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!

MATTHEW ISAIAH IS 10 YEARS OLD!! :)

MATTHEW “GIFT OF GOD”
ISAIAH “GOD IS MY SALVATION”
GONZALEZ
BIRTHDAY MAY 21

MAY 21, 2004

MATTHEW PLAYING BASEBALL 2014

Matthew Isaiah is 10 YEARS OLD, THANK YOU GOD! Wow, what an amazing and wonderful life we have had with matthew in our life. GOD IS SO GOOD! HE IS IN DOUBLE DIDGITS!!! wowowow, that is just such an INCREDIBLE AMAZING WONDERFUL MIRACLE OF GOD that little boy is! I sit here just in amazment that my beautiful boy is growing and getting bigger and stronger and just LIVING day by day. Such a MIRACLE he is, THANK YOU GOD!

My thoughts are never far away from what a miracle he is and where he has come from and where he is now. James and I are always marveling at what he is doing or things he does on a daily basis. He is such a CUTE kid and such a SMARTY!! Hard to believe that when he was born, they gave him NO real chance that he would live...that after he was born blue, needing an open heart surgery IMMEDIATELY, they didn't think he would make the trip from one hospital to another....that once he got there, that he would survive the open heart operation that he had when he was ONLY 8 HOURS OLD!! but he did, thank you JESUS! He was kept on an ECMO maching (https://www.dellchildrens.net/services_and_programs/ecmo/what_is_ecmo/) for his first 5 days because they could not take him off of the machines after his surgery, so they left him on this hoping that his body would recover and be able to take over the job of his lungs and heart....at 5 days (may 26, 2004), they told us they had to take him off this machine and either he was going to LIVE or DIE...and after doing so, we were told in the waiting room, that he had about 1% chance of survival and to pray for a miracle because that was the ONLY way that he would survive....going in to see our MIRACLE without that big ECMO machine and the room being so silent...the wonderful staff at METHODIST CHILDRENS hospital who took over and got us a CAKE and DECORATIONS for his 'birthday' party that we wanted to give him (since we didn't know if we would have anymore), and having all our family and friends there with us but most of all FINALLY BEING ABLE TO HOLD that precious baby in our arms for the first time!! what an JOY it was to hold him in our arms and FINALLY be able to carry him....thinking back, that hospital was just amazing to allow us to have this 'party' for him and allowing us to have so many of our friends and family there to celebrate his life!!! & at a PICU! I soooo love that hospital!!! They had a ceremony for us and the wonderful doctor read a beautiful poem for him, they did some prints of hands and feets, cut a lock of his hair for us, made a cast of his hands and feet, gave us a grief blanket and just supported us thru this amazing time in our life....and all the nurses came over and sang HAPPY BIRTHDAY to him too!! such a SPECIAL place that is!!!

After holding our beautiful baby boy until 2am, we finally put him down and fell asleep next to his bed only to wake up at 7am SCARED AND WORRIED thinking that we had missed his passing....only to find out he had his eyes open, grabing our fingers and wiggling his toes, all to the AMAZEMENT of the doctors and staff!!! HE MADE IT and is a MIRACLE to all the doctors and nurses that have known him especially those that knew all the personal, medical and private parts of his life while he as there in the hospital during those first days thru the 98 days he stayed in the PICU. They TRULY know what a miracle he is and what he went thru and what an almost IMPOSSIBILITY it was that he survived thru it all....and as I ALWAYS say, it is ONLY thru GOD that our son is HERE today!!! if you want to read about his miracle story, here is alink to the BLOG post: http://blessingsinmylife.blogspot.com/2008/05/miracle-matthews-story.html and one of his YOUTUBE videos: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4E2QOasHR0A



soooo, now on to the amazing news of the day....MATTHEW ISAIAH IS 10 YEARS OLD!!! double digits!! wooohooo!!! This little guy has been thru it all and ALWAYS with a smile!!! He is eating orally now, but it is not consistant, but we will TAKE IT! He only gets 3 cans of his PEPTIMUM JR formula a day and that is thru a bolus....and he has been able to maintain his weight and keep growing. He is now 55 lbs and 43”...To think this was the baby boy that would not 'make it thru the night'....THANK YOU JESUS!! He is really vocal, although still non verbal, but he CAN get his meaning and wants across for the most part. I think A LOT of his fustration has to do with the lack of being able to communicate...he does have a communication device but it is really big and HEAVY...but GOD WILLING next year he will get the new and improved device on an PAD platform which will be soooo much lighter for him! :) He is learning to use his KAYE walker. He walks with assistance everywhere he goes and he helps with his transfer and such too. He is soooo SMART! He is doing amazing with his teacher and has excelled and made all his goals! He LOVES playing WII resort and playing the SWORD FIGHTING game. He also enjoys WII SPORTS baseball and bowling game. If he could, he could play ALL DAY LONG! On top of that, he LOVES his iphone and enjoys watching YOUTUBE VIDEO's all day....just different stuff like, people playing WII, seasame street, and he especially loves any video's that are of HIM or our family! He can watch those over and over! ESPECIALLY if dad is either talking or in the picture!! and he LOVES playing BASEBALL!! He recently was in a special team called THE MIRACLE LEAGUE OF SA and he was on the LEIJA DODGERS team!! he was soooo PROUD when he hit the baseball and dad and him ran around the bases!!! he LOVED playing on his team!! just like his brothers! Wow, the things he can do! He loves being right in the middle of everything and just BEING there!! He loves his family!! and now that we bought the PONTOON BOAT, well, he LOVES being on the water and then jumping in the water and swimming around!! :) but to get him out is a DIFFERENT story!! boy, that child does NOT want to get back in the boat!!!!!! ;)

LIFE with matthew is just so amazing and wonderful!! THANK YOU GOD, this year has been a HEALTHY year!! hard to believe but we are ever so THANKFUL that he has really only had about 3 illness the WHOLE YEAR!! amazing! I keep waiting for it but nope! LOVE it! And I know he has enjoyed the stress free year without having to have the drama of having to do drs appts, meds, suctions, treatments, oxygen etc! AGAIN, THANK YOU JESUS!! I won't lie by saying I am not 'waiting' for it because I am!! just always worry when it will hit!!! :) as for the other medical issue, well, it's been over 36 months since his last BIG seizure!! and since aug 2010, he has had only 2 seizures!! woohooo!! thank you GOD for that!!!!!! but we are ever vigilant, never taking it for granted that he could get sick or have a seizure at ANY moment! But that has been our life for the last 10 years....knowing that every SECOND of his life is a precious miracle and that because of all he has gone thru, we know that ANYTHING can happen!! but we are sooooo GREATFUL for the last 10 years we have had with our MATTHEW!!! i made a movie for MATTHEW with pictures of his last 10 years...here is the link to it: ***UPLOADING TO YOUTUBE AND WILL POST SOON!****

SOOOO, HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MIRACLE MATTHEW ISAIAH!!! with your birth you have brought MORE life, love and happiness to our home and we thank GOD everyday for the true BLESSING you are in our lives!!! WE LOVE YOU AND ARE SOOOOO PROUD OF YOU!!!! PLEASE GOD, GIVE US MANY MANY MANY TO INFINITY MORE YEARS WITH MATTHEW!!!

“WITH MAN THIS IS IMPOSSIBLE, BUT WITH GOD ALL THINGS ARE POSSIBLE”
MATTHEW 19:26

MATTHEW....

my matthew....well, matt is sick again...3+ weeks ago, he got REALLY sick on us with some virus that actually got ALL OF US here at home...it was soooo bad that he was actually on OXYGEN at night for over a WEEK!! and he was on HIGH FLOW 4 liters of oxygen!! that is a first for him especially since his OXYGEN SATS were only running about 90%...that was soooo scary for me trying to get his oxygen levels UP to acceptale levels...worried i was going to head over to the hospital...and that hasn't happen in a LONG LONG TIME, THANK YOU GOD!! he ended up taking a antibiotic for ADULTS at ADULT DOSES for 10 days, something he had never taken before, 2 rounds of oral steroids and TONS AND TONS of treatments!!! :( well, last week on 2/11/13 we went back to see dr G for a follow up from this illness and we were CLEAR because he was doing so well...yayayya....but then THURSDAY 2/14/13, josh started coughing....i tried to keep him and matt clear of him but of course, it didn't happen and matt started getting sick on sunday night!! :( and here we are, 2 drs appts later (tues/thurs) and he is back on antibiotics, oral steroids, treatments every 3-4 hours and dx of BRONCHITIS AND METAPNUEMO VIRUS....sigh...

it's been a crazy couple of months now and i just wonder how his little body is taking it all....i know that his lungs are very congested and hearing his X-ray were very difficult to diagnose because of his severe chronic lung disease was really scary to hear....his lungs on an xray are suppose to be BLACK (a normal lung) but his are almost all WHITE with all the scar tissue and his chronic lung disease...that is what scares me the most..he has been getting sick soooo much this last couple of months and they were ALL RESPIRATORY...i know that all these oral steroids, antibiotics and treatments can't be good for him and i just wonder...i KNOW GOD is taking care of him and i DO leave my feelings and troubles at HIS feet....i am just a mommy that sees her little boy struggling and breathing fast and HATING his vest treatments and nebulizer...my beautiful son is so strong and such a loving little boy....he goes thru so much but is always happy at the end of the day....what a BLESSING IN MY LIFE he is and i just PRAY that he gets HEALTHY and STRONG so that he can have a break from these illness and be able to be healthy without all this stuff going on...my little boy....

OUR MIRACLE...MAY 27TH will always be....

the day that a MIRACLE was shown to us in MATTHEW ISAIAH...u know, i was going thru my blog looking for the story of our son and yes, i found the one of his birthday and the sadness of MAY 26TH but nothing on MAY 27TH!! and that is when our life looked soooo much better!! you see, MAY 27TH will always be a SPECIAL DAY for our family because THAT is the day that GOD gave us our MIRACLE in MATTHEW back! on THIS day, at MAY 27TH, 2004 @ 0200, james and i, after having passed him back and forth between us on that pillow to keep him still....we FINALLY put him BACK in his little warmer bed in PICU #18 because we were soooooooo tired and we were afraid to drop him! it took 4 people to get him in bed...he had 14 medication drips, a ventilator & so many other wires on him that you could not see the baby!!!! but we gently put him down...we kept talking to the nurses that whole night trying to find out what was going on. you see, everyone was soooooo POSITIVE that he would not make it thru the night and here we were already on the NEXT day and he was still holding strong. i remember the nurse telling me that he would just slowly stop being there...all his organs would start failing and then his little heart would stop...well, his heart rate when they first took him off of ECMO was WAY UP in the 200's and as the day went by, his little heart rate started to drop. i remember watching and just worrying when it would just STOP. and here we were, on THURSDAY MAY27th at 0200 in the morning, just so tired and so anxious about how it would happen and finally, putting the baby down and just sitting there in the rocking chair, with my legs SOOOO SWOLLEN and my back KILLING me after having had my c-section only 5 days before....with james by my side in a chair both of us EXHAUSTED and just so mentally DRAINED because we had been thru sooooo much these last 5+ days...with the BIRTH of our little boy MATTHEW ISAIAH, finding out about his heart and other issues, the ups and downs of his life....and now, just sitting here by his bedside, WAITING for the moment that according to ALL the doctors would come...i remember just watching those monitors and seeing all those lines and numbers and looking around his bed and seeing all his diffent pumps hanging from the iv poles and his ventilator....and then finally closing my eyes that were SOOOOOO tired and putting my head back on the wooden rocking chair and falling asleep.....

and then WAKING UP, in a PANIC worried that i had somehow MISSED the whole event and the last few minutes of his life.... and then hearing something right next to me and it was the NEW nurse on her shift (0630) and she was going over all of matthew and looking at his lines and his body and i remember jumping up and asking "is he ok?" and she saying "GOOD MORNING" with a big smile and she saying "he is doing fine!"...never THINKING i would hear those words about matthew and here she was saying that!! she said "LOOK!!!" and i REALLY looked at him and saw that his skin was not as blue as it was the day before...and HIS EYES WERE OPEN!!!! and just then, DR S. walking in and standing at the door, with his hands on his HIP and his HIP cocked to the side STARING at the monitors....and i remember, as i was standing over matthew bed, bending down to see and look in his eyes, and matthew HOLDING MY FINGER, i looked up at him and said, 'WE'RE STILL HERE!!!!" and him finally looking down at me and smiling and saying, "OK....LET'S SEE WHAT IS GOING ON WITH THIS BABY!!!" and then walking out and starting all the paper work to get BLOOD draws, X-rays, labs, cardiac sonogram, and soooo much more to see WHAT was going on with him!! he was sooooooooooo surprised and PLEASED to see that he had made it thru the night....i remember nurses stopping by to say HELLO and to just MARVEL at matthew because sooooo many nurses had all known what was going on with matthew and having been there the day before when we SANG and had a BIRTHDAY PARTY for him...remembered seeing all our relatives here with us and just kNOWING that YESTERDAY, MAY 26TH, 2004, that they were witnessing the last day, hours, minutes of a little boys life and then NOW, TODAY MAY 27TH, 2004, walking into PICU #18 TO see and WITNESS our MIRACLE MATTHEW ISAIAH!!!! really, it was such an amazing day ALL day, getting phone calls from family and friends asking how matthew was and what was going on....EXPECTING to hear bad news and to console but INSTEAD, HEARING SUCH AMAZING WONDERFUL NEWS that they could then pass along to all our other families!!! what a joy it was watching the activity again surrounding matthew where YESTERDAY, the 26th, it had been very FINAL with no real action with the doctors....then basically leaving us alone all day with our son and TODAY,MAY 27th, then going in and out of the room, poking, proding, and NOT LETTING US HOLD HIM AGAIN!!! i think that was the BIG thing for us at that time because YESTERDAY, 26TH, they had finally let us hold him even with his chest open and such BECAUSE they THOUGHT it was going to be his last day....and TODAY MAY 27TH, NOT letting us hold him BECAUSE they needed him to be STABLE so that they could continue to monitor him and see what was going on!!! i also remember our beautiful FRIENDS AND SISTERS DIXIE & CHRISTA, coming back TODAY MAY 27TH, after being with us ALL DAY YESTERDAY, because TODAY MAY 27TH, they had not heard the news that HE WAS STILL ALIVE, but COMING over early in the morning so that they could make the PLASTER CAST of his little hands for us (which we had decided to do AFTER he was suppose to have passed away to make it easier to do without all his equipment on and INSTEAD coming over and finding out that he was ALIVE and it was such a BLESSING AND MIRACLE and them taking video of him and watching his little EYES OPEN UP FOR THE FIRST TIME!!! we have the video where christa is walking in and she sees us over by matthew talking to him and his eyes are just OPEN and looking at us and just WATCHING US!!! we love that video!!! <3

SO MAY 27TH IS A SPECIAL DAY IN OUR FAMILY!!! and every year, we REMEMBER the MIRACLE that is MATTHEW ISAIAH!

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!!!

MATTHEW ISAIAH IS 8 YEARS OLD TODAY!

TODAY is such a SPECIAL DAY in our life!!! TODAY, is our MIRACLE MATTHEW ISAIAH's 8th birthday!!!! woooohooo!! so awesome to just BELIEVE that he is now 8 years old!!!! just watching him and marveling at everything he is DOING…just last weekend, he MADE HIS 1ST COMMUNION, he learned to SUCK THRU A STRAW and just recently, he can tell you phonically how to spell his NAME!!! and that one, he surprised me one day at sunday school when i asked him to spell his name for me on his paper and he phonically spelled MATTHEW for me CORRECTLY with NO promptings from me!! just amazing!! and he has done SOOOOO WELL for his 2nd grade that he MASTER most if not ALL his goals!! we had to set all new goals for him for next year! it should be a CHALLENGING year but i know he will continue to do soooo amazing! my son matthew isaiah….born with a RARE CHD called TAPVR with extreme LUNG DAMAGE who was NOT expected to live…who had his 1st OH surgery at 8hrs old and lived in PICU for 98 days and had another open heart surgery and a g-tube placement before he left….who since that day, had been in and out of hospitals, ambulances, air helicopters, has nursing care at home along with enough equipment here (oxygen, nebulizer, suction, CPT vest, pulse oximeter, CPAP machine, feeding pumps, etc) that most doctors tend to keep him home even when he is soooo sick that MOST kiddos would be hospitalized! he has grown so much this year. he is now totally into WII SPORTS and LOVE LOVE LOVE BASEBALL! he loves to WATCH IT and PLAY IT! i really need to get him into a TEAM of his OWN so he can play TOO!! :) this year, he has really enjoyed being in his WALKER and playing with his TBALL and his BASKETBALL GOAL....he is really VOCAL now and can mostly CLEARLY get what he needs across to us now by using voice, gestures and his talker....he also has REALLY learned to EAT now and enjoys to EAT ALL THE TIME!!! it is so amazing for us to go to a restaurant and watch him eat, and especially something he REALLY likes, he can GO TO TOWN!!! i am so proud of him! he is such a trooper and ALWAYS can be tickled into a good mood! he LOVES all things ELECTRONIC and LOVES LOVES LOVES our IPHONES and his new IPAD! especially if he has internet access and can watch his YOUTUBE!!! AND you will never guess what he LOVES to watch?!?!?!?!? WII BASEBALL!!! heheheh...he can sit there and watch it all the time....i guess since that is his favorite game on the WII if he can't PLAY the WII he will watch OTHERS play the WII ON YOUTUBE! :)

SOOO, he keeps getting BIGGER on us...he is now 45 INCHES TALL (he is catching up to me! i am 59 inches tall! YIKES!) and he weighs 43 lbs....his feet are LITTLE!! I always remark on that because his baby brother JOSH has now PASSED him up on his shoe size!!! and he is 4! i guess he inherited his little feet from me! :) he is STILL wearing the SAME SIZE clothes now for about 3 years +!! he's the same weight just stretching on us!! and he LOVES his brothers...he is forever calling them either on his talker or vocally....and of COURSE his most favorite person in the WORLD is his DADA...HE calls for him every time the PHONE rings or there is a KNOCK on the door! it is soooo cute to hear him YELL out over and over 'DA, DA, DA, DA"...ALTHOUGH, in the MORNINGS, i get some PRETTY FIERCE hugs and kisses from him when DAD is not in the house!! i do CHERISH those moments that he is excited to see me and can't get enough of me!!!! awwww....

soooo, if you would like to READ MATTHEWS MIRACLE BIRTH STORY...please go HERE and you can read it....i have NOT made a MONTAGE of him YET...i plan to sometime in the near future!! but you know me, it has been a BIT crazy for me lately....

well, we are SOOOOO PROUD OF HIM and we are SOOOOOO BLESSED for EVER SECOND OF HIS LIFE and we just keep THANKING GOD EVERDAY for his little life!! we truly been blessed with him and just are EVER SO THANKFUL that he is OURS!!!

SOOOOO, THANK YOU GOD for the last EIGHT YEARS THAT YOU HAVE BLESSED US WITH OUR MIRACLE MATTHEW ISAIAH!!! WE PRAY TO HAVE MANY MANY MANY MORE YEARS WITH HIM!!! we pray that you keep him HEALTHY AND STRONG and just continue to keep him going!!! WE PRAISE YOU, GOD FOR EVERYTHING YOU HAVE BLESSED US WITH AND ALWAYS FOR THAT BEAUTIFUL LITTLE MIRACLE YOU GRANTED US WITH....MATTHEW ISAIAH....GOD IS GOOD, ALL THE TIME!! ALL THE TIME, GOD IS GOOD!!! ALL PRAISE AND GLORY TO YOU GOD FOR OUR SON MATTHEW ISAIAH!!!

MATTHEW ISAIAH.....WE LOVE YOU AND ARE SO PROUD OF YOU!!! HAPPY 8TH BIRTHDAY, MATTHEW!!! GOD BLESS YOU ALWAYS!

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!!!

MATTHEW MADE HIS 1ST COMMUNION!!

WE ARE SOOOOO PROUD of our son!!! today, he finished another of his sacraments (baptism, reconciliation & now 1st communion) and we are so blessed!! it was such an exciting day. we got him his little shirt with a tie, some slacks and his new black shoes. we bought him rosary, his prayer book and all his little stuff. we had so many people that were praying for him and he was sooooooo excited. we had practice earlier in the week for him and he was going to be bringing up the BASKET OF FLOWERS during the offeratory and he looks soooo cute! he had to walk in with his HANDS IN PRAYER and he did! he had been practicing...all the kids that were around him were so excited by him and continued to talk to him and try to teach him new words. it was really cute because they were allll trying to teach him words and how to clap etc. awwwwwww.....on top of our PRINCE OF PEACE community being there, my aunt and uncle ZEKE & CYNDI, his nurse and her fiancé, our good friends the ARNDTS, grandma, uncle bubba and family and his 2nd grade teacher!!! it was so nice of everyone! :) and we were soooooo worried about him actually taking the BODY AND BLOOD of CHRIST!~!! he is G-TUBE FED and yes he DOES eat but not on demand! he has to WANT to eat and this was something different! :) so the FATHER and i figured out that he would place a small piece of the HOST on a spoon with some water and then spoon feed him...well, matthew wanted NONE OF IT!! so we kept trying and FINALLY he opened his mouth and we put it in there...he was ok after that...for the wine, i had a SMALL syringe and i probably gave him something like .2 cc of the stuff and squirted it in his mouth!!! he was fine and everyone in the church was watching and you could see that everyone was just smiling!!! we had people come up to us after mass and congratulated him and also tell us that they were soooo moved by it all!!!! you see, to have him make this sacrament was just so amazing thinking back to when he was born and they were giving me NO HOPE what so ever and here we are, making this amazing event!!! THANK YOU GOD FOR OUR LITTLE MIRACLE!!!!!

happy day today!!!

matthew is feeling better!!! after over a week of being soooo sick with congestion, wheezing and just feeling lousy, last night was the first night in almost a WEEK without having to need oxygen!!! woooohooo...he has another antibiotic on board after going to see his pulmonolgist on friday because he was STILL wheezing and having a hard time breathing after 9 doses of oral steroids, 4 days of an antibiotic and TONS AND TONS of nebulizer treatments every 3-4 hours...he has finally feels BETTER!!! still wheezing BUT able to keep his oxygen sats UP without the use of oxygen. it is such a BLESSING to us to see him back to almost normal. he is such a special little boy that even though he doesn't feel GREAT, he still smiles and laughs and just is MATTHEW.....SO NOw to CLEAR HIM UP so he doesn't have to have any more neb treatments and can just go back to 'normal' for him....he is REALLY starting to HATE the nebs and the suction and i don't blame him for it!!! i would hate it!! and now they are talking about getting him a IPV machine for the house...we were soooooo close to having to admit him into the hospital!!!! the dr was really worried about him/..after seeing the X-ray that we took on friday, he said there was INCREASED MARKINGS...hmmmm....poor baby! just happy that he has not needed to be admitted!!! WHEEEEWW!!! and ON a happy note, TODAY matthew started to SUCK ON A STRAW!!! whooohooo!! he lost his suck reflex at 7 months old and has never been able to do it since!! but recently he started to give KISSES, and today, i put them together with his ONE WAY VALVE STRAW and cup and told him to 'give the straw a kiss matt' and waalaa!! he DID IT@!!!! soooo happy and in AMAZEMENT of him! now just to watch him that he doesn't suck toooooooo hard that he aspirates!!! ;) AS FOR ME, well i am doing fine....thinking of my arm and wondering what will happen on tuesday at the drs office. they called me on friday morning to tell me that they could see me on tuesday....that was QUICK as far as the military system workings so i was VERY VERY happy to get that phone call the next morning after getting the news of my arm!~!! THANK YOU GOD! now to start this journey....i PRAY that there is a 'QUICK FIX' for this and it isn't the WORST CASE scenario...i can only PRAY that it is something that is treatable....BUT whatEVER the outcome, i am READY!! with GOD and my family and friends behind me, i will the strength to do ANYTHING.... after what matthew goes thru EVERYDAY, i know i can do it....and i will do it with a SMILE because i have FAITH in MY GOD that all will be well and it is HIS will!! if you can remember MAY 21st - MAY 26TH, 2004 when we got the news of matthew you will remember that thru iT ALLLLL, i had complete FAITH in GOD and i accepted it all and knew that whatever happened was GOD'S WILL and i believe now the same thing...GOD IS GOOD ALL THE TIME!!! ALL THE TIME GOD IS GOOD!!!! ready for TUESDAY to get here and find out some more!!!

BLESSINGS!!!!!

GOD IS SOOOOO GOOD!! today we found out that MATTHEW was selected to receive some BLESSINGS from VARIETY OF TEXAS CHARITY GROUP!!!!!!!!! wooooohooooooo............again, just AMAZED and feeling sooooooo BLESSED that it has happened.....we asked for an UMBRELLA SPECIAL NEEDS STROLLER---we asked for this because right now, he has a WHEELCHAIR that weighs about 60+ and to get it out and into our SUV, it is a double lift and/or using the WHEELCHAIR LIFT....when i am by myself, it takes me about 20+ minutes to get it set up, out, break it down, set up his wheelchair, put him in and then off we go....when it is COLD, RAINY, HOT, ETC, it is pretty hard!!! :) but we are blessed and the wheelchair doesn't fit into a car (for the nurse to take him somewhere) and so we have been using joshua's small umbrella stroller and poor baby is soooooo big for this!!! feet drag etc...so now we are going to have what he needs!!! THANK YOU JESUS!!!! and then we asked for an IPAD for him and they said YES!!! this will help matt communicate, get better with pointing and just there are soooo many apps that could help him!! NEEDLESS TO SAY WE ARE SO GRATEFUL AND THANKFUL FOR THIS!!!!!! this group helps out special need families with stuff that insurance won't pay for, have denied, etc.....wowowowowowow.....so GOD WILLING in a couple of weeks we should get everything! :)soooooo YAYAYA! I CAN'T WAIT.....

HAPPY 7TH BIRTHDAY, MATTHEW ISAIAH!!!

HAPPY 7TH BIRTHDAY, MATTHEW ISAIAH!!!
May 21, 2011…

Praise God, our miracle son is 7 years old today. What a BLESSING it has been to have him in our lives for every SECOND of it! We THANK GOD for those seconds everyday knowing how close it came that he might not have been with us. We are THANKFUL and we are BLESSED!!!!!!!!

Matthew had a rough start in life. He has been thru so much in his 7 years of life…most people could not even IMAGE what he has gone thru. But thru it ALL, with everything, he has ALWAYS been such a HAPPY BOY…yes, happy! We always say that he MUST have seen GOD during those first 5 days of life because he is always so happy. We know that GOD the Father holds him, shelters him and looks over him everyday.

Now, I know most of you have probably heard his MIRACLE BIRTH story so I won’t put those words down again. BUT if you have not heard about what a TRUE MIRACLE he is, please follow this link to our BLOG and you can read all about it. TRULY A MIRACLE FROM GOD!!! http://blessingsinmylife.blogspot.com/2008/05/miracle-matthews-story.html

I want to just write about who MATTHEW ISAIAH is….there are so many WORDS that describe and have become Matthew. He is a MIRACLE…when he was born his prognosis was the cardiologist did not think he would make the 15 min drive to the other hospital. He was that sick. His heart defect was so bad (obstructive) and his lungs were so bad…he was a blue baby. After his 8 hour open heart surgery when he was 8 hours old, at 5 days old being taken off the ECMO (heart lung bypass machine) to ‘die a natural death’…the MIRACLE that when almost 24 hours after being taken off and given the grim news that he would not make the night, he is awake, wiggling toes, grabbing our fingers and not as BLUE as he was on day 5!!! And day after day of those first 98 days in the hospital, proving doctors wrong….doctors never able to give a prognosis or tell us WHAT to expect because at every turn, GOD thru MATTHEW would prove them wrong or do the complete opposite!!! He pulled out his vent a couple of times during those days and during all the drama that that caused he would sit up and SMILE such a big beautiful smile and the RTs, nurses and drs would just MARVEL that he seemed to KNOW when he was ready to be off the vent and do AMAZING….of leaving the hospital WITHOUT a trache and a vent that they drs wanted him to leave with because he would ‘not grow’ because of his rapid breathing….going home and doing AMAZING until he was 5 months old and started SEIZING and given a diagnosis of INFANTILE SPASMS and being told to ‘video tape what he was doing at 5 months because he may never do anything more than that’….another miracle when INFANTILE SPASMS didn’t materialize and SHOCKING the neurologist because in all his 20+ years of practice he had NEVER had a pt diagnosed due to the earmark TYPE of seizures and not progress and continue with the infantile spasms…He is so STRONG…stronger than ANYONE can be…he has just been such an AMAZING little boy….thru all the hour/2 hour long seizures where he has to be rushed by EMS, being intubated, being poked, being bagged because he stops breathing…hospitalizations due to all his seizures, his respiratory condition (he has CHRONIC LUNG DISEASE)…ALL his numerous illness here at home where he is on and off oxygen, oral steroids, antibiotics, 6+ nebulizer treatments a day and being suctioned and just recently, he is now having to wear a CPAP machine while he sleeps and just being such a TROOPER and not fight it and just ACCEPTS IT…that is something that is sooooo STRONG about him…he will be getting a blood drawn, getting suctioned, getting some procedure done, a sleep study with all the wires on his head, being messed with medically and thru it all, he might be crying but he doesn’t FIGHT….he does pull away, he just cries and doesn’t fight…it is just so amazing to see him be so strong…it breaks my HEART because I know it is because he has been thru soooo much that that this is ‘normal’ is why he is like he is…the medical staff are just in awe of him because I will hold his arm down and he won’t try to kick, punch or anything else, he will just cry and if I have my phone out or something is distracting him, he won’t even CRY while getting a blood draw….my beautiful baby boy has been thru so much that it is just something ‘normal’ for him that he just accepts it…and when he is done……HE SMILES!!! This big beautiful SMILE…what a miracle and blessing this little boy is in our family….we NEVER keep him home when we are out and about…he goes with us EVERYWHERE…we take trips as a family….enjoy RVing….parties….normal everyday stuff like groceries, church, everywhere…..we are so PROUD of him and we are so IN LOVE with this little boy…he brings so much light in our lives and so much JOY!! To remember everything he has been thru, to remember how CLOSE it was that he was ALMOST not going to be a LIVING part of our lives…..we embrace, feel blessed, & are THANKFUL for every second and give PRAISE to GOD for this little miracle in our lives.

If you have never actually MET Matthew but have followed his life since he was born, know that we WISH that you could meet him so he he could know that you have been a part of his life because you have been out there THINKING and PRAYING for him. He would grace you with his love, his hugs and his SMILES…and if you have a phone, and you let him play with it, well, you would have made a FRIEND FOR EVER!!! This little guy LOVES phones and we actually have to talk code if we talk about our phone or where it is and GOD FORBID it rings and it is hidden some where and he hears it…it’s OVER!!! The phone is HIS!! He is such a great little guy. Always happy and always HAPPIEST wherever DADA is at…his favorite word in the world is DADA…I really need to video tape him when dad comes home…the JOY he shows makes you want to cry! Although thinking back if you put on his favorite movie he kinda does the same think…..JUST KIDDING! His love for dada is just AMAZING…

So THANK YOU ALL for all these last 7 years of thinking of Matthew and PRAYING for Matthew. We are BLESSED that we ‘know’ you and we are BLESSED that you love our son, as we do.

HAPPY 7TH BIRTHDAY, MATTHEW ISAIAH. We PRAY that there are MANY MANY MANY more. WE LOVE YOU and are so BLESSED and HAPPY that GOD has been so amazing to us that he has bless us with YOU in our lives. You are such a JOY to us and we are sooooooo PROUD OF YOU!!!! WE LOVE YOU, MATTHEW ISAIAH WITH ALL OUR HEART!!!! GOD BLESS YOU ALWAYS!!!

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

http://www.onetruemedia.com/shared?p=de6e9d4511069c6f5aade8&skin_id=1604&utm_source=otm&utm_medium=text_url

Love,
Maria, James, Alex, & Joshua
www.blessingsinmylife.blogspot.com

Rodeo time!!

well, today we went to the RODEO and enjoyed some crazy time with some other members of our family and we had a BLAST!!! we were there at the carnival area the whole time and the kids had a BLAST!! and wow, those workers there at the carnival area are just amazing! they were soooooo nice to my matthew....they would call him over and GIVE him stuffed animal prizes!!! he ended up coming home with 4 of them! just soooo nice and amazing! and they would let him get on the rides with dad and only one person had to pay AND they would let him go again if we wanted to! just soooo nice! THANK YOU GOD for them...really...it made matthew feel so special..he LOVED all his nice toys...we ended up getting season passes so we hope to go BACK there sometime this week and maybe just to go out to walk around for a while..we had a BLAST and the boys were OUT like a LIGHT tonight!!! so is dad...

well, THANK GOD my matthew is doing well..and JOSHUA is offically POTTY TRAINED!!! wooohooo!! he was the EASIEST ONE!! we offically started 1/25 and by 1/28 he was SET with no accidents! :)really happy with him...wooohoooo!! :)

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

we are up to 6....

unfortunatly, the seizures are back...we are up to 6 szs now in just under 2 months...that is WAY WAY WAY up from 2 seizures in OVER TWO YEARS....i am so sad about my baby boy matthew...he had a sleep study done on tuesday night. their thought is that maybe he is having apnea episodes which in turn are causing him to have seizures?! we shall see how he did in his sleep study. all i want to know is WHY?!?! now i need to be very clear about this, it is not 'why him, God?" i don't THINK i have ever thought that, even when he was born with a heart defect. i love my son JUST THE WAY HE IS and i am very BLESSED to have him with us!! i am asking 'WHY is he having seizures again?' how can i HELP him...what is the cause so that we can try to fix it....that is the WHY i am thinking and asking...how can i help my little man...what is going on?! anyway, he had another sz last night...2 in fact...my poor little guy!! he slept thru them but he remained on oxygen all night long and he seemed to sleep very well...

i am praying that SOMETHING comes up that will explain why he is having these sz...

MATTHEW had a sz last night...

‎*yawn*long night..wow, i was just talking to my TAPVR friends about what it felt like 4 him to have a sz in middle of night & have to leave ur other kids..and it happened. that was so scary! but we r HOME & he looks good..i can't believe his O2 sats got into the 30'S & his lips turned BLUE! that was the FIRST time i personally had EVER had to BAG my boy!! they always did it in the ambulance but there was NO WAY i could wait! to see him not responding, O2 monitor going crazy, sats in the 40's & 30"s and knowing you have to BA...G HIM or he is going pass out or worst...that was really SCARY! Thank GOD i had his airway bag set up pinned to the wall above his oxygen and it was complete (thanks to METHODIST & our last hospital stay where i took the bag from the room) and i hooked it up and put it on him...wow, that was a crazy rush...i say that because so many emotions are going thru your body and then i had james call 9-1-1 and then we switched and i had to get his diastat in him ASAP....(valium to help stop his sz)...he sz for 25 mins that we actually saw him plus how ever long he sz before his monitor went off...scary!!
but, these sz are really different than the other ones....he seems to be responding to the DIASTAT with these so, i think we are going to NOT call EMS until after his diastat and he is STILL szing...the DIASTAT has seem to work...so i think i will give the DIASTAT after 3 mins....support him with oxygen and watch him...after another 5 mins if he is still not responding or still szing, i will call EMS...the decisions i have to make for my boy....you never think you would make THOSE kinds of decisions for anyone you love....but thru my FAITH and thru PRAYERS he and WE have come a long way...THANK YOU GOD FOR MY BOY!!!

thanks all for any thoughts and prayers...we are going to take it EASY today...and did i mention that my dh is leaving for 2 weeks this saturday?!?!? yep, going to be STRESSful the next 2 weeks on my own and with his sz....**sigh**

SIEZURE TODAY....

yep...over a YEAR it has been since he has had ANY sz activity and TODAY, the day after his birthday he MUST have had one...why do i say MUST and not DID? well, because it was unwitnessed....he woke up early today (again) at about 4:30am and dad took him to the potty and put him back in bed...everything was fine...then he wanted the tv on so he put him back in bed and the tv on softly....dad left about 5:30am and i had gone in to check out matthew cause he was coughing but he was fine....then i went back to sleep and so did him...well, later this morning i went in because he was coughing...and he was semi awake...he rolled over and sat up and just sat there swaying with his eyes closed....wierd...i got him over to the couch and he is just laying on me and just out...i keep trying to wake him up and move him so i went and gave him his meds and he is just asleep on the couch....and then he started refluxing and then would fall back to sleep and he would wake up and relfux and then fall back to sleep and everytime he woke up, he never looked me in the eye or he never really woke up...it was REALLY concerning me and ieven called james and had him try to wake him up or talk to him and matthew had NO EXPRESSION which is odd because he LOVES his daddy and he usually goes CRAZY with him....it was REALLY REALLY REALLY scary...i just KNEW something was up when i woke him up...he was just not MATTHEW....and i finally had to call a nurse/dr to see what i should do...he FINALLY woke up at 1245 and he was till really dazed and not having any muscle control...and then 10 mins later he FINALLY started to interact with me...THANK YOU GOD...the dr and i think he DID have a SZ in the morning...i am so sad...it was soooo scary....and of course, it was just me and the boys....

i hope this is not the start of something...it has been over 1 year since his last one...we will be on alert now AGAIN...that is so sad...you get really comfy and then he just likes to shake us up a bit!! oh well...thank GOD he is ok....

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

MATTHEW is in the hospital.....and other news...

HELLO EVERYONE!!

i hope everyone is doing WONDERFUL and enjoying their 2nd month of the year!! as for us, well, we are doing fine....i tell you, i hope we are getting all the 'bad' stuff out of the way EARLY in the year so that the rest of the year would be sssmmmoooottthhhh sailing!!! :)

i just wanted to send out an update.....i know, 2 in 2 months...well, matthew is in the hospital right now....he was admitted yesterday due to a rash ALL OVER that started last week....i am sooooo THANKFUL that we have such a WONDERFUL dr that didn't just blow off his symptoms like most drs would have and instead decided that after seeing him 2 days (mon/wed) that he needed to be admitted cause he was not getting better....they diagnosed him with KAWASAKI SYNDROME....his cardiologist said we needed to play the lottery cause him have TAPVR (rare CHD) and now this (which is also very rare) is just unheard of!! only matthew would say DIFFERENT!!! soooo, this is the earliest diagnosis (we were 72 hours into it) she has ever made so that is a GREAT AND AMAZING thing!! it dropped his chances for an anuerism to 2% or sooo...THANK YOU GOD! they are treating it with IVIG and HIGH DOES OF ASPRIN (5 baby asprins every 6 hours)...they started his IVIG and asprin last night....i am just praying that he responds to it...he has been so miserable now for a couple of days....he didn't ever look like matthew... i had only heard it because JET TRAVOLTA had it when he was 3 and i remember when he died, the mother said that THAT was what caused his death (which was NOT true)...anyway, if you google it is says that young kids get it (which is why it is soooo rare for matthew) and that it imight be caused by cleaning your carpets...not true...it is actually your body fighting itself because there is a virus in it...not a good thing...it does effect the heart, which scared me SILLY!!! and plenty of fluid....he is finally looking a LITTLE better...you can see pics on facebook...he was soooo swollen and red all over....just so you know, the symptoms are ALL OVER RASH, FEVER FOR 5 DAYS, LIPS-SWOLLEN, RED AND CRACKED, EYES-RED (RACCON EYES BUT RED) AND THE WHITES ARE RED TOO (KINDA CREEPY LOOKING), FEET/HANDS- SWOLLEN AND RED, TONGUE- LOOKS LIKE A STRAWBERRY (BRIGHT RED AND HIS TASTE BUDS WHITE) AND SWOLLEN LYMPH NODES(he did NOT have that yet)..as she was reading the signs/symptoms, i just kept nodding........his face just look HORRIBLE!! at first we thought it was a rxn to one of his drugs and we were AFRAID that it would be on of his SZ meds and that would have BAD cause he is on such a 'perfect' mix and dose right now that i sure didn't want to mess with it!!! and neither did his nuerologist! anyway, GOD WILLING we will be getting out of here this weekend....it was funny cause his pedi dr said laughingly, 'well, good news is that there is no holidays this weekend!!" and i had to remind him that valentines day was on sunday and then presidents day was on monday!! he just GROANED!! if you remember, matthew is NOTORIOUS for having 'drama' on holidays or on vacations....just last month he was dx with RSV (i don't think i mentioned that before) on NEW YEARS EVE.....only MATTHEW!!! :) soooo, any prayers or good thoughts would be REALLY appreciated....

as for the OTHER news for the month...i am going to be having surgery next week (17th)...yep, they decided that i needed to have my stomach corrected after all....they think my nissen is fine BUT apparently, all my GERD/reflux symptoms i had been having since i had joshua were because i had a hiatal hernia and my nissen/stomach went THRU it and is now sitting above my diaphram!!!!! so, THAT is why i am having such a time with my reflux/pain...it's getting SQUISHED by my diaphram every time i BREATH!! FIGURES! :) soooo, they are going to pull down my stomach to where it is suppose to be, anchore it with a GTUBE (yes, matthew and i are going to be TWINS cause we will BOTH have feeding tubes) then fix up the hiatal hernia!! now, the gtube is just temporary (about a month) so that my stomache will adhere to the wall there where the gtube...then they will take it out and it will close up and my stomache SHOULD never move from that place again and go back UP! :) i know, WIERD!!! i guess i can say the same thing as i said about matthew....ONLY YOU, MARIA, THIS WILL HAPPEN TO! :) but hey, maybe they can do a little lypo/tummy tuck when they are in there?!?!? i will have to ask the drs about that!! ok...i think the WORST thing about this whole surgery is that i am going to be on a FULL LIQUID DIET for about 3 weeks....i did this 10 years ago when i had the nissen and it was hard then, i can't imagine how hard it is going to be NOW that i have 3 kids!!!!!! the crazy thng is that you can't ''cheat" like any other time...you know, grab a pinch of food here, a bite there...nope, if i did that, i could CHOKE to death!! my esophagus will be so swollen, it will not let anything but liquid thru!! so, instead, i will be eating applesauce, jello, pudding, broth with no noodles or anything, and ensure for 3 weeks....YYYYUUUUMMMMYYYY!!!! james says he will be on the diet WITH me...i give him 2 days before he caves!!! i am just wanting this to be done and over with....one of my aunts jokingly asked 'what are you giving up for LENT? SOLIDS?" which i thought was sooo funny! i had actually not realized that i would be having surgery ON ASH WED!! who knew?! it has got to be a good day since it is a HOLY day of obligation! :) i need to make sure i get some ashes from somewhere after my surgery....i just MIGHT give up solids for 40 days and nights...maybe....of course, my luck,you would think that i would lose ALLLL this weight and i end up gaining it or something....i NEED to lose some...i hope that is an ADDED benefit!! ;)

anyway, my other 2 boys are doing WONDERFUL....alex is doing great in his class...he is just sooooo smart! :) he amazed me the other day (every day) when he asked what SUDUKO was...i showed him what the concept was and that was IT, he figured it out and started working on a puzzle IMMEDIATLY!!! it took me FOREVER to figure out WHAT i was suppose to do!!!!!!! and i am so proud...his math, he is doing GREAT! he is adding/subtracting/borrowing/carrying over up to the 100's and working on the 1000's! and again, i didn't have to really teach him anything...just showed him what to do one time and he was OFFF!!!! :) love it! and GOD WILLING, this year in May, he will be making his FIRST COMMUNION and we are sooooo excited and happy!!! :) big boy...and this week, he started his first HOMESCHOOL PE CLASS and boy, he LOVED IT!! there are about 13 kids in it and she made them do laps, jumping jacks, sprints, jump rope etc and he said he had a BLAST! he was sooo worried about the week after i had my surgery and who was going to take him cause he didn't want to miss! i told him that i would take him...he LOVED IT!

and joshua...really, what can i say...he is such a CUTIE, and such a SMARTY...i love when he talks and tells me 'love you', and just huggs and loves on me...he is still a mama's boy and i am LOVING IT! ;) he is still a little bully!!! he will go up to matthew and wrestle him DOWN!! and we have to be VERY careful cause he and matthew fight alllll the time! and i mean FIGHT....i tell you, in a former life, i don't know WHO joshua was....maybe a soldier or something cause he knows how to 'shoot' a rifle and gun (even with sticks and such), he can box and fight, wants to play with KNIFES, SCISSORS & FIRE and he LOVES to play all kinds of sports...scary!!! just the other day, we had SUCH a scare cause i had left my pill box in my purse and he got a hold of it and took a couple of bites of my PILLS!!!!! CAN YOU SAY OMG! how scary?! we had to take him to the ER per poison control cause i didn't know how many he had taken....but THANK GOD, everything was just fine...IF he actually had any, it was really minute....it sure taught me a BIG lesson that i guess i had forgot or just was not as watchful but after this, i am looking at EVERYTHING around him to make sure he can't hurt himself...again, ONLY JOSHUA!!!

and james is doing great...such a AMAZING hubby and daddy! he is working HARD and just being recognized for it...we are sooo proud of him....he is getting ready for the BIG move....he is trying to find his soldiers other places to move them to (other battalions)...it's alot of work...not to mention that HE has to find a job himself!!!! :) but again, that is my MAN!!! love him...he and i celebrated our 13th wedding anniversary on 2/1/10...it has been 13 years of BLISS....i have always been soooo THANKFUL to GOD and felt soooo BLESSED that GOD brought him into my life...he is just an amazing daddy and husband....not many would be able to go thru what we have gone thru (with matthew) and still be around....not many would LOVINGLY, WILLINGLY learn everything they have to do so that their children would be healthy and happy...he is something else! THANK YOU GOD!

anyway, sorry to 'talk' your eyes off....i really just meant to talk to you about matthew but i thought i would throw everything else in...i would appreciate ANY thoughts and prayers for our beautiful son MATTHEW....he has been thru soooo much in his life...and in the last month and a half, he has had to deal with RSV, tons of treatments, suctioning and steroids and now THIS!!! i just pray that there are no lasting effects from this....

and if you can spare a thought for me, i would also appreciate any thoughts and prayers for me for next week when i have my surgery...i worry about my boys and leaving them for a couple of days....again, i am just so THANKFUL that james is a GREAT father that i KNOW they will be taken care of WAY beyond anything! and for all those weeks on the liquid diet...YIKES!!!

ANYWAY, take care and GOD BLESS....i will be updating on matthew on FACEBOOK and i will try to do on my BLOG too (www.blessingsinmylife.blogspot.com) ....if you are on FACEBOOK and want me to add you to my 'friend', just email me with your info and i will look for you on FB...apparently, you can TRY to look for me but there are SOOOOOO many ME's out there, you can't find me!!! :)

ok....GOD'S BLESSINGS TO ALL!!!

MARIA, JAMES, ALEX, MATTHEW & JOSHUA

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!

I'M BACK!!! :)

hola there.....it has been soooo long since i have blog...i am sad that i have let it go....i have been CONSUMED (VERY ADDICTED) to FACEBOOK and i seem to post EVERYTHING there....i need to reconnect with my blog cause this is my RECORD of our life....sooo, i am BACK and i am going to make a promise to myself that THIS is where i need to post what is going on in my life FIRST!!! (BUT if you want to follow me on FACEBOOK, look me up!!:)

well, since i am back, i need to update on myself....i have had a fun filled last couple of months of FINALLY getting myself checked out....i have ALWAYS had a lot of problems in my life such as GASTRO, FIBRO, etc....so, i finally got myself an appt with a GASTRO, a RHEUMOTOLOGIST, and my dr and got things rolling...i have had MRI'S, ENDOSCOPY/COLONOSCOPY, UPPER GI's...i am now on 3 medications (2 for pain, 1 for gastro) and it is pretty bad...but i am FINALLY getting myself taken care of!!!

well, MATTHEW started school last week and he is doing AMAZING!!!!! YESTERDAY, he READ for the FIRST TIME!!! nad what do i mean about that? well, the teacher showed ome on monday a sheet of paper with 3 words on it (MATTHEW, MOMMY, DADDY) AND she would flip the card over and he would then SAY dada, when MOMMY came up he would point to MEEEEEE and when MATTHEW would come up, he would point to himself!!! is that not MAAZING?!?!?!?!?!??!?!?!?! what a MIRACLE!!!