Just a quick posting. We have been running around crazy getting things prepared to move in to our new home this Saturday. The tile on the first floor is done, it looks beautiful. We chose a Spanish style tile for the first floor and we will be carpeting the second floor Thursday. The painting will be done just in the nick of time and Friday we are having someone come clean and spray for bugs/pest control.

We have been taking things over all week. Our new table will be delivered Friday but we are waiting on a few other pieces of furniture but at least we'll have the table for Thanksgiving!

Thanks to all those helping.

The boys are growing and growing. Jonah has adorable rolls everywhere and weighed in at over 18 pounds last week. Noah is a bit over 17 pounds and still long and lean. Jonah has been teething (his top two and bottom two are in and now both of his incisor teeth are coming in up top) and he has been a bit cranky the past two nights plus he has been vomiting a bit more then usual. Noah's vocabulary now includes, Ma ma ma, Da da da, Na na na and Bbbbb. He is such a a chatter box and so much fun.

When the dust settles this weekend we'll post photos and updates on the boys. Noah goes to Fresno Thursday to meet with the GI Clinic about what their plans are for his upcoming studies and the delayed emptying issue.

Noah's upper GI test did not show anything. While that is good it is also frustrating as we still have no answers as to why he is vomiting so much. We have an appointment Wednesday with the GI Clinic and a swallow study scheduled for Jonah before the clinic. It will be interesting to see what they have to say this week and if they plan to try medication for Noah's delayed emptying issue.

We have been blessed to have my cousins Bonnie and Carrie out to help with the boys. Carrie gave us a break Thursday to go shopping and Friday watched Jonah as Bonnie and I took Noah down to Fresno for his test.

Noah has started saying "Da da da da"!!! How exciting. He is a chatter box and just this morning started finally saying "Da da da da." Shane was so excited.

Jonah is also making progress and giggles and chatters at us more and more each day.

Also, it is probably time that we announce.....we are MOVING! The home is in a wonderful neighborhood and is near all the good schools of Bakersfield. It is coming with a lot of work but we got such a good deal on it that we figured we can spend a little more fixing it up and in the end we are very lucky and blessed. I do have to say the projects keep extending and the painting that was supposed to take a week has turned in to over two weeks as we decided to completely take out a wall downstairs and open the front room and kitchen. We are doing half of the labor on our own to save expenses but boy can it be frustrating. I keep hoping we make it in before Thanksgiving!

So that is what's new in the Hanna home.

Cute photos of the boys. Noah is growing up right before our eyes. When it comes to feeding he has to do everything himself, that includes taking the spoon and attempting to get the food in his mouth. It isn't as productive if I were doing it but he will eat so much more if I scoop up the food and give him the spoon to feed himself. If he is at all stubborn with his bottle he insists on holding his cup and drinking from it. All good things but boy is our little man independent and unwilling to do things any way but his. I hope this isn't indicative of what the teenage years may hold! We may have our hands full!

Cute photos of Jonah after bath time (the red marks on his forehead are from his helmet not fitting right, we have been through three adjustments in the past two weeks with this silly helmet...finally it is fitting him right and not leaving welts after he wears it for a long period of time).

The last two photos are so sweet of the boys playing together, I liked the one of Noah getting a hold of Jonah's hair! He has taken to grabbing people's hair lately. I hope the boys have a special relationship as they get older. Even now if Jonah is laughing I will look over at Noah and he is laughing too just by watching his brother smile.

Noah has an upper GI test this Friday. The GI Clinic called last week to confirm he has the delayed emptying issue and they want to do a series of tests to see if there are any strictures or other related issues. The vomiting continues, some days better then others. Today was not one of our better days. I have to say I never thought I would be worn so thin as a mother. I can put Noah down for two seconds and that is all it takes for him to get upset and throw up puddles of puke. Today alone we had three such episodes. By the end of the day I had it with being thrown up on. I sure hope this Friday we can find some answers.

I am in an honest mood tonight. The past few months have been some of the most difficult that I have ever experienced. It seems that certain emotions have been magnified, such as anger, fear, discouragement, guilt, shame, and sometimes also hope. Some days I think to myself that I can't possibly make it through yet another day. Some days I think about the ironic nature to the saying, "God doesn't give you more then you can handle," when I feel that I am hanging on by my nails from a cliff praying that I don't slip and fall. Some days I have moments of clarity and I remember that although challenging these boys have missions and will fulfill their various tasks that God has set forth for them.

I am so grateful to all those during these past few months who have stepped forward and been there for me during some very dark, dark hours. You know who you are and I will never be able to repay you. The one thing that I hope for is that once clarity really comes...when true acceptance becomes an almost daily attribute of my life that I will be able to find others who are in similar positions needing the same understanding hand to hold on to. That is my hope.

Tonight, as I have said before, I was feeling so frustrated with the state of things. I know that many of my thoughts are selfish as I think, why me? But many of my thoughts also include the difficult emotion of, why my boys? Why do they have to suffer so? I was reminded of the account of Alma the younger speaking to his son Helaman about his many years as a missionary and the blessings that came despite his tribulations:

Alma 26: 25-27

“Yea, and now behold, O my son, the Lord doth give me exceedingly great joy in the fruit of my labors;

For because of the word which he has imparted unto me, behold, many have been born of God, and have tasted as I have tasted, and have seen eye to eye as I have seen; therefore they do know of these things of which I have spoken, as I do know; and the knowledge which I have is of God.

And I have been supported under trials and troubles of every kind, yea, and in all manner of afflictions; yea, God has delivered me from prison, and from bonds, and from death; yea, and I do put my trust in him, and he will still deliver me.”

That is great courage and great appreciation for the healing power and saving grace of our Heavenly Father. I was grateful for the reminder tonight that as many prophets of old, both from the Bible and Book of Mormon, God does deliver those who remain faithful. He grants courage, he grants peace, he gives protection and a place to lay down your burdens. I will admit I have had several days where my burdens have felt so great, so heavy, that I have felt overwhelmed in knowing how to manage everything but I have been given the support in these moments, either by phone calls, someone stopping by, family members giving a kind word of encouragement or taking the boys so I can get rest or a break, all of these things have carried me onward.

Thank you each of you who have supported me. I hope to live and learn from this experience and to master my emotions so that I can in turn service others experiencing similar trials and tribulations. What a blessing in my life this would be.

We had a wonderful dinner at our friend's house tonight. Our friend Brooke, who has a great gift with creativity, put together a beautiful Halloween spread for us. We had a scary spider cake for dessert and watched the Haunted House with Eddie Murphy.

What a fun night! The boys behaved themselves quite well too. We took lots of fun pictures of Allie in her pretty lady bug costume and the boys in their frog costumes.

Happy Halloween!

I absolutely love this video of Jonah. Today one of the sisters from my church came by to help. She has wonderful experience in child development and brought fun toys for the boys. Jonah just loved the puppet!

More cute photos of the boys in their Halloween outfits! Top photos are Jonah and the bottom photos are Noah.

Finally.

We have an answer for Noah. We went to Madera today for a study that looked at Noah's GI system and how efficiently it is digesting food. The technician confirmed that Noah suffers from gastrointestinal delayed emptying. She said that over 1.5 hours they consider normal digestion of food to be around 65%....Noah only digested 25% of the three ounces he ate.

Unbelievable. I wish they would have taken his reflux more seriously sooner and ordered this exam back in August when I was complaining about his constant issues with solids and vomiting but finally we have an answer.

I am supposed to wait and hear from the clinic this next Tuesday. Options are either medication or worst case scenario surgery but I assume that they will be conservative and try medication first. At least that is our prayer.

Jonah had us scared he was coming down with something Thursday. I had to cancel their flue shots for the third time. He had two nasty diapers in the morning and was coughing up a lot of flem. The rest of his day was fairly stable and he ran no fever so I think he might have a slight cold plus a lot of yucky teething (his top two teeth are getting ready to come in).

That is the latest in the Hanna house.

"Hoppy" Halloween from our two tadpoles: Noah and Jonah!

I wanted to include this information on CVI (Cortical Visual Impairment) as it is important for our family and friends to understand what this diagnosis means for Jonah:

CORTICAL VISUAL IMPAIRMENT

DEFINITION

Cortical Visual Impairment (CVI) is a temporary or permanent visual impairment caused by the disturbance of the posterior visual pathways and/or the occipital lobes of the brain. The degree of vision impairment can range from mild to severe visual impairment. The degree of neurological damage and visual impairment depends upon the time of onset, as well as the location and intensity of the insult. It is a condition that indicates that the visual systems of the brain do not consistently understand or interpret what the eyes see. The presence of CVI is not an indicator of the child's cognitive ability. The terms Cortical Visual Impairment, Neurological Visual Impairment, and Cerebral Visual Impairment, are sometimes used interchangeably.

CAUSE

The major causes of CVI are asphyxia, perinatal hypoxia ischemia ("hypoxia": a lack of sufficient oxygen in the body cells of blood; "ischemia": not enough blood supply to the brain), developmental brain defects, head injury, hydrocephalus, and infections of the central nervous system, such as meningitis and encephalitis.

CHARACTERISTICS

Initially, children with CVI appear blind. However, vision tends to improve. Therefore, Cortical Visual Impairment is a more appropriate term than Cortical Blindness. Most children show some recovery after being diagnosed with CVI but very few recover completely. Usually the most dramatic improvement happens in the first two years after the diagnosis. Improvement is related to children’s brain plasticity, development and degree of neurological damage. A great number of neurological disorders can cause CVI, and CVI often coexists with ocular visual loss so the child should be seen by both a pediatric neurologist and a pediatric
ophthalmologist. The diagnosis of Cortical Visual Impairment is a difficult diagnosis to make. It is diagnosed when a child has poor or no visual response and yet has normal pupillary reactions and a normal eye examination. The child's eye movements are usually normal, however nystagmus can be present in some children. The visual functioning will be variable. The result of an MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging) in combination with an evaluation of how the child is functioning visually, provide the basis for diagnosis.

The RSV swab came back negative!! Phew! Also, I just had a conversation with a friend and she was relating to me how sick her children where with the lateral incisor tooth and wouldn't you know it? That is the exact tooth Noah is bringing in. So with a combination of nasty teething and a minor cold I think we have the answer! All other tests came back negative too, so hip hip hooray!

What a week! Noah spent a very restless night with us, hardly sleeping and waking up at 5:00 AM to throw up. We canceled the GI test in Madera today and instead booked a morning appointment with his pediatrician first thing. We are still waiting on all the tests that where ran, including an RSV swab. We are praying like crazy that he isn't carrying the RSV virus because this would mean hospitalization for further monitoring. He actually is doing well this afternoon, thank goodness. His fever has stabilized a bit from the 100 degree range and he is much more energetic. The pediatrician did think he simply has a cold but we can't be careful with Noah. Did I mention he is bringing in his fifth tooth? Yes, and the fourth tooth brought with it a fever too and crankiness. I am starting to see a trend here! Although the constant vomiting has been excessive, even for Noah. Pray for good lab results and a weekend of healing!

Where is Noah? Noah loves rolling himself up in his blankets until he magically disappears! Ha ha ha! Can we say PUKE? This was one of Noah's many throw ups from today and imagine, this wasn't the largest puke we've seen from this little guy! I also included photos of Noah in his Halloween PJ's (Jonah has a pair too--thanks Grandma Hanna!) and one of Noah helping us clean up from the birthday celebration (I guess crepe paper tastes good--who knew!)