WiLd Weekend! {for us, anyways...}

Last weekend we were planning on spending the weekend being lazy at home. Matt and Shannon were in town staying with us for a wedding, and we had been sick the weekend before. At the last moment on Saturday morning we decided to change our plans and head to San Antonio for Brooke's second birthday celebration! We had wanted to go originally, just didn't know if we would be up for it. At about 10:30am, we decided that we should definitely go, take advantage of a beautiful day, and spend some time with sweet friends.

So... we loaded up and off we went!

Our first stop was the Henley home where we encountered a perfect princess party! Allison did such a good job with the decorations and details.

It was such a treat to see Matt, too, who is home on his two weeks of R&R during his deployment.

~The Henley Family~

 King Bryson!

 Pin the lips on the frog!

 Cute Cupcakes!

 Friends!

 We had such a good time at the party, and really enjoyed getting to see these sweet friends. We are praying that the rest of Matt's deployment will pass quickly and that he will be home safely before we know it!

After the party my parents met us at the Forum, switched vehicles with us, and took Bryson home so that we could go out to eat dinner.  We met Ruben and Kami, and ALL of Jason's family. Every last one of them! We didn't expect them to be able to make it since the plans were made at the last minute. We ate at Alamo Cafe. The food was De. Lic. Ious. It was so nice to be able to relax and enjoy ourselves while knowing that Bryson was in such good hands. I know that the Ruples really wanted to see Bryson, but I think they all understood that we needed some time away.

We had a wonderful time actually visiting with everyone, and then headed back to my parents' house.

My mom and dad could not stop talking about how funny Bryson is and how he sticks his right arm straight up in the air when he dances. This kid is Mr. Personality Plus! They had a great night with Bryson, which just made our evening that much better.

Here are a few pictures that my mom took on Sunday morning:

 Grandma and Bryson

 I know this one is blurry- but I love their expressions!

 Bryson loves FLYING down the driveway on this little car!

We ate lunch at Adobe on Sunday and then headed home. Bryson slept the entire way home {which is a definite first} and we could not have had a better trip.

We came home to piles of laundry and a filthy house, but I have to say that none of that mattered. We had an amazing time and are so thankful for the time that we got to spend with our friends and family.

I'm seeing a lot more impromptu trips in our {very near} future...

Totally Random Re-Cap...

The last week or so in the Ruple household has been pretty miserable.

Let me explain:

Friday 1/7/11: Bryson gets a new high-chair. Life is good.

 Saturday 1/8/11: Mykah turns 2 and we help her celebrate at her "Pajamas and Pancakes" party.

 Close-up of the cake that is actually donut holes on skewers. So cute!

 Bryson working on making a fruit-loop necklace...

 Most of the fruit-loops went directly into the mouth.

 Sweet smile from the birthday girl's big sis!

 I am a sucker for a cute party. I love it. So, of course I am the crazy mom taking pictures of all of the decorations. :)

 Party Favors! {How stinkin' cute are these?!?!}

 So, we're rolling right along, enjoying the party, when Bryson starts running fever. After swearing to everyone that he did NOT have fever before the party, we left. By the time we got home the fever was even worse. We gave him some Motrin, prayed that it was teething, crossed all of our fingers and all of our toes that it was teething, and put him down for a nap.

I took this picture to show my mom how red his little cheeks were. Almost seems cruel to post it, but I'm going to.

 While Bryson napped I decided to go buy paint for the living room.  And I proceeded to do this when I got home:

I need a change. I've always shied away from color on the walls. You can always paint over it if you don't like it, right? :)

So, Bryson woke up from his nap and was sick sick sick. After being up all night I took him to the urgent care clinic on Sunday morning. They said it was a viral upper respiratory infection and that he was teething. Viral = no antibiotics. Viral = go home and wait it out while your kid is miserable. Viral = nothing you can do.

So, my mom made a trip to College Station. It was so nice to have her here helping. We always wish that we lived closer to our families, but when we have a sick baby, we really wish we were closer.

My mom stayed with him on Monday. She called me shortly after lunch and said that she was really worried about him and that I needed to come home. I got here as fast as I could. He was burning up. We rushed him to the doctor. After waiting and waiting, a chest x-ray, dealing with a power outage, and waiting some more, the doctor said that he had a viral infection; it was either the flu or croupe. She could have tested to find out which one, but it was just going to cost us more money {we pay everything out of pocket up to $6,000}, and you treat them both the same way. She said his fever should be down by Wednesday, and completely gone by Thursday. She did start him on antibiotics due to his chest x-ray looking bad- so that it wouldn't turn into pneumonia. I am so incredibly thankful that my mom was there with me.

Bryson continued to run fever until today {Friday}. At one time it was up to 104.8. I have never seen him so sick. At one point in the car his eyes were open but he wasn't responding to me. Scary doesn't even begin to cover it.

Now Jason and I are suffering with upper respiratory junk. Lets just say that when I blow my nose air blows out of my eye. Not kidding.

My friend who is a doctor laughed so hard when I told her that! I, on the other hand, don't find it to be quite as comical.

So, now that Bryson finally seems to be feeling better our plan for the weekend is to rest and recuperate.

{ and maybe paint the living room :) }

Hoping for a less eventful week next week...

Family Portraits

I am finally getting around to posting the family portraits that Erin Cole took for us in November. She did an amazing job. Let me clarify that; Bryson screamed 95% of the hour and a half that we met with her--- she is FABULOUS! I was seriously hoping for ONE good picture. Not only did she get several shots that I LOVE, she had them set up on her computer as a slide-show (music and all) when I went to pick them up. Thank you Erin, for doing such a beautiful job!

Here are a few of my favorites:

 

Just had to share this one. This was the face that we were trying to avoid- but glad that I can look back and laugh now. Poor baby!

So, now I have to figure out which ones I NEED enlargements of. And need is definitely the appropriate word here. These were our first family photos since Bryson was born, almost a year and a half ago.  I have decided that taking pictures might not always be good for our marriage, but these were sure worth it in the end. :)

(By the way- We took these pictures on a Saturday. I took Bryson in to the pediatrician the following Monday and he was diagnosed with a double ear infection. So all in all, he was actually doing really well to smile as much as he did.)

http://www.treasuresbyerin.com/

Favorites of 2010

I was looking back through our pictures from 2010, and decided to post a few of my favorites from each month. Being with Bryson every day, I don't notice how much and how fast he changes. Posting theses pictures is almost bittersweet; my baby is growing up way too fast. At the same time, I believe that these moments are the best life has to offer. I am just trying to soak them all in, and make sure that I take advantage of this sweet time.  These pictures are in no way a re-cap of our year; they are simply some of my favorite pictures that I wanted to look back on.

~January 2010~

 ~February 2010~

 ~March 2010~

~April 2010~

~May 2010~

 ~June 2010~

~July 2010~

 ~August 2010~

~September 2010~

~October 2010~

 ~November 2010~

~December 2010~

This seems like a lot of pictures, but I honestly had a hard time picking just these! 2010 has been an amazing year.  Matt and Amy both graduated from college and they both got married. Jason and I celebrated our five year wedding anniversary and enjoyed a trip (all alone!) to the beach. We made another trip to the beach with both sets of grandparents, aunts, uncles, and lots of cousins. We enjoyed a trip to the lake with sweet friends. Bryson turned 1. Jason turned 30! We celebrated Thanksgiving with the Strawn side of the family in our home. Zach and Shannon both graduated from college. I started a new job. The list goes on and on. We made so many memories and know that we are so blessed with such great friends and family.

In 2011 my goal is to S  L  O  W     D  O  W  N.  I am not good at this, but I now realize how important it is for my family (and for my sanity). I am going to focus on being in the moment, and quit trying to multi-task all of the time. Simply put: I don't want to miss a moment of this new year or the opportunities it brings. I can't wait to see what God has in store for the Ruples in 2011.