Before and after pictures

I actually can't believe I'm making these available to the world. I would be mortified, if I didn't find them so hilarious. I would love to say the weight gain is all in my belly, but I've gained in a few other places as well... I've actually watched my diet and exercised throughout pregnancy. I can't imagine what would have happened if I had taken the "I'm eating for two, I can have anything I want" mentality.

Both of the "skinny" pictures were taken around 3 months. The "fat" pictures were taken at 38 weeks. I used small pictures, because I didn't want to make myself any larger than I already am. Skyla's (the dog) always got to be in the middle of the action. I don't really think she understands that her world is about to turn upside down.

With 2 weeks to spare, the nursery is finally about ready as it's going to be. I have a few more pictures to frame and hang, but the big stuff is done. The alphabet sampler above the changing table hung in my nursery and my brother's. My Aunt Laura made it for me. It had my name on it, so I changed it to Ezra. Luckily, it's similar to Erin. Hopefully,

the baby will be a boy.

There's a picture of the glider and ottoman. It's fake leather, but it's really comfortable.

These are some shelves we put in here for more storage and easy access to toys.

Well, unless I get even more huge before I have this baby, hopefully the next blog will have pictures of our new family member!

Aviano Baby Shower

We had a blast at the baby shower this past weekend. Thanks to Scarlet for working so hard to make it fabulous and to everyone who came. I had such a great time.

This is the food table (my favorite part :), and me in my designated, guest-of-honor rocking chair.

The mum is one of the things Italians put on their house when there is a new baby.

These are some of my wonderful guests.

This is a happy little Italian giraffe.

This is my friend Elisa. I put this on here, to tell a funny cupcake story. Scarlet had baked a couple dozen cupcakes and in a few of them, she had put a plastic baby. Whomever found the baby won a prize. Elisa, being slightly competitive, (like someone else we all know) was determined to find one of the babies. Scarlet thought she had put the cupcakes with the babies out on the table (while the rest were extras and in the kitchen), but apparently she forgot which cupcakes had the babies in them, because after Elisa's fifth cupcake she gave up. You can see the pile of wrappers on her plate. :)

I have a ton of pictures of all the great gifts we received, but that would probably interest very few of you. This is one of the many cute outfits we received, and a Precious Moments footprint kit.



And what would a blog be without a tummy profile? I'm just over 36 weeks here.



Thanks for Elizabeth Peterson for most of the pictures.

Nursery

First, some before shots of the nursery. The first one is during our painting endeavor and the second is Mike putting the crib together.
The nursery is still not complete. We have to pick up the rocker we ordered and we're having a couple of things framed, but just in case (ha, ha) the baby comes before it's perfect, I wanted to post these (so Mom doesn't kill me).
This photo was taken as you would walk in the room. The crib is on the right, the rocker will go in the naked corner (hopefully along with a little nightstand/table) , then the changing table, then the wardrobe. We are still waiting on a dustruffle and bumper pads to go on the crib. We also need to get some sort of cushion to go on the changing table. Then there's our wardrobe (that isn't the same color wood as the rest, but oh well...). This is the inside of the wardrobe. Since baby clothes don't take up that much space, we were able to get these shelves and use them for out-of-sight storage.
So that's pretty much it for now. I'll update when I get the finishing touches put up.
Oh, and the biggest news...the Aviano hospital is open again!! Thanks for all the prayers. God is so good--he takes even our "comfort level" into consideration.

I'm 36 weeks today! My check up went well. The baby is head down, but still pretty far up there, so the Dr. didn't seem to think I would be delivering anytime soon. In a way, that might be a good thing.

We were informed a couple of days ago that the labor and delivery ward at the hospital on base is closed due to some sterilization and gas ventilation problems. They can still do deliveries, but since every delivery has the potential for problems and an emergency C-section, they cannot risk for ANY deliveries to take place there. They have put in an emergency repair order, but it seems like everything in Italy takes 10 times longer than expected. They say it will be down from a week to indefinitely. So, all deliveries will occur in the Italian hospital in Pordenone (the nearest town about 10 min south of Aviano). I would much rather deliver in an American hospital with American doctors, but since the situation is out of my control, I've decided not to stress about it. Who knows? Perhaps the Aviano hospital will be up and running by the time the baby decides to come out.

In order to at least have to option for an epidural I had to have blood drawn today and an EKG. Then I will meet with an Italian anesthesiologist sometime in the next 2 weeks for a consultation. If for whatever reason the baby comes before the consultation, I'll have to deliver with no pain meds.

I have full confidence in the Italian doctors and nurses and complete faith in the Italian health care system. My concerns are mostly about how "comfortable" it will be; i.e. the language barrier (although we are supposed to have a translator there for some of the time and when I'm not trying to push a baby out, I'll probably be fine with the Italian I know), we have to bring our own toiletries, Mike will be able to stay through the delivery, but after that he can only come during visiting hours, I'll have a roommate, no DVD player, no video recording, the list goes on...

We're supposed to go down for a tour of the facilities on Tuesday so I think that will alleviate many of my fears. I think that's all the info I have to update you to this point. Hopefully my next blog will say "Aviano's open again!!".

Italians celebrate Epiphany. It is the holiday commemorating when the wise men brought gifts to Jesus and signals the end of the Christmas season. Unrelated (I think) to this holiday, although it occurs on the same day are the bonfires. The bonfires represent a kind of renewing of the land and hope for a good harvest next year.
These pictures are from Fanna, the next town over. It was the biggest bonfire in our area. There was a dummy at the top. This is where I'm confused about the tradition. I originally thought that the dummy was La Befana (and it very well might be). However, nothing I know about La Befana warrants her adorning the top of a very large bonfire. La Befano literally means witch, but it has nothing to do with actually practicing witchcraft. It's just a really old, bent, woman. According to Italian legend, on the way to see the Christ child, the wise men had to stop and ask for directions. They knocked on the door of a house where a gnarled, old woman answered. She knew nothing about the one they were seeking, so she sent them away. The wise men asked her if she wanted to join them, but she declined claiming she had a lot of housework to do. Later, she began to think that she had missed a great opportunity and went to search for them. Unable to find them, she gave a treat to every child she could find, hoping one of them would be the Christ child. Every year on the eve of Epiphany she visits every house looking for the Christ child and in a stocking hung by the chimney she leaves treats for good children and lumps of coal for the bad children. Sound familiar? Anyway, like I said, I'm not sure why they would burn her for that, but I don't know what else the dummy could represent.
This is a picture of the mountain nearest our house. I was standing at the bonfire when I took the picture. If you look really hard, you can see a tiny bit of snow. :)
I'll have all of you know that I walked to Fanna to take all of these pictures. It was no easy feat, especially for a very pregnant woman. I think it's about 6 or 7 kilometers--round trip.
This is the main road leading into our town--Cavasso Nuovo. The town church is on the far left.
The last pictures are of the bonfire of course. I was able to take a short video on my camera, but I'm not sure how or if I'm able to put it on here. For as green as everything looked, it sure went up fast. In the picture on the right, it's mainly the dummy that's burning.