Mom saves the day

After some weeks of gentle urgings and caustic hate mail, I finally get some recent pictures up.

We got a "flip" digital video camera for Christmas and I thought that would give me lots of good footage to share. So far we have 20 home videos of me pointing the camera at a kids face and saying "c'mon, gimme a smile" in a voice better suited to calling a dog and only a few of those that have made it into the computer from the camera because I can't figure out how to upload.

So thank god Mom got an iphone for her Christmas present. Uploadable pictures have been taken with it and as I am here at their house sans Katie and the fevered pitch of chaotic activity that surrounds her, I can sit and post a few.

Life still feels hectic these days. Nana and Papa Walsh left this past Saturday after a very enjoyable 6 week stay (Brian and Brownyn joining them/us for the last week or so). They looked after Mick the days that I was working and took good care of us all the rest of the time. But with any visiting guests, we had a lot of dinners out and added excitement and activity thats just contributed to that "unsettled" feeling. My grandmother is visiting my parents and watching Mick now while I am working, hence my being here on a Monday eve. He is wearing her out though... May need to make a plan B.

Hell, he is wearing me out. He is a baby of extremes. He is a laugh-out-loud bundle of tickles and giggles when he is happy and a shreiking terror when he isn't. He certainly isn't the sleeper that Katie was and that makes life interesting. These days I can generally get him to sleep around 10:30-11pm and usually he will sleep through the night, but we have a few false starts before there is real sleep happening. Getting him to fall asleep is a workout that includes swaddling, bouncing, cajoling, swearing under the breath and more times than not, a boob in his mouth. That is the part that makes it tricky for others to get him to nap. But I've told Granny if it gets the job done, whip it out...

Katie is acting out in great ways too. Today alone she hit me, threw water on Manus, had a tantrum in public and attempted to eat a penny. I'm going to get her hearing tested because that girl doesn't even look my way when I try to tell her something. She is such her father's child. At my wit's end, I tried the "Time-Out chair" today (something I've been avoiding with respect to all the new-age parenting books I'd read) but the plan backfired. I told her she would have a time out if she stood up on the table again and she said "okay", went outside and plopped herself down. I have no viable recourse for her naughtiness. What do you do when your child consistently outsmarts you?


Saturday we drove down to Flamingo in the Florida Everglades in an attempt to breathe new life into a family tradition that was killed by cabin destruction in the 2005 hurricanes. As there are no longer lodgings down there, we just went for games and dinner. Given how cold it was, I am glad we were not in the minority that actually camped out overnight.

Okay, randomness.. A short video (from the Flip) lacks meaning, direction and artistic integrity but shows off the little girl.
Enjoy.

A month of OHMYGOD

Well, we have been here a month. I did think I would get back to blogging before now. I was wrong.

And really, this is just a quickie to say we are here, we are alive, we are back in our apartment, I am back to work, I am so overwhelmed and I am struggling daily with the urge to run away. Far, far away. Alone.

The other day my friend was telling me about this stab of emotion she gets every now and again and she just wants to sit and cry. All of a sudden I recognized what I've been feeling. A permanent lump in my throat.

But this too shall pass.

Nothing like a new baby, an international move, packing and unpacking a house, a quasi-new job AND a precocious 2-going-on-12 toddler to spice things up. Oh yeah, and Christmas...

So, I apologize for the silence on my end. When I find time to breathe I have no desire to get on the computer. Or if I do, I read my emails then swear to respond to the messages "the next time".

But then again, my inbox has not been flooded with Well-Wishes and Welcome Homes, so to hell with ya. Our Christmas card pile is pitiful too. Don't think Im not paying attention. Last year you had an excuse not to send (though still a flimsy one... what's one international stamp) but this year.... I'm keeping a list and I'll unfriend you on fb, I swear it.

Here are some of the latest to tide you over til I really resurface...

This boy drools like a mofo.

Tell me that isn't awesome!

Who's Katie?

Goodnight Moon

I'm nothing if not consistent and as such, the Irish grass is getting so green in this our last week here. Of course, it could just be the six straight days of rain, rain, rain, bitter cold, rain.

This is my last post from Ireland and my emotions about leaving are bittersweet. I am so excited to be near my family and friends and even looking forward to starting back to work (sure to be a short-lived feeling, never fear) but I've been looking around here and lamenting all that we will be leaving.

Goodbye house.
Goodbye backyard with french doors I can fling open and send Katie out in to play.
Goodbye field with horses across the street.
Goodbye playschool right next door where Katie had such fun - great teachers and all her "best friends".
Goodbye walking distance into town.
Goodbye cheap healthcare.
Goodbye pharmacist, butcher, coffee shop gal that know my name and my order.
Goodbye Castle Park.
Goodbye sweater weather.
Goodbye fire in the fireplace.
Goodbye unlocked front doors.
Goodbye courteous drivers.
Goodbye speaking the language of the majority. (well, sort of...)
Goodbye new American girlfriends - had such a nice time on Sunday (as always).
Goodbye Nana, Papa, the bestest Uncle Brian and Boo Boo.
Goodbye Irish cousins and playmates. (both Katie's and mine)

Hello New Chapter in our lives. Who knows what will happen next...

Goodnight Moon. Goodnight Ireland.