GONZALEZ FAMILY UPDATE...prayers needed please!

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

HAPPY MEMORIAL DAY!!!

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....

HAD A DAY DATE...

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!!

so james is OFF!!

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!!

12 YEARS TODAY....

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....

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...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JAMES!!!

YAYAYAYAYAYA!!! my husband is now 21 years old!! wooohoo!! he is now offically legal to drink!!! :) ok, so maybe he is not 21 years old, he is just a bit older but TODAY IS HIS BIRTHDAY!!! what a BLESSING we have in him! we are so thankful that he is in our life!!!!!!

unfortunatly, he is out of town for a couple of days but we will DEFINETLY be celebrating when he comes home!!

sooo, HAPPY BIRTHDAY, DADDY! we love you and can't wait to have you home with us again!!!

this weekend....WONDERFUL!

this past weekend, we were on a FAMILY OUTING!!! well, kinda a working holiday. james had a confrence for recruiting and retention in GRAPEVINE, TX and we got to GO!!! YIPPEEE!!! this was one of the SMALL things i misseed with james being gone. we use to always go with him when he went anywhere. we always had so much fun just being in a hotel and such. anyway, we left on THURSDAY and it took us about 5 hours to get there and my boys are just so travel savy!! they all did GREAT!! we got there and checked into the HYATT PLACE in grapevine and WOW, it was BEAUTIFUL! VERY NICE! the room was very big, with a HUGE 42" TV and just plenty of room where the boys weren't on top of each other! well, friday, the boys and i just chilled out in the room while james atteneded his confrence. it was nice to just hang out there in the room and READ! we did a little bit of school work with alex and that is something i LOVE about homeschooling. we can homeschool ANYWHERE and i love being able to travel with james whenever we can!!! with now worries about being truant!! anyway, on saturday, it was family day and we were on the field by 7am!!! james had a KICK BALL game and they lost their match....we then went to the TUG OF WAR game and they WON!! then we went to the horseshoe game and we lost...it was fun being the cheering squad for them! we then went and had a GREAT lunch there (very nicely set up at the HILTON across the parking lot from where we were staying) and then there was a whole bunch of different bouncy kinda of play structures and events spread around ...alex had a BLAST!! they had pumpkin painting that we did and we also had a hay ride!! wejust had sooooo much FUN!!! That evening, we attended an award banquet with our children. we are soooo proud of them!! they behaved so well. we got a TON of compliments on them! there were alot of other kiddos there with their parents and EVERYONE looked sooooooo sharp! the soldiers all had on their class A'S or their BLUES and then us the families were all dressed nicely! we just had a WONDERFUL TIME! the food was pretty awesome and the company was very awesome!! now did i forget to mention the MOST IMPORTANT THING?!?!?!?!


MY WONDERFUL BEAUTIFUL HERO OF A HUSBAND WON AN AWARD THERE....

HE WON BEST RETENTION IN THE STATE OF TEXAS!!!!!!!!!!!! wooooooooo hoooooooo!!! i am so proud of this man!! out all of the STATE OF TEXAS....which is REALLY big...he was the BEST!!!! :) WOW, I AM JUST SO PROUD OF HIM!!!

ANYWAY, we had a WONDERFUL weekend.....just WONDERFUL!!

he's home!!!

YIPPPPEEEEE!! what a GREAT weekend this was....my babe CAME HOME! i got the call SATURDAy morning that they were MOVING OUT!! it took them over 6 HOURS to get here!! he said that in their convoy, they were moving about 40 mph and since he was with the big man, he had to keep riding UP and DOWN checking to make sure that everyone was where they were suppose to be! i am just so HAPPY!!! i prayed for him to make it for my birthday, and i a KNOW that is such a SILLY thing to pray for when there is so much more OUT THERE that is bigger than this but....anyway, my prayers were answered and he made it home! we even got to go togeher to a QUINCANERA which was nice!! my boys had so much fun DANCING and such!! AND i just had fun with my FAMILY AGAIN!!

and then on sunday, james had to go to work but that was ok...we ended up staying at HOME because joshua had a TEMP of 103!!!! and i was going by myself and i don't think i could have done that....josh was very irritable and just not feeling good and matthew LOVES to play on that....sooo, we stayed home and waited for daddy to come home...he came home around 3pm and just hung out together after that....awee...THANK YOU GOD for bring my DH home for my birthday!!!

hey there....

well, i just wanted to share with ya'll some pictures that james sent me from HOUSTON area....all i can say is WOW!! and may GOD BLESS THOSE PEOPLE and HELP THEM!!

he said he will send me more!! here they are...

IKE PHOTO'S

just thought i would share this with ya'll....

when o when will he COME HOME!

YEP, right now, we don't know WHEN he will be home! he called to let me know that there is no time frame WHEN he will be done over there!! not happy here! i had soooo much HOPE that he would be home FOR MY BIRTHDAY!!! last year was great but i COULDN'T WAIT FOR THIS YEAR!! i am really bummed and i am just PRAYING that he can come home SOON!!! he is very busy and is VERY TIRED...i just HOPE he comes home soon...


well, onto other news...joshua is walking MORE now...he is just soooooo cute!!! and boy, i am havingt a TIME with this little guy...he is all over the place and taking toys and such from the boys (especially MATHTEW) HE SEEMS to LOVE to torment him!! he got his 3 shots today...booohooo!

i am suffering right now...my fibro is crazxy right now...i can barely type..my hands are so swollen and i am hurting all over...walking is BAD and i have just TOTAL body ache right now...i am popping motrin right now and it is taking the edge off....i feel like i have the flu...walking up the stairs, FORGET ABOUT IT!! pain pain pain....

anyway, just tired and ready for my family to be back as one...

FINALLY FOUND IT!!

hello there!! i FINALLY found the SNL: SARAH PALIN/HILLARY CLINTON spoof in FULL!! i don't know how long it will be on it but here is the LINK!!

SNL SARAH PALIN/HILLARY CLINTON SKIT/

if you have not watched it, i HIGHLY recommended!!! TOOOOO FUNNY!! they did a GREAT JOB on it!!

anyway, all is well in my life...i talk to james a bit ago and he FINALLY got a BATH today! he had not had a bath (all of them) since they left here on saturday..i think he said they each got 5 gallons to bath with by poking holes in the jug and using the trickle that came out!! they are still in galveston and there is NO RUNNING WATER, NO ELECTRICITY and it is just DEVESTATING the damage the storm did....he said it was pretty bad....we don't know WHEN he will be home....and my birthday is coming up in a couple of days...i hope he makes it home if not, another year without him home....

ANYWAY, joshua is doing well, he is starting to REALLY walk everywhere...he is such a CUTIE!!! but since we are TRYING to put some weight on him, i am all over him and NOW he doesn't want anything to do with eating...GO FIGURE...

MATTHEW, we just finished the FIRST session of the 60 hour fast!! it was a FLOPP but at least i am ok knowing he does WELL and the medications are not going to cause an issue with him not eating and only being on pedialyte....i am excited to try it again in 2 weeks!!! this method is called the PALMER METHOD we are HOPING to wean him SOMEDAY off his g-tube...GOD WILLING...

I AM SO BLESSED....

I have the VERY BEST FRIENDS in the WHOLE WHOLE WHOLE WORLD!!! today, we were having GIRLS NIGHT OUT and we plan this like a MONTH in advance...well, with everything that is going on with james and IKE, i had to cancel myself going...well, my girls decided that if i couldn't make it to the party, THE PARTY WOULD MOVE TO ME! yep, the girls came over and we had such a BLAST!! what a WONDERFUL TIME i had today just chatting with the girls and really just having so much fun! we ordered out CHINESE FOOD (YYUUMMMMMYYYYYY) and then they brought cake and ice cream...so good! we just had a fun time talking and the boys did WONDERFUL too!!! alex was playing on the computer and the smaller boys were just playing and hamming it up for the ladies! time flew by and we laughed and talked and just enjoyed ourself so much!

these ladies brought me OUT OF MY FUNK for today!!! i was REALLY bummed this past couple of days with james being gone....it is hard this time around with him gone..i had just gotten use to FINALLY having him home and now he is gone AGAIN....just having to get BACK into the groove of it on my own....having the girls come over was just AWESOME!! THANK YOU LADIES!! MUCH LOVE TO YOU!

well, james is bummed because he is missing ANOTHER first....joshua is WALKING!! ok, not totally but he can take up to 20 steps and he is doing it on his own!! and on the subject of joshua....i took him to the drs office for a follow up due to his weight check...his official dx is FAILURE TO THRIVE...i look at him and can't see it but he is not on the charts!!! but i am not worrieda bout it...i am just giving him pediasure and lots of calories and see what happens...he is going back in 2 weeks to check up again....alex was the SAME WAY...he wasn't on the charts until he was 2 years old!!! but for joshua, he WAS on the charts but got sick and hasn't recovered his weight again!!! anyway, i will just keep pushing the protien and calories....

why is this harder....

than i think it SHOULD be....james being gone RIGHT NOW, working in HOUSTON/GALVESTON area is REALLY HARD...and COME ON, he was just gone for a YEAR but i am getting teary eyed over THIS?!?!? he doesn't know HOW LONG he will be gone.... i don't know if maybe it is because i had finally gotten use to having him home again, and now he is GONE?! but i TOTALLY MISS HIM HORRIBLY RIGHT NOW!!! he called earlier today to let me know that he was leaving and was going into GALVESTON to help out over there (he was in that LONG LONG LONG (OVER 400 VEHICLES) convoy you saw on the news)and that he MIGHT not be able to call for a COUPLE OF DAYS because of the phone lines and satelites and such being down and i just about LOST IT!!! really, what is my problem?! but i really got soooooooooo sad and started to cry because of this little thing? he IS in TEXAS, he IS not that far away....why am i getting upset because of THIS?!

anyway, i am really bummed right now because of this and because i was suppose to do a GNO on monday with my girlfriends and that is cxd now because james is gone and my MIL can't help me out and it was in honor of my birthday coming up and THAT got me going again....boo hoo for me, huh? just got to get over this and keep on trucking....there is absolutely NOTHING wrong in my world right now but i am just bummed....

anyway, my thoughts and prayers are going out to all those relief workers going OVER there to help out our fellow TEXANS and all the fellow TEXANS that are going thru this....

well, james is gone...

yep, he has been activated since wed? and he officially LEFT on thursday and he has been here in san antonio at "PORT SAN ANTONIO" which is the offical staging area for the hurricaine relief....well, he just called me and told me he was headed off to BEAUMONT, TX which is right in the worst are tomorrow...they are leaving at 8 am and he has NO IDEA what is offically going be doing!!! and it is BAD right now out there and i am just worried about what he will be going into...my thoughts and prayers are with all the people in harms way, those that chose to stay and now must stay strong and PRAY HARD as they wait it out...MY THOUGHTS AND PRAYERS ARE WITH THEM!!

HAPPY LABOR DAY!!!

WELL, i hope that those able to enjoy this beautiful day in our part of the world are out there doing that!! and those that are dealing with the HURRICANE, i PRAY that they are all safe and that those displaced from their homes are some how getting much love and comfort from the american people around that supporting them!!!

well, we are home today, daddy is again working HARD during this time....everyday since wed, he has been gone before 6am and home AFTER 9pm...he is EXHAUSTED right now doing all this work...i am so proud of him! i am happy that he is HOME...others are all over the gulf coast and towards/in louisiana....i can only PRAY for all of them!!!

josh is starting to walk...he will walk with us holding his hands and sometimes only ONE hand...he is getting better at it! and yesterday, matthew ate some food that he had never had....RAMAN NOODLES AND PB & J!! yummy! he really enjoyed it! he has shaken his head 'NO NO" whenever i am getting ready to set him up on his feeds...i am taking this as a VERY positive note...i tell him that when he can eat by mouth MORE, i will take that pump away! he just gives me a look...GOD WILLING he will be getting better and eating more....we are SAD that his nurse of over a year and a half is getting ready to leave us at the end of the month....he is A RN NOW!!! :) again, we are so proud of him! he has been such a WONDERFUL NURSE to matthew....and matthew can't get enough of him! i think they have BOTH grown together!! :) and we actually had to let another nurse that had been with us for a year go earlier last month...i was so sad about that!! but we wanted to go to a 4 DAY nursing because daddy was off on fri-sun and we didn't want to schedule anyone there and then have to cancel their hours because we decided to go out of town or something....man....so, we will be on the look out for a NEW NURSE....i am kinda of worried about it because it is ALWAYS stressful when you look and get a new nurse...i will just PRAY that we find one that is WONDERFUL for matthew just like our last one!! :)

well, tomorrow, THE MAKE-A-WISH PEOPLE ARE COMING!!! man, i am so happy and excited! we are going to have our interview with them and get details and such!! WOOOHOOO!!!!! i don't know what is going to happen but that he is getting his wish is so EXCITING!!! :) i will post to let ya'll know how it went!

WELL.....james is activated!

yep, because of the HURRICANE down in the coast, he is being activated to help out texas and louisiana!!! we are so proud of him! as of right now, he will be here in san antonio in the "headquarters" of the operation!!

well, me and my boys are having a STAR WARS marathon!! all 6 epi while i try to clean our room!! just relaxing upstairs......joshua is getting into EVERYTHIN...so as i clean up something, he comes and takes things out or makes more mess!! FUN FUN FUN!! :)

WELL, one week of homeschooling down and i am SOOO LOVING my new system of planners and charts for us1!! much more organzied and i am even making a weekly MENU!!! so easy to know what we are having on what day!!!

anyway, i am truely enjoy myself and alex is learning so much!! every week we are going to study a STATE...this week, of course, we studied TEXAS and learned all kinds of easy facts and such !!

AUGUST UPDATE!!...WE ARE SO EXCITED!

Hola family and friends!

We hope everyone is doing GREAT!! As for us, well, AUGUST is a pretty busy month in our home!! We have enjoyed our time together as a FAMILY now since June 23rd!! it has been WONDERFUL having james HOME AGAIN!!!!

First, I MUST start with some WONDERFUL news that we received this week…..i am pretty sure you know that I think my WONDERFUL hubby is a HERO to our FAMILY, well, this week he got something so BIG and WONDERFUL given to him by the U.S. ARMY……our HERO got word that he will be receiving the THE BRONZE STAR MEDAL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am so PROUD OF HIM!!!!!!! This is such an HONOR for him and us and we could not be more proud of him!!!! I am not sure when they will be awarding him but I will let ya’ll know!!

Well on top of that news, this month, we have celebrated 2 special BIRTHDAYS!!!

On August 10th, we celebrated our big boys 6TH BIRTHDAY!!! YIPPEEE!!! So hard to believe that he is now 6 years old!!!!! AMAZING! We had a little party for him at a pizza place and we had a BLAST!!! It was really bittersweet because he actually asked james, after asking who was going to be there, “daddy, will you be there too?” and james said “of course I will be” and then he realized WHY he was asking, and he went on to hug him and told him that THIS YEAR daddy would be there for his birthday!! Awwww…..this last year he has grown SO MUCH…both physically and mentally! He is just such a smarty and is doing so well homeschooling!! We are really proud of him and all he has done this last year….He is starting 1st grade and we bought his FIRST true curriculum and we are so EXCITED!!! I can’t wait to get started…I know we will be a bit rusty but we sure are going TRY!! and he retains so much info, he can remember AMAZING facts!!! so awesome! he is excited about getting started doing class!! we ordered his curriculum and it is FAITH BASED so we will BOTH be learning so much about GOD and the world around us together!!

And then on August 25th, we celebrated our little baby’s 1st birthday!!!! WOWOWOW….hard hard hard to believe that he is ONE already!!! It seems like just YESTERDAY, I was in shock after finding out that on NEW YEARS 2007 that I was PREGNANT!!!! Awww, it has been just be such an awesome year….he has grown so much from that little bitty 6 lb 4 oz baby to a 17lb 8 oz little boy…he is pulling to stand, cruising, standing & babbling!! And his first word?!?!?! MAMAMAMAMA!!! AAWWWW!!!! I am so happy because that is my first baby that has EVER said my name FIRST!!! YIPPEEE!!! He is truly a mama’s boy and I am so happy! J FINALLY!!!! Anyway, he is doing well and such a little guy!! one bad habit is that he puts EVERYTHING---EVERYTHING IN HIS MOUTH!!! OMG, i have such a FEAR that he will choke on something! and i sweep and mop and this little one will FIND something to put in his mouth!!! AAARRRGGGGHHHH!!!! this is my first baby that has done that. i think because alex was our first and we kept him CONFINED to a specific area (because he was the only one) but now with 3 boys and a nurse, well, we can't and he has the run of the HOUSE!!! YIKES! We are so BLESSED to have him in our lives! And for his BIRTHDAY, he FELL OFF THE BED AT 3 AM!!!!! OMG, talk about SCARY!! Thank God he was just fine except he scared MOMMY AND DADDY like crazy!! Just our luck, after a YEAR of sleeping with us, his birthday would be the day he FALLS off the BED!!! He was fine, just scared himself and most of all US !!!! we are going to go out to eat at a favorite restaurant and just CELEBRATE his life!!!

Well, for the month of JUNE, and JULY we took some time off to be TOGETHER…we spent 2 wonderful weeks RV’ING together, just us, our little family of 5! It was really awesome to just BE together, without nurses, therapies and drs appts!! Wow, back to just being us….we spent our first week in ROCKPORT….we stayed at an RV PARK out there…it was WONDERFUL!! The ONLY bad part was MAN, those mosquitos were just about ready to TAKE US AWAY!!! Thank GOD we were SLIGHTLY smaller than THEY WERE!!!!!! Yep, they were pretty big and VERY BOLD….they would just STICK to you, without a thought on their mind except to eat off you!!! My little matthew and daddy got the worst of it (over 27 bites on matthew!)….anyway, it was nice just being together as a family….we did a lot of fun things around that area like the aquarium, fishing, the jetties, etc….very nice!!! We also took another 8 days at a WONDERFUL place called GUADALUPE RIVER RV RESORT….and I HIGHLY RECOMMEND IT! It was just BEAUTIFUL and peaceful….defiently a place to go! They have lots of cabins if you don’t have an rv and if you do, well, YOU MUST CHECK IT OUT!!! We had so much fun in Kerrville , tx!! it was just really relaxing and peaceful and just having so much fun swiming and being together. and THE RAIN HELD OUT until we got HOME!!! yep, GOD sure BLESSED us because our whole trip, we had no rain and just BEAUTIFUL days....and on our way home, the HURRICANE that hit texas came in THAT DAY!! the rain even waited until we got EVERYTHING OUT OF THE TRAILER!!! THANK YOU GOD! Anyway, we have pictures up at FLICKR for anyone wanting to see some pictures!!! And if you are up to READING , you can check out my BLOG for a COMPLETE (J) account of our vacation…and I do mean COMPLETE!! And you KNOW I can WRITE!!!

Well, MATTHEW is doing AWESOME!! We are so happy! Since late MAY early JUNE, he has been CLEAR IN THE LUNGS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Wowowowow, it has been so NICE to not have him SICK!!! ONE WHOLE YEAR of it…james likes to credit HIMSELF for matthew getting BETTER saying that he just missed daddy and that is why he was so sick for the past year…..pawsha!!! I told him it was the ANTIBIOTICS that he has been on since april/may and will continue to be on thru the winter….just as a precaution! So far so good!!! We are just trying to get him STRONG so that he can learn to WALK and TALK!! He is just getting BIGGER…he is such a HAPPY boy and now with daddy home, well, he is that much more HAPPIER!! He LOVES wrestling with his BROTHERS and boy, he is REALLY good at it!!! His baby brother enjoys tormenting him and vice versa….he is now got an ATTITUDE and before, if someone took something from him, he would just watch him do it and not say ANYTHING, well, NOW, boy, he lets you know if you are doing something he does not want you to do!!! He YELLS AT US!!! It is too cute to hear him just go off!! NEVER before has he really showed that kind of EMOTION and it is so awesome to see!!! And to see him get mad….josh doesn’t know what to make of it when he does it but he usually backs off if he does!!! He will be starting school soon and get back into the rhythm of it all!! YAYAy!

Well, as for james, apart from being home again, THANK YOU GOD, he is also back at work after over 40 days on leave!!! We are now starting to get into that kind of rhythm but we are so happy because he is now on working 4 days a week so that means we get him for 3 WHOLE DAYS….awww…that is so awesome and we are so happy about that! We can take a quick trip out of town if we wanted to…very nice!!! But he is back to working out and keeping in shape….we are just so happy to have him HOME!!

AS FOR ME, well, I am just hanging out with all my boys! It has been so AWESOME having my family back together. We are just EXCITED on everything…it is kinda bittersweet because whenever we do something, we always seem to ask our self, when was the last time we did this and sometimes it is almost 2 years ago!!! We lost a WHOLE YEAR TOGETHER….it sometimes doesn’t hit you until you think about that. And then there are the things we are doing that we realize it has been OVER a YEAR since we did it together….like going to CHURCH, going to eat somewhere, etc…just today, we started home school and how nice it was to have james here to ask alex how his day went and all of that…he even got to help get alex study area set up!! Anyway, it was just really nice!! I finally got a diagnosis for my arm that has been paining me in FOREVER…TENNIS ELBOW!!! Yeah, you know with all the time I have, I do SOOOOO MUCH tennis playing at the local country club….yeah right!!! I know that you can get it with out that but what a diagnosis…and with the FIBRO, it just amplifys the pain I am in!!! after josh is weaned, I hope to finally get some PAIN RELIEF from my FIBRO….i can’t even IMAGINE what it feels like to be PAIN FREE….soooooonnn!!

sooo, that is our AUGUST for 2008!! we are SO PROUD of JAMES and his BRONZE STAR METAL!!! just amazed and so happy that he is who he IS!! and then our boys turning one year older....we feel SOOOOO BLESSED, THANK YOU GOD!!

i put together some MONTAGES for both boys!! i hope you check them out!!

ALEX'S video montage


James Alex Turns 6!

JOSHUA'S video montage


Happy Birthday, Joshua Michael!

well, that is it for now...i know it has been a LONG TIME since i have kept up with ya'll and my blog but that will GOD WILING change now....

Maria
Proud Army wife to James, mommy to Alex(5), Matthew(4) & Baby Joshua (1)

JAMES IS HOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

THANK YOU GOD, he is HOME HOME HOME!!!!!! YIIIIPPPEEEEEEEEEEE!!! FINALLY, the post that i have wanted to write is here.....he is HOME HOME HOME!!! (can you tell i am EXCITED?) HEHEHEHEHEHE...this is just the BEST DAY in a LONG TIME...we got the news LATE AFTERNOON that he would be able to come home....it was kinda crazy because unitl about 3pm he was not sure if he could be home TODAY or tomorrow!! AND the last plane left at 5pm!!! so, he got his ticket, and literally RAN to get his stuff and find a RIDE to the airport and MAKE it to his flight!!! one guy didn't make it and thru james, was able to rebook a later flight...it was CRAZY!! soooo, he came in at 1030pm and we were waiting in the CELL PHONE LOT and 2 out 3 kiddos were awake to greet him in the car when we picked him up!!! and that would be our PARTY ANIMAL MATTHEW!! yep, he was WIDE AWAKE!! such a cutie!! and all he wanted to do was give daddy hugs but man, if you have not been in that area where you pick up people at the airport, MAN IT IS CRAZY!!! there was a TRAFFIC JAM and we were FINALLY able to get him and GET OUT!! CRAZY! but he is HOME HOME HOME!!! :) as far as i know, he will be OFF for at LEAST 30 DAYS!!! and we are making PLANS for a RV VACATION for at least 2 of those weeks and we are sooooooo happy and excited about that! that is something that we have been looking forward to and talking about now since DAY ONE of his DEPLOYMENT!! really, that was something that we CLUNG TO, DREAMED and PLANNED and THOUGHT OF during our year apart!Soooo......YYYYIIIIPPPPPEEEEEEE!!!!!

there was something else that i thought of was that joshua has only seen daddy for TWENTY-NINE DAYS out of his 10 months of life!!! amazing...and sad!! but we are going to change that......daddy scared joshua when he woke up in the car and saw daddy kissing on him....awww...

AND on a SIDE NOTE, matthew will be going to have an ANGIO CT done on JULY 2nd...any thoughts and prayers for him would be GREATLY appreciated!!!

anyway, THANK YOU ALL for all the LOVE, PRAYERS AND SUPPORT this last year!! we are SO BLESSED to have people there for us during this whole year!! thank you as ALWAYS! this year has been an EXPERIENCE that was DEFINETLY a time of GROWTH and of just learning to trust in GOD for everything.....we have grown closer as a family as the days and months passed us by....we relied on each other for SUPPORT and LOVE because we knew that THAT was what was going to keep us STRONG....it was hard to be a way from each other, we knew that THRU GOD, all would be well and we would JOYFULLY WAIT for the day that we could be back together as a FAMILY....and here we ARE!! WE MADE IT!! what seemed so long ago may/june 2007 when the day that we DREADED when we found out that he would be deployed and KNOWING that he would be gone for SO LONG.....and now we have gone thru a YEAR of GROWTH with the addition to our family with joshua and just the growing of our boys matthew and alex....what a STORY we tell our children.....something they will never forget...AND NOW we will learn to be together again, enjoy EVERY SECOND we have together and just remember how LONG we had not been together and just CHERISH and HOLD each other close because we KNOW how it felt to be apart...we are just so PROUD of our HERO JAMES...THANK YOU GOD for bringing him home SAFETLY....

SOOOOO THE NEWS IS....HE IS HOME HOME HOME, THANK YOU GOD!!! and if you have not had a chance to visit his montage, here is the LINK to it:

A Year Without Daddy....Deployment.

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY...montage of deployment!

hello everyone...

we hope everyone is doing GREAT!!! as for us, we are doing just fine...we are ANXIOUSLY awaiting james coming home from BNCOC out in LOUISIANA!!! ! yep, he will GOD WILLING be home MAYBE next weekend!! we did spend an AWESOME 11 days together before he had to go back and we crammed AS MUCH as we could in that time!!! it was pretty awesome to have him here!!

well, we wanted to wish all the FATHER'S out there HAPPY FATHER'S DAY from our family to yours! james will be missing yet ANOTHER fathers day so we will end up celebrating when he get's home, GOD WILLING! SOON!!

SO, for fathers day, i made a picture MONTAGE of james year of deployment! i hope ya'll will go check it out! here is the link to the video:

A Year Without Daddy....Deployment.

welllll, since i am already bothering ya'll, i might as well give a LITTLE update on our family!! i promise it won't be THAT long!! heheheheh

ok, start off with alex, he is doing GREAT!! he is almost 6 years old and he is such a SMARTIE! i am constantly AMAZED at his ablity to pick everything up!! he LOVES to read and he LOVES to learn stuff...one day, i decided to teach him his days of the week, and i asked him if he knew them, and he just SAID THEM!! so i said, ooookkkkk, let's learn the months of the year....AND AGAIN, he just started to say them!!! i hadn't got to that YET and he already KNEW THEM!!! and then we started to do the STATES and we used this online map activity and by then end of the day, he knew ALL the states and where they went on a BLANK MAP!! :) anyway, i am excited about getting him started on 1st grade now...i know he will do soooo well!! THANK YOU GOD!

then onto MATTHEW...hmmm. ..what can i say except....HE IS STILL SICK OVER A YEAR LATER!!!! can you believe it? i can't....it is so fustrating to hear him junky and yucky!! i don't know if we should just ACCEPT that this is his normal now?! i don't know what ELSE to think?! he has been on ANTIBIOTICS for almost a year and for over 3 months SOLID....he has also went thru 2 rounds of oral steroids in less than a MONTH!! that's a LOT......we just can't clear him UP!! why? any prayers on this would be GREATLY appreciated! ! we have been in and out of his pulmonologist office...we also went to the CARDIOLOGIST this month and she said she was in AWE on how he looks!! she was concerned that because of his congestion, that MAYBE it had to do with his HEART and not his lungs....that got me worried...but she said that his ECHO looked good...we are going to have an ANGIO CT done on 7/2/08 under sedation to see what the anatomy of his heart looks like....so PLEASE any good thoughts on that would be appreciated! we also found out WHICH tapvr he had and it was TAPVR INFRADIAPHRAGMATIC, which is the WORST kind, just a little something we found out about...well, over all, he is doing GREAT!! he is pulling up to STAND and also CRUISING...he is also eating more when he is NOT too sick....but he impressed james by pointing out letters and numbers, colors and objects!! awww...he is such a CUTIE!!! we are just so proud of him and now he is FOUR.....AMAZING! !

and then there was little JOSHUA...wow, he is almost 10 months OLD!! and he is CRAWLING ALL OVER THE PLACE!!! yes, he started crawling right before james came HOME! and he is GOOD!! i don't remember alex getting into as much stuff as this little guy is! he is also putting EVERYTHING in his MOUTH!!! YIKES!! even if i sweep and mop, he will find that ONE piece that i missed and put it in his MOUTH!! he is something ELSE! and he is ALL over the place...it is so cute to watch! and WATCH i do!! he is eating baby food now and also just started on the CHERIEOS!! and he loves them! he is also wanting EVERYTHING that someone has! and he is VERY stuborn when he wants something and you take him away from it by putting him in another room, he will IMMEDIATELY crawl back over there as FAST as he can! and he looks like he wants to start pulling to stand...so WATCH OUT! I am just GLAD that all our gates and stuff are still up!! he already took a tumble out the back door when brother decided he wanted him to join us outside!! and he got pretty banged up from it...:( anyway, too cute!

james is doing fine..he is VERY TIRED because his school has been pretty TOUGH!! he has really been working HARD and LONG...he said ALMOST as bad as bucca!! he get's up at 4am and doesn't finish class until 7pm and then he has TONS of homework.... but he is doing fine...he is not to far away in louisiana... we are just PRAYING for the day he can come HOME!!!

as for me, well, i am doing fine...i am TIRED and ready for james to come home for good! i told him that once he is home, i can finally go to the drs and get my arm checked out, my fibro looked at to get it under control (i hope) and then...drum roll please....MY BRACES PUT ON!! yes, i will be metal mouth for about 2 years...i sure don't WANT them but i don't get a choice...YIKES! ! i know i will not enjoy the next 2 years...i just hope i can handle the PAIN along with the pain from my FIBRO!!! i don't know! i am kinda nervous about it! i wanted to wait until james came home because i didn't want to SCARE HIM OFF!!

oookkkk, not toooo bad, right? i dont' think it was THAT long...i could do WORST! :) don't forget to visit our BLOG (www.blessingsinmyli fe.blogspot. com) for some pictures.... ANYWAY, i hope everyone has a GREAT weekend and father days! know that we think of all our FAMILY and FRIENDS all the time!! take care and GOD BLESS