Wilkinson Family Photoshoot

 

Trip to Utah - The Drive

We are sooooooooooo excited to be in Utah, but the drive sure was fun! I loved all the time I got to spend with Eric! We had planned to leave around 6pm on the 18th, but on the 17th, Eric and I were both so excited, we thought perhaps around 3 instead? And then in the morning, we both decided that whenever I was ready, we would go!

I wanted to add Audrey's hand prints to Eric's shirt before we left since it is one he set out to wear on the trip. She didn't like this very much ... but after that was done and the packing was done, I was ready!
So at 1:30, I left the house to pick Eric up from work. We then went to the store and headed out!

We stopped by Costco to pick up lunch. Aaron kept telling me we "need to go fast!" I told him we were going fast. He replied "need to go faster! Gotta see Papa!" I told him we were heading to Utah and he put the pieces of the puzzle together. Either the excitement or his hot dog wore him out though as he fell asleep pretty quick.

Eric drove until about 4am Utah time and I drove the last 2 hours. I knew it was time to switch when he said, "I'm getting funny..." meaning his vision was becoming strange.  We knew we reached Utah when the speed limit changed to 80mph and yet people were still speeding past us, the freeway opened up to 6 lanes, but at the beginning, construction blocked all 6 lanes and we were directed to drive in the shoulder, and there was traffic at 4am. Aaron and Audrey were pretty good during the drive. We didn't need to stop and let them out at all, which was nice.

At one point, Aaron woke up rather cranky. I turned to him and whispered, "go back to sleep." He gave me a look and then grumbled right back, "go back to sleep..." Touche kid ... Touche.  He would also periodically say, "we here!" as if that would make us get there faster. He was definitely excited! Here are a few other photos from the drive...

Accidental product placement...

 Oregon is so gorgeous!

Aaron stayed entertained playing with cars, coloring, watching movies on the tablet and of course, sleeping - the whole reason for driving through the night... I think this car-seat tray might have been a life saver for the trip! As were the movies from Papa!

Audrey could not have been better on this drive! Every once in a while she needed her binkie put back in and a bottle, but she hardly cried at all and rarely needed attention! Way to go baby girl! 

When he was awake, Aaron would request that, "Mama sit by you?" so he could "hold hand?"

Now we are here and it is time to sleep!

Aaron and Audrey Cuteness

Aaron and Audrey were quite cute today.

Aaron enjoys learning his numbers by playing Rummikub - he also enjoys coloring on his arms while at the grocery store...

 While Aaron was supposed to be napping, I heard him yell, "Hey Mama! Come help me drive!" I came in to find this - as he turned the bottom of the rocking chair, the whole thing would spin in a circle. What an imagination!

Aaron brought Audrey's chair over and asked me to put her down so they could "play." He proceeded to play peek-a-boo using the bugs to cover his face. Yes, he took her headband ... what older brother wouldn't?

Then ... Audrey had her first mega blow out (more than just a little leaking out the sides)
She had poop all the way up to her neck.

I'll spare you the gore and show you how happy she was after she got it all out :)

Such a cutie!

A Quiet Sunday

Today, we had a quiet Sunday.

We went to the baby blessing of our friends' (Keros & Ann Marie) baby, Rosie.

Aaron was a little wired during Sacrament Meeting so we let him roam and stand by the wall...
Him and his bowtie were tugging at me to take pictures - so super cute :)

 We attended our church after theirs and then we all took naps followed by simply chilling.
Aaron, not wanting to take his nap, screamed/cried, "I love you Mama!" over and over... as Eric carried him up the stairs. I's just a nap, not death ... but I love you too. :)

But then, Audrey decided to say, "I would like to interrupt your chilling to show you, THIS!"

It was suddenly no longer a quiet Sunday as I exploded with excitement!

She did this three times prior to me wrenching Eric's phone away to record it... and then twice after.
Each time I rolled her to her stomach, she would immediately roll back
(hence you see my hand at the beginning of the video)

Little girl can't seem to hold still and has to just roll!!!

Forging New Friendships Through Online Games

Online Video Gaming has a stigma - that it eats away at your life and ruins it, and that all people who play any games at all are lazy people who live in their parents' basement and can't hold jobs. Trust me, as I've gotten older I've seen it happen to a few people. Just like every other thing on the planet, if your priorities are out of sync, it can take over... but it is not a stigma that I was aware of growing up. I didn't even really know about it until I got out of college. My siblings played a few computer games and console games, but it wasn't something that I really got into. In fact, I was down right terrible at them so I didn't play a whole lot. (Though, let me tell you, they got quite a kick out of it when I did try to play - especially games with an "inverted Y" **kudos to you if you know what that means**)

So when Eric and I first got married, I would tell people that he played games (table-top and computer). He wouldn't be considered a "gamer" by any means, but he enjoys them and does play casually. At first, he was taken aback that I was so open with it (due to the stigma). He didn't say anything to me because he didn't want to upset me and he could see that I wasn't spreading the information maliciously - I wasn't trying to tell people as a way to get him made fun of, but simply as a means of conveying our interests... And what resulted was fantastic. He wasn't criticized; in fact, the opposite happened! More people that play games came forward and suddenly he had more people to play with. Through this, he became more relaxed about people being aware that he enjoys games and has created an even bigger network - friends from college, friends from work, friends from church...

At first, I really wanted to support what Eric enjoyed and so I started trying to understand computer games and through my desire, they turned into something that I enjoy as well. As our marriage progressed, I too started playing a few games with him (co-op) though generally speaking, I prefer to watch him play. It is like a movie for me, except, I can control the outcome! I am so glad that it is something we can do together. We are selective about the games we allow into our home and we know, as a couple, that as long as our priorities are in order, gaming will never become an issue. 

One of the games that we started playing last year is called DOTA 2. It is a game of 5 people on a team against another 5 person team. When we first started, we didn't know many people who play. A friend of a friend of a friend of a ... well, you get the idea ... named Jake stepped in to teach us how to play and essentially became our coach for a bit. Eric, having his natural talent to be good at just about everything he touches, took off fast ... but I still relied on Jake (and Eric) for quite some time. :)   Jake is someone we never would have become friends with if it weren't for this game. We have many friends like this. It is amazing the community that is connected with the games online. So, say what you will about online gaming - this is one benefit you cannot deny; the friendships that can be forged that otherwise would never exist due to distance.

Well, this weekend, for the Oregon vs Tennessee football game, Jake came down to Portland and spent the afternoon at our home. We watched the football game for a while (until it became an obvious shut out ... poor Tennessee, and poor Jake) then switched to table-top games. It was fun to be able to meet him in person!

Aaron on his bike trying to be like GP (my grandpa)

I had a hard time getting a picture of these two! They were hardly ever holding still. Jake made the mistake of helping Aaron "fly" on a pillow, and was therefore stuck doing it for the entire afternoon :)

Look! Without trying, we wore duck colors today! Green and Yellow. Go Oregon!

In today's society, there are so many amazing "things" that we can take interest in. Things that at one point would have been considered "strange" or "abnormal" are now becoming "normal" because everyone is into at least one "abnormal" "thing" ... so don't be afraid. Do what you enjoy and pay no mind to the nay sayers!

Farewell Friends ~ Till We Meet Again

We've made some fantastic friends here in the Portland area.

One family, the Stevens' are moving to New Jersey this week!!!

Thank you for all of the fun times! We will sure miss you!!!
Stay in touch!

A Craft Post

My goodness, it has been a loooooooooooong time since I posted one of my crafts... basically because most of my crafts recently have been dealing with home decor and those were (and will be) posted with the pictures of our home. Plus, after the quiet book, I was a bit crafted out. 

But, with Aaron's help, I did a craft this week!

Audrey has several headbands and bows, just like most little girls, and I did not enjoy digging through a pile of them to pick out the headband I wanted... so I had the thought to get a paper-towel holder, add a pool noodle and use that for the headbands and attach fabric and ribbon to a picture frame for the bows.

This headband holder worked well for a while, but due to the design of the holder, I had to unscrew both sides and take the whole noodle out to get a headband off. Plus, it was the perfect size to hold ribbon in my craft room and a bit too small for the headbands ... so I decided to come up with a different idea.

I saw on Pinterest how a lady had taken a cardboard tube, covered it in fabric and used it to put headbands on. I loved this idea because it can grow with Audrey - as she transitions from elastic headbands to normal ones, I can still use the holder ... but where the heck was I going to get a cardboard tube??? So I started looking for different ideas. I tried using the pool noodle and covering it in layers upon layers of fabric scraps, but it was too flimsy and wouldn't glue to the candlestick. So then I got a large tin can, but it wasn't long enough! Then my dad had an idea - use a soda bottle. Genius, but still not long enough, so I got thinking... I cut off the bottoms of 3 soda bottles and the neck of one. I then shoved the necks of the 2 I didn't cut, with a dab of glue, into the other bottles to create a line of 3 bottles (does that make sense? If it doesn't and you want to make one yourself, let me know and I'll do another one but take pictures of the process) - Aaron had fun with this part. We then covered it in duck canvas, glued it to the candlestick and voila! 

It works so wonderfully! Audrey wears headbands way more often now because it is so much easier to get to them! And if I get more headbands, I'll just take the crocheted ones off to make more room as they are specifically to go with her bows and they are too big for her right now anyway... or make another one since it was so easy!