Tapas for 2

So recently Ireland has caught on to the Groupon craze, there are several different companies out there doing the mass buying deals.  GrabOne is one such company and recently were recruiting people who were passionate about deals and liked to write, and they'd let you in on the free stuff.  So I of course answered the call, and was rewarded with that day's deal, Tapas for Two at Amicus, with wine and Affogato's for dessert.  Only thing I had to do was take pictures and write up a short review.  Sounded pretty easy to me and hey, who doesn't like free stuff?

I've been to Amicus a few times, but I believe the tapas menu is new, well, I have no idea, but I don't remember there being tapas before...the deal was for an antipasti platter, which was filled with different meats, olives, hummus, crostini, salads, chicken liver pate, and loads of bread.  It also came with 2 glasses of house wine and we asked if we could have something else and they said no problem, so we had Cokes instead.  And for dessert was an Affogato, which is vanilla ice cream with an espresso.  I was a bit dubious that a platter full of appetizers would satisfy us for dinner, but by the time the last bit of ice cream slipped down our throats, we were definitely sated.  Overall, not bad, that would normally set you back 36 euro, the GrabOne deal was for 17 euro, so nearly a 50% saving. But I must admit, I would never pay 36 euro for that, and I might be tempted for 17, but still probably wouldn't do it again. But we definitely enjoyed the night out and the food.

And now for what you all came for, an update on Avery Kate, who happens to now be 4 months old.  She has made some developmental progress, which brings joy to the doctor in me, since it seems like that's all we learned in Pediatrics, at what stage should they be doing such and such.  She can now roll from her front to her back and nearly from her back to her front. And she can push up with her arms when she's on her stomach. She started laughing a couple weeks ago, she'd giggle and smile before, but now we can get her laughing.  She's now starting to reach and bat her toys and puts everything she can grab in her mouth.  She's doing her best impression of a vampire since her two top incisors have decided to come in over the weekend, which is why she's producing copious amounts of slobber. She loves being outdoors and being held facing out so that she can see what's going on.  So that's about it for now!

My personal favorite

Tales of Travels: Trivia Friday

Here's a quick post, I guest posted for my friend's new travel blog, check it out. This is to tide you rabid readers over until I can get a post of my own up! Go on and have a guess, for getting it right you could have the privilege of the Trivia Friday title and could get to do next Friday's post! Proof of your intellectual superiority, who could ask for anything more?

Tales of Travels: Trivia Friday: "A big thank you for the guest post this week for our Trivia Friday! She sent in to me the clues as follows: 1. It has a colorful and varied..."

What's more American....

Just in time for the 4th of July, Avery Kate is now an American citizen.  We travelled up to Dublin last week and got it all done, the appointment was surprisingly fast, maybe 15-20 minutes and it was all over, dual-citizenship obtained. Now we just need to get her Irish passport.

For the Fourth we went to the Peters' house for a BBQ. We also played a bit of baseball this weekend so all things American.  I provided a cake for the BBQ and also had the stuff for S'mores, however, we are in Ireland so of course the day ended with rain and we did not get to do the S'mores. Next time...

Whipped cream frosting topped with strawberries and blueberries

Red, white, and blue!

Mmmm, cake...

Whatchu looking at?

Memories

I have many, many amazing memories from my time as a missionary in Germany.  But there's one particular memory that keeps popping into my brain since Avery's arrival.  Really it was such a small thing I witnessed, processed and filed away.  I had no idea that nearly 10 years later this memory would surface. But surfaced it has and I'm glad.

My favorite photo of the Rodgers' Family from the mish

It happened one night at the Rodgers' home.  Either the Rodgers' or the Halverson's would invite us over nearly every week, and often both in the same week, and we loved going the 30 minute train ride from Regensburg to Parsberg.  Great families, great kids, great food, so it was always a highlight of the week.  On this particular night, it was the usual bustling household, filled with lighthearted banter and laughter.  The youngest at the time, Sarah, happened to be a little fussy.  She'd been crying and other people had tried to calm and soothe her but nothing seemed to be working.  After a few minutes, Rachel put down what she was doing (I can't recall what she was doing but probably preparing one of her mouth-watering meals) walked over and picked up her daughter, and simply held her close.  It was like magic, she instantly stopped crying and they just remained there, mother and daughter, gently swaying back and forth.  At the time I remember trying to look away, it seemed such an intimate, private moment, but at the same time I was mesmerized by the powerful bond so evident between them. I could not fathom having such an influence on someone.

Tonight I witnessed another such tender moment when Avery became distressed and began to heartily cry, something that really hasn't happened very often in her 12 weeks on the earth so far.  Andrew picked her up and held her close and she calmed down straight away and fell asleep.  It's amazing how having a daughter changes you, how your capacity for love increases so much you never thought it was possible.  All you want to do is protect the little life that you've brought into the world, while knowing full well that she's not going to stay this size forever.  But for now all we can do is to do our best for her and treasure up these memories.

And for Rachel, for me to remember such a seemingly insignificant moment, one that was no doubt played out hundreds of times in your home with each of your children, is a tribute to you.  I'm sure you can't remember this specific time that I'm recalling, but as you can see it made an impact.  You're an incredible mother and person.  And thanks again for your example and for all the great dinners!

Discovered

Someone's discovered her thumbs and it's driving Andrew crazy. He keeps trying to stop her. I'm in two minds about it, on the one hand I think it can be a hard habit to break but on the other she's pretty good at self-soothing herself with it. Anyway, she's a happy baby and seems to be growing like a weed.

Smiling

We couldn't get on the internet for the past 2 weeks for long periods of time so I'm now updating.

Avery Kate started real smiles on Easter Sunday at 5 weeks old. She's now 2 months old and had her first immunizations today. She's still really good at sleeping at night, although she prefers our bed to hers. She's a good-tempered baby and is very fun to interact with now that she smiles and is attempting to laugh. She's still very squirmy and if you put her down she'll kick and squirm non-stop, but she's now a lot better about being put in her bouncer or on the couch, she can chill for a lot longer now.

Today is also the visit of Barack O'Bama, as they call him here. It's funny to see how the Irish media portray him. "President Obama returns home" is one of the commercials they've been running. Penney's is selling shirts with "Nobody's more Irish than Barack O'Bama" on them. But unlike the Queen, he's not visiting Cork, and I'm not going up to Dublin to see him. Ireland's had a busy week.

Here are some photos of Avery:

I've been trying to get one of her smiling, this is the best one so far...

Having a nap in her favorite place.

The English Market

The English Market got a makeover for the Queen's visit. Here are some photos.