Popsicles make it all better

Today was kind of a lazy day here in the Davis household. Brett got up early with Hazel, letting me sleep another hour (have I mentioned how I love and adore the most amazing man in the world?). Then I got up, let him get ready to go and play tennis with Matt Rodriguez at the Tennis Club. He left around 11:30 not too long after I got Hazel down for her "morning" nap. She got a good nap, and woke up around 1, full of energy. We played and chased each other around the room and goofed off, then I decided to check something on the computer, so she wandered around touching each toy she owned. Cute.


Then she decided she wanted up on the couch. Now, she's been climbing up on the couches for about a month now (which is what prompted the living room rearrangement), so she's pretty good at it by now, actually, she's pretty good at climbing ANYTHING at this point...anyway, I'm not really concerned about her getting up there, it's being up there and getting back down without injury that we're currently working on.


Well, today, as she was lifting her Right Leg as high as her little hips would allow it, she lost her footing on her Left Leg...it slipped right out from under her. And it wouldn't have been so bad if she hadn't fallen face first on the side of a box, and bit her tongue. Screaming, crying, bleeding. I ran over and hugged and cuddled and held her as close as possible, but she was very upset, and rightfully so! I would cry if I bit my tongue hard enough to make it bleed! So, being new at this mom thing, and realizing she should have ice on it, but knowing she's not going to do anything to a frozen rag or an ice cube but play with it, I gave her a popsicle (or Lolly to you Irishmen/Brits). We found some all natural pops with coconut milk and pineapple puree, and she seems to love them. So, after one popsicle, all injuries were forgotten...I even got a hug and a kiss!


Frowns and a whole popsicle.....


Going...Going...Gone!!!! All Better!

Our Crazy weekends!

OK, so I'm really behind on what we've been up to. Here's a run down of the interesting things....

Last Saturday (the 13th) we dragged poor Granny up to the Northern Coast to see the Giants Causeway and Dunluce Castle. It was just the most gorgeous day, so we wanted to take advantage of it!

Granny at the highest point of the Causeway stones....

Granny walking down to the sea among the stones... Daddy and Hazel waiting patiently for Granny and Mommy to explore....

We decided to take the Coast Road home, and on our way back, we drove by some cool ruins. In a moment of spontaneity, we stopped to see what they were all about!

It turned out to be an old friary. So neat. Kind of creepy, not really sure why I felt they were creepy, but there was just something "not right" about it. It was still really beautiful there, though.

There were a ton of really old tombstones...some of them so worn away with age that you couldn't tell what they said...Most of the graveyard was old and unkept, much of the ground had caved in over old gravesites, pulling the stones to the side with them.After exploring some, we decided to head back to the car and get home so we could have dinner... we took Granny to Mama's Indian Kitchen (formerly Tamarind) to introduce her to Indian Food. Plus, it seems to be Hazel's favorite food, so we thought it only appropriate that we have her favorite on her Birthday! We called it a night after dinner, with all the exploring, we were full and exhausted!

Fast Forward to this weekend

With Granny safe and sound back in the States, we didn't really think ahead to what we were going to do this weekend, so Brett asked around at work, and, after some good suggestions from his co-workers, we decided to drive to County Fermanagh to see the Marble Arch Caves. Oh, my, goodness. They were GORGEOUS. You get to take a tour through the caves (it's the only way to go through them). Lead by our wonderful and patient tour guide, Warren, Brett, Hazel, and I, along with 2 other couples walked through the woods, down the side of a ravine, and to the mouth of the caves. Once inside, you get into a little boat, and take a short 5 minute ride through the beginning of the cave. Let me preface by saying that it isn't advisable to take a 1 year old on a tour of Caves. Now, we weren't doing anything dangerous. No climbing or spelunking (sp?) or anything, but she was less than thrilled to have to sit still in the boat, and walking in the dark was NOT her thing. There really wasn't anything for her to see and be excited about. God bless Warren, though, for being so patient with us. In an effort to keep her from talking or yelling (who knew your voice echos in caves :-P) we let her walk with our assistance, which meant we lagged behind much of the time. And if we weren't lagging behind, we were trying to keep Hazel from out talking Warren. It was really neat, though, and we plan on taking anyone who comes to visit. I wish we'd taken Adam and Lindsay as this defenitely would have been their kind of siteseeing!

Us, getting ready to embark on Cave Exploring...ignore the hair, it's getting cut this week...The mouth of the caves...
Inside the caves...


I highly recommend the caves if you are ever in Ireland!


Then we headed back toward Enniskillen and decided to stop at Florence Court House and Gardens. I could live there. It was just incredible. We drove in the main gate and through a couple of acres of land before turning the corner and seeing....the house....

(that's Hazel and I sitting on the front porch)

In my dreams of what a grande home in Europe should be...this is it. And the land surrounding was just acres upon acres of trees and open fields and sheep. Yes, Sheep. We had to drive very slowly to the carpark to avoid hitting any Rams or Ewes just lazily grazing about. I apologize for the lack of supporting pictures, but my head was not quite wrapped around picture taking yesterday....We bought house tour tickets and then decided to walk the grounds....

There was the Cattle Yard and the little alleyways leading back to it...The really cool old carriage in the carriage house...But the house itself just blew me away. This is a picture of the South 2/3 of the house... And this is the North 1/3 which contained the room we started our tour in called the "Colonel's Room"...

We only got as far as the library (which was the 3rd room after the Colonel's room and the foyer) when Stinky Bojangles decided to blow out her diaper in the stinkiest way possible, so we cut our involvement in the tour short in order not to gross our fellow tourists out....I was so bummed, I really wanted to see inside the rest of the house, but such is the life of a mom, right? Besides, we live here, so there will be ample opportunities to come back...
Anyway, the best part of the whole day was just walking and spending time with the 2 most important people in my life....I'll get many more chances to take pictures of houses and caves and castles, but how many more times will I get to take a shot like this....

Another day in La-La-Land

So, it's Friday, already! I can't believe it! I need to clean and such, but right now, at 8 am, I don't feel like it. So I thought about knitting, but I really don't feel like doing that either. I got in a huge fight with mom last night, which I hate, so I just kind of feel like sitting around being depressed all day. It's been one of those weeks, so I feel as though I have no more energy for anything today. I should walk with Hazel down to Mom N Tots today, but we'll see what I get to.

I sound like the worlds biggest pity party don't I?

I really don't mean to, I'm just, ya know...blah :)

Death of a mom....

Happy Birthday Hazel!!!!! yes, I'm aware I'm 6 days late, but it's been a crazy week....better late than never, right? The weekend was wonderful...we traveled around the northern coast with Granny on Saturday and then Sunday we got up early and had Ulster Fry (gotta introduce Granny to everything!) then got back and got ready for the party!

I bought Hazel a little pink dress, pink fairy wings, a pink tiara, and a princess wand....

We had cake... Friends... Presents.... Lotsa food.... It was a good time! Quick, though. We were setting up and clearing out all between 12:45 and 2 when they kicked us out. Then we went swimming with Michelle and her daughter Beth, Nicola and her son Alistair, Marina and Emma, Sarah and Isaac, and Granny....God bless Daddy, he took all the aftermath of the party home while we played. He's the best Daddy, ya know?

At the end of the day, I was exhausted. We all went home, got ready for bed, and I believe for a brief few hours I was clinically dead...well, atleast until HAzel woke up the first time during the night....

We have a 1 year old!!!!

YAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAY! Hazel turned 1 on Saturday (for those of you who don't know) and I just can't believe it! We had a great big party for her the the Larne Leisure Center (which is like a community gym) with all our friends! It was fast and crazy, but we had a good time and went swimming afterwards!
Here are a few pictures from the day!

Hurricane Hazel

So, yesterday, I got no sleep. Hazel napped for 1/2 hour TOPS. So I got 20 minutes of a nap, and I'm not a catnapper. There's no little naps that revive this mom. I need a proper amount of naptime....like atleast an hour or two....in order to get wind back in my sails.

While Hurricanes are hitting the Southern US as we speak, the Davis household had it's own hurricane rip through our home, leaving devistation in all areas that she touched......

We decided to rip apart 2 magazines, unload an entire package of diapers, unwind a ball of yarn, completely empty our toy box and smear juice all over the floor. The pillows were pulled off the couch, laundry unfolded, it was just amazing. She's only 1!!!! What am I going to do when she's 2/3/4/5??????

But to make up for the mess, I found her sitting in her toybox (which is stored under the TV) playing, so I took pictures b/c it was way to darn cute....

So, I forgave her for the mess. Do you blame me?

yay for sleep!!!!

So, I should have gone to bed straight from dinner last night, but I almost finished my alien for tomorrow instead. Isn't she fun???!!!!??? Brett and I got laughing so hard (I was going to say "the giggles" but boys don't "giggle") once I put her hair on. She probably won't win any prizes, but she defenitely won't if I don't enter her!
I'm so glad I was able to get some sleep last night...Hazel woke up around 12:30, just long enough to nurse, so we weren't up long. Then she slept until 7:50, which was WONDERFUL. So, today, during naptimes, I need to get pulled together all that needs to go to London with us. We have 2 available checked luggage...so the 3 of us need to fit into one large suitcase. It's only 3 days, so that shouldn't be a problem. Then I have to figure out what knitting I would like to take with me to the show; make sure the pack n play is all together and ready (it's our second checked luggage); make sure the large diaper bag is fully ready with toys and snacks and such so Brett survives his Daddy-Daughter Day tomorrow. Plus, I need to clean the house, and run into town to book Hazel's birthday party at the Leisure Centre and pick up travel size toiletries and Hazel snacks. I'm so glad today is Friday and Brett gets off early......