Coming Home

Monday afternoon,  Abbi and I were able to come home from the hospital.  It is so nice to be home with our little sweetheart. 

One of the first orders of business was to put a bow in Abbi's hair. (The bow is not actually as big as it looks- she just has a tiny head!)

Grandma got these hat and mittens for Abbi to wear home from the hospital.  She was nice and warm!

Ammon and Carter were excited to share their stuffed animals with her.  They have been so sweet and such good helpers with their little sister.

We were so lucky to have Grandma Frost here to welcome us home.  She even braved the Iowa freeways in the rain to take us to the doctor and to have some blood work done.  We were so sad to have her leave yesterday.

Abbi has been on the "billi lights" the last couple of days.

Although we don't like having to lay her in her crib so often, she did sleep ALOT better last night than on Monday night when she wasn't on the billi lights. 

We think she looks like a little glow baby.

We are so excited to have our little angel home with us.  We are so grateful for her and for everything that we have been blessed with.

Abbi

Our little Abigail arrived on November 7 at 8:33 am.

She weighed 8 lbs. 5 oz. and was 20 inches long.

We are all so excited that she is finally here!

Our family (wow, three kids!)

Mommy and Abbi in their matching oxygen masks.

I guess having a lot of heartburn during pregnancy does mean a baby with lots of hair!

Mom finally got to hold Abbi after she was monitored in the nursery all morning.



Daddy's little girl.



Our first family picture with baby sister.

Carter is such a proud big brother!

Ammon adores his little sister.

As soon as I got a chance, I had to put Abbi in a pink outfit and put a little bow in her hair. This sweet little girl already has us wrapped around her little finger!

Some exciting news!

Ammon lost his first tooth last night!  He was so excited.  When his tooth first became loose he very candidly asked Colby if the tooth fairy is real.  Colby replied,  "what do you think?"  Ammon said, "I think it's just made up."  Rather than try to convince Ammon that there is a tooth fairy Colb said, "you're right, buddy, Mom and Dad just leave money under your pillow." Knowing this information,  Ammon was not in a hurry to put his tooth under his pillow last night.  Instead, he is keeping it in a tupperware to show Grandpa Frost when he gets to Iowa today (dentists like things like that).  I wouldn't be surprised if Ammon opts to keep his tooth in the tupper ware indefinitely rather than trade it in for money (he tends to be a pack rat!)

In other exciting news,  today is my last day of pregnancy!

I am going in tomorrow morning for a c-section.  We will keep you posted.

I know, I am huge!

It's a good thing I'm almost done- I don't think my clothes (or my belly) could possibly stretch any more. 

Happy Halloween

Some of you may remember that Colby thinks that Halloween should be celebrated only one day a year, on October 31st.  I, on the other hand, think it should be celebrated the entire month of October.  Apparently, Iowans agree with me.  As a general rule, Iowans are party animals when it comes to Halloween celebrations.  Here is a summary of our festivities (and I have to add,  because of my lack of energy this year, there were actually two events that we had planned to go to and didn't- party on Iowa)

Fall Festival

The local elementary school held their annual fall festival last Saturday.  Cambells and Fluhmans joined us for carnival games, cookie decorating and dinner.  The kids got to dress up in their Halloween costumes and had a great time.

Carter decorating his cookie.

Waiting in line to play carnival games.

Still more waiting in line (but all that waiting was worth all the candy and prizes).

Pumpkin Carving

For F.H.E. we carved Jack O 'Lanterns.  The boys designed their own faces, and both wanted "really scary" pumpkins.  As you can see, they were thrilled with the results.

Colby did most of our pumpkin carving this year...

With a little help from the boys cleaning out the pumpkin "guts."

Trunk or Treat

Our ward had a trunk or treat on the night before Beggars Night.  It was a fun night, with lots of candy!  We loved seeing all of the cute costumes.

There was some miscommunication about what time the trunk or treat started, you will be amazed to hear that we showed up at 5:50 and the trunk or treat didn't start until 6:30.  Ammon waited very patiently.

Beggar's Night

Iowans don't trick or treat on Halloween,  they actually go trick or treating on Oct. 30- or Beggar's night.  I think it's a strange tradition, but the kids didn't seem to mind (it's candy either way, right?)  The Nance's came and joined us for dinner, then we headed out for some serious trick or treating.  We lucked out and had beautiful weather this year for Beggar's night (I am hoping this nice weather continues for a couple more weeks!)

Our little spider.

Ironically enough,  Oct 31st was the only night this past week that we didn't celebrate Halloween.   I guess we know who wears the pants in this family!  We hope you all had a wonderful October and a great Halloween.  I, for one, am excited that it is finally November!

Crazy Eights

I've been tagged by my friend Sara:

Eight TV shows I like to watch:

1. Grey's Anatomy

2. The Office

3. CSI

4. Law and Order

5. The King of Queens

6. Seinfield

7. Super Why

8. Sid the Science Kid

Eight Resturaunts where I like to eat:

1. Costa Vida

2. Wingers

3. Cool Basil

4. Texas Roadhouse

5. Mimi's Cafe

6. Sweet Tomatoes

7. Applebees

8. Panera Bread

Eight Things that happened today (this will be boring, because it's only 1 pm)

1. Made breakfast

2. Walked Ammon to the bus stop

3. Learned how to make eggrolls at cooking club (and they were awesome, by the way)

4. Ate lunch with Colby (he actually authorized a visit to the school, which happens about once a year!)

5. Took Carter to Preschool

6. Reattached the velcro to Carter's Halloween costume

7. Read my email

8. Did the dishes

Eight things I am looking forward to:

1. Halloween (and Beggar's night)

2. November 7th

3. Colby's parents to visit

4. My parents to visit

5. Thanksgiving

6. Christmas shopping the day after Thanksgiving

7. Christmas

8. Colby's graduation

Eight things on my wish list:

1. A foot massage (hint, hint, Colb)

2. A healthy baby 

3. Not to have to go back to work

4. Healthy kids

5. A house

6. A yard

7. To be able to be with family for Christmas

8. To be able to be with Colby his fourth year of school

Eight people I tag:

1. Kristen

2. Kami

3. Melanie

4. Lisa

5. Jen

6. Michelle

7. Marcie

8. Crystal

Fall Fun

Last night, Nances invited us over to continue the tradition of making haunted houses.  We had a great chili/soup/bread dinner and had a blast decorating our houses.  Thanks Zack and Lisa!  We got great pictures of the Paynes, Ellis and Pinegres, but somehow didn't get a picture of our great hosts (I think they were keeping busy preparing frosting and cleaning!)

This week, Carter got to ride on a school bus for the first time! We went to the pumpkin patch with his preschool class, and he had so much fun!  The highlights of the trip were seeing the farm animals, playing in the corn and on the pile of hay and picking out his own little pumpkin.

We love fall!  We are enjoying every minute of this fun season.

Day Thirty

Last night I had a dream that I went to the doctor (a normal occurence) and she asked me if I was having any problems or complications.  I told her I was having severe heartburn and she told me she needed to run a couple of tests.  After running the tests,  the doctor returned to the exam room and announced,  "your heartburn levels are dangerously high,  I'm going to have to admit you to the hospital and do a c-section today."   I woke up a little bit panicked (even though I seriously doubt my doctor would do an early c-section due to "high" hearburn levels) and decided that it was time to clean out the nursery (just in case).  I spent the day washing baby clothes,  cleaning out the closet and making a weak attempt at decorating.  It is a work in progress, but it finally looks like a nursery rather than an "everything else" room.

Day Twenty Nine

Today was the Des Moines Marathon, I was bummed that I wasn't participating in it.  It's hard to believe that a year ago I was running a marathon and today I got winded walking into church.  Oh, the things we do for kids!  It's a good thing they are so worth it.

Day Twenty Eight

Date Night. Not the best picture of us, but it was great to go out.

Day Twenty Seven

Today Ammon had his first official "sick day."  He had a fever and told us,  "my brain hurts." After a trip to the doctor,  we discovered that he has strep throat.  Poor little guy. The worst part is,  he had to miss his first field trip.  Bummer.

Day Twenty Six

I am having a hard time keeping up with this "picture a day for 30 days" thing,  I guess our lives just aren't that exciting.  Because I don't want to give up on the final stretch,  I am reaching for things to post.  I saw this quote on my friend Sara's blog and I loved it!  It is actually part of one of my favorite October conference talks, given by President Thomas S. Monson.  He eloquently describes raising young children,  and advises us to cherish it.

"...we should make the most of today, of the here and now...doing all that we can to provide pleasant memories for the future. If you're still in the process of raising children, be aware that the tiny fingerprints that show up on almost every newly cleaned surface, the toys scattered about the house, the piles and piles of laundry to be tackled, will disappear all too soon, and that you will, to your surprise, miss them profoundly."
*President Thomas S. Monson*

Day Twenty Five

Bitey, the wonderfish.

Bitey, our Beta is a wonderfish for a couple of reasons.

1. He has survived for over a month, which in our fish tank is a long time (ask the twenty or so fish that we had before Bitey)

2. He frequently looks like he's dead.  He doesn't really swim, he just floats in the plants.  At least once a day I will tap on the glass to make sure he is still alive.