLC over the years.
The next day, was 4th of July. Sure is strange being so proud of ones country and knowing that every year on this one day, we celebrate the birth of our nation. It's a little sad being in another country and going along with your day, knowing that at the end of the day there will be no fireworks, no celebration. We spent our country's birthday in the town of Montepulciano (Mon-ta-pull-chee-on-oh). At every meal, the eight of us toasted "Happy 4th of July." Although we are 1/2 a world away, we still celebrate...even if it is in our own hearts. We stayed up late sitting on the "porch" of the hotel, enjoying some wine and some beer, just chatting and laughing. I wish I could put into words how comforting that evening was.
On a side note, while in Montepulciano, we had the most AMAZING wine. Funny, but before entering my new life in Italy, I was not fond of wine. I would occasionally have a glass of white, but you could never find me sitting at lunch or dinner sipping on a glass of red...NEVER! Well, I have to say...now, I have found a couple of favorite reds. My first favorite is Vino Nobile di Montepulciano and my second is Nero d'Avola. I find myself during dinner, ordering a red wine.
Also, playing with NC & NA's nephews really made Brian and I miss our babies. I know they are loving their time in CA...so much so, I think they might want to stay, but I can't wait to hug them again. I can't wait to get up at night and check on them sleeping soundly in their beds. I can't wait until the hustle and bustle of mornings are upon us.
Thank you N&N for sharing your special day with us. For introducing us to your Grandparents and Mom and Sister and her family. I loved every single moment I spent in your Grandparent's town.
Of course, leaving Milan is always interesting. First, we must attempt our feat through the overly aggressive driving only to enter the rather amusing driving of the Autostrada. We quickly learned that the lines on the Autostrada are pretty much just a suggestion and that driving "in" a lane, isn't too popular. But, it's still a much more relaxing drive since we don't have Motorinos (Scooters) or Motogrande's (Motorcycles) coming at us from all directions. There aren't horns blaring every 10 seconds and even though many times, people will drive half in one lane and half in the other, it is much more relaxing.
Down the Autostrada we go. Charley is enjoying the drive just sleeping in the backseat. I hang out with Brian just chatting and taking in the scenery. Almost immediately after leaving Milan...about 20 mins in our drive (once we get on the autostrada), the scenery dramatically changes. The tall, dull colored office buildings and apartments, almost magically transcend into rolling green hills and fields of wheat or flowers or just meadows of vast green nothingness, except for an old Villa and maybe a barn. Occasionally, in the distance, atop the hills you can see a church bell tower watching over little villages. There are old, run down buildings that I wonder what it was. Was it a barn or maybe a villa?
Five hours later, we pull into the town we will be staying in for the next couple of days, Chianciano (Key-on-chee-on-oh). Our friends, NC & NA, were there with lots of welcoming smiles. After all, this was going to be a special day. E was to be baptized in the same church her Mommy and Daddy were married at six years earlier. Our friend NC, has grandparents that live in this town. Her Mom, Sister, Brother-in-law, and two nephews came to see the new little addition and to visit family. I must say, from the moment I met P & M, (who are 8 & 5, respectively), I knew they were smitten on their baby cousin. Any time she made a peep, they were right by her side. What a lucky girl to have such love around her. The church was beautiful. Built in the early 1600's (I believe) it was small but bright. The priest told us that the farmers would bring their flock of sheep through to have them blessed. The church has gone through quite a bit of renovation, but everything inside is still original, just getting some TLC over the years.
The next day, was 4th of July. Sure is strange being so proud of ones country and knowing that every year on this one day, we celebrate the birth of our nation. It's a little sad being in another country and going along with your day, knowing that at the end of the day there will be no fireworks, no celebration. We spent our country's birthday in the town of Montepulciano (Mon-ta-pull-chee-on-oh). At every meal, the eight of us toasted "Happy 4th of July." Although we are 1/2 a world away, we still celebrate...even if it is in our own hearts. We stayed up late sitting on the "porch" of the hotel, enjoying some wine and some beer, just chatting and laughing. I wish I could put into words how comforting that evening was.
On a side note, while in Montepulciano, we had the most AMAZING wine. Funny, but before entering my new life in Italy, I was not fond of wine. I would occasionally have a glass of white, but you could never find me sitting at lunch or dinner sipping on a glass of red...NEVER! Well, I have to say...now, I have found a couple of favorite reds. My first favorite is Vino Nobile di Montepulciano and my second is Nero d'Avola. I find myself during dinner, ordering a red wine.
Also, playing with NC & NA's nephews really made Brian and I miss our babies. I know they are loving their time in CA...so much so, I think they might want to stay, but I can't wait to hug them again. I can't wait to get up at night and check on them sleeping soundly in their beds. I can't wait until the hustle and bustle of mornings are upon us.
Thank you N&N for sharing your special day with us. For introducing us to your Grandparents and Mom and Sister and her family. I loved every single moment I spent in your Grandparent's town.
Thursday, July 8, 2010
Kiddos
Here is one more blog that I wrote (& didn't finish) while in London. Enjoy:
Well, I am here in London waiting for my flight to head back to Italy. I will be going back without my babies, which is so _____________. I am so lucky that we have family and friends who genuinely, truly, love my babies unconditionally as much as Brian and I do. Where would we be without all of you on our “team”?
Well, I am here in London waiting for my flight to head back to Italy. I will be going back without my babies, which is so _____________. I am so lucky that we have family and friends who genuinely, truly, love my babies unconditionally as much as Brian and I do. Where would we be without all of you on our “team”?
Starting our trip was quite the adventure, that’s for sure. First of all, the kids and I jumped on the plane heading to Malpensa. For some reason, I decided to check to make sure I had our boarding passes and passports. Guess what I forgot…passports! How in the world do I do something like that? I mean of all things I could have left the boarding passes (I could always get those again), but passports! Anyways, Brian to the rescue! He jumped on the train and brought them out to us…I love you, Honey! We finally get to check in and the agent informs us that our flight has been delayed by an hour. I had this genius idea to get the kids on a later flight so that they would be a LITTLE more tired for the long flight. Well, that seemed to work against us. We head up to the “departure area” because, well, what else are we gonna do? I decided to relax with a couple of beers and play games with the kids. We play a few (ten) games of Mastermind and head over to the gate, only to find out that our flight was delayed ANOTHER hour. So, instead of getting in at 11:35, we were now scheduled to leave at 11:35. GREAT! Two EXHAUSTED kids, a very tired Mommy, and an airport, is more fun than any person can imagine. We (finally) boarded our flight to London and took off just after midnight…kids were asleep before we even left the runway…poor babies. We got into London just after 2:00am and walked…and walked…and walked, to the luggage area. Our luggage was waiting and we grabbed that and went out to grab a cab. It was FREEZING! We get outside and I am digging the one sweatshirt that Christopher had out of the suitcase and huddling with the littles to keep us all warm. (Mom didn’t bring a sweatshirt.) Anyways,
Long Day
I wrote this blog while I was waiting in London to head back to Milan. I never finished it, but thought I'd share it:
Said “Good-Bye” to my babies this morning, which was MUCH harder than I thought it was going to be. I knew I would be sad, but I thought for sure I would hold it together until they got on the plane. Well, those plans flew out the window when I was informed that I was not going to be able to take my babies to the gate, and I had to say Good-Bye to them at Security! American Airlines is lucky they didn’t have a Mom faint right there at the ticket counter. I thought for sure I was going to lose it. I held it together for most of the time. At one point, I looked at the lady and she must have seen the fear in my face because she asked me if I was OK. I looked at her, and said, “I didn’t realize that I wasn’t going to be able to take my babies back to the gate.” And with that, tears started. Next thing I know, Ky is looking at me, not knowing what to do and Christopher is telling me that if I don’t stop crying he is going to start crying. I pull myself together and continue getting my babies checked in. An agent comes and picks them up from the counter and next thing I know they are going through security with Kyleigh in tears and Christopher not having any idea what to do! My poor babies!!! The only thing that made everything okay was I knew who was waiting for them on the other side. I knew that the second they touched down (and all the craziness wore off), my phone would ring and on the other end would be my babies and I would get to tell them how much I love them and how much I miss them and hear the excitement in their voices because they get to be “home”. It’s 5:00pm here in London, 6:00pm in Italy and 8:00am in California. In just a few short hours, my babies will be in California…I wish I could see the smiles on their faces when they land. How exciting for them!
Said “Good-Bye” to my babies this morning, which was MUCH harder than I thought it was going to be. I knew I would be sad, but I thought for sure I would hold it together until they got on the plane. Well, those plans flew out the window when I was informed that I was not going to be able to take my babies to the gate, and I had to say Good-Bye to them at Security! American Airlines is lucky they didn’t have a Mom faint right there at the ticket counter. I thought for sure I was going to lose it. I held it together for most of the time. At one point, I looked at the lady and she must have seen the fear in my face because she asked me if I was OK. I looked at her, and said, “I didn’t realize that I wasn’t going to be able to take my babies back to the gate.” And with that, tears started. Next thing I know, Ky is looking at me, not knowing what to do and Christopher is telling me that if I don’t stop crying he is going to start crying. I pull myself together and continue getting my babies checked in. An agent comes and picks them up from the counter and next thing I know they are going through security with Kyleigh in tears and Christopher not having any idea what to do! My poor babies!!! The only thing that made everything okay was I knew who was waiting for them on the other side. I knew that the second they touched down (and all the craziness wore off), my phone would ring and on the other end would be my babies and I would get to tell them how much I love them and how much I miss them and hear the excitement in their voices because they get to be “home”. It’s 5:00pm here in London, 6:00pm in Italy and 8:00am in California. In just a few short hours, my babies will be in California…I wish I could see the smiles on their faces when they land. How exciting for them!
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