Mali's Field Trip to Elkus Ranch (October 2010)

Mali went on a field trip to Elkus Ranch with her preschool class. Mali is our animal lover and she had a wonderful time petting and feeding all of the animals.

Thanksgiving 2010

We hosted Thanksgiving at our house this year. Our friends Chris, Amelia, Jake, and Helen came over and the kids had a blast.

Sheilyn's Wedding September 2010

Roan was the ring bearer in Sherilyn's Wedding. Sherilyn was Roan's (favorite) babysitter when he was 1 1/2 and she has kept in touch with us ever since. Roan actually had a pretty high fever that day, but he was so excited to go, we just gave him some Motrin and he powered through. Mali LOVED seeing a wedding and now refers to that dress as her "Marry dress" (as in getting married)! The wedding was at a beautiful winery up in Sonoma County and we all had a lot of fun.

Deven Month Two

Here are some pictures from Deven's second month. Jan's mom (Nana) came to stay with us for about 6 weeks which was very helpful. Deven is growing like a champ and was 15 lb 7 oz and 25 inches long at his 2 month doctors visit.

Deven at 8 weeks

Here's a shot from Deven's eighth week - we finally got a smile on camera.

Deven at 7 weeks

Here's a shot of Deven at (almost) 7 weeks. He started giggling this week, but only for Daddy so far (whistling is particularly funny).

Deven at 6 Weeks

Here's a shot of Deven at 6 weeks. Poor guy came down with his first nasty virus at 5 1/2 weeks, but was well enough to get his shots at his 6-week doctor appointment. He weighed in at 13lb 8oz.

Deven: The Rest of Month One

Deven continued to be pretty sleepy for the rest of his first month. Despite a severe case of baby acne and an old-man-receding-hairline, he approved these photos for publication.

Mali Starts Preschool!!!

The day Mali has been waiting for for SO long has finally arrived - she started preschool. She was super excited to go her first day and had absolutely no issues pushing Mom out the door within minutes. She's attending Trinity Presbyterian Nursery School - much closer to our house than Roan's preschool.

Roan's First Soccer Team

Since our lives weren't busy enough, we decided to sign Roan up for weekly soccer games (what were we thinking??)! He's on a team with his good friend Gavin which makes it fun.

Deven's First 2 Weeks

Deven has been a pretty cool cat his first two weeks, barely waking to eat and poop. When he is awake, he's pretty mellow, just checking everything out. He loves his big brother and sister and is obviously calmed when they cuddle him.

Roan has thoroughly embraced his big brother role and is madly in love with Deven. He says he's "so cutie cute" and that he just "loves him so much". Mali is still adjusting a bit but is embracing her big sister role. She especially loves to dress him every morning.

Deven passed his 2 week doctor appointment with flying colors weighing in at 10 pounds 4 1/2 ounces and measuring at 21 3/4 inches.

And then there were 3... welcome Deven!!!

Deven Nyle Arendtsz was born August 25th at 4:41pm. He weighed close to a whopping 10 lbs (9lbs 14oz to be precise) and was 21 1/2" long. For the record, he arrived six days late, so he already shares some common traits with his Dad. Mom and baby are doing great.

Click here to see the full photo album.

When it comes to skin complexion, Deven has an extra serving of milk in the cappuccino that we ordered, similar to all our other kiddos, at least when they were first born... Deven is a big fella, with wide shoulders. Maybe a future linebacker at UT?

The name Deven has it's origins in Gaelic and Sanskrit, which we thought was appropriate for obvious reasons. The name Nyle is variant on Nile, which is from the river Nile (a destination that I have always wanted to visit) as well as a respelling of the Gaelic Niall. OK, whatever, so much for names and their meanings.

We think Deven looks very much like Roan when he was born. What do you think? See left for a photo of Roan, or click here to view Roan's birth album.


Both Roan and Mali were very excited to meet Deven, who they had nicknamed "Rainbow Kick" during the pregnancy.They conducted a thorough examination of Deven to ensure that all his fingers and toes were there and that everything in general was in order. Roan really wanted to take Deven home with him immediately and had to be talked out of it.

UPDATE: Mandy to be induced Wednesday, 8/25!

But here are some shots of the kids with him still in my belly taken at 39 weeks 3 days.

Let's Move it, Move it!

The kids' favorite new song is "I Like to Move it, Move it". Here's a sampling of their moves:

Mandy's birthday celebration

Here are some pictures from Mommy's birthday celebration.

Mali and the Fire Truck

CalFire paid us a visit this week to tell us we needed to clear the grass off of our back hill to help prevent a fire. They were kind enough to give Mali a very lengthy and in-depth private tour of the fire engine. Mali asked the fireman to open just about every compartment on the truck and she even got to try on his jacket. She was super excited!

Miscellaneous July 2010

Here are some shots from the rest of July, including Jan and Roan's day trip to San Francisco to watch the Giants game.

Baby Shower for Monkey #3

A few friends organized a very fun evening away from family responsibilities for Mandy to enjoy a wonderful meal in celebration of the impending arrival of Monkey #3 (aka Rainbow Kick). They also very generously gave her a new diaper bag and a gift card to Lululemon for new yoga clothes post-baby!

Camping Trip to Big Basin July 2010

Jan and the kids went camping (and left very pregnant Mommy at home by herself for a night) at Big Basin. They had a bunch of fun, though you'll see the mosquitoes just loved Roan, especially his poor little forehead. He must have come home with 100 bites.

Here's a video of the monkeys, too:

July Fourth in Santa Cruz

We tried to escape to the heat of Santa Cruz on July 4th, but instead found winter. We enjoyed a bit of time along the Boardwalk, playing in the arcade and riding one of the rides, then drove back up north and found the sun 20 minutes from our house!

Miscellaneous June 2010

Here are some shots from the rest of June.

Jan's Birthday and Father's Day 2010

As usual, Jan's birthday and Father's Day fell on the same weekend this year. We started celebrations by baking a cake at 6:30 in the morning on Daddy's birthday and then opened Daddy's gifts for him (shirts the kids picked out plus sunglasses from Mommy) in the evening after enjoying some cake. For Father's Day, Roan got Daddy a new basketball hoop as well as tickets to a SF Giant's game - their first baseball game.

Mali's Third Birthday!!

Mali had a very ballerina birthday. She received many special ballerina gifts from the family (including a ballerina music box, a ballerina doll, and a wooden dress-up ballerina doll) and had a ballerina cake at her party! We celebrated at Indian Springs Park in San Mateo with a few of her special friends.

Roan's Preschool Graduation June 2010

Roan graduated from St. Paul's Nursery School in June. The celebration came complete with a slide show of the school year, walking across the stage, and pizza and ice cream. Hard to believe he's all ready for kindergarten! I worked in his classroom every week and will miss watching him build rivers in the sand box, race around the bike track, and build all sorts of things with his buddies in the block room.

Roan's Fifth Birthday!!!

There seems to be nothing as important to a five year old as their birthday! We had a family celebration on his actual birthday - chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast, special lunch out with Daddy, followed by celebratory cookie from his favorite cookie place (Draeger's). Then his party was 2 days later in our yard with many of his friends. The train cupcakes were a hit.

Mali Graduates from Little Wonders

Mali very much enjoyed her two years we spent together at Little Wonders. Here are a few photos from her last couple of months at Little Wonders, including her "graduation".

Mali the Ballerina

Mali has become obsessed with all things "ballerina". She started "ballerina" classes a few months ago and now she says she is a ballerina all the time - not a girl, not a monkey, but a ballerina. If her dress gets dirty (and yes, she wears a dress nearly every day) she's a "dirty ballerina". Her favorite song is "Nina Pretty Ballerina" by ABBA. There are several pictures in here of her wardrobe choices for ballet class - it's different every week. There are also shots from her class. She also shows off a few of her many hair clips I made her recently at a "hair clip making party". She just loves to put them in every morning, often before I'm even up.

San Francisco May 2010

Jan took the kids up to San Francisco for a bike ride across Golden Gate Bridge followed by Chinese food in the city. Everyone had fun!

Train Ride in the Country April 2010

We took a less-than-impressive train ride in the "country" to view wild flowers with some friends. Although we can see more wild flowers on our back hill, a train is always a hit with the little man of the family, so it was fun.

Swimming Lessons 2010

Mali has now joined big brother in swimming lessons. She loves the water and only had to discover one time for herself that she can't swim on her own yet. Luckily Mom only had to climb into the pool up to her waist to retrieve her from under the water.

Easter 2010 in Houston

Here are pics from our Easter trip to Grandma and Granddad's house in Houston.

Roan's "Senior Bear" Celebration - March 2010

At Roan's preschool, they're each assigned a week to be the special "senior bear". Basically they bring in some of their favorite things to display all week and at the end of the week, the family comes for a presentation where they present their favorite things to their classmates as well as an "All About Me" poster. Here are some pictures from his Senior Bear day.

Half Moon Bay February 2010

We had one really warm day in February and I took Mali to her favorite place - the beach. Here are some pictures.

Baby 3....is a boy!

Monkey 3 will be joining the family around August 19!

The Rest of December 2009

Here's the rest of December.

Christmas 2009

Here are some pictures from Christmas time. Mandy's parents (Grandma and Granddad) were here again and both kids were VERY into Christmas this year! We decorated a gingerbread train this year for a new tradition and went to see the lights on Eucalyptus street here in San Carlos as is our usual Christmas Eve tradition.

Holiday Train 2009

This year's annual trek to see Santa arrive into town on the Holiday Train was a bit of a bust due to a bad rain storm. We braved it but didn't stay long!

Winter Festival at Roan's School

Roan's preschool put on a Winter Festival which included snow (hauled in of course) and Santa! As predicted...Roan took an immediate dislike to the snow, though Mali loved it, and they both agreed Santa was someone they should both fear with their life.