matthews video

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Your not going to believe this!!!!

Snow in Georgia~Feb 12, 2010

We got about 3 inches of snow in Central Georgia.  This is the most snow we have had since 2001. We had fun playing in it.

Ashley, my oldest daughter, called and said they got snow too.  She is at Georgia Southern University in Statesboro, GA (about an hour West of Savannah.)

CHD Awareness Party

This weekend we attended a CHD Awareness Party and a Gwinnett Gladiator's Hockey Game sponsored by Kids at Heart at Children's Healthcare of Atlanta and Sibley Heart Center.   Gov. Sonny Perdue is signing a Proclamation tomorrow morning declaring Feb 7-14 as CHD Awareness Week for the State of Georgia.  We will not be able to attend the signing, but I am so excited.  Hopefully this will get some media coverage!!!

This week has made me thankful for all the people who have played such an important part in Matthew's life.  How can you look at the face of this sweet baby....



and not thank God everyday for bringing him into our lives and blessing us each day with his presence?

Matthew will be 15 months old on Wednesday.  He can be the sweetest, most loving little boy ever.  He is so funny and loves to have 110% of your attention.  He is somewhat spoiled...we are working on that.  He has recently started screaming in order to get what he wants.  He has no patience...working on that too!  We are teaching him to tell us what he wants, if he is unable to say it, we make him sign.  The sweetest sight is Matthew signing "thank you and please."  I will update more about Matthew later this week after his 15 month appointment.

In honor of CHD Awareness, say a prayer for the survivors and those who have earned their wings.  Also say a prayer for the families who are facing these struggles daily.  Volunteer, give blood, become an organ donor, donate to pediatric cardiac research..These small things make a big difference in a childs life.  Remember that Congenital Heart Defects is the #1 Birth Defect








Matthew's sisters, Ashley and Allie

Rough and Tough!!

Matthew has been doing good lately with the exception of the reoccuring ear problems.  We have battled the same ear infection since November 3rd and in January we had to take him to Pediatrics After Hours because he was bleeding from the ear.  I am not talking about a little...It was puddling in his ear.  For the second time, a ruptured eardrum.  Matthew shows no symptoms other than a few tugs at the ear.  Finally, we have an appointment with an ENT in February.


We also caught the nasty stomach virus that seems to be everywhere.  Matthew has still not gotten over it completely.  He is slowly getting his appetite back.  He has gotten small.  With that being said, his stats have been extremely good since the stomach bug.  He is running 100% O2 and 102-108 HR.  His heartrate has never been this low before. Prior to this, his HR was steady at 136-142.  His O2 stats have been hanging from 95-100% since his stent.   


He is so busy now...forget walking.  He runs everywhere now.  Here are a few things he is doing:

• Matthew takes 2 naps and goes to bed around 9pm and still gets up at least twice a night.
• He LOVES music~Bobbing his head and bouncing up and down.  If you turn the music down he will fuss. 
• He weighs 20.3 lbs and is 29 inches tall.  We don't think he is going to be very tall.
• His newest activity is taking off his socks.
• He would rather go/be outside than anything.
• He is a meat eater, even before sweets.
• He is also in the stage of putting food in his mouth and then taking it out to inspect it and on many occasions he spits it out once the flavor is gone.
• He can identify his nose, ears, mouth and sometimes eyes and hair.
• New words are ear, eye, more, and ba ba.
• Matthew's sisters got him a signing book for Christmas and has actually learned to Sign the words more, all gone, give me, and eat.  He uses "more" a lot and in the correct context.
• He is 14 1/2 months old.
• He still takes his bottle.  He will drink from a sippy cup but in order to take naps, he must have his bottle.  He has never taken a pacifier.  I wonder if his bottle is his paci? 
• He loves driving his car with the cutest little car sounds he makes.
• He has started bending over and putting his head on the ground.  I will have to get a pic of this.  It is so funny.
• He will look at me if he is doing something he knows is a "no no" and will continue to do it and when I say no, he runs.  He does not respond to "Come Here" at all.  Best I can tell, he thinks it means run the other way.

I have not been taking a lot of pictures and when I do they look like the ones above.  I am trying to hide the fact that I can't always be there to protect him.  The reality is that sometimes, all we can do is pick them up, dust them off and love them.

This is the Reality! 









As you can tell Matthew has had a few falls.  His balance has been out of sorts.  We think it is from his ear problems.  He seems to rotate from one side of his forehead to the other.  Once one begins to go away, he will fall and hit the other side.  As you can tell from the pictures, this last one was a big "boo boo."  He is so Tough!

Santa Claus is Coming to Town!!

The Cutest Teddy Bear Ever!

I wanted to share with you the Cutest Teddy Bear ever....Ashley searched high and low online for something special for Matthew's 1st birthday and this is what she found. It is called a Bummer Bear. Good job Ashley! It is so cute!




















I love his little zipper and mended little heart. I'm sure Matthew will cherish his little heart buddy once he is old enough !


This company will personalize the bear in any way, for any surgery or injury, see the website for more details. It ships really fast and shipping is free. The website is www.bummerbears.com and the bear shown above is the Mended Heart Bear. He is very, very soft.

Gonna give it a test run...

The photos below were taken today. I think Matthew is very handsome in his Sweater Vest. He love playing on the steps and the last couple of times we have went outside, he has headed straight for the road. So, I had to get a couple of him playing Dodge Car~Just Kidding!

I have been messing around with this blog for a couple of months. I am not one for change and I am still not sure of what I am doing, but I have not been happy with care pages. I believe Care Pages is a great way for families to come together and support one another and keep everyone updated. I am not happy that the only way I can inform people of a new post is by marking it URGENT and I do not like being able to download photos and videos in my posts. Therefore, I hope you sign on as a follower in order to continue to read about Matthew's Journey. I plan to journal more and post more photos and videos. I have really been slacking lately.

We are going to Atlanta this Saturday for the annual Kids at Heart Christmas Party. We plan to do some shopping and then go see our home town high school play in the state championship game at the Ga Dome Saturday night. It will be a great time. I am really looking forward to it!

Ashley is finishing up the semester with finals this week and should be home Thursday or Friday. Allie still has a couple of more weeks before her Christmas break begins. I know they are ready for some time off from school!