Lisboa . . .

During our one full day in Lisbon, we headed to the beach. The water was FREEZING. Turns out the Atlantic doesn't ever really warm up. Luckily, there are pools from when the tides come in that kids can play (and pee) in. This water was slightly warmer. Slightly.


Renae building sandcastles for Landon to destroy.



The three sand experts at work.



Jesse is "helping" Renae build a cool castle.



Little posers . . . (I didn't even tell her to lean in!)

Gotta love the hair-do . . .

That night, we went into town to see the city center for just a bit. Lisbon is a seaport (duh) so the downtown area we saw looked like an old seaworn city. It was great.

The boys watched out for Renae. Thank goodness someone took responsibility for her!

In front of one of two identical fountains.

A nice Portugese man gave Renae some bread to feed the pigeons.

Watch what she thinks of it:

We did NOT walk all the way up to that cool castle.

The Spanish Massons on the original street that lead to the main seaport of the city.

The train station. I thought it looked cool.

And then comes my favorite part of the trip . . .

DINNER AT CHILI'S!!!! They have one in Lisbon and I was SO excited to eat there!

Unfortuntely we had to share the endless chips and salsa with the kids. We were so selfless.

Back at home that night, Mike entertained the kids.

In one full day in Lisbon we went to the beach, visited the city center, ate and Chili's and had fun with friends. Not a bad little trip!! Thanks Beck's!!!

We'll Cross Two Bridges When We Come To It . . .

We went to Portugal for 2 days to visit some friends. I'll post more later, but here is a quick synopsis of our 2 day excursion.


We drove into Lisbon via one of the longest bridges in Europe.


Renae said hello to the US all the way across the Atlantic.



We drove under an old aquaduct to get back from the beach.

A nice Portugese man gave Renae some bread to feed to the birds.

We crossed the "Golden Gate" Bridge too.

More to come!

Last Post from Bavaria . . .

I promise, this is the last post from our awesome week in Germany. Promise.


Can you see why we want to relocate?

On the last night, the hotel hosted a great bar-b-que at one of their cabins located further up a nearby mountain. We had grilled steak, potatoes, CORN ON THE COB, and an assorment of other yummy yummy food. The kids were all taken care of so the adults had a nice evening of food and fun with friends.


Not even close to Iowa's sweet corn . . . but it worked.



He makes a cute German, eh?



Jesse and friends enjoying a cool drink of water in the "beerstein."

This was our hotel/conference center. The view was amazing.

We even were able to roast s'mores!!

Thanks to whoever brought the marshmallows from the states!

The "almost" inlaws were there too! So fun to see them!

Someone got a hold of our camera and played photo shoot with Jesse . . .

Renae and I on our balcony at sunset. Ahh . . .

Giving Birth in Spain: Are the Horror Stories True?

32 Weeks

Soon after I found I was pregnant, I began looking online for forums, websites, articles, anything that would give me tips on what it was like to have a baby in Spain. Here are some quotes from an article found at http://www.expatica.com/:

"I had found a birthing position that worked well for me when I had my first son in England. It was a completely ordinary position, but you would have thought that I had asked the doctor if he could come into the woods with me and light joss-sticks from his reaction!"

"I was put on my back with my legs in stirrups."

When she didn't want to forcibly push because she didn't want to tear, the female doctor on duty told her: 'With the volume of deliveries that we have here we haven't got time to wait until you're ready to push."

She (a Spanish midwife) is highly critical of the childbirth system here, describing it as over-'medicalised'.
"It is all defensive medicine with the idea being this is dangerous; let's get this baby out as fast as we can," she says.
"Natural birth is about being patient and waiting. Here almost everyone is induced. Almost everyone is given episiotomies and the drug oxytocin.
"Women can't eat and drink. A drip is stuck into her with glucose. The worst thing is a woman being on her back without being able to move which is the worst position to have a baby in."

But here is one encouraging quote:
According to Eurostat figures, in 2004, infant mortality in Spain was 0.35 percent of births, compared to an EU average of 0.45 and the UK's 0.51. (Read full article here.)

So as you can imagine, I've been somewhat anxious about what my birthing experience will be. My midwife from the states has emailed me a few times and she recommended a birthing position that would help me prevent tearing. So at one appointment, I thought I'd see if any of the stuff I'd read was true. I asked my doctor if it's true that women in Spain can't choose their birthing position. Her response? "Oh no. You'll be on your back with your legs in stirups." Smile.

With Renae I had quite a few complications all relating to my somewhat messed up pelvic bone structure, plus a few other things. Basically, if this baby is big, my midwife in the states said I'm pretty likely to have the exact same problems (which I'm trying to avoid this time around). Even in the states, with what happened last time, many women are often given the choice to do a c-section the 2nd time around.

Here I'm not yet sure what will happen. The upside of a c-section is it's planned, my recovery will be much better than last time because I won't have the other recovery plus the run over by a truck feeling you get from a long labor. The downside of a c-section is your husband cannot be in the room with you. This is a strict rule they follow to a T. Trust me. I've asked. And of course, it would mean future births would be c-sections too.

The upside of delivering naturally (and natural for me includes an epidural for sure!) is that the labor could go much faster than last time (too many hours to count), and our little boy could be much smaller, thus easier to push out. Plus, the way they do episiotomies in all of Europe is different than in the US, and would actually help me out quite a bit.

But for me, it all really comes down to getting a healthy baby. I've come to the conclusion that I can't control what will happen and I just need to be OK with that. Spain has a very low infant mortality rate, and babies are born healthy everyday. So although the process of getting here might not be that great, Baby Boy Masson is pretty likely to arrive safe and sound eventually. I can deal with the aftermath. Plus, honestly, the whole birth experience for me is not some big emotional event (which is weird because I'm usually a big sentimental person and I'm also a huge feeler). It's just something you gotta do if you want a baby. :)

More articles about giving birth in Spain:
http://www.womeninspain.com/birth-in-spain.aspx
http://kellycrull.com/personal/giving-birth-in-spain/
http://www.expatica.com/es/essentials_moving_to/essentials/10-things-to-prepare-before-giving-birth-in-Spain_12980.html

To end on a happy note, here are a few pics of Renae from some potty training we did this week.


She loves eating melons!



See?

A Trip to the Real Cinderella Castle

This is the Cinderella Castle at Walt Disney World



. . . And THIS is the real Cinderella Castle-Neuschwanstein Castle


Neuschwanstein Castle was built in the 1880's. King Ludwig II of Bavaria comissioned it in honor of his friend Richard Wagner. It was designed by a famous set designer, not an architect which explains why it has such a fantasy type look to it. Ironically, King Ludwig only lived there about 162 days. He was labeled insane and then found a few days later, dead in a lake with his psychiatrist. The deaths are still a mystery to this day, but it's supposed that his death was part of a coup.


Only a third of the rooms were completed and within a few weeks of Ludwig's death, the castle became a museum and has been one ever since.

Our first glimpse of the castle!

On our day off, we took a half day trip to the castle and we were glad we did. Although it was a little chaotic at times (try organizing a trip for 50 plus parents and kids!) the scenary was beautiful and it's always nice to see a famous landmark.

A view from a castle room . . . no wonder Ludwig picked this spot!

Pictures weren't aloud within the castle, but I did sneak this one of Renae climbing the princess steps in one of the towers.

The castle kitchen . . . can you even imagine?

Walking down the long road to the buses.

There were a few great view points along the way.

You could even catch a ride in a horse drawn carriage! (For 6 euros a person . . . )

You can see Renae has time to stop for a cheese face picture . . .

"Renae, you wear my new hat."

"No Daddy, YOU wear it."

"OK. You're right. I look the best in it."

Guten Tag!

After some very serious thought and consideration, we've decided we are going to move to Bavaria, Germany. It doesn't matter we don't speak German or have a job there. It's just where we want to live. OK, we're not really moving but we all can dream can't we?


View of the Bavarian Alps

We returned from a week long conference in Germany and fell in love with the scenary. Every day we were able to look out the large windows in the conference center and see something similar to the scene above. The weather was much cooler than it is here in Spain, and everything was greener! What a nice change of pace for early August. I'll be posting more pictures of the scenary from our day off in a later post.

Everyday we experienced great Germany food, buffet style. I think I had meat and potatoes almost twice a day! Renae did a great job eating the variety of food we gave her.


And she even learned how to drink out of a wine glass . . .



Renae and her friend a year and a half ago . . .



. . . And the two cuties in Germany!

This time they actually played with each other and had a great time.



The four friends back in January . . .



And here they are in August!

Seriously, Renae had so much fun running and playing around with these 3. And we had a blast hanging out with their parents!



Me and my favorite guy, with the view from our hotel behind us. Gorgeous. (I'm talking about the view . . . .)

Checkmate.

We found a huge chess board on one of the roofs of the hotel. There was also a sand volleyball court up there! Crazy! Renae enjoyed moving the big chess pieces all over the board.

Plotting her next move . . .

Renae the daredevil

We were able to enjoy the indoor pool a few times and of course, Renae was a fish. She has really gotten better at kicking her little legs all over the pool, and jumping into the water (even when we're not looking!)

"Hey David!!"

Renae's best buddy David couldn't come in and swim, but he had fun watching from the outside.

Daddy and Renae had a cold one day so they skipped out and rested . . .

More to come later!