So here we are again, nearly a year since my last post.  Ugh.  I'm REALLY bad at this whole blogging thing!  But as the saying goes, no news is good news.  Life has been too normal to really write about any of it.  I doubt y'all want to know how much laundry I do or how many bathrooms I clean in a given day....but the last couple of months my fingers have been itching.  I'm not even sure what it is I want to get out on "paper" but my fingers are wanting to dance across the keyboard.  So here I am. 
A lot really has changed since I last wrote anything.  All normal every-day things, but life has changed again.  We no longer live in Florida.  We have moved to the Midwest...and I must say we are really enjoying it.  After being in Florida for 8 years (going on 9!) I had gotten used to the palm trees, balmy (ha! HUMID) summer (that is February through November) days and the strange wildlife.  I kind of forgot what life in the Midwest was like.  I grew up in central Wisconsin and lived there until I was 22 but after being in Florida for so long, my blood definitely has thinned out.  I never liked the winter months while living in Wisconsin but now I'm REALLY a big wimp when it comes to colder temperatures.  So we moved to Nebraska at just the right time.  We missed the long winter and came in April.  We've been enjoying the cool, crisp mornings and the hot (less humid) days.  Mateo loves all the lightening bugs and begs us to let him run outside and catch them.  The air just seems...cleaner...up here for some reason.  And while there are no palm trees, there are evergreens! And of course plenty of corn! 
We really like the base here and the area we live in.  Everyone is very friendly, Mel enjoys his job.  We've made quite a few friends at the church we now attend.  We're making a life here.  I've been able to drive out to see my parents already...now that its a much shorter drive.  Mateo spent a week there on his own this past month.  He loves it at my mom and dad's place....but it seems he likes it better when we are there.  He really missed his dad and me and Mason. 
Mateo is doing well.  He will start Kindergarten in the fall.  I'm sure I'll have a heavy heart as I drop him off.  Its bittersweet.  Its so fun to start him off on new adventures and see him grow to be healthy, strong and so smart!  But its all coming too fast.  I hate how fast time flies.  I barely get time to enjoy "the now" because before I know it, it has become part of yesterday. 
But we found a great Christian school that we enrolled Mateo in this summer and he starts mid-August.  I'm very excited about this school.  When we first moved here, we thought we'd have Mateo go to public school.  This past June, Mateo attended a 3 week summer school program at the public school in our area.  It was a way to get Mateo used to the all-day school schedule and to become familiar with the school itself.  It was also a way for me to decide what I thought of the public school system here.  I realized that it was nice, but not for us.  Most of this decision was based on the fact that Mateo has a complex heart defect.  I wasn't happy with how things were handled and that prompted us to look elsewhere for his schooling.  We came across the Christian school, did an interview and asked several questions, took a tour and decided we loved it.  I will be sitting down with the school nurse soon to write up a plan for how things will be handled if specific situations were to come up with Mateo's health.  They seem to take it very seriously but at the same time realize that its not what defines him.  He is to be treated normal like every other boy out there unless the situation calls for intervention.
We have also had a cardiology appointment since coming here.  Yeah...I had that scheduled before we even left Florida.  I was able to have Mateo see his regular card in Florida before we left.  ALL IS WELL...heart-wise, anyway.  We got a great report.  And then we saw his new cardiologist once we  arrived in Nebraska.  The Children's hospital in Omaha is amazing!  I felt like I was around people who knew Mateo's condition well.  We had a good visit with his new card and I left feeling confident in her medical knowledge and in the way she handles HLHS patients.  He will see her again in November for a full work-up.  I'm nervous, but not sure why.  I think his heart is doing just fine, but I'm worried something else is going on.  He's been having a lot of aches and pains lately.  Several headaches and leg pain......I keep telling myself its growing pains but I can't help but worry its more serious than that......but I pray that its nothing that can't be taken care of.
Mason is doing well too.  Both the boys have adjusted well to this move.  I think we're just all happy to be back together as a family again.  Mason keeps us laughing all day long.  He copies everything Mateo does.  He understands just about everything we say to him even though he's not talking much yet.  He has a bit of a temper but he has such a loveable, cuddly side as well.  He loves to yell and laugh and be dirty....he's just an all-around little boy with a huge personality.  He loves people and has to wave and say "hi" to every stranger we pass.  He is a joy.  Mateo is a joy.  They make being a mom pretty darn easy. 
So all-in-all....again, we feel the good LORD has placed us where we need to be.  Things have once again just fallen into place.  We found a beautiful home to rent....I love this house!.....Mel enjoys his job, we found a great school and a great hospital with a wonderful team of doctors and pediatric dentists....life is good.  God is good!