My independent child

Donovan and I have been having some power struggles lately, so I've been trying to focus on him more. We keep the computer off during the day and he only gets to watch a show when I shower, and sometimes he'll get to watch one or two before Brad gets home from work. I think it's helping. I haven't been so distracted so I've been able to control his behavior a little better. He's a sweet little boy, but he was starting to get away with a little too much! He's napping right now, so I thought I would take advantage and blog!

For Mother's Day, the nursery framed hand prints for their moms. Donovan was very proud of his. I put it in our room on our dresser and he would go back there and get it so he could show it to me again. He's so cute. And of course this picture was taken at the end of the day so he was in his underwear...he put them on himself so they're inside out, and probably backwards.
I thought this was funny. I was making cookies the other day and my mixer got jammed somehow. I stopped it and this is what I found. One of my beaters got all twisted and bent. Does anyone know if you can buy them separately?
Donovan and his buddy, the "hungry caterpillar"


He had so much fun talking to the caterpillar and showed him all kinds of things.

He almost went for a ride on the soccer ball.
He wanted to put him in the pine tree, but I didn't think a caterpillar would enjoy that very much.
You can barely see it, but it's between his fingers. He ended up losing it before he could squish it, thank goodness.We spent yesterday outside. It was our last day with Addi before summer! She's so much fun. I will admit that before she got her tubes, she was a bit cranky and not very pleasant. Ever since she got them, she's been a completely different baby. We love having Addi over! I know we'll see her during the summer, but I'm going to miss her, and I think Donovan will too.
This morning, we went to the park by Lake Manawa. It was a little windy, so there weren't many bugs. It was perfect, and we had so much fun!

He was on this swing for at least 10 minutes. The kid loves a good swing.
He even made a friend.We even went down to the water to throw rocks. He had so much fun, he fell asleep on the way home.

I had to post this video because it's so classic Brad. I think his family will agree. First of all, he hates anything Baseball. Second of all, he loves Soccer. If you didn't know that, you don't know Bradley at all. And last, he likes to be silly, especially with Donovan. This was his rendition of Froggy Plays T-ball. After he was finished, Donovan was telling him how silly he was being, but I missed that part.


I love my boys. Cutting back on our TV and computer time has made me appreciate them even more! Donovan and I have had to be creative during the day! I think I've read the same 5 books about 20 times each in the last few days. We have a lot of books, but he likes to read the same ones over and over. I'm thinking books for his birthday this year...I need more variety! We spend a lot of time at the library on rainy days and when it's warm, we're always outside!

High School soccer will be over soon and I go to girl's camp in 3 weeks!! Summer is coming so fast, I can't believe it! We'll be in Utah for almost a month this summer and I'm really excited. We're leaving the day I get home from camp! I'm going to eat tons of fry sauce, Cafe Rio, and go hiking at least once a week! Donovan will be taking naps every day because we'll be so worn out! Brad and I will also be taking an anniversary trip to Arizona. I'm really excited since I'll be at camp during our actual anniversary.

Donovan's first team soccer experience

We took another zoo trip this week. Donovan had a blast as always!
I think it's mating season...
Handsome little boy!

Mason is in Utah for a couple of weeks and is missing a few soccer games, so Lenna asked if Donovan wanted to fill in for him. He was very excited! When I asked him yesterday if he wanted to play in Mason's game he said, "Donovan play on the field too?" We usually have to chase him down to get him off the field so he was pretty excited that he was going to be part of it.



Lenna and Addi decided to come down and watch so Scott could get some sleep. It was pretty cold.
Awesome action shot.



He loved warming up and passing the ball back and forth. He also loved to stretch...I guess.
Once they got going, he didn't have quite as much fun kicking the ball. At one point, he spent about 5 minutes spinning in circles, Lenna got video, my camera had low batteries. He loves passing back and forth and dribbling on his own.

Once all of the kids got in the mix, he was done. I guess he's not ready to compete for the ball yet. He had a lot of fun warming up and kicking the ball around, but after a few minutes of actually playing he was done. We had to leave early, he was on the verge of a meltdown.Happy Mother's Day tomorrow! I'm sure it will be just like any other Sunday! We'll go to church, I'll make dinner, and we'll head over to the soccer academy (if weather permits). Did anyone watch this weeks episode of The Middle? That's how I feel about Mother's Day.

Still not much going on

Donovan and I had a busy day the other day. We went to the park, Wendy's, and then flew kites before we ran around outside at our place.

He loves the park, he told me this as we were driving there. He kept saying, "I love parks" and "I so excited". You'd think we never go to the park! We usually go to the one down the street, but we decided to go to the one down by the Pedestrian Bridge because it's a little more fun. He was in heaven.
He loved the "telephone". He would say, "talk, mommy?" so I would run to the other one so he could talk to me.
He has to hang on everything. He is such a little monkey.


He even took his Mater and McQueen out to bury them in the rocks and try to find them. This lasted a good 10 minutes.

He's such a good little kite flier. Anyway, that's about it. It's been pretty windy, but we've tried to play outside and run around despite it. It makes for good kite flying weather!

A few recent Donovan quirks:
-He always ends up in just underwear by the end of the day. He won't wear pajamas anymore! I swear he's in his underwear every time Lenna drops Addi off in the morning.
-He always says, "member mommy?" When he thinks I told him we were going to do something, or when he thinks I've forgotten a promise. His favorite, "go park, 'member mommy?"
-He is getting better with Addi, he actually wants to play and share his toys with her when she comes over. It makes me less nervous about him having siblings some day.
-One of his new favorite phrases "I do it myself". He is getting so independent. He has to open his own car door and gets mad when I lift him into his seat. It makes for a longer trip, but he insists!
-He LOVES The Princess and The Frog. He watched it in the Hiatt's van on the way home from Missouri and has been talking about it ever since. Any frog he see is a "pincess fwog".
-He takes a nap every 3 days or so, but when I tell him it's time he says, "I not tired, I happy". I guess I usually tell him he needs a nap when he's being grumpy.
-He tries to hop on one foot whenever I hold his hand.
-He still can't sit through an entire movie. He is very much his father's child when it comes to energy.
-He is a little ladies man. He'll talk to just about any girl/woman he comes in contact with as long as he's not tired and grumpy.
-He still wakes up around 4:00 every morning and gets into our bed until around 7. I usually end up sleeping out on the couch until it's time to get up. He does not sleep like a log.
-He likes to climb on everything, including people. He climbs on our legs and jumps off. It's not always pleasant.
-He likes to help with EVERYTHING! It makes me smile, but sometimes it would be a little easier if I just did it! I am getting better at being patient and I think I'm succeeding because he always tells Brad, "I helpful".
-I always tell him he's a good son, so he tells Brad that too.
-He usually recognizes when he's grumpy or sad and lets me know, but still tries to get out of trouble by telling me, "But I cwying". We've just had to tell him it doesn't matter, he's still in trouble.

Hopefully we'll have something more exciting to blog about soon...but probably not!