Just before the new Year begins

I need an outlet. And I dream about becoming an overnight success like Stephanie Meyer, and then Casey will proof read my annoying family emails or texts and he never makes it past the first sentence. Plus I never check for my grammatical errors.

But anyways, 2015 was one of those years that you want to throw the gross burned cooking pot outside in the garbage and wheel it out to the street and wait for the garbage man just to make sure he takes it... but at the same time, desperately just want to have energy to clean so you can keep it and all its happy memories!!!!

We had professional family pictures taken for the first time ever in our 5 years of marriage and they turned out awesome.

 I'm so happy with them.

 My last minute outfits that I spent tons of money on and hours of thinking of and losing sleep over finally paid off.

 Next time, I say who cares and we'll just buy cute clothes throughout the year that match so that I don't have to deal with that headache again.

I'm also organizing a weight loss/health challenge with Casey's family and i'm trying to keep myself accountable. So I plan on writing about my successes and failures on here and updating possibly with progress pictures. MAYBE. Thats a big maybe... probably only if Casey will do that with me cause we both need it. I'm doing and agreeing to things I would have never done in the past, and this is part of my new year new me ( I can't even believe I just said that. gross).

Another blog post for the year....

So we are getting family pictures done in November. We have never had "professional" family pictures done so we thought we would break out the 'ol photo booth app on the iMac and test some things out. FOR the life of me, I could not get Evie to smile regularly.... She either has to do a scary face or a horse interpretation. As for Everett, he either had to have his hand in his mouth, or something else has to be in his mouth. I realize that since they are looking at pictures of themselves while its being taken they are a bit distracted, but i'm still nervous to see how it will all turn out.

Back in August, Evrett had his first birthday! Unfortunately, he was sick and didnt even stay up long enough on his actual birthday to open any gifts and wasnt interested in his little cupcake. He never. Stops. Moving. He is an explorer, but doesn't wander too far from me. He loves food. He literally dances as he eats. Food is the way to his heart. He doesnt like to sleep. It doesnt matter if the kid goes to bed at 7:30 or 10:30, he is up and awake at 7:30 every morning. He happily plays in his crib for a while until he starts to say "Momma?" Then I know he's definitely hungry.

Evie is a free spirit. Have you seen that movie by the way? Spirit? She knows it completely by heart. She gallops and neighs and plays "hurt" along with the entire movie. It doesnt stop there. She "gets her horse on" (as Janie puts it) just about everywhere. Most parents take their kids to play at the park, not us, we take our horse- because she gallops throughout the grassy hills and neighs. We hought it was a faze, but it has lasted a solid year. She wants to be a Unicorn or a Deer (Still in the 4 legged horse family) for Hallween which might actually work perfect with Casey if he would cooperate and be a hunter since he has a mountain man beard.



Casey and I recently (June) celebrated our 5th wedding anniversary. I still feel like i'm 20 years old and worrying more about what my perfume smells like and if my stupid car key chains are trendy enough or cool. (Oh wait, you never worried about that?). I am a nostalgic person. I look back at pictures on a regular basis. It makes me happy and I love to see changes (Some not so good like, wow, I though I was fat when I got married.... Marriage is a heavy commitment. There should be a warning. If you get married expect to not ever look the same again)

 Now we have 2 kids. And i'm sure there are more waiting to join our special family, but my brain is blocking out any thoughts of that for now. 2 kids is a lot of work. High fives to everyone else who has more than that.

Ok maybe this picture of Evrett worked out and Evie is somewhat smiling. Too bad Casey and I missed the memo. Oh wait, we said 'silly faces'. ..and thats why Evie and Evrett cooperated. Such wonderful children. :) 

Evrett's Birth story

   First, lets talk about the obvious.
   Who names their kid Evrett? Well lets go even further. Evrett is a fung shue spelling for Ev-er-ett. It all started when Evie was being nicknamed Everett. Casey hated that my family called her Everett. We specifically named her Evie because if we named her Evelyn, there was a good chance she would be called, Eevee or Evie! Then comes my family giving her (ideally short name) a longer somewhat more complicated nick name. And Casey hated it. Then he got over it (rather quickly). Months-year go by, and I get pregnant. Casey and I both knew it would be a boy. We just knew. And from the beginning, I worked with Casey in becoming comfortable with different boy names! I have always loved the name Russell, but recent family and friends named their sons Russell and I just want my childrens names to be different and special. Casey's top List was Maximus, Mac and someother not even worth mentioning. SO can you see already how Evrett was a wise choice so far? Weeks before my due date I was stressing (for more reasons than others and i'll get to that later) and Casey would not even come up with legit possiblilities! Thats when Casey decided Everett had potential because he served his mission in Washington, Everett. THEN I immediately hated the idea. It was weird enough that my family already called Evie, Everett, and the name is just weird to say the first couple times. Then came D-Day, and can you guess what happened? Casey took one look at our handsome son and said, he looks like an Everett! Now here is where I bring the unnecessary weird spelling of Evretts name. It honestly was repulsive to me to call him Ev-er-ett. So, I compromised with Casey buy using a spelling of Ev-er-ett that would be 2 syllables, instead of 3. So thats why his name is spelled Ev-rett. Because who needs an extra syllabol in their name? Its just Evrett!!!! 2 weeks after he was born I could finally silently call him Evrett:) I call him Rett. (Yes, just like Rhett butler from Gone With The Wind)
 

   Now we can begin the Birth story:)

   After I stopped throwing up everyday and had energy to put on makeup and clothes, I began reading books and blogs and felt it would be ok, and that I could probably handle a natural, unmedicated birth at the hospital. I made it pretty good with evie on pitocin, so why not try it naturally and this time not get induced and let nature take its course? 

   Well around 36 weeks, I was dilated to a 3+. This was shocking (and lets clarify, also NOT an indicator that labor is anywhere close) but still shocking and exciting and I made the mistake of telling people. So for a week I got texts and calls asking if I was in labor. At my 37 week appt, I was dilated 4+. then I started to panic. Some women get to the hospital in labor and are only 2 cm dilated! So then I made Casey nervous and anytime I had a contraction or anything he got nervous. Anytime I texted him while he was at work his heart raced a little bit, thinking I was telling him to head to the hospital. At my 38 week appt, my Dr concluded he would induce me (mostly because I was concerned giving my family history that If i wait too long i'd have a huge baby and have have an emergency c-section). Plus honestly I was DONE. So here is where my natural birth plan turned into a not natural birth. 

    My sweet mother insisted we stay at her house until my induction date, because she lives 10 min from the hospital and I live 25 minutes away, and if I go into labor in the middle of the night, Evie would already be in bed there and it all made sense! The dr. also stripped my membranes so we were all thinking i'd go into labor that night especially since I was 4+ cm. Well nothing happend and 4 nights later (staying at my parents house) came the night before my induction date. Then D-day came. My induction was scheduled at 9:30.  I called a few hours prior to that and they said it was busy and they'd call me when I could go in. It was raining and I heard how the baramatic pressure can naturally induce women into labor. Well, they finally called around 12:30 and said to head over as soon as possible, so my mom drove us with Evie and took our picture and left us to get signed in and everything.

   After waiting 5 minutes to get seen, I notice a pregnant women walking in and I immediately thought, Ohhh... she's in labor and theyre gunna push us back even further! Well, yes. that happened. so we waited another 45 min. and they finally got us all checked in. While they were checking us in and putting the finishing touches on, the lady received a call that a few other women were having contractions and coming in. I started to panic! She then told me that we were already in the system and will get started right away! Talk about relief. But she even said herself that it was raining and itt gets buys when it rains.

    I had tested positive for the Group B Strep and so I had to be hooked up to an antibiotic for 4 hrs before they could even begin the pitocin. After the nurse hooked me up, she checked my cervix and said, "wow, You're half way there girl, you are at a 5! You should have a quick and easy labor and delivery".  This was comforting. Well after the first round (4 hrs) of the antibiotics, Dr. Huish came to check on me and because of his scheduling, had me put on another round (another 4 hrs) of antibiotics. But they also started a low dose of pitocin.  

   I was doing pretty good for being 5 cm dilated. I had some contractions but nothing painful until the pitocin kicked in. after about 2 hrs, I started having to really breathe through the contractions, and I was on a 6 pain level on a scale of 1-10. I didnt want to be in pain though. I was tired and I honestly was wanting an epidural so I could sleep. I told this to Casey and he lovingly said, If I need it he wont talk me out of it, but he said I'm doing so great and he'd help me and we can do it! Thats exactly what I wanted to hear! But then 30 min later, they started getting more painful. So I just decided I wanted an epidural (which I regret because I could have done it, I know I could have) After the epidural was in place and working its magic, she did a cervix check and I was at a 7+ almost 8. Then since I was medicated she bumped up the pitocin to the max (which I realize sounds like a heck of a lot of meds and stuff for a preggo woman).

  Around 9 p.m, (2hrs later) I felt like I had wet myself! I told Casey, I'm pretty sure my water broke, should we call the nurse? He called the nurse. she came in and checked me and said yep! your water broke! she also said my contractions werent close enough together to do any pushing so just hang tight and she'll come back to check on me. 

    Well an hr and a half later, I was in PAIN. pressure MAJOR pressure and only on 1 side! UGH! my fault I guess for getting an epidural. I was uncomfortable and felt like my hips were going to explode! I told Casey, "just look under the cover and see if his head is out because it feels like my legs are seperated from my body!" He calmly said, lets just call the nurse! The nurse came in and I told her i was in pain and how I felt so she lifted the covers and said, Oh! how about we have a baby! I was so excited! She continued to say that we will try a couple pushes to see how things will progress and if things are going very quickly then she'd call the dr. So she got things situated and had me do a couple pushes and then told me if she ever said to stop that I will HAVE to stop pushing. After 15 mins of checking and pushing only about 3 times, she told me to STOP. She explained that Dr. Huish must deliver all his baby's. He gets upset if he doesn't make it in time. It was around 11:30 when she called Dr. Huish and then around 20 min later he showed up! We made bets to see if this baby would be born before midnight or not. Well, at 12:04 a.m on August 20th, 2014, Evrett Casey McDowell was born. 6lbs 14oz. 21.5 inches long. Just before this picture is when Casey knew his name would be Evrett.

 Evie loves him:)

We've got some catching up to do!

It's been almost 2 years since i've posted. So who knows who still reads or looks at this blog. But let me tell you something, It is soooo nice to no longer have to work. After just 4 months of quitting my job, I have finally started to feel like a mom again. I know where Evie is, I know what she is eating, I know what she did all day, I know what she is trying to say in her own little language. I had the best help from my mom and Caseys mom, but we can't rely on them for everything and while grandmas mean well, they end up creating monsters that are spoiled rotten all day with love and attention. I know that I'm more tired stayting home than being at work. Its been hard adjusting to working and then prefering to work over being home all day, to now re-adjusting to being a 'mom' again and being home all day. My skills (or lack there of) of cleaning, cooking, organizing, and any type of motivation kind of took a major hiatis while I was working, and really struggled. I had a great job, nothing was wrong, I just happend to get pregnant again and I was incredibly sick that standing for hours on end blow-drying people's hair all day sounded less than desireable. Everyone is different. Some women can work 10 hour days, keep an imaculate house, cook meals from scratch and keep everyone happy but all I could do was work and then dread going home to have to clean or cook anything. OR even bathe Evie for that matter. Even though I have incredible back pain from pregnancy and no energy I still enjoy taking care of Evie and things around the house now more than when I was working. Also I did not have a super physically demanding job or a high stress job, but it got pretty comfy for me to leave Evie and then go have fun doing people's hair all day. Wait… I was exhausted after standing for several hours, but it was still fun-ish. I'm still adjusting to and working on getting into a routine of some sort to keep things cleaned and organized at home. I have even recently been motivated to update this blog again. So we'll see how that goes!!!!!

And here is a quick update using pictures that'll show what we've been up to last year. Next post will be an update on this year!

Evie built that tower by herself!

                                                  We went to disneyland:) But in the picture below sums up our experience. We have a special name for Evie that we use now when Evie turns 'Evil' And its 'Disneyland Evie'. Since being at the happiest place on earth wasnt a happy time for Evie (She was sick though….)

                                    The child leash was an epic fail for us. We used it for 20 minutes. People around us loved it and laughed at Evie, but once Evie figured out that we control the leash, it was game over.
     

                                                       Aunt Kaylee left on a mission!

                                      To celebrate Aunt Kaylee leaving, we packed up and headed to Palm Springs to go to Legoland with Smash and Janie and her kids. I honestly would have rather paid $20 more dollars and gone to Disneyland, Legoland is a happy place for older children…. specifically boys. There are fun things there for younger kids, but most of the rides Evie couldnt go on, whereas at Disneyland, there were a handful of rides to we can go on. Maybe in a few years.

 Cleaned out a semi-safe and suitable playroom for Evie.

                         Evie was tinkerbell for Halloween since tinkerbell was her favorite movie:)

A favorable collage

Evie is 7 1/2 months, and I still can't believe I even have a baby. It is so much fun and even more fun to see her grow and learn and explore every-single-day. She's a professional crawler now, and looks similar to how a frog moves. I will set her down with her toys in the family room, leave to the kitchen to do dishes, and then suddenly hear her little sticky hands move from the carpet to the tile.

When Evie found her tongue, she would stick it out and make the goofiest faces.

We went out to Dinner one night, and she was making this face while simultaniously making a low grunting noise that caught the attention of pretty much everyone at Chipotle.

 Over the span of just a couple days, Evie went from lying on her tummy, to "mermaid" pose (I call it mermaid because its what Ariel does in the Little Mermaid), to full on military push up position. I don't think i've ever, or will ever have such posture when doing a pushup. She got that from Casey!

 Evie is the sweet little girl and has Casey and I doing everything to make her happy and healthy and strong. If I had a guarantee from Heavenly Father, that each one of my children will be just like her, then I will have no problem having like 10 kids. But then he's also going to have to give us the bank account for having 10 kids!

Once Evie started getting her top teeth, it was pretty much game over for nursing. I can't believe how many teeth she has, let alone how many for such a small and young baby! Its funny to feed her puffs, because she'll bite down on them and you can hear the little crunch it makes from her teeth.

We went out to lunch with Grandma and Grandpa Pew one day, and Evie was entertained by everything! She has always been like that. It was, however, the first time she had actual shoes on. So instead of eating her lunch, she was more entertained by her shoes. I'm also glad that she's now big enough to sit in a high chair without falling through the slits. Becuase its a regular things for her sit like this.

This is the latest and greatest picture of Evie. She will be this happy for you, as long as you feed her and make rediculous faces. I honestly can't wait to see her personality expand and how she'll be when she's older. I wont mind if she wants to skip year 2. 

I feel like when I blog, its the time period of several months between each post, and then when I do post, it'll usually be overload. Before I had Evie, I had nothing really to post about, and now it's like every day I want to update the blog! So sorry for the overload on Evie, but she's just pretty much the center of our lives right now!

   Casey is still working at Bank of America and keeps impressing his managers and co-workers with his exceptional communication skills and leadership skills. Bank of America is a lucky company to have Casey. I feel like Casey will be great at anything he does, especially Dentistry (Is that a word?) once all his schooling is done. He is the best dad to Evie, and loves to hug and kiss her everyday when he comes home from work. I'll be going back to work this week, and at first I was nervous to leave Evie with Casey (Because lets be honest, men do not have the same tender, mothering, nurturing skills that women are born with! They do, however, have protective and loving feeling for their kids, and thats especially the case for Casey). SO the past couple days, I've been having Casey do a little more of the parenting responsibilities, so I can get a "peace of mind" of how it will be when he watches Evie while I'm at work. I can honestly say that I am very comfortable leaving Evie with and and I trust him 100%. I never imagined after starting a family that I'd need to go back to work, but I will do anything I can to help my wonderful husband get through school so he can achieve his goal of becoming a dentist. Thats why I'm so grateful that I went to Cosmetology school, and that I have that skill and LOVE it, so that in this case, I can go to work, and enjoy what I do! 

   ***So that being said, If you or anyone you know, would like a day of pampering, come see me and the other stylists over at Primp and Blow (Yes, you read that right, thats the name of the salon). The salon specializes in washing and blowing out your hair! They also provide the following services: Eyelash extentions, Hair extentions, Tanning, Facials, Bridal packages and things of the like.***

Family Photo 2012

This is as unformal as family photos go, but this will have to do! Evie is now 5 1/2 months and is getting more and more playful everyday. She has 2 teeth on her lower and none on top yet! I have a feeling they'll be in sooner than I'd like. Casey is still at Bank of America and keeps getting some schooling done here and there. We celebrated our 2 year anniversary last week and had so much fun spending time together!

When you startle a waking baby.

 I think Evie is pretty cute. I even think she looks super pretty when she sleeps! So I took a picture so Casey can see her while he's at work. After I took this picture it woke her up, and this is what she looked.
 She's 4 months old and already has a tooth coming in. For a while she's been extra extra drooly, so I checked out her bottom gums and low and behold there was a small little sharp tooth trying to make its way. Other than the regular fussiness, she has been great so I never would have even suspected that she was teething! Hopefully it lasts like this for the rest of the teeth!