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Thanks for following along with us!
Kirby

Oliver's Greatest Showman Circus Birthday

It was the busiest June to date and I’m just getting around to upload all of Oliver’s second birthday pictures to share. His birthday was on June 13th, which this year fell on a Wednesday in the middle of the last week of school.  We had end of year events on almost every day that week and then we had Mason's graduation on Friday, June 15th.  In lieu of all of that going on, we were going to wait to have a little party for him until July when things with the whole Bunch were less hectic, but then we realized once looking at Tommy’s chief year schedule, that waiting until July for a party for little O would mean that Tommy wouldn’t be there.  So we threw together a sweet little 2nd birthday/Father’s Day fiesta very last minute, and honestly it couldn’t have been any better.  We went with a little circus theme for the party because as y’all know we loooovvee The Greatest Showman.  The soundtrack is Oliver's favorite to listen to in the car.  He’s obsessed and belts out all of the loud parts.  We kept it simple food wise with a hot dog bar with all of the fixings (including chili), watermelon, potato chips, veggies, and my grandmothers dip that we all lovingly call Meme’s dip.  We had popcorn and peanuts around as extra munchies, and of course we had cake and cupcakes thanks to our amazingly talented friend Heather.  It was hot so we had the little pools & sprinklers set up and I made a little makeshift “circus tent” out of our pop up beach tent.  It was the perfect way to celebrate our little lover baby.
I still can’t get over the fact that he’s been with us for two whole years.

Our wish for you, Newell Newell- "happiness like this forever." -Charity Barnum

Thanks for following along!
xo,
Kirby

Olivers Romper  |  Cake and decor inspired by Wee Three Sparrows |  

Wrapped Hot Dogs and lined chip baskets with this Liner  |   Circus Animals  |  Similar Popcorn liner here  

 

Our First Allergy

In November, during a well visit, the doctor took note of Masons growth. He has really only grown 2-3 inches total in the past 3 years, but at his age, he should be growing about 2 inches per year. His weight and BMI are very low, but that’s been consistent with his body so that wasn't a huge concern.  Long story short, after chatting with different scenarios, we decided to do some proactive blood work just to be sure we weren’t missing anything. About a week after we went in, I received a call from our ped that mason had tested positive for celiac disease. They wanted him seem by CHOP allergy asap.  My pediatrician gave me the number to call, but before I could even get home to get my thoughts in order, her nurse had already called CHOP and got us in for an expedited appt the following week.

My head was spinning. Of course we worry about allergies when they are babies and we introduce new foods, but I thought we were way past that point with an almost 11 year old.  I was so upset and nervous for what it meant.  I also felt so guilty.  Why didn't I test him for this sooner?  How come we didn't we pick up on this?  Tommy on the other hand felt as though it was a "fad" disease and that it wasn’t a real problem.  It was very frustrating and caused us a ton of fights between us.  Luckily we only had to wait a few days until we could go in to meet with the celiac division and learn more about Mason's new diagnosis.  

The three of us went in for his appointment and met with the doctor who would be working with mason. She was so calm and patient with us all.  She explained that it’s a very serious allergy and the long term consequences of untreated celiac disease are colon cancer and Crohn's disease.  The only cure for celiac disease is removal of gluten containing foods from the diet.  Since the signs of the allergy all happen within the stomach, they require an endoscopy to confirm the diagnosis.  Until the study is completed and read, you have to keep ingesting gluten containing foods so that the doctors can see the effects of the gluten on the inside.  We went home with a lot of new information and homework to do about Mason's new allergy.  It was the week before Thanksgiving so we also prepared ourselves to feast on gluten since we knew it was our last time to do so, haha.

I will say that it was kind of nerve racking to keep feeding him foods that we knew he was allergic to while we waited for the endoscopy.  Mason had fun with it though, claiming that he needed extra cookies, and pizza, and sandwiches because they were his "last gluten foods."  such a drama king..  There was a little bit of a delay because of the holiday and working around everyone’s schedule.  We finally got in and had the study done.  The endoscopy showed that he had ulcers on his bowels which was his body’s reaction to ingesting gluten and it  the ulcers were what stopped him from absorbing the nutrients from the foods he ate which was the result of the poor growth.  All of this confirmed that mason most definitely had celiac disease. 

The next steps were removing gluten from his diet.  We made the family decision to do as a whole to be supportive and to avoid cross contamination.  It took some time to prep, which included getting a new toaster, all new condiments (which could have had gluten in them from any food touching them), purchasing new baking dishes and baking sheets.  Tommy and I tend to cook cleaner meals as is and we tend to keep the processed items at a minimum.  Plus I have kind of been on the path towards it for awhile due to my Hashimoto's disease, as research has found that removal of gluten helps to regulate thyroid levels.   But it has been an adjustment and we have still learned so much about how many items contain gluten in them that we were never aware of.  And the cross contamination is such a big deal so it makes eating out very difficult.  But we are getting the hang of it and we are finding products that are really yummy!  We have come up with some good options, but we could always use more!  Is anyone else dealing with living a gluten free lifestyle?  Do you have your favorite places to order groceries from?  Please share with us!  Comment below or send me a message on IG. 

Thanks for following along!

Xo,
K

Philly Proud

What an exciting in week in Philadelphia it has been!  The eagles won the Super Bowl and brought home the Lombardi trophy to its rightful place!  A week ago we watched them as we celebrated Masons 11th birthday with friends at our house.  We all crammed into our living room and yelled and screamed as they won.  It was awesome!

All week i have been replaying 10 years ago when we lived by the art museum and the Phillies won the World Series.  What amazing memories we have from that time.  Tommy and I were at one of our favorite bars, called the Bishops Collar, the night they won.  The bar was packed to the maximum, and we all went crazy when they won.  We ran onto the street and all celebrated.  A few days later, Tommy, Mason, and I walked downtown, as all of Philly cheered on the Phillies team as they paraded through the city.  It was such a magical time and we felt so proud to be apart of it all.

Once the eagles won, we knew that we HAD to make it down to the parade, no matter what! Tommy’s mom graciously came to our house to watch Addie and Oliver.  Mason, Ellie, and I had plans to go down to the parade with some friends, but Tommy, sadly, had to go to work.  Then at the last minute, Tommy’s cases for the day were canceled so he was able to join us!  We bundled up bright and early, and we hopped on the train downtown.  We got there around 7 am and the streets were already flooded with people.  The eagles fight song could be heard from all around the city. It was a sea of green. It was really cold, but it was sunny and the sky was bright blue. Everyone was so happy and excited to be there!!  We grabbed a quick breakfast and joined everyone on the street to wait for the team to make their way down on their floats.  We were lucky enough to reserve a table at a local bar, which was right off of Broad Street, so we had a home base to go inside to eat, drink, and warm up.  We watched the live parade on the tv in the bar so we knew when they were close, and then ran out to Broad Street to see the whole Eagles team parade down holding up the trophy.  The whole city was going crazy!  Everyone was cheering and chanting E A G L E S!  As I was cheering a long and tearing up (it was very emotional!),  I was reminded of what made me fall in love with this city.  It’s not always the nicest, and it’s certainly not the prettiest, but it has some of the strongest unity that I have felt anywhere. Philadelphians really stick together and that is so beautiful.  I was surrounded by millions of people, but I realized that we all felt like family.

We may not always live here in Philadelphia, or in PA for that matter, but I will always feel like we have a home here because this amazing city has been the backdrop for so much of our life.  It is a part of us and I’m so proud of that.

Thanks Philly for all that you do! And YESSSSSSSS to the eagles killing it this year in the super bowl!  I look forward to celebrating next year when we win again!

Xo
K

I can hear you!

“Attention is the rarest and purest form of generosity"

In our family it is LOUD and more often than not, everyone is talking at the same time in an effort to get their voice heard.  Whether its Mason asking for help on his homework, Ellie wanting me to watch her dance, Addie needing me to care for her "baby" doll, or Oliver wanting me to hold him, someone always seems to want something around here.  It is not uncommon to have one, or all four children, crying or throwing some sort of tantrum.  It can be stressful and noisy, and often times I find myself shouting at them for screaming and crying.  Basically throwing a grown up tantrum myself.  Sometimes I even have to lock myself on time out because I know that I need to get myself in check, even more than the kids do.  There has been a lot of this nonsense happening in our house for the past two months as Tommy's schedule has been demanding, work with Carrie Flower has increased, and the kids have been sick.  It leaves me single parenting while trying to juggle a business that I work from home on.  My patience has been worn thinner than thin.

I was able to rally the kids to attend church a week or two ago, and man am I glad that I did!  The sermon was one that was particularly important for me to hear.  Our minister was remarking on how the greatest way to show love is not to say "I love you." but instead to say "I hear you."  All we all want to do is to be heard.  No matter how old we are, we just want our voice heard.  We want to be understood and being understood in turn helps us feel loved.  It was so simple, but so powerful  Shortly after the service Addie was screaming about wanting to put her pajamas on and I shouted back saying, "No its not time to put our pajamas on!"  which in turn made her scream louder.  I stopped my shouting, lowered my voice, and I said "I hear what you want to do is put your pajamas on.  Why do you want to do that now?"  She immediately stopped crying and started TALKING to me about the fact that she was tired, cold, and wanted to feel cozy in her pajamas.  It was amazing how quickly she was able to calm down and talk to me once she knew that I was truly listening to her needs.

I have started using this technique with the kids when they are having trouble controlling their anger or throwing a tantrum.  I repeat back what they are screaming by saying calmly " I hear that you want to drive your car."  "I hear that you need help with your homework."  "I hear that you want to go outside."  Once I let them know that I can understand them and their needs, they immediately calm down.  The crying stops and we are able to start a dialogue.  It is not a perfect system.  But it is helping all of us get calm quicker and get to the root of our issues.  I have realized that its even what I feel frustrated about when I fight with Tommy sometimes.  I don't feel like he is understanding my issues and I think that he doesn't think that I can hear what he has to say.  We have started the "I hear you.." in our fights and it really helps to understand each other, or at the very least helps control and limit the argment time.  It has even helped with manners.  When the kids say “I want a water.”  I have started to reply “I hear that you want a water. Can you please try to ask for that in a more polite way?” Even Oliver uses the sign for “please” when i ask for manners!

My favorite part of truly hearing someone is that it forces me to stop what I’m doing, look the person in the eyes, and truly listen.  It is so nice and refreshing!  Life just moves so fast in this big, scary world.  Our voice is hard to hear out there.  I want my babies to know that in our safe home, their voice is heard.  They are understood.  And they are safe.

Thanks for following along on this ride.
Xo
Kirby

Stay tuned as we move our blog over to a new spot on our carrieflower.com site.  More details to follow on our next post!

The Carrie Flower Series Bris Book Review

This Bris book review is one that is very close to my heart. For those of you who don’t know, Carrie Flower was written by my very own mother and was illustrated by me! Carrie Flower began when my mom was attending a leadership course and was motivated to share stories about her life experiences. She was encouraged to make it into a children book series. In 2010, three stories were written, illustrated, and published about Carrie Flower who learns to be healthy, battles diversity, and encounters illness. In 2016 we added Carrie Flower gets teased to the series. The entire series has been redesigned and printed. We are so excited where Carrie Flower has grown with the help of our two new team members. Dr. Michael Garzella who co authored Carrie Flower Gets Teased and Janice O'Brien redesigned the series!  The books are written for grades pre k through 3rd grade, but these valuable lessons are suitable for all ages.  I find myself referring to Carrie Flower when helping my children deal with different issues they come across at school, like bullying and diversity, or encouraging to eat their fruits and vegetables like Carrie does so that they can grow a strong and beautiful stem.  

These colorful, fun stories are a great gift for this holiday season, for birthdays, valentines day, or just any time of the year!  And for this holiday season we are offering FREE priority shipping in time for the Christmas!  To check out the books please visit us here!

Thanks for following along and supporting our small business! “Carrie Flower encourages us all to see ourselves as flowers in a garden. We are all unique and special, with different shapes, sizes, and colors. Together we make a beautiful bouquet!”

Xo
K

If I could keep you little-Bris Book Review

If I Could Keep You Little... , by Marianne Richmond, was gifted to Oliver for his birthday by his Aunt Julie and Uncle Chris.  We received it at his birthday party which happened to be the day before Mason left for his overnight camp where he stayed for two weeks this summer.  I coincidentally ended up opening it after I got back from dropping Mason off, and was feeling very emotional.  The book couldn't have been more fitting for me at that moment!  It is a short, rhyme type story which is directed as us parents.  It corresponds to be previous post of trying to enjoy every moment with them now, and as they grow..  One of the pages even reads, "If I could keep you little, we'd nap in our fort midday.  But then I'd miss you sharing adventures from camp away."  Although I am certain that I will miss these babies, if I kept them little, I would also miss so much of their joy, accomplishments, and seeing them become who they are destined to be.

I recommend this book to new parents, veteran parents, grandparents.. any parent!  I love it!  My kids love it because of the calm, rhyming script and the sweet, soft pictures. It’s a Bris Bunch Favorite!

xo
K

Choosing Kindness

It has been two weeks since the kids have been back to school.  It already feels like the summer was another lifetime ago.  It is funny how when the school year ends, I am scared for the summer.  How am I going to entertain everyone, all day everyday?  How will I do enough fun activities that they will remember forever?  How will I keep the babies on their nap schedule?  Then as the summer ends, I find myself feeling so sad that everyone is going back and our family is spending our days apart from one another.

This year, in particular, I find myself really struggling with the regret and the fear of missing all of this as they grow.  Having a very active, strong willed, three year old who takes every ounce of my patience, and a one year old who will climb any obstacle that you put in front of him, makes for some long days with little reprieve.  Oliver still wakes during the night,  Addison has night terrors, Ellie even wakes up sometimes to come in bed with me... Most mornings I wake up exhausted.  I find myself longing for the future when they will sleep and when I can have some of my life back.  At the exact same time I long for that, I find myself fearing missing them as babies.  I already look back at pictures and feel a huge pit in my stomach and find myself reaching out to hold them back at that time.  The irony of it all is probably at the time I took the photo I was over the day with them, longing for the future.  How do you stay in the moment, not take it all too seriously, and realize that this is all part of the journey?  How do you appreciate it all?

I wish I could go back and tell myself to calm down with Mason.  I remember being so strict with him.  Trying to discipline right (I didn't want a bratty child).  I had to keep the perfect schedule for him (nap every day at 1.  in bed at 8!).  I remember loosing my mind when he had a tantrum.  I remember screaming at him.  I remember grabbing his arm and taking him home from the park for acting like...a three year old.. when he was THREE!  I remember rushing bedtime.  I remember thinking way too much what other people thought about me as a mother.  I have learned a lot in my time with Mason.  I have learned to let go of perfection and to be much more easy going, but I still have still have a long way to go. 

Addison takes every ounce of my patience.  She is strong willed.  She is smart as all hell.  She is non stop.  She does not give me any sort of break.  She literally sits outside my bathroom door when I'm in there.  She will just undress and come into the shower with me without warning.  She wants to help me with every single step of the laundry.  And when she is quiet and I think that maybe, MAYBE she is occupied for a minute, she is actually just coloring, gluing, and painting the walls.  She is a lot like Mason was (is) and I now I may remember why I lost my patience so often with Mason.  She also extra difficult because Elizabeth has always been so calm and easy.  She rarely had tantrums.  She slept well (still does!).  She has always been a  peaceful person to be around.  Addison is going to make for something truly amazing one day!  I'm sure of it!  But parenting her takes so much out of me, its hard to find the extra love she needs and craves.  How do I keep myself from the regret of how I acted and how do I appreciate this time?  I know that I won't remember how hard this time was.  But I will remember her sweet face.  Her voice.  The way she wraps her arms so tighly around my neck.  The way she puts her head next to mine with her face in my face as I lay with her.  The way she smiles at me as falls asleep.  I already miss her and she's still here in her three year old body.  This is the fear I feel while at the exact same time that I count the minutes until bedtime.  How do I enjoy it all and not rush it?

After much reflection, I have come to the conclusion that I will miss this life regardless. It is like anything else in life, you miss what you don't have anymore.   But I want to look back on the time with fullness in my heart.  I want to know that I raised these amazing people with kindness and patience, and that they always felt loved by me.  I am making the conscious effort to wake up every day (despite how sleep deprived I am) and see the GOOD in the day.  I'm learning that I can't do it all and that life with children doesn't come with instructions.  I'm letting the laundry stay folded in piles and not get put away.  I'm laying with the kids when they need me to fall asleep.  I'm letting Oliver sleep in my bed.  I'm packing a cookie with their lunch.  I'm letting them wear whatever they want.  Its O K if  my budding artist fills the wall with color (that's what magic eraser is for).  If the naps happen, that's great!  If not, that's ok too.   This time is so sacred, and short, and I'm certain that I will remember these good times (like our "epic summer" as Ellie calls it).  I will miss them and that I will long for them, but I want to look back without regret.  I want to know that I loved them the best that I could, and that every stage had challenges and had beauty, but I'm choosing to see the good.  I'm choosing kindness for the Bris Bunch.

"The way we talk to our children becomes their inner voice." -Peggy O' Mara

Thanks for following along as I navigate this amazing journey.
xo,
Kirby

Ordinary People Change the World- Bris Book Review

Our nightly readings over in the Bris Abode have included the Ordinary People Change the World book series.  I found them while Ellie was learning about the woman's movement in school last year and was excited to teach her about a few of the amazing women who have changed our world for the better.  I thought that she would fight me on reading them, thinking that it would be boring, but she quickly engaged, and found herself relating to the stories.

I am Amelia Earhart written by Brad Meltzer is a fun and friendly story telling of Amelia Earhart's biography.  I love how Meltzer chooses a particular character trait to focus on in each of his stories in the series.  In Amelia's case, it was her ability to take no for an answer.  She was the first woman to fly a plane over the Atlantic Ocean and she battled many obstacles to be able to do it.  The whimsical drawings are engaging and fun.  Then at the end of the story there are real photos of Amelia which are nice to see what she looked like and glimpses of what the world looked like in the early 1900s.

I could not wait to read I am Helen Keller.  I did a book report on her in second grade and I still remember being so moved by her life.  As a baby, she was struck blind and deaf by an illness.  She could not communicate with anyone and she was very frustrated.  When she was 6 years old she met Annie Sullivan who taught her how to communicate via sign language and eventually learned to read Braille.  I love how in this story Meltzer focuses on Helen's determination.  She would not give up on finding a way to communicate with others, despite all obstacles.  She was able to go on to attend college and has been a lead "voice" for people with disabilities everywhere.

In I am Rosa Parks, Meltzer focuses on her ability to stand up for herself.  I love this one because I think that this is a important trait that all people, especially girls, need to know.  By staying seated on the bus, Rosa Parks started the Civil Rights Movement and changed the world for African Americans.  Her story is so remarkable and I am so proud to share it with Ellie.

There are so many other amazing stories in the Ordinary People Change the World Series.  I am so happy we stumbled across them as a way to bring some inspiring history lessons into our home.

Thanks for following along!
xo
k

Get Outside

The Bris babies and I have spent a lot of time visiting Mumsie this summer in Northeastern PA where I grew up.  It has been a fun summer filled with adventure!  I have enjoyed rediscovering the area with a different set of eyes than I had as a bored teen living here with "nothing to do."  There is so much beautiful land here with gorgeous farms, woods filled with greenery,  sprawling lakes, and endless acres of fields where you can see the sun rise in the morning and set at night.

On Tuesday, after a tired morning, where we had little working in our favor, Mumsie and I decided that we needed to get out of the house.  We wanted the kids to be able to run around and we wanted to get some exercise to enjoy the cooler 70 degree weather.  We packed a picnic and ventured out to Ricketts Glen State Park for a hike.  When we got there we decided on a buddy system to remind the kids to stick together.  Of course, Mason made us decide on a team name for each group.  Mason and Ellie were Team Dragon, Addison and Mumsie were Team Waterfall, Oliver and I were Team Baby Bris, and Lilly took turns being on everyone's team.  We picked a path and set out on our way.  The kids skipped over the big stone rocks, ran across the bridges, drank water from the streams, navigated across logs, and overall just enjoyed nature.

It turned into quite the hike!  The scenery was so beautiful with all of the green trees and the stream running through.  We made it to see the waterfall, and even though I was a nervous wreck having the kids up there, it was very peaceful to hear the water running down.  Addie and Oliver were such troopers.  I had Oliver in the Ergo carrier for the most part, and Addison alternated between walking and being held.  She even took a ride in the Ergo at the end when she couldn't go on any longer. When we finished up we were starving so we made our way to the picnic tables which were right by where we parked.  We had our little picnic and relaxed a bit before heading home.

I am so happy that we didn't let our morning get us down and that we took the opportunity to get outside.  "And into the forest I go, to lose my mind and find my soul." -John Muir

Enjoy your weekend!

xo,

K