The Lothrop/Hetherington/Drenzek Beach Week!

My Uncle Pete organized a family reunion of sorts at Holden Beach for an entire week in June. Pete has three kids, but only 2 of my cousins- Matt & Erin could make it. I have not seen Erin in more then 10 years and I think I'd only met Matt once or twice in my entire life. Both have families and kids of their own now, so it was fun to reconnect. And we got to spend some good beach time! Arden's finally at an age where she could entertain herself with the sand, which was nice! My brother and I, and respective spouses and siblings stayed at my parent's place, while the rest of the Lothrop clan rented a house on Holden Beach. It was also the first time that Arden got to hang out with her cousin Kelsey for an extended period of time. Arden seemed smitten with Baby Kelsey- which is good considering she's going to get one of her own in a few months! Good times were had by all it seemed, which is impressive considering there were so many people to try to please!

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!