Day Trip to Beaver's Bend, Oklahoma

We have been seriously missing the mountains, rivers, and outdoors in general here in Texas, so for Memorial Day weekend, we decided to check out some wilderness areas near Broken Bow, Oklahoma, in Beaver's Bend State Park. Since everyone and their dogs camp this weekend, we decided not to actually camp, but to check on things for a future campout. Corey heard that this lake and river in southeastern Oklahoma, just over the border from us, had mountains and good camping and fly fishing. We began our 3 hour trek and Zach fell right asleep, which I was hoping would extend through most of the drive. However, 30 minutes later, we hit one of the very few stoplights on the entire route, and he promptly woke up and was in a pretty bad mood until he fell asleep again on the drive home.

The boring drive made me miss home so much. Everything along the way was flat, flat, flat! Zach was so bored he resorted to examining his hands and toes for long periods of time. Then he would suck on them. (I'm pretty sure he learned that from his dad, not his mom.)
The monotony was occasionally broken up by a big factory. We passed our friends Sara Lee, Tyson, and Campbell's along the way. We also drove through a number of flat, blah, towns that all looked pretty much like this:
After 3 hours, we arrived in the tiny town of Broken Bow, but still did not see any mountains. In the distance we could see some slight hills that were maybe 100 feet tall, and even that pitiful change in elevation caused our hearts to leap a little. Beaver's Bend State Park was packed with tents and RVs and I just can't understand how that is enjoyable to people. I like to be outdoors and enjoy nature to be away from all the other people and crowds!

We found a little shack that was renting canoes on the river, and jumped at the chance to get out of the car for awhile. We were a little hesitant to have Zach in a canoe, but the classically redneck owner said it was fine. (I suppose I should've questioned his judgement a little more after he asked if my 18 month old was holding his head up pretty well yet. :) ) We put a small life vest on Zach, boarded this awesome, ancient van, and got dropped at the start of the river run.

There was actually a tiny, very shallow run of rapids at the very beginning, and since there was not really a place for Zach to sit, I had to hold him on my lap for the entire trip and hope that we wouldn't tip over. Therefore, Corey had the job of balancing and paddling us (not rowing, as I was corrected by my astute, Eagle Scout husband!) down the shallow river.

Let me just tell you what a fun experience it is to hold a kicking, screaming, crying child on a tiny canoe for an hour. Dipping his feet in the water and telling him to look for Nemo and sharks helped distract him a bit. Despite Zach's many repeated outbursts, we really enjoyed the gorgeous scenery.

There were one or two dozen turtles perched on this fallen tree.

I absolutely LOVED these beautiful trees shooting out of the water. Delectable!

I don't which I liked more, the trees or their reflection.

My feeble attempt at emulating artist Vladmir Kush. :) I was trying to make an hourglass out of this vista, but it looks more like a Rorschach test!

We were surprised to see this familiar old Indian statue, and thought he had been kidnapped from his dwelling in Idaho Falls. However, we found out the sculptor created one of these in each of the 50 states. Nice to see a familiar face so far from home, though!
Zach had just about HAD IT--and so had I. Luckily the end point was just before that bridge.
Two minutes after we buckled him in, he was out for a couple of hours straight. Bummer that he didn't get a good nap earlier so we could have all enjoyed the canoe trip more. Oh well.

On the way home, I had a brighter perspective of our trip than on the way there. We were even blessed to see this lovely sunset. Here's to more adventurous Texas roadtrips!

First Haircut

Personally, I thought Zach's long, gorgeous, corkscrew curls were perfect. However, while in Hawaii, about a dozen people made comments on how cute "she" was, and Corey started sharpening the scissors. I don't find anything wrong with long hair on little boys, as long as it's not shaggy or gross. Both of my brothers had the cutest, sweetest curls for quite awhile.

In this next picture, it's a little more out of control, but it's full of a day's sweat and sunscreen.

Anyways, when it's wet and straight, it's pretty long. Since he turned 18 months old today, I conceded that we could give him a little trim.

I just hope we get a little girl in the future, and that she has Zach's luck with hair! :)

We turned on Finding Nemo, wetted it down, and I took the scissors and clipped about 1.5 inches all the way around.

It kind of broke my heart. The part I cut off was the tiny mullet he was born with! I really am not interested in my baby growing up.

It's quite a bit shorter once it is dry. There is still plenty of hair left, but I miss the little corkscrew curls! Plus, I doubt that they'll grow back.
Something funny about it today was that his little cowlick in back did have a puffy spiral curl! It gets curlier when it is wet. I guess it's cute still, but I miss his long baby hair.

Zach Likes to Hold Hands

One of the most endearing things about my precious baby boy is that he has always liked to hold hands/fingers/thumbs with whomever is closest to him. Some kids twirl hair to calm themselves, some prefer pieces of soft cotton or "silkies" (Missy:)), but my Zachy likes holding hands. It goes beyond a simple preference--he gets downright honery if you don't let him hold it just the right way or if you have to borrow your thumb to scratch your nose or anything! He held my mom's hand a good portion of the drive to Texas from Utah, and it kept him perfectly happy! So while it sometimes gets annoying to have to position my thumb just so while he snuggles in bed with me in the morning (before I join the land of the living), I will be sad when he outgrows the desire to hold his mommy and daddy's hands. How I love this sweet baby boy!

More Zach Videos

We are nearing our fourth month of being away from our families, and I am sad that they are missing these precious months where Zach is learning and growing so much. His vocabulary doubles or triples every months, and he does the funniest things! Here are a few things he's done this past month.

Yep, that's the wall.

Those are big shoes to fill.

Child labor laws?

He randomly started doing this on his own--kind of cute.

This one has a happier ending

Zach's first popsicle experience-watch the look on his face.

We bought him this little lawn mower and the first time playing with it, he went down the hall and came back wearing Corey's ball cap backwards--just like when Dad mows the lawn! We broke out laughing so hard at this random mimic of Zach's. We know we need to watch the example we are setting for our son.

So Zach is recently obsessed with Finding Nemo. He won't really sit in front of anything else, but anything with fish or sharks or water immediately has him chanting, "Nemo" about twelve times in a row! We sure love this kiddo!

All You Need is Love

Did I mention that we LovE this kid?

Videos of Zach at 16 Months

The following videos are for my mom's birthday present, as well as for the enjoyment of the entire family that doesn't get to see each step of Zach's growing up as we are so far away. For those of you that get this notification emailed to you, you have to go to http://www.wilhelmsens.blogspot.com/ to actually watch the videos. Be sure to mute the playlist on the left and turn up your volume to hear his little voice. They may take a few minutes to buffer, depending on the speed of your internet connection, but they're worth it. Enjoy!

Swing Delight

Nana and Bapple

Cat Rider

Eager Drinker

Mini-Extreme Home Makeover

When you've lived in a home as colorful and comfy as ours was in Pleasant Grove, it's tough to move into something less than half the size and as hideously appointed as our rental here in Dallas. The walls in this house ranged from chalky white that looked like they forgot to paint over the primer, to tacky, multi-colored wallpaper. But with a few gallons of paint, a few new fixtures, and a lot of time (why does painting always take SO much longer than you think it will?!), we are much more at home here.

I still have a few rooms to go, but it may take a little while longer until I start the next project. The owner lives in CA, and the agent said we could paint in neutral colors. (Red is neutral, right?) Also, keep in mind there are dozens of other things I would love to do if we owned the place, but we will be out of here within a few short years, so I shall refrain for now! Unless I get really bored or we get rich!

BEFORE: Lovely mauve wallpaper made me want to spend even less time in the kitchen than is already programmed in my genes.

AFTER: I know some of you will have a heart attack, and others of you don't know any better, but I painted over the wallpaper in several rooms. *gasps* I actually researched it online and found several experts that agreed that if you're absolutely not willing/unable to take down the paper (which I have never done, but have heard it is a pain, not to mention there was no way that was happening with a 14 month old), then you can use an oil-based primer directly on the paper to prevent water from getting through the paint and paper, followed by regular latex or oil paint. Of course I did not research this until AFTER I had already painted over the bathroom wallpaper. You will soon see why the oil primer is recommended.

Anywho- I used what I thought was going to be a light beige, but it tuned out to be a darker, grayish beige that contrasted unpleasantly with the counter tops. Oops. I redid the small molding bright white to contrast. Not my favorite room or colors still, but better than before, right?

BEFORE: This guest bathroom wallpaper was reminiscent of Rainbow Brite. I could not find a decent matching shower curtain, so I shopped the "Oops" shelf at Lowe's. I hope we love the color, because for $35, we found a 5 gallon bucket of this relaxing taupe. We also bought some lighter paint we can tint it with so every room we use it in doesn't have to be the same shade.

MIDWAY: We also spent about $15 on bronze fixtures (which were surprisingly complex to install. You'd think toilet paper and hand towel holders would be a standard size, right? Wrong.) I love bronze lately. Really, anything but polished chrome will suffice.

AFTER: I seriously bought at least 5 different shower curtains in varying color schemes looking for the least expensive, acceptable option. A surprisingly valuable lesson I learned in this process was that it turns out that it is more economical for me to buy the more expensive one I liked from Target in the first place, because every trip I took to TJ Maxx, Ross, Marshalls, etc. to find that perfect, discount-priced pattern, I found many other items I liked, as well. As a result, much of January was spent bargain shopping, spending way more than I ought, and then taking twice that time to make returns. With a bit of luck, the Target curtain went on sale, and I haven't looked back! I could even use the red towels I already had, which saved me even more.

What's that, you ask? Oh, 2 tiny drops of water got on the wall after I washed my hands one night. I brilliantly decided to get a towel wet and mop-up the drops. Streeeak! So it turns out that water goes right through latex paint into the wallpaper, causing "water stains" to stay forever. Oh well. It still looks better than Rainbow Brite, right? And I know for next time to use an oil based primer over wallpaper first. I'm sure that water will rarely come into contact with the walls in there- we mainly use that bathroom to bathe Zach!

BEFORE: Whoever originally decorated this home when it was built in the 80s had a knack for picking out gorgeous wall coverings, as evidenced by this stunning floral border, no? I was actually going to leave it and just paint the rest of the wall (and no, that is not a shadow on the white wall. It is a line where the chalky, primer-looking substance on the left meets the grayish white on the right. Classy, huh?), which I did. But it still looked so hideous, and we were expecting dinner guests in an hour, so I just painted right over the ugly, peeling border! Don't you all want to hire me to be your interior decorator? I don't know why I waste valuable time fixing teeth when I could be making millions on HGTV decorating for the stars!

AFTER: One great thing about making over a hideous room is that even minor changes make for a world of improvement. I was especially happy with how the taupe makes the dining room more formal and inviting, rather than the chintzy white breakfast nook appearance of before. And kudos to Corey for picking out the gorgeous orchids for my Valentine's gift. (Although I have dangerously been pining for the Islands ever since...)

BEFORE: And lastly, the living room, where we spend most of our waking hours. I knew we had to preserve some of the spicy color from our PG home. I apologize for the before picture- I already had the blue painter's tape up- I couldn't cover this monotonous white fast enough!

AFTER: Not bad, huh? It immediately felt so warm and cozy, in contrast with the stark blahness of the white. We only did the two opposing walls, as the others are vaulted and we have no ladder. It will also save us work if we have to repaint it a neutral color ("oops" taupe, anyone?) when we leave. Just a little splash of color is all a lot of rooms need to give them a whole new feel. I absolutely love my new living room, and found the perfect shade of red after much study and prayer ;)! Just don't ask me the name of the color, because Zach peeled off the label and ate it, which is better than eating the paint, right?!

I also bought several items to put on top of the ledge, and as part of my Valentine's gift, Corey hung the clock. Don't ask me how he did it, as I previously mentioned that we do not have a ladder. It must be those sweet basketball shoes he got for Christmas. The wooden block "W" looks a little out of place amongst the other metallic, scroll-script objects. I love the globe, though. I may change things up a little, but it works for now.

So, there you have it. Our little rental house is becoming a home, not just as a result of it looking more warm and comfortable. We are already making memories here in Texas. It will be the place where little Zach grew from infancy to childhood, where Corey became a doctor, and where our little family will hopefully grow bigger.

My New Job

I am enjoying my new job as an associate dentist at the office of Steven Titensor, DDS, in Flower Mound, TX. It is a beautiful office, as you can see from the photographs. The aroma of baking cookies fills the air, and we offer our patients comfy blankets, neck pillows, and paraffin hand treatments. Dr. Titensor has been practicing about 25 years and is a master in the fields of cosmetic and general dentistry. I am excited for this opportunity to learn.

I am still in the process of building a busy dental schedule for myself, but as word gets out, I am sure I will be booked solid in no time! It is quite different from the public health dentistry I have been practicing for the past 5 years in Provo. Most of our patients are earning a regular income, or flat-out well-to-do, whereas many of my Mountainlands patients were living in poverty. I do feel like those underserved patients were more grateful for the services I performed and less demanding. I miss using my Spanish, too! I was doing a lot of extractions and root canals on severely decayed teeth, and have not performed anything like that in Texas yet. I felt quite useful in my old practice, as the patients were in great need of dental care. These patients have "high dental IQs," as some would say. They have had insurance and regular dental care most of their lives, for the most part. I do look forward to utilizing skills that I did not have opportunity to use much in Utah, such as crowns, veneers, implants, and other cosmetic procedures.

Our front desk

Our waiting room

Our operatories look like this

If you need some dental work in Texas, come and see me!!

SAHM

So now I know what it's like to be the wife of a graduate student rather than the student. I always felt so out of place in dental school, being in class with all the husbands while all those valiant wives and stay-at-home-moms stitched quilts and scrapbooked and had play dates and talked about potty training and such. I was a little jealous at the time as I studied for my Immunology and Pharmacology exams, and a little not. Now I can start to see why and how they banded together so tightly. It is a wee bit lonely to be a grad student's wife and a mother. Corey arises at 6 am and is gone studying until just before Zach's bedtime most nights. Tonight is the first night (likely of many more to come) he says he will not make it home before Zach goes to bed. I am so proud of him and grateful that he is taking his schooling so seriously. It makes us really appreciate the time we have together.

Zach and I chowing on PB&J sandwiches for lunch

It is different for me to go from working fulltime to only working 2 days a week, and then taking care of Zach single-handedly for the time Corey is at school. I love the time I get to spend with Zach, and hate that I missed so much during that first year (thanks to the rigid stipulations of my student loan repayment contract). But it is exhausting to be his sole source of entertainment, care, comfort, discipline (sort-of), etc. for so much of the time. I seriously do not know how single parents function. I am not complaining- I really can't think of anything I'd rather be doing. (Besides hanging in Maui, of course!) There is honestly nothing better we could be doing with our lives right now than to further Corey's education so that he can take on the role of bread-winner and provider. I'm sure it will fly by and be totally worth it, just like dental school.
But don't be surprised if I start blogging all about potty training and scrapbooking!

And painting. I am "remodeling" our rental house one room per week, so far. Last week it was the guest bathroom, this week it was the living room. I LOVE the deep red I painted it. It instantly made this house feel warm and homey. I will do a future post with all my before and after pictures.

Zachy will occasionally play with my old Cabbage Patch Kid. Corey has tried to throw it out on numerous occasions. He is well-known for taking dolls away from our nephews, and doesn't feel a bit of remorse when the boys cry like girls about their stolen babies. He feels he is doing them a great service by preventing future gender identity issues. Big fat meanie!!

Luckily, Zach has obvious overflowing testosterone levels, as shown in his latest truck-surfing expedition. I don't think Corey has anything to worry about!