GO BULLS!!!/Neurosurgeon appt.

First we have to give it up for our USF Bulls!! For those of you that don't know our family as well. Kevin played football at USF. He was the first person drafted from Tallahassee to play at USF and he has been waiting 13 years for them to play FSU. Even though Kevin is from Ttown he is not a fan of the Seminoles. He was so excited about the game Sat. and elated that they won!!!

Now for Mason, :) We met with Dr. Rodriguez on Thursday. Mason is missing his corpus callosum in his brain. That is the middle part of your brain that connects the two hemispheres. His ventricles are enlarged and misshapen. What does this mean? Means he will have developmental delays. How delayed? Only time will tell. Dr. R said he has seen brains like this and the child does pretty well. He has also seen this and they really struggle. We will be continuing to stimulate him any way we can. He did say that he wouldn't classify him as severe because his appearance isn't as severe.

From here we have two more appointments, October 8th we go to the optometrist to take a look at his eyes. He's having a hard time tracking images and light. October 15 we will go see the Neurologist. She will be doing an EKG on his brain to make sure he's not having seizures. Then we will be able to discuss with her his development.

Believe it or not we left the appointment feeling good and optimistic. I was really struggling with the Lord on Wednesday. I had so many questions that I may never get answers as to "why". After having a fantastic pitty party for myself, I felt God wrap his loving arms around me. I begged him for hope. I needed something to hold on to to keep me going. I felt myself starting to spiral down a black hole and I didn't want to be there. I asked God to carry me because I didn't have the energy to walk at those moments. Before we went to the appt. On Thurs morning, I was listening to the Joy FM. My favorite song by Sidewalk Prophets came on. (This is the song I sing to Mason everyday). I was feeding Mason and listening again to the words that I've memorized. I felt God say to me this time these words are for you. As I listened tears ran down my face because I knew that even in the times when we are so discouraged and frustrated with life God is there. He's just waiting for us to ask him for help. If you are not familiar with the song it says "Be strong in the Lord and never give up hope, You're going to do great things I already know. God's got his hand on you so don't live life in Fear. Forgive and Forget but don't forget why you're here .Take your time to pray and thank God for each day. That was the hope that I needed from him on Thursday. Even though some of the news wasn't the best Thursday we left knowing that God is going to continue to do great things!

We'll be posting pictures of our trip to Tallahassee later this week. Have a blessed week, Wendy

Thank you for all the words of encouragement about yesterdays appointment. First, we'll begin with the positive. Mason, after 3 1/2 long months of pumping, has decided that breastfeeding is a great idea!!! This is such a miracle to us. We're so proud of him and he is eating like a champ.

Next, we had a really good appointment yesterday. Dr. Ranelle was very good and allowed us to ask as many questions as we wanted. Some of the diagnosis, as I'm sure you know, is not great. Mason will be mentally retarded and have issues with walking and muscle development. To what degree of these things only God knows. Like Dr. R said Mason will write his own book. We were prepared for this so it was not a big shock. If we really sit and think about it it is overwhelming and upsetting. Our prayer is that we only focus on now not 10 years from now. Do what we can do to give him the greatest life possible. To be honest, it is easy now because it is not as obvious. I know it will get harder as he gets older. Of course, my heart breaks when I think about his life down the road. I just have to remind myself that God has it all under control. Things that seem so difficult to understand, God will give us the strength to cross that bridge when we come to it.

They still want me to get tested. There is a slight chance that I may not carry the gene. I would be very surprised but we'll do it. We can go the route of Invitro if we want to have another child. We would both love to give him a sibling. We will begin discussions on that in January. We think it would help Mason to have a brother or sister to push him along. We would wait until next summer to get pregnant. At least that is still a possibility.

As you pray, please pray that God will not allow us to get ahead of ourselves. Take one day at a time and enjoy it! Don't worry about tomorrow. I'm praying for Mason that he will know God and understand his word. That he will be able to share with others his testimony. We're hoping to receive more information on Thursday. We will be able to look at his brain and see how it is developing. We have lots of questions for the Neurosurgeon. I will update the blog again Thursday with what we learn from that appointment. I wanted to post great pics of Mason. The pic of He and Kevin is my favorite. Like father Like son. Have a blessed week.

Love you ,Wendy


Let him sleep for when he wakes he will move mountains

Genetic testing results

This morning I was taking Mason to Pt. As I was waiting, I received a call from our pediatrican. Mason tested positive for Xlink. I think I knew this was coming and as much as you try and prepare yourself it is still a shock. On one hands our hearts are broken and the other were so grateful that God has chosen us to walk this journey. We don't have all the answers and probably won't for awhile. The one positive side is that on the 21st we can ask all the questions we have. You can look it up it is Xlink Hydrocephelus. As you will see, it has alot of tuff things to swallow. This also effects us if we want to have more children. At this point is not a possibility. Thank you for your prayers. We're going to need them as we process all of this and find ways that we can best help Mason. My only prayer to the Lord is that Mason will know HIM and understand God's word. thank you again. Love, Wendy

Be Strong In The Lord

I feel like I need to open my heart to my blog family. So many of you have reached out to us over the past couple of weeks as we approach the week of the 21st. You will never know how much each note, phone call and word of encouragement has meant to us. It has been very emotional the past couple of weeks. Each time I get discouraged or afraid God puts something right in my path to keep me focused. I look at Mason and I know God has an amazing plan for his life. Kevin and I have changed our prayer to whatever conditions Mason has that God will help us find Joy in the situation. I was watching Mason at PT this past week. He was struggling to try and pull his head up and I so much wanted to just go over and help him out and lighten his load. He pushed through it. I know he is a little fighter. I had the great privilege to meet with a precious family from our church the Sextons. Many of you may already know this story but I have to tell it. It has changed how I'm praying for Mason. Lisa and Kevin's son Tyler was born with CP. The doctors told him so many things he would never be able to do. Tyler just graduated from Medical school and is a walking testimony of what God can do in someone's life. Lisa told me that when Tyler was 6 his PT wanted him to participate in an Easter Egg hunt. A bit skeptical Lisa o.ked it. For 6 mths they helped Tyler get ready for this. The day arrived and all the kids were lined up (Tyler in his walker, Easter basket attached) and the gun went off and off the kids ran. Tyler however moved slowly through the grass with his walker. Lisa began to cry b/c they worked on Tyler bending down and picking up the eggs but he couldn't run fast enough. She ran to him in the field and bent down next to him ready to apologize that he didn't find any eggs. Tyler said "Look at all the eggs in my basket Mom". Lisa could barely see b/c of the tears in her eyes. Sure enough his basket was full of eggs. She asked him how he got his eggs. He said the other kids were running so fast their eggs were falling out so he went behind them and picked them up and placed them in his basket. She said God told her that day. Tyler basket will always be full of eggs. He may have to get them in a different way but he will never have an empty basket. When I think of that story, I think of Mason. It brings me to tears everytime b/c I pray that his basket will always be full. He may get his eggs in a different way and that's o.k. I found this song the other day and it has become my prayer to Mason. I sing it to him each night before we lay him down. It's by Sidewalk Prophets.

"Be strong in the Lord and Never give up hope, You're going to do GREAT THINGS I already know, God's got his hand on you so Don't live life in fear Forgive and Forget but don't forget why you're here. Take your time to pray and thank God for each day. These are the words I would say.

As we approach this week, If you would continue to pray for us that we won't be afraid or discouraged because God is going to do great things . Sept. 21st we find out about the Xlink Sept. 24th is his MRI and our meeting with the neurosurgeon. Thank you again for all your love and prayers. We appreciate them so much. Have a blessed day! Wendy

Mason's first Plane Trip to North Carolina

Mason did an awesome job on the plane. He was great and everyone had fun making him smile. We had a wonderful weekend with Aunt Debo. Mason loves her so much. She took great care of him. We were also able to hang out with friends of mine from Liberty. My college roomate, Lori, lives 5 min. from Deborah. It was so fun having them meet Mason. Aunt Debo w/ Mason at the airport in his Tigger onesize that she got for him.

Ally and Mason

Mason's plane trip continues

Ava, Ella and Mason. They were so cute

Tori, Lori and Masonh

Debo's boss at Target. Notice Mason has a Target onesize on.

Mason's baseball buddies David and Jason. Great friends from Liberty.

Mason's bath time

I love Aunt Debo

I love Grandpa B

Sleepy boy

Mason has had a very long day. We've had some issues with him keeping his food down. We went to the hospital today to get an ultrasound to rule some things out. They did an ultrasound on his tummy and everyting looked great! We're going to keep feeding him in smaller doses but more often. He was such a trooper and had a marriage proposal while we were there. He's such a ladies man. :) We leave to visit Aunt Debo on Thursday. If you wouldn't mind praying for a safe trip. (also that mommy won't be too nervous:) Have a blessed week.

Testing out the Baby Bjorn. If you could have seen us trying to figure this out, it was hilarious. Mason was a great sport while mommy and daddy were figuring this out

Medical updates on Mason

I just love my boy! We had a couple of appointments this week. Wednesday we met with the Early Steps program. They will be coming to the house to do PT/OT with Mason. This should take place by the end of the month. We've been going to Tampa General twice a week so this will be so much easier. As they evaluated him, he was right where we expected. He's behind with the function of his hands and head. We're going to be working with him on grasping,opening and becoming more mobile with his hands. We will continue to work in tummy time to get him to hold his head up. We also found out that September 21st is the day we will find out the genetic testing results. Please be praying for that appointment. We're just praying for God's perfect will and the hearts to accept whatever He has planned for Mason. The genetic testing will tell us if Mason has the Xlink hydrosephlis. It will also determine if we will be able to have any more children. As you can imagine, it will be a day of very mixed emotions. We will also be having another MRI in September. I haven't received the date yet but I will let you know. Thank you again for all the prayers for our little guy. We feel so blessed to have him and as you can see he is growing at rapid speed. We starting to see his amazing smile :).

Laura and Bethany come to visit

Laura and Bethany were here this past week. We had so much fun. God has blessed me with amazing friends. I met both girls in college and they have been such a source of strength through the years. I'm so grateful for the time we had this week. I love them lots!!!

I'm not a big fan of hats on Mason but can't have skin cancer. He loved hanging out at the pool with the girls.