Saturday, October 6, 2018
I'm late on yours too! I'm afraid my blog has become mostly letters to my children on their birthdays, which I think is okay. Because you are important Jackson!
I feel bad because your birthdays for the past two years have been when we are on trips or getting ready to go on one. Last year New Zealand, this year Ireland and Scotland. Most would say you have a "rough life" lol but you would probably say you have a rough life. You'd rather be with friends and cousins than with family on vacation in an exotic place. lol. I only hope one day (maybe when you read this) you will appreciate the travel.
You made me a mom 11 years ago. I remember the night. I think you and I will always have this special bond because of the way you entered the world. I was scheduled to be induced on the morning of your entrance. I really struggled with this because I had in my head that babies should come when they are ready. Well, I'm entirely thankful you decided because my water broke the night before my induction. Except you just didn't want to come that bad. I ended up with a C-Section which also worked out in my favor because of so many things I will tell you about later. I'm just overall thankful for you in general. You've been such a blessing in our lives. I know that sounds so cliche but it's true. You're a gem of a boy.
I'm officially really late finishing this post. I'm doing it now.
I just refound pictures on walmart.com they were threatening to delete because I haven't been on there for awhile. There is a whole album dedicated to your first birthday. I'm gonna go download them and post them here.
I love you. You're currently hanging out with Shawn and Dad and Sadie and Nevie because it's Fall break and yes this is like 5 months after your birthday. But to my credit we have moved and started school since then and those are 2 big things. You're not in love with our new schedule. It's a lot of work but you are so smart and are doing so well.
You've also found some fellow Dungeons and Dragons friends at the youth center which you are old enough to go to because hello 6th grade. I'm not ready for all of this.
I'm gonna stop talking and go grab those pictures to post. But first, some currents.
Now the oldies
I feel bad because your birthdays for the past two years have been when we are on trips or getting ready to go on one. Last year New Zealand, this year Ireland and Scotland. Most would say you have a "rough life" lol but you would probably say you have a rough life. You'd rather be with friends and cousins than with family on vacation in an exotic place. lol. I only hope one day (maybe when you read this) you will appreciate the travel.
You made me a mom 11 years ago. I remember the night. I think you and I will always have this special bond because of the way you entered the world. I was scheduled to be induced on the morning of your entrance. I really struggled with this because I had in my head that babies should come when they are ready. Well, I'm entirely thankful you decided because my water broke the night before my induction. Except you just didn't want to come that bad. I ended up with a C-Section which also worked out in my favor because of so many things I will tell you about later. I'm just overall thankful for you in general. You've been such a blessing in our lives. I know that sounds so cliche but it's true. You're a gem of a boy.
I'm officially really late finishing this post. I'm doing it now.
I just refound pictures on walmart.com they were threatening to delete because I haven't been on there for awhile. There is a whole album dedicated to your first birthday. I'm gonna go download them and post them here.
I love you. You're currently hanging out with Shawn and Dad and Sadie and Nevie because it's Fall break and yes this is like 5 months after your birthday. But to my credit we have moved and started school since then and those are 2 big things. You're not in love with our new schedule. It's a lot of work but you are so smart and are doing so well.
You've also found some fellow Dungeons and Dragons friends at the youth center which you are old enough to go to because hello 6th grade. I'm not ready for all of this.
I'm gonna stop talking and go grab those pictures to post. But first, some currents.
Monday, May 7, 2018
The other day you laid in bed with Dad and I and snuggled with us so well. You said later that you "cried from happiness" with your still adorable but fading lisp. You are the best snuggler ever! Morning snuggles are the best from you and it's a great way to start the day.
You are ferocious when you don't want to do something however you are quick to change your attitude and are super forgiving and good at letting things go.
I'm dying over your pictures. The ones you draw of houses and tents and our family or the sun. They make me melt so good.
You are the most kind-hearted little person. You quickly make friends but are selective over who you let in. But those who are in, are in for life. You and Sophia are besties right now and spend a lot of time playing house and having adventures outside.
You love "sloshies" and cheese fries but you still change your mind on the daily about what you love and hate. It changes daily. You measure things in terms of your 10 fingers held up to show. At 130 a.m. last night you came down to ask me how many places you had lives in. I told you four. You said that was a lot. And it is considering you are only 6 years old. Then you counted 28 for some reason and did it by flashing your hands 2 times and then holding up 4 fingers. Close enough. Then you came down to eat because you are the night owl of night owls and always have a midnight snack. You made yourself a bowl of cereal and then came over to give me my regularly scheduled hug and milk mustache kiss.
It's so fun because you love watching the most random things on your Kindle and you'll watch them over and over. The regular ones you like are The Peanuts Movie, Sofia the First, Strawberry Shortcake, and Lego Friends. You even enjoy Doctor Who when Jackson watches that or We Bare Bears. Today you were watching Star VS. The Forces of Evil (cause there's a new season!). Right now you're upstairs eating Pizza Rolls and watching Ratatouille.
You are excellent at taking pictures on my "nice" camera. You are good at digital drawing and you'll often get the paints out and just paint pictures without prompting.
My favorite thing about you is how good you are at holding a conversation. You are so good at talking on the phone and often ask people how they are doing and what they are doing and if they are having a good day. So cute.
I also love that you don't shy away from the camera and often have a great pose ready in an instant. You have recently begun singing and I love it. You just made up a couple of songs, one called "A Day or Two" and then another one called "If you see a darker beach." I have videos and when I'm not in Italy I will post them.
You don't love sleeping with other people though. Sometimes you do but you usually prefer sleeping alone on the floor next to our bed. Or in your room sometimes too.
I think I say this every year but I feel so lucky you are in our family! You are most kind loving person and we are thankful you were born 6 years ago on April 8th.
Monday, January 1, 2018
We dropped off our last guests at the train station sometime in the afternoon of the 31st. Thankfully my friend treated me to some vending machine hot beverage because it was a cold day. It was almost eerie with how many people weren't there. Thankfully it was the right train. Not so thankfully they ended up having to take a bus in some small town in Austria to a train station in Innsbruck that would take them to their final destination. None of us are sure why we haven't done the train thing more often. It takes just as much time and less money! Guess I'm headed that direction more often. They live in Germany. But not for long.
The next stop was back to post. I ran into a lovely lady Jessi, and her lovely daughter and our babysitter Patience, at the PX. I don't know where the commas go in that sentence. We consumed hot beverages while we talked about our party dishes for the evening. They mentioned spinach dip and I was sold. Then the commissary was out of everything. I don't understand (and David and I talked about this today) why they don't plan ahead for holidays. I mean, people are going to consume large amounts of dip during the festivities. So why do they not have extra extra stock of sour cream? A dollop of Daisy! Hello! Who can I talk to about this? We headed home with a sad little jar of not-so-delicious Tostitos dip (obviously not sponsored) and Kings Hawaiian rolls. Thanks Jess!
I sat in the disaster that was our living room. Remnants of wrapping paper, slime and candy wrappers lay all over the floors... a sign of some good times. As the hours went on, I suggested to David that we head up to Monte Berico for fireworks. It was only 9ish at that time. We hadn't eaten substantial food since the tacos earlier that day and the dip just wasn't cutting it. I remembered a recommendation for a Pizza place near post that supposedly had the best Napoli style pizza. David was sweet and made the call to check their hours. Yay! Open till 11:30. We watched a coupla episodes of Turn (have you seen it? So good) and got kids ready and jumped in the car. On the way, David called again and got real frustrated because when he called, they left him on the line while they seemingly took care of other customers. He turned to me and said something about how he didn't know what was happening. They got back on the phone and he sort of finished our order although it was 2 pizzas short. Meh.
Once we arrived at the pizza place, all was well. Apparently their owner calls them every night and pranks them in English. So they thought David was their boss. lolz! They made our two ordered pizzas and the two other ones David didn't (couldn't) convey on the phone. Marinara is not said like it is in American English. It's Mah-ree-nah-ruh. Not Mare-ih-nare-uh. hahah. I'm not good at phonetics or whatever that's called.
Then we went to Monte Berico where it was insanity! So many cars and people. We stuffed ourselves into a spot that wasn't a spot because it was so close to midnight. Allora! We all hopped out and on to the top of the car. I sat on the bonnet of the car (because I'm British). As I was prepping for the show, a man came to the back of his car, rummaging in what looked like a bag with cables in it. He was having a rough time seeing in the dark so I shined my flashlight onto his bag so he could see it. He pulled out a pair of pliers and made the gesture of turning it like a screwdriver. He needed it to open his beverage for the celebration!
Soon after, it began! It never ceases to amaze me how many fireworks go off and the length of time they go for as well. It is unreal. I feel like I'm in a movie or in some strange world. It's so beautiful though!
As it started to die down and people were only setting off lanterns, my friend from before came over to offer us some Prosecco in a plastic wine glass. We took it, thankful for the gesture. He then gave us the bottle! It's a 2015 something Prosecco which is a white wine native to this area. I'm keeping the bottle because the entire experience of this night was really magical and I love momentos. And despite not speaking a common language, we totally got each other with hardly any words. I freaking love that about living abroad.
Most of our life is pretty regular except for well, living in Italy but I mean, we do mostly regular things. I think I might be tired of not owning what my life is right now and that is ordinary-but-with-sometimes-magical-events. This was one of them. Just the whole eating of Italian pizza on a car roof near a beautiful church on a hilltop where a nice Italian guy gave us some white wine after watching the most amazing fireworks show. *long sigh*
What did you do celebrate? What's your favorite New Years tradition?
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