Christmas cheer!

Well as you can see I have been a bit absent from my blog the last couple of weeks but I do have a valid reason. Our Christmas has been a very housebound one as both the boys have been sick. Conor got it first and was pure miserable on Christmas day. I felt so sorry for him as he didn't enjoy it at all and everything was a drama and caused tears. He is on the mend but still not 100% and still very tired. Eoin also got a bit of what Conor had but then coupled it with the arrival of his first two teeth which caused him a serious amount of distress. He is still suffering and the dribble he is producing teething is causing him to cough and preventing him from sleeping which is preventing Lee and I from sleeping so all in all we have been a bit of an unhappy household this Christmas!!! Poor Eoin was so upset the other night he would only sleep while I held him in my arms and rocked him, so I ended up lying in the bed with him cradled in my arms trying to rock and not fall out of the bed. When I eventually got him settled I left him beside me where he was like a cling on for the night. Every time I moved him over a bit he would be back stuck to me so I spent the night trying to sleep on my side on about six inches of mattress!!! I had some pain in my back the next day!!! During the day Eoin still has cling on tendencies and is rarely off my hip. Unfortunately no one else seems to be good enough and he will only be entertained for a few mins even by Lee(just about long enough for me to run to the loo!). On the plus side I reckon I could take on anyone in an arm wrestling match and win!!!

Christmas was nice if a bit stressful but that was just because the boys were not well. Had they been their usual selves I'm sure we would have enjoyed it. It was lovely to see everyone but every time we met up with family we had to cut our visit short because we needed to get the boys settled, they were just wrecked the whole time and as a result were very cranky so not much fun to be around. We did our best though and tried to see everyone and leave before the boys got too bad.

I am a huge fan of Christmas and feel especially bad for Conor because he really missed out on the excitement of it all. I know he will still get to enjoy his presents now that he is feeling better and he tells me that he had a nice Christmas but I can't help felling that he could have enjoyed it so much more. There will be many more Christmases to come please God and hopefully he will not be sick for those!!!

As proof of my stressed-outness(not a word I know!) I took my first photos today from the entire Christmas season and at that I only took about 3 pictures!!! I just haven't had the time or the inclination - or 2 free hands! It is at times like this that I wish I could clone myself cos 1 Mammy is just not enough!!!!

Hope you all had a brighter Christmas than we did and best wishes to you all for the New Year!!
xx Joey.

Getting christmassy...

Christmas spirit starting to hit me now. Definitely feeling a bit giddy and excitable!!! Could be the caffeine though!

Christmassy? Really?

As Christmas draws nearer my brain is becoming more and more mush! I like to be organised and have things planned and know what I am getting everyone and have it all wrapped 2 weeks before Christmas but this year I am so all over the place I am starting to crack up. It is having a strange effect on me though, I am kind of cracking up in an unconcerned kind of way! It is all very alien. This is the first year since I met Lee that I don't have a clue what to get him. Usually I come up with something or he will look for something specific but I must be getting sensible in my old age cos I don't want to buy him something for the sake of it, I want to be sure he will use it (or it wont be half price in the sales after Christmas!!!!!).
It doesn't really feel like Christmas yet either but I think that is because I haven't wrapped one present yet! Maybe tonight when my sister gets home from England we will get hyper and it will get Christmassy. Then the real panic will kick in and I will be running around like a headless chicken - ha fun!
I really can't wait for it though, I am dying to see how Conor reacts to his presents, he is the perfect age and the excitement is building daily! Today is his last full day in playschool so we baked some cookies last night for all the kids and he was proud as punch bringing them in this morning. They have been very busy in school making snowmen and stockings and all sorts, the art work is coming home in handfulls daily!! I love it !!!
Photos of our hard work and the recipe will be up later - I promise!
Sugar cookie recipe as promised. Hope you like them!

So many thoughts.....so little time

It has been a while since I have had a chance to post anything and I am very confused about what to actually write because I have spent the last week or so coming up with things I wanted to write about but obviously never got a chance so here goes...

It has been a busy week or so, both the boys have been sick and still are not 100% but hopefully on the mend. They got a viral infection that is doing the rounds and ended up on antibiotics.

Conor got over it fairly quickly but we have to extend the antibiotic for Eoin for a couple more days. This causes all of us much upset as he is a disaster to try get medicine into. He is skilled in the art of keeping his mouth closed when there is medicine in his vicinity!! I feel so bad for him when I am giving it to him but it is a necessary evil!

Conor seemed to be all better but then a couple of nights ago woke with a sore ear about 1.15 and didn't get backto sleep until about5.30!!! Don'tknow what brought it on, it is so unlike him, this also meant that Lee and I were awake between these times and then Eoin woke about 6.30.

We were fairly tired yesterday after that but then to make things worse we both had our Christmas night out with work so we couldn't even get to bed early!! Right now I am sitting on the couch and nearly falling asleep typing so I will post now and add more later.

Long overdue photos...

Trying to upload some pictures of the boys but computer is not co-operating!!! Watch this space...

Photos at last!

Cookie Daddy

I have been on a bit of a baking kick for the last few weeks, making cakes and cookies. This week I found a new cookie recipe and bought some Christmas cookie cutters so Conor and I got down to work again - he is a great helper! His favourite parts are licking the spoon and playing with any left over dough to make his own shapes. I had some dough left over so last night decided to use it up and left Conor make his shapes when I was finished. He made Lee and then we baked him and then he ate his cookie daddy! Thoroughly enjoyed it and I love that he gets so much enjoyment out of it. I remember when I was little my favourite thing about helping Mum when she was baking was playing with the left over dough or pastry and then getting her to cook whatever I made. Obviously making it out of cookie dough makes it taste better than just out of pastry but either way it is good fun! I got all creative after he went to bed then and iced them putting decorations on the Christmas trees and giving Santa a hat etc. they looked really cute (and tasted good too!). Will definitely be making more of them soon and I will put the recipe on my recipe blog if anyone wants to try it.

Old and boring

It is a strange thing that is bothering me right now. I was out with the girls at the weekend and felt a bit like I had outgrown them. They were all very enthusiastic for a mad night out and I found myself very reluctantly being dragged along. I really enjoyed getting together again and we had a nice meal and some wine which was all lovely and I would have been more than happy to go for one or two drinks after that and then head home. Unfortunately that is not what the rest of them had in mind!! We ended up going to a nite club which I left about half one leaving them to their own devices. They stayed there till the death and then headed back to one of the girls houses until the early hours! I'm just not able to keep going any more. I am constantly thinking about the following day and the time I will be wasting if I am tired and hung over and time with my boys always seems more important. Weekends are short enough as it is so why would I want to waste a day eing unable to enjoy my time with them?
I know it sounds like I am old and boring but I just think my priorities are very different from most of theirs right now and they just don't seem to understand that. My idea of a perfect night out is a nice meal and a couple of drinks and home by 12 so I can try get a decent night sleep before Eoin wakes at 6.30. I think it will be staying that way for the forseeable future and I hope my friends can understand when I need to go home early and not see me as old and boring!