Shop Til You Run Out of Money

OHMYWORD. It has taken a lot of thinking before talking, biting my tongue and looking at the big picture to keep from breaking down during this ridiculous summer virus rampage that has taken over my house! Amelia finally is on the mend and then I get it! Sore throat, stiff neck, body aches, fever, the whole nine yards. Thankfully Barbara pitched in the afternoon I got it and Mom took Amelia the next day. All I could think was, what if I reinfect her or pass it to Elise? Little tiny bug has escaped with just a runny nose at this point. To top it off, I have had to stop nursing due to my meds and I'm super sad about that and have hard as a rock melon boobs. Hiss grr scratch. I need to be asleep but these medicines are giving me cotton mouth and making me wide a w a k e.
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On to the shopping trip. Seriously. We didn't drop. That wasn't it at all. We just ran out of money. Our Branson shopping trip had been planned, rooms had been booked. I need to stop right there. The rooms at Hilton on the Landing were so gorgeous. I snuggled down in that bed and that sleep was perhaps the best 30th birthday present ever. So, thank you so much to Kim and Jamie for that present--it was heaven for a very tired mom.

Ok, so all was planned in advance and then Amelia got sick. I'll skip all the mumbo jumbo about me almost backing out and I went ahead for the second day. All was going well Saturday and then Ross lets me know Elise has a fever as well. Breakdown ensued. Turns out it went down quickly and was just teeth. Thanks to Dad for stepping up as a superhero that whole weekend and helping out with a very sick girl. And Mom came back like Saturday night in order for me to stay. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Here was the theme of the weekend:
We laughed so hard. And shopped hard. I'll download more pics soon. Some highlights:

- Kim's tortillas falling out of her "heavy" napkin into her bra/lap
- Mom's inability to pronounce tortilla
- Kaci's millions of bags and spending freeze
- My scary shorts
- Shelb's masterpiece braiding ability and fashion show
- Steph's list and coupons

My favorite quotes:
"I thought your milk dried up when your baby was like a month old."
"You work hard for the money, get one in every color."
"Where are we on the lisssst?"
"How much would you pay for this?"
-"My bra fell down and I almost flashed you. Do you want me to flash you?"
-"Your new purse smells like...period."

I could go on and on. FUN times with cousins. Can't wait until next year.
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And becaue I know you are missing their faces, here is Amelia doing a treasure hunt. (She found a clue!)


And here is Elise doing a little work on her laptop.

I need sleep. Thank you Mucinex D for creating a wide-eyed person at almost midnight.