I often have people tell me that I live in paradise. That’s true. It’s so beautiful here. But we still have to live here… it’s very different to being on holiday in paradise. It’s so easy to get caught up in life that sometimes it’s difficult to appreciate what’s around you. I’ve really been trying to get better at that. I know when we are home and I go back to work I will long for the days where I was at home with my little guy in the sunshine.

Rob works a lot so often it’s just me and Michael. We have a good routine now thankfully and we have lots of playdates, walks, Mom lunches and he just loves his new babysitter so I’m much happier to leave him for the 8 hours a week that she takes care of him. But this move has meant that while I spend more time with Michael, I get less time with Rob. We have some great quality time together as a family at the weekend but not so much just the two of us as a couple. So yesterday for the first time since we arrived 9 months ago we had a baby free beach day. The sitter looked after Michael for the afternoon so we had five whole hours alone together. It may not seem like that big of a deal but it’s something that we have just never taken the opportunity to do.

We packed a cooler of drinks and snacks and went to Balneario Punta Salinas in Toa Baja. We sat in the sun, the Ireland V England Rugby game on one phone and the Irish general election count on the other having a drink and chatting. So we are never too far from home! Being parents, the move here and how busy our trips back home have been just all combine to mean we don’t get much alone time. Sometimes you just have to take an afternoon to not be a parent and just try to remember that at one point you used to be the centre of the other person’s universe. Having kids changes that. People say that when they grow up that it comes back again. I don’t want to wait 20 years for that. Life is for living and I want to live mine with as little regret and as much laughter as possible. I love my child more than anything but I was someone before I was a Mom right?