Introducing Vance Daniel Bolin... and his birth story

Vance Daniel Bolin

April 12, 2013

8lbs 11.7oz

21 inches long

Vance is Lynn's mom's maiden name, which although English, was actually changed from a somewhat similar sounding German name when Lynn's ancestors arrived at Ellis Island.  Daniel is obviously after Dan, a tradition in the Bolin family - the middle name of the first boy is the dad's name.  

The Birth Story... for those who are interested...

We’d passed my due date, on Monday, which wasn’t a surprise since Amara was late and I already had another appointment scheduled on Friday.   Dan was planning to go with me so we could be on the same page about options going forward if Vance didn’t decide to show up soon.  Since we were going to Waverly anyway for a dr. appointment I had planned on running some other errands as well.  Thursday evening I told Dan, “I think Vance is going to come tonight because I don’t really want him to come tomorrow since I have plans!”  Well, he did decide to come…

About 2:30am I woke up thinking… I think my water’s breaking, so I jumped up and although it was breaking, it ended up just slowly leaking for the rest of my labor.  I woke Dan up and the contractions started, only being 8 min or so apart from the beginning.  Dan set up an area for me to try and comfortably labor while he gathered the additional things we needed to take to the hospital. 

Finally about 4:30am Dan grabbed a few things from his parents’ house, which is across the yard from our house.  Upon hearing him, they woke up and guessed correctly that we were on our way to the hospital.  They usually get up at 5am anyway to milk the cows, but that morning they were going to milk the cows without Dan and look after Amara, who was thankfully still sleeping! So thankful for them!

We arrived at the hospital and I was wheeled down to the birthing center.  Note to moms – just take the wheelchair.  I could’ve walked but it would’ve taken a lot longer, and the emergency room entrance guy told us he was thankful that I took the wheelchair, as sometimes it takes him ½ hour to help someone to the birthing center because they refuse the wheelchair and stop every few minutes!

Since we’d called birthing center to let them know we were coming they were all ready for us.  The nurse on duty was in Dan’s little brother’s high school class so she already knew us… that’s what happens in a small town environment!  They got me checked in while my contractions continued 4-5 minutes apart.  By the time the nurse checked me I was 7-8cm dilated and they went to call the doctor on duty. 

The nurse told me that apparently I scared the doctor a little because she told the nurses to get my orders ready even though the doctor normally does it herself and the doctor said she was going to have to jump in the shower quick. 

Dan helped me continue laboring - I was so thankful to have him with me.  Just when I wasn’t sure I wanted to change positions or move around a little to keep labor moving along, he’d encourage and remind me that we wanted Vance to come and that with each contraction we were getting closer. 

I was finally almost there, dilated to 9cm but with just a little lip in front that was keeping Vance’s head in.  The nurse suggested another position and it seemed to help in that the contractions kept getting stronger but each time they checked nothing had changed! 

Finally I really felt like I needed to push and said so.  The fury of activity of the doctor & nurses getting ready began as I continued to have contractions.  The little lip was still there but with each contraction the doctor moved it out of the way so Vance could come. 

At this point I was thankful for the nurses’ and doctor’s coaching on pushing, as it was so different than with Amara in Turkey and pushing went so much faster.  After more than a few pushes but so many less than with Amara, Vance finally arrived into the world at 9:48am.  Dan got to be by my side the whole time & I never had to move rooms!

It was so amazing to give birth in an American hospital, just one more way we’re so spoiled in the US.  Although I was so thankful for how well Amara’s birth in Turkey went (read her birth story here), what a difference!  I could labor in whatever position I wanted, Dan got to be with me the WHOLE time!, everyone spoke my language, I got to stay in the same room for labor, delivery, & recovery. And the postpartum care for mom & baby was amazing! 

Farm Life: Snow Day?

I have a goal to post about life on the farm about once a month, usually around the 20th.  Although it's been on my calendar for months, I never seem to actually get around to doing it.  Today seems like a good day to start....

Many in the Midwest woke up today to snow, a blizzard to be exact... falling snow, blowing wind that's blowing the snow, and cold temps.  Yesterday lots of things were being cancelled in anticipation of the coming blizzard - Christmas programs, school, the last day of a dairy course Dan is taking.  Around the farm we did a few extra things... closed gates so they wouldn't be frozen in place, and unable to move, made sure the cows were near their shelters for the night, and helped our friend, the scrap metal environmental recovery guy, get the last piece out of our former decades old junk pile before it was froze in for the winter, an old corn picker. 

But the biggest thing Dan & his parents did to get ready for today's blizzard, was to set their alarms for 5am, just like they always do, because the cows need to be milked.  Everyday, twice a day, no matter the temperature, if it's raining or snowing, or a heatwave in the middle of the summer the cows need to be milked.  Cows don't take snow days.

Of course there are lots of other professions that don't get a snow day today... our milk truck driver who picks up the milk the cows give, snowplow drivers (my uncle was one!), EMTs, doctors, police, and other public servants, factory workers b/c you can't shut down a production line that easy, and so many more that I can't think of right now.

I'm thankful that Dan's commute is short, just a walk across the yard to the barn.  Days like this remind me why we live in a RV travel trailer for now - it's worth it to live so close to where you work, especially when it's a 24/7 job! 

So to all who still had to work today, maybe spending more time driving slowly to work, or being out in the cold snow and wind, or helping others to be safe... thank you!

And then there were FOUR...

It's game day... and next year there'll be FOUR of us cheering on the Cyclones!  

I realized I put this on Facebook before the blog... I guess that shows how my media preferences have changed :)  We'll try and post some more pics and info in the coming months!  But life will be getting even busier :)  

Our Trip to Turkey

It's been a long time since I've blogged, but I thought a post about our trip back to visit Turkey this summer would be a good way to revive things and get back into it.

In mid-June we headed out to to our former home.... now in mid-August it seems so far away!  We felt so blessed we were able to do this trip, based on such amazing support from family & friends.  Dan's parents especially worked overtime while we were away from the farm for 3 weeks... they had a record number of new baby calves.  Dan's cousin pitched in, helping out while we were gone, which we're thankful for!

Our first stop was a long layover in Germany.  Since it was for most of the day, we headed out to explore Munich for a few hours.  We enjoyed seeing the old churches, having a (non-alcoholic) drink, exploring the markets, and seeing how much the country-side reminded us of Iowa.  Here's a picture collage of our short time in Germany.

Our next stop was to help out at a retreat for expats, lots of which were our friends!  It was a blast to see so many familiar faces and catch up after being part of a that close knit community while we lived in Turkey.   Our hotel was right on the beach and Amara (and her parents!) enjoyed  hanging out at the pool or beach everyday!

Then we were off to our former hometown... we didn't know exactly what awaited us, since our American friends had moved back only weeks before and we knew things would be different after the earthquake.

We were surprised to find a lot of people back in town.... it seemed as busy as ever.  The range of the state of buildings was amazing.  Some didn't seem to have been touched since the earthquake and you could see huge cracks throughout the entire facade.  Others we in the process of being repaired, with scaffolding all over.  Some looked brand-new... although they probably weren't, they'd been repaired beautifully.  Some were being torn down in front of our eyes, and others were already long gone. Everywhere we turned we saw something familiar yet different.

We found our old apartment complex.  From what we understand, it's being repaired for people to move back in.  As you can tell from the pictures below it has scaffolding around it.  The complex right behind us was demolished as well as our friends' place just a few blocks away.  Hopefully our place doesn't have any real structural damage and is just cosmetic, it's always hard to know.

 We were blessed to be able to see a lot of our old friends.  The week was full of visiting but we're so glad we got to share in a bit of their lives again.  We had lots of Turkish tea and lots of other yummy Turkish food!  We also got a bit of shopping in, for a few items we can't find in America!  As you can tell from the pics below, Amara did great!  I think she was a bit confused when we were talking Turkish, as in her recent memory she hasn't heard us speak Turkish.  Our Turkish did come back to us quickly, and we were so thankful for that!

We stayed with our good American friends during our time in Van, and had so much fun with them!  It was such a blessing to see them again.  One day we went on a picnic to Lake Van, a tradition that's hard to pass up!  We had a blast!  Thanks so much for your hospitality!

Our time in Turkey wrapped up with a few days in Istanbul visiting friends, which was wonderful as well!  Overall we're so glad we were able to spend 3 weeks revisiting Turkey.  It was good timing as we feel like we're settled into our home and community here in the States now, but we want to stay connected to Turkey, as it's dear to to our hearts! 

Two Weeks Ago Today...

Our friends' lives were changed forever as they experienced the ground shake beneath them for what seemed like an eternity, even though it was only 25 seconds.  By now hopefully you've seen a few news stories, heard that over 600 people are confirmed dead with thousands more injured, and even more without a place to call home.  But that can seem so far away... because, well, it is and honestly disasters like this seem to happen weekly somewhere in the world... tornado in Joplin, floods in Thailand, tsunami in Japan, just to name a few. 

But when we heard that our former home had been struck by a huge earthquake it shook us to the core, no pun intended.  We were thankful that we weren’t there, yet our hearts ached to be with our friends.  We quickly learned that our teammates were safe, but it took until earlier this week to hear from our local friends via Facebook & e-mail that they too were safe. 

One of our friend’s roofs collapsed; our friends are sleeping outside in tents; our friends have dead friends; our friends are scared to go back into their homes.  We recognize places on TV & the internet as places we walked, talked, shopped, and played.  As we went about our lives here, it was as if nothing happened, but in the back of our minds we couldn’t help think about all our friends whose lives had been altered forever. 

What could we do?  We had to do something.  So, we decided to host a fundraiser, it’s not much in the big picture, with thousands needing food, clothing, and shelter – especially since winter has already arrived!  But we know even few dollars will help our friends, and their friends & family, and their friends & family… a few more blankets, a few more tents, another bag of rice, and some fuel to stay warm. 

Please pray with us for the thousands who have experienced over 1300 aftershocks, some being very large, in the past two weeks.  They are frightened to return home, even if it is deemed structurally sound.  Although the two winters we lived in Van were mild, stories abounded of winters when the snow was up to the rooftops, and anyone who lives in the Midwest knows how one winter can be very different than the next.  Pray that God would have mercy, and allow this winter to be another mild one. 

Please pray with us for the smaller villages outside of Van, who also were greatly affected, to receive the aid they need.  Often the smaller villages get forgotten, and in the winter, those villages higher in the mountains also become harder to travel to.  

Happy 1st Birthday Amara!

Well, It's been quite awhile since I posted, and it might still be a bit more.  Today we're celebrating Amara's birthday!  We celebrated with a party on Saturday and I made this slideshow, so I thought I'd share it with you.  Hopefully I'll get some pics up soon as well!

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Happy 4th of July

Made in Turkey but an American girl!  Happy Independence Day!

Puberty....

Next we'll meet the calves who are entering puberty... they're no longer cute cuddly calves, but aren't quite mammas yet, otherwise known as the East Group (creative, huh?).  Around 6 months they get to move up to this group.  At this point, they're just working on getting bigger, so they can become mamma. 

 

Next comes the heifer group, where each heifer has a chance to become a mamma!  Around 15 months they're bred.  We use Artificial Insemination (AI), which means we use semen from different bulls that we purchase.  The genetics of both the mamma heifer and daddy bull are analyzed, therefore hopefully making the best mating possible - you want a healthy, good milk producing cow!
 

 The benefits of AI aren't limited to improving the genetics of the animals we have on the farm.  It also helps with planning, because we know when we bred a cow.   Not to mention that we don't have to deal with any live ornery bulls!

Every couple months our vet comes to "preg check", or check to see who's pregnant.  I am amazed that by just putting his hand/arm in the cow's uterus he can tell usually within 3 days of when we bred the cow how far along she is!  Speaking of our vets and others who help us out....

Did You Know... that it's estimated that more than 26,000 Iowa jobs are provided by the dairy industry – including jobs on dairy farms, by dairy processors and other services that benefit and aid the dairy industry—resulting in more than $1.5 billion contributed annually to Iowa’s economy.

Moving Up...

After being in the huts, calves move up to either the Hog House or the Old Barn, depending on the size of their group as well as the groups around them.  Usually a group is made up of calves born in a 2-3 month window ranging in size from 3-10 calves.  These calves' main focus is getting bigger and getting socialized - familiar with group housing.

Did You Know.... that our farm is a Century Farm, meaning it's been part of the Bolin Family for over 100 years.  Dan's Great-Great Grandpa bought the farm in 1890.  There's been a lot of changes during that time, but hard-work, family values, faith, and fun have always been key parts of Beaver Creek!  Join us in 5 years to celebrate 125 years of Bolin farming! 

Again, here are some videos of the Hog House and the Old Barn calves about a month ago. 

The beginning

As most things do, cows start out as calves, and that's where our tour will begin.

Did You Know... technically a 'cow' is only a female bovine that has had a baby, or calf.  Before she has a calf, she's called a heifer. 

A cow is pregnant about 9 months, the same as humans.  Before a calf is born, we don't know if it will be a boy or girl.  Over the long-term our calves are about 50% male & 50% female.  The technology is out there to use sexed-semen, which would give us a higher probability of female, and we're considering that in the future, especially since out of our last bunch of calves, only 2 were girls!

The boy calves are sold to a neighbor, who feeds them, and then sells them for beef.  And the baby girls head to "the huts", where they'll live until they're about 2 months old.

The babies receive milk from a bottle for a few days and then drink their milk from a bucket, until they're 6 weeks old.  They also receive water and slowly increasing amounts of grain & hay.

They're kept in separate huts to lessen the potential for spread of sickness, if it were to occur.

June is a busy month for calving... we're planning to have about 20 new babies born!

Here's a video I took last month while Dan & I were watching the farm of the hut babies & surrounding fields and pastures. 

Did You Know....

June is Dairy Month!

That's right. And since we might be the only dairy farmers you know, we'll be giving you a tour of Beaver Creek Farm over the next couple days.  Get ready to learn about modern dairy practices and the wonders of milk!

Although right now you'll only get a virtual tour, you're always welcome to stop by and get a real live tour!  See the cows, feed the calves, roast a hot dog, and of course drink some milk!  Just like these little guys did today!

We were excited to have some college friends and their boys stop by for a tour today.  It was a lot of fun and we look forward to seeing you at Beaver Creek Farm too!  But for now, a virtual tour will have to do... so let's get started...

Welcome to Beaver Creek Farm, home of the Bolin Family, and a member of Swiss Valley Farms!  We're proud to show you around our farm where we take pride in taking good care of our cattle & providing you with good, wholesome, nutritious milk!

Did You Know.... We're only one of 1,922 dairy farms just in Iowa? 

May Review

I figure if I can at least update once a month at least I won't feel behind!  We had a busy May - not spending more than 5 nights in one place and the last three weeks, not more than 3 days in one place! 

Thankfully we started out at "home", which is somewhat relative since we're still staying at Matt & Ashley's, but it's our home for now.  Then we headed to our future "home", the farm, for 5 days, while Pam & Dave visited Matt, Ashley, Noah, & Foster in FL.  Noah got to go to Disney for his 5th birthday, and as Amara's face says in the picture below.... "Noah & Foster got to go to Disney & all I got was these socks & an outfit?!?"  We had fun watching the farm and were thankful to Dan's grandparents for coming over to watch Amara a little bit in the evenings so I could go out and help with calf chores. 

We also celebrated my first mother's day.... I have such a sweet baby girl!  Thank You Lord!  She's been growing, although still quite petite!   She's catching on the the eating thing more and more everyday.  She's become much more smiley & interactive which is quite fun!  She'll still up on her own for quite awhile but we don't trust her alone yet, as she still has a tendency to fling herself over.  The Lord has truly blessed us with a very content baby, which I'm sure it just for this stage of life - we've had a crazy schedule, with late nights but she's willing to sleep in all sorts of places - including the car and mommy's arms, which is so nice! 

Then it was off to Ames to see a lot of friends.... it was wonderful to see so many friends, share about Turkey in pictures, stories, food, tea, gifts, and more!  We also got to go to Cornerstone for the first time since we returned. 

We were back for a day & we went to see Uncle James coach his track team from Schaffer Academy.  It was the perfect day for a meet!  Plus we stopped at A&W on the way home... YUM!  Then we watched the farm for a couple days while Pam & Dave went to a dairy meeting. 

They returned and we were off again to Ames to see more friends and have an Open House.  We had Turkish food and saw more friends! Thanks to all who came! 

Thanks John & Becky for helping us host!

 

A day back home, and we were off again - this time to Minnesota!!!  First we stopped to see James & Nicole, and see James We stopped in the Cities and saw friends & family!  Then it was to St. Cloud to see Lynn's parents, cousins from out of town, and celebrate another cousin's wedding!  Congrats Matthew & Heather - we're SO glad we were able to celebrate with you!  And, it was a blast to dance again... we didn't really "American" style dance while we were away and we love dancing! 

The beautiful bride & groom!

The bride & some of her bridesmaids.... my cousin, Lindsey is on the right.

Now my brother is into LARP or Live Action Role Playing and therefore has all these cool weapons that the boys, I mean men, had fun playing, I mean fighting, with on Saturday evening... let the battles begin.... (please excuse all my laughter - it was hilarious!)

 

April Review

 April was a good month at our house, well it's not our house, but it is our home at the moment!  We're thankful to have our brother & sister-in-law's house to live in.  We're starting to think about what might be next for us, as we're expecting that it will sell in the next couple months.  The house was just relisted with Century 21, take a look if you're interested.

With Amara turning 6 months, we crossed a few milestones this month.  First cereal and sitting up a lot more consistently.  There are a few movies below of both.  We've spent a lot of time with family - moving James & Nicole into their first house,

The House Warming Gift we gave James & Nicole... Go Vikings!

celebrating Grandpa Pete's 76 birthday with a party including his two brothers' birthdays as well, of course Easter with Aunt Barb's annual Easter Egg Hunt (we - Dan - found over 56 eggs!),

Before the Easter Egg Hunt

and then a celebration of Dan's cousin's little girls first birthday!

The birthday girl & her parents

My little girl looks so big!

Finally a picture with Great Grandpa & Grandma Jensen!  We'd seen them many times before but I had forgotten to get any pictures!   

We've also watched some of the NBA playoffs... Amara loves to watch basketball!  Go Bulls!

Amara also got her first cold this month.  That meant more naps in mommy & daddy's arms, and her first really bad night (I'm not complaining cause I know it could be a lot worse!)

And obviously Dan's been working on the farm...

We have a few more pictures from the last month to share as well as some movies, so without further ado...

Here is Amara trying her first cereal. She's still not a huge fan, but we keep trying every once in awhile. We're actually going to try and do more of a Baby-Led Weaning style, but since Amara's not interested in food much yet, we wanted to start giving her a little something. She's starting to show more and more of an interest though everyday. On Monday she enjoyed sucking on an apple and today she enjoyed a piece of green pepper! 


Amara's First Cereal from Lynn Bolin on Vimeo.




Next we have some pretty cute videos of Amara laughing... on the changing table and in the bath.


Laughing on Changing Table from Lynn Bolin on Vimeo.


Laughing in Ducky Bath from Lynn Bolin on Vimeo.

Bathtime

Amara also enjoys spending time with Daddy playing/listening to music.


Music with Daddy from Lynn Bolin on Vimeo.

 

Grandma Di accidentally shrunk this hat so she gave it to Amara.  I doesn't even really fit Amara but she kinda looks like a little pilgrim in it! 

And lastly the most recent video of Amara sitting up pretty well and chewing on the rattle Cindy gave her... it's a GREAT rattle!


Rattle Chewing from Lynn Bolin on Vimeo.

Happy 6 months Amara!

Today marks 6 months since Amara entered the world!  She is such a joy to have in our lives and I can't believe how much she changes all the time... I know that everyone says that about their kids, but it's hard to believe until it happens to you!  She's just starting to get the hang of sitting up, but doesn't like tummy time much.  She does love standing on her legs when you help her and she starting to give more smiles, look at things more intently, notice where mommy goes when someone else is holding her, study our faces, and so much more!  Here's a movie of her sitting up... with typical mommy commentary!

A few more things...

I forgot in my post yesterday to mention what Dan has been doing the past few weeks.  Every morning and evening he has been heading out to the dairy farm to help with chores.  It's been a welcome relief for Dan's dad, especially since there has been more than 15 calves born in the last 3 weeks.  That's a lot of babies to bottle feed first, then help them get use to drinking from a bucket, and carry their milk, water, feed, and bedding to their individual little huts. They've gotten quite a few extra things done that hadn't been done in the past few months, although with spring around the corner there's quite a few more things on that list!  Dan's been truly enjoying being back on the farm!

In other news, Dan's mom is doing well.  She has one chemo treatment left either this week or next and then will begin the recovery process, which should take 30-60 days.  You can head to her Caring Bridge site at www.caringbridge.org/visit/pambolin for more updates.  And if you're interested in buying a t-shirt to support her, head to www.printmojo.com/PamStore/ to get yours today!

That's all for now!  Happy Spring!

The Past Month Plus

We've been back in the States now for a month, so I thought it was probably time to do a little blog update... 

Here we go!

 

Amara in her room in Turkey... no she doesn't stand on her own yet, but does love standing on her legs!  

 

Hanging out with our favorite "nieces", we miss you girls! 

Valentine's Day tradition of heart shaped pizzas continues... this time we celebrated with a good-bye party with our dear friends! 

 

On the airplane home we were blessed with a very sparse plane and bulkhead seats, which means that Amara got her own little bed during the middle of the flight.  The little zipper part over her is for in case there is unexpected turbulence.  She did really well and did end up taking a 2+ hour nap in this little thing, as well as some other "cat" naps along the way.  

The morning after we returned our parents met us at our hotel and we all went out to eat at Denny's!  

And then it was time to meet the GREAT-grandparents.  First up was Great-grandma Vance.

We had tea and many other goodies at her house!  Thanks!

Then it was off to meet Great-grandma Klisch.  Four generation photo here!

My cousin made this for my Grandma Klisch - there's at least 94 people in our extended family - her kids, grandkids, great-grandkids, and spouses!  I'm not sure they're all even on this Turkey, but probably close!

Dan also bought x-county skis and enjoyed getting to use them before we left MN. 

We stopped in Rochester at James & Nicole's house after watching the basketball team that James coached this year.  Amara just slept on the floor under the desk, and she didn't know the difference (but not for long though cause she'll be moving soon!)

And then seeing Great-grandma and grandpa Bolin, along with her cousin Foster.. who is only a month older, but quite a bit bigger!

We also celebrated my birthday a few times... I think I got 3 free dessert at different restaurants out of the deal! Here we're just celebrating with family on the 24th. 

Here's a 4 generation pic on the other side of the family... the Bolins.

Here's GREAT grandpa and grandma Bolin with all 5 of their GREAT grandkids, at Dan's cousin's wedding!  And there's 2 more coming this year!

The Bolin Boys

The whole Bolin family... We were all together!

Amara with her Aunt Nicole...

And just this week, we went to Uncle James' FCA banquet in Rochester.  The Vikings Head Coach Leslie Frazier spoke about how his faith helps him in life & coaching.  It was a fun night!  And... GO VIKINGS!!!

The above two pictures are of Amara's room in the house we're currently living in.  We're blessed to be living in Dan's brother & sister's house while it's on the market and they're living in Florida.  So to see more pictures of it head here.  And if you know anyone who's looking for a house in Waverly, send 'em our way!

Here's a recent picture of Amara, just taken last night.  We went to the doctor on Friday and she got her 4 month shots, a bit late, but still ok.  She weighs 12lbs. 1 oz and is in the 1%.  So she's not gaining a ton, but the pediatrician said that she still looks healthy.  Her height was 25 inches, which is in the 30%, which is way up.  Apparently she's been working on getting longer in the last month and a half!

Otherwise, we've been getting use to living in America, and looking for a car.  If anyone knows of a 2003-2008 Pontiac Vibe that's AWD, has side impact airbags, and less than 100,000 miles, we're interested in buying it! 

I guess that just about sums it up, good thing I got some pictures up here, as they've been rather lacking the past few months!  Hope to continue to see many of you soon!