LET IT SNOW

Brayden has been waiting for two months for it to snow, so he was so excited this week. Since the weather has been cooling off, Brayden has been saying that it has to get cold so the snow can come. With all of the beautiful snow, we definitely couldn't keep him inside this weekend.

First, we had to pet the reindeer, all three of them and get pictures with each.

Then we had to throw snowballs at each other and of course the dogs. Bella had the best time because she tried to catch them like her tennis balls, and of course they just crumbled in her mouth.

And of course, you can't go outside without making a snowman. Well, we made a few. We made a snowman and Brayden pummeled it. That was too much fun so we had to do it several times. Despite the cold, it was a great evening. Snow is definitely a lot more fun when there is a little boy to enjoy it with.

Disney World: Take 2

Tiggeriffic!!!!

What do Bryaden and Tigger have in common? They both have endless energy and think that bouncing is the best way to walk.

These are last couple days at Disney World. My camera was not working right so my sis took the pictures for me. Probably better that way anyway because she is a great photographer. Thanks sis, you are awesome!!!

Adorable picture right? Well looks can be deceiving. Justin had a beautiful bouquet and Brayden decided I needed it. So I was the proud Mommy and put it behind my ear. Well, that's until my ear started itching and I took it off only to find some tiny little bugs on the flowers. Yuck. Anybody that knows me well knows that I really hate bugs so it freaked me out a little. Oh well, I still got a cut picture with my little angel.
Lightning McQueen...funny story. Mom and Dad waited in line to see Lightning McQueen with Brayden while the rest of us rode some roller coasters. Brayden was so excited until he got close to Lightning and it was really loud. He was crying and didn't want anything to do with him. However, as soon as they decided to call it quits, Brayden decided he wanted to try to take a picture again. So we all waited a second time and I used my Mommy skills to get an adorable pic.

Is it bad that Brayden thinks it's great to be in the mouth of gigantic carnivores? He also wanted a picture of his head in the mouth of a dinosaur.

Finding Nemo at Epcot. A really cute display outside the Living Seas exhibit.

Honey, I shrunk the Jewells. This was the one of the neatest playgrounds I've ever seen. It was like we were on the set of Honey, I shrunk the kids, where the grass and toys were ginormous with slides and tunnels throughout them. Brayden had a blast playing on them.

Brayden with Aunt Tricia and her favorite character Eeyore.

Dinner at the Crystal Palace was really good. Probably the best character meal we've tried. Brayden really enjoyed the kid buffet and getting pics with some of his favorite characters.

Ouchie!!!

So we went to the allergy and asthma specialist Monday after much prayer and frustration over Brayden's chronic cough and runny nose. After an hour and a half of interrogation by the Resident regarding these symptoms since they began about two years ago (which I barely remembered the last six months), they decided to do the allergy test. Being only 3 with a small back, they could only do 27 of the 50 pricks, which lets just say 27 was more than we could handle anyway. They made him lie flat on his stomach while I held his face and shoulders on the table and Mom held his hips down. Then came the ten minutes of all out screaming. I have never seen anyone do something so slow and not be phased by a screaming bloody murder child. Then after the procedure was done, the serum had to sit on his back for 15 minutes to see the reaction. I had to take a paper towel and pretend I was wiping his back to get Brayden to stop screaming, "take it off!!!" Finally things calmed down and Mom said, Brayden you have a bunch of pretty blue dots on your back. I of course had to be smart and say, "no I think they are purple." That perked Brayden's curiosity so he wanted a picture of them so he could decide. So I took a picture and Brayden said, "No guys they are purple and red." That was pretty cute. Anyway, after the 15 min the doc checked his back and said that the test was negative for everything tested. Wow, we have been giving Brayden allergy meds for 2 yrs with no allergies. Then the specialist said the next step would be to test for asthma as the most likely cause but due to his age, the PFTs aren't effective so giving him high doses of steroids orally and inhaled and seeing the results is the only way to diagnose it. He also wanted to do chest x-rays and sinus CAT scan to see if they showed any lung changes or sinus deformities. And the last thing is seeing a GI specialist to see if his reflux is causing all of this. We opted to do the scans first due to the potential problems with the steroids. Then, when we got home, we realized that the 27 tests were mainly indoor allergies and only 6 outdoor allergies. Since his symptoms are almost only present when outside, we are a little concerned that they might be ruling out allergies a little prematurely but we'll see. The results of his scans came in yesterday showing reactive airway disease in his lungs and inflammatory sinus disease with all sinuses completely plugged. I guess that explains the runny nose anyway. So we have 5 meds to give some for a week, some for 3 weeks, and then we see an ENT in 6 weeks. Hopefully this is the answer. Unfortunately for Brayden, his L ear tube began coming out this week and he has developed an infection in his middle ear and mastoid area so he had a high fever yesterday and some pretty bad ear pain. Hopefully, the antibiotics will make him feel better soon. Well, just wanted to give everyone the update on Brayden. Thanks for all the prayers and words of encouragement. We love you all.
Brayden is such a great picture kid. He even had to smile for his back picture.

Christmas Spirit

You have got to check out Gary and our friend, Mitch. They've really got some good Christmas Spirit this year and want to show it to all of you with a little song and dance.

http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=1140150531

Tree Hunting

It is a Jewell family tradition to go to Bowman's Tree Farm after Thanksgiving and cut down a beautiful Christmas Tree. This was Brayden's first year to participate and he had a blast. We took a ride on the wagon out to the big trees and then trekked through the mud and up the hills until we found the perfect tree. Except of course for Brayden, who was carried up the hills and through the mud. (Brayden has never been a real fan of walking and this was no exception.) Papaw Jewell and Brayden on the wagon ride.

Brayden and Uncle James navigating the muddy hills.

Once we found the perfect, approx 10 ft tree, Brayden and Gary started sawing away. Brayden was quite the help, sawing the tree down with Daddy.
Finally, we loaded our beautiful soft pine tree onto the wagon and finished off our successful hunting trip with hot chocolate and candy canes.