Christmas

Oh my gosh where do I start. Matt was a HOOT!!! In the days leading up to Christmas day was really fun. I talked with Matt about Santa coming with presents and we read a few books so he would get used to the idea. He still likes to read the Night Before Christmas which is OK with me...i can read it all year if he wants to. I think he was ready!!!!!



Christmas Eve is our BIG family get together. A few people were missing but it was still a ton of tun. Sadly my camera ran out of juice and i didn't bring the charger so there are no pictures of that night. Matt was totally getting into the hour'derves which was OK...at least i knew he was eating something right. He was able to walk up and down the stairs so he was going up and down playing with all the kids. He was also totally fascinated by the tree (which reached to the ceiling and hat TONS of ornaments on it) but every tree fascinated him this year. He liked to oooh and ahhh over every tree and we worked really hard in his "pretty" word. Of course when it came time to open presents he was all over that and also all over helping every one else. His present wasn't cool enough so he had to play with Austyns and Matts was cool enough for Austyn to play with. All in all he was a trooper.

Matt stayed with me Christmas Eve since I had to work later on Christmas Day and his dad would just take him to his families that eve. It worked out good. So back to Christmas Day.....I was so excited for Matt to wake up I could barely get any sleep that night. I remember being so excited as a kid to wake up and realize ITS CHRISTMAS and not even worry about how early it was or how tired I was. I woke up before Matt so I could attempt to get breakfast going so we wouldn't have to wait on that. Again i will say "attempt" because it did not go as planned and lets just say our house was very cold for awhile. So when Matt woke up...it was game over. I don't know if he was more excited that he was able to see me up first thing or if me being so excited he got excited. I told him in my excited little voice that Santa came...all he could do was sit on the bed with his mouth in a cute little "O" and scramble off the bed as fast as he could. When he walked out into the living room...well that "O" was still there. I grew up opening the stockings first while we waited for my parents to wake up. It was the one thing that we could do without them since we knew what stockings were ours. Matt dug right in and just kept going.

With everything that he pulled out he was just as thrilled as the thing before. Until he got to his "choo choo" everything was great. Once he got to that...well that was the highlight. We waited patiently for Ryan to show up and then open presents from there. Matt was thrilled with every present he got. He is totally in LOVE with his kitchen and I'm so glad that he got it. It keeps him occupied for sooo long and i actually like to play with him and "pretend" to cook food. Matt totally grasps the concept of pretend which is totally awesome for me. Ah the joys of being a kid again. Oh this will be so much FUN!!!



Matt listened and got me LOTS of stuff that I wanted, with some help from his dad (which was very nice of him to do) . I couldn't have asked for a better day to spend with the most precious little man ever and I'm so thankful everyday that i get to spend with him because it is one day more that i can love him just that much more than the day before.

Matt has been working really hard on his words and hes doing a really good job. He is attempting more words and his sounds are getting better. He is still WAAAY behind but slowly he is getting there. Its now a lot more easier than it was before for him to get his point across or even just try to communicate simple needs to us.

The potty training is still going AWESOME!!!! Only a few accidents here and there but he is waking up from his naps dry and most mornings he wakes up dry. I'm so glad that hes totally into the whole potty thing and I hope he doesn't revert back.

I cant wait for the new year and hope that it brings with it good things to make up for all the bad things that have happened to both of us this last year. We both deserve something good.

December?? Are you sure!!!

The months play cruel jokes on me...like the fact that they disappear so quickly!!! Seems like just yesterday we were getting snow....now the snow is gone...got a little more. Ah wells.

This month is going GREAT!! Christmas is just a few days away and I honestly couldn't be happier. Matt is full force into the whole tree, Santa, presents and lights. He loves the lights on the tree and he will "ooh" and "ah" over lights when we are driving. Its one of the first things he notices. But hey the lights are pretty and amazing to look at. Santa...well its a love hate relationship. He loves the idea of Santa but once we see a Santa that hes not fully OK with its game over. He was finally brave enough to take a candy cane from our Mall Santa but that's probably the best you will get. I think this might be the first year that we will have a picture without Santa. But that's OK...I'll be able to look back and KNOW that this is just not the year to sit on Santa's lap.

The presents are piling up under the tree. I think Matt is more in love with the tree than the presents. I think its just because he has no idea what to do with them but he knows that you can take the ornaments off the branches and move them around. I think this will be one of the funnest Christmas since Matt is really into and the things that he is getting....well he'll be in LOVE and i cant wait!!!

So Matt has reached yet ANOTHER HUGE....HUGE milestone. He is potty trained!!! Yes you read that right POTTY TRAINED!! I am so excited i don't even know where to start. We've had a few accidents but there is bound to be more especially when he is not able to communicate with us 100% yet. Hes doing awesome though. He can go all day without having an accident unless we are out and about. He still wears a diaper during nap and at night only because those are the times he still doesn't wake up enough to go (although he crawled out of bed at two the other night to let me know he needed to go). Daycare has been AWESOME about going too. Its just amazing that for a boy hes 2 and going potty!!!!

Matt had his IMPORTANT eye appointment. We are going ahead with the surgery on his eye. Another surgery I know. It sucks to think that he has to go through pain and just going under is SO scary for me from what happened the last two times he was under. We will be prepared though just in case things go wrong at least we will be at a GREAT hospital for children. I couldn't be more confident and it helps to ease my concerns. They are just going to be lifting his right eye lid so it is not in his line of vision. Why so young you might ask? Well because after the age of 8 their eyes have developed and even if you lift it if you wait that long because they are not getting enough light into their eye for 8 years by that time it wont help their vision at all. Cant we wait till hes older?? Yes but why wait?? Its not something that will fix itself with patching and it will always be there. I would rather do it when hes younger so he heals faster and he wont remember it as much and it wont be as traumatic for him later on. It was a hard decision but the fact that eventually it will need done might as well do it now. We just have to wait for the insurance to approve it and then we'll be good to go. Until then we still have to patch his eye and try to keep that eye working the best that it can.

We wish you all a very Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!!!

Winter

Winter is upon us here in the North!!! It came and never stopped. We have had a few days of clear skies but elements have rarely let up. Matt likes looking outside at all the snow. Hes not so sure when its snowing and it lands on him. He likes to borrow my hat though because it covers his whole face thus getting no snow on him. Go figure. He hasnt played outside yet in the snow because he was sick for a while. He has all the gear and we sent it to school with him today so he could play outside. I'm not sure how it went but i'm sure he had fun playing outside with all the kids. I was super excited because i found a steal on boots for Matt. $10....i mean seriously can you beat that deal?? Especially on a pair of good boots!!!!! So I got them about a month ago before the snow came knowing that he would need boots once the snow came. Snow came went to put them on. It took about 4 times but around the 4th or 5th time i put them on i realized that he has TWO RIGHT BOOTS!!!!! Seriously....and to make matters worse the stinking store i got them from went out of business. SO Matt gets to wear two right boots till we can find different ones that are cheap!!

I cant wait till christmas. Were setting up our tree this weekend....it will be so much fun for matt this year to actually be apart of it and understand what is going on. Santa is all the craz right now in his life. Hes getting some awesome presents this year and i just CANT WAIT!!!

Holidays

The holidays!!! One of my most favorite times of the year. Its a time to spend with family and see the joy on little peoples faces and watch them grow and enjoy all the new things they have to experience. This year my family will have thanksgiving a day early due to my mom and myself both having to work on thanksgiving. It works out perfect though because Ryan will be taking Matt down to his great grandparents in Clarkston then over to Montana to see his aunt and new cousin. Although i'm super sad to not be able to go it will be nice for Matt to spend some time away from me and actually bond with his other side of the family and get to know them without me there. Oh i just love the holidays. I have a HUGE family so it was always so much fun during the holiday season to have everyone together and just spend time and play with them. Getting older it was always nice to visit and catch up on all the things that have gone on and you never really have time to talk to them and find out all the things that have been going on in thier lives. Oh the holidays!!

So Matt is sick again. Horrible cough, fever, runny nose the works. I feel so bad for him. There is only so much that you can do. I had to go buy a new humidifier and Matt really likes that and we got him a face mask for his breathing treatments. At night i have been giving him albuteral to open up his lungs. I have found that if you start before it gets bad, well then it doesnt get bad. He sleeps much better and seems to have an easier time breathing at night and it just makes everyones lives a little easier. HOWEVER it has been sooo rough with ryan being out of town. I have been going to school, new job at work figuring out Matts schedule and with him being sick....its super rough. I give credit to all those single single single parents who have NO help from family or have a good support network. Its so rough just with my mom helping and my sister too so i can only imagine not having any help. Im so very thankfull for taht.

Other than that there really hasnt been much going on. Just waiting for the snow to fall and semi getting ready for christmas. I have my list so now its just a matter of time to get it all done and have all those things crossed off.

Halloween and a TALKER

So I'll start off with talking since that started first. As most of you know Matt has been behind in his speech. He is about a year behind due to his lack of hearing for the first year. Up until his surgery he had only two words in his vocabulary. Because of this he sees a speech therapist to keep up with his speech just in case it wasnt his hearing so much and other factors. Hes made steady strides since his surgery in Jan and his speech has really taken off. Well this past week its taken off even more. He is trying to put many words together. He will actually start a word, may not finish the word but he does start it and has all the syllabols needed for that word. Its incredible!!! He tries to copy all the words you say and will answer you with multiple words. AMAZING!! Ryan could tell a difference in just the last week when he came home from work Matt was just full of words and jabbering away. I'm praying that things will keep going as smooth as they have been and that his speech should only improve.

Halloween was a lot of fun this year. Matt wasnt sick so we could actually go out and about more than to just a few places. He totally go into the spirit of it and was hamming it up. Thankfully we went to just the people we knew because he just made himself right at home at every house we went to and just walked right in. It was pretty cute and he fit the chicken just perfect. It was cute. We had a lot of fun and it will be interesting to see what a whole new year brings and how different he will be next year.

Sad about something

Mom and Matt

EWWWW was the word of the day

Matt and cousin Riley

Train Ride

So to take advantage of the "short" fall weather we usually have up this way in the north i decided to do something really fun for Matt that i know he would enjoy. I knew they had some train rides to take in the fall and thought it would be super fun. I researched and they no longer have them out of our town BUT they did have one a little ways away from our town. I booked it. How could i not?? Matt is SOOO in love with trains. Anytime we see one or hear one its a constant "choo choo" till it is no longer in our sights our we don't hear it anymore. I personally have never been on a train ride other then super small ones so i was excited too!!! It took a little bit of a drive to get to Ione WA but the scenery was so worth it. A little windy road but i have never been in that area before and Ryan was there to point out all the places that he has worked. Man do i give him credit for hiking up so many places. Although they are super beautiful i guess they dont call it work for nothing. We got there and boy let me tell you. For Matt to be that close to a train...HILARIOUS!!

(although the pic doesn't show it he WAS really excited)

He was so well behaved on the ride. Sat patiently on our laps. It was really cute because every time we went over a road or whatnot they had to blow the whistle and Matt would look around saying "choo choo" like he was looking for the train so i was constantly telling him we were ON the train. (I doubt he understood but oh wells). It was soo much fun!! We decided to sit in the closed car and boy am i glad we did. It was still a little chilly but not as cold as it would have been if we were sitting in the open car. So much to see along the way......

Dam along the trestle we stopped on

Matt and Ryan

Matt and Mom

I think this will be a yearly tradition since it was so much fun. I know after awhile it will probably get old to him but it will still be fun at least for awhile.....until next year!!!

Matts Eye

When Matt was born it took him almost a week to open his right eye. He would open it a little but it was never fully open like his left eye. We always called him our "Right eye Jack" as a joke among us. As he got older we went to a kids eye Dr in Spokane because his eye was always droopy and noticeable. You could see it in pictures and you could tell just by looking at him. We saw his eye Dr every 6 months to keep an eye on the progress. It seemed to be getting better as time went on and was only worse when he was really tired. But the last time he went it seemed to actually be getting worse. The droop was noticeable all the time now. It was more droopy then his normal and just didn't seem to be improving with his age at all. She wanted to see us in 4 months instead of our normal 6. Well Matt went in on Monday and his eye is worse. His droopiness has now go into his line of vision. Since he is having trouble seeing his eye has now turned into a lazy eye and his brain is starting to slowly not use that eye. We have to go and see them again in two months. In those two months we have to patch his eye for 1.5 hrs everyday. Everyday i have to put this eye patch over his eye that is a hastle to try and put it on. Once its on he'll only cry here and there and doesn't seem to mind it that much. You could tell his has a problem with his vision in his droopy eye because the first day he had the patch on he was bumping into stuff all day. It wasn't so bad and he was really exited to finally take it off. I'm glad that he hasn't tried to take it off yet. Once he does it will be bad news bears....until then.

So when we go back in two months we are crossing our fingers and praying that it works. That same day after our appointment we meet with a plastic surgeon for his eye to lift it. I'm really hoping that the patch works!! I don't want to put him under again. He had a really hard time coming out of it and both times he had breathing problems and we had to stay overnight both times. It wasn't fun and it was horrible to see your child's O2 dip down into the 60 and 70's. After the anesthesia wore off he was totally fine and his O2 stats were great. I would just rather not go through all that again. She said that we can all go over that the next time we come in.

2 Yr Appt...and a month full of appointments

Matt had his big 2 yr appointment on the 23 of September. He now weighs in at 27 1/2 lbs...WOO HOO and is a whopping 33 1/2 inches long. He is tall and skinny just like his dad but hes growing so that's the most important part. Since Matt's insurance went up ALOT because he is still at 100 for the risk factor we DC'd his prevacid since we haven't used it since March and now that hes past the 25% for his weight we DC'd his pediasure as well. He likes to drink regular milk and its rare that he will drink all of his pediasure so i don't find this to be much of an issue. Hopefully these two things will make it go down at least a little bit. As for his speech...its coming along but insurance doesn't cover it anyways so i don't see what the issue would be with that. He still has his droopy eye and yes it is getting worse. He actually goes in on the 11th again to see how things have changed since 4 months ago. As bad as it sounds I'm really hoping they will patch his good eye or something. It wasn't so noticeable before but now it is pretty bad. As long as he can still see i guess that's the main thing but by golly I'm a pro-active person....i like to deal with things before they get bad bad so i don't see what patching it would hurt except improve the muscles in his week eye right?? He doesn't go to PT anymore either but i didn't think insurance covered that either so really I'm curious to see what issues afford him to still be at the highest risk factor 100!!!!. Other than that hes healthy as a button.

This month Matt has some really exciting things going on!!! He is going to READY!!! For kindergarten through the school district that teaches parents things to do with their kids to get them ready in the coming years so they are not behind once they get to Kindergarten. I'm really excited to see all the new things to do with him and what we can do as parents to make him become a better and more prepared little person. Its a pet peeve of mine for parents to have kids them pretty much do NOTHING with them so by the time they get ready to go to school they really have no idea what they are doing and struggle the whole time. I've seen this happen first hand and its really sad. So I'm excited to be on top of the ball with this one. ALSO Matt gets to go on his very first TRAIN RIDE!! Its a fall excursion ride put on by the Lions Club in WA and its just a quick little ride from Ione WA to Metaline Falls. I'm super excited since Matt freaks out any time he hears a train or sees a train. I cant wait to see what his little body will do once hes on the train for reels.

Other than that it looks like fall is upon us and the dreary weather has started. I'm sure we'll have some nice awesome days of fall but its starting to rain and that's just plain no fun.

Growing Up

As I lay here next to my baby in bed i wonder what the next year will bring. In the next month Matt has a few Dr appt. and I am into my first month of school. So much time has gone by!! I've had two tests already, one i KNOW i passed and the other...i'm just afraid this again might be a class that holds me up in my pursuit of a better job/life. I know that if i just buckle down and study really really hard it might not be such a challenge but where do i find the time?? Between Matt, Work and just going to my classes there isnt a whole lot left for study and doing homework. I enjoy doing my math (odd cuz in hs and college that was my WORST subject) because it makes me feel smart because i totally understand it. On the other hand chemistry makes me feel extremely stupid. I get the information dont get me wrong i understand it but when it comes to a test i'm completely LOST!! Matt is starting to be a little trouble. Take today for instance. Really good day started out like any other day. Did our errands, went to my work to pick up paycheck, stopped by Home Depot and came home for lunch. Matt ate a great lunch and it was WAAAAY past his naptime. Got a cup ready and off we go, except that we get to the room and he violently shakes his had and says NO. He wines and throws a fit (on the floor mind you) where i proceed to pick him up and put him in bed. I leave the room and he stops. I hear him yell once for me but i just ignore him. About an hour later (after no noise) i go into the room to get something and alas there sits matt on the floor reading books. I mean i cant complain because hes ready but HELLO!!! Its 3 pm and too late to take a nap seeing as he goes to bed at 8pm. This is just one example of how much he is growing up and how much less time i will have to get stuff done. Ryan has been out of town for the last month during the week so i'm pretty much left on my own to figure stuff out. I schedule and figure everything out. Thankfully my mom has stepped in and is being great watching matt 4 times a week. I guess i just could have stayed working but in the end i know that going to school AND working full time will totally pay off in the end. I only work 3 days a week so its not too bad but 12 hr shifts makes for just a lot of sleeping time and not really wanting to do much else.


So anyways, off my little tangent. I'm really excited to see what the next year brings. What will bring for us?? I mean now Matts 2!!! Seriously i cant believe that hes two. Its crazy!! How life changes in just two short years. I'm really excited to see what the future has in store for us.

Big Boy

So now that Matt has hit the big number 2!!! I thought it might be a good time to buy a big boy bed for my house. He already has a bed at Ryans and sleeps in it for 90% of the night before crawling into bed with him in the am. At my house he has his bed but its just the mattress on the floor and he doesnt like it. He sleeps with me and i totally relish every minute because one day i know that he wont sleep with me and he will be my BIG baby. So i thought it was time to buy his own "big" boy bed. I looked and looked and looked in the adds, craigslist, thriftstore and yard sales. I could NOT find a bed...i mean i can remember looking for cribs and all i could find were toddler beds..go figure. So anyways after looking and finding the price then calculating the price of gas going to pick it was just as expensive as finding one at walmart for around the same price. He got this awesome new bed

He seems to like it....although its not the same coolness of his cars bed at his dads its the SAME bed they have at his daycare. So at least its a little more familiar. It somewhat matches all the stuff in my room. We have a lot of black though but its next to Matt's dresser which is the same color so it works perfect.

One minor thing though was he had his first NIGHTMARE....my poor baby. He woke up in the middle of the night screaming bloody murder...like someone was ripping his leg off. He kept on screaming!! It took me a minute of sitting up in bed to get oriented to what the HECK was going on. i thought that he had either fallen off the bed or got up out and bed and walked into something or go turned around int he room. To say the least it really freaked me out. I held him and rocked him but he was ASLEEP!! My poor little boy was having a nightmare...poor little baby. He was sobbing so hard so we laid in bed and i just talked to him. Everytime from that moment on i would move and his little arms would go around my neck and just squeeze as tight as he could. I felt horrible but he woke up in a good mood!!

Fair

How could i forget the all important fair!! So many things for Matt happened that week as far as speech goes. Hes always been interested in animals...dog was his first word and he is in LOVE with his farm animals video even from a very young age. It so cute to watch and just how much he loves them. He was totally enamored with the fair. So the things he learned that week thanks to the fair and going EVERYDAY!! He learned how to say MOO MOO....and then NO NO MOO MOO...to funny to watch him point to the cow and tell it NO...like that would totally stop him lol. He also learned to say BA BA....those sounds he was able to say a long time ago but hasnt said in some time but he can relate them to the sheep and goats and that BA BA are what they say. He is TERRIFIED of the pigs but if you ask him what the pig says he'll kinda snort like the pigs do. He even scrunches up his face, seriously cute to watch. So for Matt to learn so many sounds and relate them to his favorite farm animals was really impressive. In the last week he's also learned to say "EMMA" and "ELMO". Sometimes its hard to distinguish between the two but there is a for sure "O" at the end of elmo if you listen closely. I'm really impressed since the fair and just by seeing so many animals that he sees in his movie on a daily basis he was able to relate in person to them and connect them together. SUPER CUTE.

Matt and cousin Riley going to the FAIR

Matt and the goats

Trying his hand at driving the tractor...just his size

2 yrs old

How did my baby turn 2?? Where has the time gone. I can still remember the hospital stay like it was yesterday....all the cuddles (he still cuddles though) and all his firsts!! He hit his Terrible Twos right on his special day like he just knew it was coming. We saw it coming....the learning to say NO, the crossing of his arms when he is mad, and the laying on the floor with his hands over his face. But no thing more than the shaking of his finger while saying NO or being so mad that he will go and lay down on his bed and cry while kicking his feet. But i know it will pass (hopefully) but i will love him forever and always because he is my baby.

We had a party with cake and ice cream. It was rock star themed and he was the star of course. He has a lot of fun and wasn't afraid of anyone. He was super cute and totally got into the presents. The first one he opened was his own set of REAL keys. I think that was the hit until he got to the end and saw what his dad got him. His very OWN little 4 wheeler. He didn't quite know what to think at first but then he climbed right on and once he figured out how to make it go it was all over then. The best thing thus far i think that hes played on. Now if only he could learn to make it turn so he doesn't crash into things. It was a great day!! My little baby is growing up.

Speaking for growing up i registered him for Ready!! for kindergarten here in town through the school district. I feel that it will only help him and us in the way of speaking and learning sounds all from a institutional perspective. This gets me thinking also if i want him to go to public schools or not. That's a few years down the road though so we'll just focus on what we can do right now. I think it will be good for him as well.

Also I've started school!!!! I'm really excited to be going BACK to school. Its different though working full time and being a full time mom as well. I have 3 classes but chem is like 2 in one because you have a lab so really i like to think that i have 4 classes. So far its not too bad and I'm actually really enjoying the math. Its not too bad and once you figure it out its really easy. As far as the chemistry goes I'm not so sure yet. Were only 2 chapters in but egh...it seems so easy but if you really think into it i guess i could make it much harder than what it really is. It will be nice though a few years down the road. I just really hope i get into the program on the first try!!! And i don't get let down. That would be such a bummer....BUT i just realized to get into the LPN program you DO NO have to take A & P....that makes my life sooo much better...I've been totally dreading the thought of even taking that class and how I'm going to pass it... BIG SIGH!!!!

We have yet to do his 2 yr appt. We have been in twice the last month though for this abnormal rash/bumps/hives that he has. Both times the Dr. said it was just a viral infection. She said that if its still there when he goes in at the end of the month they will look at it more closely and go from there. I'm excited to see how much he has grown...to see if he can stop the pediasure...and hopefully get a clean bill of health that way our insurance goes down A LOT!!! Lots of things to happen.

Boating

So Matt is in love!! He loves to go boating...he is such a good boy and had his first experience on the boat. Ryan just bought a new (mind you its old but to him its new) Bayliner open bow and its fairly nice. I mean it could use some work...re-upholster the seats and stuff but overall it runs great and will be awesome to have in the summer. Although i was freaked out the entire time i was finally able to relax at the end. My worst fear was him flying out of the boat and drowning. Like that would ever happen but its still a fear. I brought an extra car seat we had to put in there and keep in the boat and it was awesome. Matt just sat there the entire time with his life jacket on in his car seat and enjoyed the ride. Matt likes being in the water too so it just added to the fun. He has also learned no fear of the water yet which is kinda freaky too in a way. He wears his life jacket but he just walks out into the water...goes in over his head and bobbles on his stomach then his back then on his stomach and back again in 2 seconds flat. Its scary and it freaks me out and him as well but 3 min later hes back at it again. I think its finally time for those swim lessons so at least he can learn to be on his back and not freak out. All in all it was a great way to end the day and i cant wait till hes able to spend more time out on the boat!!