Jummel Hidrosollo / Special to the Home News

Clockwise from top, the Arnold family: Tristin and Chris; and brothers Jaden, 6, and Denem, 4, with newborn Harper. Harper Arnold was born at 12:53 a.m. at Centennial Hills Hospital.

By Becky Bosshart (contact)

Thu, Jan 1, 2009 (7:30 p.m.)

Jummel Hidrosollo/Special to the Home News

Father Chris, right, and mother Tristin Arnold hold 5-pound 7-ounce Harper Arnold, born at 12:53 a.m. Jan. 1 at Centennial Hills Hospital.

Chris and Tristin Arnold of Summerlin hope their baby girl, Harper Kay, born 53 minutes after the turn of the new year, is a harbinger of hope for 2009.

"New year, new daughter, new happiness," said Chris Arnold, a 26-year-old Meadow Valley Contractors laborer.

He and his wife welcomed the first baby born at Centennial Hills Hospital Medical Center while revelers across the valley gathered to cast off the burdens and bankruptcies of 2008.

Chris and Tristin Arnold aspire for change. And it's starting with a 5-pound 7-ounce girl bundled in a beige blanket.

"I'd like to see less people losing their homes," Chris Arnold said. "I'd like to see more people getting jobs. Less greed. More people helping each other out. And I would like her (Harper) to make smart decisions as she grows up."

The couple said they are fortunate to have a good home, in the Providence community north of Summerlin, a healthy family and a stable income this past year.

"We've been lucky," Tristin Arnold said. "He still has work. Hopefully, if Clark County can keep funding all the underground construction jobs, then he'll keep working."

Chris Arnold works construction jobs on the Las Vegas storm-drain system. When he wasn't watching the New Year's Day Georgia vs. Michigan State game, he was gazing at his daughter.

Tristin Arnold said she studied her daughter's face, looking for similarities. The boys look like their dad, she said. Harper may have her mother's lips.

The couple have two boys, 6-year-old Jaden and 4-year-old Denem. They like distinct names. Tristin Arnold, 26, first heard the name Harper from a television show she watched while pregnant.

"That one seemed to fit her little personality in my stomach," she said. Harper will go home to a green and cream-colored nursery with a sea-themed swing.

"She wasn't planned, but it definitely makes us feel more complete with her," Tristin Arnold said.

The grandparents are Dale and Anna Arnold; Elaine and Allen Wolford; and Becky Reed, all of Henderson.

Becky Bosshart can be reached at 990-7748 or becky.bosshart@hbcpub.com.