Oh, and January also marked the end of the morning sickness, praise be to God.
(This picture is Junior at 12 weeks.)
The last doctor's appointment went well. Junior has two halves to his/her brain and a stomach and sleeps with his/her arm over his/her head like Joel. And is stubborn like his/her mama, because we couldn't see what he/she is yet. (Well, it was a little early yet. Hopefully Junior doesn't get his/her Mama's lack of patience.) We have another appointment in a week or two, so I'm really hoping we get to see the goods then, as I am just dying from the not knowing. Did I say hopefully Junior doesn't get my lack of patience?
(This is me and Junior this week - at 15 weeks. I am really sticking out now and am definitely getting big!)Bets are being taken around the embassy if Junior is a he or she, and everyone has different theories - from the way I'm carrying to looking at the Chinese calendar.
The time I spent propped on the couch this month has been on the net, investigating baby STUFF. Oh my gosh, it's crazy out there. Do you know they have invented baby LUGGAGE? Complete with individual compartments for baby shoes, etc. And I was pregnant-brained just enough to have it on my list for about ten minutes because well, we travel a lot, so of course Junior is going to need luggage. Yeah, haha, until I saw the price and realized I'd be carrying another piece of luggage on top of my own, and a baby and a car seat all on the plane. Thank goodness my sanity returned.
And to prove I can talk about something besides the baby:
In between the billion holidays we had in January (we get both Italian and US, so that is really cool some months) Joel and I have kept busy with work. My job was re-announced because they are hoping to get someone in it in time for me to train them before I leave. And we had our annual Volunteerism Week and Volunteer Appreciation lunch. We also had a "State of the CLO" Town Hall, where we told everyone what we had been up to for the past 6 months.
Life around the embassy is picking up speed the closer we have gotten to the Olympics, and looks like it will consume the month of February. I'm not expecting to see Joel much this month. Oh guess what? The Today Show is coming to Rome next Monday! If I can sneak out of the office, a couple of us are thinking of going and trying to get on.
In my down time, I've been desperately trying to work on my scrapbooking and get caught up on everything before we pack up in May. Right now the wedding album is spread out across the dining room table. Joel hates it, but I've just finished the pictures of the ceremony, and have yet to even start looking at the reception! In other words, I've got a long way to go, and it looks like this wedding album is going to at least be a Volume 1 and 2. I'm looking forward to having this done because soon it's going to be time to start the baby album (see it all gets back to the baby somehow.)
We went out to an Indian restaurant with a bunch of friends, and it was sooo good. I love Indian food. Currently Junior hates marshmallows and only sometimes likes chicken. It's something about the texture I think. Cravings kind of go all over the place, but are mainly Americana type food - yesterday it was pancakes and French toast. McDonald's seems to be a favorite too.
Also in February is our annual Chili Night, and our American Breakfast Fundraiser (hence the French toast cravings). My partner and I are also working heavily on all of the newcomers for this summer, and getting all of that set up. And this website project that she and I have been working on for months has finally gone live, which is a huge accomplishment and a big deal for our embassy, so I'm excited about that.
That's all from Rome for now. It's been yucky and rainy and cold here this month. I'm starting to get a bit of cabin fever, which I'm sure will be around for a couple more months at least.
Talk to all of you soon!
Love,
Julie and Joel
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