Flower Girl

Ani and I were honored to be in my friend Jaime's wedding last weekend in my hometown. Jaime and I go way back (cheerleading, 9th grade English class... all things high school, UNI and everything in between!) and she also asked our other 3 "besties" :) to be bridesmaids as well as her sister and soon-to-be sister-in-law.

Wedding was a blast - long day starting with set up of ceremony/reception site, hours at the salon getting hair, makeup and nails done, then all the wedding hoopla. I was worried about Ani not following directions for her flower girl duties, but she did a wonderful job and (of course I'm going to say this) looked sooo adorable! The ceremony and reception were right on the riverfront.

Yes, the couple's dog was the actual ring bearer. He did a good job!

photo courtesy of Genevieve's Photography

Right before we walked down the aisle.

My girls


My parents & Liam... I think Meggie was chasing Ani around, otherwise they would have been in the picture too!

Happenings

Liam is 6 mos! Half a year, I can't even believe it. He's crawling all over and getting faster every day. Stands up in his crib. Everything goes into his hand and promptly to his mouth. No teeth yet, although he drools quite a bit. He likes being tickled and we love his little laugh. He's also starting to notice when we leave the room. He LOVES Ani, have I mentioned this? His face just lights up when he sees her. She plays very well with him too.

Ani had her 1st friend over to the house (w/out friend's parents present). It was a success! Clara and Ani got along great and had a lot of fun. They are two peas in a pod - they know each other well from preschool. Tears only popped up when Clara had to go home that afternoon.

Monte volunteered at the Urban Assault Ride this year. I stopped by with the kids to hang out for a bit. This picture was taken T-minus 3 hours before unfortunate bicycle mishap which led to an ER visit. Separated shoulder, lots of pain. Angriest about possibly not being able to race cyclo-cross this season. Bummer all around.

Laughter

This may be my favorite video of our two nuggets so far. Love their laughs.

Gravel

This is what Monte did Saturday night. Gravel: A True Story.

Spanish Song

We're told it's about a seal?? She learned this at her bilingual school. Love it.

Rabbit Ears Pass

So this is who Monte went to Colorado with last weekend to watch the pro cycling race. Yes, the guy in the green, Borat-like ensemble. Classic.

He was even mentioned in an article from the Denver Post under "Worst Costume".

Kiddos

Liam is 5-1/2 months old. Sits up by himself now. Eats everything in sight. Drinks water from a cup. Loves bath time. Is completely enamored with his entertaining sister. Things seem to be moving so much quicker with the second one! :(

I took Ani to Valleyfair today for a little "mommy and me" time. We both had a lot of fun. She was scared of the people dressed up as Peanuts characters, like Snoopy, but did take her picture with the Snoopy statue. She said her favorite ride was the Spider (although when we were on it, she was telling me she wanted off the ride).

RAGBRAI 2011

Off they went this morning for this year's ride across Iowa. But first they have to ride down to IA from Minneapolis. They'll meet up w/ RAGBRAI group on Tuesday night in Boone and finish at Myron's Mountain, preferably in the pool I'm sure!

Visits

Back to back to back visits from Monte's parents, the Edkin's, and my parents....

Twins game - might have been the hottest and sweatiest (is that a word?) that we've all ever been! Surprised Ani lasted through the 7th inning, what a trooper.

Beautiful sky in downtown walking back from game.

A Painted House

It's done! 6 months of dust and construction, and here we are.


And as a reminder, here's where we started!

4 Months

4 month stats for our lima bean Liam Dean:

• 13 lbs. 15 oz. (has nearly doubled birth weight).
• Ate rice cereal for the 1st time last night - was very interested in it and tried grabbing the spoon from my hand to feed himself.
• Smiling, cooing, and belly laughing quite often.
• Rolls over from tummy to back.
• Loves to stand on our laps w/ assistance.

Enjoying a day a Lake Harriet beach

Birthday Party

Newman created this great video of Ani's 3rd birthday party a few weeks ago. Thanks!

Dancin' Queen

Father's Day

Thanks to a friend who, at the last minute, could not use his family's Twins tickets today, we were able to go. It was my first time at Target Field. A nice, impromptu Father's Day activity for our fam!

Photos

We so loved our photo session gift we got for Ani from Tim & Eric when she was 8 weeks old that we went back to Eldridge, IA to Mark's Place to get more taken for Liam. Ended up getting a few of all of us, plus some of the kiddos together. These are scanned in from a computer print out so obviously not the best quality, but it's all I have so far because we have not placed our actual print order yet.

Oh To Be Three

Three years old and three months old within 1 day!

Ani had a great birthday celebration w/ friends yesterday at our house. The weather was so wonderful, it felt like the official first day of summer. Yay! We also took her on her actual birthday (June 1) to Nickelodeon Universe at the MOA where she got a complimentary unlimited wristband - although she was not tall enough to ride some of the rides.

Liam is 3 months old as of June 2. He has been rolling over from belly to back if he gets angry and feisty enough and just laughed for the 1st time the other day. He is still proving to be extremely mellow compared to his sister. He's also sleeping about 6 hours straight each night in his crib, then he joins us for the rest of the night.

Love these kiddos!

First Haircut & Tummy Time

Ani got her first haircut from Katie last night - friend and hair stylist I've been going to for 11 years! We saved a lock of her hair too.

And Liam has been enjoying lots of tummy time lately - working those neck muscles!

Almanzo 40

Pre-race in the rain

It was really the Almanzo 100, but many riders did the Almanzo 40 due to cold, wet, muddy weather conditions. Not as fun for spectators either - sitting in the car the majority of the morning trying to keep 2 kids dry and happy was not an easy feat.

The 40-mile mark (aka, the end of the ride) was in Preston, MN. Everyone met at the local grocery store to share stories of their challenging rides thus far and to contemplate whether or not to continue on.

Muddy much?

Photo courtesy of David Gabrys

Photo courtesy of Amy Hagen - this is how muddy her husband was

Liam Dean

Liam's 2-mo well child checkup was Friday - 2 good things came out of it -- 1) we are still blessed w/ a very healthy young boy, and 2) YAY! no more co-pays for well checkups. The not-so-good things were minor in the scheme of it all -- doctor was 30 mins late (even though we had to have had one of his 1st appointments of the morning at 8:45 am) so by the time he rolled in, my happy little baby had turned into a screaming, sobbing mess.

He was almost calmed down, aka, had basically cried himself to sleep, when the nurse came in for his shot. (Yes, shot as in singular - at 2 mos old, they recommend getting 5 different vaccinations for 8 different diseases. I cannot be convinced of the safety in that!) So as I laid him down on the table so she could give him the shot in his thigh, he looked up at me with these sad, sad eyes like "what now, mommy?" Then we both started to cry. The nurse looked at me and said "Happy Mother's Day!"

So aside from a not-so-enjoyable doctor visit, Liam is doing great! He has started smiling and cooing a lot in the past week. He has been sleeping for a few hours in his crib at night, but then when he wakes up to feed, I am just plain too lazy to get up to put him back in the crib, so he ends up sleeping the 2nd half of the night in our bed.

Bike Team

In every race Monte has signed up for, they always ask what team he's riding for. And that answer has always been some variation of "None", "Team Monte" or some other team names that he and Hagen have conjured up that I can't quite share on this blog. He was always proud that he rode for himself and wasn't all pimped out in all the sponsored gear.

As the biking season is nearly here, Monte has turned over a new leaf and has a different perspective on riding for a team. He will now be riding for Twin Six and definitely has a lot of sponsored gear he will be decked out in! Check out his bio.

Next up - 100 mile Almanzo ride.

Siblings

1 Month Old Nugget

1 month old! Many changes throughout the last 4 weeks - fillin' out and gettin' chunky!

1 month

2 weeks

1 week

Interior

Walls painted... ceiling fans up in bedrooms... hardwood floors laid in master (by Monte w/ help of his dad)... stairs in... closer and closer to the finish line.

Master

Liam's room

Ani's room