Highlights

Smooching Mr. Stannix on the stairs before he left for School today

Watching the excitement on Camilla's face, and hearing her squeal with delight as we spotted Daddy's bus come home, and then Daddy walking by the window (she always waves sweetly and blows a kiss)

Plugging in my new (to me) deep freeze

Camilla turning her garlic toast into a horse and making it 'neigh' and run around the dinner table

Watching Camilla play tenderly with her little baby doll, saying 'I love you' and giving her kisses

Going on a Costco run (to buy meat for my deep freeze)

Sharing dried mango with Camilla before she went to bed

Killing four yucky bugs in my house (less to worry about later!)

What Matters Most

Today, I have been thinking a lot about what matters most. I've been thinking about how I show love, how others show love to me and my family, how I use my time, what I place value on etc. As I thought about this, I got to spend some special time with Camilla reading, playing, building towers and giggling. She definitely has a love of laughter. When it came time for a nap, I could have just rushed through the motions, given a quick hug and kiss, and left her to fall asleep, but instead, I took my time. She said her little prayer, and crawled into her bed. I scooted her over and pulled up her covers. We then spent a few minutes reading a story (which she has practically memorized) and laughing. I gave her some water, and lots of kisses. As I left the room I heard a little voice ask "Hut?" and I turned around and gave her a huge hug/squeeze. She went to sleep no problem after that, I guess she felt more secure. I let her have her book to fall asleep, and heard her "read" it through once. After all was silent for a few minutes, I looked in to find her snoozing with her book covering her face. She must have been super tired! I went down stairs smiling, glad that she went to bed happy and content. 

I watched a video today titled "What Matters Most"  which takes bits an pieces from a talk given by Thomas S. Monson. I loved the message that he gave. Part of it talked about filling our days with the things which matter most. I've spent the majority of my day thinking about what those things are for me and how I show my love to those around me. I also thought about how lucky I am to have a husband who loves me and does things to show me he loves me. Last week, he spent an hour and a half chipping all the ice off our walks so that I wouldn't slip and fall and risk hurting the baby. Almost every night that he is home, he does my dishes after dinner and goes above and beyond. Sometimes, he does the dishes of the entire day! But he always finishes up his job by wiping down all counters, the sink, and the garbage. He also shines the taps! My kitchen literally sparkles when he is finished and I appreciate it! Those are just a few of the things he does to show me that he loves me! I am richly blessed! I hope that I may be able to fill my days with things that matter most and keep that eternal perspective!

What Would You Do

....if you walked into your kitchen and saw this?

I almost had a half heart attack. Camilla climbed up on the table today so that she could get my car keys from the ledge. I arrived just in time to catch her as she jumped off the edge. It makes me a little nervous that she climbs on the table because it isn't sturdy at all! The other day a screw fell off while I was kneading my bread, hopefully the one leg will hold out! The other morning I came down stairs and she was crawling all over the table and in and out of chairs. Her other favorite place to climb is onto the back of the couch. Finding her standing on the table has been my excitement for today. Mr. Stannix's class was canceled, so we have had a very quiet day at home. It's been nice to relax. Camilla snuggled in bed with us until 9:00 this morning which was the best thing ever! I think it's the first night in a while I've gotten close to 12 hours of sleep.

Pink Juice

Today has been a fairly good day so far! Camilla got to wear her new dress to church. She loved it and enjoyed twirling and jumping in it. Nursery was a success, partly. She cried for ten minutes at the beginning, but eventually settled in.  When I came to get her she was ACTUALLY playing with the other kids instead of just watching on the sidelines. Each week gets better and better.

 

When we got home from church Mr. Stannix poured himself a drink of juice, the kind that really stains. While we were busy figuring out the pilot lights on the gas stove and prepping lunch, Camilla sneakily climbed up to the table and enjoyed the tasty beverage. She was dipping her hand, and then licking it off. By the time we realized what she was doing, her entire hand was stained pink/purple. It's pretty funny to look at. Luckily, none got on the new dress! We are now off to enjoy the rest of our evening together!

Family Time

This morning was great. Camilla came into our room at eight and I picked her up for a cuddle. She closed her eyes again as soon as she hit the pillow and we had a nice family snuggle. Her feet massaged Daddy's back while she tossed, and we finally had to wake her up just before nine to get ready for our day. After breakfast, Mr. Stannix and I had the opportunity to attend the temple together. It was really nice. Camilla had a blast playing with her little friend while we were away. We got home and made up some lunch and took our time eating it and visiting at the table. Camilla was in a crazy funny mood because of the lateness of her nap and was shaking her head around and chatting our ears off. After lunch, we went upstairs and got ready for a nap. Camilla got cozy in her bed and we read a quick story. She had a fabulous two hour nap, it's not often that she does this. Mr. Stannix also had a fabulous nap, and I puttered around getting some things done that I've wanted to for a while. It was a quiet day, but it was nice to spend time together. My siblings are up tonight and it's been a blast! We look forward to spending the rest of the weekend with them.

St. Patrick's Day

Today is a rather blah day. The sky isn't blue, and the sun isn't shining! I guess we've been pretty luck the last few days with all the blue sky and sunshine. Camilla and I needed something to do, so we spent the afternoon making/decorating cupcakes for St. Patrick's day. It was super fun! She's such a great little helper, especially when it comes to licking out the icing bowl. 

We whipped up a white cake mix (with a little green food coloring of course), and let them bake and cool while we built block towers in the living room.

Camilla especially loved tasting the "ICE-AAAAAAAAA!" for me.

She licked out the bowl without saying too much while I went all artsy on the cupcakes trying to create shamrocks. It was the quietest I think our house has been all day.

We then tasted our cupcakes to make sure the end result was yummy, and boy was it ever!

After all the fun was done, it was time for the girly to go for a nap. While I waited upstairs for her to fall asleep, I amused myself by throwing tiny pieces of balled up toilet paper down the hole in our floor, trying to hit Mr. Stannix who was studying unknowingly in the chair beneath. It didn't last long because I had a hard time containing my laughter, and then accidentally drooled down the grate almost on Mr. Stannix. Our house is super old, and for some reason has these holes in the floors of the bedrooms covered with, what could be compared to as chicken wire. Our room peeks into the living room, and Camilla's room into the kitchen. It was too much fun, I couldn't help myself....

Happy Early St. Patty's day!

Days Like These

Today has been great. Camilla slept until 9:30 this morning!! After Mr. Stannix got out of the shower, he asked if she was alive, and I assured him she was breathing when I peeked in at her this morning. She woke up such a happy, giggly, talkative little girl. It is mornings like these that I absolutely love being a mother. We had a lot of fun together this morning. She was a total nutt and I love it when she gets in that mood. She's growing up so so fast!!

We had a tickle session on the floor this morning and she tried to distract me from tickling under her arms by putting them up and saying "Hut?" (hug). So I tickled her and then gave her a hug. She wrapped both arms around my neck and squeezed me really tight. Then she placed both her hands on my cheeks and pulled me in for a good smooch. There is nothing better than hugs and kisses given willingly! I loved it. I also got to play my piano for a long time while she quietly played at my feet. I loved being able to watch her quietly play with her toys while I got to fill our home with music.

Before dinner, Camilla discovered the unattended cake on the kitchen table and decided to help herself to some. I'm not sure how much she actually ate before I caught her, but she definitely wasn't very hungry for dinner.

I was also able to catch her "Hello" on video today as well as an "I love you". The quality isn't the best because it was just on my camera, but it's still pretty funny.

Smooches and Giggles

The Stannix's have been feeling very 'under the weather' the last couple of days. At night our house echos with coughing, sneezing and sniffles. Between the three of us it's enough to drive anyone crazy! We are hoping to be on the mend soon. At breakfast, Camilla had some porridge and she brought a guest. Her little "No-No" joined us for porridge. I guess he was really hungry, because Camilla shared every bite with her plastic friend. On the second last bite of the morning, Camilla threw it all up...Gooey porridge everywhere. Noah made it out un-gooed, but Mommy, not so much. Off to a warm bath she went. We then both snuggled on the couch with her cat show and she zonked out. She had a rough night.

Although she felt sick last night, she was in super good spirits. We had a lot of fun in the evening together as a family. We shared lots of giggles and memories.  Daddy and Camilla looked through the blog book and Camilla had fun pointing people out and telling us stories as she scanned the pictures on the pages. When I tucked Camilla in, we chatted for a few minutes, then gave hugs and kisses. She loves the word "Smooch" so we call our kisses smooches now, or "Mooch" as Camilla likes to say. I bet I got a hundred of them before bed last night! She kept asking "Mooch?" and I'd lean in for a kiss. After the kiss, she'd exclaim "Mooch!!!" and I'd say "Yes, a SMOOCH!" We were rather silly when I think about it, but it was oh so fun. It eventually got to the point where she would put her hands on my cheeks and pull me in for a smooch exlaiming "Moooch!" and I'd go "EWWWW!" and she'd start giggling. Each time she broke out laughing, it was harder and harder for her to contain herself. By the end we were both laughing hysterically!! I left the room, blowing her kisses on the way out and waited on my bed for her to fall asleep (in case she decided to get out of bed). As I was laying there I hear "Kiss?" and little kissing noises as she kissed her baby doll. Then I hear "Hut! ooooohhh" as she gave her doll a big hug. Then I heard "Squeeeeeze!" as she squeezed her tight. Then I heard "Nite-Nite...Baby", and her baby say "ma-ma?". Super cute to listen to her little conversations at night with her baby. I love that kid! It was so rewarding for me to hear that as a parent and to feel that I'm doing something right. It's moments like these that I never want to forget! I've been cherishing each snuggle, each giggle, and each moment I share with Camilla lately knowing that soon my time will be split between two kiddos.

A Lazy Saturday

It's a lazy Saturday at the Stannix's. Breakfast was more of a lunch and lunch became munching on left over brownies for the afternoon. Camilla was up at the crack of dawn and didn't want to snuggle in our bed. She was a busy girl all morning, but still very tired. Her actual nap didn't last long at all, but she zonked out with me on the couch when I brought her down stairs for another good hour. Presently, she's still sleeping. I had to get up because my legs were going numb. Mr. Stannix has had a very relaxing Saturday, which is great, he deserves it! He's indulged himself in Harry Potter for the day and enjoyed snuggling under a blanket on the couch with the sun peeking in occasionally. I woke up with a terrible sore throat/cold/stuffy nose and have been resting a lot of the day as well. Once the kiddo wakes up, I think we are up for a family outting to the swimming pool. Camilla needs some 'jail break' time away from the house. She was so excited when we mentioned swimming to her this morning! In other news, check out her latest trick! The first time she did it on the big couch it was almost a perfect head stand...Not sure where she learned it, but she sure likes it!

Snuggles

Camilla woke up this morning with some killer bed head. We've had a rough couple or three nights around here. Last night was a little better, but the night before last she was up practically every 15 minutes screaming "Mum!" and "Water!!". A few nights ago, she was so tired that when 7:00 rolled around she practically put herself to bed fully clothed. I changed her into her jammies while she was half asleep and kissed her goodnight and off she went. It was pretty funny.  Yesterday, she was so overtired from not sleeping well at night that she kept zoning out and her eyes kept glazing over. After almost falling asleep at the lunch table, I put her for a nap which lasted a grand total of about 20 minutes, after which she woke up screaming and crying. We snuggled on the couch, but she really wanted her Daddy! I think it's a combination of a bad case of sniffles and some teething again.

When Daddy got home from school, Camilla was so glad. She and Daddy snuggled on the couch like this for over an hour. She would stick her hand up the sleeve of his sweater, draw on his palm with her little finger and cling onto his sweater. It was super sweet to see the two of them together. Just before dinner she recovered some energy and her and Daddy had a nice game of kick ball. She laughed so hard that she was vibrating, and sounded almost like a grampa. It cracked me up!

Despite her being super tired, we were able to catch a program at the Library after our Doctor's appointment yesterday. She had a lot of fun and it was good for her to interact with the kids there. We got to sing a bunch of songs, dance around, be silly, play with shakers and bells and read stories. They ended the program off with some bubble blowing. Camilla now knows how to blow bubbles! She was so excited to see the bubbles pop out of the wand when she blew. It was cute. 

Last night Camilla had me giggling at bed time. She went to bed no problem, but she spent about 20 minutes in her bed talking to herself, her doll, and giggling. It was SO funny to hear the stuff she was coming up with. I wanted to record it so bad. I stood at the bottom of the stairs just listening and smiling. She was making her doll talk. Her doll would say "Mama?" and then Camilla would rattle something back to her. I love listening to her play pretend.

Today she seems to have a bit more energy. It should be a good day!