The Noll Family Blog: June 2009

Scott here. I was talking with a gal from our Bradley class the other day and commenting about another classmate's blog. I was telling her that our classmate's blog was dead...just like ours. She replied with the quote in the title. She was gracious. True, not quite dead, but it certainly has more than a cold. I'd say the situation is grave. So, here's an attempt on bringing the blog back up to health (at least to get it off of life support). We've said before that we're not sure how much longer we'll keep this updated, but we're going to make another go of it.

As stated back in April, we are having another baby at the end of October (as far as it's up to us!). What some of you may not know is that we are having a GIRL! We found out a few weeks back. For some reason, we were really expecting to hear that we were having a boy but quickly got used to the idea of adding another female to the family. It evens out the voting, among other things. I had hoped for a 3 to 1 advantage, but I'm up for equal rights.

Amy was supposed to have an appointment with our midwife the day after the gender-revealing sonogram, but as we were packing up to leave, the ultrasound tech said that Katie (our midwife) wanted to see us that day. I thought, "Great...that makes sense. Why have us come back tomorrow for our regular visit when you can see us today?" Amy thought, "Something is up." Amy was right.

Turned out that one of Amy's blood tests came back as abnormal. It was the test that checked for Downs Syndrome, spina bifida and two other things that I can't remember. My stomach sank and all I could think of was that our little girl has Downs. I will admit: it has been my biggest fear during both pregnancies. Rather than Downs, however, Katie went on to tell us that the abnormal readings pointed to a spinal problem - an equally serious prognosis. She assured us that there were a lot of false positives for that condition, but wanted to order an advanced ultrasound at a different facility as soon as possible to make sure that everything was ok. So we set up an appointment for two days later and left the doctor's office wondering if everything was going to be ok.

After I got through the Downs scare, I convinced myself to trust in the Lord and to keep myself from worrying until I had more news. I was concerned for Amy, however. She will admit that she is a worrier. We all have our weaknesses (Amy many fewer than me) and this is one of hers. I wasn't sure how the waiting would be for her. Those two days would be very long for her, I feared.

The afternoon before we were to go in for the advanced ultrasound, we got a call from the doctor's office. It was Katie and she called to say that someone had made a mistake. We're not sure who made it, but whoever did it classified Amy as an insulin-dependent diabetic...which she is not. When that was done, it changed all of the formulas and the data. Thus, the incorrect diagnosis.

Needless to say, we were very relieved. We were so glad to hear that our little gal was ok. Since then, we've had a few people ask if we were mad at the doctor's office (or the lab) for making the mistake. On the contrary, we've been very thankful for it. Amy passed the trial with flying colors. It was really cool to watch God help her to control her thoughts and emotions over those two days. I'm not sure that she worried at all. I was thankful for the experience because it reminded me that God is actively calling us to commune with Him. I kind of felt like He was waving a flag at me and saying, "Hey. I'm willing to get your attention because I love you and want you to seek me." I definitely prayed more during those two days. I'm not completely sure why He brought this little trial, but He certainly got our attention! I have felt closer and more mindful since then.

Back to other things. We are looking at pictures on our tv right now and we've seen some pictures of Gus scrolling through. He's such a cute little boy. Amy just this minute commented that she doesn't want him to grow up. I guess it's because he's at such a fun stage right now. He's really a little boy now at 22 months. It's amazing. Oh, and he's such a good kid. So obedient and funny and curious and tender and smart....and exhausting and frustrating and tiring. I can't imagine loving another kid like we love him. I know we will, but right now it's a mysterious concept to try and grasp.

It's a love-hate relationship. Every once in a while, Kanba relents and purrs his way through it.

Our goal is to have him potty-trained before baby 2 arrives. He's showing a little more interest lately, but we'll see what happens. Ultimately, it's up to him, isn't it?

Climbing, but never a vehicle far from his hands.

A taste of his funny side. He thinks it's so funny to walk around with things in his mouth.

This year, our vacations will all hit closely together. I guess it's partly by design and partly because of our families. At the end of May, we took a trip down to Fort Lauderdale...just us. If you live in Chattanooga and you haven't flown Allegiant you are MISSING OUT. The three of us flew direct, roundtrip to FL for a grant total of $208 after bags and taxes. I'm not sure we could have driven down for that much. It was a really fun trip. The only bad part was coming back. Usually I don't mind coming home, but that transition was especially hard for me. The grass needed to be mowed, work was looming, the cats somehow managed to get fleas, etc. Anyway, back to the trip.

Prepping for the trip.

Part of the reason our trip was such a success was because we had a volunteer helper come along with us. A girl named Jennifer came to help with Gus. She works with the same group as I do, but she's out of Atlanta. She's always asking to babysit Gus. Somehow that morphed into her becoming our full-time nanny. We scaled things back a bit and decided that we could start by all taking a trip to the beach. It was/is totally random, but somehow it all came together. To make it happen, we worked out a deal. She paid for her flight down and for her meals out. We paid for her lodging and her meals in (there was a kitchen in our room). I can tell you that we got the good end of that deal...although Jennifer would disagree. It was so nice to have another pair of hands to help with Gus. We went out, just the two of us, once or twice everyday while she stayed with Gus. When we went out with Gus in tow, she came along most of the time, too. We made sure to give her time alone and I think it was a very relaxing trip for her. Long term, we're thinking about bringing her on full-time. Anyone want to fund that???

Jennifer with us at the southernmost point of the USA!

We were fortunate to be able to spend Memorial Day with my dad's cousins, an aunt and a couple of other people in FL that are related somehow or another. It was a group that I don't get to see often and we really enjoyed our time with them. I would say that it was one of the highlights of our trip.

I'll let some pictures tell more. I'm tired of typing. Hopefully Amy will come on board at some point and help me finish this marathon post.

Hanging out on our balcony in the a.m.

Beach Time

Behind his amazing, double-defended, water accesible fort. We think he may be an engineer when he grows up.

Pool Time

Again, never a car far from his hand!

Day Trip to Key West

Sunset stroll in Mallory Square

If we look hot, it's because it was...well...very hot.

You can't go to Key West without getting Key Lime Pie! Supposedly this place had the best three years running. It was pretty good, but different from what we were used to. Well worth it though.

Baseball

We went to a game with 3,000 of our closest friends. Note the very empty stands. It was so strange to be in such an empty stadium. Good game though.

So that sums up some of our recent exploits. Hopefully, we'll do a better job keeping you all up to date in the future.