Hi again. It's only been like... 7 months. That's fine! You get it!
Let's do it like this
Milo:
Milo turned 3 last July! He's growing up so fast! He's been a good big brother, even though sharing is still new territory. He's a very picky eater, but a good sleeper. He's still really into dinosaurs, but he's also taken to outer space. He loves building legos, jumping and running around (especially on my new couch and pillow), reading books, watching shows and learning. He also loves helping me bake treats and make meals. He's almost fully potty trained besides a few accidents here and there because he doesn't want to stop what he's doing. He filled a potty chart and earned a Buzz Lightyear toy that he hasn't put down since it came home!
He's started a Dance class that he really seems to like and we're doing Joy School (a preschool co-op) with a few neighbors and that just started today. He's excited to be getting out and learning new things!
August:
Augie turns one this month! He's a speed-crawler, can go up stairs, climbs on anything he can, and is a really sneaky little punk. Augie absolutely loves food and is sorely disappointed when you try to feed him baby food or anything different that what is being had by the rest of the group. He's still nursing (which is a major win for me! I was really only barely expecting to make it to 6 months!) but isn't the best sleeper. Within the last month he's started sleeping through the night, most nights. His eye and hair colors are still mostly indeciferable (Brownish Blue-Green, and Straighter Redish Blonde). He's got 5 teeth, and is currently working on maybe 3 more.
Sean:
Sean had a follow-up MRI, which looked clear. He was feeling nervous about another tumor for a while, but he's just fine. He's since started taking medicine for it and had some dizziness tests run, so he's still recovering but doing well overall.
He started taking classes to get his Architecture degree. He took one last spring semester and then took a break over the summer and started back up this fall with a full load, but he's enjoying it and doing well. Work has been about the same for him, but he's still enjoying his job so that's definitely a win!
Ellen:
I've been pretty normal, besides that I've picked up a few hobbies that I'm pretty excited about! I've really enjoyed baking and decorating cakes lately, which is super fun and fantastic! Not to mention yummy! I made Milo's Yellow Submarine birthday cake and a chocolate pb pretzel cake and I helped a friend make a white cake which she decorated. I'm planning out Augie's birthday cake too, which will be so fun!
I've also started hand-lettering and bullet journaling! My sister gave me a bullet journal for my birthday and it's been so fun experimenting with it by doing a little journaling and a little lettering and doodling. I've been needing to find something for myself to do that isn't just watching my kids or endlessly scrolling on my phone, and I'm finally doing something I really enjoy, even if I'm not great at it yet! I've also got a little more time to myself since Milo and Sean have started classes, so getting myself to do something has been amazing!
The Donner Family:
We went to Minnesota for a Donner Reunion this last July (over my birthday) and it was really nice seeing all of Sean's parents, siblings, their S.O's, and all the kids! We stayed in a nice rental house that was right on a lake and it was really comfortable and perfect for our bunch! We also got to see some friends and a few of Sean's extended family. We went pontooning (even though it broke down a number of times), shot off air compressor rockets, had a funny birthday cake, and tons of other stuff. One of the days we were in the cities, we went to the Science Museum and it was AMAZING. Seriously like one of the most largest, most interactive, most fun museums we've ever been to.
We've got another trip coming up with my family to Oregon that we're really excited about! Sean and I have started doing puzzles together in our basement, where he also does his homework. It's a nice little getaway spot right inside our house!
Anyway, I don't know when the next time I'll post will be, but I'm sure you could just check my instagram and see where we are whenever. @regulardonners
Miss Ellen
Monday, September 10, 2018
Monday, February 26, 2018
Us Recently
A quick update on things. I guess it's been like eternity since I blogged. I blame it on the endless amounts of laundry I'm doing and the accidental naps I've been taking... Milo's been really good about it though. He doesn't wake me up for like 20 minutes, doesn't get into anything, and stays in the general area.
We completely took out his naps and bumped up bedtime and it's actually gone really well for us. He's typically in a better mood than he was for a long time and I don't have to put him down while Augie is screaming or wait to put him down till Augie is asleep. So it's overall just better.
We had a really hard time with accidents for a while. It was multiple times a day, often going all the way down his legs into his socks. And a couple times it was poop. gross. And we tried all kinds of things to get him to go back to being good at pottying but nothing worked. Not bribes, not punishments, nothing... And then one time after making him go potty when he kept telling me he didn't have to, I did a "Dry Undie Dance" and it literally changed everything. Every time he can get to the potty without pee in his pants, he and I do the dance and then I wipe him, he hops down and washes his hands, and it's back to playing. So ridiculously easy but so far today (after doing for this less than a week) he's only had one small accident. No big deal!
He still doesn't always love eating, but to avoid the whole "short order cook" business in our house, I put the normal dinner on his plate and make sure there's something on his plate he definitely will eat and theres no pressure to eat anything he doesn't want to. So far he's tried so many more foods than if I was forcing him to try things. It's still frustrating when the only thing he eats is bread, but at least he has been more adventurous. I also learned that when he's starving 30 minutes before dinner is ready, to give him vegetables as a snack. That way he'll get in his veggies by playing it as a snack and not part of the meal. Works like a charm!
Augie is 5 whole months old now! He can roll both ways, has started trying to scoot forward occasionally, and is relatively good at sleeping. He's happy to sleep in his crib and I'm planning on starting putting him in the same room as Milo for bedtime next week when Sean starts school (more on that later!). He poops SO much. Like... I didn't expect this. I can count on my fingers how many times Milo had a blowout and Augie has done it an average of daily since birth. I mean I should expect this since he's nursed and Milo was formula fed.
I really appreciate having both the experiences of formula and breast, because now I feel like I can relate with more moms now. I also found out recently that I likely have a condition called D-MER. It's a physiological response to the let-down reflex that brings on negative feelings. I get really sad and exhausted tired for 2 or 3 minutes at the beginning of feeding and then it's gone as fast as it came and I'm happy again. So weird. I know a lot of moms would wean because of this but it really doesn't bother me too much besides those few minutes. Plus I don't thing Augie would take formula very well.
Sean starts a few classes next week! It's exciting to see him prepare for our future doing something that he loves. It's also absolutely terrifying thinking of all the time he'll be away from home and all the pressure that puts on me... but it's all for the cause, right? He's studying to be an architect and I'm so proud of him working so hard. We'll adjust and then someday he can possibly design our dream home. Wouldn't that be amazing? I think so.
I'm just doing normal mom biz. I've made a few friends in our neighborhood that I really like and that I feel like I can rely on and ask for help from. And I feel like they don't feel bad asking me for help too, which I really appreciate. I'm working on rebuilding my wardrobe since my body is so different than before I was a mom and almost all of those clothes don't fit or look right or do mom stuff. Plus I've felt really shlumpy the last year just wearing whatever fits my pregnant or nursing body and I am really trying to pick clothes I love and that I feel good in instead of whatever is on clearance. Which means I'm spending more money but I'm also getting better quality clothes that look good. So it's worth it.
Anyway, that's us right now. Yay!
We completely took out his naps and bumped up bedtime and it's actually gone really well for us. He's typically in a better mood than he was for a long time and I don't have to put him down while Augie is screaming or wait to put him down till Augie is asleep. So it's overall just better.
We had a really hard time with accidents for a while. It was multiple times a day, often going all the way down his legs into his socks. And a couple times it was poop. gross. And we tried all kinds of things to get him to go back to being good at pottying but nothing worked. Not bribes, not punishments, nothing... And then one time after making him go potty when he kept telling me he didn't have to, I did a "Dry Undie Dance" and it literally changed everything. Every time he can get to the potty without pee in his pants, he and I do the dance and then I wipe him, he hops down and washes his hands, and it's back to playing. So ridiculously easy but so far today (after doing for this less than a week) he's only had one small accident. No big deal!
He still doesn't always love eating, but to avoid the whole "short order cook" business in our house, I put the normal dinner on his plate and make sure there's something on his plate he definitely will eat and theres no pressure to eat anything he doesn't want to. So far he's tried so many more foods than if I was forcing him to try things. It's still frustrating when the only thing he eats is bread, but at least he has been more adventurous. I also learned that when he's starving 30 minutes before dinner is ready, to give him vegetables as a snack. That way he'll get in his veggies by playing it as a snack and not part of the meal. Works like a charm!
Augie is 5 whole months old now! He can roll both ways, has started trying to scoot forward occasionally, and is relatively good at sleeping. He's happy to sleep in his crib and I'm planning on starting putting him in the same room as Milo for bedtime next week when Sean starts school (more on that later!). He poops SO much. Like... I didn't expect this. I can count on my fingers how many times Milo had a blowout and Augie has done it an average of daily since birth. I mean I should expect this since he's nursed and Milo was formula fed.
I really appreciate having both the experiences of formula and breast, because now I feel like I can relate with more moms now. I also found out recently that I likely have a condition called D-MER. It's a physiological response to the let-down reflex that brings on negative feelings. I get really sad and exhausted tired for 2 or 3 minutes at the beginning of feeding and then it's gone as fast as it came and I'm happy again. So weird. I know a lot of moms would wean because of this but it really doesn't bother me too much besides those few minutes. Plus I don't thing Augie would take formula very well.
Sean starts a few classes next week! It's exciting to see him prepare for our future doing something that he loves. It's also absolutely terrifying thinking of all the time he'll be away from home and all the pressure that puts on me... but it's all for the cause, right? He's studying to be an architect and I'm so proud of him working so hard. We'll adjust and then someday he can possibly design our dream home. Wouldn't that be amazing? I think so.
I'm just doing normal mom biz. I've made a few friends in our neighborhood that I really like and that I feel like I can rely on and ask for help from. And I feel like they don't feel bad asking me for help too, which I really appreciate. I'm working on rebuilding my wardrobe since my body is so different than before I was a mom and almost all of those clothes don't fit or look right or do mom stuff. Plus I've felt really shlumpy the last year just wearing whatever fits my pregnant or nursing body and I am really trying to pick clothes I love and that I feel good in instead of whatever is on clearance. Which means I'm spending more money but I'm also getting better quality clothes that look good. So it's worth it.
Anyway, that's us right now. Yay!
OH. I guess I forgot to mention that Milo had to have some stitches. And Sean had a staple in his head for a while too. We're still ready to be done with doctors and hospitals... whenever that happens.
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