Familia Cedeño

I came home on Halloween. At this time I had a general idea of my condition and what it entailed. Whatever I didn't quite understand was answered by my Mother or Roberto, both who had done their research and knew more than I did. I announced to my extended family and friends via social network about my diagnosis and I felt content. We took Samuel to Roberto's work trick or treat activity and had a great time. I even got to see some good friends later that night at a get together. Overall it was a good day. Then the next day came and with it a TON of unwanted stress. I suddenly became overwhelmed. I started thinking of every single person I knew. I wanted them to know what had happened. I wanted to talk to them so they could understand. So that's what I tried to do. I called some friends. What I didn't know was that I wasn't ready. Emotionally I couldn't handle talking about it, when I hadn't fully internalized it myself. Since then things have gotten M...

So began my stay at the hospital. First, sodium right into my veins. Then started the blood work.  LOTS of blood work. Other than that it was me, the TV and the nurse coming in here and then. It was comforting to have my family close by to visit me everyday. I think it was the second day that the doctor came in and spoke to me of adrenal insufficiency. Funny thing is, I had heard of what he was talking about. I had seen a video online of a woman of my faith who wanted to be a dancer but was diagnosed with Addison's and started her own clothing line. Not only that, but my own sister had mentioned to me that she thought I might be suffering from that same illness.WOW. So once the doctor told me that he was going to test me for it, I couldn't believe that he was talking about me. All this time I kept thinking it was a virus, something, anything that would just go away. How could it have been something this serious? The next day, the doctor comes in and tells me that I have A...

Around the beginning of October I could feel my energy leaving me little by little. I would take naps and get out of bed late. I wondered if something was happening. Months earlier my family freaked out when they saw how my tongue had turned a darker purple color on the edges, did it have to do with that? Well since nothing else was going on I didn't think much of it. Then on Saturday morning October 19th, I felt nauseous and SUPER tired. I planned on going to the temple, so we went, but I ended up just laying down on a sofa in the ladies room until Roberto was done. That same weekend I dragged myself to church and was so exhausted that it was WORK just to write on the board. On Monday I completely lost my appetite. I tried eating but I just felt like vomiting. The same thing happened the next couple days until Wednesday came and I finally gave in to my body's urge and I threw up. The ritual continued until Friday came and I was taken to my mother's home. That Friday...

Hey there! The weather is getting beautiful and we are enjoying it the best we can. This past month brought many festivities. Roberto turned 32 on May 8th. We celebrated by going out to lunch at a Peruvian restaurant in Salt Lake called Del Mar Al Lago. We were joined by his parents and a couple of his brothers. He also got to go to see Iron Man 3 with his brothers (I had to go back home and pick up Samuel who was being watched by my Mom while I was at lunch with  Roberto, we're a one car family) He also got to enjoy some ice cream from Cold Stone. Later that evening he joined us at my parent's home for some red velvet cake! The day before Mother's Day we went out to breakfast at Kneader's Cafe & Bakery. The food there is amazingly fresh and wholesome. We ordered some French Toast with a side of fruit and some orange juice. On Sunday, after church we went to my parent's home and had dinner with them. I love being so close to my family. This past weekend ...

Easter is this weekend. Now that I am grown up and with a family of my own, it is fun to think about holidays and traditions that we will establish in our family. I have been thinking a lot about how I was raised and what traditions I experienced. I don't know if it's because my parents are from Hispanic countries and they weren't raised that way, but I grew up with very little traditions that had to do with holidays. The only real thing I remember doing is having Thanksgiving dinner together as a family and for Christmas we would always have the big dinner on Christmas Eve and open some presents at mid night and then just lounge around on Christmas day. Easter was not a big 'to-do'. There was no bunny, no egg hunts, no baskets full of gifts, nothing. It was like any other Sunday. My dad told us to think about Christ and how he was resurrected. (You know, the REAL  reason behind the holiday) To be honest, I didn't even realize that we were 'supposed...

Breakfast Connect Four Play Pocoyo! Pasta for lunch Bubbles COOKIES! Nap Snack Building Lovin' life

Valentine's Day this year was so much fun! Turned out that Roberto's internship finished the day before and he didn't start his new job 'til the 18th, SO he had the day OFF! :) We had such a great time together as a family. I had found a cute craft to make and so, we made some paper valentine's to fill with candy. We decided to dine in this year and I made a roast in the crock pot. It turned out so good! I also made some strawberry sandwich cookies.  We were stuffed! It was so fun. We ended the day with a ride on the indoor Ferris wheel at a nearby store.

My friends, we have reached another milestone in our lives. ROBERTO IS WORKING A FULL TIME JOB IN HIS CAREER FIELD! We have come so far! We are SO grateful! When Roberto and I were first married back in 2008, he was enlisted in the U.S. Air Force and I was a Sophomore at BYU-Idaho. Roberto had 5 months left in his contract and then the decision came. Was he going to leave the Air Force or make it his career?  I remember feeling so stressed out about making the correct choice. We prayed, we looked at all our options, we made pros and cons, we really thought this through. Finally we felt like either road was fine and that the decision was up to us. Since Roberto didn't feel like he was supposed to be in the Air Force and there was an opportunity for him to receive payment for school because of his military service, we decided to apply to universities. I was currently a student at BYU-Idaho and deferred a semester because of the wedding and moving to New Mexico. He applied to ...

Samuel turned 2! I can hardly believe how fast it came. We had a great time celebrating his birthday with a party at my mom's house. We mostly had family come. Samuel had a good time. Unfortunately for me, Roberto has moved all the pictures from the party to another hard drive. We love our little guy. He is the sweetest little boy and we consider ourselves very fortunate to have him. Christmas was spent with my family. We spent the night with them on Christmas Eve. It was really fun to be there with them all. I do have pictures of this to share with you. :) We continued the tradition of "gingerbread" houses Samuel Presents! Spoiled? Yes, we bought Samuel a car. Roberto confesses to me now that it was one of those, "I didn't have one when I was a kid, so I want him to have one" purchases. Samuel loves it. Right now it just sits in his room. He'll have fun with it once spring comes. :) During this time we also had my matern...

On December 4th 2012, my brother Daniel Cruz returned from his mission. We were able to go to the airport to welcome him home. It was SO fun to be at the airport. There were a TON of people all waiting for the same reason: missionaries!! As soon as they were coming down the escalators, we cheered! I felt SO happy to see my brother again. What a rush of excitement! From left to right: My brothers Joseph, Nephi, Danny, our son Samuel, Danny's friends, Taylor and Franklin and Roberto's brother Aaron.  When Danny saw my dad and hugged him, they hugged for what seemed like 3 minutes. I have never seen them hug for so long. It was so touching. What a blessing for our family! Danny and our Dad I am SO grateful that we were there for that moment. It would have been a bummer if we would have been living somewhere else far away. Danny's been adjusting to post-mission life just fine. His personality is pretty much the same as before he left. He's cool like that....