The Ups and Downs

So I think we've talked to just about all our family, but to anyone else out there who hasn't heard...a few items that have filled our past week... 2 "good", 2 "bad", actually.
Do you want the good or the bad first? We'll start with the difficulties....

1) Noah got his first stitches last week. I say first, because sadly I am trying to be realistic and accept that this will most likely not be the last time we head to the ER with a head wound. Hopefully, future visits will be as quick and minor as this one turned out to be. He fell into the edge of our long fireplace platform and cut his head, near his hairline above his left eye...quite a bit of blood at first, but then slowed down considerably. Alot of screaming, 3 stitches, and 2 and 1/2 hours later and we were on our way home. He did GREAT, all things considered. I was so glad both Matt and I could go with him to the ER, because it took both of us, 2 toy cars, PB M & Ms, and a bouncy ball to keep him busy during the waiting period. Also, I could not have held him down by myself! That was sooo hard to watch!

2) We also took Noah to a specialist in Orlando on Monday for something that we've been watching for about 6 months now. He has a condition with his blood called neutropenia that is still somewhat undiagnosed, but basically one type of the white blood cells (neutrophils) are consistently measuring quite low, yet not following an obvious pattern or cycle. (Of course the white blood cells are the ones that fight off bacteria infections in the body, so having a significantly low count CAN be extremely serious.) We've exhausted all testing that can be done locally, and still don't have an answer to why and what this might mean, so now we are working with a ped. hematologist from the NeMours Children's Clinic. Noah had blood drawn and will be sent off to Minnesota for a genetic test, so we have to wait 4-6 weeks to hear the results. We feel good about the dr. and the visit was "good", except for... they had to stick him 4 times before they got a good blood flow, so he got poked in both hands and both elbow pits (what else are they called?) and after the first 2, the Dora bandaids and stickers and cookies didn't even come close to helping. He fell asleep on the way home from Orlando, but then woke up and THREW UP the 2 grape capri suns they had given him while they were trying to get the blood. It just hasn't been his week! Or any fun for Matt and I... but we are thankful that both situations weren't any worse, and we are trusting God's promise that he won't give us more than we can handle!

And now the good stuff:
1.) Carrie came to visit! We always love having family come, but especially our Aunt Carrie. She came bringing gifts, for N, of course: a new Big coloring book and (washable) markers, bubbles, punch balloons, and slinkies. He LOVED them all. I asked her what her favorite new "Noah things" are, and she said: how he says "more-please" in sign language, grabs your finger to pull you into the other room, and he's a big cuddle bug. I have to agree. We didn't do a WHOLE lot, but we went to Rita's Italian Ice and the beach, which are Carrie's few requests. We were very thankful to have her come THIS weekend, because we had an especially busy week with church....and on that note...

2.) Our church's block party went extremely well. Saturday we hosted a "birthday party-themed block party for our community in honor of the 100th Anniv. of the Naz church. There was so much work put into it from all parties involved, but especially Matt with teens and me with Children's stuff. There's really no way to have an exact count, but we are all very sure we had close to our goal, of 1000 people, on our property during the 4-8 p.m. event. (quite a big goal for our church of 220). I registered right at 200 kids, which was my goal, and the parts I was in charge of went very well. The music concert at the end was awesome, too. Carrie was able to watch Noah for us most of the night, and he seemed to like it all pretty well. He got thoroughly worn out by the end, and maybe a bit overwhelmed. His favorite thing was probably the BIG bounce house, which he got to get in with dad and then again after it was "closed" to all the other kids-the perks of having a mom who's in charge. He even climbed up the stairs inside the bounce house and tumbled-and I mean tumbled-all the way down the [steep] slide (of the bounce house).

So...we are now recovering from the highs and lows of the first week of October and hoping the remainder of this month is a little less eventful than the beginning. There's already at least 1 big thing coming up this month. And then of course, Noah's 2nd Halloween costume! I'm already excited...