I am a little over 28 weeks.

Mike and I attended the baptism of Canaan Matthew Dowling this weekend. The Dowlings are our friends and fellow Cavassans (we all live in Cavasso Nuovo). We were happy to attend to show our love and support, but it was also a really neat experience for us. The service was in Cavasso's church here in town. We should have made the 10 minute walk, but since we were running a little late, we drove. However, when we made the walk up the hill to the church from where we parked, I realized that that hike alone would be sufficient as my exercise for the day.
The service was in Italian. Somehow, a child's Catholic baptism seems more authentic if it takes place in Italy, in a small-town church, and in Italian. Kind of like if one were to be baptized in the Jordan river. I'm well aware that there's no fundamental differences, but I just think there's just something special about it. I know, I'm ridiculous.
The first picture is Canaan with Ron and Dorit. Dorit is our (Allison and Dowling) realator and one of our first friends in Italy.
Next is the Priest that performed the ceremony next to the baptismal. Dowling family (Jerry, Shelly, McKenna, Jack, Quinton, and Canann) and the Godmother (Barbara--their Italian babysitter and friend) and her family.
Anyway, we were happy to take part and happy to eat all the great food at the Dowlings afterward.
This is a picture of me and an update on belly status. I know it's dark, but I hope you can also appreciate the bright yellow fall foliage behind me. Fall has officially arrived in Cavasso.

Happy Halloween!

Baby Shower!

We were so blessed by the overwhelming amount of love and support we received at the shower! We are so grateful to have a home church family and so many faithful friends that are celebrating the arrival of our first child with us.
At the very top are all of the wonderful ladies that volunteered to help with the event. (Sorry Laney, the photographer didn't tell me they couldn't see you :(.)
On the top right is me and proud Grandma.
Then you'll see hostesses, Laney, Kimberly and Jennifer in various states of preparation.
I was excited to have Mike's Aunt Carma make the drive all the way from New Braunfels.
And of course, what's a baby shower, with out presents? The big picture was taken as I opened Mike's favorite gift. I Houston Astros (Bagwell) outfit. I'm afraid our son will be born into a family of hard-core Astros fans. (Not that that's a bad thing...)
Barbara Wolfe was kind enough to involve my Mom with an "I love Grandma" bib. Too cute.
We also had 2 trash helpers: our niece Armani and Tobi Gillespie pictured here with the yellow ribbon on her head.
I'm afraid the 13+ hour flight back and forth was very comfortable, but the trip was so worth it. It was great to see everyone (after almost a year of living overseas), and I can't wait to come home this summer so all of you can meet our son. :)

I had my ultrasound today. This is me before I went into the exam room. I bought a girl outfit and a boy outfit--the first baby clothes I've purchased. I was so nervous (can you tell?).

The technician took tons of pictures of the baby and pointed out crucial organs. In one shot it was giving us a big "thumbs up" sign. I just hope it doesn't get too comfortable in there. It's got to move out in about 4 1/2 months. The picture he gave me to take home isn't very good. I don't want to put it on the blog, because it makes the baby look scary. Its mouth is open and there are two big holes for the eyes. It looks rather ghoulish. The baby is currently in a breech position, but no worries. It has plenty of time to turn around. Everything appeared healthy and in working order.

Finally, we got to the most crucial part. Boy or girl? It wasn't a very good picture. The baby was being modest. But the technician said, "I think it's a BOY!" At first he pointed to some fuzzy matter and said that it was a little more tissue than he sees with girls. He tried to poke and prod him a little to see if he would move, but to no avail. We went to go look at the face again where we could see a definite profile of his nose, lips, and chin. (What a cutie!) When we went back down to see if he had moved around at all, the technician froze on something and pointed out what he believed to be THE vital male organ, but the umbilical cord was kind of in the way, so it still wasn't real clear. The technician said that since he didn't have a definitive, with out a doubt view, he could only be about 85% sure that it's a boy. I said, "I'll take it". So barring any surprises when the little critter pops out, we're expecting a boy. Yea!

19 weeks

I'm definitely not looking my best here. I thought about cutting my head off, but that seemed silly. I am wearing a tank top, but the highs here have only been in the low to mid 70s. Are ya jealous??

I had a good report from the Dr. today at my monthly check up. The results from my blood tests were back and everything is normal. The baby has the same chance of getting a horrible disease as anyone else in the world. (spina bifida 1 in 50,000 and down syndrome 1 in 1,600) I also learned that I am not a carrier for Cystic Fibrosis. So even if Mike is a carrier, the baby won't get it because we both have the have the gene.

I weighed a little heavier than I hoped at my last appointment, so I was glad to see I had dropped a couple of lbs. this time. (I'm at 122! I must be really short, because I'm definitely not skinny.) I was just a little nervous about it being ok for the baby. The Dr. noticed and asked me if I was having any problems. I replied that I was eating the same amount of the same stuff I'd been eating my whole pregnancy. He said it wasn't really much of a difference and I looked great, so he wasn't concerned. Yea!

The baby's heart rate has dropped down to 150 (from 162) which is still fine. When we were listening to the heart beat, we heard and I felt the baby kick and then it started to move away from the microphone. Great. Its got attitude already. I can't imagine where the baby gets it from ... :)

I've been feeling the baby move since Sunday morning. According to my Meme, she first felt my Dad move during a movie, thus resulting perhaps in his love for movies. So based on that theory, maybe our baby will grow up to be a preacher since I was sitting in Sunday school at the time. :)

I guess the most exciting news is that after scheduling and rescheduling a million times both at Italian doctors and on base, I finally have an appointment on base to get a ultrasound done. The doctor will be looking at anatomy and hopefully be able to determine gender. I can't wait!! The appointment is next Wednesday, so sadly, Mike will miss it. It was the only time I could get in before I come to the States (Sept 28-Oct 9).

Our tentative plans for me to have the baby at home in Houston, didn't quite work out as we had hoped. The good news is that Mike will be able to be present for the birth of his first child. The bad news is that it will probably be May before the baby and I get to come home to meet everyone.

I'll see all y'all Houston folks in a couple of weeks!

My 15 week appointment yesterday was disappointingly uneventful and short. The Dr. was able to listen to the heartbeat through my belly (which was highly desirable compared to the alternative method I had to endure last time). It took her about 4 tries to find it so I was starting to get a little nervous, and very relieved when she finally found it. She only listened for about 10 seconds but we heard it kicking around (although I'm not feeling it yet). The heart beat was at 158.

I also had blood drawn for standard testing for genetic diseases. We won't get the results back for about 3 weeks, but we're not too concerned. The blood is sent to San Antonio and Keesler (of all places).

My next appointment is in 4 weeks and it shouldn't be too long after that that we find out the gender. The Dr. said they do it around 20-22 weeks. So while that seems like an eternity, we are looking forward to finally being able to start decorating and stuff.

I do have a slight bluge and you can see from the picture, but some of that was still left over from a rather large dinner I ate. :)

Czech Republic: Cesky Krumlov

This was a cute little border town. There's a river that encircles it, making the town like an island. There were a ton of shops, restaurants, and another "castle". I think the colorful tower in this picture was a part of the castle. It took forever to get our food at lunch (I had vegetable soup in chicken broth with homemade noodles--very good and Mike had a trout with french fries), so by the time we were done, we didn't have a whole lot of time for anything else. We took a quick run through the "castle". It was built into a rock hill. It was long and we basically just went through the courtyards; in one side and out the other. This bridge spans the gap between one rock hill and the other. We took this picture of the city from that bridge. We basically followed this walkway all the way through the castle (it was much bigger than what you see in the picture).
This is one of the churches in town. The bottom, right picture is just some colorful buildings along the river. In the next picture I am standing in front of the fountain (but you can barely see me) in one of the castle courtyards. I'm not really the focus of the picture. :) You can tell by the number of pictures we have of the tower, it was the prettiest thing in the city and it dominated the skyline. At the end of the castle walkway, we found ourselves on a bridge over the bear habitat. You probably can't tell a whole lot about his size, but let me assure you, he was a big'un.
Truth be told, I might have enjoyed this little town more than Prague. I don't think Prague quite met my expectations. I mean it was pretty cool, just not as "bohemian" as I had hoped.
We stopped for supper in Austria and I had some goulash. It was awesome! Not like Meme's "Garrett goulash", but good nonetheless. ;)

Czech Republic: Prague

This weekend we went to the Czech Republic. We left about 10:15 pm and drove through the night. Because the country of Italy takes almost the entire month of August off, we ran into some traffic. In addition, we made 5 or 6 stops. We didn't meet our tour guide until about 9:30 on Sat. morning. So after sitting for so long we were pretty happy to take a walk around the old city. Did I mention I was throwing up all morning? Yeah. Not a fun bus trip for Erin.
Above is the Church of Our Lady Before the Tyn. The right tower (called Adam) is slightly larger (39 cm) than the left tower (Eve). Across the square was the Old Town Hall and Orloj (clock). On the hour, the bell tolls, and the 12 son (apostles) figures pass by the windows that open at the top. There was such a crowd, we couldn't see very well. This clock dates from the 1400s. It is on the wall of the Old Town Hall. The Old Town Hall was the only building the Nazis destroyed in Prague. You can see how the building looks chopped off on the right side. They did it on the way out of town after the war was already over.
This is the far end of Wenceslas Square. It's a really huge pedestrian area with lots of shopping. It is actually is less of a square and more of a "T" shape. This is the bottom of the T. We were in the top of the T when we ate at TGIFriday's. Yes, Prague has TGIFriday's. No Hard Rock, but it was soooo good to have American food. Remember, my stomach was still a little on edge, so I wanted something non-experimental. This is the National Theater. From what the tour guide said, Czechs love theater of all kinds.


This is King Charles Bridge and the Prague castle. The spires that you see are in the castle complex, but it's really a cathedral. Prague Castle is less of a "true" castle and more of a series palaces and old government buildings, and of course the cathedral.
This is the tower at the entrance to King Charles Bridge. The tour guide said that King Charles was their most influential king. I think he commissioned over 20 cathedrals and lots of other stuff. The bridge as it stands today was finished in 1402.
This is at Prague Castle. It is the first courtyard of the castle and behind it is the palace. It is where the president of the Czech Republic currently resides. The gate is guarded by 2 guards that can't move or smile or anything-- kinda like the guards in London, only with better uniforms.
This is the cathedral in the castle complex. It's called St. Vitus. And this is where our camera battery died. However, there's not a whole lot more at the castle we would've taken a picture of anyway.

We also visited the Jewish Quarter of the city. We peeked in the graveyard where the graves go 12 people deep. There are 144,00 people buried in a very small space. The gravestones where practically inches a part.
I didn't include a picture of this, but I think it bears mentioning that while we did not see him, our tour guide told us that Johnny Depp was staying in one of the hotels on the river because he was filming a movie in Prague. She didn't know the name of it though. She said she met him on King Charles bridge one day. She said he was nice, but really skinny. I said it was probably because he smokes so much. Ha. I took a picture of the hotel. :)
The next morning we had breakfast at the hotel and headed for Cesky Krumlov. Please see the next blog.

First, some pictures of our furry child, Skyla enjoying the water at a creek leading to Lake Barcis. Even in July, the water is freezing. The top right one is of her being carried downstream a bit by the current.

There is new life around us in many ways. These, a green bean, a zucchini, and some tomatoes came from my garden. The tomatoes do look a little funny, but they taste fine.

Last but certainly not least is the ultrasound picture of our baby. Under it's head, the Dr. typed Ciao! Mom and Dad! It's too early to determine gender but we did see and hear a beating heart, which is the most important thing. They confirmed my due date of Feb. 8, 2007. They also saw only 1 baby. The heart is beating at 162 bpm. If you go by the rule that boys have fewer bpm than girls, 162 is pretty much in the middle of the range. So unfortunately, no real clue as to what gender it is. I have another appt. in 3 weeks when I am 15 weeks along. They will look for and check more of the child's anatomy (hopefully they will be able to determine gender). They will also run the standard triple marker test for any abnormalities as well as check amniotic fluid etc. That's about all I can think to tell you. More in 3 weeks.

This is me and the baby. I'm not showing too much. You could tell more in a naked picture, but Mike wouldn't let me post that on the internet. Ha, ha.

Tentative plans are for Mike to be deployed in Jan and for me to come to Houston to have the baby. Not the most ideal situation, but he has to go and it's either in Jan or May. We feel that a Jan deployment is the lesser of two evils.

More later. :)

BABY ALLISON

We found out on Monday that I am 8 weeks pregnant. I took 2 home pregnancy tests on Monday and on Tuesday I went to the doctor for a blood test which was also positive.

Unfortunately, I the OB won't see me until I am 3 months so I'm just eating well and trying to learn as much as possible about my new role in life.

It's still hard for me to believe, because I don't really "feel" pregnant. I haven't really been sick, I'm not excessively tired, etc. They just tell me there's a baby in there so...

No pictures or anything yet. I pretty much look the same as I did in all of the vacation pictures from a week ago. Who knew?

I'm sweating out the next 4 weeks because apparently at 3 months I'm pretty much out of the woods as far as morning sickness and miscarriage.

So please be praying for us and the baby as we attempt to tackle this new stage in our lives.

The Rest of Ireland

After Blarney, we traveled north to Limerick. These are some castle ruins and a random church we saw along the way. Since Mike couldn't really pull off at a moment's notice, Mom and I continually played a game of "photograph that church". If you've ever tried to take a picture from a moving car, you know what a challenge that can be. You never know what sign or building will suddenly obstruct your view. We had to take like 5 or 6 pictures every time to get 1 semi-decent shot. It was funny. When we got to Limerick and the River Shannon, we saw King John's Castle. Again, because we had spent so long at Blarney, we just got some pictures. Also , as we drove along the Shannon we saw several groups of swans. A little girl was feeding these at a ramp. They were so huge and their necks were really bendy. This is another picture of roadside ruins.

Between Limerick and Shannon was Bunratty Castle.

This next picture was a graveyard and some ruins on a hill overlooking the town. We thought it was enchanting, but it was hard to get a good picture of it.

This cross was in another graveyard we stopped at right on the coast near the Cliffs of Moher.

These are the beautiful Cliffs of Moher. It is a 5 mile stretch of dramatic cliffs that meet the ocean in a roar of waves. I think I had seen a picture of them in a calendar or something once and I was completely taken with their beauty. It was the one thing I had to see in Ireland. I wasn't disappointed. Moher is the Gaelic word for ruins. As you can see there are several ruins. But, we couldn't walk over there for a closer look. It was really windy, so they had people out there making sure tourists didn't get too close to the edge. I'm sure you can tell by the chaos of our hair (well, Mom's and mine anyway) how windy it was.

I used to think if I was a cow, I'd like to live in Brenham, but after seeing how green and lush it is here, I might have to reconsider. However, I don't think these cows will be used to make ice cream... (Yes, I took a picture of cows on my Ireland vacation.)

This castle/watchtower was a little further down the coast.

When we finally made it to Connemara and arrived safely at our B&B, we got out of the car and looked up to see a beautiful double rainbow. What could be more perfect than seeing a rainbow over the coast in Ireland? We could only assume that leprechauns were playing with a pot of gold at the end. It was magical.

When the magic was over, we went inside to check in and inquire about a place to get some supper. On our way out of the driveway, Mike (who had, up to this point, done an excellent job driving on the passenger side, the left side of the road, and shifting with his left hand) ran over a stone "fence" about a foot high. It scratched the bottom of the car, ripped off some of the plastic mudflap thing, and punctured the tire. Thank goodness everything was in working order and we just had to use the spare tire.

This was the view from the dining room at the B&B. Lovely.

Some other random, roadside churches.

Then we returned the car to Dublin and hopped on our flight back to London.

Good stuff huh?