Wordless Wednesday

Wet, Wet, Wet Weekend

What a WET weekend we had in Texas. Let me start at the beginning...

Friday, I had the day off from work. Meg had been wanting to go see Shrek 3, so I decided to chance it with her. We went to the 10:20am showing. I thought that seeing a movie first thing in the morning would be best...guess I was hoping that we'd have the theater to ourselves. No such luck. It was packed from wall to wall! I guess everyone thought the way I did. Meg wanted to have the full movie experience, so we had to buy some popcorn and something to drink. She opted for a sprite. As soon as the previews started, Meg turned to me and said "It's too loud, can you turn it down?" Imagine explaining to a 2.5 year old that the volume can't be turned down - especially considering she's in the "why" phase. So, after we got the volume issue settled, she sat still for about 15 or 20 minutes. She then decided that she wanted to watch the movie from my lap. So, she sat in my lap for about 30 more minutes. Around 11:35, she turned to me and said "I'm ready to go home". So, we loaded up our stuff and headed home. I was actually surprised that she lasted as long as she did.

Saturday, Meg and I got out to run a few errands (it's what we do on Saturdays). We went to Walmart and then to Academy to buy some rain gear. Jarrad and I had tickets to a huge, outdoor concert in Ennis, TX. Seeing as it had been raining for the past month and rain was in the forecast for the future, we decided it would be best to invest in some rain gear.

Saturday after our nap, we took Meg over to Luke and Patty's house, then headed to the concert. We met up with our group at the Lake Bardwell State Park for a few adult beverages and then headed to the concert. We saw Reba and Cross Canadian Ragweed. Reba was great, Cross Canadian not so good. The concert grounds was one giant mud field. The picture below is of our Reserved "LAWN" Seats...I don't see any "LAWN" here!

Here was "porta potty central". It was such a wet weekend, but we had a blast. We will definitely remember the weekend forever. I'm sure we'll look back at one point and say "what were we thinking?!?"

Because of the rain, the Sunday performances for the "Country Thunder" concert were cancelled. We were all bummed - George Straight was supposed to play that night. Since there wasn't anything that we could do, we packed up and headed back to Mansfield.

Sunday night, we went back to Mansfield and cooked dinner over at some friends house and visited. We were all so excited to get a shower and get all the mud off. My cousin, JohnA, and his wife, Caty, stayed with us. It was so good to see them - they were in town for the concert. Caty and JohnA are expecting a little girl in October. They look so happy - and of course, Caty (see picture below) looks amazing as always.

Monday, I picked Meg up from her grandparents house in the morning. Then we went over to some friends house so Meg could play with her friend Brylie. They played and screamed and ran around like crazy little girls. But, they both had a blast. Below is a picture of the girls playing dress up. Brylie isn't that much taller than Megan, she's just standing on a stool.

That's all for now!

It's Friday for me...

I'm so excited. I have a four day weekend ahead of me. So glad.

We have big plans...as follows:
Friday: Jarrad has to work, so I'm going to take Meg to her first movie. We're going to go see Shrek - she's so excited. She wants to get popcorn and a sprite. Not sure who told her that popcorn and a movie go together, but she wants it.

Saturday: Meg and I will probably get out to run a few errands while Jarrad is working. Later in the afternoon, I'm taking Megan over to Luke and Patty's house for the night. Jarrad and I have tickets to Country Thunder for Saturday and Sunday, so Luke & Patty are going to watch Meg for us. We'll pick her up on Monday.

Sunday: As I mentioned, Jarrad and I are going to Country Thunder...I'm really excited about it. One of my cousins is going to be in town with his wife for the concert, so we're going to get to hang out with them all weekend.

Monday: I'm sure we will be recovering. We'll also be picking Meg up from Luke and Patty's.

Wordless Wednesday

Last night of Spring Little Gym

Last night was the last night of Little Gym...for the spring anyway. We start back up next Tuesday, so it's not like she really knows that this session is over. None the less, she had a wonderful time.

There was even a medal ceremony! She was so proud of herself. She loves swinging on the bars, walking on the beam and popping bubbles at Little Gym.

I will try to post pictures tonight or tomorrow.

Swimming is over...

Last night was Meg's last night of Spring swimming lessons. She did wonderful. She graduated to a swim alone class - that should be interesting. We start that class a week from Saturday. Meg is going to be sad next Monday night when we don't go to swimming lessons. I tried to get her a class on the same night, but unfortunately there weren't any classes available.

Jarrad went with us to take pictures...he took 230 pictures! Keep in mind the class is only 30 minutes long. Needless to say, I haven't had a chance to really look through them yet. Hopefully he got a few good shots of Meg's last night of swimming lessons with me.

I'm so proud of her. She has come so far in the past 14 weeks. When we started, she couldn't hold her breath at all...now, she can swim three feet unassisted and hold her breath for 10 seconds! It has been an amazing process. It was such a great experience to watch Meg (and the other children) come so far with their breath control.

Wonderful Weekend

We had a wonderful weekend! Friday, I was able to leave work around 3:30...it was great. I picked Meg up, went by the bank, had my car washed and got my grocery shopping done all before 6:00. Below is a picture from Friday night - I don't know why, but I LOVE this picture!

Saturday, we didn't leave the house. Meg and I hung out in the morning, we ate breakfast, washed off the patio, painted, and started laundry. Around 12:00, Meg ate some lunch, then it was off for a nap. I have to confess, I laid down on the couch and took a nap as well. It was wonderful.


Meg woke up around 2:30 and we were going to go run a few errands, but Jarrad ended up getting home about the same time and we decided to stay at the house with him. We sat outside on the patio and cooked steaks for dinner. They were yummy.

Earlier in the week, Meg bought a Dora Dora watch. Here she is telling us what time it is.


Sunday, was our normal routine...wake up, eat breakfast, flip through the Sunday ads, run errands, then back to the house for lunch and a nap. Jarrad and Meg took a nap and I got out to run a few more errands alone. Sometimes it's quicker to do things without Meg in tow.


When I got back to the house around 2:30, Jarrad and Meg were still asleep. So, I went outside to enjoy the beautiful day. Jarrad woke up shortly after I got home and came outside with me. We woke Meg up around 3:30. I don't like to let her sleep too long during her nap times, plus she had a birthday party for Cambria, a friend from swimming lessons at 4:30. Meg and I left for the party around 4:00.


She had an absolute blast at the b-day party. Cambria's party was at Little Gym. Meg calls it Jungle Gym. She played and played and played her little heart out. We got home around 6:45. We sat outside for about an hour, then ate dinner, watched a little TV and were off to bed.


Meg was tough to put down last night - she kept telling me that there were monsters in her Dora sink. She has such a sweet imagination.


Tonight is the last night of swimming lessons for this session. Next session, she will be "swimming" by herself. I'm excited for her.

So glad...

...that this week is coming to an end. I've been working horrible hours and feel like I'm due for a break. The weekend couldn't have come at a better time. As of yesterday, when I walked out the door, I had already worked 45 hours. Keep in mind that on a regular basis, I work 45 hours over five days, not four. I'm definitely not cut out for working crazy OT like this. I'll put in 50+ hours this week. Thank goodness I love my job.


I'm so excited about the weekend. We don't have many plans. Meg has a b-day party on Sunday at Little Gym, but other than that, we've got nothing. After the past few weekends, I'm looking forward to a little r-n-r. It seems that we've been not stop for the past two weeks.


Isn't this the cutest picture of Meg and daddy. It was taken about three weeks ago.

They were eating grapes together. Meg loves to climb up in Jarrad's lap. She is definitely his little princess.

How could I resist posting this picture...those big, brown eyes melt my heart! I'm sure I'll take plenty of pictures over the weekend. Jarrad bought me a new digital SLR for my birthday/anniversary/Mother's Day. So far, I've taken about 800+ pictures. And, I've only had it for 3 weeks.

Food Allergy Week

I wasn't aware that there was a food allergy awareness week, but found this today. My daughter, Megan, has a food allergy. Here is her story:

Easter weekend, 2006, my parents, husband, daughter and I were at our ranch in Breckenridge, TX. Jarrad and I arrived on Friday night with Megan. Meme & Poppy arrived Saturday afternoon. After we helped unload their car, Poppy and Meg decided they wanted a snack. Meme and Poppy had brought some cashews and since Meg had eaten them before, I didn't think she shouldn't.

About 30 or so minutes after Poppy and Meg had finished with their snack, Meg started getting very fussy. She was rubbing her ears and crying...not typical behavior for our sweet little angel. Jarrad and I both thought that she was coming down with another ear infection. We both said "Great, we're going to end up with tubes in Meg's ears"...boy were we wrong.

I tried to lay Meg down for a nap, but she just cried and cried and cried, so I finally went to get her. When I picked her up, she was running a fever. We tried to call a few doctors to see about getting some antibiotics called in for her, but couldn't find anyone. Meme and I decided to head into town and try to talk to a pharmacist at Walmart. Of course, in small town Texas, the pharmacists leave at 6 sharp - we arrived at 6:05. By the time we got into Walmart, we noticed that Meg was starting to break out in hives. She had red splotches all over her torso and thighs. And, her face was so bright red that it was starting to turn purple.

So, off to the ER we went. We spent about an hour in the ER and were diagnosed with an allergic reaction (that would explain Meg rubbing her ears - her throat was probably itchy). At this point, we weren't sure what had caused it. The ER doctor gave Meg and dose of Benadryl and told us to give her more every 4 to 6 hours. He warned me that Meg would probably be groggy and sleepy, but that was to be expected...how wrong was he! Benadryl is like giving my daughter straight sugar. She was bouncing off the walls.

So, back to Walmart we went to stock up on Benadryl and a few other things while we were in town.

On Monday, I got Meg an appt with her pediatrician. He said it sounded like an allergic reaction to the Cashews, prescribed Meg an Epi-pen and sent us to an allergist. We were able to see the allergist that Thursday afternoon. After taking Meg's history and talking about what happened over the weekend, she sent me to a lab to have Meg's blood drawn to test for nut allergies.

It broke my heart to have to hold my daughter down while they stuck that needle in her arm. The woman that was taking her blood was very sweet though. Although, after we had finished, the woman offered Meg a peanut butter cup! I couldn't believe it - we were getting blood drawn for nut allergies and here she was offering Meg a PEANUT BUTTER CUP!

When we left the lab, they said that Meg's doctor office should have the results in 10 days. Well, about 10 days later, Meg's doctor's office called...not with my results, but to ask me to take my daughter back to get more blood work. They forgot to test for Cashews - the nut that set all of this into motion.

So, back to get more blood work for Meg. Bless her heart. I felt horrible for her. They rushed the results and we found out that Meg did have an allergy to Cashews and Pistachios. Her doctor told me that we needed to avoid all nuts (including peanuts) until she was three.

I'm thankful that we haven't had another "episode" and hope that when we go back to test her again, that we will know the limits.

It's hard to explain to a (now) 2.5 year old that she can't have certain candies because they are manufactured in a nut facility. Although, I have taught her to say "I'm allergic to nuts". She doesn't know what it means, but most adults do.

That is our story.

Wordless Wednesday

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