So nice and So Clean

Yesterday we spent the day in SLC and Oakley, Utah for the funeral of Bret's amazing aunt Shari who finally gave up her battle to breast cancer. The funeral was so nice and full of so much laughter as we were told story after story of this wonderful lady we had the privileged to know. She will be missed by so many whose lives she touch.

After the funeral I picked Cole up from the nursery that the ward had provided for us and took him in to the ladies room to change a rancid diaper. I had just finished cleaning everything up when Cole disappeared. I figured he had followed a cousin and her daughters out the door (this in normal) and headed out to reclaim my son - to find he wasn't there. No one had seen him. I checked all the open rooms right next to the bathroom and couldn't find him. Trying not to panic I headed back into the bathroom and started quickly opening all the stalls and there he was - in the very last stall with the door closed. But, the story doesn't end there. My little boy had taken his blankie and had stuffed it into the toilet - all the way! When I asked him what he was doing he looked up at me with those big innocent blue eyes, pulled the only dry corner on his blanket out of the toilet, handed it to me and proudly proclaimed "Clean!".

Utah Jazz vs Phoenix Suns

On Monday Bret's company offered to have us join them for the basketball game that night in their box suites. Bret called to see if I was interested and if we could get a babysitter in time. Within five minutes I had a babysitter (thanks to Ashley and James!) and at 5:30 we were on our way to SLC. I was pretty excited. The biggest game I had ever been to was a Lobos game but I love basketball. There is nothing better than actually being at the game with the roar of the crowd - it doesn't matter what sport, it is just that much better. When we arrived at the Energy Solutions Center we got our tickets from will call and then headed up to the box. It was unlike anything I expected. You walk in to your own little room with a yummy food spread, stadium seating with the best view, and TV's (just in case there are other games that night you want to

monitor). The food was delicious. We had steak fajitas, my favorite, a green salad with fresh fruit in it, rice, black beans, fresh gacamoule, and puff balls with a cheese filling. I honestly felt like I was back home in NM. We said our hellos, grabbed our food and sat down to watch an exciting game. I couldn't help but cheer loudly as the excitement climbed with in quater. Jazz didn't start off playing like a pro team but by the end they sure were showing their stuff. IT WAS AWESOME!!! Near the end of the game Bret and I were close to hoarse from cheering, and as soon as we knew we had the game in the bag we left at 5 minutes to return home to collect our very sleepy son. What an amazing night! Not only was it fun but it was some muched loved alone time for Bret and I without our adorable son trying to sit right between us.

18 month Checkup

Cole had his 18 month check up and here are the stats:

Height: 33 inches - 75%
Weight: 24.9 oz - 40%

Developmentally he is ahead of the game and I was told that I had nothing in that area to worry about. Cole did really well for his chickenpox and flu shots and didn't even cry. That is my tough boy.

He's a Maniac!

Cole has changed his routine up a little bit lately, much to my surprise and enjoyment. Normally he goes to sleep between 8:30 and 9 and sleeps till somewhere between 5:45am and 7:00. Well, lately right after Bret has gotten home, we have had dinner and then normally just hang out doing whatever with Cole till bedtime. Well, the past two nights he has requested music and then spends the next 30-45 minutes dancing like a maniac! It is hysterical! Then afterward, having exhausted himself, asks to go to bed at 8pmand sleeps till 6:30! Somebody pinch me now!!! Well, anyways we love watching him dance and I finally got in on video so now you can laugh too! Enjoy!

The Happy News!

I'm getting a new sister! This past Saturday while up at the cabin, Sean proposed to Emily and of course she said yes!!! Congrats you two! We are so excited to add another female to the Parrish Clan. Beware boys - the females are no longer out numbered (as long as you don't count the kids)! We couldn't be happier with the amazing girl Sean has fallen in love with!

Cabin Fever

This past weekend we had the wonderful vacation of going up to Bret's family's cabin near Kamas, UT. Bret took Friday and Monday so on Friday we headed up, first starting the day off with a yummy breakfast at Denny's and then played in Park City for an hour before headed to the actual cabin. It was so beautiful up there! The cabin is one of my favorite places to be. It just seems that the world melts away and everything is peaceful. Saturday we spent in Park City where after some fun shopping at the outlets, Whole Foods ( I love that place) and the World Market (another fav) we met up with Mat and Brook and their family for some lunch at the RedRock Cafe. Mat and Brook where unable to come to the cabin because of sick kids. At lunch I got a Portobello sandwhich with pesto sauce and it was sure yummy! We the said goodbyes and headed back to the cabin for a night of movies, games and laughter. On Sunday the clan headed to church without me. Cole had gotten some sour milk (we had bought it the day before, who knew milk could go sour in one day?!?!?) so he was up with me from 1am till about 4:30am in which I then developed a wicked migraine and ended up staying home. It was a pretty relaxing day and after some pretty strong drugs (4 advil, which anyone knows I don't ever take more than 1 for anything) I finally kicked my migraine. (thanks to our in house pharmacy tech Sean - you are the best). We also taught Cole how to play air hockey and it was a hoot to watch him take on me and Grams. On Monday we woke up to lots of snow and couldn't pass up the opportunity to bundle Cole up and take him sledding. Sean and Emily came with us and we headed out in the cold weather. It was a blast. Cole loved playing in the snow and sledding and was going down a pretty steep slope with all the adults, of course he always rode with mom or dad. Also, during a previous snowball fight he got tagged(this person -Emily- shall remain anonymous) in the face and didn't even cry! After a little while we took him back to the cabin (he wasn't totally in agreement), chipped him out of his snowsuit, and turned him over to Grams. Bret and I then headed back out with Sean and Emily and played until we accidentally broke the sleds on a root(this also included hitting several trees, rocks and other solid objects with body parts). Bummer. But it was a blast! Monday night we packed up and left - too soon but Bret needed to get back to work the next day. What an awesome time!

This was right before we got nailed with the snowball flying toward us

Tender Moments

Art by Liz Lemon Swindle - Be It Unto Me

So every mom knows about having "one of those days" when nothing goes right, you get nothing accomplished, and your little angel of a child seems to have switch places with their evil twin. On days like these I sometimes find myself so frustrated that I wonder why I am a mom at all - and then the Lord sends what I call my tender moments to remind me why I love the child kicking and screaming at my feet more than anything in the world - Here are a few of my favorites from the past couple weeks:

1. I have been very sick with a severe sinus infection, bronchitis, and asthma attacks and not doing very well trying to still keep up with a very busy week of meetings, working out at 5am and chores. At one point I put a movie on for Cole so that I could sit and rest for awhile and accidentally dozed off. I awoke to Cole shaking me. He then looked at me with very worried eyes, handed me his favorite blankie, patted my knee and went back to the couch to finish his movie. I almost cried that he was so willing to give up the one thing that he loved the most in hopes that it would make his mom feel better.

2. The times when I put him to bed and 10 minutes later he calls out and I go in just to find out that all he wanted was just one more hug and kiss from mom before he lays down and goes to sleep.

3. My little boy is very, very active and is always on the go but, every once in a while he will ask for a movie, and then pull me over to the couch and snuggle up on my lap and just sit there with me. Sure, on these mornings we probably don't get dressed till 9, and the house doesn't get totally clean, but I wouldn't give up these moments for anything.

These are just a few but they are the reason I am a mom no matter how hard the day gets, there are always little moments from Cole to make it worth every moment.

Girl's Day Out

So the Parrish side of the family started a new tradition that I just love - Girls Day Out!!! To kick off the tradition this year we headed to Gardiner Village in Sandy, UT and there Witches Festival. It was a riot! My sweet mother-in-law bought us the coolest hats to wear so that we fit in to the theme. We started the day off by dropping Cole of to Bret amazing Aunt Suzie who agreed to take on the task of watching Cole for several hours (Thanks again Aunt Suzie!). We then had lunch at a restaurant in Gardiner Village which was incredible yummy. I got to try fried green tomatoes and fried avocado slices for the first time. Not bad. I then had a delicious veggie pita with cucumber sauce. Way to much to eat but so good! We then walked around the shops and just had so much fun sans kids. My favorite was the porta potty with the witch in it. I just about died laughing!
They had this type of stuff all over the place. After lots of shopping in the adorable stores and finding tons of cute stuff we called it a day and headed back to pick up my son (who didn't want to go home because he was having to much fun with Suzie and Stayner - I can't complain) Here's to many more girls days out!

BUGS!!!

For those who don't know, at this time of year the Box Elder Beetle comes out with a vengeance. They are EVERYWHERE. Well, they have become Cole's new fascination. He'll sit by the sliding glass door and just watch them, for hours!. Many times I have seen him read them a book, and I always get dragged to the window and we just sit there for long time periods just watching these bugs. Well, they have started coming in our vents (thankfully they are pretty much harmless - I wish I could say the same for my son). The times they have gotten in and Cole has found them first, they don't survive long from his "playing with them". The other day he was playing with some of my cooking spoons in the kitchen and I could hear a "Whack whack whack". When I walked in to ask what he was doing I found my son squatted down chasing after one of the poor unfortunate beetles, smacking it with the spoon and yelling "Bug! Bug!" with so much excitement. Honestly, he doesn't mean to hurt them but doesn't understand why the die. It was pretty cute, and I rescued the new "play toy" from him. I love how much he loves bugs.

Pumpkins and Halloween

So I know I'm a little late posting for Halloween but sadly I have been incredibly sick since Halloween so I guess better late than never. Here we go....

For family night we had our good friends the Rasmussen's over to carve pumpkins. That was a lot of fun and Cole loved trying to help with his pumpkin and of course playing with the girls. Most of the night was spent with the men chasing the kids around

and the women carving the pumpkins. I also, thanks to Ashley's Betty Crocker influence, actually cleaned and cooked the pumpkins seeds for us to eat. And, amazingly, they turned out pretty yummy. This will probably become a tradition now. For Cole's first time carving pumpkins I think he did pretty well. Then for Halloween night we went to Bret's cousin's for chile and breadsticks and some good visiting and then afterwards our ward was doing a combined treat - or -treat with the local Lutheran church. We dressed up the family and headed to make a haul on candy. Cole went as Superman, Bret as Gregory House, MD (from the TV series 'House') and I headed off as Maleficent again since no one here had seen the costume and I was feeling cheap this year.

I passed out candy while Bret took Cole around to collect his and he had so much fun. I sadly actually made several kids cry. It was kinda dark in the gym and so seeing me didn't help some of the smaller kids. Most of my ward members also didn't recongnize me. After trick or treating we headed home for a nice relaxing night. We figured Cole didn't need anymore candy than he got. On Saturday night we made the mistake of giving him a package of smarties - for the next 6 hours Cole was bouncing off the walls. He was running up and down the hallway, jumping on the couch, climbing up and down and up and down on the table, running and boucing off the doors and then when the sugar crash came he spent the next hour crabby and crying most of the time. He didn't get anymore candy after that. Cole plus sugar does not equal a good combo. Hope everyone else's Halloween was a good as ours!