a long update

We’ve been in Ireland for more than 5 weeks.  Or maybe 6 weeks. I don’t know. Here’s a bit of what life is like for us here in Kilkenny…

For starters, it’s a lot more unplugged.  In a good way.  A very good way, even.  I am immensely enjoying not having phones ringing off the hook and only having limited internet.  Believe it or not, I rarely even look at a clock here!  In fact, there are only two working clocks in this house: one on the entrance wall and one on the microwave.  I don’t even have a clock beside my bed!   Owen is my alarm clock, but more about that  later…Ande has a very full schedule that definitely requires living by the clock, but not so with Owen and me.  In addition to being mostly unplugged from phones, internet, and time in general, we are also (mostly) unplugged from TV.  Irish basic television has four channels, one of which is solely in Gaelic. The other channels typically feature such vintage American hits as Murder She Wrote and Lizzie Maguire.  Other more up to date shows are a season or two (or three) behind what we see at home.  This has given me more time to do a couple of things: be a bit bored and read.   I was able to finish in less than 24 hours a very interesting book called The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nightime.  Despite the boredom at times, I really appreciate this chance to be unplugged. When will we have this opportunity again??

We share our house with half the team…the male half.  I will admit that I was none too thrilled about sharing our house at all, much less with the guys, but it’s gone really well.    Not perfect, of course, as a family of three learns to live with roommates.  It means there is little alone time for Ande and me, but we are making some and adjusting to not having it all at the same time.  I actually think it has been a better situation to live with the guys as opposed to the girls now that we’re doing it.  If you have to share your living space with two college-aged guys, these are the ones to do it with.  They really are fun personalities.  The three girls live about a ten minute walk from here. Well, technically they sleep a 10 minute walk from here as our house is the hub of all team activity, including all meals.  So in a way, 8 of us share this space.  Much adjusting has been made regarding activities that go on when Owen is sleeping.  Basically the place is on noise patrol when Owen is down.  The house is a two-story house with the bedrooms upstairs, and all noise from downstairs is somehow amplified in the bedrooms.  Noise patrol is going well, and the team has been overall mindful of how important it is for him to get the sleep he needs.  As Brittany said this week “If Owen is happy, we are all happy!”  I agree.

While on the subject…I went a little crazy at first trying to work out Owen’s sleep schedule, something I hadn’t anticipated at all. My kiddo has always been a very easy, naturally-scheduled sleeper who needs a good bit of sleep.  Okay, more sleep than anyone else’s baby that I know of!  But he has never had a problem falling asleep or staying asleep.  Well, take into account the extra folks + the loud house, not to mention the…oh…SMALL detail of it not getting dark here until about 11:30 PM and the sun blaring full-go by 4:30/5 AM!!!  and you’ve got yourself a difficult sleep situation for a 1 year-old.   Shoot, it was hard for me and Ande to adjust to ALL THAT SUN coming in the windows at night.  Owen was waking up three or four times thinking it was time to start a new day.  Finally, in a moment of sleep-deprived clarity I realized I should black out his window with a garbage bag…that made a tremendous difference.  Now he is happily sleeping through the night again.  Hallelujah!  That bit of craziness almost sent me right back on a plane toward home.

In general, life here is very expensive.  Things cost about 2 times what they cost at home.  So that was beyond discouraging at the start of the trip.  Actually, it didn’t hit me until we arrived in Kilkenny.  I saw that things were expensive in Dublin, but hey…we were on vacation.  Once we got here, though I freaked out a good bit, actually tearing up in the grocery store.  It was also VERY hard at first to find food for Owen (part of the crying for me in the grocery store) as so much here is not pasteurized.  It took three trips to the store before I found a brand of yogurt he could eat.  Even brands from home are not the same: Cheerios here are frosted like Frosted Flakes. Pure sugar.  (“Why is my baby shoving down these Cheerios, eyebrows raised in delight?” I wondered…once I tasted them, clearly they were no longer on his menu.)

The church has been amazing.  The people have been generous and kind and fun to be with.  I have really enjoyed the church’s community ministry of Toddler Group on Tuesday mornings where parents bring their kids to play with all kinds of great toys, enjoy some snacks, and socialize with each other.  Most of the parents don’t attend church, so it is a huge ministry of the church.  Basically, I am just doing my at-home job of caring for Owen in a different place, with different people, and no car. The rest of the team is working for the church morning until night: serving in the worship service, with local schools, with the youth group, leading Bible studies and prayer meetings and lots of other things…even picking up trash alongside the road!  There are times when it feels very isolating to be mommying here while everyone is off doing other things.  And there are some times when I love it.  There are peaks and valleys, to be sure.

We had four days off as a team to have a short vacation that was much-needed.  A family in the church loaned us their holiday home on the beach about 2 hours away.  We hiked a bit, played on the beach (the water is freezing), and in general rested.  Those without a child to care for even got to cliff jump in to the sea (with a guide, not just random unsafe jumping).  Resting meant no cooking either, so we splurged and ate out every night…at the same delicious pub.  Yeah, it was that good.  Pub food can REALLY be hit or miss, so it was a treat to have such good food in the only pub in town.

Now we are back to normal life here, enjoying our day off (Mondays).  I am sitting at the mall café using their internet and drinking a delicious Coke.  Mmm.  Random aside: ON THE BOTTLE, Coke here is described as “Sparkling Soft Drink with Vegetable Extracts”…does that mean I can stop feeling guilty about being addicted to it???  It’s practically V8!!

On a date in Kilkinney, an outside restaurant with a view of the castle

A boy and his (borrowed) car

Playground fun

The team

Owen’s favorite “toys”: a basket of colored clothes pins

The neighborhood dog that I have made my Ireland dog

The Castle

gaining skills

Last week, Owen learned to hug. I didn’t teach him. He just hugged me goodnight from his crib. Sweetest thing in the world.

Now he’s gaining waking skills. Before his first birthday, he’d take a step or two and fall down. This week, he’s really trying to walk everywhere. Here is some video captured from last week, right after I cried at the thought of watching my sweet babe grow up right before my eyes. He’s getting better and better each day, even within the day from morning to night.

Hope you enjoy…

pictures

Here are a few of Ande’s beautiful pictures…

At Dublin Zoo

Seriously exhausted after flying for 2 days then trying to get on Dublin time

On the Guinness Tour

Sleeping again after the zoo…still trying to get adjusted to the time

Enjoying the weather and the lawn in our backyard here

At Kilkenny Castle, the castle here in town. Beautiful lawn, great playground for kids…the place to picnic.

Loving the swings at the Castle’s playground

A view of down the river, the way we walk to downtown

More to come!

for those who asked…

Yes, we got our luggage!!!! It arrived WITH US on our Aer Lingus flight. I can’t even begin to describe what a miracle that was. I figured there was a 20% chance of ever seeing any of it again and certainly a 0% chance of it arriving with us. Oh happy day….

After a full three days of walking around the city (at least 20 miles), we are exhausted. Yesterday we tried Owen in the backpack carrier instead of me pushing him in the stroller. Owen LOVED it. Ande’s body didn’t love it so much. I mean, 35 pounds or so strapped on you all day will certainly take it’s toll. But he’s up for the challenge again soon, but today he definitely deserved a break. It was a stroller day.

Speaking of strollers, our stroller (Maclaren Techno XT) is THE stroller of choice here. Everyone has it. Everyone. Everyone everyone. Apparently, the Maclaren people make an excellent stroller for use in a walking city. Thanking God for His providence in providing ours months ago for less than $15.

Yesterday our aganda included the Dublin City Zoo and touring the Guinness factory. Owen loved the animals and has become quite the skilled animal-finder, pointing as soon as he spotted one. The Guinness tour surprised the heck out of me. I anticipated old, musty, boring factory tour. It was not that at all. It was a super modern building, with the inside designed to be shaped like a pint glass. The tour was amazing and at the end you get to claim your own pint at the Gravity Bar, boasting clear, beautiful views of the city from waaaaayyyy above it. We could easily see where we walked all day!

Today we went to the National Gallery of Ireland. There I saw, for the first time, REAL art!!! Picaso, Rembrandt, Renoir…I just never thought I would see it in person. I actually cried upon seeing the Monet. Ande later told me, smiling, “I knew you were going to cry.” Such are the little joys of being known in marriage.

Tomorrow we pack up and leave Dublin for a while, headed to Kilkenny. A new adventure begins.

we’re here!

We finally made it to Ireland, two very sleep deprived adults and a baby. We’ve spent the day trying to stay awake to get on schedule here. It’s almost time for bed. I can’t wait.

We’ve already seen a couple sites, including the stunningly beautiful Trinity College, and we ate lunch picnic-style St. Stephen’s Green. Pictures to come…

lens update

Thank you for the ideas of what to do about our broken lens situation. I was particularly intrigued by the idea of renting a lens for the summer. We were actually able to replace it. Hooray! Ande found an amazing deal on Craigslist and ended up with a new camera body, 2 lenses, and a Swiss Gear camera bag. He is little-kid-at-Christmas kind of thrilled. As my friend Rinnie said tonight, “Once you have a nice camera, you can’t go back”. (Her husband has the same camera as ours.) Craigslist comes through for us again.

In addition, Nikon agreed to repair our old lens since it should not have come apart as it did. Wow. Pretty amazing. I really doubted they would do the right thing, but apparently they are a right-thing kind of company. So it should be waiting for us when we return.

Now if I could only find that elusive pair of perfectly fitting jeans and cross off a million other things from my list, we’d be ready to go…

preparations

“We have a crazy life, don’t we?” I asked Ande as we packed our things for a week-long trip to the beach with RUF. “We do”, was his reply.

Always on the go. Always busy. Calendar full of events and appointments and activities. As we loaded up the truck with what seemed like all of our stuff, I mentioned how I would NOT be missing the hot, humid Florida summer this year. Ireland’s milder temperatures definitely sound like a nice break.

We leave on the 22nd. Plans have changed. New city, new team, new church, new mission. We’ll now be in Kilkenny, south of Dublin. RUF jokes that RUF stands for “R U Flexible?” By nature, no. I am not. But I am trying to be. There are some perks to flexibility. Because the house we’ll be staying in won’t be ready for us until later, we will be enjoying a family vacation in Dublin for 4-5 days prior. I am VERY excited about that. We know we are hitting the Dublin Zoo and a museum or two…and Ande has informed me we are certainly touring the Guinness Brewery.

My last day of work for awhile was Friday. My amazing coworkers gave me a bon voyage lunch, cards, and a travel bag filled with travel size shampoos, conditioners, lotions, toothpastes, etc. Being as to how our life is so crazy and I am always needing time off (typically for travel), I am grateful for such a great job, supportive coworkers, and a flexible boss…who assured me I would have a job when I returned. I know my work is a blessing from the Lord.

There is so much to do: packing, cleaning, paying bills, doctor appointments to squeeze in, meeting with our summer house/dog sitters… Much has fallen through the cracks. Friends have not been called back. The elliptical machine did not see me this week. Plans of delicious meals to be made were replaced by sloppy joe reality…but such is this crazy life.

Major bummer (understatement) of the week: Ande’s camera broke. Well, technically the AMAZING lens responsible for all our great family photos is what broke. Just in time for our trip. We are trying to decide what to do. I can’t imagine having to buy another lens. Any ideas??

Currently enjoying: being with friends with lots of little ones, watching Owen become a more skilled walker (still timid without holding our hands), pool time today-just me and Ande- while baby napped, and now listening to Owen “talk” to his fireman doll Flynn.

A crazy life, but a sweet one.

for all the fans

Here is an animoto video of Owen’s birthday party fun…guaranteed to make you smile or your money back!

not afraid

Owen was not afraid, not even a little, to dig into the birthday cupcake. For a kiddo who has only had the sugar found in fruit, this was a whole new world…although I think he may have seen his momma devour a cupcake this way a time or two…

Thanks to all the family and friends who made Owen’s birthday party such fun for Owen and for Owen’s parents. It really was a celebration!

one year

I can’t even believe that I have a one year-old today. I have said it probably a hundred times or more, but I’ll say it again: this has been the fastest year of my life.

At nearly every month throughout the year, I have thought “I know EXACTLY what I was doing on this date __ months ago.” Nothing else has stamped my life like that. Even with marriage, which is HUGE, I only know the date of our wedding, not the time we were pronounced husband and wife. But with birthing Owen, I know the exact time he came out of my belly and into the world. I know what I was doing two days before, an hour before, five minutes before, and exactly at 3:08AM. That’s crazy to me. I wonder if I’ll always be able to remember the details.

I vividly remember the nurse showing him to me for the first time. My hands were tied down during the surgery, so I couldn’t hold him at first. She put him close to me and all I could do was lean forward and kiss him…but the only place I could reach to kiss was his mouth. I laugh now as I remember thinking “Is it weird for me to kiss him on the mouth?”!! And then my next thought “Well, he’s my baby! I can do whatever I want!” Now that little mouth gives me sloppy, wet kisses, and it is just about the sweetest thing ever.

Even my scar (which I never thought I would get used to, much less like!) is beautiful to me. That scar reminds me what I went through for my son; it is a reminder of love…and it reminds me of the scars Jesus bears out of love for me. I’m sure He sees the beauty in His scars, too.

Waiting…a couple hours before Owen’s arrival

Proud new parents

Newborn Owen

Owen now: first time in forward-facing car seat

Owen now: kissing daddy through the sliding glass door

Owen now: busy, busy, busy! (and, yes…still a sand-eater!)

Happy birthday to my (not-so) little boy.