The Wilhelmsen Botanical Blog

Hello again from our Botanical Blog address.  I still haven’t decided which blog will be our “official” blog.  Brandon and I kind of like the idea of an amorphous botanical blog and both blogger and word press have their various strengths and weaknesses.  Blogger is a bit more user friendly, whereas the newest wordpress version has new add media buttons that I am excited to play with.  Also, so far we have gotten a gazillion times more spam on wordpress then blogger.  It also appeared that changing blogger themes would be easier but Brandon and I have been playing with wordpress themes tonight, it seems all we needed to do is access the site with an ftp program and upload the themes.  Good thing Brandon knows what he is doing because I was stumped. 

Well, our news is that today we blessed Aiden.  Brandon gave a beautiful blessing and grandpa Brian especially loved the part where Brandon blessed that Aiden would read good books.  He admitted to peeking at Aiden during the blessing and that Aiden grinned really big at him (he’s a librarian) at that moment of the blessing.  The brunch we held afterwards went really well, everyone commented on how much they enjoyed the food and while everything passed in a blur for me it seems that they were all enjoying themselves.  We didn’t get any video of the event but we did take a lot of pictures.  It was a wonderful and special day for my little boy and everything went smoothly and as good as could be expected but I am relieved that it is over.  I had not been sleeping very well this week due to my anxiety about blessing and brunch preparations as well as if I would survive a trip to the U of U on the shuttle to watch my friends graduation.  Now, I plan to have a relaxing week an unwind from all the excitement.  I also finally took a successful, long rejuvenating nap.  Which was made even better because Brandon napped at my side while little Aiden was in the bassinet in his room.  Hooray for sleep!  We will get some pictures up soon.  Thank you again to everyone who helped to make Aiden’s special day a success.  We love you all. 

Here are a few of the things that I have learned so far as a mother.

1. (and this is by far the MOST important) You have to do what works best for you, your new baby, and your hubby. Don’t let anyone make you feel bad for the decisions that you make, because it is a tough transition and in those first few weeks you have to just do what you can to get through them and survive. Also, if some of the ideas that you had about raising your little one change, don’t beat yourself up over it.

2. Even though it was as loud as a rock concert inside the womb with all of that blood rushing around and two heartbeats to listen to, it doesn’t mean that you won’t keep your little one up at night. I highly suggest having your baby stay in your room with you as long as you can so that he/she can hear the rhythmic sounds of your breathing while he/she sleeps (and so that you aren’t constantly worried if he/she is still breathing , but if after several weeks they aren’t gradually sleeping longer at night it could be that you are keeping them up. (Every time Aiden woke up I would talk to Brandon about it and sometimes cry a little, no doubt making it hard for Aiden to go into deep sleep, I was also (and still do) turning over in bed like I still had a huge old belly to heft around. No doubt quite noisy.

3. Cloth diapers are a money saving idea. They have to be changed more frequently then disposable and they are giamongus on a 2 1/2 month old baby. I still plan to utilize them when he is a little bigger.

4. In the realm of feeding there are several choices, formula, breastfeeding, and breastmilk in a bottle. If you don’t have someone to feed the breastmilk in a bottle while you pump then you will feel like a moo cow, but just because you can’t breastfeed anymore does not mean that your baby has to go without breast milk. Buy a good breastpump so that your baby can drink breastmilk while you are out on a date with your hubby. (I reccomend a Medela brand pump, but compare pumps maybe there is a better and less expensive option.)

5. MAKE TIME FOR YOUR HUBBY! He misses alone time with you just as much (if not more) as you miss alone time with him. Go on regular dates and leave baby with grandma (or another reliable babysitter).

6. Carriers make life easier. There are many different styles and prices and some can even be homemade. Find one that works best for you. I originally made a mai tai style carrier. It can hold up to like 100 lbs. (as if I would ever carry that much weight with my back problem) but it is somewhat inconvenient to put on so I plan to get a different one to use until Aiden is a little bigger. But, if you have a little one who always wants to be held and can’t ever get stuff done then a carrier is a perfect solution.

7. Making your own baby food will allow your little one to have a wider variety of foods to eat then the choices that you have at the grocery store. (Hey, I know that Aiden won’t be eating solid food for 3 1/2 more months but I am so excited for the wide array of flavors that will hit his little taste buds.) Plus most of them can be frozen for 3 months! Sweet!

8. Bathing a baby is a lot of fun.

9. Changing a baby is a new adventure each time…You never know what will come out of either end while you do it. 🙂

10. Babies grow too fast. I must admit that I shed a few tears when Aiden grew out of his first set of clothes. You have to cherish every single moment.

11. You can never take too many pictures of your child.

12. Document what you can because you will want it when your child is grown and chances are they will be grateful and delighted to hear about their childhood.

13. Babies are so full of the spirit and have a testimony already. Aiden smiles at pictures of Jesus and I can tell that he knows his brother Jesus Christ and loves him. What a precious gift for me as a mom.

Lastly, you will never know such a great love as the love you can feel for your spouse and your children. It will never cease to amaze you as it continually grows and your heart is able to grow with it. You will look at this little bundle in your arms and wonder at how you can love someone so much when you barely even know him/her and then you will look up at your spouse and your love for them will grow because they are a part of creating that little miracle in your arms. It is a wonderful and blessed thing to be a part of a family. There are no words to describe the majesty and divinity of a family. Just know that families are as close to heaven as you can get to on earth.

Well, I will stop rambling on now. I just figured that since I always have a million questions it would be neat if I tried to put forth information so that other people with a million questions might be able to find an answer that they are seeking.

Brandon and I decided to wait on the cloth diapers until Aiden is a little bit bigger. It was just too funny to cause him to have a big wad of fabric between his legs and well right now we have a decent supply of disposable diapers. We figure when they run out and Aiden is a little bigger and we are having to buy a lot disposable diapers then we will be more motivated to use the cloth diapers. Other then that Aiden is doing well. He smiles more and more each day and squeals, coos, and gurgles regularly. It is a lot of fun to be able to enjoy his happy faces. Until next time!

So Aiden went through 3 cloth diapers today before I changed him back into a disposable for the evening (I think disposable are probably better for him to sleep in and ok, it was at 5:00 when I put a disposable back on him, I need to get the hang of the other and want to talk with Brandon about it some more).  Well, around 8:00 I was bouncing Aiden on my knee when I noticed a wet spot on my leg and wondered where it had come from so I of course did an inspection of Aiden to see if it had come from him.  Needless to say there was a nice wet spot all the way down his pant leg (he had completely filled the disposable diaper to the point that it was leaking out).  This just goes to show you that nothing is fool proof when it comes to diapering a child.  The end of this story is that after todays adventures I gave Aiden a thorough bath before putting a clean diaper on him.  🙂

Aiden is officially wearing his first cloth diaper. I put it on him during his 10:00 feeding this morning. He seems to be ok with it. We shall see just how well this all goes and if it turns into a real pain or not. The cloth diaper still drowns him a little bit so my real hope is that the plastic pant that holds in the wetness will also prevent blowouts. We shall see. You may think that I am crazy, let’s see if you are right. This adventure is to be continued…

Aiden had his first set of shots today. It made him upset but he calmed down once we got in the car and were driving to pick up Brandon from school. We still have to get the pnuemococcal vaccine and that will probably happen next week, but then he gets to have a break until his 4 month old check up. He is sleeping right now. I keep telling him that when he is older (like 1 year or more) then we can go get ice cream after he gets a shot. For now, all he gets are mom and dads kisses, hugs, and cuddles.

Update on the sleeping, last week Aiden had 6 nights that he slept for 7 hours. This week he only slept 4 hours last night and Monday night. I attribute this change to Brandon having started work this week. Brandon is still here in time to do the usual bed time routine but I think Aiden got used to hearing his voice all day, getting his cuddles, and smelling him (a pleasant daddy smell, not a MAN, you need a shower smell). Hopefully things will return back to last weeks pattern in a timely fashion, because I was finally feeling good (and well rested) and the day’s were moving like clock work. He is as cute as ever though.

     Hello everyone!  We have wonderful news to share.  This past Wednesday Brandon accepted a job doing credit counseling for Progrexion.  He will start training on Monday and will start his regular school shift a week after that (April 14th).  He will make $8.00 an hour or commission, whichever is more.  The average wage is $13-$15 an hour, with the top paid associates making $20.00 an hour.  We will be eligible for health benefits in 90 days and it is through select health which is an IHC insurance.  They won’t pay too much of the premium but hey, at least it is insurance.  

     Along those lines I am applying for a resident life position here at the apartment complex.  It is the position of Mom’s Club Coordinator.  If I get the position we will get a rent deduction and I will be responsible to plan and execute two activities a month that will give mom’s some fun activity ideas and other information to enrich their child rearing.

     Lastly, on March 19th Brandon and I went to a japenese restaurant called Mikado in order to celebrate my friend Melinda’s birthday.  Now those of you that know me are keenly aware that I don’t generally try new foods and am allergic to a lot of things.  (Not to mention being a little bit particular about the things that I do eat.)  Well, we decided that we would pick one thing on the menu and share it.  We decided on a dish called Gyoza that came with a seasoned sesame seed sauce.  Well, when it arrived it look pretty appetizing and so I took one and started eating it.  It was good.  Gyoza is basically like a chinese dumpling or a pot sticker.  It had a pasta outer layer and a pork mixture inside.  It had been deep fried and seared.  Yummy.  The sauce was a little to spicy for my liking though. 

     So there you go.  The most recent happenings in our lives.  We wish you all well.

Aiden was having trouble feeding over the weekend and on Monday after a particularly hard feeding I decided that I better call the pediatrician. Well, when she called me back we talked about the symptoms that Aiden had been having (refusal to latch, detaching several times during feeding, as well as spitting up several times) and she decided that Aiden probably has reflux so she called a prescription in for Zantac (a reflux medicine). The pediatrician said that we should start to see a difference by today and that by next Monday the medication will have worked as well as it will work. So, we shall see how it goes and we will keep you posted.

As for sleeping, by blessings from above and some fluke of luck baby Aiden ate at 10:15 last night, fell asleep by 12:00 and didn’t wake up until 7:15 this morning. Both Brandon and I are grateful for this blessings from our Heavenly Father and hope that Aiden will be able to transition himself into sleeping longer so that Brandon and I don’t have to coerce him into it in the future. We attribute this blessing also to the medicine for his reflux and to the cool mist humidifier that we got to help with his stuffy nose. We think that maybe Aiden finally felt relaxed and comfortable enough to be able to just sleep. Anyway, we will see what happens. Until next time…

Well, Aiden celebrated his first Easter this past weekend. On Saturday we went to Mueller Park and he got to watch his dad, aunt, uncle, and other relatives fly kites. It was his first time being outside for 3 hours and his temperment wasn’t much different then when we are indoors at home. I believe this was due to the cold wind because Aiden really enjoys being outside when it is warmer and he is snug and cozy in his stroller. He even got to be part of an Easter egg hunt (grandpa Brian held him while I gathered his loot which consisted of 3 boiled eggs, one plastic egg with socks in it, a nerf football, a book, a little soft bunny, and two sqeeky toys).

Sunday we went to church and then in the afternoon we went to my mom’s for Easter dinner with Erica, Matt, my mom and my dad. He mostly just enjoyed being held by everyone and swinging with mom in grandma’s swing.

  Well, yesterday afternoon Brandon, Aiden (who was asleep in the car) and I had an adventure.  I will write about it, but I must preface it with some other information first.  When I bought my car in 2003 I had hand picked it for it’s make, model, and awesome gas mileage.  What I didn’t know then is just how amazing this small little car is.  You see, despite it’s small size it has been capable of things that one might say were the job of a truck.  In preparing for our wedding we fit 4 eight foot 2 by 4’s in my car, we have crammed it full of boxes and Brandon’s drum set when moving things back and forth, when we were preparing Aiden’s nursery we attached a diaper changing table to the bike rack, but I think our most amazing feat was our adventure yesterday when we drove home with a love seat attached to the trunk of the car via the help of our bike rack (see attached photos).  We safely drove the 20 blocks home with the couch still intact and now have the love seat in Aiden’s room, where it will be put to good use after we get some foam upholstery cleaner and clean the surface.  (Couch was found for free thanks to this web link http://saltlakecity.craigslist.org/zip/)