Checking in ...

Nothing real exciting here, but I thought I would check in so you all don't think I'm guzzling wine and moping around. The weather has been amazing here ... so that has improved my attitude. Elliott seems to be coming around, but he still has his 'daddy' moments. We had a really tough first week and a half, and I can't blame the poor kid. His ears are bothering him again, on top of everything else, and our visit to the ENT today did not yield the news I wanted. It looks like he needs, yet another, set of tubes ... a permanent set this time. I'm beyond frustrated and so sad for him. I hate to put him through another one of these surgeries, but the doctor is making it seem like I don't have any other choice. The most frustrating thing is that I have no other opinion. The Army doctors don't know an ear infection from a hole in the ground, so the ENT in our network is it ... and he is definitely pushing for the tubes. At any rate, there is too much swelling in his ears to do anything right now, so we are headed back in three weeks to talk details ... so I have three weeks to stress and google over this.

Christmas was great and we all got spoiled!! Elliott loves all of his new toys and they are doing the trick of keeping him entertained!! I am packing up Christmas decorations tomorrow ... and I have to pack them extra careful because we won't see them until 2015!!! Next year they will on their way to America by the time Christmas rolls around!

Elliott cracks me up. Maybe all toddlers are this funny, but either way - the kid is hilarious.

We made a German lebkuchen house. Elliott it loved it ... and loved squeezing the icing into his mouth. He is so proud of this thing ... every time we go into the dining room he says, "yaaaaay, Elliott did it!" ...

Our cookies did not go as swimmingly ... actually, it was quit a disaster. I let him cut out a couple and then finished the rest when he went to sleep ... maybe next year!

E's "second Christmas" ...

I picked this up from a vendor on post and I love it!! It has our names on the little scarves ... with one nose to spare ... and if we don't end up needing that nose - we'll use it for the dogs!!!

Nana Jen sent E his first set of big boy underwear and he was SO excited!!! We had a minor set-back with potty training, but we are getting there ... slowly, but surely.

I set up a 'daddy wall' ... pictures of Vic - which he loves. Anyway, he always has to tell daddy what is going on ... so here he is explaining the 'big boys' - as he calls them ...

This picture cracks me up. He walked around the grocery store like this and refused to take the glasses off ... people were walking by and just dying laughing, and E was dead serious.

This just made me laugh ... you can see what he thinks of my pink microwave. He's using it to tackle his way more manly task at his tool bench ...

Homemade pizzas ... put this in the same category as those Christmas cookies ... and then he wouldn't even eat the damn thing.

He has been spiking really high fevers that go along with the ear infections ... this was one of those nights. Poor baby ...

I love this. He usually sings something from his crib every morning that wakes me up ... it's usually Three Blind Mice or the Elmo Song ...

We are headed out tomorrow to meet E's best friend, Channing, and his mom at Mega-Play ... a mega indoor playground - mega fun, mega annoying. We'll probably only last an hour, but it will be good to get out of the house!!

Vic is doing well ... he is on the night shift, so I think his sleep schedule is adjusting. We are lucky that we get to talk to him every night. We miss him like crazy and can't wait until he's home!!!

Deployment - Week One

So Vic made it to his site ok! He seems to be doing good, and is busy getting situated and unpacked. E and I are good here! Elliott is a little confused and there are a lot of questions, but he really likes talking on the phone to daddy, so that helps.

I had finals last week, and it was not a fun time. I ended the semester with one A and my first B!!!! So sad, but I was toeing the line of a C, so I'll take it. I have two more core classes and two quick electives, so I will be done by June!

I also put in my two weeks notice at work ... long story, but I have not enjoyed myself this school year. I started working, mostly, to get out of the house, and it's just not worth it to be away from E - especially with Vic gone. I'm not really sure what we will do all day, but we'll figure it out!!

In other news, yesterday we went to see Santa! I thought Elliott may be a little scared, but he could not have given less of a care about ol' Saint Nick. He didn't even look in his direction and didn't acknowledge him while he sat on his lap. Oh well, maybe next year!

He was eating a candy cane ... which he was much more interested in ...

Anyway, if you would like to send Vic anything - I have the address, and can e-mail it to you. He gets two meals a day, so snacks and things would be much appreciated. I can send stuff from here, but we have nothing in bulk -  so if you have a Sam's Club membership - you're our new best friend! He likes beef jerky, those ready-made tuna lunch packs, granola bars, pretzels, peanut butter and nuts. He is down there with a group of soldiers, so any excess won't last long!!

I will keep everyone updated on things!! I have to go because Elliott just drew all over himself with a black Sharpie ... awesome ...

Early Christmas ...

With Vic leaving (very) shortly ... we decided to do an early Christmas. We pulled out all the stops ... even including a late night run for batteries. I think I actually had myself convinced that it really was Christmas! We even did our traditional Christmas meal ... turkey, stuffing, potatoes, macaroni and cheese, cupcakes, and apple strudel. We definitely enjoyed ourselves ...

Elliott loved opening presents ... and was occupied all day with his new toys ...

Cruising ... MSC Splendida

We cruised out of Civitavecchia (Rome) and it made sense for us to fly in the night before. We flew from Munich to Fiumicino on a late evening flight and booked a hotel right by the airport. Our flight and drive out of Munich was effortless. E was great on the plane, and we arrived in Fiumicino around 8:30. We grabbed our luggage and headed for the doors to catch a taxi to the hotel. A man intercepted us and asked if we were looking for a taxi, we told him where we were going, and he said to follow him. When we got into the 'cab' it didn't have a meter inside - mistake number one. We ended up paying about 30 euro for a ten minute cab ride, and we were too tired/annoyed to argue with the guy. Lesson learned, and we actually had great cab experiences for the rest of the trip. 

Our hotel in Fiumicino was nice, but we were only there until the morning, so it didn't matter much.

The next morning we had planned to head out early and see Vatican City before we boarded the cruise ship, but it was raining and we had over 100 pounds of luggage, so it just wasn't do-able. Instead, we headed for the train station and made our way to the port in Civitavecchia. 

The train dropped us off a few blocks from the port and we had an hour to kill. We stopped at a little cafe and had some amazing pizza. We caught a shuttle bus which took us directly to our ship, and the check-in process was a breeze. We ended up getting upgraded to a balcony suite with a great location.

Looking off our balcony in Civitavecchia.

Coloring in our room.

Every night we were able to enjoy an awesome seven-course meal. Our server, Wijaksana, was fantastic and very accommodating with Elliott. We had no table partners, which was awesome - we didn't have to feel bad about Elliott's crazy antics.

Arriving in Genoa. This was our first stop, and it was a pretty crappy day. Elliott was still recovering from an ear infection, so we took it easy and lounged around the boat. Genoa was the perfect stop to ignore because there wasn't anything there that we were too interested in seeing. We were perfectly happy just relaxing on the boat.

Curls for days ...

Marsaille, France. The weather had greatly improved by the time we got to Marseille, and we jumped onto the shuttle bus, which dropped us off in the city center.

There was a great little shopping area set-up by the water, and even a mini-Christmas market going on. We stopped and ate, did a little shopping, and rode the giant ferris wheel.

This is the Notre Dame de la Garda ...

Views from the ferris wheel - which Elliott loved ...

Christmas Market ...

This is the main area of the ship. The ship itself was AMAZING ... there was so much open space, and plenty to keep us occupied. We spent our day at sea just exploring the boat, and I still don't think we got to everything ...

The staircase was made of Swarovski crystals ...

Elliott dancing on the balcony ... this is one of his infamous moves that he showcased on this trip ...

Cruising into Barcelona ...

La Reggia was our restaurant for dinner each evening ...

We always managed to get to dinner way early, so we would enjoy a pre-dinner cocktail while Elliott ran around like a madman.

Sunset going into Barcelona ...

Christopher Columbus statue ...

La Sagrada Familia in Barcelona - which was amazing, but under construction. We saw most of the Gaudi sights, and this was my favorite. Gaudi died in 1926 before this was even a quarter of the way finished, and they don't have an expected completion date until 2026. Crazy.

We did A LOT of walking in Barcelona ... probably more than any other city.

Stopping at a park to let E run free for a bit. He was such a good sport for being cooped up in a stroller all day.

Another Gaudi sight ... La Pedrera.

We stopped at a tapas bar for lunch ...

Fried shrimp, calamari, some kind of bread (which was really gross), and, of course, beer ...

Another Gaudi ... Casa Batllo ... bad picture, but very pretty.

Barcelona Cathedral ...

A few minutes after this picture was taken - Elliott threw the most massive toddler tantrum hat we had seen to date. It was one of those tantrums where people stop and stare. This was his one and only of the trip, and we decided that it was time to head back to the boat!

Hanging out in the arcade on the boat.

These pictures are from our day at sea, before we arrived in Africa.

Pool area ... probably a lot cooler in the summer months.

We were the most excited about Tunisia and decided to book an excursion, so we could see all of the sights.

We started out in Sidi Bou Said, a little town on top of a cliff, and everything was done in blue and white. There were tons of little shops set-up ...

The locals were very forward with trying to sell you products and services. A man came up and put this bird on Elliott's stroller. He asked if could take a couple pictures with our camera, and afterwards he asked Vic for 30 euro!!! No way! We actually laughed ... like maybe he was joking, but he was dead serious. He really wanted 30 euro for placing a bird on a stroller without our permission and then taking two pictures.Vic held out the change he had in one of his pockets - which was probably 4 or 5 euro, but the guy was adamant about his 30 euro. Getting burned on the taxi ride from the airport was still fresh in my mind, so I grabbed the changed from Vic's hand, put in in the man's hand, and we quickly sped away!!

The many faces of Elliott ...

Ruins ...

This is our awesome tour guide, Ahmed, who loved to hear himself talk ...

Exploring the ruins ...

Carthage Ruins ...

Ruins of a colosseum ..

Camel rides ... we avoided this after our bird incident ...

After Tunisia we headed to Palermo where we decided to do another excursion. It was great, and it was at a slow pace, so we were able to enjoy ourselves and take in the sights.

On the top of Mount Pellegrino ...

Mt. Pellegrino in the back ground ...

Eating gelato on the beach ...

He LOVED the water ...

Sightseeing in Sicily ...

Thanksgiving fell on our day in Sicily ... when we got back on the boat they had this cake waiting in the buffet area!

Back to the boat ... this was after our day in Sicily ...

A few shots from dinner ...

We were sad to get off the boat, but so excited to see Rome. The disembarkation took a bit longer - compared to our checking-in procedure, and we were anxious to get our day started since we didn't have much time to spend in Rome. We tossed our luggage and stroller into the shuttle bus and made our way to the train station. When we went to pull the stroller out of the cargo area of the bus - it was smooshed. Completely broken. We ended up just ditching it by a trashcan on the side of the street, and came up with a plan right there on the spot. I had happened to pack a cloth baby carrier in case we saw some sights where strollers weren't allowed. We pulled that baby out, and it saved the day. We took turns carrying E around for the whole day, and it actually worked out really well ...

Our first stop in Rome was the Roman Forum. The sights here a breathtaking ... you could really spend the whole day walking around.

We went back and forth with deciding whether or not to go into the Colosseum, and I am so glad we did ... it was awesome ...

Arch of Titus ...

Relaxing in the Forum ...

Love this picture ...

After the Forum and Colosseum, we hopped in a cab to the Pantheon. This was amazing, and so massive.

After the Pantheon, we made our way to the Trevi Fountain ... another unbelievable sight, but, oh my God, so crowded. Elliott loved this, and probably could have stayed all night.

After the Trevi Fountain we headed to the Piazza Navona for dinner. This was the best choice of our entire trip. We found an awesome restaurant with tables setup outside by a fire, and a guy playing live music right across from our table. He was playing American music on an acoustic guitar, and it was so good that, after a bottle of wine, we bought his CD. The food was great and we sat next to a hilarious couple from Ireland. It was the perfect ending to our day in Rome. 

We certainly didn't get to see nearly enough of Rome, and, of course, missed some big sights, but we managed to cram a lot into our half day ... and did it all toting around a 28 pound toddler. 

The whole trip was amazing ... we saw amazing sights, ate amazing food, and were able to make so many memories!! We would love to do another cruise before we leave next year. 

Funny story. We spent the whole plane ride from Rome to Munich talking about how amazing and effortless our trip was ... how nothing major went wrong ... how truly lucky we are ... then, we get to our car ... and it wouldn't start!! Haha, I think we just had to laugh in the moment. After a few minutes and multiple tries ... it finally turned over and we were on our way back to Grafenwoehr. The battery ended up dying the next day, so we were lucky to get one more run out of it!