Zachary Ammon Wilhelmsen

Yesterday was Zachary's Big Day. We had most of Corey's and my family present for the blessing. We had not decided for sure on a name by the time we arrived at the meetinghouse. Corey had to fill out the paperwork, and when the blessing began, he surprised most of the family with the name Zachary Ammon Wilhelmsen. Corey had been fond of the name Ammon for a first name, but I liked it better as a middle name. Zachary must have liked the name also, because he became very calm and peaceful just before the blessing, after a difficult night and morning. Corey's strong, yet tender, love for both his Father in Heaven and his son here on earth carried the Spirit of the Lord in great abundance to all those present.

Ammon was a great Book of Mormon missionary, whom I hope Zachary will admire and exemplify. One of my favorite scriptures describes the righteous patriot Captian Moroni, for whom our nephew Nicholas is middle-named:

"If all men had been, and were, and ever would be, like unto Moroni, behold the very powers of hell would have been shaken forever; yea the devil would never have power over the hearts of the children of men."

What an amazing man, right? Well, the next verse goes on to say, "Behold, he was a man like unto Ammon. . . for they were all men of God."

So this wonderful scripture describes the characteristics of both Moroni and Ammon, two great men of God. In our family, all of our nephews on both sides of the family likewise bear the names of amazing men of God. Our nephews have the first or middle names of Adam, Hyrum, Joshua, Jacob, Caleb, David, Michael, Nathan, and Spencer Kimball. I only recently realized that all these names reflect those of spiritual giants from biblical, Book of Mormon, and latter day time periods.

I hope and pray these these young men will grow strong in the Gospel of Jesus Christ, as Zachary was blessed to do yesterday, to serve honorable missions, be endowed and sealed in the temple of God, and carry on the righteous traditions of those whose names they bear.

Yo, Ho, Ho and a Bottle of Milk

How can you have a holiday baby and not put him in a Santa suit?! Especially one this cute! I had fun dressing Zach up today as the blizzard raged and neighbor kids played out the window.

MERRY CHRISTMAS FROM THE WILHELMSENS!

Zzzzzz.....

You know my life is dull when the most exciting thing I have to blog about is that Zach slept (mostly) through the night! He finally tuckered out at 1 am, as he does most nights, and didn't awaken until almost 6 am. I fed him, and then he slept until 9:45. We have been struggling so much with not getting more than a 2-3 hour stretch of sleep for the last few weeks. I got really sick the other night due mostly not to getting any rest, so last night was a welcome relief. He's been in his crib in his nursery the last 2 nights. It is hard for us to not have him right by us, but we all rest much better this way. Look how much happier he is when he's well rested- and you should see the smile on my face too! Let's just hope he makes it a habit. When did your babies start sleeping long stretches throguh the night?

The Zachary Chronicles- Week Four

For awhile, I kept feeling like I was waiting for this kid's real parents to come pick him up, but I guess they're letting us have him for keeps. I guess it's finally feeling like he really is ours. I suppose the pregnancy hormones and pain and healing clouded my thinking for a few weeks, but it really felt like, "Where did he come from? How long does he plan on staying?" I don't know, it just took some getting used to after over thirty years of not being a parent to realize he's here for good, and I'm on duty 24/7 for the next 18 or so years. It'll be fun, right?!

So today marks 4 weeks. Weird. It feels like I was just in labor yesterday. I think Zachary likes to commemorate his entrance into the world by being wide awake every Tuesday morning at 4am. He wants to relive the experience, or just remind us of when he came, or something. That's what pictures and journals are for, son. He still has sleep struggles. Last night he slept from 1am-4am. That was nice. He's starting to smile more and more, which is a joy. It makes those late nights worth it. He is super strong and always trying to lift his head and upper body. I think he'll follow in his cousin Katie's footsteps and be doing sit-ups by 9 months (or was it 7?).

Another fun thing he does is sleep with his arms sticking straight out in the air, like Superman about to take flight (I didn't quite catch it in the photo). I can barely hold my arms out for 30 seconds before they are too tired to stay up. I guess it's easier when they only weigh a few ounces each!

Corey had 4 days off this weekend and spent every moment with Zach while I was able to rest and run errands. I was gone for several hours a few times, and I missed the baby fiercely. I read this magazine article about a mom going back to work after her baby was born, and I almost cried. I'm sure there will be more tears to come in that arena. . . I now feel so bad for hustling Corey out the door back to work when Zach was only a couple of days old. Corey was fighting it, but didn't have enough paid leave to take much time off. It is mean that hardly anyone offers paid maternity/paternity leave. I would be happy to pay a few more tax dollars to ensure that all new parents each received at least one week of paid leave following their child's birth. It is vital to their emotional and physical well-being. In Canada and much of Europe, parents are given from 6-12 months off paid after a baby's birth. They pay a ton in taxes, but at least it is an aim to helping society. Okay, I'm off my political soapbox.

Happy 4 weeks, Baby!

29 and Holding- No, Seriously

I'm not so into the "growing old gracefully" and "embracing your age" stuff. I like being young, and don't much care for getting wrinkles, extra pounds, and all the other tokens of advancing age. I just want to remember the good old "Under 30" days and stay there.

In my BYU Biology class, the professor informed us that up the the age of 20, we were building new cells and continually growing and learning. After the age of 20, our cells were basically done growing, and simply awaiting their pre-programmed cell death, or apoptosis. I was so depressed.

So, as I add another year to my age today, I'm going to try not to think about the dying cells or apoptosis. I'm envisioning clear, tight, non-adipose skin- both on my face and elsewhere. . . Isn't this how they tell you to do it in The Secret?

On a brighter note, Corey gave me the best birthday gift ever. He got up with Zach, who had been keeping me up all night with his tiny gurgling, whimpering noises, at 7am and let me sleep for a few blessed hours. It was heaven! Then I came downstairs to a beautiful arrangement of tropical, red Anthurium flowers, reminding me of beautiful Hawaii in this freezing snowstorm.

Three Weeks Old

Wow, I knew it was going to be a lot of work, but this is exhausting! I honestly don't know how all you other mothers make it look so easy. Zach is still all over the board as far as sleeping and eating schedules go. I'm starting to hate the nights, because I never know if he'll wake up 45 minutes from when I feed him, or if he'll sleep for 4 hours straight. He does better during the days, sleeping and eating about every 2-3 hours. He is a sweet, darling angel, but my sanity will be much better once we get a little bit of a predictable schedule going. It is possible, right? It is amazing that he is 3 weeks old today. It honestly seems like we were just at the hospital yesterday. Maybe that's because, without a full night's sleep, these weeks just seems like one big, long day!

I love these golden locks!

He's filling out those tiny chicken legs. He weighed 8 lbs 10 oz at 16 days.