the "Sickness"

We're finally emerging from a 5 day viral induced feverish stupor at the Byrnes house. During this time Stella would wake up in the morning and inform us that she still had "the Sickness." This was generally confirmed with a temperature reading north of 103. It was a rough go, although it really gave us a chance to appreciate the power of ibuprofen. Stella would go from death bed like behavior to moderately pleasant, relatively normal behavior in the course of the 30 minutes it took for the medicine to take effect. The only problem was that after awhile Stella decided she didn't want to take the medicine anymore. This created one particularly noteworthy standoff where suppositories were threatened. I convinced Sara that the nuclear option was a bit premature and we attempted some more diplomacy, although eventually the problem was solved through a covert operation (plastic syringe in mouth while in a state of semi consciousness). Stella is pretty much back to herself and will be heading to the Sate Fair tomorrow.
The picture below was taken right before the Sickness crept into our house. The princess outfit is compliments of her Aunt Jenni. It kind of creeps me out - she looks so old. Thank goodness for the food all over her face.