2nd Field Trip

The beginning of November Matthew went on his second field trip to Crowe's Nest Farm in Manor, TX.  I know, I know you are thinking "gosh, are they going to go to every one of his field trips?" But answer me this don't you think if you had a child that was allergic to EVERYTHING even freaking snowglobes  and had to carry an epi pen around at all times that you would go to being that it is a farm with animals? Yes I think you get it now. The teacher was even prepared and had gathered all the meds and epi pen from the school nurse to take on the trip. I was so happy to see that. Matthew did not have any reactions to anything however we were there to remind him not to touch any animals, and he wanted to. So we know that had we not gone he would have touched the pigs and the horses, probably not a good idea for Matthew! He had such a good time on this one, as did we. We loved seeing his face light up. We saw some interesting animals, how a cow is milked, we went on a hayride then ate lunch. It was lots of fun, Matthew is still telling people (anyone that will listen) about it. So cute. Carlos and I can't wait for the next field trip...lol. 

sorry...

Sorry I have neglected my blog again. I have just had so much going on as most of you know. I have been having a hard time personally, and Matthew has been so sick this month. He had a horrible virus 2 weeks ago, then he was sick again over Thanksgiving. Poor thing ever since he started school I can't keep him well. He had 103 fever for 5 days over the Thanksgiving holiday. I got him to the doctor and found out he had bronchitis which in turn caused his asthma to be uncontrollable so he was on a oral steroid. He was on this same steroid for his asthma a lot when he was little so I knew what to expect. When he is on it he can't get full. The second night Carlos had to go out and get him another meal after we had already had dinner! He just can't get full! Well, he is finally doing better but we are now forced to have him on his breathing machine every single day with a steroid in it for the rest of the winter! Not fun at all for any of us concerned! It's the kind of thing we get used to with Bubble Boy though..hee hee. Poor Baby!

He is finally feeling better and that's great. I have quite a few pictures to share from events that happened in November and a few so far from December so enjoy. 

Happy Birthday to me!

Today is my Birthday, I had a great morning. Had surprises from friends, my mom set her alarm and text me at 1:56am (the time I was born) to tell me Happy Birthday and that she loves me (the most of course, she didn't come out and say it, but I always know.) I picked up Matthew from school which made him happy and in turn makes me happy. Then we went to dinner at the Iron Cactus in the Galleria mall. That was the first time we had eaten there. Mine was really good, then they brought me a piece of cake (that was wonderful) and sang Happy Birthday to me, and guess what I didn't cry. I was also blessed with some great gifts throughout the day! All in all it was a great birthday! Thank you to everyone!!!

Bubble Boy...

This is nothing compared to the pictures my Mom got of him!!! 

So the day after Matthew's birthday (Monday the 20th) I got a call ten minutes before two from the nurses office at Matthew's school. Mind you I have the Nurse's office programed in my phone with a special ring so that I know who it is without having to look. I have already been called numerous times for various things (3 times the first week and Matthew only went 3 days the first week!!!) Anyway, when I answered it was the nurses "helper" (sorry I am not sure what her actual title is) and she was telling me that when Matthew woke up from his nap he had an allergic reaction to something and his eyes were swollen completely shut. She said she had given him benedryl at 1:20 and it had helped a little. Then she started telling me that the reason she was just getting in touch with me was because she had accidentally called another Matthew Martinez's mom and when that mom got there to pick her son up, she said "that's not my son!" The other boy is in third grade and this is not the first time that they have been mixed up. It doesn't make me feel very good about that, but I do know mistakes happen, as long as it's not life threatening I will try and overlook it. So since it was 10 till 2 my mom was already there to get him and she called me as soon as she got in the car with him. She said she had NEVER seen him look this bad before. She said she was almost in tears. Not what I wanted to hear. Well we continued the benedryl and it wasn't doing anything, so the next day my mom said she thought it might be a sinus infection and when my mom worries that's when I get worried. So I took him to the doctor and that's exactly what it was!!!! I couldn't believe it, but after 2 doses of antibiotics he was back to normal! It was so hard to look at him that way, he didn't even look like Matthew. Here are some pictures and these are once he looked a LOT BETTER! 

Sunday--- Matthew's actual birthday!

He woke up at 8 am (I really thought he'd sleep longer after such a party, but no) and he just couldn't wait to get back to all of his new toys! We went and ate at Maudie's with Carlos' family and then went to Garden Ridge. After that we had to say goodbye to them and then Haylee & my Mom came over. We counted down until 6:23pm (the time he was born) then sang Matthew Happy Birthday. He liked that. We just all spent the rest of the night playing with him. I can't believe he's 5 years old!!!!

We saved one gift that he really wanted for the day of his birthday. It was the batmobile with the batpod inside. It is pretty massive. I feel like we need a bigger house for all the toys!!! 

i made the pennant banner that is behind my granny, I really liked how it turned out

he is still in our tree for halloween

pumpkin toss

mummy wrap

Ghost bowling

Yes that is really a pinata!

The big day! It was finally here, at 8am Matthew was saying "Mommee, Mommee, Mommee wake up...do you know who's party it is today?" If I hadn't been so tired from being up till 3am then I would have laughed out loud. So, I gradually pulled myself out of the bed and begun. Thank God at the last minute my Mom & Sister came to help me, they were a HUGE help! I have to also say thanks to Desiree for her help and Laura Young as well. Carlos' mom needs a big thanks for running my last minute errand to get the balloons blown up and for that pinata. I have NEVER seen such a thing in my life! It looked so real. Twice it scared me as I walked out my front door because they had put it there before they hung it in the tree. My mom didn't want us to hit it. She wanted us to keep it for a decoration every year.

So, anyway the party finally started only 3 people out of everyone I invited weren't able to make it, so that was great! We had a full backyard and kids played 3 games that were directed by my sister haylee (the ladybug) and her friend emilee (the bee). The games were Pumpkin toss, Ghost bowling & Mummy Wrap. Now, I initially had prizes for the pumpkin toss and the ghost bowling but my child won both of them, so no prizes were given. The kids didn't care, we let them play them again while the parents finished up eating and moved to the front yard for the pinata. The pinata as you can see was HUGE and it took forever to break. Every kid took a hit at it then we had to get the older kids out there. My sister, her friend, my brother & carlos' brother. Finally it resulted in a few guys pulling it apart and pouring out the candy for the kids who were tired of waiting. There was a total of $40 in candy in that thing and we could have still kept filling it!

Then inside for cake and presents. Of course I cried during the Happy Birthday song, like I always do. I don't think anyone noticed though..ha ha. Then it was over and the kids started to file out with the arms full of party favors! They got the Frankenstein filled box, a motorized bubble gun, and boys got lighted swords and the girls got fairy wands. They were so happy with the party favors that they weren't even mad to leave.

Carlos & I finally had our first meal of the day at 11pm. Carlos got a lot of compliments on his food which was great! He was really nervous about using his new grill. I agreed that the food was great once I finally got to eat. I even had a piece of cake which was also really yummy. Then we hit the sac, I think all three of us were asleep within minutes.

Matthew's 1st field trip!

The whole class at the end of the trip.

Lunch at Pickle Park

Love this one! 

Gosh doesn't he look old! My baby....

Running through the maze!

Now next on the List to tell you was that this past Friday Matthew had his first field trip to the Pumpkin Patch and of course Carlos and I were both there. Of course we both had our cameras too. Matthew had a great time, his whole class did. It started with the exciting bus ride. Matthew was so excited about the bus that every bus he saw on the way to school that morning he said "Mommee is that the bus I am riding on today?"

So all the parents followed the bus to the pumpkin patch. The first thing they did was run through the maze that was built with bales of hay. They loved doing that! I think Matthew ran through it 4 times. Then they got to go inside the building and see the Giant singing pumpkin, Matthew has seen it quite a few times in years before. After that they each got to pick out a pumpkin.

We then left the p. patch and headed to Pickle Park. The kids ate their lunches then played on the playground. Being that Matthew's birthday was on Sunday I made and brought cupcakes for his class. The whole class sang Happy Birthday to him, it was too cute! Matthew had a blast all day. Then when I picked him up from school, once we were in the car and I started to drive home he said to me "Mom, thank you for bringing cupcakes to my class." (He didn't know I was doing that) It melted my heart when he said that to me. I love my little boy so much!

Okay, let me begin with sorry it's been so long since I posted. As you all know I make a huge deal out of Matthew's birthdays. I have always remembered how fun my mom made sure mine were, so I like to carry that on to my child. Sometimes Carlos is reluctant at first, then as the party approaches he wants it to be just as big! He never had a birthday party as a child, so it's important to him to that our kids do. Anyway, I have been planning this Halloween birthday party since his 4th birthday party, yes for a YEAR. That's how I like to do things.

Now before I tell you how the party went let me tell you about the days leading up to it. Two weeks before his party I was decorating and I was hanging a scene setter in the dining room (you will see it in the cake pictures, it's on the wall behind matthew) and this took me quite some time, because I was doing it alone. However after it was all said and done, I was happy with it. Then the next day was Monday and it was National Night Out which Target is a big sponsor of so of course our family headed out right after work. So by the time we got home it was late and hot in the house because no one had been home for longer than 20 minutes all day. When we walked in we saw that the entire (and it was long!) scene setter was on the floor. Carlos laughed and nothing good came out of my mouth then Matthew....

He started with "who did this? who took this down?"
I stated that it had fallen, as I was gritting my teeth
Matthew- "Great now we can't have the party, cancel it, just cancel it!"
I stood there with my mouth open and told him to go upstairs to take a bath.
All the way up the stairs "just cancel the party mom, cancel it"
The whole time he is saying this to me like an adult!
I told him to wait for me in my bathroom and I started telling Carlos what he was saying.
Then as I got near the bathroom he was in I could still hear him saying "just cancel the party, cancel it"
I just couldn't believe it!

Then the next day I told my mom the story, so when she picked him up she asked him if it was true that he wanted to cancel his party. He said "YES, because mom put up the picture of the trees with no leaves and it fell, so now we can't have the party"
When I got home she told me all of this and so I looked at Matthew and asked him "Matthew do you know what cancel means?"
Matthew- "No..."
We all busted out laughing...
My little boy.

My boss sent me an article to read about this woman with food allergies and how hard it can be to eat out. So I read the whole thing obviously because I relate, by having a child that we call "Bubble Boy". Well after reading the entire article I noticed that there were comments at the bottom, so I started reading those. One woman left a comment that made a lot of people angry....including me. Read below (then I will state my feelings)

AMANDA:
My daughter entered kindergarten this year and the school has repeatedly sent home "requests" to not send any nut containing foods to school because of the children with allergies. So what, my daughter is supposed to suffer? She's a great eater and will try anything you put in front of her but when it comes to sandwiches she is addicted to pb&j. So why deprive her because someone else's kid has a problem. That's encroaching our civil liberties. Luckily, after speaking with the local school board I found out that they cannot prevent anyone from bringing pb&j to school so of course we pack it everyday. If your child has an allergy - YOU DEAL WITH IT. Don't expect my child to change her habits because your child has a problem.








TOM:
Amanda, I hope your daughter grows up to be less self-centered and selfish than you.

My guess is that if this was your precious child, you'd expect the entire world to turn upside down. Actually I know it since you've already defined her "right" to eat peanut butter as a civil liberty. Unbelievable.

Oh well, thank goodness your daughter can get pb&j. If someone else dies, well that's just life.








ROB:
Wow great attitiude Amanda ,no wonder people don't get along anymore , that the value of peanut butter is far greater than human life








CRISTINA:
As a response to those ignorant people who are not faced with any allergic repurcussions in their lives, will never get it until they go through it either with their children or develop something on their own as their immune system changes every so often. It is ridiculous for me to understand how people choose to think that those "allergic" individuals becomes a hassle for those that are not allergic. Children in particular that are in school with a peanut allergy as an example could face death if unaware they even have this allergy. Schools should really be considered "peanut-free". Who cares about a pb&j sandwhich anyway, it's overrated! I have no tolerance for those of you who are IGNORANT to NOT understand the repercussions involved if a child in particular should come into contact with milk, peanut, shellfish, etc. I encourage all parents to undergo allergy testing to be more cautious







JESSICA:
Amanda, My son does not have any allergies however attends a school that is peanut free...you need to understand there are alternatives to PB, like soy butter, takes exactly the same and the kids love it just as much as the real thing...they can not make you stop making your daughter pb&j but you need to be mature about the issue and realize that not only is this a food allergy it is one of the very few airborne ones that can have the same effect as the child eating it, just by your daughter eating and possibly playing with a child with an allergy you have put them at risk...you should respect the "requests" your daughters school is making.







LISA:

Amanda,

So you would rather have another child end up in the hospital or die, rather than deprive your little girl of a sandwich? That's teaching her how to get along with others.


there were many more...but I will stop there....

Okay as you can see that amanda woman pissed quite a few people off. Now, I can definitely understand her frustration. It is very hard for people to understand something they don't know. Until we came across all of Matthew's issues we didn't understand either. I do however think it is very sad of the woman to be so inconsiderate, we are talking about small children here, not teenagers or adults. She stated that it is their problem not hers or her daughters, but what if it was her daughter that was eating a pb&j sandwich and had peanut butter on her hands then touched a child that is allergic and that child stops being able to breathe. Then who's problem is it? My child is "trained" he can recite the list of things he is allergic to just as well as I can, and I have worked really hard at making sure of it. I can protect him when he is with me, but obviously I can not be with him at school all day. It scares me to think of all the things that could go wrong. Matthew's allergies have seemed to get worse the more he is exposed, and we find new things all the time that he is allergic to. I have to send his nap time blankets in a huge Ziploc bag because he is highly allergic to Gain laundry detergent and I wouldn't be able to know if someone else washes their kids blankets in that. I guess I am just rambling, but my point is that the woman who is choosing to bitch about not being able to send her child to school with a pb & j (even though her sorry self does it anyway) should be grateful that she is lucky enough to have a healthy child that can consume anything she chooses. Matthew loved peanut butter as a baby (before I realized that he was allergic, scary I know...cause I gave him pb crackers all of the time) and now he will never know the joy of eating a Reese's pb cup. It is very hard to accommodate so many allergies and stressful at times. What do you feed a child for breakfast when they are allergic to Milk, Eggs, Soy, Wheat? Poor thing eats a lot of bacon or dry cereal. I also think it is sad for Matthew to have to question most of the foods he is about to eat. "Mom am I allergic to mayonnaise?" "Yes, Matthew but not miracle whip." "Mom, does this candy have peanuts in it?" Okay I guess you get the point...

I remember...

After I lost Madee I went to the cemetery every single day for a year. I took it very seriously, that's the only thing I thought about every day, how to make sure I worked in 45 minutes to an hour and a half of time everyday to spend at the cemetery. There was even one day at work that I had a huge crying breakdown because the other manager had not shown up from his meeting so that I could leave, and it was getting late, I drove as fast as I could to get there. I even drove off on the side of the road that day where traffic had stopped, all I cared about was making it there, and I did. 

Anyhow, today is 6 years ago since her funeral. About a week after the funeral my mom and I were at the cemetery watering the grass we had just planted, when a man by the name of Harold Wettig drove up. He got out of the car and started to walk toward us. He asked "Are you the family of 'Sugar Puddin'?" We were a little taken back and holding back the tears we said "yes we are." He then handed me a envelope, I opened it and inside were these two pictures that he had taken the day after Madee's funeral. I was so grateful, we hadn't thought to take pictures of all the flowers (well what we left at the cemetery, we brought many home as well it was amazing how many people showed love for Madee.) Plus there are a lot of things that I don't remember that went on during all of this. Most of the events I just remember bits and pieces, which is for the best. The parts I do remember I wish I didn't. 

Well, back on track, Harold told us that it is just something he does for families after someone is buried at that cemetery. His wife is buried there too. He also gave me a copy of a story that was written about him in the newspaper. I will never forget his kindness and I am forever grateful for the pictures he captured. 

In ten minutes this day will be officially over and tomorrow will be another day I wake up without my baby...

The finished project!

Sorry it has taken me so long to post this picture. Here is the first ever project that Matthew turned in to school. I had fun making it, I just wish I could have had a bigger piece of paper cause I could have done so much more to it. We went to back to school night tonight, it was really cute to see the things Matthew has made in class so far.

Pictures from today...

Thank you to my friends and family who still remember, that means so much to me!

We always write a message to madee on balloons and then let them go to her. This was something we did at her funeral with tons of pink balloons. 

10 Years!

Today is Carlos & my 10 year anniversary! We haven't celebrated it for the past 5 years because of what tomorrow is. It's a little hard to try and be happy during this part of the year. However, I couldn't let this day pass without ackknowledging it. 10 years is huge! We have been through a LOT together, happy, sad, the unthinkable. We have become stronger most people don't make it through losing a child, it tears their relationship apart. Instead it made us stronger, it made us realize the importance of each day. That's why we don't like to do anything without Matthew. Most parents can't wait to have a night out alone, we never feel that way. That's why I still love him so much, he loves being a parent as much as I do.

It always seems to come back...

It's here again....September...gosh I hate September....I can't think of one thing, not one that I like about it. It is the hardest time of the year for me. Even though in 2 1/2 days it will be 6 years since I experienced the WORST day of my life, some how every year feels like it just happened when the day rolls around. I never believed that I would make it 6 years without my baby girl, *sigh* I never thought I'd make it through the night without her. If anyone wonders how I have or is thinking to them self right now "I couldn't do it", well I never thought I would be able to either. I quickly learned that when something like that happens to you no one comes and gives you a choice. I didn't get to pick 6 years ago to stop living my life, well I guess in a sense I could have, but you know what I mean. My only option for the last 6 years has been to wake up every morning and breathe, so that's what I do. I get up every morning take in a deep breath kiss my little boy (don't dare tell him I said little) I some how make it through the rest of the day get in bed at night and kiss that little boy again, knowing how lucky I truly am to have such a wonderful miracle. Then it's starts over again. It is still very hard and very painful...I think about things that I miss out on everyday. Madee would have started 1st grade this year!

Kiss your babies every day, make sure you always tell them you love them (even if it's when they are sleeping.) Life is unexpected and unfair a lot of the time, be sure not to regret the time you have.

A project sent home on the first day of Pre-K?!?!

Okay so Matthew got sent home with a project on the first day of school and when is it due....in five days! Now let me tell you a little about this project. It is to be on a piece of poster board that is a little larger than a legal size piece of paper. And it is basically supposed to be a collage about him. With pictures of him and his family and things he likes. The paper said in big bold letters BE CREATIVE! Oh, no problem...I looked at Matthew and said..."Oh we have this in the bag!" Ha Ha Ha! I think I am gonna like pre-k! It is going to bring out even more of my creativity...ha ha ha! I haven't started it yet believe it or not, but let me tell you I already have lots of ideas! I will take a picture of the finished project and post it this weekend. So stay tuned!

Matthew had a great first day!!!

Matthew was so excited to tell us all about his first day of school. He told us he had a lot of fun. He told us over and over thank you for taking him and thank you for picking up. He did ask us what we did when we left him at school. Ha Ha he wanted to make sure that we weren't out having fun with out him. It was really cute. 

Matthew's First Day of School

In the car on the way there. 

In front of the school.

Matthew started Pre-K today. He has been really excited about this! He went to bed at 9pm  last night (which everyone knows is really early for Matthew.) We woke him up at 6:45 this morning and he said he still wanted to sleep...just like his parents...ha ha. I took him in the bathroom and told him to brush his teeth and before he stuck the toothbrush in this was the conversation him and I had:

Me- "Are you excited to go to school today?"

Matthew- "Are you gonna leave me all by myself?" in a whinning voice.

Me-"Baby, Mommee & Daddee can't stay with you at school"

Matthew in a scared voice almost crying "so you are gonna leave me all alone?"

Me- "No baby, the teacher will be there and all of your new friends in your class"

then he said nothing else and started brushing. Oh man at that point I was so worried. I got him dressed and sent him downstairs to his Daddee to eat. He ate his breakfast and we set out to leave. He was really excited after that. We got to the school and he was all smiles. When he got to the classroom he was so excited to see that he could play playdoh right off. He has been in love with playdoh ever since he got it for his birthday this past year. So he put his backpack and lunch box away and then sat down to play. He was so in to playing that he didn't care if we were there or not. We kissed him and said bye, I had to drag Carlos out believe it or not. I had to leave I didn't want Matthew to see me cry. We had to stop at the nurse to give his meds. And then when we got to the car I balled like a big baby. And ever since we have been nothing but talking about him and saying what is he doing now. (We have a schedule so we know...lol) Well here are some pictures we took and in about 15 minutes we get to go and get him!