November in a Nutshell

I really left you with Halloween, huh? That wasn't very nice of me. Let's move on to November, now that December is almost over. Here's the quick and dirty:

The first weekend in November we went to the Cabbagetown Chomp and Stomp. In a town of great festivals, it's our favorite. What's the Chomp and Stomp, you ask? Really the question should be, "What isn't the Chomp and Stomp?" It's a chili cook-off, bluegrass festival, 5k run, block party of awesomeness. There are no pictures. Sorry. What happens at Chomp and Stomp stays at Chomp and Stomp (really I just forgot to take pictures).

The next weekend, I turned 32. Sounds old, right? It is, but it's also my lucky number, so I'm not feeling too down about it. And, as my dad says, getting old is better than the alternative. So for my birthday, I got a fancy camera. My old one was five years old, and not even very nice when it was new. Now I know that a fancy camera doesn't make me a real photographer, but it can't hurt. I have some friends who are AMAZING photographers, and I'm not thinking that now I take better pictures than they do. They are true artists. For example, my long-time bud Sarah is a REAL photographer. It's her job, and she's dang good at it. She took my favorite picture of Annabel ever (EVER!!). You may want to check her out... no, actually, you DO want to check her out [www.sarahbgilliam.com].

Then there's my friend Jessica, whose praises I have sung before. She did our photos for our birth announcement and our Christmas card. Photography is her hobby -- she's a mighty fine lawyer the rest of the time.

Anyway, I am happy with my new camera. So there. Here's some of my handiwork.

What else? We rode the Pink Pig the weekend before Thanksgiving. I was so excited to finally be able to do this! It would be a little weird to ride the Pink Pig without a kid. What is the Pink Pig, you ask? What's with all the questions? Don't you know anything about Atlanta? Priscilla the Pink Pig is a ride that was at Rich's department store in the 50's. Macy's bought Rich's, so now the Pink Pig is at Macy's every holiday season (on top of the parking garage, but still... we'll take our fun kid traditions where we can get them). Here, read Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pink_Pig, and enjoy our photos:

We also had Thanksgiving. It was really fun. Annabel had her first pie. Pumpkin. She loved it. She's totally mine. She also had a good time playing with my grandmother, Goose, and it made Goose's day.

In Fox's neck of the woods, we headed to Paris and saw Annabel's first ever Santa. She wasn't scared (though I think she knows a fake beard when she sees one).

Santa also had a pretty sweet petting zoo and train ride. All in all, it was a really nice trip.

So that catches us up through November. Annabel is growing up way too fast. Do you like how I snuck some baby Annabel pictures in this post? Yeah, I'm totally in denial that she's almost one. Not because she doesn't become more fun with each passing day, because she really does. But those true baby days are gone forever, and I haven't come to terms with it yet. Nothing prepares you for how fleeting those moments truly are.

I'll be back soon with December, which brought us Annabel's first visit with a real-beard Santa, Fox's 11th marathon and Annabel's first glimpse of the Atlantic Ocean, and of course, Fox's birthday, also known as Christmas.