A Promise Kept

A little bit freezing after leaving the warm water

Camilla is such a water baby! She loves swimming at the pool so so much! Daddy promised her that we would go swimming today and she talked about it all weekend. As we got in the car she exclaimed "Nimming!!!" and was excited the whole way to the pool. When she got her suit on, the excitement grew some more. The last few times she's really enjoyed wearing a life jacket and having some "freedom" to move in the shallow waters. She loves the balls, and loves to play catch with Mommy and Daddy. Today she enjoyed some sliding and relaxing in the warm water. We floated around the lazy river a few times and enjoyed sitting and relaxing in the shallow water. She's also getting used to water on her face and some extra splashing.  It was a great two hours and we were all wrinkly when we finally got out. She really didn't want to leave!!

When we got home there was a message on our phone from my little brother! He got a very special letter in the mail today with "Elder Hudkins" on it. After my parents got home from work they got the family on speaker phone and opened his mission call! It's hard to believe that my brother will be hitting up the MTC on June 29th! We are absolutely thrilled for him!

Our Little Snorter

Today was a pretty good day! The only downside about 1:00 church is waiting all morning for it! We had a one hour family snuggle in our bed after Camilla woke up, and then got up and got ready for church. It was not my morning. I tried to curl my hair with hot rollers and it totally didn't work out! I also have a wardrobe malfunction with my ever growing stomach and am down to one skirt that actually fits. Not much longer though! While we were waiting until it was time to leave we had some fun tickle sessions and Camilla got giggling really hard. It totally made me smile. We left the house an hour early as per usual to make it to the church for choir. As I was walking my shoes kept coming un-done (silly Velcro). Choir went really well and Mr. Stannix did a great job watching Camilla (like he always does). During Sacrament meeting I was released from my calling as ward choir pianist which brought mixed emotions. It was a calling that I really enjoyed doing because I got to play on the piano, but I was slightly relieved as I've been stressing about how I'm going to feed a new born when I have choir and then organ right after (2 hour block).

After the Sacrament was blessed and passed I hopped off the organ to sit with my hubby and little girl for the rest of Fast and Testimony meeting.That kid seriously cracks me up. I should have been more serious and I'm sure my face turned red as I giggled in the third bench from the front, but I couldn't help myself. I mentioned in my last post that Camilla was sticking a finger up her nose at breakfast the other day. She started doing it in the middle of the meeting, so I said (very seriously) "No, that's yucky" and gently pulled her hand down. At that point a devious little smirk appeared on her face, and she slowly started raising her finger to her nose again. Well, after about the third "No, that's yucky", she was grinning from ear to ear and decided TWO fingers would be even more hilarious. There was no stopping her now. So I let her. The worst (not really) part was that she was standing on the bench for all eyes to see. After a few seconds with both fingers up her nose, she discovered something fascinating...she could snort! And that she did for the next couple of minutes. A snort followed by a little giggle (repeat). It was soo hard to distract her, and I couldn't be serious enough to stop her if I tried. Mr. Stannix and I just quietly giggled and smirked at each other across the bench. Is that bad?

The rest of the meetings were fabulous! Mr. Stannix took Camilla to nursery and ended up helping out for most of the first hour. When he left she cried for a bit (I was told) but is getting better. After church a sister came up to me and said, "I have to tell you! Camilla was so cute today when I went in for singing time!..." and proceeded to explain how Camilla was lining up the baby dolls in chairs for singing time. A nursery leader also told me that Camilla was "Great today!". It's such a relief to finally see her interacting and playing in nursery. Daddy said she was super happy when he went to pick her up! Before we left to go home, Camilla found a little girl bundled in her stroller and said "Baby!" and proceeded to play with her, hug her, blow kisses to her, make her wave and talk, and make her blow kisses. It was super cute watching them. I think they like each other! Hooray for a friend in Nursery!

I did NOT make her pose like this, she did it all on her own...

Just wanted to make sure I wrote her snorting story somewhere so that we don't forget it! What a character!

The Old Spaghetti Factory

Camilla with her 'Un-toe Mut' and 'Un-toe Kees'

Some of my family is up again this weekend for a visit and we've had them in and out all day. It's been great! We got to spend time with my brothers' girlfriend as well, which was also great! It had been a while since we had visited.  Camilla thoroughly enjoyed the interaction with so many people all afternoon. She threw balls with her uncles, and got balls thrown at her. She mooched cookies from Papa, and gave lots of hugs and kisses. It's so special watching her interact with family.

Tonight, a few of us went out to The Old Spaghetti Factory to celebrate my brother Mike's birthday. My older brothers got to spend some special time with miss Camilla. She got to eat between them at dinner, climb on them, hug and kiss them. It was fun to see her interact with her uncles, she sure kept them on their toes! Her poor 'Un-toe Mut' enjoyed his dinner between feeding her, making sure her booster didn't tip when she would climb out, and trying to keep her sitting and content. She tries so hard with names, and it's pretty funny to hear what she comes up with sometimes! I'm thinking the name she's made for Uncle Mike will stick! 

It was a very enjoyable evening. I love spending time talking and eating with family. The meal was impressive, and the price was definitely right. I am totally a fan of the "All-Inclusive". The waiter was great and even brought Camilla her own little bowl of ice cream for dessert!

Today, Camilla practiced saying "Plees...maaan" (police man) all day long! We had a police car with his lights turned on park outside our house for a good 20 minutes. Camilla liked watching through the window and saying "Plees man" repeatedly. I also learned that I need to be careful how much I say "Michael David" (which I jokingly call Mr. Stannix when he's 'in-big-trouble-mister'). This morning I said it and miss Camilla sternly repeated "MUT DAVEE!!" It was too cute not to laugh.  Kinda like at breakfast when she thought it was funny to shove her finger up her nose...After the second stern "No Camilla, that's yucky" I burst out laughing, and so did Mr. Stannix. She just looked so hilarious with her little grin and piggy nose, and she knew it! Good memories being made at the Stannix's!!

Stone Cold

This morning the Stannix's woke up in what felt like an igloo. Camilla had woken up a few times and walked to our bed saying "Up?". The second time I put her back to bed I noticed her room was freezing cold, but didn't think too much of it. As Mr. Stannix rolled over in the middle of the night I said "Is it colder in here, or is it just me?" and I got a "It's cold". On the plus side, I got some snuggling! Camilla hopped in with us early this morning for a quick snuggle and her feet were like little icicles. We woke up this morning and it seemed almost cold enough that you could see your breath. I know our house is old, but usually it's not this cold. Mr. Stannix bundled up and went down for a shower and even our bathroom was freezing! Stepping into the tub was like stepping on ice in your bare feet. Normally, if we keep the bathroom door shut at night it's super warm inside in the morning! Camilla curled up on the couch with a blanket, honey nut cheerios and her Elmo show for the morning while I started breakfast. As we ate, I thought my toes were going to fall off and wished I'd put a sweater on before coming down stairs. Something was definitely up! After breakfast, I bundled up and made us some hot chocolate to warm our insides. That made things a little more tolerable. I called up our awesome landlord and he came over to investigate for us, since I know nothing about the old school furnace that we have in our house. Turns out the pilot light went out at some point which meant no heat. It was an easy fix and we have an almost toasty house again!

Our beast of a furnace

This morning Camilla and I took in our program at the library. She had fun, like she always does. We then headed to the doctors for a pre-natal checkup. Camilla was very good for me and sat so nice. The baby is healthy and well. Just over a month to go! Camilla fell asleep on the way home and is now napping on the couch in her jacket and hat. At least she's warm!! I think I'm off to get some lunch and do some baking this afternoon!

Happy blogging!!

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!