Chef in the Pink Dress

After Mass on Sunday (last week so it is pre-haircut!), Caitlin took some time out for a snack.

Bread anyone?

Then she headed into HER kitchen.

The kitchen in now in her little play are in the living room. I am really hoping that this will be the thing that leads to her playing a little more independently. Before she would play in her play area, but only if you were sitting in there with her. Now there is a new game.

First, she must find the right ingredient…

Okay, zucchini will do.

Then she brings it over to the couch where I must be waiting with the pig puppet. Mind you it is not ME she wants, just the pig. You see Mr. Pig must take the food Caitlin brings to him and eat it. She makes, “Yum, yum” sound effects to go along with this.

She is starting to get a lot out of her Melissa and Doug food sets. She is all about using the wooden knife to cut the bread and veggies. The pizza toppings are being fried up in the pan.

We love our little chef in the pink dress!

(BTW – Thank you to Nana for the lovely pink dress!)

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I trained the Irishman this afternoon on how to do a blog post. He took copious notes and is already planning his sign off...not sure what that means yet!

We've gone over everything from how to load the pictures onto the computer, to basic editing, to uploading with the watermark. Be sure to leave him some comment love once he becomes guest blogger-extraordinaire!

Caitlin and her Aunties (and Daddy, too!)

Caitlin’s First Haircut

Tuesday afternoon I broke down and took Caitlin for her first haircut. I found a local place that I had heard really great things about. My grandmother came along – both to take in the milestone and as a back up pair of hands in case things didn’t go so well.

Here is a “before” shot. I really didn’t want to get her hair cut, but the front was hanging down to her nose!

She was taken to the Panda station. She was VERY quiet but didn’t fuss at all as they put the cape on her.

Pink bear came along, but half way through she gave him a kiss and handed him to me to hold until she was finished.

Once her hair was cut, she was all over the place. She smiled and waved and said, “Hi” to everyone.

They even gave her a little certificate with a lock of her hair on it.

Great Grandma Betty was so proud of Caitlin that she went to the bakery next door and bought some goodies to celebrate. We went back to her house so Grandpa could join our little party.

Of course, no trip to GGB’s is complete without playing in the backyard!

We are really happy with how it all went and the finished “do.” She looks so cute!

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Hosted by Cecily and Lolli

Sunday Finest

These photos are a couple of weeks old by now, but we were all dressed up in our Sunday finest after Mass, so it is hard not to share!

This is Auntie June, Daddy, and Auntie Christina.

Caitlin had a great time with her aunties and misses them now that they have gone back to Ireland!

Irish-American Girl…with Spanish Flair

Nana and Granda went on vacation to Spain earlier this year. When Caitlin’s Irish Aunties were over, they brought with them this dress that Caitlin’s grandparents bought for her in Spain.

My own grandparents went to Spain several years back and bought me a lovely black shawl. I brought it out for the photos – Caitlin was thrilled!

She had so much fun running and spinning, and dancing around.

Seriously – look at the smiles!

Who’d have guessed that this Irish-American girl

could be a Spanish Lady!

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I learned after preparing this post that there is actually an Irish song called "Spanish Lady."  Here is a YouTube Clip of the song, just for the Irishman:



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Linking up:

Goodnight Cinderella

June and Christina gave Caitlin a Cinderella night dress when they were in town. Our little blond beauty has dabbled in Cinderella dress up once or twice or three times…but who’s counting?

She got this fleece throw from school and noticed pretty quick that the princess on her dress matched the princess on the blanket. She was happy to show us which one it was!

Time to brush our teeth!

Goodnight Princess!

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I've finally had more than I can take of this princess' beautiful blond locks. I am calling a local children's salon this morning and making an appointment to get it trimmed. I wish she would let us tie it back, but without that it hangs in her face. We are afraid she is going to start running into things!

In the Kitchen

Wednesday night the Irishman called me as I was driving home from water aerobics to let me know we’d gotten a delivery. Grandma Laura ordered a special toy for Caitlin.

Thursday (before I got sick thankfully!) I decided to try my hand at assembly.

Thankfully it was much easier than the Cozy Coupe!

By the time Caitlin and the others got home Thursday night, I was running a fever and feeling pretty rough, but I stayed on the couch so I could see her face when she walked in and saw it. The pictures aren’t the best, but you get the idea!

She LOVES her new kitchen and has been “cooking” for us all weekend!

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Health Updates: Caitlin and Daddy are pretty much back to normal. The stomach bug part of this mess seems to have (knock on wood) run its course. I have had terrible, horrible leg pains for the last couple days. It was bad enough this morning that I decided to stay home from Mass – all the kind elderly ushers were asking Morgan about me when they saw him alone with Caitlin this morning.

The Irishman and my mom ordered me on modified bed rest today until I can call the doctor in the morning. You know I am feeling rough when I agree to something like that! I mostly feel okay…unless I try to walk or sit in a chair – ha ha! I’m thinking this giant baby might just be sitting on a nerve or something like that. Boy to see me walk right now...I look like I'm in labor.

I keep going on about how being sick got me behind on my to do list and they keep teasing me about how I am going to have this baby tomorrow…we’ll see what the doctor has to say in the morning. I’m not holding my breath!

Quarantined

I thought it best to check in. No, I have not gone into labor.

That bug Caitlin had Tuesday night? She decided to share it with us.

Thursday I had an OB appointment. She walked in and and told me I looked pale. It is just a GI bug, so there is not much you can do other than rest and stay hydrated.

Friday morning the Irishman left for work with aches and a slight fever. By lunchtime he'd come home sick and was in bed. Of course, he neglected to take anything for his fever so by 4pm his temperature was 102.4 degrees.

I went to pick up Caitlin from day care and by the time I got home my fever had returned. We were a lovely pair.

Just before midnight the Irishman experienced the vomiting part of this bug. Now I suffer from a touch of emetophobia at the best of times. The doctor said that if I get to the point where I cannot keep down water I have to go to the ER for IV fluids to avoid dehydration. Talk about motivation not to be sick. I was avoiding Morgan for the evening for fear of his germs or reactionary gagging.

I eventually went upstairs to find my husband sprawled out in the middle of our bed, using all but two of the seven pillows on our bed. I'm pretty sure I saw his germs crawling all over the bedroom, so I took the two pillows he hadn't yet infected, changed the cases, and headed downstairs. Once I figured out how to work the pull out bed on the couch, I headed to sleep myself.

This morning before Caitlin got up I wanted to have both of us shower and change into clean PJs. While the Irishman was in the shower I changed the sheets and pillowcases and sprayed everything down with disinfectant spray. I went downstairs to put the sheets in the washer and returned to find Morgan sound asleep...in the middle of the bed on all five pillows.

Thankfully Caitlin slept in a bit this morning and gave me time to get some disinfecting taken care of. At this point we both have headaches and body aches, but no fever. Our stomachs are a bit sensitive, but okay. Since waking up though? Caitlin is running circles around us. I think she has cabin fever.

Christina and June just stopped by. They put Caitlin down for her nap and are going to the store for us. I am waiting for water to boil so I can make some Jello for later. We've had just about all the toast and chicken soup we can stand.

So, nothing fun to report. I have some pictures I'll get to eventually...once we are no longer quarantined!

Shopping on Sunday

After Mass on Sunday we headed down to the nearest outlet mall. Caitlin’s aunties had some shopping to do, and we’d been talking about taking her to Build A Bear, so we gave it a go.
Soon after we got there we headed to The Cheesecake Factory. We were stuffed after lunch, but we bought one slice of cheesecake to split between the five of us. Caitlin was a bit possessive regarding the cheesecake.



Ironically enough so was more interested in the whipped cream than the cheesecake. Granda would be proud!



The Irishman wanted to have Caitlin make a bear for her baby brother. Nana and Granda made Caitlin a Panda before she was born that we used to take her monthly pictures with, so he thought it would be nice to make one for the baby.

The more we talked about it, we’d decided that she should just make a bear for herself. In all actuality, she saw “her panda” and didn’t understand why she couldn’t just take him home. You can tell by the photo that there had been some tears involved. The poor thing was distraught. She didn’t understand what Panda was doing here and why she couldn't take him home with her.



Once we realized there was not going to be a good ending to this situation we put the bears back and left the store with our screaming child. We strapped her into the stroller with her pacifier and walked the mall around until she (eventually) fell asleep. I’m not sure who was more disappointed and upset…Caitlin or her daddy!

After an hour or so of shopping/napping Caitlin woke up having forgotten about the panda incident. (I can't say the same about the Irishman though!) On our way out we stopped to take some photos with the alligators.





We got back to the car seconds before the skies opened up. What a storm! By the time we got home I needed a nap, but it was a nice trip! Caitlin LOVES spending time with her aunties!