Arden's Second Birthday

I don't think Dave and I can believe that Arden is two already. I know every parent says this, but I feel like she was just born, and at the same time I feel like her first birthday was just yesterday. And also fulfilling the cliche- I couldn't imagine my life without her. She is so different from where she was this time last year. She's become a little person and not a baby anymore. She's learned to walk and to start talking (where it makes sense- sort of). While she's only put on a few pounds, she's quickly burning energy by running and exploring all over the place. She continues to melt our hearts asking for hugs and kisses, and test our patience with the tantrums and fussiness, but with the good there is the not so good, right? It's all about balance and I'd say there's a lot more good to balance out the not so good. It's crazy to think this is the last birthday that she'll have sort of by herself, and that next year she'll have a sister to celebrate with her. I remember her first birthday being emotional for me, that my baby was growing up, but this birthday I saw more as a milestone for how far we've all come and grown.

She had her 2 year check up where she weighed in at 23 pounds 7 oz- still small, but she's always been small and the doctor has never been concerned. And she's 32. 5 inches tall.


In addition to going to Sesame Street Live (see post below) her birthday was celebrated with her Noani & Poppi coming up and decking her out with girlie gifts including a sparkly pink purse, bangle bracelets, pink sparkly shoes, and new pink glasses. She was in heaven and didn't put the purse down for the next few hours. She also got toys and books from Noani & Poppi, Uncle Brian & Aunt Amy which she spent quite some time opening and exploring. Dave and I got her a new sand & water table which she has enjoyed playing with outside. The following day she had an elmo themed party at North Hills park playing with a bunch of her friends and our friends kids. I made about 40 elmo cupcakes that I got the idea from here- relatively easy, just make sure you don't start decorating at 9:30 at night like I did. She had a great time playing at the playground, even going down the slide which she's normally not that into. She got a bit shy when everyone started to sing to her, but then she was excited about blowing out her candle!

Happy Birthday little girl! We love you!

Sesame Street Live!

Arden, like any 2 year old, is quite fond of Elmo. Whatever subliminal messages Sesame sends out in their plethora of Elmo marketing works like a charm. So need less to say, we were thrilled at the opportunity to go see Elmo live with our friends at the RBC Center. And on Arden's actual birthday no less! Thanks to my friend, Ellen, who used to be Elmo in the live show we got the hookup with a meet & greet and front row seats! Thanks Ellen! Now I had a feeling that Arden was not going to be down with discovering how big Elmo is in person and was going to freak out. She wasn't too fond of seeing a life sized cow or horse a couple of months ago, which was my indicator. Like predicted she saw Elmo walking down the hallway towards us, said "Elmo" then realized how big he was, and that he was getting bigger as he got closer. She clung to me with a death grip and buried her face in my neck. No worries, I'm not going to force her to hug and get her pic taken with Elmo, so we backed away and watch Oscar, Sutton, and Killian enjoy Elmo and the Count all to themselves. The RBC center is also where the NC State basketball team plays so there are NCSU logos everywhere and Arden looked over my shoulder and made her wolf howl. I hate to tell her there's a giant wolf too ;-)

The show was great, especially from the front row! The characters come down of the stage, which still freaked Arden out, but the other kids loved it. Arden was totally enamored by everything to take in as long as they stayed on the stage 10 feet in front of her. At least she then wanted to stay in my lap the whole time. She danced and clapped along and had snacks with her friends. It was a great birthday treat and a good kick off to her Elmo themed birthday!

Arden Turns 2!

But first to pay tribute to some memories of her year as a one year old! I love you little girl!

Prenatal Yoga Photo Shoot Take Two!

So with my first pregnancy I was asked by my teacher to do some prenatal yoga poses for a possible manual. Since this blog started with Arden's birth, none of them have ever gotten posted here. So here are some of my favorites from that shoot.The pictures are some of my favorite from my first pregnancy that I really wanted to do it again with the second pregnancy but in a different setting. I decided to do then outside and with Dave's work schedule ended up taking Arden with me, which provided for some interesting shots.

Here are some of my favorites from my second pregnancy prenatal yoga shoot.

Strawberry Picking

So I figured it's a right of passage for any kid to go berry picking. Arden's really into putting things into things, so I figured we'd give strawberry picking a try. I'm a member of a group called "Triangle Mommies" and they had organized a group outing for strawberry picking up in Wake Forest that we tagged along to. Arden had a blast. It took a little while to figure out the whole concept and we definitely got some not so perfect strawberries in our bucket. About 10 minutes into the picking she discovered that these were the same things as the strawberries that mommy gives her to eat, and started picking and eating more then were making it into the bucket. Part of me cringed at the thought of what was on them without being washed, but then I let that go and realized that's part of strawberry picking as a kid. She had a blast, and then had more fun running around and playing with the other kids afterward. We know have about 7 quarts of strawberries that I'm sure she will not eat- and I'm searching for recipes.

Mother's Day

My second "official" Mother's Day- (I think Mother's that are pregnant totally count)was spent down at my parent's place for the weekend. Arden and I drove down separately due to Dave's work schedule so we had some extra time with Noani & Poppi- some of Arden's favorite admirers (and the feeling is mutual). Over the weekend, Arden went to the beach, the Myrtle Beach Children's museum and out on Poppi's boat- all of which she thoroughly enjoyed! Mother's day we went out to a nice restaurant for brunch which is hard to do with a toddler, but we muscled through and took turns entertaining and taking her out to walk around. I'm thankful for my wonderful family on Mother's Day and everyday!

A Blog is a Double Edged Sword...

So I should have known this was going to happen. I've never been good at journeling, even when I don't HAVE to. Why I thought keeping a blog would be any different I don't know. I really enjoy reading other families blogs, I have no idea if anyone actually reads ours...but I never started this for anyone else. I think it's a great tool to keep a family history with words and pictures. But as with any history, it needs to be maintained. As most people know, Dave is not the computer person of the family, so that leaves me to capture pictures, file them, upload them to various sites to share, and then keep up with a blog. This all in addition to taking care of a very active toddler, who I only get about a 2 hour break from each day. I'm not whining (ok maybe a little) but it doesn't make sense to whine, because it's something I chose to start. My advice to families or anyone starting a blog- Make sure you have the time, desire & motivation to keep it up! That being said- I'm going to spend the next few days, ok weeks, or however long it takes to add some entries since we announced I was pregnant again- which was almost 3 months ago!