"One Month to Live".....

Last night Jacoby and I attended the "One Month to Live" event and read day one of our book. In the discussion questions we chose what five things we would change if we only had one month to live....then we picked one to follow through with this week. Mine is my bedtime. After my children go to bed and my husband is at work I often spend any where from 4-6 hours cleaning house, talking on the the phone, on the computer (ahem, primarily Facebook). And lots of days I am running on 4-6 hours of sleep from the night before. I sit down to the computer at 8 pm and the next thing I know it is midnight! Well that is changing. Let's face it....If I had 30 days to live, I would not be spending so much time on the computer. I would sleep when my family sleeps so that I could be well rested and be my best self for them the next day! So no more computer time for me at night. And my flesh is weak, so I have posted a HOT PINK piece of card stock on my computer that says, "NO FACEBOOK AFTER DARK". So I am challenging myself to take it a step further and not getting on Facebook at all. At least for the next thirty days....maybe longer! Who knows what God is gonna do here!?!?!?

SO FOR THOSE OF YOU TAKING THE "ONE MONTH TO LIVE" CHALLENGE...WHAT DID GOD CHALLENGE YOU TO CHANGE THIS WEEK?

Worry about nothing, be prayerful in everything....

Today we took Braydon to the eye doctor for his regular routine eye exam. This is just to make sure there is no pressure and swelling on the optic nerve due to the nuerological disorder (Psuedotumor Cerebri) he was diagnosed with in Mar 2005, shortly after he was diagnosed with cancer.

Today his opthamologist noticed that his left pupil was bigger than his right pupil and had never noted that before in his charts. She wanted us to call our nuerologist (Dr. Slopis at MD Anderson) and make an appt with him to follow up. Of course being a concerned mom I asked what this means/could possibly mean, any more info she had. She informed me that in infants (who may have been born that way) and in people with medical histories/nuero problems (which of course Braydon does, etc. it could mean nothing. But if this is something that has recently happened it COULD be a sign of a lesion on that side of the brain or something of that nature.

SO... just please be prayerful over Braydon right now with us.
WE ARE NOT WORRYING IN ANYTHING BUT BEING PRAYERFUL IN EVERYTHING!!!!

He's a HEALER...

This is a conversation I had with Braydon today:

Me: What is your favorite thing God created?
Braydon: A leopard.
M: Why?
B: Because he healed them.
M: He did?
B: Yeah.
M: Healed them from what?
B: He healed their spots!

Preciousness!!!!!!!!

At the end of the day:

At the end of the day God shows us just a small glimpse of his majesty...These pictures were taken on the land we live on now in Winnsboro.

Have my cake and eat it too....

Deacon enjoyed cake today at cousin Jacy's party. The pics were just too cute not to share!

5 years...

Five years ago today we received the news that Braydon was in remission. It was in the 7 o'clock hour when the doctors came in and told us. I immediatly called Jacoby on the cell phone. He was giving a thank you/update speech on how Braydon was doing to the members of the community at the Annual Martin Luther King Jr. Awards. He announced it on stage and the crowd celebrated and gave thanks to God. Please join our family in celebrating again and give thanks to Him today for what he has done in our family and with Braydon. We are so blessed to know and have each of you in our lives through this journey and just so thankful for your support in all ways through these last 5 years.

Pictures of Braydon five years ago:

Pictures of Braydon today:

High/Low...

A few times during the week, either during dinner time or bed time while we are talking and saying our prayers, we will ask each other high/low? High is your favorite thing of the day and low is your least favorite thing of the day. Braydon's usually always involves being outside or some game we have played that day. Today my high was time at the park with the two most special kids ever. I can't think of a time I have ever enjoyed it so much. My time with them today was just blessed!

Thank GOD I'm a Country Boy...

We are fully embracing our new life in the country. In the last three days we have make a composter for our garden, made a plan and researched what kind of chickens we want to buy and I even donned some rubber boots while going to the hardware store! We truly didn't appreciate it when we lived here 5 years ago. We have a new outlook on it now and it feels so right. The thought of a garden, chickens and a dog in our near future really has us excited. Today we went and looked at chickens to educate ourselves on how to take care of them at a friend of ours house. They have had chickens for about a year and sure know more about it than we do. In fact I am sure they had genuine concern for the well-being of our future animals after some of the questions we asked! :-)

We will be spending the next 2 months getting garden beds and chicken coops ready! Yesterday Braydon made a composter with his dad so that we can start making our own compost. We will be growing an organic garden and want to know what is going in our food! Braydon looked like a little man out there working with his Daddy and using a drill all by himself! I was impressed and PROUD! Enjoy the pics...

From bad news to BLESSING...

We got back from MD Anderdson in Houston last night. Everything went great! Most of you know Braydon was diagnosed with pnuemonia and had a small section of his left lung was collapsed last week. Braydon's pnuemonia is clearing up and hopefully the collapsed area of his left long is on it's way to a full recovery. His oncologist said that he didn't hear any wheezing and crackling sound yesterday-that's great news! He hasn't had a fever in 48 hours and seems to be feeling well today.
Both of the kids were just great on the trip. Deacon, it turns out, is as good a traveler as Braydon....well almost. Best news...we got a BIG BLESSING out of this trip. Braydon just got moved out to three month appts. We don't have to go back until April. THIS IS GREAT. Most cancer patients spend about 6 months coming every other month after treatment ends, then another 6-12 months coming every three month, then they get moved to 6 months, a year, etc. Braydon had to spend 18 months coming every other month due to the fact that he is "high-risk" which mean he is at high risk for relapse based on his condtion at the time of his diagnosis. 18 months off chemo is a long time to still be coming so regularly, so starting to come every three months is a big deal!!!

On January 18th Braydon will be in remission for 5 years! Medically that is considered "cured" but we know he was "HEALED" a long time ago!

Rough start...

Happy New Year! This year is gonna be a great one for our family and we just KNOW IT! But it has gotten off to a bit of a rough start for my babies! Please keep them lifted up in prayer.

Deacon has an ear infection and has had a cold for two weeks. The guy never even complained! :-( We discovered it by accident really while getting Braydon checked out!
Braydon is a sick little boy right now but God has healed him before and WILL do it again! Braydon has been fighting a cold for a couple of weeks as well but didn't seem to be doing as well as Deacon. He had had a few sinking spells where he just seemed exhausted and shaky. He had some headaches and some justweird stuff going on. He was due to be at the doctor in Houston for his check-up with his oncologist in 48 hours but I thought I might get him checked out just in case cause something didn't seem right. Boy was I right! The lower lobe of Braydon's left lung is collapsed. There is no medicine to cure this so a hospital admission or prescription was not necessary BUT we did come home with a cool little breathing device and he basically has to "work out" that lung. EVERY 15 MINUTES for 2-3 days (except while sleeping).
Tomorrow we head to MD Anderson as planned. X-rays to follow later this week.

We also found out the results of his Nuero-Cognitive testing at MD Anderson from back in November. Braydon has been diagnosed with ADHD. At this point (especially since I homeschool him) we have decided not to treat it with medicine but just to change his diet, treat him naturally and just work with him on some behavioral/discipline things.
Will keep yall updated....just keep praying! God listens friends!