Taking Naps and Cutting Slack

I'm not going to dance around it, being a mom is a pretty hard job. Even though I've only been at it for a month and a week, I've already learned so much, one thing being that I have a LONG way to go.

It took Sean and I maybe a whole day or two to figure out (and then for me to come to terms with) that Milo has grown. He is officially out of newborn diapers and clothes, and into size 1 diapers and 0-3 month clothes. But he stayed in the newborn size for a month, so I shouldn't be complainy.

I can tell overall that he has grown, but it's still a weird thing. He's so little! But at the same time he's ginormous compared to other babies or still just little... it's a hard thing to explain, but I'm sure some of you get it.

Sometimes I freak myself out thinking about how in a few months he's going to be sitting and playing and laughing and I might never get anything done ever again. But at the same time, that freak out is overshadowed by how extremely excited I am to have fun with him instead of just taking naps and changing the diapers and feeding.

I have really great neighbors that have come to visit and offer help as well as having had in-laws here for the past weeks. Honestly, having Sean's mom here was a huge blessing. She let us have a date night and took him in the mornings so I could catch up on sleep. She's really an excellent woman and I'm so glad she raised such a good, responsible son that I could then marry and have a son with.


We went to a Bees game

Sean's brother, Brady, ran a race as an eggplant against other produce and got 3rd place, which was fun and we the Bees Won!

Sean gave Milo a blessing and then we had a party at our home afterward that people came to and it was great. (Also, we took a not-great picture before church. Hurray.)

We went up to the Spiral Jetty and took some pictures. 

Sean and I went on a date night to a pizza place and then Provo Beach Resort where we won the hilarious Husky plush. 

And we had lots of fun with family.

Overall,  things have been going pretty well and I think we'll be able to make it.

Love, Miss Ellen

Picture Dump Round 2

Sometimes, I take tons of pictures of my son because he's the handsomest baby ever and then I need to share them. BECAUSE THE WORLD NEEDS TO KNOW. Also, we weighed him tonight and he's a whopping 10 POUNDS. This kid is growing like a weed. He's going to eat us right out of house and home, I'm sure of it. 

 Those feet though!

 He looks a lot like me in this picture, I think.

 Those eyes!

 This is his cool kid outfit Grandma Donner bought him.

 Just hanging out with Grandma.

 My boys get so sleepy!

 Baby's first baseball game!

 He looks like a real grown-up kid in this one. 

I'll post a real update when he turns one month old this week. WHERE HAS THE TIME GONE?

Love, Milo's Mommy

2 Weeks Update

It's funny how the first question people ask when we go somewhere with Milo is "How old is he?" (or I've also heard "How new/young is he?") and the second question is "How are you sleeping?"

Fine. Just normal. He wakes up about twice at night for about half an hour apiece. The trick is getting him to bed. That sometimes takes an hour or two, but if we start early enough, it's not a problem.

Milo loves sleeping, farting all the time, and listening to comedy sets (oh, wait... that last one is me.) He eats well. Sometimes too well to where he eats so fast he has to stop and cough, burp, throw up, and then keep eating.

His expressions are priceless and I try to capture them with pictures, but it just isn't that easy. I've seen so many of his uncles in his face... and features (for example Jeremiah feet and Dustin forehead). So I'm pretty excited for all of them to meet sometime.

Today, when he wakes up from this nap, we're going to try tummy time. I know... You should've started earlier! Well, we didn't. He'll be fine.

And Auntie (pronounced ant-ee) Abby gets to come stay with us for a few days this weekend and next week until Grandma and Papa Donner and Aunt (pronounced ont) Laurelin come and visit! We're really excited to have people come hang out.

That's pretty much it. Here's some more pictures.

love, Miss Ellen

Picture Dump

I only average about 3 or 4 pictures a day... so I think that's good.

The Announcement and The Story

We're proud to welcome Milo Fox Donner to our family!

He was born July 11, 2015 at 6:13 am. He weighed 7 lbs. 3 oz. and was 20 in. long. 

The Orem Owlz were down 5 to nothing in the 7th. I got up to go to the bathroom, having felt a few contractions, making sure it wasn't just need to pee. Turns out, it wasn't. I got back as the top of the inning ended and asked Sean if he was ready to go. It was just too bad that he'd bought the tallest slushee and wouldn't be able to finish it. 

Earlier that day, I was texting my mom and telling her what the plan was for the night. 

As we were walking to the car, they started singing "Take Me Out to the Ball Game". We got in the car, stopped by the house to grab the suitcase and let Strider pee quick and then we hopped in the car for the 40 minute drive to the hospital. On the way, while I was texting my mom, I happened to check the Twin's game. I had been watching it and we were down 6-0 the whole time until that last check. Miraculously, they scored 1 run in the bottom of the 8th and 7 in the bottom of the 9th for the most incredible comeback all year. As I looked, I contracted and had the hardest time being so happy and in pain. What a day it was already.

We checked in, I was put on the monitors, and my parents came to hang out. It was about 10 o' clock. My parents came in and Sean and my dad gave me a priesthood blessing.

The worst part of it all was when they were giving me the IV. So painful and they had to poke twice. The epidural wasn't as bad and the doctor was kind enough to let me put my head on her shoulder while I held her hand and Sean's (he was sitting for good measure). For the next 6 hours, we intermittently napped, I was poked and questioned, and we listen to some music that I had prepared for the occasion. At about 4, my doctor came in. My parents left, I was ready and we started pushing. 

Milo was face up. Ashley (my doc) was nervous that it'd be too hard to get him out. I kept pushing for the next 2 hours, "Milo is a Go" playlist playing the whole time, and Milo joined the world with his dark eyes and dark mullet. The first song Milo heard was absolutely magical. 

He had an abnormally high fever, so after he was cleaned off, they whisked him off to the NICU for some tests. Turned out, he was just hot. There were no complications, no stitches, no trauma. It was more than a blessing. The next morning, I had a hormone/sleep-deprived meltdown and made Sean give me another blessing. 

Because of his fever, though, we were trapped in the hospital for another 48 hours. My parents came and visit again the next day and my wonderful friends Emily and Erica stopped by, but there was no big parade of people. Just how I like it. 

We finally were discharged on Monday morning and headed home to our fantastic puppy. He was cooped up in the basement for too many hours and he didn't destroy anything besides some cardboard boxes we intentionally left there. He did get to go to a friend's house for a day, because we weren't going home as soon as we'd hoped. 

Right now, he's having a bit of a hard time because there's another thing that's getting attention, not that he's getting any less. What a guy. He never freaked out at the baby. He's seriously the best dog. 

At our 5 day appointment, Milo was still as perfect as ever and all the nurses at the clinic cooed over his adorableness. 

We're in love and the most excited to be his parents. 

Love, 

Miss Ellen, Sean and Milo

The Game

[Disclaimer: This post might come up as Sean posting, but it's really me. I just didn't want to switch users. Lazy.]

The waiting game. The terrible possible minutes or hours or days or weeks before actually going into labor. The time where any second could be the second or any contraction could be the first contraction... but it never really is and you just end up sitting in the house and going mad trying all the "natural labor induction" methods the internet tells you. Here is a brief list of all the things I've tried (that are appropriate for all ages):

• Labor Cake (a super chocolatey cake. look it up on pinterest for the recipe.)
• Pineapple
• Balsamic Vinegar
• Walking All Over 
• Stairs
• Squats
• Raspberry Tea
• Relaxing Baths
• Bumpy Car Rides

I even went and got a haircut today so that when it finally actually is the moment, I'll have nice hair. I've also tried tricking myself by packing all my bags all the way (including the stuff I left out so I could still use it). Now I'm charging my ipod so it's ready. 

Here's the beef. Last Wednesday I had an appointment and was measured at 3 cm dilated and "she could feel his head" which means he's locked and loaded but I'm not sure what percent effaced it means. The doctor said it literally could be any day now and that she was hoping for this weekend. 

And now it's Tuesday and I'm being impatient and I shouldn't be. I should remember that patience is a virtue and one that I will most certainly need when Milo arrives. But I've been patient for a long time and I think it's one of my real attributes (at least it's one I've put on my resume's) so I'm allowed to be impatient this time. 

It also probably doesn't help that I'm recovering from a nasty head cold (I'm saying recovering to seem positive about it all. I might still be in the midst of it...) and it's the worst because I can't even take anything for it because I'm still pregnant. Instead, I've been sitting in bed, eating food, and watching Netflix while playing stupid phone games. 

One more thing, today is the 3 year anniversary of Sean and I getting engaged. Wouldn't it just be adorable if Milo came today? Absolutely. So...

If you have any voodoo or prayers or other methods of spiritual well-being you wouldn't mind sending our way, please feel free to do so. 

Love, Miss Ellen

Full Term and Ready to Go

Today is officially 37 weeks and we're ready to rock any moment. We have our bags packed, our car a/c is all fixed up... all we need is a place to put the Milo is a Go playlist so we can play it at the hospital (and hopefully we don't go through all 20 hours of music).

I feel ready. I think that might be because I've just put it through my mind that I wasn't going to have a panic attack and just stay relaxed. But seriously, any day now I could be a mom. EEEEEK. I think also because I'm so ready to be able to move about without aching so hard. It takes me like 10 to 15 minutes to get out of bed because my hips and ankles hurt so much. And the whole having to pee every 20 minutes... really annoying.

Sometimes I feel his foot in my tummy and it's entirely baby foot size and pushy. So you could say he's pretty cramped in there. I have a doctor's appointment tomorrow and I'm really interested and excited to see what she has to say about things progressing. I was already 1 cm last week, so hopefully we're going in the right direction a little early.

And! Next weekend, Sean's cousin and her family who lives in Iowa is coming for a visit for Independence Day! It's going to be so great! It's been a few years since we've seen them and I'm so excited to have them here for a few days. And our house is big enough! First time ever!

Everything is great and I'm ready. Whew.
Love, Miss Ellen