Matthew has been added to the portrait gallery of The Congenital Heart Information Network (TCHIN.org). Terri and I are members and donors to the non-profit organization and refer to their site quite often for information. Click Here to see photos and read Matthew's medical history.

His best Cheerleader, Terri encourages Matthew to walk toward her. Quixa vigilantly guards against predators.

Matthew has made some developmental improvements in his upper body strength. Here, you can see him smiling as Mommy helps him support himself. It isn't easy recovering from two open heart surgeries but Terri is the best physical-therapist-Mommy on Earth.

Have you ever been this wiped out? They say, "Play is the work of a child." For Matthew it is no different.

Terri has been urging me to let everyone know that you can see more pictures than shown here. All you have to do is click on the month you would like to view. Each month is listed under the Archive heading located on the left side of your screen. We partition the blog this way to allow for faster screen loading. If you click on May you will see Matthew's Birthday photos. Matthew's two surgeries are chronicled in August/September '05 & March '06. Please enjoy.

As the youngest member of the pack, Matthew is always under the watchful eye of our dog Quixa.

On Tuesday we visited Dr. Gary Mayman, Matthew's Cardiologist. While in the waiting room, Terri & I kept Matthew entertained.

After his weigh-in (18lbs. 6 ounces by the way) Matthew submits to an EKG on every visit.

A well earned kiss for being such a good boy.

I love this picture. Can't you just hear Matthew saying, "A little to the left..Ok back to the right...Right there. So Doc, how's it look?"

Dr. Mayman had great news. Matthew's heart & conduit looks beautiful! There is already some minor leaking from the valve but that is to be expected. While we love visiting with Dr. Mayman, we don't have another check-up for three months. That is quite a change from every other week.

Matthew is such a stinker when it comes to eating any solid food. In these pictures, you can imagine him saying, "Hey Mom, I know why you've got me in this highchair. Do you really think you can make me eat?"

"Well, come on and try it. I Double-Dog dare ya!"

"Oh no, what's this stuff?"

"Yuck!"

Matthew had a sleep study done last week and the results were very promising. His oxygen saturation remained at satisfactory for most of the night. It was only in the deepest of sleep that he dropped down below acceptable levels. If he continues to heal, there will come a time when he no longer needs the assistance of extra oxygen.

This morning Uncle Keith and Daniel Brought over this personalized plate for Matthew's Jeep. Now he can motorvate in style.

Matthew never tires of showing his Mommy what a big boy he is

Matthew never tires of his Jump-N-Go. He likes to shoot for the Moon.

My best friend Johnny Hazelwood's parents, John & Mary, stopped by while on vacation to say hello to Matthew. Mary is a new grandma and can't get enough of little babies.

Happy Mother's Day

Matthew treated his Mommy and his Grandmas to dinner at the Outback.

"Hi Mommy. I'm still waiting to see the Kangaroos."

Grandma & Grandpa Wright reminisced with Grandma Sue about raising little ones.

As always, Matthew sat next to me so we could visit.

Aunt Kim had the perfect shoulder for napping after dinner.

Happy 1st Birthday Matthew!!!

After much planning and preparation the big day was finally here. There were many times during the past year when even an optimist may have doubted this day would come. Terri and I were blessed by all of our friends and family who gathered to celebrate this milestone. I wish we could have photographed every one who arrived but the day was frantically busy. Between Terri and I, we managed to snap a few shots to share with you now. We were truly humbled by the amount of gifts Matthew received. Everyone's generosity was overwhelming.

Grandma Sue made a special trip from California to celebrate Matthew's 1st birthday. She said she wouldn't have missed it for the world.

Matthew's cousin Daniel arrived early and helped with the decorations. As usual he was a pleasure to have around. He thoroughly enjoyed inflating the helium baloons.

This is Jaime & Keith Costa with their handsome son Dominic. He was born premature and spent many weeks in an incubator right next to Matthew at Sunrise Hospital. Terri and I developed a close bond with Jaime & Keith and were delighted that they could come. Dominic is so big and strong now that you wouldn't believe he had been a preemie.

This is Keith's mother, Grandma Reeva. She made Matthew another choo-choo train quilt that was adorable.

Our neighbors Jaime and Rudy came to celebrate with their friends. Jaime works in the lab at Summerlin Hospital where Matthew was born.

Before the party reached its' climax, Terri gave a heart felt thank you to everyone that had been so supportive and prayerful during the past year. With that she placed Matthew's cake in front of his face. Imagine, if you will, the rousing theme from "2001 a Space Odyssey" thundering in the background as Matthew's attention was drawn to his cake...

Had it been played, the theme music would have reached a crescendo as Matthew smeared his birthday cake all over his face. I kept shouting, "That a boy" as we all cheered him on!

Abbi's daughter Jayden was feeling left out so Matthew agreed to share a piece of his cake early. Grandma Wright deftly handled both babies.

Matthew's cake was colored yellow & blue. He had so much fun digging into it that his hands turned green. Remember your Crayola color combinations? After we cleaned him up it was time to blow out the candles on our big cakes so everyone could enjoy. We were gracious enough to supply our guests with plasticware.

Matthew has been busy buying decorations for his party on Saturday. He left the food & beverage decisions up to Terri and me. We hope that everyone can stop by and help us celebrate.

Happy Birthday Matthew!!! Matthew is one year old today (at 2:38pm). What a year it has been. Terri, Matthew, and I have had quite a journey this past year. I have never been so happy, scared, sad, or shaken in my life as I have this year. Here is a brief reflection of the last year since Matthew was born.

Matthew was born on May 10th 2005. He was 8 weeks premature. Terri and I were surprised he came so soon but delighted to see him for the first time.

This picture was taken the day before we found out that Matthew had a heart defect. This was the first time I ever held my son.

Matthew's first open heart surgery was on July 28th 2005 when he was just 2 1/2 months old.

For Terri and I, the darkest days of our lives were after Matthew's surgery when the full extent of Matthew's lung damage became clear. We were told that he may need to have a tracheotomy and be sent home on a respirator for 2 years.

After spending the first 5 1/2 months in the hospital, Matthew finally came home on Sunday October 23rd, 2005. This was a truly blessed and thankful day.