2014 has come to an end....LET'S RING IN 2015!!

HOLA MY LITTLE BLOG!! who knew it would be MONTHS since i posted something. life has come speeding by and it has been a whirlwind of a year!!! really, it feels like i have been in a FOG this year...could be my FIBRO and what they call FIBRO FOG, i guess any excuse i will take it! right?

Well, this year my boys turned ALEX 12, MATTHEW 10 and JOSHUA 7....these boys keep growing and growing and THANK YOU GOD they do! who knew that i would have such amazing boys and that they are just so wonderful and loving....they have grown into such beautiful and loving boys...they show us each day how much they know that they are LOVED by us their parents and how much we want them to know GOD'S LOVE....that HE is the most important person in the world and that they should love and honor him every moment of their lives...

This year we have had so many things happen to us. we bought a new BOAT for our family...this boat we call MATTHEW's boat because it is a PONTOON and that gives him the ROOM to roam around the boat so that he can go on the water. he had not been able to be on the water in our other smaller boat because he had no where to go. but now with this bigger boat, he is more comfy and he LOVES being back on the water!! we also love being able to take more family out on the boat with us.



MATT got his new KAYE WALKER and he has started to do his walking and getting stronger and doing SOOO GOOD! we are so proud of all his new accomplishments! He has been walking to and from the bathroom and also up and down the stairs....soooo proud of him and how much better he is getting on walking!! <3

EASTER 2014 was really a nice family time with so many people there joining us at our home. The kids enjoyed being there and having all their cousins there to crack cascarones on each other! The food was amazing and all the goodies you just can't beat!!



Matthew started in a BASEBALL LEAGUE called the MIRACLE LEAGUE OF SAN ANTONIO....he was on the DODGERS team and boy, he LOVES it soooooo much! he has such a good time hitting home runs and being on his team....he played 2 seasons...the spring and the fall and he always gets so happy and excited when we pull into the parking lot....such a HAPPY BOY!! GO DODGERS!!






ALEX AND JOSH have also started their 3rd year of CYO BASEBALL THRU PRINCE OF PEACE! This will be Alex's last year playing baseball...this year he was with the ROYAL TITAN'S....and Josh was with the PADRES...and it was the first time he was with an all male team!! no more T-BALL for him!!! He's in coaches pitch and he did so well this year! Both boys did amazing! so proud of both of them!!






This year, we ended up going to GREAT WOLF LODGE for our summer vacation. we had soon much fun and soon enjoyed being with our little family, splashing around and just getting wet. what memories our boys will have of this time with each other.....they are just young for a little while and then they grow up and don't want to be with us anymore, so we have to enjoy. Life is amazing and we have been so happy that GOD has granted us each other...

Towards the end of this year, we have continued to be BLESSED with good health....ALL OF US, THANK YOU JESUS!! Matt has done amazing and we thank Him everyday for every moment...just watching all of us growing and getting healthy and happy is amazing....

So, as we closed 2014 and are now in 2015, we can only PRAY that we continue to grow and give THANKS to GOD for all the blessings in our life and Pray we have continued GOOD HEALTH and happiness...in HIM!!! BLESSING TO ALL!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, ALEX!!

TODAY, my beautiful son ALEX turns 10 years old....wow, how the time has FLOWN!! i can't believe that it was 10 years ago TODAY that i finally after 2 miscarriages, became a MOMMY for the first time!! what a BLESSING it was for james and i to have that beautiful child....and what an ADVENTURE we had when we had him!! i remember i found out i was pg on the DAY my husband was being DEPLOYED to RED RIVER ARMY DEPOT after 9/11!! what a shock but such an SURPRISE to find that out!! and then after a scare thinking that we were going to MISCARRY again, we find out, that by COINCIDENCE the DAY I CONCIEVED (from the baby length on the sonogram) coincided with the day we went to RIPLEYS BELIEVE IT OR NOT AND james and i RUBING THE AFRICAN FERTILITY GODS!! yes, we did it on a LARK because we so happen to be downtown during the LIGHTING OF THE CHRISTMAS TREE the day after thanksgiving!! :) soooo, many things happened during my pregnancy...first, i was PREGNANT and i STAYED PREGNANT (THANK YOU GOD) and second, james was GONE thru the ENTIRE PREGNANCY because he was deployed to TEXARKANA!!! yep, we spent a total of less than 30 days during the WHOLE PG together!!!! we missed soooo much of our pg first together!! but then, that BEAUTIFUL day on the 10th of august, i woke up at 5am and my water broke, calling james to let him know, DRIVING MYSELF to the hospital and then checking in and waiting patiently to find out what was going to happen and waiting PATIENTLY for james to make the 7 hour drive home to be with me during my labor....laboring for more than 32 hours and NEVER dilating past 3cm....until FINALLY, the decided to go ahead and do a C-SECTION....then having a CRAZY time with anesthesia....but then, giving birth to the most AMAZINGLY BEAUTIFUL BABY in the WHOLE WORLD!!!! what an awesome thing it was...we had my mom, mil, brother, family, friends there to welcome him into the world...it was truly a beautiful day in my life. i LOVED becoming a mom...being BLESSED with that beautiful baby boy....and james was such a NATURAL DADDY!!!!! oh, the JOY seeing the smile on his face and just seeing his happiness in becoming a father....it was truly such an awesome sight and he did such a GREAT JOB!!!

and so the years have happened and we are now 10 years into my sons beautiful life...i can't believe that a DECADE has happened already in a BLINK of the eye...wowow...i THANK GOD for every SECOND of his little life!! he is ALMOST as tall as i am...probably by the end of the YEAR he might pass me up!! who would have believed that (and i can already hear my nieces saying that it is EASY to pass you up, aunt chayo!!:) alex has done AMAZING in his schooling years!! he is now going to 5th grade and he LOVES HOMESCHOOLING!! he is soooo smart and he amazes me with his thinking process and also he can remember sooo many things! and what an AMAZING BIG BROTHER he is to both of his brothers! he takes care of both of them and is always willing to help with them...even, helping with MATTHEW when there is a medical problem! and this child has gone thru soooooooooo much too in his short life. he has practically LIVED at the DOCTORS OFFICE/HOSPITAL with matthew...and thru all of these appointments where he has had to be QUIET for a long period of times and being such a a good kiddo and just sitting there playing quietly and understanding that this was serious ....wowowowow...i love this child soooo much and i always PRAY TO GOD that HE GUIDE me in the RAISING of my children ESPECIALLY ALEX since he and i are soooo alike that we are SOOOOOO STUBBORN!!!

soooo....TODAY, AUGUST 10TH WE CELEBRATE OUR SON'S LIFE....WE GIVE GLORY TO GOD FOR BLESSING US WITH THAT BEAUTIFUL CHILD AND WE PRAY THAT HE CONTINUES TO GROW AND STAY HEALTHY AND STRONG!!!!!! WE LOVE YOU, SON!!!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!

DAY 5....ON THE ROAD HOME!! :)

started our day with the signature breakfast and then just packed up and OUT the door we were by 1030!! i LOVE MY KIDS...they are such GREAT GREAT GREAT TRAVELERS!!! they just hang out and watch what is going around the drive and play with games etc. alex has started his CAR LICENSE WATCH and it was so much fun checking out all the different car and their plates...it ended up taking us about 6 hours or so...we made it back JUST IN TIME to pick up our pooch, SIMBA from the vet...he was soooooo excited to see us!! :) he is just such a GREAT part of our family...it was awesome to see him and have him back in our home..i know that he was in shell shock and wondering where we were...he is STILL such a puppy...not even a year old!!

well, this vacation will be going down as the THE BEST VACATION EVER!!!!!!! it felt so awesome and we had so much family time!! and you know that we were just together the WHOLE time and you know this because if you know ME you know that i am a READER..i love to read and i can put down a book a day and during a normal week, i usually read at LEAST 2 books...and i think the WHOLE 5 DAYS i think i read about 50 PAGES...PAGES...PAGES!! that is crazy!! so NOT ME! we had soooo much fun and it was just GREAT to be together...the LODGE was like that...all we had is FAMILY TIME...from the water park, to running around the lodge looking for clues for the MAGI game...it was just amazing!!! and what was funny, is that in a LITTLE park of my mind, i thought of this vacation as MY MAKE A WISH vacation!! cause i KNEW that i was going to have surgery on my cancer on tuesday 31st and i didn't know WHAT i was going to have to do after the surgery wether i was going to have to do chemo/radiation....so, i want to think and i KNOW that GOD gave us this AMAZING VACATION so that we could just be with family and just be TOGETHER...I THANK YOU GOD FOR BLESSING OUR FAMILY WITH SUCH AN AMAZING VACATION!!! <3 <3

DAY 4....LEGOLAND DISCOVERY IN GRAPEVINE

SOOOOO, today our day was going to revolve around LEGOLAND DISCOVERY ZONE...we are making this trip for our beautiful son ALEX who LOVES legos!! :) we started our day with a YUMMY breakfast at the hotel and it was REALLY good! kinda like a bistro type of yummy stuff and it was just GOOD!! then we headed on down the STREET and ended up in line to buy tickets for LEGOLAND.... the wait was FOREVER (about 1:30 hours) but it was worth it. it was soooo awesome seeing the boys get to play with the legos and build things and see all the different creations that where built there at the place...it was AWESOME!! we were there for about 4 hours and the boys all had a GREAT time...!!

after that, we just picked up some to go meals, went back to the hotel room and ate and relaxed and watched a movie....afterwards, all the boys went SWIMMING for a couple of hours...it was really nice if a little breezy...i just hung out and watched the boys and enjoyed reading a bit on a lounge....

after wards we went back to the room and just CHILLED OUT and watched tv and relaxed and then off to bed....we packed and put as much as we could in the car and just left the smaller stuff so there was not that much left to put away...sad that this trip is almost over!!! :(

SOME PICS OF MATTHEW ON GAME DAY!

TODAY, matthew was honored to be have been allowed to join this brother ALEX VIPERS TEAM in the dugout and to go on the field and pray and say 'good job' to the other team!! he was sooooo happy and it was just such a JOY to see him out there! we were also remembering that today, 5/26/12, 8 years ago, was the day that they had told us that he would not make it thru the night....and then to see him TODAY out there on the FIELD...WHAT A BLESSING AND THANK YOU JESUS FOR OUR BLESSING!! it just happened that it was today and it was just so special!!!

LAST OF THE CYO SCHEDULE FOR THE BOYS!

well, the CYO BASEBALL season is closing out and boy, for our FIRST EVER BASEBALL season it has been an amazing time! we have enjoyed the practices and the games sooooo much with the boys and watching the boys make friends with their team mates is awesome! well, we are excited and so proud of them because this was JOSH first season and he was playing TBALL and he did great!!! he is such an athlete! and then there was our big boy ALEX who has NEVER NEVER played any kind of sport and who never WANTED to play, he decided to TRY baseball....he HATED IT at first...being in the SUN all day, having to WEAR A CUP (and finding out what that was!!) and it being HOT!! HE WAS SOOOO NOT USE TO THAT! but, as the season continued and he got better, having NEVER known how to CATCH A BALL OR HIT A BALL, he has done AMAZING!! he has been to the batting cages and he has hit some AMAZING balls which has given him confidence galore! and then playing catch with his team mates where when he first started, poor baby, he was FOREVER missing and then having to run for the ball, NOW is catching most of the balls!!! so proud of his accomplishments! he has even learned to ignore the CUP!!! and how scary it must have been to go up to the plate and TRY TO HIT THE BALL with all these people watching!!! WE ARE JUST SO PROUD OF THEM!!

sooooo, the last of the CYO GAMES ARE AS FOLLOWED:

MAY 19TH
1245-JOSH'S GAME AT ST ELIZEBETH ANN SEATON in BEORNE

1400-ALEX GAME AT OUR LADY OF GUADALUP on bandera

MAY 20TH
1530-JOSH GAME AT ST MATTHEW'S CHURCH

1745-ALEX GAME AT ST MATTHEWS CHURCH

MAY 26TH
1015-JOSH GAMES ST GREGORY CHURCH

1130-ALEX GAME AT ST GREGORY CHURCH

SAT JUNE 2ND DAD WILL BE GONE FOR THESE NEXT GAMES..HE WILL BE AT HIS 2WEEKS TRAINING SOOO SAD
1130-JOSH GAME AT ST ELIZABETH ANN SEATON in BEORNE

1400-ALEX GAME AT ST MATTHEW'S CHURCH

JUNE 3RD
1300-ALEX GAME AT ST ELIZABETH ANN SEATON in BEORNE

1415-JOSH GAME AT PRINCE OF PEACEWE WILL HAVE TO MISS THIS ONE BECAUSE OF ALEX GAME :(



soooo, we are excited about all of this!! :) they have had a GREAT SEASON!!! i hope that maybe someone can take josh to his LAST GAME because i am not sure if they do anything special for them or not....i will ask the coach and if they DO do something special then i will DEFINETLY have to look for someone to take him!! :) i would hate for him to miss it...

well, here it is...the last of the schedule!!!

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 8TH BIRTHDAY, JAMES ALEX II!

HAPPY 8TH BIRTHDAY, JAMES ALEX II!!

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

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

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

First Communion!!! :)

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

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

Alex made his RECONCILIATION!

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

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

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

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

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

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

JAMES ALEX II is now 7 YEARS OLD!!

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

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

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

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

BETTER is the word of the day!

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

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

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

--------

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

he MEMORIZED IT!

I am talking about my beautiful son ALEX who memorized the OUR FATHER in a little bit over ONE WEEK!!! :) I AM SO PROUD OF HIM!!! he needed to do it for CCD class for church.....and he DID!! i was AMAZED that last night, as we were saying our prayers, he said he could do it and he did!!! wowowowow....i just had to prompt him at the very end...awwwww...i can't wait to let daddy know! and he knows the SIGN OF THE CROSS and is learning the HAIL MARY and GLORY BE too!!! i am just so proud of him! he is doing AMAZING in his homeschool!! we are flying thru his 1st grade studies because he knows so much of it and when we get to the part he hasnt learned on, we will slow down and really get down to it! i decided to go thru the WHOLE BOOK instead of saying to myself to skip it...it is going well...

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)

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

MY precious alex....

last night, he was sooooo excited because tomorrow was matthews birthday!! he told me, "i am so happy and excited because after tomorrow, matthew will be 4 and he will sleep in my room and i will get to sleep on the top bed!! i am so excited" i had to let him know that probably not this year but maybe in a couple of years...

well, this morning, i am in matthews room (after starting with DRAMA last night by spiking a fever, desating and coughing and this morning at 4:30am waking up because he had a 102.5 temp!! couldn't help NOT having DRAMA on his birthday!)...alex walks into matthew room and i told him "come over and say GOOD MORNING and say HAPPY BIRTHDAY to matthew" so, he comes over with this happy smile and as i am picking up matthew out of his bed/crib, alex smile gets WIPED AWAY and he says "he is still a BABY!! he is still wearing DIAPERS!!!" OMG, i busted out LAUGHING and i had to explain to him that YES he is 4 years old but he is a special little boy and right now, he can not do the things that a "normal" 4 year old can do but GOD WILLING in his future he will catch up! that seemed to pacify him until he said, "when he is 5....."

Went to Sea World today...

oh we had such FUN!! we went with our great friends Holly and her boys....and alex got his WISH and he was able to GET WET!! he had SOOOOOOOOOOO MUCH FUN!! it was still COLD but with the sun, he just had a blast...just a blast!! it was so awesome to see him playing and running around the area with his friends....we just stayed BACK and watched....matthew was so cute....we decided to put him in his wagon instead of his wheelchair/stroller...well, we get into the gate and HE IS FALLING ASLEEP ALREADY!! so, i ask him before we go any further, "do you want to be in your wagon?" and he shakes his head NO, then i ask "do you want to go in your stroller?" he said YES! matthew UNDERSTANDS EVERYTHING....he is THERE with us, THANK YOU GOD! anyway, so his poor nurse had to take him all the way back to the truck to change out the stroller...and as soon as he was walking back from the car, matthew fell asleep!! anyway, my buddy and i, we had a blast just talking and laughing watching the boys play..matthew slept thru it all until about an hour in....i mentioned POPCORN and he was smiling and YELLING for it! he LOVES POPCORN just like ME!! :) i guess he comes by it NATURALLY!!

what a WONDERFUL DAY!!

STARLIGHT COWBOY SHINDIG!!!

well, WE HAD A GREAT TIME TODAY!!! we actually had such an awesome STARLIGHT ESCAPE!! today, we headed 110 miles outside of san antonio to LA GRANGE, TX!! it was my mil & my boys and i...it was a BEAUTIFUL DAY!!! it was not a cloud in the sky but it was windy but OH how cool it was...just PERFECT!!! we had not made it out to a STARLIGHT FOUNDATION adventure since march so we were SOOOOOOOO in need on a get away!!! we had some drama because alex, when he doen't know what we are goint to do, will tend to PANIC and say that he doesn't want to do it and just keep repeating it until he lets it take over....well, he said he did NOT like cowboy parties and he did not want to go!! after i told him he could stay with grandma if he wanted, he said, NO, i will GO...i just told him he did not even KNOW what type of party this was!!! so, we make the trip which was REALLY nice and we got there around 1200 and it was at this RANCH out there and the coordinator said that there would be some long horns that you couldn't miss...WOW, was she right!! they were HUGE BEYOND anything!! so, we get there and at first i thought, oh, this will NOT work...i had matthew in his chair and it was ROUGH terrain but we managed and as we sat down, we were given BACKPACKS for the boys (really nice) with stuff in them, each of them got a STICK HORSE (TOOO CUTE! and some where HANDMADE!), they got cowboy hats....we got to eat some YUMMY BBQ with all the fixings and just sit and enjoy the show..they had a choir out of LA GRANGE sing for us (beautiful) and then me and alex & matthew got to go on a FUN HAYRIDE!! we got pulled all over the ranch, got to touch a pony, see some long horns and just have a GREAT TIME!! then we got back and we got to eat some CAKE (my favorite!!) and then they gave us some KITES and we got to FLY THEM and they were SOOOO MUCH FUN!! and they were beautiful, everyone's flying so high in the sky!! the one that did NOT want to go, had a BLAST!!! and so did we all! another wonderful ESCAPE ADVENTURE put on by STARLIGHT!!! it was so much fun seeing all the kids have such a great time...we had a great little trip and it all turned out great!! here are some pictures of ourday!!..

matthew pointing...


my mil & josh with the choir behind...


alex haming it up for the camera..


some long horns on the ranch....


kites in the sky in front of the HUGE HUGE LONG HORNS!! :) look at that BEAUTIFUL texas sky!!!