Keeraweera and the twins

Sentences

2012-01-14T03:10:00.000-08:00

About 2 days after their 18th month birthday, Lucy started putting words together. Her first official sentence is..."shoes on Mammy" when we're going out the door. She also has bye bye mammy, hi daddy, Mammy's coat and can get as far as "wool" in her rendition of ba ba black sheep.

And here is her rendition of a classic...can anyone guess?

Words

2012-01-14T03:00:00.000-08:00

On their 18th month birthday Clo and I wrote down all the words the babies were saying at that stage, for posterity, (apparently they'll be interested when they are 4) so here they are in no particular order...

Lucy
Mammy, Dada, coat, more, teddy, ba ba black sheep, heidi, fruit, strawberry, car, bike, elmo, ssh, big bird, cookie, grover, abbie, ball, shoe, doggie, bath, cake, apple, happy, oh no, rabbit, fish (sounds like sh*t), duck, two, three, eight, nine, baby, eyes, ah ah, sausage, whats that, no, now, look, go, santa, cheese, up, down, sock, card, bus, frog, quick, snack...and all the animal noises: moo, ba, quack, rar, woof, hoot, etc.

Ronan
Please, more, mama, dada, teddy, Abcd, ta ta, heidi, bye, hello, car, elmo, cookie, grover, abbie, ssh, ball, shoe, doggie, bath, apple, happy, oh no, two, three, baby, eyes, ah ah, that, this, no, now, look, go, santa, cheese, up, down, peas, fruit, seesaw, snack...and all the animal noises too.

Geniuses, obviously!

Christmas in general

2012-01-08T13:07:00.000-08:00

One last blog about Christmas in general...Sean and I had been a little apprehensive about spending over a week locked indoors in the company of 2 x 18 month olds for 24 hours a day, with no escape. Work is our holidays these days, so we were pretty nervous by the time Christmas eve came around.

Overall, I'm pleased to announce that the Christmas holidays were a pleasant surprise, for me at least. This was partly due to Sean giving me lie-ins pretty much every morning! We also made the big leap of sleeping the twins in travel cots in Oola on Xmas eve and Castleconnell on Stephens day. This was the first time they ever slept away from home and it was a great success. Things looked dodgy there for a minute when we discovered that Sean had forgotten their musical seahorse night lights, but it turned out that they slept perfectly without them, so we discovered they don't need them anymore...yeah Sean.

Over the period of december we also ditched both bottles and formula...hoorah. We're now on beakers and regular milk. I actually felt a momentary pang of loss when I was scouping and scraping for the last bottles of formula...it didn't last long though!

Christmas day

2012-01-03T13:00:00.000-08:00

We'd a lovely Christmas day. As usual, I was keeping my expectations low when it came to the day and was preparing myself and Sean for the worst case scenario involving colds, teething, whinging and general bad temper. Since none of these transpired, I spent the day marvelling at what a lovely day we were having.

Santa brought smart trikes which the lads loved. Mammy and Daddy were also delighted since it gave us another activity to get us out of the house during the holidays. We went to the playground in Castleconnell in the morning and met up with Auntie Clo, Uncle Col and Gran. We cooked the dinner during the afternoon nap (I also used nap time to have a Christmas day g&t...mmmmm) and we'd our dinner around 6. It was all lovely, everyone was in great form and we'd loads of fun all day opening present after present. Sean and I spent the evening watching movies, eating trifle and drinking wine (just me for the wine, Sean's been off it for a year!). All in all, a perfect day.

Santa

2012-01-03T12:48:00.000-08:00

I've been told off by the US and Finnish delegation for being so crap at my blogs lately, so my new year's resolution is to blog more (with photos)...I promise. So there now follows a number of postings all about Christmas.

I've to go back a few weeks though, to our first Santa visit. It was all very unplanned, and as a consequence very unstressful. Santa was free in Superquinn and there was no queue. We briefly tried the lap thing, but Lucy seemed to know what we were up to before we did and roared her head off. Ronan wimpered rather than roared, but it had the same effect. So in the photo, the only one sitting on poor Santa's lap is a little snowman that he gave the lads as their present.

First shoes & first words

2011-10-07T06:13:00.001-07:00

Ronan and Lucy got their first shoes last weekend. We went to the same shoe shop where Sean got his shoes in Tipperary. There was measuring, practising, ooing and aahing followed by photograph-taking. It was very cute but they looked alarmingly grown up. During the process, Lucy said her first word...a perfectly enunciated "shoes". They both have lots of noises and baby words (ta ta, heidi, hi, wuff, rar (as in what does a lion say) but this will be counted as the first grown up word.

The shoes themselves were a gift from Granny and were a horrifying price, but Ronan is conveniently one size up from Lucy so she'll be getting his blue boy-shoe hand-me-downs from now on. A very handy perk with my big/small twins!

First steps

2011-08-12T03:32:00.000-07:00

My two officially became toddlers this week. Ronan took his first steps on tuesday. We think he took them by accident...he was standing up with two blocks in his hand and he took ambled forward 5 steps. He didn't seem to realise what he'd done and gave myself and Sean a blank look when we started yelping, jumping up and down and clapping like seals. He hasn't done it since so he might just have been teasing us.

Two days later, Lucy took her first steps. We think she's been practising on the quiet, perfecting her technique, cause first she took 3 steps, then 5, then 6 and a few more this morning.

Small steps for twins, giant leaps for Mammy and Daddy! Now the fun will really start.

Comprehension!

2011-07-28T01:58:00.000-07:00

We are very excited at the latest development. A couple of days ago I said to Ronan "where's your bib?" (I say this at least 10 times every day since he keeps losing it) and he looked down at his chest and pulled at his top. This may seem insignificant for others but it is HUGE for us!

We natter to the babies and they natter back but this is the first sign of understanding. Since then Ronan has responded correctly to "where's your belly" and "where's daddy's belly". He can't do mammy's belly...he must think there isn't one! On the downside, this new development does mean we'll have to stop swearing at them!

Snail trail

2011-07-18T06:32:00.000-07:00

The entire family has yet another head cold...the 5th since the babies were born. There's a pattern emerging where Lucy catches it first, then me, then Ronan and then (for some strange reason) the cold mutates into a flu and Sean gets it.

Lucy in particular absolutely resists having her nose wiped with a tissue, she much prefers Mammy's shoulder, leg, face, thigh. For the next fortnight I'll have a perpetual snail trail all over my clothes. Whats worse is that she has started giving us open mouth kisses which stopped being cute when the cold came along. Gross, gross, gross.

First birthday

2011-07-18T06:25:00.001-07:00

We made it to 1...hoorah! We had a BBQ with Clo and Sean's family. The babies' first birthday presents were swings (which we actually got 2 months ago, but I justified the big purchase as birthday presents). The weather was lovely and we had 2 cakes (very important for twins).

Apart from the first excruciating 3 months, the rest of it flew. Will the next 17 years go as fast as the first? They'll be leaving home before we know it.

Back to work

2011-06-28T05:24:00.000-07:00

I'm back almost 2 months now and there's not much to tell. I'd a few tears on the first morning which were gone by the time I got to the gates of Kilteragh. Its been a bit of an anti-climax really. People keep asking me do I miss the babies and sometimes I'm so engrossed in work that I wonder for a second who they are talking about. So I don't feel guilty for leaving my little pets, but I do feel guilty for not feeling guilty!

I think its all down to our very own Mary Poppins, aka Gillian, who is working out great, the kids seem to love her and she is much more easy-going than the original MP. I can say for definite that it is almost worth being away from them all day because of the huge smiles I get when I arrive in the door. Its pure magic!

Routines...

2011-04-25T04:49:00.000-07:00

Change is a-coming, in the form of our childminder, who is starting tomorrow. I'm going back to work in two weeks, so the babies routines won't be my routines any more :<(

So for posterity, here's what we've been doing with our days for the last few months. It was 7-7 until the hour sprang forward...hoorah for daylight savings time.

7.30 Wake
7.45 Bottle in bed
8.00 Babies play and leave Mammy alone til she has her coffee
9.00 Lucy has breakfast while Ronan refuses breakfast
9.30 Get dressed and play
10.15 Nap
11.00 Snack and play, followed by whinging til lunch
12.30 Lunch (all finger food cause Ronan won't eat anything off a spoon)
13.45 Nap while Mammy collapses on couch to watch Spartacus, Mad Men, etc.
16.00 Podee* and play
17.00 Out n about...supposed to be a walk, but mostly shopping in the cresent
18.15 Dinner (all finger food, as above)
19.30 Yet another podee,just in case they could possibly be hungry
20.00 Bed
20.30 Mammy collapses on couch while Daddy does sterilising, tidying, laundry and pretty much everything else that needs doing.

*there will come a time in our lives when I won't remember what these are...can't wait. Where did the time go? Most days I feel like I've a day's work done when I look at the clock and its only 10.30. As Tara said, the days go slow but the weeks and months fly by.

We're all going on a summer holiday...

2011-04-25T01:34:00.000-07:00

Actually we've been, and it was only myself and Sean. After considering (for about 10 seconds) what kind of holiday we could take the babies on we decided that the most relaxing kind would be to leave them at home and go away ourselves. So last week, for one night only, Sean and I went on our summer holidays...to a hotel about a mile away from home.

Gran and Auntie Clo minded the babies while myself and Sean had 24 hours of monitor-free blissful peace and quiet. It was heaven. I woke at 9.00, which is the latest I've slept in 10 months. The babies slept like little logs while poor Auntie Clo and Gran stared at the ceiling for most of the night, waiting for a monitor to bleep. Welcome to my life! The memory of good food, lots of wine, jacuzzis, massages and cool clean sheets will have to keep me going until the babysitters have forgotten their ordeal and come back for more. Lets hope they have short memories!

First tooth

2011-04-09T10:39:00.001-07:00

We finally have a little tootsie from Lucy...hoorah! I thought I saw a white tip on the 1st of April (9 month birthday) but Sean thought I was april-fooling him. We've been waiting to see a tooth for a very long time! Lucy's teeth are obviously very slow-growing, because they are only becoming barely visible after 2 weeks. She's exhibiting no teething problems although she has taken to good-naturedly bellowing at the top of her lungs, which gives everyone a frighty. We fervently hope that it is teething-related and that she'll stop doing it soon.

In other dental news, we think Ronan's top teeth are on the way. Unfortunately he is exhibiting teething symptons, mainly irritability and extreme sensitivity to loud noises, i.e. Lucy's bellows. Every time she bellows, he cries. Grrrrr.

I am Spartacus

2011-03-18T09:36:00.000-07:00

My daily guilty pleasure of late has been an episode of Spartacus: Blood and Sand (say it with a James Earl Jones voice) during naptime. Its brill...so brill it deserves a blog entry. How can something so terrible be so fabulous? "Gratuitous" is too mild a word for the violence in it and the sex scenes are practically soft porn but the plots are great. I watch every episode with my mouth open and jaw on the floor. Sadly the guy who plays Spartacus got some serious illness so they aren't making another series. Why, why, why is God punishing me?

Developments...

2011-03-15T03:19:00.000-07:00

I know there's nothing more tedious than mammies going on about how fabulous their babies are...but its my blog so cut me some slack. Also my babies really are genuinely fabulous, so I've a lot of material to work with.

Latest developments over the last few weeks include Lucy sitting upright by herself and Ronan crawling (more like dragging) himself across the floor. Up until a few days ago Ronan wasn't sitting because he wouldn't sit still for more than a few seconds and Lucy is still only managing to crawl in reverse.

In an alarming turn of events however, Ronan has become a clear and present danger to both himself and others (others being poor Lucy). When he isn't heading for the most dangerous thing in the room, his favourite occupation is dragging himself over to Lucy (he looks like a disabled terminator when he does this), getting her in a headlock and grabbing fistfuls of her hair. Since she isn't mobile, she has nowhere to run.

The cutest development in the last couple of days is that they are starting to laugh at each other and play together. Its an incredible sight to watch and I'm hopeful that we are finally getting to the best bit of having twins...they entertain each other while Mammy reads her book!

Ronan

2011-02-04T02:53:00.001-08:00

Ronan...aka Ro, Ronan Rogue, Ro ro ro your boat, Smiles-a-lot, Moanin Ronan (sometimes)
Likes...his bottle, soothers, getting changed, singing, having his face stroked, being tickled all over, his sister, waking up, whinging (sadly)
Dislikes...spoonfeeding, going to sleep, hearing his sister cry
Words to describe him...happy, whiney, bipolar!, adorable
Pastimes...munching on his fists and anything else he can get his hands on (except food), trying to eat monkey on the gym, smiling at his sister.

Ronan has a lovely, smiley personality but he's been cursed with lots of baby related discomfort that has him laughing one minute and crying the next. He went straight from trapped wind to reflux to teething without any break to start enjoying life...and teething can take 2 years apparently. Poor little mite...poor mammy and daddy too! If he wasn't such a great smiler he'd have been thrown out the window by now.

Lucy

2011-02-04T02:50:00.001-08:00

Lucy...aka Luce, Lucy Liu, Lucy Locket, Luiseach, Lucifer (sometimes)
Likes...soft fluffy fabrics, touching hands, mammy's dressing gown, the bookshelf, the tv, sleeping
Dislikes...waking up
Words to describe her...independent, determined, serious, placid, a little dote
Pastimes...shouting and roaring for no obvious reason, making lop-sided faces, trying to pull monkey apart on the gym, covering her face with any material she can get her little hands on, arguing with the girl in the mirror.

Lucy spends her day frowning at everyone and everything. She's very selective about what she laughs at, and what makes her laugh one minute might make her cross the next. She's an incredibly easy baby...she falls asleep the minute she goes down, eats no bother, occupies herself, is never sick and rarely cries. When she does cry its a terrible sobbing cry that would break your heart and she has the cutest, gummy smile that melts our hearts every time.

Personalities

2011-02-04T02:49:00.001-08:00

At 7 months, my two little aliens are feeling less alien these days, they've become part of our little family...or rather myself and Sean have been assimilated into their way of doing things. Their personalities are emerging every day. Its hard not to compare since we have two, so while they are not opposites, they are definitely as different as chalk and cheese...or maybe dogs and cats. I wrote these blogs at 5 months, then stored them as drafts cause I wasn't sure what was personality and what was just a baby phase. I haven't changed much so in the following blogs, I'd like to present to the world...Lucy and Ronan (in that order for alphabetical and chivalric reasons)!

First tooth

2011-01-14T04:45:00.000-08:00

Since I didn't want aunties sticking their fingers into Ronan's mouth for the day, I didn't say anything about the first tooth on the day of the christenings. As it happened, a tiny jagged edge of the first tooth appeared in Ronan's mouth the day before. It and its next door neighbour are now more or less up. Not to be outdone, Lucy started saying da-da-da this week. She's also developed an annoying ability to roll over onto her front the minute I put her down and then shout like mad until I come and turn her over...its driving me mad. So lots of development this week but by far the best from our point of view is the new ability they both have to put their soothers back in their mouths themselves. Hoorah!

The Christenings

2011-01-14T04:21:00.000-08:00

The christenings were last week and went off without a hitch. I was expecting my little angels to be demonic since the christening itself was smack bang in the middle of their main nap. They remained angelic for the whole day (until they got home at least), didn't make a peep in the church, even for the water on the head bit.

Only noteworthy moment occurred during the group shot in the church when everyone went quiet, focused on the camera and Lucy promptly let out one of her dirty old man belches for all to hear. I was just glad it was Lucy's up wind rather than her down wind! The babies then spent the afternoon contentedly in the pub like a couple of pros and happily went from aunt to uncle and lap to lap without single "where's mammy" thought for the whole day.

(Pictured above are everyone and one with proud parents plus Lucy Charlotte, her fairy godmother Clo, her godfather Fergus, and Ronan Vincent with his fairy godmother Dearbhla and godfather Liam)

Best birthday ever

2010-12-29T01:18:00.000-08:00

Its my birthday today...happy birthday me. I think I'll spend the day remembering my best birthday ever, which was this time last year, when I turned...eh...35. I was 12 weeks pregnant, feeling pretty horrible, had just spent Christmas sober and was not seeing any pluses to the whole baby thing. We had our first scan in the afternoon and after waiting for about 2 hours in a freezing old hallway the consultant brought us in, laid me on the bed, top up, gel on and started his scan.

"Uh huh, uh huh, thats my second set of twins today" was how we found out that there were two buns in my oven. Everyone says that it must have been a big shock when we found out, but there was no shock, just instant delight. I was breathless with amazement, Sean was patting my shoulder to calm me but he was the same. The two of us giggled our way out of the doctor's office and we spent the rest of the day laughing in disbelief. We couldn't believe our luck and we still can't. So far, its up there as one of the happiest moments of my life. Another was the next day, when I told Mam I had two announcements...that her first Irish grandchild would be born in July and (after a few minutes of jumping up and down) that her second Irish grandchild would also be born in July.

If I live to be 100, I'll never have a better birthday. This year Mam is babysitting, I'm heading off for massages and facials, etc. and a few hours peace away from the little wretches...heaven!

Solids

2010-12-07T04:44:00.000-08:00

We've been introducing solids for about a week and a half (various pureed fruit and veg...ugh). In summary, Lucy loved it from the very first spoon, Ronan clamped his lips shut and hasn't opened them since. So I have two babies crying in my ear at the same time...I'm not feeding one fast enough and the other just wants to go and play. Grrr. And what a mess! Clever ideas on how to contain it (other than feeding them naked in the garden) would be very welcome.

Nail biting stuff

2010-11-30T04:27:00.000-08:00

It was Sean's job to cut the twins' nails using a nail clipper, cause I was too scared to do it. But after nail-gate, which involved lots of Lucy's blood and tears, I've had to give in. After a failed attempt with a nail file I've had to bite the bullet (or rather the nail) and use my teeth. Despite recommendations from public health nurses, I've been resisting this since they were born because I think its gross...and doing it when there's dirt under their nails is even grosser.

So one of my jobs today is to cut the babies nails...with my teeth...all TWENTY of them. I think I'll just let the toenails grow indefinitely.

1st Halloween

2010-11-16T04:19:00.001-08:00

Okay, so we didn't actually do anything for the twins' first halloween, other than dress them up in outfits that Tara sent...and it was two weeks after halloween before we actually did that! They're pretty cute though.

Multi-tasking twin mom

2010-10-09T05:52:00.000-07:00

I've become an expert in multi-tasking (my right foot is nearly always rocking a bouncy chair, even when there isn't a baby in it) but here's the one I'm most proud of...

Feeding Ronan while expressing for the next feed, while rocking Lucy with my foot, while taking phone calls on my hands-free phone, while watching tv and throwing a few pelvic floor exercises in for good measure. If only I could put a soother in with my toes, then we'd be sorted...I've tried it with mixed results!

Sleeping through the night...

2010-09-30T04:58:00.000-07:00

I hope I don't jinx myself by blogging about it, but I think we've reached the sleeping-through-the-night milestone. Last thursday the twins were 12 weeks old and by some strange mystery, that night they both slept through the 3am feed and woke at 5am. The next night they went to 6am and since then they are waking between 7 and 8. Hurrah! I now have to train myself out of the habit of standing over the cot from about 5am, with feeds ready and bottles holstered, expecting them to wake at any minute. For the most part I'm getting about 7 hours sleep, so don't quite know what to do with myself.

I'm reliably informed that children are the universal masters of dashed hopes when it comes to sleep, so I'm trying not to get too excited just yet.

1st anniversary

2010-09-18T01:00:00.001-07:00

Sean and I had our first wedding anniversary yesterday. As a special anniversary present, Sean did both 11pm and middle of the night feeds and for the first time since they were born, both twins slept from 4am until 7am (thats my shift)...so I got 9 hours sleep. 9 HOURS SLEEP!!! I'm a new woman.

We spent yesterday saying "this day last year we wouldn't have believed where we would be this day next year." We're celebrating today - Mam and Clo are babysitting and we are going to the cinema and a meal, possibly getting the ferry to England so we can run away together and come back when the twins are walking. Its been a roller coaster year, what with wedding, honeymoon cruise, house flooded, unexpected twin pregnancy followed by actual real-live twins. I really, really hope that our 2nd year of marriage will be slightly less eventful...boring even.

So after a year, for me so far, the secret to a happy marriage is...

Sean.

Bon voyage Col...sorry about the pooh!

2010-09-11T05:11:00.000-07:00

Thursday was one of those disaster days, never to be repeated! It started with me up at 5am and sleep deprived as usual. The babies got their vaccines - they screamed like I've never heard before, all the while looking at me with frantic betrayed eyes while I held them down so the mean doctor could torture them.

Then I abandoned my poor traumatised children to dash over to work, buying a card and gift on the way, to say goodbye to a retiree who was on her last day. Except it turned out I got my dates wrong, it wasn't her last day, so all I did was give the impression at work that babies have driven me completely insane.

I got back home to discover poor Col got poohed on by Lucy (even worse, the sofa got some too). I'd to go out that night for dinner to say goodbye to Col (first night out in yonks) and an hour before I left, my poor twins went mad (a belated reaction to the vaccinations). We broke out the Calpol for the first time, settled them somewhat, and then I drove off...betrayed and abandoned twice in one day. Worst mother ever! Lovely meal though.

Click here to see my little aliens at 9 weeks.

Sleep deprived

2010-09-01T02:02:00.000-07:00

There are bound to be a few postings with this heading! I'm soooooo tired. This is what has been happening for about 3 weeks. Lucy and Ronan have their middle of the night feed at 3am and go back down at 4am. Lucy goes back to sleep til 7am but Ronan wakes at 5am, fussing and looking for his soother, and pretty much does that every 20 minutes until morning. Its torture...I drift off and a few minutes later I'm awake again, searching blindly for a missing soother.

Its his tummy, its never been quite right, it bothers him after most feeds. We've tried everything that other people swear by...constant winding, over the counter drugs, gripe water, some amazing remedy from a pharmacy in Clonmel, cranial osteopathy, baby massage...nothing works. Why can't we be those people that swear by some miracle cure?

On the plus side, they've been going to bed at 8 every night without any arguments, since last week and they have a good nap time schedule going on. Lucy is the model baby when it comes to eating, winding and sleeping, which just torments us. One model twin is no good to anyone!

Great intentions

2010-08-10T10:23:00.000-07:00

I'd great intentions of making sure to put up photos of the twins each week, but there's been a bit of a gap. I got an infection in week 3 and that stopped me in my tracks. Feeling sick while minding twins is not fun at all, I really hope it never, ever happens again!

Here's a video of my little aliens at 3 weeks. More to come now we are almost at the milestone of 6 weeks.

Lucy and Ronan in their cot, 3 weeks old.

Our schedule

2010-07-18T05:07:00.000-07:00

This is definitely worth writing down for posterity! Here's our current schedule, which centres more around mammy and daddy getting sleep then the demands of the poor twins!
8pm-1am: I go to bed while Sean does the 10pm feed on his own
1am: We both do the feed together, which takes half the time
2am-7am: Sean goes to bed while I do the 4am feed on my own (takes an hour if I'm lucky)
7am: We both do this feed, unless I feel generous and let Sean sleep in
10am: We both feed, top and tail, and dress the twins for the day
1pm-4pm: Usually I've a helper (Mam) to share these feeds
7pm: Sean and I do this feed together and put the twins down for the night

Coinciding with all of that, I've learned the skill of hands-free pumping, so express during each feed and a few times in between, while Sean does the sterilising, goes grocery shopping, loads the dishwasher, does the laundry and cooks dinner! The twins are in sync with the feeding schedule, but unfortunately not yet in sync with sleeping. So when one is sleeping his/her head off, the other is usually wide awake. Lucy is the night owl that comes to life at around 2am and Ronan is awake mostly in the day.

So the schedule is pretty good, none of us are too sleep deprived and killing each other yet. It'll all change when Sean goes back to work though, he'll need his sleep to bring home the bacon.

2 weeks old

2010-07-18T05:04:00.000-07:00

Here the twins are at 2 weeks old, under their play gym. Lucy is the one with the hair, Ronan is as bald as an egg. They are a bit more alert this week, they look like they are having a chat here, but they are not really aware of each other yet.

Fallen in love

2010-07-13T10:03:00.000-07:00

Sean and I have fallen head over heels in love with two little aliens that descended on our home 12 days ago. One (Ronan) has a little Mr Potato head and Lucy's is more peanut shaped! I'll try my best to track their progress with photos, so the family diaspora can see the changes, and for me for posterity, so here's some photos. The first is at 49 minutes old and the second is a week old.

And now, the end is near...

2010-06-28T06:12:00.000-07:00

It'll be any day now (thank God - the last week has been tough) so here's a last photo of me pregnant at 37 weeks. Everyone tells me all the bad stuff will be forgotten when the babies are here, so if thats the case, here is a catalogue that I can re-read if Sean and I ever get any crazy notions about number 3...

Things I won't miss about being pregnant: heartburn, back ache, pain in my fingers and the soles of my feet, agonizing you-know-whats in the you-know-where (I know what I mean and if I ever forget, I deserve to be shot), putting my socks on, dropping things constantly and then having to bend down to pick them up, dropping food on my bump - I never knew I was such messy eater, turning over in bed. But the top prize goes to...going to the bathroom at least 8 times every night and who knows how many times during the day. My life for the last 9 months has been going from one bathroom to the next.

In the interests of fairness, things I will miss about being pregnant: the babies kicking, Sean waiting on me hand and foot, everyone telling me I'm glowing (its nice, but I think its more down to my Mac makeup than any maternal inner glow).

This is my last post as a pregnant woman, from now on it will be twins, twins, twins - so exciting. I'll try not to bore everyone with how wonderful they are (even though they are).

Sizes

2010-06-20T04:03:00.000-07:00

I'd a scan last friday at 35 weeks and the estimates are that baby girl is 6lbs 9 ounces and baby boy is 5lbs 8 ounces. If they keep growing at a rate of half pound a week they'll be 8 pounders by the time they arrive. After I picked myself up off the floor, raced home and googled it, I discovered these scans can be way off, so they might be smaller. Although according to Mam I was 9lbs 14 ounces, so I suppose there's an element of poetic justice there.

According to the consultant they also have above average heads. He says it'll be very useful 18 years from now when they are doing the leaving cert, but not so useful in the coming weeks when they decide to make their big-headed entrance (ugh!).

In other size-related news, for the sake of history and posterity...at 36 weeks I am 12 stone (agh!) and my circumference is 44 inches. I feel huge, Sean agrees but there are still a few myopic people out there telling my I'm a tidy size, which is very kind.

Where's Ciara?

2010-05-31T09:54:00.000-07:00

I'm morphing into an unrecognisable being, like caterpillar to butterfly except backwards. Aside from my waist, the first to go was my long hair, cause the time for straighteners will be gone soon and I might as well get used to it. Next off the list were the high heels and sexy underwear...I'll admit to feeling sadder about the former than the latter. After a relatively brief period of use, my wedding rings got the bullet a few weeks ago because my hands started to swell.

Last weekend I discovered none of my shoes fit me so I'm now wearing old woman sandals that close with velcro to accommodate my 2 sizes bigger feet. But the WORST and biggest sacrifice I've had to make so far was to get my beloved nails cut last week :<( I'm a shadow of my former self!

Last night in an act of defiance and great discomfort I almost gave myself contractions by painting my toe nails, because by God, I can't give everything up...and when I'm in labour (and possibly in stirrups) at least I'll know, if nothing else, my toes are still pretty!

Free a nipper...

2010-05-20T06:22:00.000-07:00

We got our stroller, an important milestone so I hear. Its the Out n About Nipper for twins. Here's a picture and for future reference for me, when I'm trying to figure out how to open it and I've two babies crying and I'm crying, below is a demo for my future self.

We also have two car seats, two travel cots til we figure out the best sleeping arrangements, two bouncy chairs, a swing and a play gym. And I've nighties and baby grows from Tar and Sean's sister, so we're all set. All we need now are two babies. Am 32 weeks today and he said he'd bring me in at 38, so only 6 more weeks!!!

Two peas in a pod

2010-04-29T07:08:00.000-07:00

Okay, if I'm putting up photos of birds, I'd better give in to requests from the Czechs and put up photos of myself and my bump. So here I am at 28 weeks (I'm 29 now but it took me a while to get around to uploading it onto a PC). The pretty cool t-shirt came from the Americans and the photographer was Dearbhla.

Kilteragh twins

2010-04-23T06:38:00.000-07:00

Here are the first set of twins to appear in our house this year. A bird recently built a nest in a tree in our garden and is now happily coming and going to fetch worms. She must have known she's in a twin-friendly zone.

Antenatal classes

2010-04-23T03:01:00.000-07:00

Sean and I had our first antenatal class this week, on the topic of labour. Needless to say, we're a bit traumatized by the whole thing. It involved a midwife and a physio going into all the gory details about things we'd have preferred to remain blissfully ignorant about. It was also eerily reminiscent of the premarital course.

The crowning moment had to be when the physio decided we were all going to practice our pelvic floor exercises, men included. I maybe should have mentioned the whole pelvic floor thing to Sean before. He looked clueless but happy to go along with it, ready to take his shoes off or stand up or stretch or whatever. Imagine the confusion and bewilderment on his face when the next words out of the physio's mouth were "everyone close their back passage, then the front, suck both it and count to ten".

After doing ten sets of ten Sean was frozen in horror, staring fixedly on the floor so he didn't have to make eye contact with anyone while I was desperately trying not to pee from laughing. Just as well I was doing pelvic floor exercises at the time!

Pain in the arse...

2010-04-14T03:59:00.000-07:00

The lower back pain (aka pain in my arse) that I had a few weeks ago is back. I'm walking along (or waddling along, to be more precise) without a care in the world when all of a sudden I'm writhing in pain, gasping for breath and involuntarily clutching my arse with both hands! Its really embarrassing. I'm big enough now for people to think I'm all of a sudden going into labour. Its something to do with one of the babies lying on the sciatic nerve. I hope they get off it soon, if only for the sake of my dignity.

Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God!

2010-03-26T12:29:00.000-07:00

I'm on weekend duty in the library this weekend and was at the desk help a visiting student from Nottingham a few minutes ago. When he was leaving he wished me luck with the twins. I asked him how he knew I was having twins and he said he just sees things. Then he said I'd have my hands full, they'd be beautiful but full of life (ugh!). And THEN...he says..."and you'll have another one 11 months after".

I told him he's barred, get out, no longer welcome in the library!

All excited...parcel from America

2010-03-26T10:53:00.000-07:00

In the best US/Irish tradition, Mam came back from Boston with a suitcase full of hand-me-down maternity clothes. I've gotten to the stage where I'm a bit sick of wearing the same stuff, so I was all excited about what I'd find. It was like opening a birthday present, I'd dreams of pretty dresses and girlie tops, lots of colour to get me away from black. Based on the last box that came from Boston I knew there would be a few misguided clown pants in there but a few gold nuggets as well.

Imagine my horror when I opened the suitcase and out burst about 100 breastfeeding pads, a couple of huge maternity bras, and knickers that would be too big for Sean, never mind me. I'm not ungrateful, in fact I'm very grateful that I don't have to go shopping for these things, but is this where I'm headed? Am I really going to get that big? And what the hell are super maxi disposable pants extra large??? They're in a sealed bag that I'm too afraid to open!

Teasing aside, there's a few gold nuggets in the mix...thanks Tar.

I'll take one of each, thanks

2010-03-24T11:54:00.001-07:00

Its looking like one of each - a boy and a girl. We'd another scan last week and the signs are pointing to one with an appendage and one with no appendage. The consultant is still hedging his bets so it isn't a 100%. He said we can paint two walls of the nursery blue for sure and leave the other two white for the moment.

This is great news. I'd have needed therapy to mentally prepare myself for two boys. And because we'll have both, there is absolutely no way that we'll get any crazy notions about going again...and ending up with two sets of twins of the same sex.

Of course, should a second appendage come to light at the next scan, I'll still be happy. All we want is healthy babies, yada, yada, fingers crossed.

New car

2010-02-23T12:35:00.000-08:00

I bought a new car. The realities of two car seats, changing bags and a double stroller were starting to dawn on me and my poor little Yaris just wouldn't cut it anymore. So I'm now the proud owner of a 3 year old Ford Focus Estate. Its blue and lovely, apart from having 666 in the licence plate. Hope thats not a bad Damien-type omen.

I can't believe I'm now an estate person, or in Ireland-speak even worse, a station wagon person. I keep thinking of Dad's bangers. Its definitely more of a daddy-mobile than a mommy-mobile which I like. But I've the song "Shake your booty" in my head since I bought it, cause it is one big-ass car, I feel like I'm shaking my booty at all the cars behind me. The boot really is enormous, big enough for two double strollers (heaven forbid) plus a whole lot more...even room enough for a misbehaving twin or two!

Shake, shake, shake...

Five good things about having twins

2010-02-16T06:25:00.000-08:00

1. I've a readymade family all in one go.
2. I'll save loads on buy-one-get-one-free offers.
3. Twins are never lonely or bullied in school.
4. No one can ever judge me on my possibly questionable parenting choices.
5. I'll only have to organise one birthday every year.

Adapted from "Double trouble: twins and how to survive them" by Emma Mahony, which is hilarious and got me through the "Oh Sweet Jesus, I'm having twins" stage...definitely worth a read.

Scan...

2010-02-09T08:02:00.000-08:00

We'd our second scan today. Everything is going fine, the babies are the same size as single babies at this stage and look big and healthy. They are lying crossways and did lots of moving around and waving. The doctor said if left to their own devices they might grow to be big 8 pounders but hastily added that he wouldn't let it come to that, when I looked alarmed.

Its too early to see the sexes but he thinks one might be a boy. We'll have to wait til 26 weeks to find out for sure. There was a lot of focusing and zoning in and squinting...which hopefully won't be a recurring theme in possible son's life. The doctor said he wouldn't take a picture of the is it/isn't it body part, in case we whipped it out at his 21st birthday!

17 weeks today

2010-02-04T08:29:00.000-08:00

I'm 17 weeks today, looking the size of about 21 weeks. Its probably just as well I didn't blog in the first 14 weeks of horror because it would have been one long, boring moan fest. Now that the all day nausea (kept at bay by the wonder of acupressure travel bands) and sleeplessness due to bathroom trips every hour are behind me, I'm me again. Apparently that was the dreary trimester, I'm now in the cheery trimester with the weary trimester ages away.

The blog is back

2010-02-04T08:19:00.000-08:00

The Froggy song (see last post) was obviously prophetic although we should have bought 2 travel cots instead of 1!

Now that everyone knows I've two buns in the oven I can start blogging again...hoorah! The blog formerly known as "Keeraweera is getting married" has been revamped to "Keeraweera is having twins". It can keep my far flung family up to date with baby-related news and can also double up as my pregnancy diary, minus any gross stuff.

And if a complete stranger happens upon it desperately searching for twin support or advice, thats okay too. Although, as it will become obvious pretty quickly, I haven't a clue what I'm doing, pregnancy with twins and ensuing motherhood is an undiscovered country for me...soooo exciting though.

Froggy...adapted & sung by Tara & Colm on the day

2009-09-28T07:36:00.000-07:00

Ciara went a-courtin' and she did well, uh huh, uh huh
Ciara went a-courtin' and she did well, uh huh, uh huh
Ciara went a-courtin' and she did well, for she met Sean and he is swell, uh huh, uh huh, uh huh

Sean went a-courtin' and he did good, uh huh, uh huh
Sean went a-courtin' and he did good, uh huh, uh huh
Sean went a-courtin' and he did good, for Ciara's the best catch in the neighborhood, uh huh, uh huh, uh huh

So now they've tied the wedding knot, uh huh, uh huh
Now they've tied the wedding knot, uh huh, uh huh
Now they've tied the wedding knot, and they've even bought a travel cot, uh huh, uh huh

Now their courtin' days are in the past, uh huh, uh huh
Their courtin' days are in the past, uh huh, uh huh
Their courtin' days are in the past, cause they've found true love and it will last, uh huh, uh huh

The wedding

2009-09-28T07:25:00.000-07:00

The wedding was fab. I'd such a great time. I couldn't have had a better day. The only hiccup was that I had chronic insomnia the night before, got 3 hours sleep, and felt like a zombie all morning. Once I walked down the aisle the tiredness lifted and by the time I'd a few drinks at dinner I was on cloud nine and lasted until 4 in the morning.

Seán was gorgeous...I wanted to run up the aisle to him. The bridesmaids were beautiful, everyone looked fantastic. The weather was nice - dry and warm with sunny spells. The photographer was a bit bossy but Seán liked him. The flowers and cake (a la Sean's mum and aunt) were perfect. The food in Coolbawn was delicious and the musicians, both church and evening, were brilliant. None of the things I'd worried about (like dress being too tight, me being cold or shoes hurting) happened in the end. The mass booklet had an embarrassing number of mistakes in it, but never mind.

Considering the minimal effort I put into organising quite a lot of the wedding, it was a miracle it all turned out so perfectly and we all looked so beautiful. It was such a lovely day, I'm feeling slightly bereaved now its over! Having said that, would I go back and do it all again? Not in a million years. I now see the best reason for marriage being for life...you only have to organise a wedding once!

Wedding jitters

2009-09-16T04:33:00.000-07:00

It was bound to happen at some stage, I couldn't maintain my cool as a breeze attitude forever. Yesterday I woke up, watched a bit of the US open final which was very exciting and had the unfortunate effect of increasing my adrenaline levels or something, cause by the time I'd had my breakfast and gotten dressed I was sick with nerves. I spent the day with Tar and Ellen and gradually calmed down as Tara promised she could source valium if it got too bad, while I got more and more things ticked off the list.

I collected the dress (which had shrunk in the dry-cleaning and needed last minute alterations) and I collected the rings (which up until monday were lost in the post somewhere between France and here). I okayed the mass booklets, bought last minute stuff and got my nails done. By the end of the day (after a half bottle of wine but no valium) I was back to my cool as a breeze self...ish.

So alls well that ends well...only one more day to go!

The pre-marriage course

2009-09-16T04:24:00.000-07:00

We had our pre-marriage course in Tipperary town last weekend, on the sunniest warmest weekend we've had since June. Bits of it were fun...we'd to write a letter to each other that they will post to us as some point in the future, which was nice. Although if Sean is as inexpressive as usual the most I can expect is "Dear Ciara, hope you are well, love Sean" and a massive row will ensue! Fortunately, the course also covered conflict so we should be okay.

It didn't go into anything with too much depth, it felt a bit like a rubber stamping exercise. In each section we had to answer questions separately and then compare answers. Sean and I were in agreement with practically everything...which led to Sean wispering in my ear that we should be giving the course!

Bits of it were very, very painful. The sex module was cringe and the church/God module was like being back in school. At the end they made all of us stand in a circle, each couple had to light a candle and then read out a prayer. Anyway, its over and done with now, they didn't fail us so Operation Wedding is a go.

The hen

2009-09-12T16:45:00.000-07:00

I'd a great time on the hen...one of the best days of my life. It was all a surprise -Clo and Tar wouldn't tell me a thing until something was about to happen. We went clay pigeon shooting, which I was terrible at...I got 3 out of 30 shots and a very bruised and sore shoulder. Sue, and to a lesser degree Justine, were fab at it. I got my hair done in Bellissimo in the afternoon. We stayed in Jurys and in the evening the girls locked me in the bathroom while they put on the outfits...which turned out to be fabulous star trek dresses...they had blue medical unforms and I had a red command uniform...coooool.

We had a lovely meal in the Cornstore and the girls quizzed me on Star Trek questions which I totally aced...I scoff at the pitifully easy earthling questions! We went to Clohessys and then the Sin Bin. We got lots of attention from people, including one Star Trek geek who tried and failed miserably to outwit me as an ST know-it-all...one guy who pleaded with Clo to beam him up and one guy who got really exciting and started singing the Batman theme at me when he saw me...na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, batman...moron!

Was great fun although my stomach was a bit quesy, so I didn't drink much except 3 pints of water, then spent the night going to the loo. So not much sleep and was wrecked on sunday, as expected.

Collected the dress

2009-08-28T07:45:00.000-07:00

I collected the dress yesterday and its now in Clo's house. It looks like the outer layer has shrunk in the dry cleaning but I'm hoping that it will fix itself if I leave it hanging. Its great to have it in my possession. So exciting!

A dream

2009-08-25T07:52:00.001-07:00

I'd a dream last night about the wedding ceremony. It was in a big cathedral in Peru. For some reason we decided to move it at the last minute. There was a rock band playing the hymns, there were no pew ends, I was wearing my wine blazer over my dress cause I was cold, the bridemaids were in red sequin dresses and for some reason Tara had put on about 4 stone and was bursting out the dress. To cap it all off, at the end of the ceremony, a horse and carriage came into the church to take us away, which in the dream I though was hilarious, because Sean has said on numerous occasions that he'd rather die than go around in a horse and carriage. It was a weird dream...where did Peru come from?

Post-holiday blues

2009-08-24T06:16:00.000-07:00

I'm back from a week in Portugal and am having post holiday/monday morning blues. It was a lovely escape from wedding stuff for a whole week, the only work I had to do was on my tan, I'd definitely recommend it for brides-to-be. This time last week I was sunbathing by the pool, sipping Portugeuse beer and reading novels to my heart's content...heaven.

Now that I'm back, I am realising that the wedding is 3 and a half weeks away and I have loads to do, namely...print booklets, book hair/makeup & have trials, get hair accessories, make pew bows, arrange seating, arrange accommodation, finalise the menu, give people directions, book hotel in London, get teeth cleaned. I'm trying not to panic.

Of course the wedding diet went out the window while on holidays so I've to eat cereal for the next few weeks and to make it a hundred times worse, Clo has another week of it....probably sunbathing and sipping beer as I speak :<(

Dress fitting

2009-08-11T07:37:00.000-07:00

I'd my first dress fitting today. I went in feeling guilty and sheepish, expecting to be given out to that I haven't lost a pound since I got the dress in may, and presuming they'd let it out. They said it doesn't need to be let out - that if they were taking it in they would take it in to what it currently is. I've my doubts, but I'm willing to go with their advice. They are just going to take it up and take it in under the arms.

I should be fine as long as I don't eat, drink, sit or kneel for the whole day...or climb stairs...or take deep breaths. There isn't even room for my magic sucky-iny underwear! The diet starts today, I promise. It was nice to put it on again though...its soooo pretty.

The mass booklet

2009-08-10T07:48:00.000-07:00

I spent my weekend doing the mass booklet...now there's a sentence I never thought I'd ever say...or write...or do, for that matter. It actually wasn't as agonising as I thought it would be because I found a site that the kind people in Accord put together which was pretty much the dummy bride's guide to mass booklets. It was an online form that gave lots of drop down menus for every bit of the mass that you need to select and at the end it magically turned it into a mass booklet. It was so brilliant that I emailed Accord to tell them how marvellous they were...another something I never ever thought I'd do!

How on earth did anyone ever get married when there was no internet?

Rings & suits

2009-08-07T07:08:00.001-07:00

The rings and suits are done. Sean is congratulating himself that it only took an hour to do both without appreciating that I'd gone on a scouting mission beforehand to minimise the inevitable head-scratching, humming and hawing that we seem to do whenever we have to make a wedding decision.

Sean's suit is black with ivory waistcoat and cravat. He looks lovely in it. We put him in tails but he looked like an undertaker.

So the rings are gold. Sean's is a plain solid one that probably all the straight guys pick immediately, just in case the jeweller might think they are gay if they look at any of the fancy ones. Mine is a russian wedding ring. A plain band didn't look right, this one looks nice with my engagement ring and nice on its own too...so I don't want to hear any "you can't do that" about it. I've always liked russian wedding rings.

Another phone bites the dust

2009-07-30T02:19:00.000-07:00

I've lost my phone. Yet another phone has met its maker prematurely by being unlucky enough to have me as its owner. A history of my deplorable phone-caretaking record...the phone I just lost already had a brush with death when it fell from my back pocket into a toilet in a pub in Lahinch on the day Sean proposed. I swear that drink was not involved and I noticed the phone in the loo before I went.

The phone before that got rolled over by a bus when I dropped it outside Limerick station. Phone before that got wet when I went hillwalking in the Burren on the wetest day in Irish history. Phone before that was accidentally dropped (by me) into a mug of coffee...it was early, I'd just woken up, I was trying to do too many things with my hands.

There was also the phone 2 or 3 phones ago that just inexplicably died for no reason, I swear...that was the time I left my car keys in the Carphone Warehouse while I was buying a new phone, they closed up shop - I went to my car to discover I was locked out and worst of all...I'd a new phone with no numbers so I couldn't ring anyone!

Will I ever have a phone that just dies of old age? The society for the protection of phones is going to have to get a restraining order out against me :<(

Meet the parents

2009-07-30T02:00:00.000-07:00

Mam finally met Sean's parents over the weekend. We brought them all to the tasting at Coolbawn - gave them a purpose so it wouldn't feel too awkward. I'm happy and surprised to report that Mam didn't embarrass me, Sean's parents didn't embarrass him...once they'd established a few nuns, priests and dancers of mutual acquantaince they were happy enough to chat away.

They were all delighted with Coolbawn, but Sean and I were a bit disappointed with the food, especially the main course. Fuelled by half a bottle of wine I overcame by natural shyness about sharing my doubts with the staff, who were lovely - very understanding, sympathetic and happy to pass on our views to the poor chef. He'll have plenty of time to work on his spit-generation between now and september. On the upside, we stayed the night and had a lovely time - accommodation was fab and breakfast was lovely.

We'll have to go out again and do more tasting before we settle on a menu...why, oh why did we pick somewhere so far away? All Sean's fault, of course.

The church music

2009-07-23T02:24:00.000-07:00

A minor wedding rant...

A trad band played for the library at a conference dinner a few weeks ago. There were 4 of them and they played for 2 hours. I rang them up to see if they could do the church music for me. They quoted me double the price we paid them for the conference, they'll play for an hour and there will only be two of them there. So I'm getting half a band for half the time at twice the price! Grrr...wedding schmedding!

On the upside, after I got over my outrage I consulted my essential wedding forum groups to see what the going rate was, and discovered I'm getting the two musicians for the price that people normally pay for one musician. So I'm actually getting a good deal...I think. Actually I don't know...I'm confused...my head hurts.

Anyway its an Irish flute and a fiddler for the church...and of course Tara singing.

The entertainment

2009-07-17T06:30:00.000-07:00

I'm a woman on a mission this week...mostly cause my boss is on holidays. I've the night time entertainment booked. Coolbawn recommended a guy with a guitar who does a lot of weddings for small groups - low key kind of entertainment. I rang him, he's available and affordable. I haven't heard him play so its kind of blind faith but he sounded like a very nice man.

He said people can get up and dance or not dance, whatever they want, and he's happy to do backing music for anyone who wants to sing a song. I said there would probably be a few mothers who would be up whether he liked it or not! I don't think wild horses and a muzzle will be enough to avoid a rendition of "Love changes everything". I must remember to tell him I've an aunt and a sister who do a unique version of "The Rose" so he can work on his backing vocals!

Photographers

2009-07-15T08:18:00.000-07:00

I met 3 photographers yesterday and I'm torn between two of them. One of them does really good work – his photos are beautiful and the album is a storyboard thing which is all the rage apparently – but…I didn’t like his personality at all. He came across as bossy, a bit smarmy, like he thinks of himself as an artiste. The other guy was lovely – a real gentleman, calm, professional, seems very experienced – but…his photos are a bit ordinary and albums are quite traditional. Both were priced around the same and both have good recommendations in the wedding forums.

So do I go with the guy that will drive us mad all day but come up with the goods afterwards? He said he airbrushes the pictures…adds hair to the grooms, gets rid of crows feet for the bride…do they all do this? Is this the norm now? Sean is delighted, he has his vote, but it seems a bit dodgy to me.

And he didn't have the sense to say that crows-feet removal would obviously not be required in this instance!

Bridesmaid dresses acquired...& I didn't have to do a thing!

2009-07-09T02:50:00.001-07:00

In a stroke of masterful genius I ticked another thing off the list yesterday without lifting a finger. Its all down to my wonderful, fantabulous bridesmaids, probably realising that if they didn't take control of their dress shopping they risked ending up wearing potato sacks on the day.

It all started in March, before I was even engaged. Clo bought a lovely black and ivory dress in the classily-named Dress Barn in Wrentham (ah Wrentham) the last time she was in Boston. After I bought my dress we put them together and decided they were perfect together - the styles complemented each other beautifully. Having checked Dress Barn online without success, Tara's most important bridesmaidly mission, should she choose to accept it, was to scoot out to Wrentham and acquire a second dress the minute she landed in Boston. And success! She got the second last one...there since March...in Wrentham...what are the odds?

Well done Tar, you're a gem! I have to say this wedding planning business is a breeze!

Bridesmaid-illas

2009-07-08T02:11:00.000-07:00

Tara visited Ireland for the last 3 weeks and tried her best to light a fire under me, with some success. On the upside I now feel pressure to get things done, on the down side, I haven't actually gotten anything done since my last posting...except I got the shoes...hoorah! Okay, they were Tara's shoes and I had to take a stack of wedding folders, files & to-do lists as well, but at least I now have my "something borrowed"...and "old" (sorry Ta).

I tried on the dress for Tar & Clo and had a few moments of doubt...its all wrong, what was I thinking, I look like a whale, and so on. Not helped by bridesmaids making comments like "its definitely not traditional", "its a mature dress" and worst of all "Sean will love it" (i.e. your arse looks enormous). My doubts didn't last too long thankfully - I put their input down to jealousy (obviously) and fell back into the haze of bridal delusions of fabulousness that I've been living in since I said yes and made Sean the happiest man in the world!

Anyway, the 3 of us trooped to Coolbawn for lunch on saturday where my choice of venue was reaffirmed far more convincingly than the choice of dress - they thought it was wonderful. So we'd a lovely few weeks but I have a vague feeling that I should have overloaded them with a lot more bridesmaidly duties, if only to distract them from plotting the hen...

The wine

2009-06-19T07:36:00.000-07:00

Forgot to say, we bought the wine...chablis and cote de rhone. Or rather Sean waited until I was out of the country before buying the wine. He got enough cases so that there will be a bottle for each person, including the babies. And he didn't negotiate on price! O'Briens saw him coming!

Then we brought a few bottles out to Oola and I got hammered with Sean's mother and sister over sunday dinner. Wine is deceptively easy to drink...there will be sore heads on 18th September.

Paperwork

2009-06-19T07:28:00.000-07:00

Sean and I went off to the registry office and got our paperwork filled out. The registry office is in the HSE HQ in St Camillus's, so it had that depressing, health board feeling, like we were in the dole queue. We both came away appreciating our jobs more!

Anyway, after we persuaded registry woman that this was actually our first time getting married, we got a very very serious talking to about the seriousness of the paperwork and what big trouble we'll be in if we lose it, or forget it or find a typo in it at a later date. For any of the above, we'll have to slink back in with our heads hanging to explain ourselves. And for the love of God don't leave it with the priest! Got the feeling registry people think priests don't have a clue.

Anyway, we crossed all the t's and dotted all the i's and swore we weren't related to each other, so wedding is a go. She gave us all our paperwork in a nice little folder to bring with us on the day, mustn't forget.

Hmmm...wonder what I did with it.

So much to do, so little time...

2009-06-08T15:03:00.000-07:00

And I spend the night playing with avatars!

Sooo pretty! And kind of like my dress, except cartoon Keeraweera is skinnier.

The Dress

2009-05-23T13:19:00.000-07:00

I found the dress! Whoohoo. Its fabulous. I went shopping with Eileen and Mam. We went to two shops. The first one was ruled out when Mam asked could she use the bathroom and they said no, even though the shop was in their house so there was clearly a bathroom available that they wouldn't let her use. Boo.

The second was Virginia Bridal on Roches Street. They'd lovely stuff, I tried on lots but the last one just blew all the others away. I looked in the mirror and have to admit to feeling a very small unCiara-like lump in my throat. I've fallen into the classic bridal trap - going from thinking all the dresses looked the same to thinking I've found the one in a million thats different!

Its off-white, chiffon and floaty. The style is kind of Grecian and is very figure-hugging. If I put on a few pounds I'm in trouble. I felt like Ava Gardner or Marilyn Monroe in it...I have a suspicion it might be cause my bum looks enormous in it, but I've assurances from Mam and Eileen that thats not the case. I can't believe I picked a dress that accentuates my arse...Sean should be happy though.

Next step...Wedding dress shopping

2009-05-18T01:33:00.001-07:00

Myself and Clo went wedding dress shopping on saturday, which was fun. Actually it was fun for me, kind of boring for Clo who should have brought a book or something. We went to 2 boutiques and I tried lots of different shapes and styles. Following this indepth scientifically sound sampling exercise, I can now safely say...they all looked the same to me! They were all lovely - you could get married in any of them and look very nice.

On the one hand I'm very relieved, cause it looks like the wedding dress process won't be like the venue hunting process, where I fell for the most expensive choice and had to back track a bit. On the other hand, I'm not sure if I should keep looking or just buy any old one and get another thing ticked off the list. I'm going to London for work later this week so will drop into the high street stores that have bridal sections, see if they have anything nice...bring it home on my Ryanair hand luggage.

Interesting to note the horror on the faces of bridal shop assistants when they heard the wedding date...eyes instantly dropped to my stomach to see if they would have to factor a bump into the dress fittings!

Date confirmed

2009-05-13T07:20:00.000-07:00

Coolbawn wins! The date of thursday, 17th September 2009, is booked and confirmed...hoorah! We're getting married in Castleconnell Church (Sean got his way there) and having the meal in Coolbawn (I got my way with that one)...in the true spirit of marital compromising, we found a win-win resolution to our conflict.

Thank God its done! It was wrecking our heads...now I'm filled with a zen calm that the worst is over, despite people shrieking in horror "This Year?" when I tell them the date and what I haven't organized yet.

Venue links

2009-04-22T04:22:00.000-07:00

The current shortlist is Bunratty Manor www.bunrattymanor.ie/ and Coolbawn Quay www.coolbawnquay.com/.

Step 1...find a venue

2009-04-20T12:52:00.000-07:00

Actually, I suppose step 1 is really get engaged, followed by step 2...buy a ring. But those were easy steps, they happened naturally, blissfully. I was happily preoccupied with the joys of getting engaged and jewellery shopping rather than spending any time writing blogs, as requested by Tara (my sister in America) who feels like she's missing all the fuss. So the blog is only starting now, at the venue step.

I'm starting to wish I was in America missing all the fuss! After seeing 6 venues my head is addled. Its a pretty simple requirement...good food and accommodation for 40 people with a bit of charm and reasonably affordable...thats pretty much it. How did it get so complicated? After watching me with barely concealed alarm as I fell in love with Adare Manor (has to be november on monday, tuesday or wednesday!), Sean (my h2b!) talked me down to the land of the living. It was a nice idea while it lasted though.

So now its a short list of 2 slightly more affortable venues...Bunratty Manor (h2bs choice involving good food, nice accommodation and absolutely zero magic/fairytale/bridal charm) and Coolbawn Quay (my choice involving major bridal charm, fabulous accommodation and quality of food yet to be determined). We're eating in Coolbawn at the weekend...please, please, please let it be nice.

I'm starting to see why people say secret of good marriage is compromise...just as well I'm not married yet!