It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas

Our tree is up! decorated! and with a blanket underneath! I even picked up a poinsettia at the market the other week. Next on the list- wreaths.

The Hunt for Jesus, Mary, and Joseph

Today we visited Piazza Navona because I was thinking of buying a nativity set. I didn't find one but we did find a carousel!

Preparing for Christmas- a Link Up

How are you all preparing for Christmas this year?
Maybe we could make this a link up?
Let's make it really simple- just add a picture with a caption and call it a post. What do you all think?
To guilt you all into doing this I will just add that I love seeing pictures of you all, it makes me feels as though we are not so far apart...

A Busy Week

Wow, quite a bit has been going on here. Let me catch you all up on this past week.

Tuesday was my birthday. It was an uneventful birthday, I really didn't want to do anything special and it's difficult to coordinate anything on a weekday. The only thing I did ask for was a membership to the English library at Santa Susanna. It was so much fun picking out books and it's been great being able to pick up a book and read! How spoiled we were in college when all we had to do was read! Corrado also wanted to give me a new phone. We did that back in October when there was an offer going on with our provider. Unfortunately, the phone doesn't work (Haeley can attest to that) and we need to take it in to get it fixed. We've been trying for a month and just never seem to get around to it...

Thursday was Thanksgiving! Our first Thanksgiving with a little one! The day before I made sure to get the pies done, I did pumpkin and pecan this year. On turkey day Maddalena and I went for a nice walk (it's been so cold and windy we've haven't gone out much) and later in the afternoon I started cooking. I don't bother with a whole turkey- I'd have to special order it and it's just me and Corrado, what would we do with all that turkey? So, I butterfly a turkey breast and stuff that instead. it came out pretty yummy. Nothing was picture worthy, at least everything was edible. Next year we are seriously thinking of spending it with my family. As much as I try, Thanksgiving just doesn't feel quite right here on this side of the ocean. Perhaps because Corrado goes to work and our daily routine isn't really altered. Perhaps because I look back upon the dinners that my mom would make and how different my own are. It's strange when you start your own family how different the holidays become. They aren't what they were when we were little.

During our walk.

Thanksgiving!

Then on Sunday we had a small gathering for Maddalena's first birthday! I can not believe how quickly this year has gone by. I have held this small creature everyday (and sometimes from sun up to sun down) in my arms for 365 days. We glanced at some photos of her as a newborn- she doesn't seem like the same baby! It's amazing how quickly they grow. This birthday of hers has also made me pause and reflect that God has specially placed her with us.We are entrusted to watch over and guide her- what a job!

Now it's time to start preparing for the Christmas season!

A Brief Note

I would say I'm the worst blogger ever but I won't be too hard on myself.

So I have nothing too terribly exciting to report to you all. I'm writing this from my sister-in-law's living room while both babies are peacefully sleeping on this crisp fall day. We took the train here this time instead of driving and let me tell you it was an interesting journey. I don't know what should disturb me more, the fact that there were outlaws on the train with us or that the women from Naples continued to advise me on how to be a mother. Never a dull day.

I will share with you all a photo of the pumpkin I drilled. Besides looking pretty in my living room it also served to make a yummy risotto and muffins.

A new toy!

It's cold here up North!

That's all until we return home. Have a good weekend!

5 Recents

1. In case you were all holding your breath, I'll have you know we did get our fridge. Ten days later than anticipated and right as I was preparing Maddalena's dinner. She enjoyed dinner and a show, however.

2. I'm on the hunt for pumpkins. This is what I plan on doing with them...

Much easier than carving.

Eating some yummy muffin

Trying out the swings

3. My latest thing, now that M is older, I do weekly trips with her into the city. It breaks up our usual thing of just going to the park nearby, perhaps more so for me than her. Since the weather has been great these past couple of weeks we've been having afternoon picnics at Villa Borghese.


4. To my surprise and joy, my local supermarket had sweet potatoes for sale. I eagerly grabbed some thinking M would love them. After all, she devoured them alongside of Caleb in July, wouldn't she be just as thrilled to eat them now? She informed me with her gagging face that she will not be eating them.

5. Let's play the "I Spy" game for just a minute...

Yes, that is what it looks like.

And yes, I was having one of those days and almost picked that up for the walk home.

Random News in No Particular Order

1) One of the joys of living in a city and thus in a tiny apartment, is that you get to look forward to the day when they renovate your apartment building! Yay for jackhammers and dirty men making all the noise they can possibly make!

2) Tragedy of the week: our fridge broke. I had had my suspicions that it was slowly dying on us but I thought maybe it had been my imagination. Wouldn't my husband comment or notice, as well, that the things just weren't as cold as they should be, to reaffirm my suspicions? Yesterday morning, I saw our freezer was defrosting itself, so I announced the sad news to C. A new fridge has been purchased and should arrive in 2-3 days. Do they count the day you made the purchase? And why don't they give you an exact day and time? Do I just sit, waiting for this delivery? Part of me says yes, stay where you are! because this is kinda a big delivery and I really need the new fridge. But then, another part of me says, cranky-clingy-baby needs to go for her afternoon walk or else...

3) Big thing of the month: our milk adventure. I had been planning on introducing dairy to M in August, then my mom, being all for unpasteurized milk and cheeses, had been urging me to try to find some place that sold raw milk. Thanks to the internet, I found a third generation farmer who makes deliveries all over Rome. Yet, him being Italian naturally meant that all business was suspended for the month of August. Where do dairy farmers go on vacation, by the way? So we had to wait till September. On the plus side, this guy is really organized. He posts the day, time, and location, and you just go and get what you want. We purchased a liter of milk, some yogurt and ricotta. It was a little pricey, but hey, it's super fresh! It was written what time they milked the cows!

Unfortunately, my milk, due to the fridge breaking, left me with curds and whey. 

4) And in some odd mood, I decided to be creative and make some children's art:

I won't be opening up an Etsy shop anytime soon....

The Sixth Disease

I can now say my child survived the sixth disease. Okay, "survived" implies that it was life threatening which, thank goodness, it was not. I'm just amused by the name, I'm not sure if it's absurd, silly, or dreadful. Perhaps that's why it is more commonly known as roseola in English. But here in Italy, la sesta malattia is still lurking! Anyway, M is on the mend. After three days of having a fever she is now feeling more like herself despite the terrible rash all over her body and an upset tummy.

So while M has a bodily rash I feel like my mind has broken out in one. Being closed up in the house since Sunday, having the constant thought dancing through my head that my daughter has a fever oh, and then not sleeping for various reasons, I feel a little out of it.

I promised pictures from the aquarium so here are a couple...

The entrance, obviously. 

Checking out the fishes.

She tried to grab everything!

This was the tank for the dolphins. They recently finished it and it's huge! 

Usually the camera was more exciting than the sea life.  

Sad news, my christmas tree is dead. It only had four more months to go but the hot summer weather was just too much for it. Now we have to find a way to sneak it out to the dumpster.

Have a good weekend, everyone!

Home Sweet Home

We've actually been home for about a week now, I've just been lazy about getting on the internet.

In other news, M has had a fever since Sunday so lots of cuddles and monitoring her temperature.

Also, just tried this silly recipe for a quick dessert. I feel like I wasted my limoncello and white chocolate. Good thing I didn't use all of the chocolate...

And I promise to post a few pictures from our trip to the aquarium. Until then...

We're Having a Heat Wave

"a tropical heat waaave," obviously I'm singing that in my best Marilyn Monroe voice. And no, I don't think you can call what we're having here a heat wave, I think you would just call it summer.

On the days that I feel like it, I drag our butts to the pool to get some relief from the heat. M is still not a water baby but she has taken to splashing which is progress. We also were given this inner tube that we sometimes use. It's nice just sticking her in there so I can float around a bit. M has found it's great too, especially when she's thirsty and would like to lap up some chlorinated water. Yum, yum, yum.

I can't believe August is here already. It's seems as though summer is flying by. I'm not quite ready to put back on proper shoes and cover up my neck with scarves just yet. I wish I had gotten some more reading done. I'm slowly working my way through some stories of Katherine Anne Porter. Any summer regrets from you all?

In a week we will be up North spending some time with C's family. We're hoping to squeeze in some day-trips so as not to be home all the time. I was thinking we could visit an aquarium in Genoa, knowing that they have AC really makes it tempting. Someone also mentioned going up into the mountains. I would really like to spend a day at the beach, too. I will confess I was a little bitter when we decided not to go down to Corrado's family's beach house. The beaches and the water are just spectacular and have spoiled me, nothing says summer like a few days down there. Oh well, always next year.

Well, let me get going, this was just a quick update for you all from our uneventful life here.

What do you all have planned for the last month in summer?

Our Trip to Spain

Every time I think of Spain that song from "My Fair Lady" pops into my head. For the past week I've been humming the tune. I choose to hum because I'm pretty sure Mr. Higgens would be appalled at my pronunciation. Anyhow, our mini-vacation with Emily and Caleb was great! We had hot weather, a beautiful house and pool to relax in and a gorgeous (and might I add DANGEROUS) city to stroll through. I didn't take as many pictures as I wanted to, there is always that voice in my head that says "oh, there's always later" and then later arrives and I realize I have no photo of me with my good friend! Luckily, I did snap some here and there so without further delay here they are.

Caleb was a darling with Maddalena. He really wanted to play with her or help her play (you had this in your mouth earlier now let me do it for you) but M has this thing with personal space, if someone is too close she lets them know it. Often Caleb would try to console her by either touching her face or what seemed to be him trying to hold her hand, so sweet of him. Little did he know, he was the problem.

The house we stayed at was gorgeous! I'm sure Emily will give all the details about that when she has a minute. The only thing I will say is that there were 11 bedrooms, each with it's own bathroom! And it was pretty spooky sleeping at night when everyone else was gone.

Besides the house being huge and the grounds being beautiful there was also a chapel. Yes, a chapel, two hops and a skip away from the main door. It also came with these bells that rang every hour, every quarter hour, every half hour, in short, ALL THE TIME. And it was loud. It was loud no matter where you were- inside, outside, in the wine cellar, underwater, those bells made sure you knew what time it was. M didn't get much napping in those days but she is making up for it now that we're home. 

We spent most of the time relaxing with the babes either inside or by the pool. One day we did take a drive over to the nearby town enjoying some Fanta at a little bar. Some little old lady decided to chat us up even though it was obvious we were not Spanish and understood little to nothing of what she was saying. The story of my life. 

On Saturday we decided to be adventurous and journey into the city. After a 30 minute drive, 30 to 40 minutes on two different trains, and some screaming fits and whining, two sweaty moms arrived in Barcelona without any major catastrophes. Woohoo!! We had already chosen Park Guell as our destination for the day and the city is pretty well organized so we found it fairly quickly. The plus side of having little arrows guide you through a big city is that you get to where you want without getting lost. The down side is you find yourself amidst other tourists and that just feels dorky.

Fortunately, we took a bathroom break which helped separate us from the herd. We grabbed some more Fanta here in this pastry shop/bar before heading out under the hot Spanish sun. Did I mention that our children had made a pact? We're not sure when they had worked this out but while one was sleeping blissfully, the other one made sure to whine and fuss just enough so that our day was never really peaceful. 

The park was definitely original. We strolled about for a good while and saw some good views of Barcelona.

 

Here are the little world travelers. Yes, I'm pretty sure we put the brakes on before we parked them for these photos. 

And see that lady in the photo!? How obvious was it that we were trying to take this adorable photo of our babies and a view. Can you move you and your ugly bag out of the way?? 

In an attempt to tire out the little ones we let them play (well, Caleb played, M watched). Though our attempts were in vain I did have the bright idea to take a picture of me and my little girl together. 

After playtime in the park it was time to head home. While heading towards the main train station we hoped on a bus to avoid walking more than we wanted to. Did you know that people in Barcelona actually pay for their bus tickets?? It was unfamiliar and after awhile the guilt weighed on us so we got off and meandered down one of the main streets.

 

So that is about that. I need to go before M wakes up from a nap, I have baby food to make and other random things to do. I did save the best for last, however. These last two photos are my favorite. Emily really helped recharge my batteries with this visit, a special thank you to her. And this made me miss all of you all the more! 

I think those bells might have rung while we having the picture taken...