Sister Hannah and her developing mind!

Last night while reading about Hannah's favorite saint, St. Agnes, Hannah said, "Mommy, I really love God a lot and I think my vocation is to be a nun." (Well, that is just what the daddy wants to hear.) I told her that that would be great and maybe she will be one day.

Then today she asked me while I was cooking dinner why people have to die. I thought it was 5 year olds that asked these kinds of questions. At least that one was one I had an easy answer to. We've been talking a lot about old testament stories lately (especially since our trip to Italy with all the biblical paintings and statues). I guess we had just talked about Adam and Eve getting thrown out of the garden, so I explained there were other consequences and one of those was death. She seemed to accept it.

Brian's Surprise Pretend Birthday

We had a surprise pretend birthday for Brian yesterday. We went to Ikea in Manheim, about an hour away, to get his birthday present while he was at work. We got him a new computer chair since his is so broken he falls out of it half the time. It was a mostly smooth trip with a major glitch at the end when Genna tried to climb into the trash can in the restroom to get her paper towel back. I unfortunately had to carry a crying baby out of the store as fast as I could. Then we sat in the parking lot for half and hour trying to get everybody to calm down, including myself, so we could drive an hour back home. But the drive home was peaceful! Thank you, God!

We didn't tell Brian about this. His birthday is actually on Ash Wednesday this year and he will be leaving early that morning for another trip anyways. So I decided to have an early celebration. We took him to Schnitzel night in Bann, the neighboring village, at a restaurant he likes a lot. He loved his chair and enjoyed the dinner. He even got a special gift from Genna. He has been working very hard to win her heart. She is such a mommy's girl. She sat by her dad the whole dinner and didn't ask for me at all. I think his hard work is paying off! Hannah helped him put the chair together, and then the girls sat in his lap and spun around when it was all finished. Fun times!

Sympathy Time Out

The other day, Hannah had to go into her Naughty Corner for a time out for disobeying. Genna got very upset about this and starting crying hysterically. I told her to leave Hannah alone in time out and stop crying. She just kept crying. I said jokingly, "Do you want to go to time out too?" She stopped crying and said, "Yes." Then she ran over to her Naughty Corner. She stayed there the whole time until Hannah was out. I kept asking her, "Do you want to come out yet?" and she would just say, "No, Hannah!" in a whiny voice. Once Hannah was out she said, "Ready come out, Mom." Sweet sisterly love! I will enjoy it while it lasts.

Saturday was the Smith Family Pajama Day!

Saturday we had a pajama day and didn't get dressed all day. This picture is of Genna in her favorite princess pajamas on the couch with her baby and "Nani" tucked under her. She woke up too early from her nap. I was trying to finish a sewing project and Daddy had stepped out to look at a used minivan(he had to break the rules and get dressed for this obviously,) so I put on a video about ABC's for her. This was just the special occasion she needed to chill on the couch a bit while I finished up.


I am busy getting ready for our trip to the states next week. I am trying to get everything in order before I go. Murray, our still sick poodle, has made things a little more difficult because it turns out he has bladder stones (not a UTI) and has to have surgery on Wednesday. Brian will be doing the surgery, of course, but we are a little worried about having to board him so soon after it due to our concurrent trips.

Growing up too fast...as usual!

Genna is talking up a storm now! She copies Hannah constantly, which leaves me with few quiet moments. One of the cutest things she is doing now is telling me how she is feeling. I hear, "Scared, Mommy, scared!" or "I'm sad" every once in a while. My personal favorite is, "I'm mad, Mommy, I'm mad!" I don't know why I think it is so cute, but trust me it is. She usually goes and finds a place to sit down and just be mad for a few minutes, reminding me a few times that she is still mad from her seat. She did it, in fact, when we were at the Academia in front of the David. She just sat on the floor for a minute and then she was fine. At least she is using her words, right?
Yesterday, in daily Mass, she said the responsorial Psalm with me. And last night she said the whole mealtime prayer with us and she even bowed her head with prayerful hands. I was very proud of her.

My Little Angels

Here are my little chimney sweepers! Mary Poppins is their favorite long car trip movie!

Here is Genna doing puzzles inside the box that is supposed to hold all the puzzles:

Yesterday, Hannah did some cute things! During lunch she turned to me and said, "May it be done unto me according to Thy word. That means I will do what God wants, Mommy!" God bless her! Then while I was cooking dinner she put this hoop on her head and told me she was an angel. She ran over to her sissy playing on the floor and said, "Genna, I bring you great news! You are going to have a baby and His name will be Holy." I asked her if His name was Jesus and she said, "No, Mom. That was Mary's baby. I am a different angel talking to Genna." How funny! Another time yesterday the girls also got their little Bibles and sat on the couch pretending to be in Mass singing, "Amen" over and over. I tried to video tape it, but they stopped when they saw the camera. I was just so pleased to have Mary and God so constantly on their little minds! Another Happy Mommy Moment!

"The rest of the story"

Firenze,Italy

Click on the picture and it will take you to the album of all our pictures of our trip!

Firenze, Italy

Florence was great! There was so much to see, and considering the kids, we saw quite a bit. At least we saw everything on our list! It rained a lot the first few days, but Friday was really nice. It was not as cold as Germany so that was nice. To get there we had to drive an hour to the airport, wait 2 hours at the airport, fly for about 1 hour to Italy, take an hour bus to Bologna(this is where Brian fell and hurt his ankle/foot,) then hop on an hour train to Firenze (Florence), and finally get on a bus to go to our guest house. Unfortunately, we were guessing where to get off the bus and got off too early. So then we had to walk with our bags and push the girls in the stroller up hill. We ended up stopping to see our dear friend, Bernardo, who is a Benedictine monk at San Miniato, and by chance caught a Mass as well. So it was a LONG travel day which ended in some much needed refreshment and fellowship.

We stayed in a guest house run by nuns where our friend set us up. They just loved the girls and the girls loved them as well! The nuns spoke both German and Italian so we spoke to them mostly in German since we don’t know much Italian (even though I found it is so close to Spanish that I am able to catch a lot more than I thought). Our experience there was fantastic-the rooms were nice, the breakfast was satisfying, and the girls enjoyed the nuns tickling them and bringing them cakes and candy.

The first morning we headed out to see Santa Croce which is a very big, old, and beautiful church. It had many famous tombs, like Michelangelo’s and Galileo’s. We spent the morning there and headed to a place to eat that was recommended to us in our travel guide. It was pretty good, but over all I was a tiny bit disappointed with the food selection. Maybe my expectations were too high. However, I am a pregnant woman who has random cravings and aversions. In fact, I haven’t wanted to eat meat much at all, and that is what they seem to love in that region. So, then we headed to the Uffizi, a huge museum with over 40 rooms of artwork. The girls were pooped, so Hannah rode in the front of the stroller where she could lay back and sleep and I put Genna in the sling. Hannah was asleep before we got into the first room, and Genna was asleep by room 10. Neither woke up until we were leaving. I was hurting after that, carrying 25 extra pounds around for over 2 hours plus the ever-growing babe inside me. At least Brian and I were able to peacefully wander about and look at the amazing Renaissance art! We then got some gelato which was very good. Then we headed to San Miniato again to visit our friend. He spoiled the girls with candy and chocolate and we had another lovely visit. One complaint I have about Italy is that they do not open restaurants until 7 or 7:30pm for dinner. This is only a problem if you have small kids that are used to going to bed at that time. So we went for dinner and did not get back until late.

The next morning we left and went straight to San Miniato for a private tour of the church and the bell tower which Bernardo so lovingly gave us. At lunch time we headed to Oltarno for lunch and window shopping. We got a couple of blood oranges and pears at a fruit stand too and they were delicious! We had some more gelato after lunch. (That is Brian’s favorite thing, so we had it everyday.) Next we were off to a perfume shop called Officina Profumo-Farmaceutica di Santa Maria Novella (a former Dominican monastery from 1221 and converted to the perfume shop in 1612) that Brian had been to last time he was in Florence. We got each other valentine gifts there since originally the trip was planned to include Valentine’s Day, but it had to be moved. Then we went to Santa Maria Novella, another beautiful church. It was adorned by 14^th century frescoes and various famous paintings and a few more tombs. Hannah had an accident since there are no bathrooms in the whole church. The closest one was across the street, so that was a bit of a disaster. We did more window shopping and stopped in to taste wines (Brian, not me obviously). I accidentally tasted chicken livers and anchovies in a paté on crostini. We also tasted many kinds of Pecorino cheeses which are common in the area, and we all liked them. The woman at the wine shop recommended some restaurants for dinner that night, but none of them were opening for another hour or more. So we went back across the Arno river and finally found a place to eat near our guest house. It was very good, but fairly expensive. The girls, by the way, lived on spaghetti, bread and cheese pretty much the whole week and were content.

The third morning we headed straight for the Duomo. A picture of us in front is to the right (Don't worry Genna is buckled in securely!) The doors of the Baptistry were amazing as was Brunelleschi’s dome. The girls enjoyed getting out of the stroller inside all of these churches and museums. Unless it was naptime, that was their time to stretch. They were very good about staying with us and behaving. I will forever remember having the two of them going through my legs over and over again the whole time I was looking at the dome. We saw very few children while in Italy and so we certainly did not blend into the crowds. Then we went to another restaurant that I found in the travel guide and it was by far the best one. The Acedemia Risterante was reasonable and the food was great. I had their famous Michelangelo Salad which had pears, Pecorino, pine nuts and honey on a bed of lettuce. The girls ate pizza, and Brian loved his Pasta with mussels in it. We had some bruschetta also and it was all very filling. The only problem we had there had nothing to do with the restaurant. While I was taking off Genna’s coat I dislocated her elbow again. Brian had to take her to the bathroom to put it back in place. I am sure you’re thinking I must have been ripping that coat off, but I was just doing it a different way for lack of space and I honestly have no idea how it happened again. After it was back in place she was fine and we had a nice lunch. Then, of course, we headed around the corner to the Academia to see the original statue of the David. It was more amazing than I could have imagined. And since I did not get to see my favorite statue, Rodin’s The Kiss, while we were in England because it had been moved to another museum, this more than made up for it. To think he was about my age when he did this statue amazes me further. Michelangelo’s Quattro Pigioni (Four Prisoners) was quite wonderful too. There were other paintings and a plaster model museum as well, but unfortunately they were overshadowed by the famous statues. Then we headed to Mass at San Miniato again and afterwards met with Bernardo. He taught the girls to play a Buddhist bell I had never seen before which Genna, my musical angel, loved. He definitely won the hearts of our girls who talked about him for many days after we left. He was too nice to us, giving us all kinds of treats and souvenirs to take home with us. He even gave us a ride to the train station the next morning. For dinner Brian got food and brought it to our room so the absolutely exhausted mommy could pack and rest her feet.

The next morning we began the reverse of our travels to Firenze and ended up back at home around 4:30pm.

A view of Firenze from San Miniato

We're back!

We are back from Florence, but I am going to need a few days to recover before I can write my big blog about our trip. It was very tiring because we walked about 10 hours a day with very little breaks. Brian went to the emergency room today to get his foot checked out since he thought he broke it in Florence. It isn't broken though, praise God! I couldn't take another broken bone right now. Plus, poor Hannah got a high fever today and is pretty sick. So, I am compiling pictures and such, and I will be posting again very soon!

A few pictures before I go...

Here is Genna in one of her favorite zip-up hoodies. She got it for Christmas from my Aunt Sharon. She has a new obsession with pockets. Daddy took these because he thought she looked so adorable. Her hair is in a pony tail, but she'd been napping so it's a bit mussed.


Now I really am going to try to pack...if I can stay awake.

Baby Check up

Everything here is in one building, the OB clinic, the lab, the pharmacy, radiology, etc.! So this means, when you walk in for a simple appointment, you never leave! We were there for over 3 hours! The girls were excellent! Daddy had a dentist appointment at the same time so he couldn't help with the girls. Even though they were good, I am going to make sure that I get childcare for the next one. It would just be easier!

Baby #3 is healthy and growing! They gave me another ultrasound today because their Doppler thing wasn't working. Baby #3 was moving all over. The new picture is on the right, replacing the "little tiny nut" is "Florence," (Hannah's current name for the baby, yes she thinks this is a boy name) a baby with a head and all the limbs. Everything seems to be great!

Another ER notch in my Mommy Belt!

We are getting ready to leave for Italy in a couple days, so I have a lot to do and shouldn't even be blogging. So I must keep it as brief as possible. In Mass this morning Brian held Genna's hand as she tried to stand on the kneeler when we all stood up. Well, she immediately started screaming and saying, "Daddy hurt arm!" over and over. Poor Brian! I had to take her out. She only calmed down for moments during the remaining Mass and only if I held her arm perfectly still. It was the same arm that just got the cast off of it, so we were concerned even though we couldn't figure out what could have happened to it since he was just helping her up a step basically. We decided to try pain medicine, wrapping it up with an ace bandage, and putting her down for a nap. Four hours later when she got up, it still hurt her for me even to touch it. So, ER here we come AGAIN! She was in miserable pain until the X-ray. She was mysteriously healed during the X-ray! She was using her arm immediately after she came out. The doctor looked at the X-rays and said it was a dislocated elbow that was inadvertently put back into place during the X-rays. There is a certain way you have to move the arm to get it back into place (it's not horrible like a shoulder would be) and the X-ray tech moved her arm that way to get the pictures taken. Thank God it was an easy fix because, as I said before, we are leaving the country in a few days for a long awaited trip!!! And we have enough going against us at the moment. Brian isn't feeling well, and our dog is sick too. Other than being riddled with anxiety all day worrying about my girl, I am doing well. One more week until I am home free and out of this trimester!

Hannah's Dance Class

Hannah took dance before we moved here, but they would not let her start until she was 3 years old here. So, she had her first class yesterday, and in keeping with her personality she quickly found the one girl who did not follow instructions and became best friends with her. She was playing shy when we got there until the teacher called for everyone to sit in a circle to stretch. She ran off, never to look back at her mommy until she had to go potty towards the end of class. She did well, if you don't count her getting distracted by the girl who did not follow directions well and her being Chatty Cathy when she was in line. The class is a tap and ballet combo. The recital will be in May or June which should be interesting. Genna ate her snacks and shook her "botman" on the sidelines. After class I was talking to the teacher for a moment as another older class was coming in and getting set up. I look up and Hannah had joined the older girls stretching, ready for her next class to begin. I called her over and explained this was a new class for bigger kids and her class was over. She said, "But Mom, they all said 'Good Morning' to me." What a mess! I think she could play and socialize until she keeled over from exhaustion. Where did this child come from? She wears Brian and I out!

I forgot my camera at dance class, but I took a few when we got home. Oh, I forgot to mention, Hannah is the tiniest one in her class of ten. It is cute!

Genna wanted to be in the picture too, but she didn't smile for some reason.

A Happy Mommy Moment

We finished up taking down Christmas decorations today. Once again the girls were a tremendous help! Hannah also sorted the laundry for me. Now, I just need to teach her how to spot stains and set them aside, and I will be set! Anyway, I was carrying a big box up the stairs and Hannah saw me. The following conversation ensued:

Hannah: Mommy, be careful.

Me: I will, Sweetie. Thanks for worrying about me.

Hannah: Your angel will help you on the steps, Mommy. So, it's OK.

Me: That's right my guardian angel will protect me on the steps.

That was a "Happy Mommy Moment." These sorts of things coming from Hannah really make my day because, I have to admit, she really worries me sometimes. She's compassionate and motherly, and she certainly has the knowledge needed to be a faithful Catholic with her incredible memory. However, she's also smart-mouthed, thinks of herself first, stubborn, and is attracted to the "popular" older kids. I just see problems in the future with these character aspects, and I see major clashing between her and myself in the adolescent years. I am doing my best to steer her in the right direction and teach her to choose right over wrong, but I fear she is going to be one of those kids that has to learn the hard way. Prayer, prayer, prayer! Between teaching, guiding, and being a good example, in addition to all the other stuff that has to be done, being a mother is no easy job!

Mommy's little helpers

I had two very eager helpers today as we took the tree down, rearranged the furniture, and cleaned the floors. Hannah was excellent at taking off ornaments and wrapping them up and putting them in their boxes! I was surprised how careful she was with the ornaments. In fact, I was the one to break one, not her! Fortunately, it was just a ball and not a sentimental one. Genna helped me put the boxes of ornaments in the big box and she helped "clean" with her pretend cleaning set she got for Christmas. Hannah played with it too, of course. We got a lot done, and the down stairs looks great right now...only two more floors to go!

I added a picture of my baby bump to the blog. It is on the right side under "Other blogs I visit." I will be adding pictures as I get bigger. I got my first, "Hey, you're showing!" the other day so I figured I better document it. That is one thing I did a poor job of the last two pregnancies. I don't just love to get my picture taken. My dirty little secret is out!

Cast off!

Genna got her cast off yesterday! I am so glad to get the neon pink "I have a bad mommy" sign off of her! Her bone has healed a little bit bowed, but the doctor (and Brian) assured me it will "remodel" back to normal within a few months. She did great with the X-rays this time since Daddy was there and I had prepped her saying, "The doctors are going to take pictures of your arm" for days in advance. She cried when they cut the cast off with the big electric saw, but I was even nervous during that. Brian tells me afterward that it doesn't cut skin. I wish someone would have mentioned that before!

Last cast pictures:

"Shaking Botman"

Genna had just gotten up this morning, and as I was preparing her breakfast she said, "Mommy, shaking botman." (Botman is how she says bottom.) I looked over to see her shaking her bottom with her hand in her pocket. It was so cute so I got the camera and asked her to do it again. So, here it is:

Sweet angels for our Mother of God

The girls were really good during Mass yesterday! They've been going through a hard time lately, Genna, usually our good girl during Mass, is getting to that age where even she is wiggling, talking too loud, and having trouble making it through Mass. We rarely have to take them out of Mass, but still they definitely distract me. Hannah gets bored typically no matter how hard I try to get her involved. However, yesterday they were excellent! They had prayerful hands. Hannah said the responses. The girls both walked up very nicely with us to get Holy Communion. Genna whispered her questions and comments about Jesus in the Stations of the Cross (she was fascinated that Jesus fell down and got hurt kind of like she did). Genna even said, "Love you, Jesus" and blew him two kisses before we left. I was surely proud, and I know Mary and Jesus were too!