The Best Christmas Gift

Its been a LONG time since I have updated the blog. 

Its been pretty quiet and uneventful  lately but today is a worthy day for an update! 

We went to Jace's epileptologist appointment today. We follow up with her every 6 months. 

Last time we saw her, she decreased Jace's Banzel just a tad. She was not too interested in weaning him soon. She even mentioned that Jace may have to be on an anti-epileptic forever just to be safe. 

I pray all the time that Jace would be taken off medication completely, one day. I knew that as he grew, he would eventually outgrow his dose and that alone would be proof that he doesn't need anymore.  

Today we left his appointment with a titration schedule to get him off Banzel completely!! 

Thank you God for answering our prayers! He is so very faithful!! 

 She said she was only ok with this if we had Diastat on hand for any emergencies. I will gladly accept this "stipulation" to be able to see Jace be medication free! I can't wait to see what else he will pick up when he has the fog lifted that medication can cause. 

This is the best Christmas present I could have been given this year! 

Along with this great news, we also received some worrisome news. 

We did an MRI and renal ultrasound back in August. The MRI came back with no changes from before.

However, they did find cysts on his kidneys.  She said it was nothing to be alarmed by but that we should see the pediatric nephrologist to follow up and keep an eye on this. 

I will not allow this to scare me and I will cling to Jesus. 

I am always being placed back to knowing I must depend on Him! 

I will adding to my prayers that these cysts are taken away! God is our healer! 

I love that I can put faith in Him.......Jace is not mine. He is God's child! 

God has His arms wrapped tightly around Jace! 

Christmas is almost here and I we are so excited here at the Bryan household! 

Here are some family pictures we took this year. 

MERRY CHRISTMAS FROM OUR FAMILY TO YOURS!!! 

It's Back to School Time...

Jace's doctor asked him to be the poster kid for their 1st annual epilepsy reunion. 

This year it was held at the zoo right before Halloween. 

This was one of the pictures we took for that poster and inviation. 

Levi is growing like crazy and learning new things all the time.
He has been working on his fine motor skills but gets frustrated pretty easily.
Its actually pretty funny :)

Along with fine motor skills, he has learned how to go down the stairs!

We took Jace to the movies for the first time. We went to see Planes!
He LOVED it and did so well in the theater.

Asking Daddy for some candy

"WOW!!!" 

Levi's hair is starting to get so long and is due for a haircut! 

Look at that hair!! 

So, we went to the kid haircut place and got his hair cut! 

Our 1st haircut keepsake

Jace went back to school. This year he will be attending the afternoon PPCD class. 

I hope he loves it this year! 

We are so happy that he will have the same teachers as last year. 

Frio Family Vacation - Not Here for a Long Time, but Here for a Good Time

We have had a trip to the Frio river planned for quite a while. 

We were SO excited when the time came to go! 

We rented a condo with Justin's oldest brother and his family.

 It was the perfect set up for all of us and we all had a blast! 

Headed to Concan, TX

The condo were not right on the river but there was a pool! 

Jace playing in the pool with his cousins.

It was so gorgeous on the hill that the condos were on. 

Jace's favorite part was playing with Brooks! He loves his cousins. 

Kisses for baby brother! 

Hey, hey! You have about 20 more years until you can have some of those! 

(the box was empty for anyone worried we let our children play with beer) 

Naptime for Levi and Daddy

All 4 of us floated the Frio River. The river did require more walking than one would like but it was not too bad with the two boys with us. We would not have been able to be that leisurely about floating so it worked out well. We got each boy a tube of their own. Even when we got to the areas where you had to walk the boys were light enough to float across the few inches of water. The float lasted about 2 hours total. Both boys did AMAZING too! I can't wait to go back next year!  

The next day we went to the swimming hole at Neal's Lodge. 

Snack in the car before going to the swimming hole

The boys built a rock castle together. 

We went for a walk later on that evening......after a mess snack of course! 

And we also went to the dance they had one evening. 

The boys were tired but they enjoyed dancing! 

It was so sad to leave this gorgeous place but we will be back! 

Great memories made and we will be back next year! 

Cousins - built in friends for life!