Austin Visitors on a Gourd-eous Weekend

Our friend Shelly and her daughter Ellie from Austin paid us a quick visit while they were up in PA for a family reunion. Ellie and Andrew were born one week apart so it was a mini-reunion of sorts.


May 2006 (2 months old)


October 2007 (19 months old)


It looks like they're nonverbally challenging each other, but really they were leaning in to give each other a kiss, which was encouraged by the parents.


Beautiful Shelly and her beautiful daughter Ellie


The November birthday Moms with their March birthday kiddos


Andrew showing Ellie his cat Kitty



Later in the day, we headed to Ashcombe Farms to enjoy some Fall festivities.




Pint-sized gourds for our own half-pint




He posed nicely for this shot b/c we bribed him with kettle corn. From his first taste of the seasonal treat, he was hooked.








It reminds us a little of the Santa slide in the movie "The Christmas Story".

LSU from AUS to PSU

Jack, Chip and Byron (LSU grads) from Austin and Aaron (PSU grad) from Virginia paid us a visit this weekend. Steve took them to State College, PA for the Penn State homecoming game, which PSU won. Despite LSU losing its game that same weekend, the Austin guys were good "sports" and bought some Nittany Lion garb. Steve also created hand-painted Penn State logo-ed t-shirts for all of them.


Byron, Aaron, Chip, Jack, Steve and the Nittany Lion


Andrew, Steve, Byron, Jack and Chip
(Andrew is actually saying, "Cheeeese!" in this picture.)

Parties, Progress and Potato-picking in September

Trying out a brand new toy at a friend's birthday party. Good thing they're not in the "MINE, MINE, MINE!" stage yet.


We've made lots of progress on the new room, but we still have a ways to go. Steve took what was once a weird, unreachable and unusable space inside the closet and turned it into a fun little cubby. Hide-and-Seek just got more fun at the Kretzing house.


Picking potatoes out of Grandpop Kretzing's garden

Our Latest Projects

The ongoing project of being pregnant - 3rd Trimester, 29 Weeks


Andrew and Daddy working together


Andrew loves to watch his daddy at work, so much so that we decided he should pull up a chair to observe. He knows not to walk into the construction zone.


Andrew's First Happy Meal


Renovating what will become Andrew's new room. The picture procession is pre-demolition; tearing down the plaster and lath wall; walls and ceiling torn down; insulation installed; drywall and radiator in place.

How Steve Spent His Summer Vacation

Steve can now add "floor installer" to his resume. He placed new hardwoods over the existing wood floors in the entryway, living room and dining room, and it looks great. They should be called "hardwork floors" because of all the painstaking work involved:

- placing a new subfloor over the existing wood floor before the REAL flooring goes in
- moving, lifting, sandblasting and painting the cast iron radiators
- moving that darn piano all over the place in order to lay the flooring

Great work, Steve/Dad! Here are some before and after pictures.

That's Our Boy!

Using a poor man's drum kit, Andrew hammers out a nice drum solo.



It was only a matter of time before he started practicing his own stunts since Daddy had been watching a lot of the BMX Freestyle Championships on TV. That's Grandma cheering him on in the background.



Lion Roar Complete with Ferocious Paws

Computer and Rocket (Socks) Science

Lately, Andrew has really been interested in the computer. Any chance he gets, he'll climb into the chair, grab the mouse, and start clicking away. Needless to say, we've started backing up our files more frequently. We've been playing on the Sesame Street website, and there are a few games on there that he likes.


Post-breakfast web-surfing


Post-dinner web-surfing


Modeling his rocket socks


Such a handsome devil, Andrew is a real head- and total body-turner.

Caseville, MI

We took a trip up to Michigan to visit Megan's dad, her siblings and their families. We rented a little house on the lake, but the water was so shallow that Andrew could probably walk out for a half-mile and the water would still only be up to his knees.


Making friends on the plane


Watch out, Kona Ironman. Here I come!


Andrew was so excited about getting a life vest that he happily wore it and modeled it out of the water.


Playing with the cousins


Shadow Puppets


Reggie enduring yet another "buzz" to the nose


He's starting to make silly faces when the camera turns on him.

Father and Son

Scaling, Scaling Over the Bounding Main (or crib rail rather)

It seems our pint-sized Energizer Bunny is working on a new trick: climbing out of his crib. I caught him today with both feet off the mattress, one leg kicked over, balancing on the edge of the railing on his tummy.


Places to go, people to see...


Giving Ducky a bumper car ride


"Dear" Blind: Andrew's secret way of not missing any of the action around the house


Grandmom and the Boy

The Constant Gardener

Andrew loves to lend a hand in the garden after seeing his daddy tend to it so often. Every time we walk into the backyard, Andrew points and grunts for the watering can.




He'll water anything: rocks, logs, a single leaf. Everything needs a drink. We put those logs there as a barrier, but we've recently learned that creatures live under them: We've been harboring the very same family of groundhogs that have been destroying Steve's garden!!! D'oh!


He chose to stand in the way of the sprinkler.


Neither playing in the sprinkler nor swimming in the pool EVER replaces an actual bath, Little Buddy.






Friend, Thy Name is Sprinkler

Choix du Roi

We had our ultrasound today. It's a girl! Everything looks great, and the due date remains the same (Nov. 25th). She was very squirmy but was cooperative during the ultrasound, letting us in to get a good peek. A beauty! (Thanks for the French term, Heather G.)

July Stuff

Hooray! We got our new camera (a Canon Powershot SD800 IS), and we simply love it. The camera that died was 5 years old, so it was time for a new one anyway. At last, we can photograph the boy again!




A nice father and son shot, save for Cassie relieving herself in the background


Picking berries




Both Andrew and Megan walk with their bellies sticking out these days.

Carlisle Summerfair 2007

Ack! Our digital camera died on us! While it certainly isn’t the end of the world, it does seem a little tragic when you have a little toddler running around and you have no way of photo-documenting his new talents, humor and experiences at this moment in time. We’re set to get a replacement (camera, that is) this week. Until then, words will have to illustrate the happenings of the Kretzing family. Anyone have a digital camera recommendation?

This weekend, we enjoyed the beginnings of Carlisle's Summerfair, a weeklong celebration that ends on the Fourth of July. On Friday evening, we watched the parade, and unlike last year when Andrew was too young to understand what was going on, this year he kept walking into the street, ready to get in formation with the rest of the parade participants. He marveled at the Clydesdale, the miniature horse, and the standard horse that clopped on by. He was mesmerized by all the fire trucks and their flashing lights. He waved his little American-flag-on-a-stick with the best of them. Saturday morning, Megan ran in the Summerfair 10K and earned an age group award, which will proudly go in Baby K #2's baby book. Andrew has his trophy from a 2005 Turkey Trot, so that should stop any competition between the kiddos if they should compare baby books. :-)

Steve has been HARD AT WORK (understatement) installing new wood floors in the downstairs living rooms. It's a lot of work, but there is instant gratification when you turn around to see the beautiful wood floors you just put down. At times, we wish the rooms were just perfect squares, which would be easier to work with, but Steve has done a great job working around our angled fireplace, bay window and stairwell. We've been lucky that the days he has worked on the floors have been cool and dry instead of warm and humid. That would make for an even longer work day.