The Little Man

Life has been a little crazy around the Whicker house the last few weeks... We have been adjusting to being Mom and Dad, and loving the heck out of our new little man! He is so handsome, yes I am biased, but I am sorry. This fella is handsome! It has been a learning experience, but luckily we were blessed with a patient son. He is teaching us more about him every day; and it boggles my mind how much he changes on a daily basis. He has his fussy moments, but when Mason cuddles up on my shoulder and falls asleep, my heart seriously melts in a single instant. He's adorable. We're keeping him. And yes, I am gushing, because dang it, I am one proud mama!

Here are some of the great pictures Nate's sister Camille took of the little heart breaker. She and Brand came over on Christmas Eve to take these. We are so grateful to have such talent in the family. She captured him perfectly. I am so glad we have these to show how small he really was.

That is just a small selection of the pictures she took. I will post more later. They are all so good!

Christmas was wonderful, I will have to post some pictures soon. For now I leave you with the promise that this blog will be so stuffed full of pictures it may make you crazy... But I cannot help but take endless pictures of my little boy. I apologize in advance :) Come back often for more!

He's here!

Mason Dean Whicker

December 15th, 2009

5:25 AM

6 pounds 2 ounces - 18.5 inches long

More to come later!

Bedtime Stories and a Baby Shower

Nate and I have amazing family and friends. Seriously. That could honestly be the name of this post, and that would say it all. Mason had his baby shower last Saturday, and I am here to tell you, this kid is going to be spoiled from the get go! Thank you to all the people who came out last Saturday. It was a beautiful day, probably the last really nice one we will have in awhile! Here are some pictures from the event!

The "theme" of the shower was "Bedtime Stories". This was a little bed my Mom set up that the gifts went on. It was really cute.

This is a diaper cake my Aunt Wendy made for Mason.

Some of the party goers. It was a full house down here in the basement!

The gift table. The kid is spoiled rotten I tell ya!

The cake. Always delish.

...WARNING...

So, the following pictures you must forgive. They are mostly of me, my huge self, and the cute gifts Mason got. I, as you can tell by lack of self portraits on my blog, am not a huge fan of pictures. BUT- As a good sport, I am going to post a few of myself in the not so flattering positions of kneeling on the floor, and uncomfortably situated on a foot stool opening gifts. Please, hold all laughter until the end.

It really was a fun day, and Mason got alot of great things! Thanks again to everyone who came! Nate and I appreciate your kindness so much!

Oh, the many adventures of living in a basement...

The most recent adventure? Nate and I acquired a new pet, unknown to us until Nate saw him hopping along the floor one evening. Needless to say he was not a welcomed visitor. Nate's parents had recently done some renovating down here in our basement, which had meant necessary open doors, and keeping the connecting garage open for long work days. We are thinking he invited himself right in, not knowing we aren't super keen on drop in guests. This is one of the poses he provided when I screamed at his presence in my home:

Okay, he wasn't as cute as Renny, so Nate promptly called Brand to come over for back up the night he saw the hopping bandit. Nate and Brand are definitely much braver than me! (This must be why they're the burly men bearing brooms as weapons, and I'm the screaming girl in the corner with my eyes closed.) Our "pet" was evicted in less than 30 minutes. I have never been so happy to have Brand come over in my entire life! This was one I snapped when Nate handed him his eviction notice and escorted him off the property:

I am just hoping he didn't invite too many friends over, because their fate is sealed to end just as quickly. So in the mean time all our food is housed in sealed plastic containers on my kitchen counter, because frankly I don't feel like sharing; and my kitchen has that familiar smell of the ultimate killing-of-everything cleaner: bleach. I'm sure you can smell it from outside; the neighbors are probably wondering if we bathe in it.

We are keeping our fingers crossed that we are back to only us Whickers inhabiting this space... because as I have had the strength to try and make this horribly scarring experience into something more like a funny adventure today, yesterday was a much different story. Yesterdays story included tears, tons of cleaning, wearing shoes inside my house, and lots of extra-intensified emotions due to my pregnant state. Oh, and I'm sure Nate is sick and tired of all my paranoia, so we're hoping this experience is behind us!

Long Time, No Post.... With an Announcement!

It has been ages since we have updated the blog.... Poor, neglected little thing! Lots has been going on under wraps here in the Whicker household. We have had a little announcement we have been keeping to ourselves and slowly leaking to family, and friends. Now, it's blogworld's turn! I would like to introduce to you... Baby Whicker!

Here he/she is today at 17 weeks! Today was supposed to be the big day that we would know whethere "it" was a boy like Daddy has thought since day one, or a girl like Mom likes to say just to drive Dad crazy!

But- "it" will now have to be referred to as "Naughty Baby" for it's behavior during the ultrsound today! My OB (who is so fabulous by the way, I love her!) tried to see what this cute little bug was right off the bat, and drug the little symbol that said "girl" down right away! I was like, "Haha! Nate! See, you've been calling the little girl a boy! Poor thing!" and that kind of teasing. Then- my doctor thought she saw something- but couldn't decide if it was some cord, or actually a little boy part! So she pushed around all over me (kind of hard too!), poked the little bug and tried to get "it" to move around so we could get a better shot. All this little baby would do was cover it's eyes with it's hands and sit Indian Style, cross legged so we could see absolutely nothing! It was throwing a little fit if you ask me, it must have gotten that from me already! It just would not budge! Haha! Silly little thing. This is why it shall hereby be nicknamed, "Naughty Baby".

I will have another appointment next Wednesday where hopefully the bug will cooperate- my doctor told me to drink some orange juice before I come to get the baby hyper and moving around alot so we can get a good look. The good news is, she says the baby is growing beautifully and looks perfect! Yay!

Karter's Kritters!

Nate's cousin Kipp, and his wife Mallory have a beautiful little boy named Karter. Karter has been a trooper in his short little life, and overcome so many obstacles. His mom has started a business to help their family with medical expences. She is selling some ADORABLE stuffed animals that you can heat up in the microwave, or cool off in the freezer. If you have kids, there would be nothing better to soothe an ear ache, or chill a boo-boo. (Or if you have a Nate, they may help warm away the kidney stones!) Nate and I are ordering two... Check her website out, and help them out if you can.

http://www.karterskritters.blogspot.com/

And Another...

So, Nate's cousin David is getting married soon, and his fiance Jill had a Bridal Shower yesterday. What did I bring you ask? Blocks, letter blocks like the ones Ranell and I made. What is their last name? Let me spell it out for you: S-T-R-A-U-S-B-U-R-G. That's right 10 letters! I had Nate sanding down blocks like a mad man till the wee-hours of the morning, while I filled our home with the lovely scent of wood stain and varnish. Here is the finished product, I hope it will match the happy couple's home (and that they will have a space large enough to hold it! It took up my entire window sill!) This is a picture of how L-O-N-G it was! But it doesn't let you see how cute the stain looked on it with the cute paper- so the picture below is the close up of how it looked!

Are you ready to RUMBLE?!

This year's Super Bowl celebration will be held at Camille's house. (Which is usually is because her projector makes it seem like you're on the field!) But everyone was in charge of bringing a treat of somekind. So, Nate and I decided to make his favorite dinner dish, along with an oldie but goodie dessert recipe that is as easy as gets. It may be true that I don't really watch football, okay I don't watch it at all, but I am always up for a reason to cook some tasty food!

Crock Pot French Dips

From Family Friendly Recipes

2-3 Lbs. oven roast

2 cans beef broth (about 4 cups)

2 pkgs Lipton Onion Soup mix

White Italian Sub Rolls (We get our bread from Subway, they sell a 12" roll for .50!)

Provolone cheese slices

Put oven roast in a crock pot. Add beef broth and soup mix. Cook on LOW for 7-8 hours. Shred roast with a fork, then return the shredded beef to the crock pot for a few more minutes (to absorb more of that juicy goodness). Slice open the bread and place a good amount of beef on one side (scoop out some of the bread first if you don't like it really bread-y). Place a slice or two of Swiss cheese over the shredded beef and broil for a minute or so until cheese starts to bubble and brown a little. Remove from broiler and serve. Use a ladle to scoop out some of the juice from the crock pot and serve as au jus.

Cookie Crumble Cheescakes

12 Vanilla Wafers/12 Oreo Cookies, plus a few exras for crumbling

(Use whichever you'd prefer, or double all other ingredients to do both)

12 foil cupcake liners

2 packages cream cheese

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 eggs

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place one cookie in the bottom of each foil liner, place liners on cookie sheet; crush a few cookies to top cakes later. Mix cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla together in a mixer on medium speed untill well blended. Add eggs to batter one at a time, on low speed, just untill incorporated. Spoon batter evenly into liners. Sprinkle top of batter with cookie crumbles. Bake cakes 20-25 minutes, or untill centers are just starting to set up. Let cool in fridge for at least 3 hours, or overnight.

In Loving Memory

In Loving Memory

John Neldon Whicker

1952-2009

Nate's Uncle John passed away last week. I only had the chance to meet him once, during our wedding. Man did I miss out on a great man! Oh, the stories I have heard of Uncle John! Nate's Grandma Marlene told me at John's viewing that my husband has some Uncle John in him... So I must believe that John was a fiesty, funny, giving, and charming man, from the stories I have heard of him, and because that is just like Nate. What a great family the Whickers are; I don't think there is a more embracing, loving family in the world. I had the chance to meet cousins, and relatives I had yet to meet, and that Nate had not seen in years. It's so sad that it sometimes takes such circumstances to bring families together. That will have to change.

The viewing blew me away. Unlce John was known for giving out popcorn, and Tootsie Pops at the tire shop he owned, and also known for his addicition to Vanilla Coke. All through the funeral home, I saw little kids sucking on Tootsie Pops someone had brought, and given out in his memory. There were also a few cans of Vanilla Coke scattered about. For the entire length of the viewing, there was a line out the door of the funeral home of people waiting in line, for quite some time, to say goodbye to John and pay respects to his amazing family. John left a family of strong, compassionate, and loving people. I'm sure he had quite a bit to do with that. Tootsie Pops will always mean Uncle John in this household. We love you guys...

The Festival of Trees

We went down to Salt Lake yesterday with Camille, Brand, Bree, Andrew, and Kenzie to meet Nate's Grandma and Dad for lunch, and a trip to The Festival of Trees.

Olive Garden was for lunch, and was good as always! I don't think it is ever not good :) After lunch it was off to to see the trees! Although apparently we were not the only ones with that idea... It was packed! Which is a good thing I suppose, since all the money they earn from admissions and the selling of the trees and such goes to Primary Children's Hospital.

The whole big group of us walked around to see the sites. Bree and Andrew did such a good job; I am sure after awhile the forest of trees seemed to be never ending! Near the middle of the forest, Andrew was riding in his stroller, and kept saying something to me.... Camille translated and hold me he was asking to hold my hand. So for throughout the rest of the trees we walked with Drew in the stroller, with me to the side holding his hand :) It was cute!

There were some beautiful quilts on display with a lot of the trees. I have begged Marlene to let me come down to Filmore for a day and teach me the ropes of quilt making! I loved seeing pictures that came along with some of the trees. You could read the stories of some; and a few just broke my heart. I am sure decorating a tree for someone who has passed away is apart of the healing process for their loved ones. But man, I got goosebumps more times than I can say. I felt for these families who had lost very young children, children who never got a chance to grow up- ugh, enough of that, the goosebumps are coming back. But all in all, it is a beautiful display of love- and I was honored to have been able to take part in such a great event! Here are a few pictures (These are borrowed from KSL.com, Nate has purchased and wrapped a camera for Christmas, so soon, I will be able to take some pictures of my own!)

Here is an example of one of the many long lines... Everyone waited patiently in line, and weaved through the forest, it was fun, but very crowded!
Behind this massive snowman is one of the many cute quilts at the festival...
This was a cluster of three little trees if I remember right... They were so cute! This tree was one of the busiest... It was made of glass (obviously!), and had a light show inside it that was timed to music. There was a lady there in front of it answering people's questions... Guess how much this bad boy was purchased for... $27, 000! Holy cow! But it was beautiful!

Busy Weekend and Thriving Ivory

Along with the pumpkin carving party on Sunday evening, Nate and I also drove to Fillmore with his family, and went to a concert! (All on Saturday! It added up to be a very busy day!)

Going to Fillmore is always pretty fun, and this time was especially fun! It was Great Grandma Whicker's first time seeing Capri! She was so good in the car, she was quiet and happy the whole time. Not sqirmy and antsy like her Aunt Kerianne! Nate's grandma is always so sweet, and always cooks the best lunches for us! She made us cheeseburger soup which was so yummy that I think I'll put the recipe up so anyone can make it! I am hoping to get my hands on one of those Whicker Family Cookbooks soon so I can take full advantage of the talents of the Whicker women, and their families and friends!

And, on to the concert details! Nate really likes listening to 101.9 on the radio, so he called in one day, and won tickets to a small concert to see the band Thriving Ivory. Nate had been talking about them for quite awhile, and I would listen to them with him from time to time, but never really thought much of it; anyone who knows Nate should know how much he LOVES music! So I was excited to go with him, but didn't really know the band, so was just expecting to watch him enjoy it. Let me just say... The concert was AWESOME! Thriving Ivory is such a great band. They sounded as good live as they do on their album. To be completely honest, I may like them as much, if not more than my partner in crime! (He smiles everytime he hears me humming or singing one of their songs. He takes great satisfaction in knowing he has great taste in music!) I think everyone should really give them a chance (just like Nate asked me to do!), because I think you will be happily suprised!

Listen to their video below... (You can turn off my profile music down at the bottom of this page so you can hear the video alone) Let me know what you think! I will pass it on to Nate! You can bet we'll get some more smiles out of him if we can find some more followers and fellow enjoyers! He is such a cute guy, and I am one lucky girl!

July is wrapping up...

Whew. What a month. July is almost over; I'm not sure where it went!

Nate and I got home from the family vacation to Island Park yesterday. It was such a fun time! We went fishing quite a few times with Ralph, and Bree. Bree loves to go fishing! She was so brave... She brought one of the fishes Ralph caught inside the cabin with her bare hands. She kept telling us, "Aww... He's so cute!". It was hilarious- the girl has no fear! Bree and Andrew also love to ride on the 4-wheelers. Bree kept asking when we were going to take out the "folla-wheelas", and Andrew simply would say, "vroom, vroom!". They are so active and up to do anything. They definitely kept everyone busy!

Camille, Brand, and Kenzie arrived early Saturday morning- after a short detour to the other side of Idaho. It was so much fun once they all got there. We toured Yellowstone on our last day... I am sorry to say I was in a no-good-very-crabby mood; Nate was very tollerant, like always. But on the bright side, Yellowstone was an experience. Old Faithful was very cool, and the scenery is beautiful. We didn't see any animals to Bree's dissapointment- BUT- We got some fabulous ice cream in West Yellowstone. After that, my mood improved. Ice cream heals the world!

After we left the cabin, on our way home, my reliable ol' Ford Focus decided to give us some hassle. It hit the 70,000 mark on our way there. I think it may have been having a mid-life-crisis. It would randomly start chugging to the point that we would have to pull over. Nate was getting so frustrated! He is so knowledgable in... well, anything, that is was hard for him to not know exactly what was wrong with it. But in the middle of nowhere, there wasn't much he could do about it. Poor kid. We got home none the less, just a little bit later than planned.

Well, everyday is an eventful one with the Whickers. We just can't get around it!