I swore I never would. . .

So today was a day full of treats and surprises. Since Donavan was a little bitty baby we have been frequenting our favorite spot for java on a regular basis. And today, Donovan got his first special drink from the coffee shop and he, well, loved it! I had a dentist appointment early this morning and with the way he woke up I was certain bringing him with me to get two crowns was going to be nothing short of a disaster. But my little guy proved me wrong. He was nothing but an angel!!! He sat quietly on my lap the entire hour just observing what was going on. Everyone there was impressed but I don't think anyone was more than me. At home, it's a good day if he sits for 5 minutes to play with something by himself. So I thought I would treat us to a visit to see daddy at his work with a stop by Emily's coffee. Well we didn't get to see daddy but I did order Donovan a small milk in the hot drink cup since he always wants what we have, thinking drinking out of the special cup would be a treat enough. But then the barista looked at me and said "how about a little chocolate to make it taste good?" and I just couldn't resist. So we left with a huge smile on Donovan's face sipping his first chocolate milk. I'm not a big fan of kids talking about how they love coffee (Starbucks) shops but I don't think it is the end of the world if he goes around town spreading the word about how much he loves Emily's coffee. Actually I would kind of like it. . .it is a shop defiantly worth talking about :)

My dentist enjoyed Donovan so much that he snapped a couple pictures of him being such a good boy and emailed them to me :)

Happy valentines day!

Lots of love to go around in this home today and everyday! Donovan is big into giving hugs and kisses these days and has been extra snugly. The fact that he has 4 molar teeth coming in my have something to do with it but even when he is face timing he will lay a big smoocharoo right on the screen when requested. The other night he was snuggling on my chest as we rocked before bed, he lifted his head up, took out his pacifier, gave me nice big open mouth kiss right on the lips, put his pacifier back in and rested his head back down. My heart melted!!!

Speaking of hearts...we have been learning all about them this week. :)

I love doing crafts and between my job and Donovan I am always trying to come up with fun, easy and adaptable crafts that keep any kid engaged. This was my go to valentines themed craft that I would say was a hit - especially with this guy!

XoXo

Oh and happy birthday sister!!!

It's the most wonderful time of the year!!!

This holiday season sure was the most wonderful time of the year!    We had so much fun traveling out to NY to spend Christmas and New Years with our family out there.  It was a nice long trip and I am so thankful that Donovan got to spend so much time playing with his cousins, hanging out with his anuts and uncles and snuggling with his grandmother.

Santa made an early stop by our house before we headed out of town!

When we first arrived, I headed down to the city to celebrate my best friends 30th birthday NY style.  We fit a ton in a just a couple of days.  Including shopping, drinks in grand central, a run through central park, went up to get a night view from the top of the Rock, took a glimps of the statue of liberty,  took latin dance lessons, went dancing in a couple of night clubs, listened to live music, got a couple slices of pizza a few times, ate a Mario Batale's resturant, enjoyed some Thai food, fit in a couple of happy hours and of course enjoyed a Manhattan in Manhattan.  Whew!  It definitely was a weekend I will never forget!  Happy Birthday Amanda!!!

We had so much fun spending Christmas and New Years in White Plains this year.  It was a Christmas with many firsts and baby boys galore!!!  It was Donovan's first Christmas in NY and with his cousins, it was my nephews first Christmas all together, it was our first Christmas together as a family in NY, oh I could go on and on but you get the point...we were really excited about it all!  We mainly hung out with family, ate a lot of tasty meals together and enjoyed eachother's company.   We spent some time with friends as well and even fit in a few hot yoga classes.  I didn't take a single picture on the whole trip but everyone else did so I will share their pictures instead.  Donovan had such a blast being with his cousins!  He gave them big hugs and kisses every time he saw them.  I am just so thankful that he has the twins to grow up with!  

Sledding!!

We celebrated New Year's with Donovan at 12 noon!

Donovan and Otis

The three cutest boys I have ever seen!!!

So Pretty!

Since we have been back my parents have been in town, getting moved into their new place.  It has been so wonderful to have them only 20 minutes away.  Donovan's favorite person in the whole world right now is my mother.  It has taken me some time to get over it (you know get over that he would rather be with someone other than myself) but I am so, so grateful that he has already formed such a bond with his grand parents and grandma in particular.  He seriously screams and cries when he has to leave her, will lunge out of my arms to get into hers, and his face lights up whenever he sees her.  He loves everyone else very, very much so don't take this wrong but there is something about my mom that he can't get enough of...it may be that she spoils him rotten every moment she is with him :) 

So lets see...what is new with Donovan - EVERYTHING!!!  He is changing every second.  He is such a big boy and big helper these days.  He loves to do anything we do.  He is great at throwing things away and loves to get rid of his dirty diapers for us.  He loves to play in his pretend kitchen at Grandma and Grandpa's new house and he does things with such precision.  He will turn on the burner (it lights up), put the pot on it and then fill it.  He has little eggs that crack open and although he often thinks they belong in his teapot he loves to pretend to crack them open.  He also loves to help me in the real kitchen.  He is great a stirring things up, he likes to add ingredients using the measuring cups and of course he is great at tasting everything along the way.  He has some chores around the house with his favorite being feeding the dog.  He gets the bowl, opens the draw, scoops out the food and dumps it in.  He needs a little supervision to actually give the dog his full amount but he can pretty much do it on his own.  Kevin and I like to call him Super Baby.  He amazes us everyday!  I swear you show him something once and he's got it down.  Although Donovan mostly uses sign language to communicate with us (besides his awesome, wickedly loud screams) he is beginning to say more and more things.  His signs include, more, please, thank you, bye, hi, eat, milk, music and he blows kisses.  He can say up, eyes, bye, momma, dada, dog, bubba (my parents dog), book, on, sit and uh-oh...i think that is most of them.  Of course most of the words he just says the first sound but he uses them correctly.  I can't wait until he can just tell us what he wants because I am hoping that will eliminate the awful screams.  He is beginning to point to things he wants or will take us by the hand to show us, so that is helping some.  He can also shake his head yes and no.  He still is an awesome sleeper which we are so thankful for everyday.  He sleeps 12-14 hours at night and still takes two naps a day.  Sometimes he sleeps so much I get a little worried but I can't complain.  I know the brain develops the most in a babies sleep so I am sure it is just what his body needs. 

We hope everyone's New Year is off to a great start!

And we thank everyone for all of gifts we recieved this Christmas and all throughout the year.  Donovan has been spoiled rotten since the day his was born (and this Christmas especially) with anything and everything he might possibly need; from blankets to bikes, clothes, kitchen sets and books, but most importantly with LOVE!!!  We appreciate it all!!!!

XOXO

a quater of the year passes just like that

I totally thought I posted this before we left for the holidays....oh well.  Better late than never!


Well I don't know what happened but just like that a quarter of the year just passed by.  I thought we were busy when  Donovan was a baby and I felt like I was feeding him around the clock, but once he started crawling, oh my, how things have changed.  I am sure all the changes are not directly linked to his mobility but things are different with a little one on the move.  In the past four months, Donovan has shown us just what a little sponge he is...taking in everything around him and now he puts it all on display.  I don't really even know where to start so I guess I can just start with what he is doing now.  He is walking everywhere!!!  He can climb on all of our furniture and knows how to get off of it by himself.  He can go up and down our stairs and knows to be cautious of the open side.  He imitates just about everything.  He loves to pretend he is shaving, brushes his hair and the dogs hair whenever he gets his hands on a comb or brush and he loves to cook with me.  He knows how to pour the ingredients into the mixer, stir it up with a spatula and of course taste it.  He has loved all of our holiday arts and crafts and is always asking for more.  You can teach him a new sign everyday which he will use appropriately.  He is very polite and says please for everything.  My favorite is that he knows how to help me unload the dishwasher.  He takes out the spoons, opens the draw they go in which is above his head and puts them in there.  He will do it until all the spoons are put away.  He is such a helper!  He loves, loves, loves to make people smile and laugh.  He also can give you wonderful, big open mouth kisses, loves hugs and will blow you a kiss when you leave.  We are having so much fun with him!  He brings so much joy to all of our days!

So what else has happened in the past months...
Well Kevin and I went away on a 4 day anniversary trip to Ouray Colorado.  My parents came and spent the long weekend with Donovan and we had our first nights away from him since he was born.  It was so nice to spend time together, just the two of us...but I had a really hard time being away from Donovan with physical evidence to prove it.  I wont go into too much detail but the pumping did not go as smoothly as I would have liked.  I actually told Kevin we needed to head home about an hour after we arrived but I worked through it and we had an amazing, romantic time.

Sadly Donovan's great grandmother (Kevin's grandmother) passed away in October.  We are so thankful that Donovan got to meet her.  I am thankful for the memories I have with her and Kevin is so lucky to have had such a wonderful Grandmama who is dearly missed by so many.  Kevin made it back to NY to spend time with Grandmama in her final days and we were able to join him to attend her wake and funeral.  It is always so hard to say goodbye to a loved one but we are so greatful for all the time we had with her. 

Big News: Donovan turned 1!!!!  Our little guy is 1!  I can barely believe it.  We were actually flying home from NY on his birthday.  We made it out just before hurricane Sandy hit land.  We actually missed our flight back on Saturday the 27th and then they said we wouldn't be able to get out until after the storm passed but someone was pulling strings for us because we just happened to call at just the right time and got a flight out on the 28th.  I had a big party planned for his 1st birthday, but we ended up just having a small gathering with my parents, Zoe and Jason.  I still can not believe how fast a year has gone by!  And even more so I can not believe how much he has grown and changed in the past year!  I can not imagine my life without this little man, the past year has been the most amazing year of my life.  I can not wait for all the years ahead.  I try so hard not to take a single moment for granted.  We have been so blessed and I am greatful for that each and every day.

We headed down to Arizona for Thanksgiving.   We rented this enormous house (not a normal occurrence in our family) and my whole immediate family all stayed together.  We had our own heated pool which Donovan loved.  On the first day, the pool heater was not on and the water was 65 degrees but he didn't care.  He just kept crawling right back in.  It was a very relaxing trip filled with tons of fun and laughter.  We ate lots of good food, drank too many good drinks and enjoyed being together as a family.  Couldn't ask for more!

And now we are in full swing enjoying the holidays with our little man.  I know he doesn't understand what Christmas really means yet.  He doesn't know who's birthday it is or who this Santa guy is that he hears about every once in awhile but I am certain that he knows something special is going on.  He loves to open the door on our advent calendar each day and get a tasty little treat.  He loves the Christmas tree and throwing around the ornaments and then hanging them back up.  We took him down to the Parade of Lights two nights in a row.  He loved it!  He loves Christmas music on the radio and even sings along to it.  He enjoys the cookies and all the Christmas stories that we read to him.  There is something magical about this time of year and having a child to share it with makes it that much better. 

Other big news:  My parents bought a place out here in Colorado!!!  They are not planning to move out here full time but I will take anything I can get.  I am so, so, so very excited for them to be out for longer periods of time.  We feel so lucky that they are able to make this happen and for Donovan to get to spend more time with them.  Maybe Kevin and I will get a few more date nights in this way ;)  They are planning to come out and stay the month of January for starters.  Oh what a fun month that will be!

 Right now we are really looking forward to heading out to NY to spend the rest of holidays with our family out there.  I just love having all three little guys together.  They are at such a fun age to all play together.  We can't wait to all gather together for delicious meals, fun drinks and good company.

For the new year I am really going to try to update the blog more frequently.  It would acutally be much easier to write about a fun weekend or just what happended in the past week instead of trying to cover a 1/4 of a year.  Oh well!  I am sure I have missed lots of what we have been up to but most importantly we have been growing together as a family and enjoying every second of it!



Happy Holidays Everyone!!!  We miss each and everyone of you!!!
XOXO

I thought of a few other things...
Halloween - We dressed Donovan up as the Very Hungry Catipillar.  It is one of his favorite books and we thought it would be fun if he was a character from a book for halloween each year so...he loved it!

I started a new job.  I am doing pediatric home health and I LOVE IT!  It allows me spend more time with both my boys at once.  We found a really nice lady who has a two year old son that comes over twice a week for a few hours and the boys get to play and I go see a few kids.  I still am working at the clinic one day a week and 2 Saturdays a month but no more working Sundays for this girl!  We are really happy with the new set-up and I love doing OT in the home.

family, family, family

The last month and a little more has been all about family!  Donovan had a very busy 9th month full of wonderful memories!  We headed back to WI at the end of July to spend some time at my parent's home in Door County.  We had a blast.  Kevin had to head home a little early but Donovan and I got to spend just about a full week back home.  It was so much fun.  We were spoiled with love from family and friends the entire time.  It worked out perfectly because my cousin's were already planning to come up to Door County and camp in my parent's back yard so we got to spend lots of time with them too.  Donovan got to have his first sleepover.  Our friends Ambar and Paul came up with their little one Jack who is just a couple weeks older than Donovan.  Us parents went out and enjoyed a fun evening complete with a concert while grandma and grandpa along with my aunts, great aunts and lots of cousins tackled putting both boys to bed.  It sounded like boys kept everyone busy but when we got home they were both fast asleep! Well done everyone! :)  My parent's hosted a wonderful Sunday brunch so that they could show off Donovan.  Lots of family and friends came up for it which made it really special and fun.  A lot of our family even came up for the whole weekend which gave us even more time to spend with them.  My friend Amanda came up with her 2 year old boy Eli and 5 month old baby girl Dia along with a very surprise guest, my friend Jess.  Jess and I were the two that moved out to Colorado together and Jess and Kevin worked together...thus how I met Kevin:)  I hadn't seen Jess for a few years until she showed up at the farm.  We convinced them to stay the night and Donovan got to have his second sleepover.  This time we had the two babies in one crib and with one pacifier.  In the morning, Kevin did not forget to ask me how I really thought that was going to work.  Donovan is not a shy guy and must have decided to put the moves on Dia which she didn't appreciate because they both woke up screaming in the middle of the night.  I wish I would have taken a picture of them sharing the crib because it was just priceless.   Lets see, how else did we spend our time in WI...we brought Donovan to the beach a couple times, enjoyed cheese and custard (Donovan loves both), went to a petting zoo and even fit in a bike ride.  I am sure there is plenty I am missing but I will let the pictures tell the rest of the story.  Of course the time went by way too quickly but we feel so blessed to have gotten to spend so much time with family and friends.

He did great on all of the fights to and from WI.

Maria was so good to Donovan and kept very good tabs on what he was up to.

The camping crew!

Donovan loves the water

But not so much the sun in his baby blue eyes.

Baby Jack and Ambar

Donvan and Jack loved their sleepover!

And even more so all their play time together.

Donovan, Dia and Eli

What a sweet baby girl!

I tell you he couldn't keep his hands off her :)

Ella, the BEST babysitter EVER!

Ella taking Maria and Eli for a ride on the farm.

all smiles!!!

Donovan taking a ride with Grandpa with Eli in tote.

Donovan's high chair was my father's from Germany.  It even has a hole in it to double as a potty chair!  You never know when you may have to go :)

Donovan could not get enough of the sand.

Grandma and Donovan playing in the water.

He had his first meal off the kids menu in Door County.  Spoiled much?!

Ready for our bike ride!

It's JESS!!!

Love these Girls!!!

And then I got to see Dusty too!!!

When we got back from WI our fun with out of town family and friends did not end.  Our friends Kyle and Sarrah and their little 1 month old princess, Harlow came out for a CO visit.  Sarrah and I used to work together and I miss her terribly.  Their daughter is just perfect and I loved holding a little tiny baby again.  She made realized just how fast Donovan is growing.  Wow is there such a huge difference between 1 and 9 months.  It is just amazing!!  We celebrated Kevin's birthday with a backyard BBQ with neighbors and friends.  That evening, late that evening, Veronica, Tanya, Aiden and Otis arrived!!!  We had been waiting all summer for their visit.  I could not wait for Donovan to get to play with his cousins again!  It was so fun to see them all together.  They aren't all interacting too much yet but they definitely noticed each other, enjoyed each others company and even fought over a few toys here and there.  Tanya stayed at our house which was so nice for Donovan to get to also spend so much time with her.  Tanya is such a great aunt (and sister) and we all really enjoyed having her at the house.  She took Donovan on a nice run just about every morning, played with him, changed him and even did his whole morning routine one time so that Kevin and I could sleep in!  I can't tell you how wonderful that was :)  Otis (the daddy) came in to town a few days later.  I am very impressed with how much we were able to do with 5 adults and 3 babies.  One morning we were all ready and leaving the houses at 10am to spend the day tubing down the river in Golden .  It was so much fun.  Zoe joined us so then 4 people got to tube with 2 stayed at the park and hung out with the boys.  The water was freezing but that did not stop us from having a blast.  I think we all (except Otis who did not tube) had nice bruises on our tushes but well worth it.  We also all went to the butterfly pavilion and then out to a senior dinner (at 4 or so) at one of our favorite brew pubs.  Everyone decided to stay an extra night before heading up to Sidney for the family reunion and we fit in an adults night out.  Our neighbors on either side of us tag teamed for us and watched Donovan and our aunt Angie and uncle Jack watched Otis and Aiden.  We hit up a little gem of a place called the Stampede.  It is a country bar but late at night they mix country with hip-hop.  Most importantly there is TONS of dancing!  We all took a line dancing class earlier in the evening and then stayed and enjoyed ladies night where all us ladies drank for free.  It is such a fun place and it was just a blast to get to go with all our sisters and brothers.  I used to go there a lot when I first moved to Denver and always asked Kevin to come with me but he wasn't too interested in it.  I loved getting him there.  Now if I could only convince him we should take a two step class together...we could really boogie down!

Donovan and Harlow ready for some shopping.

Donovan and Israel

Love Maritza!!!

Helping Daddy open his birthday presents.

What did you get daddy?

The kids at Kev's B-day party with Grandpa.

Kev's cake time!

Cousins!

So strong!

Look at those dance moves!

Tubing!

That was some cold water!!!

Chillin with Daddy

Jason and Carrie flew in from New York on Thursday morning and well headed up to Nebraska for a Mohatt family reunion.  It was nice to get to spend time with all of the family.

He was in good hands with the triplets.

"I'm ready to go home mom"

And to top it all off, Jason and Carrie decided to stay a few extra days so that we got to spend some time with them in Denver as well.  It was so fun to explore some of the parts of the city with them that I had never really been to.  We found a really cute street with lots of cute shops and tasty little lunch spot.  We also took a drive up to Idaho Springs which also has come very cute shops and delicious gelato :)  We made it to the last film on the Rocks at Red Rocks for the year but it wasn't the best movie if you would even call it a movie.  It was a movie of a Beastie Boys concert.  Not so great, but we still had a blast eating our picnic and enjoying the scenery and of course our time with family.

The love birds in Idaho Springs.

Uncle Jason has a good eye on me.

I love rocks!

Red Rocks Rocks!

I miss Uncle Jay Jay

The end of the summer was quite a whirlwind and flew by way too fast but we are so grateful that we have gotten to spend so much time with so many people who are so important to us!!!  Living so far away from so many of our friends and family makes us really appreciate the time we get to spend together.  We are already looking forward to seeing everyone again!  We miss and love you all!

Our first hike

Let's go Deeogee!

total body workout :)

Helping me "gather" the basil for pesto.

Such a big helper!

"I got this too mom"

And just in case anyone was wondering what Donovan has been up to you have come to the right place for a little update.  He is as busy as ever.  He can get anywhere he wants and can even crawl up stairs.  He loves to stand and can cruise across all of our furniture.  He likes to let go and stand by himself but this only lasts a few seconds before his bottom hist the ground.  His personality continues to come out more and more.  He loves attention and loves, loves, loves to make others laugh.  He will pull out all the tricks in his bag to get a smile out of you (which does take much...he is so darn cute!)  He sleeps great at night and takes consistent naps.  There is never a dull moment around our house.  He says "mama" and "da" as names for us and is able to sign "more".  He also seems to have a sound or "word" for Deeogee" but it isn't quite part of the English language.  He is VERY good a making his needs, and even more so, wants known.  He keeps life interesting and I still just can't get enough of him.