our other child

my first baby has been feeling very jealous over the last couple months. anytime i turn my back, brody is smelling finn's diaper, stopping the baby swing, nicely marking his territory in finn's room, or just laying on top of the baby blankets. this is the face i have been seeing a lot of, because i am constantly locking him in the kitchen. poor puppy, i know. but i can only shout "brody, no" so many times each day.

obama ain't got nothing on us...

I made a mock of the Obama campaign poster on http://obamiconme.pastemagazine.com. I think it turned out pretty well!

Finn and I are just hanging around the house today. When I return to work in two weeks, I'm going to be sad to not have Thursdays with him. We get to sleep in (today, he woke up at 9:45a), not worry about school, relax, and just bond. It will be hard to leave him for 8 hours, but Momma's got bring home the bacon. :)

thanks grandpa!

finn got to spend the evening with his grandpa van last week when i went to 'ladies night out' with my mom and alyssa. i think he had a happy time based on these photos!



finn got his first pair of shoes yesterday too! hooray for cute little dragon robeez.

pain in the neck

literally! i have had a pinched nerve in my neck for the last 2 months (starting 2 weeks post-finn). a couple weeks ago, i asked my small group for prayer, because i was moments away from crying at any given time. i just wanted to be able to hold and care for my baby without the constant aching pain all down my arm. within two days, i began feeling so much better and it just affirmed the power of prayer. it still aches a little and i'm still doing traction at home, but god definitely took this pain from overwhelming to manageable. can't wait until he takes it all away. thanks for all the prayers to whoever is out there!



this is a picture of me doing at-home traction. josh of course had to snap a photo and it came out so creepy! thought i would share :)

Frank and Felix

The third illustration for Finn's room!

lovely slobber

finn and i had a great afternoon around the house. he is really starting to have a personality all his own. talking, smiling, giggling, and making all sorts of silly noises. he has also realized how great his fingers taste and is slobbering more than ever. i never imagined in my wildest dreams that slobber from a baby's chin to the outfit i just put on would make me smile. alas, motherhood changes everything.















eating his fingers with proper english manners...with his pinky in the air.













finn's new bedding set. his room is almost done.













my little man and me.













lifting up that huge head of his.

Percy the Penguin

It's a penguin!

Oliver the Owl

Katie asked me to make some animal drawings to hang in Finn's room a year ago. I just made the first one today. Feel free to gossip about my severe procrastination at the next family gathering.

Anyways I liked how it turned out and wanted to post it here. I promised at least 6 of these illustrations so expect some more in the coming weeks!

the first post!

welcome to the mcdowell family blog. we want to share all of the fun times we are having with our new little guy, finn. he's already two months old! can you believe it? he started smiling a couple weeks ago, and now is just the happiest little man.

yesterday, we got to go on finn's first walk! it was finally warm and the snow had melted, so out we went. this house has been feeling increasingly smaller as the weeks went on, so it was a good chance to breathe fresh air and expose him to more of the world. we are so looking forward to the spring and summer!