Donovan

Donovan fell asleep on the way home from the zoo and Addi is playing quietly so I decided I should blog while I have the chance.

I think I can officially say Donovan is potty trained! Huzzah for us! It seemed to happen right when I decided to stop stressing and bought a big box of diapers...go figure. It could have something to do with the fact that Brad got really upset with him one day while I was gone. He had 2 accidents in 15 minutes and he got a pretty stern talking to from his dad. Since then he has been wearing underwear all the time and hasn't had any accidents. It's almost been a week now. He even wears his underwear to bed! So now we have a big box of diapers and no use for them.

He's just cute, he has the prettiest blue eyes. I think they sparkle, just like Bradley's.We've been enjoying some nice weather recently. It's been nice to get outside and run around. We've been digging with sticks, racing to the tree, he's been giving me jump hugs all over the place (that's our new thing, he runs at me as fast as he can while I'm sitting and makes me fall over and he calls it a jump hug), and he helps me find all of the animals in our "yard" (today we saw turkeys).

IWCC played a small tournament at Creighton last week and Hannah and I went with Donovan and Mason. Once I pulled out the camera it turned into a show.

This is Mason striking an awesome pose. This kid cracks me up.
This is the only reason Donovan insists on helping me make cookies. He can't miss out on getting to lick something.I decided to make a solo trip to the zoo with Donovan and Addi today. It was about 75 while we were there and it's even warmer now. I wish Donovan was still awake so we could play outside!
Addi wasn't that excited about being at the zoo, she was indifferent.Donovan decided to take a little rest before we saw the rest of the gorillas. I didn't encourage this either, it was all him.

What zoo trip is complete without a run through the aviary chains?He actually got close to the heads this time, he didn't just pet their butts. It was a nice trip! Addi was content, and Donovan listened pretty well...for the most part. We didn't have any incidents, so I'm a little more confident about taking the 2 of them by myself. Nothing too exciting is going on, except that I turn 24 on Saturday! We're going to be driving to Kirksville that day to visit Tia's family so Lenna offered to take Donovan Friday night so he and Mason can have a sleepover and Brad and I can go out for my birthday. I'm getting pretty excited about it, I just hope Donovan doesn't choose that night to wet the bed!

I know, I know

I just posted yesterday without pictures, but I had to tell this funny Donovan story.

I was cleaning out the car while Donovan was running around on the grass today. He was listening really well and playing very nicely, but when it was time to go inside, he ran away from me. I carried him inside and put him in his chair. Brad was home for lunch so he went in the room to talk to him. This is how the conversation went:

Brad: When mommy asks you to do something, you need to listen. If mommy tells you to come inside, you come inside.
Donovan: No, mommy's crazy!

I have no idea where that came from! When I first heard it I wasn't sure if I had heard him right. It was really hard to hold in my giggles. I didn't realize that my mom was crazy until I was at least 7 or 8. I guess my child is more observant than I was :)

Persuasion

I'm sorry if this bores you, I'll try to do a post with pictures of Donovan this week. I'm just bored waiting for Bradley to come home from his indoor game and I'm not tired enough to go to sleep.

I love Jane Austen. Take that how you will. You can think I'm a silly little girl, but I love her. Of course my favorite will always be Pride and Prejudice, but I just finished reading Persuasion and I actually enjoyed it. I've tried to read it 2 or 3 times before, but I could never get past the 1st chapter. I would start reading and get so bored by the description of Sir Walter and Elizabeth that I would put it down and had no desire to pick it up again. Donovan and I went to the library the other day so I decided to try it one more time. I wish I had read it sooner. I had always seen my mom watching the movie, but it looked so boring in comparison to Pride and Prejudice or Sense and Sensibility, that I never had the desire to even watch it. It really is a great book. I think Captain Wentworth might just be my new favorite...move over Edward (Ferris, not Cullen).

Getting older

I've been thinking a lot lately about getting older. The years seem to fly by once you have a child. Donovan will be 3 this year, that is crazy to me. I'm not old enough to have a 3 year old!! My birthday is next Saturday and I'll turn 24. That sounds really old to me right now. I don't feel that old. I know I've changed a lot since I got married (5 years in June), but I still feel pretty immature and young. Last Saturday I was at training for girl's camp and one of the older leaders asked me which high school I went to. I just said, "I'm actually a leader, I'm 23 and married with a 2 year old." The young woman sitting next to me said, "You're in your 20's?" like she was shocked. Do I look that young? I guess I haven't physically changed all that much since high school, except that a few things have become larger. I guess it didn't helped that TOM was about to make his appearance so I was breaking out. Anyway, I know 24 isn't that old, but it seems old to me. I can almost say I'm in my mid 20's...I'm that much closer to 30. It doesn't bother me that I'm getting older, I feel like I have a lot to show for my 24 years on this earth, the most amazing thing being Donovan and the family that Brad and I have started. We don't have much material wealth to show for the work we've done, but we have a lot of love and happiness. I can't imagine my life without Bradley and Donovan in it. Even though we have our bad days, I'm grateful for the time I get to spend with Donovan during the day. I love my alone time at the end of the day when I can go running or go to the gym, but I find myself thinking of Brad and Donovan the whole time. Being a mother has changed me in so many amazing, wonderful ways. I feel like I've let down a lot of the emotional walls I've built up over the years. Brad got through a lot of those walls, but I feel like Donovan has broken through them all. I didn't cry much before I had him. I had learned to suppress tears long before I even met Brad. I think he saw me cry once before Donovan was born. Don't ask me why, I just didn't like to express my emotions or feel vulnerable around other people. But ever since Donovan came along, it's been a lot more difficult to hold back tears...as illustrated in my Wal-Mart story. I try to get it all out of my system when Brad is out of town for a weekend or longer. I don't want him to think he has a silly cry baby for a wife, even though I know he would probably prefer to see that side of me more often. If I cried every time I got the urge to, my eyes would probably always be red and puffy. I feel like motherhood has made me a better wife as well. I'm more open with Brad and he doesn't have to work quite as hard to find out what is bothering me. One little boy has made a whole lot of difference in our marriage and our lives. Anyway, I'm just rambling now. These are just some of the things I've been thinking about. I'm grateful for everything I have in my life and I just hope someday I can be worthy of it all!

PS-I think I'm going to start celebrating birthday weeks...I think that's a great idea. Especially since it starts with mine :) I know it sounds selfish, but I really do love my birthday!! I just need to get better with other birthdays outside of our little family's!

Panic Attack...

If you know my Grandma (dad's mom), you know she can overreact to things and to say she's a worrier would be an extreme understatement. I don't think I'm as bad as she is, but I do have a little of her anxiety when it comes to worrying about Donovan. I worry myself to the point where I have nightmares of him getting kidnapped and other horrible things like that. You can ask Brad, I'm ridiculous. I'm always thinking of worst case scenarios, I try not to, it just happens, my mind wanders. So keeping this in mind, imagine how I felt today at Wal-Mart when Donovan took off on me and disappeared. I saw the direction he went and ran after him but didn't see him. I spent the next few minutes panicking (while thinking of worst case scenarios of course), running in all directions, and holding back tears. I asked a few people to keep an eye out for him in my shaky voice and finally had someone point me in the right direction. He had run back to the place he had disappeared and was stopped by a guy that used to be in our ward who must have seen me running around like a mad woman. When I saw the little stinker I ran and picked him up. I don't think I've ever held him so tight! As soon as the guy asked if I was okay, I started bawling. If you know me well at all, you know I don't cry in front of people so I was completely mortified and just said I was fine through my blubbering. I was shaking the rest of the time at the store and on the way home. Donovan just looked at me, smiled, and helped me wipe away my tears. I was so grateful he was okay that I couldn't get mad at him. I know I should have so he would understand why he can't run away like that, but I honestly couldn't let go of him, I could only hug him and hyperventilate. I try not to be a helicopter mom, but I don't ever want him to be out of my sight! Unless he's with someone I trust, I worry. I guess that's one reason why I don't mind teaching Sunbeams, he's right next door! Anyway, that was my scariest parenting moment so far. I'm sure there will be plenty more. McRae was always getting lost and wandering off and from what I've heard, so was Bradley. Great. I'm going to have a heart attack before I'm 30.

Nothing like waiting til the last minute

I said I would blog this weekend, so I am. It's just a little last minute :)

It was really nice on Wednesday and Thursday of this week. On Wednesday we went to the park, but I forgot my camera. We actually lasted for a while, he had a blast! It was even warmer on Thursday so we took a trip to the zoo.
He told us where he wanted to go and we followed. First he said gorillas, then he remembered we could see the tigers first, so we made the trek down the steep hill to the Cat Complex.
I love tigers, they are so amazingly beautiful...and HUGE!

Donovan was shaking the tail. The guy showing the skin tried to get him to play with the whiskers, but he wouldn't go near the face!
I love my boys.


My child really does love me, I swear.
"Cheese!" Donovan got really upset when we almost passed the bridge without walking on it!
Yesterday (Saturday) was Lenna's birthday so the girls (Lenna, Hannah, and I) went to breakfast without kids. It was nice and quiet :) I hope Lenna enjoyed not catering to children as much as I did. After breakfast we all went bowling. Donovan still doesn't really get it, but he had fun.
Happy Birthday Lenna! Donovan was really excited about the cake, and for good reason! Scott made his first Angel Food cake and it turned out really good! We all really enjoyed it, way to go Scott! It was delish.
Scott had bought a cake at the grocery store as well, just in case he messed up on his. He decided to make Lenna to take a blind taste test to see if she could tell the difference. He tricked her and gave her his cake twice, but there was definitely a difference between the store cake and his! Again, good job Scott.
Donovan likes to help me cook. We decided to make some Mac and Cheese after church and he was helping me out until he found the cookies Brad left out from the night before. You see what his priorities are.
I have been trying to cut TV out on Sunday and we were getting a little bored inside, so we went to the park this afternoon before dinner.
I love taking Donovan to the park and the zoo, but it's much more fun when it's all three of us!

After we ate our dinner of waffles, Donovan and Bradley played with blocks. Donovan wanted to build a house, so that's what they did. I think dads enjoy playing blocks a little too much sometimes. I'm not sure if Donovan added anything to the house.Our last activity of the day was a haircut. Anyone that has seen Donovan lately knows he was getting a bit shaggy. It was starting to become a little mulletesque, so we decided to cut it. I told Brad I was either going to take him somewhere tomorrow, or doing it tonight by myself. Of course Brad opted for the free choice! Once again, he's rocking the buzz. I tried to trim it but he wouldn't sit still...who am I kidding? I had no idea what I was doing!!Brad starts coaching at the high school tomorrow, so we're back to late evenings. I'm busy trying to figure out what I'm supposed to do for girl's camp...I feel so lost. Did I mention I'm our ward Camp Director this year? It should be fun, I just feel a little overwhelmed not knowing exactly what I need to do and how to do it. I really like the Stake Camp Director, but she's not very organized and it's driving me a little crazy!! Donovan's just busy being adorable and trying to figure out the color red...seriously, that is the one color he is stuck on now and it's driving me nuts. He always says it's green, but he always gets green right!

Donovanisms

I promise I will do a post with pictures sometime this weekend, we have been having too much fun outside! Donovan has been saying some funny things, so I thought I would jot them down.

"What?" - this is said when we tell him he has to do something, for example "Donovan, it's time to go to bed." "Bed? What?!"

"Why not?" - this is a gem that I hear at least 10 times a day.

"Be wight back." - he tells me this before he runs to get something...he usually doesn't come back, he gets distracted.

"funny faces" - he can find a funny face hiding almost anywhere! He thinks our door looks like a funny face! If you look at it in the right way, it kind of does :)

When he knows he's in trouble, he still pulls the head tilt and sweet little "hi mommy". That's all I can think of right now. I'm sure he will come up with a few more, these are my favorites...and the ones I hear most often.

Bon Jovi...awesome? Or lame?

A couple of weeks ago, Brad got a call from the missionaries around 10 pm to go help out a family in the ward. They were on their way home when their car died so they needed a ride. Brad was a little annoyed at how late it was, but he went to help them. He got the dad and little girl home and got the mom to work. On Sunday, we got a call from them telling us they had 2 free tickets to Bon Jovi and they wanted us to go with them. Of course we went, who turns down free concert tickets? We went with them last night. We didn't really have any expectations, so when we found out that Dashboard Confessional was opening for them we got really excited...we love Dashboard. I don't know about Brad, but I was a little disappointed, they only played 2 songs that we knew. It was still fun, I still love them, we just need to learn their new songs! After that I was prepared for 3 hours of boredom, I don't really know any Bon Jovi songs and I like to be able to sing along at a concert! When they started, I knew we were going to have fun. It was AMAZING!!! Next to Dave Matthews, it was probably the best concert I've ever been to...and that includes NSYNC, Backstreet Boys, and 98 Degrees. Jon is a great entertainer, When we got there I didn't really understand the crazy women with Mrs Bon Jovi shirts on...but he is pretty good looking in person. So to answer my own question, Bon Jovi=AWESOME! I can't even find the words to tell you how much fun I had! PS-they have extremely loyal fans that like to wear a lot of leather.

On the potty front: Donovan had a meltdown the other night and wanted his diapers back, so I bought more diapers yesterday. He has kept them clean and dry! I don't have to ask him if he needs to go on the potty, he tells me! I guess he just had to do it his way to cooperate...I'm not complaining! Now we'll have to slowly pull him away from the diapers. I think he just needed a more gradual approach so it's not so emotional...we were both getting a little stressed out on Monday.

I feel old...

My little sister is 18 today!!! Donovan already called her, but wanted to make her a video too.



I know, I know, he's adorable. Happy Birthday Shay!

Potty Update, etc...

We got our computer back! The IT guy at the college was able to save all of our pictures and backed them all up for us. Some of them got messed up so I have to go through and crop some of them. I also have to make new folders and put them all in some kind of order...it's going to take a while. We don't have any music anymore, we lost all 2500 songs so it'll be fun putting CD's back on and doing some downloading.

Donovan is continuing his potty training, so he's basically been naked the last few days.We have only had 3 accidents since Friday. It's getting so much better and easier to get him on the potty. He stayed dry during Stake Conference and went #1 in the nursery potty. I'm still excited every time he goes because it's still one less mess I have to clean up! We have been telling him how awesome it is to go on the potty, so he's been going around saying how awesome he is after he uses it. He's pretty dang cute.Other than going potty like a big boy, Donovan has been doing a lot of cute things lately. He always tells us "goo morning" when he comes in our room at 7 am with a big smile on his face. He also draws like a mad man! We have a little artist on our hands. He was drawing faces and cars at church today and you could kind of tell what they were! He likes to read the same books over and over so he's starting to memorize certain parts, it's fun when I read a sentence and pause so he can tell me the last word of the sentence. He also knows his ABC's now...kind of. Some letters get mumbled, but he's getting much better! He also likes to walk around the apartment singing "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star". He knows all the words! He still loves to count and he's getting much more accurate! He actually points to the things he's counting and usually only counts them once. We have also been making forts, he loves it! When I made the first one he called it a "jungle"...so we don't call it a fort, we call it a jungle. I was pretty impressed that he came up with that all by himself. He hasn't been taking naps lately, which has been a little bothersome for me, but he does go to bed earlier! Brad was gone all day yesterday and he wouldn't take a nap so I was a little frazzled by the end of the day! When we started eating, he started to fall asleep. It was so darn cute, but it was only 6:30, so of course he woke up at 6 this morning.


I have wonderful news!!! The snow is melting!!!!!!!!! After the yucky rainy weekend we've been having, the snow is almost gone! I didn't think it was possible, but there are whole patches of grass showing. Never has anything so ugly and muddy been so beautiful!!

SUCCESS!!!!

I don't know if this will stick or if it means he will start going on the potty by himself, but DONOVAN POOPED ON THE POTTY!!!!! After that post I decided to give it one last shot before running to get diapers. We took books and toys in the bathroom and sat for a couple minutes and then I smelled it! I was so excited!!! I still am, I'm on a potty high. Who would have thought I would be so excited for my child to poop? Anyway, he got his prize (a dinosaur flashlight that roars when you open it's mouth) and now he's actually excited about the whole thing...I hope it lasts!!

Frustration...

I decided to do some serious potty training this week. I was so ready, I thought I was being so hard core by letting Donovan run out of diapers so I would be forced to follow through. I will be making a trip to the store today to get more. Donovan is so stubborn, he refuses to sit on the potty, but when I finally do get him to sit on it, he'll sit for 5 minutes without going. Once he gets up and pulls his training pants up (the cloth kind with the plastic cover), he pees his pants. It's like he's holding it in until he's back in his underwear. I know he can control it because he was running around naked yesterday and I caught him peeing in the kitchen and he immediately stopped the stream when I caught him. I told him to run to the potty and he just said, "NO!" and ran away. We went through 4 pairs of training pants yesterday. I feel like if I could just catch him at the right time and have one success that he would feel so awesome that he would continue to go on the potty! So far, that has been impossible. I want to keep going and not go back to diapers, but he's almost out of training pants and I really don't want to do another load of laundry! My laundry days are Monday and Thursday...I would prefer not to add Friday. He won't even pee on the potty for a prize! We went to Walmart and got all sorts of fun things to reward him, but he doesn't care! I showed them to him yesterday to remind him and he got really excited, but when I told him he had to pee or poop on the potty to get one he said, "NO!" and ran away. I'm trying so hard to be a nice, patient mom and let him know it's okay to have an accident, but it doesn't seem to be working. I know he's probably just not ready, but I am! I don't want to buy anymore diapers until we have another baby! I'm tired of changing a squirmy 2 1/2 year old's diapers! He's getting way too strong and doesn't like getting his diaper changed anymore, so you'd think he'd be excited about the potty....nope! Anyway, I'm frustrated.