Can't wait, Can't wait!

Today has been a slow day so far.  I spent the morning playing with Camilla and talking on the phone with a really good friend (for a whole hour).  Yesterday when I went to Wal-Mart, I saw these super cute candy buckets and picked one up for Camilla for Halloween! The first thing she did with it in the store was say "HAT" and put it on her head.  She's been wearing it around the house ever since.  I also caved and bought some Halloween candy.  It all looked so good.  My mouth loved the taste, but my tummy didn't so much love it.

Camilla found a balloon today and was bouncing around on it.  I'm just waiting for her to pop it.  I'm not a fan of the sounds of popping balloons.  It's funny to watch her though.  She's been having fun climbing, bouncing and exploring the house.  I'm getting very very excited for Halloween, and VERY excited for Christmas! The weather just seems to be getting warmer and warmer.  No snow for a while (which is okay).  This afternoon I think we may go out and dig up the last row of carrots and enjoy the blue sky and sunshine while we can. 

Daddy has been very busy with school and studying and has a busy few weeks ahead of him.  We miss him when he's gone all day, but it's nice that when he's home, he's home and all ours.  He's been working hard, and we really appreciate it!

Yesterday we had a very busy day.  I made home made bagels, banana muffins, cleaned up a lot of the house, went grocery shopping, had my brother over for dinner, and went to bed early.  I figure, when I feel good I should get as much done as I can, but sometimes I over do it.  Naps are a life saver.  Camilla was so funny when we went shopping.  She chatted with everyone and tried to share our groceries.  She pointed and chatted with the check out lady and made everyone in line laugh.  She's such a little character.  I'm enjoying her independence and fun loving attitude.  Her newest thing however is to pull at my pants or push my legs away from the sink when I'm busy.  Pretty much anything to get my attention.  She does like to play and get hugs often during the day.  I'm glad I get to enjoy it while I can.  I've come to the realization that I have unreasonable expectations of myself as a mother.  I want to be this "super mom" or something, but haven't been able to meet my own expectations lately.  I always feel guilty laying on the couch in the morning while Camilla watches her cartoons.  I have so many things to get done, but can never get them all done.  I've just come to the realization that if the house is a little messy, it's okay, or if the dishes aren't all done all the time, it's okay.  Luckily, I have a very understanding husband who is willing to grab McDonalds if dinner isn't made up, or do my dishes when he gets home from a long day.  I just hope that one day, I'll be able to live up to the expectations that I have of myself.  I'm just learning to go with the flow, and enjoy the extra time with Camilla instead of trying to get everything done all the time.  Sure, the house has suffered a little, but I have a happy girl.  Anyways, I don't know how to really explain it, I've just felt very inadequate as a mother lately.  I just think it's a very important "job" and I value it so much that I want to do my best.  Hopefully some day I can be as good as my own mother.  She's definitely a super mom.  As for now, I just keep being the best I can be.

The Weekend

This weekend we went out to Rocky to spend some time with family and watch conference.  It was a lot of fun. Camilla always enjoys herself.  As soon as we showed up at the acreage she started getting excited and making horse sounds as she saw the horses in the field.  I took her out of her seat and she danced and ran around. Freedom!! It was funny to watch how excited she was.  On Friday afternoon we went in to visit Nana for a while.  Camilla loves the puppy and birdie at Nana's and always has fun.  Sam (the puppy) is so good with Camilla.  She's very gentle and stays low to the ground and gives her kisses. It's cute.

PAUSE: Camilla just found mints in my purse, and decided to eat them! AHHH! Just had to pull them out of her mouth. Talk about choking hazard. Oops!

Anyways, the weekend was great and we really enjoyed watching conference.  Lots of awesome things were shared.  We watched some of the sessions at the church and some on the internet.  If you're interested, you can watch all of them on the broadcast page.

Camilla playing fetch with Samantha at Nana's

Looking out the window at Gramma and Grampa's

When my Mum and Dad built the house I grew up in, my mum purposely made the windows closer to the floor so that we could look out them when we were little.  Such a great idea.  The acreage house however, does not have low windows.  Gramma got some books out so that Camilla could watch the flag fly and see the birdies.  She loved it! Thanks Gramma! 

I enjoyed a weekend home.  My mum is a great cook, and takes such great care of us.  We love snacking and playing cards with everyone.  We always stay up way too late, but it's so much fun to visit and laugh together.  We are headed out next weekend again for Thanksgiving.  Hopefully they're not sick of us yet!!

Fall Fun

Today the girly and I decided to head out in the brisk air to enjoy some sunshine and blue sky.  We walked all the way to the post office and mailed a letter.  I didn't even bother bringing the stroller because half the time she just wants out to walk anyways.  She did great! She held my hand for almost all of it and walked those little legs all the way to the post office.  At the corner, she walked in front of me, turned around and stuck her arms in the air and let out a big "Up-ppp-p!".  She'd had enough.  Her poor little legs.  It was slow going, but I was kind of glad.  I enjoyed the heat of the sun and all the colorful trees in people's yards.  I love the Fall time!!  On the way home, she walked, snuggled mommy, walked some more, and then walked REALLY slow.  She did so good.  When we got home, we played in the yard for a bit.  She found an "App-o" on the ground and carried it around for a while.  It was great to get outside and enjoy some sunshine!

The only bummer is that I had a big smudge on my camera lens, and it didn't agree with the sunshine.  Oh well....  We had fun anyways.  Things have been pretty slow going around our house this week as you can probably guess from the minimal blog entries.  We spend a lot of our morning in our Pj's.  I lay on the couch and feel like a horrible mother while Camilla is entertained by her toys and cartoons.  It's so hard being sick all the time.  I can't wait for this part of the pregnancy to come to an end.  I miss my super clean house and my energy and my food tasting good, and my normal sense of smell (just to name a few).  Although, yesterday I finally felt like I had an appetite. I just keep looking at Camilla and thinking to myself it's all worth it!! 

Yesterday we were cruising around Wal-Mart and I saw some awesome Halloween things!! They had super fun baking pans, lots of fun decorations, and all the costumes out.  It made me really excited!! I can't wait to do some Halloween Baking and decorating!  I love celebrating all the different holidays.  The best part about Halloween, is that it means Christmas is right around the corner! I have some fun ideas for Christmas this year.  I can't wait! (Especially for the Christmas music, I've already had some songs floating around my head)

I'm excited to make Camilla some Christmas Jammies this year.  I just love her so much.  Yesterday, she wanted my attention all day.  I would go do the dishes, and she would come around my legs and try to push me away from the sink and complain a little.  So I would bend down, take her hands and ask her "What's wrong my girl?" and she would come over and give me a hug and sit on me.  She just wanted some lovin'.  I was trying to clean up earlier in my bedroom and she was helping and then seemed like she wanted to play.  So we played, she'd run away giggling and I'd chase her, or tickle her.  I love hearing her giggle (especially when it's almost uncontrollable). I'm so glad I listened to the sweet whisperings of the spirit and took the time to enjoy my little girl yesterday instead of just trying to get all my work done.  I hope I never miss out on those special little moments and that I can be there for her when she needs me.  She's such a little ball of energy and brings so much joy to my life!

She's such a sweetheart.  It's so much fun to be a Mum!  She snuggled with me after her Bubba last night until she fell asleep.  It was the best.  I love when she does that.  I just sat, and soaked it all in.  She's been sleeping great every night, but has been waking up earlier and earlier each day.  Mike is enjoying it though because it means he gets to see her before he leaves for work.  She sure loves her daddy.  He brought her in to snuggle with me this morning, but when he left the room, she started crying.  It was sweet.  She is her Daddy's girl.  This weekend we are off to the acreage again to visit with family and catch conference.  I am so excited to hear the talks that have been prepared for us. 

Mother Hen

I think I have a new record for the longest time with out a blog post! It's been a busy weekend, and I just haven't felt up to blogging, although I've missed it!!

This weekend Mr. Stannix and I dropped Camilla off at the acreage to visit Gramma and Grampa.  Mr. Stannix set up the whole weekend, booked the baby sitter (Gramma and Grampa), and planned the events.  He was so great and made it very stress free.  On Saturday we spent the day at the water park at West Ed.  It was weird being without the kiddo!  We enjoyed ourselves though and made sure we went on all the slides we wanted to.  We relaxed the rest of the afternoon, then I went to the Relief Society broadcast.  After the broadcast, Mr. Stannix and I hit up a movie.  We took advantage of not having the kiddo with us for the weekend and enjoyed all of the things we usually can't do when she's around.  We missed her though! I actually cried Saturday night.... She wasn't even apart from us the whole weekend, just one night really. 

Sunday was so different without Camilla.  Mike didn't have to watch her while I played the Organ, and we were both able to enjoy the rest of our meetings.  I looked around at all the babies in Relief Society and started missing my own!  We were glad for the free time, but we were so glad to have her back!! My parents brought her back up Sunday night.  It sounded like she had a great weekend.  No crying or missing us at all!! She raked grass with Grampa, played in the garden with Gramma and had a tea party with the barbies. She's such a big, independent little girl. 

It felt so good going to bed Sunday night knowing that all my little chickens were under one roof.  I love having all of us back together.  I'm glad we had a chance to spend some time together this weekend just the two of us, but man did I miss my little girl.  Thanks to Gramma and Grampa for watching her! She had so much fun.  She was so giddy when she got home on Sunday.  I've never seen her so crazy and excited.  She was actually shrieking in excitement.  I don't know how often we'll "farm her out" for the weekend though, I kind of like us all being together!

A New Toy

THIS is Camilla's new ride.  It's pretty sweet. She really loves it.  Like, REALLY loves it.  She cried when it was time to go in and I put it away.  It even plays the song "Winnie the Pooh" while I push her up and down the side walk on it.  She dances, sways back and forth and bobs her head up and down to the music as she rides back and forth along the back side walk.  It's pretty cute.  She's a lot of fun! 

I've been kind of tardy/anti blogging lately because I just haven't  been feeling up to it.  My dear Mr. Stannix came home from school yesterday to find me curled up on the couch under a blanket, and the munchkin watching a video/playing with toys.  The house was a disaster.  He got right to work! Finished my dishes, cleaned/tidied the kidlets toys, vacuumed, and even brought me home dinner because my soup didn't turn out at all. Interesting that McDonalds will stay down, but not healthy food? (I know I know, McDonalds while preggo, what are you thinking right? ) Oh, what a day! Thank goodness for Mr. Stannix. 

Today, I was feeling pretty good, and needed to run some errands, so off we went to the store post nap so that Camilla wouldn't be grumpy.  The whole time, I was just wishing I could make it through one trip to Wal-Mart without the munchkin throwing a temper tantrum. Oh, what a sight we were today!! She did okay for most of it.  Kept herself occupied by throwing everything she could reach/hold out of the cart and saying "NEWWWWWWWW!" (Oh NOO!).  Cute right? Yeah, for a little while. After about the hundredth time bending down to grab something, all things went down on the second shelf of the cart.  Then, she had had enough of the cart by the time we hit the check out, so I took her out and tried to distract her, she realllly wanted down, so down she went, and she likes to climb on the bottom part of the cart.  A few seconds later I was looking down at my little girl sprawled out on the cement (The cart was stationary I might add).  Poor kiddo had konked her nose when she face planted.  Alas, she screamed during the WHOLE check out time, with two people in front of us, and 2 behind.  There was no escape really.  I got all these horrible looks.  I just was patient and cuddled my little girl. Man, I hate shopping.

As I pushed the cart out the door and into the sunshine, it was great. FREEDOM!! Camilla had finally settled down and was almost back to her chipper old self. A part of me was super mad at her for ALWAYS throwing fits, but a part of me melted as she started getting excited and laughing again.  (So glad they have short memories...)  We split a caramel rice cake on the way home in the car and drove with the windows down.  The air was perfect.  I looked back and saw the wind blowing Camilla's blonde little wisps and I fell in love with her all over again.  I came home to the best thing ever! Mr. Stannix waiting to be let in (because he never brings his keys to school).  It's nice to have him home early today, even if he is studying still. 

Seasons

I took Camilla to the park today.  She immediately went towards her favorite swing set.  As I was pushing her in the swing, I noticed the fall colors on the tree in the background and I began to think about how many different seasons Camilla has sat in this exact same swing.  I thought about how fast the time has gone, how much fun she's had and how she's grown and changed.  But she still giggles the same way when she is pushed in the swing.  It's hard to believe that this time last year she was only just a few months old.  It's amazing how much kids change in such a short time.  She went from laying, to sitting on her own, to rolling, to crawling, to walking and finally, to running!  So much has happened in this past year. 

Finally big enough to swing!!

Giggling with Daddy in the winter time!

Summer Swinging

Autumn Fun

I was also thinking last night about how Mr. Stannix and I have been married for just over 2 years.  So many changes in such a short time.  I love all the different seasons of life.  I've been trying to find joy in every season I experience (even the morning sickness season which I hate more than winter). 

The last few nights, Mr. Stannix and I have been able to spend some time together watching a movie/snuggling on the couch.  It's such special time together.  He lets me sit sideways on the couch and shove my freezing feet between his leg and the couch.  He also rubs my freezing feet, without being asked (now that's love!!).  We laugh together, we snuggle together and enjoy every moment we have together.  Last night, we watched The Young Victoria together.  It was so fun to watch a sort of chick-flick, it doesn't happen very often. We laughed, made fun of the guys hair because it looked like he stuck it in a waffle iron, and enjoyed.  I loved the line from the movie where the prince is explaining how much he loves the princess and he says "you are my whole existence". Call me cheesy, but I liked it.  I love that Mr. Stannix makes me feel like I'm his whole existence.  He does so much for me, and he's always there for me during all our seasons of life.  It's great to have someone to count on, and someone who understands me and is patient with me. 

Here's to many more seasons together!!

Dear Camilla

Dear Camilla,

Thank-you so much for not waking me up until 9:00 today.  I was relieved to find you playing in your crib silently when I stormed into your room to check on you this morning.  I was so worried something horrible had happened! Somehow, the big girl inside you knew that Mommy could use the extra sleep today.  Thank-you for playing silently with your bear for who knows how long. I feel bad that you were in your room, all alone, in the dark-ish for so long. Thank-you for sleeping through the night last night, and waking up so happy.  I loved it when you looked up and saw me for the first time this morning.  You were so excited that you jumped up with your teddy and blanket and couldn't wait to hug me tight.  As soon as I pulled you out of your crib, you gratefully smothered me with hugs, kisses and cuddles.  It was my favorite part of the morning.  Thank-you for sharing my breakfast with me this morning.  I needed the extra help eating it.  Thank-you for watching cartoons with me, I enjoyed snuggling on the couch with you.    Thank-you for greeting me with your giggles and smiles this morning. Thank-you for being mine, I adore you.

Love,

Mommy

Sabbath Activities

Today was a very relaxing Sunday.  Usually we keep pretty busy, and enjoy socializing with friends on the weekends and having people over for Sunday dinners.  We've been so busy lately that last night, in fact, I told Mr. Stannix "Let's not have any one over this Sunday, let's just take time for us tomorrow".  And so we did.  Camilla was a gem (minus a few little, very little, fits) at church today.  During relief society she SAT ON MY LAP THE WHOLE TIME.  Emphasized because this is a REALLY BIG DEAL FOR HER.  Every since she's found her legs, she's been tough to keep still.  She's always busy busy busy during church which makes it hard to ever learn anything or pay attention.  Today, she sat! Quiet, and still. It was fabulous.  I really honestly think it's the amber necklace.  It's taken care of her teething problems, and mellowed her out a tad.  My friend told me today that "They're magic".  I agree.  We came home, had some lunch, and then Mr. Stannix went home teaching.  He came home, and we relaxed, played on the floor with Camilla, and talked to each other.  It was nice to have some quiet time, some down time, to just sit and listen to each other and talk about our needs.  Camilla even enjoyed some quiet time to herself as she read/flipped through a book.  I even caught it on camera.  I love Sunday!

Something in Common

The other night Miss CJ and I had something in common.  Neither of us really wanted to eat our dinner.  She played, dumped, swirled things around with her fork, but didn't eat one thing I put in front of her.  I watched her play, laughed when she called her bowl a hat, and picked at my rice and chicken.  Eating can be such a chore sometimes.  The nausea has definitely set in, but no puking yet which is awesome.
She has recently been very head strong about feeding herself and MUST have a utensil in her hand at all times when food is present (except her "Treats" of course).  She has become very very independent.  I haven't decided how much I like it yet.  A part of me is still getting used to letting her be messy when she eats.  I'm not a fan of 3+ baths per day.  It's getting better though.  I know she's learning and having fun, so I've been letting her do her own thing a lot more recently.  These past few days she's become very good at stabbing things, and loves to eat with a spoon.  We take turns, one spoon full from me, and one sorta spoon full from her.  A work in progress!!

Every dinner time, she delights us with her performances.  She laughs, giggles, and says "MMM" with her cute little grin and squinty eyes.  It's cute, ya can't help but laugh.  She's such a ham, and I adore every bit of it! Although she's a significantly larger bundle, she is still our bundle of joy.  She loves to feed us her gold fish crackers.  She'll slip one in our mouths and look at us and go "MMMM" as if to say "They're good right?" It's great.  So willing to share and please.  Our kitchen chair has also become a new blocker to the treat cupboard.  She goes "CHEATS!! CHEATS!!" (Treats) in a super high pitched voice and gets all excited and dances by the cupboard.  Sometimes, she's so cute that I can't help but give in.  Her vocabulary is growing every day and she understands so much more than she can say and express.  When asked to do things, she is able to understand and do them.  She knows what an apple is and will say "AP-PO" when you have one.  It's a lot of fun watching her grow and learn to express herself.  She also gets excited and can semi-skip now.  So fun to watch!!

Ready, Set, GO!!

Camilla loves running towards people and giving them huge hugs!! She goes far, far away, gets ready, teases a little bit, tries to trick you into thinking she's not coming yet.  She repeats the word "DOH, DOH" (Go) a few times, until you say "Ready? Set? GO!", and then runs as fast as she can toward you until she collides into your arms.  It is the best thing in the world! I'm so glad that I have such a loving little girl.  She makes me feel so special.

Over the past little while I've had the thought cross my mind a few times to get her an amber teething necklace.  So, after talking it over with Mr. S last night, I finally listened and went and got her one.  I've heard lots of good things about them, and I'm hoping to see some results.  She been sleeping in, but still waking up a few times during the night for some reason.  I've heard that these help with more than just teething and am hoping she'll enjoy it.  She's only worn it for an hour or so, and then I took it off for her nap. So maybe later this afternoon I will see changes. Not that there's really anything wrong with her, and she's a really happy, busy, energetic little toddler.  I'm just going with my motherly instincts on this one....

It is a very crisp, beautiful fall day outside! The air is chilly, but smells oh so good.  The sky is bright blue! My favorite.  I love the contrast between the bright blue sky and the yellow/orange colored leaves in the fall.  It's beautiful! This afternoon I'm hoping to pick the apples on the tree outside (for future jelly and apple pies) and dig all the carrots out of the garden and get things ready for winter which seems to be coming quicker than usual.  The fresh air should be good for both of us!

Happy blogging!