Kentucky, Fire alarms, and learning to be gracious.

So as I stated Emily and I jetted off to Kentucky this weekend for AUE a pageant in Louisville and here is a synopsis. Friday night we got to the hotel and we went off to registration only to learn there were 230 kids registered. Yep TWO HUNDRED AND THIRTY...lol. Nothing like a little competition. The hotel was gorgeous and so unique full of ornate woodwork and old dark doors. Once we were registered we got Emily to bed to get ready for the competition the next day.

Emily and I were able to sleep in a bit on Saturday because she didn't compete until the afternoon. Once we got up and had breakfast we were ready to go for the day. Then my phone rang and it was Mike.

Mike: Jude woke up with a really high fever
(I excused myself away from Emily)
Me: Oh no. Like how high?
Mike: 103 and climbing
Me: Take him to the ER
Mike: I am. I just wanted to let you know. If it's aspiration you know they will keep him.
Me: Well if it's something serious I will fly home. Let me know and I will figure things out from here.

So I decided to keep the news from Emily. She had worked hard for this weekend. Now let me explain. When someone tells you that a girl works hard for a pageant they mean it. That's one thing that Mike understood after he first watched Emily practice and he commented on it. He said, "Wow I get it. This is a sport". Girls that compete in say Miss Teen Texas don't win by just getting up there and standing there. They learn how to walk, how to articulate, they learn about the world, and they learn a talent. The harder you practice the better you are, just like when Emily does softball. So I didn't want to make her nervous about Jude until I knew what was going on. I called our friend Gina who is always a life saver. She offered to get me on the next flight home if needed and she would fly to stay with Emily. I told her I doubted Emily would stay if something serious was happening with Jude. I told her I was holding out hope that Jude would have something minor going on. The hotel had horrible phone reception so I kept having to leave Emily to check my phone. I knew she was catching on that something was up. She finally looked at me and said "Is Jude okay". I said "Well he is not feeling very well and I am just waiting on Mike to let me know how he is feeling" She seemed satisfied with that response.

Soon Emily was getting ready to compete and I just thought she was stunning!!  We rolled her long hair and our friend Michael styled her. Here are a few pictures from the weekend.

Emily ready for beauty. I loved this dress on her.

They had Rudolph out advertising their Christmas specials. Emily liked him.

This is Emily's friend Sydney. They competed in the same age group together. I had just bought them Shirley Temples and they were having fun.

Mike finally called from the hospital and said they had ran a battery of tests. At first they thought Jude had aspirated because his breathing sounded rattled so Mike was prepared to stay. They then came back and said the X ray was clear. So they gave Jude an IV of antibiotics and of fluid. They then took some blood and urine so make sure there wasn't an underlying blood infection. Then they sent Mike home. I felt terrible I wasn't there with them, but I was thankful Jude was alright. I then told Em what was going on, but that everything was alright and she was relieved.

After competition Emily and I went on a horse and carriage ride.......she loved it! It was the only thing she wanted after competition and for $20 we had to take a spin around Louisville. She giggled and smiled most of the way which made me happy. Once we got back we had dinner with several friends which was a lot of fun too. We finally retired.......exhausted from the day.

About 3:18am I hear "WHOOP WHOOP a fire has been reported please proceed to the nearest stairwell WHOOP WHOOP". I was so tired that it was one of those "am I dreaming" type of moments. When I finally got my senses about me I went to look out our door because I was sure this was a false alarm. I discovered the entire hotel evacuating and we seemed to be some of the last ones on the floor. EM RUN!!! Em "Where is my bra?? mommy can't go free as a bird!". She laughed and panicked at the same time. I finally found said holder and we darted out the door and down four flights of stairs. This was a great scene in the wee hours of the morning. 

It seems it was a false alarm so we all headed back to bed .......... only to hear "WHOOP WHOOP...." again. Sigh, back out of bed we go...back down the stairs and I said "will the drunk people PLEASE quiet pulling the fire alarm!" Emily giggled. It seems there were several bachelor and bachelorette parties about town that night.
Sunday was crowning and Emily was all ready to go. She knew she had done so well at interview and on stage. 

The crowning was very long! When they got to Emily's group we learned she placed in natural photo, print model, composite, interview and received 5th runner up. This meant she could still win a big title. So she came back to met and sat down and we waited. Once they got to the end I looked at Emily and saw her eyes tear up a bit.

Me: Emily! There were 230 gorgeous girls here this weekend. Did you have fun?
Em: yes a blast
Me: Did you do your best?
Em: yes I did
Me: Then that's what matters!
Em: I know I am just disappointed
Me: and that's perfectly okay. You are allowed to be disappointed. Think about it Em, Football teams get out on that field every week and work their hardest. Sometimes in the last two minutes of the game the other team wins and they have lost all that hard work they did, but they learn from it and move on. They also understand that the other team they were playing worked just as hard as they did. 
Em: I know mom. 
Me: Well good. It's up to you how to handle this 
Em: I had a great time and I will just get out there and try again. I want to go to the one in Dallas next month. 
Me: ummmm good attitude but we will see......let's get through this weekend first girl. 

Kid has spunk! Anyway, it was a wonderful weekend and Em and I had a great time together.  I got to market Regal Princess a lot and Emily talked to several people about her Smile Boxes. We did miss out first flight so we got back about 8:30pm last night. I came home to Jude irritable and not wanting to sleep. He then spiked a high fever again at about 3:00am. I gave him some Motrin which brought the fever back down again. We are suppose to watch him over the next five days. If he continues to spike fevers we will have to take him back in. Until then we are just suppose to use Motrin to help keep the fever under control. Also, Emily woke up with a sore throat today so my guess is it is something Viral. Also it seems our dog Biggy has separation anxiety when I am gone...not a good thing. Mike said he wouldn't come out of his crate and just wasn't himself.

This week starts the beginning of the back to school chaos! Emily starts school projects on Saturday. So my fall is going to be very busy!