FRIDAY NIGTH LIGHTS!!!!

Yes Folks it's here, Friday Night Lights!!!!  We decided that we'd take Matthew to his very first football game this past Friday night.  It was our High School's Homecoming Game so what better time to go.  Matthew had a really good time.  He loved the lights, the band, all the clapping and his little visitor (a dog).

Here is a little preview of some of Matthew's time at the game.

It was a little bit chilly but sitting where we were the wind didn't hit so bad.  Bradley and I haven't been to North Stokes Football game in 15 years.  We've now realized at how old we are getting.

Once Matthew got settled in the stadium he refused for us to hold him, all he wanted to do was walk around and he was headed right for the stadium steps.  He has a new found love of walking up and down stairs all by himself.  We're so proud of him, however, Bradley had to pick him up and walk him around due to the temper tantrum that was about to come.

When we left at half time the score was 40-0. (Us being 0).  Oh well, it's all about having fun.

The "Dixie Classic"

Yes, it's been a while since I've "BLOGGED" but raising a toddler on the go is time consuming.  We tried twice at attempting to go the the Dixie Classic Fair, glad to say we succeeded on the second try.  Like idiots we decided to go the second day of the fair which also happened to be Wake Forest's Football game which is held across from the the fair grounds.  We drove around for over an hour- so we went home.
This past Friday was our success, Matthew rode rides that he somewhat refused to get off of and played some games where he got to choose his own prize. (He loved making his own decision)

We bought one ride card which was about 24 tickets/card, so we each had a ride a piece with Matthew. He loved doing what all the other kids where doing.

Matthew enjoyed the carousel ride.  This is the only horse he's not terrified of.  Unfortunately, Matthew has had to stop his hippotherapy lessons due to his fear of horses.  We're going to try back in about six months and see how he does.  We tried to see if he'd ride the ponys but no way.  He'd stand beside of them and watch them but riding you might as well hang it up.  He did however enjoyed petting the goats which of course he's used to them.

All in all we had a pretty good time.  Matthew was wide open on the way home he was so excited, but by the time we got home he was out.

Just an update of sorts, Matthew's walking has improved greatly he now walks and almost runs everywhere.  His gait is still like a little waddle but with time and practice he'll get it.  He still has a little issue with walking in the grass.  Matthew's speech is also improving, he is now starting to put two words together.  The other Sunday before Sunday School he was eating breakfast and told me "Good Milk"  he loves milk, especially chocolate milk.

A pray request,  we finally received all of our paper work from the National Institute of Health regarding all of Matthew's tests.  They all checked out great and he did get a good report but on his ultrasound of his liver the texture of his liver seemed to be abnormal.  They don't seem to think it's of any concern right now because it could just be normal for him.  However when he reaches the age of 6-8 yrs. old if something shows up different we might need to take action due to liver disease being one of the precautions we have to look for in dealing with Joubert Syndrome. 

Please pray for Matthew and God's protection over his organs and that he can lead a healthy long life and be a testament that God still does miracles and He's the one in control of everything and He has everything planned out in each of our lives to glorify Him.  As a mother and a christian I've been trying to remind myself that God has this all planned out and that everything is going to be alright as long as I don't doubt my faith.  Which God definitely tells me time and time again "Dana, where is your faith in me!!!!!" 

Lord forgive me for ever doubting.

An Update of Sorts

Matthew is changing by leaps and bounds. He now weighs in around 30lbs and is roughly 34-35 inches tall. In the past week he has learned how to walk up and down stairs all by himself without us helping at all. We're so proud of him. He's now had his new braces on for exactly 1 month and his walking is much better too. He has almost learned to take his clothes off by himself and put them on by himself.

Matthew is now going to preschool 4 days a week and is LOVING it. He has several craft projects a week, from drawing to painting. He's now able to somewhat draw a circle - it looks more like an oval than a circle. He has also learned to wipe his butt with toilet paper. It's so cute, he'll pretend to wipe his behind with and without his clothes on and then hand us the toilet paper. It's so funny but at least he's learning.

Hippotherapy is getting better too. He can pretty much do everything the therapist tells him to do, so we're working now on the balancing and the speech.

Our new task now is trying to teach Matthew how to blow his nose, he has an aggravating head cold and if he could just blow his nose it would help alot.

Matthew is such a smart little boy. He picks up on everything and he's so observant. We hope this continues through his school years. I'll show him a book of "First Words" that has at least 10 pictures on a page and I'll name them and he can get the majority of them. He loves to cuddle and read at night, sometimes he'd rather still read than go to bed.

And our BIG news, no we're not pregnant (at least not yet) , we're on FACEBOOK! We've put a link to our blog on there so some of our high school friends can get more of an update of sorts on our family. It's so exciting to reconnect with some old friends.

Gotta go, Bed Time for "little man", Good Night and God Bless!!

Stokes Stomping

Hope you enjoy this slide show of Stokes County's annual stomp. We enjoy this every year, for such a small town the stomp brings in around 20,000 people into town. You wouldn't believe it unless you were there to see it.
ENJOY!!!!!

This free picture slideshow generated with Smilebox

Our Annual Labor Day COOKOUT

We love grilling it "old fashion" style down at the pond. Matthew enjoys cookouts as you can see below. We had to move our family cookout to around lunch time since our neighbors invited us to their cookout that evening. Matthew's favorite thing about this event is riding in the gator and eating chocolate cake.

Happy Labor Day!!

Hippotherapy

Matthew has officially started Hippotherapy at Riverwood last week, he cried the majority of the time. (The horse blowed and scared him) Today was his second lesson and he's doing better. Below are some pictures of Matthew's first lesson, Bradley really enjoys sharing in this with Matthew. I've been trying for the past week and a half to get our video down loaded on here but I keep getting an error message. I'll have one shortly.

PRESCHOOL 101

Welcome to preschool Matthew!!!! Of course, the first day didn't go well AT ALL. He squalled as I was leaving and I felt so helpless but yet felt that this is definitely what he needs right now. After he calmed down he explored his room and made some new friends. While at school he's somewhat refusing to feed himself by throwing his plate into the floor and making the teacher sit beside of him. Toddlerhood, gotta love it!!

Ms. Rose, Matthew's teacher explained to his classmates that Matthew can't walk as good as he can and that they need to be careful around him and kind of help him along. They are a blessing, these little ones help Matthew along on the playground and want to hug and kiss him and he loves it. Why can't adults be more like these 2 year olds.Matthew has learned so much from these little ones, Bradley and I can already see a huge difference. His words/babbling is more sounding and you can actually here a few more clear words, he's a little more independent with his walking and with his feeding. He can now feed himself pretty much his whole meal with his spoon,fork and fingers without asking us to do it.

After his shock of preschool, Matthew and Nathan had some down time on the Gator at my parents. They love riding and driving this thing, how cute are these pictures.

Of course this Gator is made for a 3 year old but Matthew thinks he can operate it just like Nathan, except his feet can't reach the pedal. Nathan has to push the gas while Matthew changes the gear and steers while waving and telling everyone "bye".

Also new for Matthew this week was his NEW braces, they're getting shorter!!! Bad part is he's having to pretty much learn to walk confidently again due to his weak calve muscles.

I saved the best for last, Matthew got his first real HAIR CUT this week too. Marsha done a really good job. Thank goodness for such good friends.

Until next time, God Bless!!