Sigonella Soccer

Lucy and Graham both did soccer this last fall.  It was fun to have games to go watch and practices to attend.  It got a little crazy after Sullivan arrived, but we were still happy we signed up.  

Lucy was on the Silverbacks team this year.  She found the watercolors one morning before a game and decided to show her team spirit.  

Graham was on the Fireballs team.  He didn't enjoy the season as much as Lucy did, but once we actually got to the games and practices, he had a great time.  

I thought these last two pictures were pretty funny.  I was at home with our new baby when they had their last game and awards.  

A few things I will remember from soccer season this year:

-Benny crawling and climbing all over me through practice and games

-Having to remind Graham in the morning that he had practice that day.....then it wasn't such a shock to the system when I told him after school.  He didn't like practice days.  

-Graham saying, "I don't even LIKE soccer!"  Bullet straight to my heart

Benny's B-day

Benny Boy is four!!  I absolutely LOVE this age!  This kid keeps us laughing all the time and says the sweetest and cutest things.  

Our day started with the kids coming to breakfast and finding the kitchen decorated for Benjamin's day.  This is a tradition we started back when Lucy was little.  We decorate the house a little to make it special.  Benny was impressed (even though we used the same banner from Graham's day).  My guy was looking sharp with his new haircut.  

In the morning Benny went to preschool and got to share his new favorite treat with his classmates.  There these little chocolate cookies that we get from the Motta market.  He was very excited to show his teacher, too.  

Benny wanted pizza for dinner and brownies and ice cream for dessert, so Jason obliged.  Love his expression after hearing me say, "Say cheese!"  

Jason and I decided that morning to make two big pans of brownies and have our neighbors over for to sing and enjoy the treats.  We just set up a table in our little carport and invited everyone over. We have lots of kids on our block that Ben and Graham love to play with.  It turned out perfect and Ben still thinks he got a party.  He talked to Grandma that evening and we heard him say, "I had a great party and everybody came!"  Go us!

His gifts this year were a hit.  He got a few superhero figures, AquaMan and Green Lantern.  Benny LOVES playing with his "guys" and has to take a couple everywhere we go.  He got a set of the Monsters University figures and a scooter with a helmet.  

In this picture he was trying to show us his "tough face".   This kids rocks the scooter all day long.  Any chance he gets he's flying around on it and everyone is impressed with how good he is.  

Stuff we want to remember about Benny at age four:

• We had a rough start with preschool.  I enrolled him in the one on base.  The first few weeks he cried all morning before I dropped him off and then didn't want me to leave when we got there.  The teachers assured me that he cheered up after a little while, but it still broke my heart.  Now the kids loves it and wishes he could go every day (he goes Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays).  I almost took him out all together, so I'm glad I stuck it out.  

• Benny has a bit of a German accent.  When ever he says the "L" sound, it comes from his throat. It's so darn cute and I'll be very, very sad when it goes away.  

• Our Benjamin is generally a pretty happy go-lucky guy, but he does have a bit of a hot temper lately.  When we ask him to do something, we usually get an angry, "OHHHHH!!  I don't WANT to do that!" or an occasional,  "I just hate this FAMILY!!"  The uppercase words are screamed.  And we have Graham to thank for the hating of our family phrase.  Awesome.  

• One of the things he is asked to do every day is empty the silverware container from the dishwasher.  When he's in a helpful mood, it goes well.  When he's not we have a few minutes of, "But there's so many of them.  I need Heeeeeelp."  Then I sometimes catch him doing little ninja moves with the butter knives as he puts them away.  

• My favorite thing about Benny at this age is the hugs and kisses.  I get at least a dozen hugs a day from my boy.  He always wants to give Sullivan a hug and then a kiss on the head, too.  He'll say, "I wanna gib you a hug."  Or just come up to me and hug my legs really tight.  I love it.  

• Ben is a foodie like his Mom and Dad.  I spend a large portion of my day telling him, "No, Benny, you cannot have another granola bar.  If you're still hungry, you can have some carrot sticks or string cheese."  This is usually answered with, "But I want something that I yike (imagine the "yike" being said with a throaty "y")"  or he'll say, "Please give me three choices?"

• He's still our early riser.  He comes into our room around 5:00 or 5:30 and wants one of three things: to sleep with us, one of us to go sleep with him, or breakfast. 

• His favorite person in the world is Graham.  This kills Lucy because she is super sweet to him and Graham is, let's be honest, kind grouchy towards the little guy.  

• We still get ninja moves and sound effects everywhere we go.  It's hilarious seeing him do little spin moves and somersaults all over the place.  

• This kiddo loves to play and play hard.  He jumps on the tramp with all his might, rides his scooter like a champ, and runs wherever he goes outside.  

  We love our Benjamin, Benny, Benny Boy, Ben-O, Bubba, Benito.

Sweet Sullivan

Our new little man made his grand Italian entrance!  I figured it's been almost seven weeks….it's time to  journal about it before I forget the details.

Jason and I made our way to the hospital early Monday morning after we got the kids off to school and Benny situated at our neighbor's house.  We ended up waiting a while after going up to the surgical unit at the Sigonella Hospital.  The whole clinic is pretty small.  It's on base and all of the military doctors stationed here practice at this hospital.  The dental clinic is there, too.

We were taken to our room and waited a while as Dr. Brankin finished up with an appointment.

We snagged one last belly shot.  It was weird to think I would more than likely (WAY MORE THAN LIKELY) never be pregnant again.  

Soon after this picture, I got my IV put in and the doctor came in to discuss what would go down.  The nurses started prepping me and then I took the very short walk to the neighboring operating room.  When I walked into the chilly room, I had to chuckle a little bit.  There were over 15 people in there!  Dr. Brankin explained that this small hospital doesn't see very many c-sections, so everyone likes to come in and help, observe, and learn.  "Do you mind?"  It didn't bother me, so the anesthesiologist started with the epidural.  I wished that Jason could be there for that part, but after two tries, she got it in and the numbness set in.  I always start to get a little shaky and nervous when I know the moment has come for the actual c-section.  Jason was waiting for a while and got worried that they had started without him.  I kept asking if Jason could come in now and finally they went and got him.  I felt instantly better and more at ease when he was with me.  

In a matter of just a few minutes, our baby was born!  Everyone kept saying how big he was.  One nurse that was by my head said, "I don't think I've seen a new baby that big before!"  

Just moments after his birth

I'm always so anxious until they bring my baby around so I can meet them.  They kept saying how big he was, so I kept waiting to hear how much he weighed.  When they finally told me 8 lbs. 4 oz, I immediately thought, "That's not so big."  Graham was 8 lbs. 11 oz.  

I couldn't decide who he looked like, but it was kind of like stepping back in time to when Benny was born.  He looked a lot like him.  He had a lot of dark hair in the back.  Although, "a lot" is relative because our kids are all pretty bald at first.  

He already had cute chubby cheeks and rolls on his arms and legs.  

The nurses at the hospital were really nice, but very young and inexperienced.  It seemed they were constantly coming in an waking up our sweet little man to do another round of vitals or a test of some sort.  We finally told them they would have to come back when it was more convenient for us.  We just wanted some peace so we could rest and get to know our new guy.  

Our stay at the hospital was consumed in trying to come up with a name.  It was so hard for us!  We finally narrowed it down to Oscar, Sullivan, and McCord.  I called Beth at least a dozen times to talk it out with her.  Jason and I would call him something for a while and then we'd start to be unsure.  We had done a family vote the week before.  Graham wanted McCord, Lucy wanted Sullivan, and Benny wanted Oscar.  I didn't vote (if I could cast a vote, that would mean I know which one I liked best, right?).  We went home without a name picked out.  Finally, three days later, we settled on Sullivan.  Graham was mad, but got over it.  We had already decided on Lorenzo for the middle name.  It's a shout out to Italy, but also to the prophet, Lorenzo Snow.  He served a few missions here in Italy.  

My four favorite people.

I just love this picture of all my little family talking and little Benny looking at even littler Sullivan.

On our way home.

This hospital stay was the first one where I was super anxious to get out of there and get to my own house.  I think a lot of that had to do with the age of my kiddos at home waiting for us.  They are all pretty independent at this point (except for the occasional, "MOM!  Will you come wipe my bum?")   I wanted us all to be together and not depend on others to watch my other kiddos.  

We were all excited to have little Sullivan in our family.  We're still trying to figure him out, but we are so glad he's here.  Sometimes I stop and think, "Holy crap, I have four kids!"  Around these parts, four is a lot.  There are only a couple families that we have met while we've been here that have more than two or three.  I have to admit I feel a little out of place at times, but I wouldn't have it any other way.  We knew this little guy was meant to be part of our crazy life.  

Tomorrow is the day!

Tomorrow is the day!  We are going to meet our brand new baby boy!  Originally he was supposed to come on Thursday, October 10th, but we got a call from our new doctor here in Sigonella and she feels strongly that we shouldn't wait.  She is concerned that because my water broke with both Graham and Benny, that my water may will break and will have to deliver in the middle of the night.  There aren't as many resources here at this small hospital, so she is worried there may be an emergency situation.  She wants the surgery to be controlled and happy.

Most would be excited that we get to not be pregnant four days early.  I am, but it's a little more complicated than that.  We've only lived here six short weeks, so figuring out child care for my three kiddos has been a little hard.  Actually, it hasn't been hard, everyone has been so kind and willing to help us out, but it has been humbling as I ask people that haven't known us all that long to take care of them.  We had it all set-up for Thursday-Saturday, so today I'll finish getting it all figured out for Monday-Wednesday.

That being said, I have so many emotions today.  I'm excited.  We get to meet our last baby boy and see his sweet little face.

I'm nervous.  I'm having major surgery tomorrow.  I've done this three times already, so I have an idea of the pain that comes with recovery and the itchiness that the painkillers give me.  I'm not nursing this baby (a whole other post), so I'm nervous about my milk coming in and dealing with that pain.

I'm worried.  I'm worried for how my other kids will do in my absence and with the new babe.  Mostly Benny.  He has been my little shadow for so long.  Since the move, he's been extra unsure and clingy.  I know he will be okay, but I still worry.

I'm sad.  Benny has been my travel and shopping companion and my baby for four years.  I'm sad that he won't be my baby anymore.  I remember having these same feeling with Lucy and Graham when the next sibling was getting ready to come, but right now my heart aches a little for my sweet Benny and the end of his time as the youngest child.

I'm scared.  Newborns intimidate me.  So little, so unpredictable.  When I tell people that this is our fourth baby, I get comments like, "Oh, you're an old pro at this." No....no I'm not.  The first three months of each of my children's life is a blur.  That's one reason I'm not nursing.  I want to remember more.

I'm grateful.  I feel very blessed to have had a relatively easy pregnancy and that our little man has stayed put through all the stress of moving to a different country.  Packing, driving, hotel living, traveling across the world, unpacking, etc.  I'm grateful that I'm sharing this experience with my kind, happy, wonderful husband, J Ray.  I can't imagine going to the hospital tomorrow and facing the weeks to come if he weren't right there with me.  Lately I've heard so many stories of military wives whose husbands missed the births of their children and don't even meet their babies for months.  That would be so hard!

I know tomorrow will be a very special day.  I can't wait to hear him cry for the first time and see who he looks like.  I know the Lord will take care of my family as we welcome our guy into the world.

Playing House!

The Bake Sale

Oh, sweet Lucy.  She has been wanting to have a "bake sale" for the last three years of her life.  She has had visions of money pouring in as she sells cookies and brownies all day.  Well, she decided a few weeks ago that she was going to save up for a lap top computer.  She got on Amazon, Walmart.com, and Target.com to see how much she needed to save.  She printed out a calendar and wrote down the extra chores she would do on certain days to get money.  Then, just a day or two later, the bake sale idea came up again.  

I'm not sure why I have always been so "anti-bake sale".  It just feels weird to make a bunch of stuff, that obviously I made because my child is ten years old and can't do it all herself, and then sell it in front of your house.  To be honest, it's just kind of embarrassing.  After talking it over with Jason, we decided to give in and let her do it just once.  

We had given her the go ahead, but had not committed to a date yet.  She and her new friend, Ivana, wrote up a bunch of flyers that they were going to tape on people's door the day before.  Lucy asked every day if we had decided on a date.  Finally, after a week or bugging us, she came with a list of possible dates written down on a paper that we could choose from.  This girl is persistent.  We chose a Saturday morning, after soccer games, to put on the grand event.  She filled in the flyers, took them around with her friends, and then planned the menu.  I agreed to oatmeal chocolate chip cookies (one of the only things I bake), rice crispy treats (another from my very short list) and Jason got up early Saturday morning to make a big pan of brownies.  We charged Lucy $5.00 for supplies and labor  I think she got a great deal.  

The scheduled time arrived.  Lucy and a few of her friends set-up their little sale and started calling in the customers.  Lucy got out her karaoke machine and they each took turns yelling into the microphone, "BAKE SALE!  BAKE SALE!  COME GET OUR COOKIES, BROWNIES, AND OTHER YUMMY TREATS!"  It was loud....real loud, but they were having a great time.  

After an hour or so, a few of the goodies sold out.  Then it became a bake sale/dance party.  

Meanwhile, Graham and his buddies were looking for something to do.  This is, of course, after they got tired of making Lucy crazy outside trying to out yell them on their microphone.  Or trying to steal cookies and brownies.  They brought their party inside.  

Megan

Lucy, Ivana

Camila, Amelia, Bailey

The sale was a success!  Lucy earned about $30 and she had a great time with her friends!

Our First Adventures

When any new military personnel arrive to Sigonella, they are signed up to attend an INDOC class.  It's two weeks and it's for the person that is active duty military and their spouse.  The first week is spent in a classroom learning different things about the country and the base we are stationed at.  One day was spent just learning about the culture and some of the language.  We also got our Italian drivers licenses during another day.  

During the second week, we go on a couple trips to get more acquainted with the area.  It was great!  Our first trip was to the city of Catania.  This is the big city about 15-20 minutes from Sigonella.  When people come visit (hint, hint) this is the city you will fly in to.  

The have childcare set-up for everyone's kiddos, but Benny did NOT like it.  He cried and cried every day that we left him and when we'd come to pick him up, he'd still be crying.  Way too sad for me.  So, I didn't attend all of the classes.  Jason filled me in on what I missed.  But, we were told we could just bring him on the trips.  It was perfect!  

We rode a bus into Catania and saw a few sights on the way.  They dropped us off in the center of town.  All of the cities and villages here have a "city center".  There is usually a plaza (Piazza) to walk in and the cities festivals are centered there, too.  This is a picture from Catania's city center, Piazza Duomo.  I'm pretty sure that's a church behind us.  There are a lot of churches here.  

We strolled up to a public park that we saw on the map.  It was beautiful, but the "park" part left much to be desired.  I should have gotten a picture.  It was just a dirt field with a couple swings and a metal slide.  We met a nice woman who was there with her two grandchildren.  She spoke some english and we enjoyed chatting a little bit with her.  

We did a little shopping as we walked around downtown.  There is a daily outdoor market there that we walked through.  There's produce, clothes, shoes, jewelry.....tons of stuff, but very crowded.  We avoided the fish market because of the smells.  Benny got tired, so we found a little alleyway/street with a little restaurant that had benches outside to rest on.  A few minutes after this picture was taken, Jason was sprawled out on that bench taking a little rest, too.  I leaned back and tried to rest, when a woman sat down next to me.  She watched us for a bit and then started trying to tell me something.  Finally she motioned for me to uncross my legs.  Apparently, by crossing my legs, I'm not allowing blood flow to my baby.  I got most of that from the body language she was using as she spoke quickly.  

The next day we went to Motta.  I love Motta.  It's a small village up on the hill right near where we live.  About 10 minutes away.  Many of the streets remind me of what Italy is "supposed" to look like.  I loved this one that we walked down that day.  We went to an olive oil factory and saw how it was made.  Pretty cool.  

We walked up to Motta Sant'Anastasia Castle.  It was a little bit of a trek, but it allowed us to see more of the town.  We watched a little video about the history of Motta and the castle and then got to go upstairs and have a little tour.  Benny loved the weapons that were on display.  

Lastly, we went to the town of Zefferana.  Zefferana is famous for it's honey.  Supposedly, it produces 30% of the honey that is made in Italy.  We went into one of the many places where they make the honey and learned a little more about all of that.  Interesting.  The city had a lovely little Piazza and we looked over the edge of a balcony on the Piazza and saw this pretty fountain.  We got gelato (we always get gelato) and then hopped back on the bus to go back to base.  

Welcome to Sigonella!

This is the view from our front yard.  That's Mt. Etna, the largest active volcano in Europe.  No worries, though, no big eruptions.  We've been told that it erupts a little bit all through the year.  We've seen smoke coming from the top a few different times already.  Most of the time there are a lot of clouds covering the top of the mountain.  

This little car is what the Ray family got around in the first three weeks we were here.  Our sponsor (someone assigned from Jason's command to help us get settled in) was super generous and let us use it.    It's really only supposed to seat four, but we made it work.  Our van should be here in a couple more weeks.  We bought a '99 Audi from someone a couple weeks ago, so that made life a whole lot easier.  

Here's another view from our front yard.  Lots and lots of townhouses just like ours.  

Lucy had to get a physical to be able to join the swim team.  She mentioned to the doctor that her ears had been bugging her.  After taking a look inside, she turned to Jason and asked, "Have you been to the beach lately?"  Jason thought she met since we had arrived in Italy, so he said no.  She went on to tell him that Lucy's ears had a lot of sand in them.  He laughed and explained how we had spent the previous month in San Diego, which included hours at the beach every day.  She had to have her ears "irrigated" to get all the sand out.  

One of our first outings out in town was to the nearest Leroy Merlin store.  It's the Italian version of Home Depot.  We decided to paint a couple walls in our house and we were told this was the place to go.  The drive was supposed to be 20 minutes......it took us an hour and a half.  We got very confused and very frustrated, but, there were no harsh words or not one cuss word was uttered.  

We all thought the shopping carts were pretty cool.  

Graham wanted a picture of his foot being run over.

We also made it to the mall, Porte di Catania.  The escalators were the highlight and the pizza was a disappointment, but we decided not to base our opinion of Italian pizza on a few slices we got from the mall.