Lesson learned from the GFCF Diet

Pre- Gluten-Free/Casein-Free Diet, I fed Noah ALOT of (unhealthy) Gerber meals... you know, the kind that you just pop in the microwave. I did it because it was so easy and it didn't cause any kind of mess in my kitchen (like dishes to wash, etc.) I was big on convenience foods. However, since implementing this diet, I've had to go a different route... and it's SOOOO much more healthier and better for Noah.

Here's some examples of what I've been feeding him Post- GFCF Diet:

scrambled eggs
Gluten Free Chex w/ Rice Milk
Steamed Veggies (with a little butter substitute and garlic salt)
Turkey meat (I'll tear it into pieces and mix it with stuff, such as the veggies)
White Rice
Lots of fruit (strawberries, peaches, oranges, applesauce)
Peanut Butter and apples
Baked Potato (with butter sub. and Casein free cheese)
Raisins
Sweet Potato (w/ butter sub. and cinnamon)
Gluten free Pasta with Amy's All Natural Spaghetti Sauce (GFCF)
Grilled Chicken
Occasionally I'll do a Grilled Cheese (with Rice Almond Bread and Tofutti Cheese) or PB sandwich

I'm DEFINITELY feeding him better well-balanced meals and he LIKES it... which is the crazy part. He hardly eats bread or carbs anymore and he's eating fruits and veggies at almost every sitting. We used to give him so many carbs it was ridiculous. Pre-diet, instead of trying to come up with a healthy meal, I went for the easiest option, something pre-packaged and quick. My go-to meals were mac-n-cheese (you know, the microwave kind), soup, pb&j sandwich, hot dog weenies, grilled cheese, and gerber meals. So even if this GFCF diet doesn't have an effect on Noah, I'm still sticking with the healthy well-balanced meals, just non-GFCF versions. I will never buy another Gerber meal again!

Now, as far as any changes that I've noticed... none so far. But I've read where I need to keep it up for 1 - 2 months to notice a difference. One thing that I think I forgot to mention is that I'm also giving him liquid B-12 (as recommended) twice a day.

However, on a different note... this little boy is pulling up on any and everything now. He used to only do it on carpeted floors, mainly in the den, and only on something that was really sturdy, such as furniture. Now, he is no longer content just sitting on the floor; WHEREVER we are, he grabs onto something and stands up. He opens the bathroom drawers and stands up by holding onto them and then plays with whatever is in the drawer (99% of the time it all ends up on the floor because he loves emptying drawers). He grabs the kitchen counters and stands up.... barstools, the kitchen table, my leg, etc. I don't think words could express just HOW happy it makes me! And he's become fearless about it... he'll be in his socks and grab onto something and stand up in the kitchen (on the tile floor), and slide down because of his socks... only to turn right around and do it again. Just a couple of weeks ago, that made him so upset to the point where he would be crying (even if he didn't hurt anything). I KNOW walking is soooo close I can almost touch it! :) I CAN NOT WAIT for him to finish up his program next month because I truly think it's all he'll need to be walking all over the place! I told Jamie that when we come home from B'ham, it's my DREAM for Noah to walk to his daddy to hug him! The thought of that just makes my heart so happy. I know Jamie and I both would LOSE it if that were to happen. :)

Christmas Time... Warning: Lengthy Post!

I apologize in advance for this lengthy post... but I love having a "record" of what we did each Christmas, so I'm sparing no details. We had a wonderful Christmas! Christmas Eve Eve we went to Mom and Dad's where we exchanged gifts with Derrick (Lindsay's bf) before he headed home the next day. He and Lindsay got Noah an inflatable ball pit that was a HUGE hit! Noah had a great time playing with it. The next morning, Christmas Eve, we went to my grandmother's (my dad's mom) for breakfast and presents. My dad's family is LARGE with a grand total of 35 people when everyone is there. So it's pretty loud and crowded and crazy but always fun. Noah is always a little overwhelmed but he seems to be warming up to everyone alot more lately. He's gotten to where he plays some with the younger kids and he'll go to my other family members when they want to hold him. He was a bit uncomfortable while everyone was opening presents just because it was SOO loud and chaotic but he got over that pretty quickly. Afterwards, my mom took Noah to go play on the piano in my PaPaw's old bedroom and he had the greatest time banging on the keys with my cousin's little girl, Allison (who is a week older than Noah). Just to clarify, my Poppaw had Alzheimers for over 20 years and was bed-ridden for the last 7 years, so he was in a hospital bed in a seperate room from my grandmother... that's why I say "Poppaw's bedroom"... it's not like they slept seperately or anything. But back to the story, anyways, everyone came in to watch Noah and Allison play the piano, which led to my Aunt Linda (who is awesome at playing the piano) to begin playing Christmas songs, which caused everyone to join in singing. As corny as it sounds, it was actually a very special moment for me. My Aunt Lin in addition to be a great piano player, has a beautiful voice and my PawPaw used to LOVE listening to her sing and play. Here we all are in the bedroom he passed away in, singing and having a great time together. I KNEW he was smiling as he watched us. Not only that, but I was SO IMPRESSED with how many of my aunts and cousins (and my dad, which I already knew) could sing REALLY GOOD! It was definitely one of those moments I'll remember for a long time.

After MaMaw's house, Jamie, Noah and I went home to let Noah nap for a couple of hours, then on to visit Jamie's grandfather, Papa Jim, who had had back surgery the day before. We went from there to Jamie's parent's house for the evening. We used to always spend the night on Christmas Eve with them and the rest of Jamie's family but this year we decided we wanted to begin our own tradition of spending Christmas Eve at home (which was sooo nice). So they let us open our gifts that night. My goodness... they always do a really big Christmas and they didn't disappoint by any means. It's a good thing we just turned our spare bedroom upstairs into a playroom for Noah because we needed it after all the toys Noah racked up on. We really enjoyed spending the evening with Jamie's family; it's even more fun now that Noah's not the only kid... Madelyn is almost 10 months and Eastlon is almost 2 months so its great getting to play with and love on them.

Around 8:30 or so, we loaded up the back of the car so we could head home. By this time, it was raining pretty hard. We get Noah in his carseat and I'm in the car when Jamie realizes he can't find the keys. He runs back in the house to look for them, to no avail. After he and I search my purse, Noah's backpack and the front and back seats, we still can't find them. I drive an Expedition and the ENTIRE back was filled full of presents, and we were afraid Jamie had laid them down in the back while loading the trunk. SO, in the pouring rain, we unloaded the trunk and searched through every box and bag that we had loaded up but STILL couldn't find them. I run back in to look over the house... nothing. By the time I get back outside, Noah's screaming his head off and Jamie's very frustrated so I get Noah out of the car and run back inside (we are now all 3 soaking wet). Finally, after 10 more minutes or so Jamie checks Noah's bag again and finds them in the bottom of his backpack. I'm not pointing fingers butttt, it wasn't my fault! :) He was pretty frustrated at the situation, as was I, but the LAST thing I was going to do was say something to him. Anyways, we get home and after we all changed out of our soaking wet clothes, we were able to laugh about it. We had invited my parents and sister to spend the night with us since it's just the 3 of them. Noah had a second wind so we read The Night Before Christmas and played with a few of his new toys before putting him to bed. After an hour or so of assembling Santa gifts, we hit the sack!

Noah LOVED playing with his new toys and was so excited Christmas morning! And to top it off, it SNOWED! It didn't cover the ground or anything but it was nice to have a little snow on Christmas. My mom and dad left around 10 to head home and prepare lunch, while the rest of us showered and got dressed. We spent the rest of the day at my parents house and had a WONDERFUL lunch, followed by napping and relaxing. Noah was a live wire... he was going non-stop all day. My parents had fun chasing him around all day (to give me a break) but later told me that he wore them out! :) My grandmother (my mom's mom, Nannie) used to make the BEST dressing and my mom and dad got the recipe from my grandmother once she was no longer able to make it. It really is my FAVORITE meal... I really considered having it served at my wedding reception but decided to go with the traditional shrimp and chicken tenders (dressing in August?... hey, I'd still eat it! :) Anyways, my parents did a great job and it tasted JUST like Nannie's. I didn't even eat dessert that evening because I just snacked on dressing... YUM! All in all, we had a WONDERFUL Christmas and look forward to all that 2010 has in store! I'm attaching just a few pictures since I've typed SO MUCH!... sorry, again.


Noah in his ball pit



Christmas Morning

One Week Down...

So, Noah's been on his GFCF Diet for one week now and I must say, it's getting a tad bit easier. I'm coming up with more options for him to eat and surprisingly, he's doing very well eating all the foods! This past weekend, my mom found some items at Publix in B'ham so that's helped too. He's been eating alot of steamed veggies, rice, turkey meat, potatoes, sweet potatoes, fruits, etc. so I'm afraid he might lose some weight and he's skinny enough as it is! The only difficult thing I've found about the diet is whenever we are not at home, I'm having to plan ahead. For example, on Sunday, we went to church, so I packed him some GFCF pretzels and juice. During Sunday School (me and Jamie were filling in for one of the teachers), they had a "Happy Birthday Jesus" party and everyone had cake and chips... and poor little Noah sat there and ate his boring old pretzels. :( Poor guy... the good thing is that he could really have cared less. Then after church, we went to my grandmother's to eat and there wasn't anything that Noah could have. At this point we had only been doing the diet for a few days, so I didn't think to ask my g-mother for some fruit or something to tie him over until we got home. So Jamie and I ate quickly and took him home and fixed him something. I felt so bad that I didn't pack him a sandwich or something. So, lesson learned... always pack a sandwich, just in case.

With Christmas coming up in the next few days, I'm going to have to get creative in order to make some meals to pack to take to all of our family functions. My mom plans on making seperate dishes for our Christmas lunch that Noah can eat so that will help out tremendously! What would I do without her?! :)

Opryland Hotel

This past weekend, my mom, dad, Jamie, Noah and I went to Nashville on Friday evening. Everyone had to work so we didn't get to leave until that evening. We got up Saturday morning for a little shopping and alot of sight seeing! My parents hadn't been to the Opryland Hotel in a long time so it was a treat for them, plus we were excited to see what Noah would think of all the Christmas decorations. HE LOVED IT! He was so excited the whole time, looking all over the place, taking it all in. He got to have his picture made with Santa and surprisingly, he didn't cry! He was such a trooper the whole day, he didn't get to nap until we were heading home that evening, and he didn't fuss the whole day. We had a great time!

Noah's Dieting

Gluten Free - Casein Free diets have recently been found to help in curing autistic kids of their symptoms. It has to do with kids with autism having severe allergies to both of these things and it's like a poison in their system and they can't break it down. Therefore it inhibits their development, etc. Also, gluten has an "opiate-like" affect on children that have gluten allergies, so it puts them in a drugged up like state (zoned out, no eye contact, limited speech, etc). Noah doesn't have autism but he definitely has the developmental delays. Our physical therapist told me a while back about how she works with several kids that are delayed (no autism) where their parents have put them on the GFCF diet and their development has improved drastically and she really wanted me to put Noah on it for a little while and see if it helped him any. Obviously, we will do WHATEVER if it helps Noah but to say I was overwhelmed at the thought of this diet is the understatement of the year. I AM NOT saavy in the kitchen, and (as embarrassing as it is to admit) I don't cook very often. Gluten is found in wheat, barley, and rye... therefore breads, crackers, cereals, chips, cookies, basically EVERYTHING! It's also in tons of processed foods, from canned soups to soy sauce and ketchup. Also, Casein is found in milk and dairy products, so cheese, milk, ice cream, butter... all off-limits. We are also doing no soy. The only milk I've found is Rice Dream. So I have to know what to look for and check the ingredients label of everything before we give it to Noah.

See why I was so overwhelmed?!

Anyways, I enlisted my mom's help and we purchased a book to tell us all about it (and other food allergies) and gives a TON of kid-friendly recipes. The grocery stores in Florence (Walmart and Southern Family) have a very tiny selection of gluten free casein free foods (I did find brownies, pretzels, and rice noodles for making pasta). So I had to go to the health food store and was able to find a rice almond sliced bread, cereal, apple cereal bars, peanut butter, mayonnaise, cheese, and rice flour (for baking). Like I said, gluten is found in processed foods so the only sandwich meat I can find that's GF (at least around here) is Boar's Head. The diet is alot of fruit and veggies and meats.... which as most of you know isn't on the top of "my favorite foods" list for most toddlers. Our plan is one day a week, to cook several meals and freeze them. This diet is not cheap... those 7 items that I purchased at the health foods store cost $45! I'm hoping that when we are in Huntsville for therapy I can find some things at Publix or Whole Foods for cheaper. It requires ALOT of meal planning. Noah can't eat fast food or at restaurants at all. So I'll have to pack his meals if we got out to eat.

Today is Day 1 on the diet. They suggest trying it for 2 months to see if there is any improvements. I'll keep up with his progress on here to let you know if we see any kind of changes.

One thing I would like to mention, in talking with the owner of the health food store, I told him that I've had Noah on soy milk for several months (because he has constipation issues with regular milk) and he told me that BOYS should NOT take soy milk because it's loaded with estrogen and causes boy's hormone levels to get off kilter (they have more estrogen than testosterone)!!! YIKES! I had no clue... my pediatrician is the one who suggested soy milk!

We got THE call...

The Physical Therapy department of Children's Hosp. called us this afternoon to let me know that they have worked Noah into the Spider Suit Program (the intense physical therapy program) for January! We had our evaluation back in July and they told us it would be sometime during the fall or winter when he'd get in, then about a month ago they told me it would be more like February or March... but apparently they had an opening and got him in! So Noah and I will be staying in Birmingham with my aunt for 3 weeks while Noah goes through the program. It's Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays from 8:30am - 12:30pm for 3 weeks so it's definitely strenuous. I hope that Noah cooperates well and gets the most out of it. I'm very excited about this and really really praying that he'll be walking at the end of the program (I've heard it's possible!). Jamie's not looking forward to being by himself for 3 weeks but of course, is excited about the rewards that will come out of it.

Noah has a tendency to be a difficult patient when it comes to his therapy sessions. Each week in Huntsville, he fusses and cries (very loudly and persistently) to try and get out of doing his therapy (and he won't cooperate AT ALL with me in the room so I always have to leave.) About a month or two ago, he started doing REALLY good, and wouldn't cry and just did exactly what the therapists wanted him to do, but as of the last 2 sessions, he has reverted back to his crying and stubborness. So please keep Noah in your prayers as we get ready for this and that he does a great job and cooperates with his therapists during those 3 weeks and gets TONS of benefits out of it!

Test Updates

Back in September, Noah had some blood work done for a few more genetic tests (P-10 and Sotos Syndrome) and they told us we would get the results in a few months. FYI, doctors/physicians assistants are not very good at calling in with results. I've ALWAYS had to call them to ask if the results are in... so anyways, I called our Genetic Counselor several times last week, finally got her and yes, the results were in (but why hadn't she called me to tell us, who knows?). Both test came back NORMAL. Our Genetics doctor, Dr. Robin, has thought of one more test (more bloodwork) that he can do on Noah so we'll be going back that way in 3 months or so, but after that, there is nothing left to check for for the next few years (genetics is changing so rapidly, that in the next couple of years, there will be others tests we can run... if need be). So YAY, for our normal report!

A small taste of what its like with 2 kids...

Tonight, we had the pleasure of getting to babysit Noah's little 2 1/2 week old cousin, Eastlon. It was his parent's (Jamie's brother Chris and his wife Stacey) 4 year anniversary so they went to dinner and left E with us... and we LOVED IT! I was very curious as to how Noah would handle his mommy holding another baby, but he didn't seem to mind, in fact, he was completely fascinated with Eastlon. He wanted to sit right beside me while I gave E his bottle and he kept rubbing his cheek against E's head... it was precious. He gave him several kisses on the head, as well. When I laid Eastlon in the floor to change him, Noah was right there beside me watching. When we put him in the bouncy seat, Noah crawled over to him to sit beside him.... He literally couldn't get enough!

It's so funny how just 5 short months made such a difference in his personality because this past summer, I kept Noah's other cousin, Madelyn, and Noah didn't like me holding her. He just seemed really upset by her being at our house. But Madelyn was a little older (around 4 months) and she did some crying, which in turn, upset Noah quite a bit (remember?... sympathy cryer). Fortunately, Eastlon only wimpered like once for a second, which didn't faze Noah. I think my little boy is going to be such a GREAT big brother whenever the time comes. He such a loving and sweet little boy and tonight just reaffirmed that!

And for the record, Jamie and I handled two kids just fine. It was pretty easy, however, we only had Eastlon for a couple hours, but still ... do-able. Of course, I'm sure if they were BOTH mine and I was going on next to NO sleep, after spending all day at home with 2 kids, while Jamie was at work, then I would be singing a MUCH different tune!

A Halloween To Remember!

I hope everyone had a Happy Halloween...we sure did! The United Cerebal Palsy Center (where Noah gets his Early Intervention therapy) held its First Annual "Life Without Limits" 1/2 Marathon on Saturday morning and my bf Kellie (click her name to view her blog entry on the 1/2 marathon) ran it in honor of Noah. I had intended on taking Noah up there to watch Kellie cross the finish line, but he decided to nap instead. So Chenequa and I got up there around 10 to be there for her big finale. Talk about emotional!!! I was so overwhelmed with gratitude watching the hundreds of runners cross that finish line in honor and support of all the special needs kids in our area. It truly was amazing! One of the most special moments was watching a little boy with Down Syndrome run across the finish line while holding hands with two of the runners. WOW. Kellie did GREAT and finished right under 3 hours... pretty awesome for her first 1/2 marathon, especially considering that she had only trained for the first 6 miles.

Then around 2:45, we got a call from Jamie's mother, that our sister-in-law, Stacey was in labor and at the hospital!!! So needless to say, our trick or treating plans got rearranged. :) We weren't sure how fast her labor was going so we dressed Noah in his costume (just in case we had time to go trick or treating before the baby was born) and headed to the hospital. On our way there, we got another call that they decided to do an emergency C-section because Stacey was having some complications. Once we get there, she was already sedated and in the OR. It was pretty scary there for a little bit because we weren't being given very much information. Thankfully, the baby was delivered perfectly healthy and Stacey is doing GREAT. James 'Eastlon' Brink was born at 4:21pm on 10/31/09, weighing in at 6lbs 8oz and 19 1/2" long... pretty good size considering he came 2 1/2 weeks early! We waited for awhile hoping to be able to see her after her surgery, however, they kept her in Recovery for several hours, so we took Noah to my grandmothers to collect his Halloween loot. After that, Noah was spent, so Jamie took him home and put him to bed and I went back to the hospital to meet little Eastlon and check on Stacey. Here are some pictures from the day...



Noah in his costume at the hospital, waiting to meet his new cousin


Sweet little Eastlon

Just a-Cruisin'

When I said in my last post that it was like Noah was getting stronger by the day, I wasn't joking! I can't believe he is already doing this after he just began (consistently) pulling up to stand a few days ago, but today he CRUISED the furniture!!! He stood up by holding on to the recliner and cruised over to me on the couch. I'm shocked... seriously! This kid didn't sit up until he was 15 mo. old, crawled at 27 mo. old (a full year after he sat up), and now he's just taking off! WOO HOO!!! It's crazy!! But I can't say I blame... he's sat on his booty for 2 years because he wasn't strong enough to move so I understand his urgency to get going. :) And I must say, I am sooooo ready for him to begin walking. It's hard on momma to carry a 32 lb. load around all day, plus I have scoliosis, so the combination of the two equals major back pain for me. I'm still trying to convince Jamie that this is reason enough for me to get twice monthly massages... ha, as you can imagine, I'm not getting very far on that one!

Standing Tall

As of this week, Noah began pulling himself up to standing on his own consistently. He just crawls over to wherever (couch, recliner, coffee table, etc) and just pops right up. Everytime, I make a big deal out of it (because it is!) and I start clapping and saying, "YEAAAA NOAH!!!" and he gets the HUGEST grin on his face... makes him so happy! Also, he and Jamie have a fun new little trick they do. Noah will lay flat on his back on the floor and Jamie grabs him by his ankles and lifts him up (so that he's hanging upside down), Noah will arc his back and kind of flip over so that he's walking on his hands with Jamie holding his ankles still (like doing a handstand or the wheelbarrel). Noah thinks it's hysterical... he wants to do it over and over.

This kid is getting into everything and I truly love it. It doesn't bother or annoy me in the slightest, I think it's great. However, I do have to tell him, "No" alot (which he just looks up at me with a grin). Last week, he broke a floor lamp (that had a glass globe around it). Noah pulled up on it and it came crashing down, with the glass globe hitting the mantle, shattering into thousands of pieces. Of course, I should've known better and put it where he couldn't get to it. On Friday, he was crawling under the kitchen table and stood up by holding onto the chair, and he bumped his head on the under side of the table and was stuck! I was able to get a picture of him... I thought it was so funny! It's literally like he's getting stronger every day.

HELP!!!

I need advice from other mom's out there... Noah is a tad-bit sensitive (maybe that's a bit of an understatement). I think it's adorable that my little boy is sensitive to others feelings and I'm thankful because that's not a quality that you can just teach your child. He's affectionate and sweet, but also into all the typical boy things such as balls, trains, (watching sports on tv...)etc. I can't wait until he's talking and we are able to truly see his little personality. I really think he's going to be a sweet kid. But I'm getting off the subject... my dilemma. Noah is a sympathetic cryer... he cries almost everytime another child cries in his presence! It doesn't matter if we are at home with company or out in public somewhere, if he hears a child cry, ol' waterworks starts up. Even if the other child squeals, he'll think its a cry and start up. I don't know how to break him of this. I thought that by having him around other kids (babies that cry) will help him overcome it but it's not helping. Has any other mother ever had a child do this and HOW or WHEN did they overcome it?

Our October (so far) in Review...

It's been kind of boring around here lately, which I attribute to all the rain we've had during October. UGH... Last week Noah had a few days where he wasn't feeling good, Thursday he woke up from his nap with a 101 fever and went to bed at like, 6:30 after I dosed him with Tylenol to try to bring the fever down. I checked him throughout the night and it remained in the 100.5 - 100.7. Friday he seemed fine, so I decided against taking him to the doctor and risking catching someone else's yucky germs. Friday night, he was up every 3 hours (I forgot how ROUGH that is), SaturDAY he seemed okay, but then Saturday night was the same as Friday night. He began coughing and seemed congested. We stayed home from church on Sunday and I took him in Monday morning. And the doctor told me that everything was clear (ears, nose, chest...everything checked out fine). So I paid $30 to be told to just used Tylenol as needed; that's always fun to hear, especially when you KNOW you're child isn't feeling good. But I guess I should be grateful that it wasn't something bad. Anyways, by Monday night, he was back to his normal self and sleeping through the night (THANK GOODNESS). But then I got a cold/sinus infection, then my mom, and now Jamie.

For AWHILE, I've been debating finding a new home for my two dogs, Charley and Sofie. I've had Charley 5 years and Sofie for 4 years and these two were my babies before Noah. People always told me that once Noah got here, my feelings for my dogs would change and I responding with "NO WAY will that happen." However, having a 2 1/2 year old that still isn't walking and talking, and taking care of 2 small inside dogs can get very overwhelming. I found that I rarely gave them attention anymore and that they caused me more frustration than joy. It would have been easier if Jamie played with them and gave them attention but as he says, they were MY dogs, not his, so he didn't (he likes big dogs, not little dogs). And it simply wasn't fair to them. I actually found them a home about 6 months ago, but I backed out (even though it was a GREAT family), I was bawling my eyes out and couldn't go through with it. This past Monday, my mom called me because a lady she worked with wanted my dogs. I hadn't really been actively looking for a home for them but I had mentioned to my mom that it was something I needed to do. This family has 2 children (a boy and a girl) so each child would get their own dog. I knew I needed to do it because I wanted Charley and Sofie to stay together and that it would be really hard to find a good family willing to take 2 dogs. So I gave them away to their new home on Tuesday evening. I was ok as long as I kept myself occupied, but needless to say, I didn't sleep well at all Tuesday night. I pretty much cried myself to sleep. My mom got a report from their new mom and they are doing great and getting SO MUCH attention from the 2 kids so at least they are really happy. I miss them but I know I did what was best for me and for them. It is nice not having to take them out to go to the bathroom every few hours but its weird that I'm not a dog owner for the first time in about 15 years.

Phi Mu Alumni Lunch

This is to all the Phi Mu alums that are not on facebook... UNA's Homecoming is Saturday, Oct. 3 with the parade at 11 on Court Street. At 12 noon, we are all getting together for lunch at Rosie's to catch up with one another. We would love for you all to come! Also, we are tailgating before the game. We will have a Phi Mu table under the HUGE Alumni tent (look for pink balloons). Hope to see you there!

Fall Makeover

With the changing of seasons, I thought I should update my blog as well... so here's my new fall look! I LOVE this time of year, Alabama football, my birthday (Sept. 10), cooler weather (which equals fall clothes), and all the fun holidays that will be here before we know it! (Halloween, Thanksgiving, etc) One thing I also used to love about this time of year is that it marked the beginning of a new school year and it meant a new beginning to me... it was always so exciting to enter a new grade in school, to have new teachers and classes, make new friends, and to wonder what that upcoming school year had in store for you. I'm no longer in school, obviously, but I still get that sense of nostalgia around this time of year. My 28th birthday was this past Thursday, and I'll be honest, I'm like a kid when it comes to birthdays. For some reason, I get so excited about my birthday... I kind of think it's because I've always been younger than everyone (started kindergarten at 4, graduated high school at 17, graduated college at 21, married at 21, had a baby at 25) and all my friends are older than me, so I like getting older because I don't feel like the baby anymore. I know, I know, goofy because they're getting older at the same rate I am, but at any rate, I like "sounding" one year older. However, I'm sure I'll change my mind about that once I turn 30 or even worse, 40! (no offense to any of you 40 year olds!) One thing I've realized, birthdays aren't as fun once you get older... its not like the world stops to allow you to celebrate. Noah had not one, but TWO appointments on my birthday, pre-op for his surgery at the hospital that morning, then almost immediately after that, he had an appointment at Children's Rehab Services, where we waited for 3 1/2 hours!!! Talk about a crappy way to spend your birthday. Jamie made it up to me by taking me to Dale's on Wednesday night while mom & dad kept Noah. Then Thursday night, we ate at Olive Garden with my whole family (mom, dad, Lindsay, Derrick, me, Jamie, and Noah) and came back to our house for cake from Victorian Tea Room and presents. So overall, I had a good time with my family and I can now say I'm 28 rather than 27... see, doesn't that sound so much older?! ;)

Noah's Circle of Trust, Surgery Update, and Doc Appt's

I just wanted to update you all on Noah's frenulectomy procedure... it went great and he was only fussy for that morning. By mid-afternoon, you would have never even known that he had surgery. The next morning, he was wiggling his tongue around and seeing what all he could do with it! Dr. Long told us that Noah's was literally stitched down into his mouth it was so bad. He did need 2 stitches but the surgery lasted, at the most, 10 minutes. One thing I've noticed, is that he eats better now and doesn't get choked so much.

Saturday, during the Bama game, my dad taught Noah how to rub noses and Noah had a blast performing his new "trick"... he would smush his nose to ours and just hold it there while we rub back and forth, he did this over and over and over... and got the biggest kick out of it! Also, during the past couple of weeks, he has pulled up to standing a few times on his own! He has been doing it with the tiniest bit of assistance but a couple of times now, I've seen him do it by himself. For some reason, he will only do it at my parents house, on their ottoman and their coffee table. I guess those two pieces of furniture are the right height for him. Hopefully it won't be too much longer before he begins doing it more consistently.

Also, Noah, my child who won't even let other family members hold him (outside his tight inner circle of me, Jamie, mom, dad, and Lindsay) has decided that its OK for other people to hold him! It all started with Derrick (Lindsay's boyfriend) trying really hard to become buddies with him... Derrick's been working on him for awhile and will carry him and play with him to win over his affection. Well a couple of weeks ago, Noah decided that Derrick was allowed into the circle and now they're buddies. Well, with this, he's decided to branch out some and is holding his arms up (to be picked up) by anyone and everyone! We were at the hospital doing his pre-op stuff on Thursday and he had the anesthesiologist and the nurse carrying him up and down the hall and then at my grandmother's house on Sunday, he was letting all my aunts and uncles hold him... which is a first! He normally cries when they try to take him for one of us. I'm giving all the credit to the crawling, I think it's allowing him to become more independent and more trusting of others! (Thank goodness!!!)

Jamie, Noah, and I headed down to Birmingham yesterday because Noah had 2 doctor's appointments at Children's. The first one, on Monday, was with the Geneticist, Dr. Robbin. He told us that their are really only 2 more blood tests that he recommended because we've tested everything else that is applicable to Noah's situation. Noah's head is a little above average (around 95%) for his age (which we've always been told is normal in kids that have had craniosynostosis). These two tests are for syndromes that involve large heads and developmental delays. They are P-Ten and Sotos Syndrome and it'll take about 6 - 8 weeks to get the results. If they come back negative, then we won't go back to the Geneticist for 2 years b/c there's nothing else for them to test at this time. Then today, we had a follow-up appointment with Dr. Davis, the Orthopedic Rehabilitation doc and the Physical Therapist, Andrea. They were so pleased to hear about his crawling and beginning to pull up. But nothing new to report with them. After that appointment, we went to the lab so they could draw the blood for the genetics tests and then we hit the road to head home. We actually don't have to go back to Children's until November, for a recheck on Noah's incision site from the cranio. surgery that he had almost 2 years ago.

Frenulectomy

... a what? My blog just helps improve your medical terminology almost monthly, doesn't it?! :) Noah is having a frenulectomy next Friday, 9/11. He has anklyoglossia or is "tongue tied". Basically, the little piece of tissue that is underneath the tongue comes almost to the tip of his tongue and limits mobility (he can't stick his tongue out)... I noticed this when he was a baby and mentioned it to our pediatrician (who we don't use anymore), who dismissed it. I pointed it out to our Speech Therapist this summer and she said it was bad enough that it would definitely hinder the pronunciation of sounds that he makes and we should definitely have the procedure done. Of course, I did online research which told me that it doesn't necessarily prevent one from speaking but it does hinder the way a sound comes out. I kind of disagree because babies practice making sounds and then they figure out what they can say (da-da-da), well if you can't practice those sounds, how can you learn to say them? We had the consult with Dr. Long on Monday and Noah's frenulum is so tight that he couldn't even get underneath Noah's tongue with a tongue depressor (of course Noah's was fighting us). The procedure is very simple (he compared it to getting tubes in your ears), takes about 10 minutes, sometimes require a stitch or two, and there will be some discomfort for a couple of days. So say a little prayer for Noah, even though its not a major surgery, that things go well and that he has minimal pain.

6 Years...

Six years ago today, I said "I Do" to my best friend. I seriously can't believe it's been 6 years because that sounds like a long time (at least to me), but it has really flown by so quickly! In the time we've been married, we been through alot... not to say that's it all been easy, but I wouldn't change any of it for a second. When I look back to the people we were when we first married.... MAN, have we grown up! But I'm so proud of the couple we've become and the family we've created together. I'm so grateful for God's plan and that he brought us together when He did.

So to celebrate the big day, Jamie planned a trip to Huntsville for us. We left on Saturday mid-afternoon and did some tax-free shopping at Bridge Street. As surprising as it may be, Jamie is my favorite person to go shopping with (and he enjoys it too)... it's always been our thing, to go out of town and shop, and I always have so much fun shopping with him. He had made reservations at The Melting Pot, which I was SOO looking forward to. We ordered "The Big Night Out" which is 4 courses... first was cheese fondue with breads, veggies, and apples. Next was the salad (we had the Caprese salad), then the entrees... lobster, filet, chicken, shrimp, pork tenderloin, and sirloin that you fondue in a seasoned broth, and lastly, chocolate fondue with marshmellows, strawberries, bananas, etc! We chose the Chocolate S'mores, which was milk chocolate with marshmellow topping mixed in and crushed graham crackers... one word: AWESOME. It was quite an experience but afterwards, we hurt we were so full. We both decided next time, we would just do cheese and chocolate fondue. But MAN was it good! We stayed at the Westin Saturday night and then did a little more shopping on Sunday before we headed home. It was really nice to be able to spend time together, just the two of us!

All the toddlers who INDEPENDENT, throw ya' hands up at me...

So Noah's still going strong with the crawling and has even pulled up a couple of times on furniture. He tends to pull up on my parent's ottoman. I keep hoping I'll catch it on camera, but no such luck yet. I LOVE IT... I love that he's able to go where he wants and move all over the place. It's so cool watching him discover his new found independence. He's gone 2 years relying on me (or Jamie or whoever) to carry him to where he wants to go so it's that much more incredible to be able to witness him figure out that he can now go where he wants on his own! I feel like we are really about to see a whole new side of his personality. In the past, he freaked out if I left his side and this past week, he would just take off on his own to go explore... have I said I LOVE IT, because I do! :)

Now, along with the crawling, we have a bit of a predicament... once we moved, we converted Noah's crib to a bed and bought side rails to put on it. Yesterday, during his nap at my parent's house, he woke up and sat up, and apprently, crawled OFF the bed. So last night, we heard him crying, and found him sitting up in bed. I'm afraid he's going to begin crawling off the bed, or pull up on those rails and fall over them head first. So we ended up putting him on a blow-up mattress on the floor last night. I think we are going to have to convert his bed back to the crib to keep him from falling out of it!

Also, this past Thursday, we had the evaluation for the "spider suit" physical therapy program at Children's Hosp. and the therapist definitely thinks Noah will benefit from the program. He's been added to the waiting list. He'll probably begin in the fall/winter and it will be for 3 weeks, 3 days each week, 3 -4 hours a day... it's intense so I hope he's able to tolerate it. I'll tell ya what, God really was looking after us when it came to this program... in the past, the wait has been up to 2 years to get in the program... plus the wait just to get an evaluation is normally up to 6 months long! We were able to get an evaluation within 6 weeks, and will begin the program in less than 6 months! Not only that, but now that Noah has begun crawling and is becoming more independent, I think it will allow him to tolerate working with the therapist much better than if he wasn't crawling. I'm amazed at God's timing in this... things are truly falling into place perfectly.

Like Mommy, or Like Daddy?

MyHeritage: Look-alike Meter - Geneology - Vintage photos

He's A-Movin'...

Noah began crawling on his own yesterday! He did it several times, going a few feet each time, but I didn't want to get myself too excited because you never know... it could be something that he does once and then doesn't do for another month... however, today he crawled AGAIN and this time, he did even better than yesterday AND I got it on video. In fact, as I type this, he has crawled over to our fireplace and keeps opening the screen to try to get into it... looks like its time to baby-proof!!! As silly as it sounds, I pass the baby-proof gear at stores and have prayed for the day when I can buy them for our house. I don't know if I've ever been SO HAPPY, SO PROUD and SO GRATEFUL! It makes EVERYTHING that we have done SOOO worth it! I just keep thanking God over and over and over...

This is SO HUGE because all of his Physical Therapists have said the only way to get him walking independently is to strengthen the trunk muscles by crawling! Speech delays are also correlated with weak muscles/trunk so hopefully, this is what he needs to really get him taking off!

We'll here's the video... ENJOY!

The Good News Just Keeps On Coming...

Dr. Valero's nurse called yesterday to inform me that the bloodwork that they did on July 7 came back NORMAL... they were testing for thyroid problems and muscular dystrophy. YAY!!! Anyways, God continues to bless us with answered prayers and normal results through ALL of these tests.

I think it would be a nice reminder for me to look back at all of our praises and blessings from God through the past 2 years. So, here goes... hopefully I can remember it all! :)

--my pediatrician (and my mom's employer at the time) in the delivery room with me, immediately realized that Noah needed oxygen and gave him immediate care
--a husband (and his parent's/employer) that enabled me to stay home with Noah
--CT scan and EEG came back normal when Noah was in NICU
--MRI at 6 weeks old came back normal
--Appt. with Genetics Physician (Dr. Loose) revealed Noah didn't appear to have Genetic disorder
--GREAT surgeons and a successful procedure for Noah's craniosynostosis surgery at 5 months
--An awesome support system at the UCP Center: great therapists and a precious teacher (Mrs. Becki)that keeps Noah and treats him as one of her own!
--the opportunity to take Noah to Huntsville weekly to receive additional therapy
--Fragile X test, chromosome study, urine organic acids, etc that came back normal (Oct. '08)
--Another MRI that came back normal (Sept. '08)
--Mitochondrial Disease bloodwork came back normal (April '09)
--Good visit with Noah's eye doctor, don't have to go back for 2 years (May '09)
--Insurance approved Noah to receive an Up-n-Go Walker and the Ankle Braces (May'09)
--Muscle Biopsy came back normal (June '09)
--MRI came back normal with progress from last one (July '09)
--Thyroid & Muscular Dystrophy bloodwork came back normal (July'09)
--were able to get in quickly for evaluation in Physical Therapy in B'ham for their "spider suit" program (July '09)
--my parents who support us and help us with Noah. My mom rides with me to H'ville weekly to keep me company and sits in on the sessions so that she knows how to work with Noah at home; they babysit and allow us to have some "couple" time; they've helped us out with some of Noah's therapy expenses (which are QUITE costly, despite insurance)
--my sister who loves keeping Noah and can't go but a few days at a time without seeing him. She also rides with me to H'ville when Mom can't... and she loves Noah with every bit of her heart.
--Jamie's parents that allow him to take off work frequently to go with me and Noah to B'ham for his (monthly) doctor's appointments. They also have helped us with some of the medical procedure costs (which are also very costly)... FYI, BCBS doesn't cover Genetic related procedures!
--my friends that listen and encourage me when I get down. they continually pray for Noah and are just as excited as we are when we get good reports from the doctors. They also help me get my mind off of things even when they don't even know it! :)
--church family that continually prays for Noah

So ... it looks like God has been pretty dang good to me and my family!

Taking a Stand

Most of you guys are on Facebook so you know about status updates... well the other day I was on FB and noticed a particular status that made reference to "feeling sorry for his co-workers children who are all in some way dysfunctional." The way it was said was completely as a joke and this particular person always has really funny statuses so I knew it wasn't meant to be cruel. However, as the mother of child that has had delays, I found the comment to be offensive and inconsiderate. So I thought, "should I respond? Am I being overly sensitive? or sould I just ignore it?" But the more I thought, the more I realized, I've got to stand up for my child and the special needs community. So I commented that "as the mother of a special needs child, I think that referring to any child as dysfunctional is offensive." I was pretty nervous that it would cause an argument or that I would be told that I was being overly-sensitive or something, but to my surprise, I got an apology and the admittance that it was indeed insensitive. After that, I felt such a sense of accomplishment, like I had won a battle for Noah and for other special needs kids. Even if it was only one person that I had brought awareness to.

I promise you, 2 years ago, I wouldn't have thought a thing about that comment. And I'm preaching to myself to with this entry but dealing with what we have and being around the other children that are apart of the CP Center, it has opened mine and Jamie's eyes to TRYING to be considerate of the phrases we say and whether or not it can offend someone.... such as "that's retarded" or even calling someone retarded, fat, stupid, dumb, ugly (I could go on) is just plain mean. We should quit worrying so much about getting a laugh out of those around us, and focus more on having a kind and loving heart. We are now adults and PARENTS and it's time to be conscious of the things that we say and how they might affect others. We can no longer use the excuse of being an immature teenager and that we "don't know any better" because, guess what, WE DO KNOW BETTER.

"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law." Galatians 5:22-23

MRI & Neurology Appointment

Noah had another MRI today in Birmingham. Let me start by saying that it was at Children's South on Acton Road and this was our first time to ever go there... not such a pleasant experience. I'm actually considering calling Children's Hospital to complain, it was that bad. They brought Noah back to do all the routine stuff (weight check, temp, blood pressure, pulse, etc.) and during this I asked if they had the orders to draw blood while he was sedated. Dr. Valero and I had discussed this last week when he called me to give us the biopsy results. I wanted to make sure that it happened because I didn't want to have to make ANOTHER trip to B'ham just for blood... plus, Dr. V and I wanted it to be done while he was asleep so it would be painless. They told me that they didn't have the orders and acted like it was a big inconvenience to have to draw blood. I asked if they could call Dr. Valero's nurse to double-check and explained that with us being out of town, it would be inconvenient to have to come back at a later date just for blood work. They blew me off, and basically gave me the impression that they didn't have time to call Dr. V's office. Okkkkayyyy... so I just took matters into my own hands and called his office myself. I'm on hold with his receptionist when the anesthiologist comes in to discuss Noah's procedure. She asks (as they always do), her: "who this" me: "Noah Brink", her: "what's he having done today" me: "MRI" her: "why?" me: "b/c he's developementally delayed" and then she says, "and because he has a large head?"... ummm, no. She then says to me"you really need to get off the phone because we need to discuss what's going on today". I explained that I was on hold with Noah's neurologist b/c I wanted to check on the orders for the blood work and she said, "well you can hang up on them, because I've already paged Dr. Valero." It was just the way she said everything... so freakin rude! Jamie's eyes were as big as saucers and I was biting my tongue to keep from saying anything to her. She then began talking bad about Dr. Valero and that he "makes promises that we aren't able to fulfill all the time" blah blah blah. (how unprofessional!) Turns out, Dr. Valero did intend for them to do the blood work while Noah was sedated so they got the orders faxed over and everything was good to go.

They take Noah back to the MRI room and for the next 20+ minutes I can hear my little boy SCREAMING his head off! Keep in mind, we are down the hall, in a pre-op room, while he's behind a closed door, there's a movie playing loudly in the hall way and CT machine off to the side that makes a very loud constant racket... and I could hear Noah screaming over all of this. I was fighting back tears and if the room he was in didn't have a keypad on it, I would have gone in to see what the heck was going on! Finally, the nurse comes out and tells me that he is very hard to stick and they had to stick him 5 times to get his IV started and to draw the blood and that he was scared to death. WHAT?! The WHOLE point was for them to draw the blood while he was sedated so that it would be painless! And if they intended on drawing blood BEFORE they put him to sleep, then why didn't they let me go back there and hold him so that he wouldn't be so terrified!? By this point, he's sedated and they've begun the MRI. After another 30 minutes, they bring Noah out and he's doing fine, just really groggy. They said if he can stomach some juice we would be good to go, but it was like they were literally pushing us out the door... in fact, the anesthiologist didn't even come back in to talk to us (like has been done in the past) she left to go home. We have had alot of different procedures done at Children's during the past 2 years and have always felt like Noah was in the BEST of hands and they always been so great but today was awful.

Afterwards, we drove downtown to Children's Hospital to see Dr. Valero. By the time we got there, he had already seen the MRI and told us that it looked good. I'm going to try to explain this so bare with me... Noah's last MRI was done in Sept '08 (at 17 months old) and structurally the brain looked normal but he had "delayed myelination". Myelination is what allows the neurons in the brain to connect (which allows babies to develop, learn new things, and do new things). A 7 year old's brain has much more myelination than a 1 year old's brain. By it being delayed it just meant that he didn't have the myelination of a typical 17 month old. So he chose to do this MRI so that he could compare it to the last one and make sure his brain is progressing. His myelination has increased, meaning that his brain is developing and progressing (GREAT NEWS). Obviously, it's not the brain of a typical and normal developing 2 year old but the fact that it is developing and myelinating is awesome news. I really get the impression that Dr. Valero believes Noah will overcome his delays but obviously, only time will tell. What stinks is that Dr. Valero is leaving Children's and going to Vanderbilt to begin working on the research side of things. I'm sad that we're losing him but praying that our new neurologist will be just as great as he is. He wants us to continue coming in every 6 months and he even told me that he wants to see Noah in 2 - 3 years because he thinks we'll have a completely different kid on our hands. So overall, great neuro appointment! Thank you all for your continued prayers for Noah. God is obviously hearing them because he continues to answer them. I'm just so grateful that all of these recent tests have come back normal and it just reaffirms my belief that Noah is going to overcome his delays and be fine!

A Wedding, a Vacation, a Family Outing, a Birthday, and a Baby!

We had a busy couple of weeks this month.... my college friend Kellie got married on June 20 and I was a bridesmaid in the wedding. It really meant alot to be apart of the celebration and it allowed me to get to know Kellie's husband, David, alot better. The ceremony was one of the best I've ever seen because it was so funny but heartfelt... David could hardly speak he was so emotional and Kellie kept giggling and laying her head on his chest. It was just precious... I think at times we get so caught up in trying to have this serious or "perfect" wedding ceremony and I think that Kellie and David's vows were a reflection of each of their personalities. I had a great time being apart of the festivities and made new friends in the process.

After the wedding reception, Jamie and I headed home to pack for the beach, since we were leaving out early the next morning. We intended to leave at 7am but were running a little behind and finally got out of town around 8ish. We arrived in Sandestin around 3pm, got checked in, unpacked, and went for an early dinner at Bayou Bill's for some seafood. The following day, we spent the day at the pool and then went to Seaside for family beach pictures that evening. We used Memories by Micha and I highly recommend her! She did a great job and is extremely reasonably priced. Her website is http://www.memoriesbymicha.com/. In fact, the new picture in the blog header is one she took. Check out her website... and I hope you'll consider her for your beach pictures if you head to the Destin area!

We spent each day at the pool and Noah did so great! We would get out there late morning and he would play in the pool with us for an hour or so, then he would fall asleep on a lounge chair and nap under the umbrella for an hour or so, which allowed Jamie and I to lay out. He would wake back up and play some more in the pool, then Jamie would take him to the room and eat lunch; which allowed me to lay out a little longer. During the week, I noticed that Noah did a considerable amount more jabbering, especially when he was in the pool! (He has continued jabbering lots even now that we are home!) We ate alot of great seafood (The Back Porch, Bud & Alley's, Louisiana Lagniappe, etc), did a lot of relaxing, and I managing to get some shopping in at the outlets. I definitely wasn't ready to come home on Friday but it was probably best that we did because it was SOOO HOT and poor Noah was drained. We got home around 2pm on Friday afternoon to house guests... my parents air conditioning went out so they have been staying with us since Friday. That night, we grilled out and had our friends, Brett & Chenequa over. Chenequa was scheduled to have a c-section on Monday morning, so this was our last chance to hang out with them before the baby arrived.

Saturday morning, I got up and went to Huntsville with my 2 sister-in-laws and my mother-in-law. We planned a little getaway because Stacey just found out that she's having a baby boy, Christopher "Eastlon" Brink, so we went shopping to look for clothes, furniture, bedding, etc. We stayed at the Westin at Bridgestreet and had a great time. Once we were finished shopping for baby Eastlon, we did a little shopping for ourselves, then hit up The Proposal at The Monaco... and whats a trip to Bridgestreet without stopping in for chocolate covered strawberries and a chocolate covered apple from the Chocolate Crocodile!

We returned home Sunday late afternoon just in time for my sister, Lindsay's 25th birthday dinner. Yes, my baby sister is 25... crazy!! Anyways, my whole family and my sis's boyfriend, Derrick, went to dinner, then came back to my house for cake, ice cream, and presents.

Monday morning, I woke up super early so that I could get to hospital by 6:30 to see Chenequa before her c-section. Amanda, Melissa, and I were there with the family and awaited the baby's arrival. Everything went great and her sweet baby girl, Hannah Reece, was born at 7:36am, weighing in at 8lbs 7oz and 19.5 in long. We were able to visit with Chenequa for a little while once she came out of recovery but I had to leave the hospital around 10:30 to go pick Noah up from Jamie's work. After Jamie got off work, he and I went back to the hospital and we got to hold sweet little Hannah and visit with Brett... poor Chenequa was nauseated from all the pain medicine, so she slept most of the time we were there. Hannah's a doll and I'm so happy for our best friends' and what lies ahead for them. Being a parent is undescribeable and I'm so excited that they now get to experience the joys of it!

Jamie and me at Kellie and David's wedding reception

Noah relaxing out by the pool

Dinner at Louisiana Lagniappe in Destin

Me and baby Hannah

Close up

Answered Prayers!

We finally got THE CALL from our neurologist yesterday... Noah's muscle biopsy came back NORMAL!!! Praise our Lord for taking care of my baby boy! Jamie and I are thrilled and grateful. I spoke with Dr. Valero for a little while to discuss our next steps and when Noah is sedated for his MRI on July 7, they will also take some more blood to look at thyroid problems and a CK (?) that will let us know about things such as muscular dystrophy and muscular myopathies. I hope I have that right, it's REALLY hard to understand him over the phone. Anyways, I believe that all this will come back just fine. Dr. V did tell me that he's had patients walk as late as 3 years old and grow up to be normal healthy kids. I think that will be Noah's case, except I think he walk sooner than 3 because he's doing so well right now.

Also, we were able to get in for an evaluation with Children's Hospital for physical therapy... the evaluation is July 30. So after that, we will know if/how long Noah and I will be in Birmingham for his "burst" of therapy.

Please continue to pray for Noah and his progress, as well as his upcoming MRI and tests.

Noah's 2 Year Check Up

On Friday, 6/19, we finally had Noah's two year check up. The reason it's so far past his birthday is because I wanted to get in with Dr. Crenshaw instead of the other docs in the practice. They're all great, but I just LOVE Dr. Crenshaw. Plus, Jamie and I were super nervous about discussing Noah's MMR vaccine. We made the decision to put it off at his 1 year appointment (against our pediatrician's wishes) and have since changed pediatricians. At Noah's 18 month check, Dr. Crenshaw understood our desire to hold off on it and was very supportive. So I was expecting that she would want to give it at this 2 yr. appointment. To our COMPLETE surprise, she told us that she would prefer to hold off. Reason being that when a child is developmentally delayed with an unknown cause, she said research suggests it's best to postpone the vaccine. She didn't SAY that vaccines cause dev. problems/autism but she said, she preferred to wait until we AT LEAST get our results from the biopsy or until Noah is 3 yrs. old when he's further along developmentally. Her reasoning was that right now, Noah is making good progress and if she were to give the vaccine and then he were to regress in development, then it would confuse us into thinking that it was the vaccine when it very well could be something else. I appreciate that SO MUCH, because most doctor's are so pro vaccinations that they will give them regardless if a child is showing signs of autism/delays at the 12 month checkup... then parents blame it on the vaccine. So it makes it really difficult to know if the child would have autism regardless of the vaccine or because of the vaccine. Does that make sense? Here's an example of what I mean, a friend of mine asked her doctor what she typically does if she thinks a patient might have autism at the 12 month checkup (would she mention it to the mom? -- she said not at this time), but that she would "make note in the child's chart of possible autism" then proceed with the vaccine, then at the next checkup, if the child is still showing autism signs, mention it to the parents. So that very well could be the explanation WHY so many parents are blaming vaccines for their child's autism. Anyways, in our case, because Noah is already delayed and the MMR has been linked with "causing" delays, we've been very confused as to what we should do. Needless to say, we were so incredibly thankful for Dr. Crenshaw's insight and after our appointment with her, I believe the key is to discussing it with your pediatrician and determining the right time for YOUR child... because as we all know, no one kid is the same! Now you know why I was adament about getting Noah in to see her! :) She's worth the wait.

Anyways, here's his 2 year stats:
weight -- 28lbs -- 50th%
height -- 36 1/4" -- 90th%
head circum. -- don't remember, but it was 97th% (which is normal for a child that's had surgery on his skull, their heads tend to be bigger)

So the trend in Noah's height/weight remains the same as it has since birth, still long and lean.... and he's top-heavy with his big head! :) haha... I say that with love!

New Tricks

Noah has learned a few new things... we've been working on them for awhile (months and months actually) so I'm SO excited that he's finally strong enough and figured it out! Noah now knows how to go from lying down into a sitting position! Oh my gosh, I can't even begin to remember HOW long I've been working with him on this... our hard work and persistance paid off! The other day I layed him down for a nap and he was crying... then it got quiet so I peek in on him and low-and-behold, he's sitting up! He's done it several times since them so I think he's getting the hang of it. Also, he is now trying to pull up on everything, he still needs some assistance getting completely on his feet but the big thing is that he WANTS to be standing up. The other morning, I was getting ready and he was sitting on the floor playing and I glanced over and he had grabbed on to the door frame and had pulled himself into a tall kneel. YAY NOAH!!! He is also cruising with assistance (only a tiny bit of assistance, though). He's constantly reaching for things that he can grab onto and pull up on. He wants to be walking and moving and standing... which we are SO SO SO thrilled about! And he's SO close to crawling... these new milestones are beyond HUGE for Noah!

We had another appointment at Children's Hospital on Tuesday, with Dr. Davis, Noah's Orthopedic Rehabilitation Doctor and their Physical Therapist. A little over a year ago, we discussed me and Noah living in Bham for awhile and letting him get intense physical therapy for about 3 months, 3 days a week but at that time, they were concerned that Noah wasn't able to tolerate that much therapy. We all revisited the issue again at this appointment and they now believe Noah can handle it. So Dr. Davis and Andrea (the PT) are going to get Noah in for an evaluation at Children's Ped. Therapy clinic and looks like Noah and I may be in B'ham for awhile. They call it a "burst" of therapy b/c it's really intense, 2 - 3 hours a day/ 3 days a week for a period of time (a month to 3 months). I'm so excited to be able to do this for Noah and feel like the benefits he will reap will be HUGE! Children's has all of the latest in physical therapy techniques so I'm really eager for Noah to experience it. Plus, like I told them, I don't work so that we can provide Noah with whatever he needs and if that means us living in Bham for awhile, so be it. The good thing is my aunt (my mom's twin sister) lives in Vestavia and has 2 spare bedrooms, so we would just stay with her. So please pray that they can get us in for the eval fairly quickly (it can take months to get in with them!) and that we can roll forward with this new plan of action!

Noah after he pulled himself into a tall kneeling position (how do you like my PT terms? :)

Mission Accomplished!

Thank goodness today's surgery is now behind us and Noah did GREAT! We had to be at Children's at 7am and they immediately took us back to a room to begin the pre-op stuff. They told us they thought the procedure would begin around 9:30... ummm not quite. We waited and waited... it was slightly frustrating b/c Noah hadn't not eaten since the night before and he could have juice only until 6am so he was going with basically nothing in his belly... poor guy. But he was in really good spirits and didn't fuss at all. Finally at around 10:45 they brought him a liquid sedative and took him back at 11am to get the anesthesia going. I had been so worried about him crying when we gave him to the nurse but he was so woozy that he didn't even look back at us as the nurse took off with him! Kind of hurt my feelings... :) not really, I'm glad he was out of it b/c it made it much easier than if he would have been crying! Anyways, the surgery took around 30 min. and they were finished at noon. He stayed in recovery for an hour, then they brought him back to us. He was really groggy but they wanted him to take some pedialyte to make sure he could stomach it without any problems, plus they wanted to keep a watch on his vitals. He did fine so they left us leave around 2pm. They gave him a shot that numbed his leg and said it would wear off after 5 hours so I've been giving Tylenol since this afternoon. He hasn't fussed or cried a bit today... and his leg doesn't really seem to be bothering him, despite the fact that they told us it would be really sore for a week. He's tough... I guess once you've had your head cut open, you can handle a little incision in your leg! :) Anyways, we made it home and since he wouldn't eat, I bought him a vanilla milkshake and he gobbled that right up. Hopefully, the incision won't bother him too bad and he'll recover quickly! I do want to thank you all so much for your prayers, texts, and phone calls. We sure have felt loved and supported. Now, we just have to wait out the next month for the results of the test. Luckily, we're going to the beach in 2 weeks so that will get our minds off things! Here's a few pics from the day.



Waiting for them to come get him for surgery



After surgery



He would not put that pedialyte down!

Watching Daddy Leave

Noah Got Braces!

Not the kind you're thinking, he got braces for his ankles. They are called Ankle-Foot-Orthotics (AFO's) and are not nearly as bad as I had envisioned when Noah's Physical Therapist recommended them several months ago. Of course, people stare at him in public (what is the big deal with a 2 year old in braces?) but if they help in strengthening my little boys ankles and knees then its ALL worth it! Personally, I think he looks cute in them... I fold his sock over them so it looks like he's wearing tall socks, which is something we all did when I was in high school. The purpose of the AFO's is to put Noah's foot/ankle in a position where he can't lock his knees and he's doing really well in them and it's only been a week. Here's a picture of them!

Also, here's an "update" on the cod liver oil... believe it or not, I've seen a HUGE improvement in Noah! He's soooo much more verbal and jibber jabbers constantly. He did say 'ball' last week in the nursery at church (which is a first) and I'm hearing more consonants. He has lots more energy and has some days where he only takes 1 nap. I've been mixing it into his oatmeal with applesauce, which has worked well. So I plan to continue giving it and definitely recommend it to all parents!

Lastly, Noah's muscle biopsy is scheduled in a week, on June 4. Obviously, this is much more minor than the surgery Noah had at 5 months old but it takes Jamie and I back to that and just how scared we were. I have always hoped and prayed that Noah would never have to have another surgery and here we are ... one week from one. The anesthiology dept. called me this morning to discuss the details of the surgery and the sequence of events that day (which are same as before). Once they are ready to begin the surgery, Jamie and I are able to walk Noah back to the hallway outside the operating room but we have to hand him over right before they take him into the OR. Last time, he was so young, that he was oblivious as to who had him or that we were leaving him... but I know this time will be so much harder, and I know that Noah will cry for us when we hand him over to the nurse. I'm dreading that moment so much. It's hard to leave your baby with a nurse, knowing that he's about to be put to sleep and cut open. Please pray for Noah's procedure to go well without any complications, for his doctor performing it (Dr. Muenstere), and for NORMAL RESULTS! I'm just so ready to have this behind us.

Before & After Pics of our Home Renovations

We are finally finished with our house! And it only took from November to May (no sarcasm intended). Jamie's been spending quite a bit of time working in the yard to get it looking good. But for the most part, the inside is complete. I've posted a few pics as we've progressed but here is the final product ... I didn't take too many pics of the downstairs b/c one room has workout equipment in it and the bedroom is completely empty. Here are the before and after pictures... this is for you Sonia! :)

FOYER

DEN

BREAKFAST ROOM

NOAH'S BEDROOM

(you can see where this was a den that connected to the kitchen; we added a wall, a closet, and sheet-rocked over the fireplace, to make it a bedroom for Noah)

NOAH'S BATHROOM

(LOTS o' changes...)

MASTER BEDROOM

(we enlarged the closet to create his/her's)


MASTER BATHROOM

(new countertops, etc)


GUEST BEDROOM

JAMIE'S FOOTBALL ROOM DOWNSTAIRS

DECK THAT WE ADDED

JAMIE'S FAVORITE "RENOVATION"