this blog will be about my daily life in the WONDERFUL world that GOD has given me! he has SOOO blessed my life, every second, everyday of my life with my beautiful family....JAMES, my hubby, my son ALEX and my son MATTHEW and JOSHUA MICHAEL!! We are soooo happy to know GOD's LOVE!
yep, just enjoying our time together!! we have been doing tons of playing, visiting, and just enjoying our time together...it has been FUN!! joshua has been a bit sick, as are alex and matthew....they have all been coughing, sneezing and stuffy...so we took JOSHUA into the drs on wed 26th because they wanted to make sure and check him because of the possiblity of RSV and him being so small...so there we go and THANK GOD we did because....HE WAS WHEEZING!!!!!! so he started him on NEB TREATMENT!!! OMG, i just about FREAKED OUT about that!! so, here is a picture of him on neb treatments....
james has been enjoying being a daddy again with the boys....and with that came.....JAMES GIVING JOSHUA A BATH IN THE SINK!!! yep, here are some pics and video's of that wonderful day...
we did a lot of visiting but mostly we just hung out and just were together. we did some AFTER CHRISTMAS SHOPPING which was fun. we ended up getting the "kids" (our nieces and nephew) on thursday and they spent the night with us so we watched TRANSFORMERS together!! it was really fun!! james LOVES his kids!!!
that saturday (29th) we did some more shopping (YES WE SPENT TOOOOOOO MUCH MONEY!! we said we were making up for all that time away from each other!) and then we had some family come over for a little together time....we played a GREAT game of PHASE 10...if anyone has every played this game it is SOOOOO MUCH FUN!! and JAMES won!! stinker! he also had a bit of drink which he paid for the next day....awwww...i think he was feeling good with just the fuzz on the top!! but he went and did more than just the fuzz!! poor guy! he SWORE he would not do that AGAIN!! :) needless to say, we hung out all of SUNDAY because he was hurting too bad!! oh well...
wow, we have been having some FUN in our home! we have just been ENJOYING having james home with us and just spending time with him! after a good night sleep for all of us, we woke up the next day (Christmas EVE) and decided we needed to go SHOPPING!!! yep, we did just that! it was fun...james wanted to buy some gifts for his kids and we needed to just be together....so we did some SERIOUS SERIOUS shoping!! YAYAYAYAY...it was just like old times....us, just out having fun and doing NORMAL things! we also went to his FAVORITE store and we looked around there for a while (BASS PRO SHOPS)...he wanted to buy some gifts from there too! well, that night, we had a GREAT TIME because we had a VERY small EVE PARTY at the house for our nieces and nephew, sil & her hubby, my mil & sil...we had some TAMALES, chili, rice and other yummies!! it was really nice and everyone was just happy that james was HOME! after doing some eating, the kids and all of us made our COOKIES for SANTA! that was fun, something we started LAST year and they really enjoyed making them, decorating them, and taking them home with them to put out for santa!! it was awesome! and that night, our DEAR WONDERFUL SIL, saved our SANITY by staying with us and helping us by WRAPPING OUR GIFTS FOR US!! if she had not stayed and helped us, it would have taken us until the WEE hours of the morning...as it was, with she and i doing the bulk of it and james helping out some (he is not very good at it) we did not finish unitl after 1am!!!! soooo THANK YOU!!! we truely appreciate what you did for us that day!! YOU ARE THE BEST!
Christmas day was everything it was suppose to be....our family TOGETHER....we got up in the morning and the boys were sooooo excited to see if santa had come...and when they walked down the stairs and saw that he HAD......they were soooo excited! so were we! to see the look on their faces was just AWSESOME! well, before we could open our presents, we did our tratitional thing and SANG "HAPPY BIRTHDAY" to JESUS and told him THANK YOU and that WE LOVE HIM...then they got around and OPENED THEIR GIFTS!! i know, i said that i would not BUY them too much this year but we found an excuse to ALWAYS buy them SOMETHING....so they made out like BANDITS!! it was just FUN to watch their eyes light up with joy....and james described the scene in our living room as the scene from A CHRISTMAS STORY where there is paper EVERYWHERE....that was our room! but it was AWESOME! afterwards, we had a party there at our home and we had SOOOOO MANY people that showed up! we made TURKEY, GRAVY, STUFFING, CORN, MAC & CHEESE, MASH POT, GREENBEAN CASSEROLE, ROLLS and soooo much more! it was just nice to be around family and have them feast with us!! we are just SOOOO THANKFUL and feel SOOOOO BLESSED!! here are some pics of our days:
OUR BOYS ON CHRISTMAS DAY!
DADDY WITH HIS 3 BOYS....
GRANDMA WITH HER YOUNGEST GRANDCHILD...
PICTURE OF CUTENESS....taken by ALEX...LOOK AT THOSE CHEEKS!
i am soooooooo happy and feel sooooo blessed because JAMES IS HOME!! we were able to surprise the BOYS and that is a miracle in itself!! for over 2 months now, i have kept a SECRET from these boys....it was WONDERFUL!!!!! so many people have called, stopped me to ask me when he was coming home and when i would say (if the boys were around) NOT TILL JUNE, they would have this wierd look on their face and get ready to ask me some other questions until they saw my face and i was either winking or giving them a sign, that they realized that i couldn't tell them the correct day because the boys where around....it was fun to try to create new ways of saying what i needed to say without giving it away...and it was fun seeing everyones faces and they tried to do the same!! well, it started like this, since the 19th of dec, i have been on pins and needles KNOWING that james should be home soon. it kept slipping out that when james came home or whatever and i would have to catch myself before the boys found me out. it was really funny! anyway, i felt like i kept getting updates on james, he was delayed due to this or that and it was OK because as long as he would be COMING HOME i really didn't care WHAT DAY or HOW LATE because i just KNEW i would be seeing him!! so that friday EVENING when i finally got the concrete flight plans, i was ready! i started my email going and my phone calls trying to call all those that had wanted to be there....i was getting soooooo excited! soooo, i my wonderful SIL had these shirts made for us with a picture of james on it and we all had one! sooo, now i had to explain, WHY we were wearing these shirts with dads picture on it, why we were going to the airport on SUNDAY the 23rd and also WHY all these other people were going to be there!! talk about trying to do it on the spare of the moment! soooo, i told alex that we were going to take a picture FOR daddy and that is why we had the shirts on....the reason we were going to the AIRPORT was because SANTA was going to come off the PLANE and we were going to take PICTURES with him....and the reason everyone ELSE was going to be there was because they ALSO wanted to take a picture with santa for daddy!! :) i think i got all that PRETTY GOOD! sooo, that morning, i woke up REALLY early, got dressed, woke up the boys and got them all ready to go and by the time the nurse came in at 0730 (he had NO IDEA what was happening) we were OFF!! so, when we get there, and THANK GOD we got there early, we found out we had to get a BOARDING PASS to get us thru security to go meet james at the gate....and we were really BLESSED that they let myself, the nurse and the 3 boys over there! they don't NORMALLY do that! so as we go about getting thru security which OMG was just CRAZY!!! (if you have not done that in a while, we had to take our shoes off, take matthew out of the wheelchair, break the wheelchair apart and stick it on the radar thing, and the same thing with the carrier and then pass thru the metal thing and then put EVERYTHING back together!! what a PAIN!!! soooo, after all of that, we headed over to the gate...i was getting SOOOOOOO EXCITED and i was also getting nervous...SO we get to the gate and i don't realize until MUCH later that the reason everyone was watching us was because we were the ONLY ones there to MEET someone...everyone else was there leaving san antonio!! so, as we are there waiting i see james PLANE coming in and i tell alex, 'hey, that is SANTA'S plane!! let's wait over here in front of this pilar so we can see when he get's off the plane' alex was soooo excited! so we are looking down the gang plank and i ask alex, "do you see SANTA?" and alex is just looking down there and he says, not yet....i told him that he is wearing RED....he says not yet...then that is when he sees DADA!!! here is a VERY short clip of the moment he saw dada:
i had everything planned and when it was time to record, i just LOST IT! it was soooooooooooo emotional that i couldn't THINK!! but i was so glad to get these short little clips!! oh well!! anyway, after a whole bunch of minutes huggy and talking we started to make our way to the baggage claim and the WHOLE WAY, alex and matthew could not keep their EYES off of daddy!! and daddy had joshua in his arms, alex on his neck, and matthew holding his hand...awwwww....it was WONDERFUL! there was also plenty of his family and friends there to greet him! i am just SOOOO PROUD OF HIM!!
soooo, we also had channel 4 (NBC/WOAI) there to interview him...i could never find it on the net so i video taped it from the tv that we recorded so forgive the poor shot of it!! here they are...
james hit the ground RUNNING...after we left the airport, we went out to eat at EL PICO DE GALLO mexican restarant for breakfast and then when we got home and we surprised him and the boys with some decorations (thank you k&m for the banner and my cuz T for coming over while we were gone and decorating!!) and he was so happy! we got right down to business and just hung out and cuddled! and he was DETERMINED to go to to see the LIGHTS at SANTA'S RANCH with our kids and my nieces and nephew!! so there we were, going out there! we had a GREAT first day.....here are some pics... here we are, first family picture!! james and his 3 boys... our little family... all our family and friends...
YEP, the time is fast approaching when JAMES should be coming HOME, PLEASE GOD!! i am sooooo excited!! it has been HARD trying to KEEP from saying that he was coming home to my 5 year old....it has been HARD talking in CODE when someone is here or someone calls on the PHONE!!!! yep, that is all you hear from everyone...everyone has been soooo NICE and excited to see james....we are all anxious for him to COME HOME!! he called us today and told me that as of 0930 our time, they were going to go into LOCKDOWN and go thru customs (taking 6 hours!!) and then at 2130 our time today, they SHOULD be on the PLANE ready to LEAVE THERE!!! he is STILL not sure what his flight is going to come in or when or what time or WHATEVER!!! it has made it REALLY HARD to coordinate EVERYTHING!! and poor james, there is NO PLACE to sleep when they are in lock down!! so he is just walking around waiting to board a plane...poor guy....
well, i just got the phone call from james....he is coming home on SUNDAY the 23rd and will be arriving in san antonio at 9:25am!! we are soooo happy!!!!! we are sooo excited!! WE ARE SOOOO PROUD OF HIM! i can't wait to see him and hold him...and the boys.......wowowowowow....they are going to be sooo happy!!!!
i gotta to go to sleep....i was up all night with matthew who is still SICK!! and now joshua and alex are too....sigh....this weather is CRAZY....one day hot, cold, dry, wet etc and any combination of it all!!
Hello all and Happy Holidays! How is everybody doing? Great! I am doing very good right now. I am about 1 day shy of flying home. Today is the 20th and I fly out tomorrow out of this place, God Willing. I am at a Camp called "Ali Al Salem". Can't really say much about this place also, except that is one step closer to home. Yeah!!! Right about now i am so ready to go home. It is boring here right now, just walking around and getting coffee and stuff trying to kill time till tomorrow morning. I have to be there at 0730hrs on the 21st to get my flight info and probably go through customs to get checked before flying out. Ya'll take care and I'll see ya'll when i get home. We will be spending Christmas at my house this year so ya'll are more than welcome to come by. Take care and save some of them tortillas for me. I have been waiting for some. Buenos!!!!
it is SOOOOOO CLOSE now for james to COME HOME!! i can't even TELL YOU or DESCRIBE to you how excited i am GETTING!! today, we were at our homeschool playdate and one of the mom's started to talk and i started to talk about james and i almost LOST IT!! i have NOT CRIED during this whole time and just the THOUGHT of james coming SOOOO SOOOOONN...it is too exciting! right now, at 11pm, he is starting to make his WAY HOME!!! yep, he was leaving at 8:15am his time and that is RIGHT NOW!! how exciting! he starts to leave from IRAQ tonight at 11pm our time and then he has to go to KUWAIT and then from there he has go to another base somewhere there in the middle east and then from there he might have a night layover (briefings) and then from there he will fly somwhere in EUROPE and then from there somewhere in the states and then from there to dallas where he checks in and then from dallas HOME!! wowowowowow....a lot of traveling!! and we are ANXIOUSLY awaiting his ARRIVAL! i think of all the things that he will see!! alex, he is getting SOOOO TALL! and is sooo smart and can read now....matthew, he is BIG and he can now stand against the wall and is talking more...and then there is JOSHUA who when he left,weighed in at 5 lbs 13 oz and was 2 DAYS OLD...he comes home to him at over 11lbs and almost 4 months old...WOWOWOWOW....we are soooo happy and excited and the boys don't even KNOW YET!! i can only IMAGINE what they are going to feel seeing their daddy coming down the airport!! i plan to tell them that we have to go pick up SOMEONE at the airport and then hopefully be able to go to the loading area and see him coming off the plane!! for a couple of days of R&R...wowowowowow....when he came home in aug, it was 4 QUICK days...he was HOME and then we had a baby and then he was GONE! i can't imagine what 15 days will be like!! YYIIIPPPEEEE!!! i can't wait to surprise my boys!
wow, it has been a bit since i posted!! there has been A LOT of stuff going on....
this weekend was the funeral for the beautiful baby that passed away...it was really tough to see her in her little casket....she was soooo beautiful....it was so hard to hear the family grieving soooo.....it was really windy that day at the graveyard and a couple of times it REALLY blew and the father would cry out "i love you too, baby, know it is you..." man...it just BROKE your heart.....it was really hard...i had a cake done for them....the mom asked me if i had a cake for matthew and i said that i did (when he was going to pass away) and i told her that it had said "happy birthday matthew" but he was only 5 days old....she told me I WANT A CAKE TOO!! sooo, i brain stormed with the sister and we came up with what to put on the cake.."J.N., WE WILL CELEBRATE YOUR LIFE!!" i wish there was MORE i could do for her....
well, i have been frantically doing all the things you need to do when your loved one is COMING HOME!!!! I CAN'T BELIEVE that in less than a COUPLE OF DAYS, my husband will be HOME FOR 2 WEEKS!!! I Am sooooooo excited!! you can't even IMAGINE how excited i am unless you have been there!! it has been just SHY of 4 months since we saw him!! WOWOWOWOWOW....we have seen him in pictures but not in the flesh...i can't even imagine what alex and matthew are going to do when they see him!! it has been sooooo hard to not say anything to the boys....and people keep asking me in CODE THANK GOD if he is coming and when etc...it is kinda funny!!! but as of RIGHT NOW, YES, he is coming and it will be sometime AFTER the 19th....but what ever day he comes in, he gets 15 DAYS from the moment he signs in!! SO, he doesn't lose any days if he comes in later....i am tooooooo excited!!! :)
you will also note a new TAG section to the RIGHT!! what i am doing is taging EVERY POST to make it easier for you to find something...ESPCECIALLY about james and IRAQ...i have had quite a few people ask me how they can see those post...so now, just click on IRAQ and you will get all the post about that topic!! it is taking me a WHILE to do all these last 2 years but i am ALMOST done!! :)
yes, my new friend with the baby with TAPVR.....i found out early this morning that the beautiful little girl had passed away....i am so sadden for this family who i had JUST started to get to know...i met them about 2 weeks ago and when i went to visit the PICU with matthew....i later took the mom a gift bag full of goodies and got to see the little girl who was BEAUTIFUL with big eyes, lots of hair and who was soooo alert....i had JUST talked to the mom on monday about the upcoming MLH party on tues 11th and how we would meet up there (her and her son would be going) and we were excited because it would be fun etc.....well, when i got there to the party, she was not there...i remember i kept looking around for her and teling my other 2 buddies that i hoped everything was ok, and wondering why she had not made it etc...i thought about her thru out the party.....after i got home and settled everyone down, it was too late to call her so instead i emailed her telling her i hoped everything was fine and that she was missed and just to call me whenever...well, last night, FOR THE FIRST TIME IN FOREVER, i actually got up off the couch, closed my compture and went to bed by 1030!! amazing!! :) when i got up this morning, i had email from a friend who had visited the family last night after the party and found out bout the baby.....i am so sad about this....if i had gone w/my instincts and called her at the party or if i had fallen asleep when i usually did, i would have known sooner....
unfortunatly, so is the life of families with CHDs....you never know....i know of a family who's little boy was doing WONDERFUL 4 years after he was born w/the same condition as matthew and just w/in the last couple of months, they are going in for a pacemaker....just never know...
sooooooo my thoughts and prayers are with this family as they deal with the pain and loss of thier tiny beautiful baby.....i pray for STRENGTH & COMFORT for them for the coming days ahead....
but instead i am writing a post about NOT doing something I SHOULD have done!! what am i talking about? well, i am talking about today, i didn't have a nurse.....NOT A BIG DEAL...right? well, i had PLANNED on writing about how i took all my children to church today BY MYSELF because i knew the nurse would not be here (he had called in for today and tomorrow).....alex had sunday school today....i had set my alarm clock for 6 am so that i could get up, dressed, dress my 3 kids, get all of matthew stuff that he needed for the morning and we would be OFF by 7:30ish to be able to get everyone down and alex to class by 8am (the church is only 5 mins away) instead, when the alarm rang, i kept hitting SNOOZE and then after 20 minutes, decided that it would be TOO HARD to do it ALL BY MYSELF....WWWWHHHYYYYY?!?!?!? i felt sooooo bad after i got up at 7 am because matthew had woken up and we had NOT GONE TO CHURCH!!! there is NO EXCUSE for that!! a year ago, i did NOT have a nurse with me all the time.....i did everything BY MYSELF! and here i am, deciding i could NOT go to church.....makes me so mad at myself!! but TODAY i have made a decision, i am NOT going to be so depended on the nurses!! YES, matthew is HEAVY going up and down the stairs, YES, he does not walk so i HAVE to carry him to the car, get him settled and take down his BIG wheelchair by myself, YES i DO have a newborn but that is NOT a big deal.....today i have made a decicion that i would NOT let it rule me if the NURSES were not here for the day......WHY do i have to stay at home JUST because i don't have a NURSE today?! WHY?! i KNOW i can do it, just might take a bit of extra work but I WILL START TO DO IT!! today is the LAST day i stay home BECAUSE i don't have a nurse!!!!!! that is NOT an excuse!!!!!!!!!!
so, wow, this post was going to be a self pity post but instead it turned into a: i have MADE A DECISION post!!! on tuesday, if i DON'T have a nurse during the day I WILL go to the park with my boys (so, H if you are reading this, we WILL be there at the park because i will NOT let this limit me!!)...
i also had a comment made to me that i didn't know how to take....someone told me the other day, "why do you have male nurse?" and i replied, "matthew is REALLY heavy (he is dead weight) and the stairs and such he gets really heavy and a female nurse might not be able to carry him and do all the things he needs done...etc" and i went onto explain....they then said, "hmmmmm..that is wierd, so&so have a boy and they ALWAYS had FEMALE nurses" and i again replied, and explained AGAIN why i had a male nurse etc, and they said, "well, i guess so&so is not as heavy, I GUESS"....AND THEN they made the comment that, "i bet it is wierd because you can't be "natural" around them.." ooooookkkk, like i am going to be in my underwear if i have a FEMALE nurse around?!?!?!?!?! at first, i didn't know how i should take it and i wasn't mad and i am NOT mad just don't know what to think about it!!! if a FEMALE nurse can carry matthew then they would BE HERE!! matthew nurses are AWESOME....they are GREAT and they REALLY take care of him and i have NO WORRY that he is too heavy or can't carry him etc!!! he is a BIG KID!!! and if anyone has carried him, they will TELL YOU how heavy he is!! anyway, just one of those comments that you just don't know how to take!!
today, we had a VERY BUSY but AWESOME DAY!!! we started off the day by going to a birthday party for our little buddy from our homeschool park day day!! it was really nice to see them away from the park! unfortunatly, we only could stay there for a little bit and then we had to RUN...why you say?? because we went to ANOTHER WONDERFUL STARLIGHT STARBRIGHT EVENT!!! awwww...what a GREAT TIME WE HAD! and it was a BEAUTIFUL DAY we had (we had SHORTS ON!!) it was like 75 degrees or so! i was worried that it would be TOO cold for matthew and THANK GOD, it was just a AWESOME DAY!!! WELL, let me tell you what a WONDERFUL time we had YET AGAIN with this organization! we started the day by going to the IMAX MOVIE called SANTA VS THE SNOWMAN in 3D....i had never been to the IMAX and what a awesome place that was!! I was sooooo excited!! :) ok, the kids where too!! they treated us to popcorn & drinks....the movie itself was sooooo much fun! alex didn't like to wear the glasses because it was too scary seeing everything coming at him! he told me he was worried about it...but he liked the movie and was laughing and clapping thru it all! he told me he liked it but he didn't like when it came at him!! then matthew would keep the glasses on for a bit and he would LAUGH and LAUGH when he saw them coming at him!! but then he would take off the glasses...he was watching the moving and eating his popcorn!! :) i loved the graphics on the movie! WOWOWOWOW...is all can say! maybe i can get james to go with us again!! it really was nice!!
after we finished with the movie, we went ahead and moved on to the ALAMO...we walked down there and there was this person there from STARLIGHT STARBRIGHT and he handed us some software for a new video game called 'The Tuttles Madcap Misadventures: Starlight Starbright Charity Challenge (www.tuttlesfamilygame.com)'
Los Angeles, Calif., (November 28, 2007) – Starlight Starbright Children’s Foundation®, Legacy Interactive and Animax Entertainment today launched The Tuttles Madcap Misadventures: Starlight Charity Challenge (http://www.tuttlesfamilygame.com), a casual platformer style downloadable videogame that pairs having a good time with doing good. Actors William Shatner, Bob Saget, Jamie Lee Curtis, Ashley Tisdale, Dominic Scott Kay, Dave Thomas and Dave Coulier contributed their voices to the animated game. Supporters can try the game at http://www.tuttlesfamilygame.com and purchase it for $19.99 with $15 of that amount going to Starlight to brighten the lives of seriously ill children and their families.
and basically, this is a charity event that is a game....this helps raise money for the STARLIGHT STARBRIGTH FOUNDATION! soooo, if anyone is interested in purchasing this game and SUPPORTING A WONDERFUL ORGINAZATION THAT HELPS CHILDREN WITH SPECIAL NEEDS, PLEASE GO TO THE LINK ABOVE!! they do such WONDERFUL THINGS!!! i got to meet some of the organizations higher ups and they had actually SEEN THIS BLOG...i was really touched that they had taken the time to see my blog and read about it...they got to read about how wonderful this organization really is and how much it MEANS to us as a family to be a part of this!!!
well, CONTINUING ON with our day! we took some pictures there at the alamo and then we went on to eat dinner at FUDRUCKERS!!!! YUMMYYYYY!!! everyone had a WONDERFUL dinner and then they surprised us with GIFTS for my kids!!! AND BOY you should have seen their faces!!! :) they hit it RIGHT ON THE MONEY with alex gift...he got OPTIMUS PRIME TRANSFORMER!!! OMG, his face was PRICELESS!!! he was just sooooo thrilled and he was just soooo HAPPY that he MUST have been good because santa bought him the toy he had CLICKED ON ON THE INTERNET!!! he told me, "mommy, this is the toy that i had wanted and clicked on in the internet!!!' YIKES!! but thank GOD he doesn't know my credit card info!! :) anyway, AGAIN, this organization did a WONDERFUL JOB and provided about 30+ families with a WONDERFUL OUTING and just a WONDERFUL OPPORTUNITY for all the special needs families to get together and have a "normal" outing!!! THANK YOU ONCE AGAIN!! i can't WAIT for my hubby to be able to experience an OUTING with starlight!! i know he will be SOOOOO HAPPY and in AWE on how much they do!! :) i can't WAIT!!
sooooo, for anyone wanting to support this wonderful organization, please, click on this link: http://www.starlight.org/site/c.fuLQK6MMIpG/b.1038035/ and there is a DONATE button or just go and see what wonderful things this organziation is doing for our kids and their families.....
HERE ARE SOME PICS OF OUR DAY!!!
here is ALEX at the IMAX getting ready to enjoy his movie!
here is MATTHEW ready for his movie too!!!
here we are in front of the Christmas tree at the ALAMO!!
here is ALEX with his COOL NEW TOY that santa brought because he was A GOOD BOY!
here is MATTHEW with his cool collector edition POKEMON statue he can't keep his eyes off of!!
today we took matthew to his NEW CARDIOLOGIST!!! very nice dr! anyway, she cleared matthew of EVERYTHING as far as she could see!! she was the one that had known about him before she met him due to his being such a miracle at the PICU!! she said she expected SOMETHING but THANK YOU GOD, all looks well. she wants to see him in 6 months and she wants to a ANGIO CT on him and i am REALLY excited about that!! it will show the heart structure in 3D and totally be able to see the heart and all it's anatomy!! sooooo excited!
well, james sent me some more pictures for us!! i was soooo happy to see them! james was off today and i was able to chat with him on YAHOO and then he called me! it was soooo nice to hear his voice!! :) i can't WAIT it is less than 2 weeks from today that he will GOD WILLING be home!! it will probably be around the 20th or soo...i still have not told the boys that he would be home! i hope to surprise them! i plan to take them to the airport and just say we are there to pick up SOMEBODY....i am getting REALY EXCITED!!
WELL, here are the pictues!!
well, this picture is in the PODS and he calls this their "windcrest lights!"
this is my babe and his roommate!!!
this is a WHITE DOVE that was over them as they were taking these pictures...i for one took it as a SIGN THAT GOD IS WATCHING OVER THEM!! HOW BEAUTIFUL!
this is james today....look how GOOD HE LOOKS!!! :)
i found out when it is the HARDEST for me on a DAILY BASIS without james....EVERYDAY is but this particular time frame is pretty tough and that would be....NIGHTTIME/BEDTIME.....i have sooooo much to do at that time just to get matthew down to sleep....ALEX is GREAT at that time because he know that as soon as a certain cartoon is finished he is OFF to his room to lay down and sleep (he is in matthew room until then watching cartoons with him while matthew is in bed)...but then there is little guy JOSHUA...man, he know EXACTLY when it is time to LET LOOSE and cry!! :) you see, it takes me about 30 mins to do all the things i need to do with matthew to get him down...i have to draw up all his meds for the night, change his feeding pump settings & make sure he has enough formula in there for the night and set it up on the IV pole, take him to the potty (he now GOES TOTHE POTTY EVERY NIGHT and during the day and he is VERY HEAVY!!! it takes me about 10 mins to do this (get him out of his diaper, out of his bed, carry him to the bathroom, sit with him while he does his buisness, get him back into bed and put his diaper/clothes back on), then i have to administer all his meds, hook him up to his feeding pump, set up his pulse oximeter and say prayers....all this USUALLY while joshua is pitching a FIT!!!!!! yep, he has QUITE a LOUD CRY!!!! and he is not going to sit quietly until i pick him up which i can't do with doing all of this for matthew!!! this is where it would be soooooo awesome to have another set of hands doing some of the work or at least holding joshua while i get matthew set up....such a SIMPLE thing but i am on my own for now...I AM A SINGLE MOM OF 3 UNDER THE AGE OF 5!! wowow...i say that and just sit in AWE that that is ME!!! WHO would every believe i would have 3 beautiful children?!?!? wowowowow.....i look in my back row of our expedition and there is a ROW OF CARSEATS!! again, WOW!!! sooooo amazing!! but it is nothing but a THING and i will continue to truck on with a smile on my face...i really should NOT even utter a WORD of complaint because like i said, james would LOVE TO BE IN MY SHOES and that is what i ALWAYS try to remember!!! he doesn't see, hear, touch our children AT ALL now for over 6 MONTHS so who am i to say a word?! so, i guess that is my little gripe right now....nothing in particular just a little bit about my daily life here at our house.....i am just LOVING MY FAMILY and wouldn't change a THING ABOUT IT!!! :)
what do i mean? it means, if you know ANYBODY, someone from the office, family, friends, even someone you don't know, and they are DEPLOYED OVERSEAS....SEND SOMETHING!! my cousin left for a year deployement and just came home in june and i NEVER SENT HIM ANYTHING.....NOW, i feel SOOOO BAD!!! i didn't know....i don't think ANYONE knows how truly IMPORTANT it is to get SOMETHING FROM HOME unless you have been thru it somehow personally either thru being the soldier or their family....even recieving something from a stranger!!! let me tell you a story....my dh's roommate had not recieved ANYTHING FROM HOME....nothing during all this time since june.....i think i mentioned this in a previous post...anyway, i went ahead and asked a couple of people if they would like to "adopt" this soldier....and THEY DID!! and james had told me that he had started to get really grouchy and such and just cross....well, the day right before thanksgiving, he recieved his FIRST package from a REALLY great friend of mine and her family and james said that from one day to the NEXT, his WHOLE personality CHANGED....james said he was HAPPY, SMILING AND JUST LAUGHING AGAIN!!! just one little package did all that...he must have felt soooo alone out there, when everyone else was getting SOMETHING and this guy was not......just ONE LITTLE PACKAGE, did that!! and since then, he has recieved a couple more!!! what a FEELING for ME it was to hear this!! he is LOVED by all of us....we need to support our troops, near and far....ONE LITTLE PACKAGE would do it!! so, if you know of someone that is deployed, SEND SOMETHING!!!! it doesn't cost much....here is some info to help you do it:
there are FREE BOXES provided by the POSTAL SERVICE that are called FLAT RATE BOXES ($8.95 TO SHIP). you just ask for them and they will give you as many as you need. there are 2 sizes to chose from! it is the cheapest way to go unless you are planning to send a small package (tiny)...if you decide that you will need to send it something that is not in a flat rate box but your own, remember to send it PRIORITY MAIL because if you send it parcel post, it will take TWO MONTHS to get there!!! also, you have to declare whatever you are sending so you will have to ask for a INTERNATION SLIP for the box. no big deal...so get a box and STUFF IT and return it back to the post office and they will send it on it's way!......and it does NOT matter how HEAVY they box is...no matter what, it is only going to cost you a total of 8.95!!! i have sent a package that was ALMOST 17 lbs...you can put A LOT of stuff in there!!
these soldiers miss EVERYTHING FROM HOME....that means the littlest things, sundays cirulars, are a GREAT thing to send because just to SEE stuff, is awesome!
anyway, i just had to post about this....also, if you make cards, make a WHOLE BUNCH and SEND THEM!!!! why? they send them to families and friends....i have recieved such NEAT cards from james that someone made for the troops....really CUTE cards that i know were handmade....what a GREAT way to share your talent!! if you have stationary send that too!!
anyway, i just had this on my mind and i hope that if you know SOMEONE, ANYONE that is deployed, PLEASE find the TIME & the LOVE to do this for someone...anyone....it could mean the difference in the soldiers be grumpy, sad, upset, angry to one being HAPPY, LOVED AND SMILING!! what a difference!! soooo, PLEASE....be a soldiers ANGEL.....
my neighbor called me yesterday and told me that she and her dh MISS SEEING OUR HOME LIT UP FOR THE HOLIDAYS....she said it was always something they looked forward to to see during the holiday season, to see our home....if you remember (you can probably see last years post about our home) james had the GRISWALDS CHRISTMAS type of theme going on! he had lights EVERYWHERE and really went all out! it looked AWESOME!! they were usually up the week OF thanksgiving...anyway, our lights are not up....i am so sad for my kids about this....we were suppose to have someone put them up for us but it never happened....we do have our christmas trees up but the outdoor lights are not on...alex mentioned that he was sad our house was not lit up like our neighbors...and as i sit here and type this, i have tears in my eyes and a lump in my throat...i am sad......i miss my husband....i want something as normal as LIGHTS UP OUTSIDE.....
i am hoping that james does come home because alex has been asking to go to the drive thru light shows that we did last year (www.hillcountryholiday.com & www.santasranch.net) and we also did the one in BELTON, TX (where coincidently mr joshua was concieved :) so i am PRAYING that james comes home so that we can do that with the boys!! :) if not, we will be doing some SERIOUS cramming of at least ONE of these before christmas!! he has really been asking for it!!!
i am a wife to JAMES & SAHM to 3 beautiful boys who i also homeschool. ALEX (2002) and our special needs son, MATTHEW (2004)& our littles guy JOSHUA (2007). Matthew was our little one who was born with a heart defect called TAPVR! because of what he has gone thru, so many things have become clear to me!! My faith in GOD is that much stronger for the LOVE and BLESSINGS He brings to me and my family! we just feel SO BLESSED because of EVERYTHING in our LIVES!
and another clip of that moment: 
i had everything planned and when it was time to record, i just LOST IT! it was soooooooooooo emotional that i couldn't THINK!! but i was so glad to get these short little clips!! oh well!! anyway, after a whole bunch of minutes huggy and talking we started to make our way to the baggage claim and the WHOLE WAY, alex and matthew could not keep their EYES off of daddy!! and daddy had joshua in his arms, alex on his neck, and matthew holding his hand...awwwww....it was WONDERFUL! there was also plenty of his family and friends there to greet him! i am just SOOOO PROUD OF HIM!! 
