Merry Christmas!

Short Hospital Visit

We spent Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday this week in the hospital. No, I never missed it, no, I never wanted to go back, and no, I never will! Our poor peanut started with diarrhea all last week, then fevers Sat and Sun, and by early Monday morning she was up to 104! So we call the on-call doc and he tells us to just go to the emergency room. So we headed down and spent about 8 hours in a teeny tiny room, where Peanut was poked and tortured to no end, with no toys, no television, and a sick, tired peanut who refused to take a nap. It took about 4 hours after they decided to admit us to get us to a normal room where my sanity somewhat returned!

After a bunch of different blood tests, urine sample, chest x-ray, sputum culture and an attempt to get fluid from her belly, we still didn't have an answer as to why Peanut had such a high temp. Tuesday morning she awoke with a rash and the doctors had decided that it had to be a virus, but what one!? They decide they can test for two more types and alas one came back positive. Adenovirus.

Peanut LOVED pushing this baby all around the unit. It was the cutest thing ever! And she made friends with anyone who wanted to. In the ICS unit (where Peanut always has to stay from now on whenever she's in the hospital) there's a hallway that leads to offices where a secretary sits. Every time we went for a walk she had to go see if her new friend was there to say hi to. 

So we finally had an answer. Now what? We just let it run it's course and let Peanut fight it. So how long is this going to last? They don't know. With Peanut every thing's different. It's supposed to last 2 days to a week but with a depressed immune system it could take her quite a while to fight it off. There's one possible drug they could use but it usually causes more problems then it's worth so they're going to hold off on using it unless she gets really bad or if they find the virus in her blood stream (should get those results by tomorrow). So far, the rash has gone away and the fevers aren't near as bad but she's still struggling a little with the diarrhea and last night she decided to throw up. Hum... But she's been fine today, just a little tired, and of course the never-ending runny nose.

Also, while we were in the hospital we found out that it's not fluid that's making her belly so big (hence, the attempt at taking a sample of it). Supposedly now it's air in her intestines. So we've added Lactobacillus to her med list to see if that helps. 

All in all, we're doing well and are glad to be back home. Still keeping our fingers crossed that she'll get over this so that we don't have to spend another Christmas in the hospital!

P.S. I did two other posts today but the post dates are not today's date so you'll have to scroll down to find them.

Are you browsing securely?

If you are using Internet Explorer for your internet browsing the answer is a big NO. An article from BBC News goes into detail on the huge flaw that criminals have found in the browser. The bad thing is they found it before Microsoft did. The hackers can use IE to get all sorts of information from your computer. Experts are saying the best way to protect yourself is to not use IE. This is where I need to put in an extra plug for this. From a developers standpoint using IE is a horrible choice. It does not follow normal web standards and so when we write code for a site we constantly have to take extra precautions to make IE happy. So not only is IE really insecure, it is also a pain for people who make websites. My main plug here is to do me and yourself a favor and never use IE again. Microsoft says that it is always possible for any browser to have a security flaw, but let me remind you that IE has been the only one that has had multiple flaws. The others all seem to have their act together. Here is a list of completely standard compliant browsers that are very secure.
FireFox
Sarari
Chrome

Let it Snow!

Our cute little blue marshmallow. . .

Cute Butt shot. . .

She didn't really know what to think of the cold white stuff and it was a little more difficult to walk wearing a big puffy snow suit.

But isn't she just adorable! I love my little peanut!

The Old Jeep

For those of you who knew Luke in High School you might remember the Jeep he used to drive. (I don't, cause I didn't know him, but I've heard plenty of stories!) Well his dad has been working on it for quite some time now and pretty much has it all restored. Check it out! Pretty sweet huh!?

Luke got to take it for a spin around the block when we were down there visiting.

(I was going to let Luke do this post but kept forgetting to tell him to. Maybe once he see this he'll change it or re-do it...hint hint)

A Night in Bethlehem

Our ward had a very creative christmas party where we had to go to Bethlehem to be taxed. Biblical attire was a requirement so here we are as a little shepherd family. Peanut looked super cute with her little headrest thing on and I wish I would've gotten a better picture but as always we were running late so this is just a quick shot with the camera's self-timer. 

Piano Duet

The two cutest musicians ever! They make quite the pair don't they?

Looks like little Bit is aspiring to be the next Jon Schmidt!

Our Newest Neice

We also got to meet the newest addition to our family during our visit. My brother's fourth child was born the day before Thanksgiving.

She's such a cute little thing! Hard to believe that Peanut was ever that small!

Family Thanks Time

We had a great Thanksgiving and hope that everyone else did too! Peanut and I went down early with my sister and one of her boys to help get things ready and I'll tell you what! I for sure learned how hard it actually is to prepare the whole thanksgiving dinner! How my mom did it by herself for so many years I'll never know! -She's just amazing that's all!

Peanut loved my parents new house (I did too!) There were so many new places to go, so many new things to do, and so many people to play with that she barely stopped to eat or sleep!
Everyone especially loved playing the Wii (even my dad!) and we all had a great time! It was so fun to have everyone together at one time!
My parents are the best parents and grandparents ever! They have taught me so much and have helped me in so many ways! I'm so grateful to have been sent to such a wonderful family!
Peanut really loves her grandparents too! She's always way too spoiled by both sets of grandparents when we go to visit that I spend the first week back home 're-teaching' her how life really is! ;)
You can't really see it in this picture but the view from my parent's new house is amazing!
And we couldn't pass up the opportunity to get a picture of the whole fam - no matter how hard it is to try and get one where everyone's looking at the camera let alone smiling!

Hair Cut

Peanut received her first 'real' haircut while we were home for Thanksgiving.

She did a lot better than I thought she would at holding still.

And Aunt Steph did an awesome job at evening things out.

Pea's hair looks a lot better now!