Take Me Out

... to the ball game! Thanks, Joan, and Houston/Gulf Coast Spina Bifida Association, for the tickets to the Astros game tonight. (Unfortunately, we lost 4-0).

Paton and Paton

This is Paton Bray with his new friend Paton Ngian. Both are named after John Paton. The "other" Paton's the son of friends Ping & Melanie. Enjoyed a great time together today!

Paton's First Trip to the Sea

Our kids absolutely love the ocean. We were able to take a break and head down to Galveston for the day, a few weeks ago. Paton wasn't too sure about the splashing, but he loved watching his siblings!

Paton's Skateboard

Paton's had a series of three casts, and now he has specially designed boots and a leg brace to hold his feet in an outward position. The point of this is to help his left foot hold a normal shape eventually. He doesn't seem to mind too much. He is SUCH a good boy! And cute?!! Of course, Dad's not at all prejudiced. :) He goes in for doctors' visits every week or so. So far all is going well for his shunt. He actually seems to have quite a bit of leg movement right now. We'll see in time. But we are just SO thrilled that God's given the little fella to us!

First Cast

The little fella's gotten his first cast. When he was first born, everyone was saying he had a "club foot," but when we first went to the orthopedic department, they said they did not think so, but that we should just stretch his foot out. Well, the other day he saw a specialist, who was sure that his foot would need corrective casting and bracing. So, he'll have a new cast every week for the next 5 or so weeks, and then he'll also get a series of leg braces. Lord willing, this will be a real help. We got groceries tonight, and I can't tell you how many people stopped us to ask what happened to the little fella. We keep praying for good opportunities to glorify God.





Last week we had a couple of really nice "family days." On one of the rainy days we went to a mall with a great play-place and an ice skating rink. Daddy did not fall once, and actually got pretty fast. Hannah started slow, but by the end was skating out in the middle with a lot of confidence. She can't wait 'till the next time.

Birthday Season

The beginning of the year is "birthday season" for half the BrayCrew. Paton's in January, Charis is February, and David's March. We had a great time celebrating with Charis and David. Enjoyed times with friends. Wish we were closer to our family. David was thrilled with his cake, as you can see in the video! Aunt Es made a gorgeous princess dress for Charis, which she SO willingly modeled for us. This week we're enjoying a little extra time together. God is so good.

On my back!

Good news!  The neurosurgeon said today that Paton can now lie on his back!  Now we can use the car seat instead of being strapped down face down in a car bed.  And it makes it much easier to hold him and do just about everything.  We are so happy.  It also helps that we don't have to put the protective covering on his back anymore.  That was about a 6-step process that had to be done every day.  The kids had a great time with Paton today.  We are so, so thankful.