Sweet girl...

Couldn't resist a few holiday-ish photos of Mia.....love, love, love her!!! Her smiles are priceless!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Rob,Kelli,Grady, Brian, Mia, Jill, Jake, Kirt....lots of DeMichiels!

Mia's first Thanksgiving

Our Family has gotten bigger since last Thanksgiving!

Jake and his Thanksgiving "hat"

Cousins....so cute!!!

It was a fun Thanksgiving....we all gathered at Mom and Peter's for good food, good company, and good times! LOTS to be thankful for! I'm almost ready to go to bed as I write this post and am really wishing I brought some leftovers home with me! I need a late night snack!!

Getting ready for the slopes!

Jake got his first pair of skis.....he LOVES them! We're hoping he'll enjoy using them in the snow half as much as he has enjoyed them on the family room carpet! He has been "skiing" (scooting across the floor) and the first couple of days he wanted to do EVERYTHING while wearing them. You'll see him watching Sesame Street while standing in his boots and skis...he did this for the whole one hour show ;) We are so excited to take him skiing this winter.....it'll be interesting!

Ice Skating

getting ready!

hot chocolate....yum!

having fun!

loving it!

mike, zoe, brian & jake

Jake had his first day of ice skating today.....so cute. They have some outdoor ice rinks set up for the holidays this year, and it was lots of fun. Jake was able to do some skating with his favorite neighbor/crush, Zoe. He didn't like it at first, but of course didn't want to leave by the end of it!

Mia is 5 months!

Mia is getting cuter (and chubbier!) by the day.....she is just full of smiles and we continue to enjoy each day with her! We attempted to take the same pics of her that we did of Jake at this age.....and here it is! Nothing cuter than a baby booty :)

San Luis Obispo

Brian was doing some recruiting at Cal Poly for new grads, so we decided to make a weekend out of it.....we thought it was going to be SO fun! Apparently that was not what Jake had in mind! Let's just say that the weekend could be described by the phrase "If Jake ain't having fun, ain't nobody having fun". He is normally such a fun and easy going kid.....but he pulled out all the stops with his tantrums and attitude over the weekend! We're happy to report that he has returned to his normal self, with just the usual 2 year old grouchies every now and again....thank goodness he was not actually possessed. That being said, we did actually have SOME fun! We went to Pismo Beach and Avila Beach.....Jake couldn't have been happier about watching the "surf guys". It was a long drive with the kiddos, but it is always fun to get away. And while it wasn't a perfect weekend.....as Grammie would say, we made a memory :)

To post, or not to post?

I was on the fence about posting this picture, but decided to go for it! It's discreet :) This was Jake's quote while sitting on the potty when we asked if he was ready to get up...."No Mommy, I'm waiting for the poop to get out".

This week when we were going about our day....I was on the phone with Auntie Kelli and Jake said he wanted to go sit on the potty....so I got him all ready and down he sat. While I was chatting away on the phone, I looked down and he was going to town! Voila...poop AND potty! We did some MAJOR celebrating and he was so thrilled and entertained by my over the top reaction.....I was hoping it would encourage him to try it again, but so far it was a one shot deal. In any case, when he's ready, he'll do it!

Trick or Treat!

Ah, the sugar rush has worn off and I'm exhausted from a full weekend of Halloween festivities!! There were too many cute pix to choose from, so I'm posting a ton! Here is a cute one of Mia in her flower costume....don't you just want to squeeze those cheeks!!

A visit from Auntie Julie....
Jake and Zoe held hands up to each house....SO cute! I really do think he's in love. Will this pic be in the wedding photo slideshow 20 years from now??
Amazing that Auntie Kelli was able to snap this pic, as Jake was NOT into being cooperative during picture time!
The cousins!
Here are Grady and Mia....the cooperative ones! So sweet ;)
Houston, we have a problem....Jake wants to wear his astronaut helmet everywhere!!! It's a little bit cumbersome for most activities, but he LOVES it!
Grammie and Gramps with the munchkins!
Great Grandad and his first great-grandDAUGHTER!
Carving pumpkins in our pj's....good stuff! Jake wanted to help, but didn't like the feel of the pumpkin "insides"
Visiting Daddy at work......whoever got him to wear the group costume should get an award.....you know how he loves that stuff!! He was happy to show off his cute kiddos :)

Poop

It finally happened......after 2.5 years of being a parent, Brian finally got pooped on! Yes, this is newsworthy!! I've had this happen countless times.....and Brian has some freaky poop avoidance radar.....but Mia let him have it with all of her might! The funniest part isn't the poop....all of you parents out there know that it's just really not that big of a deal.....but Brian's expression says it all! He's going to be SO happy that I posted this!!

It's finished!

The desk and cabinet piece that Brian has been working on is finally finished!!! It looks amazing....the pics don't do it justice. I'm thrilled to have the extra space to organize!! Now the kiddos have more room to play in the "play room" too.....so happy!

Halloween is coming!!

We tried out the costumes today and Jake is getting excited for Halloween! It should be lots of fun. Decided to take pics of them today in their costumes.....before Jake's is covered in chocolate! He's really pumped to go trick or treating.....little does he know that most of the candy from his efforts will be consumed by mommy and daddy!

Our lil' punkin

I was so happy that Mia was small enough to fit in the pumpkin because I've been wanting to take one of these pictures for a long time! We did get a HUGE pumpkin and she really didn't mind being stuffed inside of it, as you can tell from the pics! We tried bribing Jake to stand next to her, but he wouldn't have it.....and after she was in there for a while, she started using the pumpkin as a giant teether, so we had to take her out. She's so cute, I could just eat her up!

LAST trip to the patch for 2009!

Third and FINAL trip to the pumpkin patch! We had to make sure Daddy got a turn to go with us! We picked out a BIG pumpkin and enjoyed a beautiful fall day with the kiddos!

Cookies!!

Jake and I made sugar cookies together for Halloween in the shape of a big candy corn....he even used his own rolling pin and cookie cutter! He frosted by himself and the favorite part was definitely doing the sprinkles.....or "sprinklers" as he calls them. Can't wait until Mia is helping out too!!

What Mia is up to....

She's getting the hang of eating her rice cereal.....

She has found her feet.....hasn't started putting them in her mouth yet, but sure plays with them a lot!
She's bound to be a gymnast.....at 4.5 months, she has figured out how to escape the bumbo even though her feet don't touch the floor. She does about 20 backbends and eventually (as you can see in this "action" shot), she tosses herself out. Don't worry, we don't leave her unattended on the counter while in the bumbo!!

Trip # 2 to the Pumpkin Patch

We went to the pumpkin patch with our playgroup as well.....our 3rd year doing it! The only thing about this pumpkin patch was that there were so many other "attractions" there, that the kids were hardly interested in pumpkins! Jake rode the ferris wheel and mini roller coaster all by himself. Mia was hanging out in her "usual" spot....her carseat :) Next year she'll be chasing her big brother around the patch!