Reina Blake

Reina Blake made her appearance to us on March 30th. It was an easy labor and she came into this world ready to eat and cry. She looked exactly like Lexi to me as a baby, so much so I spent the first 4 weeks of her life calling her Lexi. Sorry Reina!! I am sure we will only call you by your sisters name about 5 trillion times in your life...

First picture with mom and dad 

Right after her first feeding 

We had such a wonderful photographer come in and capture some great pics on her 4th day of life

I was so happy to see the photos came out beautiful because Lex and Reina were not in the picture taking mood, Reina wanted to eat and be awake (read:cry) and Lexi wanted to run away from the camera. Thank goodness our photographer was extremely patient and let us stop whenever needed, at the end I asked her jokingly if all her photo shoots take this long and she nicely said "No, I think this has been my longest newborn shoot at almost 5 hrs". Thanks Lexi and Reina for giving her a new record....
But it was worth every stressful moment to get these pictures

Here she is meeting people for the first time

Sorry if I didn't post one with you, we were not as good at pic taking the first few days

Sarah had a cough so was wearing a scary mask, hopefully Reina isn't traumatized to see that right after being born...

Lexi's first time holding Reina with the help of Grandma (franks mom)

First car ride

We came home Easter morning and still managed to make it to Easter lunch at Sarah's house

All the girls getting ready for the egg hunt 

First bath 

One eye Willie was so happy to have her sissy in the bath with her 

Bad picture quality but this is how we spent the first few weeks once Frank went back to work, all 3 of us piled in the rocking chair

Thanks for their sister shirts Aunt Sarah!

First time in the bumbo

Grandma cracked herself up when she put Reina in Lexi's car

So cute!

Double chin McGee isn't quite sure she trusts her sisters driving skills

We celebrated Mothers Day at the beach, we had a great day. The kids loved playing in the mud thanks to the low tide. Perfect day watching the kids play together. Next year Reina will be sitting next to Dean looking all grown up as well!

Crazy how well this kid could hold her head up within 3 weeks of life

Poor thing is just beginning to learn how much she will be abused by her sister :)

Oh, how I will miss this little pimply face

Two of these pictures are Reina and two are Lexi, 100 meaningless points to anyone who can tell me which is which? I'll be honest, I can barely tell them apart!

We are so happy to have our two little girls, we look forward to all the crazy moments ahead. I know we are in store for lots of fun, laughs, fights, tears and battles. But the joy of watching them grow up together and share the joy and pain of life will be priceless. Our prayer is they learn to lean on each other and truly reap the benefits of having a sibling by their side no matter the circumstance or the location of where they each may live.

And for memory sake:
Reina.

-You came into this world in a much different way than expected but nevertheless you are here and your birth was perfect.

-You took to breastfeeding like a champ and within 2 minutes of birth you were latched on and eating.

-You have always been a super fast eater (unlike your big sister who was attached to me for about 6 months straight).

-Hallelujah you take a bottle!!!!!!!! (again, unlike your sister)

-You gave us hell in the evenings for the first 9 weeks, you SCREAMED for hours on end at night. There were nights your dad and I didn't think we could survive another minute and then you would pass out. Finally. After hours of rocking, bouncing, swaying, jumping, sprinting, blow dryers running, water turned on, shower going, vacuum on. You get the point, nothing seemed to work. It was hard, stressful and didn't seem like it was going to ever end and then one night it just did. It was a miracle, a weight was lifted off our shoulders and we could finally breathe again in the evenings. 

-You are such a happy baby!! You love being out and about, just people watching and soaking in the sights and sounds of life. 

-You love napping in the sling. 

-Sleep. Undetermined yet as to how you will be. Some days you are a cat napper and then others you take really long naps. No rhyme or reason at this point so the jury is still out. I can only hope you will be a slightly better sleeper than your sister was for her first 2 years of life. 

Bottom line. 

We adore you. 

Sorry...I know most of this is old news but for record sake I needed to write this blog

So enjoy tons of pics with little dialogue!

Lets pretend its right after Christmas as you read this

We had a great Christmas trying to enjoy all the festivities the city has to offer

We traveled to the middle of no where to ride a train to the "North Pole"

We had really been working on Lexi and the idea of Santa Claus because she has not been a fan of characters dressed up but unfortunately as soon as Santa came on the train she freaked out and would not leave my arms and refused to make eye contact with him. 

These pics are previous to the Santa sighting...

They pass out lists to each kid for them to write out their wish list and turn it into Santa as he comes around to say hi. 

Love this little Christmas tree!

We decorated gingerbread houses and Christmas cookies...More than once. 

Lexi opening her stocking on Christmas morning, she was so excited!

She LOVED the note Santa "left" her thanking her for the homemade sugar cookies (decorated beautifully as you can imagine by a 2 year old) and chocolate milk

More presents...

She started asking for a bunny while watching a Dora episode where Boots got a bunny. Papa Mike was kind enough to help Santa out and bring the bunny from Cal City. Believe me this was the highlight of this girls Christmas! Here she is bringing the bunny from the car. 

What cuties!

Our last Christmas as a family of 3...crazy!

Matching Minnie ears and butterfly wings for the girls

We enjoyed Little Italy's tree lighting festival, Lex loved going on the trolley car! 

My little helper, thank goodness for her cause this year we had to decorate a tree twice! Dang Costco and their trees that turn brown after a week. I love decorating trees but not twice within one season!

Checking out the Dr. Seuss tree in Balboa Park

One of my fave pics of her! Sea World Christmas. 

Hmmm...whats not to love about week old candy canes, I know I cant resist...

Looking at lights with Lils

Finally!!!! After our first Santa experience on the train I was hesitant to take her to Franks work Xmas party where Santa comes and gives each kid a present. But...this little girl shocked us! On our way to the party she said over and over again, "I promise I will sit on Santa's lap". Both Frank and I said sure we have heard this story before BUT when Santa called her name she walked up to him and turned around so he could pick her up and she sat on his lap!!! AND posed long enough for us to take a picture. I am still in shock 4 months later!

We had a great time going out on Sarah and Grants boat to watch the boat parade of lights

More cookies....

I just love this pic!! It was taken during our photo shoot for our Christmas card and between the pig tails and big smile my heart melts every time I see it...

Here is a smorgasbord  of pics from the past 4 months that I love

Of course any pic with Great Grandpa is special...

These two are best buds

This kid is a Sea World guru, Frank takes her there almost every Monday

Walking around Sea World, I am sure she has the map memorized by now but she wanted to look touristy that day....

I cant believe this little girl can now climb the rope area! It seems like last month when we had to carry her up it. Crazy!

In general she has become quite the little climber. Between getting older and her weekly gymnastics she has become quite the little athlete. 

So proud of her new skills

So special....

Apparently standing on rocks makes her feel important....

"What would you like on your cheeseburger? One of everything? Ok."

Too cute. 

The quality of this pic is bad but nothing is funnier to me than watching Lils watch a movie that has "scary" parts in it. Mind you we were watching Toy Story 3 but some parts are scary to a 3 year old...Lils literally puts her hands to her mouth and makes the funniest face while saying "Oh no, Oh no". Cracks me up! Would I be a mean aunt if I rewound the scary part just to see her reaction?

This girl lives for the beach and luckily we had a few random warm days this winter so she could get in the water and play.

She fell at Great Papas house and insisted on this band aid under her nose where her owie was, this kid sported this band aid for a few days...Not my favorite location for a band aid. But pretty entertaining for pics to look back on. 

If you have learned anything about Lexi via pics from facebook or email its that she loves ice cream cones!!! And its amazing she can eat an entire one herself, well mostly...Frank and I insist on taking it from her a few times to lick the melting parts before it becomes a complete disaster. Its definitely her one sweet liking...

"Hmmmm....my heels, butterfly wings, Minnie ears and red headband make it kind of hard to jump"

Sometimes you just have to dangle/pose with the Jesus statue...

She was quite the little helper to Frank painting the bricks....Clothing optional but pink hair bow and undies are not. 

Okay so maybe ice cream cones and fudgsicles are her weakness...

"Did my coupons go through?"

Target shopping is really tiring, sometimes I need to put my feet up and take my shoes off!

This kid is born to play slots, she was like a 80 year old women in a casino with her bucket and tokens!

Lex experienced a bunch of "Firsts". 

First trip to Disneyland (well that she remembers anyways, we don't count when she was 5 months old)

She loved it!! I was nervous to spend the money on going if she totally freaked out at the first character we saw but luckily she has sort of grown out of that phase and was cautious around some of them but didn't have any freak outs. She still talks about our trip to Disneyland like it happened yesterday so we will definitely go back soon. 

She of course had to wear her Minnie Mouse dress. She loved the Pooh ride. 

Waiting so patiently for the parade to start

 She was ecstatic when she saw Tinkerbell

Minnie and Cinderella just hanging out at Dland

She went on Autopia with Sarah, not ideal for a 8.5 month pregnant women...

Next up! First trip to the dentist. This kid did great! She sat perfectly still and on her first visit had a cleaning. We even had an afternoon appointment which apparently in the pediatric dentist world is not ideal since kids tend to be more difficult. But with a little persuasion I convinced them my kid was different and would have no problem. Luckily she decided to cooperate with me that day and proved my theory to be true. What a success!

And then her first haircut!! Well, I guess my chop shop version I did a few months ago on her bangs doesn't count right? It was really bad and Frank kept referring to it as her Dumb and Dumber cut. Needless to say this one was much better and just like the dentist she sat perfectly still. 

Haircut complete, now time for the important part of eating the lollipop she got to pick out. Along with some weird looking rings...

First time wedding dress shopping, for Jessi of course!

First time in her big girl bed! Where has the time gone?!

Highlight of my night is going in to her room before I go to bed to make sure she is covered, it amazes me what positions I find her in. Cracks me up!

Seriously with the leg cross?! 

I love this booty shot!

How cute are these 2 in their Valentines Day aprons to decorate cookies...well actually I think they decorated rice krispy treats because neither Sarah or I had the time to make cookies. The girls didn't care, as long as frosting and sprinkles are involved they are happy. 

 Oh how Lexi loves her frosting...

Potty training, oh the joys of it!! This was not staged, Lexi grabbed this magazine to read while going potty. 

And now to some pics of me being pregnant. I am ashamed to admit we hardly took any of the famous belly pics. When I was pregnant with Lexi we took a million, sorry Reina I was to busy with your sister! 

And one of my fave pics, Lexi and Lily sitting in front of the 4D ultrasound of Reina. Seems like a lifetime ago and now she is here!! Seriously, where does the time go?!

Well, next up on the blog will be Reina and her birth. Not the graphic stuff, just the cute and adorable pics of Lexi with Reina for the first time. 

Coming soon...I promise it wont take 4 months!