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.