A little Basketball!

I realized that I haven't posted any new pictures of Ryan with his new team! Here are some pictures of the game the other night. Ryan's team won by about 25 and he had 21 points! It was such a fun game! We love the energy of the fans here and they create such a fun atmosphere! Ryan is loving playing here which makes me happy too!

Birthday Boy!

Ryan had a Birthday! The big guy is now 26!

We started off the morning with his usual favorite German pancakes and buttermilk syrup. His mom always makes these and he loves them so I attempt to make them just like she does. I wasn't allowed to take pictures of Ryan in the morning right when I woke him up so that's why you just see the pancake. Silly boy! Ryan actually looks normal in the morning. As for me, that's a whole other story. Ryan calls me a lioness. You get the picture.

We celebrated in the morning and then had plans to go out and explore the city and grab lunch but then we quickly realized we had NO HOT WATER! That was interesting. So we waited a couple hours for the team to send an electrician to fix the problem. We had tried but since all the manuals are in Italian that caused a problem. You appreciate hot water so much more even when you have been without it for a couple of hours! Poor Ryan was a good sport in the afternoon. Since our plans for exploring and lunch were ruined it was a pretty boring afternoon! In the early evening we had an appointment to tour one of the Hospitals we are considering for me to deliver. He was a trooper even though that's the last thing he wants to do on his Birthday!

I wanted a picture of him with the cute banner that my sister Kim made us but he refused to do anything normal so this is what I get! It took him a while to get those balloons situated just the way he wanted them. Love the banner Kim! THANK YOU! It was hanging up on the wall but then I quickly realized my tape was deciding to stick to the paint a little too well. OOPS! At night we went to a delicious Brazilian restaurant that was so yummy! I am horrible with taking pictures when we're out and about. But the food was amazing and our tummies were definitely happy after that meal.

(Isn't he cute!?)

To finish off the night we of course had Ryan's favorite FUNFETTI CAKE! I bought a mix on the Air Force Base a few months ago and have kept it hidden until his big day. It's not the same Birthday for Ryan without his funfetti cake. I was just bummed they didn't have the funfetti frosting with the little chips in it. He didn't seem to mind! And yes, the whole 9x13 pan is gone. He loves him some cake!

Happy Birthday Ry guy! Even though it was pretty non-eventful I still hope you had a great day!

I LOVE YOU!

Fresh out of luck...

Today was such an interesting day! I am happy to report I made it to church successfully after the 45 minute drive and walking around a random street in a random city for about another 15 minutes! You should have seen me...an 8 month pregnant chick hiking up and down this huge hill trying to find the building. Let's just say it was a relief when I finally saw the sign and knew I had made it. The people were great and a lot of people spoke English which was fantastic! (Yes dad I am working on my Italian! Don't worry!) I was so happy to be there!

Here is the funny part. I needed gas to get home or else I would not have made the drive back. I pulled up to a gas station and put money into the machine outside because the insides of the stations are closed on Sundays. Usually people come out and pump your gas so I don't deal with the machines too often. They do it for free!! I love it! I put in 20 Euro and pushed the number 4 for the pump where my car is parked. The machine said the same thing it usually does and so I walked over to put the gas in my car but no money showed up at my pump. What? I walked back to the machine looked again and of course the whole screen has cleared. No receipt has printed out. NOTHING! I walked back and forth over and over again just hoping that the money would show up on the screen so I could just put a little bit of gas in to make it home! I checked every single pump because I didn't know if for some reason I had accidentally put in the wrong number. Also, there wasn't a single person in sight to help me. I was fresh out of luck. Let's just say the machine ate my money and that station got a little tip. I was bummed...I hate when stupid things happen like that. But, all well! It could have been worse! I just wish there would have been someone there to laugh with! I made it home but stressed pretty much the entire drive that I was going to be stranded on the Autostrada with every person I know being in Milan for the game. I did have a little bit of good luck because I made it home with about 5 miles of gas to spare! PHEW!

I had to add these because I was going through old pictures and came across these of Ryan with our nephew Benton this summer. Aren't these so cute? Let's just say I can't wait to see Ryan as a dad. If my nephews think Ryan really is a superhero then I wonder what our son will think of him!

I love nice people

Ok folks. I don't want to sound like I'm complaining when I say this because I think that having the opportunity to live in Italy (or any Foreign country for that matter) is absolutely amazing. I believe it is a once in a lifetime experience and I love the adventure BUT I'd be lying if I said there aren't days where I get pretty homesick. I don't know if it's because I'm so far along in the pregnancy which makes me want more family/friends around or if it's because I have way too much free time on my hands that I find myself longing for home where I'm busier. There are lots of weeks that fly by but there are also days that seem as long as one week. Today is the first day that Ryan has been gone on a road trip from this new city. Let's just say I am still completely lost. I know my way to the grocery store and home. That really is all. All day yesterday I would ask Ryan what I should do when he leaves. I'll be honest, I've been feeling clingy to Ryan lately. Poor guy is probably sick of me! He just kept saying take some good naps while you can because before you know it the baby will be here! So after he left I did exactly that. I took a nap. Then I was so bored so I got out on a nice walk. It was beautiful outside and it felt so good to get my big body moving. I am definitely starting to slow down the bigger I get! What used to be easy is now feeling like a marathon. When I was out on my walk I found myself beginning to feel sorry. I was feeling like the time can't go fast enough for our families to start visiting. I can't wait to have them here to see faces from home and to enjoy their company! Pretty much I started moping and thinking I have it so hard which to be honest isn't like me. I was being a baby. I was really enjoying being outside and getting exercise until I let myself start complaining about how far away I am from all of my family and friends. I finally felt like I needed to say a prayer. As I was walking I just asked Heavenly Father to help me remember all of the many blessings I have been given and how I really just needed some comfort in this time of feeling so alone. I went home and remembered that I needed to call the mission home to get the time and address for church tomorrow. We wanted to go to church last week but plans were changed when Ryan got a really crazy virus which kept us locked indoors for about 4 days. I called the mission home and this sweet lady answered. Immediately I was feeling happier! The sound in her voice just when I heard her say "Hello! This is Sister _____ how can I help you this beautiful day!" I don't even remember her name. I started telling her who I am and what I needed help with which led her to ask me more questions which then led us to a conversation. I ended up telling her that I'm pregnant and that we just barely moved here to this new city and our little life story. She was so kind and it was exactly what I needed. She kept calling me "dear" and "sweetie" which just made me want to give her a huge hug. She kept telling me how happy she was that we were here and that she just knew everything would work out great for us. She was so relieved when I told her my mom was coming from the States to be with me for when the baby is born. She told me if she wasn't coming then she wanted to come from Milan and help me. She was so helpful and tender. I know she has no clue that our little conversation actually completely changed my day. There were even times when my eyes were filled with tears because I knew she was a tender mercy from the Lord. This all happened in the early afternoon when it's way too early to call someone from home to cheer me up. I got off the phone with a completely changed attitude and was actually thinking to myself how silly I was for being negative earlier. What a waste of energy to be negative! The point of my story is we really don't know how much we can change someone's day by just being kind. I could feel her patience and love through the phone. I also know that Heavenly Father heard my prayer in this small time of need and He knew she was exactly what I needed. If she only knew how much her sweet spirit changed my day! Hopefully I can take advantage of opportunities as simple as this to help someone through their day.

33 weeks

Is it just me or has this time been flying by?

I am now at 33 weeks!

I'm still feeling great and healthy! Things like tying my shoes or trying to get up out of bed have become a little more difficult but funny! The little guy is incredibly active and energetic still which we think is quite entertaining. If I poke at my stomach he now pushes and kicks back and probably wants me to leave him alone! It's been really fun for Ryan to feel body parts stick out and literally watch him move around without even having to feel him. I say he likes to sit "criss cross applesauce" or "indian style" whichever you prefer. I always have two knees bulging out right below my ribs. I've realized more and more throughout the stages of this pregnancy how amazing our bodies really are. I am so amazed that there is a baby growing healthy and strong right inside my stomach! It's actually been quite an amazing spiritual experience! I can't imagine what I will feel when we get to hold him for the first time. We are so excited to meet him and our conversations pretty much always consist of "What does he look like?" or "Who's personality is he going to have?" and of course Ryan's main question is "Do you think he'll even like Basketball? If not, that's ok! But of course I'll be kind of sad! I'll let him play any sports he wants but he can't dance!! Unless... he is a really cool dancer like Justin Timberlake or Usher but." He is going to be embarrassed if he finds out I put that on here! We've been set on a name for quite a while now but we won't officially announce it until he's born just in case his looks don't match the name!

(You'll probably notice I won't look at the camera anymore. I'm being silly and refuse to look at my chubby cheeks in pictures anymore! Am I the only one that's felt this way when pregnant? Please say no!!)

We met our new doctor here in Montegranaro yesterday and really liked him! He doesn't speak English but we were able to understand everything through Ryan's Italian and lots of thumbs up or pointing. Luckily all of my doctors notes and paperwork from the previous city are all written in Italian so he easily caught himself up on my pregnancy. I'm feeling perfectly fine with this whole situation and have come to realize that as long as the baby and I are healthy then everything will figure itself out in the delivery room even if there is a lot of playing charades.

Let's keep the weeks passing quickly! We're looking forward to all of the family that will be here to visit before we know it!

Happy Weekend Everyone!!

Our new home

A lot of people have been asking to see pictures of our new home in Montegranaro. Well, here are some pictures! You have to cut us some slack. There are still some boxes that are laying around and we are waiting on a couple pieces of new furniture to get here so don't judge! We love it here! The area is absolutely amazing! It's beautiful and very sunny! The actual city of Montegranaro is fairly small but has everything you need. It's also very close to other bigger cities and it's easy to get around. This transition has been a lot better and easier then expected with much help from both teams. Our old team Benetton helped us out a lot by letting us keep our car to move out here along with letting us have our apartment in Treviso for the rest of the season so I can come visit. They are amazing! Our new team has also been beyond helpful! They sent people to move all of our stuff and bring it to us and unload it into our new apartment. They have been so helpful with the baby and getting everything arranged as quickly as possible so that we feel comfortable with being here. Everything has been taken care of which leaves me with absolutely nothing to complain about! Thank you to both teams!!

Our little kitchen table. Perfect for just the two of us!

Our family room

The kitchen- which I love!

The shelves that Ryan and I bought at Ikea. We built this baby all by ourselves! It was actually really fun! But don't look too close, you might notice something I did wrong! Oops!

Our bedroom. I love the sunlight! Ignore all of the baby piles in the corner. We're waiting for another dresser/changing table for all of his things.

I put this picture up for my mom and dad. Notice the posters we put up from Venice?

Look at how adorable this bassinet is that our old team gave us as a gift. It is exactly what I wanted since we will only be in Italy for a month after the baby is born and there is no need for a crib until next year. It is perfect to leave by my side of the bed and wheel him around the house! He's going to feel like a king being wheeled around everywhere!

I stare at it daily and can't wait til the little guy is laying in there!

Our bathroom.

The guest bedroom. Come on over visitors! Like the lamps? No clue where those came from!

The view out of the guest bedroom balcony.

The guest bathroom.

Here is a walkthrough of our new home! We are really happy and can't wait to have the baby and visitors here to fill up the extra space! All is well here in Montegranaro including Ryan loving his new team, Coach and management. Of course it was sad saying goodbye to the old team, staff and our friends but we have been lucky to come to a place where we feel very welcome!

Usually I have good luck

Tonight was not our night! We finally moved into our new place which is GREAT and it's nice to feel more settled BUT I was definitely enjoying the hotel! When Ryan got home from practice we decided to go get dinner and find a grocery store to stock up. We started out by searching in the GPS for the nearest grocery store. It was really close! We pull up...it closed 2 MINUTES before we got there. We proceed to the next store. CLOSED. Then the next...we showed up as they locked the doors. You don't understand. In Italy there is no such thing as a 24 hour grocery store. It's almost impossible to remember every different stores choice of hours and so that just makes you show up and HOPE it's open. To wrap this story up we tried about 8 different grocery stores and of course every single time we pulled up or walked in they had closed just a few minutes prior. Since we were pretty much fed up with trying to find a grocery store and then too annoyed to find somewhere good to eat we went to McDonald's. YUCK! It was gross. I only like their breakfast. But the best part of it was how people were staring at us. That always makes for an interesting experience! You wonder the whole time if there is something on your face but really they were probably just staring because we were both pretty much in pajamas. Pretty much the point is we have no food for tomorrow and will be eating random things we can gather together from boxes we packed. This should be interesting! I'm not even meaning to sound like I'm complaining! We actually laughed a lot and turned it into a funny experience! I just feel bad that my husband won't have anything to eat on a game day. OOPS! We'll attempt to solve this problem tomorrow. I wonder if these neighbors will lend some milk or eggs like people do at home!