We're back!

We've had no internet for 3 weeks. How did we ever survive for so long before the world wide web?

Who knows, but let us tell you it was strange. Not as bad as having to do without a shower for the first few days, but still a long time for you without updates.

We feel a bit bad, especially because we don't have a lot of pictures either. So, we promise to post a lot of pictures in the next week (s). But first what has happened the last month?

First of all we moved, and despite a few bumps in the road we are getting settled. Pretty much we moved into a building site but we had to move in as we'd reserved care, run out of budget and let's face it - there is only so long you can impose on family. As ever with most big projects, it's over budget and over the delivery date - but we're in contact with the builder to see what we can get finished with the bit of budget that we've scraped together.
Over the last few weeks most of the complicated work has been completed, or is in the planning to be completed soon. What's left over is mostly the finishing touches, which is time consuming more than difficult. One of the larger jobs that's left over is tiling our little shower room. I am very much looking forward to that being completed!
We're optimistic that we can make the place look quite finished, We're a very optimistic couple! :) The most important thing though is that it already feels very much like home.

Aside from the move we have been in contact with the hospital regarding Noah's surgery. Due to miscommunication the surgery was not arranged for the 8th, but is now firmly in place for Friday June 25th. As ever, there is very poor management of administration within the hospital. It was only due to the diligence of one of Noah's carers that we found out nothing had been arranged. Luckily our liaison team are fantastic and Christa made the arrangements for Noah to be scheduled for surgery this month - she even went in to the planning office herself to make sure. Anyway, we have an appointment now, and it is 99% sure that all will go ahead, (there has to be a bed available in an ICU then it's 100% certain).

We're just back from a short visit to Wales for a holiday / family visit. This was the first time we have taken Noah with us on a long trip, and his first time out of the country. A big event for all of us!
The trip there turned out to a big adventure indeed. We hired a bigger car, as we have to take so much medical supplies as well as the usual holiday gear, plus we had one of Noah's nurses with us, Ben, on the trip - and he took loads of luggage! ;)
The day before we were scheduled to pick up the car the rental company had changed owners and location, this meant that we did not get the exact type of car we had hoped for and there was no child seat available to rent. (Noah's car seat is bolted in our car, so we can't swap it around easily). Luckily we didn't panic - and there is always e-bay, so on the evening before leaving Thijs managed to phone around and buy a nice car seat at 6 in the evening. Not bad timing.

We took our dog Lilo with us, which involves getting her treated for fleas and ticks and a health checked in order to comply with the UK importation of animals regulations (which are very strict). This had to be completed by a new vet in our new neighbourhood. Everything seemed to go well, even though Lilo was a right 'fraidy cat in the vets office but cheered up when she had her cookie. However, when we arrived at the Dunkirk, the officials there discovered that the vet had corrected the date on the passport by scribbling it out but without countersigning and stamping the correction...... So she was not allowed to go with us. The only option given was to have her re-treated, wait 24 hours and try again. We didn't panic! We asked for their assistance and they were very kind and put us into contact with a french vet who was willing to re-sign Lilo's passport (at a 29 euro charge). Ben had his Tom-Tom, so we very easily found the vets office in the centre of the town, and Lilo was treated, signed delivered and back at the boat with a roomy 15 minutes to spare to before sailing time.

Arriving safely in Dover was a big relief, and we drove off the boat looking forward to starting our holiday only a few hundred miles till Wales, which is about 3,5 hours driving at legal speeds. One hour into our journey, an horrendous accident completely blocked the M25, and we were forced to find our way through central London without any detour signs or any signs at all really. The Tom-Tom kept telling us to turn around and get back on the M25, so that was not very useful. After what seemed like hours of wandering through London we finally arrived on the highway to Wales and could resume our journey. After 15 hours of traveling, we arrived safely. Hooray!

We had a lovely time in Wales. Shopped till we dropped. Visited granny every day and met some of Noah's welsh cousins. Noah and Lilo loved being made such a fuss over. Too soon we had to head back to the boat, which was a smooth and blessedly uneventful journey home. Apart from the fact that Ben had so many bags that we all had to breath in to get into the car! :)
OK, ok ... so apparently nobody is buying this story and you all know that it's not Ben but me that's the shopaholic .. I was so optimistic that you'd believe me!!

There was one last miscommunication. Lol called on Friday night asking "where on earth have you been, I'm leaving for my ferry in half an hour I'll be there tomorrow morning" ... Gulp! We didn't panic ... very much!
You see, before leaving for Wales we'd discussed getting Noah christened as I wanted this done before he has his operation. We were waiting for confirmation and Lol thought it was confirmed. We called the pastor on Saturday morning, who was in the middle of his summer fete, but he agreed to christen Noah on Sunday. A big thank you to all of you that could make it on such short notice, and sorry to all of you that would have liked to have come. It was an intimate service and Noah behaved very well and only got a bit grumpy towards the end, due to the heat. Tom and Lol are Noah's godparents and he is now officially Noah Aleidus Glyndwr Drosten. :)

Noah caught a cold on his last day in Wales. He's on quite strong antibiotics, which is not very nice for his tummy. He's his usual happy little self but you can see that he is tired easily and he needs to sleep a lot longer. He's on his breathing machine during the night to give him some needed rest. We're taking it easy and being extra cautious before his operation, we don't want anything to stop this going ahead. I will admit that I'm quietly terrified of this operation. It's major surgery and he's our little boy. My heart want's to hug him and keep him away from this, but my head knows that this is what he needs to keep him safe and help him grow towards his future. So again we ask that you keep Noah and the medical team in your prayers. We will keep you all updated as much as possible over the next few weeks, but of course you can understand if these updates are brief.

We'll post some nice photos soon.
xxx The Drostens