Aunt Connie and Braden doing what they do best!!

Connie and Braden were having a nice quite afternoon on one of the many days that they go get Braden early from Daycare!!

MY COOKIE

Braden was making it very clear that we are not to touch his cookie.

Jackson and Jonathan

We had a scavenger hunt for the boys to find their baskets. They were very happy to find all the good stuff.

Braden with his 1st Easter Basket

Look at those feet!!!!!

FULL????

Braden got really full after the second or third round not sure not how many servings he had.

Shells and CHEESE!!!!!!

Braden eating his first round of shells and cheese.

Daddy help me

Braden looking up at Steve hoping he would save him from this hair cut.

First Hair Cut

Braden getting his first hair cut from MoMo on Easter Sunday. We had to give him a cookie to keep him calm for this, you can see that all over his face.

What's this?

Braden was trying to figure out what was making the noise inside the egg!

Where oh Where can those eggs BE?

Cousins Jackson and Jonathan join in the fun!!

Hunting for Easter Eggs!!

Mommy and Braden hunting for Easter eggs........this one has money in it!!!

Happy Easter-Results of CT Scan-Hair Cut & TEETH

I think that we need to start with the best news we've had in a long time. We had Braden's CT-Scan Thursday and the results were great! Braden's surgeon, Dr. Weprin told us that results from this scan were extremely better than any from the past. The shunt is doing it's job and the brain is developing normally. There is some still some minor scar tissue, but he did not seem overly concerned with it. Dr.Weprin was elated and couldn't wait to tell us the news. He seemed almost as pleased as we were, although we doubt that is possible, but you could tell it meant a lot to him. This says a lot about him as a Doctor and a person. We will be forever indebted to him and his staff. So thanks for all the prayers and well wishes - THEY WORKED! The power of prayer is truely amazing and we are very blessed!

Oh yeah, and HAPPY EASTER!!!! What a difference this year was. Last year we celebrated Easter at Baylor Hospital and spent most of the day staring at Braden through plastic. NOT this year. Braden started his Easter weekend with a day out with mom and dad. We went to McKinney Trade Days and had so much fun. Braden slept for most of that but we still had a good time just walking around and enjoying the morning. After that we ran some errands including Braden's first trip to HOME DEPOT. We bought some stuff for the yard and for the grill for our Easter cook out. Steve then took Braden and me to Jason's Deli for lunch. WOW Braden ate so much. He had a little bit of everything and enjoyed it all. I think his tummy hurt just a little bit but he took a good nap after all that food. Aunt Clara came by for a sleep over with Braden, so that Steve and I could get prepared for Sunday.

On Easter, MoMo and PoPo were the first to arrive. We had to get the yard prepared for the kid's Egg and Scavenger hunt. Grandma Lynda soon arrived followed by the Havis family and uncle Leroy. The kids had a great time. It was really fun to see them out side and enjoyng the sun. After the hunt it was time to start cooking. The guys fired up the grill and the food went on. We had SOOOOOOOOOO much food - steaks, chicken, sausage, hot dogs, hot links, beef ribs, potato salad, corn on the cob, and a wonderful spinach dip that Connie made. We all ate so much that everyone was pretty much useless after that.

After we settled in it was time for MoMo to give Braden his first hair cut. We had been putting it off, but his fly away curls were getting out of hand on the sides. So we wet the hair gave him a cookie and MoMo got the the scissors. He did ok for a few minutes until he realized that someone was messing with him. But he got a trim and we were able to save his first locks.

More good news (kindof?) - Braden cut his first two teeth. His bottom middle teeth are just starting to peek though. He gets uncomfortable at times, but has done well with it. So watch out, if you feed him you might get a bite. Braden is also standing more by himself and crawling everywhere. So we finally are starting to feel like we can take a deep breath, relax, and enjoy having a baby in the house. Thanks for continuing to share our experiences and we plan on having many, many more - so feel free to join us or check back in at any time!! We will post pictures soon.

CT Scan

Thursday April, 13th Braden will have a CT Scan done at Children's Medical Center. This CT Scan is VERY important. If we get good results like we did in December we will not have to have another CT Scan or MRI for at least a year. And that makes us feel so good knowing that things are working the way it should be. Braden is doing so well that we will be really surprised if something is wrong. But like always we will take whatever news we get and we will make sure that Braden gets whatever treatment he needs. If we get news that everything is great then we will feel like we have done all we could to get him to this point. We will post results as soon as we can.

On another note Braden will not have to see his lung doctor until July or August. I know to some people that seems like only a few months but for us a few months with one less Doctor to see is like a year. Braden made it through RSV season and now we just wait and see if we will have to do shots again for this years round.

Thanks for checking on us.

Going AWAY

Steve and I are going away for the weekend!!!!! This will be our first trip alone since May 2004!!! We are very excited to go and relax and enjoy time with each other BUT we will miss Braden like crazy. This weekend leads into our 2 year Wedding Annivasery. So what a good time to go. Braden will be staying with MoMo and PoPo for part of the evenings on Friday then he will go to Aunt Connie and Uncle Chris' house where he will have a sleep over with cousins Jackson and Jonathan. Saturday morning Uncle Junior will be in town for NASCAR so Braden will be spending family day in Denton. Saturday mid afternoon he and Aunt Clara will make their way back to McKinney where they along with MoMo and PoPo will spend the night and await our arrival on Sunday afternoon sometime. Braden will have to go through detox when we get home I am sure of that but well worth it. Braden will be in good hands so that will make it a little easier for us to relax this weekend.

As for our plans we are headed towards Waco. Steve really wants to go to the Dr.Pepper museum and go to Cameron Park. There are some really neat little towns around there so I am sure that we will venture out some and just drive. More like a road trip and just see what we can see. We do not want to go away to far just in case something comes up with Braden.

We are getting ready for Easter. I am sure that we will have family over and have a great time. We will be sure to get pictures up as soon as we can.

Braden is crawling now and he is pulling up on everything . I am thinking that Braden will be walking in no time at all. He is very mobile now and gets into everything. He is really a joy to watch and to see him discover something new is the best feeling ever. His eyes lights up and you can tell that he is very excited about what he just learned.
Hope everyone has a great weekend.