Trick-or-Treat

We had a fun packed Halloween weekend and I am tiiiiired! Brad had the brilliant idea of letting Blake completely choose what he wanted to be this year, because then, he'd most likely be willing to wear his costume. And he was right! Blake chose to be a Fireman and Brady was a pumpkin. The fun started off Friday afternoon, both the boys classes had Halloween parties. Brad and I both attended and we had a lot of fun celebrating with all the little ones.

This picture cracks me up, Brady started putting the phone to his ear and "talking". So cute!

Friday night we attended the Halloween Festival at the kids' school, however I failed to snap any photos. Both boys had SO much fun and we will definitely go again next year. Saturday night Blake's good buddy from school hosted a costume party at his house. There were lots of kids his age and I don't know if I've ever seen Blake have so much fun. Or play so hard. Blake slept GOOOOD! (by the way, you can tell from the pictures I was dressed in 80's workout attire. Brad, who we failed to take a picture of went as David Beckham)



Sunday we FINALLY got to see my parents again. We hadn't been able to since my mom's transplant because we couldn't risk exposing the kids' sick germs to her. We loved getting to spend the day together and the boys loved getting showered with love from two of their favorite people. We hit up the playground before we headed home.
After the playground we headed home for trick or treating, which ended our weekend of fun. Hope all of you had a HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

What Blake is NOT Going to be for Halloween...

but still pretty darn cute!

Hard to Swallow

So by now I'm sure you all are aware of Brady's dysphagia (inability to swallow properly). Brady should have outgrown this by a year old and while he has improved since we first diagnosed the issue months ago, he is still aspirating at times with the bottle and always out of a sippy cup. We have to get Brady past this in order for him to fully thrive and continue to develop as he should. Reading some stories online of babies needing feeding tubes because of their dysphagia is terrifying. At our appointment several weeks ago with the gastro, she too was concerned Brady had not outgrown the dysphagia. She recommended to follow up with the speech/language pathologist (SLP) who has helped perform Brady's swallow studies and ask to have him evaluated to see if he is a candidate for a special therapy that helps strengthen your muscles that help you swallow, Vitilstem Therapy. I was too consumed with Brady's virus and then my mom's surgery, that I finally just connected this past week with the SLP. She felt that she didn't need to see Brady, that based on his history alone she felt he would be a good candidate for vitilstem. I totally didn't realize what a huge undertaking this therapy actually is however...three days a week, an hour each session, for six weeks. Being a working mommy, and a working mommy in a company in the throws of lay offs, this is a bit stressful (to put it mildly), but I feel that I have to do everything humanly possible to help Brady. This therapy isn't a guarantee, but if I didn't try it, I wouldn't be doing what's best for my baby. I just hope this is an answer to our prayers.

Grateful

Mom came home on Saturday and minus being in some pain is doing really well. What a blessing to have her home...with a working kidney! It is such an amazing feeling to talk to my mom and hear her so happy and I know how truly grateful she is for this wonderful blessing. I am truly grateful.
I am also so grateful for being surrounded by an amazing support system. The last few weeks, months, hell the past year, have been rough. Trying to juggle between my family and health issues and staying employed has been a little stressful, however I work with an amazing group of people. They are pretty much a second family to me. That became even more evident to me on Friday. I had what I thought was a 2:30 meeting with my boss and another girl I work with to discuss a project we are working on. Instead a group of 8 amazing women stood in my boss's office to surprise me. They all were talking behind my back and felt bad for the stress I have been under lately and wanted to do something special for me. We happen to have a massage therapist that offices in the basement of one of our buildings next to our gym and they had arranged and paid for a one hour massage and sent me on my way. They are amazing, the massage was amazing and I am grateful.

Miracle

Its been an exhausting day, but a great day and I wanted to make a post before I wash bottles, make bottles and head to try and get some sleep. Thank you to all of you reading this that have kept my mom in your prayers through her illness and especially today for her transplant surgery. My mom is stable in ICU and doing well and will keep praying her recovery is a success. A 30 year old woman lost her life and the thought of that breaks my heart. My heart goes out to her family and I pray they are able to get through this time. I am forever grateful to her and her family for agreeing to be an organ donor. This is truly life changing for not only my mom, but our whole family. The whole process really is a miracle.

And my other little miracle who is continuing to do really well and is really excited Grandma got a new kidney!

Pumpkin Fun

Before I get to the post at hand, I have to say thank you to my friends and family for all their thoughts, prayers, love and support this past week. It was a long week waiting for the test results and at the end we got some great news. I will continue to pray there is nothing serious causing Brady's issues and that he will only begin to start truly thriving. Also, it appears the past week Brady did in fact have a virus because as of yesterday afternoon was improving and today he seems to be all better. What. a. relief.

So...pumpkins...
One of the things I love about Blake's age is he understands the holidays more and is really getting into them. And now with Halloween around the corner there are pumpkins everywhere and he LOVES pumpkins. Whenever we go into the store, he goes crazy over the pumpkin displays, so I couldn't wait to get this boy to a pumpkin patch! We happen to have a ranch down the street from our house. (I know that makes us a Texas stereotype). They have a pumpkin patch open to the public and for $10 Blake got to make his way through a hay maze, play on a giant inflatable slide, ride a pony, play in a petting zoo and pick out a nice size pumpkin to take home. Heaven for this little two year old boy! Here are some pictures of our fun morning. Oh and Brady slept in the stroller the whole time, so no pictures of him! Oh, and this post has A LOT of pictures.

Balloons

Where we live, we get hot air balloon fly overs all the time. You could practically touch them they get so close to us at times and because Blake sees them so frequently, he has become obsessed. Any type of balloon and he goes crazy. So when the Annual Balloon Festival came to town, Brad thought it would be a great activity to take Blake to. And boy was he right! We went along with several of our good friends and their adorable kiddos. Stupid me forgot to bring along the camera but thankfully Kris hooked me up with a few she snapped, all pictures posted are courtesy from her.


The expression on Blake's face pretty much sums up how he was the entire time we were there!! Kristen's boy Jones, at that point was so done with us!
We will definitely be doing this again next year!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BRADY!

Poor little guy had to cancel his party Sunday and is still not doing well and its now his actual birthday, which just makes my heart break even more for Brady. Not even cake just the 4 of us today. Brady, feel better so soon so we can celebrate your amazing first year of life!! And to follow tradition here is a birthday letter to my sweet baby boy:

Dear Brady~
HAPPY 1st MY DOODLE BUG! You have been through so much in only a year, but in spite of the bad stuff you have been the happiest baby I've ever been around. The day you were born immediately brought so much more love and happiness into your daddy and I's lives. Before I met you I worried I wouldn't have as much love to give you as I did Blake. What a silly mommy. When I first laid eyes on you it was love at first sight and my love grows for you each day. I am so blessed to be your mom...your daddy and I couldn't imagine our family without you in it.
You have the best smile in the world and you love to flash it all day long. It makes my heart sing every time I see it. You are such a laid back, easy going boy, which I am so grateful for. You don't get upset often, but when you get mad, watch out! You hate being told no. You are just as stubborn as your big brother, you really didn't stand a chance with having two stubborn parents...sorry. You ADORE your big brother and so badly want to be a big boy like him. He's showing you the ropes and you are quickly catching up to him. You are a mommy's boy and want to be anywhere I am and I have to admit I LOVE this. I know you will all too soon be Mr. Independent so I am soaking up all of my Brady time as much as I possibly can. You are my snuggle bug and just such a joy.
Your dad and I have loved watching you grow and develop into your personality this past year. We are so proud to be your parents and see the sweet loving big boy you are becoming each day. My biggest hope and prayer over the next year is for us to receive a clean bill of health for you and continue to watch you grow and develop more and more every day.
Happy Birthday Bray Bray! I love you love you!!!
Hugs and Kisses,
Momma