10 Months Old Today

I cannot believe it has already been 10 months since this sweet baby came into our lives. I have loved every minute of it. Braden is such a good baby. He is so happy and loves to play. He is already walking, which he started at 9 months. He can get anywhere he wants to. His favorite spot right now is up on Cason's bed. This is not my favorite place to find him in the house but, he loves it. He squeals with delight when you walk in and find him up there. He knows he is not supposed to, which I guess is what makes it so much fun. We pray everyday for this precious life God has given to us.

We love you more than words can express, Baby Braden!

Braden at Feeding Therapy Today

Today was not Braden's favorite day at therapy but, his is still making progress. We have so much to be thankful for. Sara is so sweet with him. We say a prayer of thanksgiving for her everyday.

Braden and Sara working on some mouth exercises.
Trying to distract him so some work could be done.

Braden playing in the waiting room.

So Much to be Thankful For

I cannot even begin to put into words how much peace I feel right now. I just got home after taking Braden to his second feeding therapy session. We have been working at home but, I was not sure how to judge his progress. I felt like he was getting better but, didn't know what was normal. After meeting with Sara this morning I now know that Braden is making progress faster than she ever expected. She was so pleased with what she saw in him. God is so good!!! This is such a relief and I am oh, so thankful. Braden still has a ways to go but, this progress is so encouraging.
On a little side note...Freeby and I have decided to build a house right by Mom and Dad. Keep that in your prayers and I will update on this as it unfolds. We have to make sure this house sells first before too much is done on the other house.

August and September

We have had an eventful summer but I have neglected to post any pictures. Here are some highlights from the past few weeks.

Cason and Braden got a new John Deere truck.
They rode all over the yard at the lake house.

Dad teaching Cason how to drive it. The lake was a great place for him to practice.

Braden loves to "drive" too!

What a sweet boy!

We went to Jump Zone with some great friends and Cason loved sliding down the big slide.

Braden loved playing in the Sesame Street jump house. So fun!

Cason enjoying a Popsicle in the backyard when the weather was HOT!

Braden loves being outside. He doesn't care how hot it is.

Feeding Therapy Underway

On Monday morning I took Braden for his first feeding therapy session. He did great! He is so remarkable in what he can do that it still seems strange to me that he has any problem. Nonetheless, on the way there, I just could not wrap my brain around what all you can even do to teach a nine month old how to relax the muscles inside his mouth. I guess I went in very naive to what we might have even gotten ourselves into.
Once in the room with our sweet therapist, Sara, we got to work right away. This first visit was not really about teaching Braden at all. It was more about teaching me so that I can reinforce at home. She had a whole list of exercises and stretches that we can do to get him going. I watched mostly but, at one point she had me actually do one of the stretches. It was more than eye opening for me. She had me place my index finger inside his mouth and my thumb on the outside and pinch and pull out toward the opening of his mouth. I have never felt inside of a baby's mouth like this but, I guess it feels kind of like mine. Braden's is a ball of muscle. He has no give at all. I was shocked. I mean, seriously, it is like the corner of his mouth is still attached in the back by his molars. There is nothing but tight muscle. I think Sara saw the shock on my face and nodded in agreement with me that this is the main issue that we have to work on. By the way, please say a pray of thanksgiving for Sara and pray a blessing over her as well as she works with us and many, many others who have much harder issues that ours. She truly cares about so many kids. Ok, back to my story. We only worked for a little while, as Braden could not tolerate much more of our hands on teaching the first time.
On my drive home, I have to admit, I cried most of the way. I just felt so overwhelmed. I felt thankful that we have gone and gotten help, I felt overwhelmed with the task at hand, I felt sad that Cason is going to have to adjust to me and Braden being gone a couple times a week, I felt inadequate to do all this at home, I felt sad that something is wrong with my baby, I felt so many things all at once and was unsure how to work through each one of them. My biggest concern was what I was going to do with Cason twice a week for a couple of hours. He goes to YCW on Thursdays which sounded like a perfect time to take Braden except they didn't have anything available on Thursdays. Awesome. Well, God in His infinite wisdom, had gone before me and taken care of everything. I called this morning to schedule our second time each week and the lady who does scheduling said, "Well someone just canceled this morning for Thursdays, would you want that appointment?" I was so excited. That is just one less time I have to be away from Cason and it takes care of his childcare while I need to be focusing on Braden. God is so good.
We started doing our at home exercises today and Braden just cracks me up. He does not like having to sit still, so I just kind of follow him around our living room while he plays, touching all over his face and in his mouth. I am praying that he will get used to all this quickly so that we can move onto him learning to relax those muscles. Who knew? God knew and for that, I am so thankful.