Maybe Allergies?

Raylee has had the drainage stuff for over two weeks now. I had assumed it was because of the bouncy weather we have had lately (one day of warm and back to super cold). Last week she ran a fever also for about 3 days but we discovered that it's culprit was a pending tooth. Friday night she developed a terrible hacking cough. Over the weekend she was having such coughing spells that she would end up throwing up. Leland took her to the doctor yesterday. Of course she's not really "sick" so the dr. prescribed Zyrtec and Singular. We really hope this helps. Last night she threw up about 5 times because she just couldn't stop coughing. She finally relaxed and went to sleep before 7 and slept well all night (a first since the coughing started). I hope she doesn't really have allergies and just needs these meds to get dried up but I have lots of allergies so it wouldn't be too surprising if I passed that on to one of my kids. Maybe Raylee is now on the mend and will back to her usual playful self (not that she hasn't been fun, she's just been limited so that she doesn't start a coughing spell).

Everyone else is doing well. Ryland always claims he is sick also when Raylee has to go to the doctor but he really just likes to go and take care of her also. He's such a sweetie. The baby and I are well. I have another check up tomorrow. I'm afraid my weight won't be too grand because I've been craving chocolate a lot lately. :) Leland's world has been on hold because of a worm in the school district's computer network. Kind of nice to slow down for a few days but he and his staff will be doing lots of making up for it when it is finally fixed.

Oh yeah - the addition to our house. We have been needing to get a new kitchen/dining table because it is only large/small enough for 4 people and our family will soon be 5. My parents haven't been using their table since they moved to Blue Haven and purchased a different/larger one. They offered theirs to us. This past weekend we finally cleaned it all up (it had been in storage) and put it together. It is beautiful. It has 2 leaves so we left one in for our use. We are loving having all the space. In the past we have always done meals buffet style because my table wasn't big enough for plates and food dishes. Now we have the space to put the food on the table with us. Like Leland said, "Eating at the table is back in our house." We are really enjoying it. Ryland even wanted to call Papa and Grandma and tell them how much he liked our new table and see if they liked it as much when they had it. We still have to purchase chairs (we are using the ones from our table for the time being) since the chairs that went with the table were lost in the fire at my parents house several years ago. But we LOVE the table. Thanks Mom and Dad!

His Uncle Tyler will be Proud!

Last night Ryland pulled his step stool into the living room and wanted Leland and I to watch him direct the band and see how good he was at it. He was so precious! He had two toothbrush containers and went at it. He then instructed Leland and I to get out our trumpet and flute to be the band. We had to watch him for the cues. :) Ryland then wanted to play the trumpet. He was pretty good. I think we have a budding trumpet player on our hands! I just love the world of a 4 year old.

We had a great weekend. At the last minute we decided to head to Lubbock on Thursday evening and have some family time. We stayed at the new LaQuinta and it had a swimming pool! The kids loved it. We stopped by LCU Friday morning before everyone left for the day and took a long nap after lunch. My parents arrived in town in time for supper and Master Follies. We all enjoyed Follies again. Without even coaching him, Ryland's favorites were the Bananas (Kyodai) and the Pirates (LOA). He loved it! Saturday we did the club breakfast and alumni chapel. My mom hadn't been to homecoming in many years so she enjoyed getting to see so many friends. Lunch was at Orlando's like every year with several club friends (although we are becoming the old ones at that party). After a quick visit with my grandparents we headed home. Sunday was a good day at church services and a wonderful afternoon at home. We all feel much more rested and really enjoyed our family time. Leland doesn't have school today either so he and the kids get one more day of playing (I'm jealous). :) It was good to see several of our LCU friends this weekend along with my parents and grandparents. Those visits just aren't close enough sometimes. I hope everyone else had a great weekend also.

Busy, Travel, and 1st Haircut

BUSY:
What a week we had last week. I did survive my first major deadline of tax season. I really dislike January 31st because there are no extensions! I do the W-2s and 1099s and payroll reports for over 100 clients and they HAVE to be finished and in the mail by the 31st. I put in 12 or so hour days from last weekend through Wednesday. My kids were thankfully farmed out to different babysitters and we all did survive. I was just very grateful for Thursday.

TRAVEL:
On Friday we loaded up and went to the metropolis of Sudan, TX. The journalism UIL coach there had contacted Leland about doing a workshop to prepare her kids for UIL district. I have a cousin and her family that live there now so we spent the night with them and got some good catching up in. On Saturday when Leland was finished we met my parents and my brother and his wife in Lubbock. My parents needed to get on the road home so it was brief with them but we ate at Johnny Carinos with Mitch and Katie for probably 2 hours. We had a great visit and hope to do it again soon.

Yesterday my family and mother-in-law headed to Austin. Leland will be presenting at a technology conference this week. Leland has an aunt that lives there so the others went to see family. I'm enjoying my girl time too. I always enjoy this time for a couple of days and then start to really miss them by Tuesday. So I'm having girls night at my house Tuesday evening! Girls always need a little time to themselves and with other girls so we are looking forward to the evening.

Then my family returns home Wednesday and Friday we head to Lubbock for LCU's homecoming and Master Follies. We are really looking forward to seeing everyone and showing off the kids. We don't see enough of our college friends during the year so we enjoy that weekend of reunion.

We always enjoy such fun trips but I'm always grateful they are over when they are stacked on top of each other like this. Next week will be nice to have our "usual" routine back.

1ST HAIRCUT:
I hadn't forgotten to post these pictures but just haven't had the time. Raylee had her first haircut 2 Fridays ago. I had called our beautician to schedule Leland, Ryland, and I so I chatted with her about Raylee. Raylee's hair is so fine and so straight that I was having a hard time doing anything with it. We decided to give her bangs. The rest just got a little trim to even it out. Now we can see her eyes and they even seem bigger (if that's at all possible)! I'm hoping as her hair thickens that clips will possibly stay in but if it's anything like mine was when I was little, clips won't be in her future for a very long time. :) So here are the pics of her first haircut.

Raylee was a little unsure but did awesome! She sat very still the entire time.

Here is one with Miss Kay and me with the few clippings for the keepsake bag.

Raylee didn't want to look at the camera when she was finished but at least you can see her bangs.

And here we are together. My mom was still in town then so she went with me to help out and take pictures. It was a fun outing.

We are all doing well also. The baby and I are definitely growing! Someone at church yesterday told me that I have "blossomed" lately - that is code for "you're getting BIG!" :) But the baby does seem to be well. I had a rough time last Wednesday though. I was in a lot of pain. After chatting with my nurse and my doctor we decided it was extreme fatigue from working so much the few days before that. Sure enough after some rest Wednesday evening and Thursday morning the pain was gone and I'm back to my usual self. It was a little scary but everyone helped out and helped me get through the deadline. I have such a wonderful boss (he did whatever he could to help me finish up everything) and a wonderful husband who did awesome being dad and mom and taking care of me for a few days. I'm so fortunate!

I hope everyone enjoys their week - can you believe it is already February of 2007?