Thanksgiving and a Sick Little Turkey

     Bright and early on Thanksgiving morning, Ryan, Rylee and I packed up and got into the car with Ryan's parents to head to Georgia to visit Ryan's mom's family. We were in the car for what seemed like ages, but when we got there, it was surely more than worth it! Thanksgiving dinner was ready and waiting for us when we got there, so we dove right in. It was yummy! In typical picky-eater fashion, Rylee only ate a piece of cornbread and a brownie. She doesn't know what she's missing! Maybe next year she'll actually eat some turkey on Thanksgiving! This year I am definitely thankful for my wonderful family: Ryan and Rylee mean the world to me. I am thankful for all the blessings God has placed in my life, all the opportunities available to me, and the way God's been moving in my life.

     After we had lunch, Uncle Phil asked us if we wanted to take Rylee on a golf cart ride, and we did. We took her down to the park, and Ryan, Rylee, Uncle Phil, and I had such a good time. Rylee swung on the swings for a while, and then she slid down the slide over and over again. She even slid down with us completely letting go of her which was a first. She had a lot of fun. When we got back to the house, Aunt Andrea and Ryan's cousin Alex had set up a bunch of toys for Rylee to play with while we stayed there. She was really excited to try out each and every one. She played and played until she wore herself out and had to be put to bed. Ryan's parents left to go stay with Ryan's Maw maw who is in poor health, and Ryan and I stayed at Uncle Phil's and Aunt Andrea's. We play Bezzerwizzer, and then Ryan and his cousin Paul went Black Friday shopping, and I worked on some homework and went to bed.

          Friday we had big plans to go do a movie marathon, but they got sidetracked. Rylee was not feeling very well. She woke up Tuesday morning with a runny nose, but I didn't think anything of it because she gets a runny nose about every other week due to teeth or weather changes or whatever. But Friday Rylee developed a fever and I began to worry about her because all she wanted to do was sleep. Our plans also got sidetracked because we were supposed to start the marathon early in the day, but Melanie and Josh didn't get there until late afternoon, and we got a late start. After giving Rylee some medicine to get her fever down, she was acting better, so we decided to go out to dinner. When we got there, she was miserable. She slept on mine or Ryan's shoulder throughout the entire meal. The poor thing was burning up. We decided to skip going to a movie altogether and just head home and rent one When we got home, I took Rylee's temp and it was 103! We put her in a lukewarm bath and gave her some medicine and decided to just put her to bed and see how she was in the morning before taking any further action. We went downstairs and watched Captain America with the family and enjoyed the movie as much as we could.

     On Saturday morning Rylee woke up and still had a temp. She had lost her voice and was coughing and wheezing, and we were worried she might get pneumonia or something, so we decided to take her to Urgent Care. She was so miserable: she was either sleeping or crying the entire time we were there. The doctor barely even checked her out and then dismissed our concerns and told us she simply had a cold. He didn't do any tests or anything. He wouldn't give her any medicine, so it was pretty much a complete waste of time.

     Today, we headed back to Tennessee. Rylee had a bit more energy today and her fever never got high again, so we were relieved. She was so happy to be home, she went in her room and immediately started playing. Then, a couple hours later, she started to get fussy and her fever came back. We put her in the bath and put her to bed just before seven and now I'm listening to her coughing in her sleep over the monitor. I'm praying that she gets better soon.

A Love Story

    Ryan and I met in the fifth grade when we were both in Mrs. Hendren's class. We weren't really friends or anything; we just knew each other existed. Then junior year of high school, we were in Pre-Calculus together. He got on my very last nerve! Hahahahaha! I remember telling Mrs. Martha that I just HAD to go to sleep in that class because if I had to listen to him and his remarks I would lose it! Of course, I was overly dramatic like any other seventeen-year-old, but it is so funny to us now how much things have changed.

     Senior year, we had AP Calculus together. There were only nine of us in there, and it was a full year class, so we all got pretty close throughout the year. I actually started to think some of Ryan's silly remarks were funny--SOME of them! Ha! Second semester, Ryan and I had EVERY single class together. I told him that it was destiny, and we were now best friends. We started talking a lot and realized we had a lot in common. We never even thought about being anything more than friends (at least I didn't ;)), but we had definitely become really good friends. The very last day of class in Advanced Mixed Choir, I started crying because I really liked choir, and it was our very last concert and I felt like it was going to suck because our normal director, Mr. Patterson, was having some heart problems, and wasn't going to be able to make it, and all anyone did in class was argue, not rehearse! Ryan made me laugh and gave me a hug, and it was a really sweet moment. Instinctively, I kissed him on the cheek and thanked him for being so sweet. I know this sounds cheesey, but it gave me butterflies, and, at the time, I was seeing someone else, so I couldn't figure out why, and I just ignored it. After graduation, we didn't talk very much because we are both kinda anti-social, and apparently he had feelings for me, and I still was dating someone else, so he didn't really want to be around me. We saw each other at University of Memphis's orientation. We hung out in a group, but we didn't really get a good chance to talk. 



      The summer went along, I went through a pretty rough break-up and decided to move out into my very own apartment. School started and I had a class with Ryan's roommate, Will, who we also went to high school with. Will and I got along pretty well and our class together was pretty awful, so we talked a lot to try and make it through. We were pretty good friends and had hung out a couple of times over the summer, so we just continued to be friends as usual. He and Ryan didn't take to living together very well, so I listened to him complain about Ryan from time to time and wondered what Ryan had been up to. I didn't have any classes with Ryan, so we didn't really talk until about halfway through the semester. Then he asked me to go to lunch with him and we went and we ended up sitting in a booth talking for two and a half hours. I guess we missed each other. ;) We made plans to meet up again in a few days and register for classes together, and we went our separate ways.

     After we got done registering for classes, I asked Ryan to go eat with me and he agreed, but he didn't have any money so he refused to order anything, he just sat in there with me. Haha! After we ate, I drove back to his dorm to drop him off and we ended up sitting in the parking lot listening to music and talking for hours. Then it happened: we kissed. "Take Me With You" by Secondhand Serenade was playing on a CD in my car, and there was a pause in the conversation, he looked at me and kinda leaned his head, and I just kissed him. It was a crazy, everything is going to change now, kind of moment.  After that moment we were inseparable. That day was November 11, 2008. Two days later on November 13, Ryan asked me to be his girlfriend. Three years ago today. :) The rest is a roller coaster of ups (and a few downs) that led to the altar six months later and happily ever after ever since. :)

Look Who's Walking!

      On Tuesday, November 8, 2011, sometime before noon, Rylee finally took off walking. Now she's a walking machine!!

      On Sunday evening, I was sitting in Rylee's room playing with her before bed and she stood up by her book shelf and just walked over to me and sat in my lap with a book. She took about 10 steps. But I couldn't get her to do it again. And she didn't try it again on Monday, so I considered it a fluke. Then yesterday, while I was completing my last set of field hours at Crestview, Rylee took off. Ryan said she was standing by her high chair eating some animal crackers then just started to take steps towards him and Melanie who just so happened to be visiting. Then she did it again and again and she walked several times yesterday. Ryan took 2 videos with his phone and sent them to me, and I couldn't believe how good she was at it! I was kinda sad that I missed it, but when I went to pick her up from Granny's after class last night she walked for me several times and I felt better once I saw it with my own eyes. I am kinda sad that my camera wasn't home, so I didn't get a good video of it until today, but day 2 is still a good memory. :)

      Rylee is 16.5 months old. She has been acting like she was ready to walk since her first birthday. I've been thinking it would be "any day now" for so long, that I kinda started to give up on that. I knew she would walk eventually; I just wasn't sure it would be anytime soon. I am so proud of her! Last night, I showed my entire class on Infant and Toddler Development the video that Ryan sent me of her walking over the projector in the classroom. I just love to brag about my big girl.

Restful Weekend

     We have had a wonderful weekend. Thursday I had field hours at Crestview during the morning, but when I got home, I stayed home. I did not go to class. I know it's bad, but it felt really good to spend some quality time with my buggy. We laid in bed, snuggled, and watched Veggietales together. It was absolutely wonderful and much-needed, I might add. On Friday, I had field hours at Crestview in the morning, but I don't have class on Friday nights, so Rylee and I went grocery shopping and then spent some more quality time together that night.

      Saturday, Ryan, Rylee, and I went to Dyersburg to do a little shopping and have lunch. Ryan and I got shirts to wear for our Christmas card photos that would look good with Rylee's dress that I got a while back. We walked around the mall a little while, Rylee played in the little rides they have, and then we got some lunch at Applebee's. After lunch, we went to Walmart and picked up some Christmas decorations. Can you tell I'm ready for the holiday's this year? I'm super excited about Christmas, because Rylee's older now and I think she'll get into it a bit more!

     Today, we got up and went to church. We haven't been going as regularly as we should lately, for a lot of different reasons, but since we had an extra hour of sleep last night, we woke up ready to go! Rylee looked precious (as always, in my opinion) in a cute fall jumper. She also went to the nursery for the first time today, and she did pretty well. I have been putting off putting her in the nursery for so long because she's never been with anyone but family, but I figured it was time for her to be introduced to something new. She was unsure about it and wanted the sweet nursery helper to hold her the entire time she was in there, but she didn't have a break down or anything, so I would say it went well. :)