Good News!

Matthew’s food allergy treatment plan has kind of been on hold since our allergist retired a year and a half ago. The doc we saw last year was not a good fit for us. Not only was he not proactive in terms of getting more foods back in Matthew’s diet, but none of us were comfortable with him. Malia saw another allergist earlier this year and we were all much more comfortable with her. She has the attitude of getting my kids into as a normal a life as possible rather than just saying they can’t do or eat things (she suggested the gloves and pretreatment with antihistamines prior to horseback riding rather than suggesting Malia skip it all together), which is much more in keeping with our attitude about how life should be for our kiddos. While Matthew met her back in the spring, today was his first official visit with her.

We do bloodwork and skin prick testing on Matthew every year and there were some surprises this year. Matthew’s number for egg white is down to 10. That is lower than it has ever been! As a frame of reference, when he was three or four, his number hovered around 45, so 10 is amazing! Not only that, but the component testing of the egg proteins (component testing gives results for the individual proteins in each food rather than just the food as a whole) had some even better results. There are two proteins in eggs. One of them is considered “bad” because the protein doesn’t break down when it is cooked. The “good” protein does break down when cooked. Matthew’s number for the good protein is 12, which is fantastic. And here’s the best part-he tests negative for the bad protein!! So although he may never be able to eat eggs cooked sunny side up, eating fully cooked eggs may become a possibility in the future. His number for milk is down to 8 and casein (one of the proteins in milk) is at 6. So that’s fantastic too! Matthew and I were both so excited!

The skin prick testing still shows that he is allergic to the raw egg and milk, but his hives were only about the size of the tip of a pencil eraser. For a comparison, the hives for his environmental testing (grass in particular) were a couple of inches big. The doctor’s reaction to that was to state that Matthew is a very allergic individual. Yup. We’ve heard that before. On several occasions, actually.

With the results of the skin prick testing factored in, the doc presented us with a food plan. She wants Matthew to start eating waffles with eggs in them. After a few weeks, she wants him to switch to waffles with milk. If that goes well, waffles with both egg and milk are up next. And after that, we start trying cookies. How amazing is that?! Our excitement (and trepidation) ramped up with that news, but this is most definitely a proactive step forward. We’ve been playing the waiting game since the retirement of our original allergist, but I feel like we are finally back in motion. Matthew’s body is making some progress and if this all goes well, he will be making some big strides into being able to eat much more normally.

She’s Getting Her Kicks

For the past few months, Malia has been wanting to play soccer. We missed the deadline for spring soccer at the rec center so when the flyer for summer soccer showed up, we decided we’d let her give it a try. At the very beginning she kind of hung back because she had never played before and had no idea what she was doing, but by the end of the six-game series, she was in the thick of things. In fact, her team won their last game and Malia scored two of their goals. She has enjoyed it and wants to continue to play, but she has decided summer is not her favorite time for soccer because it is too hot. I have to agree with that. Temperatures have been in the high 90’s and that’s not exactly conducive to health and wellbeing for me, so I didn’t get to see any of her games. If she plays in cooler weather, I’ll be able to watch.

Sweet is the Peace the Temple Brings

There have been many firsts for Daniel in the last few months. Yesterday was another one, and in my opinion, one of the most important ones. Yesterday Daniel went through the temple for his own endowment. We’ve been talking to him, counseling with him, for months, hoping that he would find it a peaceful, reassuring experience rather than an overwhelming, unfamiliar one. While I know people whose experiences definitely fall in the latter category, mine was of the former. It never felt weird or overwhelming. It just felt right. Although he felt like he was trying to catch a firehose worth of info in a Dixie cup, he came away feeling peaceful. I came away feeling peaceful as well.

I’m so grateful for that peace. After the past week, it has been a welcome respite. We’ve all felt the influence of the adversary more since Daniel got his mission call. That’s the way it works. As we, or members of our family, make good choices, especially big, life altering ones like going on a mission, going to the temple for the first time, being sealed in the temple, etc. the adversary increases his efforts to drag us down. My entire family has spent the last week feeling weighted down, anxious, edgy, and unsettled. By Friday morning, it was bad enough that some of Matthew’s first words after he woke up were to tell me that he could feel the adversary working on him extra hard. I had woken up feeling it. So had Nathan. We all spent the day unable to concentrate or settle to a task. We felt fractious and uneasy. It was not a good day. But at least we knew what was happening and I for one, spent some extra time asking for help in my prayers.  After a week of being stealthily picked at in unpleasant ways, walking into the temple yesterday was like breathing a huge sigh of relief. I smiled for what felt like the first time in days. And the light, both physical and spiritual, was a balm to my soul.

There were members from both my family and Kevin’s that showed up to support Daniel as he took this big step forward. I love being in the temple with my family. Of all the blessings that the Lord promises us if we are faithful, the eternal family part is the one that feels the most important to me. All the ordinances in which we participate and all the covenants we make lead up to the sealing ordinance so for me, the temple really feels like it’s all about family. And having the first of my children join with us was an amazing feeling. It makes me look forward to the time when all my children will be there. They are all on the right path and they are all making amazing choices and although we are still a good many years from that point, it will be a joyous day, one I hope and pray for continually.

I’m so proud of Daniel and the choices he is making. He is working and preparing to sacrifice two years of his life serving the Lord and the many people with whom he will come in contact. He is fortifying himself with a shield comprised of scripture study, prayer, institute classes and temple attendance. He is providing such an amazing example for his siblings. Every time I turn around, I feel like he’s grown up just a little bit more. People keep telling me that I’m a good mom, that I’ve done an amazing job and taught my kids so well. But honestly, I look at it the other way. I was blessed with amazing kids. I feel humbled that the Lord entrusted them to me and that thus far, I haven’t messed them up too much. Realistically, it is probably a combination of the two things; we have all learned from each other. As a family, we’re progressing together. And that’s exactly how it should be.

Please Allow Me to Introduce…

…the Matthew friendly cranberry oatmeal white chocolate chip cookie.

While there are several brands of chocolate chips that are safe for Matthew, white baking chips are a completely different story. I’ve only every found one (a rice milk based one) that works for him and when you bake them, they melt away to nothing, leaving just a small puddle of crispy melted cookie goo where there were once chips. These ones bake beautifully, just like a baking chip should. And they taste delicious too.

Matthew has been anxiously awaiting the arrival of these chips since they were announced in March. I actually got a little watery eyed when I spotted them on the shelf at Walmart this morning. That’s how excited he has been. I’m completely in love with Nestle today.

Friends and Family

This evening was the annual neighborhood block party. There seemed to be far fewer people there than in the past, probably due to the large number people who have moved out in the past year, although that is just a guess. Malia still had a good time. Matthew enjoyed himself and even spent time playing night games with the deacon’s quorum boys (something he doesn’t do often as there are many of those boys that he just doesn’t get along with). And even Daniel participated in the event. I stayed as long as the heat would let me (which was longer than usual due to the fact that one of the meds I take for the migraines makes me feel even colder than normal) and Kev came down for dinner and to keep an eye on Malia for a while. I’ve been trying to get out more since I was called to be in the Relief Society presidency (I don’t think I’ve actually mentioned that as of yet. I’m currently the second counselor.) and mingling at the party for awhile felt like a good step. I’m a bit of an introvert by nature and while it takes some conscious effort to get out and socialize, I think it will be good for me. Although I love my family and get tons of support from them, I think I could probably use some friends as well. I’ve been a bit short on those since we moved out here.

Nathan was invited to go to a baseball game with his cousin Ella (youngest daughter of my sister Patti) and Kevin and I completely supported his skipping of the block party.  I love that he has cousins that he likes, considers friends…

…and can be dorky with.

And Aunties that wonder why in the heck they are sitting next to such a couple of dorks.

I feel blessed that I get along with my family and consider them friends. I’m doubly blessed because my kids feel the same way.

Prayer and Priorities

Scout camp for the Deacons is this week. Earlier this year, we talked to Matthew about going, knowing that a weeklong camp has some definite challenges for a food allergy kid, and he decided he wanted to go. Kevin planned to go with him for the first half of the week to help him get everything established. Once that was decided, our brains went on to other things and because our current deacon advisor is not much inclined to plan in advance, two weeks ago we got the reminder about camp including the medical forms, etc. that needed to be done before camp. That kind of sent us into a frenzy and we madly completed the paperwork, planned a menu, made a shopping list and purchased everything he would need. Saturday was the prep for camp day and neither Kevin nor Matthew could really get moving on getting anything ready. As they talked about how reluctant they both felt where camping prep was concerned, they ended up on their knees asking whether Matthew was supposed to go to camp. The answer they both got was no. Matthew was not supposed to go.

I think we all felt more at ease once that decision was made. Kevin realized that this is something Matthew has never done and while he knows how to cook and stay safe at home, food prep while camping is an entirely different beast, one that he’s never done. We think he needs some training on how to do that before we drop him off in the wilderness and tell him to stay safe.

Matthew felt fine about the whole thing except for the temple trip the deacons had planned for this evening. Matthew has always been very temple focused. He wants to be there and has wanted to be there since long before he was old enough to go. He has also always been interested in visiting a variety of different temples. So not being able to go to the Payson Temple was a blow. After further discussion, it was decided that Kevin would drive Matthew down for the temple trip portion of the camp. Matthew was very happy about that.

Matthew has been such a great example of making the temple a priority in our lives. He goes as often as he can get there (which is just about as often as he can convince one of his brothers to let him go with them on one of their trips) and is always bummed when he can’t go for one reason or another. I know that life gets busy and as he gets older he have more and more responsibilities that he have to juggle, but I hope his love for the temple never wanes and that his enthusiasm will spread to all those around him. I, for one, could learn something about where my priorities should lie from my amazing twelve-year-old.

High Hopes

The new high school is not finished as of yet. That is not a surprise, of course. Construction always takes longer than the estimate. Since it is only mid-July that doesn’t create too many problems, but the madrigals from our brand-new high school, got volun-told that they would be performing the district admin’s conference three weeks from now. The choir director, who has no classroom, no piano, no music, etc. tried to explain the difficulties in getting a performance ready, but the folks in charge were undeterred. As such, the madrigals have been madly acquiring uniforms and having a few rehearsals on the fly.

Their first rehearsal several weeks ago was held at the high school our choir director just left, but they were in need of a space for another rehearsal today. There was a general plea for a home with a piano and space for thirty kids and since our home fits those requirements, we offered to open our door to a crew of teenagers. I even made treats for the kids because 1) I wanted to encourage the kids to stay and socialize and get to know each other and 2) I figure feeding teens will give me points in the “best choir mom” category. 😉

Nathan is incredibly excited about madrigals. And when I say excited, I mean over the top, can hardly stand it, wants to wear his madrigal suit right now, wants to get started right this minute kind of excited. And it doesn’t hurt that the choir folks from the old high school have been tossing around the fact that the new high school mads are already rehearsing and they had better get their act together so they can beat them.

I’m so, so very glad that Nathan’s experiences have already been positive and he’s longing for more. Last year nearly broke Nathan emotionally. It was rough. I’ve been on my knees praying for this year to be different. From what I’ve seen so far (by sneaking around the house during their rehearsal today and listening to Nathan rave about everything), my hopes are high.

And I really, really want to be a choir mom. Due to the dynamics of our family and the needs of one tiny food allergy baby who grew into a high energy, tiny food allergy toddler, Nathan is the one of my children that I have had the fewest opportunities to support as a classroom volunteer. I want to make up for that now. High school is different from elementary school and I know the opportunities will be completely different as well, but I’m looking forward to being able to support my second son in his endeavors.

Go, Go, Go!

After the stressful and disappointing experience he had during this past year’s high school production of “The Sound of Music,” Nathan was good and ready for a better one. His beloved middle school theater teacher was directing our community’s summer show, so he was quick to decide to audition. The show this year was “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dream Coat,” which is a super fun show (I know this from past experience) so that was a perk as well. Unfortunately, since this particular show is almost all music, the cast spend the majority of their time working with the music director and the choreographer. And they were somewhat unreasonable in terms of how late rehearsals ran, gave the cast tons of grief for missing rehearsals even though they had disclosed days they would miss prior to being cast, and were generally critical and irritable. I’m getting all this from Nathan, of course, since I wasn’t there, but they really rubbed him the wrong way. As a result, he didn’t enjoy the whole process as much as he had hoped. But to the credit of the cantankerous crew, the end result was really fantastic. Kev and I both agree that it is probably the best community theater production we’ve ever seen. So kudos for that.

Despite his unpleasant rehearsals, Nathan did enjoy the actual performing and he did a great job. I had a lot of people stop me to let me know how fantastic they thought his performance was. I thought he did great as well. I had no idea that he could dance as well as he did. He definitely has some moves. And honestly, his milelong bell bottoms and snakeskin shirt comprised my favorite of his costumes. He may have thought they were dorky, but it worked really well on him.

Nathan probably won’t participate in another show in our community (he did tech for last year’s show and had unpleasant experiences with that as well), but live and learn, right? I’m really, really, really hoping the new high school will bring him some better theatrical experiences.