update!!

hello family and friends!

we hope everyone is doing GREAT!!! :)

well, i will quickly move on to the recent update.........you ready for this?!?!?!?! well, it seems like all the PRAYERS said for our little miracle........WORKED!!! THANK YOU GOD and THANK YOU EVERYONE!!! yep, drs are AGAIN baffled because guess where we are RIGHT NOW? we are HOME!!!! and WITHOUT THE PACEMAKER!!!


ok, here is how it went down.....well, as you know, we had such a ROLLER COASTER ride this past almost 2 weeks with matthew having surgery on MONDAY 14th and then such complications this weekend....a visit to the ER on sunday, a REPEAT OR visit on monday 21 (his birthday) and then all these heart issues.....it has been TRULY a CRAZY ride!!! thru it all, we kept strong and we just PRAYED!! well, i can tell you this, after you see the attatched picture of his EKG strip and what that nurse saw, you will have NOT DOUBT of WHY they were in such a PANIC!! i will explain to you that when you look at the picture, the first strip is a pretty NORMAL strip, and then the strip in the middle is where you can see the LONG period of almost STRAIGHT LINE....THAT was the issue....they were such LONG pauses that if it was you or me, we would be passed out on the floor and probably had the PADDLES on you to shock your heart back to a normal rhythm!! the drs and nurses were FREAKING OUT!! because he kept doing it over and over again and matthew didn't even TWITCH!! they were asking me if he ever had any arrythmia problems and i said no, not that i know and they called in dr B and he was there BY CHANCE so late(i told him that it was NOT chance but that he was MENT to be there!!) and and he was ready to put a pacemaker in him THAT DAY!!! dr P his cardiologist talked him into to WAITING for a couple of days to see what happens and THANK YOU GOD THEY DID!! yesterday, matthew had a good day and just "dropped" a couple of beats but NOTHING as dramatic as monday....then today, when dr B came in the AM to see him....he said, "i don't know what to say to you....i am totally STUNNED and have not had this happened to me in my years of being a dr that a pt goes into COMPLETE AV HEART BLOCK and then just turns around and does soooooo well!!" he went on to say that usually it is a GIVEN that they WILL have a pacemaker because it just doesn't STOP!!! but THANK YOU GOD, matthew DID!!! he told me this morning that he was CANCELING the pacemaker surgery/heart cath because he said there was NO REASON to do it at this time!!! WOWOWOWOWOWOW...THANK YOU GOD! he just couldn't believe that he was not needing one....he said that monday he needed the pacemaker YESTERDAY and ASAP but today he could SAFETLY say that nope, this kid did NOT NEED ONE!! isn't that AMAZING!!!??? we went from, HE NEEDS ONE RIGHT THIS MINUTE....to NOPE, HE DOES NOT NEED ONE!!! what a ride! his cardiologist said that he had never seen a pt go from a normal rhythm to a (here is the medical term) MOBITZ TYPE 2 COMPLETE HEART BLOCK just like that!! he kept saying it was just BIZZARRE and scary!! he did say that this was MATTHEW soooo, you just NEVER know what he will do!! :) well, DR B gave us 2 options and that they could either implate a device the size of a "thumb drive" in him that didn't connect to anything but would monitor his heart rhythyms and then they could see if it would do it again OR we could do the non-invasive type and he wear a monitor for at LEAST a month or 2 and that would record any episodes or anything and then we could see what he does.....i went for the NON-INVASIVE approached in a heartbeat! so we should be getting it sometimes this week and we will monitor him for at LEAST a month....GOD WILLING it will not show anything but at LEAST we will have SOME peace of mind that it is not happening....we are to also push a button to mark when he has a seizure (which he THOUGHT might have been happening (since he has done so well in the EKG department)) and also when he drops his heartrate like he does sometimes....this should be INTERESTING!!! anyway, i am SOOOO HAPPY that my beautiful baby BOY did NOT need to have SURGERY and the PACEMAKER!!! THANK YOU GOD!!! i can't even TELL you what an emotional ride it has been.....BABY G must be FREAKING out right about now!! :) anyway, so i am so happy to say that we are HOME HOME HOME!!! we will DEFINETLY watch him very closely and they told us to make sure we metion that event if there is ever a time he has to have a procdure with anesthisia.......

i will have to send out my ORIGINAL letter for his birthday someday soon after we get settled....it would have pics and everything!! but i have to get back in the groove of things and get james ready to deploy....it will definetly be a couple of days worth of STRESS!! and news on that front is that we get an EXTRA WEEK of james!!! :) he offically leaves JUNE4TH!!! so we are happy about that!!!

i so want to thank EVERYONE for their thoughts and prayers for our little miracle man matthew....he proved YET AGAIN, that thru the power of prayer, "ALL THINGS ARE POSSIBLE THRU GOD" matthew 19:26 we are just soooooo blessed to have ya'll in our lives following our little miracle along his way.....THANK YOU!!

well, on a side note, matthew is also doing WONDERFUL after his latest OR visit....where before he was on ROUND THE CLOCK tylenol w/codien meds, he has NOT had any in almost 24 hours and you would NEVER KNOW IT!! he is soooo much better, THANK YOU GOD! he looks great and is happy to be back home!

well, i will attatch a couple of pics of matthew ON HIS BIRTHDAY...if you can't view them for some reason, i will be sending out another email soon with more pics and a better way of viewing them....again, THANK YOU from our hearts for all the thoughts and prayers for matthew....THANK YOU GOD THEY WORKED AND HE HEARD!!!

take care and GOD BLESS...

happy to be home,
the gonzalez family

maria, james, alex, matthew, & baby G (IT'S A BOY!!)
ON HIS BIRTHDAY...RIGHT AFTER SURGERY..


GETTING READY TO LEAVE FOR CHRISTUS SANTA ROSA HOSPITAL VIA AMBULANCE...


AT CHRISTUS SANTA ROSA HOSPITAL IN PICU...


THE STRIP THAT CAUSED THE RUCKUS....

URGENT PRAYERS....MATTHEW IN HOSP...

hello everyone,

i hope everyone is doing GREAT!! well, monday was matthews 3RD BIRTHDAY and we sure had a WHOLE bunch of surprises to deal with.....i have to make this short but i wanted to ask for MANY URGENT PRAYERS....

matthew had his tonsils out on monday 14th...he did fine but started to have complications on friday and the weekend....he started to have pink tinge saliva and just not feeling great AT ALL....so we took him in to the ER on sunday to get checked out....they looked down his throat and cleared him from his surgery saying it looked fine but he was really congested so we were given oral steroids and increased neb treatment....

well, on monday morning (HIS BIRTHDAY), he coughed up a BIG wad of blood and we had to take him in to see his ENT on a walk in basis....well, they at first said that it all looked good and they thought that maybe it would just a take a bit longer...they could tell i was not comfy with that at all so they asked me if they could scope him and i said YES....well, when they did, they saw that there WAS alot of bleeding way in the back so they tried to do SILVER NITRATE and burn it that way but could not do it so within 45 mins of us walking in, he was being wheeled into the OR on an emergency basis!!!! YEP, on his birthday again!! so, surgery went great and i was SOOOO HAPPY cause you could already see that he FELT better (not much secretions etc) well, about 4-5 hours later, the nurse runs in and says, WHAT WAS THAT? is he ok? i told her YES, HE IS ASLEEP, well, she was really concerned because he had an irregular heart rate and was doing some WIERD things...called in all the drs and they called in a ELECTRO SPECIALIST to see his strip and what he was doing.....HE WAS IN AV HEART BLOCK!!!!! so, we were transfered EMERGENT to SANTA ROSA HOSPITAL PICU and they are talking PACEMAKER TOMORROW!!!!!!! i am still in SHOCK that all this is happening....he had an ECHO done a couple of minutes ago, and once they look at it, they will decided if they need to do a ANGIO CT on him...they are trying to find out if his VIENS are big enough to support the pacing wires and not occlude them....if it LOOKS good, then we will be going for a HEART CATH tomorrow and they will be placing they PACEMAKER that way.....worst case senerio, if the viens look too narrow and small, THEY WILL HAVE TO DO OPEN HEART SURGERY AGAIN!!!!! PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE, pray that this is not the case and if they HAVE to do the pacemaker (which according to the specialist WILL happen) that it can be done intravenously!!!

james is just beside himself because he will be leaving at the end of THIS MONTH for iraq...yep, if you haven't read my blog, he WILL BE DEPLOYED FOR A YEAR and he leaves us MAY 29TH......of course we were preparing to deal with all the "normal" stuff and now with this......PLEASE LORD GIVE US STRENGTH!!!

anyway, i must run.....i hope to update ya'll as soon as i can....it has been REALLY hectic around here and alex is staying with grandma during the day and james HAS to work due to all the stuff they are doing for deployement.....

if you can say some prayers for MATTHEW i would GREATLY appreciate it!!! poor little guy had a HORRIBLE birthday!!! but I JUST PRAY THAT HE DOES WELL from here on out!!!

sorry to run but WITH MUCH LOVE,

james, maria, alex, matthew & baby g (IT'S A BOY!!!)

well, it is official!!

we are officially having ANOTHER BABY BOY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! wowowowowow, we are SOOOOO HAPPY AND EXCITED!!! wow, to imagine THREE BOYS in my house, GOD WILLING! what a beautiful thought! of course i had a dream that this one would be a GIRL but hey, i guess it was WRONG!! BUT i am soooo happy! i actually at one time thought i would PERFER a little boy because i know what to DO with little boys! but as long as the baby is HEALTHY is all that matters to me!

well, onto other news.....it is another offical thing. james WILL BE DEPLOYED this time around, at this time....he leaves on JUNE 8TH for 3 months of training in FT DICK NEW JERSEY and then he gets 2 weeks off (unfortuanatly he will NOT be able to come home and we actually have to go over there....i don't think we could do that because i will have JUST had the baby....) and then they will be deployed from there overseas......and yes, he will NOT be home for the arrival of this little guy. he is VERY sad about this....we have not told our boys the news yet but we will this weekend or at least start trying to. there is so much to do BEFORE he leaves. we have this month of may and then he is off. there is still a SLIM CHANCE that they will keep him back for the rear detatchment, so all we do is PRAY PRAY PRAY that it is GOD'S WILL that he stay home with us. we can do no more. he put his paperwork for his DEFFERMENT for the deployment due to medical reasons but if he had continued with that path, they got the news that they would then ask for a date for DISCHARGE....so, we stopped that process. we DON'T WANT TO LEAVE THE MILITARY...so, he will do his duty, whether it is here with us or overseas....i am SOOOOOOO PROUD OF HIM....he is MY HERO and has been from the FIRST day i met him. i feel soooo sad for my boys...they will DEFIENTLY miss him and ALEX will be devestated with not having daddy home. if he is gone for say 5 days, EVERYDAY, at least 10+ times a day he will ask if daddy is coming home today. we even have the calendar with the date circle on when he comes home and he will still ask. he LOVES HIS DADDY SOOO... anyway, we are just preparing and getting all the baby stuff ready before he leaves on june 8th. we will put up the bassinet and buy the clothes and get the stuff we need for baby g....

and then there is matthew. we went to the ENT dr today and matthew will be having surgery on 5/14/07 for a tonsilectomy!!! that is just a bit over a week away!! hard to believe. my poor baby....and it will NOT be at methodist so that makes me nervous about the whole thing!!! but i will trust in GOD and just pray that my baby does well. he will have to spend AT LEAST a day in PICU....i wanted to do it before james left....

anyway, it has been a bit crazy but we decided to have a little party for matthew actually on the 12th of may for his 3RD BIRTHDAY!! nothing big, just here at my home....we were not even sure we would HAVE a party...i am excited and sad because alex will not have daddy at HIS party.....anyway, we are just taking it one day at atime......

any prayers would be appreciated....

well...are we having a boy or girl....???

I HAVE NO IDEA!!! hehehehe....it has been CRAZY because we were sooooo ready to find out, boy or girl, we open up the envelope we had that had the picture in it on SAT when james came home and you should have seen our FACE!!! we were STUMPED!! we even tried looking it up on the interent for similar shots but NOPE! soooo, now we wait and see if we can find out on wed when matthew has an appt at the drs at WHMC! it is funny!! but just check out the pic and if you can figure it out, PLEASE let me know!! we say girl because we don't see any "turtle" but not sure! we are just HAPPY that there is a BABY!!! :) SO WHATEVER THE GOOD LORD GIVES US, we are HAPPY!!!

SEIZURES ARE BACK....

and they are back with a BANG!!! my poor baby!!! since the begining of april, he has had 13 seizures!!!!!!!!! man....i just PRAY THAT THEY GO FAR FAR AWAY!!! we are going to try a new seizure med starting TOMORROW so that make FOUR seizure meds at ONE TIME!!! this little guy is going to be sleeping TOOO MUCH!!! :( i just PRAY that we can get the combo right...he has done SOOOO WELL...i don't know if MAYBE it is a growth spurt that is causing him to not be ok with the meds or not....

anyway, today this morning he had THREE SEIZURES!!! and then another one this afternoon....i just pray...

next week we go see his neuro and we also see the ENT and he will probably be having his tonsils and adnoids out sometime REALLY SOON...GOD WILLING it is the root of all evil!! it would be AWESOME if that was causing his sleep apnea, his not swallowing and his drooling....again, we just PRAY!!

FIESTA WEEK!!!

yep, it is FIESTA WEEK in our home town! 10 days of tons and tons of CELEBRATIONS and FIESTA'S!!! james will be in and out all next week so we decided to take in a couple of fiesta's this weekend!! today, we went to FIESTA ESPECIAL which is a festival dedicated to children/people with special needs like our little boy!! and BOY did we have a BLAST!!! we LOVED that all the games and rides were geared for KIDS!! i mean, even the little games were FUN games!!! alex and matthew had a blast playing on them and then matthew and alex were able to get on some rides and just have a GOOD OL' TIME!!!! when matthew got on, i just wanted to CRY!! he looked soooo happy and i KNOW i must have been grinning like a silly person!!! it is just sooooo awesome to see my boys HAPPY!! here are some GREAT PICS!!

MATTHEW, ALEX & DADDY on the helicopter!! (they didn't have an army one! :(


matthew on the FIRE ENGINE ride!! he loved these rides!


ALEX having a BLAST at the fun house!! he finally was brave enough to go on his own! couldn't get him OFF of it!


OMG alex LOVED this boucy slide obstacle course!! he must have gone about 10 times!


anyway, we all enjoyed ourselves and can't wait to do it AGAIN tomorrow!!!! i think we will be going to the FT SAM fiesta!! it is really low key and just a good family outing!

wow, what a WEEKEND!!

well, we decided to go CAMPING again this weekend!!! james was SUPPOSE to have NATIONAL GUARD DUTY but because of the deployment next month, they canceled this months drill. soooo, we had a FREE WEEKEND and we decided we would HEAD ON OUT!! WOOOOHOOOO!!! we were sooooooo excited because this month and next month was going to be VERY HECTIC and james was going to be working VERY VERY HARD but since they canceled drill we said LET'S HEAD OUT!!

well, we looked at the weather and everything looked like it would be a GREAT weekend....we got the RV ready and on friday evening, a bit later than we planned, we were OFF!!! we were expecting the our nieces & nephew to meet us out there on SAT, which was going to be AWESOME for alex and matthew and then james buddies from work were also going to be there too!! so we were EXCITED!!!! well, on the road to the campground, we get a call from a family member...he was REALLY upset at us for going because it was going to be storming and there were tornadoe warnings etc!! we were like, "what?!?!?! we checked the weather and everything said there was only a 20-30% chance of rain!!" and he kept going on and on and so we were a bit worried because we had not heard anything....sooo, we are now traveling on hwy 306 which is the 2 lane road off ih35 that leads to canyon lake and we see lighening....WOW!!! he was not kidding! so as we keep going, (it is 15 miles to canyon lake from the hwy) and it starts to POUR!! and i do mean, in our FACE POUR RAIN! it was torrential rain and we could just see maybe 5-10 feet in front of our car it was sooo bad! the lightening was CRAZY and the wind was just howling and blowing...so picture this, we are on the road with a HUGE TRAILER ATTATCHED and the wind is BLOWING HARD and i think we are traveling about 15 mph and can't see ANYTHING!! i am PRAYING LIKE CRAZY and james is just trying to keep us on the ROAD!! the line of cars behind us extends pretty far BUT we see cars pulled over, something we WISH we could have done!! but because of the trailer, we could NOT pull over on the side until we found a store and FINALLY after i couldn't tell you HOW many minutes, we saw a store!! so off we go to sit it out! the whole time, i was looking up at the sky for TORNADOES!!! there was suppose to be some out there!! yikes! apparently, this weather had surprised a BUNCH of people!!!! so, after it slowed down a bit, we were again off to the camp ground! and we could FINALLY see some stars and such so we breathed a sign of reliefe! and THANK GOD there were camping spots available!!!!!!!!! you don't know HOW worried we were!! but it was a first come first serve type of place! so, we were able to take the RV off the truck and get it set up and all of us were in there finally....by this time itwas a bit after 10pm! and we got the boys settled in bed (alex asleep and matthew awake!) and just layed around UNWINDING!! then james calls again to the relative and they said, here comes ANOTHER ROUND!!! and sure enough, IT HIT AGAIN HARD!!! yikes! it felt like i was under NO shelter in the tent part!!! the wind was blowing, the rain was pouring and we think we even felt HAIL!! and then the lightening and thunder were SOOOOOO LOUD! it was REALLY CREEPY to be out there in the tent part!!! i told james, maybe we should move to the couch bed or something?!?! are we going to get hit by lightening?! he said, naw, we are FINE!! so we stayed and i finally fell asleep to all that racket! and basically had our FIRST TEST in our trailer for leaks and such and WOWOWOW, it held up GREAT!! even the beds didn't leak (they are canvas) and the trailer felt GREAT and not at moving around at all by the wind!! it held STRONG and we were REALLY HAPPY!

the next morning was COLD COLD COLD COLD COLD!!! WHERE WAS THE 70+DEGREE WEATHER?!?! it was about 40-50 degree and WINDY!!! so, definetly not what we were expecting....but THANK GOD, mommy me brought the boys some sweats & a jacket so they were warm (matthew had to stay inside because it was tooooo cold out there) and i had brought a jacket but james, the manly man, did NOT!!! i told him, why didn't you pack at LEAST a sweatshirt?! and he said that he didnt think it would be cold! i told him, we are NOT in summer but in SPRING and you just never KNOW!! so, we ended up looking for a shirt for him to wear at a convient store!! well, james had taken a drive out to the lake area and WOW, were we supprised!! it was FLOODED!!!! we wer JUST THERE a couple of weeks ago and it was not like that! so we took some picks and here is a couple but if you look on flickr on the right, you can see the other pics of the water!

here is the fishing pier underwater!


here is the picnic tables we ALWAYS sat on during the summer!




anyway, the kids came out, ALL 3 OF THEM (YAYAYAYAY) and we got settled in! the kids were in and out and they were running around and everything! we even made a friend out of our neighbors next door!! we had a nature walk later that evening, all of us, and picked up wood in the wooded area and just looked around for deer and such! it was REALLY NICE and no more RAIN! just COLD! we used the heater for the first time and it was nice and toasty! that evening, we FROZE though because the tent part is VERY COLD!! we need to invest in some thermal blankets you put on the outside of the tent to help keep you warm!! we didn't think we would have to USE them sooooo soon! anyway, we all had a nice night....we had a campfire going and we made SMORES with the kids and just had FUN!!!

the next day we just had a great breakfast (pancake & bacon) and just hung around OUTSIDE IN THE BEAUTIFUL WEATHER!!! it was NICE outside (much warmer) and i just WISHED it had been like that the day before!!! anyway, we packed up and headed out! we actually had a GREAT TIME and we got to experience a couple of new things with our RV....the heater and the rain and the wind factore....and it held up BEAUTIFULLY!!!! THANK YOU GOD!! the kids had a BLAST and they can't wait to come out again!!!

what was funny, VERY FUNNY, was that we were told that SOMEPERSON had said that "we didn't KNOW how to REALLY camp (the real way in a tent).." and of course that set me OFF!!! first of all, all we DID was tent camp (actually my WHOLE LIFE with my family) and as a couple, that was all we did BEFORE we had our kiddos!!! we had all the camping stuff (tent, stove, lanterns, etc) and this person actually BORROWED our stuff because THIS PERSON didnt HAVE ANY OF THEIR OWN to do their so called CAMPING!! ggggrrrrrhhhhh!! and, the MAIN reason we don't do it TODAY is because matthew CAN NOT be WITHOUT electricity!!! he needs it for his EQUIPMENT and he also needs the A/C due to him not able to tolerate the HEAT because in the HEAT he starts to need OXYGEN becuase he breaths too fast!!! anyway, i just thought that was TOOO FUNNY a comment not to blog about!! HA!

AND...if you want to see what ELSE happened while camping with matthew, you will need to go to his post coming up!

and for the DRAMA of the weekend....

well, we knew it would happen AGAIN and SOON...what?! do you say...well, matthew had the BIG SIEZURE on sat WHILE WE WERE CAMPING!!! he has been having small sz now since 4/4 and up until sat 4/14 he has had 5 of them....and then yep he had the big one and here is how it went...

if you read the earlier blog post about our experience this week, you get the whole scope of it...well, on friday night, he fell asleep really quick with no problems in our camper...well around 5 am, he just WOKE UP and was talking and wanting to play..so i laid with him, read to him, played with him and tried to keep him QUIET because he was screaming and being silly!!! :) anyway, he was playing with james phone and around 6:50am he started to fall asleep...well, he was laying looking at me and i was looking at him and he fell asleep around 7am...i was watching him for a couple of minutes and then i fell asleep too...well, at 7:20 am, something just woke me up and i opened my eyes and my beautiful baby was just STARING AT ME!!! OMG, what a FREAKY THING to wake up to!! i immediately started to tell him to close his eyes and i started to shut them but they were FIXED!!!! i jumped up and kept talking to him and trying to get him to come out of it...i turned on his pulse ox (i had turned it off when he was awake cause he kept setting off the alarm) and his pulse and O2 level were fine but he was just NOT RESPONDING!!!! james must have heard me because he woke up and came over to the bed...i told him he was having a sz....so we tried everything to get him out....we did mess up but THANK GOD it came out ok!! when i tried to suction him and he did NOTHING (usually he is fighting me and crying) and then i told james to get me his OXYGEN...as soon as i said that, his sats started to DROP!! by the time james got back with it, his sats were in the low 70's!! OMG, that freaked us out!! so we had it on full blast..i told james to let's give him the DIASTAT med and by the time we were ready to administer it, he CAME OUT OF IT!! james actually had his phone on 911 when he came out of it!!! THANK YOU GOD! after that, his o2 sats were fine and he just WENT TO SLEEP!! he slept from 7:45 am to 1 pm STRAIGHT!! he was just sooooooo exhausted from that sz! it lasted for OVER 15 mins!!! man, i know we should have called ems right after the first 3 mins of so but i was just not ABSOLUTELY sure he was not responding to us....but THANK GOD it all turned out ok!! after he woke up, he was back to normal and he had no more sz. he was a bit wobbly and more drooling than usual but he was ok. he played and just was ok....that was soooo scary!

i called the neurologist on monday to let him know what had happened....he just said to keep an eye on him and we will see him on MAY 1st....he has done well soooooo far but we are watching him like a HAWK!! i have a call put in to his cardiologist because for a couple of weeks now, he has had heartrate issues....so i don't know if one is together with the other...he has been dropping his heartrate into the 40-50's again and what is funny is when he use to do that before, that would mean that a sz was going to happen the next day.....he has been doing SCALES in his heartrate....in other words, he will start in the 50's and slowly work his way up to the 90's and then come back down and do it all over again....it lasts usually for about 2-3 hours...then it stablizes...this all happens while asleep since this is the only time that i monitor him but i think it might be happeneing while awake...GOD WILLING it is nothing but i will wait to hear from the cardiologist.

touduz market.....YUMMMMM!!!

hola everyone!! almost HAPPY EASTER to all!! we are FREEZING here in good ol' san antonio!!! it is really COLD AND WET!! we are hovering about 40 degrees....now, to some, that is NOTHING but to us, well, just YESTERDAY, it was high in the 70's and my whole family were wearing SHORTS AND TSHIRTS!! i had to get the jackets and long sleeve shirts out!! i can't remember the last cold day here but it must have been at LEAST a month ago or more!!

anyway, today, my WONDERFUL hubby brought me to TOUDUZ MARKET!! now, to those people in the san antonio area that don't know it, it is like a SAM's club BUT geared towards the HISPANIC population/taste and fiesta kinda of parties!!! you buy in bulk just a lot of different kind of foods....anyway, i have been BEGGING my hubby to take me since right before spring break but finally, we went today and i bought something i have been craving......CHINESE CANDY (2LBS WORTH), CHAMOY, & A TON OF THE CHAMOY IN THE LIQUID!!!! man, do you feel the teeth enamel just melting away?!?! all this stuff is SALTY AND GOOD!!!!! with some popcorn or a soda or maybe a pickle and lemon.....good stuff!!! not everyone here has ever tried this stuff but where i grew up we LIVED on this stuff!!! i craved this with both my boys and it finally kicked in with baby g!! soooo, i am set for a WHILE now!!! i can't wait to DIG IN!!!

well, matthew has had THREE sz in the last 4 days....hmmm....i have been feeling like he was going to have them for a while now and i guess it might happen...i am going to call the dr on monday and find out what is going to happen...they are called BREAK THRU SIEZURES...he might have to increase on of his 3 meds...GOD WILLING not! anyway, any prayers would be appreciated....

anyway, tomorrow, we are going to church and to my inlaws....don't know how it will go because there is drama in the family....but whatever...we are there to see g-ma, g-pa and hopefully the kids!! we will be having turkey with all the trimmings...YUM! don't know if we will have the hunt tomorrow or not...it is suppose to rain!!!

well, more news on the military front...

well, it has defiently been really busy here....dh has been REALLY REALLY ACTIVE in the military right now....he was actually gone for 5 days and there are more days to come....he is REALLY REALLY REALLY stressed out right now because it was confirmed on thurs that his WHOLE UNIT/BATTALION just got orders that they will be ACTIVATED and sent overseas to iraq.....earlier in the year, he was scheduled to go but was able to get out of it due to my pg and matthew....with these new orders, it is STILL UNCERTAIN if he will stay or go....i have been praying SOOOOO HARD that that does not happen...i know that it is his duty but being that i am going to have a C-SECTIOn for sure, i will NOT be able to care for matthew, who is totally non-ambulatory and totally relys on us taking him where he needs to go (up/down stairs, off the floor, etc), for about 8 weeks after i have the baby and of course before the baby is born....he is about 31lbs right now and DEAD WEIGHT....anyway, we have been getting drs letters from matthew and myself for dh commander.....we are just PRAYING that he is able to stay home at lease till i can safetly care for matthew....if he doesn't, i really don't know how i will do it!!!!! anyway, needless to say i am under a LITTLE bit of stress!!! they are telling james that it looks good for him to stay but as usual, we will see.....i just keep praying....

NEW SONG...

yep, i changed my song!! i chose, "KENNY CHESNEY NO SHOES, NO SHIRT, NO PROBLEMS"...why? because it reminds me of how AWESOME and CAREFREE our camping trip WILL BE, PLEASE GOD!! RVing at the coast, at the lake, at the river...just relaxing and ENJOYING LIFE AND FAMILY!!! anyway, ENJOY!

very nice week we had!!

wow, coming home from a GREAT spring break vacation is CRAZY!!! last week, getting in the groove of things again (drs appts, nurses, therapies, LAUNDRY) was a bit overwhelming!! and then james had to leave for a SRP at camp swift (where a unit is being activated to deploy to iraq) on friday(about 2 hours away) ...it was pretty tough!! he will be gone until wed!!! so 5 days without...sigh....i did have to call him on friday to tell him to COME HOME because i noticed that something was wrong with the AC...well, and him being a MASTER A/C guy, we were having some MASSIVE storms here that day and after i told him what was happen, he told me to go out to the fuse box outside to see if the A/C fuse was trip, it was! so he told me to reset it (and not touch anything else cause you might get electricuted....OMG!) so i did that and the outside unit came on....well, he told me to put my hand above it and feel if there was any hot air coming from it...well, as i put my hand above it IT EXPLODED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! OMG, i SCREAMED and feaked out!!!!! it was CRAZY!! my neighbor was outside and he heard the loud bang and ran over to the fence!! THANK GOD all was well but james was like, "well, i knew it! the compressor is grounded out" all calm like while i am still FREAKING out over here!! stinker! i swear, i am not going NEAR that thing for a LONG TIME!!! so, he came home that evening (11pm) and the next morning, after all the storms passed, he was able to fix it!!! :) gotta LOVE a handy man!!!! it was NOT the compress, THANK GOD (a couple of hundred there if it was) but instead a smaller component!! anyway, we got our A/C back!! and before you think, it really is for matthew...he does not do well in a hot place!! he starts to breath REALLY fast and need oxygen! we always have to watch him on hot days because of that....so, we were ok...he left back that same day by noon!! we sure do miss him...

anyway, last week was kinda crazy getting back into the grove of everything.....i LOVED coming home but can't wait to go back out in our RV!!! it is sooooo much fun! and the great thing is that it is not REALLY expensive!!! so, a weekend away if VERY DO-ABLE!! so, we are looking for a good weekend to head out! don't know when but SOON!!! :)

I actually had another U/S appt on tues of last week. it went GREAT!!! it was a LEVEL 2 to see what they could see and the dr was REALLY happy that all looked GREAT! the baby is getting BIG!!! and defiently more active that before! i also had to do the QUAD screen but i haven't heard back from that yet!! i am scheduled for my FETAL ECHO on 4/25...i think it is the FETAL ECHO...not sure though but it is another sono!! excited to see the baby again!!! :) i will have to post some pics of BABY G soon!! baby is getting BIGGER....

this week alex has been REALLY trying to READ!! it is sooooo exciting to see! he loves to sound out words he sees and see if he can figure out what the word is! i can honestly say he is getting BETTER at it!!! such a smarty! i can't remember if i mentioned it but he can count by 10'S and backwards!! such a smarty!!! we have been having issues with wetting because he is to busy doing something and forgets he has to go or holds it too long but we just keep asking him now especially if he is having FUN!!

we are also getting ready for matthews 3rd birthday, THANK YOU GOD!! we are excited and just planning away!!! :) will give more details later!

OUR WONDERFUL SPRING BREAK!!!

well, we had a GREAT spring break last week and we were sad to see it END!! let's see, we left to DALLAS, TX on tues....we chose a hotel with an indoor pool and we spent our evening there in the pool on tues after we got there....the boys LOVE the water and matthew goes a bit crazy!!! such a cutie!

HERE OUR MY BOYS IN THE POOL!!


and the on wed, we were going for MATTHEWS appt at OUR CHILDRENS HOUSE at BAYLOR univ...we were there for an FEEDING EVAL....he did WONDERFUL!! he ate about 5 bites of food and he did GREAT with the OT eval and basically he was ACCEPTED for the program!! :) we just don't know how things will happen because it will be EARLY FALL when they think an opening will happen!!! i will definetly have BABY G by then so i don't know how that will play into everything!! anyway, we will leave it in GOD's hands!! we had a great day and spent the rest of the day at the pool!!!

MATTHEW & ALEX as we are eating some GOOD BBQ...check out matthews FACE!


HERE IS MATTHEW and his BABY BACK RIB!! HE LOVED IT!


I FINALLY GOT A PIC OF HIM MUNCHING OUT ON HIS RIB! HE REFUSED TO LET GO!


we came back on thurs evening...did i mention that our boys are GREAT TRAVELERS?!?! they did sooooo well on the long trip!! THANK GOD for DVD players in vehicles!! :)

well, on friday, bright and early, we went to pick up the RV at the dealers...we were SOOOOOOO EXCITED!! it was SOOO AWESOME to get it FINALLY!! it was just sooooo exciting! we are RV OWNERS! part of elite group of families! and we LOVE IT! we have been looking at the campgrounds around here and there are sooooo many! we plan to stock the camper with the usual and try to keep them there so it can always be ready! anyway, check out the earlier post for pics and details on our FIRST FAMILY CAMPING TRIP!! can't wait for MANY MORE, GOD WILLING!!!

well....we are BACK and what we are excited about is...

WE BOUGHT AN RV!!!!!!! yep, we are now in an elite club of RV OWNERS and we are sooooo EXCITED AND HAPPY about it!!! we first started talking about getting a POP UP TRAILER for a couple of years and then when we REALLY said, let's go get one, we went out looking and decided that that was NOT for us (we needed soooo much more because of matthews medical needs) so we started looking at RV's. we didn't like the totally enclosed variety because we wanted to STILL be able to dry camp (not use electricity if we didn't want to) but with the totally enclosed kind, there was really no AIR FLOW because the windows were not that big! so we started to look at the HYBRID variety and we KNEW that was for US!! the hybrid RV is basically an enclosed RV BUT the big thing is that the BEDS EXPAND and fold down like a pop up tent....sooo, when we want, we can open all the sides of the beds (like tents) and the air flow comes in!!! we had been looking at a 19ft type of RV but when we were ready to buy it, there was more wear and tear than we wanted, even though it was an 2006...sooo, while we were there, the sales man said that he had a unit that was USED and on consinement and it was PERFECT!!! it was in IMMACULATE condition and the owner had been a older couple that her hubby had passed away soooo she was selling it...it is a 23ft 2005 AEROLITE CUB 23TT (look for the 1st trailer (cub 23TT) 3 rows down and that is our floor plan)....it has SOOO MUCH ROOM!! there are 3 queen size beds, the sofa slides out giving us more room and it is also a double bed then the table can turn into a bed too! SOOOO THERE IS PLENTY of room for at LEAST 10 people, but of course it would be crowded!!! there is a microwave, oven, stove top, refridge, a tv, a bathroom with a tub and shower!! VERY NICE!! there is AC & heating too! there is also an pull out PORCH awning on it that is SOOOOO AWESOME!! anyway, we LOVE to camp and have always done it until we had kiddos....and ESPECIALLY after matthew was born, we couldn't do our usual tent set up so here we are with an RV!! it was nice! here are some pictures....we took it out this weekend and we had a BLAST....we picked up the RV on friday and drove off that afternoon.....definetly HAPPY we have a V-8 expedition because it is pretty heavy. james swears he will not get angry or upset with those slow drivers with campers after this weekend! but we had a BLAST and alex just sooooo ejoyed being outdoors, which we KNOW because he is always outside! and matthew, well, as long as we kept him from EATING DIRT & ROCKS he did GREAT!!!! we sooooo missed camping out! it was nice to be back!!! we actually went to FT SAM REC AREA at canyon lake and it was sooooo nice! we GRADUTED from camping at the bottom near the lake to up at top where the RVs were!! NICE!! and the people there are just soooo nice! there was tons of retired people there and the area HOST actually helped us set our site up and set up our RV for the first time. and it was soooo funny because EVERYONE knew we were brand new RV owners and this was our first time out. we had sooooo many nice people coming over and asking how we liked our first experience and that they were really soooo proud of us starting out with our kiddos camping and enjoying ourselves as a family....that was the REASON we wanted an RV so that we COULD go out camping with our family....they all offered suggestions which we soaked up!! we also asked TONS of questions and everyone was really nice and helping us out. they also waived our camping FEE because they said since we were active duty first time RVers, it was a ONE TIME experience!! soooo nice!! HERE ARE SOME PICS.....

HERE IS A TOUR OF OUR TRAILER!! :)

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well, what is that old saying....

two steps forward one step back?!?! or something like that....well, it has been a VERY stressfull days here at home with our little matthew!!! he has gotten more SICK....on friday, he was really huffying and puffying in the AM and we took him for a regular pulmonary check with his pulm dr and well, we got there at 0830 and didn't get out of there till 1200!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! he has been REALLY CONGESTED and just junky and coughing and needing oxygen....they ended up using a PRECUSSOR VEST on him!! that was way intense!! what it does is it inflates and starts to basically POUND HIS CHEST to help to loosen up the mucus in his lungs.....and during that time they were giving him an ALBUTEROL TREATMENT....his sats STILL didn't go up more than 92% even on over 1 liters of oxygen!!! they also suction the HECK out of him!!!!! and just junk after junk kept being pulled out! poor baby!!! so, we went home on additional oral steroid (3 more days), omnicef antibiotic for 10 days & and we came home with our own vest to pound on him here at home!! it is sooooo traumatic for him!!! but like they said, HOPEFULLY this will keep him OUT of the hospital!! i think they were REALLY THINKING of sending him in but we will do our BEST here at the house and GOD WILLING he will not be sent to the hospital! here is a video of him with the vest on at the drs office....he was SOOOOO TIRED (past his bedtime) and he was starting to fall asleep with it on!!

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soooo, GOD WILLING he will turn around SOON! he is SICK AND TIRED of doing treaments and getting suction and having oxygen!!!!! and i broke down last night because it is SOOOOO HARD to have your little one crying because you are suctioning him and he is just not HAPPY!!! and you make his nose bleed and he is just screaming his little head off but you HAVE TO DO IT!!! you have to get his nose and DOWN his throat making him gag and cough to get that PHLEM UP!!! and soooooo much is coming up!!! and james doesn't like to do it sooooo it is up to me to do it....which is HARD TO DO when you feel bad yourself (i have been sick since monday!! and since i am PG i will NOT take anything for it!) ANYWAY, i cried and just prayed that my baby would have a GOOD NIGHT and THANK YOU GOD HE DID!!! he did have his oxygen but he did SOOOOOOO GOOD and didn't set off ANY alarms all night long which is just a MIRACLE OF GOD because i KNOW how sick this little one is!!! but GOD gave me a nice night of SLEEP to get ready for whatever comes next!!!!! and his heart rate DROPPED last night which puts us on alert for a sz........i just keep PRAYING!!