We are Tampa Bay Rays Fans....

in T-ball that is. Caden started T-ball 2 weeks ago and finally had his first game last night. It is amazing how long they let these little ones play. It started at 6:30 and Doug and Caden didn't get home until 8:00. I think it gets a little long for them also because the coach emailed us and said that some of the kids were asking "when do we get to snack time?" Caden loves it. And although they don't keep score-well the parents don't but you know the kids do-Caden informed me they won 10 to 6. He is a little competitive and doesn't like to lose-we are working on that.

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And this is what happens when little brother is bored and decides to jump in front of the camera.

Some other things we've been doing are blowing bubbles-well not really blowing because this isn't the old days-like the 1990's (We drove by a building once and Caden stated that it was old. He asked "when was it built-like the 1990's?) kids now have machines to blow these bubbles! Thanks Roxanne for Caden's billion bubble blower-he loves it!

Colton built a store on our steps. Only problem with his store is that you can look and "buy" but you are not allowed to take from the store. Caden has a store policy also that you can buy and take but you must return the items as soon as you pay for them-oh and no refund.
I made end of the year teacher and bus driver gifts that I remembered to take pictures of so I'll post those tomorrow:)
The LORD is my light and my salvation-whom shall I fear? The LORD is the stronghold of my life-of whom shall I be afraid?
Psalm 27:1

1 month old aready?

I cannot believe that Canon has been with us for 1 month already. Time does fly by so quickly-especially at night when those between hours for feedings feel like minutes.
Here are his 1 month pics just a week or 2 late!

Sometimes we need to be reminded...

that you are His masterpiece....

as hard as it may be some days-He cares who you are, how you are, where you are and what you are.

For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God has prepared beforehand, that we should walk in .
Ephesians 2:10

The food keeps coming...

We have been so blessed with many friends that have been supplying us with food. There are some days were we get 2 to 3 meals delivered. We have meals coming until June 1-amazing. And I just don't mean a main course-I mean full course. We get the main meal, salad, bread and a dessert. I don't even make all that when I'm cooking so this is a treat! We've had more brownies in the last few weeks than we have in a very long time! I don't know what I'll do when I actually have to think about what we are having for dinner! One of my friends, Elizabeth, brought over some spaghetti and meatballs one night and Colton loved it. It looks like he is praising God for the meals we got! (click to make larger)

and of course our new little button:)


Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will recieve an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.
Colossians 3:23-24

Birthing Story

I know many of you have heard this story but for scrapbooking/documenting sake I need to get it down in writing:)

Well Canon Matthew Braun arrived earlier than expected-apparently he didn't want us to tell him when and how to come into this world. I woke up at 12:59 Wednesday morning and thought "wow that was a weird dream". I had dreamed that I was having contractions and then whoa....contraction! Yes, ladies I now know what a contraction feels like-and must say I prefer the non contraction way much better:)

So the contractions started but I was thinking that I would be calling the hospital at 6 anyway so I just laid in bed and they kept coming so I thought I'd better see how far apart they are and they were 8 minutes but the little sheet of paper said not to call until they were 3-5 minutes apart so I thought okay I can deal with this. So around 4:30am I decided to get up and get ready b/c I wasn't getting any sleep. Doug got up around 5 b/c he heard me getting ready and I told him I think he should probably get ready b/c I was calling the hospital. I talked to the nurse to make sure the induction was still on and she said it was and then I casually mentioned "oh by the way I've been having these contractions since 1 this morning and they are 7 minutes apart and really kind of hurt". Since we live about 40 minutes away and they had been going on for that long she thought we'd better come in early. So off we went-contractions 7 minutes apart, lasting about 30-60 seconds-and really not feeling very nice. We get behind "Mr. I-don't-need-to-be-at-the-office-this-early-so-I'll-go-slooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooowwwwwwwww" on HWY 12! By then I had lost a few minutes somewhere and was at 4 minutes apart.

We got to the hospital and my nurse, Denise just happen to have checked in early (thank you God!).(Denise has been there for all 3 of my deliveries and told my dr she wouldn't miss it) She got my IV hooked up (first try-wooo-hoo! I have a tendency to "leave my veins at home" when I go in for any blood work. They have a very hard time finding them), she got my epidural ordered and started to hand squeeze the fluids into me so they would get in faster. The the pain relief man came in soon after-same guy who gave me my first epidural with Caden. I started to relax and feel that tingling feeling. Doug got a chair and was about to sit down and relax. We thought we could have the baby out by noon or so. Well....Canon had a different plan-my water broke soon after the epidural (most expensive epidural ever-only had it hooked up for about 30 minutes) had done it's magic. I pushed the nurse call button and Denise had joked with other nurses my water had broke-little did she know that she was right! She came back in and checked me and I was a 9 (she wished she had checked me when I came in to see how far along I had been but had decided to wait for the induction b/c I couldn't have been that far b/c I wasn't screaming at the contractions-but I did tell her that they really, really hurt!). She thought that I was probably a 6 at the time of check in. Terri happened to be in the parking lot and came up. She was a little confused as to why I was all hooked up already and Denise was holding a scrub coat thingy (technical word, I know)and told her we were ready. Terri thought we were joking but little Canon decided that this was the time. After 5 pushes and 2.5 hours after I checked in Canon was born. And the best words I heard that day came from Terri as she delivered and said "He's perfect, he's healthy"

"He's perfect, he's healthy"
As most of you know we had a level 2 ultra sound at 18 weeks. This is were they informed us that the baby had a marker for Down Syndrome- the nuchal fold (neck thickness). This of course shocked us. The neck marker gave us a 1 in 200 chance of Downs but my age moved us up to a 1 in 12 chance. And basically the first thing out of their mouths was "how do you feel about an amnio?" They gave us a 1 in 500 chance of miscarriage with an amnio. So home we went. Can I say that God uses trials in our lives to strengthen our faith. He broke me down and slowly started building up my faith little jagged piece by little jagged piece. Smoothing out the spots to make my faith stronger and whole again. That night I was in the bathtub with tears streaming down my face asking God "do I do an amnio? I need to know" and once again I heard His voice and felt his presence. "Trust in Me. Believe in Me." Well I guess I had my answer. I had 5 months of waiting on the Lord. Trusting in him and believing in him instead of drs and medicine. A few days later I was in my small woman's group at church and told them the story-with tears of course. That day we had a wonderful speaker who talked about waiting on the Lord-she wasn't scheduled to speak that day but I think the Lord knew what I needed to hear. I was also met with many stories of how people had the markers and their kids came out healthy, how markers where wrong, how in Europe they don't even do that measurement anymore because of the inaccuracy, etc. God was giving me what I needed to survive. Ahhhh, but the enemy wasn't going to let that stop him. The last few weeks spiritual warfare started. I began to notice children with Down Syndrome, adults with Downs Syndrome, an old friend came back into my life and her 2 year old has Downs-could the enemy be working any harder? I saw a quote awhile back that said something to the effect that "The enemy doesn't work on those he has" so I should be glad that the Lord has my heart and not the other. But I am human and it is so hard not to let these thoughts creep into my mind. But we waited on the Lord, we trusted, our faith grew stronger and as my faith grew stronger I saw God's work through many of the prayer requests I prayed. He gave me calmness and peace for the last 5 months. I read Matthew 18:19--20 many nights. "Again I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. For where two or three are gathered in my name there am I among them" We were blessed to have many people praying for the health of Canon and we are so thankful. My small group at church is wonderful. They are some strong woman that when we get together it's amazing at the grace that God has given each and every one of us. The night before I went in I sent a prayer request to these wonderful women and I half jokingly requested a "fast and easy delivery and recovery." These friends must have went right to work because I was checked in at 6:30 and had Canon at 8:18. Everything went as smooth as possible and recovery was great-the nurses couldn't believe I didn't' want any Motrin afterwards. They kept coming into my room asking if I was in pain and wanted anything. Nope I have everything I need-a perfect, healthy little boy laying in my arms and 2 more at home. Ahhh, life is good-God is great.

Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above
James 1:17

April 22, 2009

Our 3 sons

Well, we finally did it. We got an April birthday in the family. Canon Matthew was born at 8:18am. He was 7lbs 9oz and 19.5 inches long. My biggest baby but oh so little. The boys are in love with him as are mom and dad.This is the day which the LORD has made; Let us rejoice and be glad in it.
Psalm 118:24

Waiting, Patiently Waiting....

Yes, that is what I am doing. I'm patiently waiting the arrival of little boy braun. Good news is that by next Wednesday evening he will be here-well hopefully. I have an induction scheduled for next week-unless he wants to make an earlier arrival. So let the countdown begin.....

Here's a catch up... We celebrated my birthday at the end of March

the boys made bookmarks-need to get a finished picture of them.

we dyed eggs for Easter, made Resurrection cookies, went to Easter service, out to eat and came home for an egg hunt (click pictures to make larger)
Daddy must be doing something really cool in this picture....
Yes, even baby brother got an egg made for him
The boys were so excited to go downstairs Easter morning. Caden came running upstairs and said the Easter Bunny took his card and hid the baskets. He also left some candy for mom and dad and an egg with a clue in it for the boys to start their scavenger hunt.
Caden could not find this egg....
Then we had some high flying....otherwise known as daddy's workout
I put together some baby gifts and breakfast/snack baskets for 2 of my friends that just had little bundles.
Colton enjoys creating with playdoh just like Caden. He follows in his brother's footsteps with the creating. We could go through a whole ream of paper in a few days if I let them.

If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer. Matthew 21:22