Becoming Grown-Ups

Last week, Nate and I finally decided on our Christmas present to each other. We only got each other a couple of little things to open on Christmas because we decided we'd rather get something bigger that we could both enjoy. After agreeing on bedroom furniture, we set out of find something we both liked. Such a major decision couldn't be made quickly, so we didn't actually decide and order something until a couple of days after Christmas. And here's what should be arriving at our house sometime in February: We both love Craftsman/Mission style furniture, and I fell in love with this bed. We're also getting the nightstand (better picture below). We're not getting either of the dressers pictured here, but instead the dresser below.

We opted not to get the mirror, and I'll admit I don't love the hardware but I loved the bed and couldn't find anything else I liked better. Maybe someday we'll swap out the hardware for something I like better.

And we're getting 2 of these nightstands.

So now we feel like real grown-ups; no more mismatched hand-me-down bedroom furniture for us (well, at least after it's delivered)!

Honestly, these pictures just don't do the furniture justice; it's so much prettier in person. I'll be sure to post more pictures after it actually arrives.

So Excited to See Santa

I'm a little late in posting this because we forgot our camera at Nate's family Christmas party, so we had to wait for his cousin to send us the ones she took.

Bridget was actually very excited to see Santa this year and not one bit afraid of him like most 2-year-olds. I asked her several times before hand what she was going to tell Santa she wanted for Christmas, so he was very prepared to tell him she wanted a bike. In fact, she was so excited to tell them that she could hardly wait for her turn and kept running up to him while the other kids were on his lap.

Once it was her turn, you can tell from the first photo, that she was still a little unsure about this, but within seconds she was all smiles, especially when he gave her a present (two Curious George books).

Christmas Eve & Christmas Day

Our original plan for Christmas was to go to Phoenix and spend it with my sister Jill and her family, but with plane tickets being more than we wanted to spend, driving was the better option for getting there. We knew that Bridget wouldn't be able to do that long of a drive in one day, so we would have had to split it into two days there and two days back. Ultimately we decided that Nate didn't have enough time off from work to make it worth the drive, so we ended up staying here and celebrating as our little family of three.

On Christmas Eve I fixed the traditional turkey dinner complete with green bean casserole, home made rolls, and sweet potatoes.

Amazingly, Santa did make it to our house that night considering Bridget decided to be very naughty all day on Christmas Eve. She's normally very happy, obedient, and helpful, so it made for a rough day. When I told her I might have to call Santa and tell him not to come because she was being so naughty, she didn't seem to care.

So here's a snippet from Christmas morning:

And here's just a few of the other gifts she received:

Disney Princess hoodie

Sesame Street CD player and song book

This bike is just a little too big for her at the moment, but she still manages to scoot around on it, and will probably be able to reach the pedals by spring.

She loves this tea set and all of the noises and songs it makes. She's served me lots of tea, and we've heard all the songs so many times already that I think we all have them memorized.

Her naughty streak continued throughout Christmas Day with multiple tantrums and time out sessions, so it wasn't quite the pleasant Christmas I imagined it to be. It also didn't help that Nate woke up with a pretty severe migraine. Luckily, she seems to be back to more of her normal self today. I'd like to just blame it on the molar she's been getting the last few days because it's certainly made her crabby and affected her sleep. At least she loves all of the fun toys, and we'll just have to hope things go better next year.

Winter Wonderland

This morning Bridget finally had her first chance to put on all of her snow garb and go play in the snow while Nate shoveled the driveway. Not that this is our first snowfall of the season by any means; it's just the first time she's been able to play in it since I finally finished purchasing all of the necessary items just yesterday. She loved it, but she only lasted about 15-20 minutes before she was ready to come inside. It's just too bad this snow was a little too dry for making a snowman, but I'm sure we'll still have plenty of opportunities for that this winter.

Bridget's 2nd Birthday

The birthday cake - carrot cake with cream cheese frosting and decorated with two of her favorite things...Sesame Street and M&Ms.I tried to upload the video of her blowing out her candles but it wouldn't upload, so here's a picture. If you want to see the video, it's on Facebook.Her favorite present from Mom & Dad - a doll that drinks a bottle, laughs, and cries. She loves babies and pretending to be a mommy.
In case you're wondering why she's wearing 3 different outifits in these birthday pictures, it's because she got to celebrate for 3 days (Thanksgiving day with the family that was here, her actual birthday with us, and Saturday with more family).Up until recently, Bridget didn't really enjoy coloring. Now that one of her favorite activities so the crayons and giant coloring book from her great grandma were a hit. Even Grandma and Grandpa had to get in on the action.

We wanted to do something special with Bridget on her birthday, so we took her to the Treehouse Children's Museum. She certainly loved running around exploring everything, and didn't want to leave when it was time.

Here's her 2 year stats from the doctor's appointment:

Height: 36 inches (94th percentile)

Weight: 33 pounds (96th percentile)

Head: 20 inches (99th percentile)

And Bridget is finally pacifier free! For weeks beforehand we prepped her by telling her that it had to go away when she turned two. And on the night of her birthday when took it away she had a total meltdown to the point that it was almost breaking my heart to do it. After several minutes of her crying in her bed, I cut the pacifier and took it into her to show her that it was ruined and see if she still wanted it. She was devasted and kept saying, "Mommy fix it. Sewing stuff." or "Daddy fix it." She's seen me fix her stuffed animals with my sewing stuff and assumed that I could fix the pacifier that way too. When other things are broken around the house and Nate has to fix them, I always tell her that Daddy has to fix it. The amazing thing was that I told her to stop crying so I could talk to her, and she did. Then I told her she had 2 choices. She could either stop crying and go to sleep so she could wake up happy or cry in her bed all night. And it worked. She chose to go to bed without crying. So it was a much easier transition than we were expecting, and she now sleeps much better and consistently through the night.

Halloween 2009

This little chef wanted to wish everyone a happy Halloween!

I'm so glad I decided to make Bridget's Halloween costume this year because she makes the cutest chef ever! When I was trying to decide what she should dress up as, nothing seemed more appropriate because this girl loves to help me in the kitchen.

Feeling Like Fall

I really can't believe how fast the leaves changed this year and that one of our four ginormous trees is almost done losing its leaves already. For the next several weeks I'll get to spend a good chunk of my time cleaning them up, but at least Bridget doesn't mind because she thinks running through my piles and throwing them in the air is loads of fun. In fact, she was having so much fun that I couldn't get her to look at the camera long enough to snap a good picture, so here's the best I could do. What a difference a year makes! Last year she spent most of her time crawling through the leaves because she was just starting to learn to walk, and now she's running through them and all over the yard.

I should also mention that Nate got me a blower/mulcher thing for my birthday to help make my job easier, but after trying to use it the other day I've decided I might just stick with a good old-fashioned rake. The thing is so heavy and awkward to use plus I burned a hole in the bag when I got it too close to the motor (nothing a little duct tape can't fix).

The End of Confinement

This past week, Bridget decided to work on her skills as an escape artist and figure out how to climb out of her crib. We knew this day would come, but I was hoping it would be later rather than sooner. In fact, I was hoping she would at least be 2 before she figured it out. So last night we converted her crib into a toddler bed complete with a safety rail. She thinks it's pretty great, and was standing at her door saying, "Mommy" while she waited for someone to come get her this morning. Last night she slept better than she has most nights this week, so hopefully this will be a good change. It also makes us realize yet again that she is now a little girl and no longer a baby.

Miss Independent

Yes, that's Bridget pretending to talk to someone on Nate's cell phone. She certainly thinks she's grown up these days. In fact, as we left the house this afternoon, she had her purse on her shoulder and her keys in her hand so she could be just like Mommy. And every time we go to get in the car she says, "self" meaning that she wants to climb into the car and into her carseat herself. She's getting to the point where she wants to do many things by herself so "self" is something we hear mutiple times a day every day. I must admit that I actually love watching her gain more independence since overall it makes our lives easier, but it also makes me realize that she's definitely a little girl now and no longer a baby. In that respect, it's a good thing she's finally bottle free as of the last couple of weeks!!

Birthday Dinner with Dad

Last week was my father's birthday (not to be confused by Nate's father's birthday which was the week before as noted in Bridget's video a couple of posts back). Since my father has been recently working not too far from our house, Dad, Megan, Jessica, and Matt came over to our house to celebrate with a birthday dinner.

The Gang - notice how thrilled Nate looks in this picture to have his picture taken. :-)

Cutting the spice cake that Jessica made

Labor Day Weekend in West Yellowstone

For Labor Day weekend this year, we just couldn't pass up the opportunity to go visit Nate's parents in their new house just outside of West Yellowstone on Hebgan Lake. Sadly, we didn't take many pictures because we weren't very exciting, but we had a great time relaxing and helping on a few projects around the house. Friday night, we got there about dinner time, so we pretty much just ate, visited, and went to bed. Saturday, Nate helped his dad work on the basement he's gutted, and a then all of us helped move firewood. Saturday night, Nate and I went to see The Secret Garden at the Playmill Theater while his parents watched Bridget for us. We rarely go on dates, so I had a great time. Nate, on the other hand, was kind enough to go even though it wasn't something he really wanted to do. Sunday we went to church, ate dinner, played a game, and relaxed. And then Monday we headed back home. We were also fortunate to be able to spend some time with Nate's Grandma Waldron who was also visiting that weekend from St. George. Anway, it was a great trip, and it went by too fast as usual. Bridget loves playing with her Grandpa. She also LOVES dogs, so she was in heaven going on a walk with Grandpa and Izzie.

Here's a view of the lake from their front porch. It's great to have such a beautiful view and be up off the lake just enough that the mosquitos don't eat you alive.

Happy Birthday Grandpa

Bridget wanted to wish her Grandpa Scott a happy birthday today!

Trip to the Zoo

On Saturday, we braved the crowd and took Bridget to the zoo for the first time. Bridget LOVES animals, so it was no surprise that she enjoyed it. The only thing that would have made her happier was if she hadn't been confined to a stroller during much of the outing. We did get her out several times to get a better look at the more interesting animals (the ones that weren't just sleeping), but she wasn't happy about having to get back in it.

Sadly, the elephant in this collage was the only one we got to see because the other elephant had just had a baby a couple of weeks before, and neither were out for public viewing yet. My favorite was the family of orangutans mostly because they're kind of cute and more lively than many of the animals there. Nate really like the silverback gorillas even though they're a little scary. And Bridget loved the penguins. She loved watching them swim in the water, and wasn't so happy when we decided to move on to other animals.
Top left: Checking out a tortoise. Top right: Nate and Bridget enjoying the penguins. Bottom left: Bridget wanting to get closer to the peacock. Bottom right: Bridget and me in front of the giraffes.
I just liked this shot of one of the adult giraffes with the baby giraffe. The baby is doing some sort of contortionist thing with its neck.

Family Filled Weekend

The past fews days provided the opportunity for lots of family activities with my side of the family. My sister Amy and her family were in town visiting from Maryland which was fun since we don't get to see them very often. This was also Bridget's first time meeting her cousins Sophie and Hugh. My sister Jill and her family also came from Arizona for a visit.

Thursday night we got together at the Weight's house for dinner. The Weights are just like family to us because of the many holidays we spent together over the years while they were our neighbors in Great Falls. It's always good to see them even though it's not as often anymore.

My brother-in-law Stuart's birthday was the day before, so we put a few candles in the pie and sang to him.
The kids had a great time playing together.


My brother-in-law Rob thought it would be a great idea to have an ice cream eating contest, but my brother-in-law Matt was the only one who took him up on it. Rob may have won, but it should be noted that Matt had his appendix out just the week before and that Rob was eating fat free frozen yogurt and Matt was eating ice cream.

One of the big reasons we were all together was my youngest sister Jessica's graduation from BYU on Friday morning. She's the 6th of the 7 Wilkinson children to graduate from BYU. Too bad she has to finish Fall semester before she really graduates. :-) You can see that trying to get kids to pose for a picture was no easy task after they'd just finished sitting through the graduation.

Yay for Jessica!

All the cousins together (minus one that was just born a couple of days before).

Friday night I was too busy playing hostess for our big family BBQ to take any pictures. This shindig included extended family, so we had over 30 people in our backyard. Thankfully the rain held off because it would have been more than a little cozy if we'd had to move indoors.

It was fun to see everyone even if the visit was short, and it's just too bad we're so spread across the country that we don't have opportunities to be together very often.

Birthday Fun

Earlier this month, I celebrated yet another birthday. After a typical day at home with Bridget, Nate's mom got into town, so we spent a little time with her before heading to Salt Lake for dinner. Being the thrifty person that I am, we opted for Buca di Beppo mostly because I had a coupon and also because Nate loves the gnocchi there. My sister Megan joined us for dinner, and you can see how excited she was to have her picture taken.

Nate practically fell out of the booth so I could get this shot of him with Bridget.

When we were done eating, Bridget decided that the bread basket made a great hat.

And Megan thought so too.

My yummy birthday cake

Nate always worries about gifts because he wants to buy me fun things but I prefer them to be more practical. I convinced him that I wanted a blower/vacuum/mulcher for the yard because I'm the one that always ends up cleaning up the tons of leaves in our yard, so that was my gift from him. Bridget got me a pretty sterling silver necklace with a tiny heart pendant that says "Mom" on one side and "I remember all the hugs you gave me" on the other side.

Bathroom Renovation

On the 1st of July, we finally got around to one of the main remodeling projects we've had on our "to do" list since we moved into our house a year ago - completely renovating our main bathroom. I had all sorts of plans to take great before and after shots, but Nate got a little carried away in the demo process and started tearing things apart before I had a chance . Luckily, we did have one shot among some photos we took after we moved in, and here it is:

I have to point out the hideous wall of mirror tiles behind the tub and the not so attractive lighting and medicine cabinet. When we moved in, all of the walls and the ceiling were an extremely ugly peach color, so we painted everything white as a minor improvement until we could get around to the remodel. The sad thing this picture lacks is a view of the nasty vinyl floor tiles that had huge gaps where the sub floor was showing and they were chipping and peeling away in places.

Here are some after shots:

This was Nate's first tiling experience and he did a fabulous job on the tub surround and floor (with a little help from a couple of his coworkers). Notice the beautiful accent tiles in the tub surround. We did keep the original vanity but sanded it down and stained it a different color and replaced the vanity top and faucet. There's also a new mirror, lighting, towel bars, and toilet. The walls are now a light sage green color which we then accented again with the rugs on the floor.

We originally estimated we could do the remodel for around $1000, but the grand total ended up being closer to $1400 which is still cheap for a bathroom remodel. It's not super fancy or high end, but it's a major improvement from the eyesore that it was. The project is now complete except for a little accessorizing (something to hang on the wall over the toilet and on the opposite wall over the towel bar). The whole project took just over 2 weeks to complete since we lost a little steam at the end and it took a while to get around to finishing little things like caulking and paint touch ups. But we're done and very happy with the overall results!

Bikes and Beds

Obviously there hasn't been much to blog about in the last month since it's been about that long since I've posted anything. We just finished renovating our main bathroom and pictures of that are soon to come. In the meantime, this is just a taste of the crazy things Bridget likes to do.

A couple of weeks ago, Nate was home with Bridget and was busy doing something when he heard Bridget laughing hysterically in our bedroom. When he went to investigate, this is what he found:
Yes, she put her bike on top of our bed all by herself and was trying to ride it and obviously thought she was pretty clever for thinking of such an ingenious idea that she knew she probably shouldn't do but did anyway. Nate couldn't help but laugh (and take pictures for me to see when I got home). For the next several days she tried to do it again, but was unsuccessful. She seems to now understand that bikes do not go on beds and has given up trying.

Oquirrh Mountain Temple Open House

Today our little family and my sister Megan had the opportunity to attend the Oquirrh Mountain Temple Open House in South Jordan. There certainly were a lot of people, but not nearly as many as what I was expecting. After watching a short video in a nearby tent, we headed inside for our walk through the temple. Bridget was pretty well behaved during the whole thing and loved looking at the many pictures of Jesus throughout the temple. Afterward we headed to another tent for water and cookies before leaving to get lunch at Paradise Bakery.

I always enjoy an opportunity to visit another temple because each is so beautful and reminds me of how fortunate we are to live close to so many. The only other open house I've been to was the Cardston, Alberta Temple after it was remodeled (I think I was around 10 at the time), and this was Nate's first open house. I also love the great opportunity they provide to teach children or those who would normally be unable to go inside a little bit about the purpose of temples.

Trying to get Bridget to look at the camera was nearly impossible because she was ready to run around by the time we were done.

Thanks, Megan, for coming with us!
I'm amazed Nate captured this great shot considering Bridget was ready to climb right into that fountain.

A Pool of Fun

Now that it finally feels like summer again, it was time to bust out the wading pool for Bridget. I finally got around to buying it at the end of May after we'd had some really nice weather, and then we didn't even get a chance to pull it out because the cold, rainy weather came and stayed for a while. Bridget loves to play in water of any kind, so she was in 7th heaven when she woke up from her nap yesterday and her pool was all ready to go.