Wednesday, March 3, 2010

It's a Boy!

We had an ultrasound last week that revealed we're having a boy! I think we were both in shock at first, but now it's finally hitting us. Addison is excited to be a big sister. (At least she thinks so right now.) She has her own ultrasound picture that she walks around with letting us know it's a picture of her brother. She talks to my stomach all the time. Too cute!!

She continues to be the party of our household. Everyday she comes up with something new and funny. She and I are both excited her hair is finally getting longer. She definitely has an opinion as to how she wants to wear it each and every day. Boy, are we in trouble!

And, she always wants to be in the garage when Daddy's doing something cool, well cooler than mommy anyway.

We're all ready for the rain to stop. Addy stands on her bed and looks outside her window after nap time to see if it's raining or not. If not, she says, "I need a walk!"

Will is on the backside of his FTO (field training something with an 'O'). Even though he's certified in every which way possible, Portland requires their own training as well to ensure he knows their protocol. This last little bit seems to not stress him out at all.

He is also going to do a Portland to Coast bike race, I think at the beginning of the summer. It's about a 100-mile race. He's excited he now has the time to be getting back into his exercise excursions. One of the excursions he's signed up for is to climb to the top of Mt. Hood. I know he's always wanted to; but with regularly occurring news of climbers getting lost on Mt. Hood, the ole' wifey would like him to wait until well after the baby comes before embarking on that adventure.

As for me, well same ole', same ole'. I'm finally getting curtains up in the house and trying to sort the spare bedrooms and find a place for everything since moving, almost a year ago! Go me! I'm also starting to show just a bit. Not enough for pictures yet.

We've joined and helped form a Life Group with young families from our church that meets in homes in our area on a weekly basis. It is such a blessing to be a part of this group, and we look forward to the growth!

We are looking forward to a little traveling this month. This weekend we'll go to Idaho to see Will's grandparents for a few days. At the end of the month, we'll take a trip to NM to see the family one last time before the little arrival.

Hope this finds everyone well! Love to all!

P.S. We're also excited to be an uncle and aunt again. Will's brother, who live in the area, had a baby boy last week. These boys will grow up together! Will's other brother, well his wife, is expecting six weeks after we are. Lots of Schwisow additions in 2010!

Friday, January 15, 2010

The Last Half of Our Year

It's been so long since I've updated our blog that I'm not sure anyone checks it anymore. But for you aunts who like to see updated pictures, this blog is for you! And I'll try to do better with posting in the future.

We ran our half marathon, all of us! My Dad, sister Leah and her family all came up for the event. Leah, her husband, Will and I all raced and finished the half marathon. I'm really thankful to have had the opportunity to do one of those rare feats with one of my sisters! I always love having family visit, and it was such a good visit.

Will took a much-needed guys hiking weekend with a friend at the end of August. He found the most beautiful lake he's ever seen, which promises future memories for the family.

In September, we had more family come to visit when one of Will's brothers got married. We squeezed in a couple of birthdays and also had my (Suzanne's) friend, Kendra (from Texas), come up for a visit. As with all visits, it was a whirl-wind trip to fit 'everything' in. The highlight of that trip was our hike, which has been a Schwisow family favorite for years.



In October, the old man turned 30! We had a nice family celebration. Birthday boy said he wanted pies for his birthday, so he got pies.

Fall is my favorite time of year and it is so easy to see God's glory in the fall in the Northwest. We enjoyed picking pumpkins from pumpkin farms in Oregon and New Mexico this year.





And, we had a rockin' Halloween! We all dressed up as characters from the Wizard of Oz.


November was a big month. We took two trips to New Mexico and celebrated Addison's 2nd birthday. (Sadly, we don't have any great 2nd birthday photos!)


December was busy as always. We had a really nice Christmas holiday this year. We went to an amazing Christmas Concert with the family in early December. We celebrated with Will's family on Christmas Eve and had Christmas Day to make our own memories.





We've been extremely blessed this year. We feel like it has not been the easiest of years, but we know God has been faithful to answer prayer(s) and help us grow. Will is now a nationally certified Paramedic! I, Suzanne, have gotten addicted to couponing and am getting quite good at bargain shopping. Addison is growing like a weed and is such a blessing. She is such a funny little one to have around. We have placed membership at a church where we're starting to feel at home. We're making some new friends from church that are in our life stage and live close demographically, which is a huge blessing. We are excited for the upcoming year! Lord willing, we will be welcoming a new addition to our family in July.

We'll leave you with a few of our favorite pictures over the last half of this year.





Sunday, August 2, 2009

Busy Summer

We've had such a wonderfully busy summer!

Will's brother and sister graduated from high school, which always includes fun family activities:

There was a family prom,

a zoo visit,

a fishing trip,

olympic games, a birthday party, and lots of park time!

Everyone in the household has managed to keep up the rigorous running schedule in preparation for the big runs ahead.

We've even managed to keep up with pool time and berry picking.


We were also blessed to have a visit from Suzanne's mom, which included more fun family activities:

A trip to the Japanese Gardens,

a trip to the beach,



and lots of fun and memories made.


We're still on schedule to run our half marathon on August 16th. We can't hardly wait for it to get here. Probably not for the race itself but because Suzanne's Dad, sister and her family will be visiting from New Mexico.

Hope everyone is doing awesome,
The Schwisow's

P.S. It's not an uncommon practice to have a home in Oregon without an air conditioner. Well, you wouldn't hear of that in New Mexico. We happened to be some of those common folk who have purchased our new home with no AC and we survived the sweltering temperatures of 106.

Monday, June 15, 2009

Milestones




Well since a couple of individuals in the Schwisow household have either already turned 30 this year or will soon do so, we've decided to mark these milestones in life by doing something for ourselves to say, "we've still got it." I have decided to run a 1/2 marathon in August and Will will run the Portland Marathon the day before his 30th birthday in October. We're very excited to accomplish these goals, goals we've both talked about and someday hoped we would do. We're very thankful for the health and ability and finally a slower schedule to seek these goals. Also exciting is that my sister, Leah, and her family will be flying up in August to run the 1/2 marathon with us, yes Will will also run the 1/2 marathon as well.

The first month we were in the house, we either had company or traveled for almost the entire month, so we're really enjoying being home in our new home; and, we aren't even close to having it the way we want it. It's so nice to have a home again. We've really enjoyed being able to have family and friends over. Will is loving his garage and yes, working on his jeep again. Addison loves to hang with Daddy in the garage and even said, "Addy jeep!" I caught the first glimpse of selfless love/shocked reality in Will's eyes as you could see he would give her his jeep, but it's his jeep.

Speaking of Addison, she is totally rockin'. Will and I always say what a cool kid she is, but she really is. She had a doctor's appointment last week and all of her measurements stayed in the same percentile except for height; she jumped up to the 85th percentile in height. She's putting so many words together that make up thoughts and you can see her process what you say. She's so fun to watch.

Anyway, we hope all are well! Love and hugs to all!

Wednesday, April 22, 2009

Agh, the "joys" of home ownership!

We are very happy to say that we are home owners again! On March 31st, we got the keys to the house. We took about a week to try and get as much painting and fixing up as we could do before moving in but ran out of time. We're still in the process of finishing, which should be done in a couple of years or so?? It's so good to own again; Addison is loving the room to run!

Front view of the house

Back yard

Back yard again 


Love this picture! Isn't it ironic?

In our spare time...

Don't worry, there's still some (a lot) left.



She's gonna hate me for this...

...and this!

In her words, "wing, wing!"