Spring Came Early

Our weather has been so nice for the last month or so and the kids are enjoying being able to play outside. They both love being outside and it's so good to get some fresh air. Here are some pictures from their first time playing on their swing set this year!

Brielle and Cali

Bryce can do everything all by himself now and be big like sissy
Cali got to swing

They had more fun "cleaning" up the yard for Daddy and putting everything in the fire pit

He got to running down the hill and face planted in a slightly muddy area and had it all over his mouth

After playing hard they got to have their first picnic lunch

One Year Ago

I can't believe an entire year has passed since the terrifying night that Bryce quit breathing. I can still to this day remember every detail as if it just happened and I assume it will always be that way. I think about it every time I pass the fire station that came to our rescue. I think about it every time Bryce cries really hard and it seems as if he isn't going to take that next breath. Again, I assume it will always be that way. One thing I know for certain is that God was with us and Bryce on that terrifying night and he saved him. I am so grateful that our little guy is still with us because I wouldn't know what to do without him! Thank you Lord!!

Bryce at Riley Hospital-10 months old

such a sweet baby boy
and a year later at 22 months old

Brycey

I haven't done much blogging lately and the last few times I did it was about Brielle so I am dedicating this post to my little man. I can't believe he is going to be 2 in less than 2 months! He sure is growing up fast. He is one busy little boy, he doesn't stop until he hits his bed at night. He is starting to talk so much more which is so cute. Brielle and him play so well together most of the time. I love when I'm in a different room and hear them laughing, melts my heart!

Man oh man do I ever love this kid!

We are gearing up to cheer our Hoosiers on in the Big Ten tourney so he is wearing his stripes a lot!!

Rockin' his IU gear
Our best friends have a little guy (Griffin) 5 months younger than Bryce and I'm sure they are going to be best buds just like their daddy's
They couldn't be any more different with Bryce's dark hair and Griffin's practically white hair

GO IU!!!!!

Just What She Needed

Brielle's cousin Camden, aka her best friend, sent these adorable cookies to her while she was in the hospital. She didn't feel like eating for several days after surgery so her cookies didn't get touched. The weekend following Camden came to visit and they were able to enjoy the cookies together! It was just what she needed to help her recover :)

Love these 2 so stinking much!!

Brielle's Surgery

I can't believe that Brielle's surgery was almost 2 weeks ago. She is doing so good, thanks to everyone who prayed for her!! The surgery was suppose to take around 2 hours and ended up taking close to 4 so you can imagine our nerves. We got to Riley at 12:00 and at this point Brielle was doing well with not being able to eat. Her surgery was scheduled for 1:30, but they didn't take her back until almost 2:30. While we waited a child life specialist came in and talked to Brielle. She showed her the "mask" that they would use to put her to sleep and explained the whole process so she could understand it. Then Brielle got to pick a flavored chap stick, she chose bubblegum, to spread on the inside of her mask so it would smell good. She also got to pick a smiley face that was stickers and put the face on her mask. This is a really neat thing they do at Riley to help ease the fears of the children going for surgery, it helped Brielle a lot! Once it was getting close to her time the nurse came and gave her a medicine called versed. It makes you very sleepy and makes it easier to take the child from the parents, worked like a charm on Brielle. They call it "goofy juice" and boy did it make her goofy. She was laughing at everything. The nurse that gave updates during the surgery said she giggled the whole way back to the operating room all the way up until she fell asleep. It made it a lot easier on Jake and I as well. We then went to the waiting room and waited what seemed like forever. It was 6:30 before the nurse said he was done and closing her up. Dr. Cain then came out and explained what all he did. He cut the bottom section off of her ureter then literally cut her ureter in half, lengthwise. This is what made the surgery take longer. He was cutting right along her bloodline so he had to be very careful. He then re-implanted her ureter into her bladder, this is the painful part of recovery. Because her bladder was traumatized it causes it to spasm which is very painful. We expected Brielle to be up and moving around on Tuesday, like the last surgery, but wow were we wrong. She had a lot of anxiety the next day and was very afraid to move. Sitting up and walking was hard for her. That got better with each passing day and by Friday of last week she was moving around much more. She is now pretty much back to herself. The pain and spasms have diminished greatly and she is doing great, she returned to pre-school today!! Dr. Cain placed a drainage tube in her kidney that comes out of her incision, just like last time, but we go to Riley tomorrow to have that taken out....YIPPEE!!! We are so excited to be rid of that!! Brielle goes for an ultrasound in one month and has an appointment following with Dr. Cain. We are praying that everything looks the way he wants it to and that she will be healed of this problem forever!! (some of the pics were taken with my phone so they aren't the greatest)

Surgery Day

Poor Brycey had to stay with our sitter without sissy
learning all about how they would put her to sleep

her bubblegum mask and bear that the child life specialist gave her, she named him brownie

Daddy and his sweet girl

Our adorable little doctor

our little dr. after taking her "goofy juice"

Jake and Dr. Cain - we absolutely love him!!

This is how she looked in the recovery room

The next day, Tuesday, she was not feeling good :( I would have done anything to take her pain away, it broke my heart to see her hurting like she was

Wednesday morning-looking a little better

Before we got discharged Wednesday afternoon we went to the playroom on the floor and Brielle got to paint with some other kids. She had to quit before she was done though due to a spasm which always made her want to go lay down

Thursday night she actually sat up for a little while versus laying flat on the couch, we were very pleased with her improvement everyday!

Thanks again for all the prayers, we truly appreciate it!!

God is so good!!

The Time Has Come....

Three years ago Brielle had surgery to correct a problem with her ureter that connects her kidney to her bladder. Her doctor fixed the area where the ureter connects to her kidney. At the time he said she may have to have a second surgery to fix the area near her bladder, but that we could give it time to change on its own as she grew. She has had yearly ultrasounds since and every time there has been no change so the time has come for her to have a second surgery to correct this problem once and for all. She is scheduled for surgery tomorrow (Monday Jan 9) at 1:30 at Riley Children's Hospital. She will stay overnight tomorrow night and possibly Tuesday night depending on how she is doing. It is similar to the first surgery just in a different area and making a new incision. We ask that you please say a prayer for our sweet girl. This is way different than the first time when she was 15 months old and didn't have a clue what was going on. She is sad that she won't be able to eat tomorrow and she is scared. Please pray that she won't be afraid. Pray for her doctor as he operates on our baby. We KNOW that God will protect her and get her through this. Pray for Jake and I to be strong for Brielle. My emotions have already taken over so many times in the past few days and it won't help Brielle to be brave if I can't be.Thank you in advance for praying for our daughter, it means the world to us. Our God is an awesome God and he WILL answer our prayers.

Precious girl

We love you sweet Brielle
Brielle learns a bible verse every month at school. We got her verse for this month on Thursday. Check it out.....

That is how awesome our God is. He knew I needed this. How cool is that?! I am hanging onto this verse and have read and re-read it so many times over the past few days and I will never forget it. Jesus will be with our little girl!!

Brower Christmas

We celebrated Christmas with Jake's family on Christmas Day. Brielle and Bryce love all the attention they get from Papa John and Grandma Denise being the only grandchildren. We had a great day spending time together, eating, watching movies, and playing games.

I love their new tree

Brielle got totally spoiled!
She got several new princess games

a dora bath doll, lots of new clothes and car seat for her Bitty Baby

Check out those lips, he was very serious about his opening

He was soooo excited to get the golf trainer toy!

He also did a lot of mowing with his new mower

Brielle loved playing her new game pretty pretty princess

Doesn't she look hilarious with those earrings?!