Baby makes 5...Family's third child is county's first in '17

Wednesday, January 11, 2017
Lexi and Brendan McDonald pose for a photo with their daughter, Lily Korra McDonald.

And baby makes five...

In addition to welcoming their third child, Lexi and Brendan McDonald had another reason to celebrate after their daughter became the first baby born in Elmore County in the new year.

Lily Korra McDonald was born at 12:50 p.m. on Jan. 3, 2017, weighing in at 8 pounds, 3 ounces, and measuring at 20 inches long.

Lili quietly slept while swaddled in soft pink blankets and dressed in her new onesie printed with "Hello world, I'm Lili."

"She was due New Year's Day, but she took her time," said her mother, Lexi McDonald.

The new parents were surprised to learn that their daughter was the county's New Year's baby even after arriving late. After dealing with a broken tail bone and an extended illness since October, Lexi McDonald was certainly ready for her daughter to be born.

The only explanation is she's "so special you can be late and still be the first," McDonald said to her sleeping daughter, who was already showing brown hair and chubby baby cheeks.

Babies are nothing new in the couple's house in Mountain Home. Lily will soon meet her two older brothers, Landon John, 2 1/2, and Seamus (pronounced Sha-mus) Brendan, who is 15 months old.

"We're used to the routine by now," said Lexi McDonald, a full-time mother originally from Utah. Her husband, Brendan McDonald, is an Eagle native who moved his family to Mountain Home to take advantage of the more reasonable real estate while he continues to work on building the new St. Luke's hospital facility in Nampa.

In addition to her brothers, Lily will soon meet her extended family, including two sets of grandparents, five uncles and four aunts.

As is traditional, the new baby of the year in Elmore County was presented with a "welcome to the world," gift basket. Doreen Stocker, director of the hospital's development and foundation department, presented the basket, which included new baby supplies, blankets, a bath towel with wash cloth, a new years baby onesie and a hand knitted made newborn cap.

The basket also included a stuffed moose -- the mascot of children's hospital for St. Luke's.