Noah shows his colors

Alabama played in a spring tournament today against Samford and Jacksonville State... Noah and I ventured out to see our first Bama volleyball. Noah insisted on wearing crimson and loved watching the first few games... but eventually had to get a little shut eye.

(Thanks for the great new shorts, Moma!)

Welcome to the world Lucy Locke!

Other good friends of ours, Cory and Stephanie Locke, also welcomed a little girl into the world yesterday!  Congratulations... we love and miss you guys!  We are sure that Lucy and Elise will become fast friends as well as birthday buddies!

Welcome to the world Elise Snyder!

Our good friends, Cory and Nicole Snyder, welcomed their little girl into the world today. We love and miss you guys... congratulations!

And people wonder why I taught middle school...

      

Where else do the winners of a fundraiser get to do this to their teachers?  North Middle... I miss you!

We love visitors!

My good friends Deana and Ashley ventured down to T-town for the second half of their spring break to hang out with Mr. Noah Man... we were so excited to see them and hang out while Josh was recruiting in the frozen tundra of Wisconsin.  

 

We spent a little bit of time walking around on campus, soaking in the 80 degree temps and the beautiful flowers blooming everywhere.  Deana and Ashley were even gracious enough to wake up with Noah one night so that I could sleep... are there better friends?  

(Ashley... Noah wants to know when you are going to come back and sing the "poop song" to him again!) 

Update on the nitty gritty

Many have been asking about how Noah's doctor visits have been going since we have been in Tuscaloosa... so I thought I would share what we have been able to accomplish so far.

1.  Doctors seen:  pediatric neurologist, pediatric surgeon, pediatric ophthalmologist, pediatric nutritionist, and pediatrician

2.  Doctors still to be seen:  pediatric gastroenterologist

3.  Diagnosis progress:  We have ruled out Krabbe disease, ALD, peroxisomal disorders.  We are waiting for test results for Alexander and Canavan diseases.  

4.  Feeding volumes:  Immediately after Noah's g-tube surgery, he was able to tolerate 4oz/120mL of formula per feeding.  We have worked our way up to 5.6oz/170mL of formula per feeding over the last month.  We are hoping this translates into positive weight gain.  Vomiting is still occuring periodically.

5.  Feeding issues:  Noah is incredibly unpredictable when it comes to the bottle.  At times he is willing to take the entire feeding via bottle, other times he will only take an ounce or two and we must pump the rest.  He recently has started making a "brussels sprout" face in the middle of feedings... which involves screwing up his face and spiting out any formula in his mouth... that basically signals the end of his willingness to take the bottle.  This unpredictability is emotionally draining for me as I wish his response to the bottle was a little more consistent.  

6.  Rise School:  We met with the service coordinator at the Rise School and toured the facility.  We loved everything we saw and are excited for Noah to begin attending in August.  Noah will be evaluated by an occupational therapist, physical therapist, and speech therapist on April 15th to determine what specifically we need to work on.

7.  Whew.