Punky Doodle Easter Pics

Pics of my very handsome boys :)

camo man

tree man

These are just a couple of sweet pictures of Bryce from this Sunday after church. He saw this really cool tree and said "dad i need you to take my picture over there now dad, right now" so we did! They are small because they are from the phone.

soccer videos!

Sorry the picture is not the best on these! The camera we have right now does not shoot super good quality unless the lighting is perfect...plus it is so hard to find him in the sea of crazies!

a few more easter

We had a super fun time at the river house on Easter. My camera takes the stinkiest indoor pics...but you get the point!

Easter

Our very special friend, Kelly Simmons, took this awesome picture of the boys at the Easter Egg hunt. Although it looks like Brody is about to be dropped on his head....he was really having a super fun time! Bryce was so proud to hold him. Thanks Punky Doodle Photography!

dont push me please

This past week has been filled with the most difficult challenges and heartbreaking news. First of I would like to express my sadness for all the terrible losses. My family has been praying so hard for our precious family member with Downs that was having such terrible problems with her lungs. We were so saddened to hear that there was nothing more the doctors could do and sweet Victoria will be making her way to live with her creator. As a parent, I cannot imagine their pain, and I will continue to pray for their strength through this difficult time. Another sweet friend from high school was also taken too soon and my heart breaks for his family as well. Death is so difficult and we all grieve in such different ways, but one thing is for sure...we have to cherish each thing we have been blessed with every moment of the day. We have also been praying for Ann Marie and her precious family. We pray each night that she will just STAY pregnant! We also pray hard for the other very private losses of dear friends. We pray for these beautiful people and we struggle each day knowing how horrible it is when such terrible things happen to such wonderful people. It is not fair and it is hard to imagine that things could possibly get worse. This past 8 months has been one challenge after another and at some point enough just has to be enough. I need my mom so badly during these times and I just thank her each day for all the lessons she left behind with me.
Our week was filled with so much anguish and pain with the battle of an egotistical doctor who was improperly medicating my son. The feeling that I had in the very bottom of my heart was that something was NOT right with Brody and something needed to change. Our pulmonologist fought me so terribly, called me an unfit mother who was medically neglecting my child, hurt me in ways that a mother could never imagine, refused to reevalute Brody's medical condition, alleged that the "loss of my mother was causing me to make irrational decisions for my son", told me I had no right to a second opinion and brought my entire family to our knees. Praise God that I stayed strong with my instincts (no matter WHAT the consequences) and took Brody against medical advice OUT OF HIS CARE! Praise our beautiful Lord that I listened to His words and NOT the words of an emotional doctor. Brody is now OFF all medications that were previously prescribed and under the care of a new and fabulous doctor. We have pin pointed exactly what was causing low oxygen sats, his previous pneumonia and his breathing issues!! I am so proud to say that eventhough I was challenged in the most extreme ways...I followed through with what I KNEW was right and got to the bottom of Brody's health situation. My heart breaks for other parents who do not have the courage to stand up in situations like these....what that doctor was doing could have been fatal for my child. Brody was aspirating and could have seriously damaged his lungs.
I am still struggling with the fact that I am not as depressed as everyone wants me to be. I am a strong person and we all deal with things in different ways. I still have an extreme amount of anger towards the people who hurt my mom in the end and that is something that I am not sure will go away. I tried to befriend her and forgive her and let it all go...but I just cannot. She has continued to lie and hurt others and I just will not have her in my life ever again. I know that my mom was heart broken and I know my mom did not forgive her...and I just cannot either.

In other news...we had a fab Easter weekend. The kiddos hunted eggs, well actually the kids walked around eating candy out of the eggs and then threw the eggs back into the dirt. We relaxed and visited with amazing friends and I even got to spend two days in a row with the hubster! Justin took Bryce hunting and Bryce killed a pig with "his powers" aka Justin's gun. Brody is continuing to get up on all fours and scoot around like a mad man! I have been given full creative rights for his photo shoot in May so pass on any cute ideas you have.
Keep all these sweet people in your prayers...and please continue to pray for us!

ME LIKE VEGGIES!!!

ME

Just a quick note to ask for continued prayers. It is such a blessing to have such sweet and loving friends parying for my family and thinking about us. This past 7 months has been full of challenge after challenge and I ask you to please pray for my strength. My heart is full of great happiness and great sadness, which is a beautiful feeling. I am blessed to have been given the opportunity to have loved someone so dearly and even though the pain is unexplainable, I am still so thankful for it. Dealing with death is something I have never had to experience and its a daily battle. It has now been a month and I still miss her like I just lost her yesterday. We talk about her often, we praise her, we laugh about her and we tell stories about her. I am doing so much better with dealing with the anger I had towards the family members who caused her hurt and pain at the end. I have never been a big fan of people lying to themselves (and I know I have talked about this before) and that is what still hurts. You have to accept the damage that you caused before you move on, you cannot just try to hurt others to make yourself feel better. Our Lord gave us the ability to forgive and be forgiven...but acceptance must come first. God gave me the most amazing path to follow and I am so eager to see what is to come. I know that there will be more hardships along the way, but His plan has a purpose and that is that.

Everything else....

Big news for the muffin man....
Brody has been asked to model for the 2010 Down Syndrome Association Calendar! I mean we knew this guy was a cutie, but this is super big and awesome news. I started crying when I opened the letter, and it was not just because I am a sappy over-proud mommy, but because when Brody was born and the Association sent us a calendar...my mom said she just knew Brody was going to be in it. In other Brody related news...his therpist was elated after he last visit. This little guy is all over the place and moving in all the right directions. He will be crawling in no time. I have started him on baby meats and he loves them, but they make him toot like its nobodys business. Muffin is the kind of guy who NEVER misses a meal, he is starting to grab for his spoon so I will do it faster...I think he would just prefer me to pour his dinner straight down his throat.
A little prayer request please...My sweet friend Ann Marie needs lots of prayers for a LONG pregnancy. You can follow her at www.prayforcoy.blogspot.com

Field Trip

We had an eventful field trip to Enchanted Springs Ranch last week with the ever amazing Ms. Kelly. The day included a longhorn ride, wagon ride, a bull whippin - gun slinging - doggy trickin show from Pistol Packin Paula, a lesson on bathing from a cowboy plus some other fun stuff! Pistol Packin Paula (which just so you know is my favorite thing to say) asked for a volunteer and Bryce and his favorite friend Benjamin (an equally silly and crazy child) jumped up and got roped by "PPP"! I got video and will eventually add that on here. Brody enjoyed the show too which is so cute. He is so alert and into everything that is going on and that is so exciting...more on that in the next post.

Soccer Time!

Yep, I am officially a soccer mom! Bryce is really enjoying soccer so much! We play with the YMCA and have a super adorable coach and fun little team mates. The first practice the temp. was somewhere in the ranch of negative 0 and we froze our faces off...but again, Bryce had fun and that is all that matters. I do not think Brody appreciated it so much...BUT he did have a blast at the second practice watching his brother run amuck! Bryce really does great...he has learned how to dribble, pass and shoot and of course play red light green light (which is ever important to your soccer skills!). My dad got to go with us this past practice which was awesome and I think he was super impressed at how attentive Bryce can be when he wants to :) I have some videos to upload, but its too early in the morning to try and figure that out so for now pics will just have to do.

Wildlife Ride

Here are some pics from the wildlife tour we did. Key points of this adventure:
* It was super fun, but we could have driven around our neighborhood and seen these animals for free.
* The Ostrich will kill you.
* Brody was not very interested in this and slept most of the time.
* Bryce did not understand why when he screamed "HEY COW, get over here and eat some of these hungry's" the cows did not come a runnin...?
* Indian men who hang out of their cars with a video camera should be thrown into the rhino cage.
* Bryce thought it was awesome and that is really all that matters :)