Unsolicited Help

024 a video by srwetzel on Flickr.

Audrey helps Tom practice rolling.

We've Moved--New Blog Address

We're at a new address--check us out at
www.thewetzelkids.blogspot.com

Thomas Michael Wetzel Esquire

On December 30th we were blessed with the arrival of our son Thomas(Tommy, Tom, Pooping Machine). He was 8lbs 8oz at delivery and 21 inches long. Shannon was a Stud and the delivery went super smooth. On that note we will be switching our blog address to http://www.thewetzelkids.blogspot.com/, in an effort to not emasculate our son. Below are some very first pics as well as a video of Audrey meeting her baby brother for the first time.

Thumb Twiddling

39 weeks today, and this baby is still cooking. I really thought I would have had this baby by now, but now I'm resigned to waiting until at least my due date before baby comes. I'm looking forward to meeting our son, but I'm feeling (relatively) good so what is another week or so in the grand scheme of things? He'll come when it is time. I took a nonstress test at the dr. today which went fine. I go back in a week, at which point we'll talk induction if the baby hasn't come yet.

In the meantime, Mike has had this week off--he originally asked for it off in the hopes that we would be bringing home a baby. So, he's been Mr. Mom hanging out with Audrey while I've been plugging away at my last few days of work before maternity leave. The bonus to this is that I got a couple of visits from Audrey and Mike this week at work and received a few photos like the above in my email inbox. It's made a very slow week bearable!

Merry Christmas!

We had a really wonderful Christmas with our families. My family came up Christmas Eve and Mike's folks came out on Christmas Day. Our festivities included presents, food, conversation, food, Audrey showing off, food, church, food, gifts, food, and lots of laughter! Laughter burns calories, so hopefully we laughed enough to fight off the extra pounds. It's hard to capture every moment on camera, but below are a few good photos from our two days.

Reading the Pudgy Bunny Book with Grandpa Kruse.
This is not even all the presents from Christmas Eve--we had 16 relatives out for the day! If you think this is crazy, you should have seen our cookie corner in the kitchen.

Audrey's Christmas Eve dress.

Opening presents Christmas morning with just Daddy and me.
(This was a cradle for her baby dolls.)

It's hard to get an 18-month-old to stop playing with a brand-new awesome
gift to open up another present.

Love from Grandma Wetzel and Dumbo

Finally, this is how we found Audrey after her nap on Christmas Day.
We're not sure when or how she got her sweater that way.

Get to Work

Since I could have this baby any day now, Mike and I decided we'd stay in Elgin for Christmas this year and have our family come to our place. So the day before Christmas Eve, we had some cleaning to do! Audrey helped out with the kitchen floor.

It's a Dad Thing

Funny how Dads can straddle the line between hilarious and terrifying.

Stockings Hung With Care

My mom and sister are incredibly creative and crafty. They know how to fashion decorative accents to give their homes that special touch, create awesome homemade gifts for friends and family, and make things altogether pretty. Anyone who attended my sister's recent wedding will have seen these talents in full force. I was not blessed with this gift. But, I can follow directions. So for the second year, I've taken on a Christmas stocking sewing project--this time making one (from a kit) for Mike. Next November/December I'll be working on one for Audrey's little brother.

Here are the stockings. I'm quite proud of myself. Each took several hours over the course of many weeks to finish.

Full Term Mama

I'm full term now, so it's just a waiting game until our little son comes. My official due date is still Jan. 5, so he could come tomorrow or three weeks from tomorrow. Only time will tell. While we wait, we've been busy getting ready for the holidays, preparing mentally and domestically to have a newborn in the house again, and plotting our fantasy football playoff strategies.

Along with my regular prenatal visit this week, I also had an ultrasound--yay! Everything seems to be in working order. The baby was quite active during the ultrasound, which gave us a good chuckle. The technician said he is measuring at 7 lbs.--a perfect, healthy size.

Other notes:

• our baby has hair!
• still a boy :-)
• saw his chin, lips, nose and even eyelids
• he got the hiccups while we were checking him out
• no name picked out yet

Below are a couple pictures of the nursery. It's a tiny room, but it will work. Nothing on the walls just yet.
Audrey has been her typical delightful self this week. She's becoming a more enthusiastic eater, although we still have some meal-time struggles. She's getting a few more teeth in this week, so she's been gnawing on her fingers but otherwise doesn't seem bothered by them. Among other words/phrases, she's started saying "thank you" and sometimes even "you're welcome." Right now she LOVES buckles, zippers, buttons, shoes and her feety pajamas.

Jammin'

Mike says just because they are listening to Phish and Audrey is giggling, don't jump to any conclusions.

Enjoying a Winter Wonderland

We woke up Saturday morning to a few inches of fluffy snow--our first of the year. We bundled up Audrey for her first experience walking around in the white stuff. She was pretty game.

She even took it upon herself to help Mike clean the snow off the van.

Saturday evening, Elgin had its Christmas tree lighting downtown. Audrey was enthralled with all of the big kids playing around in the snow, loved hearing the children's choir, and enjoyed seeing the lights.

At the end of the day, Audrey was content to curl up with a stuffed snowman after a big meal of pizza.

On a side note, Audrey has been entering a defiant phase, but before I can get too frustrated with her, she reminds me that the majority of the time she's working hard to please us/amuse us. Case in point: Mike and I have been encouraging Audrey to say "Help" instead of whining when she needs something, and it started really paying off this week. She's been consistently saying Help without us prompting her and before resorting to whining. We're so proud!

Weekend at Grandma Butter and Grandpa's house!

Audrey got to spend some time this weekend with Shannon's folks. As I feel these pictures cleary show, she had a great tiime!!!