Lil' Em

On March 4th, 2009 Emily Elizabeth became the newest member of my family. This past weekend we had the opportunity to celebrate her 1st Birthday with some close friends and family.

Emily is Amie and I's second blessing. Both beautiful blond haired, blue eyed little girls. FYI, for future reference boys, don't be fooled by their sweet smile and big blue eyes. Beneath that beauty lies a very short fuse and a personality that knows what they want and when they want it. Most of the time it's, "NOW." However, if you can overlook those traits that their father passed down you'll find a big heart, endless hugs and kisses. My girls are precious.

It's amazing to me to look at Emily now. A whole year has passed by. She has grown so much and it seems like each day brings something new. Her and Addi are so much alike and so different. They both share the same physical and personality traits mentioned above but Em is a problem solver. She loves to figure things out. Give her some shapes and a box with cutouts in it and she'll find which shape goes where, or give her some rings and she'll stack them in the right order. She doesn't get frustrated when it comes to problems. Not having her milk ready when she wakes up though is another story.

Emily is so close to walking and talking, but right now she's content with crawling. Crawling fast! I'm pretty sure if she gets on a bike, she'll be a sprinter or if she keeps the "Lil" she might be a climber. Addi was the exact opposite when it came to these things. She almost walked before she crawled and she's loved to talk since the words "da da" came out of her mouth.

One thing is for sure, my girls love each other. To see Emily look up to Addi and follow her from room to room and want to play with and be like her big sister is awesome. And I don't think you could find a bigger sister who is more proud and loving than Addi. I'm not sure how many kisses Em gets every day from Addi but if I got a dollar for every kiss I could quit my job and live happily ever after.

Happy 1st Birtday Em! Daddy loves you and thank you for the smiles you bring to our family.

Lucky #13 Days Old

Emily is now 13 days old and everything is going great. It's amazing to me, to look at her and see how little she is and to think that Addi was that little just 3 years ago. It's hard to believe really. I mean here you have this little baby who can't really do anything and totally relies on you for everything, and within three years that little baby will just about be able to do everything all by herself, especially if she's as independent as her big sister. Addi keeps saying to me, "I'm getting bigger" and "I've gotta get bigger so I can get married." I don't like to think about her getting bigger because it's kind of sad to me. She's only three and I'm already worried about losing my little girl. She's always going to be my little girl and now I'm lucky enough to have two little girls. As far as the getting married part, I've asked her to wait until she's at least five years old and he can't eat his boogers.

Amie is doing an amazing job of being a Mommy. She always has but I'm in awe at how well she's handled everything. She takes care of almost all of the feedings and diaper changes. I come home from work and I try to help entertain Addi, maybe change a diaper or feed Emily, give Addi her bath and it's just about time for bed. Amie has even been encouraging me to keep my current get up early bike schedule and makes sure I'm in bed early enough to get up on time and she takes the overnight feeding. I don't know what to say except, I am very proud of you sweetie. You are doing an AMAZING job and I love you.

As far as cycling goes, right now I'm readjusting to my schedule. I took a few days off when Emily was born and then I was sick and took a few more days off and it takes my body a little while to get back in the swing of getting up so early. Readjusting sucks! I'm kind of in a phase right now where it's really hard to be motivated until I get on my bike, which makes getting up early even harder because really I'd like to just stay in bed and sleep. I haven't had the chance to ride with anyone in a while and I haven't been to a race yet and I feel like my body is saying "you need to ride fast for what?" I'm trying to just stay focused on next weekend. I'm pretty excited for the N.W. Arkansas Classic. It's a great race and I love the course. If I can just stay focused until then it'll all fall in place because there's enough stuff going on after that for me to stay motivated. I was hoping to get in on the Tuesday night rides but Mark told me to hold off on them because it would jack my schedule up and my scheduled w/o's are more important. I agree.


I'm hoping for at least one win this season. As far as when or where, at this point I really don't care as long as it comes. Maybe I should carry a pacifier in my pocket and do a little tribute to my girls just like Sastre did in the 2003 Tour de France as he took his stage win. Mine would probably be one handed though, I'm not sure if I'm brave enough to go for the full on V.

Let's race!

My Girls

Over the weekend Amie and I set up our backdrop stands and lights and decided to put some of our stored equipment to use. Before Emily was thought of we had converted a room in our house to be Amie's studio. I didn't realize how much I missed that studio until we did our little shoot. That studio would allow Amie to take portraits of the girls any time she wanted without a lot of hassle. Just pull the backdrop down and fire up the lights and you're good to go. Amie did a wonderful job with the girls and I think the pics look great.

Here are a few for your viewing pleasure.

You can check out a few more here.

Girls, Girls, Girls

Emily is officially five days old today. It's been a fast and very busy five days. Everyday is getting a little bit easier and everyone is starting to adjust to the new changes. Addi was an angel today and was an excellent big sister. She's trying so hard and I'm really proud of her. So far, not an ounce of jealousy, she just really wants to be involved. She likes to hold and help feed her baby sister and at any given time you can pretty much find her just sitting in her Dora chair watching Emily sleep or swing. Addi is quick on the draw when it comes to diaper changing and hand washing, she's pretty much got those things down. Amie is starting to get around a little bit better today. I know she is ready to be back to normal. Until then, I'm trying to do everything I can to help her do as little as possible. I go back to work on Wednesday, so I only have one more day off and then my mom is coming over Wednesday and Thursday to help out. So, Amie's first day solo is Friday and I'm sure she's a little nervous but I know she will do great. Between now and bedtime tomorrow I hope to have the laundry totally caught up, our mobile picture studio set up and some baby pics taken and whatever else comes my way. I've saved every bike magazine over the last two months I have a subscription for and even bought the book "A Dog in a Hat" thinking I would have all this time to read...I was wrong.

Yesterday Amie & I had to take Emily back to the doctor for her checkup and everything is great. She has gained 8 ounces since she has been home.

After our doctors appointment I thought it might be fun for Addi and I to have some "Daddy & Addi" time. We went out for some delicious Rusty's Frozen Custard and then headed to 4th Street Park. We had a great time. I really enjoyed our time together. It isn't too often that I get the opportunity to take her for ice cream and the park.

So, what's going on in my bike world? Well, Saturday I got my workout in. It was 2X25's. The weather was beautiful and I was able to do this workout outside for a change. That was nice but it is so much easier to hold a high wattage on the trainer than on the road. There are so many variances on the road that you really have to drill it to keep your wattage up or else the downhills will kill you. But it was nice to be outside for a change.

For Sunday I had talked to Mark and asked him to give me a workout to punish me for not being able to race yet. I want to pay my dues even though I haven't been able to line up at the starting line. Well, he did give me such a workout and it sucked because my legs were toast. I'm not sure if it was the 2X25's from the day before, the fact that I haven't gotten much sleep lately, or just everything going right now but my legs felt like lead. I had a hard time keeping my cadence up and when I tried to push a lower gear my legs would start to fatigue real fast. Like I said, it sucked and I was pretty disappointed in myself. I did save the w/o and plan on doing it as soon as things kind of settle down.

This week we are going to attempt to get things back to normal and I'm planning on getting up bright and early in the mornings just like usual. I've worked really hard making sure I get all my workouts in and not taking much time away from my family time. That is still my intentions and I know I can do it. I totally believe that if you want something bad enough you can make it happen. I'm setting my focus on the N.W. Arkansas Classic Road Race in a few weeks and I'm looking forward to finally getting the complete B.A.R. team together (it's only been missing me), bumping elbows and seeing all my buddies again. I can't wait to be rolling in a pack and hearing everyone's wheels spinning around me.

So, as I sit here writing this I realize that not only is Wednesday the day I go back to work but it is also the end of my daily Daddy & Addi time every morning. For almost the last three years Addi and I have spent every morning together getting ready, eating breakfast and then heading out the door to work and daycare. It's been a priceless time and I wouldn't change any of it for the world. I'm going to miss that time. The hours of my work day are also changing and I'll be going in a little earlier in the mornings, hopefully I don't miss too much time with my girls.