What do the Grand Canyon and a Baby Have in Common?

You'll see pictures of both in this post!! It's getting harder and harder to fit things in. And the baby is still months away! It's true I have been up to a lot lately. One of which is feeling the baby kick! It was very surreal at first, and I was sort of in denial that that's what I was feeling but now it's pretty clear. Still, the idea that this is going to result in a human being still blows my mind.

The trip to Arizona was great! This entry is going to be very picture intensive! And I'm sparing you the vast majority of the hundreds we took! So we arrived and stayed at The Boulders, just outside of Scottsdale, for the first few days. Our time here was all about relaxing. Unfortunately I didn't make it into the fitness center once. Well, that's not true, I did peek in just to see what it looked like, but no workouts. The grounds, our room, the spa...it was all heaven.

This is an early morning picture from our balcony.

And here I am enjoying the spa pool. Best thing about the spa. No kids. I know, soon I will be one of those parents doting around a loud little one, but for now, I'm enjoying the peace and quiet.

Lots of cacti in Arizona and they are so cool! Here's Miguel next to an old bugger.

And here he is looking out the window by the front door to our "casita".

I just love that picture for some reason. Next, we have a picture of the grounds at night. I got all fancy with our tripod for this one!

We fell into a little routine. Each morning Miguel would get up at the crack of dawn to go do this...

And I would rise, ahem, a little later in the morning and order breakfast from room service. They had this really delicious omelet that came from the spa menu (which meant it's supposed to be really healthy). Then it was off to the spa for a treatment (the first day I had a prenatal massage, the second a pedicure) and a day by the pool. Finally on our last morning Miguel enjoyed the room service routine with me. Breakfast for two:

We left The Boulders and started our road trip to The Grand Canyon. On the way I got to see lots of cacti. Here's a shot from our car.

We stayed in Williams, a little town about an hour outside of the park. It really was a cute little town...really little. I can't imagine what it must be like to grow up in a small town like that with little diversity where everyone probably knows everyone and the whole place closes down by 8pm.

Okay, are you ready for a ton of Grand Canyon pictures? What can one say about it? It is appropriately named that's for sure. I just stood there in awe of the size that I know I wasn't really grasping. It's just too big for words, or for pictures, but we try. Here I am trying to take it all in.

The weather couldn't have been more perfect. The morning started out with a chill in the air and it never really got "hot" all day. Lovely blue skies. Can you spot Miguel in this shot?

The moon was out.

I hope you're enjoying these 5,000 pictures :)

Here's the Colorado River.

Are they all starting to look the same yet?

As the day went on the canyon became more and more orange.

And as the sun sets the the sky starts changing colors...purple, pink, blue. Beautiful.

We were not disappointed at the beauty and the grandeur of it all. And Miguel even spotted a California Condor! It was sleeping on the side of a cliff. So cool. Alright, one last shot of the grand canyon at sunset.

After the grand canyon we headed back to the Phoenix area. As far as we could tell things to do in Phoenix include sunbathing, shopping, dining and golf. We did our fair share of all of those things but I wanted to do something different too. So we thought a tour of Chase Field, where the Diamondbacks play, might be cool. Here we are in the dugout.

We're baseball fans and had a good time checking out the locker rooms and such. Our last couple of days there I spent...you guessed it, lying by the pool reading my book while Miguel golfed. As our vacation was wrapping up I was ready to come home. I'm not that into shopping, or golf, and I can only get so tan and eat so much. Come Friday I was happy to be home.

So, what's inside my growing tummy? I had my 20 week ultrasound today. I'm happy to report the little guy is growing right on target. His heart, spine, and all other little parts are totally normal. Normal sounds just perfect.

Can you see his little heart there? My mom and Miguel were there. This is the last time we get to see him until he's born. I'm excited to see him!!

Last but not least...the weight. It's going ok. Well, not good really. I've gained at the rate an underweight woman should be gaining. Soon I'll be off the charts altogether. I could be doing a lot better. I'm still going to my swimming class twice a week and trying to keep my food choices within the sane realm but I need to be doing more. I don't know what's going to change things but for now I'm just doing what I can. I weigh about 175 right now. That's an 11 pound gain since I got pregnant at 164 pounds. I'll be happy to go back to Weight Watchers after the little guy comes. Nursing Points here I come!! I'm halfway there...20 weeks down, 20 to go. I can't believe we're having a baby!!

Marin Triathlon (Relay) 2008

I had my triathlon today. This was the Olympic distance Marin Triathlon. My husband's boss did the swim, a colleague of mine did the bike and I did the run.

And they're off! Even though I haven't done that many triathlons it was still a bit strange watching the swimmers go off without me.

Miguel ran with me as an alternate in case I got a cramp or something and couldn't go on.

One of the neat things about doing a relay was that we got to watch all the other folks, including the Elite racers, come in for transition. The other, as Alex and Tom can attest to, is that when you do your leg you're done. They were both happy to flop down and rest after their respective legs.

I did a run/walk based on my heart rate. I kept it down the whole time. I had wanted to get a "Baby on Board" t-shirt to wear for the race but never got around to it. Even though it was the slowest 10k ever (not to mention my only 10k ever) I still had a great time. Here I am coming in for the finish.

The whole event was serious about being "green" so we got neat canvas goodie bags and finisher's "medals" made from bike gears. But the coolest thing were Kleen Kanteens with the Marin Triathlon logo on it!

How cool is that?!! My legs got really sore later in the day. I know it's shocker but my inactivity these past few months really didn't really prepare me well! Okay, one last shot. I have to show off my ever growing tummy!!