Matthew's art work *giggling*

I couldn't help but giggle at this, of course Matthew didn't see me or hear me, I was very firm with him that he wasn't allowed to color on our walls.

Some cute pictures

Big brother reading to Magoo.

My silly friend Trish playing w/ the kids in a toy tote.

Trish and the little love bugs.

Matthew playing at mom's in his new outfit that Marci bought him. He looks so much like my brother Danny in this picture... it's shocking.

Look at those little legs!!
My little buddy, Kaylee playing around at lunch one day... My friend Marci came down from Reno with her girlies... Allie and Kaylee... they all spoiled Matthew rotten. He was in love.
Who wouldn't love getting lovin from these cutie pies!!

A Sunday spin around the block w/ Papa

Matthew loves to swing on mom's backyard swing.

ECHO & EKG went great today

He used to scream bloody murder during the EKG.. but he was as calm as a clam.

He was so calm and relaxed, that he actually started to doze off!!

We love Dr. Mayman! He's such fun and a great doctor w/ the best bedside manor.

His "numbers" are great! They are holding steady ~ his "numbers" are the same as they were three years ago after his second heart surgery. We are very happy and excited!

Random pics

Steel Magnolia

Matthew hugging his new little girlie friend in Beaver, this is Kayla! Tim & Tanji's little neice.

Standing on our new front deck.

This is hysterical!

Matthew keeps removing a knob off our kitchen cabinet.

Yesterday, I walked up and saw that it was missing AGAIN. I asked Matthew,

"What happened to the knob Matthew?"

He walked up to the cabinet door ... looking very serious... his little eyebrows went together,
and he very quietly said:

"You broke it."


I almost died laughing!!!! He's never really answered me like that before. I loved it.

Pictures I promised

Someone was having all kinds of doggy fun. *giggling* Look at that guilty face.

A Stanford sweatshirt Nurse Raji gave him. She cared for Matthew pretty much the entire time we were in the CVICU 4 yrs ago.

"Dwamma" spoiled Magoo w/an awesome Mr. Potato Head. He has TWO, yes, TWO ~ one for our house and one for her house. This child wants for nothing.

These are real fun to step on. Yup... nice. It can give ya a case of Tourette's.

Daddy and Magoo playing on his chaulk board. Matthew loves to have us draw him a Magic Bullet. Goofy kid.

Matthew suckered Daddy into taking him for a spin around the block. He is hard to resist.

Off they go! He loves this red wagon.... yes, "Dwamma" got it for him.

3 years ago since Matthews second heart surgery

Wow... we can't believe it's been 3 years now.
March 16th marks the 3rd anniversary since Matthew's second heart surgery.

We pray that his leaky valve hangs in there ... we were told at Stanford that "on average", these kids need a conduit change every three years.

We have an ECHO appointment on April 17th.

I will be posting some cute pics that I took the other day real soon.

Okay okay

I will get some pictures of Matthew up real soon.

He is so funny...

he's singing this cute little song....


moo moo buzz buzz,
pop pop klop,
cock a doodle doo doo who who
dibble dibble dop,
tick tock knock knock
boom boom SPLAT!
last a whisper whisper
and THAT IS THAT...


from Mr. Brown Can Moo, Can You??

Bill introduced to increase lifetime caps to minimum of 10 million

Lifetime Caps Bill Introduced On Friday, February 13, 2009,

Anna G. Eshoo(D-CA) and Jim Langevin (D-RI), along with Senators Byron Dorgan(D-ND) and Olympia Snowe (R-ME) introduced the Health Insurance Coverage Protection Act (H.R. 1085; S442).

I was so excited about this UNTIL Mike said it was a bad idea to mandate something like this... He said that it would then cost employers more money for the premiums. I hadn't thought of that. I do wish there were no such thing as a lifetime cap. Mostly because when you run out, you can't buy more (as we found out) due to pre existing clauses. So, what are you to do????


The legislation, introduced in both houses in 2008, will set a $10 million minimum lifetime cap on health insurance, with future increases based on inflation.

The National Hemophilia Foundation (NHF)played a vital role in encouraging the legislation and assembling a coalition of more than 50 patient advocacy and health organizations currently working for its passage.

“However, nothing could happen without the critical leadership of the members of Congress who recognized this problem and decided to do something about it,” said ValBias, NHF CEO.

“We applaud these leaders for identifying this critically needed piece of healthcare reform and moving it forward.”

On Thursday, February 26, 2009, more than 350 people affected by bleeding and clotting disorders will gather on Capitol Hill for our annual Washington Days advocacy event.

We will express our support for this important legislation and discuss other key healthcare issues with members of Congress and their staff.

“Having an inadequate lifetime cap defeats the purpose of health insurance and forces those with disabilities and chronic illnesses into an impossible situation,” Dorgan said.

“Low caps also end up costing the taxpayer because once people with illnesses hit their cap, they often turn to government programs for their care.

This legislation will raise lifetime insurance caps and allow those with illnesses to focus on recovering—not worrying about how they are going to pay for their treatment.”

“This bill addresses a critical lack of coverage for those with disabilities or chronic illnesses,” said Eshoo.

“It’s a travesty to think that people are job-hopping in order to switch insurance plans or quitting their job all together to access Medicaid.

Increasing the minimum lifetime cap will result in a net savings for federal and state governments because individuals with high medical costs can maintain private health insurance.

As medical treatment costs continue to increase, the issue of lifetime insurance maximums will become even more important. This legislation will protect individuals who are struggling to pay for the expensive medical treatments that are a result of disability or chronic illness.” NHF applauds the efforts of the bill’s sponsors and co-sponsors.

Isn't this soo cute... Spookie hung out w/ Matthew for about 20 minutes. I think she wanted that duckie.

This was in 1965, Terri was 5 years old. The picture from left to right, is me, Danny and Terri. Please refrain from commenting on Terri's shoes... she hated them :)

Look at this smug mug

He was spending his last Sunday over at his Uncle Keith and Auntie G's house. Typically Mike and Matthew head around the corner to Keith's to watch football... but Keith moved to Maryland today.

THIS JUST IN...

Matthew has discovered his mouth.

This is from earlier today. Magoo's daddy let him wear this little headset. The problem... was that the antenna kept poking me in the eye!!!

Since Terri's not feeling well today and we're all STARVING for more of the little guy... I thought I'd post a couple of pics.

A couple pics to hold you over until I can get the Christmas pics up

Mike and his very first squad... this is New Years Eve. Look how cute they all are!!

Matthew loves that cheese out of the can and peanut butter. He just picks the cheese off the cracker.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

A night at the Magical Forest

Just look at that face...he was grinning from ear to ear the entire ride!! When the carousel took off, I was surprised at how fast it was going... I was trying to hold on to Matthew w/ my left hand and the pole that was moving up and down with my right hand ... and I ALMOST FELL OFF!! LOL, I should have been on the other side, but as we went flying past Heidi, I said, "OMG I almost fell!" and she was laughing and said, "I know, I saw!!" There was only a small area for me to stand on.

He loved the snowman... there were teddy bears and doggies walking around too.

Here's a little balloon doggie w/ a leash.

He loved this kiddie slide!! Can you see his excited face??

Heidi and her two sons, one to the right of her and one wayyy down below.

There were firetrucks, ambulances and even police cars passing out stickers and candy canes.

Look what Grandma W bought for the little man.. he loves his rocking horses.