One day at a time

Well we are in Texas and it has been a while since my last update. So here is a short version of the last week and a promise to do better this next week with pictures.
Andy's grandmother passed away on Monday and we took off for Texas that afternoon. We have been in Texas this week and plan to head back north tomorrow.
Andy's eye surgery has been postponed till March 28.
Brayson will be going beck to see the ENT specialist on Wednesday.
Braxton and Brazos are doing well.
Granny is doing well with her knee she is up and around and ready to race Andy down the hall way today when we go back to visit.
Things have been busy but we are hold on tight.
One final note for today and that is the request I made last week about brad Wims, please continue to pray for he and his family they got news this week about his cancer and could really use our prayers.
Thanks family and friends for your continued reading and support of our family. Thanks for the prayers.

Prayer Request

It is only a little after nine in the morning and already it is a busy day.
Our family has a lot going on and could use some prayers right now. The boys are healthy right now and we say PRAISE GOD for that. If you have time today to remember some of these we would really appreciate it. Thanks blogland and family for taking these requests to God on our behalf.
1. Grandma Wilma Beck - this is Andy's grandmother. She has been in the hospital for about a week with pneumonia and is not doing very well right now. She is having some heart trouble and is retaining fluid. She is having trouble speaking and is just in a critical condition right now.
2. Granny June Zant - is having surgery today on her knee. She is having a knee replacement while this is a routine surgery she has a lot of issues with circulation with stints in her legs. She carries staph and is just at risk.
3. Micheaud family. This family is a family that Andrea and Karl went to church with in San Antonio the father was killed last night in a car accident. He was the sole provider for his family and has four children who are all in college. He is the same age as our Da so it is hitting a little too close to home. Please keep this family in your prayers.
4. Andy's eyes - Andy is set to have laic eye surgery on Wednesday and I am super excited about it but now nearly as much as he is but at the same time I am concerned as he is our provider and his eyes are our mainstay. Please keep this procedure in your prayers.
5. Brad Wims - A fellow AFCer has cancer and could use our prayers. You can read more here.

Thanks for all the thoughts and prayers of concern. We know that God has a hand in everything we do and he loves all of us. We find comfort in putting our requests at his feet knowing that he will take care of us. Thanks for your help in these.

Here are some pictures of my kids -

Braxton getting ready to measure Kaden with Brazos and Karl have a heart to heart

Braxton being a handy man

Brazos giving me a cheese with a mouth full of Browine

Brayson all bright eyes

Family time on the couch - Busy times here.
Once again spell check is down of please forgive.

Calm - We'll take it!

Things have been calm around here latley - and we will take it. We have enjoyed being at home without any major complications this week. The boys and I all needed some time together. We have enjoyed our time together - her are some pictures of our time together.

I put some small tatoos on the boys arms that they got for Valentines day. They did not know what to think of the "sticker" because it would not come off. They both kepts scratching and trying to get it off. I laughed and laughed for a long time. It was great to watch them.

Braxton watching TV.

Brzos talking singing his ABC's

Long day - This poor little thing just passed out on the chair. He was so tired - look close - he has a donut in his hand. He was trying so hard to stay awake but just could not do it.

Brayson napping and just at peace. We are thankful for some quite sleep.



Braxton decided that since he knows how to take his clothes off that he should wear one of dads shirts for the day. He came in wearing this and carrying one of my Bibles and said that he was ready to go to church. Such a sweet little boy.



Brazos was playing with a pickle jar. He was just happy most all of the time.

Bright eyes~ See my precious little boy

Cousin Kaden chillin on the blanket
Spell Check still not working!!

Just some pictures of the kids

In all the madness in our home over the last two months I feel like I have really failed to post pictures of my kids (in the healthy state) and to tell you about the fun times that we are having here. Sorry to always dump on you blogland but I also want to say thanks for all the prayers and calls for our family.

Braxton in the thinking phase

Brazos into a little mischif


Brayson after a long day at the hospital


The boys helping me cook on Tuesday

Brayson resting after a long couple of days - he was really glad to be home.

Whirwind - Torando - Whirlwind

Well we are back home and have to say a BIG THANKS to Karl and Andrea for everything while we were out on an adventure.

Brayson is doing better but is still not back to 100%. He has Chasal Stenosis. In short, the middle part of his nose canal is to narrow which prohibits him to take in air. He can breath but not as well as you or I. He has to struggle to get air in and out.

Our adventure with this problem started at birth but everyone though it was just congestion even from the start. So we went to the ER expecting to be sent home again with the dignosis of congestion, but we found out something else. Brayson was a trooper and did wonderful with the CT scan and xrays. The IV was one of the hardest parts for him and for me. Although I think the hardest part was that they put him NPO which means that he could not eat - he was really hungry and there was nothing I could do. Finally after over 12 hours they decided that it would be okay to feed him. I was very thankful for that.

The ENT (Ears, Nose, and Troat) doctor here refered us to Iowa city to a ENT specialist there. We were able to travel via our own car because they had given him enough meds to keep him breathing well. We were thankful for that, I was really not looking forward to the trip in the ambulance.

Long story short we finally got the see the Pediatric Otolaryngolist around 3 pm after about a hour and half with she and her staff and a camera scope down Brayson's nose and into his troat they decided that his case was worse than they orginally thought here in Des Moines. They gave us a lot of options as to how to proceed and we asked as many questions as you can think to ask after a 24 hour ordeal and information overload. So we more or less let them make the decisions that they thought were best for Brayson and we trusted their decisions.

We were able to come home last night after the visit (although they did offer us another overnight stay and we politely turned it down and came home). The doctors there and here also were very professional and great to work with. In the office the main doctor and two residents and two nurses were in the room the whole time to help with the procedure and anything else.

The plan at this point is that we will take 4 days worth of steroids, 9 days worth of an antibotic, 30 days worth of an anti-reflux med, and a nose spray up to 6 times a day as needed. This is a lot of medicine for a little boy but they want to make sure that the surgery is REALLY needed before they go in and start doing something that in time may correct itself. The concern comes in when we look at Brayson and how fast he is growing and if he can keep up with where is needs to be in the condition he is in.

I really appreciate the fact that once we got there they did not jump into surgery right away (even if that is what we were told before we left). It was a little peace of mind to have time to stop and process everything we have been told and gone through before another major thing. The steroids really help him breath A LOT better but they have a long term effect that is not good, so while it will help him for a little while it is not the cure all for the situation.

So, I am going to stop rambeling. We will take all our medicine and see how well Brayson grows in two weeks. We want to make sure that he is gaining weight at a good speed and is breathing without a lot of work.

Nursing has been an issue with Brayson and I from the start and now we know why we were having so much trouble - HE CAN'T BREATH. So for now, I will continue to pump and feed him bottles so he can get the air he needs and I don't have to worry about what I am doing wrong.

Thanks a million for all the prayers, calls, and notes of concern. We will keep you posted on our progress and get some pictures of these boys out there.

Spell check is still not working and I am to lazy to check this right now so please forgive my spelling.

On their way home!

Howdy! Lyneil, Andy and Brayson are on their way home at this hour! The specialists have decided that they want to get this little baby boy well before going in and doing such a major surgery. I (again) am unaware of any details, other than, they are on their way home, they have lots of different remedies (drugs) to push through this baby and they will venture back to Iowa City (~2 hr. drive) in two weeks.

I will gladly welcome them back and allow Neil to take back over what once belonged to her!

Thank you for all of your prayer! The phone rang off the hook today. Thank you for all of the calls and mostly for being a part of our crazy and exciting family! We love all of y’all!

Update

I don't know much at this point. Just wanted to let you all know that we really appreciate all of the emails, calls, thoughts and prayers. Lyneil and Andy left the hospital this morning in Des Moines at 11:20 am and headed to Iowa City. They are still in the meeting with the ENT Dr. We'll know more later and I will post as soon as I hear from them.

Happy Valentine's Day to everyone!

Brayson Update

Brayson was taken to the hospital because he has been having a difficult time breathing. Lyneil and Andy took him in thinking they would just be told to turn around and go home (as they have been told this at the last two dr. visits). When, in fact, the poor (4 week old) baby boy has pneumonia. This was probably caused by his opening of his nose cavity being too small. After a CT scan, the ENT Dr. decided that Brayson needs to be sent to Iowa City (The Children’s Hospital) to have a surgery. The surgery will enlarge his ‘nose hole’. Lord willing, they will be able to do this procedure via laser surgery. We have yet to know more details than this.

I am sure when Lyneil gets her hands on a computer; she will update you in a more detailed way. Until then you are stuck with me and you get the fourth person lingo!

No matter the case, we need your prayers. Please pray for this family, the doctors, specifically for Lyneil, Andy and Brayson.

Thank you for being there for us, bloggers.

What's the big deal??

Braxton has a peanut allergy. When he was a little over a year old we had him tested for allergies because he was having a reaction to milk. At the time they tested him for a lot of food and he had a reaction to a lot of them. This winter when we went beck he had grown out of some of his allergies. Milk was better, soy was better, and the egg was a little better. Most food allergies get better over time, most - not peanut. We try really hard to be careful and watch for nuts in things so that Braxton is not exposed because a peanut allergy only gets worse with each exposure and can potentially become life threating. We were given all this information and an epi-pen when he was first diagnosed. Labor Day weekend we went to Texas Road house in Tulsa and Braxton was playing with the peanuts in the floor. Not eating them - just touching and crunching. He starting rubbing his eye and starting swelling. Uncle Brent was there and came to our rescue by running to get some Benadryl, within 30 minutes of taking it the swelling was gone and we were back to normal. When I told the allergist about the reaction he said that it was a true reaction and that he was allergic to peanuts and that we needed to keep him away (sometimes the initial test can be a false positive). So I keep Benadryl in the diaper bag all the time. Well Tuesday night was were ready for bed and I was feeding Brayson and our house got quite - I called for the boys to see what they were into - it was just too quite. Braxton comes running in with a red streak on his face. I asked him what they had been into and after a minute he tells me that he found some M&M's in the bottom if the diaper bag that was in the floor. Andy and Karl came in about that time from the A&M vs. ISU game (our Aggies won Big) and Andy brought him in - his eyes were starting to swell, so we gave him some Benadryl. 30 minutes later the swelling had not gone down at all. In the mean time we had washed his face, given him a bath, and were trying real hard to keep him awake. I called my friend (and doctor) Michelle for suggestions - Take him in was the advice. I kept asking Braxton if he could breathe and he said yes, but at the same time I was wondering if a 3 year old could understand just what I was asking. I kept putting off using the epi-pen in hopes that the Benadryl would work like it always had in the past. After much debate we went to the ER. Any stayed with the boys and Karl went with me. After a few doses of some anti-histamines and some steroids and much waiting we came home - 2am. Braxton was exhausted and ready for bed. That is where he went to bed; they said at the ER he should be okay on meds till 6am. He was up at 7 ready to go. What caused all this adventure?? Peanuts?? NO I had a package of cashews in the diaper bag. They had been opened and also spilled in the bottom of the bag. The cashews and M & M's had come in contact with each other. He did not eat the cashews only a few M&M's and had been rubbing his eyes. It was an adventure and one I do not care to repeat any time soon. Here are some pictures of my poor kid in pain, but I wanted everyone to see just what happened.

Initial reaction - this is what he looked like just 10 minutes after eating the M&M

Wanting dad to hold him

A few spots starting to show on his chest

The next morning

Still had a lot of swelling.
It has been 3 days and there is still some swelling and redness but MUCH better, oh and while we were there in the middle of a 10 inch snow storm we found out he has an ear infection as well.
Things are getting better - the lesson in this post is DO NOT GIVE BRAXTON ANYTHING WITH NUTS!!!
Mom learned her lesson.

A visit from MeMe and PaPaw

I am going to have to go back a little bit but I wanted to make sure I got some of the pictures out here. MeMe and PaPaw came to see Brayson and play with Braxton and Brazos. The older two boys had a great time playing and being spoiled rotten. Brayson enjoyed time being cuddled and held. Here are a few pictures from our visit.

MeMe feeding Brayson while PaPaw plays with the older two.

Braxton giving Brayson some love while MeMe holds him

PaPaw looking him over

Two pround grandparents

Building with PaPaw


Brazos kicking over the tower

The tower falling on Brazos while Braxton runs!

Game time

Who is winning - nobody knows - the rules are made up as we go
Thanks for taking the time to come and see the boys - we all had a good time.

We are on our own

I have a lot of catching up to do but I will have to do it as I have time. First here are some pictures from last weekend - it was in the high 40's and the kids had a great time outside with uncle Karl and aunt Andrea. Mama Z was here for a little while, then we took her to the airport and traded for MeMe and PaPaw. We have enjoyed having everyone here and the help has been fantastic but now reality sets in and we are on our own.
So far thing are going okay the boys are adjusting to sharing their time with someone else and look forward everyday to dad's leg getting better so dad can play again. Uncle Karl has done a terriffic job of playing with the boys and keeping them active - THANKS Uncle Karl.


Brazos getting ready to go down the big snow pile - He was not excited about it - it likes things better when he is in control. We are still trying to figure out who he belongs to - me or his dad?!?!

Then there is Braxton - my little Daredevil. He is ready to try anything at least one time. He was ready to fly down the hill and try to jump the fence. Uncle Karl was so hoping he could make it over but it did not happen - I am thankful. He had a great time.

Here is Braxton at the bottom of the hill. All smiles and ready to go again.

The boys in their snow gear. They like to put all the garb on and walk around the house. Me - I am looking forward to the warmer weather so that it does not take so long to get out of the house. But I am glad that they enjoy being outside not matter what the weather.

Brazos finally warmed up to being pulled on the flat ground by aunt Andrea. But once again it had to be his idea and he wanted to control where they went and when. He had a good time.

I finally got a bunch of my pictures on the computer so I am going to try and get them posted. I guess we will see how the week goes.