March 30th, 2008 Hello and Happy Spring! We hope that you are well and healthy and ready for warmer weather like us. Uh, it SNOWED here three days ago. Not too cool.

Lots of stuff has happened here in the last few months. Kelsey turned 5 on January 30th! We had a birthday party at Excel gymnastics for her and her pals. We packed the ipod with tunes from Enchanted, Hannah Montana, and High School Musical and jammed! Then we made all of her guests a CD of her fave music. It was a great time. Kelsey is almost done with her pre-school years. Her last day at Kensington is in May. Then she is off on the bus to KINDERGARTEN!! Well, in a few months anyway. She is getting so big and wants to do more and more big girl types of things. She still loves to play dress up and pretend which is always good.

Mitchell continues to keep us running and running and running. There is no relaxing with this one. Bars on the upstairs windows won’t be unheard of around here. He is a happy little monster though and smiles and smiles all day long. He has started going to Excel for open gym once a week (no classes yet) and he is so strong! He hangs on the high bars, the rings, the trapeze, jumps into the foam pits, goes in the inflatable….he has no fear. We try to do calm things with him like art, drawing, coloring and sitting activities. We’ll get better at that! Oh, his favorite thing to do is “play” his Wiggles guitar while dad or mom jam on Guitar Hero for Wii. He really gets into it…raises the guitar over his head and JAMS! It is hilarious!

Oh yeah…I turned 37. Yippee.

Mike began a new career adventure at Xerox a few weeks ago. So far so good. He needed a change from where Sprint was taking him, so he changed!

Thanks for reading our news! Hope to hear from you soon!!!

The Regans

December 3rd, 2007 Merry Christmas to everyone! We hope that you and your family are in good health and spirits and ready to celebrate the holidays. We sure are. The kids are really excited about Christmas this year….mostly Kelsey. She is very into Santa and her biggest fear is being on the naughty list. Mike and I use that to our advantage. She likes to tell her brother that he can;t touch the tree, that he better eat his dinner, that he better not whine or Santa will give him empty presents. Quite amusing. She is helpful though and really works hard at being a good big sister. She is in pre-school and having a blast. She is really doing a great job learning her letters and writing.

Mitch is a MOOSE! He is a nutty climber and must be watched constantly. He has been known to climb onto the dining room table to attempt to reach the chandeleir. Very busy and happy and fun! He is getting lots of teeth and is growing up so quickly. He likes to rock out to the Wiggles and to High School Musical 2 and he loves to push and pull things (down the stairs) and all over the house. No drawer, no cabinet or no basket is safe from his grasp. I feel like my house is a constant mess from Hurricane Mitch!

As you can see from our Halloween pics, the kids were Darth Vader and Padme Amadala from Star Wars. They had fun trick or treating but actually preferred to be home handing out the candy! We also had fun playing in the leaves at our favorite Forest Preserve spot that we refer to as the SPOOKY FOREST. And now we prepare for Christmas!

Thanks for visiting our website! We hope that you have a wonderful Decemeber and a FANTABULOUS Christmas!

Love- The Regans

August 26th, 2007 Summer is almost over and Kelsey is about to start her last year of pre-school! This summer has flown by and we did a ton of cool stuff. Pics are not all up yet, but check back again and you can see them!

Big things have happened for Mitch this summer. First he turned ONE! We had a party for him outside and he loved eating his cake. The presents were not of any interest so Kelsey opened them for him. But he loves them now! He cut 8 teeth (and had a hard time with it) and has also started walking. We went out tonight and bought him his first pair of shoes tonight. He loves them and is so proud of his cool shoes. He is a super happy kid and has a GREAT tan! What a rock star! When Kelsey is at school this year we plan on going to Gymboree and getting crazy with our neighborhood pals.

Kelsey is doing great. She is 4 1/2 and is psyched to start school (and so am I) She has participated in a sports camp which was held at Western Avenue School, where she will attend Kindergarten NEXT school year. She also went to Peck Farm for Camp Coyote whcih is an outdoor nature camp. She also took a month of swim lessons and did fantastic! She is quite the swimmer and wanted to do more. She went down the water slides all by herself! Kelsey has had a full summer but not a packed summer. We wanted time to chill out and do other things too. She is now addicted to Webkinz. If you don;t know what they are, you will if you have a kid in school. They are tons of fun though. It is actually a stuffed animal that come with a “code” that gets you onto the Webkinz website. You then adopt your animal and can play, feed, take it to the vet, dress up, etc all on line!

So….we went to the zoo about 10 times, to the movies, played in the pool, set up the water table, blew bubbles, cruised the hood in our Jeep (mitchell sat passenger side) , went to the pool, played on the swing set, went to a Cougars game, played with friends, went on long walks and bike rides, washed the car and Fletcher, visited Grandma and Grandpa Sjostrom in Peoria, went in the sprinklers, went to the parks, and more. Mike and I had fun at a couple of Cubs games and nights out without the kids. What a fun summer!

News from the rest of the family is that Nate and Paige had their second baby, Skye Sophia in July. Although we have not met her YET! But we will. Aunt Emily is still in Panama but will return for a visit and then go back to South America again. Sadly, my Grandpa Kelbe passed away in June and Aunt Edie also passed away in June. They will be missed.

Everyone is doing great! We hope that you enjoy checking out our cool website!

Peace OUT!!! Wendy, Mike, Kelsey, Mitch, Fletch and Belle

Good grief there are lots of things to say……and since I get up each day at 5:00 or maybe 5:15 now, I have time to say them! Mitch is doing so great! He is now 11 months old and is really looking forward to his 1st Birthday. He has made out a list of all the toys he wants already! He has three teeth on the bottom with one ready to pop and one tooth on the top with the other ready to pop as well. He is crawling all over, has been moved up to his big car seat (he weighs about 22 pounds) and has taken Kelsey by surprise with his agility and quick hair pulling skills. He has been voted most smiley baby ever by all who know him.

Kelsey is also well. Her pre-school classes end in two weeks but will do some camps and Park District classes as well as gymnastics. She likes WHINE with her cheese for sure, but I know that this too shall pass. She can write her name and most letters of the alphabet and askes me to spell stuff all the time. We are looking forward to a summer filled with fun and sun and friends and family!

As you can see, we took a trip to Disney World. Grandma and Papa flew us down there and we had a great time! The first day we ate at Landry’s ,which I do NOT recommend since two days later Papa was laid up in bed with a case of food poisoning. BUT he did manage to make it to Disney World one day! We had so much fun. Kelsey was in awe of everything and Mitch was a trooper. He loved watching everything. Of course this time we had lunch in Cinderella’s castle with all of the beautiful Princesses. Kelsey dressed up as Sleeping Beauty complete with a blonde wig. Kelsey’s fave’s were Peter Pan and The Haunted Mansion and STAR WARS! Mitch was a fan of Dumbo. MGM had a wonderful water and light show the kids loved. As a whole the trip was amazing but we wished that Papa had felt better. But now we need to go back so Papa can hang with us for more than one day.

Nathan and Paige are due with their second child in July so we are looking forward to that. Grace will have a sibling and we have another cool cousin to visit! We will keep you posted on that news.

Aunt Emily is still in Panama and it looks like she is staying for a few extra months. Maybe she will back before Christmas?? HI EMILY!!!!!!!

We hope that you are all well and in great health. Thanks for visiting our website!

Sorry for the delay in writing news. We have been quite busy here! We hope that you are all well and in good health! Since our last update lots has happened….

Mitchell has turned 9 months old. He is so adorable and smiley. Clearly the happiest baby on earth. He began crawling last week and now Kelsey has to watch out! Her toys are fair game on the floor! No teeth yet but they are coming. You can see the little white lines on his gums. There are two little boys on the block about 3 weeks apart and Mitch is looking forward to tearing it up with them this summer!

Kelsey has been busy at school and gymnastics. She had her spring program and got to wear her pajamas to school that day. Princesses and Star Wars are the hottest thing going in her life. She loves all of her bestest friends which is pretty much every single person she knows. She turned 4 in January and had a gymnastics party which rocked! She is looking forward to Easter and to it getting warm again so she can play outside in the mud. She loves worms and bugs and getting dirty. She adores her brother and NOBODY can get Mitch to belly laugh the way she can. When she is around, he is UBER HAPPY! They make a great team and she does such a great job with him.

Fletcher and Belle are still the coolest pets around. Smelly Belle-y is fat and planning on taking out the Easter Bunny this year so watch out!!!!!!!!

Mike and I are a well. Work and kids is what we are busy with at the present time. Thrilling to read about I am sure….We are looking forward to a nice vacation to Disney World later this month with Grandma and Papa Kelbe. We are all in need of a little relaxation. Um, wait did I say Disney and relaxation in the same sentence?

We did get a new car. Our Old Bessy was in need of too many repairs forcing us to make the decision to get a new one. Kelsey was not happy as she LOVED Old Bessy. Now she actually has to be careful in the car! Mom does too!

Sad news did come last week with the passing of my Grandma Bette Kelbe. She was a wonderful woman and we were fortunate to have her in our lives. Kelsey and Mitchell as well as all of the great grand children were able to spend time with her last Chritsmas which made her so happy. Nothing like getting an entire family together to celebrate! We will miss our Gigi!

We hope that you all have a fantastic Easter with family and friends and good health! Happy Spring everyone!

Happy New Year to everyone! We hope that you were all able to be with your family and friends over the holidays and that everyone was healthy and happy! We lucked out this year with nobody getting sick and spending tons of time with family.

We celebrated Christmas a few times. First G and G Sjostrom came up to celebrate both Christmas and Grandma’s birthday. We had a nice dinner and Kelsey helped make a fantastic cake. Then Kelsey had a sleepover in the basement with them and the next morning we had Christmas. Aunt Emily spent the holidays in Panama and is due to come home again this summer. Grandpa Regan came in to visit as well. He looks like Santa with his white beard and Santa hat on.

Next we paid a visit to the big guy in the North Pole. Kelsey was thrilled this year to see him which is a huge change from our visitis in the past. She drew Santa a picture and told him all of the things she wanted for Christmas. She also helped her brother sit on his lap. Notice that Mitch has an awesome Bears bib on in those pics.

Aunt Paige, Uncle Nate and cousin Grace came in from Colorado this year. The kids had so much fun together. Keeping with the Kelbe family tradition, the crew ate at East China Inn on Christmas Eve and the next morning enjoyed the Christmas Extravaganza at G and G Kelbe’s complete with monkey bread, mimosa’s and finding the pickle ornament (which Nathan won again because Grandpa gave too many hints) But I am not bitter. Gift opening with kid’s is quite an event. Grace and Kelsey helped Mitch open his gifts since he slept through the whole thing anyway.

The day after Christmas we packed up the cars and headed up to Wisconsin to join the other Kelbe’, Fadner’s, Whitfield’s, Friese’s for a little rest and relaxation( HUH???) and to celebrate Great G and G Kelbe’s 65th anniversary. The trip was a blast and filled with adventure and craziness. We took the kids ice skating, to the Milwaukee Zoo and to the Milwaukee Public Museum. Of course we visited Gillie’s Frozen Custard whcih has long been a family tradition as well. It was awesome to have the entire family all together in one place.

We hope that you enjoy the pics! Thank you so much for visiting our website!!!!

Merry Christmas! We hope that you and your families are in fantastic health and spirits this holiday season. Things have been busy here. In case you were living in a hole..here is what you missed.H A!

Kelsey will be turning FOUR this January. She is currently in pre-school two days per week at Kensinton in Geneva. She is really enjoying the 2 and 1/2 hours she spends there with her friends and teachers. She always comes home in a great mood with new songs to sing, Spanish words to say or a great story about how some other kid got into trouble. When she does not have a story to tell you can bet she has one about herself. This is her second year at school and will go next year for three days per week. Kelsey is involved in gymnastics every Wednesday and goes to the same gym on Thursdays for Open Gym. She would go there every day if she could (and if we could afford it). We have tried a few things like soccer and ballet but those were a no go. At home she loves playing on her swing set, coloring, talking, singing, dancing, playing outside, dressing up like a princess, role playing and of courese just talking. Did I mention the talking???? She loves art and anything that involes making a mess. However, cleaning up is not one of her favorite activities. She has been a helper with her new brother although she has yet to change a diaper. We are so proud of her and her accomplishments so far and look forward to watching her acheive more in the years to come. Kelsey is a true joy and we are so fortunate to have a healthy and happy little girl. She is our saucy little monkey for sure.

Then came Mitchell. He was born on June 21st in Florida. We were able to join him on the 23rd along with Kelsey and Grandma Kelbe. (Grandma Sjostrom was going to join us later but we were discharged earlier than anticipated and home before she could get down there!) Mitch was in the hospital 2 and 1/2 weeks and all of that time was in the NICU. He was learning how to eat from a bottle and gain a little weight. If any of you have seen him lately, you know that he is just fine in the weight department. He was born at 4 lbs. 4 oz. and now weighs well over 15 pounds. ROCK STAR! Now he has the nickname MOOSE which is obviously quite fitting. Our trip to Florida was nice although stressful. Mike and I obviously went to the hospital as much as we could. Grandma did too. Kelsey like spending her time at the pool and loved the extra time she spent with Grandma. We returned home on July 7th and have been adjusting to life with 2 kids. Mitch is a wonderful baby. He smiles, laughs, giggles, burps, barfs, reaches, grabs and all the other things a 5 month old does all day long. But once 5:00 rolls around, LOOK OUT. He becomes another baby. But this shall pass and we will be happy when it does. We again are so fortunate to have him in our lives. It amazes us that he and Kelsey look so much alike!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It was meant to be!!!

Mike and I are both doing well. Mike is still enjoying his work with Sprint and I of course love staying home.Mike stays busy with going to the gym, playing X-BoX, playing fantasy football, working on the computer, and doing all the yard work. I keep busy with these two kids , crafts, going to play groups, working out in the basement, and going to play bunco with neighbors. Mike and I celebrated our 10 year anniversary this year as well. Hard to imagine that we are old enought for 10 year anniversaries.

Well, please enjoy the pics, old and new, on our wonderful website. (THANKS Z and Angela!) We wish you all peace, health and happiness this holiday season and in the new year to come. Merry Christmas!!!!!

Love- Wendy, Mike, Kelsey, Mitch, Fletcher and Belle too.

Hello everyone! Happy Fall! We have been busy here with Halloween fun and just hanging out with friends and family. But first, let us tell you how the kids are doing.

Mitchell is growing like a mad man. He was at his last visit on October 23rd, 13 pounds and 6 ounces. I am certain that he is 14 LBS already. We started solid foods but that is not going as well as we thought. He was almost (at least according to the dates we were given) almost 2 months early so we figure he will do things a little later than the benchmark things that infants do. We are not worried and as you can see, he is not missing any meals. He can hold his head up while laying on his stomach, hold his head straight while sitting, follows objects like Kelsey and Fletcher with his eyes, LAUGHS and smiles all the time and is an all around happy boy! Kelsey adores him. She is a wonderful helper. She watches me change his diaper, helps feed him, bathe him and puts blankets on him to make sure he is warm. We are truly fortunate to have these two children in our lives. That is not to say that we don’t welcome a babysitter ANYTIME to come and enjoy our children as much as we do!

The photos you are seeing are from a trip with Grandma Kelbe to Brookfield Zoo. Kelsey was a little crabby that day but the new Carousel helped out. Mitch was cool at the zoo. He slept the entire time.

Since our friends the Jackson’s have moved back to town, we have seen them A TON! It is awesome!!! We went to Oktoberfest in downtown Naperville and sang German songs and built beer pyramids with the kids. (NOT TO WORRY, we did NOT drink all those beers and the kids LOVED building the pyramids. THEY drank black cow shakes and ate giant pretzels. Mitch stayed at home with Grandma.) We also went to Northern Illinois Homecoming! We tailgated with Z and Angela, Eric and Christina and the Jackson’s, ran into a ton of people we have not seen in ages. and pretended to be younger than we are. We also felt really old with the 19 year old punks bopping around the bars (HOW DID they get in to those establishments anyway??? ) and the stadium. It was a blast though.

Mike and I took the kids to Kuiper’s family farm in Maple Park for our pumpkin search. It was freezing that day. Mitch and Kelsey were troopers and we found the perfect pumpkins. Kelsey likes the spooky forest and the tractor rides. But most of all we liked those Cider doughnuts. What a diet killer those things are. We had fun and enjoyed more doughnuts in the days after.

The rest of the pics are from Halloween. Kelsey has a play group on Tuesdays and we had a Halloween bash here at Casa Regan. The kids were all dressed up and high on Reese Cups and cookies and juice. The moms sat and watched as they ate more sugar in one sitting thatn they should have all month. Oh, well. We all had a spooky fun time. If you look close enough you can see that I have trained our daughter right and she throws up the ROCK AND ROLL sign with her hand in some of the photos. Trick or treating was cold. They kids looked great in their coordinating costumes, Sebastian and Ariel. Mitch only stayed out for 15 minutes and then had enough. Kelsey stayed out with dad and her pals from the hood. They smashed pumpkins, soaped cars and but flaming bags of poop on people’s doorsteps. She had a rockin time. (ONLY JOKING)

We hope that you are FANTASTIC and HEALTHY! Have a wonderful Thanksgiving with your family and friends. See you in December!

Love- The Regan Family

Happy Halloween everyone! We hope that you guys are excited for the upcoming holiday like we are. Things are going to be a bit crazy here. Kelsey and Mitchell have coordinating costumes but you will have to tune in later to see what they are. OK, I am terrible at secrets so..Kelsey is going to be Ariel the Little Mermaid (GASP! ARG! A SHOCK to all who know her!!) Mitchell will be Sebastian the Crab. It should be pretty cute. Kelsey would love for me to be Ursula the Sea Witch and for Mike to be King Triton. The jury is still out on that one. No comments from anyone thank you very much.

Mitchell’s adoption has been finalized on October 4th. If you remember with Kelsey it took almost 10 months but his was quick! We are so thrilled to be DONE even though we feel fortunate that the process only took 6 months from start to finish. It is a relief to have no more papers or fees or worries. Kelsey’s finalization date is October 14th so October is a fantastic month here. We will celebrate each year for both of the kids.

Other than that big news not too much stuff has happened. We were able to get out to Colorado to see Nathan, Paige and Grace with my parents. As always it was fun. Grace and Kelsey had fun together and Mitch chilled out. Grace really liked Mitch but can you blame her? He is a total rock star! While we were there we went to the Denver Zoo and celebrated PAPA Kelbe’s 60th Birthday!!!!!!!!!!!!! He does not look a day over 55. Well, maybe even younger since he shaved his beard. We all had a great time and Nate and Paige got to meet their nephew.

Have a safe holiday and thanks for visiting our website!

The Regans

Sorry for the delay in an update from our house. Things are quite different around here. When we arrived home we found one of those giant storks in the front yard and also a huge poster from all the neighborhood kids welcoming us all home. It was so nice!! Then our neighbors brought dinner over every other evening for two weeks. I could REALLY get used to that treatment. We are so lucky to have such great friends and neighbors.

Mitchell is doing fantastic. He has gained lots of weight. Last week he had his one month check up and he weighed in at a WHOPPING 7 pounds. That is almost as much as the house rabbit, Belle. He has gained more since then and is becoming more and more alert. Kelsey adores him and has been so helpful. She likes to watch me change his clothes and diaper although she does not often stick around for the smell of things. She always notes the differneces between her and Mitch and it reminds me of that little boy in the movie Kindergarten Cop. (If you have not seen the movie, just ask someone about it)

We have been sticking close to home since the weather here has been brutally hot. But as it cools we venture outside to play on the swingset or take a walk. It is so great to have two beautiful and healthy children. We are fortunate!

We have had many visitors including Aunt Emily all the way from her stint as a Peace Corps volunteer in Panama! It was cool to see her!! We are off to see Nate, Paige and Grace in September!

Peace!!!!!!! The Regans