What's in a Name?

Morgan and I began debating baby names almost as soon as we found out we were expecting. When it came to girls names we had a short list of three almost immediately. For the boys, there were days of discussion. (And there may have been a campaign or two launched by a certain Irishman to promote a name or two that I wasn't fond of...)

We really wanted to find a name with some Irish connection. (Bring on the Irish baby names book!) I had a few family names I was interested in keeping in there somewhere.

After we found out that our little shamrock was a girl, we stopped for gelato to celebrate. As we talked about it, we decided on the name then and there. At first we said we wouldn't tell anyone. Text messages went out to family and close friends about 3 minutes later.

Did I mention we are not very good at keeping secrets?

For some reason though we had not mentioned the name officially online. Until now...

We are going to name our little girl:

Caitlin Josephine

My mother-in-law's name is Kathleen, so Caitlin was close enough to that to make the Irishman happy. Josephine is after my Grandma Jo, who died about a year and a half ago. We looked at initials and nicknames and decided we were happy with it.

(Side note: If you find some awful nickname please keep it to yourself! We don't want to know at this point!!! )

I came home one day this summer and the Irishman had made this our desktop background:

I'd say he is a bit excited! (If you can't tell, those are customized Liverpool jerseys...we told him we'd get him one with the number one on it that says Dad!)

So there you have it. In other news, I am at 30 weeks today and feeling rather large. The teacher next door to me got in trouble this week for picking up her class late from lunch. I was late as well, but the cafeteria monitor took one look at me waddling down the hall as fast as I could and she just shook her head and laughed. I made it through the week but was in my PJs by 6:20 on Friday night. At least we have a long weekend coming up!

Retirement in Green

The Irishman and I have signed up for a Breastfeeding Class tonight. (Yep, you can bet he is excited about this one...oh the jokes that have been made...and not by the Irishman!) It is from 7:30-9:30. I have been ASLEEP by 9:30 most nights this week. I've heard great things about the teacher though and I have been assured that you remain fully clothed throughout the class so it can't be that bad.

I thought about writing up the post about the baby's name...but I don't have time for that tonight. So here are some pictures from Sue's retirement party a couple of weeks ago. You might have noticed a slight theme...

You were not allowed to the party unless you had on green. I was relieved when someone gave me a green dress. (But not a real green dress - that's cruel...couldn't resist the song reference) Plunkett was flown in from across the pond to play Irish music for her. The Irishman and I both had parts in a skit mocking some of Sue's more interesting practices as a boss. It was a great party...and after party. Good times!

Updated Nursery Pictures

I had plans to post pictures from last weekend tonight, but time got the best of me and these were quicker to get together...there are not as many of them!

Tomorrow is my first day with the class of 2019. I met most of them on Friday at "Meet the Teacher" and it seemed to be a good group. Tonight I made our lunches and ironed a week's worth of clothes. I have set the timer on the bread maker and there is homemade yogurt in the fridge. I have morning duty for the first week of school and am determined to start the year by getting to school on time for once.

So...I leave you tonight with updated nursery pictures.

There is still a lot of work to be done, but the visiting Irishmen have left the country, so the transformation from guest room to nursery continued this weekend. (I could write a whole post about how bachelors are different from other house guests, but I'll save that for another time...)

The resident Irishman yet again resumed his swearing came out of DIY retirement and put the changing table back together. We have already rearranged the furniture since I took the pictures this morning. The round thing in the picture is a laundry basket given to us by one of Morgan's co-workers. It has a giraffe and elephant on it, but I think with a little decoupage, I should be able to make it work!

We still need the mattress, bedding, and wall hangings, but they are all in progress. It is coming together!

P.S. I plan to officially announce the baby's name later this week. Many of you know already because the Irishman and I cannot keep a secret, but we haven't said it online yet. = )

Getting There

Going back to school I have had the same questions over and over again...I am just about ready to wear a sign with the phrases I have been repeating over and over again.

I'm due Nov. 7th.

It's a girl.

Yes, we are excited.

The nursery is getting there.

I can't complain. I'm feeling okay.

(I know people are being nice...but I am back to getting up at 5:45 for work and am tired and cranky!) My least favorite question is the "How are you feeling?" How do you answer that? My feet are swollen, a pinched nerve in my left foot causes it to flop when I walk, and I am so tired I could take a nap here and now. I can't complain. I'm doing okay.

The best was the coworker who saw me for the first time today and just found out I am pregnant. Even better yet? I parked right next to her car yesterday walking into the building.

My classroom is slowly coming together. I have a student teacher assigned to work with me this semester, so I have really enjoyed having an extra pair of hands to help. The school day is proving to be LONG...and that is without kids yet. Not to mention the fact that we've gone from eight planning periods a week to six. Still not sure how they snuck that one in on us!

I have some pictures to post from Sue's retirement party this weekend. I'll get to it at some point. Morgan's brother heads back across the pond tomorrow so he is treating us to dinner tonight. There was debate over where to go, so I picked up cheesecake for desert on my way home from work so it looks like we will be having Italian.

I am missing morning water aerobics. It was stormy on Monday night so that class was canceled too. Thankfully the weather seems to be okay so I am off to the Y for class. We'll see how that goes after a day at work...

Summer Lovin'

Happened so fast! As I sit here at the end of my summer vacation...I wonder where it has all gone to! I have really enjoyed the last couple of weeks. Here are the highlights:

The camp director at the summer camp where I met the Irishman is retiring this year after 19 years. We are considered "old timers" and we went back for the last night of camp to join in the tribute to Sue. Being Sue though, the festivities are just beginning! (For those of you who may have been at our wedding, Sue was the one who "sang" so memorably. )

Our friend Plunkett has flown in from Ireland and is staying with us for the week. We have our kelly green outfits ready to wear for this weekend! (Sue loves all things Irish and the invites to her retirement party request everyone to wear green...)

Morgan's brother, Robert is also in town. I have used the fact that there are three Irishmen at the house to my advantage. Last night we went to GB's house to pick up the painted nursery furniture. (I'd have pictures but one of the Irishmen is still asleep in that room...)

I've also had people to cook for! I have been in a baking mood, and they have been all too willing to eat my carrot cake cupcakes and chocolate chip cookies!

Other Good News:

• As I was typing this I had a slight panic. When I took my glucose test on Monday the doctor said no news was good news, and if there was a problem they would call me at the end of the week. My phone just rang and it was the doctor's office...telling me my results were normal. Thank goodness!
• My mom is coming to visit! She had already booked a flight for November after the baby is born, but called this week to say she is also coming in September! I am SUPER excited about this!
• The baby got the hiccups this morning. I guess that isn't quite as exciting as my mom coming, but it is still something! (She is kicking now to confirm that...)
• I originally had plans for the last couple of days, but computer problems at the testing center canceled my ESOL test and my meeting for today got canceled. So I have been enjoying water aerobics and being lazy. (A bit like the picture of Rafa here...Moses doesn't like to pose for pictures...but Rafa follows me around the house like a dog...)

I am meeting my husband for lunch today...because I can. All in all it has been a great summer! (And it will seem even better next week when I am reporting to school at 7:30am!)

P.S. Please ignore both the spacing on the bottom portion of this post. It is driving me crazy, but I am giving up on it!

P.P.S. While we are at it, please ignore the fact that my stairs need to be vacuumed. I broke the vacuum last week and am waiting for my big birthday in September when I certain Irishman has promised me the gift I really want...which sadly will help me vacuum my stairs!

More Home Improvements

While the focus of our home improvement efforts was upstairs in the nursery, that required some changes downstairs as well. The guest room (now nursery) also was where the computer lived. With limited space, we took the advice of our neighbors and transformed the wet bar in the living room to a little computer alcove.

My father-in-law took out the cabinet and the sink when he came to visit last spring. It was a wonderful start and as much as he could do before returning across the pond. We've had unfinished walls and pipes sticking out since then waiting for help. My dad and Sandra decided to cut into the walls in the under-the-stairs closet and install a spring hatch to get rid of the pipes before finishing the wall. (They saw it on This Old House...all the talk of "the hatch" made me think of Lost, but hey, it worked!) Lots of sanding, two coats of paint, and some tiling work later, our new desk is in place and working well! Even Rafa approves!

In the middle of all the chaos, I happened to wander onto Craig's List. Our old dining set had come from the Irishman's Lad Pad. He paid $50 for the table and chairs. They were perfect at the time, but had seen better days. The cats loved the blue scratching posts chairs. Rafa slept in the upside down chair until it was picked up by a Freecycler. They were both sad to see it go!

My biggest concern was how to fit a high chair in the space. (And with padded chairs the space savers were not an option.) Thankfully I found someone wanting to get rid of a dining room table. The Irishman and I went to look at it and fell in love at once. It is smaller than what we had before, but comes with a leaf to make it bigger so we feel it is the best of both worlds. It is a solid table and the price was right. We are extremely happy with it!

Nursery Conversion

It is a quiet Sunday morning. The Irishman and his brother are both fast asleep. It looks like we will be going to late Mass today. I have finally gotten around to uploading pictures from last week's home improvement adventures. We are still putting things back together and have a ways to go before the nursery is baby-ready, but we are getting there!

I had to break the update into two parts. (Too many pictures for one post.) This one focuses on the upstairs guest room to nursery conversion. In order to get to this point there was the wet bar to computer desk conversion, but that is another story...

I was sent to get paint as my dad started to remove fixtures and outlet covers. As he did so the paint started peeling off the walls. Our townhouse is a year older than I am. It was a LOT of paint. If you look close in the pictures it looks like wallpaper peeling off the walls but it is all just layers and layers of paint. (I mentioned the unique colors we found in a previous post.) This discovery set back the painting process by about a day and a half. And oh, the DUST!!!

Did I mention the patching and sanding? Or the DUST??? What should have been a nice easy painting job turned into a fiasco. But at last our white textured walls are now an untextured semi-gloss green..."quaking grass" to be exact. (The daybed has blue sheets on it because we have a couple of Irish guys coming to visit this week. I am still looking for a new daybed cover for the nursery to match my crib fabric!)

The furniture is still at my grandparents' house. We are counting on our strong Irish guests helping us bring it back home. We painted the changing table we got off Craig's List and the dresser I had from when I was a kid. I am curious to see how the paint looks in the room. (The lighting in Grandpa's garage at night is not the best!) I've also picked drawer pulls...silver and white. I think it will be nice!

After we vacuumed and dusted the nursery, the Irishman decided to temporarily come out of DIY retirement and put together the crib. All it is missing is the mattress and the lovely bedding my mom is going to make for us. (Oh, and I guess the baby!)

It is all a work in progress, but we are getting there!

Disney: The Food

About a month ago a friend of mine commented on Facebook that she could tell I was pregnant because all of my status updates had to do with food. She may be on to something!

Before our trip to Disney I researched places to eat. My idea was that if we were going to spend good money to eat, we might as well eat in places that we liked! We made three reservations and were happy with two out of the three. The one we didn't like really irritated me, we we won't go into that...)

So, first up is Chefs De France in Epcot. We happened upon lunch here two years ago on a trip with the girls for my mom's birthday. The set lunch is fabulous. (Dinner not as much...in my opinion!) I have gone a couple of times since. It is only heavenly. My expectations this trip were high. I looked forward to it for days. The Onion Soup, the Croque Monsieur, the Creme Brulee...I can just about taste it now!

The best part? The place was even better than I remembered it! They had added to the set menu. (The Irishman loved his Quiche Lorraine.) As we were eating we saw a waiter come around with a cart. He seemed to capture everyone's attention. As he got closer we could see that he had none other than Ratatouille himself. They went from table to table humming and singing and interacting with the diners. It was most impressive!

Our favorite dinner was at 'Ohana at the Polynesian Resort. This one was new for both of us, but anyone who we talked to recommended it highly. Our biggest regret was that we didn't have the camera with us! (Cell phones to the rescue...) We had a view of the castle from our seats. It was impressive!

Now, those who know the Irishman know that he takes his meat seriously. Unlimited skewers of steak, turkey, pork, and shrimp? He was LOVING it! The woman doing the Hawaiian entertainment gave us leis to celebrate our anniversary. (I got two...one for me and one for the baby) The bread pudding was amazing! We saved the special anniversary cupcake for breakfast the next morning. (Because what is better than cake for breakfast?)

And on that note, I am going to fix myself lunch. I am happy to report that this morning I finally emptied my Google Reader Unread Items. (Impressive considering I started the day over 200!) I have started downloading pictures from last week's renovations. One of our neighbors came last night to help Morgan remove the desk left in the guest bathroom. It is slowly coming together. Next up: I have an organizing date with my craft boxes.

Disney: The Parks

Well, better late than never! I am taking a break from my to do list. The unpaid workers have returned to Montana. The nursery is now green, the furniture is in Grandpa's garage painted a darker shade of green, and I am sitting at the computer desk where there was once a wet bar. The Irishman set up the crib last night. It is only missing the mattress and the baby. There is a lot to do and will be many pictures to follow, but I wanted to share the pictures from our Disney trip first!

We went to Orlando to use up two-day Park Hopper Passes we had from a previous visit. Now, the Irishman and I have been known to take Park Hopping to the extreme. A few Christmases ago we did Animal Kingdom (once), Epcot (once), MGM (twice), and Magic Kingdom (twice) all in one day. This time, we did things a bit more leisurely!

We took advantage of the extra hour we got for staying on property and started at Magic Kingdom. We had a great time and even rode a few rides we hadn't done before. Thunder Mountain is the Irishman's favorite so he rode that one without me. We left just as the crowds and the heat arrived!

We went to Epcot a total of three times in two days! We had two dining reservations there and then made a special trip back our last night to ride SOARIN'. We walked around the countries and stayed for Illuminations one night. EPCOT has some of our favorites.

The Irishman has always liked the Muppets. (There is a story about when he was a child and he ripped Muppets wallpaper from a friend's bedroom wall...) He has decided that he would LOVE to get Muppet puppets for the baby. I have not seen them anywhere. That did not stop him from looking...everywhere! As a compromise, he bought a stuffed Fozzie Bear from Hollywood Studios for the baby. We also waited in line for the new Toy Story ride. I have always been a bit of a Toy Story fan, so it was worth it!

The one thing we did NOT get to do was the American Idol Experience. Now, the Irishman has been doing this thing all summer where he pretends to be Simon Cowell and he says, "SORRY!" In fact when his sisters were here he cut out a picture of Simon and would hold it up to his face to say, "Sorry!" Our lunch and dinner reservations didn't allow us to attend the American Idol Experience, but we did find this background to photograph. (One of us had a little more fun with this than the other...)

All in all it was a GREAT trip. We took a lot of breaks and ate a lot of good food. (More about that in another post...)