Some Catching Up To Do

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

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!

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. 

The Nursing Struggle

I can't believe Augie is almost 3 months old! And that it took this long for me to stop loathing nursing. Not just being uncomfortable or in pain or trapped feeding him, but all of it combined into a serious loathing. Luckily, though, I'm already on an antidepressant and it's been helping considerably. I've been feeling more patient (I used to be a really patient person... motherhood, huh?) and more capable of being a parent of multiple kids. I'm really settling in to being a mom of 2. This morning, I even got in a shower before the boys were awake! Win!

Back to nursing, I finished a "super fun" week of antibiotics yesterday because I had mastitis. I think it started because I had a fast let-down and Augie would bite to slow it down, which made the nipple hurt, which made me avoid nursing on that side, which made plugged ducts, which turned into mastitis. So fun. But in the last few days, I've been not hating nursing both sides! I still prefer one, but that's because I'm not a lefty. On the other hand, Milo has refused to eat almost everything, so... If you have any ideas besides asking him what he wants, giving him things he'd usually like, trying new things, bribery, consequences, or having him help cook... let me know. I feel like we've tried everything.

Also, Milo has been more consistently refusing his afternoon nap, which I am beyond tired about. If that even makes any sense. At least Augie is napping pretty regularly and going to bed at a pretty usual time so that I can still have a little rest. I really think it's because Milo was on a good schedule so we could just fit Augie right in there. But, like everything in life, our schedule is ever changing. Great. Parenting is fuuuuuun and not frustrating or stressful in the sliiiiiighhhttesssssssttttt.

Not everything is awful about Milo! (even though he also refuses to learn how to blow his own nose that is running like a river because of the disgusting inversion). His imagination is fantastic, he has lots of energy, and he is still really funny. He's also a pretty good big brother helper in that he loves putting soap in the laundry, bringing me diapers and wipes, and will help me clean up. He doesn't have too many accidents and has almost learned to tell me he needs to go before he pees his pants.

Anyway, we're doing pretty well over here. And Christmas is on its way! We're really excited for Milo to have his first interactive Christmas and for Augie to be with us then too! Here's to 2018 being less eventful than this year! 😆

 Love,
Ellen

Thanksgiving 2017

It’s been one of those incredibly frustrating nights of being a parent. I’m writing this while Im trying to put Augie down for the second time tonight. He’s been stuffy and gassy and hungry a lot lately and it’s really taken a toll on my sanity. I’m pretty sure there hasn’t been a conversation where I haven’t forgotten what I’m saying in the last 2 weeks. I know this can’t last forever, but it’s also crazy difficult to see through the haze.

However, even during the difficult times I’m lucky that I tend to also look for the blessings. Like I did during Sean’s surgery, I could relatively easily point out the things that went right when it felt like everything was wrong. Even though I’m losing sleep and cognitive ability, I have 2 amazing little boys who make me smile every day and an incredible husband who takes on a good load of work around the house. 

I’m grateful that these three are all home safe and healthy after a long year of medical trials and that we have decent insurance so we’re not paying the full $130,000 dollars we owe. I’m grateful for the experiences that we’ve had that have brought us closer together and for the family and friends who’ve helped us shoulder the burden with babysitting, meals, and long talks. 

I’m grateful that I’m able to be what I’ve always wanted to be. When I was little, I’d play Mom all the time, even going so far as to stuff toys up my shirt pretending to be pregnant. I love playing Mom with the kids I’ve been blessed with and it’s even better than I imagined, even with the hard days.

I’m grateful for an exceptional husband. He brings out the best in me and makes me happy. I still get butterflies when he comes home at the end of the day (whether I’m just glad to see him or I’m in dire need of parenting help). 

I’m grateful for parents and a sister whose relationships I’ve been able to grow and mend this past year. I know I’m not always the best daughter/sister, but I’m glad to be able to be working at it. 

Thanksgiving is my absolute most favorite holiday and I’m so glad I got to host my parents this year and that it all went so well. (Yes, now I’m finishing writing this after a good, delicious Thanksgiving) Now onto Christmas with 2 super kids! Yay!

Live & Learn

Tonight was a rough night. Well... the entire day has been rough. Lately, Milo has been regressing. He’s had maybe a dozen potty accidents in the past few days, he’s denying everything I tell him (even if it’s blatantly obvious. For example- Me: “we’re at home” Milo: “we’re NOT at home.”), and he’s been especially whiney. I knew this would happen because it usually does with a new baby around, but I was really hoping it wouldn’t. 

Yesterday, I was less patient and more demanding. Sean was the good parent then and helped him through his big emotions. Tonight, after pushing in nursery and yelling at/hitting Dad and having yet another potty accident, I took the role of reasonable parent and tried to help explain the emotions to him. We talked about what makes us sad and happy and why we shouldn’t push and how we should go to the potty before we pee our pants like big kids.

When he finally got in bed, Augie woke up from a too-short nap and then just started screaming for a solid half hour. I tried everything. Nursing, bottle, pacifier, rocking, singing, gas drops, changing his diaper and clothes... nada. Finally, I just put him on my shoulder and hugged him tight while I tried to figure out a next step. Within minutes, he was out. All he needed was a hug. 

It’s so easy to jump to frustration and consequences when little kids misbehave, especially when the misbehaving has been going on for days. Days like these are important for both parents and kids, I feel, because we each need to recognize and identify emotions and learn how to cope with them. 

Of course, there are still consequences for Milo’s inability to listen to instructions. Tomorrow he will have to help clean up all the hundreds of toys that are out in the living room (I’m counting each hot wheels car as an individual toy, plus all the other things that are out) and work hard to remember to say he has to potty before an accident happens. But, along with that there are rewards like popcorn for snack time after he helps clean and a special grocery store treat if his undies can stay dry for the entire day. Plus, tomorrow we’re having a family night about nice/naughty and happy/sad. Here’s hoping it goes well and is a lesson learned. 

Now to bust out the pretzel m&ms and watch a few shows before crashing out for the night. 

Introducing Augie

 August "Augie" Orion Donner

born September 21, 2017

12:04 AM

7 lbs., 20 in.

Augie was born at 37w4d.

A day or so before, I was measuring at almost a 4 and had my membranes stripped. The day of started normal and then gradually I knew something was happening.

At around 4:30pm, I rallied the troops. My friend Kaylene came to take Milo till my sister Abby could come take care of him for the night. My parents came to the hospital and I very slowly started dilating. After a few hours of resting and walking around the hospital, I finally started progressing fast enough to be set up for delivery. They started pitocin and I had an epidural shortly after that.This time, the epidural didn’t completely numb my legs so I could still move them on my own, but I didn’t feel any pain still!


Around 11:45 on September 20, I was ready to push. In fact, Augie’s head was already crowning on its own. (Back story: Milo was born the morning after Sean’s dad’s birthday and we really wanted Augie to be born the day after My dad’s birthday and that just happened to be the 20th!)

We finished watching the baseball game and joking with the doctors and nurses in the room until midnight and then 4 pushes later, Augie was born! They cleaned him up, took care of me (only a small tear even though he was sunny-side up like Milo was. These boys!) and then I got to hold him for maybe 15 minutes. The entire time we were doing the skin-to-skin, Augie was grunting and squirming and turning more purple. Something didn’t seem entirely right, and the nurse came and took him to their small NICU.

Augie’s lungs weren’t filling all the way with air. Our pediatrician came and took care of him and gave him a dose of surfactant to try and get the air sacs to fill up while he was on oxygen. That didn’t work and they didn’t have all the things they needed or the room for him at the hospital I delivered him at, so they strapped him and the oxygen and feeding tubes and whatever else to a gurney and wheeled him in to say goodbye to me before being transferred by ambulance to the big hospital the next town over. That was around 10 in the morning after a night of intermittent rest and belly pushing and Augie updates.

It was heartbreaking seeing him in the tiny incubator box on the gurney, but I knew he’d be safe and better taken care of in the big NICU. They put him on oxygen and cpap and iv fluids when they got there and then gradually started weaning him of oxygen.

I was discharged the next morning and then hurried over with Sean to see him. I got to hold him, even with all the tubes and wires attached. The nurses that took care of him were all so sweet and so excited to see his progress. Everyone we talked to was pleasantly surprised at how fast he progressed. He nursed well a few times, took formula just fine, and passed all the NICU graduation tests and we were able to take him home after only 2.5 days!

He’s been home for a few weeks now and has fit right into our family perfectly. He and I are learning to nurse well and I have more than 100oz of breast milk frozen already. I’ll have to do a post about the difference it’s been nursing vs formula feeding with Milo. It’s been interesting! He sleeps pretty well at night (he's gotten up to 5 hour stretches) and generally only wakes up once between the time we get to bed to the time everyone wakes up for the day. He's super strong and is not a fan of diaper changes. We're all in love with baby Augie and we can't wait to see the kind of kid he grows up to be!


Milo is a fantastic big brother. He’s kept up well with potty training and is so sweet with Augie and loves to check in on him and give him soft head kisses ("What's Augie doin', Mom?" every few minutes. He's usually still sleeping or eating). There's still days when we struggle (thus is life with a newborn and a 2 year old), but I'm feeling pretty confident in my abilities and I'm so grateful for these boys of mine. Today I got a bunch of stuff done (laundry, dishes, picking up toys, gathering garbage, showering, nursing while eating breakfast, keeping 2 kids alive and not losing my sanity!), so I'm feeling pretty good. 

Lots of Docs and our Road Trip

So Sean and I have never been to a dentist since we've been married. I know, I know. BUT, this week we each have appointments and Milo has one as well and I have a separate appointment for my permanent retainer that's been bothering me the past couple days. Yay, adulthood!

Milo had his 2 year checkup recently and all is well with him. Our new doctor here seemed really impressed with his ability to communicate and his energy level (high, obviously). Milo is now 2 feet 10 inches tall, weighing 27 pounds 9 ounces. His head is in the 70th percentile. Everything is looking good with him and he was so excited to tell the doctor about anything that came to his mind.

Yesterday was my 28 week appointment with Augie. I took the glucose test (which wasn't nearly as bad as last time because I came prepared with a good book and full phone battery) and haven't heard anything back about it, so I probably passed(?). I also got a Tdap shot and am measuring normal.

Sean hasn't had any issues with his head lately besides the numb spot feeling weird (possibly regaining feeling?).

We started potty training this weekend and... it's going about as well as it could. He had 2 big pees in the potty, a few small accidents, one big accident, missed his nap (which, subsequently spiraled into him needing a timeout for smacking my face), and it's going fine. We're doing the "trained in a weekend" method and it's going fine. Sean and I are both tired already, but if it works and we don't have to buy 2 sizes of diapers, then it's worth it. If you have any tips or tricks that might help us in this method, please share! I'm sure naps help.. but that's not always something I can control.

Anyway, other than all that, there's not much going on until Augie shows up!

JK

We also just got back from Milo's first big road trip to MN. We were in the car for 2 straight days there and 2 straight days back (with a break for sleep in Gillette in the middle). We stayed with Sean's parents with his youngest brother and his family, went camping in St. Croix for a family reunion, visited Sean's oldest brother and his family for a while, went to the Mall of America's aquarium, and had a little party for Milo on his birthday!

It was a lot of fun! Exhausting, as I bet you can imagine, but it's always nice to visit with family and see some sights. Milo did really well in the car the whole time and slept really well no matter where we were (he only missed one nap on the very first day of driving). He also loved playing with his friends and cousins there and running around in the great outdoors, not something he gets to do a lot here.

It's a...

BOY!

August Orion Donner

Due October 7, 2017 

May Update

Hi! 

This last month has definitely been better than the one before, so far. We're almost halfway to baby #2 (we find out the gender next week!) and Sean is almost fully recovered, besides some weakness (likely from not doing much lifting the last 2 months) and goes to work full time again. Milo is learning so incredibly much! Here are some things he's been up to:

• He can count to 11 without help.
• He knows the names of several dinosaurs (triceratops, t-rex, dinonychus, allosaurus, raptor, brachiosaurus, to name a few).
• He loves reading longer picture books.
• He's learned to stack things (blocks, animal toys, side-table objects).
• He's obsessed with the swings every time we go to the park. 
• He's good at helping clean up.
• He sings Wheels on the Bus like a champ. 
• His favorite movies are Yellow Submarine, Kung Fu Panda, and A Goofy Movie.
• He's excited to sleep in a tent on the father/son campout coming up!
• He loves getting dirty.
• He'll tell you his favorite food is Hot Dogs, although I'm not sure how true that really is...
• He's great at playing on his own while I'm doing chores (or resting on the couch, let's be honest.)
• He's getting excited to be a big brother! 

Other than that, things have been relatively quiet around here. We went on another quick road trip to Wyoming a few weekends ago and it went well! We went to our nephew Sirius' 1st birthday, Milo did super well in the car, and Sean's parents also were able to come for a day or so too! It's always nice to get away for a bit and see family. We're going on a trip this summer to MN for another family reunion, so it was nice to have this bit of practice in.

We're also trying to liquidate our teeshirt business. Our domain contract is up in September and, seeing as we'll have our hands full with another little one and still working to pay off Sean's surgery, we're going to give it up for a bit and then hopefully pick it back up in the future. All shirts are $12, free shipping, on our website mamaceratops.com. We'd really appreciate it if you helped us out! 

Anyway, I'm pretty sure that's it for us right now. Hopefully our next post will be a fun gender reveal! Yay!

Love, Miss Ellen

Our Latest Adventure: Sean's Brain Tumor.

Hi, Friends! SO. As we all know, I'm terrible at keeping up the blog sometimes. Most times... but I have a good excuse this time and I'll tell you all about it.

Chapter 1

It started early March, Sean was getting frequent headaches and would get dizzy upon standing up too quickly. Of course, my mama brain (and in this case, wife brain) was turning and I was getting nervous something was going on below the surface. Anyway, it kept happening and he got sufficiently dizzy one friday while playing softball with his league from work, which made him nervous.

The Sunday after Sean turned 33 (Happy Birthday, babe!) we were sitting in church and Sean texts me from his class that his headache has worsened and he's hot and dizzy. I texted him back that we should go to the hospital and he said "I'll just wait and sleep it off when we get home." And I tried texting him about all his symptoms and that he should be more worried. like 5 minutes passes before he texts me back and I was just waiting for some guy to come bursting into the women's class (here called Relief Society) shouting "Sister Donner! Your husband!" and I, with my things already together ready to leave, would say "Yep, I'm coming. Help him to the car." But he texted me back that he was going to leave the class. I went to get Milo from the Nursery and picked him up from around the corner and he was not looking good.

I held Milo in one arm, helped Sean be steady to the car with the other, and kept my cool the whole time. I was en route to the ER when Sean insisted we go to Urgent Care because it's cheaper. Men, right? They took him right back in Urgent Care, took his vitals, and sent him out for me to take him to the ER. Of course, as he walked out to tell me this, he looked like they just told him he has a cold. They didn't. They thought it might be a stroke.

We went to an ER, they checked us in, and eventually we were seen by a doctor and Sean had a CT Scan. I forgot to mention, Sean hadn't eaten anything that whole day besides half a gatorade I made him drink in the car, some crackers from the diaper bag, and some bites of a granola bar my mom brought for me when she came to pick up Milo, because it seemed like it was going to be a long day for us. Little did we know...

About an hour later, the CT scan came back and the doctor gave us the diagnosis. Sean had a hemangioblastoma on the bottom of the back of his brain that had developed a cyst that was pushing creating the headaches and a build-up of spinal fluid. The doctor (imagine a taller this guy) told us we had to head over to another hospital, check into their ER, and schedule a surgery for either that night or the next morning.

This is Sean talking to his Mom about how he's about to have brain surgery.
Everyone we told thought it was a joke at first. Morbid joke, guys...

Oddly enough, we were laughing about it. It was so absurd to be in church one minute and scheduling brain surgery the next. We went home, packed up a couple things, not really knowing what was going to happen next, called a couple neighbors to come give Sean a priesthood blessing, and packed a bag for Milo's stay at my parents house. Around 4:30 that night, we finally went to the next ER, checked in, and they put us in this terrifying white box room with only one folding chair to sit on.

At this point in the story, I'm going to remind you that I'm pregnant. Still. Through all of this. So I'm starving, uncomfortable, and a little bit sick. Okay, we can continue.

An hour or so after being checked into this second ER, we finally see a doctor. Sean goes through the same spiel he had with the last doctor, only this time included the bits about his having a tumor. They scheduled him for an MRI, told me where the cafeteria was, and left. I went to the cafeteria but forgot my wallet. On my way back to the ER was when it all settled and I understood what was happening. I broke down. At that point, my brother-in-law who lives in UT offered to come and bring me dinner.

I got back to the ER room, they took Sean away for the MRI, and I called my mom to tell her all the news. She got Milo to say "I love you, Mom" on the phone and, of course, I broke down again. Sean got back and, shortly after he did, the surgeon came in to talk to us. He showed us the pictures, talked us through the procedure, and reassured us that he's been doing about this same operation for 30+ years. We were in good hands. In fact, everyone who took care of us through the entire experience were extremely nice and helpful.

After that, Brady showed up with McDonalds (Sean was told he could eat until Midnight at this point) and we ate quick and then were moved up to Sean's Neurosurgery recovery room for the night. That's where I left him and walked all the way through the hospital back to the car. I broke down halfway home and detoured to Sean's cousin's house, where his wife (who is one of my best friends who I've talked about on the blog before, Kember) consoled me and listen to my sobs and offered a room, which I tried sleeping in until 2 am. I realized that just wasn't going to work for me after lots of tears, some dry-heaves, and insomnia (right? bleh.) So I snuck out and headed home.

Chapter 2

The next morning, I woke up to another of my best friends coming to walk our dog (THANK YOU, KAYLENE!). I got up, showered, sobbed some more, and headed to the hospital. Sean's surgery was scheduled as the 3rd operation of the day for this surgeon. We sat in his room forever, Kember brought me some lunch and talked for a bit, and then they wheeled him down to the OR at around 3:30 or 4. 

Kember came back and stayed with me in the waiting room for Sean's surgery. My parents eventually came down with my sister and Milo to wait for a little bit. Sean's surgery, once he was finally being operated on, took maybe an hour and a half. At around 6, the surgeon came out and told me all was successful and he was certain they got it all and that it wasn't cancer. A huge relief, that I strangely wasn't even actually worried about ever. 

He was awake and responding well, so I went up to the ICU with him and sat in the waiting room for about 15 minutes while they situated him. The whole way up the elevator, Sean was just talking about how "so pissed off" he was. It was adorable. Even the nurses thought so. They said he was the nicest pissed off person they ever. I stayed with him for about 2 more hours while he drifted in and out of sleep, called his mom, and cried some more being upset I had to leave him. (PS, the accomodations for spouses in under-construction hospitals is less than par.) Eventually, I did leave because I was getting hungry and he was just being [adorably] pissed off. 

I went home and Kaylene came over to talk and listen to me vent. And give me a nice shoulder rub. (I have good friends:) ). I eventually went to bed and the next morning, Sean was still in the ICU. They had requested a room for him back on the recovery floor, but it wouldn't be open until later that day (they initially thought till the next night, but we luckily got to move around 2 or 3 pm.) My parents came down in the morning and we had lunch and then Milo saw Sean for the first time since Sunday. 

It was heartbreaking. Sean wanted to give him a huge hug and talk to him, but there was no way for this to happen. Milo ran around the room for a bit, and I held him up to see Sean as long as I could. This was one of the hardest parts of the whole thing. 

About a half hour after Milo and I got there with my parents, a room opened up and we said goodbye to them and we got ready for the move upstairs. Once we got situated, Sean's coworker Todd came by with a huge gift and some treats for Sean. He had pooled money at work and bought Sean a Millennium Falcon Lego set. (Over the first week we were home, he would gradually put this together which helped work his neck muscles that were cut during the surgery and keep him busy when he was awake. 

Chapter 3

We were in the hospital until that Thursday. Sean started off walking with the physical therapist and they deemed him strong enough to walk with only me on the first day back, which was great improvement. Most of the days, we just sat in his room. He'd take naps, I'd play on my phone or color pictures (the company he works for sent an AMAZING gift basket with lots of food gift cards, some snacks, some coloring books and markers, and a toy for Milo. 

We had some family visit and Sean's coworkers from his last job who he still keeps in contact with. One of the days (I forget which, they all kind of run together), Sean's brother Brady and his family brought Milo down for dinner. It was really nice to see Milo again. We were missing him like crazy, especially because he was teething hardcore and obviously struggling to understand why we weren't there for him. He cuddled on Sean and ate some apple and cheese, but was mostly content just sitting there with him. Eventually, they had to leave and I took him to the front door and it was awful to leave him. 

Like I said, all the days sort of ran together and then Thursday came and Sean was finally discharged at about 4 and we went home. I dropped him off, got him situated, and then my parents brought Milo home and stayed with them while I ran and got Sean's prescriptions filled and for dinner. The first few days home with Milo and Sean were difficult. Milo was at the tail end of teething, and was just hitting a big "terrible two" phase, and Sean was still too weak to really do much (although he tried and I had to tell him to sit down more than once). 

I set up an event for Sean for whoever wanted to send him things to do while he was at home (because I knew he'd go crazy without a project) and we got a fantastic response! A bunch of Sean's family and friends sent him things and he was just busy enough for the whole time he was still off work. We went out to eat to test Sean's strength (and to use those gift cards) and went to Sean's work for lunch one time. Sean was back to work on a shortened schedule after about a week at home (like I said, he's not one for resting). 

We have had a lot of friends bring over dinner and/or watch Milo for a spell and we are SUPREMELY GRATEFUL for everyone who has helped out in any way. Dealing with brain surgery, pregnancy, and a crabby toddler was rough for the first little while and we are so grateful for all the lovely people we have in our lives. THANK YOU!! 

Sean's staples came out the second Friday after we got back. He has a lot more movement in his neck since the staples were removed and he's back to driving, which is nice. He needs to take a nap every day still and he eats a lot (the brain needs a lot of calories to recover) and we still take it kind of slow (we as in I'm still pregnant, ya'll). We're still planning on all the things we have planned for this year, and we're back to a regular routine, which I love. 

Thanks again to everyone! He has a followup in a couple weeks and an MRI after that and I'll do my best to update facebook/instagram if anything else happens. YOU GUYS ROCK!

Also, If you made it to the end of this, Here's an award for you.

<AWARD>

;)

Love, Ellen

Better Announce Here too, huh?

Our new album drops late Sept - early Oct!

That makes me 10 weeks 2 days  right now, so I'm so close to being done with the first trimester! Hallelujah! The first trimester has (apparently) never been easy on me. But we're working through it and it's almost done! 

We're planning a road trip for April and July, so hopefully the excess fatigue and nausea will for sure be gone by then. We're still pretty excited, though! 

Hi, Everyone!

Hey, I'm back. It's been pretty messy on the internet for the last little while so I've been avoiding it!

We've been doing pretty well. Just hanging out, avoiding the disgusting Utah inversion air, watching movies, and wishing for spring.

I'm thinking about putting some more recipes up on the blog, largely for my own ability to remember them, but also so that others can try them out! I really try to make everything cheap and easy. I've got a good recipe for Easy Peanut Thai Noodles or Hamburger Gravy or Chicken Noodle Soup. Maybe I'll try posting a recipe every other week or so, just to have something new on the blog!

A couple days ago we went to the doctor and, turns out, Milo has an ear infection. That makes sense with him tantrumming often and not eating well. He never had a fever until Wednesday and he was only really tantrum-y for a while, so I guessed it was just him growing up quickly and not that he was in pain. He's on antibiotics now, though, and has been acting more like himself. Which I'm definitely grateful for!

Another thing I've done recently is I made a toy rotation for Milo! He has, let's just say, a ton of toys. I made 5 different theme boxes and we're starting them in rotation this week! Today's toy box is Building themed! There's toy tools, blocks, duplos, a house, a construction set, and our foam mats. We also have Animals, Dinosaurs, Music, and Transportation themed boxes. It feels really great to have all those toys put away, but I still feel like there's so many toys on my floor! We'll just have to see how it works out and adjust to our needs. I'll probably do a blog about it too eventually.

Sean has started putting our basement together! We've made the plans, priced stuff out and put up the framing for the bathroom so far, and it might take some time to actually complete, but at least we're making progress. It'll add a lot of value to our house and be a nice space for guests and movie-watching.

I've also started watching a neighbor boy 3 or 4 days a week and it's been going pretty well. Milo has been pretty good at getting along with him and it's nice to have a little extra income for myself. It hasn't been too difficult, he's a pretty easy going kid.

That's basically it for now. Next week is Sean's and my 5 year dating anniversary, then there's Valentine's day... so we're all booked up!

Love, Ellen

Also, we have a new addition to our family! Congrats, Damien and Rebecca on the new pup ;)

Oscar John Donner

Christmas Music Mix!

In our house, it's not long into December when we have to take a break from Christmas music because there's just too many of the same songs. For a while when I was a kid, my parents would make a Christmas mix-cd every year for family and friend gifts. This year, I decided to make my very own Christmas playlist! These 8 songs are my favorites this season. They're not all new (in fact, only one of them really is), but they're ones that haven't gotten old yet in my house.

1. Jacob Marley - Ace Enders and Nik Brusseze

This is the new one. Ace Enders is from The Early November (Sean's and my top 10 favorite band) and this is the perfect blend of Christmas and non-Christmas music. 

2. Christmas Day - MxPx

This whole album is pretty good. 

3. His Favorite Christmas Story - Capital Lights

Sorry for the tears.

4. It's Christmas Again - Varsity Fanclub

Sorry for the tears again. At least this time it was accompanied with laughter, right?! 

5. Chiron Beta Prime - Jonathan Coulton

This one cracks me up.

6. Silent Night/Away In A Manger - Relient K

7. I Wish It Was Christmas Today - Julian Casablancas

This one is everything I could've hoped for. You can watch the original from SNL here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a3Jcp9pNLzE&list=RDa3Jcp9pNLzE

8. We Wish You A Merry Christmas - Weezer

9. One Little Christmas Tree - Stevie Wonder

What's Christmas without a little Wonder, amiright?

The Donner's Christmas Card 2016

Merry Christmas, Everyone! 

Thanks for such a wonderful year. 

Instead of sending an actual card (because reasons... you get it), here's our virtual card and year update! Yeah, I know, I've been keeping you relatively well updated here, but I'm doing it anyway! Wahoo! 

Milo was not happy to be put onto someone's lap. He wasn't scared of Santa at all, he just wanted to destroy the nearby Christmas tree. Then Santa showed him the jingle bells and Milo was happy as a clam.

This year, though, huh? It started out with Sean having 2 months of jury duty, alongside regular work (because of its length), then went into me having pneumonia for a month, and then we had a couple months off before Milo turned one! Then we took a 2 week trip to MN for a family reunion. Sean and I celebrated our 4th anniversary, went trick or treating with Milo for the first time, hosted our first Thanksgiving, and we're just about ready for an excellent Christmas. 

• Sean is a guy whose job title does not match its description and is hard to explain. He learned how to drive a bus and fly a drone this year. He likes cars, robots, dinosaurs, and baseball.
• Ellen started up a tee shirt company (mamaceratops.com), cleans the house on a regular basis, and keeps some pets and a kid alive. She has an gained an affinity for ancestry indexing this year and has done over 700 records to date.
• Milo's favorite things are cars, robots, dinosaurs, and baseball (bet you can't guess whose kid he is). He knows his body parts and animals and their noises. His mess-making skills are impeccable.

Ellen's Homemade Clam Chowder Recipe

Hi, friends!
I made some clam chowder last night and posted a picture of the leftovers today and had a few requests for the recipe. It was a bit of a mix between me following a recipe and me making one up. Which is how you learn how to cook, I guess. Anyway, here's my recipe!

Clam Chowder

Ingredients:

• Onion (diced - about a cup)
• Celery (diced - about a cup)
• 2-3 Potatoes (diced)
• 1/2 cup butter
• 1/4 cup flour
• 16 oz half and half
• 2 cans clams (DON'T drain the juice!)
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1 tbsp salt
• enough pepper 
• 1 tsp sage 
• small sprinkle rosemary 
• parsley
• bacon bits

Directions:

1. Put the potatoes in a pot and cover with water, bring to boil and let the potatoes cook. Drain.
2. In a large saucepan, melt a stick of butter. Add the onion and celery (you can also do a carrot but I didn't) and stir. Cook until the onion is lightly translucent. 
3. Add the flour to the saucepan while stirring. Once it's well incorporated, slowly pour in the half and half while stirring. 
4. Dump the cans of clams INCLUDING the juice, potatoes, milk, salt, pepper, and spices (you can also add whatever spices you like, those are just my go-to ones). 
5. Bring the chowder to a simmer and let it cook for 15ish minutes, stirring regularly. 
6. Dish up the chowder and sprinkle parsley and bacon bits over top. (You may also want to use fresh bacon and add to the chowder as it's cooking. We did not have bacon, so this is definitely an afterthought on my part.) 

This was my leftovers! I heated it up in the microwave for 2-3 minutes, stirring at the halfway point.

Enjoy! 

Mamaceratops!

Hi, friends! 

As you might've noticed if you're checking this from facebook, we have a new business up and running! 

Go check out the website and buy yourself a funny shirt! 

www.mamaceratops.com

I kept one of the Nap shirts for myself and I LOVE it. It's seriously one of the most comfortable casual shirts I have. Sean and I are pretty proud of them! 

Besides that, we've mostly been doing normal stuff. Milo's first trick-or-treating went SO well. He was so cute walking up to doors and knocking on them and putting the candies in his bucket. There was one house where he went and picked out a candy and then backed up, and put his head to the side and gave the guy the cutest look I've ever seen on a trick-or-treater and I about DIED. So cute. 

Sean and I are doing our annual Every Night's Another Status as a tribute to the band The Early November. Basically, we just post a song lyric for the first 10ish days of November. And we're still figuring out plans for Thanksgiving. My favorite holiday!

Milo has been a little troublemaker, but I don't think that's really news because he's a toddler. No surprise. However it is a surprise when he's snuck upstairs to our bedroom and pulled out half the tissues in the tissue box... but that's normal toddler behavior, as far as I'm concerned. 

Anyway, go check out our new store, get something for yourself and some as Christmas presents! We'll start doing weekly shirt deals soon so keep an eye out!

Love,

Miss Ellen

The Reason This New Song Makes Me Reminiscent

It was late October 2014, not yet halloween when I broke down sobbing while driving Sean and I home from the hospital. We were visiting a friend who had recently been in an accident and Sean fainted when she was talking about her injuries.

But that's not what this story is about. I was driving home because he was still feeling woozy and about halfway home a song came on called See Her On The Weekend by Andrew McMahon. It talks about his girlfriend being pregnant and at that moment, Sean brought up that one of our close friends was expecting. Without another thought, I shut off the song and broke down. Of course I was happy for them, but there was another reason.

It was early November 2013 when Sean and I were watching Rosemary's Baby. I had stopped taking my birth control because they were making me incredibly sick and irritable. Later that night, Sean and I decided we were going to start trying for a baby. I knew I had weird cycles, but I was still hopeful and every doctor I'd talked to about it said it shouldn't impede my ability to get pregnant.

Flash forward to our drive home. It had almost been an entire year filled with dozens of pregnancy tests and no luck. I had only one more breakdown before that during Mother's Day at church and it had been close to 6 months (I'm not going to do the math because). We got home, I was still pretty broken up (and happy for our friends) but I really started worrying. I didn't want to face that I might be infertile and we'd have to be trying for who knows how much longer.

It was early November 2014 when I came down with a really weird bug. I threw up 12 times in the middle of the night and had a pretty high fever. We were living with my parents and I was working as a special needs tutor at a nearby charter school. I went in to work the next day (a Monday) and told them about what I was feeling and they looked at me like I was crazy and sent me home. After a quick nap and no more vomiting that day, on a whim, I took a really cheap pregnancy test we had on hand (that came with our ovulation kit) and a very faint second line appeared.

Sure I was going crazy, I went upstairs to consult my mother. It definitely seemed positive to her, and luckily I had another nicer test in my bathroom. So, naturally, I took it and it also showed positive. I had no words. I had no brain power to comprehend. I was elated.

I know I've already written this post before, but I omitted one big important aspect. Infertility. It is the most terrifying, frustrating, and heart-wrenching thing a woman who wants to be a mom can experience. I know I've only had a taste of it. A bit, year-long taste. I couldn't imagine going yearS or having to do infertility treatments or being told out-right that I won't be a natural mother. I am so proud of the strength women who experience it have. As a little girl, I would stuff animals up my shirts pretending to be pregnant and I couldn't imagine having to tell that little girl that her dreams are impossible.

Flash forward to today and my little one is running around in a thermal shirt & diaper, waving around a ladle and repeating the same sounds over and over (and over and over) again. I turn on youtube and Andrew McMahon has a new song out. I've heard it before, but today was a little different. Milo's adorable baby-toddler figure, crazy hair, and beautiful blue eyes were watching the video with me and I knew all the waiting and wondering was worth it.

Milo, "You're the reason I'm still up at dawn, just to see your face."

(Disclaimer: the song doesn't have anything to do with having a baby, it's really just Andrew McMahon's voice that's the reminiscent bit. But still listen to the song because it's beautiful.)

If anyone is suffering from this silent demon, please know that I would be more than happy to listen to your struggles and buy you an ice cream (or cheeseburger, or whatever).

Love, Miss Ellen

Sean's Pumpkin Pie Recipe

I go through kitchen phases constantly. Ellen teases me for it, constantly. When we got married a friend gave us a pie making kit (2 pie pans that are still my favorite, a rolling pin, and an apple peeler/slicer/corer). So naturally I started a pie phase, but it never really ended. I've tweaked almost every recipe I've ever found to be really good and have decided to start writing them down. So, seeing as it is Autumn, here's my Pumpkin Pie.

Pumpkin Pie

Pumpkin Puree

Preheat the oven to 350°

Cut a pie pumpkin (about the size of a volleyball) into quarters

Scoop out the innards

Place the pumpkin quarters skin down onto a foiled cookie sheet

Bake the pumpkin for about an hour

Pull the skin away from the fleshy part and dispose of the skin

Using a potato masher or food processor mash up the pumpkin

Crust

1 ¼ cups All-Purpose Flour

¼ tsp Salt

⅓ cup + 1 Tbs butter flavored shortening

¼ cup cold water

Mix Flour and salt in a small-medium sized bowl

Chop the shortening into the flour mix

Using a pastry mixer or two forks mix the shortening into the flour

(it will look chunky when you’re done)

Add the cold water in and mix together with your hands

(wash your hands and remove any rings)

You will end up with a ball of dough that can me refrigerated or rolled out immediately

Roll it out so it’s about 1/8 of an inch thick

Roll it up with the rolling pin and unroll it onto the pie pan

(Double this recipe if you want two crusts, but for Pumpkin Pie you probably don’t)

Pie Filling

1 ⅓ cups of Pumpkin Puree

1 ⅓ cups of Sweetened Condensed Milk (1 14oz Can)

1 Egg

2 tsp Cinnamon

1 tsp Nutmeg

1 tsp Ginger

½ tsp Cloves

1 cup Hot Water

Mix everything together in a big bowl using a whisk

Dump it into the pie crust

Before it goes in the oven brush melted butter onto the crust and sprinkle it with sugar if you're really feeling crazy

bake at 350° for 1 hour

Halfway through baking, brush more melted butter on the crust. It will be worth it.

Enjoy!

Sean Donner