The Cutaia's Irish Adventure

Monday, 14 October 2013

Quick 2 week recap...

Week of Oct 7th

Another slow week, really nothing exciting to report. Lino is still up and down at night. Last night he was up 2x and the last time we just gave up since it was 6:45. Monday we went to Gymboree but the other moms didn't make it so it was just us. We spent a few hours there then went across the parking lot to get a pot for Lino's bulb he planted...a school project. We originally planted it in a container that I had in the house but it wasn't really the right one and I was worried it wasn't going to grow so we went to find a proper one. The guys in the gardening section was really nice because he just gave us a bunch of the extra plastic pots that they would normally throw out. So we got about a dozen plastic pots for free!!! Sweet. Then home to play and make dinner. Since we didn't get to make the Wellington on Sunday I was in charge of making that and Mikes special risotto. Well I attempted to make it but it's kind of hard to pull off such a delicate technique as risotto with 2 screaming kids...anyway the Wellington came out good...now let's see if Lino eats it. I guess I will let Mike stick to making the risotto :-)

The little rolls are the extra mushroom base and prosciutto...nice little snacks that I thought Lino might like but no.

Tuesday was another crazy night for Lino and for me. I usually am pretty good about putting Lino back in the bed when he gets up but for some reason I had no concept of what I was doing and let him get into the bed at 6. So for a hour he was kicking us, smacking us and just down right reeking havoc on the bed...this is not a good way to start the morning. Oh well, not much we can do about it. So today was shopping in the morning and coffee morning in the city. Lino had a great time and the weather was nice so after we left we went to the park to play a little more. I put Shaun on the slides to see if he would like it but I don't think he did. But once he was on Lino wanted to slide with him so they did...it was cute. But I think we need a couple more weeks or so before Shaun really enjoys it.

Happy brothers on the slides.

We were having a decent day until Lino had another poopy diaper. I was so frustrated I was shaking. I wanted to kill him because he looked right at me and I told him to go poop because he was holding his butt like he had to poop and what did he do???? He looked me right in the eyes and pooped...WTF!!!!! I called all my allies to get advice and all of them said the same thing, "you can't make him go to the potty at this stage and of he is doing it right in front of you like that you have to let it go and completely ignore him"!!! So I bit my tongue and let it go...but it was hard. So the afternoon was recked but thankfully Mike dealt with poopy but.

Wednesday was crazy busy. I did the normal drop off then went to get a few things from the store before heading to a sling meet. I want to get anther sling but don't know what I want. So I went there and saw one of Lino's friends mom from play school so we talked, I tried on a couple of slings it didn't want to pay for the rental so I left. I raced home to put the groceries in the fridge before Lino got home and when I got home I noticed that I had a low tire...a freaking slow leak I think. So I check with the hubby and he said to get it fixed but I had plans of having people over in the afternoon and I still needed to make the cake so going to the tyre/tire shop wasn't really in my plans but I guess it has to be done. So I picked Lino up and we wet to get the tire fixed.

I was trying to explain to Lino what a flat tire was...not sure he got it but he left me alone after a couple questions.

Thankfully it was only a slow leak from a nail so the guy was able to pull the nail out and fill it pretty quickly, like 10min and it cost me nothing at all!!!! I was so shocked and happy it was a nice treat. I know it didn't really cost much to fix it but in the states I'm sure they would have charged me something, labor or something, so I was really surprised by the no charge. That's a nice thing about Ireland I guess.

So we went home I baked the cake and we had Michelle & Freya over for a little while. It was nice to have a chat and Lino loved all over Freya it was cute. He is so bossy too it's funny, he thinks he is everyone's dad...oh Lino.

Thursday was another busy day for me...drop off, got fisjh for dinner, then to Midleton to go to the Garda station to show my car tax sticker. The funny thing was that the guy at the station looked at me like I had 10 heads when I told him what I was doing. It made me feel like these Garda's are nothing but con artist but I could be wrong, maybe the lady who pulled me over was just being nice so this wasn't protocol so that is why the guy was so confused. Who knows. So after that I headed to the coffee morning and got 2 invitations to meet at the farmers market but I had already committed to going to the coffee morning so I had to decline. But it felt good to get invitations!!! Coffee morning was busy but good, then went to get Lino and then home for lunch. During lunch we got invited to Fota so we raced to get ready for that. It was such a nice day so it was perfect to go to Fota...Lino was excited. So we went there with Nicole and had a good afternoon. Lino had another poop and I felt like a bad mom because I let him sit in it but he has to learn, he is stubborn. So we went home a little early because of the poop. On the way out I saw the funniest thing, it must be mating season for the giraffes because the male giraffe was following the female around and she pee'd right in front of him and he took a sample of her pee...in his mouth!!! Then he didn't just drink it, he lifted it up to the air and swished it around in his mouth, like he was seriously testing it. He did this for like 5min, and the kids asked why he was drinking the other giraffes pee...neither one of us had a good explanation so we just said we didn't know. Too funny. We left there and went home for dinner and Mike cleaned Lino up. Lino actually wanted to eat dinner which was a nice surprise but I think he was hungry because if his busy day.

Friday was coffee morning at the Claire's house, mom at the school. I Shaun wasn't sleeping well and Lino got up around 6:30 so I got up at 7 to finish the cake I was making and to upload pictures to the internet. Mike said I was crazy for baking at 7am, and he might be right but I didn't want to bring stale cake to my first coffee morning :-/. Shaun had a blow out while we at her house and I had no real clothes to change him into, only summer clothes because I'm so out of it. So I had to borrow clothes from the ladies, oh Renee. We spent 2.5hrs talking which was actually really nice. I learned a lot about circumcision practices or non practice in Ireland which was crazy, and about Irish twins (kids born within 1yr of each other) and got to share crazy stories about raising boys...good times. After picking up Lino it was back home for lunch I put clothes out to dry since it was such a beautiful day. But it smelled like manure in the air, as it always does, and I could only wonder if my clothes smell like cow poo or fresh air???? Hard to say...oh well. The things you do to save a few bucks.

Laundry getting a fresh scent drying or a cow poo infusion?

We were having our first Irish sitter, child minder, tonight so Mike only jogged half way home and we went to get him half way. I tried some Benadryl on Lino for lunch to see if it would put him to sleep or keep him up...in prep for our surprise trip back home. He was tired after about 45min but wouldn't go to sleep. Instead he screamed from his bed for about a hour before finally giving up...he was so tired. I thought he might sleep for a while but he only slept a hour and was super nasty after that...no bueno. So when it was time to go get Mike he was not happy at all but finally I was able to convince him to get in the car. We got Mike and went home to get ready for our date night. One of Mikes coworkers daughter watched the boys and she was super sweet. Lino didn't know what to think at first but quickly decided he liked having someone new over. We told her all about the boys and told her about Shaun and prayed that he would be good. He has only taken a bottle 1x with someone as has only been with a sitter one other time as well...which he didn't take a bother for her. So we were worried he wouldn't take a bottle again but she wasn't too worried. I figured he would be ok either way because I knew he was fed and we weren't going to be gone long so he could survive if he didn't want the milk. Oh, speaking of milk...the stupid freezer sucks and it must go thru these freeze thaw cycles all the time because there were ice sickles all in the freezer and frost everywhere. Not to mention the refrigerator is usually frozen over about once a week which is a complete pain in the ass...at least the bottom shelf doesn't freeze but it's a complete nightmare. One day the #3 setting on the fridge is great then 2 days later everything is frozen...WTF! Anyway we went to dinner in the city, Greene, and then went to a pub for a couple pints...a couple for Mike it was more like 2/3 of a pint for me :-/ It was just nice to have a conversation without chasing after a 3yr old or wrestling a 6mo old. And we only checked on the kiddos once which was good for me. We tried not I talk about the normal things but it took a little while to get the work/kids/home topics off the table but after that it was nice good old fashion general conversation...jokes about the people in the bar, talking about fashion that we both have no clue about, getting caught up on politics (that I hate but enjoyed today) then of course reminiscing about our dating days :-) <3. It was a nice few hours of adult time with my love. We caught the train back and got home to a quiet house but soon discovered that Shaun didn't take the bottle, as predicted, and cried for a while but Lino was good and a good big brother and sang to him a lot to help calm him down. So all in all everyone survived! So Mike put Lino to bed and I tried to get Shaun to take the bottle but no dice so I fed him and he went to bed so we had a couple more hrs of freedom before bed. What a nice way to end the week, love my hubby and love date night!!!!

Saturday we had lots to do but didn't get to everything...we got up and I started packing for our trip...I should have started packing on Friday but had to finish laundry. Packing took all my brain cells so it took forever. I made our traditional banana pancakes which were so good and it was even better because of the skippy peanut butter. Mike is at the point where he won't even touch the other stuff, Panda, because it taste like cardboard...hahaha. It's not exactly that bad but it's not nearly as good as skippy so I can't blame him but what can you do???? We can't stock up on 3yrs of peanut butter...or can we???? I think we might try actually...we are such PB snobs. We had a visitor come by while we were eating breakfast...kind of cool to have a visitor come up on horse. It really wasn't a visitor for us, it was our landlords sister but she stopped to talk to us anyway...well Lino wanted to see the horse so they ran out to say hi!

So after breakfast was more packing. I decided to bring the extra diapers back with me to return or exchange them if possible, plus I was going to need the extra suit case for all the extra crap we were going to get anyway so what the heck. It took so long to get the stuff packed that we barely had time to get ready before we had to race out for the bday party. We had to stop at the store to get a few things then went too Monkey Maze. It was a complete nightmare in the parking lot, I couldn't believe how crowded it was...someone didn't think this threw when they designed the place. We ended up parking across the street on the street, in Ireland you kind of park where ever you want. We got in and Lino ran right to his buddy Partick. They played the whole time and had a good time it seemed. Mike just hung out while I mingled with the other moms. It was a nice party but the place was packed, kind of expected it for a Saturday. So close to the end Mike left to get dinner, we were going to make pizza but Supervalu was out of pizza dough so we decided to make tacos instead. Once he got back I dragged Lino out and we went home. Had dinner, put the boys in the bath then bed for them. All the packing was pretty much done and we had a early morning so we only stayed up for a little while before heading to bed ourself.

Sunday 3:15am....beep beep beep beep!!! Time to go, we threw everything in the car and I tried to remember a few last minute things then we left. Shaun stayed a sleep for the transfer from the bed to the car seat but Lino decided to stay up and talk to us for a while. He was excited about getting on the plane and about seeing Nini and PopPop but after about a hour he fell asleep. It only took 2.5hrs to get to Dublin which was nice and at that time of day the roads were completely empty!!! I think we may have passed 10 cars total the whole time, crazy. So we get to the airport and get checked in pretty easy. The airport is really nice and clean and seemed pretty new but maybe they just keep it up, which ever it was nice. When we checked in they said it was going to take 1hr 45min to go thru preclearance so we didn't have time to have a snack together before leaving. So we said our goodbyes and it was just me and the boys...God help me. Thankfully preclearance, aka customs, was a breeze and the customs guy was pretty nice. I had packed some fruits for Lino to eat on the plane and I said I wasn't going to tell them about it because I knew they would make me toss them but when he asked me I couldn't lie so I told him about the bananas and I gave him 3 of the 4 that I had and he tossed them. But he told me thank you for being honest and I was just thinking if he only knew I still had a banana and grapes in Lino's bookbag he wouldn't be saying that. I didn't want to lie but I didn't know if they would have anything for me to buy for Lino to snack on on the plane in the airport so I didn't want to risk my sanity for a few grapes. And as expected there was nothing for me to buy after customs so it was a good thing I didn't give him all our snacks. We did get a sandwich and a stale croissant but no fruit. Our plane was a little delayed but not by much and Lino was ready to go!!! We boarded and the plane was about done boarding and I had the seat next to me open so I thought I might have the row to us but at the last moment a man sat down next to me. I felt bad for him at first but he ended up being really nice. His name was David and we ended up talking almost the whole time. He helped me with Shaun and Lino and even put Shaun to sleep while I took Lino to go poop. He was so happy to help that he wouldn't even let me take Shaun back when he was sleeping, he wanted to snuggle with him so I let him, it was a nice break. Anyway he was a God sent and really helped make the flight go so much quicker. Lino was really good but he got board with his movies really quickly and only took a hour long nap because he wasn't comfortable in his chair, I couldn't get it to lay back. Plus Shaun kept trying to grab him and woke him up so I just knew it was going to be a fight but it wasn't. At one point I was so tired that I bribed Lino to sit and watch a movie so that I could try to get a 30min nap in and it actually worked!!! That little 45min nap was amazing!!!! So 6.5hrs later we land in NY and I have nobodies phone number because I had that stupid flip phone that I never put anyone's number in and I forgot to bring my old iPhone with all my contacts so I was screwed. It took me about 20min to think to check the call log and once I did I saw 2 NY numbers that I knew was Nini and PopPop I just didn't know which was which but it didn't matter. I called them both and the 2nd number was Nini and she answered, thank God, and called PopPop to tell him we were here, early. Since we were early and PopPop was 30min away we got our bags and some lady helped me to push all our crap to the passenger pick up area. It didn't seem like it took long at all before PopPop got there and Lino was super excited!!

We got home and Lino ran to Nini I give her loving and we went to say hi to Nan. We just relaxed the rest of the day, did FaceTime with daddy, had dinner and crashed!!! It's nice to be in the states but I'm so tired I have to get some rest before I can enjoy it properly :-)

Nan & Shaun reunited!!

Week of Oct 14th:

Monday was pretty relaxing. Lino got up early and was up with PopPop for a while watching TV then came in the room with me and Shaun for a while but Shaun was wide awake and kept bothering him so he left. This is Shaun happy as can be at 2:30 in the morning...ugh jet lag!

Eventually he ended up with Nini and slept in for a little. Lino old Nini that he wanted to be a big boy so he didn't have a diaper on but he ended up pee'ing his pants 2x before we left so that was the end of that. Once we got civilized we went shopping for some of the stuff I need to take back. First stop was Walmart to try to take the diapers back but the said I couldn't take them back I could only exchange them for a different size...ugh. So I got bigger sizes and hopefully won't have to deal with this again. I don't want to take them back to Ireland wit me so I'm just going to leave them in NY for when we come back to visit...that means one less thing to pack for us which is a good thing. So while I was there I went ahead and got a few other things that we needed like 4 giant 32oz tubs of peanut butter but once I got back to the car I remembered the other 5 things I also needed...guess I'll be back here later. While I was shopping the boys were in the car snoozing so we ran to a couple other places before going home. We tried to let Lino sleep in the car but he woke up when we stopped the car, oh well. That rest of the night was relaxing PopPop brought Lino a car home from work but since he had pee pee accident he couldn't have his car. He actually took it kind of well which we were surprised about. Maria made burgers and sausages for dinner and I finally had a plate of banana pudding...yummy my favorite!!!! Except Nini mushed up all the bananas instead of just slicing them so the texture was weird...I told her I didn't like the formula adjustment but I don't think she cared :-)

Tuesday we finished some more shopping at Costco and Nini seemed to love it...a few of her normal purchases she was able to buy for cheap there so she was happy. Then we had belly bombers for lunch (yum!) and I went to the bank to do a few things then back to the house to get things cleaned and repacked for the next leg of the trip. We went to a brew house for dinner because kids ate free and there was a balloon guy there. It was a nice last night in town and Nini & Lino had fun with the balloons :-)

Everyone loves to feed babies but Shuan really likes to eat so it works out.

Shaun and his Nini...u can feel the love thru the picture.

Nini, Lino, Siesta & PopPop passed out on the couch...so cute and such a special moment.

Wednesday we were up early to finish packing and headed to the airport. Nini dropped us off and I was able to pull the stroller while pushing the cart with the 2 car seats and suit case...a lady did help me which was nice but I was happy I got everything consolidated into one cart. We flew on US Airways and the check in line was a complete joke. It took almost 45min to get checked in and get our bag tags and people kept looking at me like I was crazy because I had my hands full...but we made it work. We had 2 flights and the first one was crowded but not too bad, I saw one of Nini's coworkers and we chated for a while. I couldn't remember her name at first but finally when we got to Charlotte I remembered it. The boys did good on the plane which was nice and we didn't have far to go for our next flight, It was only 2 gates down so that was nice. We stopped to get something to eat then boarded the plane. I was pooped and I could tell Lino was sleepy too so I told him to take a nap...and he did!!!! I was shocked but I guess he was board and there really wasn't much to miss so there was no real reason to fight me. So we actually all 3 took a nap, we slept the while 2.5hrs on the flight! And the nice thing was that the lady that was suppose to sit next to me moved to another seat since the plane wasn't full so we had the while row to ourself...sweet! We made it to KC but we were literally the last ones to get off of the plane so my mom was about to jump thru the gates when she finally saw Lino. It was a nice reunion tho and really good to see her, in person. We got our bags and went to the car but it took like 45min to pack the car with the stroller and huge suitcase. Once we finally figured out the correct configuration we looked at each other like "why didn't we try that first???" It's crazy, it's my old car and I had no idea how to pack it. I think it's because we always use to use the van so I really don't have any experience with packing the car with all our kid crap...anywho we made it worked and headed to TT's house.

GG flew in around the same time as me but Teri was picking her up at a different terminal so we didn't see each other. So the plan was to surprise dad at dinner so we hung out at the house for a little whole but I wanted to get away and get my toes done so TT & I left the boys with Nana and went to get pampered. It was nice to get away and to have some quality time with my big sis. We talked about the weirdest stuff like death and the lady doing my toes kept laughing to herself then finally chimed in on our conversation. It was weird but cool at the same time...anyway it was a good time. So we got back and eventually left for dinner. We got there late because, well, no real excuse but we were really late because Lino was having a melt down and I had to do a little time out time with him. But finally we were able to walk around the corner of the restaurant and surprise dad, GG and Teri. Dad just sat there with his jaw on the table in shock for like 5min and GG was just smiling from ear to ear as Teri ran to Lino. It was a nice surprise and I don't think dad had any clue even tho he told me that he had a feeling I was going to surprise him...whatever. He told me that he told his boss today that he had the feeling I was going to surprise him, he just had a feeling...how the heck would he know I was going to surprise him???? He has no idea what kind of travel nightmare I went thru to get here for his party, this was not a casual decision...oh dad. Maybe he knows me better than I thought...I couldn't miss his big 60th bday so I guess it was kind of a good chance I would make it work, well whatever he thinks it doesn't matter. All that matters is that look oh his face when he saw us. If only I had a video recorder that would have been a great moment to capture...even a picture would have been nice but we all forgot them at home...oh well. So we had a nice dinner and I ate way too much cake because I'm a pig and the cake was good. Dad gave me lots of hugs so it made me feel really good, I'm glad we were able I make it to surprise him on his birthday.

Grandpa having a moment with Shaun Shaun. Shaun was obsessed with pulling at GP's jaw, he thought it was the funniest thing ever.

GP didn't seem to mind much either.

Thursday Nini was at the house with us all day while TT and Pierre went to work. We really didn't do much except hang out and in the afternoon I went to get my hair done. I pumped a little milk for Shaun but wasn't expecting him to take a bottle but just in case he got hungry there was something there for him. I decided I wanted to get some chipotle but didn't think I would find a place by the shop but since I took the scenic route to the shop I passed one so I was able to get me a late lunch to go. I had a nice chat with TT's stylist and made another appt for the week that I leave, I figure why not pamper myself while I'm here and can do it. And I got to enjoy my Chipotle too, it was so good!!! After my hair was done I was going to stop at the store before heading home but I remembered it was almost time for Morgan to get out of school so I went to pick her up instead. She was surprised to see me and that made me feel good. She said she wanted to go shooing with me and mom said she was ok with the boys so we headed to Walmart for a quick shopping trip. And since no trip to Walmart is quick it took us over a hour to get the few things that I needed. And I still forgot to get a sippy cup so we had to run back in to get one before we left...geeze Louise. So once we finally got home I realized I had left Shaun for almost 5hrs and he was actually ok...well until he saw me. Mom said he was pretty good and didn't cry much at all but didn't take the bottle either. But once he saw me that was all down hill...oh well. It was a nice break, I just wish he would take a bottle, but maybe he will take the sippy cup...we will see. The evening was uneventful. Shaun spent a lot of time with TT and I think he thinks she is me or something because he seems to be the most comfortable with her which is nice. They even had a nice moment together on the rocking chair...Shaun is good for wearing you out as TT quickly found out.

TT and I watched Greys before she left with Pierre to get his mom. Once they left I watched Scandal by myself and was very happy! Once they got back it was late but we all stayed up talking for a couple hours before heading to bed.

Oh and today is one of my closest friends birthday, Gina! And my good friend Eddie & Angela became a grandparents today too...so exciting.

Friday was the first day of the party weekend. TT and Pierre were running around like crazy all day getting the last minute things together and I was busy making more work. I had Pierre add more pictures to the slide presentation that he was working on...oops. The baby uncle, Carter, and his family arrived first and we hung out for a while and caught up then a couple of hours then one of TT's friends came over and later dad and Teri made it. TT had to leave to get our cousin Jordan from the airport but while she was gone the party began...ie the drinking commenced :-). Once the drinks start flowing there is always a card or domino game going on at the same time and this time it was domino's. It's always funny to watch the family play dominos because everyone thinks they are Gods domino prodigy or something...it's comical. So one room has the loud mouth men playing dominos and the other room has an equally intense game of uno going on with a 3, 7, 20 & 40yr old...what a sight to see. It was a good night and once the party started to slow down I put the kids in the bed and the big boys ended their domino game. Dad was still in the mood to party so he kept taking shots of Crown Royal. He used almost everything as an excuse to take a shot and we kept telling him he didn't need an exuse to drink, it was his bday weekend so he was in the clear on drinking. The only problem was that his little followers didn't want to be shown out by a 60yr old man so everyone would grab their shot glass and join him. Even out cousin Jordan was on the shot ban wagon. At one point I think they told about 4-5 shots in one hour...like a power hour. And I knew Pierre was drunk because he started going on and on about wanting to drive down to 18th & Vine to hear some Jazz music. He was acting like he was going to drive but he was way past driving limit so dad said he would drive but he was I we his limit too. So now the fight was who was going to drive these drunk assess to 18th & Vine...no one was volunteering and I had a great excuse not to volunteer so finally we told them they didn't need to go. So instead we all sat around and told stories and they drank a little more before the party finally ended. Jordan passed out on the couch and about 30min later while we where getting air mattresses and beds set up for everyone he decides he had to much to drink and threw up all over himself...it was gross and smelly!!! But thankfully he mainly got it in himself and only a few little chunks landed on the floor/couch...poor baby. It was funny as hell tho because we were all impressed with him keeping up with the big boys so we thought he was a closet drinker or something. The reality is that he just drank to much to quickly otherwise I think he would have been alright.

Dad was being funny and just kept saying that good thing he took a nap and that he was feeling good because he took a nap...TT and I both yelled at him and was like "if u don't stop talking about this nap we are going to hurt u!" Hahahaha. He swears up and down that this nap is what kept him from going to far with his drinking and I think it was really the fact that he has about 45yrs of experience that kept him from getting sick. So then dad decided it was time to snack so I made him a plate of red beans and rice then Pierre decided he wanted a snack too and I told him not to eat that stuff because he didn't need it...told him to just eat some chips and leave that stuff alone but did he listen?? No!!! And who was on the floor praying to the porcelain Gods 20min later??? Pierre...stupid is as stupid does...and he was a mess but deserved it because he wouldn't listen. What a night...it was fun and I didn't even have ken drink but I had a great time hanging with family and watching the craz people drink. I love the family gatherings!

Saturday was party day. Since dad stayed the night we made a big breakfast for everyone and of course we had to spend half the morning recapping the night. Uncle Sherman and Aunt Mary arrived around noon so they were just in time for the recap. It was great and Pierre even got a new name: Earl!!!! Hahahaha. He was talking so much crap yesterday about the fact that I made him throw up the first time I met him because I was mixing all these crazy drinks but I didn't have anything to do with his drinks last night and all he was drinking was Crown Royal so he had no excuse for himself so that is why I renamed him Earl. I don't think he liked it but I didn't really care, it was funny. He didn't even remember half of what he did last night so he deserved the new name. After the mega breakfast-fest recap we did what we needed to do for the day and got ready to go to the party that evening. Uncle Sherman was so pooped that afternoon he fell asleep in the chair I got there late with the boys because Lino passed out on the floor and I let him get a nap in...I didn't want to wake a sleeping lion :-) So by the time we got there TT and Pierre had already presented the slide show with all the pictures that they had put tougher and TT said dad teared up a little because of all the pictures...sucks I missed that. About 20min later it was about time to start the "roast". So I set up the video camera and we started recording. The "roast" was kind of funny because everyone loves dad so much that no one had anything bad to say. So after a few minutes of all the love stories about dad I had to share my 2 favorite memories of him:

1) maybe my most favorite memory is the lobster tails that dad use to get from work all the time. I didn't really know where he got them from but I knew that we couldn't normally afford them so it was a super special treat to have them but we seemed to be eating these huge lobster tails all the time. It was great! TT and I felt like we were really fancy when we had our lobster dinners. I use to think dad stole them off of the truck or something like that and actually he use to buy them from one of his friends that likely stole them off of a truck...hahaha. Those were the good ol days back at the yellow house as we like to call it. It was our first house in Kansas.

2) this memory of dad has scared me for life and even today I'm still scared from it...one day dad thought it would be a good idea for the TV to babysit me and my sister. We were only 5 & 8yrs old and we were watching TV while dad was in the converted garage in the yellow house playing cards, drinking and likely smoking and what ever else he was doing. One show went off that we were watching and the next show was The Exorcist and we thought we were getting away with something because we were going to watch a scary movie since dad was busy. Well little did we know that would be the scariest movie we would ever see and it freaked us out to death!!!!! We were so scared after it was over that we couldn't even move from the couch. Not to mention we didn't want to touch the floor because we were afraid that something would come thru the floor to get us. So once The Exorcist I went off part II was right after it and since we were stuck cold in our tracks and unable to get off of the couch to change the channel (there were no remote controls for our TV back then) we ended up watching almost half of part II before dad came to save us. We were so freaked out and all he could do was laugh at us and he asked us why we would watch it if it was scary??? Well because we were too small to understand how scary it was going to be dad...duh!! To this day I can't watch anything even similar to The Exorcist and even talking about it makes me get chills. Talk about bad parenting, hahaha, dad thinks that was the funniest thing and even to this day he just laughs when we remind him about it.

So after his roast he walked around to talk to some of his friends and it was nice to see him enjoying himself. It was good to see all of these people that we haven't seen in years and it was nice for so many people to come and celebrate his birthday. He opened gifts, we sang happy birthday and had cake!!! It was a good night and it actually didn't last as long as I thought it might. I think everyone was tired from the night before so everyone was ready to retire early which was fine with me. Pierre and TT did a great job with the party and dad was really greatful.

Sunday

TT planned for a Sunday brunch at the house so mom, TT, Pierre and I worked to get stuff ready for everyone. In true Britton fashion the birthday boy didn't get there until about 3hrs after the start time and then after about a hour after he got here he passed out on the floor after playing with the grand kids...oh dad. TT ended up giving me a little break and put Shaun down for a nap but I think he put her to sleep too...love those sweet moments when the babies sleep with you. Shaun loves his TT!

Morgan was being a good big cousin and was trying I get Lino to take a nap but he wouldn't go to sleep so she ended up carrying him downstairs because he didn't want to walk...I was amazed that she could carry him!!!!

The rest of the afternoon was pretty relaxed. We had to do pass the phone with Mike, which is true Britton tradition then slowly people started leaving. Uncle Carter & family and Uncle Joe & Aunt Nancye still had one more night before they left so we all hung out until late. Uncle Carter actually needed up working on TT's basement helping Pierre to fix the baseboards...he loves to fix stuff so he couldn't help himself. So we said our goodbyes to the VA family since they weed going to head to the airport straight from the hotel in the morning. It was so good to see them and to hang out with Miss Kennedy for a while, it's been almost 2yrs since we last saw them. Hopefully it won't be so long until the next time we see them. We all turned in early for the night...it has been a long weekend.

Thursday, 10 October 2013

Slow but busy week...how is that possible?

This was a slow week, really nothing exciting to report. Lino is still up and down at night. Last night he was up 2x and the last time we just gave up since it was 6:45. Monday we went to Gymboree but the other moms didn't make it so it was just us. We spent a few hours there then went across the parking lot to get a pot for Lino's bulb he planted...a school project. We originally planted it in a container that I had in the house but it wasn't really the right one and I was worried it wasn't going to grow so we went to find a proper one. The guys in the gardening section was really nice because he just gave us a bunch of the extra plastic pots that they would normally throw out. So we got about a dozen plastic pots for free!!! Sweet. Then home to play and make dinner. Since we didn't get to make the Wellington on Sunday I was in charge of making that and Mikes special risotto. Well I attempted to make it but it's kind of hard to pull off such a delicate technique as risotto with 2 screaming kids...anyway the Wellington came out good...now let's see if Lino eats it. I guess I will let Mike stick to making the risotto :-)

The little rolls are the extra mushroom base and prosciutto...nice little snacks that I thought Lino might like but no.

Happy brothers on the slides.

I was trying to explain to Lino what a flat tire was...not sure he got it but he left me alone after a couple questions.

Laundry getting a fresh scent drying or a cow poo infusion?

Tuesday, 1 October 2013

What a crazy week

So Monday was nothing special. We met up with 2 American friends at Go Safari for a play date and Gymboree. Well one was an American the other was Irish but lived in America for over 20yrs so it was almost like she was more American than Irish. Anyway, Lino loved being at Go Safari so we stated for a while. While we were there the the moms told stories about the maternity word at the hospital and it gave me chills. Basically if we have an oops while we are here I might be going to KS or NY around 7mo to have the baby there...crazy. I'm sure it's not as bad as it sounds but it's so different from how things are in the states that it scares me. So the quick and dirty is that there is really only one "real" hospital in the entire county of Cork. Which means this one hospital services at least a 100 mile radius!!!!!! So if you live in Waterford and have a heart attach or go into labor you have to travel 2hrs to get to the hospital!!!!! INSANE!!!!!!!!!! So since everyone comes here the hospital is just over loaded with people. So if you are I labor and not in serious labor you could wait for hours before being seen. The one mom told me that she was in the WAITING room for almost 5 hrs with her second kid before the put her into a room. And when they did put her into a room it was the postnatal room with 3 other families so she was laboring in a room with 3 other moms, their new babies and partners!!! No way! How could she be in a room with all those moms, you might ask? Well for her first she was I a room with 3 or 4 laboring moms as well because the hospital, again, was just over loaded. She even said that she went to use the restroom in her shared room and the toilet had blood all over it from one of the other moms!!!! And she said the same was true for her second kid. I just couldn't believe it. Then I heard that there is a birthing pool or tub but they only let moms labor in it and not deliver because a baby died in it...just crazy. I just could believe the simplest thing like having your own room or being considered a priority when you are in labor are so not a common practice it is still just unbelieveable to me. Oh and it seems like so many moms have c-sections which I'm not OK with (unless needed) and lots of babies are born with the suction/forceps that again I don't like. It's almost 100% opposite of what I would want with my delivery. I guess I'm a little spoiled because Shaun's labor & delivery was so magical I couldn't imagine not having the same experience. I was just telling Mike the other day that everytime I think about Shaun's delivery I just get so euphoric it's unbelieveable. I had the best midwife, Mike was super supportive, labor lasted only 6hrs and of that only about 2hrs were super intense. I pushed Shaun out in less than 6min, no doctors, no hospital, no drugs, no distractions...all my way. Then I had my grandma and mom outside the room so they were able to see Shaun only moments after he was born...just amazing...for me. Anyway, it was all that I had bee wanting since I had got pregnant with Lino so there is no way I would give that up. Now my uterus is getting all happy...like I'm going to do it again...not any time soon uterus so calm down. So all that to say its crazy here and there is no way I'm having a kid here...I don't think so at least. So after being scared straight we said our goodbyes and we stayed to play.

Lino was doing really good with potty all day and had a dry diaper after we left Go Safari so I let have a special treat and let him watch a movie on his iPad. I thought if I encourage the good behavior now he might actually continue it but no while he was watching the movie he pee'd..oh well. Later in the afternoon I tried a new cake, apple strudel cheesecake. It was easy to make but I thought it needed to sit over night before cutting so I didn't have any...Mike was disappointed too :-/

My bubble buddies at bath time. Shaun was super pooped so no smiles from him...

Tuesday started out in the pouring rain. It was coming down pretty bad when we got up and I freaked out because no body had any rain coats...except Mike but he never wears it. But thankfully when we left the house it was only raining a little but the fog was really thick. By the time I dropped Mike off the rain stopped, thankfully, but I had already decided to go looking for rain gear for Lino and I wanted to go to the Penny's but the closes one was the city center and I didn't want to be bothered with trying to park and walking with 2 little ones in this weather. So I found another one that wasn't too far so we went there. Somehow I managed to get there without getting lost which was pretty exciting. Lino kept asking me in the car why do we need rain gear and I guess my standard answer of "this is Ireland" wasn't getting it today...oh well. So we trucked in the store and I search high and low but couldn't find anything...very disappointing. So I thought maybe Tesco would have one and since there was a Tesco attached to the shopping center we went I look for one there. But again, no dice. One of the ladies in Penny's suggested I try the Dunnes Store too so I headed there...since it was close to where we were planning to meet for the coffee morning. By the time we got to the Dunne Store the weather had completely changed, it was partially sunny and a little warm. This weather is so crazy. So we went in anyway because at some point we are going to need these jackets. On the way into Dunnes I ran into one of the moms from Lino's play school. We have talked a couple times before so it was an easy conversation...not forced. I invited her over on Friday for coffee so we will see if she can make it. She thought the Dunnes Store was a good place for the jacket too so I was hoping she was right. Well they didn't have the rain jackets that I was looking for but they at least had some water resistant jackets that weren't too expensive so I got one for Lino. I saw some men's jackets on sale too but no women's so I decided to get one of the men's jackets. It was all orange which is my favorite color and it didn't look like a men's jacket so I said what the heck. So we got out of there in pretty good time. Lino was actually being really good which was great...he was looking forward to the play group. So the coffee morning was at the M&S at the Tesco shopping center down the road and I knew exactly how to get there, it was close. So I leave the store, head to the Teaco car park but get a little mixed up on which lane is turning only and which was straight and turning. So I'm in the second lane and I start to go but I need to turn and it looked like the car next to me was turning too so I just kept going. But no, they were not tuning. They were going straight and I was going straight for them "SHIT!!!!!" CRASH Yup, I crashed into the car, but it was more like a bumper car tap than a crash but a hit non the less. And to make it worst, Shaun was starting to get fussy and it was an old lady. I felt so bad. Oh and it happened right in from if the place we were going so I just knew some of the moms saw me hit her. I was a mess but pulled in front of her and we exchanged information and she said she would call me tomorrow with the information from her mechanic. I didn't know what the procedure was and neither did she so we were a little loss. Someone who knew the lady stopped to see if she was ok, which was nice, and she was. I took a picture of the "scratch" because it wasn't much at all. She had a pretty old car and thankfully I barely hit her so there wasn't much there. I kept asking her if she was ok and she said she was just shook up but otherwise ok, so that made me feel better. So 5 min later we went our separate ways. Shaun was almost in a panic with his screams and I was nearly in tears from all the excitement (and hormones) so we slowly went to the car park. When we got into the shopping center I saw another mom I knew and we chatted for a bit. I need to plan a play date with her but I can't ever remember her schedule so it's hard...one day. I was heading to the M&S but Lino saw the play area and wanted to play there. So I never even made it to the coffee morning. So after all that, I couldn't believe I didn't even make it to the coffee morning...geeze o peez o.

The damage to the ladies car...

So we stayed at the play area for about 3hrs it smeemed. When we fist got there I saw one mom that I had met before at a coffee morning and she was planning to go to the coffee morning as well but her daughter wanted to play in the play area too, so she got stuck. We talked and exchanged numbers and planned to meet up next week. A little before we left I saw yet another mom, she was at the coffee morning but her son wanted to play so that is why she was there. Here son and Lino were actually playing together and I thought he looked familiar but I couldn't put my finger on it. We had coffee at her house a few weeks ago and Lino and her son were both glued to the TV so I didn't even think they got a chance to get to know each other but I guess they did. Eventually Lino was partially ready to go so I took advantage of that and headed towards the car park. On the way Lino stopped me to ask for something to eat...that's a rarity so I asked if he wanted a chicken sandwich and he said yes. Go figure. So we stopped to change Shaun's diaper then we went to the deli & bakery right across from Tesco. I just got him a plan chicken sandwich and as we were walking to the cashier I looked at the sandwich and noticed a hair. Normally I would have rejected the whole thing then and there but I was trying not to be so American and I just took the hair off the sandwich. But then there was a second hair and I was getting leery. I thought maybe I'll just eat the sandwich as get Lino something else. I tried to not look any more but I had to check the rest of it to make sure there wasn't more in there and I couldn't believe it but there were like 2 other hairs...that I could see. And I couldn't turn a blind eye to that...I was about to throw up actually. So I gave the lady the sandwich back and told here that there were several strings of hair in it so I didn't want it any more. She didn't understand me so I had to say it like 3x and I still don't think she got it but I gave her the sandwich back and just paid for my drink. The people in the line and behind the counter were giving me the death stare but I didn't care. I know people here wouldn't do such a thing as complain about hair in their food but I just couldn't let 4 strings of hair go. I was just amazed at how much hair was in it and then I started thinking maybe it wasn't hair, that was just way too much to be someone's hair...right???? I have no idea I just know I didn't want to have anything to do with that stringy stuff in my sandwich. So I just wanted to get something quick for Lino so we went into the Tesco and got a few things from the hot deli section...we both ate lunch for less than the string sandwich would have cost me so it worked out. How gross.

So I couldn't believe the kind of day I was having so I headed home but I told my friend I would come by so I texted her to see if she still wanted company. On the way home Lino kept telling me to be careful because I didn't want to crash...AGAIN!!!! thanks captain obvious. So my day just continued to get worse from there. On the drive home I splashed this lady and her kids on the side of the road with a rain puddle. I saw her up ahead but and I noticed that there were some puddles on the road but it didn't all click that if I continue on my current course and speed I would drench the mom and baby in the stroller. So dumb me just keeps going until I'm in the puddle and it's splashing super high and I look back in my review mirror and notice her shaking her head and shaking her clothes off trying to get some of the excess puddle junk off of her. Thankfully her kid had a weather cover so I don't think the kid got wet but I'm not sure. Then I see the car behind me treat the puddle in the appropriate method...rolling slowly thru it and checking on the mom and tot. I felt horrible...what do I do turn around and say I'm sorry or what???? I mean the damage was done so an I'm sorry really isn't going to do much help at that point. So I said a quick prayer that he would forgive me and that no one would get sick from my horrible judgement. What a morning...

So we get home and I wasn't sure if my friend was up for company but she texted me back so we headed that way. I needed to stop at the house anyway to get some of the cake that I had made last night. So we go out that way and I was thinking the whole time that I should just stay home. I was exhausted from my ordial this morning and I didn't know exactly where I was going so I was sure I was going to get lost and that Lino would fall asleep and we would have a fight when we got there...just didn't know how the trip was going to go. So I make it past Midleton ok then the directions start coming quicker and I turn but wasn't exactly sure if it was the right turn. I drive for a while and get to a stop where the directions say to go right but I go left because I have this feeling that I'm not in the right town. I see a Garda guard ahead of me stopping cars but I didn't think anything of it...must be checking for insurance. And thankfully I had been nagging Mike about getting us insurance since before we moved into the house and a little over a week ago we got the insurance tag. See in Ireland you have to have insurance, NCT (which is like an emissions test) and taxes displayed in your front window. I knew we had the NCT because that was part of the selling agreement and I just got my insurance so I was set...I really didn't think about the taxes because I thought that was already paid too. Boy was I wrong. So I turn left and she looks at my stickers and tells me to pull over and I immediately reach for my insurance card because I think that's what she is looking. But before I could get it she tells me " you know you are auppose to have your taxes displayed at all times?" I was like "oh yeah, I know, it's right there". She was like "no that's your insurance". Then it clicked I remember Mike telling me that he just payed the taxes on Friday or something like that. He didn't know where to go to pay it but finally found it. So I told her my story and she kind of believed me but kept telling me that "it's a €60 fine for not having it displayed". €60...seriously???!!! So I texted Mike and told him what was going on and he didn't respond right away, as usual, but eventually he did. There was really nothing he could do because she wanted to see the actual sticker so eventually, after she took all my information looked over my American license and calle into her office she told me that I could bring in the taxes or post a copy to the Garda station within a week and she wouldn't send me the fine. Great, now I have to freaking go to the Garda station next week and figure this crap out. So I told her I would and told her for the 3rd or 4th time that I know we paid for it just recently I just don't have any proof. She was either a sucker or believed me because I was American because she kept saying I know I believe you. Then he let me go...I couldn't believe how my day was going. So now I'm really flustered and didn't know where I was in relation I the directions so I read them again and notice a key turn at some red garage and I was like "SHIT!!!!!" I don't remember seeing any red garage and I don't remember turning...where the hell am I????? So I decide to turn around and go back to find this red garage. When I turned around I had to pass the Garda again and she acted like she was going to pull me over again...seriously lady!!!! I just got stopped by you 5 min ago, you don't remember me????? But she did remember me and waved me on...geez. So I start back tracking my steps and little did I know that red garage was way back almost to Midleton and that I did turn at the red garage so I was going the right way. What a mess...so I came up to the stop sign with my friendly Garda friend and I knew I needed to turn the other direction. And I found the house. I was such a reck but I had already told her we were coming so I just stayed for a little while. It was nice to have a chat. She is very personable so it was easy to hold a conversation. We only just met the previous week so we talked a lot about our past, how we got married, child birth in Ireland, my crazy day, stuff like that. While I was there the lady that I hit called me to talk about the damage and she told me not to worry about it. I couldn't believe it, I mean I could because there wasn't much I could do since her car was already old but I would have paid for it if she wanted to fix it. So she told me it was ok and I apologized about 10x and she said she knew that I was sorry and she wasn't worried about it. I asked if she was ok and she was then I told her again that if she changed her mind about the damage let me know. Once I hung up I was in tears...how embarrassing. I was just one big ball of emotions today, ok many hormones running thru my body these days...I cry more now than I have in the past 10yrs combined. My friend felt sorry for me and old me to have a glass if wine for dinner, which I planned to do...what a roller coaster. At least that part is over and everyone is ok and I can move on from there...pick yourself up Renee and get a grip!!!!! I ended up staying a little later than I had planned so we stopped at Tesco on the way home to get a cooked chicken for dinner. We got home and I whipped together some chicken soup and rice and got it done just in time, as Mike was getting home. What a day...I hope tomorrow is better.

Wednesday we were back on the schedule. Took Mike to work, took Lino to school and I got invited to a coffee morning at one of the moms house. I thought we were going to do coffee at my place but she wanted to do it at hers so oh well. The funny part is that fresh baked is very important, it seems like having cake or scones from the day before is a no no so the mom was telling us that she would go to SuperValue on Friday to get scones because she wasn't going to get up early on Friday to cook. I told her I would bring something because I had planned to make a cake or something anyway and she was like "no, I'm not going to ask you to get up at 7am and bake that's silly!" I was thinking to myself, I was going to bake the cake the night before because I thought it would still be pretty fresh but maybe it's not fresh enough :-/ Maybe I can fake it???? Or maybe I shouldn't my first time???? So many decisions, anyway I was glad I was going to have a chance to sit and talk to the moms because they live close to us so it would be nice to have friends close by. After that I came home to clean. The day was pretty normal until the afternoon when Lino decided to eat 4 eggs and he/we dropped the 5th on the floor. I had planned to make a couple things that need egg wash but now I was out of eggs. I guess I didn't think that thru when Lino was asking to eat up all the eggs. I was just focused on feeding him that I didn't think ahead. So now I can either pack up the boys and run to the store, that will end up being a 30min trip because I can't run in and out of the grocery store with then very quickly...at least it's not a guarantee that I can (I think I used all my luck yesterday at Tesco). I could leave out the eggs and see how it turns out without it, I was making chicken cutlets in the oven so I knew it didn't have to have the egg wash but it probably needed it to make it crispy. Then my last option was to ask for eggs from one of my newly introduced neighbors or even my landlord who lives fairly close. So I texted Mike and told him to bring eggs, not really a viable option but I wanted him to know my delima. And he said he would but I texted him back and said I was just joking because the eggs wouldn't make it thru the jog and that would be a pain for him to carry them for 1/2 of his jog. So I decided to ask the neighbors. I gave them a ring and they were more than happy to let me have some eggs...so nice. So we walked over and ended up staying for a chat. I guess it's kind of not personable to just come over to get eggs then leave. So we stated and Lino roamed the house like it was his, he so nosey. But they seemed to enjoy the visit so it was nice. It's funny because they wanted to talk about the weather and I just think that's funny. We had a little thunder storm last night and the winds kicked up a little but to me it was nothing compared to the thunder storms I Texas so I didn't think I much of it but they were like "did you hear the storm last night, it was bad!" Hahaha, I had to laugh but I guess the weather is usually pretty mild, that means no major storms, hurricanes or anything like that so a little thunder and power flickering is a big deal. So after our 10min chat I got sent home with 4 eggs, even tho I only asked for 2 and a bottle of home made jelly. They are too nice, I'll have to make a jacket for them on Friday to thank them. Now the question is, do I also return them the eggs???? I don't know what the etiquette is...what is the protocol???? Help!!!!!!! Oh well, I'll play it by ear I guess.

Thursday was a lot of the same...work, school, dropped off some cake at Martha's and returned the sling she let me try out. I talked to Conor for a while then went home, Shaun scooting under the table (backwards, that crazy kid), coffee morning, home and lunch. I talked to my mom for a while too and I just can't believe that it's been 3 days of her not working because of this stupid budget stuff. If this continus on for too long she is not going to be in a good place with her situation. She put 4 kids thru college and just doesn't have a ton of money sitting around. This is just crazy. I absolutely hate politics so I don't know a lot about what's going on, I know I should but I don't, but I do know a lot of people are going to be hurting after this mess. I was talking to one of the moms at the group today and it's crazy how people in Ireland perceive the situation in the states and what they think of Obamacare. It's amazing what the news tells you and what it leaves out. The one mom thought that Obamacare was a great thug for us and that people would really benefit from it but once I told her my quick and simple point of view she was shocked to hear about all the extra layers Obamacare would cause. I hate politics so we didn't talk long about it but like I said I can't believe it's been 3 days and no sign of progress yet...God I hope the budget gets set soon. So then on with the rest of my day. I was feeling a little sick like I was coming down with a cold or flu even because I was super achy and totally not motivated to do anything. Lino pooped his pants again and I just give up. He went 3 hrs at school with a dry diaper but at soon as he gets home he acts like it's an act against God to go pee in the potty...I don't get it. Anyway it wasn't a good afternoon and I was too tired to deal with the poop so I let Mike handle it when he it home. I'm glad this day is over...with all the rain, my aches and pains and my poopy son it's about time for today to be over.

Shaun Shaun scooted his way all the way under the table this morning. He was the way on the other side and somehow got under there. I asked him what he was doing under there and he just smiled at me so I had to take his picture. It's funny because when the flash went off he gave me this "uh oh" look...like he was doing something that he wasn't suppose to be doing...too cute.

He was really under there

Friday Friday!!!! Forecast says today is suppose to be partially sunny and it's rainy right now...what's up with that??? Well we left the house and it wasn't raining but 2 min later it started raining...to figure. And today of all days Lino doesn't have his boots on or rain jacket. I just can't get it right. I put him in rain gear when it's rainy then it clears up and no rain, then the day I put him in fall gear and there is no rain, it rains all morning...poor kid. So after I dropped Lino off I headed to Blackpool to meet up with Nicola and some of her mommy friends. My play school coffee morning got canceled last night because one of the mommies was sick so didn't want to share the bug so I was able to make it to this one. It was crazy because I was just starting to measure out the dry ingredients for the cake when I got the text about the cancelation. I was going to go ahead and make the cake anyway but I was feeling so exhausted I just put the dries in a container for another day. Anyway I headed to Supervalu first to get a few things and to stall then went to find Planet. Once I got there I was completely lost because I thought it was a coffee place with a place area but it was an entertainment center / health club...and huge!!! Finally I found a good entrance and went in to get directions to where I might meet some moms at and the lady looked at me like I had 3 eye and was like the play area doesn't open until 12. Seriously???!!! I asked if there was another place near by called Planet and she was like...uh no! Hahaha. So I called Nicole but she didn't answer, I figured she was driving so I sent her a text. A few min later she called me back and we met at the side of the place to discuss. This was her first time being there too so she wasn't exactly sure what time they opened either. A few min later one of the moms we were meeting showed up, Erika, and she was equally shocked with the 12pm opening time. I was getting a little worried that maybe I misunderstood the lady at the desk so I went back in to check with her and she corrected me and said the entertainment center doesn't open until half 12!!!! Yikes, even worse than my original time. Once I got back outside to give the update the 4th mom was there and she was also in shock. So we discussed what to do and I talked to Erika some because she is also American and has been living in Cork for the past 6yrs. I had to ask her ad Nicola about the laundry because I'm absolutely, completely, utterly annoyed with the laundry situation. Today I put a blanket on Shaun that I just washed and it smelled super sour on one side. It made me soa made this morning. So I was telling them my woows and asking if I was doing something wrong and basically it's just part of living in Ireland. I guess I don't have the right touch on the air drying system because people live without dryers and don't always smell like sour moldy clothes but for some reason I always have 1 or 2 pieces of clothes per load that end up smelling horribly by the time I try to put them away. It's such a nightmare, I just hate it!!!!! So we a hatted about that for a while, after they laughed at me first because that's one of the most common complaints from new Americans living here they said. Their suggestion was to just use the dryer and not fight too much with the drying system if I don't have to. Which is what I was waning towards anyway. They confirmed my thoughts about it being almost impossible to dry clothes in the winter because it's so damp. It can be done but you have to use all your alternative heating sources (furnace, fire place, hot box) and 3-4 days to do it. Nicola said she went a few years without a dryer but eventually couldn't take the sour smell so had to get a dryer. She was like if you have a dryer use it!!! At least use it to dry the clothes 1/2 way then finish them with the air drying. It might save me 2 days but cost me a few euros...I think that's money well spent myself. So we got a good laugh out of that and decided to go to another place in the shopping center. We found out that the entertainment center was going to open in like 30min for a party but we decided to go to another place anyway. Erika doesn't have a car and it was just her and her son so they road with me. I was a little embarrassed because my car was a complete mess and Lino's seat was completely filthy but we only needed to use it for a few min so he wasn't going to die from siting in it. The funny part is that I told Mike the other day that I needed to clean that thing out badly and he was like why don't you. I told him I didn't want to be bothered with the drying of that beast....hahahaha...guess I will be washing it this weekend! So we drove to the shopping center and the place was closed!!!!! And of course there was no sign saying what time they open...this is just crazy. Then we decided to drive back to Planet...who would have known we should have just stayed. By that time I only had a little time left before it was time to get Lino but it was nice to get a peek inside to see the place. It was pretty clean on the inside and had a nice set up. All the play stuff for the kids is around the parameter of the building and the seating area is in the middle. So no matter where your kid is you can pretty much see them from your table which is nice. Anyway, it was a quick visit but nice and I got a chance to meet and talk to another American which was cool. She's been living here for 5 or 6yrs and they don't have a car at all. I couldn't believe it. But she said that she likes it so that means there is hope for me...hahaha.

I left there and went to get Lino and we headed home for lunch. Lino baked some mini cinnamon rolls today and he was excited to eat them. We went home and I told him we would go to the park when he was done but then it started raining. So we decided not to go but then it stopped raining so I told him we should hurry and go before it started raining again. By this point Lino was into his trains so he wasn't ready to go so we played then it started raining so I figured it wasn't an issue that he was playing but then he wanted to go. Geeze Louis...so we got ready to go and by the time we got out of the driveway it had stopped raining. I put the rain coats in the car just in case. So we played at the park for a while until Mike got off of work, Shaun slept in the car most of the time which was nice...he needed a nap. Lino got board with the park after about a hour so we ended up walking around and doing a little exploring...we had a good time. After about 2hrs of being at the park Mike showed up and took Lino exploring a little more...but only after Lino made Mike doing a little exercising. He had Mike doing some sprints and laps around the river, it was great. Even tho it was kind of cloudy and misty it was a nice afternoon at the park.

With my boys at the park. Shaun was having a good time even tho it doesn't exactly look like it.

Lino found a little crab on his adventure...a dead one but he threw it back into the river to eat just in case ;-)

Since it was such a nice afternoon, meaning no rain, and the sun was kind of our we decided to go to the Rising Tide for a pint and some fries for Lino. Mike jogged home and we stayed at the park for a little because Lino wasn't ready to go. There was a mom from Lino's play school there and she recognized me but I didn't recognize her, I kind of felt bad. But we talked for a while and shared stories about the ups and downs of motherhood. Then we both left. We made it home a little after Mike and just relaxed the rest of the evening. Mike put Lino in the bed and I got ready to watch Scandal season premier...I was super excited. I was so excited that I had the sling box all ready to go, a glass if wine and a slice of cake for both if us ready to go by the time Mike got done. The only issue was that Shuan wasn't in the mood to sleep so he was bouncing all over the place but at least he wasn't crying. There was a recap show that covered the last 3 seasons so we watched that first. Mike hasn't seen any if the seasons so it was a good recap. Then we watched the season premier and it was pretty good!!!! I love that show. Then bed!

What a night we had...Lino was a mess. He was either over tired, hungry, not sleepy or just hates his parents...what ever it was it was bad. He was up at 2, 2:30, 3:10, 3:45 and finally was out of it around 4:20. Then his brother decided to get up too and act like he wasn't sleepy but I shut that down really quickly. I don't know what was wrong with Lino but he was determined not to sleep or at least not sleep in his bed...it was bad. I was planning to make some baked goods for the breastfeeding challenge but not after that night. I could only hope Lino would sleep in and he did...Shaun tried to get up at 6:30 but I was so not ready so I somehow managed to wrestle him back to sleep and finally the 3 of us got up around 8:30. I tried to let Mike sleep in some but Lino was having a tantrum and woke him up too...sorry. So we I got ready and got the boys ready to go. I was going to meet up with a couple of moms and follow them to the challenge. When it was time to go Lino was like "I don't want to go, I want to stay with daddy!" I almost broke my ankle trying to sprint for the door I was so shocked...so I left them and me and Shaun headed out. We got to Nicole's house and Shaun was sleep so we waited outside until everyone was ready to go. Martha was thinking about going to but changed her mind plus the hubby had the car so I told her we might swing by after it was over. We made a quick coffee stop, I totally needed it, and headed to the place. Michelle had made some baked goods so she dropped those off and we hung out for a while. So basically this breastfeeding challenge is a challenge across the world to see how many breastfeeding mommy's can have their baby "latch on" at the same time. It's to raise awareness to breastfeeding plus it's a place to get support and resources if needed. At this event there were some drawings for slings and homeopathic treatments and stuff then lots of information about breastfeeding. I tried on a couple of slings because I'm about ready to get something else for Shaun, he's getting too big and busy for the Moby. The lady at the sling area was helping someone and the other lady helping her wasn't very helpful so Micold helped me figure out one of the buckle ones. I think I like it actually so I might look into buying one. I really like the one I used at Martha's house a few weeks ago too so not sure which will be better...too many decisions. So after that we left and decided to go have lunch at The Elm Tree. I called Mike and he said he would walk there and meet us which was cool. The weather was actually really nice so I was a little sad that I missed our traditional Sat family walk :-( So on the way to the restaurant I stopped at the street that Mike should be walking down to see if he wanted a ride. But I sat there for a while and no Mike or Lino. So I drove up the hill to see if they had got stopped or delayed because when I called him Lino was fussing in the background so I didn't know if he was having a hard time getting him to go. But once I got 2/3 of the way up the hill and didn't see them I knew something was up. So I went back down the hill and to the main street and to my surprise they were right in front of me. How the heck did that happen??? I guess he could have went down the other hill but that would have been out of the way...anyway I drove by and honked at them...Lino got a kick out of that. So we all had lunch at the Elm Tree. It was our first time having the carvery but it was pretty good and a good price too. Lino of course didn't want anything to eat except fries and he didn't even eat that. And when we got there Mike and Lino surprised me with a gift, a Jamie Allen cook book that they got in the city. The city???? So he tells me that they decided to go for a walk to the train station and went to the city for the morning and Lino wanted to get mommy something nice so they got me a cook book that I was to cheap to buy for myself...I didn't like the commitment of €40 for a cook book. And since they were in the city Mike got him a coffee at his favorite place and a brownie of course...he deserved it for taking Lino with him so I'm glad he got him a treat. So that explains why I didn't see them come down the hill because they came from the train station. Anyway it was nice and I really appreciated the book.

Here is a picture of Lino and Mike on the train...they look like they had a good time.

So after our late lunch we all parted ways and we went to Tesco for some shopping, so we didn't have to do it on Sun and to get Mike and Lino's hair cut....long over due. So for some reason I thought there was a barber on the opposite side of the Tesco so we walked around like crazy people looking for it and found nothing so they got their hair cut at the Boston Barber shop. There was a bit of a que so Lino ran up end down the travelater a million times until it was their turn. I looked thru my new cook book to see if there was anything we wanted to make for the week. But I was a little overwhelmed so at the end all we saw was a dessert that we really wanted to try, sticky toffee pudding!!!! Hahaha. So we did out shopping which seemed like it took forever and we decided we wanted beef Wellington so we searched high and low for tenderloin and came up with zip!!!! The "buther" at Tesco didn't even know what a tenderloin was, that goes to show you the Tesco people behind the meat counter are not real butchers. So we decided to go to the Glanmire butcher because that was close to the house and it was getting late so if we were ging to have tenderloin for the weekend Saturday would be the best day for the butcher...who knows what the open and close times are for Sunday so we didn't want to risk it. On the way there I called Martha to see if she wanted visitors but no answer, she must have been busy. So Mike ran in to get the tenderloin, that the real butcher had, and I stayed in the car with the sleeping duo. We got home and were both pooped so we just hung out for a while. I was too tired to put the boys on the bath so after Lino ate, he got sausages and French fries from Tesco I put him in bed. Mike was out on the couch around 7 because he was popped from our night of no sleep plus he's a man and can't handle this mothering thing. So it was all me...Mike tried to help but...well...it wasn't very helpful. So once I got Lino in bed Mike went to bed too...whimp. He was pacing in the room when I was Shaun wasn't ready yet and for some reason I wasn't ready to sleep yet either so we stayed up and watched Safe House. But right after I turned it on Mike was texting me from upstairs asking me to come help him...I wasn't sure where this was going but I didn't like the spud of it. I was already a little annoyed that he checked out so early and now he's texting me from upstairs, is he out of his mind????? So I get upstairs and he's shivering and asking for clothes because he was cold...so I guess he's sick...great. So I get him clothes then later, after Shaun went to sleep I got him water and a thermometer to see if he's really sick but no fever. I kind of felt bad that I was annoyed but not bad about feeling like he was a whimp, he doesn't do good with being sick and he always is a little dramatic soooooooo...anyway. So finally I head to bed too...I need some rest myself!

Well Sunday wasn't much better of a night. Between Mike shivering from being cold and me pooping my brains out we had a heack of a night...I think we got a little food poisoning :-( So we were both feeling like dump trucks ran over us and neither one of us felt like being a parent so we let the iPad do the entertaining for a few hours. We tried to sleep but Shaun wanted the iPad and Lino kept yelling at him to leave it alone. At least Lino was self sufficient enough to get himself a little snack from his snack drawer while his parents were glued to the bed. Then finally Mike got up and took the boys while I got a few more winks...2hrs to be exact! It was some of the best sleep that I've had in a long time. So after I got up it was really a boaring day. We watched TV, sat on the couch and try to get rehydrated. We didn't even really have dinner, Mike had a grill cheese and Lino ate like 3 bowls of oatmeal. Oh yeah, we found out why he hasn't been eating his oatmeal or oatmilk as Lino likes to call it... We have been giving him the Irish porridge and he may eat 1/2 his bowl but Friday I have him some of our stock of Quaker Oatmeal variety pack, from Costco of course, and every since he has been gobbling it down. I guess he just doesn't like the flavor of the Irish stuff and I can't blame him I really don't like it either. Hopefully we can find a flavor he does like because I don't think we will be able to keep a full supply for him with only a couple trips back home a year...but we will see. So baths for the boys, finally, then bed for Lino and Shaun went right to sleep but didn't want to be put in his crib so Mike ended up holding him until he went to bed too. What a week...sure glad it's over. Hope next week is a little better.