Day 4 and Moonicorn the Unicorn

I cannot believe that we are still here at Primary Children's. I had really hoped we would get to go home today but Lily is still not eating or drinking well and still won't get up out of bed. I don't want to leave before she is ready, I want her to be well, but I am ready for her to be ready. She is improving each day. Today she played stickers with me for about an hour. Thank you thank you to my angel Aunt Tami who brought the stickers and pink paper last night. It was so sweet and so perfect. It was the first activity she has wanted to do for a long period of time. So she is perking up and the diarrhea and vomiting are gone. We just need to get this girl to drink! If you know Lily, this will be no easy task. She is stubborn and she really only likes water. The bummer is that the doctors don't want her to drink plain water unless she is eating. Lily doesn't eat well on a good day, soooooo, it has been a challenge. I have tried soda, slurpees, chocolate milk, all the no-no's but she hasn't fallen for any of them. I guess we need another day to get her appetite back and then the liquids may seem more appealing. I am so grateful for this awesome facility, though. We are lucky to be in Utah when this happened. PCMC is amazing and the nurses have been wonderful. If we have to stay another day or two I am glad that it is here.

Here is a story Lily had me write on her sticker pages:

It is pony's birthday, not Moonicorn's (her unicorn) birthday, it is her friend's birthday. Thank you Moonicorn birthday. I love ponies. I love pink. Moonicorn loves her friend.

Updates

Not flu.  ROTAVIRUS.  Same basic symptoms, just more diarrhea.  She has to stay until she can go without the IV for 12 hours.  That means the runs have to cease running.  On a lighter note, and because I have a lot of time on my hands here, let me share some pictures.

A couple of weeks ago my brother, David, had some friends over to watch a movie.  They were watching on D's 5 inch portable DVD player.  My mom came in and saw them and asked them "Why don't you watch it on the big screen?"  She then gestured to the family's only television:  An older, 17 inch model.  They boys all laughed and made fun of her referring to the old dinosaur as a big screen.  I guess she felt she needed to overcompensate.  What better way to watch conference? Too bad for David, the projector and screen had to go back to my Dad's workplace after the conference.

We had the standard legos, playdough, and crayons for Lily, but why not a powdered milk blind taste test to keep the rest of us entertained during the talks? Now my mother can, in good faith, stock up her food storage with the most popular brand of dry milk. Yummy!


The day before Easter we had a fun party at Chris' sister's house. The kids dyed eggs, found eggs, ate eggs and made beds in the hallway. It was so fun. We had lots of yummy food and great company. It is so fun to live closer to family.






This post is so random, but I have not slept well and I am going to play that card now. Here is a shot of Lily in her smashing new outfit. I made the dress out of an old ratty tank top of my sister's (although it makes it seem more posh if I call it 'recycled') and some vintage lace from my mother's sewing basket. The hat is tiny cord with a satin lining (leftovers from my cousin's wedding about 10 years ago). She is not a great model, she will not smile or look at the camera, but she did do the pose that Chris suggested.

Sick and Sicker. . .then a bit better.

Well here we are, blogging from Primary Children's Hospital.  Lily was admitted yesterday with severe dehydration and dangerous sodium levels.  She has had a bad bout of the flu.  Friday her pediatrician gave her an IV bag and some meds to stop the vomiting.  He left the IV in but by Saturday she was in such bad shape that she was sent straight here.  She is doing much better than the last two days.  Her sodium is normal and she is so full of fluid her eyes are a little puffy.  We get to stay here until monster Diarrhea leaves for good.  I am just glad to see her eat a little this morning and get a little grumpy with the nurses.  I can think of little worse than watching your baby lay, unresponsive, sick and dry.  Thank heaven for modern medicine.  I am so grateful to live in this country with this wonderful hospital.  

We will be here a few more days but she has turned a corner and will be better soon.  I will post an update later with a cute picture of our precious patient.  

Not Cake

When we were first married, Chris and I went to a semi-formal event at SUU.  We dressed up and were seated in the dimly lit ballroom on campus.  The only light in the room came from the stage at the front illuminating the various ballroom dance, singing and acting performances.  I don't remember the reason for the event but I do remember the red tablecloths and the yummy centerpieces.  On each table was an elaborate assortment of fresh veggies, cut fruit and dip, cookies and small, bite size, pink layered cakes resembling lady fingers.  We were more than willing to endure the tango demo for the free nosh.  

At one point in the evening Chris took one of the dainty, pink finger cakes and took a rather un-dainty bite.  He instantly spit it into a napkin and struggled to hush his dry-heaves and I, through muffled laughs mouthed to him "not good?"  He mouthed back "NOT CAKE!".  It was, indeed, not cake, but tiny, dainty, bite-sized tuna fish sandwiches.  On pink bread.  I think most savory sammies would be unwelcome by a palate expecting butter cream and sponge, but I can think of little worse than fish and mayo to be the substitute.  

We have laughed about 'not cake' for years and I love telling the story, as Chris rarely gets flustered.  This April Fool's Day we had another reason to retell the adage as my mother and I concocted our own "not cake".

This lovely main dish puts new meaning to 'eat dessert first'. That's not butter cream, friends, can you guess what it is?

How about now?

Meat loaf cakes with mashed potato icing. Mmmm boy! It actually was good. Maybe more fun to make and see reactions to, but still good. We took some to my sister, Tori, who was at work and the only one who didn't get hints by watching us make it. She ran up to us, actually thinking cake, and then pulled away with an involuntary 'ewwww!' when she saw the tomato flecks in the meatloaf. Ha!

Now onto dessert, uh, I mean, main dish. On the menu is chicken fried steak, mashed potatoes and gravy (I am getting deja vu here) and peas and carrots.

In real life I really don't care for chicken fried steak. I think the name has a lot to do with it. Is it chicken, steak or a combo of the both? And why is it fried? I also dislike anything with that creamy country gravy that it usually is served with. You know the kind that comes with biscuits and gravy. I apologize to my southern friends. Laura. That is why I served mine with a not so traditional brown gravy.

The true foods here are a toasted coconut covered cake, frozen yogurt with caramel sauce and jelly bellies. We had a lot of fun and made a lot of mess in prepping this meal and we have thought of several ideas for next year. We are thinking sushi, cream puffs, and more!
Happy April Fool's Day and Happy Spring.

Working titles for this blog post:

Have your cake and meat it too.
Let them meat cake.
Life is short, eat dessert first.
Dinner is sweet!

And a big thank you to my Mama for the great photos!