Wheeler Christmas Card

We were too slow to get out Christmas cards so we decided to blog a Christmas message this year. We hope everyone has a wonderful holiday, soaking in every minute with friends and family. Happy new year to everyone, and may the new year bring joy and happiness to everyone.

Amelia waiting to see Santa.

Merry Christmas from Nathan, Stephanie and Amelia Wheeler

Skip November

Yes you read that correctly, my blog skipped November. That was on purpose. November (although Thanksgiving is fun) is a hard month for me. I just run on survival mode during that month, especially the last half of the month. Now that December is upon us I will share what we have been up too since my last post. Nathan went on a business trip to Cincinnati, OH and was gone for Halloween (my favorite holiday). Amelia and I still had a blast, we went to the library Halloween carnival, out to lunch, to the mall for trick or treating AND more trick or treating around the neighborhood. Phew! What a fun and busy day. We may or may not still have Halloween candy left over. I also taught Nathan how to paint a pumpkin for his work's pumpkin contest, I think he did a great job. We continued the theme of altering famous paintings, this year was of American Gothic by Grant Wood.

Some of my Evan's family came down to celebrate my cousins birthday and we had a blast at a local corn maze at Staheli farm. Of course my aunt and I were on a team (the two most directionally impaired individuals). Lets just say our whole group was out of the corn maze and Nathan had to come rescue us after the group waited 40 minutes for us to show up. Thank goodness he found us and we followed him out. I hope everyone believes me when I say I get lost easily.

Amelia loved playing in the corn slide at Staheli Farm.

Amelia riding a horse swing.

She loved these tiny tractors.

Amelia dressed up as a monkey for Halloween, in honor of Curious George, her favorite.

Amelia's loot....I mean our loot.

Nathan painting his pumpkin, like a pro!

The finished product, I think he did a great job. Yes he did 95% of the painting, and designed the concept. I just did a tiny bit. I guess being married to an artist is rubbing off.

Thanksgiving was fun because Nathan's sister Suzanne and her hubby Stuart and the kids came down. With a little help Nathan and I made our first Thanksgiving meal and it was a SUCCESS. I know a few of you are completely shocked, but its true! I didn't burn anything and the turkey was incredibly delicious. Amelia loved having cousins to follow around and play with. The end to a perfect turkey day was jumping in with the craziness of Black Friday. I went with a friend and we hit up Target and midnight, it was insane. I loved every minute of it. Well, standing in the checkout line for an 1 hour and 45 minutes wasn't the greatest but when your with a friend you try to make the most of it. I could not believe how many people were at Mc Donald's and Del Taco at 3 am. Thats just gross.

Amelia playing with chalk on Thanksgiving.

Final prep for Thanksgiving meal.

Ps- This year my tree was up before December 1st, I broke my own rule BUT it was after Thanksgiving.

For those that are interested, Amelia is really into climbing and running around. She loves to eat the crust off her wheat bread first, she would rather snack all day and not eat dinner but we don't like that idea. She loves Elmo and Curious George and playing with chalk, and just being outside. She loves giving kisses and "shhhing" people. I can't believe she'll be 2 in a few months.

Octoberfest

It's October, one of my favorite months (possibly my number one favorite month) and I am eagerly awaiting for it to cool down. I know some people might love it being in the 80's but it doesn't quite seem like fall without sweater weather.

We had a special treat a few weeks ago, my grandparents came for a visit from out of state, and met Amelia for the first time. They really enjoyed watching Amelia be a spirited toddler. They gave Amelia a really cute dinosaur sippy cup and she still prefers it to any of her other sippy cups. I hope they had a good time visiting us because we sure enjoyed having them.

Amelia has a new talent. Apparently she found out about the "planking" craze and wanted to add her own spin to it. For those of you that don't know what planking is- its lying face down in challenging spots and having your photo taken. There are photos all over the internet. I hope that sums it up enough for any planking enthusiasts who may be reading this. Amelia has been randomly laying down where ever she can, its hilarious. She is "reverse planking" and she's a pro. She thinks its pretty funny too. She also loves wearing Nathan's ties. I think she gets that from me.

We have been having some car troubles with one of our vehicles, so Nathan has been working on it and so have the mechanics. Amelia loves to help out in the garage, but mostly she just likes to play in the cars. She used to get really excited when Nathan got home now she just runs past him because she wants to play in the car. Not sure letting her do it was a good idea because now she's obsessed with the car.

General Conference weekend was interesting, no one tells you how impossible it is to watch it with a toddler. Good thing its online and in the Ensign. My cousin stayed with us over General Conference weekend. I drove her back sunday evening only to get to her dorm and realize she left her keys at our house, so we had to drive all the way back. Thank goodness for Wendy's Frosty's to make the trip a little less frustrating and a lot more fun.

Nathan and I also had the pleasure of seeing The Little Mermaid at Tuacahn with the Majors! We were really excited to have them come down and stay with us. We always have a blast when they come down. The show was amazing- no wonder every night has been sold out. It was our first time going to Tuacahn and we were not let down. We recommend it to anyone and everyone! Now we just need to find a time to go up to Logan- someday Logan friends, hopefully sooner rather than later.

I hope everyone has a fun Halloween. I can't wait to carve pumpkins and eat handfuls of candy corn. I just wish palm tree's leaves changed colors. A girl can dream right?

Amelia's teepee, best spot to read or hide

Amelia sitting in the front seat of the car, just relaxing

Reverse planking-aka Amelia laying down, her new favorite thing

Amelia and Grandma and Grandpa Felgar

Four generations!

Summer Lovin'

Yes, I've been at it again. Procrastinating with this blog. When will I learn? Who knows...

Well August was a pretty good month for us. We took Amelia camping for the first time with my grandparents. She liked playing in the tent but the first night was terrible, we could not get her to go to sleep. Finally at 4:00 am we drove down Payson Canyon to my grandparents house and spent the night there. The following night she slept in the trailer without any issues. I guess tents are for playing but not for sleeping in her mind. She loved running around and didn't want to stop even to eat, she even tried her first roasted marshmallow. AND for those that are wondering she did eat some dirt, and she is still alive, although I did try my hardest to keep her from doing it.

Eating her first roasted marshmallow

We even found a mini Bryce Canyon!

Amelia loved exploring.

This is my favorite photo of Nathan and Amelia at the lake.

Amelia and I also helped my cousin move into SUU (Southern Utah University). Amelia loved helping unpack and running up and down the dorm hall. I couldn't believe how nostalgic I was that day. Remembering all the fun times I had in college and how that time is now past. I had someone give me directions thinking I was a student, which was better than the freshman I met in my cousins dorm who thought I was moving my daughter in. Yeah that aged me about 20 years or so.

Labor Day was fun because we just stayed home and played. I did go pick up my cousin (from SUU) and she spent Sunday and Monday with us. She gave Amelia a Ho Ho and they were instant friends. For the record, I took most of the Ho Ho away. I didn't want you thinking I was a bad parent, giving my child a whole Ho Ho... Our neighbor gave us a box that was the same height as Nathan so of course he went down the stairs in it. Amelia went down with him twice. The box proved to be quite fun. Amelia also had a blast playing with water in the sink with my cousin, Amelia loves playing in water.

Nathan hiding under the box and wiggling his finger through a hole.

Amelia playing outside.

Found daddy!

Amelia playing with my cousin- loving the bubbles.

Amelia playing with Nathan-ignore the messy house por favor.

We've had a pretty good summer and we can't wait for fall. For those of you that are enjoying fall weather we are jealous, and you can be jealous that its still pretty much summer here.

Can't wait for October, Halloween is my favorite holiday and I want to break out the halloween stuff...must wait...until October 1st! I can do it- I can do it- I can do it!!! maybe :)

Procrastination is fun, sometimes.

So its been awhile... I have been checking other blogs pretty regular and I keep telling myself that I need to update my own, but I'm kinda famous for procrastinating. I'm bribing myself with a treat if I update this blog. Sad but true. So aren't you a lucky audience?! You now get an update all because of a wonderful treat motivating me to update this. To bad I can't share my treat with you. I would if I could. Maybe.

So we went to Minnesota successfully and had a blast. Amelia did really well on the flights out to Minnesota but on the return flight from Denver to Vegas, she kinda had a rough time. She was overtired and wanted to run around but it was a full flight. She fell asleep just as we were making our decent into Vegas. We had a lot of fun hanging out with Grant's family and Steven's family. Amish people are nice and Amish children like to stare at your vehicle. The Mall of America is a fabulous place. Simply fabulous. Nathan hung out in the amusement park, riding roller coasters and I window shopped. I can't believe I didn't BUY ANYTHING. Are you shocked? I sure am. However going to Ikea sure changed that. My sister in law Kara and I are huge Ikea fans, and we spent a good amount of time throwing around design ideas. I guess I helped inspire her because the next day she went back and had quite fun shopping. Side note: the funniest thing about the Mall of America is that the PC store is right across from the Apple Store.

My dad and sister also stopped by for a fun little visit. Amelia really loves playing with her Grandpa Dave. Katie spent 1/2 the time they were visiting sick, so that was quite unfortunate. We are so glad they made it home safely and Katie is doing much better. We were able to see them again over the 4th of July weekend when we went up north. Our trip up to Salt Lake would have been completely awesome if my grandparents had not been in Illinois. I know they really missed seeing Amelia. We were able to visit with my BEST FRIEND IN THE WHOLE WORLD <---she's so special I had to use caps lock. We went to the zoo with Joanna (best friend) and the Norton family (which are my second family) to celebrate Joanna's daughters 3rd birthday. The zoo had animated dinosaurs and Amelia loved them. After a fun time at the zoo we had lunch at our special spot. The Pie. Best. Pizza. Ever. The rest of the afternoon we spent with visiting some of my family. Sunday and Monday we hung out with Nathan's sister's and their families. Overall, a wonderful weekend.

So, the main reason why I've been procrastinating blogging, besides traveling, is that I've been teaching classes on Ancient Greece at the museum. Its a summer class program for kids, with art projects, learning, food, etc. The kids love it. I also dress up as Poseidon for the famous debate between Poseidon and Athena. It just makes for busy weeks. I almost forgot, Amelia had her first haircut, she was growing a mullet and it needed to go. She looks so much better without the red mullet thing going on. Also her latest thing is to change her shoes throughout the day. She loves wearing shoes. I'm pretty excited about her love of footwear.

Phew, that was a lot of updating. Now since I can't share my actual treat with you I guess you, my internet audience, will have to be satisfied with a few photo's from our summer fun. Bon appetit! (By the way, these photos are not in any particular order, hope that doesn't bug any of you with ocd. If so, then I did it on purpose just to bug you)

This photo is for Amelia's great grandparents Ruth and Stan who sent her this cute dress, she loves to wear it and carry it around.

Joanna and I at the Zoo. with Amelia, Tia and a cool dinosaur

Amelia and Nathan in front of the life size T-Rex, Amelia wasn't even scared of his loud roar.

Amelia and Aunt Katie goofing off

Amelia and Grandpa Dave

First haircut. Mullet be gone! (I know she looks naked but she does have her diaper on)

Nathan and Amelia at the Mall of America

Amelia rocking some Amish headgear

Us at BW3's in Minnesota

Up up and away!

So its been a month since I've blogged. Time sure does go by fast and slow in the mom world black hole. So here is a little bit of what's been going on in our lives. Last week my sister and my dad came to visit for a few days and we had a really good visit. I made sure we went to this huge nursery thats in town because my little sister is like the plant whisperer. She was in heaven, and we only saw about 1/16 of what they had to offer. She helped me pick out two pots with sturdy plants that I should be able to keep alive. So far they still are alive. Must be a miracle.

Amelia loved that my dad would hold her hand and walk around with her 24/7. I firmly believe that all that walking around with her finally gave her the nudge to walk. Sunday evening she started walking and hasn't looked back. I spend most of my day picking up a mess only to turn around with 3 other messes waiting for me and Amelia no where in sight. The other skill Amelia can now add to her resume is queen bee tantrum thrower. Terrible twos? Try terrible 13 months! It doesn't help that she's decided that her molars need to come in now, ignore the fact that she only has her two top teeth and two bottom teeth. The red tornado doesn't do anything orthodox, and I don't think I'd have it any other way. Check back in a few months and I might have changed my tune. Kidding... or am I?!

Nathan and I are really looking forward to visiting Nathan's two brothers (and their families) in Minnesota this upcoming weekend. It will be Amelia's first time flying. I hope she doesn't cry the whole time. No one wants to be the parents of a crying baby on a long flight. I'm sure most of us have been on a flight with a crying child, and its never a pretty sight. Nonetheless we are excited to be going.

Yesterday we did some spring cleaning. We cleaned out our under the stairs closet and reorganized. I know you may be thinking "Yawn, spring cleaning", but I am so glad we finally got around to doing it. I don't like clutter, it makes me feel claustrophobic. I really like going through a closet and getting rid of stuff, my motto is "If I haven't used it in 6-12 months, I'm not going to, so hasta la vista JUNK." I highly recommend it. Very liberating. So yes, I did just blog about cleaning.

This summer I will be helping teach summer art classes for kids at the art museum. Greek and Roman art here we come! The activities are going to be awesome, I'm really excited about it and the kids are really jazzed up as well. I'm kinda giddy that I will be the art historian for some of the classes.

Well I think thats about it... Hope everyone has a good Memorial Day!

Ps- Glad we all survived "The Rapture" phew, that was a close one. I think I need a t-shirt that says "I survived the rapture of May 21, 2011".

Kites and Sickness

Well the Easter weekend we had planned has been put on hold. Amelia got sick Thursday, not just a little cold, we're talking miserable sick. She had a fever that we couldn't get to go down, even after rounds of the Ibuprofen/Tylenol combo. Thursday night, I took her into the walk in clinic. Turns out Miss Amelia has the Coxsackie Virus, aka Hand, Foot and Mouth. Except she just has the mouth infection. Poor baby has blisters in her throat. We think she caught it at the Kite Festival last Saturday. So Easter will be a chill at home weekend, since she's extremely contagious. Hopefully Nathan and I can catch up on some sleep, the past two nights with Amelia have been horrible.

Speaking of the Kite Festival, it was really fun this year. Besides Amelia licking the school bus seat which is probably where she caught the virus, kites were able to fly this year. Last year there no wind, which made for a lame festival. The other fun part about it was Garrett, Melissa and Olivia Rasmussen were able to join us! It was awesome having them stay with us for a few days while on their way to Mesa, Az. Olivia and Amelia became fast friends and it was hilarious to watch them interact together.

We also had our family photo's done at FotoFly. They are the most amazing photography studio. For those who are curious, they're located in Draper. Loved them. I highly recommend them. And because you asked nicely here are a few to enjoy:

Amelia's First Birthday

Amelia celebrated her first birthday yesterday and even though the day was busy, she had a blast. She loved hearing the happy birthday song, so we sang that song throughout the day. We had a few neighbors and friends over for some cake and ice cream. Suzanne and Stuart surprised us by stopping by on their way home from Vegas. Nathan had to work late on her birthday and he was really bummed about it. Luckily he made it home to see her eat her cake (which is always the best part of a party). We can't wait to celebrate some more this weekend with family. Life with a toddler has officially begun.

Our neighbor gave Amelia a baby sock monkey, for those of you that know Nathan you know that sock monkeys are his least favorite thing, so that was pretty funny.

Nathan made Amelia a log cabin out of a box. He believes all kids need are a box to have fun, he was right. Amelia loves playing in her cabin. Her favorite thing to do is to look at her birthday cards in the cabin.

Amelia unsure of the smash cake. I think she was experiencing some performance anxiety.

After a few tastes she realized "hey this is yummy!"

Pretty happy and running on a sugar high.

She loved opening presents

The owl cake I made

Amelia's owlet smash cake

A few pictures are better than none

I can add photos again!!! perhaps my whining to the blogging universe paid off because my toolbar is back and I can add photos again. WAHOO! so here are some photos from our spring break fun:

Amelia and I going down the slide, she loved it.

Amelia loves to up and down the stairs, over and over and over again.

Amelia and Tia jumping and rolling around on the air mattress

Amelia and Tia chillin in the car

Me, Amelia, Joanna and Tia at the dinosaur museum