christmas cracker

No time for all the updates about doctor visits and birthing classes. We just wanted to put the absolute most recent photo up for now. All is well. The little Cracker is growing and doing lots of kicking. He did settle down a little bit while I read "Twas The Night Before Christmas" to him on Christmas Eve (thanks Mom!).

Happy Holidays everyone!!

-G

happy thanks-bowling!

"Wow, look how much she's growing! I'd swear she's carrying a bowling ball!" Oh, I just kill myself sometimes.

So, it has been a month since the last good belly picture was taken. In that time, we have been having a lot of new experiences. We have started going to baby classes (breastfeeding, un-medicated childbirth, etc.), getting the nursery ready, and even found ourselves browsing around Baby Gap. We have also tried to make sure some things stay quite normal.

For several years, we have had a semi-annual tradition of going bowling after dinner on Thanksgiving Day, and we wanted to make sure we stuck to it this year. Of course, we checked with our doctor(s) first, who gave us an enthusiastic thumbs-up (as long as the ball wasn't too heavy). We invited a few friends we knew would be around after the holiday dinner and met at Elitch Lanes, an vintage alley in our old neighborhood. After three games, we were all a little sore, demoralized, and full of fried bowling alley snacks. All-in-all, a great outing. We just can't wait to bring the little Graham Cracker in a few years so we can have a valid excuse to use that nifty kids ramp to push the ball down so it goes straight every time.

-G

santa fe getaway

This is waaay overdue, but I wanted to quickly document the fact that we did, in fact take our requisite "babymoon" back in October. Somehow we've never been to Santa Fe, and we didn't want to break the bank, so we spent a long weekend down New Mexico way. Stayed in a cute B&B casita with a kitchenette (that got absolutely no use), did a lot of walking, eating, art-browsing, and plain old vegging. The definitive highlight of this brief trip, though, was our visit to Ten Thousand Waves -- a Japanese-style bathhouse (or onsen) tucked neatly into the sagebrushed foothills above town. We splurged on a full half-day package: a private outdoor soak in the woods; 1-hour, full-body massage; Yasuragi head and neck treatment; and an amazing, exfoliating salt glow! Afterward, we wandered around the gorgeous grounds in our kimonos...drunk on endorphins and utterly, thoroughly relaxed. Wrapped it all up with a picnic and a hike in the Santa Fe National Forest. Great, except for the fact that I no longer have any lung capacity or altitude tolerance and had to stop every 10 minutes to catch my breath (note Gavin patiently waiting on the trail ahead of me). All in all, it was a lovely little getaway. Here's hoping that the next one happens sometime before the kid hits high school!

-rhr %:-)