Shannon's View

When Shannon and I sit outside on nice afternoons this is her view. We were laying on our backs, side by side, and as I looked up to see what she was smiling and giggling about I understood. The leaves were moving in the wind making amazing rustling sounds and the sky was the most beautiful blue. It's always good to look at life from a different perspective.

Shannon is getting stronger and holds a plank pose more gracefully than I do these days. She loves being outside! Today we had the fortune of watching the UNC cross country team do their interval workouts around our neighborhood. Shannon loved watching the runners and couldn't take her eyes off them as they ran by.



On your mark, get set, GO! So intense!

Some funny new videos

Shannon and her dog and our little vocal girl.

Shannon & Her Dog from Jennifer Parrish on Vimeo.

Vocal Little Girl from Jennifer Parrish on Vimeo.

Nashville Half Marathon

Eric and I need a goal to stay motivated to work out this winter so the Nashville Half Marathon it is. We've done the race a few times and enjoy everything except the hilly course. Oh, and this year we hope the humidity is low and the temperature just right. Obviously we didn't run last April (hmmm, I wonder why) but the year before it was HOT. If I remember correctly the temperature was 80 at the 7:15am start. Yuck.
Shannon is big enough to put in the Chariot and go jogging so I hope to take afternoon runs throughout the fall. Eric is shooting for a personal best of under 2 hours and I'm hoping to run the race in around 2:15. Here's to a winter of working out!

And this blog just wouldn't be anything without pictures from the week. Here's Shannon at Oktoberfest laughing at a balloon.

Bathtime Fun!

The Real Jeneric Adventure

As you can see in the picture above, the weather has been beautiful here in Colorado so Shannon and I have been enjoying being outside whenever we can. We hang out in our yard on a blanket and she seems to soak everything in. She notices butterflies, birds, and squirrels as they travel through our yard and her eyes track any car that drives by. She loves to watch the trees sway in the breeze and I wonder if this is a sign she'll love the outdoors like I do. It sounds crazy to think that something so seemingly insignificant as focusing on trees would indicate her future interests, but I remember baby Erin being fascinated with letters at this age and sure enough, Erin (age 3) can practically read! Shannon is such an intense little girl for being so young. I can't wait to get to know her and see who she will become. I feel like she really wants to tell me things now! It's daunting to think of the responsibility we have to raise this little girl but we can't imagine anything better. Eric and I love her fiercely and this adventure has been the best yet. I don't think we knew what a real Jeneric adventure was until we met Shannon.

Here's our little muncher!

Muncher from Jennifer Parrish on Vimeo.

Lunch

Shannon is finally getting more excited about rice cereal!

Lunch from Jennifer Parrish on Vimeo.

Earlier in the day she spent time with her buddies, Erin & Grady. It's understandable why she is so hungry and sleepy when I pick her up-her friends are so fun to watch! The next video below is funny because I intended to record Erin saying the parts of her plane (the first one that's hard to catch is indeed "fuselage") but instead we are now cracking up at a pants-less Grady being typical Grady. A few minutes earlier he decided it would be a good idea to sit in a mud puddle.


If you watch the video closely you can actually see the popcorn. He's such a funny kid!

Erin explains her plane from Jennifer Parrish on Vimeo.

Fall is Here!

This morning we woke up to a cool drizzle and I definitely felt fall in the air. Eric was super and got up with our little morning girl at her usual 5am and let me sleep in until 7. Of course I bundled Shannon up to head out to the farmers market, our Saturday morning tradition.

We were waiting in line in the picture above to buy yummy Colorado peaches (Eric's favorite).
(Alyssa & Sam-can you see which hat Shannon is wearing?)

Shannon is going to Vanderbilt from Jennifer Parrish on Vimeo.

Since it was drizzling, I hurried to drink my coffee, bought a burrito for Eric, and we headed home. Shannon always falls asleep on the drive back and then takes a decent morning nap all "roasty toasty" (as Bradley Barnes would say) in her car seat. Soon enough she'll be running around the farmers market on Saturday morning and I bet by next year we'll be sharing a warm cinnamon roll with each other. I'm looking forward to little weekly rituals and starting traditions that she'll remember forever. Hmmm, I have very distinct memories from age 3 on that consist of hunting and cleaning rabbits, squirrels, and deer, weeding the garden, picking strawberries from our garden before anyone else was out of bed, and the smells of our kitchen during canning season. I hope that Shannon gets to experience those things, minus the hunting and cleaning of rabbits of course.
Yesterday Shannon started to crawl, though I don't think she's really aware of what she's doing. I think we are safe from a mobile baby for at least a few more weeks. I love how athletic and active she is! I always want to encourage her to be this way and am very glad we live so close to an amazing park. I just hope she doesn't start climbing over our fence to escape the backyard!

I give it two weeks from Jennifer Parrish on Vimeo.