Introducing Abigail Ann Searle

We checked into the Utah Valley regional Medical Center at 7:30 a.m. on Monday, December 27. By 8:45 a.m., Devon began receiving Pitocin, and at 10:41 a.m. we were holding little Abby in our arms. She was six pounds, 13 ounces and 19 inches long.

Despite telling the doctors and nurses that Devon has very fast labors and deliveries, the epidural was not given until too late - just ten minutes before Devon gave birth. Thus, it did not have time to take much effect and Devon felt the brunt of the delivery. Devon said that is as close to natural child birth as she ever wants to get.

During the delivery, Abby's heartbeat dropped super low and the doctor grew concerned. The nurse was sent to get a set of forceps. The nurse was also instructed to push the "code" button and call the neonatal intensive-care unit to the room. However, just as the nurse was prepping the forceps and the NICU team came through the door, Abby decided to come on out and began crying like a champ. Her vitals all returned to normal and she is doing great, as is Devon.

In fact, both are doing so well that we all came home from the hospital yesterday; just over 24 hours after Abby was born.

Happy Birthday, Aaron

Happy Birthday to Aaron! Today he turns 29...just one more year until the big 3-0. Just think, next year I will be married to a 30 year old! =) Needless to say, I am so grateful that his mom kept trying for a boy and finally got one on child number six. I am so blessed to have such a wonderful husband and father for our children. Happy birthday, honey!

We celebrated his birthday yesterday at his parents' house and had a nice relaxing evening. Aaron is one of the hardest people to shop for, but I thought I would be sneaky and try to buy him something that he didn't know about. However, when you go shopping with your 3 year old, secrets aren't easily kept. As we were getting ready to leave for his parents' house, Chloe yelled up the stairs to Aaron, "Daddy, we bought you another present...it's a shirt." Well, so much for that surprise! =)

36 Weeks and Counting

At my last doctors appointment we scheduled an induction for the 27th of December, which is a week before my due date. i was so excited to have a date and time set because I didn't want to have this baby on the side of the road. That being said, at 36 weeks I am already dialated to a 3 almost 4 and 70% effaced. So yeah, we might just have this baby before Christmas! Now I am in super over drive to get everything ready for the baby and for Christmas. Here is a picture of me at 36 weeks.

The Next American Idol

Chloe is our little singer. She knows a wide variety of songs, everything from Disney music to nursery rhymes to primary songs. Not only does she sing along with them, she actually knows most of the words, too. I recently put a mix of Disney songs in the car for her to listen to and after listening to them for a week or so, she started singing them; now she sings along when we watch the movies, too. Her little voice is so sweet to listen to. Here she is singing to Mulan and Beauty and the Beast. She was a little distracted as you can see, but you can get the idea. Enjoy!

Scriptures

The other day, Chloe and I were sitting on our bed when she asks me, "Mom, can I have some scriptures?" So how could I refuse? We went to Distribution Services that afternoon and Chloe got her very own scriptures. She was so excited about them and on the way home asked, "Can we read my scriptures when we get home?" What 2 1/2 year old asks things like that? I guess where doing something right!

And speaking of scriptures, you know how sometimes you can get sleepy while reading them...

No, Chloe didn't really fall asleep while reading the scriptures, but she did fall asleep on the stairs after getting home from her cousin's baptism yesterday. I guess if you're really tired you can fall asleep just about anywhere.

Happy Halloween

Well, after being spoiled with beautiful weather for that past few Halloweens, this year was quite the exception. We went to my mom's house for our annual Halloween dinner filled with monster toes and English muffin mummies and then waited for it to stop pouring outside long enough to trick-or-treat. Lucky for us we did all that trunk-or-treating the day before, so we didn't feel bad only going to five houses and then going home to warm up (Chloe didn't seem to mind either).

I convinced Aaron to dress up this year by only making him wear one thing: an apron. The aprons are kinda hard to read in these pics, but mine said "Bun in the oven" and Aaron's said "The Bun Maker." I even made a recipe card on how to cook the bun in the oven (see below). I purposely chose the close up picture of our aprons because my face is sure looking chubby with only8-9 weeks left before my due date

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Since I knew the weather was going to be yucky on Halloween, I took my pictures of Chloe in her costume the day before. Isn't she the cutest witch you've ever seen? Thank you mom for making the cutest costume ever. It sure pays to have a talented mom, don't you think?

Trunk-or-Treat

On the Friday before Halloween, our ward had a Trunk-or-Treat activity and it was a lot of fun. It is the best way to go trick-or-treating because it's fast and the parents get to socialize with each other so it makes it go by really quick. Chloe refused to say "trick-or-treat," but she would say thank you, so that's something, right?

Chloe in our trunk

Chloe hanging out with her friends Paden and Parker.

Chloe with her friend Bentley

Earlier that day, Aaron's work had a party and Chloe was able to trick-or-treat around the office, too. By the end of the night, she had tons of candy and it wasn't even Halloween yet.

Halloween FHE Activities

For Family Home Evening last week, we decorated sugar cookies and then carved our pumpkins. We knew we wouldn't have enough time to do it all in one night, so Chloe and I did the cookies and then we waited for Dad to get home to carve the pumpkins.

Chloe's creative side came out while decorating the cookies. I would frost them and she would put on the toppings. Her favorite toppings were the mellow cream pumpkins and of course sprinkles.

We wanted Chloe to have a part in picking out what her pumpkin looked like so we got one of her Halloween books with pictures of jack-o-lanterns in it and let her pick her favorite. She chose a happy pumpkin.

Pumpkin Patch

Last Friday, we took Chloe to a pumpkin patch to pick our pumpkins and play. This pumpkin patch was great because it had a petting zoo, corn pit, hay maze, a huge hay pile for the kids to play in and it is right down the street from our house. The very best thing however, was the fact that it was all free (except for the pumpkins). We had a great time and Chloe loved picking out her pumpkin. For all of those friends who are local and want to know where this is, it is right off 400 South in Springville and is called Jakers Jacko Lantern Pumpkins.

Puddle Jumping

Yesterday we had a really big storm that left the streets with some major puddles. Chloe and I had been watching the storm and after it was over, Chloe asked me "Mom, can I put on my swimming suit and go swimming in the puddles?" Well, how could I refuse a question like that. So she put on her suit and we went out to play. She didn't do much 'swimming' but she had a blast splashing and jumping in the puddles.

Pack Rat, Pregnancy and Opening Doors

Well, as hard as I have tried to steer myself away from the Fowler tradition of being a pack rat (you family members know who you are), my child is another story. Chloe is a paper pack rat. Any paper you give her ( mail, ticket stubs, magazines, cards, etc), she will keep and put in her stack of papers. Now, you may be thinking- "just throw them away when she's not looking." Well, that would be easy, except for the fact that she remembers everything and asks where it is when she notices it is missing. I usually say that we will ask Daddy when he gets home from work. Chloe's response to this is "Maybe daddy threw it away." Needless to say, we have to be very careful of what we hand her because it will be around for a long time.

Chloe also learned how to open doors yesterday. I knew she would catch onto it quick, but we just weren't ready for it yet. However, I figured it was time so I showed her once and she had it. She spent the next 20 minutes opening and shutting doors.

As for me, I only have 14 more weeks left until the fun begins. I am feeling great and definitely look pregnant. Here is a shot just for you Tawna- and yes- I just got out of the shower so my hair is wet.

Book Worm

It's recommended that parents to read to their children for 20 minutes daily. There are countless reasons why you should (which I will not go into) and being a teacher, I could always tell which children were read to/with often. So, ever since Chloe was a newborn I've read to her. Now, however, I have created a monster. Chloe loves books so much and we have to read them for at least an hour a day.

Since we read so much, Chloe has of course picked her favorite books and can tell me the titles of what book she wants. I was curious yesterday how many titles she knew so I started pulling books off the shelf and asked her to tell me the title. I stopped at 20! What a little smarty pants. Right now, some of her favorites are Pinkalicious, Pirates Don't Change Diapers and Naughty Little Monkeys.

Another funny thing that she likes to do with her books is sort them. She will sort them by size and by softback or hardback, the she makes a special pile for the "boring books." It makes a big mess, but I'm so glad she loves books.

Potty Training Help

We would really like to only have one child in diapers at a time and with the new baby coming, we decided it was time to potty train Chloe. So I am asking for some tips and advice from the pro's - YOU! What worked for you, what didn't, etc...

We already have a mini toliet, a seat that sits on the actual toliet, and big girl panites that she got to pick out. So I think we have all the basics. Please help!

All My Babies

Chloe's latest thing is that she loves to make a bed for her babies. She will pull out all her blankets, lay them on top of each other, then place all of her babies and stuffed animals all around the blankets. Once she has done this, she will scoot some over and make a spot for her. The first time she did this, after she was done, she spread out her arms and said "Ahh, all my babies". What a girl!

It's a...

It's a lot more ribbons and bows

It's double the recitals, Easter dresses and painted toes

It's an excuse to fill our house with more pink, dolls and dresses

It's more cleaning up of playing with mommy's makeup messes

It's a reason for daddy to buy another gun

It's twice as much someday wedding fun

It's one more princess to dance and twirl

It's another baby girl!

(Coming January 3rd)

A Wonderful Birthday

Yesterday was my birthday and we had a wonderful day. We actually started celebrating on Sunday with a family dinner and then friends and extended family over for cupcakes that evening. My mom's birthday is three days after mine, so we did a combo party. Aaron (and Chloe) surprised me with my favorite treat--BYU chocolate milk--and I got some new maternity clothes.

Then on Monday, Aaron and I had breakfast in bed while Chloe slept...ahhh, so peaceful. Tawna came over later on and spent the afternoon with Chloe and I. My adorable neighbors also surprised me with a beautiful bouquet of flowers.

When Aaron got home from work, we met my family for dinner and then we were off for a rousing game of miniature golf. It was actually really fun, even though I totally lost. Tawna bought us all some lovely crowns that we wore and I also got to carry a balloon around with me for the evening (I blame this for me losing).

We finished up the evening with ice cream and I couldn't have asked for a better birthday. Thanks to everyone!

The Gardens at Thanksgiving Point

For the month of August, Thanksgiving Point has what they call 2 buck Tuesdays where every venue only cost two dollars to get in. We had never been to the gardens there and Tawna called and asked if we wanted to go, so we went. I can't believe that I have lived here for almost 10 years now and have never been. It was so beautiful and peaceful. We enjoyed the evening walking around taking in all the beautiful flowers, water features and soft grass. Chloe loved running around and had her shoes off most of the evening.

Devon and Tawna

Grandma and Grandpa

Daddy and Chloe

Tawna, Chloe and Grandma

Mommy, Chloe and Daddy