Here I go again...

Somehow, time has gotten away from me and it's almost been a month since my massive posting! I don't know why I wait so long between posts....oh, maybe it's because we are always on the go! We've had a lot going on around the VanZoeren house, so I will do my best not to ramble and try and give you a lot of what I'm sure you are dying for--pictures of Arden :)

I have two blankets that hang over the side of Arden's crib--one is Geoff's baby blanket and the other is my mom's. This is how I found Arden one morning:
She loves to laugh and talk when she wakes up each morning! I typically let her stay in her crib as long as possible--and I listen to her play through the monitor. Every time I open the door to her room, I'm greeting by the biggest smile. What's not to love about this cute face?! She is definitely a morning person :)

I work at Sylvan Learning Center one day a week, and I am lucky enough to be able to take Arden with me. It's a lot of work to load and unload the car with enough toys to keep her entertained throughout the day, but I wouldn't have it any other way. I get the best of both worlds--earn a little spending money AND spend time with my baby girl :) I took this picture a couple of weeks ago at work:
If I don't watch her carefully, she will try and "help" me with those files behind her!

Some of you know that my parents have an 8 year old named Angel who lives with them Monday-Friday. When the schools closed because of the Swine Flu, I had the privilege of keeping her for 2 days. She is such a big help with Arden, and we definitely had a good time together. Her sister, T.T., was able to come for 1 day as well.
Geoff got some practice assembling a doll stroller--he better get ready, there's a lot more of that headed our way over the next several years!
One morning, the girls and I baked a cake. I was trying to take a picture of them in the process of mixing the ingredients, but they decided to make silly faces instead!
Here is the finished product--it was delicious! Strawberry cake with buttercream frosting--YUMMY!
Arden is now sitting up without any help! She can't pull herself up into a sitting position, but she will be before long. Since she's mastered sitting up, we decided to try a different way of giving her a bath--I think she likes it alot!
Geoff and I treated ourselves to a date night last Friday night. We went to dinner and then to see "Happy Days" at the Broadway Theatre League. April, Nonna, and Tuck-Tuck babysat Arden for us and surprised us by keeping her overnight! It was a much needed break for us, but we definitely missed her! This was the best picture we could get using the timer on our camera--I think it turned out pretty good!
Uncle Nae-Nae's birthday was May 4th. Last Saturday we had a nice birthday dinner for him at Nonna and Tuck-Tuck's--complete with steaks, baked potatoes, and most importantly--homemade milky way ice cream! It was delicious! Dinner is always a treat when they cook for us! This is a picture of Uncle Nae-Nae and Arden at the end of the night. I think it's pretty good considering it was WAY past her bedtime!
What a great picture of Arden--except her hair is CRAZY! This is what happens to her hair EVERY time she's in her carseat!
Arden's 6-month well visit was yesterday. She is right on track with everything, but her growth is definitely slowing down. This isn't a problem of course, we now just have confirmation that she's not going to be a giant like her cousin Silas!! She is still in the 80th percentile in both height and weight, so there is nothing to be concerned about! She weighs 17 lbs. 6 oz. and is 26.5 inches long. She did get 3 shots, but took them like a champ as usual :) I think her favorite part of the visit, though, was the paper on the exam table. She had a great time destroying it :)
Arden is doing a great job with every solid food that we introduce to her. So far, she is eating cereal, applesauce, bananas, green beans, and sweet potatoes. The next veggie we are introducing is squash--I just need to find the time to make them for her! Hopefully I will get to that by the end of the weekend. The only thing we have found that she HATES is juice! I have tried apple juice and pear juice (both diluted of course) and she refuses both of them! She's been having a small poop problem lately--occasionally, her poop is too solid, and the dr. wants her to drink water and/or juice throughout the day. Luckily I was able to get her to drink a small amount of water, but it is almost impossible to get her to take any juice! Yesterday I decided to give sippy cups a try with her because she is getting to the point where she loves to try and hold the bottle and put it in her mouth--so I thought, why not? Plus, maybe I could try and trick her into drinking some juice! She loved the sippy cup! Of course, she didn't drink too much out of it, but she did try. She mostly chewed on the mouthpiece, but it's definitely a start!

What a big girl!!!

Arden LOVES playing in her exersaucer! I have noticed lately, though, that she does a lot of "jumping" while she's playing so I thought it would be a good idea to get a jumper for her. I bought her one last night and we gave it a try this morning. She LOVED it! The mat that's on the floor plays music when she jumps on it--she really had a good time! I wasn't able to get a great picture of her though, because everytime I'd try she was laugh and start jumping! Maybe one day we will get a video of her.
Well, I think that's it for now. I haven't taken her 6 month picture with the bear yet, and I can't right now because she is napping. As soon as I do, I will definitely post it. She is changing so much each day--I can't believe how big she is getting!

I may not post again for a couple of weeks (no surprise, right?!) because we leave next Saturday for Dallas! Please pray for us as this will be our first LONG road trip with Arden. We are making the drive in two days, but I know it will still be a challenge. I'm sure I will have a lot to post about after our trip!