Projects and Inspirations

The Parish Family is back from vacation! I have a TON of photos to sort through and there will definitely be at least four blog posts for vacation.  It was an AMAZING week. (heehee. Private joke to myself). Anyway, I have a few projects and inspirations brewing that I plan to begin putting into action. These are things that I have been thinking about doing but really had a chance to contemplate and consider while relaxing on the beach and on long morning walks. (Oh how I love those!) Drum roll please........

Photography

I have always loved pictures. I love taking them, being in them, organizing them and getting creative with them.  Since Elijah has come into the world, I realized I would really love a professional camera photograph him and get some creative shots whenever I want but I just can't justify the expense especially now that we are a one income family.  I decided I am going to translate my love of photo taking into a little business.  And I do mean little. There are so many times when I think it would be really great to have someone to take pictures for events or just little photos shoots but I just can't afford that. Then I thought there must be other families that feel the same way. I am lucky and have a fabulous friend and neighbor that has sort of become my personal photographer. (Love you Jess!). But not everyone has that. So, what I am planning on doing is offering my services of "Rookie Photographer" (I came up with that term for this) for a minimal hourly fee for events or just fun photo shoots for families. It would include all the photos taken and minimal editing for the family on a budget, basically for someone that just wants the pictures taken and with a good camera and that won't take a lot of time from my family other than the photo shoot itself!  The end result: I will have a fabulous camera to take photos of my family with that will pay for itself and then I have a little extra money coming in for our family! I am not sure how long it will actually take me to get this plan into action which means getting together the money to actually BUY the camera cause it is a hefty investment but I am so excited about this goal and looking forward researching what I want and keeping my eye open for deals....like maybe Black Friday sales. :)

Writing

There have been many experiences in my life that I thought would make a good book. (and several people that have suggested I write about different things)  Unfortunately, I have an terrible memory and the only way I feel I can faithfully record things is as they happen. I would have loved to record our fertility journey in a personal memoir but I was in too dark of place to record it as it happened the first time around.  Now, life is wonderful and I feel the writing urge.......SO.......I would like to begin writing about Motherhood, Fertility and our Journey to our next pregnancy and hopefully chronicle the pregnancy itself as well as what all this means for Elijah.   It is something that I think others can relate to.  There is a lot of hope and pain that leads to a medically assisted conception and although I am hoping this next time around isn't quite as traumatic due to the fact that I am now a mother, it is still going to be a time of high hopes and fears.  We are also practicing gentle parenting and I plan to pursue a natural pregnancy a birth which I think is even more important when conception is assisted.  The actual process won't begin until Elijah is a year old but there are a lot of feelings and different preparations happening now and so I will begin this book with some entries about preparations and motherhood.  Will it be published? Maybe. We'll see. I'm trying not to think about an end result and just get it written, which will take time. I may then send it out for publication so that others can benefit from my experience and if God wants my experience out there, he will take care of the rest. And by the way, I am still praying daily for healing of my body for our next pregnancy. Please pray for us. 

Interior Design

Since I have become a Stay At Home Mama, I am working hard at trying to get our house organized and in order....not super easy with an infant but as Elijah is getting older, I hope to have some more time to make our home beautiful.  The first step is to get more organized. I am working on my closet this week as it is a huge undertaking and need to sort through lots of cloths, set aside the stuff that is too big for our next pregnancy since I have lost more weight (Yay!) and just decide what stays and what goes, then try to sell what goes!  Then,  next up will be the kitchen cabinets. But I don't just want to organize, I would like to put some finishing touches on our home.  Thanks to Pinterest and nightly walks on the boardwalk, I have some fun ideas on things I can MAKE for our home decor! One of the first projects I plan to pursue are board signs. (Jessica, I will be enlisting your advice on this since you already made us a beautiful one!)

There was a store on the Boardwalk that had all these signs with quotes. I have always loved these for home accents so I took pictures of my favorites for inspiration and will figure out which I want to make for my own home!  This one is a particular favorite. 

This is a sign I saw on Pinterest and Jessica made it for me as a shower gift. It hangs above Elijah's crib.

I found a number of other design ideas on Pinterest that I am going to start pursuing but this will be my first project and I am so excited. I just love inspirational quotes and it will be a lot of fun to pick and choose which go with our family theme. 

So there you have it. Three projects brewing in the Parish home. I am super excited about them all, though they will take some time. But I do believe they each will enrich our family life in their own way. I am totally open to suggestion and comment on any of them, especially WHICH camera to buy. :)  I look forward to seeing how these projects play out in our life. Stay tuned!

Four Months Old!

Here we are at four months already. Oh, how time flies when you are having fun! And that exactly what is happening in the Parish home!  Our baby is growing by leaps and bounds every day!  I still look at this incredible little boy and can't believe he is ours! We went for our four month check up and Elijah is now over sixteen pounds and twenty seven and a quarter inches.  He is definitely our BIG boy! He says "mom" and although I am pretty sure he doesn't know exactly what it means, he does tend to say it when he feels he is in distress.  I try to respond quickly when I hear it so that he will hopefully begin to associate that word with me.  Chip and I also play the Mama, Elijah, Daddy Elijah game that we made up with him to help him learn to say our names.  He "helps" me when I change his diaper by holding his legs. I know he began this because he is fascinated by his feet but I do think he is now doing it because of the praise he receives from me for being such a big help. :) His hand/eye/mouth coordination is incredible.  I know that he will quickly become a master at feeding himself once we begin our baby lead weaning and start solids, though I think we are several months from that. Neither of us is ready to give up or cut back on our nursing. Elijah continues to love to chat and can often be found deep in conversation with me, his Daddy or the dogs. He is still very comfortable meeting and being held by new people. No sign of teeth yet and this nursing mother is thankful for that, although I know he is experiencing some discomfort already. We are managing that with some great organic teething toys my mother gave us, an amber necklace, some herbal teething drops and Myrtle Essential Oil.

As this parenting journey continues, every day is filled with new milestones, joy and challenges....but mostly joy. He is quickly catching up to Mr. Bear in size too! Take a look at this month's photo shoot!

This boy is full of smiles!

Loves snuggling with Mr. Bear!

"Good Morning Mama!"

Silly boy. 

FOUR MONTHS OLD!!!!

Elijah Meets the McLoone Clan

While we were on vacation on the East Coast, we had the opportunity to get together with the McLoone side of our family for an afternoon so they could all meet Elijah. This trip made me realize just how much I wish we lived on the east coast, not just because of the rich heritage, fabulous food and incredible weather, but because there is so much family love for our son there! I would just need to transport Grandmama and Pop there as well (which I know they would not mind) and it would be perfect!  I loved seeing such a fuss made over our boy.  It warmed my heart to know how loved is our little Parish family of three. I feel like the fellowship I long for is waiting for us in the tri-state area. ***That being said, Houston is good to us. We love our home, Chip loves his job and we have an awesome life. *** But I digress.....Here are a few shots from our fabulous visit with the McLoone Clan. (More vacation photos to come! Still sorting through them!)

Aunt Mary had to work so we met her and our cousin, Ben, for lunch before heading to Gran's house!

Ben could not wait to get his hands on Elijah. He held him while Mama ate her veggie hoagie!

Gran adored her great grandson! Elijah loves his Gran and especially loves her Tiffany lamp. He could not get enough. 

Cousins by the dozens! We would have no shortage of babysitters in Valley Forge!

Elijah giving a big smile to his Uncle Neil!

Aunt Cathy adored her great nephew. I promised her that if we ever had triplets, I'd float her  one. :) (Just joking, Chip, no triplets in our future)

Gran in the den with Elijah. One of my cousins commented that she wondered how many babies have played  in that den. This is the house "Pop" grew up in so there have been lots of babies cuddled on that couch and playing on that floor! 

Gran giving Elijah a kiss

Elijah giving Gran a kiss!

Cousin Molly had so much fun playing with her littlest cousin!

Nap time! Gran made a pallet for our little fella in her dining room.  I can remember spending may holiday dinners in that beautiful dining room!

This belonged to Pop. It was his baby lamp. Gran would have loved for us to take it with us but there was no way we could take it on the plane. :( Maybe we can find a way when we are back in November!

Cousin Ben had a cool gift for Elijah, his first pair of converse!

Ben also had some fun onesies for Elijah...which ended up being a good things because we had a  diaper blowout!

Cousin Kevin has a way with ELijah!

The "Paparazzi"!

Uncle Paul gives his great nephew some cuddles. (Congrats on your RN Cert, Uncle Paul!)

I was so touched by everyone that came to see us and to meet Elijah. It was the first time that all the cousins had been together (with the exception of my brothers) for over ten years and it reminded me of Christmases long past. Love you, McLoone Clan! See you in November!

Vacation Post 5: A Date Night for Mommy and Daddy!

We are ALMOST done vacation blog posts. :) Just a couple more to go! This one is a favorite: Date Night! This was the first time I left Elijah for more than a few minutes. Chip and I got away together for over two hours! It was the perfect scenario. Mimi and Papa John stayed with Elijah and Chip and I drove (less than a mile) to the Boardwalk and had dinner and some shopping. We were never more than a 5-10 minute walk from our baby and when we returned, he was all smiles and laughter as usual and had been the whole time. It was so nice for the two of us to spend some one on one time together but we were definitely ready to get back to our little man after two hours.

One last cuddle before we head out for our date night!

It was so hard to leave this little guy even for just a couple of hours...but we knew he was in good hands. 

Hopped in the convertible for some grown up time!

Our very first stop was to pick up some things for Elijah that I had seen on my walk in the morning!

Next Up: Chip go to experience the Mack and Manco pizza I had been telling him about!

It was a little "slice" of heaven

Washed down with sweet birch beer....it's like root beer but WAY better!

We had a great time in the hustle and bustle of the Boardwalk!

Chip always makes fun of me for calling "sprinkles" "Jimmies"........I guess it is a "yankee" thing! 

The famous custard! 

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We stopped at a Christmas shop and bought an Ocean City ornament for our tree to commemorate our trip! 

This is too cute....and a sign that it is time to head back to our little man......

Who was SO happy to see us! :) 

Vacation Post 4: The Boardwalk

One of the greatest things about Ocean City is the fun, family friendly (it's a dry county!) Boardwalk! It stretched for three miles along the beach and features fabulous fudge, Rita's Waterice, Salt water taffy, two amusement parks, miniature golf, a movie theater, TONS of shopping and much much more!  Elijah and I walked on the boardwalk with Mimi every morning, almost to the end and back, and then we went up almost every night with the whole family for shopping and other boardwalk fun!  Thanks to this, we stayed fit even though there was a bit of indulging going on. :)

Getting ready to take Elijah on his first Boardwalk ride! He had been on a carousel  at the zoo and a ferris wheel at the aquarium before and loved both!

Forward facing baby in the Moby carrier! He loved being able to look around at all the lights!

Riding dumbo with Cousin Little Bobby was definitely a highlight! I can't wait to get this little guy to Disney World one day!

Fun times at Wonderland on the Boardwalk with Chip and Uncle Bobby

Taking a load off. Ocean City vacations require lots of walking!

Great Grandmom held Elijah for a bit so I got to go on some rides! The Log Flume with Johnny was my favorite!  We were on the Boardwalk way past Elijah's bedtime a few nights but he just slept while we played. It was perfect!

A rare Boardwalk moment: not wearing a baby!

Dinner at formerly Mack and Manco's (Currently Manco and Manco's). The best pizza on the Boardwalk!

Brianna made an exciting purchase of a new pet hermit crab! This was THE HIGHLIGHT of her trip. :)

Elijah enjoyed a new view as I carried him on my back in the eargo

Such a cool baby!

Check out the size of that ferris wheel in the background!

The group made lots of time for Goofy Golf on the trip. Elijah and I joined in for an afternoon round with the family. 

Mimi is an EXCELLENT Goofy Golfer!

Goofy Golf has the best props! We had fun posing with the different characters. 

Elijah loved staring at the ocean. Great Aunt Donna stood with him on the boardwalk and just let him gaze....

My beach boy!

Captivated by all the lights on the Boardwalk. 

This looked like a VERY SCARY ride! What a brave trio!

Elijah slept through his ride on the ferris wheel. 

We had fun riding this frog ride. I didn't realize until it started how forcful it "hopped" and had to hold on tight to my baby!

Daddy and Elijah took another turn on the Dumbo ride!

Mommy and Mimi!

Chip had so much fun spoiling his family on the Boardwalk!

Papa John and Elijah looking at the giant ferris wheel.