Christmas Morning at Home

Sorry about all the mini-posts, but I figured it was easier to do a bunch of little ones then one huge one. This year, we spent Christmas with my family, but before we went over to their house to open presents, we opened our stockings at home. Chloe had been asking Santa for a watch for Christmas and she got one in her stocking. She was very excited. Of course, she was almost just as excited when she found the box of Starbursts (they are her favorite treat) and a new wallet in her stocking as well!

Chloe's Christmas Dress

We took some pictures of Chloe in her Christmas dress and they were just too cute not to post.

Christmas with the Fowler's

Since we have so much family in the area, we always celebrate the holidays multiple times. We had an early Christmas with my dad and Kelly at their house on the 22nd. We had a great time and Chloe loved getting to open up presents before Christmas.

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.