Busy...Busy...

We've been really busy this last week and have neglected to take very many pictures of Brooks. I completed my Body for Life Challenge on Friday! It was an awesome feeling to accomplish such a hard goal. The Body for Life Challenge is a 12 week weight loss and muscle building program. It is very easy to understand, you don't starve and it WORKS! I lost almost 2o pounds (through the two 12 week cycles that I did) and lots of inches. I went from a size 12 to a size 8/10 depending on the brand. I also have tons of energy and feel a lot better about myself. I am now officially under the weight I was when I got pregnant with Brooks. It only took 17 months! :)

We did the St. Paul tri last weekend and both did really well. Greg got 11th place overall in a field of hundreds. I got 1st in my age group and was the 12th woman across the line. I surprised myself completely, as I don't train for tri's. I guess the Body for Life program pays off in more ways than I thought.

Greg snapped this picture as I was heading off to the gym. It was a beautiful day and so fun to take my scooter out. I haven't been able to ride it much because I obviously can't strap Brooks onto the back of it and he usually goes everywhere I go!

We went out to eat last night to celebrate finishing the Body for Life Challenge. Greg was super supportive of the whole thing and helped me through the times that I thought I was going to quit. Greg put diamond earrings under my pillow to congratulate me on my VICTORY! What a sweetie.

I didn't mention that I did the challenge with my sister Steph. We thought it would be fitting to wear matching dresses to celebrate. It was fun to feel good in such a "sexy" dress! Our dinner wasn't very tasty, but it was a romantic night. Greg and Keven borrowed a Cadillac sportscar to escort us around in. It was so fun.

The most important person...Brooks. He is such a buddy and has matured so much even in the last couple of weeks. His favorite thing right now is books. He sits still (for a short period of time) and lets us read to him. He is growing so fast and becoming a little man right before our very eyes.

What have we been up to?

There is no good reason for my lack of posting. We have been enjoying the summer and it is amazing how fast our weekends fill up! Greg and I were going over our schedule for the next 5 weekends and we have some type of "event" every weekend! We love being active and participating in so many activities.

Last Sunday we went to a mountain bike race in the Twin Cities. It was a very last minute decision to go to the race and Greg was super supportive of me doing the race. I used to race my mountain bike a lot, but since Brooks has arrived I have only raced 1 other time on my mountain bike. I didn't know what to expect since I had only ridden my mountain bike one other time this summer, but it wasn't as bad as I thought. I just decided to have fun and enjoy the ride. That is exactly what I did and felt really good when I was done. I have been training really hard (the hardest of my life) but just not for mountain biking. I guess some of the training crosses over, but I did quickly realize that my technical skills are pretty rusty. Anyhow, after only one fall and no blood, I rolled across the line happy to see my two buddies waiting for me. The best part of the day was Brooks enjoying watermelon at the finish.

After the race we went straight to Grandma and Grandpa Johnson's house. Brooks was a wild man after being in the car for 6 hours. He ran around their house like crazy and I was wondering if we'd be invited back. It sounds like Grandma and Grandpa understood because I got an email today inviting us back! I am just kidding--of course we are always welcome at Grandma and Grandpa's! Brooks enjoyed a ride on the pontoon and Grandpa even let Brooks drive the boat.

Brooks eats pretty much anything we put in front of him. He has never been a picky eater and also eats a lot. Last night Daddy got Brooks a sucker. Brooks called it a "ball"--of course! Anyhow, Brooks had the "ball" for dessert. He had veggie dogs for dinner and had some ketchup left over. He calls ketchup "dip-dip" because he "dips" his veggie dogs in it. Brooks decided that it would be really tasty if he "dip-dipped" his sucker in ketchup. He did this several times and really seemed to enjoy the flavor mix of ketchup and banana split sucker. He is such a funny kid.

We went to the park today and played for a long time. Brooks is now able to go down the slide by himself. Every time we go to the park things seem to get easier and easier. I don't want Brooks to grow up too fast, but I am enjoying that I don't have to shadow him everywhere he goes. When we got home Brooks was in desperate need of a bath. I am not the worlds best photographer, but think this picture is great. I love his rosy cheeks and his smile. He was so happy today.

Brooks is talking a ton lately. He says almost everything we ask him to say. He doesn't put sentences together or anything like that, but he is able to communicate super well. For example, tonight he wanted some popcorn when he saw that I was looking in the cupboard where we keep it. He clearly stated to me "pop-corn". I gave him some and that was exactly what he wanted. He says things like: Uncle, stick, down, eyes, ouch, uh-oh, duck, book, water (he says this when he sees puddles and when he wants something to drink!) and lots more that I can't think of right now! It is so fun to listen to him and he is so proud of himself when he communicates with us verbally.

This is a long enough post so I will close it for now. I promise not to wait too long until the next update. We went on a really nice hike tonight and have some pretty cute pictures that I will post next. We are off to a triathlon this weekend and the recap will follow!

Love to all who read.

Brewhouse Tri!

We got to enjoy the Brewhouse Triathlon this weekend! Oma and Opa volunteered to take ALL 3 grand-kids so we were all able to race the local triathlon. It was really fun. I was a little bit (okay, a LOT) stressed out about how far out the buoy seemed before the race. I was thinking that I should have signed up for the short course (1/3 mile swim, 10 mile bike, 2.5 mile run) BUT instead I was signed up for the long course (.8 mile swim, 20 mile bike, 5 mile run)! Last year I did the same thing. I stood on the beach, felt like I was going to throw up and convinced myself that I could not swim that far.

It ended up being easier than I had suspected (it was last year too) and turned out to be a really fun race, especially when it was over! We all did great. Each one of us shaved a bunch of time off of our last year's results. I suppose having a 16 month old instead of a 4 month old helped me, as I shaved off over 15 minutes from my time last year. Stephie dominated the race and crushed her time from last year too. It was really fun. I was pretty jealous seeing Stephie, Keven and Linda (Great-Auntie) finishing their run while I was JUST STARTING my bike. They were super encouraging though and Stephie told me she prayed for me the whole time she was running. What a great sister!

Lots of people ask us if we are twins. Sometimes we feel like lying and saying we are (we REALLY want to be twins), but we've decided that lying about it just isn't worth it. We just tell people that we pretend we are twins. Most people look at us like we are weird. We think it is funny.

The happy (the race was over) couples! Yeah! We all did so good. I am so proud of everyone today. It was an amazing effort.

Here is a self portrait of us before the race. Can you tell that we took it ourselves? Linda (blue swim suit) told me before the race started, that she wasn't doing the Brewhouse next year! I told her she can't decide that before the race. After the race and after she shattered her time from last year, she made it pretty clear that she will be in again next year. She's so funny.

The happy to be done couple! It was so fun to do an event together. Life has changed dramatically since Brooks entered our world so it is always fun to do events together when we get the chance. I should mention that we both think life has changed for the better (or should I say BEST?) since Brooks entered our world. Amen.

A trip to the fair

We went to the fair today. It was very dirty, but very fun. Brooks was "Mr. Tough Guy" until the animals got too close to him. It was pretty cute. He'd charge right at the animals, but cry and back up when they got too close. He ended up getting used to the animals and doing a great job feeding them (see below). Brooks also rode a ride all by himself (with his cousin Mags). He had so much emotion today and so many cute faces. What a blast.

He is so excited to see the animals. Brooks said "moo" at the zebra. I think he recognized the colors. Close enough! He's only 17 months old. He also said "horsey" today several times. His vocabulary is growing like crazy!

Brooks enjoyed feeding the animal a carrot. It took a while, but he warmed up to the idea.

Brooks was petting this baby animal like he pets our lab Scout. He was very gentle.

Brooks really wanted to see the camel. We brought him over and he got scared. We took him away from the camel, but then he wanted to go right back to the camel. I wish I knew what was going through Brooks' mind today. He was such a little Buddy.