Happy Thanksgiving 2010!!!!

Yes, it's Thanksgiving one of my favorite times of year.  My family LOVES to get together.  At least the majority of us do.  We eat, laugh and play lots of games.  Matthew really enjoyed this Thanksgiving because he's no longer in the high chair and has moved up the ladder to the "kids table".  Matthew is at a stage now where he wants to mix all of his food together and then eat it.  As long as he eats it I don't care how it gets there.

Below is a picture of the "Smith Cousins"at least the majority of them.  There's 14 of us in all.  We look back at our pictures and boy we are getting OLD.  My aunt Judy tells us were going through the mid life spread. HAHA!

All in all we had a GREAT Thanksgiving it just went by way to fast.  Below are just a few more picts of our Thanksgiving.

My Aunt Margaret, Matthew and my Aunt Judy who we're so thankful to God that she's still here with us after her stroke this year.  Below is my uncle Gurney and my cousin Beth.

I am so thankful to God for the family he put me in.  I love huge gatherings and my family is HUGE, when we ALL get together there is about 40 of us and soon to be more.  Family is one of the best gifts God gives, however, I'm most thankful for my son Matthew who can show doctors and others that miracles still happen.  I thank God for her Mercy and His Blessings on me and my entire family.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Milestone UPDATE

Matthew is making HUGE strides in his development lately.  Just watching him you can't really tell that he's behind much.  His walking is improving everyday, he's starting to do more of a heel to toe walk and is almost trying to run inside some.  We're still working on walking outside in the grass and gravel, hard to believe but he does better walking in gravel than in the grass. 
Matthew is also starting to be a little dare devil and test his own abilities.  On Sunday I caught him trying to stand on one leg without holding onto anything.  He's starting to dance a little too, he loves ring around the rosies and the theme song to the "Wonder Pets" cartoon.

And our big news for the past couple of weeks, Matthew has started to pee in the potty standing up, he does it at school and here at home about 3 times a day and at night of course before bed.  He doesn't tell us but he does show us.   He does so well at remembering how to do things, stand on stool, pee, pull pants up, flush toilet and go wash and dry his hands.  With this new achievement also comes a scare.  Last week at school while potting, Matthew lost his balance and hit his chin on the toilet seat and bit his tongue.  He's ok but wouldn't eat much for a couple days.  Poor thing.

Matthew's fine motor skills are improving also, we've been working on how to hold a crayon and draw a circle.  He almost has it down.  He's at a stage now to where he wants to throw things, his crayons, balls, clothes, food , etc.

Matthew's speech is slowly, slowly improving, his understanding is improving but his speech comes and goes.  Matthew has a new speech therapist as of last week so maybe we'll see an improvement.  I still think it's his articulation and stubbornness.

He loves to pretend play and help out around the house as you can see above.

We are so, so proud of him.  If you're ever in doubt, God still does miracles-my baby is one of them.

Good night and God Bless!!

P.S.  Hope you voted today.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!

Happy Halloween,  Matthew really enjoyed Trick or Treating this year, by the time we were making our last stops Matthew finally got the hang of what to do.  His favorite candy by far is a Snickers bar and a Reeses Cup.

These are some of the crafts Matthew made at preschool.  Friday they had a Halloween Party and brought there crafts home.  Ms. Rose said that Matthew loves to paint and couldn't wait to paint his little pumpkin.

Matthew's first stop for Trick or Treating was to his buddies' house.  We had a puppy dog (Lee), a cow (Jackson) and a Sheep (Matthew), almost a complete farm.  Aren't they adorable!!!!!

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