Fun Times

Hey guys! I know it's been a week since I've posted, and I kind of did that on purpose. We just got back from an eventful trip to Dallas, TX. I would have warned you, but I didn't want to post our departure on the internet, just in case there is anyone out there who might take that as an invitation to come raid our house or something. (Weird stalker person, if you are out there and you decide to intrude on our next vacation, could you focus on taking the living room furniture so I can get some new stuff with the insurance money?? :)

At any rate, we took a road trip to Dallas to see my sister and her husband who have lived there for 2 years, now. Christa followed in the footsteps of my sister by getting sick on Tuesday - the day before we were supposed to leave. (Alicia did this all the time when we were kids). Christa threw up for the first time ever on Tuesday, and ran a little fever that evening, but seemed to recover quickly. I called her doctor the next day morning, just to be sure we would be OK to leave, but the practice couldn't work her into the schedule. I got spoiled in Augusta with all of our doctors - we NEVER had a problem getting into see someone exactly when we wanted. Oh well - it's the price of living in a small town, I guess. Her doctor is great, anyway. Christa seemed fine, so we began our 800 mile trek. We broke the trip into two days, just to make life easier on everyone and arrived in Texas on Thursday evening. Just as we were getting ready to go to dinner, Christa started acting especially fussy, and although we were tempted to attribute the fussiness to the long trip, we took her temperature just to be sure. The fever was back - not high, but there, nonetheless. Cline generously offered to stay with her and eat room service at the hotel so that I could go eat some Tex-Mex with Alicia and Brandon. It was YUMMY, although in Texas, the queso is yellow - not white like it is here.

After dinner, we had a good night's rest, and Christa seemed good as new on Friday morning with no trace of a fever. Cline and I thought she might be cutting her 2 year molars, so Alicia and I took her to the mall, while Cline caught a work out. Later, we got sisterly pedicures while Cline and Christa napped at the hotel, and then we all went to a place called Texas de Brazil for dinner. It's a really neat all-you-can-eat Brazilian steakhouse where the staff bring various steaks/meats to your table all evening. Not a good place to go if you're on a diet... or pregnant and likely to throw up of you eat 1 bite too much :) It was also delicious, and I decided to forego the meat, and enjoy the salad bar. Cline gorged himself, and had his own bathroom time later on, but said it was totally worth it :)

Late Friday night, Christa woke up sicker than I have ever seen her. She was burning up and slept with Cline and I for the rest of the night. This is the first time she's slept in our bed since she was a newborn - she always prefers her own space! All she would do was lay her head on our shoulders, and just as we were thinking about taking her to the ER, even though it was 2 am, she got comfortable again and fell back to sleep. On Saturday, we did spend the day in the ER, since she still had a fever, although it was lower by that point. Luckily, our hotel was right across the interstate from a large children's hospital, and they were wonderful. We felt confident that Christa just had a virus, but by that point her fever had gone on for 5 days, and we were worried she might need antibiotics. Plus, we didn't want to head back home, get stuck in the middle of nowhere, and have her take a turn for the worse. So, Saturday was pretty rough for all of us, since the doctor agreed she needed a full work-up, just to be sure. All of her tests came back negative and we concluded that she did, in fact, have a virus, and we would be safe to travel home on Sunday. She's been fine ever since (knock on huge piece of wood), and seems back to her old self now.

We got home yesterday, and may hit the beach over the weekend or something, since we missed out on some of the fun activities. It was great to see Alicia and Brandon, though, and we were able to make the best of the trip, despite the challenges. They're coming this way for a visit in June, so, hopefully, we'll all be healthy and ready to have fun then! I took a few pictures, which I will post in the next day or so. For now I'm taking advantage of Cline's time off to unpack and do some Spring organizing. (I'm hoping someone else - i.e. a maid of some sort - will do the cleaning/scrubbing part as a Mother's Day present - hint, hint, Cline :)

Have a great day!