It's So Nice

Today was Noah's birthday party. We had all the family and some friends out to Larosas for pizza, cake and fun! It really worked out well and Noah had a great time. We were all in the party room at the back of the restaurant, so it was nice and private. We had 10 kids and 23 adults! I was so excited that so many could make it out (especially since I was late to let everyone know about the party!). Noah chose to have Bengals decor, so we brought special plates and napkins for the cake, balloons and the cake. We also had goodie bags with a small Lego set, an inflatable football and some candy for everyone. This was the first big family party that I got to bring Joshua to. It was so nice. I''m so glad I get to share him with everyone now.


So, Friday we had our appointment with the surgeon. Of course when we arrived, we had a bit of drama! His IV line got caught in the stroller and as we pushed it, it immediately snapped at one of the filters on the line. Joshua wasn't hurt at all, it never pulled on him or anything, but we needed to get some help to fix the problem. The nurse that's assigned to us in the GI clinic was paged and she came to help us. It ended up not being a problem and we didn't even need to hook him back up for the day, they just let him be off. So after that excitement we finally got to see out doctor.


He told us how the x-ray we took last week looked "normal"!! He was just amazed at how well Joshua is doing. Our GI nurse ended up staying with us during the visit, so she could organize his IV feeds with the bottle feeds. The plan now is to increase his bottle feeds 5ml everyday for the next week and then 5ml twice a day for the week after that and then he will be at max feeds!! After this first week, he should be getting enough food to taper off the IV feeds for good!! Oh I can't wait!! He said if he tolerates this week with increasing 5ml everyday and gets to 75ml bottles, we'll be doing the victory dance!! We increased to 45 this morning and so far so good!! I just can't believe after having such a dismal outlook a few weeks ago, we are now looking so optimistic. Whatever was causing him trouble must've fixed itself and now he's open and doing well. The Lord really is amazing. I knew He could do it, it just didn't seem like it was His plan. Thank goodness it seems like it is now!!


So back after Joshua's first surgery and we were told he wouldn't be coming home until Christmas time, we rescheduled our Disney trip that was for early December to the end of February. Well payment in now due for that trip, so we asked the surgeon, what he thought about whether or not we'd be able to go and he said without even thinking about it, "oh yeah, that would be fine"!! So we have just 34 days until we leave!!


I have a lot to do to get ready for that (of course!!) especially because while we're gone our entire downstairs will be painted!! Walls, trim, doors - all of it!! It's the Christmas present from my parents. So I have to clear off all the walls, put away curtains, move furniture, empty shelves, etc.. to get that ready. But I can't wait to come home to a completely repainted home!!


So I need to get all that ready, do 5 more weeks of lessons with Abby and Noah and now I get to pack for a family of 5!! I can't believe how great things are looking now. It's so nice!! Well here's a couple of pics from the last snow that we had. I put a hat on the baby and took him out on the porch for just a minute, so he could "experience" his first snow, while Noah and Abby played in it. The next day I took them sledding, but I left Joshua with me in the car, it was really cold!!