The Wilhelmsen Botanical Blog

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!

Ok, so about a week ago we went to Joann Fabrics and were wheeling Aiden around in the shopping cart when he said, “My farted.”  Brandon and I looked at each other and asked, “Did he just say what we think he said?”  To which Aiden of course repeated himself, “My farting.”  Oi.  Well then last night he was tooting again and said, “My farting.”  Then he expelled a big one and said, “Daddy’s farting.”  Brandon corrected him by saying, “Oh no, that was definitely you.”  My son is already passing the blame…Oh dear.

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.

Sorry there are still no Christmas photos, or even photos from Arizona.  I got sidetracked due to moving and will hopefully have time to get them up today.  We didn’t have a whole lot of pictures last week either…Anyway, for Christmas Aiden got a pretty big gift card from his great aunt and uncle in Nevada.  We used it to get a play kitchen for him and we finally picked it up yesterday.  He LOVES it.  In fact he brought the little pot over to me, asked me to stir it and then brought over an old medicine bottle that I have been letting him use, stuck his hand in it, pulled it out and then said, “Put the cheese on it.”  He then proceeded to sprinkle “cheese” on the imaginary food that I was stirring.  How cute is that?

Also, when he gets in trouble for making bad choices he has taken to crying out, “Momma give you kisses.” as if that might dissuade Brandon or I from disciplining him.  Hmmm, that is just a little too clever for my liking.

So, I have been feeling unable to decorate the temporary living situations that I have been in since Brandon and I got married.  Not only have we not had a lot of money but why spend time and money to decorate something that may not work down the road in a different space.  Well, not anymore.  While we won’t be painting walls in our new place I do intend on having the decor match somewhat better then it has in the past as well as mold it more towards what I have been wanting.  For instance, Aiden’s room will continue to be frogs.  Our living room will be blue and yellow decor (with white, black and wood accents, I am not going to repaint furniture).  Brandon and I blocked out some cute patchwork curtains a couple of years ago that are dark and light denim, and yellow.  I have not needed them until now so we plan to use them in our new place (after I get them sewn of course).  I have no idea yet what theme or color scheme I want in the kitchen yet so I am not going to worry about it just yet.  I am most excited for our room…Our curtains will be out of either one of these fabrics http://www.joann.com/joann/catalog/zoomImagedetail.jsp?CATID=&PRODID=xprd728510&imgPos=5421&imageType=z&itemType=product, http://www.joann.com/joann/catalog/zoomImagedetail.jsp?CATID=&PRODID=xprd728511&imgPos=5421&imageType=z&itemType=product, our sheets are a really dark red, and we will have little shelves on either side of our bed with lamps similar to this http://www.quickspice.com/cgi-bin/SoftCart.exe/scstore/japaneselantern.shtml?E+scstore) on them.  We will also hang Brandon’s samurai sword on the wall.  🙂  I will post pictures as things come together.

So tonight I was telling Aiden to say, “Daddy I’m poopy.”  To which he replied, “Daddy, mommy’s poopy.”  LOL!

Lately Aiden likes to do just the opposite of what we tell him, more specifically when we say come here he runs in the opposite direction or books it up (or down) the stairs away from us.  Well yesterday I had finished all of the pre nap preparations and went to go get him from the hall just outside his bedroom door when he zipped down the stairs as fast as he could.  Being 27 weeks pregnant I am to the point where I do not chase after him much any more because it takes too much energy so I devised a plan.  I opened our bedroom door knowing that when he saw it open he would make a beeline for it.  After I did that I went into his room and stood quietly to the side of his door where he couldn’t see me.  I listened while he came up the stairs and then when I saw him walk past his door I emerged quickly and snatched him up.  He was a little surprised but laughed.  I was just glad that my little plan worked so well.  😀

1. Do more recreational activities as a family that will continue to promote family unity, cohesion, and to simply get us out enjoying the world.

2. Teach Aiden his ABC’s, colors, and shapes.  He has been working on counting to 10.  I also want to work on his recognition of numbers and letters.

3. Be more diligent about FHE.  Also continue to do things that will help Aiden’s testimony to grow and our family to continue grow spiritually as a whole.

4. Survive the transition from being a mother of one to a mother of two and make that transition as smooth as possible for Aiden and Lucas.

5. Continue to provide Aiden with opportunities to explore, create, and otherwise expand his little brain.

6. Work towards eating healthier meals as a family, this includes eating out less frequently (we really could use that money better in other ways), adding a vegetable side dish to dinner every evening, and expanding the things that we feed to Aiden so that he can widen his palate (so to speak).  One way we want to do this is to try a new vegetable from the produce section every week and cook it a few different ways so that we can see a: if we like it, and b: the recipes we like the best using that veggie.  We might do this with fresh fruit as well.  *On a side note: if anyone has any good veggie recipes let me know.  I am NOT a fan of soggy, or squishy (boiled/steamed) veggies.

So apparently we bought all of our outlet covers not a moment too soon and their installation will be first priority when we move into our new place.  Why you ask?  Today I was in Aiden’s room with him and he was trying to stick his finger in the outlet.  (They don’t have plug covers because he defeated those long ago.)  I explained to him that sticking his finger in the plug was very dangerous and that he would get a big owie and have to go to the hospital.  Well, next thing I know he has picked up his plastic doll and is trying to stick it’s finger in the outlet.  Nice.  I took the doll away and explained that it was equally as dangerous…

We just returned from Arizona.  The weather was nice and we enjoyed visiting with Brandon’s family.  While we were there we had a few adventures.  For instance, on New Year’s Day I was in the restroom (I made many visits to the restroom thanks to being preggo) and when I came out I was asked do you know what Aiden just did?  Obviously I did not so they relayed the story, apparently Aiden crawled up to the dog’s water dish on all fours and plunked his face in for a drink…Nice…

Then yesterday they made pancakes for breakfast.  Aiden ate them so well that we decided to give them to him again because we were on our own for lunch.  Well, I thought I had seen Brandon’s dad stick the entire syrup dispenser in the microwave to warm it, despite it having metal parts and needless to say it started on fire.  Luckily I had only set the microwave for 30 secs. and we caught it quickly so that the microwave and house stayed intact.  We were also able to clean up the charred ash off of the microwave easily.  Being tender hearted and pregnant though I felt like such a dummy about the whole thing and just wanted to crawl under a rock.

Later that day we took Aiden to the pet store while we were on our way to Walmart.  We walked back to see the dogs and then walked around towards the fish.  As we headed down the aisle to the wall of fish Aiden said, LOOOOOK!  Fish!  LOOK, FISH!  Look!  Then when we got closer he said, “Fishes take a da bath.”  LOL.  He was SO excited it made me giggle.

This morning on the plane you could still see the moon outside of the window and Aiden excitedly told us, “I can see the moon.”  A little while later he was sipping from his apple juice and told Brandon, “Now bunny drink it too.”  It is so fun to see him so excited about his world.