Happy Halloween!

I think there's a spooky little someone in there who would like to wish everyone a Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween

I wish I could start this post with better news but it looks like we've actually lost two of the follies we had on Wednesdays ultrasound. The 8 that was hanging out on the right side has basically shrunk to nothing and disappeared and one of the 12s on the left side appears to be arresting - it was only a 10 today. This leaves us with 5 follicles that could potentially have eggs but they're still not big/mature enough to trigger.

I'm telling myself to be positive: quality over quantity, those five follicles could have perfect, mature eggs that grow into five strong embryos. Still, I'd sure feel a lot better if we had 10 fabulous, mature eggs to pick from instead of just 5. I've been feeling really junky lately, a lot of uncomfortable pressure in my temples, one shoulder randomly going numb, sore lady bits and I need this cycle to be worth it. Come on eggs, I need you to grow, we need more embryos to test.  

With the extra Menopur I bought from Kaiser, I have enough to stim for 13.5 days - enough to get me through the weekend. Depending on what my blood work comes back at, my next appointment will probably be way too early on Sunday morning. If the follies are ready then and I have to trigger Sunday night, the pharmacy won't be open so I stopped in at Roxanne after my appointment. 

I don't know what the chances are of me actually triggering soon. I was looking over my old post-its from last cycle and they didn't trigger me till several follies were over 20mm. With these guys growing so slowly, the biggest is barely 18 :(,  I wouldn't be surprised if I had to get more Menopur and wait until Monday to take my Novarel.

 

In better news, I finally found a use for all these obedience classes I've been doing with Milou: Posing her for photos. After Halloween last year I picked up a couple pirate costumes for her on the clearance rack - she's usually a large or extra large in brands that make tiny dog costumes or a medium in brands that make costumes for larger dogs. I think these two came from Petco for a couple bucks a piece and are both larges, definitely a good score. 

 

I think the red and white costume is my favorite, it has a tiny pirate sword sewn to a black belt and is closed with two velcro straps which makes for a nice snug fit. She so sweetly let me pose her sitting or standing and even let me pose a too big pirate hat on her fuzzy head. That bit didn't fit all that well since it's technically my hat, but she put up with me like a champ. I love this girl so much.

Since costumes with straps probably aren't the most comfortable things to wear, Milou wore her second pirate costume to her agility and obedience classes. This one is a soft puppy t-shirt that slips over her head and two front legs and is super comfy. It also glows in the dark which is insanely adorable when we're walking at night - Trick "Arrr" Treat with a puppy skull and crossbones.

I hope everyone has a happy, safe Halloween filled with lots of delicious treats and merriment. If you have a few seconds to send some positive thoughts/vibes/prayers/good juju my way, I would much appreciate it. Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween from Will, the cutest little dragon ever!

Happy Birthday, Halloween and a trip!

It's been another few weeks and I somehow built up more unpublished posts in my post graveyard. Nothing too exciting has been going on so there hasn't been anything really post worthy. I mean, I carved an owl into a pumpkin and a squirrel ate it's face off, and I got a teeny little mole/blood vessel that exploded and bled like a horror movie while I was shopping at old navy, but neither event was really deserving of it's own post. So, today I'm blogging about birthdays, halloween and my upcoming trip to visit my friend E!

Today, my little sister is celebrating her 22nd birthday with her new(ish) boyfriend, who happens to share her birthday, in Vegas! It's all very exciting since it's her first time there and her first time taking a trip with a boy. Cue the OOOooooOOoooOOooo. This one is actually very nice, quite cute, and they appear to be smitten with each other. A very big happy birthday to L and J, I really hope they have a fabulous time!

E and I haven't celebrated Halloween since the twins we used to babysit moved out of state. We're in that funny in-between space where you're too old to celebrate alone but don't have kids to trick or treat with yet.  This year, I'm actually going out to be out of town visiting my friend El over Halloween! El lives in Boise with her husband and son and I haven't had a chance to visit them since they moved out there. I'm really excited to spend some real time with them and see their house for the first time in person, since I'm sure pictures don't do it justice. El has been dealing with a nasty broken arm which makes it tough to lift her son, so I'm also looking forward to helping out and playing with her little boy.

I leave on the 30th and will be gone till the 6th, so while I'm having a fabulous time with El, I'm unfortunately going to miss my Titos Tacos election night ritual with E. We usually buy a couple boxes of tacos and camp out in front of the TV while the states report, but I'll be in there air when the first numbers start coming in. I've already voted so I don't need to be there to vote, so I'm hoping my plane gets in on time so I can maybe catch the results with E when he picks me up.  This is such an important election and there's so much at stake, I really hope the country pulls through and makes the right decision.

With that said, I wish everyone a safe and Happy Halloween filled with fabulous costumes and tons of candy :)

Death Star Pumpkin!(Source)

Halloween Brownies!

Since we weren't trick or treating or partying this Halloween, I decided to make some epic Halloween brownies. I got the perfect recipe from Picky Palate for Shortbread Candy Corn Kissed Brownies and they turned out beyond delicious. To save you the trouble of clicking the link, here's the recipe.

Shortbread Candy Corn Kissed Brownies

1 family size brownie mix (9×13 inch size)

2 sticks softened butter

1/2 Cup granulated sugar

2 Tablespoons packed brown sugar

1 3/4 Cup flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 bag Candy Corn Kisses, or any flavor you like, unwrapped

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Prepare brownie mix according to package directions, set batter aside.  In a stand mixer, beat butter and sugars until creamy and light.  Slowly add flour and salt until combined.  Press shortbread dough into a 11×7 inch baking dish lined with foil and sprayed with cooking spray.  Top shortbread dough with 50 kisses then pour brownie batter evenly over top of kisses.  Bake for 50-60 minutes or until toothpick comes clean from center.  Let cool completely before cutting into squares.

2.  Place remaining kisses in double broiler to melt.  Spread melted chocolate over brownies, sprinkle if desired and serve.

12 brownies

Now when I made them I made a few changes. I used an 11x13 glass pyrex pan and it made 32 nice sized brownies, not 12. I used Ghirardelli brownie mix and definitely couldn't fit 50 kisses in the pan, I fit 40 tops and they probably could have gone for about 65 minutes.  I also topped mine with melted kisses and covered them in a mix of sprinkles, though I needed more than one bag for the topping. 

Now, I present some remarkably bad iPhone photos after the jump:

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween!!! I hope you, my imagined readers, have a fantastical evening filled with candy, costumes and pumpkins. Since I have no tiny person to dress up in an adorable costume, I give you this: a Harry Potter kitty cat.

Expelliarmus!

I would dress Button up if I had a cute costume for her, but all of Haji's never lasted more than one Halloween.  It's probably because I made them by hand when I was a kid and then he may have viciously, on purpose accidentally ripped them.

I would say that I'm going to be doing awesome, pumpkin, costume, and candy filled things this evening, but sadly my neighborhood is extremely orthodox so there will be no tiny people in colorful costumes running about or jack-o-lanterns glowing. Plus, my honey has to be up at the chipper hour of 5am the next day so parties are kind of out. I do, however, anticipate some awesome scary movies and good company, possibly with my favorite tiny costumed person.

What are you all going as for Halloween? All in, balls out Harry Potter style? Or writing facebook phrases on your arms ala lamesauce  my honey last year? I leave you with a terribly photoshopped photo of Button in a hat, and eagerly await your creative responses and costume pictures!