What's next?!

What a crazy hectic weekend. Phew! I am so worn out and emotionally exhausted--we had one of the most exciting weekends in a long time, and not in a good way.

Hmm..where should I start? Friday Christian left for a long awaited guy's weekend up in the middle of nowhere. Knowing he would be gone, I planned a girl's night at my house with wine and movies...the works :) There was drama at my girls' night, but I'll leave that out. Anyhoo, so I get a call from Christian in the middle of my movie saying that his brother Levi has been stung by something and is having chest pains, shortness of breath, and swelling. AND, they are about 1 1/2 hours from anywhere. So they were rushing to the hospital, but barely even had cell service. So my girls' night turned into me worrying and texting, worrying and texting. C also informed me that they had had a run-in with a cougar the night before and he was on the brink of shooting at it through the tent. (I've decided that gee, guy's weekend in the woods sounds like so much fun--I'm going next year!)

So Levi apparently got stung by a hornet and was having a terrible allergic reaction to it. They gave him some medicine and they came and stayed the night here. The next morning, I dropped Noah off at my mom's and drove all the way back out to the campsite with C & Levi to help them load everything up (they had left all their stuff up there). We get home, I pick up Noah and put him down to sleep...have some lunch, and Levi leaves. So I'm snoozing on the couch and Christian starts saying his face is itchy, and his eyes are burning. So he goes up to get in the shower then a few minutes later is hollering at me to come look.

I basically came up the stairs to find a monster in my midst. Seriously--eyes almost completely swollen shut, HUGE hives all over, swollen lips, coughing, shortness of breath, and terrible stomach cramps. I can't believe how fast this all happened! (**On a side note--Christian has like, the HIGHEST pain tolerance I've ever seen. Since he got hurt in Iraq, pain is not something he even complains about--ever. And often in the hospital he would be asked what his pain was, on a scale of 1-10, and he'd usually say like a 4 or 5...when it got to 8 he couldn't even talk, but that was rare).

Anyway, so I asked him if I needed to take him to the hospital and he said he thought so...wouldn't you know that Noah was napping, so I started calling grandparents to see if one of them could come over and be here with Noah so I could take C to the hospital. And no one answered. Finally after a few minutes C's parents called back and I explained what was going on. By this point, he was in the bathroom keeled over in pain and crying...wondering if he'd been poisoned. I had mentioned spraying some Raid outside and wondered if he had touched it and then touched his eyes. So he was super freaked out, as was I. And then there was the fact that he was having trouble breathing and pretty much I couldn't see his eyeballs. I wish I would have taken a picture.

So at the climax of this all, he yelled out to call 911. So I did. And I could hardly communicate to the poor lady, I was so freaked out. When the paramedics got here, C told them his pain was about a 9 out of 10. I couldn't believe it.

So long story short, C had taken 2 benadryl immediately after he started reacting, and those pretty much probably saved his life. The ambulance came and checked him out and told him we needed to go to the hospital. They said he was definitely having an allergic reaction, probably to food...so he is being really careful about what he eats, and they gave us an "epi-pen" (shot of epinephrine) in case this happens again.

Then today, I'm going down the slide with my Noah, and he hits his poor little head on the side of the slide and slices his eyelid open. Blood and everything. Poor little thing. He really whacked it good. I managed to take a picture of that:


Poor little peach. :(

So too much drama for us in one weekend.

On a positive note--I started a painting class today and loved it. Just the type of relaxation I needed!

It's been a while!

It's sure been a while! Since I last posted I believe Noah had a birthday, and we went to the beach? Perhaps not...but perhaps. Anyway, a few pics from the beach:



Noah's 2nd b'day, with his Thomas cake :)

Loving the cake :)

Scooting down a sand hill


Looking for sea shells with mama

First family trip (and photo) at the beach!

And, I'm excited to say that we are hosting a home group every Wednesday night on Peacemaking, and we are both really excited about it! Tonight was the first night and Christian and I both just felt really good about it. Welcoming people into our home, seeing familiar faces and new ones...fellowship in general. It is a blessing to us. :) Our home felt warm and full. Praise the Lord!

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We've also become good friends with the new associate pastor at this church. He and his wife are 32 and 30, and they have a son, also named Noah, who is only a few weeks older than our Noah. What a coincidence. Anyway, they just moved here from Bellevue, Washington and Maija and I and our Noahs have been spending time together. That is also a blessing in many ways, and I am thankful. It's sure amazing what a friend can do for the soul :)

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Christian and I decided recently that now is the time for him to go through the Wallstreet Warfighters program. It's a fast track program that is free for him to do, and he will become a broker. He will attend the school that Donald Trump attended...pretty prestigious. BUT, it means he will be gone for 6 months. 2 months in Chicago, 2 in Philadelphia, and 2 in New York. Beginning in February. I am nervous about it, but not in the way that I previously was (we talked about this a while back and decided that it was NOT a good time then). I am nervous now because Noah is sooo extremely attached to Christian right now. He is his WORLD. And I've read and heard from many different sources that this age is crucial for father-son bonding. And what happens if Christian's gone? I know that people do it alllll the time, and heck--look at the military life! I should know better and think differently, but I don't. I am worried about it. So--please pray, faithful reader out there, about this :)

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I think that's it for now. My melatonin is kicking in, so I need to hit the sack :)