Hives!

     A few weeks ago, we discovered small red spots on Katie's skin on a Sunday night. We weren't sure what they were, but they got worse after she had a bath and then continually spread. Monday morning, it was INSANE! Almost her entire abdomen and back were one big red splotch, and under her arms, her neck, and behind her knees all had red spots. We decided to call the doctor to find out what it was. We had a few theories: allergic reaction, although we couldn't think of anything new that she'd been exposed to that day, heat rash, possibly from being all wrapped up in layers lately due to the cold, or something like eczema or psoriasis. Brad made an appt with the doc the next day but Tuesday morning, almost everything had faded. By the time we got in for our appt, it was completely gone. The doctor showed me some pictures to try and figure out what it looked like, but none of the pictures looked like what Katie had and she also didn't have any other symptoms! She was not itchy at all, not fussy, eating normal, happy as ever, no fever or cough or anything. He gave me a prescription for some hydro-cortisone, which I never filled because she wasn't itchy.
Flash forward 2 weeks. It's Monday afternoon/early evening, and I notice the spots have returned. Little at first, and then escalating after her bath. Tuesday, it had of course gotten worse and I was able to get into the doctor again that afternoon. He took one look at her and said, that's hives. I also took some pictures just in case they vanished before we got to the office. Her back looks much worse (and it looked WAY worse the first time this happened), but here's one of the pictures.

     Anyway, he was pretty surprised that they didn't itch or bother her at all. He gave me some samples of Children's Dimetapp to give to her once every 6 hours until they were gone. He also gave me a scrip for a liquid Zyrtec or something in case it became chronic. Then he gave me a referral card to an allergist (that Brad and I actually already know personally) in case we want to have her tested.
I spent the rest of the day trying to make connections between Monday and that first Sunday. I couldn't remember what we'd eaten for dinner, but I knew that she had had Goldfish crackers in Nursery at church, and I had given her Goldfish crackers when we were shopping at Target and Costco on Monday morning. Katie used to eat Goldfish ALL THE TIME, but I hadn't purchased any in months, when I thought about it. It was the only connection I could see between the two days. Fast forward to a couple of days ago. Sadly, before I linked the Goldfish, I bought one of those huge boxes of them from Costco. I hadn't given Katie any since then, but I kept them on my nightstand to snack on. (They are one of my favorties snacks, if you didn't know.) Well, one morning I decided to let Katie have a few to see what would happen. She had a good handful and then sure enough, hives appeared a while later.
     Do you see what i'm getting at here? My baby is allergic to Goldfish!!!! If you know me very well, you will know what a tragedy this is! Obviously it's not the goldfish themselves, but something in them, but still. Sad day.

     I've narrowed it down to three ingredients:

• Annatto: A spice used for coloring the cheese. We are white cheese eaters around here (provolone, mozzarella, parmesan, monteray/pepper jack, etc. . . ) and so she doesn't have orange cheese very often. Although, she's had Mac n' Cheese many times in the past without any problems.
• Autolyzed Yeast: Used for flavoring I think. I don't think it's in many foods that Katie eats, and it seems weird that she might be allergic to this, an extract of yeast, when she isn't allergic to normal yeast.
• "Spices": The Goldfish ingredients list just had the word "spices" with no other clue as to what they are.

     After this last time her hives appeared, we actually had 4-cheese Rice-a-Roni with dinner without really thinking that it might have the same ingredients as the goldfish. (This hives thing is brand new to us, Ok?!) After she'd already scarfed down a few handfuls, I checked the box and sure enough, it contained both Annatto and Autolyzed Yeast. It also had a few different spices in it. And her hives stuck around for a few extra days.
     We're still debating on whether to get her an allergy test or not. I don't like unnecessary medical stuff, and the hives don't bother her at all. I decided to buy some regular cheddar cheese at the store and will give her a a little bit once her hives are completely gone. If they come back, i'll know it's the annatto. If not, well, maybe we will call up that allergist.

Whoa! WAIT A MINUTE! I was just about to post this when I decided to do some more digging on Autolyzed Yeast. Did you know that it is essentially MSG?! What the heck?! I actually just read this article where it states that autolyzed yeast and MSG can trigger allergic reactions in some people. I think now I may be leaning more towards the yeast factor. I don't give Katie many processed foods, or Asian foods for that matter (since a LOT of Asian foods add these ingredients) so maybe that's why she's now getting hives.  I'll keep you updated.

Our First Snow in Utah

Well, there was a light spattering of snow about a week and a half ago, but that didn't really count. Last night, we got some real snow. Now, I absolutely hate snow, but you all knew that right? It's fine and dandy when you drive up to the mountains, go sledding, make snow angels and snowmen, and all that, but living in it is awful. The cold, the wet, the ice, shoveling snow and scraping windshields and not being able to go out whenever I want to. . . it's awful!
Ok, enough of my rant. Despite my dislike for the weather, I don't want to keep Katie away from all the fun experiences with snow. We've stocked up on some winter clothes for her (everything from last Winter in Rexburg is too small) and headed out to play today! She had a good time, although she mostly enjoyed eating the snow. Haha!

There's the playground momma!

Can you see the excitement?

See her little boogers? She's had a runny nose for a while now, but it was really acting up outside. I think she gets that from me. If I spend more than 3 or 4 minutes out in the cold, my nose runs like crazy!

Brad kept throwing snowballs at her. Poor girl. Lol. And then he plopped a huge thing of snow on her head! She didn't really notice it was there though. :)

See? She loved just eating the snow. No worries. We made sure she only ate the clean top layer.

I tried to make a snowman, but it broke. So I made a mini one. :)

Hope everyone else is out enjoying their weather today!

Experimentation in Home Decoration

Over the past few years, I have become less and less crafty. Sad, but true. I can never think of cute ideas, or when I do, they never seem to be. . . complete. Take the wall in my dining room for example. I thought I was being super creative when I put 6 pictures up there in a somewhat asymmetrical way. Then, I put a vinyl of the word family next to one of the pictures. It looked good to me and I didn't really think anything of it, until my mom came up a couple months ago. She brought some home decor items from her house, put a few more things up on that wall and a bookshelf underneath and made everything look a million times better. I just don't have that kind of eye anymore. Oh well. I do try sometimes though, when I see good inspiration from somewhere else. Like this "pin" on pinterest that I saw.
http://www2.fiskars.com/Activities/Crafting/Project-Gallery/Guest-Designers/Mark-Montano/Paper-Flower-Key-Holder
How cute is that?
Well, I decided to attempt my own. We needed a designated place for keys anyway, since they always seem to end up all over the place. I didn't follow the directions to a "T" because I didn't have a stapler, or clear coat spray paint or whatever, but I think they look pretty cute. What do you think?

My cooking blog has inspired me to be more creative and crafty, so you may see more posts like this in the future. I've also decided that I sit at the computer WAY too much during the day, so being up and moving or even just sitting at the kitchen table to work on something instead will be way more beneficial.



In Katie news:
Still not much talking. I'm not really worried, but it would make it easier for her to express herself. She does say a few words- Yeah, hot, ouch, hat, bubble, dad, up, no, juice, shoe, cheese, water, go, and she actually said the word book yesterday rather than just signing it. Speaking of which, she seems to enjoy sign language way more than English. Lol.
She loves Yo Gabba Gabba, which we are seeing live next week, and Kipper.
She LOVES books!
She loves to drag her blankets and pillows all over the apartment and cuddle up on the floor, or tuck her toys into bed. When she is ready for a nap, she puts her pillow and blankets in my lap, climbs up, cuddles, and then falls asleep.
She likes to feed her snacks to her baby and her barbies.
Her hair is growing! And she has the cutest little curls in the back.
She is so great at playing independently and using her imagination.
She is also a huge troublemaker! The terrible twos have hit early here and she has become a pro at throwing tantrums. Covering her face with her hands, falling to the floor with fake tears, the whole bit. It's hard for Brad and I not to crack up laughing when she does this.
Teething is a killer.
She loves to dance to any music, any where, and time.
Bedtime is still a challenge (she has never really been a good sleeper), but I SO appreciate my wonderful hubby who gets up with her in the middle of the night.
He favorite beverage is water. Like mother, like daughter!
Oh, and our ward is letting her into nursery early! Her first full Sunday in nursery was last week and of course she did great. No fear or worries at all about leaving momma and daddy behind to play with other little kids and toys! Although apparently, she did pass out at some point while eating a crayon. Haha!
I put most recent pictures on Facebook, but i'll try and get some on here later today or tomorrow. :)

Neglect

I have been SERIOUSLY neglecting this blog! SO SORRY!
I've been spending most of my blogging time on my little side project:
Cooking With Kimi

It has been SO much fun working on this! I don't plan on doing it professionally or trying to make money from it or anything. It's really just a way to get me to home cook more and to help me remember yummy things and get inspiration.

In our family news, we went to Vegas last weekend! There was an Odasso get together! It was Brad's dad's side of the family, so his dad's parents came out from Pennsylvania. I also go to meet his older sister Adrienne and her husband James for the first time. It was a lot of fun! We played 7-UP, of course, took pictures, and just had a good time hanging out and catching up.

 

My parent's also visited last weekend! And guess what they brought me as an early Christmas gift? A HUGE Water Bath Canner! Woo! Finally I can have home canned peaches and pears and tomatoes and applesauce and juice and everything! They have also been bringing up food storage/emergency preparedness items for me, which is greatly appreciated! It's so great to feel safe and secure in case anything bad were to happen.

Katie still isn't saying much. She DOES know some words, but she doesn't seem to care about talking. She knows a few signs in sign language though, and it's so cute to watch her use her itty-bitty hands to sign! She's dancing more than ever, and she runs so fast! She likes to walk backwards, and on her tip toes. She carries her blankets and pillows around the whole apartment and tucks her toys into bed. She hasn't bene doing so hot with her big girl bed. She did SO good for about a week, and then she was teething and that ruined her sleeping and it hasn't gone back to normal since. Brad has to sit with her, next to her bed, for a good 15-20 minutes until she passes out. Then, she'll wake up anywhere between 3 and 6 in the morning screaming at her door, which is followed by Brad bringing her into our bed and after she climbs all over me for 30 minutes, she'll fall asleep. It's been a little crazy and sleep deprived around here. Oh well.

Brad and I were called as Sunbeam teachers, so that should be fun. There are like, 30? sunbeams, so they are all split into 2 or 3 different classes. It's a little insane. Luckily, Katie will be old enough for nursery in just 8 weeks! Counting down the days.

Oh! And I apologize for my blog. The layout is being all kooky for some reason. I'll get to fixing it soon!

Tar-get's all my money!

Ok, the title isn't completely true because I found some NICE deals at Target today!
I'll start out by saying that, before sales/clearance/coupons, the total would have been$162.66.
Actually, I don't know the regular price on some of the items I got on sale, so it would have been more than that total.
Now, how much did I pay out of pocket for all of this? $56.61 and that's including $5 tax.
That's a lot for one of my normal shopping trips, but let me point out, as you'll see in the picture below, that I got an umbrella stroller, a lamp shade and lamp base, a 4x5 area rug (which normally goes for $50 alone) and a 20 lb tub of kitty litter all inside that $56.61.
Here's the rundown of what I bought:
1 Umbrella Stroller = $10.00 (On sale from $15)
1 4x5 Area Rug = $12.48 (Clearance from $49.99!)
1 Lamp Shade = $3.74 (Clearance from $14.99!)
1 Lamp Base = $7.48 (Clearance from $29.99!)
1 Tidy Cats kitty litter 20 lb = $4.99
4 Clorox 2 Stain Removers = $1.00 for all 4
1 Green Works Toilet Bowl cleaner = $1.24
1 Nivea for Men Body Wash = $1.00
2 Clorox 2 Stain Fighter pens = $0.50 for both
1 Friskies Party Mix cat treats = Free
2 Visine for Contacts = $1.28 for both
2 Rimmel London Glam Eyes Eyeshadows = $2.98 for both
2 Gerber Graduates meals = $0.88 for both
1 Colgate Optic White toothpaste = Free
2 Aquafresh Extreme Clean toothpastes = $0.94 for both
1 Caress Beauty Bar = $0.67
2 Aquafresh Training toothbrushes = $0.98 for both
2 Chapsticks (Just because my lips have been super dry) = $1.36 for both
Overall I save $106.05, making that a savings of about 65%. I call that a good day. :)



































You can just barely see the stroller wheels. Sorry! If you click on the picture it will let you see the whole thing.

Quick Dinner Rolls

I'm not going to lie, these are not the yummiest rolls ever. They are not the best or fluffiest or the top in any category really. What they are, is really easy rolls that you can make in 45 minutes. I often turn to these rolls on a weeknight when it's already 5:30 and I'm still trying to figure out what to make for dinner. These are great because I can start them at 5:30, make something else for dinner that takes less than an hour, and have dinner and homemade rolls on the table by 6:30. Perfect!
(Will update this post with pictures next time I make a batch of these puppies)
 
Quick Dinner Rolls
Original Recipe 30 Minute Dinner Rolls
Adapted Recipe by Me!

Ingredients:
1 cup and 2 Tbsp warm water (between 105 and 115 degrees)
1/3 cup Oil
1/4 cup Sugar
2 Tbsp Yeast
1 tsp Salt (I use sea salt)
1 egg, beaten
3-4 cups flour
1 cold stick of Butter

Directions:

1. Mix warm water, oil, sugar and yeast together in a warmed mixer bowl.
2. Let sit for 10 minutes.
3. Start to preheat oven to 425 degrees.
4. Add salt and egg. Blend well.
5. Add flour, one cup at a time until soft dough is formed. (I end up adding 3 cups)
6. Knead on a floured surface for 5-10 minutes. (Add last cup of flour during kneading if necessary)
7. Shape into golf-ball sized balls and place into greased 13x9 pans.
8. Cover with a dish cloth and let rise in a warm place from 5-30 minutes, depending on how much time you have. You can even let it rise for an hour if you aren't in a rush.
9. Bake for 15-20 minutes. (Check them after 8-10 minutes. If they are getting too brown, tent them with foil)
10. Take them out, grab that cold stick of butter, and rub butter over the tops of each and every roll. 
11. Serve warm and enjoy :)

Alaskan Cruisin'

 The first week in September, Brad and I were able to go on a cruise to Alaska! My wonderful mom came up to our apartment to watch Katie for us so we could get away on our own vacation. Can I just say that until we left for the cruise, I had never been away from Katie for more than 8 hours?! And the one time I was away from her for 8 hours was when I was working on the Extreme Makeover house and she was asleep at home the whole time. Anyway, it was pretty difficult to be away from her for so long, but I knew she was in good hands. We left on Friday evening and stopped in Rigby to see Brad's good friend Bary and his new-ish baby. We spent the night with my best friend Daryn and her hubby Mat in Rexburg (where we enjoyed some Happy Birthday cupcakes for me), and then went back down to Rigby in the morning. Bary and his sweet wife Vicky took us out to breakfast and then Brad and I set out on a 12 hour drive to Portland. We stayed with my sister Karli and her boyfriend Jonathan on Saturday night, asfter playing a good round of Apples to Apples, and then they drove us up to Seattle in the morning, where we got onto our cruise ship!
Here I am in our cabin. :)

 We left Seattle around 4, had dinner and then went and played a round of free Bingo. Of course, being the youngest couple on board (Holland America is famous for being 90% old people. Lol! I made up that statistic) we got picked to go onstage during the show after Bingo. We played a little game and won a free bottle of champagne which remained in our mini-bar for the reminder of the cruise and we left it there after the cruise. We don't drink and no one we asked wanted it! Haha!
Anyway, the next day was spent at sea, heading up to Alaska.

 Monday night, we found this little guy o our bed,

 Tuesday, we were in Glacier Bay National Park. I can't remember the name of this glacier.

 Alaska sure is beautiful though, right? It was a little cold in Glacier Bay, probably in the 40's, but most of the trip was in the 60 degree range.

 A little family of seals!

 Lots of Harbor Seals.

 On Wednesday, we were in Alaska's capital city, Juneau. Quite the tourist attraction, with about 30 jewelry stores in our face the second we got off the ship. Haha. We were lucky though because about a dozen locals told us that it was the first sunny day in weeks! (Some people said 2 weeks, some people said 5 weeks.)

 The tramway that was too expensive for us to take. The illusionist on the ship actually made a joke calling it the Mt. Roberts Scamway, because it's $27 to go up, and there's nothing really to see at the top!

 We decided to shell out $32 to take a shuttle out to Mendenhall Glacier. It was 5 times the price of the city bus, bus twice as fast. It was worth it anyway. As soon as we got off the bus, we walked over to a little pathway over a river full of salmon, and look what was right below our feet!!!!

 This is Mendenhall Glacier. We decided to be awesome and go on a 3.5 mile hike up in the woods. It was a beautiful day and there was a nice look-out point at the top.

 Just off the hiking trail was this waterfall. I went right up to it. :)

 Beautiful!

 On Thursday, we were in Sitka. Here, we had to take tenders to get from the boat to the dock. It was a really rainy day unfortunately, so most of the things I wanted to do were taken off our list. I had planned on quite a bit of walking up to the forest, but there was just too much rain. Here's our ship once we got to the dock! We didn't do much in Sitka other than walk around town a little bit.

 Friday, we were in Ketchican for only a few hours. It really wasn't enough time to do anything (not that there was much to do unless you septn hundreds of dollars on shore excursions) but it was another beautiful day and we explored the town a bit, bought some souveniers, and just enjoyed the town.

 Friday night was a Dessert Extravaganza on board. Lots of cool creations made from breads and chocolate and fruits and things.

 Saturday night we arrived in Victoria, British Columbia. Beautiful town! There were two other cruise ships there at the same time.

 We took a 30 minute walk to downtown and passed by the legislative building, which was all lit-up and lovely! We walked along the waterfront and then watched some street performers and decided to take a taxi back to the pier when we were done.

Also during the cruise, we dressed up for a couple of formal dinners, got our pictures taken, did some souveneir shopping, saw an illusionist which was amazing and funny, also a ventriliquist who was funny, singers and dancers, got lots of free jewelry in the different ports of call, ate WAY too much, met some nice and funny people at dinner each night, spent a little extra to eat at the steakhouse on board one night, saw some newer movies we'd been wanting to see, and just had an overall amazing time
Sunday morning, we were back in Seattle, got off the ship, Karli picked up us at later that day, we drove the 12 hours back home to Utah and got in at 4:30 in the morning. Katie was so happy to see us and it's nice to be home. While it was sad to be away from Katie, it was so great to spend time together, just Brad and me, as a married couple. Brad loved it and was pretty bummed when the cruise was over. I'm sure there will be more in our future.