Oakdale Duathlon

Oh, Minnesota in the Spring time; 42 and rainy...

Art's 2nd annual running in the Oakdale Duathlon was this past weekend; in what I like to think was 'unusual' weather for Minneapolis this time of year.  I'm quickly learning that a cold day in Minneapolis is not 'unusual' no matter what time of year...and I just need to learn to accept that.

Needless to say, we had a great time and found a tent to use as shelter.  Thanks, Gear West!  Luckily there weren't any major bike crashes, so we were allowed to hang out under cover.  I started to feel more at home when I saw a few triathletes (I only know they're triathletes because they carried TYR backpacks) wearing Speedo gear and TYR sweats and bags.  Since it was only a run/bike/run, I had no interest in participating so my main role was playing Mom with the other moms and kids.  Probably my favorite role to play...

 Art's relay team finished 3rd overall, behind 2 Elite (aka Pro) teams.  I'd say that's pretty darn good for an amateur!

Post-race was recovering and reheating!  We had a few hours before our next activity of the day (happy bachelor/bachellorette party!) and many thanks to Grandma Vicki for coming to babysit visit!

 

Our new Toy!

The Fedex man will now be affectionately known as 'Santa Claus', which I'm not sure why I haven't felt this way about him before now...but it's official.  Yesterday, he brought us our fantastic new stroller, Maclaren Triumph, details here, and are now ready for all our airplane trips and all the running around we'll do this summer! 

Good thing Leah is just as excited as Mom is...

It's the youngest, lightest (11.5lbs!) umbrella stroller we could buy, for 3mos and up, so from now until Memorial Day, we'll be working on neck strengthening exercises and abs.  She'll be ready for it in no time!

Since online shopping is now my favorite way to shop (no schleping required), my heart now skips a beat whenever Mr Fedex, aka Santa, bangs on the front door!  So, maybe I don't get out of the house much, but the satisfaction is still there and I'm saving the environment (not to mention my sanity), one tank of gas at a time.

Hard at work...or hardly working?

Leah had fun playing in Mom's office chair...she sees Mom sit in this chair all day and wanted a little part of the action.

Our little Pisces

As I was reading through an adorable little catalog that I somehow managed to get on the mailing list for, I came across a page with all the zodiac signs as wall art (and pillows, of course) and thought I would read Leah's...

"Pisces, February 19-March 20
Pisces, the fish, is a sensitive water sign with lots of soul.  Generous and gentle, they are always there to listen and lend a hand.  The most creative and talented of signs, Pisceans make great artists, musicians, and writers."

I thought this was very fitting - with all the creativity and talent in both of our families, I have no choice now but to foster that right side of Leah's brain. 

First Family Picture Day!

Happy Easter, and a great excuse for a family photo.  Our first one actually.  We all got dressed up for a nice Easter dinner and had Grammie Joan help us with our photo. 

After about 27 tries, we got one that will work.  Leah is still super serious when she knows the camera is out, but we'll work on that as she gets older.  They say practice makes perfect! 

Laura's idea of a family photo...

 Art's idea of a family photo...

And this is why I have the best family ever!

Butterfly Love

Finally 'invested' in a mobile for Leah's room.  She's now seeing all the world around her and we needed to give her something interesting to look at while she's trying to fall asleep in her crib. 

We've chosen the theme of Butterflies in her room, starting with a painting by GG Peg (great-grandma Peggy), which was inspired by photos my mother took last year in her yard of the monarch butterflies that would swarm around the zinnias. 

With this in mind, I set out to find a 'cool' mobile that wasn't going to ruin the decor in her room.  The disney themed ones are cute and all, but the plastic stuff just makes me cringe.  Did a little research and found a wire mobile with clips so you could add your own toys or photos, etc.  This would be perfect for me to be able to personalize it and with my changing ideas, I can update it whenever I want! 

I found a butterfly template at PaperSource, my second favorite place to shop, a close 2nd to The Container Store, and picked up some fun printed papers and got to work! 

What do you think so far??  I still have about 12 to go, but certainly love the project and gives Art some alone time with Leah!

The Family bed? More like the Leah Bed...

When Leah has a bad nite's sleep, we all have a bad nite's sleep.  I have a feeling this won't be changing anytime soon.  So, when Leah won't fall back asleep, she will sleep and sleep hard when she's in our bed.  Art is usually the first one to leave, then I'm next...and this is how she takes over...

Leah Learns to Play!

Leah's now officially 2 mos old and has a clean bill of health from the Dr.  She's now 23.5 inches long and 11 lbs!  We have a nice and tall beautiful healthy baby.  She needs more tummy time and we need to start putting more toys within her reach.  She's already starting to find her hands and suck her thumb...today she prefers the Right, but we need to work on her being more ambidextrous.

And the biggest news of all...she's now slept through the night for the 2nd time in a row!!  I'm hoping this is a pattern and not a 2-time thing.  Here's hoping!

Out and About with Leah

We've finally started feeling more comfortable taking Leah with us out and about.  We had our first family dinner out last weekend and was surprisingly successful!  Obviously, she ate before we did, but she was a happy girl, thus a great evening out!

This past weekend we also dropped in on Great-Grandpa Johnson and had a wonderful visit!  Leah was very relaxed and certainly charmed Grampa very quickly.  He rocked her to sleep and she snoozed for about 30 min while the rest of us visited. 

We have a few more outings planned, but will have to wait for the weather to turn to do too much more! 

Our first Swim!

Leah and I hopped in the tub (with Dad's help, of course) and had our first swim lesson!  We did a little washing up while we were at it.  We played Little Ducky Duddles and Leah kicked her feet and sang along.  She was loving it and I can't wait to get her in the pool/lake for a real lesson when she gets a tad bit older!  Not to say there's anything wrong with laps in the tub - Lord knows both Kevin (brother) and I did laps in the tub until we were too big to call them laps - goggles on and all! 

Our equipment of choice when it comes to swimming at the lake (here comes the shameless plug):

Fabric Baby Float $19.99 at Target (we will get a photo like this...), a little sun bucket hat $9.99 at Target, and little neoprene booties, also $9.99 at Target.  She will be decked out in the cutest swim stuff around!  Not to mention her adorable little navy and orange (WAR EAGLE!) bikini!

The weather is teasing us here in MSP and am getting really anxious for the lakes to fully melt and the 70 degree weather to be here permanently!  Here's hoping it's soon!