Ok, so a baby makes blogging a lot more complicated. We have random photos on my phone, on Niall's phone, and, if we're lucky, on our good camera too! I'm always trying to scroll through and pick out the funny ones... it's kind of embarrassing looking back. We take a
lot of photos of our kid... so forgive me if baby photos just aren't your thing!
Right now, it's Saturday afternoon-- Niall is at work, Méabh is in her bouncy chair, and I'm writing random things down to bring to CA as well as typing away here. Poor Niall-- I know I keep saying this, but man he needs a vacation. He's been going in for hours and hours on the weekends playing catch up with Master's work... sometimes even real work that he wasn't able to get done during the week. Of course, I miss him and it's hard for me too-- just in a different way. I may not be doing endless calculations and trying to cram my brain with new aeronautical ideas (ok, I can't even make up a sentence that sounds smart/does it justice!!) but I'm on my own a lot which has its own challenges. Luckily, I don't feel lonely too often... sometimes it creeps in here and there, but I have some sweet friends that I see a few times a week which is great. I love Méabh so much and she is great company, but I think for me, it's hard to never get out on my own. If Niall doesn't work too late I can go for a run or something before dinner-- little things like that really help. I think I'm a better mom if I have an hour or so to myself on a regular basis... I used to feel guilty about feeling that way, but Niall knows me well and he is great to say 'go ahead!' whenever he has time. I will definitely be using Grandma Karen's services in SB to do things like finally get a haircut! It's been nearly a year since my last one... oh dear.
Méabh is 5 months old today. She is a 'peach' as my mom would say. :) We love her and feel so grateful to be her parents. A little about her... these days she loves grabbing her feet. She has mastered sucking on her toes which I find hilarious. She's definitely wearing all of her 6 month clothing now... she's long! She's a bit more squirmy so I can't leave her in one place too long... she can now roll from her back to front (ends up propped up on her elbows) which she does whenever we leave her on the ground. She usually takes one long nap during the day, either morning or afternoon, and will catnap at other random times... I haven't been great at getting her on a strict schedule because we're out and about, things come up, etc... Can you believe this kid still screams and cries at bedtime?! Luckily it hasn't been every night this week but last night she went totally berserk. She has slept through the night once-- it happened a few nights ago-- so there's hope!! Most of the time she is up between 2 and 3 and then hopefully not again until half 6 or 7, but this week it's been earlier. I haven't tried giving her formula or solids yet... it's funny, a part of me is looking forward to her not depending entirely on me for nourishment, but another part of me feels sad at the thought of giving her something else! Oh these hormonal mom feelings-- they'll getcha. :)
Ok, enough rambling... here are some photos!
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| random one from a month or so ago! In Naas with the Maddens. |
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| snuggles with grandad are the best |
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| first post-pregnancy race! |
My friend Rebecca (far right) asked me to do the Mourne Way 10k with her (Saturday June 6th). I thought it would be a good way to stay motivated after having Méabh to get moving again... leading up to it, some runs felt horrible, others were ok... in the end, I scraped by! It was a stunning course about an hour south from Belfast on the coast. Through forests, over streams, views of the ocean... a little bit of everything. And we were so lucky to get a beautiful day for it! Unfortunately Niall had to work, but Rebecca's mom watched Méabh for me and her boyfriend Ryan got some good camera shots. :)
On my way back from the race I picked up mum and Avril at the train station. They just came up for a night so that Avril could finally see our new house (she is back from studying in Sweden and done with college-- she did really well in her biomedical science course-- we are proud of her!) Avril made Niall's favourite coffee walnut cake and we had a little celebration for his 28th birthday!
Ok, here are some other random photos from my phone!
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| starting her young... |
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| my friend Sarah adores Méabh :) |
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| she's out of the Moses basket, finally! It wasn't too hard of a transition and I didn't get emotional over her not being in our room anymore... honestly, her door is a couple of steps away from ours so I can still hear her fine-- which is good since we don't have a baby monitor yet...! |
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| oh just watching some tennis! |
Well, ok-- now it's 8:20 pm. Just took a break to make dinner, eat with Niall once he got home, feed Méabh and put her to bed after Niall went BACK into work... and now I am listening to the wonderful sound of her screaming upstairs as I write. :/ An exciting Saturday night, right?!
Back to more random photos...
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| haha. This was actually taken on a night when I brought her downstairs because I just couldn't take the crying anymore. I think she watched TV with us for a bit then conked out! |
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| I bought her a teether but she's not very good at using it... she prefers to try and fit her entire fist in her mouth. We think she is teething? Maybe it's not too bad yet-- she doesn't have red cheeks and she's not crying about it, but she chews on everything and drools a lot! |
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| the evening of Niall's actual birthday I made a nice dinner and put her in a dress... It was quite funny!! He loved coming home to his girls looking more formal than usual :) |
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| she never sleeps on her stomach, though I've tried... she prefers her back! |
We had a homegroup BBQ about a week and a half ago because the weather was nice! We haven't been meeting up this past month due to our schedule being crazy (we're the ones who organize everything). Our group has been very gracious in understanding that times are just a little hectic now... so we're planning on starting up with the study again once Niall submits his thesis.
People here are so much happier when the sun is out! It is noticeable wherever you go; sunshine brightens everyones' moods and the Irish really do make the best of it. The parks are full, the clothes are on the line, and that one cute summer outfit that we get to wear about three times a year gets pulled from the bottom of the drawer. :)
I was planning on just meeting up for coffee with Ken, an old customer from Soul Food who I keep in touch with. Don, Mairead, and Jude all ended up joining in-- that's something I miss about the Ormeau Road, bumping into familiar faces whenever you walk up the street! So it ended up being a bit of a Soul Food reunion which was great.
There is a nice park right across the street from Niall's work. He has 40 minutes for lunch so we met him there a couple of times during that sunny week.
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| I loved being able to go out with her and not worry about her getting cold! I think this is the only time she's been out of the house without pants on :) |
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| We soak up all we can when we have it! |
A week ago Marie, Lucy and Ben Noonan came up for a visit! Niall was in work all day Saturday so it was nice for me to have their company. We went for a hike, got lunch, ate dinner at home, took them to our version of 'Yogurtland'... then of course St George's on Sunday before they headed back to Bruff. Marie spoiled me with wine, food, a new summer outfit for Méabh, and some beautiful bowls and plates for the new house! I couldn't have asked for a better aupair family and I still can't believe it's been 7 1/2 years since my Irish adventure began.
Sun's out, chairs out!!
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| checkin' out the neighbourhood |
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| doing her daily 'exercises' with dad... I reckon this kid will be walking in no time ;) (though I hope not!!) |
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| My cheerleader during park workouts |
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| trying on her dress for Enda's wedding |
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| hmmm... I think I'll have to add some leggings to this ensemble :) |
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| She rolled over! I took this after she did it for the first time. I didn't actually see it happen, so I was quite surprised when I looked over and she was propped up on her elbows! |
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| now she likes to do it all the time :) |
Ok-- now we're up to date. These last few photos are actually from today! Before Niall went into work, I went for a run, he played squash with a friend, then we got a little coffee and treat at our old stomping ground & favourite coffee spot. I don't miss our apartment as much as I thought I would-- I love our house and I'm used to being out of the Bakery. However, I still miss the Ormeau Road and South Belfast in general. *sigh* I'll get used to our new area eventually!
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| I don't think I've ever dressed her in a short sleeved onsie before! She's lovin' it :) |
Whew! Ok, I think I'm done. It is now 9:13 pm. Méabh stopped crying up there at about 8:55... so now I can fully relax! We have just over a week until we step on that glorious plane that will take us to California. Niall will be working a lot, I'll be getting things ready, and Thursday evening we will head down South to Naas-- we've Enda's wedding on Friday the 26th (Niall is the best man!)... the reception is in Wicklow so we will stay there Friday night, spend the rest of the weekend with the Maddens, and leave early Monday morning.
Maybe I'll get one last post up before we head off? If not, see you all SOON! :)
