Brett's Birthday (aka Catch-up pt 2)

So continuing on my 2 month catch-up....

Brett Turned 30 in March!!!!!

I think he was trying desperately hard to get out of having a birthday party (I think that was secretly the motivation behind Scotland that weekend), but Jenn Smith (Matt's fiance) and I planned one anyway...for the Friday night a week prior! We went to Chili's restuarant (yes the American chain) in Belfast on Friday night the 20th with a bunch of his co-workers! It was great!!! I baked a cake for him that morning, which by the way, stressed me out to no limit, but Mom gave me a great cake recipe that was very easy to follow and (thankfully) turned out perfect!Including Brett, and I, there were 12 adults and one shorty (Hazel). It was a great crowd and although I think Chili's is a little worse for wear, I think everyone had a great time!

Here are some pics!

From 12 o'clock (clockwise): Hani, Sandra (who wonderfully showed up even with Hani's illness), Ian, Matt, Jenn, Tracey, Jill, Our (very patient) waitress, Tony, Brett, Hazel, (insert me here) , Casey, Emma, and Brian.
Sharing appetizers...Matt began the night with a "girly" drink (a fruity margarita)So Tony and Brett had to have one... Hazel found a new buddy in Casey...Presentation of the Cake and singers!Brett and I......and Tony...Nothing ends the night right like a boob grab from one of the bosses!

Here's a little video of Brett blowing out his candles!

Missing March

So, I've been a little MIA this month. I really don't have any explanations as per WHY I've been unable to blog this past month, but, well, I didn't. Hmmm.

What's new in our world....

Hazel's growing daily. Has become a huge fan of Hello Kitty. Has decided that running is her favorite form of travel. Has watched Horton Hears A Who more times than I like to admit (though we do other things while it is playing). Has stopped eating all of a sudden. Well, she's decided that 2-3 bites per meal is sufficient for her energy through the day. Everyone assures us that it's normal around this age as they don't grow as fast and don't need quite as much as they did. So we're basically letting her eat as much as she wants. I don't want her developing a bad eating habit b/c Brett and I force food on her, and as she's growing and not losing weight, we figure everyone's right and this is just normal. She's become a HUGE fan of beans. Baked beans to be more precise, and she eats quite a bit of them, so we keep them stocked in the cabinet. She's become obsessed with babies at our Toddler groups, which is making the fact that we have to wait to get preggo until July hurt just that much more. My heart goes out to those families who try for years to get pregnant. The waiting just SUCKS and at least I know I only have to wait until July (well, provided I get preggo quickly which is doubtful). I know the waiting for me is agony, so I can't even begin to imagine what it's like for them.

Hmmm...What else....

Brett turned 30 on the 28th! We celebrated on the 21st with all his co-workers at Chili's in Belfast and had a great time (I'll post more about this along with pics on our family blog) then we were in Edinburgh for his actual birthday. It was a great weekend together!

Last week was a rough one. Brett was sick all week, and our washing machine gave out, which was 2 days of un-ending drama. But atleast we got a new one quickly! Let's just say I cannot wait to get back to America where the wash takes 1 1/2 hours from start to finish..including the drying. But that will come soon enough I suppose!

Speaking of moving home....I'm not sure where we'll actually end up, but if we do (please Lord) get transferred to Lafayette, then I've found 2 houses I love. I think I'm tempted to take a look at them when I'm home. If for no other reason then to get a general idea as to the areas we wanna live and the size house we want to get. After living in this closet for 2 years, I'm positive that ANYWHERE we live will feel enormous. All I ask for is a dishwasher that works and a washer/dryer that takes a reasonable amount of time to do one load.

Well, I should get back to wrestling the shorty....here's a clip from our trip to Scotland for your viewing pleasure. It's Hazel and I sitting in the front seat of the car, parked, waiting to load onto the Ferry to come home. We're playing backgammon on my DS.

The Absense of 2 Months

Hi all! It's been WAY too long. I know. I've been sorely neglecting all of my blogs, which makes me wonder if I need to get rid of one. I feel like I hate having a separate blog for our family stuff and one for my days with Hazel. It feels like I'm leaving Brett out...anyway, things will stay the same until I figure out a good way to combine the 2 without deleting the entries from one.

So here's what we've missed in 2 months...

In February we took a weekend trip to County Tyrone/Fermanagh (tech it was Fermanagh but we drove through and were really close to Tyrone where my ancestors are from). We stayed in a place called Lusty Beg which is a small, privately owned island just off Boa Island. It was a very last minute decision to go. I think we just needed the chance to get away from everything. We made the cabin reservations Friday morning, and by Friday evening, we were on our way. It was about a 2 1/2 hour drive, mostly in the dark, so there's not really much interesting to tell about the drive. Once we got to the island, we took a 2 car ferry over to the island, had dinner and settled in for the night. Our cabin was HUGE for 3 people, 2 bedrooms and a full bath upstairs, 1 bedroom and a full bath downstairs, with a large main living area and kitchen off to the side. Hazel was in heaven running around the large place.

Saturday we relaxed in the morning...

headed off to Breakfast at the lodge...

Then set off to discover the area.

We found Castle Archdale, where Hazel immediately made friends with a stick. It was her buddy that she carried all over the ruins...

Then we set off to find some other sites of interests but got all turned around, so we headed off to see Castle Coole. And, yes, if you're wondering, it is pretty cool, though I prefer Florence Court. Plus it was closed for the season, but atleast we got to walk the grounds...

That was our Saturday.

Sunday was focused entirely on being a family, so we got up and relaxed...

packed and headed home.

And that was Lusty Beg. We're going back. It was THAT fabulous :)

Part II of this catch up will come tomorrow as we cover Edinburgh!

Longest night in history

Last night, to put it mildly, didn't go well.

Let's start by telling you all that Sunday Hazel ran a fever all day. Had no other ailments, other than being slightly more tempermental than normal, so we just treated her with Nurofen and tylenol to get her fever down and laid low all day. That night was awful though, as she woke up shortly after we put her to sleep, just sobbing. She sat on Brett's lap through Lost and then went back to bed.

Monday, because she was running a fever on Sunday, we stayed home until Daddy got home from work and then went to the grocery in Carrickfergus. She acted fine all day, no fever, but not much of an appetite.

Yesterday (Tuesday), we got up, took Daddy to work, she was in a good mood, came home, got ready for mom and tots. She wasn't grouchy, per say, but being "Terrible Two-ish" so it took longer than normal to get ready, but we got there on time, and she seemed to have a great time. We ran into town for 1/2 hour to get dinner, go to the bank, and I didn't take the stoller as we didn't have far to go and I figured she could use the walking. Well, 10 minutes in, she simply sat down, exhausted, and refused to go farther. So I finished our errands and headed home. Nap time went down without much of a fuss, we went to get Daddy, had dinner, then put her to bed at her usual time after Bear in The Big Blue House. She seemed keen on laying down when I took her upstairs, didn't want held, just wanted to be in her bed. She even Shhhh'd me when I sang, so I figured she was ready to crash.

WRONG.

As soon as I left her room, the screaming started. So, I though she was doing her tantrum thing she does when Mommy and Daddy are doing something without her. 20 minutes laters, she was still crying and she was crying harder, so I went up to get her. Usually when this happens, her and I go sit on mommy and daddy's bed in the dark and snuggle and sing and talk. But this time, she just sobbed. Hard. She was acting stuffy (I think from all the crying), so I yelled for Brett so he could come up to fill and turn on her humidifier. Too quietly. He didn't hear me. So I yelled again. Again, not loud enough, he didn't hear me. So I yelled one last time, and I must have scared her, because she started sobbing harder and so hard she couldn't breathe. Sigh, I just hugged her and kissed her and Brett came running, not b/c he heard me, but b/c he could hear her. We sat upstairs for a good 1/2 hour until she calmed down enough to go to sleep. That was 9:30/ 9:45. Brett and I decided to head to bed about 11, I got a shower, then snuck in to turn down her humidifier. Successful. Went to bed and pulled out my book. 1/2 way through my chapter, we heard moans. But we didn't think much of it as they were quiet and inconsistant. Dreaming, we thought. But they got louder, and more persistant, so I snuck in. She was crying in her sleep, so I rubbed her back and her head, then turned the humidifier back on. She was out. Mommy went back to bed. 1 minute (literally) later, the crying picked back up. So I went in and picked her up, but she was still mostly asleep, so I thought I would take her in with us, lay her down and when she was really asleep, I'd put her back in her room. No go. This kid is a tosser and a turner. She draped herself in the most hysterical positions over Brett and I. But she never really fell sound asleep. So I finally decided she should go back to bed as she couldn't get comfy with us. Wrong.

To sum up this story, I ended up sleeping part of the night on Hazel's floor next to her crib, b/c the second she couldn't see me, she would start in on the hysterics. Then I finally was sure she was sound asleep and went to my bed for a whopping 2 hours. Then they hysterics started again. so we came downstairs, but I was so dead that by 5, we had to come back up. I couldn't do another second.

Brett, Hazel, and I are zombies today. I'm thinking it was teething. Any other ideas? I can't do another night like that.

Bubbles!

Last night I broke out the bubble machine for the first time in many months b/c Hazel's been on a bubble kick lately and I just can't get motivated to blow that many bubbles for that long. Hazel LOVED it. We had fun watching her play....

Sleeping Beauty

I sincerely wish I had pictures to share from seeing the Scottish Ballet perform Sleeping Beauty by Tchaikovsky at the Belfast Opera House last Saturday night, because it was just breath-taking. The theater was opened in 1895 and still looked very old and had that old musty smell to it. We had seats in the section know as "The Gods" which was the second balcony, but had a fabulous view of the entire stage. The rows in this section were seperated by levels about 3 feet higher than the one in front of it. Brett and I had aisle seats in the first row and it was so fun!!!!

The dancers were fabulous. Brett was slightly disturbed by the 2 guys dancing together at one point. But it was a crucial part of the story (a blue bird was trying to show Prince Charming how to find Sleeping Beauty), so he mustered through it.

I would love to see a huge ballet company perform sometime. The Scottish Ballet was a smaller group (though still a fair size) which I'm sure lead to a smaller budget, so I'd love to see what a larger company with a bigger budget could do. Some day, though. I got to see my ballet, and I'm more than happy that I got to go!

Thank you, Brett, for treating me!

Dress up

We bought a dress-up jewelry set at Asda yesterday. Now, it's not much, just 3 necklaces, 3 braclets and a pair of clip on heart earrings. Don't worry, I've been watching her while she plays with it all...

Anyway, we've been dressing up Lumpy with the necklaces and earrings. She's just fascinated by the earrings. I clipped them on her and she waddled around the room like a queen with them on. I'll get a picture at some point. For now we're enjoying the playing....