What a Trip

We just got back to the reality of life, after a short vacation to Florida. We were blessed to be able to go with my parents to Fort Myers Beach this year. The boys loved it. Before we left Brayden would ask where is Florida. He thought it was a person and we were going to go visit them. Well the good news is he found Florida! When we crossed over the border into Florida, Kyle announced congrats we are now in Florida. It took Brayden a few minutes and then he announced he had found Florida! I forgot to mention we drove to Florida from Minnesota and Back. Kyle was able to see Gator town and I thought he was going to pee his pants!

 There were a few funny stories...

Brayden is potty trained and had to poop. He told us he had to go poop, but we could find a place right away. Trey leans over to Brayden and tells him- "If you hold it and hold it and hold it your poop will stop coming". Good news is we were able to get Brayden to the bathroom and he didn't have to hold it and hold it and hold it!

The boys were the entertainment for the people at the hotel we stayed at. They would just laugh and laugh at the kids. Brayden was so loud I'm sure everyone know what he wanted or was going to do. The people at the hotel were sad when they found out we were leaving.

The beach was a great hit. They collected shells, played in the sand, and walked in the ocean. I made them wear spf 50.- they did not burn! They enjoyed walking on the beach, even though on long walks Brayden made us carry him. They would always listen for the sirens. I think we heard them at least once or twice a day. The sunsets were always a highlight of the night. They were very Beautiful and we had great weather all week long.

We visited the Twins baseball practice. The boys enjoyed seeing them play and received a few autographs. Kyle flagged down Justin Morneau for Brayden. Justin is a great supporter of JRA. Kyle explained how Brayden had JRA and we want to know if he would take a picture with him. He stop right away and took a picture and signed a few things for him! The first base coach walked over to the boys after practice and asked if these were the kids that were walking around holding hands. He thought it was really cute and signed Trey's baseball!

On the way back we stopped by our good friend RIKKI's house. It was so great to see her and her cats! HAHA. Thank you for letting us stay and for everything else.

Well we are now back to the reality of life, we are in need of some prayers. I took Brayden in for labs yesterday and they called me today. I was informed this labs came back abnormal. The clinic ran his blood work for Mayo clinic visit next week. The results came back abnormal in their lab so they sent it to the hospital clinic lab to make sure it wasn't there lab equipment. Those labs came back abnormal. We need to go in today for more blood, because they were not able to run one test due to running his blood tests twice. Please pray for our little guy and hope his Mayo visit goes well next week!

This weekend is the JRA walk!! We will be at the Mall of America if anyone wants to join us and support Brayden and all the other Children that are affected by JRA!

 Take time with family and friends. Enjoy the little things!

Almost V-day How Time Flies!

Well its been awhile since the last update! January seemed to come and go without a blink of an eye. January was an okay month for us and a start of a new year. We have been fighting the cold and flu season and love passing our germs around to each other in our house, at least that's what it seems like. I have had the opportunity to bring Brayden in to get checked out numerous times for this lovely season of sickness. Good news is... his arthritis is doing well, even though his nose seems to run and he is willing to wipe his nose on his brother. And I wonder why we keep getting sick.  We are all ready for spring to come melt the snow and take away the cold.

Many ask what is new in the life of this wonderful two year old, let me tell you...
He is now potty trained only pull-ups at night! YA, but don't get to excited, because it seems as though we need to check out every single bathroom ever built in this world. If there is a bathroom we will visit it. He loves the automatic toilets. We don't just make one trip to see the same bathroom we are blessed that we get to visit it multiple times. We get to go check the bathroom out, even if he doesn't need to go. He has also discovered he can take off his clothes without help. He loves running around in his undies. So it is freezing out side, but he runs around like its summer. I guess no need for clothes.
He has decided that his name is Globlirsch with two L's. He makes us laugh! Brayden has also developed a taste for frosting. When he get a doughnut, a cupcake or anything else with frosting, that is all he eats (frosting). Once he has licked the frosting completely off he will ask for another without taking one bite of the treat. I have never seen a child think he is starving as much as him, even after he has been eating non-stop, since the time he woke. He loves to snack!

March will be a big month for us...
We have the JRA walk at the Mall of America, March 5th. Come out and Join us. This is the link to Brayden's team page.
http://JAM2011.kintera.org/teambraydengoblirsch

Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis (JRA) Walk March 5th at the Mall of America. If anyone is interested in walking with Brayden's team, simply follow link, and join our team. No fees, donation, funds needed or required. Walk and support Brayden and the more than 300,000 other kids with JRA in America. 6,000 in MN.

March 10th: Mayo check up and maybe we will get to start reducing some medication!!!! Praying for wonderful lab and check up results.

I would just love for everyone to remember on v-day...
1. how blessed we are to be able to love others
2. to tell your love ones that you love them just the way they are
Happy February!

Blessed

Well today is Christmas Eve!!! The boys are still sleeping, which is amazing in itself. Thinking of Christmas and what it means... all I have to say is we are so blessed. Kyle and I have been so blessed in our lives from our kids, parents, siblings, family, friends, each other and many, many other things too. Our parents have been such a blessing to us our whole life. They have taught us how to love unconditionally, respect all people even when it is hard, give even if people don't ask, and always remember to reflect on your blessings. So many people will go without during this time of year and others will have, but will forget how blessed they are to have. I am not just talking about the material things or food, which many will go without, but the relationships. Families in turmoil over money, misunderstandings and any other thing that may pull apart a relationship. Understanding and reflecting on your blessing might open your eyes to the positive in the world, even when it seems all card are dealt against you. Find the blessing under the challenge. When I look at Brayden I see how many challenges we had, but all the blessings we have found. We have found support, love, understanding, and how blessed we are in our lives. Thank you all who have blessed our lives. I pray for all our family and friends to find what they need and have the ability to find the blessings in their lives.

Well a lot has happened since the last time I posted. Santa visited Brayden on Thanksgiving at Papa's house. He encouraged Brayden to Poop and Pee on the toilet. It was a good effort but not a completely successful mission. One day he will wake up and want undies on and the next a diaper. Trey has been encouraging Brayden to pee and poop on the toilet, because he can't stand the smell of his brother walking by him with a gross diaper on.  I keep telling Brayden that he is a toddler and toddlers need to go potty on the toilet, but he insists on calling himself a baby so he  doesn't have to.

 Over Thanksgiving Pa was sick and was stuck in his room. Brayden was told Pa is sick and can't play. He was very sad and ever since then he thinks Pa has been sick. We will be sitting at the table and he will look at me and say "Pa has a tummy ache and is sick". Poor Pa has been sick for a long time according to Brayden even though he really hasn't. He has seen him since Thanksgiving and played with him but still thinks he is sick.

Both the boys have tried to sneak a peak at their presents under the Christmas tree. I have laid down the law and told them if they open any present before Christmas the present goes back to the store. We had the Goblirsch Christmas earlier this month. When it came time to open presents, I handed Brayden his present and he walked it over to the tree and set it down.  At least I have won this year!!! He has also been studying the presents at my parents house very closely. He will lay on his tummy and stare at the presents. You can clearly see he wants to touch them but resists. Trey likes to count them. I wrapped Trey's presents up inside each other so all he thinks he is getting is two presents. He isn't sure why he has two and Brayden has more. I can't wait until he finds the rest. I will get a picture to capture that moment.

My sister was able to take the boys to the T-Wolves game. They won!!!  Lucky Boys! I think every game Trey has gone to in any sport the team he cheers for loses. At one point he told Kyle he thinks maybe he should cheer for the team he doesn't want to win. Well since that time basketball has replaced the imaginary football. At least they don't tackle each other, but it still ends in the same result. Brayden crying and Trey winning then getting in trouble. So at least my boys change sports according to the season. On another sports note, Brayden insists that I clean up the snow so he can play baseball outside in the yard.

I will leave you with this last Note...Blessings to all. Find the positive in all and you will find happiness in your life. 

Heaven is shining down...

Today was Brayden's big visit to the Mayo clinic to see his Rheumatology doctor and...
1. Our next visit will be in March
2. Blood work looks good: similar to last visit
3. Non of his joints at this time look like they have any arthritic problems
4. If he continues to do well until March with no problems- we will start adjusting Brayden's methotrexate medication to hopefully getting him off of it by summer :)
5. He is gaining weight and growing taller - about 30 lbs. and 3 ft. which is another thing they check to make sure the arthritis is not stunting growth. It is one of the markers they check at each visit.
So Needless to say TODAY IS A GOOD DAY. Heaven is shining a little light on our little man.
Thank you to all of you that continue to think, support and pray for Brayden, his doctors and our family. You all have made such a great impact on us and we can't thank you enough.  And a side note: every time they rang the bell and announced a persons name at the clinic today Brayden would yell OH OH that scared me. He is so loud. Can I hide under my chair when he does this? Second time at the Mayo. Last time he was yelling EXCUSE ME and ONE SEC PLEASE. They are going to think he is trying to hold up the place.
A update on what is going on in the world of a two year old...
He is loving baseball- don't think he got the memo that the season is over. He wakes up in the morning and wants to watch it over his cartoons. He is always wanting to play and sometimes he makes me throw him a pretend air ball then he bats it and tells me it was a homerun and proceeds to run around the kitchen table, like it is the Twins baseball field. As he is running he is screaming HOMERUN!!!HOMERUN!!! He is so little but is so loud. When something is on the TV and he doesn't like it he stands there and shuts it on and off as if it is going to magically change the channel and not shut off.

His newest and greatest discovery is the microwave. He can reach the microwave!!! He thinks its great and I think its scary. He tries to put house hold items like pens, pencils, toy cars ect. inside it. This is not good. He tries to be very very sneaky but I have busted him every single time. Lucky no fires or explosions, even though I think Trey would think it was cool. Brayden loves opening and closing that door on the microwave. Your probably thinking -they have locks for that type of thing so just put a lock on it. You have no idea what this kid can get into so there is no use putting a lock on it. I think he might be a mini locksmith. May be I can send him out on some locksmith jobs (except I think that might not go over to well with child labor law stuff). We have gone through three different types of locks on our cabinets and he can still get in. We have some on our cabinets currently, I believe its for decorations because I know they don't work or it could be just wishful thinking that they will magically work some day.

Trey lost some teeth the other night and Brayden can't wrap his brain around the fact Trey doesn't have all of his teeth. He keeps asking to see Trey's teeth and of course Trey was proud to show Brayden the first 50 times he asked but after that it was a little much. So if he asks you to see your teeth or asks if your teeth are broken you will know why.

He is totally into coloring or should I say making you color/draw what he wants on his paper. I believe he has a game plan regarding coloring and drawing. He finds a writing utensil this could be a crayon, pen, pencil, marker, paint brush then asks for a piece of paper (because he knows he can't write on anything else or he gets a timeout) yes we have some lovely drawings on our walls downstairs. When you go to hand him the paper he asks you to draw him, so you feel like OK I can draw you. But he doesn't stop and by the time he or should I say You are done coloring and drawing everyone in our family and some selected non family members we are all on skateboards wearing helmets being sassy. Yep, sassy that is how he describes what the people should look like in the picture. Not sure were that word came from but he loves it.

He also loves to play with his big brother. Trey and Brayden sometimes play "touch-down football". This is how it is played- Trey throws the air football and Brayden has to catch it and run for the touch-down as Trey is running the touch-down in at the same time and who ever makes it back to the starting point and yells touch-down wins. The problem with this game is that very frequently, Trey is making it to the starting point before Brayden even has a chance. He will cry and then the cycle continues until I have to stop the game. This game brings back memories of my cousins Rachel and Josh. They would play cowboys and would use their fingers as the guns. Rachel would shot Josh and he would have to fall on the ground. As so as he was ready to get up she would shot him again and this process would continued until he just laid there helpless and defeated by the older sibling. One would think-you know the outcome so why do you play it but I think it is just a sibling thing and most of us have that one game we did even though we knew we would win. My sister and I had servants and my boys have touch-down football.
We will see if Brayden ever gets to win at "touch-down football" but I do know both my boys have great things ahead of them!!!

Halloween

The Thursday before Halloween- Brayden had his blood work appointment. We don't find out the results until this Thursday. He did really well. He doesn't cry when he gets his blood draw done and it just amazes all the staff. This time he had to get blood out of both arms because the one we started from stopped bleeding. He didn't mind and watched them take blood.

The Friday before Halloween-Kyle, Treyton and I craved pumpkins, while Brayden painted his white one. Yes, I said white! When they went pumpkin picking he really wanted a white one. When it was time to crave it, I put it up on the table and he looked at it and said  "Beautiful" this was pre-paint. Brayden didn't like the insides of the pumpkins and would almost throw-up when he would touch it. Trey thought it was really funny Brayden didn't like the insides.

 Last night was Brayden's first Halloween experience. We did some trick or treating in the day light to some special people: Papa and grandma, Pa and Nana, and Tracy and Mike. We then headed over to the Clayton's house for the real party. The kids were all dressed up in their costumes and ready to go before the sun was even down. It is such a different scene than last year. Last year Brayden got dressed up for 2 seconds and didn't get to trick or treat. He was so sick and couldn't walk. The emotions behind how you feel to see your child so healthy compared to last year is so breath-taking it makes you cry with happiness. It might not seem like a big thing to take your kids out to treat or treat but it is. The image of your child sick and unable to walk breaks your heart and the fact that this year he gets to is so wonderful. A childhood memory gets to form and be enjoyed for years to come. This year was a completely different story from last. Brayden was so funny. At every door he would try to be the first one at the door and would yell trick or treat. We could hear him down the drive way if that tells you how loud he was! He kept right up with the big kids. When he would leave a house he would tell them peace or peace out. I think he has been hanging out with his big brother a little. He would only hold Malik or Sara's hand (our friends we went out trick or treating with). I guess Brayden was to good for his parents :) ! All the kids collected a bunch of candy and couldn't wait to trade candy. We for sure thought Brayden would be ready to crash when we got home, but he was doing laps around the table. He didn't get to have candy either so not sure what happened. Trey on the other hand couldn't wait to go to bed. This morning Brayden wanted M&Ms for breakfast and lunch and  will most likely want it for dinner too. Big thanks to the Clayton's for a wonderful time!

This Thursday will be our big day at the Mayo clinic again. We find out if Brayden's doctor appointments can get pushed back it every 6 months instead of 3 and find out his blood results. Please pray for Brayden as we continue his journey. What a Blessing we have and such a great opportunity to see our blessing through someone so small.

The Gifts In The Choices We Make

So very often it is hard to see the blessings presented to us, when all we see is the problem. I feel it is human nature to look at a situation and think 'why me' or 'why do I have to go through this'. God has a plan and in that plan he has blessings for all for us. Each one of us at some point in time have struggled up the mountain only to slip further down into the depths of the unknown. We often don't see at the time there is a reason this is happening to us. It is often more easier to think of negatively about the situation then having a positive attitude for the gift that you may be receiving. We so often take for granite the ability to change situations we don't want to be in. All we can see is darkness, but really there is a completely different path we can take that has light and support if we choose. I am writing today to let everyone know that the choices we make can really provide gifts that we might not expect.

The other day, I ran out to the mailbox to find a envelope addressed to the Parents of Brayden. It was from the Mayo Clinic. I go inside and open it up to find one of the most wonderful gifts from a choice Kyle and I made. We struggled so much with who we wanted Brayden's doctor to be and to over see his progress. We prayed every day for answers to the path we should take. We were at a breaking point when the medication being prescribed for Brayden was being changed by the doctor at every visit. The path we were taking with Brayden's medication was not what we felt was best for him. At the time, we were thinking why do we have to go through this and why can't we have confidence in our son's doctor. Well my answer came the other day...As I am reading Brayden's medical record they send us from each visit, it says "I have been following him for about 7 to 8 months. At this time he is doing quite well. He has not been on steroids for several months and Interval History is basically UNREMARKABLE." For his history to be unremarkable means there has not be anything that would cause them to worry and make them think he is in a 'flare-up'. WOW that's all I could think. This is why we went through all of that. He did answer our prayers and we are so Blessed to have him guide us through all of this! We were able to see the path we should take. Listen to yourself. You are often the only one that can make the choice to change a problem or situation in your life. And because we felt that the way things were heading was not the situation we wanted to put Brayden in we made choices to change. We now have the report of UNREMARKABLE. Take action and may be your problem or situation can turn into something you may dream of.

Hopes of making a change...

Last week my family attended the Arthritis walk in Edina, Minnesota. As I sit here and reflect on the day, I thank God we are so blessed. We have such an amazing little family. The disease that Brayden has can be so harsh and devastating. He is such a trooper and really shows us what life is about. It is all the little things we may take for granted. The ability to walk, run and jump may become hard for a person surviving with arthritis but all the people at this walk were so determined and happy to have the opportunity to do this event. You could see in there eyes, the pride with every step they took. We are bless to have this opportunity for our family to see this first hand. Many parents get upset when their kids are running around or jumping off the couch. But I pray every night Brayden can wake up every day and run around the house with his brother and "jump to the sky", as he says. My hope is one day they will find a cure for all these people, so parents don't have to go to bed and wonder if their kids will wake up and be able to walk.

We might be getting one step closer. A special thing happened in the House of Representatives. They Passed The Arthritis Prevention, Control, Cure Act on Sept. 30, 2010. This will help provide more funding towards helping find a cure in research, it will help encourage more pediatric rheumatology doctors and many more things for people surviving with this disease.