Liam's room

Over the last two weeks we have completely remodeled our guest room and created a nursery for Liam.  Decorating is still underway but I wanted to share some of the progress we've made so far!


This is what our guest room looked like before



Dad cutting in the new doorway



closing up the old doorway



framing the closet



closet and doorway, and room is painted



crib and dresser are in!



still working on decorating but we've got his name up!









My Adorable Emily

Emily has really been piling on the cuteness lately!! Last night she and Bailey were dancing around the living room, which was pretty cute in and of itself, but then she walked up to Will and said, "Daddy, would you be my prince?"  :)

Then she drew this picture of me:

I love that I am smiling AND my belly is smiling. I guess Liam is happy, too.

Cheeseburger confusion

We got lunch from Wendy's today, and Emily said she wanted a cheeseburger with nothing on it but ketchup.  She's only had a cheeseburger once before, and last time I ordered one for her I forgot to say "ketchup only." So, they put pickles and mustard on it and she was deeply offended.
So I ordered a plain cheeseburger with ketchup, and she wouldn't eat it because it had "three things on it! ketchup, cheese, and sausage!"

I said, "That's not sausage; that's the hamburger!"

She was expecting a slice of cheese with ketchup on a bun, apparently.

Love that kid!!

Green beans

Last night we put Emily to bed at 7:30.  She usually goes to bed between 7:00 and 8:00, depending on how late she slept that morning and whether or not she has school the next day.  So it was a perfectly reasonable bedtime for her. Well, an hour passed and all was quiet, so I assumed she was asleep.  That is, until we heard her bedroom door opening at 8:34pm.  I went over to check it out:

"Emily, why are you still awake?"

"That means I'm still hungry.  I didn't get everything I wanted at dinner.  And I want to have some green beans."

"Green beans?  I am not making green beans at 8:30 at night!  You had plenty of dinner!  You need to go to sleep!"

"But I wanted to have green beans with dinner!"

"Well, I'll make green beans tomorrow night, okay?  It's time for bed now."

Part of me wonders if I just should have given the kid green beans.  I mean, have you ever heard of a kid who asks for GREEN BEANS for dessert?  LOL!!

Pumpkin Patch

Yesterday we visited a pumpkin patch at a nearby church and let the girls pick some pumpkins to decorate.  They had a great time.  Emily was super excited about the "pumpkin faces" as she called them--wooden pumpkins with cutouts for you to stick your face in:

 

They loved looking at all of the pumpkins.  Emily was amazed at the different kinds of pumpkins--smooth and bumpy; orange, white, green!; tiny, medium, and "the hugest one I never seen!" Finally, we chose some pumpkins to bring home.

Bailey's big girl room

I've been meaning to post some pictures of Bailey's room.  She got a new paint job and a princess theme now that she's a BIG GIRL!!  She loves her room and so do I!

Emily's book

Last night Emily made a book and wrote "the beginning" and drew a picture of a man.  Then she scribbled a bunch of "words" on the opposite page.  So William says, "Who is that?"

And Emmy goes, "That's God." 

So Will says, "Is that what God looks like?" 
And she replies, "Well, he doesn't look like a octopus!" And then she "read" the book to me: "In the beginning God said LET THERE BE LIGHT FOR THE PLANET and there was light!" LOL!! :) 

"I shocked!"

This is the conversation I had with Bailey this morning:


Me: "What do you want to wear today?"

B: "My Pooh shirt!"

Me, a little sarcastically, because this kid wants to wear her Pooh shirt every day--so much, in fact, that we have three identical ones to keep up with the demand: "Your Pooh shirt? I'm shocked!"

B: "I shocked, too!"

"You're making bad choices"

This morning, Emily and I had the following conversation:

"Emmy, I saw on your homework sheet that your class is getting a pet fish, and you need to think of a good name.  Got any ideas?

"Yeah.  I have a good idea: Nemo (which she pronounces "Me-moh").  Nemo is a good name for a fish, right?"

"Nemo?  Yes, that is a good fish name.  Maybe we should think of a couple ideas because your class is going to take a vote.  How about Finn?"

"Finn?  That's not a good idea."

"Bubbles?"

"Bubbles is not a good fish name, either, Mommy. You're making bad choices. I make good choices and I like Nemo."

We will let you know what the fish is named as soon as we find out!

Cheese Pickles

When I picked Emily up from school today, I asked her what she'd like for lunch.  She said, "Cheese pickles."

"Cheese pickles?? What's that?" I asked.

"They are long and straight, and they have orange salt on them.  They're cheese pickles," she replied.

"Oh, you mean cheese doodles?" I said.

"Yes.  Cheese doodles," she answered.

"Well, we'll have to pick some up next time we're at the store.  I don't have any cheese doodles at home right now."

LOL!!

The Naked Chef

Bailey is really into her kitchen, shopping cart, and play food. The other day, she set up a bunch of food on Daddy's computer tower like it was her counter and she was jabbering away. It was like the Bailey Cooking Show. I tried to get it on video but as soon as she saw the camera, she held her hand up and said, "No thank you, Mama." I was able to get these pictures, though:

I especially love the mittens she was using for oven mitts.  We don't have much use for mittens here but it was cute that she found a good use for them!

Last night I'd taken B's clothes off but hadn't gotten her pajamas on yet, and she ran into her room.  This is what I saw when I looked in there:

How cute is she??? :) 

Cute Conversations

As I was getting ready this morning, Bailey came into my bathroom, climbed up on the edge of the tub, and started rummaging through my makeup bag.  She fished out the chapstick and said, "Mama, I have some that please?"  So I said, "Sure.  You can have some when I am done brushing my teeth."  While she was waiting she took out the powder and powder brush and "applied" her makeup.  Then she took out the mascara and said, "I have some that too." LOL! :)

Also today, I had a priceless conversation with Emily:

"Mommy, where is the baby boy going to sleep?"

"In the guest room.  We won't have a guest room anymore; we're going to make that into a nursery."

"All by himSELF?"

"Yes, all by himself."

"But he will cry!  He will wake up and see that he is all alone and he will cry!"

So I said, "When he cries it will probably be because he is hungry.  But that is what Mommy and Daddy are here for.  We will take care of him.  Okay?"
"Okay, but if you don't hear him I will just come into your room and say, 'Mommy, the baby brother is crying!'"

SOOO cute! It's sweet that she already cares about her baby brother. :)

"Can I hear it sing?"

While Emily was at school this morning, I lugged out my sewing machine to get started on a birthday present for a friend.  I am not very good at sewing, nor do I like to sew, so my machine hasn't gotten much use, but I can do a straight seam and that's all that was required for the pillowcase I was making.  When Emmy got home, of course she immediately noticed the sewing machine on the kitchen table.

"Wow!" she exclaimed.  "What's THIS?"

"That's my sewing machine.  I'm making a pillowcase for Lydia."

"Can I hear it sing?"

Well, I burst out laughing at that.  "It doesn't sing, sweetie," I said.

"But it says 'SINGER'."

How can you argue with that? LOL!!

YIKES!

Well I guess I've been pretty distracted lately!  I can't believe how quickly this summer is flying by.  Here's an update on some of the things we have been doing lately.

On August 16, we had a sonogram and found out that Baby #3 is a BOY!  We are all very excited.  Emily wanted "a boy baby this time" and Bailey finally said she'd like a baby brother (instead of her usual "No, thank you" every time we'd asked her if she wanted a brother or sister), so that was wonderful.  His name will be William Kenneth McDowell V and we'll call him Liam for short.

Also on August 16, Emily started preschool!  She's attending VPK and she loves it.  She cried on the first day because she didn't want to come home--the kids who stay all day (she leaves at noon) were going to make gingerbread men in the afternoon and she wanted to do that!  So we made some of our own:

Poor Emily came home from school yesterday with a fever, and since it got pretty bad over night, I took her to the doctor this morning.  Diagnosis?  Strep throat AND scarlet fever!! She'll have to miss school until Monday.

Bailey is having a hard time with Emily going to school.  When we drop her off, she says, "I go school TOO" and I have to explain that she has to wait until she turns four.  Then when we leave, it's, "Oh, no! Lella!" like I'd just forget her somewhere!  My favorite part, though, is when we pick Emmy up from school and they greet each other:

It's hard to imagine what it'll be like when Emily goes to "real" school and is gone all day!  Right now it's only three hours!!

Bailey has also developed an interest in using the potty, which may or may not have to do with my bribe of M&Ms for using the potty.  For a while she wouldn't have anything to do with panties, but then the other day she decided she'd give them a try.  It was so cute!  She still prefers her diapers but she is very much a creature of habit and she doesn't like any sort of change to her routine.

Bailey also moved from her crib to a toddler bed, which has been a difficult transition for her.  She's been up a lot at night.  I keep hoping once she gets used to the bed we'll go back to sleeping--she used to sleep 11 1/2 to 12 hours a night and now she's up several times, sometimes for an hour or more!  It's been hard!

Well, that's all I can think of right now!  I will try to be better about updating the blog over the next few weeks.

Random Humor :)

Just wanted to share a few humorous episodes from the past few weeks.

A few days ago, Emily announced, "Mom, I love everyone.  Even you and the baby in your belly."

Today I had to go to the Ob-gyn for a nurse check, which is basically getting weighed, giving a urine sample, getting my bp checked, and listening to the baby.  They also had to draw some blood to complete a test I was having done.  Well, Bailey was SO concerned about everything that was happening.  I sat on the table and she said, "Oh, no! Mama!"  The nurse checked my blood pressure and she said, "Oh, no! Mama!"  The nurse tried to find the baby's heartbeat (she had some trouble--she thinks the placenta is on top which makes it a little more difficult, but she did find it at 140 bpm in case you are concerned) and she said, "Oh, no! Mama!"  Then apparently she'd had enough and she just opened the door to the exam room and walked out!  The poor nurse had to chase her down! LOL!!

On our way home, Emmy said, "Mommy!  I saw lots of horses in the horse patch!" LOL! :)  These kids crack me up! :)

13 weeks and counting!

Well, we've kept it a secret until now but honestly, I am REALLY starting to look pregnant so it's getting to be a tough secret to keep!  We are once again expecting.  I had an early sonogram at 6 weeks and we got to see our "baby bean" for the first time.  The best part was seeing that little heart beating away at 120 beats per minute!  On Tuesday the 8th I saw the doctor again and he was just wonderful to me.  I told him I was really hoping to hear the baby's heartbeat at that appointment; as you may know, last time I had absolutely NO symptoms of miscarriage so I had no idea anything was wrong.  Well, the nurse said they can't use the Doppler before 12 weeks, but the doctor said, "I know that would be really reassuring for you so let's go ahead and try.  I can't always find the baby at 10 weeks but you're thin enough that we may be able to do it."  We heard lots of interesting noises--my heartbeat, which was slow and steady (a good sign), the blood flow through the uterine artery (also strong and a very good sign), and finally, the baby's heartbeat, now up to 170 bpm!!  I was SO relieved and so happy to hear it.

On Friday, June 25, we had another sonogram (at 12w4d along).  Everything looks great!  Baby is measuring 12w6d (right on target); heartrate was 162 bpm, and everything looks normal as far as the ultrasound tech could tell. In this picture, Baby's head is to the right.  It is a profile picture and you can see the nose and lips really well.  I think he (or she, but I think it's a he) has a profile similar to Bailey's.

We told Bailey and Emily the news after the songram.  Emily was SUPER excited; she said she wants "a boy baby" this time.  When we asked Bailey if she wants to be a big sister, she said, "No!"  We said, "Do you want a baby brother or sister?" and she said, "No!" LOL!

Baby McDowell is due January 3, 2011.

Thanks for all of the prayers and please keep 'em coming! :)

Bailey's first date

We were at the mall playground today and I think Bailey had her first date!  A little boy her age walked up to her and said, "Hi!"  Bailey said, "Hi!" (which was shocking because normally she's pretty shy around kids she doesn't know.)  Then he took her hand, led her to a woman sitting a few feet away, and proudly introduced her: "Mama, Mama." LOL!! He introduced her to his MOM!  I think that counts as a first date. :)

Kids Say the Darndest Things!

Yesterday I took Dioji to get his hair cut.  When we left Petsmart, Bailey started crying, "Oh, no, Mama! Dog!"  How silly of me to "forget" the dog!!  She was very upset and reminded me the entire drive home that we didn't have the dog with us.  He was ready pretty quickly so soon enough we found ourselves back at Petsmart, picking him up.  Now, getting out of the Petsmart parking lot is a real headache.  On either side of the entrance/exit road, there's a Chick-Fil-A and a gas station, and both places have lots of traffic going in and out.  I was able to get in the line of about five cars waiting to make a left turn at the traffic light.  Pretty much as soon as I got in line, the light changed to a green arrow for the left turn lane.  Well, we sat there.  And sat there and sat there and sat there.  Now I am like four cars behind the guy at the front of the line who's in la-la land, so I didn't want to honk at the guy in front of me (and I doubt it would have helped anyway).  Finally, as the light turns yellow, Mr. Oblivious realizes it and of course goes through the light, leaving the rest of us sitting there.  I was so frustrated, so I said, "I can't believe this!  We missed that whole light because of one idiot!"  Emmy goes, "Mommy, you should just say 'dammit.'" Let me tell you, it was SO hard not to laugh at that one!  I said, "No, honey, we don't say that word."  But inside I was cracking up because not only did she have a word for the situation, she'd also learned the appropriate use of it! LOL!!

Chatting with Emily

Emily was talking to a friend of mine yesterday and here is what she had to say: "Mommy has lots of friends."

"Oh, yeah?  How many friends does she have?"

"I think six.  That's a lot of friends."

"That is a lot of friends.  How old is Mommy?"

"Maybe 65." LOL!!

and....
A few days ago I was looking at houses online, and I left a website open when I was done.  Emmy goes, "I like that white house, Mommy."

I said, "Me, too.  I just sent a picture of it to Daddy and asked him if he wants to live there."

Emmy: "But we'll miss him!"

No Monsters Allowed

Emily had a terrible time going to sleep last night.  When we went in to check on her, she said, "I want someone to sleep with me so no bad dreams will come."  So I asked her what she was dreaming about.  She said, "Mommy, every night when I am asleep a monster comes and opens my door!" 

I said, "No, sweetie, that's Mommy and Daddy.  We open your door when we go to bed.  We thought you liked your door open." 

She said, "No, Mommy, it's a monster." 

So I thought about it for a minute and then said, "Well, what if in the morning we make a sign for your door that says 'No Monsters Allowed.'  Then they wouldn't be able to come in.  What do you think of that?"

She said, "Okay.  I don't want any bugs in my house, either.  So we can put no bugs on it.  And no snails!"

I said I thought that was a good idea.  At 7:00 this morning, she got up, went to the drawer and got paper and crayons, asked me for scissors and glue, and got right to work.  First she drew a monster (a smiling, friendly-looking monster, if you ask me).  Then she drew an "x" over it.  Then she drew a snail, and another "x."  Finally she drew a pirate with an "x" over him, too.  (I am not sure what happened to the bugs.  I didn't want to interrupt her or make her focus on something she may have forgotten.)  Then she cut out the pictures, glued them onto a piece of green cardstock, and we stuck it to her door.  Now we can be sure that there will be no mosters, snails, or pirates in her room tonight!