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.