Matthew's cast is off and he is in a big boy bed.

Well the cast came off yesterday! Yeaaa!! Other than having a skinny, very dry and flaky leg it otherwise looks good. He will have to wear a walking boot for the next 2 to 3 weeks, but we can take it off for naps, bedtime, and baths. He had his 1st tub bath tonight. Its been almost 5 weeks since his last tub bath. He isn't walking much yet but he should start walking in the next few days. It will be nice when everything is back to normal.

Matthew is finally in a big boy bed. He is almost 3 so I figured it was definitely time to get him out of his crib. I really didn't have a reason why he is still in his crib but I really didn't have a reason to get him out of his crib. Most toddlers move out of their cribs because they are climbing out of it or they have a new little brother or sister on the way that needs it. I was one of the lucky ones because Matthew was good about entertaining himself in his crib when he woke up so I was able to get some extra sleep :) I admit, I have been spoiled. The first couple of nights have gone well, but he didn't take his nap today. I thought he was sleeping but then I heard a very loud banging noise on his door. He was throwing his toys at his door and he made a big mess in his room. We'll see how tomorrow goes.

Enjoy the pics of Matthew's noncasted leg and him sleeping in his big boy bed. Notice the "da di di" (a.k.a. fire hydrant) right next to his bed. His "da di di" also goes "night night" when he does.

Whats new!

Hope everyone is getting used to the blog rather than the share site. I know, change is hard. I am still getting used to the blog as well. Mark and I had a nice visit from Mike (brother in law) this past weekend. He is always great to have around. He loves seeing Matthew and we always have good talks. We had a great conversation about rasing kids. Raising kids is likely the most difficult job on the planet. There is no training and no guidebooks. You just kind of have to figure it out as you go along. There will likely be many mistakes along the way, but hopefully the things you do right will outweigh the mistakes.

Matthew is good. His word list is growing. His latest word is "wa wa". Yep, that's his word for giraffe. Grandma Carroll will be happy to hear that Matthew has a word for giraffe. She LOVES giraffes. Matthew is still very much in love with his "da di di" (a.k.a. fire hydrant). We put "da di di" to bed every night now and "da di di" even gets baths :). I have decided that the theme of his 3rd birthday is going to be fire hydrants. Should be interesting :) Matthew still has his long leg cast. He gets it off in a week (yeaaaaaa!). He is walking on it which is an interesting sight. Overall he has done pretty well with it.

My brother and his wife live in Iowa and are in the foster to adopt program. Well they just got a little 9 month old boy named Ben that they are fostering with hopes of adopting. Just saw pictures today and he is a cutie. Pray that everything works out for them. Ben would be very lucky to have Allan and Katherine as his parents.

Work is good. We are still slow so there is always the fear of getting cancelled, but so far it has been ok. Working Sunday nights is working out well. As long as I get a good nap in that afternoon I can usually make it through the night ok.

That's all I can think of for now.

Betsey

Enjoy the pic of Matthew with his Uncle Mike and "dada" on Uncle Mike's Harley.

Introduction

So who are we? My name is Betsey and I have been married to my wonderful husband Mark since July 2005. We met through a friend and things really got going after hanging out at a Stryper reunion concert together. We are both huge Stryper fans so it was just meant to be for us to be together.

We have 1 son named Matthew who was born on June 24, 2007. Can't believe he will be 3 in June. Where did the time go? Matthew is a very handsome boy and his mommy and daddy love him very much. Matthew is speech delayed. He has about 30-40 words and his first words didn't really come until after age 2. He has been in ECI since his 1st birthday and is receiving speech therapy. He is doing much better than when we started. There were some concerns about autism because he did have a lot of "red flags" like no pointing, no babbling, limited waving/clapping, etc.... The "red flags" have gone away, but we are still dealing with the speech delay. ECI ends at age 3 so he will transfer to the school district and will likely attend PPCD (preschool program for children with disabilities). The school will evaluate him and recommend what they think is best. He currently attends a wonderful preschool program 2 days a week and I enrolled him for 3 days a week in the Fall. I would like to contine with that preschool and use the school district as a supplement. I do believe that he is more than just a "late talker", and I think he will need all the help he can get to get his language skills to age level. It's hard to know what the future holds, but we will be there for him every step of the way. He has been evaluated by a developmental pediatrician and will see her again in June.

I have been an RN since 1998 and love it. I currently work 2 days a week in the NICU. I love working in the NICU, and I feel so blessed to be able to work part time so I can be home most of the week with Matthew. It brings a nice balance. The days that I do work are a nice break. Mothers of young kids know what I mean.

Matthew LOVES fire hydrants so the reason for the pic with Matthew and a fire hydrant.

P.S. Matthew had his 1st dentist appt. today and it went well. All they did was look in his mouth. His teeth look good! Next time they want to do a teeth cleaning. Good luck with that!

Good news and bad news

I will start with the bad news first. I am no longer going to use my K-Family Happenings share site, but the good news is I am starting a blog. I felt to limited with the share site and wanted to give blogging a try. This will now be the place to get updates on whats happening with us. Be sure to put my blog in your favorites so you can visit often :)