Team Canada

Sporting their Team Canada apparrel from Grandma Carolyn :).

Christmas in Belfast

Happy Boxing Day!

I am trying not to celebrate boxing day this year. I told Pat this and he said 'why don't you just walk into town and not bring your debit card'? Now, I ask you...what is the fun in that? I did just go shopping, on Christmas Eve by myself and Pat watched Liv. I told myself that was my last shopping trip. We'll see though.

After my shopping I came home and caught Pat and his daughter snoozing on the couch together(picture to follow). We had skype conversations with both our families before we got ready to go to a little Christmas get together. It was late in the evening so I was worried about Liv being out way past her bedtime. She was a little crabby at first with all the people and noise, but she had a bottle and settled down. She even let some other people hold her. Surprise Surprise, because she's been making strange a lot lately. We came home early, put Liv to bed, had a few glasses of wine and watched some tv. We slept in on Christmas because Santa doesn't come to a 4 month year olds house...well not at my house anyways. I made breakfast for us and some bananas for Liv. It was nice and simple. We did absolutely nothing else. It was actually the first Christmas that Pat and I have spent together...weird but when better to start than with Liv.

I captured some of our holiday in photos

During the day on Christmas Eve...hanging out in the Tigger outfit her Dad got for her

This is how I found them after my shopping expedition

Christmas Eve Morning...laughing at her dad

The Albert Bridge...Liv likes to watch out the window at the people and cars crossing this bridge

Watching out the window

All dressed up for Christmas Eve

Don't their smiles look similar?

Our Christmas present :)

Christmas Morning...both concentrating intently on their activities. She has a serious mohawk in this picture.

Sittin' in or Takin' out?

Its freezing here. I'm talking bitter cold that cuts you to the bone. Add rain and we have Belfast.
Imagine the pure joy I felt when I saw a Starbucks to warm me up!

Pat, my grandma, and I stood in line at a, no joke, 3-story starbucks! I have a stroller (you know the one that is broken already that I paid a whole $25 for) and didn't make it up to the other floors, however they probably had a lift, aka elevator. I get super nervous ordering things here...because Pat has it engrained in my head that people hate americans and I know as soon as I talk its a dead giveaway and people use different words/speak in an ungodly Northern Irish accent, which leads to me usually putting my foot in my mouth. So as I approach the counter I decide what I want and have no problem asking for it and the woman then says to me "Sittin' in or Takin' out?"....now if it had been as clear as I have written it I wouldn't have had a problem answering this question. I do prefer the terms "For here or To go?" but I get the experession. However, I had no idea what she said to me and because it wasn't something I normally hear I just looked at her with this blank stare mumbling like an idiot trying to figure out how I'm supposed to answer this question....so I just look at Pat for help. He answered for me and can't seem to grasp how I didn't understand what she just said to me. Not a big deal...the next time someone asked me if I was "sittin' in or takin' out" I could answer in a timely manner.

Now lets fast forward about a week. I now have the confidence to put Liv in a stroller and walk to the train station to grab an Americano. The barista even recognizes me because I've been in a few times with my cute baby. This time she engaged me in a little conversation and asked "what do you call her?"....but once again mixed with the accent and not the phrase I'm used to, I thought she said something like "is it cold outside?". So I proudly said "yes its very cold outside". I go on putting sugar in my drink and she graciously pretends I didn't just tell her that my baby's name was "yes its cold outside". She asked me the same question again and I catch on that I obviously didn't get it the first time. I paused thought about what she was possibly referring to and answered "ohhhhh, Olivia". I'm definitley not a graceful conversationalist here.

Pat just got back with some starbucks and we are going to go hunt down Sophie the Giraffe for Liv today. I convinced Pat that she really wants Sophie and that Liv has been bugging me for months and I have been waiting for Christmas :)

Greetings from Belfast

Long time no blogging hey? We've been here for about a week and in no way has it been uneventful. I'll start off with our journey over to Northern Ireland. It was long...but not all that bad. My grandmother, Liv, and I drove down to Detroit on Sunday. We stayed the night in a hotel and got to the airport in time for our 3:30 flight to Chicago. Once in Chicago, the search for terminal 5 started. God forbid it was easy, because I am walking with Liv and my grammy, who by the way is carrying two bags, one of which is too heavy for her. She needed to take a break to use her puffer :). Needless to say, It took us awhile, but we made it. Once we got onto the last leg of our trip I felt more relieved. We were in a row with baby "bassinets", which were cardboard boxes with foam on the bottom. My baby didn't care though...she slept for almost the whole trip over!

Twelve plus hours later we arrived in Dublin. Pat met us there and drove for about an hour and a half to Belfast. Doesn't that sound like a lot? It felt that way and I'm already dreading our trip back. The other thing I'm not looking forward to is Liv's jet lag. It was bad for a few days and I'm expecting the same on the way back. She is just used to her naps and sleeping her good nights sleep....so she was definitley off for a few days. She is still out of her routine when it comes to naps. She usually naps in her swing during the day...maybe thats my mistake, but if your child will nap for 3 hours in the afternoon if she's in her swing, who would deny her that? So, no swing = no 3 hour nap. Today Liv fell asleep sitting up on Pat's lap listening to music...it was cute, but a reminder that she reallyyy needs those naps.

Ok...so huge mistake number 1: I forgot my stroller. I stupidly thought "oh well, I'll buy a $25 one at Meijers and I'll be ok". WRONG. Do not attempt to go to Belfast, where people walk everywhere and there are cobblestone streets around every corner with a cheap ass stroller you put together in a hotel room. Also, on a side note, every mom here has BEAUTIFUL strollers. I'm talking designer, $500 + strollers. I have never felt stroller envy before, but I now know what it feels like. I'm going to continue to be jealous of these strollers, but wayyy too stubborn to pay more money for another stroller when I don't need one.

Here comes mistake number 2: Picture this- Desi stressed, tired, jet lagged, and trying to get out the door to meet her grammy. I was going to walk to her hotel, with the use of Pat's directions he left for me. I thought about taking a taxi, but I didn't have a carseat and all I had was my American money...so I figured how bad could it be right? I put my little grumpy monster in the stroller and told grammy I'd be there in 10 minutes. First line of Pat's directions say "follow the river". So I think I know which way to go, but there is no river...so I walk that way regardless and I get maybe half a mile down and second guess myself and turn around walk all the way back and in the opposite directioon for a mile and ask someone where to go. The woman directs me back the way I started. So I head back, and see a path that goes right along the river in front of pat's apartment. So I ignore that woman's advice and take this path, because he said along the river and I'm trying for the life of me to follow these directions. After this route turns up dry I ask a man where I need to go. He sends me once again down my original path and says "how funny, you asked me where Victoria Square was and you were going in the opposite direction". FUNNY REAL FUNNY. At this point it has been probably 2 hours. My grandma had been calling me because I said 10 minutes. She was going biserk. The madness that followed me actually getting downtown is actually too embarassing to talk about, but I walked and walked and walked. I finally called a cab and had to stand on a corner of who knows what to get picked up. We get in the cab and I admit...I was feeling quite dumb for not calling one earlier, but the next task was getting to an ATM, because our cash is not considered a currency in Northern Ireland. So we stop and one ATM, broken...next one works but when we get to the hotel I look down and see that I have a handful of euros, which is not the currency I need. He did take it, but he charged me double. Our planned day of touring Belfast didnt quite turn out, but we tried to do a little shopping after I finally got some coffee and food. I was feeling quite good by the time we were in H&M and I was in line pilfering through my purse to find my debit card so I could buy this cute little cardigan. To my surprise, it wasn't there! So I was thinking at the moment "not only was I lost, but I was robbed too!". Next step was to call the cab company...even though as my luck goes, I was seriously doubting that my card was there. We headed back to my grandma's hotel room because who wants to shop when your debit card is missing. The first good news of the day came when we got to the hotel...The taxi driver had my card! So even though the jerk ripped me off on my cab fare, he did return me my debit card :).

After reading this post, it probably sounds like I hate my Belfast life...and I did at first, but its getting better. Its totally different and hard to get used to life without all of my baby amenities. Its is definitley nice and helpful to have Pat around. He is having so much fun with Liv and taking advantage of what little time he has with her. I have some pictures of the day Pat took all of us up to the Giant's Causeway and a few of us at Pat's game, which was Liv's first hockey game.

The three of us at the causeway
Olivia being a trooper...it was freezing!

Pat and Liv at the top

Blowing bubbles, surprisingly they didn't freeze...

My favorite picture

I gave in and bought a play mat for Liv to use...I can only entertain her by myself for so long. She seems quite happy with my purchase no?

First hockey game with mom
She loved all the noise and music.
Then she passed out for the last period of the game...too much excitement.

And I'm breathing a deep sigh of relief

Liv's passport is on it's way! We are officially BOTH ready to go to Northern Ireland...Wooohooo!!

All I Want for Christmas is Youuuuu ::insert pat's name::

The title of this post is Liv and my theme song for Christmas. We are having some passport difficulties and we're really down to the wire. I'm not going to go into specifics because honestly i'm exhausted with it, but pray for us...we want to see Pat! I also wanted to do a Christmas post, because I have all Liv's beautiful pictures that Dani did and, of course like the procrastinator that I am, I haven't done much with. If you live in the U.P., its a blizzard, and if that doesn't put you in the Christmas spirit, maybe this will.

ps. Those of you who are friends with Dani or I on facebook, these pictures are slightly different than the ones I posted on there....I didn't want to bore you with the same old thing.

Who doesn't love a pink and glittery fake lollipop?

Or a big bow on a baby's head?

This did cause a problem however...babies + fake glitter = a mess

Rudolf

Of course Lily was included...she's clearly thrilled we didn't leave her out.

This will be Liv if we don't get her passport in time.

This Just In: Giant Baby Who Eats Finger Puppets

To all of you finger puppets out in the world....Watch Out!

4 Months

Time flies when you actually work and don't have time or the desire to blog. Its been longer than usual for an update because I actually had a FULL week of work with FULL days, no more half days this week. I loved it and hated it all at once. I really do love working, especially at the school that I work at. Its nice to get out of the house but I miss being at home with Liv too. The mornings are my favorite time with her because she's always the happiest, most smiley, and most talkative in the mornings. And I miss that when I work. It wasn't too bad though, I don't expect to work that much every week, but I have an end in mind...and that is getting a decent check while I'm in Ireland! Pat has told me they have amazing shopping so I need to plan ahead.

During my full week of work, Liv turned 4 Months (on wednesday to be exact). I'm still waiting for a month where I say "where has the time gone?", but I'm still in the mind set that I feel like I've had her for longer. I'm impatient and maybe thats what is making me think that way. I am always wanting her to roll over, laugh, stand, jump...I'm wishing her life away.

Liv is growing like a weed and just so that I know she's spending all this energy growing she wakes me up twice a night to eat. Yes...newborn like, on the week I decide to work full-time. It has generally been around 11:30-12 and 4-4:30 that she wakes up and slurps down 6oz of milk. I spent one of those times usually freaking out, crying, cursing pat, and not being able to look Liv's smiley/milkey face in the eye. I am prayinggg this will end...soon. Because, seriously, I can't take it much longer. I'm driving to Marquette by myself tomorrow and staying the night. The point of my trip is to drop Lily off for Dani and Mike to watch her while we are in Ireland...but I thought I'd stay the night and have a mommy day :).

I want to devote a paragraph to some of the things Liv has been doing. She is still eating the food I made her. She isn't very picky and likes everything I made. I also bought her some avocados and made her fresh "banana-cado", sounds disgusting and looks disgusting due to its green color...but liv loved it. It ruined a bib but I learned my lesson and will soak the bib immediately after I feed her green food again. She has also learned how to grab her sucky. She'll concentrate really hard and grab it, pull it out and then try to put it back in whilst poking herself in the eye or cheek. Even if she eventually gets the sucky near her mouth, its the plastic part and she gets pissed and drops it. Its cute, but frustrating when you're trying to get her to nap and she keeps spitting it out. She also has been trying to jump with two feet. In her jungle gym, as you can see from the previous "giggling" video, she moves from one foot to the other, but she mixes in a little jump once in awhile. We have been working on her holding her own bottle and its coming along. She is still kind of lazy about it, but she'll do it for a little while. She is still nowhere near rolling over, in fact, she has no interest in it whatsoever. She is a drooly mess. I think she enjoys her spit and likes feeling it move down her chin ::gross::. Drool kills me and I can't stand it all over her face, so the whole hand sucking thing really bothers me. I may need to get over that though ;). One last thing, I'm also working on Liv's sitting. She can do it with the help of her boppy pillow, but like everything...she has a time limit before she loses it. Here is liv in all of her 4 month cuteness.

Trying to get her "4 month" photo for the blog

There we go

Eating her monkey...it looks like it tastes good

What am I going to do with this child?...chewing on her monkey's arm

Sitting like a big girl...did I mention she likes monkeys?

Squirrel pj's

and we have giggles!

I almost died when she started laughing...It is sickeningly cute.




ps. this took me three days to figure out how to upload because the file was too big...ugh i'm blogger challenged.

First Thanksgiving

Everyone went around the table during Thanksgiving dinner and said what they were thankful for, and if Liv could talk I know she would have said "MASHED POTATOES"! She Loves her some Mashed Potatoes...but that didn't really surprise me. I sat her bumbo seat on the dinner table next to me and she ate dinner right along with everyone else. She loved it. We did a lot of visiting and Liv ended up getting crabby by the end of the night and I was exhausted, but it was a good holiday altogether. We would have like to celebrate with Pat, but we'll trade Christmas...those Canadians don't celebrate the same Thanksgiving anyways ;). In the future, we'll get two!

Dani was here this weekend and we took some Christmas pictures. So I'm looking forward to that. The only problem with pictures lately is that the little lump can't sit up by herself and she doesn't sleep or sit happily through the photo shoot. I can't wait until she can sit up and we don't have to be surrounding her making sure she doesn't face plant. Dani always does an amazing job though...she works with us haha.

I did something a little unusual today, I spent a few hours making baby food for Liv! I made sweet potatoes, bananas, pears, an apple and pear mix, and a sweet potato and apple mix. It was actually pretty easy and I'm trying to save money so it makes sense for me. I read about it online, and also read how to freeze it. It made a ton of food and I was quite proud of myself. Liv ate some bananas and some pears today. She seemed to like them more than she's like any of the store bought food I've gotten her. I'm going to try to keep it up...It was kind of fun actually.

I didn't get any pictures of Liv on Thanksgiving, but I think Dani did...these will have to do for now.

I posted this picture because you can really see where her blonde hair is coming in up front.

Lily licking Liv's ears...weirdo dog

Kisses from auntie