At Sea

Today was the hardest, longest day we've had in a while. I came down with the flu on Tuesday night and spent all day Wednesday on the couch while my littles took over the house. When I heard plastic crunching in the kitchen I went in to investigate and found Hyrum and Camilla sitting under the table eating cheerios right out of the bag. It made me giggle a bit. It wasn't long before cheerios could be found all over my house, underneath the couch cushions, and in the bathroom. Come mid-morning I decided to put up the baby gate and barricade everyone in the living room. We may or may not have watched Disney movies all day long. I was so achy and tired and it took everything in me just to pick up all the dirty diapers and vacuum the cheerios up at the end of the day. Thank-fully Joseph has been a gem and has been going to sleep with little or no bouncing. Last night he simply layed on my shoulder while I patted his back. As he drifted off to sleep he would nestle his fuzzy little head into my neck. I love kissing the top off his head. The kids went to bed in the same jammies they wore all day and slept in the night before. All in the name of survival I guess.

We definitely have a bad case of the coups here today. There has been non-stop whining, crying, biting, toy stealing, complaining,  head bonking, and falling off things. It all started bright and early with Hyrum coming downstairs before 6:00am. Camilla was close behind and asking for breakfast on her way down. I asked if she wanted toast and Hyrum immediately ran to me repeating, "I uh tooooast!" over and over. I smiled, "you want toast too, Hyrum?" "Yeh-Pee! MMM gooo! Toe!" Ah he cracks me up. He then asks for jam repeatedly until I respond, only his J's still sound more like D's. I then asked Camilla if she had a good sleep and she goes, "yeah, I just slept for five minutes!" Then Hyrum interrupts, "Fweeping! Fweeping! Five min!" Before we knew it Daddy was heading out the door with Hyrum shouting, "Wub you!" I then read Hyrum The Cranky Bear book which he calls "Cwanky Beaw". Later on when I was playing with Camilla's hair Hyrum ran up to me begging, "Pet me! Pet me!" and pushing his head into my hands. I literally burst out laughing.

Although the day was chaotic and exhausting, a moment of peace finally came in the late afternoon when I was nursing Joe on the couch. Both kids had just woke up from their very short naps and quietly came downstairs. One by one they began climbing over my outstretched legs and snuggling under the blanket. Before I knew it Camilla had taken us away deep into her imagination. My floral couch suddenly became a huge boat lost at sea with a captain who we called "hey man". We rolled over huge waves and saw whales and sea lions on our adventure. It wasn't long before the sizzling slow cooker in the kitchen became a scary monster, a dragon in fact, and it was in pursuit of our ship. When Hyrum had heard the slow cooker sizzling earlier he was legit afraid and ran to me in tears. This time he just pretended to be afraid, letting out that funny scream of his and shouting, "MUH-UH! MUH-UH! Twuick! Hide! AH!"

Finally we landed on a sandy beach so that I could bounce Joseph to sleep because he was crying. "Joo-peh pying" says Hyrum. Camilla responds, "Don't say stupid Hyrum!". I must admit when he says Joseph's name it does sound a bit like he's saying that word. While I rocked the baby the kids made sand castles on my living room floor. Camilla's imagination continued to run wild and her brother wasn't far behind trying to repeat everything she was saying. The story got pretty intense and I wish I could remember all of the details. I love that girl and her ability to escape into her imagination and bring the rest of us with her. It was the quietest hour we had all day, and it was pure fun! I may have even caught a few winks while we were sailing and pretending to be "fweeping" with our eyes closed. Bonus!

Poor Mr. Stannix is feeling under the weather as well. By the time he got home we both plunked down on the couch and let the kids have their way with the house until dinner was ready.