So I know I've been bad at keeping up with this but so much has been going on! We went on our long awaited honeymoon (more on that later) and have finally gotten a closing date for our house and will be in by the end of May! The house is out on Brickyard at Hardscrabble - which is in a great location for proximity to the hospital where we'll be delivering and where all of my appointments are, the interstate to get to family, tons of restaurants and shops on Two Notch and at Sand Hills, and best of all in the middle of Camilo's Snap-On route. It's a brand new house, so they're fulfilling our wish list with gas lines for the fireplace and oven, screens and storm doors, cable outlets, and a fenced in paved area for the Snap-On monster of a truck to park. I will post a few pictures here for you to see, but the house has almost 1900 square feet and a 2 car garage, and best of all, the back yard is a protected wetland area, where we saw our first deer neighbors yesterday. We plan to put out food for the deer and birds so we can have forest friends... it's so Snow White ;o)
I still have not been able to persue a part time job because my car is very broken. James has (thank you!) begun to fix it, but there are so many steps involved and it's going to be a looong process, so we have to find somewhere for him to borrow a lift where he can also leave it between work days. That and his not having much spare time has been the hold up. In the mean time, I have tried - very unsuccessfully - to learn to drive a stick shift, but before I even consider driving Camilo's Audi, I have to make sure I've nailed the technique so we don't have 2 broken cars (and a very upset daddy-to-be!) So far I've stalled more than I've driven, so I'm carless, which means I'm leaning on friends and Camilo - when he has time - to take me to the grocery store, bank, appointments, library, and everywhere in between! Thank God for friends!
The one thing I can't wait to do is start on the nursery! I have already found these adorable baby shower invitations that inspired me. Now we have to wait to find out the sex. (18 weeks I think?) I'm so in love with all of the little jungle themed clothes and toys I see everywhere. Little giraffes and tigers and lions...great for boys but is it okay for little girls to have pink striped tigers & purple polka dotted giraffes? I think so!As for the honeymoon, Italy was phenomenal as we expected. Anyone who experiences the cities we traveled to should be considered blessed and enlightened - and we have Jim to thank for that! What a wonderful gift! He thankfully booked our flight arrangements and hotel accommodations, so that weight was lifted off of our shoulders, but there was still much to do! The traveling was the hardest part. We drove 4 hours to Raleigh, flew out to London, and arrived in Milan after a 4 hour layover at Heathrow. We immediately had to get to the train station to figure out how to take the 3 hour train to Venice, and then taxi-boated it to our Hotel to finally crash after the longest leg in vacation history. I will keep my negativity to a bare minimum, as I enjoyed every moment of Italy despite the first trimester ill-feelings, but I will say that traveling by car, plane, taxi, metro, train, bus, shuttle, and finally boat will definitely make anyone feel a bit under the weather. I intend to file a movement to clean up the public transportation systems' bathrooms for the unfortunate ones who don't have stomachs of steel. If you only knew...
Venice was out of this world spectacular, as you might imagine. The gondolas begin at 85 Euro, which is over $100, but it wasn't hard for me to pass up leaving solid ground again after that first day, so we watched from the bridges. The plaza was gorgeous, and Hitchcock could have filmed his sequel there, "The pigeons!" Italians are so nurturing and welcoming, and are incredibly helpful; most speak at least minimal English and all are surprisingly willing to help with directions and train schedules. We had our first official Italian pizzas, and Camilo began his Chianti taste-testing, which continued every night throughout every city and has even followed us home. I was so jealous! What I wouldn't have given to have a glass of wine in Italy! After leaving Venice, and the most gorgeous hotel room I've ever stayed in (thank you Jim!) we headed for the train to Florence.Firenze, or Florence, turned out to be our favorite place on Earth. Maybe because we were exhausted by then and had 5 days to see it, or maybe because we adored our chauffeur, Valentino, and desk concierge, Luca, but the city itself is incredible. You can walk the entire historically magnificent city on foot, no matter where you're dropped off. The shopping was incredible, the food was to die for, the people were welcoming, the sights were rich in history and so beautiful, and the museums and cathedrals that are spread all over the city are breathtaking! Here we saw the Biboli gardens, complete with our first feline friend and quite possibly the largest cat I've ever seen in person. We walked through castles and churches that were older than you can wrap your head around, and saw sculptures and paintings by all of the Ninja Turtles all in one city! (Raphael, Donatello, Michelangelo, and Leonardo!) We watched a LOT of calcio - or soccer - and even the Italian versions of Bog Brother and Wheel of Fortune, which was my favorite of all time!
Thanks to my dad, we were able to do our big wish list item, which was a day tour of Tuscany! We rode out to Greve en Chianti with 2 wonderful couples from Brazil and Malta, and passed Camilo's beloved Gabbiano winery en route to il Palagio, where we sampled their reserve wines (yes I had to taste them!) and had the afternoon to shop the local markets. Camilo swears the meal of roast beef and olives he picked up at a local market is his documented favorite food of all time. I, of course, stayed as far from him as possible, and found a local bakery with pastries galore! :O)
After our relaxing time in Florence, we were ready to see Rome in a day... literally. We arrived by train on night one and checked into the hotel. Then we started at the Vatican in the morning, and saw the ancient ruins, Spanish steps, Trevi fountain, Colosseum, and of course made time for our last gelato before ending day 2. Whew! So much history in one day would definitely have been a nightmare to me before now! Luckily, we were able to rest on the plane the next day and see a lot of London before having to return home.
The best part of the trip was certainly the sights, although Camilo would argue the food. Had I been less pregnant and more myself, I would have indulged in the Italian paninis, pizzas, pastas, and wine as he did. We were also blessed to find out we were in Italy the one week of the year where access to every cultural and historical sight is free to enter, which undoubtedly saved us hundreds and hundreds of dollars. Transportation is expensive, and Sprites are $7 each, which I learned the hard way every day, but it was definitely the honeymoon of a lifetime and we fell deeply in love and thank you dad(s) for making it all possible (and mom for the travel must-haves of course).
So, after all of that was said and done, it's finally time for baby talk again! Whew! Momma's exhausted! I went to Dr. Hutchinson yesterday for the 11 week check up. He loves to do ultrasounds, so were were excited to see little "Butterbean," as dad has begun calling it. The baby was flipping around, moving it's little hands, and almost dancing. Looks like it takes after me! For all of you who seem to have come to a consensus that we're having a boy, I wouldn't be so sure! We are still on track for November 20th, so plan accordingly!
We love you guys and can't wait to move in and invite you all to see the new house! The next appointment is June 1st, and hopefully Mom will be able to take me to that one, so until then...
