From Virginia to Italy...

The Sea Freight Container has made it from Virginia to Italy!

Well, we are in our new house. Praise God! I was about to open a can of you know what on someone at the Hotel we were staying at. To share a bit of my frustration, not only was I irritated every day of tossing and turning all night and waking up with a sore back, but 90% of the staff at the hotel were morons. I know that isn't nice, but seriously....let me justify my name calling.
There was the toilet paper incident..... Fabio refused to give me a roll of toilet paper because the maid had neglected to leave us an extra roll that day. After making a call to his MANAGER (really, about a roll of toilet paper??) he informed us that toilet paper was not part of our rate and he would have to charge us for the toilet paper. Get. Out. Of. Town. I walked away in disbelief at the way I was treated over a lousy roll of toilet paper. The problem didn't persist as the maid always kept us stocked with toilet paper, even though she apparently isn't supposed to, but I'm guessing it was never communicated to her to stop giving us toilet paper. When we left, I snagged any toilet paper that was left and even contemplated taking it out of the lobby bathroom...but I didn't.
Then there was the check out incident...... Josh spoke to another person at the front desk, lets call him Antonio. Josh asked Antonio if it would be a problem to check out late on Monday with the possibility of extending our stay one more night in case moving in didn't go as quickly or as smoothly as we had planned. Antonio, said he would check with the Manager and call us if there was any problem with a late checkout. All day we received no call indicating that checking out late would be a problem. So when 5pm rolled around and we were on our way out to our new house, we were informed by none other than the infamous toilet paper Fabio that we would be charged a full days rate for checking out late. Josh tried to explain the situation saying he had spoken to Antonio earlier and that we should have received a call if there was going to be a charge associated with a late check out and that we didn't receive a call. FABIO, was insistent that checkout was at 12 and since we were late we would be charged the full rate. Keep in mind we had been residents of this hotel for almost 2 months and here was FABIO, trying to nickel and dime us for checking out late! He was going through some paperwork after he told us how much it would actually be and I couldn't take it anymore. I firmly expressed our confusion in being charged when we were told we would receive a call and that we didn't so we assumed we wouldn't be charged. Oh the wrath of a pregnant woman! He hurried off to call his manager and came back with his tail behind his legs, because the manger told him not to charge us. TAKE THAT! Like I said..Moron. His attitude was poor as he shook his head, rolled his eyes and banged on the keyboard. ARRIVEDERCI Fabio!

Our New Home!
So all of the hotel craziness aside, we are in our new house and I must say I have never been so glad to see my bed, and my couch! I literally gave my bed a big hug, and had I been alone, I might have shed a tear or two. The movers arrived at 8:30 am and Josh was there to meet them. I was back at the hotel until around 10 with Mallory and then I dropped her off at Josh's boss's house because his wife Joanna volunteered to watch Mallory while we moved in. I was SO nervous that Mallory would have a complete meltdown and freak out when I left, but she barely acknowledged me as I said goodbye. Mind you, I had been pshyching her up to go to Miss Joannas and play with all of the toys and see Miss Joanna's baby etc...Mallory stayed all morning and part of the afternoon without incident and only cried because I made her leave to go back to the hotel and take a nap.
The movers did an excellent job. I played traffic control as things came off the truck indicating whether they went up or down stairs. This was crucial to the move in, as we only have a spiral staircase to get things up and down inside the house, so everything had to go through the garage into the basement or through the front door to the first floor, or in some cases over the back balcony!

They worked two days. The first day was unloading the sea freight truck, into a smaller truck (pictured above), and then into the house, and the second day unpacking boxes. Each day included an hour and a half lunch break and quitting time at 5pm. This was in sharp contrast to the movers back in the states who worked from 9am-8pm with NO lunch break, and about a 30 minute pizza break for dinner each day.
We had them leave a handful of boxes unpacked, because we had so much stuff to put away, there was no place to put the things that would have come out of the boxes. We have plenty of storage space, which is nice, but my suspicions have been confirmed, we have too much crap!
It's starting to feel like home already. Especially the other night when I made Meatloaf, (probably the best meatloaf I have ever made thanks to Tastefully Simple's Sweet Bell Pepper Dip Mix), baked potatoes and zuchinni! It doesn't get more American than that ....unless I would have had an apple pie to wash it all down with. It is so nice to have my own pots and pans for cooking! I must say though, I've never read so many instruction manuals in depth before in my life. The ovens is completely different and of course it is in Celsius...so I totally guessed at what temperature to cook the meatloaf, but it came out perfect! We bought a microwave, and that too works a bit differently than your typical microwave at home. We are still without TV and internet at the house (other than the mobile internet key we bought about a month ago) and we are still without Italian cell Phones. Hopefully those things should be in place by the end of August. It's hard to get much of anything accomplished here in the month of August as most businesses completely shut down.

Corner of Living room and Patio

Mallory's room is all set up complete with a little toy area, and she has been enamored with her toys all week, some days barely coming out of her room, other than to bring me the occasional book to read to her. When I get a moment where Josh can occupy her, I am going to purge some of her toys and stuffed animals that are spilling out of her toy shelf. I'll just put them in the basement for now and swap them out again when she isn't looking. She was needless to say quite happy to see all of her books and toys!
It is a strange feeling, but the crib is all put together in the baby's room and filled with miscellaneous baby things, baby tub, baby bouncer, boppy, monitors etc. It is hard to believe that in just 2 short months, our new little girl will be arriving and that this is the house where she will spend her first year. We have such great memories of bringing Mallory home at our house in Virginia, and watching her grow and learn new things. We look forward to that same blissful experience here in Italy.
Church:
Last week we attended an English speaking Church in Milan. It was small, intimate, and was made up of mostly people from the Phillipines. It was nice to participate in worship and hear a message straight out of the Bible. Like attending any new church as we have found, I'm sure it is going to take some time for us to settle into it. It is held in a basement type of place, which helps to keep it cool, but the pastor mentioned to us, that only half of the congregation was in attendance due to people being on holiday, and that when it is full it gets quite hot. Although they offer child care, I think Mallory was the only child there, and was mostly well behaved. The pastor even commented on how good she was. She had fun showing off to the pastor and his wife (both Americans) and she certainly had fun clapping and dancing to the music. When asked how old she was, she put her finger on her cheek in thought and after a moment responded with "DUE" (pronounced 'doo-ay'). This means "2" in Italian. Even I was impressed that she answered in Italian, the correct number, without being prompted!
Vacation:
On Friday we leave for Germany to visit my cousin and his family! Italy shuts down for the week of Aug 15th, so Josh has off the whole week. Instead of heading to Germany, what we really should be doing is staying home putting the house together and potty training Mallory. Yeah well, she'll pee in the potty when she's ready, and those boxes aren't going anywhere right?
Side note (almost a whole week has passed since I originally wrote this and so I am having to go back and update things)
Speaking of Potty Training: We are in full swing potty training mode here! Mallory has been running around half naked (thank goodness for hardwood floors) she consistently pees in the potty and has now 2 days in a row done #2 on the potty, both times without being prompted or asked!! She is doing really well and we'll try to keep up our efforts even with all that we have going on. But it is a nice piece of mind knowing she is capable. I'll spare you all the graphic pitcure I sent to my immediate family of her first #2 in the potty. It is quite a hilarious picture and she has the cheesiest grin on her face. She was certainly very proud of herself.
Back to Germany....
We are excited to spend time with family, and I've already been prepping Mallory of how much fun she is going to have with her cousin Tori! I've never been to Germany before and the only things I can remember from my 3 months of German in middle school are "thank you, you're welcome, may I have a tissue, and may I use the pencil sharpener....and God Bless you" Not quite sure if all of these things will come in handy, but I'll give them a whirl and let you know how it goes.
On our way home from Germany we will be picking up our friend Luke in Milan and he'll be spending the weekend with us. We've already sent requests to him for tasty kakes..Reeses peanut butter cups, and cheetos...LOL. One night while laying in bed, Josh and I played a game.... We would go back and forth naming things that we missed from the states. Ok well truthfully, I played, and Josh half listened. His one and only contribution was the Peanut butter cups. Poor Luke is also getting a package from Amazon with lots of Italian adapters in it to lug over with him as well. I guess this is just fair warning that if you come to visit us, be prepared to leave a few of your things at home to make room for some special requests from us! :)

We have lots to look forward to over these next few months, a beach vacation near Venice, my best friend Alicia coming to visit, my mom coming to visit, and the arrival of our new baby girl Bertha. Yes, that is the name we have picked out, so please run out and monogram anything soft,cuddly and pink. Just make sure you keep the receipt :)
Until next time....