New Years Eve in Raleigh

New Years Eve now with small children takes on a whole other character shall we say. Especially when you have a baby that doesn't sleep through the night. The desire to stay up until midnight drinking loses it's appeal real quickly. Thank goodness for close friends also with small children however!! And "early acorn" drops in Raleigh!

We went over to our good friends the Brantley's for drinks and some munchies. Arden would have been content staying over there with 2 of her best friends, Jacob & Charlotte. Arden is pretty much in between ages of them and enjoys playing with both of them so much.

We for some reason we were bound and determined to do something New Years Eve-ish and headed downtown to Fayetteville St. for the kid-friendly early acorn drop which is at 7pm. Too bad it started raining right as we got there, and we didn't really prep Arden for all the commotion that would occur pretty much as soon as we arrived (you know us Drenzeks, always running late!) so she was a bit scared and wondering why we left playing with her friends for all of this? lol and Kyla pretty much slept through the whole thing.

Because shouldn't everyone wear a tutu for New Years?

But we did manage to also have a brief rendezvous with a high school friend of mine that was in town for a party and happened to be on Fayetteville St. brief as it was in rain and with two tired kids.

Home by 9, in bed by 10- HAPPY NEW YEARS!!

Christmas at Noani & Poppi's

We do Christmas with my side of the family each year, and this year we were able to do it back down at Noani & Poppi's house! Christmases are just getting more and more fun with more and more kids. I mean that's what Christmas is all about right? We were able to be at my parent's place for 4 days which was a nice break and gave us some good family time with everyone. Arden and Kelsey made out quite well. So did Kyla, but being only 4 months old she didn't really notice :) Arden's big highlights were the plastic fake lipstick that came in a play makeup kit. She's obsessed with Mommy's lipstick so I got her some of her "own" and all she asked for from Santa was "pink lollipops" These actually posed a bit of a difficulty to find the cheap ones that the bank gives away (which is why she was asking for them) so I ended up asking our local branch for a supply of pink lollipops. Thank you BB&T for making a two year old's Christmas wishes come true- lol!!! Kyla got her lovies with her name on them, like her sister's Gigi that was and is such a hit. And Arden and Kelsey both got tutus from Noani that they proceeded to wear around the house for the rest of the visit at Noani & Poppi's. And then continue to at home all the time. Other highlights of the trip were making Christmas cookies with Mommy & Noani and just being able to spend time with each other lounging around the house and watching movies.

Merry Christmas!

Santa Train in Durham!

We are members of the Museum of Life & Sciences in Durham which definitely comes with it's perks. One of which is the ability to order "Santa Train" tickets early. It's their yearly fundraiser for the museum where you get to ride the outdoor train to the "north pole" so the kids can tell Santa what they want for Christmas. They also have hot chocolate, arts & crafts and face painting for the kids. Preordering for the tickets was no joke and a lot of the ideal time slots went quick! We were able to get tickets for us an several friends for a weeknight. It was cold and Arden was potentially getting sick, but we made it anyway. Our friends Tracy and Gavin and their kids, Harrison & Caroline and our friends Jen & John and their kids Connor & Gracie all came with us.

As predicted by Dave and I, Arden was very excited until Santa came up to her on the train. She's not a huge Santa fan yet this year. She likes the concept of Santa and keeps asking for him to bring her "pink lollipops" but actually seeing him is a different story. Kyla slept through the whole thing. But all of the other kids had a blast. After the train ride the kids drank hot chocolate and then got their face painted. But it was too cold to hang out for long!

Kyla's 4 Month Check Up!

Kyla is 4 months old!

Kyla went in for her 4 month check up! Here are her stats at 4 months!

Weight: 12 lbs. 15 oz. (30%)
Height: 24.75 cm (75%)

Funny enough I went back to check it against Arden at four months and they weigh EXACTLY the same at their 4 month check ups! And even though I feel like Kyla is so much longer, she's only a quarter of a cm longer then Arden was at 4 months.

Dave Runs the Charlotte Marathon!

So ever since Dave ran the Blue Ridge Relay back in September, he's been in relatively good enough shape and wanted to maintain this level of training to run another marathon. He did the Raleigh marathon back in 2000 and the Raleigh half marathon last year. Unfortunately we were out of town for the Raleigh marathon this year, but were able to find a close alternative in Charlotte in December! And it meant that we got to go on a road trip to visit our Charlotte friends!

We got into Charlotte Friday evening and stayed with our good friends, Jackie and AJ and their two kids. It awesome staying with another family because not only do they already have all the baby/kid gear you might need- but they have built in playmates! Arden was in heaven to get to play with Jackson all weekend!

I was able to meet up with some old friends for dinner friday night. Kathleen, I've known since high school and haven't seen in years. And Megan I've know for 5 years now and was in my wedding and has been in Charlotte now for a year opening her own clothing store. It was so fun to meet up with them and we had a great dinner! Thanks ladies!

Saturday morning Dave and Jackie were up bright and early to head to the run (Jackie was doing the half marathon) It was FREEZING!!! I can't imagine running when it's that cold- it was in the upper 20s when they left. I packed up the girls and headed out to cheer Dave on mid morning. We met him at mile 15 or so. Arden was so excited to see her daddy that she ran right up him on the course. Made me tear up a bit, but I'm a softy. And thank goodness to borrowing Kathleen's GPS I was able to navigate around Charlotte well enough to meet up with him at 2 more spots to cheer. Next time we know to bring more cheer supplies and maybe some supplies for Dave as well. Bad wife didn't even have any water for him- oops.

Dave finished the marathon in 3 hours 30 mins! Not as fast as he had hoped to qualify for the Boston Marathon, but he was happy with that result. And he knows what to expect for running it possibly next year to qualify.

Saturday night Jackie and AJ hosted a bunch of our friends over at their place for chili and beer. It was great seeing everyone and having all the kids running around!! We had a blast visiting in Charlotte as always!

Krista & Doug's Wedding!

Yay for what was coined "Wix-wed" i.e. The Wixted Wedding! Krista is one of my closest high school friends that I've known since junior high and she came down to NC to go to college as well- at a rival school that shall remain nameless, cough, cough. I was so excited to hear of her engagement to Doug, but even more thrilled being a born Carolina girl, that she was planning on getting married here!! Yay, no travel for the Drenzeks! I know, selfish, but it made the weekend that much easier with 2 kids.

The wedding festivites kicked off with the rehearsal at Duke Chapel- yes a Carolina grad getting married at Duke was a running joke all weekend. Living in the triangle, I'm ashamed to say I had never been to Duke Chapel. Everyone says how gorgeous it is and that is no understatement. It's shear size and neogothic archetechure amazed me. The perfect scene for an elegant wedding. The the rehearsal dinner was at Cafe Parizade in Durham where we all had a blast and drank a ton of wine. The drinks to follow afterward. It seems that rehearsal dinners have a tendancy to keep the bridal party in check for the actual wedding by getting all the partying out early ;-) The next morning the bridesmaids met bright and early in Durham to get ready and watch Krista get ready. I really enjoy weddings where we all are able to hang out and get ready together. It's something I wish I had down at my own wedding, but I didn't know better at the time. Krista looked like Wedding Barbie once she was all ready. Absolutely stunning. After seeing her groom and having toasts, then we hopped into the limo with the groomsmen and headed downtown Durham for some pre wedding pictures. The ceremony was beautiful and then off to the Nasher Museum of Art for the reception. The reception had excelent touches of Krista and Doug's musical side of things and it was a great modern location for a wedding. It was great to be able to relax a bit and hang with old friends! This time without being super pregnant! We had a great time!

Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving is Dave's favorite holiday solely because of the food. This year with Krista's wedding right around the corner we invited my parents up early to celebrate with us. Dave was bound and determined to cook the entire meal himself with very minimal help. One of those things that I think he just wanted to see if he could do it (must be a guy thing) All the casseroles were prepped ahead of time, and I made a pumpkin pie a day or so before, be he spent most of the day cooking and prepping. My mom was thoroughly impressed with the amount of food he made. It was yummy!

Pics of the Girls in November

So as I'm back logging and updating this blog, November seemed like a light month in the way of events for the Drenzek Family. Figured I would just post some pics that we took in November of them!

Back up to Maryland for a Baptism

Two weekends in a row up to Maryland! Whew! I will never do two back to back road trips again, but I didn't want to have to choose between family and friends either, so two trips it was. My niece, Kelsey and her cousin, Lily were getting baptized in Annapolis.

So we packed up the girls again and hit the road. Both girls did relatively well on these road trips, not perfect but not horrible either. We're still learning when is the best time to travel and now with two the dynamic changes a bit.

Kelsey & Lily's baptism was for close family only and was just in the lobby entryway of Brian & Amy's church. This actually worked out well so that Arden could be a bit more mobile. I was worried that she was going to have sit "still" in a church. Not possible for a two year old. Unfortunately, Dave had a bad cough/cold going up to Maryland and decided to take some Hydrocodone cough syrup without measuring, so he was a little out of it during the baptism as you can see in the family picture below ;-)

The nice part of the weekend was that the entire part of the family got to be together and all the cousins got to meet. This was the first trip that Uncle Brian (Burp) and Aunt Amy got to meet Kyla which was nice. And Arden had fun chasing Kelsey & Lily around and trying to "take care" of them. and most importantly, Noani & Poppi got all their granddaughters together at the same time ;-)

Halloween in Maryland

The Drenzek Family spent the actual Halloween holiday up in Maryland this year. One of my good friend, Krista's bridal shower was scheduled for October 31st, so we decided to make a road trip out of it and show off new baby Kyla to all my high school friends while there.

Thanks to Shannon's parents for letting us crash at their place! It's becoming increasingly more challenging to travel as a family of four- we need more room to crash now! But it worked out great and I think Mrs. Baker and Adam enjoyed having the girls there. Shannon might have even showed a maternal instinct or two ;-) (you reading this Shannon?)

Krista's shower was fun with a Mexican theme. It's always good to see my high school girls and celebrate something!

Halloween Trick or Treating we met up with my friend Justin and his wife, Lenore and little boy Brayden. Brady had just turned 1 so didn't grasp the whole trick or treating concept yet, but Arden did! Once she realized she could get CANDY from the houses she went to, she was sold. Unfortunately we went to a neighborhood where most of the kids have grown up and therefore not that many people were home handing out candy. Then it started to rain so we scratched the whole trick or treating thing and headed to dinner instead. It was the usual whirlwind trip to MD trying to see everyone but it was fun!

Annual Drenzek Pumpkin Carving Party!

We're continuing the Drenzek party tradition of the Pumpkin Carving/Kids Costume parties of years past. They've increasing become more and more fun as the kids get older (and they are more of them!) And each year it's so much fun to see what the kids come as (and how long they actually keep their costumes on!)

This year I wasn't so good at taking pictures- being a hostess and mom of 2 seemed to be too much to do so the photog in me was on strike. But we had a firefighter, a policeman, 2 ladybugs, a train, a giraffe and a flower. I'm sure I'm forgetting someone. We also had lots of yummy

food brought by friends. And oh yeah, some pumpkins actually got carved!