HAPPY 6th BIRTHDAY, MATTHEW ISAIAH!

HAPPY 6th BIRTHDAY, MATTHEW ISAIAH GONZALEZ


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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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



MAKE A WISH MONTAGE:




MATTHEW ISAIAH IS 6 MONTAGE!:)


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



love,

The Gonzalez family

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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


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

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

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

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

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

GOD BLESS...

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

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

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

JOSHUA looking out the window to the CLOUDS!!


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


this is ALLLLLL OUR LUGGAGE!!! YIKES!

DAY 6.....

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

here are some pictures from our day out there!

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


HORTON HEARS A WHO!! so DETAILED!


CAT IN THE HAT!! cute!


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


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


my cute big BOY!!!


here he is in the car!!!


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


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


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


aaaawwwwwwww.....


The decorations for CHRISTMAS DAY at GKTW!!!


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


IT'S SNOWING AT GKTW!! sooooo exciting!


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


ONE FOR MATTHEW!!!


ONE FOR ALEX!!!


ONE FOR ME!!! :)


MATTHEW posing with some characters!

DAY 5.....

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

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

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

EPCOT BALL!!!


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


OUR BEAUTIFUL BABY BOYS!!! :)


AWWW.....DONALD DUCK!


JUST BEING GOOFY!!!


CHIP AND DALE! joshua was having NONE OF IT!


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


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


THE BALL again!


the beautiful CASTLE at DISNEY!


THE PRINCESS AND HER COURT!


it's just soooo PRETTY!! so detailed!


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

DAY 4.....

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

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

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

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

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


WE then visited with DAISY DUCK....


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


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


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


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


FINALLY, meeting MICKEY & MINNIE!


matthew was SOOO EXCITED!!


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


NEW FRIENDS!!!


RIDING IN STYLE!!


having FUN on the ROAD!!!


IN THE TEA CUPS!!


BEAUTIFUL!!!

DAY 3.....

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

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

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

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

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


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


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


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


My little gang with CURIOUS GEORGE & TED!!!


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


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


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


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


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


joshua checking out the AWESOME train set they had!!


MATTHEW and S on NOAH's ARK...


PLAYING PUTT PUTT at GKTW...


JUST ANOTHER PUTT PUTT shot!!


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


giving matthew a smoochie sticky KISS!!