April Photo Blog

Because I'm getting lazy and I kind of like the idea of the photo blog here goes another one...

April 1:
Flew from NY back to Ireland.  We were able to get all the 10 million things we had bought into 4 suitcases.  In addition, Mike had ordered wood for the swing set to fix it so we had to take a long box of wood with us.  We were worried that it was going to cost us about $100 to check the extra bags and box of wood but when we got to the airport & checked in that was the least of our worries.  We actually didn't have to pay for any extra luggage which was sweet but we realized that Mike had booked his self on a different flight than ours!!!!!  He booked the same exact time as us but apparently there is an American & British Airways flight that leaves at the exact same time.  He had booked our flight on the AA flight and his was on the BA flight...WTF!!!!   We never really looked at what airline we were on just made sure the flight times were the same because we never would have thought there would be 2 flights like this...what a mess.  We thought we were going to be screwed but somehow the lady worked it out.  I mean honestly, BA & AA are sister companies so I'm not sure what the big deal would have been to move him over to the same flight as us.  Anyway she did it and was very nice about it...thank God.  But because of the confusion we didn't seem to have a lot of time to get to our gate so the lady helped us to get pass the security line faster which was nice.  So the reason for all this drama was because we had to book our flights separately.  Me & the boys were booked together because we came over earlier than Mike so he had to book his by his self.  Even though we called our self double checking the reservations we totally didn't see the airline difference...oh well.  Just glad it worked it.  So we were able to grab a quick bite and the plane was a little delayed so Mike decided to go get us a couple bottles of alcohol to bring with us because it is cheaper to buy it at the Duty Free shop at the JFK airport than it is to buy it in Ireland.  So he got that and we boarded.  The flight was fine and wasn't too crowded so Shaun & I got a row to our self and Mike & Lino got a window isle to their self.  We got to London and had a heck of a time getting through all the security...it was busy and then we got our alcohol confiscated by the security people because the Duty Free bag was slightly open.  The reality is that the bag had been stapled shut and one of the staples came open so they considered that a non-sealed bag so had to take it.  Mike was so PISSED!!!!  I was just shocked and stunned but pissed as well of course.  I couldn't believe that they took our shit.  And I couldn't believe that Mike didn't even put up a fight.  I guess since we were already a little pressed for time he didn't want to bother with it but that was freaking $80 worth of alcohol that the TSA was just going to drink later.  And I know they were going to drink it because they didn't throw it in the trash it got put behind the desk at the security gate.  Those basters!!!!!  Oh well, what can we do?  Its gone now.  So after being rapped in London and having to race to the gate because it was so freaking backed up in all the check points we finally made it to our plane and had a quick trip to Ireland...everyone napped on this plane...we were tired. After all the flying we made it back to Ireland safe and sound and the boys were completely exhausted but they did a pretty good job on the flight.  So the boys slept in the car for a couple of hours and Mike & I unpacked...I couldn't wait to unpack...I didn't want to be bothered with it on Wed so I made Mike help me while the boys were sleep...even though I know he wanted to go to sleep.   The rest of the day we just relaxed and tried to recover.  We had a nice trip but its nice to be back home.








April 3:
Rest & recovery for us.  Mike took the car and the boys slept in so I slept in too!  We had a nice return day home.  I was going to take Lino to school but he was so pooped and I didn't want to be bothered so we just relaxed.  Shaun did decide to break another tooth so that was exciting.  I tried to get a pic but he just wouldn't sit still...top left tooth so that makes 3!

While we were having our PJ & movie day Lino wanted to watch Star Wars, he loves it.  So we watched it of course and he was acting like he was fight Dark Vader or maybe he thought he was DV I'm not sure but either way I loved the roll playing with his little plastic stick.  Maybe we should get him a light saver for his bday?









I had to take a shot of this...I don't get to play Jewel Blitz very often and since Shaun's sleeping schedule is out of whack I was up late and got a few min to play and I totally killed it...not sure how but I did.  I never get that high of a score and I was pretty amazed.









April 4:


Kind of getting back on track as far as our schedules go.  Lino & Shaun are both still sleeping in a bit which is nice.  We actually had to wake Lino up for school which never happens.  I would have kept him home but I didn't want to have to entertain him all day plus today was baking day so I knew he wouldn't mind going.  When he got home from school we just played around the house and the boys were testing out a few of Shaun's new toys...this one TT & Uncle P got him.  They both liked it a lot so I had to share a pic of them playing with TT.









April 5:
Shaun's Ireland Bday Party!
We didn't really do a big party or anything but had a few friends/kids come over.  It was really more of an excuse to have people over and eat a bunch of crap.  We were expecting about 18 people and ended up with about 12 but we had enough food for over 25!!!  A typical Cutaia party.  And of course we got started late but that's pretty typical too but it was fun and the weather was kind of nice so we got to go outside for a while.  I even made a cake...well a boxed cake and it took me about 1hr to figure out how to fit this fabric wrap around the outside of the pan so that the cake would cook flat instead of puffy.  I'm not sure if it was worth all the trouble but at least now I know how to do it and I know that it does work.  In my head I thought I might try to do a fancy cut out cake shaped like a #1 and try to decorate it like a giraffe but the day before the party I slapped myself and realized that is totally outside of my skill level so just stick to a basic boxed rectangular cake!  Hahahaha...I'm so glad I did too because I was already swamped with stuff to do on the day of the party and I didn't need to add any more task to it.  Anyway, a good party and glad we got to celebrate with our new Irish friends...although it was all American's that came :-)   Nicole stayed behind after the party to help clean up with was nice and we did about 85% clean-up so I was able to sit and relax and have a glass of wine and not stress about all the mess.  It actually wasn't that bad...but totally happy that Nicole helped to clean up.








April 6:
Rest & recover from the party...we slept in a bit but were up by 9 anyway.  Me & the boys went over to Martha's for a quick coffee & play before Lino had to be at Leap Frogs.  I was planning to do the shopping while he was at Leap Frog but I forgot my wallet at home and didn't have time to go back to get it before we had to be there so I just hung out with Shaun while Lino was doing his thing.  Mike was doing a little work at the house and wanted to work out.  After Lino was done we went home to get Mike & went shopping.  The rest of the day was relaxing, made dinner, watched movies and Shaun started saying "NO" and saying it pretty aggressively.  Its kind of funny to hear him say no but I'm so not ready for the NO phase.  The funny part is that he tells Lino no all the time and then will hit him.  This is exactly what Lino use to do to him so its kind of payback but its going to be a horrible habit.  I hope I can break it before he gets to use to it but I'm not sure how I'm going to do that because Lino is always hitting or pushing Shaun and telling him no...oh the joys.










April 8:
Went to coffee morning in the city and the boys got on the trampoline since the weather was nice.  I think this might be the first time Shaun was on a trampoline and he seemed to enjoy it.  It was funny because Lino was jumping all over the place like a mad man of course and as a result Shaun was being flipped & flopped this way and that and he absolutely loved it.  I tried to take him out so that he didn't bounce all over the place but he screamed bloody murder when I did so I put him back in and told him good luck!  He did survive but I tell you it was dangerous for sure.

















April 9:
Lino went to school & Shaun & I went to pick up applications for Lino to get enrolled in school.  Its kind of crazy how they have the school enrollment or application process.  And its even crazier how they decide who goes to what school.  I can't even fully explain it because I really don't know myself.  Basically people put their names down at the school that they think is the best for their kid regardless of where they live.  And most parents have their kids name at 2 or more schools and they do this as early as 6mo of age which is crazy.  But they basically pick who goes to the school and the criteria is prioritized like: immediate area (like 4 block radius), kids of staff members of the school, siblings, placement on the "list" then area....crazy!   So the good school that everyone said to get Lino into told me, in so many words, that Lino doesn't really fit into any of the top 4 criteria's so its not likely that he will get into that school so put his name down somewhere else...dang.  I kind of expected that but it was just crazy to hear the lady tell me.  So I went to the school that would be what we would consider our district and she was like, yeah he SHOULD be able to get in here since he lives in the area.  Well thank goodness for that, I felt like they were doing me a favor to take my kid.  I just don't get it...crazy system but I guess they have a reason for it.  So after that adventure it was back home to get some cleaning done.  That afternoon Martha & the boys came over because Patrick had been asking about Lino.  The weather has been so nice these last few days so we have been spending a lot of time outside.  The boys love just running around the yard which is nice and they burn a ton of energy so I don't mind.  At some point I was mentioning to Martha that the Cuidiu Egg Hunt was going to be at my place and I was worried about parking spaces because we have a weird circular driveway.  There is lots of room but because of this weird circle and random flower bed in the middle of it, it makes it kind of hard to just park cars.  So Martha was drawing out parking spots for me with sidewalk chalk.  The kids saw the chalk and were dying to draw so we had a little drawing session which was fun.  Then Martha had the great idea to do CSI so we all laid down and got our outline made...Lino got his done 2x because he enjoyed it so much.  After it was all done it looked like a complete homicide on the driveway.  Both families, minus the dads, looked to be murdered and Martha & I died holding hands because of all the trauma...very funny actually.   It was a lot of fun anyway...













A little pasta face for dinner!  Our boys truly have the Italian gene because they love their pasta.  Anytime we have pasta I know for sure I can Lino & Shaun to have 2nds and Shaun was loving his sausage & spinach pasta tonight.  He even wanted to feed his self which didn't exactly go as he had planned so I had to help but he insisted on having the fork in his hand...he is getting to be so big.  Love this face...I know we have a couple pictures of Lino looking exactly like this when he was 1yrs old too.  I just love it!











I guess Shaun had too much for dinner because he decided to clear his bowels before bed and pooped in the bath.  This is actually the first time he has ever pooped in the bath and even Lino didn't ever do this until he was closer to 2...I think.  And this was a wet one...totally gross but I had to take a picture because I needed it for the blog.  Mike thought I was crazy because I wanted a picture but I told him its just more ammunition for us to use on Shaun when he gets older...oh the memories!



















April 10:
I had posted on one of the sling sights that I wanted a ring sling and a couple of my friends offered me to borrow them so I was finally able to go collect them from them today.  So after Lino got out of school we headed to Ballingcolig to pick up 2 slings.  I had promised Lino that we would go swimming so the plan was to pick up the 2 slings then head to the pool.  Of course I knew it wouldn't be that easy but I was hoping the thought of going swimming would out weigh playing with this friends for today.  So when we got to Cara's house I tried to just sneak in and grab the sling but Lino & Donnavan met eyes and that was all she wrote.  It took about 20min to convince him that swimming today would be more fun than playing.  I wouldn't have minded staying but since his swimming classes have been canceled because of pool work out in Cobh I wanted to make sure he gets into the water every now and then until he can get back into the swimming lessons.  So we told them we would make plans to go swim together another time and both boys seemed to be OK with that...thank God.  Then I went to get the 2nd sling and it was much easier to get in & out.  Then to the swimming pool.  Lino had ate his lunch in the car because we basically left from school to go get the slings then right to the pool because the open swim time closed at 3 and I wanted to make sure we were able to get our hr of swimming in.  So we get there and Lino was super excited that he was going to be able to swim freely and not have to do his lessons, very funny.  I was a little worried because I had Shaun with me but since we were in the kiddy pool I figured it wouldn't be too bad.  All seemed to be going ok at first...Shaun wasn't in love with the pool and even though it was slightly heated it was still a little cold and he was starting to shiver a little.  I tried to put him in the water a little deeper but he didn't seem to like that either.  I was actually a little shocked because he really likes being in the bath tub but I know he doesn't like water on his face...I know I need to keep bringing him or else he will end up not liking the pool which is not good.  So anyway, we were just enjoying the pool and hadn't been there more than 10min when Lino took a big gulp of water and spit it out & threw up at the same time...all in the pool.  Oh shit!!!  Seriously??? I can't believe that just happened....what a pain.  It wasn't a lot of throw up but enough so I told the pool guy and it was like I had told my kid to shit in the pool!  The lifeguard was pretty cool about it and kept telling me that it happens all the time and I told him that Lino wasn't sick just got a big gulp of water in his mouth and he threw it back up.  He seemed cool about it but when the maintenance man got there he was totally annoyed and even looked to be pissed.  I explained what happen and apologized for it and he just kind of nodded at me as he walked off.  Of course that meant we had to get out of the pool which for Lino was tragic for him.  The guy did say that we could go into the big pool which was nice but he made sure to tell me 3 or 4x to not let Lino put his head under the water in case he gets sick and to not spread germs in case he was sick.  I told him again about 2x that he wasn't sick at all, just a reflex to spit out the water when he swallowed it....he didn't seem to care.  So while it was nice that we got to swim in the big pool it was almost impossible to keep Lino from putting his head under the water.  Especially since I had been telling him to put his head under and breath so that he could be ready for his swimming lessons.  So we kind of listened and kind of didn't.  After about 30min of us swimming and the maintenance guy getting all his stuff together to close & clean the kids pool I end up having to fill out an incident report then he comes back to tell me we have to get out because Lino got sick.  I kind of knew that was coming so I wasn't surprised and he was half respectful about it so I didn't complain at all.  But Lino wasn't happy about it...he never does well with abrupt change...there was no 5min...1min warning that we would have to get out so he was a complete nightmare to get out of the water.  I was finally able to convince him that we had to go because he got sick and he apologized about a million times and I told him it wasn't his fault but I don't think he really understood.  I felt so bad but we had to go...so we left.  What a pain in the ass.  It was so much work to even get both boys and myself into the water now we only got 40min of swimming and I have a screaming upset 3.5yr old that I have to redress and take out of the pool...by myself.  I'm not sure why I signed myself up for this but it was totally stressful...for me and the boys.  So after we got changed Lino wanted popcorn so I let them sit & eat popcorn from the machine before we headed home...that was the least that I could do...poor boy must be traumatized for sure.  Lets see if he wants to go swimming next time...and next time will be at least a couple weeks from now.  I don't think I can take the stress.












April 11:
Decided to meet up with Michelle, Nicole & Amanda at Tir na si in Watergrasshill (about 20 min from us).  The playgroup that meets in Glanmire was going there and I wasn't sure if I wanted to go with the playgroup but when Nicole mentioned she wanted to go we decided to join them at the last minute.  I invited Ha Eun to join to but didn't invite her until very late on the 9th but she decided to come which was cool.  The place was nice, its like a farm with a little play center & café.  Since I had to pick up Lino from school I couldn't stay to see the whole thing but the little play area that were at was nice and I heard that the scones were nice as well.  I am glad that I got to go because now I know of a new place that I can go with Lino if he starts getting board of the places closer to us.  It seems like we could spend a full day there with the play area and the farm so I'm looking forward to trying it our more fully with the family.












April 12-13:
This weekend Mike worked on the swing set because the Cuidiu Egg Hunt is this Thursday and I told him I needed it fixed before then.  I know that if the weather is nice all the kids will be out on the swings so I wanted to make sure it was fixed so that there was no excuses and no one would get hurt on a cracked piece of wood.  So on Saturday Mike worked on that and me & the boys went over to Martha's for a little while.  It was nice to have a chat in the morning and I know that Mike appreciated the time to focus on the swings.  The weather wasn't totally crap so he didn't have any issues getting the swing fixed...even though he texted me to say that he didn't get to fix it...I knew he had. 






Boy time...daddy & his boys chilling out watching movies on a Sunday.  I love these boys to death!







Of course we had to have a silly face pose too.  Lino is obsessed with silly face poses so there is always one...or 2 or 3 depending on the day.













This coming week is going to be a busy one for me...the Cuidiu committee meeting is at my house on Monday and the Egg Hunt is at mine on Thursday plus Lino is out of school for the next 2 weeks so I'm going to be a complete reck after this is all done.  So I  was trying to get myself organized so I decided to get all my shopping done for the cakes & stuff and try to get most of the cakes prepped on Sunday so that I didn't have to mess up the kitchen 3x this week.  So Mike helped out a bunch and Shaun was insistent on being held so we decided to try out the sling...I say we because I put daddy in charge of Shaun so I put the ring sling on him.  I'm still getting the hang of it and even though I went to the sling meet on Wed last week it takes a lot of time & practice to get comfortable.  But I love my hubby because he is a good sport when it comes to things like this.  He put on the sling and let me tug & pull and adjust and even let me take & post a pic on facebook so that I could get some feedback on the carry.  What a sport...and what cut boys!















This is after I adjusted the shoulder.  This is definitely one of the drawbacks of the ring sling.  Its nice for a quick in & out of the shop but if you have to do any work with the ring side the fabric always gathers up close to your neck and after about 5min of it being that way it hurts like hell.  Oh and apparently I didn't have Shaun in the seat deep enough either...so many details.













So after a long afternoon of cooking & prepping for the week the kitchen looked like a bomb had exploded and then exploded again...what a mess.  At least most of the mess is done for the week and I was able to get a lot prepped which was nice.











In the midst of making nice cakes and things for the Cuidiu group daddy & Lino decided to make ice cream...for them self!  I asked if they could make a vanilla ice cream so that I could have some then they could put chocolate syrup on it for them but Lino insisted that it had to be chocolate so chocolate it was.  And since I don't really like ice cream that much and I don't generally like chocolate unless its with  peanut butter it was like a double no ice cream for me.  Oh well, I guess I don't need the extra calories anyway.  Its nice that we are actually using this ice cream machine maker that I got for my 5yr anniversary at Dannon.  The funny part is that after about 1hr of the ice cream maker churning this silky creation the machine stopped working!!!!  We thought maybe it died because of the stress of working for so long and because we had it hooked up to the power converter (the only way we could use it) but after letting it sit unplugged for a couple of hours it did turn back on which was nice. 






Doesn't that just look yummy...YUCK!!!  But actually it was really good...daddy did a great job!






April 14:
Weather is amazing today so instead of going to Hokey Kokey we decided to meet up with Cara at the Fitzgerald park in the city.  I wasn't exactly sure how to get there but figured it out.  Once we got there I noticed that the car was still running even though I had shut it off.  I didn't know what caused it but it was running like it was turned on and it freaked me out.  I called Mike to see if there was something that I could do but he didn't answer...of course.   So I turned it on again and let it run then turned it off and it was still running...crazy.  After about 3-4min it did turn off but it freaked me out.  So I called the mechanic that Michelle had recommended and made an appointment for tomorrow...I can't believe this.  Well the car does need an oil change since we haven't got an oil change since we got it so maybe that's why?  Mike has been bugging me about taking it in to get the oil changed but that hasn't been on the list so it just never got done...guess it just moved to the top of the list.  In addition to our car issue I didn't have on of the disk cards for parking, which I didn't know I needed and didn't even know what it was so I had to improvise a little...meaning I sat in the car for 20min waiting on Cara.  Thankfully Cara had an extra one so we were saved.  This was our first time at the park, even though we tried to come once before.  It was a nice park but was kind of busy because of the Easter break.  We had a nice time and ended up staying for a while which was OK because it ate up a lot of the day.  I could see us going back to the park but not sure how often since its in the city and the whole disk parking thing is kind of annoying.  I don't even know where I would go to buy one of those disk things...must look into it I guess.  Its kind of a cool system but also a little out dated too.  So basically you buy a parking card and scratch off the day, time & yr when you use it and it is valid for the max stay.  So that means if one area's max stay is 2hrs the card would be valid for one 2hr block.  If you are in an area that the max stay is 1hr then the card would only be valid for 1hr.  That is kind of crappy that its like that but I know I wouldn't need to use it that  often so I really don't care.  Anyway, always learning something new.  Oh, while at the park I was talking to the moms about school and stuff because now Mike & I are starting to worry about when we should send Lino to school.  I thought I had this whole jr infants & sr infants thing figured out but I think I missed something.  I've met or talked to a few moms that their kids are turning 4 between May-July and they are sending their kids to Jr Infants in the fall.  I had planned on keeping Lino in the play school and doing the ECC yr in the fall but not we are not so sure.  So much to think about with how the schools are set up slightly differently here vs the states.  And since we don't know exactly when or where we will go after here I don't want him to get to behind because of it and I don't want to rush him into school either if he's not ready so it is just so stressful.  Anyway, it was good & bad to talk about it with them.  The bottom line is we need to decide about it ASAP!
After our morning of fun in the sun, back home to make 2 cakes for today & tomorrow.... an apple date cake for the meeting tonight and an oreo cheesecake for Amelia's coffee morning on Tuesday.  The boys were actually good and played together which was nice.  The committee meeting was at the house and we were able to get the boys to sleep pretty easy which was nice.  Mike took a quick jog after they were sleep and I got the party started.  The meeting lasted until about 11 which was late but normal and thankfully the kids didn't wake up because of the noise...thank God!  Now if only Shaun would sleep through the night that would be lovely!
















April 15:
Tax day!  And for once we didn't really have to worry about filing our taxes...Pepsi helped out with that which was nice.




Went to coffee morning at Amelia's house and the oreo cheesecake turned out good which was nice.  Lino was telling me in the car that the moon was Gods son.  I thought about it for a while but couldn't really argue with it. I'm just happy that he listens to me when I talk about God & heaven and stuff so I don't want to challenge his view of it because it's so amazing at this stage...just love to hear the things that rattle in that little brain of his!   We didn't get to stay super long at the coffee morning because I had to take the car to the shop.  Of course I'm not having any issues with the car turning off now but I still wanted to have the mechanic look into it just incase.  While at the shop we went to the café to have a coffee and the boys got a sandwich.  While we were there some Garda men came in for coffee and Lino as totally intrigued by them.   Even though I kept telling him to leave them alone he had to sit close to them and talk to them.  Thankfully they were pretty nice and one guy actually talked to him for a little while which was nice.  Lino was asking him all kinds of questions like, what's you name, what's you moms name, when's your birthday, everything.  The guy knew right away we weren't Irish so asked Lino where he was from and he said Ireland of course but I corrected him.  It was a funny interaction & conversation and the Garda guy was impressed by his level of communication...I was just thinking he has no idea how much this kid likes to talk.  I'm not exactly sure who he gets that from because neither one of us are big talkers ...its just a sight to see let me tell you.  So we got our car and the mechanic is like you need 3 new tires/tyres, a full service and back breaks...geeze!  I pretty much trust what the guy said because Michelle goes to him and says he's an honest guy.  After I got the boys in the car he shows me the tires and is like, these tires are very low on tread and you need to get new tires soon.  I never really looked at the tread but when I did I was like...oh, yeah, your right...that is pretty low.  Anyway, he was quick and nice so I'm ok with coming back to him.  The funny part about the auto shops around here is that you have to buy your own filters in advance or call the shop in advance to tell them you are coming so that they can have your filters and stuff in stock.  That is just crazy to me because back home I can go to any Jiffy Lube or shop at a drop of a dime and get an oil change with no issues...but not here. 











Even though Lino insisted on me getting him something to eat at the café (that he really didn't eat) when we got home I needed something to eat so Lino said he would make me a ham rolly.  He got out a pot, TRIED to cook the ham, put a tortilla in the pot then my spinach (aka salad) and told me to eat it!  Hahahaha...I love that kid.  He loves his momma so much that he wanted to make sure I had a nice lunch.  He didn't do too bad, other than the rolly being more of a semi-salad bowl it was good.  Look at how proud he looks to have made me lunch...or should I say "The best lunch EVER!!!"









Since it was so nice outside we decided to take a trip to Fota.  We met up with my neighbor Lisa and her oldest daughter and her baby boy.  Her younger daughter goes to the same play school as Lino but she was on a play date but it was fine.  Her little man and Shaun were all over the place as expected but that's the place for it I guess.  We had a good time and Lino got to run off a ton of energy which is always good.


Shaun & Lino feeding the ducks.





Lino always likes to push it to the edge...feeding the ducks right on the edge of the pond.  So far he has never gone in but I'm not exactly sure just how long that luck will last.





Shaun trying to be a big boy on the play structure.  He actually climbed up those 3 logs by his self.  Then he proceeded to scream to me to help him down...or up I can't exactly remember.







Lino making friends with who ever he can.  He is like his Grandpa...he makes friends like nobody's business!  Shaun was being a typical baby brother and trying to get in on the fun.  For now Lino isn't too bothered with him tagging along but I know that will change at some point...but for now its great!







Completely filthy dirty but look at those love bugs!  OMG I love them so much!





Silly face of course...







So we were finishing up our snack and the Leemer's came and swarmed in on the picnic area and started stealing everyones lunch.  It was kind of scary at first because they seemed to come out of no where and were getting into all the open food.  This was the first time I had ever seen this so I was a little amazed.  I thought they might have escaped from their enclosure but I found out quickly that they are normally free to roam the grounds...so I guess this is a normal occurrence.


One of the Leemer's enjoying a snack curtsy of an unexpected visitor.





This little guy stole a 1/2 of a sandwich...a freaking HALF sandwich.  Crazy!!!  This can't be a good diet for them...I hope they don't get sick.  I wonder how they keep them from doing this all the time?  The many questions.





After a long hard day Shaun had enough...and while he was eating his crackers decided to take a little nap.  I didn't even know that he had went to sleep until we stopped to look at something and I saw him sitting like this.  I was worried at first because he had food in his mouth but it was only a cracker and was completely dissolved so no worries.  Dang Shaun, if you needed a nap all you had to do was tell me.









April 16:
Had tentative plans to go to Fota with Martha but it didn't work out so I met up with a few friends at the coffee shop in Blackpool.  When we got there Shaun was sleeping so I only had one to watch and when Shaun woke up I noticed he had a bunch of ear wax & gunk coming out of his ear...ear infection!!!  I couldn't believe it. I was pretty sure that was what it was but made an appt with the GP anyway to confirm. They were able to get us in that morning so I had to leave my meet up a little sooner than planned. Nicole graciously offered to keep Lino for me so that I didn't have to drag him to the GP as well. At first I said no thank you but she insisted so I let him stay with her. He just didn't want to leave so I figure what the heck. We had a nice long talk about him being good and listening to Miss Nicole and he said he would.  So off to the GP to pay €60 for the lady to tell me he had an air infection… Apparently the infection already burst and he was pass most of the infectious stage. So even though she gave me a prescription for antibiotics she said it's basically pointless at this point. She was shocked that we haven't been in sooner because apparently the air infection looked to be really red. She asked me if Shaun had been super cranky the last few days and honestly he hadn't been, maybe just a little bit but I thought it was more teething so I didn't think too much of it. And she was also impressed about how well he was walking at only 12 months. She even had to measure his height because she was shocked that he was so small and walking so steadily. I tried to tell her that he was actually a little bit behind because his older brother was walking at nine months and he didn't start walking until 11 months… She was amazed.   It seems like most of the kids around here don't start walking until 14 to 16 months but I guess kids are all different so you really can't tell why they start sooner or later.  Anyway we spent about 40min waiting to get into see the GP and she only saw us for about 10 minutes… I guess that's worth €60??  After that I met up with Nicole at Supervalu to get Lino and of course he didn't want to leave but thankfully she said he was good so I was happy about that.  Then we had to head home because we had the plumber coming out to look at the boiler again.   The boiler started making the same noise again the month ago and wasn't heating the water like it should so the boiler guy plan to come back out to check to make sure everything was okay.  We didn't really have anything else planned for the day and since we didn't make it to Fota and it was getting late I didn't want to keep the boys in the house so we just decided to go to the park and feed the pond and feed the swans.  There is a huge sign that says don't feed them but we totally ignored it.  These swans are aggressive too and big!  Shaun wanted to get close but I was too worried he would go in so I kept him back...but Lino of course wasn't scared at all.  That kid is fearless.

After the pond visit it was back home to get ready for the egg hunt. Lots of baking, prepping, cleaning and egg filling was going on and thankfully we had done a bunch on Sunday so it wasn't as bad as it could have been. But it still took forever and I don't think I went to bed until about midnight...ugh. But excited for the day of fun!

April 17:

I didn't get up early but Mike decided to take the car so that I didn't have to be bothered with dropping him off which was nice and saved me some time.  So finished up a few last minute things and I was actually on time...shocker.  I won't go thru all the details but basically it was a pretty good turn out & weather was great too so everyone was outside. I made hummingbird cupcakes which were divine and a caramel pretzel popcorn which turned out pretty good too but didn't seem to be popular in the Irish crowd but the Americans loved it.  So as I expected Mike came home and surprised us or me at the end hunt. I had asked him earlier if he would come to see the kids at the egg hunt because it would've been Shaun's first one and he acted like he wasn't going to be able to come but when he told me he wanted to take the car I knew that he was going to come surprise us. It was nice to see him and unfortunately Shaun was taking a nap so he didn't even get to do the egg hunt. Nicole had brought a rabbit suit and I somehow was able to convince Mike to put it on. I told him it would be really cool and the kids really like it, even though the bunny suit look more like a rat was kind of scary looking I thought it would be fun. It wasn't easy to convince him but he did it and it was hilarious!!!!!!  He must love me very much because that outfit was completely ridiculous some of the kids thought it was cool others were pretty scared over all the adults thought it was great. 

Some pictures from the day:

Mike had the suit on backwards but honestly I don't think anyone noticed. 

Thumbs up scary rat bunny 

Me & Shauny!  

I'm trying to figure out what's wrong with him because he won't walk!!

 

We had a good turn out, about 20-26 adults and maybe 50 kids/babies!!!! 

So once Shaun woke up from his nap he refused to get down and walk which is totally not like him at all. So I was getting worried that it put him in the sling wrong and his leg was hurt. More than likely if I did his leg would have just been asleep so after I came I that conclusion I just gave him a min to wake up his leg. But after about 45min of holding him he still wouldn't walk. I was freaking out but the party was over so I just took his shoes off and was going to try to rub his legs but once the shoes were off he was gone! I kind of felt bad because I didn't realize it was his shoes that were hurting him. I had even put those shoes on him the day before so I was shocked that they weed too small. I felt so bad but I guess there was no lasting damage...poor kid. 

So after everyone left Nicole stayed behind to help me clean up a bit which was really nice. Then she headed out to get Cian and I tried to clean up a little outside. We were more playing than cleaning but who really cares :-)   While we were outside we got a surprise visit from Martha, Conor & the boys.  I was expecting Martha & the boys to come to the egg hint but they never made it and it was to crazy for me to call her so I figured she decided not to come. But come to find out she thought it started at 2:30 not 10:30 so she was totally late. Hahahaha...oh Martha. It's funny too because we had just talked about it being at 10:30 on Tue because she thought it was in the afternoon so it's funny that she forgot already. Anyway it was like egg hint part two and it was nice.  It wasn't so crazy and I wasn't stressing about keeping people happy so I didn't mind. And since it was a friend I didn't have to make her coffee or tea...I told her to make it herself and she did. Hahahaha...love Martha!  So we hung out for a little while then Nicole ended up coming back and brought me & the boys lunch...very nice of her.  I had mentioned to her that I totally forgot about getting stuff for the boys to eat for lunch because I was so worried about the egg hunt stuff and I didn't have the car since Mike took it so I wasn't sure what I was going to feed the kids.  So she was very kind to cart food up to us.  I did feel a little bad because I didn't know she was doing that and she didn't know Martha was there so it was a little awkward but I think everyone understood.  So we all hung out for a while and had a nice chat. Martha didn't stay long but it was nice to have them come by.  Once they left we cleaned up a little more then continued to eat up all the cake & pop corn...OMG get this food away from me!!!!

The boys playing outside

The best buds sharing a very small bike. They really love each other...it's really sweet.
 




Totally pooped after that day.




April 18:
Even though I was completely pooped after Thursday I knew Lino didn't want to stay in the house so I had made plans to meet up with some moms at another Easter event.  First we had to make a stop at the grocery store for a few things and Martha had warned me on Thursday that we wouldn't be able to buy any alcohol on Good Friday but I wasn't exactly expecting this.  I can't believe that for such a drinking country that they would stop selling alcohol on such a popular day.  I guess it is a very holy day but this barricade was a little much to me.  So somewhere behind the 10 pallets of toilet tissue lies the alcohol section of SuperValu.  The normal rope to tie off the area when there are no alcohol sells must not have been good enough...crazy.

After shopping we stopped over to Martha's for a morning coffee & play.  It seemed rushed because I got there so late but it was nice anyway.  Then we headed down to Lifetime Lab in the city center.  I had never been there before but saw an advertisement for this kid event and thought it would be nice.  It was actually pretty packed but it did turn out to be a good time.  We met up with Cara and some other moms from Cuidiu that I didn't know were going to be there.  The weather was great yet again so it made the day just that much more enjoyable.  I wasn't exactly sure how much Lino would enjoy it so I  did make tentative plans with Martha to go to Fota in the afternoon but she ended up having a few other things to do so we didn't go to Fota and decided to stay there longer.  Its a cool little place actually...has some sciency things, coffee shop and a little park/play area and its only like €7 to get in so not bad.  I think we would definitely come back again...when its not so crowded with people.




Of course there was face painting...and Lino got to a spider face to match his shirt.  Pretty cool!

Lino & Donavan sharing a little hug by the steam engines.





Silly pose / Fighting stands







Fishing for ducks!

Shaun couldn't be bothered with the pole and net...he just dove in with his hands and grabbed all the ducks that he could get.  The water was actually a little cold and I thought he might not like it but he didn't seem to mind to much.  He was so proud of himself for getting and squishing the ducks.  hahaha



Cutie pie!

What a day!  We spent most of the day there and by the time we got home I was completely pooped.  What ever happened to lazy Friday's?????  So when Mike got home I told him he could be in charge of the kids and I needed a break.  So they watched movies and I tried to watch some of my TV shows but they were being to loud so I got out Lino's Mickey Mouse headphones and was finally able to get 45min of "me" time.  Sometimes you have to do what you have to do in order to stay sane

April 19:
Easter weekend and I decided to get family pictures done.  One of the moms in the Cuidiu group takes great pictures so I asked her if she could take some of us.  This is one of my favorites because it is so random.  Lino wanted us to do a silly pose and she wanted us to act natural and we weren't doing either of them so we just said lets take a couple silly poses so that Lino would be happy and behave...who would have know this would become my favorite one!  Think I might have to get it enlarged and put onto a canvas...thanks Lino for the inspiration!!!! 

What a beautiful day...and this is just in our back yard/garden.  Its amazing what the camera can do.

We had nothing else really planned for the day so we went to the park with Michelle then headed home.  We were going to go to Ballyseedy for a charity event but when we got there we realized it was for the next weekend...oops.  So back home we went which was fine.








April 20:


Buona Pasqua!!!!!!!!!

Happy Easter!!!!!!!!

So even though its Easter and we would normally be at church we didn't make it to church because we haven't been to church one day since we moved to Ireland...kind of scary for me actually but I think we are just not sure about the catholic church...ok I'm not sure about going to a catholic church.  Anyway, one day we will get there.  Anyway we had a bday party to go to but it wasn't until the evening so we decided to go to Fota for a couple of hours beforehand.  Mike had never been so he was kind of excited to go.

Mike & I in front of the Ostrich, Zebra & Giraffe field.

We ended up staying longer than we had planned but we were having such a good time it was hard to go.  We got to see most of the animals even though I tried to take the short cut back we ended up walking all the way around.  We even had time to stop and have lunch at the café and since no one had any cash...except mommy, we had to scrap together coins in order to get an ice cream for Lino that daddy promised him.  I tried to get Lino to get something that we could all share but he wasn't having it.  Daddy wasn't of much help either so he ended up getting some blue/green twisty thing that was disgusting.  Mike was like, "I'm sure it can't be that bad...just try some"  Of course I wouldn't because I really don't like ice cream like that and I really only wanted a little taste of vanilla.  So I passed and Mike went in for a big taste and almost spit it right out...it was jut weird.  But of course it was full of sugar so Lino thought it was great and ate every piece of it.  I guess I didn't need it anyway.  So off to the party we went, kids fell asleep in the car of course but Lino woke right up when we got there.  Shaun I tried to put into the sling to sleep but he wasn't going back to sleep once he saw all the people...oh well. The weather was partially nice by the time we got to the party...meaning some clouds were peaking in and covering the sun but no rain thankfully.  But by the time we were racing out of there it looked like rain might fall at any moment.  The bday girl, Pearl, who turned 2 slept thru most of the party which is funny but somewhat expected at that age.  We had a nice time and I even met up with a mom that I had met a few months before...its such a small world in Cork.

Lino finally decided to get his face painted...after the clown guy had put away all of his face painting stuff.  But he was nice enough to give him a little dinosaur action...RRRRRRRRRAAAAAAARRRRRRRR!!!!!!!!!







April 21:
Easter Monday so Mike is off.  We had talked about going to the Irish guide dog egg hunt but we were egg hunted out.  So we ended up going to see Rio 2 with Denise and Molly which was nice.  Shaun actually watched all of it and was very good!  I think that's great but bad at the same time...this kid is definitely getting more TV time than Lino did at this age.  Its tough keeping the TV away from them.  After the movies we just went shopping and went home.  We were all pooped from our weekend so it was time for some relaxation!




April 22:


Mike back to work but Lino still off so we had a little slow start of the day.  When we got home from dropping Mike off at work I was trying to get some things done in the kitchen while the boys played and nice soft play with the bikes turned into demolition derby in 2 sec flat then I heard Shun scream!  Oh crap!!!!!  So I run to get him and I knew already what had happen...even though I asked Lino to confirm.  He actually did tell the truth which was nice.  So they were playing on their bikes and Shaun was pushing Lino as he always does and I guess Shaun wanted to get on or maybe Lino wanted to push him I'm not exactly sure about that part but somehow Shaun got onto the bike and Lino was pushing him.  I heard Lino pushing him and told him to be nice & careful and he said he would.  But that only lasted for about 60 sec then he must have seen how much fun Shaun was having and decided to take it up about 100%.  So now instead of slowly pushing him in the hall I hear him run down the hall and I hear the bike crash into the wall just before Shaun screams.  So I knew Shaun went flying into the wall.  What I didn't know is how hard he hit the wall but I knew it wasn't a soft hit...when I got to him he was holding his breath...in the middle of a major cry.  And I just felt so bad.  I talked to Lino as I tried to calm Shaun down and you could see that Lino felt bad.  He was just trying to have fun with him I know and it was more my fault for letting them play like that by themselves in the hallway anyway.  So I told Lino how much Shaun was hurting and that he can't handle being pushed hard like a big boy because he is still little and he just went over to Shaun to hug him.  Of course at this point Shaun didn't want to have anything to do with him but at least he tried.  So poor Shaun had the biggest knot on his head that I have ever seen.  He was upset and I couldn't blame him.  I started to get flash backs to when I slammed into the corner of a wall when I was about 10 and bust my head wide open because I put to much pressure on it so I tried not to do the same with this one.  Thankfully he seemed to get over it pretty quickly but man was that a scary few minutes.


Look at the size of that knot!  I have got to stop putting Lino in charge...that is just not a good idea.

So I didn't think we would go out for the day because of the bump on Shaun's head but after about 5 min he was totally fine and running around like nothing happened so we went to the coffee morning.  One of the moms there gave me something to put on his knot so that it didn't bruise up and it seemed to work.  After coffee we did a little shopping and headed home.  I ended up making a small hummingbird cake because I was going to have a couple of moms over on Wed.  I thought it would be a good idea to bake the cake and then cut it in half to make a layered cake.  Why didn't I just bake in 2 separate pans I don't know...lazy?  Because I ended up destroying the cake but thankfully I had enough icing to kind of patch it up.  It wasn't very presentable but it was going to be yummy for sure.

April 23:

Martha, Madhu, Nicole & Karina came over for coffee morning at mine.  It was just going to be 2 moms but turned out to be 4 which was nice for me.  I like having people over o the house and the kids like to play with more than just one other kid so it was nice.  It wasn't super busy or crazy...very relaxed.  The cake was good but Madhu brought something and so did Martha so it was like a sweet fest.   We had a good morning but the house was destroyed as always...oh well.

April 24:

Martha, Nicole, Michelle & I went to Fota for the morning...day!  We got there around 11 and didn't leave until almost 3!  It was nice to have the day used up outside with friends and nature but it was also a little stressful because when Lino & Patrick get together its mayhem!  Those boys are gone and flying all over the park like wild kids untamed.  Its nice to see them getting along so well but its not fun when they don't listen.  So I spent the whole time yelling at Lino and even holding his hand most of the time because he would run off and not listen to me.  Very scary because he could run into some of the enclosures or even into the water but more than anything its just annoying because I hate spending the whole day yelling "listen to me Lino" "Stop" "Get down"  ugh!!!!!  Other than the normal kid drama we had a good time. 

That afternoon my sister sent me this pic of them...I love it!!!!  Apparently it was take your kid to work day so Morgan was with TT all day and they seem to be doing a lot more playing than working but it looks like fun.  Love those 2 to death!!!

April 26:

Rainy day today but I had already planned to go to a cloth diaper event with Nicole...even though I'm toysy not into cloth diapers.  So Lino ended up coming with Shaun & I because Cian was going to be there too. I had to use my phone navigation, as always, because I didn't know exactly how to get to the place and the directions I was given were too complicated for my little brain & especially with Lino in the car. Anyway Lino loves to listen to the nav talk and he always ask me what "she" just said...it's funny.  So anyway, on the way the nav lady said to turn onto Water street and Lino was like "you know Lino street goes to heaven!" I was like, there's a Lino street??? Really??? And it goes to heaven that's cool. He's like "yeah I like heaven so Lino street goes there!" I was like oh ok!! He's like "yeah I'm going to go to heaven tomorrow!"  I was like "nooooooooo!!! Not tomorrow!!! Heaven is where you go when you die like when Nan died. It's a great place to go but not yet for you. Can you wait to go when you are really really old please???"  He thought about it and was like "no, I'll go later".  Geeze...this kid is going to give me a heart attach. I love that he is really getting it but I dot want him to go to heaven just yet...please God!  The funny part is that later that morning while we were at the baby event he stopped me randomly and was like "how do you get to heaven? Who takes you there???"  Loaded questions for a cloth diaper event but here goes...So I told him Jesus takes us to heaven becaaue he died on the cross so that all the good people could to to heaven when they die. Then he asked again how we get there...and the best thing I could come up with was...we go on a super cool & fast rocket ship!!! Jesus is the pilot & he flies us up up high in the sky to heaven.  He thought that was really cool...and so do I. Love that little brain of his. 

After that we went home and there was a charity event going on at The Ballyseedy this weekend so we decided to go.  The weather was not nice, rainy, but we were hopeful that some of the activities would be inside.  But no they weren't.  They did have a tent that you could go in and sit down to eat but all the kids stuff was outside.  We saw Martha there and hung out with them for a while and the weather did clear up a little so the kids were able to enjoy the stuff.  They had a couple of bouncy castles, a marry go round and even pony rides.  The bounce castles were a little wet but the kids didn't seem to care or notice.  Lino & Shaun loved the pony's of course and if it was up to Lino he would have stayed on the pony ride the whole time.  I'm so glad my kids are not afraid of animals! 

So we were there for about an hr then it started to rain...and not just a little rain I mean real rain.  We tried to wait it out in the tent but it was just getting to wet and cold for us...even Martha was getting miserable so we left.  It was quick but since it was charity it wasn't like we had to pay to get in, we just donated which was fine because it was for a good cause, Down Syndrome.  I did kind of feel bad because the weather was bad and they were probably not going to get the kind of turnout they could have go if the weather was better but what can you do.  We put in a few extra euro's to try to help out...it was a nice event.

April 27:

Normal Sunday...took Lino to Leap Frogs and we decided to try and enjoy a little snack & coffee while he was occupied.  This little treat set us back €15...I couldn't believe it.  €15 for 2 coffees and 2 cakes...what a rip off.  But it was good so I guess I can't complain too much.

Shaun decided to eat most of my cake...he seems to be enjoying it quite a bit actually.

April 28:

Went to Fota in the morning with Ha Eun which was nice.  Weather was great.  That afternoon we were going to have a play date but the plumber was scheduled to come back out to work on the boiler so we ended up staying home and the play date didn't make it out either.  After the plumber finally finished up we met up with Michelle & Nicole at Costa...they went to the park and I said I was going to come but didn't make it since the plumber guy took so long.  The kids ended up having a nice time at the coffee shop and the moms had a nice chat. 

Love this picture of the kids...they are going to be best friends!!!

April 29:

Went to coffee morning then to shopping center to do a bit of shopping and to kill some time.  We ended up spending 3hrs at the shopping center which wasn't all bad.  Had lunch, got a bunch of little stuff that I have been meaning to get, mailed some cards, kids played on the rides & even went to the library quickly to get a copy made.  I think the boys enjoyed it and it was super cheap day so it was a big score in my book!

Boys on the marry go round.

Lino insisted on riding a ride and I couldn't argue to much with him since he was being good.

April went by way to quickly.  We had a couple of good weeks of weather which was nice...just wish it would stay that way.  Hopefully in another couple of weeks it will.  

Only a couple more weeks until our big Italy trip and I can't wait!  That should be an amazing blog post.  May have to make it its own post :-)