Monaca- what

Yesterday afternoon Giovanni had a Dr. apt on the northern outskirts of Milan- after leaving the apt. we decided to drive up to Como since we were not too far away. It was really nice drive with little snow flurries in the air and a little bit of snow on the ground- Beautiful!!!! Once we got to Como we decided to head up to Bellagio we did not get 5 min from Como when we slowed down to let a car pull out in front of us. You see they had been pulled over by the Carabinieri (one of the MANY police type of authorities here) and were now pulling out- we slowed to a stop so they could easily pull out and then the little uniformed man waving the white stick with a red target like circle flagged us to pull in!!! Gio and I were both confused- we had not done anything to merit the "pull over"!!! As one officer checked out Gio's license, registration-and the insurance stuff the other one did a little walk around the car with Giovanni *this is very different from USA they don’t care if you get out of the car* he was checking out the tires and telling Gio they needed to be changed- then he asked what we were transporting- nothing- Gio opened the back to show him the spare tire and empty water bottles rolling around back there. It was as if they were searching for something to nail us with! Then they asked for my documents. *Another difference, they usually ask for all the documents of passengers* we handed over the copy of my visa and my Utah drivers license- I could tell something was up when they started looking at it funny! Sure enough the visa- being only a copy was not valid- I have to carry around the real thing as well as my passport. Not only that but apparently my Utah license is not valid for them as a id- I know I need to get my Italian id card! I was thinking... "so what are they going to do? take me in b/c I don’t have my correct documents"?
Then came the best part!!!
Both officers came to my side of the car and asked me a few weird questions.....
Officer "how did you enter into Italy"?
Me: "On the airplane with my passport" Very perplexed
Officer: "okay, I understand that, but are you a monaca?"
Me: (not knowing what the heck a monaca was) "ummm I am a Mormon"
Officer: "I know the Mormons, I respect them, but for us the system shows that you entered Italy for religious reasons. When is the baby due?"
Me: "in less than 2 weeks, I entered in 2002 with that visa- in 2003 I went home and 2 years later I married him (pointing to Gio). I don’t understand why it shows that I am still under a religious visa- I have had 2 family visa's since then"
Officer: "My colleagues and I are curious, why is a monaca pregnant"?

Apparently he thought I was a Woman Monk- monaca, the word I did not know, and that b/c I was pregnant Gio was trying to take me to Switzerland to escape or something!!! How funny is that!!! We had to do a little explaining, but in the end we left (not going to Bellagio) without a ticket and lots to laugh about! Here are a few pictures from the drive back!

Happy New Year to you all!!! Buon Anno a Tutti!!

Buon Natale 2008!

Merry Christmas to you all!!!

3 years of love!

Yesterday we celebrated our 3 year together! I prepared clam chowder and lobster!!! While I was preparing dinner a delivery came- a beautiful bouquet of flowers! What a sweet hubby!!!
At first when I had told Giovanni that I wanted to make lobster and explained that they had to be alive then we put them in boiling water for 10 min- he was really concerned about them! Although when it came time to put them in the water he was excited to see how it would all turn out- he also understood why there is the saying "you look red like a lobster!!" When we sat down to eat at our candle adorned table I spied this little teal bag- Tiffany & Co. What a surprise! The bouquet of colorful flowers was enough- but my thoughtful husband had more in store for me! A delicate, silver heart necklace!
The fun did not end there- we spent the next hour or so decorating gingerbread houses and listening to Christmas music! It was a great day!
I love you sweet Giovanni! Thank you for your love and support! I love your enthusiasm and joy over the smallest things! You have a natural ability to make friends with anyone and put others at ease. I am grateful for the struggles we have been through and look forward to the adventures that lie ahead! TI AMO GIO MIO!!!

more countdown fun

We are getting a lot closer to the arrival of our little girl!

Interested in pregnancy? Read about pregnancy symptoms
and find baby names.
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Upload baby photos and learn about breastfeeding.

private midwife or no?

Giovanni and I have been going back and forth about hiring the private midwife who has been following me here in Italy through my pregnancy to be "on- call" for when labor starts. She would come to our house and work with me through the first part of the labor until I dilate to 6 or so then head to the hospital, thus avoiding staying in the hospital too long. Once there she would be a personal coach to me, but has no legal rights in the hospital to do anything as far as delivery goes. From what I understand at the hospital there are about 2 midwives running between 6 labor and delivery rooms that seem to normally be full with one maybe 2 Dr's on call, so the care is not very personal.
I really want to labor and deliver all natural with out any kind of drugs (however, I have taken the steps to meet with and get paper work complete from the anesthesiologist JUST IN CASE), I think that hiring our mw will help me in this goal- but trying to understand if the cost is worth it is another thing! We have to call her tomorrow and let her know what our choice is....
Time is ticking and our little girl will be here shortly after the new year starts!!! How exciting!!!
I do have some new belly shots to post, but need to sort through them- stay tuned for that!

a beautiful lesson

The other day I was watching CNN International (the only English channel I get), there was a special story on genocide in the world. There was one specific story done on survivors of the horrible massacre in Rwanda. The story was highlighting how the survivors are living back in their old homes and healing from the horrible acts committed and lived through. I was very touched by a woman who was serving dinner to her basket weaving partner (they now weave baskets sold in Macys department stores for money) and her husband. This may sound normal- but the unique part of the story is that the husband of her basket friend was the one who killed 5 of her children!!! She was serving them dinner!!! What a beautiful story of forgiveness!!! She is has forgiven and she is healing! What a great lesson for all of us to learn- especially during this season! We should all be more forgiving!