Happy Thanksgiving

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving and we hope you did as well!
Thursday morning we rolled out of bed and headed to Charleston,
West Virginia to celebrate with Creed's family.

Caleb enjoyed his Fruit Loops, while still in his "jommies"

for the trip.

Ava was there, and she was my little buddy the whole day,

wanting to always be with me. I LOVED it! Isn't she just

beautiful!

Caleb and Ava both took over 2 hour naps at GG and Papa

Bill's house, so they were in great moods! They had fun

exploring Aunt Terry and Uncle Ron's house.

And of course, there were lots of hugs and kisses!

Part of the "kid table." Ava, Caleb, and cousin Spencer

are all two years old. Notice they had their water glasses

replaced with sippy cups!

While we were only in Charleston about 24 hours, it was a

wonderful trip and always seems to go by way to fast! Next

stop: Claytor Lake, Virginia!

Worth Checking Daily!

I LOVE the site, Baby Cheapskate, and find myself checking it daily.
It always lists the best deals on everything for your little one. Check
it out for Christmas deals!

http://www.babycheapskate.com/

It's up!

On Sunday Creed hauled the giant tree up the steps and we began
our tradition of decorating the tree the Sunday before Thanksgiving.
It never goes as I plan, though. I imagine Christmas carols in the
background, talking about the ornaments as we all put them on the
tree, while drinking hot chocolate. Yeah, that's not how it went at all.
Since it was like 70 degrees outside, Creed was wearing a short
sleeve shirt when he picked up the first part of the tree. After ripping
his poor arm to shreds, he changed clothes, but never got back in
the Christmas spirit. (I don't blame him!) Caleb put ONE ornament
on the tree and he was done. With all the Christmas bins scattered
about, he decided to get out all of his toys. Then he wanted Nerds
and then he spilled the cup of Nerds all over the floor. So, in the midst
of "tree trimming" I was vacuuming Nerds. So, I decorated the tree
and tried to let the Christmas carols playing in the background
drown out Caleb's fussing! Next year I'm sure it will go just as I always
imagine...

Helping Daddy put the star on.

Caleb got to hang the first ornament- his door from last

year!

Our finished product. His expression is "Please hurry

and take the picture so you can unpause Mickey Mouse

Clubhouse." ;)

The Polar Express

26 Weeks

24 Weeks

*****

26 Weeks (Trying, rather unsuccessfully, to sport a non-maternity

shirt!)

Today we are officially 26 weeks, which marks the end of the 2nd

trimester. Crazy...Time is just FLYING by! Where did October and

November go?!! I am feeling great these days and feel like I have

have my normal (if not more!) energy level back! That may be due,

however, to my afternoon Diet Coke treat that I am allowing myself

each day!

Baby Luke is moving like crazy these days, waking me up around

6:30 each morning. He is no longer kicking...it's more like he is

doing "the worm" dance in my belly. Instead of kicking, I would say

it's more "thrashing about." Seriously. My entire belly jumps, which

happened to freak out two second graders last week when they

noticed during a reading group. Caleb kicked a lot. This baby

thrashes... a lot! But, at least I know he is doing well in there!

He's an old pro at this...

Getting his big boy hair cut!

5

Celebrating our Fifth Anniversary!

He has a name...

Baby Cake is now officially (Well, I guess not officially until we sign the
birth certificate...) named Luke Michael Fowler. We wanted a strong,
Biblical name to go with Caleb and thought Luke fit perfectly. Plus, he
will have an Uncle Luke, so that makes it all the more special. Michael
is Creed's Dad's middle name, and we knew we always wanted to use
that. So, Luke Michael it is! And Caleb approves, as he is already
calling the baby "Yuke Michael."

Seagulls

The highlight of Caleb's trip to the beach...

My Birthday

It was so much fun celebrating my birthday in Florida with Caleb,
Marshma, and Papa, even though he wished Creed had been
there! They all made the day very special for me!

Lesson learned: Do not expect a full cake on your birthday if Papa

is around!

SURF!

While the water was too cold for swimming, Caleb loved to just sit
on the beach and let the waves splash up on him. He is such a
happy boy at the beach!

SAND!

Caleb and I are a lot alike in many ways...but there is one thing that
we sure disagree on- sand. I despise sand, and do everything in my
power to touch it as little as possible while I'm at the beach. Caleb,
on the other hand, does everything in his power to get as much on
him as he can! At one point he even laid down on his stomach and
went "swimming" on the sand. Ewww! But, I have to say one thing...
he sure looked precious playing in it!




Pouring it on his legs. Next he poured it on his neck and down
his back.



Driving his truck was a hit on the sand!

We Made It!

Well, we made it home without any issues yesterday afternoon.
I gave Caleb his cough medicine/decongestant and a dose of
Benedryl before the flight. It did the trick...he fell asleep before
we had even reached our cruising altitude...


and slept about an hour. The rest of the flight (45 more minutes)
he coughed nonstop, but his ears and head didn't seem to
bother him at all!

Last night he slept threw the night and Creed actually took him
to the doctor this morning and it is viral- his ears are clear and
no strep throat!

Worried

Say a little prayer for Caleb (and me!) as we travel today. We were up
for hours last night...he has a nasty, dry, continuous cough and had a
fever during the night. I'm worried about his ears and his head hurting
from the pressure!

Sunday

Sunday was another beautiful, but chilly day. We hit up two parks
that morning, then went to The Grove for yummy orange ice cream.
I think Caleb might have been a little disappointed that they didn't
have Black Raspberry Chip, as he wasn't that enthused with his!




That evening we went to one of my favorite places, Sharkey's
on the Pier. Caleb and I walked out on the pier while we were
waiting for out table.

After dinner we watched the beautiful sunset!

Caleb is one loved little boy!

Happy Birthday to Me!

Saturday

Saturday, our first full day in Florida, was sure a cool one. While the
actual temperature wasn't that cold, the wind just took your breath
away! That morning we went to a park about one block away from
the condo. (I am SO jealous of the parks they have down here!)
We also walked through an arts and crafts festival, which Caleb
loved since he devoured a bag of popcorn!

*****

After nap Caleb and I walked to another park within walking

distance from the condo. I have a really bizarre and funny

story about visiting the park, one not fit to write about here.

But, I'll be happy to fill you in if you want!

Me & Mickey

Mickey had to come along with Caleb to Florida. His new Mickey

is a Halloween Mickey that plays music when you squeeze his

foot. My friend Amanda gave it to him so he refers to his Mickey

as "Maggie's Amanda." (Amanda has a dog named Maggie.) I

think he told the entire back half of the plane about Maggie's

Amanda- precious! And my surprise for Caleb for being such a

good boy on the flight...a Mickey Pez!

Did you "Fall Back?"

I remember being SO excited about setting the clocks back each
fall...but that was before Caleb. It just now a little after noon, but
we have already been to two different parks, walked down Main
Street in Venice for the arts and crafts festival, and have been to
the Grove for yummy orange ice cream. While Caleb slept much
better last night, he was up at 6:00am this morning, ready to go.
So much for being able to get an extra hour of sleep! It is warmer
today, but still not beach or pool weather. Still holding out for
tomorrow...

Vacation Update

With temperatures in the low 60s and a really strong, cool wind, we
spent our first full day in Florida at the park. We actually went to two
different parks today, both less than 2 blocks away. Caleb didn't let
the temperature get him down- he LOVED every second at the
"new" parks. I got to hit the outlet malls without Caleb while he
napped for almost three hours. (He had to catch up after being
awake from 3:00am until 4:30am and then finally waking at 6:30
proudly proclaiming, "I'm ready to get up now, Mommy!") He has
been pretty good so far, though. He did ring quite a few of the condo
neighbors' door bells early this morning before Papa realized what
he was doing, and he has asked to go to "Tucky" (Kentucky) so he
can sleep in his bed. I told him the airplane wasn't ready to take us
back, to which he replied, "Take the car!"

It's still going to be cold tomorrow, but hopefully (FINGERS
CROSSED!) we will be able to make it to the beach and pool on
Monday.

Mini Vacation

This afternoon Caleb and I hopped on a non-stop flight to Florida to
visit Marshma and Papa for a few days. Caleb did great on the plane-
this was the first time he has flown with his car seat. While the weather
forecast is calling for two days of colder weather (just our luck!) we are
still excited about the beach and quality time spent with Marshma and
Papa.

23 Weeks Update

I had to change the name of this post from Baby Cake update
since Caleb no longer calls the baby Cake. He has decided that
his name is Max and the baby is Caleb. That's right, he wants to
name the baby Caleb! He is such a little stinker!

Today I had my 23 week checkup. Everything was fine and his
heartbeat was in the 150s. However, he is such a mover that she
couldn't get the heartbeat for more than 2 seconds at a time. Then
she'd have to chase him down again. My next appointment is the
first week of December and it's the one where they do the one
hour glucose test. Yuck! I'll have to lay off the pies and desserts
over Thanksgiving!

Lastly, we still have not decided on a name, but promise to share
as soon as we know!

******
20 Weeks


*****
22 Weeks

Trick or Treat

After last night, I think the Mickey Mouse costume is officially
retired, at least until another little boy can fit in it! We had a
great Halloween, filled with lots and lots of sweet treats!
Princess Ava even came over and joined us for the evening.
We started off at Grandma & Grandaddy's church for "Trunk
or Treat," which meant that Caleb and Ava went from car
to car gathering treats. Caleb was SO funny- as someone
was putting candy in his bucket, he was reaching his hand in
their bucket getting more! That boy! And, I think he reached
into Grandaddy's bucket at least 10 times! After Trunk or
Treat we came home and he went to a few neighbors' houses.
Really we just all walked around to see each others' kids, but
it was fun. We finished the night passing out candy to trick
or treaters that came to our door, while enjoying warm soup
and LOTS of candy. All in all it was a great night!

Helping himself to Grandaddy's bucket!

Sweet cousins- Look how he has passed her in height

all of a sudden!

By the way they were stuffing their popcorn you'd think they

hadn't eaten in days!

Trick or treating at Brody's house. Brody's grandpa came to

the door before Caleb could ring it and he sent him back

inside so he could ring it first. Hilarious!