What a Week!

We had a pretty fun week. There were deliveries from the UPS man and mail man with Easter goodies for the whole family.
Zachary opening up his bag from Papi and Grandma Karen!


The weather was somewhat decent so we had playgroup egg hunt. I think Zachary was the oldest kid but only by a little. They all had a blast. We "hid" the eggs in the grass for the under 2 bunch. For the3+ kids we actually hid the eggs on the play structure and behind the big rocks! It was very windy and cold that day so everyone had a runny nose. Ryleigh kept licking her lip trying to catch the boogers!
After the hunt I tried to get a picture but Ryleigh was too excited about her eggs and wouldn't look at the camera.

Also, Brynley has found her hands! Well she found them a while ago, and as you can see in the picture she favors her thumb if it gets anywhere near her mouth! She was napping on our bed one morning and she started fussing so I went in to give her her pacifier and she had already found her thumb! She went back to sleep and woke up 2 hours later!!

Brynn got a puppy and clothes from her Great Grandma Vickie.

Now the big news for the week. Shannon (sister in law and Ryleigh's mom) went into labor here at the house after her doctors appointment last Wednesday. I was timing contractions from 5 mins apart down to 1 minute apart in the 45 minutes that she was here. She barely made to the hospital (30 min away) and delivered little Bailey Dakota 4lb 13oz 4.5 weeks early! She is sooooo cute and tiny!
I just noticed that she is wearing the shirt that she wore to work that day! She didn't have time to change!! I just talked to Shannon and she said that Bailey gained a load of weight over night and is doing well! I got to hold her last night and she felt like holding a ball of blankets! Sooooo tiny!

Also this weekend we had really good weather, and Travis and the kids were playing baseball out back and Travis ask me to take a video of Zach. Enjoy!

Brynley is 3 months and I turn 30!!!

Brynley turned 3 months on Sunday! And as you can see in the picture above, she just keeps on getting cuter!!! She has changed so much in the last month! She has put on some more weight and is quickly growing out of her clothes! Today I finally packed up the rest of her newborn and 0-3 clothes! She now wears a Carter's 6m (12-18 lbs) and some 3-6 m stuff depending on the brand!!! She is also quickly growing out of her 1/2 size diapers from Costco! She is sleeping all night!! She goes down anywhere between 10p-midnight and sleeps until anywhere between 7a-8am!!! We are setting up the big crib this weekend!!! No more bassinet!
She is still on her acid reflux medicine which is a good thing! She still spits up a lot, which means that I do a lot of laundry.


She looks sooooo good in red! Travis of course hates the flower but I think it's cute! I love her big brown sometimes green eyes! And those kissable cheeks!!

Taking her evening nap! Those jammies are a 6m from Target! I can't believe how fast she is growing!

I almost forgot..............I turned 30 today! Yahoooooo! To tell you the truth I don't feel any different! It's weird to think that I have had a best friend for 15 years! I love you Heather! It's cool that I had 3 kids before I turned 30, and I had a great birthday weekend!

First we went to dinner with our awesome friends Gary and Veronique. We went to Red Robin because I joined the birthday club and my meal was free! However it came at an embarrassing price! I had to stand and hold my ice cream, with balloon ears while they announced that I was turning 30 and sang incredibly loud!! But hey it was fun! Sorry no pictures, and I am glad that there aren't any!!!

On Saturday after Madison's basketball game, Travis bought me the New Super Mario Brothers game for the DS!! I have wanted it for a long time!

Then on Sunday after Church, I made my birthday cake! Yes you heard me right! I like to bake and my mom suggested this recipe!

It's a 2 layer chocolate cake, with mini chocolate chips and peeps to look like a sun flower! It turned out pretty cute and tasted even better!
Later in the day we had Shannon, Devin and Ryleigh over for my birthday dinner! I chose to make enchiladas! They are my favorite! We had a fun evening watching the Trek DVD.

Then today (Monday) my actual birthday, Zachary and I went out for a fun birthday lunch! I let him choose and he picked Arctic Circle. We had a fun day of lunch and errands! I only had to feed Brynn in the car once in the Albertson's parking lot!!!!
Oh, and the kids got me the Easy Feet foot bath for the shower!! I love to have clean feet in the summer especially after wearing sandals all day!!!

And to end the evening, Madison and Zachary went to bed without a fight and are now asleep!!!

All in all I feel good for being 30!!

March/ April 2011

So the month of March has been pretty slow. We had Spring Break at the end of the month and only had 2 days of sunshine! I guess that's what we get for living in the pacific northwest!

Anyway, I did finish a sewing project. My sister in law Shannon and I made car seat covers one day. Brynley loves to look at the polka dots when she is in her seat! Shannon is due in May with another girl and my younger brothers fiance is due in June with a girl! So I made Tristen one too! They come out so cute, and they are very handy especially when it's raining!


Brynley is quite the cute baby! Especially when she smiles!! Madison and Zach argue over who get's the first smile in the morning! It's usually Zach!! And of course that makes Madison mad! So she had been trying extra hard to spend more time with Brynley to get her to smile! Since Brynn has been gaining weight and getting longer. We had to take out the newborn liner for her car seat! She finally fills it out like a normal baby! She is still very small for 3 months, but at least she is growing!!

Here we are testing out the new cover and adjusting the straps in her chair!!

This was Saturday during conference. Brynley sat there for the longest time with dad! These two share a special bond! He calls her princess and is always loving and kissing on her! It's really sweet!!!

Countdown to the next decade!
6 days left!

The Happy Extraction!

Well if you have been following the blog you will remember that Zachary has had quite a bit of dental problems. Earlier in month he had a root canal, and other areas in his mouth that cause concern.

One tooth in particular had abscessed twice this month. So we went and saw a pediatric dentist out in Boise. His immediate response was surgery! He said that he didn't have the patience to deal with Zachary. Zachary does get a bit worked up especially when he get's scared. So when we left the office we had a surgery date and time set up. The whole way home I had a feeling that this wasn't right. There had to be another way of handling the situation. So I talked it over with our family dentist Dr. Lloyd and decided to try one more time.

Zachary agreed to use the Nitrous, and he would do anything Dr. Lloyd had asked him to do. He had learned on Sunday in Primary about keeping a promise. And what it meant to keep a promise not only with yourself but with Heavenly Father. He went in with the mindset that he was going to keep his promise!!!

Dr. Lloyd got started and the tooth was long gone. The cavity had over taken the roots. He had warned me that if this was the case, the tooth would need to come out. So he told Zachary that he need to "put some pressure" on his tooth to make it feel better! And out it popped!!!! I couldn't watch because if I did I might have lost my lunch!! Zachary did AWESOME!!! And now the tooth fairy get's to make a visit!!

The happy extraction! They even gave him a little box to put it in!
It was a molar that needed to come out. Zachary is excited to have pudding for dinner!!

Who's Amy?

I totally forgot to post about our strange hospital experience when Brynley was born. First off we checked in at 11:45p on the 9th of January. It's the best time to have a baby. No one was there! We were the only ones on the floor! So after check in we head up to labor and delivery, where the coolest nurse says, "You must be the McDowell's, I heard you are some crazy Duck fans, and you have to have this baby before game time tomorrow!" Most of you remember that she was born on 1/10/11 which was the National Championship Game.

Anyway, this totally awesome nurse was only on until 8am and then we would get a whole new set of nurses. Well the next nurse was named Judy and she actually graduated from the University of Oregon back in the late 60's ( I think, seeing as how she wanted to have a conversation with me while I was in horrible pain and trying to get my epidural!) So we had a Duck fan on our side, seeing how most people here like the Boise State Donkey's!

Moving on................... as the morning went on and Brynley was getting closer someone kept calling me Amy?? Hmmmm. Maybe it was just a mistake. Again I was totally consumed in pain since the epidural didn't do it's job. Then I heard it again, "Amy, how are you doing?" Was this lady in the wrong room?? No it was our nurse Judy! She thought my name was Amy. So during the 10 minutes of pushing, she called me Amy again. So Travis was saying Ann trying to convince this lady and fellow alum that I was not Amy. Then my doctor started calling me Amy, WHAT! Then he realized what he said and corrected himself.

So after Brynley was born, Travis, Brynley and myself all got our hospital bracelets. I looked down and noticed that it said AMY McDOWELL!!! All three of them said it! Good thing my official bracelet said Ann. Or they may have not let us bring her home!!! We just laughed and put it off. Later that day Judy started calling me Ann again and all was well.


It's a story for the baby book or in my case the blog! And a fun memory was made!

*****

This is Brynley's new favorite past time! She love to watch the t.v! She will lay there and kick her feet and "talk" to whatever is on! Lately it's been basketball!

In other news, Brynley is now at 10lbs 2 oz!!! After a week on acid reflux meds and fatty formula along with nursing she gained a pound in one week! Then another 5 oz in 4 days!! So now she is in the 25% instead of 10th % for her age and weight!!

Things 1, 2 and 3.....

It's been a pretty crazy week!

We'll start with Thing 1. This year we signed Madison up for first and second grade girls basketball. They practice 2 days a week and have games on Saturday's. Her coaches name is Mike and there are 10 girls on the team.

Madison is pretty coordinated with both left and right hands. She has a hard time making baskets. But with a little encouragement she does great and is getting better. She is also learning what a jammed finger feels like!!
"I'm open, I'm open!!!" She yells this as she is chasing the girl with the ball!!
There she is #17! She is more of a perimeter player! She is getting more aggressive, and more willing to go after the ball!

Thing 2. We are finding out that Zachary has a pretty expensive mouth. I am so grateful for good insurance. He has had one root canal already and now he has an abscessed tooth! He's only 4 for heaven sake!! So he is on antibiotics which he hates to take 4 times a day! And we go back to see Dr. Lloyd on Monday for possibly another root canal! Yipppeeee fun! We have to give him Diazapam for anxiety. He's a trooper and does really well. I will bring the camera with me next time!!
Zach is still very much in love with his little sister!!!!

Thing 3. Miss Brynley Grace is having a hard time gaining weight. We had her 2 month appointment last week and she only weighed 8lb 15 oz!! No joke! And I had just fed her, so take away a few of those ounces! Dr. Miller put her on Prevacid for acid reflux. After about two does of that she was a happy baby!!!! We went shopping all day on Saturday and she was a perfect baby! Night and day difference! She is still having a formula bottle after she nurses. And we now mix 5oz of water to 3 scoops of formula. It makes it a higher calorie count. We have a weight check on Friday to see if this new combo works!


My mom was here for the weekend and we had a great time! Thanks Nana for coming! We miss you!

Blessing Day!

Today was Brynley's blessing. Madison and Zachary have been looking forward to this day for a long time! Brynley wore the same dress as Madison and her blanket was made by someone in the ward as a gift.

Yesterday (Saturday), I had asked our good friend Beth to take some pictures of Brynley in her blessing dress and a few other ones just for fun. Brynley was cooperative most of the time. It was a fun afternoon and we got some pretty cute pictures. Beth I think we will have to do this again if you are up to it!! Especially when she stays awake longer and smiles more!!

So here are a few of my favorites! Thanks again Beth!


This was at the end!!! She was a trooper the whole time! I may be a little bias,
but I think I have the cutest baby ever!!!