January was actually a very cold and snowy month for us. Along with Shaun not sleeping much it was an interesting month. We quickly realized once we got home from the airport that I forgot one of our small carry-on bags by the car in the parking lot. So I had to call the airport to try and figure out if it was found or not which after a few hours they did find it so we had to make a trip back out to get it. I was planning to just go out myself and get it during the week when the know was at school but I really couldn't pull myself together enough to do it so we plan to do it over the weekend.
Lino in his new car seat and Shaun in his. This is after 3 days back in Ireland. The first couple of days the boys were so jet lagged that Mike just took the car to work and left us at the house for the day. After 2 days of nightmare nights of no sleeping (Shaun) I had enough and just decided to try and get back to our regular schedule. So that meant getting up and making Lino go to school even though he seemed to be pretty tired. I warned the school that he may be off because of the jetlag and his sleep was weird so I was preparing myself for at least 2 or 3 pee accidents from him. Anyway this is the boys passed out on the way to drop daddy off to work.
The rest of the week I was getting into my clean up and clear out mode so I got rid of a ton of toys from the playroom in order to make room for new toys that the boys got from Christmas. Some of these toys I had a hard time getting rid of because they gave me so many memories of Lino as a baby.
I remember us using this toy for Lino in the car rides from Texas to Kansas all of the time. He used to play with this toy all the time and it wasn't until Shaun came around that the toy got completely destroyed...destructo!
Another favorite of Lino's for the car rides to Kansas. This one I remember Lino playing with on the first ride he and I did alone.
Shoes that I had to have but only wore 2-3x because they hurt. I've had them for at least 6yrs and never had the heart to get rid of them. And even when I finally did I was sad...I'm a mess
It turned out the Lino had a good week at school, two days, and us getting up and going seem to reset both of them which is what I wanted. But we were all exhausted for the weekend so we were planning to take Lino to a dinosaur park and decided we better call to make sure they were open over the weekend and good thing we did. Of course like most other places in Ireland this place was no longer open. To be fair I have this flyer about the dinosaur Park from when we moved to Ireland but I just assumed they would still be open...I guess that's what I get for assuming. So since they were closed and we didn't really have anything else planned we decided to go ahead and make the drive back out to Shannon to get the suitcase. We did finally decide that we wanted to go to Austria to go skiing with our friends so we started to make arrangements for that as well. The drive up to Shannon wasn't too bad and the boys both stayed up for the ride which was good for us. Once we got to the airport it was kind of crazy because I found this sign outside of the lost and found room they basically said I was going to have to pay €5 for each day are lost luggage was held there. I never heard of such a crazy mess but I guess they have to get their money somehow someway. So I was trying to prepare myself for that drama when the guy who came to get the bag for me couldn't even find our bag. Then I was really getting annoyed because I thought maybe the bag was taken by somebody else and we made the drive up for nothing. Thankfully it was just in another room so we were able to get it and the guy didn't mention anything about the €5 fee so it ended up being okay. Although it did take about 30 minutes for the whole process which I thought was crazy I guess I can't complain too much.
We let the boys play at the airport for a little while before we got back on the road. Again we made it back with the boys pretty much stayed up the whole time so they were ready for bed when we got back. On Sunday Lino had a birthday party to go to so me and the boys went while daddy stayed home to get some rest and do a few things around the house. The party was at monkey maze so the boys had a great time. Jack had a really cool cake too I definitely have to look into it for when it's Lino's birthday.
First real snow day of 2015, Jan 13!!!!!
It started snowing when I was on the way to get Lino from school so after I put Shaun down for a nap we decided to have a "snow day" so we played dominos! Lino is a pro already...and that is even without the cheating! Its so cool to be able to play these games with him because we play dominos all the time at family functions so he will be getting lots of good practice. I guess he isn't really getting as good of practice as he could if he was with TT or if daddy was teaching him but I guess I will do.
The actual domino game didn't last very long before he wanted to change the game into something more fun. Like line up all the dominos and knock them down. That was actually a lot of fun but a little noisy...I did all the lining up of the dominos and he knocked them down of course.
Over the course of the day we got a little more snow and there was even enough for the boys to finally go out and play in it so after Shaun's nap thats what we did.
This is basically all the accumulation for the day...maybe 1 or 2 inches. Just enough to screw everything up with the roads and enough for the boys to get in and make snow angles. I kind of felt sorry for them because I didn't really have any snow gear for them but I didn't think they would stay out long so it wasn't that big of a deal. The biggest issue was that Shaun didn't have any type of snow boots, Lino's were from last winter but still fit (barely). Poor Shaun I had out in his rain boots and when I tried to put 2 pairs of socks on him the boots wouldn't go on...geeze Louise. I guess I have to get him some more boots. Plus I have to get boots for our ski trip...oh the joys of the boys getting bigger!
The next morning we actually had real snow accumulation and daddy grounded me from driving so we stayed home and tried to play in the snow a little more. I thought it would be fun to make a snowman but kept forgetting that the boys were not properly equipped for the weather so my great idea for fun snowman making ended with me sending the boys into the house to watch a movie while I finished the snowman. I even tried to upgrade the boy's winter gear by duck taping gloves to their hands but that didn't last very long either. I wish I would have taken a picture because it was to funny. The tape didn't really do anything to help me keep the over sized gloves on their little fingers.
Funny story, I have been getting to school late to pick up Lino a lot lately and the other day he told me in the car to not be late anymore. We had a big discussion about why I am always late and he told me he didn't like it and he wanted me to be first to pick him up at school. I felt so bad because I am such a late person, always keeping things to the last minute and trying to cram in more things that I can reasonably do in the time available but never learning to cut back or cut out here and there. Anyway, after our conversation I made sure to make a bigger effort to get to school on time or even early if possible. Its not impossible but it is difficult for me...but Lino is worth it!
So daddy & I finally decided to break down and contact a sleep consultant for Shaun. He is such a horrible sleeper not because he's a horrible sleeper but because we have created horrible sleep habits and we are not sure how to get out of it. It has been a rough 1.5yrs for him and we are always changing his sleep routine somehow/someway so it makes it very hard for him to sleep well...we think at least this is the problem. Anyway, we got a referral to contact this lady named Lucy about the sleep training and we have a meeting with her in a week. So the next 4 weeks or so will be interesting. Hopefully she can help us or that we can listen to her.
Wanted to have fish this week and got some on Thursday before Lino went to swimming but we ended up staying out late looking for ski gear and I got home to late to cook it so I kept it for Friday and when I was cooking dinner everyone in the house (except Shaun) was complaining that they didn't want fish...daddy being the biggest complainer. So I ended up making them something different and I had to eat all the fish myself. It was actually tasty but a lot more fish than I was originally planning on eating. I can't believe I'm in a house of non-fish eaters...I love fish and I can already tell that the boys are not going to be fans of fish if I don't start making it more.
Sunday wine night!!!!
I don't have a picture but I have the video on the computer...but during the night Shaun got up and was doing his normal crying fit and daddy & I just wasn't getting up because we assumed he would go back to sleep. Well he must have cried a little too long because in comes Lino into the closet (Shaun's room) and he gets into the pack & play and tries to calm him down and get him to go back to sleep. It was actually so super sweet I couldn't believe that Lino was being so nice in the middle of the night. Normally he would be cranky and just looking for us and crying his self but this time he actually was worried about Shaun or at least wanted him to stop crying. I guess they really do love each other...even though they fight all the freaking time! Its crazy how siblings show love for each other.
Ha Eun came over with the kids one afternoon and somehow Lino and Hami
ended up in his room in the bed playing mommy & daddy. It was so
cute an innocent but I know that Gernott would not like seeing his
daughter in the bed with a boy already so I had to take a picture to
share with him. Thankfully he was out of town and on a totally
different time zone so he didn't respond to the picture...but later on I
did hear about his disapproval...hahahaha... too funny. Those kids
could end up married and with some cute 4x mixed kids!
Jan 28th, a major snow storm hits NY and Nini & Poppop get hit with over 3 feet of snow! I couldn't believe it. And I felt so bad because Pop Pop was out trying to clear out the driveway so they could finally leave.
Thankfully Steve from across the street always comes to clear the driveway a little with his snow blower. Just crazy this snow.
These last few weeks we have been searching for an au pair with very little luck. Amalia, the Spanish girl who came for a visit in November has been stalling and stalling on coming and I think she was just waiting to get a real job which she did get. Mike as a little upset with her at first but I told him that she was doing the same thing that we would be doing in her situation...trying to hold out of the best option which would be a full time job in her city. So eventually she got the job so we knew for sure we would have to find another au pair or look at something different for me. I thought about just getting a part time child minder but I didn't know if that would be any easier. I finally signed up for the Project Management course and was accepted into the course so now I really need someone to watch them the day that I have to go to class. Even though its only one day a month its all day on a Friday (and Saturday but daddy can take care of that). Anyway, we almost gave up and I just kept looking and sending out about 30+ messages and finally found someone who liked us and we liked. At this point Mike was over the whole process so it was pretty much up to me and I think it will work out. The only issue is that she only wants to come for a few weeks then go to Dublin to stay with another family but it doesn't make sense to me for her to stay with us for 5 weeks then go to Dublin. Plus it only helps me for one of my classes then I have to find another option for the remaining ones...such a mess. Anyway we will see what happens but I think we will just tell her no and keep trying to find someone who is able to stay for 6 months. I didn't think I wanted someone that long but now it makes more sense...and it is less work. The process of looking at profiles and taking to people is such a full time job its too much! Hopefully it will work out!
Michelle, Nicole & I signed the kids up for a one day a week art/crafts class and Shaun really enjoyed it. I kept saying to my friends that I wanted to do a craft "thing" at the house every week because I never do any crafts with Shaun but I was never able to pull myself together to make it actually happen. So now we are paying some women to do simple crafts with our kids so that we don't have to think about it or clean up. It is suck a cop out but I am so not crafty I feel like I am doing Shaun more of a disservice by not doing something with him so this will have to work for now. So far he is enjoying it (regardless of his facial expression) so I'm happy!
Another random play date at the house with our besties and Lino & Hami are always finding new ways to play and make us feel awkward. I know they don't even think about it but it is so funny to see them play wrestling like this. In a few years when Hami is a little more girly and Lino is a little more into girls this kind of thing won't happen. But for now I really enjoy watching the innocence and pure joy in their playing. They just enjoy playing with each other and they balance each other out very well so its great.
February
So its February and its still snowing!!!! I can't believe it actually. I feel like this is the worst winter that I've had in about 10yrs. I know the snow won't last more than a day but I am over the cold and the snow! Where is my Texas weather?
So we found an au pair!! Her name is Slivia and she is 26 and will come to stay with us in mid-Feb. Hopefully she will be strong enough to deal with the boys :-/
So Mike's co-worker has been telling him about this bounce zone place for a while and Saturday we have nothing else to do so we finally were able to pull ourselves together and get out to Wilton at 10am and experience this bounce stuff. Let me tell you it was a lot of fun. So glad that we went and I'm sure we will go back again soon. I was even really impressed with the facilities. The place was actually clean!!! It was a little expensive, like e32 for all 4 of us for only 1hr of play but it was a really good workout. I wasn't prepared at all because I had on jeans and I was sweating my butt off! The boys had the best time as well so that made it even more worth the money. I didn't know if Shaun would really get it but I know he likes to jump so we were hoping that he would like it and he did. He was all over the place going from area to area and making us follow behind him...so cute. Lino was of course directing traffic as well. Cool place!
So we know the au pair is coming so we are trying to clean out one of the rooms to get ready for her.
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