Mothers of little boys.... and girls....

I love this saying- which I have on a fridge magnet...

'mothers of little boys work from son up to son down,' 

well that has been true this last week, the 'son' has been up all day AND NIGHT, and I need to add the daughter in there too, only there isn't a saying for that. Parenthood has been tough this past week. Both Lauren and Dylan's sleeping patterns have gone awry. Lauren's bedtime routine seems to have gone out the window. In fairness, Lauren was screaming the house down, so it's no surprise that Dylan didn't sleep well. She used to sleep through the night perfectly, but the last few nights she has woken up and screamed for two hours. It's been exhausting. Thankfully she slept last night.

It has been hectic here. Dylan is starting back to school tomorrow, We finally have everything ready. So I haven't had a second to spare. I've been exhausted,  so I've neglected my blog and taking any new pictures of the kids.

At least I can provide an update. Lauren in starting to use more and more words every day, although she's also developed a temper, she gets frustrated when she's trying to tell you something and you can't understand her. She is becoming a toddler, and her own personality is becoming more obvious. She is a very determined and loving little girl.  It's difficult to say little girl, but that's what she is now. She'll always be my baby, but she's a little gir to everyone else now... there I said it again, little girl!

Dylan was at the GAA football camp last week, and his team won the league and he got a medal. He's getting a collection of them now. We're very proud of him. He has taken to every sport over the summer. He's really enjoyed the holidays. He will start into his second year of primary school (senior infants) tomorrow.  It's only like yesterday he started school.  My little boy is growing up too fast. You think it takes so long, but I really feel that it's happened in the blink of an eye.

I'll be glad to get them back into the school routine. Before I know it, I'll be getting organised to the Halloween school break and Christmas! We'll be heading to Disneyland Paris next Thursday. I can't wait to see their faces. The are going to love it.  My parents are coming along with us for some quality time together.We are going for five days, so trying to get everything organised for that, and school, and entertain two kids has been tiring. Derek's parents are off exploring America for the next few weeks, so the kids are looking forward to them coming home. Especially Dylan, because his Gran promised to bring him a basketball shirt!.

Hopefully I can get the kids settled back into their routines. I'd say Dylan will be tired out after school so it shouldn't be a problem. I will have to be strict with Lauren. There is such a difference in her today, since she had a good night's sleep last night. She's been so cranky the days before, as she was exhausted and bad tempered and just not a happy girl. I wouldn't be at all surprised to see a new back tooth pop up over the next few days.

And in other news, I passed my driving test!! I'm so proud of myself. I don't know why I put it off for so long! so there's no stopping me now. I've also lost a few pounds and I'm losing inches too. I've found it really hard to shift my baby weight from Lauren. I never had this problem with Dylan. I guess when you get a little older it's harder. My friends say it's tougher too if you've had a c- section. Which I did with Lauren. I'm really determined now though to get it off. I'm at the gym four times a week, and I'm trying to be sensible with what I eat. So watch this space!

That's all for now

Surprise.....

Last weekend we celebrated my mum's 50th birthday. She didn't know we were coming down. She thought she was going to dinner with my brothers, but when she got to the restaurant Derek and I were there! She was so surprised and so happy. We had a really lovely meal and had lots of laughs and we all caught up, all the family together... happy birthday mum....

                            

My brother Stephen and his girlfriend Siobhan

My Brother Gary

It was a really lovely evening, for a very special, and treasured mum...

Under construction.....

My blog is under serious construction... i.e. it was lovely and I had a lovely new header and design, and I managed to mess it up. I now have a big gap between the main body and my header, I will have to go and get the kids ready so I don't have any more time to tinker with it. I will have to set aside some time later to try and fix it up.... if you have any advice, please help!!

So, hopefully it will all look normal again soon.--

I will always remember you....

As this is my blog for my children, I have a very special entry to make. I want them to remember a very special person in our family. My Grandmother, Marie

On the 29th of June 2008, we lost the oldest member of our family. My Grandmother was taken from us. A day doesn't go by when I don't think of her face, her eyes or the sound of her voice. The last time I saw my Grandmother, I told her that I was expecting her second great- grandchild and the next week she was gone.

When I go back to that day when the phone rang, I knew that something was wrong, I called out 'who's on the phone' Derek said 'oh nothing' and within minutes my parents were at the door. They walked to the kitchen and I followed. My mother looked at me and said 'no, she's gone' and the whole world as I had known it was ripped from my grasp. My soul was dragged from within me, and my heart was cracked in two. I felt that the floor was gone from below me, and I was falling. I never felt pain like it in my life before. I never thought I could get through it.

I was five weeks pregnant with my daughter who would never see her face. She would never know the woman that I had spoken to every day of my life. Who along with my mother, had shaped my life and helped me to find the woman that I had become.

At her funeral I sang for her, all my love for her came through my music. She was my biggest fan, she came to everything I sang at. So this was my turn to sing just for her. Then she was gone. I would never see her again.

Dylan - she loved you more than you could ever know. She always talked about you. She was proud of you and she would have loved the little boy you have become. She would have been proud of you on your first day at school. I believe she was there in spirit. She played with you, she made you laugh, she held you on her lap when you cried. You were her first great- grandchild. She looked into your face when you were born and she was so proud of you. She is still watching over you and loves you....

Lauren - you may never know her, but she's all around you, I promise you will know every detail of her and how much she would have loved you. The last thing I told her was about you, so she knew you were going to be here. She's here, she's behind you, she's there in your heart and you will always have your own angel and you are named for her, you are Lauren Marie Doyle for her..... Her memory and her name within you.

I sometimes imagine I can feel her presence, maybe it's silly, but I feel her. Maybe it's because I miss her so much that I imagine I can feel her all around me.

I promise you my special and wonderful granny, I will never spend a day when I don't think of you. I will never forget everything about you, I will remember your laugh, your smile, your eyes, I will remember how much I love you. And finally, I forgive you, I forgive you for not going to hospital that day. Maybe you were ready to go. You had enough and wanted to go. I forgive you. And I love you. For now and for every day that I breathe. I read this in the Irish Independant, and I feel it was written for how I feel...

' She is gone

You can shed tears that she is gone-

Or you can smile because she lived.

You can close your eyes

And pray that she will come back-

Or you can open your eyes

And see all that she has left.

Your heart can be empty

because you can't see her, or You can be full of love that you have shared.

You can turn your back on tomorrow and live yesterday.

Or you can be happy for tomorrow because of yesterday.

You can remember her and only that she is gone.

Or you can cherish her memory and let it live on.

You can cry and close your mind, be empty and turn your back

Or you can do what she would want:

Smile, open your eyes,

Love, and go on,'

I am here because of you and thank you, thank you for all the memories, thank you for being you. You were strong, you were independent, you were hardworking, you never waited for anyone to do what you could do yourself. You were an inspiration to women. you were you, and you were my gran.... goodbye..... look down on me, because I'm here.. always smiling back.....

Your Grand- daughter

Newbridge House, Donabate

We all emerged from the dreaded '24 hour bug' this weekend,  we took some baby steps, rather tentatively back into our routine. Although slightly worse for wear. It was a very tough week, so this weekend when we opened the curtains and saw the sun shining, we decided to make the most of the day and go on a family day trip. So off we headed to Newbridge House, they have a beautiful park there, with stunning grounds and an animal farm. Lauren had her first real day playing in the playground.. I mean actually playing! it was precious. Dylan pushed her on the swings and brought her down the slides. Of course Dylan loved the playground, as he usually does.

I loved when they were on the swings there's nothing like the squeals of excitement as your little ones swing, and the big smiles on their faces. Being outside in the fresh air and sunlight!

Dylan found this tube slide and spent ages on it. Lauren ran round trying everything out, she eventually settled on a strange yellow duck!

After drinks and snacks it was time to go to the animal farm. We strapped Lauren into her buggy, but Lauren decided that she was much too big for this, and is more than capable of walking around the farm. So in steps big brother and says 'I'll mind her mum' And off they go hand in hand into the farm together. My heart melting looking at my two little children walking together.

Next we fed the ducks and stroked a little baby goat... Lauren thought this was amazing, Dylan loved the ducks.

The kids really enjoyed the day, They were so tired, Lauren in particular, considering she's never walked around that much before, so this is what we got when we went in to see why she was so quiet when we got home... adorable.

So we were so grateful for the sun and we all had a great day, there won't be to many of these days left this year, before we know it the rain will be back and we'll be inside a lot more. We'll enjoy the days while we have them....

Dublin Zoo

This weekend, Derek had to go away for the weekend. I thought I'd do something special with the kids. On Saturday night I opened the door to a surprise visit from my parents! It was lovely, so we decided to take the kids to the zoo over the weekend. The kids really loved it. Dylan led Lauren around, he seemed so proud of her. He had on his 'look at me' and 'I'm the big brother' expressions.

Lauren loved all the animals, everything she saw evoked an 'ahh' and 'ohhh' It was wonderful to see her experiencing everything for the first time. To think that a year ago she didn't interact as much, the difference a year makes is extraordinary. She pointed to the animals and giggled at the gibbon's. She even looked in through the glass at the tiger.

Dylan would bend down to whisper in her ear about all the animals, he was like her own personal tour guide. She would look up at him and listen to everything. She seemed so in awe of him and so attentive.

I always say how proud I am that Dylan has taken to being a big brother so well. He takes such good care of his baby sister, and it was lovely to watch him take on this new role of teacher this weekend.

They placed their hands in the monkey hand prints....

Dylan's hand...

Lauren's hand...

They played with some penguin statues...

Then we posed for some goofy pictures together...

The kids had a great time as did the adults. My parents just love to see the kids and love to see them have fun. It's just a pity Daddy couldn't be there, we hope he enjoys this post, we'll just have an excuse to go another time now.

And finally a picture of my two smiling kiddies I love how excited their smiles are in this picture. Bringing them to see new things and watching them learn about the world, and seeing it all happen in front of me is just pure bliss, and I am so thankful to have days like these.