Visit from friends!

Last weekend, our friends Tom and Victoria visited us from Baltimore. I went to grad school with Tom in Portland and Victoria was my running partner. They moved to Baltimore about a year and half ago and we've been lucky enough to go up to see them a couple of times. (Of particular note is our trip we took last Sept. up to DC.)
Anyways, we were excited to have Tom and Victoria for 3.5 whole days, as they arrived last Thursday night and flew out of town Sunday evening. Here are some highlights from the trip:

T and V brought along some awesome gifts with them- amongst them was a 6-er of Natty Boh and this adorable stuffed crab that Ev loves. T and V loved playing the put-crabby-on-your-head game with her.

On Friday, Brendon had to work, but I took us down to Lynchburg to tour the Jack Daniels Distillery. Here's a pic of V with our Tour Guide- such a great (and free!) thing to do when you come to town!

Post JD tour- Ev and Uncle Tom sport the cowboy hats!

Pic of the ladies at McCreary's in Franklin, Tn! 2-for-1 draught Guinness!

That very fine Guinness I just mentioned... garnished with a Shamrock!

We hired a babysitter for Saturday night and headed out on the town- had to snap a pic to document!

Enjoying a beer here at Corsair Artisan Distillery, as sadly, we weren't allowed to taste their spirits!

Cool outside area that we're hoping to check out as the weather warms.

Dinner at Southern Bred (our favorite meat and three restaurant) in East Nashville. Looks like a church hall inside, and the food is amazing as well as amazingly cheap- doesn't get much better.

You're downtown. It's 11pm. You must take a pic with the Elvis statue.

Yet another reason we love this guy.

Beer goggles, Elton John glasses... whatever you want to call them, they were awesome.

After this pic, we headed here to hear these guys. They were amazing. So much fun.

We had SUCH a good time with our friends. We miss them so, but are thankful for the kind of friendship that just picks up where it left off. We can't wait to see them again soon!

Well, it finally hit.

Evelyn had her first full blown head cold. We headed to the doctor yesterday after a weekend of snotty noses, goopey eyes and higher fevers than mama was comfortable with. The verdict? Doc thinks it was likely a viral infection that gave way to a double ear infection. Little Miss Ma'am is feeling much better after the antibiotics and the tylenol. We feel lucky to have made it 13.5 months without an unscheduled trip to the doc, but it still is no fun when it hits. What did we learn about our little one when she was sick?

1. She's a trooper. Temps were 101-103 for 36h before we went to the doc and she was generally pretty ok with it, it seemed. At least she wasn't giving us much attitude. (Which is a change for us, of course!)

2. She's much more cuddly than normal. She never wants to sit on our lap, generally preferring to walk around or chase the dog. Sick Evelyn = lots of lap time.

3. This girl is 100% all about the whole milk. Nurse suggested clear liquids and avoid the milk as it coats her throat makes her cough a little tougher on her. So. We tried pedialyte. We tried cold apple juice. We tried warm apple juice. We tried ice chips. Mama broke down and bought popsicles. We tried those. (Finally she did eat 1/2 of a popsicle.) We tried sippy cup. We tried glass and straw. We tried the bottle. We tried a big-girl cup. She wasn't having much of any of it. Whole milk? No prob. 24 ounces per day, without a fuss. Okie dokie.

4. Ever seen those shirts that say "I'd rather be in/doing/seeing _____?" For Miss Ev, she'd rather be in her wagon. Despite a a snotty nose and a fever, Ev was never happier than when she was riding in her wagon. So we rode. And rode. And rode. Up the driveway, round the house, down the driveway, up the street and back again. Thank goodness its been 75-80 degrees here, or we'd we wagoning in our house. No where near as fun!!

5. She continues to tolerate her rookie parents. We spent the weekend asking: Do you think she's any better? Should we give her some tylenol? Are her diapers drier than normal? How do you use this suction thingy? Where'd you put the syringe? Should we give her apple juice- what if she never wants water again? How bad do you think this sugary apple juice is for her? Should I call the doctor? What if we're just over-reacting? How high of a temp is too high? Lordy. We. were. a. train. wreck.

Thankfully, Ev was a trooper and the next time we'll hopefully have things a tad more sorted out. Quite sure we'll never have it figured out, but more sorted sounds possible. Maybe.

PS- The weighed Ev when we took her in. We were really hoping Ev would have busted into the 20lb range, having been so close at her 1 year appt about a month ago. Alas, 19lbs, 15oz. With her clothes and diaper on.

Sigh. Oh, well.

Happy Anniversary!

Here's to 9 years of marriage, today!!