My husband and I live in Gran Canaria, Spain and are recently-annointed parents to a lovely baby boy born on 30 March, 2011. I’m originally from Washington, D.C. and Per is from Kristiansand, Norway. We met five years ago while we were both working in Baku, Azerbaijan, which makes our beginning just as interesting as every day since then.

This blog is to share the ups-and-downs of parenthood with family, friends and anyone else who happens by. Our son, Per Christian, definitely keeps us on our toes and continues to remind us that – despite what we previously thought – there is only ONE boss in the house!

A bit about myself and Per in the meantime….

Places we’re shared (from A-Z):

• Amalfi: The best place on Earth to get married­
• Azerbaijan: Baku is where it all began
• Croatia: An OK place for a honeymoon (even better if you have your sailing license)
• Dubai: Great for champagne breakfasts and shopping malls
• Georgia: Tbilisi and Gudauri’s one ski slope
• India: Bangalore and Ooty, with a stomach hangover to remember it by
• Italy: Lake Como is the perfect place to get engaged! Plus Lake Garda, Corsica, Verona, Treviso and the Stelvio Pass in a fabulous convertible
• Norway: Previously lived together in Oslo (where our son was born), but we’ve also experienced Stavanger, Kristiansand, Fevik, Bergen, and skiing in Hemsedal, Sauda, Sirdal and Trysil
• Sri Lanka: Biennial visits to Per’s expatriate parents in Colombo
• Stockholm: A great place to visit friends
• UK: Oxford, London, Brighton and too many hours saying hello and goodbye at LHR
• USA: Aiken, Augusta, California’s Rt. 1, Hilton Head, New Jersey and New York City, and most recently Disney World for Xmas 2011

Celebrations we’ve made special: 

• Did we mention Amalfi yet?
• Per’s now-infamous 30^th birthday surprise
• Our first house warming in Baku
• Our first mortgage in Stavanger
• PERFEKT blue-sky sailing days
• Thanksgiving dinner in Stavanger
• Oxford Graduation
• White parties, AmCham balls and Oxford socials
• Stuffing too many friends into our too-small apartments
• ­Red wine, white wine, Prosecco and champagne for no reason at all

 Lessons we have learned along the way:

• A few well-earned Baby Travel Tips (see here)
• How to travel comfortably in economy class (in progress…)
• How to cook well enough to not starve (also in progress)
• Making and achieving goals together
• When to pamper, and when to give space
• How to care for a sick one, including fevers, depression, self-doubt and Indian hangovers
• Never make the same mistake twice
• Don’t take your sorrows in advance
• Home is where the heart is….
• And of course – the importance of drinking champagne for no reason at all!