Summer 2016...But Mostly Nolan

Our Finished House!

Our personal life in Highlights:

We moved into our house on May 31, 2016.

We left for America on June 3, 2016.

We spent time with family.

Celebrated one of our good friend’s weddings where Katie was a bridesmaid.

Was thrown a baby shower by our church family at E3 in Tallahassee.

We only got to see a few friends for a very short period of time because our schedule was so packed!

Katie had a special needs team working with her in Uganda the day we arrived back. 

We began organizing our house into a home and preparing for the baby that was due in a month.

Ready to Brave the Bumpy Ugandan Roads

Nolan’s Birth in Highlights

Katie’s water broke on Sunday July 17 at 11:00 am at home.

Katie and Cody drove to Kampala (2 hours away). 

There was Very little traffic! What a blessing! (It could have taken a VERY long time!)

Nolan’s heartbeat was very irregular throughout the labor and was monitored closely.

At 2:30 Monday morning the Dr. decided that a C-section was needed due to his heartrate. 

Nolan arrived at 3:04 am Monday July 17, 2016. 

He was 6 pounds 6 oz and 15 inches long.  

Since then:

We have been adjusting to life as a family of three! J

He is such a blessing and gift from God.

He is now 5 weeks old, growing, and doing great!

Cody had a month at home with us until he started back to school.

Cody’s school size jumped from 13 students to 27 in one year!

First Day of School 2015

First Day of School 2016

We have added a new family to our missionary team at GSF!

Katie is staying home with Nolan for the time being. 

She plans to continue her work from home after taking some time off. 

Katie has an intern coming next week to work with her until December!

How we see God working:

Providing an intern for Katie at the perfect time

Making it possible for her mom to come as soon as the baby was born

Allowing Cody to have a month at home with Nolan.

Keeping the traffic low on the drive to Kampala and that Katie was not in pain.

Even though Nolan was early, he was so healthy!

On Our Hearts: Community

It was such a difficult decision to have Baby Nolan here.  There were sacrifices made on both sides by family and friends to make this happen here, but we felt that this was what we were supposed to do.  We were so blessed with community here and back home.  I have a much larger view of community and family after having Nolan. 

            As for community in Uganda, I really felt the GSF missionaries support us as a family. During the birth, there was an iMessage group-text going for updates and silly comments.  One female missionary actually came with us to the hospital for the drive and delivery.  Another couple met us at the hospital to be there as we needed them, and did little errands, visited us, and they actually stayed in Kampala overnight!  Another family came the next day and brought pizza for everyone.  The Global Outreach Africa Director and his wife came to the hospital to visit as well.  At one point, we had 9 missionaries in the room visiting! That is amazing for a couple who technically had “no one” with them, and all these people lived at least 2 hours away!  One missionary actually came back the next day to spend time with me before my mom arrived that night.  There were phone calls and texts from Ugandan friends and other missionaries in the community that also warmed our hearts.  We arrived home to GSF, and there were kids and staff out to greet us, signs on our door, and the missionaries had cleaned, decorated and organized our house for us.  There were also meals brought for a week and a baby shower.  There were so many other things that I am forgetting to mention, but the important thing is we were SO well taken care of!!!

Part of Our Amazing Missionary Family

            As for our American Family, there were so many facebook messages and posts.  My mom got on a plane and arrived by Wednesday morning. (This was the plan all along) We were able to Facetime a lot of people to “meet” Nolan.  There were gifts and donations made in Nolan’s name.  Our church announced the birth of their newest missionary, and our sending organization Global Outreach celebrated with us as well.  For being so far away, we felt so loved and connected during this time.  Thank you for loving us and supporting us!!!  The ocean didn’t feel so wide.