Pups to the Beach

After living much of their lives in the midwest, our pups had never seen the ocean or a beach. We spent a couple days before Thanksgiving down in Nags Head and took Nina and Nixon to the beach a few times. We really hoped they both would love it. Our first 10 seconds on the beach were like pure ecstasy to the dogs and then Nina realized that a huge ocean with angry waves was after her and she bolted to the highest dune she could find and refused to budge. Meanwhile, Nixon resumed his obsession with anything that moves and darted after every bird on the beach until it seemed like he was a mile away. So there we were...one dog stuck on the dunes with posted signs all over prohibiting anyone from walking on them for fear of erosion and the other dog running mad down the beach. After we somehow got them both within arms length, we put them on their leashes -- not that it made that much of a difference as Nixon pulled and pulled to go after everything in sight and Nina put on the emergency brake and refused to make a single step. It was cold and windy but we decided to come back a day or two later to take some beach pics hoping for a Christmas card pic...so much for that, but at least we got a family portrait of sorts. Maybe their next trip to the beach will yield better results.

Melou's Baby Shower & 16-Week Update

I am so incredibly blessed to have such amazing friends. My Highrise girls orchestrated a surprise baby shower for our lovely Melissa Coleman (who's due with the first Highrise baby on Christmas Eve) last weekend. We all met in one of Melou's favorite breakfast spots in Harrisonburg and waited for her awesome hubby to bring her to us. We spent the day traveling around the 'burg and sending Melou on a scavenger hunt to gather her baby shower gifts. Our stops included the JMU bookstore (where Melou was to pick out a baby outfit), the farmer's market, and her new house. It was great to see them (Lo and Liss were missed!) and just spend time loving on Melou.

The girls also took a few "bump" photos of me and Melou (see below). I've been getting grief for not posting any bump pictures, but the truth is, I really haven't looked any different until this week. I've gained a little weight (okay, 8 pounds to be exact), but other than that, I'm still fitting into my clothes. From all that I've read, I'm expecting this to change a lot in the next few weeks and I promise to keep you posted.

Melou, we can not wait to meet your new addition! Holls and Erin, thanks for the pics. Love you girls!

Halloween

We hosted a little Halloween costume party for our friends from the team. Nina and Nixon even dressed up, much to their dismay. We enjoyed a ton of food and had a lot of fun as each family and group of friends rolled through the door in increasingly laughable costumes. Present were a safari family, Hugh and his two bunnies, GI Joe, two British rock stars, Alice in Wonderland, and several others. Enjoy our pics!

Sharing our good news

To inform our family that they were soon to be Grandparents we decided to get a little more creative than an awkward phone call. We made a label of our ultrasound pic and attached it to the back of a wine bottle and included a mysterious note simply stating "Congratulations." Then, we sat back and waited for the phone calls...

Ad & Ash + 1

The Cristman family would like to announce......we're expecting a baby!
We couldn't possibly feel more blessed or more excited. We didn't really let this cat out of the bag until the end of October when I was about 12 weeks along. This whole ride has been wonderful. I think I'm extremely lucky as I really haven't experienced any of the yucky symptoms I know so many women go through. We've had two Dr's appointments and all is as it should be -- baby Cristman is healthy and growing fast! That's all for now...I've included a photo of baby at 12 weeks and will post a few more "bump" photos as we progress.

Nina's 1st birthday

The day after Adam came home from surgery (October 4th) was Nina's first birthday! I think I was way more excited about this day than any of my own birthdays and we intended to spoil her rotten. We began the celebration by taking both pups to the Plaza on a long walk on a beautiful fall day. (On a side note, fall is absolutely beautiful here! I only wish we could go apple-picking!) We ended our morning by stopping at Nina's favorite bakery (Three Dog Bakery) and getting a few "boo tarts" and "pup cakes". The rest of the afternoon was filled with Nina's favorite things -- napping in the hammock outside, napping on Adam's lap inside, chasing Nixon, etc. For dinner, Nina enjoyed pieces of our sirloin steak (from our homemade Vietnamese pho soup) and finally, to end the celebration, she donned her birthday hat and enjoyed her first pup cake! Happy Birthday Nina bean :)

What a year for injuries...

Well, after getting over the flu, and working insanely hard to rejoin his teammates, Adam sustained another injury...this time in his abdominal region. He tried very hard to avoid surgery by going to the chiropractor about 5 times in a week and by lots of rest (believe me!), but surgery was inevitable and really what he needed. The team flew Adam to see one of the best docs for his type of injury in Philly early last week. Adam tends to talk every injury down (probably so I don't get freaked out), so I wasn't sure how serious it was, but I was pretty upset that I wouldn't be able to go with him. Luckily, his dad was able to take a train from Richmond and spent a lot of time going to doctor's appointments and keeping Adam company. I was so so thankful that Adam and his dad could spend time together and especially that Adam had someone there watching his back! Adam's surgery was Oct. 2nd and he was flown home the following day...the first few days at home, he was in a lot of pain, but it's only been a week and he seems a lot better. He's been walking a little over a mile or so everyday and that seems to be helping. Thanks for all your thoughts and prayers! We're crossing our fingers that this was just a bad year of injuries and that next season will be much, much better.