Christmastime is here!

The Christmas season is our favorite time of year! Of course, we love to celebrate the birth of our Savior, but we also enjoy all the sights, sounds, tastes, and smells that the Christmas season brings--Christmas lights, yummy treats, traditional hymns and fun Christmas songs--this is definitely the best time of year!

Every year we cut down our own Christmas tree and this year was no exception. Last year we found a great tree farm out in Santee and we went there again this year. See the pictures below for the play-by-play!

So many great trees to choose from!

(Yes, only in San Diego can you pick out your Christmas tree while wearing shorts and a T-shirt).

Jack helping to find the perfect tree

The winning tree!

Packing it up

I love Christmas!

The finished product!

A Busy Season

It has been a while since I last posted on here and much has happened in the last couple months. Of course, the biggest news is that we're expecting a baby next summer! We are super excited, although the dramatic life change that is approaching still seems a bit surreal. :)


At this point, I am about 14 weeks along in my pregnancy. I have been feeling good the last couple of weeks; my energy is back up and I am able to eat more than I did during the first trimester. When I first found out I was pregnant, I seemed to be feeling good, but then at about 6 weeks, I started to feel nauseous. Basically, I couldn't eat much because nothing ever sounded good; however, I was hungry, but instead of feeling normal hunger sensations, I automatically felt nauseous. Overall, it was not fun, but it was mostly bearable and I was able to continue working without too much difficulty. Thankfully, I am now feeling like my usual self. :)


So far, the pregnancy seems to be moving along well. I got to have an ultrasound at my first doctor appointment and we got to see the baby's heart beating on the screen--so amazing (see ultrasound picture below). I just had my second doctor appointment last week and this time we got to hear the baby's heart beating! WOW!


Obviously, this is a very exciting time! We're amazed and in awe at this process of pregnancy and we are looking forward to entering the realm of parenthood (with some fear and trembling mixed in!). Thanks to all of our friends and family who've expressed so much love and support during this exciting time! We will keep you posted on this journey!


Love,
Allison

Baby Wardrip at 9 weeks

New poll question

Inquiring minds want to know...check out the new poll question!

Catching up

Hello again to our faithful blog readers! When I checked to see the last time I posted an entry, I was surprised to see that it was almost 2 months ago! I wish I could say we've been caught up in something exceptionally great that has kept us from posting, but alas, this is not the case. Basically, I haven't had anything grand to post about, hence the hiatus. Now that we're nearing the end of October, I guess it's time for an update!

September was a fairly standard month for us. Aside from the usual day-to-day work and life busyness, Noah also started school at the end of September. Now, every moment that he's not at work, he's either reading articles, doing homework, or on campus in class or in the lab. Yikes! In the meantime, I am keeping myself busy with work (of course), various church commitments, reading (I just finished Laura Ingraham's "Power to the People"), watching football (Go Chargers!) and even watching the baseball play-offs.

A few weeks ago, Noah's mom and brother came to visit and we had the pleasure of celebrating Jonathan's 16th birthday together. Our family unit wasn't quite complete though since Laura is still in South Africa (although we did get to do Skype while Jonathan opened his birthday presents, so Laura did get to participate via computer [see pictures below]). Also for Jonathan's birthday, we attended the Miramar Air Show, a favorite for all of us. Unfortunately, the camera quit before the show was over, so we don't have pics of the F22 Raptor or the Blue Angels (definite highlights of the show!).

Anyway, here are a few pics for your enjoyment!

A horse-filled visit

Last week my mom came down to visit for a few days. She hadn't been down to visit for over a year and it was her birthday, so we took the opportunity to celebrate in a couple different ways. First of all, my mom is a horse fanatic, so what better way to celebrate than 1) watch the horse races and 2) go horseback riding, which we did! Unfortunately, Noah had to work both days my mom was visiting, so he couldn't join us on our outings (or maybe fortunately for him because he's not a big fan of horses.) :)


The horse races at Del Mar were pretty exciting. This was my first time going to any type of horse races and there's a whole horse-racing culture that I didn't even know existed. I tried my hand at betting on one race and my horse actually came in first! My total profit came to a whopping $2.20.


Horseback riding was also quite an adventure. We went out of a place in the South Bay and got to take our horses along Imperial Beach. We actually rode right up to the CA/Mexico border fence. Also, along the ride back to the stables, my horse stopped on the trail and decided to sit down! It was quite startling because I thought for sure she was going to start rolling around in the dirt, which would not have been good with me sitting on her back. Just as the guide was about to tell me to jump off, she quickly got back up and we were on our way. Phew!


Overall, my mom and I had a great few days together during her visit to San Diego! Pictures are included below...

Mom and daughter at the Del Mare race track

And they're off...

Crossing the finish line

My winning horse

The scoreboard showing my winnings

On the trail to the beach

Approaching Imperial Beach

The border fence with Mexico in the background

The end of the trail. This isn't the most flattering picture, but after 3 hours on a horse, our butts, knees, legs, and backs were aching and we were ready to get back on the ground!

Olympics

Is everyone else out there enjoying the Olympics as much as we are?! WOW, it has been so exciting! We have been putting our new DVR to good use this past week.

Of course, the Michael Phelps journey was awesome to watch, but there have been lots of other exciting events, such as men's and women's gymnastics, women's indoor volleyball (USA's win against Poland was a close call!), men's and women's diving, and various track and field events. There's just something about watching the best athletes in the world display their talent that we find so riveting and inspiring. Yay for the Olympics!

P.S. Let's go USA!!

The Vaccine Book

So, I just finished reading "The Vaccine Book" (pictured above). I read this book for two reasons: 1) I work with children with Autism and there is a lot of controversy surrounding the issue of vaccines being linked to Autism and 2) Noah and I hope to have kids of our own in the future, so I figured it wouldn't hurt to read up on the issue.


I found the tone of the book to be good; the author provides a lot of information regarding the pros and cons of getting or not getting each vaccine and basically leaves it up to the reader to decide what they would do for their child based on all the information presented. The fact that the book is not blantantly pro- or anti-vaccine is refreshing. However, after reading this book, I feel a little overwhelmed by the whole vaccine issue. There's so much information regarding the pros and cons of vaccines. At the end of the book though, the author provides an alternate vaccine schedule for those parents who still want to get vaccines, but in a way that doesn't bombard their child with multiple vaccines at once. This seems like something to consider....


Also, the book is eye-opening in the sense that it gives information on the specific ingredients that are in vaccines...formaldehyde, fetal cow blood, monkey kidney cells...yikes! Monkey kidney cells...who knew?!

Anyway, this was definitely an interesting read. I think I may need to read it again (and maybe some other info) before actually making a decision on the issue. It's good to be informed though because at one point in the book, when talking about the Hep B vaccine, the author says, "Parents should be aware that some hospitals give the hep B vaccine to babies without discussing it with the parents first" (pg. 53). Wow, that's a little scary.

So, for any of you out there that read this blog and want to weigh in on the vaccine issue, I'd love to hear your viewpoint. Please leave a comment!