A Nice Surprise!

Dave, Judy, Adam and Michael were in the area for the weekend, so they came up for a while on Friday. It was so wonderful to see them and have Adam and Michael meet their newest "nephew". :)

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy (belated) Thanksgiving, everyone! We had originally planned on going out to Indianapolis to visit Nathan & Jill but I wasn't feeling up to making the trip. So, being the fantastic brother & sister-in-law that they are, Nathan & Jill came out here! They even brought out the entire Thanksgiving dinner so that I didn't have to plan or cook anything -- pretty great, huh?! :)

And somehow we managed to have all three kids napping while we sat down to a quiet dinner -- a miracle!! :)

The guys grilled two ducks "rotisserie-style" and then Jill and I threw some sides together -- it was a very relaxing and layed back day! :)

Happy Birthday, Daddy!

A Big Sister

More Pictures of Emily in the Leaves! :)

Playing in the Leaves!

Emily wasn't sure about "jumping" into the leaves, but she had a blast just laying in them later! :)

First Real Food!

Alex had squash yesterday for the first time. He wasn't sure what to think at first but then he gobbled it up -- Lord knows that we don't waste any food!! :)

Papa with Emily and Alex -- my dad just couldn't have been any happier! :)

Tea Party

We had a tea party this morning with Emily. I asked her what she wanted to wear and she said her "Rella Dress". So, here we are having a tea party with tea, sugar cookies, trail mix and some candy-corn.

In my "Rella Dress and Crown" -- all ready for a tea party! :)

Alex's Baby Dedication

Alex was dedicated today at church in a special "baby dedication service". There were seven families total and it was a beautiful time! Alex did really well and was even flirting with some older ladies behind us -- what a big cheese! :)

As you can tell, my parents are in town for the big day and we even had some local friends come as well. Thank you Mary & Laverne -- you are great friends!! :)

Emily was (and still is) convinced that the flower given to me was actually hers -- we had a hard time getting a picture of her without it being in front of her face. A future gardener, maybe?! :)

The pastor who led the service had someone close to each child come up and pray for them. They also had the dads come up and read a letter they had written to their child. I don't think there was a dry eye in the place!! :}

4 Month Check-Up

Alex had his 4 Month Check-up today and is growing like a weed! :) He is now 15 lbs 13 ozs (50%) and 24.5" (30%). He gained 2.5 lbs and grew 2 inches since his 2 Month Check-up. Dr. Joyce was very pleased to see how he's progressing and very happy to see some of the new things he's doing (clasping his hands together, strong control of his head and torso, trying to stand on his own, attempting to hold his own bottle). She also commented on how chatty and social he is -- that is when Emily is quiet (that's only when she's sleeping nowadays). :)

(Note that in this first picture you can actually see his tooth -- a lot better than the last picture posted!)

The latest house project

Nelson planned to re-paint the windows about a month ago and discovered that the wood windows had begun to rot. So, we are now replacing them. Pretty, huh? :)

These are some pix from the weekend. He has finished the first floor front windows and now he's going to start on installing a new garage door. Nothing like a quick project before the snow falls! :)

Before Church Yesterday

All dressed up for church in their Sunday best -- simply adorable! :)