Celebration!!!

Friday night, Matthew went to bed covered in hives, but Saturday morning when he woke up…not one hive! I cannot express the joy I felt! I know that sounds crazy, but this has been the longest 2 weeks of Matthew’s little life and it truly is a miracle that they went away over night! I have actually learned a lot through this little trial (mostly patience), but I’m grateful that it’s over! So, Matthew and I celebrated!

We went to the Aquarium of the Pacific! Matthew loves fish and he was in heaven! He had learned from one of his books, that a fish opens and closes its mouth! He went crazy at the aquarium! He would open and close his mouth with just about every fish he saw! He really liked the tanks that went down to the floor because he could just stand there all by himself and watch the fish! He learned to say “fish” a lot more clearly today and it was so cute! Here are some of the things I learned at the aquarium: 1. don’t bring a stroller: Matthew just wanted to run around and look at everything at his leisure, so we returned the stroller to the car. 2. don’t go the aquarium on Saturday without daddy: Scott was having a boys day with his friends from high school, so he didn’t come with us! 3. people are very rude! Matthew got cut off and run over countless times and not by other children, but by adults! He got completely knocked out one time and the lady didn’t even care! I couldn’t believe it! We are now members of the aquarium, so we will probably not be going on a Saturday again without daddy!

This was Matthew’s favorite fish tank because it was so bright and the fish would just swim right up to his face! I kept missing those pictures! We spent a lot of time at this tank because not a lot of other people were there, so he didn’t get trampled!

These were taken outside the aquarium on the way to returning the stroller to the car. Matthew loves watching water falls and this was very entertaining!

Other exciting news...we finally turned Matthew's car seat forward and he loves it! I wear glasses while I'm driving and he had never seen me wearing them, so he kept watching me! He also learned that mom likes to dance to the music while we're driving while he finds hilarious! He doesn't look so thrilled in this picture, but he points at everything...it's a whole new world for him!

We are so excited to have our little Matty back! Thank you all for your prayers for Matthew! We are so grateful to have such wonderful friends and family!

An update on our sweet boy!

I wish I could say that Matthew is all better, but not yet! On Tuesday, Matthew had an allergic reaction to the medication and broke out in hives. At first, they were just on his legs, then spread to his stomach and the back of his neck, but last night they were everywhere! This morning he woke up with his right eye swollen shut and his sweet little face was just covered in spots. I took him back to the doctor to make sure that the hives had not spread to his ear ways or mouth and air ways! Luckily they hadn't and we are hoping and praying that they won't! He is on Benadryl around the clock and I am finally starting to see some improvement! Luckily, the Benadryl doesn't really have an effect on him either way; he's not wired, but it doesn't knock him out either! My heart just breaks for him! He's just not himself and we all can't wait until this is over! It's just been one thing after another for 2 weeks, so when this is over...we are going to celebrate!

It has to get better from here...

So I took Matthew back to the doctor again yesterday because he seems to be getting worse every day...he was so sad all day and didn't sleep at all! He had 6 doses of the prescription and he was still getting worse, so back to the doctor we went! The doctor said he now has a double ear infection and that's it's getting worse instead of better! He suggested switching prescriptions, so we put him on a stronger one! He said his ear drums are so swollen and full of fluid that it's very likely that one or both ear drums could rupture! It's sounds worse than it is, but it's still not something that we want! Unfortunately, the new prescription lowers his immune system again, so we're back to not really leaving the house to avoid more germs and a longer sickness! We are really hoping that Matthew will turn a corner really soon, but our doctor told us it could take up to 72 hours to see results! He was up last night from 2:30am until 5am! Scott was out of town and I was exhausted! Actually, exhausted doesn't even begin to describe it! But he was much happier this afternoon and hopefully tonight will be a better night! Scott is home now, so if it's not, then Matthew is all his!
On a happy note...his lungs sounded much better and we can drop back to one breathing treatment a day! Yeah! Of course, now it really doesn't bother Matthew and he will just sit there all by himself until it's done! Go figure! Oh well...one less medication for me to worry about!

He just can't catch a break!

On top of his bronchitis (which I just learned tonight is what Matthew has), little Matty now has an ear infection in his left ear and one quickly developing on his right ear! So we started a new prescription tonight to try and quickly kill that infection before it gets really bad! I feel so sorry for my little baby and wish so much there was some way that I could do it for him! He really is being a trooper! He was very clingy all day and just wanted to snuggle (and of course I love that part), but that is my red flag for an ear infection! That and the waking up in the middle of the night! So we dosed him up on all his medications tonight (which luckily don't interfere with each other) and put him to bed! It was the fastest he has fallen asleep for a few days now! Drugs really do knock you out!
On the upside though, Matthew discovered the moon tonight at the doctors office! (Yes, we really were there until the moon came out!) For those of you that don't know...Matthew LOVES balls! Or anything shaped like a ball for that matter! So the moon was a ball that he couldn't quite reach! He kept pointing to it and saying "Ooooo"! He pointed to it even when he wasn't looking at it! He was completely fascinated! He's such a smart little boy and so eager to learn new things! Although he's been sick, he's still such a sweetheart! Children are such a blessing! And as all moms can attest...sick children make you grateful when they're healthy!

Happy St. Patrick's Day from all of us in our PJ's!

Since Matthew and I haven't left the house since Friday, we haven't changed out of our PJ's! It's a lot more comfortable that way anyway! :) So today, we decided to be festive and wear green PJ's!

Matthew's cough is much better, but he still is not feeling 100%! (As you can see from his picture!) We're hoping our little Matty will be back on his toes again very soon!

Matthew's new friend/enemy...Bubbles the fish!

Matthew had a small cough this week, but on Thursday afternoon, he was coughing really hard and like 5-7 times a minute! It was awful! My heart broke a little more every time he coughed…he was just completely miserable! Sometimes, he would hold his breath to try to avoid coughing! So I made an appointment with his pediatrician for Friday. His doctor told me that he had a lot of fluid in his lungs and that it sounded a lot like asthma, but that doesn’t mean that he will have asthma for the rest of his life! So we did a breathing treatment in the office to see if it would help clear up his lungs a little! Matthew really did not enjoy this…he screamed the entire 10 minutes! I’m sure people thought we were torturing him (I sure felt like we were!) The nurses left, thinking that it would help him not to be so scared, but they failed to let me know when it was done! Another nurse came in and looked at it and said, “Oh you’re done!” I was thinking to myself…and how long have we been done for?! Matthew’s face was all red and swollen from screaming for so long! I was a little irritated, but grateful that it was over! The doctor came back in and checked his lungs and said that we needed to take the breathing machine home and do treatments of Albuterol 3 times a day for at least 3 days! (Albuterol is for asthma, but we are really hoping that this won't be a long-term thing!) He told me that we could keep the machine because we would probably need it again…comforting! I wasn’t sure whether to be grateful for the gift or concerned! He also put Matthew on another prescription to relax his muscles because he had been coughing so hard that his whole body was tense! The only problem with that is that this medication lowers his immune system and he could pick up any infection or germ, so we are homebound and no visitors until we are done with that medication is done and Matthew can't leave the house until his cough is much better! Well, we spent 4 hours at the doctors office and Matthew was exhausted from screaming, so he fell asleep in the car and slept for 2 hours! Mommy took a nap too! (We were up at 4am, so I was very tired!)

Matthew has done much better with the breathing treatments at home, but still doesn’t like them so much! We have to put a movie on to distract him, but it’s much better than it was at the doctors office! The breathing mask is affectionately called, Bubbles the fish!

I let Matthew play with the face mask to try and let him see that it’s not so scary…




...now if only he could walk around and do the breathing treatments at the same time!

You can see how tired and sick he feels! His cold seems to get worse by the hour, so I'm crossing my fingers that he doesn't end up with an ear infection too! Any suggestions on how to manage a cold??? We hope and pray that he will get better soon!

The Fort!!!!!

On Sunday night, Scott had this idea to build a fort! I was picturing putting a sheet over the dining table, but it became quite the castle! Matthew would run in one door and out the other squealing! He loved it when we chased him down the hallways of the fort! What a fun Sunday afternoon/evening family activity! I love being married to a man who is still a child at heart! It keeps our lives a lot more fun!

Matthew's face tells all!!! He had such a blast!

The fort seemed to grow throughout the night... the picture on the right was the end product! 2 doors, 1 crawl door, and 3 rooms! If the housing market wasn't flooded with homes right now, we would make a fortune!!!

The fort MONSTER!!! Scott would pop out from different spots and Matthew would scream pure joy and go running...but not too far because he would come back for more!

We even had our Sunday family tradition in our fort...breakfast for dinner! Every Sunday, we have breakfast for dinner! After a Sunday afternoon nap, breakfast is perfect...it's fast and yummy! Scott and I had chocolate chips in our pancakes and Matthew had a small plain pancake all to himself! He really enjoyed it!

I thought I would be cleaning this up all day on Monday, but Scott folded all the blankets and put them away while I put Matthew in bed...what an awesome night!

"My dad is the man" day!

Yesterday, we decided to make a special day for daddy by declaring yesterday the official "My dad is the man" day! This day was inspired by Matthew t-shirt that says, "My dad is the man!" We made him a poster (with artwork done by Matthew and Mom!) and his favorite cupcakes! Then to top it off, wen went to Disneyland (the second day in a row for Matthew and I and we're going again this morning...we just can't get enough!)
Matthew LOVED the muffins! No surprise since the top is pure sugar! Unfortunately for him, he only got to have one!



We had a blast at Disneyland! We got to watch the parade (which Matthew loves because of all the music, dancing and lights!) We went on the Buzz Lightyear ride and Scott scored over a million points and we finally got on the Finding Nemo ride!
This morning Scott asked me..."So this 'My dad is the man' day is only an annual thing?"
We sure love Scott and appreciate all his hard work!

Look-a-Like Meter

So my friend Ande did this with her kids, so I tried it! Scott had some fun trying to see if Matthew looked more like him or the UPS man! So I guess Scott was the mom in that relationship! So grown-up he is!
Anyway, I did one of Matthew when he was first born and now! I really thought Matthew looks more like Scott now, but no matter what I did, it said that Matthew looks like me! I am going to find baby pictures of me and Scott and see who he looked more like! Try it with your own family...it's kinda fun! (Obviously Scott had too much fun!)

Lake Look-alike Meter

MyHeritage: Look-alike Meter - Family history - Family name history

?? Look-alike Meter

MyHeritage: Family tree - Genealogy - Celebrity - Collage - Morph

Look-alike Meter baby Matthew

MyHeritage: Family tree - Genealogy - Celebrity - Collage - Morph