Dogs

I just thought that I'd mention something I've learned here: Italians love babies, but they don't have many...Instead of babies, they all have dogs. Lots and lots of dogs, that make lots and lots of poo on the sidewalks! haha

Oh, and I've seen many signs on cars, that instead of saying "baby on board" (bambino a bordo) they say "Dog on board" (Cane a bordo)! haha...oh and they also call babies "bimba"s and "bimbo"s. We thought it was really funny the first time we say "Bimbo a bordo" until we realized it meant baby boy, not a the OTHER bimbo!

What's that smell?

Just thought I'd share a funny moment from yesterday morning.

All morning I kept smelling something, and I couldn't figure out what it was or where it was coming from. Finally I decided it was garlic, but I still couldn't figure out where it was coming from.

I first smelled it near the fridge, but when I went back it wasn't there anymore...I was getting really confused. I finally gave up trying to find it, and Finn and I sat down to breakfast.

All of the sudden I smelled it again - then I smelled Finn's breath and decided he must have found some garlic on the ground and ate it! haha

Bad nights

For over a week Finn was doing amazing at night! Sleeping through the nights without needing a feeding at all, only needing to be rolled over or given his soother once or twice. Now the last two nights he's woken up at midnight and 4am to feed, with another wake up once or twice in there, and then waking up for the day between 6 and 630. I'm tired! Anyways, I'm going to try to meet up with some other moms around here today, if Finn isn't napping then.

We're slowly getting baking stuff together...Conor made a wacky cake last night, but it didn't turn out the best (it still tasted good) because we're trying to figure out the oven here. It doesn't have a regular temp settings (350, 200 etc), it just goes from 1-9!

Civitavecchia - such a nice day for it too!

Finn helping me clean!

Top: Bath in the sink

Bottom: New Bath!

More pictures here

Okay, Finn is very fussy, I'm going to try to get him to nap now, so we can go meet the other moms and kids later on!

Finally some routine!

Today is our first day of regular life! Conor took the 8:06am train to Rome this morning for his class and Finn and I started our routine. We all got up just before 7, which normally I would think too early, but since we’ve been going to bed early (just after 9) it’s alright! After Finn and I had breakfast, he played around for awhile while I finished up some laundry (I’m so thankful our flat has it’s own washing machine!) and did some clean up. Our friend Matt, who lives in SM, got me in contact with a lady named Lara who is here with her husband and two children (and one on the way) from the U.S., she helped me out with baby questions before we came, and she lives about 1.5 minutes away – just up the road! I hadn’t met her yet, just chatted on facebook, so finally this morning Finn and I walked over there and played some puzzles with the kids and chatted with her a bit. It’s nice to meet someone else with kids, and she has also met some other Americans around here with kids (some Germans as well I think, but I’m pretty sure all the moms speak English, which is nice), so sometime I’ll meet some more moms, I’m sure.

Finn and I went there at 9 for about an hour, and then came home for nap time. The whole time we were in Rome, Finn had just been napping in his stroller while we walked around, so I was hoping it wouldn’t be too hard to get him back into napping at home. He had a good nap yesterday at home, and today was great! I slept for 2 hours, and he slept for 3! After he got up, I opened up the doors and we had a great lunch with lots of lovely sunshine and a great view – I could get used to this!

Conor is getting our other two suitcases from the hostel today, so in about a half hour, Finn and I will go meet him at the train to help with them…until them, here are some random things from around here:

- Finn’s poor forehead has a permanent bump and bruise! First he fell off the bed at the hostel onto the tile (not much for carpets/rugs around here), then he’s taken a few crawling forward-tumbles at the flat here

- The internet is NOT great – so if I’m ever talking to you on facebook or msn and I disappear, either assume that Finn is crying or the internet cut out!

- Baby food is expensive! The little jars that would cost about 85 cents at home cost at least 1.25 euros ($2 canadian!) Same goes for baby cereal…what other things should I give Finn to get the iron so that I don’t have to buy baby cereal? Should I just start him on meat, and give him something else altogether for breakfast?

- We don’t have a bath here (just a shower) so don’t know what to bath Finn in…last night we just put him in the sink! I think we’ll look for a big bucket to buy. I hope we find something, because bath time is my favorite time of the day! Finn just loves it, and it breaks up a long, fussy evening.

- Apparently the postal system here leaves a lot to be desired. Packages go missing, don’t turn up, or take a LONG time.

- The small complaint about our apartment – the water tank makes the weirdest groaning noises! It was horrible the first night, but I hardly noticed it last night…so I won’t complain too much!

- The grocery stores around here are pretty small! And we have yet to find basic baking needs…apparently they don’t’ have baking powder here at all, they have something else, I’ve been told. We couldn’t even find sugar at one grocery store yesterday! We’ll try another one today. We want to start making bread, but even just some cookies would be nice!

Well that’s all for now…I’ll be doing a lot of note form things as they come to my mind…just random things I notice about Italy, or new things about Finn. Thank you for your prayers about Dad – they’ve gotten the nausea under control so he’s able to eat again!

Anyways, gonna go see Conor at the train station soon!

The Move

This is the great view we have!

Yesterday we made the move to Santa Marinella. We found out about this town from a guy named Matt who we met once in Australia. He has moved here to study as well, and is living in Santa Marinella (he’s actually in nearly the next building as us!) First I should say that we are only renting this place for the off season – the owners live here in the summer while their two children are off of school. As for renting in Santa Marinella, it’s really cheap in the off season. We are paying 600 euro a month for a two bedroom, very spacious place…but come summer, a place like this will rent for maybe triple that! Which means we can’t afford to live here in the summer. That being said, we don’t really want to live in Rome in the summer either. We have heard from many sources that Rome (and most of Italy) shut down for the summer. Tourist shops are open, but things like laundry mats and grocery stores might be closed (or less stocked) from 3 weeks to 3 months! For these reasons, it is very likely that we will go back to Canada for the summer! Yay! It might cost us a bit more for the flights, but that would be 2 or three months worth of rent here, as well as having to find a place. Another student is paying 1000 euros for a fully furnished one bedroom in Rome…I think we’d rather just use that money to visit home!

Anyways, back to our move. We needed to check out of our room by 10:30 am, but we weren’t meeting the landlords until 4pm in SM (Santa Marinella). So we packed up our stuff, put all our suitcases in the storage at the hostel and just wandered around until 1ish. Then we went back, got what we could carry (the rest Conor will bring on Monday after his class) and took the train from Rome to SM. Matt actually happened to be on the same train, so he helped us get everything off at our stop – good timing! We were here pretty early, but Finn was asleep in the stroller, so we dropped our suitcases off at the real estate agents and just wandered around until 4. Then we met the landlords, who are very nice – we signed all the papers and then they drove us and our suitcases to the apartment. They showed us how everything worked and then went on their way. After that Matt stopped by for a few minutes, and then we went to the grocery store to get some dinner supplies. Finn was so cranky last night! When he’s tired he doesn’t really yawn and rub his eyes as much as just CRY loudly! We held him off until 8 though, because the time changed here last night and we want him to gradually go to bed that hour later. He went to bed splendidly in his crib!

Conor and I just puttered around a bit, went on the internet for a bit, and then went to bed ourselves. Finn did really well, he only woke up a couple times to be rolled back onto his back, and be given his soother..then he woke up at 6am (that’s the new time, so it was really just after 7 – not too early I guess). We played a bit, had some breakfast and then went to the local parish for 8am mass. It was nice, a cute church, couldn’t understand a word! Haha, but what else do you expect! As soon as we got home I fed Finn and he fell asleep…that was about 915am, it’s not quarter to 11 and he’s still asleep! Conor and I had our breakfast, have been taking pictures and going on the internet.

I guess I should feel a lot better now that we have a place, but suddenly I feel homesick again! I guess because now I know we’re really going to be here for 7 months in this apartment…but mainly I’m sad because I’ve gotten an upsetting update on my Dad’s health. My brother tells me that he hasn’t been feeling good the last three days, and that he wasn’t keeping down any food again. They did an ultrasound of his stomache, and the cancer has spread there now! Please pray for my dad and our family.

Conor at the table

The Bedroom (I was excited that there was a crib...but then I found a highchair downstairs too!)

Washing machine in the bathroom!

PART of the big "terrazza" (terrace)

Like I said, amazing view!

Kitchen from the second bedroom/sitting room

Rome Pics

Here are some pics so far from Rome...I'll put up some of our new place tomorrow as well as a written update.

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=334518&id=824595203&l=41c2b7a476

Friday Oct 23rd

Early this morning there was lots of lightening, thunder and LOTS of rain. I was hoping it would all be gone for the morning, and it basically was. We wanted to get the permission to stay all sent in before we moved to Santa Marinella, so that we could have one less thing on our plate. I’d heard so many horror stories about getting this done, but all in all it wasn’t as bad as I was expecting. We definitely couldn’t have done it without the help of the student at Conor’s school, and then other people told us where to get the francobolli (some sort of stamp, but it went on the application, not the envelope) and then which line up at the post office to go to. The guy there spoke very little English, but we managed to get through. He was VERY confused by the fact that I only had my married name on my passport, and not my maiden name as well. He asked me numerous times if Conor was my “marito”- husband…if we were married…was I his wife. He asked me in every way that he could. I found out he was confused because in Italy my passport would have a spot for my maiden name…otherwise it looked to him as though Conor and I were siblings!

After we were done that Conor wanted to go to the school and finish his enrolment for classes (the office there is only open Mon, Wed & Friday from 10-1) Every place in the city has the weirdest hours! It depends where you go, but the post office closest to us is only open until 2 most days…but busier ones are open longer. Many shops close anywhere between 1-3 for at least an hour. And in Santa Marinella (where we are moving TOMORROW!) shops all close from 1-4! That will take some getting used to. How they make a living here, I don’t know – especially because I’ve heard that most shops close for 3 weeks in the summer…if not 3 whole months!

We were expecting all of that to take a long time, but we were back to the hostel by 11, so we ate an early lunch and then went to visit the Vatican. It’s pretty amazing, and I’ll put up pics, but they don’t do it justice. We really wanted to see the Sistine Chapel, but we didn’t realize it was through the Vatican Museum (which you have to pay for) and it was already getting on in time then, so we’ll do that another time. It’s pretty easy to get to, except I couldn’t by myself with the stroller (to get down to the metro is all stairs, no lift…and some escalators, but still some stairs)

Then the usual, dinner, bath (early bath, because Finn was cranky) and now he’s asleep…8pm J We’ll probably have an early morning, but that’s okay…we’ll make the move to Santa Marinella tomorrow afternoon and I’ll try to put up pics tomorrow night!

Oct 20, 21 & 22nd

Tuesday Oct 20

The plan for today was to go to the school briefly in the morning so that Conor could speak to Mons. Melina (the President of the JPII Institutes around the world – Conor was impressed!) to find out what courses he would take, and then head to Santa Marinella. It went well with Mons. Melina and Conor found out what courses he needed to take. Off to Santa Marinella. Italy in general is kind of strange in that shops close up between 1 and 3. So we weren’t really thinking when we left Rome at noon for the hour train out to Santa Marinella. Sure enough when we got there the real estate agent was closed…but in Santa Marinella it’s even worse, they close until 4!

The guy we know from Brisbane who is living there, Matt, met us at the train stations and we spend the next 3 hours finding out where everything is around there. Santa Marinella is beautiful! It’s a beach town, and quite small, so everything is within walking distance, no more than a 15-20 minute walk to the furthest places! Most of the apartments there and bought purely to rent out for ridiculous rates in the summer to tourists…which means that they are really cheap in the off season. Also, there are a lot of American and Canadian students living there, since the rent is so cheap, it’s out of the city, and the commute isn’t terrible.

We also went to Matt’s place and met his roommate, a Canadian Ukrainian Priest, and by the looks of his place and knowing what the price was, we were getting excited to find a place of our own. We went back to the real estate agent and 4 only to find that they were actually closed for the whole day, for some holiday! It was a long 3 hours to wait around for nothing, but at least now we know where everything is there! We got back to our hostel for dinner, fed and bathed Finn, bed were in bed by 9.

Wednesday Oct 21.

Today we got up and straight away went to Santa Marinella again. I called on the train to make sure they were open – and they were. When we got there they told us about a few places, and said in a half hour they would take us to see them…so we just wandered around a bit. When we went back we were taken to two places. They were both pretty cool! The second one had a lot of draw backs though – too many stairs with no elevator, and just a more awkward set up with Finnian. The first one was beautiful! It comes fully furnished, and the building is only 3 years old – has a small bar fridge but also a freezer of the same size, microwave, stove and oven, even a TV! The kitchen looked really nice, with a good sized table. I didn’t really look at the bathroom, but it was a decent size…no tub for Finn, but we’ll by a bucket of some sort! The best part of this floor (yes, there are two floors!) is the HUGE deck! It is bigger than our whole apartment in Melbourne – and it has the most amazing view of the ocean since it’s on the top floor. There was also a little tricycle sitting out there – just for Finn!

There was also a little sitting room place, which I found out is the second bedroom…it hasn’t got a door or anything but it’s in a bit of a corner by itself and has a big fold out bed (for our guests). Then upstairs is the master bedroom. It has a big bed, and then here is the part that made me believe this place was meant for us, it has a crib! I was amazed when I saw there, and so relieved because I didn’t want to buy one, or figure out how to get it to our place. There’s lots of closet space and shelves and even a little door out onto a small deck.

We went back to the real estate agent and eagerly told them we would like to move there ASAP! So we will go on Sat, meet the owners, and then move in! I can’t wait to get out of this hostel and settle in a bit more.

Tomorrow Conor has his first class, I’m will go BACK to Vodafone so that we can get internet! And hopefully get this permission to stay thing all done.

In the evening it was really nice out, so we took a stroll and found a park near here. If it was kept up more it would be beautiful – there are some ruins around it, and probably an old rose garden. From there we could see the Colloseum, so we just wandered around….I should have brought my camera! But we have two years, so it can wait. Not much else happened today.

Thurs Oct 22.

Today Conor had his first class. Well I think it's actually a seminar...for the doctoral program he has to take 4 classes in 2 years...but because he's also finishing up his licentiate (what was his masters) they have him taking a licentiate seminar as well. That's what he was going to today...and with much trepidation about the language issues!

I didn't really want to stick around the hostel by myself with Finn, especially since they clean the rooms around 10:30 am, and you aren’t supposed to be in them. Conor left a bit early in case he had a problem finding his class room, I waited a bit and then Finn and I left around 9:30 I think. We made it to the Vodafone store (with no directional problems…I found the best route on the map to take with the stroller) and it opened at 10 but already had a long line waiting so we got in line as well. They spoke a bit of English, and I already knew what I wanted, so all went well. We then headed to Conor’s school and it started POURING! It was not fun…I’m so glad I made sure we got a rain cover for the stroller, and got myself a rain jacket before we left Canada…it has already come in very very handy!

When I got to the school, Finn was asleep, so I finished up some photocopying for the permission to stay stuff, and then when Conor was done class we went into the foyer and ate lunch. We were going to wait out the rain, but that was never going to happen! So we went home in the rain.

In the afternoon it has cleared up, and we didn’t want to do nothing at the hostel, so we went for another walk. Our hostel is right near St. Maria Meggiore, so we went in there and looked around, and eventually went to McDonalds (they have free wi-fi) so Conor got a coffee, and I chatted with my mom for a bit. Then we came back a late dinner, and did the usual bath and bed routine for Finn.

Mon Oct 19th

Monday Oct 19^th.

We all woke up VERY refreshed! It felt so good to 1) have had a normal bedtime routine for Finn and 2) have gotten a full (more than full) nights sleep. A lady (Ella, a fellow doctoral student who also does some work from the Institute) that we had met the other day at Conor’s school offered to help us out with our Permission to Stay forms, so we went to the school at 10:30 and met up with her. She was so nice and very very helpful. She went over the whole package of forms with me (which are all in Italian, of course)…this Permission to Stay thing is a big pain. You have to stand in line at the Poste Italiane and get the kit, fill it all in, go to the Tobacchi and buy the right amount of Francobolli (stamps) – but DON’T put them on the envelope, take it back to the Poste Italiane, they check it over, you also have to pay them some money, and then send it off. A fellow student from Australia said that about 6 months later he went in for an interview with the police or something, and then another 6 months later FINALLY got his card.

Anyways, I was very glad for the help, and she also showed us around the school a bit, and answered a lot of other random questions we had.

After that we went outside, found some grass (which is hard to come by around here), fed Finn and let him crawl around. Then we came home for a bit, we thought Finn would nap but he didn’t, so we headed out again to the Vodafone. After the annoying walk there, we find it is AGAIN closed! There was a sign on another door saying it will be closed today and tomorrow, so we won’t be doing that again tomorrow! We decided against the metro and walked home on a different route. In the end we actually walked up the where the metro stop was, and then it was just one road back to our place – we should have just done that the day before!

Conor went to the market and bought some stuff for spaghetti. We were both starving and wanted a real meal. The hostel here has decent kitchen facilities and enough pots and pans for one cook in the kitchen, so thankfully not everyone in the hostel actually uses it….it was a nice normal meal…exactly what I needed.

I can’t believe how good today felt! The most normal of all the days. No one was sick, we had all had a good nights sleep, we ate our meals at regular times, and got to just relax a bit at the school and that grassy spot. It’s not 9:30 and Finn went to bed about 8:30 (he had a bit of a harder time going to bed, but eventually he did) and I’m proud to say that I haven’t cried all day! Tomorrow we head out to Santa Marinella to find a place to live! Here’s hoping for another good day!

Sunday Oct 18

Sunday Oct 18, 2009

Well, Saturday night didn’t go so well! Finn did really well. We had him bathed and asleep in bed by 10pm, an hour earlier than the night before. About an hour and a half later I woke up and could hear Conor rolling around and making some noises, I asked what was up and he said he wasn’t feeling so good. Uh oh! He definitely did get sick, and most likely the same thing I had. It was not a fun night for him. I also was having problems sleeping, but I think it was partly jet lag.

Conor was feeling good enough in the morning for us all to go to church, so we walked for about half an hour to an American Parish that does it’s masses in English. It was nice to not have to adjust right away to an Italian Mass after the week we’d had…although Conor thought the homily could have been better. The parish does kind of cater to English speaking tourists who are just passing through, but again, it was nice to be able to sing and respond along with everyone else.

Then we came home, Finn and I had some lunch and then we went off on our own so Conor could have a nap. I should use this time to better describe our hostel. It is 6 floors, no elevator, and the ceilings are high on each floor. We are on the 3^rd floor, which means the stairs can be quite a chore! Thankfully we can leave the stroller downstairs and save that energy…but the front door is very narrow, so we have to take Finn out and fold up the stroller, and then maneuver it through the doorway to get it in. A chore in itself. There is a small kitchen on the 5^th floor, but we prefer foing to the top of the building where there is a partly covered BBQ area…so again, more stairs to go up and down a few times a day with a 22 pound Finn in our arms as well as diaper bags and other bags. There’s a small floor area that Finn COULD crawl around on, but it’s cold and kind of dirty, and the floor in our bedroom (what small floorspace we have) is also cold tile. So when someone wants to nap, the other person has to LEAVE with Finn, because there’s no where in the building to go with him.

I just wandered around with him, I didn’t want to go to far because I didn’t want to get lost. After awhile he eventually fell asleep…we’ve tried bringing him back in from his stroller asleep, but because of having to pack up the stroller and go up the 3 floor he’s always wakes up…so I just let him sleep and I treated myself to a gelato. It was soo yummy!

After Conor woke up, he was feeling quite a bit better, so we decided to walk to the same place we had gotten our cell phone the day before. This walk, I’ve decided, is very frustrating! The roads are all very confusing, packed with tourists, and most don’t go on any similar angles/degrees, so it’s very easy to get turned around. Also there’s a lot of cobblestone, which I do think is very nice, but just not with a stroller! We went a different way, though, than the day before, and passed by the Colloseum..what a sight! On Sundays the main street that passes there is closed to vehicles, so tourists just crowd the street, and there are lots of food, vendors, showmen, and musicians. Conor is getting very cranky with all of the tourists already – and the Italians! Originally we were just wandering, but since we ended up in that area we decided to go back to a Vodafone store we had visited the day before, where we had looked into Internet but were still deciding. Unfortunately after all that walking we found out the store was closed! Not really knowing the geography very well, we decided to go to the nearest metro station to get home. In general the metro seems pretty good…a bit dirtier than in Melbourne, but seemed reliable and cheap. It was a problem with the stroller though, NOT stroller friendly. Also it was a very busy time of day, so we should have just walked.

Then we just came home, played with Finn and gave him a bath. He was really tired, so we bravely/hopefully bumped his bedtime up 2 hours to his usual 8pm – and it worked fabulously! Conor said it took him awhile to fall asleep (remember, we’re in one small room – when Finn goes to bed, we go to bed) but I fell right asleep and Finn only woke up once to eat, after that we all slept until 8am!

Saturday Oct 17, 2009

Oct 17, 2009

We today went much better. We gave Finn a late bath last night, and then he went to sleep 11pm, he kind of woke up a bit, to either be rolled over (he rolls onto his stomach, but then is unhappy) or to have his binky. Conor and I couldn’t really sleep for a few hours after 1 or so, but I guess that’s our own jet lag. We set the alarm for 8am, so no matter what Finn did we were going to make him get up at 8 and start adjusting his sleep schedule…but there was pretty much no need for the alarm because he slept straight through from 11pm to 745 am…it was awesome! I don’t think I really fell asleep again until 330am, but at least Finn is settling in. Then we went and contacted the people that we know from Australia who are here and set up times to meet up. We took a LONG walk, Finn napped in the stroller, to buy a cell phone…we can activate it on Tuesday (not sure why not today, oh well), and then we went to the school to meet one guy, him and his wife had us over for lunch which was great. You have no idea how small our room is, and they had a big living room for Finn to crawl around in. He went crazy, you could tell that he’s been cooped up! Either playing on the bed with Conor and/or I, or else in the stroller…poor kid.

After lunch we came back to the hostel for a little bit, I was going to have a nap but then the other guy from Australia we know wanted to meet up, so we met him up the road, along with a seminarian who is here from Aus. We asked them lots of questions and had some coffee. Then it was dinner time, but Finn was really tired so Conor took him for a walk so he could sleep in the stroller and I had a small nap. Then we made some chicken and potatoes…I was sooooooo happy to have a regular meal, it was great! I ate a lot! Anyways, now it’s 830pm, I’m going to give Finn a bath and try to put him to bed a little earlier than yesterday. Hopefully Conor and I can sleep all night.

Tomorrow we are going to am American church up the road where they have mass in English.

Roma Part 1

This is Part 1 of our Roman Adventure....this was the first day or two of our trip...ENJOY!

On Tuesday afternoon, Conor’s Dad and my Mom drove us to the airport. We were allowed 5 suitcases, but also wanted to bring Finn’s playpen. I had called KLM (the airline) ahead of time to see what it would cost to bring the playpen, and she told me it would be $220 USD! We decided to try at the airport anyways, and if we had to pay, we just wouldn’t bring it. When we got there we checked the suitcases and then I asked her about the playpen and the lady at the counter said it would be $150, but then went to ask someone to make sure, and she came back and said that it wouldn’t cost anything! So we brought it (it is now Friday night and he has only slept in it once! Haha, I don’t know if we’ll end up using it at all)

Anyways, our first flight was to Amsterdam for 9 hours. It went pretty smoothly. We had a little bassinette thing for Finn, so he played in there and we fed him and we ate, then we got him to sleep and put him in the bassinette. He was pretty snug in it, so after a couple of hours (I think) when we started moving around, he got angry, so I took him out and he fell asleep in my arms the rest of the way. Conor and I didn’t get much sleep on that flight. Finn had also had a bad night the previous night…sleep was not looking good so far!

I was soo tired for the flight to Rome (it was a couple of hours I think), so we had three seats to ourselves, and Conor fed Finn and played with him so I could sleep a bit. When we got to the airport we got all our baggage fine, found a taxi van (because we had so much stuff!) and made our way to the hostel. The lady at the front desk was nice, and she speaks English, which is very helpful.

Finn went to sleep at 9pm, and woke up at 11…he was crying and angry and it took awhile to settle him down, but he wasn’t going to sleep any time soon. We played for awhile, then Conor took him for an 1.5 walk while I slept, he came back, still wouldn’t sleep so I took him for an hour walk and he finally went to sleep after nuring at 4am. It was horrible…we were already so sleep deprived. He slept in until 1030am, which was nice, but it was hard getting our bearings.

We need to get this “permission to stay” thing done within 8 days of arriving in the country…but between finding food, napping when we could, trying to get ahold of some people here…we hardly got anything done. We did go to the school though, and got there JUST as the dean from the Melbourne institute was walking through the door (she is here for a conference) so that was really really good timing! We were wandering around, I got the permission to stay kit, we went to an internet café…while there I started to not feel so good.

So we went and sat down for a bit and Conor got something to eat, but by then I really wasn’t feeling good, and couldn’t eat…this was around 6pm..I’m glad we went straight home then, because I got very ill. It must have been a 24 hour stomach bug…because for about 9 hours I was very sick…and still feeling sick until about 4pm the following afternoon. Finn of course didn’t sleep again during that night…he was up from 12-5 this time, but there was nothing I could do, so Conor had to take him outside a few times. I should say we are in a room with a queen bed, it’s quite small, and there’s someone in the next room so when Finn was crying we pretty much have to just take him for a walk.

Anyways, what else to say, so far it’s been pretty rough…we’re very homesick. It’s 920pm, I’m going to give Finn and bath and hopefully he’ll sleep at 1030pm. Then we’ll just play it by ear tonight, we’ll probably have to take him for walks again (one of us goes out so the other can sleep), then the plan is to make him get up at 8, go have a normal breakfast, try to meet up with some friends and get some help figuring stuff out, and hopefully in a night or two Finn will be in a better sleep state.

Once a room comes free at an affiliate hostel, we are going to move there, a couple blocks away, they have a VERY big room with a double and single bed and more room for Finn to roam around. Also, once we have the permission to stay thing done, we’re going to go out to a beach town called Santa Marinella and look for a more permanent place there.

Pray for us!

We're alive

Barely! haha

It's been an interesting week, and I've got to say that I'd rather be home!

I'm at an internet cafe so can't stay long, but I'm keeping a journal on my computer so I will update more once we get internet...here are some highlights (good and bad)

• flights went well, got to the front of the line every time! (gotta love having a kid)
• didn't die in the taxi on the way to the hostel
• hostel is small, but clean
• I got a 24 hour stomach bug...the most sick I have ever been
• first two nights Finn wouldn't sleep between 12 and 5am...Conor calls it purgatory
• second two nights, Finn slept through the night (in our bed) but Conor and I couldn't sleep between those hours
• ...partly because Conor ALSO got the stomach bug and was up sick last night
• went to an english mass today, not ready to go Italian yet!

Well pray for us...we hope to find a place SOON! but we'll see what there is, otherwise we would really like a bigger room to come free at an affiliate hostel so we can have more space. Also that we get through our permission to stay documents without pulling our hair out. And for our health and sanity...I've been pretty low, need to cheer up!

Thanks all.

And their off!

Well, tonight just before 7 pm our flight from Vancouver will depart. Everything is pretty much packed, and I guess we're ready...but it's still hard to wrap your mind around.

It's going to be really hard to say goodbye to our parents...I'm sure once I get their I'll be in awe of all that is Rome, and I won't forget about everyone, but it will feel more like a holiday for the first bit. For now it's just sad.

Anyways, on a lighter note! We won't be here for Finn's first halloween, how sad is that? So last night the kids pulled out two of the costumes they all wore when they were babies, and we put them on Finn!

I'll leave you with the pictures, and see you all in two years!

Chester wanted to join in.

Finn the Bunny

He was an angry bunny!

Uncle Evans bear ears had Finn mesmorized

He was much happier being a bunny dressed up as a bear!

He figured it out!

My mom had bought this toy from costco, where you put these balls into a hole, and the toys rolls down and turns on some music...she kept saying that he wasn't allowed to go to Rome until he figured out how to put the balls in himself.

Well he has figured it out, and he's very proud of himself, as you can see in the video.

I guess we're allowed to go to Rome now...but mom will probably find some other thing that Finn has to do before we can go! Like drive a car! haha

10 months old

Finnian is 10 months old today - and now that we're in the double-digits for months, it makes his one year birthday seem so close!

These are the things he does these days that I love (and many others love as well)

• clapping - and sometimes he even claps if you just say "clap"
• how do I describe this one...he says "ahhhhh" while patting his hand against his mouth...just like you do when you were a kid and being an indian
• "tut"ing with his tongue. He really likes this one! It's his newest trick
• crawling...I love watching him crawl
• When I say "upee" he lifts his arms up and starts flapping them
• Trying to climb stairs. He did it alot a few days ago, but the past couple days he gets too scared to bring his legs up, but he gets up to standing and has his hands on the second stairs. We have a sunken living room, so there are only two stairs to get up.
• Holding onto your hands (or the coffee table, couch, chairs, etc) and hopping up and down.

Anyways, that's all I can think of right now...it's all so cute, even his angry noises are cute (in moderation!)

He's gone down for an afternoon nap...I had a long list of things to do, and they are almost done! Hopefully I won't think of any more to add and we can have a relaxing day tomorrow and a nice lunch with Conor's Grannie and Papa.

8 sleeps!

Well we fly out in 8 sleeps...things seem to be coming together, but I'm still stressed!

We've been pretty busy too.

On Friday evening we celebrated Conor's parents 32nd Wedding Anniversary.

On Saturday afternoon I went with my mom and Finn to see my grandma, and to do some shopping. In the evening we went to dinner at Conor's sister and brother-in-laws for dinner.

Last night we had an early thanksgiving dinner with my family.

Family pictures from yesterday.

Today we went to Metrotown to do a bit of clothes shopping for Conor.

Tomorrow night we're going to moms for dinner.

Wednesday we're going out for lunch with Conor's Grannie and Papa and then to the notary to do up a simple will and such for ourselves.

Thursday I have NOTHING planned!

Friday I'm going for lunch with my friend (maid-of-honor).

Saturday we'll go visit my grandma one last time and then we're having a bit of a going away thing here.

Sunday is Thanksgiving with the Sweeneys.

Monday is PACKING day, which includes laundry etc. Will probably have a family dinner.

Tuesday we MOVE!

Family pictures with the significant-others who aren't family (yet! haha!)

Wow - It's all coming so quickly!

It's official!

We're going to Rome!

Our passports with the visas came yesterday. 13 more sleeps to go!

I'm getting nervous, but trying not to think about it all too much! Haha, I'm a thinker, it's annoying. At least, other than Finnian waking me up, I've been sleeping well so far.

Our prayer list:

• For more funding to come in. At the moment it is no where NEAR what is managable.
• That we find housing there, with not too much stress hopefully.
• For our flights, that everything goes safely and Finnian does well.

Let the countdown begin!