Way overdue update

Original Draft I never finished...from SEPTEMBER 2012!
Now that the dust has settled, literally, I think I can manage to share a bit about our move to Sicily. I am in a much better place NOW, than I was the first 2 weeks into our Sicily adventure. It was stressful to say the least.

To arrive in Sicily, we took an overnight Ferry from Genoa to Palermo. The whole family, Josh, me, Mallory 3, and Mia 10 months, PLUS the 100 lb dog packed into Fiona the Fiat and we boarded a smaller version of a cruise ship, only it wasn't quite exactly up to cruise ship standards. I had low expectations, so I was pleasantly surprised there was a POOL aboard this ship, but then, not so entirely surprised that there wasn't any water in the pool.
We had a cabin, where we ALL slept. Kota was quite the attention grabber on a ship with mostly tea-cup sized dogs. The room next to us, sounded like it had at least 2 dogs in it. During the night as they howled and  their tails whipped against the paper thin wall that was the only thing that separated my head from their butts. The next morning as we are leaving our room, not 2, not 3 not even 4, but FIVE dogs piled out of that room as if it were a clown car. These were not small dogs either. THREE of them were greyhounds, and the other 2 were medium sized mutts. I had to pick my mouth up off the floor. We are pretty sure this cabin was PAID for just for these animals, judging by the dog raucous all night and the lack of human voices.

Onto the actual move. Wow, where to start? Let's just throw it all out there. Our house, which was brand new and had never been lived in was nowhere ready for us to move into on the first day of our lease. There was NO kitchen or refrigerator, NO air conditioning, NO washer or dryer,  and NO hot water. Maybe I should have said what they did have done...it would have been a shorter list :)
Instead of spending the planned 2 nights in a hotel and moving into our new house, we spent close to an entire week in a hotel, had to switch hotels, because of our first hotel being completely booked, but the other hotel didn't allow dogs, so we had to find other arrangements for Kota. Thankfully, Josh's co-worker's family (who moved in on the same street a few days before us) agreed to keep Kota for us until we could "live" in our house.
So, as the movers are unloading boxes and boxes, and boxes, and more boxes, I can barely tell them where to put them, because air conditioners were being installed and a kitchen was being put in, there was dust everywhere, cleaning was fruitless, it was HOT.

Josh's 2 co-workers and their families live on the same street as us and we all moved in around the same time.  This extra use of power, I believe caused an unforeseen issue by property management. We couldn't run more than 2 air conditioners at one time without the breaker blowing out. One night I was up 7 or 8 times flipping the breaker, just so the girls could have air in their rooms, while I slept nearly in my birthday suit because it was so HOT. My mom was here and she spent the first 2 weeks on a mattress in Mallory's room, because we couldn't run the air in all the rooms at once at night.
It was completely frustrating and very stressful. We couldn't get terribly angry, as things got done pretty quickly once we arrived. Why they weren't done before we got here...I still have no idea.

So now that all of the drama is out of the way, we are into this thing about a month and a half, and I love it. I really do. Our neighbors ROCK. I hope they read this. They really do rock. There are multiple American/English speaking families that live on our gated street. There are tons of kids, always out riding bikes, running around, swimming at the pool, playing in the soccer field behind the house..etc. It is nice to have neighbors that speak English and that do things together. They had a welcome BBQ for the new families that moved in and have they have all just been fabulous.  We've been showered with movies, American Coffee, Creamer, homemade muffins, tiramisu, eggplants, a full on Sunday Brunch Spread, candles, and Josh's favorite, Doritos. They are generous and giving and we couldn't be happier.

We are attending church on the military base, thanks again to our awesome neighbors. What a nice change to be in fellowship, after spending a year, holed up with watching church online. Not that we didn't enjoy that, it is just nice to actually be with other people in a church setting. Praise the Lord.

My sister was here for 2 weeks at the end of August, just as all the boxes were unpacked (for the most part) We had some superb sister time touring Taormina, and the Aeolian Islands. HOLY MOLY. I have never seen more beautiful water in my life. No offense to those on the East Coast (US), but I don't think I will ever step foot in that brown, mucky water EVER again. I have said that before after visiting Mexico, Aruba, Pensacola, Miami, Barbados, etc. But I am FOR SERIOUS, when I say you are in 60 feet of water and you can see straight to the bottom! Just gorgeous. END OF SEPTEMBER DRAFT.

Since it has been so long...Happy Thanksgiving, Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, Happy Valentine's Day...and being practical and thinking ahead...Happy Easter. (just in case this draft doesn't get finished before then!)

Wow, where to begin. Still loving Sicily. The neighbors and the community STILL rock. We got actually neighbors in the house next to us..and I can't say THAT rocks. We can hear everything. I'm sure they are thrilled to hear babies in the middle of the night and toddler squeals and screams all day long. For your future reference....if you have neighbors...DON'T bounce a basketball in the house. They will hate you.

We had our first Christmas away from home. I was positive I would be missing the chaotic family Christmas in PA..and I was...but not as much as I expected. We had an amazing Christmas. All Mallory wanted for Christmas was a horse and a mouse. Not living breathing ones thank heavens...but stuffed ones. The mouse, specifically from IKEA..which is really a rat. She wanted one to complete a Mouse family of the other 2 "mice" she got at IKEA from Grammie Charmaine. This was the easiest request on her list. The horse however put us through the ringer. All the rocking horses we found here were too small for her, so I went to ordering one online. Though they didn't ship overseas..we got free shipping, were having it shipped to Josh's parents who would then ship it to us. (This was all after I found out Target had cancelled my order. GRR. Good thing I LOVE TARGET...if stock has dropped at all over the past 2 years..I'm convinced it is my fault, because I am no longer there 3...ok...FIVE, times a week) Long story short...Christmas EVE..I asked Josh to stop on his way home from work to grab some batteries for another toy...and he comes home with THE PERFECT rocking horse! Josh saved Christmas!! I had devised an entire plan and letter from Santa explaining that the elves got ELF-fluenza and were behind, so the horse would be delivered later. Josh put that horse together in the living room...in full view of little creeping 3 year olds coming down the stairs. I felt like I was robbing a bank..keeping an eye out for her to come down the stairs. I was all sweaty and nervous that she would see DADDY putting together her Rocking Horse! Oh Heavens...Christmas would have been ruined! We wrapped every square inch of it in wrapping paper..and it was so worth it for her precious face on Christmas morning. It was magical.

Fast forward 3 months..(literally I blinked and 'Hello March')
Mia turned 1 back in October.Yes, she is nearly 18 months old now and as cute as a button. What a ham, and such a loving kiddo. She adores her big sister, and loves her daddy..and me too. She has been walking since the beginning of December and is saying new words every day. Elmo, eyes, baby, and mommy and daddy instead of momma and dada. Oh, let's not forget she says "iPad" too. Too funny.

Mallory is enjoying school. She attends an Italian school where they only speak Italian. She is picking up Italian...singing in Italian all the time and always asking me how to say things in Italian. I usually have to look it up. She loves having kids to play with in the neighborhood even though there isn't anyone exactly her age. But she hangs with the bigger kids, and then comes home and says stuff..like "Ok mom...whoa." She is quite the entertainer. Singing and dancing, doing funny voices with her dolls and toys. We recently had a dance party featuring Footloose songs, and Billy Currington, "That's how country boys roll." It is her jam! She also loves her sister, but runs for the hills when Mia comes at her with her mouth open. Houston, we have a biter! Mia will bite just about anything, and when she is frustrated or not getting what she wants..her little chompers come out. She has even bit herself when Mallory has squeaked out of the way. I thought maybe she would learn after that, that it doesn't feel good, but, no. Mallory is very apologetic. "Mommy, I'm sorry for throwing that hissy fit" (30 minutes later) "Mommy, I'm sorry I have a runny nose" "Mommy, I'm sorry your back hurts, do you want me to rub it? You should lay down and rest" Those words seriously came out of her mouth, and what did I do? I let her rub my back and I laid on the couch and took a rest! Daughter's orders! What a sweet girl she is. One night as we were getting ready for bed, we were exchanging I love yous. She said, with a smiley smirk on her face," You want to know who I love?" to which I replied "Who?" She whispered back "Jesus!" That made this momma's day.

Let's see...recent travels and upcoming craziness
We recently went to Germany to visit my cousin Doug and family. I had been so looking forward to this week long vacation complete with SNOW! Yes, I was most definitely without a doubt, looking forward to snow and bitter cold temperatures. We had a nice relaxing trip, with only 1 visit to the hospital. Leave it to us. Poor Mia had a stomach bug...and within a few hours of it's onset had become severely dehydrated, so Mia and I spent a night in the hospital. She was such a good little patient. Mallory then had a bit of the bug, but after a good nap, she woke up exclaiming she felt better.
     Josh did some skiing, which was great, because he hadn't been since we got married. And well, if you know anything about me....I don't ski. A broken shoulder and a few cracked ribs later...I hung up my skis for good. I did hit the slopes on a sled though. I just made sure it was clear of trees and small children before going down.
We took Mallory to ski school. She was pumped to go skiing with another little girl we had met there. We got her all decked out in her ski gear, even bought her a cool pair of ski goggles. Everything was going fine until the instructor tried to put her boot into her ski. Oh, let me back up. I should have taken a hint when she waddled out of the ski shop in her ski boots and made her daddy carry her over to ski school because she couldn't walk. She couldn't walk, I didn't want to make a scene...so daddy carried her. So the instructor I notice, is trying to put her into skis that were not hers. I had been standing way off to the side away from the kids and instructors, but I had to intervene. This is what is going through my head "Those aren't her skis, they are not going to fit..and if they did fit and they get mixed up and we return the wrong skis, what a mess that would be. They would probably charge us an arm and a leg for losing her skis, we'd have to wait around to see if the other ones got turned in..when they didn't we'd go to ski jail....." I dunno. Anyways, I stepped in to explain they weren't her skis, as he is trying to jam her boot into her ski. As soon as I stepped in...I had a child attached to my leg, and one attached to my front at the time as well. Mia was in a front carrier with me. We got the ski situation figured out and I could not pry my child off of my leg. Screaming ensued and there I was; all alone, in the cold, with 2 kids hanging on me. I tried to encourage Mallory to do what the other kids were doing with just 1 ski on. Told her it was like riding her scooter at home. Bloody murder. She was in complete meltdown mode, hysterics, hyperventilating, dead weight, the whole shebang. I drug her around for what felt like eternity trying to get her to just use her one ski so she would feel comfortable. I used bribery to it's fullest extent. Candy, stuffed animal, candy AND stuffed animal. I got nowhere.We were 'that' family. The family that you politely smile at and sympathize with because their child looks like a complete monster, and you can't help but thinking...Boy, am I glad that isn't MY KID! Yes, that was us. I just kept thinking...there goes 60 Euro right. out. the. window, as I too, politely smiled back at the sympathetic parents. It was making me even more frustrated. Alas, I spotted Josh in the ski lift line ready to go skiing for the first time in 6+ years. I flag him down giving him the "DECAPITATION" signal, meaning it is O.V.E.R. He runs down, and I assure him I'll be fine and get the girls back to the hotel and that he needed to ski his way back to the hotel, because I was surely not coming back to get him! I had had enough and it wasn't even 10 am!
     I drag Mallory to the ski shop, Mia on my front, no exaggeration, dragging Mallory with one hand while she hobbles in her ski boots, and carrying skis, ski helmet, a diaper bag, and my nice camera in the other hand. This was the nice camera I had intended on taking so many awesome pictures of her first ski experience. WOMP WOMP. We get to the ski shop and Mallory is still teary eyed and showing signs of having just been screaming for an eternity. I tell the lady at the counter..."Uh...yea...this didn't quite work out," throwing my eyes dramatically toward the huffy puffy 3 year old. Thank goodness she gave us our money back. We spend another eternity trying to return the rental equipment. We head back toward the car, she is still catching her breath from her meltdown and about half way to the car she says,"Mommy, I'm sorry for throwing that hissy fit" I lost it. My eyes filled with tears. I had been so frustrated with her and most certainly spoke in a manner I shouldn't have. I told her I was sorry she got so upset, and that I was frustrated. I wasn't sorry that I made her try it, because it is good to try new things,but I was just sorry she didn't enjoy it, and just simply didn't like it. I told her trying new things sometimes is scary, but you have to do it enough so that it isn't scary anymore. We agreed she could try it again when she was older if she wanted to.
     So back to the hotel for us, and the girls crashed. They took great naps, and that, is Mallory's first skiing experience.
We did some sight seeing while we were in Germany. We went to see the Neuchweinstein Castle (the one that the Disneyland castle is modeled after) and also saw the Linderhoff Castle. Both Castles belonged to King Ludwig the 'some number or another.' I'm not really that good with History. It snowed for 3 days straight and I loved every second of it. We had a great time with Doug, Sandy and Tori. Mallory loved getting to hang out with Tori. They are just adorable together.

   My mom arrives in one week for another extended stay. Josh and I are planning date nights once a week and at least a mini trip or two while she is here. We don't get to be "just the two of us" ever, so be thankful, if you are surrounded by family that is willing to pitch in and help so you can get some you time. Don't take it for granted, that, and Target :) We've got an impromptu trip to Rome coming up. Meeting a high school buddy of Josh's and his wife and some of her family in Rome over Easter weekend. 2 nights in Rome, just the two of us...could be another Hunking on the way! Ok..maybe not. I'm not quite there...yet. Could be kinda cool though...the baby could have a onesie that said, "Made in Rome" Too much? I digress. We are looking forward to that, just being together and catching up with some friends. Nothing planned after that, at this point.
    The weather is starting to warm up here. I am ready for it to be flip flop weather...like yesterday! I've planted strawberries, and lettuce and I'd still like to plant some tomatoes, basil for sure. Fresh pesto here I come! I walked into the little grocery store up the street the other day and it was 65 degrees and sunny and I had a T-shirt on. The guy in the store said, "Americana?" I told him, yes I was an American. He pointed to my sleeves. I clearly stood out, from all of the other Italians who are still in winter coats, hats and scarves. I got a good chuckle out of that one. Wait till I whip out the flip flops...that will turn some heads!

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Thanks for reading. I know it is long...but it has been nearly 6 months since my last blog. Just recently, I've heard from 2 people asking about my blog..so you can thank my friend Susan and my Aunt Laura for encouraging me to get back to it. If you didn't enjoy the blog...you can blame Susan and my Aunt Laura.

Until next time...
-L