Happy Halloween!

Michelangelo, Leonardo, and Donatello (Raphael coming soon)

Peanut didn't want to wear her mask until we told her she had to wear it if she wanted to go get treats. After that she didn't fight it at all!

She's a shy little thing (wonder where she gets that from! hehe) so she would just barely whisper to the people at the door. But as soon as we were walking to another house she would loudly proclaim that she wanted 'mo treat.'

Cutest thing on earth! Pictures just don't do it justice! I just couldn't get over how adorable she was as a little ninja turtle.

Halloween is so much more fun with kids!

Going Home!

The docs feel comfortable letting Peanut go home! So we don't have to sit around here and wait for the last test results! Yea! Her glucose levels stayed consistent through the night with just one at 73 this morning. We'll just have to check her blood sugar at least twice a day and any other time we feel concerned. So we'll see how she does through the weekend and then we have an appointment with her doc on Monday.
With tomorrow being Halloween the hospital was filled with lots of 'trick-or-treaters' and Peanut would shout an excited 'TREAT' any time someone knocked on her door. They also brought her a cute little bumble bee Halloween costume to wear. Too bad we were bees last year! and too bad Peanut wouldn't let me put it on her! Haha. Also, since there were lots of visitors in the hall they wouldn't let Peanut out of the room without wearing a mask. At first she absolutely refused but eventually her want of going out to ride the bike won over which resulted in the cute little masked creature above.

The 911 Story

At about 6 am Wednesday morning my aunt found Peanut walking down the hall calling for Mommy. She brought her down to us in bed and Luke slept with her on his chest for about 10 min then laid her down next to me and got up to get ready for work. She kept kinda whimpering and wasn't sleeping real soundly. I noticed when I went to comfort her that she was all sweaty and clammy and kinda wondered why but thought maybe she just had a bad dream. It wasn't until she fidgeted around and knocked into the headboard but didn't complain about it that I got concerned. Luke came back into the room at this time and I told him that something was wrong and to turn on the light. We found Peanut blankly staring forward and not responding to our pleas. I laid her flat and called 911. At this point she was laying with one arm straight in the air and one bent and stiff and her teeth clenched. The paramedics arrived within minutes and found her temp to be about 5 degrees too low and a blood sugar that read 'low' on their monitor. (Meaning it was below 20!) So I was privileged with a second ride in an ambulance to Primary's. No fun! (Especially when still suffering from morning sickness and being highly prone to car sickness. Not a good combo!) They gave her some IV glucose and Peanut started waking up before we even made it to the hospital.
By 5 pm that night Peanut was thankfully back to her normal crazy cute self. The diagnosis: Due to Peanuts long term and sometimes pretty hefty steroid treatments her body has 'forgotten' how to regulate it's cortisone levels on its own. They decided that the little prednisone she was getting probably just wasn't enough and have started her on a new steroid. They just barely took her off continuous IV glucose today and are now just going to monitor to see how her body does with the new steriod. The doc doesn't think that this will be long term and that eventully her body with 'remember' how to function on its own without having to take oral steriods but there is a small possiblity that she could have Addison's Disease long term. They're running another test today to see if they need to investigate this more.
Meanwhile, Peanut can't live without her 'Dora Bink' and has found a really fun bike to roam the halls on. Her and her daddy had a pretty rough night last night with blood sugar checks every 2 hours which caused some pretty bad onriness today but other than that Peanut is back to her normal self.

P.S. What else is there to do in the hospital while Peanut's napping other than update a blog? So if you're starving for more pictures and updates on this month's happenings then scroll on through the month of October cause I posted a TON.

Grandma's Little Helper

Making Halloween sugar cookies with 'Bahka'

When I Grow Up I Wanna Be Just Like Daddy

Peanut snuck away to the computer and we found her busily typing and moving the mouse around. We silently stood and watched her do this for quite a while. It was cute and Daddy absolutely loved it!

Little Miss Independent

Some days her craving for independence drives me bonkers. But some days it's just too funny and I enjoy these learning moments.

Girl Time

What do the girls do while the men are hunting?

Peanut just loves having twiner toes with mommy and has to show everyone the 'apples' (her word for flowers) on her pretty painted toes.

Because I'm Missing Luke

I posted this on facebook but wanted it on here too...

1. When is your "engagement" anniversary: October 27th - I think

2. When is your "marriage" anniversary: February 18th

3. How long have you known your spouse: Just over 5 years

4. How long did you date/court before you were engaged: A lot longer according to Luke. I was insistent that we were NOT dating.

5. Where did you meet your spouse for the first time? At a Sunday BBQ despite our fathers' attempt at setting us up

6. What is your spouse's full name? ______________

7. Do you have any children: 1 with 1 on the way

8. How many - boys/girls: 2 girls

9. Do you have any house pets: Not allowed! Except maybe fish if I don't have to take care of them

10. Do you live in the country or town/city: CITY

11. What are some of your favorite activities together: We've gotten pretty boring :( but we love to do pretty much whatever as long as it's together! Haha cheesy I know.

12. Do you have a favorite vacation spot: Our basement?

13. When did you first kiss? about 2 weeks after we were engaged

14. What church do you attend? The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

15. Did you get married in a church? Where? Better - The St. George Temple

16. What town is your current address at: __________

17. Do you work or stay at home: Currently stay at home. I quit my job in May but will probably get another one after the baby so I can keep my license

18. Where did you go on your honeymoon: St. George/SLC - We're cheap

19. What was the funniest gift you gave when dating? Nothing in particular really comes to mind but Luke's always full of weird gifts

20. How long have you been together? Little over 4 years

21. How long did you know each other before you started dating? About 1 year

22. Who asked who out? Luke asked me

23. How old are each of you? ___________ (Three year difference)

24. Where do you each work or go to school? We both graduated 2 1/2 months after we got married. Luke works as a web designer and I'm currently unemployed (previous question)

25. Which situation is the hardest on you as a couple? Not sure what this question is looking for...No situation is too hard we can deal with it together. Hehe. More cheese!

26. Did you go to the same school? University yes. Went to rival high schools.

27. Are you from the same home town? Not exactly but close.

28. Who is smarter? I think we equal each other out in different things.

29. Who is more sensitive? probably me

30. Where do you eat out most as a couple? We try not to stick to one place but we each have our favorites

31. Where is the furthest you two have traveled together as a couple? San Diego, CA

32. Who has the craziest exes? Probably me. Don't know too many of his to compare though

33. Who does the cooking? Mostly me but he'll cook maybe once a month and helps out when he's home

34. Who is more social? Him. I'm pretty shy 'til I get to know you

35. Who is the neat-freak? both of us. But maybe Luke by a little bit

36. Who is more stubborn? Me

37. Who hogs the bed? Mostly me (especially preggos!) but Luke has his times

38. Who wakes up earlier? Luke by far.

39. Where was your first date? Not real sure. But our first 'hangout' was to Pine View Res

40. Who had more boyfriends/girlfriends? Me

41. Do you get flowers often? Nope. Luke knows I don't like them cause they just die. So I get vases filled with my favorite Jelly Belly's instead :)

42. How do you spend the holidays? Chasing from one side of town to the other

43. Who is more jealous? Probably equal.

44. How long did it take to get serious? After I let it - not very long. 1 month maybe

45. Who eats more? Luke unless it's sweets

46. Who does the laundry? Me - I kinda stopped letting Luke do the laundry cause he was ruining my clothes ;)

47. Who’s better with the computer? LUKE

48. Leave a piece of advice for the other couples: Always find a way to laugh together

Yummy Recipes

Luke got this delicious recipe from his boss's wife and then made it for us for dinner one night and they're really good so I thought I'd share. I also wanted to have these recipes recorded somewhere since my recipe box is hidden somewhere in storage. :)

Chicken Bundles

2 Ck Breasts cooked and shredded/cubed (about 2 1/2 to 3 cups)
6 oz cream cheese softened
1 tsp (or to taste lemon pepper) You can cook the chicken with the lemon pepper on it, or you can add it in the mixture (we added to the mixture and probably used a lot more than 1 tsp)
1 can sliced water chestnuts (optional - we didn't include these)
2 packages of crescent rolls
croutons - your favorite kind

Mix ck, cream cheese, lemon pepper, water chestnuts. Unroll crescent rolls, put some mixture on the dough and roll up like you normally would - you may need to pinch sides of dough to keep the mixture in (Luke didn't do it this way. He just pulled all sides of the rolls up and pinched it all closed so they were ball shaped). Crush the croutons and roll the roll in the croutons. Put on baking sheet and bake at 350 for about 25 minutes or until golden brown. Should make 16 chicken bundles but depends on how full you stuff the rolls.

Gravy
1 can of cream of chicken soup
1/2 - 3/4 can milk

Heat and pour over the top of baked rolls. Yummy, yummy!


This next recipe is from my cousin. I grew up having homemade Orange Julius with popcorn almost every Sunday evening. It was a favorite! I did have my mom's recipe but once again - storage! This one is just as yummy though and has been a major pregnancy craving!

Orange Julius

1/2 can of frozen orange juice concentrate
1/4 c sugar
3/4 c milk
1 c water
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 c ice

Put all ingredients in the blender and blend until smooth.

Peanut Update

(Peanut in her first-for-the-season, still-to-big, winter outfit)

I've realized it's been awhile since I've posted any updates on Peanut's status and I would also like to start recording some of her favorites. Since they change so much so often.

She's been doing really well. We're now going 3 months between doctor visits and labs are only once a month unless something comes up. It's been super nice. We're getting closer to getting her off prednisone which really excites me. And her Prograf dosage was once again reduced! Yeah for a little bit more immune system! Haha. Right now we're in the process of switching blood pressure meds which is a little annoying but nothing compared to what I've had to deal with in the past! And she, surprisingly, does really well at holding still for the blood pressure checks. I have been noticing a lot more lately what a little angel I am raising and can't complain about the occasional tantrums.

The only concerns in her care right now are:
1. If she'll make any more vessels to bypass her clotted portal vein (if not, she'll eventually have to have a shunt placed).
2. Preventing the flu and other fun winter season illnesses. And as always
3. Watching for, and hopefully avoiding, any liver rejection.

I'm just so glad to have her with us and doing so well! She is just so much fun!

Some of her favorites right now:
1. The color purple. If you ask her what color something is she'll almost always say purple even though she knows other colors.
2. Dora the Explorer. She finally got over her Elmo obsession and moved on to Dora. Oh joy! Haha
3. The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Although, she has been choosing to watch Dora over 'Pizza' lately, much to her dad's dismay.
4. Juice boxes. This includes Capri Sun. Pretty much anything she can drink from a tiny straw but mostly apple juice.
5. Treats and snacks. Of course she had to get her mother's sweet tooth!
6. Bahka. I can't leave Grandma off the list because of the major tantrums Peanut would throw when it was Mason's turn to have Grandma ride with him.
7. 'Wee's' This is what she calls slides, swings, and pretty much playgrounds of any kind. She loves them and would play at them all day if I let her. There is usually bribery of some sort to get her to leave.
8. Going. Anywhere. She just likes to be on the move and out and about seeing different people and different things.