Leaving town

Posted on May 10, 2012 by Prosecco & Pampers

Here is a standard sequence of events in the Svendsen household lately:

Per Christian goes to barnehagen.
Per Christian plays and cuddles with lots of germ-y babies.
Per Christian brings germs home to Mommy & Pappa.
Per Christian gets sick.
Mommy gets sick.
Pappa gets sick.

So, yep, fun times.

Prosecco & Pampers has been a bit more quiet than usual while this cycle plays itself out. Luckily for us, by the time we reach number six, it’s a new week and Per Christian goes back to barnehagen, thereby beginning the cycle at number one all over again.

It seems like as good a time as any to get out of Dodge, so I’m splitting town this weekend for an all-girls Mommy-palooza gathering in Amsterdam. Just four old married ladies, sans hubbies and sans babies, spending a few precious days to ourselves away from home. It’ll be my first weekend away since Per Christian was born 13 months ago, so I’m thinking it’s long overdue.

I’ve got friends waiting and a sexy new dress packed in my luggage – and the fridge is stocked with beer and frozen pizza for Pappa.

Amsterdam, here I come!

Weekend getaway

Posted on March 13, 2012 by Prosecco & Pampers

Per Christian’s farmor and farfar were skiing at Mt. Blanc this past weekend and invited us to join them. I have no false illusions about this invitation – it means, in reality, that they wanted to see their grandson while they’re in Europe, but they’d be happy for his parents to tag along as well.

Unfortunately, Pappa S is a Very Important Man, and couldn’t escape the rigors of hotel life to make the trip. But being the typical loving, supportive wife that I am, I left Pappa behind in Gran Canaria and took Per Christian anyway.

It was Per Christian’s first introduction to the snow, which is quite surprising given that he’s 50% Norwegian material. Even the 50% of his American material has spent a great deal of time in the Russian tundra, so the poor chap is seriously lagging behind in cold weather experience.

Here are a few photos from our weekend getaway. Hope you all had a good weekend also!

: All packed and ready to see Pappa again!

: Cozy times with Farfar

: Farmor works her special magic, yet again.

: Must… get…. outside….!

: After a two-year hiatus, Mommy finally gets to hit the slopes again

: Trip to the top of the gondola for cocoa and crepes

: Uncle Per and his nephew became great friends

: Our handsome little Conehead

: Someone’s not entirely happy about the clothing situation…

: Plenty of skiing potential here

: The lovely Residence & Spa Vallorcine Mt. Blanc

: zzzzz…. good boy sleeping on the plane

Cleaning out the cobwebs

Posted on January 2, 2012 by Prosecco & Pampers

I suppose everyone disappears over the holidays, and this blog was no exception. My apologies to those readers sitting on the edge of their chairs, eagerly anticipating blog updates. If you do indeed exist, please forgive my absence.

I was traveling with our meatloaf from December 3 until the 28th, a trip that included Ireland, South Carolina and finally Disney World. (… admit it – you’re all picturing a crazy bag lady at the airport, holding up security lines with a stale meatloaf wrapped in saran wrap and mumbling incoherently…)

It was a great holiday in many ways, most of all because our little Per Christian got to meet and play with his cousins for the first time. He spent intense hours examining the inner workings of the laundry room with his cousin Thomas, and he finally discovered someone that spoke his own language with my niece, Emily. (Mommy of course stood on the sidelines with overly-emotional tears in her eyes, which is about normal these days.)

We then returned to the Island and had a quiet New Year’s Eve with multiple bottles of bubbly. Too many bottles actually, but that’s about normal these days as well.

We did our usual year-end reflection as the fireworks went off, recalling all the good times in the year that brought us our son. And I realized – selfishly, of course – that I am so happy that 2011 is over. This was a hard year, folks, the hardest of my life. I won’t lie to you, there were days (and looooong nights) when I wished I could jump ship and run away. I am self-admittedly NOT a baby person; I do much better with someone I can boss around and who does what I want. I love my son beyond belief, but I do not miss those early baby days for one second. And I’m leaving them all in the past with the turning of the clock.

2012 will be the year I get myself back. This will be the year that Per Christian takes his first steps, spends his first day in the kindergarten and celebrates his first birthday. I’ve paid my dues and gotten him this far, now I get to sit back (relatively speaking, of course) and watch him grow. This is the year I get to figure out what the f#$@ to do with myself here in Gran Canaria, the year I get my body back into pre-baby shape, and the year I can put myself first for the first time in over 18 months (relatively speaking, of course…).

So good riddance 2011! You brought me the best of times and the worst of times. Now I’m ready to re-even the score.

Enjoy the photos below from our holiday travels. I wish everyone a happy 2012!