Spring Break

Everyone is on Spring Break this week and for the first time since we have been in Iowa the Iowa spring break and Texas spring breaks are the same week. This week will be a busy one as we will be heading to LTC on Thursday. It will be a whirlwind until Monday. We are excited and ready to see the kids preform all the hard work that every ones put in. Here are some pictures from this week.


My three sons hanging out on moms bed. Wake up it is 6:45 and we are all bright eyed - like it or not!


Braxton all smiles before breakfast

Brazos trying to walk in Uncle Karl's shoes - he did make it up the stairs with those on.

Brayson just chillin - he is really starting to get some cheeks and Andrish calls him chipmunk

And this week my little one has started to smile. Look at that sweet little face. He is growing so fast! We went to see the doctor last week and I have not updated since. They did not have to do the scope or surgery this week and for that we are very thankful. He is doing much better on the meds and seems to be breathing almost normally. The doctors would like to keep him on the meds for now and get some weight on him and then we will go back in three weeks. They were really happy with his progress this time. We would like to get off the meds but it is going to take some time. The med that he takes is 113.00 a week and worth every penny not to see him suffer and work so hard to breath. We are thankful for good insurance.
We will try to get one more post in before we head to KC for the weekend. Da and Mama Z are going to meet us there and the eldest two boys are so excited!!

Visit

Before we headed to Texas last week we had a fun visit from Cheryl, Brent, Karson, and Korbin. We had wonderful weather and a lot of snow on the ground. It was a perfect combo for fun times with cousins. Here are some pictures of us playing in the snow. The first ones are at a hill close to the house and the later ones are on the "hill" that Karl built behind the house. I think everyone had a good time and Braxton and Karson kept us all busy. Brazos did his best to keep up the whole time and did a pretty good job of it. Korbin kept to his own but soon enough he will be right behind them. Thanks Schmidt's for the visit we all had a great time.

Cheryl and Karson getting ready to go down the hill

Karl and Brazos ready to go again


The Schmidt clan getting ready to sled

The diehards - when everyone else (Andy and Braxton) were done this crew kept going and going like the little snow bunnies that they are

Karson and Braxton coming back up the hill with Cheryl

Brent pulling Korbin back up the hill

Korbin - little puffed marshmallow

Cheryl and Brazos hanging out

Andrea reading to Brazos and Karson

Karl being the punching bag for three little boys

Korbin loving on Brayson

Andy helping Braxton get all the snow off. Andy had to sit in the chair and observe while everyone else played - maybe next year he can participate too.

Andrea was kind enough to stay behind with the two little ones and hold the fort down. She was a little busy when we got home.

Brazos helping move the snow off of the drive way

Karl helping Karson sled down the hill behind the house

Who said it was only for kids - Brent was ready for a good time

Karl and Brazos having fun

Karson learning quick how to move snow - we start them early around here

Brazos watching over Kobing and trying to "help" him

Korbin ready for the snow

The boys working hard at getting the snow and ice removed.

Karson and Braxton talking it over

Cheryl and The boys building in the floor

Korbin holding his own in this crazy house

Karson and Braxton found the "trucks" (clothes baskets) that were parked in their proper place - they were ready to drive and haul everything they could find

Brazos and Korbin having lunch -

Brent reading to Braxton
Thanks again for the fun visit maybe next time we can make it longer.

Monday Again

Kaden and Brayson - growing


Brayson's one month picture

I wanted to upload some pictures from two weeks ago but blogger is not letting me right now so it will have to wait.

Brayson is holding in there. I took him into the doctor today to have them listen to his lungs. When we went to Iowa City the first time they told us that he had pneumonia and then later came back and said that it was a collapsed lung. I asked about it last week and they were not concerned about it at the ENT, but I was. So, I took him in this morning and had a long talk with the doctor here. He said that everything sounded good and gave me some signs to look for to know when Brayson was struggling with breathing from a lung standpoint (very helpful information). He was also able to give a lot of advise as to what we should expect and was reassuring about his situation and healing.

We are still taking one day at a time and his breathing goes from good to bad in a matter of days. But for now the meds seem to be helping and we are going to avoid surgery as long as we can to see if his body will "grow out of" this complication. On good days it is easy to wait it out - on the bad days I cry as much as he does and just want it fixed now.

We thank God for the good days and for looking after Brayson and keeping him healthy. Thanks to all of you for the prayers and calls of concern. We will go back on Wednesday and see what they have to say this time. I hope to have more pictures soon (if blogger will let me)

Where we are

Okay we are back and ready to crash. It has been a long day and things are okay. We did not get the results we were hoping for today but we did get some results. So here is the day in a nut shell.

Brayson is working really hard to breath. We want this to get better. Each time we see a doctor they have a different reason as to why he is having all the difficulty (frankly at this point I don't really care why - I just want it fixed!) which is good and bad. The end result is that there is an issue and the issue needs to be fixed. They are working on making things better by trying everything they can think of to avoid surgery. I am thankful that they are looking out for Brayson by not doing surgery but at the same time it is so hard to watch him struggle when you know that there is something (no experimental) that can be done now. So we are on yet another medicine to see if it will work. This time we will try for one week and go back to see the doctor again next week. Brayson has been such a trooper and I know this kid is a fighter just by the way he has had to live so far.

I am thankful for the doctors that know what they are doing and for ultimately looking out for the best interest in Brayson although my attitude did not reflect that at a couple of points today when I just wanted them to fix him so he could be at ease. I am thankful for modern medicine that allows my child some comfort along the way so that he can be healed. I am thankful for a God I can lay my burdens down in front of and know that I am heard, loved, and taken care of.

Thanks and again for all the prayers and calls of concern. We will continue to take this one day at a time and hope the medicine this week works. We pray for relief for Brayson and ease for his breathing. We say a prayer of thanks for family and friends who petition God on our behalf. Thanks ya'll

Praise and Request

Blogger will not let me put any pictures out right now so you will just have to read.
PRAISE GOD!!
1. Granny is going home from rehab today - she is doing really well and is progressing nicely. She is still having trouble keeping food down but they are working with her on that.
2. Andy went to the doctor yesterday and was able to get rid of one crutch!!! We are so thankful for his continued healing and look forward to a full recovery.
3. Kaden, Braxton and Brazos are healthy and going strong.
4. Karl and Andrea are here to save us again. I cannot tell you what a blessing these two (three) have been to our family over the last 3 months. I really cannot phantom what I would have done without them. I can only say thanks at this point.

Requests:
1. Brayson is going back to Iowa City today for a check-up. He is still having a lot of trouble breathing and the last couple of days really have seemed to have gotten worse. I am thankful that we go today and I am praying for relief for this little one and comfort.
2. Andy's eye surgery has been postponed until the 28th of March. I know it is a few weeks away but it seems to be coming fast.
3. Our friend Logan (3 months older than Brazos) was tested for lead yesterday and the test were really high. They did two additional tests just to make sure that the results they were getting were correct. They went to the hospital to do additional testing and should find something out this morning. Scary for the parents and for Logan.
Please pray for these requests. God is so good and he hears our prayers. I am so thankful that we can petition out Lord and Savior and know that he hears our prayers and that he answers them. I am so thankful for a faith in God and a family of believers we can turn to when trials and concerns come our way.

While I have a tons of pictures to post and a lot of stories to tell this is all for today. I will do my best to blog tonight on what we find out on Brayson. Thanks for your continued prayers for our family. We have had an eventful 3 months and look forward to spring and a new beginning.

Family in Texas

We headed to Texas for the funeral and to see family. Here are some pictures from our week. Brayson got to meet a lot of people in a short amount of time. We enjoyed our time there although it was shorter than we would have hoped.

PaPaw all smiles and giving someone a hard time - inimage that!

All the great grand-kids


The family after the service

The great grand kids again

The grandkids and their families


MeMe having some time with Brayson

Dad and Brayson


Brian and Nancy with Brayson

Crystal saved me at visitation

PaPaw showing Braxton a toy they found


Pam talking to Brayson

Hunter getting some cousin time with Brayson

Da and Braxton having some fun

Mama Z and Brayson getting some cuddle time

Brazos wanted some of that special time too.

Reading books with Mama Z

Uncle Jorge making sure everything is okay

Amy reading to the boys

Braxton and Brazos helping Da feed the sheep.

Granny is doing better and enjoyef seeing Brayson

All of us with Granny

Papa and Brayson

Getting some time in with Sue

The boys enjoying a lot of time outside