A Sneak Peek

I know it's a little early to start planning for an Easter outfit, but when I saw this outfit, I just HAD to get it. And yes, it was an impulse buy, which is very uncharacteristic, but the cuteness will not disappoint. It was so worth every penny. Plus, I plan on having some professional pictures taken this spring for Jack's 2nd birthday and our annual family photo, so the outfit was justified with a duel purpose.

So as soon as I saw Jack this weekend, I had him in the outfit and I was snapping pictures. Without giving too much away, I had to post the following pics as a teaser.

Vacation Time

....and no I'm not talking about Bronson and me, unfortunately. I'm referring to Jack. Bronson and I get our time away, so it only seems fair that our son get the same. So he spent the week in Evansville with Auntie Pam, Uncle Mike, G'ma Shirley, and Jennie. He has the whole crew wrapped around his little finger (as he does everyone else). So it was whatever Jack wanted to do, which included watching "Nemo" everyday, playing at the mall playground, regular drives in Mike's "beee-tah" (big truck), and a trip to Chuck E. Cheese.

It's That Time Again!

That's right....it's Idol time. I'm not much into reality t.v., but I do love American Idol. This year I'm pretty pumped about all the talented singers and of course, Ellen's spot on the judge's panel. I know it's premature to throw my support behind one person and that's why I'm waiting. However, I do have some early favorites. I have compiled a little list of who I'm watching. Obviously things can change as we've seen in past seasons. Sometimes strong singers in the beginning fizzle by the end and other, more shy performs really deliver later on when it counts.

But I'm really waiting on American Idol to call and offer me a job! I consider myself quite the music aficionado and an expert in song choice selection for the contestants. I'm always thinking of specific artists and songs that best fit my favorite contestants. Just ask Bronson. He hears all about my weekly song choices. But I love it when I'm right. It's wonderful when a judge reinforces my selections or a contestant actually performs my choice. So for now, or at least until AI calls me, I will continue giving my expert opinion from the couch!!!!


So here's the list (Sorry the pics are so small. I got them from the AI website and it was the best I could do.):



Andrew Garcia




Casey James




Crystal Bowersox




Didi Benami




Lilly Scott




Katie Stevens

A Hair Exlposion

While we are on the subject of Jack's hair, please note that the pictures I posted of Jack's hair below were taken in the morning, before we left the house, and after I fixed it using a little gel and hairspray (shhhhh....don't tell Brons). So even though he looks like this when we leave the house:







He often looks like this when I get him after work. I call this a "hair explosion". It looks like a bird has found it's way into his hair to make a nest or something.






The "hair explosion" usually happens after a run-in with the car seat or spending a day playing at the sitters or with his grandparents. Now I usually attempt to fix the "explosion", but let's just say not all grandparents are on board with this......ahem, grandpas!



So please, if you see my son in public and he looks like this....






Just remember, he left the house looking like this.....

Just Say No!

In case you are wondering, I have yet to cut Jack's hair. To be honest, I'm quite fond of little boys with long hair. Plus, Jack has such beautiful hair I just can't stand to chop it off.

However, these days I feel as though I'm being conspired against. I'm referring to those individuals with the "short hair" agenda. I'm not really talking about anyone whose opinion I value, but rather those random individuals who refer to my son as a "she". Now I don't get angry at them, but it is my husband whom I'm concerned about. Not that I want people to think Jack is a she, but I fully accept that by having a son with long hair that I take the chance with gender confusion. But I know there are only so many people that can say "Oh, isn't she adorable!", before Bronson lays down the law and forces me to employ the clippers. But nevertheless, his hair is going to continue to grow and I'm going to continue to NOT CUT IT. I absolutely love it and I know after the first cut it will never be the same.


Here are a few pictures I snapped this morning before we walked out the door.

Nicknames

I have a problem (according to my husband) with giving people nicknames. Well, not random people, but those in my immediate family anyway. I think at first he thought it was strange. He would say things like "Why can't you just call people by their REAL name?". But after 8 years of putting up with my weirdness, he has finally come to accept it. So here are the names I have affectionately given my boys:


This, of course, is Jack a.k.a "Biggin'", "Biggie", and when I get lazy it's just "Big" (all of which are ironic considering he is in less than the 50th percentile for both height and weight. He started off big, but is now really kind of small). He is also fondly called "Jackie", "Buddy", and "Bud". Take your pick. He answers to all of them.





This would be Rudi a.k.a "Poo", "Poo Bear", "Poobie", "Poobs", "Baby Bear", and "oooeeee" (the last name being Jack's version of Rudi). He too has learned his many names and comes running when called any of them.







And finally, this would be Bronson a.k.a "Brons" and "Babe". I guess I keep it pretty simple when it comes to him, although I have been known to slip up and direct a "Bud" toward him. He just looks at me like "Are you serious?". I suppose when you have 20 different nicknames floating around in your head you're bound to mess up once in awhile. Sorry, Babe!

Naming Body Parts

Jack has become really good at naming his body parts, so I thought I would share his talents with everyone. I must say that between Bronson and Bhrett they are both determined that Jack is just going to skip K-12 and go straight to college. As you can see from this video, they've gotten an early start.


But in all seriousness, Bhrett was doing calculus by age 7 (thanks to Bronson) so they both have pretty high expectations for Jack as well. Maybe multiplication tables by kindergarten? But for now we're working on body parts, which he has more than mastered. I think you'll especially like the last part I threw in. It's just another one that we can thank Aunt Bhrett for!!

My Birthday with Melissa

Melissa and I have been trying to celebrate my birthday, well, since my birthday. And for two people who have jobs where we make our own schedules, we sure have had a difficult time getting together for a lunch date. So I stopped by the Farley's this evening and she surprised me with some wonderfully thoughtful gifts.

The first picture is my card. We braved the Twilight obsession together, so she thought it would be funny to get me a card with "Edward" on it. She's apparently had the card for months. Pretty funny, M!





The following gift deserves a little back story. I actually got this necklace for Jack's grandmas for Christmas. I absolutely loved it, but I refuse to spend money on myself during the month of December, so I never got one. Melissa of course knew that, and contacted the artist to order one for me too. I actually sent in a profile picture of Jack and the artist created the silhouette from his picture. Leave it to Melissa to be observant and thoughtful. I LOVE it!!!





She also got me a beautiful blown-glass hummingbird feeder for my garden (which is imaginary at the moment). We have big landscaping plans for the spring, which is also why she got me a gift certificate for Plantscape Nursery. I can't wait to go pick out some beautiful plants for my garden-to-be!

Happy Valentine's Day

Last night Bronson and I took an opportunity to celebrate Valentine's Day. Although "celebrate" may be a strong word. We usually don't make a big deal out of the day, especially considering Christmas, our anniversary, my birthday and Valentine's Day are all within a month and a half of each other. So by February 14th, Bronson is spent....in every meaning of the word!

So last night was really no different from a normal weekend night for us. But kudos to Brons for going to see Dear John with me. He managed to sit through a sappy love story and the two girls behind us going on about how hot Channing Tatum was for the full two hours. But for a quick review, it was a good movie and even Brons agreed! It was a little different from the book, but not in a way that made me angry. I actually really enjoyed it....and yes, Channing Tatum was looking pretty good in his uniform! :)




So today, Jack got some Valentine's of his own. Here are just a few pics from the day:






















I hope you all had a wonderful Valentine's Day too!

Monster Truck Nationals

I can honestly say that the monster truck nationals was an event I thought I would never attend. But when you have a little boy who lives for big trucks (or as he says, "beee-taaaa") you do whatever you can to put a smile on his little face. And apparently that includes spending my Friday night with huge, loud trucks that smell while being surrounded by people dressed to the nines in their best camo and carharrts.


So here are a few pictures from the night. I think Jack enjoyed himself and that made the trip all worth it. Although it started pretty slow we got to see some big trucks race and smash some cars. What more could a little boy want??


Also, I should probably say something about Doug's new look in these pictures. He insisted on wearing the "hair hat" he got in Colorado. I'm not sure if his goal was to embarrass us or just fit in, but either way, he successfully managed to accomplish both!






























These last two pictures were taken right before we left. Jack befriended this little girl, Ella, and was about to make her his valentine when we had to leave. Sorry sweet boy, but there will be plenty more years for that!

A Birthday Review

First I want to apologize for taking so long on this post. Things have been CRAZY in the Parrish household lately. Since we have been back from vacation I have had several meetings with work, lots of birthday celebrations, Jack has been sick, and now Bronson and I are sick. I just can't catch a break! So I stayed home from work today because I'm feeling terrible. I will spare you the gruesome details and just say....I'm sick.

I had a wonderful birthday, thanks to all my friends and family. My week long celebration included many great meals, desserts, and gifts. I am truly blessed! Also, Bronosn and I finally made it to see Avatar, which I have really been wanting to see. It was fabulous, by the way. I'm not a big fan of sci-fi movies, but it was a beautiful movie and I would recommend it to anyone.















Thanks Finja for the great sleepshirt. You have a formal thank you coming, but I wanted to throw that in. Very sweet of you. :)





Tracie made one of my favorite desserts (It's a pretzel and strawberry concoction that I only get at my birthday. I won't tell you how many pieces I had).











And this last picture is what I got when I asked Jack to take out his ba-ba and smile.