Our Family Pictures: What a week (may 4

Well this had been a crazy week since I last typed updates. Monday Katelyn was sent home from school because her belly was hurting her, the nurse also said her throat was really swollen and strep throat was going around. Her belly had hurt her a little over the weekend and she had a fever on and off but she had seemed fine that morning so I sent her; only to have gotten home to have already missed the school nurse calling. She woke up Tuesday still complaining of her stomach hurting so I called the doctor and we couldn’t get in until Wednesday. So Wednesday we go to the doctors and the doctor tells me it is just a virus she is fine to return to school. So Thursday once again we are off to school only to get a call again saying that her stomach is hurting her and she has been crying the entire time. So I pick her up and the nurse tells me she thinks it may be a UTI because she keeps going to the bathroom and says it hurts. So I call the doctor again and can’t get through so I leave messages. So I take Katelyn and Grace (the girl we take to and from school) to the ER in Stafford (about 10 miles away) to get a quick urinalysis done. Well quick is something that most ER’s do not know. Within the first 20 mins they do the urine sample and say it has bacteria and blood and say that it is a UTI, she also comments on how swollen both of Katelyn’s tonsils are and says it might be tonsillitis. However, we don’t leave until 3 ½ hours later – instead all we do is sit there. Although the girls were good they can only be confined in a cell like room for so long! In the end they gave her a prescription to treat it and sent us on our way. Getting it filled was another 45 min wait!

Friday we get up and are suppose to be leaving for Raleigh, NC where we are attending a benefit dinner for Archie McFayden, who passed away a little over 3 yrs ago while boating in NC. Katelyn is doing okay but is still having the fever and her stomach is still hurting. After numerous discussions we decide it will be okay to go and head out of town around 11:30. We figured we would drive a little and get some lunch along the way. Only our plan didn’t account that when we got to 85 and 1 that there would be NO WHERE TO STOP. Not a gas station or anything. So we ended up driving almost the entire way (15 mins shy of the hotel) before we ate. I wouldn’t recommend being in a car with Justin, Katelyn and myself while we are hungry - not always a pleasant time :-) But we made it, filled up on Mickey D’s and checked in to the hotel. We were even able to spend a little time in the pool before we had to get ready.

The dinner/dance was very nice. We were able to spend time with the family who has become very good friends of ours. Outside the church where it was going on there was a playground so Katelyn was able to run around and have some fun too. She was amazing considering how much her stomach had hurt, the long week, and the late night. Once again we didn’t eat much b/c well we are from the North and we are not big BBQ Pork eaters and hushpuppies eaters. So once we got back to the hotel Justin went an found a Taco Bell for the three of us – I know we are dorks and way too picky, but hey that’s us!

The hotel we were staying at was super nice. It was a brand new Marriott just built and it was amazing. Outside the hotel there was a huge shopping/gathering place. On Sunday Morning a bunch of vendors set up and people walk around the kids play and the parents just sit around and relax – it was very nice. I guess they put free concerts there in the summer. Justin’s favorite thing about the hotel was the tv built into the mirror in the bathroom. He swears that when we build our house that we will have that too – we’ll just have to see when the time comes, but for now we can dream about it! On our way home Saturday we decided that we would stop at Kings Dominion for a little bit. Looking back now it may not have been the smartest decision we have ever made. Katelyn had fun, but only for a little bit – she kept getting really hot then really cold. We were only there for about 2 hours and she only did a few rides but it was more than enough.

Sunday – Mother’s Day: We would like to say Happy Mother’s Day to all the wonderful mom’s out there. We hope you had a very good day. We would like to say a very special happy mother’s day to our mom’s. It is from your influences that we are who we are. You have shown us through your own actions about compassion, honesty, friendship, and scarf ices. We are truly blessed to have you for our moms. And to our sisters: Jamie, Courtney, and Stephanie you are all great moms. You have not always had it easy but you have made it easy to love your children. You have made tremendous sacrifices to give your children the things they need and they are very fortunate and lucky to have you as their mom. We have to beautiful, strong, funny, and caring nieces thanks to you Courtney and Stephanie. And Jamie we have a wonderful, sensitive, determine, and caring nephew because of you. We can only hope that Katelyn has attributes as wonderful as Austin, Baelaya and Caddie. Jamie, I know you don’t know this or believe it but you give me a lot of guidance – so thank you so much for being the person you are!

All in all this was a wonderful weekend. We manage to do a lot in the few days and we had an action packed week with doctor appointments and other happenings. Take care!

Girls before the dinner