Tuesday Tidbits

Fun fact for the day: I learned this morning that yesterday was the coldest 1st of June that Belfast has had in 40 years!  Oh dear.  I'd like to say that the past couple of weeks have been warm and summer-ish, and that I'm not thinking about CA at all, but... that is not the case.  The countdown is now 4 weeks!  :)

Méabh and I went to our first 'MOPS' group today (a mothers & babies group held just up the road at our church).  I'm not gonna lie, I was a little nervous.  I felt like I was fourteen years old and it was my first day of high school or something!  When I first walked into the big multi-purpose room full of tables, chairs, and mostly 2-3 year olds running around while mums chatted, I felt my face get a little hot.  'Oh why did I come to this?!' I thought as I took my sweet time getting Méabh out of the pram (we walked there from our house!).  There were several activities set up and toys out on tables for the little ones to play with, but since my kid is still a bit of a vegetable, we took a seat in an empty row of chairs and watched.  I felt a little uncomfortable and to be honest a bit sad!  I started thinking about all the mums in Santa Barbara, and how easy it would be to have a mom friend back home.  Heck, I wouldn't even have to try a silly mom group like this one!  As I was thinking these slightly negative thoughts, a nice woman came and sat next to me.  She was older and there with her 7th (!) child, a 2 year old.  I didn't feel like there was some magical friend connection between us or anything, but I appreciated some chit chat for a few minutes before she went chasing after her energetic son!  I wondered what time it was and if anyone would notice if I slipped out and went up the road for a cappuccino!  Ha ha.  Luckily, God knew I needed to get out of my comfort zone and just stick it out.  I ended up sitting at a table with some other women who had a couple of kids each.  Even though I mostly just listened to the conversations going on around me, it was nice to just sit and be around other moms and kids.  My favourite time was at the very end; we all went into a separate room to sing a few songs.  Méabh was hilarious!  She is still very young, and maybe it was coincidental, but she was really kicking her legs in my lap and laughing while the songs were happening.  I couldn't stop smiling, I just thought that was the cutest thing.  :)  I said good bye to Rachel and Emma and they told me next Tuesday is when the kids/babies get looked after and that I should come.  So, I think I will!  There are only 2 more weeks of MOPS left before a summer break, but I'm glad I went and hopefully God will put a 'kindred spirit' mom friend in my life soon.

Other than that, we are plugging along!  We had a busy weekend.  After taking a few weeks off of doing house stuff, we (well mostly Niall, poor guy!) were back at it.  Niall painted all of the windowsills and we did another IKEA trip.  This sums up how we feel about that place:

We went to get a baby mattress for the crib; we ended up with a bookshelf, a towel rack, a candle holder, a baby bath, a new cutting board, a lamp shade, a trash can for the office... I'm probably forgetting a few things but you get the idea!!

she was pretty over it by the end of our trip

The weeks are long for Niall these days, so doing house work on the weekend wouldn't be his preference... but we both feel relieved to have a few more things crossed off of our list.

Belmont Park near our house

on a rare sunny day like this one, I usually sit outside for a bit!

Méabh and I are still walking a lot and trying to get out whenever we can.  A little bit of fresh air every day always makes such a difference!  I really love the age she's at now-- just over 4 months.  She's still easy in that if I set her down somewhere, she can't go anywhere!  But she's smiling a lot and her tiny expressions are just so cute.  :)  

the best yet!

We made some 'rolling over' progress over the weekend (she started on her back).  Her arm was stuck underneath her but she did pretty well!

napping in Naas

a Madden Nespresso coffee hits the spot

Méabh takes a good long nap during the day, but nights are still a bit rough!  She'll sleep 3-4 hour stretches but not more than that.  Oh, and the screaming/crying episodes at bed time unfortunately have not come to an end!  I honestly feel like I can't complain though, because other than that she's so sweet and mellow.  She is a happy baby during the day-- I enjoy her company.  :)

Well she is getting antsy underneath her playmat next to me so I'll stop there.  I have some better photos on my camera so I'll have to get them on my computer in the next few days.

Slán for now!