Lino had a good nights sleep and didn't wake up until around 6:30 (when he got into the bed). It was freezing last night so I made Mike get up in the middle of the night and turn the heat on and by the time it was 3am it was boiling (for Mike). We have got to figure out this heat situation because there is just an on/off for the main heater. We can at least tell it to heat only upstairs or only downstairs so that's good and there are thermostats in each room so I'm sure that's how we are suppose to adjust it...but it was the middle of the night and I just wanted some heat. Otherwise it was a slow start getting out. I needed to do a little follow up surgery on my hair so it delayed us getting out. I wanted to try and get us all ready to go so that I didn't have to come back to the house but it didn't happen so we had to come back so that I could eat something really quick. When we got to the house there was a spider at the door and I was going to kill it with the broom but Lino went right over to it and stopped it...no fear at all. I was so happy that he wasn't afraid and that he killed it for me. I was trying to muster up the strength to not be squeamish so he would be afraid...whew. Then we headed out to Mahon Pt to meet up with a friend and her kids. Lino was excited about going (once we got inside the mall) because he likes the play area. So we spent the morning there and Lino seemed to have a good time with his new little girl friend. My friend gave me some more helpful tips about preparing for the Ireland winters and told me about Culture Nights in the city...sounds like fun. It was a nice morning, can't wait to do it again! We stopped at the Tesco on the way out and I got a few things for dinner and I had given Lino €0.20 to buy some candy because he was good (he had that money in his car seat because he still it from me but I told him it was money for working for mommy and being good). Of course he wanted the most expensive and biggest packs of candy and didn't even want to listen to the options that his little money could afford so we had a little tantrum right in the middle of the candy isle...no worries...I've done this before. Finally he found his inner self and picked out a candy that he could afford. We finished our shopping and went to the car but once I got I to the car I realized I had forgot a few things...so back to the store we went. Can't you get it together Renee!!!! Thankfully this trip was short and dramaless so it wasn't too bad. I knew Lino would fall asleep in the car so I made him go potty before we left (he wouldn't put a diaper on) and sure enough we were on the road 5 min and he was out. Him and Shaun where out by the time I got home so I let them sleep in the car while I cleaned the house...oh the joys of house work. The boys woke up and we played for a while then went to see if there were any raspberries ready to be picked then we made scones...I was board. They didn't turn out as good as some of the ones we have had but it was ok for a first attempt. The rest of the night was as usual...dinner (that I had to MacGyver but it ended up working out), bath and bed. Mike and I stayed up for a while chatting and watching some shows on the sling box...love that thing. It seems to work pretty well with only a few times where it is choppy but it's really not bad at all. A very good investment!!
Tuesday:
Mike needed to be at work on time today so we were rushing around to get ready. But we made out of the house in time to get Mike to work and the boys were all ready for the day too so I didn't have to go back to the house. The only thing was that I didn't get a chance to eat breakfast but I have plenty of fat reserves so I know I will survive. Today was a coffee morning in Ballingcolig but it didn't start until 10:30 and it was only 8:50 :-/ I knew that I would get a little turned around going there so I decided to head straight there and stop at the Dunnes store for a little shopping. It took me about 25min to get there but it should have only taken 15min...oh well. We walked around the grocery section for a while and got a few items. I was starving so I got me a couple of croissants to munch on and they were nice and warm...fresh warm bread...the best!!!! I was looking for this insulated water bottle that my friend was telling me about yesterday. I guess you can use it as a cheap little heater in the winter. You can put it in the kids bed so they don't get into a cold bed at night or you can just cuddle up with it at night instead if turning the heat up. Anyway anything that can heat me up during the winter that doesn't require Mike to turn the heat on is a valuable item in our house so I wanted to find it...but no luck. So I went across the mall to the retail part of Dunnes to see if they had it there but they didn't. The cashier said not until Nov so I'll keep my eyes out for it until then. I thought maybe we had killed over a hour by then but it was barely 45min so I let Lino stay and play with the Halloween decorations for like 20min. He asked me what the skeleton was and I tried to explain it but he gave me this look of confusion so I tried again by telling him I squeeze my arm and feel the hard part and I told him that was a bone and your whole body had all these bones all over and once you take the skin off and fat you end up with a skeleton. So hard to explain some of the simplest things...but I think he got it. After that it was finally close enough to go to the coffee morning so we went there. We had a nice morning and I met a new mom from California but she hasn't lived in the states for over 7yrs so it was cool to chat with her about her traveling adventures with her 2 boys. Our kids are about the same age (only a few months different) and Lino and her 3yr old found a truck that they both wanted so they spent almost a hour fighting over who was going to get it. The other little boy even bit Lino so then we had to split them up but that didn't work either so we pulled out the timer and that seemed to settle the dispute about who's turn it was to play with the truck. The funny part is that once we pulled out the timer neither one of them were that interested in the truck...isn't that how it always ends up??? We headed home around noon and I tried to get Lino to put a diaper on but no dice so he pee'd before we left and he slept in the car...so did Shaun. So I cleaned ad made soup for dinner...once they woke up we went to the garden to see if the raspberries were ready then spend the rest of the afternoon outside playing soccer (American soccer that is). The rest f the evening was business as usual...we made a little calendar so that Lino could cross off the days until he would see Nini & PopPop because PopPop promised Lino that they would get him a black car if he was a big boy and didn't have any potty accidents, we tried to call them but no answer, we read about 100 books then played with Shaun. After dinner Nini and PopPop FaceTimed us back. So Lino wanted to see if they had his car...he doesn't forget about his cars but somehow he can't seem to remember his part of the deal. PopPop wasn't there so no cars but we showed Nini the calendar and she reminded him of the deal and he said he would be a big boy...lets see how long that last. Then bath and bed and the hardest thing about bed time is starting to become what cars do Lino want to take to bed with him. It's usually a bit of a process so we can either let Lino spend 30min deciding which cars he wants then he ends up with 4 armfuls of cars that he needs a book bag to carry ten all. Or you can play the guess the car Lino wants game and end up running up & down the stairs 3-4x until you get the right one. Although you save time with option 2 I'm not sure I save any sanity but I usually opt for option 2 and by the second attempt at the right car I'm l laughing at myself for doing something so ridiculous. Never would I have guessed that one day I would be at my wits end with my child about which of the 5000 cars needs to go to bed with him. The visions I had of motherhood are so far removed from reality...but I still love it.
Picture from earlier in the day...per Lino's request.
I totally forgot about this...Shaun was fussing a little earlier while I was cleaning/cooking and I looked over and he was out.
Wednesday:
Back to school for Lino and he was up and ready to go. He was in the bed a little early and was tossing and turning so no reason prolonging the inevitable. We were able to get up and out and I even had time to have a bowl if cereal...what a nice treat. I actually made it to Lino's school a little early and was able to chat with some of the moms. I met 2 moms that live very close to us and one of them actually use to work for Pepsi!!!! She didn't know Mike and was out on maternity leave when the whole transition for Mike happened so she had no idea about the move. Then I find out that she lives less than a quarter of a mile down the road from us. She told me that she saw us walking before and figured one of us worked at Pepsi because she saw Mikes Pepsi jacket the first day we dropped Lino off at school. It's crazy how small Cork is...I know I keep saying that but it is just so crazy. After the drop off it was time or some more house cleaning for mommy...it seems like the cleaning never ends and I started dinner which was a new interesting recipe that I was courius to see how it would turn out and how Mike would like it. I made it back to pick Lino up and I was early...I might be in a roll here...but the parking lot was already jam packed. I did some crazy parking and blocked in like 4 cars but who's paying attention??? Lino seemed to have a good day at school and he was telling me all about his stretch and grow class...I love it. We got back home and I made Lino a quick chicken salad on a croissant and he killed it!!! Well before he ate it he had a major fall out because he was super tired from getting up early today but after he found his zin he decided to eat lunch (I think he just was trying to prolong going down for a nap because I told him if he wasn't hungry that meant it was nap time...so he wanted to eat he said). I had to make him take the first bite because he wasn't familiar with chicken salad but after that he seemed to enjoy it (or at least he didn't mind it). It could have been the croissant that he really loved because he absolutely loves them but I'd like to think it was the full package...either way another successful meal for Lino. Then he took a nice 2hr nap and I finished more laundry and I had about 20min of no kid time again...nice!!! After Lino's nap I convinced him to go to the park because I knew that he was going to be a pain the rest of the afternoon if we stayed home...a sleepy Lino at home is like nightmare on elm street 2020 version. So he was ok with going "but AFTER we check the raspberries mommy" hahahaha he loves that garden. At the park we saw one of the moms that I had met at the school that morning so that was cool. We stayed at the park for a while then headed home for dinner. We had a few minutes before Mike got home so I decided to make a banana bread but I put my own twist on it adding crushed apples and some other flavourings...lets see if Mike likes it. After dinner we let Lino FaceTime with Nini & PopPop and they showed him the car that they had bought for him being a big boy. He was excited to see it and told them that he was being a big boy (but he forgot to mention he was being a pain). Tonight was Mikes turn for bath and bed and Lino came up with every excuse not to go to bed...I need to use mommies tooth paste, I didn't tell Shaun night night, I forgot to put my bike in the play room...blah blah blah. Then Mike had to do the "go find this specific car" game with Lino and he was so frustrated it was funny...welcome to my world. Lino went to bed easy and we had some time to watch the tube and enjoy the banana bread...which was really good!!!!
Thursday:
Lino didn't sleep worth a crap last night. He was up at least 3x last night and Mike had to put him bac in his bed 2x and I had to do it 1-2x. The first return to bed trip was a nightmare and he just screamed for about 5min straight then I guess he told Mike to sit at the bottom of his bed so he did. Then maybe a hour later he was back up but went to his room easier and still wanted Mike to sit at the bottom of the bed but this time he didn't go back to bed so quickly. Mike thought he was sleep so he came back to the room but Lino came walking in about 45 sec later. Mike got so frustrated he couldn't even talk so I took Lino back to bed and he went pretty easily...I just told him lets check the timer to see if it was time to get up and I showed him it was still going so he got back in bed and stayed there the rest of the night. Mike was like "why does he not go so easily with you?" I told him its because I command respect...hahaha...I really don't know but probably because I talked to him and he knows he frustrates Mike so he makes it hard for him. Who knows. So anyway we were all a mess in the morning and I wasn't sure how he was going to do at school but I was hoping he would be fine. He wasn't super hard to get dressed so we didn't have any major drama before drop off. After everyone got dropped off I went to Mahon for a little away time. Mike and I had been talking about getting the car cleaned (they call it Valet here) so I saw a sign for it at the mall so I said what the heck. While the car was being cleaned I let Shaun "play" in the play area and I blogged for a min but then Shaun wanted some attention...which was fine. I ended up seeing a mom I had met at a play group so I stopped to talk to her for a minute then went to get some fish and fixings for dinner (fish tacos). Then I head to get Lino and got to school in good time. Lino's teacher was raving about how much of a big helper Lino was and how good he was at school...I was thinking to myself "is she talking about my kid???" That at least gave me some hope for the afternoon but as soon as we got home the sleepy Lino came out and it was a battle all the way until nap time. I always pray for a nice reset at nap but I know it's not very likely. So I spent his nap time fixing up a few things then when he woke up he wanted to take a picture with Shaun on his bed...he's very demanding...like his momma :-)
Lino and Shaun rolling in the bed before we went to the playground.
So we went to the playground to meet up with a mom that I connected with on one of the mom groups. She was nice and has a 3yr old son too. She is Hungarian and her son doesn't speak much English but him and Lino seemed to get along just fine. He had a balance bike and was showing Lino how to ride it then Lino started chasing after him which was funny. At one point Lino was running in a circle chasingn after the bike and they had a major collision! Neither cried but you could tell Lino got hurt but he just came over for a little hug and started running after him again...boys. So we stayed there for a while, so long in fact that Mike was able to run down to see us on his run home. It actually started raining and I thought he might cancel his run but he didn't...it stopped raining a couple min after we left so he was ok. We had dinner and Mike and the boys were playing while I cleaned up and Lino went and pee'd his pants...why o why I will never know. So we put him right in the bath and to bed. It's sad, it's not like he ran out of time or something he just stood there and pee'd his pants because he didn't want to go to the restroom. I don't know how long this power struggle is going to last but it is really getting old. So a glass of wine was due for both of us once Lino was in bed...we can only hope for a better day tomorrow.
Friday:
At least Lino had a better night of sleep. Mike was like he sleeps all night when you put him to bed but he doesn't when I put him to bed...so maybe you should put him to sleep all the time. Ahhhhhh my husband, always finding ways to pon Lino off on me...it might actually be for the better because Mike will clean the kitchen and I can deal with Lino a little easier than him so I guess we will swop...or at least give it a try. Anyway morning routine went fine, drop off was fine but I was tired so I did nothing today!!!!! I came home and cleaned just a little then sat and played with Shaun until it was time to get Lino. When I went to get Lino he had a nice treat for me from school...they made scones! He was excited to show me what he had made but I think he was more excited about eating them. It was actually a really good scone, it put my crapy one to shame. But that was cool that he made scones at school, he loves to help us cook so that's right up his alley...well he likes to taste all the ingredients but that's part of cooking too...right??
We got home and Lino seemed to be in a good mood and since it was Friday I figured I'd let him have a peanut butter sandwich for lunch since he's been begging me for one all week...and I hoped that if he got a PB sandwich like he requested that it would keep him in a good mood and make the nap transition a little easier...no such luck. Wishful thinking Renee...oh well we survived and he eventually complied and ate lunch then took his nap. My lazy day continued and I even had over a hour of free time that I did absolutely nothing. Shaun went to sleep almost 30min after Lino so I had a nice block of time that I could have napped or did something. I was so tired too so I just knew I would fall asleep but for some reason I couldn't take my eyes off the sling box so I sat on the couch with Shaun and watched TV. It was nice anyway not having to do anything but then I felt a little bad that I wasted a whole hour...oh well. Once Lino got up we only had a little while before we had to go get Mike from work because we had to go to the Garda to get our residency cards...So we played outside until it was time to go. Once we got to Mike, Lino showed him the scone that he had made...I made him save one of them so that he could show Mike (and let him try one)...Mike was impressed. Then we headed to Cobh. There was no cruise ship there today but Lino remembered the place and that was his first question when we got close to the Garda station. We got there almost exactly at the time we were told but the room was full of people already...WTF! So I guess there was a que that we didn't know about because otherwise we would have got there sooner. Since there was a line I took Lino out to play and see the other little boats but I only let him stay out for 5min because I assumed that it wouldn't take long for them to go thru all the people...I had no idea how long it was going to take. When we got back there was absolutely no movement on the que...well that's not exactly true, now there were 2 more people behind us!!!! So Mike took him out because there was just no room for a 3yr old to run around and they stayed out for over a hour and we still had another hour wait. While we were waiting inside Lino made friends with this Indian student and was talking up a storm with him. He was telling him about Shaun, the hot and cold water, the fast boats, the water gun picture he made at school (that's only for shooting bad guys) and all kinds of stuff. He had the whole room listening in to his little conversation, it was funny. Finally it was out turn (well it might have been Lino's friends turn but I thought we were next so we kind of ran to the door before the kid could react). Once we go in the Garda guy started complaining to us about all the people and about how he didn't know that there would be that many people there and about how long it was going to take him to get thru all of them then he started complaining about the student applicants and how they were liers and give fake addresses to try and get residency. He went on and on about that and that reminded me about the first time we came how he was complaining to Mike about the Americans on the cruise ship. Apparently when the cruis ships dock here all the passengers are suppose to give their passports to the crew members so that the Garda can verify and stamp all of them. But the Americans are the only ones that don't give up their passports so the Garda has to go on to the ship and do the verification process individually...I guess it's a major pain. Anyway he complained I Mike about that for a while last time and now he's complaining about the line of people so I kind of came to the conclusion that he's just a big complainer. Once he was done complaining to us he started having computer issues. The residency number that was writen in our passports didn't match the number in the computer...they were switched or something. He was fussing at the computer and complaining about the person who wrote the number down in our passports because they wrote it wrong but Mike and I looked at each other and was like "uh you are the one who wrote it in our passports so you must have wrote it wrong" but we dare not say anything. Finally he figured it out but he had Mike looking at the computer to verify that the numbers were wrong but that the people (us) were right...crazy. Next he had trouble with Mikes picture so he retook it then he couldn't get my fingerprint to work and then once he printed off my card my picture was a got mess. It looked like he put the zoom on 100% and totally was a mug shot from the airport...horrible. He blamed it on the computer but I think it was him but I wasn't going to argue because we were so close to being out of there. Finally we were done and we almost ran out the door...over 2hrs out of our life for something that should have only taken 15min...unbelievable. Since that took forever in a day we had to adjust the dinner plans so the roast that I was planning to make I cut into steaks and we had that. It was a late dinner but there wasn't much we could do to avoid it. I put the boys in the bath (quickly) while Mike cleaned up then in bed Lino went. What a crazy Friday...totally Friday the 13th craziness.
Saturday:
We tried to sleep in a little but it didn't really happen so I got up and made breakfast while Mike got a few more winks in. We had our pancakes then decided what we were going to do for the day...take a walk to the train station then go to the city center so Mike could get some stuff from the Italian shop, take the train back, walk home, get cleaned up and head to Midleton for the food & drink festival. Sounded easy enough but the walk to and from the train station was crazy. We took another route because we were told its a more direct route to the train station but no one warned us that it's a crazy small and steep hill!!!! Going down was like running sprints and we could barely stop our self. Especially Mike with the stroller, he was just zooming down...it was crazy. But we made it safely down and made it just in time for the train. We got to the city and were very efficient (for us) and got all the stuff Mike needed to make pasta on Sunday and I even had a few min to stop at the shop to get some post cards. We made it back to the train station with only 7min to spare before the train left (nice timing) and walked back to the house. It wasn't an easy walk, we climed about 33 stories to get to our house (we tracked it) and it was a grulling 33 stories...just straight hill, well curvy but all hill. I don't think we will be going that way again. So we get home, shower, pack our bags and head to Midleton. When we got home it was nice and warm so we all put shorts on but by the time we got to Midleton (45min later) it was freezing and no one had any jackets...this weather is crazy. We just made the best of it and didn't complain, too much, and we had a good time. I saw one of the moms I knew which was cool and Lino got his face painted for the first time!!!! I'm not sure if he really liked it while she was painting his face but he thought it was cool after it was all done and when he saw the picture.
SPIDER MAN!!!!!!
It really wasn't that much going on there but it was cool that the street was blocked off and they had a bunch of little venders set up selling food and crafts. We thought we might eat more but we really only had 2 things, partially because we were so late and people were packing up to go and partially because it wasn't anything we wanted to spend out money on. So after 2hrs there and only having breakfast and a little snack that we shared at the festival we were all cold and hungry...so shopping trip it is. We went to Tesco to pick up stuff for dinner and for Sun but it seemed like we spent for ever in there...just exhausting. Finally we had all our stuff we went home and both mike and I were cooking!!!! That rarely happens, usually one or the other cooks because we are not good at sharing the space in the kitchen but tonight we made an exception. Mike made tomato basil soup and I made mushroom spinach triangles with filo dough that I finally found. We thought we would be done quicker if we both cooked but it still took us over a hour to make our dishes. In the end it was a good dinner...but the kitchen was a mess. So I was in charge of the boys while Mike tackled the kitchen. Lino and Shaun were pretty tired so they were not to hard to get to bed. Even tho it seemed like it took forever to make dinner we were still able to get Lino in the bed by 9:45 so we had time to watch a movie before bed, Looper, which was pretty good.
Sunday:
Up with the birds today but Lino and Shaun were up all night so I needed some extra time before getting out of the bed. So Mike took the boys downstairs for breakfast while I rested for another hour...thanks hun! Then Mike started working on putting the swing set together while I did a little cooking for our first visitor...Martha & the boys. I made homemade hummus (turned out pretty good), cut up carrot sticks and made a chocolate & peanut butter cake. And Mike worked on the swing set...all by his self. And poor Mike, his power tools aren't working so he had to screw down the screws by hand. Usually whenever Mike is putting something together this intercut he has help from his buddy Bryon but he's kind of not so close so it was just him. I tried to help but between Shaun wanting attention, the rain and Lino pooping his pants I was basically no help to him. It's times like this that make us really miss our friends back in Texas. So even with the weather being super crazy...cloudy and muggy in the morning, drizzle a hour later, sunny and warm in the afternoon, medium down pour aa hour later then cold but sunny a couple hours later...just crazy. To add insult to injury he had all kind of issues with the instructions because they were just pictures and no actual instructions. So there was one part that I went out to help him with and it took us about 10 tries and 40min to figure it out...finally we got the pieces to fit and we felt so stupid because it was pretty easy after we got it together...isn't that how it always goes. After all that he got about 1/4 of the massive thing put together then back in the garage it went...oh and we have had this swing set since July last year when Nini and PopPop got it for Lino for his birthday but we never put it together...until now. Better late than never...right?
Looks like he could use a hand but all I did was take a picture...plus this is one of those times that it was cold so I didn't want to go outside :-)
So inventive my husband...he made a way to as
Martha had planned to come over in the afternoon but had an unexpected visitor so canceled but then rang me a couple hours later to come by...so we finally had visitors!!!! They didn't stay long since it was late but it was nice to have a chat with her for a little while at least. I wasn't sure if she would like the chocolate peanut butter cake I made for them but she enjoyed it...I was excited about that...so I was able to give her some to take to Conor otherwise Mike and I would have ate the whole dish in about 2 nights. She really liked the house but she had no idea how to get here so I had to go get her from Fitzpatrick's, plus I'm not great at directions so I figured it would be easier to just get her anyway. The boys seem to get on pretty well, Patrick and Lino were jumping on the guest bed and Patrick was screaming so we ran in there to see what was wrong but we found out it was screams of laughter. Before they left I showed Martha the garden and she got we some rosemary and lavender then we went to pick blackberries from the ditch outside the house and she was excited about that. I guess there are blackberry bushes all over the place but she said there aren't as many near her so it was nice to be able to get some. Oh and she gave me some homemade blackberry apple jam which was really nice. So a nice quick visit and now she knows where we live so I could have a pop over at any moment!!! Good thing I have plenty of instant coffee and tea bags :-).
While Martha was over Mike was making dinner...homemade pasta and meatballs!! He was making a royal mess as he always does and Martha was like "is it worth it?" Hahahah...it's so worth it, it's so good. Then she was like "do you have to clean up after him?" Yup! That is the down part but I guess it's fare. So it took a little longer than expected for dinner as he made a little too much pasta but in the end we have dinner for at least 3 days and it was great!!!!! Thanks hun! <3
We gobbled up dinner then I put Lino straight into bed because he had already taken a shower this afternoon (from his pooping in his pants ordeal). Shaun on the other hand wasn't ready to sleep yet and Mike was exhausted from the day so he went to bed and I stayed up with Shaun for a little while. It was a good day too, my Chiefs won agains the evil Cowgirls so I had to make sure to do a little trash talking to my uncle and cousin before I went to bed.
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