Oliver is having a baby brother!

We found out the week of Christmas that we are having another boy (Due May 30)!  We trained Oliver to say "baby brother" and were hoping he would tell our families.  He decided to clam up at the oportune moment though...so we had to break the news ourselves.  I'm not sure he really understands yet.  It is going to be so fun having two little boys and Oliver will be a great big brother : )

Christmas in Victoria 2010

My parents both live on Vancouver Island and Mike's sister and her family live there too, so we decided to go over to Victoria this year to celebrate Christmas. It was really fun to be able to see nearly all of both of our families over the holidays, but it made for lots of coordinating and scheduling due to our limited time there. We ended up having 3 christmas dinners in 4 days! Oliver loved seeing everyone, especially his grandparents : ) Oliver was really into Christmas this year - the lights, the trees, santa and all the presents. With his birthday too, he opened a LOT of presents! He even helped make a gingerbread house.

Not so sure about meeting Santa...

On the ferry to Victoria



Christmas dinner number 1



With Grandma Jo and Cousin Toots

Christmas dinner #2

Christmas morning

Grandma Sue, Auntie Wisty and Lulu

Putting the finishing touches on the gingerbread house

All dressed up for dinner #3

Grandma Sue

Even Lulu got dressed up

Home alone?

Sweet Cousin Savannah

Hearding cats for a group photo with the Withrows

Oliver's 2nd Birthday!!!

Oliver turned two today. A birthday so close to Christmas certainly has its challenges. This year we were celebrating Christmas in Victoria with both our families, so we decided to throw a party for Oliver there. Auntie Katie and Uncle Andy offered to have it at their house, my mom made an awesome firetruck birthday cake, and everyone helped put up streamers and balloons. Unfortunately, Oliver wasn't feeling 100% healthy that day and he had a short nap. So when he woke up and so many people were there and all looking at him, he was a little unsure of things. He perked up when Andy got out his guitar, he got to open the presents and pop some balloons! He had been practicing blowing out candles for weeks so he had it down when the cake came out. He isn't a big fan of cake so he wouldn't try any, but he sure liked how it looked! It was a really fun party in the end and he can even say how old he is now : )

The amazing Firetruck cake!

Helping Auntie Aleah with the sprinkles

How old are you Oliver?

Uncle Andy saves the day with his guitar



Grandma Sue



Cable Bridge Run

Every year since we have lived in Seattle, Mike and his two best friends (Josh and Derek) go to Benton City, WA to run the Cable Bridge Run, usually the weekend before Christmas.  The wives and kids sometimes go too, depending on circumstances.  Why this race?  It is in Josh's hometown and he has run it all his life.  His parents still live there and they feed, house and drive us around for the weekend.  Josh's mom also watches Oliver during the race so I can run it too.  This was Oliver's second year (he was born the weekend of the race in 2008!) and he loves it.  Especially all the attention he gets from Alice and being able to see Trent so much.  He idolizes Trent (as you can see below).  This year, Josh's dad had an iPad, with some kid friendly apps downloaded.  It was a hit with everyone.  This year it also snowed the night before the race, making for lots of fun for the kids and less than optimal running conditions.  We went ahead anyway.  Josh has won the entire race a million times and he always beats Derek and Mike.  Derek has always beaten Mike when ever they are in the same race, ever since they ran track together in high school.  But THIS year, Mike beat him!  This was a big deal for Mike.  The three of them came first, second and third in their age group.  This year was my second time running the race.  While I used to run occasionally, I didn't start routinely running until after Oliver was born and I realized that I wouldn't be able to exercise if I didn't do it in the morning before work and running was the fastest and easiest thing to do at 7AM.  I have run 3-6 times a week since then, usually for 2-3 miles.  I started running a few races too, mostly because someone else wanted to, but I am glad I did it always.  I have run two 10k races and a few 5k ones.  I also ran occasionally for the first 6 months when I was pregnant with Oliver.  Last year, I ran the 5 k in about 26 minutes.  This year it was 30 minutes, which isn't so bad considering that the route was icy and snowy and I was 17 weeks pregnant!

The drive home to Seattle