The Parry Family Blog

Airshow Saturday

2011-09-21T13:14:00.000-07:00

Having your kids on a schedule means that you get screwed on weekends. My boys typically nap between the hours of 12-2pm. Sometimes more or less... A few Saturday's ago I invited my dad often referred to in my posts as Pappajoon and his gf Nicole to join us for a day of soccer and an airshow. On Saturday mornings, Leonidus has soccer in a cute gym in Davis. Coach Steve is INCREDIBLE with kids. He moved LJ up into the 3.5-4.5 year old class because of his size (and he was a tidbit aggressive for his age group). Leave it to my son... sigh :)Pappajoon met us at soccer and LJ was PUMPED to see he had an entire fan section watching from the glass viewing room above. He would run and look up.. not paying attention to what he was doing but just continuously checking to make sure WE were all WATCHING him! bahahaa...After soccer (which ended around 10:30am) the sacramento area heat was already heading towards the 90's. I dread the heat here. I actually hate it. Oh well.. We got into our cars and headed over to the air-show which both boys were super stoked about. My boys are obsessed with Trains, Cars, Airplanes and Trucks so you can imagine this was a big event for them.We arrived, parked and it was HOT. It was also very close to nap time. As I mom, that was all I was thinking about. PLEASE have them make it (without a tantrum) for the next couple of hours. and you know what? WE DID! Leonidus was running from left to right, not able to see everything fast enough. Kian had his finger pointing upwards for most of the day ooooing and ahhhing at all the planes. It was so fun to see them so excited :-)Highlights of the day: -seeing a live WW2 pearl harbor re-enactment with bombs, explosions and real planes -getting to climb into some real planes, seeing their cargo space-seeing a stunt helicopter-taking pics with pilotsWe left a couple of hours later not because we weren't having fun but because the heat got considerably dangerous. I mean, we honestly could have spent another 2 hours there because the boys were completely mesmerized by all the airplanes around them and flying all over the place. It was by far the best idea I could have had to take them there. Below is a photo journal of our day... It was such a lovely time and I hope we get to do it again soon (but maybe in the Bay Area so its a bit cooler). Soccer Pics:

Airshow Pics:

sunday evening rant

2011-09-05T00:43:00.000-07:00

I am in need of a whole lotta shopping and while some of it can be done ONLINE, some of it (i.e. Clothes shopping) I prefer to do in person. With work, NEIL never ever being here and my boys, I have no time at all. You think I'm kidding? No. ZERO time. I have a list that's growing and can't address any of it. Boy do I wish I was granted a 2 hour trip to the mall followed by a mani/pedi. That sounds grand right now :) On another note, I am having a glorious labor day weekend with my boys. My mom and aunt came to visit from the bay area and we spend Saturday and most of Sunday together doing all kinds of fun stuff around town. I really enjoyed having them here and I especially love my QUALITY time with the boys. I swear, every day is more and more hilarious and fun with my munchkins. I miss those infant years but hanging out, joking with them and getting lots of bear hugs and kisses is MY FAVE! I am sad that Neil is missing a lot of stuff due to football. He seriously sees us for an 1-2 hours a week. We used to hang out 24-7 so this is a big change for our entire family. He's working hard and wants to reach his goal and take care of his family but the road there is going to be tough. I miss my hubbie more than ever tonight. AND PEOPLE, we only had game 1 of the season. The season has barely begun! LOL!!! Anyways, I am excited because we are going to go see daddy tomorrow at practice since its early enough in the day where it won't be scorching hot and we can at least give him some love and support in the little time we get to see him. For now, goodbye peeps.

A little picture blog post

2011-09-01T15:52:00.000-07:00

Well the Parry boys have been up to a lot this summer. Unfortunately while I continue my quest in researching which camera I should by, I have some random (very random) iphone pics I took the past couple of days and figured I'd post them. I have a bunch of pics of my canon rebel but I can't get them downloaded bc my camera is so jacked up. If anyone in blog land is reading this and just bought a camera they love, comment me :)

geo trax... the new cool toy

future musician... most def

Kian my lil walker!

LJ playing :)

Car Seat Juggle

2011-08-31T09:23:00.000-07:00

AS of last week, Mommy's car was the only car that had the boys car seats in it. Kian (14 month old) and LJ (2.5 year old) were each riding in a Britax Marathon CS. Since we needed to have another car seat for LJ (Daddy takes LJ to preschool in the mornings) we had to buy a new car seat so that we wouldn't have to constantly juggle and shuffle car seats in and out of cars. Its not hard but its NOT EASY AND can make you break a sweat and have to be in all kinds of awkward positions. OK. so it basically sucks having to move around car seats. It was time to go shopping. ONLINE SHOPPING THAT IS!

We decided we would get LJ a booster car seat. His weight and height are well above his age so he fit the requirements.

We finally chose one. Why am I saying we? ME. Daddy did not help in the research department. Which is fine by me. I love making decisions :) I spent 3 days doing research. Safety, Price, Durability...Basically I read so many REVIEWS that I was dreaming about car seats. Happy to announce that Mommy's new car now has 1 Marathon CS and a new Frontier 85 SICT booster car seat.

Daddy got the old car seat. Yes Mom gets all the new stuff. OK? I deserve it and daddy could care less about this whole thing. He is happy with the old car seat :)

(picture)The Frontier 85 SICT Booster Car Seat

I have yet to install this bad boy but 2 things I have to say from my initial observation: This Seat is HEAVY and BULKY (2 things I wanted to avoid when buying a booster car seat)... sigh. But the reviews in terms of safety were TOP NOTCH and in the end, that's all that matters. Safety first. Looks second. Durability and Wear/Tear on Mom's back: END OF THE LIST.

:) Ciao

Cooking for kids

2011-08-31T09:09:00.000-07:00

Being a working mom and wife of a football coach who's working 15-18 hour days, a lot of the daily chores become very difficult when you don't have both parents around. Especially in the evenings when dinner, dishes, baths and cleanup come into play.

After 2 weeks of having to learn how to juggle two boys and the evening routine, I think I'm finally at a point where I'm comfortable and got a relatively good flow going. Watch I probably just jinxed the crap out of myself for tonight but oh well.

When boys get hungry, its no joke. If I don't have dinner ready by 5-5:30pm, all hell breaks loose in the Parry House. I have two crazy boys screaming and the screaming makes momma tense and nervous and a clutz. To avoid making nasty meals due to the time crunch (and yes I have had to throw some meals away because they were yucky) I have tried to plan evening meals with more organization and planning. Boy I am learning a lot about cooking as a mom, its totally different then when you don't have kids... Basically I have had to learn to cook good solid healthy meals fast and in the least amount of steps possible. I've learned to prep early and throughout the day (on those lovely days I get to work from home) and also try to pre-cook/freeze some dishes that take a long time. Sometimes I make 2 dinners when the boys go to sleep. I make the food and freeze it so that I can re-suse it for the week. I try not to freeze meals for more than 1-2 weeks. That's been life savior. There's no other way I would be able to get them to eat a well-balanced meal. All the foods that are easy to get are nasty and unhealthy. I used to go to whole foods when I didn't have time to cook dinner but GOOD OLE SACRAMENTO has no whole foods within a 20 mile radius.

Side Note: SERIOUSLY SACRAMENTO? Get on this and GET MORE WHOLE FOOD STORES! Jeeeez!

I made meatloaf and a garlic herb rice dish with a side of cooked/steamed peas, green beans and carrots. DELICIOUS! The boys LOVED it. sometimes I watch them in awe at how much they actually consume, especially my 14 month old Kian. He MUST be going through a growth spurt because that boy can throw it down! LOL!!!! LJ (my 2.5 year old) eats a lot too and can I just say, he is the cleanest eater ever. Good job boys! I have some left overs and usually our nanny feeds the kids the left overs for lunch. What is on tap for dinner tonight? I HAVE NO IDEA.. HAHAHHAAA...

After all this talk of me planning, tonight I got nothing planned. HOLD ON. Let me find a good (new) recipe tonight to try...

[after 20 minutes of fearseley googling]
I found a recipe and going to make this for dinner: CHICKEN AND BISCUIT PIE
http://familyfun.go.com/recipes/dinner-entrees/chicken-entrees/chicken-and-biscuit-pie-688496/

thoughts? Looks easy enough to do with the boys running around and trampling me right?

i'll try to post pics later when I make it (this is a loose promise so don't hate me if this post is pictureless)

Have a wonderful Wednesday everyone. My hubbie is out of town for the first football game of the season. What does this mean? I HAVE TO TAKE OUT THE TRASH TONIGHT. UGH!!!

Game Deets: UC DAVIS @ ASU. Thursday night. Sept 1. 7pm. Comcast (California) channel 415

Love it. Go Aggies. Go cooking mama.

Aggies Womens Huddle

2011-08-24T20:14:00.000-07:00

Last week the UC Davis Aggie football coaching staff and players held a clinic for all the women who follow aggies football, moms of the football players, wives/girlfriends of the coaches and anyone else who wanted to pay to attend!

The festivities had 2 awesome things: We got to play football and we got to play football WHILE drinking unlimited quantities of wine and beer.

A group of us girls (coaches wives) got together for the event. Below is a short 3 minute clip from the event. My girl Valerie and I made the cut and although I get schooled by her, its still pretty funny. Check it out: http://www.ucdavisaggies.com/allaccess/?media=258993

Overall I was drunk for most of the event but I honestly had SO SO SO much fun playing football. I loved hitting and jumping and doing a touchdown dance. What I found to be hard was wearing the helmet and trying to throw the ball. THAT WAS SO FREAKING HARD. Guess I have a whole new respect or players and helmets! haha...

Enjoy the pics below:

Parry family update

2011-08-24T07:00:00.000-07:00

My posts are sporatic and today's post is well overdue. So whats new with the parry clan. Well lots of exciting stuff going on...

First the most exciting news: Kian is walking! My little moosh moosh is chuggin along all over the house, making it known that he's now a fully functioning WALKER! He gets frustrated when I try to push him to sitting position and he gets so excited sometimes he stumbles (and cries). I'm not sure how Leonidus feels about his little brothers new found ability. He has mixed emotions. Sometimes I see him excited and say "LOOK KIAN IS WALKING" and other times I catch him pushing him (or trying to get him to crawl). I guess its natural to feel confused but I find my boys interactions to be oh so fascinating (and sometimes frustrating).

In other news I am still trying to learn how to cope and emphasize with a growing, active and opinionated 2.5 year old toddler. Leonidus is a fun-loving toddler boy most of the time. I absolutely LOVE this stage (we'll get to the reasons why it also sucks later). I love his stutter (which is especially bad when he gets stuck on the W's and L's) and I love his sense of humor and AMAZINGLY VIVID imagination. His passion for sports, trains, cars and bikes is fascinating to watch, in particular the way his imaginative play is expanding. I love it when he tells me "Mommy I love you" and I love our elbow, nose, ear, mouth, cheek, forehead and eyebrow kisses! with all that said, toddler-hood comes with some crazy dramatic times. The tantrums I see are INCREDIBLE and earth shattering at times. FOR EXAMPLE... The other day I took LJ out of the shower (we alternate between SHOWER and BATH nightly) and tried to put a diaper on him for bed. OH MY GOD! He didn't want to put on a diaper. He was SCREAMING and kicking and mind you, he's a strong sturdy little guy... I was trying to hold him down but he lost his noodles and was being insane. I tried EVERYTHING to calm him down. Nothing WORKED AT ALL. Finally I let him be in his room, naked, and let him cry until he was ready to come out. This tantrum event lasted for about 15 minutes but it felt like forever. As Kian and I waited in the living room for him to settle down, I started at Kian and held him in my arms. Trying to enjoy the time of infancy... I sometimes miss my babies being babies!!

With all that said, I have started doing my fair share of GOOGLING "toddler tantrums" and methods on how to best deal with them. I don't like to read much (I'm trying to work on that) but SELF HELP BOOKS for raising kids are my THING!

I recently ordered a book that came highly recommended called "Happiest Toddler on the Block". I've just started reading it but so far I find the book and method of dealing with toddlers fascinating. Bribing no longer works for me. Timeouts - a big NEGATIVE 80% of the time. Distraction method - hardly works now since the tantrums are so nutty sometimes. This book refers to toddlers (mainly ages 1-4) as them being much like cavemen. I don't want to start talking about the book in depth but I am very much looking forward to applying some of the teachings of the book on my boys to see how they work. One thing is certain is that I'm not alone and the benefits and JOYS of being a mother of a toddler significantly outweigh and overshadow the not so pleasant times.

In the last bit of news, we have Leonidus starting preschool come Sept 6. We are VERY thrilled for this milestone and feel that he is 100% ready to rock and roll. He will be going FullTime and mommy and daddy tested him out at his school for 1-week of summer session. He loved it.A recommendation from me to you: If you are looking for a school for your kids and you care about their happiness, RESEARCH RESEARCH VISIT AND ASK QUESTIONS! When we first moved to Sacramento, we enrolled him into the school right across the way from our house. a private school which came with lots of acclamations and positive online reviews. I did not do my due diligence and research other schools and ask the right questions (forgive me I was a newbie) and WE (Leonidus and Mommy/Daddy) all hated the school. HATED!!! I took him out after 2 weeks and visited 9 schools in person, got on 3 wait lists and finally GOT ACCEPTED into our top PRESCHOOL we had selected. I busted my butt to make sure we found the most suitable school that met some of our criteria: (a) our parenting style (b) LJ's personality and (c) our education/playtime requirements and (d) 2nd language offerings. I will send everyone updates from time to time on how our boy is transitioning but for now, its good. I hope you all have a wonderful Wednesday and hope to post again soon!

The early risers

2011-08-12T13:09:00.000-07:00

Back in the good ole days, our families schedule allowed us a nice wake up call... usually around 7-8:30am. But lately, with the many changes upon us with Neil in the heart of football, myself and my new job/schedule and LJ starting preschool come fall, our sleep has been significantly impacted

For the past 2 weeks, we have been waking up around 6am...average I'd say 6:30am. With this new time, our days seem like FOREVER. Honestly its amazing how much more you can get done when you wake up that early! I am liking it but I am getting SO sleepy by the time 10pm rolls around.

I could barely keep my eyes open during big brother lastnight!! haha... my favorite show!

Today LJ woke up at 4:30am and he did not want to go back to bed. He wanted noodles and meatballs by 9am (theoretically this would be his lunch) and was in bed by 11:30am for his nap (normally between 12:30-1pm). Kian was very similar but since he's 1, he slept in until 7am which was nice. On average my kids sleep about 11-12 hours at night and take a 1 hour 45 minute nap daily. The naps sometimes go longer but that's on a GOOD day. In total, I would say they sleep 14 hours in a day. MUST BE NICE! All the evidence supports sleep attributes to better health, good growth and better appetite/mood. I'm all for it. I wish I was getting the same type of sleep!

In closing, I wonder if this is just the hours that we have to grow accustom to now that we have two kids... especially during the time when they are both in school. My aunt (who's kids are now 7 and 11) is enjoying the good life, especially on weekends. Her kids are independent, can make their own breakfasts but mostly, they all sleep in until 9/10am on a free (nonschool) day. I remember the days when her kids were young and I had no kids. She'd call me at 8am (she had probably been up for 2 hours by that time) and I was pissed because I was still getting my zzz's. oh the ole days. :)

Aggies 2011 season

2011-08-11T16:06:00.000-07:00

For original article, click here.

2010 Record: (6-5, 3-1)
2010 Postseason: none
Coach: Bob Biggs (136-71-1, 136-71-1 overall)

Returning Leaders:
Rushing: Nick Aprile, FB, 389 yards
Passing: Randy Wright, QB, 2,432 yards
Receiving: Anthony Soto, WR, 344 yards
Tackles: Jordan Glass, LB, 66
Sacks: Byron Gruendl, LB, 2.5
Interceptions: Byron Gruendl, LB, 2; Jonathan Perkins, CB, 2

There should be some pretty high expectations at UC Davis after the Aggies fought through a tough schedule in 2010 and ended up with a winning record. Eight starters return on each side of the ball and Coach Bob Biggs is looking to make UC Davis’ last year in the Great West a memorable one. The Aggies, along with fellow current Great West members Cal Poly, Southern Utah and North Dakota, will all move to the Big Sky in 2012.

Strengths:
There are plenty of talented players on both sides of the ball, but it is the offense that garners the most excitement. Quarterback Randy Wright had a great freshman campaign and even earned Rookie of the Year honors in the Great West Conference and is only getting better. But Wright was pretty darn good last year, showing maturity beyond his years…not to mention a great arm. He threw for 2,432 yards and 17 touchdowns and UC Davis should air it out more this year. The loss of receivers Sean Creadick and Dean Rogers is a problem, but Anthony Soto is a big playmaker and Tom Hemmingsen is a quality receiver who can catch 50 passes. Tight end Mike Cody will also be more involved in the passing attack. The Aggies do not need to have a great ground game to have a great offense, but they at least need to have the threat of rushing. That should not be a problem with a whole slew of ball carriers returning. Nick Aprile is a big, bruising back, but Josh Reese and Corbin Cutshaw should get some carries as well. With a talented offensive line led by Ray Wilburn and Robert Ayotte, the offense should be more balanced and more effective this season.

Weaknesses:
The defense was pretty steady last year, but there is reason for concern with the absence of many of the team’s top playmakers. Dozie Amajoyi and Danny Hart are gone after leading the Aggies in tackles last season. Amajoyi also picked off a team high three passes and tallied 7.5 tackles-for-loss. Also gone is Eric Sobotka, who led the squad with 5.0 sacks. Without Amajoyi, it will be up to senior Jordan Glass to lead the group of linebackers. Byron Gruendl is a nice pass rushing outside linebacker, but the front four needs to get some pressure on the opposing quarterback too. Tackles Brock Galvin and Andrew Benjamin are a solid interior duo who should help the rush defense, but somebody has to get to the quarterback. Junior Tommy Grillo is the best option, but he saw plenty of playing time in 2010 and tallied just one sack. If the Aggies fail to find a quality pass rusher on the line, the conference’s second best secondary may not be nearly as effective. Hart will be missed, but the Aggies return corners Jonathan Calhoun and Jonathan Perkins and free safety Kevyn Lewis.

The Bottom Line:
The Aggies will not have an easy time winning the Great West, but this is a team with enough talent to take on Cal Poly and Southern Utah. The better news is in 2012 this will be a better team full of seniors. But, for now, that means a bunch of players who were underclassmen last year are now juniors and many of them have just started for one year. With that year of experience, UC Davis could be better at just about every position across the board.

Projected Postseason: none

2010 Team Stats:
Rushing Offense: 79.82 (112th in nation, 5th in conference)
Passing Offense: 223.36 (34, 3)
Total Offense: 303.18 (91, 4)
Scoring Offense: 21.18 (83, 4)
Rushing Defense: 167.82 (85, 4)
Pass Defense: 204.36 (61, 2)
Total Defense: 37

2.18 (81, 4)
Scoring Defense: 26.82 (74, 4)
Turnover Margin: .82 (12, 1)
Sacks: 1.45 (79, 4)
Sacks Allowed: 2.55 (86, 3)

Madness 2011 FCS Football Recruit Rankings:
#35 Tavior Mowry
#106 Justin Nunes
#131 Dane Turner

the aggies senior BBQ

2011-08-07T14:55:00.000-07:00

Last night the UCDavis football team hosted "Senior BBQ" at Coach Bigg's house. The event was small, just coaches, football staff, senior players and all of the wives/girlfriends. The event was "no kids" so finding a babysitter where we know very few people proved to be difficult.

One of the coaches knew a trusted babysitter and so myself and two other coaches wives/mom's left their kids with this sitter. I was super nervous because not only had I not left the kids with "your typical teen babysitter" but my boys both had diarrhea for the past 3+ days. After changing my 20th diaper of the day, I was a bit looking forward to 1-2 hours of adult time. I just prayed that they wouldn't have too many blowouts during their time with the sitter.

Since double days are in full swing all the coaches were going straight from the practice facility to the BBQ. The backyard get together was nice and coach's yard was gorgeous. It was so nice finally meeting all of the coaches and even some of the senior players.

It is pretty funny seeing the side of college football from a coach's view... When I was dating Neil during the time he played college football, I thought OH MY GOD THIS IS SO TIME CONSUMING WHEN WILL HE BE WITH ME!! Sheesh, if only I had known that coaches put in twice more time and energy into things! Neil has only been gone for a few days and I'm completely busy being a fulltime mom. Fortunately after I complete my training at eBay I will have my awesome and amazing Nanny here to help me take care of the boys :) I'm blessed to have my family in the bay area help us with watching the boys during TRAINING! I'm so grateful for family/friends!

One of my girlfriends (who's husband is also a coach) shared with me a funny saying thats often used on t-shirts, cups etc..

so so so true :)
Happy Sunday Folks!

Naps .. Gym. Random topics.

2011-08-01T16:43:00.000-07:00

I was never one to nap but today... I heart naps. Why? Well both Kian and Leonidus slept for 3 hours. Its hard to predict and prepare yourself for days like this. I had plans to go to a 4:30 class at the gym but the boys got up around 3:45... by the time i fed them a snack which is a must before we go to the gym and got them dressed, it would be too late. So now, I am allowing them snack time and then we will be OFF to the gym for some kidsclub for the kids and some cardio and weights for mommy!

Speaking of working out, I am loving my new membership at California Family fitness. The gym is really cool. They have an awesome KidsClub with a mini basketball court and playground for kids and activities all the time. The people that work there are SOOOO nice and make me feel better when I leave my boys there (and Kian is screaming crying for me).

I recently spoke to one of my friends who's a personal trainer and a badass body builder. She gave me some tips on losing weight and building muscle mass. For starters, here is a quote from her "Abs are made in the kitchen"... I wish Abs were made from butter! haha... that'd be awesome. or CHIPS

Dieting when you are a busy mom of 2, working and trying to keep a relatively functioning and clean household is hard. For me, the first thing to go is the diet. So now I am going to try and figure out how to preplan my meals so that I don't slip up on my diet.

I have proved to myself that I can get into a good solid workout regime. Since June, I have managed to go to the gym at least 3 times a week for a minimum of 1 hour. It was especially awesome because Neil had the month of July off of football so he was my motivating workout partner. We'd make it a family event, take the kids, drop them off at the kids area of the gym, workout and then sometimes go swimming with the kids at the gym after our workout.

Today is my first day without Neil and I'm on my own at the gym. I need to keep the trend going... I am hoping my friend's motivation and guidance will help me through the next few months!

Boys, Age, Video Games!

2011-07-31T15:28:00.000-07:00

After getting our new playroom area setup for the boys the past week, we decided to move the small TV in the playroom. This TV is not connected to cable (on purpose) and has a DVD player and XBOX. While we are planning to buy the kinect for our XBOX, as soon as we assembled the XBOB to the TV, Leonidus and his daddy have been playing TIGER WOODS GOLF. The kinect offers more wii-like games so I am thinking once we buy it, that'll serve more fun and useful for the kids. For now, we think tiger woods golf is filling his little heart with lots of joy :)

As most of you know our son Leonidus (2.5 years old) is obsessed with golf. He became a fan at the ripe age of 15 months old, swinging his toy clubs all around the house. Since sacramento is so HOT, we can't take LJ to the local driving range until well past his bedtime. Neil does take him but now that he's going to start college football, there won't be anytime.

I researched age and video games all over... There's really no recommended age. Leapstar and MotionX have games for kids as young as 3. It all depends on how much time they spend in front of the game console and the content of the video game. In our household, we are testing things out. If it gets to be too much, BUH BYE Xbox. Thankfully with Leonidus starting preschool fulltime in September I don't forsee the gaming console being too much of an issue. Let's hope I don't jinx myself.

Here's a picture of my little dude playing Tiger Woods (this is from Tiger wood 2007 - pre tiger scandal). Little brother Kian is liking the new game console because he gets all the toys in the playroom all to himself! hahahah!!!

Living in Sacramento....update.

2011-07-31T14:05:00.000-07:00

As most of our closest friends and family know, we had to move to sacramento about 5 months ago because Neil got a coaching gig at UC Davis. Our time in sacramento, while the duration is unknown, is beginning to wear on me. Yes the cost of living is MUCH cheaper. But that's pretty much the ONLY benefit to here when compared to living in the AWESOME AMAZING bay area.

I was just down in Los Gatos visiting my dad with the boys. We spent the day at vesona (this was our usual stop almost every other day when we lived down in the bay), we rode the train, got ice cream, walked around downtown LG... all of this in the middle of summer in perfect 85 degree weather.

In sacramento, on the same day, it was a BLAZING 95+ degrees and with 2 small kids, there is BARELY anything to do here. I swear if you were to ask me to list things to do in the bay area with 2 small boys, the list would be at least 10-20 items long. living here, SHOOOOOOT, I can hardly make the list 5 points long.

With that said, I know I should appreciate it here because other college football towns may be not as pleasant but for now, compared to the bay area, SACRAMENTO BLOWS.

10 years and counting... Love!

2011-07-29T13:47:00.000-07:00

In August, my hubby and I will mark our 10 year anniversary of dating. We just celebrated our 3 year anniversary on July 22 in Cabo San Lucas. We had a great time and spent the day golfing together, one of our most favorite things to do together.

Like all college sweethearts, we had our share of ups and downs but my life changed when I met him and I cannot imagine being with anyone else! He is my best friend, my biggest motivator and the absolute love of my life. He's given me two of the sweetest boys and I am so freaking pumped about our future together.

One thing that I still feel like we have unfinished is that we never had a wedding. After we got engaged, I had a 20 stack pile of wedding magazines, excel spreadsheets with wedding plans and a wedding folder but all things stopped when we found out that I was BLESSED with Leonidus in my belly. We decided that having our baby was top priority and felt that financially it was best to put a hold on the wedding plans. We are always talking about the day we get to have a wedding and find ourselves constantly looking for the perfect venue in the perfect city :)

In honor of so much celebration, I thought I would do a quick flashback to a picture of me and my pookie at Reggae on the River in 2006. This is one year before we got engaged and two years before we had Leonidus.

Happy FRIDAY!!!

I need a new camera!!!

2011-07-27T15:20:00.000-07:00

I have been the owner of the Canon Rebel since 2005. I bought the camera because I LOVE taking pictures and I wanted to have a camera with a fast enough shutter speed so we can take good pictures during Josh (Neil's Brother) NFL football games. At the time he was playing for the Philadelphia Eagles and then went onto play his last season with the Seattle Seahawks.

Since 2005, camera's have COME A LOOOOOONG WAY!!!!! My measly 8MegaPixel camera is ancient. The pictures do not come out as clear and sharp as I'd like and its unmotivating me to want to take more pictures. I recently splurged on an Sony HD Video Camera back in 2009. Its been great to take film of my boys growing up but sharing video is not as easy and uploading/editing it takes forever. I also just have a better attraction to my camera.

With that said, I need help. If you have a camera that you love, please message me privatly or in the comment field and let me know the make, the model and why you love it. I hope to buy a camera before the holidays get underway and your feedback is GREATLY appreciated :)

Preschool and Leonidus

2011-07-27T14:12:00.000-07:00

We are finalizing our preschool paperwork and our son Leonidus will be attending school this Fall for his first time. He is attending a school that we were waitlisted on for MONTHS so being accepted is a huge deal here in the parry home. The school is nestled in the city of Davis and has a very unique feel to it. The education is playbased and the school teaches everything in both spanish and english. Their goal is to have the kids completely fluent in both languages. At home, we are teaching our boys farsi so having 3 languages under their belt will only help them in their future.

I am a firm believer that the spanish language is a MUST for kids. I am surprised that all schools, both private and public, don't teach both of them in the lesson plan. Its just mind boggling to me.

Leonidus will be turning 3 soon and will be attending school full time. I had a hard time figuring out the best balance between school, our jobs and giving the best to our kids. In the end, I realized that my son is old and mature enough to attend school full time. The school has a student-teacher ratio of 6:1. That is half of what California requires so I know my son is still getting a solid amount of attention while he's away from his home.

I am glad that I was able to have my kids home during their first 2 years. To me, those are the most critical years and after that, I think socialization and education is best served at a preschool. While others have the luxury of sending their kids only a few hours a week, us dual working parents have to send the kids fulltime. My mother's guilt soon vanished when I started thinking of all the benefits of my son being in school and allowing me more time to focus on my career and providing the BEST opportunities for our family. Being a parent is not easy and its always a constant battle when it comes to juggling priorities and figuring out what is best for the kids and your family. I have learned to research research research then decide based on my gut. Well the intuition of both my husband and myself. We have learned that every family is different and what works for us may not work for others.

Come to think of it, I was SO shocked to learn how many different types of preschools there were: (1) Public school (2) Montessori (3) Playbased (4) Waldorf... those are jut the 4 I researched... Can you believe that this is all just for preschool??

I have learned a TON over the past few months researching schools, figuring out what works best for what age/gender and how best we can utilize school so we as parents can work. I think we found our balance... it may change in a few months but for now, we think we have a good solid plan for the fall. (let's cross our fingers it works!)

My next adventure...

2011-07-27T13:44:00.001-07:00

One of my hobbies since highschool has been selling stuff on eBay... I have had the same account since 1996 and have been selling random stuff online using eBay since. Being such a fan of the company, I attended eBay live in Las Vegas in 2005 and 2006. I seriously love everything about eBay and NOW, well as of August 8, I will be their newest Research and Development Project Manager! Woot Woot.

That's right. I accepted my offer and will be starting as an eBay employee and I'm ecstatic about the new opportunity and my next phase in my career.

There have been 5 companies I've always kept in my radar over the past few years and this has been one of them so you can imagine that I'm pumped about it. I have worked so hard since 2000 building my career and this move is an exciting one for my family and I.

Let the new chapter begin!!!

Kian's 1 year checkup

2011-07-26T14:53:00.000-07:00

Kian my littlest mooshie recently had his 1 year checkup. We took him down to our FAVORITE pediatrician in san jose Almaden Pediatrics. The family and I packed up the car and drove from sacramento to san jose early friday for our visit. We met with Dr. Michelle since Dr. Pete was out on Friday. Kian is healthy as can be. What more can we as parents ask for right? His measurements were as follows:

Height: 32.5 inches (95%tile)
Weight: 23.5 (50-75%tile)
Head Circumference: 47.5 (75%tile)

Both of our boys measure similarly in their milestone checkups. In fact, I would say they are close to identical! Crazy huh? It looks like they are going to be taller than their mom (5'1) since they are already half my size and they aren't even out of their toddler stage! I blame my shortness on gymnastics. DAMN YOU NADIA!

As for other fun and exciting things Kian is now doing.. he has become quiet the chatter box. He can say MOM, DAD, BALL and make train, car and airplane noises! Its freaking so cute! Wonder when he'll learn how to say his brothers name :)

As for walking, Kian took his first steps the other day but we are far from walking. He is standing on his own for 5-10 seconds so that's a sign that walking is just a few weeks away! So exciting!!! I love it when the kids can walk :)

One thing that kian is a nut for is music, more so than LJ was. He wants to dance everytime he hears music! its super adorable and we are planning to sign up for a mommy/me music class in the fall.

before I sign off here is a pic of the boys and me (courtesy of neil). I feel like we have been on every train in northern california (not really but it sure seems like it) and the boys are showing no sign of moving on with their train addiction. Kian is now obsessed too. I love this picture and I think I secretly enjoy train rides now too!

Happy 1st Birthday Kianoosh

2011-07-14T23:25:00.000-07:00

On July 9, 2011 we celebrated the 1 year birthday party of our beautiful Mooshie Kian. Our boy blessed us on July 6, 2010 at 9:56am and our lives changed for the better ever since. He has been the most wonderful addition to our family and he has the most kind and gentle (and loving) soul! He is truly a joy to be around and his brother LJ and him have grown so close! We love his contagious smile, his spirit for life and most of all his kisses!

We celebrated Kian's 1st birthday at Pappajoons House in los gatos. My dad's house overlooks the gorgeous Vesona lake and the weather for the party was JUST RIGHT. No I'm serious you could not ask for better conditions!

Pappajoon took the boys to the train on Saturday morning while Neil and I setup for the party. I had the tables, bounce house and chairs delivered early in the morning and the food was going to be ready for pickup around 2pm. The day was planned meticulously so everything was moving along as planned. We picked up the cake early that morning and all the drinks were chilled and ready to be served. we had invited our closest family/friends to help us welcome Kian into his 1st year of life.

Everyone started to arrive shortly after 3pm and the party was in full swing by 4. I hired Rebecca (leave me a comment if you want her contact info) to come to the party to keep the kiddo's entertained with face paint, a magic show followed by balloons. She is AMAZINGLY talented and the kids loved her.

I am now enjoying life with a 1 year old and enjoying the exciting year of milestones. Age 1-2 is by far one of my most favorite and I cannot wait to watch my mooshie grow into a toddler. However, he'll always be my baby! Enjoy the pictures and yes, this is my first post in 4 months.

Having 2 boys keeps me busy. Remember the days when I blogged multiple times in a day! LOL... I miss those days but wouldn't trade NOW for anything.

new crocs...

2011-04-21T12:24:00.000-07:00

I just received the newest crocs for my kids... I ordered them both white ones. They are sooo cute and will look adorable with their tan feet in the summer. We have bright blue, dark blue and green and even a tye dye one so having them in white is a great change!

Except, I had to post and say this..When I look at LJ's size 10 crocs I think, dang, those looks just a few sizes smaller than my shoes. WHAT HAPPENED HE WAS JUST A BABY! :)

just had to write it and get that off my chest.
ciao

Zulily

2011-04-12T13:12:00.001-07:00

I love finding great deals... and lately I've been finding some great finds for my boys on Zulily.com...

Interested, click here for deets!!!

The California Academy of Science 2011

2011-04-08T00:32:00.000-07:00

A few months ago the Parry Family hit up the "The California Academy of Sciences in SF" for a day of sight seeing... it was overcast but a gorgeous day in the city. Its always hard travelling with kids and nap schedules. We tried our best to get the boys in the car right before naps so they could sleep during the hour car ride there...

well that was a great idea but I ruined it. Aunti Jo had sent the boys a "Tom and Jerry DVD box set". We hadn't watched it yet so we loaded it into the car DVD player and hit the road. I did not know that LJ would laugh HYSTERICALLY (i am not joking) for an hour straight. I mean, I was like, Neil he's gonna barf he's laughing so much. I kept looking back and seeing him crack up. So when we got to the museum he was already tired, grouchy and he had burnt his energy during the car ride laughing his a** off. He even got a bad case of the hiccups from laughing so hard. It was adorable I have to admit but the whole time my mommy nap-time clock was beeping and I was getting anxious as to what type of mood I was going to have to deal with while we were at the museum. :)

We made it through the museum for 3 hours and then he crashed in the stroller. Both of them slept again and Neil and I had a nice 30 minutes of time to ourselves in the museum while the boys napped in the stroller. That was actually a really special treat. Here are some pics from our outing. I really do recommend visiting this museum if you get a chance. Its quite interesting and has a lot of activities for kids of all ages. LJ's favorite, the jelly fish. He talked about them for weeks... and even did quite a cute impression of them!

Kianoosh 9 month Stats

2011-04-07T23:54:00.000-07:00

My (knock on wood) healthy young baby boy had his stats taken during his 9-month checkup. He's a little on the thinner side when compared to Ljizzle but they are both tall... takes after their momma (NOT!).

Weight - 22lbs (55%tile) - since he started crawling i think he lost weight but never fear, Kianoosh eats A LOT. I'm talking A LOT!
Height - 31 inches (99%tile) - long and strong
Head - 18" (55%tile) - average

Kian was so good during his doctor appointment and he really is growing like a week. I found myself wishing time would slow down a bit. I'm so busy all the time that I try and treasure moments I have with the both of my boys but its never enough.
I just don't want to lose my infant.. I love babies at their infancy...Time for #3?

NEGATIVE BATMAN!
Ciao

car wash...

2011-04-06T23:33:00.000-07:00

The other day I thought I'd use my free car wash at the gas station and make an event of it with the boys. I was fired up and got a movie on for the boys (bambi) and pulled into the car wash and LJ was thrilled....

he was thrilled until the car wash started.

Neither of the boys were happy about my particular CAR WASH outing idea. In fast, as you can see in the video...Kian was pissed while his older (much braver) brother just froze with his hand covering his mouth. This took place during the entire car wash.

I was cracking up and after we were done, I pulled out of the car wash and believe it or not LJ yells AGAIN!

I love my boys.

Happy 9 month birthday Kianoosh my moosh

2011-04-06T00:24:00.000-07:00

My dear dear dear boy Kianoosh is 9 months TODAY!! The past 9 months have been incredible. I've enjoyed each and every moment with my 2nd born and we cannot imagine our life and our family without him. He is the sweetest, kindest and most gentle boy. He loves to smile, giggle and cuddle and as of March 27, he loves to crawl!!

I want to cry my eyes out right now because I'm so sad that the time of his infancy is flying by however at the same time I am so excited to see what lies ahead. Kianoosh has really completed our lives and he is the perfect boy!

Kianoosh, I LOVE YOU! Happy 9 month birthday babycakes! Here's to millions of more months of excitement, happiness, joy and success.

....and sorry for the shots you are about to get at the doctor's office today. Its for your own good and you'll thank me later :)

Out and About

2011-03-30T23:26:00.000-07:00

As we enter our 3rd week of life and living in Sacramento, here's a clip of the boys and I driving around town running errands and getting ourselves familiar with our new surroundings... Its about 5pm and we had just gotten a call from Neil (aka Daddy) and he was HOME! The boys, hungry and missing daddy, were both ready to get back home.

Its been a fast paced few weeks here. I haven't had much time to sit and dwell on the fact that I'm so far from everyone I know. Mostly because life with 2 boys is non-stop. Either you get on the train or you get run over :) we've been on a bullet train and its going high speed full throttle...

why am I using so many train analogies??!! Well it could be that I live, eat and breath trains with LJ and his passion for trains. On Sunday we actually entered into another level of train heaven and visited the TRAIN MUSEUM. This is not a hokey pokey train museum, its the REAL DEAL. No people, I'm serious. They've got this place created for people of all ages...I was even finding myself wanting to learn more. Trains are pretty darn fascinating!

The first level consists of real life sized (out of commission) trains who have been restored to perfection. I have no idea how they got these gigantic pieces of machinery inside the building buts its breathtaking when you see yourself standing next to a wheel that's bigger than you! The 1st floor can take anywhere from 1 hour - 4+ hours depending on how much time you take reading and learning about each of them.

The 2nd floor...oh the 2nd floor. its basically HEAVEN for kids who love trains. I mean, Leonidus has not stopped talking about the train museum. There is one section upstairs that has about 10 kids train tables. Free Play. Oh yeah... its sick. Then there is this GIGANTIC model toy train that's shielded off with glass but kids can press buttons to make the train function, lights go on/off etc. This was by far my most favorite part of the museum.

If you are ever in the sacramento area and you have a boy (or girl) who loves trains, this is a MUST-SEE spot. In fact, there is even an operational train that runs 6 miles roundtrip starting in April... You know we'll be there a lot :)

OK. here's the mother of a train lover signing off and hitting the sack. CHOO CHOO!!

Its almost April... where is the sun!

2011-03-24T10:48:00.000-07:00

All of this rain is NUTS!! who though we'd be having to dear with storm upon storm in late March! What happened to Spring? Did mother nature not get the MEMO??!!!

I'm going nuts here. The wind is so bad in our yard that our heat lamp and BBQ pit are getting blown around and knocked down. My home office overlooks our yard (2 windows) and its as if I'm sitting in my car and driving through a car wash. The rain is hitting the windows so hard because of the wind! WHAT IS GOING ON HERE!!!

I feel we are just moments from a power outage so I better type fast and get this post LIVE! Anyways, stay safe in this monstrosity and let's all hope next week brings lots of sunshine.

Ciao

THE MOVE

2011-03-23T12:27:00.000-07:00

Our family is moved in and almost fully unpacked... things are going lovely in our new home and I am slowly beginning to realize that I am not in san jose...especially when I step outside and get into my car and the first thing I do is enter an address into the NAVIGATION because I HAVE no idea where to go.

This is my first *real* time moving to a city completely new to me. I have no idea where anything is and I basically lived in San Jose for 85% of my life.

I like to think of new chapters of my life beginning when a big change (good or bad) happens in my life... one that has an impact large enough to be an entirely new chapter. So this chapter is called "THE BIG MOVE" :)

As a family, Neil and I had prepared fully for this move. We knew that our goal was to have him coach at the collegiate level and in having that goal, our lives were going to be impacted in many ways, some good... some not so good. Moving is very bittersweet for me. I love new places, new opportunities and new chances to decorate however with moving comes separation from dear friends and family whom I consider to be so valuable to me.

Also with kids moving can be tough... I don't want them to feel torn right around the time they start to settle. I hope that Neil gets a stable coaching position sometime soon down the road so we can at least make a home in a city for at least 3-5 years at a time. BUT if you know anything about the coaching profession, life changes in an instant..really. it does. You can have a job in New York one second and the next, you are being asked to move to Hawaii in 1 week. Its CRAZY....

For now, I'm SUPER DUPER thankful that I am a mere 2 hour drive from the family and friends that I treasure the most! In fact, we were just down in San Jose celebrating persian new year. It felt SO FREAKING good to be back home... back in the midst of highway 85, 101 and all of the stores and roads I am so familiar with.

I really really do think the Bay Area is one of the GREATEST places to live. In fact, when people here in Sacramento hear we moved here from the Bay Area the first question is WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT?! lol....

It is very interesting having just the 4 of us here. We do have a couple of friends but for the most part we are here, alone and having to learn how to grow and adapt here together. We are all getting the same start. I think a move such as this brings you much closer as a family and I do feel it.

For all my family back in San Jose: I LOVE YOU AND MISS YOU AND PLEASE VISIT ME!!
For all my awesome friends back in the Bay Area: I LOVE YOU GUYS and PLEASE COME UP HERE!! I need VISITORS!

I have a guest bedroom ready for ANYONE! So call me and make it happen!

Happy Persian New Year!!

2011-03-21T11:47:00.001-07:00

HAPPY PERSIAN NEW YEAR EVERYONE!!!

My boys...today at the park

2011-02-28T19:57:00.000-08:00

Here is a quick little clip of the Parry Brothers hanging out at the park, chillaxing on the grass. Kian 7.5 months / Leonidus 28 months

i <3 these cutie pies!

packing...

2011-02-27T22:37:00.000-08:00

been packing since thursday... today was the garage. boy was that rough. box after box after box. I typically like to throw things away and Neil... god bless his memory lane trips, he's a keeper type of person.

typical convo for us this weekend

'babe whats this'
-neil: oh that's my t-shirt from stanislaus state championship in 1996
'ok i'm going to throw it away, i can see through the t-shirt'
-neil: NO WAY! i'm keeping that for the boys!

we also had a bit of fun leaving things on the curb and marking it "FREE"... it was interested seeing how much random (useless) stuff people picked up!!! I started getting addicted to the game and would just look for crap to put on the curb and wait and see who'd come get it. I left an old mac computer monitor outside and this hoodlum looking guy comes by, pulls his car in front of the stuff and then grabs the monitor and takes off like he was stealing it. I'm like, UH HELLO!!! its free you idiot!

i highly recommend you try this at home. its quite amusing :)

OH and another pain in the butt area when it comes to packing is the kitchen.... bubble wrapping all the plates and glassware sucks but nothing sucks more than emptying out your junk drawers! We had 2 of them and it was filled with CRAP and there was also a cabinet that was stocked similar to a junk drawer. annoying items like paperclips, coins, toothpicks, receipts, pens, air fresheners, medicine, hippie lettuce, batteries, matches... you know ALL THE RANDOM stuff you put there so you don't have to deal with it. Anyways, it took me a good 2 hours sorting through these drawers. it was tedious and i hated it. I'm typically more organized but after having 2 kids, sometimes the crap piles up faster than you can handle. Goal for the new house, THROW IT AWAY!!

anyhow... we are 85% done with packing and we are going to Tahoe on Thursday with our dearest group of friends for some R&R before we make the big move and start the new chapter of our life in SACRAMENTO!

good night peeps! BTW, anyone care to share some facebook gossip with me, holler! :)

Hello Sacramento

2011-02-24T08:39:00.001-08:00

THE MOVE...

The Parry's are moving. Neil recently got a job coaching football at UC Davis so we are moving to Natomas (West Sacramento Area) in support of Neil's coaching career. Its bitter sweet because the bay area is all I know and I seriously love LOVE LOVE it here. I love the weather, I love the people, I love being around my family and my lifelong friends and I especially love being in the center of California with access to snow and the beach with a short drive. With that said, I do welcome change in my life with a positive outlook. As long as we make the right decision for our kids, I know we can accomplish anything.

I hear a lot of good things about UC Davis and the Davis area in general so I'm looking forward to doing some sightseeing and getting to know the west sacramento/davis area.

I've never lived away from my family and I talk to my mom and dad and aunts and uncles several times a week if not everyday. My life revolves around family here so moving to a city 2 hours away will have its challenges. Oh trust me, I'll be visiting the bay area plenty of times :)

Anyhow, we found a place in North Natomas, a total suburban neighborhood with lots of parks and huge shopping centers. We're excited to get moved into our new place and not see any moving boxes. For the next few days, we will spend most of our time packing and more packing. The house is a mess (well a mess according to me) and the laundry is PILING UP!!!

If anyone ever wants to come visit or better yet, attend a UC DAVIS aggies football game, please let me know. I welcome visitors with OPEN ARMS and hope to see everyone at least once :) GO AGGIES!!!!

Once you join...

2011-02-23T23:23:00.000-08:00

Once you accept the invitation to follow the Parry Family blog, we ask that you please "FOLLOW" us (see right hand side of page) so you can get notifications when we update the blog.

You can also access this website using: www.theparryjournal.com

We are baaack....

2011-02-23T22:49:00.001-08:00

The Parry Family blog is back in action and we sure do have a lot to talk about. You know, I have had this blog in one format or another since 2002... and when it first started it was just me, Rouge. Just blabbing about college, friends, family and entertaining news/gossip. Now that I have a wonderful family, I have become more and more selective as to what I share online. Thus I have made our blog private. If you want to view it, you have to be an official "follower" of my blog. That way I know that some random wierdo online isn't reading about our family. Stay tuned for more but I just wanted to say hello and thanks for taking the time to join our private family blog!

It's 2011 people! Let's celebrate!!!

2011-01-05T10:01:00.000-08:00

happy new year 2011 folks!

This is going to be another great year and hopefully the 2008-2010 recession years are well behind us. We can only go up from here and I for starters am ready for new and exciting changes!!!

I decided to kick of 2011 right with a few small changes... I'm sure my life wil have more surprises in store but this is a good start:

-p90x with the hubby
-cancelled FB account (whether this is temporary or not it feels liberating not to be sucked into FB daily). I can now go back to being creative online during my free time!. Peace out FB
-golf: neil and i are planning on getting back in the full swing of things and we are going to golf a lot more this year. Leonidus is on board, just need Kianoosh to start walking and we got a tight 4some at hand!
-travel!!!!! this should be self explanatory

I hope you all have your wonderful NYE resolutions and that you keep at least 1-2 of them active. Ciao from the Parrys!!

Merry Christmas to ALL!!

2010-12-25T22:05:00.000-08:00

To our blog readers and followers, we hope that you all have a MERRY Christmas. The Parrys have a lot to be thankful for this year and its been incredible celebrating Christmas 2010 as a family of 4. We had a blast opening gifts this morning and being around our amazing family all week has been fantastic!

I am absolutely exhausted after a week of shopping, xmas events, gift wrapping, eating, playing, opening gifts and celebrating. Looking forward to a chill few days until NYE!!! Cannot believe 2011 is right around the corner. I plan to have an amazing 2011, how about you??!!

the pump

2010-12-01T12:24:00.000-08:00

forgetting your breastpump and having to wait 6 hours till you can feed/pump again is HELL. just saying...

Thanksgiving 2010

2010-11-20T19:13:00.000-08:00

This year, my family... I'm talking aunts, uncles, cousins, everyone... we are all heading up to Tahoe for our annual Thanksgiving vacation. This is a long run tradition and its great because everyone gets to spend quality time together, we laugh, we bicker, we cook, we watch movies and most of all, we create memories for a lifetime.

Once the Parry family gets healthier we have to go shopping to make sure we are ready for the cold! Jace comes down to our house sometime this weekend and he'll be joining us too! So excited for that.

For 2010, we have a 7 bedroom 7 bath cabin in North Tahoe called "Sunrise by Sunnyside". Our family is growing rapidly. It was just a few years ago when we only had to get a 5 bedroom cabin and Neil and I were sleeping in the bunk bed room with the kids. Now, we get our own king size bed and bathroom to ourselves!! lol.. the perks of growing up!

The cabin is lakeside and has its own dock. However the weather this year looks like it'll be nice and snowy so we'll be using the hot tub more than the lake :) The weather in Tahoe is going to dump snow up until Tuesday then its clear Wed - Sunday. PERFECT!! Hopefully we'll have snow, slush and sun!

Here's my to do list for our Tahoe Vaca:
-Build a snowman
-Make a sled run
-Cook and Eat and Drink (not just hot coco dear)
-Play games
-Watch movies
-Spend quality time with each family member
-Sleep a lot
-Hike
-Hot tub
-Gamble

Here's a little preview of the dock and hottub of the cabin.

The search for a GA position continues

2010-11-14T20:07:00.000-08:00

I thought I'd capture a long quest on this blog... The quest to find a Football Coaching Graduate Assistant Position for my hubby at the collegiate level. My hubs, as most of you know, played football in college only to have his career end with a pretty major injury. He loves football and his passion and excitement for the sport has spread to me and I'm sure will have the same impact on both our boys.

Upon retiring from actually *playing* the game, Neil went on to become the color commentator for the SJSU spartan radio show for 4 years. He did on the air radio analysis of each game including pre and post game shows. He loved it (so he thought) and started thinking of pursuing it full-time...That was until San Jose State pulled the rug from under him and didn't ask him to come back for a 5th season. Why? Who knows. He was never given a straight answer and basically I think it was the SJSU AD Tom Bowen. You don't want to know my thoughts about him and I don't want to say such nasty things on our blog so I'll take the fifth and you can just assume what I'm gonna say.

As soon as the radio gig was over, the hubby started to coach high school football. I am not kidding when I say this but the second he stepped on the football field with a whistle around his neck, it was ON. He fell in love. I have never seen my hubby as happy as he was last season, his first as a full-time high school football coach. I was thrilled for him. Seeing him so fired up and back doing what he was so passionate about made me incredibly happy.

Since then, he has told me time and time again that he cannot imagine doing anything else. Life sure has a way of working itself out. Since then, he's been on a quest to gain as much experience as possible with a phenomenal coaching staff at Sobrato High School meanwhile looking around for any opportunity to coach at the collegiate level.

Most colleges require that you become a Graduate Assistant before you become a fulltime coach. A GA is basically like an intern. The college will pay for you to get your masters (all college head coaches have to have a MS) and you will in turn go through an intense 2 year training on how to learn the ins and outs of the college-level game. Basically for two years, he will be working non-stop and will have zero time but hopefully it will all payoff after those 2 years.

Now, all he needs is a break. When my hubby got injured, he met a lot of people in the football business so right now tapping into those resources might prove to be valuable. For now, its a waiting game as most teams are still tied up with their current season. I will update our family blog from time to time as we go through the process of him finding a GA spot. For now, the kids and I are preparing ourselves for an intense 2 years. High school football season was crazy and long and EXTREMELY time consuming, I cannot imagine how college will be. Well, yes I can, I've been warned but you know what, I want this for Neil as bad as he does. When you are with someone, you must support them in their passions and I know 100% that he'd do this for me.

For now, we wait and see... Happy Sunday Funday. Ciao from us!

Solo Bath Time Routine with the munchkins....

2010-11-11T05:44:00.000-08:00

I woke up to feed baby Kian this morning at 4:30am and haven't been able to return back to sleep. Maybe its because I have so much on my mind or maybe its because I went to bed pretty early. Not sure which but I'm up.

Getting very excited for the weekend. We have our last Sobrato High School football game on Friday night against Westmont. Am I sad? Of course. Am I relieved we get a break from having the hubby away from coaching a bit? absolutely.

I am sure I've talked about coaching and the hours of time it consumes so you know that the Parry Fam needs a break. Mostly I can't wait to start eating dinner together as a family. During season, Neil gets home roughly between 7-8pm. Leonidus has to eat at 6pm or he's a crabby patty. I think its important to have kids eat dinner earlier so they aren't going to bed on such a full stomach. Eating dinner and giving both boys a bath on a solo mission is intense. I've got it down to a science at this point so its easy but it took me a few months to get a pattern down right.

+Bath Time for the SOLO parent:+
+-------------------------------+
-Take the boys upstairs
-Go to LJ's room, pick out his pajamas, onesie and diaper and lay it on his bed
-Grab his towel
-Go to Kian's room (all of this I'm doing with Kian in my arms), grab a towel, diaper, onesie and his pajama's, take all of his stuff with us to the bathroom
-Place all of Kians clothes near the vanity
-Start the bath water
-Lay Kian on our bed
-Go to bathroom, undress LJ and put him in the bath
-Grab baby bath seat
-Put it in the bath with LJ
-Go to bed, undress Kian and place him in the bath with LJ
-this is where the fun begins.. SING, DANCE, SPLASH... FUN FUN FUN
-15 minutes later, grab Kian out of the bath, dry him off and dress him near the vanity where we have perfect view of LJ who's still playing his heart out in the bath
-Dress Kian
-Take Kian to LJ's room and lay him on his bed
-RUN fast as hell back to the bath (leaving a toddler in a bath by himself is pretty dangerous), wash up LJ, rinse, take him out
-Wrap him up in his towel and go to LJ's room where Kian awaits
-Dress up LJ in all the clothes that have been set out from the beginning of the process
-Give each boy a big ole KISS on the lips and WALA! We are done with bathtime all under 45 minutes!!!!

Seriously, this routine only took 2.5 months to develop but once you are on a roll, bath time is a SYNCH.

Here are my boys all fresh and clean after their nightly bath: (LJ 2 years Kian 4 months)

OK. Gonna try to be more productive since its 6am and no one is awake. Have a great THURSDAY and the weekend cannot come any SOONER!

This and That.

2010-11-10T09:17:00.000-08:00

Its almost holiday season time and I CANNOT WAIT. If you know me, you know I'm a huge fan of Thanksgiving, Xmas, Halloween... shoot even 4th of JULY!

This year, the holidays are already looking spectacular. This thanksgiving my family will continue the 10 year running tradition of going to Lake Tahoe. This year our cabin is amazing! I thought the other homes we stayed at were nice but this one seems incredible. We're ON THE LAKE with our own dock and pier. Yes. NUTS. I will post some pictures of the cabin but I'm sure I'll take some while we're there. The past 6-7 months have been very crazy for Neil and I. Tough pregnancy with constant back pain, baby arrival right before the heart of football season and adjusting to two boys under two was overwhelming. Then add work and life's responsibilities on top of that and BAM! insanity. We both are in desperate need of a vacation and 5 days of family time in Tahoe might just do the trick. I am not the type of person that can just sit still but at the same time, having help and time away from work, house chores and the daily hustle will be incredible.

Seriously, I have never been so challenged as I have been the past few months. Fortunately, Neil and I are totally in control of things and we are back to loving life. The boys are doing great, getting along and growing up. We enjoy every second of it now that we have settled down back at home.

but damn, the first 2 months were FREAKING HARD!! HARD HARD HARD. Did I say hard? I am thankful for friends, family and a loving and amazing husband that got me through it.

This summer, my 2 friends Kim and Melanie both had babies so we went on tons of play dates. The summer was so special because we all had our 2nd babies and were able to talk about life, its challenges and just be there for each other in ways other people couldn't. I'm thankful for this summer but I know looking back, I will always remember it.

In other news, my hubbie is majorly in the hunt to find a coaching gig at the college level. The search is not easy and getting your foot in the door at the college level is complicated. He's been in contact with some of his connections but the chances of him getting a GA spot are slim. Graduate Assistants in college football are like apprentices or interns. They get paid crappy, they work their tails of for hours all in the hopes to gain experience and hopefully it'll lead to a full time coaching position. They do everything that a coach does and then some. The job could take him ANYWHERE. North, West, East or South of the United States. I've lived in the Bay Area for 25 years. Moving is a bit of a scary frightening concept to me. How will I cope? Who knows... But I'm sure I'll have many interesting blogs in the future once Neil makes a transition to the college level. In the meantime, I'm taking full advantage of San Jose's great city, climate and my family and friends. In 1-2 years, all of this can change...

Bittersweet.

my little dude Kianoosh - 4 month check up

2010-11-09T20:25:00.000-08:00

Just got back from my baby cutie's 4 month dr appt. It's amazing HOW similar Kian and Leonidus are in height and weight.

LJ weighed in at 18lbs and 26 inches at his 4 month checkup and
TODAY Kian weighed in at 18lbs and 26.5 inches

Seriously, did I have identical twins 21 months apart????

The appointment went well. I had Dr Pete (Almaden Pediatrics ROCKS!) take a look at this on going rash that Kian gets on/off. He said its pretty normal but he went ahead and prescribed me cortisone ointment to treat it during its flare ups. Other than that I am very thankful that things look good.

I still can't believe he's already 4 months old. I love my boys so much and the love magnifies each day. I remember when I was pregnant with Kian I kept asking everyone, "Will I love him like I love Leonidus?" and without a doubt all the parents told me YES YES YES. they were right because the moment I laid eyes on my little mooshie, I was head over heels in love with him.

Next appt isn't until 6 months. I wonder if Kian will be crawling by then. LOL. I remember I started Leonidus on Rice cereal exactly at 4 months but I think this time around, I'm going to hold off until we're closer to 6 months. The excitement of feeding LJ was the reason I started so early (I'm impatient) but now, I'm going to try and nurse as long as possible before we involve any food.

Before I end this post, here's a little video of Kianoosh the moosh at the doctor office. He was really excited and fired up. I love the way he grabs his toes now. MELTS MY FREAKING HEART!!!

ENJOY!

My baby turned 2! Happy Birthday Leonidus!

2010-10-26T09:04:00.001-07:00

This past week was very bittersweet for me. My first born son, Leonidus, turned 2. Two you say? That's not old. To me, its HUGE. To me, its like... WHERE THE HECK DID TIME GO? What happened to my infant Leonidus who wanted to sit and cuddle? Now I have this amazing 2 year old, who makes his own decisions, has his own emotions and can talk!!! We just had LJ's 2nd year doctor appointment. Everything looked great and as always here are his stats:

Length 37" = above percentile 95
Weight 30lbs = between percentile 50 and 75

He was always up there in both length and weight but his weight seems to be dropping. must be because he's super duper active and jumps around all the time. Do you know how hard jumping is ? I tried to jump with him and 4 minutes later, I was about ready to die. JUMPING is nuts (do i sound old or what!)

Every birthday, the Parry's have started a breakfast tradition. No matter who's bday it is in our family, we like to start the day off RIGHT with a delicious breakfast. This year, we took LJ to Hobees. He had a great time with his mom, dad, brother Kian and even his momanijoon stopped by to eat with us!

Since my boys are super duper special to me so I like to have FUN bday parties for them since their birth was such a joy to me! For LJ's 2nd birthday we decided to throw his party at Uesigi Farms in Morgan Hill. The farm is super small and cute and has the perfect atmosphere for little kids. I sent invites out to all of our closest family and friends and started planning very early, in September. LIfe is super busy with 2 kids but for some reason party planning is just fun to me so it gave me a nice little break and an exciting project to work on.

The theme: MONSTERS. Thanks to ETSY, I was able to find DIY design that was custom made for LJ. The design entailed 4 different monsters and the COLORS for the party were LIGHT BLUE, NAVY BLUE and ORANGE. I surprisingly loved the 3 colors together and would have never thought they'd go so well for a party.

In my eyes a party is not complete unless you have 2 things:
(1) amazing cake
(2) good party favors for the kids

I remember those were the 2 things that I loved when I went to parties when I was young so I try my best to get those 2 things done right. and of course, great people. nothing makes a party unless there's awesome FUN people there!

The week before the birthday party, I started getting worried because the weather turned NUTS. It had been the warmest October but all of a sudden it started to get stormy. Days before the party the weather predicted 70% chance of rain during the time of LJ's party! OMG! I was freaking. I called a couple of friends and they told me that everything would work out. Believe it or not, it did. The rain started about 1 hour after the party was over and during the party, the weather COULD NOT HAVE BEEN BETTER!! THANK YOU MUTHA NATURE! you hooked it up honey :)

Here are some pics from our special bday celebration.

and a huge thanks to my sister JO who helped me with party planning and another HUGE thanks to my uncle arzhang for taking such awesome pics :)

Pandora Necklaces...not so happy with them right now.

2010-10-12T13:26:00.000-07:00

My hubbie recently surprised me with a gorgeous necklace from Pandora. The necklace contained a leo charm in the middle (for yours truley) and a July and October birthstone set on each side representing each of my beautiful baby boys.

I wore this necklace for 2 months and the necklace part of it started to get tarnished looking, as if it were fake! I was pissed and during our last family outing to the mall, I went in to return it.

First I was greeted by this woman, who had a short very manly haircut and a look of attitude all over her face. When you walk into a store and the person working there dogs you, and you want to RETURN something, its just not good. I knew off the bat she was going to be a bit*ch. I greeted her nicely and showed her my necklace. I told her that I wanted to return the necklace because after 2 months and after spending over $300 on it, it looked like CRAP!

The lady looked at me, did a little neck bob and said, um where did you wear this? did you go to the desert? As she's asking this I'm holding my 2 month old son on the ergobaby. YES YOU DUMB ASS, I wore it in the desert with my son right after my c-section! She kept saying I have never seen this before. I don't know WHAT YOU DID TO IT...

WHAT I DID? The fact that she kept saying WHAT YOU DID pissed me off beyond belief! I've had the necklace for 2 months and it looks like I bought it from Forever 21! GIVE ME A BREAK!

OMG, are you joking. As if that wasn't RUDE enough, she laughed and said "What did you do to this thing?"

If you know me, I don't take well to this type of customer service. In my head I told myself to take a deep breath and counted down 3....2....1.

"OK here lady, First and foremost, You do not speak to your clients like that. I walked in here with the intention of having a grown up conversation about a possible defect in the product that my husband purchased for me. If your jewelry is as high quality as you claim, then this should not happen to a necklace after 2 months. AND NO I HAVE NOT BEEN TO THE DESERT, I JUST HAD A FREAKING BABY!... I need a manager now because you are rude and blame me rather than take responsibilty for it.

I basically shut the snatch up and she called her manager.

In walks the manager, a frail little Indian lady. She looked at the necklace and was shocked at how badly it was tarnished. She said the necklaces were real silver and that she has no idea how this happened. She could only allow me to exchange it but I was not happy about it. I was already rubbed the wrong way by the service I had received but the manager was nice and talked me into an exchange.

I am going to look at this necklace day and night and if I see even the smallest issue with it I am returning it with the QUICKNESS. Husbands and BOYFRIENDS, please do not buy your significant other something from Pandora. They suck. Go to Tiffany's or another reputable jeweler.

October 2010 and the magic of #5

2010-10-12T10:35:00.000-07:00

Did you know that October 2010 not only had a cool 10-10-10 date in it BUT there's also another huge milestone this month?

This October has 5 Fridays, 5 Saturdays and 5 Sundays all in one month. It happens only once in 823 years

How cool is that!!!?!

Giants can clinch it tonight -- Lets go Gigantes!!

2010-10-11T11:11:00.001-07:00

Baby constipation...

2010-10-08T16:42:00.000-07:00

For the past 5 months (or even longer now that I think about it) my son has been dealing with MAJOR MAJOR constipation. I stopped breastfeeding him at about 13 months old... not by choice but I got pregnant shortly after my son's 1st birthday so the doctor did advise to wean him off and start him on cows milk...

Cows milk. My son LOVES LOVES, did I say LOVES? milk. He started drinking cows milk and we were going through 2-3 gallons of organic whole milk a week. He was drinking it morning, noon and night... about an estimated 34 oz a day. YIKES! As first time parents little did we know that his constipation started around the same time he started drinking cows milk. It was cute at first. He would sit down in a corner, clench his hands into fists and have this cute/sad/pitiful look on his face pushing trying to poop. This quickly became a horrible site for me because I just wanted him to poop and be free of this constant pushing!

I should add here that we give our kids mostly organic fruits, vegetables and meats. Most, if not all of the snacks we buy are organic too so its not like we're feeding him garbage. Just thought I'd add that :)

We took him to the doctor several times about this. Every time he visited with his pediatrician, our doctor told us to change up his food intake and cut down the milk. We changed everything BUT the milk. Honestly he liked it so much that I was too scared to take him off it. I could have sworn it was something else. We gave him everything from PRUNES, OLIVE OIL, APPLES, FIBER GALORE and LOTS OF WATER. Nothing worked. We then started giving him MYRALAX with his milk. MYRALAX is the bomb! its a total safe medication that is EXCELLENT FOR ALL AGES to help constipation. At first we didn't know we had to give it to him everyday so after a couple of days, we'd stop and then our son would go right back to being constipated.

A few weeks ago we had our worst case of constipation where he pushed for 4 days straight and I changed maybe 50 diapers in those 4 days. It was AWFUL!! All the poops (yes too much info but whatever if you are a parent you'll understand) were super small and the BIG one never came. This time, when we went to the doctor, they gave us strict orders.

-NO MORE THAN 8 OZ of MILK A DAY
-7 GRAMS OF FIBER A DAY
-CAP FULL OF MIRALAX A DAY

Would this really work? I was desperate and with a lot of hesitation, we cut off LJ's supply to 8 oz. That's 2 oz in the early afternoon before naptime and the remaining 6 oz before bed.

By simply following these simple 3 changes, LJ has been pooping like a CHAMP! We have been poop-happy for the past 2 weeks, no problems whatsoever (knock on wood). IT WAS A MIRACLE. In case you are a parent experiencing something similar, I would highly recommend you see a doctor but maybe try some of the things I did that I wrote in this blog post. Being constipated is awful (i'm sure everyone can attest to that) and being able to recognize what is causing the problem is KEY.

Does LJ miss his milk? Yes he sure does but sometimes we add 1 oz of water to his 2 oz before his nap to make it seem like he's drinking more. I will say this, he is eating SO MUCH more food now! its crazy! he has 3 square meals a day whereas before he'd eat a little here and there. YAY!!! OK. enough about poop. Have a spectacular day.

sleep - or lack thereof

2010-10-05T20:19:00.000-07:00

I remember the days where I used to sleep in until 10, or even 11am. I wish I appreciated the fact that no one relied on me nor did I have responsibilities other than myself.

Once you have children, it is a fact of life-type of lesson that you will no longer get to sleep in.

fact 1: It doesn't matter how late you keep your children up, they will wake up early.

fact 2: children sleep an average of 11 hours a night, a parent is lucky if they can sleep 6 hours straight.

fact 3: you will wake up with your kids in bed with you at least 3 times a week (in my case its 5-6 times a week)

fact 4: you will have unrecognizable stains on your bed and it might be due to a leaky diaper... not sure if its the infants or the toddlers but its laundry time

fact 5: kids have the perfect timing (i'm being sarcastic) when it comes to you know what

The worst is when you go out and you have someone watch your kids. You get home late, go to bed late and god help you if you are hungover when you have to wake up in the morning. I don't remember the last time I was drunk because I fear the day I have to wake up and be all sloppy and droopy around my kids. can't do it to them nor to myself.

I put a lot of pressure on myself (and my hubbie) to try and be the most efficient and effective parents. That means waking up, giving the kids a good breakfast, playing with them, giving them lots of love, attention and kisses and making sure they are on a schedule when it comes to food, naps and baths. No where in this daily schedule does a day of sleeping in come into play. In fact, I almost don't remember how it feels to sleep in. I did go on a small vacation last August 2009 for my friend Candice's wedding. I slept in one day there but I had thrown up the night before (can't drink like i used too) and so it wasn't like a well-rested type sleep.

Do I miss sleep? Yes. Would I trade what I have for it? Never. I do look forward to one day when I can sleep in but with 2 boys under 2, it's only a thought right now. My aunt who has a 6 and 9 year old is now able to sleep in. She said she felt the same way I did when the kids were younger. Before she'd call me super early but now, when I call her on a Saturday morning at 8am, no one answers. LOL!! That's ok though, I have plenty of friends with toddlers who I can count on to be up at the crack of dawn with me.

Halloween Costume Shopping 2010 - no bueno

2010-10-05T09:38:00.001-07:00

I'm new to this whole holiday thing for kids. The last 2 holidays were easy because LJ was 3 month old and then 14 months old. He was kinda just going with the flow. This year is totally different. Let's take halloween for starters. October is a busy month for us. We have Leonidus's 2nd birthday (Oct 19), we've got his bday party to plan AND halloween!

I started shopping for Kian and LJ's halloween costume about a week ago. Not smart. The first costume I had planned to buy for them is sold out completely nationwide. I was soooo sad because quite frankly I was super excited about the matching dinosaur costumes.

Oh well. Round 2. I decided I can have both the boys dress like Lions. After waiting to think it through a few days I went online to place my order and BAM! The infant costume was sold out! So there went the whole matching concept I had in mind for halloween.

I decided to go to the mall yesterday to see if we could find something in person. It was crazy a couple of stores had sold out of the costumes we wanted to buy. SOOOO frustrating. What is the deal!?! it's Oct 5! Already sold out?

I did end up buying LJ his costume but i'm still in the hunt for Kian's costume. I had to throw the whole idea of the 2 bro's matching out the door because I waited too long to buy i guess. Next year, come Sept 1, you know I'll be ORDERING the boys their costumes!

*UPATE*: as of 10/5, My halloween costumes for both BOYS are purchased and done!! woot woot!!! Now back to planning my sons 2nd birthday party.

Football Widow 2010

2010-10-01T13:17:00.000-07:00

Its Football Friday at the Parry House again. For those that don't know, my hubbie is the defensive coordinator for the Sobrato High School Football Team. They are so far 2-1 (Ugh that loss still hurts) and they are ready to play again tonight against Independence High school in San Jose. Here's their entire upcoming schedule

The game should be good and if the boys come out to play, they should get the BIG W! Let's go BullDogs!

A common terminology used by woman married to men that coach football is that during football season you are a football widow. It is NO JOKE. I thought that football was time consuming when Neil played back at SJSU but NOW, its CRAZY!! Coaching is a very time consuming job, especially if you are super into it like my husband is. Practice M-F afternoon/evening, games friday nights and football planning half the day on a SUNDAY!! With 2 boys at home with me, its super hard because Neil is so tied up with football!!

I love love love football season but now that we're in the thick of it I can only hope to get a break once its over. Having a baby right before football season was a toughie...

Wish us luck tonight for the game. I'll be with the boys, Neils Family and my mom (the biggest Sobrato Fan)!
TGIF!!!

A little bit about life with two boys

2010-09-29T05:35:00.000-07:00

When I arrived home from my 5 days of rest and recovery at the hospital, I was feeling great. I came home to a delicious persian cooked dish courtesy of my mom, my sister was playing with Leonidus and Neil was running errands for the new baby and assembling baby stuff.

Things seeemed easy.

Two days later, my sister left to go back home to LA LA land. My mom returned to work and Neil, my husband and father of a newborn, had to go to 3 FULL DAYS of football camp!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

There I was... 2 boys, both under 2 years old and a mom who had no clue what she was about to experience. Those were by far the hardest few days of my life. Leonidus is a little dude so he's just learning to communicate. He meant well every time he went over to his brother to kiss him ... or when he climbed on top of him wanting to hug hum ... but that meant I had to hold the baby, while trying to entertain Leonidus ALL of this while I'm still recovering from my c-section. On the 2nd night of me being alone with the boys, I lost it. I was already emotional from all the hormonal changes you experience from child birth and having the stresses of a newborn and toddler were overwhelming.

Soon Neil's football load lessened and he was able to spend a few days with me and I had my family and friends around to give me support. I think that taking your friends who have babies dinner is the kindest thing you can do because new mom's need all the help they can get.

Thinking back to those first few weeks are funny. I can laugh now because all those trials and tribulations are far behind me but at the time all i could think to myself was "what have i gotten myself into!"

Life nowadays could not be better. Kian is more aware, active and is constantly smiling. He's almost 3 months old and I can't WAIT for his first laugh. That was my favorite milestone with leonidus because it brought me to tears. Leonidus has grown into such a hilarious handsome boy. He still LOVES sports but has also really gotten into TRAINS and SUPERHERO's (this one due to his Daddy's love for comics). He is both a momma's boy and daddy's boy. he loves to make people laugh, loves to talk and is getting more rambunctious as he gets older. He is still in swim class and has recently started taking soccer classes. We had him in the little gym for 2 semesters but will re-enroll in the winter after a little break. He knows his ABC's and 123's almost by heart and can even count to 10 in FARSI!

Leonidus will soon turn 2 years old in a few weeks and I'm still in shock about it. He was JUST a little baby!!

The other night, Neil and I were talking about how it won't be long until we won't be able to kiss him on the lips. Some parents are wierd about that stuff but I love to kiss my little man. Sometimes I wish time would slow down...or even stop for a second so I can enjoy where my life is at right now.

I'm back... I promise this time

2010-09-28T23:43:00.000-07:00

I was once an avid blogger who started blogging before eblogger was even around. I started blogging when I had to build my blog from scratch using java and html to get the page up and running. Now, its all GUI based and the look and feel of your page can change in seconds.

i HEART technology

Anyways, after having my son Leonidus my blogging, which happened at least 4 days a week went down to 1-2 times a month. Now, after having my 2nd son Kianoosh, my blogging has become NON EXISTENT. For good reason, it takes about 8-12 weeks to get used to having two boys under the age of two. It is a VERY VERY HARD transition and you almost have to learn to live a different lifestyle. Not bad. Just super different.

Now that the boys are totally in sync and mommy and daddy are totally in control (or at least we think we are) I can now return to blogging. I don't think I'll go back to my old blogging days but i sure hope to visit once a week. I have to much to say and have been doing this for too long to stop now.

Thank you for checking back, if anyone does check back. I don't even know if anyone even reads this blog BUT i know one thing, its therapeutic and i love looking back in time and reading about my own adventures. If you do read my blog, take a moment to officially *follow* it so you can get notified when I update a new post.

Parry Out :)

Welcome Kianoosh Mansour Parry - July 6, 2010

2010-09-28T23:36:00.001-07:00

photoshoot3_July2010
Originally uploaded by Parry Family -NRLRP

On July 6 2010 the Parry family welcomed their newest addition, Kianoosh, to their family!!

Kianoosh was born via a planned C-section at Good Samaritan Hospital on July 6,2010.

The Birth Story
This was a totally different birth experience than when I had Leonidus. Since my first son Leonidus was born via c-section, Neil and I opted to have another c-section to avoid any further complications. We decided this about the 20th week of my pregnancy.

I was given an option to choose what day I wanted to have my scheduled c-section. I went back and forth, pondering which day would be best. My mom and aunt, firm believers in the stars, told me to have my baby on the 4th of July however what doctor and hospital staff would want to do a c-section on a holiday. Since that day was out, the stars looked best on July 6 and Wa- La, we had the baby on that day and a minute before the desired time of 10am.

With a planned c-section, everything is smooth beforehand. The week before my due date, I got my nails done, dyed my hair, went shopping for cute hospital attire, took LJ on a last only-child trip to the zoo and soooo much more. I arrived at the hospital early Tuesday morning with hair and makeup done and ready to go.

On the outside, all 188 pounds of me felt and looked as good as can be. However, on the inside, i was a wreck!!! First off, I hate surgery. I haven't had many operations and going into a c-section not drugged up on meds like I was during my birth with Leonidus was horrible.

As soon as we arrived and i put on my hospital gown, I got the surgery shivers. These shivers are no joke, they are more like tremors. I started shaking, looking sooo dumb. Ugh...

Neil was with me most of the time and my dad arrived right before they were going to take me back to the OR. I didn't like walking into the surgery room. It was cold, it was white and filled with WAYY too many surgical tools.

I sat on the OR bed and awaited my spinal. Spinals SUCK. They work on impact but you can still kinda feel your stomach. It feels numb but you can't feel pain. It's strange. My lower half went immediately NUMB as soon as they shot me with the needle. After they maneuvered me onto the bed, I started freaking out. I kept asking the anesthesiologist, "I can still feel. Are you sure I am numb? I don't want to feel the knife" and he looked at me like I was crazy. The dude I had as my anesthesiologist was not comforting at all. I asked the same question over and over until they cut me. I didn't feel a thing and then I started getting nervous about the baby. What is he going to look like? What if he comes out not breathing.. What if.. What if.. All negative. I tried to enjoy the moment but I was a freaking wreck. Neil, videotaping most of this experience, was nervous too so he couldn't console me. Within the matter of MINUTES Kianoosh was out and crying! It was SOOO fast. They pulled him out and said he's perfect and I cried, breathed a sigh of relief and finally rested.

In our birth plan, Neil was to go with the baby while I got sewed back up. The after c-section part takes FOREVER (well 45 minutes) and time seems longer because all you want to do is go be with your baby. I got all nipped and tucked away at all the right places and was shortly rolled over to the recovery room where Neil and my new beautiful baby boy waited. He was soooooo adorable! I couldn't believe how much he looked like Leonidus. At that very moment, having gone through all the awful aches and pains of pregnancy seemed so so so worth it. Kianoosh latched on my boob IMMEDIATELY and breastfeeding started within 5 minutes of holding him. Nice job Kian!!

My family started coming into the recovery room one by one to meet our newest addition. It was around 11am by this time and Neil, my aunt Naazi and I asked the nurse if we could go back to the room to watch the beginning of one of the world cup semifinal games. YES. We wanted to watch soccer. After all, Kian was in my belly during all the games, he wanted to watch the semifinals too!! :)~

That's my birth story. Nothing crazy. All went well and besides my mind that went bizurk, everything went great. Thank you to all my dear family, friends, Dr Noh and to the AMAZING and VERY VERY KING Good Samaritan hospital doctors and nurses. You are all so amazing for having taken care of me and my son.

I am now a proud mother of 2 boys and the loving wife of a truly amazing husband. Thank you life. You rock!

LJ's 18 month Checkup

2010-04-28T00:32:00.000-07:00

My baby boy... well maybe I should say Toddler had his 18 month checkup and all things looked great! Our little bundle of joy is growing and he amazes us each and every day with new words, his skills, his emotions and everything else!

The Stats:
Height - 34 inches - 90%
Weight - 27 lbs - 75%

He's only 2 feet from outgrowing his mom!! Yikes!

He's also got a slowly growing vocabulary. As of today, he knows how to say:
-bear
-berry
-mameh (milk)
-mommy and daddy
-wall
-ball
-shhhhzzz (shoes)

and he makes so many sounds that mimic animals and cars. Its SO CUTE! Ugh, i love Leonidus so much. Can you tell I'm a proud mama? :)

amd for those of you who know LJ, you know he's obsessed with all kinds of sports...especially those that involve balls. He still golfs around the house, yard and just about everywhere else we go daily. I am not joking, he LOVES it. He's now added baseball swings and basketball throws to his daily list of things to do. He even loves to watch all the sports on TV with his daddy. He claps anytime someone scores a goal, shoots a basket or makes a putt. Sometimes Neil and I look at one another and say did we really have a son who loves sports this much... I mean, we could have only dreamed of this :) Let's see how Baby Numero 2 will be. Wonder if he'll take after his bro. I could go one forever but I'll stop the mom-rambling and move on.

What's next for Leonidus:
Well for starters we have 2 huge milestones coming.. (1) Potty Training and (2) Weaning LJ off the bottle (milk)...

I am dreading both of these. I am dreading the bottle issue more than potty training. I just ordered the potty and everything else including books and the elmo potty dvd tonight. I'm actually feeling confident that this should not be too hard. however the bottle is a HUGE issue with Leonidus. He drinks roughly 2.5 gallons of milk (100% organic) every week. He drinks water and juice out of sippy cups fine but when it comes to milk, he won't TOUCH it unless it has a nipple. We've tried EVERYTHING and he goes ballistic when we try to fool him. You don't mess with LJ and his milk. He's just that crazy about it. In fact, one day Neil took a needle and made the smallest hole in one of his bottle nipples, in the hopes that we could gradually make the hole bigger day by day and then he'd wean himself. ARE YOU KIDDING?? He threw the bottle and GOT PISSED. It was not fun and every so often we accidentally give him that nipple with his bottle of milk and he recognizes it in a SNAP and tosses it like its on fire.

You feel bad for me yet? Most parents gripe about potty training but I think potty training might be a cinch compared to my battle with the bottle. I'll keep you all updated should you be interested in seeing who wins this battle :)

I know I've been awful at keeping up with my blog. I haven't posted pics, or posts, in FOREVER. I'm HORRIBLE! Where does the time go! I lost my usb adapter to transfer pics from my camera to my laptop. Good news is that I just ordered one from Amazon.com so get ready for a flood of new pictures!

I need to hit the sack or I'd write more but I hope all my readers still visit from time to time. I promise to never abandon this site. If you get a chance, add yourself as a follower to my blog so you get an alert every time I do a new post (since they're so rare now!). Ciao!

Ready for some college bball!!

2010-03-18T13:24:00.000-07:00

Going to march madness games tonight at the HP Pavillion. Hopefully will make it there by 4ish. LJ's first college bball game. Can add it to his list of sporting events. I'm sure he'll LOVE it.

will post pics!
Peace

Its SO NICE OUT!!

2010-03-17T15:06:00.000-07:00

OMG OMG, its so beautiful outside. Its like as soon as Daylight savings kicked in, it made life so much better. I'm still trying to find that lost hours worth of sleep but the extra daylight in the evenings and the beautiful spring weather make it all worth it.

Here are some pics that I took that just SCREAM SPRING!!

Nothing says spring like a sunday at the farmers market:

Enjoy this GLORIOUS DAY! Happy st Patty's!!

New cube

2010-03-11T15:01:00.000-08:00

great day at work.. just got moved into a cube with a window!! I'm so happy. My other cube was awfully located in an area that I faced a hallway so everyone walked in and around past me and stared... the worst was when I was trying to stuff my lunch in my mouth in the mere 10 minutes I had to eat. I mean, its not cute and everyone had to witness it.

So thankful for my new cube today!

I'm also thankful that its Thursday. This week was LONG and I had the worst tummy pains! Its gotten to the point where I'm going to see my doctor, i swear I think I have appendicitis. Let's HOPE I'm wrong but the pain in a bit worrisome and at times unbearable.

My plans for the weekend look fun so I better be back in full functioning mode in 24 hours. I get to see dear friends, spend time with family, have LJ play with his beloved Jace, Aryana and Cyrus and hopefully get some much needed quality time with my hubby. Don't have much time for REST & RELAXATION but who has time for that anyways!! It's the WEEKEND YO!!

Let's see, what else is new...Last night, my mom, who frequently visits us after work, came over only to succumb to a sleepover. We live about 1 mile away from My mom and Neil's intero office so its nice to have her so close and available! Neil and I were so excited that she was staying over that he went to rent a movie so we can have a movie night!! We ate dinner (Take out from Yiasooo, MMMMM so good!) and we got LJ ready for bed and around 9 and we were finally able to put in the movie 2012. Unfortunately, My mom and I were PASSED out by 9:30pm. LOL. So much for movie night!!

Lately, that's been a trend of mine. I've watched 50% or less of every movie we have in our house or rented in the past few months... Is this just something that comes with parenthood. I have to constantly ask Neil what happens at the end of the movie the next day. It sucks but I'm so extremely exhausted by the time I sit on the couch that I feel like the sandman DUMPS, not sprinkles, sleepy sand potion on my eyes and then KAPLOW, mama is OUTTIE.

i hope you all have an enjoyable weekend and this is Mrs Parry saying SEE YA! wish me luck and hopefully I don't have appendicitis!

Yo! whats up!

2010-03-10T08:00:00.000-08:00

oh the life of a working mom. Things have been insane the past few weeks and i swear i feel like exhausted when I finally get to hit the couch by 9pm. Working full time, being pregnant and having to take care of a family can be challenging at times. Don't get me wrong, I am FAR from complaining. I love my life and all things that make it what it is but WOW, can you say Life is CRAZY BUSY right now!

I hope that I can take a babymoon somewhere sometime in the near future but we'll have to see about that.

The Parry fam boys are doing great. Neil is busy working and getting ready to start the new season with the Sobrato Bull Dawgs. LJ is growing growing growing and getting cuter and more affectionate and personable as the days come. I just adore my little dude to pieces!!! The doggies (since they are part of the Parry boys) are great too. They love having a backyard and they love playing outside when the weather allows it.

LJ is enrolled in lots of activities and we hope to get him into soccer early this summmer. So far he continues to advance his skills in swimming and he's absolutely loving his Lil Gym classes that he attends with both mommy and daddy. his music together class sucked BIG TIME this year. I'm not sure if it was the late time or the venue but LJ was not feeling it AT ALL. I think we'll opt out of music together next time. My boy is WAYY too into sports right now and I think the music class just bored him. LOL... Plus he prefers reggae over dinky folk songs. My lil rasta in training!

The future baby parry boy is doing great. Bakin in the oven and he too is growing very fast. This week, 22 weeks, he's the length of a carrot and 2+ pounds! My tummy is HUGE... I'm talking a LOT bigger than it was with LJ. I look 8 months pregnant. Its crazy. I'm only 5 months! it's going to be a long journey from here on out because the parts of pregnancy that are a pain (i.e. Backaches, Heartburn, Peeing every 5 seconds) are in full swing. This is the stuff you forget about when you are not pregnant and LONg to have another baby. :)

I'm dreading preparing the new nursery because the walls in our house are SUPER duper high. I am thinking of going with a new color... maybe blue tones for the new nursery but I might stay with the jungle theme. I think its so cute for boys. LJ's new BIG BOY room is going to be all sports themed (thanks to pottery barn). I just can't decide on paint for his room.

Lastly, we have TONS of other house stuff to do. Its crazy how it can seem overwhelming when you think about it all. We were able to plant 2 gardenia's, 12 decorative Bada bing flowers and a few daisies this weekend. They look SOOOO good. I can't wait to plant the veggies. YUM!

Alright, gotta run off and take care of the bidness. Have a good one!!

My friends Etsy Store

2010-03-09T10:19:00.000-08:00

I have to tell everyone about my friends Etsy store because she's UBER SUPER DUPER talented and makes the cuties room decor and onesies for your little kiddo's.

You can check out her work here @ lapetitebebeboutique.etsy.com

Spread the word because she'll be selling her stuff in department stores in no time.

She made LJ a few things for his 1st birthday, one of which is shown below. a custom banner with his name. It looks SOOOO cute on his wall!!

and if that wasn't cute enough, I got an LJ padded pillow to hang on his wall too. My son has everyone now fully personalized :)

Yay for La Petite Boutique :)

It's a boy!

2010-02-10T14:24:00.001-08:00

After 18 weeks of waiting and wondering, The Parry Family is excited to announce that come this summer, we will be adding another baby boy to our family. It's funny because ever since I found out I was pregnant everyone had predicted this one was also going to be a boy...I always had this feeling I was going to have all boys but to hear it actually from your doctor that my 2nd baby is another boy was an emotionally overwhelming experience.

Neil is beyond excited and on cloud 9. He started to give me high fives as we walked out of the doctor office and he began telling Leonidus about all the fun that he was going to have once his brother arrives.

I guess the news means that I get to save a WHOLE lot of money but at the same time, Leonidus and his new baby bro are being born into different seasons meaning I'll need to buy the new bambino some CUTE summer wear!!

Leonidus grew very fast... I mean, he was 90+% on many of his chart stats so he outgrew the cute Carter 0-9month outfits fast. I am super excited to get to dress up the new baby in cute infant clothes.

Now the planning has to be ON in full force for getting LJ in his big boy room.

So as of 9-Feb 2010, we now know that we will have another baby boy. WOW!

Its finally complete!!

2010-02-02T05:54:00.000-08:00

After months... I'm talking months of editing Leonidus's First year dvd I am excited to announce that it is COMPLETE!!! Woohoo. Having a Mac has its benefits and one of them is iMovie. I have spent countless hours fine tuning, cutting, adding music slices to what is now called "Leonidus: The First Year". The DVD contains footage of LJ from when he was 6 months old (that's when we got our Sony HD camera, until his 12th month. The DVD features him learning to sit up, crawl, eat solids and so much more. We watched a part of the hour long film last night and you cannot help but get teary eyed at how fast time flies and how quickly kids grow/learn.

I am now moving forward and starting the 2nd DVD for Leonidus which is called "Leonidus: One but a ton of fun" film. It will start at his 1st birthday party and will wrap up right before his 2nd party. The film will also feature his baby brother or sister who is going to embrace us sometime in July 2010.

Well that's it for me. Now back to the grind.

I heart iBook's webcam

2010-02-01T15:02:00.000-08:00

I'm a lucky girl... Neil just web cammed me a pic of him and Leonidus while I'm at work. It made my DAY!! Thanks babe :)

Hand Foot and Mouth Disease... YUCK!

2010-02-01T07:11:00.000-08:00

Well its been an interesting week over at the Parry house. We had a sunny gorgeous weekend and we took full advantage of it despite some nasty viruses that have entered my baby boy's body. On Friday we learned that our little LJ has Hand Foot and Mouth disease.

What is this nasty ass thing you ask? Well according to online sites, Hand, foot, and mouth disease is caused by a group of viruses called enteroviruses. The most common enterovirus to cause hand, foot, and mouth disease is coxsackie virus A16. The virus is spread from direct person to person contact.

Read more here: http://www.justmommies.com/articles/hand_foot_and_mouth_disease.shtml

The symptoms that caused us to take Leonidus into the doctor were that he had tiny bumps on his arms and legs.. The bumps were not puss-filled or anything but they were large enough in numbers that they had both me and daddy worried. The way the doctor could tell that it was the HFM disease was that the bumps were also on his palms and the bottom of his feet...oh and they were also in his mouth. LOVELY! That explained why he wasn't eating many solids for a few days and was drooling. We had assumed he was teething but the mouth symptoms of HFM are similar to that of teething.

To make it worst, there's nothing to do to heal the nasty virus. You just have to wait and time would heal it. I tried to see if there were any natural remedies online that could help with it but nada, nunca...zilch!

Anyways, the good news is that LJ wasn't feeling crummy, he just looked it. Our weekend wasn't interrupted beside the fact that we couldn't attend gym class on Saturday or Swim Class on Sunday. I didn't want to put other kids at risk. yes I'm a good mommy and think about other parents and their kids. :)

We thought our rough patch with medical problems were winding down until yesterday when LJ's eye began oozing yellowish-green puss... which this morning looked like CRAP. We are going back to the doctor again this morning to see what's the deal. Let's hope its not anything serious and that there's an eye drop of something they can give us. In the meantime, we're treating it with tea bags. Its an old Persian remedy that really works on eye infections.

Wish us luck today...
************************************************
UPDATE: Doctor has diagnosed LJ with a mild eye infection. We have drops to help it. HFM virus is on its way toward recovery. hope to see bumps diminish in the next few days. All symptoms seem to have resolution, now onward to good health!
************************************************

Pants on the Ground

2010-01-28T15:46:00.001-08:00

Thank you Carolyne and Uncle Joe for telling us about this guy. HILARIOUS!!!!

The Neti Pot

2010-01-26T20:51:00.000-08:00

I had my first experience with the NETI POT this weekend. My mom and sister had been using this device for years... but I just couldn't fathom having water go into one nostril and come out the other. I had too many questions.. Where does the water go? Is it in my brain? Does it feel funny? Does it burn? Can some of the water leak during its trip down the 2nd nostril and get left behind in your head?

I mean, c'mon, I had some valid concerns. However, all those questions were shoved away given the current state of pain I'm in. I'm stuck with a sinus infection that's been lurking around in my head for 5 weeks and given that I'm pregnant, I can't take anything but tylenol to fight it. When I told my mom that I was interested in using it, she was THRILLED. So thrilled that she went to the store Sunday morning and purchased me my own little SNOT POT. It was cool of her to do it and Neil, LJ and I sped on over so I can try to get some relief.

The experience was interesting and not at all as frightening as I thought it would be. It felt so great having something go inside my sinuses that I wish I could reach myself. The relief wasn't instant but the next day, I felt so much better. I'm not sure if it was the Snot Pot, or the massage I got later that day or the heating pad I used at night but I woke up Monday morning feeling a lot less pressure in my head.

I'm continuing to use the SNOT POT on a nightly basis and hope that it helps deplete the pain completely. Until then I'm just trying not to bend down and dip my head too low because that's the time it hurts the most.

Don't be a tool like I was. Try the Neti Pot It's pretty amazing. Thanks Mom, Jana, Jouvan, Alana and Becky for being such big advocates.

Our Golf Guru

2010-01-21T11:02:00.000-08:00

Leonidus is hilarious. Not only does this boy LOVE golf but that's all he's wanted to play lately. We have LOTS of toys for this kid but he'd rather have his club and balls and just hit one after the other after the other. I kid you not, he is addicted. He plays during the day with his nanny, loves to show off when anyone comes over, and then we play golf with him for at least an hour at night after work. Is this for real? As parents who love to golf, we could have only dreamed about this... I have countless hours of videos of our munchkin golfing.. I could make a highlight reel. Let's see how long this lasts because for now, mommy and daddy have big ideas for him. Golf lessons this summer? Premature? Let's see...

15 month checkup...

2010-01-19T19:46:00.000-08:00

I know I always act this way but DANG, its been 15 months since I had a child? My boo boo is growing rapid fire and this morning both Mommy and Daddy took Leonidus to his 15-month checkup at Almaden Pediatrics. The atmosphere is really child friendly and warm there so upon arrival, LJ seemed stoked. It was pouring, I mean RAINING CATS AND DOGS outside so we were a little wet and anxious to get the appointment over with...

Here he is playing with the train set in the waiting room:

Dr. Pete was very gentle and calm with LJ so our little bugger was smiling throughout the entire checkup. Thanks Doc!! We got Leonidus's 15 month stats and they were lookin' good:

(1) Height - 32.5 inches (90th Percentile)
(2) Weight - 26.5 lbs (75th Percentile)
(3) Head - 19 cm (95th Percentile)

LJ had always been up there in the wieght category but it came as no surprise to myself nor Neil that he's lost a few in the percentage scale. He's super energetic and non-stop playing around the house. You're bound to burn calories. :)

Here are a few other pics from the doctor visit.

All in all, our champ was great during the whole thing. He got his last H1N1 shot, his MMR and Chicken Pox vaccine. If you are looking for a pediatrician, Almaden Pediatrics in the South Bay is really good and comes highly recommended! Stay Dry San Jose!!

Avenue Q

2010-01-14T16:32:00.000-08:00

I was pleasantly surprised when on Tuesday my hubby instant messages me while I'm at work with the following: I have a surprise for you tomorrow night.

1 word that EXCITED me beyond belief is the word SURPRISE! Ever since I was a child I remember loved hearing that word used, especially if it applied to something I was doing!!

Well the surprise turned out to be a special evening (aka Date Night) with my hubby to see Avenue Q. AVENUE Q THE MUSICAL was the Winner of the 2004 Tony Award for Best Musical! Neil and I had heard about the musical a few years ago and we were fortunate to be able to catch it during its short stay here in San Jose.

The play was AWESOME. I highly recommend it to anyone. Its not something for kids though so just because there are puppets does not mean you should take your kids. There is a lot of profanity, some puppet nudity and its more about real life problems you face when you graduate college and enter the real world. The songs in it are hilarious and super catchy! I'm hoping to get a copy of the soundtrack soon. The musical is so popular that they tour the country every year. If you can't see it this year, I recommend keeping an eye out to watch it the next time it comes to your neck of the woods. It's hilarious!!

Anyways, I'd love to thank the hubby again for an amazing evening, great seats and just for thinking of me when planning this. Next surprise is on me!

Strange Saturday...

2010-01-11T21:14:00.001-08:00

Its Monday night at 9:15pm and the hubby, doggies and I are sitting in the living room, next to a cozy fire, watching the Sharkies play while our boy is fast asleep in his crib, re-Ferberized after a week of sleepless painful nights. It feels SO wonderful to have a healthy and rested household. Last week was ROUGH!!

So I have a story to share with everyone. It's from my weekend. Its not all that great but I felt like using my blog as therapy to get my thoughts out in writing.

There are 2 key take always from the story below:
(1) Don't try to carry a dog and baby at the same time for a long period of time. It's not easy nor is it good for your back
(2) Never go to Harv's Car Wash (off Stevens Creek and San Thomas Blvd in San Jose). They suck.

So...On Friday night, we all felt somewhat better and were enjoying the start to our weekend when we noticed Rocco (our 8 year old Dachshund and my 1st baby) limping. The limping got progressively worst so on Saturday morning it was my duty to take him to the vet. Neil had to work so I took Leonidus and Rocco to the vet.... boy do I wish I had a video camera to show you all how hard it was! Rocco couldn't walk so I had to carry him in and out of the car. The harness hurt his back too much so I didn't want to aggravate his condition any more.

Rocco whined and cried the entire car ride to Burbank Pet Hospital. Once we got there, I realized I had no stroller. So I had to take LJ on one hip while I held Rocco in my free arm. LJ weighs 27 lbs and Rocco weighs 18 lbs. Together that makes one BIG ASS LOAD! I somehow got in and we were assigned a room. The vet was running behind schedule so I had to try and keep Rocco cuddled while prevent LJ from touching too much stuff in a dirty vet room.

Can you imagine how much dog piss, fleas and other crap exists in a vet office? I was so pissed I didn't have both hands on LJ at all times. EW. Anyways, long story short Rocco might be embarking on some knee problems. We were sent home with some pain meds and he got a morphine-like shot that made him feel woozy and rested the entire remainder of the day. Getting back in the car was another struggle and once we were all in the car, I had to sit and take a breather because I was winded beyond belief.

My Saturday morning only gets better. Don't ask me what I was on but I decided to go to the car wash with a half comatose dog and a hyper baby. WHAT WAS I THINKING?! and to top it off, I get to my car after they were done with the interior/exterior wash and it looked like GARBAGE. The trunk was filled with dirt, the seats covered in milk stains... I desperately wanted to go home but the car was in such crap shape I couldn't leave Harv's Car Wash (Stevens Creek Blvd in San Jose) without getting my money back. I paid $20 for a car wash and I was not about to leave without a full refund. I get a hold of a manager (thankfully he spoke english) and told him to look at my car. I asked him "What do you think of the condition of my vehicle? Really, be honest. Is this CLEAN to you?" The look on his face was priceless. He couldn't lie. The car looked like ass. He said Let us wash your car again. I was like "UM, do you see I have a baby and a dog that's wrapped up in a blanket in pain... I already waited 25 minutes. I'm not waiting anymore. I want my dinero back ahora." I wanted to yell profanities in spanish because some of the people cleaning cars around me were staring like I was being a biatch. I had to calm myself down and convince myself that I wouldn't let my hormones get the best of me.

I got my money back and left the car wash hoping that I could make my tires screech as I drove off but it didn't do it. Hope I didn't look stupid leaving the place. All the people that worked there were staring at me. I must have looked frazzled. Ugh I hate Harv's Car Wash with a passion.

Being sick sucks...

2010-01-07T13:55:00.000-08:00

The Parry household is on lockdown because it just so happens we're all sick. After a all nighter on Tuesday night, we were certain LJ would sleep lastnight and give his sick mommy and tired daddy a good nights rest. Um, negativo parents! LJ was up again at midnight last night and did not fall back asleep until 5am. He was also running a lovely high fever which worried mommy to tears.

Being sick and having a sick child is pretty much the most exhausting experience I've ever been through. I have to say that I'm so fortunate that Neil has been there 24-7 for us, making us food, giving us TLC and cleaning up so mommy doesn't have to.

I'm SO ready to feel better and ready to be a healthy person again.

In other news, we were all home today and I was in LJ's room changing his diaper. I fastened his changing table high chair because I had a major sneeze attack. I sneezed like 10 times in a row. Next thing I know I hear Neil say, WE JUST HAD AN EARTHQUAKE. I was like, WHAT? I didn't FEEL it! That sucks. If you know me, you know I am truley obsessed with earthquakes. You want to know whats creepy. Last night, as we watched the Sharks game, I told Neil..."Its strange that we haven't had an earthquake in a while." He gave me THAT look and said "Ro don't jinx it"....

then today, Ta Daaa! Bam...We have a 4.1 Shaker? Just call me Nostradamus people. That's my new name.

Nostradamus, I'm out.

Dinner Tonight: Italiano - Cheesy Baked Tortellini

2010-01-06T15:27:00.000-08:00

Dinner is going to be iTaliAno tonight. Baked Tortellini Casserole topped off with some melted and slightly crisp Fontina. YUM. Recently saw Giada make this and it looked amazing. hope it turns out just as good as it looks. I'm home sick so this is where I'm getting my AT-HOME cooking instinct. :)

Here is a basic rundown of this delicious (yet super easy) meal:

Ingredients

* Olive oil
* 2 cups marinara sauce
* 1/3 cup mascarpone cheese
**Rouge Comment: Mascarpone cheese makes the sauce a bit thicker and creamier. I think this part is a MUST!
* 1/4 cup chopped fresh Italian parsley leaves
* 2 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme leaves
* 1 pound purchased cheese tortellini
* 2 ounces thinly sliced smoked mozzarella..
**Rouge Comment: I like to replace Mozzarella with Fontina. It takes better. Try both and you'll see a big difference
* 1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly oil an 8 by 8 by 2-inch baking dish.

Whisk the sauce, mascarpone cheese, parsley and thyme in a large bowl to blend. Cook the tortellini in a large pot of boiling salted water until just tender, about 2 minutes. Drain. Add the tortellini to the sauce and toss to coat. Transfer the tortellini mixture to the prepared baking dish. Top the mixture with the smoked mozzarella and Parmesan. Cover and bake until the sauce bubbles and the cheeses on top melt, about 30 minutes.

OK. Have fun cooking!!! IT'll be especially fun since there's a bowl game and a Sharkies game on tonight. Dinner, sports... then off to bed. zzzzz....

Welcome to 2010...that's Twenty Ten People!

2010-01-06T13:11:00.000-08:00

Wow, we've entered a new decade and I can't believe it. It feels like yesterday I was celebrating New Years Eve in the heart of Time Square in New York waiting to see if Y2K would blow up the city :)

I have so much to be thankful for during the past decade and have so much exciting stuff to look forward to in the coming decades!

During the past 10 years...
*I met my husband
*I had a beautiful baby boy
*I graduated from college
*I started working in the corporate world and had a total of 6 jobs!
*I bought a house
*I watched the dot com bubble burst, blow up again..only to burst again a year ago
*I lost loved ones who I will remember for a lifetime
*I got 2 dogs who have been with me through thick and thin
*I got to watch my boyfriend (now husband) play again after losing his leg during a football injury
*Started a BLOG! First Rougetimes.com then added Parrytimes.com since I have a family
*I got my sister a dog... Now she has two bitches
*I learned how to GOLF. Falling in love with a new sport was totally unexpected but now I can play golf forever!
*I got to go to the superbowl

...wow, there's so much more that I can't remember but those are just some things that stood out in my mind. So much happens in 10 years...There is no telling what will take place in the coming 10 years. I'm excited and anxious about it.

Now its "TwentyTen" and its a year we've long awaited for... The past 2 years have been especially tough on everyone with the economic climate being so gloomy however it is so warming knowing that we are entering the new decade at rock bottom. I mean, seriously, it can't get any worst (i'm saying this with my fingers crossed) and we can only progress and better ourselves, our government and our world from here on out. I know that my family and I have learned great lessons during the past 2 years...or what i like to call the Financial Dumps.

Gone are those days where I would walk into Nordstroms and pick up 2 juicy outfits totaling $500 and buying them. I wish I could go back in time and slap myself when I would buy outfits for one night of partying. I mean, really, was a new outfit for that ONE night at MISSION ALE HOUSE that critical? I think not. lol... Hindsight is 2020 for sure.

SO back to my rant about the new year. Its an exciting time and not only can we set new year resolutions, we can also set DECADE resolutions. Write down each of your resolutions for the year and decade. Then breakdown each one in smaller milestones... This will help you achieve your goals much easier. For example: One of my new year resolutions is to Travel. I have 365 days to complete this goal for the year. In the first 3 months I plan to save $x amount of dollars for a trip. In the 4th month, I plan to select a destination and solidify travel plans. In the 5th month I plan to GO! ...now that's an example but I swear I find that this works so much better than just saying.. Yeah I want to travel. There needs to be more details around each resolution allowing you to check off milestones towards your goal.

Boy do I sound like a program manager or what. OK. I'm out for now. Have a beautiful January day and make the most of each minute you have to live.

ParryOut

Happy Holidays from the Parry Family!!

2009-12-28T21:20:00.000-08:00

As the holidays are slowly winding down, I'm finally getting to relax and really enjoy my time off. This week is great. I get to work from home half of the week and get the rest of it off to spend with my awesome and amazing family! Christmas eve and the days following it were a whirl wind of dinner parties and family gatherings... by the time Saturday came around, I was ready to ride the couch and chill at home with Neil and LJ.

We purposely chose not to go anywhere during the holidays this year so we can catch up on all of the craziness that's been consuming all of our time since we moved in October. Since then, its been GO GO GO and I'm so happy to have this downtime!!

Leonidus is just a ball of energy and SO MUCH fun to be around! He plays 24-7. If he's not playing, he's begging me or his daddy to read him books. He loves books (he got that from Neil or his Aunti Jo, not from his momma that's for sure)... He got a TON of new toys for Christmas and has loved playing with each of them, especially his new baseball bat. We have to keep him from wacking the dogs with it but other than that its cool.

here are some photo's I just uploaded from us buying and decorating our tree...

The boys and the tree..

The parry family tree photo opp

Asking boo boo for a kiss while we decorate

pardon my no makeup shot... it was early

putting on an ornament for his first time!! Yay for our big boy...

the tree!! yay!! notice how the decorations start from the middle? thanks LJ :)

Being goofy with daddy... they wrestle ALL THE TIME

we hope that everyone had a beautiful Christmas and pray that everyone has a fun and safe NYE. 2010 is going to be a great year, I just know it. Just make sure to take advantage of EVERY SINGLE SECOND of EVERY DAY because you never know when it will be taken away from you. Live your life to its fullest, that should be your goal for 2010 :) or at least one of them.

Ro parry OUT!

Christmas is almost here!!!

2009-12-23T09:14:00.001-08:00

Christmas is around the corner and I fortunately got my last 2 gift items last night! I'm done SHOPPING! What a great feeling that is. I swear if you have gifts left to buy, it eats away at you everyday knowing that you haven't gotten them yet. Now I am relieved and ready to celebrate Christmas in full force.

Christmas came WAY to fast this year. I swear it was just Thanksgiving and feels like yesterday when we went to buy our tree!! I have really enjoyed our holidays in the new house... I'm also SUPER SUPER siked that started Xmas Eve I get a WHOLE week off. I cannot tell you how thrilled I am to spend full DAYS, one after the next, with LJ, Neil and the doggies + all my family and friends that will be around during the holidays.

I wish everyone a safe and beautiful Christmas and a wild and crazy New Years!

Wish I played in a bowl game...

2009-12-15T09:41:00.000-08:00

I remember when Neil got to travel to the New Mexico Bowl game while he did his stint with Spartan On Air radio for SJSU. He got tons of swag from the bowl game but compared to the bigger bowl games shown below, what he got was NOTHING in comparison... Check out what the football players of the teams in each bowl game are expected to receive. Not to shabby eh?

Article Retrieved From: http://collegefootball.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1028134
By David Fox -- Rivals.com College Football Staff Writer

Fans like to pile on the bowl system, but they're not the ones receiving a laptop for finishing tied for fifth in the Pac-10 or an electronics shopping spree for finishing third in the ACC Coastal.

December is a time for giving, and the bowls join in the action by showering players with gifts upon arrival.

The latter is becoming more of the norm. At least half of the 34 bowls are giving players shopping sprees, opening a gift suite or allowing players to pick gifts out of a catalogue. The Capital One and Champs Sports bowls, both organized by Florida Citrus Sports, were among the first to allow players to pick their gifts.

"We're somewhat widely credited for gift suites and a shopping spree," said Steve Hogan, CEO of Florida Citrus Sports. "We kind of said, 'Look, it just doesn't make sense to kind of guess on an electronic item, a branded item and just guess what kids want.' "

The Sugar Bowl has Weber grills in its gift suite, and Maaco Bowl Las Vegas participants can choose to take home a recliner from their gift suite.

Some bowls are trying to stay ahead of the trends, especially if a gadget will come in handy on a long road trip.

A year after giving players headphones and standard souvenir swag, the Emerald Bowl is giving away Hewlett Packard mini netbooks, which essentially are tiny laptops. EagleBank Bowl participants will get a Slingbox, a device that allows users to watch TV on a computer or mobile phone, and Powermat, a wireless charging station for cell phones give FLO TV, a mobile personal television, and one-year subscriptions to the service.

Some bowls are giving players the opportunity to take home some local flavor. The Humanitarian Bowl in Boise, Idaho, has given players parkas, gloves, beanies and hand warmers. When Miami played in the game in 2007, perhaps Hurricanes players thought those were odd gifts, but Idaho and Bowling Green players will get some use out of them once they leave Boise. The Texas Bowl sends teams home with an oversized belt buckle. The Hawaii Bowl, naturally, provides Hawaiian shirts, beach towels, sunglasses and a lei.

The Cotton Bowl, though, wants to preserve the suspense. The Dallas-based bowl refuses to reveal its gifts until the teams arrive on site.

Here's a complete list of the bowl games that do reveal their gifts; some didn't respond to numerous requests from Rivals.com, so in those cases, responses to other media outlets were used. Those bowls are marked by asterisks.

The NCAA permits bowls to provide each player with up to $500 worth of gifts to be awarded at the bowl site. Whether that limit is met is up to the bowls. Whether players select their gifts or the games set up a shopping spree is up to the bowls, too.

NEW MEXICO
Fresno State vs. Wyoming, Dec. 19, Albuquerque, N.M.
The gifts*
Sony gift suite
Oakley beanie
Oakley sunglasses
Oakley backpack
OGIO garment bag

ST. PETERSBURG
Rutgers vs. UCF, Dec. 19, St. Petersburg, Fla.
The gifts*
iLuv iPod/DVD player
Oakley watch
Oakley sunglasses
Oakley backpack

NEW ORLEANS
Southern Miss vs. Middle Tennessee, Dec. 20, New Orleans
The gifts
Flip HD mini-camcorder
Oakley sunglasses and backpack
Balfour ring
MAACO BOWL LAS VEGAS
BYU vs. Oregon State, Dec. 22, Las Vegas
The gifts
Gift suite, up to $350 worth of audio/visual electronics, bicycles, appliances, a recliner and luggage.

POINSETTIA
Utah vs. California, Dec. 23, San Diego
The gifts
Flo TV personal television and one year of service
Tourneau watch
Best Buy gift card
Sports Tek hoodie
Cap

HAWAII
Nevada vs. SMU, Dec. 24, Honolulu
The gifts
i-Luv i1166 Multi-Media DVD player
Kicker EB101 Ear Bud headphones
Oakley sunglasses
Kahala Aloha shirt
A4 Performance shirt
Commemorative T-shirt
Backpack
Beach towel
Visor
Calendar
Lei

LITTLE CAESARS PIZZA
Ohio vs. Marshall, Dec. 26, Detroit
The gifts
Sony gift package selected from brochure
Timely Co. watch
Souvenir football

MEINEKE CAR CARE
Pittsburgh vs. North Carolina, Dec. 26, Charlotte, N.C.
The gifts
Option of Bose Quiet Comfort headphones set or Bose Sound Dock or iPod
Touch, iLive speakers and $20 gift card
Fossil watch
OGIO duffle bag
Commemorative photo

EMERALD
USC vs. Boston College, Dec. 26, San Francisco
The gifts
Hewlett Packard mini netbook
Armor Gear backpack
Fossil watch
Hat

MUSIC CITY
Clemson vs. Kentucky, Dec. 27, Nashville, Tenn.
The gifts
RCA Flip camera
Fossil watch
OGIO backpack
Majestic fleece

INDEPENDENCE
Georgia vs. Texas A&M, Dec. 28, Shreveport, La.
The gifts
Player gift suite, which includes Sony gifts such as a Blu Ray player, Bravia sound system and electronics
Watch
Hat
Souvenir football

EAGLEBANK
Temple vs. UCLA, Dec. 29, Washington, D.C.
The gifts
SlingMedia Slingbox SOLO with Slinglink Turbo 1 Port
Powermat
Commemorative football
Kanata tailgate blanket
Hat

CHAMPS SPORTS
Miami vs. Wisconsin, Dec. 29, Orlando, Fla.
The gifts
$420 Best Buy shopping spree
Commemorative watch

HUMANITARIAN
Idaho vs. Bowling Green, Dec. 30, Boise, Idaho
The gifts
Choice of: Sony Bravia theater system, Sony portable DVD player and two sets of Sony headphones or Garmin NUVi 1250
Parka
Winter gloves and hand warmers
OGIO backpack
Skull cap
Nike pullover
Souvenir football

HOLIDAY
Arizona vs. Nebraska, Dec. 30, San Diego
The gifts
Flo TV personal television and one year of service
Best Buy gift card
Tourneau watch
Sports Tek hoodie
Cap

ARMED FORCES
Houston vs. Air Force, Dec. 31, Fort Worth, Texas
The gifts
Sony players' gift suite
Watch
OGIO backpack
Commemorative football
Knit cap
Luggage tag
Calendar

SUN
Stanford vs. Oklahoma, Dec. 31, El Paso, Texas
The gifts
Gift Suite (players get to select their gift from a menu of items)
Timely Watch Co. watch
Brut hair dryer
Majestic Pro-Base fleece pullover
Backpack
Cap
Souvenir coin

TEXAS
Missouri vs. Navy, Dec. 31, Houston
The gifts
$300 Best Buy shopping spree
Under Armour backpack
Under Armour shirt and hat
Fossil watch
T-shirt
Texas Bowl belt buckle

INSIGHT
Iowa State vs. Minnesota, Dec. 31, Tempe, Ariz.
The gifts
Electronics package from Davene, Inc.
Fossil watch
Game hat
OGIO backpack

CHICK-FIL-A
Virginia Tech vs. Tennessee, Dec. 31, Atlanta
The gifts
$250 Best Buy gift card
Chick-fil-A gift card
Fossil watch
Russell Athletic travel bag
Souvenir football
Knit cap

OUTBACK
Auburn vs. Northwestern, Jan. 1, Tampa, Fla.
The gifts
Best Buy gift card
Outback Steakhouse gift card
Jostens ring
Pro-Swiss watch
Hat

CAPITAL ONE
LSU vs. Penn State, Jan. 1, Orlando, Fla.
The gifts
$420 Best Buy shopping spree
Watch

GATOR
West Virginia vs. Florida State, Jan. 1, Jacksonville, Fla.
The gifts*
Fossil watch
Oakley sunglasses

ROSE
Oregon vs. Ohio State, Jan. 1, Pasadena, Calif.
The gifts
19-inch Sharp television combo
Fossil watch
OGIO backpack
Hat
Commemorative plaque

SUGAR
Cincinnati vs. Florida, Jan. 1, New Orleans
The gifts
Gift Suite featuring Sony, Trek and Weber products
Timely Watch Co. watch
OGIO backpack
Cap

INTERNATIONAL
USF vs. Northern Illinois, Jan. 2, Toronto
The gifts
Gift brochure: electronics, travel gear
Watch
Commemorative football

PAPAJOHNS.COM
Connecticut vs. South Carolina, Jan. 2, Birmingham, Ala.
The gifts
RCA HD video camera
Pro-Swiss watch
Oakley backpack
Souvenir football

COTTON
Oklahoma State vs. Ole Miss, Jan. 2, Dallas
The gifts: The Cotton Bowl does not reveal its gift package before giving it to bowl participants.

LIBERTY
East Carolina vs. Arkansas, Jan. 2, Memphis, Tenn.
The gifts
Westinghouse 19-inch HDTV (also can be used as a computer monitor)
Nike Sports Pack: running shoes, sports sandals, sunglasses
Fossil watch
Game ball

ALAMO
Texas Tech vs. Michigan State, Jan. 2, San Antonio
The gifts
32 gig iPod Touch
Dr. Dre Monster Beats headphones
Oakley "Antics" sunglasses
Fossil watch
Mini-helmet
Panoramic photo

FIESTA
TCU vs. Boise State, Jan. 4, Glendale, Ariz.
The gifts
Electronics package from Davene, Inc.
Fossil watch
OGIO backpack
Hat

ORANGE
Georgia Tech vs. Iowa, Jan. 5, Miami
The gifts
Gift suite including iPods, iPod accessories, flat-screen TV, home theater system, mountain bike and luggage
Tourneau watch
OGIO backpack
Hat

GMAC
Central Michigan vs. Troy, Jan. 6, Mobile, Ala.
The gifts: (not a complete list)
RCA Small Wonder HD-720p pocket camcorder
Micro SD Memory Card
Watch
Football
Garment bag
DOP kit
Cap

BCS CHAMPIONSHIP GAME
Alabama vs. Texas, Jan. 7, Pasadena, Calif.
The gifts
Gift suite with products from Sony, Trek mountain bikes and Garmin
Fossil watch
OGIO backpack
Hat

Wise words...

2009-12-15T08:50:00.001-08:00

HOW TO STAY YOUNG

1. Throw out nonessential numbers. This includes age, weight and height. Let the doctors worry about them. That is why you pay 'them'

2. Keep only cheerful friends. The grouches pull you down.

3. Keep learning. Learn more about the computer, crafts, gardening, whatever. Never let the brain idle. 'An idle mind is the devil's workshop.'

4. Enjoy the simple things.

5. Laugh often, long and loud. Laugh until you gasp for breath.

6. The tears happen. Endure, grieve, and move on. The only person, who is with us our entire life, is ourselves. Be ALIVE while you are alive.

7. Surround yourself with what you love , whether it's family, pets, keepsakes, music, plants, hobbies, whatever. Your home is your refuge.

8. Cherish your health: If it is good, preserve it. If it is unstable, improve it. If it is beyond what you can improve, get help.

9. Don't take guilt trips. Take a trip to the mall, even to the next county; to a foreign country but NOT to where the guilt is.

10. Tell the people you love that you love them, at every opportunity.

a million years later...

2009-12-14T09:16:00.001-08:00

Yes its been about a gazillion months or so since my last post...what I consider the longest hiatus I have had on our blog since I started blogging back in 2003. Well I am back, for now, with tons of energy and my fingers ready to type away!

Life Updates: Part 1: The working world…

WORK: After being laid off in August 2009 from real networks, I never really slowed down. Neil was in the heart of his 1st football season with Sobrato, Leonidus was growing rapidly and I didn't have a moment to spare. I could not let myself get down about being laid off. The unemployment rate was well in the double digits and I had to be thankful for my health and family rather than dwell upon the fact that I was temporarily jobless.

Having a strong family support group helped me with building the confidence that I needed to stay positive during this really hard part of my life. I was shocked at how horrible and low it felt to get laid off. I wasn't emotionally prepared for it but I am so thankful for my family and friends really got me through it all. Someone told me this quote and it really put things into perspective:

“Life's up and downs provide windows of opportunity to determine your values and goals - Think of using all obstacles as stepping stones to build the life you want”

After a few days of reevaluating my life I quickly transitioned myself to work at Intero Real Estate with the help and aid of my amazing and talented and GIVING mom. I found that I really loved real estate and especially loved working with my mom. I had always helped her on the side but doing it full time was really rewarding.

I also LOVED working with my mom. We'd have coffee together in the mornings, yummy home cooked lunches at noon and we'd go home every so often to see Leonidus :) My new job was AMAZING!!

Then, in late November, I got a call from Yahoo! and I got an offer to be the program manager of their Search & Advertising Metrics & Analysis team. The opportunity was great and I after wrestling with the idea for a few days, I had to accept.

I started at Yahoo! shortly thereafter and have been trying to learns the INS and OUTS of my new role over the past few weeks. I had to leave real estate and my mom for the time being for this new opportunity. It was not an easy decision for me to leave but I have worked 8 long years for this opportunity and could not let it pass me up. That was my work-life update.

Please stay tuned for other updates as I slowly make my way back to the blog-world ;) Parry Out!

Too cute not to share

2009-10-13T11:26:00.000-07:00

My hubbie sent me this picture of Leonidus passed out after playing with his toys this morning... Neil said one minute Leonidus was playing with his toys, next minute he was passed out with one of his favorite toys in his arms:

Little Guy playing at the discovery museum

2009-09-28T11:14:00.001-07:00

As we get closer to our 1 year marker, Leonidus's playtime at the Discovery museum has expanded. We are slowly going out of the crawler room and starting to hang with the toddlers. Woo Hoo!! However, here is Leonidus playing with the alligator and turtles in the critter room. He's so cute because he wants to grab both levers at the same time :) Enjoy!

little music time in the car...

2009-09-18T11:07:00.001-07:00

our punkin

2009-09-17T22:05:00.000-07:00

on our way to a football dinner for the team Neil coaches, I noticed LJ was in a bit of a funk... thought I'd take a picture of it so I can share it with him when he's older :)

Here's is funky foofie Ljizzle today on our way down on the elavator

Sobrato High School Football Team - Holla At Ya Boy

2009-09-09T20:50:00.000-07:00

Can you find Neil Parry?? Go Dawgs!

Game one: Friday September 11 at 7pm vs GUNDERSON H.S.

Plainview Systems CCM - Read about it

2009-09-09T20:48:00.001-07:00

SOURCE: PlainView Systems
Sep 08, 2009 11:00 ET
PlainView Systems Introduces First Ever BtoB Medical Marijuana Marketplace in California

PlainView Systems Compassionate Care Marketplace Is the First Online Community to Facilitate Transparency and Compliance Within the Framework of Prop 215 and SB420

SONOMA, CA--(Marketwire - September 8, 2009) - PlainView Systems, LLC, the first business to business medical marijuana marketplace, introduced today its PlainView System Compassionate Care Marketplace, or CCM. PlainView is a secure traceable transaction system allowing suppliers of medical marijuana to achieve fiduciary compliance while procuring supplies for their dispensaries, with full accounting of the transaction for state and municipal compliance.

Estimates for the medical marijuana market are $2 billion in California but services are lacking to help legitimize and support businesses in this industry. Until now, the medical marijuana community has been challenged by inconsistent supply channels, untraceable cash transactions, complex compliance issues and loss of state and municipal revenue streams. PlainView was created to solve each of these challenges.

"We are so excited to be launching the PlainView CCM today. We've built a sustainable business in response to the growing demand for compassionate care providers and distributors to have a safe and secure network to organize their operations," said John Lee, CEO and founder of PlainView Systems. "PlainView is built on transparency, compliance and trust. We do all the heavy lifting, so the only thing businesses have to worry about is getting the right medicine to patients."

The PlainView CCM is distinguished with these benefits:

-- Expanded, streamlined, consistent supply channels
-- Credit card, bank transactions
-- Accurate compliance reporting
-- Co-ops for increased buying power
-- Potential for additional state and municipal revenue

As a result of its strict individual screening process, PlainView is creating a community of people and organizations who are licensed and meeting all the requirements of California state law. The PlainView CCM provides the ability to manage prescriptions, detailed billing and transaction records and other extensive data management capabilities. Businesses can easily integrate with popular accounting software, generate tax forms, and set reminders of important state and local tax dates, so that they never miss important deadlines and remain 100 percent traceable and compliant with local regulations.

Other benefits include:

-- Connect with consistent suppliers of medicine or a medicinal variety.
PlainView Systems CCM gives businesses an edge by being a part of an
expanding network of licensed growers, dispensaries, food suppliers. Take
advantage by creating online co-ops to increase buying power.

-- Generate up-to-the minute statements to show that all transactions
have occurred between licensed individuals. Eliminating the need for cash
transactions, and therefore reducing the chances for misunderstandings with
state and local entities.

-- Create instant reports, tax form generation, and set reminders of when
to file tax forms.

-- Add predictability into your business. PlainView Systems CCM
marketplace informational ticker gives organizations the current prices for
medicine allowing businesses to leverage with other sellers to create
supply channels that move product efficiently.

-- Create private catalogs inviting only premier customers to
participate, or to test out new varieties of medicine before they become
available in the public market.

For more information, contact PlainView Systems LLC at www.plainviewccm.com.

About PlainView Systems

PlainView Systems' Compassionate Care Marketplace provides a business-to-business exchange for licensed providers of medical marijuana products and services in a totally compliant, secure and transparent environment. PlainView Systems LLC is based in Sonoma, California. Visit plainviewccm.com for more information. All participating members of PlainView CCM must comply with California Health and Safety Code HS. 11362.5(a)(b)(l), 113562.7(h), Prop 215 and SB 420. PlainView does not extend memberships outside the state of California.

MIA!! I'm back

2009-09-01T13:17:00.000-07:00

Ever since my ass got laid off, I haven't had one second to post on my absolutely favorite website! My blog page :)

I am back (for now) and have been busy with so much. Being a mommy of a 10.5 month old is very eventful and I rarely ever get a chance to go on the computer. I also partially blame FARMVILLE on facebook which is a game that has an addictive substance that has me hooked like a fish! If you play, add me as a neighbor. If you don't play, I strongly advise you to stay away. lol...

Things for me are going good considering that I am jobless. I am trying to enjoy life, take on some side gigs, spend time with family and figure out what the future holds for me. Its a very pivotal time in my life since I have never been out of a job since 1999. That is a LONG time. I do miss working for corporate. Like, for example, I no longer have a computer at home. I used my company's computer so now I actually get to go out and purchase a MAC, something I have been looking forward to forever! I am dreading having to spend $$ on it. ugh, does anyone want to buy me one?

I also bought a nice phat 500GB harddrive so I can store all my pictures (well I do this mostly on flickr), music, videos and docs. This small yet valuable piece of machinery will go with me everywhere and I think if there were a fire, I would grab my family, my dogs and my harddrive. That's it.

I cannot believe we are in SEPTEMBER ALREADY! where did the time go... This month is very exciting because
*My honey has his 1st football game
*One of my good friends is gonna have a baby this month!! Woot Woot!!
*One of my good friends is getting married this month!!! Yay!
*My son will be 1 month away from being 1, let's hope he walks in September
*I get to job hunt (this is the not so pleasant item)

Well, that's it for me now. This was a short and sweet post and you can thank Google's gmail for giving me this time (since they are DOWN) so I can post and give some love to my PARRYTIMES.com blog.

Happy September People!!

Bad news bear....News from my company today

2009-08-06T22:14:00.000-07:00

So I no longer have a job... and to help explain why, here are the details that were just released to the public:

RealNetworks lays off 9 percent in music division
by Greg Sandoval

Entertainment software company Real Networks laid off 12 employees within its music division or about 9 percent of the division staff, the company said Thursday.
The cuts come a week after RealNetworks reported marked decreases in the number of subscribers at its Rhapsody music subscription and online radio units.
Rhapsody, which is partly owned by Viacom's MTV Networks, lost 50,000 of its 800,000 subscribers over the past three months, RealNetworks said last week in its second-quarter earnings report.
In addition, a partnership with telecom company Comcast ended and that was blamed for a dramatic drop-off in RealNetworks' radio subscribers, from 1.2 million down to 75,000, the company reported. That's not a typo. When Comcast discontinued the service, more than 1.1 million no longer had access to Rhapsody.
RealNetworks' revenue for the second quarter fell 11.1 percent to $135.7 million, the Seattle-based company said.
RealNetworks CEO Rob Glaser said the slide in Rhapsody subscribers was partly due to a rise in the number of credit card defaults, which he said was likely brought on by the bad economy.
No matter what the reasons, Rhapsody's performance will not be welcomed news to for proponents of music subscription services. The sector is a favorite of many at the major record companies, but has failed to catch on.

More thoughts and details of what I plan on doing with my life to come in the next few weeks. For now, I'm going to let this news sync in, spend some time with my Beautiful amazing boy Leonidus, love my hubbie Neil and spend quality time with my fantastic family and friends. Never Give Up!

Cost of Raising a child (2008)

2009-08-04T17:49:00.000-07:00

USDA RELEASES ANNUAL STUDY WHICH NOTES THAT CHILD BORN IN 2008 WILL COST $221,190 TO RAISE

WASHINGTON, Aug. 4, 2009 – The U.S. Department of Agriculture today released a new report, Expenditures on Children by Families, finding that a middle-income family with a child born in 2008 can expect to spend about $221,190 ($291,570 when adjusted for inflation) for food, shelter, and other necessities to raise that child over the next seventeen years.

Issued by USDA each year since 1960, the report is a valuable resource to courts and state governments in determining child support guidelines and foster care payments. For the year 2008, annual child-rearing expenses for a middle-income, two-parent family ranges from $11,610 to $13,480, depending on the age of the child.

The report by USDA's Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion notes that family income affects child rearing costs. A family earning less than $56,870 per year can expect to spend a total of $159,870 (in 2008 dollars) on a child from birth through high school. Similarly, parents with an income between $56,870 and $98,470 can expect to spend $221,190; and a family earning more than $98,470 can expect to spend $366,660. In 1960, a middle-income family could have expected to spend $25,230 ($183,509 in 2008 dollars) to raise a child through age seventeen.

Housing costs are the single largest expenditure on a child, averaging $69,660 or 32 percent of the total cost over seventeen years. Food and child care/education (for those with the expense) were the next two largest expenses, each averaging 16 percent of the total expenditure. The estimates do not include the cost of childbearing or the cost of a college education. In addition, some current-day costs, such as child care, were negligible in 1960.

The report notes geographic variations in the cost of raising a child, with expenses the highest for families living in the urban Northeast, followed by the urban West and urban Midwest. Families living in the urban South and rural areas have the lowest child-rearing expenses.

USDA also plans to soon release an update of the Cost of Raising a Child Calculator, an online, interactive version of its annual report on Expenditures on Children by Families, which makes the figures more easily accessible to the public. To use the Calculator, people can enter the age(s) and number of children they have, whether the household consists of a married couple or a single parent, region of residence, and overall household income. The Calculator will then compute the average dollar amount the family is estimated to spend on their child or children and compare it to the national average cost of raising a child.

The full report, Expenditures on Children by Families, is available on the web at www.cnpp.usda.gov .

mental note: Don't come to work at 8:50am

2009-08-04T09:20:00.001-07:00

I had a rough start this morning because our little dude decided to wake up at 3am and then not go back to bed until about 4:30am. That was ok by me but the problem was that I had to be up and at work by 7am. No bueno. I did not get to work by 7, instead I arrived near my office around 8:45am. The problem with this time is that we work right next to the main UPS hub for San Francisco and ALL, I mean every single UPS truck starts pulling out of the huge warehouse type garage at around 8:45am-9am. Its a NUT HOUSE during this time. There are brown huge UPS trucks ALL OVER THE PLACE! I'm in my small ass car, there's construction everywhere and I have to dodge UPS trucks left and right while trying to parallel park into a small spot where I'm lucky if I can squeeze in doing a 500 point backup. ARGHHHHH!!!!! Why can't my company have a normal parking garage? Is that too much to ask? Why can't UPS trucks leave a warehouse somewhere more desolate? WHY WHY WHY?

Happy Tuesday.

its August? really?

2009-08-03T11:28:00.000-07:00

Duude, July just came and went in such a hurry. What happened!! I am in shock that the summer is almost over. Its been a whirl wind with almost every weekend packed with fun events with family and friends. I can't complain but it would be nice to get away with my hubbie and baby for a week to some far off island in the middle of no where. I could be stranded on an island with those 2 and be a happy woman for the rest of my life :)

I am very excited for August and more so for my 31st birthday. What a year 30 has been. I have to say my 30th year will be one of my most unforgettable because that is the age where I gave birth to the most amazing and handsome boy. Leonidus made my 30th year of life start with a huge celebration, one that will never end.

Neil and I have been busy with life and its crazy how the time we get to spend as a family become more and more important as Leonidus grows. I totally sense that he is elated when we do things, the 3 of us (and even with more family). He loves the attention (duh he is my son) and he gets to learn more by watching us interact. Speaking of interact, Leonidus has learned to give kisses. Here is a picture of me and LJ in his nursery, giving me a phat wet one on the lips. It was the most tasty kiss ever and I love getting them throughout the day.

Alright folks, have a wonderful Monday. Leonidus and I have a playdate later today and then get to make some chicken stuffed with FETA and Bell Peppers for dinner just in time for daddy to get home from practice. and that's my 2 cents :)

9 month check up and more!!

2009-07-30T11:47:00.000-07:00

HAPPY 9 month Birthday Babycakes!!

My little slugger is 9 months and 1 week old. To celebrate, we took him to see his all new Pediatrician (Dr. Tracy McMahan). I absolutely LOVE her and would recommend her to anyone looking for a pediatrician. Anyways, LJ got 2 shots (yucky) and his stats were as follows:

Weight: 23 lbs (lost a couple of lbs, probably because he's so active). He's between percentile 75 and 90
Length: 30 inches and in the 90th percentile
Head: I forgot! Bad Mommy!

The last time he had been to the doctor for a check up was during his 6 month visit and his stats then were:

29 inches: Length = above percentile 95
21 lbs Weight = in percentile 90
18 in Head Circumference = in percentile 9

Leonidus has changes A TON the past few weeks. First and foremost, he's a crawling machine. Going everywhere and anywhere he can! He's also pulling himself up on furniture, drawers, walls, anything he can use to maneuver himself to a standing position. I have a feeling couch surfing is next. He's yet to master that one fully. LJ loves to get us to hold his hands and walk around. That's actually one of his favorite things to do. When I try to sit him down, his stiffens up his legs and that's basically saying I WANNA WALK, not sit mom! so cute.

Here is he walking with his daddy

Drawer Hunting... His Favorite Sport

Here is he waiting for Daddy to come inside... or begging daddy to let him outside!

Daddy, please let me out there with you!!

Mommy, please open this door!

What a sad boy :(

We also have quite the blabber mouth on our hands. Just 2 days ago, he finally starting saying Ba Ba Ba... in addition to every sound a gremlin makes. Lol. He's also a big grunter. So if he's not getting what he wants, he'll either scream or grunt. Wonder who he learned that from! (his dad)... hahaaaaa.

I have also started making my own baby food and freezing it. So far, I have made the following dishes for my little pumpkin poo:

(1) Rasberry, Peach and Pear Puree with Yogurt
(2) Wheat spaghetti with awesome bolognese sauce (all organic of course)
(3) Sweet potato hashbrowns (yummy!)

My mom (aka LJ's momanyjoon) also makes plenty of dishes for us. She makes him tons of Persian food that he seriously devours. Cooking for LJ has been awesome. I absolutely enjoy it and find myself wanting to expose him to a variety of foods so that he has a nice and broad palette for his future. He's also enjoying tons of fruits and vegetables at this point of his life. I can't get him enough!

Wow, what else. In swimming class, Leonidus has began kicking. It took him a few months to learn and now, he can't stop! His kicking is so darn cute that I laugh everytime we go to the pool. Its awesome and that boy is a little fish man. He's a huge fan of swimming.

After weeks of practice, we also have a SOLID nightly routine for Leonidus. He is a trooper although he still has to cry it out for 10 minutes on most nights. Our routine consists of a 7:30pm shower followed by a book at 8pm, milk at 8:10pm and NIGHT NIGHT by 8:20pm.

He loves bathtime:

And here are some other random pics from the past few weeks of Leonidus and his friends and family!!

Leonidus with Sienna on her 1st bday:

The cutest look EVER!! I laugh everytime I see this picture

LJ's favorite book ever!! Seriously, he loves it!

Jeni, Sienna, LJ and ME!

Leonidus in a Ro and Jana sandwich (Giants Game)...Next time we'll have Jana's baby in the middle too!! yay!!

My beautiful mom with Leonidus

Parry Family Pic

Sleep and more Sleep

2009-07-09T09:24:00.000-07:00

The past couple weeks have been AMAZING. Leonidus has slept through the entire night, only to wake up early in the morning, cry a little and then go back to sleep. It seems so long ago where I was struggling with his nightly routine and the constant nightly feedings. We had a rough couple of weeks recently due to more teeth! LJ sprouted a new tooth this week and I feel 2 others coming. He's gonna have an entire grill by his 1st birthday! But for now, I have to count my blessings and be thankful for peaceful evenings.

Here's our routine right now. I don't know if this will last forever and we have nights where we totally break the routine but for most part
6:30pm -- Dinner Time (2 vegetable servings, 1 serving of protein, 1 fruit and water)
7pm -- A little playtime
7:30pm -- Bath Time!!
8:00pm -- Turn on LJ's MP3 player, put on the Lullaby Album of the week, Turn on the night light, Milk Time with Mommy on the rocking chair
8:15pm -- Lights out. Sweet Dreams Jitter Bug!

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Wake Up time is anywhere between 6:30-8:00am. Which is fine by me as long as it doesn't happen anytime before the sun comes up.

Air McNair...Another loss

2009-07-07T10:51:00.000-07:00

The past 2 weeks have brought on a lot of losses to the field of entertainment. First Ed McMahan followed by the tragic death of Farah Fawcett, Michael Jackson. Next it was Billy Maze and now Steve McNair?? Woah Woah Woah, let's slow down a minute here. What is going on? Why are so many people passing WAY sooner than nature intended? At times like this we need to stop and re-evaluate our lives and make sure that we are doing our absolute best to live each day to it's fullest. You never know when it could be your last day on this earth so living a life filled with joy, love and happiness is an absolute must. This should be a wake up call for us sitting at home, fearing over the economy, worrying over money and other things that mean nothing when it comes to life and death.

Now, more about the death of Air McNair. I am saddened by this death because it was obviously a crime of passion and betrayal. I can't imagine being Steve McNair's wife and having to deal with such a f*cked up situation. For some reason, while I am watching the Michael Jackson memorial's streaming live on the web, I can't shake the fact the Steve McNair was found dead alongside his mistress. I don't even know what his wife must be thinking to have to mourn the loss of a husband and father while at the same time deal with the anger of having been cheated on. It pisses me off because here is a man with the world at his fingertips. 13 years of solid NFL playing time and even being nominated as an NFL MVP. He did the unthinkable by playing this long and probably exceeded a lot of the dreams he even had for himself. He had a beautiful wife and 4 grown up boys who were on the path to being great men themselves. Why on earth would you throw it all away for a 20 year old that ends up killing your ass!

At least have some respect for your family and end things properly with them before you start screwing around! I don't get it. Why do people think they can take advantage of people's emotions like this? And as usual I heard on the news that "McNair was suppose to be leaving his wife for this chick.." Well had he? No. Were there any divorce papers filed? No. He had NO business being with a chick that was only a couple of years older than his son! He should have been at home with his family and buying them stuff rather than buying a brand new Cadillac Escalade for some home wrecker. WTF. AS you can tell I have yet to absorb this story and I am still irritated that it all went down like this. May Steve McNair rest in peace and May his family and especially Mechelle McNair be able to grieve and somehow get passed this pain.

Michael Jackson -- You will be truley missed!!!

2009-06-25T16:57:00.000-07:00

Michael Jackson... My role model and the man who made me fall in LOVE with music!! I am very much still in disbelief as I sit here at home, surprisingly alone, with Thriller jamming in the background on BLAST as I take in the loss slowly... song by song. I really still have yet to wrap my mind around the fact that the KING OF POP, the guy who sold over 50 million albums, has left us. I remember so many FOND FOND memories with Michael Jackson and have so many great stories in which he was part of pivotal moments of my life.

I recall being a kid and watching the Thriller album over and over.. even Billy Jean and just thinking how amazing he was... its very sad knowing that my son won't really know who he was. Well I don't think a lot of us really knew who he was over the past decade but he was so unique and I think the stardom he experienced was overwhelming, perhaps maybe even the reason behind his death. I don't think there is an artist out there that put in so much of his energy and heart into each and every song and performance. watching him on stage was like watching a magical show... a guy who's feet were like an instrument!

Just think... how many times have you tried to do the moonwalk or seen someone do it? Everyone does it!!

I even remember my friend Alana and I dancing in the streets and acting like we were Thriller characters. It was awesome and even though there was no music playing, we heard it... Kinda wierd but it was awesome. Michael, I hope you are in a better place... somewhere where people will treat you like the king that you are. You will be truley missed here and you ROCK!!

Camping @ Clear Lake June 2009

2009-06-25T10:51:00.001-07:00

My family and I recently went camping at Clear Lake State Park, one of the largest, one of California’s largest freshwater lakes. The campgrounds is north of Calistoga in the wine country.

Neil, Leonidus, Jace (Neil's baby bro) and I got on the road Thursday after 3 hours of packing. Its rough packing for an infant who's crawling, 2 adults who are kinda high maintenance and a 9 year old. Let's just say, thank goodness we had room for the 4 of us in the Cadillac. LOL. Thankfully Neil is an amazing packer and he takes pride into packing as much stuff into a car with minimal use of space. Good Going Boo!!

The drive up to Clear Lake was beautiful. I mean, scenic in every sense of the word. we drove through gorgeous wine country, tight windy roads that were desolate and wild... it was incredible. I love new road trips that we get to go on because its a new route, new things and new adventures.

one thing that sucked was that almost everyone from my dear family was there but my sister (LJ's Aunti) Jouvan. It sucked but we promised that we would make our next camping trip down south so that she can join us.

The drive was about 3 hours long and we even stopped at a winery!! Leonidus slept for about 2.5 hours of the drive. ROCK ON BABY!!! Here are some pictures from our stop...
The backseat riders

Our pitstop..McDowell Winery

It was HOT!

Look at how much crap we packed!!

About 18 miles of the trip took place on the windiest road I have ever been one...

The camping trip overall was SPLENDID. I don't know how but 3 nights flew by and it was very sad once Sunday came around. The campground was very nice, had great sites, nice clean bathroom and shower facilities.. It made it so that you were comfortable enough roughing it for more than just a few nights. That's why it was bittersweet leaving. Leonidus had a GREAT time. He was around tons of family, getting LOTS of attention from his aunts, uncles, grandma and cousins. Sometimes I felt like I barely got to hang out with him :)

Here are some more photo's from our time there. I hope we have a few more AWESOME camping trips like this before the summer winds to a close. We also got to celebrate LJ's 8 month birthday all together at Clear Lake. Yeah!!!

The Family RV... Good to have!

Neil chillin in the RV

My mom was so amazing during the camping trip. She ABSOLUTELY LOVES LOVES LOVES Leonidus and helped us relax because she wanted to spend tons of time with him. I have a TON of pics of the two of them. So here is just one of many...

I highly recommend this walker for ANYONE who's going camping with a 6+ month old who has yet to learn to walk on their own. IT WAS AWESOME and LJ felt like a real walker in it. I swear he got some mad speed with it.

My specialty while camping is my sausage english muffin sandwiches... Here are my tools and I swear, you have to experience my camping breakfasts. Its AWESOME!

Neil and I bought this stove (coleman) about 3 years ago. We have used it a TON of times. Great investment for campers!! For details, go to REI.com. The pots/pans are also from REI and are made for camping!

The Parry Family's humble abode... I think we are going to need a new tent next year... I feel like we've outgrown this one!

Neil chilling with his son, Leonidus. Do they look alike? I don't even need to ask!

The girls and Leonidus. Good group shot of my beautiful Family. Jouvan, we missed you!!

LJ's new thing: He tries to laugh like us now.. its hilarious watching him try and copy an adult laugh..

We played lots of soccer

We even had team pics

I guess I started beating up Ariyana in the middle of our game.. woops.

Aryana and Jace.. Buds

My mom and Nina

LJ by the lake

Leonidus LOVED playing with sand, shells while being naked :) What is this, reggae on the river?? haha...

one thing about camping with my mom and grandma is that they love feeding LJ all kinds of fruits... here is LJ after having been given an Apricot by his Mamanijoon :)

All in All, the camping trip was amazing and here is a final photo, a picture of my new family, one that I know I will cherish for a lifetime:

Happy 8 Month Birthday Leonidus!!

2009-06-22T12:39:00.000-07:00

My baby turned 8 months old on Friday (June 19th) and all I can say it WOW, how time flies. It has been such an incredible month and so much has changed with our little boo. He has grown into such a cute adorable friendly heart-warming and loving boy. My days begin with so much joy when I wake up and he's laying next to me, with a HUGE smile that lights up the entire room. He smiles not just with his lips but with his whole face. His eyes crinkle, his nose puckers up... its just freaking amazing!!!

I feel like I bond and get closer to LJ each day. I'm thankful for all of the time I get to see him and countdown the minutes until I get home to see him. I am sure all parents feel this way but I never realized that having a child would be THIS AWESOME.

happy 8 month birthday Leonidus. We love you!!

New developments over the last month:

(1) Crawls!!! Our baby is crawling all over. He hit this milestone at 7 months 2 weeks old but now, he's mastered it over the past 2 weeks. incredible!
(2) New sounds every days: LJ has began to form new sounds including a new laugh, new tones as well as different grunts for when he wants things... he especially loves to make this one noise in particular to get anyone and everyone's attention. SO CUTE!
(3) Pulls Up: This one came to me as a shock because it happened so close to his crawling milestone. I never thought LJ would be pulling himself up to a standing position so soon using anything and everyone in his site. Its cute but also dangerous since he's had some major falls...
(4) Eats with his fingers: We have graduated to finger foods!! LJ can now grab puffs and feed it to himself. Its pretty funny because he'll have a fist full and sometimes can't get his fist in the right angle to stick the puff in his mouth. One thing is for certain, it sure keeps him entertained!
(5) His walkers: LJ loves being in his little walker. He rolls around the house (and around the campground this past weekend). It's almost like he's a little stalker rolling around the house trying to find his mommy, daddy or even the dogs. Funny story about the dogs is that they follow him all over the place in the hopes that he drops food on the floor. Rocco is especially guilty of this one!
(6) Flirting: LJ has mastered the art of flirting at the ripe age of 8 months old. ladies, please watch out for this guy :)
(7) Loves TOYS!!: I didn't realize how much boys play but man o man, this kid loves toys, especially new ones. He also has a hard time letting go of stuff. If I grab anything from him, his face will scrunch up and he tries really really hard to make himself cry. Sometimes he's successful, other times he just gives up :)

Some photo's of us and our love:

Mommy and LJ getting ready to go out:

Grabbing Mommy's hair:

Chillin in the back of the Audi:

Farmers Market with Mommy and Daddy

Our favorite spot (TARGET):

Grabs on everything, including daddy's belts:

Visiting his Great Grandma (madarjoon) and sneaking into her stuff:

His nursery..slowing growing into a big boys room:

Getting love from aunti and mamani:

Munchkin with Mamani

Getting Crepes with his mommy and daddy

Mirror playtimes are his fave!

Innocent (yeahhh right) but he can do no wrong in my eyes. hahahaa...

LJ with his papajoon and aunti:

Band: Parachute -- Live at our SF Office

2009-06-22T11:15:00.000-07:00

Interested? Wanna take a listen?? Go to http://www.rhapsody.com/parachute-2

PARACHUTE
Will Anderson: Lead Vocals, Guitars, Piano
Kit French: Saxophone, Keyboards, Vocals
Alex Hargrave: Bass
Johnny Stubblefield: Drums
Nate McFarland: Lead Guitar, Vocals

“With you I still have hope/That this could be my year.” “The New Year”

Mixing full-throttle rock with dollops of blue-eyed soul, vintage R&B and melodic pop radio anthems in-the-making, Parachute has arrived.

The band’s debut Mercury/Island Def Jam Music Group album takes off from the individual members’ shared histories, from “She Is Love,” the ballad torch song and first single, with its Van Morrison-like scatting by lead singer/songwriter/guitarist and piano player Will Anderson, to Nate McFarland’s chiming, The Edge-styled chunks of guitar laced through “Back Again,” “Under Control,” “Ghost,” “Words Meet Heartbeats” and “All That I Am.”

Will has been playing with drummer Johnny Stubblefield, bassist Alex Hargrave and saxophone/keyboardist Kit French since they were high school classmates in Charlottesville almost five years ago. Will met Nate while attending University of Virginia together, and the guitarist joined the band two years ago.

“I remember seeing them at Starr Hill, which is the big venue in town, and they came on to the ‘Mortal Kombat’ theme,” he remembers. “I never would’ve imagined myself playing with them, let alone becoming a member of the band.”

“It’s really gone downhill since then,” teases Will.

With a diverse selection of influences ranging from old-school legends like Stevie Wonder, Elton John, Paul Simon and Journey to newer acts like U2, Coldplay, Weezer, Ben Folds, Maroon 5, John Mayer, Jay-Z, Kanye West, The Fray and the Arcade Fire, the group began to attract a rabid local following under the name Sparky’s Flaw.

“It’s a cool music scene,” says Will about Charlottesville. “There are so many different types of bands. There’s just such an incredibly eclectic group of people there.”

“While we were still in high school, we used to see a lot of different groups at local venues that inspired us to want to play,” adds Johnny.

That range is reflected in the songs on the band’s debut album, largely produced by Grammy winner John Shanks (Bon Jovi, Liz Phair, Sheryl Crow, Jane’s Addiction, Stevie Nicks). With songs like “Back Again,” one of several tracks fueled by Anderson’s chill-inducing falsetto, and the revved-up “The New Year,” interspersed with more introspective numbers like the single “She Is Love” which was used as part of a national TV advertising campaign for Nivea.

With an eye towards creating music for the radio, Parachute is unapologetic about aiming for popular appeal.

“If no one’s going to listen, why even play?” asks Will. “For us, melody is king.”

Anderson’s songs are unabashedly emotional affairs that try to work out the difference between romantic ideals and the frustration of reality (“Words Meet Heartbeats”), dealing with love lost (“For Liz (She)”), longing (“Under Control”), regret (“Mess I Made”), guilt (“Blame It on Me”) and obsession (the creepy “Every Breath You Take” stalking of “Ghost”), questioning what went wrong (“All That I Am”) and trying to put the pieces together for the future (“The New Year”).

“I tend to write about things I know, that are happening to me,” says Will. “If it’s not really true to us, it doesn’t make sense. We try to make music that people can relate to, that they’re going to want to hear. We question things, try to get to the bottom of it all.”

“Will’s always been good at writing radio-friendly pop songs,” adds Johnny, a self-proclaimed “pocket drummer” who adds his own industrial solo to “All That I Am,” citing DMB’s Carter Beauford, the Police’s Stewart Copeland, The Roots’ ?uestlove and session veteran Matt Chamberlain as his personal favorites.

“We want to create music people like” nods guitarist Nate, who counts U2’s The Edge and Coldplay’s Jonny Buckland among his own influences. “I’m a very compositional guitarist. I try to make every note count in the service of the song, with a bunch of suspendeds and seventh notes to give it a little edge. We call it Tele-rock because I play the Telecaster a lot.”

For those who question the group’s motives in licensing a song for commercial use, Will comments, “It’s simply a new paradigm,” he insists. “Everybody’s doing what they can to get their music out there. We considered it an opportunity. We’re not going to give our songs to just anybody. Nivea approached us with the spot, showed it to us, and we felt it was tasteful.”

As part of the campaign, the band played before more than one million people New Year’s Eve at Times Square in bone-chilling sub-zero temperatures at the Nivea Countdown Stage on 46th Street.

“I could barely hold on to my drumsticks,” laughs Johnny. “The guys were struggling with their fingertips, but it was so worth it.”

“By the end, I looked down and had three strings left on my guitar,” says Will. “My fingers were bloody, but I was happy as happy can be. That night, we realized exactly why we do this in the first place.”

“We’re doing a lot of new things we’ve never done before,” enthuses Kit, the band’s sax player and keyboardist. “Every day we’re checking new boxes. Yesterday, we did this amazing photo shoot, with a production so elaborate I had to keep pinching myself.”

In fact, the band prides itself on its live show, having toured with the likes of Jon McLaughlin, O.A.R., Switchfoot, Duffy and Matt Nathanson. Parachute’s fan base is starting to swell on their Facebook and MySpace pages, while the distance they’ve traveled, how far they’ve come and still have to go, is beginning to register.

“I feel really blessed being around these guys,” says bassist Alex. “It all started out loading our equipment in the back of two pick-up trucks, playing to family and friends. This has definitely been a very surreal and humbling experience for all of us. We’ve had a lot of help along the way, and we appreciate everyone for what they’ve done for us.”

“We have our goals and they’re pretty lofty,” chimes in Will. “We’re an ambitious bunch. It’s a lot of fun to get to do this full-time now, but we’re always fighting to get to the next rung, grab the golden ring on the merry-go-round. When we were in high school, we just wanted to play better venues. Attending college, we tried to attract label interest. And now, we’re at the next step, building a national fan base. The joy for us is in winning people over with our music by getting in front of them any way possible. And have them spread the word to their friends.”

In fact, the only down note has been their old friend Sparky’s disappointment, when the band decided it needed a more mature name to reflect their own growth as musicians.

“Unfortunately, he used to pick up girls by telling them he had a band named after him,” reveals Will. “I had to break the news to him when we decided to change it to Parachute.”

“The name just clicked,” says Will. “I think it fits our style of music. It’s like my only hope is sitting right there on my back.”

Make no mistake about it. Parachute is headed for a happy landing.

New Look For Summer

2009-06-11T13:47:00.000-07:00

In preperation for the Summer, the Parry Family blog has a new fresh and summery look! When is summer? June 21, 2009, 1:45 A.M. EDT (summer solstice)

Yeah!! Hope you like it.

We hit another milestone - CRAWLING!!

2009-06-11T10:03:00.001-07:00

After quite a hectic week, it was such a pleasant surprise to see Leonidus crawl for the first time ever on June 10th, 2009. While away at work on Wednesday, I get a call from Neil who tells me LJ JUST CRAWLED!! I was super excited and couldn't wait to get home to see our little tyke crawl. When I left work, LJ was over at my mom's office getting TONS of attention from her and her coworkers. He was working the room. I wanted to put him down right there to see the crawling in action but decided to wait. My mom and I then took LJ to the park where he swang his heart out on the swing. He's been making all sorts of new baby sounds the past couple of weeks and while on the swing he laughed this new way that melted my heart away. IT WAS SOOO CUTE!!!

Finally, once I got home and settled, Neil and I took LJ up to our room and layed him on the floor. He was a bit hesitant at first so Neil decided to show me a new trick that LJ learned. He sat LJ down by a drawer and opened the drawer. LJ sat there and pulled our shirt after shirt and screamed with excitement after each one. Can this kid get any funnier??

Once he was done playing, we layed him down again and tempted him with some toys a few feet away. Low and behold, he got on his knees, did a few "get-ready" pumps and crawled and then finished off with a nice face plant into the carpet. HOORAY!!

Moments like this make me so happy, proud and sad at the same time because these are times that you will cherish for a lifetime but will never be a FIRST again. My baby is growing up. I can't believe my 7.5 month old is crawling. I feel like it was just yesterday....

Wierd Weather in June...

2009-06-04T09:52:00.000-07:00

The weather has been awfully strange and bipolar the past month. One weekend it'll be screaming hot and the next its cloudy and rainy. It sure feels like spring!! I for one can't wait for summer to roll around. Last summer I was preggers and huge and hot. This summer, I'm not and looking forward to doing all of my usual summer activities belly free.

I wonder if the reason that this time of the season is called spring because it springs back and forth to various climate changes. Makes you wonder. I for one hate cloudy days...especially if you have plans to do stuff. HOWEVER, I have recently realized (well during one of our last heat waves) that hot weather and having a baby is also not pleasant. Especially when you have to climb in and out of a vehicle. It's even worst for the parent because you're lugging around your sweet pea, a diaper bag, your purse (which is often times heavier than the diaper bag), a few toys, the stroller... etc etc etc... lugging all this stuff around in heat calls for one hot and sweaty mama. I wish they had a portable headband fan that just blew cold air over you as you did your mommy thang. That would be a great invention!!

As we get closer to the weekend I am praying for beautiful and warm weather, preferably in the mid 70's. Why? well I am golfing on Saturday and really hope my first day back (after a 15 month hiatus) will be perfect.

I am also looking forward to seeing my sister in town, although her appearances back have been shorter, it'll be nice to get to kick it with the other laalipop. One more thing, i'm getting my hair did on FRIDAY!! woo woo!!

I'm totally dreading on thing this weekend and that's cleaning, doing laundry and de-cluttering my house for upcoming open houses. My usual cleaner is busy till Monday so I can't just sit there through the entire weekend without doing something about it. Wish me luck. OK. Back to the daily grind. I'm outtie.

Me gusta CREPES!!!

2009-06-02T09:41:00.000-07:00

On our nightly walk through our beautiful (yet ghetto) neighborhood, we decided to stop at our FAVORITE FAVORITE yogurt shop Frozo's to pick up some frozen yogurt. I had a sweet tooth so I also got a Crepe. A nutella, Strawberry and Banana crepe. At first bite, I fell in love. THIS is AMAZING!! If you have yet to try a crepe do it now. Do it tonight. And if that doesn't motivate you, maybe this picture will:

Oh gosh, the succulent taste of the melted nutella chocolate smear with the juicy n' tartness of a strawberry topped with a soft banana slice... I am so going to back again like THIS week. I need to learn how to make my own. Stay tuned as I update the blog with details!!

Music Without Limits - Rhapsody!

2009-06-01T09:38:00.001-07:00