The birth of this blog began before its namesake... it was in my heart for years, despite a personal writers block, and lack of discipline to sit down and create my outlet. Finally in 2017, when I was pregnant with my first child, I knew (or so I thought) that in the time that followed, the sacred 'elternzeit' in Germany, would give me the chance to find my feet with my writing - and hopefully an outlet for me to share the trials and tribulations of motherhood. Hence the reason I wrote my first blog in July 2017, leading up to the birth.
On August 5th of that year, we gave birth to a baby boy, little Francesco Liam, and were
totally smitten. Francesco was a name my husband had long dreamed of giving our child if he was a boy, after his football idol, Francesco Totti. I had always protested the idea, and finally came round to it when I realized I could nickname him Frankie. I also got Tommy's approval (anything to get my to say yes to Francesco). The funny thing is, I never actually call him Frankie at all. Friends and family do, but for me it's Francesco. However, the name did work its way into the title of my blog... the blog I had been dreaming up for ages, and for which I finally felt like I found my purpose for. Thats what motherhood will do to you - fills a mama with pride, and the realization that, as much as I wanted to stay independent and true to myself, my heart will forever be tied to the life that I carried inside me, that our love created - our first born, Francesco. And so the title, Forever for Frankie, was born.
I planned to share our family vacations, like the epic road trip we took down the coast of CA that fall, or the month we spent driving through Portugal that spring, how the child was growing, and what motherhood was like as an expat in Germany (spoiler - much different than what in the USA). I guess that's the other part that motherhood will do to you... it fills your days with diapers, laundry, naps, getting to shower while they nap, more laundry, cleaning up the remnants of meals 3 times a day, long walks to make them sleep, coffees with other mamas... for me there was no time made for writing. To top it off, I found myself pregnant with our second when Francesco was just 9 months. I was back at work for a few short months before my maternity leave started again, and as I waited for my second baby, I dreamt of finally sitting to write.
Managing two babies was a much bigger adjustment that I thought it would be, and therefor my first year as a mother of 2 flashed past me. In the month leading up to our little Caoimhe's first birthday, we also decided to make a move from Berlin, Germany to the Algarve in Southern Portugal.
So, one parental leave done, and in year two of my second, I am now writing from our little space in Portugal. I’m full of hope that while I'm spending my days with both kiddos and Tommy is working away, I also manage to build in time to write about our family adventures here. I've already conquered (for now), getting both down for a nap together - so that's one big step in the right direction! Looking forward to seeing what's ahead for us... and thank you for reading along on our journey.