Spring in Portland

Now that it's summer I should update on what spring was like in PDX.

We've been neglecting our camera lately.  Shame!

I played a little catch-up to get some proof...

It took quite a while for it to warm up here in Portland.  We didn't mind, and hardly noticed to be honest with you.  Coming from Ohio we're used to a huge jump in temps around the beginning of May (like, 40s to 80s), so we really enjoyed the temperate spring.  It had been in the 50s and 60s for the duration of May (and April, and March) and we were loving it- though the locals say this has been the chilliest and rainiest spring that they can remember.  We had no complaints, but it's nice that this was perhaps the "worst" of it.  June was sporadically cloudy but mostly sunny and hovering around 70 degrees.  Fantastic!

We've taken advantage with lots of family walks, gardening and other outdoor projects, cooking up some spring produce, and doing a bit of spring cleaning indoors.

Our potted peppers are doing great.

And the basil is doing well rooming in with the parsley.

We put up some decor on the outside of the house.  (no photos yet...)

Our CSA started.  Oh my.  I love this particular farm- gorgeous, organic produce, lots of variety from week to week, and low prices.  Hooray!

Kraig's been picking up a few sustainable hobbies around the house.  He's been roasting more coffee, as well as homebrewing some beer!  His first try was a mango-raspberry summer ale.  It is delicious from what I have heard so far.  He's going to try to keep a beer going in the carboys so that he always has plenty on hand as well as to give away :)


There are also some new neighbors that we welcomed to the 'hood.  They are great friends from Cleveland so we were thrilled that they found a home just 3.5 blocks away from us!  Owen has been enjoying playdates and meetups with our newest neighbors :)  Kraig and I certainly love having them nearby as well!

Our friend Speedy

You can imagine my shock and disgust  surprise when I looked out the window and saw this

one morning when I was getting breakfast for Owen.  Owen immediately fell in love.  I immediately started cleaning the counters and floors because I was so grossed out and needed to feel like there weren't any slimy creatures in the house.

Ick.

It may look like a slug, but Speedy is actually a snail.  See the shell?  Anyway, s/he obviously got lost because s/he stayed on our window for a full 36-48 hours.  Where she went after that is beyond me.  S/he was pretty popular during his/her time on our window frame.  Our neighbors all came over to say hello and meet our new friend.

Owen was very sad when she left.  He couldn't find her during breakfast two mornings after the original sighting.

Thankfully, the sadness quickly wore off and it looks like we won't be rushing out to get a pet snail anytime soon.  Miss you, Speedy!  (Well, some of us do.  Maybe just one of us, actually.)

Apple Products

.... are great for toddler entertainment.

Patos

We have some new friends, as well as some new Spanish vocab.  

Meet the Patos (ducks).  They eat birdseed right outside our windows.  

They are a couple and are always together, obviously.

Until recently- the lady stopped showing up as much but the male would still come.  We were worried at first until we figured out that she's probably nesting.

Maybe they'll bring their ducklings.  You think?

It's so cute to watch them.  The male usually just stands on lookout while the female eats, eats, eats to her heart's content.  He quacks at people or animals (the neighborhood cats) that get too close.  So protective, he is.

Chivalry is not dead.  At least not if you're a duck.

New books

After waiting for the release of Love Wins and Naked Spirituality for MONTHS, they finally arrived... and he couldn't have been more excited.

Chalk art: not as easy as it seems

Kraig has had a lot of different achievements at work the past few months, and after one particular award (partner of the quarter) we decided to draw a little something for him to see when he arrived home.  

See that semblance of a Starbucks logo?

Don't hate.  It's hard to draw with chalk.

Anyway, what this post is really about (I am going somewhere with this :)) is that Kraig has been so grateful for his job since he's been in Portland.  He's been very successful, winning the respect of his bosses (right up to the President of Starbucks USA), receiving a promotion, getting placed into the busiest store in the district and being able to dramatically increase sales there, his partner of the quarter award, and two more very exciting achievements:  He will be opening Brewery Blocks in June as the assistant manager, which is the first concept store of its kind outside of Seattle, and an amazing opportunity not to mention an honor to have been chosen for that position.  He was also one of only a select group of partners invited to a special event with Howard Schultz (CEO of Starbucks Corp.) in Seattle on April 7th.  Obviously, that is such an honor and is so exciting for Kraig.

Needless to say, we're pretty proud of him around here.  We had a fun night celebrating with our next door neighbors with a cigar and glass of scotch.  It feels pretty good not only to have the support of his peers and superiors but also people outside of work.  He deserves it!

A walk to our duck creek (plus a blue heron)

Snow Day?

Wow, do snowstorms ever get hyped up around here.  Sure- we live in a valley between two mountain ranges, so the weather is EXTREMELY unpredictable, but still, I would have hoped that when there are winter weather advisories for days about a certain impending snowstorm that is going to drop 6-7 inches at sea level that they would at least be a little bit accurate.  

That's asking too much, folks.

Now, before anyone gets defensive, I understand that there was a huge snowstorm last year (?) that actually dropped a substantial amount of snow that stuck for around a week.  I get it.  It happens.  

All I'm asking for is a reasonable forecast.  That's all. 

Case in point:

 The lone snowball.  We made this snowball out of some snow (three-fourths of an inch?) that fell overnight.  By the early afternoon, all the snow had melted (don't all those businesses that closed due to snow feel silly?)  Anyway, the snow picked up again a little later.

It dropped another scant inch.  You can still see the grass!

We enjoyed the beauty of it before it all melted again.  But seriously, there were people (locals) freaking out.  An anonymous person didn't go into work because it had snowed.  The roads were absolutely 100% clear.  They were wet, not icy- but wet roads are the norm here.  But there was snow on the grass!!!!  So no driving for that lady.

Weird.

Or when we were at the library that afternoon and the librarians were plotting when to head home.  Caution is one thing, but the snow wasn't sticking to the road.... no cause for concern.

It's just snow, ya'll.  Not anthrax.

We'll take the snow day and we won't complain (anymore).

A Day in the Life

Owen loves green smoothies and anything that stacks.

I cannot take credit for the building.  I forget what this one was.... either a church with no door or a treehouse.  Or something else that I can't recall... Ask Kraig!

Snow?

I looked out the window one rainy morning to find that the raindrops had morphed into huge clumps of snowflakes.  Obviously I ran out with the camera so that I could prove it to all of you.

Owen loved it.

It's too bad it didn't stick.  (Or is it?)

Making plans

Wow, it's mid-February.  I cannot exactly tell you what it's like to feel as though an entire month was ripped off the calendar without my knowledge, but I can say that I don't like it.  It's weird.  At the same time, I like that winter is almost over (at least in the Pacific Northwest.  Sorry, Ohioans.  Enjoy these last few months of snow and ice ;)).

This also means that my birthday is less than 3 weeks away.  How did THAT happen?  And after that, it's Owen's birthday.  Mercy.  I'm so far behind on birthday plans!  I'm also behind on planting my garden, but that's another story for another day.

Thankfully, though our house is small we do have a yard.  I would have never thought of having an outdoor party for Owen's birthday... in Ohio.  It could be the middle of a snowstorm!  However, the end of March is well into Oregon's spring, so we can have an indoor/outdoor shindig if we want to (depending on the rain, of course.)  This is thrilling, if you ask me.

I did a quick check of the weather to see what the averages are for March in Oregon.  Well, well, well.  Right around 60 degrees everyday?  Heck yes.  And just to be safe- the record low?  30 degrees.  That's the RECORD low, people.  Like, fat chance of that happening (just like there's a slim chance of the record high - 73 degrees.) But 60-ish sounds wonderful.  I'm so excited that people/kiddos can spill out into the yard if need be.

So, Owen's birthday plans are well underway and I am so excited about the theme.

What?  You didn't think I was going to give THAT away, did you?

Always wear clean underwear....

... in case you get in an accident.

We've all heard that saying, I'm sure.  Well I never really thought about it until today.  No, we were not in an accident, but Owen locked me out of the house.

Let's back up for a minute.

We live in a side-by-side duplex.  Our laundry room is private- we do not share it with our neighbor- yet we have to walk out our back door and down our sidewalk to get to the laundry room.  I like this set-up for a lot of reasons, but it does have some drawbacks.

Like, when I go to start Owen's diapers in the wash, and he locks me out of the house.

Kraig was at work, I had just finished taking Owen's dirty diaper off, and instead of putting a new one back on I decided to let him go without for a while.  We do that frequently since we're trying to potty train him and it's also not good for a baby to have a diaper on their bottom 24/7.  So, he's running around pants-less and I ran back to throw the diapers in.  I was "gone" for maybe 60 seconds.  When I was walking back down the 15 foot sidewalk to the back door I could still hear Owen at the door waiting for me.  I had shut it so that he didn't walk outside in the cold, but he was a little mad that I had left. I noticed that now he was just talking- not upset anymore.  Good, I thought.

So, I go to open the door and it won't budge.

Not good, I thought.

I thought he had locked the lock on the handle, since he isn't tall enough to reach the deadbolt (about 3 inches above the doorknob).  Well, after trying to get him to unlock it for a few minutes, I walked over to the window to see which one was locked.

The deadbolt.

Great- I didn't know how he had reached it to begin with, let alone if I'd be able to get him to reach for it again to unlock it.  Not that he was really understanding what I was saying anyway.  He thought it was funny that I was knocking on the door.  Awesome.

After trying again, as well as running through all the other options (of which there were none- we lock all the windows and doors, I didn't have keys or a phone) I went over to our next door neighbors' house to ask for help.

Though the situation was slightly comical up until this point, and I hadn't yet really worried about what might happen (our house is very baby proofed), when Donna opened the door I burst into tears.  I guess saying "Owen is locked in the house all alone" made it seem more real.  She and Gordon quickly got the number for my landlord and he said he'd be over in 15 minutes.  Crisis somewhat averted.  

We headed back to my house to talk to Owen in the window.  He thought it was hilarious.  He especially loves Donna and Gordon, so it was a real treat to see them.  

This is where the "underwear" comes in.

My kid was diaper-free in the window.  How embarrassing.  Not that D and G care, but it was still a little weird.  This, I thought, is why people tell you to wear clean underwear.  It's always good to be prepared for the strange scenarios that happen.  

After playing peekaboo, trying to keep Owen out of my plants in the window, and watching Owen decide that he wanted to finish his breakfast, Don showed up.  Whew.  Owen was no worse for the wear and actually just thought we were playing a funny game.  When I got back inside I asked Owen to lock the deadbolt- just to see if he really could reach it.  He sure could.

Oh snap.

Somedays I wonder if I'm cut out for all this!

One last update

... while I deny that I need to upload all the new photos from our camera.  Not sure why that seems like such a huge task, but here I am, putting it off.

Anyway.

Kraig got a promotion!  Woohoo!

I think everyone knows where Kraig works, but if not he works for a small, Seattle-based coffee company called Starbucks.  If you know Kraig, you know that he LOVES coffee- not just drinking it, but learning every. single. trivial. fact about it.  He loves the history.  He loves the culture.  He loves it all.  He's been a regular at Starbucks since he was 12.

Yup.  12 years old.

Anyway- he picked it up as a temporary job while we were wedding planning.  Then he was immediately promoted to Shift Supervisor, so the pay and benefits made it worth it to stay.  I was making substantial money waitressing and teaching dance, we didn't have any kids to support, and our hours were super flexible so it was pretty perfect for our first year of marriage.

Then we got pregnant.  It didn't make sense for Kraig to try to search for a new job in a recession while his wife was pregnant (and our health insurance was through his job) so he stayed put where he knew he had job security.  He did transfer to a new store when we moved from Lakewood to Cleveland, and got a substantial pay raise when that happened.  The flexibility and benefits were still ideal for our lifestyle with our new baby.  We have never had an issue budgeting based on his income, so while he would search for non-profit jobs (his dream) here and there, there was never really opportunity in Cleveland.  He toyed with the idea of promoting again, but a series of bad managers left him sort of jaded so we decided to put that idea off until after we moved.

Here we are in Portland, and upon arrival Kraig was immediately tapped as promotable and the ball has been rolling ever since for his interview and new placement.  I'm going to insert here how proud I am of my husband.  I understand he "just" works a retail job in a highly corporate coffee shop, but he's really, really, really good at his job.  I don't mean just making lattes and pulling coffee.  Anyone can do that (heck, I did it in college, though Kraig does that 100x better than I ever did).  Kraig is really good at leading people.  He is a natural leader and manages others extremely well.  It's shocking to me sometimes, since I  like to be a follower better.  Anyway, he leads well, he is a people person, and he is a natural at the "business" side of things as well.  I could go into all the numbers and tell you about how he has increased sales above and beyond what they ever would have dreamed of, but that's his story to tell.  It's impressive, that's all I know.  In addition to that, he has the best work ethic of anyone I know.  Kraig works extremely hard and I am surprised that every single day he goes to work he gives 200%.  I've never known anyone who works as hard as he does and who does it so very well.  I'm really proud of him.

He interviewed last week and right away two other district managers tried to snatch him up.  Since she had anticipated this happening, his current DM had a plan in place so she turned down the other DM's and is sitting down with Kraig today to give him an offer.  Needless to say, we're relieved and excited.  A pay raise is great, but a pay raise and insane vacation time is even better.  We're looking forward to him taking a few days off before he transfers to his new store.

What all that means is that he is now an Assistant Store Manager, but in Starbucks world that means he is training to be a Store Manager and will get his own store sometime this year if everything goes as anticipated with his training and new store openings.

Did I mention that we are excited?

In the grand scheme of things, this is great managerial experience that will help him in the future.  His dream is to work for a non-profit in an administrative role, so this experience combined with all of his volunteer experience is a great setup for that in the future.  We're thrilled.  Great job, great company, great experience, and awesome benefits.  Plus he gets to be home with us A LOT.  Everybody wins!

Allergies

So, remember how Kraig had been consulting with our physician about his allergy symptoms (severe sinus congestion, sneezing fits, migraine headaches)?  We haven't been back to the doctor in a few months for followup testing but over the last 2 months of being vegan Kraig has noticed that he has had zero headaches.  Keep in mind he has had very frequent (multiple times a week) migraines since he was young and has not found a reasonable way to cope with them.  However, now he is not congested, doesn't have sneezing fits, AND he hasn't even been using his Neti-pot (which had helped clear the congestion previously).  The only (albeit, amateur) conclusion we can draw from this is that he has some sort of dairy allergy.  It's commonly known that humans weren't made to drink cow's milk, but over generations have adapted.  What's less known is that many, many people don't tolerate it at all (The prevalence of lactose maldigestion is above 50% in South America, Africa, and Asia, reaching almost 100% in some Asian countries. In the United States, the prevalence is 15% among whites, 53% among Mexican-Americans and 80% in the Black population. In Europe it varies from around 2% in Scandinavia to about 70% in Sicily (see map below). Australia and New Zealand have prevalence of 6% and 9% respectively. In general, it can be stated that about two thirds of the world adult population is lactase non-persistent.)

I guess Kraig is one of those people.

Good thing we went vegan, right?!  Ha!

We had intended to keep this "diet" for the foreseeable future, but now it seems that we really can't go back.  I'm certainly not going to start buying/cooking with any dairy products if Kraig can't have them, and to be completely honest I find the stuff rather repulsive.  Full disclosure: I haven't drank cow's milk straight up in years.  I have always been turned off by the taste and the awful stench (something akin to wet dog or... farm animal.  Fancy that.)  I did, however, use butter, half and half, and cream by the gallon each week.  I've found awesome vegan substitutions for all of that, though, so it seems silly to go back when this is totally workable.  Cheese, on the other hand, used to be my vice.  I get light cravings for it occasionally now; mostly because it is a handy, easy to grab snack.  But generally speaking, coming off our cheese "addiction" was much easier than I anticipated.

I'm excited for Kraig's followup bloodwork to be done.  His white blood cell count had been OUTRAGEOUS previously, indicating a very strong allergic reaction if that was the case.  So, we'll see what happens next....

Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes

We're back.

Welcome.

After some much-needed time away and quite a bit of introspection, discussion, and processing, we are ready to blog again.  I still don't think I can explain why we/I felt like we needed a break, but as I said previously it was a lot of things all at once.  The best I can explain it is to say that I started blogging 3 years ago just for fun.  I didn't think people would read it, it was just a journal for two newlyweds.  We weren't planning on having a child so soon, but that really upped the sheer number of posts.  People in our lives wanted to see photos and read the stories of the moments that they couldn't personally witness due to time or distance.  As you know, though, we're a quirky bunch over here so sometimes our little family blog includes some things that are different from the norm and so as the posts increased, so did our apprehension as we tried to share the how's and why's of what we do around here.  Just like everyone, we want to be understood and that gets difficult when who we are and what we do aren't necessarily considered "normal".  As the blog took form, the number of readers grew.  That wasn't expected, especially since I was taking precautions to make it as private as possible.

During the break, a lot of people have taken the time to tell me that they love the blog and support what we do.  They have mentioned that reading about our different lifestyle is intriguing and inspiring.  I am so thankful for those people.

There has also been mention that maybe it isn't the content, but the delivery that irks people.  I get that.  So, moving forward I wanted to make a few things clear.

1.  I know you're out there.  It's impossible for me to know who everyone is that reads the blog, but I know how many there are, what city you live in, what browser you use.  (I use multiple stats counters for this, full disclosure.)  One other thing I know for certain is that ya'll don't like to comment.  I get that.  Some people want to remain anonymous.  But as long as I'm doing all the talking, you can expect to only hear one viewpoint, and that is my own.  Sorry.  That's how a blog works.  I know that there are hundreds of you that visit each day, and I don't know who you are let alone what you believe or how you live.  I might say something that offends you and if that is the case, please know that I don't intend that.  I can't filter for everyone, you know.  If there is an issue, question, concern, or maybe you like (gasp) what you see here, you can comment, email, etc.  You know the drill.

2.  I am not perfect.

Read that again.

I know that I act like I have it all together and that we parent just so, and that may give the impression that we get it right 100% of the time. 


Smoke and mirrors.  Smoke and mirrors.


Anyone who knows my wonderful birth plans for Owen knows that parenting has a lot of moving parts and it's impossible- yes, IMPOSSIBLE- to get it right all the time.  Heck, it's hard to get it "right" half the time!  When I talk about our eco-friendly lifestyle, our vegan diet, our parenting choices (discipline, potty training, education, cloth diapering) I know it can seem like I think we've got it ALL figured out and that we are SO perfect (in our eyes).  That is so not true.  If anything, the blog is a place for me to remind myself what our values are so that we can try harder next time.  


We fail.  All the time.  Everyday.  


That is what it is like to be a parent- you fail, you figure it out, and you are more mindful of it next time.  If anything, when I come across as somehow better-than-thou it is only because after a lot of research and discussions with my husband/others, we have found a solution that works for us and I am excited about it!  That is not to say that it would work for you or your family, but I would encourage you to do your own research, have your own debates, be mindful of your own choices and why you make them.  I'm not always trying to convince you to do things as we do, but rather to offer an alternative way of thinking about things.  A good friend recently told me that my blogging about our very alternative lifestyle makes it seem more mainstream, even if she doesn't feel the desire to make the same choices.

Amen.

3. (this one is just a tip, but useful as we move forward.) Have I mentioned how wonderful Google Reader is?  I use mine to aggregate all the feeds that I like to keep an eye on each day.  I read over 100 blogs (only the relevant posts, not each and every one) so I like to have them all in one place.  However, even if you don't read that many, or maybe you just read mine, Reader is still useful for you.  Here's why: I retroactively date my posts so that things are dated with the exact/approximate time and day that they actually occurred.  This isn't usually a problem but sometimes I go back and post something that happened a few weeks ago, thus it gets buried behind newer posts.  If you just check the blog and read based on what's at the top of the page, you'd miss a LOT of content.  No good!  A reader would put those things in your feed as I publish them so you'd never miss a post.  If you need more help setting up a Reader account, let me know.

4.  Finally, I am almost certain that everyone who knows us knows that we are opinionated, we do a lot of research, and we are people of strong conviction.  I am less certain, but hopeful that everyone who knows us knows that we are kind, caring, loving, and fair people who don't degrade others for their lifestyle choices.  We're still not perfect, but please try to keep this in mind as you read.

5.  Go back and read #2.

That being said, I'm ready to blog again.

New Year's Dinner

For a lot of different reasons, we had our New Year's Dinner a week late.  Kraig was taking out the compost and snapped a photo of me working in our super small kitchen.  See me?

We had the traditional German/Polish New Year's feast of potatoes, sauerkraut, and "sausage".  I also made green beans and vegan gravy.  Yum!  For the sausage?   Tofurkey brand kielbasa, which is a pretty good stand-in for the real thing.

Licking the gravy spoon.  He is his father's son.

Playing tourist

Since moving here 6 months ago, we haven't done much that we consider "touristy".  We know folks who've immediately done all the usuals upon moving to PDX- Powell's, riding the aerial tram, Alberta St., etc.- but we never saw the point in doing all of those things right away when we are going to live here forever.  Besides, Powell's is cool and everything but when you live here it's just the bookstore, it's not a "must-see" anymore.  We were too busy putting down roots to be running around with our cameras and fanny packs, anyway.  Priorities :)

But, now we have a fancy new camera and Kraig was off for the weekend so we decided to go on a little day hike through the city.  

The public art here is really outstanding.  I think that's because of the Percent-For-Art ordinance (2% of most publicly funded capital projects goes towards the creation or maintenance of public art).

Little Big Burger- one of the local (and amazing) fast food chains:

We got a bag of fries which we enjoyed with their famous, housemade ketchup and a Gordon Beer.  Delish.

Then we went to Powell's so Owen could peruse the valentine's for his lovers.

And no tour of Portland is complete without a trip to Stumptown.  Owen orders all by himself- "Short soy milk".

Break

I know this might seem like it is coming out of left field- which it is- but I am going to take a break from blogging publicly for a while.  There has been a string of "things" (I hesitate to call them "events" because it wasn't anything out of the ordinary, just a lot of things at once) lately that has left me a little jaded.  I need a little time to do some debriefing and re-evaluation with my husband about what the blog means to us.  I like that it has always been a sort of record, a virtual baby book of sorts.  I like that we have these memories safe forever so we can always go back and revisit this time in our lives.  I also like that it has been a way for us to keep in touch with far-away family and friends.  It's our blog, so it has been our safe space to work out what it means to be married, to be parents, and to have moved cross-country.  We, as young adults, are in process and this has been a place to share our journey.

Part of that process and journey has always been to expound upon some of the quirky things about us.  Like I said, this has been a safe space to not only process but also share some of the reasons for why we do the things we do.  We know we're different.  We know there are questions about why we eat/purchase/believe/think/parent the way that we do.  We encounter those questions quite frequently- more frequently in Ohio than here- and honestly, it has been nice to be able to "explain ourselves" in black and white.  Just like memories with Owen, though, we are on a journey and things are very dynamic, so it has been a blessing to us to be able to have record of all of our personal development as well as family development.  You know, like how Kraig had to teach me how to sort my recycling.  Or how we transitioned from a one-vegetarian household to an entirely vegan household (again, thanks Kraig.  Maybe he should do the blogging ;)).  Or how we nailed down some traditions for our little family.  That kind of thing.

But, we moved to a place where we aren't seen as "different".  Our experience has shown us that there are as many types of people as there are people, and we are in a place where we are free to be and we are accepted for us.  We always knew that this would be the case- that's why we wanted to live here.

So why stop blogging?  To keep it short, in Ohio we felt like we had to just avoid talking about certain topics.  We had to "act normal".  We shied away from being too "weird".  Now that we have been able to fully express ourselves for the last 4 months, I feel a disconnect between how we think and live and how I feel like I can blog about our life and experience.   Frankly, I am feeling like I can't write or speak about our values and beliefs publicly without feeling scrutinized (and sometimes being outright judged).  I know that is normal when you put things out into the blogiverse.  Maybe that's okay- the door is there for anyone who doesn't want to read about a young alt-family in Portland.  Maybe I need to find my voice again.  Maybe I need to get over it and not care what others think.  I think I just need time to think and come back to it later.

I plan to continue recording Owen's development and maybe other random stuff too, but it will not be public.  That way if I do make it public again, all the content is there and we don't miss a step.  Maybe I'll make it invite only.  Maybe you can email me and I'll "let you in".  Maybe I'll change the address.  In any event, you can keep up with us on Facebook, me on twitter, or call/email/text/visit.  I just need to retreat to where it's just the three of us for a little while so we can regroup.

Love-
the Buesch fam.

PS.  Merry Christmas!

Trip to the park

More like a short walk to the park, but you get the idea.  Kraig and Owen went to see the ducks and play on the playground while I worked on some christmas gift wrapping.

Christmas Ornaments

It is a tradition in the Buesch house that Kraig gets Owen and me a new ornament each year.  I love this tradition, because Kraig always picks out the best ornaments.  Last year he got me a gorgeous wire birdhouse/castle.  We kept with the birdhouse theme for this year's ornament:

See that little green and white elf back there?   That was Owen's first ornament.  This year we went with a sock monkey ornament.  Too cute!

Do you get a new ornament every year?