We're Alright

This seems to be an appropriate theme song at the moment. Quite honestly, if you were a fly on the wall in my house, you would hear this blasting, and see me and the kids jumping up and down, spinning, and dancing in strange ways that we find hilarious. Oh and when we sing "keep our teeth nice and clean", we all make various gestures towards our mouths, which inevitably makes us all crack up laughing.
The upbeat, fast pace of the music is the closest equivalent to what my life seems like at the moment. The song is on replay constantly. I am going to hope my kids appreciate my eclectic taste in music someday. In all honesty they would have to thank the wonderful movie Clueless for my introduction to this song. Just one of many things to love from that movie, but that's another post that I probably won't ever write."I know what you must be thinking... is this like a Noxema commercial, or what? But actually, I have like, a way normal life for the average teenage girl..."
Seriously guys, I could sit here and run through the entire movie start through finish. It is THAT embedded in my brain.
I'm scaring you now, aren't I?
Off subject, but Nathan and I were discussing this the other day. What show would you say is this generation's Saved By The Bell? We're guessing iCarly.
Also of possible interest to you is that Nathan believes Zac Effron is "probably like the next Brad Pitt."
To which I responded "Are you trying to tell me you have a man crush on Zac Effron?" (because he has an admitted man love thing going on with Brad Pitt, and I'm not questioning his sexuality here, I'm just stating facts.)
And he responded "He is a really good looking guy, and you know I actually really like him in movies."
Have I told you Nathan loves 17 Again? And Legally Blonde? I once (when we first started dating) went over his house to find him and one of his good friends baking chocolate chip cookies and watching Legally Blonde. I have never in almost eight years let him live that down, and whenever it comes up (usually at his expense, my delight and in the presence of other people) he admittedly protests that there is nothing odd about that situation. I laugh. A lot.
Have I also told you he is known to sometimes sing Madonna, (song of choice being Holiday) at the top of his lungs in the shower?
These are reasons I love him. His man crushes on Brad Pitt and Zac Effron, his love for chick flicks, and his ability to know the words to Madonna.

I have no idea where this post is going but I am sure I have already said entirely too much.
Happy Weekend!!!!

Big Time Slacking

I know, I know... I haven't posted in a while. I apologize. It's just that we have been so insanely busy. So busy that I needed to put it in italics.
I have lots to fill you in on, a few great reviews, but for now, for this post I want to share some exciting news, that you may or may not find as exciting as me.
My Brody boy is now officially a big boy!!! No more diapers! Big boy undies! ALL DAY LONG!!! That included trips out of the house and he even told me when he had to go then and used a public restroom.
Okay, I am clearly more excited about this than any of you will be. But I will admit to you that I was slightly worried he wasn't going to be an easy potty-training child. Ty was potty trained right at age 2, and Nate just shy of 2 1/2. Both of them trained in one day and that was that, we never looked back. Brody however has been slowly going here and there. He has shown interest, then shied away from it, then shown some interest again, only to revert back to not at all. In fact I just had a conversation with a friend just yesterday about how I thought he was going to take a while. Yesterday that was my train of thought. Today however, Brody woke up and told me he had to pee, so we rushed to the bathroom and he peed. This continued all day when he had to go potty (yeah I know, mom talk), and he has had NOT ONE ACCIDENT!
He has worn his big boy undies with pride and has been so sweet about the whole thing. (Of course we are all cheering and clapping and hugging and loving on him every time he goes.)
So that is the best part of my day. Hallelujah! My Brody is a big boy now!!!

15 Months

This girl, the one here in these photos has somehow bewitched me into thinking she is now a whole 15 months old. How did she do that?!?! And that crooked smile? Makes my heart sing.


She is spunky and full of life. She holds true to the meaning of her name (fiery) yet has such a soft side, a loving side, a nurturing side, a protective side, a girly side.


She is now 18lbs 10oz and 29 3/4 inches long. She's a peanut. Don't let her size fool you though, she's as smart as can be and knows way more than I could begin to fathom (she is already knows how to speed up time!)
She is an old soul. She loves to place her hand on my face, and she stares into the deepest part of me, communicating in an uncanny way. She is my Nessie.


I couldn't be more grateful to know this precious little 15 month old girl, and to be a main character in the Story of Her Life.

I Am A Stay At Home Mom, (for sure)

Here are the conversations currently happening in my head (yes, to answer that question, I do have full blown conversations in my head, lots of them, and sometimes I forget they are only in my head and try to include someone mid topic. Talk about awkward.)

• Ty has been in Florida visiting his dad's family since Tuesday. He returns this coming Tuesday night. I miss him.
• Ty has called me every morning and every night. Is it too much to ask that he does this whenever he leaves me for the rest of his life? I asked him that. He said "Chill out mom, you can't cry and expect me to contact you with details all the time, but I will call when I can, and I always miss you too. I love you."
  
• Yup, I raised the above mentioned boy.
• It has been hotter than Hades lately, but I WILL NOT COMPLAIN.
• Nate is spending the next two nights with Nathan's parents.
• I ONLY HAVE MY TWO BABIES FOR THE NEXT 48 HOURS.
• My house is already too quiet.
• Although I do not think there is anything wrong with it, I can not fathom how parents leave their children for extended periods of time. I mean I think even a whole day is too much for me to handle. I literally feel as if a part of me is missing every second I am away from my kids. I feel the need to constantly look over my shoulder, like I left the iron on, but a million times worse.
• It's a good thing I stay at home with my kids because of my above mentioned craziness.
• I am going to be away from my kids for slightly over 48 hours (all FOUR of them) in less than a month.
  
• I need to make an appointment with my doctor to get some anxiety relieving medicine for those 48 hours.
• I wasn't joking about that.
• I need to record Keira's reaction to Dora The Explorer. It's is somewhere in between Beatles-Mania and Beiber-Mania.
• I wasn't joking about that either. She almost fought Brody's teacher for a tiny Dora doll when it was time to put the toys away. I have my doubts that she will speak to her this week unless she gives her that Dora doll back for good.
• Keira is a scrappy fighter, and knows how to use her pouts, cries, screams, and dirty looks like a pro.
• Mama taught her well!
• Sometimes I think having a daughter that has just the right amount of snobbiness, or bitchiness is a good thing. Is that strange?
• I am so busy the next few days that I think it may help pass the time with the older two gone.
• Probably not though.
• I need to stop procrastinating about packing a bag for dinner on the beach. I already was too lazy to actually make dinner and went to the store and bought lunchables for Brody and Keira.
• That makes me feel like a slacker mom.
• Fresh guacamole should fix that feeling.
• I really need to go. Dora is over and the chant for an encore showing is getting more desperate by the second.
  

Yay or Nay?

I am entrusting you with some fashion advice. Cute Summer dress or color crazy, spaz-ish tablecloth dress?
I should remind you I wear black. A lot of black. This much color is not normal for me, yet I gravitated towards the fluidity of this dress.
Okay, I clearly have invested too much time over this. Just help me out here, yes or no.

Friendship: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

What causes some friendships to work, and some not to? It's a tricky thing, to share wonderful memories with someone, and then not have them a part of your life later. I know life gets in the way, people move, some people aren't great at communicating and keeping in touch, people get busy with work, school, kids, and some with all of the above.
I have thought a lot about these things lately. Maybe it is because Nathan and I have been discussing our wedding party (we want an even number or bridesmaids/groomsman), maybe it's because one of my dearest friends is currently living abroad and is in a completely different time zone and we either speak early in the morning or late at night (yet we still speak almost every day), maybe it's because I have become annoyed with the lack of effort from other friends. There are some people I thought would always be there, until they are not.
Okay maybe this has more to do with sentimentality and loyalty than anything else. I like to think I am a loyal friend, unless of course I feel betrayed. I always give second chances, sometimes third and fourth chances if the friendship means that much to me.
In truth I have a special place in my heart for every person who has touched my life, and been an intricate part of my journey. I sometimes wish I could gather those people in my life and just let the memories and emotions flood the room and engulf my emotions and senses.
And now here I am examining these relationships, in a position to choose who will stand with me on one of the most important days of my life, getting married, and it makes me feel a bit frazzled to be honest.
My friendships now are far different than they were five years ago, or ten years ago. Yet my friendships now are easier. There are some that have longevity, some that have grown from mutual circumstance (but are treasured none the less), some that are still growing. I may not speak daily to all of these friends, or even weekly at some points, but they fall right in step, and there is no awkwardness in the absence.
So what would you do? Would you choose your bridesmaids based on history, or based on your current life and status? Opinions?

Bargain Shoppers Delight

I love a bargain. Like, I L.O.V.E. a great deal so much I like to scream it from the rooftops and share it with everyone I know, because why be greedy, right?
If you have not yet discovered this website, then please, let me personally invite you (it is by invite only, so you're welcome readers.)
In the spirit of things like Swirl by Daily Candy, this website offers amazing discounts on great designers. (If you have never been to that one, click the link, sign up and start shopping, because it has ree-diculously low prices.)
Back to the first great deal, just click here, do a quick sign up (real fast, I promise) and start shopping. I just scored some amazing summer shoesthat I will anxiously be checking my doorstep for.

or copy and paste this link.
http://www.ruelala.com/invite/nparrish08

Happy Shopping!

I See Audiologists: Round Two

AUDIOLOGIST: An audiologist is a healthcare professional specializing in identifying, diagnosing, treating and monitoring disorders of the auditory and vestibular system portions of the ear.


I have been anticipating this appointment for a few weeks now. After figuring out Brody can't hear whispers and the months he has been working with Early Intervention and Speech Therapists, we finally headed to Children's to repeat his hearing test, for a third time.
Folks I was seriously losing sleep over this. I just wanted it to be over and done with. I wanted answers. Most importantly I want Brody to get the right kind of help, the kind that will put him on the path to clear speech, and self confidence in speech, and no insecurities, and no fears on my end of inevitable playground/school mocking of his voice, because y'all know kids can be cruel.
So the day came, and if you need back round click here, which has even more links, to past happenings, and Brody and I headed in. The first thing they do is a thorough ear check, which includes an air pressurized test. Looking in his ears, she said they looked great. First ear read through the air test with a perfect "peak" which means it was great. Second (left) ear, read with a big fat straight line, which means it was bad. Basically either he has lots of negative pressure behind that ear drum, or fluid behind that ear drum. He'll probably be getting medicine for an ear infection in the next day or two, as her bet was fluid. (This means the tube debate will continue, I am sure.) She explained that even when you have ear infections, you lose some hearing. If you have constant negative pressure and back to back to back infections, hearing can be muffled. Think Charlie Brown's mother "whomp whomp whomp whomp."

Brody miraculously approved of wearing headphones and going through a quite extensive hearing test, to reveal basically exactly what the woman explained above. He heard almost perfectly in the ear that tested well, and heard poorly in the ear that flat lined.

What does this all mean? Well it means that for most of Brody's life, since he has had a long run of either negative pressure, full blown infections, and three perforations, he has been listening to a fuzzy, not so clear world. He may have moments of clarity, even weeks if he is lucky, which explains him being able to say anything at all, but for the most part it has been a world with muffled sound for him.

In light of these developments we have decided not to give him the go-to-sleep-brain-wave test. It seems unnecessary because if he has no ear issues, he has no hearing issues. We will now go back and consult with his pediatrician and his ENT, and he will be closely monitored by the audiologists (every 3-6 months) because despite their findings, long term ear issues and namely multiple perforations can cause permanent hearing loss.

That is where we currently stand.
Well that and I think it is a sign (this is so off subject) that I need to force Keira to stop nursing (yes she's STILL nursing) because I didn't notice that she bit me so hard that I was bleeding yesterday until she had stopped nursing. Yeah, ouch. Ouch, ouch, ouch. I have felt it every second since. Why won't this baby give up the boob? Why?

Big Fat Slideshow

We had a wonderful weekend. It was filled... to the tippety top. Here it is in bullets.

• We spent Friday at Breakheart swimming
• As I mentioned before, we took two of Ty's friends to a Spinners game Friday night, and enjoyed a big dinner before the game. It was a very VERY late night (we got home sometime around midnight.)
• Saturday we got some housework done before going to the new and improved park by the lake (it was expanded and is still fenced in, and that makes me oh-so-happy)
• Saturday evening we headed to the beach to watch fireworks, and play and hang out before they started, it was gorgeous... but another late night (11 ish)
• Sunday we went to the parade, which was fun, but hot.
• Sunday evening we went to the lake to listen to the band play, we hung out with good friends, and what else? Watched more fireworks. (another 11 o'clock night)
  
• Monday was back to Breakheart for more swimming.
• Tuesday we ran a million errands and did all of our cleaning before 11, so we headed to the beach for the day, and Nathan met us there when he got out of work. We stayed until after 6, and survived the heat.
• And even though today is a few days past the weekend, we explored a great new (to us) wading pool with a sprinkler/park
  

There it is. And here is the not necessarily in that order slideshow. Voila!

Recovery

It has been a week since my nightmare of a running accident.
I am still recovering. My friend pointed out a massive bruise taking up much of my inner thigh, while we were at the beach. Awesome. It is now slowly turning purple, and is not as completely black as it first was. The bruising on my shins is finally surfacing, and the swelling has gone down a bit. On the other hand the gash on my shin has started to look somewhat puss filled and that creeps me out, so now I'm questioning if maybe I should have had stitches... but it's too late for that now.These are my shins right after the accident.


This is my inner thigh bruise as of last night.

TMI?
This is what you come here for though right? My strange ramblings? Isn't it why you love me?
You know you love me.
We had a wonderful weekend and I will post more about that later.
In other news that makes me forget all about me bruised and battered body, I am **OFFICIALLY**
down TWENTY pounds since May. I hit a new low this morning and let me just say WOOOOOOO HOOOOOOOOOO!!!
Maybe, just maybe, next summer I will be wearing a bikini. I know, this just made your day too. If it didn't than my giddy as a school girl mood because of this is surely infectious enough to at least crack a smile. C'mon, you know you did ;)

Happy Independence Day!

Wishing you all a Happy, Safe 4th!!!
♥ With Love ♥

Spinners

Last night we celebrated Ty's birthday... just a couple of months late. Ty decided against a birthday party this year, and instead opted for taking a couple of friends to a Lowell Spinners game. We had a blast. Unfortunately Brody developed a whopping fever of 103 and climbing around lunch time, so he and Nathan stayed home. (I am also sick as a dog as well, but I seem to just have the world's worst summer cold.)
I will upload the fun pictures soon, but for now, here's the link to the shots of the kids running the bases after the game.

Ty

Ty's friend Paul

My brother, Travis

Ty's friend Frank and again and again

Trav's friend Zack

Nate and again

A Good Housewife

I read this article on a blog recently, and could not resist sharing it with my readers.
Although I do think there is a dash of "well okay that makes sense" advice in here, all in all it sure made me glad I am not in the 1950's right now.

I added my own commentary in here in purple.

The Good Wife's Guide (5/13/55 Houskeeping Monthly)
Housekeeping Monthly May 13, 1955 | May 13, 1955 | Un-Named

The Good Wife’s Guide

1. Have dinner ready. Plan ahead, even the night before, to have a delicious meal ready, for his return. This is a way of letting him know that you have been thinking about him and are concerned about his needs. Most men are hungry when they come home and the prospect of a good meal (especially his favorite dish) is part of the warm welcome needed.

I get this one. I'm not sure about making it ALL about him, but planning ahead for dinner saves on stress and it's good to have a dinner ritual if and when you can.

2. Prepare yourself. Take 15 minutes to rest so you’ll be refreshed when he arrives. Touch up your make-up, put a ribbon in your hair and be fresh looking. He has just been with a lot of work-weary people.

Uhhh, nice idea, but lets be honest, Nathan is lucky if I am not covered in mud, pee, poop, puke, and if I even had time to put on make up/do my hair in the first place. Maybe this is something I should work on...

3. Be a little gay and a little more interesting for him. His boring day may need a lift and one of your duties is to provide it.

Hmm. I don't even know where to begin with this one. I don't know how happy he'd be about me telling him where I found the remote this time, as "interesting" as it is to me after searching for two hours just to put on Dora for twenty minutes of peace and Spanglish singing children.

4. Clear away the clutter. Make one last trip through the main part of the house just before your husband arrives.

This I actually do. Without fail, every day. I make the kids do it too. It makes me feel like he will know I wasn't just letting the kids take control of the house all day and had some order, even if it is destroyed again 10 minutes after he comes home.

5. Gather up schoolbooks, toys, paper etc. and then run a dust cloth over the tables.

Well again, I do the first half, but dusting is a Thursday chore... if I remember on Thursday.

6. Over the cooler months of the year you should prepare and light a fire for him to unwind by. Your husband will feel he has reached a haven of rest and order, and it will give you a lift too. After all, catering for his comfort will provide you with immense personal satisfaction.

Ha. okay. My house will never be a place of rest and order, as hard as I may try. Maybe at 3 in the morning, but then there are still sleepwalking children, and random night time bed crashers...

7. Prepare the children. Take a few minutes to wash the children’s hands and faces (if they are small), comb their hair and, if necessary, change their clothes. They are little treasures and he would like to see them playing the part. Minimize all noise. At the time of his arrival, eliminate all noise of the washer, dryer or vacuum. Try to encourage the children to be quiet.

I wish the kids would play along with this rule, but I will not change an outfit covered with the day's grime for the hour they see him before they get ready for bed. That would add like two more loads of laundry a week. And I'm happy if the dishwasher, washer, or dryer is going.. it means there are no dirty dishes/clothes lying around!

8. Be happy to see him.

Lord I am! Once he comes home my chances of peeing alone increase by about 75%!

9. Greet him with a warm smile and show sincerity in your desire to please him.

I'm starting to think that this person also created Stepford Wives.

10. Listen to him. You may have a dozen important things to tell him, but the moment of his arrival is not the time. Let him talk first – remember, his topics of conversation are more important than yours.

I get the first half, not so much the he is mightier than thou thing though.

11. Make the evening his. Never complain if he comes home late or goes out to dinner, or other places of entertainment without you. Instead, try to understand his world of strain and pressure and his very real need to be at home and relax.

Can't the evening be OURS? I don't care what anyone says, I still think my world if filled with much more strain... or stress, okay but I guess it's also filled with more fun too.

12. Your goal: Try to make sure your home is a place of peace, order and tranquility where your husband can renew himself in body and spirit.

Agreed, but for all of us.

13. Don’t greet him with complaints and problems.

Didn't we already go over this? Is this saying we complain to much?

14. Don’t complain if he’s late home for dinner or even if he stays out all night. Count this as minor compared to what he might have gone through that day.

You better damn well be sure I'll be "complaining" if he's out all night without good reason.

15. Make him comfortable. Have him lean back in a comfortable chair or have him lie down in the bedroom. Have a cool or warm drink ready for him.

Sure, as long as I get a chance to do it on the weekends.

16. Arrange his pillow and offer to take off his shoes. Speak in a low, soothing and pleasant voice.

Did he just become a child? Arrange his pillow? Can he not remove his own shoes? I will try to alternate using my pleasant voice and shouting for the kids to quiet down so their dad can enjoy a gosh darn drink already! I'm starting to feel bad for my grandmother.

17. Don’t ask him questions about his actions or question his judgment or integrity. Remember, he is the master of the house and as such will always exercise his will with fairness and truthfulness. You have no right to question him.

Aaaaand you lost me.

18. A good wife always knows her place.
Thanks for the tutorial in why this is no longer a modern day practice.