Updates on Baby Ben...

I am so sorry I haven't had time to update my blog in a while, this is the first time I have been home in a long time. I can't believe Ben is going to be 2 weeks old tomorrow. Being at the hospital is a rollercoaster everyday. There's good and bad news constantly. Clinically, his vitals are improving, but we had some bad news from the last echocardiogram on Tuesday. It showed the leaking in his mitral valve is worse than it was before the open heart surgery and his aortic valve is just a mess as well. We are hoping that when they repeat the echo on Monday the rest he has had will have made some improvements. They pulled the breathing tube out yesterday but ended up putting it back because after about an hour of doing fairly well his heart just didn't have the energy to breathe any more. It was really, really scary. Cody and I have started taking turns at the hospital and coming home to try to give the girls some normalcy at home and to break out of the depressing environment and recharge a little. I was aching to be with the girls but it is devastating to drive away from little Ben in Salt Lake. Thanks everyone for your continued faith and prayers...they really help.

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Cody's Surprise Baby Shower

Cody needed a treat for his work Halloween party that was easy and could be made the night before. We have made this before with blue jello (to simulate the ocean at Aimee's Ariel birthday) and also with red jello (my favorite), but for the occasion we tried it with orange. It looked like candy corn with the darkest layer on bottom and the lightest on top but it tasted more like a "dreamsicle". Mmmm, yummy!

Recipe---
Two large boxes of jello (the 8-serving ones)
Two 12 oz tubs of cool whip
6 cups boiling water

Dissolve jello in water completely. With a wire wisk gently stir in 1 1/3 tubs of frozen cool whip (put the remaining 2/3 tub in the fridge to thaw). When all mixed in pour into a 9x13 glass pan (must be see through or it defeats the purpose of the layers Ü). Let chill in fridge for about 2 hours then spread remaining thawed cool whip on top for final layer. I usually refrigerate a little longer to let last layer set but you can serve immediately if desired. Cut in squares and enjoy.

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