Two Months Old

We went to Donovan's two month check up yesterday, and all we got were these two bandaids. They had to give him three shots, it made me sad. He handled it pretty well. He didn't cry too much, which I was happy about. He's doing really well. He's in the 90th percentile in both weight and head circumference. He's smiling lots and talking lots. I can't get enough of it. Here's a few pictures I've taken the past month.

Bangs

My bangs have been bugging me for awhile now. Even when I just get them cut I am never happy with them. I thought I would try something different. They're straight across now. I'm not sure if I like them yet. They make me look different. It also bugs me how sleepy I look in pictures lately.

The Rug

I don't think we told too many people about the rug we got for Donovan's room. Here it is with my cute baby on it. We like it and were excited to get it for his room.

What I've Learned The Past Month

I thought I would put a few things about what I've learned since giving birth.

-How instant a bond between mother and child can be.

-I now get to use the expression, "That's worse than child birth".

-I now understand that laundry is never-ending.

-I do okay with lack of sleep.

-I no longer care if my hair is always done, or my make-up is on.

-Nursing bra's suck. I've never had a bra dig into me before.

-I can be patient if I try really hard.

One Month Old

Donovan's one month old today. It's gone by pretty fast, and most of it has been enjoyable. He seems to still be healthy and growing. It still seems like I'm feeding him all the time. The spitting up thing only lasted a couple of days. He has hardly spit up at all since I put the post about it. Thanks to all who left comments. I'm still waiting for him to start sleeping better at night. He has his days and nights straight, he just doesn't sleep for long enough periods of time. I think he's going to smile any day now. When I put him on his stomach he moves his legs like he's crawling, and when he's on his back he'll arch his back and kick his leg like he wants to roll over. I know he's far from crawling and rolling over, but it's fun to see that he's got the concept. It's been so fun so far just watching him develop. He makes a lot more facial expressions and he's making a lot more noises. I'm excited to see more.

For Whoever May Know

So, for the past couple of days it seems Donovan has been spitting up everything he eats. When I think there can't be anything else for him to spit up he proves me wrong. Whatever is going on also seems to be making him fussier than normal. He was also starting to sleep for longer periods of time at night, but that has gotten worse the past couple of nights. Jason mentioned calling the doctor, but I'm not one of those people who calls the doctor for every little thing. So, I just thought I would throw this out there for anyone that may have some advice.

Two Weeks Old

We went to Donovan's two week check up yesterday. He seems to be healthy. He went from 7lbs 4oz to 8lbs 8oz in ten days. I'm no longer worrying if he's getting enough food. They had to do this blood test. I think it was called the PKU test. They had to prick his foot and get a bunch of his blood on this card. He was crying the whole time. I have a hard time not crying when he's just screaming and I can't do anything about it. He's fine though, of course. He's mostly a good baby. He usually only cries when he's hungry. Which is a lot. I feel like all I do is feed him. I'm waiting for it to get better. I'm really enjoying being a Mom so far. It would be nice if he slept for longer periods of time at night. Although, at one point last night he slept for three hours (which was nice) but, he then stayed up for an hour and a half. Which I did not enjoy. He usually wakes up every two hours right on the dot. I think I'd rather that if he goes to bed right after being fed. I love him so much though, so he can do whatever he wants right now. We've already noticed how much he is changing. He seems to get bigger every day. His face already looks different to us. A lot of people have said they grow so fast, and now I'm witnessing that. I'm excited to watch him grow and learn.

Boo checking him out.

Stupid Thing

So, I left the little pregnancy countdown thing on our blog because I was curious what it would do once it hit the due date. But it didn't do a darn thing. It just said zero. Tonight it says -2. Boring. Stupid thing. I'm taking it off.

Jason's answers

Mindy tagged me too I guess. So here's what I have to say.


8 things i am passionate about:

1. my wife

2. my kids

3. music

4. my mom

5. learning

6. my beliefs

7. photography

8. trivia



8 words/phrases i use often:

1. gosh dangit

2. we have a cute baby

3. you're a silly billy

4. you're the bestest girls in the whole wide world

5. wash your hands and face

6. what the?

7. bop it

8. I love my Dallas poo



8 things i want to do before i die:

1. get a real job

2. raise my kids

3. go on a mission with Dallas

4. travel more

5. retire

6. relax

7. be happy

8. spend enough time with my family



8 things i've learned in the past:

1. you don't have as much time as you think

2. things are a lot harder to get out of than into

3. my kids grow up way too fast

4. go to college right away

5. people will disappoint you

6. prioritizing my time should be more of a priority

7. enjoy the present

8. my kids teach me more than I teach them



8 things i currently want or need:

1. a better shift at work

2. to spend more time with my family

3. more money so Dallas doesn't have to work

4. more energy

5. respect

6. to get done with school

7. to start school again (so I can get done)

8. more photography equipment



8 places i want to see or visit:

1. Italy

2. Australia

3. Boston

4. San Diego

5. Portland, Oregon

6. London

7. Hawaii

8. Ireland



8 favorite restaurants:

1. filet mignon from Ruby River

2. pastrami burger from Training Table

3. sushi from Fortune Cookie

4. McGrath's

5. Paces Dairy Ann

6. Gators

7. Maddox

8. Cafe Rio



8 tv shows i like to watch:

1. ESPN

2. ESPNews

3. ESPN Classic

4. ESPN 2

5. basketball

6. baseball

7. football

8. Conan O'Brien



tag 8 people:

1. Geoff

2. Felicia

3. Bob Sagat

4. Willie Nelson

5. Anyone who reads this

6. Dad

7. Mom

8. Adam

Tagged by Mindy and Nicole

8 things I am passionate about:
1. Jason
2. My kids
3. Getting back into shape (when I am able to)
4. Family
5. Getting the house organized
6. My faith
7. Getting Jason through school
8. Movies

8 words/phrases I use often:
1. Love you
2. Not right now
3. No
4. Hi baby boy (just lately)
5. Whatever
6. Eat over your plate
I can't think of anymore

8 things I want to do before I die:
1. Travel with Jason
2. Have at least one more kid
3. Watch my kids grow up
4. Go on a mission with Jason
5. Get the house the way I want it
6. Spend more time with family
7. Go on family trips
8. Win an Olympic gold medal

8 things I've learned in the past:
1. Things will get better
2. Don't pre-judge someone
3. Nobody's perfect (not even me)
4. Just relax
5. Don't dwell on the past
6. Be happy with what you have
7. Forgiveness
8. It's okay if things are not where they should be

8 things I currently want or need:
1. The garage cleaned out
2. The house organized
3. A van
4. Money
5. Sleep
6. Jason to be done with school
7. A shower
8. My clothes to fit

8 places I want to visit or see:
1. Australia
2. Hawaii
3. The U.S.
4. Ireland
5. New Zealand
6. Scotland
7. Greece
8. A cruise ship

8 favorite restaurants:
1. Training Table
2. Cafe Rio
3. Ruby River
4. Red Lobster (mmm cheese biscuits)
5. McGrath's
6. Market Street Grill
7. Johnny Carino's
8. Really anywhere other than my kitchen is good

8 T.V. shows I like to watch:
1. America's Next Top Model
2. Everybody Loves Raymond
3. Friends
4. That 70's Show
5. House
6. Bones
7. King of Queens
8. Are You Smarter than a Fifth Grader?
most of these I've just been watching since being on maternity leave.

Donovan Lee Howell

Our baby was born! He came 15 days early, so we were a little surprised. He was born on October 19th. He weighed 7 lbs 11 oz, and was 19 inches long. He is doing really good. He had some jaundice, so he had to be on a light for a couple of days. He's off now, and we go to the doctor tomorrow to check him. Hopefully he's all better. We think he's the cutest baby there ever was.

Getting weighed at the hospital. His poor head was pretty stretched out when he was born. That's probably my fault. I think he got my big head. It's all better now though.

Freshly born.

His first bath at the hospital.

He likes to have a concerned look on his face a lot.

Look at his chubby cheeks.

The girls sure love their baby brother.

This is the outfit that we brought him home in. It is actually the same outfit I wore when I came home from the hospital. My mom brought it to us. So it's over 32 years old. I thought it was neat that my mom did that for us.



Here he is all bundled up and ready to go home from the hospital.

Isn't he the cutest?

How can you not love this face? How can a baby possibly get this cute? I blame it on Dallas. You can also see the nice light underneath him. That's what he had to be on for a couple of days.

10 Things We Hate About Our House

This is the sequel to our wildly popular post "10 Things We Love About Our House". Since our house isn't old like Mindy's, we don't really have any quirky things we love or hate about our house. It's all pretty standard stuff. But here you go anyway.

1. The Swamp. When our house was built 3 1/2 years ago, they decided they wanted to use seed for the backyard. For some reason, they didn't feel it was necessary to make the ground level at all, or even remove good size rocks. They did, however, feel it was necessary to water it to death twice a day or so. Thus, we get a swamp for a back yard. This picture shows it at a dry time. It is completely useless as a backyard.

2. Poop. We have a few neighbors with dogs who don't think they need to clean up after them. Their dogs come onto our yard, and poop on our lawn. I swear, if I knew for sure which house these dogs came from, I would personally go and poop on their porch. There is not a lot of things I hate more than dog poop on my lawn.

3. "Landscaping". Since we live in a townhouse, we have to pay $90 a month for HOA fees. This covers everything on the outside, including all landscaping and maintenance. So this is what we get. $90 dollars a month for dirt.

4. Crappy toilets (no pun intended...ok maybe a little pun). They don't flush very well at all. For some reason, Ashley has always had (there's no polite way to say this) really big bowel movements. So, whenever she has one, she pretty much clogs the toilet. I have to say they are impressive. But back to the point, the toilets suck. Plus the seat is like really cheap plastic.

5. Neighbors. We have really nice neighbors. It's just not always nice to have them so close. They have two teenage girls that really like to run up and down their stairs and scream. Since we share a wall, it sounds like they are in our house sometimes. That's just one of the drawbacks to living in a townhouse.

6. Stairs that don't go straight down. We found out how bad this is when we tried to move stuff to and from the basement. Big stuff like couches and beds don't go around a turn like this very easy. People that design floor plans should know stuff like this.

7. Cleaning our wood floors. This bugs Dallas more than me. We can't really clean our floors without them streaking. We've tried different ways, but they're never just clean and shiny. Maybe we're just dumb and don't know how to do it, but it's kind of annoying.

Well, I'm sure you can tell that I'm reaching for things to add to the list by now, so I'll just stop at 7. We really don't have much to complain about.

10 Things We Love About Our House

Mindy did this, and so we are too.

1. Our kitchen has lots of counter space.



2. Our wood floors. Ok so they're really laminate and not wood, but still.

3. Big closet in the master bedroom. I have never seen a bigger closet in a townhouse.

4. Big bedrooms. I don't think I've seen bigger bedrooms in a townhouse either.

5. Our cool wood blinds. I really like nice blinds. Don't like the cheap ones at all.

6. Our jetted tub. It would be better if it had jets on your back, but it's still nice.

7. Our huge closet upstairs. Is it a linen closet? I'm not sure. But it's huge.

8. We love our washer and dryer being upstairs with the bedrooms. We don't like them off of the kitchen or somewhere else.

9. Our nice paint job on our main level. We like having lots of color. We did NOT like the actual work of painting it. That would definitely be on our hate list. We really like it now that it's done.

10. Most of all we love our new basement. We didn't have to do any of the work, and it's super nice. We can all hang out down there and be together.

Quirky Me

I always see these, and I never do them. I thought I would do one for fun. Here's six quirky things about me.

#1 I used to number my socks so I could match them together, and they would wear out the same.

#2 I own about 35 sweatshirts, and 20 jackets. Most of which have hoods.

#3 I have to clean the kitchen before and after I cook.

#4 When I'm home alone I put in a movie that I've seen many times just for the noise. I don't really watch it.

#5 I have conversations with my cats. When they meow at me I answer them like I know what they're saying. A little story about that. When I moved in with Jason, Olivia witnessed me doing this for about two weeks. She finally asked me "what did she say?". She thought I could really understand them. I'll never forget it.

#6 When I put chocolate syrup on my icecream I do it in layers. It's not enough just to put it on top.

Basement's Done!!!

Our basement is finally done. We are so excited about that. It's been something that has been on our minds for a long time. I didn't know if it would ever happen, especially before the baby came. We are really happy with how it turned out. The general contractor we hired was really easy to work with, and he did a good job. Now, we are working on getting stuff moved out of our office so we can free up the baby room. I can't help too much with that though because there's a lot of heavy stuff. I've included some before and after pictures. So, enjoy because I know we will.

That door just goes to the food storage.Closet that we'll use for games and whatever else we need to use it for.

That's track lighting on the ceiling. It wraps completely around that area. We can have up to ten lights. I don't know if we'll need all that light yet. It might be too much.

Jason's handy work. That leads to the furnace room, where the cat food and litter box is.