Ryker Paul Marzen

Ryker Paul Marzen was born Thursday March 3rd at 8:59 PM. He weighed a whopping 8 lbs. 6 oz. and measured 20.5 inches long. We are so in love with our little guy! Here's his birth story...

On Thursday morning at an OB appointment my doctor decided to go ahead and strip my membranes in hopes that it would get labor started. I had had this done before without it working though so I didn't have my hopes up. I came home and had a pretty regular day with Ilyana, playing, going to mommy and me, then coming home for a nap. Around 4:15 I started noticing some mild contractions about 10 minutes apart, but knowing that the membrane strip can cause false labor, I didn't think much of it. Then, around 5:15, contractions very suddenly became extremely intense and about 5 minutes apart. I set Ilyana up in her highchair with some food and 'Super Why' and after having three of those contractions I decided it was time to text Jake to come home (he was at church band practice). Jake rushed home and called his mom to come over to take care of Ilyana. Jake got home a little before 6, packed a few last minute things in the hospital bag, gave some instructions about Ilyana to Raylene, and off to the hospital we went. By this point contractions were about 3-5 minutes apart and it took everything in me to not cry out in pain during them. I'm definitely glad that we live so close to the hospital! Once we got to the hospital and got checked in they brought us back to our room and found that I was dilated to about 5.5 cm. I was begging them to let me get in a warm bath with the hope of it bringing relief! Finally after putting in my IV and getting the on call doctor's permission I was allowed to get into the bath. After about 10 minutes in the tub I decided to try some IV pain medication in hopes that it would take some of the edge off of the pain. Once I was out of the tub and back in bed they checked me before giving me the medication and found that I had progressed to 7cm already. The meds kicked in right away and helped with being able to relax in between contractions, however the contractions still hurt just as bad so I asked for an epidural. They would have to give me IV fluids for 20 minutes first though so they got those started, checked me (I was at 8 cm) and not long after my water broke with explosive force. Contractions got 10 times worse once my water broke and the only positon I found any sort of relief in was on my hands and knees, screaming in a pillow, begging for an epidural. Not long after, they informed me that the anesthesiologist was in surgery and probably wouldn't make it. I was not happy! Soon after, they checked me again and I was at 9.5 cm and my body was telling me to push. Having thought about a natural birth, the pushing was what scared me the most, but I have to say, every push brought SO much relief. After maybe 10 minutes of this they could see baby's head and were trying to convince me to stop pushing and roll over onto my back. I was having none of it and was defiantly yelling "no" and continued to push. They quickly called in the doctor and forced me to roll over (while I clung to Jake screaming). Ryker was crowning by the time I was on my back and 5 minutes of pushing later, he was out!
As painful as a natural birth was, the healing process has proved to me that it was worth it! I was able to be up and showering an hour after birth, I was able to easily walk around with minimal pain by the next morning, and I just all around feel good!
Ryker is doing awesome and Ilyana did great getting to meet him! We are so excited to start life as a family of four!

Happy 1st birthday, sweet girl!

I can not believe that my tiny 6 lb. 5 oz. baby girl is turning one! Where did this year go!? Ilyana has turned into quite the spunky but sweet, thoughtful yet crazy, toddler. She spends her days chasing around Nala (and giving her a few gentle pets when she manages to catch her), climbing and drumming on everything, and talking all about her all time favorite person: Dada. Recently she's been figuring out that objects have a specific purpose (ex. putting together a puzzle, stacking blocks, using a drum stick on a drum, brushing her 'hair', etc.). It's so neat to see her mind work through these processes and figure these things out. Ilyana now loves to say (and wave) "hi" and "bye", dance, point (especially at daddy), and even blew kisses to daddy the other night. She's also been working hard at learning to walk. She will stand by herself for a few minutes at a time and seems like she could take a step at any second, if only she would just do it! Climbing up stairs is one of her favorite activities and she has recently learned how to climb down them as well. She is a fantastic eater and I often have to wonder where all the food she eats goes; this girl is going to eat us out of house and home! We will have the opportunity next week to talk to her pediatrician about her issues with eating dairy and hopefully we will figure out the best what will be best going forward. We were thankful that Hyvee was able to make Ilyana a dairy-free cake and cupcake for her birthday photoshoot and party! It was fun watching her reaction to tasting the cake at her photoshoot; she kept giving us a look like "Am I going to get in trouble for eating this?". Our friend Natalie did a fantastic job on her pictures! We also had a lot of fun celebrating her birthday with family and friends at a "Winter ONEderland" themed party this past weekend. Ilyana was a little grumpy at first, but once the sugary cupcake kicked in she was having a blast! We are so thankful to have so many people that care about our sweet girl!

Ilyana loves: books, toys that she can put things in or take things out of, climbing, drumming, eating, Mommy and Daddy, Super Why, Schoolhouse Rock, Nala, music, baths and showers.

Ilyana dislikes: being told "no", plain tofu, not being able to catch Nala.

Here is a slideshow of Ilyana's first year: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/16Ao85l-F6Y-i5EgWWatJJXIpheRWX2129a3CLQIYk1g/pub?start=true&loop=true&delayms=3000&slide=id.gc6f972163_0_15

A day in the life

I've been thinking that it would be fun to write a "day in the life" post before our little man comes so that we can look back and see what life was like with just one little one! So without further ado, here is what a pretty typical day looks like for us!

6:30- Our alarm goes off and we can here Ilyana chattering in her crib so I grab her and she plays with daddy for a little bit while I take a shower and then we swap.

7:45- We all head downstairs so Jake can kiss us both goodbye and head to work. Ilyana and I eat some breakfast (today she has a banana and I have some pancakes) and then head into the living room to get dressed and play for a while. I've been trying to give her some time everyday to practice playing by herself so while she entertained herself with books and her alphabet train I sat down and put my very swollen feet up.

8:30- Ilyana starts to get bored and wants a bottle so I feed her and then we play together for a while. She was especially entertained this morning by a personalized book that has her picture in it (she's a bit of a narcissist. Haha!).

9:15- Ilyana starts acting really sleepy so we head upstairs to lay down in mommy and daddy's bed for a bit. She has fun romping around in it for a little while and then decides to come and lay down next to me to snuggle and take a cat nap (I may have dozed a little bit too... Building a baby is hard work!).

10:15- I put together a small diaper bag and wake up the little sleepy head so we can go over to a friends house. A good friend of ours always takes fantastic photos of her son so she had Ilyana and I as well as Jenna and Charlotte over to give us some pointers on taking better pictures of our sweet kiddos! I'm so excited to use some of the great tips that she gave us. Thanks Megan!

12:30- We stopped at Chic-fil-a on the way home to pick up some lunch and I got Ilyana her very own kids meal for the first time! She ended up eating the entire thing, the little chunker!

1:00- By the time she was done eating it was nap time so she went into her crib for a good nap and I cleaned up after lunch, started this blog post, and then got a little bit of cleaning done.

3:30- Ilyana wakes up, eats a bottle, and we play for a little bit before going to Target to get a couple of things (including clearance valentines day candy of course!).

5:00- We get home from Target and daddy gets home not long after, yay! We all played together and chat about our days for a while.

6:10- We start our bedtime routine (dinner, bath time, PJ's, bottle, and bed). Ilyana had fun in the bath tonight with some bath crayons and didn't want to get out! Once she was in bed though she fell asleep pretty quick; it was a busy day!

6:45- Ilyana is down for bed so we clean up a bit and get Rover (our Roomba) going and settle into our evening activities. Tonight, Jake is working on a church app and I am working on this blog post and then reading. We'll probably play some video games together and I'll more than likely take a relaxing bath before bed around 10:30.


That's pretty much our day! I look forward to writing another "day in the life" post once we are settled into a routine with Ryker and seeing just how much life has changed!

11 Months

We're one month away from having a one year old! Thinking about when Ilyana was a newborn seems so long ago, however this year seems to have flown by so fast! Our little baby is becoming a toddler and her personality is becoming more clear every day. Miss independent (a.k.a. Ilyana) is smart, funny, curious, and energetic. She loves to climb anything and everything (I wonder who she got that from? *cough cough daddy*), read books, play with cars, and drum on every surface possible. She may look like her mommy but she sure takes after her dad! This month, she has really started to come out of her shell. She definitely still has some separation anxiety but we've finally hit a point where she can do great with babysitters and has even initiated contact with others! Much to Jake's delight, she has also become quite the daddy's girl. She will point out  pictures of daddy on our wall and loves to greet him with a huge smile, hug, and kiss when he gets home from work. Ilyana continues to eat and sleep great and is currently working on her 5th and 6th teeth. She switched to only one nap a day (most days) which has made her a lot more flexible, just in time for little brother to come and have his own schedule to work around! She has also learned to wave (and say) "hi" and "bye" and to use sign language to say "all done" after meal and bath time. She is working hard on learning to stand on her own and has taken 2 unassisted steps. Hopefully by next month she will have the confidence to take even more steps by herself!

Ilyana loves: Mommy and daddy, Super Why, dancing, babies, playing with cars and blocks, reading books, and bath time.

Ilyana doesn't like: being told no, broccoli, staying still.

10 months

Our sweet little Ilyana is now 10 months old! I can't believe how time flies. Ilyana has been getting bigger, stronger, and smarter every day. She pulls up to stand and cruise on everything possible and has been working on standing by herself for short periods of time, usually when she doesn't realize that she's doing it! This month she also learned how to climb up stairs (with our supervision of course), now if we could just teach her that crawling down the stairs is not an option like she seems to think... She has also become very interested in books recently. She loves to look at her books (and scatter them all over the living room in the process) and be read to. Her favorite book right now is "The Pout Pout Fish", and yes, I have it memorized at this point. She also loves to drum on objects so we're trying to take advantage of this and teach her how to give high-fives! She is still an awesome sleeper and eater. We figured out this month that she seems to have some issues with certain forms of dairy. She does fine with formula, but both cheese and yogurt make her super grumpy (I'm guessing her tummy hurts or some other form of unpleasantness that she can't express). Currently we're just staying away from any sort of dairy (besides formula) until we have a chance to talk to her pediatrician at her next appointment in February. Other than that she does great with food though! She loves fruit, shredded meat, steamed veggies, most anything that we give her. We're so excited to celebrate Ilyana's first Christmas later this week so keep an eye out for pictures!

Ilyana loves: standing and "walking", eating, bath time, her baby doll, mommy and daddy, Super Why, looking at pictures, reading books.

Ilyana doesn't like: being told "no", invasions of personal space, riding in the car for long periods of time.

Christmas Card 2015

Merry Christmas! I hope you are enjoying this (so far) relatively snow-free holiday season as much as we are! 2015 has been an exciting year in the Marzen household. In February we welcomed our beautiful daughter, Ilyana into our lives. She has been such a fun bundle of joy to have around! She is currently learning how to walk and is truly hoping to get her two front teeth for Christmas. 

This May we moved into our beautiful new home and also celebrated Jake graduating from Mt. Mercy College. Jake worked extremely hard and not only graduated Summa Cum Laude, which is a huge accomplishment in itself, but also graduated with the honor of the "top computer scientist" award. 

Moving day selfie!

At the beginning of June, Jake started working full time at Rockwell Collins as a software engineer. We both agree that it is such a relief to have him only working 8-5 instead of working full time along with a crazy class schedule! Also in June, Jake and I celebrated our 3rd wedding anniversary; this has definitely been the best (and most busy) year of our marriage so far! Near the end of June we received the exciting news that we were expecting another little bundle of joy this coming March. We found out in October that this little bundle would be a boy! We are so excited to meet Mr. Ryker Paul!

All in all, this year has been jam packed with large and exciting events; none of which we would trade for a moment of peace and sanity! We look forward to celebrating this Christmas season and can't wait to see everything that 2016 brings.

9 months

I can't believe this is Ilyana's last single digit month! What happened to my snuggly little newborn? This past month Ilyana has really taken off developmentally. She has finally started doing more of a "traditional" crawl but wasn't content with that for long. She also has started pulling up to stand on everything possible, walking around with her activity walker, and even cruising holding onto furniture. It won't be long before she is walking! This month, she also had a burst of language development and can now say "mama", "dada", "hi", and "bye-bye" along with many other new sounds. It is such a joy to hear her chattering to herself throughout the day. Ilyana also experienced her first snowfall yesterday and today. She really enjoyed watching it fall and when we brought some inside for her to play with she really enjoyed eating it. This month also brought with it 2 teeth and some major separation anxiety. Separation anxiety is common at this age however Ilyana seems to be on the more extreme end of the spectrum currently. The best way to interact with Ilyana right now is to be respectful of her space bubble and talk and play with her while mommy or daddy are holding her, letting her lead the amount of interaction taking place. Although this can definitely be frustrating at times, we are very thankful that, so far, the separation anxiety hasn't had much of an effect on her sleeping habits. She is a rock star sleeper! She also is a rock star eater! This girl just loves to eat! She has said good-bye to purees and loves to feed herself. She will eat most anything we give her but especially likes meat, corn, strawberries, and blueberries. We're excited to see what she thinks of the thanksgiving turkey! We're really looking forward to celebrating the holiday season with our sweet girl!

Ilyana loves: Mommy and Daddy, bath time, drumming (this makes daddy very happy), chasing Nala, standing and walking, electronics, super why, her bunny, eating.

Ilyana doesn't like: people in her space bubble, mommy or daddy leaving, being told "no", being out of her normal routine.