Merry Christmas from our family to yours!
This is a poem that Lynn's grandpa John E. Vance wrote in 1979. We set it to music in 2007 and is a Christmas tradition in our family now. Hope you enjoy both the words in the poem and the song.
Ready for Christmas
Who would have ever dared guess, --
I can't believe it's true, but yes,
We're not in the pre-Christmas mess;
We're ready for Christmas!
There's nearly three full weeks to go;
The tree is trimmed with gifts below,
Most of the shopping is done, and so --
We're ready for Christmas!
Yet, give me pause that I may see
What "ready" really means to me.
Can I lightly say with glee,
We're ready for Christmas?
When Heaven's Child arrived on earth,
A lowly stable gave Him birth,
Few men recognized His worth;
The world wasn't ready for Christmas.
Each Christmas Jesus tries again
To reach people's hearts and enter in;
But hearts are closed, no room for Him.
Are we really ready for Christmas?
We must graciously open our hearts,
Humbly recieve Him - That's how it starts.
If He is welcome, then this imparts -
That we are ready for Christmas!
Saturday, December 25, 2010
Monday, December 20, 2010
Amara Rolled Over
A mama's gotta brag... Amara rolled over today twice! A few days ago she did it for the first time, but I think it was on accident and surprised us both. The movie below was the first time she did it today... and later she did it again. When we put her on her tummy she's definitely trying to do it. She's a determined little girl.
I've got time to blog because Dan is feeding Amara a bottle. She's taking to it ok... sometimes better than others. We're trying about a bottle a day. If we go out, then that's when we usually give her the bottle, otherwise we're trying her last feeding of the day to try and "tank her up" before bed. Last night she slept from 8p-2a and didn't have a good feeding before that, so we're hoping she'll start sleeping through the night soon... although mom's not getting too hopeful until it happens for a couple nights straight.
I've got time to blog because Dan is feeding Amara a bottle. She's taking to it ok... sometimes better than others. We're trying about a bottle a day. If we go out, then that's when we usually give her the bottle, otherwise we're trying her last feeding of the day to try and "tank her up" before bed. Last night she slept from 8p-2a and didn't have a good feeding before that, so we're hoping she'll start sleeping through the night soon... although mom's not getting too hopeful until it happens for a couple nights straight.
Sunday, December 19, 2010
Saturday, November 27, 2010
Another Post with Links
Well, we've been busy, but thankfully we have a friends who keep up their blogs! So to find out our recent happenings in Spain head here.
And to find out more about our Thanksgiving feast head here.
Hopefully soon I'll find time to update the blog more often... right now I'm focusing feed Amara, helping her take naps during the day, feeding Dan and I, and then the few other things like showering, doing 5 minutes of abs a day, laundry, cleaning, a few e-mails, and that's about all I can handle at the moment! Thankfully I've been getting about 8 hrs of sleep at night the past 2 nights (not continuous but still great!).
And to find out more about our Thanksgiving feast head here.
Hopefully soon I'll find time to update the blog more often... right now I'm focusing feed Amara, helping her take naps during the day, feeding Dan and I, and then the few other things like showering, doing 5 minutes of abs a day, laundry, cleaning, a few e-mails, and that's about all I can handle at the moment! Thankfully I've been getting about 8 hrs of sleep at night the past 2 nights (not continuous but still great!).
Thursday, November 25, 2010
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
Update on Amara
Thanks so much for all who have been praying for Amara to be gaining weight. We went to the doctor today and got her weighed again, 10 days have past since we were last there. She has only gained about 16g a day - the goal being 24g (or 1 oz) a day. There is still one test that hasn't come back that we'll wait to see on. The doctor said she seems healthy so he's not sure why she's not gaining weight. We're changing a few things here at home and are hoping that will help. Please keep praying that she'll begin to pack on the grams!
But in other news... here are some recent pics.. ENJOY!
T-shirts from some of Lynn's mom's friends... they say "Proud New Dad", "New Mom", and "Baby Girl". Thanks!
But in other news... here are some recent pics.. ENJOY!
Friday, October 22, 2010
Monday, October 11, 2010
Some Videos
Here are a few videos we've taken... enjoy!
Bath Time with Amara from Lynn Bolin on Vimeo.
Changing Table Time with Amara from Lynn Bolin on Vimeo.
Floor Time with Amara from Lynn Bolin on Vimeo.
Sunday, October 10, 2010
Labor & Delivery
First of all, thank you to the many who prayed for my labor & Amara’s delivery. Amara’s birth was an answer to prayer! Here’s the story….
Warning: There may be more details than some want to know, but I know some out there want the whole story, so read what you want! Also, the pictures below are of Amara just after being born, so they are a little graphic, depending on who you are & your comfort level.
Sunday night we had our “Last Night Out” although we didn’t know it at the time. Dan hung out with some friends playing games and watching football while I hung out with some girlfriends, eating popcorn & talking. We wrapped things up and got home a little before midnight, somewhat late for us. I felt the need to clean up a few dishes before heading to bed. I’d been trying to keep things clean knowing that at anytime I could go into labor, but this was the first time I felt a burst of energy to do them… I guess it’s true that you get a burst of energy before going into labor.
We finally headed to bed about 12:45am. As I was drifting off to sleep I think I had my first contraction. I couldn’t tell if had woken me up or not, as I was just falling asleep but it did hurt. I hadn’t really had any contractions that had hurt up to that point but this time it hurt and I thought… I think that was a contraction!
But I drifted back to sleep, only to be awakened an hour later at 2am with another contraction. I waited and 15 minutes later had another one. At this point I woke Dan up. It seems somewhat surreal that labor might actually be starting since we’d been waiting for so long for it (I was 11 days overdue at this point). Later Dan told me that he wasn’t sure he believed that I was in labor, but thankfully he didn’t tell me that at the time.
Dan got things packed up to head to the hospital in between timing and helping me with contractions. By 3am or so we were packed for the hospital and we both camped out in the living room – Dan helping me breathe through the contractions and then both of us resting between them. By 5am or so contractions seemed to be coming more and more frequently, so we decided to call our parents to let them know the news. Then we called our friend Sheryl, who headed over to our place to be with Lynn while Dan went and picked up their family’s van to head to the hospital.
By 6am we were on the road to the hospital, only a 10 minute drive away. We entered the emergency room door since it was still early morning and were ushered upstairs to the labor room where I think we woke up the midwife on duty.
We were excited that we were the only ones there. I got into my disposable hospital gown and when the midwife checked me, she found I was 6-7cm dilated! We were thankful that we had arrived when we had wanted to! I continued having contractions while Dan and Sheryl helped me through them. Dan eventually had to go and fill out some paperwork for the hospital and then was back.
Unfortunately, around 8am or so, another gal in labor arrived, ending Dan’s ability to stay with me in the labor room. Her water had broken in the night and so although she hadn’t had any contractions, they wanted to monitor her & knew her contractions would probably start soon. Turns out her contractions started pretty fast after she arrived!
A little later the nurse checked me again and I was dilated to 9cm & they wanted to break my water. Earlier when I was only 7 cm the midwife had wanted to break my water as well to speed things up but Dan refused & was insistent that she not. When they again wanted to, we called Dan (who was waiting upstairs in our recovery room) who said to wait some more. Thankfully they let me get on my knees, allowing gravity to help break my water (up to this point I’d only been on my back!). It eventually broke some, but not all the way. The midwife kept saying that if she broke my water it would speed up the process, and eventually after calling Dan again and him coming down to the floor (not into the room), we decided to let them break the rest of my water.
It was about 9:15-30am and the pushing started. For some reason I was most unprepared for this part of labor. We’d done lots of preparation and I didn’t remember a lot being said about pushing, it seemed like it was an easy natural thing. Unfortunately with your first labor, lying on your back, unprepared, and without an epidural, pushing isn’t easy!
I was SO THANKFUL for Sheryl at this point as she stood by me, prayed with & over me and Amara, helped me breathe and push through the contractions, and saw me at my rawest moments!
I ended up pushing for at least an hour, maybe a little more. The midwife wanted me to lie on my back, which was horrible, but I kept getting back up on my knees. Then she’d want me back on my back to check my progress. I could tell how much progress I was making, but she still wanted me to lie on my back. One nurse was holding a non-stress test machine to my belly during pretty much the whole pushing stage.
Eventually she told me to stay on my back as I think she thought that would speed it up, but thankfully I was able to roll onto my side a bit. Finally I could tell Amara was crowning & the nurse confirmed it!
So, normally in the States I think you’d keep pushing and deliver your baby, but instead I had two nurses help me off the bed I was laboring on, walk across the hall and get into the stirrup seat to deliver. My doctor had showed up by this time (she’d checked in at least once before) and the deliver room was bustling! Dan was able to come in at this point, which I was SO thankful for. And Sheryl took pictures (see below). I was ready to deliver this baby but the doctor wasn’t quite ready so I had to wait and not push through a contraction that I really wanted to! (All that time that I was trying to hard to push and then I really wanted to and couldn’t!)
Finally, all was ready and at 10:45am local time, Amara Ruth Bolin was born. Dan got to be there to see her born and then stayed by my side while the doctor delivered my placenta and gave me a few stitches (although none externally… I didn’t tear at all!).
Sheryl followed Amara and helped the nurses find her clothes. I was thankful we had bought a local “Hospital Newborn Set” of clothing, which is what the nurses dress all babies in when they are born.
After getting my pajamas on, I was wheeled upstairs to our recovery room and Amara followed soon after. I nursed her and we spent the rest of the afternoon calling our family, getting some basic tests, visits from nurses, etc.
At 6pm, we had finished all that we had to do at the hospital and we were on our way home… just under 12 hours after we arrived! So our & Amara’s first night was spent at home.
Oh yeah, and remember the other gal that was in labor with me? Well apparently we were quite the pair, as her labor picked up rapidly and she gave birth to her 2nd child, a boy, literally 5 minutes after me. Imagine a duet of laboring women! Apparently we’d been racing for the delivery room and we think since I was in the delivery room, she probably delivered in the labor room. Later that afternoon her mom and daughter came to see me and how I was doing. People here are so caring & kind. Dan spent the time that I was pushing hanging out with this gal’s husband, who happens to live in our neighborhood.
Our Recovery Room (Dan watched a little TV while he was waiting for me)
As a side note, since I probably won’t blog again about our labor & delivery, I wanted to let you know that we highly recommend The Pink Kit for labor & delivery preparation. Since we obviously weren’t able to take any traditional childbirth classes (they don’t offer them here), we had to find our own “class”. After going through The Pink Kit, we’d recommend it to anyone, even if you can take a traditional childbirth class. Check it out!
Lastly, thanks again for all of your prayers & support over the last 9 months of our pregnancy. We’re so thankful for all of our family & friends!
Warning: There may be more details than some want to know, but I know some out there want the whole story, so read what you want! Also, the pictures below are of Amara just after being born, so they are a little graphic, depending on who you are & your comfort level.
Sunday night we had our “Last Night Out” although we didn’t know it at the time. Dan hung out with some friends playing games and watching football while I hung out with some girlfriends, eating popcorn & talking. We wrapped things up and got home a little before midnight, somewhat late for us. I felt the need to clean up a few dishes before heading to bed. I’d been trying to keep things clean knowing that at anytime I could go into labor, but this was the first time I felt a burst of energy to do them… I guess it’s true that you get a burst of energy before going into labor.
We finally headed to bed about 12:45am. As I was drifting off to sleep I think I had my first contraction. I couldn’t tell if had woken me up or not, as I was just falling asleep but it did hurt. I hadn’t really had any contractions that had hurt up to that point but this time it hurt and I thought… I think that was a contraction!
But I drifted back to sleep, only to be awakened an hour later at 2am with another contraction. I waited and 15 minutes later had another one. At this point I woke Dan up. It seems somewhat surreal that labor might actually be starting since we’d been waiting for so long for it (I was 11 days overdue at this point). Later Dan told me that he wasn’t sure he believed that I was in labor, but thankfully he didn’t tell me that at the time.
Dan got things packed up to head to the hospital in between timing and helping me with contractions. By 3am or so we were packed for the hospital and we both camped out in the living room – Dan helping me breathe through the contractions and then both of us resting between them. By 5am or so contractions seemed to be coming more and more frequently, so we decided to call our parents to let them know the news. Then we called our friend Sheryl, who headed over to our place to be with Lynn while Dan went and picked up their family’s van to head to the hospital.
By 6am we were on the road to the hospital, only a 10 minute drive away. We entered the emergency room door since it was still early morning and were ushered upstairs to the labor room where I think we woke up the midwife on duty.
We were excited that we were the only ones there. I got into my disposable hospital gown and when the midwife checked me, she found I was 6-7cm dilated! We were thankful that we had arrived when we had wanted to! I continued having contractions while Dan and Sheryl helped me through them. Dan eventually had to go and fill out some paperwork for the hospital and then was back.
Unfortunately, around 8am or so, another gal in labor arrived, ending Dan’s ability to stay with me in the labor room. Her water had broken in the night and so although she hadn’t had any contractions, they wanted to monitor her & knew her contractions would probably start soon. Turns out her contractions started pretty fast after she arrived!
A little later the nurse checked me again and I was dilated to 9cm & they wanted to break my water. Earlier when I was only 7 cm the midwife had wanted to break my water as well to speed things up but Dan refused & was insistent that she not. When they again wanted to, we called Dan (who was waiting upstairs in our recovery room) who said to wait some more. Thankfully they let me get on my knees, allowing gravity to help break my water (up to this point I’d only been on my back!). It eventually broke some, but not all the way. The midwife kept saying that if she broke my water it would speed up the process, and eventually after calling Dan again and him coming down to the floor (not into the room), we decided to let them break the rest of my water.
It was about 9:15-30am and the pushing started. For some reason I was most unprepared for this part of labor. We’d done lots of preparation and I didn’t remember a lot being said about pushing, it seemed like it was an easy natural thing. Unfortunately with your first labor, lying on your back, unprepared, and without an epidural, pushing isn’t easy!
I was SO THANKFUL for Sheryl at this point as she stood by me, prayed with & over me and Amara, helped me breathe and push through the contractions, and saw me at my rawest moments!
I ended up pushing for at least an hour, maybe a little more. The midwife wanted me to lie on my back, which was horrible, but I kept getting back up on my knees. Then she’d want me back on my back to check my progress. I could tell how much progress I was making, but she still wanted me to lie on my back. One nurse was holding a non-stress test machine to my belly during pretty much the whole pushing stage.
Eventually she told me to stay on my back as I think she thought that would speed it up, but thankfully I was able to roll onto my side a bit. Finally I could tell Amara was crowning & the nurse confirmed it!
So, normally in the States I think you’d keep pushing and deliver your baby, but instead I had two nurses help me off the bed I was laboring on, walk across the hall and get into the stirrup seat to deliver. My doctor had showed up by this time (she’d checked in at least once before) and the deliver room was bustling! Dan was able to come in at this point, which I was SO thankful for. And Sheryl took pictures (see below). I was ready to deliver this baby but the doctor wasn’t quite ready so I had to wait and not push through a contraction that I really wanted to! (All that time that I was trying to hard to push and then I really wanted to and couldn’t!)
Finally, all was ready and at 10:45am local time, Amara Ruth Bolin was born. Dan got to be there to see her born and then stayed by my side while the doctor delivered my placenta and gave me a few stitches (although none externally… I didn’t tear at all!).
Sheryl followed Amara and helped the nurses find her clothes. I was thankful we had bought a local “Hospital Newborn Set” of clothing, which is what the nurses dress all babies in when they are born.
After getting my pajamas on, I was wheeled upstairs to our recovery room and Amara followed soon after. I nursed her and we spent the rest of the afternoon calling our family, getting some basic tests, visits from nurses, etc.
At 6pm, we had finished all that we had to do at the hospital and we were on our way home… just under 12 hours after we arrived! So our & Amara’s first night was spent at home.
Oh yeah, and remember the other gal that was in labor with me? Well apparently we were quite the pair, as her labor picked up rapidly and she gave birth to her 2nd child, a boy, literally 5 minutes after me. Imagine a duet of laboring women! Apparently we’d been racing for the delivery room and we think since I was in the delivery room, she probably delivered in the labor room. Later that afternoon her mom and daughter came to see me and how I was doing. People here are so caring & kind. Dan spent the time that I was pushing hanging out with this gal’s husband, who happens to live in our neighborhood.
Sheryl took this picture while I when we'd just arrived at the hospital. I still had some down time between contractions and wasn't in a lot of pushing pain yet.
Our Doctor, Safiye, delivering Amara (yes those are my legs in the stir-ups)
The "Hospital Newborn Set"... the nurse putting the bib on... ya know, just in case she spits up :)
Holding Amara Ruth for the first time
The first feeding
Already being silly with Daddy
They don't put the babies name on anything here, because they think you might change it. So everything just said "Baby Bolin" on it.
Views from our recovery room
Our Recovery Room (Dan watched a little TV while he was waiting for me)
Decoration on our door... announcing we had a girl!
Some post birth photos
As a side note, since I probably won’t blog again about our labor & delivery, I wanted to let you know that we highly recommend The Pink Kit for labor & delivery preparation. Since we obviously weren’t able to take any traditional childbirth classes (they don’t offer them here), we had to find our own “class”. After going through The Pink Kit, we’d recommend it to anyone, even if you can take a traditional childbirth class. Check it out!
Lastly, thanks again for all of your prayers & support over the last 9 months of our pregnancy. We’re so thankful for all of our family & friends!
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
Amara Ruth... Week One
I was going to try and get the labor and delivery story up before these... but it just hasn't happened. So here's what you've all been waiting for anyway... pictures of the first week.
Amara (pronounced with the 'mar' sounding like 'car' in case you're wondering) is doing well. She's sleeping well at night although we're having a bit of trouble with naps during the day, although if I had to choose, that's how I'd want it! Otherwise she's healthy and doing well, as are mom and dad.
Thanks for all of your well wishes this past week via e-mail, facebook, blog comments, etc. We're so thankful for you all!
Amara (pronounced with the 'mar' sounding like 'car' in case you're wondering) is doing well. She's sleeping well at night although we're having a bit of trouble with naps during the day, although if I had to choose, that's how I'd want it! Otherwise she's healthy and doing well, as are mom and dad.
Thanks for all of your well wishes this past week via e-mail, facebook, blog comments, etc. We're so thankful for you all!
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Monday, September 27, 2010
Amara Ruth Arrives
The name Amara is a name with many origins. We know people in our city named Amara, although when you search baby name web sites, the origins are traced to many languages & cultures...
Indian (Sanskrit): Immortal
Greek: Unfading, Eternal
Latin: Everlasting
African: Paradise
German: Eternal, Steadfast
One of the reasons that we like the name Amara is that it is so cross-cultural, easily spoken & understood by people from many nations, languages, and cultures.
Ruth, meaning companion or friend in Hebrew, is in honor of both of our mothers, as both of their middle names are Ruth. Dan's great-grandmother's name was also Ruth, and an amazing woman of her day! We also love the story of Ruth in the Bible, a woman who left her own home & culture behind for a new land out of love & devotion to her mother-in-law.
As Amara was born in a land that is foreign to her parents, our prayer is that she grow into a girl & a woman who comes to deeply love the many beautiful cultures and people that God has created on earth.
Hasankeyf
We've been wanting to head to our next stop since we arrived in Turkey... Hasankeyf. It's scheduled to disappear under water with the building of a new dam on the adjacent Tigris River. So we wanted to make sure to get there before we'd have to go scuba diving to reach it!
As you can see there are many houses and rooms carved into the rock walls.
We climbed to the top for an overhead view.
The old was and new bridge is the only way to cross the Tigris River for over 100km.
A view back across the river... can you see the houses on the top of the rock cliff?
Mardin
Our next stop was Mardin, although we didn't get to spend as much time here as we would have liked... there is a lot to see in this old town. Hopefully we'll get to go back someday!
Mardin is located at the crossroads of the old caravan routes, built high on a hill overlooking the plain below. As dusk settles and lights go on, it's beautiful to overlook the city which has now grown beyond the original hill.
The streets are narrow & quaint... and not a lot of fun to drive (Dan will tell you that!). But they feel very authentically middle eastern/arabic, as Mardin has a significant Arab speaking/influencing population.
We stayed in an old caravan hotel, which as been refurbished. It was a lot of fun!
I wish I had a better picture of Mardin from further away, as it truly is a 'City on a Hill' and stunning with it's homes. But hopefully the picture below can give you a small idea!
We found Ronald McDonald while walking around... unfortunately he wasn't promoting McDonalds but a local breakfast restaurant. Maybe next time we find him, he'll be outside a McDonalds!
Diyarbakir
In mid-June we had some friends visit us and we took off with them for a tour around SE Turkey. We visited a few different cities, saw a lot of history, made some great memories, and met a lot of great people who live in this country!
Our first stop was Diyarbakir.
Another highlight is the Syriac Orthodox Church of Virgin Mary.
You can read more about it in the photo below.
The Grand Mosque (Ulucami) of Diyarbakir is also impressive, being of the oldest mosques in service Turkey. Originally it was the Church of St Thomas which was converted to a mosque in 639 and then rebuilt again in 1115.
Through the door above are the bathrooms/wash rooms. They are modernized but still feel very much like they would have many years ago. Mosques usually have very clean bathrooms because before each of the 5 prayers of the day people need to do their washing to purify themselves before prayer.
Above, another more public area for washing before prayers.
Below, a classic example of men sitting around outside of a mosque drinking tea.
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