Book Club Christmas

We had a great time at book club Christmas...Aunt Patty made "I Love Bookclub" shirts for the bookclub mascots...Ellie, Cole, and Mateo. And Marnie hosted the pre-dinner reception at her house. We were back the next night for an Italian feast that Marnie and I made. And most importantly, we set dates for our Italy 2008 trip. We will be at a villa in Tuscany for a week in June, and then people will add on side trips as they want to. The group voted that Jim & Marnie and Matt & me should be the planners as we have both spent time in Italy before. Matt & I honeymooned there...and Jim and Marnie visited for a pre-kid trip. We have talked about it for a long time, and now it is becoming a reality. How lucky are we to have such good friends to spend such a great time together. I am certainly blessed!

Let there be cake!!

Mateo had a great first birthday party...he got to hang out with the book club girls, who outfitted him with stylish clothes and with some good books. Aunt Rachel & Uncle John hooked him up with a Tupperware Shape Ball and a Fisher-Price Farm set-up. And his Silverton party had all our close friends who helped him open presents...and they even got treat bags to boot!

Mateo used his birthday as training grounds for learning how to open presents...a skill which he has mastered now after many weeks of present opening! Mom and Dad are a bit overwhelmed though...seems like there are WAY TOO MANY toys now. Perhaps we will have to celebrate half-birthdays instead.

Anyway, thought you would enjoy the cake eating pictures...he had it everywhere...we even found some in his ear the next morning!

Hugs from Oregon...Sarah

Mateo's birthday is coming...

HI friends,

Sorry it has been so long since our last post. I don't have a good excuse...it's just been a crazy three weeks! We're off to Boise tomorrow to have Book Club Christmas to begin planning our big excursion to Italy in June 2008.

Mateo finally recovered from his gastric issues, so we have begun the treatment for the TB exposure. Now of course, he has another cold in his chest, but he likes taking "Little Bits" (i.e. Triaminic or Baby Tylenol).

It seems so crazy that he turns one on Friday...in the past few weeks, he is totally walking all over the place...we used to have 1-3 minutes to react when we set him down...now if we aren't careful, in 10 seconds he is in the next room digging in the pots & pans drawer.

We finally got our tree up last weekend, just in time for our annual Christmas party! We had a great time surrounded by our friends and family kicking off our holiday season.

More pictures from the various birthday celebrations this week...hope all is well. Love you and miss you, Sarah & Matt & Mateo

Mateo Health Update

So, this is the final of three posts today, because it has been so long since we have written any updates. That's because we have been battling health issues at our house for the past couple of weeks.

Two weeks ago we found out that Mateo had a positive test for Tuberculosis...turns out that he doesn't have active TB, but he was exposed to TB while in Guatemala, and they want to start him on some prophylactic treatment to prevent him from getting it. The treatment protocol is elaborate, with daily pills crushed in food, frequent weight checks to adjust the medication dosage based on his weight, and monthly lab draws to make sure the medication isn't hurting his liver. Good news is he is not infectious and can't give it to anyone. Bad news is, we will be treating him for the next 9 months to make sure he doesn't get an infection outbreak.

But, in order to be able to give him his medication for TB, he has to be able to keep food down, and for the last 6 days, he has had vomiting & diarrhea in various intervals. Needless to say, we went to the ER on Thanksgiving day only to be sent home to keep him hydrated orally. Well yesterday, it was clear that he wasn't intaking enough liquid, so we went back to the ER last night for an IV. It took about 40 minutes of crying (shrieking really) for them to get the IV in him, but man, saline is the wonder drug. He slept for the next 3 hours while he was getting fluids, then came home and slept all night...a first in almost a week. He's still filling diapers today, but we think (have our fingers crossed) that it is thickening up. I have to admit, there was no training for having to hold your baby down while they work on him, and who would have ever imagined I would hope for just poop in his diaper!

Things seem to be on the healing direction...we'll let you know if anything else monumental occurs. Hope you are happy and healthy...we have newfound appreciation for that phrase this week.

Love from Oregon, Sarah & Matt & Mateo

Cousin Time

The boys sure love each other...we had a great time at Aunt Rachel & Uncle John's...Mateo practiced giving suave (Spanish for Gentle) loves to Baby Nathan. And he tried hard to hold still when Cousin Lukas wanted to give him loves. Rachel and I baked lots of cookies nad made chocolate covered pretzels...we always find time in the kitchen to be therapeutic.

The trip was also wild because while Mateo and I were waiting in line to pre-board the plane in the Portland Airport, we ran into my Uncle Fred (Cathy's brother-in-law) who was on his way home from a business trip. So Fred sait next to us and took pity on my arms by bouncing Mateo all the way to Boise. The trip home was less eventful, but my arms were sure more tired when we arrived! I still haven't gotten used to packing around 25+ pounds of baby!!

Mateo celebrates Cole's birthday at Book Club

We had a great time in Boise 2 weeks ago...we went for book club and to celebrate Cole's birthday...he turned 5 last weekend. Mateo showed off his nerdy geek laugh when Natalie tickled him. Mateo and Cole are good buddies! What a great celebration for Cole...first books at book club...then on Saturday, Mateo stayed with Aunt Rachel so that Lukas and Sarah could go to Cole's party at the Discovery Center. It was fun...all the boys got to make "snot" to take home. We are so lucky to have good friends...we miss Boise!

Fun with Friends

We had so much fun with our friends Dan & Kristi this weekend...we didn't do much, mostly hanging around the house watching Mateo, playing some games, and eating way too much. We are constantly amazed at the new and different stuff that he does...like this week he clapped his hands for the first time over and over again. Yesterday, he crawled up and down the 2 carpeted stairs in our living room without falling...of course, he made up for that by falling today. But he's fine...scared mom more than it hurt him.

Dan & Kristi were gracious enough to watch Mateo while we went to marriage group...first time we have left him with a babysitter when one of us wasn't around the house doing something else. Of course, he loved hanging out with them...and vice versa, and he was sleeping ever so peacefully in Dan's arms when we got home about 10PM. We are so excited about his connection with them...and we can't wait to spend many more weekends with them out exploring the world.

After we dropped Dan & Kristi off at the airport, we had dinner with our friends Diana & Francie...it was great food and just a plain good time catching up with them. They have been so patient in waiting to meet Mateo, and they bought him the most precious rainbow colored jacket...it is beautiful!

Mom's back to an almost full-time work week this week...looking forward to developing a routine again. Matt's praying for some sunshine mid-week so he can finish the deck and stop having to work on the outside projects.

Here's to hoping you have a good week...love, the Millers

Halloween fun

We had a good time at MamaNona's giving out Halloween candy...we gave out about 175 full size candy bars. Mateo was the center of attention in his bumblebee outfit thanks to Sarah's friend Shannon from Boise. Earlier in the day, Mateo was the star of a reception at Mom's work...he wanted nothing to do with the women Mom works with...but he was climbing all over the scary server and mainframe guys. And they all loved the Halloween cookies that Mom made as treats.

Now are best friends, Dan & Kristi Rose, from Salt Lake City are visiting us...we always have a great with them...and this weekend is no exception...Mateo is especially fond of Padrino Dan...and he is warming up to Padrina Kristi slowly but surely.

More pictures soon...Sarah & Matt & Mateo

Back from Sac Part 2...

So like Father, like Son...my Grandpa & Uncle Steve hanging out on the swing together (this is where they go to smoke their pipes)...and Aunt Marsha was inspiring my single cousins with some reenactment of Liza Minelli singing about saying yes to guys who ask for dates!

On Sunday, we followed Aunt Cathy home to Monte Rio in the Sonoma Valley. This town was hosting the 7th annual Mermaid festival (that is a larger than life mermaid on the stage behind the local bands)...Mateo liked rocking out to the music with Matt. Aunt Cathy and her partner Dawn live less than 10 miles from the ocean, and they were with us for Mateo's first ever visit to the sea. The beach was incredible and very much reminded us of the Oregon Coast with big huge rocks not far from shore.

Dawn is an excellent cook and she kept us well fed duringour short stay in Monte Rio...her Port Chocolate Balls are phenomenal, and Matt just finished the last of them last night.

Mateo was a champ on the plane trip home...it is amazing how accustomed he has become to traveling. Perhaps that has something to do with the 6 plane flights he has been on in the first month we have had him home (October 20th actually marked a month since we returned from Guatemala). How fast time flies...and how grateful we are that the next trip isn't scheduled for almost a month from now (Boise Book Club in November).

I have been getting back into work slowly. The part-time schedule has been good for both Matt and me...trying to figure out a routine is exhausting! But we are getting the hang of it. And having MamaNona so close has been really nice...she has been able to spend some afternoons here keeping Mateo entertained so that Matt can get some work done outside while it's still nice here.

That's all for now. We will try to post more pictures more often...but at least once a week.

Hugs to you all. Sarah, Matt & Mateo

Back from Sac...

So it has been a whirlwind tour recently...we spent four days in Boise what seems like ages ago...we had a great time and got to spend some quality time with Aunt Rachel, Uncle John and Cousins Lukas & Nathan. We also had a great open house at my friend Shannon Barnes new house. We had so much fun and I reminisced about how much I loved living in Boise.

Then last weekend, we were off to California to introduce Mateo to my dad's side of the family! We flew into Sacramento (Mateo has become a regular pro at flying)...however, Mom & Dad have not yet become pros at packing. We flew with a family of four (3 mo old baby & 4 year old & mom & dad) who picked up one large checked bag and a car seat. Made us a bit embarrassed to pick up four checked bags and a car seat. You have to take SO MUCH STUFF when you travel with kids...or at least that's what we believe to be true. My parent friends tell me I will learn with time.

We stayed at my Aunt Marsha's ranch in Arbuckle (north of Sacramento). She and her husband Klaus rented an RV for us to stay in. Her daughters, Kalie & Lindy & Lindy's husband, Brett were great with Mateo...and played a mean game of croquet with Matt.

My aunt Julie, AKA Sister Julie Ann, was home from the Poor Clare's Monastery in Minneapolis for a visit for the first time in 3 years. It was great to see Aunt Julie and get to tell her thanks in person for all the hours of prayer that she and the other sisters said on our behalf.

My Uncle Steve and two of his daughters, Lauren and Alexa were there for the party on Saturday for my Grandpa Don who turned 77. Mateo was particularly fond of chewing on Uncle Steve's PDA wallet. My Aunt Cathy fell in love with Mateo...that's her giving him a bear hug. And Aunt Julie & Aunt Cathy hugging him on the couch.

Everyone said that my cousin Kalie was a natural with Mateo...that's her on the floor playing with him. And then of course, Mateo fell in love with Uncle Klaus's addition to the pool...the fish fountain was a big hit.

I'll attach some more pictures in the next one.

Love, Sarah

More photos...

We finally have Internet again at our house...and so we are able to share these great pictures that Tom & Jeff DeSantis took onMateo's baptism day.

The first is Jeff holding Mateo, who is sporting the baptism outfit that we brought home from Guatemala. We picked it especially because Mateo's godfather, Josiah, has a fond term for the color..."Ressurrection Blue."

The photo of the two little girls features two future girlfriends, Lucy Fronza (on the right) and CeCe Petrik (on the left). And then there is his beautiful godsister Lily hamming it up for the camera.

Finally, we have godcousin, Kate Fronza, riding on babysitter (whose schedule is too booked to include us) Meghan Sprauer's back next to the other godsister, Maggie Kelley, riding on the other over-booked babysitter Brittany Brown. Good thing Miss Lauren DeSantis can squeeze us into her schedule!!

We also had our first trip to see the peditrician this week for a sick kid. Mateo got a snotty nose and a cough just after the baptism, and ten days later it was settling into his chest...so we now have antibiotics and an inhaler to help him breathe better. Turns out, sort of like the pre-school phenomenon, Mateo is being exposed to new kinds oh germs here and so he will likely have upper respiratory infections a couple of times in the next few months. We just have to learn how to handle the no sleeo nights a bit better as parents!

We're off to Boise today to meet Rachel's new baby so the cousins have time to hang out...Matt was talking to Papa yesterday who had been talking with Lukas. Papa told Lukas not to put his finger in Mateo's mouth or it might get bitten off...and Lukas replied, "if Mateo bites me, I'll bite him back!" We will see how this goes!

Love, Sarah

Papa & Grammy come to visit

We had a GREAT time with Papa & Grammy who came last weekend to share in our baptism festivities. My father, as a present to Mateo, helped Matt to frame the deck in front of our house. And Grammy taught me that Mateo could tolerate way more than I imagined in the way of foods. He likes peeled grapes (cut in half) the best so far!

We picked them up on Friday morning early...here's the first lesson we learned--we had to borrow Matt's mom's mini-van because neither of our cars could fit four adults and a car seat!! Thanks to camo pajamas from Robin Renaldo in St. Maries, we were easy to spot at Portland International Airport.

After a breakfast at Shari's near the airport to avoid Friday morning traffic, we were off to Silverton to check out the new sites. Dad's first surprise was the new paint job on our house...it's a deep red, with chocolate brown accents, that people either love (this includes Matt & Sarah) or haven't warmed up to (this includes Matt's mom & some of our friends!)

First came the initial consult on plans, and the two pictures of the men in my life show who was really running the show. Mateo is teething and so Papa got some first hand experience with the power of those teeth.

The boys worked diligently and by early Saturday afternoon, they had it framed up. The building inspecter has to come and we have ordered the decking & railing to finish it...but Papa promises to come back next spring to help with the stair project--I believe Mateo has more to do with the visit, but we will take all the help we can get.

Friday night, we feasted at MamaNona's house--in grand Itailian style. Then on Saturday, we had a BBQ with our parents, Mateo's God family, Sarah's friends Melissa & Ryan, and Sarah's cousin on her mom's side-Ann & Steve Carter from Seattle. It was a great time to mix & mingle while passing the baby around!

The picture of the three ladies is Sarah's mom Cathy, Matt's Mom Louise, and Sarah's cousin Ann - Courtesy of fledgling photographer and "God-sister" Maggie.

The story of the shirts that Matt & Mateo are wearing is for computer geeks--v1.0 (version 1.0 is the original of an application-the one with all the bugs in it!!) v2.0 is the next generation upgraded version. These were a birthday present from our friends the Fronza's...the dad of which is a bigger MAC Computer geek than Matt!

And Mateo loves to fly--that's the position Matt has him in...if you are lucky enough to have hands big enough to get around his thighs!

The final picture is us with my parents...our steps make a decent setting for family pictures...if we could only get Mateo to look at the camera with Dad sitting next to him!

Anyway, we had a great time with Grammy & Papa and we miss them already. Lucky for us that we will get to spend Christmas with them...it will be a good thing for the three grandsons to be together in St. Maries.

Guess that's enough for now. All our love...The Millers

10 days without Internet

So I know that many of you are still checking the blog on a regular basis, because I have gotten calls about why there are not new pictures up yet...well as strange as this may seem given that we don't live in a developing world country, we have been without internet at our house for 10 days and the internet gods from Charter aren't due to come until next Tuesday to assess the situation. Amazing!!

But enough bad news, we are settling in perfectly! Mateo is adjusting wonderfully to his new surroundings. We were able to baptize him last Sunday (as per the original schedule) and he got passed around to all our friends and even without a nap, he did not result to melt-down mode. One of our friends commented about how bonded he was to us, because he was happy being passed around--but whenever he saw Matt or I--he would hold out his arms to us. It is amazing to feel that kind of love.

The pictures attached to this entry include my best friend from high school--Melissa Chilson and her beau Ryan holding Mateo at the pre-baptism dinner the night before. Then we have Mateo's Godfather, Josiah Kelley anointing him with the sign of the cross just as Mass was beginning on Sunday. The next picture is his "God-Family", aptly named by soon to be five year old "god-sister" Maggie Kelley, along with "god-sister" Lily Kelley, and "god-mom" Shannon Kelley (sporting "god-sibling to be named in late November--aka K3"). There is a picture of our priest, Fr. William, doing the actual baptising with water...Mateo had been sleeping until that very moment, and he didn't even scream to be awakened by cold water. That's certainly a god moment in our books. And finally, in our parish, we close mass with a blessing on the priest...this time, he invited us up, and the parish blessed us in our new family. To feel such a part of a community, and so surrounded by the love of God and family and friends...is a day I will never forget!

My parents came from North Idaho for a visit, but that gets an entry of its own, so we can show off more pictures...I'm typing that one next.

Hope all is well...love from Oregon!! Sarah & Matt & Mateo

How wonderful it is to come home...

Hi,

As I sit here writing, Matt is with Mateo on our living room floor experiencing new toys and the joy of carpet. As some of you know, crawling is not encouraged in Guatemala (probably related to the state of floors there--tile or concrete)...so Mateo wasn't crawling when we picked him up. But it has only taken two days on the living room carpet for him to begin to get the gist of it.

He's settling in well here. MamaNona & Mateo's Godmother Shannon Kelley picked us up at the airport on Wednesday night...little man did a great job flying, considering the journey took more than 20 hours from the time we woke up in the hotel in Guatemala to the time we set our feet outside our home in Oregon. Much to our surprise, when Shannon pulled into our driveway, about 30 of our closest friends were bundled up (it was raining) on our porch to welcome us home. What a joyous time to know that our friends would make such an effort to make us feel loved. They hugged and kissed us and then packed up and headed home. The beautiful banner they made still hangs proudly outside our door. To be filled with such love at the end of a long journey was simply magnificent.

Mateo met Max & Emma on Wednesday night...they have been remarkably tolerant of his cat aquainting...he pets by grabbing hair as Matt & I try to encourage "Suave" or "soft"...they must just be desparate for human love...we'll see how long that lasts.

I must admit, one of the best parts of coming home-which I am sure our Guatemala friends Dan & Paula or Kevin & Nikki will agree with, is sleeping in our own bed. La Casa Grande, the hotel in Guatemala City had magnificent staff who loved us and our baby...but the beds left a bit to be desired. Never have I been more of a believer in the Tempurpedic than now. Mateo joins us in a co-sleeper (basically a three sided play & pack) so that we are all together from the time he goes to bed until the time he wakes up. We will eventually transition him to his crib in his room, but for now it is nice to have him close.

MamaNona came for a visit and she likes to teach Mateo songs in Italian...at this rate, we should have a linguist by the time he actually utters some words. We've also been working on getting him acclimated to baby food whose first ingredient is not sugar. He always makes a nasty face to start, but most of the time we can get him to get things down after a couple of bites.

Guess that's the update for now. Papa & Grammy Cathy are coming next weekend to meet Mateo and for his baptism. We are looking forward to their visit.

All our love...calls will follow soon...we promise! Love, Sarah & boys

Headed Home

Wow. I´m here in our local internet cafe sending our last entry from Guatemala and someone else asked if I knew english and could I help translate one of his e-mails into Spanish. Actually did it too.
So this IS the last entry form Guatemala. I just picked up Mateo´s passport from the embassy with a visa to enter the US. About noon pacific time tomorrow, we´ll pass through customs in Dallas and he´ll offically become a US citizen, plus his adoption will be recognized by the US Govt. The only thing now standing in our way is the enormous packing job we´ll need tackle before leaving for the airport. It´ll be the longest travel day of Mateo´s life, but fortunately, we don´t think there´ll be a single flight of over 3 hours, so we can stretch our legs on the concourses.
We´re wondering just what the new ´liguid/gel -era´security will be like at the Guatemala City airport. We´re guessing that either it will be as iffy as we saw on our last return - or that authorities here will have gotten the TSA requirements for US-bound flights and be over-enforcing them. Just in case, I´ve printed here the TSA web pages ( in english and spanish ) which point out that infant formula, baby food, gel-filled teethers and essential non-prescription meds (please let us take the baby anbesol and daiper-rash cream!) ARE allowed. Lotsa luck.
The pictures above are our latest, favorite family pic, some great smiles we caught in his stroller, and his latest bath. Sarah was delighted to see his appreciation for duckies. When we get back, we hope to get a picture with the whole collection!

We´re looking forward to seeing you all during the coming weeks! We´ll let Sarah Fronza 873-1173(our local ´visit coordintor´) know when we´ve settled so you´ll be able to know good times to stop by, and we´ll keep all of you out of town-ers up to date about when we´ll be ready to travel for visits. We´ll also be sure to keep up the blog until all of you have met our incredible son. Of course, we´ll see you local Silvertonians this Sunday at mass. We´re certain Mateo will fit right in at the 10:30 at St. Paul´s. We went with him one Sunday to the Cathedral here in Guatemala City. He was perfectly still and quiet until the priest got up to speak. Then he decided the homily must be a dialogue......

-Matt