Bath Time!

Abby's First Bath

These pictures of Abigail's first bath are too cute not to post! So far Abby has been really fussy whenever we've given her a sponge bath or changed her diaper. However, once she felt the warm water scooped over her, she seemed to really enjoy it.

Suzi's Special Speghetti

You know how good home cooking is? After last year's Thanksgiving, my sister Suzi whipped up some incredible spaghetti. I was full from the leftovers and anxious to get on the road, however, the smell of this spaghetti was intoxicating. Of course I sat down to try it out.

Three plates later with a full mouth I said, "Sis I have to get this recipe from you sometime." Sometime finally arrived this afternoon. Here is the recipe, verbatim from the phone call in which it was relayed to me.

- 1 lb. Hamburger
- 3/4 lb. sweet Italian Sausage
- Drizzle pan with extra virgin olive oil
- couple sprinkles of fennel

Brown up this mixture really good

- box of smooth tomato sauce (14-16 oz)
- can of diced tomatoes
- 1/2 teaspoon of red pepper flakes
- sprinkle of cinnamon
- 1/3 cup of brown sugar

For some reason she hesitantly told me the last two ingredients like I would think she was crazy or something. At this point of the story I have to provide a disclaimer for the recipe. Suzi did tell me that she always guesses and I was incredibly impressed that she pulled this right off the top of her head while waiting for Jordan's lacrosse game.

Lately, Christina and I have been on a bit of a cooking kick. After I finished class at UCSD, I had a little more free time, so I dusted off the Chinese cookbook from my mission and made some Chinese dumplings, which turned out amazing. Ever since I've caught the bug and browsed through all of Christina's cookbooks.

So I was really excited to get this going. Attached is a picture of the sauce still on the stove. We are suppose to let it simmer for another forty minutes (which means a total of an hour). Yep I wrote this post in the last ten minutes waiting for the sauce to finish.

So far, it tastes incredible, bringing back lots of good memories from last time I tried it! Probably going to make next year's Parker cookbook!

Bon Appetite!

Abigail Rae Harding

Abby, Abby-Rae, Abi-girl:

This first picture of me holding Abby when she is only a few hours old is Christina's favorite. She is probably 3 hours old to be more exact!

We are still trying to figure out which nickname is going to stick. We are so happy at the arrival of our baby girl. Finally, I've found some time to post some pictures. Of course you will probably see a lot of these in the future as well (we are really proud parents)!


Abby asleep - Day 3Abby - Day 3 - hanging out at Dr. Sukhdeo's Office. If she would have waited another 45 minutes he would have been able to deliver her. His shift started at 7:00 am, and she came into the world at 6:15.


Lots of sleeping in the first week - Daddy loves Abby! Mommy says Abby loves Daddy too!

Abby love Mommy too - Day 2 - Just home from the Hospital!
Sweet Abby -
Sometimes - not so sweet Abby - Just Kidding we love to hear her cry, it means that those lungs are working correctly. Of course we probably wont love her cry if it was too persistent. And when we remember how wonderful she is (see image above).

Hanging out with Uncle Mike - Day 5


Abby loves Grandma Parker - We are so relieved she is here helping us out!


Abby signing off for the rest of the Palo Alto Harding Family. We are so happy and tired. On that note sweet dreams!

3 for 3

It was hard to tie up my running shoes this morning. Not sure if it was because of the cold or how sore my hammies were from last night's softball game. Yeah did I mention that we lost by two runs to an undefeated team named beer and tacos? That's substance for a different post. Back to the morning run.

Last week, Christina and I started to wake up a bit early and walk a 2 mile loop. On Saturday, I tried running the loop while Christina was at the grocery store. I tried, meaning that I had to stop and walk twice for lack of breath. On Monday, I ran about a mile of the loop and walked the rest with Christina. Wednesday, I almost made the whole loop but had to stop just short and walk for a few hundred yards. I was really happy when I made the whole loop yesterday without any stops (never mind it took me 25 minutes). Even though it was the hardest morning to get going, Today's run felt the best that I've completed in a while.

Funny story, on the home stretch of this run, you pass by a breakfast joint named Hobie's. Really good coffee cake, okay breakfast. Anyways, the last three mornings, as I ran past the building, there have been two older ladies totally bundled up enjoying their morning conversation. Yesterday morning, one of them commented to the other looking at my smoking hot legs, "wow, he looks really cold". I didn't stop to hear the rest of the conversation.

So, this morning, I decided to wear some thermals. Sure enough as I rounded the corner for the home stretch, there stood my two little friends, to my amazement the same one that mentioned the coldness the day before exclaimed "look at those black leg warmers, he must be warmer today". I chuckled to myself at the thought of my thermals looking like leg warmers. Anyways, it did help considerably.

So, I'm starting a hybrid body-for-life program with more of an emphasis on running than lifting. If your not familiar with body for life, check it out here. The basics are eating 6 nutritious meals instead of 3, and working out everyday for at least 20 minutes. My plan:

Monday: Run
Tuesday: Lift
Wednesday: Run
Thursday: Lift
Friday: Short Run
Saturday: Long Run

I'm going to sign up for a half marathon with my brother Joe around the first week of March. Can't wait to see if we can actually make it!

Any advice?

The Miracle of Life

Seeing our new little baby on the ultrasound was an amazing and humbling experience.

Mike: "Is that the face?"

Russian Ultrasound Technician: "uh no, that is the bum"

Christina: "Maybe you should let her do the talking"

As she moved up to the the head and started measuring the skull, my heart swelled. At that moment, our little baby looked up and we saw her precious little face. It was incredible. The technician then moved down to the heart. Tears filled our eyes as we clearly saw the four chambers with steady heart beats. It's funny how at these most precious moments, music comes into my mind, I immediately started to hum "it's my turn on earth". I thought how cool it will be to have our little baby join our family.

After the technician was finished with all the measurements, the doctor walked in, turned on the ultrasound and immediately (well it felt immediate to me) said "Yep, it's a girl"! We can't wait for this new little addition to arrive in the family. We also can't wait to meet her and have all of you meet her. See you at Thanksgiving!

The Leaves are changing - I mean it's Warren Miller Time

Since I only write this blog on a semi-annual basis, I thought it would be a great time to give an update! Last night while watching the new Warren Miller Film "Dynasty" I felt an emotion that has been absent for a few years. It's a feeling that doesn't have a name.

I hope you didn't start humming the new Black Eyed Peas song. Anyways, this feeling is found leaf peeping in New Hampshire, or at the base of Targhee on the eve of the first snow fall. It's the same feeling that you get when see the first flowers of Spring. Living in California has limited my ability to constantly feel the euphoria that accompanies the changing of the seasons, however, last night for some bizarre reason, these awesome indescribable emotions came rushing in!

It's possible that the memories of face shots of pow came rushing back! I had many fantastic days a few years ago skiing in the Tetons. This year could be different, since I'm going back to school and classes are only Tuesday through Thursday during the week, I'm thinking about asking Santa for a season pass to Kirkwood. He can get a really cheap deal since I'm a student again. It also includes a few buddy passes for friends and discounted lift tickets for them as well. So, my friends should be encouraging "Santa" as well! Just a few thoughts.

A few things to chew on:

http://www.skiersrealm.com/general/warren-miller-dynasty-2010 Check the trailer, it should get you excited for the ski season.

I'm constantly amazed at our sweet technology today. It's incredible that I can send this text message to blogger and it immediately posts to our blog. I know what you are thinking, "welcome to the 21st century" or maybe "where have you been"? Good fun!