Matthew's 1st Birthday

Well, our little miracle man turned one year old today! It is so hard to believe that his first year went by so fast. We are so proud of how far he has come. He truly is a blessing in our lives and we are so thankful everyday for him. We celebrated with a birthday party at my parents' house on Sunday. He had around 30 guests and had a great time! He received so many nice gifts and has already played with some of the toys. Also, breaking news...Matthew is officially crawling now! Yea! He has been army crawling for the past month or so, but today he really took off. Jeremy and I are so proud! Guess it's time to finish baby proofing our house...well, happy birthday little man, we love you!

Matthew's Baptism

Matthew was officially baptized in the NICU when he was only 4 days old. Father Tom arrived the day that I was checking out of the hospital, and he performed the baptismal rite in Matty's room. He used a little shell to pour the holy water over our little guy's head. Even though it was a very traumatic time, we were inspired by the baptism of our little angel. We had the continuation of his baptism on Saturday night at our church. Father Tom was out of town, so Father Gary stepped in. Jeremy, Matty, Ashlei (his godmother), Jarron (his godfather), and I brought the gifts up, and then the baptism ceremony followed mass. It was a lovely evening and we are so grateful that so many family members were able to attend. We had a fun dinner at our house after mass. Thanks to everyone for participating in such a special day for Matty!

Getting Excited...

Matty had a great Parents as Teachers visit today, and he is getting very excited for his big birthday! (We are too).

Big Week Ahead

We had a busy but fun weekend. My Mom & Dad babysat for Matty on Saturday night while Jeremy and I ate dinner at the Hereford House to celebrate our anniversary (8 years, hard to believe!) On Sunday, Matty's friends Roman & Marshall came over to visit. We had lunch and a cake to celebrate the boys' 1st birthdays. We even went for a walk on the trail outside, since the weather was so nice. Here is a pic of Matty and Roman:

Today, Matty had his post-op appointment with Dr G. His stint was removed and the doc said that everything was looking great. He weighed in at almost 15 lbs! What a great accomplishment...gaining 14 lbs this year! We are so proud of him. I also went with my Grandma to order his baptism and birthday cakes. We definitely have an exciting week ahead, with both events to come! Hard to believe our little miracle boy is about to turn one!

Brave Boy

Today, Matty had his minor repair surgery at Children's South. I have been dreading this day for awhile now, but am so glad that it is over! I had to wake Matty up at 1am to feed him a bottle, and then at 5:30am to feed him some clear liquids (pedialyte) which he HATED. I managed to get him to take about 50 mL's. We arrived and checked in at 8am, and then were called back to pre-op. Matty grew pretty tired, so he finally fell asleep in my arms. I had to turn him over to a nurse around 9am, and we spent the next 2 hours in the waiting room. Not a very fun place to say the least! Finally, Dr G came in and told us that Matty had done great and that he was in the process of waking up. An hour later, we were called back to the recovery area, and were able to hold him and feed him a bottle. Once we got home, he was very upset, mostly because he was so tired. I am soooooo glad that today is over and that Matty was such a trooper!

Mother's Day

My first Mother's Day was so wonderful! I am extremely thankful every day for Matty, and spending such a special day with him was a blessing. He surprised me with a Precious Moments figurine, a shirt, and special silver charms to wear around my neck. We had my family over for a BBQ, and it was so nice to spend the afternoon with them. Being a Mom is the greatest gift I could ever hope for.

Arboretum

Today, my Mom, Grandma and I took Matty to the Overland Park Arboretum. It was so beautiful! I used to run there when I was on the high school track team, but the improvements are amazing! Flowers, lakes, waterfalls, statues everywhere...nature at its best! We had a great time and Matty enjoyed his first picnic (fruit).

Bubbles

Matty LOVES being outside and grabbing on to all of the trees and shrubs. He also enjoyed watching our neighbor play with her bubbles, so we bought these neat bubble wands today. Here are some outdoor pics from this afternoon. He really cheesed it up with his Nana Flo!

Cinco de Mayo

This morning, my parents' dogs came over to stay with us for the day...my Mom & Dad are getting new countertops today, and the dogs don't like all of the drilling sounds. I think that Stan is enjoying their company. Matty went into his Baby Bjorn carrier when I took them all outside. The carrier is handy, although it is very difficult to get Matty in it...plus, the arm holes look uncomfortable, so I folded the top down and let his arms hang out. Maybe what I need is one of those baby slings instead!

Busy Weekend

This weekend really flew by! Last night, we ate at the Sunset Grill. We had to go a little later than usual, because I couldn't get Matty to take his afternoon nap til almost 5pm! He was really well behaved there, but right before our dinner arrived, he decided to have a massive spit up all over me and the booth! Yuck. Jeremy got some towels from the men's room and we cleaned up the best we could. Then, today Matty decided to wake up at 5:15am. Yikes! We took a drive through some new neighborhoods, then took him to Sam's Club for the first time. He liked looking at all of the people (it was very crowded), and all of the colorful merchandise. Since he is working on cutting another top tooth, he chews on his binkie backwards...it's pretty funny. Here is a pic with the binkie "chew toy".