Thank you for visiting our Christmas Blog!
2009 has been a very memorable year for our family. On New Year's Eve, we were very excited to learn that we were having a little baby boy!
In January, we were fortunate enough to be able to travel to Hawaii for a "Babymoon." We spent three days on the Big Island exploring the volcano and swimming in geothermally heated ocean pools.
Then we traveled to Kauai for a week, where we stayed on the North Shore at Hanalei Bay. We hiked the Napali Coast, which was stunningly beautiful. We swam and snorkeled, and explored the Waimea Canyon.
One of our favorite parts of the trip was a catamaran tour - the hotel concierge had to make numerous calls to find a company who would take a "pregnant wahine," but it was worth it! We saw dolphins, tons of tropical fish, sea turtles, flying fish (at least Jessica claims she did), and whales. One whale popped up just a few feet from the boat. It was a wonderful trip, and we can't wait to take our little "Honu" back there someday. And da kine.
Shortly after we returned, Steve made a career move. He joined the Burton Team with Keller Williams, and has a new office downtown with a view of Mt. Saint Helens.
The next few months were spent preparing for the arrival of our baby boy. Jessica and her Mom did a lot of sewing together for the nursery. Jessica was also blessed to have three baby showers, and a lot of love and well-wishes shared for the little one. She continued to work up until her due date, May 28th.
The due date came and went, and we waited. Jessica went for walks, and we waited. More doctors appointments, and still we waited. 13 days past the due date, we finally decided to schedule an induction for 6am the following morning. And wouldn't you know it - Jessica woke up at 12:30am....in labor!
Henry Oliver Traffas was born on June 11th at 12:23pm, weighing in at 9lbs 3oz and 21 3/4 inches.
The past six months with Henry in our lives have been like no other. He is such a good-natured baby - he's very healthy and smiles a lot. He's a good sleeper, and definitely a hearty eater - just check out those cheeks! We're not sure exactly how we got so lucky...but we certainly appreciate what a blessing he is in our lives.
By the way, at six months old he is now 19lbs 7oz and 27 inches. He's sitting and rolling and trying to work out how he can capture the kitty. As of yet, he has not succeeded, but it seems to be only a matter of time. Maeby has been reluctantly patient and long-suffering.
Henry has also proven to be a good traveler. In July we had our annual "camping" trip with friends, and stayed in a lovely house in Gleneden Beach. In September, we went to Sunriver with the Sadler family for a long weekend. We hiked, explored caves, went fabric shopping, went golfing (guess who did what) and tried not to get attacked by mosquitos. Just a couple of weeks later, Jessica and Henry were back in Sunriver for the Building Champions Experience. Grandma came along to help. In October, we took an impromptu weekend trip to Pacific City.
We also managed to get out of the house a couple of times without the baby, thanks in part to Jessica's good luck. She won tickets on the radio to see Brian Regan, a favorite comedian of ours, just two weeks after Henry was born - so we had our first date night. Then in October, she won tickets to the Pink Martini CD Release Concert thanks to the magic of Facebook. Steve bravely stayed home with Henry while Jessica and Selina had a night out.
After three months of maternity leave, Jessica returned to work part time at Building Champions, as the Office and Communications Coordinator. She's enjoying her new role which includes publishing blogs, writing the newsletter, and managing the company's social networking (ie, Facebook). She has been with BC for almost 8 years now.
On October 15th, just one day shy of nephew Luke's second birthday, Ian Claiborne Sadler was born. Jeff and Marie seem to be adjusting well to parenting two little boys, and Jessica's parents couldn't be happier - in just a few months they went from one grandson to three!
Now, we would be remiss if we did a recap of 2009 without mentioning something about the OREGON DUCKS! Henry got to attend two games this year - the thrilling victories over Cal and USC - and is now considered good luck and will likely be invited back to Autzen. We had a lot of fun taking him to the games. We also attended the Arizona State game without him, and then Jessica had the ultimate privilege of going to the Civil War with Mom, Dad, and Jeff.
What a fun year for Oregon football!! We'll be tuning in to the Rose Bowl on New Year's Day if you'd like to join us.
Thanksgiving was spent in McMinnville with the Traffas family. Patrick and Suzie made the trip down from Canada, and the Tovars traveled over from La Grande. All nine grandchildren were in attendance, and it was fun to see them all together.
We are looking forward to Henry's first Christmas, and all the joy that the New Year is sure to bring. We wish each of you all the best in 2010!
May you be abundantly blessed,
Steve, Jessica, and Henry Traffas
