Hitting the Road for the Holidays

It's hard to believe that it's already December and Christmas is right around the corner. I haven't written since our trip to the US in October. Marco's brother, Carlo, got married in Minnesota and we also spent some time with my family in Chicago. It was a great trip and Mia was just smothered with love and kisses the entire time. We got to do some shopping at Target and Trader Joe's, which just made my day! We also got to eat some good Mexican food that we had been missing so much.

Today we are getting ready to start our trip to Peru for the holidays. We will spend the night in Dublin and take a morning flight tomorrow. We have to stop in Atlanta for a night, so my parents are driving from Orlando just to spend the day with Mia! They are so excited to see her and it's just a little bonus that we get to be together. Then it's on to Lima on Thursday, where we will spend a month with Marco's family. I'm excited because we will get to do a bit of traveling to Arequipa (where Marco was born) and the beaches in the north of Peru. It should be a fantastic trip and lots of attention for the wee one! I'll try to write and post pictures when we get back in January.

September in Spain

So, we officially survived our first international trip with Mia! Marco had a conference for work in Murcia, Spain so Mia and I tagged along for fun. We spent 4 days there and then spent one night in Alicante on the coast. I have to say, Mia was born to travel. She was amazing on planes, buses and taxis all the way.



Traveling with a wee one is completely different than without one. There is so much gear you have to take and lots of different considerations! It's definitely not about fitting in as much sight-seeing as possible any more. And it's not about slinging the backpacks on and seeing where the wind takes us! But everything is better with Mia. :) We really enjoyed the warm, sunny weather and being able to walk outside every day without taking a jacket and umbrella.

Marco had to attend his conference during the days in Murcia, so Mia and I just set out walking the city to explore. In the evenings we would have dinner outside on the plaza....tapas, pizza, sangria.....mmmm, yummy! It was very relaxing. We also got to celebrate my birthday while we were there. Marco was so sweet and came home one day with a card and a pastry with candles. He is very thoughtful!

After the conference ended we headed back to Alicante for one night. It was HOT there. Unfortunately, our little girl was not ready for the heat or the air conditioning and she picked up a little cold. It lasted about 9 days and it was so sad to see her suffering.

Anyway, I don't have much time or energy to write more at the moment as we are headed to the US in the morning. Marco's brother is getting married next week and we get to spend some quality with both of our families. It's been a full year since we were there so we are really looking forward to it. Of course I have my shopping list ready to go! Trader Joe's, Target, Whole Foods!!!!! And we can't wait to eat as much Mexican food as possible. We'll be gone for two weeks so let's see how Mia handles a longer trip!

Long Time, No Write

Well, it's been a couple of months since I posted anything and I'm sure you can guess why. This whole having a baby thing is a lot of work!!! :o) Mia is officially 3 months old today and she is the most precious thing I could possibly imagine. Although we are suffering from a lack of sleep, things are getting better. She is growing so fast and is becoming very interactive in the last couple of weeks. Every day it is a joy to wake up and see her smiling face. I don't have much time to write, but just wanted to check in. We are actually about to embark on some more travel....our first trips with Mia! We leave on Tuesday for a week in Spain, where Marco has a conference. In October we head to the US for and exciting event....Marco's brother is getting married! Finally, in December we will head to Peru for the holidays. We are trying to give Mia the travel bug at an early age so let's see how things go.

Mia Francesca Has Arrived!

We are thrilled to announce the arrival of our beautiful baby girl, Mia Francesca. She was born by c-section on June 26 at 1:40pm. She weighed 8lbs 7oz and measured 22 inches. Mia and I spent 3 nights in the hospital for recovery, but were very happy to come home after that. She's very healthy and happy so far, and growing like crazy before our eyes! We are very lucky to have my parents here (one set of very proud grandparents!)....I'm not sure what we would have done without them.



This Friday Mia will be 4 weeks old and we are enjoying getting to know each other. We have had some sleepless nights, but feel so lucky to have her here. Next week we head off on our first adventure to Dublin with her. We have an appointment at the US embassy to register her birth and to get her first passport! How exciting. :)

Baby Update

It seems that our little bundle of joy is trying to assert itself already! The baby has been in a breech position for months now. Despite all of my efforts to get it to turn (acupuncture, chiropractic, and trying all sorts of inverted stretching positions!) it seems to be quite comfortable the way it is. So, I have been scheduled for a c-section this Friday, June 26th. We will go to the hospital in the morning and they tell me I will likely have to stay 4 or 5 days depending on how things go. At this point we just want to have a healthy baby and we are getting anxious and excited now that we have a date!



The picture above is me at 38 weeks. My parents are here, so we will have plenty of help during the first couple of months. For that we are feeling very lucky! So, hopefully the next blog update will have good news and pictures of our little one.

My Growing Bump

I've had some requests to post belly pictures, so here you go! I'm 35 weeks today, which means there are only 5 weeks left until the wee one arrives. We are getting really excited and anxious to meet the baby. We moved to a new place last weekend, which we are loving so far. We are 2 minutes walking from the ocean and a beautiful walking promenade. We have more space now and the place definitely feels more like a home. I have started doing all of the baby laundry to try and get ready. It is a bit strange seeing tiny socks and "onesies" hanging to dry, but I guess we had better get used to that!



Up until about 2 weeks ago I was having an amazing pregnancy. But the little one has decided it's comfortable in the transverse position, meaning it's sort of sideways in the belly. Now I have a pinched nerve in my back and am waddling like a duck, but we are almost to the finish line!!!! I really can't complain because I have been very lucky so far with no major problems. My parents will arrive on June 12th and are staying for 2 1/2 months! It will be so nice to have them here and we will definitely bet putting them to work. ;)

Last Big Trip for a While

A couple of weeks ago I went on my last big trip before the baby comes. Marco and I had planned to spend about 10 days traveling in Germany and then visiting his sister and family in Switzerland. Unfortunately, due to visa complications, Marco wasn't able to go. Since we already had the tickets, I decided to go anyway and visit his sister Carol, her husband Christian, and the 2 kids Sedrik & Naira in Zurich for a few days.

It was such a treat to see the family, especially the kids! It gave me a chance to practice my basic Spanish skills because the kids don't speak English. Whew, my brain was tired! The kid's reaction to my bulging belly was so adorable. They were rubbing and touching it a lot and even put stuffed animals under their shirts to pretend they had babies inside! Too cute.



The weather was phenomenal....in the 70's and sunny. We went to the park almost every day, but otherwise just had a relaxing time. Carol was kind enough to get out all of her baby gear and I got to go "shopping". I picked out all of the gender neutral clothes (since we don't know the sex of the baby!) and got all sorts of gear and goodies. Our little bundle of joy has more than it can use at this point and we feel really good that we are "recycling" instead of buying everything new. Also, Marco's mom had sent a package of goodies for us from Peru. She had sewn special baby duvet covers for us and sent lots of clothes and goodies. But the sweetest thing was a blanket that she crocheted for Marco before he was born and he used it as a baby. She held onto it for more than 30 years so that Marco's first child could use it! So special. All in all, it was a great trip, but it would have been so much better if Uncle Marco had been able to go. The kids really missed him and so did I!!

So, no more international trips for the next few months. My parents are coming to Ireland on June 12th and will stay for about 2 1/2 months to help with the baby. We are all getting really excited. We got some other great news this week that Marco's brother, Carlo, just got engaged to his girlfriend, Katie!!!! They are planning to get married in Minnesota in October, so looks like baby will be making its first international trip at about 3 months old! Get 'em started young, right?? :o)