If my family does anything well, it eats well. I liked the variety of our spread at our family reunion so much that I took some pictures for you to see what strange and fantastic things we Italians eat...sometimes. My mom's watermelon, grown in her yard- not really Italian, but HUGE.

What my family calls salzits (sahl-zeets) but everyone else calls Italian sausages.

Corn on the cob, also not Italian, and not grown in my mom's yard, either. I took this one to make Josh salivate.

What is left of two fritats, made by my cousin Paul and Umpa- most people call these fritattas.

Oops. Missed this one- my mom made four pasdons (pahz-downs) but they were all eaten before I took these pictures. She used my Great-Aunt Connie's recipe...apparently these are a special dish for around Lent. They are a lot like a quiche, but sweet, with ground beef and bacon.
I only saw three pans here, though...

The most delicious biscotti I have ever had, homemade by some cousin. I was looked at strangely for calling these bis-cah-tti. I am only a quarter Italian, and that is not Italian enough to call it bis-COE-tti. Sorry, O.G. family members. I let you down. (But the truth is, the man who made this isn't even Italian. He just married in!)

Olives, of course.

Figs, from some cousin's tree.

Oh! That's where the last pasdon went....I watched Uncle Crue slowly eat this one down to crumbs while he talked to the older generation.

He did share with Uncle Beany.

I had to take a picture before they consumed it all. Those are some good victuals!

I'm playing Fantasy Football with a bunch of boys. I want to have an appropriately scary picture to put on. I took this- but then I decided I needed to somehow look extra-girly and still like a (foot) baller. I put on makeup and earrings and a Redskins hat.

I realized that my glasses were very dirty. I cleaned them and took some more.

Oops. Forgot the hat.

Tough, huh? I bet none of the other guys are putting this much work into their profile picture!

We left at two-thirty for Temecula...we didn't get home until ten-thirty, and I didn't worry about the kidlings hardly at all since Lisa was watching them (for a marathon 8 hours.) We walked around, browsed peacefully, ate dinner at El Torito, and watched a movie. It was wonderful.
I only took pictures at El Torito, and one of us in the movie theatre before the movie began.

Josh liked his chile rellenos on a chip.

Josh liked his Diet Pepsi.

Mmmm....dessert.

Josh liked dessert.

I took this one with a short arm.

Josh took this one with his longer one.

Star Trek, good times.

My husband risked life and limb to pick me some wild flowers for our eighth anniversary.

I don't think that these are worth the risk, but it sure was nice.

Okay, males, I don't mind if you read this at all, but it does contain references to body parts that some of you may be unfamiliar with, or made uncomfortable by, so be warned. I do want female readers to read this and tell me if I missed something important...some things I left out on purpose, but I feel like I'm forgetting something.

This will be my fourth hospital birth- the other three I enjoyed to varying degrees...the births have all been wonderful, the stays afterward not so great, but this is how we do it.

Sarah's Birth Plan

I know that all births differ, and I have confidence that the nurses and doctor will do all they can for me if an emergency arises, however, I believe that childbirth is a natural process with productive pain, and I desire as few medical interventions as possible. I would like this birth to be as unencumbered as possible, which means that I do not want any drugs for pain, or for contracting, and I would like the freedom to move around as much as possible. I believe that a calm and comfortable mother can best deliver a healthy baby, even if that means neglecting some commonly used medications and tools. I desire a safe and healthy delivery, so I am listing my preferences, and I am willing to discuss anything. I have come into all of my children’s births with excitement and a certain amount of enjoyment, and I hope that this birth can be as calm and quiet as I would like, with staff that share my joy at welcoming our fourth child into this world.

1. No I.V. An I.V. will be unnecessary in my birthing except in case of emergency, and it hampers my movements and comfort during labor, therefore, I will sign a release stating that I do not want it. I have been in a hospital before, and seen how quickly a trained nurse can put an I.V. in, and I have confidence that in an emergency, any staff person will be able to care for me just as adequately as if I had had an I.V. in already.
2. No pain medication of any sort. If I desire it at any time, I will ask.
3. No episiotomy. I understand that the alternative may be tearing, and I feel like this may be the better route. (However, I have had three babies, and it has never been an issue.)
4. I will allow fetal monitoring as long as I am comfortable. In the last stages of pregnancy, I will be moving too much to allow for much lying down. I prefer to labor on my feet.
5. I will not have an enema.
6. I do not want to be induced except in case of emergency. I have been at least a week overdue with every child, and almost two weeks with my first, and I am willing to wait that long for this baby. I feel very sure that my body will labor as it needs to, at the speed it desires, and I do not want petocin to hasten labor.
7. I also do not want petocin at any point of my stay at the hospital, not even to contract the uterus after delivery, unless there is an emergency. I will be massaging my uterus, and I will be nursing, both of which will be enough to get my uterus back to the place and shape it needs to be, as well as decrease bleeding. I did not have it with my last birth, and I do not react well to it, so unless it is an emergency situation, I will not allow any.
8. All interventions not mentioned above should only be employed if there is a sound medical reason to do so, and not, “just in case.”
9. I would like the baby to be in my arms for the first HOUR at least, with initial care of the baby done while the baby is on my body.
10. I will be breastfeeding only, so no bottles, pacifiers, or formula is to be given to the baby.
11. The baby will stay in my room at all times, unless I or my husband is with him.
12. I desire open communication with the nurses who care for me and my baby. I will do my best to make your job easy as long as I am told what is happening at all times.
13. I would not like the baby to receive eye medication unless there has been clear indication of an infection.

We conversed around the table the last night of Job and Jamin's visit. Paul and Cyndi came up for the night, and took the two Vermonters to the airport- sad for us, because we missed out on one more night with everyone, but nice for Job and Jamin, I guess, and Paul and Cyndi, because they got to eat out and party with the Hutchins' Wii.

After the kids are in bed, though, is the perfect time for visiting. We were slackers this time- no fun planned, no games played- except for Atari- and not much entertainment, but the visit was wonderful, and next time...

Two sleepy girls...we did look at lots of old picture- we had to find a picture of Paul at Julie and Lance Fogle's wedding- it was a staff activity that all of us remembered, but Paul, and we had to convince him that he was there.

We found the picture.

He was there.

Josh and I took pictures of each other.

We had been in Walmart, randomly, last week, and bought a huge box of otter pops. we don't normally shop there, because I am much more of a Target person, but my foot hurt, and we wanted to get up the hill fast.

Paul and Cyndi liked them.

You wonder why I don't post more often? Even when we have something to do, we don't really do anything. What a nice life, I think.

This is my crepe cake. Josh made it for me for my birthday. He made lots of crepes, as well, and we consumed them, too.

From scratch, as all of Josh's breakfast masterpieces are.

That's love, no? I felt very appreciated.

I couldn't guess what was in the big box...

...but I had so many others to guess at, too! We ate lunch at the beach, and then went to Joe's Crab Shack for dinner. It was a very pleasant day. I like 31.

Josh and I went on a date the night before my birthday. Josh told me first that we were going to the bookstore to pick out ANY BOOK I WANTED. So many choices!
I picked out a Nigella Lawson cookbook. It was nice to walk around a bookstore unencumbered by children. I love bookstores...any type, really.
We went out after that to TGI Fridays for some hot wings (in memory of college days) and a banana split.

Josh thought that the first two pictures of me were bad- I think that they're funny. I rarely see a picture of myself that looks how I think I look, so I post them all. Why not? That person is not me.

Mmmm. Banana split. I like going on dates more now than I ever have.

Our friend Nicole Nafziger-Erickson came out for a too short visit at the beach house. It was fun, all of us being with child...we documented the event.

It was pretty funny.

I almost died from laughing.

Rosie took this one of herself.

Then we posed nicely while Nicole freshened herself up. Lisa was not in the other pictures for obvious reasons.

Nicole came back...

We had just finished a rousing game of Settlers of Catan...Nicole won. What fun the beach is! what a nice vacation it is!