Jack and Brown Dawg

Sunday night Jack went to his first SIU game with Nanny and Pops (Tracie and Stacy). Tracie said that Jack was very well behaved throughout the entire game, of course, and she chased brown dawg all over the arena and finally got this picture. He was so precious in his little Saluki tee.

Elton John or Jack Parrish?

Last night we played trivia for a fundraiser in Herrin. Our team was named the "rock stars" and we wanted to see what Jack looked like in the glasses. Pretty cute as you can see...but eerily like Elton John! This is just the kind of picture that future girlfriends might be interested in seeing.

"Miracle on the Hudson"

I wanted to take a moment to comment on yesterday's events. This incident is something I haven't been able to get off my mind for several reasons.

First of all, I am terrified of flying. I'm not really sure where this debilitating fear comes from, considering my dad had his pilot's license and my half-brother is a pilot for Jet Blue. I have grown up around flying and it is something I have done countless times. Bronson also has his pilot's license as does his father and grandfather. So you can see, it is something that runs in the family. Maybe I should learn to fly too and conquer my fears!!??

Second of all, I can't imagine what was going through the minds of the people aboard that plane when they realized it was going down and the pilot announced for the passengers to "brace for impact". I saw an interview this morning with the family that had a 5 year old and a 9 month old on board with them. I can't even fathom being a mother in that situation....I think that is enough said on that topic.

Also, after talking to Brons about the landing, I realize how the pilot of that plane had absolutely no room for error. Brons said all it would have taken was for the pilot to drop the wing a little bit when landing and the plane would have tumbled and been torn to pieces. Not to mention that yesterday was one of the coldest days on record in NYC and even if the passengers survived the landing, they had about 1 minute in the water before hypothermia would set in. They had so much working against them and the fact that EVERYONE survived, is truly a miracle!



The picture of all the passengers standing on the wing of the plane floating in the Hudson River brought a tear to my eye. I am so happy that their prayers were answered and they all made it home last night to see their families.

Jack & Suzannah

Tracie, and her sister, Debbie, had Jack and Suzannah take pictures before Hayley went back to England. I tried to find a picture of Hayley and Brons when they were little, but I've already packed a lot of the pictures. I'll have to save that one for a later post!

Jack Has a Girlfriend

Jack has a girlfriend that stays at Nanny's house. If you couldn't guess from the picture.....her name is Raggedy Ann. He loves to look at Raggedy Ann and even tries to talk to her. I really think Jack is smitten. I wonder if he's going to have a thing for redheads? :)

Happy Anniversary Times Two

My parents and Bronson and I celebrate our wedding anniversaries every year together. Tonight they came over for a glass of wine and some dinner. Bronson grilled some steak and I took care of the sides. Dinner was delicious!

My parents were married 31 years ago on December 28 in Fairfax Co., Virginia.


Bronson and I were married 6 years ago on January 3 on Sanibel Island, Florida.


And we, of course, had to get some cute pictures of Jack...oh he only wishes he could have that juicy steak.


Jack is sitting up pretty well too!

House Update

Move in day isn't far away. I think we are shooting for MLK weekend. We finally have sewer and water, so the house is officially livable. The painting is also complete and we are now working on flooring. Carpet is down upstairs and in our bedroom, but slate and wood will be every where else and the slate, especially, has been very time consuming. We will also start trim work, baseboard and hanging doors soon. That will give an even more complete look, but I've had some requests for another update, so here are a few pics to tide you over until the big day. I didn't even bother taking a pic of the outside. It has been so cold we haven't been able to paint or do any stone work, so our poor neighbors will have to stare at our monstrosity a little longer!

A view from the stairs into the living room. The color is very similar to a Pottery Barn color that I LOVE. It is so calming.


This is a view of the upstairs. We have a very large bonus area for our elliptical runner (which might motivate me to actually start using it again) and an area for a t.v, seating and plenty of room for Jack to play.


This is a view again of the upstairs looking toward Jack's room and the additional bedroom.


Other colors we used that I didn't show are "Spiced Scarlet" in the study and "Texas Leather" in our bedroom, which is another great PB color. Stay tuned....there will be many more house pics to follow as things are completed.

Update on Jack's Finger

The blister has finally popped! You can probably tell from the picture that he is still in good spirits though. He can't keep the bandage on his finger, so I wrap it and then stick a mitten on it. The bandage still manages to come off, but at least it stays relatively clean to help stop any infection.

Our First Trip to the ER

Even though the ravioli dinner started well, it didn't end well. The wonderful ravioli was the reason for our first trip to the emergency room. I had just served Brons a second helping of steaming ravioli and Jack decided to stick his hand in it. He screamed and cried for quite a while and we realized that he had a major blister on his finger. I gave him some Tylenol, which eventually calmed him down a little, but we thought we still needed to have the burn checked out by the doctor.

The nurse practitioner said he had first and second degree burns on his finger....from ravioli! So we got a prescription for some ointment and wrapped it with gauze. My little man is such a trooper. We finally got home and he ate and fell asleep. He slept through the night and is in great spirits this morning despite the huge burn blister on his finger!

Ravioli Dinner

A couple times a year Tracie and her cousin, Jamie, get together to make ravioli. They are the most delicious ravioli I have ever eaten, so needless to say, everyone looks forward to this treat. So last night we ate ravioli at Jamie's house so Finja and Morris could have some before they leave on Sunday.

Jack loves to stand and will even take steps holding on to someone. Last night for the first time he stood up from sitting, while holding on to my hands of course.


But even though he seems like he wants to walk, he still hasn't mastered crawling. I think it will happen very soon though.


Tracie, her sister Debbie, and cousin Jamie cooking the ravioli.


A picture of the finished product. We were ready to dig in :)

Out With The Old and In With The New

New Year's Day we went to G'ma and G'pa Parrish's house for some rib eyes and a friendly game of Trivial Pursuit. We had a great time. Here are a few pics from the afternoon.

All Jack wants to do these days is bounce in his Baby Einstein bouncer. So of course, G'pa and G'ma went to go get him one for their house too. Jack was in bouncing heaven.


He also enjoyed playing with G'pa's back scratcher.


And all this activity was exhausting, so Jack had to take a little nap!