Monday, May 7, 2012

Italy 2011 ROME if you want to...

OK I must say.. I LOVED Rome. I wanted to live there and lets be honest.. if Walmart told me we were acquiring some stores in Italy.. team carlson would be Rome bound.


This was our view from the Hilton Rose Garden Palace in Rome. This was one of my favorite hotels. they gave you these plush robes and fluffy slippers. And if you were ever concerned about safety? Don't worry that building across the street is the US Embassy.
Since it was one of my fav's I took pictures of every angle

*travel tip- Have you ever traveled internationally? Well the showers in Italy were interesting. rather than be a standing shower with a wall of glass all the way around- it only covers 1/4 of the shower. So a. it was drafty and b. if you are a mess like me... water goes EVERYWHERE.
The Hilton in Rome however had legit shower curtain and... heated towels.
Note the plush robe waiting for me. AHHH

Closet? I know I just loved the room and wanted every angle.



This next picture makes me laugh... this is one of the many ways you buy wine oversees.
They drink it all day everyday. There was even a winery  the size of an EZ MART on the side of the hill near our hotel.
 This bottle though reminds me of the family size HiC orange drink to.
 But wine is cheaper than bottled water and cokes.
6 pack of bottled water= 6 euro, bottle of coke= 3 euro, this HiC jug= 4 euro.
No wonder they drink wine.



Agenda:
Colosseum
Vatican
Forum
Pantheon
Trevi Fountain
Catacombs
 Spanish Steps

Colosseum:



Vatican:We got several referrals from friends that used a company called Angel Tours. So prior to the trip we booked a 3 hour tour of the Vatican. Let me just say we were not disappointed. Our tour guide was awesome. He was an art history major from Dublin and straight out of a Dropkick Murphys and was so passionate about every bit of the art and history my only regret was that I didn't have a notebook to take notes. Since he was so passionate about the Italian history the 3 hour tour ended up being 4.5 hours.  He also mentioned that normally during the high season it takes 30-45 minutes to get through a room due to all the people.
                                    
*travel tip- If you are able to go in November, that was a perfect time. the weather was a little bit cooler and there was a chance of rain, but thankfully the 14 days we were there we never once had to use our rain jackets. Some places along the coast close down mid November, so you may want to go the first couple weeks in November.
                                


 
Forum:

 Pantheon:
Trevi Fountain
 Spanish Steps:

 
Catacombs:
Not suprsing.. they don't let you take pictures in these.


Here are a few random shots... and trust me I have more, but to be honest.. I am tired!

Photobucket

Monday, April 23, 2012

Dr. Dr. give me the news....

A few Wednesday's ago I was exhausted, which is very unlike me, but I came home and slept so long I almost missed church! My friend Alisa then proceeds to tell me that she had a dream that I was prego.
Interesting... I didn't want to make to big of a deal of it, and tried not to psyc my self up. I decided to take the test Thursday morning. I really don't think I expected it to show 2 lines. I screamed so loud Kelly thought something had happened to the dog.

I then went in to crazy train mode. I can fully admit this now. I took a picture and sent it to my cousin to confirm. Kelly still didn't register that we were going to be parents. I think he was in a state of shock, or his lack of hearing due to my scream caused him to lose the ability to focus. So in true Kelly fashion he asked me to go to the Dr. right then...So I called the the walk in clinic and the sweet nurse kind of laughed at me...
Me: I need to make an apt to confirm my pregnancy
Nurse: Ok have you taken a test?
Me: yes ma'am.. six.
Nurse: Six! Six tests?
Me: yes I wanted to make sure...
Nurse: Honey, is this a good thing?
Me: Yes Ma'am!
Nurse: Well good honey.... cause you are pretty much pregnant.



So there you go. I am a little OCD. But We wanted to make sure before we got tooo excited.
Kelly's parents were coming in town and the main topic of the visit was going to be the family vacation.
We wanted to make sure and tell them in a really memorable way and I found this precious picture of a family all wearing tom's with a baby pair next to them.
So we adapted it a bit since team carlson loves to run..

We made all of our parents a copy  and used the picture to tell each one.
My mom was up first. Her birthday was coming up so we told her that we wanted to take her to dinner. When she opened her present it was the picture in a cute frame. She was so excited and started crying in the restaurant.
Next up was Bobby & Julie. We strategically placed the picture on the fridge, but we were concerned that they would miss that so Kelly put it on Julie's Ipad in hopes that she would open it up.. see the picture and get excited. Some how they didn't get either! I just kept staring at Julie waiting for her to get it.. she finally was trying to sign out of Kelly's picture account and realized the picture was for them. 

When Kelly & I scheduled the first Dr. appointment and Kelly was so cute about it. He told me that he wanted to be at everyone.

This was the first one. It was surreal and the fact that they were able to pick up a flutter of heart beat was amazing, but baby C didn't even cover the cursor. So it was hard to really visualize.

We were then taken in to the payment room.. Kelly and I decided they do the baby picture first to pump you up and then glaze over the cost. At least that was the way it was with us. We were so focused on the baby that we didn't even hear or comprehend the whole cost aspect.


Next up the nurse that gives you the whole run down on the do's and don'ts of being a baby grower for the next 9 months. We were doing pretty good with our limited medical history and the current physical state of Kelly and I.. that is until Kelly dropped the bomb on the nurse that we were completely vegetarian and predominately vegan.

She also told us that she thought I was small for 6 weeks and asked me to come back in 2 for a more definitive due date and how far along I was.

This of course caused me to fixate on this and stress that something was wrong. Please get use to this - I hate to say it, but this will be the theme that follows me throughout the pregnancy. Thankfully I am a pretty open book and will tell you all about my neurosis and how ridiculous I am. I will also say that I am continuing to pray.

When I was finally able to give up my stress and worry and let God lead me I was able to get pregnant. I need to remember that throughout the next 9 months. That no amount of stress and worry will help me control what happen with my sweet baby C.

I will also honestly say for the next 2 weeks until I went back to the Dr. If I didn't feel any symptoms I would casually stop in to the local Walmart and pick up a test. Yep. Judge me if you will, but it made me feel better, until my sweet nurse cousin told me that even if something happened to C the test would still show positive for a long while after. So, there went my comfort zone.

Thankfully two weeks went by pretty quick and we were able to get a better picture.

8 Weeks heartbeat 165
This is the next one! Now that the baby was the size of a Lime and larger than a curser Kelly and I both were in awe.

Kelly has also decided that he will record the Dr. visit and make a video montage for C. Which means the nurses thinks we are crazy and our Dr. will be recommending us for the next reality show.

 
Did we mention that our family is very excited? Here are all the items that baby C has received.





I will say that each day for me is a battle. A battle about being so excited about the sweet baby growing inside of me and the battle of all the negative things that come from everywhere about all the horrible things that could happen. So I continue to the one thing that I can do. I pray. I pray for any and everything that has to do with the baby.

Which brings us to this week. I am in so thankful that we have made it to 12 weeks. I feel so blessed to have been able to hear that heartbeat on the doppler and make it to the ever important 12 week important!

Sidenote. First two ultrasounds they told me if I have a full bladder it is easier to see. So me being me, each time I went in with a strategically full bladder... until this time. I was at perfect level in my mind for the ultrasound just in case the doppler didn't work. Well after 20 minutes I was getting close to the much to full level. So when Lindsey the Dr. walked in I immediately told her I had to pee.

After several minutes she still wasn't able to hear the heart... until she reached my belly button and that is when baby C decided to make a debut. Lindsey said my bladder was so full it had pushed the baby up to where it normally sits at 15/16 weeks.

We did get to hear the heartbeat again 170. Amanda my sweet cousin and nurse keeps giving Kelly  a hard time and telling him it is a girl.

We shall see.


I do appreciate all the support from our friends and family. I also appreciate the continued prayers while Kelly and I learn our way through parenting.




Photobucket

Wednesday, April 18, 2012

Random thoughts and Pictures...

Happy Easter!
Why yes that dashing man that looks like he is on his way to Savannah, GA for a city council meeting is in fact my husband.  You are also correct that hottie is sporting a bow tie and seersucker suit.


So last week the housekeeper was coming and I asked Kelly to help me out with picking up some things.. So this is how he helped. He buried the pup under all of our decorative pillows. How cute is this baby? 


Saturday Kelly & went to Cook's Natural food market.. Oh my goodness! Where have you been all my life? We spent a good hour and a half roaming.
Kelly found a 25lb bag of carrots. Come on. Who doesn't need 25 lbs of carrots?
Perfect for juicing! 

Kelly & I wanted an added source of protein that wasn't from animal.
THEN we found Rice Protein!
It is the little things in the Carlson house...


Then.... I found these the best "chips" ever! They had only 3 ingredients and the first one was lentils.
I came home after our shopping spree and made homemade hummus- Jalapeno & Cilantro. YUM!

Callaway was very sleepy after our run on Sunday.

This was me 2 weeks ago while shopping at Target... I know I am a traitor, but Walmart doesn't have the really thick cloth diapers that are perfect for making burp cloths, so I sneak in to the store with my sunglasses and hoodie and grab them and run.
While we were searching out the cloth diapers we saw a HUGE selection of these nifty little packets.

.

I bought some of the applesauce ones a while ago (don't worry, when I found them and tried them I immediately posted on facebook about how excited I was about the new find!!
 Only to have about 10 moms comment that their children or babies loved them.. awesome- I'm 5)

Anyway, Kelly and I are addicted and when we saw there were tons of flavors we decided that we needed to branch out. Kelly saw the ones that were like full meals and demanded we each buy one meal and one fruit packet.

We ate the fruit ones before church yesterday. Mine was the sweet potatoes, blueberries, pumpkin and apple. All for only 40 calories! Kelly picked spinach, peas, and pears. Mine was way better.
Neither of us were brave enough to try the ready made meal, but I will keep you posted.
Even as I write this I am sure people read this and think I am a crazy train... Lentil chips, rice protein, applesauce packets.



I know there was no method to the madness of this post, but it was a bunch of fun pictures I had on my phone and wanted to tell the reason behind them.


Photobucket