A little about me...

A little about me...

My name is Kerri. I am the mother to two fabulous girls - Allie (9) and Boo(4), trainer of an untrainable puppy and wife to one of the funniest guys I know.

I love to read, hike and try to find time to run. I hate crafts, yard work and people who say crap behind someone's back and not to their face. I believe in being honest - if you ask me if this skirt makes you look fat I might say yes. But I will say it in a way that doesn't make me seem like a jerk. I am addicted to Words with Friends and sadly, Candy Crush saga (currently Allie is kicking my butt). 

 I am a die-hard Boston Bruins fan. I have been known to cancel dinner plans, play dates and other events because of a playoff game or even just an important one. 

I am the pickiest eater. My favorite place to eat is in a local Irish pub that has local music on the weekends. I like eating there because when I walk in the door they just pour me a glass of wine without asking and put my burger on burn.  

I work almost full-time in clinical research. I started answering the phones and am now the business operations manager. In my spare time at work, I coordinate cardiac clinical trials. This gives me just enough knowledge to battle insurance companies, therapists and physicians.  All without a nursing degree. The lack of a nursing degree is due to my absolute horror at having to deal with naked people and bodily fluids. Instead I "settled" for a hard-fought business degree. I graduated a month before I had Boo. I think I was the oldest and most pregnant person in the graduation ceremony.

We are parents to Allie, who was that super easy first-born child that makes you wonder why people complain about their kids. I have to say thank goodness Allie was a good baby. I almost didn't forgive her for the 3-day labor, pregnancy induced pneumonia and hearing my husband say during my C-section (thank GOD for C-sections) that it was "just like gutting a deer.” Allie has the best sense of humor and a love of crafts that I just don't understand. Thankfully she has an aunt who takes her on craft-dates.

Boo was born 5 years later. I was a girl who was one-and-done with children. I honestly did not think I had the will, patience or enough love for another child (FYI--I was wrong). You can learn more about Boo's story here. While she may have made us work harder as parents than I ever imagined, I couldn't ask for a better fighter. Boo has made our family complete. Unlike some families where illness or extra needs tear them apart, ours has grown stronger. 

I have never wished for Boo to be different. For her life to be easier, hell yes. But Boo is my Boo.

I started blogging in the summer of 2012. It was a form of therapy. I am so lucky that I have a great network of friends and family. But what I learned was that my friends are sometimes hesitant to burden me with their troubles. They feel I have too much on my plate. Sometimes they feel that they don't have the right to complain about their own children knowing how hard Boo works. I found that I was holding more and more in, in a futile attempt to be seen like I could handle it all.

Blogging became an outlet. A place where I could share without worrying those around me. I never expected to have anyone read this. Well, other than one or two close friends with whom I shared the blog. I was surprised and delighted to find more parents like myself. I thought Boo's undiagnosis was an abnormality. I had no idea how many children face these unknown medical challenges. Unlike having Down Syndrome, autism or cystic fibrosis, being undiagnosed leaves you without a support system or a community.

 

Through blogging, I found my own community. It is a mix of "normal" parents (like I was before Allie), parents of children with special needs, and a great mix of people I would never encounter in the 'real' world.

My blog began with a focus on Boo. It has evolved to encompass almost everything in her life, and now, in mine.  And sometimes the things that fall in between. I hope you enjoy our journey.

 

Feel free to contact me at firebailey@gmail.com with any questions.

Kerri