Time for a haircut!!!!

I believe this picture is evidence that it was time for a haircut. Audrey's almost 2 and a half and hasn't had her first haircut. (She didn't get hair until she was almost 2). We took her to Snips and Giggles in DePere, which is the most adorable and comfortable place to take a child for a haircut. She got to sit in the train seat while getting it cut (the pink corvette was occupied). : ) They also had Finding Nemo playing on TV right in front of her. She did really well. She's been playing "hair dresser" a lot lately so I think she was excited to have someone do her hair. They put sparkles in her hair after and that was Audrey's favorite part! "Mama! Sparkles!" There wasn't much to cut, but she needed some of those dead ends taken off. Now the cute curls are back. : )

Visit with Omi, Bumpa and Oma

Mario's family came and stayed with us for 10 days. They spent every day making it special for Audrey in every way possible. She loved spending time with them. Thank you for all of the BIG and little things you did to make the visit special - they did not go unappreciated or unnoticed. THANK YOU for:

Bringing homemade Christmas cookies and goodies

Bringing tons of presents for Audrey, all of which she loves

Writing down everything you got her so I'll have a list to refer to when shopping

Thinking of special ideas like the Christmas house with fun gifts to put inside

Helping set up the Princess castle for Audrey downstairs

Playing dress-up with her in the castle (including Prince David)

Playing Kitchen with Audrey multiple times a day

Allowing Audrey to do your hair each day

Keeping Audrey on schedule & getting naps in each day (kudos)

Inviting my mom & Donnie for a dinner with us

Allowing me to do some of my Christmas shopping sans Audrey

Making homemade chicken soup, baking cookies with me and making great meals with us

Shoveling the porch so we could still use our grill

Taking Audrey to see Santa at the Library for storytime

Always thinking of ways to make Christmas special & even thinking ahead to the holidays you won't be here for but making sure Audrey has things to make that holiday special too

Making the 12+ hour drive & bringing Oma...every moment spent together as a family with her is precious.

Audrey's first Christmas concert at daycare

Audrey participated in her first Christmas concert at day-care last week. She practiced singing Jingle Bells all week with her Omi, Bumpa and Oma, and also practiced with her class that morning. Mario's parents, his grandma, and my mom and her fiance Donnie came to watch this spectacular performance with me. :) She got up there and had the most terrified look on her face....from the room FULL of adults with cameras and camcorders recording the performance. Poor little girl. At least she stayed up there and didn't start crying. It was an adorable performance. Maybe next year Audrey will sing with the class. : )

Thank you for coming to see Audrey in her first performance. : )

I'm NOT going to sing!

Here is Audrey with her daycare friends: her best friend Kate is behind her. Sophie is in the Santa outfit next to her, then Caleb, Loy Grant and Ava... who are all in her class.

As promised... more wedding pictures

Trick or Treating

Audrey went trick or treating yesterday. She had two costume options: Pocahontas or Tinkerbell. She opted for tinkerbell. This first picture is actually afterwards when we got home & she had her first piece of candy: a sucker. Audrey loved running from house to house and walking with both mom and dad.

We made it to probably 12 homes or so up and down our street. She said "Trick or Treat" at every home and "Thank You" at most, too. Sometimes she got very distracted if there was a dog. She would get so excited & say "Huppy!" and start barking like the dog, "Wuf, wuf, Huppy!"

Erin's Wedding

This weekend we had the honor of attending my sister's wedding. It couldn't have been more fun; Erin did such a great job with the planning and it showed. The atmosphere was so unique being at the Pabst Brewery in Milwaukee. Family and friends made the day so special: Cousin Erica officiated, Uncle Dale sang and played the accordian, I was maid of honor, their friend, Jeaneen DJd, food was all organic and very delicious, and open bar didn't hurt either...until the next morning! : ) We had a BLAST and it was soo nice to see all the aunts and uncles, cousins and their children, too. Ryan is a wonderful addition to our family and it was a pleasure spending time with his family and relatives too.

Above is a picture of Erin with Owen and below is one of Audrey and me. She was there through dinner, then our friends, Jackie & Joe picked her up and watched her that night! Thank you again!! (Being in the wedding, I didn't get a lot of pictures on my camera so as they are sent to me, I'll add more).

Happy Halloween!!!

We went to a pumpkin patch in town with some of my coworkers and their children a few weekends back and we all had a great time.

This was the corn maze & the kids picked up all of the pieces of corn they found laying around. Audrey was running through the maze, giggling the whole way.

Audrey loved this horsie!

There was a mini-petting zoo so Audrey pet all of the animals.

Almost a strike! This is Audrey pumpkin bowling with a little girl named Gretta.

Here's Audrey pulling the wagon & picking out our pumpkins.

Bay Beach visit

We took Audrey to Bay Beach at the beginning of Summer, but she wasn't so sure about riding the rides by herself... so Mario & I had to ride with her.

Kelly Lake

We were invited to celebrate Jed's birthday at Kelly Lake, where Jed's dad has a cottage. We got to see his dad's petting zoo. Audrey loved the animals. He had three horses & we were able to get up close & pet them.

He also has a lot of chickens, ducks, turkeys, and grouse. Below is a picture of Audrey petting a baby chick.

June - Bellin Run

Bellin Run Picture from this year: Sarah, Dad, Ben, Erica, Erin & Ryan

State Fair

Audrey's first cream puff! MMMMMMmmmmm.

Audrey loved the cows! Also, she loved Erin -only wanted to hold Erin's hand. : )

It's been a while since our last posts...

Sorry for the long delay in no posts! It's been such a busy (yet very fun) spring & summer that I'm just getting to updating this. Here are some of the highlights from the summer:

Mario's parents came and stayed with us in July and were here for Audrey's second birthday party. Audrey had a great time playing every day with them and Mario's Omi, too.
This is a picture from Audrey's birthday party...with her cousin, Owen. She still isn't sure about him moving in on her territory, but she's warming up to him. : ) We love him a lot.

Here was her pretty birthday dress that didn't stay on very long. And a great shot of Audrey's great Omi, who we call her Oma. Miss you!

Happy Easter!

Above is Easter Sunday at Grandma Diane's. Audrey got a little protective when she saw Owen was trying to swoop in and "steal" her grandma. : )
Audrey's Easter bunny ears!

Festival had an Easter egg hunt and fun little stations for the kids to get treats at. Audrey had a great time and took her little friend, Kaitlyn (below). Kaitlyn was busy checking out the beer station while Audrey grabbed a cookie.

They also had the Easter Bunny! Audrey felt pretty much the same about him as she did Santa. Maybe next year.

Audrey has a cousin!

Here's hansome little Owen, and Audrey's first visit with him.

Happy 60th Birthday Grandpa!

Happy Birthday to Grandpa (Mario's Dad) who turns 60! We love you and wish we could be with you today to celebrate. Looking forward to seeing you soon.

PS We have a great video for you specifically for you, but I think it was too long and we couldn't get it to upload. We'll show you when you come.

Love - Mario, Sarah & Audrey

Audrey opening a puzzle

This is Audrey getting some puzzles. We are watching The Best of Saturday Night Live -Christmas specials in the background.

I believe the Schwetty Balls skit is on, in case you were wondering what was going on.

This is Audrey opening a plate set from grandpa Pat with aunt Erin.

Pony Ride

Audrey loves her pony.