Some cute pictures...

Liam loves to work things out. This is his new little booster seat for Grandma's house. He is trying to work out the buckle.

Not the best picture, but I just thought it was cute... His hair is so curly and it's getting very long. I'm half tempted to cut it, but it's too lovely.

Sucking on his spoon- he loves his yogurts!

Liam is one year old!!

Well, it's certainly hard to believe that it's been an entire year since I popped out my 10lb+ little monkey. I can hardly imagine my life before Liam arrived... it has been completely turned upside down (in a good way, of course). He has changed so much since that first day we met him. He has the most adorable, cheeky little personality. He has near tripled in size (will post up his latest doctor's report when we visit the doctor in early January) and is more like a wee boy each day. He has 2 teeth on the bottom and 3 teeth half way through on the top (that's been fun!) He loves all food- I mean everything! He will take broccoli and asparagus and runner beans from my plate. He's down to one formula a day and is enjoying cow milk with his breakfast and a glass with his lunch. He loves cheese, eggs, bread, all vegetables and fruit. We recently introduced a small amount of chocolate- milk chocolate, which he gets around once a week if he's been a good boy. He is a total eating machine! Today he had 3 small bowls of cornflakes at daycare and was screaming for more. The girls there say they've never seen a child his age eat so much. He's still mostly in 12-18 months, but our clothes here run a little big. He took his first steps back in October and now walks all around the house. He walks around 90% of the time and will get from seated to standing completely unaided- he's also started looking and laughing at us between his legs as he props himself up to stand- I need to get a video of that it's very cute! He's still mostly saying baba, mama and dada, but will try and repeat words like cat, dog, hiya, bye bye and whatever we encourage him to say.

We had 20 people around to our house to celebrate Liam's first birthday. It was a great day and we're so happy that so many of our friends could make it. I made a few big lasagnas (and a veggie one for me) along with salad and cupcakes and brownies. I was cooking for a couple of days. A friend at work made Liam a cake to match in with his 'jungle buddies' theme. Liam loved the candles and everyone singing happy birthday to him.

Liam, Matthew and Oliver... the three amigos.Oliver is so cute and loves to smile for the camera!

Daddy trying to get his son started on the drink a little early.The closest we could get to a family photo... little man was tired after a long day and no nap.

Liam made out like a bandit.. thank you so much to everyone for making his first birthday so special!

We also had a little family birthday party. Liam got to eat loads of cake.. which meant a big sugar rush and some interesting diaper changes.

He was so cute. Happy birthday wee man!

Oh, and I have a couple of cute little videos from his party, but they appear to big too large- hope I can get it on here at some point.

Jack's 1st Birthday

Ollie, Liam and I all went to Jack's big first birthday bash. Ruairi and Marguerite went all out. They rented the chapel hall to hold the 50 guests, had a magician, tons of food, Santa (Ruairi in a santa suit) and fun games for all of the kids to play. It was a really lovely day and Jack was beaming with the biggest smile all day. Few pictures from the day:

Liam playing a bit of pass the parcel...

Cara with her cutie, Anya.

Jack with his cheeky little smile (can't get it to turn clockwise- computer being annoying)...

The boys...

Great day! Happy Birthday to Jack!!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Well, I do miss the fun Thanksgiving festivities. Pigging out on chips and dips before getting stuck into a big dinner and following with a few servings of pumpkin and apple pies and feeling exhausted and a little sick because you ate too much. Yummy apple cider and fights with the family... ah, the holidays!

Hope you all have a great Thanksgiving... I'm celebrating in spirit, in work.

Back in the USA

We thoroughly enjoyed our trip back to the states. I had tons and tons of visits planned and only one was missed because I simply ran out of time. I wish I could say that the flight over was good, but I can't... because it wasn't. First we were delayed on the tarmac for over an hour and a half- not fun when you have a 10 month old who doesn't like confined spaces. Things initially got better when we took off... initially. Liam fell asleep for an hour- long enough for us to have some lunch and Ollie to get food poisoning. He was feeling like hell about 2 hours into the 7 hour plus journey... for him, it was hell. Then Liam was up and not willing to sit still or behave in the slightest! He wasn't a very happy camper, but we got through it... eventually. It was so great to see my Aunt and Mark at Newark Airport.

The next day Heather and Sam came to my Aunt's house for a visit. I was so excited to meet her wee man and introduce her to ours. Sam was even cuter in person than in pictures- completely adorable! He was so smart and well behaved and warmed to everyone in minutes. Our boys...

Liam was a little jerky- taking all of the toys from a very patient Sam. I don't think he understands the concept of sharing yet! We're working on that. That evening Heather, Sam, Liam and I (Ollie was still feeling like hell) took a trip to Lora's house in Philadelphia. Mikey and Annie and some of the other Irish pub girls were there with their kids. It was a lovely night with good food and great company! I was sorry it had to end, but both Liam and I were exhausted- jet lag is not fun! It was so great to see everyone!

My mom was over the moon to have Liam there and really helped us get over our jet lag for the first few days- Liam wasn't sleeping well and we were all pretty exhausted. Mom was over some mornings at 4:30am to allow us to get a bit of sleep... thanks mom! Here's one proud grandma with her grandson...
Those are 2Ts, but still a little long in the leg. Well we shopped until we dropped. Maxing out the credit cards and having to buy extra suitcases, but that's what we do right? We were home for Halloween.. which was not as I remembered. There were hardly any kids trick or treating... weird, right? I remember those streets being flooded when I was young. But there was some amount of crazy decorations! Liam was dressed up as a monkey... so freakin' cute! He was fast asleep by the time we got around the 3rd court in my Aunt's development. Here's my sleepy little monkey.

Cherie and John's Wedding

One of the main reasons for going back to the states in the cold chill of autumn was for one of my bestest friends from high school's wedding. The service was lovely... and thankfully the mass wasn't as long as ours only about 40 minutes! Woo-hoo! The bridesmaids wore lovely long 2 piece wine coloured dresses. And Cherie and John both looked lovely. The reception was loads of fun... with friends I hadn't seen in years in attendance. There was some amount of dancing and I fear many embarrassing photos of me jumping around on the dance floor are floating around somewhere. Here are some nice pictures from the day...

The happy coupleThe beautiful cake...
Me with Andrea, Lorie and Vindy
The Maritime Aquarium

The day after the wedding Ollie, Liam, Aunt Linda and Mark all piled in the car and headed up the turpike to Connecticut to meet up with some of my university mates. We went to brunch with Rachael, Ian, Amy and her wee baby Mya. Rachael brought some of her albums from college and our European trip... pretty funny stuff! We then went to the aquarium for a bit of kiddy fun... Liam is still a bit young to properly enjoy it, but it was fun and really cute to watch him look at the fish and amphibians.

Me with Rachael, Amy, Mya and Liam

The trip was great, but it was good to get home. Sorry for the delay in getting these pictures up. I've been swamped. Stay tuned for more pictures of Jack's birthday party, Liam's upcoming birthday party and some random pictures from the past month.

Conor and Siobhán's Wedding

We went up to Donegal for our friends Conor and Siobhán's amazing wedding. We also got 2 nights baby free! We headed up on the Thursday night and rented a lovely 3 bedroom cottage with 2 other couples. I got a little drunk that first night... maybe it was more that I got giddy- it was my birthday and I was allowed to enjoy myself sans baby. I only stayed at the pub for a few hours and headed back with Laura to paint our nails and put on fake tan (and drink champagne). The next morning I was up bright and early and ready to party!


We headed to the church which was just below the hotel which looked out onto the sea. It was a cold day, but the rain stayed off for most of the day. The bridesmaids wore gorgeous chocolate brown dresses and all looked beautiful. Siobhan was so beautiful and simply glowing! If you know Siobhán, you know she is bright and sunny and full of life. This day was no exception, if it is possible she was beyond happy! Here is the blushing bride and her new hubby walking down the isle.
The food was great. The company was even better. I laughed so much that night! All of our friends were there without our babies and enjoying ourselves. It was so much fun!! Here's the happy couple at the top table.
And cutting the cake.
Brilliant time. Congrats to the happiest couple in the world!

9 months... a few weeks ago...

I've been a bit busy. Back at University, working full time, dealing with a teething child and preparing for our trip back home. Still, I suppose, it's no excuse to deprive all of you from an update on our big man. Just before Liam turned 9 months I took him for a short check up with his doctor. He was 77.5 cms and 9.74 kgs! For height, he is still in the 99th percentile, but he's dropped into the 50th for weight. The general consensus is that he is a big, bright, healthy boy. I did mention his persistent cough and occasional wheezing, but the doctor did not seemed overly concerned. He explained that recent NHS reports have found that doctors are over diagnosing asthma and despite a family history (my brother had very bad asthma as a child) he felt Liam would grow out of the wheezing/ coughing. He did offer to prescribe an inhaler (not steroid based) to help with the wheezing, but Oliver was reluctant at this stage. We decided to keep a watchful eye and notify the doctor if it gets worse.

Other than that, he remains a very content little man- despite his teething! I feel so bad for the wee man. There's really nothing that helps the pain, plus it's been making him crap like mad. He had 5 poos at creche and then another one before bedtime on Thursday. That in turn makes his wee bum super red and sore. Poor baby.

He's saying mommy and daddy more consistently now. More with Ollie than me. I have a framed collage of some honeymoon pictures in the hall. I often point to a picture and say 'who's that, Liam?'. He'll look at the picture and say dada or daddy. It's so cute! He's trying to stand without support and is able to do so for a few seconds before falling on his bum. He's able to climb all the stairs and has been managing to climb down from the very bottom of the stairs.

His appetite is ferocious! He goes mental at creche when it's food time and must always be fed first. He also eats some of the other children's food. Think he takes that after his daddy. He loves string/strip cheese. Loves it! I've recently introduced eggs. He really enjoyed his cheese omelet the other day. And his new favourite is french toast- with a little cinnamon. I'm still making all of his foods and have recently introduced rice, which he is enjoying but is a little freaked out with the texture. I'm going to try salmon next weekend.

Some recent pictures:

This is how Liam feel asleep the other day for his afternoon nap. Notice his lovely clothes- Ollie dressed him that day. It won't happen again!At the end of September, we enjoyed a bit of an Indian summer. Actually, it was the only bit of summer we had this year. We went to the park, for a nice walk around the development and then to a beer garden (duh, we're in Ireland) for a few pints (Ollie), coffee (me) and water and baby cookies (they taste a bit like animal crackers). Liam enjoying his cookie.

And another cookie...

Last and first shorts of the summer.
Sunshine out the front...

Still waking up before creche...Think he looks older than 9 months in this picture. Don't you?

Happy 4th Anniversary

I remember that day 4 years ago. It was warm and sunny and the champagne was flowing! We watch the sunset as we danced and partied into the wee hours of the morning. Just wishing my feather and her beau (who really sucks at pool, may I add) a very very HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!

Hope you guys have a brilliant day!

Recent pictures

No real commentary on this post. Just recent pictures of Liam.

Old man face

Bathtime!

Everything in the mouth...

Another day in the park...

We met up with a few friends at the park over the bank holiday weekend. It was babies galore!! Deborah and Rosha, Cara and Anya, Anna and Oliver and me and Liam. It was so cute to see how they all interacted with each other! Ollie, Liam and I turned up a bit early to enjoy the swings and take a few pictures- Liam is always getting pictures of him and his daddy, but I want to be in there as well!

Ollie and Liam

The swinger

The clapper- Liam loves to clap.

Liam's hair is getting so curly! It's very cute.

Old friends

I love facebook. I don’t spend every waking minute on it and I hardly ever use my blackberry to check my page for updates (hardly ever), but I’ve reconnected with loads of friends from middle school, high school and college and old colleagues. With some people it’s been 12 years since I last saw or spoke to them. How much our lives have changed! Some have children, some living in different states or different countries, some with really interesting jobs and some that really haven’t changed that much at all. I’m notoriously bad at keeping in touch with people. This was the case long before Liam arrived so I cannot blame it on being a busy working mother. I can go months and months without emailing people. What was my point? Oh, even though I haven’t spoken to some of these friends in years, it still seems like yesterday. I don’t feel 30. I don’t feel thousands of miles and many timezones away. Although when I go back to the states it doesn’t feel like home anymore, when I see my friends I remember my time with them like it was yesterday.

I miss seeing my girls everyday, but I suppose that makes the times I do see them even more special! Can't wait for my October trip!

Lora’s Challenge

Lora recently challenged her loyal blog readers to see how Proctor and Gambleised (it’s a word, sort of) their lives were. I’ve always tried to boycott P&G ever since I signed a petition at a Princeton health food store when I was 20. This is mostly because they were testing on animals. To be fair, I’m not sure if they have changed that policy but it’s kind of always stuck with me. For the past 10 years I’ve been pretty successful until Liam arrived and I started using Pampers. I have tried the other brands- Huggies leaked through on too many occasions and Nature Babycare cannot handle the overnight pee pees. I’m still using Nature Babycare during the day because I would never leave my child in a wet nappy for more than a few hours so they work fine. I seem to have developed superhuman smell since I first fell pregnant- I can smell a poopy or pee-pee from down the block. At one time I had even entertained the idea of reusable nappies, but there aren’t any local nappy-washing services and I just don’t have the time to wash them myself.

My toothpaste is Colgate, my shower gel and deodorant Dove, my make up and face wash Clinique or Lancome and my hair products and moisturiser always Aveda. I’ve used Aveda since I first moved to Philly in 1999. My aunt had gotten the shampure range as a gift, but regifted to me (well, she just gave it to me) and I’ve been addicted ever since. Heather used to always say the smell of the confixor reminded her of me- Buffy the Vampire Slayer always reminds me of Heather. Whenever I go home or my family come here, they bring me the moisturiser and the super size shampoo and conditioners. I just can’t justify buying it over here, because it costs an absolute fortune- try double the price!

Persil for laundry and washing up liquid, comfort pure fabric softener, and can’t remember what dishwasher tablets I use. I hardly ever buy bounty because I try and use the recycled brands. So, I’m not too bad. Not too bad.

More photos...

Some other photos from the past week. Here's Liam in a huff this weekend at St George's Market. He's been exhibiting some arsey behaviour these days... very frustrating for mommy and daddy. He also lost his wee shoe. He now has four pairs of shoes missing one shoe.

They had a petting zoo and kids learning zone at the market this weekend. He was a bit young to fully appreciate everything.
I don't have to hold his bottle for him anymore. He feeds himself and is very good at it! I'm still spoonfeeding his dinners... think it will be a while before he masters the spoon.
We need to get gates for the stairs because Liam has discovered how to go up.

Liam's new girlfriends...

Liam's two newest girlfriends have arrived. Aiofe Sinead Garland was welcomed into the world on Thursday, 24th of July. Her mummy and daddy are so excited to have her finally here. She was 9 days late. I was the only one who said Sinead was going to have a girl! Too bad I didn't put money on it.
Anya Eve McCoey was born yesterday morning, 2 August. She was 11 days late- showing some super diva behaviour. Mommy, Cara, is recovering well in hospital following a section.
The family photo.
Liam has the pick of the newest hotties in Belfast.