God's Blessings..

BLESSINGS!!!!!

2012-02-15T11:54:00.000-06:00

GOD IS SOOOOO GOOD!! today we found out that MATTHEW was selected to receive some BLESSINGS from VARIETY OF TEXAS CHARITY GROUP!!!!!!!!! wooooohooooooo............again, just AMAZED and feeling sooooooo BLESSED that it has happened.....we asked for an UMBRELLA SPECIAL NEEDS STROLLER---we asked for this because right now, he has a WHEELCHAIR that weighs about 60+ and to get it out and into our SUV, it is a double lift and/or using the WHEELCHAIR LIFT....when i am by myself, it takes me about 20+ minutes to get it set up, out, break it down, set up his wheelchair, put him in and then off we go....when it is COLD, RAINY, HOT, ETC, it is pretty hard!!! :) but we are blessed and the wheelchair doesn't fit into a car (for the nurse to take him somewhere) and so we have been using joshua's small umbrella stroller and poor baby is soooooo big for this!!! feet drag etc...so now we are going to have what he needs!!! THANK YOU JESUS!!!! and then we asked for an IPAD for him and they said YES!!! this will help matt communicate, get better with pointing and just there are soooo many apps that could help him!! NEEDLESS TO SAY WE ARE SO GRATEFUL AND THANKFUL FOR THIS!!!!!! this group helps out special need families with stuff that insurance won't pay for, have denied, etc.....wowowowowowow.....so GOD WILLING in a couple of weeks we should get everything! :)soooooo YAYAYA! I CAN'T WAIT.....

My parents....

2011-11-09T17:34:00.002-06:00

well, i came to an AMAZING realization today....it is funny because when talking about my FAITH, i always SAY that as a family growing up, we were ALWAYS at church and we were ALWAYS so ACTIVE in our church community....but i don't think i have ever THANKED MY PARENTS for such an AMAZING UPBRINGING IN THE CHURCH!!!!!!!!!!! i have always said that i was brought up IN CHURCH but i have never come to the realization that it was BECAUSE OF MY PARENTS that that is why i am the way i AM....that is so WIERD! and UNFORTUNATLY, BOTH my parents are gone now...i will never get the chance to tell them FACE TO FACE THANK YOU for the BEAUTIFUL GIFT of bringing me FAITH TO MY LIFE....and even though, as a family, there was a LOT of trumoil in my growing up life, the most BEAUTIFUL thing that i have continued to RECIEVE from my PARENTS is MY FAITH....that was something that they have ALWAYS taught me and THANK YOU, MOM AND DAD for that!!! that is why i was able to meet my hubby, have my kids, go thru what i went thru with my beautiful MIRACLE SON MATTHEW and all the other things that have come in my life, it has ALL been BECAUSE OF MY FAITH given to me FROM MY PARENTS that i was able to LIVE MY LIFE AND BE AND FEEL BLESSED!!!

something that came to me as i was praying today....WHAT A BLESSING!!! THANK YOU GOD!

getting READY!!!

2011-06-09T20:17:00.003-05:00

WOOOHOOOO!!!! we are heading OFF to go to JELLYSTONE RV RESORT tomorrow for a couple of days! :) LOVE being able to head out and just get away for a while....we are also going with some GREAT friends of ours for thier FIRST RV TRIP in their BRAND NEW RV that they got this week!!! WOOO HOOO!!!!! i know that THEY are crazy excited as we are...we will love being to show them the ropes....what is funny is that we have NEVER been camping with any other family or friends!!! yep, in all our ears, we usually go by ourselves....so it should be pretty cool to have another family with us...they also have 3 kids too...i know the BOYS will have a BLAST!!! and being able to chat with my girlfriend...nice!!!

sooooo EVERYONE have a GREAT weekend....see ya soooooonnn...

HAPPY 7TH BIRTHDAY, MATTHEW ISAIAH!!!

2011-05-21T05:25:00.003-05:00

HAPPY 7TH BIRTHDAY, MATTHEW ISAIAH!!!
May 21, 2011…

Praise God, our miracle son is 7 years old today. What a BLESSING it has been to have him in our lives for every SECOND of it! We THANK GOD for those seconds everyday knowing how close it came that he might not have been with us. We are THANKFUL and we are BLESSED!!!!!!!!

Matthew had a rough start in life. He has been thru so much in his 7 years of life…most people could not even IMAGE what he has gone thru. But thru it ALL, with everything, he has ALWAYS been such a HAPPY BOY…yes, happy! We always say that he MUST have seen GOD during those first 5 days of life because he is always so happy. We know that GOD the Father holds him, shelters him and looks over him everyday.

Now, I know most of you have probably heard his MIRACLE BIRTH story so I won’t put those words down again. BUT if you have not heard about what a TRUE MIRACLE he is, please follow this link to our BLOG and you can read all about it. TRULY A MIRACLE FROM GOD!!! http://blessingsinmylife.blogspot.com/2008/05/miracle-matthews-story.html

I want to just write about who MATTHEW ISAIAH is….there are so many WORDS that describe and have become Matthew. He is a MIRACLE…when he was born his prognosis was the cardiologist did not think he would make the 15 min drive to the other hospital. He was that sick. His heart defect was so bad (obstructive) and his lungs were so bad…he was a blue baby. After his 8 hour open heart surgery when he was 8 hours old, at 5 days old being taken off the ECMO (heart lung bypass machine) to ‘die a natural death’…the MIRACLE that when almost 24 hours after being taken off and given the grim news that he would not make the night, he is awake, wiggling toes, grabbing our fingers and not as BLUE as he was on day 5!!! And day after day of those first 98 days in the hospital, proving doctors wrong….doctors never able to give a prognosis or tell us WHAT to expect because at every turn, GOD thru MATTHEW would prove them wrong or do the complete opposite!!! He pulled out his vent a couple of times during those days and during all the drama that that caused he would sit up and SMILE such a big beautiful smile and the RTs, nurses and drs would just MARVEL that he seemed to KNOW when he was ready to be off the vent and do AMAZING….of leaving the hospital WITHOUT a trache and a vent that they drs wanted him to leave with because he would ‘not grow’ because of his rapid breathing….going home and doing AMAZING until he was 5 months old and started SEIZING and given a diagnosis of INFANTILE SPASMS and being told to ‘video tape what he was doing at 5 months because he may never do anything more than that’….another miracle when INFANTILE SPASMS didn’t materialize and SHOCKING the neurologist because in all his 20+ years of practice he had NEVER had a pt diagnosed due to the earmark TYPE of seizures and not progress and continue with the infantile spasms…He is so STRONG…stronger than ANYONE can be…he has just been such an AMAZING little boy….thru all the hour/2 hour long seizures where he has to be rushed by EMS, being intubated, being poked, being bagged because he stops breathing…hospitalizations due to all his seizures, his respiratory condition (he has CHRONIC LUNG DISEASE)…ALL his numerous illness here at home where he is on and off oxygen, oral steroids, antibiotics, 6+ nebulizer treatments a day and being suctioned and just recently, he is now having to wear a CPAP machine while he sleeps and just being such a TROOPER and not fight it and just ACCEPTS IT…that is something that is sooooo STRONG about him…he will be getting a blood drawn, getting suctioned, getting some procedure done, a sleep study with all the wires on his head, being messed with medically and thru it all, he might be crying but he doesn’t FIGHT….he does pull away, he just cries and doesn’t fight…it is just so amazing to see him be so strong…it breaks my HEART because I know it is because he has been thru soooo much that that this is ‘normal’ is why he is like he is…the medical staff are just in awe of him because I will hold his arm down and he won’t try to kick, punch or anything else, he will just cry and if I have my phone out or something is distracting him, he won’t even CRY while getting a blood draw….my beautiful baby boy has been thru so much that it is just something ‘normal’ for him that he just accepts it…and when he is done……HE SMILES!!! This big beautiful SMILE…what a miracle and blessing this little boy is in our family….we NEVER keep him home when we are out and about…he goes with us EVERYWHERE…we take trips as a family….enjoy RVing….parties….normal everyday stuff like groceries, church, everywhere…..we are so PROUD of him and we are so IN LOVE with this little boy…he brings so much light in our lives and so much JOY!! To remember everything he has been thru, to remember how CLOSE it was that he was ALMOST not going to be a LIVING part of our lives…..we embrace, feel blessed, & are THANKFUL for every second and give PRAISE to GOD for this little miracle in our lives.

If you have never actually MET Matthew but have followed his life since he was born, know that we WISH that you could meet him so he he could know that you have been a part of his life because you have been out there THINKING and PRAYING for him. He would grace you with his love, his hugs and his SMILES…and if you have a phone, and you let him play with it, well, you would have made a FRIEND FOR EVER!!! This little guy LOVES phones and we actually have to talk code if we talk about our phone or where it is and GOD FORBID it rings and it is hidden some where and he hears it…it’s OVER!!! The phone is HIS!! He is such a great little guy. Always happy and always HAPPIEST wherever DADA is at…his favorite word in the world is DADA…I really need to video tape him when dad comes home…the JOY he shows makes you want to cry! Although thinking back if you put on his favorite movie he kinda does the same think…..JUST KIDDING! His love for dada is just AMAZING…

So THANK YOU ALL for all these last 7 years of thinking of Matthew and PRAYING for Matthew. We are BLESSED that we ‘know’ you and we are BLESSED that you love our son, as we do.

HAPPY 7TH BIRTHDAY, MATTHEW ISAIAH. We PRAY that there are MANY MANY MANY more. WE LOVE YOU and are so BLESSED and HAPPY that GOD has been so amazing to us that he has bless us with YOU in our lives. You are such a JOY to us and we are sooooooo PROUD OF YOU!!!! WE LOVE YOU, MATTHEW ISAIAH WITH ALL OUR HEART!!!! GOD BLESS YOU ALWAYS!!!

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

http://www.onetruemedia.com/shared?p=de6e9d4511069c6f5aade8&skin_id=1604&utm_source=otm&utm_medium=text_url

Love,
Maria, James, Alex, & Joshua
www.blessingsinmylife.blogspot.com

AMAZING!!!!!!!!

2011-04-01T22:03:00.002-05:00

beautiful, amazing, incredible.....just got home from an AMAZING CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN CONCERT BY JOSH BLAKESLY at our church, PRINCE OF PEACE....it was really beautiful and emotional...the difference in it being Catholic is that we did ADORATION of JESUS during the concert in we kneeled for about 30-45 mins and just ADORED and WORSHIPED and LOVED JESUS...amazing...POWERFUL....and to see all our fellow FAMILIES IN CHRIST lift up their hands to God...loved it! and what a WONDERFUL way to THANK GOD for my husbands promotion to E7 (SERGEANT 1ST CLASS)....

THANK YOU GOD FOR SUCH AN AMAZING NIGHT!!! I LOVE YOU!

WOMENS ACTS RETREAT, BABY!!!

2011-03-06T21:10:00.000-06:00

woooohooooo!!! what a BLESSING it was to be able to go to this retreat (March 3-6)....it was just such an amazing experience....FINALLY being a part of my church community. that is something that i have CRAVED since we started going there back 14 years ago! i was always so use to be a PART of my church community growing up...i was in the chior, the youth group, part of the festival commity, helping out in festival events and such, even at TEXAS TECH i was involved in the retreat community & the chior and the student center...to go from full on a PART of commmunity to NOTHING was REALLY a shock...but i never changed that...i was a PCP (parking church parking lot) but NOW i am a PART of my community and part of ACTS!!! i am hoping that i will also be a part of the ROSARY GUILD! i think that is just such an AMAZING ministry!! i am EXCITED!!!!!! and now i have SISTERS IN CHRIST and BROTHERS IN CHRIST and i am A PART OF MY COMMUNITY!!!!!!!!!!!! woooohoooooo!!! :) PRAISE BE THE LORD for that BLESSING!!!

well, if you couldn't tell, the retreat was just amazing!! i LOVED every minute of it. it was REALLY REALLY HARD on thursday and some of friday because i was missing my boys soooooooo much! it was really the FIRST time i have ever had ABSOLUTELY NO CONTACT with them for 3 nights and FOUR DAYS!!!!!!!! that is what ALMOST kept me home because to leave my babies and not be here to watch over them ESPECIALLY my matthew that it was hard...remember i am a SAHM and a HOMESCHOOLING mom so they don't even go to school...the longest i don't see them is MAYBE a couple of hours!!! i kept crying whenever i thought about it (and you KNOW i am not a crier!!)....but i made it and after the first night, GOD saw me thru it and took away my anxiety and worry and just blessed me with PEACE!!!!!

soooo, now to CONTINUE what i have LEARNED this weekend so that i may bless my family. I LOVE YOU GOD AND I THANK YOU WITH ALL MY HEART AND SOUL FOR BEING BY MY SIDE EVERYDAY OF MY LIFE!!!! YOU ARE THE LIGHT OF WORLD!!

Rodeo time!!

2011-02-05T23:45:00.002-06:00

well, today we went to the RODEO and enjoyed some crazy time with some other members of our family and we had a BLAST!!! we were there at the carnival area the whole time and the kids had a BLAST!! and wow, those workers there at the carnival area are just amazing! they were soooooo nice to my matthew....they would call him over and GIVE him stuffed animal prizes!!! he ended up coming home with 4 of them! just soooo nice and amazing! and they would let him get on the rides with dad and only one person had to pay AND they would let him go again if we wanted to! just soooo nice! THANK YOU GOD for them...really...it made matthew feel so special..he LOVED all his nice toys...we ended up getting season passes so we hope to go BACK there sometime this week and maybe just to go out to walk around for a while..we had a BLAST and the boys were OUT like a LIGHT tonight!!! so is dad...

well, THANK GOD my matthew is doing well..and JOSHUA is offically POTTY TRAINED!!! wooohooo!! he was the EASIEST ONE!! we offically started 1/25 and by 1/28 he was SET with no accidents! :)really happy with him...wooohoooo!! :)

HAPPY 14th ANNIVERSARY!!!

2011-02-01T12:38:00.002-06:00

14 YEARS ago, I married the most wonderful man in my life that GOD had BLESSED me with!! And I am so HAPPY to say that being married to him HAS been the best 14 years of my life. I know some of you have heard about how I met him but for those that don’t know, well, you can call it a TRUE love story BLESSED by GOD! 
See, over 16 years ago I met the love of my life! What is AMAZING is that my husband is my COUSIN'S BEST FRIEND and has been since middle school!! we have probably met each other SOMETIME during all those years they were friends...he was always WITH my cousin and we use to have tons of parties and get togethers and such growing up...wow...it took a PARTY in NOV 1994 that was given for him and all my cousins for their birthdays for us to meet and fall in love at FIRST SIGHT! yes, that was us, LOVE...it was so pure and so SPECIAL...GOD brought us together in such a special way..what’s funny is that my cousin invited me to this party that she and her family were having for a couple of my cousin AND JAMES because all their birthdays were in NOV. at first I didn’t want to go because I WAS very shy and I couldn’t get any of my friends to go with me, but I had promised her I would go (what’s funny is that out of the BLUE she called me to invite me to the party (we usually only saw each other on holidays or special occations so it was different))anyway, so I went and WOW, when she said PARTY she meant PARTY! I was expecting a small gathering, but there were cars lined up BLOCKS away and as I got nearer to the house, I see strobe lights and hear MUSIC and tons of people! Wowowowow…not very comfortable for me and getting ready to turn around and HEAD HOME!!! But I said a prayer, “Lord, if I can’t find a parking space right near her house, I will have turn around, because I am scared and by myself”..thinking I had the PERFECT out because I just figured with this many cars and people there would DEFINETLY not be a spot anywhere near the house, and as I come up, RIGHT IN FRONT of her house, there is a parking space OPEN!! Wow, if that was not GOD clearly wanting me to be there, I don’t know what else he could have done!! So, I said, “ok Lord, I am staying, please be near me and help me to get thru this night!” so I walk up and I recognize NO ONE in all the crowd and that’s when I hear my name being called and look up and see my cousin and this guy coming up to me..she hugs me and this guy with her gives me a one arm hug and says ‘ hey, I’m JAMES your cousin too” and I said, ‘uh, your not MY cousin” and tricia, my cousin says, “this is James, Joey’s best friend”..I said, “Hi”…I thought he was soooo cute but figured that he MUST have a girlfriend or someone special and was off limits so I turned around and we went inside to say hola to my family…well, from then, he followed me EVERYWHERE!! It was funny but like he will tell you, I just ‘blew him off’..I was really just so unsure of myself and self conscious that I just could NOT believe that he had any interest in ME! Anyway, the night went on and he asked me to dance and that was it…LOVE!  (he actually went home that night and told his MOM that he had met the woman he was going to MARRY!) ...GOD showed me that not all men are horrible and abusive...that there are good men out there! HE showed me on that day as CLEAR as a bell what type of man my husband was....how? well, as we went to the store that night i met him, i ACCIDDENTLY spilled about 20oz red punch on my husband BRAND NEW TRUCK (it was 2 DAYS old!)!! OMG, i was so SCARED and EMBARRASED because i was SURE that he would yell at me, hit me or SOMETHING, which i know that he had every right to (at the time) but instead, my wonderful husband sat there and consoled me and told me "HEY, IT'S OK! IT IS JUST A TRUCK! IT WILL CLEAN UP!!!!" can you IMAGINE?! i was in SHOCK, but i was ready to go home because i was so upset and crying and when i told him i was going home, he told me "DON'T GO...I JUST MET YOU!! PLEASE STAY..." awwwwww....that was when GOD showed me what a special man that was! he NEVER got upset or mad at me that i spilled that drink in his truck...not ONCE! that is what and who my man is!! since that day, we have been inseperable....we have always enjoyed being together and just being US...where he goes, I go! When other couples went out without each other, we NEVER have!! We feel STRONGLY that as a couple, we will only go out together…we are all about our family FIRST and we LOVE to spend our time together and go camping and just hanging out…we both feel SOOO BLESSED that GOD had brought us together and HE has BLESSED us THREE TIMES with our beautiful kiddos!! everything that we have, that we ARE and just EVERYTHING we know are THRU GOD!! And THANK YOU GOD for 14 years of marriage BLISS!!! What a BLESSING it has been!!!
.....

THIS PICTURE WAS TAKEN THE DAY WE MET!!! just look at us...we are SOUL MATES....

ON OUR WEDDING DAY....

AT OUR RECEPTION...

THIS montage was done LAST YEAR for our 10 year anniversart...please feel free and check it out if you would like to see our years together in pictures ..

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

JOSHUA IS POTTY TRAINED!

2011-01-30T23:58:00.000-06:00

wooohooo!! we started doing this on 1/25/11 and he was done by 1/28!! he was going poops in there and EVERYTHING!! soooo proud of him! no accidents and even when i WANT to put one on him (diaper) because we are going somewhere but he doesn't want one! only at night do i put one on him JUST IN CASE but he has been doing soooo well for MONTHS by waking up dry but i wanted to wait until i felt he was ready and i a SOOOO GLAD i did. so many people where telling me that he needed to be out of diapers but i just didn't think he was ready but boy, when i decided to do it and it WORKED i KNEW it was the right time...and he is doing AMAZING. THANK YOU GOD! :) love it! so now my big boy is potty trained and is doing so well. wooo hooo!!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!! FAMILY UPDATE..

2010-12-25T21:56:00.002-06:00

Merry Christmas from our Family! December 2010

Hola Family and Friends,

We are praying that everyone is doing wonderful and have been enjoying the Christmas Season. We are all doing well. The boys just keep getting bigger and cuter if that is possible! J We just wanted to give everyone a family update to let ya’ll know what has been going on in our little piece of heaven on earth!

Alex is now 8 years old and he is doing wonderful. He is in 3rd grade and is enjoying his Homeschool work. He is so smart and has been excelling in all his studies. He does amazing creations with his legos and just last month, dad got his drums out for him and all I can say is WOW! He is so good at the drums! I guess he gets that from his dad! ;) he loves to read anything that has to do with legos! And BOY does he know his FAITH and his BIBLE stories! So proud of him!!! He is always reminding me and teaching me something about that….

Matthew is now 6 years old and he is getting so big! He is in 1st grade and is so smart. Health wise it has been an up and down year. Earlier in the year, he was diagnosed with Kawasaki syndrome and spent some time in the hospital. Then in June, he started having seizures again…he ended up having 8 seizures in less than 2 months and went several times to the hospital via EMS. They were very bad and scary, but THANK YOU GOD, it has been over 3 months since he has had them. There has been a change in his medications that have helped. We now also have NIGHT NURING again. This was something we said we would NEVER get again but it has been a GOD SENT! His seizure were happening at ALL hours so for a while there, I had not been SLEEPING cause we just never knew WHEN they would happen. The nurse has really helped me get some sleep. I was running on about 3 hours of fit ful sleep trying to watch him. My neck actually hurt like CRAZY from glancing over at the monitor every couple of minutes!! Unfortunately, one of the seizures that he had in August was REALLY bad that I thought he might had had a stroke cause his left side was not working after he was done and as a result, he has been hyperextending his left arm and his left side is weaker all the way down….he will now need to wear a brace being especially made for his arm because everytime he crawls, he kept falling cause his arm would buckle!! L But, one of The great side of the seizure is he is now eating ORALLY and has had his G-tube feed reduced because he is doing so well and has gained so much weight because of it! J what a BLESSING to have to buy him his OWN meal now cause he will eat it all! Just love it! Respiratory wise, he is doing well and as long as he is on his antibiotic, he remains healthy. He LOVES watching movies and his current favorite shows is KIPPER and THE UPSIDE DOWN SHOW….yep, he is ALWAYS trying to ‘turn me off’ on his remote or pause me! If you haven’t seen this show, it is pretty cute and funny. He LAUGHS so hard when he watches it. He usually falls asleep to this show. Something new he has been doing is that his is pulling up on EVERYTHING!! For those with kiddos, remember that age when they were JUST learning to walk and they would pull up on EVERYTHING, well, that is what is happening but this is a 45 lb little boy doing it that can SEE over the counter and is forever pulling up onto the counter and pulling things Off of the counters, sticking his hands in dirty dish water, etc etc….yep, it has been fun trying to keep up with him…but he is cute!! Lots more bruises now than every before.

Joshua is now 3 years old and he is such a CUTIE! He is really smart and loves sports. He is AMAZING playing basketball and making shots! We are in AWE of him cause he will not MISS! And just recently, Santa brought him an early gift and it was a full size basketball and we found out he could dribble and walk at the same time! Yep, very talented! J he loves to sing and copy EVERYTHING that his big brother is doing. And I am happy to say he is STILL a mama’s boy!! awww..he cuddles with me all the time. Now if only I could get him potty trained…..

James is doing well. He is at a new job site over in Camp Bullis and is trying to get it all straight. God willing, he will be promoted soon to an E7!! We are anxiously waiting for that day. He so deserves it! He did some hunting this year but unfortunately, did not shoot anything. In November, he attended an ACTS retreat at our church & he received God back into his life. He was always there but now James feels Him, sees Him and is just SOAKED in His presence! It’s been a BLESSING! He is just such an AMAZING daddy and husband and we have been soooo blessed that God put him in our lives.

As for myself, I am doing well. I had some surgery for my reflux earlier in the year that REALLY took a LONG time for me to recover. I ended up with a partial collapsed lung & some plural effusion and collitis. It is still a battle…my fibromyalgia has been really rough. I am actually in physical therapy 2 times a week for it. Lots of pain and just yuck. GOD WILLING this too will pass and it will settle back down. The therapist is forever saying that I need to make sure and TELL him if it hurts because he knows that I have been putting up with the pain for SOOO long but he doesn’t want me to take it anymore. He wants to make sure that he is doing something to help me. And it has….but I know it is going to be slow progress….still trying to decide if I am going to do the steroid shot on my arm or not….well, this year, was my 20 year reunion from HIGH SCHOOL!! Wowow, who KNEW! It seems like just yesterday I was in high school! Can’t believe it has been over 20 years!!!! And wow, how time has changed everything!! Just crazy! Well, on a sad note, my father passed away this year. So that means that both my parents are gone now. My only brother, Daniel, Is currently serving in alfganistan and will be there for a year. Please say a prayer for him and all our soldiers so that they may come home soon and safelty!

i have been BLESSED always in my life. Nothing in my life is so bad, thru GOD! He brings such blessings and joys in my life that I try not to ever complain!!! GOD IS GOOD ALL THE TIME! ALL THE TIME, GOD IS GOOD!

So there you have it! our family update. We Pray that this finds you and your families healthy and happy and joyfully awaiting the coming New Year! Always remember that “..thru GOD, all things are possible” matt 19:26.

We would love to hear from ya’ll to let us know how ya’ll are doing! Please drop us a line sometime!

Happy New Years!!

Love, James, Maria, Alex, Matthew & Joshua
gonzoair@sbcglobal.net or queengonzo@yahoo.com

GONZALEZ FAMILY UPDATE...prayers needed please!

2010-09-02T08:01:00.000-05:00

Hola Family and friends!

We hope that everyone has had a WONDERFUL 8 months of the year and are ready for the last couple of months left of 2010!!! As for us, well, it has been DEFINETLY an UP and DOWN kind of year. So much has happened in the last 8 months that sometimes I am just in awe of what has gone on!! J I haven’t give anyone on update in a VERY long time so I thought I would go ahead and get one out…

Well, as a family all is wonderful. We are enjoying life and being together as a family. Nothing makes us happier than when we spend time with each other. Having the blessing of being able to be together and watch our children grow, is just such a GRAND experience and we THANK GOD everyday for such blessings!! We have done a couple of camping times. This summer, we took a 2 weeks vacation and did some RVing and spent some time at the coast. Just tons of FAMILY time. Since we have a pool, boy, we have DEFINETLY had some great use out of it. The boys LOVE going swimming!!

Well, our little alex is now 8 YEARS OLD!!! Wow, it is just AMAZING to me to have an 8 years old in our house. And he is GROWING by leaps and bounds. He is out of his 5 point harnest and into a booster chair now. That is a big thing for him. He is such a cutie. He is now in 3rd grade and doing FABULOUSLY in our homeschool work. He has a Monday playdate and a Tuesday PE class and he LOVES it!!! J just watching him play with other kids, is great. We usually have a very busy schedule and he still manages to IMPRESS me in how smart he is. Just watching him think his way thru a problem or read something and then remember what he read and know what it talked about is just so amazing to me. He loves his baby brothers and just has so much fun playing with them. He is such a GREAT big brother!! J

Then there is Matthew. Well, matthew is now 6 years old. Again, AMAZING! He has been thru some rough roads with him since the beginning of this year. Lets see, he started the year off with RSV, went on to have KAWASAKI SYNDROME and was hospitalized for 4 days, and now, well, the scariest of all things is happening to matthew, and we are asking for MANY MANY MANY PRAYERS for this little boy. For a while now, he has been REALLY restless during the night and was ALL over the place, so I called his neurologist to let him know that SOMETHING was going on….well, On June 29th, he had massive seizure that we had to be taken to the hospital via EMS….he then had a 24 hour video EEG done and come to find out that he was having seizures in the front and back ALL THE TIME. As he lay sleeping at 0700, the dr walked in and was watching his monitor and said that he was having seizures the whole time…that was just so HEARTBREAKING for me to hear! I knew SOMETHING was going on but was so hoping it was not THAT!!! So, we were placed on a new seizure med called VIMPAT on top of his other 2 seizure meds…and these sezirues are VERY different…not like anything we had ever seen. The other scary thing is that he stops breathing with these seizures and we have had to BAG him, which we personally have never had to do. Usually the EMS crew does it. Well, not anymore…and what a horrible feeling it is to have to BAG your son with oxygen, have him BLUE, totally unresponsive & his Oxygen sats down in the 40’s…well, since the 29th of June, he has had a 2 more seizures in July and 5 in August and here we are on September 1st and I PRAY that they finally STOP!! If you can imagine, it went from 2 seizure in 2 YEARS to 8 seizures in less than 2 MONTHS….A new seizure med was started on Aug 30th and we are back on CLONOPIN so we are now officially up to 4 seizure med….not HAPPY! And it makes HIM not happy. You can tell it is definetly affecting him because he is REALLY sleepy and very irratible! My poor little boy. we are now thinking of getting some NIGHT NURSING…yep, the one we said we would NOT get but because these seizures are not your regular ones and they are happening at ALL hours of his sleep, I am not getting much sleep at all. I actually have a CRICK in my neck from turning to look at the monitor every couple of minutes…I need someone to watch him sleep!!! L So, what we are going to start in this coming month is, he is going to be placed on the KETOGENIC DIET which has been known to help with stopping seizures. So, they will take him off of his current G-TUBE formula (peptimum, jr) to a KETO-CAL formula. I read up on it and basically, it is a LOW-CARB diet…I THINK we will be admitted into the hospital for a couple of days…NC Baptist I think…and if he does well on this, then HOPEFULLY the seizures will have stopped, maybe some meds taken off and all will be well..PLEASE JESUS, let it all go WELL!!!! But other than that, he is doing AMAZING!!! He is in 1st grade now and he is getting SOOO BIG! He is so smart too. I love when he talks to us or he tries really hard to tell us something. And the BEST thing that came out of his seizures is that he is EATING ORALLY LIKE A CHAMP! Yep, my little boy is LOVING eating. He wakes up and signs EAT and he eats breakfast, lunch and dinner. And I am talking he EATS not just nibbles. Could be why he has gained so much weight!! He is now 42 lbs!!! he is getting HEAVY! But he is such a cutie and he is getting so strong. Unfortunately, with these recent seizures, he has had some weakness now that is causing him to be MORE LOW TONED….i just pray that he gets his strength back SOON!!! He loves his brothers and loves to challenge them! He is SOMETHING else when he gets MAD at one of them. He will sit there and YELL at them if they are having issues. So cute!!! That is our little boy!!

And then there is JOSHUA who is now 3 years old. Wow, this little boy is SOMETHING else. I love him SOOO MUCH but he is the 3rd child…he is the one that gets into EVERYTHING…and he is currently into the terrible 2 at 3! He favorite word is NO or UH-HU…and he is a little con artist cause he will say in a whiny voice’no alex, stop’ and I will catch him saying that and alex is across the room or something and alex is like, I am not even touching you!!! So, he tries to get brother in trouble all the time. He is also very LOUD…he loves to sing but LOUDLY, he loves to play but play LOUDLY…my ears are usually ringing by the end of the day. But he LOVES to play with alex and he love to tease matthew. Such a CUTIE!!!

Well, james is doing very good. He is at a new unit here in san Antonio so that means that we are STAYING in san Antonio!! J either way I would have been happy but now especially with Matthews seizures, I am so glad we are staying here..we are hoping that he gets his promotion soon so then we can start looking for a new home…he finished PHASE 2 of his BNOC school….we REALLY need a one story house….matthew is getting soooooo heavy and with his recent seizures, he is almost too weak to go up the stairs on his own and we have to carry him and he is HEAVY!!! Anyway, james is doing well and he is gearing up for HUNTING SEASON. Yep, let the shooting begin! One of his favorite sports! He started TODAY at his new job and it is at CAMP BULLIS now so a bit closer than where he was at before. I feel sad for him because his whole unit before is now all scattered around TEXAS …they were sooo close. I know they will stay friends but no longer work together….

As for me, well, so-so…I am ALIVE and I am BLESSED so I really shouldn’t complain. But since my surgery back in feb 2010, my body has not been the same…I have been back and forth to the doctors and surgeons trying to find out WHY I am continue to have gastro issues…I have had colonoscopies, blood work, scopes, etc and they still don’t’ know what is going on. I wonder if they injured something while they did the surgery…anyway, I just wanted it FIX cause it is LIFE ALTERING what I am going thru…my fibro is kicking my butt too, but again, with all the stress of the surgery and now with matthew seizures, my little body is going nuts! J

But THANK YOU GOD, our little family is doing well. We have started up on our school year again and we are enjoying doing classes. Waiting for the HOLIDAYS to come. It is just around the corner now!!!! We take one day at a time and we take our evenings very seriously. We have tried to keep matthew to a strict in bed time of 8:30 to make sure he gets plenty of sleep. So needless to say, we are ALL on a schedule now. We tend to notice if we have had a LONG day, he will end up with a seizure!!

So, we hope this letter finds everyone doing AMAZING and well. We ask PLEASE if you can please pray for our little boy, MATTHEW that his seizures resolve and he has them NO MORE. I am so sad for him because now with all these meds, he is not the same little boy…he is really tired all the time and GRUMPY!! GOD WILLING these seizure meds GO AWAY!!!

Thanks again, everyone!! until next time, TAKE CARE AND GOD BLESS!!!

James, Maria, Alex, Matthew, & Joshua

we are up to 6....

2010-08-26T09:33:00.002-05:00

unfortunatly, the seizures are back...we are up to 6 szs now in just under 2 months...that is WAY WAY WAY up from 2 seizures in OVER TWO YEARS....i am so sad about my baby boy matthew...he had a sleep study done on tuesday night. their thought is that maybe he is having apnea episodes which in turn are causing him to have seizures?! we shall see how he did in his sleep study. all i want to know is WHY?!?! now i need to be very clear about this, it is not 'why him, God?" i don't THINK i have ever thought that, even when he was born with a heart defect. i love my son JUST THE WAY HE IS and i am very BLESSED to have him with us!! i am asking 'WHY is he having seizures again?' how can i HELP him...what is the cause so that we can try to fix it....that is the WHY i am thinking and asking...how can i help my little man...what is going on?! anyway, he had another sz last night...2 in fact...my poor little guy!! he slept thru them but he remained on oxygen all night long and he seemed to sleep very well...

i am praying that SOMETHING comes up that will explain why he is having these sz...

need to get back to blogging....

2010-08-11T21:50:00.003-05:00

yep, it has been a LONG TIME since i really have been up to date on my blogging...life seems to get in the way of it....but really, there is really no reason...FACEBOOK is my new favorite place to post stuff but why i do it there and not here, well, i don't know! i SHOULD do it more often here because this is forever and facbook just keeps rolling by....

sooo, life has been great....my boys are all doing wonderful, THANK YOU GOD...we are getting ready to start our school...maybe next week?! we have all our curriculum, THANK YOU GOD and alex is ready to get going...i am just ready to get started back on our schedule...I LOVE HOMESCHOOLING and yestereday, i joined the NORTH WEST HOMESCHOOL EDUCATORS and i am really excited! field trips, tons of fellowship for me AND the boys...so i am excited...just need my history and science book and that should be this week! :)

wow, our pool is GREEN!! YUCKY! yep, after our birthday party on the 1st, with all the kiddos jumping in after playing hard and sweating all day, it just killed the pool!!! :( and since james is gone for 2 weeks, who gets to clean it up?! ME!! OH WELL...i just hope i can do it...i am PRAYING that today's treatment is IT...if not, it is dumping the water and doing it again...sign...pools are sooo much work but so much fun..

HAPPY 8TH BIRTHDAY, JAMES ALEX II!

2010-08-10T00:30:00.000-05:00

HAPPY 8TH BIRTHDAY, JAMES ALEX II!!

My baby boy Alex is 8 years old! Wow, we have been SOOO BLESSED with this little boy…THANK YOU GOD for this little boy. What a blessing he is in our family. I can’t believe he is now 8 years old. He is such a happy little boy. Always ready to help us whenever we ask and SO polite! He is the best big brother ever. Always helping out with the boys and being so calm and helping so much with his baby brothers. With matthew, he is always willing to help me with getting whatever I need…medical wise, wow, this little boy is amazing when it comes to drs appts for matthew. Being WONDERFUL there at the different appts and when matthew is in the hospital, he does great there. He has unfortunately had to witness several of matthew’s massive seizures and he has great at getting me the phone to call 911 and going downstairs to open the door for EMS….just such a BRAVE little boy! so proud of him! And for Joshua, he LOVES his baby brother and he LOVES playing with him. Finally, someone who he can play with and run around with and Joshua looks up to him…Joshua follows him everywhere! So cute…wants to do whatever Alex does! And so smart…he is now in the 3rd grade and he loves being homeschooled. He does so well in all his studies and just keeps amazing me on his memory of everything and what he learns. He ‘gets’ it quickly. He needs little if any help with his studies. He usually does it all on his own, only asking for help if he just doesn’t get it. So proud of him. And his belief in God is just amazing to watch. He loves learning all about HIM and he loves that our homeschool curriculum is based on our faith of Catholicism. He probably knows more than we do about it! And such a sponge when it comes to something he loves. And just loves his LEGO’s and his WII games. He is also just amazing when it comes to a computer. Since the age of 4, he has been able to get on, get to where he wants to go and play and get online like a pro! And he sits there and watches YOUTUBE and learns how to make LEGO’s figures and ships and such. Wow, his creations are just amazing.

Our son, Alex…what a BLESSING given to us from GOD. Back when we didn’t know if we could ever carry a baby to full term, here he was. He is our RIPLEY’s BELIEVE IT OR NOT baby (if you want to read his story…GO HERE) and with his pregnancy, daddy was gone for ALL 9 MONTHS because 9/11 had just happened and james was activated to Texarkana!!! But he made it for the birth of our FIRST BABY BOY…BLESSINGS…

SO, to end this, THANK YOU GOD for blessing us with this beautiful baby boy and THANK YOU GOD for every beautiful second that we have had with him…HAPPY BIRTHDAY, JAMES ALEX II!!!! WE LOVE YOU SO MUCH!

MATTHEW had a sz last night...

2010-08-03T10:54:00.001-05:00

‎*yawn*long night..wow, i was just talking to my TAPVR friends about what it felt like 4 him to have a sz in middle of night & have to leave ur other kids..and it happened. that was so scary! but we r HOME & he looks good..i can't believe his O2 sats got into the 30'S & his lips turned BLUE! that was the FIRST time i personally had EVER had to BAG my boy!! they always did it in the ambulance but there was NO WAY i could wait! to see him not responding, O2 monitor going crazy, sats in the 40's & 30"s and knowing you have to BA...G HIM or he is going pass out or worst...that was really SCARY! Thank GOD i had his airway bag set up pinned to the wall above his oxygen and it was complete (thanks to METHODIST & our last hospital stay where i took the bag from the room) and i hooked it up and put it on him...wow, that was a crazy rush...i say that because so many emotions are going thru your body and then i had james call 9-1-1 and then we switched and i had to get his diastat in him ASAP....(valium to help stop his sz)...he sz for 25 mins that we actually saw him plus how ever long he sz before his monitor went off...scary!!
but, these sz are really different than the other ones....he seems to be responding to the DIASTAT with these so, i think we are going to NOT call EMS until after his diastat and he is STILL szing...the DIASTAT has seem to work...so i think i will give the DIASTAT after 3 mins....support him with oxygen and watch him...after another 5 mins if he is still not responding or still szing, i will call EMS...the decisions i have to make for my boy....you never think you would make THOSE kinds of decisions for anyone you love....but thru my FAITH and thru PRAYERS he and WE have come a long way...THANK YOU GOD FOR MY BOY!!!

thanks all for any thoughts and prayers...we are going to take it EASY today...and did i mention that my dh is leaving for 2 weeks this saturday?!?!? yep, going to be STRESSful the next 2 weeks on my own and with his sz....**sigh**

Prepping for tomorrow

2010-07-18T21:36:00.001-05:00

Such a PAIN in my BUTT!!! I have a colonoscopy tomorrow and the prep for it sucks!!!:((((( but, God willing it will get me fixed up.... Just have not been the same since my surgery back in feb....going to be a LONGnight!!! Can't wait to EAT something tomorrow....haven't eatena thing in over 24 hours now.... Can just TASTE a burger and fries right Now.....yummy!

Jelly stone rv resort

2010-07-13T01:18:00.001-05:00

Awwwwww......loving this new camp ground here near canyon lake....the boys love that it is yogi bear! They have activities everyday for the kids....can't wait to explore the place tomorrow....James noticed that there are TONS of familiies here and it is very clean and nice! We are here for a couple of days....

Am enjoying my vacation with my family!

2010-07-07T18:18:00.001-05:00

We left yesterday and have enjoyed being together away from the house... We are staying at the hawthorn inn and it is a beautiful room! Today we went to the USS lexington and had a yummy dinner at Blackbeards and now just cruising around looking at the beach...

Dad's Rosary...

2010-06-11T21:55:00.000-05:00

today, we had my dad's rosary...it was very nice and to hear nice things from those of his co-workers at the church...it seemed that he still worked at his church lighting the candles at the TABERNACLE...that is sooo AWESOME to hear...

My dad passed away today...

2010-06-06T15:49:00.000-05:00

well, we got the call at 9am....we were in church and when i got out and looked at my phone i had a message fromt he hospice place...when i called over there, they said my dad had passed away unexpectedly at 8:55am...i say unexpectendly because hospice can usually tell the family and give them a couple of HOURS before they think the pt will pass away...there are certain signs...well, my dad had a GREAT Blood pressure at 7:30 in the morning....the dr was making his rounds and before he could make it there, a nurses aid walked in to his room to check on my dad and he had just suddenly passed away....i am sad that there was no one there to be with him BUT i was also happy that the ONE thing that i had wanted (for him to see me again, to meet his grandkids, to hear himself called GRANDPA and to hear me tell him that i loved him and he told me he loved me) happened...i am AT PEACE as i know that he was too...he saw all his brothers (except one and one sister that was too ill to travel) and he saw NUMEROUS neices/nephews, cousins that came to see him...that was important to ME and i know it was to him too...he had lived a very solitary life after he and my mom divorced...he had not only distanced himself from ME but from ALL his familyl....

sooo, REST IN PEACE, DAD....no matter what, I LOVE YOU and will MISS you as always...i am glad we got to RECONNECT before you passed away and i will have no regrets....GOD BLESS....

ANOINTMENT OF THE SICK for my dad...

2010-06-04T22:33:00.000-05:00

well, today, a priest from his parish came over and gave my dad his last rites....it was a BEAUTIFUL prayer service for him...he had a brother, sister, a niece, son, daughter (me), and several kids there to be with him at his bedside....it was really nice and we prayed over him and we were each able to give him a blessing...it was really really nice....

we were there for about 3 hours and then my brother and my family went to go eat dinner...very nice...i had realized that that was the 3rd 'last rites' i had been to....my MOM, my son MATTHEW and now my dad....wowowowow....

My brother came home today...

2010-06-03T14:19:00.002-05:00

i picked him up from the airport and we went straight to see dad at the hospice center....we had 2 of the 3 kids with us so it was nice....they did GREAT and dad opened his eyes and say my brother and he met his 2 grandkids....he smiled when he saw them....that was nice and the boys said hi to him and touched his hand...

my brother was able to say hello to him and he acknowledged him and everything...he was able to see my bro and my brother could talked to him...it was really hard to understand him and he was really restless....his oxygen was not in his nose and apparently he didn't like it there at all...well no wonder, they had it at 10lts with NO HUMIDIFICATION!!!!!! i told them they needed to get some on him! that is PAINFUL!! i cant' even imagine how uncomfy that must have been...

anyway, all is well...we went to his house and my brother went in to see how things were....and he had good neighbors that came out as soon as my brother showed up to talk to him....that was reasurring...so much to DOOOOO!!!!!!!

My dad was moved...

2010-06-02T12:18:00.001-05:00

today to the hospice facility....i am sooooooo happy he agreed to go there...i know they will take good care of him....i passed along the word...

Went to see my dad...

2010-06-01T10:09:00.000-05:00

well, THANK YOU GOD i was able to go see him....if we had been there even 15 mins later, we would not have been able to TALK to him...but instead, i was able to talk to him and show him his grandkids pics (he has never met them)...he saw me and talked to me and didn't reject me, TAHAN KYOU GOD....after about 15 mins, they had to medicate him because he was breathing soooo fast and hard...it was hard to watch...after that, he dosed off and was finally breathing comfortably...stayed with him for about an hour then went to mass with my aunt and then came back for little bit more...as i was leaving...i kissed him and told him that i loved him...he opened his eyes and told me 'i love you too'....

i am at peace...i pray that his family comes to see him....i know that it would bring him PEACE...and also peace to those of his family....everyone has been estranged so i PRAY that everyone can just go and see him....he will be the first of the brothers & sisters to pass away when it happens....

my thoughts and prayers go with him....

HAPPY MEMORIAL DAY!!!

2010-05-31T12:02:00.000-05:00

THANK YOU to all the MILITARY NEAR AND FAR for your services especially to all my family and friends that have served in the miliatry!! my beautiful HUBBY that we are soooooo proud to support and LOVE!!! THANK YOU, BABE!!!

onto my dad...well, i got a phone call from HOSPICE that told me that my dad had cancer in his stomach and liver....he does not have many days to live!! wowow...very hard to hear....but he was threatening to leave and go HOME but there is no one to take care of him!!! i can only PRAY TO GOD that he realizes that and he can go to a facility that will care for him....wowow...i am so sad and am in shock....

got a call from the hospital...

2010-05-29T11:37:00.002-05:00

and my dad had been moved to the MICU after being transfered down to the 2nd floor from SICU then back up to the 3rd floor MICU because he was having issues with respiratory and also HR issue...i made the calls to the family and i just keep praying for him....

Found out my dad...

2010-05-27T11:24:00.000-05:00

was in the hospital and had abdominal surgery....

my Tia, his siter, called me today and asked me if i could please help her find my dad...i had not spoken to him in over 10 years....but of course, i told her i would call the hospitals to see if i can find him....and i did...at metropolitan methodist...in SICU because he had had abdominal surgery....well, we shall see what happens....i just pray he is ok....when i called to see how he was, i had to tell the nurse that i was estranged from my father and she said, hold on....then she came back and said she had to ask him if it was ok to talk to me and he said yes....and she just told me what had happened....i called my aunt and let her know...

SIEZURE TODAY....

2010-05-22T19:25:00.003-05:00

yep...over a YEAR it has been since he has had ANY sz activity and TODAY, the day after his birthday he MUST have had one...why do i say MUST and not DID? well, because it was unwitnessed....he woke up early today (again) at about 4:30am and dad took him to the potty and put him back in bed...everything was fine...then he wanted the tv on so he put him back in bed and the tv on softly....dad left about 5:30am and i had gone in to check out matthew cause he was coughing but he was fine....then i went back to sleep and so did him...well, later this morning i went in because he was coughing...and he was semi awake...he rolled over and sat up and just sat there swaying with his eyes closed....wierd...i got him over to the couch and he is just laying on me and just out...i keep trying to wake him up and move him so i went and gave him his meds and he is just asleep on the couch....and then he started refluxing and then would fall back to sleep and he would wake up and relfux and then fall back to sleep and everytime he woke up, he never looked me in the eye or he never really woke up...it was REALLY concerning me and ieven called james and had him try to wake him up or talk to him and matthew had NO EXPRESSION which is odd because he LOVES his daddy and he usually goes CRAZY with him....it was REALLY REALLY REALLY scary...i just KNEW something was up when i woke him up...he was just not MATTHEW....and i finally had to call a nurse/dr to see what i should do...he FINALLY woke up at 1245 and he was till really dazed and not having any muscle control...and then 10 mins later he FINALLY started to interact with me...THANK YOU GOD...the dr and i think he DID have a SZ in the morning...i am so sad...it was soooo scary....and of course, it was just me and the boys....

i hope this is not the start of something...it has been over 1 year since his last one...we will be on alert now AGAIN...that is so sad...you get really comfy and then he just likes to shake us up a bit!! oh well...thank GOD he is ok....

HAPPY 6th BIRTHDAY, MATTHEW ISAIAH!

2010-05-21T07:37:00.003-05:00

HAPPY 6th BIRTHDAY, MATTHEW ISAIAH GONZALEZ

Matthew Isaiah turned 6 years old today! What a blessing it is and such a miracle. I know that most people when their kids have a birthday, they are so happy and think back over the last year. Some people, like us, view each day and YEAR as MIRACLES given to us from GOD. Most of you probably know our sons miracle story, so I will only BRIEFLY give you some of what happened those early days of his little life. Our son was born after WONDERFUL 39 weeks of being in my body. It has always been such a blessing for me to carry my babies for 39 weeks. I KNOW how it is to lose babies before they are ready to be born. So, when we were pregnant with Matthew, we felt so blessed and happy, just ready for our baby. Our pregnancy was as perfect as the first pregnancy. We eagerly awaited his arrival and planned his c-section to happen on May 21, 2004. Wow, we were so excited and ready. On that morning, we got wheeled into the OR ready to have our baby and at 8:54am, our son MATTHEW ISAIAH was born…he was beautiful…he gave a CRY…they took him away to clean him up and as they were putting me under to finish me up, I heard someone say, “he is not changing color’…I didn’t know what that meant…until a nurse came into my recovery cubical and said, ‘where is Mr. Gonzalez? Your baby has a heart defect & serious lung damage and needs to be transferred NOW” and walked out. The next couple of hours were every parents NIGHTMARE…knowing that EVERYTHING was out of your control and you were given a prognosis from the pedi cardiologist that he “didn’t think he would make the transport” he was that critical…that your newborn baby was at a different hospital from me, the mommy and that he was undergoing emergency heart cath and open heart surgery at 8 hours old because they found out that he had a rare heart defect called TOTAL ANOMALOUS PULMONARY VENOUS RETURN (TAPVR)…unless you have been thru this, you have absolutely NO IDEA what we were thinking or feeling…I can’t even TELL you what kind of thoughts were going thru our head. All we could do is PRAY and ask others to PRAY for our son…and they DID…we had sooo much support and sooo many PRAYERS for this little boy from all over the world…I remember being given a private room when there were NO PRIVATE ROOMS on the post partum floor…and KNOWING that that happened because they felt things were not going to go well…I remember TRYING to use a pump to express milk and crying because I didn’t LIKE to use those !@#$$ pumps and HAVING to….and just praying and waiting for the phone calls from James to let me know how things were going during his surgery….and being told that it was SUPPOSE to be a 4 hour surgery but instead, because of excess bleeding, he had to go thru the surgery AGAIN to stop the bleeding and it took a total of 8 hours…of being wheeled into the PICU on a vent and the ECMO machine…a VERY sick little boy….the prognosis of UNKNOWN….of him being taken off ECMO at 5 days old and told that there was a 1% chance of survival (and that was being nice) because he was blue again…the color of purple/blue color…of watching and KNOWING that your beautiful baby boy could be GONE by the days’ end….of finally being able to hold your baby boy…of loving on him, talking to him and just PRAYING over him…and the memories continue to be BRIGHT and STRONG in my mind….we witnessed a MIRACLE that day when by the GRACE OF GOD, he DID NOT pass away like EVERYONE thought…that by the GRACE OF GOD, he continued to survive, defy and to PROVE every doctor wrong that because of that, doctors couldn’t GIVE me a prognosis for him because they NEVER knew what Matthew would DO! 98 days in the PICU….98 days of him fighting for his life and him DAZZLING the staff with his beautiful smile and spirit….

And THAT is our son MATTHEW….that is this little boys FIGHTING spirit. He has been just such an INSPIRATION for our family. He reminds us everyday of how PRECIOUS life is and how MIRACLES happen. We always have said that Matthew must have seen GOD because this little boy is so HAPPY all the time. That is how we explain his beautiful and happy spirit. He has already SEEN such a HEAVEN and that has made him always to have such a BEAUTIFUL smile. RARELY has he been bad tempered or unhappy…when he is, we know that SOMETHING is wrong or he is feeling ill.

Right now, at 6 years old, this little boy has been thru things that NOBODY should ever have to go thru. This little guy has been in an ambulance, being transferred CODE 3, while being bagged and intubated due to having had a massive seizure lasting sometimes over 2 hours, over 10 times in his little life. He has been taken by AIR AMBULANCE (helicopter) 2 times due to the same as above!!!! He gets pounded on by a CPT vest machine for 2 times a day everyday while getting a nebulizer treatment due to his chronic lung disease. And if he is also ill because of respiratory infection (which he gets sick often), then he might have to get the treatment every 2 to 4 hours thru out the day, be on oxygen and then get suctioned sometimes down his nose to TRY to help him get all the crude out of his lungs. And while I am doing this, I am having to HOLD HIM DOWN, because he is kicking and crying thru it all and just making your heart hurt because you KNOW it is just so MUCH for this little boy. But after it is all said and done, he will sit up and smile. Our son….he is just such an AMAZING little boy with sooo much strength and such a SPIRIT. And THANK YOU GOD, he is so STUBBORN! It is a blessing…he sleeps with an oxygen monitor on him every night and we are always listening for alarms to go off.

But beyond his illness, he is learning so MUCH. He is g-tube fed but he can eat, and when he WANTS to orally eat, boy, he can go to TOWN! We LOVE watching him eat food and munch and ASK for food. He may only eat as much as a 6 month old, but every spoonful and bite is just such a BLESSING. Some days he surprises us by eating FOUR chicken nuggets!!! Yep, that is our boy. And talking, well, that is definitely still a struggle for him. He has low tone and apraxia which causes him to have a very difficult time with his speech (and eating too). But he is working hard on it. He does have a communication device that he is using more and more to communicate with us. He amazes his teacher & therapist every time. We are so proud of him! He also knows so many SIGNS. Unfortunately, because of his low tone and lack of coordination, he has a harder time MAKING the signs. But he tries so hard and when WE make the signs, he knows what we are saying. In school, he is doing AMAZING and is progressing along very well. He is cognitively there and is so SMART! He loves to mess with the teachers and play with them. He loves to make them laugh!

And walking, well he is on his way. He can crawl up the stairs on his own. He can walk up & down the stairs if we hold one hand and he holds the banister with the other. Slow and steady he gets there. He can pull himself to stand on almost any surface. He learned how to pull himself up from the floor to stand using a kitchen COUNTER. And WHAT was he reaching for when he got up there and WHY did he want to do that?! Well, because my IPHONE was sitting on the counter and he wanted it! And he got it too! We have to be careful now because he will watch us from the living room to see where we set it down and if we are not careful, well, he will be making TONS of phone calls! Several of James buddies know that if they get called and no one response to the hello, that it is probably Matthew and they start to talk to him!! Awwww….in therapy, he has learned to use a walker without ANY SUPPORTS or STRAPS on him…just him and a walker in front of him walking all over the place there!!! Just amazing! He is progressing well with that area and we just need to keep pushing him. As long as he wears his AFO’s on his feet he does well. Just progressing nicely in this area. I hope he DOES learn to walk because he is getting HEAVY. He is solid!

Our son Matthew…what a JOY and how PROUD we are of him. He brings a smile to our faces with just a look. He LOVES his brothers and they love him. And daddy, well, you can just IMAGINE the love he has for him!!! It is ALL about DADA! That is ok. Not many people are as BLESSED as we are with Matthew….to have such a SPECIAL child in their lives, IS a BLESSING. I look back some days at when he was born and remember thinking, wondering, knowing that his FIFTH day, he would leave this earth and our arms…and PLEASE don’t think that we gave UP on him, because that did not happen. What we did was we GAVE HIM UP TO GOD and we told God that whatever HE decided, we would understand and LOVE HIM…but we were PRAYING soooooooo hard that THAT was not GOD’s plans for him. And PRAYING so hard that he be HEALED and asking others for those prayers. We could NEVER imagine that we would be parents to a special needs child. But we always knew that God had BLESSED us with Matthew and that Thru God, we know that He will always help Matthew and help US in all that there is to do. There is no fear or any sadness in our hearts for ANYTHING having to do with Matthew. To us, he is a normal child and we treat him as such. Of course he has limitations and we work around everything, but we LOVE to go traveling and go places and everywhere WE go HE goes!!

And HERE WE ARE…our beautiful MIRACLE MATTHEW ISAIAH has turned 6 YEARS OLD. Every DAY, hour, minute, second of his life has been precious and a blessing to us. We couldn’t imagine a day without our Matthew with us and PRAY we never have to! We know that we were VERY BLESSED that God left him with us. We KNOW THIS. That is why we are ALWAYS THANKFUL TO GOD!!

So, that I have probably caused those that didn’t need glasses to need some, I will finish with a couple of montages that I made. The first one is a picture montage of our MAKE A WISH TRIP (I know a YEAR late!!) and the 2nd one is all about Matthew!! And you will see that the first part is probably familiar because it IS! We NEVER want to forget what a miracle he is….but the 2nd part is more updated pictures of him up 6 years old. We hope you enjoy it!!

MAKE A WISH MONTAGE:

MATTHEW ISAIAH IS 6 MONTAGE!:)

THANK YOU ALL for all the thoughts and prayers for this little boy thru out the years....we have been so BLESSED to have ya'll in our lives. GOD BLESS!!

love,

The Gonzalez family

being a mom....

2010-05-09T20:18:00.003-05:00

has been the most important thing in my life....who knew that i would have 3 BEAUTIFUL BABY BOYS! i would have never had imagine this being my life and how BLESSED i would feel IN IT! THANK YOU GOD for blessing me with these boys....they are so unique and special in their own way....Alex is just something else...such a SMARTY and JUST LIKE ME!! we butt heads all the time because we are both sooooo STUBBORN! but still, just the smartest most loving little boy in the world!! and then there is Matthew....my little miracle...who is such a SPECIAL little boy who God has intrusted into my hands....He must have seen something in me to bless me with him....just such a JOY and such LOVE comes from this little boy..wowowowow....and then there is Joshua...my baby boy...my 'mama's boy'....he is just so cute and funny and always wanting to give hugs and kisses...he is the little boy that surprised us with his presences....we thought we were thru at 2 and then GOd blessed us with him...such a JOY and such a CUTIE!

THANK YOU GOD for my babies.....i pray always that HE GUIDE me in ALL that i do ESPECIALLY in how i RAISE my babies....

here are 2 poems that i LOVE!!! the first one is for ALL mom's and the 2nd one is for mom's of SPECIAL NEEDS...ENJOY!

When God Created Mums

by Erma Bombeck

When the good Lord was creating mothers, He was into his sixth day of overtime when an angel appeared and said, "You're doing a lot of fiddling around on this one."

And the Lord said, "Have you read the specifications on this order?

She has to be completely washable, but not plastic, have 180 moveable parts, all replaceable, run on black tea and leftovers, have a lap that disappears when she stands up, a kiss that can cure anything from a broken leg to a disappointing love affair and six pairs of hands."

The angel shook her head slowly and said, "Six pairs of hands? No way!"

"It's not the hands that are causing me the trouble," said the Lord. "It's the three pairs of eyes that mothers have to have."

"That's on the standard model?" asked the angel.

The Lord nodded, "One pair that sees through closed doors when she asks, "What are you kids doing in there?' when she already knows. Another in the back of her head that sees what she shouldn't but what she has to know. And of course, the ones in front that can look at a child when he gets himself in trouble and say, "I understand and I love you" without so much as uttering a word."

"Lord," said the angel, touching his sleeve gently.

"Go to bed, tomorrow is another ...."

"I can't." said the Lord.

"I'm so close now. Already I have one who heals herself when she's sick, can feed a family of six on half a kilo of mince and can get a nine-year-old to stand under a shower."

The angel circled the model of a mother very slowly.

"It's too soft," she sighed.

"But tough," the Lord said excitedly.

"You cannot imagine what this mother can do or endure"

"Can it think?"

"Not only think, but it can reason and compromise," said the creator.

Finally the angel bent over and ran her finger across the cheek.

"There's a leak," she pronounced.

"It's not a leak." said the Lord. "It's a tear."

"What's it for?"

"It's for joy, sadness, disappointment, pain, loneliness and pride."

"You're a genius," said the angel

The Lord looked sombre and said "I didn't put it there."

----------------------------------------------
The Special Mother
by Erma Bombeck

Most women become mothers by accident, some by choice,
a few by social pressure and a couple by habit.
This year nearly 100,000 women will become mothers of handicapped children.
Did you ever wonder how these mothers are chosen?
Somehow I visualize God hovering over Earth
Selecting his instruments for propagation with great care and deliberation.
As he observes, he instructs his angels to take notes in a giant ledger.
"Armstrong, Beth, son. Patron Saint, Matthew."
"Forrest, Marjorie, daughter. Patron Saint, Celia."
"Rutledge, Carrie, twins. Patron Saint...give her Gerard. He's used to profanity."
Finally he passes a name to an angel and smiles. "Give her a handicapped child."
The angel is curious. "Why this one, God? She's so happy."
"Exactly," smiles God. "Could I give a handicapped child a mother who knows no laughter?
That would be cruel."
"But does she have the patience?" asks the angel.
"I don't want her to have too much patience, or she'll drown in a sea of self-pity and despair.
Once the shock and resentment wear off she'll handle it."
"I watched her today.
She has that sense of self and independence so rare and so necessary in a mother.
You see, the child I'm going to give her has a world of it's own.
She has to make it live in her world, and that's not going to be easy."
"But Lord, I don't think she even believes in you."
God smiles. "No matter, I can fix that. This one is perfect. She has just enough selfishness."
The angel gasps, "Selfishness? Is that a virtue?"
God nods. "If she can't separate herself from the child occasionally, she will never survive.
Yes, here is a woman whom I will bless with a child less than perfect.
She doesn't know it yet, but she is to be envied.
She will never take for granted a spoken word.
She will never consider a step ordinary.
When her child says momma for the first time, she will be witness to a miracle and know it.
I will permit her to see clearly the things I see--ignorance, cruelty,
prejudice--and allow her to rise above them.
She will never be alone.
I will be at her side every minute of every day of her life
Because she is doing my work as surely as she is here by my side."
"And what about her Patron Saint?" asks the angel, his pen poised in the air. God smiles.
"A mirror will suffice."

PRAYER REQUEST PLEASE!!!

2010-05-04T18:47:00.000-05:00

Hola everyone...i hope everyone is doing amazing....well, I am writing to everyone i know for some prayers please for The Mireles Family....They are my relatives that are in DESPERATE need of some prayers. On 4/30/10, my cousin David's 15 year old son had a VERY bad accident and he is currently in critical condition in the hospital....He has had surgery and is in a drug induced coma on a ventilator..of course you can just imagine what they all must be going thru....so, i am asking for them, if you could please send out some positive thoughts and prayers for this little boy who is in a fight for his life......He is in for a VERY VERY long road of recovery....prayers for the Family that is anxiously waiting for him to get healed and home where he belongs.....this is every parents worst nightmare......here is a website set up so that people can get some info on Dylan... www.dylanmireles.blogspot.com We all know that PRAYER WORKS and that we personally have seen how prayers can bring about a miracle.....soooo, please, any THOUGHTS and PRAYERS for Dylan and his family would be apprecaited GREATLY!!! and please, pass it along to other prayer warriors out there!! "GOD IS GOOD!!"

Thank you sooo much!! TAKE CARE AND GOD BLESS!!!
"Thru God, All things are POSSIBLE..." Matthew 19:26

First Communion!!! :)

2010-05-01T18:44:00.000-05:00

My beautiful son made his 1st communion today at PRICE OF PEACE CATHOLIC CHURCH!! we are SOOOO PROUD of him....he has study HARD for the last 2 years and has really matured in his religous life! a mommy and daddy could not be more PROUD of him...he knows more than US most times!!!

we also had a little party for him and it was nice to see family and friends around us....everyone was so awesome to come! THANK YOU!!!

CATHOLIC FAMILIES OUT THERE.....

2010-03-11T09:54:00.003-06:00

HOLA!!! i have wanted to post this for a while but just have not had the time to do it...so here it is!! there a alot of things that i have found for myself and my family that are CATHOLIC BASED...sooo...i just wanted to SHARE...

i am CATHOLIC and i homeschool my kiddos and this year, we used a NEW curriculum that is CATHOLIC BASED and it is AMAZING!!! i, personally, am LEARNING alongside my 7 year old, my FAITH!!! what an AMAZING thing...it is from CATHOLIC HERITAGE it is just a GREAT learning tool for my kids!! WE are learnign soooo much!!

i also discovered a CATHOLIC HOMESCHOOLERS TOOLBAR that i just installed that is VERY NICE and has some GREAT links to use while i homeschool!! LOVE IT! it is called CATHOLIC GADGET and you can find it HERE. I JUST got it and i already LOVE IT!! :) has a NICE list of blogs from families that are catholic and HOMESCHOOL!!

then there is the purchasing place called AUTOM and it is an ONLINE and CATALOG place to buy ALL things Catholic!!! i mean, there prices are AMAZING and they have the BEST stuff!!! LOVE IT!! my MIL bought my beautiful BIBLE stand there and it is AMAZING!! we have also bought other things there...very nice place to get ideas too!

ok...then i have a IPHONE...and i am HAPPY to say i LOVE LOVE LOVE my IPHONE!!! yes, i said it! best phone EVER!! i have SEVERAL applications that i LOVE....i have 3 that i have that are becoming INVALUBLE to me as a Catholic....here theY are AND YOU CAN GET THEM OFF ITUNES!!

IMISSAL...if you are Catholic and have an IPHONE, it is a MUST have! why?! well, it is the MISSAL for mass every sunday! in church, i probably get some looks cause i am following the READING right off my phone as they are read in mass....EXACTLY...i can read them before hand and during the mass....it also has prayers, bible verses, and other Catholic related stuff...i LOVE IT!!!!!

if you look CATHOLIC in ITUNES and you should find something that says PRAYERS, 1000+ CATHOLIC PRAYERS ($.99) by SURGEWORKS, INC....i found this YESTERDAY and i am LOVING all the novenas, prayers, daily prayers, prayers to saints, Acts and soooo much more!!! just AMAZING!!! i can't wait to use it when i need a quick pick me up and to help my boys learn their prayers!! LOVE IT!

HOLY BIBLE by YOU VERSION on itunes is just AMAZING!!! it keeps the WHOLE bible at my fingertips! and the GREAT plus to this is that i started one of the programs so that i can read the bible in a YEAR!!! and i got to chose WHICH bible version i wanted, which i chose the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE...and the program i started was the CANONICAL style...and it has a certain read for every day...and if you keep up with it, you should finish your bible in a YEAR!! never done that before so i am EXCITED!! i love that i can just take a moment in my day, whip out my phone and start reading my bible for the day!! LOVE IT!! :)

CATHOLICTV was something i downloaded yesterday and i am not sure about it....but basically, you can WATCH CATHOLIC TV programs like the Mass being said, Rosaries being said, other activies...you do need to be connect to a WI-FI to watch the videos but i figure if i am home i can do that too...pretty neat little gadget...havent tried it out yet though!

soooo, that is it! for now...but i am so excited about this.....my family and i are coming more together as we learn about our FAITH with Alex being homeschooled using a Catholic curriculum....LOVE IT!

i hope ya'll enjoy and GET YOU SOME!!! BLESSINGS TO ALL!!

COLITIS....YUCKY!

2010-03-10T09:24:00.000-06:00

well, i have been diagnosed with COLITIS and i am NOT HAPPY!! :( it has been what has caused i think my recovery from my surgery to go soooooooooo slow!! i am either HAPPY or MISERABLE due to my tummy...really no in between! and a week ago, i TRIED taking some antibiotics that my dr prescribed for me and i was SOOOOO NAUSEATED, i couldn't stand it and i stopped taking it....then tuesday, he put me on a NEW medication called VANCOMYOCIN and it is a formulary medication and the last ditch effort before....i have to be admitted into the hospital to be treated there....and i SURE don't need or WANT that!!!! soooo, even though this stuff is NASTY, i am doing well on it and taking it and NO NAUSEA!! :) i have to take it every 6 hours for 10 days....i WILL DO IT!! so far so good....i just want to END all of this and keep moving FORWARD...i am still having signs of reflux but i think it has more to do with all this COLITIS stuff than real reflux...my tummy is just not the same right now! :( anyway, all could be WORST so i am VERY BLESSED!!! i had a MISERABLE day on monday night/tuesday....i was up on monday night from 1000pm all the way to 4am on the toilet and slept in a CHAIR next to the bathroom...MISERABLE! AND then tuesday, i was just BEAT...i felt HORRIBLE..adn then i had to go to the dr and that was when he gave me the new med....i PRAY this helps...A WONDERFUL friend of mine prayed for me/with me on tuesday and i KNOW that is what helped me....i have been forgetting to PRAY for MYSELF! i pray for others but rarely for myself....and when i do, they are answered...i just need to remember MYSELF!!!

anyway, i will continue to PRAY that this COLITIS resolves itself and i get back on track....eating wise, i am doing AMAZING...can basically eat anything just have to chew it VERY VERY THOUROUGLY...if i don't, man, it HURTS!! AND it is SCARY cause you can FEEL your food STUCK in your throat and not going anywhere...and you can FEEL it SLLLLIIIDDDDIIIINNNGGGGG down your throat...not a confortable feeling...it feels like a BIG ROCK going down....and there is NOTHING you can do but wait for it to go down....so i have LEARNED to take it slow....fun!

boy, that surgery was HORRIBLE!!! :(

2010-02-20T16:03:00.000-06:00

well, i had my surgery on WED FEB 17 and it was....HORRIBLE!!! :( i have had 3 c-sections and this takes the CAKE!!! well, i had a 5 HOUR surgery and then one hour AFTER trying to wake me UP!! the way it was explained was that my HAITAL HERNIA was the size of a mans fist, then my stomache went THRU the hernia into my CHEST above my DIAPHRAM....so they had to PULL my tummy out of my chest, FIX the hernia with some WIRE MESH, then REDO my NISSEN WRAP and then ANCHOR my stomache down so that it doesn't go back UP into my chest by placing a GTUBE for 6 weeks ....yep...not good at ALL!!! and then i am on a LIQUID DIET for about 4-6 weeks!! YUMMY!!! and trust me, if i EAT anything that is toooooo big, IT HURTS and it just STICKS in my throat and just SLIDES realllly slow until FINALLY it goes down....not a good feeling...it could take up to 5 mins to go DOWN!!! i was sooooooo miserable after i had surgery while in the hospital...i spent over 24 hours in ICU because i had a collapsed lung and fluid AROUND my lungs (plura effusion) and i was in SOOOO MUCH CHEST PAIN!! MISSERABLE!! and then, about 5 hours before i went to the 7th floor, they brought in someone that had an ARM TRANSPLANT and her room had to be at 80 DEGREES and because our rooms shared a thermastat, MY ROOM WAS SOOOOOOOOOOOO HOT!!! man, it was REALLY bad....and then when i went up to the floor, i was just sooooo miserable...YUCKY!! it was not a good stay...and my FIBRO was kicking my BUTT and those beds were NOT comfy and my back and my chest....and up until the DAY i got out, i could only have 60cc of WATER every 6 hours...yes 60CC!!! that is like NOTHING!! until right before i left...CRAZY! and i could catch my breath and i was just yUCKY YUCKY YUCKY! i could go on and on....bBUT BUT BUT BUT....IT COULD ALWAYS BE WORST!!! sooooo, I AM BLESSED!!!!! BLESSED!!! BLESSED!!! THANK YOU GOD!!! :)

MATTHEW is in the hospital.....and other news...

2010-02-11T07:51:00.000-06:00

HELLO EVERYONE!!

i hope everyone is doing WONDERFUL and enjoying their 2nd month of the year!! as for us, well, we are doing fine....i tell you, i hope we are getting all the 'bad' stuff out of the way EARLY in the year so that the rest of the year would be sssmmmoooottthhhh sailing!!! :)

i just wanted to send out an update.....i know, 2 in 2 months...well, matthew is in the hospital right now....he was admitted yesterday due to a rash ALL OVER that started last week....i am sooooo THANKFUL that we have such a WONDERFUL dr that didn't just blow off his symptoms like most drs would have and instead decided that after seeing him 2 days (mon/wed) that he needed to be admitted cause he was not getting better....they diagnosed him with KAWASAKI SYNDROME....his cardiologist said we needed to play the lottery cause him have TAPVR (rare CHD) and now this (which is also very rare) is just unheard of!! only matthew would say DIFFERENT!!! soooo, this is the earliest diagnosis (we were 72 hours into it) she has ever made so that is a GREAT AND AMAZING thing!! it dropped his chances for an anuerism to 2% or sooo...THANK YOU GOD! they are treating it with IVIG and HIGH DOES OF ASPRIN (5 baby asprins every 6 hours)...they started his IVIG and asprin last night....i am just praying that he responds to it...he has been so miserable now for a couple of days....he didn't ever look like matthew... i had only heard it because JET TRAVOLTA had it when he was 3 and i remember when he died, the mother said that THAT was what caused his death (which was NOT true)...anyway, if you google it is says that young kids get it (which is why it is soooo rare for matthew) and that it imight be caused by cleaning your carpets...not true...it is actually your body fighting itself because there is a virus in it...not a good thing...it does effect the heart, which scared me SILLY!!! and plenty of fluid....he is finally looking a LITTLE better...you can see pics on facebook...he was soooo swollen and red all over....just so you know, the symptoms are ALL OVER RASH, FEVER FOR 5 DAYS, LIPS-SWOLLEN, RED AND CRACKED, EYES-RED (RACCON EYES BUT RED) AND THE WHITES ARE RED TOO (KINDA CREEPY LOOKING), FEET/HANDS- SWOLLEN AND RED, TONGUE- LOOKS LIKE A STRAWBERRY (BRIGHT RED AND HIS TASTE BUDS WHITE) AND SWOLLEN LYMPH NODES(he did NOT have that yet)..as she was reading the signs/symptoms, i just kept nodding........his face just look HORRIBLE!! at first we thought it was a rxn to one of his drugs and we were AFRAID that it would be on of his SZ meds and that would have BAD cause he is on such a 'perfect' mix and dose right now that i sure didn't want to mess with it!!! and neither did his nuerologist! anyway, GOD WILLING we will be getting out of here this weekend....it was funny cause his pedi dr said laughingly, 'well, good news is that there is no holidays this weekend!!" and i had to remind him that valentines day was on sunday and then presidents day was on monday!! he just GROANED!! if you remember, matthew is NOTORIOUS for having 'drama' on holidays or on vacations....just last month he was dx with RSV (i don't think i mentioned that before) on NEW YEARS EVE.....only MATTHEW!!! :) soooo, any prayers or good thoughts would be REALLY appreciated....

as for the OTHER news for the month...i am going to be having surgery next week (17th)...yep, they decided that i needed to have my stomach corrected after all....they think my nissen is fine BUT apparently, all my GERD/reflux symptoms i had been having since i had joshua were because i had a hiatal hernia and my nissen/stomach went THRU it and is now sitting above my diaphram!!!!! so, THAT is why i am having such a time with my reflux/pain...it's getting SQUISHED by my diaphram every time i BREATH!! FIGURES! :) soooo, they are going to pull down my stomach to where it is suppose to be, anchore it with a GTUBE (yes, matthew and i are going to be TWINS cause we will BOTH have feeding tubes) then fix up the hiatal hernia!! now, the gtube is just temporary (about a month) so that my stomache will adhere to the wall there where the gtube...then they will take it out and it will close up and my stomache SHOULD never move from that place again and go back UP! :) i know, WIERD!!! i guess i can say the same thing as i said about matthew....ONLY YOU, MARIA, THIS WILL HAPPEN TO! :) but hey, maybe they can do a little lypo/tummy tuck when they are in there?!?!? i will have to ask the drs about that!! ok...i think the WORST thing about this whole surgery is that i am going to be on a FULL LIQUID DIET for about 3 weeks....i did this 10 years ago when i had the nissen and it was hard then, i can't imagine how hard it is going to be NOW that i have 3 kids!!!!!! the crazy thng is that you can't ''cheat" like any other time...you know, grab a pinch of food here, a bite there...nope, if i did that, i could CHOKE to death!! my esophagus will be so swollen, it will not let anything but liquid thru!! so, instead, i will be eating applesauce, jello, pudding, broth with no noodles or anything, and ensure for 3 weeks....YYYYUUUUMMMMYYYY!!!! james says he will be on the diet WITH me...i give him 2 days before he caves!!! i am just wanting this to be done and over with....one of my aunts jokingly asked 'what are you giving up for LENT? SOLIDS?" which i thought was sooo funny! i had actually not realized that i would be having surgery ON ASH WED!! who knew?! it has got to be a good day since it is a HOLY day of obligation! :) i need to make sure i get some ashes from somewhere after my surgery....i just MIGHT give up solids for 40 days and nights...maybe....of course, my luck,you would think that i would lose ALLLL this weight and i end up gaining it or something....i NEED to lose some...i hope that is an ADDED benefit!! ;)

anyway, my other 2 boys are doing WONDERFUL....alex is doing great in his class...he is just sooooo smart! :) he amazed me the other day (every day) when he asked what SUDUKO was...i showed him what the concept was and that was IT, he figured it out and started working on a puzzle IMMEDIATLY!!! it took me FOREVER to figure out WHAT i was suppose to do!!!!!!! and i am so proud...his math, he is doing GREAT! he is adding/subtracting/borrowing/carrying over up to the 100's and working on the 1000's! and again, i didn't have to really teach him anything...just showed him what to do one time and he was OFFF!!!! :) love it! and GOD WILLING, this year in May, he will be making his FIRST COMMUNION and we are sooooo excited and happy!!! :) big boy...and this week, he started his first HOMESCHOOL PE CLASS and boy, he LOVED IT!! there are about 13 kids in it and she made them do laps, jumping jacks, sprints, jump rope etc and he said he had a BLAST! he was sooo worried about the week after i had my surgery and who was going to take him cause he didn't want to miss! i told him that i would take him...he LOVED IT!

and joshua...really, what can i say...he is such a CUTIE, and such a SMARTY...i love when he talks and tells me 'love you', and just huggs and loves on me...he is still a mama's boy and i am LOVING IT! ;) he is still a little bully!!! he will go up to matthew and wrestle him DOWN!! and we have to be VERY careful cause he and matthew fight alllll the time! and i mean FIGHT....i tell you, in a former life, i don't know WHO joshua was....maybe a soldier or something cause he knows how to 'shoot' a rifle and gun (even with sticks and such), he can box and fight, wants to play with KNIFES, SCISSORS & FIRE and he LOVES to play all kinds of sports...scary!!! just the other day, we had SUCH a scare cause i had left my pill box in my purse and he got a hold of it and took a couple of bites of my PILLS!!!!! CAN YOU SAY OMG! how scary?! we had to take him to the ER per poison control cause i didn't know how many he had taken....but THANK GOD, everything was just fine...IF he actually had any, it was really minute....it sure taught me a BIG lesson that i guess i had forgot or just was not as watchful but after this, i am looking at EVERYTHING around him to make sure he can't hurt himself...again, ONLY JOSHUA!!!

and james is doing great...such a AMAZING hubby and daddy! he is working HARD and just being recognized for it...we are sooo proud of him....he is getting ready for the BIG move....he is trying to find his soldiers other places to move them to (other battalions)...it's alot of work...not to mention that HE has to find a job himself!!!! :) but again, that is my MAN!!! love him...he and i celebrated our 13th wedding anniversary on 2/1/10...it has been 13 years of BLISS....i have always been soooo THANKFUL to GOD and felt soooo BLESSED that GOD brought him into my life...he is just an amazing daddy and husband....not many would be able to go thru what we have gone thru (with matthew) and still be around....not many would LOVINGLY, WILLINGLY learn everything they have to do so that their children would be healthy and happy...he is something else! THANK YOU GOD!

anyway, sorry to 'talk' your eyes off....i really just meant to talk to you about matthew but i thought i would throw everything else in...i would appreciate ANY thoughts and prayers for our beautiful son MATTHEW....he has been thru soooo much in his life...and in the last month and a half, he has had to deal with RSV, tons of treatments, suctioning and steroids and now THIS!!! i just pray that there are no lasting effects from this....

and if you can spare a thought for me, i would also appreciate any thoughts and prayers for me for next week when i have my surgery...i worry about my boys and leaving them for a couple of days....again, i am just so THANKFUL that james is a GREAT father that i KNOW they will be taken care of WAY beyond anything! and for all those weeks on the liquid diet...YIKES!!!

ANYWAY, take care and GOD BLESS....i will be updating on matthew on FACEBOOK and i will try to do on my BLOG too (www.blessingsinmylife.blogspot.com) ....if you are on FACEBOOK and want me to add you to my 'friend', just email me with your info and i will look for you on FB...apparently, you can TRY to look for me but there are SOOOOOO many ME's out there, you can't find me!!! :)

ok....GOD'S BLESSINGS TO ALL!!!

MARIA, JAMES, ALEX, MATTHEW & JOSHUA

HAPPY NEW YEARS YA'LL!

2010-01-01T18:50:00.001-06:00

GREETINGS and MANY BLESSING TO YOU!!!!

we hope that the last decade has been AMAZING for everyone and that 2009 was just as wonderful! i know it has been a VERY VERY LONG TIME since i have updated ya'll on our family so i thought this would be a great time to do it!! :)

WELL, this was something i posted on my FACEBOOK so i thought i would share it here too:

HAPPY NEW YEARS! well, this decade brought MANY changes to my life one of which is MOTHERHOOD, having the most PERFECT babies ('02, '04, '07), THANK YOU GOD....it brough to me the most PURE and LOVING knowledge that MY GOD IS AN AWESOME GOD and THRU HIM, ALL THINGS ARE POSSIBLE...GOD showed us a MIRACLE when he blessed us with MATTHEW and how AMAZING the power of PRAYER is...also, bring many new people in my life because of our Miracle baby, Matthew, who we would have NEVER had in our lives...nurse, doctors, therapist, new friends, just so many...

THANK YOU GOD for a WONDERFUL DECADE and an AMAZING 2009! on with the NEW...I WILL EMBRACE this year with all that YOU give me, knowing that i am LOVED and am BLESSED ... because i have the most important thing....GOD IN MY LIFE......

and that is just a FRACTION of what the last decade and year has been like....James and I started our family in the 2000's and what a BLESSING that has been in our lives.....

well, Alex has been doing great...he is 7!!! :) although right now, he is SICK as are ALL of us...not the way i wanted to start the new year...other than that, he is doing GREAT at his 2nd grade schooling...we are still homeschooling and he is loving every minute of it...much better this year than last when he kept TESTING me....he is such a smarty and loves to figure out things...i am hoping to get him started on SOMETHING that will having him doing some fun stuff/learning with others...maybe a sport or maybe something academic...not sure what he would love to do...if there was a CLASS on LEGOS, STAR WARS OR WII i know he would be in his element!! :) but other than that, he has found his new best friend...his baby brother josh...they are forever playing together and since baby brother totally looks up to big brother, it is a plus...he copies everythign that alex does!!! he follows him everywhere....and with matthew, well, it is definetly a test of patients when it is matthew turn at the WII and matthew loves to push the home button and drive big brother a bit crazy!!! but he loves his brother matthew and loves to just mess with him!! :) WONDERFUL big brother!

Matthew is doing fine...when he is not SICK like right this minute!!! unfortunatly, this new years brought him much illness....right now, we are doing our BEST not to let him get put in the hopsital...we just found out YESTERDAY that he has RSV....not good with his chronic lung disease...it is that ONE dx that we ALWAYS were worried if he got...soooo SCARY!!...he looks and feels really bad and is currently on oxygen, 2 antibiotics, neb treatments every 3 hours and oral steroids and a SHOT of ROSEFIN at the ER yesterday....he is barely keep his o2 sats up but he is working hard at it...poor baby....we had to dust off our oxygen equipment, it had been that long since he had been on it!! but, right now it is touch and go...he is a really sick little boy that the dr is PRAYING will stay out of that hospital...so are we!! but, onto other things, he has been doing wonderful in his kidergarden homebound class....his teach is AMAZING and he is really learning with her! he loves class time and she is teaching him SIGN!!! LOVE it!! and then his speech therapist thru the school is also amazing..he loves MS P and loves when it is time for her to come over...they are working on his talker and he is doing great!! my little man! he is also doing great in his PT/OT!!! he is sooooo close to walking now with his independent walker...he is making big strides in that department!! as for sickies, that has also been a blessing EXCEPT for tummy bugs...he has had 2 and that has really thrown his schedule off and now with RSV, well, he is doing pretty bad right now...anyway, he loves to torment his baby brother josh and loves to mess with alex...typical 5 year old!!!

well, onto our 2 year old....JOSHUA...well, what can i say....he is that little boy that has done EVERYTHING the other 2 boys NEVER have done...bite, hit, kick, jump off furniture, eat bugs, throw tantrums, not listen, and the list goes ON AND ON AND ON!!! ! OK, he is going to give me the GREY HAIRS!!! it is really funny cause it is soooooooo much 'josh, no' josh stop, etc etc...that is all you hear and he is not afraid of ANYTHING!!! he is really something....but he is sooo loving on top of that and loves to get hugs and kisses and loves to cuddle....he LOVES to follow big brother ALEX around and repeat and do EVERTHING he does....his Godfather (a police officer) asked us who taught him how to 'pretend' shoot a gun/shotgun...he is soooooo acurate on how he places his hands and how he looks down a site, it is SCARY!!!!!!! and he has been doing this since he was about a year old!! i sometimes wonder what he did in another life?!?!?! and then he is also a PRO with balls of anykind and has been since a baby! he throws a ball right at you, no matter what size, and FAR TOO and he can hit a baseball thrown at him with a bat, no matter how SMALL the ball is and how thin the bat is!!!! he can throw a basket ball in from FAR AWAY and make it and he is just a sports fiend!!! we know he will be our athletic kiddo!! he loves to TORMENT his big brother MATT and they are ALWAYS FIGHTING!!! santa had to bring them almost the EXACT SAME THING cause he knew if one had something, the other wanted that same one!!! boy, we have to keep them apart most days cause all you hear is one or the other crying or yelling!!!! anyway, he is doing GREAT!!

as for james, he is doing great too! his battalion at work is going away!! so, he is going to be getting a new position SOMEWHERE in the state of texas...we don't know what the future will bring our way or where we will be stationed but we SHOULD know by sept when it has 'J' out...but other than that, he is doing AMAZING and being in love with his boys...he can't seem to get enough of them!! :) he has enjoyed this last year home and we just pray every day that it doesn't come down that it is his 'turn' again....

as for me , well, i am doing GREAT!!!! other than having been dealing with my FIBROMYALGIA AND GERD this year, all is well. i have had many test, CT scans, MRI's, endoscopies and am currently on meds for all the above...it has been a bit stress full cause it has really escalated and i have been in pain for something everyday but it is starting to become unbearable where i need to take meds....and my GERD is back and they told me that my NISSENFUNDIPLICATION had slipped and that was why i was having so much gastro issues...so, right now, i am treating it with meds for as long as that works...we shall see what happens after that...i am just happy that FINALLY, i am being seen by a GASTRO DR and a RHEUMOTOLOGIST too!!! finally MEEEEE!! :) ANYWAY, all is going well, enjoying being with family and homeschooling! trying to get my clutter in order....when i find the time....loving my family...

if you keep up with our BLOG (www.blessingsinmylife.blogspot.com) and have noticed a LACK of content recently, it is that i am now ADDICTED (there i said it) to FACEBOOK!!! YES, facebook is such an AMAZING place to reconnect with family, friends and finding old friends.....i love the GAMES that you can play on it and just the posting of everyday life....it is a FREE website that lets you connect...it is not FLASHY like MYSPACE, no crazy music or anything, it is just a posting board where you can post 'what you are doing' and others can comment and see what is going on..with this being my 20th anniv since i graduated from high school, i have reconnected with MANY MANY friends from highschool that i had not talked to SINCE high school!!! :) and family, some that i don't ever talk to unless there is a wedding or funeral, i get to 'chat' with and keep in contact with all the time now!! it is nice to see what family and friends are doing....sooo, if you have NOT gotten a FACEBOOK ACCOUNT (www.facebook.com), come on over and look me up!! you can find me with this email address OR under my FULL NAME...i would love to connect with everyone!!

well, that is it...the FIRST LLLOOOONNNNGGGG email from me for the new year! you know you missed my letters!! ;) i have missed it too! it has been too long since i connected with everyone!! i will TRY to keep them coming!! i will try to post some pics of the kids on my blog next week and also, if you find me on FB, you can see some there too!! (hint hint!)

ok, FROM OUR FAMILY TO YOURS, HAPPY THANKSGIVING, MERRY CHRISTMAS & HAPPY NEW YEARS and all the other HOLIDAYS that go in between!!! we know we are soooo BLESSED to have each adn everyone of you out there!!! WE LOVE YA!!! MANY BLESSING to you and your families for the coming year!!!!!!

TAKE CARE AND GOD BLESS!!!

LOVE,
JAMES, MARIA, ALEX, MATTHEW, & JOSHUA

HAD A DAY DATE...

2009-12-18T22:09:00.000-06:00

yep, grandma watched the boys for us while james and i had a "DAY DATE" and we finished up our 'STUFF' for everyone!! yayayayayaya!!! it was nice to just get away for a couple of hours and do what we had to do....it was funny cause we stopped off at SUBWAY and i jumped off and james stayed in the car....with the kids...that were NOT IN OUR CAR!!! heheheheh...we were soooooo use to one of us jumping out and the other staying with the kids that it was just INGRAINED in us to do it!! as i was ordering, here come james out of the car and we BOTH laughed cause we were sooo use to it!!

anyway, just a GREAT friday for us!! it is soooo close!!

Alex made his RECONCILIATION!

2009-12-01T22:03:00.000-06:00

SOOOO proud of my little guy! he made his 1st Reconciliation!! :) his first confession to a priest! that is sooooo EXCITING because he is one step closer to making his 1ST COMMUNION!!! awwww...we are so proud of him...i was SURE he would freeze when he had to actually talk to the priest but nope, he went to him, said his ACT OF CONTRITION and then all his sins etc...aww....and james and i actually went to confession too....we thought we would have to take a break from it since it had been about....10 years + since we had been!!! soooo bad! :( BUT it wasn't sooo bad...james had told me that i might have to come back and pick him up since it would take soooo long!! hahaha...

anyway, it hwas really nice to have done that as a family....

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!

2009-11-29T14:33:00.002-06:00

WOW!! hard to believe that thanksgiving has come and gone and it is on to CHRISTMAS! time just seems to fly by! i look at my boys and just MARVEL that alex is now 7, matthew is now 5 and the BABY is now 2!!!! wow!

this year we had a great thanksgiving...we went to the in laws and then spent some time with the kids and their family! it has been a NICE relaxing time!!! now alex and daddy are on the boat for a little fisihng while i stay at home with the little ones!! NICE!

well, FACEBOOKING has taken over all my time with blogging...i am sad that i have not been keeping up with my blog!! :( i love having this record of my life...well, i guess AGAIN, i need to start working on it!!! AGAIN!! i think i have said this at least 3 times, right>!>! well, if you want to follow me on FACEBOOK just look me up by queengonzo at yahoo dot com....i would love to follow YOU there too!!!

ok, gotta run finish my cleaning and stuff....HAPPY THANKSGIVING YA'LL!!!

well...is anyone ELSE freaked out yet...

2009-10-06T22:31:00.003-05:00

with all this FLU?!?!?! my dh and and i were talking about this that years previous, you MIGHT have heard ONE family that got the flu....NOW....it is EVERYWHERE! SO SCARY! WE are soooo worried about our family catching it...we have heard soooo many of our families that have all cought it and we just sit here and wait?! it's scary...

anyway, we are all doing GREAT, THANK YOU JESUS! it has been a good week, just hangin out and working on our family...alex is doing AMAZING in 2nd grade...matthew is doing AMAZING in kinder with his teacher....joshua is doing AMAZING being a 2 year old!! :)

today, i had a couple of friends and we went to THE MOVIES to see....FAME!! my all time FAVORITE movie (ok, the original was) so i was eager to see this one....i actually had the soundtrack of the ORIGINAL movie on a RECORD and i have the VHS tape of the movie!! :) LOVE IT!

today...

2009-09-23T09:34:00.002-05:00

would have been my moms 67th BIRTHDAY!! :( she is soooo missed...she left us almost 6 years ago and she never met MATTHEW and JOSHUA....i know she would have been soooo in love with them...with ALEX, her FIRST grandchild, she SPOILED him and loved him soooo much i can only IMAGINE what she would have thought of her other 2 grandchildren!! James and i always think of her and remember her baking, cooking, going with us camping and on our trips....she LOVED to cook and we use to have SUNDAY BRUNCH at her house with all of her brothers and sisters...it was such a time of laughter and being silly with family...that is missed...i feel that when my mom passed away, a part of HER family (brothers and sisters) was missing too....we don't get together anymore as a family for brunch.....that is missed by ME and my family...i LOVED those times of being together with my family....my grandmother lived with my mom and then we would have all of her bro and sis and their families, make homemade tortillas, carne guisada, menudo, beans and any type of taco filling you could think of....all HOMEMADE!!! fun fun fun....since she passed, we don't do that anymore...sooooo sad....

but just wanted to say.....MOM, HAPPY BIRTHDAY!! MY BOYS STILL LET THEIR BALLOONS GO TO HEAVEN SO THAT YOU CAN HAVE THEM TOO!! WE LOVE YOU AND MISS YOU VERY MUCH!!!!!

I'M BACK!!! :)

2009-09-22T21:05:00.002-05:00

hola there.....it has been soooo long since i have blog...i am sad that i have let it go....i have been CONSUMED (VERY ADDICTED) to FACEBOOK and i seem to post EVERYTHING there....i need to reconnect with my blog cause this is my RECORD of our life....sooo, i am BACK and i am going to make a promise to myself that THIS is where i need to post what is going on in my life FIRST!!! (BUT if you want to follow me on FACEBOOK, look me up!!:)

well, since i am back, i need to update on myself....i have had a fun filled last couple of months of FINALLY getting myself checked out....i have ALWAYS had a lot of problems in my life such as GASTRO, FIBRO, etc....so, i finally got myself an appt with a GASTRO, a RHEUMOTOLOGIST, and my dr and got things rolling...i have had MRI'S, ENDOSCOPY/COLONOSCOPY, UPPER GI's...i am now on 3 medications (2 for pain, 1 for gastro) and it is pretty bad...but i am FINALLY getting myself taken care of!!!

well, MATTHEW started school last week and he is doing AMAZING!!!!! YESTERDAY, he READ for the FIRST TIME!!! nad what do i mean about that? well, the teacher showed ome on monday a sheet of paper with 3 words on it (MATTHEW, MOMMY, DADDY) AND she would flip the card over and he would then SAY dada, when MOMMY came up he would point to MEEEEEE and when MATTHEW would come up, he would point to himself!!! is that not MAAZING?!?!?!?!?!??!?!?!?! what a MIRACLE!!!

JAMES ALEX II is now 7 YEARS OLD!!

2009-08-10T22:36:00.000-05:00

wow, where have the years gone too?? it is so hard to believe that my baby boy is now 7 years old and is in the 2nd grade! i am just so proud of this little boy and to remember when he was a little baby...my first little guy....

he was the one that we had waited for for SOOOOO long! over 5 years of trying before this littel miracle entered our life...and what a miracle he IS!! when i think of how what a 'RIPLEY'S BELIEVE IT OR NOT' moment....when i see how much he has GROWN in the recent years and how AMAZING he is...my heart fills with JOY! sometimes, i feel like i am too hard on him because he is the oldest and i have to remind myself that he is still a little boy even though he might ACT like he is a TEENAGER!! he is so smart that i sometimes forget....but oooohhhhh how i love that little boy....i am just in awe of him.....

well, to you baby boy, MOMMY AND DADDY AND YOUR 2 BABY BROTHERS LOVE YOU LIKE NO OTHER!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, ALEX! WE LOVE YOU!!!!!

We are on vacation!!!!!

2009-07-14T08:42:00.002-05:00

Hey there. Just wanted to say that we are officially on vacation!!!! One wonderful week together
rving at corpus Christi....we are at theNAS naval base rv park....it is beautiful here and so open
and spaceous!! we love it! We will be here for one whole week! Can you believe it $90 for the whole week?

I will post later when I can ....

GIVE KIDS THE WORLD NEWSLETTER!! :)

2009-07-11T17:06:00.002-05:00

HEY THERE!!! just wanted to share withever one the GIVE KIDS THE WORLD newsletter!!

here is the link to that site:

http://www.gktw.org/newsletter/mm_summer_2009.html

ENJOY!!! :)

ME......

2009-07-09T15:25:00.002-05:00

hello and WOW...it has been a LONE time since i have been around here!! sorry...life has been so busy with getting a new pool and just being busy in everyday stuff!!

well, this post is about ME...such a wierd way of doing it but i don't think i have many 'ME' post here!!! :) and this is my blog....hmmm??!! but as of today, i FINALLY after several years, been able to get some important APPOINTMENTS done!! for ME!!

sooo, i had 3 APPOINTMENTS that where for me and my issues...

sooo, last week, i had an appt for my ARM...i think i have talked about this right arm before but i FINALLY, 3rd times the charm, had a DOCTOR that would HELP ME with my ARM!! you see, my forearm hurst SOOOOOOOO BAD and can bring me to my KNEES when someone hits it or even taps it...i always say that if you are EVER mad at me and want to get at me, just hit me on my ARM!!! i start to CRY I( and you KNOW i am not a crier) when it is hit...it is osoooooo intense! anyway, i have gone 3times before on this issue in the last 2 years and the first time, they told me it was CARPAL TUNNEL SYNDROME, gave me a BRACE and sent me on my way....NO RELIEF...so i went back and this time , they told me it was TENNIS ELBOW and gave me a DIFFERENT brace and vitamin D and excersises....again, with NO RELIEF...so, this time, i went in AGAIN, armed with I AM GOING TO GET TO THE BOTTOM OF THIS additude and i had an AMAZING dr that actually listen to me and REALLY checked me out....she doesn't know what is wrong but now the pain has radiated to my SHOULDER and it is getting REALLY REALLY BAD....so, i am getting an MRI of my shoulder and arm, she is going to see what is wrong and MIGHT send me over to NEUROLOGY for my arm if there is nothing showing on the MRI and for my shoulder, she thinks maybe a TEAR and maybe i might need a steroid shot?!..but SOMETHING IS FINALLY BEING DONE!!! soooooooo happy!!! I pray nothing is wrong but still, at least they are looking at it!!

sooo, then yesterday, i had an appt with a DIFFERENT dr (but still in my team) on my FIBRO issue....i also did lab work for a cholesterol screening and such (which was AMAZING!! :) my bad colesterol(ldl) was 69, my good cholesterol(HDL) was 92 and the only thing HIGH was my triglycerides at 195...but she said because my good cholesterol was so AMAZING she said it canceled out any of the BAD!! :) soooo, YAY for me! anyway, onto the FIBROMYALGIA appt...well, we talkeda bout it and such and i told her that since i was diagnosed back on july 2003, i have not been followed by a REUMETOLOGIST since then!!! yup! so, she ordered some blood work and she did the PRESSURE POINTS on me at i had 16 out of 18 points that HURT!! YIKES!! it was horrible...i am ALWAYS in soooo much pain but i have just learned to deal with it...i couldn't really do anything for myself because i was either trying to get pg, pg, nursing so i didn't like to take meds! she got onto me and told me that i needed to take care of ME!! so she prescribed me FLEXIRIL (which i took last night and it PERECT cause i didn't feel tired the next day) and some 800MG IBUPROFIN...she said she would try to get me in to a REUMOTOLOGIST appt after i get my blood work ( i did some more blodd work today)...

and then TODAY, i had my appt for GASTRO/SLEEP...well, it was the same doctor as yesterday and we started to talk....i told her my previous history, about beind diag since i was 15 and having my NISSEN FUNDO in 1999 and that since i had that, i had NOT been back to a gastro since THEN!! i started to think about it and thought i need to get back to see a gastro....also, the last 2 years, i started to get HEARTBURN again, tummy issues and diahrea...also, my chest pains and such...so i KNEW ti was coming BACK!! the nissen is suppose to hold for 15 years but since i had had 3 kids since it happened, i figured that maybe the pressure of having the kids might have added some years to me! THEN i started to worry because i USE to have polyps (in the colon) before and i had not been checked in 10 years and then the reason that i had the NISSEN is because i had the begining of BARRETS ESOPHAGEAL SYNDROM which is basically ESOPHOGEAL CANCER...and i had not had a check up in over 10 years...yeah, that is BAD!!! :( anyway, i don't know WHY i started to think of that but i did...so, i am going to get a consult to GASTRO and while i was at the office and she was doing a check up on me, she noticed something...she was like, WHAT IS THAT? and i was like, huh? she said that she had not noticed that yesterday and when she pointed it out, i told her that i had had that for a while and i always that thought it had to do with my FIRBRO and being stressed...well, she said, i don't think so...and now i have to have an ULTRASOUND on my neck/shoulder because she said that there is a MASS there, which i saw and now i am SLIGHTLY freaked out about....she said that it is not normal but she didn't feel any lumps more of a squishy MASS on my shoulder...i just pray it comes out ok!

soooo, there it is...a post about ME!! :) and most of it is good becuase i am finally taking CARE of ME!! that had been on the back burner for so long...but now, it is about ME and taking care of ME!! :) hey, i like that word...MEMEMEMEMEMEMEMEME!! LOL

anyway, so now i am on NEXIUM, FLEXIRIL, IBUPROFIN and i am getting an MRI and ULTRASOUND and i am getting consults to GASTRO for sure, possibliy to REUMOTOLOGY and NEUROLOGY...i have had 2 panels of BLOOD WORK done...wow, all in a weeks time! not too shabby! i just pray that all the results are just as great as the cholesterol screening!! :)

the POOL IS UP!! :)

2009-06-28T19:17:00.002-05:00

YES, after much talk back and forth, we finally did it....we bought an ABOVE GROUND POOL!! :) soooo, excited and happy! our boys LOVE to get in the water so this is a WELCOME addition to our family...it is nothing fancy but it is PERFECT! it is a 15' x 48" pool and it is sooooo awesome! the boys are all so excited about getting in! they can't WAIT for it to fill up!! neither can WE!!

ANYWAY, I will have to upload some pictures of it...we decided to put the pool near the privacy fence...it is a secluded spot with nobody's windows looking onto it!! i LOVE THAT SPOT! so excited it fit just right!

anyway...more pictures coming SOON!

so i am reading this book and WOW...

2009-06-20T07:10:00.002-05:00

i am a BIG BIG BIG romance reading kinda gal..i read about 2-3 books a week on a good week...just my way of 'getting away'...anyway, i am reading this book by LORI WICK "bamboo & lace" is the name and i hadn't really realized that it is Christian based and it is pretty cool and giving me INSIGHT!! :) gotta love that...well, there have been a couple of passages that have really hit home and made me THINK...and i just started the book but i just had to blog about it!! sooo...

just a quick thing"IS God in charge here or not? when did He call and tell you to take over? be yourself with these people! Say things you're thinking and stop fearing their rejection." and of course that is soooo me! i am SOMETIMES struck mute because i want to say something but i FEAR being thought of wrong or saying the wrong thing...i need to trust more in GOD and just know that he will put the words i need in my mind!!!

and then this: "I use to get angry with Evan and Peter when they ddidn't do things my way. Then I understood that all anger is directed at God. If He's in control-and of course He is-then my growing angry at any situation menas that i disagree with His rule and authority" and WOW...well, i tend to get angry with alex a BUNCH when we are doing school work and he is just soooooooo lax and not really doing his best and just taking his time...why? he is doing his work....but it FUSTRATES ME because i know, that if he just worked a bit FASTER, he could finish and be able to play and such...i don't need to do that!!!

anyway, just something i am reading and is making me think things thru!!! so far so good on the book too!! :) pretty cute!

so james is OFF!!

2009-06-06T13:28:00.003-05:00

yep, today is the start of 2 weeks without our beautiful DH....we dropped him off early this am before 6am and don't expect him back for about 14 days....awww....and as soon as he was gone, i was OFF CLEANING!! what is WITH THAT? whenever james leaves, i CLEAN....my house is NEVER as clean as it is when he is gone...i don't know if that is good or not....

anyway, i have been REALLY LAZY in updating my blog but starting today, i am going to up load all the pictures from the party and blog about what an AMAZING birthday party we had for MATTHEW....i just need to get a move on it!!

GETTING BAPTISED!! :)

2009-05-31T22:20:00.000-05:00

so today, we BAPTISED TRISTAN (our new GOD son!), JOSHUA & finished getting MATTHEW baptised....he WAS already baptised in the operating room on his day of birth but he had to be introduced to the community and annointed with the oils! it was GREAT!!!

our son JOSHUA Godparents and our family have a GREAT bond....trisha (my cousin) actually introduced james and i!! and she met HER hubby that day of the party where i met james too!! :) we were PADRINOS in thier wedding and they were our PADRINOS in our wedding....we baptised their son Tristan!! :) it was a really nice ceremony...the decon said that that was the FIRST time he had ever baptised someone that had had an EMERGENCY baptism!! he said it was REALLy specail and rare for that to happen...he said that most babies don't make it....such a MIRACLE our little guy is!

so, here are some pictures of that beautiful day!

soooo, we had a BIRTHDAY PARTY....

2009-05-30T21:58:00.000-05:00

for matthew!! :) i know sooooo last minute but it just couldn't be helped! we decided about 2 weeks in or less that.....but it went SOOOO WELL! we had NEVER had so little time to put it all together...we also had a BAPTISM on SUNDAY for both JOSHUA, TRISTAN (i am a GOD MOTHER NOW!!!) and MATTHEW!!! soooo we were REALLY BUSY!

anyway, we had a GREAT turn out and it was SOOOO NICE to see so many of our friends and family there!! we had about 60 people there...just PERFECT! sooo, i just wanted to share with you some pictures of this day!!

YUMMY!! CAKE!

ALEX HITTING THE PINATA! (THING ONE)

JOSHUA GETTING IN THE ACTION! (THING THREE)

JUST SOME ACTION!! (THING TWO)

soooo happy it turned out WONDERFUL! the weather was just BEAUTIFUL and the wind was blowing just soo....just enough to keep it cool and NO MOSQUITOS!! :)

went out to dinner for MATTHEW'S BIRTHDAY!

2009-05-21T22:49:00.001-05:00

just had to share some pictures with ya! if you can't tell, i FINALLY got my program working to download my pics from my camera (thanks BIL!)...sooo, we went and took matthew out to eat at GOLDEN CORRAL because there is PLENTY of yummy stuff for him to eat there and he LOVES to eat there!! my MIL and FIL and our family went ther and it was just sooo nice to watch him eat and such....towards the end of the dinner, we had the wait staff come and SING for him HAPPY BIRTHDAY and it got me going...i did not THINK that would happen but there i was, CRYING...and i mean REALLY crying! i don't know...it was just so AMAZING to watch him be sooo happy and soo excited as we all sang to him...he was just sooo HAPPY...again, he is FIVE YEARS OLD!!! i remember it well when they didn't expect him to live past his first DAY!!! THANK YOU GOD FOR EVERY SECOND OF MY MATTHEW'S LIFE!!!! it was so neat because a fellow diner gave him $5 and he got soooo excited!!

sooo, here are some pictures of his DAY!!

MY SON.....THANK YOU GOD!

2009-05-21T08:00:00.002-05:00

i just had post again.....this morning, when i went in cause i saw that matthew was stirring....i went in and my BEAUTIFUL, AMAZING, SMART, AND MIRACLE OF A BOY was saying something....GUESS WHAT HE WAS SAYING?!?!?!? my beautiful boy was saying..."FIVE, FIVE, FIVE..." OVER AND OVER AND OVER and he had his hand up SHOWING ME HE WAS FIVE!!!!!! he was facing the wall and he was looking at his hand and just saying that with a BIG SMILE over and over again!! :) he turned around to me and held up his hand and kept saying 'FIVE....FIVE!!" just soooooooo amazing! he is so HAPPY that today is his birthday....yesterday, when we told him it was his birthday today he started to JUMP up and down and get sooo happy!!

THANK YOU GOD FOR SUCH A MIRACLE BOY!!! WE ARE SOOOOOOOOOOO BLESSED!!!

HAPPY 5TH BIRTHDAY, MATTHEW ISAIAH!!!

2009-05-21T00:54:00.000-05:00

ooooooohhhhhhh mmmmmyyyyyy GOOODDDNNNEEESS!!! our baby boy is FIVE YEARS OLD!!! wow, THANK YOU GOD for EVERY second of his beautiful life!! we have been so blessed to have him in our life....no words can describe the LOVE we feel for this special little boy!! FIVE LONG YEARS AGO, the drs told us when he was about an HOUR old that "we don't think he will make the transport (to the other hospital or surgery)" and they also told us >"i am sorry but your son will not make it thru the night"......BUT BUT BUT....they also told us, "WE MIGHT HAVE A MIRACLE ON OUR HANDS" and one of the MOST important statment made to us was "THERE IS SOMEONE MUCH HIGHER THAN ME (the cardiothorasic surgeon) AND THE DRS WORKING HERE"...an ACKNOWLEDGEMENT that OUR GOD was at WORK on this little MIRACLE BABY BOY!! OUR PRAYERS were being ANSWERED!!! to see him now, MOST don't know the STRUGGLES this little boy has been thru....until you realize that he does not talk, and has MANY MANY scars from surgeries and that he does not walk or eat.....you don't SEE any of that because he BEAUTIFUL BLINDING SMILE and GEORGEOUS HUGE EYES with those CRAZY eyelashes captivate you!! he has never met a stranger (unless he is a DOCTOR/NURSE) that he didn't LOVE!!! he is such a happy boy all the time!! ALL THE TIME!!! we are so amazed that he is OURS!!!

FIVE YEARS OLD....FIVE BEAUTIFUL AMAZING YEARS with him!!! he is the most amazing CHILD ever!! i really mean it! he is ALWAYS smiling and wanting to sit in your lap, give you hugs and kisses and wanting to READ!! he LOVES books!!! he LOVES flipping thru the pages of a magazing to look at stuf...he loves his MOVIES and he LOVES to talk on his COMMUNICATOR! he loves to be where ever we are...he enjoys sitting in his feeding chair and being at the table with us...he loves to chew on his food and loves to eat whatever we are eating...he is so AWARE of EVERYTHING now...just shows how much more he has grown...he is always just so happy....he loves his DADDY and LOVES to be with him!! he LOVES his brothers....his BIG BROTHER ALEX is his idol! he loves to see what he is doing and try to do it too! his BABY BROTHER JOSHUA...he LOVES to torment him! he wants EVERYTHING he has...it is so AWESOME to see him develope MENTALLY because that means he understands EVERYTHING!!

SOOOOOO, MATTHEW ISAIAH....WE ARE SO PROUD TO BE YOUR AMILY...WE ARE SO BLESSED TO HAVE YOU IN OUR LIVES!!! THANK YOU GOD FOR OUR LITTLE MIRACLE!! YOU HAVE TOUCHED EVERYONE THAT KNOWS YOU WITH YOUR STORY!!!

WE LOVE YOU MATTHEW ISAIAH!!!!!!

if you want to read his MIRACLE STORY...click HERE..

you can also see his 4 year MONTAGE HERE...

i will post his NEW montage SOON!!!

JOSHUA has a EEG today....

2009-05-20T07:16:00.003-05:00

well, today, joshua has an EEG today....and to make that just a BIT worst...it is SLEEP DEPRIVED ONE!! YIKES! so last night, i held him back from sleep for 2 hours PAST his sleep time and then woke him up 2 hours BEFORE he normally woke up!!! and let me tell you, he did NOT want to wake up!!!! he was soooo cute, he was rolling around the bed moaning because i had the lights on and trying to open his eyes! CUTE! he even laid with his head over the side of the bed....just pitifully looking at me!

ok, big question i have been asked is WHY are you doing this?! well, for a while now, some nights when he falls asleep, he starts to TWITCH/spasm pretty hard....and it goes on for about 5 mins or so....sometimes it is so hard that i get STARTLED thinking he is going to fall....he also has had tons of night where he WAKES UP screaming for no reason and sometimes he is can't be consoled....and then the reason is that with MATTHEW having SLEEP SEIZURES, it is just a precaution for us and something to EASE my piece of mind!! i know in my heart that all is well....

anyway, he also got bloodwork done on monday and he was AMAZING!! they had to take out 4 vials of BLOOD!!! and thru it all he was just amazing!!

soooo, i will post when i get the results....any thoughts or prayers would be appreciated.....

MAKE A WISH FOUNDATION......(MAW)

2009-05-16T10:42:00.000-05:00

THANK YOU sooooo much!! this organization was the one that accepted Matthew as a WISH KID....we were soooooo thrilled!!!

soooo, here is my post on this WONDERFUL ORGANIZATION!!! i previously posted about GIVE KIDS THE WORLD VILLAGE and now this is about the WONDERFUL ORGANIZATION that BROUGHT us TO GKTW!!! MAKE A WISH is an amazing organization that grants WISHES to children with life threatening and terminally ill children.....unfortunatly my child falls into this category....but because he did, my beautiful amazing SON was BLESSED with a wish to DISNEY WORLD FLORIDA!!!! a once in a lifetime WISH!! and all i can say is BECAUSE of this WONDERFUL ORGINZATION it happened!!

first let me tell you that i will work HARD to try to bring awarness to this foundation....it is because of THEM that i met so many OTHER families there at GKTW that had been granted wishes....other SPECIAL kiddos and their families that have been thru what my son has gone thru or WORST!! just amazing...they grant these kids their WISH....something that is so special to them and then make them feel like they are the most SPECIAL KIDS OUT THERE!! this foundation goes out of it's way to make these kids know that they are LOVED and that they are HONORED to be with these kiddos and their family....they don't just hand you the wish and are gone...no, they make you feel like they are BLESSED to be in your childs presence!!! and it is all about the child!! this SPECIAL child that has been THRU SOOOO MUCH in their little lives.....they are the REASON that they are here!!! what an AMAZING organziation!!

well, let me let you in on some ways that you might be able to HELP the MAKE A WISH FOUNDATION...

you can DONATE directly TO our local MAKE A WISH FOUNDATION thru this LINK they have several WAYS you can make a donation! you can even donate your TIME to help them by VOLUNTEERING!! some day, GOD WILLING, i would love to be a volunteer there!
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you can buy something from their STORE!!! it is called the MAKE A WISH MARKETPLACE!! you can purchase some items knowing that it goes towards the WISHES of these SPECIAL KIDS!!

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there is an ONGOING fundraising going on for MAW....if you GO to any

MAGGIANO'S LITTLE ITALY
April 30–May 27, 2009

Maggiano’s Little Italy locations across the country will encourage their guests to Eat-A-Dish for Make-A-Wish to help raise funds for the Make-A-Wish Foundation®.

The promotion includes donations through the purchase of feature menu items, gift card sales and the purchase of wish stars.

Over the past five years, Maggiano’s has raised more than $700,000 through this promotion! Please visit your nearest Maggiano’s to help support your local Make-A-Wish chapter

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THEN there is the BETTY CROCKER SIRRING UP WISHES and you can go vote EVERY DAY THRU THE MONTH OF MAY for a certain MAKE A WISH location nearest you and they are granting 12 WISHES IN 12 WEEKS!! to sign up it is FREE and you get some GREAT BENEFITS such as FREE news letters and recepices!! GREAT stuff! i am going to VOTE every WEEK for our LOCAL MAW!! help them make theses SPECIAL KIDDOS WISHES COME TRUE!!
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i am going to also try and update and let everyone know when there is a new FUNDRAISNING EFFORT by MAKE A WISH!!!

take care and THANK YOU MAKE A WISH for my son's WISH YOU GRANTED!!! :)

GOD BLESS...

Matthew has CEREBRAL PALSEY....(CP)

2009-05-11T16:44:00.000-05:00

ok....so i KNOW this....but i FORGET THIS!!! today, i had an ARDS meeting at his school for his homebound and to talk to everyone about our future goals and what he has done this school year....it was pretty cool to hear how much he has PROGRESSED!! i love it! soooo, i was talking to one of the therapist and we were talking about what we wanted him to do....and there is another family that i am REALLY close to and what STARTLED me was that she said, "you can't compare matthew to ANYONE ELSE!! he has CP and that makes LOTS of things HARD FOR HIM!!" and that was like a WOW moment....he has been diagnosed since he was a year old....and REALLY, i just was SHOCKED when she REMINDED ME that he HAS CP!!! i told her, that when she said that, it just SHOCKED ME...she told me that it was because we are such wonderful parents that we treat him JUST like the other two so we don't SEE his DISABLITLY!!! and that is it EXACTLY....i FORGET that he has CP...i really do!! with that other little boy who is also special needs, he just started to walk (they are a month apart) and i was soooo excited for HIM....and then i thought to myself...ok matthew, LET'S GO!! YOU CAN DO IT!!....FORGETTING that it is HARDER for him to do THAT and many OTHER THINGS....i don't SEE him with CP.....

anyway, such a SHOCKER but a WAKE UP CALL that he DOES need a lot of work and he is NOT LIKE OTHER KIDDOS!!! i love my son soooooooo much that i dont' SEE his disablities!! such a special little boy....

HAPPY MOTHERS DAY!!

2009-05-10T21:34:00.002-05:00

JUST coming on really quick to wish ALL THE MOMMIES OUT THERE A VERY HAPPY MOTHERS DAY!!!!

my family is my JOY and i always feel sooooo BLESSED to have them in my life!!! i know MANY ladies out there that have wanted children sooooo badley but for whatever reason, they were never able to have children..... we've been blessed 3 times in our life and 2 angel babies....THANK YOU GOD!!

my beautiful boys gave me a WONDERFUL WEEKEND....we did a WHOLE bunch of stuff together as a family...and my boys bought me some BOOKS!!! and then on saturday, after a day of finishing our GARDEN that i have wanted to do for a long time (daddy and the boys did that for me), james and i were able to go take in a MOVIE for the first time in YEARS by ourselves!!! we watched 'X-MEN...WOLVERINE" which i HIGHLY recommend if you like that series!! anyway, it was really nice to just watch and adult movie...but we missed our boys!! our oldest neice watched the boys for us....then on mothers day, gave me a dozen roses and some of my FAVORITE chocolate!! after a great day at church, we had breakfast at our home (barbaco and tamales YUMMY!!) we went to my in laws for a BBQ and just had a great time together!! it is so awesome to see the kids with their grandparents....the love is MUTUAL!!

well, all my prayers to all the mommies out there in the world....BE STRONG, SHOW LOVE, AND KNOW THAT YOUR ARE BLESSED!!!

Matthew is going to get NEW WHEELS!!! :)

2009-05-07T22:51:00.004-05:00

hello there!!! we are just sooooo excited that MATTHEW will be getting his NEW SET OF WHEELS in a couple of weeks!!! remember, at disney world, he BROKE his stroller/wheelchair and now it is time to move on to a 'REAL' wheelchair....we are going to be getting the

KIDS ROCK WHEELCHAIR by KIDSUP!!! here is a PICTURE of what he is getting EXACTLY!!

except we are going with the GREEN instead of the orange.....we are soooo excited because it is going to fit his needs exactly! why? because it actually ROCKS and is MEANT for him to extend himself like he does when he gets excited!!! that is AMAZING!! it is not a STATIC CHAIR....it moves with him if he gets excited and jumps around, we can still push him OR he can self propel himself!! :) i LOVE IT!! AND we can tilt him when he needs to sleep or relax!! soooo AWESOME!! it has been almost 4 years since he had a chair....the other one was falling APART on us!!

here is a VIDEO on what this wheelchair DOES!! VERY INTERESTING!!

i will let ya'll know when it comes in!! WOOOOOOOOOOO HOOOOOOOOOO!!!

MATTHEW out of hospital....the SCARE of my life...

2009-05-01T16:48:00.003-05:00

hola everyone! i hope everyone is doing great....well, after 14 months of no seizures and 18 months without those BIG seizures, matthew had another sz on THURSDAY out of the blue.......and BLUE is the key word here...here is what happened...

well, matthew was taking a nap and the nurse had been watching....about 30 mins in, i checked on him to ask how his heartrate was....it had recently been in the 50's and i was just concerned with what it would be...she said it was 89 and that he had woken up...i told her just to let him chill out in his crib for a bit to see if he would go back to sleep....well, i went back in about 15 mins to check on him and he was still awake so i just walked in and said "let's go ahead and take him out, he is not going to back to sleep" so i raised his bed and i was just talking to him and he was just laying there actually looking steadily at the nurse....i tried to pull his gaze away and he would but then come right back....so i asked her if he had been staring when he woke up or if he had had a SZ...she said that no, he had been acting fine and had been smiling and such before i walked in to get him....i just felt LIKE SOMETHING was not RIGHT!!! it was really bugging me but i just KNEW that something didn't feel right....so i kept bugging him and trying to get him to interact with us...he WAS but just not very well...kinda lethargic like...sooo, i just kept on him...i turned on his DVD player and put on his FAVORITE show which he USUALLY goes crazy for and just gave it a quick stare and that was it....i told the nurse SOMETHING was up...i took his temperature, checked his shirt to make sure he had had a sz before (he drools ALOT when he does) AND just overall checked his limbs....we changed his G-TUBE and i was just messing with him and giving lots of love....i was concernec enough that i didn't want to leave him like i usually do to go finish up alex's homeschool....so then i said, 'i am going to cut your nails" something he HATES to do....so i get my clippers and he is just looking at me...then i start to clip and nothing...as i got to his second nail, i SAW HIM GET BLUE AROUND THE MOUTH AND FOREHEAD and i told the nurse, ' did you see that? pull on his pulse ox QUICK" AND she didn't know what was happening and then he did it again and i told her "get me the oxygen NOW" he is not breathing and he is BLUE!!!!" and as she did it, i HONESTLY with ALL MY HEART thought that he was having a HEART ATTACK...he had NEVER had this happen to him, turning blue like that i didn't know WHAT WAS GOING ON!! i had the HORRIBLE THOUGHT that i was going to have to do CPR on him because i thought he was DYING!!!! it was probably one of the SCARIEST time in my life....i had thoughts about THANK GOD WE DID MAKE -A-WISH....anyway, i started to blow on matthew trying to get him to breath and he was just LIFELESS and BLUE so, i got him down and kept trying to stimulate him while HURRYING the NURSE to QUICKLY get the oxygen...i called to my WONDERFUL SON, alex and told him to get me the phone because i had to call 911....he was sooo awesome!! i called 911 and i told him i did NOT know what was going on only that my son had stopped breathing and was blue and because YES had sz disorder but this was NOTHING like i had ever experienced.....he dropped his sats to 50...it was soooooo scary!!! EMS and FIRE got there within 5 mins and i administered his DIASTAT because he had finally started to have a sz the "normal' way...he was just lifeless....i told the parametics that they needed to bag him because i was sure his CO2 levels were high cause he was not effectivly breathing even though his O2 sats were 100%....they bearly heard any breath sounds....so off we went to ambulance and they started to bag him and we went CODE 3 to the hospital...the ended up INTUBATING him and they gave him 4 doses of ADIVAN (anti convulant) cause he was still szing and they did a cat scan and blood work....we ended up in PICU 7....later that evening, he SELF EXTUBATED himself :) everyone remembers when he did it both times as a BABY!!! :)

well, THANK YOU GOD, he is doing well....we came home today after less than 24 hours there....we increased one of his sz meds and as of RIGHT NOW he has been awake for 22 HOURS because he can't sleep!! i found out it is a side effect of all the MEDS he had and it will wear off soon...he is trying soooo hard to sleep but he just can't..he keeps crying and being upset...

well, THANK YOU ALL for the thoughts and prayers....we are now AGAIN on HIGH ALERT... we got REAL COMFY with him not having ANYTHING in over a year....i am very happy it didn't happen in FLORIDA and of course, matthew had to pick the PERFECT time when no one should be NEAR the hospital with all this FLU EPI!!

ANYWAY, please just pray that he SLEEPS COMFY tonight and these sz go away AGAIN!!

GOD BLESS....

WE ARE HOME!!!!!!!!!

2009-04-25T17:14:00.003-05:00

WOWOWOWOWOWOWOWOWOWOWOWOWOWOW......

it goes on and on...because no WORDS in the human LANGUAGE can express how AMAZING this last week has been....there is NOTHING i can say that will give you a clear PICTURE of what a BLESSING it has been and what it was like....i can only give you a GLIMMER of what an amazing thing it was....so when i tell what happen, in your own words, put in words like: AMAZING, BLESSING, DAZZLING, ROYALTY, AWESOME, OUT OF THIS WORLD, etc....because i am doing this trip an IN JUSTICE by what i am about to write....that is absolutely how AMAZING it was.....we have been BLESSED and dreams DO COME TRUE!!!!!

SOOOO, for all those that don't like to read about someone elses trip, the VERY short of it was that it was AMAZING and we had such a BLAST ON OUR TRIP!!!

IF you want to read all about it...be warned i am going to go into DETAIL because this is also for my family to have a link to what an amazing time we had so we can NEVER forget it....even though i know we wouldn't!!! sooo, be ready for some heavy reading and some MAJOR picture works...i will probably make a montage of our time there (we took OVER 700 pictures!!)

sooooo, get ready read and look at some pictures!! it will take me a bit to write it all down but i WILL DO IT!!! i am actually going to DATE THEM in order of the days we left here starting with APRIL 18 and ending with APRIL 24TH...oh, what a RIDE!!

for those looking for info on GIVE KIDS THE WORLD or GKTW, i am going to be going into detail so if you don't want to know about the SURPRISES or the exact details, be warned that i will reveal them here in this BLOG!!! sooo....

TAKE CARE AND GOD BLESS!!!

DAY 7....GOING HOME...SO SAD....

2009-04-24T07:34:00.010-05:00

well, today is the day....we leave PARADISE for our own personal paradise....HOME!! alex keeps verbalizing what we are all thinking....I DON'T WANT TO LEAVE!! yeah, we are all sad to be leaving KNOWING that are 'ONCE IN A LIFETIME' is over!!! but oooohhhhh the joy, fun and BLESSINGS we had and recieved during our stay is what is amazing.....i can't believe that was us and how much fun we had. we lived EVERY SINGLE DAY to it's FULLEST and the kids just had a BLAST!!! they enjoyed it all!! and this AMAZING BLESSING that we recieved was all made possible thru the MAKE-A-WISH FOUNDATION!!! that post is coming up about them SOON!

sooo, we started our day by making packing all our bags into the van, making sure that we had everything out of the villa before we left....then we packed up the kids and headed out to check out...awwwww....very bittersweet because i sat in the seat that we sat at when we FIRST arrived....after donating the extra stuff we had, we recieved our package and HEADED OUT!!! we were rushing (as usual) because we had forgotten to gas up the night before so we passed where we were suppose to gas up and ended up going to the MCDONALDS and getting breakfast, then going back to gas up and then we were OFF....and we were RUNNING!! yes, we were suppose to be at the airport BY 1000....well, we didn't get there till 1030!!! :( sooo, we were rushing to get EVERYTHING out of the rental van and onto one of those dolly's and then WAIT for the person to come get the keys etc from the rental place.....AVIS by the way....and then we were off!!! did we know where!? of COURSE not! we felt like a couple of chickens without HEADS!!! sooooo, we head off to check in and we are hurrying, not YET running but pretty close....so we finally find the AIR TRANS office and OF COURSE we didn't pre-check in at GKTW....yeah, we are NOT season flyers!!!! soooo, we stand in line with the other 10+ families ahead of us and i am starting to PANIC just a bit...as the time moves CLOSER to 1100....our plane leaves at 1153!!!!! soooo, we FINALLY get all that, check in our bags and off we go towards GATE 18.....so our nurse told us was our gate...so we travel to gates 1-50 and as i am standing in front of security READY to start the process, THANK GOD, james decides to look at the ticket the nurse was looking at and found out that we were in SEAT 18 and acutally.....ready for this.............GATE 97!!!!!!!!!! CAN YOU SAY OOOOOHHHHHHHHHH SSSHHHHHH*******@@@@@@@@@@@!!!! AND it was not just a bit a ways, it was CLEAR ACROSS THE OTHER SIDE OF THE AIRPORT!!!!! so, NOW we were RUNNING!!!!! just imagine, 3 adults, 3 kiddos one in a wheelchair another in a stroller, 4 carryons, one camera bag, one feeding bag, a blankie, a stuffed animal alex one AND A CAR SEAT....RUNNING ACROSS THE TERMINALS TO GATES 51-100!!! if that tells you HOW big this place was, nothing else will!! soooo, we FINALLY get to the security check point and we are sweating, freaking out knowing that we have a little over 30 mins before the plane leaves.....we look like a comedy group trying to get shoes off, fold up strollers, get our carry ons off our backs and onto the belt try to get everything done in MINUTES when we KNOW that it takes A LOT of minutes....OMG, it was 1130 and they stopped james carry on because of matthews formula....so FINALLY we are OFF and RUNNING LIKE CRAZY for the gate and OF COURSE the gate is not the FIRST ONE...ooooohhhhh no, it is WAY OVER THERE....so we FINALLY get there at about.....you ready for this......1140!!!! they were waiting for us and you have to remember we have ALL this stuff with us we have to stow AND we have 3 kids, 2 strollers that we had to BREAK DOWN and then put everyone in the plane....ok, did i MENTION we were the LAST ONES ON THE PLANE?!?!?! yeah, we ALMOST missed it!!! as we came down the VERY narrow aisles, we are that family that all you see is the people DUCKING because backpacks, kids feet, etc are going THRU!!! as we all finally get sorted out, everything SHOVED where ever we could and everyone is sitting where they are suppose to be....there we sit, AIR DUCTS BLASTING, faces SWEATING, out of breath.... we are FINALLY on our way HOME!!!!!! and boy, AT THAT MOMENT IN TIME....we were READY to go home!!!!! after all that crazyness, THANK YOU GOD, we made our layover, ended up getting home on time....and the boys were excited to be home....ME TOO for that matthew....we had an AMAZING time and had SOOOO MUCH fun and we just felt sooooo BLESSED to have been BLESSED with such an AMAZING ONCE IN A LIFETIME VACATION!!!! :) THANK YOU GOD FOR GETTING US HOME SAFETLY and THANK YOU GOD for MATTHEW'S MAKE A WISH TRIP!!! :)

JOSHUA looking out the window to the CLOUDS!!

THANK YOU GOD, we made it HOME!! :)

this is ALLLLLL OUR LUGGAGE!!! YIKES!

DAY 6.....

2009-04-23T06:34:00.014-05:00

wow....we were starting to get sad that TOMORROW we were leaving back home!!! so sad....well, we started our day off by getting up, getting dressed and heading out to go eat some yummy breakfast at the GINGERBREAD HOUSE....we decided to ride the little train to get there and enjoyed a little more that day....we decided that we would take it LIGHT today because we knew that we had to pack and TODAY was CHRISTMAS AT GKTW!!!!! soooo, we could miss that!! so, after eating some breakfast and then playing at the merry-go-round and then go play in the CASTLE of WISHES...the boys enjoyed being there and just looking at everything in there....

we walked back to our villa and on the way we visited MATTHEW'S BOUNDLESS PLAYGROUND for some fun there....all the boys had so much fun going down the slides and climbing all the way up!! we had fun just swinging and watching the boys!!

sooo, today we went to ISLAND OF ADVENTURES to check out a couple of thrill rides and just to say we WENT there....we did discover a COOL place called SEUSS LANDING! and we got to ride a couple of their rides there, everything was so awesome there because it was all DR SEUSS themed park and it was so AWESOME!!! just like who-ville and some other famous books....very AWESOME!! the nurse and i decided we just HAD to get on ONE thrill ride and we chose.......THE DUELING DRAGON ROLLERCOASTER!! here is a VIDEO i found on YOUTUBE!! IT WAS AMAZING!!! i wish i could have done it MORE than once!! and we just walked RIGHT IN with no wait!!! :) soooooo awesome!!

well, we rushed thru the park because we wanted to be out of there BY 4:30 because the walk back to the car was CRAZY and did i mention that it was VERY HOT????? it reached to 94 degrees and we FELT IT AND THE HUMIDITY THRU OUR PORES!! yep, hot! so, we hustled out of there back in the car and OFF we were back to GKTW to eat some dinner, have a WONDERFUL CHRISTMAS DAY and the make the boys pillows and put matthews star...

sooo, we got there and went in to the GINGERBREAD HOUSE and ate our CHRISTMAS DINNER!! YUMMY turkey with ALL the trimmings...we THOROUGHLY ENJOYED every bite! and the boys did too! after we had some dinner, we went ahead and went out to walk around GKTW and listen to the Christmas music and look at all the BEAUTIFUL Christmas decorations that had been put around the place....just the attention to details that are always there....so AMAZING! i of course got all emotional...they had cookie making station, some snow cones and then, we got to go into the theater (which we had not explored yet) and who was waiting on the other side?!?!?! SANTA CLAUS!!! oooohhhh...the boys were soooo excited! josh didn't seem to thrilled but we all were....well, as soon as we put the boys on santa's lap, JOSH didn't want anything to do with HIM and THEN because baby brother went off, so did MATTHEW!! yep, those were OUR kids pitching a fit!! and we couldn't get them off fast enough!!! anyway, it was too funny! they were soooo awesome EACH boy was able to pick a toy from the MOUNTAIN of toys there...sooooo generous...our boys were just LOVEING it! well, after all of that excitment...we went outside and we found out that there was going to be a PARADE out there!! awwww...it was so awesome!!! the floats and the characters...so amazing...they all came over and talked to the kids and we had seen earlier in the evening a busload of high schoolers that had come in and i realized YET AGAIN, that this wonderful parade was made up of all these HIGH SCHOOLERS that had given up an evening to be with us and make some wonderful kids HAPPY with their presence....of course, again, there i go with the waterworks! just AMAZING!! and then it SNOWED there and we had sooo much getting it EVERYWHERE....

AFTER our amazing evening there, we went over to the CASTLE OF MIRACLES and the boys redeemed their coupon for their PILLOWS that they each got to keep, and then matthew's STAR was placed on the CEILING of this beautiful place FOREVER!! we even got a PASSPORT with a barcode and we could ALWAYS go back so that we could see EXACTLY where matthews star was with his name on it!! just amazing to see all the OTHER stars that were up there from all the OTHER MIRACLE kids that have passed through those doors....sooooooooo BLESSED...'

well, after a WONDERFUL EVENING, the nurse and i ended up going BACK to the villa so that we could pack all our clothing and get that done...the boys ended up staying and playing some PUTT PUTT and the video games and such....it made it easier so we could get it done BEFORE the boys got there....it was REALLY NICE!

here are some pictures from our day out there!

SEUSS LANDING there at ISLAND OF ADVENTURES! soooo much fun!

HORTON HEARS A WHO!! so DETAILED!

CAT IN THE HAT!! cute!

so excited to see THE CAT IN THE HAT!!!

The Grinch and let me tell you he was in CHARACTER!! very moody!

my cute big BOY!!!

here he is in the car!!!

Back at GKTW...wait to take a picture with SANTA!

2 of the 3 boys NOT excited about this!!! :( both josh & matthew SCREAMED and CRIED!

"MOM, CAN I TAKE THIS HOME?" he LOVES popcorn like we all do!

aaaawwwwwwww.....

The decorations for CHRISTMAS DAY at GKTW!!!

POSING with MAYOR CLAYTON...the MAYOR of GKTW!

IT'S SNOWING AT GKTW!! sooooo exciting!

Dad giving kisses all the way around! one for JOSHUA!

ONE FOR MATTHEW!!!

ONE FOR ALEX!!!

ONE FOR ME!!! :)

MATTHEW posing with some characters!

DAY 5.....

2009-04-22T06:33:00.007-05:00

ANOTHER BEAUTIFUL DAY in FLORIDA!!!! yes, we were sooooo tired and we could feel it all catching up to us but we were having so much fun that we tried not to let it get us down!! we all got ready and dressed and then had a CONTINENTAL BREAKFAST there at our villa which they came and dropped off....NICE!! then we were OFF!!!

sooo, we started our day off by parking our car at MK and taking the monorail over to EPCOT to check things out!! wow, what a GREAT PLACE!!! i think james and i would really enjoy it MORE if we were by ourself out there because of all the different countries and exploring them all! the boys were interested but not by much! we did go and to the CRUSH show which the boys LOVED and we got to meet a couple of characters there too! we also got to take a BREAK at the BASE21 area that is available to the WISH FAMILIES...it is an AMAZING PLACE that is actually part of SIEMENS lounge....very nice!! the very nice lady there was so kind and we were able to cool off and have some beverages and just watch matthew become FASINATED by the floor!! the receptionest could change the color of the floor and matthew could not get ENOUGH!!!

AFTER we left there, we took the MONORAIL over to MK to spend the rest of the day there...we just enjoyed doing the rides again that we REALLY liked and just had a fun and walked around....we stayed around for the PARADE OF LIGHTS again and the FIREWORKS SHOW...again, we didn't leave there till 1045 pm...we were SOOOOO TIRED but SOOOO HAPPY!! what an ADVENTURE we were having!!!!

EPCOT BALL!!!

visiting with SNOW WHITE!! he was acting all SHY!!

OUR BEAUTIFUL BABY BOYS!!! :)

AWWW.....DONALD DUCK!

JUST BEING GOOFY!!!

CHIP AND DALE! joshua was having NONE OF IT!

HEY?! DID YOU SEE THAT?!?! Matthew was AMAZED at BASE21 because their floor changes COLORS!! HE LOVED IT and couldn't stop LAUGHIN!!

wow, it changes colors again!!! can we get one of these?!?

THE BALL again!

the beautiful CASTLE at DISNEY!

THE PRINCESS AND HER COURT!

it's just soooo PRETTY!! so detailed!

WOW....this is what it looks like at the end of the day!

DAY 4.....

2009-04-21T06:33:00.015-05:00

well, today is the DAY!!! we decided that today we would hit up the AWESOME world of MAGIK KINGDOM or better known as DISNEY WORLD!!!! we were so excited and we were raring to go!! so we woke up and got everyone ready go and put on our T-SHIRTS that i made that for the 5 of us said "MATTHEW ISAIAHS MAKE A WISH TRIP....PICTURE OF HIM....DISNEYWORLD FLORIDA APRIL 18-24, 2009!!" matthews said the same thing except for at the top it said, "THANK YOU MAKE A WISH FOR MY WISH!" ...we got ready and went to eat at THE GINERBREAD HOUSE...YUMMY!!! the atmospher there is so welcoming and loving....i just LOVED being there!! we were all soooooo excited about going to the MK today....

well, we got there and all the kids (and adults) were SOOOO EXCITED to be going FINALLY to the big park!!! i knew that the first thing we were going to get on was the DISNY EXPRESS TRAIN!!! it was soooo awesome to go around the park looking at all the sights and just ITCHING to get on some of those rides.....

we caught the daytime PARADE and it was soooo awesome!! some of those TALL PEOPLE came down to matthews level and gave him a high five!! we started our day at SWISS FAMILY ROBINSON TREE and poor james carried matthew all the way UP and down...but he loves his son SOOOOO MUCH that he did it all just so he could experience the attraction...i remember doing this tree as a child when we went to DISNEYLAND in california....looks just like this one! anyway, we did a few rides there and then went over to MINNIES house and to check out some more stuff...we got to take pictures with the star of the place MICKEY MOUSE AND MINNIE MOUSE!! we did TOMORROW LAND and ended up eating lunch there at the burget joint and it was GOOD!! we road some other rides such as IT'S A SMALL WORLD, BUZZLIGHT YEAR, MONSTERS, INC, PETER PAN, THE MAD HATTERS TEA CUPS, etc....and what i ABSOLUTELY LOVED ABOUT IT was that about 99% of the rides both JOSHUA (1 YEARS OLD) and MATTHEW could get on with us!! ABSOLUTELY PERFECT!! we had soooo much fun as a family. just amazing....and EVERY SINGLE TIME, even though we rode the ride SERERAL TIMES in a row, joshua would KICK AND SCREAM cause he did NOT want to GET OFF THE RIDE!!! and i mean, REALLY kick and scream with crocadile tears etc....awwwwww....it would break the hearts of everyone around us!! that is another beautiful thing about THE WISH TRIP....we ALWAYS went to the front of the line....we could ride the ride SEVERAL times if we wanted to without getting off the ride and we NEVER had to stand in ANY line!! :) we were actually able to see the whole park because of that!! if not, the lines were 1+ hours long at each one!!!

anyway,we stayed thru so that we could see the LIGHT PARADE and then the FIREWORKS WISHES SHOW....we didn't ended up getting out of there till 1045 pm but oooohhhhh what fun we HAD!! the boys (and all of us) where CRAZY TIRED....but we had sooo much fun!!! we were OFF to GKTW and like always, as we cruised up at 1130 pm, they always welcomed us by saying 'WELCOME HOME!" JUST amazing!!!

HERE WE ARE the first place we went to was to RIDE THE TRAIN!!! :) SOOO AWESOME!

WE then visited with DAISY DUCK....

here we are in front of the WORLD FAMOUS PRINCESS CASTLE!!

HERE ARE THE BOYS with their CANNON'S in front of the SWISS FAMILY ROBINSON:

AHHHHH....the SWEETHEARTS together! :)over 14 years together!! :) this was at MINNIES GARDEN....

this was the entrance to where MICKEY & MINNIE WERE AT! :)

FINALLY, meeting MICKEY & MINNIE!

matthew was SOOO EXCITED!!

here are the boys with them....josh was CRASHED OUT!! :(

NEW FRIENDS!!!

RIDING IN STYLE!!

having FUN on the ROAD!!!

IN THE TEA CUPS!!

BEAUTIFUL!!!

DAY 3.....

2009-04-20T06:32:00.011-05:00

well, today was another BEAUTIFUL day in FLORIDA!!! today, was the ONLY day that there was RAIN forcasted so we decided to go to UNIVERSAL STUDIOS and make it a SHORT day so that we could enjoy the VILLAGE...we didn't want to waste a "rain" day MAGIC KINGDOM....sooo, we WOKE UP and decided to just eat all our LEFT OVERS that we had in the fridge and they tasted SOOOOOOO GOOOD!! we showed the boys the 'GIFT' that the bunny had left on our table when we got back last night from the parks...so far, EVERY SINGLE DAY, there has been a GOODIE BAG for the kids...again, this is what is so AMAZING about GKTW!!! there was a CANDYLAND board game and at FIRST, i thought, "man, we already have that...' but OOOOHHHH NO!!! this is the GKTW special edition CANDYLAND!!! it is going to TREASURED!!! it has all of the village building on it!!! awwwww....

well the ONLY thing that was BAD that happened to us was that MATTHEWS KIMBA (his wheelchair/stroller) BROKE!!! yes, matthew broke it FINALLY with all his EXCITED JUMPING that he loves to do in his stroller!! at first, we didn't know what to do but i finally thought it thru and we put matthew in joshua's new stroller (THANK YOU GOD he still fit in it!) and we would rent a double stroller at the parks for joshua & alex (they gave us FREE RENTALS thru GKTW too!!) i was just sad for matthew because he DEFINETLY had a lower view of the world and i know it was not the most comfortable seat around!!

well, we were OFF to UNIVERSAL STUDIOS and after a short detour (taking the SENIC ROUTE!) we finally made it to the park!! :) again, we had FREE PARKING at all these parks and because of the folks at the DISNEY FORUMS, we knew to take MATTHEW HANDICAP PARKING PASS with us and boy were we HAPPY we remembered to do it!!! we parked RIGHT in front!! anyway, we got there and jsut enjoyed walking around....this was the ONLY DAY in our WHOLE 7 DAYS that it DID rain!! all the other days were overcast but NOT HUMID (which i was SOOOO WORRIED ABOUT) and the temps were about 83 degrees!! NICE! anyway, we had our ponchos and were ready for it and it was NOT going to slow us down!!! we had soooo much fun and were able to get on a couple of rides....the adults LOVED the MUMMYS ride!! i road it a couple of times with james and S! we had so much FUN!!! there was more thingst to LOOK at than anything...we did do a bunch of CHARACTER MEETS and i think the BEST thing we did was go see the BARNEY SHOW and then after that we got to MEET BARNEY after the show...he came down and took pictures with us and MATTHEW was sooooo excited and happy!! we had so much fun during the show!! and afterwards, the boys had fun in barneys FUN area...they LOVED IT!!! there were many props going on and we loved posing at them....they were actually filming while we were there....FINAL DESTINATION 4....we got to see some of the action...pretty cool! we didn't get to do too many things because we wanted to get back to the village....

AFTER UNIVERSAL STUDIOS, we came home around 6pm and had some dinner at the GINGERBREAD HOUSE which was YUMMY!!! we were then able to explore the village and do some fun things like PUTT PUTT, RIDE THE TRAIN, LOOK AT THE LITTLE TRAINS, talk to some other families, eat ICE CREAM, and just chill OUT there at the GKTW!!! it was really fun RELAXING time!!! just a PERFECT ending to a WONDERFUL DAY!!!

THE kids and WOODY WOOD PECKER and his girl...(what's her name?)

another of matthews favorites...MADAGASCAR CAST...

OOOHHHH....SCOBBY DO & SHAGGY!! we love these guys!!

MATTHEW and CURIOUS GEORGE...he LOVED this monkey!!!

My little gang with CURIOUS GEORGE & TED!!!

one of our FAVORITE shows...BARNEY and us!!! we had sooo much fun!

Matthew in a boat outside the BARNEY show....it was so hard to get them to leave here!

the sign at UNIVERSAL STUDIOS...WE HAD A GREAT DAY!

JOSH on the back of the train that goes around GKTW...

MATTHEW & ALEX playing with the romote control boats...

joshua checking out the AWESOME train set they had!!

MATTHEW and S on NOAH's ARK...

PLAYING PUTT PUTT at GKTW...

JUST ANOTHER PUTT PUTT shot!!

MATTHEW giving daddy a FACIAL with his ice cream cone! he was laughing SOOOOO HARD!

giving matthew a smoochie sticky KISS!!

DAY 2.....

2009-04-19T06:31:00.013-05:00

well, we woke up today about 6:30 am, trying to get a jump start on our day! we had SOOOO MUCH TO DO and we were so excited to DO IT!!! SO, after everyone taking a shower and getting ready....we decided to sit out on our front porch and drink some coffee and enjoy the morning:

we decided to go and eat at the GINGERBREAD house today. a nice HOT meal!!! this would be the first time we were going to go eat there and we were excited but didn't know what to expect! well, it was AMAZING!! we got there and there was already so many other families there....we found a seat and got in line to get our goodies....and OOOOHHHH, what delicious goodies there were!! we can say we ate VERY WELL that morning....well, after having our delicious breakfast among the many families and all those beautiful ANGEL VOLUNTEERS..we got ready for the start of our ADVENTURE!!!

and we decided to take a couple of quick rides on the MERRY GO ROUND:

a wonderful lady at the DISNEY FORUMS gave us a PLAN for every day of the week we were going to be there...she even told us which parks would be BUSY and which wouldn't....just AMAZING!!! we were able to get an idea of what we should do on which days and what was going on at GKTW....sooo, today was a perfect day for.....

DISNEY'S ANIMAL KINGDOM!!! we decided to do half a day there and half a day at DISNEY'S HOLLYWOOD STUDIOS!!

WOWOWOWOWOW, what a BEAUTIFUL day to be out there....unfortunately, we only saw like a FOURTH of the park!!! but we had so much FUN!! we did manage to get on some rides and the MOST exciting thing we did was be able to see FINDING NEMO and let me tell you that it was BROADWAY quality (per ME:) and all my kids LOVED it!!! i just got REALLY upset at the lady in front of matthew (we were in the handicap seating) who kept looking back at matthew and us whenever matthew would shout with joy at the play!!! made me MAD!!! anyway, it was just some fun!!! we did a couple of rides and we got to see that show plus A BUGS LIFE show....sooooo much fun!! it was also a BEAUTIFUL day....we did not get to see the whole thing but we had fun with what we saw..here are a couple of our pictures:

here we are with FLIK....what everyone kept telling us was soooo true...we NEVER waited in ANY SINGLE LINE from rides to character pics!!! even if we TRIED to get in line, they would spot us (with our MAKE-A-WISH BUTTONS) and pull us IMMEDIATELY to the front of the line and we were always NEXT!! that was just AMAZING and soooo touching to all of us...it again just made us feel like ROYALTY!!!

here we are with PLUTO!

here we are on the DINO RIDE and OMG, the boys LOVED THIS!! the baby started to pitch a FIT when we had to get off!!! :)

just me and my gang playing around!!

just some more pics with our buddies!!

our family in front of the "TREE"

AND THEN we went onto DISNEY HOLLYWOOD STUDIOS...it was just down the road...not to far away....and it was SOOO MUCH FUN!! it is a BEAUTIFUL place and to see where some of the magic is made, it was so much FUN!! what i LOVE about these disney parks is that all my babies have been able to ride almost EVERY SINGLE RIDE that was out there....there was almost no height restriction...i LOVED that fact that even though i had a 1 and a 4 year old, they wre STILL able to ride the rides and ENJOY AND LOVE THEM!!! we got to ride some rides, and look around...and then the most important part was that we got to meet matthew's IDOL...here are some pictures from our day there!!!

here we are at the entrance of disney studios:

here we are with MATTHEW'S IDOLS!!!

MATTHEW just talking with his IDOL'S...

Matthew is a STAR!!! getting ready for the 3-D ride of toy story...it was actually soooooo AWESOME!!

JUST A PICTURE...

ALEX on HIS all time FAVORITE show right now...STAR WARS!!

AWWWWWW....on our way HOME after a LONG DAY!

about GIVE KIDS THE WORLD VILLAGE...

2009-04-18T19:42:00.009-05:00

ok, so here is the post about the most AMAZING place in the world ESPECIALLY CREATED for these special kids and their familys.....click HERE for the LINK to the website. well, i wanted to devote a whole post about this wonderful place so MAYBE you can understand what an AMAZING place it is and WHY this MAKE-A-WISH trip was so special.

this amazing place was built and created by Henri Landwirth, who is a HERO to MANY people....he has founded MANY different organizations all to help PEOPLE!! he is a HOLOCAUST SURVIVOR....which is just amazing...and he wrote a BOOK about his life story....the short story of GKTW is HERE...the short of it is that a child asked a hotel owner if she could stay at his hotel while she went to the florida area attraction....he said yes but it took to long for that "wish" to come and the child ended up dying....he swore that that would not happen again...so in 1989 GKTW OPENED to special families...."He called the project “Give Kids The World,” because that is just what he intended to do - provide memorable, magical, cost-free experiences to children with life-threatening illnesses and their families"...and HE DOES!!!

first, they send a GREETER to the airport to make sure you know they are waiting for you!! AND he helps you get your luggage, get your vehicle and sends you on your WAY!!

AND THIS is what you see when you pull up to the VILLAGE!!! doesn't it make your HEART RACE?! we were sooooooo excited!

this place treats you like ROYALTY....like you and your family are the MOST SPECIAL people there at GKTW....it starts right at the moment you come to the gate and they say.."WELCOME HOME!" everytime....then you come in and check in and the place is like a FAIRY TALE....the details that they put into EVERYTHING make you think you are in a AMAZING spot!! so you walk in and sit down and talk to a greeter who gives you some info and then you are OFF to follow someone to your new HOME...and that is EXACTLY what it is! and as you drive down the senic drive over there, you see many families coming and going, all with special kiddos....i got so sentimental driving to our home and then, when we SAW were going to be staying......OMG, sooooo awesome...and beautiful and such details....here is a picture of our HOME:

our home:

our SIGN...

here is a TOUR of our HOME!!

SOOOOO, this place is sooooo WONDERFUL....just for special kids and their families...all the families can stay for 7 days total.....they get their OWN villa..we are provided a vehicle thru MAKE-A-WISH (amazing!!!) so that we have freedom while we are there at the park...all our MEALS are included there....we can have meals 3 different ways.....if we are tired and don't want to leave our home, then we can call and they can come and DELIVER a continental breakfast right to our door!!! and the little cart is SOOOOO CUTE! OR we can decide to go have breakfast at the GINGERBREAD HOUSE and you can either drive over there, walk over there or RIDE IN THE TRAIN that goes around the park:

and here is the picture of the GINGERBREAD HOUSE:

where they have a HOT meal for you and you sit at tables fit for kiddos and each table has HUNDREDS of those STAR PEPPERMENT MINTS inlaid in them...all on the top they have THOUSANDS of dolls and toys that have been donated to GKTW....and then let me tell you about the staff of ANGELS that they have....they are ALL VOLUNTEERS from all walks of life, young, old....many of them work at DISNEY parks and UNIVERSAL STUDIOS....from church groups, corporations, etc....and ALL SO HAPPY TO BE THERE and they treat the families like ROYALTY....so nice, giving, warm, loving....we pick our food off the buffet and then the volunteers carry your tray for you, and get you whatever you need!! so amazing and nice!! we kept getting all sentimental during this whole process which sometimes made eating hard with that lump in your throat... and GOD FORBID you start to clean your table and stack dishes because they are WATCHING and they will swoop down and tell you NOT TO TOUCH THAT...that that is what they are there for....OMG...SO NICE!!!

well, then you can also have lunch/dinner at either the GINGERBREAD HOUSE or you can also have it at KATIES KITCHEN which served BOSTON MARKET GOODIES and boy let me tell you, they are REALLY GOOD STUFF!!! and then there is the MAMA PIZZA...here you can call in anytime after 4pm and they will make your pizza, as many as you want and DELIVER them to your home for you......AMAZING.....

and then there is the ICE CREAM PARLOR that is open from 8am - 9pm and they have EVERYTHING you can ask for in the ICE CREAM PARLOR....YUMMY!!! YOU can go as MUCH as you want to...

and there is NO COST to the FAMILY!! that in itself is just AMAZING, AWESOME....you have NO WORRIES while you are at the village...none at ALL...for a family with a special needs child, that you might have been paying so much on his medical bills and medical expensis to have this opportunity to go away from all of THAT for a WEEK with and ALL EXPENSE PAID TRIP to FLORIDA...there are no WORDS that can express what that is LIKE....

sooo, then the VILLAGE itself is BEAUTIUFL and there are MANY improvements that are going on to make it bigger and better....they have a MERRY-GO-ROUND that you can ride again and again:

and you can also play PUTT PUTT GOLF there all the time if you want!!

there is also a little train that goes around the putt putt area that you can ride whenever you want and as many time as you want!! sooooo much to do!!

there is also the AMBERVILLE where there is all the above and there is also an arcade and COOL TRAIN VILLAGE that you can push the button and things start to move in the village!!! and i understand that someone comes EVERY WEEK to CHANGE the village around!! just AMAZING!!!

here is alex driving one of those BOATS in the water below!!!

here is joshua just LOVING watching the trains go by and pushing the buttons!!!

sooo, as i was saying this place is AMAZING....they actually added another playground called......MATTHEW'S BOUNDLESS PLAYGROUND! AND OF COURSE, i can't find a PICTURE that we took of it but it is based on the CANDYLAND BOARD GAME!!! it is just AMAZING and accessible by wheelchair thru out!!! just amazing!!! and it was right down the street from us!!!

they also have a POOL that the boys hit up the first day but we were unable to make it back out there! there actually doing ANOTHER pool area and it is under construction and it looks AMAZING...

soooo, see, this BEAUTIFUL VILLAGE is amazing....and to think that it was ESPECIALLY made for SPECIAL NEEDS FAMILIES LIKE US!!!! it brings tears to my eyes EVERYTIME!!!

SOOO, i will have to DEFINETLY try to make sure that i let the WORLD know, or at least all those that read this blog and my friends and family that there is a WORTHY CAUSE if anyone can donate to...this place is amazing and my family is LIVING PROOF that DREAMS DO COME TRUE and that this place is MAGICAL for families like ours....any donations that can be made to this place would be WELCOMED and hearing our story of our WEEK IN PARADISE will give proof that your DONATION would be working and would be shared with other families just like MATTHEW'S!!!

SOOOO, HERE IS THE LINK IF YOU EVER CAN FIND IT IN YOUR HEART TO MAKE ANY TYPE OF DONATION:

DONATE PAGE HERE

here is a link if you want to send a TRIBUTE to someone while making a DONATION:

HERE

you can buy one of their MANY items for sale:

GIFTS

I will also do a post later on about the MAKE A WISH FOUNDATION!!! so be on the look out for that one too!!!

MAKE-A-WISH TRIP START..DAY 1....

2009-04-18T05:30:00.015-05:00

we woke up at 3:30 am to get the last of the things done before we left....we had already gotten everything packed (stayed up till about 12am) and packed into the car....we got up soooo excited! everyone had taken a bath the night before so we could just get up and GOOOOO!!! well, after making sure we had matthews feeds and stuff ready, we woke up the kids and got them dressed, transfered them over to the car and TOOK OFF to the airport by 4:30 am!!!! oooooohhhhh....we were sooo happy and EXCITED!! following behind us was matthew's nurse, S, and i know that she was so happy and excited too!!! sooo, it was RAINING, LIGHTENING AND THUNDERING (we have been in a DROUGHT since FOREVER so we really needed this rain, but TODAY?!?!?!?!)!!! yes, not the BEST weather to be leaving in and i can say it made me NERVOUS!!!! I thought for sure that the kids were going to have an issue with it but NO...they all seemed FINE!! SOOO, we got off the car and have to unload ALL OF OUR LUGGAGE!!! our family ended up checking in 3 suitcases, and each of us carried on a carry on bag (4) PLUS we also had his feeding pump AND a camera case.....WITH A CAR SEAT, A WHEELCHAIR AND A STROLLER!!! unfortunatly, they were unable to get us more than one car seat in florida so we had to bring our own!! not a PROBLEM!! :) so we check in with PLENTY of time (5:15am) and our plane didn't leave until 7 am! so after doing all of that, we were able to move onto the security check point...boy, this was probably the part we all dreaded!!! the GREAT part about it is that we got to go thru the FAMILY LINE which made us FLY thru it all!! we were in and out of there within about 15 mins or less.....it was kinda funny...we had to all take off our shoes, take the baby out of his stroller, matthew too and just putting all of our stuff on the belts to get them checked....CRAZY!!! if you have ever flown with 3 kiddos and TONS of stuff, you know what i am taking about! then, because we had matthews cans of food, we had to be stopped and the cans checked to make sure for security reasons....matthew had a FIT because they had to to a CHECK his stroller and he HATES GLOVES so they made him soooo mad and upset!!!! well, we were done with that and now, all we had to do is WAIT to board...wowowowow...the excitement of being in the gate terminal....walking to our gate with ALL OUR STUFF!!!!! james and the boys decided to get some breakfast at LAS PALAPAS while we waited......it was such an amazing feeling being there...knowing that in a couple of hours you would be in another STATE with all of your kiddos!!!! sooo, we were able to board (after much mishap)....it took alot of manuvering because we had to take both stollers out and break them down, get the CARSEAT inplace to put matthew in and then get the rest of our gear (all our bags) and baby in!!! well, what we didn't know was that once you got IN the plane, you could NOT get OUT!!! sooo, when daddy, went to come back to get the kids, NOPE, he couldn't do it!!! sooo, we had to figure out how to get everything in the plane without JAMES to help! it was not fun....well, after all of that, we were FINALLY on the plane in FIRST CLASS, no less!!! THANK YOU GOD, we started a "bag check" and found out that we had LEFT HIS FEEDING BAG right there where the strollers had been left to put under the PLANE!!! OMG, HOW CRAZY AND SCARY that would have BEEN!!! ANYWAY, our ride went with out a HITCH and the boys LOVED THE PLANE RIDE!!! here are some pics of us on the plane...

daddy and josh....our lap baby!

matthew and his nurse S

me and my boys!!!

well, we landed in ALTANTA and we had about a 2 hour wait....unforutnatly, somewhere in san antonio, they did NOT check us in for the 2nd part of our flight and we were all SCATTERED around the plane for the 2nd leg of it....but THANKS to some AMAZING families in the plane, we were able to get our seats all together!!!

DADDY AND HIS BOYS...

mommy, nurse and matthew!!!

the second part of the flight went wonderful too...and before you knew it....WE WERE IN FLORIDA~!!!! james was SALIVATING seeing all the ponds, lakes as were flying over FLORIDA....he kept saying, we are COMING BACK just to FISH!!!! WELL, we got off the plane and after getting all our our carry ons and such together, we were OFF to find the GREETER...but first, we had to board this supper fast shuttle to get us to where the BAGGAGE area was....well, we get there and see the most BEAUTIFUL SIGN....our GREETER MOE holding up a sign that said, 'WELCOME MATTHEW!"...I can tell you this, it got me GOING and i started to get all teary eyed, emotional....you just don't have a CLUE unless you realize that your MIRACLE CHILD got a WISH GRANTED by the WONDERFUL PEOPLE at MAKE-A-WISH and we were THERE IN FLORIDA together as a FAMILY....the emotions of it all where just something else...we had gone thru SOOOOO MUCH with our son that to be there, in FLORIDA, getting ready to go on an ADVENTURE, a ONCE IN A LIFETIME THING together....no words can describe how it felt for us!!!

OUR GREETER with MATTHEW'S SIGN...

when we talked to our GREETER from GIVE KIDS THE WORLD (i will be using the abbrev GKTW), he told us that he and his other fellow GREETERS were meeting 36 FAMILIES that were coming over to GKTW!!!!! WOWOWOWOWOWOWOWOWOW....

here are the kids waiting for our car with ALL OUR LUGGAGE!!!

sooo, we meet our greeter and he leads us on our journey to find our vehicle...a DODGE CARAVAN 2009....VERY NICE!!! it was so awesome and amazing...we get loaded up with all our carseats and baggage and off we GO...where??? well, to GIVE KIDS THE WORLD VILLAGE!!!! ok, i am SO SORRY i don't think i EVER mentioned where we were going to be staying and all i can say is AMAZING....I will write a post JUST on GKTW as soon as i am done and link it to HERE....as soon as we turned on the street, there it was....i started to cry again!! here are some pictures of the place...

here is the ENTRANCE SIGN there....TO WELCOME YOU HOME!

HERE we are in front of our BEAUTIFUL VILLA HOME!!

here are the boys tearing into the GIFT BAG of goodies that were left on our table for them!!!

sooo, we got HOME and started to unpacked and realized that we had had NOTHING to eat since about 6:30 in the morning!!! so, we were told that we could ORDER PIZZA whenever we wanted and they would have it delivered...and we DID!!! it was amazing...we paid for NOTHING....i placed the call and they were like, "how many and what would you like on it?" we placed our order they said, they would be by in a bit to deliver it and WHALA!!! they came by in their little cart and gave us our 3 pizza's!!!! AMAZING!!! and everyone has been just soooo nice....i can't express that ENOUGH! we ended up going to WALMART that was SOOOOO CONVINENTLY RIGHT DOWN THE BLOCK!!! to get some supplies that we said that we would get once we got to florida....soooo, i had to go to ORIENTATION that night at 7:45 pm...so we decided that the kids and daddy and S would go SWIMMING...while i went to the meeting....the meeting was so informative and we were given our TICKETS to our PARKS!!! we got,3 DAY HOPPER to DISNEY PARKS, 2 DAY HOPPER TO UNIVERSAL AND ISLAND OF ADVENTURES, and a ONE DAY PASS TO SEAWORLD!!! oooohhh, the GENEROSITY of everyone...no words again....

well, we all got ready for the next day so that we could GO TO OUR FIRST PARK!!! we are going to go to DISNEY ANIMAL KINGDOWN with a side trip to DISNEY HOLLYWOOD STUDIES!!! WOOOOO-HOOOOOO!!!

we are ON OUR WAY!!!

2009-04-18T03:52:00.001-05:00

just a quick note to say, WE ARE ON OUR TO DISNEY WORLD!!! :) THANK YOU to any and all prayers and thoughts as we do our first PLANE RIDE as afamily!!! i will definetly post later to say how things are going!! WOOOOO HOOOO!!!

we are on our way THANK YOU MAKE-A-WISH!!

ANYWAY, just wanted to post right before we left home for the airport! take care and GOD BLESS!!!

LOVE,
US

2 more DAYS LEFT!!!

2009-04-15T22:15:00.003-05:00

OMG, it is coming SOOOOO QUICKLY!!! i can't believe that in a couple more days, we are LEAVING FOR DISNEY WORLD FLORIDA!!!! i haven't been able to really post because i have been sooooo busy getting everything together....we have been packing since this past weekend!! and with EASTER and all, well, time has just FLEW!

well, on MONDAY, the wonderful people at MAW gave matthew a GOING AWAY PARTY at CHUCK E CHEESE!!! awwww..it was sooo nice of them!! we had a GREAT time eating pizza, having cake and then playing games with the boys....also, they matthew his backpack full of goodies and

we just had soooo much fun!! it was just amazing. what MAKE-A-WISH does for their families, is just AMAZING!!! i am going to try to be a VOLUNTEER for MAW someday...i think for everything they do, i would DEFINETLY want to help them to do what they do best and that is make WISH KIDDOS get their WISHES GRANTED!! oh what a FEELING that must be!!

anyway, i am so excited and happy....we leave on SAT AT 7AM!!! :) soooo much to dooooooooooooooooooooooo...........

music on my IPOD....

2009-04-09T11:07:00.003-05:00

SOOO, TODAY, my beautiful son ALEX had a dental appt....i just THANK GOD that daddy was able to take off and go with him because last year was sooo traumatic for me!! this time, since daddy was home, he was able to do it...he did AMAZING!! he had shots, laughing gas (and that he LET them PUT it on him was amazing), and they did a filling and some sealants and such...anyway, it was about 1.5 hours long and he did SOOOO GREAT!!! anyway, i prayed so hard that he would not be scared and that GOD would be with him and comfort him because i couldjust imagine how scared he really was! he doesn't like dentist but he has done amazing this last couple of times!!

anyway, i started listening to the IPOD for some inspiration and relaxing music...so i decided to let you in on what i listen to just to see if you have heard that music before too!! I also put the link to the lyrics if you want to read them!!! must hear music!!

sooo, i love the song by MARTINA MCBRIDES song "GOD'S WILL"...this song ALWAYS brings me to tears because i actually think of my beautiful son MATTHEW...one of the lyrics says

"Will don't walk too good
Will don't talk too good
He won't do the things that the other kids do,
In our neighborhood"

and of course i think of my boy...knowing that right now that is HIM....and there is another part which says "And she said each day that I have him, well it's just
another gift" and OH HOW TRUE THAT IS!! THANK YOU GOD!

THEN, since i was listening to MARTINA MCBRIDE i had to go ahead and play "I HAVE BEEN BLESSED" and of course, that is a song that i have had on this blog because that is EXACTLY HOW I FEEL EVERY SINGLE DAY!! BLESSED!! and of course my favorite part is the CHORUS:

"I have been blessed
And I feel like I've found my way
I thank God for all I've been given"

soooo true!! :) i just love GOD sooo much and i THANK HIM for EVERYTHING that he has blessed us with!!!!

so then i went on and listen to MERCYME "I CAN ONLY IMAGE" AND of course this one also gets me everytime...why? because i always wonder and KNOW that MATTHEW actually met JESUS...i can only IMAGINE what he must have been like and what he saw those first 5 days of his life when he was so gravely ill....i KNOW that that is WHY he is such a HAPPY LITTLE BOY every single day and that is why he is the little guy that he is!! i KNOW he met JESUS and i KNOW that he was HELD in HIS arms and THAT is why he is soooo happy....anyway, i always think of him when i hear this song...and it actually always makes me happy knowing that he met HIM....

then went onto SISTER ACT 2 "OH HAPPY DAY" sung by The St. Francis Choir Featuring Ryan Toby and if you haven't seen that movie in a while, it is a MUST SEE...or at least i think so!! :0 i love these kids and how they sing soooo joyfully! and LAUREN HILL as a little girl is on that too! anyway, such a joyful song!!

and theni moved on to another SISTER ACT 2 song called "HIS EYE IS ON THE SPARROW" such a BEAUTIFUL SONG! and this one reminds me of my mommy....this is one of the last songs that i got for her before she passed away because she just LOVED this song......

then onto MICHAEL W. SMITH "AWESOME GOD" this song, well, it just brings me such happiness just to sing it knowing that i am PRAISING GOD...i am just sooo happy in HIS love....and know that he DIED for US....anyway, just a good strong song!!

soooo, then i had to round it out with MICHAEL W. SMITH "GREAT IS THE LORD" why? well because it always makes me feel soooo good inside when i sing this song at the top of my lungs and my babies sit there and rock to it and smile!! just such a JOYFUL song!!!

anyway, i just wanted to share with ya'll!! GOD'S BLESSINGS!!!

FAMILY UPDATE!

2009-04-05T19:35:00.003-05:00

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

BETTER is the word of the day!

2009-04-03T11:59:00.002-05:00

yes, our family is SLOWLY getting better...day by day! but of course, we could not have one more crop up of PINK EYE!! alex picked it up on tuesday and it is still bothering him....poor little guy! but he is such a trooper taking his eye drops!!

joshua is MUCH better now and so is matthew...as for me...ME TOO!! just the occational coughing fits i get....my throat is still a little raw but BETTER than last week!!

we have been trying to get things done before out BIG TRIP!! who knew there was soooo much to PLAN for??? well, we are slowly getting our things together....buying panchos, shirts and everything else....all is good! we are soooo excited and happy to be BLESSED with matthew's MAKE A WISH WISH!!

--------

we also JUST GOT WORD that matthews FEEDING CHAIR was APPROVED(MYGO SEATING SYSTEM)!!! long story short on this item...we have been waiting PATIENTLY for approval/denial now since SEPTEMBER and when i would call and ask how things were going, the DME would state that they have put in all the paperwork to medicaid AFTER TRICARE DENIED and now they are just waiting to see what happens....the DME guy was VERY VERY VERY sure that it would get denied and that we needed to look at another piece of equipment to get....i was not happy with that but HEY, we needed something...sooooo, last week on WED we got a phone call from our TRICARE CASE MANAGER and when i asked her about WHY it had been denied, she said SHE HAD NEVER RECIEVED THE PAPERWORK FOR THIS EQUIPMENT!! ooooohhhhh, i was soooo UPSET about it!! so i immediately called the DME and told them and they assured me that they HAD....but as they searched for the paperwork for the DENIAL, they COULD NOT FIND IT!!! soooo, come to find out ALL THESE MONTHS (6 MONTHS) they had dropped the ball and NEVER SENT THE PAPER WORK TO TRICARE!!!!!!!!!! yes, i was upset!! so, the set about doing that on MONDAY and by THURSDAY (4DAYS!) they got the approval...the DME guy said he was sooooo EMBARASSED about it!! he apologized for the mix up....i just told him that the main thing is that he FINALLY got it!! we are excited!!!

so, we decided to UPGRADE...

2009-03-28T22:09:00.005-05:00

our camera from the usual digital small camera to a SLR CAMERA!!! WOOO-HOOO am i excited!!! i am so happy that i will FINALLY be able to capture a picture of my children without them having to wait FOREVER for the thing to actually TAKE it and then another shot taking that much LONGER!!! soooo, all day long, we were determined we would get a camera for our trip to disney....best buy had a pretty great deal where you got the camera we wanted and a lens and a battery for $799.00...not tooo bad...well, we went to walmart and the exact camera was about $30 cheaper and a lens that was BETTER was cheaper too....hmmmmm.....so, we decided to look at one of our BENEFITS which would be with AAFES EXCHANGE ONLINE....and guess what i just bought????

Canon® EOS Digital Rebel XS 10.1MP Digital SLR Camera w/ 18-55mm IS Lens Kit
Price Was...$595.00
Price Now...$545.00

Capture the moment and all it's details frame by frame. A DIGIC III image processor and advanced 7-point autofocus system help you take total control over every frame you shoot. Compatible with all EF lenses, E-TTL wireless autoflash and many EOS system accessories. Integrated cleaning system. Direct printing capability with compatible printers.

10.1-megapixel CMOS sensor
EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS lens
2.5" LCD
Lens Optical Image Stabilizer
SD / SDHC memory card compatible
USB 2.0 connection
Kit Includes:

Li-Ion battery pack
Battery charger
Video and interface cables
Wide strap
EOS digital solutions disc
User'™s manual
Color: Black

Power: 100-240V (auto adjusts), AC, 50/60Hz

Size: 3 3/4"H — 5"W — 2 3/8"D

Weight: 15.84 oz

AND this is what we ended up paying....$545.00 - 15%(using Coupon Code: 8286pcr3) = $463.25 TOTAL!!! we saved $81.00 with the 15% off deal!!! and NO SHIPPING AND NO TAXES!!!!!!!!!!! can you say DEAL?! and we swere SOOOOO CLOSE to going for the package deal at BEST BUY because it had the extra lense and battery.....so, just right now, this camera came out to be $187.00 CHEAPER than BEST BUY!!! and yes we didnt get the lens BUT the cannon lens that they had at WALMART for a 75mm-300mm was $175.00 compared to the one that was part of the deal at best buy for $349.00 (75mm-220mm)!!! sooooo, as usual, we learned our leason not to rush into it! and to look at our benefits! we just got a GREAT camera for sooooo much LESS than we could find it anywhere else AND we do have to pay TAXES ON IT!!! :) sooo, it should be here by the end of the week, PLEASE GOD!!! that way we can learn how to use it!! :)

anyway, just had to share our good news!!! we have 20 days LEFT till we LEAVE!!! :)

THE LITTLEST HEROES PROJECT...

2009-03-26T23:20:00.002-05:00

WOW....we have just been accepted into this wonderful program....here is a LINK to the website...here is what they do, straight from their website:

The Littlest Heroes Project is a non-profit based organization founded in January 2008, made up of professional photographers nationwide that provide free photo sessions to our nations Littlest Heroes. This is our way of giving back and taking a stand for these children who sometimes feel forgotten because of their illnesses. We are here to let them know that they are heroes to many, and to share their inspirational stories and photos with the world.

wow, they are just amazing...all these photographers giving their time...well, i just sent off the names of the photographers...i actually asked for 2 in FLORIDA (if they could be there when we are there mid- april) and then of course here at home...i don't know if he can get the FLORIDA part but i thought i would try! it would be nice to have them do it while we wer there so we could have those precious memories but ANYWHERE it happens is just a BLESSING!!!

so i am going to pass along this wonderful info to ANYONE out there with a special needs kiddo so they can be blessed too!!!

ok, so i am HERE AT THE PARTY!! FINALLY!

2009-03-26T15:37:00.006-05:00

i have been SOOOOO EXCITED for the longest time...waiting for the ULTIMATE BLOG PARTY 2009.....and i am LATE!!! soooo, to all those that make it here, HOLA!! my name is maria and WELCOME to my BLOG!!! with soooo much going on in my family this week(read below sick!) my time flew and i forgot to get my post in!!! but HERE I AM...better late than never!!!

i am so excited to be here...i am a SAHM and i alsoe HOMESCHOOL....i have a WONDERFUL husband who is active duty military and is the LOVE of my life!! we have 3 boys, ages 6, 4, AND 1....my 4 year old is our SPECIAL NEEDS kiddo....our little miracle man!!

anyway, my party is kinda slow...we have so much going on in our lives that i din't even have time to FIX the place up!!! but i do have some good music to listen too!! :) just some of my favorite tunes!!! please browse around and see what our family is up too!! here are a couple of links to our boys pictures from their birthdays!!

my husband deployment video:

A Year Without Daddy....Deployment.

OUR OLDEST ALEX!:

James Alex Turns 6!

OUR MIRACLE MATTHEW:

MATTHEW ISAIAH is 4!

OUR LITTLEST JOSHUA:

Happy Birthday, Joshua Michael!
well, really quick, we are soooo excited that NEXT MONTH, we will be going to DISNEY WORLD thru the MAKE-A-WISH FOUNDATION!!! we are soooo blessed!! so if you want to find out how our trip went, please stop by late april to find out how it all went!! we are soooooo excited!!

ok, i am OFF to find some new friends and visit some parties!! everyone, take care, GOD BLESS and THANK YOU FOR STOPPING BY!!! OH, and don't forget to leave me a message to say you stopped by!!!

LOVE,
MARIA

wow, made CHILES RELLENOS today!!

2009-03-25T20:24:00.002-05:00

yep, going back to my ROOTS! I had NEVER made them and personally i don't LIKE them but my beautiful hubby loves them soooo, i made them for him!! my MIL said it would take a LONG TIME.....AND IT DID!! i think 2.5 hours from start to finish!!! WOW!! that was just crazy...will i ever make them again...?? i guess if he asks me to, i will....i tried them but they are NOT MY CUP OF TEA!! i invited my MIL and she and my dh said they were REALLY REALLY GOOD!! i told me that even if they WERE NOT, to LIE because it was CRAZY LONG to make!!! but they assured me that it was VERY good and that just perfect!!! soooo, if anyone is interested in making them, here is the website for them CHILE RELLENO'S

HAPPY EATING!!!

sick sick SICK!!!

2009-03-21T09:55:00.002-05:00

WOWOWOW...crazy....it all started with josh...on monday, he ended up going to the dr with PINK EYE in both eyes!!! then on that friday, he started with a runny nose and coughing, and since we are SOOOO CLOSE, he decided to pass it along to ME!! then of course, matthew couldn't NOT be included and by SUNDAY, he was coughing and runny nose!! so, we took them to the dr on monday and JOSH had an ear infection and wheezing so he is on an ANTIBIOTIC and NEBULIZER TREATMENTS 4X A DAY!! and then matthew had wheezing and is on his ORAL STEROIDS and NEBULIZER TREATMENTS 4X A DAY!!! yep, it is a REALLY BUSY here at home!!! and then matthew has needed to be on oxygen for 2 days now cause he is soooo congested!! and of couse then there is mommy, i have a WICKED cough and runny nose! i describe it as coughing out a LUNG and blowing out BRAIN MATTER ALLLLL DAY LONG!!! not pretty!! but i DO sound REALLY sexy with my sexy voice!!! or lack of voice!! and of course ALLLL WEEK LONG i have been on the phone for the boys!!!

anyway, just hopping that this goes FAR FAR AWAY!! OR at least this is the last time till AFTER APRIL 24th!!!

did you see this??

2009-03-15T19:00:00.002-05:00

well, i finally got to see my DVR selections from when we were gone this week over to the coast...well, we LOVE ABC's WHAT WOULD YOU DO? series that they have...well, this last one, REALLY got to me...i was just crying and it was just such an EYE OPENER!! i was even crying over it a day later after we came out of church....well, here is the VIDEO if you have not see it...i promise it is soooo worth the 5 mins or so that it is....the part, as you will find out, is the LAST PART that has me going (even now, just thinking of it!)

ABC VIDEO "WHAT WOULD YOU DO?"

anyway, any thought or comments??? really a tear jerker....makes me think REALLY HARD about things in my life...

brrrr....we are at the COAST!

2009-03-13T15:34:00.002-05:00

OH BOY!! we have been having a PRETTY GREAT time here on the coast since we got here on wed....yeah, it has been a bit nippy but what would spring break be with out that?! but really we have just enjoyed being together as a family in our RV....the boys have been fishing and i have been relaxing and just reading...like i told my dh, if we wer at home, we would be doing NOTHING...or cleaning...at least here, we are out of the house and enjoying just being together, playing board games or just fishing and having a grand time, regarless of the weather....

soo, i hope everyone is doing GREAT and enjoying their own spring break, whenever that is!!!

LOST HIS FIRST TOOTH!!!

2009-03-11T15:37:00.000-05:00

well, our big boy MATTHEW lost his first tooth today!!!! what was funny was that this morning, he gagged, out of NO WHERE 2 times early in the morning....i would go check him and ask him what was wrong and he would just smile at me....well, i didn't figure out what happened until i went to put his feeding pump on and realized....HE LOST HIS TOOTH AND SWALLOWED IT!!! yep, he swallowed it!!! awwwww....no wonder he was gagging!! poor little guy! so now, we are going to cut out a tooth and decorate it and put it under the pillow for him...big brother is going to help out...so that the tooth fairy can come over and visit him!!!!

we are soooo excited!!!

we went to a party this weekend...

2009-03-08T23:00:00.003-05:00

and we had a WONDERFUL time!! it was a cousin's child and she is now 4 years old...she is sooo cute!!! i had to go by myself because james was gone the whole weekend for guard duty...it is tough taking the kids by myself now that joshua is running around everywhere....before, when he was an infant, i could just pop him in my carrier/wrap/sling and be off with matthew in his wheelchair and alex riding on the back of it...now, well, josh doesn NOT want to be in the stroller (even though i can't do BOTH the wheelchair AND the stroller by myself)...anyway, i am so happy that my WONDERFUL family where so helpful with the kids....they are always there for me and the kids love them sooo much...my tio Z family is just the best...they are an example of an AMAZING LOVING family....they are aways there for each other and are always supporting each other...it is BEAUTIFUL to watch! i am so glad they have also always been there for ME!! i remember when matthew was born, almost their WHOLE FAMILY came to visit us at the hospital especially on the day that they told us that he was going to pass away....one of them was pg and we were acutlaly due on the SAME DAY and she along with her husband came over to the hosptial to be with us on what we thoughtw as his last day....so special...

well, what can i say except that my children andi had a BLAST and it was so nice to see everyone there!!! we also got to chat with tia I which was nice since i had not seen her in a while....we acutally exchanged christmas GIFTS!! hahahaha...one of those things!! we had a great time!! i sometimes get sad that my son has to be in his wheelchair while the other kids are playing but what am i to do? i can't WIAT for the day when he can be independent and WALK and PLAY with other kiddos...GOD WILLING SOON!!

There is ONE job that is ALWAYS looking for applicants....

2009-03-06T11:36:00.006-06:00

well, i see sooooo many reports on the news on how people are losing there jobs, looking for a job and can't find anything....but there is ONE JOB in the united states that is ALWAYS looking for people and that would be....

THE UNITED STATES MILITARY

i just don't GET it that those that are QUALIFIED are not trying to get in...those that are young enough (i THINK the cut off age is somewhere 35 OR OLDER...maybe 40), are healthy enough and are in good standings in our comunity SHOULD be trying to get in...YES, it's a SACRIFICE, BUT for your FAMILY you are suppose to do what you HAVE to do...when my son MATTHEW was born and we KNEW the kind of medical bills we would have, james made the DIFFICULT decision to enter into the military...TRUST ME, we had a running list on our dry erase board on our wall with the PRO's/CON's going on about the military/civilian life...and there was so LITTLE PRO's on the civilian side and soooo many PRO's on the MILITARY side, that really, there was ABSOLUTLY NO REASON NOT TO GO FULL TIME IN THE ARMY!!! YES, it is scary with being DEPLOYED and such but for our family...that was the RIGHT OPTION...maybe not for EVERYONE but for us (ok,and a WHOLE lot of EVERYONE else out there), the HEALTH BENEFITS (100% coverage, NO CO-PAYS, NO DEDUCTIBLE, COST for a family of 5 LESS then $50 a MONTH), the PAY (for us it was MORE than DOUBLE what HE was making working for the STATE!!), the STABLITLIY (there will NEVER not be a NEED for the MILITARY), they will pay for your COLLEGE and if you or your spouse has OUTSTANDING college loans, they MIGHT pay for those TOO!!! they also will give you a CASH BONUS if you sign up, send you off to school to learn a new trade (you could be a nurse, dr, tech, lawyer, ANYTHING that you are qualified to do and that the military needs!!) AND if you have a COLLEGE DEGREE, you MIGHT go in as an OFFICER making a bunch more than that..i really could go on and on, so i am not.....my husband did NOT want to do it AT FIRST because like everyone else, it IS scary, but for US, his FAMILY, he knew that THAT was the WAY TO GO..our family has benefited SOOO MUCH by being military...yes, it is scary when he was deployed (view his deployment video), YES, we missed him...YES, it was a SACRIFICE him being gone (he missed 9 months of his baby boy's life)...but we ARE SSSSSOOOOO PROUD OF HIM!!! it has allowed me to continue to be home with our boys, to give my SPECIAL NEEDS BOY the procedures, medication and doctors visits he NEEDS without worry of cost (just imagine what we would have to pay for if we DIDN'T have this insurance...), the military will PAY FOR YOUR MORGAGE if you live off base so you don't even have THAT to worry about and it is NON-TAXABLE so during tax season, you are now in a LOWER TAX BRACKET when filing (and if you decide to live ON base, that is paid for too!! the only thing you HAVE to pay for is your cable and phone bill!!), so no matter which way you go, your HOUSE PAYMENT WILL BE PAID FOR!! it has allowed us to have many luxuries too, THANK YOU GOD....sooo, why are more people NOT joining the military for their COUNTRY and for their FAMILY ESPECIALLY during these hard times??? IT IS A MYSTERY TO ME!! i have brought up this subject MANY a times with friends and family....the military has been WONDERFUL to our family and we are BLESSED to be a part of that WONDERFUL family....

i am a just a very PROUD military wife and we can't THANK the military ENOUGH for everything they do and WHO THEY ARE....

FEEDING CLINIC results...

2009-03-03T10:27:00.002-06:00

well, ON friday we went to the FEEDING CLINIC at the local hospital for BOTH joshua and matthew....

for joshua, they told me....well, that he was just a TINY LITTLE GUY!! :) i guess he will take after his mommy (4'11.5" tall!) he weighs in at 20 lbs 11 oz and is 29" long!!! yeah, he is very small!! we JUST were able to turn him around in the car and buy him his big boy seat!! and did i mention hei s 18 months old?!?!? yep, he is small!! she said that even though he is little she said he is WELL PORPORTIONED so not to worry...he is just tiny! so she just told us to continue to do what we are doing and as long as he continues on a curve (he is not on the growth chart) then all is well!!! no need to bring him back!!!

onto matthew, well, he is ALSO doing reall well...the illness in feb set him back some because he has just recently started to eat again AND we had to start up the NEXIUM again because he was not tolerating his feeds....but he is SLOWLY inching his way back to his reagular feeding schedule!!! yayayayaya....he is STILL 37lbs (1 years later) and he is still growing well...he is tall for his age and he is just such a CUTIE!!! she was really impressed on seeing him eat some CHICKEN NUGGETS, you know his FAVORITE meal and she was just really happy to see him...we are scheduled for a MODIFIED BARRIUM swallow at the end of the month because we are thinking of starting up VITAL STIM again but for his FACE!!! yep, his little face has almost NO muscle tone!! in the last 2 weeks he JUST started to put his lips together and make the OOOOHHHH sound!! or pursed lips...that is his NEW favorite face to make!!! anyway, he is doing greatr....we shall see what comes up NEXT!!!

a BEAUTIFUL explanation for DEATH...

2009-03-01T16:23:00.002-06:00

HOLA everyone....my uncle passed this along to us...i thought it was a perfect way to explain how NOT to be afraid of DEATH....our LORD AND SAVIOR is waiting on the other side...WHY are we AFRAID?!?!?!?! i sometimes wonder what our son MATTHEW saw as he struggled those first 5 days of life....i am SURE he met our LORD and knew such PEACE and LOVE that THAT is the reason he is always so happy and smiling...he has KNOWN and BEEN in the presence of HIM and is NOT AFRAID....

GOD's blessing to you all...

~DEATH~
WHAT A WONDERFUL WAY TO EXPLAIN IT .

A sick man turned to his doctor as he was preparing to
Leave the examination room and said,
'Doctor, I am afraid to die.
Tell me what lies on the other side.'
Very quietly, the doctor said, 'I don't know.'
'You don't know? You're, a Christian man,
And don't know what's on the other side?'
The doctor was holding the handle of the door;
On the other side came a sound of scratching and whining,
And as he opened the door, a dog sprang into the room
And leaped on him with an eager show of gladness.

Turning to the patient, the doctor said,
'Did you notice my dog?
He's never been in this room before.
He didn't know what was inside.
He knew nothing except that his master was here,
And when the door opened, he sprang in without fear.

I know little of what is on the other side of death,
But I do know one thing...
I know my Master is there and that is enough.

May today there be peace within you.

May you trust God that you are exactly

Where you are meant to be.

I believe that friends are quiet angels

Who lift us to our feet when our wings

Have trouble remembering how to fly.

MAKE-A-WISH CALLED TODAY....

2009-02-23T14:07:00.001-06:00

and WE ARE GOING TO DISNEY WORLD!!!!!!! they called to get the nurses name (who is on CLOUD 9 excited to be going) for the reservation at the resort!!! WOOOOOOOOO-HOOOOOOOO!!!! and we are leaving on....you ready for this.... APRIL 18-24TH!!!!! wowowowowowowowowowowowowowow....i am NOT excited at all...ok, I AM!!! the boys are soooo happy and excited....we are watching the DVD video that they sent us about DISNEY WORLD and it is so awesome to see matthew looking at all the STUFF there....and of course ALEX is just so excited ..he is bouncing around everywhere!!! ok, SO AM I!!! anyway, we are way excited and are going to look up EVERYTHING so we can get an idea how it works...so if anyone out there has had a wish granted to disney world, PLEASE email me or let me know!! i want to get an idea of how it works...

some have asked why not WAIT, maybe until matthew is older, or joshua is...well, unfortunatly, with the US beign at war, i NEVER know when james might have to go back (which is a certainty) or when things can happen for matthew...i would rather go NOW than lay it up to chance....

anyway, it is a dream come true!! and our family is VERY BLESSED AND THANKFUL!

My Grandpa passed away....

2009-02-20T21:28:00.002-06:00

this past wendsday....he was 94 years old!!! just amazing....today was the funeral and it was really a nice one and best of all, it was AMAZING seeing all my cousins that i had not seen in such a long time!! there are not very many of us...there are 11 of his grandkids (my cousins)....and today, there was NINE OF THEM!!!!!! the other 2 were out of states....but to have us all there was just AMAZING...we had such a wonderful time just chatting together at the WAKE..my one regret was that we did not get a group pic of all the cousins!! i know it would have been a sight to SEE....what was so funny/sad was that in the obituary, it stated that Grandpa had 9 great grandkids....i kept coming up one short and i FINALLY figured out WHY!!!! i have a cousin that lives pretty far away and she has a daughter and we have not spoken in over 3 years now and i guess because of that, i COMPLETELY forgot about that child!!! i think that is such a SAD thing....when i figured it out, i was just sad that because of something that happened 3 years ago between us, she has cut me out of her life and because of THAT, her daughter has just....been gone?! i don't know but i get soooooo sad because she was my best friend since we were in kinder and that we have not talked in over 3 years...well, i just think that that is soooo sad....i sat there and i had to look for pics of my grandpa for his funeral and i found so many pics of us together in happier times....i always think about her and james always listens when i talk about her....i PRAY that someday things will clear up and we can get back to just being FAMILY...i know that things may never be the same but i just pray that we could just talk or communicate or SOMETHING....time moves by SOOOOOO FAST....things change every second and you NEVER know what can happen...one day you are here and the next, GONE....life is too short for that...

anyway, all our cousins said that it is sad that we only get together now when there is a funeral or a wedding....i hope that can change....

FEBRUARY IS CONGENITAL HEART DEFECT MONTH..

2009-02-08T15:19:00.003-06:00

i know i have really never posted anything about this, which is OOOOHHHH sooo bad of me...but as most of you know, my son MATTHEW ISAIAH was born with a CHD called TOTAL ANOMALOUS PULMONARY VENEOUS RETURN (TAPVR) and we have been SOOO BLESSED to have him in our lives....he is such a MIRACLE to us and if you have never heard the story, here is a video i made of him when he turned 4 years old...

MATTHEW ISAIAH is 4!

well, there are so many organizations that are out there and some have FINALLY made it here to san antonio....there is one called MENDED LITTLE HEARTS and then another one called IT'S MY HEART...well, i just wanted to bring to your attention that the organization that i am a part of, they are selling HEART CARDS and they are pretty cool....i found this on another bloggers post and when i went to the site i just HAD to buy me some! so i thought i would pass along this to you!! here is the link...HEART CARDS VERY NICE CARDS!! i can't wait to get them in!!!

this heart mommy also had a BEAUTIFUL PRAYER that was called PRAYER FOR MY CHILD and if you would like to read it, you can find it HERE...

OK, TO everyone out there, family, friends, HEART FAMILIES, this month and EVERY month, may this find you being BLESSED with one more second with your children...i know as a heart mommy that having such SPECIAL BLESSINGS in our lives is such a JOY and i am so THANKFUL that GOD has blessed me with him....all our children are such blessings.....

i leave you with one of my FAVORITE poems/story...ENJOY...GOD BLESSINGS TO ALL...

Welcome To Holland
by Emily Perl Kingsley

I am often asked to describe the experience of raising a child with a
disability - to try to help people who have not shared that unique experience
to understand it, to imagine how it would feel. It's like this......

When you're going to have a baby, it's like planning a fabulous vacation
trip - to Italy. You buy a bunch of guide books and make your wonderful plans.
The Coliseum. The Michelangelo David. The gondolas in Venice. You may learn
some handy phrases in Italian. It's all very exciting.

After months of eager anticipation, the day finally arrives. You pack your
bags and off you go. Several hours later, the plane lands. The stewardess
comes in and says, "Welcome to Holland."

"Holland?!?" you say. "What do you mean Holland?? I signed up for Italy! I'm
supposed to be in Italy. All my life I've dreamed of going to Italy."

But there's been a change in the flight plan. They've landed in Holland and
there you must stay.

The important thing is that they haven't taken you to a horrible,
disgusting, filthy place, full of pestilence, famine and disease. It's just a
different
place.

So you must go out and buy new guide books. And you must learn a whole new
language. And you will meet a whole new group of people you would never have
met.

It's just a different place. It's slower-paced than Italy, less flashy than
Italy. But after you've been there for a while and you catch your breath, you
look around.... and you begin to notice that Holland has windmills....and
Holland has tulips. Holland even has Rembrandts.

But everyone you know is busy coming and going from Italy... and they're all
bragging about what a wonderful time they had there. And for the rest of
your life, you will say "Yes, that's where I was supposed to go. That's what I
had planned."

And the pain of that will never, ever, ever, ever go away... because the
loss of that dream is a very very significant loss.

But... if you spend your life mourning the fact that you didn't get to
Italy, you may never be free to enjoy the very special, the very lovely things
...
about Holland

-------------THIS IS THE FOLLOW UP ON THAT POEM-------------------------------

CELEBRATING HOLLAND--I'M HOME

I have been in Holland for a while now. It has become home. I have had time
to catch my breath, to settle in and adjust, and to accept this different trip
than I'd planned.

I reflect back on those years when I first landed in Holland and remember
clearly my shock, my fear, my anger. In those first few years, I tried to
get back to Italy as planned, but Holland was where I was to stay. Today, I can
say how far I have come on this unexpected journey, how much I have learned
about Holland. But it has been a journey of time.

I worked hard. I bought new guidebooks. I learned a new language, and I
slowly found my way around in Holland. I met others whose plans had changed like
mine and who could share my experience. Some of these fellow travellers had been
in Holland longer than I and were seasoned guides, assisting me along the way.
Many have encouraged me and have taught me to open my eyes to the wonder and
gifts to behold in this new land. We supported one another, some have become
very special friends, and I have discovered a community of caring. Holland
isn't so bad.

I think that Holland is used to wayward travellers like me and has become a
land of hospitality, reaching out to welcome, assist, and support newcomers.
Over the years, I've wondered what life would have been like if I'd landed
in Italy as planned. Would life have been easier? Would it have been as
rewarding?W ould I have learned the important lessons I benefit from today?

Sure, this journey has been challenging and at times I would (and still do)
stomp my feet and cry out in frustration and protest. And, yes, Holland is
slower paced and less flashy that Italy, but this, too, has been an
unexpected gift. I have learned to slow down and look closer at things, with a new
appreciation for the remarkable beauty of Holland. I have discovered that it
doesn't matter where you land. What's more important is what you make of
your journey and how you see and enjoy the very special things that Holland has
to offer. I have come to love Holland and call it home.

Yes, I landed in a place I hadn't planned. Yet I am thankful, for this
destination has been richer than I could have imagined!

ONE YEAR TODAY....

2009-02-05T15:03:00.000-06:00

OK...wowowowow....THANK YOU GOD because as of this afternoon, it has been ONE YEAR that matthew has been SEIZURE FREE!!!!! THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU GOD!!! it is sooooo amazing to me that we have had NONE!!! i won't lie to you and say that i don't check him ALL THE TIME to see if he is having a sz but NOTHING!!! what has done it?? well, a year ago, KEPRA was introduced into his sz med cocktail...he was taken off ZONEGRAM and put on TOPOMAX, and then he kept his usual TRILEPTAL & KLONOPIN and the dr tried KEPRA because he was STILL having sz....after a couple of months of no sz, TRILEPTAL was taken off in JULY and then after a couple of more months no sz, KLONOPIN was taken off in dec 2008!!! so, now we are on TWO sz meds...KEPRA & TOPOMAX!!!!! WOWOWOWOWOWOWOWW....i am just so happy for him!! we are still cautious about it but thank you LORD, nothing!!

soooo, HAPPY ONE YEAR ANNIVERSARY, MATTHEW....for a SOLID year, the sz have been GONE!! and we give ALL GLORY to GOD!!!!! because thru HIM, this has happened!!!

SO, the days of being a human pacifer....

2009-02-03T16:00:00.003-06:00

are OVER!! yes, he is 17 months old and WEANED!!!!! i can't believe that i DID IT!! 17 months of BF ....WOWOWOWOWOWOWOW....this is the longest time i have done with any of my kids and i am sooooo.....PROUD?! of myself?! he was soooo amazing and EASY to nurse...but after being BITTEN 3 times in a row and not gently...that was IT!! and i knew he was not nursing that much because i did not feel ANY discomfort not nursing for over 24 hours!!! YAYAYAYAYAY....he was ready..he only nursed at night anyway....so, now to help him to learn to sleep in his BED!!! that will happen soon...i am half way there!!!!

just another milestone....

12 YEARS TODAY....

2009-02-01T15:55:00.000-06:00

my beautiful, wonderful hubby and i have been married for 12 YEARS TODAY!!! what a BLESSING it has been to have him in my life....i love this man SOOO MUCH and to just bask in his love is just such a BLESSING for me in my life...he is an AMAZING man, husband and father....when GOD brought him in my life, i knew true joy and love....he is just a blessing...

well, today we came home from our trip to CORPUS CHRISTI and we had a lovely weekend with family.....it was nice to get away as a family for a couple of days!!! we can't wait to go again in a couple of weeks...spending time as a family is just such a BLESSING and i love every minute of it!! THANK YOU GOD for my LIFE!!!

bad news for him....

2009-01-28T16:11:00.002-06:00

but GOOD news for US!! :) JAMES just found out that his class, that he was going to have to be away the whole month of feb, was FULL so he had to cancel....sooo, we were all prepared for him to be away for a month but unfortunately for him, they were FULL!! it is not really great because he needs those classes for his E7 promotion ( which he JUST got the position for that slot!!)....sooo, now we have to wait until another one opens up....but i told him that there was a REASON for everything and something will open up at the EXACT TIME he needs to go!! so, now we get to GO TO CORPUS as a family AGAIN on the weekend of the 14th in our RV for a wedding...(we are going to be going this weekend for a bridal shower).and we get to go to THE RODEO this month too!! :) i was prepared for him to be away again but i am VERY happy he gets to stay HOME!!! he was going to be in NORTH CAROLINA somwhere...

anyway, the boys and i are happy and we are just SOOOO PEOUD OF HIM!!!!!!! he got a new position and he is really enjoying himself....YAYAYAYAYAYA...

results are IN....

2009-01-24T16:49:00.004-06:00

well, we got the results for the SLEEP STUDY done in december and basically everything was ok BUT he did have MILD SLEEP APNEA....i was SHOCKED! he said that it only happened about once an hour...i asked him how he would know and he said that it happened during REM sleep and it would cause him to wake up briefly and fall back to sleep pretty quickly....sounds about RIGHT!! he does do that and that would make sense...since he already had his tonsil and adnoids out, then he said we would just continue to monitor him to see what happenes...

then onto the 24 HOUR HALTER MONITOR....we went to see the cardiologist on monday and she was VERY HAPPY with matthew!!!! YIPPEEE!!! it had been 6 months since we saw her and that was the longest we had been without seeing a cardiologist...she is really amazed that with all the drama he had and with him having had infradiaphragmatic TAPVR, which is the worst possible thing you can have with TAPVR...she is just AMAZED!! soooo am i ! she said that she did not have to do another ECHO because she was very pleased with the last 2 and that his VEINS ARE WIDE OPEN, THANK YOU GOD!!!! just a miracle!!! we are soooo happy! she did say that during the EKG they did that he had some PVC (Premature ventricular contraction) but just one in 12 seconds...she said that while she was listening to his heart that she heart a couple more BUT she said she was not worried...she EXCECTED to hear some ESPECIALLY since he had so much trauma to his heart! but we did a halter monitor anyway and she said that he looked great and that there were some there but not more that a couple an hour....and they were spaced apart so that she was not worried....she wants to see us in A YEAR!!! WWOOWOWOWOWOWOWOWOWOWOW! a YEAR!!! just amazing!! we are soooo happy!!!!

ANYWAY, we are just hanging out right now....enjoying spring in winter,...just BEAUTIFUL out here in texas!!!! love the WEATHER!!