Sick

Last Monday night, just over a week ago, Lily woke up with the stomach virus.  It carried over into Tuesday around lunch.  Ever since, our house has been in a constant state of sick.  It took Lily all day Wednesday and Thursday to recover from the stomach bug.  Friday morning we were ready to send her to school and she woke up with a rash all over her body (which has never happened to any of our kids before).  Friday after lunch, Austin began throwing up.  Poor Austin continued this ALL NIGHT LONG.  He really had a bad case of the virus.  Also on Friday night, Peyton began to run a fever of 101.  We watched him through the night, but by Saturday morning it was up to 102.6.  So off to the doctor we went and he was sent for an RSV test, a flu test, and a chest x-ray.  The RSV and flu were negative, and the radiologist didn't see anything on the x-ray.  My doctor was a little concerned about one spot in his lungs, but we decided to watch him overnight and see if his fever went down on its own.  Well, then his fever got up to 103.  So she decided to call us in some antibiotics and treat him for pneumonia.  Sunday, Daniel began to complain of his stomach hurting and showed other signs of the stomach virus...if you know what I mean..(I won't go into grave detail).  So yesterday, everyone stayed home from school.  Obviously we have been doing a whole lot of laying around and TV watching around here.  Since they were on the mend (so I thought), they wanted to paint yesterday, and I let them...

 They decided to write love notes to everyone in our family.  Note to family members...they weren't done yet, so if you don't see your name....never fear...I'm pretty sure they ended up covering EVERYONE! :)  As you can see, Daniel's were very efficient.....just like a man.  Same color, same saying...just a different name on each one.

 Lily on the other hand, took her time.  And changed colors with each line (so she put it).  And as you can also see, when she runs out of room...it's no problem.  She just puts it anywhere else it'll fit.  As long as all the letters make it on the page that's all that matters.  She actually has gotten much better with this when she writes, but I guess when you paint there are different rules....I mean it is harder after all. :)

 And I think Austin just put every color on his page and never dipped his brush in the water in between.  And he just did one and then was done.  I'm not sure who this masterpiece is supposed to go to...he named many different names while he was painting it.  I guess we can cut it into multiple pieces and send it to each person? :)

 And I just had to include this one.  My Papaw passed away a year and a half ago.  So Lily said she would take this one to heaven with her so she could give it to him.  So sweet.

I was thinking we were on the mend yesterday...until Jason woke up this morning feeling sick, and Daniel threw up.  Who knows why it seems that the virus has to wait 3 full days before it can implant into the next person in our family?  I sure don't.  But hopefully we can be in the clear soon!  Hope you all have a wonderful, germ-free day! :)

Star Day

Our little Lily girl was the Star Student of the Month in her class for the month of January!  We are so proud of her!!  And she was quite proud of herself too!  We found out around mid-January that she had received this award.  The Star Assembly, the short little ceremony at school where they recognized her, was scheduled for the beginning of February.  Lily couldn't wait.  She was writing notes left and right saying "Lily is a star."  She was constantly asking, "How much longer?"  She had her outfit picked out for over a week.  And then...of all things, the week of the Star Assembly, I think we had a 2 hour delay everyday due to the weather.  So it had to be postponed.  Finally, last Wednesday, was the Star Assembly.  Lily was so cute. 

 As you can see all the other kids were dressed in their normal school clothes.  Not Lily.  She was all decked out in her favorite dress, necklace, and of course, her high heels.  After all, this was a very special occasion.  And she was soo serious too.  It was absolutely adorable.

 The principal giving Lily her reward...

 We kept trying to get a picture of her afterwards.  She hasn't quite mastered the smile without looking like she's worried or in pain.  :)

Oh, she is such a cute little princess.  We sure do love our little Star and are so very proud of her!!  Way to go Lily!!

Wrestling

Daniel and Austin have been wrestling this winter.  It has been so incredibly adorable watching them.  And I might add, it is a very intense sport to watch.  I have about a million videos of each of the boys wrestling and maybe one day I'll post one, but it takes a very long time to post a video on here, so that will have to come later. 

So far they have wrestled in 3 tournaments.  Now, mind you...these tournaments are ALL DAY LONG.  Like we get there around 6 or 7 in the morning and aren't done sometimes until 5 that evening.  But, the kids have done great being there all day!  At these tournaments, Austin has earned two 2nd place trophies and Daniel has earned one 3rd place trophy and one 4th place trophy.  They are so proud of them...

 Lily wanted in on some of the action...

...and so am I.  They are mantle worthy (one is Daniel's baseball trophy)!

 They will have one more tournament next weekend that they'll attend and then that will probably be it for the year.  It really has been so cute watching them out there, and watching them learn.  I'm so proud of my boys!

Tennessee Christmas

Christmas in February?  I think so.  So for Christmas this year we took a trek down to Tennessee.  We left early Christmas morning and headed to Dayton to see Jason's family (minus Molly and Mike...we missed you guys!).  Jason's brother and his family were in from Georgia (close to Savannah), so we got to visit with them as well!  We hadn't seen them in just over a year, so it was long overdue and we had such a good time!!  Here's a few pics of everyone opening presents...

 For the first time in our 8 years of marriage, we are at least an hour from a Sonic.  We may have never lived close to a Chick-fil-A, but we have ALWAYS had a Sonic within a few minutes.  So each time we go to Tennessee, Sonic (along with Chick-fil-A of course) is a must!  Peyton is trying his very best to get his first introduction to Sonic...

 So we stayed in Dayton from Christmas evening (Tuesday) until Friday morning.  And on Friday morning, we headed to Memphis to see my family.  My one sister and her family live in Memphis, and my other sister was able to come in from Charleston, SC.  It was so much fun visiting with everyone there too!  And of course we had more presents to open...

We stayed in Memphis from Friday evening until Monday morning.  Then Monday morning we headed back to Dayton, spent Monday night there, and headed back to Maryland on Tuesday.  I think in the span of that week (Tuesday to Tuesday) we drove over 2,000 miles.  It was a long trip, and we only got a couple of days with each family, but it was so worth it.  Our kids had an absolute blast with all their cousins and grandparents and aunts and uncles; and Jason and I had a blast with everyone as well.  And Peyton...wow...for a 4 month old baby to travel 2,000 miles in a week, he sure didn't cry very much at all!  Of course at each destination, he had PLENTY of people who wanted to hold him, so he rarely was put down.  Each time I think about that trip it just brings warm feelings to my heart.  We are so blessed to have such wonderful families that we love spending time with!!  I can't wait til next time we are all together again!!

Five Months Old

Howdy folks!  Let's forget the fact that this is the first time I've posted on here in almost a month.  Ok thanks. :)  So in the last month, Peyton has gone from 4 months to 5 months....that tends to happen in that amount of time.  He is such a precious little bundle of joy. 

Poor baby has been sick with the flu this week, so I haven't gotten very many pictures of him.  Mostly because I'm holding him constantly.  But here's a little about little Peyton at 5 months (he was 5 months on January 29th, btw)...
-He loves to smile. 
-He loves his big brothers and big sister.
-He probably could roll over, but he really doesn't b/c I don't think he cares a bit about it. 
-He is getting very close to sitting up.
-He has been a very good sleeper until he's gotten sick.
-He grabs at everything!
-He loves for you to let him stand when you're holding him.
-He still loves to be talked to and paid attention to...which is usually not a problem in this house.
-He loves to be carted around in the baby backpack...facing out of course.
-He is weighing about 15 pounds now...about the 50th percentile for weight and the 75th for height.
-He still loves the bath!
Overall, he is just a very happy baby!  We all love him very much.  The kids are constantly saying, "I'm so glad we have a little baby!"  They also add that they never want him to grow up.  He's a doll.  And I may kiss his cheeks so many times that they might just fall right off his face.  Happy 5 months Peyton!!