The Duffy Family

I've Been Called Out As A "Blog Slacker"

Yes, my closest friend has told me I'm slacking on my blogging. So, I guess I had better post :) It is hard to believe that Noah is already over two weeks old! Where is the time going?!?! He is so precious and we are enjoying him thoroughly! This past week, Brian had to go back to work so my mom came out and stayed the week with us and helped out immensely!!!! Brian was absolutely wonderful the week before. They both took on the responsibilities that come with the other two children as well as cooked dinner (if it wasn't already being provided by friends), ran errands, did laundry and numerous other "chores." I got to sit back and tend to Noah and recooperate. It has been such a blessing to have such help around and I thank you both!

Noah is doing great. Sleeping mostly, but that's what babies do in the beginning :) We see his little eyes every now and then. His "quarter" fell off! Unfortunately, he fell in line with the other kids and has an umbilical granuloma. It's not a big deal, the pediatrician just used a silver nitrate stick on it and it should go away fairly soon. Ella Kate is quite excited that he has a belly button like her. We went to the pediatrician on Friday. Noah weighed in at 8 lbs. even and had grown 1 whole inch (20 1/2)! I'm going to have to do a better job of using my camera. I don't think I took one picture of him all week! My mom did. I'll have to get her pictures. She had a cold the whole week she was here so she opted not to hold him at all for fear of getting him sick. Poor Granna-she was so upset she was with us a whole week and never got to hold her little man once! She's planning on coming and spending an entire day loving on him when she is better.

Last weekend, we all went over to my parents' house. My brother, sister in law and niece drove in as well as my grandmother. It was nice to get to visit and show off our little man.

Here is Ma with Eli and Noah. Ella Kate was still taking her nap so she missed the picture.
Brandon (my brother) with Noah.
We had friends and family stopping in all day. Daniel came by on his motorcycle and Eli couldn't pass up the opportunity to "be a boy." No worries: he didn't go ANYWHERE-he just sat and dreamed :)
Today, Brian took the kids to Shelby Farms to the animal planet's animal festival. They had a great time. There were games and Eli won a frisbee and Ella Kate won a stuffed elephant. This morning, Ella Kate told me they were going to the "vegstable." I was very confused until Brian told me she meant "festival."

We had a bit of "when it rains, it pours" this week. Brian walked out to this after work one day:

Yes, that is our car underneath that HUGE tree branch...not an entire tree, but a BRANCH!
The branch came from a 100 year old oak tree (if that tells you anything about how big that tree was) on the property next to the college. Brian's car was the only one parked on that side of the parking lot and the tree branch "decided" to fall right on top of our car!!!!!
It took several guys to chop up the branch and haul it off the car. There was damage from the hood to the trunk. It is now at a body shop and we are waiting to hear the estimate in damages. Thankfully, Insurance is covering everything and providing a rental car in the meantime. We aren't sure at this point if the car will be considered "totaled" or not. Time will tell.
We were reminded that even though the car was fully paid for (which is the part that makes me sick) the car was never ours. God had made provision for us and the car was ultimately His as is everything He has blessed us with. We have been reminded of this and that He is going to take care of us and meet our every need. So, amazingly, neither of us are at our wits end about the situation eventhough it is frustrating. God will work out this situation and make provision just as he has so many other times. He knows our need, loves us and will always prove himself faithful.

I'll try to be better at updating in the future :)