The Wilhelmsen Botanical Blog

Well, hello everyone.  This past week has been super busy with all of the last minute preparations before leaving today for Arizona.  There will not be pictures posted until we return home from our trip because internet access is somewhat limited but I thought that I would at least try and write before we left.  I will also try and write again next Sunday.

So, the earlier part of the week consisted of laundry.  I wanted to have everything washed so that we would have plenty of options when we were packing.  Funny how big trips always seem to begin and end with a ton of laundry. 😉

Tuesday evening I went and helped my dad to do some Christmas shopping for his family and friends.  We were surprisingly successful and I think we picked some good choices.

Wednesday morning we took Aiden for his 10 month photos at Target.  They turned out cute.  It is always hard to choose photos and sometimes we go a tiny bit overboard but this time we stuck to our budget.  That evening Aiden was baby sat while Brandon, my dad, and I all went to see Glenn Beck’s Christmas show.  They were showing it live at the movie theatre.  It was a good message and not at all what I had been envisioning and rolling my eyes about.  🙂 Glenn Beck is a good man.

Thursday I spent part of the day buying my mom Christmas gifts with her money.  She didn’t want to know all of the things that she would be getting and wanted stuff to open on Christmas day.  She told me that if she were to use the money she would probably just use it for things that she needs.  So, I happily took on that opportunity to give my mom Christmas.  You see, I enjoy shopping and if I could get paid to do it I would.

Friday evening we went to an open house at the home of the bishop from our old ward and then to a wedding reception.  It was a terribly stormy night and the roads were not in the best driving condition but we drove slowly and made it just fine and without any mishaps.  Friday was also Brandon’s last “final” (it was actually a presentation of a paper he did earlier in the semester.) and now my hubby can take it easy a little bit.  This week he had to finish two websites, write two one page papers, fill out a questionaire, and finish up a paper.  He also had one final and one presentation up at the U of U.  On top of this he had some t-shirt designs to do and he finished one but will be using my lap top on our trip to finish others.

Saturday Brandon stayed home with Aiden while my dad and I went out to get a few more gifts.  One of the gifts took stopping by two stores before finally finding it at a third store.  Oi!  In the evening we went to visit my grandma and she let us open our gifts.  She also enjoyed watching Aiden crawl around and around again.  He is quite the silly little boy.

Yesterday we attended church, finished packing for our trip to Arizona, made yummy food for lunch and dinner, watched Fred Claus (which I REALLY enjoyed), and then in the evening my mom came over so that we could celebrate “Christmas”.  Basically Brandon and I exchanged gifts and then let Aiden open most of his gifts.  I forgot to give him his stocking though.  I guess I better do that before we leave this morning.  It was funny watching him open his toys because he couldn’t decide what to play with.

Well everyone, have a Merry Christmas and be safe in the snow.  We love you and thanks for reading!

Hello again!  I have been over stressed for some reason even though I have felt like I have been managing the millions of things I need to do better then before.  This stress has led to me getting frustrated and overwhelmed more easily which have leaked into my mothering.  Of course, anytime time I have felt even the least bit frustrated with Aiden in all of his short 10 months I have thought that I must be the worst mother ever to be frustrated by something as young, innocent, and unintentionally difficult as my Aiden.  This in turn makes me feel even worse.  Such a vicious cycle. 

So, last Sunday and Monday Aiden started to blow raspberries with his tongue.  He hasn’t done as much as the week has progressed but it still made me laugh.  Especially since on Saturday evening my mom had said, “Just wait until he is blowing raspberries and spitting his food everywhere.”  A very interesting coincidence I might say.  Monday Aiden managed to reach the open tub of Eucerine lotion off of my night stand and had a thick coating of it on his left foot and a slightly lighter coating on his right hand.  Sorry for the lack of pictures of it, I didn’t get to the camera quick enough.

Tuesday, I was looking at everything Brandon has left to do to finish out the semester and noticed a big project for geology that he hadn’t mentioned was due that same day.  I helped him with it and we got it turned in on time.  Phew!  It could have meant the difference between passing and not passing.  We are still crossing our fingers about that one class but he feels like he did well on his final.

Wednesday was Aiden’s first real big bonk.  He was standing up holding onto a rubbermaid tote and slipped and bonked his head on the corner of the wall by our closet.  It swelled up and was really red for awhile but it healed quickly and there is only a faint purple bruise in a vertical line on his forehead left.

Thursday I made yummy oatmeal raisin cookies and then Aiden and I went over to my grandma’s.  I ended up leaving my inhaler at home so unfortunately I didn’t help much but we did have a lot of fun with Aiden.  We gave him a bath in grandma’s tub, covered him with stuffed animals, and watched in amazement as he crawled around and around and around.  He is a busy body and curious about EVERYTHING!  I like to call him a whirling dervish.  In the evening my aunt’s came over and a couple of my cousin-in-laws to help decorate grandma’s tree.  They were just getting going when I went home with my hubby. 

Friday, Aiden and I spent some brief time with Brandon and then he dropped me off at my hair appointment and Aiden off at Grandma’s to be baby sat.  I decided that I wanted a perm and so I got one.  It is still taking a little bit of getting used to but I think it is fun and that I will definitely like it even better after I get to wash it tomorrow! 

Saturday was Brandon’s company party at the E-center.  We had my aunt babysit Aiden while we attended.  The food was good, ham, potatoes, rolls, salad, and juice and the entertainment was even better!  Who doesn’t LOVE a good game of ice hockey?  It is my favorite sport!  We left early so that we could get Aiden home to bed but after checking online today I found out the the Grizzlies won!  (It wasn’t looking so hot when we left it was 3-0 with the Grizz down).  The end score was Grizzlies 5, Thunder 3!  GO GRIZZLIES!!!  If you check out our other blog in a day or two you can check out the video we caught of a fist fight on the ice.  (This was the first time I had seen a fist fight during a game.)  SO EXCITING!!!  Oh, and earlier in the day we watched Speed Racer.  There were a few cheesy parts but I have decided that I did like the movie. 

Today we went to church as usual and I found out that last week when we went to a blessing that our ward had only had sacrament because a water main broke and was gushing into the building near the bishops office.  Apparently it had also broken some windows.  As a result they canceled classes.  I am glad that I didn’t try and go to relief society like I was thinking because the building would have been locked and empty.  Church was good though and I really liked the lesson that we had in relief society.  Oh, one other thing.  I keep Eucerine in Aiden’s room for his dry skin and I had it on the diaper changing table because I usually put it on in the morning when I change Aiden from jammies to clothes (his dry patches are on his back).  Well Brandon moved it to the shelf below and later this afternoon I went in to check on Aiden and lo and behold he had found the lotion and gotten it on his face.  Who knows if he ate some or just got it near his mouth.  Twice in one week?!?!?  Goodness.

A few other things to note.  As of Thursday Aiden has now been standing for anywhere from 5-15 seconds on his own once or twice a day.  Sometimes he will let go of whatever he is holding onto and sometimes Brandon or I will stand him up, let go and move away quickly.  Crazy to think that soon he will be walking!  On top of this his top two middle teeth are getting ready to break through the skin anytime.  His top left tooth is super close to the surface and looks ready to burst!  The last fun thing is that Aiden has started to mimic us and the first thing he has learned is how to clap.  Check our other blog in a day or two to see video of Aiden clapping.  Well, have a good week and good luck with all of your last minute Christmas preparations.  Thanks for reading…

Why hello everyone, and happy december!  It seems like things have suddenly kicked into high gear around here.  This week we have had several events to go to, not to mention shopping to be done, projects to finish, and an attempt to get our Christmas cards out.  (Still working on that.)  Luckily I finished the project that I was helping my grandma with, bought most of our last minute items (we just have to get something for the cousin Brandon drew, my sis and bro-in-law, and pick up something for B’s parents that has to wait until we are in AZ), worked on a few projects, kept the house picked up after Aiden, and attended the events I had planned on.  Phew.  Even though my agenda looks pretty clear for next week we will see how long that lasts. 

So, on Monday I just did some housekeeping items and then watched the two new episodes of Samantha Who.  Tuesday, Aiden and I went to the Ward Relief Society Party.  It was pretty fun, they fed us a yummy dinner of chicken cordon bleu and had the Woodscross Madrigals sing for us.  It made me miss colleg, high school, and institute choir.  Aiden also started having very wet bowel movements this day so I changed a LOT of dirty diapers and worked hard to keep the diaper rash down.

Wednesday I took my dad to the airport and then went to Wimpole Street for their open house with Aiden.  There were some fun things to look at but purchasing something from there was not in our budget.  After that Aiden and I went to my grandma’s to visit with my aunt and grandma for a bit and then swung by the grocery store on the way home for Aiden’s nap.  In the evening Aiden and I met Brandon at the Anniversary Inn for their open house and to have Aiden sit on santa’s lap.  It was fun to see all of the rooms in person and to eat some of their yummy, YUMMY, fresh out of the oven, chocolate chip cookies.  Aiden was kind of unsure about Santa but we did get a good smile out of him…as well as some crying. 

Thursday I ran errands getting the things I needed to finish up Christmas projects.  Which I am in the process of now.  I will start wrapping things next week.  In the evening Aiden and I went to the ward party and Brandon met up with us later.  They were doing Christmas around the World and there was a lot of good food such as shepherd’s pie and swedish meatballs.  Aiden sat on Santa’s lap there as well.  He wasn’t as distracted from crying this time…

Friday Aiden and I went to help my grandma wrap presents.  Her craft room is getting to be too full to work in because of all of the presents! 

Saturday we had tithing settlement.  Before tithing settlement Aiden and I helped Brandon take some photos for a class project he is working on.  We also bought a few ingredients for the yummy breakfast that we ate this morning.  Around 3:30 I went to pick up my dad from the airport and then in the evening we went to see the Christmas lights on temple square with my mom (driving and parking was a nightmare!  If you want to see the lights RIDE TRAX!!!) and to get hot chocolate and dessert at The Garden restaurant afterwards.  We had a good visit and Aiden liked the lights.

This morning brandon made a yummy skillet for breakfast.  It consisted of ham, potatoes, green bell pepper, onion, eggs, and a little bit of olive oil.  Yummy!  We then attended the baby blessing of my cousin’s daughter Angela.  They had an open house afterwards with yummy mini sandwiches, salads galore, and dessert of course.  This afternoon we have just been working to get various things done and wishing our computers would cooperate.  We hope that everyone has a good week, thanks for reading…

Well hello once again.  I hope that everyone had a great Thanksgiving.  It already feels like it has been ages since Thursday.  So, I must say that now that the leaves are almost gone from our tree in the front yard it really is time for some snow.  I will be spending Christmas in sunny Phoenix, AZ and I won’t have the opportunity for a white Christmas.  As such I would really like to get a good dose of white “Christmas” in before we go to AZ.  Besides the tree without leaves is telling me that it is time for the snow to come blowing in.  So where is it? 

Anyway, so Monday this week I went and helped my grandma to wrap a few gifts as well as her frozen fruit salad.  It is always fun to visit with her and while making the salad we used practically every mixing bowl and colander in the house.  Not to mention having jello and whipping cream on the counters.  I had a lot of fun though and Aiden enjoyed crawling around and getting into the garbage.  😉

Tuesday was a regular ol’ day with nothing significant to mention.  Wednesday was a busy day.  In the afternoon my dad and I went shopping.  We got Brandon’s Christmas gift, Aiden’s car seat (which was my dad’s Christmas gift to him), stopped at the bank, went to Joann Fabrics so that I could get ribbon for a project that I am helping my grandma with, and then we ate at Salt Lake Pizza and Pasta.  I got a “create your own 9″ pizza” and holy toledo it was GOOD!  Definitely one of the best pizzas I have ever had.  Yum!  In the morning I made Jello salad for Thanksgiving and then in the evening after all of our shopping I made the apple pie that I was assigned to bring.  It didn’t get pulled out of the oven until 10:30.  Oi!  Needless to say I didn’t make the glaze until Thursday.

Which brings us to Thanksgiving!  We mostly took it easy all morning.  I did make glaze for the pie and then I held Aiden while he napped because he would NOT take a nap and I didn’t want him to be ornery at Thanksgiving or tired and sleeping.  I knew he would enjoy the festivities and so I wanted him to nap.  Around 12:45 we headed over to my aunt’s ward house where we gathered with most of the extended family.  The was a large feast of food.  Complete with green bean casserole, creamed corn, turducken, turkey, yams, rolls, mashed potatoes, ham, banana cream pie, pumkin pie, apple pie, and strawberry rhubarb pie.  Oh let’s not forget my favorite part the STUFFING!  OOOOOOOHHHHHHHH so good!  In the evening we watched Hancock.  The story line was good but the language was not.  😐 

Friday morning we went and took Aiden to have his 9 month pictures taken at Target.  While we waited we went back to look at the toys and it was still a bit crazy (it was 10:00 in the morning).  Later on Aiden and I took Brandon to work.  On the way home we stopped by the home of an old University Village buddy and picked up some hand me downs for Aiden.  We visited a little bit and it was fun to see them.  We also stopped at walmart so that I could get a few thingsfor Christmas.  After Aiden had a nap and food we went back out and stopped at Seagull Book and Tape (I LOVE that store) as well as Joann Fabrics.  By that time we needed to pick Brandon back up.  It was a busy day but I got a lot done.

Yesterday I finally went to see Twilight.  Three of my friends went with me, two of whom had already seen the movie, one who had not.  I literally smiled the WHOLE movie.  I did realize that I read the books way too fast because I had trouble keeping the supporting characters straight.  I just thought that the movie was well done and it reminded me of how much I enjoyed the books.  Before the movie I stopped by another friends who also had hand me downs for me to borrow.  Now Aiden will be a well dressed kid!  I will forever appreciate those who helped me out.

Tonight we will be having a tasty dinner of taco salad with homemade creamy tomatillo sauce and then decorating the christmas tree!  YIPPEE!!!!!!!!!!!  Have a great week, thanks for reading…

Why hello again!  Can you believe that next week is Thanksgiving?  I wanted to make mention once again about Christmas music before Thanksgiving.  This year I came to learn something about myself.  To me Christmas is Love, Peace, Gratitude, and Family.  So despite the fact that at least half of the Christmas songs on the radio could be construed as “commercialistic” these songs have come to bring to me those 4 things which embody the “spirit” of the season.  To me feeling the spirit of the season (being Nov. 1-Jan. 2) does not take away from Thanksgiving but adds to it.  If we are feeling love and gratitude throughout the month of November it enhances the actual day of Thanksgiving.  Then as after we enjoy our family and share what we are greatful for we can look forward to the upcoming holiday of Christmas and the wonder and blessing of Christs birth.  I now understand why people so look forward to the Christmas music.  It is because of the spiritual side of Christmas, not the commercialistic side.  This too is the reason they want it to last all year long.  It is not because they are trying to skip over Thanksgiving but because they are all wrapped together in one loving, grateful package of time spent with family and loved ones…

So, Monday and Tuesday we uneventful as usual.  (I don’t know that they are truly uneventful, I think I just don’t ever remember what we do because they are at the beginning of the week.  For those truly curious I do know that mondays are the night we watch Samantha Who and tuesdays are Eli Stone nights.)  Anyway…

Wednesday was a crazy day for Brandon.  I had an appointment for 3:15 to pick up some free clothes for Aiden from the Pregnancy Resource Center and I needed the car.  So…he planned to ride the bus to school and work, looked up the routes and looked like he would make it with time to spare.  He got to school successfully but on the way to work Trax came late and so he ended up missing his connecting bus.  Instead of being 20 mins. early he ended up being 45 mins. late.  He was a bit frustrated.  Aiden also had a really difficult time going down for his mid-morning nap and that had me a bit stressed.  After picking up clothes I went to visit grandma Carolyn which was fun as always.  I have such great extended family!  Wednesday I also let Aiden feed his oatmeal to himself (you can watch the movie here when it is uploaded) it was toooooo funny.  I giggled and thought he was so clever. 

Thursday I let Aiden play the piano and he got upset when I put him back down on the ground.  He wanted to play some more. 

Friday evening Brandon and I watched “Water Horse” while Aiden crawled around getting into things.

Yesterday was fun, my mom baby sat Aiden while Brandon and I went to Desert Star.  We saw “Miracle on 42nd Street.”   An old peer of mine from college was in it.  She had taken a bit of a leave of absence and it was fun to see her on stage again.  After Desert Star we picked up Aiden and went to visit my aunt briefly.  We ended our outing by stopping at Memory Grove to take pictures for our family Christmas card.  We got a bunch of blurry ones but managed to have at least one decent one.  We made homemade burgers for dinner and then went to Winegars so that I could pick up WIC stuff and Brandon could take pictures of meat for a class project.  When we got back I watched “The Prince and Me, Royal Honeymoon.”

This morning we ate muffins, sausage, potato cakes, and scrambled eggs (Aiden did too!).  It was a pretty yummy breakfast.  We really like the Jiffy Muffin Mix from the store.  This evening my mom is coming over for dinner and then we are going to watch the 24 two hour special “Redemption” tonight on fox 13 at 7:00.  We hope that everyone has a good week and oh yea, GO UTES!  Final BYU vs. UTAH score was 48-24 Utes!  I sure do love my alma mater.  😉  Happy Thanksgiving everyone, thanks for reading…

Where do I begin?  This week has been fairly good.  I have been very diligent about excercising on Wii fit every day (I plan to take Sundays off), I have taken Aiden out for a 15-30 min. walk in the mornings since Thurs. and feel that I am learning how to better carry my body by improving my posture and strengthening my muscles.  I have also been a bit confused by the whole propostion 8 thing and all of the media attention that it is getting (hence my previous article), I have been researching it and trying to understand why the leaders of the church got so involved, when in the previous Traditional marriage vote they made a statement and let individual members make a decision.  In talking with my husband I came to this realization, in 2004 there was the additional addendum to the Traditional Marriage proposition.  This addendum clearly states that… “No other domestic union, however denominated, may be recognized as a marriage or given the same or substantially equivalent legal effect.”  This most recent election was simply a vote to define marriage as being between a man and a woman.  It was the possible implications of this definition ie. less rights for those choosing to commit to a union of same gender that have been the problem for me.  In this years statement from the church they mention, “The Church’s opposition to same-sex marriage neither constitutes nor condones any kind of hostility toward gays and lesbians. Even more, the Church does not object to rights for same-sex couples regarding hospitalization and medical care, fair housing and employment rights, or probate rights, so long as these do not infringe on the integrity of the traditional family or the constitutional rights of churches.”  In other words, those choosing to enter into a same gender union ought to have rights equivilant to those who are in a traditional (man and woman) marriage.  The church was simply standing up for marriage as God intended it to be, not agreeing with changing the rights of those who choose a different union.  Both Brandon and I agree that those choosing to enter into what should henceforth be defined as a “domestic union” (marriage being reserved specifically for a man and a woman who marry) ought to have equivilant rights to those of us who have chosen to marry someone of the opposite gender.  The persecution that was brought upon the church because of this proposition has been hard for me to swallow but when I realized that this proposition was slightly different then the other and that it was not President Monson but God who directed the leaders of the church to do what they did, then I am able to understand that the things that happened were foreordained to happen.  Persecution is only going to get worse, black and white will only become more and more gray, good will be called bad and bad will be called good (even more so then what is already happening).  Our trials will become more frequent.  These are the things that we have been brought forth at this time to endure and if we keep our eye towards our loving Father in Heaven, he will give us (and our children) the strength to overcome them.  Phew!

Anyway, so the happenings of the week.  Monday I spent a lot of the afternoon working on what will be the 3rd amendment to our 2007 taxes.  You see, Brandon has done some freelance design work for a company in Idaho.  As a result he didn’t have a W-2 for the 2007 tax year and although I reported the income with our other W-2 income I was unaware that I needed to send a schedule C with our tax form as a “W-2” for that freelance income.  Well, of course the U of U decided to do one of their random audits this year on Brandon and I ended up having to fill out a schedule C and an amended tax return along with the $105.00 we owed to the IRS.  Last week we received a notice saying that we owed another $250?!?!?!?  I was shocked but planning to pay it.  Luckily I found a paper that showed that the IRS had amended our tax return a 2nd time because of the schedule C and I found that they thought we had made and additional $1400 then what we originally reported instead of using the schedule C as an explanation for the wages that we had already reported but had no W-2 for.  I also found that they thought they had overpaid us $600 more then the actual total because of some telephone excise tax thing from 2006.  We did not receive payment for any telephone excise tax!  Good news is that they now owe us $9.50 because when I sent them a check for the first amendment I overpaid a little bit.  I just hope that I don’t confuse things more and that they get the same numbers I did (some of which I got from the IRS over the phone).  Anyway…Do you taxes correctly the first time and if you don’t know something ASK!!!!!

Tuesday was Veteren’s day and as such Brandon did not have to go to work (he did have school though, lame!).  It was good to have him at home but he had already planned to do some “other” work during the time that he would have normally been at work.  He has a book that he wants to write and so he was going to work on that as well as his portfolio website for class.  He also had a bit of homework I believe.  Anyway, so I planned to use the car since it would be home for me to use and went to run some Christmas errands.  It was fun even though it took a bit longer then usual due to having to get Aiden in and out of the car, shopping carts, and baby carrier.  I even went to pick up some books at the library and it was closed due to the holiday.  Doh. 

Thursday was a momentous day!  Aiden started to “cruise” meaning that his cheerio’s were on the other end of the coffee table and he side stepped over to them while holding on to the table.  You can see the video on the family adventure blog within a few days.  I also won a gift for Aiden on e-bay!  It is some fisher price peek-a-blocks and roll-a-rounds, I sure hope Santa did buy him the same thing.  I believe this is also the day he kind of face planted trying to crawl over my knees.  Lucky he was so low to the ground or he would have bruised.  I really believe Heavenly Father is watching out for him because while he does get a few red spots from the normal bumps and bruises of a baby learning to walk, they fade by the end of the day or the next morning. 

Friday I went and got a trim and when I got home we went on a walk as a family.  During the day I worked on another Christmas gift and also tried to sign up for a yahoo group both things had me frustrated by the end.  In the evening we watched Super Nanny and Super Manny.  I just hope that we can remember all of the awesome tricks and techniques used in those shows when we run into things in the future. 

Yesterday Brandon, Aiden, my dad, and I all went to Ikea so that my dad could go for his first time.  We were able to find a couple of things we had been needing, including a t.v. stand for the living room!  Hooray!  It was fun to go there again, Aiden was enjoying having a lot to see and he did not nap from when he woke up at 8:00 until 3:00 that afternoon.  He started to get a bit crazy and I am going to do my best to avoid that again.  Oi!  While we were there we also got to eat the yummy meatballs and we picked up some cinnamon rolls to go which we enjoyed for breakfast this morning along with some scrambled eggs.  That night (Sat.) Brandon and I watched Journey to the Center of the Earth which we really enjoyed.  We also intend to watch Water Horse sometime soon.  Oh then when I was feeding Aiden his bedtime bottle he threw up twice and I was scared because I had no idea what was going on.  I called Brandon up to give Aiden a blessing and noticed Aiden was chewing on something.  It turns out he had a fiber of the carpet in his mouth (it was the thickness of yarn and two of them stuck together about 1/2″ long) and was gagging on it because it was tickling his throat as he drank.  This caused the throwing up.

This brings us to today.  This morning we were cleaning and things because they were in need of happening.  I ran downstairs to check something and bring the iron up when I heard Aiden crying.  I rounded the corner to see that careless mom had left the door at the top of the stairs open and he had tried to come down them.  He was spread eagle on the top two stairs before the landing, head toward the bottom of the stairs.  Thank goodness he had not tumbled all the way to the bottom and there were no injuries.  I feel very blessed and will NEVER leave the door open again.  As you can see Aiden has had kind of an eventful week.  This afternoon we went to church and now we are working on our “shake and bake” dinner.  We are having chicken coated in french fried onions and potatoes coated in onion soup mix and oil.  It will be mmm, mmm good and there was very little preparation.  Gotta love that!  Well, have a good week everyone!  Thanks for reading…

Well hello again!  Another week has come and gone and as of yesterday Aiden is officially 9 months old!  As he gets older and older Brandon and I have begun to discuss in more and more depth just exactly when we want to start trying for baby number two.  I have mixed feelings about it in a wide variety of subjects but we are bothing feeling sooner versus later.  (Still not before Aiden turns 1 though, we aren’t THAT crazy.)  I think that if I had found Mr. Right when I was 20 and not 23 then I would be in less of a hurry with growing my family.  As it is I want to have 4 kids of my own and adopt two and it would be nice to be 40 and not still have kids under age 5 in the house.  Anyway, I don’t even know why I got off on that tangent.  This week has been a busy week.  What with Election day, our visitors from out of town, grocery shopping, helping grandma, and working on Christmas projects.

Monday and Tuesday were pretty uneventful.  For Brandon and I election day was like any other day because we had voted on Halloween and I was careful to avoid the news and things most of the day, only checking the numbers online every once in awhile and overhearing the show my dad was watching when the announced Obama as the president elect.  I am still not quite sure that he is the perfect man for the job but I definitely appreciate the history that was made during this election process.  First being that 50ish years ago, African Americans could not even vote and now in just those 50 years they earned the right to vote and won the candidacy for president.  It is a truly wonderful and remarkable accomplishment for the USA.  Second, we had a woman run for president, this too is an amazing event in the history of America.  It gives all kids no matter the gender, race, or religious affilation the possibility that one day they could run for president.  Four years ago, kids still were under the impression that only caucasion males could run for president.  Anyway, enough about that.  Good luck to Obama.

Wednesday Brandon picked up his mom from the airport in the morning and she came over here to my dad’s to visit.  (The living looks fabulous and can be used for entertaining guests once again.  There are still a few dust bunnies here and there but what place of living isn’t a work in progress?)  Anyway, we visited with her and she played with Aiden a little bit.  It was good to see her. 

Around 12:30 we had to take Brandon to work and I took Venetia to pick up her rental car.  After that I took Aiden to WIC to get our new checks and then to the pediatrician.  This check up was supposed to be vaccine free but mean old mommy :p had them give Aiden a flu shot and he has to get a booster shot in 4 weeks.  It went well though and I don’t think the flu shot gave Aiden any problems.  On the way home I ran to Walmart to pick up Aiden’s 8 month photos and they turned out SO cute. 

In the evening Brandon, Aiden, my dad, and I met up with Brandon’s parents at Fazoli’s for a tasty dinner.  Aiden enjoyed sharing my food with me (and it is a good thing he did because I still had leftovers to eat for 2 more meals afterwards.  YUM!) and everyone else seemed to enjoy their meals.  My favorite are the unlimited breadsticks! 

Thursday morning Brandon’s mom visited again for a couple of hours before going to the airport to fly back to AZ with her husband.  While she was here we noticed a HUGE spider on the wall (huge to me at least ok) and after telling her that I don’t do spiders she recommend I spray it with spider spray then wack it with the broom.  UGH!!!!  EEEEWWWWW!  No thank you.  (Although I don’t know why I am SO scared of spiders, we are bigger then they are for heaven sakes.)  Nevertheless the spider had to go so in a state of fear and disgust I sprayed it and wacked it several times before sweeping it out the front door.  😐 That evening we watched Get Smart and I LOVED it!  (It helps that Anne Hathaway was in it as she is one of my favorite actresses.)

Yesterday my dad and I went grocery shopping.  We first went to Costco because he wanted me to try out the chair that they have and look at the external hard drives.  Well once there and realizing that there were no Wii’s left he confessed that on Thursday they had Wii’s and Wii fit games and that the chair thing was a ploy to get me to Costco where upon seeing the Wii he was going to say, let’s buy it right now.  Luckily when we checked out the bagger person mentioned that a game place up the road had a few Wii consoles and Wii fit games.  I called them and sure enough they did!  So, we drove right up there and got them!!!  Yes, the Ferguson/Wilhelmsen household are now the proud owners of a Wii.  🙂  YIPPEEE!  I have already started working in Wii Fit and Brandon and I have been playing the fun games on the Wii Play game c.d.  (My favorite is the cow racing game!)  Anyway…

Today is a take it easy kind of day.  It is stake conference this weekend and we opted to stay home this one last time because next year we are going to be more diligent.  I pondered the decision to go or not all week and friday I finally decided not to (incidentally I would like to point out that I made this decision BEFORE the Wii was mentioned or even purchased and didn’t have any effect on my decision whatsoever!)  Also, today Aiden just discovered how to bite mommy (thankfully there are still only two bottom teeth in that mouth of his) and bit my knee and within 10 mins. bit my cheek.  Hopefully we can nip this new thing in the bud really quick.  Any ideas?  Anyway, we hope that everyone has a good week.  Until next time, thanks for reading…

Well, I hope that everyone had a fun Halloween.  I can’t believe how fast this year is going by and now we already have at least one radio station playing Christmas music.  Now generally I am an avid WAIT UNTIL AFTER THANKSGIVING FOR THE CHRISTMAS MUSIC PLEASE, kind of person.  But I have been so tenderhearted about celebrating Christmas with a child of my own this year that I was actually listening to a few Christmas songs on the radio (Gasp, I know).  There is just something so magical about about introducing the spirit and wonder of the season to your own little one that is unmatched by anything else.  Now I realize that he won’t quite grasp the whole concept of the season this year but it is still a touching thing for me and one that gets me choked up. 

Now on a completely different subject I would like to mention the rules of etiquette that seem to be pretty standard on halloween but that some older trick or treaters (13-18) neglect to follow. 

1. Always say thank you after receiving your treat.

2.  If the porch light is off, do not ring the doorbell.

3. If it is after 9:00 p.m. do not ring the doorbell regardless of whether the porch light is on or not.  (Some people don’t like to leave the light off all night and may have infants who you could wake up.  Or maybe they just barely returned home from their Halloween plans and flipped the light on but have zero candy.) 

When Brandon and I lived in the University Village we were all given signs to put on our door if we welcomed trick or treaters and I was able to put it up when I was ready to receive trick or treaters and take it down when I ran out of candy.  May I suggest that next year if you welcome trick or treaters to put a sign up saying that they are welcome or at least one that says, “We have run out of candy, try back earlier next year.” If you would like to keep your porch light on and ward off nuisance teenagers. 😉  Anyway…

So, I have been trying to make notes of what we do during the week but this week I neglected to.  It went by so fast that Mon.-Thurs. are pretty much a blur.  One of the days Aiden, my dad, and I went looking for a T.V. stand for the downstairs t.v. so that he can move his 2nd t.v. into his room.  We have been having very little luck because all the t.v. stands these days are built for HUGE plasma t.v.’s and are low to the ground and super long.  Oi. 

So on Halloween we went to the Bountiful Library to vote.  We waited in line for an hour but Aiden was very well behaved.  We also made another trip to the storage unit to drop some stuff off.  Brandon worked on a pumpkin for the pumpkin carving contest at Loomis and then I drove him to work.  We will let you know next week if he wins a prize.  Aiden napped really well in the afternoon and then he and I stopped at Walmart before picking Brandon up and going to my grandma’s.  Shortly after we arrived there 3 of my cousins arrived with spouses and kids in tow.  It was fun to see how everyone had dressed up and to get some very cute photos. 

Yesterday morning I ran a couple of errands before going to the Relief Society super activity to pick up my vinyl lettering, eat some soup, and help with a service project (tying a quilt).  It was fun and gave me the opportunity to meet a few more ladies in the ward.  After that Brandon and I dropped Aiden off with my aunt and we went on a date.  We were going to go to the play at Pioneer Theatre but we were running late and I didn’t want to deal with all of the hullabaloo so we just went and saw “Kung Fu Panda” after eating a tasty smoothie from Jamba Juice (I have noticed that each time we go in to Jamba there are less and less smoothie choices, what is up with that?)  Anyway, the movie was pretty funny and it was nice to spend some one on one time with my hubby. 

Aiden was napping when we went to pick him up so we visited with Vicky and Neal for a while and looked at the darling photos that they had taken of Aiden.  We also had some bacon and tomato sandwiches with them (I had cinnamon toast and bacon instead) and Aiden had chicken noodle soup.   Thanks again for babysitting!

In the evening I unboxed my scrapbooks and put them on shelves.  I have also decided to organize a little bit better and to try and get things into years.  I want to scrapbook everything from sophomore year in high school and newer in the standard chronological order.  Newborn to 6-7 years old will be in a photo album and everything in the middle will just kind of go together.  Scrapbooking older less organized stuff is slightly difficult.  Anybody want to plan a scrapbooking day? 

In a few hours we will be headed to church (daylight savings was a shock as usual) and this evening we will be heading back to my aunt’s for family night with the extended family.  Until next week, thanks for reading…

Well, Happy Halloween to everyone this upcoming Friday.  I hope that you all have something fun planned.  As for Brandon, Aiden, and I we will probably just hang out here at my dad’s and then drop in at my grandma’s so that she can see Aiden in his costume.  Despite the fact that Halloween is one of my more favorite holidays it always seems to go by the wayside because I am too busy working on Christmas gifts.  We also neglect to plan ahead (which is essential when you want to sew your costume) and end up throwing things together last minute.  This year Brandon and Aiden are going to be ninjas and I will be wearing Brandon’s Tae Kwon-Do dobok and white belt…So we are going to be a family of highly trained and skilled martial artists…That is, if we have anywhere to wear our costume.  I am not getting all dressed up just to sit around here at my dad’s.  Every year after another halloween has passed uneventfully I vow to do better the next year and then when the next year rolls around Halloween sneaks up on me again.  Maybe next year I will do better…

On the topic of holidays, I am a little unsure on when to start our Wilhelmsen family traditions.  I figured we would this year because we have a child but we haven’t really done anything different or tradition worthy (other then participating in the existing Ferguson family traditions) so when do I start the traditions of our little family?  Maybe in January when another new year starts and we can look at all our options as each holiday comes along.  Family traditions are so important to me because it gives kids something to look forward to and count on year after year.  It was the family traditions that I participated in growing up that helped me to get through the hardships that I had growing up.  I attribute most of the good that is a part of who I am to the closeness that came from those traditions and without which I would have had no roots to ground me.  Anyway, any ideas on how to start my own family traditions? 

So, enough about that.  This week seems to have zoomed by.  I scrapbooked a few pages this week and worked on Christmas gifts for my in-laws.  My dad and I got some groceries, I burnt corn trying to prepare it to become baby food, and of course I attended to Aiden’s many needs. 

Wednesday I went and spent time at my grandma’s.  She had a few things that she wanted help with but we ended up just mostly visiting with one another and then while she napped I looked through some of her scrapbooks.  I especially enjoyed the ones with pictures from her childhood and another with pictures of her children’s youth.  It was nice not to be stuck at home all day and grandma is always such wonderful company.  Brandon also got off early that day so that was even better!  She got a kick out of Aiden climbing on things and jabbering away.

Friday morning we all ran some errands.   Brandon, Aiden, and I all went up to the U of U so that Brandon could meet with his advisor and get his graduation application turned in.  The trip was a success and Brandon is now on track to graduate.  Hooray!  The end is in sight!  After the U we went to the DI and Michaels.  I took Brandon to work and came back to my dad’s.  I watched Miss Pettigrew lives for a day.  It was a cute movie and then took Aiden and went to the dollar store to pick up some movie treats before heading to get Brandon.  We dropped Aiden off at my mom’s and went on a date!  😀  We went to see Wall-e at the dollar theatre.  I liked the movie alot (it was a very well written story line) and absolutely LOVED the short before it.  It was nice to have some one on one time with my hubby (something that is very scarce when you have a child to take care of). 

Yesterday (Saturday) was a pretty busy day.  We ended running some errands in the morning and also went to Ace because they were having a birthday party complete with prize drawings, free food, and birthday cake.  After that we had to pick up some last minute ingredients for Brandon’s chili and also drop some things off at our storage unit.  The rest of the afternoon Brandon spent cooking chili, I scrapbooked and watched Dan in Real Life while the bread maker kneaded and mixed my bread dough, then it was a mad rush to get Aiden fed, and get everything in the car for the ward chili cook off.  The cook off was fun.  I tasted four different kinds of chili and my body was a little upset about that but it wasn’t anything that a Tums didn’t fix.  Of the 3 winners I had only tasted one of the types of chilli.  Oi.  Anyway, we chatted with some people that I remember from when I attended the ward in my youth as well as a newer couple.  Aide loved crawling around on the huge gym floor and got to taste his first bites of pumpkin pie!  🙂  I don’t eat pumkin pie because I don’t like it but I can appreciate it for the millions and millions of people who LOVE it.  (Some other things Aiden tried for the first time this week are pureed raspberry and vienna sausage!!!)  Well, this morning we haven’t done much, just kind of relaxed and we will be heading off to church in about an hour.  Until next week…

I am feeling a complete mental drain this evening and hopefully the things that I write this evening will make sense.  Church was pretty good.  They had already received our records from our old ward and I am amazed at how fast it took because it usually takes 2 weeks.  Anyway, I will get back to today later. 

Monday Brandon started his first day of work for Loomis.  He was a driver/guard for them when the two of us met and began dating and now he is a receiving clerk for them.  The current hiring manager is someone who Brandon used to work with and when he saw Brandon’s application he first thought oh, this applicants hours are what we are looking for and then he saw the name on the application and thought that it was even more perfect to have the return of Brandon.  The hours Brandon has been working are exactly what we have been looking for, the pay is the same as always (adequate but not more then that) and we are again without the option of health insurance through his job.  This is ok for now because we are on the primary care network (a really basic, BASIC insurance through medicaid) and Aiden is covered through traditional medicaid for at least 4 more months and hopefully more.  Such is the life.  So far though Brandon is enjoying his work.  After he got off work we went over to the apartment to start cleaning, my friend Richelle helped us to clean a little bit.  That was a massive and insane process which I did not enjoy.  But we decided to stop cleaning and return to my dad’s around 7ish.

Tuesday morning Brandon, Aiden, and I made our way back to the apartment to continue the cleaning process.  We had help from my visiting teacher and another good friend from the ward.  They were both quick workers and we got a lot done really fast.  Thank you , thank you, thank you! 

Wednesday Brandon did the last minute finish up items before the final inspection at 11:30.  Thankfully we will receive our full refund and that is wonderful news to a very poor us.  In the evening when Brandon got home from work (this had been a very LONG and dull day for me) I drug him to the library and we got our new library cards!  Hooray!  I already have holds to pick up at the new library!  🙂

Thursday was another long day but I did some unpacking so it went a little more quickly and Friday, I took Brandon to work, went to visit my mom and then spent the afternoon with my aunt Vicky.  She was tending Devin and he was napping when I first got there so we played in the play room and when he woke up he joined us.  I finally decided that Aiden ought to go down for a nap around 3:15 and when I went to give him his binky I found that I didn’t have it…After about 30 mins. of trying to get Aiden down with a bottle nipple as a binky subsitute and him being in hysterics I finally decided to drive him around and he was out in 5 mins.  While he slept Vicky, Devin, and I went outside for a bit.  Aiden woke up after a very short nap. Friday was a stressful day because Aiden didn’t sleep very well.  We had taken him to get his 8 month photos taken in the morning and so all of his naps for the day ended up being in his car seat in the car.  Jake and LaRee arrived with little Angela around 5:00 and we frosted cookies for some missionaries in LaRee’s family.  Vicky and Neal also fed us a delicious dinner.  Thank you!

Saturday, we worked a bit on the kitchen as part of the process of making it more Aiden friendly.  The morgue of ancient computers has been disbursed and now there are just two computers in the kitchen that need data saved from them and then put onto my dad’s other computer.  Line upon line…

In the evening I drove Brandon to the Real Salt Lake game and then Aiden and I went to Gardner Village to walk around.  It was all decked out in Halloween stuff and I made sure to stop off at the little Christmas shop to pick up a baby’s first Christmas ornament for Aiden.  It is a cute little chubby penguin with a blue jacket.  We then shared a plate of halibut fish and chips at Archibald’s restaurant.  Delicious!!! 

Then of course Sunday.  We made the last of our Bisquick into waffles and those combined with the frozen two we had in the freezer fed my dad, Brandon, and I.  We also had bacon.  Then I napped and Aiden napped while Brandon did work on the computer.  After that we hustled off to church.  While there some of the people who knew me when I first attended that church from infancy to primary age said hello, and made a little bit of small talk.  In the evening after dinner Brandon and I watched a movie about Emma Smith that was good and very well related to the lesson we had in church that revolved around Joseph’s letters to Emma (a lesson that had me emotional (in a good way) all day).   It was a pretty good day and somewhat relaxing.  My dad also picked up Aiden’s new bedroom door.  Sometime this week we will have to get that put in…Oi, so much to do, so little time.  Well, until next week, thanks for reading…