First time off road for 2008

This is Cathy blogging I am not the usual blogger on our site but thought I would give it go.
This summer I joined Madforcs in Madison as a way to meet other women mt. bikers. I have been out on a couple of their group rides. We headed down to Paoli on Tuesday and then Thursday we hit Quarry Ridge for the first ride off road in 2008 or since being a mom. I was surprised with how quickly everything came back, the climbs weren't too bad and the single track flowed really nice. I was on the fence about racing but after that ride I decided to give it a go. Neil tried to talk me into the 3 lap race but I settled on 2 laps (which if I did the 3 lap race I would probably still be out there...somewhere).
So that weekend we headed down to my first mt. bike race since having Keenan. It went ok, turns out having a baby reeks more havoc on my body than I anticipated. I wanted to quit after my first 10 mile lap, but I gutted out and finished. I wasn't the last person to cross the finish line but I was pretty close, oh well. I some how managed to get 2nd I think they felt sorry for me, but at least I got a pint glass.
Neil is still waiting for parts to get his bike put together so I am not sure if we are going to Iola or not. Hopefully the weather will dry up a bit so we can get back off road and start putting in some more miles.

Sneaky

Last night I was warming up from my ride and Keenan was hiding out behind the blanket - it takes better hinding than that to get away from the mom paparazi!!

When is snows it SNOWS!!

Wow, I haven't seen snow like this for a very long time! I was a little disappointed this morning when I got up and found only a couple inches after everyone was talking about this HUGE storm we were supposed to get. When I rode into work there was a signficant amount of snow but nothing more than all winter. Coming home was a different story. Work let out early so at 3:30 I decided to give it a go and make my way home. After crashing in the parking lot, on the rode, at the Whitney Way intersection, and in our driveway I finally got into the garage.

If I have learned anything about riding this winter it is that ski goggles are a must when it is snowing. Plus I think they look SWEET!! I got my miles and day in for the frozen fools...this really should count for double!

Mean while at home Cathy and Keenan weren't planning on going anywhere. Keenan is really close to sitting up on his own so they worked on that.

I think the next couple days are going to include a lot of snow removal. I noticed we have an extrodinarily large snow drift on our roof that could equal about about 3 sumo wrestlers once it starts to thaw - I need to get those guys off the roof!

Babies, Bikes, and Bowl games

Keenan is growing faster than a weed. We can't hardly take pictures fast enough to keep up with him. Last week was his 2 month check up. He was tipping the scales at 13lbs and 23" tall. He was also very excited about getting his first round of shots. He was a real champ...or I should say the doctor was quick enough she got all three shots in before he could muster up a good cry. He was pretty upset but got settled down once we were in the car.

Getting ready for a car ride with aunt Jenny's hat on.

He is just happy to be a baby!!

Today he just about rolled over. Just a little more and he will be on his own moving around.

Last night he slept the entire night! We put him down at 10pm and I was up before him at 6:45am. When we went to get him he was showing us how he could move around and was half turned around in his crib.

As for us, Cathy has joined a gym and has been able to get out a couple times a week to get back into shape. She is really looking forward to getting outside and back on her bike. I have been getting back into the swing of things and trying to get as much saddle time as time will allow. There are some interesting things shaping up for 2008, I should be able to give more details later in the month.

GO PACKERS!!!

Thanks to Chris Fortune's (Owner of Saris) incredable genorousity he offered tickets to this weekend's game!! Being from Minnesota I didn't think I would get excited about this game. Based on the forcast we are going to experiance Lambeau Field at it's finest.

- GO PACKERS -

We made it through the holidays

With both of our family's living in Minnesota the holidays usually means lots of traveling for us. Christmas we were at Cathy's parents place. It was really nice to have a few days to relax. The weekend didn't quite go as planned, grandpa ended up in the hospital for a couple days with excessive fluid build up and an ill timed snow storm kept her brothers from making it down. Fortunately grandpa just needed a couple days to get back on track and Carl was able to make it down once the storm lifted the following day. Even though pretty much nothing happened as planned it all still happened and we got plenty of time to hang out with everyone!!
After a short 3 days back in Wisconsin we headed north again for New Years/Christmas with my parents. My dad out did us all when he told us they bought a house!! It was a little weird knowing this was going to be the last holiday at the farm, but everyone is excited about them moving onto the next stage in their life. Plus they are only going to be 10 miles from us so that will help a lot with baby sitting! Monday the girls went into town to catch a movie and do some shopping and us guys borrowed some snowmobiles from my uncles and went for a ride. That night we all got cleaned up and then Leslie took us out dancing. We got there early so they taught us all some moves which helped us have a really good time that night. The next day was just relaxing and then I had to head home for work. Cathy stayed in MN for a baby shower the next day. She had a really good time seeing old friends and showing off Keenan. It got to be kinda long week but on Friday Dad brought Cathy home when he went to meet the inspector for there house. This weekend was just spent recovering from the past two weeks and embarrassing a new year!!

Swanson Fun

The past couple weeks have been so much fun! Everyday after work I can notice changes in Keenan, either he has grown or has more expressions or is looking around more. He is doing really good with sleeping at night. We usually try to keep him awake all evening and then right after his 11pm feeding get him to bed. It seems like every other night he will make it until 5-6am and the other nights he gets up around 2-3am for a little "mid-night snack".

Tonight we were playing on the bed and he was trying to copy what I was doing.

He definitely takes after Cathy on the camera!!

Cathy, Keenan, and Mercedes getting their morning beauty sleep.

Besides playing with Keenan mother nature has been keeping us plenty busy! I really don't remember having this much snow piled up this early for a long time! Oh well I like it. The snow gets me in the Christmas spirit and is fun to do winter activities.
Speaking of Christmas, this weekend we have the kids Christmas party for work and then next weekend is Christmas already!