And the Verdict is......

He got in!!!!

Aaron is one of the 24 applicants that got accepted to the Nursing Program for next year!!! Wahoo!!!! :) :) We are soooo excited!!!!

We knew that the letters were sent out yesterday so we waited patiently (read that with sarcasm!) for the mail to come today. We couldn't quite open the letter fast enough because SO much was on the line!

So, what does this mean? Well, we'll stay in Mankato for 2 1/2 years while Aaron completes the program. Then, who knows! I guess you'll just have to keep reading for 2 1/2 years to find out.....wow that seems like a long time but I know it will go fast :)

We are super excited that we don't have to sell our house and uproot again :) Yay....thank you, Lord :) Okay, off to put the baby to bed....adios!

3 Months Old!

Tristen is 3 months old today! How can this be?

When he was a newborn, I dubbed the newborn stage as my new favorite stage.....until he was one month old which I decided was my new favorite. Until....yep, 2 months...then I realized how fun a 2 month old was. And NOW as he has been on the brink of turning 3 months, I love THIS stage. What did I learn from my fickleness? I love my little boy....no matter what age he is and I love all the new stages in his life!!

Some of our faves lately:
*Watching him get stronger neck muscles and want to sit up
*Tummy time....he loves to look around and kick his feet
*His eyes....they melt me every time
*The way he grabs for toys now and will not let go once he gets them! (my dislike is when he grabs for my hair and won't let go :)

*His cooing and "talking"....sometimes we can't stop laughing at him which makes him get louder and more vocal....and then we laugh even more :)
*His smiles and the way he lights up in the mornings when he sees us for the first time
*Seeing his personality come out...he loves to observe (like his dad) and is totally content just sitting and being around people.

He's a keeper and we love our 3 month old SO much! Happy 3 months, Tristen!

Hobby Spurts

Does anyone else go in hobby spurts? One week you go hardcore working on something and then the next week you abandon the project to work on a different hobby? Two weeks ago I worked on my wedding scrapbook during Tristen's naps. Last week I couldn't get my nose out of the books! Parenting books, my book club book, a new Francine Rivers novel....goodness I couldn't stop reading and stayed up way too late at night finishing them off!

So what's my hobby spurt this week? I have GOT to finish that wedding scrapbook....I'm 5 pages away but I can't seem to get the motivation to finish it. Come on, Erika, get 'er done! You may ask why I put myself through the pain of scrapbooking (and being 5 years behind and trying to catch up!)....I asked myself the same question 2 weeks ago and came up with my answer. Scrapbooking is my way of telling stories. I realized that it's my way of writing a book. I've told the story of my college years, my engagement period, my vacations, and now my wedding day. Even though it takes time to "write these stories", in the end it's so worth it to have it in a book and be able to share with others.

So, here's to pulling out the scrapbooking supplies for a few more days (and not minding the liitle mess it brings with it!) while I finish this beast of a project :) Happy Second Day of Spring!

Adios Ole and Lena!

Well, we finally did what needed to be done. We got rid of Ole AND the fish he beat up the most-Lena. The pic above is of Ole but Lena looked just like him and could be just as mean if given the chance! So, we decided just to sell them both and have a nice, happy fish tank. It's made a world of difference and I actually like looking at our fish now!

Another person who is now infatuated with fish is little Tristen. We hold him up to the fish tank and his eyes try to follow the fish....he loves looking at them! It's been so fun to see this little guy reach some milestones in the last few weeks....lifting his head more, looking around, focusing on people, grasping objects, and talking and smiling SO much! Every week keeps getting more and more fun!

Looking at the fish in his tummy time mat :)

Aaron is back at classes this week after having spring break last week...we find out in the next two weeks if he got into the Nursing Program or not! With budget cuts, only 24 applicants get in! Obviously we are anxious to find out but we also have a peace right now that everything will work out...Nursing Program or no Nursing Program.

Well, that's us lately! I may blog more now that Ole isn't bothering me :)

My Thoughts

What have I been doing for the last few weeks? Thinking. Researching. Reading. Visiting Family. Thinking some more. Getting annoyed with the media. Having minor asthma attacks. Thinking yet some more.

Lately I've been passionate about what raising a child in a Christian home looks like. I've been thinking about what things we would like to do to share our faith with our children and what it looks like practically. There is SO much more to raising a child than just taking them to church and occasionally talking about Bible stories. We, as Tristen's parents, are the greatest influencers of him and I pray I don't take the responsibility lightly.

I've been doing research and would LOVE some book titles that any parents out there have found helpful. I have "Shepherding a Child's Heart" on my list but would love other helpful books. I've been searching the Scriptures too and would love to hear any particular passages that you have found helpful in your quest to raising children in a Christian home.

I have been thinking about service because I want to instill the importance of serving others to our children. We have some ideas of how we would like to do this but any ideas any of you have in this area would be liked as well :)

Some more thoughts? I'm getting ridiculously annoyed with the media these days. While feeding Tristen in the wee hours of the morning (well, wee hours is 6:00am, but I'm not a morning person so it's early to me!), I watch the news to keep myself awake. And, oh.my.goodness. I'm so annoyed at the headlines these days....making news out of other people's hurt and disasters. Charlie Sheen. Ted Williams. Gabriella Gifford. The disaster in Japan. The ongoing disaster in Haiti. People are in pain and are hurting and what do we do? Make a good story about it. It's sick. It's wrong. Yes, I appreciate being informed about these things and I know I need to give the media a bit of grace because they may not know better but honestly pouncing on disasters and people's mistakes like a piece of meat has become sickening to me.

So, what can I do? Well, I can surely pray. These last two weeks and all the thinking that I've done has driven me to more prayer. Prayer for my kids. Prayer for the world they will grow up in. Prayer for wisdom on how to parent. Prayer for Japan. Prayer for the media, Charlie Sheen, Ted Williams, etc.

Oh yeah, and the asthma attacks. I had a little scare on Monday morning which made all this even more real for me. While I was at the doctor, trying to get a good breath in, I thought about the realization that we all die someday. (Just to clarify, I wasn't on my death bed....but not breathing IS a scary thing and I've lost friends/relatives to asthma attacks :( I guess you could say the asthma attacks made me more passionate about living for Christ TODAY because we are not guaranteed tomorrow.

*Whew* Those are my thoughts as of late. Take them or leave them....

Light at the End of the Tunnel

I'm starting to feel a little cooped up in Mankato. I haven't been anywhere since October....partly due to me being pregnant, partly due to Tristen being born and thus being so little, and partly because the weather has been so snowy and frigid. I cannot wait to travel this weekend!

I feel like March is the light at the end of the tunnel in a lot of ways.
-The weather. Honestly, 30's is looking like the light at the end of the tunnel after the cold winter!
-Aaron's job. A few days after I quit my job and stayed home with Tristen, Aaron's hours at work got cut dramatically because of the slow time of year. And by dramatically, I mean he hardly got to work...a few hours a month. The tunnel of near unemployment seemed to never end but he finally got a different job and is starting within a week! Light at the end of the tunnel.
-Nursing Program Wait. The wait is almost over as we find out in a few weeks if Aaron is in the program or not.

In other news, our highlight of the week has been Tristen's new stage in life! He loves to "talk" now....high pitched sounds and all out smiles :) We love running in his room in the morning because he is just laying there smiling and cooing and then he gives us a huge smile when he sees us :) He is WAY too fun....I'm SO enjoying this little boy and I can't stop laughing at him as he finds his voice :)

Well, that's us and our weekly update :)