April Fools

Santa Monica last weekend, May 2nd.  There is a really cool area of ropes, balance beams and rings where people entertain you.  It's amazing to watch people do these amazing feats on there. Alexia loves the rope to climb, she can sometimes make it up about 1/3 of the way but it's tough.  Here she did pretty good today as a watchful dad stands nearby just in case she needs help.

Just adorable, say no more:)

Here we are at Ventura Beach one day having delicious fish n' chips on the boardwalk.  It was abeautiful day and we ventured out with Blake to smell some wonderful ocean air.  Nice face Lexi!

Proud sister holding her little bro..

My friend Maria, from NH, and her family came to Newport Beach for a Paul Mitchell Conference and we were fortunate enough to spend an afternoon with them all.  It was so nice to see them.  It was hard saying goodbye.

Here is Maria and Calvin's son Antonio holding Blake....he just LOVES babies.  Look how proud he is hold ing him.  Antonio even picked out a very special rattle for Blake and he really, really enjoys it.  Thanks Antonio you sweetie pie.

Lexi and Antonio hanging at the pool, aren't they cool?

Lunch at Red Robin with Maria and Milan, Lexi and Antonio.  Aren't these kids just beautiful?  So cute.  Milan is 3 and Antonio is 5 1/2.

Here's Lexi at an Earth Day celebration in Pasadena.  This SMART car is so small Alexia actually looks the right size in it.  It's s scary that she could actually just about touch the pedals.  

Alexia practicing her art....guess what she's drawing?  Yes, her favorite animal, the horse!

The Easter Bunny doesn't look so happy here.  Erick made this ears out of construction paper, it was so funny, too bad Blake didn't think so.


Just after bath time

Alexia's school put on a musical from the Lion King, here they are singing a song Akuna Matada...ok, maybe I didn't spell it right.  There she is in the back row, center.

Easter Egg hunt here at our apartments.  They hid over 500 eggs for the kids.  Too bad Alexia couldn't eat most of the candy that was inside them, Erick and I are enjoying it though:)  She is realizing how many treats she can't have anymore because of her braces.  She only has 4 months to go!!!

Here is my friend Deb.  You've seen her before on my Blog.  She & I had the same due date.  I had Blake March 14th & she had Maeva on March 19th.  She only weighed 5.3 and Blake was 7.11.  Even though they are only a few days apart, Blake seems weeks older.  She & I usually try to go for morning walks.  It's nice to have someone experiencing the same things to relate to.  

A relaxing evening with the Arndts

What a proud daddy with is little boy!

Big sis with her little brother.  WOW look at those eyes Alexia!!!

March Madness (2)

Erick came to the hospital all day everyday and just enjoyed holding his little boy while I could catch a few zzz's.

A cuddling moment at home.

Looks like Blake wants nothing to do with waving.

Diann, Lexi and Papa.  It's so nice being our here with family so they can enjoy Alexia and Blake growing up.  Look at Alexia's smile, she's alwasy beaming like that, can you tell she's a very happy big sister?

So precious, this picture of Diann holding Blake as he's gazing back into her eyes.

The anticipation was killing her, but she was a good sport.  Only 5 1/2 months to go honey.

Here she is, getting her braces on.

Look at Erick getting all fancy with the black/white photography.  I don't look as tired, I like it:)

Blake's first mail from my brother Mark's family in Virginia...it's bigger than he is.  Thank you Uncle Mark, Aunt Gina, cousins Skye, Brooke & Kyle!!

There they are with their matching T-shirts "Big Sister and Little Brother".

March Madness

Well as you all know we had an addition to the family on March 14th.  Yes, Blake Austin Arndt arrived a healthy 7.11 lbs 21 inches.  Here's multi tasker Erick at work while taking care of precious Blake, giving me some time to catch up on some sleep.  Erick has been amazing, taking care of me, getting Alexia ready in the morning, bringing her to school, picking her up, taking care of dinner and housework, making sure I'm drinking plenty of water and eating well.  He's been amazing.  Couldn't have made it through these last couple of weeks with your support and encouragement, thanks babe!!

Alexia is having so much fun with him, not quite sure what Blake is thinking about this moment though.

Alexia got braces on March 19th.  A very hectic week for us.  She was already scheduled and we didn't want to deviate from our plans.  She was excited to get them on until we got there and they actually put the braces and her palete expander on the roof of her month.  She was quite sore and was on a liquid diet for about 4 days.  She's feeling much better now, luckily she only has to have them on for 6 months and she'll be done!!!

Look how awake he is....aaahhhh.  He loves the swing.

Catching every second of sleep I can get...and I mean second:)

Can you say "hate the carseat".  Yes, he's not a big fan of being buckled in.

Yes, asleep at last next to his Jaguar that Alexia bought for him.  His first stuffed animal.  Alexia picked out the bedding for the crib (her favorite color is green) and we're using her old crib.

Oops, must have realy liked this picture, it's a duplicate.

Time to go home, finally after 5 days in the hospital.

Snuggle time with big sis!

Our friend Deb, she lives in our apartment complex and we met during hot chocolate by the fireplace one night a couple months ago.  Come to find out we both had the exact same due date.Doesn't she look tiny, this was the 16th and she had her daughter on the 19th.  It's great to have another new mom to talk to:)

Dr. Navi is my doctor who delivered Blake.  He has a funny sense of humor and we were so happy to have him take care of me during the 7 months we were here.  The night he delivered Blake, he delivered about 4 babies in 5 hours.....busy guy! When Erick came to the operating room he looked at me and said "hey gorgeous!". From behind the curtain Dr Navi replied "hi!". 

Proud mommy!!

Eyes open, gotta catch 'em while we can.

If that picture doesn't say it all...what a proud daddy looking at his son!  

Yes, I was pretty exhausted.  Think I had been up for about 30 hours at this point and endured surgery.  Natural delivery sure beats a c-section.

Diann holding a hungry Blake, looks like he's going to eat his hands.  Diann looks so happy to finally meet Blake.

Proud Papa, he's always been so great with kids and expecially babies.  Another grandson in the family:)

Alexia was so excited to see Blake, she always wants to hold him and be with him.

WOW, I absolutely LOVE this picture of Alexia seeing Blake for the first time.  It captures such a happiness in her expression.  She's so amazing with him, so natural and calm.  He loves being in her arms.  She's a very, very proud big sister!

February 2009 Update

It's February 28th and a beautiful day here.  Alexia and Erick were throwing the football and the frisbee around.   I played a little catch with the football but not much running around for me these days.  Erick and Alexia were laughing so much, it was great!  There were so many people riding their bikes and walking their dogs around here.  It's nice that there are so many parks in the area that it's never that crowded.

Alexia and her friend Mariah went swimming Saturday, February 28th.  The pool heater was fixed and the water was a balmy 82 degrees.  It was sunny and 80 outside. She has swam more here in the last 6 months than she had back in NH the last 6 yrs.  It's great because she's so good and I've seen such an improvement not only in her skills but her self-confidence. She just loves the water. 

February 27th was my birthday.  We went out to dinner with my dad & Diann to the Maccaroni Grill.  It was great food and entertainment.  The waitresses and waiters sing with incredible voices.  They sang to me in Italian, absolutely beautiful (typically I wouldn't like that but I wanted to hear them)  Then we went home for a yummy dessert.  Erick & Alexia made me a homemade ice cream cake with brownies and frosting.  I had such a wonderful birthday, thank you to all of you who called, texted and sent me beautiful birthday cards.  Erick and Alexia presented me with an amazing diamond necklace.    

Erick's hanging with some of our close friends that we've met here.  Chris, in the middle is a Director and Joey on the right is an actor.   Joey's daughter is Mariah who you saw pictured with Alexia at the pool.  They are just great people and this night the guys went out to Buffalo Wild Wings.  Erick said they aren't nearly as good as the wings we used to make back in NH.  (Erick comments: but they were good and there were a lot of them. An added bonus is that the manager is super nice and paid for all our food...sweeeet! And Chris signed up for the HOT wing contest this Monday at BWW. So we will go to cheer him on. )

Yep, we're getting closer, 8 months pregnant and still hanging in there.  Look at that, I actually have boobs too, gotta love it!!  Although almost everyone out here does if ya know what I mean:)

Alexia did it!!!! Yes, she finally put on a brave face and got her ears pierced on Feb 22nd.  She's been wanting to have it done for years now but every time we go, she chickens out and we have to leave.  This time she was determined and realized it wasn't even a fraction as bad as she thought it would be.  Isn't that how most things are?  We work ourselves up for no good reason.  

We've been visiting orthodontists in the area as well so the next month when you see our blog she'll have some braces on the front of her teeth & a palette expander on the roof of her mouth. She's anxious to get them.  Do any of you remember being anxious to get braces, not me. I was dreading it but these days (boy I sound like my parents) kids actually "want" braces.  This first phase will only be 6 months and then her teeth will be straight in the front and we're excited to see the difference:)

Above are pictures from a surprise baby shower everyone from the office at our church threw for me.  I volunteer there 3 days a week, 3 hours a day in the office, children's ministry, whatever they need and they are such wonderful, happy, positive people to be around that I truly enjoy being there.  They're good for me.  They contacted Erick to let him know their plan and to find out what we needed regarding the baby.  It was an overwhelming surprise as you can tell on the top pic I was crying.  

I was busily doing my work, watching some catering guy come in & set up for a luncheon (not realizing it was for me) when all of a sudden behind me I heard "surprise"!  I was so shocked and there was Erick with the camera snapping pictures.  It was just so thoughtful and unexpected. We have so many things for Blake now, the generosity of not only the church but Dad, Diann and her daughter Kristin (who is having a girl in July) have given us so many baby items and clothes that we're so grateful to you all.  We came out here with nothing but Alexia's bed that converts to a crib and now we have pretty much all we need....we just need the baby!

I went back to Camarillo one afternoon to go look at more homes with our Realtor, Lori.  The two of us had fun and she took me to lunch at one of the Country Clubs there.  We ate outside on the balcony & this was the view, a snowcapped mountain in the distance.  I just thought that was so beautiful.  We're putting a hold on the house search for the moment and will be agressively be back at it in April....I'll need a little breather after Blake is born.

Can you believe it?  It was hailing here for about 5 minutes one afternoon, it was shocking so I had to grab the camera.

Well everyone, the next time you hear from me and Erick you'll be getting an e-mail from us with pictures of Blake.  We're bringing Erick's laptop to the hospital so he can download the pictures and send them off right away.  We're very anxious as you can imagine as the day grows closer (about 2 weeks left)  I'd be jumping up & down with joy but that might make things happen a little too soon:)  

Take care of yourselves! We really do miss you all.
Lynn