Assisi and Pisa

This past weekend, Karl and I took my parents up north to Assisi and Pisa for three days and also went away to celebrate our one year wedding anniversary! We had been to Assisi already, but fell in love with the city and wanted to bring my parents there and they are officially in love with it, too! We spent our actual anniversary in Pisa and it was so exciting to see the leaning tower (even though it was pouring the whole time we were there). I'm gearing up to fly home tomorrow and hope I get to see all my family and friends while I'm home since it's the last time I'll be home without having a baby with me!

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A new belly shot- 24 weeks- he is kicking and moving around alllll of the time and my belly button has officially turned out (not my favorite part of pregnancy). We took this picture in our hotel room in Assisi, so we have an awesome background for the belly shot this week :)

Another view from our hotel room onto the valley below. Enjoying that beautiful view- la dolce vita! The Rocca Maggiore (the watch tower/castle of Assisi). Assisi as you drive up- pictures can't even do this justice! Mom and Dad in Assisi with the million dollar view behind them. Karl and I :)

Outside of the San Francescan Duomo (Cathedral). I was playing with my pigeon friends and trying to learn to fly I guess. Awwww...smooches and belly holding Can you tell that we liked taking pictures of the view??? Onto our trip to Pisa.... This is the view as you walk through the walled entrance to Pisa...we were so excited and couldn't believe that we were actually looking at the leaning tower after seeing it countless times in pictures since we were kids! The duomo is the building in front of the tower. Can you tell how bad the weather was with all those umbrellas in the picture?

I am superwoman...look at how effortlessly I can hold up the tower with just one hand and hold my umbrella with the other...amazing! Notice how Karl needed two hands to keep it up... A picture of the three famous buildings in Pisa...the baptistry in front, the Duomo, and the tower. Mom, Dad, and I with the leaning tower

Ischia and Pompei

The past week has been super busy with my parents in town- we've gone everywhere in and around Naples and are going to Assisi and Pisa for a long weekend (also mine and Karl's 1 year anniversary!!!!). My parents got in on Friday and since then we've gone to Ischia (an island near Capri that you can see from our bedroom patio), Pozzuoli downtown area, Pompei, Vietri on the Almafi Coast, and some small side trips. They're in Rome for the last few days of their trip next week and then on Friday I fly back to the states for about 2 weeks...busy busy!

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Me, Mom, and Dad in the port of Pozzuoli while waiting for our ferry to Ischia. We had such a great time down there because the fish market was in full swing on Sunday morning. The fishermen were all coming in and showing off their catches...the big suprise was all of the octopuses (octopi?) in buckets still alive and wiggling around...I don't know how people can eat that!

More of the port...we can see this from our house so it was great to see it up close finally. The port of Ischia!!! This island is sooo beautiful and peaceful- it isn't very touristy which makes it much more enjoyable. More of the port...breathtaking! Karl and I on the main road...kind of like a boardwalk I guess. (Karl likes to hold onto the belly!) Dad, Mom, and Karl on the boardwalk. Everyone is so amazed that we have palm trees everywhere in southern Italy (we have one in our backyard, too)! A view from the ferry in the Bay of Pozzuoli. On Monday we went to Pompei- the weather was sooooo much better than last time I was here, so I took some more pictures.

Mom and Dad in the municipal square The main market area with Vesuvius in the background (the clouds are covering up part of it). I'll get up some more pictures next week when we get back from vacation (and some new belly shots, too)! Baby and I are doing just fine and he's growing very quickly and kicking all the time- still no names picked out yet!

Belly shots!

It's amazing to me how fast babies grow- look at that belly! We took these pictures on Saturday before we went out to dinner with some of our friends and I just can't believe I'm already this big and we're only 22 weeks (we'll be 23 weeks tomorrow). Our baby boy weighs about a pound and is as long as a Ken/Barbie doll :) We still can't come up with many names that we like and have decided that we won't make the final decision until we see his sweet face. We're really excited because my parents get here tomorrow for two weeks then I am heading back to the states the day after they leave at the end of the month!

Side shot- I love how round the belly is! Last night Karl and I were on the couch watching a movie and the baby started stretching and my belly became super lopsided- it was so funny to be able to sit and watch the baby move and kick around (this kid is definitely going to follow in his daddy's footsteps as a soccer player!). I didn't think it was fair that my belly and I get all the spotlight, so I thought it was only fair that Karl gets a belly shot, too! We officially said goodbye to our VW Polo last week- we loved that little car, but we needed something bigger for the baby. We got a nice, red Jeep that eats gas (which is soooo much more expensive here than in the states), but it will hold all of the baby's gear! I also have a fun time being a bully on the road because the Jeep is like a monster truck here in Italy!

La dolce vita

I figure that I'm always writing blogs about places we visit and other adventures, but I rarely talk about what just a normal day is like for me here in Italy, so I thought I'd give everyone a glimpse into my life on the Mediterranean! The past few days have been unbelieveably beautiful and we deserve it after the horrible weather we had all of March (it rained for 24 of the 31 days and was unseasonably cold). Since Friday, I have been accomplishing a lot of spring cleaning, yard work, some sun bathing, cooking, and catching up on reading. Some days are busier than others when they include grocery shopping trips, doctor appointments, spousal luncheons, and so forth, but the past 4 days have been truely relaxing.

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This afternoon I took this picture from out bedroom balcony as I took in some sun and read my book for book club..by the way I love "Water for Elephants"! Karl and I just got some great patio furniture for the second floor as an anniversary gift to each other (it's coming up this month!) and I have been loving it the past few days!

Another shot from the balcony today...just imagine a light sea breeze, blue sky, and about 70 degrees...I love it here! Our baby boy even got some sun today as I try to tan my big ol belly- he kicked a lot, so either he's going to be a beach guy or he was mad that I interrupted his afternoon nap with bright light! This was Saturday's project- my landlord roto-tilled my backyard for me since it had just become one big weed. I raked all the dirt back into place and planted all new grass (I hope we have some sort of lawn by the time my parents get here next Friday). I can't do a lot of actual gardening because of the pregnant thing (you never know what bacteria is lurking in the soil I guess), so Karl is going to help me out with flowers next weekend when he gets home. Most days are pretty uneventful here, but tomorrow I am super busy- I have a long day at base dealing with paperwork for our baby boy (it takes A LOT of paperwork to make our baby an American citizen when it's born in Italy), I sold my VW Polo (so sad) because I need a bigger car for the baby and I am transferring the car tomorrow, getting taxes done, grocery shopping, and other boring things (I told you not everyday is an Italian adventure!). Just thought I'd let everyone know what we do between our European adventures and hope you get out for a visit!

Pompei

As I was looking through my posts from this month, I realized that I completely skipped over our trip to Pompei! We went to Pompei earlier this month with Jean, Ashleigh, and Dan and even though it was cold and raining allllll day, we still had a great time! Pompei is only about a 35 min drive from our house...how did we get so lucky to be living here?! We took a private tour and learned so much about this amazing city; I was suprised how huge it is and I can't wait to go back with my parents next month and see some of the other parts we didn't see before.

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This is the original entrance to the city and when you get up close, you can see where the massive wooden door used to be and there are still wagon tracks!

The remaining part of one of the market places and the building in the far back is where judicial hearings used to be held. Inside one of the bath houses- this pool would be filled up with warm water that was heated through steam pipes. The bath houses are very well preserved and there are still frescoes on the walls and you can see the plumbing, too! The main marketplace...can you tell from this picture how awful the weather was??? This was one of the highlights for me- in my Latin class in high school, we had this poster up on the wall! Cave Canem- Beware of the Dog. It's so remarkable- it's the entrance to one of the houses as you walk down the road and if our tour guide hadn't pointed it out, I probably would've missed it completely (it's also dirtier than I thought it would be). Looking down one of the roads of Pompei- these were mostly residential buildings. This is pretty x-rated...it's one of the many frescoes from one of the popular...ummm...brothels is a nice way to put it. There's one of these paintings over each of the rooms...I guess in case they didn't know what to do there.... One of the rooms of the brothel...yep that's a stone bed...very sanitary I guess but I imagine they were quite uncomfortable! Remains of the bakery. Those two big things in the middle is what the wheat was ground in to make flour. One of the remaining frescoes and there's a plaster cast of a body in the glass case.

On a side note, Karl, our baby boy, and I are doing well. Karl is on a trip for work and will be home soon and we're still trying to come up with some good baby names...we're always taking suggestions! We're finally having some nice weather in Italy and it hasn't even rained the past two days! My parents are coming in about a week and a half, so we're busy getting ready for their visit. Also, I'm planning on making a trip to the states at the end of April, so I hope I get to see a lot of you while I'm home for about two weeks. Thanks again for all the great comments you have been leaving!

Easter Fun

Happy Easter (Monday)! Karl and I had a wonderful first Easter together as newlyweds even though the weather was absolutely dreadful here :( We slept in and got to relax around the house and the Easter bunny even brought Karl lots of goodies! In the afternoon, we went over to Leighanna and Ben's for Easter dinner and I introduced them to corn pudding (mmmmm!). We had a great time playing with Luke and spending time with good friends not to mention stuffing our faces with some of the best ham ever (thanks again Leighanna!). Our baby boy spent the evening kicking me and moving around- it feels so funny!

Check out my Easter belly!!! We're at 20 weeks now- officially halfway!!!!

and the verdict is in.....

Today Karl and I had our big ultrasound appointment where they spent an hour and a half doing measurements and checking to make sure the baby is healthy! We got a good bill of health and we also found out the sex of our baby.....

WE'RE HAVING A BOY!!!!!!!! My first reaction was that I asked the Dr. to repeat herself because I didn't believe her...I was convinced this was a girl and was actually shocked when they told me otherwise. Karl and I are soooooo happy and you can't wipe the grin off his face...I'm sure he's thinking "All right, another Marine soccer player!" We went and bought a few cute boy outfits and some newborn booties :) We took the picture above right before we left for the appointment (notice my St. Patrick's Day green). We'll put up more about little boy Schlegel as the weeks continue!!!