Aine wearing mommy's winter hat! 

Aisling is getting out of her harness...hopefully Friday!

I should have posted yesterday, but was too lazy!

Yesterday was Aislings hip ultrasound and the doctor said that her hip looked good! If the orthopedic surgeon agrees on Friday, then her harness comes off! Woo hoo! What great news to get! She was great during the whole process, didn't cry, even smiled at the doctor! I really can't wait to bathe her in a bathtub! And put some trousers on the girl...I have so many cute outfits that Aine wore that I'd like to see her in too!

As for Weight Watchers, I was down 2.5 lbs last night! I ate more points and exercised a bit more and that seemed to help.

Today the girls and I went to Imelda's house for a visit with her and baby Lauren. They had fun playing with puzzles and shape sorters and watching a little Barney... It was a grey rainy day, so it was good to have somewhere different to go to keep Aine busy! We stopped at the health nurse before the visit and Aisling is weighing in at 13 lbs 11 oz and Aine is doing everything a 2 year old should be doing developmentally so no need to bring her back at 2...cool.

Aine is in love with a new video: Elmo in Grouchland ("wel-wo" she calls him)...she is still driving me crazy and I am still exhausted, but she is learning so much new stuff every day and is so cute it is hard not to smile!

I can't wait to get Aisling out of her harness so she can roll around and do things 3 months olds are supposed to do! She is such a good baby, hardly fusses except for those icky teeth coming in! Wish her sister was so good! Hee hee!

Anyway...tomorrow I have toddler group and two walks planned, plus I'm minding my friend's son at toddler group...should be busy!

Aisling sucking her thumb. Isn't it cute!?? 

Nice weekend visit from Maura

Dave's mom came down on her birthday weekend for a visit. Although Aine was a bit hesitant on Friday night (mainly because she was tired I'd say...), she loved having her nana from Dublin visit. Nana brought her some nice books to read, and a cute soft toy for Aisling...spoiling them good :-)

Dave, Maura and Aine went to Carrick on Suir for the afternoon Saturday which gave me some time to work on my quilt I'm making for Aine... We made a nice steak dinner with roast potatoes and a blackberry cobbler for dessert for Maura's birthday! I enjoyed it and still kept within points.

Today we went for a hike in West Waterford mountains, to Mahon Falls...It was lovely and Aine loved it! She calls water "boat" (logical I guess, since we probably pointed to boats in the water at some point to give her the association!) and kept pointing to the waterfall going "boat", "boat"!

Well...here's hoping to an unbroken nights sleep. It has been a while, it is either one or the other lately!!

Walked 7 miles today, swam 60 lengths...

Yes I am crazy, but I actually feel refreshed tonight. Tomorrow's sore muscles might have me singing a different tune, but I really enjoyed my walk today around the beautiful countryside near my house...somewhere I hadn't walked before, with my friend Ann, then a swim! I thought I'd do 10 then went to 20, soon it was 30, then I just went nuts and went for 50 lengths...I stopped for a while but got bored, so back again for a few more lengths before getting out! I want to start having at least three good walks a week without kids, where I can go at a faster pace, plus my more social walks in the mornings with the kiddies...

Aine drove me nuts today as usual, messing up the house quicker than I could clean it! She has become lollipop obsessed, ever since the butcher gave her one yesterday in town. "Yaya" she calls it, and now whines for them...help!! However, she also ate apples, bananas, dried fruit, cheese...lots of good things today, so her one "yaya" isn't so bad!

A woman at toddlers said that Aine has turned into a real little girl these days...she is a bit of a bully, stealing baby dolls away from older girls and making them cry! I have to keep giving them back! I am trying to teach that child manners, but I think it will take a while. She does say please and thank you now though... (thank you sounds like ga goo, but it is close enough!)

The night before last Aisling was having a bad night teething...I never slept longer than 1.5 hours that night, and then Aine woke up bright and energetic at 6am... Dave didnt come home from work till about 7pm...needless to say...I was exhausted...and then Aisling cried for about 30 minutes without stopping before finally going off to sleep. Dave was to give her the night feeds, but typically, she slept till 7am. So...he is on night duty again!

I took the girls into town yesterday and got Aine two new pairs of shoes, a purple girly pair and some cute hiking boots...she LOVES shoes...a bit of Imelda Marcos in her!

She kept saying "beast"this afternoon... I thought she wanted to see her favorite show, Maggie and the Ferocious Beast...but turns out she was saying "beach" for the Baby Einstein Baby Neptune video...watched that about 80,000 times today, she kept getting the remote control and nearly could rewind it on her own!!

Had a dip in the hot tub tonight after my exercise...heavenly! Off to bed now...

Lost 1.5 lbs in WW, got my first stone!

14.5 lbs lost so far on Weight Watchers, woo hoo! But I hope I don't struggle so much anymore...am going to stop weighing myself and eat more...but not TOO much!

Bad, bad day for kiddies...Aisling is still not eating and cries everytime we try to feed her, if we don't try to feed her she smiles...in between chewing her hand off... So...am probably going to have a long unsettled night as she doesn't have enough in her tummy for a good sleep. Hopefully she will be better tomorrow. This is the first time she's been bad about eating...

Had a visit from friend Olive and her daughter Allie today...Aine had great fun playing out in her Wendy House (playhouse) with her!

Did a short walk today and took kids to toddler...Aine is definitely becoming an independent girl.

Now...if the teeth could arrive for both girls I might sleep again!

NIght Night everyone! 

Aine and her teddy get ready for bed 

Putting teddies to bed

Aine is getting a real imagination these days...she spent a lot of today dragging around off-cuts of fabric I gave her (blankets for her teddies!) and putting her teddies to bed, giving them kisses tucking them in, the works... She also loves to make "tea" which usually consists of her stealing my water bottle and pouring it (and usually missing) into teacups and bowls... She is a character!

Was a wet and windy day, so no walk. The scale is not being my friend. I am eating well, but the scale is stalling this week and went UP this morning. Wish I was the type that could wait and get weighed once a week, but nope, I check every morning... I wonder if I'm not eating enough...I used to eat a bit more when my weight stalled last time, so will go up to my allotted amount and see if it helps this week... crossing fingers that I can manage one more pound...I hope so!

Sent out mom's quilt today...should be making its way to you within 5-10 days! Happy Birthday!

Was so tired that while Aine and Aisling napped...I did too! Still not getting great sleep quite yet, but certainly better than a few months ago!

Will post some bedtime pictures of Aine tonight... She is loving her teddy bear these days!

Aisling at 3 months 

Aisling is 3 Months old today!

I can't believe how time flies.

I looked at her 1 month and 2 month pictures and what a change...especially from the first month! She is so vocal and strong now...and so happy!

Her sister is becoming a real country girl out here in Carrigeen...she eats apples off our trees and blackberries from our hedgerows while we walk... She'll eat more than a dozen berries while we're out walking, she just keeps saying "please" (meese, in Aine speak) for more! Aine is finally getting her head around saying thank you now as well...

Dave and I went on a nice 3 mile walk round the village today with the girls...I worked on some more quilting projects and did some housework...a nice day.

Yet another one of Aine's weird napping positions... 

Aisling with her hands full! 

Wait mom...let me take this call... 

I did it!

I finished mom's quilt today and even boxed it up ready to send on Monday! I also finished another quilt block for an online monthly project...feeling very productive today...

My poor girls are both teething...Aine was up at 5am ready to start the day...we just about managed to keep her in bed till 6 then I got up with her and Aisling! I figure she woke up with pain in gums and decided she was ready to go...

She is getting to be a real little girl these days...wants a handbag like mommy's and walked around with daddy's sunglasses and phone...very cute! I'll post a photo up here... Aine is learning words constantly. "Here...go" (i.e. here you go) is a new favorite... She is learning animal sounds as well... I can't believe she'll be two soon!

Aisling went to the doctor for a skin check yesterday and the nurse said "that one will be walking by 10 months"... Aisling is very happy and very vocal these days and the nurse thought she was just like one of her children who walked early. So it was nice to hear that from someone who deals with babies in braces everyday... of course she could say that to all the mommy's to make them feel better! But she thought Aisling would be "flying" after she gets out of her harness (translation from Irish terminology: flying = catching up fast :-)).

Was working on printing out photos of the girls to put in albums and frames today...need to get a few more of Aisling up!

Tomorrow Aisling will be 3 months old...time sure does fly!

Not being a very faithful blogger...must improve!!

The girls are both teething and I'm not getting much sleep these days...so I've forgotten to post most nights lately! Here's hoping for a more restful night tonight! Both girls have nappy rash, and Aisling is drooling rivers from her mouth and slowly gnawing her hand off!!

Aine is learning so quickly these days...and is so cute. She wanted my purse this morning so I gave her own one with her own coins and keys...she loves it :-)

Was down 1 lb at WW last night...it actually said 2 lbs, but then I stepped off and when I stepped back on again it said 1 lb and wouldn't budge again...bummer!! oh well..hopefully that other pound will be gone next week!

Had a nice walk today with the girls. The mother and toddler group is back in session so we'll be going there again tomorrow.

Working on mom's quilt tonight. Hope to have it finished and posted by Monday!

Nothing much else to report, but will try to update more often. I do have Aine stories and anecdotes...but I'm much too tired to recount them tonight, so...I'll save them for another day.

Rainy Day

Was a wet miserable day here... Dave went off with Aine this morning for a few hours and I did a bit of sewing and comforting my teething Aisling. She is always to be found drooling and with her hand in her mouth these days...and a bit fussier...but she is still mainly a very smiley happy baby... Aine is also getting her last teeth definitely...but was in better mood today.

Not much new to report...just doing the basic housework and babycare...working on mom's quilt...hope to have it sent off to America soon!

Will take more pics and post tomorrow...

Back after a brief hiatus!

Ok...so I got lazy while we had visitors and never blogged...I'm sorry!! Mom, you are probably the only one reading this...and I know you were out buying a house in Oregon, so you probably didn't miss me not posting, heehee!!

We had a great visit with Geoff, Katy and the kids. As one would expect, we did a lot of kid related activities...trip to indoor playground, circus, beach, aqua fun park... plus a fun excursion for the quilting mamas to the closest quilt shop (1 hour away!) and nice meal out with all the families... Katy helped me to pin a big queen size quilt to start machine quilting...plus she helped me with an I Spy quilt I'm doing for Aine... An I Spy quilt has lots of pictures so you can ask your toddler, where is the teddy bear, where is the car, etc and they can point them out to you... hope she likes it...it will be part of her 2nd birthday present in November. It is great to have another friend that likes to quilt!

Anyway...even eating out a lot last week, I managed to be down 2 lbs at Weight Watchers...I'd love to lose two more this week, but I was bad today...chocolate on a stressful day is definitely my downfall! I should really learn not to try to do too many errands at one time these days...Aine is getting to be a right little madam, and is teething with her nasty back molars and very whiney and clingy lately too...

Aisling had her appointment with the doctors today for her skin check. She'll have another ultrasound in 3 weeks time and hopefully will be out of her brace soon after that. There is no guarantee, though, so keep your fingers crossed still for us that she has improved!

Anyway...will try to get back to daily posts now! And will get more pics up soon!

Aisling's latest weigh in

After our walk around Mooncoin today we stopped at the public health nurses office for the well baby clinic and I got Aisling weighed...I had gotten the wrong weight last time...she had been 11 lbs 13 oz 2 weeks ago and I'd thought she'd said 13 lbs 11 oz!! I had her write down the weights for me...if that had been true she'd have gained 3 lbs in a few weeks...guess I got that one wrong!! Anyway she is up to 12 lbs 10 oz!

Did shopping in Tesco today...our friends Katy and Geoff and their kids Sarah, Olivia and Alex are coming for a visit from London. They'll be here from the 2nd-7th, we're looking forward to it!
Their kids are looking forward to visiting our hot tub, hee hee!

Kids were pretty good today, considering we were out most of the day. I had a chocolate attack and ate a hearty meals worth of chocolate...bad girl! But I am managing to do okay...still not over my WW allotted amount!

Better get going and get the house straightened...guests will be here tomorrow!