a breath of fresh air

Perhaps it has entered your mind, for those of you still reading, that I have succumbed to the occasional drudgery that a good deal of "stuck at home time" can bring. You may have cited my recent pessimistic posts as evidence of this conclusion. Perhaps you could be right. In fact, i might even be persuaded to agree with you. Such is life.

However, it's nothing a good dose of holy spirit, girl time and a night out can't fix. So, I come to you fresh from a 2 hour stint at barnes and noble refreshed, renewed, and .....well lets just say....more like the old me that you may have come to love. Perhaps.

Speaking of the old me (does that count as third person?) here is some rambling randomness as a throw back to "the good old days".

This was my second of 3 trips (from the cafe out for books and back again).

I love the seemingly endless possibilities at good old Barnes. It fills me with all sorts of ideas on what i want to be when i grow up. For example this trip made me want to be a photographer, web designer, artist (we'll call that renewed inspiration), novelist, short story-ist, editor, fashion designer and seamstress.

I also sneakily took pictures of this crazy old man, consumed what i fear was NOT a decaf latte (hence my blogging at 1:20am) and left my giant pile of books sitting there for the dear employees to return to their full and upright positions (I justify this by convincing myself that i could never remember where i got all of them and they would probably rather put them back exactly where they go then have me misplace them....really though i'm just giving way to my rebellious, rule-breaking tendencies).

Other:

we are rescheduling Rye's birthday party for this Sunday from 3-5. If you are reading this and would like to come, please do so. Unless you are some random creepy stalker in which case, it's actually next Sunday, in Detroit.

Well, i will bid you adieu (Rex, check my spelling) for tonight. I"ll leave you with Mr. Creepy Man, i admit he does look remarkable not creepy in this picture, but do not be deceived this gentleman walked by twice and loudly made some combination of a throat clear and a snort while looking directly at me and my cafe neighbor.

Creepy indeed. On that note, sweet dreams.

Roseola

Every now and then you are surprised with a special gift you weren't expecting. This birthday Rye was "blessed" with the unexpected "pleasure" of Roseola.

For those of you still in ignorant bliss, Roseola is basically a high fever for 3-5 days accompanied by fussiness and ending with a rash. Poor guys slept for 20 out of the 24 hours in a day. When he was awake he was miserable and was only (somewhat) content when i was holding him with his blankie and walking around the house. I think i've developed carpal tunnel syndrome.

So, believe it or not, when Rye broke out in a rash a FULL 5 DAYS later, we were relieved. It even prompted a phone call to Trevor consisting of "He has a rash, he has a rash!" and Trevor, "GREAT!" Yea, something we never thought we'd say. But since the rash was a sign that the 5 days of misery were coming to an end....we were glad.

Poor Rye looked so miserable...so naturally i grabbed the camera to document his misery cause that's the kind of thoughtful mom I am.

Poor sick eyes...

So finally, a full week later, we had our sweet boy back. Is that not the most adorable picture in the world? (she said with pride in both her adorable boys and her skill in capturing the moment)

Poor Mom only got an afternoon of normal Rye before she had to leave, but boy did we appreciate her help! Thank you Mimi!

Birthday Weekend: The Cake

Scene: poor sick Rye is surrounded by parents and grandparents and presented with his "smash cake."

Rye:(inner dialogue) "ooh, what's this?"

Rye:(inner dialogue) "hmmmmm"

Rye:(inner dialogue) "I guess I should do something with this?"

Rye:(inner dialogue) "Dad! It got all over my hand!"

Rye:(inner dialogue) "Dad thinks I should try it again"

Rye:(inner dialogue) "Ok....."

Rye:(inner dialogue) "Hmmmm, interesting..."

Rye:(inner dialogue) "Is this supposed to be enjoyable?"

Rye:(inner dialogue) "I do not like cake!"

Summary: Smash cake: failure.

Birthday Weekend: Presents

So, by mid Saturday morning, after Rye has slept for 15 hours since yesterday evening, we decided, since the fever was still hovering around 102 and the crankiness levels were consistently rising....that we would postpone his birthday party. Boo. I'm not gonna lie, i cried. Very disappointing.

Ok, moving on. Making the best of an unfortunate situation, after Rye's 3rd nap of the day, we decided to open presents.

Opening presents when you are sick is....not as much fun, to say the least.

He likes his blocks, i swear! Maybe he was upset because his Dad was opening them....who knows? Oh yea, it could have been the evil illness that he was being subjected to. Perhaps.

He did enjoy his presents, especially this cute monster book!

and he LOVED his keyboard from Gigi!

But, he made it through all the present opening (a tough job, but someone has to do it), which deserves a round of applause.

Birthday Weekend: Grandparents/ It hits

Rye's grandparents came in for birthday weekend on Friday (10/22--actual birthday). Things started off great with some snuggles, some reading of the books, and overall merriness.

However, Rye had a fever. Not even a "oh he could be teething" fever. 102.5 fever. :( His fever fluctuated between 100.5 and 104 which prompted much worrying a couple lukewarm baths and much close observation. Let's just say we had to replace the batteries in the thermometer yesterday if that gives you any indication.

We even removed various articles of clothing, mainly from Rye. ;)

Things were not looking good for the birthday extravaganza on Saturday...

However, I must say, if you are going to have a sick child with bizarre fluctuating fevers it is VERY handy having a father-in-law who is also a doctor. Let's just say we made use of that luxury.

Needless to say, things were not going according to plan.

Rye's Birthday: Before

For reasons that will be made clear, this portion of Rye's birthday is dubbed 'before'.

Trev and I wanted to have Rye open his presents from us before (no, that's not the before) his grandparents arrived, and before (nope not that one either) his party. You know, just some family bonding time. So, Thursday afternoon (10/21) we opened his presents from us. These consisted of a pile of books and 4 monster friends I made for him.

his new monster friends...

pouring over Diego with Mommy

investigating the monster books with Dad

I must say, he did an excellent job of seeming interested and even sometimes excited about his presents.

check out the eyebrow...

My sweet one-year old.

So, operation birthday part one was a success!

p.s. Rex, the shirt was supposed to be a surprise for later, but oh well, here it is....we wanted him to have a "Rex" shirt. :)

the week of the worleys

This week Trevor's sister Missy and her family were in town visiting. We have had a lot of fun taking the kids around and showing them "the mountains" (they are from Florida). Here are some pics of the kiddos.

Autumn, 2

Caleb and Sammy, 5

all Rye's cousins!

the worley kids...

Rye Pie.