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Me and Cec with John Legend.

Malcolm and Jessica, the couple who made the John Legend experience happen!!

Jimmy playing the Wii. He loves this thing.

Our 2 boys!!!

Well, I am back to my once every 3 weeks posting regimen. Sorry about that. Things have been a little hectic. However, unlike most updates there is actually a lot of stuff to report in this one. You slower readers try to keep up.....

Cole is now sitting up, has been for 2-3 weeks now. He's graduated to the high chair for meals, and is eating solids (stage 2 baby food) 3 meals a day, in addition to his regular feedings. He is a horse of a child, over 18 pounds at his last checkup. He's starting to scoot, and trying to get his knees under him. I have a feeling he may be mobile very shortly. It's pretty cool to me how even after already seeing this all happen once with Jimmy, it's still amazing to watch him change and develop. I thought maybe the excitement wouldn't be so great this time around since we've seen it all before already, but that's just not the case. I can't wait to come home each day and see what new thing he's trying to do. He's also very vocal and playful, which makes it that much more fun.

Jimmy is even more firmly entrenched in the terrible 2's. We're still attempting to potty train, with little to no success. In consecutive days he's managed to wiz on the couch, the floor (twice), and continuously hides from us, only to return with this horrid smell radiating from his rear area. And his mouth, I am sorry to say, is not getting much better. Cec really needs to start watching what she says in front of him (I hope she doesn;t read this, because she's convinced it's my fault).

Cec and I had an awesome opportunity to go to see John Legend and meet him backstage in Jacksonville. To make a long story short, we met this couple, Malcolm and Jessica, out at dinner the night before the SuperBowl while waiting for our table. We got sat first, and it was a table of 4, so rather than have them keep waiting we asked if they would like to join us. Turns out Malcolm is his personal trainer, and Jessica has been singing backup with him for 4 years, after singing with Alicia Keys for several years. They were in town because John was singing the SuperBowl Pregame show. They were really cool, and invited us to the show in J'ville, comped us tickets, the whole nine. It was an amazing show. Jessica is a show stealer, man does she have some talent. Plus, we got a couple cool new friends out of the deal, which makes it even better. They lead an amazing life, traveling the world, meeting famous people. It sounds awesome but crazy at the same time. I don't think I could handle it, but luckily we're gonna keep in touch so we can live vicariously through them!! As a side note, we passed the test of the first night away from the baby, which really is a story all by iteself.

Finally, I managed to finish the half marathon a few weeks back without dying. My goal time was 1 hour, 45 minutes, and I beat that 5 minutes. Plus I didn;t have to stop at all, so I consider that a success. Of course I had a hard time walking for 3 days after, but that's another issue. This past weekend I did my first race, a Duathlon, of the season, with decent results. 4th place in age group, 41st overall out of 350. Lack of training the past few weeks really hurt me though, as I should have been top 20 overall and 2nd in my age group with just a little better time. That's ok though, it's kicked me back into gear with my training, which should yield some great results later this race season.

Hope to be back with more news and pics next week. In the meantime, take care all.

Cursing is Hilarious

At least it is when it comes out of the mouth of a 2 year old. And especially when it is used emphatically and in perfect context. Prime example: Jimmy has completed bogarted the Wii mom got us for Christmas. He's actually pretty good too. He plays all the sports, and knows which buttons to hit in which sequence to start the games, move from screen to screen, etc. It's almost frightening in a way. Anyway, a few nights back, he finished eating dinner and was playing tennis while Cec and I were finishing our meals, when he misses a ball and lets out a well timed "oh sh&*". We both turned around in shock, and informed him that he was not to say that word. He apologized, restarted the game, and promptly missed another shot, which was followed by an even more emphatic "son of a bi%#*". At this point I busted out laughing, which only made things worse. I don't even know where he could have heard these words before, though Cec is adamant that I use them freely when I am playing Wii myself, and that must be where he got it. He actually let another "SOB" fly at lunch today when the cheese fell off his pizza, which I thought was even more hilarious. It too was emphatic and used in perfect context. Needless to say daddy has to start watching his mouth a little more around the house.......

In other news, well, there's not really any other news to report. If you are reading this then you should be thrilled that it only took 2 weeks between updates, which I think may be a record. Cole continues to put on weight at a record pace. We've been contacted by NBC about his interest in Biggest Loser Babies, season 8, but we think he may too young for that yet.

On a personal note, I got to go to the Florida-Oklahoma BCS Championship game with my dad, which was one of the coolest sporting event experiences of my life. What a great game and atmosphere, it was off the charts. Also, this weekend I will be running the Clearwater Beach Half Marathon (13.1 miles), for which I am supremely undertrained and not at all prepared. Could be a VERY long morning, and should go a long way toward shattering my confidence heading into the 1/2 Ironman in May, at which I must run 13.1 miles AFTER a 1.2 mile swim and 56 mile bike. If I can't do the run by itself, how the hell am I supposed to do it after all that? Let's hope I surprise myself this weekend. Race report will be posted next week.....

That's all for now, short update. We just got our computer back, so I will try to post some new pictures next week. Take care all.............

Fast Forward.......

Is it just me, or is it amazing how quickly 2-3 weeks can turn into 2-3 months? I actually had decided that I was going to scrap this whole blog thing, since I was convinced no one was reading it except for me. Well, much to my surprise I've actually been asked by a few people why I haven't updated it since forever, so I decided for those few loyal readers I would try to do a better job heading into 2009.

I will apologize in advance for the lack of pictures in this update. Our home computer has officially taken a dump after months on life support. It is currently at a friends for major updating and modification. Luckily, we haven't lost anything important, so once we have it back I will be sure to post some new pics. In the meantime these cell phone pics will have to do.

There is lots to catch up on from the past 3 months, so I will try to keep it as succinct as possible. Cole is now 5 months old, and he is HUGE!! At his last checkup he was 25 1/2 inches and 16 1/2 pounds. He's skipping the whole rolling over stage and trying to go straight into sitting up. He is such a happy baby, very vocal and interactive even at this young age. We've been blessed so far with two babies who were not cryers.

Jimmy is now firmly supplanted into the terrible twos. Everything is "no", "stop", "why", "because", "mine", et al. It's sad to me sometimes how much of my time I spend arguing with a 2 year old, and even sadder how much of that time I am losing the argument. We've narrowly avoided emergency room trips twice in the last month after a couple nasty spills resulted in blood coming from his face/head region. Each luckily only ended of being a small gash and neither required stitches by some miracle, but they could/should have been much worse. He's really a lot of fun, but so full of energy it's exhauting. I don't know how Cec does it every day with the two of them, but she is fantastic. She was born to be a mom.

Speaking of Cec, she is also doing great. She's going to the gym and looking great, and as I said is a natural with the boys. Thanks to her Jimmy already knows all his letters, shapes, colors, AND can count to 10 in 4 languages and to 40 in English. Plus he's doing puzzles well beyond his years. He gets bored with the ones he has, so he turns them over and does them with the blank side up. How scary is that? Another really smart person I know used to do that too. OK, it was me, how's that for odd things being passed along in the genes?

The holidays were crazy as always but a lot of fun this year. Probably the best Christmas I can remember. Mom and Dad took everyone to Disney for the Christmas parade and Fireworks, which was amazing. Then of course the presents abounded, and we spent 2 days reorganizing our house to make room for everything. We had no choice though, we needed space in the back room to play our new Wii (again, thanks to mom for that one as well.)

As for me, nothing new to report. Race season finished with a Top 3 finish at the Athletes for a Cure Tri in Orlando in Sept, then I did nothing for basically 2 months. I'm training now for a 1/2 marathon next month, then a few small local races before I head to Orlando again in May for my first crack at the 1/2 Ironman distance. 1.2 mile swim, 56 mile bike, 13.1 mile run, and I am sure every minute of it will hurt, especially if I don't get my arse in gear. Work is great, family life is awesome, and I love being a dad more than I ever thought possible. All I can say is I feel really blessed heading into 2009, and am looking forward to another fun, exciting year.

I hope all who read this have a had a great holiday season, and we wish you all a Happy New Year and all the best in 2009. Check back often, more pictures should be posted within a few days once we get our computer back. Take care all............

New Update Woo Hoo

Sorry its been a few weeks, things have been hectic with the trip to Chicago, work, oh yeah, and the new baby. The same issues from the last post still apply - sleep is at a premium, and there is not enough of it to go around. But it is getting better. Cole is getting fatter by the minute. It's funny to me because he is so different that way than Jimmy was. Speaking of Jimmy, he has taken to a new habit - jumping off of anything he can climb up. I saved his life no less than three times this weekend at the playground.

Cec is doing great. She looks fantastic only 6 weeks after having Cole, and joined the gym the last week to work herself the rest of the way in pre-baby shape. Maybe she'll even try her first triathlon next year. We've talked about it, and there's a good possibility you'll be reading about her race results on here sometime soon.

Speaking of which, the trip to Chicago was a success. I finished 36th out of 500 people in my age group, which I was very happy with. As usual I think I could have been a few minutes faster, but the race was very good. I was also 290th out of 4100 overall. Besides the race we had a great time as well. My Mom, Stacy, and Tyler all went as well, and it was great to have them along. It would have been a tough trip with the two boys without the extra hands. We had some great meals, saw the sights, and even took my Mom by her childhood house, school, and church, which was really cool to see.

Next up on the racing docket is the Athlete's for a Cure Triathlon to support Prostate Cancer research. I have also signed myself up as a fundraiser for the event, because I think it it a good cause to support. If you are interested in donating, you can visit my personal page here.

http://AFACTri.kintera.org/jimberningafac

Other than that things are just chugging along. We keep dodging hurricane bullets here on our coast, hopefully we can keep clean for a few more weeks until the season ends. I hope everyone reading this is doing well.

Sleep Deprivation Rules!!

Here's a couple updated pics of the little man. It's been 3 weeks since Cole's arrival, and I had forgotten how trying the first few weeks can be with a new baby. Don't get me wrong, he is an awesome baby. When it comes to our boys, we've hit the kid lotto. Jimmy did not cry at all when he arrived, and even now as he enters the fabled terrible twos. he's still a really good kid. Cole is starting out the same way. He doesn't cry at all, unless of course he's hungry (which is every 2-3 hours, like clockwork), or poopy (which is about every 10 minutes it seems like). But the lack of sleep starts to take its toll after about 5 days, and Cec and I both are running on fumes. My buddy Brad coined the term "two ships passing in the night", and that's exactly what we've become. We are now playing man to man defense, but it feels like were outnumbered 5-2.

Despite the lack of sleep and what has been a crazy work schedule the past two weeks, I've still been managing to sneak a few workouts in here and there. We leave for Chicago this Friday, and I am racing the Accenture Triathlon on Sunday. This has been my target race since I started training last year, and I am praying for some good results. If my tuneup this past week in Tarpon Springs is any indication, I should be in for a good race. For the second race in a row, I led my age group out of the water, but this time actually held the lead for the entire bike portion. I was passed about 1/2 mile into the run by one guy, and but managed to hang on for a 2nd place finish in my age group (out of 22), and an 18th overall out of about 300 racers.

What can I say about life with a too smart 2 year old? I can't cuss anymore, and have to watch every action, since he seems to pick up and emulate everything after seeing it only once. Here he is copying how the dogs eat, no hands, no fork, no problem. And also modeling Aunt Stacy's chic glasses. Anyone who's ever had one knows exactly what it's like, and if you haven't, it's hard to put into words. Just imagine the most difficult, fun, tiring, hilarious, awesome, irritating, fantastic thing you can think of, and maybe it's close to this experience.

For now it's off for some Hurricane preparation. Check back next week for updates from the Chicago trip and other nonsensical ramblings that will pertain to nothing in particular.

He's Here!!!

Ladies and Gentlemen, after much anticipation, baby Cole has arrived. He was born at 12:02 pm on Friday, 7/25. 19 inches long, 7 pounds 5 ounces, and a full head of black hair. 10 fingers, 10 toes, and yes, still a boy!! And my God, does he look like his brother. It's almost scary in a way. Ceci was unbelievable, she pushed for 9 minutes. 9 MINUTES!!!! And Aunt Cynthia was a great coach, helping me urge her toward the finish line and lending a helping hand. It was so much easier this time around, except for one issue, which is detailed below. Read on.....

His full name is Cole Exavior. And yes, the middle name is as interesting as the story behind it. We had wanted to have a hispanic middle name for him to honor Cecilia's heritage and history (yes, she's hispanic for those of you that did not know, she was born in South America, Bolivia to be exact).

We've gone round and round looking for a name, maybe familial, maybe not, but something that would pay tribute to her routes. Well, we had a little scare during Cole's birth. I don't want to make it seem worse or more dramatic than it was, but thanks to a tightly wrapped cord around the neck, he came out blueish, limp, with no pulse and not breathing. They did not have to intibate him, and were able to get him breathing with the manual respiratory and a little prayer. I swear it happened so quickly, we didn't really know how bad it might be until we heard him crying and the nurse call to cancel emergency respiratory and say "it's ok, we got him back". The whole thing was less then sixty seconds, but very scary nonetheless.

Anyway, after all ths we felt blessed that he made it ok was so strong, and felt his middle name should reflect something about what happened, even if just for us since he won't know anything about it for quite some time. We began looking for spanish words and names with meanings along these lines, and Cecilia found Exavior at this link, meaning "to be strong". And with that, the name was decided.

http://www.babyboyandgirlnames.com/Hispanic-Names.html

Well, that's about all I have time for now, things are hectic as you can imagine. Cec and Cole come home tomorrow, so be on the lookout for more updates and pics coming soon. In the meantime, here is a bonus pic of Jimmy for those who haven't seen him in a while. Is he getting huge or what?

I am a Lazy S.O.B......Sorry

Wow, it's really been two months since I updated this thing?!?!? Well, doubt anyone is checking this thing anymore, but just in case I figured I should try to update something. The past two months have really been crazy, but that's no excuse. We have been scrambling to get ready for the new kid, due to arrive TOMORROW!!!! That's right, we head to the hospital tonight and induction takes place tomorrow morning. Suddenly, we are out of time. Panic hasn't set it yet, but its getting close. I think were ready, but I'm sure there is something were forgetting. I just hope its not something too major......

We've decided on Cole for the name, though its not concrete yet. Until its on the paper there is always the chance for a change. We'll make that call once we see what he looks like. But we are super stoked, and I promise I will have pictures posted this weekend.

Training and racing has been going well. I scored my first top 5 age group finish a few weeks back at the Dunedin Sprint Triathlon, which was pretty cool. I actually led the race out of the water, which was also a first for me. For those doubting my story, here is the proof.

Thanks to Lisa, my buddy's wife and fellow racer, for being there for this well timed shot. Yeah it looks photoshopped I know. Of course, you could always check out the race results here if you are so inclined or require further proof.

http://altavistasports.com/results/2008results/dunedintriathlon060808.html

The next race is Tarpon Springs August 9th, as a tune up for Chicago on August 22. Were taking the whole family up for race weekend and a mini vacation in the city. My mom and brother are coming too, so it should be an awesome trip. Look for more race updates and pics in the coming weeks.

Jimmy is set to turn two in a couple days. We actually had his party this past weekend to try and beat the arrival of Cole. I will post pics this weekend as well. He is growing like a weed, and talking WAY too much. Plus he's a daraedevil, and is constantly covered by some variety of scrapes, bruises, scabs, and the like. People tell me that's part of raising a boy, but I still have to question my parenting abilities somewhat. Just last night he decided to dismount his tricycle mid-pedal stroke, and I suddenly found myself carrying him inside bleeding from the mouth with a gashed bottom lip. It literally took .01 seconds, and I couldn't have stopped it even if I had known it was coming, but still...........

So now we are preparing for life with two. I know things changed a LOT when Jimmy arrived, but for some reason I have this hanging feeling that this might be even more dramatic. I can be honest with all of you and say I am scared to death, but excited at the same time. Life is about to get a lot more interesting, that's for sure. And I will try to keep this updated as much as possible to keep you all up to date on the adventures along the way.......