The Dowd Crowd

Be prepared... there's loads of pics on this one!

2010-06-29T14:12:00.000-07:00

I've been so neglectful of the blog these past months, and so I am just posting a huge slide show. Hopefully the captions will give you an idea of what we've been up to.

We are happily settled into summer, enjoying almost daily swims and plenty of time in the sun. Meanwhile Timothy continues on with his vivid imagination. His current obsession is the movie "Cars". He regulary assumes the character of Lightning Mc Queen and every other car in the movie (which he watched for the first time w/ Brian on Father's Day). Many of his other classics are still going strong, too, such as Clifford and Franklin the Turtle. This means the rest of us are also expected to assume character, of course! Caelyn is talking a ton lately and is finding satisfaction in being able to tell us what she wants rather than grunting and crying for things. She is also thrilled with her new ability to hop. The kids have so much fun together hopping about the house and all over the furniture. Caelyn's persistent personality, which has been there since day one, continues to push her to try new things, especially if her big bro is doing it!

They Just Keep on Growing!

2010-03-05T21:32:00.000-08:00

These pics are random, but capture the "current state" of the kids in terms of size and personality. Just wanted to get something posted as it has been so long!

Remembering Grandma

2010-02-23T17:11:00.000-08:00

Sadly, my Grandma passed away last week. She was 2 days shy of 97 years old. We attended her funeral and memorial service over the past two days and came away blessed by the sweetness of remembering her. I grew up living next door to her, with countless drop-in visits, swims in their pool, family holidays, and hugs beyond number. Best of all, she loved the Lord with all her heart, a shining example to all. She was incredibly special to me and to everyone else who ever knew her.

Here are some recent pics of her.

She had joy beyond measure.

She visited us in the hospital when Timothy was only 5 hours old. With tears in her eyes she held him in wonder and prayed over him. Notice the hand-knit blanket. She made an afghan blanket for all 18 of her grandkids and almost all 23 great-grandkids, amongst many others. I'd say she was an 'expert'!

Grandma and Brian shared a birthday-- February 19. She was a good sport and wore the Birthday Hat, a Dowd tradition. They were 60 years apart to the day!

She loved every child that came into our family and often did an old Dutch rhyme about riding a horse to Opa's house, bouncing them on her knee like a horse, of course!

You can also cut and paste the following link to view a website with some pictures from her life and a bit of her story:

http://www.legacy.com/dignity-memorial/obituary.aspx?n=Margie-Van+Leeuwen&lc=4782&mid=4148306&=

Thanks for looking!

A New House for The Dowd Crowd

2009-12-02T14:02:00.001-08:00

Yep, that's right. We're moving! We bought a home in Folsom and will be settled in by Christmas. And with extra room for guests, we hope you'll come and visit! We have absolutely loved the home we've been renting for the past 18 months, so we depart with some sadness, but it was foreclosed upon and change was unavoidable. So by God's grace and our parents' generous assistance we took the plunge... let's hope we won't be needing the plunger (or worse) too much though!

It's a great home in a fabulous neighborhood. We are so blessed!!

Nature Hike

2009-12-02T13:40:00.000-08:00

A few weekends back we spent a brisk morning on a nature walk... we can't quite qualify it as a hike, although for Caelyn's short legs it could very well be! The kids experienced lots of mud and colorful leaves... and loved every minute of it!

Caelyn's First Birthday

2009-11-17T20:44:00.000-08:00

Last month (Oct 13) Caelyn celebrated her first birthday. She has already changed so much since then, including mastering walking. But I didn't want to leave this precious day off the blog. She is our delight and treasure!

Fall, my favorite season...

2009-11-03T08:04:00.000-08:00

We've been having loads of fun these past few weeks. We celebrated Caelyn's first birthday, visited a pumpkin patch, held a field trip to my parents' dairy in Galt and enjoyed some Halloween fun. Throw in other daily adventures and I'd say life is good! Plus the leaves are changing and the air is crisp... what more could you ask for?

To make the slideshow bigger, simply double click the image and it'll come up on another screen (you may need to allow popups and then double-click again).

Life in Dowd Land

2009-09-28T22:25:00.000-07:00

Two months and no entries. Shame on me! These kids grow too fast to let that much time go by! :)

Really, they are going through some spurts these days. Last week Caelyn took her first series of steps and each day she seems a bit more stable and confident. She still prefers crawling, but I'm sure once she realizes that she's walking she'll never look back. While all this has been happening Timothy has decided to be a "Bigger Boy" (his term) by using the potty regularly. I have not changed a #2 Timothy diaper in a week! Hallelujah!! He is very excited about his new skill and will gladly chat with you about it if you are so inclined.

In other news, we have (somewhat unexpectedly) entered the wide, wide world of buying a home. Many options lay before us, some complicated, but all exciting. Hopefully we'll have more on that in the near future! In the meantime, please keep us in your prayers.

The kiddos and I get together with friends regularly each week and Timothy loves his weekly swim class (about which he will also gladly chat...there's actually a long list of favorite topics at the moment, potty talk taking first place of course). We've also gotten pretty involved at Oak Hills Church, in particular with their Missional Living team (i.e. international ministries, etc.) We're really thankful for the great people we've met there and growing community life, including a weekly guys beer night. We also welcomed this summer the arrival of my dear old college friend, Katie (Wolfe) Paulsen and her sweet hubby Jeremy. They moved to Folsom this summer and I am incredibly glad to have her here.

Last weekend we visited Apple Hill, which is a group of apple farms and country shops near Placerville. We picnicked and picked (and ate) apples with Ryan and Bridget and the kids for what turned into an awesome day! It happened to be William's 3rd birthday, too. It was truly heartwarming to see how Timothy and William played together... they were happy to see each other from the first minute to the last. Such sweet cousins!

So here are some pics. Caelyn is now 11 months old and will turn ONE on October 13. Timothy will be 2 and a half next month.

Sizzlin Summer Fun

2009-07-28T17:00:00.001-07:00

Summer is flying by and we're flying high from all the fun. Here are some pics from the past few months. Enjoy!

New Family Additions

2009-06-10T13:57:00.000-07:00

I just wanted to share with the world pics of our new nephew, Mattox Garrett Van Leeuwen (Born May 19 to my brother Anthony and his wife Mallory) and niece, Kira Nichole Dowd (Born June 5 to Brian's brother Dan and his wife Jackie). We're so happy for our siblings. On the Dowd side, this makes Baby #6 in under 3 years!

Smell that Dairy Air!

2009-06-05T16:07:00.000-07:00

We visited Grandpa and Grandma Van Leeuwen's dairy earlier this week. Timothy was excited, to say the least. He especially loved meeting "Johnny Tractor", the main character of one of his favorite books who happens to "live" at the dairy (thanks to John Deere). I have been hearing tractor noises and all about cows since then. We'll need to come back for another visit soon!

The Blooms of May...

2009-05-29T14:46:00.000-07:00

We enjoyed our first roses of the year this month, and it seems as everything blooms in our yard so does our life here in Folsom. We are doing more and more things with people, some of whom we can say are moving from acquaintance to friend. There are tons of young families in our community and so I have had no shortage of playdate buddies. As far as activities go, on Mother's Day we visited Clarksville, a local ghost town that held an "Old West" living history event. The kids and I have also been enjoying the start of "Thrilling Thursdays", which is a weekly fun activity organzied by our friend Emily for the summer. We've been getting out for lots of "regular" things like jogs by the lake, little dips in the pool, playing at the park, etc. We even hosted a Memorial Day BBQ with 8 adults and 8 kids bringing tons of life to our rockin' back yard!

This month Caelyn also crossed the threshold of mobility, which has gotten mixed reviews from her Big Brother as she is continually following him and wanting to play with his toys. However, when she's doing her own thing he tends to gravitate toward her and join in whatever she's doing. "I can't live with or without you".... As for me, I don't know what I'd do without those two Munchkins!

On another note, we are thrilled to announce that my brother Anthony and his wife Mallory are proud parents of a new baby boy, Mattox Garrett, who joined our family just last week!

Timothy's First 2 Years

2009-05-04T17:23:00.001-07:00

This is a slideshow of Timothy's growth over his first 2 years. I thought it would be fun to see how much he's changed. Boy, is it a LOT!!

Brother and Sister

2009-05-04T16:28:00.000-07:00

Ummmm... notice any family resemblance? The first pic is Caelyn at 6.5 months eating avocado. The second pic is Timothy at 6.5 months eating sweet potato.

Chilling Video

2009-05-04T16:16:00.000-07:00

Timothy and Brian enjoy their nightly bathtime routine. Click the image to pull up a video. (Pardon the nudity)

From May 09

The Faces of Caelyn

2009-05-04T15:52:00.000-07:00

Caelyn shared some fun faces today for the camera... I thought they were worthy of a post.

Timothy's 2nd Birthday Party

2009-04-20T16:42:00.000-07:00

We celebrated Timothy's 2nd Birthday (which is actually on Apr 23) with a CHOO CHOO bash. We invited his play group, church friends and family members to join us for a ride on the local light rail, meet a train conductor (my dad) who gave them their very own hat, and then party with food and cupcakes at the park. It was fun to observe the anticipation in the kids' eyes as they waited to climb on board! Timothy is currently obsessed with all things trains, including Thomas the Train... so it was a given that Thomas would also make a special appearance at the party in the form of plates, napkins and balloons. There was no shortage of little boys joining in his excitement, to be sure. We had a wonderful day and are grateful for our blossoming relationships here in Folsom. It was a surprisingly huge turnnout which made us so happy!! Here's a slideshow that captures the day... a bit long, but I didn't want to leave anyone out.

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Dedication

2009-03-28T14:40:00.000-07:00

We had a wonderful day last Sunday when we did a dedication for Caelyn at our home. She wore my (Amber's) baptismal gown, which was made by my mom and grandmother when I was born. We did a ceremony led by her Godparents, Kavi and Taylor Simpson, and everybody shared some beautiful letters of blessing for her. We finished off the day with a great meal and lots of fun with 4 crazy toddlers and 4 babies roaming about our place! It was fantastic to have so much life lighting up our home! Enjoy this slideshow of that special day.

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Our Pal Mason

2009-03-11T15:24:00.000-07:00

I watched our friends' (the Hooeys) son Mason today and snagged a few cute shots.

Caelyn's Latest

2009-03-11T15:08:00.001-07:00

Yesterday we fed Caelyn her first "solid" food... very watered down rice cereal. I can't say she was especially thrilled with the experience. She's also getting ready to sit up, providing a much-welcomed view of her brother whom she finds quite entertaining.

2009-02-24T15:49:00.001-08:00

Is it true that the winter season is almost over? It's unbelievable how quickly time flies! We are full of fun and activity these days... check out the hodgepodge of pics below to see the latest. Timothy keeps chattering on and on. We're so proud of him! Right now he's into counting, naming his shapes and colors, identifying opposites and copying just about everything we say. Sometimes it feels more like we have a parrot than a kid! :) He also loves to jump off the ottoman and throw any and every ball within reach. Caelyn is growing so much-- she's pretty tall (89 percentile) and is already wearing some 6-9 month size clothes. Yikes! She loves to roll around, grab for toys and coo about all the things that make her happy. We love to coo about her too! I (Amber) have been busy with a playgroup through Sierra Moms that I recently joined, a women's Bible study at Oak Hills, and hanging with my dear friend Emily and her boys Josh and Mason as much as possible. Brian has been working hard getting ready for the launch of The Masters Program in the East Bay, which we are praying will be a huge success! He also celebrated a birthday last week, which we were able to celebrate with a picnic by the lake and then out to dinner with NO kids! Hope you are well and much love from us all!

Christmas Memories

2009-01-22T13:47:00.000-08:00

Here are some pictures from our Christmas season. We spent time with Brian's family in Reno and then Oakdale with Amber's. A few days later we were blessed by a visit from our dear friend Shawna from LA!

The Many Faces of Timothy

2009-01-05T21:26:00.000-08:00

Timothy sure makes us laugh when he pulls his funny faces!

December Happenings

2008-12-18T15:07:00.000-08:00

Winter has hit Folsom, bringing frigid temps and rain this past week. We've been using our fireplace and drinking hot cocoa accordingly. We've also managed to get out a bit, including a trip to Ventura to celebrate my brother's graduation from nursing school. Go Anthony! Here are some misc. pics...

Fall Hiking, Amber's Bday, etc.

2008-12-02T16:23:00.000-08:00

Brian stumbled upon a great trail near the lake recently so we all went on a 'hike' last Saturday. The fall leaves were amazing. Caelyn is growing like a weed and hit the 7 week mark yesterday, which also happened to be my 31st birthday. The kids surprised me with balloons in the morning! Such fun!

Caelyn Pics Weeks 4-6

2008-11-21T14:52:00.000-08:00

Caelyn is now almost 6 weeks old. She's giving us lots of smiles these days!

Timothy's First Haircut

2008-11-21T14:24:00.001-08:00

We went to Lollipop Cuts today and got Timothy's hair cut for the first time. We're glad to report that Timothy was a super boy and he still has some curls!

Article on Westmont soccer

2008-11-18T13:49:00.000-08:00

This article featuring Saturday's Westmont vs. APU men's soccer game really grabbed me. Makes me miss those days dearly. Take a look...
http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp-plaschke18-2008nov18,0,5737203.column

Pics of Westmont after the fire

2008-11-15T17:01:00.000-08:00

Our Alma Mater, Westmont College, was burned in the recent fire that swept through Montecito, CA. You can view photos of the damage at http://www.westmont.edu/teafire/pictures.html.

Brian and I both lived in the Clark dormitory at various points so we were sad to see it did not fare well. I also spent many long hours dissecting rat brains and taking class notes in Bauder Hall which housed the Psychology Dept. It was a unique and historic building. We are grateful to hear that nobody was seriously injured in this truly wild fire. I feel especially grateful to the brave firefighters that risked their lives for our school.

2008-11-13T14:38:00.000-08:00

So Timothy woke up yesterday morning covered in hives. Head to toe. Red, splotchy, alarming things that prompt you to call the doctor immediately. She said he's allergic to something, but what exactly is a mystery. Today he's much better, but it sure would be nice to know what started it all!

Caelyn is 1 month old today. She has beautiful sparkly eyes that make me happy. She's starting to coo and smile when I talk to her. Timothy has adapted really well to having her around. His favorite ways to help are by putting her pacifier in her mouth, putting her dirty diapers in the Diaper Champ, and giving her little pat-pats when she cries. I also notice that he tends to say "hi" to her when he walks by her, which of course makes me happy too. We've been letting him play with a baby doll which is fun to observe. The other day he was "burping" the doll and gently setting her down for a nap in the middle of the kitchen floor. Then he proceeded to pick her up by the leg for an adventerous bop across the room. The only real challenge I've had is Tim getting sad or upset when my lap is occupied, but even then I'm usually able to appease him to sit next to me with a book or something. So I'm thinking this 'close in age' thing is not as intimidating after all. For sure, my hands are incredibly full, but the sibling dynamics are not a huge factor. Praise God!

Pumpkin Patch & Halloween

2008-11-04T17:37:00.001-08:00

Timothy's Chores

2008-10-27T21:13:00.000-07:00

1. Push the garage door button to open/ close it
2. Turn on and off the light switch in his bedroom.
3. Get carried out to the driveway each morning to be lowered to the newspaper whereupon he picks up the paper and carries it inside, all while being carried by his dad.
4. In similar passenger fashion, get the mail.
5. Help roll the trash cans out to the curb on Thursday night and back in on Friday afternoon.
6. He helps move the laundry from the washer to the dryer and closes the dryer door every time.

We are proud of our son learning these life skills.
They are being added to all the time.

Interactions with Timothy

2008-10-27T21:10:00.001-07:00

Timothy now knows how to kiss.
He kisses me. He kisses his mom. He kisses Caelyn.
Its adorable and makes me feel like I've already done something right as a parent.
It may be my favorite part of bedtime.

When Timothy wants our help, he comes and grabs a hand or finger. Then he leads me to what he wants. When he's hungry he takes me to his high chair. When he wants to go outside he takes me to the door.

Timothy's Words

2008-10-27T20:57:00.000-07:00

dad
Um (for mom)
Boom
Bye

shoes (which means take me outside)

ba (for bottle even though he uses a sippy cup)

Whoa

uh-oh

Truck (any time a vehicle goes by anywhere)

plane (somehow he hears about every one that flies overhead)

Biyd (for birds)

No! No! No! No!

No (as in nose)

eye (with a finger right towards yours)
tee (for teeth)
Ea (for ear)
head
hand
cheese
baby
home
close
thank
Elmo

Animal Sounds
eef in a high pitch (for dogs and cats)
roar (for bears)
thbbbbt (for horses)
some sound for elephants that defies writing

2008-10-23T15:13:00.000-07:00

Caelyn is 10 days old... it doesn't sound like much but as a parent I can hardly believe it. Little children make you confront just how fast time slips by.

I'm still a bit laid up from the delivery. I expected a quicker recovery and pushed myself too hard in the days following her arrival. So now Brian is handling most of the household and Timothy while I tend to Caelyn. It's hard to sit still, especially with the perfect fall weather calling my name. But rest will get me out there sooner, I suppose. One nice thing about resting is that I can just sit and smell Caelyn's head. She smells glorious! And it's not from soap or powders and such... it's just her smell. That baby smell that just makes you want to be close to them all the time. I'm trying to figure out a way to memorize it because I know it'll eventually fade away. Then she'll smell like cheerios and slobber (if Timothy's any indicator of things to come, anyway). I also just stare at her. After she eats, she'll lay back half-asleep and contort her face in all sorts of ways. It often gets me going into some silly running commentary about what she must be thinking. The smiles are of course my favorite. The other day she broke into a wide smile and then gurgled out the cutest little belly laugh. I couldn't help but join her!

Settling in together

2008-10-18T21:07:00.001-07:00

Happy Birthday Caelyn!

2008-10-17T15:16:00.000-07:00

A Family of Four!

2008-10-17T15:11:00.000-07:00

Our newest addition is finally here-- Caelyn Joy Dowd! She joined our family on Monday Oct 13, which was one week past her due date. Late as she was, when the moment finally arrived she was more than ready given that labor lasted about only 4 hours. Around 4 p.m. on Monday I was beginning to notice some regular contractions (I had been having activity for weeks prior, so I wasn't sure if I should take them too seriously). An hour later I called Brian to come home from work, and by the time he got home I was in full-fledged labor. We gathered our babysitters and belongings as fast as possible, and after about 1 hour at the hospital Caelyn was in our arms (7:30 p.m.)! No time for drugs to help me get through it (although I really wanted them!) It was truly a thrilling adventure for us all!

For those who recall our Timothy story, this is about as opposite a labor and delivery experience as one can imagine. He was induced and took his sweet time at about 20 hours!

We are all at home now. Caelyn has been really content thus far... rarely cries and eats and sleeps well. Timothy (almost 18 mos) seemed a bit displaced from having us gone for a few days but was on his best behavior for Grandma Joan. He enjoys looking at his baby sister but doesn't try to touch her much yet. He will kiss her toes, though, which is really sweet and we've noticed that he keeps a pretty good eye on her. Our hope is that they'll grow to become the greatest of friends!

We're so grateful for all the support and prayers people showed us in this pregnancy-- especially these final few weeks. Although being a week late is not very long, it really feels like a lifetime when you're in it! We're very happy to be sharing this wonderful experience with you and hope you can meet our little one soon!

With our love,
Amber, Brian Timothy and Caelyn Dowd

Getting Started

2008-10-08T14:31:00.000-07:00

This is my attempt at communication... letting you know what's happening in our little slice of the world. Our life is simple, really. Days and nights are consumed by our little children (one in utero for just a wee bit longer!) Brian works hard at making Next Step Coach a success. We love our children passionately and it sometimes hurts to realize how fast they grow. We try to live in the knowledge of God's passionate love for us. Hopefully you'll enjoy learning about our little family... it is our joy to know you too!