My 5 year old!

My favorite things at 5

My new Nintendo DS
Star Wars the Clone Wars
Battle Force 5

My favorite color is still Aqua

I still love Batman
I love playing with toys
I love books
I can read Bob Books
I go to Crawford St. Kindergarden
I love Adan's legos
I love our dog Jackson, he is handsome
I think my baby sister is cute
I love my brothers

I'm 46 1/2 inches tall
I weigh 43 lbs.

My mom thinks I am a sweet boy.
My best friends are Scott,Luke,Michael,Meredith and Ewan

For my birthday I received a DS,games,flipflops,a watch,money and an RC truck!

Reflection

My heart is so heavy and I am so saddened at the recent news I received while I was at the doctor's office Monday. Our pediatrician mentioned that it was thought that a little girl had died Sunday of Bacterial Meningitis but it had not been confirmed. So words cannot describe how I felt when Aaron sent me a link to the Vicksburg Post about that little girl that confirmed what the pediatrician had told me Monday.

http://vicksburgpost.com/articles/2009/08/26/news/doc4a941ace996df494561072.txt

I am truly saddened for this family, as I have gone through a lot of the emotions they under went this weekend. However at the same time I feel so blessed. Why? I cannot always say why but I am blessed with so many things. So blessed that I have the knowledge of eternal families(which was a comfort when we were unsure of the outcome with Mateo's illness) and that for some reason unknown to me at this time, that my little boy survived this same illness. I love Mateo so much and am so thankful everyday that he is still here with us. Although he can be challenging at times. He is such a blessing to our lives. He is the most loving and caring child anyone could ask for. In fact he can often be heard saying kind, sweet words that you wonder where he came up with these things.

My thoughts and prayers are with this family. I cannot even begin to imagine how they feel. What I do know is that Heavenly Father has a plan for us and that he hears and answers prayers. I hope my prayers of comfort will be far reaching. As I will be praying for this family.
I also hope we take this opportunity to enjoy are loved ones each day as we never know when we will have to say goodbye.

Mateo's birthday

Mateo is 4! The birthday boy had an enjoyable day. He went to preschool and had a little celebration during snack time. He had friends over to play, got lots of phone calls, and some fun presents.
We are so grateful to have this sweet, loving, adventurous boy. I have learned so much from Mateo this past year. He has taught me that Heavenly Father loves each of us and has a plan for us, patience, unconditional love, and to enjoy each day we have with our loved ones.

Remembering PawPaw

Since my SIL kept Jacob over the weekend we had to go and pick him up and had the opportunity to go to the cemetary where PawPaw (Harold) is buried and teach the boy's about Memorial Day. They enjoyed going and this is the first time as a family we have had the opportunity to all go together. There were already a lot of beautiful flowers when we arrived and we got to add some patriotic ones to the bunch.
We love Paw Paw so much. We miss him so much. He was such an example of faith, love and patience. I wish the boys would have had a better chance to know such a great man. I am so thankful for Harold and all that he has done for our family. I still think of him often, especailly since looking at Aaron as he is getting older reminds me so much of his dad. Mateo was so excited to go see PawPaw since he really doesn't remember him because he was only 6 weeks old when he met him. However I told him that PawPaw was watching over him when he was very sick. So Mateo has to connect everything together and when we got to the cementary he said, "Am I going to see the angel that was helping me when I was so sick?" I love that boy and all his wisdom. That is how he refers to PawPaw whenever we talk about Harold.(The angel that was watching over me when I was sick.)

Jacob in Nursery, Mateo in Primary again

Jacob went to Nusery for the first time today and he actually did better than we thought. They have the kids come in and color, so I took jacob in and sat him down to color. I was able to leave without him noticing I had left. When he did realize I had left he started crying. However, when our neighbor came in to do singing time she was able to hold him and he stopped crying. I am so glad we have been spending more time with our neighbors, because I think Jacob will do fine, even if he cries, she comes in shortly after to do singing time in Nursery. Then once they started playing with toys he was fine.





Mateo went to Primary today. Although I was there for a good protion of the time I was finally able to leave Mateo there for the last 15 minutes of class. Hopefully Mateo will get use to Primary again anf not think that he needs to go to Nursery. (He told us this Sunday that he would go to Nursery with Jacob so he wouldn't be scared and get snacks! He misses the snacks. Also, I think it has been hard for him to adjust since he does have some significant hearing loss he doesn't enjoy large settings anymore. We will be getting tubes on Wednesday and maybe that will help. We will find out in a couple of weeks when we are tested by the Audiologist again.

An update on Mateo

Mateo has been home for a month now and his recovery is going pretty well. He has been going to physical therapy every other week and we have made enough progress to only have to go once a month. Mateo went from only being able to walk 40 meters on the treadmill to walking 150 meters this week! At his age he should be able to walk 400 meters. So we will continue our exercises at home and hope to make more progress next month. Well, the doctor's appointments are coming and we have been busy with doctor's. Today we went to see the Audiologist and had Mateo's hearing retested, since they didn't get an accurate screening at the hospital. Not good news though, because their is more hearing loss then was first detected, to the point that Mateo cannot really hear out of his left ear and has so much hearing loss that he isn't a candidate for a hearing aid because of the amount of hearing loss. Plus, he has fluid in his ears (an ear infection and the Audiologist wants us to go to the ENT first before he can give us recommendations about Mateo's ears and what his treatment plan will be.) So we will have yet another appointment on Monday to the ENT and the Audiologist is pretty sure he will need another set of tubes and his adenoids re scrapped. (I am a little frustrated because this is what I tried to get the doctor's to do at Primary Children's (see an ENT) but they were in too much of a hurry to get us out of their.) On the other hand I am glad this doctor caught this and we will be able to resolve this for Mateo. This also answers Mateo's cold and particularity the last few days, an ear infection. I am thinking more and more that preschool isn't going to happen the rest of this year and my goal is to have things figured out for when we go back to Mississippi.
I also wanted to post a picture of our sweet boy, as he is looking and feeling much better!

From our friends in Vicksburg

I wanted to share this short video that was made by our wonderful friends in Vicksburg. We cannot express how grateful we are to them for rallying around us in our time of need. I am so grateful for a wonderful bishop who organized a ward fast before we could even do it ourselves, for his faithfulness and being in tune with the spirit. I was also so glad that our mother in law reached out farther to more of our friends and family and we were joined last Sunday in what was a wonderful spiritual experience for our family and friends. We know Heavenly Father heard and answered our prayers and through this experience of fasting Mateo was healed and that we were able to come home soon after. Heavenly Father hears and answers prayers and their is power in fasting.

We've made it home

After 15 days in the hospital, Mateo and I were finally released to go home tonight. It was a little hectic and rushed but we are sleeping in Logan tonight and so relieved. We just need to continue to monitor him and make sure he recovers for this illness that has had him down for three weeks.

What Mateo has been enjoying

Although this has been trying for Mateo and the rest of our family, Mateo's joy most of the time is a wonderful peace that everything is going to be fine. Mateo can be in slight pain or discomfort and he says I am good. So here is Mateo doing good!

I have seen his smile

I just wanted to post another update on how Mateo is doing. My mother in law sent out an email to friends and family giving an update about Mateo and for those of you who may have received the email I want you to know what is going on with Mateo today so far. For those of you who did not receive the email, you may also want to know how he is doing. Mateo is finally able to smile and is using that smile more often. On Tuesday while my mom was here was his first smile. Then yesterday while he was at Occupacional Therapy he smiled again! It has brightened my days as it has become more tiresome to have been here for a week and a half now and still not know when we are going home. Mateo has also enjoyed playing with cars, playdough and having lots of books read to him. Mateo's kidneys had been suffereing the last few days from receiving too much of one of the anitbiotics, however they had temporatily stopped the medicine but after more monitoring, the kidneys are doing better and his levels of antibiotics are going down, so we will restart the medication today. This morning we have started out with less pain and more cheerfullness. Mateo is currently watching Super Why. We are looking forward to having a good day. Mateo will be going to Occupational therapy today and will be evaluated for Physical Therapy. I look forward to seeing Mateo be able to regain more muscle control. He is doing great walking to the bathroom and has also enjoyed several wheelchair rides. Since yesterday was not one of our better we will re retesting his hearing to make sure that has not been affected. His eyes are doing better and I am hoping that maybe the head pain will go down as well as the nausea. I am also excited because Mateo wanted to get dressed today, although it is only pajamas, it is more progress. Again, thank you for the friends and family especailly those so far away that have been such a great support to our family in this time of need.

Mateo update

I just thought I would quickly update everyone on how Mateo is doing. He is feeling much better more of the time. However he is not able to hold down food, drink or medicine some of the time. So we will continue in the hospital until Mateo can hold down food and drink. Also the doctor mentioned if in a week or more we are faced with this same scenerio, we may have to take another step so Mateo can eat and hold down food. I am not prepared for this step. Therefore, my hope and prayer is that by this time next week we will be ready to go home or we will be home.

Mateo's half birthday

Today is Mateo's half birthday. Although being in the hospital is not the most ideal way to spend it, we feel so lucky to have him apart of our family. He is such a wonderful child. He is happy, active, loving and very funny. Mateo can make you laugh even when you are frustrated with him. We feel so blessed to be his parents and are so grateful to have him here with us. We cannot even imagine life with out Mateo. Mateo is going to have a lengthy recovery even after we come home. I want to make him a special book and if you would like, please email me a favorite memory you have of him. He has enjoyed the emails he has received from everyone. If you would like to email him so we can receive a copy, go to www.primarychildrens.org and then go to the top of the page where it says online services. Click on that and then scroll down to email a patient. Once you click on that, go to Primary Children's Hospital. Thank you for the love and support we have received and all that everyone has done for us. we know we have been watched over and are being watched over.

Update on Mateo

We have received such a wonderful support from friends and family, I just thought I would update everyone on how Mateo is doing. For those of you who may not now what is going on I will give you a brief update. First, Mateo had been sick for almost a week so after much thought we figured it was best that we take him to our pediatritian. So Monday with a fever, latargy and all I took him. Even though I had to carry him we made it. We talked with the nurse, got vitals, weight (which he had lost 7 pounds in a month), etc the doctor came in and took one look at Mateo and told me he would be hospitalized. I was shocked. She also had him tested for strep which he tested positive for. She had him hospitalized for dehydration and was thinking he had juvenile diabetes (which is possible since Aaron's sister has it). I felt really good about that diagnoisis since we had been having some wetting and he was completely dehydrated. I made a few call, and with lots of tears went to Logan Regional medical Center. We were admitted and a series of tests were performed. Juvenile diabetes was looking to be the most likely cause of all this sickness. So the doctor wanted to confirm the diagnosis only to find out that it could be leukimia or menengitis. With more tests it pointed more and more to meningitis. At this point since we are lucky enough to live in Utah, I was asked if I wanted a blessing to be administered. Which I agreed to since Aaron didn't have a way to the hospital to do so. (That is in and of it self a whole other experience. All I can say is the priesthood is real and true). Sothe next test was a spinal tap. Since Mateo had been complaining of headaches the doctor took some precautions and called to get a second opionion on preforming a spinal tap (as it is very dangerous to perform this procedure with so much pressure and tension in the head. Hemoragging can occur and it can become a life threatening problem) So when she talked to a doctor at Primary Children's, they indicated that there was too big of a risk for the doctor to perform it at that hospital and so they told her to have Mateo life flighted to Primary children's. So the doctor spoke with me and at that point I bursted into tears. The wonderful doctor was very supportive and reassuring. Also in the mean time since Jacob had been sick they wanted me to get him into the clinic right away so we could get tests run. So off I went to pick up Aaron and Jacob, get Adan situated at a neighbor's house for the night. Aaron dropped me off at the hospital and took Jacob to the doctor. I said many prayers so that I could go with Mateo while he was being transported to SLC. When I returned to the hospital they indicated that we would be traveling via an ambulance since the roads were too bad. About an hour later the ambulance and life flight crew arrived. The crew determined Mateo was going to need Morphine in order to make the ride. The crew was so worried about the condition that he was put on oxygen at one point and almost put on a breathing tube. They also got clearance to fly from Ogden the rest of the way so we rode the helicopter from Odgen to SLC (which parents are not allowed on but given his circumstance they can me special permission.) We made it Primary Childrens and we were immediately take to the ER, after more tests and waiting we were taken to ICU and monitored for the night. We are now on a regular floor and Mateo contunues to make improvements. They have determined that he has Bacterial Meningitis that is not contagigious. It is the kind you have been immunized for. We were given the explanation about this condition and basically it is life threatening (which of course we did not know, and if it is not detected in the first 24 hours the patient will die. I am so amazingly grateful to my Pediatrician for following her instincts. Even though it wasn't what she initially thought but for taking precautions given his state. Mateo is doing good. He has some ups and downs but that is to be expected. We will be here for a couple more days. We will have to wait and see how his body is reacting to the treatment. He continues to have fevers, discomfort, and unable to hold down food. We will have to solve these problems before we can go home.
I am sorry for the lengthy update but I thought some of our friends and family would appreciate it. We want everyone to know that we have felt the power of your prayers. We appreciate the emails we received when we got transferred to our new room. Mateo perked up to hear the letter. We are so grateful to our neighbors that are taking care of Adan and my sister who has Jacob even though at first we didn't know if he was contagious, and many many more people who have called and shared their love with us. We have felt the hand of the Lord touch us at this time of need. I am so grateful for Mateo and the role he has in our family. His resilence and patience through this all. Mateo is so strong and I am so grateful we are making it through this. Thank you thank you everyone. I really really appreciate our Mississippi friends for their kindness. We appreciate the Byrd family,the support we have received in Logan from people we don't know very well and all the sacrfices our family has made on our behalf. I am just so thankful to our Heavenly Father that Mateo is still with us. I love him so much. I know it isn't the way I imagined spending his half birthday doing but I am just grateful I can be with him and care for him. This experience has been so touching for me.

Adan's discovery

We just received our pile of books that we order each month from scholastic. We typically read all the books we've purchased for the month all at once. We traditionally have some character books (Diego, Scooby etc) in the batch. I of course have to add books that have a little more substance to the collection. Hence the reason we have a stack of books each month. Mateo typically orders a Scooby pack each month. So we sat down to read the three Scooby books in the pack. After two of the Scooby books had been read, Adan looks at me and says, " that is fake." I reply by saying, "what is fake?" "The Scooby books are all fake. Mom, why are the Scooby books fake?" What am I suppose to say to my five year old who has been obsessed with Scooby for a year now? We own several seasons of the cartoons, and at least 20+ books. So my response to it is, "Scooby and Shaggy have good imaginations. His response. Why is Scooby fake? Now he is just disappointed to have had this discovery. Who knows if he will be as obsessed with it. Mateo's response to this all. Scooby is fake! I am surprised Mateo stated the facts and didn't ask questions.

We are ready to tumble

Last week Andan and Mateo started tumbling. It has been so good for them since we haven't been getting as much exercise as I would like with the cold weather. The air quality has also been bad and their school has been keeping them in. The end result, they are enjoying tumbling and enjoying having some time alone. They are in different classes at different times. Lots of running around for me and lots of fun to spend sometime alone with mom to and from class. The added bonus, they get to stay up past thier normal bedtime one night a week.


Mateo listening to instructions


Adan doing a sommersault

Halloween is upon us

This past weekend we enjoyed a lot of fun activities. We participated in the Hillcrest 1st Ward 1st Annual Elder's Quorum Chili Cookoff. Aaron made a fantastic Chili that he worked on for many weeks. Unfortunately he did not win, however it was tasty and definitely has some heat to it. The boy's had fun with donut on a string and painting some pumpkins at the activity as well.



On Saturday Adan practiced for the primary program in the morning. In the afternoon the youth of the ward put on a carnival for the kids. It was well planned, well attended and different from what we are usually use to. In Mississippi we usually have a trunk or treat. Mateo really enjoyed the candy walk and Adan could not get enough of the pumpkin bowling.






We came home and then got ready for the football game. We played Fresno State. It was a pretty good game however I think the kids were extra worn out so we did not last the whole 4th quarter which meant we missed when the game got really good.



Sunday Adan did really well in the Primary Program. He said is part nice and clearly. He actually got quite a few compliments on how well he spoke. We also enjoyed a sugar filled linger longer that included sugar cookies and ice cream. Yum!

Monday we got invited to one of Adan's classmates Halloween parties. The kids enjoyed be outside in the warm weather we are experiencing. They decorated cookies, some wooden figures and played lots. A mom brought a really creative treat that I am going to have to try. She carved an orange and put fruit in it. It was a hit for the kids.




Today we are just enjoying the warm weather again. We are busy getting ready for Adan's birthday, taking treats to school tomorrow for his birthday (since we are leaving tomorrow), packing for Idaho and Halloween of course. Here is a cute picture Adan made at school today. We hope everyone has a Happy Halloween. We look forward to being with family this weekend and the upcoming election!

WE LOVE SOCCER!

We are all enjoying soccer. The boy's ask everyday if today is a soccer day. Aaron has been able to help out and the kids have enjoyed that as well. Adan is our star scorer and Mateo has taken on the role as a defender. Mateo was getting really frustrated that he never got to kick the ball. SO Aaron suggested that he play defender. Mateo has liked doing that because he gets to kick the ball more often. Adan just likes offense, scoring goals!
Here is a pictures of Mateo kicking a goal which he was very proud of.