Snow days

We got over 2 ft of snow today. Spokane is completely shut down. The malls are even closed.

We went for a walk through the park by our house. As long as you're not driving in it, it's actually really beautiful and amazing. And our Zags won!
What a day for Spokane.

Serious snow

I could barely find my car at 6:30 am

Anth's truck on the side street

Our back yard and frozen rosemary. The snow is almost up to our windows.

Oh, there's my car.

Xmas came early at the Ochs house

We gave Oliver a crawling tube which attaches to a tent on one end and a teepee on the other. He crawls back and forth, back and forth. By the looks on his face, I think he likes it. Merry Christmas Oliver!

Bear crawl

Oliver isn't walking yet, but he's making strides to get there. He just started doing this bear crawl which I think is both hilarious and a sign that he'll be walking before we know it.

It's a camo thing

Doing some yoga

Jingle Bell 5K

Cori with Tobin and Oliver (who looks SO bored)

Tobin - 5 months old

Along with our friends Cori and Tobin, Oliver and I walked in a Jingle Bell fundraiser event this morning. As you can see we weren't the only dorks wearing Santa hats.
It's starting to feel like winter in Spokane, we got snow last night and more to come tomorrow. Our high temperature today was 10 degrees!

More laughter

Happy Thanksgiving

If red is good then why not a rainbow of colors?

Getting a ride from Riley

Maggie and Riley making pigs in a blanket at Gretchen's

Maggie, the baby whisperer

Enjoying the sunset at the beach

STAIRS!

We spent Thanksgiving weekend with our family on the west side of WA. We had beautiful weather for part of the trip. Sunshine on Thanksgiving in the Pacific NW is almost unheard of. Oliver had a blast playing with his cousins. This year he was able to eat most of the food that we did. And he LOVED it. He inherited a healthy appetite from both of us. He'll hate us later for it when he's older and his metabolism has slowed down. But for now he's constantly burning calories growing and learning to walk. He hasn't quite mastered steps on his own, but he loves to practice while holding our hands. He also discovered stairs on this trip. He was drawn to them everywhere we went. This year we're most thankful that we live in a one story house.

Organizing his dresser

Oliver loves to take all of his clothes out of his dresser. And he is very proud of his work. I'll be proud when he puts them all back in the drawers when he is done.

Laughter is contagious

Make sure your volume is turned up!

Ready for college

Yesterday Anthony was sworn into the Washington Bar Association. Oliver and I went to show our support. One of us was a little too supportive to sit quietly in a room with 12 judges. So he crawled the halls of the GU Law Building and flirted with pretty young students in the lounge instead. Congratulations Dad!!!

Doesn't Oliver look collegiate in his sport coat? It even has faux suede elbow patches.

Happy Halloween

Oliver and I got dressed up yesterday to hand out candy to the trick or treaters. He was a scarecrow and I was some kind of cat ballerina - whatever I had in my closet. It was a good time. Oliver was a lot more tolerant of the fake straw that I made than I thought he would be. Later it served as a bib while he ate dinner. I'm all about practicality.

Fall photo shoot

Oliver being Oliver

Dad's home

Anth is home from his moose hunting trip in Cananda sans any dead critters. We're a bit disappointed, but we decided to let him into the house anyway because he passed the bar exam! Oliver and I missed him alot and we're glad he's home. Oliver missed being thrown around and tickled and I missed some one else changing diapers.

Oliver got a rocking horse for his birthday, he loves it!

Grandpa Fred came to Spokane while Anthony was off hunting. He watched Oliver every day while I worked. They had a great time together and I couldn't have asked for a better babysitter.

1st Birthday

Oliver is now the big ONE! Amazing how time flew by this year. We had a small but lively gathering for his party yesterday. Grandpa Fred, Kelly C, Cori and Tobin had cake and ice cream with us. I made everyone wear a wig or a mask - it's almost Halloween! Oliver was hesitant with the cake at first, but got really messy once he realized there weren't green beans hidden inside. He loved the balloons and opening presents! Sometimes more interested in the wrapping paper than the actual present. We're both hoping that Anth brings home a big moose from British Columbia, now that would be a present!

Happy Birthday Oliver!