The Wilhelmsen Botanical Blog

Well, another week has passed and I am growing ever closer to be a mom of two.  This past week Aiden turned 2 years old.  We had his party on the 6th so his actual birthday was very low key.  We had pigs in a blanket with tator tots for dinner and then we cut into his Glauss cake.  My mom and her beau came and had some cake with us.

Wednesday Aiden had his 2 year check up.  He was in the 50th percentile for weight and 10th percentile on height…I don’t always believe the height measurements because he may not have stretched all the way or stood up straight enough.  His weight was around the 28 lb. mark and his height was about 34 1/4 inches.

Thursday was my 32 appt. at the obgyn.  As of today my due date is 7 weeks away and Lucas will likely make his entrance (helped out by the doc) on April 2nd.  Just a little over 6 1/2 weeks away…My appointment went well.  My blood pressure continues to be good and the baby is still head down.  The best thing was that Lucas had the hiccups when the doc was listening to his heart so I was able to hear beat, beat, beat, pause, beat, beat, beat, pause, every time he had a hiccup.  I am still measuring 1 1/2 centimeters big as well.  I also gained 3 lbs. in 2 weeks thanks to lots of birthday cake and ice cream…I am trying to take it easier on the sweets, I really only want to gain like 1 lb. a week until Lucas is born.

Friday we had big plans to ride front runner (because it was free) to Ogden for dinner and then ride it back.  Well, we missed our earlier train and by the time we got to Ogden it was like 6:40 and we wanted to be on the 7:07 or 7:37 train back south.  That didn’t really leave a lot of time for much of anything.  It was also dark by the time we arrived and the place where we were originally planning to eat was of course closed.  We ended up just wandering around until we found somewhere that I could use the restroom and then we got food at Subway.  This Subway managed to ear a great big FAIL from us while we were there too.  They were out of meatballs, tuscan chicken, one kind of bread, one kind of cheese, chocolate chip cookies and yogurt for the kids meal.  Hello!   You are in the business of FOOD, your job is to HAVE IT.  Oi.  (We also took their last chocolate milk for Aiden.)  All in all our trip was a bust but we did see an old friend and had a nice chat with him on the train on the way towards Ogden.

Saturday was the day that Brandon and I went on our Valentine’s date.  We had a gift certificate for Sugarhouse Barbecue as well as for one pedicure each that we had received for Christmas.  We sent Aiden off to my aunt’s to be tended (Thanks Vicky and Neal!) and went on our way to lunch.  Holy cow was it TASTY!  I got the pulled pork and put bbq sauce on it.  Yum!  Brandon got the buffalo chicken.  Then we got a sheet cake sundae for dessert.  Tasty!  All we can say is that we both highly recommend treating your taste buds to the food at this restaurant.  It gets four thumbs up.  Thanks Torren!  After lunch we had wonderful, relaxing pedicures (Thanks mom!) and then made the mistake of going to See’s chocolates the day before Valentine’s.  We were so close though we just HAD to stop and luckily they were prepared for the rush with plenty of staff.  Mmmm, those were some delicious chocolates.  My hubby also gave me these beautiful roses with a vase from Ikea.  We plan to use the vase for my paper roses that he made once the live ones wilt.  In the afternoon we took Aiden to get his two year pics. taken.  The staff was wonderful and very accommodating when we told them our budget.  We were able to get everything we wanted and then some.  He is just the most photogenic kid that it is hard to choose what to keep and what to discard!

Sunday we kept Aiden home from nursery due extreme runny nose and abundant coughing.  Brandon stayed with him while I went to Relief Society and then I came home and picked them both up for sacrament.  We had a delicious breakfast of chocolate, strawberry, cream cheese stuffed french toast and later in the day I gave Brandon a note, some candy, and a little salt dough heart that Aiden and I had made.  We gave Aiden a book and a chocolate.  In the evening we ate manicotti for dinner and then headed over to my aunt’s for family night and cookie decorating.  Well, that is our week.  Thanks for reading!

P.S. I realized I didn’t mention our veggie adventure this week.  The vegetable of the week was squash.  We had grilled acorn squash which was ok but not something we are eager to try again.  Later in the week we made butternut dumplings.  They tasted similar to french fries because they were boiled and then fried.  Neither of us were really able to form an opinion on them and we have extra dough so we figure we will try them again and if we like them we will freeze the extra dough and if not we will discard the extra dough.  This week our veggie is turnips!  I will let you know what we think in our end of the week news…

The highlight of last week was Aiden’s 2nd birthday party.  We kept it really small again this year, inviting only my aunt and uncle, grandma and grandpa, mom and dad, and Brandon’s parents and brother.  Brandon’s family wasn’t able to come so it ended up being just 9 of us total.  As you can see we did a very low key Elmo themed birthday.  It took me three tries and half of a small container of red food coloring gel to get the proper “Elmo” red that I wanted but thankfully it worked.  Aiden had a good time and was really excited about blowing out the fire of the candles.  He keeps asking to do it again.  He got a lot of fun gifts and enjoys nothing more then dumping all of his toys out on the floor.

Also this week Aiden had a fight with an Oreo and the Oreo won….

He has also enjoyed climbing into his little cupboard and hiding in there.  I guess he has grown out of being claustrophobic.

Well, that is all for this week.  Sorry that I don’t have (or can’t remember) more to report about.  We are very excited for spring around here and look forward to the warmer weather (although it has been quite nice the last couple of days).  Other news to report is that Brandon has not been made ward martial arts specialist but has in actuality been made 2nd counselor in the Sunday School presidency.  Thanks for reading!

We had a busy week.

Tuesday evening we went to a surprise birthday for a friend of mine.  Aiden loved running around at the clubhouse where the party was held and opening and closing multiple doors.

Wednesday we took Aiden to Wild Wednesday (free day) at Hogle Zoo.  He loved running around and seemed to be most interested in the monkey’s/apes.

Thursday was my 30 week appt. with the obgyn.  I am still measuring  a week and a half big but had only gained one pound.  Total weight gain so far 11 pounds!  THANK GOODNESS!  My goal is to gain a total of 20 for this pregnancy.  (I gained 40 with Aiden and started out this pregnancy ten pounds heavier.)  He also listened to the heartbeat and felt my stomach to see if he could tell whether Lucas is head up or head down.  Good news!  Lucas is head down and the likelihood of him flipping to head up this late in the game is very small.  Good news all around!

Friday evening we went to Bountiful to help celebrate the 1st birthday of my cousin’s daughter.  It was busy and I was having dog allergies and struggling to breathe but it was fun to see family and to have a chance to visit.

Saturday we headed up to my dad’s in the morning so that we could empty out our storage unit and store it in Aiden’s old room at my dad’s house.  Aiden was very excited to see grandpa and we ended up going to lunch with my dad before shopping for Aiden’s birthday party meal.  When it came time to leave Aiden had a meltdown, he did not want to put his coat on and I think that he was a little bit confused.  My theory is that it finally occurred to him that grandpa wasn’t moving with us and that we were not on a vacation and going to return “home” to grandpa’s.  It was also the first time that my dad was home when we brought Aiden over.  As a result the reality that it was grandpa’s home and that our new place is our home probably rocked his world a little bit.  He was still a little shaky and had another melt down when it got to be nap time and I had to put him to bed.  He has been ok today though.

Later on during dinner prayer Aiden loudly declared, “Mommy farted.” and in reality no one had farted.  Truth be told I had a hard time finishing the prayer because I was laughing.  After dinner we took Aiden to the dino play area at the mall.  He really enjoyed running around and going down the slide multiple times.  While he played I ran to get a drink and because I thought somebody was trying to get my attention and following me I bypassed the drinking fountain and went into the bathroom.  After finishing my business I grabbed some toilet paper and when I went to pull it off I yanked so hard that the door to the toilet paper holder popped open and the roll fell on the floor releasing about 3 feet of toilet paper.  The worst part is that someone else was in the bathroom and I felt so embarrassed.  The thought that went through my head was, “Oh great.  How embarrassing.”  Then of course I had to laugh.  I did put the roll back in it’s proper place and close the door to the holder and in my defense it didn’t latch properly so it could have happened to anyone.

In the late evening when Brandon was changing Aiden for bed I asked him, “Aiden, which came first the chicken or the egg?”  To which he replied, “Chicken or egg?”  So Brandon clarified by saying, “Yes, but which was first the chicken; or the egg?”  Aiden’s answer, “Egg.”  So Brandon asked him is he had any evidence to support his answer and Aiden said, “We’re washing the eggs.”  So there you are, Aiden has solved one of life’s little mysteries.  I should ask him the meaning to life to see if he can clear that up for us as well.

In other news we have completed week one of veggies around the world.  We had sweet potato bread, sweet potato waffles, and sweet potato croquettes this week (on separate nights, we aren’t crazy).  I must say all three were a success!  If anybody ever wants a recipe for something that we try feel free to comment on our post and I will e-mail it to you.  This upcoming week we will be trying out two brussels sprouts recipes!  Don’t grimace just yet, those brussels sprouts have such a bad rap because nobody ever does anything except steam them.  We will reveal our recipes to you next week and let you know how work out.

Lastly, Aiden is to the point (height and dexterity wise) where he can pretty much open any door knob that stands in his way.  So if we ever come over to your house then consider yourself adequately warned!  🙂  Have a good week!  Thanks for reading.

Well, this week is very (and I mean VERY) low on photos.  All I have are a few of my ever growing belly.  Here is what we have been up to this week…

Monday I went to the dentist to get a cavity filled and then over to my grandma’s for scrapbooking.  It was fun to have some time to myself but my mouth was numb for like 6 hours and I bit the inside of my cheek multiple times.  I was able to get some cute cards made and they are up on my online boutique which can be found here.  The food was tasty and the company was wonderful as is the norm with my extended family.

We spent two hours on Sunday and Monday evenings watching the newest season of 24.  They never waste any time jumping right into things and being intense.  I am eagerly looking forward to Lost as well!

This week I made the curtains for our bedroom and we got them hung up.  We are getting ever closer to being organized and having everything in its place.  I did finally unpack in the kitchen but it is still a little cluttered due to some things not have a place to live yet.  Our room still needs some work and there is just a couple of boxes and some clutter in the living room (we have to make a D.I. run to drop things off) and we have some large boxes that need to go to a dump or something.  The end is in sight though!  Hallelujah!  We have also been to the library a few times and Aiden and I have been spending 30-60 mins. nearly each day outside in the backyard!  It is SO nice to have a safe outdoor space for Aiden to run around in.

Thursday evening the boys went to get their hair cut.  I will have to get some pics. and post them later.  I ended up holding Aiden on my lap while they cut his hair.  We both had on barbering capes but I still ended up COVERED in his little tiny hairs.  He did really well, a bit wiggly but he didn’t fuss or get upset.  He always looks more grown up after a haircut.

Saturday morning we went to the aquarium, I just let Aiden lead the way and he went quickly through.  After we had “seen” everything he sat and “drove” the boat a couple of times.  The program wasn’t working but Aiden didn’t care, he just wanted to steer the wheel around.  He enjoyed “driving” the boat so much that he talked about it the whole way home.

In the afternoon Brandon and I went to see Twilight at Desert Star.  It was funny.  They took the song “The telephone hour” from Bye Bye Birdie and changed the words to fit the show.  IT WAS GREAT!  They pulled it off wonderfully.  Later on in the show they used, “I am I Don Quixote, the man of La Mancha.” and change those lyrics for the show as well.  I loved it!  It never ceases to amaze me how they can think of the perfect show tune and then change the words around to fit the show they have written.  It takes a creative genius!  🙂  Thanks mom for baby sitting!

In Aiden news, this week he has said two prayers with our help.  It is super cute!  He does really well repeating what we say.  Today at church he was funny too.  As a woman was finishing up her talk Aiden said, “Christ, Amen. Now sing.”  LOL  He has a pretty good idea of how sacrament meeting goes.  Going to nursery first still has him thrown off a little bit but he will catch on eventually.

As for our opposition we are still waiting to hear from Vangent, Brandon has consistently been working sub jobs which will thankfully cover the basics.  Nevertheless, I am trying really hard not to panic but in the next few months we have to start paying towards a second student loan, register our car, provide for a 2nd baby (incl. circumcision) and continue to pay our current bills.  For whatever reason, everything always comes down to stupid money and there never seems to be enough of it.  GRR.  We have come across a couple of new job ideas but nothing big or that have led to anything worth mentioning.  Please continue to keep us in your prayers.  Thanks for reading…

Well, let’s see if I can remember what went on this week.  We moved Saturday the 9th into our new place.  It is the basement apartment of a longtime friend of mine.  It is nice, Aiden has enjoyed running about in the space and “marking his territory” by tossing his toys and books all about.  I think he likes the extra space.  His room is also darker so he has been sleeping a lot better.

As a result of our move much of this week has been spent unpacking and rearranging.  The end is in sight but we have not done much in the kitchen or our bedroom because we have been waiting for things.  In the kitchen we need to baby proof the drawers and lower cupboards before we can fill them with things because we do not want the hassle of trying to keep Aiden out of them.  In our room we were waiting for a bookshelf from my grandparents so that I can organize my craft supplies onto it.  This coming week I hope to finish the unpacking process and have no more boxes in sight!  This week I have also created a car seat tent (like this only with different fabric), started on our living room curtains, darned a sock, fixed a hole in Aiden’s coat, made oatmeal raisin cookies, and baked a pie.  I have also taken Aiden outside in the backyard to play a few times despite the crummy air quality and he LOVES it.  I love that he has a place to run around in and be a boy.  He has even learned how to climb up the steps to the slide and go down it by himself.

Thursday was my obgyn appt. and glucose test.  Everything seems to be going well.  I have only gained 10 lbs. so far, the baby is moving frequently and his heartbeat is strong.  I haven’t heard back about the glucose test yet, there was a chance I would hear Friday if it came back that my blood sugar levels were off but it could be as late as tomorrow.  If I don’t hear by phone tomorrow then it means that everything came back normal and I can continue eating what I am eating.  As of my appt. I was 28 1/2 weeks along and I am measuring 30 weeks.  The doctor said that he thinks that Brandon and I just make bigger babies.

Thursday evening Brandon, Aiden, and I went swimming at the Oquirrh Park Fitness Center.  It was a bit nerve wracking riding along in the car on such a dark foggy night but we got to and from there safely.  The pool wasn’t a very toddler friendly pool.  The water depth at the bottom of the stairs is 2.5 feet deep.  Aiden didn’t like that we weren’t letting him free to wander about the pool because he didn’t understand that very quickly he would be under water.  We did just a couple times staying right next to him but not touching him to see if he could grasp that he was just to short to be left alone and he never did catch on.  On the upside they have a water slide and Aiden was allowed to go on it as long as Brandon or I caught him.  I caught him the first two times and then sent him down the last.  I could have done without watching him get whipped around by the water and turns in the slide.  He just looked so little and swallowed up by the slide.  Needless to say three times was more then enough for him.  He enjoyed the first two times a lot and was laughing and so proud of himself but after the third time he didn’t ask to go on it again.  Perhaps he had been thrown around enough.

Saturday morning Aiden, Brandon, and I went to my dad’s to try and clean up some more.  We made some good progress but still haven’t even had a chance to sweep of steam clean the floor.  We did manage to get all of our food and food storage though.  After my dad’s we went to my grandma’s to have my grandpa load up a bookshelf and to enlist his help with a small cupboard that we forgot to load up when we moved.  In the afternoon my friend Katie came over and we hung out upstairs with Richelle and just chatted and let the kids play together.  It was fun to  just have some time with the gals and to see Katie one last time before she goes back to Vegas until May.  Well, I think that is all for this week.  Thanks for reading!

This will simply be a picture post from Christmas and our trip to AZ…Enjoy!  These first photos are from our first annual baking cookies for santa tradition.  As you can see he ate the frosting more then using it. 

The next set of photos is from our yearly Christmas Eve at grandma and grandpa’s.  It is always crazy and lots of fun.

The next set of photos is from Christmas morning around 9:00.  We all slept in because of Aiden’s illness.

Later in the week we took Aiden to Kangaroo Zoo to play because I could tell he was getting stir crazy in the house and we needed some relief from the insanity.  🙂  He liked running around and sliding down the slides.

These last photos are from our trip to AZ.  I didn’t take very many but the ones I did take are very indicative of our trip.  The weather was nice and the company was fun.

So last night was our usual family festivities at my grandma and grandpa’s house.  It was a lot of fun and the company is always good.  Despite starting at six and my indicating that I was ready to leave about 8:45, we didn’t end up getting home until about 10:00.  This is an hour past Aiden’s bedtime.  We quickly did all of the bedtime routine (brushing teeth, using the potty, praying, and I rocked him and sang to him) then I laid him down thinking that he would fall right to sleep.  WRONG.  He jabbered in there to himself (no doubt about all of the intense excitement that he had just been a part of) until 10:30 or 10:45.  I laid down to go to sleep shortly after that but was having trouble falling asleep.  At 11:20ish as I was still tossing and turning I heard Aiden start to cry and then I got up to listen if he would fall back to sleep.  When he called out for Brandon and then me I decided to forgo our usual treatment of such situations (which is to let him fall back to sleep without interference) and went in there to find he had tossed his cookies.  I picked him up to find that it was down both sides of his face and all over the back of his head.  Once I got into the bathroom with him I noticed that he was wiping his eyes and that he couldn’t see because it was there too.  Not really sure where to start in the cleaning process I called to Brandon to please change the sheets on the bed and plopped Aiden into a shallow bath to clean him up.  I could tell that Aiden was shaken up and had no idea what was going on or why this was happening to him (incidentally this is the first time he has been sick like this, he spit up a lot as a baby but this it completely different).  Unfortunately he proceeded to toss his cookies 4 more times.  The last finally being mostly clear.  During this whole process Aiden would start to get upset when he could tell that he was going to toss his cookies again and he kept telling me, “Put in the bed.  Tired.  Sleepy.”  He was very cuddly too and I could tell he was having a difficult time getting comfortable in my lap.  We decided to try having me sleep in my dad’s overstuffed chair with Brandon on the futon but even still Aiden was having a hard time getting comfy and by that time had tossed his cookies for times and could hardly keep his eyes open.  When he finally tossed his cookies the 5th time and I saw that it was mostly clear I knew that he had completely emptied his stomach contents and both Brandon and I felt certain he was done with the process so we put him into bed and he slept the rest of the night.  Of course by then it was nearly 1:00 in the morning.  I had high hopes that Aiden would sleep until 10:00 to make up for getting to bed so late and then being up for an hour and a half of sickness but he was up at 8:45.  That is still sleeping in though so that was good.  Today he seemed to be back to normal except that he drank extra fluids and ate only a fraction of his normal food intake.  We don’t know what caused the cookie tossing we have a few theories from him eating WAY TOO MUCH (highly likely), to there being too much gelatin in our raspberry ice cream pie and perhaps upsetting his stomach, to the possibility that because the apple I gave him was with nuts (even though they are shelled) that it may have cause an allergic reaction.  My mom said that it was good for him to eat less today simply because his tummy was probably still a bit sensitive from last night.  I must say that this being my first experience of this kind of illness in my son that I didn’t know that I had taken care of things in the 100% best way possible but that I did take things one step at a time, did things the best that I knew how and Aiden ended up getting through it unscathed.  You certainly learn the true meaning of love when caring for a sick child in the middle of the night when you are exhausted.  🙂  Despite the long night though, Aiden had a good Christmas today and really enjoys all of his new toys.  He took turns playing with each one today from a set of Disney Cars, to musical instruments, to a set of tools, to a new bike!  (Plus more small items that he enjoyed equally as well.)  It was nice to just take it easy today and we were grateful that my mom could come and visit.  I hope that everyone else had as wonderful of a day as we did.  Merry Christmas!

I can not believe how quickly this year has gone by.  In just a few short weeks Aiden will be two years old and a few weeks after that we welcome the second addition to our family.  Kids really grow far too quickly for my liking.  Our week wasn’t incredibly eventful.  Brandon substitute taught and we waited to hear from a lady about a town home in Farmington.  She called us Tuesday evening as we were watching G-Force and said that because Brandon was only making $72.00 a day they didn’t think that we could afford the town home and when he asked if we could contest that she told him that they had already given it to someone else.  THANKS A LOT FOR WARNING US (or even giving us a chance to explain the situation).  Psh.  As a result I called my friend in Sandy who had a basement apartment that they have been trying to rent for a few months now and thankfully it is still available.  We have put down a deposit on it and will be moving January 9th.  It will be nice to be close to places like Wal-mart, the library, various parks, various grocery stores, and etc. again.  Brandon will also be working about 5 mins. away from there in mid January to beginning February.  We have begun the preparations to pack and I have even packed a couple of boxes but the major moving is going to wait until we are back from our trip to visit Brandon’s family.

Thursday was my 24 week appointment with the obgyn.  It went well my blood pressure was good, the babies heartbeat was good, and my sugar levels were normal.  I am now measuring 26 weeks when I ought to be measuring 24.5.  This is not due to weight gain because I have only gained 7 pounds thus far.  We will see how things go but in order to avoid a c-section I may end up inducing a week or so early like I did with Aiden.  This is unfortunate because I was going to wait a little bit longer before asking for a mercy induction to see if Lucas would come on his own.

Last night was my friend Christmas party like I mentioned before.  It was fun the food was delicious and the decorations were nice.  Thank you to my friends for the generous and tasty gifts.

Yesterday Aiden also got into the bathroom when we got home from running an errand and after flushing the toilet walked around in the bath tub while wearing his wet and dirty shoes.  The result of this mischieviousness can be viewed below.

Today we had a scare when we got home from church.  As you know we have diligently kept Aiden away from any and all nut products.  This is because he has a 50% chance of being allergic himself thanks to my allergies to them.  Our plan was to take him to an allergist again between ages 2 & 3 to be re-tested and then to wait to feed him peanut butter/peanuts until he is 4.  Anyway today when we got home Aiden got into my dad’s room while Brandon and I were getting lunch ready, shut the door behind himself, found my dad’s big bag of peanut M & M’s and started picking up handfuls and shoving them into his mouth like a squirrel gathers nuts for winter.  Brandon was the one who found him when I mentioned that it was far too quiet and that Aiden must be up to something.  Anyway, Brandon made Aiden spit out as much as he could coax him too but Aiden immediately swallowed when Brandon said to spit (the stinker).  Then Brandon brought him down to me and I started to panic and washed around Aiden’s mouth.  I also gave him some water to drink to further wash things out.  I had Brandon grab the epi-pen and then we watched Aiden.  I knew that if he was going to show symptoms of a reaction that it would happen fairly quickly.  So we both watched Aiden for trouble breathing, swollen lips, a rash, dialated eyes, or just him acting out of the ordinary.  Thankfully none of that happened and he is now napping in his room.  I am of course a worry wart so I am still a little worried about him and won’t be fully reassured until he awakens healthy and happy from his nap but there were no symptoms of being allergic so I need to just calm down.  Anyway, the other thing is that I was told that allergic reactions don’t always show up when a person is first exposed to a new allergen.  This means that now he has been exposed to it it will be the next event of exposure that will tell all.  I plan to have Aiden re-tested for allergies in February or March for a more accurate test.

When I was putting Aiden down for nap and rocking him he was drinking from his sippy and he said, “That my water, put in mouth.”  and then he said, “Put it in the mouth.”  He understanding of language and the world around him astounds me.

Lastly, is a controversial topic to many people and I will do my best to be respectful and unnoffensive.  I have struggled with whether or not those who are in the gay and lesbian community have come to same gender attraction due to nature or nurture.  This has plagued me for years as I knew on the one hand that spirit children of Heavenly Father are not attracted to the same gender and that “Gender is an essential characteristic of individual premortal, mortal, and eternal identity and purpose.”  I also know that, “God has commanded that the sacred powers of procreation are to be employed only between man and woman, lawfully wedded as husband and wife.”  God’s children in the world before this life do not have to contend with the natural man and the desires of the flesh.  Thus I can feel confident in saying and knowing that they were not and are not attracted to spirits of the same gender.

This only today occurred to me as they read the line, “Each is a beloved spirit son or daughter of heavenly parents, and, as such, each has a divine nature and destiny” from, “The Family: A Proclamation to the World” at church.  I hope that I am accurately portraying my feelings.  What I know is that these bodies of ours are imperfect, they are full of desire and the natural man and could be attracted to anyone, male or female.  As a result our spirits are subject to the desires of our bodies and the power that we give to our bodies can overpower our spiritual nature.  God’s plan is for men and women to come together and to procreate.  That is how it is and how it has been for generations past.  I know that is how it is in Heaven without our bodies, desires, and the world to confuse us.  So the answer to my question of nature vs. nurture is that it is not the nature of our spirits, but the nature of our bodies that causes some men or women to be attracted to those of the same gender.  We are all God’s children, we all deserve basic rights, we should stop bringing each other down and making judgments.  We should be praying about and serving each other.  Everything else will be worked out in Heaven.

So this past week we got to spend time with Erica and Matt because they flew in from Florida.  We love seeing them and visiting with them and it is always sad when someone has to go home.  Aiden really love Matt and Erica and has been asking me about them since they left on Saturday.  I think he still expects to see them in later today or maybe tomorrow.  In fact, when we were saying goodbye I was doing really good not crying or being sad, until Aiden said to Matt, “See you morrow.”  I just have really struggled having all the family so spread apart, especially since I am used to seeing all my cousins every holiday and during the long days of summer.  I have really been blessed to have such a close relationship with my extended family that I have come to terms with the fact that it will always be hard for me to have my sister, as well as pretty much all of Brandon’s family (awesome aunts, kind and friendly siblings, doting grandmas and parents, quickly growing cousins and adorable nieces and nephews) so far away.  It seems to be more difficult around the holidays.

Anyway, while they were here we had some fun sledding in my dad’s backyard then going out to eat.

Having “Christmas” at my mom’s.

Going to see the lights.

And then a farewell breakfast at Ihop.

The week was far too short.  In the evening after they left on Saturday Brandon, Aiden, and I went to the craft store.  While we were waiting to check out Aiden was pointing out Santa Claus to a lady in front of us.  She asked Aiden, “What does Santa say?” and Aiden pause a moment before saying emphatically, “Ribbit.”  That got a chuckle out of us.  Also a little bit earlier my dad was sitting in his chair and he asked, “Who moved my t.v.? ”  I replied that it was the little troublemaker running around the living room.  At which point Aiden went over, fixed the t.v. positioning and said,”T.V. all better.”  If he knows what things are bad choices and what are not then how come he keeps making the bad choices?  Toddlers I tell ya.  🙂

As I sit here to write little Aiden is still sleeping and it is 8:40.  When I woke up this morning and saw all of the beautiful snow and that it was still snowing I felt like a kid at Christmas.  I even keep getting slightly choked up at being privileged to show this wonder and awe to my son.  Now I know plenty of people who don’t really care for snow.  This is mostly due to the danger of having to drive in it.  Perhaps you have to see the snow through a child’s eyes to truly capture the beauty and magic of it.  Thus lessening your fear of it.  Now I am as scared as the next guy to feel that lack of control as your car slides over a patch of ice but still can’t get enough of it in the winter each year.

One other thing before I go into our family news.  Being without a job since April has been really hard and stressful.  There have been many prayers, many tears, and much frustration, as application after application has seemed to fall to blind eyes and deaf ears.  During all of it I have wondered where our help in finding a job has been.  What is Heavenly Father’s plan for us, and why haven’t we gotten a job yet?  Even jobs that Brandon seems a shoe in’ to get have been given to someone else.  Thankfully my dad finally suggested that Brandon start subbing.  The pay is minimal and only comes once a month, it doesn’t have benefits, but every day he has sought out to work he has been able to.  Despite it’s small wages we will be able to get into our own place before the baby comes.  Things will be tight but they will be doable.  Brandon may have to take on a second job for awhile but he is willing to do so.  Anyway, through all of this stress I have wondered what the point of it all is, what am I supposed to be learning, or who are we helping by continuing to be here and without a job.  I simply felt like we were trodding this trial alone despite the miracle that we continue to pray for.  Well this morning as I looked out on the snowy world I realized, despite having no job we have been fortunate to not have any emergencies come up that would have cost us our savings.  We almost had to buy a car battery but that ended up being ok and we have all maintained steady health.  We have had no crashes, no car break downs, and even our windshield is still amazingly crack free.  On top of all of this my dad has been generous enough to continue to buy groceries for all of us as well us let us skip some bills we owe.  Oh and we have been allowed to live here rent free.  Thank you dad.  So I guess my realization is just that even though we have had no job, we have been watched over and kept safe.

So my typing was interrupted by Aiden waking up.  He has now been laid down for nap and has been jabbering away in his crib for a good 20 mins.  Go to sleep I tell you!  🙂  Anyway, when I took him downstairs to see the snow we looked out the front window.  I said to Aiden, “Look at all that snow, oh my goodness.” to which he replied, “Oh my goodness, cute snow.”  LOL.  What a cute kid.

Ok now our news.  These first two pictures are silly I know but I got swollen during my last pregnancy and forgot what my hands and feet looked like skinny.  Therefore I decided that this time I would document them before they started to swell.

Tuesday evening I attended the ward Relief Society dinner.  It was tasty and I enjoyed the holiday tunes by the choir.  Wednesday we went to the Anniversary Inn open house.  We were bummed that they did not offer their usual delicious chocolate chip cookies but enjoyed our time.  We love the great deals you can get on a room during the open house and this time we even won a few prizes from Kosy 106.5.  Below is our picture of Aiden with Santa.  He did NOT want to sit on his lap.

Thursday morning my sister came into town.  My grandma, Aiden, and I picked her up from the airport.  She then hung out with Aiden and I all day.  In the evening Brandon and I attended Glenn Beck’s the Christmas Sweater: revisited with two of his friends, while my dad, mom, and sister took Aiden to dinner.  It was a nice evening.

Saturday Matt came into town and mom, Erica, and Matt all stopped by briefly during Aiden’s nap time.

Sunday was our Thanksiving #2.  Sadly I had gotten the stomach flu and everything I ate came back up.  I was feeling like death and mainly focused on sitting still.  Thanks to everyone who chased Aiden around and kept him entertained.  Everything looked beautiful mom.

Lastly, here are my saltine’s and graham crackers from Thanksgiving week and my felt breakfast items from last week.  I will be making four slices of bread this week.    Thanks for reading!