Christmas 2007

Briscoe/Thalken Christmas 2007!!
Michael, Gavyn, & I spent some of Christmas Eve day at the hospital with Joshua, then that early evening went to my parents where we had a big Turkey dinner and had a great time just hanging out with all of us kids! I am so lucky to have a husband that fits in SO WELL with my family as if he had grown up with us! He is Awesome! Then, that night Micahel and I went back up to the hospital to see Joshua and spent quit awhile up there- he looked so cute in his little Christmas pj's and wide awake!
Christmas morning we all woke up and Josh, Marian, & Emily came over at 8am and we started the Christmas Story and then opened presents!! It took us forever! We didn't eat breakfast until 1pm!
After we ate; Michael, Gavyn, & I went home and took showers and had our own little family Christmas minus Joshua :( Gavyn's main gift was this train track his daddy built him that we still have to put on a table (someday :)) Gavyn loved it and didn't want to stop playing it, but we had to leave and go back up to the hospital where we spent most of our afternoon/evening. Then we took Gavyn to downtown Ft. Worth to the big Christmas tree- he loved it! After freezing out tooshies off we went back to Josh & Marians for a Christmas Day Night Cap with coffee from Joshua's VERY NICE expresso machine- it is like a mini Starbucks...mmmm... :)
My favorite gift this year was a scrap book/ picture album my little 14 year old brother, Brandon made me... it was so much work and so thoughtful.. I have the BEST family EVER!!!! My favorite moment was when we went to see Joshua and he smiled SO BIG at me it made me cry!! I can't wait to get him home and have a REAL FIRST CHRISTMAS with him next year!!! This year just wasn't complete without him home :( We miss you Joshy! Love ya, Mommy & Daddy!
Anyhow, now that I am crying... we did have a wonderful, unforgettable Christmas as we had a new son this year and a 2 year old that always knows how to make us laugh. Gavyn was so fun to watch this year, he could unwrap all his presents by himself- such a big boy!



Original blog with pictures :Briscoe/Thalken Christmas 2007!!

Michael, Gavyn, & I spent some of Christmas Eve day at the hospital with Joshua, then that early evening went to my parents where we had a big Turkey dinner and had a great time just hanging out with all of us kids! I am so lucky to have a husband that fits in SO WELL with my family as if he had grown up with us! He is Awesome! Then, that night Micahel and I went back up to the hospital to see Joshua and spent quit awhile up there- he looked so cute in his little Christmas pj's and wide awake!

Christmas morning we all woke up and Josh, Marian, & Emily came over at 8am and we started the Christmas Story and then opened presents!! It took us forever! We didn't eat breakfast until 1pm!

After we ate; Michael, Gavyn, & I went home and took showers and had our own little family Christmas minus Joshua :( Gavyn's main gift was this train track his daddy built him that we still have to put on a table (someday :)) Gavyn loved it and didn't want to stop playing it, but we had to leave and go back up to the hospital where we spent most of our afternoon/evening. Then we took Gavyn to downtown Ft. Worth to the big Christmas tree- he loved it! After freezing out tooshies off we went back to Josh & Marians for a Christmas Day Night Cap with coffee from Joshua's VERY NICE expresso machine- it is like a mini Starbucks...mmmm... :)

My favorite gift this year was a scrap book/ picture album my little 14 year old brother, Brandon made me... it was so much work and so thoughtful.. I have the BEST family EVER!!!! My favorite moment was when we went to see Joshua and he smiled SO BIG at me it made me cry!! I can't wait to get him  home and have a REAL FIRST CHRISTMAS with him next year!!! This year just wasn't complete without him home :( We miss you Joshy! Love ya, Mommy & Daddy!

Anyhow, now that I am crying... we did have a wonderful, unforgettable Christmas as we had a new son this year and a 2 year old that always knows how to make us laugh. Gavyn was so fun to watch this year, he could unwrap all his presents by himself- such a big boy!

Here are some pictures of Christmas Eve Day/Chrismas Eve/ & Christmas Day!

Christmas Eve-

Me and Gavyn making Jesus' Birthday Cake!

Aunt Bobo pretending like she helped.. :)

Gavyn loves to help me bake, but his favorite part is trying everything :)

"Happy Birthday Jesus"

The kids just love Michael- I think he will be the uncle all the kids will fight over!

Josh gought Gavyn a Cowboys Santa hat, "why do they make Cowboy Santa Hats?"

Nana with Em

4 out of 5 of my lovely sisters....

The Happy Couple!

Gavyn loves his uncle Josh!

"Little Girl" Em's first build a rein-bear!

Spending the rest of the evening with baby Joshy!

Yes, we all slept in the same bed... imagine that?!! It was fun, I felt like we were kids again!!

Christmas Day!

Em and her stocking...

Gavyn and his stocking...

"Little Dude- Mikey the Monkey" Gavyn's 1st build-a-bear that Grandma and Grandpa T. gave him. He LOVED it!

That is the Coolest Shirt EVER Josh!

Gavyn's main gift- the train set his Daddy made for  him!

Little Joshy on Christmas Day

The Christmas Tree in Down Town Ft. Worth..

 

Hope Everyone had a VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!!

Surgery update

Surgery Update
Joshua's surgery went very well yesterday, it lasted about 2 1/2 hours. The surgeon ended up having to remove only 2cm in one section of the bowel and re-attached it, and then also had to cut out a piece to stretch the bowel in another section. They also went ahead and put another Central Line in & did Joshua's circumcision while they had him in there. So he had a BIG day and was so worn out and in pain- they gave him Morphine throughout night and kept him comfortable.
He was able to get exibited(sp?) off ventilators right after surgery, but then his heart rate kept dropping last night so he is on 1 L of oxygen and might have to go back on the Bubble C-Pap sometime today- our prayer is that he starts doing good on his own and won't have to have any help breathing!

The surgeons hope is that Joshua's bowels will start moving again in the next 3-5 days(during a surgery they shut down for a little while- this is normal). Then we will be able to SLOWLY start feeds again and see if those intestines are working again :)
Praise The Lord for another Miracle and a Safe recovery for the little guy!! GOD IS GOOD!!!!

I will keep you updated as much as I can, now that he is in the NICU I will be pretty much living up there so it makes it a little harder to keep y'all posted, but I will try!

KEEP US IN YOUR PRAYERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

LOVE YOU ALL,

Surgery Scheduled... :(

SURGERY AGAIN!!!! Current mood: bummed
Well It looks like we are going to have surgery AGAIN, this will be Joshua's 3rd GUT surgery an 4th surgery total... :( Why oh why??!!!
We found out on Monday that Joshua was going to have extensive testing done on Tuesday; which he did, we were in testing from 8am Tues. morn till 4am Wed. morn. We were waiting on the results till midnight last night and then I got the call... the one you dread and think your going to die if you get it!! They think he has a stricture that isn't allowing his food to go through the small intestines; this requires another surgery to remove the intestines where the stricture is.........
I have been at the hospital all day today just waiting to talk to the surgeon about what exactly they found and what their plan is. The surgeon has been in surgery all day and I have been told that he will come talk to me sometime between 10pm-12pm tonight- remind you, i haven't talked to him since I got a call at Midnight last night!! I am slowly starting to go crazy knowing my baby is having surgery and I don't know the details..................I can't explain the tension going on in my body; I didn't think this would be bareable for a mother to handle, but the Lord keeps surprising me with His Strength and His Patience!!! I still walk in the flesh with frustration and dissapointment, but I put my sight on the Father and He keeps me Steadfast and Strong!!! It is amazing and a complete Miracle I think!!! So, thank you for all your prayers!!! Now we just need another surgery to go well and a quick recovery.
They are moving Joshua back to the NICU tonight (he has been in the NPCU for the last 3 weeks). Then, in the morning sometime they will send him down to OR and then he will recovery in the NICU until he is stable- then he will be moved back to NPCU(Newborn Progressive Care Unit). We are praying that Joshua will recover so fast that he will be back in NPCU by next week!!!!! Please pray with us for that!!!!!!!
Once he is back there the plan is to start feeds again, and hopefully this time work on going home FOR REAL!!!!!!!! :) I JUST CAN'T WAIT!!!!!!!!!!
Ok, so here is my MOTHER'S CRY for prayer again for my little Joshua Ryan who is now 10weeks old and weighing 6+lbs!!!!
I posted some new cute pictures of him in my "Baby Joshua" & "Christmas 2007" photo album's - go check them out and leave him some LOVE!
HE IS JUST THE CUTEST NEWBORN PREEMIE EVER???!!!!!! He looks so healthy to me he doesn't even look like a "normal preemie."- PRAISE THE LORD FOR SUCH A GIFT!!!! OUR LITTLE ANGEL BABY!!!!!!!!

More Tests

MORE TESTS..... :(
We have gotten word that Joshua is having more complications with his intestines which is probably why he has been having trouble with his feeds and such.

He will be in Radiology all day tomorrow having the EXACT tests that I had back in August that proved I was a Miracle and Crohn's Free!!!!

Joshua's Dr. told me that they are sure they will find a Partial Obstruction and he will have to have another surgery to have that part of the intestines removed. If this was the case they wouldn't even be able to start feeds for 2 weeks and they would have to go VERY slow this time- translating to me that we will be here at least another month.

I know that God has SUCH AN AMAZING PLAN for Joshua!!!! We have been praying and expecting God to show His Power of Healing in the way that would touch the most lives!!!

Please pray for our Miracle Baby that God would shock these dr.'s like He shocked mine back in August!

We probably won't know anything until late tomorrow night or Wed. morning, but as soon as I hear something I will let you know.

Love you All!

Please Pray!!

PLEASE PRAY!!!!
I am asking for prayer for a friend of mine who knows a girl who is planning on having an abortion this Friday @ 9AM.
This is the email I recieved from my friend
"She found out last week that she's pregnant and she's abording it. She says it's "not the right time" to have a baby. She is just coming around to building a relationship with God and she doesn't fully grasp the entire idea of abortion. Around here, there are few who do. I may very well be the only person in her life that doesn't support abortion. Please pray with me that God will encounter her. There's only so much I can do, but it's what God can do through us that brings revelations, insight, and change. It's a holy spirit encounter that has to be done by HIM. I've been very bothered by this whole thing. She knows my views,and she's concerned that I will look at her differently and judge her, but I want to show her unconditional love. She WILL one day regret this and when she does, I want her to know that God never stopped loving her and never turned His back on her. I want God to have the glory over this situation,not the devil!
The only reasons I can think that she's doing this, is that in her mind it's the best option. In her mind, she wouldn't have the finances to raise this baby and be all the she wants to be, so it wouldn't be fair to bring it into the world and it would be a strain on her marriage. She loves children so much and gets frustrated when parents have children,then don't take care of them. In her mind she's doing what she thinks is best. She needs a true encounter from God, to reveal the truth to her! I know that she is hungry for Him. She has expressed that to me in significant ways. She and her husband are working on their marriage (they have basically done all but renew their vows) and I see her genuinely working so hard on trying to do the right thing. She has expressed to me that she wants her and her husband to hang out with Chris and I more because she likes what she sees in our marriage. I pray that God will continue to bring married couples that know the Lord into their lives and they will just begin to encounter the Lord on a regular basis.

Her abortion appointment is for 9am this Friday,the 21st. Will you please pray with me and agree with me that God will have the glory? And that He would encounter her, so that she may change her mind before it's too late? Pray that He will also give me the words to say when she does open up to me. "

THANK YOU FOR KEEPING THIS IN YOUR PRAYERS!!! I WILL POST SOMETHING AS I HEAR.

Dissapointment

Dissapointment
The Lord has done a Good Work here and has really be dealing with me in the area of disappointment. I know you have been walking this journey with me all along so I wanted to share with you what the Lord shared with me.

On Tuesday night Joshua started acting sick again, and then Thursday night at 1am we received a phone call from the hospital about Joshua having blood in his stool and etc.. Immediately I was upset, wondering Why God? I felt like I was let down by the Father and my prayers weren't being answered, maybe because I was praying wrong or maybe people had stopped praying so hard because we thought Joshua was doing so well??... Honestly, I knew my thoughts were wrong and I was being tormented by disappointment- I knew that, and yet still didn't understand why I was being disappointed when I KNEW without a shadow of doubt that the Lord has His Hand on Joshua and He is Healing him and has a Purpose for Everything He is doing~! Well, I feel like I got my answer as to why I was disappointed and why He was allowing me to go through this, and maybe He is allowing all of those who care for Joshua to go through it for this very reason- this is what God showed me and I hope this ministers to you as it has to me! I love you All!!!

"Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life. - Proverbs 13:12"Life is filled with disappointments. Many of God's greatest servants experienced deep disappointment in their journeys of faithfulness to God. Joseph, after spending years as a slave and in jail for crimes that he did not commit, revealed deep disappointment when he was forgotten another two years in prison. John the Baptist, when awaiting execution, doubted whether Jesus was, in fact, the Christ because he was sitting there awaiting his death. Elijah, losing all hope and despondent to the point of death, asked God to take his life in the desert; and Peter, who left his fishing business and invested three years of his life only to watch his Savior crucified, wondered whether the purpose of those three years could be justified.When life doesn't add up, it leaves the heart sick. When we have done all we know to do and the formula has not worked, it leaves us questioning. These are times that try the very souls of men. There is no human sense to be made of it. We are left with a choice: to cling or not to cling. There are times when holding on to our Master's robe is all that we can do. It is all that He wants us to do.There is only one answer to life's disappointments. Like the psalmist, we must
"Find rest, O my soul, in God alone; my hope comes from Him. He alone is my rock and my salvation; He is my fortress, I will not be shaken" (Ps. 62:5-6).

Take Refuge in the Father and He will carry you!!!

Joshua's Journey Cont....

Thank you for all the prayers & encouragment through this time, it has been carrying Michael and I when we couldn't carry ourselves! Thank you!
Ok so the dr.'s can't find out why Joshua is having blood in his stool because all of his tests are coming back ok. Their best guess is that he has Milk Protein Allergy along with Reflux disease. Meaning the things in our body that break down our protein are non exsistant in Joshua's body(probably because of all the trauma he has gone through). Therefore, Joshua's body cannot break down protein and it takes at least 6 weeks for his body to heal itself. They have put him on a special formula that is already broken down and digested for him (it tastes and stinks like you could not imagine) I gagged the first time I fed it to him :pThe concern with this milk is that it does taste so aweful, and some babies refuse to drink it; which would result in tubes or G buttons. We don't want EITHER!!!!!!!! In the Name of Jesus Joshua will not have to do either one of those! Our hope is that the milk will taste like honey and he will do fine with it :) He has already had 5 bottles of 20cc and sucked them right down he was so starving from not being fed! So, hopefully by the time we get to 45 or 60cc he will be used to the taste and won't care! As far as the breast feeding goes- if I am going to do it I will have to live a cow's milk- free diet for 6 weeks!!! LOL!!!! People, I need your prayer!!!! I know it sounds shallow of me, but this would be extremely hard for me, especially when I will not have the time to worry about what I am cooking everyday and if it has any cow milk protein in it or not!! :( This is coming from someone who is infatuated with CHEESE- COW's CHEESE!!!! So, if you could please lift me up in your prayers that the Lord gives me unique recipe's and lots of help when it comes to this- I am going to try it out because I think the breastfeeding is worth it! I just need prayers to help me! Thank you SO MUCH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
If there are any changes I will let you know ASAP like always, but as of right now we are trying the special milk with reflux medicine and doing x-ray's everyday to make sure nothing shows up. Joshua is still on antibiotics and iron supplement and they are having trouble EVERYDAY finding veins, so you can pray that his veins start popping up and they won't have to poke him so many times! :(
Thanks for all the prayer- we need all we can get! Love you all!

Joshua Ryan's Journey Cont....

This is a plea for those of you who have been praying for Joshua, please don't stop till he is home!!! This will be the 3rd time the hospital has told us that our baby will be coming home in the next few days and it is devistating when it doesn't actually happen. I don't want to be devastated again, I don't think I can handle it!!!!!!!!!!!!
We have been in the hospital now for almost 10 weeks and we have been there 10 weeks too long!!!!!! I am exhausted emotionally and physically and any other way you can think of :( I am tired of this rollercoaster that we have been living on for the last 2 1/2 months!!!!!!!
As most of you know the doctors told us that Joshua should be going home this weekend and that we will be rooming in VERY SOON! Well, last night and today Joshua would not drink a bottle, and when he was forced fed he would throw it up. The doctor wasn't happy with this at all, since Joshua was doing so well and taking 60cc like a champ! Now we are lucky if we can get him to take 20cc without throwing up. He said the fist thing that comes to mind is another infection, but the blood tests are coming back negative and we have had him on antibiotics for 10days now. He did have his Spinal Tap and MRI today so maybe that drained him? We just don't know at this point! So, they went ahead and put a feeding tube down his nose for now and we are just going to watch every feeding! The point is, Joshua will not be able to come home until he is taking 8 bottles a day of 60cc by mouth for at least a couple of days! So, we REALLY need your prayers that Sooner than Later Joshua will start bottle feeding again so he can come home SOON!
In the midst of my emotional breakdown last night, I had a thought that I know is not true but when I go out of my mind I think unrealistically :*
Basically I was fed the lie that Joshua was probably getting sick again because we all thought he was doing better and maybe weren't pressing in and interceeding for him as hard as we have been. Like I said, I know this was a lie from the enemy because I know there are still TONS of people praying and interceeding over Joshua's life. For those of you who are, THANK YOU!!!!
As soon as I had these tormenting thoughts I quickly remembered all of the text messages, emails, and myspace comments I have received from people who are praying for Joshua- that thought immediately lifted my spirit and I felt like I was being carried by all of your prayers! So Thank you so much from the bottom of my heart- Please don't stop; your prayer's, thought's, concern's, and encouragment's are sometimes the only thing's that get us threw the hardest times!!!!!
Love you All!!! Bless you, bless you, bless you!!!!
12/12/07 1AM
Well, it is 1am Thursday morning and we just received a call from the hospital that they found blood in Joshua's stool and ran X-ray's. The X-ray's were questionable so they have stopped feeds AGAIN and started IV AGAIN!! :( They are running some more x-rays at 8am and we are hoping they find NOTHING!!!!!! PLEASE PRAY FOR JOSHUA- that all the tests will come back normal!
The nurse said that because they had to stop feeds and start IV again, that the likely hood of him going home this weekend is not good :(
I KNOW THAT PRAYERS ARE GOING UP FOR JOSHUA AND ALL OF US, WE APPRECIATE THEM ALL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Joshua Ryan's Journey Cont....

TODAY WAS A GREAT DAY!!!!!!
I took Gavyn with me to the hospital all day; and we had a such a great time! This morning the Dallas Cowboys came up there, and so Gavyn got to meet most of them and take pictures with them! They gave him a big bag of Cowboy's stuff & The Star Telegram asked if they could post in the morning paper one of the pictures they took of Gavyn with the players, of course, I said "yes" so they took his name and his age; it will be interesting to see if they actually post it :) We were there to get a football signed for baby Joshua since he couldn't be there :( and we left with much more! THANK YOU COWBOYS!!!!

Then after we took pictures with the Cowboys, Gavyn got to go take pictures with his little brother. :) And let me tell you how precious it was; Gavyn ran right up to his crib and started talking to him about Christmas this and that, and Joshua, eyes wide open, stared and listened to every word :) They really had a moment and I captured it on video/camera! It was so sweet it almost brought me to heavy tears;) I can't wait to watch them grow up together and watch that bond between them grow strong! They will be best friends!! :)

As if that wasn't enough, the hospital had a movie night; and played the new movie "Enchanted," which we both really enjoyed it, Gavyn actually watched the whole movie.
It is hard having your baby sick and in the hospital for 9 weeks, but if you have do it, Cooks Ft. Worth is the place to do it apparently! They have been SO wonderful with Joshua and all of us!! Gavyn gets awesome treatment when he is there, they spoil him as if he were the patient! They really care about the whole family, and getting the whole family through this journey together! We feel blessed that even though these 9 weeks have been harder than you could have imagined, God has taken care of our needs and even Gavyn's and blessed us in this situation!!
Thank you SO MUCH for your prayers! They are being answered and we are happy to say sooner than later :)
Our BIGGEST news I have about my day today; is that the Dr. told us that Joshua will be going home next Monday as long as nothing else happens from now until then. In the Name of Jesus nothing else will happen and our baby boy will be home with us FINALLY next week, 7 DAYS BEFORE CHRISTMAS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Praise The Lord!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
We are So grateful for all your prayers! We know that it is because of your prayers that we will have Joshua healthy, and home for Christmas!!!!!!!!!!!!!
THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!
PEACE & JOY!!!

A good day...

TODAY WAS A GREAT DAY!!!!!!

   I took Gavyn with me to the hospital all day; and we had a such a great time! This morning the Dallas Cowboys came up there, and so Gavyn got to meet most of them and take pictures with them! They gave him a big bag of Cowboy's stuff & The Star Telegram asked if they could post in the morning paper one of the pictures they took of Gavyn with the players, of course, I said "yes" so they took his name and his age; it will be interesting to see if they actually post it :) We were there to get a football signed for baby Joshua since he couldn't be there :( and we left with much more! THANK YOU COWBOYS!!!!

       Then after we took pictures with the Cowboys, Gavyn got to go take pictures with his little brother. :) And let me tell you how precious it was; Gavyn ran right up to his crib and started talking to him about Christmas this and that, and Joshua, eyes wide open, stared and listened to every word :) They really had a moment and I captured it on video/camera! It was so sweet it almost brought me to heavy tears;) I can't wait to watch them grow up together and watch that bond between them grow strong! They will be best friends!! :)

         As if that wasn't enough, the hospital had a movie night; and played the new movie "Enchanted," which we both really enjoyed it, Gavyn actually watched the whole movie.

        It is hard having your baby sick and in the hospital for 9 weeks, but if you have do it, Cooks Ft. Worth is the place to do it apparently! They have been SO wonderful with Joshua and all of us!! Gavyn gets awesome treatment when he is there, they spoil him as if he were the patient! They really care about the whole family, and getting the whole family through this journey together! We feel blessed that even though these 9 weeks have been harder than you could have imagined, God has taken care of our needs and even Gavyn's and blessed us in this situation!!

       Thank you SO MUCH for your prayers! They are being answered and we are happy to say sooner than later :)

       Our BIGGEST news I have about my day today; is that the Dr. told us that Joshua will be going home next Monday as long as nothing else happens from now until then. In the Name of Jesus nothing else will happen and our baby boy will be home with us FINALLY next week, 7 DAYS BEFORE CHRISTMAS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Praise The Lord!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We are So grateful for all your prayers! We know that it is because of your prayers that we will have Joshua healthy, and home for Christmas!!!!!!!!!!!!!

THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!

PEACE & JOY!!!