Trip Back East

We came back to Massachusetts and New Hampshire for a few days to show Aidan off to the family. We had a party Saturday and have been seeing new people every day. Aidan did great on the plane and has been enjoying his time here.


Isaac's mom noticed there haven't been any pictures of the two of us together since Aidan was born! So, here it is :-)


Meeting his cousin Carmen. One shoe on, one shoe off!


He likes Rachel's long hair!


Jacinta was so happy to get to hold AJ!


Sarai wanted to see what Aidan would look like with hair!


Newest skill: Sucking his fingers! He's been doing that almost non-stop since we got here.


Heather and Sohrab came over to meet Aidan.


We went up to NH and Aidan got to meet Brittany, Kristen, TJ, and Morgan. And I actually forgot to take photos with everyone - sorry guys!


Sporting his moose sweater for his trip to NH.


Giggling with Isaac.


Chilling with Isaac.


With his Grandma and Grandpa.


Playing with Uncle Abram.

Baby On Board

Just Hangin' Out

After a super busy first week back at work, we really enjoyed relaxing a little over the weekend. Aidan enjoyed rolling around on the floor, playing in his donut, sitting in his bumbo, bouncing in his jumparoo, and of course getting held plenty! The weekend flew by way too quick.

He suddenly looked much bigger to me today, which corresponds with his extra eating over the last few days!






It's been in the 60's, so we also took Aidan out on a walk on Saturday, and today he got to sit outside with Terri while the bigger kids played in the backyard. He seems to love it out there!

Mmmm... fists

Aidan has his 3 months shots today and did much better! I think last time there was a particularly painful vaccine that really made the muscles sore, while today they were pretty easy ones. But, we did try rubbing his thighs right after, so maybe that helped too!


Mmmm... fists.


Taking a little walk before pajama time.

Aidan @ Three Months

It's already been 3 months! Here are the latest things Aidan does:
- Giggles
- Steps while supported (see the Christmas video!)
- Happily sits in his donut
- Bounces a little bit in his Jumparoo
- Sleeps for 8 hours at night!
- Loves soft things, like his monkey, his puppy, and his special blankets.


Still holding strong with blue eyes!


I made him a super soft blue blanket with his name sewn onto it. It's two layers so the back side of the letter stitching is hidden. Already he loves grabbing the edge!


Aidan is lifting his head high!

Not such a bad day...

I was dreading this day since before Aidan was even born, but so far it's gone pretty well! Aidan ate twice before we left, then I dropped him off and he was perfectly happy to see Terri. He had a great day there, and especially enjoyed their song time. He had two good naps and ate three bottles, and was all smiles when I picked him up! We've played for a while and and now he's having another nap. He was pretty cranky the last two evenings, and I thought it might be that he was tired but overly stimulated, so we'll see how the rest of the evening goes. Hopefully he'll still sleep well through the night!

Work was good, it was nice having a shorter day. In a way it's like I never left! I did miss Aidan tons, but it was good to know he was perfectly fine.

More later to celebrate Aidan's 3 Month Birthday - with more pictures for GB!

Playin' with soft things

Aidan is loving everything that's soft and fluffy!


Giggling while being attacked by the pillow!


Talking to his monkey. He also loves to put it right up to his face to feel it. He's good at actually picking it up and moving it around (he moved it to that position, not us).


He loves grabbing around the edge of his special blankie too.

A Day of Firsts

Aidan went to day-care today for a few hours this afternoon - he did great! He had a bottle right after we left, played a little, napped a little, and then was having another bottle when I got back. It was so cute, the other little kids were standing up against the couch, watching him. They all really liked him. He seemed perfectly happy, so I was relieved.

Isaac and I also had our first ride together since early last year, and it was also Isaac's first ride in about 6 weeks I think. It was really warm but super windy. We went out to 36 and saw all the burned areas - there was a wildfire in the foothills yesterday that burned 100 acres!

More cute photos of Aidan coming soon, we need to make some dinner and stuff.

New Beginnings

It's finally time to drag myself into the gym and onto the bike for another season of bike racing. I'm a little soft across the middle and it'll take some discipline to make Kevin weep on his bike, which is my ultimate goal.

Each new year brings new promise -- after all, I just need to train a little harder than last year and I'll be faster, right?

I think in meeting with Hunter Allen in December I've realized that I'm not like most other racers. My best performances came on the heels of a lot of volume, not on the heels of lots of intervals and a taper. My solution: maintain a high volume even when doing intervals, taper earlier than normal, and stoke the fire in the week leading up to a big race.

This year Jenna and I are looking forward to traveling to Tucson for a training camp in March, maybe do the Gila, and once Salida is in the rear-view mirror it will be an all-out full-frontal assault which hopefully will culminate in the Elite race at Nationals. A guy has got to have his dreams.

Also, I've got to find time to make it down to Colorado Springs to cash in on my 3D bike fit.

Fourth Trimester Happenings

Mamma's Boy

Aidan is starting to notice who's holding him, and he really loves his mommy right now! It's cute, and of course it's nice to get some love back from him, but it'll make it harder to leave him next week. We're doing a couple hours of day-care on Thursday, and half-day Friday, then on Monday it's back to work, full-time, for me. :-( I'll miss him terribly of course, but it'll be better long term that I'm going back to work - I'd go stir crazy at home and I think I'd run out of things to do with him! At least he'll get to play with other babies and toddlers, he'll probably develop faster that way. And I'll get him at 4:00 every day so that he still gets lots of mommy and daddy time.

He's like me - happy to go to bed. It's so cute at night, we get done with his last feeding, then I change him and swaddle him, lay him in his crib, and he doesn't make a peep. When I check on him a few minutes later he's always fast asleep!! Let's hope bedtime stays this easy. :-) And yesterday he made it from 10pm to 6am!

Latest AJ faces and skills

Our little guy is having fun laughing and learning!


He giggled for the first time today! He loved having Isaac tickle his face with his feet! Don't we all?


Such a cutie pie!


His new hat is still a little big for his little head!


He's really enjoying hugging his new puppy blankie, he's great at grabbing it. I think he likes how soft it is.

He's also been practicing his walking skills more, like in the video. It's amazing, it's all him doing the stepping, he just needs some support. He's also getting interesting in the toys on his new jumper.

He slept until 5 yesterday and 5:30 am today (and went back to sleep after) so we're pretty close to him sleeping until I have to get up for work. I think another week and we'll be good to go.

10 Years Together

On this day 10 years ago, I came back from a family ski vacation and Isaac and I officially became a couple! We had dated a little in 1998 but I was a silly freshman, so it took me until after the trip to realize Isaac was the one for me. Here we are, 10 years later, married with a beautiful baby! It definitely was the best decision I ever made. Of course we don't actually celebrate our dating anniversary anymore, but it was neat that we ended up getting married on our 6 1/2 anniversary - July 3, 2005. Photo is from my Junior Prom, 2001.

I do love my Honey.