30 Weeks, the count down is on!

The last day of October will start the 30th week of pregnancy! As you can see from the pictures our little girl is really showing through! She is getting stronger and I feel her often in my ribs... maybe she is counting! As far as everything else goes I am still trying to understand the way the health system works here. I have been privately (vs going through the public system of seeing someone different for every visit) been seeing an Italian midwife who also worked in London for many years, because of this she has many views that are similar to those in the USA. In any case we are still in Italy and are going to be giving birth here so we must follow the system. Part of this includes choosing a hospital, now once that is done I need to have a visit with the anesthesiologist who will then decide if I can have an epidural or not... now this does not mean that I can even have one when the time comes, just that I have gone through the "paper process". Now lets move on to the hospital part. Now when the time comes and I go into labor and we go to the "chosen" hospital if they happen to be full (the largest one only has 10 labor and delivery rooms) they will send us away to another place! Crazy! The other part of all of this is that I pretty much bring all of my own stuff with me including what I will wear during the ENTIRE hospital stay as well as my own maxi pads and underwear, most places you have to bring your own TP and utensils to eat with and all of the needed clothing ect for the baby. Hopefully where ever we end up to welcome our daughter to the world the medical staff will be competent and kind! Now on a yummier note this last picture is of the Sicilian cheesecake that our friend Marco brought back from Ragusa Monday night! YUM! Wish we could have shared it with you all! I guess it is another reason for you all to visit us in Italy!

Monumental Cemetery

Since before I came to Milan as a missionary I heard about the monumental cemetery, I have even passed it a few times but finally this weekend Gio and I went to check it out! It was pretty cool! Check out our photos!

some of this week

This week Gio went to London for a quick overnight trip here are a few pictures he took while there.

Easy Peasy!

Kristi (my sis in law) just opened her etsy shop! It is full of fun creative baby clothes!Check it out!
http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=6374550

Dialogue in the Dark

This weekend and part of the coming week is an International Food Summit that Gio has been involved in planning. There are many representatives from different countries here in Milan for forums and events organized by the (non-existent *still no law signed) EXPO 2015 committee. This was planned around the FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization) day to "Stand Up against hunger in the world".
As part of this week of events Gio and I went last night to the Blind Institute here in Milan to participate in "Dialogue in the Dark". Basically you are guided by a blind person through a series of different environments: a park, the seaside, the city, a house and finally to a piano cafe where you can sit order a drink and snack on munchies, however, all of this is done in COMPLETE BLACKNESS! You are given a stick to map out obstacles in front of you, but you rely on your other senses to get you from one place to another, all in all it lasted about 2 hours. The group we toured with was small, one other couple along with us, and we had a great time! What an opportunity to try and understand how someone with no sight lives! It was a great date for us! The picture is the outside of the building we had this experience in.

Carless

Last week when I came home from my friend Natalies house I parked the car a street away from the apartment in a zone it could stay on while we were gone last weekend (the city cleans the streets and we have to pay attention where we leave the car). Last night Gio went to go get a few cases of water from the car, he called me to make sure he understood where it was, but to our horror and dissapointment it was gone!!! After calling 3 numbers and being on hold a LONG time we found out the car had been towed! Apparently a few days ago a sign had been put up that some work was going to be done on the street and the car was towed just the day before!!!! We had a good laugh! Now we need to go pick up our car!

I got tagged, tagged and tagged again!

I have been tagged 3 times in the past week, so here I will do my best to do what they all ask.

Primo: Picture tag, Go to the 4th folder and post the 4th picture then add 6 quirky things about myself. This is a picture of my nephew Jameson taken last year while he was on grandma's giant exercise ball. 1.I have co-owned a PET chicken that ran away my parents always teased me that we were eating Goldie for dinner- how mean! 2. I love to be bare foot 3. When I was little I loved to lick the sidewalk (this would really gross out Gio). 4. My favorite animals are chameleons. 5. I don't like talking on the phone to people I don't know, phone phobia i guess 6. I am cursed with cameras, but LOVE to take pictures

Secondo: I think that because the last 6 were about me the next 7 will be about Giovanni!!! 1. Broke his nose when he was 3 months old (I think that is why he now snores). 2. I think Gio has more shoes then me 3. Gio is obsessed with washing his hands (BTW Oct. 15 was World Washing Hands Day) 4. Gio is a "little" afraid of heights (his words) 5. Prefers salty over sugary food 6. Even as outgoing as he is Gio is a bit shy when he is "in the spotlight" 7. He likes to sing, but is out of tune and was told by an opera singer that his voice needed to be educated and he would sing well I was tagged by Erica, her link is to the side, but I think she is private... sorry folks!

Terza:
Husband tag
1. Husbands name? Giovanni Antonio Criscione
2. How long have you been married? 3 years in December
3.How long did you date? Date? I don't think Gio and I really dated. We met in June 2005 and got married in December.
4. How old is he? 34 years old
5. Who eats more sweets? I eat more sweets, which is not much. However he eats more junk food
6. Who said I love you first? Giovanni
7. Who is taller? Gio is a little taller then me
8. Who is smarter? Good question! Gio has his areas of expertise
9. Who sings the best? Me, although he really likes to sing, even if he is a bit tone deaf
10. Who does the laundry? I do, unless I am gone, he does
11. Who pays the bills? both of us
12.Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? I do its closer to the bathroom we change every now and again
13. Who mose the lawn? we are apartment dwellers, there is no lawn (but when we are in Utah we both really love to mow)
14. Who cooks dinner? I do, but Gio is a good cook
15. Who is the 1st to admit when they are Wrong? Giovanni
16. Who kissed who first? Gio kissed me a few hours after we met, I pulled away then we he tried a few minutes later I kissed him back! Who would not want a story with an Italian?
17. Who asked who out first? I met Gio in church and he asked me to go sight seeing with him a few hours later
18. Who wears the pants in the family? I think it is pretty equal

I don't really want to tag anyone, so if you see this post and want to tag yourself... then you can say I tagged you! VIA!