Fierce and Fiesty at 29 Weeks

Hello! It's been over a year since I've updated our blog and I thought this was a good occasion to do so . . .

The proud hairy bump at 22 weeks:

(Believe me, it's hairy)!

And this is the beautiful baby girl inside:)

Face profile

Waiving hello

Top picture: face
Bottom picture: feet

Top picture: feet

Bottom picture: face

Top picture: face

Bottom picture: body profile

Top picture: body profile

Bottom picture: not sure . . . hands or feet?

Expected due date is December 20th.

dublin snow

Dublin rarely gets snow but it seems like it's been falling for the last three days straight! We certainly don't have much to show for it - it either stops or starts raining just long enough for it to melt into slush. Here's the latest from outside our door.

Pie!

This is my Chicken, Leek, and Tarragon Pie

So proud! And so delicious.

Thanks Caroline and Siobhan!

Cobh

After staying in Cork for one night, we took about a 20 minute train ride to Cobh (pronounced 'cove'). It is a beautiful little sleepy seaside town known for being the point where many people left for America during the potato famine.

St. Coleman's Cathedral on the hill.

The view from the cathedral.

Cork

We went to Cork and Cobh for our anniversary and the new year. We have a new found appreciation for Cork; it has a university feel as it is home to University College Cork, it's cheaper than Dublin, it is the 3rd largest city in Ireland (behind Dublin and Belfast), and has the 2nd largest natural port in the world (behind Australia).

A side street in Cork. There were so many cute little (affordable) bistros.

The former Beamish brewery. When tried to have a tour, we were told Heineken recently bought them out and they no longer give tours :(

Unfortunately we were in Cobh for the new year and were unable to attend "Freakscene" :)

Where we went for our anniversary dinner.

These Hillbilly's Fried Chicken restaurants are all over Cork; never tried it but got a picture.

Happy New Year!

We hope you have had a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! We accidentally left our camera at home when we went up to Belfast for Christmas, so we thought we'd post some pictures of Dublin at Christmas. Unfortunately I can't find a pitcure of Grafton Street, it was by far the most beautifully decorated.

The ferris wheel at Smithfield. It's not shown in these pictures, but they also have a skating rink where I went with work a while back.

The tree on O'Connell Street (changing color).

lunch with alan and pamela

Today we had lunch with Pamela and Alan who we've met at church. The view pictures are taken from the deck of their top floor condo/apartment. Absolutely gorgeous.

Here's Rob reading the paper with a glass of sherry.

After lunch, we went to their boat for a cup of coffee.

thanksgiving usa

We had a fabulous Thanksgiving last Thursday and are greatful for all the friends we have made while we've been in Dublin. 16 people ended up coming for dinner and we had a delicious spread of traditional Thanksgiving dishes. The stuffing I made was a particular success :) Here's the recipe, http://www.elise.com/recipes/archives/000036moms_turkey_stuffing.php

Pictures from the day: Rob carving the turkey and Katie, the only other American (from Texas) is standing up. Katie is in the same master's program as Rob.

Baby Alastair and his mom Marilyn (from Canada) holding him. Rob's boss at work, Caroline, is on the right, and Siobhan is sitting in the cushy chair on the left.

pub tease

Rob and I had seen this pub from a distance on the bus and couldn't figure out how to get to it. We could see that it looked like it was behind the RTE campus (Ireland's radio and television service . . . also where U2 recorded their first album in '78), also near our house. Despite failed attempts in the past, we decided yesterday in the freezing cold, that we were going to find it. We walked through the RTE and sure enough, we found it! Only to discover it is a set for one of their TV shows. Instead of the pub, we went to the RTE canteen and got coffee for our cold walk home.