"No-No's" Ark

Camilla has loved playing with her Noah's Ark these last few days. She loves the lions, "zeebees", and "eh-pant's", but her favorite of all is "No-No". Yesterday Noah got lost, and Camilla searched the whole house calling out "NOOOO-Nooooooo!" over and over as she bent and looked under the couches and in every room in the house. It was pretty funny to watch her.

We are also lucky this week to have Daddy home with us! Mr. Stannix is off school for the whole week and we are excited to spend time with him. We are all busy packing up a storm and our house looks like a mini warehouse now with all the boxes piled up in corners. Our walls are naked and sad without the pictures and it's just not feeling as warm and cozy as before. We are looking forward to the move this week into our own little place. 

Camilla has started chatting some more and it's been fun to interact and talk with her.  When we say "Guess what?" She grins and then we say "I......Looooove..." and she shouts "YOU!" and points to herself. It always cracks me up! She's starting to differentiate between her "you" and "me". When we look at pictures of her now, 80% of the time when asked "Who's that?" she'll reply "Me". My newest favorite is that she knows her name, well, half of her name. Camilla is too hard to say, so we shortened it for her to Cami. We'll ask her "What's your name?" and she'll say "Name...Nami!" and the odd time just "Nami". Not sure why her C's are N's, but it's adorable.

Just a little update, but I'm now off to finish up some packing!

Catching Snowflakes

At the beginning of February my cousin made me up this flip chart thing with all the months and days on it titled "The Best of My Days".  Since then, I've been trying to think of the best things that happen in my day and record them on there so I always remember them. It's been fun. Some days I can't decide between a bunch of awesome things, and some days, it's hard to think of something.

Yesterdays moment was catching snowflakes on my tongue with Camilla.  I went visiting teaching after supper and she was a trooper considering she hadn't really napped at all. We left the apartment, walked the long hallway, took the elevator and exited. As we walked out the front doors, the streets were dimly lit with the orange glow of the street lights and snow was gently and slowly falling to the ground. Camilla took about ten steps, and I was a couple steps in front of her urging her to "run run run" and "find the car" because it was freezing cold. Instead, she stopped and looked up into the sky at the snow falling down. She let out a little giggle followed by "cheeks" as she patted her cheeks with her little mittens. The snow was falling on her face, and she was loving it! So, there we stood for a good few minutes enjoying the snow falling on our faces. She exclaimed "nose!" with a big grin. She squinted her eyes a little and said "eyes" as the snowflakes dropped into her eyes. I walked over and scooped my bundle of joy into my arms.  As we slowly walked to the car, we enjoyed the snow some more. I told her to stick her tongue out and catch snowflakes on her tongue. I'm sure we looked hilarious, walking up the sidewalk with our tongues sticking out, but it was oh so sweet. She giggled some more, and let out a good belly laugh exclaiming "tongue!" between giggles. I laughed out loud, I was having so much fun! We finally reached the car, and I set her down while I unlocked the doors. She stood there with her hands out, and her tongue, catching snowflakes. 

On the way home I thought about how glad I was that I slowed down enough to enjoy this moment with Camilla. She teaches me so much each day about finding joy in little things. She has a very special love of life and everything in it! She's a great example to me. It was such a special moment, and I never want to forget it!

Packing and Cleaning

Yesterday was a busy day filled with organizing, packing and cleaning. It's crazy how fast time goes by! It wasn't long ago that we were thinking we had tonnes of time to pack as the move was over two weeks away. Now, we have just over a week to go. We are very excited to get into our new little place. As I was organizing all the baby girl clothes I have into boxes, I came across some more things that fit Camilla now, such as these adorable little moccasins. It was exciting! I also cleaned out our shoes and coats from the closet and came across a baby booty that I thought I had lost on a walk with Camilla. I was super excited because these were pink booties I had as a baby and they were sort of special. The pair has now been reunited!

Mr. Stannix writes his final of three midterms tomorrow. He is excited to have next week off school to take a break from studying.  He's been very busy.  Last night while he was studying, he said he was craving a milkshake, I wasn't about to argue with that. Usually it's the pregnant wife with the cravings, but this time it was my dear Mr. Stannix. After miss Camilla went to sleep I pulled down my jar of coins and started counting quarters and dimes. Magically, we had enough for two milkshakes in there! I ran out and picked them up so Mr. Stannix could use his valuable time to keep studying. We enjoyed chatting over our milkshakes at the table and even squeezed in an episode of lost before bed. It was a nice, relaxing end to a full day, and I always enjoy snuggling on the couch with Mr. Stannix.

Although we are excited to move, we will be sad to lose some amazing neighbors. The lady next door scored us an awesome deal on a five piece snow suite for our little miss next winter.  It's Osh Kosh, so it's super good quality. It was regular $90.00, marked down to $34.00 because of the huge supply. The day she picked them up the store was having 20% off for their grand opening. We got this amazing suit for $25.00! I was so impressed with the quality, and the price was definitely right! Now the girly is outfitted for next winter.

Today brings more packing, phone calls, lunch with the cousins and my Gramma, and a visit from my brother!

Happy Wednesday!

Cupid's Day

Mr. Stannix and I originally made big plans to go out for Valentines day, but decided instead to stay home and cook a nice dinner together and save our money.  Camilla surprised her Daddy with a cute little homemade card first thing in the morning. She was so proud of herself as she gave it to her Daddy. It was cute. I had to get a picture of it!

For dinner, Mr. Stannix cooked up his Grampy's Tacos. It's a famous family recipe and they are delicious! We spent a good 2 hours cooking them up together. The process is quite long. We had music going as we cooked and enjoyed watching Camilla be a goof and shake her little bum to the beat. Her favorite part was when Daddy would flip the tacos. She would hold out her hand and exclaim "Catch" while throwing her hand in the air. Flipping Grampy's Tacos is quite an art. Mr. Stannix only wrecked one taco this time around, it was impressive. Look really closely at the pro do it and you'll see the tacos in the air. They're very finicky, so this is the only way you can flip them. I, however, wasn't so successful. My taco flopped.

After the tacos are partly cooked, they need to cool on a towel, then you fill them with the meat and fold them over with toothpicks.  When all the tacos are done, they are put back in the frying pan to make them nice and crispy! I couldn't wait for them to be done!

When we finished all the frying, we sat down and stuffed ourselves full of tacos. It was fabulous!

Camilla decided to get into the Valentines spirit by sporting the colors on her chin. The poor kid had a nasty encounter with her sippy cup and the floor. She tripped while heading for her nap. I was just glad she didn't knock any teeth out, but the picture really doesn't do it justice. It was far more purple and pink just before bed. She keeps touching and poking at it. Bruises feel funny sometimes.  She was a trooper though and only cried a little.

Thanks for the fun date Mr. Stannix! I love you!

My Little Valentine

Camilla got to wear this super cute red dress to church today. I thought it was fun since tomorrow is Valentines day.  She only cried for 15 minutes in nursery today. She sat on a nursery leaders lap the whole time and didn't want anyone but her.  I peeked in and she was on her lap watching the other kids play with toys. It was pretty funny. Thank-goodness for great nursery leaders who like to snuggle. When I went to pick her up she was napping on the sisters lap. After church she went to the gym and chased some kids around for a while giggling and screeching with excitement. She's so tired she just about fell asleep at the dinner table. She just needs to hang on for a couple more hours for bed!

Basement Adventures

Yesterday morning I woke up to the sound of our toilet bubbling and gurgling. I didn't think much of it.  A while later, I heard it again and decided to get up and investigate. For some strange reason, our toilet wouldn't drain, it appeared it was plugged, but we couldn't figure out by what. Mr. Stannix hopped in the shower when he woke up and found that the tub wasn't draining either and his shower was turning into a nasty bath. The people upstairs put a load of laundry through and we heard gurgling water again. We decided to call our landlord for some advice.  He said he would send his son-in-law over pronto to investigate, and asked us to move some stuff around in the store room so that they could snake the pipe in there. I opened the store room door and saw that the floor was COVERED in water that had backed up through the drain. Thankfully it didn't stink, but it looked like thick, slushy water with a combination of decomposed leaves, toilet paper, and tree bark. What a mess! Mr. Stannix and I proceeded to move the things from the floor out onto towels. This included a kitchen chair, my vacuum, a sewing machine, the broom, the tool kit, and one soggy Christmas tree box. I went to the bathroom to check if the shower had drained only to find it was worse looking then before with black gunk and hair floating in the water. The plumbers came and took off our toilet to check things out and discovered that with all the ground shifting, something happened to the older pipes, causing a tree root to block the way. They fixed the problem quickly and went on their way. Our awesome landlord stopped by with some paper towels and gloves. I spent the rest of my afternoon mopping up nasty water and bleaching my floor and everything that had touched the water. Then I disinfected our bathtub and toilet. Today, I still want to go over the floors one more time! Everything seems to be back to normal now.  Poor Mr. Stannix, his study time got cut short yesterday by the disaster. Today he is cramming like a mad man for his three mid-terms next week. We joked about how this had to happen just two weeks before we move, it couldn't have waited, just two more weeks. On the plus side, we were thankful it didn't happen while we were away last weekend, because it could have been a real mess to come home to! So in a way, I guess it was a blessing. 

Camilla is turning into such a little mommy. Her newest fetish is to wrap her baby in my tea-towels. She will bounce her baby to sleep, cuddle her, hug her, and kiss her. She's going to be such a fabulous big sister! Here's hoping for a quiet Saturday. Maybe some reading, playing with blocks, and an afternoon nap?

Sharin' the Love

For the last couple of days the Stannix's have been a little bit grumpy. Poor Mr. Stannix has three mid-terms in a row next week and I've been chasing our crazy kid around, cleaning, packing and keeping the house in order. Yesterday night I decided it was time to cook up some love in the Stannix home. Camilla and I made and decorated heart-shaped cookies for Valentines Day while Daddy was at his meeting. We had a lot of fun (and Camilla ate a lot of cookies).

Before they were even cooled her little mitts were all over the sugary yummy-ness. She scarfed down two whole cookies right off the bat! I smiled as I heard "mmm" and "num!" between crunches. What a nutt!

I finally finished decorating them all after she went to bed.  I got out the Valentine treats to get ready for the big day next week. I love celebrating holidays. Mr. Stannix stopped by Wal-Mart on his way home to pick up the final season of "Lost". He was so sweet to think of me while he was there and brought me home a heart shaped container full of sweets as an early Valentines present. We kissed and made up from our grumpy day and then tidied the house together. We then turned the lights down and plugged in the first disc of season six! We munched out on chips and salsa as well as our treats. It was a great night! 

In other news, I'm pretty much thinking of banning crayons in my house. The other day, Camilla scribbled with orange all over the back of our bedroom door, and yesterday our kitchen floor was a rainbow of orange and blue. Crazy kid. Thank goodness for Magic Erasers. With the move coming up, I've been trying to get on top of packing and cleaning. I scrubbed the oven for an hour yesterday and it is now sparkly clean. I debated taking a picture because I was that impressed with it! I also packed the rest of our books up yesterday. Our poor living room looks so empty without the books on the shelf. Camilla is in heaven with all the boxes we have kicking around. 

She played in this one for hours yesterday evening (when she wasn't chowing down on cookies). She's so grown up now! At night, we've made more progress with her little bed. Mr. Stannix was so smart and thought she was afraid of the dark a little, so when we put her to sleep now, the door is cracked a lot wider than we used to. She now stays in her bed! I tuck her in, and she'll reach up her little arms for a "hut" and wrap them tight around my neck. Then she'll pucker up her little lips for a smooch, and wave buh-bye as we leave. It's so nice that she's happy and content when she goes to bed now. Anyways, I'm off to make some waffles for me and the Mr.
Happy Friday!

I Lost Her

Camilla and I have had quite the morning.  I took off to Wal-Mart this morning in search of a few things, moving boxes being one of them. They had a few to spare, and Camilla was pretty patient in the store. I loaded the boxes in the car, then we walked to the dollar store to look for heart shaped cookie cutters and tabs for Daddy. Carrying Camilla is getting harder, the bigger I get, and she insisted on getting down in the dollar store. She helped me a little bit with the basket, and kind of wandered around a little.  She then thought it was fun to run off really quick in whatever direction she could. I'd call for her, and then go after her. It turned into this little game for her.  I was in the middle of comparing prices and she bolted. I called her name, quickly grabbed what I needed and took off to chase my crazy kidlet. I went one way, quickly scanning the aisles, no luck, went the other way quickly scanning the aisles, and wasn't having any luck. I then thought about those horror movies where people sneakily take your kids and run...etc. It was a total of 30 seconds, start to finish, before I found her cruising down the hair accessories aisle giggling like a mad woman, but it felt like FOREVER! I've never been more scared in such a short time. I called for her and she sped up as fast as her little legs would carry her in the opposite direction. I finally caught her and she hugged me, still giggling. I couldn't really get mad, but we are definitely having some lessons about strangers and running off in public! 

Sweet and innocent right?

No More Monkeys...

No more monkeys jumping on the bed!

Last night Camilla had way too much fun jumping on the bed with her Daddy. When they finished, Daddy was tuckered out, and Camilla wanted to do it again! "Bed, Bed, More?" was all we heard for a few minutes.  Daddy had to show her that she can jump on her own little bed, and after that she was set! What a great memory.

Building Blocks

Yesterday was a very good day. As I prepared dinner for the missionaries, Camilla dumped her blocks out and quietly started building. She's never been able to build little towers before. Mr. Stannix and I were delighted as we watched her stack each block to form a little tower.  They would get four or five blocks high and then fall down. She would get a little frustrated and have to start over, one block at a time. She did this until the missionaries arrived and got better and better each time she tried to build. We had a great dinner and lesson with the missionaries. Mr. Stannix and I cleaned up the kitchen together, bathed Camilla and got her ready for bed.  She was enjoying running around naked under her little house coat. Laughter filled her room as we chased her around, tickled her and hugged her tight, and finally got her into her jammies.  We then had our scriptures and prayers and a story. She hugged and kissed us each goodnight (and each of her babies and teddies) and hopped into her little bed.  She went to sleep without a fuss. I stood at her door for a few minutes to let her know I was still there as she fell asleep.  I thought about the evening and felt warmth and comfort. Our little girl knew that we loved her, and we had taken the time to show her and play with her. She quickly slipped off to sleep and had a pretty good night.  She woke up happy and snuggled with me in bed this morning.  

As we finished breakfast this morning, I got thinking about the building blocks in our lives, and the building blocks in our homes. I found some really great talks on building blocks and teaching children. 

“Our personal journey through life provides us with many special experiences that become building blocks of faith and testimony. These experiences come to us in vastly different ways and at unpredictable times. They can be powerful spiritual events or small enlightening moments. 

As experiences accumulate in our lives, they add strength and support to each other. Just as the building blocks of our homes support the rest of the structure, so too do our personal life experiences become building blocks for our testimonies and add to our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.” 

~Elder Ronald A. Rasband

I then started thinking about what the "building blocks of our homes" might be. I found another great talk that explained this so sweetly.

Our children do not grow to full physical stature suddenly. In like manner, their spiritual growth takes place over time. This development might be compared to erecting a block building. The walls are formed block by block with a strong mortar holding each block to the others. We could give these building blocks names, such as bedtime stories, listening to a child pray, tucking a child in bed at night, and a quiet review of the day’s activities. Other blocks could be pleasant dinner conversations, praise for tasks well done, birthday parties, and family outings. Others could be doing your chores, being kind to one another, reading from the scriptures together, serving others, and saying I love you. Still other blocks could be learning to work, taking responsibility, respecting elders, singing together, doing homework, attending Primary, and honoring the Sabbath day. Even larger blocks are family home evening, respecting and honoring the priesthood, and family prayer.

A vast array of such beautiful building blocks that are placed carefully can form a fortress of faith that the tidal waves of worldly distraction and evil cannot breach.  These blocks are held together with a mortar called love: love of Heavenly Father and his Son Jesus Christ, love of parents, love for each other, love for choosing the good." 

~M. Russell Ballard

Now, whenever I see my little girl building blocks, I will be reminded of these talks, and the building blocks that are so important in helping our homes become a "fortress of faith".  I know that as we keep adding building blocks to our home held together with love that our home will be a happy, secure, comfortable place for our children to learn and grow. I love the sweet little moments that we have with Camilla as we read her a bedtime story, listen to her pray, and tuck her in. There's nothing better than big kisses from such a tiny girl. I love the sweet little moments we share as a family as we have family home evening and learn together. What a blessing little children are in our lives.

Check out the rest of the talks here and here.