Park Play

Sunday we headed to one of my favorite local parks for some family fun. As it turns out there was a big festival going on so it was a bit crowded, but we had a good time anyway! It is fun to see how much Caitlin has grown up even in just the month or two since we were there last.



This has to be my new favorite picture! Look at that face!



The Irishman decided I could ride the carousel with her...

he took care of the non-spinning frogs!

Caitlin has grown up SO much in the last month! I love trying new things with her!

Added bonus:
This is a quick slideshow/video of the photos Morgan took of our carousel ride.



Happy Monday!

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Hosted by Krystyn at Really, Are You Serious?

Mommy & Caitlin Date

Well the transition to the toddler room has been rough. I got stuck at work on Thursday and was the second to last one for pick up. It is the same time I picked her up from the infant room from time to time and she never minded...but when I got there on Thursday she had dried snot on her chin. She'd been bawling...heart breaking!

I am confident that she is fine most of the day. They keep telling us how she is a great eater and she loves to play outside. Twice I've come to pick her up and saw her before she saw me. Both times she was happily playing away with some toy, perfectly content until she saw me....and began to cry and run to the door with her hands out. The infant teacher has checked on her during the day and she said she is doing well. We just have to get past the drop off and pick up.

I felt so guilty after Thursday's snot-on-the-chin incident that I decided Friday I was making a date with my little girl. I told everyone at work that they were to kick me out of the building at 3:30 no matter what. I got to the toddler room by 3:45 and found her playing away...until she saw me and started crying. Sigh.

We headed to a local indoor playground. I'd heard wonderful things about the place and had wanted to take her there for a good while now. We had a lovely time! She ran around exploring it all...the piano, the toy kitchen and food, the dress up clothes, the slides, the bounce house, the chairs, the cars, and the books. I didn't bring a camera so the tricky part was trying to get her to hold still for pictures from my phone!





She pulled a dress up dress off the hanger herself and carried it around the place so I helped her put it on. My little princess then headed to the kitchen. How is it that they know the girlie things to do without any guidance?

We were both worn out after all the fun, but I am already looking at my calendar for another Mommy & Caitlin date! I think we both needed it!

Spaghetti Night

Caitlin has a new favorite food. While she LOVES her potatoes, Cheerios, and weetabix, those things cannot compare to SPAGHETTI!!!

Before:



During/After:

YUMMY!

Dinner lasted almost an hour,



but no one seemed to mind!


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Hosted by Cecily and Lolli



Cousins' Birthday Party

When we were in Ireland one of Morgan's sisters decided to through a birthday party for all the cousins. (We are usually on the wrong side of the pond for these celebrations!) I was at home with the flu, but they were nice enough to take my camera so I could see what I missed out on!

Each cousin got a turn with the birthday cake. If you look, Caitlin is holding up one finger. I'd like to say we taught her that, but her teachers in school are responsible for that one. There is nothing cuter though when you ask how old she is! The older cousins are the real pros. They were showing Caitlin how to blow out the candles!



Michael and Violet



Playing with the big cousins' toys

Granda with Violet

Daddy and Caitlin

It was a lovely party for four lovely little girls!

Caitlin and the Castle

When I left Ireland on our scheduled departure date early, I asked the Irishman to try to take pictures of Caitlin in front of the castle. We'd been taking turns fighting the flu and hadn't gotten to it before I left.



Actually, I asked my husband to see if his sister Rosemary would take pictures of Caitlin in front of the castle. Thankfully both of them agreed to humor me.

(Thanks again, Rose!)

I have plans to turn one of these into a new blog header. It is on my never ending to do list.

Until then I figured these were too good not to share.

(It was also a slow picture week around here...note to self - must pull out the camera tonight!)

On our next trip we will take a family picture in front of the castle. Being as we do not have a trip scheduled yet, we will most likely be a family of four by then. Crazy!

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Cousins Who Lunch

I'm having one of those days where I am dreaming of vacation. Instead I get a field trip at school. It isn't quite the same! I figure the next best thing to going some place would be remembering our last trip and sharing some of the pictures I haven't posted yet. We'll call this one, "Cousins Who Lunch."

We start with Violet and Caitlin all bundled up.



Once inside the girls had some time to play while we waited for the food.

And the adults had time to chat...the boys about phones and sports, the girls about babies and family. (Evelyn and I were there, too. Somehow we didn't make any of the pictures!)



We'd stopped to see Santa before lunch. Where were these smiles then?

It was a lovely day with lovely people! We all loved watching the cousins play and can't wait to see the next two little cousins together!

Toddlering is Hard Work

Caitlin did great today in the toddler room. She ate two plates of food at lunch and then took a good nap. She is in great form now. All in all it was a good day!

Tights

These are not the best photos, but the tights?



I'm loving the Irish tights Caitlin came home with...

They're the best!

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We're still getting things in order from before we left for Ireland. I spent last night getting paperwork together for the insurance company. After not returning my call for over a week, the agent called while we were in Mass on a Sunday. You can't return their calls on a Sunday. I usually love our insurance company but this time they have been awful. The only times I've gotten sick this pregnancy has been after dealing with the agents. I hope to get it resolved for good this weekend...without puking.

We are trying to get caught up around the house. The Christmas decorations are down, but there are still a few boxes waiting to be tucked away. We still have our Christmas lights up. We only finally unplugged them from the timer last night. Yep...we were THOSE people.

Our bathroom sink is leaking. It looks like the fixture needs replacing and it is old enough we might as well do the whole vanity thing. Not cheap, not fun, not happening anytime too soon. Looks like we need a band aid fix until we can deal with it. Until then all the contents that were under the sink are in a basket in front of the toilet. I'm getting claustrophobic.

Caitlin is moving up to the toddler room today. I am praying the transition goes smoothly. A couple of her infant classmates are going up at the same time, so at least I know she won't be the smallest one in the room. (At this age I'm not sure you can really say they will have a friend in the class!) Her infant teachers told me that Caitlin likes to eat and play outside so she will do just fine. I guess she has the prerequisite skills...

 I'd have gone into work late to see her new classroom this morning, but I have a doctor's appointment so I'm already leaving for a few hours in the morning. On the plus it means another ultrasound, so we will focus on that.

Not the most upbeat of posts. Sorry about that. Between some VERY nasty parent e-mails at work, insurance companies, and house/car repair/maintenance I'm just trying to catch up. Hope to have pictures to share tomorrow...

Pretty in Purple

Nana gave Caitlin this beautiful outfit for Christmas.



We stopped at GGB's house after Mass on Sunday and I snapped a few photos.

I'm loving this smile!

PJ Sillies

I have some awesome Irish pictures in the works, but they take longer than these do right now and I have a million things I should be doing. These pictures are from Saturday morning.

You can tell from the shot of the Irishman in the background of the last photo that it had been a long night.  Knock on wood, we haven't had a night like that since. I am so happy to have my morning time back! It is 6:30 am and I have already done a load of laundry, send emails to the insurance company and car service center about phone calls not returned, and blogged. I missed that time last week!

The Part I Left Out

I haven't been completely honest. Well, that may be a bit harsh. There is just a little something I left out...

Remember this post:

We surprised Morgan's parents with a new laptop that we snagged during Black Friday sales. We are not good at surprises, so we were thrilled that we managed to pull it all off!



Well, there was a certain picture on the desktop with the REAL surprise.
(The same picture was at the end of the DVD of photos we sent to my family.)

And from the same post:

I sent the Irishman to the 'chemist' yesterday to pick up some cough medicine for me. I gave him very specific directions about which one to get. For reasons I won't go into, they would not sell him any cough medicine unless I'd been seen by a doctor. Great.The reason the "chemist" would give me any medicine is related to the picture on the desktop...


Then there was this post:

Unfortunately I do not have time to take off work waiting for the Irishman to recover from the flu. I am not quite 100% myself, but I have been on my medicine a little longer than the others and am on the mend. I had to make a really tough decision this morning. I am second guessing myself every chance I get. I am heading back across the pond tomorrow without the Irishman or Caitlin.You see I needed to save my sick time for August. I also had a big appointment scheduled for the week they were gone. As it turned out I ended up at the doctor earlier in the week than planned because of my cough. Given everything that had happened that week she took pity on me and my irrational fears that something was wrong and ordered a peace-of-mind ultrasound.

We sent my mom a photo message like this:

It's bad enough they put me in this costume, and now they say the kids around here are multiplying like rabbits. Not sure what that means, but at least I got some white chocolate buttons out of it!

Monday

I had another doctor's appointment. Afterwards we stopped at the Babies R Us clearance sale

 and picked up a few things for the fall.

So yes, there is a part I left out...

Our little family of three is becoming a family of four.
Our new arrival is due in early August and we are thrilled!

Silly Socks

May your weekend be full of warm PJs and silly socks!

(Click here to visit more Sunday Citar fun)

Irish Market

The Irishman spent some time with the computer this evening and it seems to be running now. Let's hope this continues! We are using the long weekend to work on Caitlin's sleep training...translation: Daddy is not going in and letting her sleep in his arms. The first night she woke twice, but she stayed in bed until 7am. She'd thrown out every blanket and stuffed animal I'd put in there, but I expected that. They say the third night is the hardest so we have that to look forward to!

These pictures are from our first week in Ireland. Caitlin was sick with the flu so she and I stayed home while Morgan and his parents went into town to do some shopping.



This is the Old English Market. They have some fantastic stalls with meats and cheeses and such.

And Morgan took a picture of the city street. Just because.



Because Caitlin looked so sad and pitiful in the first photo I'll leave you with this one from the week they were there without me.



She has become such a good eater...you can tell she enjoys her food!