August/September 2012 Noah 8 and 9 months old Olivia 2 years

Double Trouble!

Grama Gini and Noah meet for the first time

Andy, Nakita and Noah. Our very special friends involved with HLC who gave us tremendous help support and assistance surrounding Noah's arrival.

Papa Craig

ELMO face from Uncle Alan

Olivia with her "essentials".

The BBQ. Yumm!

Just playin' pool with friends at the BBQ.

Noah can stand!

Baby James and family at the Dominican NICU reunion. Baby James was in the NICU at the same time as Noah. We saw this nice family every day during our visits with our baby boys. Baby James has grown up fast too!

Firetruck at Gilroy Gardens

Vrrooom Vrooom!

Balloon Ride at Gilroy Gardens

Noah sits up!

Noah in his adorable hat from Auntie Shari

That's my girl. Getting her row on at Crossfit with mama.

Noah, are you ok?

Our little man

Bouncy Frog

Ready for meeting!

Yay! Noah can sit in the train at the train park!

On the move!

10 months and 2.33 years

Only 1 month later a lot has happened in the Arnold baby-land.

Noah at 10 months (8 months adjusted) is now crawling. That was fast! He started just a few weeks ago getting on his hands and knees occasionally. Now, he is full on, military style, crawling all over, anywhere his little heart desires. He has already attempted to eat grass, a cricket, Olivia's grapes, and every other object he can get his paws on. I am not sure I am "ready" for 2 mobile babies. Either way, my life as I know it is about to change big time. Again.
Needless to say, bring on the finger foods. Noah is beyond ready for fun little melt in your mouth puff's and yogurt bites. It is so cool to see him already doing "grown up" things. Crazy.  He has graduated to more chunky food, however doesn't love the texture of it. He literally spit it out and quiver/gagged. I'm sure he wasn't amused, but it was hysterical to watch. Smooth it is,  for him, for now.
Noah is in between a 2 and 3 nap schedule. He seemed to just drop from 4 to 3 naps only a month or 2 ago! He takes 2 hour and a half-ish naps and 1 cat nap in the afternoon, sometimes.
He is so much more verbal and makes his voice known.  I think he has said ma-ma, but it is still not quite there. Noah fusses more now when he is hungry, in a "HELLO! FEED ME!" kind of tone. And fusses his "abandoned" cry, when we leave the room without him. And still cracks up and laughs 80 percent of the day. A full daily dose of happiness.

Noah is now able to stand by himself, holding on to a surface for a few minutes, til his legs tire out. It is the wildist thing to see him vertical. My 3.9 lb baby is now standing! Ok, he isn't 3.9 lbs now, but he will always be tiny preemie in my mind. In fact I know I am in denial, because I don't weigh him hardly at all. It is almost like I don't want to know how much he weighs, because that will be way too much of a reality check, that he is indeed growing up. This makes me so, so sad. Unrelentless thought and effort about this little man growing for the first 5, 6, months of his life and now it is the FURTHEST thing from my mind. Explain that. Sigh. Not fair.

Noah also just started reaching both his arms out to be picked up. He sits up like a pro, is still rolling, twisting, getting on hands and knees for longer stretches and having a blast exploring. Soon to come will be, crawling on knees and hands and pulling himself up to sitting and/or standing.  Then, he will be getting his drivers license....

Olivia, my little fire breather, is all on all the time. She is doing some of the funniest things right now.
She just went through this phase of calling Matt and I, Father and Mother. Now, she will end her sentences with "babe". Like: "Ok, see ya later, babe".  She often says, "Wait right there, don't move. I'm going to get something outa the car. K, be right back" Then the other day at the park, she had both hands full and wanted to pick up another toy, so she looked around, then put the fruit roll up that was in one hand down her shirt, patted it, then picked up the toy and continued to her destination. Hysterical. I will never forget that moment. Yes, I am notorious for stashing things in my bra "pocket".  She is so affectionate and loving. She says, "I love you mom" or "I neeeed my mom" or " I need Daddy", the other day when she had an "owie". She kisses and hugs all of her friends and strangers and gives us many doses of kisses and hugs through the day. It is awesome. One of my favorite things she said the other day was as she was in my bed watching an Elmo video on you tube at 6 am... She looked at me as I had my eyes closed, touched the side of my face and said: "Aw, mommy. So pretty". I wanted to cry.  It is amazing how much children repeat what they hear and see and how powerful words are. * Note to self. Note to self. Note to self.

In her hands on-ness, Olivia now thinks for some reason that it is her duty to move Noah by picking him up, pulling an arm or leg, or the latest..Noah tipping. He will be just hanging out, sitting up and she will tug his shirt or give his head a nice, quick lean with her hand so he tips right over. Noah doesn't think it's so cool and gets really mad. Watch out Olivia, payback will be coming your way soon.

Olivia is growing tall, and  is currently doing good with eating enough variety for our liking. She is counting to almost 20, and just today said " I'm looking for page 21. No, that's page 26, here is page 21." And she was right. ?? Um.. All I have to say is, watch out world!

Olivia rides a trike, and a bouncy ball well and still loves visits to the park. She really, loves visits anywhere. She has even come to me to the gym a few times. We visited Gilroy Gardens and she loved, riding the rides and can't wait to go back.

We recently had a visit from Karlee and Hunter and the Arnold family. Matt's mom, papa Craig, Alan and Sandy all came for a stay and we had a fantastic time together. The kids love meeting and having family around. 

There are so many special moments to try to remember and document.  I can only hope they are imprinted in our hearts for life.

9 months and 2 years 2 months years

Life with our two babies is amazing. So wonderful that I don't have much desire ( or time) to blog. Well, I should say that I prefer sleep or relaxing to blogging.

Let's get to it.

Noah is now 7 months adjusted age and 9 months "real" age. He is such a predictable, mellow, happy, dare I say, easy, baby. But give that boy his milk on time! He loves his bottles, holding them by himself often, and is also eating pureed fruits and veggies and some treats from his food net like banana and watermelon. The boy and his sister do have that in common. They LOVE to eat. He rolls over both ways now, very well, and wiggles, turns 360 degrees and rolls all over the floor. He is on the move and crawling will be in his near future. He laughs, plays peek-a-boo, smiles, is ticklish, blows bubbles, razzes, squeals, and looks when his name is called. He also is now sitting up on his own well. Yay NOAH! He now says Dada (alot) and is making more word like sounds. It is amazing to think he is already starting to "talk"! He is so smiley, happy and now very verbal. He cracks up at Olivia often. It is so adorable to see them interacting and her entertaining him already. He is a quick learner as we guide him to good sleep habits. He naps easy and is now on a schedule with 3 daily naps and he sleeps an 12 hr stretch at night. We just dropped the dream feed a few weeks ago. Yes, he is my super baby. We are so amazed at his development and how "caught up" he is for his small start.

Olivia is constant amusement and joy. She is so animated, enthusiastic, passionate and affectionate (when she wants to be). She is becoming so independent, wanting to do everything by herself. She has puts together real 9 piece puzzles all by herself, buttons buttons like a pro, tries to tie her shoes, is counting past 10 now, sings entire songs, knows the alphabet in English and sign language, reads her books from memory, ( I have a whole new
appreciation for how much kids can learn so fast. Unbelievable!) comments at meetings, swimming (with floaties), including jumping off of the diving board and going down the slide into the pool and jumping off the side of the pool into the water. She is definitely a hands on, jump right in kind of girl combined with a side that is cautious, deliberate and attentive to detail. She amazes us every day. We just "day" potty trained Olivia about 2 months ago, which she caught on to immediately and hasn't looked back. Olivia and I are also enjoying teaching Noah baby sign language.

Olivia adores her little brother. She now
will run in to where ever he is, saying " Noah, Noah!! Look, look. I have to show you!!" She loves to be around him, even plays tea party with him, asks about him every time she wakes up and runs to "get him" when she hears he is up from his naps. She also acts like a "mommy" to him, making sure to keep him in line when he is "kicking" her with his wiggly feet or has his hands on a toy she suddenly must play with. It's out of this world heart melting.

This summer we have enjoyed the pool party each Monday, a trip to the board walk, a train ride at Roaring Camp in Felton, park visits and play dates with friends, walks and play time at the beach and service. We had a family get together in Oakdale, went to a farm in Half Moon Bay where she rode her first pony and fed goats, strawberry picking in Watsonville, and have had lots of family visit us. We look ahead to a visit from Grandma Gini and Craig and Uncle Alan and Auntie Sandy, the Circuit Assembly, a congregation party and whatever else we can fit in.

Mom and dad are holding up well. Home life is in a groove and we are quite a systematic team and work hard to be organized to keep things maintained as much as possible. Matt is my "daddy day care" on the day's he is home from work so I can get errands and bible studies and exercise in. Truely a blessing.
I feel quite mentally recovered after the pregnancy and birth and the months of new preemie life with Noah. It really took it's toll in me and had me slip into a few intense months of PPD and PTS. Fortunately with Dr's help and lots of family and friends support and many prayers, I made it to the other side. I am still trying to be reasonable with myself, however, and continue to attempt to physically and emotionally balance my energy. A lifelong goal indeed..

Here are some pics from the past few months. My how they grow. I see why some people have lots of babies. I can't get enough of mine.

I became that mom

Just a little story....

Olivia woke up extra early, at 6 am, today and so we got up as Matt helped to get her some breakfast and headed to work. I made myself a half caf latte today instead of my usual decaf, very aware that my 28 hr day just turned into a 29 hour day. We get into breakfast and I spot some cookie cutters that I purchased randomly years ago. Like 10 years ago. I remember when I bought them that hoped I would make cookies with them with some kids from the hall since I never made cookies myself with them. As the childless work and life filled busy years passed, , I remember thinking as I would occasionally see these heart and star shaped cookie cutters in my utensil drawer, that "if" I ever had kids I would be the mom that made sandwiches into fun shapes. If not for their enjoyment but mine too.

It is a real surprise to not only have kept those unopened cookie cutters all these years, but also a surprise to find myself with 2 babies! Well here I am and today was the day I used those cookie cutters. I made myself my daily dose of Ezekiel cinnamon raisin english muffins and spotted those cookie cutters, opened the package and stamped those little stars from my muffins. I was so proud to deliver Olivia her glorious little star toasts. Though she picked all the raisins out and left the stars out cold, that didn't matter. Today was the day.

I became "that" mom.

Olivia 20 months

Olivia is now 20 months and is one busy girl!

She wants to be in on all the action and makes sure she is. She likes to keep busy with anything and everything that's at her reach.

She can now reach up onto the kitchen counters well so we have to be very careful about what we leave there. She often can be found on her tiptoes reaching up saying "snack , snack!". The girl loves to snack.

Yesterday she pulled herself up onto a bar stool, stood up, and was about to climb onto the counter. She is figuring out how to reach new heights and it is scary!!

She also likes to dig in plants. She takes her tea cups, plates and utensils and sets them up by our plant and digs in for some dirt pie making. What a mess! Sounds like we'd better get her that easy bake oven soon instead.

She thoroughly enjoys pulling her clothes out of drawers, Noah's clean diapers out of baskets and getting her hands on anything else can be revealed or opened. In fact now she daily spots and calls out "ma-man, ma-man!", as the mail man drives by, hoping for a box to open. With all the online ordering we do, she gets lots of enjoyment these days opening the boxes.

A busy bee for sure, Olivia is full of energy, curiosity and unending enthusiasm for do-ing.

One of my favorite things she says right now is when Matt whistles she says " daddy woohoo" in a high pitched voice. With the same pitch in her voice she says " bock bock!" when she sees or is eating chicken. It is the funniest thing and cracks us up. She even says "yacka" like her daddy, when he does.

She will imitate everyone and anyone. This is such a fun stage and we can't get enough of her constant entertainment.



Like we all are, Olivia is obsessed with her baby brother. She calls us "mama-Noah".

Regression?? Just funnin around.

Sunny side up.
Olivia breaks in her new shades over breakfast.

Big sister

Ready for our "walk" to look for "meow's, doggy's and tweet tweet's".

Due Date

8 weeks and almost 20 months old

Matt is back to work and just finished his tour of 3 24 hr shifts. My hands were full without dad around but it felt good to continue toward a typical routine. And fortunately friends and family were available to lend a hand to make my first week
without Matt a bit less daunting. I am so appreciative of that and will continue to recruit help as I can in the next few weeks. Once I am not pumping 7-9 times a day on top of feeding Noah my hands will be a bit freer to manage the kids easier. All in all, we are in a nice groove and schedule of sorts and things feel good. Not easy, but good.

Olivia is continuing to adjust well to Noah being around. She says his name all day long, looks for him first thing when she wakes up, and makes sure to give him a kiss goodnight. I have a feeling they will be great buddy's.

Olivia loves to talk up a storm, stringing sentences together and adding more words to her vocabulary daily. She has quite a sense of humor and creativity that I am sure will continue to bloom in the months ahead. While she is expressing her desires more and more which brings it's challenges, she also grows more and more affectionate, cooperative and entertaining. It is never a dull moment with her and a lot of fun.



Here she is goofing around pretending she is Noah in his bed. She is such a kick!

Noah's due date was just a few days ago on the 2nd of February. He is now almost 2 month old and weighs in at about 6 3/4 lbs. He is so adorable and I love having him wear all the adorable hats he has received from friends and "dressing him up" in cool boy clothes. He is a hat guy, like his daddy. He feels like my little doll, and I am having so much fun. He is starting to act more like a newborn. A little more verbal with his needs with a bit more of a commanding cry. I suppose, that is a good sign that he is making great progress developmentally.

He is taking 6 bottles of breast milk and 2 breast feeding sessions a day. Our goal is to transition to fully breastfeeding over the next month ahead. We will be dropping 1 bottle and adding in a breastfeed once a week til we reach a 7/1 ratio. The 1 bottle will be so I can get a stretch of sleep at night. Genius!! We didn't get much sleep at all Olivia's newborn days and we suffered. What do they say?: Hindsight is 20/20.

My milk supply is holding to just keep up with Noah's needs. I am thankful for that, but as his volume of milk has increased as he grows, I want to increase my volume. So I will be increasing my pumping from every 3 hours to every 2 hours in hopes to see an increase. I will also see a lactation specialist in 2 weeks for more assistance with the transition from bottle to breast. Pumping and his feeding has been more of a challenge than I could have imagined. A huge hill that I feel we are right in the middle of. Although this process is constantly worry inducing, I am determined and confident that we will see the horizon and enjoy many months of less effort filled breast feeding ahead. In the mean time, I need to keep my chin up and nose to the grind at the same time to make that happen. Pump, pump, pump!

Although challenging at times for a part-time socialite like me, we are managing well with the isolation. We have had family and a service group of friends stop by, and i have been popping out for a quick hello to the neighbors. Other than that it is pretty much just Dr's appointments for Noah and I. We are also limiting Olivia and Matt's exposure to germs also for the next few weeks still and hope to all return to meetings in a few weeks. What a reunion that will be for me. Ah, I can't wait!!

Things to look forward to ahead in February:

A hair appointment!!
A visit from friends from Sacramento.
Olivia's run bike arriving so we can try it out.
Noah turning 7lbs. 007 to be exact.
More visits from Grandma this month.
Getting walks in at Seacliff.
Breast feeding