Poor little girl

Ryleigh was so sick. She ran a fever for 2 days, and now here we are, almost 6 days later, and the poor girl is still very congested. We just let her lay around in her diaper for 2 days, to try to keep her temperature down. Her little flushed cheeks and clammy hands were so cute, and yet so sad.

I have also heard of 2 other mothers whose babies got sick with the same thing in the past 3 days...so all you moms out there, beware! It comes quick and hard! And the poor little ones seem so very miserable, it just breaks your heart.
Can you see the ringworm circular rash? Very strange...

A Christmas to Remember

Christmas 2007 will definitely go down in the books, for many reasons. It was a fun holiday season, with stories and 'firsts' like no other. So if you are not interested, stop reading here. Otherwise, brace yourself for one long story, of our Christmas 2007.

Christmas Eve
Christmas Eve was hectic. I had completed most of my shopping, but had a few last stops to make. Ryleigh went with me, and was a real trooper, dealing with the traffic and crowds. We returned home in the afternoon to finish wrapping the gifts and get ready for the Christmas Eve service at church. I got Ryleigh all dressed up in her pretty dress, tights, and black satin shoes, and we headed to church, despite the fact we were a little late. We arrived and quickly checked Ryleigh into the nursery, then went to the service. Unfortunately, the sanctuary was completely full and they were not really letting anyone else in! (That's what we get for being late!) So, we went and got Ryleigh and decided we would go grab a bite to eat and come back for the next service. (We did get to see Adrienne and her little cuties; it was great to see you, and we hope you had a Merry Christmas!) After dinner, we went back to church and were early. :) Once again, we checked Ryleigh into the nursery. I stayed in there a bit and tried to rock her to sleep. She was definitely tired, and considering I had planned on being home around 7:00 pm...we were pushing her a little far without sleep or food. I warned the staff, and they said not to worry. I went to the service. About 45 minutes into the service, they called us (they flash a number on the screen). Jesse went out to find them holding a red-faced, screaming Ryleigh at the front of the children's entrance. After he did not return to the service for 5 minutes, I left, and we all went home. Poor girl. We have never been called out of a service before!! We just stretched her too thin. Once we got home and we bathed and fed her, she was perky again. I took her picture in her Christmas PJs, in front of the tree filled with presents! She went to sleep and slept all night long- Mommy's Christmas wish come true! :)

Christmas morning
Since we have had Ryleigh, suddenly it feels like we really are our own family- no longer just an extension off either of our families. So this year, we decided we were going to exchange Christmas stockings at our house before we went to my parents for the day. Jesse made cinnamon rolls and apple cider, we listened to Christmas music, and each individually opened our stockings. (Now people, be nice. Remember it is early in the morning, so sleepy eyes and no makeup are the standard...)
Ryleigh was in a great mood all morning!
Jesse opening the toy balls for Jersey- Jersey watching very intently...
Daddy helped Ryleigh with her stocking, which had a new Baby Einstein's CD and DVD, and a few other little goodies.
Mommy and Ryleigh both love Reeses! :)
It was a special morning, celebrating by ourselves, as our own family. I'm sure as Ryleigh gets older and has siblings, we will start to stay home more for Christmas and make our own family traditions. :)


Christmas Day
So after our morning at home, we loaded up all our presents and headed over to my parent's house for Christmas. Ryleigh was starting to get a little fussy and sounded congested, so I grabbed her Tylenol and Orajel just in case.

When we walked into my parents, Santa had definitely come! Toys and presents were everywhere, and we even got another stocking at their house! The morning was a lot of fun; watching Ryleigh open her presents was the best. Granted, she could care less what was inside the packages, but man did she have fun taking off the ribbons and pulling off wrapping paper and tissue paper.

Here she is sitting in her own little rocking chair, which was mine as a child, and my mother's before me! She also received a RagedyAnn doll, which my Mimi always thought was a vital toy in any young girl's collection.

Daddy helping Ryleigh tear into one of her presents.
Aunt Sarah helping Ryleigh open up another...
Finally about mid-morning, Ryleigh got too fussy and irritable, so I laid her down for a nap. But Christmas did not stop there!

My Dad pulled this present out from behind the tree for Julie, and all she could say was, "Yay! I got a....club!" Never mind what kind of a club...lol. It was the funny moment of the morning, for sure!

We also had our sibling gift exchange, and Julie was the only one to guess wrong on the first go-around. Haha. We had her fooled! It was sad not having Susan there with us, and I felt especially bad considering I had drawn her, and shipped her package one day too late. Not only was she not there with us, but she also did not have her present on Christmas Day. :( Better luck next year!

A bit later, Ryleigh woke up from her nap- wailing and burning up. She definitely had a fever, so I gave her some Tylenol, fixed her a bottle, and then she was happy again. And so we proceeded with the rest of her Christmas.

Aunt Julie kept making Ryleigh giggle, playing peek-a-boo. She had scared the poo out of Ryleigh the week before, and tried it again on Christmas. Sure enough, Ryleigh jumped and looked scared, but did not start crying or anything this time. They just had fun together. :)

Aunt Julie got Ryleigh a cute Minnie Mouse plate, bowl, and sippy cup. Ryleigh knew exactly where it was supposed to go...just got discouraged when nothing good came out. Gonna have to work on that.
Aunt Sarah and Aunt Julie had a lot of fun getting Ryleigh cute and fun things, and helping her open & play with them.
Aunt Sarah got Ryleigh a Tickle Me Elmo-- and oh my goodness, it was hysterical. Ryleigh was completely enthralled watching Elmo laugh and roll around on the floor. She loves her Elmo doll!

Finally, after lots of presents and a relaxing afternoon watching a movie, it was time for dinner! And what a dinner it was! Turkey, dressing, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, cresant rolls, and all the trimmings. I ate until I was stuffed!
Ryleigh had started to get pretty fussy throughout the afternoon, and was getting more and more congested. We had to change her outfit after she had drooled and sneezed and snotted all over the other one.
After she had fussed long enough, we headed home, dessert in hand. She fussed through her bath (very abnormal) and was struggling to breath with her bottle or pacifier in mouth. I covered her chest with Vicks Baby Rub, set up her vaporizer in her room, and planned on taking her to the doctor in the morning. I also gave her a good dose of Tylenol to try to keep her comfortable.

Well, she did not sleep well; she kept coughing and choking and just seemed plain miserable. So, around 2:00am, I decided I would get her and bring her into our bed. When I picked her up, she was burning up. Seriously- heat was emitting off her body like nothing I had ever experienced. I went to stick the thermometer under her arm, and it started reading at 102...the number kept growing. Jesse and I panicked. It was the first time she has ever been sick! I gave her another dose of Tylenol, and we took her to an emergency center, and saw a doctor at 2:30 in the morning. Sure enough, was she sick!! The poor baby had 104.2 temperature when we arrived. They had us strip her down and gave her another dose of Children's Motrin. The doctor came in and said she had 2 ear infections, a sinus infection, an upper respiratory infection, and ringworm! We have no idea where she got the ringworm, and we had not even noticed the circle patch until they had us strip her down when we got there. An hour later, we left, with prescriptions in hand, and went to the nearest 24-hour pharmacy. We dosed her up with antibiotics, cough medicine, a nasal decongestant, and more Tylenol. We all slept until 10:00 the next morning.

The day after Christmas

We hung around the house in our pajamas all day on Wednesday. Ryleigh was absolutely miserable, barely able to cry she was hurting so bad. Just whined and cuddled (completely unheard of!!) all day long. We spent most of the day giving her medicine and bottles to keep her hydrated.

That evening, Jesse's parent's came over so we could exchange presents. It was the first time Ryleigh had clothes on all day. :) I stuck lasagna in the oven, and we ate dinner and exchanged presents. Ryleigh only lasted about an hour and then began to fuss. But she did have fun with Grandma Carol and Papa for a little bit.

Yay for more presents to open!

So to make a long story short, Christmas was eventful and memorable, for sure. We had a good time, and even though Ryleigh was sick, she still had fun during her good moments. I am thankful for every minute and every "bump in the road" throughout the holiday, because for me, those help me remember! And this is one Christmas I sure do not want to forget.

My little Scottish girl

My mother-in-law called on Friday and said she was going out of town for the weekend, but wanted to drop some things off for Ryleigh before she left...said she "might be able to use them this weekend."

Hehe, she brought three cute little outfits, one of which we dressed Ryleigh in this morning for church. You can't tell in this picture but the top is a thick, fleece-like material, and the hat matches. Considering how cold it was this morning, I'd say it certainly did come in handy!

Thanks, Grandma Carol!

Mommy's little (naked) intellect

A genius in training, I'd say!

The Who Show!

Last Friday Jesse and I went to his annual GCSAA (South Texas) Christmas party. Normally, it is a semi-formal affair, with men in suits. They have an awards show and fancy dinner, and then everyone heads home for an early night in bed.

Not this year. Jesse's brother Justin was President of the organization this year (2007) and the Christmas party was his last big shindig before passing on the job. Justin decided to shake things up a bit this year, and hired a tribute band (The Who Show) to come and rock out the party. They held the event in a rodeo arena, served BBQ, and had everyone dress in 70's attire. Talk about a change in atmosphere!

Jesse, ?, and Justin

Jesse an I in our 70's attire

(I was going for a "Thelma" look, from Scooby-Doo)
me and my sis-in-law, Jenn (wearing a white, leather mini dress! Ha!)
Some of the people Jesse works with, all dressed up

A few of the girls
The band, rockin' out!
Again
The bass guitarist was the most "normal" of the band members...
It was a fun, though late, night. Justin did a great job organizing a heck of a party. It was nice to see the superintendents relax and have fun together, rather than simply work and suits & ties. I think a new tradition was started and there was even some talk of hiring a country singer next year... :) My type of party!

The photo shoot

Haha, my example of the attempt to pose all three girls!

Of course, Ryleigh behaved the best...only because she can't quite crawl yet and was not able to get away! :)





Funny stuff. I imagine in a few years, we will be taking tons of pictures of these little ones all together.

Family Christmas

We celebrated the extended family Christmas last weekend in Dallas. It was a whirlwind of a weekend, but as always, we managed to have a great time, hanging out with my grandparents, aunt & uncles, and cousins we rarely see.

Again, the three baby girls were the highlight of the show. Savannah and Kalia are so cute toddling around! Both are sweet, sweet girls. Ryleigh actually did a great job of sitting up and attempting to open her presents. She was much more interested in the bows and strings than anything else, and of course, everything went straight to her mouth. Just a preview of what is to come on Tuesday!! :)

Here are some pictures from the fun!

Kalia is a present herself!

Michelle & Savannah, Me & Ryleigh, and Ashleigh & Kalia
Ryleigh is such a ham for the camera!
The entire family watching the girls playing on the floor
The girls!

(I think we attempted to pose them for about 10 minutes, and this is the ONLY picture where they are all in the same frame and not crying or running off!)
Ryleigh & Granddad
Matt & Savannah peeking over the stair rail Kalia loves her Aunt Courtney
Savannah loves her Mommy- Kisses all around!
The cousins gift exchange
I love my family so much, and always look forward to short, but super sweet time we get together every year. Merry Christmas to all!

My crazy life

I'm sorry I have been so bad about posting consistently lately! Life has been crazy. And not just a little crazy...full-blown, all-out CRAZY.

I cannot tell you how excited to have this week off work. Jesse also took the week off, and we are so ready for a break.

Hopefully, I will return to my normal self after this week of rest and relaxation, because frankly, I dont like the "me" I see in the mirror right now. Dark circles under my eyes, puffy faced, extra weight from eating 'fast food' (lack of time to shop and cook); basically I look tired. And those are just the physical symptoms. I'm snappy and irritable. I have been more moody the past few weeks than I was the entire time I was pregnant. I'm not fun to be around.

I need this week. And I'm excited. :)

Bring on the sleep! Bring on the fun with Jesse & Ryleigh! Bring on the exercise and fresh air! I'm ready.

(I am going to try to stay off the computer all week, as part of my break. I doubt that happens, but that is my goal. So, if I dont post after Christmas right away, you'll know why.)

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

December is in full force at the Shulse house, and Christmas is definitely on the way! It is strange; Jesse and I will be celebrating our 5th Christmas together this year, as husband and wife, and yet this is the first year it really feels like we are our own family. I'm so excited about waking up Christmas morning, and getting Ryleigh up and celebrating Christmas; despite the fact she will have no idea it is a special day and will have no recollection of the memory. It makes the spirit of Christmas that much stronger when you have a little one to share it with. I'm already looking forward to next year, when she will be toddling around, opening her own presents and playing gleefully around the living room. What joy!

Here we are, as a family, buying our Christmas tree together

Daddy and Ryleigh having fun amidst the trees
Mommy and Ryleigh ventured off to look at the flocked trees...and opt for a photo moment :)
Even an Aggie Christmas outfit! Gig 'Em and Merry Christmas!
Auntie Sus bought Ryleigh this super cute (super TRUE) onesie! :)
Yes, I attempted to pose Ryleigh and Jersey. Silly me, I should have known better. Ryleigh is sitting great on her own, but everytime she sees Jersey she gets so excited...she kicks herself over!

Only two stockings hanging right now...I'm picking Ryleigh's up this week. I'm getting her name put on it.
Merry Christmas!
Jesus IS the reason for the season, and we will always have a manger scene to remind us of this very important fact that (sadly) seems so easy to forget this time of year.
Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!