Brian's 2009 triathlon season is officially over. He competed in the Nation's Triathlon in DC on September 13th. Unfortunately, not a great finish in his eyes. This year just didn't reap the results he hoped for. His accident really set him back as he couldn't swim at all for a couple weeks. I think he did incredible, considering the circumstances. He finished 12th out of the Amateur Elites and 22nd overall out of 2500 male competitors. He felt okay during the race but cramped at the very end of his run and had to walk a few steps. He won't compete with the Marine Corps Triathlon team the next couple years because he will be too busy with his new job and deployments. But of course he'll go back to it someday.
I'm glad we got to watch him for his last race of the year. The boys and I were up and on the road by 6:15am, on a train to DC by 7, and at the race site in time to see him bike. (Impressive, huh?!) He was in the first wave, so that made it easy for me to find and follow him. Brian generally loathes DC, so he wasn't sure why he chose that race, but I thought it was pretty cool!
Memorial Bridge (Cade says, too early for pictures Mom)
Ringing the bell for Daddy
Biking into the transition area
Wow, that's a lot of bikes
Cole's first tri
Brian and his future triathletes
Another week later, we were on a plane to Iowa. We wanted Cole's baptism at my church, which gives us a "home base" where Brian and I were married and both boys were baptised. Of course this meant packing up a billion items and flying across the country. Both our boys are good flyers though because Caden was a trooper as usual and Cole slept the entire time. Flying will always be stressful, but they definitely make it easier on us.
Cole's plane
The baptism was nice...and noisy. Cole was quiet...our noisy one was Caden! While we were doing the ceremony, we had no choice but to leave Caden and his cousin Lawson ALONE, essentially unsupervised. We returned to John Deere tractors everywhere and crushed fruit loops throughout the pew. Oh boy. Father Frost didn't throw them out though so I guess even God understands noisy kids.
Godparents Jen and Dane
Wow...that's a lot of grandparents
Father Frost baptised Cole
After mass, my Mom threw one heck of a party and about 50 people attended, including the Goettsch's, Klindt's, and Geraghty's. Even my Grandma and Grandpa Goettsch were there because they had not moved back down to Texas for the winter yet. Jennifer and her boyfriend Kyle drove in from Denver and all Brian's immediate family came from Cedar Rapids. We felt blessed to have so many people want to take part. Plus, Aunt Virginia made the cake and those cakes are seriously WORTH flying across the country.
Cole meets the Greats
Grandma Klindt's hand and Cole's little foot
Great G&G Klindt
Caden carried that doll around all night. ?!?! Hmmm.
3rd cousins Cole and Colton, born a month apart...obviously budding football stars
Sunday morning after the baptism, we got up early and drove to Cedar Rapids. Grandma Geraghty celebrated her 100th birthday and we planned the trip so we could attend her party. Almost the entire Geraghty clan showed up and we got some great photos. Grandma was glowing and looked so nice in her new outfit. She's such a neat lady. I hope to be half as cool as her when I'm her age (if I ever make it to 100...what a feat).
The greats
Grandma with her children and spouses
The Geraghty's
Our Geraghty's with Grandma
We fit a lot in during our 2 days in C.R. In addition to Grandma's party, we enjoyed Matt's gourmet meals at the Hasleys for 2 nights and watched both Allie and Gabrielle play volleyball. Brian helped Pat do a lot of errands. All the activities resulted in LATE nights though. Cade was seeing the 11:00 hour...yikes.
Hey...he's not holding it by the neck like this summer. Yay!
Gotta get in a ride on Shadow, of course
Lawson and Cade, partners in crime
Aunt Stephanie shows the nieces and nephews some stunts with the Mule
Gabrielle's VB game
Wiped
So afterwards, we made an educated decision to extend our stay and spend one more night in Avoca. We were tired at that point and we didn't really want to drag the boys on a plane the same night we drove from Cedar Rapids. We relaxed and hung out on the farm and had a meal of steaks that night. It was a chance for Caden to get in his farm time and a good night's rest before we left again.
Very proud grandparents
Jeff is swinging?! You don't see this every day.
Grandpa went garage saling and found a treasure for his grandson
We flew back to Quantico on Wednesday the 23rd and life sped up even more after that. We had lots to do, and lots of people to see and say goodbye too before the big move to North Carolina on the 30th. My to-do list was a mile long. It sort of made me ill to even look at it the first couple days. With 2 little ones underfoot, I knew we would need help so I hired a house cleaner to help get the place ready for inspection. Brandee watched Caden the day the packers came so he would not get upset seeing the house packed up. We also purchased him some new toys to give to him at stategic times when we needed him to be distracted.
Thanks for the surprise going away bowling party, Caryn!
He dropped the ball numerous times...whoops
Goodbye to Landen, his idol
Last day at the house...and yes, Caden is having crescent rolls for breakfast
Goodbye house
After our stuff was gone, we worked right up until the last minute getting the empty house ready for the move-out inspection on Thursday. They tried to get us for some stains on the linoleum but Brian pointed out the water damage we had documented from a year ago to evade the $200 fee. WOO HOO! Brian gets a gold star for that one.
Finally, we got on the road. Whew. We both breathed easier. Caden was excited and kept telling strangers when we stopped, "I go to new house!" Only 315 miles and it was a quick trip. Not much time to breathe though because the movers showed up the next morning. Box after box after box, and we began to wonder where everything would fit. The nursery and the garage are still overflowing with stuff, but the rest of the house is coming together.
Now that our belongings are here, I LOVE the house more than ever. We have plans for projects, but we both agree the house is awesome. I really like some of the paint colors and will likely leave them as is. We've gotten out a little just to shop and eat out, but aside from that, unpacking is priority. I just want it to be done so we can get back to some normalcy!
Hey, look what we found in the boxes...A BABY!
Yay new house!
Our new welcome mat...yes, only me and Brian would buy a finish line welcome mat
Big master BR
Big master BR
More of the MB
And MORE...it really is big
Toward the back
The dining area (and Grandma Teresa's china cabinet)
The dining area (and Grandma Teresa's china cabinet)
I'm still not sure what to paint the kitchen?!
We got this awesome wooden table/bench for $100...we're going to fix it up!
So that's the scoop. I've been out of touch with EVERYONE, so nobody should feel neglected. Moving is just such a time-consuming task, especially moving between states, especially moving 2 trailer loads ourselves, and ESPECIALLY moving with two little kids! Now I'm here on my own the next few weeks. Brian is back in Quantico and will officially move here for good on the 15th. He checks in the 20th and will get the remainder of the month off.
Right before we left, Cole had his 2-month appointment. He weighed in at 13 pounds, 10 ounces. That puts him in the 98th perecentile for weight and 92 percentile for height. Aka, this kid is huge. His head is still pea size though...25 percentile. He's been sleeping through the night from about 10 until 7! Love that.
Tina, the giraffe outfit is awesome
Caden has been sleeping well too. The boys have seriously been cooperative for the most part. Caden did have one extremely whiney day this past weekend, but I guess he's allowed that after all he's been through. He's also had a couple nights where he was "scared" and woke up a few times but other than that the transition has been painfree.
I have to share one humorous story about Cade sleeping. He's never been one to nap much in the carseat, but due to the hectic lifestyle we've been leading, he's occasionally dozed off in the car recently. Brian returned from Lowes on Saturday and let Caden stay in the truck because he was still sleeping. Brian was working in the garage anyway and just rolled down the windows and kept an eye on him. At one point, he commented that Caden might still be holding a "treasure" in his hand...a chocolate covered strawberry. Oh crap. Great idea, Brian....THAT will be a fun mess to clean up. Yeah, that ended up being the understatement of the century. Caden woke up and was a bit startled to be in the truck. Brian immediately went to him but he was already too late. Caden had managed to rub that elusive chocolate strawberry ALL OVER HIS FACE. One of his eyebrows looked like a brown caterpillar. The poor little guy was freaked out for a good 45 minutes. So, we noted that perhaps letting him nap in the truck was not a good idea, and certainly not with a chocolate covered strawberry in his hand.
The chocolate kid...poor Cade!
Let's end with a happy pic from the County Fair last night
