Family TKOd by Virus

Luckily for you, there are no pictures of this blog entry. Recipe for a really fun weekend:

1. Thursday at work, get call from day care that baby is sick with stomach ailment and fever. Go get baby.
2. Baby in a terrible mood all evening Thursday but goes to sleep at normal time and sleeps all night.
3. Baby still has stomach ailment, fever and bad mood on Friday morning. Since Todd has a very busy day on Friday, stay at home Friday from work tending to sick baby.
4. At lunchtime Friday, notice baby has terrible pimply red rash all over face and neck. A little while after that, it spreads to stomach and back.
5. Call doctor. Doctor works you in late Friday afternoon.
6. Visit baby's doctor. Diagnosis is stomach virus. (Doc says rash is also related to the virus.) No medicine given.
7. In the car on the way home, feel terribly ill. Realize upon arriving home that you have stomach virus and fever too. Nutrients exit digestive system.
8. Put baby to bed at 7 p.m. Friday. Retire to bed yourself, to the extent you can.
   
9. After eating dinner alone in the kitchen, Todd comes into the bedroom and mentions, 'I don't feel so good myself.' He has fever. Nutrients exit digestive system.
   
10. Realize all hell has broken loose. Call mother at 7 am Saturday morning and beg her to come to town to help with baby. She agrees, God bless her.
11. At 8 am Saturday, drag oneself to Walgreens to get Sprite, Gatorade, and disposable latex gloves for Mama Lyn to use in changing diapers so maybe she won't get the virus.
12. Sleep all day Saturday - while Mama Lyn takes care of baby.
13. Sleep all night Saturday - while Mama Lyn takes care of baby.
14. Sunday, feel a bit better and become able to function somewhat. Todd does not. Todd sleeps all day Sunday. (This is a man who won't even take an asprin because he doesn't like medicines. He actually asked me Saturday where I kept the Advil.)
15. Blog on Sunday night. If baby still has stomach ailment tomorrow, she won't be able to go to 'school.' Cross fingers that baby and husband improve.
    

The Squealing Has Begun

She's started squealing - heaven help us.

Simone's Bib

Our cat Simone is a profuse drooler. Todd was complaining about it today, so I went over and put a baby bib on her. She was really proud of it, as you can tell, and is asleep on the couch still wearing it.

Easter Sunday in Brookhaven

We had a big time in Brookhaven today for Easter Sunday, seeing all of Todd's family. It was too cold - about 55 degrees - for Courtney to wear her Easter dress, and I didn't wear a dress either. We stayed all afternoon and Courtney put on a good show - some of them had never seen her before. The first photo is Courtney reaching for the ceramic rabbit - whoops, guess who's into everything! The next photo is Dolores making homemade fried chicken; I haven't witnessed anyone doing that in a long time. The next photo is Courtney and Pop Pop, and the last photo is (clockwise from left) Dolores, Goat, Todd/Courtney, Kim, Charles, me and Mike. Mama Lyn was there, too, but she took the photo. Also, Greg, Jody, Kern, Kensy, Kay, KayKay, and L.C. were there, but we took the photo after they left.

You Might Be a Redneck if...

...you play the redneck board game on Friday night! I don't know what's more embarrassing (or revealing) -- that we own the You Might Be a Redneck board game, or that Todd gave it to me as an anniversary present! We had fun playing the game with Mary Lou and Harold on Friday night. The actual object of the game is to gather some beef jerky, a satellite dish, a hound dog and other items and be the first one to get back to your trailer! :-)

Scooching

Courtney has started 'scooching' which is the precursor to crawling. The first photo is how I put her to bed last night. She is a side sleeper like me. I put her on her back and she rolls right over on her side. The second photo is how I find her each morning. She scooches into the corner of the crib and puts her face up against the bumper. She is strong enough to lift up her face, so I am not worried totally, but the first few times it freaked me out. She did this when I had the 'wedge' in the bed to keep her in a certain place, so finally I just tossed the wedge in the closet.

Tie Dyeing for Easter

This is the last year I won't be dyeing eggs for Easter, but I had the idea to tie-dye something. So I went and got some white onesies for Courtney and some white Tees for me, and made us matching t-shirts. Tonight, I made a black and gold Southern Miss matching set for all three of us, and I made Courtney and myself some matching red/yellow shirts and matching pink/purple shirts. For Easter I made Courtney the pink, yellow and purple one in the first photo. She will have no shortage of clothes for Sunday!

I Actually Finished a Book

I finished a book since Courtney was born! Bill O'Reilly's 'Culture Warrior.' I started on this book back in October and have finally finished it. It's an interesting take on American culture and the subtle ways it's changed over a generation or two. It's also a cautionary tale that I think a lot of Mississippians can identify with.

Vampire Weekend

Todd bought and we've been listening to Vampire Weekend's new album and it is great. It reminds me of one of my favorite Brit bands, Razorlight. They use a lot of interesting instruments like hand drums, etc.

Jogging Regimen

We stayed in Hattiesburg last night with Mama Lyn and we got up early this morning and came home to Jackson with Courtney. It was fun to see her last night after six days without her. She smiled when she saw me and it was so cool. I took a vacation day from work today, and I thought I'd take a nap and rest, but I ended up cleaning the house and doing laundry all day. Tonight we started our new jogging regimen - Todd is my coach and is going to help me get started. Courtney is going to come on our jogs, too, plus Rufus. Here are the three of them from my vantage point, panting and trying to keep up!

Saturday Night

The convention is over as of 9:30 p.m. tonight. Today's events included a board meeting, a ladies brunch, a crawfish boil, an ice cream party and the evening banquet. I had free time between 1:30 and 3:45 pm but got 7 phone calls during that time - no rest for the weary. Late tonight, there was a board of directors party honoring Doug and Leigh Anne - Doug is the outgoing president of the organization hosting the convention. Pictured is the couple of the hour (seated bottom right) with all of the children of the board members gathered around them - they were watching them open gifts.

Friday's Refrigerator

Todd arrived at the resort after dropping off Courtney with Mama Lyn. The convention events today included two speakers, a luncheon, a basketball tournament and a kids' talent show. Then tonight there was a 'rock concert'-themed dinner with a band. I'll post better pictures later from the convention photographer, but here's a photo of what's in the Kern hotel room refrigerator during a week away. Only the essentials: bottled water, light chocolate soy milk and a six pack of Shiner.

Banquet Food

This joint has some terrific banquet food - tonight's steak was perfect and served with a butter knife, which was all you needed...... My friend Diane T. of Di's Floral Designs did the centerpieces, and I loved this topiary design using the red roses. Todd is on his way down here to the convention, and I'll see him tomorrow. Tonight is our 9th anniversary. I had to attend the dinner, and he is driving Courtney to Mama Lyn's house so she can keep her while we are here. I haven't had time to miss Courtney since Tuesday, but I know she has been in good hands with Todd and now my mother.

View from My Room

This week I"m at the Perdido Beach Resort, and here's the view from my room of the Gulf of Mexico. I'm here for a 5-day work related event so I won't actually get to go to the beach or pool. But it's a beautiful view! I'm here for a convention of about 550 people, including more than 100 children. There are a lot of kid-related events at the convention, including an ice cream party, a dance party, and a music-related game night. These kids get to stay up way past their bedtimes and it's fun to watch them having a great time........

Tuesday Night

Here's a good shot of Wendy and Sherry, my coworkers, as we were leaving Perdido Beach Resort to go to dinner at Johnny Rockets burger joint. We're all here for a work related event, and the hotel is so peaceful tonight. It's quiet and there's no one in the hallways. Later this week, it will be hopping with lots of people and noise.

My Boss's Car & The Trip

Today I drove my boss's car on a six hour work-related trip. My car isn't big enough to take all the supplies needed for the trip. This V8 can haul butt. However, it costs $65 to fill it up with gas...yikes!

Courtney Rolling Over

She has been rolling over for more than a week now, but this morning I caught it on video.........

Sunday Outing

Today we went and had a picnic lunch at the Reservoir overlook, then took Courtney on the 2 mile Ridgeland walking trail in the jogging stroller - we broke in the jogging stroller - we have never used it before now. She is a bit too small for it and slumped a bit during her ride!