Life Lately

It's been 5 years since Rockwell was tested for allergies. We took him in to be tested again, and also get Tessa and Damon tested. The good news is Tessa and Damon are not allergic to tree nuts. Yay!! 

Rockwell's allergies have only gotten worse though. Once you test at a 7, it's anaphylactic. Five years ago he tested at a 20 and 19 for cashews and pistachios, and a few points lower for the other nuts. This time he was at a 40 and 35 for pistachios and cashews, and closer to 20 for the rest of them. 

These allergies are hard on Rockwell. If there's the slightest question about whether something might have tree nuts in it, he'll simply pass on eating it, even when that means he's the only one not eating delicious-looking treats. He is so very responsible and mature about it, and handles it like a champ. But being tested again really showed me that it's a hard and scary thing for him. Before we went to the allergist's office, I was explaining how the testing is done. When I said that they'll poke the kids' backs with drops of each nut, Rockwell immediately got teary. He was afraid of the nuts being put into his skin. I explained that the doctor knows just how much he can put on his back while keeping him safe, and how it won't have any effect on his breathing. I could tell he was nervous about it all, but cooperated just fine. The same nurse that tested him last time tested him again this time. She remembered him, and as soon as his bumps started reacting, she said she could tell his allergy has gotten worse. He got teary again hearing that. I think he felt better after the doctor explained that he doesn't need to do anything differently with the allergy getting worse.  It really doesn't change anything about how he needs to handle life. He needed complete avoidance before, and he needs complete avoidance now. 

It was an emotionally hard day for him. He's glad Tessa and Damon don't have the allergies, but he's a little jealous too. He kept saying, "Me and Kyle, we can't eat nuts and we need our epipens." He feels better knowing his cool cousin who he looks up to carries an epipen everywhere too. :) I took the kids to see a movie after the appointment instead of taking Rock back to school. We saw Penguins, and had the whole theater to ourselves. Rockwell loved it! 

Northridge did a Nighthawk Walk for their fundraiser this year. Damon and I were able to go cheer Tessa on for a couple laps. It was cute to see her and Halina having so much fun running.

Both Tessa and Rockwell did great. Tessa ran 2 1/3 miles, and Rockwell ran 3 1/3 miles. Rock ran the most laps in his class. He loved that Mr. Bunker announced that to everyone. :)

Paul took Rockwell with him to an event at his school. They watched Here Comes the Boom in the auditorium. Rockwell loved going with Dad!

Alexys had her last dance concert at school. She was so excited for it, and I'm glad I could make it to watch. She is a beautiful dancer, and she loves performing. I love to see her so confident on stage. 

They had some cute crafts at the story time right before Easter. 

We had a pretty warm day a while ago, so the kids played with Rockwell's water balloons that he got for his birthday. 

Paul made a great campfire for us.

Hillary sent me this cute picture of Tessa and Opal. They love playing together.

We had a family dinner with Grandma and Gramps Clark on Sunday. We celebrated Emilie's, Carrie's, and Rockwell's birthdays.

While the kids played outside, the adults and big kids played a few games and had some good laughs. It was a great family dinner. I loved watching Damon take his job very seriously. He was in charge of guarding the dolls while Tessa and Brylie washed their hands for dinner. :)

Rockwell has loved playing with all his new Legos that he got from Grandma and Gramps!

We were playing outside the other day and there were a ton of butterflies in our tree.

Tessa wanted to catch one so bad. She jumped, climbed, waited patiently, and chased them, but no luck. She was sure cute trying though.

 

This kid! He makes us laugh all day long. The other day I was helping him get dressed and I laid his pants out for him at the same time he threw his underwear down for me to lay out. They landed on top of each other, and Damon said, "Mom, you're a disaster." What?!? I was laughing so hard at that one!

I'm always a little late getting out of class on the Sundays that I teach Relief Society. The kids had fun playing in Dad's truck while they waited for me this week.