The Irish Rosebud

Parenting

2015-07-14T10:35:00.004-04:00

Parenting is truly one of the hardest things to do in life. And I've learnt that you never really appreciate your own parents until you have your own children. You also begin to see a lot of your deepest darkest sins come to the surface. Like selfishness, need for control, greediness, need I go on?

I'm sitting here writing this as I watch my own child grab her daddy's whisky flask off the shelf with a can of pringles. Am I going to stop her? Probably not. She's determined, stubborn, extremely strong willed and I get so much joy out of watching her explore and try to figure out how things work and her mischievous nature come into play. She's a great sleeper (and I know mum's hate to hear that from other mum's!) BUT the reason she sleeps great is because she EXHAUSTS herself all day. Anyone that has watched her knows exactly what I'm talking about. She is so incredibly full of energy that I often find myself looking at the clock saying "is it bed time yet??" and I see it's only 3pm.

We have number 2 coming in January so I have just started introducing the potty to Lily. Of course every mum hopes her child will be the one that takes to it like duck to water, and within three days they're out of diapers and proudly in their big girl underwear. Lily will not be that child. I found her this morning eating her cereal out of her potty, so it's going to take some time here. I actually thought we had a break through the other morning when she'd come into bed with me (hubs was on a camping trip) and I'd taken her diaper off. She jumped out of bed shouting "bye bye ma". Next thing she comes running in shouting "poo poo! poo poo!" So I jump out of bed thinking oh my yes, my daughter is one of the dream kids! She's done her first poop in the potty. Oh what was I thinking?! She takes my hand and leads me into her bedroom not the bathroom and she shows me her poop, on the rug, under the bed, beside her kitchen, on her books. So we still have some learning to do here.

Parenting is one of those things you can never be prepared for. And there are days where you just have to throw your hands in the air and just laugh. For a while I tried to be the everything wife and mother; keeping my home pristinely clean and in shape, having culinary dinners on the table, exhaustively trying to set a schedule for Lily. And I just fell apart, I was exhausted, I wanted constant affirmation from my husband, I wanted a pat on the shoulder for being such a good wife and mother. I was not enjoying life, I was becoming a major control freak. Then things happen, like Lily pulls all her diapers out of her diaper pail and smears the contents in her hair and on the floor, or she pulls out the eggs thinking they're soccer balls and throws them around the kitchen, or I find my car keys in the trash can, or I find cucumber pieces behind my ear, or I find her cleaning the toilet with her dad's toothbrush. The list goes on! But I can't control these things, and I don't want to. She's a toddler, she's curious, she's figuring things out and I need to pick my battles. I can't always be fighting my children. There has to be a balance.

I'm learning to see things through my daughters eyes and to have more fun with this stage of life we're all in. I'm learning to let go of the control and trust in the creator that made her. I love my daughter and the laughs that she brings to our lives everyday. She is constant entertainment. And I can't wait to see what our next little one will be like.

Christmas Gift Guide

2014-11-13T22:09:00.000-05:00

It's coming round fast! The most wonderful time of year....

Christmas!

I am not known for my timeliness with gift giving, in fact my little brother is still waiting on his birthday present, and his birthday was in August.

So I always freak out a little bit when it comes to Christmas because I've got to ship so many of our gifts overseas. So I like to make sure I get my skates on pretty early and start planning out gifts.

There's always going to be that person who leaves you stomped when it comes to gift giving. Mother in laws are in their own category of tricky!

So I have compiled a list of gifts that I think are quite universal and could appeal to various tastes and desires.

1. Laptop cover. I highly recommend Etsy for finding gifts a little different. This shop has some lovely things for sale.

2. Letter mugs are always great basis for a gift. You can use a little creativity with this one, add a little hot chocolate mix, tea collection, gift card etc.

3. Men's Touchscreen gloves. Not only are they incredibly warm, they can also allow your hubs/Dad/brother/uncle to play on his phone!

4. Pie server. I got to say Anthropologie has come out amazing in terms of gifts this year. They have a multitude of things that would be wonderful gifts, jewelled headbands, cuddly toys, wine glasses etc.

5. Who doesn't love a new lip gloss!? And this Marc Jacobs one is simply beautiful.

6. Perhaps a snuggle new blanket covered in polka dots would make someone on your list warm and happy?

7. As a parent one of the best gifts I/we can get is a night of free babysitting :) Treat your friends with babies/children to a night that will cost you nothing (maybe some snot and lots of rolling on the ground) but will mean the world to your friends!

8. As a true Irish lassie, I love my tea so when I saw this I thought what a perfect gift for all those tea drinkers!

9. I love this. I think it's perfect for anyone. Who doesn't need a laptop stand in the shape of a cutting board?!

(Pin)Inspiration

2014-10-08T16:42:00.000-04:00

What would we do without Pinterest in our lives? I have got so many wonderful ideas from it for my wedding, nursery ideas, baby showers,

home decor and most of all recipes!

There are soooo many amazing recipes on there. All I have to do is type in "chicken slow cooker" and BOOM up pops lots of little photos of delicious chicken!

Here are some of my favourite recipes I've discovered, tried, tested and loved from Pinterest.

Just like the title says, this really is the best bbq chicken. It's so easy, so delicious
and such a versatile meal. AND bonus, it's really good the next day.

Again, this is so easy and so delicious. This is actually tonight's dinner.
I've stuck mine in the slow cooker but it tastes the same.
And of course I'll be having three types of potatoes with it :)

This, THIS is by far my most favourite thing to make for dessert.
It lasts for days! If you can let it last that long. It is so moist, so flavorful, so so GOOD!
Go, GO, GO make this now and you will NOT regret it!

And lastly, pure decadence. Most of my friends know that lemon is probably my favourite
thing to have in a sweet. Lemon cake, lemon bars, lemon pie. LOVE
My hubby knew this and just before we started dating he would bring my lemon cake and a chai latte
just as a "oh I was stopping to get a latte for myself so I thought I'd bring you something" gesture. He would
be going to the library on campus (Mmm hmmm yea I don't think so!) and would just happen to walk by
the mailroom where I use to work. Love him!

My Little Family

2014-10-02T12:10:00.000-04:00

I'm just going to take a moment to love and gush over my little family here.

Lily turned one on September 9th and when I look back over her first year of her life it's amazing all that has happened.
And we've survived! All three of us!

She was born in September, by Christmas she had already flown to Texas and to Ireland. We lost a dear dear friend in that time too, so along with figuring out life with a newborn we were also thrown into this emotional abyss of grief and sadness. Hubby then took a call to a new Church in Maine and we moved May 1st. In the last 5 months we have had 8 sets of visitors come to stay with us. I have so much enjoyed having people stay with us because I'm so much of a people person and I love entertaining! But it has been one busy year for our little family!

I look at Lily now as she is pulling all her bottles out of the cupboard, oh and yes there goes the food processor now. Soon she'll discover there are Oreos hidden in there too. She is so inquisitive and always exploring. It's so fun to watch her personality develop and see what kind of person she's becoming. She's always ALWAYS full of energy and loves people. She's an incredibly social child. I am so interested to see how this plays out as she gets older.

My parents were just here and it gave us an opportunity to get some nice snaps of Lils and our family.

Outfit Obsession

2014-04-12T20:26:00.000-04:00

Pastels have become one of my favourite colour palettes. And now that the sun has come out and decided to stay a while,

I feel it's time for some Spring colours in my wardrobe to come out too.

I love Spring. It's one of my favourite seasons!

And that's partly because I can break out the bright and sunny clothes! Annnnnd it's an excuse to add some new Springy clothes to my wardrobe!

Here are some of my fave outfits I'm using for inspiration these days.

Neck Warmth

2014-03-04T08:06:00.000-05:00

Oh boy do I love scarves! I have a ridiculous collection of scarves. So much so that they're stuffed in boxes scattered all over our apartment because I don't have enough closet space for them. Hubs goes a little crazy when he opens a box and sees there are yet more scarves stuffed in it. I can't help myself. Scarves add so much to an outfit whilst keeping you cozy and warm. My philosophy - the bigger the better. Anthropologie always has a great selection of scarves but they always go on sale so don't impulse buy just yet! Gap also has some great scarves that are really versatile. Just check these styling lassies and their scarves out!

Our Big Move

2014-03-03T11:32:00.001-05:00

Our little family is moving! To Portland, Maine!

The land of LL Bean, lots of snow and lots of lobster!

My husband has accepted a call to be a solo pastor of a church
in Portland and we are so excited!

We have such a flurry of emotions swirling through us right now; excitement, nerves, happiness, sadness but we know with certainty
this is where the Lord is leading us.

Philadelphia has been the only American home I've known so it will be a big adjustment, and we have an incredible community of friends and "family" here. Saying goodbye will be
difficult and will definitely pull at the heart strings.

But we have such peace in our hearts and we know
this is the next chapter of our lives.

Our pastor Terry, who passed away just before Christmas,
had put Sean's name forward.

And he prayed, laughed, encouraged, cried and loved us
throughout the beginnings of this journey.

My heart breaks that he isn't here to wave us off out of Glenside on to this next chapter of our lives.
But I know he is rejoicing, crying and laughing in heaven.

We're excited to see what's in store for our little family in this next stage of life and to dip our toes into some snowy sports. I'm planning on finally shooting a deer much to the hubs dismay.

So pray for us and come visit us!

Dreaming Outloud

2014-02-27T21:06:00.000-05:00

I am forever day dreaming about my dream home.

In my head I'm this interior designer,

with impeccable taste for unique yet tasteful decor.

In reality I'm as scattered as they come!

My dream would be one day to build our home from scratch

(HA! in your dreams woman!)

The kitchen is my favourite room. I spend most of my time there and the best thing for a kitchen is natural light.

I also love big farmhouse sinks and lots of open shelving.

Here are some pictures of beautiful kitchens that scream inspiration!

Jewels and Plaid

2014-02-12T08:49:00.000-05:00

I love this combination. A plaid shirt can look so lonesome by itself but jazz it up with a few sparkles and BOOM you have a classy little outfit to strut your stuff in. I feel like your stepping it up a notch by adding some jewels, and turning an otherwise farmer-esk look into something a little special.

Spoil Yourself

2014-02-10T22:26:00.000-05:00

Every now and again we need to spoil ourselves, or someone else. Here are a few budget friendly things that I'm sure would bring a smile to anyone's face.

1.Cardigan 2.Mug 3.Lips 4.Shoes 5.Ring 6.Scarf

Proud Momma Moment

2014-02-09T15:38:00.000-05:00

I didn't think it was possible for my love of this little one to grow anymore than it did the day I got to first hold her. But each day I thank God for this little blessing and for her incredible happy nature. She is such a good baby and tends to only cry when she's hungry or isn't getting attention (kind of like her dad!) I love hearing those infectious giggles. She's hitting her milestones rather too quickly for my liking. I now get it when mums kept telling me they grow up so fast.

She's only five months and it's flying by us so quickly, I can't keep up!

Here's my little love poppet

NYFW

2014-02-09T15:17:00.002-05:00

Once again, the stylish and beautiful have descended upon NYC, (not that there's not enough beautiful people in that city!) for New York Fashion Week. And I get to watch the shows from the comfort of my sofa with my stack of oreos and milk beside me. I get so excited to see all the styles strut down the runway and even though I will never be able to afford the beautiful clothes I know if I wait long enough, those styles will make it into more affordable stores eventually.

I love to get a fresh dose of inspiration from the street styles of those attending the shows.

Here's some inspiration I've found popping up on the NYFW blogs.

(Pin)Inspiration

2014-01-30T22:56:00.001-05:00

Game day is fast approaching and for some reason

I always get really excited about it.

I'm not American, I don't understand football,

I can't figure out why there are so many breaks in the game,

BUT I love when that Sunday falls upon us!

Maybe it's the getting together with friends and eating gorbs of cheesy goodness while letting the commercials entertain us.

So in preparation for Sunday here are some foody ideas (because come on, it's all about the food and commercials really!) that I discovered on Pinterest.

I just got a bunch of avocados on sale, so these might be whipping their way

to our Super Bowl Party

I can always bring a little bit of Ireland to the game

I liked this take on the usual buffalo chicken cheese dip

Just because Christmas has come and gone doesn't mean we have to wave

this little delight away with it

And we have to have the obligatory football shaped delight

I'm rooting for the Broncos, only because the Texan is going for the Seahawks and

I like a little competition

Grown up clothes

2014-01-29T23:45:00.000-05:00

Recently I've been feeling that I'm stuck in an outfit rut.

I use to have so much fun (and time) putting outfits together

but now I find myself giving more attention to what
Lily is wearing than what I put on.

My daily outfit usually consists of leggings and a
shirt that doesn't smell like spit up.

So it was about time I got some styling inspiration. Here's what I came up with for the Wintery weeks ahead of us.

And how cute are these! One can but dream :)

My Top Baby Buys

2014-01-21T10:13:00.000-05:00

I hadn't really a clue what was in and what was out when it

came to getting ready for my baby girl to arrive.

Now that Lily is almost five months,

I've found what works and what doesn't for us.

I tried and tested quite a few things and have compiled a list of my favourite baby buys.

Wipe Warmer

Yes you laugh and I laughed. But a cold wipe feels just

as cold on a baby's bum as it does on yours, and it's cold.

So I indulged.

Aveeno Baby Moisturiser

BEST moisturiser cream! Poor babes got my sensitive skin

and her chubby wrists and ankles rub against her clothes all the time resulting

in lots of dry skin. This literally clears up dry skin in a few days!

Storage Bin

I have accumulated a ridiculous amount of cuddly toys for Lils and

as I mentioned before the lack of storage in her room drives me nuts.

These bins are HUGE, super cute and come in a multitude of animal faces.

The Inflatable Duck

Lils had been on 6 planes and visited Texas and Ireland all before she turned

four months. This duck came to both Texas and Ireland and Lils

loved it! It's big enough that it'll definitely do another few trips

but also small enough that it's extremely portable and doesn't take up

a lot of space.

A must for travellers!

Fisher Price Sleeper

This saved my sanity! I love this thing. Lily pretty much slept in from the

minute she brought home. It kind of cocooned her in and was so soft.

Now she's in her crib but when she wakes up for her 5am feeding

I'll bring her into our room and put her in this so I can get a

few more hours of shut eye without having to get out of bed.

I LOVE this!

Sleep Sack

Lily absolutely hated being swaddled. She does not like to be confined.

She loves to flail her arms and like to sleep with them above her head.

This was a perfect inbetween solution. She doesn't wake herself up

as much with her kicking and she's kept cosy all night.

Monday Funday

2014-01-20T11:12:00.000-05:00

This is one of my favorite videos at the minute.

I hope it puts a smile on your face :)

Storage

2014-01-15T17:52:00.000-05:00

Today was one of those days where everything just seemed so peaceful.
Even my four month old daughter!

Her room has been driving me nuts the last few weeks for its lack of storage.

The closet in it is actually my closet and her drawers are busting at the seems with her clothes.

So today we took a trip to Ikea and Target to find some storage options.

Two of my favourite places to go as a mum.

We pretty much had the whole place to ourselves, and she slept the entire trip!

I also did something I've never done before and went and had lunch by myself.

I sat at a table by myself, I ate by myself, I stared out the window and didn't talk to anyone.

I loved it!

Here are some of my dream ideas for Lily's room.

LOVE that wall!

Gifting

2014-01-12T14:13:00.002-05:00

So last night was baby girls first night in her crib. I had been resisting this because I love her being in our bed~~room~~ (I know I know bad mother award right here) but the Texan had had enough nights of rolling over and seeing his daughter lying beside him. As any mother will tell you, sleep training doesn't happen overnight so while I was resisting the constant heart breaking urge to go into her every time she cried I dawdled around the internet looking for birthday presents for my two sisters in law whose birthdays are 3 days apart. Here are some ideas I found.

Changes In Buying Habits

2014-01-07T12:57:00.000-05:00

So now that I have a beautiful girl whose chubby legs I get to squeeze all day
One of my favourite things to do is plan her outfits and dress her up.

What I noticed however when I went to look/buy clothes for her was that

I was buying clothes that I would have bought for myself but just in

miniature form and in exactly the same colors.

What I've also noticed is that I am less drawn to buying clothes

For myself now and buying for her instead.

Now I realize that babies spend all their time ~~smiling, gurgling, looking cute,~~

Crying, pooping and eating but why can't she look pretty while doing all these

things?

Nordstrom recently had a mini boden sale going on

and since I had a gift card (that I was originally using to spurge on some Mac make up)

I decided what better to spend it on that baby boden clothes!

Just try and tell me these are not the cutest darn things you've ever seen?!

Brrrrrrr!

2014-01-06T17:50:00.000-05:00

It is CHILLY here in Philadelphia!

And tomorrow it's going to drop to -15C so baby girl and I will be taking shelter indoors

with lots of hot tea, blankets and the task of finding a new winter coat for myself.

I realise I need to pay more attention to warmth than fashion but
here are some girls who managed to pull of winter style
and keep it fashionable.

Fur is always the answer

2013-07-20T09:54:00.000-04:00

Pregnancy....

Here I am. 7 months pregnant. And feeling it every day!

Thursday I trotted off to the pool, ~~jumped~~ waddled in,

and floated for 2 hours.

It was pure bliss.

Right now it's in the high 90's here in Philadelphia and we're

dropping like flies. But the minute I got into that pool

baby girl started kicking like a crazy fish!

Something tells me she might be a swimmer :)

Today I am taking on a challenge. We have only 2 more months to go,

so I am on a mission to make a bunch of freezer meals for us

so that when she gets here I'm not stressing myself out with cooking

or destroying our budget by eating take out every night.

So let the mess begin!

Life

2012-11-25T15:48:00.001-05:00

Sometimes LIFE just happens.

For me it has been happening for the last 6 months.

I feel like I have been put into a washing machine and someone pressed

the "repeat wash" button over and over again

But for some reason it has felt really good!

I'm finally in a job that I absolutely love and gets me off my bum

Thanksgiving has come and gone, I wrestled with the turkey and I won.

Black Friday was a semi letdown for me.

BUT I did finally have a morning to myself (the Texan slept in over eating slumber)

And I scoured the internet for some Winter inspiration for my wardrobe.

It is now closet clean out day to make room for some new little purchases :)

These outfits just scream inspiration!

P.S. I just want to give a shout out to my absolutely wonderfully beautiful cousin Charlotte who I will finally be reunited with in a short few months (bring on the bubbly!!) and her Level 6 class. Study hard, work hard, play hard and life will be great! You have a wonderful teacher, use her for the incredibly valuable resource that she is!

Back To Normality

2012-10-14T21:03:00.003-04:00

I just spent the weekend with 20 junior high kids in the middle

of the forest.

Can you think of a more perfect way to spend your weekend??

Actually it was a lot of fun, I do love the kids I work with.

So what better to come back to, than some beautiful Autumn outfits

Oh Yessh!

2012-09-13T16:41:00.001-04:00

I literally had insane jealousy and love at the same time when I saw

this picture.

How unbelievably incredible is this fur!

Wrap me up in this wonderous luxurious heap of insane fluffiness (yea! Look at me use my adjectives!)

NYFW Street Style

2012-09-13T09:32:00.000-04:00

I would give my left leg, my right arm, even my toes to be at NY fashion week!

To be surrounded by that much fashion talent and style and to watch the models

strut their stuff in some of the most beautifully made dresses.

But there is just as much style off the catwalk as there is on.