Greyson is sick

After coming home from day care yesterday with a 102 degree fever and no other symptoms, I gave Greyson a dose of Tylenol and then he went down for a nap. An hour and half later he woke up still running a 102 degree fever! This surprised me and I called the clinic. They said to bring him and off we went. They checked him over and took some blood to check his white blood cell count. Then they came back and said that his WBC count was high and I should go to the children's hospital ER - ughh, not only was I not looking forward to an ER visit but this also meant that my baby could be REALLY sick! So when I got there, it was 3:30pm so we were sent back pretty quickly. The doc checked him over and said that they needed blood, urine, and they needed to get an xray for their tests to determine if he had a bacterial infection. Hmm... my thoughts immediately came out of my mouth by saying, "and how do you get those?" The lady doc looked at me kind of amused and said, "it is a little more difficult with these little ones..." So they ended up give Greyson an IV and taking his blood that way, cathing him for his urine, and strapping him down to a backboard for the xray. Needless to say, Greyson was not happy! Every time I would get him settled down from the last procedure, they would come in saying they were ready for the next one. He got to the point that he would just cry every time someone walked in our room. All the tests came back without indications of a bacterial infection so they used the IV to give him a prophylactic antibiotic and sent us home saying that it is most likely viral and that it just needs to run its course. Greyson is still running the 102 degree fever and I'm giving him Tylenol in an attempt to make him comfortable (with little success). I hope his fever breaks soon! I have to call in a little bit to get him in for another appointment at the clinic this afternoon. Wish us luck...

Greyson with his IV in his ankle.

Greyson getting his antibiotic.

"Rhodes' pictures" updated

Just a message to tell you guys that I have attempted to get my Webshots pictures caught-up. I have pics posted through the end of January now... whew! That was a lot of work getting them all out there! Sifting through the tons of pics we have and choosing which to post and them name them.... but they are out there now. Here are the January pictures. You can see other albums by clicking on "Rhodes' pictures" in the sidebar. Enjoy!



January 2007

The right weekend to be in Dallas!

This past weekend, I took a trip to Dallas. I had planned it to get out of Minnesota and warm up a little and since tickets to Dallas are CHEAP (relatively speaking) and I have friends there, I decided Dallas was the place to be. And *yipee*, I picked the right weekend! While I was gone, the high for the weekend was O degrees and the low was -17 degrees (that does NOT include wind chill)!!!! I took Greyson but had left Ben and Madelyn at home. With the exception of the routine excursion to church, they huddled inside the whole weekend. With those temps, I don't blame them! So, now you ask, "what did you do in Dallas?" I was visiting some friends (AKA my sisters-in-law and mother-in-law). One of Ben's sisters lives in Dallas and the others drove in. We had fun visiting, passing Greyson around, painting pottery, watching movies, making meals, dyeing our hair, and going to a high school musical. We had a great time! Here are some pictures to enjoy...

Hanging out at Hobby Lobby - There was a LOT of stuff I wanted

but didn't have room to bring home!

Steph made us a FANTASTIC pasta dinner!
And Christina got the china out for us.

Stephanie gave Greyson a bath!

At Paint Yer Pottery - this was so much fun!

At the high school musical during intermission.
Brandon, Christina's husband, was the music instructor/sound guy.

Highlighting our hair - it hurts to be beautiful!

The only snag in the trip was the flight back from Dallas. I was scheduled to take the 5:30 pm flight non-stop to Minneapolis. We boarded and left the gate on time but as we got out to the runway we pulled off to the side and watched other planes pass us by for about 20 minutes before the captain came on and told us that there was a warning light that wouldn't turn off. They were getting input from the mechanics back at the gate and would try again. 10 minutes later they said that didn't work and we were going back to the gate (ugghhh!) so they could give it a try. So back to the gate to sit for about 10 minutes before they announced that we needed to de-plane (double ugggghhh!!) and that a replacement plane was on its way to arrive at 8pm. As I got off the plane I called NWA and asked what my options were. They basically said that the plane arriving at 8pm was my only choice. So, now I was stucking sitting at the gate for almost an extra 2 hours.... As I was walking back into the gate area, I realized that I hadn't eaten in a few hours so I headed to the food court area. I was surprised to see most of the food joints closed except Taco Bell. It was obvious that the manager had caught wind of our delay and had required his workers to stay on to serve us - the workers were obviously unhappy. So, I got a taco combo and thanked them for staying open. There were a couple of other families with small children waiting too, so we all kinda clustered in the same area and talked and let the kids play together. Thankfully, the plane arrived at about 8:30pm and we were able to board about 9pm and took off without incident. Unfortunately, when we arrived at MSP at 11:30pm, with everyone itching to get off and get to there destination, the jetway (the ramp that extends to the plane) wouldn't connect to the plane (ugghhh again!). We sat there for 30 more minutes waiting for that to get fixed! It was quite interesting watching the jetway go back and forth trying agian and again... and again! The captain even announced, "This is quite comical from the cockpit. Not sure if we have a dumb jetway driver or if there really is a problem, but we will get you off and on your way as soon as we can." Finally, I was able to get off the plane and get home... I'm actually quite fortunate, with all the flying that we have done, we haven't had a major delay like this in a very long time.

Unfortunately, as soon as we got back from Dallas, Greyson started acting sick. It took a couple of days to set in but today he started running a fever and had to come home from school. Now, I have to try and keep Greyson as comfortable as possible and attempt keeping the rest of us from getting sick!

Psalm 8 - Brings back good memories

1 O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!
You have set your glory above the heavens.
2 From the lips of children and infants you have ordained praise
because of your enemies, to silence the foe and the avenger.
3 When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers,
the moon and the stars, which you have set in place,
4 what is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him?
5 You made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor.
6 You made him ruler over the works of your hands; you put everything under his feet:
7 all flocks and herds, and the beasts of the field,
8 the birds of the air, and the fish of the sea, all that swim the paths of the seas.
9 O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!

As I read Psalm 8 the other night as part of my New Year's goal, it brought back some great memories - memories of a church and its people in Burtonsville, MD, Liberty Grove United Methodist Church. I attended this church with my family from the summer of 1991 to when I left for college in 1994. One of my favorite things about attending this church was that I was able to sing the adult choir. I loved it! I loved the people too. The adults greeted me with open arms and let me sing with them every week. This is where I learned the little that I know about singing and also where I learned things about what it meant to be an adult from the wonderful examples that I had around me. Anyway... It is wonderful to think about those days. Out of all the songs that I learned in that time (probably about 150 - one a week for 3 years), one song in particular stands out to me - a song named "The Majesty and Glory of Your Name." Ever since I learned it, I can sing it from memory. I have sung it many, many times in my life. Many times in bathrooms, from the bathroom in my parents' house to the shower stalls in my college community bathroom to the shower in my own house. There is something about the echoing bathroom that makes every song sound great... However, this song has touched my soul, it has taught me and reiterated over and over to me things about God. It has placed me in awe of God, humbled, and at other times given me much needed encouragement. I hope that you, too, are touched by its words.

The Majesty and Glory of Your Name (Fettke)
When I gaze into the night sky and see the work of your fingers,
The Moon and stars suspended in space.
Oh what is man, that you are mindful of him?

You have given man a crown of glory and honor
And have made him a little lower than the angels.
You have put him in charge of all creation
The beasts of the field, the birds of the air, the fish of the sea.
But what is man, what is man?

O Lord our God, the majesty and glory of your name
Transcends the earth and fills the heavens.
O Lord our God, little children praise you perfectly.
And so would we, and so would we.
Alleluia, Alleluia, the majesty and glory of your name!

First video (although, a little out-dated)

I just found that Webshots lets me upload videos and then post them on my blog. This isn't a very high quality video but it is a cute one! It is from the beginning of August. Incidently, I think this was the last time we washed our car...



Madelyn washing the car

Good first day!

Along with my first day back to work, yesterday was also Greyson's first day at daycare (or school, as we call it). Here is a picture his teacher took of him with a new little friend, Mia. And there is that snake again!! For those of you that remember, Madelyn also liked the snake (see pic below). Greyson has the same teacher as Madelyn did at his age so he gets to play with the snakes too! It seems that the babies like them alot. They are the rubber kind that won't break off in their mouths and they like to chew them. I think they fell good on those teething gums! I always teased that she was flossing with it...

Anyway! I seriously think something is wrong with me! I had a great day yesterday! I didn't get all emotional or anything. I guess I'm just really comfortable with where Greyson is and how he is going to be taken care of. Not that much has happened at work while I've been gone. Getting back into the swing of things hasn't been hard at all. All of my emails have been opened and I have tasks ready to be worked on. It's nice to see the co-workers again and catch up on what life has been throwing at them. Yesterday and today I have been pretty sleepy in the afternoons... why aren't there cots to take catnaps in?

Madelyn is also doing pretty well. In general, life didn't change for her at all yesterday. She went to daycare during my maternity leave just as she does when I'm work - T, W, Th. So, going to school for her yesterday was in the same routine. However, she did ask "Mommy, what you doing?" when she saw that I was all dressed up and putting on makeup. And when I said that I was going to work, she looked at me puzzled. I guess she doesn't really remember me getting ready for work before. I was almost always in bed when she and Ben left in the morning.

I say that Madelyn is doing pretty well, instead of great, because she is seriously in the "terrible two's". She is throwing fits at the drop of a hat. She knows what she wants and doesn't give up easily when we say no. She pushes her boundaries constantly - always looking for a way to get what she wants. And she is a sneaky booger sometimes! She will wait until you aren't looking to do whatever it is and then act like she didn't do it! Hmmm... the downfalls to having a smart kid. We have a beanbag that she sits on when she is disobeying us or when she starts throwing a fit. It works most of the time but sometimes it takes sitting on the beanbag 3 or 4 times before her attitude changes. I keep saying the same thing to myself lately to get through the "not so cute" moments - consistency and patience! However, there are plenty of "cute moments" too. Madelyn got two VeggieTales DVDs for Christmas that are compilations of the songs on their other DVDs. We have some much fun watching them with her! She loves them and the songs are so cute. We all have our favorite ones. Ben's favorite is Endangered Love. Madelyn's favorite is My Hairbrush, and my favorite is I Love My Lips. You can check these out on YouTube if you're interested.