Hurry Up and Pop Out My Best Friend!

We went to see Debbie this week and check out the belly that has Alexya's soon to be best friend in it! She should be here in about 3 more weeks... We went over and decided to baby-proof, that is, have lexy check out what she can get into and what is breakable. Even though debbie likes to wear black..you can check out pics of the belly on her blog which I have a link to on the right... :)

Lexy had a great time exploring the house and crawling on debbie and even got to meet a dog more her size, ozzie. It was cute watching Debbie practice holding and even feeding lexy...and her baby's room is so cute..again, check out her blog...

Here they are learning how to work the camera. Either debbie is showing lexy or lexy is showing debbie...I can't tell... ;)

Can't get enough of her...or her belly?...that's debbie's leg she is trying to climb up.

Up & Down & Watching Videos

Alexya is now an expert at standing up (holding on to something) and getting up and down quickly! She can chase you (or the cat) across the room and then climb up your leg. She is even getting a little cocky because twice now she has let go with both hands and tried to balance for a second before falling on her butt with a thump! So I'm guessing she will be walking soon...geeze!...slow down chica...you just are growing up so fast!

Here's Lexy laying on her pillow while she watches her videos....

and here she is getting a closer view...too close!

"What? Stop taking pictures of me, I'm trying to watch my movie!"
(just be sure to notice the pink outfit she is wearing has a football on the butt...because it is a raider outfit....she's been watching pre-season..and now she's ready for football to start! Go Raiders! (anything is better than last year)

6 Year Anniversary! ~and 2 Teeth!

Yesterday was Robert and I's (baba and mama's) 6 year wedding anniversary!!
So Lexy got to spend the day at Grandma and Grandpa's house while while borrowed Grandpa's Porsche Boxster convertible and drove all over the bay area! Ye-ah it was so much fun! We stopped by the Contra Costa Country Club, where we had our wedding reception 6 years ago..geeze so weird, and also the church we were married at, St. Perpetua.
We then drove out past the berkeley marina and then over the Golden Gate bridge with the top down, which was so magical! I felt like I was in a movie staring up at the clear blue sky watching the huge golden arch slowly pass over my head. It was a beautiful day and so you could see everything!..all the bridges and the city and all the way out to the ocean. Then we drove through SF and then back out to dublin where we had dinner at the Maccaroni Grill. The food was so good and the waiter even brought us a huge chocolate brownie with fudge and a candle on it! :) It was the best day!
Oh and I forgot to mention in the morning, when Robert got home from work, he gave me beautiful multi-colored roses (my favorite) and a card and a beautiful new ring! (pic below)
It was the best day and I am so blessed!

Here's Lexy in the middle of a meal....hmmmm looks like sweet potatoes... Still Cute???

Here they are in all their glory! Both coming in at the same time has been so hard on Lexy :( (and mommy & daddy) But she's almost 9 months now so...they waited as long as they could! :)

This is the ring that Robert gave me yesterday...sorry it's so blurry, but I took like like 50 pictures and this is the best I could get. You can still see how beautiful it is and that's what's important. :)

Grrrrrrrr! No A's in the playoffs?!?!

Here is the newest Lexy expression! It's like a snarl where she wrinkles up her nose and breaths through it really fast so you can hear the soft snorting kinda like a dog sniffing you sound! It's hilarious because she does it when she's frusterated or mad or even when she concentrating really hard to stand up or something. It's funny becaause I don't know where this face came from...or who, I should say. But if you do it to her she will do it back to you!
She's also gotten very good at standing up. She will grab onto almost anything sturdy (sometimes not) and pull herself up to a standing position ...the only hard part is getting back down...safely! She loves to practice walking by holding your hands and has even gotten brave enough to stand up holding on with only ONE hand...(usually for just a second or two). There have been quite a few tumbles, but she seems like a tough girl as long as you don't make too big a deal about it.

Here's the pic I wanted to put up after Amy's bridal shower...of Lexy, Amy and I. The wedding is this weekend!!

Updates from the Stay Home Mom ;)

So she has enough hair to put a small barrett in, but not quite enough to put in a rubber band yet. She is also finally getting her first tooth!! It's on the bottom and you can see the slit in her gums where it is starting to push it's way through. Poor thing, she is trying to tough it out, but it must really hurt because she will be playing and having fun and then wham!, she screams out in pain like something stung her or something! Poor chicita!
But she still has her two fingers to comfort her and is still smiling! :)

Here's our house finally finished with it's new paint job! It's hard to tell the color, but it's a light gray/tanish color with white trim. I don't think this house has been painted since it was built in '95 so it really really needed it! :) So, with the new paint inside and out, it's like having a brand new house!
Even lexy is helping keep it clean...as you can see below... our little Cinderella!

Open Mouth, Insert Foot

So the saying goes...but Lexy takes it literally! She looked so cute in her new dress from Missy at her Great-grandmother's b-day party! It was held at my aunt Therese and uncle Scott's new home in El Dorado Hills on Saturday and there home is beautiful!! ...and I'm not just saying that...It is so nice that it makes you just want to move in with them! It's exactly how I would want my dream house to look, a huge family room with nice carpet (for lexy to crawl all around) and brand new kitchen and wet bar. Including an outdoor patio..make that 3 patios, one for dining, one for lounging by the fire and one with a spa...all with a great view! Plus an extra casita for guests to stay in! Ok, i'll stop, because you get the point... :)
Anyway, Lexy had fun with everyone including the b-day girl ;) and was able to show off her new skills: crawling, practice walking, clapping, saying "mama", and most importantly chewing on her foot.

This has also been my first week home (not working) and it has been so nice to spend time with her. Although, it really hasn't sunk in yet that I don't have to go Back to work...it feels like I'm just on vacation. Even Lexy is trying to adjust to me being home. For the first few days she kept fighting going to sleep so hard and not wanting to let me out of her sight...I think she thought I was going to disapear if she took her eyes off me...a couple times she actually forgot that I was home and then when I came in the room, she went crazy happy like "you didn't leave!" I think it will take a few weeks for it to really hit me, but for now I'm just soaking up Alexya and happy! :)))

Her First Word!! "Mama"

She's chearing and clapping now and I'm so excited! She's so cute doing it and I can't figure out if it's because mommy only has 2 days left of work or because she just said her first word! :)

Robert just called me at work to let me hear her saying "mamamama" and I am freaking out! He said she started just kind of babbling to herself while she was playing and then he heard her say that and went "wait a minute, did she just say that?"...so he started saying it to her and they went back and forth and then he called me to hear her say it! Then he called again and I could hear her babbling and then she goes "mama"....oh my god, I'm so excited! I wish I was there with them, but at the same time it's so cool that I'm just really happy. I can't wait to be able to be home with her all the time. She is truely amazing with all that she is learning and how happy and fun she is to just be around. What a little Angel on earth.

Lexy's play date with Missy!! The cuties are in A's colors!! ;)

Growing and Growing and Growing...

Since she has mastered crawling (she's so fast) she has decided to try pulling herself up (hasn't quite done it yet, but she keeps trying) and loves to stand up and hold onto something. She is practice walking very well and is trying to master her balance and strength. She likes to see what she can do physically and gets very excited with some "ooh ooh ooh" grunts (like a monkey) when she trys new things. I've been reading and talking to people about how some babies talk before they walk because they work harder on learning those speach skills than the physical skills. This makes sense to me and I think in Lexy's case it's the other way around. She probably won't talk for a long time, but she will be running around all over the place! ~~~ Could it be all the A's games she went to in my tummy or her A's themed room....hmmmm future athlete??? :)

I love this shot of her with tears rolling down her face!! Not because she is sad or upset....but because she is pushing Real hard! and yes in her high chair... ahhh the convenience of diapers....Too much!! Too funny! ;)

Playing video games? Not yet, just playing with the controller. And Dad decided to put me in my workout headband because with all the crawling around I was working up quite a sweat!

Sorry it's so blurry, but this is her little play area with all her toys and games.

Oh, and I almost forgot! Only 1 week left of work! :)

Playin' with Toretto....and his Water!

Water, water, anywhere she can find it, she loves it! Here are a couple shots of Lexy discovering Toretto's water dish and having fun splashing it all over the place and soaking herself...while he just patiently waits, eating his food and dying of thirst, until she is finished before even taking a sip! Amazing how good he is with her!

She is Changing So Much!

Check out this face! She is looking more and more like the little girl she will become and less like a baby. So weird how her appearance and her personality are both chaning so rapidly right now! She is becoming so independent by wanting to be on the floor and not held in your arms so she can crawl and explore. But at the same time she wants you to be right there next to her and if you walk away for a second...she crys and wants you back! It's so crazy!

Here's a picture of Lauryn and Lexy at Amy's bridal shower...more pics to come.

Finally, here's the picture of Robert's new tatoo! It has healed up since this picture and isn't so burgundy...just grey color...and not so glossy! ;) But, I absolutely love it with all my heart and just had to share it with everyone.

Lexy and her Auntie...just relaxin' on the couch at grandpa's after a long day! What a couple of cuties! It was so fun watching Lexy play with Lauryn. Lauryn would do something with one of Lexy's toys, like hit it against another one, and Lexy would copy whatever she did!! I also just have to add that Lauryn had saved most of her favorite toys from when she was a baby and gratiously bestowed them upon Alexya! ;) What a nice Auntie! Lexy can always use more bath toys....since she spends most of her time in the water! :)

What's New????

Wow, I have a lot to update everyone on.....

First of all, Robert got a new tatoo. (Which I will add a picture of later) It is a cross with thorns wrapped around it (symbolizing a protective barrier) and a banner with "mi vida" on in (which means "my life" in spanish). It has my name on the top in old english font and our anniversary date on the bottom. He designed it himself and it has a lot of meaning in it for both of us. I absolutely LOVE IT! :)

Secondly, we decided to paint the interior of our house...since we are no longer moving...and it was a huge job that required the help of robert's dad and a 20 ft ladder to get all the way up to our vaulted ceiling. The color is very hard to describe, but basically it is a soft beige that picks up the burgundy/red/grey/cream and white of our existing decor. I love it because it makes our whole house look brand new (oh and I washed all the outer windows and screens so they are sparkling which adds to the newness!) yay! We also bought more play mats, for lexy, to cover the hard floor so she can continue to practice crawling around the house like a ping pong ball! She is so fast! It's like you blink and she is somewhere she shouldn't be and you have to run over and grab her just in the nick of time!

Ok, and the biggest news of all I saved for last! :)

On Friday I gave 1 month's notice of resignation from work. Ok, calm down people...don't worry, I worked out a budget and looked at this from every possible practical angle (and if you really know me then you know that's true! ;)) But bottom line is that I'm just so miserable being away from my baby girl for so long and I don't want to miss out on this time. I plan on going back to work in a couple years, but for now I want to spend all the time I can with her so that I can look back on these days and have wonderful memories and not regret the fact that I had to work and didn't try to do this! Robert is extremely happy with our decision, even though it means he has to work overtime shifts, he is looking forward to it because he knows it is going to make me so happy (and lexy so happy!) So with this extra time I plan on visiting as many people as I can and totally take advantage of not working! My last day is going to be July 27th, so I am kicking off my 'extended vacation' with my grandma's big birthday party! yay! :) Let the countdown begin!

Debbie's Baby Shower

Here are some of the pictures from Debbie's shower Saturday. We got to celebrate debbie's upcoming little girl with a hawaiian theme shower complete with yummy food and fun games! Here we are smelling diapers....
Here's Robert getting ready for his walk on the runway. The guys were given assorted items and told to make the most fashionable baby gear and walk the runway! It was hilarious!
Here's a picture of many current and past Merv employees....oh the bond is strong at the Merv!
If you look very closely, you can see debbie's belly.....whatever debbie! gain some weight already! ;)