the newest member of the Italian national medical system

Ryan's mom came last Monday and her timing could not have been any more perfect. At 12 weeks is when you can apply for your "health card". I quote it because it's obviously called something in Italian but the direct translation wouldn't make sense. Anyways. The whole time we've been here, nothing has made me more homesick than having to figure out their medical system. There is so much of first go here and take a number, wait, get this signature then go over there, take a number, wait. Come back in 3 days for your results. You can't get this test without the signature from this other doctor. But at the same time, all of this is free! For my first Dr. appointment, I went to a private doctor because she spoke English. It is very different than what I'm used to in the states. Usually, the nurse assistant comes in, gets your medical history and what not. This was like "so, what am i seeing you for today?"
"I'm pregnant"
"okay."
uh, okay. do you have maybe a form you go by or do I need to make this appointment run?
For the first part of the appointment she was telling me about how I should get an amniocentesis to find out if the baby has downsyndrome. And then she went on to show me all these charts about what my risk was of having a baby with downsyndrome. I finally said "it doesn't matter to me if the baby has it or not, I'm keeping the baby regardless."
Then she did a little ultrasound and when she saw my tummy she gave out a "whoa!" to my stretchmarks. "thanks doc". then again when she had me get on the scale, "whoa!" I found it quite funny but of course Ryan now has to hear about how too big my tummy is. Then she wrote up the bill for 100 euros!


Ryan's mom left yesterday, the 23rd and I don't know what I'm going to do without my afternoon naps! She spoiled me and I didn't have to do much around the house. It was a lovely vacation. How do grandma's do it? She played with the kids for hours, my limit is about 2 and then it's time for a movie :) But sweet little Cloe is incredibly sad and all she wants to do is go home. She cried herself to sleep because she misses Grandma. 7 more weeks! I should also add that after reading my blog about my mexican food craving, she brought us refried beans, corn tortilla's, cheddar cheese, velveeta and stuff to make cheese ball. Among other things but those are the most note worthy.

200 days

seemed like a good point to add this little widget. I am now 12 weeks and am getting over the sickness. Thank goodness because my husband wasn't the biggest fan of my 1st trimester. And the lovely country of Italy is giving me a visa just because I"m pregnant. that means all of my health care will be free, so I will be getting the big stuff done here. Except the delivery of course. Which by the way should happen October 31st. But the day before or after is much more preferable. I wish I could post tummy pictures of my progress like my cute friend Lindsey but they just wouldn't be cute tummy pictures. It's my 4th pregnancy and I'm not in the best shape and I don't need to receive comments of people asking me if it's triplets. So expect some upcoming posts of my adventures in the public health system in a language that I'm not nearly fluent enough in!

beautiful spring days were nice while they lasted

Last Saturday we took the kids to the little carnival/fun park by our house. Ryan was playing basketball at the courts by it and called and said to come meet him there. The kids were thrilled to say the least. As we were walking up to it, Cloe said "All the food is in the front of my stomach and I feel like I'm going to throw up because I'm so excited!" Perfect reaction. Of course the kids had a great time. They have been asking us to go there for the last 5 months or so but it's been too cold and Ryan has been too busy. On each ride there is a stuffed animal that dangles and whoever grabs it, gets a free ride. The cheap parents (and competitive) that we are, srategically placed our children on the ride so that they were guaranteed to grab it.
"Brody, I don't care if you want to ride the motorcycle on the carousel, your going on the pink unicorn." Alright, it wasn't that bad, but we did tell them which toys were more fun to ride. And they did get many free rides on all the rides.







And now it is raining again. Yesterday evening I went visiting teaching and as soon as I started to peddle down our street it started to sprinkle. But all week we've gotten sprinkled on at the park but nothing worth leaving for so I thought no big deal. But on my ride home, as the English lady that I visit teach put it "it was chukin down." I got POURED on. At one point I had to let out a yell because I just couldn't believe I was out in this pouring rain with no escape. And I was getting annoyed at the rain in my face.

this reminded me of Brody today

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mexican

it has been way too long since I have had some good Mexican food. And I'm particularly craving a nice Maui Bowl from here

5 Terre

Monday we took a day trip to Pisa and Cinque Terre. Two of many "must see" tourist sites. We took the train to Pisa to see the leaning tower and after the long walk from the station, the tower loses it's charm. Or maybe because I have officially seen it too many times now. What would the trip be without a little excitement? We then got back to the train station to catch our next train up to Monterosso. But when the train arrived, "where's Ryan's brother Jason? He has Brittany and Jeremys tickets!" We had already bought our tickets and he was just standing by us and is now no where to be found! So Brittany, the kids and I got on the train while Ryan and his brother Jeremy stayed at the station to try and find their brother. They missed our train and the next available train because they couldn't find him and barely got the third train 5 minutes till departure because they finally found him. He for some reason had hopped on the other train at the platform, heading in the opposite direction and was gone 10 minutes before our original train left. Luckily he caught a train back to Pisa and arrived right before Jeremy and Ryan left for Monterosso. So thank goodness we found him just in time. Ryan and Jeremy thought he had collapsed in the McDonald's bathroom from a diabetic shock or something. He's too big to be kidnapped, and no one thought he'd get on a train somewhere by himself! But when we found him, it became an instant blog story and one Jason will never live down. We will have a wrist leash for him at every family gathering.

The kids loved spending the day at the beach. It was so cute, as we were leaving to go home, they said "thanks Dad for taking us to the beach today, I had A LOT of fun!".





After the beach, we took a short train to the next town, Vernazza. We walked around and then had a yummy Italian/seafood dinner.

cultural week

Living in a different country makes visits from family and sometimes anyone such a treat. Family is here until Wedsnday and it will be a VERY sad day when they leave. I love having company and this year we have been lacking big time in that department. But they picked the best week to come. It is "cultural week" and all the museums are FREE! The Acadamia, The Uffizzi, The Pitti Palace, all that stuff. I've always wanted to take the kids to the palace and the Boboli Gardens but was not going to pay the price so with company in town and everything free, this was the perfect time.
Another thing you should know if your planning to visit us, you are required to ride a bike. And they were no exception.


In fact, Britney had to ride the bike with a kid seat on the back and had to ride with Abbey. Quite nervous at first but after a while of cars barely hitting her, she got used to it. We don't go easy, we hit Florence traffic on the first ride :) After the gardens we rode to our favorite kabap place (turkish food) and ate on the steps of Santa Croce.

Happy March 25th!

March 25th was a celebrated day in our home. The long awaited release on the Counting Crows new album! We were not disappointed. AND they will be playing in Venice on June 22nd!!
I should also add the long awaited arrival of Ryan's two brothers and our sister-in-law ended yesterday. It is SO wonderful to have family here!!! Brody loves his uncle Jason and is in heaven.

easter

We had a relaxing Easter, which translates to no church. It was raining too hard and the bus stop is now too far away with the new construction going on. Our testimony is only a 15 minute walk not a 25. I had already packed the plastic eggs from last year, so there were no easter egg hunts. Can you tell I'm getting ready to go home? But the kids looked for their baskets and Brody was a little disappointed that the bunny doesn't give as generously as Santa. When he's older, he'll appreciate the cadbury creme eggs I had imported from England.

And for dinner we went to our friends house. It rained all day and they live across the city from us and Ryan refused to pay for a taxi! We rode bikes there and when we left our house, it miraculously stopped raining! We took a carrot cake and it was in a 9x13 glass dish that was too large for the basket so Cloe balanced it on her knees behind Ryan. Ryan only sat on it once. Riding through Florence is enjoyable and it took us about 45 minutes, but it wasn't so bad because it was through the city. Ryan had the girls, and Abbey serenaded him with "I am a child of God" repeatedly and Brody sang some song to me in Italian about Christ on the cross, over and over. The ride home was rainy at first but bearable and then it let up after about 10 minutes. Can't wait to be home next year for some real Easter fun with family and egg hunts in Grandma's yard!!!

The kids always come home from school with the most intricate holiday crafts. They are cute and I want to save them but they are too delicate to store.


They learned all about Christ on the cross at school and Brody got to carry the cross with Jesus on it and the crown of thorns. For a while, whenever he would color or paint, it was pictures of Jesus on the cross. Glad they're learning about it but maybe his class got a little too much cross, not enough resurrection.

Hope you all had a good Easter!

3.15

yesterday was Ryan's birthday and the fact that I'm posting about it today, shows how eventful and thoughtful the day was for him. Poor guy, this is his second birthday in Italy and the last was just as uninteresting. Next year, HUGE surprise party, I've got some making up to do!! Or a cruise :)!!! who's coming? But he did ask for sugar cookies for breakfast, and that he got. Happy Birthday Ryan, I love you.