Truck, Trains and things that go Vroom!!!

Matthew is all boy when it comes to his cars and trucks and trains...airplanes, helicopters etc. He is crazy about Thomas the Train, and can tell you all of the trains names. He now even thinks all trucks and cars can talk, and will often get down on the floor and engage all his cars in conversation. As we drove to Virginia Beach last week, he would say "Hi Cranky Bugs (a Thomas crane character) whenever he saw a crane, or a tower that looked like a crane. He also has the ability to hear a train whistle a mile away, to which he always smiles and responds..."Hi Thomas! I love you!" Here he is with his Papa at the Jumpin' Monkey, playing in their train room. What fun!!

Small World

I love it when something happens that makes us realize how small our world is. While we were in Virginia visiting my parents, we had dinner with their friends Dee and Glen. As it turns out, Dee used to drive Greg to school in a car pool in Michigan, where they used to live. I love it when that happens!! Dee and Glen are two of the nicest people I have had the pleasure of meeting too...what a nice surprise!!

Fun with Daddy

AMEN!!

Life could not be sweeter than when your two year old asks to pray before a meal. We pray a prayer, and then Matthew pleads for more prayer. The second photo is of him saying a prayer of his own, which is a string of unrecognizable words, but we trust that God understands. The last photo is of Matthew saying AMEN!!! Love is sweet!!

Double Trouble

We are enjoying our vacation in Virginia Beach, and are now on day 6 (hard to believe!) We will be driving home all day on Saturday, so those of my praying friends, might want to add that to your prayers this week. We tried to break it up on the way here, but Matthew refused to sleep in the car, or the motel, or the car the next day, so we will try it all in the same day this time. Remind me to tell you all about our exploding tire on the Chesapeake bridge too...

So, as for the double trouble...Matthew has had a fever since Sunday, so I took him to urgent care tonight. It looks like Matthew has an ear infection in both ears, poor baby!! No wonder he is on a food and sleep strike!! He is now on medicine (that he HATES) and should be feeling better tomorrow or the next day. (Brooke, we now understand your pain sweetheart!!)

I will post photos of the trip once we return, in the meantime, it's a sleep while you can kind of trip! Good thing it's a beach trip, and I can do most of my catch up sleep in the sun :-)

Celebrate!!

This Monday, Greg took the day off work and we celebrated Grandma's birthday, Michelle's birthday, Sierra's birthday and Father's day!! It was a great reason to get everyone together!!

New Sandbox Completed

Ooooooooooooooooohhhhhhh!!! New Sandbox!! We did it!! Grandpa and I make one handy team!! In less than 3 hours we built Matthew a new sandbox. Of course, grandpa spent more hours than that with all his research and gathering the supplies. We love you so much grandpa!! Thank you for all your love and support. Matthew is one lucky kiddo!!

Before:















After:

Allergy Testing Results

I took Matthew to his first allergy appointment this morning. They did a pin prick test on his back of the 30 most common environmental and food allergies. We were thrilled to learn that he does not have an allergy to any food other than nuts!! He is, however, allergic to Cashews and Walnuts as well as peanuts (which the blood test back in September said he was not allergic to those.) The cashew allergy is as severe as the peanut allergy too...sigh. We also learned that he is allergic to cats, and slightly allergic to dogs and dust. We are able to keep Sierra it seems though, since she does not sleep in his room. Thank you Jesus!!

Our Dr. is also an asthma specialist, and he said to stop with the Singulair, which is commonly the culprit with behavioral problems (this made my day!!) and Matthew will now be on Pulmacort once each day via breathing treatment. This should not affect his behavior at all, and will help Matthew to be a normal kid by not coughing and wheezing every time he runs, jumps or cries. So, even though our little guy has some special needs, they are managable. I am thankful to God that he has no other food allergy!! Thanks Robyn for the referral! Much love!!

Matthew loves the drums!

Happy Birthday Sierra!

Our first "baby" Sierra turns 4 years old today!!

Haircut!

Matthew is terrified of the hair trimmers. That means that Greg and I have to give him his haircuts at home. I may try Carnival Cuts for the next one, but this time we did it on our back porch. Our neighbors must think we are crazy. Here is Matthew with his new haircut...very much needing a soothie after the traumatic event! Greg and I could have used a soothie too!!

Here's Hope for Normalcy!

With Matthew's allergy, it's easy to feel like he is missing out sometimes. Being that he is only two, he does not realize that there are things that are not safe for him. As his mom, it is my job to eliminate as many of the barriers that make him different as possible. Today we tried Sun-butter for the first time. I was thrilled when I tasted it, as it tastes almost exactly like peanut butter. Here is my kid, being a normal two year old, eating a SB&J sandwich!!

Swimming Pool Fun

What could be better than a warm May afternoon than to break out the swimming pool! Thank God for summer weather to balance out those cold and gray Michigan winters!!

Happy Birthday Daddy

We celebrated Greg's birthday and Mother's day on May 17th (which is Greg's actual birthday.) It was a nice time visiting with Greg's family (everyone but Aunt Kim, though we did talk to her on the phone.) Matthew helped daddy blow out the candles, which we lit 6-7 times, so he could keep blowing them out. After we served up the cake, Matthew found another use for the musical rotating cake holder. Happy Birthday Daddy!! We love you!

A Family that Digs Together...

After two years of brainstorming some different ways to add a little more privacy to our back yard (from the day care behind us), we decided to plant a row of 10 Arborvitae trees. Greg's dad (aka. grandpa Chuck) came over to help me while Greg was at work. In just two afternoons we finished the job. Here are some photos from day 1 (digging out the trench) in which Matthew helped us all day too. Sorry I do not have the "after" photos yet. I'll try to get some taken this week. This row of trees has become a boy's dream come true, as Matthew loves to run behind the trees into the "forest"(We still have the tall pine trees, and some weed trees growing in the back 8'- 10' of space behind our new trees.) Matthew also has mulch and a lot of mud to play in each day!! He is in HEAVEN!!

Little Turtle Sandbox Needs an Upgrade

Matthew is a tall boy. In fact, he towers over some of the three year olds that we know. He is quickly outgrowing the turtle sandbox we have in the back yard, so grandpa said he wants to build him a new sandbox this month. By the end of the month, Matthew and his friends will have a 4' x 8' sandbox to drive their trucks in. Thanks grandpa!! We love you soooooooooooooooo much!!

Terrific Twos

One of the best things about Matthew's age is the way he is now able to express himself. He will often ask for things by saying please, and respond with a thank you. He also makes several requests throughout the day for hugs, and kisses. Lately he will grab a book or two, crawl onto our lap and say "hold you" which means hold me, and "cuddle Matthew." I think God supplies us with these moments to balance out the trying two year old moments. Matthew is such a smart cookie, and he has already discovered ways to get what he wants by wearing down mom and dad with temper tantrums. It's amazing how persuasive a screaming two year old can be. It reminds me of how we approach God sometimes, kicking and screaming when we don't get our way and blaming him when we feel crummy. I know I have acted this way toward God in my life. Thank goodness He has even more patience than we do, and it reminds me to make sure to fill my life with more quiet "cuddle" moments with Jesus...and maybe it will help Him have even more patience with me.

Speaking of God, this has been a year of testing my faith like no other time has been. I don't blog too much about Matthew's peanut allergy, but it is always on the front of our minds. I want to keep Matthew safe, like any parent would, but feel overwhelmed at times that a peanut could threaten his life and stop his breathing in moments. You never realize how many things in this world contain peanuts until you are told to avoid them at all costs. It has been a daily struggle for me to put Matthew's life in God's hands and just do the best we can to keep him safe. (Truthfully, Greg does a much better job than I do at trusting God.) I get a little overwhelmed sometimes, and am a bit overprotective. All prayers that God would completely heal Matthew of this allergy are appreciated, and for me to stay grounded and not become a hovering over-protective parent in the meantime would help too :-) Thanks for reading our blog...I'll be updating all our posts for the month today...so stay tuned.

Welcome Spring!!

A Day With Thomas ( last Saturday)