A Reflection of the Year

As 2007 came to a close we reflected on the many blessings that we were showered with this year, most obviously the birth of Arden comes to mind but there are many other blessings as well. We are always grateful for our family, near and far and the greater connections that have been made due to our life changes this past year, good and bad. Dave reflects on his decision to go out on his own as a business with Homestretch Renovations and Remodeling, Inc. and the growing pains that go along with that, but the freedom and independence and satisfaction of doing his own thing is in the long run more rewarding then anything he's done before. We had many changes this year, many ups and downs, but we continue to learn and grow, and most importantly, love as a family together.

"Be always at war with your vices, at peace with your neighbors, and let each new year find you a better person." ~ Benjamin Franklin

Arden's 1st Christmas!

We just got back last night from a wonderful extended Christmas stay at my parent's place down near Southport, NC near the coast. We were down there for a total of 4 days and nights, which went by very quickly! We had a great time! Some highlights- on Sunday we took advantage of the warm weather and my Dad took us out on the boat, including Arden! Her first boat ride! She was not too impressed and fell asleep in the baby bjorn on my chest within the first 10 minutes. Which is fine, I'm sure there will be many more boat rides on Poppi's boat in her future. That evening while Arden was chewing on my finger as usual (she's been chewing on anything for about 2 months now), and I noticed she has a tooth coming in! We had no clue! Sometimes babies are fussier then usual, run a fever, pull on their ears, etc. when they're teething and it could go on for weeks, but there it was with no warning- the beginnings of a tooth! Good thing I had planned on giving her some teething toys for Christmas. And then for the next couple of days we gave her washcloths that had been frozen to ease any discomfort she might be having, she loved those!

Christmas morning, Arden and the rest of the family opened the plethora of gifts that were under the tree. She was more fascinated with the bows and wrapping paper then the gifts, I think. And then about 30 minutes into gift giving she got bored and spent the rest of the time in her jumper. I think we all made out quite well, especially Arden, but most importantly it was a fun morning spent with family. We then relaxed around the house Christmas Day and then had dinner celebrating my sister in law's birthday. It was a great day!

Brian and Amy left the next morning and we packed up the car (no small feat!) and left in the afternoon. It was a great long holiday weekend.
Thanks Mom & Dad!

Kicking off the Holidays!

We decided to kick of the holidays by going to Pullen Park for the Holiday Express. I had heard about it through a friend, but that was about it. And I'll say we were pretty unprepared. First lesson, probably need an older kid to really enjoy it. Second lesson, that older kid, and parents, should have a lot of patience to wait in line. Pullen Park is a big park over by NC State campus that has a train and a carousel, playground, pond, etc. Every year they pseudo decorate the park with some Christmas lights and you can ride the train around and see the lights that have been put up every 20 feet or so. The line for the train was AT LEAST an hour long. And the train itself wasn't even decorated with lights. The line for Santa was at least 45 minutes long. Even the line for hot chocolate wrapped around the concession building. So need less to say, we walked around, took some pictures with some Christmas lights and then left. I guess it was an interesting evening outing. Our next Christmas Activity was taking Arden to see Santa! After seeing Santa at Pullen Park, but Dave not wanting to wait in the line, I decided that my Mom and I would take her when my Mom came up to do some Christmas shopping. Noani (my Mom) had gotten her a Christmas dress, and then we got her some tights and patent leather mary janes. I never thought I would put my daughter in something so stereotypically girlie, but it was her first visit to see Santa and her pink chucks would clash with Santa's red suit. Like a true non-girlie girl though, she instantly tried to eat her shoes and would not keep her legs together. It was hysterical to watch. Once she got up to see Santa, I handed her to him expecting a jolly, HO, HO, HO or something and he very quickly says to me in a very matter of fact, all business voice, "Fix her dress, stand to the right of the photographer and say her name to get her attention." Now, I know I'm older and everything but come on, the guy was bursting my Santa bubble. I was expecting some Santa jolliness and instead got Larry the accountant dressed up as Santa. He could of at least pretended to ask her what she wanted for Christmas or something. Anyway, she looked at him and was like, "Who are you?" then turned and looked at me and the photographer with a blank stare. Then she got overstimulated and started crying. Doesn't every baby? Need less to say we chose this picture as the cuter of the three options.

Sweet Potatoes, Pears, and Carrots, Oh My!

So we've been continuing on into the wonderful world of solid food with Arden. Her first non rice cereal "meal" was of mashed sweet potatoes. She continued to be pretty indifferent to the whole idea and was also just spitting them back out a lot. So I tried thinning them out and then added some of the rice cereal to the mixture (mostly because I had thinned it too much) That seemed to work and she was able to swallow more. She still wasn't "excited" about them, but at least I knew they were going in (and coming out the other end, but we won't go into those nice details :) Then it was onto pears. I'm making all of my own food, so they were steamed and then pureed. The first feeding she again wasn't to sure about them and did a whole body shiver once she swallowed. But at least she was swallowing and not drooling them out. The they next couple of feedings I waited on feeding her solids a few hours after I had nursed her and that seems to be the trick. Feed her when she's hungry and she seems to fine with eating anything and even opening her mouth wide to help! Sometimes she thinks she's helping by grabbing the spoon but then half of it will end up in her hands. In the past few nights she's really been swallowing quite well and she even finished an entire serving of pears and rice cereal so I tried carrots. I was expecting her to be taken aback that it was not another mouthful of the sweet pears but she didn't even miss a beat and kept right on eating the carrots. We have discovered that Mommy is a little neater feeding her then Daddy and that anything orange is really messy. She eats in just a bib and diaper now and gets a bath every night. immediately following her dinner. But she's doing well, and every few days we'll try a new fruit or veggie.

Arden's 6 month Check Up

Arden had her 6 month checkup today on her 6 month birthday! That's right we've kept her alive for half a year! Yay! Wow, I can't believe it's been half a year since we had her, that's crazy to me. The doctor was impressed that she hasn't been in for any sick visits yet, but warned us that she may get sick in the coming months. She gained exactly 2 lbs since her last visit- she's up to 14 lbs. 15 oz. This weight actually dropped her down into the 25% for her weight (meaning that 75% of baby girls her age are heavier), but the doctor was not worried, saying she never really chunked up like some babies do. She did say though that it was probably a good indication to start ramping on the solids. So in about a week we'll start with fruits and veggies in addition to the cereal. Should be interesting. She has gotten better the past 2 nights with swallowing, but not great and it's still a huge mess, so I don't see this putting weight on her very fast anytime soon. And now I understand why babies get baths EVERY night around this age because she has been covered head to toe with rice cereal.

The highlight of the checkup for Arden was probably the discovery of the mirror next to her on the examining table, or rather her "twin" in the mirror. She's noticed the mirror before but this time she was reaching out to herself, and giving herself high fives and even kissing the mirror and her new found twin. It was really cute.

She did get more shots at this checkup, not her or Mommy's favorite part at all. But she was a trooper, and only cried for a little bit and then was good. Then she fell asleep on the car ride home for her morning nap before Mommy & Me yoga.

Arden's 1st "Meal"

So Sunday night Arden had her first "meal" of rice cereal mixed with breast milk. The current practice is that babies start solids between 4-6 months and we decided to wait until 6 months. It just seemed like one more thing to do, so we weren't in a rush. We got her a feeding chair that will take her from now until she's like 3 or so, one of the ones that attaches to a regular chair. She was pretty indifferent to the whole food thing, except the fact that she wanted to eat the spoon. Not the food on the spoon, just the spoon. I think she might have indirexctly eaten maybe 1 tablespoon of actual rice cereal, which is fine. It's all about learning "how" to eat for the next month or so, rather then the actual quantity.

Daddy Giggles

So Arden is definitely a smiley baby, but she's not a over giggly baby. However, she has a soft spot for her Dad. And I think she likes his beard tickling her. Pretty consistently she giggles when Dave does his changing table routine and blows "raspberries" on her neck and tummy. I've tried but she doesn't react the same for me. This is a short version because by the time I got the camera to record it, they'd been at the giggling for a few mintues. It's a special father-daughter moment.

Thanks for My Family

At the risk of sound cliche, let me premise this entry with the fact that I am very grateful for many things in my and my family's world.
I am grateful for my beautiful, healthy daughter,
I am grateful for my loving supportive husband that stands beside me on this path of partnership and parenthood,
I am grateful for the friendship and support of my mother,
I am grateful for the listening ears and warm hearts of all my friends from all walks of life,
I am grateful for the ability to teach my child by example about the diversity in this world, and that every decision she makes she should work to make it with an open mind and a heart full of compassion and free of judgement. She may not always be succesful, but it's something to strive for continually.

On this holiday Dave and I are happy and thankful to have found a renewed resolve in raising Arden in a house full of love and faith, free from negativity and resentment.

Dad's 60th Birthday

My dad turned 60 this past weekend, so my brother, Brian, Dave, Arden and I decided to surprise him by showing up at Mom & Dad's for the weekend. Brian flew down from Annapolis, and then we drove the 2.5 hours to my parent's place. First trip with Arden awake while it was dark out, which she's not a big fan of, but she fell asleep eventually, and then woke up right before the surprise. The weekend was great, lounging around watching a movie, visting with my parent's good friends, and just spending time with the family. Maybe not as action packed as my mom would have liked it, but exactly my dad's speed. He was really touched and grateful that we had come you could tell. Happy Birthday Dad!

More pictures of the weekend here

Baby Quilt from "Aunt" Becky

My good friend Becky hand stiches very beautiful quilts, so back when I was pregnant and embarking on the crib bedding sewing project with my mom, I had asked her if she would use some of the leftover fabric to make Arden a matching quilt. She went above and beyond what I expected. I almost cried when I opened the box and saw what she had made for her. It's all done in batiks, with the exception of the greenish/blue fabric which is actually from Dave's baby quilt that his grandmother made for him. That was his contribution and it was somewhat emotional for him ;-)

The backing fabric of the quilt is the crib bumper fabric, and then the pink/purple tie dye is the same as the crib's dust ruffle and piping. Then in each block, Becky hand stiched the letters for Arden's name. Arden Drenzek fits perfectly. Then as an added personal touch she got the words for the purification mantra that we do in my yoga class and ironed it on to piece of fabric and it is sewn under the K block.


The whole thing is absolutely gorgeous. I was scared to even put Arden on it thinking she would ruin it, but Becky assured me that I was not allowed to hang it on the wall, that's not a baby quilt is for. Arden loves it and I'm sure it will become more and more special as the years go by.

Thanks Aunt Becky!!!

New Blog!

So I'm jumping on the Blogger bandwagon. Now I have yet another internet outlet to share our family stories with the world! I'm sure everyone is thrilled!

Actually, I plan to have this blog replace the baby website that we created during my pregnancy, because I think it will be much easier to navigate and I can link our photo flickr site to it easier. And I like blogs. Our Flickr site link is over there ----> to the right and it has most all of our pictures of Arden's activites. I've kinda backlogged and added entries since Arden's arrival back in May. But as you notice the more current entries have more detail.

So I hope our family and friends enjoy our updates!

Arden's 1st Halloween!

Today was Arden's first Halloween and I think it was a success! We had powerstroll class this morning at Pullen Park. Most of the babies came in costume, and our instructor Marybeth came dressed up too! Arden wore her pig costume, complete with her new pink chucks and a Halloween bib. The weather was great so we got a lot of good pictures, check out the Flickr page for more.

Then we had a picnic with Tricia & Jacob, and Ellen & Sutton. Then went home for a quick snooze, and wash of the costume (she spit up on it). And then we headed out to the post office and to the chiropractor in her pig costume. Everyone thought she was adorable.

She stayed in her costume and Mommmy got dressed up with her to hand candy out to the few trick-or-treaters that we got. All in all it was a good first Halloween!

Swim Class!

Arden went underwater for the first time! The company that I teach yoga for, also offers a Mom & Baby Swim class- think pseudo water aerobics to cheesy kids music. But it's fun to get her acclimated to the water and she seemed to enjoy it. Towards the end of class they have you dunk the babies underwater if you want to. You're supposed to blow in their faces right before you dunk them under so that they suck their breath in. Not sure if Arden did that or not, but she came up and her eyes were wide as saucers with confusion! But she didn't cry or cough or sputter. We even tried one more time and she seemed to like it. We also swam in the deep end with a noodle wrapped around us. And then afterward she took a 3 hour nap! I think we're going to take class more often!

I didn't have a picture from swim class, but here's a cute one from the other day! I could resist taking this one, I'm sure she'll hate me when she's a teenager for it!

Kids Costume & Pumpkin Carving Party

We decided to reinstate our annual Pumpkin Carving Party, but this year put a new spin on it and invite the munchkins so that they sould show off their costumes. It was a lot of fun, and the pumpkins actually got carved this year!

The kids kept their costumes on long enough for the respective parents to get pictures, and then most were out of them. This was the first "party" that Dave and I have thrown that we had an empty house by 7:30 pm, which was very different but kind of nice!

Arden's First Music Video!

So our friend Jackie came to visit awhile back and brought her son, Jackson's jumper with her. Since then we have gotten Arden one of her own and it has become the best thing we've bought her so far. She loves it and it is hours of entertainment for us. Not to mention gives her something to do while Mom can get stuff done too!

Just recently she's really learned how to navigate it and while I was playing music the other day I realized she looked she was dancing. So I put on a popular hip hop song (Timbaland's "The Way I Are") that Dave makes fun of me for listening to and she bounced away right on beat!

why i love being a stay at home mom...

let me just tell you about my last hour....

folding laundry, arden is in her jumper seat in the door frame. she's a bit too big for her jumper so we wrap towels around her so she doesn't bobble around in there. i look over, and notice her feet are kind of sliding around. upon further investigation realize she's sliding around in poo. this can't be good. so i go and unwrap the towels to realize that she's pooed through her diaper, down the leg of her shorts, onto the jumper, the towels, and onto the floor. nice. so i strip her down and put her directly into the bathtub and climb in with her to clean her off.

i get out of the tub with her and wrap her in a towel and put her on the couch will on run into the bedroom to get my bathrobe for me. i come back and she's peed on the couch.

need less to say, i went ahead and put her down for her afternoon nap a bit early. while i resolved the carpet, couch, and did yet another load of laundry.

no there is no picture for this post, i'll spare you the visual.

Another Trip to Maryland!

This time we headed up to my brother's place in Annapolis to see them and to go a friend's wedding on Saturday. She did good on the car ride up since we left around her bedtime anyway. Then we got to hang out with Aunt Amy on Saturday and took the our dog, Maggie and their dog, Casey to the dog beach. Maggie tried to pretend she wasn't 12 years old and tried to keep up with the younger dogs and could barely walk back to the car.

Justin's wedding was great and Brian & Amy watched Arden while we were gone, which was nice! See Brian's pictures from the weekend here The drive home kinda sucked since we hit traffic and it was the first time Arden has driven while she was awake for most of the trip. It took us 7 hours (normally a 5 hour drive). But it was a good weekend overall.

4 Month Check Up

Arden went in for her 4 month check up today and she weighs 12 lbs. 15 oz.- weighing in just under 13 lbs! That means she's gained almost 2 lbs in 2 months which the doctor was happy with. She got more shots this time, but Mom didn't cry like last time. I let Dave hold her while she got the shots which I think made a difference and then I just nursed her afterward to calm her down and she was fine within minutes.

Her biggest accomplishment lately is finding her foot. She loves to play with it, especially on the changing table. I think this is adorable especially considering it's a yoga pose appropriately named "happy baby".

She has become very social, "talking" to herself or anyone that will listen. I recorded a brief "talking" session that you can see below.

I've also uploaded some short videos to You Tube, including the above video,so here's the link to those.

Monday "Playgroup"

Can you call it a playgroup when the babies aren't really old enough to "play" with each other yet? 3 of my yoga friends have all had babies within 6 months of each other. Jenn was the first with Oscar (in the green with the bib), who is 3 months older then Arden. Then Erika has Killian (in the stripes), who is only 5 days older then Arden. Then Ellen has Sutton (in pink), who is 3 moths younger then Arden. We get together once a week on Mondays, and this Monday we went to Fletcher Park near downtown Raleigh. It's a great way to swap baby stories and ideas, and to be able to have some interaction with people that can speak in more the one syllable at a time!

Moving into her Room!

So Arden moved into her crib tonight for the first nighttime sleeping on her 4 month birthday! I've been putting her in there during her daytime naps for awhile, but this was the first night she slept alone in her crib. We had her in a handmade cradle from my Dad up until this point. She was pretty indifferent to the whole move, it was more of an attachment thing for Dave and I- we liked having her in our room so close! And it made nighttime feedings so much easier for me. But she was starting to outgrow the cradle so time to move. She now can wiggle and roll freely in her own bed. She still comes and snuggles with us in our bed in the mornings though!

Rolling Over!

Arden has started rolling over! At first as Dave says it was a bit like finding a unicorn, she would only do it when we had left the room for a minute, and we would come back and she'd be on her tummy- not the way we left her. But she has since gotten over her performance anxiety and has started rolling over while we're watching. Major milestone! Dave and I have joked that we're going to get bumper stickers- "Your kid maybe on honor roll, but our kid can roll over"

Arden Starts Working!

So I went back to teaching preschool yoga at the beginning of the month, but Arden and I also started teaching a Mommy & Baby yoga class for a company called Healthy Moms here in Raleigh that offers fitness classes (including pre & post natal yoga) for mothers. It's an interesting dynamic to teach to not only adults, but infants as well, but it's a lot of fun. She's super cooperative and very mellow and cute. Maybe all that yoga that I did while she was in utero paid off!

Arden's 1st Trip to the Beach

Dave and I headed down to my parent's place while they were out of town just for some change in scenery from Raleigh and to take Arden to the beach for the first time. We waited until it was cooler in the evening and took her down to Holden Beach where my parent's neighborhood has a beach clubhouse. She was pretty indifferent to the whole thing, but we took lots of pictures! Then we spent of the rest of the weekend just relaxing and hanging out and we took her to the pool again. It was a great weekend.

Check out the link below for all the beach pictures

Parent's House Beach Weekend

Our littlest Wolfpacker!

Arden's first NCSU Wolfpack game! Anyone that knows us as tailgaters should be darn impressed that we not only got tickets but a parking pass before gameday. We realized that we now need a parking pass to attend games with the baby, but we were successful thanks to a Kappa Sig Alumni. Arden made it through half of the first quarter and the entire second quarter, the second quarter mostly sleeping. We opted not to go back in after halftime because we were losing and we wanted to beat traffic out of the stadium, but we were both very pleased with her first game!

Arden is 3 Months Old!

Exactly three months ago today at 6:36 pm, our lives changed forever with the birth of our daughter, Arden. We still can't believe it was only three months ago, but at the same time can't imagine our life without her anymore.

Those of you that are parents know that parenthood changes you, but for the better I think. We're responsible for someone's else life now. That's a huge committment. One I never thought I would be fully ready for. But now everytime we see her face, be it when she's smiling, or screaming or it's 4:30 in the morning, it never ceases to melt our hearts.

She knows who we are, and smiles when she sees us. And she knows it will always make me smile in return.

She has started to "talk" to me and dave and respond socially to her surroundings.

She's gained 4 lbs and 12 oz since she was born. She was 11 lbs 14 oz this past Monday.

She can hold her head up without us worrying it's going to fall off.

Most importantly. she is a super chill little girl with an ever emerging personality.
We're looking forward to being her parents. We love you baby girl.

Happy Quarter Year Birthday!

Trip up To Maryland!

Dave was all excited because this was the first trip that Arden crossed state lines! We headed up to MD for a surprise going away/birthday party for one of my good highschool friends, Aubrey. I'm the first of my highschool girlfriends to have a baby, so she was the center of attention all weekend with the girls. It was the first time in awhile that we were able to get all nine of us from QO back together which was great. It was a bit of a whirlwind trip, trying to visit with everyone, but we had a really good time!

Arden's First Swim!

Arden goes for her first swim in my best friend, Brittny's pool. She was pretty indifferent but we had fun putting her in two piece bathing suit and taking her for a dip. They don't make small enough swim diapers so her regular diaper got super saturated, and we closely avoided a very messy situation, but it was fun. Maggie went swimming too, but she's always been somewhat of a water dog.

Arden Goes to Bele Chere Festival

Our little hippie baby goes to her first music festival in Asheville. We eased her into the music scene by picking a closer festival that was in the civilization of downtown Asheville, and we stayed at a hotel. She did great! She hung out most of the day either in mom's sling, or dad wore her in the bjorn. She even sported her I heart Mofro onesie for one of mine and Dave's favorite bands, which was a huge hit both with fans and the band! Maybe next summer we'll try camping at a festival with her.

Arden meets Aunt Dana

Dave's sister Dana came from Indiana to stay with us for the week and to meet and hang out with Arden. Dave and I actually got to go out on a date while Dana watched the baby!

First Road Trip to Meet Uncle Brian & Aunt Amy

Arden took her first road trip 2.5 hours to Poppi & Noani's (Melissa's parents) house. She did great in the car, sleeping most of the way, so we didn't even have to stop on the way down. She got to meet her Uncle Brian & Aunt Amy for the first time. The weather wasn't all that great so it was lazy weekend, but Arden (and Dave) didn't seem to mind!

Arden's First Smiles

Everyday brings new firsts with a new baby. First bath, first time meeting new relatives and friends, etc. But nothing melts your heart more then the first time your child smiles at you. Dave got teary when she smiled at him and then felt like a total girl for getting teary. She still figuring out the whole smiling thing, but it melts our heart everytime.

Arden Meets the Drenzeks

Arden had met her Hetherington side Grandparents in the hospital moments after she was born, but she meets Dave's parents, the Drenzeks, once we are home. They of course thouroughly enjoyed her!

Arden's 1st Professional Photo Shoot

Of course Mom has been taking daily pictures of Arden and posting them on our Flickr page, but this was her first professonial photo shoot. One of my yoga friends, Scott, is a photographer and offered to take some newborn shots of her at our house. The setup was a bit more than we had anticipated, but the finished product was great!

Check the Scott Chmelar Photo Shoot Set on our Flickr Page at the link below

Scott's Photo Shoot

Arden's 1st Pediatrician Visit

Arden goes in for her first doctor's visit and is above birth weight at 7 lbs 4 oz.! yay! After reviewing her records from her birth and stay in the NICU, Doctor Flannelly is not concerned about her bilirubin levels anymore, so she continues to get a clean bill of health!

The Drenzek Family Goes Home!

After being in the hospital for longer than anticipated, the Drenzek family finally gets to go home with a clean bill of health.

Arden get out of the NICU!

Arden gets out of the NICU and Mom and Dad are finally able to hold & feed her. She stays in the regular newborn nursery area, but in our boarder room under phototherapy lights.

Arden Goes in the NICU

Only a few hours after Arden's birth her bilirubin levels skyrocketed to dangerously high levels for jaundice for a newborn so she is admitted into the NICU. She is put on a feeding tube, all sorts of monitors, and has to be under constant phototherapy lights. She was very close to being at risk for a blood transfusion. We couldn't even pick her up or hold her, which was the most heartbreaking.

Introducing Arden Joan Drenzek

After a very long labor, natural for about 30+ hours, and then with the help of some modern medicine...

Arden Joan Drenzek was born 7 lbs. 2 oz. at 6:36 pm in Chapel Hill, NC