Happy Halloween

Braden is celebrating his first Halloween today! His first Halloween costume is Superman - and he certainly is our man of steel! We wanted to share some photos of him with his friends and his mommy. We wish you all a safe and happy Halloween!

Also, check out the websites of Braden's best friends.
Parks Family http://www.livejournal.com/users/aparks14/
Guerrero Family http://www.livejournal.com/users/chanda1/


It's a bird, it's a plane...no it's Braden!


Sam, the ice cream cone. John, the chicken. Tristen, the lion. These four boys are too cute!


Braden getting a smooch from his mommy.


Braden and Annie hanging out.

Family on the Oprah Show

Besure to watch Oprah Friday October 28th. Braden's aunts, Connie and Clara were in audience for that taping. In the metro-plex channel 8 at 4:00 p.m.!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Weekend Pics

Here is Braden enjoying his cousin Jonathan's birthday party!


After all that excitement, he needed a nap!


One of Braden's best friends, Sam, snuck a piece of cake!


Soon, his other best friend, John, snuck some cake also.


The day after the party was a sleepy day as well!

Hungry, Shots, Football, Birthday and more........

Braden went Friday for a follow up appointment and to get his first round of Synagis shots today. Braden is now 14 pounds 8 ounces. He will have to get one shot every month through RSV season. This is a shot to help premature babies and at risk babies from getting RSV which can cause serious breathing problems. Braden is a real trooper when it comes to shots. I think all those months of being in the NICU and getting poked several times a day has prepared him for the future. Braden received a flu shot Oct.4th and it happened that he received another one today as well. Well our concern was very high but after talking to the doctor's he said the side effects are going to be the same. It will not hurt him that he got two within two weeks, becaue he was going to have to get another one a month after his first one. So now we are just waiting to see if he will have to get a third one. Most preemie babies who receive a flu shot always get another one a month later so we will wait and see. He may get a fever, upset tummy and get very fussy, but if any of you know Braden it does not take long for him to get that way!! He will have to go back to get another shot in a month and continue this cycle till April or May 2006.

Braden is such a big boy now! He is eating rice cereal 2 to 3 times a day now and he had banana's for the first time on Sunday. His babysitter said that he will eat his 4 to 6 ounces of just formula and fall to sleep and then wake up after maybe an hour or so starving to death!!! They will feed him some more and he is happy and will sleep better. That is a good sign that he is ready to eat more and that formula is just not working out for him anymore. He is sleeping MUCH better through the night with a full belly of rice cereal and formula mixture. He will fall to sleep around 9:00 p.m. and sleep till around 2:00 a.m eat and go back to bed. Now he does have his nights where he wants to be up and talking and those nights as cute as they are can be very hard and mom and dad. But we are doing the best we can.

This weekend Braden attended his first football game. Braden's cousin Jackson L. Havis, plays on a youth team, The Kansas City Chiefs, and they had a game on Saturday Oct.22. The weather was nice enough that took Braden for one quarter and then head to my moms house. Braden's Uncle from Galveston will be in town and we will all be together for the first time in at least 3 months. Braden and him had some alone time on Friday afternoon and got a Houston Astros outfit!! Just in time for the World Series GOOOOO ASTROS!!!!!!!!!

On Saturday we also celebrated Bradens cousins birthday , Jonathan L. Havis 7th birthday!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY JONATHAN!!!!!!!!!He had a party at his house with family and friends, Braden of course will only be there for a short amount of time. Braden is still very small and we need to make sure that whatever he does is for a short time and that he does not get to exposure to much of the elements that can cause him to get sick. We know that Braden is going to get colds, and we know that he will get sick but if we can help prevent that in anyway we will....

Here are some pictures of Braden in his Astros onesie!

Happy Birthday Jonathan

Jonathan Lynn Havis is 7 today!!!
Braden's cousin

He is having a class lunch birthday party today and will celebrate with family and friends Saturday!!

Happy birthday to you
Happy birthday to you
Happy birthday dear JONATHAN
Happy birthday to you
Love Braden

Getting Cold

Well as the days in October start to roll through we are getting some cold days but it is staying warm for the most part. Braden had his first outing in the cold and it was a shock for him. His eyes got big and he did not know what to think. He has known nothing but warm since he got out of Baylor. But we make sure he is well covered every morning when we leave the house. Braden has been going through some difficult adjustments after his surgery. Being on several different medications has been hard for his tummy. His babysitters, Gammy and Pawpaw are paying very close attention to him and they can tell when something is bothering him, so we like knowing that he is cared for so well. Braden is going to the doctor today for a post operation visit then he will have his first Synagis shot October 20th. This is to help him from not getting RSV this winter. He got a flu shot last week we are trying to do whatever we can to make sure that Braden does not get sick this winter season. We have been so happy with Braden and all his mile stones. He is giggling more and he is talking much more, he gets that from Annie, he is focusing more and he is starting to want to hold his bottle and play with his feet. He is such a strong baby that nothing will get in his way.

We would like to thank everyone again for looking at Braden's blog and keeping him in your thoughts. It makes us feel good knowing that we have people who care so much for our little guy!

Check back around Halloween and see Braden in his secret costume!!

Here are few pictures we would like to share with you all.


Braden is wearing his Janie and Jack jacket he got from Aunt Clara's friends at work!

Braden is checking out his clothes to make sure that he matches.

Braden having his first taste of Rice Cereal, YUMMIE!!!!!

Braden dressed and ready to go to church.

Back Home At Last

Braden is back home again. This latest episode was tough to take, just mainly because we had all gotten comfortable and felt the worst was behind us. We tend to forget how early he was born and the complications we may face down the road. We have both good and bad news...I guess we'll start with the bad first...Braden does have 4 fresh scars on his head, one was already there - just reopened, to go along with a existing scar. Good thing is they will heal, just painful to look at right now. We think he is in some pain, which is to be expected. There was two-thirds of an ounce of fluid drained from his rear ventricle of his brain. That pressure relieved has caused everything to kind of shift back into its original place. That can't be comfortable. Braden is taking baby tylenol and ibuprofen, but mainly he just needs to comforted by loved ones. That always seems to work best.

Now for the good news....Within 24 hours of his surgery we started noticing changes for the better. First off, his soft spot on the top of his head was just that, soft again. As you may have noticed in many of his pictures, Braden is very often looking to one side or the other. Now he is looking straight ahead and focusing on what or who is in front of him more. Not being doctors, only speculating, it seems like maybe some of that pressure build up was affecting his eyes. He will stare you in the eyes now and this just started, hard to imagine its just a coincidence. Also, he is laughing and smiling more, again seems unlikely to just be a fluke. We think that pressure being relieved helped almost instantly. Now, as long as the shunt continues to perform it's duties, we can move past this and just continue to get better and better.

We want to thank everyone for their continued interest in Braden's condition. Without the consideration and support of family and friends, this would be a near impossible hurdle t face alone. Braden is so lucky to have such loving family who have traveled from Denton, Plano, Galveston, Sherman, and even the state of Tennessee to be with him. I know they would say all the trips and calls were no problem and they wanted to do it, but we know it can be a strain, physically and financially. Long distance calls and gas aren't cheap, so again we are very lucky. Also, we can't say enough about Braden's newest family member - Gammy. Shirley watches Braden during the week along with 2 other babies (Braden's best friends Sam & John). Her and her family have went out of their way to come to Braden's Baptism, visit him in the hospital and at home. We got very lucky to have crossed paths with them.

Thanks again,
Steve, Annie, & Braden