A Trip to the Heart Doctor

Mattie went to the cardiologist today. They checked to see if the PFO (Patent Foramen Ovale) had closed yet. It has not. The doctor said they usually close by her age, but said hers just may take longer. He said there really was no reason for concern and to treat her no different. They want to see her back when she is three.....three? I don't even want to think that far ahead. I just want to enjoy every moment today! :-) BTW.....Mattie weighs 15.5 pounds and is 25 inches long.

Here is some information I found about PFO.

Patent Foramen Ovale (PFO) is a relatively common and often asymptomatic heart defect that is present at birth (congenital). In about 15-20 percent of the general population, however, the foramen ovale remains open (patent), allowing blood to potentially or actually mix between the two atria. Many people do not know they have PFO because it does not give any symptoms. PFO does not have adverse effects on most people and therefore, it does not require treatment. If closure is recommended as treatment, the hole may be closed with an inserted device or, rarely, by surgery.

Special Exposure Wednesday

Bath Time and splashing!

Mattie Update

A real quick update from some of Mattie's appointments. She had her thyroid checked and that came back fine. We took her to the the pediatric "eye doctor". He said her eyes looked great. He did notice the "jiggly eyes" and said she would probably outgrow it. He said it was pretty mild, but to bring her back if it was still happening in about a year. This Friday she goes to the cardiologist to make sure the hole in her heart has closed and at the end of the month she goes for her hearing. Then we should be done for awhile. Her OT comes back in November to do another evaluation. I was a little concerned that she should start seeing a PT, but Mattie's doctor said she was doing well. Once she is a little older a PT probably will start coming out on a regular basis. Her advice was to enjoy the fact that we didn't have all those appointments right now. Sounds good to me!!

Go Pirates!!

O.K. I am such the East Carolina Pirate Fan! That is my Alma mater and have loved football even before attending school there. Since I have a little one and the cost of tickets are so high for a whole family, I watch every game on t.v. I must brag at how well we're doing!!! We have won all three games so far! We are looking forward to a wonderful season. Next week....NC State.....here we come!

East Carolina 28, Tulane 24
East Carolina 24, West Virginia 3
East Carolina 27, Virginia Tech 22

WHOO...HOO!! Mattie is already learning to become such the pirate fan...just like her older sisters!

Special Exposure Wednesday

Congo Squares

Saturday, Tropical Storm Hanna came through. She came through pretty early and then moved on out. We had a LOT of pine straw and pine cones all over our yard. Plus, we have lots of small limbs that have broken off and one big limb to haul off. It was still wet and yucky outside. So.... we just stayed in and made Congo Squares. The older girls were busy so Mattie decided she wanted to help. She's like the Vanna White of cooking. She did such a great job posing for this picture below.









Then she decided to eat the flour. She actually sucked a hole right through the bag.

Cooking is hard work. She decided to use the flour as a pillow. That's a sleepy yawn.

Here is our recipe for Congo Squares. These are very easy and yummy!

2/3 cups oil
1 pkg. brown sugar (2cups)
3 eggs
2 ¾ c. flour
2 ½ tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. salt
1 small pkg. chocolate chips (any flavored chips)
1 cup pecans (any nuts)

Combine all the ingredients with a mixer. Pour into greased 9x13 dish. Bake 350 for about 25-30 min. or until knife inserted comes out clean. These are great served warm. I like to heat mine in the microwave and serve with ice cream. They're good cold too.

Weekly Photos

This has by far been one of the busiest weeks! I have hardly had a chance to read any blogs and will spend the upcoming weekend catching up with all my blog readings. I can't wait to see what everyone has been up too.

Also, I must add, I am so excited about Palin's speech last night! I'm not really much on politics, but all I can say is "WOW!" That is the first time I think I've watched anything dealing with politics for that long and felt so great afterwards. Forget VP......I vote her President! O.K. that's my take and I'll move on.


Matt's parents came for a visit from TN. We had a very nice visit! (Look for upcoming photos this weekend.) After they arrived, we all went to a friend's house for the ECU game. Mattie was sporting her ECU attire and rooting them on...along with her mama of course! We played Va. Tech and won our first game of the season! Woo Hoo!


"Take a time-out Mom and get a picture of me!"




"Hey Ash...Where is the purple & Gold?"

The next two pictures are of me before church...I'm such a cutie!

My mom likes this picture because I look like a baby bird with my mouth opened BIG!