A Souvenir

The first time I came across the Design Mom blog, it was from another blogger who had linked to her Central Park family photos. I thought they were such great photos and an awesome way to memorialize where they lived just as they were preparing to move. So, when we knew we were going to be moving to Phoenix, I wanted to get some family photos in Reno. 

I love that Julie snapped this pic of us goofing off before the shoot

Everything is moving pretty quickly, however, and time has been limited. So, we did a quick shoot with our friend and fabulous photographer Julie under the old arch after work on Friday. We didn't really prep, we all just threw on jackets and met under the arch. If I had more time I may have put on some makeup or planned our outfits better, and maybe done a couple more locations, but  I like the way they came out and I'm really glad we took a few minutes to get these before the big move.

Getaway

For Father's Day, we got Chris tickets to see the Diamondbacks play at San Francisco on a Thursday afternoon in September. Once the extended Gabel clan made plans to visit us the following day, we decided to ask Grandma to come a little early and babysit so the two of us could have one night in the city. (I think I showed a lot of restraint in not texting Rita too many times while we were gone.) It was nice to have some alone time, but we woke up on Friday morning missing our little Pumpkin and headed straight home after a quick breakfast. Here are some highlights via Instagram: 

AT&T Park

At Fisherman's Wharf, for clam chowdah in a bread bowl

Newspaper-themed bar in the old Examiner press room

Coffee and almond croissant at Tartine

The Mitten

A couple weeks ago, Team Gabel headed to Michigan for a wedding and Pumpkin's first (six) flight(s)! Chris's cousin Brad, who lives in our 'hood, was marrying Linda, who hails from Michigan, and so off we went!

Pumpkin was great on all of our flights. We changed planes in Oakland and thought we were flying straight to Detroit until the pilot informed us we would be stopping in Phoenix. This wasn't on our itinerary as it wasn't a plane change, but the even bigger surprise was that Rita was getting on the plane with us! It was fun to have Grandma on the flight to help keep Pumpkin entertained. We discovered the best toys are empty plastic cups and cardboard coffee cup sleeves.

This is maybe my favorite picture from the trip. Pumpkin enjoys looking at the mirror, but usually we have to hold her up on the sink - in the hotel, the mirror came all the way down to the floor - what fun!

The little charmer was pretty adorable (as she always is) in her little dress and bonnet for the rehearsal dinner. She met all kinds of new aunts, uncles and cousins over the weekend.

The wedding was in the evening and the ceremony and reception were beautiful. Here are the official new Mr. and Mrs!

Here we are with Alison and Rita at the wedding reception. We had lots of fun during our trip, and even found time to have some Middle Eastern food in Dearborn - a delicious excursion! It was really great to see the extended family and share in a beautiful wedding.

Seven

Seven years ago this weekend I moved to Yuma, Ariz., to start my first job as a reporter. Best decision I ever made.

The Family Man

I asked Chris several times what he wanted to do for his birthday, and finally he said he just wanted to have dinner at home with me and Pumpkin. And then he added that he still wanted a dessert bar, so I agreed to make two desserts (I thought more than that for just the two of us would just be out of control).

So, Saturday night we started the celebrations early with some Mud Pie.

On Sunday, Pumpkin modeled the present she got Chris - football leggings to wear while they watch games together on Sundays :-) Since he really liked some blueberry beer he tried at a homebrew fest we went to, I found some blueberry lager to surprise him with. For Scoop's part, she said she would like to take Chris for a walk as her gift.

Chris wanted steak and mashed potatoes for dinner, and since I am only good at burning things on the grill, he had to make the filets himself. Everything was delicious!

Finally, we finished the celebration off with cherry cheese bars, which I make for him every year.

It was a nice, quiet family weekend and just what Chris wanted. Happy Birthday to the best husband and father we could ask for!

Mellow

For Friday night, I won Chris a ticket to Beer Fest, a fundraiser for the Nevada Young Alumni Association, and I joined him and some of our friends out for the evening. I could be spotted as the only one drinking ginger ale ...

The rest of our weekend was really quite mellow. After snowing on Thursday and Friday, it warmed up into the 50s (heat wave!) on Saturday and the sun came out so we went for a family walk.

Chris and I spent the rest of the afternoon running errands to places all married couples are familiar with, like Home Depot. And, we stopped at a new, self-serve fro-yo place which was awesome. We have to go back at least 15 more times so I can try all the creations I've invented in my head.
Sunday was spent just doing things around the house. We really are a boring old married couple! But it was a nice weekend being home together. The Aces have their home opener this weekend and will be home the next three, so these kinds of weekends will be rare in the coming months.

P.S. How cute are Chris and Scoop? This picture makes me think how amazing it will be to see Chris with our daughter. I could cry just thinking about it.

Springtime

Last week, it felt like spring might never come to Reno, so it was a good time for us to take a trip to Arizona. The timing was also nice because Gabels wanted to throw us a shower, and Chris was going to be there for work already. We left Thursday night during a snowstorm, and arrived to temperatures in the mid-70s. It was great! Grammie and Grandpa came down from Illinois for the weekend, too, and it was great to see them. While Chris worked on Friday Alison and I got pedicures and then all of us spent Friday afternoon walking around the Tempe Arts Festival before Chris joined us out for dinner.

Saturday was the shower. It is overwhelming (in a good way, of course!) how much Baby Gabel is already loved by so many people. We are so blessed!

It was so nice to be able to spend time with Chris' parents, sister and grandparents during our trip.

So many of our friends made it for the shower, and stayed late into the evening hanging out and visiting. We wish we could see everyone more often, and we're glad we were able to spend some time with everyone, and finally meet Kaitlin (Marc & Kristin's daughter) and Ben (Kelli & Kyle's son).
It seems that ever since I've been pregnant, so many people I know are also pregnant, but it's kind of a bummer that only one of my expecting friends lives in Reno. Kat and Jeffrey, who we met working at the paper in Yuma but are currently living in Phoenix, are also expecting a girl and are due five weeks before we are. It was great talking pregnancy and babies with Kat!

On Sunday, Alison and I headed to Camelback Ranch to catch the last Dodger spring training game of the season before the team headed off to L.A. I think the baby is going to be a baseball fan, because as soon as we sat down she was just kicking and kicking!

It was really a great trip. I wish I could have stayed longer, but I'm saving up all my PTO for when the baby arrives. Chris stayed a little longer to work, and gets home in the morning. Luckily, it's been mostly sunny with temperatures in the 60s since I got home, and 70s expected at the end of the week. Let's hope winter is over!

21 weeks

So, this week I am 21 weeks along, a little more than halfway. The photo at right was taken last week and after it was taken my tummy seemed to grow overnight! Now that we know we're having a girl, it's been fun to try to imagine what she will be like. What will her interests be? Will she bake and watch musicals with me, will she watch football and shoot hoops with Chris? Will she take up hobbies neither of us ever did? Will her eyes be blue or green or brown? Will her hair be dark like mine, or lighter like when Chris was little? Will it be curly, like her Aunty Mena's, or straight like her Aunty Alison's, or somewhere in between like her momma's? We read that by this week she has eyebrows, and the one thing we're fairly certain of is that those will really be quite the eyebrows! This week, according to the experts, she is about the length of a carrot, and has been able to hear what we say for the past couple weeks. (This makes me wonder if I should stop listening to music with swear words?) Although the movements are soft right now, I can feel her moving much more the last couple of days, which has been really amazing. We have been working on turning the craft room into the baby's room, and discussing names (Scoop has heard them all, but we're confident she'll keep them secret). Also, since we announced thepregnancy some people have asked us what the first baby thing was we went out and bought, so for those who wanted to know, over the weekend we got her a cute little outfit (left) that's now hanging in her closet. (And for those still curious about cravings, on the way home from making said purchase I had a serious lemonade craving, made Chris stop to buy lemons, made a pitcher as soon as we got home and drank it all in less than 24 hours.)

I realize this has been a long and rambling (and perhaps boring to those of you who aren't me) update, but baby is top of mind these days. It is all very exciting and sometimes a little frightening as we prepare to meet this little one, knowing how very dependent she will be on us. But mostly it's exciting, and we're so grateful for all the love and support of our family and friends.

It's a ... Gabel!

Before our big ultrasound this week, we tested out a few theories and old wives tales online to see how accurate they are in predicting gender.

• A couple of ancient Chinese gender calculators both predicted a girl.
• One theory says that craving sweets indicate a girl while salty or sour cravings indicate a boy. I mostly have been wanting plain things, like bread and pasta and cheese. So we'll call this one a wash.
• Another one said ancient Mayans believed if the mother's age at conception and year of conception were both odd or both even years, it's a girl, and if one was even and one odd it's a boy. In this case, we would be having a boy.
• Girls supposedly steal their mother's beauty, so if you're breaking out (yep!), it's a girl.
• Tie a ring to a string and hang it over your belly. If it goes back and forth it's a boy, if it goes in a circle it's a girl. The first two attempts the ring didn't move. The second two times it seemed like maybe it was going in a circle. Girl.
• If you're sick during the first trimester (yep!) this is also supposed to indicate a girl.

Chris from the beginning thought we were having a girl. I thought girl at first, then boy for a while, then back to girl. I had dreams about a boy and a girl, Chris had a dream about a boy. Either way, of course, we would be thrilled. Most important is having a healthy baby, and everything looked good on the ultrasound so we are very thankful.

And it appears most of these theories were right, for us anyway.

We're having a Girl!

First comes love, then comes marriage ...

Then comes Scoop, then comes a house, then comes a master's degree, and

THEN comes a baby in a baby carriage!

That's right, Team Gabel is expanding (some of us more than others) and Baby Gabel is due in July (scheduled to arrive during the three days that fall between my birthday and our anniversary)!

Of course, we are very excited! (And a little nervous, too.)

So, here is a rundown of the FAQ:

Q: How are you feeling?

A: Now that I'm further along, I'm feeling pretty good. The first trimester was rough, though, and I was thankful to be working part-time so I could come home and lay on the couch all afternoon.

Q: Are you going to find out if it's a boy or a girl?

A: Probably, if the baby cooperates during the ultrasound, which is about a month away.

Q: Are you having cravings?

A: Sometimes. More aversions than cravings, and usually if I want something, after I have it I don't want it anymore. This happened with egg salad in the very beginning. I also sent Chris to fetch me a tuna sandwich one day. Most days I have no idea what I want to eat.

Q: Are you showing?

A: Yes and no. I am bigger, but right now it's more "baby bloat" than "baby bump." I switched to maternity pants when we went to LA and I was able to shop at a decent maternity store. In the picture (taken this morning, at 16 weeks) I'm wearing a top and jeans from Gap Maternity - the first maternity clothes I bought, along with some black pants. My cousin Jen also loaned me a bag full of tops and dresses for the warmer months, which will be a big help! (It's hard spending money on clothes you know you'll only wear for a short time - especially when there are so many adorable baby things to buy!)

Q: Have you picked names?

A: No. We don't always agree on names, so it will take a while to land on something we're both happy with, I think. Even then, we're keeping it a secret until baby's debut.

In other miscellaneous pregnancy news, I started prenatal yoga last week where I learned "I'm steady, I'm natural and I'm strong." Actually, it was pretty great to be in a room full of other pregnant women and I think I'll really enjoy the class.

So, I guess that's all for now!

Happy New Year!

Chris and I welcomed 2011 like a boring, old married couple. We went out for a nice, Italian dinner, followed by a movie.

We thought we'd timed it just right to get out of the movie in time to watch the fireworks in downtown Reno. But we forgot to include time for previews, so the movie got out at 11:59, and we were in downtown Sparks. At least we had our midnight kiss, and could see the fireworks a few miles away in the distance. It was cold, so we watched what little we could see from the car.
Over dinner we discussed our resolutions. Turns out those are pretty boring, too. Pay off the credit card, eat healthier, exercise more. Hopefully the results will be better than my resolution for 2010 (maybe I'll keep working on those this year).

I hope you all had fun, however you rang in the New Year!

What are your resolutions?

Chris' big 3-0

Chris' birthday was on Saturday, so we had a little party with a little poker, a little Baggo and more than a little dessert.

After Erin and Sandor's wedding, Chris had requested a dessert bar for his party, so I obliged. (For those wondering, I made sugar cookies, brownies, carrot cake, stout cupcakes [made with Guinness], banana chocolate chip cookies and raspberry cheesecake cupcakes. Na brought pumpkin pie and Erin brought more cookies. We have plenty leftover, so feel free to drop by!)

Chris' birthday present was a new poker table. A friend also brought one so that we could have a tournament.

The Birthday Boy

Julie, Na, Erin and Me

As you can see, Scoop and Chris were both very excited about the party hats I made them ;-)
The cards didn't fall Chris' way in poker, but he had better luck at Baggo. We had a really good time and are so thankful for everyone who came and helped make Chris' party a fun one!

Two Years

Happy Anniversary to Us!

A Very Gabel Christmas

We had a very nice Christmas with the Gabels last week. On Christmas Eve we went to church in the evening, and then came home for the traditional homemade pizza dinner. After opening presents and having egg nog French toast on Christmas morning, we headed up to Flagstaff for a couple days to relax and Chris, Brad and Alison went skiing.

Chris & Tammy on Christmas Eve

Brad, Rita, Alison, Tammy & Chris on Christmas Eve

Scoop loved her first Christmas, especially the "lollipop" in her stocking

Alison, Tammy and Rita at Oregano's in Flagstaff

One down, two to go!

I just hit "send" on my last assignment of the semester. Yahoo! Now I can focus on holiday fun - santa pub crawls and snuggie parties, visiting family and holiday crafts ... I'm so excited!

Of course, I have to thank my helpers for proofreading my stories and helping me get through the semester ...

I'm looking forward to having some extra time to spend with you two for the next few weeks as well!

Now, time for some hot cocoa ...

Giving Thanks

As Thanksgiving nears, I thought it would be appropriate to give thanks for some of my blessings ...

For a wonderful, supportive husband, who makes me laugh and keeps me grounded ...


For our little Scoop, who keeps us on our toes ...


For my sisters, who are also my friends ...
For my friends, who are also my sisters ...
For three sets of awesome parents ...
For our amazing extended families ...
For our health ...
For the opportunity to be in grad school ...
For so many more blessings than I could ever put in words ...
We are thankful.

Happy Thanksgiving!