PUMPKINS

My cousin Tesha and i were out with her kids the other day,  and i passed a road side stand i have been meaning to  stop at to get some pumpkins since ours didnt grow....

The prices couldn't be beat although the wind was a bit on the blowy side....

when we got home we all sat down and carved a couple these girls are just as good as gold and they treat Matty like a little brother. and he LOVES to see them come over. they live in the next town over its a bout a 20 min drive so we cant be together every day but our families get together maybe once a week. sometimes we go there some times they come here. its really nice

trip to the zoo

we took a trip to our local zoo. its really nor more than a deer park with deer goats and sheep

hold your hand flat so they dont bite you

everyone fed them

Matt got to feed Houdini

Daddy, these deers make me tired can we rest?

Chair love

recently i found this chair outside my mom's house with a tear in the seat. with my thing for dragging junk home of course it landed in my living room. Matt fell in love with this new chair.  As i worked to recover it, he WOULD NOT leave it alone. he played the strings like a guitar and just over all was in all of the process.  when it was done i popped him into it and as you can tell he was happy to see it completed.

Garden garden garden

Another thing we have been doing daily is working in the enormous garden we put in.  

Daddy is already HOT

We had a section of garden we didnt get filled before it was too late to plant, and Matt LOVES to use this as his very own play area. in this picture he has a push horse that hes holding onto as Daddy walks to help me...

YUMMY!

this was just from two hills of potatoes we have lots more to harvest, we only dug these to get a lookie at them. and we've had nothing but rain since we dug these so i am certain the rest will be even bigger!

so much variety!

This was what we brought home cabbage, lettuce, onions, peppers, broccoli, cukes, & taters. it was a good day :)

First trip to the park

My Husband had a weeks vacation for the week after my birthday so we spent the time doing things we haven't done in a long long while. One was a family vacation.

We cant go on a family vacation
without it raining cats and dogs!

 Our very first vacation as a family was a trip to Watkins Glen. and it POURED buckets the entire trip. since then we have found we cannot make plans without the rain coming with us. and once again this vacation followed suit.

Matt and Shelly in the back seat
VERY excited about the "GO"

But with smiles on all of our faces we went anyhow. telling ourselves the heat humidity and rain would empty out the park. however the other 1/2 a million people thought the same thing.

My traveling companions 

But as you can see none of us cared we were all together and thats what mattered

Matt watching the carousel

Matt Loved watching the rides. we thought the carousel would be ok since he rode one at the Mall and LOVED it...

Daddy and Matt on the carousel
(after it went around once Matt had had enough)

 We were wrong....

Helping himself to Grandma's iced tea

  But it was HOT  and he was thirsty, as was his Grandma T.  he drank some of my Iced tea then thought grandmas would be nice to try. but since hers was empty, the straw would suffice. Grandma bought him his own sippy cup shortly after. It has become his favorite.

Matt and I in the picture frame.

I never seem to get into the pictures... So i made certain someone snapped ONE of me

Must get a drink out of the lions mouth!

 Matt had been drinking out of fountains all day, however he was only wanting to play in this one

Daddy and Matt on the train 

He liked the train ride,  especially getting to try out his new "bye bye" wave at the passing people and other trains

Piggy back with Daddy

By far this was a DIFFERENT trip to the park, none of us had ever taken a toddler to a park so we didnt know what to expect.

first picture of us at the park

All of us are anxious for the trip where he will be the age Michelle was in this picture of her at the first time we took her.  

Current picture at the park

 

Another Year

Matt and I

Today is my 42nd birthday. and as i reflect on the three birthdays i have had since my diagnosis, how can i ask for anything? I am breathing and i live a good life. oh certainly i could use a million dollars or at least an extra grand.. but  I have my awesome husband, my fanTAstic daughter, and my loving son. and i get to enjoy every day of it. my birthday gift was one i gave myself, i kept going to treatment I didn't want to, i cried, i asked my family not to make me, then never forced me, but they encouraged me to change my mind and i am glad they did. i have everything i could have ever wanted... well except for a home of our own, and im certain that  if God sees fit we will have one of those too.

Mr Independent

Matt is starting to refuse to let me feed him.  Luckily breakfast he still allows. But he shows NO INTEREST in using a spoon or fork.  and because of his allergy we cant just get Gerber grad pickups. So the dietitian and i are working together to see what we can find that he likes that he will be able to self feed.

today "ritz" crackers (no milk go figure and these are store brand) chick peas, bites of raw apple (thank you McDonalds for cluing me into that) and a slice of bologna and that scamp ate every bite!

I am trying to come up with high protein finger foods. I think i will contact some of my paleo friends and see what they suggest.

puppy cuteness

My mom was unable to take her Yorkie with her on her overnight trip. so we agreed to take her for a night.  I knew Matt would LOVE to have her around.  well here she is curled up in the pet bed I keep here for the cat's that they WILL NOT use.  Shes also had all her toys out and her bed that my mom sent down is tucked next to my side of the bed for her to sleep in tonight.  So far my Pet food loving son has not found where i have the D-O-G food placed. WHEW!

Love the kitty

We have two cats, One is 12 the other is 6. up till now they have WATCHED Matt from a safe distance. Thsi particular kitty is the 6 year old and shes VERY upset that Matt has become a member of the family. This Morning though Snookie was sleeping really soundly,  because Matt got to love her for a good five minuets. and he was so clam and gentle with her.  BUT when she woke up and realized WHO was loving her she quickly exited the room.

Air Purifier review

A month ago I found this product in my local thrift store. I thought it was a humidifier, well its an air purifier. it uses tap water to filter out the tiny

particulate in the air. I thought well i only spent $2, I'll give it a month theres no harm in that. So i dusted my living room really well, and set up the purifier on my coffee table.

My daughter is really bothered by dust, and well my two cats. shes a big one for needing allergy meds, i only dust when shes not at home and i always air out the house after i do dust. Just to make it easier on her breathing.

Well two weeks into that "test Month" My daughter became ill and had to come home from college. I knew I had not dusted in two weeks. and that the cats has been on her bed and i had not gotten the chance to wash her bed all the way through like i normally do when she comes home for a break. SO i picked up the purifier from the living room, and moved it into her room on her desk.

The normal dust in my house is a nice full amount in a week, (like you can write in it). we live close to a road, and there are all sorts of Gas water trucks stirring up mud everywhere. Our driveway is dirt so our cars coming and going stir up dust. Plus two cats that shed like no other. So going a month without dusting is well to say the least NASTY. I only do it over Christmas I dust before i put up the decorations and then again when i take them down, I am simply too busy to dust every week. other than that i dust weekly because i cant stand it.

I just went through my living room, and looked around, its been a month since i picked up a dust rag. and it doesn't even look like its been a week since i have dusted! AND my daughter is SLEEPING with the cats! no meds no sneezing fits, none of the normal Dust complaints!

This thing is an amazing product! I recommend this to anyone who has allergy. the water never gets "dirty" looking, so i really didn't think it was working until she noticed she was covered in cats and wasn't bothered. I am going to start looking for a second one second hand so i can give her one for her hope chest.

2012

Kent and Steve figuring out the washer died...

Yea Steve was less than impressed at my need for a photo right then...

The end of December brought many bad days. As always, i was visited by spirits past, the loved ones that were here but are now gone from my life. November – December always meet me with depression. This year due to Matt’s illness being so “in front” my PPD did not kick in until, you guessed it, November. Right when I normally get a bit down in the dumps. It was also compounded by Michelle being off at college and Steve going to work on a mostly night shift basis. They both truly understand how difficult it is for me to get through this time of my year. And not seeing anyone really took its toll on my psyche.

Because I get so focused internally during a depression I normally end up ignoring someone unintentionally. This year it was my best friend who was going through her own battle after the loss of a loved one. Sadly our friendship couldn’t handle the strain.

And the cherry on top of this depression sundae was my washing machine died. Most don’t think that having your clothes washer dying is a huge deal. But have it die over the holidays when you dont have the extra money to buy a new one and if you did all of the delivery people are off. Then lets throw in that I am a “cloth diaper” mom. I do a load of cloth diapers every day. I buy one 64 box of paper diapers a month to put Matt to bed in as they are less bulky to sleep in for him and he gets a better nights sleep. So having our washer die was really one more thing I just didn’t need.

But God brings good through the bad, and he brought a friend (Kent) that used to work with Steve to me. I was always quite fond of him back then (he has since left the store and is a college student) and although he is much younger than I am he has turned out to be “mr fixit” not only did he help me though my depression, but also, through the loss of my best friend. Helped me to many areas of my life that I needed to work on and has helped those see where I am coming from. He’s been helping us get things fixed here at the house as well. Leaky faucets etc. things that got let go while I was ill, and simply have not yet been tackled.

Matthew is growing like a weed and is starting to display separation anxiety, but I am trying my best to keep him content without enabling him to only have me at his disposal. It became painfully clear the other night, I had gone over to Kent’s house to do a load of much needed wash, and we left Matt at home with his daddy. When I returned, about an hour or so later, Matt bursted into tears as soon as he saw me, I rushed over and picked up the little bugger, he slowly stopped crying and started smiling. I guess he missed him mommy.

We did get our new washer. And I gotta say I LOVE it. My appliance dealer has been the same guy for 20 years and he knows my style and what I like so well now I can call him and buy without even looking at the product and Cory knows just what I will love. Buyt delivery was not possible for a few days. So once again Kent came to the rescue! Steve and he went over to the store and picked it up in Kent’s pickup. HUMMM that’s right I now a have a friend with a pickup….

New years was met with a lifting of the doom and gloom in our house. And I have to say its nice to see a light dusting of snow. And although I still am a bit depressed, the “November Curse” as I call it now is gone. And I am ready to face this new year with some new friends and some new habits. J

tired baby...

Matt, has been wanting to spend more time with the family, so he has been fighting sleep. so we have gotten lots of shots of cuddly baby. this is just two of the favorites.

hes doing so much more now than he was last time I've had him on the blog. he is ALMOST standing on his own. his balance is really improving, he rolls over both ways now which has made changing diapers OH SO MUCH fun!!!

we are thinking he will be trying to walk soon, he's holding fingers and taking steps but wont let go with both hands. yesterday he let go one hand and it threw him off balance.. I guess he needs more practice. :)

Matt

Our little bugger is getting so big! he is starting to see the benefit of overalls, and so are we, Daddy has him by the straps so Matt thinks he is standing all by himself. {thus the big grin}

ready for christmas

We spent thanksgiving break getting ready for christmas. Michelle was home from college, and she helped me get things cleaned and decorated. we also spent a day doing family photos. here are some of what we did

happy boy...

after some very much awaited formula, I think we have finally found a formula for Matt that will stop the horrible allergic reaction! we have been on it now for 4 days. After being on pedilite and cereal for ten, hes starting to not argue about it. I am certain if you ate something for four months and every time you ate it you got sick, you would be a little hesitant to eat it again right?

well as you can see, hes a happy little boy now, starting to sleep normal again which makes this very tired mommy very very happy!


and as long as i am on the subject, Matt LOVES this new walker! as you can see, we had him in his walker AWAY from the TV while we were watching "smackdown" last night, and a commercial for Shawn Michaels new video came on, and he walked himself as close to the TV as he could get! thank goodness for the toy baskets blocking his way! I guess we have a new WWE fan!

our Trip to the college

We went to the college for "Parents Day" this past weekend. We wanted to get a Photo to use for Christmas presents, But it was SO VERY windy. So In reality we got lots of nice snapshots, but none i really like well enough for a "picture"

Other than the wind it was a BEAUTIFUL! All of Michelle's Friends LOVED Matt and they made a big fuss over him. He of course loved it.

Daddy did a fair bit of carrying Matt.
We also enjoyed a wonderful dinner with Michelle. The college once again out did themselves. We had grilled tuna, pork roast, stuffed chicken breasts, salad bar and dippy veggies (my favorite) and of course a LOVELY desert table. which had Elizabeth-towns famous carrot cake.
While we ate dinner we were entertained by a Jazz Band :)

Matt decided the jazz music was wonderful to sleep to.

All in all a great day.

Fall is here

Fall has come to northern Pa. and with fall has come 40° nights and 50° days. BRRRR, I know a little boy who was very happy that Daddy found him this great bombardier jacket!


Certainly mommy needs to find him a suitable hat, (maybe something to match with ear flaps!) and maybe even a white scarf! but the jacket was top priority!

Trip to the canyon

We went for our annual trip to the canyon. Here are some snapshots of the trip...