FAMILY UPDATE!

HOLA FAMILY AND FRIENDS!

How is everyone doing?? I hope everyone is doing WONDERFUL!! As for us, well, I just KNOW that ya’ll have been just ITCHING for a long update letter from the Gonzalez family so HERE IT IS!!! I know it has been a long time (Christmas time) since I updated ya’ll…if you have not kept up with our blog (www.blessingsinmylife.blogspot.com), then here we GO!!

Ok, first, let me reassure everyone that we are doing fine, THANK YOU GOD! Ok, other than the last 2 out of 3 months….that is not too good huh?? But REALLY, it is fine! We have been sick on and off for 2 months and no, it has not been fun BUT IT COULD BE WORST, right???? So really, I am not complaining….promise! J anyway, we started the month with Matthew getting sick, then Joshua back and forth! Yes, they LOVE each other!! Then we started the month off the month of March with Joshua getting PINK EYE (where did THAT come from??) and I can say that that is ONE illness we have not had in our family!!! Then later that week, him getting a VIRUS from somewhere, passing it along to me the next day, then onto MATTHEW….and here we are, 2 weeks later and we are all still coughing and blowing but MUCH MUCH BETTER! Joshua ended up on antibiotics for an ear infection and Matthew was started on oral steroids because he was sooo congested! Anyway, BETTER is all I have to say for ALL of us…I was basically coughing up a lung and blowing out brain matter all last week plus sounding REALLY sexy (or at least I thought so!) and this week….BETTER! J It is never easy when mommy is sick but we got thru it!! And of course, the one week that I had laryngitis I had a MILLION phone calls that I had to make!! And to top off the LAST week of March, ALEX got PINK EYE TOO!! Yes, just a crazy past 2 months!! I PRAY that that is IT for us in the sick department for a LONG time!!

Well, let me impart some WONDERFUL NEWS to everyone….some of you might have heard but……..

MATTHEW GOT HIS WISH GRANTED THRU

THE MAKE-A-WISH FOUNDATION!!!

And we are going to

DISNEY WORLD FLORIDA

APRIL 18-24, 2009!

Wowowowowowowow!!! We are soooooooo excited and we feel SOOO BLESSED!! Can you say that we are way excited?? It is a little over 2 weeks away and we have SOOO much to do! We have never traveled by air with the family (6.4.1) so this should be REALLY interesting! The stuff we have to prepare for Matthew has been a bit crazy. That BIG blessing that we have is that Make-A-Wish (MAW) is going to RENT the equipment that we need there in Florida for us so we do NOT have to take it here from home!!! That means they will provide the suction pump, car seat, nebulizer treatment and his cans of food will be delivered there!! J That means more space for CLOTHING!! J but needless to say, we still have to make sure we have everything that he needs…I don’t know how his lungs will react to the humidity there at all so that should be interesting…we will try to prepare for what we can! We still have buy some luggage, some new clothing and try to get lodging for our dog….wow, so much to do! I start to panic just a bit when I start to think of it! But over it all, the EXCITEMENT is just CRAZY! We are doing a count down every day and amazing that it is a bit over 2 weeks away!!! Sooo, please, if you can…say a prayer or keep us in thought as we make our MAGICAL JOURNEY TO FLORIDA!!!!

Alex is doing very well! He is getting so BIG!! Hard to believe that he is now almost 7 year old!! Yikes! He is just such a CUTIE and I am just sooo proud of him. He is doing great in 1st grade here at home and he proves everyday that we made the right decision to home school him. When I see what he can do and how smart he is, I know that he would be probably bored in school and also be too ANTSY sitting still for such a long time!! But he just amazes me how he quickly get’s the lessons down! The only thing we are having a problem on is that recently, with the WISH trip going on, he does not want to work as hard and wants to NOT do his work ESPECIALLY on MONDAY! He is just such a stinker these last couple of weeks!! But after the drama, he is onto doing WONDERFUL! He has some new friends (our neighbors) that he loves to go and play with as often as they can. And then he also has his home school buddies that he plays with once a week too! We are hoping to get him in a co-opt next year at FEAST so that he can have a classroom setting once a week! I know he will enjoy learning with others once in a while!! He does REALLY well in CCD class at church every Sunday!

Well, onto Matthew….Matthew is doing well… BETTER today than yesterday…he is finally getting up to speed on his feeds. It has been crazy trying to get him WELL! I don’t know WHAT happened…he had been doing amazing but all of the sudden, he started getting sick in February…after 2 months on and off, I PRAY that he will just stay well! He has had strep throat, chest colds, etc and we have just been CRAZY tired! Well, I PRAY we are through now!! Overall, he is doing amazing in school..He is so smart!! He knows most of his ABC’s and 1,2,3’s, colors, shapes, objects…he floors his teachers and therapist! Ok, and ME TOO! He is really grasping so much now. We found out he knew so much when we would read to him and ask him to point to certain things and he was right! Awww…we are so proud of him! He is also getting stronger and more stable. He has a new walker called the KID WALK and BOY it is amazing to see him in it! He has so much fun having the freedom that it gives him. Here is a link to a short video of him walking in his walker: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fB4DhfwvcNI just an amazing piece of equipment! He is getting so much stronger when he uses it. But his ALL time favorite thing now is to chase his baby brother. Yes, he is THAT brother! They are forever yelling at each other or one or the other is crying because someone took something that the other wanted!! Yep, that is Matthew. And it is so amazing to watch! He use to just stay in his area in front of the TV with all his toys…well, no more! He is all over the house usually chasing Joshua or a ball…both my boys are ball freaks! They are just the cutest!!

Ok, onto JOSHUA! What can I say about this BEAUTIFUL little boy?? He is a MAMA’s boy!!! Yayayayay! Finally, 3 boys later….I love that little boy sooo much! He is just amazing and we have been so blessed having him in our lives. He is DEFINETLY not like our other 2 little boys…he is his something else!! I had a friend that use to say JOKINGLY, if she had had her 3rd child 1st, things would have been DIFFERENT in the # of kids she would have had!!! And of course, it was just a joke and I kinda say it here too…this little guy is EVERYWHERE!!! He climbs on the TABLE and STANDS on the table and he loves to try to get EVERYTHING his little hands can. He loves to put stuff in his mouth. He loves to take stuff from Matthew and have him chase him and he loves to have whatever everyone else has. Case in point, this video from CHRISTMAS 2009 where he had such a fit cause he didn’t get the STAR WARS LIGHTSABER..it is pretty cute.. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h9Q88gRrP_A He is my first soda drinker (yeah, I am sooo bad) and he is still my little guy! He weighs in at 20 lbs 14 oz and can still fit into 9m to 12 m clothing and he is now almost 20 months OLD! We FINALLY got to flip his seat around to forward facing after his 18 month visit when he weighed in at 20 lbs 11 oz!!! yes, he is a little guy!!! But he is SOMETHING ELSE…he is a charmer and loves to throw kisses and give hugs. He loves to be carried and loves to sit on your lap if you are on the floor. He loves to be around his brothers and play with them and loves to play with BALLS!!! We think we got our SPORTS guy!! He loves to throw things and loves to play and throw balls too!! He is such a CUTIE!!

James is doing great! He has loves being back home and we have LOVED having him home! He recently got a NEW position in the military. He went from RETENTION in the military to now being a READINESS NCO….with this comes a promotion for him to an E7!!! Yes, we are VERY PROUD OF HIM! He is just amazing at what he does and he has ALWAYS given it 110%...the soldiers have totally loved the way he does things. He has gotten some great commendations from the higher ups on the way he does his reports and how he has basically changed the way things are done in his area…again, SO PROUD OF OUR GUY!! Well, we still don’t know what the future holds but it MIGHT hold another tour over seas as early as next year. Still don’t know, those are just RUMORS but so was the tour in 2007!!! So, we just PRAY…on an EXCITING note, this weekend, James is doing his first ever FISHING TOURNAMENT with a friend of his and I am sooo excited for him!! And boy, you should SEE HIM! He is over the MOON excited!!!

As for me, well, I am doing GREAT!! I am loving my family and am enjoying being together with everyone. I finally got over my cold almost 2 weeks later!! And no, I didn’t go to the drs…all is well! I have been struggling with my FIBROMYALGIA recently…I think it is all this change in weather but other than that…just dealing with it! I have had sooo much fun with my family. I am enjoying just being together KNOWING that sometime soon, he might be gone again. So is the life of the MILITARY!! And I am SO PROUD to be in this life!!

Well, we have been doing A LOT of trips in our RV. It has been so nice just being together as a family. We have traveled 3 times to the gulf coast and have enjoyed FISHING out there. There is a REALLY nice RV park right under the bridge ON THE WATER that we go to just for fishing. We park our RV about 20+ feet away from the water and can just sit there and fish….and BOY have we been catching!! The other RVers were all out there cheering us on as we caught and released roughly 20 fish of all varieties…it was just so much FUN!! Just spending family time is just so PRECIOUS to us!! The boys all have so much fun being out of the house and being in our RV. I know that Matthew enjoys having Joshua THAT MUCH CLOSER to him when he is chasing him!!

Well, that is just about it for us. We are so excited about the upcoming DISNEY TRIP and just excited about going over there. I am a member of a online group of other WISH trip families and to see what they have experience…I can only get EXCITED for my family to go over there!!! Soooooo EXCITED! Please, if you can spare a thought and prayer for us, we would appreciate it! First plane rides for most of us!! Should be INTERESTING!!


Ok, TAKE CARE AND GOD BLESS!!


LOVE YA!

JAMES, MARIA, ALEX, MATTHEW & JOSHUA