Megan's new haircut

Two weeks ago, Megan decided enough was enough. She'd had it with her long hair. She was sick of mornings spent crying in the bathroom combing through tangles. So after school, I took to the hair salon. She had enough hair to donate to Locks of Love. Here are the results, oh and by the way, she LOVES it!

Perfect for the hot days of summer that are quickly approaching!

Pictures from Matthew's birthday party

Okay, sorry this is late.Matthew's party on Sunday was SOOO much fun! He had a great time! But, it's been a wild and wooly last couple of days and I am now just getting time to post pictures. So, finally, here are some pics from Matthew's super fun party Sunday evening !

Cupcakes and food!

Singing Happy Birthday!

Special thanks to Sherri, Miles' mommy, for taking pictures when my camera batteries died!

You go, Matthew!!

Our family tradition is to go out to eat for birthdays. Well, we saw no reason to not continue this tradition for Matthew (and I was too exhausted to cook!), so off to Applebees, we went.

Megan, Mason and I visited and sipped our drinks.....

Steve and Micah watched sports on the big screen nearby...

And Matthew, well....

He SLEPT!!

We will be having his official party on Sunday..so more pictures to come then!

___________________________________

How does a baby who doesn't roll start his nap like this.............

And 1 hour later when his mommy checks on him he looks like this??

One has to wonder??? (BTW, I took the first picture because he looked so sweet sleeping, and later I was glad, because I had proof of his antics!)

_________________________________

We've noticed in last couple weeks that Matthew's head control seems to be improving, you can really feel him working to keep his head up. We've been able to challenge him by giving less of a tilt to his blue feeder seat. His therapists on Wednesday were so impressed by the way he was sitting in his seat and the difference in the amount of control he had from the past times they've seen him in his seat.

Today, at therapy, he pulled his head up FROM THE FLOOR and held it up for at least 15 seconds. Chrissy, his PT, said we should have timed it! He did so well, I was cheering so loud.

So this evening, I decided to put him in his highchair. His highchair has three reclining positions. His school therapists, Jill and Beth, had brought out a neck 'contraption' to help with neck control and I tried it out in there. It didn't work as it was supposed to, so I rigged it a bit and it worked really good to position him. So good, that I set him up to the most 'unreclined' position, and he sat up nice and tall for over 5 minutes before he got tired!!! He never used to be able to sit in the middle reclined position, even with support. So I can really see a tangible increase! Here's pictures to prove it!

Don't quite know why my camera has a smudge on the side of his head

And here is a side view!

1 Year ago today

Last night as I was contemplating the fact that we were on the verge of Matthew's 1st birthday, I couldn't help but thinking back to 1 year ago. We had an early trip up to Omaha to see the doctor first and then be admitted at 10:30 for my cesarean. I was so excited, but dually sad for my pregnancy to end, and to enter the journey of unknown territory. I remember him crying as he was born at 12:42 and crying like I hadn't cried with any of my children's births. I remember my friend, Brenda, who had come to be with Steve and I, say that he looked great and I was so relieved. I barely remember going to see him that afternoon. I remember being soo tired, that after we got to the room, I could barely keep my eyes open long enough to finish packaging up the cord blood collection kit. I slept most of the afternoon while Steve promised to be with Matthew. I remember the nausea that accompanied the pain medication I was on. I remember going to see him in a wheelchair that evening and the nausea overcoming me as I was moving out of bed and then riding in the elevator (and consequently wretching numerous times). I remember holding my baby and not hardly being able to keep my eyes open, but wanting so desperately to stay by his side. I remember returning to my room absolutely beside myself because I couldn't even take care of my newborn (like I could've done anything anyway...but I was emotional) I remember crying myself to sleep that evening (at 8pm) while the nurses reassured me I needed to sleep and Matthew was well taken care of. I remember Steve looking at Matthew in his little crib in awe, saying 'can you believe some people don't allow babies like him live and choose to end the pregnancy???' I remember my aunt coming to see me at 2 in the morning because her flight had just gotten in from CHINA,(she had just come to get a report from the nurses, but they had told her I was awake..which I was) and we were both wide awake..so she fed me jello and ice chips while we talked.

I also remember how proud I was of this new little baby. I remember deciding that no matter what anyone said, he was perfect, just the way God made him, and he had a purpose would be loved beyond imagine.

The next days were full of ups and downs...and we couldn't wait to get him home. His siblings didn't seem to care about the wires that he was connected to...they loved him so much and were already fighting over who was going to get to hold him.

A year later, even though I sometimes struggle with his lack of "normal" progress, I also look at what he has overcome. I am in awe of his strength...and through it all, his sweet personality. And I can't wait for him to show us what God has in store for his beautiful life... And, we love him beyond measure...and there are so many people out there that love our sweet Matthew, it's incomprehendable. And, above all, he IS perfect to us, no matter what his medical charts say about his 'developmental delays' and 'anomalies'.

Matthew,

Happy 1st birthday! I can't believe it's been a year already. I can't wait to see where our next year brings us. We love you so much!

P.S. more birthday pictures to follow...we are having his party the 24th...

Birthday eve...

*********updated**************
I got blogger to comply with me and added the last 2 pictures

I'm just sitting here contemplating the fact that my baby will be 1 year old tomorrow! I'll (try to) post more tomorrow, but I am going to take you down a trip down memory lane...

May 20, 2008

1 month old at Duke University in North Carolina

2 months old

3 months old

4 months old

5 months old

6 months old in Minnesota on EEG

7 months old

8 months old

9 months old

10 months old

11 months old

1 year old!!!!!

New pictures of Matthew

Friday I got Matthew's pictures taken for his one year birthday. I made the mistake of taking him during the day. Matthew's very sleepy time is pretty much all morning and mid afternoon. And he was super crabby with these pictures. I think I will take him back in a couple weeks and take him in the evening in hopes of getting some pictures with him smiling. I will post some of the better ones.