Sweet Teaching Moments

This morning Camilla woke up and came in for a snuggle while Mr. Stannix was showering.

We snuggled until she was fully awake and then she looked at me, and gave me a big kiss on the lips!

When Daddy finished getting ready, she was very happy to see him.

She layed at the foot of our bed and read an Archie comic for a bit.

Then she had a quick bite to eat so she could take her medicine to help her ear infection.

After breakfast she colored for a very long time!

Daddy left for school and she kept on coloring.

Finally, she was ready to get dressed and change her very wet diaper.

We went to her room and she picked out her clothes.

We got dressed.

Then we went and made her bed.

After we make her bed, it's prayer time.

I say "Prayer time" and she comes to the edge of her bed.

Today, she grabbed her baby, teddy, and 'beepy' (piggy) and said "Knees".

She placed each of them on their knees for prayer, and then joined in.

She folded her little arms, closed her little eyes, and bowed her little head.

I started to say our prayer.

I blessed Grampa and Uncle would drive safely today.

Camilla said "Emma.....Gramma...Nana...Da-Da".

We proceeded to bless our whole family as she listed their names.

She finished with an energetic "AMEN!" and popped up from the side of the bed.

She gave me a big squeeze and a gentle kiss on the lips.

She then put her baby, teddy and 'beepy' face up on the pillow where they belong.

This was such a tender little moment for me.  It seriously almost brought tears to my eyes. We've worked really hard at teaching her to be reverent for prayers.  It was great to see that she is learning and loving to pray.  I love how little children are like little sponges, they just suck everything up! I'm very grateful that Mr. Stannix and I get to teach our children to pray and love their Heavenly Father and Jesus. What a special moment. I was reminded of a talk by President Monson where he discussed the most crucial time for teaching in a child's life.

"The most receptive age in human life is that of two or three years."

-Dr. Glenn J. Doman

In another one of his talks he quotes a hymn that says:

“Prayer is the simplest form of speech / That infant lips can try; / Prayer, the sublimest strains that reach / The Majesty on high.” 

Hymn no. 145

I thought about Camilla's little "prayer" this morning and how simple it was (just saying names really) but how she's trying and how her little prayer can "reach the Majesty on high" and he will understand and answer it. I know that he heard her sweet little prayer this morning as the spirit filled her little bedroom. What a fabulous testimony building experience.

Read the rest of these great talks here and here.

Happy Wednesday!

Camilla's Future in Accounting

Camilla strikes again! Mr. Stannix was doing homework this afternoon and left it out on the desk so he could finish it later.  Camilla thought she'd be nice and give him a hand.  When he slipped out of the bedroom to make a few phone calls she was running around the room like a crazy!  I was out sitting on the couch and it took me a few minutes to realize that all was quiet in the bedroom.  Although I love when things are quiet, I also know that it means someone's up to no good! I peeked in our bedroom door to investigate and found Camilla sitting quietly at the desk scribbling all over Daddy's notes.  I chuckled to myself and then ran for the camera. I let her keep doing it until Mr. Stannix finished his phone calls so that he could get a laugh.  When we went back in, we noticed that not only had she scribbled all over his notes, but had also scribbled all over his text book!! It was funny though, and it was only with a pencil (luckily).  She's growing way too fast! She can now climb on chairs all by herself, and reach way higher than she ever could before! It's keeping me on my toes. At dinner, she pulled out Daddy's chair and patted it for him to sit down, and then did the same for me.  She likes to sit beside me when she eats on a 'big' chair. Daddy got her to eat tonight by pretending her spoon was a rocket! Worked like a charm! This kid cracks me up! What will she do next?

For a Slice of Cheese

What would you do for a slice of cheese?

While Mr. Stannix was out shoveling today, I was busy getting some lunch ready. Our favorite, grill cheese sandwiches and tomato soup.  I had it all ready to go on the counter.  Apparently Camilla has grown because I turned around to do something and when I turned back around, my ready-to-grill sandwiches were in pieces all over the floor.  She had managed to reach the cutting board and pull it down, bread knife and all. I am just grateful the knife didn't hit her. All she wanted was another slice of cheese. A part of me wanted to be really frustrated, but I decided instead to take a picture.  She only looks a little guilty, she was just happy to get another slice of cheese. So we had mis-matched grill cheese sandwiches and some tomato soup for lunch.

"Baf" Time

"Common Mum, what are we waiting for?!?"

Camilla absolutely LOVES bath time. Tonight she was so excited for it that she almost made it into the tub fully clothed.  I almost let her, just because it would have made a funny picture.

Usually I start the bath and Camilla goes over and opens the cupboard door to pick out some bath toys.  Lately, instead of bringing over the whole bucket, she just picks and chooses a few.  The other night, it was one of everything. A ducky, a squirt toy, a number, and a floating puzzle piece.  Tonight, it was just some numbers.

After her bath, I got out the bottle of lotion and rubbed it all over her dry little legs, arms and cheeks.  We then got a diaper on, and her jammies and she was ready for bed.  

Daddy joined us for scriptures and prayer.  We've started having prayer on the edge of her little bed. She toddles over to the edge, kneels down beside the bed, folds her little arms in that special way that she does it, and rests her head down on her arms.  She has recently learned to close her eyes for prayer and likes to tip her head a little sideways so she can squint her one eye out and peek. It's pretty cute. After prayers, she gives us hugs and kisses and then gets a little snuggle.

After we snuggled for a while on the chair, she hopped off and went to her big girl bed and climbed in.  I kissed her little lips, pushed the hair away from her eyes, told her I loved her, and stood at the door waiting for her to go to sleep. We've moved from laying with her, to sitting beside her bed, to standing at the door.  A big part of me wishes I could lay with her every night and snuggle her to sleep, but I know that this will be better in the long run. After an hour, she finally fell asleep.

We will likely find her in our bed a few times tonight. But that's okay with me. She's only this little for so long!

For the Love of Snow

This is our backyard.  The snow banks are just barely taller than Camilla and the snow on the BBQ and picnic table is piled high! I know this looks like a lot, but you should see the snow banks on the street out front! Mr. Stannix can barely see over them! When I look out the window from our basement, I can't even see the bus stop on the street anymore. Welcome to winter in Alberta!

Camilla loves to sit in the snow bank like it's a chair and lean back.  She also likes to pick up snow with her mittens on and throw it up in the air. We are very glad the warm weather has returned! Camilla and I went to an indoor play place yesterday and she went crazy! She was giggling like a mad woman and running circles around the place! I haven't seen her that excited and full of energy for a while. She loved the afternoon out! When we finished we walked through the rec center and she spotted the pool.  She stood at the window and peered in at the people swimming and said "tick tick tick" (kick kick kick) and "Spa Spa!" (splash splash). She was very sad when we made it to the front doors and didn't keep walking into the change rooms. She pointed at them as I carried her by saying "tick tick, spa spa". She wanted to swim SO bad. She's such a water baby. We're excited to get out and about more often these next few weeks.

Third Time's a Charm

Well, the saying still holds true.  After two rough nights, we've finally had a success! The first night in the toddler bed, well, that was a gong show.  Mr. Stannix and I have been sort of zombiefied for the past couple of days.  The second night was a bit better, but I was still out of bed four times.  Two of the times Camilla stayed in her bed and cried, so I went to comfort her, and the other two times she wandered into our room.  Last night, she slept right from 7:30 until 5:30 this morning.  At 5:30 I felt her little fingers brush my toes as she made her way to my side of the bed.  When she finally reached me, I opened my eyes and got the sweetest little "uuuuup?". How could I resist.  From 5:30 until 7:45 I got to snuggle my munchkin as she slept.  She snuggled right in to my fluffy PJ top and rested her head on my arm. I slept good except for when her whispy hair would make it's way into my nose! It felt good to get some decent sleep around here!! Now let's just hope I didn't jinx it.

Yesterday morning I slept in her teeny bed from 6:30 until 8:30 when Mr. Stannix woke me up to get ready for my day.  I have such a great husband! When Camilla woke up at 9:00 she had her favorite little friend here to greet her.  The two girls played and giggled all morning long.  We enjoyed some french toast for breakfast, watched piglet for a bit, played like crazy with all the toys, and had some 'girl' cheese for lunch.

Hanging out with the teddy bears.

Giggling on Camilla's bed

Today we are excited to leave the house due to the temperature only being -8! Woo hoo! We are going to meet up with some little friends at the rec center for some play time and fun! It will be nice to get out and enjoy some fresh air. Now I am off to finish some cleaning and maybe get some bread on the go!

Happy Blogging!

CJ's 'Big Girl' Bed

We recently got given a fabulous little toddler bed from my cousin!  We wanted to try to get Camilla used to it before we moved so she wasn't getting used to a new bed AND a new house at the same time.  Because she never had a nap yesterday, we decided to put her bed a little early (just before 7pm).  We did our usual routine, bath, jammies, scriptures, prayers (around her bed now) and then her bubba. She's been so excited about her bed! She plays on it, lays on it, points to it, talks about it... I was really excited for her. I put her in her bed, and as soon as I left the room she started crying. She walked over and opened the door calling "Da-Da" with her little lip stuck out.  Daddy came right to the rescue and they went back into the room. She is definitely a 'daddy's girl'. He layed with her for maybe 2 minutes and she was gone! I thought it was a very successful night. 

The baby in my belly kept me up until just after midnight tossing and turning.  Just as I was falling asleep I heard Camilla start to cry and her little feet pitter-patter across the kitchen floor and back again and then into our room, and right to my side of the bed.  I thought she was scared, so I scooped her up and snuggled her in next to me.  I layed awake squished between Mr. Stannix and my girl for a few minutes.  Instead of falling asleep she started whispering to herself and rolling her hands (playing patty-cake). Off to bed it was.  I put her in over and over.  Finally, I walked her back and talked to her.  She whimpered a bit, but stayed in bed this time.  Back to bed for Mommy it was.  Just as I'm falling asleep I hear her pitter-patter on the kitchen floor again.  Repeat of above...I tried laying with her, sitting beside her, patting her back.  I think I placed her back into her bed over a million times between 1 and 6 in the morning.  Finally, I was just so tired that I resorted to the couch.  After 5 or 10 minutes, she fell asleep, and I carried her back to her bed so I could go snuggle in mine because I was freezing. She was so out of it her arms were limp as I put her down and snuggled her in.  I went back to my room and again, just as I was falling asleep, she makes her way back to my side of the bed.  "This is getting ridiculous!" I thought to myself.  I gave up and went back to the crib.  She hated it. The whole time she stood crying and pointing at her bed saying "bed!! bed!". I hauled her out of her crib and off to the couch again, the whole time she was yelling "bed! bed!".  We snuggled on the couch and I looked at the clock, 5:30am, and no sleep yet. Her crying must have woken the lady upstairs because she started stomping around, loading her dishwasher etc. Then everyone upstairs woke up for work/school. I think I finally got to sleep about 8:00am this morning.  Somehow Mr. Stannix snuck off to school while we were snuggled on the couch. He was so kind not to wake us. I'm pretty sure he's feeling exhausted from last night as well. 

I was a little moody and tired when we got up, but after making beds, getting Camilla dressed and saying our morning prayers, our home is doing a lot better! We had some porridge for breakfast and she requested her "biglet" (piglet) movie. Apparently porridge wasn't enough for the growing girl because the open bag of chips have been dumped on the kitchen floor for her munching pleasure. At least she's in super good spirits this morning! This is going to be an interesting Monday.

Winter Party

Tonight was the winter party for the firm Mr. Stannix works for.  These are always very formal and a lot of fun.  I love dressing up and enjoying that "scene". Last year there was a seven course meal complete with all the funky cutlery and glasses on the table.  This year, they rented out the art gallery and did more of a stand and mingle thing.  There was food tables set up all around the gallery and little sitting areas for visiting.  They had tall round tables with tea-lights lit in the middle to stand around and eat.  It was a very enjoyable evening out for us.  It was fun to walk the different lobbies of the art gallery and see the architecture.  What a neat place! After speeches and a short video presentation our evening was finished off with a dance and gelato.  They had three different kinds to try.  Each kind was placed in a bowl, which was placed in another bowl full of ice to keep it from melting.  The whole evening was very elegant and the food was delish.   It was great to meet more people from the firm and get to know more about where Mr. Stannix works. At the end of the evening we got our coats and walked a few blocks in the gently falling snow to our car.  We were holding hands until they got too cold, then we opted for sticking them in our own pockets. 

Cooped Up

 (If you look close you can see her teeth coming in. Poor kiddo has such a sore little mouth.)

This little girly and I are about ready for this cold snap to come to an end. The poor kid is feeling a little cooped up and Mommy is going stir crazy! From the moment Camilla woke up yesterday morning she was a busy busy little girl.  It all started when I was standing on the couch to look out the window for the bus while Mr. Stannix was printing his notes.  Camilla thought it was fun, so she climbed up and stood beside me, and bounced, and slid, and played on the couch.  It always makes me nervous, but I'm never too far away.  After that, she bounced off the couch and bolted to the baking cupboard where she pulled out my giant bucket of flour and carried it around with her. She was just Go-Go-Go all day long! She pulled out almost every toy she has, and I pulled out my camera and chased her around all day. She wasn't totally grouchy all day, but she was definitely irritable and moody at some parts of the day.  We did have fun though despite being cooped up.  

While I was doing dishes, she dragged her wrapped up tunnel out of her room for me to undo so that she could play in it. It kept her occupied for a while and Mommy sane.

Next she went for the blanket basket in her room.  I figured the messy blankets strewn all over the house was okay as long as she was quiet and content. 

After she got bored with her blankets, the book box came out, as well as all the books. We had a fun story time, and then she had fun with the box. Somewhere along the way she found her head band and thought she looked "O0o00oO" with it on. I got a kick out of it!

Finally, she was all tuckered out.  We folded the blankets, picked up the books, put the toys back in the toy box and she went for a nice hot bath.  We read our scriptures, said our prayers, and she went to bed.  I then pieced our house back together and finished tidying up. Whew, what a long day. Luckily, Mr. Stannix doesn't have school today! I am excited!

Dearest Little One

Dearest Little One,

I have been thinking a lot about you lately.  This morning your Daddy and I were getting dizzy watching your active big sister run around the house like a hooligan.  Daddy told me he thinks that all of our kids are going to be crazy hooligans! I agreed. But that's what will make our life rich and fun.  This passed week you have been awake more often and I've enjoyed every little moment of it.  You woke me up a few mornings ago by gently sliding your little foot from one side of my stomach to the other. After, you continued to roll and tumble around for quite a while.  You are a lot like your big sister because you like to be awake and active at night, just like she did. Because of this, I really haven't been getting a lot of sleep lately. But I do enjoy the little moments, where it's just you and me awake in the calm of the night.  I snuggle under my covers with my hand on my belly and listen to the wind howl outside under the street lights.

Next week we will visit the doctors again and I will get to hear your wooshing little heart beat.  This always brings a smile to my face.  I love hearing the little life that is inside of me, ready to take on the world in a few months! I think about what you will look like.  I wonder what color your eyes will be, and if you will have long or short hair when I first meet you.  Although things haven't always been easy with this pregnancy, I know that you will be worth it!

Soon I will have you in my arms.  I will count everyone of your chubby little fingers, and every one of your chubby little toes.  I will hold your little cheeks close to mine and snuggle you tight.  I will kiss your tiny nose, and keep you safe and warm.  And when you are awake, I will stare into your eyes and wonder what you are thinking. I can't promise that your big sister won't slobber all over you when she smothers you in kisses, but I can promise that she will love you just as your Daddy and I love you. 

I look forward to every little mile stone you will hit and hope to be there every day.  I'm sure that before I know it I will have two of you to chase around all day and play with.  Daddy and I will have twice as many toys to clean up at night, and twice the joy as we watch you both grow.

All I ask is that you come on time, because I already can't wait!

Love Always,
Mum

“He maketh the … woman … to be a joyful mother of children”

Psalms 113:9

"Motherhood is the greatest potential influence either for good or ill in human life.  The mother's image is the first that stamps itself on the...young child's mind.  It is her caress that first awakens a sense of security; her kiss, the first realization of affection; her sympathy and tenderness, the first assurance that there is love in the world". 

~David O. McKay~