Mike & Liz In Andalucia

The countdown has begun!! Already we are well in to Feb and Mike finishes in a matter of weeks. He is definately lighter in his footsteps when he goes to work, knowing he won’t have to in the near future!

We haven’t yet made any plans for our time off, just got some ideas of where to go. Of course the financial situation may dictate to us what is feasible or not…. but we’ll see. It’s just good to take the plunge and see what happens. Even if we don’t do much, it’s a well deserved break for Mike.

Meanwhile Tomas is doing well and is sticking to his little routine. He’s still sleeping through the night (Praise the Lord!!) and growing well. He’s still not 100% convinced that a bath is a good idea but he’ll get there slowly : )

love to you all x

Hi I forgot to mention on the last entry that on 6th Jan is more like “christmas day” here. It’s called “The Kings”,
and it relates to when the three kings came bringing gifts to Jesus. So it’s on this day they share presents and eat lots of food. In the evening they have a procession with floats and the “Kings” throw sweets into the crowd. We went this year and lets just say you need some sort of body armour to defend against the children scrabbling for the candy! As you can see the floats have evolved abit and there are all sorts of themes. Don’t ask me what though…

Give us a smile : )

Hello to you all. I thought I’d write a little update while Tomas is sleeping and Mike is at work. The photos below were take at christmas, with my mum, dad and brother. It was our first christmas in Spain which was quite different to christmas in the UK but it was nice to be in a warmer climate for a change.

As for the UK we are more than likely to be returning this year. We will have reached our original two year review time and alot has happened since we came out. So much so Mike has handed his notice in and is working to the end of Feb! After that we are going to stay for a couple of months and see the parts of andalucia we haven’t yet made it to and for a few last minute guests to come over.

No doubt it will be hard to leave this beautiful place and return to the streets of London but we feel the time is right and who knows what the future may hold? This may have been our introduction to Spain…

Having said that it will be great to be back home and see you all and for Tomas to meet you all too : ) and we thought we’d make it easier on ourselves by returning in the Spring. love to you all and see you soon!

Hi, thankyou to everyone for all the presents and cards for Tomas. We have been really blessed with everyones generosity and I apologise for not sending out individual thankyou cards but we really appreciate them all.

Mike wanted me to share something of Tomas’s birth as it was such an emotional occasion. I’ll outline it and not go into too much detail!!!

Not to put people off but it’s best not to know of the pain involved! Once the epidural took effect it was wonderful (hence the hello mag) but after that was limited it became a background/not very much, relief. Tomas’s head had become stuck 3cm away from outside life so they resorted back to the old fashioned way of pushing on my stomach (3 times)!! Apparently illegal in the UK. Finally the 3rd time after about 2 hours of pushing and with the use of the ventouse we had a baby boy.

However it may sound strange after reading the above but the two male midwives we had were fantastic in that we had a good rapport with them and they tried to help me have as natural birth as any.

Afterwards Tomas was placed straight on my tummy and then given to Mike for the next two and a half hours while I was being stitched (:( ). Once back on the ward the food came and as Mike lifted the bed head up for me I passed out. Unfortunately I had lost alot of blood and needed a transfusion, which I had the following day. I gave birth on the sunday and we were released on the tuesday afternoon. So that’s the bare bones of it. Least to say we were very glad to get home!

The following saturday my family came so we were all together to celebrate christmas albeit as tired but very proud parents : )