Update

2 weeks ago, we received the results from Arden's endoscopy. It showed some irritation in the lining of her stomach, indicating some reflux problems. Right now she is on Prevacid once a day and we return to Dr. McClellan the first week of March for follow-up. We are so thankful that the tests showed something that is easy to treat and we are hopeful that Arden won't suffer anymore episodes. Thanks to all of you for your prayers-we really appreciate them!

Looking for Answers

Tomorrow morning Arden will have an endoscopy to see if we can find the reason for her random vomiting episodes. Please keep her in your prayers as she will be sedated. Pray for us too--I'm sure it will be harder for Mommy and Daddy than it will be for Arden! We should have the results of the test no later than Monday--we will keep you updated!

Success!

Yesterday was not a good day in potty-training land.

Arden had accident, after accident...including two poops.

Needless to say, I was exhausted and discouraged :(

But last night, something happened....something miraculous!

We got home from dinner and Arden said "POTTY!"

She sat on the little potty, then said "Poopy on potty!"

She then moved to the big potty....

And pooped on the potty for the very first time...all without any prompting from us!

HOORAY! There was much celebrating, rewarding, and picture-taking, of course!

The first words out of her mouth were "Mommy, POOPY! Big prize! Chuck E. Cheese!"

Yes, sweetie---we are SO proud of you! You got your big prize last night (mini reese cups instead of M&Ms) and if you keep this up, we will definitely be taking a trip to good ol' Chuck E. Cheese :)

Now, let's just see how long this lasts.

Maybe, just maybe, we're turning over a new leaf with potty-training!

Winter Wonderland

It's hard to believe that we've had a significant amount of snow twice in less than 3 weeks...

We didn't get a chance to really enjoy the snow at Christmas because we were busy preparing to host the Norton family Christmas...too much cleaning had to be done!

Last night, I was afraid we weren't going to be able to enjoy the snow this time around because Arden decided to come down with the stomach bug, but thankfully it seems to be a mild case and she is all better now :)

This is what we woke up to this morning:

We think we've had around 8 inches of snow so far. Flurries are still falling occasionally, but I don't think we will have much more accumulation. However, it's not supposed to get out of the 30's until the weekend so it looks like the white stuff will be sticking around for awhile!

After we all bundled up, we headed out to enjoy the snow. In the past, Arden hasn't been too thrilled about playing in the snow. After just a few minutes she is ready to head back inside to be warm and cozy (she's my kind of girl!). She lasted a bit longer this time around, but still wasn't too interested in playing and preferred to be carried everywhere we went.

Building a snowman with Daddy!

Murphy had a blast playing in the snow! It was hard for me to get a picture of him because he was so busy playing!

The finished product...pretty good if I do say so myself :)

Enjoy the snow...and enjoy all the extra family time God has blessed you with. I know we will!

Where has the time gone?

I love Christmas....it's my favorite time of year!

We had a blast watching Arden discover the joys of the season....

Santa, toys, candy, and even snow!

I can't believe it has already come and gone :(

As much fun as it was, and I know it will continue to be--

Our prayer is that Arden and Tucker will grow to know and love the true meaning of Christmas

and will enjoy giving so much more than receiving!

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We had a wonderful Christmas spent with family. Of course, I took very few pictures and left that to my talented sister who owns a "real" camera! So....until I get a copy of all those pictures, enjoy this shot of Arden and Silas on Christmas Eve. They were waiting oh-so-patiently to open their presents!

I can't believe how fast they are growing--can someone please slow things down for me?!

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas!

Tucker in 4D

We had our 4D ultrasound today and learned a few things about Tucker...

He loves to sleep with his hands at his face...

He doesn't wake easily...

and is pretty stubborn, just like another little VanZoeren that I know :)

There are 58 images on the cd we received; I'm pretty sure they are all the same, minus the diaper shots she got! Even though Tucker wasn't very cooperative today, it was so exciting to see him in 4D! I tried to find a 4D picture of Arden that was similar to one of his, but I had a hard time. Feel free to check out her pictures here and see if you think they look alike!

I wish I could say Arden enjoyed the "photo session" as much as we did, but I don't think that was the case. Unfortunately, we think Arden got a little too hot on the ride over (she was bundled up so much since it was only in the 20's today!) and got a little carsick. She was very fussy when we got there, fell asleep for a bit, then woke up and immediately got sick :( She tried to tell me in the car that she was hot, but there was nothing I could do besides turn down the temperature. Thankfully, she was fine after the little incident---maybe we are done with being sick for awhile!

Back in Action!

Yes, I've been a blogging slacker.

I apologize.

I can't promise I will do a better job, but I will try.

And yes, I know you've heard that before :)

ANYHOW...the last 3-4 months have been so busy for us! We spent almost a month at the beach, took two trips to the hospital with Arden, she started school, she spent 10 days with her grandparents in Michigan, Geoff surprised me with a trip to Washington DC for my 30th birthday, Halloween, celebrating birthdays, and most recently--Thanksgiving! Not to mention all of my Dr. appointments, re-arranging rooms to get ready for Tucker, picking out a nursery design and fabrics...I could go on and on. I realize things are not going to slow down for us anytime soon but we are still trying to enjoy every day we are blessed with!

I've done a couple of separate posts with LOTS of pictures so keep scrolling to read those.

I hope you all had a blessed Thanksgiving and are enjoying the start to this holiday season!