Flight

Donovan did really well on our flight! We ended up with a window seat so he was fascinated by the ground below and the clouds for the majority of the 2 1/2 hours. We also had a special treat at the Omaha airport. It was pretty crowded and they had a lot of equipment all over the place, but I was so focused on getting through security, etc. that I didn't even stop to see what all the fuss was. Thankfully, Jordan was kind enough to help me out with Donovan while I was getting through with all of our stuff and he was actually paying attention to what was going on. I heard him saying, "DeAnna, look" I think it took him telling me twice to look at him when he said, "It's George Clooney." I immediately stopped and looked up and sure enough, there he was. They were right in the middle of shooting a scene so we were probably about 10 yards away from him at work. It was pretty cool. He looks a little older in person, but still handsome! That is our awesome story. Stay tuned sometime this next week for pictures and a recap of our fun so far.

We love midwest thunderstorms!!

Well, I do at least. I can't speak for Brad, but Donovan seems to like them too! We had some awesome storms this weekend. Nothing severe, just loud and bright! It was raining so hard when we got to church yesterday, I got Donovan out of his seat while I was in the car and we made a run for it. I was really glad I didn't wear heels.


Let me explain this picture, it goes along with one of the other pictures I posted last week. When Donovan is ready for bed, he usually leads us to his room and reaches for his crib. Lately I have been trying to keep him awake when Brad is gone until around 8, so Brad can play with him for a few minutes before he goes to sleep. Now, when I do that, he pulls a blanket out of his crib and finds a place to lie down on his floor. It is pretty darn cute in person.


Donovan's new excited face. He opens his mouth really wide and it cracks me up every time, he would not let me get a shot from the front!


This will be my last blog for at least a week, Donovan and I are leaving for Utah tomorrow evening! We will be in town for 3 weeks, so if you want to play with us, let me know.

This is a video for my dad, I know he appreciates storms, I just wish the audio were better.

Where did Spring go?

I am a little ticked off right now, I had this all typed out and then my stupid long pinky hit a button that deleted it all and I couldn't bring it back!!! So you will get the crappy rushed version. The pictures will all be posted at the end too since Blogger is being weird.

It's been a really warm week this week. On Wednesday and Thursday it was in the 80's, and yesterday it hit 90! We spent most of the week doing outside activities which was a nice change, but it seems like we just skipped spring.

On Monday, Brad's high school team had a game at Creighton's soccer stadium, so Donovan and I decided to tag along, even though it was a little windy. Donovan was a bit of a punk the whole time. We sat on the side where the sun was shining instead of in the nice bleachers so he had a lot of room to play and run around, but he still wanted to escape and find dirt and rocks. There was a lot of screaming and time outs on my lap, but I managed to keep him contained until half time. After the first half we went to the other side, even though it was colder I had reinforcements. Jordan Carver was there and a few of the parents that we have known through the club Brad used to help out with (he has about 5 or 6 girls from the club on his high school team). One set of parents live in Glenwood, but their daughter transferred to a private girls school for high school. They still go to all of the home games and support a lot of the community and school events. The dad's name is Doug and he always calls Donovan, "Donovan Douglas". Donovan loves being around him and even tries to give him the kind of kisses he gives his mommy and daddy, nice and juicy and right on the lips (I will admit, those kisses from other kids always made me uncomfortable, but those are the ones he gives us so I take them!). Anyway, I had some relief and watched as other people chased him around for a while. People always ask if he ever gets tired or sits still and we always tell them, "he is either running or sleeping", which you'll know really isn't too much of an exaggeration if you spend any time with him. There are rare occasions of calm, but that is usually when he is winding down for the night or is really focused on something, but it usually doesn't last long. After the game, we went out with a couple of the girls and their parents to Quaker Steaks. It ended up being a fun night even though Donovan was being a little unruly.

I can't really remember what we did Tuesday, I'm sure we played outside for most of the day and I watched the Biggest Loser and got really mad at Ron and Mike. I have been pretty sick of Ron for a while now, he really needs to go home.

On Wednesday we played with Mason in the morning and then went to the mall when Lenna picked him up. Donovan ran around and somehow convinced me to eat there. He ran up to Sbarro's and pointed at the pizza and then ran to where the booster seats were and tried to pull one down. How could I refuse after that? Mason came back again that afternoon and when Donovan woke up from his nap they went outside to play in the dirt. I have had to give Donovan a cleaning bath instead of a fun bath every night this week. I usually don't worry too much about cleaning him every day, but it has been very necessary this week. He has been covered in dirt and sunscreen for most of the week. It wouldn't be so bad if he didn't throw it in his Crocs and throw it against the wind so it comes back at him and gets in in his hair and ears. I guess that is what we have to look forward to this summer, a stinky, dirty little boy. I'm a little sad that he is getting stinkier, I remember the good old days when he would just smell like a stinky baby. Now he smells like a stinky kid, anyone who has been around kids after they have played outside knows that smell. It isn't a good one.

On Thursday Donovan and I went to the zoo and had a lot of fun. It was a little hot, and a little crowded but we still had a blast. My Grandma Goodman sent Donovan some money for Easter so we used it to take a few rides on the Carousel. He always loves to watch it so I thought he would enjoy a ride. He had a blank expression on his face and was looking around at everything the whole time. I didn't think he liked it very much, but when I tried to pull him off the horse, he didn't want to leave! We paid for another ride and got on the elephant. He seriously had no expression on his face, he just stared at everything. I guess it was pretty fascinating for him.

Brad left for Adel, IA yesterday afternoon so Donovan and I were on our own for dinner and bedtime. We decided to invite Mason and Lenna to have a Sonic picnic with us. Donovan and I went and got food at Sonic and met them at the park. After they ate they played for a while and got even more dirty, it was great. Donovan's bath was pretty dirty last night. Now we are just waiting for Bradley to get home this afternoon so he can play with Donovan and I can leave and be alone for a little while!! I have some grocery shopping that I would love to do without a whiny child who wants to get down so he can run around and pull everything off the shelves (he has never done that, but I'm sure if I let him out of the cart, he would).

We survived

We survived our week of sickness! Donovan is still a little snot factory, but it is less green and isn't running quite as much. I hope you aren't offended by my child's adorable tush, but it's just so darn cute I couldn't resist.
On Friday morning, Donovan and I were both ready to get outside and run around. He had been cooped up most of the week and I was going a little crazy myself. It was a fun trip and we were there for almost 3 hours!! He was falling asleep in my arms as we were walking to our car.


I have never seen the lion by the window so I told Donovan to give her a kiss, thinking he would just blow a kiss. He kissed the glass, if you can't tell from the picture. He made it a point to kiss all of the animals after that, I know that's gross but I was picking my battles that day.
A few months ago, we were hanging at the zoo and Donovan saw three little boys running back and forth through the chains leading to the aviary. They instantly accepted Donovan and showed him what to do while I stood by his mom and we laughed at our crazy boys. It's so nice to run into other moms who have crazy children. That is one reason why we love having Mason around!! Anyway, since then he has to do it if we walk by. He could probably do it all day, but he isn't very nice to the people who try to walk through the doors. If he sees someone trying to get in, he will hold the door shut and scream at them...we are working on that one.
I love the polar bear. He has always been my favorite. He can be boring some days, but I love to watch him when he is playing or going for a swim.
There are literally hundreds of peacocks all over the zoo. Anywhere you go, you will probably run into at least one. It seems to be mating season.
Donovan was fascinated by this duck. I am just glad there was glass between them, he really wanted Donovan's fingers.

After the zoo, Donovan and I both took a nap and then went down to Glenwood with Brad to watch his high school team play. We didn't actually watch the game, but Donovan got to run around and play some more.

On our way down I got this video of Donovan singing. He always wants to listen to this song and he only sings the last note. He will also put his arms in the air sometimes. He was still waking up so he wasn't quite as energetic as usual.

I wish I had taken a picture of his outfit before we went home. It started to get cold and I hadn't packed any pants so I searched the clothes we are taking to Utah for Colin and found a pair of gecko pajama pants that were almost long enough. Again, he looked adorably white trash.On Saturday, we traded babysitting with Lenna and Scott. We watched Mason in the morning so they could look for a dresser without a child and we took Donovan over in the afternoon so we could relax and recover from the previous week. They are so cute and they really do have a lot of fun together.

They are too cute.They did ring a round the rosie about 10 times. I thought their Granny might enjoy watching them do it at least once.


It was a great way to end our crappy week. I think we are completely recovered and ready to get in our normal routine. Donovan was a little grumpy during Sacrament Meeting today, but I think it is because he has been indulged all week and expects it to continue. He will learn soon enough that it won't. I guess we will have a week to get him out of that mode, and then once we go to Utah it will all be undone again! Silly Grandparents....

*I almost forgot, if you noticed, Donovan has a few scratches on his forehead. He decided to play with his dresser Friday morning and it fell on top of him. The scratches are from the things on top of the dresser (picture frames, block letters, etc) falling on his head. It scared him, and us, pretty bad. He still has the scratches but they aren't quite as red anymore. We may have to bolt that thing to the wall.

Ear infection

Our suspicions were confirmed. He has a nasty ear infection in his left ear...again. We got some amoxicillin and just took the first dose. Hopefully he will start feeling good soon. He has been a little sensitive today. He has had tears in his eyes for the majority of the day.

You know Donovan is sick when...

All he wants to do is lie down or sleep, he actually wants to snuggle with his mommy and will do so for hours, and doesn't want to eat a single thing all day.

That is how our day has been so far. He did alright this morning. I got him out of bed and we ate some cereal together and when Brad left Donovan wanted to take a bath (a much needed one) and he seemed fine. This was him after his bath, chipper and happy eating a little snack.
He was acting a little lethargic and was getting a little whiny so I put him on my lap and we watched a show together. After about 5 minutes of snuggling I noticed his breathing getting heavy, he had fallen asleep at 10:30. He usually doesn't nap until noon or later. After that I knew he wasn't feeling well. I had to wake him up so we could get Joyce from the airport at 11:30 and ever since we got back he has been weak and sleepy. He is trying really hard to play and be active but it is very slow and labored. Poor kid. After a few minutes of playing he will get really tired and cranky so we will lie down on the couch together until he has a little energy to climb in the window or do a puzzle. He has a pretty high fever but he is trying not to let it get him down. I finally got him to drink some milk so I mixed some yogurt with it to give it a little more substance. He just finished it so I am hoping he will try to eat something solid later.

He is still adorable, even when he is sick! He is climbing in the window and looks pretty happy right now, but I don't know how long it will last! If he still has the fever tomorrow, we will probably go to the doctor.

Photography

I caught Donovan playing with the camera yesterday, he figured out how to turn it on and everything. He has a future in photography, don't you think? He took about 10 pictures, these are the best ones.Apparently he thought he was really funny.


And a fun video of Donovan jumping. He is constantly hopping around.

Our little stinkbug

Donovan is such a stinker. He is always sneaking into the cereal and crackers in our little pantry/closet. I always catch him in the kitchen or on the couch with a bag of crackers or cereal. The other day he had pulled out the box of crackers and after I told him to put them away, I found the box put away, but he had the bag in his room. This picture was when he took off the couch cushion and got some Cheerios. He may be naughty, but he sure is adorable.The silly face Donovan is always making. He likes to stick out his bottom lip sometimes...not sure where he got that one.
We had a great day yesterday. Brad didn't have high school practice, so we went to the zoo when he got home around 3:30. It was a lot of fun to have an extra pair of eyes and hands. I was able to take a lot more pictures and we got to spend some time together away from home!
He kept climbing up and down on this rock, at first he would climb up and jump to Brad, but then he just climbed up and slid back down.
The giraffes were actually out! It was a lot of fun to see them so close and not have glass between us and them. Donovan really enjoyed watching them...and jumping up and down while hanging on the fence.
He found a few sticks on our way out. He would pick two or three up at a time and drop them when he spotted a better one. He is such a boy.
The Easter Bunny came early to our place. He wanted to get things done on Saturday so we could focus on more important things on Sunday. Donovan got a new beach towel and swimsuit from Granny (and a few extra dollars to use on a new toy or something this week). The Easter Bunny brought him plenty of candy and some new shades. He is my little stud muffin.
The swimsuit is a little big around the waist so we may have to get a smaller one for the beginning of the summer and this will probably fit at the end.We had our 2nd annual Hiatt-Silvey Easter Egg Hunt this morning. We had PLENTY of eggs. Mason got the most eggs of course, but he was nice enough to share some of his candy later on.
Donovan actually got quite a few eggs too. I think both boys got a couple of bucks out of the eggs too. Donovan will probably use his on the mechanical toys at the mall.
You can see how full Mason's bucket is!

And then he found the stick. After that he gave up on the eggs and left them to Mason.
And here he is stuffing his face with some Starburst jelly beans (the only good kind of jelly bean).

Getting ready to dye some eggs.
Both boys were wearing their awesome aprons their Granny made them. They looked so adorably white trash without their shirts on underneath. Do you like how I was sneaky and got a picture of Lenna's cute belly?
Donovan didn't really enjoy dyeing eggs. He kept crying when I wouldn't let him drink the dye, so I decided to let him (it's the dye with vinegar in it). He needed some milk after that and his lip is still a little blue. Go ahead and call me a bad mom, but I'm pretty sure he learned his lesson.And that was our week in a nutshell. We will probably have more pictures after tomorrow. We will be having an Easter feast at the Hiatt's tomorrow evening.

Homemade gift, etc.

I want to thank Heidi for the gift she sent me! She had a year to send it, but she was way on top of things! She sent a cute notebook that she covered with scrapbook paper. It is a really cute way to keep track of recipes, things Donovan does and says, and other things. Thanks again Heidi, it was a really cute idea!


Donovan is at such a fun age. He is really noticing and showing interest in the world around him. While my parents were out here he started noticing planes and birds in the sky. Anytime he sees a plane now, he stops and points until he can't see it anymore. He also stops and tries to find birds when they tweet. We have owls around our place so whenever he sees an owl he says "who" (is that how you would write the owl sound?). He also loves to climb in the window. It's his favorite thing right now.
He also likes to be a mooch. He is always wanting to eat our food and we are both guilty of sharing. He loves corn!

Picture tag

Shanel (Nelly), Me, Kira, Bex, and Katie

When Katie and Nelly came out to Iowa for a visit the fall after we graduated Iowa Western, we decided to play a little soccer in the dark. When we were leaving, we noticed Coach Bennett's car in the parking lot and decided to move it. It was heavier than we thought, but we managed to get it sideways in the stall and he ended up getting a ticket...oops :). Brad was there too, he took the picture but I don't remember if he did any lifting. We were all so mature...I would probably do it again :), it was a fun night!

Shandi tagged me and I tag Kirie, Raelynn, MeChel, and Annie and whoever else wants to do it. Now you need to go to the fourth folder and the fourth pic and write a little something about it!