And the rain came down.......

"...like an angel come down from above......" (Steve Earl - Exit O). But here, the rain did fall, VERY heavily for a week, and then, Aibhe came along.

Of course, it is a life changing experience and all that they say it is. Now that she dictates when we eat and sleep, till we eventually manage to get her into the Foley/Parker regime. Or should I say Parker/Foley regime - lets face it, I pale in organisational skill comparison to my good lady wife. But soon. Soon she will sleep through the night, though that said, so far the sleep deprivation hasn't been quite up to the doomsday scenarios painted by those that have gone before. I may speak too soon of course so let me not say another word about that. Lots of firsts had by us these past few weeks it has to be said and Alissa hasn't even gagged (too much!!) at the nappy changing. However they are getting more and more intense as the days go by. Whoever said "When its your own, ye won't even notice it" - they were talking shite - literally.

So there she is in one of her more peaceful moments. All I will say is that she is being just fantastic so far. And bloody cute. And there's proud and happy Mum.

We did promise from the start that there would be no excessive PILING on of the photos - as having experienced it all from the outside, I do still realise that taking every single possible angle (sorry, I mean sending pictures of every single possible angle) at this early age is a little OTT. However, there have been specific requests for just a few more snaps, so here ye go. Maybe next time we'll have one of the 3 of us!

Other than that, life's been mad. Ahhh just plain mad. All the gigs, the all night drinking, the poker nights with the boys, the football matches, the games of golf....... and general craziness of life as a parent - just mental. Very tiring though.

I could document the account of the labour and the non-functioning epidural, but we shall save all that for a few pints of Guinness in June/July in Dublin. There were a few here who were quick to point out that Aibhe was 1 hour and 31 mins late and that she could never be our daughter if she were to keep that up. I had to point out that she was conceived in Ireland, and was therefore still functioning on Irish time and could therefore not be considered late in any way. She was bang on time. A Foley/Parker she is.

Well, her name will be an interesting one for the Aussies to interpret. We've had plenty of occasion to repeat the spelling several times already, but we will persist and someday.... someday, she'll appreciate the names we gave her. Of course we'll have to fill her in all about her wonderful aunt Marian who's name she has taken on, and who we know would have been so incredibly excited at her arrival.

So a big thank you to all for the cards, clothes, presents, calls, wishes and general interest in our new addition. All the contact is greatly appreciated and just makes it a little easier for me to be over here going through this amazing time. And its not just me, Alissa misses so much of what we all had in Ireland, but Aibhe's going to grow up here in Brisbane, and man, is she a lucky kid!!!!