France, Part 1

The first four nights of our trip were spent at Sylvain's Dad's house in St. Florent, about two hours south of Paris in the heart of the Loire Valley.  We call him "Papi," the traditional French title for a Grandpa, and I could tell he enjoyed hearing the girls chant "Papi! Papi!" after a couple days of getting to know him.

When he picked us up from the airport, we were all exhausted and nervous and cranky (or maybe it was just me).  Once we got to his car and the girls were strapped into their car seats I felt much better.  In eight short weeks, he and Nelly managed to find a car seat, a booster seat, a pack-n-play, a toddler mattress and a stroller for us to use!  I quickly realized that they worked very hard to make us comfortable and I spent the whole first day feeling nothing but gratitude and love for this side of the family that we never get to see.  We all took a nap on that first day, and when the girls napped well in their new sleeping digs, I could finally relax and enjoy our time there.  

Our room, where we slept with Margot.

Dining room and family room.

Aunt Dorinda's room - Sylvia slept on a mattress on the floor.

Exploring!

Relaxing!

Papi in the kitchen.

Front yard fun!

Aunt Dorinda!  She's all grown up!

Three generations - I was so happy to take this picture!

Front gate.

A walk down the street.

The morning routine involved lots of coloring.

I'm glad I packed Sylvia's slippers, because I forgot that in France, everyone wears "house shoes."  I remembered to take off my shoes at the door, but I started to walk around barefoot and was quickly handed a pair of slippers to wear so I wouldn't get cold on the tile floor!  Oops.  

I had to take Margot for a walk in the stroller as soon as we arrived because she wouldn't stop crying.  I think she was just overwhelmed and tired and the poor thing couldn't figure out what was going on!  Why are we here?!  When are we leaving?!  Who are these people?!  Mommmyyyy!!!!  It was a little rough for that one.  Sylvia, however, was perfectly happy to pick flowers and color pictures.  In fact, I think she picked every dandelion in the front yard on day one.  

After naps on Monday, we went to Sully Sur Loire, a real castle only minutes from their house!  The Loire Valley is known for it's castles, so......a certain four year old was in heaven!

There was a great playground nearby, where Mamie Nelly and Dorinda were more than happy to play with the girls and I found a bench!  A place to SIT!  While someone ELSE occupied my kids!  I felt spoiled and pampered and happy as a clam.  Sylvain and his dad went to a beer shop then met us there before we all headed home.  It was the perfect afternoon trip - close, short, but absolutely beautiful!

Tuesday was Sylvia's birthday and I woke up that morning to a raucous symphony of birds outside the shuttered windows.  When Margot woke up we pulled her out of her crib and into bed with us, which was a special treat.  Then we all went to Dorinda's room to sing Sylvia awake for the day!  I spent the day holding back tears from the sheer joy of watching my happy, healthy, beautiful four year old run around FRANCE.  What a dream come true!

We took Sylvia to another castle for her birthday.  It was called Chambord and it was an hour away from Papi's house.  We drove to Chambord and had lunch at a cafe before touring the castle together.  Sylvia loved the "swirly staircase" and insisted that we climb it as soon as we saw it.  So, we started our tour from the top and worked our way down!  It really was a beautiful place and she kept saying, "Wowww....this is magnificent!"  Or she'd giggle and say, "Ohhhh, I just love this place!"  It was fun to watch her get so excited.  I hope she remembers it!

The Birthday Girl!

All Margot wanted from the gift shop was this bathtub book about forest animals!  She crossed her legs and read her book all the way back to the car!

Next, we drove back toward St. Florent and stopped at an ostrich farm for a little hiking.  It was a beautiful day and the girls loved being outside!

Next it was back home for naps and supper.  This was our first real experience with French meals.  They eat SUPER late there and we decided to feed the girls early so they could go to bed at a decent time, especially since they were so busy that day. We let Sylvia stay up late so she could enjoy her birthday cake with us, and while we ate supper she sat and colored or played on the iPad.

Two great cooks!

The "apertif," or the pre-meal snack, was champagne, chips, cheese and PRESENTS!

Dorinda's birthday is also in April.  She just started driving.  She got her first car!  Haha!!

Waiting patiently for dessert.

They tricked her with candles in a lemon!  She said, "That's not a cake!" and looked very worried.

They brought out the real cake with sparkler candles that spelled "Happy Birthday!"

It was an amazing day.  I went to bed with a warm heart and a smile on my face.  That girl.  She's mine!  So lucky...

On Wednesday, Mamie Nelly took me and Sylvia to Gien, just a few minutes away.  Gien is known for their "Fiancerie" or as I like to call it, "The Plate Place!"  They make the most beautiful fancy china sold all over the world (turn over a fancy plate around here and it might say "Gien" on the bottom).  Since they make it RIGHT THERE, there's a sort of outlet store in Gien with discounted prices on all of their patterns and styles.  We decided to leave Margot at home because she didn't sleep well the night before and we knew she'd be like a figurative bull in a literal china shop.  

A little morning coloring.

"Balance beaming"

The church in Gien.

The chateau - we couldn't go inside...sadness!

Grocery store around the corner from the plate place.

 After lunch we took a walk by the boats a few towns over.  I forget what it was called, but we should have put Margot in the stroller because I was a nervous wreck watching her walk that close to the water!

Thursday was our last full day with Papi and Mamie, so we made the most of it and drove a couple hours to Vezaley - a beautiful old town on top of a giant hill.  It's hard to believe that almost every building in these rural areas of France is older than our entire country!

Hung a blanket in the window as a sun shade for Margot.  Whatever works!

Fields of yellow flowers as far as the eye could see!  They make cooking oil out of them!

 I snapped a couple pictures of the towns we drove through:

Here we are in Vezaley.  Walking or resting or playing in the park.  This is also the only place where I got any decent pictures of myself!  Proof that I went to France!  With my family!

This house/restaurant is for sale.  I want to buy it!

The church at Vezaley.

After our day trip, we returned to Papi and Mamie's house for one more night.  In the morning, we got up and drove to Sylvian's cousin's house, but that's the beginning of another blog post.

While our whole trip was fantastic, our time with Sylvian's dad was my favorite.  There is something special about his house and seeing the girls play there was a real treat.  I often wanted to pinch myself because I couldn't believe I was there.  I wanted to run back to my 15 year old self on my first trip to France and yell, "You think THIS is fun?!  Wait until you visit this beautiful country with your KIDS.  Wait until you watch your four year old daughter spin around in circles in the front yard under the blue sky.  Wait until your baby digs through every pile of rocks in front of the stone churches and castles.  Wait until you have to say goodbye to your father-in-law and the girls shout 'au revoir' and blow him kisses from their car seats.  Just wait.  You think this is amazing now, but it gets even BETTER!"  

A Couple Snapshots

I'll get to the nitty gritty moments soon, but two important snapshots are in my head and need to be remembered:

After spending five days with Sylvain's dad, stepmom and sister, we left St. Florent and went to stay with his cousin in Lagnieu, 4 hours away.  The girls seemed to warm up to "Papi and Mamie Nelly" well enough while we were there, so we didn't really think it was necessary to explain to Sylvia that we'd be seeing Papi and Mamie Nelly again, but we didn't tell her we wouldn't either.  On our second day in Lagnieu, Papi arrived for lunch and as he approached Sylvia, who was sitting at the table coloring, her face LIT UP and she started to giggle in a way I've never heard her giggle before.  She was clearly excited to see him.  More excited than I ever thought she would be after spending such a small amount of time with him.  He made quite an impression on her.  Nelly came next and the response was the same.  She was so happy to see them.  It made my heart melt and I got a little weepy at the thought of leaving.

Yesterday, when we arrived at the airport, my mom was there to pick us up.  I was so happy to see her.  I realized that my husband only gets to feel this way once every four or five years.  I suddenly felt guilty for being "home."  As we waited for our luggage, Mom and Sylvia sat together, and in her sugar-induced, jet-lagged delirium, Sylvia could not stop talking.  She was hardly making any sense at all, just jabbering on and on about the flowers and the food....then I turned around to check on her and I saw her hold her hand out to the side, palm up to emphasize her next point, tilt her head to the side and shout at my mom, "....and my Daddy's Daddy is SOOOO FUNNY!!!"  Mom said, "He is?  Did you have fun with him?"  Sylvia pointed to Sylvain and said, "Yeah.  It's HIS Daddy.  And he's just as funny as MY daddy is!"  Mom laughed and looked at me wide-eyed.  It was obvious that Sylvia had a good time.  And that she was crazy tired.

Jet lag has hit the Fasciottos pretty hard, friends!  Sylvain is fast asleep and the girls have been a mess all day!  I'm wide awake and working on pictures, which I'm uploading onto a tumblr account here:  http://rfasciotto.tumblr.com/

I'll be sure to post all the details soon, especially about flying with two kids.  I'm no expert, but I learned a thing or two and can't wait to write about it.  

Singing

I have a cassette tape of my 4 year old self singing Somewhere Over the Rainbow and various church songs. On the audio, you can hear my brother trying to sabotage my epic performance and you can hear me whining to get him out of the way.  I absolutely love listening to my brother's sweet, mischievous voice and my high-pitched, girly, bossy voice.  That tiny tape has brought me so much joy, which is why I try so hard to catch voices on film these days. I know my four readers are probably tired of seeing Frozen songs and videos, but I want to post them here so my girls have a place to visit to watch their tiny selves when they aren't so tiny anymore.

Mom convinced Sylvia to sing for the camera a couple weeks ago. Someday I hope she closes her eyes to listen to herself and remember how sweet things were when she was little.

It's a BOY!!!

I didn't care one way or the other, I really didn't.  I just wanted to KNOW if it was a boy or a girl so we could get on with the business of growing a baby.  I didn't have a "feeling" and I didn't do any crazy tests to find out.  All of my pregnancies have been nearly the same and I thought Sylvia and Margot were both going to be a boy, so I stopped guessing with this one.  I have to say, though, when we found out it was a boy, I was SURPRISED!  I guess I would have been surprised regardless, but still....a BOY!!! 

The squirmiest little foot you ever did see!

Left hand with a placenta ghost!  Creeeeepy.....

Oh, the FACE!  His nose looks like Margot's.  I can't wait to kiss his cheeks!

Here he is flipping the bird, and after that little stunt he pulled at 12 weeks, I think it totally fits his personality.  Trouble.

Mom kept the girls while Sylvain and I went out to lunch, visited the midwife and ended our day with an ultrasound.  We stopped at Kroger to pick up balloons for the girls, and here's why that was a great idea: it's impossible for a child to be sad or disappointed when balloons are involved.  Sylvia has been saying recently that she wanted a brother, but she would also tell anyone who asked, "...but it's okay if it's a sister."  Needless to say, between the news and the balloons, the girls were excited!  Margot still has no clue what's going on, or what the difference is between a boy and a girl, so she was just happy to see balloons.  Everyone was happy.  Balloons!!!  Yay.

Yes, that's a Jasmine dress.  If it didn't stay at Grammy's I'd have burnt it by now.

Mom and Sylvia made this adorable baby cake while we were out today.  For anyone who's counting, Mom and Jay will have six grandkids in five years!  This boy has our family sitting at an even three boys and three girls.  Perfect!

So, now we're contemplating names and working on finding some middle ground.  We're down to two or three that we both like, but we have pretty strong opinions about our top name.  In fairness, I really did pick the girls' names, so I'm trying to keep an open mind and surrender my favorite boy name for Sylvain's favorite boy name, especially since I love them all. 

I'm also trying to wrap my mind around the task of raising a boy.  The idea of a baby boy, or a toddler boy, or even a fourth grade boy is understandable, but a teenage boy?!  A grown up MAN BOY?!  What do I do with that?!  At least he has a wonderful grown up Man Boy father as a role model.  Because I don't know the first thing about being a grown up, much less a man.  Yikes!!  I already want to keep him little forever and he's not even here yet!  I can't wait to watch these three kiddos grow together.  What a wild ride!

Loud and Proud!

Last weekend I was cleaning out the guest room to make way for the newest one, so to keep the girls busy I bought a few of the Frozen songs from iTunes.  Smart move.  Never has $4.00 brought us so many hours of entertainment.  Sylvia has seen the movie three times and we watch the videos of the big numbers on You Tube every once in while (okay, almost every night).  I don't like the girls having free reign of my computer when I'm busy doing other things (too many scary things out there in the interweb world), so I plugged in my phone and played our new songs in the kitchen.  By round three or four I realized that Sylvia had choreographed almost every song to be exactly the way it is in the movie and Margot was "singing" the last word of every line.  By "singing" I mean yelling.  That's what she does best.  I stopped in mid-clean-out and grabbed my camera.

Side note: it's really hard to dance like a ballerina with a head this huge and arms this small...

Twenty Months

Dear Miss Margot,

You are first on my to-do list these days, my dear.  I owe you a good, long, decent letter about how awesome and fantastic you are.  You are growing faster than I'd like to admit and we continue to notice new things you can do every day.  Today, for example, we were working on an alphabet puzzle and I'll be darned if you didn't know almost every single letter!  How did you learn that?!  You are communicating and talking more and more, which is a blessing and a curse because sometimes you get SO frustrated when we can't understand what you're trying to say. 

You also tend to throw fits when you don't get your way and your favorite word is "MINE!"  This brings me to our most recent disciplinary measure: the introduction of time out!  You hate it, as you should, and I hate it because there's nothing worse than hearing you scream in your bed for one whole minute.  But darlin', you just can't go around hitting people whenever you want.  The good news is, it seems to be working and you are getting much better!

I think your favorite time of day is right after I get home from work.  It doesn't matter if I've been gone for 20 minutes or the whole day - when I walk in the door you run and scream "Mamaaaa!!!" and bury your head in my knees.  You raise up your arms and fuss until I pick you up and you snuggle your head into my neck and shoulder, shoving your hands down between your knees as you curl up and try to get all of yourself into as much of me as possible.  We are a snuggle-filled family, but you win the Greatest Snuggles Award!  Daddy thinks I shouldn't hold you all the time or snuggle with you as much, especially since the new baby will be here in July, but I tell him that you won't always want to be this close to me, so I'm taking every minute of snuggle I can get!  Someday you'll want nothing to do with me, so if you want me to hold you while I pack my lunch in the morning, so be it!  I'll hold you all day long and when the baby comes, I'll hold you both at once if I have to. 

I'm not too worried about your reaction to the new baby, mainly because we have a secret weapon that will act in your favor - the Big Big Sister.  You think Sylvia is the greatest person on the planet and you follow her everywhere she goes.  You try so hard to run like her, color like her, climb like her, and right now she doesn't mind one bit!  She loves teaching you things and her favorite phrase is, "C'mon, Margot!"  She takes such good care of you and I know that you two will keep each other busy when the tiny one arrives.  I'm sure you'll have your moments, just like she did when she was a two year old with a new baby in the house, but we'll survive.  I can't wait for you to be a big sister, too!  You get the honor of being a big sister AND a little sister, so you are extremely special!

So, Miss Margot, I want you to know that I love you to death and I want the very best for you and your big sister.  I love watching you grow and learn and laugh and play.  You are the most wonderful little middle there ever was and I hope you know how special you are! 

Here's GG, my Grandma Margaret, your namesake!  You love our visits to her house.

Love forever and ever and always and ever,
Mama

Sacrifice?

I mentioned in my last post that I was toying around with the idea of giving up Facebook for Lent.  For one thing, it's a crazy time waster and I have a million better things to do, like read good books and play with my kids.  For another thing, I'm starting to notice the way it has slowly consumed my life.  I'm obsessed with finding out EVERYONE'S NEWS!  I get that from my Grandma Neltner.  She is notorious for spending her evenings dialing up everyone she knows just to say hi and see how they're doing.  She knows everyone's news.  It's an addiction, I'm sure of it.  I'm obsessed with other people's families and baby pictures and recipes and vacations.  It's just not a very good way to live, constantly comparing myself to others this way.  Also, I tend to spend my entire day thinking in status updates.  Something amazing or noteworthy (or cute or funny or ridiculous) will happen to me and I immediately draft my status for Facebook in my head.  I believe this is also unhealthy and downright exhausting, so I need to cut - it - out!

However, Facebook sometimes feels like my only connection to the real, adult world.  It's where I hang out at night to chat with my friends, because we can't go out to bars anymore now that we all have kids and jobs and grown up things in the way, not to mention we're all exhausted and the thought of leaving my house after 8pm is terrifying.  I also like that I can shout my news to the world and only say it once, like when our babies were born.  It's a great way to give important information quickly!  When I first considered the idea, I thought it really was an impossible task.  I just NEED it too much, and when I examined that feeling of NEEDING it, I knew I had to quit.  Cold turkey!

I've been thinking a lot about the sacrifice behind my idea and wondering if it's a good enough sacrifice to honor God's son.  The truth is, I'm starting to look forward to my Facebook-free time and now I feel like it's not ENOUGH because it might not hurt as much as I think it will.  It might be kind of fun.  And Lent is a good excuse, so no one will chastise or judge me for going off the grid, so to speak.  In the end, I've realized that no sacrifice is ENOUGH and I won't know how much it hurts until I try.  It will be hard not to jump on there and tell everyone the funny things that Sylvia says.  Or the news about the sex of our baby!  But at the same time, I'm not giving up communication altogether.  I'm hoping to blog more and "status update" less.  I want to stop recording all the teeny tiny moments and start recording my thoughts and feelings about the BIG moments and the IMPORTANT issues that I want my girls to someday read.

So, before I hop over to Facebook and bid my farewell, between the end of this post and the beginning of that one, I'll close my computer and say my prayers.  I'll pray for willpower and stamina to see it through.  I'll pray for patience and peace.  I'll pray to be closer to God and to bring him closer to my family while I'm NOT checking Facebook all day long.  We'll see how it goes.  I'm looking forward to the journey.