Come Fly With Me

I've noticed myself saying, "The past couple of weeks have been so crazy!" a lot recently, so I figure I should start this blog by saying. . My life is crazy! The move from Italy to America has been. . .well, stressful and long, starting with the 21 hour travel day flying from Venice to Pennsylvania to visit my mom's side of the family. The flight was decent, and everything pretty much fell into place, which was nice since we were traveling with our kitties, but I'll just add that we will never be flying United . . ever. . again. We're Delta lovers, and it will stay that way from now on out-regardless of the cost-- well, pending $5-$10. haha hey, we're still frugal ;-) Needless to say we were happy to arrive in PA safely, and spent two wonderful weeks with my family relaxing as much as we could, with a trip to New Jersey thrown in, a surprise baby shower, a trip to Chocolate World and sporadically looking for a van; we stayed pretty busy! Yup, you read right, a van. I caved in and decided that the most responsible automobile to buy would be a van, so we did our research and looked at consumer reports books for hours on end and ultimately decided that Toyota Sienna would be the best route - consequently, we are now proud owners of Toyota Sienna! :) and I've got to admit, it's not as bad as I thought it would be! I'm not exactly sure why I was so against a van in the first place, maybe because they have the non-cool stigma attached to them, but I felt pretty darn stylish cruisin on yet another long trip from PA to Florida! It took us 18 hours. . In Europe you can drive eighteen hours and see it all!! We were just making our way through five states! Good golly! Everything is bigger in America. lol--So off we went with the kitties in tow, they are such good travelers I tell you, I hope Avalina is as good as traveler as they are! haha. We stopped half way through in NC and had a short quaint visit with Alex's aunt Stacy, then it was on the road again. . .

Finally we made it to Tampa and the very next day the movers were scheduled to come and drop off all of our household goods, but before they came, Alex - along with his team of experts-- decided to paint the ENTIRE town house in one day!! Can you believe it? Well, you should, because that's exactly what they did! And by morning time the paint was surprisingly dry enough to have the movers haul in literally a butt load of boxes! (the conversion for buttload is 1bl=5 tons, in case you were wondering) There is so much stuff that we don't have the space for, since we are downgrading from our 3,000 sqft home to a 1600 sqft home!! It's been a challenge, but we've managed to arrange things to be pretty aesthetically pleasing :) It feels good to be back in America so far, and I'm so excited to be able to decorate the nursery!!! Ohhhh and go to an actual store to gawk at the baby isles for hours!! I haven't decided on a theme for the nursery yet, but i'm going towards a more neutral tone-- as opposed to pinky pink, which I'm sure most of you thought I would definitely do, with my love of princesses and all ;-) Don't worry though, i'll be sure to throw in some sweet decor--maybe Al will finally let me hang my framed Full House puzzle up!!! hahaa What a good Idea. . maybe i'll sneak it in without telling him ;-) I've been forced to keep it hidden in my closet for the past few years. . but I'm thinking it's time for the masterpiece to see daylight again! :) And I’m sure Avalina will appreciate fine art straight out of the womb! Decorations are something to keep my mind busy as we continue to unpack. . .:)

Daddy's Little Girl

Alex and I had a pretty busy week; out-processing Aviano, getting our house ready for our final inspection, moving into a hotel. . But what topped our week off was our ultrasound to find out the sex of our baby!! We had it scheduled at 18 weeks, which is a couple of weeks earlier than what they usually do it at, but since we are moving they agreed to let us have it done a bit earlier. We were worried about whether or not the tech would be able to confirm the sex, but as soon as he said “She has strong legs” our worried feelings were replaced with feelings of enthusiasm!! Only then did our lovely technician unfalteringly decide to ask; “you guys want to know the gender right?” After a swift “yes” from both Al and me, he simply whispered “It is a girl.” Those four words sent me into a smiling frenzy!! Good thing the room was dark; because I’m sure I looked like a loon! The smiles and giggles didn’t fade until well after we left the room—right around the time when I found out that I had to return in a couple of hours—with another full bladder--so the tech could get some better pictures of Avalina’s heart. Apparently she was being sassy and decided not to turn so the doctor could locate all four ventricles- Don’t judge her just yet; she had every right to be a sas after the tech called her the ‘She Hulk!’  I suppose that will not be her new nickname, since it appears she is not too fond of it ;-) The tech said for being only 18 weeks, she was exceptionally strong! --Which was no surprise to me, since I’ve been feeling her practicing her kick-boxing routine for weeks now!
So off we went to eat some lunch and pack the car up for another trip to the hotel. While Al was busy with all the heavy lifting that needed to be done around our house- I was busy chugging 40 MORE ounces of water. . Ohhhh the sufferingggg. . .I’m thinking child birth will be less painful than having the fullest bladder In The World and not being able to pee. Lol (that was a joke, so all of you mothers out there about to go on your “you’re in for a rude awakening” rampage…forgetaboutit! ) My bladder issue vanished as soon as I got back into the exam room and saw Avalina on the big screen!! Heheee but more importantly we saw all four ventricles!  The tech informed us that she is 9 ounces—a big heffer apparently- or should I say she’s hulk-ish?- And that she will be born a few days earlier than we originally thought—December 12th now— Alex and I can’t wait for that day to come! But for now, we are thrilled to know that our baby is healthy, and we are completely satisfied lounging on a couch in our hotel room with the AC blaring!  Life is good.

Crazy Love

Eleven weeks flew by, It was time for my first ultrasound! I had no idea what to expect, but I was not expecting to witness such magnificence!
I closed my eyes the entire ride to the hospital, in hopes that my blood pressure wouldn’t spike due to Al’s driving, and low and behold, it worked!, for the first time ever!! Lol After my exams were taken care of, the fun part began! We got to see our baby!! It was the most amazing thing I have ever witnessed in my entire life! Now, I have seen plenty of ultrasounds before, yaada yaada, to be honest, I never actually knew what I was looking at. But this, oh This was different! It was clear as day! There it was- our child. I couldn’t speak, all I could do was laugh and think of how crazy it was that I was looking at our baby! I had never felt so much love rush through me!!. . And you guys know how much I love my cats ;-) And Al of course hehe☺ While the doctor was showing us our child and how he/she was developing bones, the coolest thing happened; our baby started to move around!! I didn’t know a baby could MOVE at 11 weeks!! Haha The little bugger was squirming all over the place, and it was genuinely a moment I will treasure for the rest of my life! God is good.

The Best is Yet to Come

The moment we left the hospital after finding out the big news we headed straight to the library, where I proceeded to check out almost every single pregnancy book they had! --and FYI, they all have the same. exact. information in them! Trust me. :) In the books they explained morning sickness, and all of the delights the first trimester of pregnancy will bring. I had been feeling pretty good, so I thought I had dodged a huge bullet, and couldn't have been more grateful. . I also couldn’t have been more wrong!! There was an entire day I ate nothing but saltine crackers and peanut butter, actually a number of days. Every scent around me was amplified by a thousand!! And the garbage can!! OHH forget about it! Alex had to take it out twice as often! I would lay on the couch day after day, moaning and groaning about my aches and pains! I watched more movies and took more naps than I ever had before! I had never felt so nauseous in my life! I didn't even want to MOVE, but leave it to Al to force me to go on walks around our town, slow walks I might add, and I was completely out of breath almost the entire time!! I would crave things--not pregnancy cravings yet, these were just Kim cravings-- but as soon as I was about to eat what I was 'craving' I would get this unrelenting nauseous feeling and I wouldn't be able to get down more than a couple of bites, ugh that was the most annoying thing, you know how much I love my food!!! And breakfast!! OHH forget about THAT. The smell of EVERY single breakfast food made me want to hurl. But I have to say, I have been pretty lucky in that department, although I was nauseous all day every day for weeks, I actually only seldom vomited. The only times I would catch a glimpse of myself in the mirror was when I was on my way to the toilet. . Which was not a pretty sight. . the mirror. . not the toilet, well I guess both! But maaaan oh man did I have acne!! Worse than I'd ever had in my entire life I tell you! ugh But did I care?? No way. Normally I would have at least put a medicated mask on to help with the acne, But the only thing I cared about doing was getting my behind to the sofa!! And the sofa wasn’t just for naps; Usually Al would wake me up and take me to bed, but it would take me forever to go back to sleep because I felt so awful, so a couple of nights he left me on the oh-so-comfy sofa. I have a newfound appreciation for pregnant women who have other children to take care of!! Ugh, I can't imagine how they do it!!. . Though one day, I will be one of them. .And I will not be able to spend hours on end on my sofa. . . All in all, my body is making a baby, I kind of feel like superman. Like, come one, Really? I’m creating a life inside of me?! It’s awesomely amazing to think about, and I would go through ten times the pain when I think about the reason behind it. --Okay maybe not ten times, maybe. . three times is more manageable ;-) -- Although, I’m positive that the best (and worst) is yet to come ☺

All I Can Do Is Dream of You

Looking back I have to admit, I had been slacking! I wasn't getting out of bed before ten a.m, unless I forced myself! I had been falling asleep during e.v.e.r.y single movie we watched!! Seriously, a friend diagnosed me with cinema narcolepsy! And I would have to agree! Even if we pop in a movie at 8, I would be asleep before the beginning credits were over!! I had even been slacking with our volunteering! Oh, I go to help out all right, but I can't seem to pick myself off of the couch to Actually help out!! lol, I came to the conclusion that it was just because I was becoming uber lazy and brushed it off :) Until one day. . . I had this undeniable feeling that I was pregnant! Why? I have no idea!! It seemed like the only thing I could think of were babies!! And the only thing I dreamt about was babies!!! Seriously, You can talk to a good friend K.D. Buttas about it! I would go on and on about how my womb was aching, and couldn't stop myself from looking at my friends' babies on Facebook!! And I should add that it was a little unlike me, Alex is always the one yearning for a baby, and I was always the one saying we should wait. Well, it appears that the wait was over for us, and I didn't even know it yet!
So since I had this urge to find out if I was pregnant or not, I decided to pick up a pregnancy test from the BX, only to find out that they literally didn't have a single one on the shelf!! Which wasn't too unbelievable b/c EVERYONE is pregnant in Aviano, it literally IS in the water, and I believe it now! So I walked my hiney over to the Commissary, just to waste my time and realize that the commissary never has anything good that you actually need. Humph. So I bought some salt and vinegar Pringles and went on my way . . .So What next?? Visit the good 'ol doc! One little problem. It was Saturday. Dang it! So I had to wait until Monday, to officially find my answer, which wasn't so bad because Alex had an appointment scheduled, so I decided to join him on his 'joy ride' to the hospital. I call it a 'joy ride' because every time I drive in the car with him my blood pressure rises, it's been proven. Anyhow! So we go to the hospital, I pee in a cup, and await the results. . . . . . . .Minutes later, which seemed like DAYS I tell you, a nurse escorts me into the room Al is in, I figure it's just b/c Alex didn't want me sitting in the waiting room alone, but I quickly came to find out she brought me into the room to give me The Results. . .She handed me the piece of paper. . Which I had NO Idea how to read, by the way. . lol. And just stood there. . I looked at the piece of paper. . And in my mind all I could think of was. . You’re having a little girl. You're going to be a mom. You're pregnant! But the words that came out of my mouth were "What does this say? I don't know how to read this!" So the nurse swiftly came to my rescue and said, "you're pregnant." WHOOO man, I cannot even begin to describe the emotions that were running through my mind!! I was scared, nervous, excited, But above everything else. . For some seriously deranged reason, I kept thinking about my bright neon orange nail polish chipping off of my nails, and I thought . . .UGH how disgusting, mom's don't have nails like THIS! So I turned to Al, and smiled. I think the same emotions were running though his mind. . Aside from the nail polish, although I never asked him about it . . .
After a few minutes of talking alone in the exam room--and when I say talking. . There wasn't much of that going on, we were both pretty shocked and in awe! -- Our Doctor came in to congratulate us! :) A lot of people have asked us if the pregnancy was planned . . .So here's the truth, Alex and I 'tried' once. That's it, one time without birth control! Some day following we found out that Alex was retiring from the Air Force, so we decided not to 'try' again until we get settled with our next life. . But the damage had been done --So to say-- it was meant to be! So we're living proof that IT CAN happen your first time!! ;-)