Wet 'N' Wild at Festival Park

Mike and I both had today off, so we decided to have lunch at a small cafe in downtown Elgin and then check out the Festival Park on the river. We remembered from walks on the river before Audrey was born that there was a playground and water fountain/park.

Lunch was great. The food was delicious, and Audrey was at her best--happy and content. We figured we'd walk to the park, check out the playground and maybe have Audrey splash a little in the water. We were unprepared for how into it she would be. Next time we'll dress her appropriately in swimsuit and swim diaper.

Surprise!

We surprised my best friend Kristy on Saturday for her 30th birthday. Her family threw a great party at their cottage on the Fox River in Wisconsin--tons of food, wonderful friends and family, and a party barge. What could be better? Happy Birthday KP!


Forehead kisses for Kristy.


Partners in crime. I was bummed I couldn't have a beer with Kristy on the boat.


Audrey loved being outside all day. We were generous with the sunscreen and adamant about the hat. Her skin today is pale and burn-free. Her mother, on the other hand, is a little red. I wasn't as thorough applying the sunscreen to myself.


Checking out the scene with Daddy.

Daddy's Home!

This is Audrey's typical reaction to Mike coming home in the evenings.

Shout out to the Grandparents

I just wanted to say THANK YOU to both Patti and my Mom who have been watching Audrey on Monday and Wednesday. I have had just the best time the past couple of days coming home for lunch and spending time with my Mom and Dad on monday and Patti today.(I even got to make Patti breakfast this morning. FYI - she likes her eggs over medium) I truly love being able to come home and get an update about what Audrey has been doing during the day and get the opportunity to play with her with the Grandmas. I have even started pushing my lunches to 4 O'clock so that I can have the opportunity to come home while Audrey is awake. Special thanks to Harold William Wetzel Jr. for cleaning out my garage.

Sunny Days

Coloring at home. Audrey spent more time throwing the crayons and seeing how many she could fit into one hand than she did actually coloring.


Learning to use a fork.


Hammock time at friend Noah's birthday party.

More of the same this week--we are really enjoying our summer despite a horrific Cubs season. Audrey loves getting to see both her grandmas every week, and I'm pretty sure they like it too. I'm waiting to hear the word "Grandma" come out of her mouth--she seems to be trying to get it out.

After Audrey showed us she could walk no problem last Wednesday, she has refused to do any more since then. Now we know she can walk, she's just still too scared and unsure to do it on her own. All in good time, but it's been causing a few sore backs here at home since she demands we hold her hands as she walks around the house or yard.

Growin' and Learnin'

We've been having some great days this June, despite the recent heat wave. Audrey continues to pick up new words (like Go Cubs Go) and sounds (rar for lion, wak wak for duck, ruf ruf for dog, woo woo for train, brum brum for car, etc.). Most exciting of all, today out of the blue she walked a dozen steps from our living room down the hall to our bedroom all by herself.

When I'm home we spend our days playing in the cool basement or outside in her wading pool. In the evenings we go on walks around the neighborhood with Sophie. Mike and I play our favorite game, "We would buy that house," along with our second favorite game "Sheesh, mow your lawn!"

Finally, I can tell Audrey's little mind and body are going through some big developments, because she has been sleeping a lot. I have really been enjoying the last week or so of sleeping in until 8, 8:30, even 9 a.m. a couple of times. I will be sad when this phase ends!

First Post for Baby #2

Today was a big day for our family because we got to hear the heartbeat of Baby Wetzel #2 for the first time at my 12-week appt. (although I won't officially be 12 weeks along until next week). The heartbeat was good and strong and made the pregnancy all that more "real" for me. There's a baby in there--I haven't been sick for nothing! Our official due date is Jan. 6.

One of the big reasons we chose our house was because we both could imagine starting a family here. It took us longer to get started than we thought it would, but now we are blessed to have not one but two kids! I am ecstatic to have all our bedrooms used as bedrooms soon and relish the chore of consolidating closets and figuring out what to do with our "office furniture."

Unfortunately I don't have any pictures of the baby to share. We won't have an ultrasound until 20 weeks (new doctor, new way of doing things). But, we do have a fun, happy video of Audrey playing one of her favorite new games.

Smiles and Whines

We'll just show the smiles here. Audrey is always quick to smile, but she is definitely starting to display an impatient side, as well. This tries my patience, which everyone close to me knows is already in short supply. So sorry, Audrey, for passing along that unfortunate trait. Hopefully we can learn some patience together. Perhaps we'll have to add that to our evening prayers.

Still, we are having a lot of fun, despite the occasional whines and fits.

$1.99 for a box full of fun.

We'll be keeping our tissue boxes out of reach from now on.

Hugs for Daddy when he came home from work.

We missed him this weekend.

Finally, you may notice that blog posts are coming less frequently. When Audrey was born I made a promise to myself to post here regularly during her first year to share with family and to help me keep a diary of all the joys of being her mommy (and daddy). We'll still post now that she's a year old, but I am finding it harder to keep on top of it with the same frequency. However, I'm going to really try to give our second kid (due in early January) the same treatment, so things should pick up again in the winter. But we aren't going anywhere--check back weekly for new pictures.

Hanging Out With Audrey

We've had a few nice, relaxing days in the Wetzel household, just enjoying being a family. Today was back to reality. I spent my 30th birthday at the DMV and then at the doctor's office watching Audrey get 4 shots and her finger pricked. That's adulthood, I guess. Anyway, besides the shots, which Audrey hated, the doctor gave our daughter a clean bill of health. She's on the long and lean side, but we all knew that. 19 lbs (10th percentile) and 29 in. (75th percentile). All within normal ranges, and most importantly she's showing steady, continued growth.

What else is going on with Audrey? She is learning a lot. Her vocabulary is growing--from maybe 2 words (not counting mom and dad) a month ago to 6 or 7 now, although not all of them are completely clear. She is 100% on table food and began insisting on using a fork today (only adding to how frustrating dinner time can be these days). She's really into our dog Sophie and loves petting her. We are trying to teach her "gentle." We are still waiting for those first independent steps, but in the meantime, she has forced me, Mike, grandmas and babysitters to walk laps with her around the house, doctor's office, backyard, etc. Finally, some hair is growing on that head! We are still a long time away from a barrette, let alone a ponytail.

Audrey loves this new chair she got for her birthday and climbs in and out of it constantly.


Found a nice quiet corner to read in her room.

Pool time in the backyard. Why have one pool when you can have two?

Pools are also fun when they are indoors, filled with toys instead of water.

Mmmm Birthday Cake

It took Audrey half a minute, but she quickly warmed to the whole cake thing.

Birthday Girl

Hard to believe, but our baby girl turned one today. We are proud to have survived our first year of parenthood, and even prouder of the sweet person Audrey has turned out to be. We are so blessed. Audrey truly delights in nearly everything, which inspires me to at least try to do the same. Plus she gives the sweetest hugs and, if she's in the mood, kisses.

We are having a small family birthday party tomorrow. But tonight we gave her a special ice cream treat and let her open two of her presents from us.


This little toy train was a hit. As was her next present:

We got Audrey her first Cabbage Patch Kid. She spied the doll in this photo, thus the smile.

Hugs for her baby.

To my surprise, Audrey knew right away to feed the baby her bottle.

Bad Moon Rising

Mike checks on Audrey about half a dozen times each night, and this is how he found Audrey this evening about 30 minutes after she fell asleep. Her diaper was in the opposite corner of the crib.