Almost August...

Well, there is no definate news yet...baby is still comfortable inside Angie's belly.

But we are going to induce on Monday no matter what. So hopefully we will have a baby Vance by Tues at the latest. So be sure to check the blogsphere sometime then.

That's all the news...

Short and sweet---hopefully how the delivery will go :)

Doctor Appt. July 24th...

So, the next doctors appointment has come and gone...and No baby yet.

Vance seems to be bound and determined to stay just where he is. The doc said I am just not ready to go yet. So we made a plan to induce labor on Monday the 31st...if I go that long. Vance could also decide to come out earlier and make everyone more happy...especially Mom.

The problem now is that my insurance switches August 1st. So it may not cover me on August 1st because this is a "pre-existing condition". If we induced July 31st, the baby would probably be born August 1st...so therein lies the problem. I carried the baby for nine months and now we have insurance issues...ugh...

So now we are in conversation with the inssurance people to make sure we are covered and then we must decide to have the baby this week or next.

Either way he has to be deliverd soon...

So keep your fingers crossed that he decides to come this week on his own...we are all fine and still in the holding pattern.

Actually today Vin and my Dad built Kayak storage in the shed so that kept them busy. (Vin is about to lose it I think...he doesn't like to be kept wating.)

I spent more than half the day on the computer doing Nordic work and my Mom helped me with typing and layout of flyers and handouts. Then we took a break to go to the local "Bucks Furniture" and buy a ktchen table set--which I love and will get in a few weeks. YEAH...my highlight of the day!

So anyway---if you are all wondering..that's what's up!

Take care...will keep you posted... Angie and Vin

The Due date has arrived...

Well the baby due date has arrived and I feel will pass without baby Vance entering into the world...

He seems to be on his own clendar...so again we are in, what Vin calls, "The Holding Pattern."

I am still working from home doing all the Nordic soccer club items I can...I am the Director of Operations--nice official title. So I am working on advertising for tryouts and getting the administrative parts completed before the baby arrival. Vin is at home going stir crazy...he starts a new job Aug 1st as as the baby takes longer to get here he gets a bit more neverous that he cannot help as much as he should. Hopefully he just won't go to work completely exahusted, since I too still have responsiblities to the soccer club during baby arrival. Nothing like planning on our part.

We have been trying to stay cool here in VT. Believe it or not it is HOT. Very humid and muggy as well. Last night we slept in the basement--with two fans on us as well. It was 9 degrees cooler down there than the first floor, not to mention 13 cooler than the bedrooms. Don't worry, the basement is a finished room with small bed. The dogs even enjoyed the releif. It was so much cooler!

Yesterday Vin and I were so hot we went out and bought another kayak at noon. So now we each have a kayak. We went to the reservior and rowed for a bit...people laughing at me asking if my obstitritian makes boat calls. But I did not care...we rowed to the rock, docked the boats and swam for an hour. I actually floated...I seem to float very well right now! It was fun and very refreshing.

Nala and Reese have been staying home recently becuase Reese is hurt. We are not sure if it is her knee or ACL, or hip. BUT either way she is very ginger on her rear left leg. So we take them out once a week to get to the water and then she limps the rest of the time. We are sad, and trying to heal her if we can. She is on pain meds and muscle relaxors and "hippie tea" as Vin calls it. Some herbs that our dog friend suggested. We hope to give her lots of rest after the baby comes.

I have lots of pictures I would love to post, but my computer is on dial-up so that would take forever! I have pics of myself floating belly up in the water...and it is pretty funny!

Anyway...will keep you posted and hopefully the next time we write it will be with photos of baby Vance...

Angie

Vin's Race reports and a couple pics

On June 24 I raced in the Tupper Lake Tinman 1/2 iron distance race 1.2 mi swim/56 mi bike/ 13.1 mi run. The day started off at around 7:00 with a dense fog that prevented seeing even the first buoy on the swim course. But within 45 minutes the fog lifted and it turned to a bluebird day. The water was a refreshing and wetsuit legal 72 deg. I was in the 3rd wave out with about 150 others in my wave. As the horn sounded all 150 swimmers stated a mad sprint to get into a space and get a rhythm started. I had a decent amount of body contact during the first 1/4 mile but after that it become a bit more spaced out and didn't really have much trouble with bumping into people until the fast swimmers from the waves behind me caught up. When that happens you tend to have people swimmng over the backs of your legs and stuff like that. It sounds alot worse than it is. Some people do kind of freak out when that happens but for me it is now just part of the day. I exited the water feeling pretty good with a 39:50 for 1.2 mi. Which is a bit slow for me. I need to learn how to swim faster and keep a straighter line. All the course corrections cost me some time.

I had a good transition and headed out on the bike. My goal for the bike was to keep it under 3 hours (~19 mph). For those that don't know where Tupper Lake is, it is in the Adirondacks of NY state. "Rolling terrain" is kind of an understatement since we aer in the Adirondacks after all. There were a few decent sized climbs but nothing too huge. I felt really good on the bike and immediately started passing many racers. At the turn around (28 mi) I was 1:20 into the ride averaging well over 20 mph. But as soon as we make the turn I realized there had been a light tailwind with us. I was thinking "I don't think I can hold this speed for another 28 mi with a headwind." But to my suprise I was only 3 minutes slower on the return and ended the bike with a 2:43(20.6 mph ave) for 56 miles. The bike felt easy to me, probably too easy.............

As I exited the second transition I was feeling pretty good. My goal was to run about a 8 min/mi pace. My first mile was a 7:45 mostly uphill, not bad but I decided this was still a bit too fast and slowed to my goal pace of 8:00 which I held for about the next 4-5 miles and then proceeded to blow up. I slowed to an 8:30 pace then 8:45 by mile 8. The last 5 miles were a struggle. I felt like my legs were going to fall off. I wasn't even breathing hard, I just had no gas left. By the end of the run my pace was well over 9min/mi and ended the run with a 1:58 (9:01/mi ave). My overall time of 5:24:07 was still within my goal range of 5- 5.5 hrs so I pretty happy with than and I'll chalk the explosion on the run up to a learning process. I think I could have gone slightly slower on the bike and not have lost quite so much time on the run. I also need to eat more on the bike. I probably only took in ~550-600 calories on the bike and I should have been closer to 750. I also need to learn how to swim faster and straighter.

Here's a pic of me at the finish
still managing a small but painful smile

But overall I am very happy with my performance and just glad to have achieved my goal of completeing a 1/2 iron race.

The following week, I entered a sprint tri, which got turned in to a duathlon due to the fact that the water in that part of Lake Champlain we were going to be swimming in was not fit for swimming....ick... So it turned into a run-bike-run format of 3.1mi-15mi-3.1 mi. I PR'd the first 5K run in a time of 20:38, had a pretty decent bike and then kind of slowed with a second run of ~23 min. I ended up with a sore hamstring from the second run that is still kind of nagging. But I was 18 overall with a time of ~1:29 and change

This past Sunday was yet again another race day for me. This time in Fairlee, VT. I raced there last year as well and it is such a nice lake and well organized race I decided to go back sore hammy and all. This is a slightly longer race, olympic distance. But this year it was shorter than last due to some poor road conditions on part of the bike course. Distances were .75S/17B/5R.
Yet again my typical race routine went into effect slow swim 238/600, fast bike 90/600, and ok on the run 168/600. I ended up 151/600 overall and about halfway up in my age group.

That's it for me I think until after the baby comes and I get to see exactly how tired I can really be.

Thanks for reading

Vin

What we Are up to...and baby updates

Vin made shelves for the baby room. The first shelves, by the rocking chair, he had help from my dad and his dad. They did a great job building the unit and then Vin stained and finshed it. The other shelf unit, Vin designed on his own to fit the celing and wall...looks neat eh? He did a great job, baby Vance will be so proud of his dad!



My friend Kathy came up to visit with her two girls. It was fun to see her again. Here we are in the kitchen. My 37 weeks prego belly...nice. Notice she is in jeans and a sweater, while I am in a tank and shorts! Can you tell I am warm all of the time!
Reese has found a new spot to sleep when we work on the computer. We placed the toy chest uder the window for the baby, and Reese has found she loves to sit on it and look out the window. Then when she gets bored she lays down and looks at us. So CUTE!

Vin raced in his first 1/2 Ironman and has pictures yet to come. BUT last Wed night I headed down to Waterbury with him for a fun time-trial on his bike. I took the dogs and the truck and follwed the course. I would pull over periodically to cheer and take photos. This photo is of him climbing the last part of the course. He road 12.5 miles in 22.5 mph. So he did well and is getting faster on his bike.

I had another doctor apt today and nothing new. I am fine, baby is fine and still growing. We are all just wating on Vance now to decide to come! I am not having any contractions or very many Braxton Hicks for that matter. So we are just waiting...