What's up in the Wilson Home

I believe all of you know that November 9th was a very special date for all of us. We gained permanent legal guardianship. Still brings tears to my eyes thinking about that day. I remember being just beside myself when the judge granted it. I felt like jumping across the table and giving him a huge hug. Little did he know how much of a difference he was making in our family. Walking out of the courtroom hand in hand, with tears in our eyes, we were looking forward to telling Ty that he is permanently ours. Wow, what a day! Yes, we still plan to adopt him but we will wait a little while.

For Thanksgiving, we had the opportunity to go to my parent's timeshare in Palm Springs. We played tennis, ping pong, board games, and went swimming. Instead of cooking a traditional Thanksgiving meal, we went out to eat. It was yummy and relaxing.

This Christmas was quite different than last year. The biggest change was that Ty was SUPER excited because he remembers all the traditions and experiences from last year, from making gingerbread houses to looking at Christmas lights, from making and decorating Christmas cookies to decorating the tree, from putting the star up to helping Matt put the lights up outside, from our annual Christmas party to shopping for family, from making Christmas lists to leaving cookies and milk for Santa, from picking out our family ornament (this year, it's just the word "Peace") to Ty's own ornament, from buying gifts for a family in need to our special Christmas dinner (just Matt and me), from one gift on Christmas eve to opening stockings on our bed Christmas morning. We had a few new traditions this year. The night that we decorate our Christmas tree, we watched the movie "The Grinch," and all slept by the tree. Also, the Monday before Christmas, we watched Monday Night Football and ordered pizza. This year was also special because Matt's mom, Cheryl, joined us for Christmas. I love my mother in law so it was wonderful having her. She is an amazing cook so that was great! On Christmas eve, we all went to my parents church and then back to our house for a few presents and dessert (which is another tradition). We all got PJs and Ty received a playstation game which he just had to play before bed. :) Christmas morning, my mom in law made breakfast and we opened many gifts. Ty was REALLY spoiled. I went overboard this year. Oops! :) Then we went to pick up Cheryl's dad, Grandad, and then over to my parents house. We ate, played baseball (remember our holiday/birthday tradition), opened gifts, and had dessert. One special gift that Ty and I made for Matt was a mug that had pictures of Ty and Matt all over it and said, "I love you Dad. I love playing with you Dad." Matt loved it. We also got Ty a calendar titled "You are very special and we will love you forever and ever and always (something I tell him every night before he falls asleep). The calendar has pictures of Ty and the family and each month states another reason why he's SO special. My dad bought Ty has very own telescope. It was so cute watching grandpa teach Ty how to use it. We enjoy setting it up in the backyard looking at the moon and stars. After all the gifts were opened and it seemed like everything was finished, my parents gave Ty a little gift that had a note to find his last gift. It was the Wii system. SO awesome!!! It has been a great motivator for Ty because he can't play it unless he has good days at school, not perfect, but good. :) He seems to have more better days since Christmas. Matt and I love it too!

New Years Eve was fun. We just stayed home, played Wii, and watched the ball drop. Ty actually stayed up til midnight. I think the Wii helped. :)

Well, I guess this is a good time to talk about something more serious. Many of you already know this but for those of you who don't... Matt lost his job on Jan 12th from Starbucks. Basically, his manager was fired and another guy came in and did a clean sweep. For about 2 months, he would come in and find things wrong with Matt's store or with Matt's leadership. Within the last few months, Matt was written up 4 times and then "fired". Matt has been with Starbucks for 6 years and never once been written up. Matt knew something was up when he first sat down with this new manager and he looked at Matt's salary and did a little laugh under his breath. So to save the company money, they are going to get rid of the managers who have been there awhile and make good money to then replace with new managers and pay them less. Oh, and listen to this, once Matt was let go, he still received his bonus for how well his store was doing for the past quarter. If Matt was doing that bad at his store, why on earth would he get a bonus. Even though this was a very difficult time for Matt and continues to be, he is relieved to be finished with Starbucks because within the last year, it has become a very unpleasant place to work. Also, after he was fired, he received several texts and messages from his partners about how unfair this is, how he should be the last person to get fired, how he is the best manager they have ever worked for, and several other encouraging messages (some being about his character and love for God). He was a witness there and it's hard for me to see him be treated like this but we know that God has a plan. Since then, Matt finished his classes at Cal State Long Beach and now is a Global Logistics Specialist. (So proud of him.) Matt has gone on several interviews but nothing has turned up yet. He applies for several jobs everyday and is being as proactive as he can in all this. As his biggest cheerleader, I am here to pray for him, support him, encourage him, and truly show him how much I appreciate him. It's great having the weekends with Matt and Ty also really enjoys having his dad home with him a lot of the time. It's been 4 months now and Matt is doing all he can. God IS in control.

Now back to more exciting things...
We have really enjoyed playing in the rain, jumping in puddles, and going to the snow this season. SO fun! One day when it was hailing, Newton started barking at us because he didn't understand what was hitting him. Poor Gewt!

In Feb, we hosted a superbowl party and attended a good friend's wedding. Matt was a groomsmen and this was Ty's first wedding. It was fun.

Ty ended his season in baseball in November and now just finished 4v4 soccer. I think he enjoys soccer a lot more because the pace is SO much faster. In baseball, there was a lot of waiting around and Ty got pretty restless. During the 4v4 soccer games, there were only 4 boys on each side, no goalie, and the field and goal were much smaller. There were no practices, just games every Sunday. Ty loved it because he touched the ball so much more. I can honestly say that out of 7 boys, he was one of the best. :) He is so quick, aggressive, and accurate.

Ty's 8th birthday was great. I can't believe we met him when he was 5, became a part of our family when he was 6 and now he's 8. We invited some of our friends and family to Chuck E Cheese. Ty had the time of his life with 8 of his buddies playing games and it was truly hilarious seeing my parents getting into the games too. The next day, we went to my parents' house to play kickball (Ty's choice), out to eat at Sharkeys and then we played pool and ping pong. We even played around the world with the 6 of us and it was great. So funny, running around the table. It's a good thing everyone in my family, including Ty, is competitive. Ty's favorite gift was MarioKart for our Wii system. Thanks grandma and grandpa.

We have been attending a new church and though it definitely doesn't replace our memories and friends at our old church, the kids' program is much larger and Ty has several friends. Unfortunately, our old church didn't have very many boys Ty's age. He really is growing in the Lord and enjoying getting to know the kids in his class. Matt and Ty were able to participate in the Pinewood derby at the church and had a wonderful time together.

Now to the most exciting news of all, on March 22nd, I took a pregnancy test and it was POSITIVE. What an amazing moment. Matt had no idea I was taking a test. He already thought I had started my period. That morning I took Ty to school and came back home to give Matt a gift, a onesie that said, "If you think I'm cute, you should see my dad" and the positive pregnancy test. He opened the gift and was still confused. I said, "I never started my period and I am over a week late and I took a test this morning and it's positive." He got up and hugged me and I just cried. We have waited so long for this, 3 and a half years to be exact. It just didn't seem real. This isn't supposed to happen to us. We were planning on having surgery the next month to clean out my tubes. What perfect timing. Thank you Lord. Ty was so excited when we told him and can't wait to be a big brother. My parents couldn't believe it. I gave them onesies too that had grandma and grandpa on it and my mom didn't get it at first. She was thinking that these were for later when we finally have a baby. I smiled at her and at that moment, she knew. I said, "Mom, I'm pregnant." She literally fell into my arms and cried and then brought out items that she had bought for me within the last 3 years. Too cute. About 3 weeks ago, we saw the baby and saw and heard the heartbeat. A moment Matt and I will never forget. This journey has been a long and difficult one but we have been so blessed by it. Because of this journey, Ty is a part of our family and the celebration of this pregnancy is shared by so many. Please continue to pray for the safety of this baby and the adjustments that this brings. I'm 12 weeks pregnant and due on Thanksgiving Day. Pretty appropriate. :)


We also celebrated our 2 year family anniversary on April 30th with mini-golf, a movie and dessert. Ty has grown so much in the last 2 years and we are so proud to call him our son.

Mother's Day was wonderful and different this year. Even though I have been a mom for about 2 years now, it seems overwhelming to me that there's a baby growing inside of me, a baby that was formed from Matt and me. Wow, what an amazing feeling. Needless to say, Mother's Day was absolutely wonderful.

And one last thing, Ty ran in the track meet through the schools in the city of Orange and received 2nd place in the 50m, 1st place in the 100m, and 1st place in the 200m. He went on to the next meet for all of Orange county and got 2nd in the 100m and 1st in the 200m. His next and final meet is for all of Southern CA on June 6th. What an amazing little runner. Check out the video below.

That's about it in the Wilson home but what an exciting few months. I LOVE sending this post because I finally get to say that WE ARE GOING TO HAVE A BABY.

We LOVE you all!