The Wilhelmsen Botanical Blog

Well, I am running out of greetings for my blog.  Hmm.  How about this, “Happy Memorial Day!”  Here are the highlights from our week. 

The plumbing in the laundry room got a plug over the weekend, as a result we went to grandma’s on Monday to do a coupld of loads of laundry. 

Tuesday after playgroup we went to Costco.  In the evening we watched the pilot episode of Glee.  It won’t be on until the fall but I think that I am going to really like it.  We also had onion rings with dinner.  I have really enjoyed Brandon using his new deep fryer to make us delicious side dishes.

Wednesday we bought Wii Active.  It is a fitness game for Wii.  So far we Brandon and I have worked out together twice (yes together one of the features that won me over is that you can work out together on a split screen) and it has worn me out both times.  Our plan is to do Wii fit 3 times a week after Aiden goes to bed.  Then I will have to find something to do the other two times in the week as the weekend will be my “off” day. 

Aiden has learned to fold his arms somewhere between his 40 mins. in nursery and being home during the week.  It is super cute!  I was also hoping to keep track of all the new words he is learning but a lot of times several pop out in a day and as much as I want to keep track, it is impossible.  A few of the newest ones (since I posted earlier this week) are eye, and uh oh.  I think that there was another one but I can’t remember it. 

Thursday my mom came to visit.  It was nice to see her and to chat with her.  She will be coming to visit us more regularly on Thursdays and it will be good to visit with her more often.  My uncle also came on Thursday to look at the plug in the plumbing.  The prognosis was not good so the plug stayed.  As a result we (Aiden, Brandon, and I) had a family outing to the laundromat.  We picked up a pizza and some chocolate milk from the store and did all our loads at the same time.  It was nice to get everything done at once (5 loads in 90 mins.) but cost nearly ten dollars.  Aiden had a good time.  He liked watching the machines go around and around and was very well behaved. 

Friday was story time at the library and grocery shopping in the evening. 

Saturday was our big back yard clean up morning.  We had a pretty good turn out and got a lot done.  Thank you so much to everyone who came to help.  It made things go so much more quickly and things look much better.  In the evening we took our $5.00 off coupon for Chili’s and had a delicious dinner.  All three of us ate for only $15.00.  It was nice to go to a fancier restaurant then the norm (Wendy’s, Arby’s, Arctic, you know).  After dinner we ran to Lowe’s to price a temporary above ground sprinkler. 

Today Aiden has a fever again but no other symptoms.  Brandon thinks his lungs might be rattling a little bit.  We were able to break the fever with some ibuprofin but it came back as the ibuprofin wore off.  Oi.  Poor guy.  I hope the pneumonia isn’t recurring.  It isn’t exactly easy to convince a toddler to rest and take it easy.  😉  Enough for this week, thanks for reading…

My little Aiden is very clever.  We have various barricades and things to keep him from things that he should not get to (and this after trying to discipline him with repeated time outs to teach him that it is not ok to get into those thigns).  Well, everytime he learns a new thing I can almost hear him thinking in his little head (to quote Peter Pan) oh the cleverness of me.

Monday Aiden signed a sentance to me by signing “more” and then “eat”.  He can also sign hat, banana, phone, teeth, ear, all done, and is working on signing cracker and water.  He has also signed dad, broken, and hurt.

Here are the words that he says and how he says them, uice=juice, ee=eat, nana=banana, ight=light, eez=cheeze, mo=more, eeth=teeth, ahh-oo=flower, baoo=ball, zuz=jesus, guck=truck or duck, ock=clock, sock, or block, at=What’s that?, and cacka=cracker.  He can also say hot, hat, dadda/dad, mom/momma, yea, apple, num, woah, wow, lock, and hat.  He also says keys but he says it kees.

He has also discovered his belly button and will show it to you when asked if he can access it.  (This depends on what clothes he is wearing.)

Tuesday evening Brandon was changing Aiden’s diaper and Aiden folded his arms by himself for the first time, while saying, “dad, dad.”  After he was changed, he pointed to a ball on the floor and said, “Baoo.”  Yesterday Aiden kept folding and unfolding his arms.  He was walking around with them folded and then he sat down, folded his arms, got up turned a little and sat down then folded his arms (he did this a few times in a row.)  He cracks me up!

Today he took my keys went over to my dad’s bedroom door and tried to unlock the door knob (which incidentally has a lock in it).  He then did the same to my door knob.  What a smart little guy!

I have been reading Dr. Laura’s book called, “In Praise of Stay at Home Moms” and it is a wonderful reaffirmation for my choice to stay at home with Aiden.  I have never really liked working.  It was always simply a means to an end and I often blamed it for things like not being able to study abroad because I needed the money to pay for my car…etc, etc.  My plan has always been to stay at home with my kids.  Honestly, I have often felt like I was born in the wrong era because my ideals were so “backward” in today’s society. 

I am not “just” a mom.  I am a mother, a teacher, a doctor, a tree to climb, a chef, a friend, a singer, a storybook reader, a maid, a comfort, a playmate, a photographer, a writer, a bill payer, a hazardous materials collector, remover, and cleaner, as well as many other things to meet the needs of my family.  Despite the many highs and lows, ups and downs, of being an at home parent I wouldn’t have it any other way.  I want to be the one who gets to enjoy each and every single “first”, to watch as my child learns new things almost daily, to cuddle them when they fall and scrape their knee, are scared, or don’t feel well.  There is a phrase that I have heard many times and it is so true.  Once a mom always a mom, even when your kids are 50 and have 4 kids of their own.  It is not a job that you can leave at the end of the day, even when you get a break you are worrying, missing, and thinking about your little ones.  For me being a mother is the most rewarding, most challenging, most inspiring, most amazing, most fulfilling “job” any woman could have on earth.  It is not for the faint hearted, it is not for the weak, it is not for the lazy, it is for those who are patient, perservering, strong, loving, nurturing, and have a strong stomach. ;p

Way to go stay at home moms!  Keep up the good work and know that in a world where a majority emphasize that women should be in careers and not in homes that you have at least one personal cheerleader who will stand by you in saying, “I am a stay at home mom and proud of it!”

Hey everyone, I don’t feel like saying much this week so here are the very highest of highlights.  Aiden got his first head scrape, which I may have mentioned last week.  He fell off the two cement steps outside my grandma’s house and got a scrape on his forehead from the sidewalk.  This eventually resulted in what happened yesterday which was that I put a bandaid back on because the scab looked dry and was starting to peel off and I wanted to protect it.  Later that day Aiden started pulling and tugging on his bandaid and finally unbeknown to us got it off.  When we noticed that it (and the scab) were both missing I scanned the floor for the bandaid, I found it quickly but alas no scab.  EEEEWWWW!!!!  I did not want to be the one to find the scab (which reminds me I was not the one to find the umbilical cord when it fell off, thankfully my mom was) so we started to pick up the floor in preparation to sweep.  As I swept Brandon found the scab (thank goodness) and threw it away so I didn’t have to find it.

The second highlight was our visit to and purchase of an annual pass to the Living Planet Aquarium.  I thought it was pretty cool but was too scared to touch the animals.  I did touch the thing that resembles the shock of an electric eel.  I won’t be doing that again!

Lastly, Aiden had his first experience in nursery.  Now I realize that he is not yet old enough so he only goes to nursery the last 40 mins. of church while we teach our Sunbeams their lesson.  He did really well yesterday.  Unfortunately, he misses out on play time all together.  Poor guy.  I am not ready for him to be old enough for nursery yet.  They grow just too darn quickly.  It did make a difference for the Sunbeams not to have the distraction of his cuteness so the idea was successful. 

As for Brandon and I.  He has been looking for jobs and anxiously waiting for his grades to come in.  He has also been doing some design work for Thumbprints and job prospects.  I attended book club and craft night and have started on Christmas projects (when you don’t have money and you have a lot of people you want to give to, you have to start early with projects).

I think that is all for the MAJOR highlights of the week.  Sorry this entry is so short, enjoy the pictures (it was a slow picture week as well)!

CONGRATULATIONS TO MY SWEET HUBBY!!!!  I don’t know who was more excited for him to graduate him or I, nevertheless it was a lot of work and a lot of time and he is now officially done!  We don’t have any big plans as of yet.  The first is just finding him a full time job with good benefits.  He had an interview with an employment placement company today for a graphic design job, he feels the interview went well and just needs to look at the company’s site and send a few of his portfolio pieces in.  It would be a temp to hire position which means he has a 90 probation period before he is officially hired on and the job is in Provo.  If he gets this job it would likely mean that we would stay with my dad until he is hired on permanently and then we would move south somewhere between Sandy and Lehi.  For some reason I have been leaning toward living in the Lehi area anyway so hey.  He also has a lead with a security job at the Murray City Municipal Court.  They don’t have an online application so I printed it off for him and he needs to fill it out and take it to them.  Boo for no online app.  Sadly, jobs are really sparse these days.  I am hoping that it will be easier for Brandon to find one now that he can work normal full time hours.  I guess we will see.

So, here are the highlights of the week.  Tuesday evening we went to a birthday party for my aunt.  Aiden ran around and around my grandma’s yard and just loved it.  Tuesday was also the day of our play group and it was fun as usual. 

Thursday my visiting teachers came over.  I always really look forward to when they visit.  It means the world to me and I always get some good piece of insight from them. 

Friday was GRADUATION DAY!!!  Hallelujah!  I forgot how dull graduation ceremonies are and they read names for like an hour because there were so many.  The student speaker had a really un-animated talk as well.  I was so proud of my hubby though and we got some cute pictures afterward before heading to eat at Red Lobster.  I am not a fish person, I was thinking of maybe getting halibut because I enjoy it but the steak was cheaper so I thougt, what the heck!  Bring on the red meat!!!  (For those of you who do not know me well, I love steak and could never ever go without red meat.)  They had great fries, a delicious marinade on the meat, yummy cheese biscuits, and even Aiden’s mashed potatoes were tasty.  On top of all of that the customer service was superb!  Aiden had made a huge mess and they were very gracious about it.  I never once ran out of water AND they boxed up my food for me.  I was very pleased with everything about our meal at Red Lobster.  Brandon’s parents came into town for the ceremony and we fed them chili and rolls for lunch and chatted with them until it was time to head up to the U. 

Saturday we went to a BBQ celebrating my cousin Will’s graduation from the U.  Aiden loved running around while we were there and we made sure to lather him in sunscreen so that he didn’t get burned.  Thanks for the good food and company Will and Emmy!  Congratulations again Will!  In the evening Aiden, Brandon, and I went to Bed, Bath and Beyond to find what was originally intended to be my Valentine’s gift.  They didn’t have it so we ate dinner at Noodles and Co.  YUM, YUM!!!  Then Brandon stopped at Barnes and Nobles for my gift.  A book called, “In Praise of Stay-at-Home Moms” by Dr. Laura.  I look forward to reading it but have just one other book to finish first. 

Sunday was a pretty good Mother’s Day.  We were unable to attend church because Aiden has been coughing and in and out of a fever since about Wednesday and I didn’t know if he was contagious and did not want to pass it along to our Sunbeams.  Instead we made apple cinnamon muffins for breakfast and took it easy most of the day.  When I was done relaxing for a bit Brandon handed Aiden the card from Aiden and the gift from Aiden and had him bring them to me.  It was very cute.  Brandon and put the pen in Aiden’s hand and helped him to write mom on the envelope and Aiden on the card.  Aiden also gave me a book called, “Jane Austen’s Little Instruction Book.”  It is a tiny book with quotes from some of Jane Austen’s books.  Very cute.  Brandon plans to get me a potted plant as well but it is no longer hyacinth season so we just need to go to a nursery so I can pick out the one I want the most. 

Aside from all of that I found out today that Aiden has an a-typical pneumonia.  The pediatrician gave him a prescription for antibiotics and said that his lungs should be cleared out in 5 days.  I can’t imagine how much worse it could have been if Brandon hadn’t given Aiden that blessing.  Aiden seems to be doing fairly well.  You can see that the fever/coughing are taking their toll and that he just isn’t feeling himself but he is still mostly cheerful so that is a good thing.  We hope that everyone is having a happy May.  Until next week, thanks for reading…

Hello, hello again.  As of yesterday Aiden started to cut one of his top back teeth.  I have been calling it a molar but I don’t really know the specific name for it.  That brings the grand total to 8 teeth.  He has the top four, three on the bottom, and the molar that has started to cut through.  His molar, unlike the other teeth, is giving him a bit more trouble.  Out of the blue sweet Aiden will start to fuss and put his hand up to his mouth.  Brandon thinks perhaps the tooth will throb from time to time. 

Anyway, I haven’t felt up to much this week.  I don’t really know why.  Things have been pretty mellow around here.  Maybe I just need to get more active and eat more healthy and I will feel better.  We did do several fun things this week though.  We bought Aiden and little plastic pool and some sand on Monday.  Which he has played in a little bit but not as much as we’d hope because of the rain.  That same day he learned to climb up onto our bed as well.  Now we are really in trouble.  ;p 

Tuesday morning Aiden and I went to playgroup.

Wednesday evening was 31 cent scoop night at Baskin Robbins.  We got nine scoops total (Brandon and I each ate one of Aiden’s scoops.)  As you can see from the photos below Aiden really enjoyed this delicious family tradition.

Thursday evening we went to hung out with my cousin and his wife.  Aiden had a lot of fun playing with Elise and they got along pretty well.  We made homemade pizza and had a tasty dessert of Oreo’s and chocolate brownie ice cream.  Thanks for having us over guys!  It was nice to enjoy some adult company for a change!

Friday evening Brandon went with a couple of his friends to see Wolverine.  I wasn’t really too interested in seeing it so I told Brandon to just go with his buddies.  I went over to my friend Richelle’s where Aiden played with her two girls and she introduced me to a show called Monk.  It is on cable so I won’t be able to watch it but I think that it is a very clever plot idea.  We also ate some popcorn which Aiden literally snarfed/inhaled.  You’d think we starve him or something (which we do not) I guess it is just because he is a boy.  😉  I also had a regular old check up at the doctors so that we could put the PCN medicaid that is about to expire to use at least once.  They told me my BMI falls into the “overweight” category (it is a 27 and I should be between 20-25).  That made me feel real good.  (NOT!)  I have resolved once again to try and be more healthy.  If I lose weight in the process great, but I am not going to be active for the purpose of losing weight because it depresses me.  My main problem I think is my addiction to sweets.  I have a very big (I mean HUGE) sweet tooth.  If I could cut back on that and then just be more active in general (like maybe take my child for walks every day) then I bet I would be healthier.  I just have this thing about excercise, I hate it.  Maybe it stems from my having asthma, or maybe it is because it is time consuming, or maybe because you have to work through the pain, and weakness until you are strong.  Which seems ridiculous and silly to me.  Why put yourself through all of that unneccessary pain?  Anyway, if anyone know of any inexpensive water aerobics classes, or an instructor, please let me know. 

Saturday evening we had our first family movie night.  Aiden actually sat for about 30 mins. with his little bowl of popcorn and his fruit roll up and watched The Tales of Devereaux with us.  It was pretty cute.  It is exciting to start having some official family traditions and activities.  Well, I guess that is all.  Until next week, thanks for reading…