A smiling baby!

We finally got one of her smiling :)

I think she got ahold of my camera.

Sorting through my photos I came upon this...

Looks like someone got curious.

Looks like she is taking after her daddy when it comes to photography skills.

33 week belly pic

Here I am 33 weeks along with Baby4. I feel much bigger... I'm not sure how much room is left in there, but with all the squirming and jumping go on in there, Baby4 sure is trying to make room!

Livi had to get in on the next picture. She is playing "I leave now." She puts on her hat and scarf, grabs her backpack and slips on someone's shoes (usually her sister or dad's) and walks around the house saying, "OK, I leave now. Bye!"

A friend's blog givaway!

A fellow book club member is having a giveaway on her blog - stop by and check it out!

http://mrsmessi.blogspot.com

Have a great day!

Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas

Let your heart be light.

From now on all troubles will be out of sight.

So have yourself

a merry little Christmas nigth.

Next year we'll add two more ;)

Meeting Santa at the Rivercenter

My cuties at the Rivercenter :)

Emma and Livi sharing a moment on the riverbarge.

And finally - Santa Claus! Livi was very excited to see him... up until we went to sit her on his lap. Notice the pained expression on her face.

Now for the tears...

and a perfect upside down frown.

The Rivercenter Santa Claus is the best around - and very reasonable. All you have to do is make a free-will donation to the charity of the day and your picture is taken and presented to you in a nice keepsake card.

He also looks like Santa.

Our annual Christmas Riverwalk/Alamo trip

Well, I'm finally getting around to uploading our Christmas pics. Sorry for the delay.... but with no further ado - here is Christmas with the Akin/Arlitts.

Near the beginning of December every year we have a tradition of heading down to Riverwalk / Alamo area to look at the lights and eat at Casa Rio.

Here are Emma and Livi at Casa Rio, feeding the ducks and fish. We hate having to sit under the bridge, but with the crowds that time of year, we really didn't have much of a choice.

After our meal, we walked over to the Alamo to take a few pictures. Here is a cute one of Emma and Livi on the back grounds of the Alamo.

A rare and precious picture of our baby smiling! She really hasn't been in a 'smiling for the camera' mood lately.
She liked the koi pond/creek that runs behind the Alamo.

As you can see, smiling time is over.

Our traditional pic in front of the Alamo.

And one in front of the big HEB tree outside of the Alamo.