Christmas 2009

Wow. So clearly I'm a little busy since I haven't updated in an eternity!! Bad blogger! We just had a great trip back to Ohio to experience a White Christmas, which is the only time I really like the cold. Frankie finally gets Christmas this year (yea!) and Dominic is just happy to have new cars/trucks to play with. They continue to terrorize us and each other on a daily basis. Before I had children, there would be these moments that I would imagine when having kids... and one of those was watching their school Christmas performances. I was lucky enough to witness Frankie's 1st holiday performance last week. While it may not look like much to anyone other than his mom, it was a special moment to me. :) He is the youngest in his new class, but is the cutest little elf ever!!

Funny Bathtub Moment

The past couple of months have been a blur (which is why you haven't seen much on this blog - sorry!) We had Dominic's 1st birthday - Sept. 1, a family vacation to Legoland and lots and lots of work in between. GG is now in town (yea!), so we're starting to gain a life with our "second wife" around. :) While the boys are an enormous handful now, moments like these in the video make it worthwhile being their mommy.

Dominic is Coming Alive

It's hard to believe that our baby is almost a toddler,but for those of you who haven't seen him in a while... enjoy!

Dog Days of Summer

It's hard to believe that summer is almost over (especially with the temps well into triple digits still). We have a couple of vacations on the horizon that keep us chugging along - Pinetop in a week (Northern Arizona) and San Diego in a month. It will be nice to escape the heat as a family! The boys and I spent a week in Ohio visiting with family and friends... it was a whirlwind that ultimately ended with the longest, worst flight experience ever! Keith couldn't make the trip because of work, so it was 10 days with all-mommy! A couple pictures are here from that trip. Dominic received his first haircut from his Aunt Lee Lee and looks more and more like a Weidaw every day. :) Wow!

Fireworks Commentary

We had a great 4th of July and are now still listening to stories about fireworks that made QUITE an impression on Frankie. Enjoy!

Getting Creative...

I recently had a friend of Frankie's bring a bunch of toy trains over to the house. Lots of them. And he played and played and played with them. It made me feel bad that we didn't purchase a bunch of trains for him to play with after his friend left the house. But then I thought back to my childhood, which was really short on toys but long on fun. And, we created a new, fun activity for the day... building a car. I can't tell you how many old boxes my sister and I turned into cars, robots, and dozens of other things. Frankie and I made a car out of an old box from Costco and the whole family reeped the rewards. One of the best things... the next weekend when I asked him if he wanted to play outside, he told me he wanted to build another car. :) Photo included of the boys in the car (one drawback: it's only motorized by mom pushing it).

Life here is full of fun. Summer is upon us, but the weather is surprisingly cool and comfortable. It's great! Dominic is a standing machine, Frankie is in a big boy bed and Keith's parents are set to come out for 10 days to hang with the family. Good times!

Happy Mother's Day!

I am missing my mommy pretty fiercely this Mother's Day. She's been gone just over a week and I miss her like crazy. Had the flu for a miserable 48 hours which only makes me miss her worse! This is the first stretch of more than a week I've been without the help of my mom or Keith's and it was frightening to say goodbye to her. But, we're making do. The boys have been so great today... angels in church, less than embarrassing at the nice brunch buffet we went to at a local resort, and now Frankie's down for a nap (wish I could say the same about Dominic who's refusing his). Here's to hoping the last half of the day goes as well as the first! Putting up some pics from our recent family shoot in honor of Mother's Day!

Times are a-Changin'

Well the only thing that you can always count on is change. And, there is no better realization of that than in children. Dominic and Frankie are changing daily - and keeping our routine and energy level on its toes. Dominic is now crawling... it's slow and very deliberate at this point, but movement nonetheless. I'm hoping this translates to better sleep. :) Speaking of sleep, Frankie is now in his big boy bed. We bought bunk beds and put them in his room, thinking that he might want to look at them for a few days before making the change from his crib. Nope. He wouldn't take no for an answer when Keith gave him the option of sleeping in his crib or the bed - the bed. So just like that, we have a 2-year-old who is able to get up on his own any time of night. I'm not sure how I feel about it yet. I thought I would be bawling my eyes out, but that's not the case. Maybe it's because of how easily he did it... like he could have handled it all along and we're the ones holding him back.

New Update - FINALLY!

Well, life has had its ups and downs lately. We have had two rounds of colds tear through the house the past month - putting everyone in the dumper at one point or another. But, we have had some good times too... and lots of progress from both boys. Frankie is chatting up a storm, with new phrases every day such as, "Sorry about that," and my personal favorite, "Daddy - get back in the kitchen!" Dominic is done with the helmet (already!) and his head is shaped perfectly for it. :) We have one more appointment to make sure everything is okay, but seems to be really good so far. He is also on all fours trying desperately to crawl. We're all scared for when that happens. He just started learning how to put food in his mouth - despite the fact that he has no teeth yet. Frankie had a full set of chompers at this point, so Dom is missing out on all that Frankie was already eating at this point. That's okay though - it seems with #2, you don't mind the pace of progress slowing down a bit. I hope everyone had a great Easter. We sure did! Photos are of Frankie on St. Patty's Day (he is an eighth Irish!), Keith and Frankie at his first pro sports event - an Indians' Game, and Dominic and those big blue eyes (yup, they're here to stay).

Dom's Dome

Well today is day 1 with Dominic's helmet (snapshot taken by Keith at the doc's office this morning). I am in San Diego today through Thursday, so I can't even be there with him (and haven't even seen him in it!) for four days. So sad. From what Keith says, it's business as usual in Dominic's life... he's totally unphased by it. And, I have to say that's pretty much how he is - very, very chill. So, I hope that he adjusts well since he has to be in it for 23 hours a day for the next 10 weeks or so. We're going to decorate it this weekend. I wish I could see Frankie when he gets a look at it tonight! Dominic is sitting up on his own now, rolling like crazy and I saw two "army crawl" maneuvers yesterday that are scaring the hell out of me. He can't be on the move yet!!! :) Frankie is finally liking school - after several weeks of cranky atypical behavior from him. Keith's busy season is done (for now - yea!), so the boys and I are so happy to have him back to a normal schedule. We went two weeks with only seeing him for a few minutes a day (if at all).

Helmet on the way...

We had our appointment this week with the cranial specialist to measure Dominic's head for a helmet. Poor thing! He will be in it for about 10 weeks starting two weeks from today. Every week we need to take him in to get measured/fitted again. Here he is in all his blue-eyed glory, getting more and more personality every day. Love him!!

Updates from the Arnolds

Well life has been more than a bit busy with Keith now in his "busy season" and me back to work full time. Where did the holidays go? We've had quite a few milestones in the past couple of weeks and so wanted to include some updates here. Frankie started preschool at Tutor Time just a couple days a week. And while he's not fully in the groove yet, I do think he enjoys his time there. Dominic started eating cereal a couple of weeks ago, which is somewhat helping him sleep through the night. He is still our blue-eyed boy and we think that in a few more months if he doesn't get some more color to his skin - or darker eyes - we'll be doing some genetic testing!

Santa Photos

Well, we survived another year of pictures with Santa. And, in a "Christmas miracle" - Dominic actually smiled for the picture! Frankie looked like he was getting a mug shot taken. And if it wasn't for that teddy bear, I don't think he'd have wanted any part of Santa's lap. His single request for Christmas this year when Santa asked... a car - what else?! Keith snapped a few photos off to this side, which is what this picture is. Merry Christmas!

Tamales!

Anyone who knows my family well knows that Christmas time means tamale-making time. This year we had a VERY lean crew of my mom, dad and me. Keith was watching the boys and we didn't think there were any other gringos in the Valley worthy of making tamales with us! So, four hours later, we were gorging ourselves on this delicious treat (I had a half dozen myself - Keith beat me out by two). :) My mom is probably still in her kitchen bagging up these addictive goodies. Keith calls them heroin in corn husks. I agree!

The Holidays...

We're 10 days away from Christmas and I have MOST of the shopping done. What a crazy time of year this is... and then top it off with a new baby (how long can I keep saying that until it's just an excuse??) - it's nuts! I canned salsa for the first time this year - and will be giving that out for family gifts to go along with our tamales which we're making on Sunday. Life is good and full and nutty and wonderful. This pic is just a lazy Saturday at home with the boys... Dominic's eyes are still blue and Frankie is still being an angel of a big brother. I'm so lucky!

Dominic is Baptized!

In a short tribute to the new little man in our lives... Dominic is now about 11 weeks old and is as sweet (if not sweeter) than Frankie was at this age. He loves to smile and "talk" and is content doing just about anything as long as he is well-fed. Hmmm... is that a Weidaw, Arnold, Perez or Putnam thing??? Probably all four! He discovered his tongue this weekend and is obsessed with sticking it out at anyone who will look his way. In a major event, Dominic was baptized on Sunday and was the best baby there. He really didn't make a peep and was awake for most of it. His godfather is Greg (Keith's cousin on the Italian side) and the godmother is Jennifer (Keith's sister). It was really nice to have Keith's family in town to share is such a special day for Dominic. I think that is one of the best things about beith Catholic... to have these special days in our lives that mark a day in time to celebrate not only our spirituality, but their development as kids. We will always remember this special day for Dominic. He's a blessing in our lives!

First Bike Ride

We busted out an early birthday present for Frankie today... his new tricycle. And, he loved it! Not a moment too soon either... because in a rare twist of fate, it's raining this afternoon and we'll be stuck inside the rest of the day.

Dominic's Stats

Although he was pretty short when he was born, Dominic is turning into a true Arnold boy... long and lean! At his two-month check up, he was in the 50th percentile for weight at 11.6 pounds and the 90th percentile for height at 24 inches. There are moments when he seems like he's growing too fast... and then others when I realize how teeny he still really is. We just spent a great day at the park with the whole family - Keith had the day off. Everyone had a blast... and Dominic's going on a three-hour nap to prove it! This is a recent pic where he is looking exceptionally Italian with that nose! :) He's a sweetie and talks ALL the time... way chattier than his big brother was at this age. So, we will see if this guy is even more of a social bug. For now, I love that he keeps most of his chatter for his mom.

My Two Men!

How cute is this photo? Frankie insisted on putting shaving cream on his face and thought he was pretty hot stuff standing next to his dad doing it.

Happy Halloween!

We had a great Halloween with decorating cookies, trick or treating and more. Frankie (the pirate) got the hang of it by the very end. And, Dominic was a good sport. We head to Dominic's 2-month doctors appointment today. It's crazy to think that two months has already passed!