Harvest!

Harvest is upon us! The Traffas men started cutting on May 25th. Aaron said he doesn’t remember starting harvest before the beginning of June in previous years. So it is a special year. It is of course Nolan’s first harvest! He has already had his first ride on the combine. And as of yesterday his second. It has been quite a busy time around Sharon. Nolan is staying with Grandma Marilyn while Aaron is in the field.  I am commuting to work each day from Sharon to reduce the amount of time Nolan has to spend in the car. We are so lucky to have so much help with Nolan. Erica has also been home studying for her NCLEX test (licensing test for Nurses) and helping watch Nolan.

Nolan is growing up so quickly! He is now 9 months old and crawling everywhere. He often crawls up on his feet rather than just using his knees. It is adorable. He is pulling up on EVERYTHING; in turn he is also falling down more and bonking his head on everything.  Nolan has started waving. Aaron calls it the motorcycle wave because his hand is in a fist and he just rotates it to wave. Nolan grabbed Grandpa Brian’s heart after he had been working in the field all day and Nolan crawled over and raised his tiny right hand up and gave him a wave. After a long day’s work I think that was a wonderful welcome home. Most of the time Nolan waves at people including people on TV, but sometimes he also will wave at toys. 

Nolan has decided that solid food is not so bad. This is such an exciting thing to report! Nolan has started to show a lot more interest in eating solid foods. I had read some advice that said to let him have his own spoon during feedings. I couldn’t believe that this simple change reduced his frustration and enable me to get him to take more bites of food. He is not consuming a lot of food but just that fact that he is interested in eating is such an improvement over last month. On May 12th I noticed his first tooth coming in, it was the lower center right side tooth and just a day or two later the left side started to break out of the gums too. Now he has two little teeth on the bottom. Nolan is so independent when it comes to eating he just wants to do it all himself. So we have given him more of an opportunity to feed himself with some fruits and veggies. He loves to gnaw on apple slices; using those two tiny teeth to the fullest. He has also tried sweet potato cubes, watermelon and a little bit of an ice cream sandwich. He seems to respond so much better to things he can pick up and eat than trying to feed him with a spoon.

We have had so many things to celebrate lately. Andrew graduated from the University of Missouri at St. Louis as a Dr. of Optometry and Erica graduated from Bethel College with her BSN-Bachelor of Science in Nursing! I am starting classes next week at Wichita State University!  Oh what a busy month. What would be do if life slowed down?

Holly finished her first year teaching at Junction City Middle school and will start teaching summer school next week. The theme this year is the Olympics, which is pretty fitting for Holly because she loves watching the Olympics. I am so proud of her and can’t wait until we are both teachers and have our summers free to spend time together making crafts, baking tasty treats and sewing fun projects.

Stand Up, Sit Down….

Nolan turned 8 months old on April 27th;  this year is flying by! Nolan is crawling all over the house. Figuring out new ways to baby proof everything has just about become a hobby for Aaron. He and Nolan continue to spend their days at home together. Erica comes over and helps out with Nolan when she is available. Nolan is crawling and pulling up on furniture and has even started to take small steps along the furniture. It is very fun to watch him learn how to use his body. He first stood up on his own (pulling himself to his feet) against the mirror in his play area on April 27.

We have continued to (try to) feed Nolan solids. However he has decided that he is not really that interested in eating any of them. He starts out very happy and excited to eat when I put him in his chair, but then once we get down to the actual putting food in his mouth, well that is when he starts getting upset. It doesn’t seem to matter what we are eating cereal, veggies or fruits; he usually ends up trying to hold the spoon and finger paint in any of the food that drips on the tray. It is quite an ordeal, but I am trying to stick with it in hopes that he will start to like it.  Sometimes I think he knows he will get to take a bath right after dinner so he just cries and then we go take a bath. He LOVES the bathtub. He plays with his bath toys chasing them all over the tub and splashing and kicking the whole time. I am really looking forward to going to the pool this summer with him.

Nolan does not yet have any teeth. Which is fine by me as long as they decide to come in at some point. 🙂 He has been battling a cold for the last week which has made him a little fussy and I cannot tell if he is over the cold or if he is starting to teeth.  Although I have though he was teething since he was about 5 months old!

He doesn’t yet have any real words but he seems to be doing a little more experimentation with sounds than he was before. He still screams but usually only when he is really happy and excited.

There are so many people and places I want to see this summer, I hope I find the time to do so. At the beginning of July we are planning to have Nolan’s baptism ceremony in Sharon at St. Boniface, the same church Aaron and I got married in.

At the end of April I found out that I was accepted in to the Early Childhood Unified-Master of Arts in Teaching program at Wichita State University . I am very excited to get started! This program is an 18 month program that starts in June 2012. So back to school I go. I will most likely be leaving my job at TFI in the fall to start working in a school, preschool or childcare center, which is part of the requirement of the ECU-MAT program. I know it is going to be intense but I really look forward to being a teacher and working with kids. I especially like the idea of have my summers free to spend with my own little one.

This summer is going to go so quickly I just know it! The next two weekends we are celebrating the achievements of Andrew and Erica! Andrew has finished the course work at University of Missouri at St. Louis  to be a Doctor of Optometry while Erica has completed her  Bachelor of  Science in Nursing from Bethel College.  I know they have both been waiting for the completion of these degrees and we are very excited to share in their achievements!

Aaron is becoming increasingly obsessed with improving his golf game. I can’t blame him for wanting to get out and play 18 holes after spending all week with Nolan. Aaron’s most recent upgrade to his equipment included a new driver. From what I have heard he seems to be pretty happy with the results.

Harvest is coming, probably early this year. I was driving down by Winfield yesterday and some of the wheat fields were already turning gold. Aaron always looks forward to heading down to Sharon and cutting wheat. It will be fun to get Nolan out for a quick photo with the combines this year.

Aaron and I are trying to find a different place to rent. Since we are not planning on staying in Wichita too long after I graduate from WSU we don’t think it is in our best interest to buy a home. So the search is on for a rental house. We actually like the place we are in right now but the floor plan is not great. So hopefully we can find a set up that will be more conducive to “Daddy Daycare”.

 

 

Ready or Not

Aaron is back from harvest!  They finished cutting last Friday thanks to no rain delays this summer.  Now we are trying to get everything together in preparation for our new edition to our family. I luckily have continued to feel pretty good.  I have noticed I am increasingly more tired and little hungrier than normal.  My first introduction to leg cramps woke me up in the middle of the night with terrible cramping in my calf that seemed to last for 3 days. I am hope I do not have any more of those.

Aaron and I are attempting to get a baby registry started.  I just can’t decide where it should be…target, wal-mart, babies r us.  I have started a registry on Amazon.  It is so hard deciding which items we want. I am really looking forward to our baby shower at the end of July; it is always so much fun to see friends and family!

Aaron and I had a doctor’s appointment on June 26th. Everything went well our doctor said that the growth looks good.  Our little guy’s heart beat was 143 beats/minute. Which is a little slower than previously recorded but still within normal range.  We start going to the doctor every two weeks now so our next appointment will be July 11th.  Aaron will be in Orlando for the NAA (National Auctioneer Association) Conference and Show, so I guess I will have to handle this appointment on my own.  With the increase in appointments and the rapid growth of my tummy it is really starting to get real.  We are 66 days from our due date.   My doctor told us we should be ready for anything by the beginning of August.  Wow, it is coming quickly. I have been able to stay pretty calm and not get to worked up about things, however knowing that we will be holding our little baby in about two months if not sooner, well that just gets me nervous and excited!

Since Aaron was away so much in June he had not really had a chance to feel the baby kicking yet. Well on Monday night he felt the little guy kick for the first time. It was really neat to share that experience with Aaron. Our little guy continued to kick for about 20-30 minutes in the same place, I think he knew it was his Daddy and wanted to make his presence known. 🙂

We are looking forward to a busy weekend.  Aaron is playing shows in Sharon and Medicine Lodge this weekend and as it turns out Sharon is celebrating its 125th Birthday so they are having some fun activities over the weekend as well.  Hopefully the temperatures stay moderate, but I think it will probably be dreadfully hot. Enjoy the holiday weekend!

Less than 90 days

We have entered the 3rd trimester!  Aaron and I are both getting very excited about meeting our son.  I know that we are not completely ready yet, but that is alright. I think most parenting is done by trial and error anyway, right? There are a thousand things left for use to do in preparation, but sticking the our true nature we will get it together, right toward the due date.  Hopefully he doesn’t come too early…

We have attended several Childbirth Preparation classes that  have done less to prepare me and more to scare me about the labor and delivery process. Just like every other first time mom I am praying for a smooth delivery and a healthy baby.

According to the doctor everything is going well with my pregnancy. I had my blood glucose tested at my last appointment, I have not received the results yet, but my doctor said that if it was high they would have contacted me to schedule the 3 hour test.  So because I haven’t been contacted I am assuming I must be within normal range.  I have been trying to keep walking, but the weather is starting to get out of control. We are expecting record highs tomorrow of 105+. Time to start looking into a gym membership! I think this is going to be  a long summer, I will probably remember the heat and discomfort for the rest of my life!

It is the beginning of June and you know what that means…Harvest. Aaron is on harvest leave until further notice. Luckily being only an hour from Sharon  does make it a little easier for him to come back to Wichita and see me.  The last few months have just been flying by and I am sure that June will be no exception. I may not even notice his absence, although I think that is pretty unlikely.

Aaron and I were so excited to find out that Aaron’s sister Megan and her husband Andrew are expect a little girl on October 22, 2011!  What a blessing to be able to experience being first time parents together.  Congratulations Megan and Andrew!

Just can’t wait to meet these babies!