meet Bob McManus

This is Ben's first pet, Bob. We were going to name him Red, since Owen's beta fish is Blue, but Ben chose the name Bob instead. He's a handsome guy and seems happy in Ben's room. Ben says goodnight to him each night and has been a good caretaker.

ben turns 2!

Our beautiful baby Ben has turned 2- probably should try to stop calling him a baby...

Ben woke up on his birthday morning excited to see the cupcakes we had made for him and chose one for his breakfast. Owen had already gone to school and didn't know about the cupcake for breakfast option. Richard and I had one more day of vacation, and loved getting to spend it with Ben on his special day.

Ben hadn't realized that his day would include a trip to the doctors for his checkup. He did the best he could despite some unhappy memories from that office. Ben weighed in at 41 pounds and measured 39 inches. For those of you not intimate with growth charts, that's the average weight of a 4.5 year old and the average height of a 3.5 year old. The good news is that his weight to height ratio is a little better than it was at his 18 month check up, so we are hoping that with lots of growth and a less meat-oriented diet over the next 6-9 months he will be proportional again. Both Ben and Richard were able to refrain from telling the doctor about the cupcake for breakfast.

We tried to give Ben a nap, but he was just too excited and sat in his crib singing "Happy Birthday" to himself for close to two hours.

When Owen got home from school, he helped unwrap Ben's birthday gifts- some great clothes, books and toys from family (animals with hats!) and a football and plastic snake from us. Ben had asked for a snake to take baths with. The Muhly's and the Stokes' joined us for a spaghetti and meatball dinner- though Ben opted out from dinner, playing instead of eating. I am not sure if this is the beginning of him being shy around groups of people or if he just wasn't hungry (maybe dieting after the doctor's trip?). He came around for cupcake time, loved having us sing Happy Birthday, and loved picking out and eating a special cupcake.

We are looking forward to a big year of growth for Ben- just during our holiday vacation he became more verbal, stopped using his bottle, and got his first haircut . He still loves to draw, pretends to count, adores animals and dogs, and wants to be doing whatever Owen is doing at any given moment- especially if it's Legos.

ring in the new year

We had a fun New Years Eve with some of our favorite people: Russa, Christian, Andrew, Nicole, Susie and Laurel. The kids liked the party hats and noise makers. The adults liked the crab cakes Richard made and the fun drinks. We celebrated with the kids on East Coast time, and everyone was pooped by midnight on the West Coast. Andrew and Nicole spent the night with us, and we got to enjoy the first part of 1/1/11 together.

Heres to a healthy and happy 2011, with lots of great adventures and pictures of the kids!

feliz navidad

Christmas morning began with Owen running into our room, ready to head out to the living room to check if Santa left anything for him. First we had to get Ben, Grandpa, and some coffee. The kids must have been good this year since they had both had full stockings and a pile of goodies. Ben's favorite toys are a tie between all the farm animals he received from Santa and family, his new books, and the paper cups he found in the cabinet. That guy is easy to please.

Owen loves the new Wii (as do mom and dad), his marble track, a Matchbox aircraft carrier, Legos, a magic set... and a bunch of other fun toys from Santa and family. Needless to say, we will have a busy week ahead of us!

Owen and Grandpa practiced some magic tricks, and he performed a great show for us, that I got to tape using my new camcorder from Richard.

While Richard assembled toys and tried to control the chaos, I cooked Beef Burgundy, and we all enjoyed a Christmas dinner together. We had a wonderful day, missing our family on the East coast and in Chicago, and thankful for all of our blessings.

its beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

Owen finished school for the year and we got ready for the holidays. Richard and Owen made some chocolate mousse in preparation for Grandpa coming. Dad flew in Sunday night and watched Owen on Monday while we worked. They went to see Tangled and had a fun day.

Tuesday afternoon, work ended and we packed up the car and Susie and Laurel, and we all drove out to Bend for a 2 night excursion. Richard did great getting the chains on the car and driving through the snowy pass. Our hotel was empty and perfect for us, with a warm pool and an empty dining room for loud kids. We spend most of Wednesday at the High Desert Museum, enjoying all the animals and especially the live butterfly exhibit. Afterward, we found a kid friendly sledding hill downtown and Owen and Laurel took lots of runs. We drove back home Thursday after a long dip in the pool. Ben caught up on some of his sleep he missed on the previous nights in the car.

We tried something a little different this year for Christmas Eve- going over to the Muhly's at noon to open presents from each other and have an early dinner before the church services. They go to Todd's family on Christmas day, and this made for an easier day for them on Christmas. The kids had a blast opening their gifts- especially Ben- and we had a fun dinner.

We surprised the boys with Grandpa's gift earlier in the day- a new TV. Yes, we have entered the HD age. Dad replaced my 13 year old 22" TV with a 55" LED/LCD flatscreen that can also play in 3D. Besides being an amazing present, it also keeps Richard and my streak going- neither of us have ever purchased a television. Richard and Dad had picked it out from Costco earlier in the week, and both were a little nervous that it would be too big (things tend to look smaller with the high ceilings at Costco- we learned that when we brought home our 9' Christmas tree a couple of years ago) but it fits the room and is a great size for viewing. Owen and Dad watched a dinosaur movie in 3D yesterday, and both of them were jumping multiple times.

Owen did great at Mass, as usual. Ben was a bit more distracted, but enjoyed flirting with all the ladies who caught his eye in the cry room. They both loved the singing.

At the end of the day, Owen and Richard tracked Santa on NORAD, we put on our 2010 Christmas jammies, Grandpa read "Twas the Night Before Christmas", and we tucked in a couple of tired boys, both excited about Santa's visit.

Christmas greetings from our family!

Tonight we went to Zion to watch Owen sing in his first Christmas service, and the season has officially begun! One more day of school for the boys, 2.5 more days of work for the parents- we are almost there! Tree is up, presents are wrapped, and Dad flies in Sunday night. Let the holiday begin!

What an amazing year it has been- Owen is now a kindergartener, and thriving at Zion Lutheran School. We love his teacher and his class size- 12 kids! He's reading more and seems to love learning. Ben grew this year in so many ways, the most obvious being that he's a big little dude. He'll turn 2 in January, speaks a ton of words and some excellent sentences ("we watched Mickey Mouse" and more often "Ben want it!") and is absolutely in love with animals of all kinds. He also loves his big brother and watches his every move.

Richard is working as an ink chemist at HP, leading his technical team, and I survived my first year as a project manager of a growing engineering team. We are trying to keep everything in balance as much as possible- living in Corvallis helps- short commute, family friendly, and a block away from my sister. Richard and I celebrated our 10 year wedding anniversary in September with a fun weekend get-away. That and other highlights from the year are recorded in this blog.

We are all looking forward to our two weeks of vacation together and for the arrival of Santa!

(thank you Heather for the Christmas pictures with the super cool light filter!)