Rome & Florence.

Seems as though it has already been a few months since we’ve been home from Europe and well, we haven’t shared

anything. I guess we’ve been a lil busy. :0 Y’all know we shot in Switzerland but first we started with some personal

time in Italy. It was exhausting for me in all ways, but it was nice to get away with just Adam before my life became

the circus that it is now.

We planned my pregnancy around this European trip. It was booked a year out and I needed to make sure I was only so

far along in my pregnancy to be able to fly overseas. When we found out their was TWO babies, I became overly

anxious about this trip. So nervous something would happen and we wouldn’t be able to come through for the families

that hired us. I know it gets old hearing me say this, but I still depend on my sister, Ali, so much. I prayed to God that

He and Ali could protect the babies and I the rest of the pregnancy and keep it complication free. The morning we left

I was so nervous for the long flight and the whole trip in general.  So when Ali’s lifetime BFF unexpectedly showed up at the

same gate as us for the same flight to Paris, I thanked her for looking out. What better sign and assurance could she send

me. I literally took a deep breath and felt the worry fall off my shoulders.

First stop was Florence where we met up with a Marian Brother Ali introduced me too. Bro Bob and I were sitting

there watching street performers and talking about my sister. Down floats this perfect feather exactly at our eye line

between our heads. We both got the chills.

It’s standard protocol to eat gelato like 12 times a day for a week, right?

Illegally taken of the Sistine Chapel from Adam’s hip while I was forced by Italians guards to sit against the wall and

rest because apparently the waddling tired eyed American girl shouldn’t be standing. HA! Besides this being the

Mecca for Catholics, it’s totally the Mecca for artists. We studied it in books for years, and then to stand there and

break your neck oogling over the real thing for an hour…it’s pretty fantastic and mesmerizing to say the least.

I desperately wanted to call my art history professor and say, “I’m here! I’m staring right at the CREATION OF

ADAM! Right here, ABOVE MY FREAKING HEAD!!” So if you are reading this Ceil Dorger, it’s amazing,

just like you said it was.

All over Florence they had public water fountains. I normally want to puke at something so germ infested but dang when

a prego is walking mile after mile per hour all. day. long, she needs some freaking water. So I drank out of a rusty

spout off the wall draining into a bowl with years of dirt and fungus. Eww. I already regret it by looking at this image.

The people of Italy must have an awesome immunity system!

The pic on the left. 😮 I had been up for 36hrs. I hadn’t eaten for at least 10 of them. Adam was all, let’s walk around Italy

and take pictures! I, however, was all, “if you don’t stop walking and get some dang food in my stomach before the twins

eat me from the inside out, I will, most definitely, punch you right in the face. So then we stopped at the next restaurant. 🙂

You know how hard it was to find protein in Italy? I needed to eat a LOT of protein with the pregnancy. I mean, I had

boatloads of cheese. But I didn’t have many options  in terms of meat. It would have been easier to find it without

the language barrier, so we were forced to get the “meat” elsewhere. This was the biggest and most swankiest

McDonalds I have ever been in, that was for sure!!

Adam decided to climb the Duomo and tower in Florence. He climbed up 500 odd steps, came down, went into the

church and then climbed a different set of 500 steps, also overlooking the city. What did I do? HA! Maybe you don’t

know this, but I suck at sleeping. And I was very uncomfortable in all ways at this time, so sleep was harder to come by.

But I was so beyond tired that I parked my fanny on a hard wooden church pew, sat straight up and passed the

heck out. Best part was, I didn’t even realize it! HAHA. Next thing I knew, a security guard was tapping on my

shoulder and I was wiping drool off my chin while rubbing my screaming neck from being tilted straight back while I

waited and slept. And it wasn’t even 1pm.

He was in the church dome here, the tower behind is what he had already climbed up.

Ha! My butt and belly were equal.

This has been sitting in a draft folder for ages. Glad I can finally share it! I have another blog for the rest of Italy,

just need to finish it. Happy weekend! I think it’s Valentines day or something? I don’t know. I seem to live in a

bubble these days. 😉 Heart! Melanie