Hey Look It snows here in the Desert.....

Well maybe not. It didn't snow here in the valley. It snowed up in the mountains that surround our little valley. The high temp today was only around 54 and the kids think it is cold. I try and remind them of when we lived in Logan and there was snow on the ground when we went trick or treating. We had only been out for 10 minutes and the kids told me that they wanted to go home. But I guess that they are getting use to the weather here in the desert of California and they think that this weather is cold. I do have to say that I really miss seeing the snow and it just doesn't feel like Christmas without snow on the ground. We got a tree this past week and the kids helped decorate it the other day. Mom got to put on all of her ornaments and the the kids got to help with some of the ones that they have made throughout the years and then some of the new ones that we got this year. I bought some beeds this year and cut them in 6 inch lengths and the kids hung them on the tree like icicles. They all had a good time. I will post a picture later. I hope everyone is ready for Christmas. I finished my last gift today.

The Annual Ridgecrest Christmas Parade

Well the time has come and gone again for the annual Christmas Parade here in Ridgecrest. The girls have participated every year that they have been in Girl Scouts. This year was ok but it was not the best of years. The wind started blowing the night before the parade and it was pretty fierce. I was worried that the parade was going to be to windy for the girls. So Saturday morning comes along and I get the girls in long sleeve shirts and turtle necks and tights and white pants and so on. I try to keep them as warm as possible because they need to be wearing white so that they look like the rest of the troop. Well we get to the parade and put the bells that we made during one of the meetings on the girls and we put bells on their shoes and bells in their hair. The theme this year for all the troops that were participating was cookies. So we were sugar cookies bells. It was pretty cute and it wasn't that hard to put together. We hadn't even started walking yet and Tawny is already telling me that she is cold. I told her that she needed to jump up and down and run around so that she could keep warm. By the end of the parade the girls were pretty tired and when we did finally get home they had to have another shower because of all the sand all over everything and all in their hair. It was a mess but we all had a good time.

Boys are Amazing

You know I am so thankful that I have two little boys in my family. Dakota and Dylan are such wonderful kids. I hope that I will be able to raise them right and teach them how to respect women and treat them right. It is amazing how fast they grow. It seems like just yesterday that Dakota was a baby and I was trying to pat down his hair that looked like he had suck his finger ina light socket. Right after Dylan was born I was afraid he wasn't going to come home for a long time and he changed that and came home fairly fast. He has grown so much in the past 5 months. I took him to the Dr. the other day and he is already 17 pounds. I can't even believe that. He is just growing so fast.

Thanksgiving

We acutally celebrated Thanksgiving on sunday when Grandma Matlock was with us. She was only able to be with us for a weekend but it was a good weekend. She was able to get a rest from the job and from Grandpa and she was also able to finally meet her youngest grandson Dylan. We had a great time and the turkey dinner was great. When it was time for her to leave we really did not want her to go. But we made her promise to come back soon. I think that she will now that she knows she is always welcome and the drive is not that long for her to come and see us. Thanks again Gramdma for coming to visit

Shalynn is now officially a Junior in the Girl Scouting program. She and the rest of her troop had a Slide into Juniors ceremony a few weekends ago at the base pool here in Ridgecrest. The really great thing is that Shalynn was able to pass the swimming test and she really has not had any lessons whatsoever. I was really proud of her. I guess the playing around in the pool in the back yard has really paid off. She had a ball and keeps asking to go back. When Tawny go there she said in no uncertain terms that she did not want to go down the slide. So of course I am not going to push her in anyway. Hopefully she will get our of her littel fear of certaing things and be willing to try new things at least once in a while. While we were at Girl Scout camp this last summer she really did not want to try the zip line either. She got all dressed in the gear and then she chickend out. I have even been on the zip line and Shalynn and I tried to tell her that it was really fun but she was having none of it. But anyway the girls are loving Girl Scouting still and so am I. I will post more as the school year continues to get more and more interesting.

Dylan Plays Nintendo

Dylan got his first taste of playing nintendo the other night. Shalynn was holding him and Dakota wanted her to come and play a game with her. At first he did not like it. But once he started hearing the music he settled down and just sat in Shalynns arms while she played the game. I thought it was a really cute picture. So I decided I neede to post it to the blog.

Chock Full Weekend

Well this weekend was full of fun and exciting things that happened to the Matlock Family. We had Tawny's baptism on Saturday and then on Sunday we blessed Dylan. It was really great to have pretty much the whole family here in our neck of the woods for a little while. Even if it was 115 degrees most of the time everyone was here. Saturday morning we took pictures with all of the grandkids. This was the first time that we were all able to get together after Dylan had been added to the family. We were only short Jon and Shannon and they needed to be back in Utah because of jobs and other commitments. If we had all ben together we could of taken another family pictures. Now that we have added three new little additions to the family. But we all had a great time and are looking forward to the next time that we can all be together.

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

Dylan's Tanning session is over

Well when I went to the hospital to see Dylan today the Dr. had decided that he no longer needed the lights for jaundice. so he is light free and he no longer needs to wear the goggles. He can also have a shirt on now since he doesn't need the light to be on his skin. So one thing down and a few more before he can come home. He is still on Cpap for his breathing and I am hoping that his need for the help will continue to drop. He is almost off the nutrition solution as well. As soon as they take the pick line out of his leg he will not have any thing that is stuck in his body and he will just have the leads stuck to him so that the nurses can monitor his heart rate and other things. So we are hoping the he will be weened from the oxygen machines really soon so that he will be able to start eating with a bottle. He is already getting breast milk in a tube that goes down his nose but we want him to be able to eat and breath at the same time. So if everyone could pray that he will be able to be off the oxygen machines really soon I and the rest of the family would really appreciate it.

Dylan Looks at the world

This evening when I went back over to the hospital to see Dylan I was able to hold him again and this time he actually opened his eyes and was looking at the world around him. It was really great to hold him even if it was for a little while. During the day today I went to the 2 hour discharge class. I wanted to make sure that I had that under my belt so that as soon as Dylan is ready to go home I will just be able to take him. I have a few videos to watch now, I think 4 and then I will have watched everything that I need to so that I am ready to take Dylan home when they say that I can. I still can not tell who Dylan looks like yet. Maybe it is still to early to tell. I do think that he is going to have my long face though. I will write more again tomorrow.

The Bear Cubs Visit the Newest Bear Cub

Sunday June 29th Christi drove up to Ridgecrest and picked up my whole family and brought them down to see Dylan at the hospital. The kids had a 4 p.m. appointment to see him. The kids had to go through a little class that told them a little bit about what they were going to see while they were in there and they all did really well once they actually were allowed to go in to see Dylan. We only did two kids at a time so not to upset Dylan as much. The first two to go were Tawny and Dakota. They kept asking when he was going to be coming home and I had to keep telling them that it was up to Dylan. So I told them to talk to Dylan and tell him that he needed to come home. So hopefully he listened and will be ready to come home in a few days. Then it was Shalynn and Caris's turn to go in and see the baby. Caris had a good time washing her hands and then putting on the little gown that she had to wear so that she could get close to the baby. She also kept asking "when is baby Dylan going to come home?" So I told her to ask him and tell him that she wanted him to come home soon. I am so glad that Christi was able to stay with me the first few days that I was down here and I am so glad that she was willing to come down and help me out when I needed her to. Thanks again Christi for everything you have done for my family so far. I don't know what I would have done without you. If you can see in the pictures Dylan no longer had the big breathing tube down his throat and he is getting oxygen another way and that is helping him on the road to recovery. So thanks again for all of your prayers.

Aunt Gick Tanning in Loma Linda

Well I guess it is Aunt Gick's turn for a tan in Loma Linda just like Dylan. We had some good news today from the Dr. When we finally got to talk to him he said that they were going to try and take out the breathing tube tomorrow and I am so looking forward to that. He is actually breathing at about 30% and you and I breath at 21% so he is not that far off. Gick and I were so happy when we found out that they are going to try and take him of the O2. While Gick was out running a few errands today the nurse and I had a great experience. Dylan was acting a little fussy and so the nurse decided to see if he needed his diaper changed. Well he didn't but she decided to finish because she had already started. Well Dylan decided that it would be the perfect time to try and pee and so he did all over the new diaper that we were trying to get on on him. So we just held in in place and tried to let him finish. When we thought he was done we tried to clean him up and get all the pee off of him and he decided to do it again. So we paused again to see if he would finally finish. Well here comes another diaper and he does it again. I think the nurse and I were in stitches by this time. It was really funny. I don't have any pictures because I was trying to hold his hands because he wanted to pull out the oxygen tube. He is trying to jump the gun a little here. I think that is all for now and I will write more tomorrow as soon as we hear anything and hopefully I will have pictures of him without the big tube down his throat.

Dylan Tanning at Loma Linda

Hello friends and family. Well I was very thankful to my friend Wendy on Wednesday because she drove me down to Loma Linda so that I could be with Dylan. It was very nice of her to offer and I am so glad that I could take advantage of her generosity. When I arrived at the hospital I only have about 15 minutes to spend with Dylan before the Dr.'s started to do their rounds. They do their rounds from 9 to 12 so no parents are allowed when this is happening. So if you want to see your child in the morning you need to be there from 8 - 9 and then you can come back again around noon. So I had seen him for just a few minutes and then had to leave. Since I did not have a place to stay yet I was sitting in the waiting room waiting to see if the Social Worker assigned to Dylan's case was able to get me into the Ronald McDonald house while I am staying down in Loma Linda. I had just started Dylan's afghan a few days before he decided to join us so I was working on that when who should show up but Dylan's Aunt Christi. I knew she was coming but it was just really great to have some family here with me. We went to the Ronald McDonald house and checked to see if there was a room and actually got right in. We then had to have some lunch because we were starving and then we went back to see Dylan and we were there until 6:30 when they kicked us out so that the Nursing shift could change. So we went to have dinner and then we were right back at his side so that we could just watch and touch him.

Happy Birthday to Me and Dylan

Happy Birthday to me, Happy Birthday to me, Oh wait I think I am going to have a baby. Surprise It is going to be Dylan Teancum's birthday as well. I got a really early birthday present this morning. Dylan decided to enter the world at 1:45 a.m. on Monday June 23, 2008. He also decided that he did not want to be born in a hospital he just could not wait. I had him at home and about totally freaked out. The ambulance arrived about 10 minutes after he was born and they were able to cut the cord. Chris was actually getting ready to cut the cord when they arrived. I feel that Chris and I did pretty well birthing a baby at home. The ambulance crew took Dylan and I to the hospital emergency room and just started monitoring Dylan. They didn't put the IV in his head until after they couldn't find any veins in his hands that were big enough. After I had been in the emergency room for about a half hour they had to move Dylan and I over to the Labor and Delivery wing because they all of a sudden got swamped with patients. I was not able to see much of Dylan during the time that he was in the hospital. The nurses were helping him breath and they were trying to get all the stuff in his lungs out. After monitoring him for about 2 hours the nurses and Dr. decided that they were going to send him to the Hospital in Loma Linda down south of Ridgecrest where they have a NICU unit. I was pretty upset that he was not going to be in the same town that I was going to be in but I know that he is where he needs to be right now. He is pretty much perfect except that he is having problems breathing on his own because he is 6 weeks early. So they have told us that he will be able to come home as soon as he is breathing on his own and when he wants to start eating. Chris and I are hoping the he will be home in three weeks or less. But the worst case is that he will not be able to come home until his actual due date which is August 15. We are hoping the he will be able to come home sooner. I am already home from the hospital and I am so glad that I did not have to stay any longer in the hospital. I hate it when everyone is coming in all the time to take your blood pressure and push on your stomach. I will be going down to Loma Linda on Wednesday with a friend so that I can be with Dylan for a little while. I will know more about what is going on with Dylan in a little while and I will try and post again later tonight when I know more about his condition.

Baby Update

I went to the Dr. today for my monthyl check up and I was 24 weeks and the baby decided to cooperate when we did a sex check ultrasound. Well if you take a look at the picture we are having a little boy. Dakota is so excited that he will finally have a little brother to play with. Now he will not have to play the Prince to all the Princesses in his house. Chris and I are really excited as well. The rooms in the house will now fit nicely. All the girls will be in one room and once the new baby is out of mom and dad's room he will be able to go right into Dakota's room. I also think that now that we have another little boy to add to our family Chris and I will done. Besides we are getting older and do not want to have kids in the house when we decided it is time to travel and see the grand kids and other things that we would like to do. There are just a few things that we would like to have for our new baby and you can see them online at our baby registry at babies r us. Just type in my name and everything should come up. If you want to get clothes just make sure you do not get premmie clothes because none of my kids have ever fit in those. I don't have babies I have toddlers and they like to crawl home. I think that is all for now I will write again soon.

We have moved

Don't worry we are still living in Ridgecrest but we moved to a bigger house. We needed the room since we have number five on the way. It was a rather crappy move. I was sick the week before the move and so I was not able to do a lot of packing. So as of today we still have a few things over at the old house. Chris and I are still working on getting everything out. At lease we still have the old house for another week to make sure that we can get everything clean so that we can get our deposit back . Our new address is going to be 1024 West Las Flores, Ridgecrest, CA 93555. Since we have Vonage for our phone number it will stay the same lucky us and you. You will not need to learn a new phone number 760-446-5041. The kids will now be able to walk to school which will also save on the gas that it was taking to get them to and from school. It was during the move on Friday when we got a text from Mike letting us know that Both Chris and I had become and aunt and uncle again. It was pretty cool. We will post more pictures when we get everything put in its place.

Well last weekend Dakota finally lost his first tooth. But then he lost his second, third and forth all in the same weekend. So he really needs his front teeth on top to come in and two on the bottom. Now he doesn't look as bad as Tawny did when she lost all four of her front teeth the top and the bottom. You should have seen her trying to eat corn it was really funny. We haven't had any corn on the cob yet so we don't know how Dakota will do but he is pretty funny looking when he smiles at you.

Easter Clothing

Well first of all the kids could not get together and pose for the camera they each had to do their own thing. Tawny is saying it is to bright to look at me while I take the picture and Shalynn has to lean down to hold on to Caris for some reason. Dakota, well he just wants inwith the girls. The clothes are beautiful thanks to Aunt Gick. The only problem is that Shalynn grows to much and we are going to add some lace to the bottom of her dress so that she can wear it again. It is a little to short the way that it is right now. She just grows to fast to keep her in clothes.

Spring Break

Well this week has been rather exciting. The kids have been out of school and they have been driving me crazy. What is new about that nothing really they drive me crazy all the time. Tuesday morning we all went out to a place called wagon wheel and the kids were able to play on some really cool rock formations with some other kids in our ward here. They had a great time and it was fun to just get out of the close quarters of the house. We took lunch with us and we just made a day of it. On the way home we stoped over by the Salt Wells fire station and we fed some of the wild horses and burrows that are kept there. It was pretty fun for the kids and I had a good time as well. Wednesday was our regular park day and we had a potluck lunch that we invited all the dad's to come to as well. It was really great that the kids were able to see their dad's during the day and have lunch with them. It would have been even better if the wind had not been blowing all day long.