James is leaving on monday.....

hello everyone!

we hope everyone is doing GREAT!! as for us, well, the day is here when our wonderful,beautiful husband and father will be leaving for a year.....i had gone by too fast but we are THANKFUL we have spent all our time together with him...it has been WONDERFUL just sharing everyday life with him.....it has been great but bittersweet....i LOVED watching him with his boys and just seeing the love they had for each other...i am just soaking it in and just PRAYING that we will have MANY MANY MORE.....he leaves on MONDAY JUNE 4TH and there will be a FAREWELL CERAMONY on JUNE 10TH in AUSTIN, TX @ 9am (anyone interested in attending, just email me back for more info) and then he flys out JUNE 12th to FT BLISS, EL PASO for 3 months.....from there they are scheduled to leave for IRAQ....total time, GOD WILLING will only be a year. here is his email if anyone is interested james.a.gonzalez@us.army.mil and as soon as i get an address i will send that out too!! still don't know what he will be doing over there but i just PRAY PRAY PRAY it will be administration type stuff!! alex asks everyday when daddy leaves for work if THIS is the day that he will be gone for a "long time" and everyday, i have told him that no, not yet....he has his calendar with the days marked but he is really worried about that day....GOD WILLING they months will FLY BY and we will be able to fill his days as best he can with playdates and just doing things to keep his mind off daddy.....and GOD WILLING we will be able to chat with james via the internet while he is gone......i just PRAY as i do for all troops, that he comes home healthy & safe.....we still don't know if he will make it for the birth but we are prepared either way!!

well, onto matthew, matthew is doing GREAT!! wowowow, what a difference the 2nd surgery made! even after one day, he was doing BETTER than after the first surgery. he JUST started to eat again orally so that is a GREAT THING. he is asking for food and wanting to eat and also drinking water. another thing we have noticed is that he is A LOT more vocal! he is saying MAMA all the time now and will say other words too! still drooling like crazy but GOD WILLING that will slow down. i just pray he continues on with his oral eating!! also, he NEVER had to take ANY MORE TYLENOL after the 2nd surgery! what a change from doing it RELIGIOUSLY the first week to not doing it AT ALL after his 2nd!! you KNOW the 2nd surgery fixed things up! he is also doing GREAT with his little heart monitor. it HAS gone off a couple of times but i don't know WHY or what it saw but i have NOT heard back from the cardiologist so i just pray that all is well. he went to the pediatricians for his well toddler check up on thursday and he is doing REMARKABLE! his weight and height is now AVERAGE (his weight use to be in the 97%) he weighed in at 33 lbs 4 oz and height of 37" !!! he is just getting SOOOOO BIG! he is also trying to crawl the RIGHT WAY over his hands and off his butt! much better! he is as HAPPY as ever and just such a JOY! he loves to rub my tummy and give BABY G a kiss and love. he is too cute! i KNOW he will be a GREAT BIG BROTHER!

alex is doing well also doing really well. he is getting so big! he has been acting out a bit but who can blame him when he UNDERSTANDS that daddy will be gone for a long time. that is his HERO and for him not to be here.....he has told me he DOES NOT want to turn 5 and that he does not want a party. he gets really teary eye if i mention it. i think it stems from him know daddy won't be there....so i am going to sneak in a party for him around his birthday and just tell him that we are going to have some friends over etc and just have a nice playdate.....nothing fancy just a day for him. GOD WILLING he will love it. i feel so sad for him because daddy is his daddy....he tells me all the time that HE CAME OUT OF DADDY'S TUMMY!! hehehehee....he just loves that man sooooo....

well, as for me, i am doing GREAT!!! I am 26 wks along and sure do feel pg now. i love to feel the baby kicking and squirming around there. i am measuring right on time and all the FETAL ECHOs we have had on baby G have shown that so far, it looks like everything is in the right place heart wise!! what a RELIEF!!! baby is also measuring at 1 lb 8 oz!! and he is DEFINETLY A BOY!!! soooooo, james and i have FINALLY come up with a name....i chose the first name and james the second and it is a COMBINATION of all 4 of our names (our initials)....the J will be for james & james alex II and the M will be for Maria (me) and Matthew....ready for his name??? his name will be

JOSHUA MICHAEL GONZALEZ

JOSHUA means - GOD IS MY SALVATION (matthews middle names means the same thing!!)
MICHAEL means - WHO IS LIKE GOD?

so there you have it....BABY G now has an official name!!! we are so excited! we have been buying some stuff for the baby because the month before i found out i was pg (dec) i SOLD EVERYTHING in a YARD SALE!!! so there you go! we bought the baby his stroller & car seat, his high chair & swing...we have also bought this little one some clothing and such. i laugh now because i had BAGS of baby boy stuff (and it was ALL in good condition) and it went all away at the garage sale!! so we are starting FRESH!! i still have the bassinet, play pen and crib (matthew is still in it) and a couple of other small things but basically everything else went bye-bye!! oh well! this little one doesn't get the hand me downs from his brothers!! little stinker! james wanted to be around to buy the stuff so this past week we have been on a BUYING FRENZY!! i can't wait to get it all set up! but we are sooo excited and happy! GOD WILLING i will get a date soon for my c-section so that we can let james comander know so MAYBE (praying really hard here) they will let him come home for that (he will be ft bliss)....

everyone had been soooo supportive here at home and i am SOOOO THANKFUL to them ALL! i am just BLESSED to have so many family and friends near by that are wonderful! i do worry about things but i TRY to be just upbeat and excited about things for the boys.....during the summer, my niece will be staying with us every other week so that will be a BIG HELP and i know we will have playdates for alex to keep him occupied too! there are also the free movies twice a week that we will be doing....just things to keep the boys busy!!

well, that is all for now....i pray everyone is doing GREAT!! i will keep everyone updated on us and also on james. please feel free to email him......i know he will appreciate hearing from people!!

well, TAKE CARE AND GOD BLESS!!!

love,
james, maria, alex, matthew & joshua michael!