Can't forget the first time Wade got the Epi-Pen shot!

On Sunday night, August 13th, Rhiannon and Wade got home quickly from their youth choir practice.  Wade said the back of his throat was itchy and he thought he'd eaten some kind of nuts in a dessert there.  He asked Rhiannon to get them home fast.

Things went downhill pretty quickly for him.  He took 3 or 4 Benadryl tablets but vomited several times after that.  No hives, but he had the red eyes, instant and complete nasal congestion, terribly itchy throat, a little bit of swelling in his lips, and constant vomiting.  After about an hour he finally looked up at me from where he was sitting on his bed, and said, "Mom, it's time.  You need to get the Epi-Pen."  It was hard for him to open his mouth, and he said his chest started to feel strange.

So, for the first time ever, he got a shot of epinephrine.  I took the blue cap off and swung the "pen" into his right thigh and held it in place for 10 seconds.  It was VERY easy and quick to do!  Then we calmly drove to the ER where they gave him more steroids and observed him until almost midnight.  He walked out of the hospital with a smile on his face and joked, "Hey, we made it to Monday!"

It was amazing the difference, from the height of the reaction to going home to bed and being just fine the next morning.

We learned some things:

1.  Wade is d-e-f-i-n-i-t-e-l-y allergic to walnuts.  Big time.  We knew of the allergy, but he didn't ask what was in the cake before he ate it.  He only took a couple bites of the dessert, but it sure packed a punch.

2.  Wade needs to ask people what's in their home-baked goods.  He doesn't have to feel embarrassed about it--just ask!

3.  Epinephrine injectors work.  And they need to be on hand.  (Ours was in the medicine cabinet.  I have another in my purse and Wade has one in his camping gear.  There's also one at school.)

4.  Epinephrine did leave some weird, lingering effects that Wade had to deal with for the first week of school.  The shot and its quickness caused some strange pockets of red in his eyes, like they were bloodshot but in areas all over his eyes.  He got some comments from friends who noticed it and were a little worried about him.  Worried me, too, but they finally went away after about a week and a half.

5.  Thankful for sweet friends!  The Hall family dropped off a giant bag of fun goodies and treats that Wade enjoyed for several days.  We all got a huge kick out of their clever "epi-Pen" gift, too:

We love Wade and we're glad he's okay!

Sleeping in the emergency room

Wade brings in the "dolla billz"

At the end of June, Wade approached me about posting something for him on Facebook.  (Side note:  yes, we've said he can have his own account, but he hasn't taken us up on it yet because he says he'd use up all of his allotted computer time on it, haha!  Smart boy.)

This was the simple post:

"My 13-year-old son Wade would love to earn some extra money this summer. He asked me to post that he has experience with dog care, watering plants, and general house-sitting while you're on vacation. He's open to doing other small jobs as well (weeding, yard care, etc. He mows our backyard.) If you need an odd job done here or there and think he might be the young man for the job, let me know and I'll have him contact you!"

The response was quick and since that time he has done all kinds of jobs:

--helping someone move heavy furniture

--dog sitting and walking

--lawn mowing

--trench digging

--big yard clean-up project

--and his first babysitting jobs!

He hopes next to paint a fence and continue with some lawn mowing jobs.  Wade worked hard, getting up very early most summer mornings to tackle outdoor projects before it got too hot.  Hurray for earning money with some hard work!  We love this kid.

Musings on a Tuesday night

5 years from now, Rhiannon will be 21 and Wade will be 18.

It takes my breath away to think about the change that is ahead, but it also motivates me to enjoy all of my time with them while they're home, all of it, the slow times, the fast times, the busy-busy and the "Hey, Mom, come play table tennis with me" times.   Trying to be less "helicopter parent" and more "cutter of apron strings" is a work in progress, too.  No matter what, I hope Rhiannon and Wade feel our love for them!

We've been playing a lot of table tennis the past week, thanks to Wade.  He brought it down when Rhiannon was gone on her college tour last week, and the game has stayed set up unless we're eating at that table, ha-ha!  5 minutes here, 5 minutes there, he gets all of us to play with him at one time or another.  It's fun!  The dogs are getting used to our playing, too and know not to touch that ping pong ball.

Speaking of college tours, Rhiannon had the time of her life on that trip!  She visited 8 campuses in 3 days, got by on little sleep, had a blast with her roommates (friends from school that she got to pick), and came back super energized to get high school DONE and move on to the next chapter of her life.  She loved the University of San Diego, a private Catholic university--the only drawback is its v-e-r-y steep tuition cost.  In the next 3 months she will take the ACT and SAT and an AP exam and sign up for senior-year classes and figure out her top 4-6 college picks and visit a few more campuses over Spring Break on our family trip and and and and....  It's not hard to understand how she can feel a little stressed out sometimes!  We are excited for her and proud!  Oh, and that drivers license is finally just around the corner.  She has one more instructor lesson and then just needs to take the drivers test!

Jason is gone to a stake meeting tonight and has a day trip for work down to Northridge tomorrow.  Work is unbelievably stressful and 0% fun for him lately, but, man, I am so grateful for all that he does to provide for our family.  And he is so good about giving time to the kids and me, too, whether it's a Valentine's date and gorgeous flowers for me or going out of town with Wade to shop for golf clubs or letting his daughter go with him to Bishop two hours away for a Sunday church trip to spend time with her and let her practice her driving on the highway.  He's the best!

In the middle of all my crazy--church stuff and college stuff and work stuff and home stuff....and feeling a little out of control with all of that--I found an unexpected stress reliever--listening to podcasts!  So far I really like Power of Moms and This American Life.  Podcasts are kinda like radio shows, but more like you're sitting down listening to a conversation among friends, without the commercials and I get to pick what I like to listen to.  I download "episodes" to my phone (and then usually delete after), and listen while I'm walking the dogs or cleaning or folding laundry.  I knew I was on to something the other day when I kept trying to find tasks to do because my podcast wasn't over yet (WHAT???  HOW DID THAT HAPPEN! ;) )  I love it!

Wade becomes a teenager!

Wade turned 13 on October 21 and got to celebrate his birthday for a couple of days.  

He got a donut for breakfast in the morning...

An excused-absence lunch break with his mom... (we got McDonald's and ate at a park on base near the school.  Fun!  I need to do that more often with him!)

A Baskin Robbins ice cream cake and Papa John's pizza for dinner  (we amped up the fun and brought the party to Howard and Sandi's house.  We loved doing that with them, and they really appreciated it!)

We waited to do present opening that night when Dad got home from a business trip to Italy (we were so glad to get Jason home!!!)

And then Wade got even MORE spoiled when he had some friends over the next afternoon, and his dad drove him and friends down to Ontario for a hockey game.  It was the first time for his friends to see a hockey game, so he and Dad enjoyed doing that with them.  (THANK YOU to Dad for doing this for Wade, especially after just getting home from an international flight and a "few" time zones the night before!)

With JoJo, Lars, Nick, and Tucker

WE LOVE YOU, WADE!!!!  Happy 13th Birthday!!!

Wade's middle school band plays James Bond theme!

So happy Jason was there and could record a little bit of Wade's concert band performance!

Wade is to the left of the stage, standing, and playing (very well) on the mallets.  Enjoy!