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

Little Get Away

For the past few weeks, we have wanted and needed to just get away for the weekend. So last weekend we planed a little camping trip with my family however, mother nature had a different thought. The whole week we had rain and the forecast for the weekend called for more rain. Not wanting to get rained out, we canceled our trip. Luckily, Aaron's parents were camping in their trailer at Strawberry lake so we headed up there for the night. It was just what we needed- a little time away to just rest and relax. Thanks for letting us barge in on you Bob and Barbara Ann!

Splash Park

After hearing about the splash park in Highland for months, we finally took Chloe there and she loved it! It was just the right size for her and she had the option to get splashed by the fountains or to just stick her hands in it. We went with my mom, Tawna and my cousin Janelle's family. It was a lot of fun and we'll definatly be going back soon.

Free Photo Shoot

The other day, we were stopped at the mall by this girl trying to give us a flyer. Usually, I hate getting stopped but today I listened to what she was saying and boy was I glad. There was a new photo place opening up and the photographers needed practice with children. So, I was able to get a free photo shoot of Chloe and these are some of my favorites. Too bad she wasn't in a cuter outfit, but she is still pretty dang cute.

The photographers were going crazy over her because one, she was so cute and two, she would just pose however they wanted. They kept saying "You never get two-year-old's to do this" and "Can we keep her all day?"