Thanksgiving Trip to Nappanee

Mae getting her first bath at Meemaw's......in the kitchen sink......a Detwiler baby tradition

Squeaky clean Mae Mae

Joined at the hip......Nicholas with his best buddy for the day, cousin Seth Homes

Getting to know each other.....Great Grandma Gladys and Mae

Our family with Great Grandma and Great Grandpa Detwiler at the Detwiler family gathering

Pam, Cristina, Evelyn, Chet and Gladys Detwiler, Carl

Mae snoozing on Aunt Pam's shoulder......this was one of Mae's favorite places to be while we were in Nappanee!

Great Grandma Dorothy Anglemyer and Mae meeting for the first time

Nicholas and Aunt Jeanne Anglemyer

Ella loved this rocking chair at Aunt Charlene's house

Mae is 2 months old!!!

Daddy and Mae on 11/17 before our family Christmas pictures

Our 2 month old Mae Mae

Ella at 2 months is on the left and Mae is on the right. My pics of Niko at 2 months are on a disc in the safe upstairs......I'd love to compare all 3 babies.

Mae Mae smiles!!

Snoozin on her belly....I can't get enough of the little tucked up legs and bottom up in the air

Our little Mae is two months old as of Saturday, the 21st. She's cooing some and smiling lots. She's also becoming quite a chunk! At her dr's appt on Friday, she weighed 11lb 7.5 oz which meant that she had put on 2lb 7oz in one month. Yippee!! The chubby cheeks and belly make Mommy very happy considering it took her almost 4 weeks to get back to her birth weight.

Super fun day with friends

Shelly (left) and Cherise visiting with Mae

Ella helping Hope take off her shoes after playing outside. Then when the Hurleys were leaving and we couldn't find Hope's shoes, we realized that Ella had put them with all of our shoes in the shoe cubby. I love toddlers!! Sometimes they have such a sense of order.

Hope and Brock loving on Nala

Brock holding Mae

Cute girls holding hands

The whole gang.....you just know it's not possible to get everyone looking at the camera at the same time!

On Sunday, November 15, our dear friends from college and their children came to visit us and to meet Baby Mae. Cherise and Brandon Hall with their boys Dylan, 7, and David, 5, drove from Romney (south of Lafayette) and Shelly and Mark Hurley with their children Claire, 8, Brock, 3 1/2, and Hope, 21 months drove from Rensselaer. We had such a great time and it was a housefull!!! All the kids did great together. Nicholas and Dylan and David were inseparable. I think they're friends for life even though Nicholas kept calling one of them "Daniel".....we're not exactly who he was referring to. Ella tried to take Hope under her wing but Hope was generally not interested. The kids were so cute and so busy. Mae coped well until around 8:00 when she had to meltdown for awhile. I can't say that I blame her. 8 kids is a lot of kids in one house!

Pilgrim Day!!

Today was pilgrim day in Ella's class at preschool. Ella walked out of class all decked out in her pilgrim collar and bonnet. She looked very cute. 3 weeks from today, she will turn 3 years old. Oh my. Where has the time gone?

Mae meets Yia-Yia and Pappou

Yia-Yia and Miss Mae meeting for the first time

Lovely ladies ages 6 weeks old to 92 years young

A picture says a thousand words

Niko and Pappou discussing history and world affairs

Ella playing Yia-Yia's piano

Ella and Pappou sharing a giggle

Mae with Mimi and Papa Don

On Saturday morning, we loaded up the troops and headed south to Columbus to visit with the Demas great-grandparents, affectionately called Yia-Yia and Pappou (Greek for Grandma and Grandpa). We had a wonderful visit at their home followed by lunch with Mimi and Papa Don and then a trip to a super fun park. It was a really great day. Mae and her siblings were in great spirits and I think it made Yia-Yia and Pappou's day to get to visit with our little people.

Dancing Flower

I love Miss Paula's preschool class. She does such creative things with these little people. In September, she dressed the kids up as little bakers. November is Thanksgiving month and today they learned about Indians. Ella and all her little classmates came marching out of class decked out in full Indian attire. Each child had an Indian name written on the back of his/her vest. Ella was "Dancing Flower." She was so proud of herself. She came walking out of class and loudly exclaimed,"Look Mommy! I'm a little Indian!" Oh my gosh......I love it!

Great Alternative Gig (Halloween 2009)

Knight Nicholas

Princess Ella (Sleeping Beauty)

What cute kiddos!!!

Ella playing basketball at GAG night

Ella and Nicholas playing the cotton ball game

Mae's First GAG Night!

GAG night is our church's alternative to trick-or-treating. CRCC (Chapel Rock Christian Church) holds this event in our Family Life Center. The place was packed. Our kiddos had a great time playing games in the preschool room and going through the maze. Another favorite activity was decorating pumpkin-shaped sugar cookies. Yum! The kids got enough candy to last us until next Halloween!!