Never say no to blogging again!

(The title of this post is in reference to Special Agent Oso....all of their titles are remakes of old James Bond movies...haha)

Anyway, since it seems like we're ALWAYS behind on blogging and almost every post discusses why we are catching up, I won't waste time in this post reiterating that I am in med school, Nick works and we have a 20 month old son....We are busy (that's sort of a given.)

But, I will update you on what's going on in our lives at the moment.

First of all, Noah has such an awesome, fun, undeniable personality. For a boy not even 2 yet, he is so expressive! Maybe it's the eyes, I don't know, but it's like you can almost always tell exactly what he's thinking.... He's got a great sense of humor, too. Trust me, I'm not bragging. This could become a little challenging in the years to come....here's an example. The other day, We were riding in the car on our way back home from the grocery store, or eating, or something. Nick was driving and we were talking about how he was going to be going in very late to a job he just got for orientation. Nick stopped and looked back at Noah and said, "Noah do you love Daddy?" With a sheepish grin, Noah replies, "MAMA!!" Now, if you have a child, you know the worst thing you can do in this situation is laugh....but you also know how that is almost impossible! We cracked up! Okay, it's not something funny to say, and Noah eventually answered that he in fact does love his Daddy, he just waited until the fun of the joke wore off.... This actually goes back to several months ago, when Noah had just learned "Mama" and "Dada." Nick would ask him a similar question, "Noah, can you say 'Dada'?" And Noah would reply, "MAMA" with the biggest smile. He's got the best sense of humor.... :)

Also, it's so neat to see Noah learning to listen to Nick and me. Of course there are times when he doesn't do something we ask him to (i.e. come the first time we ask him to get his pajamas on), and he can be impatient (what not quite 2 year old isn't?), but for the most part, when we ask him to do something (pick up a toy that he threw, bring us his shoes to put on, etc)....he usually does it. For example, the other day he was riding his tractor in the driveway and when he got to the end, instead of turning around and coming back, he turned toward the neighbors' house (testing his limits, for sure.) But when I told him, "Noah, turn around and come back up the driveway. If I have to come get you, we will be putting the tractor up and going in the house." He immediately turned his tractor around and headed back up the driveway (which if far less exciting than the sidewalk, I assure you.) Although it seems very small to most ppl, for me, it felt like such an accomplishment. Sometimes it's hard to tell if you're doing things right as a parent....but at that moment, as small as it was, I felt like we had to be doing something right....

Since this post is getting a little long winded, I'll cut everything else a little short.....

Since the last post:

****Dawn is officially 3/4 of the way done with med school!!!!****
****Noah developed a hernia and will be getting surgery in the next 4-8 weeks :( ......please pray for our little guy. We have to decide between an open surgery (just fixing one side and a little less invasive) or laproscopic (check both sides to see if there's a hernia on the other side while he's out, but not as routine.)****
****Nick began working a 3rd shift job. He's such a great husband. Working 3rd shift and staying home part of the time to take care of Noah. He's such a champ. Praying for stamina for him to have the energy to keep it up.****

We have a lot going on....but we're in the home stretch with med school...and we're just trying to enjoy every moment we can!

Now for some pictures!

*Left*

So, we get a lot of comments on Noah's "handed-ness." Since he began throwing a ball (around 9-10 months old) we've noticed that he loves to throw with his left hand. Lately he's been using his left hand to hold a fork/spoon, too. Here's Noah this morning being a little ambidextrous! :)

*Right*

Noah enjoying a little pool time on a super hot day. He LOVES outside! He would probably spend every minute outside if we let him....but it would be too much trouble to carry his crib up and down stairs every day...haha

Cute baby feet....I guess they're "toddler" feet now....but I like to think of them as baby feet still.... :)