The Wilhelmsen Botanical Blog

Hello!  In just two short weeks Brandon, Aiden, and I will be flying off to sunny Florida to visit my sister and her husband.  We will also get to take advantage of her Disney benefits and will get to be visiting the mouse himself!  I look forward to riding the new rollercoaster at Animal Kingdom called Expedition Everest, playing on the sunny beach, and watching Aiden’s face taking it all in with amazement.  I have also been looking forward to seeing my sisters home and spending time with her.

This week I have had a car and have taken advantage of the opportunity as much as I could.  Monday I took my dad to the airport because he had some meetings in Washington D.C.  Tuesday after Aiden’s nap he and I went to visit my friend Richelle.  She showed me how to start the process of basket making and we ate a delicious teriyaki pork dinner.  Oh man it hit the spot so well I could have eaten twice as much as I did.  It was good to see her and her girls.  I was also able to pick up Aiden’s 12 month photos from Target since I was out that direction.

Wednesday I was going to go over to my grandmothers in the morning but Richelle called and told me that it was free day at the zoo.  So Aiden and I went there instead.  It was a whirlwind trip but it was fun to be out of the house.  We visited my grandma in the evening and took her the photo of Aiden.

Thursday we had a WIC appointment.  He is getting so that he does NOT like to be weighed or measured and when they pricked his finger to get his blood sample he did not like that either!  He will begin drinking lactose free milk just as soon as I can get to the grocery store to use the WIC check.  We spent most of the rest of the day at home because there were chores to be done. 

Friday we watched Madagascar 2 and had a yummy spaghetti dinner. 

Saturday was a busy day.  We had parent tot swim in the morning after which we took Aiden to  my grandma’s to be baby sat.  Then Brandon and I went to see Coraline.  I found it very interesting and we both liked it.  After the movie Brandon and I went to Ikea to buy his Valentine’s day gift.  Pot one of the new set of pots that we plan to own.  It is an Ikea 365 collection pot made of stainless steel with a thick base.  It will take a little bit of getting used to since I have been cooking with Teflon pans for awhile but it will be nice to have a heavier pot.  From Ikea we went to pick up Aiden and then we got some dessert and headed over to our friends home for dinner and stimulating conversation.  We had turkey, cornbread stuffing, rolls, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, and strudel bites.  All of which were DELICIOUS.  I have never liked turkey as much as I liked this.  It was seasoned so well.  When we got home we put Aiden right to bed and then I checked e-mail and stuff.  During which I came across this cool site called LDSjournal.com  From here on out I will be journaling via LDS journal.  It has excellent security of your entries due to encription and that way I won’t have paper copies of my journals which are susceptible to fire, flood, etc.  Lastly, since it will be saved on their server I won’t have to worry about my hard drive dying or my cd copy getting scratched, broken, or lost and when I feel like it I can take my entries and have them bound into a hard back book.  It all seems pretty awesome to me.  I also plan to make a digital copy of all my previous journals which I can do in LDS journal because they have a post dating function.  SWEET!!!  I journal pretty much every night and even though it seems all hum drum to me, if I have any posterity who are half as curious about their ancestors as I am then they will love reading my journals.

Today was just same old same old.  Church, lunch, etc.  Nothing too exciting to report.  Have a good week and thanks for reading…

Well, this week was eventful!  Monday was Presidents day and as a result my hubby didn’t have to go to work or school.  YAY!!!  We decided to celebrate by going back to Layton Surf and Swim (after calling first to make sure that the waves were working).  It was a lot of fun and Aiden enjoyed the waves a lot.  I think that they were relaxing and soothing for him.  His favorite though is crawling around in the shallow end and then climbing up the stairs.  Aiden also got his first taste of honey on Monday (we did get the go ahead from the pediatrician so don’t worry!).  He seemed to really like it. 

Tuesday was uneventful.  Wednesday my hubby went to Baskin Robbins to pick up the chocolate strawberry sundaes that we meant to get for Valentine’s day.  So happy Valentine’s day to me again.  🙂  They are sooo good, two scoops of chocolate ice cream (I get three) strawberries, strawberry syrup, whipped cream, and hot fudge.  Oh yum!  This day was also momentous because Aiden took 9 steps in a row.  This is the most he had taken and we declared that he had now begun walking.  (You can view videos of Aiden walking on our Adventure blog.)  I also noticed that Aiden had little red bumps showing up on his face, tummy, back, arms, and legs that I was concerned about but after talking to my mom and to Brandon, and recognizing that Aiden was not scratching them, did not have a fever, and did not even seem to be bothered by them, that he was probably ok and that we just needed to keep an eye on them.  My mom thinks that he might be allergic to honey, or raw strawberries.  It could also have been heat rash or some sort of delayed reaction to the MMR shot that he got on the 9th. 

Thursday Aiden took 20 or so steps in a row.  Watching your baby learn to walk is one of the most incredible and cute things in the whole entire world.  I love it.  Anyway, Brandon and I also decided to spend a little bit of money from our impending refund on some things that will make our trip to Florida a little bit easier.  Instead of a pack and play which is large and unwieldy (especially ours because it doesn’t have a carry case and they are sort of heavy) we decided to purchase a KidCo PeaPod Plus.  I found a really excellent deal on one and it will be here by the end of the February.  Here is the link for those of you who are curious http://www.kidco.com/main.taf?p=4,5  It will only weigh about 5 lbs. and folds up really compactly.  I also had heard about a cool product called a Tie Chair while watching Good Things Utah.  So I went to the sites and noticed that they are $50.00. Oi.  So I looked up several patterns for a “sling” chair or tie on high chair improvised the pattern a little bit to make it more like what I wanted and the following pictures are the finished result.  A lightweight washable “high chair” so that I don’t have to pack Aiden’s portable (and space taking) high chair to Florida.  We also helped my grandma do a little grocery shopping.

Friday Aiden was walking about as much as he was crawling.  He likes to use whatever method is most convenient at the time.  If he is standing up then he will turn around and walk to wherever he wants to go and if he is sitting then he will crawl.  He also crawls if he has fallen on his tush while walking.  He was also giving me a difficult time at nap time and when he had finally quieted down I began to hear a strange sound over the baby monitor.  When I went to investigate imagine my surprise to see Aiden pulling on one of the velcro tabs of his diaper, the other being already unfastened.  He is just too smart for his own good… 😉

Friday evening after Aiden was in bed I went to craft night for the ladies in my ward.  It was fun to chat with other woman and to work more on the tie on high chair that I was working on.  We talked about everything from pregnancy and child rearing, to Disney theme parks, birthdays, and Sunbeams.  I enjoyed myself a lot and I wish that they would have craft night more often.

Saturday we were originally going to go to parent tot swim with Brandon, then he and I were going to go and see Romeo and Juliet at Pioneer Theatre.  Well plans ended up needing to change a little bit but we still went to parent tot together and it went a lot better.  I am still feeling a little bit like maybe the class was uneccessary because Aiden is such a little fish but he is learning to kick a little bit and he is also learning some of the arm movements that you use when you swim.  In the evening I went to a stake Relief Society activity.  I had high hopes of finding the gals that I had crafted with and sitting by them so that I could get to know them better.  They weren’t there so I ended up sitting nearish some of the ladies in the ward but there were spanish speakers all around me and although I could understand a word here and there I sat there unable to chat with anyone.  On top of that the activity was commemorating a year long, “Read the Book” activity that I had not even known about or been a part of.  Needless to say I left after the first speaker.  (Besides that I was sitting next to a tiny baby and that was making me miss Aiden as well as the tiny baby he used to be, I also started thinking about how I had better call my visiting teaching girls and get primary stuff finished.)  Also on Saturday we stopped for lunch on the way back to me dad’s from Aiden’s swimming lesson and we got three kiddie cones at Arctic Circle.  I took most of the top off of Aiden’s so that it wouldn’t make a huge mess and then let him hold it and feed it to himself (he was having a bath when we got home anyway so I didn’t care.)  He loved it!

So Sunday, was just a usual Sunday.  We made a yummy crispy pesto chicken with garlic mashed potatoes for dinner and it was DELISH!  We made the pesto from scratch because I can’t have regular pesto due to it containing pine nuts.  (I learned this the hard way by eating what was the most delicious pesto pasta in Italy and then getting sick three times and feeling miserable all night.  Needless to say my room mate found out for me that there are pine nuts in pesto.)  Well that is that, until next week, thanks for reading…

Hey, I just wanted to share a few things that I have come across.  If you need baby or kid items for a good price then make sure you check out Kid to Kid (there are several locations in Utah) for gently used clothes (they even have maternity clothes), strollers, cribs, bassinets, car seats, toys, etc, before stopping in at Wal-mart or Target.  You can also check out Craigslist at http://saltlakecity.craigslist.org/bab/ for listings of inexpensive baby items.

Also, I heard these great tips on Good Things Utah yesterday and I wanted to share them.  They are some new uses for everyday household products, enjoy!

Toothpaste:

Great to clean and polish sterling silver, gently rub on your silver and then rinse with warm water, polish with a soft cloth… don’t scrub the polish on, just gently rub, if needed you can use a soft soft bristle tooth brush, but be very gentle, let the toothpaste do the work to remove tarnish.

Fill a nail hole in the wall – must be paste not gel, fill the hole and use your finger to level it even, when it’s dried you can paint over it. (remember dabbing paint with a Q-tip is easier and cleaner than trying to paint with a brush and get rid of brush strokes)

Temporary way to hang paper or art projects on a wall is to use toothpaste, use it like a glue, smudge some on the corners, press, hold.. when it dries it will hold the project up… and when you peel it down, you just wipe the toothpaste of with a damp cloth

Dental Floss:

If you don’t have a cheese slicer, no problem, wrap the ends of dental floss around your fingers and slice through the cheese… obviously you should opt to NOT use minty floss for this… it also works great with cheesecake

Do you have cookies that don’t want to come off the cookie sheet, no problem, same thing, slice the floss under the cookies and lift them off

Try dental floss instead of thread for heavy mending project, particularly tents, canvas bags, backpacks… waxed floss even works better since it will slide through the material easily… floss is stronger and will hold your mend well, after you tie the knot, drop a tiny dot of crazy glue to hold it in place and seal the knot

Mouthwash (it needs to be alcohol based, sugarless mouthwash):

Freshen up smelly gym socks in the washer, sometimes the wash cycle just doesn’t do the trick, add a cup of mouthwash to the wash cycle.

Disinfect your counters, spray on your counter and use like an antiseptic cleanser for your kitchen and bathroom counters, pour a ¼ cup in your toilet bowl to help disinfect and clean your toilet as well.

You can also use it as an astringent for cleansing your face, dab some on a cotton ball and gently wipe your face, you should feel a tingling sensation. Rinse with warm water followed by a splash of cold and you will feel clean and refreshed.

Denture Cleaner:

Clean your diamonds, drop the tablet in a glass of water just like required for dentures, but place your diamond jewels in, when you remove and rinse, your diamonds will sparkle (do not use on pearls)

Clean the flower scum from narrow necked vases, or hard water stains from glasses or coffee decanters, match the amount of water to right number of tablets, fill and drop in the tablets, after fizzing stops, rinse and all the stains and scum will be removed.

Clean your toothbrush, after all they are used to clean dentures, they work really well with your toothbrush too! For that matter, other items you may want to clean, binkies, retainers, mouth guards… etc.

You can also drop 4 tablets into your toilet bowl to get rid of stains and rings around your toilet.

Before I begin I thought that I ought to post a picture of Aiden’s birthday cake from his party last week so here it is…

Well, I think it is about time for spring to arrive don’t you?  I am tired of spending all day most days inside and so is my son.  He really enjoys being outdoors and I want to start grooming my dad’s backyard so that we can spend most of our spring days back there.  It needs a lot of work but I plan to start by clearing off the patio area, and raking all of the dead grass/plants/leaves into a big pile and hauling it away.  From there I will work first on the lower portion of the yard to get that area useable and I may or may not worry about the upper part of the yard.  We will see how much work everything else is first.  😉

This past week Aiden had his one year shots and the pediatrician said that everything looks fine.  She also gave us the go ahead to feed him honey.  I spent a lot of the week preparing stuff for nursery this week which went pretty well.  One of the boys kept flip flopping from wanting do what Aiden was doing, to trying to be in charge of him, to pushing him away, taking his book, and attempting to kick him.  I had to leave the room because I needed to cry, I didn’t like my son being picked on.  Other then that though our lesson was a success. 

Friday we took Aiden to have his 1 year photos taken.  They turned out very cute and we will show people when we get them. Saturday was a very busy day but things seemed to go pretty well.  In the morning Aiden and I went to parent and tot swimming lessons.  This was my first time at the South Davis Rec Center since it stopped being the “Bountiful Bubble”  I was impressed by what I saw.  It has two swimming areas (I only saw the one) as well as climbing walls, ice skating, and various work out things.  It was not at all recognizable as the place I used to go when I was young.  After swimming Aiden and I picked up Brandon and the three of us headed to my aunt’s.  She was having an open house and so we wanted to stop in briefly to make our traditional Valentine’s cookies. 

Our Digital Valentine From Us to You!

After that we took Aiden to my mom’s to be tended.  It was his nap time so I laid him down before we left.  While Aiden was at my mom’s Brandon and I went to see Home School Musical at Desert Star.  It was HILARIOUS.  It had everything from Twilight references to a character called Linoleum Dynomite (who incidentally did the whole dance from the movie.)  On top of that it very loosely followed the storyline of High School Musical.  The olio afterwards was the one where they sing songs from the 1950’s and such.  (My favorite olio all year.)  Anyway, this was a great way to spend Valentine’s Day. 

After the show we picked Aiden up from my mom’s and went to Golden Corral for dinner.  I ate way too much but it was delicious and I got to eat steak.  YUM!  We ended the evening by watching Fireproof from the redbox.  I really liked Fireproof because it is one of those movies that really gets you thinking.  I am so glad to have Brandon for eternity and that we have The Church of Jesus Christ and it’s teachings and commandments in our lives.  Those commandments that I live safeguard us from some of the things that cause marriages to fall apart for those without religion (for example, many addictions aren’t going to put strain on a marriage because we have the word of wisdom which teaches us to refrain from things such as alcohol and drugs).  It also enriches and strengthens the relationship that Brandon and I have.  I also must mention that my sweet hubby bought me a bouquet of flowers for Valentine’s.  (I always tell him not to buy roses because of the inflated cost at Valentine’s.)

Then of course I already wrote about church so I guess that is everything for today.  I did start working on our taxes this weekend and we look forward to receiving our tax refunds.  I will tell you what though, I have learned more then I ever wanted to learn about doing taxes after filing a 2007 federal amendment and working on the utah amendment to go with it.  It is all very complicated.

Wow, I spent the week in a constant fog of the million things I needed/wanted to accomplish before/for Aiden’s birthday party.  So, bare with me as I attempt to remember any of the things from earlier then saturday of this past week.  I suppose the thing most worth mentioning is that Aiden has been taking one step here and one step there throughout the week.  He also can stand from a sitting position and will stand on his own for a good 30-60 seconds until he realizes he is unassisted and sits down or reaches out to grab onto something.  Silly boy.

I honestly don’t remember what went on this week aside from the usual dishes, laundry, grocery shopping and television programs.  I did create a slideshow for Aiden’s birthday and we made copies to give out as a party favor.  It turned out really cute and it was a lot of fun to look through old photos as I put it together (old being from Aiden’s birth).  I have been emotional about his turning one.  I mean he is truly no longer a baby.  He has been operating like a toddler for 3-4 months now and I really miss those cuddly days when he was little.  His birthday party was at my grandma’s and we ate pigs in a blanket, cheese in a blanket, french fries, and pasta salad.  We drank grape juice.  Aiden’s cake was from Glaus bakery (of course I would not get cake anywhere else) and was pineapple rum cake (my mom’s favorite).  We got him his own little wedge of cake so as to prevent him from obliterating the cake for the guests and it was chocolate cake with chocolate frosting and cherry filling (my favorite from Glaus).  He was very tentative as he ate it, until he decided to lean down and attempt the doggy eating out of it’s bowl method.  But then he resumed just picking the frosting off of the top.  We watched the slideshow that I made and then Aiden (or rather Brandon and I) opened Aiden’s gifts.  He got a lot of cute clothes, a few fun toys, and I made some wall hangings for his room.  He also got 5 parent and tot swim lessons at our local rec center which will start next Saturday (as well as cloth swim diapers to go with it).  I am excited for that, I would like to start having mommy and Aiden field trips once a week on Friday or Saturday so for the next 5 weeks swim lessons will be his field trip.  Yesterday evening Brandon and I watched Swing Vote while Aiden played and I enjoyed it.  It caused me to do more thinking about the two party system and the way politics works and I am a little frustrated by the whole thing.  Until I can accurately put into writing what my thoughts and feelings are on the whole thing I will wait to write about it. 

Today was our second week teaching the sunbeams in primary and we had 5 this week instead of 4.  It went ok, we had decided to have everyone sit around the table and stuck the two kids who stay seated in between the kids who don’t.  We have one young man who is just completely distracted and was trying to follow Aiden around all of class time despite our repeated attempts to have him sit down.  (Last week Aiden had fallen asleep and as a result was not much of a distraction.)  Next week we want to take stickers as an incentive and plan to fill out some “Caught being good” slips for two more of the kids in our class.  We were also thinking about trying to have them sit on the floor next week instead of chairs just to see if this would work better.  I don’t know.  I just can’t figure out how to keep Aiden from being such a distraction during class time.  Well, I guess that is all.  If we get Aiden’s nursery all finished being decorated this week then I will post pictures but don’t hold your breath!  😉  Until next week, thanks for reading…

Why hello everyone!  It never ceases to amaze how one day it is Monday and the next is Friday.  The weeks are just flying by.  In fact, when I right next Aiden will be one year old.  ONE!!!  Can you believe it?  I am having trouble believing it myself.  I mean I just brought him home from the hospital a few weeks ago, right?  LOL.  Now seriously, he has grown, developed, and learned a lot in a year and it has been an amazing thing to watch. 

So, this week… On Monday my visiting teachers came over.  It was fun to chat with them and to realize that every mother struggles with one thing or another.  We also watched 24. 

Tuesday was fun, we rented Igor from the red box.  Igor is definitely a movie that I want to own.  I didn’t really know what the story line was going to be like, I mostly figured it would be about the Igor and his invention and then him winning and becoming a famous Igor but it has a good lesson that can be learned and the story line is actually much more detailed and slightly different from what I anticipated.  It is a good family friendly show and I liked it.

Wednesday my grandma came and picked Aiden and I up and we went shopping with her.  She had to get some gifts for February birthdays and she also wanted to go to Seagull Book.  We had a lot of fun shopping with her.  In the evening we watched American Idol and of course, Lost.  I don’t know why American Idol is so intriguing to me.  I only got very interested in it last year when I was pregnant with Aiden because my mom is good friends with David Archuletta’s voice teacher and I wanted to support him and his teacher.  But now I am hooked.  😉  Wednesday I also gave Aiden his first bubble bath which he thoroughly enjoyed and I bought him a blue fuzzy bear at Seagull Book for $2.00, they had a lot of colors, blue, pink, white, and I think three shades of brown.  So if you need a Valentine’s Day gift for someone then run over to Seagull Book and buy one.  Anyway, he LOVES his new bear, he gives it hugs and bites out its fur.  (Yea, he has been biting the hair off of all his toys that are fuzzy.  Yuck!)

Thursday I waited and waited all day for the phone call declaring that my cousin’s baby had been born.  It finally came about 3:45.  Hooray for babies!  I also took Aiden on a walk because I was getting stir crazy. 

Friday, was a very full, very busy, but fun day.  In the morning we took Aiden to the Draper Temple open house.  This was a very wonderful experience because once a temple is dedicated only temple recommend holders can enter and temple recommends are only for those who are worthy that are age 12 and older.  Because of this it is a blessing to be able to attend temple open houses because all ages are admitted.  We will have the chance to attend another open house in June-August for the Oquirrh Mountain Utah Temple. 

After the open house we ate at Noodles & Co. and Aiden and I dropped Brandon off at work.  Then Aiden took a nap and he and went to visit my cousin, his wife and their new baby in the hospital.  🙂 She is very cute and it will be fun to have another little one around.  After we picked Brandon up from work we drove out to the Clearfield Aquatic Center to swim with my dad at his DEA free swim night.  The water was just a little too cold for my liking but Aiden had fun and I got to enjoy the hot tub a few times.  After all of that we were worn out and I went to bed pretty quickly. 

Yesterday I ran a few errands and then we spent the rest of the day at home.  In the evening we ate homemade taco salads, which were tasty and we watched Eagle Eye.  Eagle Eye was a CRAZY movie, very fast paced with a lot of action adventure.  Not usually my style of movie but it ended up being enjoyable. 

Today was our first time teaching the Sunbeams.  Our lesson only lasted 20 or so minutes and then we had 15 or so minutes to fill.  We sang songs, let the kids race, asked them their favorite colors, and asked if they had any questions for us.  One of them asked if we were going to build Aiden a boat so that he could ride on it.  I said that we probably won’t build a boat but that he will probably ride on a boat and that he likes swimming.  Silly kids.  Next week will go better because the lesson is longer and we will have crayons and a picture to color!  This evening we are having pulled pork for dinner and the recipe is surprisingly easy.  You stick pork roast in a crock pot for 6-7 hours with one 12 oz. can of rootbeer.  You shred the pork roast (and dump off any excess rootbeer, we didn’t really have any) then mix in 1 bottle (16-18 oz.) of bbq (any flavor) and voila pulled pork.  The recipes said to put the meat on a hamburger bun but we are having it on a sub sandwich hard roll.  We already tasted the meat and it is GOOD.  (We used mesquite smoked bbq sauce.)  We will also go to family night at my cousins house. 

This week I have also been working on various projects, a sailor outfit for Aiden (which just needs snaps and it will be done), wall hangings for Aiden, and I cut the feet of some hand me down pajama’s that we got and am sewing binding around the leg hole so that it doesn’t fray.  So there you go. 

Brandon has just kep busy with school, work, homework, and relieving me of baby duties at various times so that I can regain my sanity.  😉  He is a good dad and husband. 

Well until next week, thanks for reading…

So, I just have to say once again how amazing the nurses at St. Mark’s Hospital and my doctor were during my labor & delivery.  Seriously I will never have anyone but an obgyn deliver any of my children AND if there is anyway in the world to stick with Dr. Nielson for all of my pregnancies and labors/deliveries then I will.  Now some of you may be wondering why I am bringing this up considering it was nearly a year ago and because I am not currently pregnant.  Let me just tell you why, since I had Aiden I have had several friends and family give birth to children of their own.  Three situations of which I would deem (in my opinion only of course) nightmares and each of which have made me more and more grateful for my entire situation with Aiden from conception to delivery. 

The first one situation involved a baby who needed a little bit extra care due to a heart problem, and they ended up starting pitocin, which got stopped and started several times, they also didn’t break the water right away so the mom ended up being labor over two-ish days (I don’t remember exactly) and when they finally decided to break her water the baby went into distress and need to be delivered c-section.  HELLO, they could have saved A LOT of time and energy if they had broken the water within 2-3 hours of starting the pitocin. 

In situation two the doctor allowed the mom to go 4 WEEKS OVERDUE because inducing increases chance of needing a c-section.  Well, I was going crazy because SO DOES HAVING A HUGE BABY and the baby gains 1/2 a pound a week starting at like week 36.  I was imaging a huge 9-10 pound baby.  Luckily, the baby wasn’t even 7 pounds when it was born and I think maybe the due date was off a little.  Who knows, the mother could just be blessed to have small babies.  😉

This last situation started out with the mom losing her mucous plug, she was having contractions and she waited to go into the hospital for a couple hours so that she could time the contractions.  Anyway, the mom went into the hospital around 1:00ish p.m. where they broke her water and the baby wasn’t born until 3:00 p.m. or so, THE NEXT DAY!  30 hours of labor!  She was at a 4 by 9:00 p.m.  a 5 by 4:00 a.m. and a 9 around 9:00 a.m.  She didn’t start pushing until noon and pushed for three hours.  My obgyn (and this is one thing I would change because I felt like he was jumping the gun a little) started talking c-section after I had been stuck at a 6 for 3+ hours.  Thankfully with a little help from gravity (and a smart nurse suggesting I roll from side to side to get the baby to rotate to where he needed to be for delivery) I went from a 6/7 to a 10 in 90 mins.  One of the nurses said the norm for dialating is about 1 cm. an hour.  So anyway, I am just very, very grateful to nurses who have clever ideas, a friendly obgyn who is very smart, for a doctor who broke my water early on in the induction process, for delivering 9 1/2 hours after my water was broken and for only having to push for 55 mins.  It was one of the best blessings from Heavenly that I have ever had and probably the only reason I can even consider starting to try for baby #2 instead of waiting or not having another one at all.  Hooray for the St. Mark’s Womens Center!!!

So, on Tuesday I sat in front of the T.V. most of the day watching various inauguration ceremonies so that I could catch a glimpse of the U of U marching band in the parade.  Well, about 3:00 I was starting to get really bored and antsy and decided to do other things but leave the T.V. on in case they happened to mention something about it.  Finally around 5:00 I caught a quick glimpse (not even 30 secs.) of the Utes in the parade.  Oi!  I do have to say that I had never seen the events of inauguration day before and it was neat to see all of the dignitaries and to watch what takes place when a president gets sworn into office.  I also was relieved to finally have someone in office other then a Clinton or a Bush because they have “reigned” (for lack of a better word because my brain doesn’t know of one) over us for the last 20 years.  Anyway…

It is important to note that I am neither a democrat or a republican.  I feel very strongly that we as citizens of the United States of America need to stop looking at party labels and start to look at the individual candidates themselves.  Incidentally I grew up with democratic/liberal parents and as a result I affiliated myself with that party as well.  But as I went to college, started to vote, and married a more conservative husband I started to form my own opinions and realize what my own beliefs are as an individual and that I should vote for the politicians that I see eye to eye with, regardless of party affiliation.  For me it all comes down to what are the facts and where can I find facts that haven’t been painted in a more liberal or conservative light?  Honestly I don’t believe there is such a place.

To be honest, during this most recent election I was not a fan of any of the original candidates and was only leaning toward Romney knowing that as a fellow Latter Day Saint his own life standards wouldn’t be too different from my own.  We learn in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints that although we may lean on our parents testimony for a time while in our youth that it is important to gain a testimony of our own because we cannot live on “borrowed light.”  I would like to say the same of politics, while a child may think of themselves as a democrat or republican when they are young, it is expedient that they learn what issues matter to them the most and where they stand on those issues so that they can vote for the candidate whose opinions are most closely matched.  Ok, enough of that.

First off I would like to apologize for the lack of pictures this week and last week.  We are having technical difficulties with wordpress and the “add media” application.  We think it is simply because we are in need of an upgrade.  If we figure out what is going on before too many weeks go by then we will add pictures to previous weeks.  Otherwise, sorry. 

So Monday was Martin Luther King Jr. day and Brandon did not have work or school.  This allowed us to head up to Layton Surf and Swim to try out the wave pool.  Unfortunately when we arrived we found out the the waves would not be going due to mechanical problems.  Doh!  It was still less expensive then any of the closer pools so we stayed and swam anyway.  It was lots of fun and we got some videos of Aiden crawling in the shallow end of the pool (it goes from 0″ to 8 feet).  We also got the newest Indiana Jones from red box which was a lot of fun. 

Tuesday as I said was inauguration day.  Wednesday Lost returned to night time television!  Hooray!!!  The season came in with a bang!  I am excited to see how the season will progress.

Friday morning we took Aiden for his eleven month photos at Target.  We did a playing in the snow theme and they turned out cute.  We always have a difficult time deciding what photos to buy.  Next month we are going to do his birthday photos and some Valentine photos. 

Saturday I went to the Successful Mothering Convention at the South Towne Expo Center.  There were a lot of booths.  Some that I was familiar with like Mary Kay, Pampered Chef, FM100, Winder Dairy, Tupperware and Avon, others I am less familiar with like Scensty, Squeaky Shoes and Usborne books,  and still others I had never seen before like For Every Home, Real Hero Posters, and The Literate Mother.  I also attended a workshop and filled out as many contest forms as possible while I walked around!  🙂  After the convention I went to meet my mom at the movie theatre were we watched Bride Wars.  I thought it was a clever movie.  I originally thought that I was going to laugh through the whole movie and I did laugh some but there were also several moments of, “Oh my gosh did she really do that?”  I love Kate Hudson and Anne Hathaway.  It was fun to see them in a movie together.  I am also really looking forward to Monsters versus Aliens, The Night at the Museum 2, He’s Just Not that into You, and Confessions of a Shop-a-holic.  (Which were some of the previews that I saw before Bride Wars.) 

I then went home to my two boys and we ended up renting Henry Poole Was Here.  It was a good movie.  Only rated PG and with a good theme to the movie.  What I got was that the theme was to have faith.  Anyway, I won’t spoil the plot or anything just take my word that it is a good movie.  Aiden also got to tasted an Eclair and a little cherry strudel bite.  Let me just tell you he is learning about the finer things in life at a young age!  😉

Today we went to church and enjoyed our last sunday in our adult classes.  Aiden was a bit wild but we caught little bits of things.  I really enjoyed my lesson in Relief Society which was based on the talk, “Concern for the one.”  From the most recent conference Ensign.  We talked about not judging others and listening to the holy ghost so that we can be instruments in the hand of God.  Next week we start to teach the sunbeams in primary.  Any ideas how to keep one year old Aiden from being too much of a distraction for the three year olds?  😉 

Oh and one last thing.  Sometime this week or last week I came across this REALLY AWESOME website called Gourmet Mom on the Go and it has a ton of fun and clever recipes.  I can’t wait to try a few like the flower quiche and black forest cookies.  Go check it out at http://www.gourmetmomonthego.blogspot.com/  I hope that everyone has a good week!  Thanks for reading…

And here we are yet again.  The above song lyric comes from a song called 2 year old attitude by Ryan Shupe.  If you read the lyrics, some of them are already applying to my not even one year old son.  His little attitude and tantrums for the most part crack me up.  However I do not appreciate when Aiden comes leaning in, his razor sharp teeth gleaming, for the bite.  Generally he favors trying to take a little nibble of our toes.  But seriously, he has been biting furniture, blankets, shoulders, the hair on his stuffed animals, the hinges on the doors (you know where the bolt goes), and pretty much anything else he can get his chompers on.  When he bites something we generally squeeze his little cheeks and say, “Don’t bite!”  When he grinds his teeth we stick our finger in his mouth and say, “Don’t grind your teeth!”  As a result Aiden has started to knit his eyebrows together, having seen us do it multiple times when we discipline him.  When he does it just makes me laugh.    Anyway…

So this week we enjoyed the return of 24!!!  The season started out with a bang and I can imagine it will only get better from here.  Brandon also started school on Monday and seems to enjoy all of his classes.  He certainly didn’t take a light load to finish out his schooling.  So far he has mentioned having to write a 14 page paper in one of his classes.  I can only imagine the homework load in his game production class and those are only two of his classes.  I think he will learn alot though and will be able to add even more design skills to his already impressive resume.

Tuesday was a typical day.  Wednesday my friends Katie and Richelle came over.  We made flower clips for hair, chatted and watched season 1 of 24 on dvd’s that she had rented from the library.  I think that I am glad that I didn’t start watching until season 4 because I didn’t appreciate the show content very much of season 1.  Anyway, it was a lot of fun to see them and to hold Katie’s little girl a bit.

Thursday I went over to help my grandma for awhile and we had a good time like always.  I also decided to finally watch, “Baby Signing Time.”  Which I had gotten from the library.  Aside from being a little cheesy for adults I LOVED it.  Aiden wasn’t captivated by it for very long but I think that it was made well and has a lot of good repetition to help the kids learn the signs.  Hopefully Aiden will start to catch on soon and I will be able to be more diligent in using the signs that we have learned (and that I already knew).  I highly recommend Baby Signing Time to EVERYONE!  I am going to do a segment with Aiden everyday each week and focus really stongly on reinforcing the signs from that segment throughout the week.  This week (until Thursday) we will be focusing on eating and drinking.  Then we will work on Mom and Dad.  Anyway, go reserve it at the library it is GREAT.  They also have Toddler Signing Time (or something similar) for kids a little bit older.

Friday was eventful, in the morning Brandon took our car in to have the rear brakes replaced.  Well, they did another diagnostic test and what would have probably been just brake shoes a month ago turned into brake drums and shoes.  We also needed the bushings on our sway bar replaced.  Well, it ended up needing to stay at the shop until 1:00 so I went to pick up Brandon and brought him home.  I also took him to work and as I was driving home they called to tell me the car was finished.  Thank goodness we didn’t have to go without it any longer then that.

In the evening Aiden and I went to my cousin-in-law’s baby shower.  It was a lot of fun but there were a TON of people and it was crazy.  While at the shower Aiden pushed around a doll stroller while standing (the closest thing to walking that he has done yet), climbed up a flight of stairs unsupervised and managed to be “rescued” upon arriving at the top and was looking down the stairs wondering what to do next, he also got his very first haircut!!!!  (Thanks again Lacey.)  It was cut pretty short, but now it ought to grow in evenly and I will be able to keep it a little longer in the future without worrying about it being longer on one side then the other.  It has been bugging me for months!  😉

This week we also thought we would try to start transitioning Aiden into having only one nap a day.  He has been taking crazy 45 min. naps and waking up.  So Saturday I waited until 1:00 to put Aiden down for his nap and he only slept until 2:00.  Let me just tell you, he has trouble going from 5:00 until bedtime at 9:30 and so he needed a second nap.  The same thing happened today as well.  Yesterday evening I went to help sell tickets at the door for my mom’s showcase at New Song Underground.  It was a lot of fun.  I saw my cousin on my mom’s side who I haven’t seen for a long while and it was fun to see her.  I wish I’d had the opportunity to spend a little time chatting with her.  Maybe another day.  Anyway, the show was AWESOME!  There were a couple of artists that I had never heard before and they blew me away.  I left before I got to hear all of the artists but it was a fun evening.

Today, Brandon and I spoke in church and then had brunch with my mom and dad.  We all got to talk for awhile and my mom was able to hang around for a bit without rushing off anywhere.  She hasn’t been able to do that in a long while.  We also got a calling today.  We have been called to team teach in primary.  We don’t know what age group yet but we will post it when we know.  It will be a good learning experience but I really like relief society and it is really hard to get to know the ladies in the ward when you are not in relief society.  🙁  Such is the life I suppose.  Well, I think that is all of our news for this week.  Thanks for reading…

Hello again!  As usual my memory is a wee bit foggy about the events of the week but I do remember a few highlights.  I may struggle to remember things once again because I have not purchased a new day planner and my old one ended with December 31st.  Anyway, here are the weeks highlights!

Thursday Aiden and I went to my grandma’s to scrapbook.  It was a lot of fun and a hustle bustle of activity.  I was able to get some stuff done while Aiden slept but once he woke up I ended up following him around to keep him out of trouble.  😉

Friday I finally got to watch the movie the I had been unable to pick up for viewing on New Years Eve.  It is called Ballet Shoes.  Emma Watson from Harry Potter was in it and it was super cute.  It is definitely a chick flick though so don’t try and convince your man to watch it with you.  The other major highlight of the day is that I found a good deal on flights to Florida and as such bought our plane tickets to go and visit my sister in March.  I am so stinking excited, I LOVE Disney World and I have been wanting so bad to see my sisters house!  I am sure Aiden will not really understand what is going on but will enjoy having so much to see and explore that he will not nap very well in his stroller while we are at the parks.  I am just going to have to recognize that it will be a crazy week and do my best to ecourage naps in order to keep Aiden from being grumpy. 

Saturday was the funnest day all week.  My mom got a gift card to Macy’s that she wanted to spend on me.  I ended up finding some really good deals and then found out they were even better when I got to the register.  On top of that I found this really cute black dress with white a white collar and white around the hem and sleeve holes.  It has purple flocking on it with crowns, teapots, clovers, hearts, and diamonds.  It made me so excited because it reminds me of Alice in Wonderland and I have always wanted an Alice in Wonderland dress.  If I can’t be Alice at least I can pretend sometimes.  😉  So there you have something you probably didn’t know about me.  It is very exciting to have a long time dream come true in a way.  Anyway, my mom and I had a lot of fun.  She is so busy these days that I don’t see her as often as I’d like and so it is super fun when I do get to see her.  We also went to lunch at Fazoli’s.  YUM! 

During the day Aiden started doing this funny breathing through his nose thing.  It cracked me up because it is something my sister used to do when she was little.  Luckily we caught it on film and will post it this week sometime.  He also has officially mastered the use of a straw.  He has only had water and juice through a straw but this will make things easier in the event that we forget a sippy cup.  So for those of you who are wondering about my blog title, Aiden learning to do things with his body is the reason I chose it.  He thinks it is so fun to try new things.

In the evening Brandon, Aiden, and I went to the home where my friend Katie has been staying while she visits from Nevada for a game night.  It was fun to see the gals that I haven’t seen for awhile and to get updates from the gals that I see fairly regularly.  I have been especially excited lately to be back in touch with my long lost friend Katie M.  She is always so cheerful and silly and it is a lot of fun.  I also found out that a friend of mine is pregnant with baby #3.  I am super excited for her!  I also received from the library and started to read, “Forever Princess.”  The last book in the Princess Diaries series.  I am glad to report that it ended happily but that these books are definitely not appropriate for teenage girls.  (By the series end all of the characters had been intimate and they are in HIGH SCHOOL!  OI!  Not to mention this last book had excerpts from the romance novel that Princess Mia had written and well romance novels tend to be very explicit.)  Anyway…

Sunday we ended up staying from church because Aiden was so late getting to bed and I wanted him to be able to sleep.  It was a relaxing day we straightened up the house because my dad came home from his trip last night and we watched a nice sunday appropriate film, “The Pirates Who Don’t Do Anything.”  Yes, yes, we are veggietale fans and Aiden isn’t even old enough to watch them.  Can you blame us?  They are so wholesome and silly that they just beg to be loved. 

Also, Aiden is now officially binkyless.  It wasn’t a very tough week and he seems to realize now that he won’t be getting it back.  There were no breakdowns or hours of crying.  Just a little longer to fall asleep, a few days of seperation anxiety, and that was it.  Phew.  I had prepared myself for much worse then that and didn’t expect it to be over so quickly.  Thank goodness.  (He does still have Rabbit and fuzzy blankey so I’ll bet that is what made the transition so smooth.)  He is growing so fast.

Well, thats our news for the week.  I promise to be more detailed next time.  Oh and hubby will be at school all week.  This is officially his LAST semester at the U of U!  HOORAY!  Oh and I’d like to note that he did pass all of his classes last semester so he is still on track to graduate in May.  So, until next time, thanks for reading…