kiss me, I'm (one quarter) Irish!

Yesterday was Saint Patty's Day...I think one of my favorite minor holidays-
perhaps this is because I'm part Irish...
perhaps just because it's a day where you have an excuse to torture somebody simply because they didn't follow the "wear green" dress code.
 <I went to a Catholic high school...dress code is extremely important! "the skirt must fall to the center of the knee!">


Yesterday did not turn out to be all that I had planned however...
in fact, I did not wear a stitch of green myself...

Why?
Because I was a little preoccupied with my baby being sick,
so we woke up and called for an appointment with our pediatrician first thing yesterday morning...
seriously, I didn't even get a chance to wash my hair yesterday.

Unfortunately, my fears were warranted...my baby has RSV (respiratory syncitial virus).
The doctor said that he's actually doing quite well...but we have to go back today to have his oxygen rechecked...
if it has dropped, she says he needs to be admitted to the hospital.

Please say some prayers for my little man today.

In the meantime, we have been taking antibiotics for his ear infections and have been using the nebulizer every 4 hours (even during the night!) to help my little patient.

He did play with his Daddy a little last night.

"these are my feet!"

And he played with Kane who loves him dearly!

And he still loves his Sophie that Miss Lisa got for him!

He has done well, he slept through the night in his little lamb swing within an arm's reach from our bed.
He even laughed and rolled over a few times while playing this morning!




But getting back to our Saint Patty's day celebration (of sorts)...
I didn't wear green- but Caleb did! (courtesy of "Kay-Kay"- his Grandmommy Fisher!)

I didn't make my little cut-out and decorated sugar cookies kinda like these or these as I had planned.
I didn't make Irish Soda Bread either.
But I held my sweet little boy while he slept and that's good enough for me.

I did get to make part of the Irish dinner I had planned for the Hubbs and myself.
It turned out pretty good!

We had Irish Beef and Stout Stew from marthastewart.com...  I love her!

you can NEVER have too much garlic!

don't worry, you don't have to drink this
...it goes into the pot!

mix it all up!

 just the right amount of salt and pile on the pepper

how my Grandmother measured things...with her palm

bring to a boil then stick it in the oven

 while the stew was stewing, I started a great, simple beer bread:

3 C self rising flour and 1/2 C sugar

1 can of beer minus a sip or two!

bake at 350 "until done" this pan was about 45 minutes
...top with butter anywhere from 3 tabs to 1 stick
(I reccomend a whole stick but it would have made a mess here)
and back to the oven for a bout 5-10 minutes

add peas before serving

grab two Killian's and there you are!

<As a side note: we used venison in lieu of beef...that's what we had in the deep freezer.>


After dinner we had a warm nightcap...The Blizzard Cocktail also from martha. We almost had the Hot Nutty Irishman but the thought of Grand Mariner Whipped Cream won me over!

It was super yummy- even the Hubbs liked it!



As a addendum:
Caleb's check-up went well today!  His oxygenation went up (94 yesterday to 96 today!) so hospitilization was not needed, thank goodness! 
He was even rolling around, kicking, smiling and laughing at the nurse and doctor! 
"RSV- I laugh in your face!" he says!