Well, this time 365 days ago, I was about to leave the house to head to the hospital. I had just noticed the crack in my ceiling while breathing through a contraction, Paul was quickly writing down the timing, and mom was making some tuna salad sandwiches for Paul. As of right now, 1:05PM, I still had 4 hours and 16 minutes to go before we would meet our precious boy. I remember it like it was yesterday! I can't believe that my sweet boy is already a year old! I can officially say that this has been one of the most fun years of my life. Oddly enough, little man's first birthday also marks the '99 days until my due date' point. No more triple digits! This pregnancy has gone by SO much faster than my last (not to mention MUCH easier). As I think back over the last year and then look ahead at whats to come I can't help but feel a mix of emotions. I'm so excited to meet my little girl but am sad to give up the days of mommy/guido time. I am frantically trying to soak up all of the one on one (or family of three) time I can get before my/our time is divided. I'm sure most mother's experience the same thoughts and emotions, but for some reason I didn't think to expect them. It's all apart of the process, I'm sure.
On a lighter note, we have spent the last 10 days touring Pauls dad and sister, Julie, around Italy. In my opinion, the highlight of their trip was our four day trip to Rome this last weekend. We did it all! We did old Rome, the Vatican, Mass with the Pope, Assisi, and much more. I think we have all reached a new level of exhaustion but it was definitely worth it. Little man was such a trooper and besides getting dirtier than ever before, he hung in there like a champ. I'll post the pictures up on phanfare as soon as I get a chance. Mr. Duval and Julie are currently on their way home and I think they have enough stories to tell to last them for a while! Well, I think that about catches us up. We don't have too much going on between now and Catherine's arrival. I have 10 weeks until I am not allowed to leave base so I suppose I need to get in all of my errands, shopping, eating out, and traveling that I can before I'm on lock down. Paul is still working away and just keeping up his normal schedule (hoping to get put on a normal day schedule before Catherine gets here...) And Guido, well, he's just guido. He's funnier than ever. Starting to take a few steps on his own. He's working on mastering what a cow and chicken say. He's also really enjoying his outdoor play area that we made for him for his birthday. All in all, everything is going great over here in Italy. No complaints!
I hope you give yourself the oppurtunity to live your Holy Week well and have a WONDERFUL Easter! Look forward to hearing from you all!
Love,
Jeanne
