Happy One Month

Some Afternoon Snuggles

Today I am thinking about my little man and the first time I set eyes on him one month ago. It's been a great first month. I am in love! Overall he is a fabulous baby, but he seems to be more fussy then I remember Camilla being. I love seeing the differences and similarities between them. I love when Camilla says, "I looove baby Hyrum". It really has been a great month and we've been blessed. Night times are sometimes long and difficult, my patience has been tested to the max, but the little snuggles and smiles make everything worth while. I have learned that when Hyrum is fussy the only things that will make him happy are the 4 S's: Swadled, Snuggled, Soos (soother), and Skin to Skin contact. If we don't do those we usually get a lot of G's (grunts). I have nick named him Sir Grunt-a-lot. If you ever spend a night at my house, you'll know why. He sleeps well at night, but because he grunts so much, Mr. Stannix and I are awake more than we should be. We also learned today that he enjoys watching Camilla get into trouble. It's kind of humorous! My favorite moments with him are when he is about to fall asleep because he will give you a hundred little smiles and grins (most of which are crooked and cute). It makes me laugh. Happy one month Hyrum!

Sunny Saturday

Today was a good day overall. It started out a little rough because we stayed up way to late last night! Even though Camilla went to bed around 11:00 PM she was still up bright and early at 6:30 AM. We came down stairs and she ended up crashing on the couch for a few more minutes. We had a slow start this morning and didn't end up eating breakfast until around 10:00 AM. Camilla was complaining because she was hungry and Daddy was super tired. Despite being tired, Daddy went out to mow the lawn because it needed it bad. Camilla went for a car ride with him to get gas for the mower and then sat on the deck watching Daddy mow. She was super cute with her giant pail, sitting so quietly.

Later on in the afternoon we got a phone call from some really good friends who invited us over for a BBQ. It's always fun to get together with friends and especially on such a beautiful day. While the kids had an afternoon nap, I gave Mr. Stannix a much needed hair cut. We then cleaned up a bit and then loaded up the kids for the evening. Hyrum looked like such a big boy in his car seat, I just had to take a picture. He's growing so fast and turning into a little boy! Check out his baby blues!

Camilla chatted our ears off the whole car ride there and exclaimed "Fries!" every time we passed a McDonalds. She was looking pretty cute in her new sun glasses and pig tails. She rides so good in the car now!!

We enjoyed some hamburgers, watermelon and chips with our friends. Camilla was excited about the watermelon.

After dinner we enjoyed a great walk to the park where we tossed a frisbee around for a while! Man, it's been a long time since I've ran and jumped like that. Camilla looked so funny and small Standing in the middle of all of us. She loved running around after the frisbee and even threw it a few times. We ended off the night with a movie and then brought our kiddos home for bed.

A Typical Day

Today we were up at 6:00am as per usual. Hryum was grunting in his crib and woke Camilla up and then she jumped into bed with us for a while. We all eventually made it downstairs for breakfast. Breakfast is usually waffles, spicy eggs, pancakes, or just bagels depending if Hyrum is still sleeping or not. While I get breakfast going, Camilla usually watches one of her favorite shows (Piglet, Nemo, Garfield). Then we make Daddy's lunch and give him hugs and kisses goodbye when he leaves for work. This morning Camilla was lucky enough to get a tiny glass of milk to enjoy on the couch. Just after Hyrum woke up, Camilla spilled her milk all over the couch and floor. I was slightly frustrated because I had to clean it up while Hyrum was upset all at the same time. Sometimes mornings are really long, and I can get really frustrated with my almost two year old, but her smiles at the end of the day make it all worth while. We usually pass the time watching shows, playing games, playing outside, listening to music, eating snacks, cleaning up the mess made by snacks, going to the park, or blowing bubbles. We have a few tantrums here and there, and sometimes some tears, but the good always outweighs the bad. Camilla sometimes likes to stand on the edge of the couch and jump to the floor which scares Mommy, but she's getting used to it. If Hyrum is grumpy, Camilla will lift up her shirt and try to feed him from her belly button. She feeds her Mickey mouse a lot from her belly button when "Mities Hungy". Snacks are always had mid morning and very welcomed. Camilla technically snacks ALL morning, but especially loves her big snack. We usually eat lunch sometime around noon and then I try to get the kids to bed between 12:30 and 1:00 in the afternoon. Sometimes, Hyrum isn't as cooperative and needs to eat and be snuggled a lot before he will go to sleep which means that my nap is SUPER short, but always appreciated. Some days I will use nap time to go mad getting things done that I can't do while the kiddos are awake (cleaning the bathroom, laundry, blogging, baking bread, reading, relaxing). After an hour and a half, Camilla wakes up and is energetic and ready to go. We spend the last half of our afternoons playing together on the floor, reading, singing songs, or soaking up the sun in the backyard. I usually prep some dinner around 5:00 and Mr. Stannix usually shows up between 5:00 and 5:30 depending if he is working on his CASB or not that night at work. Sometimes, we eat dinner really late, like 7:00ish. We like to sit on the couch and watch for Daddy's bus to come so that Camilla can run to the door when he walks up the sidewalk. Around 7:15 Camilla usually goes into a bath for a good 20 minutes or until the water is cold. She plays with her alphabet letters, talks with her ducky, plays pretend with her other animals and makes sure to say what she's washing as she washes it ("kneeeeees....Mouffff....Hannnnn.... Toooeees...Ebow"). While she is bathing, I clean up the kitchen from dinner and tidy the living room. She cleans up her toys into the bucket when she's ready to get out and exclaims "ALL done!" in her little high pitched girly voice over and over and over until someone comes to take her out. She pulls the plug, slides to the end and back a few times and then is ready to jump out and get warmed up. I rub lotion all over her little body to make sure she smells fresh and feels good before bed. Sometimes she gets away from me before I can get her diaper on and giggles as she runs around the house "Nated", while I chase after her. Hyrum is usually sleeping, or listening to the commotion from his bouncy chair. We then gather together as a family on the couch for scriptures. Camilla looks at her picture version of the Book of Mormon while Daddy or I read a couple of verses. We then finish the evening together with prayer and smooches before one of us takes Camilla up to bed and reads her a story (always Silly Suzy Goose). Hugs and kisses are given, "I love you's" are said and Camilla tucks into her bed ready to go to sleep. Then it's time to get Mr. Hyrum bathed. I check the water temperature to make sure it's baby-safe and then fill his little tub. I set out a nice fresh towel and get him all undressed. A soft washcloth is used to wash his baby skin with soap. Usually he cries the whole time. I then take him out quickly before the water gets too cold and wrap him tightly in a towel to warm him up. Lotion is massaged all over his little body and he is all fresh and clean. He is put into warm sleepers for the night time and then we go upstairs to nurse. When his belly is full, he slowly drifts off to sleep. I gaze down at him as he shows off his crooked little pre-sleep grins (my favorite part). He is then tucked tightly in his crib. After the kiddos are asleep, Mr. Stannix and I have some time together before bed to catch up, read together, or watch a TV episode (Smallville or Lost). Bedtime is very welcomed around 10:00 or shortly after and then it starts all over again the next day. This is the life I've always wanted, and I wouldn't trade it for anything!

Self Potty Trainer

So, Mr. Stannix and I have been tossing around the idea of potty training Camilla for a while now. I wanted to put it off until after the baby came and we had some routine/schedule. Now that the baby is here, we still haven't started. She likes to sit on her potty fully clothed and make peeing noises, and sometimes she'll even sit on it naked and toot, but we've never been able to get her to pee, so I haven't pushed it. Yesterday she told me three times that she had to pee, and I just didn't want to go through all of the effort of undressing and taking off her diaper just for a little toot, so I ignored it. One of the times was first thing in the morning. I was upstairs feeding Hyrum and Camilla was playing with the bathroom door handle saying "Have to pee". Daddy was in the shower, so we waited. She came up a few seconds later and she was totally naked! She now knows how to take her own diaper off! This morning while I was showering, Mr. Stannix and Camilla stormed into the bathroom. Camilla was totally naked. I asked what was up and Mr. Stannix told me she had to pee. I guess she started stripping down in the living room and then told Daddy "Have to pee...potty?" and so they came in to give it a shot! Seconds after she sat on her potty, I heard, "Addie, she peed!" I thought to myself yeah right. 

Ladies and Gents, I am pleased to announce that Camilla DID indeed pee in the potty for her very first time! It was just a few tinkles, but I was so excited! She scored herself a jelly bean for a job well done. We called Gramma and Camilla excitedly told her "Peed potty!! Peed inna potty! Jelly beans...tastes NUmmmy." Now that she has smartened Momma up, I'm sure she will be getting a few more jelly beans today. I am excited that she is ready and looking forward to no more diapers with her!

I do, however, still have to diaper this little man's cute bottom. He is a peeing/pooping machine and goes through WAY more diapers than Camilla ever did! I am falling in love with his chubby little cheeks (the one's on his face of course) which are getting chubbier each day. He is getting to be a very big boy and I love how content he is (except for his fussy time). This morning he was awake in his crib for a good half hour at least, and when I went in to get him his eyes were bright and there was a tiny grin on his little face. He is more alert and absolutely loves when you interact and talk with him. Yesterday I decided it was time to bring out the "baby" toys. Down came some rattles and the baby einstein play mat. Today is another rainy day, but I plan to just play with the kids all day long! Maybe, I'll wash the dishes, but mostly I just want to play with them today...

Pouring Rain

It's been raining on and off all day. Poor Camilla just wants to go play outside and slide at the park. I'm too much of a wimp and I really don't want the little guy out in the cold right now, so we have been home bound today.  We did however manage to slip out to Walmart today. I also managed to bake cookies, bagels and pizza sticks this afternoon. The bagels sat rising on the counter for a little longer than usual as I had an afternoon nap with the kiddos today. The dough was a little dry when I went to boil it, they still look delicious though and I am just waiting for them to come out of the oven! It's been a semi productive day today anyways. If Camilla had her way, I think this would be her today....She takes after her Momma and loves her bare feet!

Splashing at Gramma and Grampa's in the early morning (still in her PJ's)

Enjoying standing in the rain

A Photoshoot

Yesterday my sister took out her nifty camera and used her mad skills to photograph my kiddos. I am in love with all of the pictures that she took of them! She is still editing a few, but these are the ones she got done yesterday. She did a fabulous job and is super talented! It was fun to watch her and be a part of it.

 Our smiley little guy...

  I have always wanted to take a picture like this of my baby and now I finally have one!

 She also took this gorgeous picture of my little girl. I am definitely blowing up and framing it!

We tried to get a few of the two of them together, and only ended up with a couple good ones!

We tried to throw some sports in there for the little guy!

And I jumped in for a few.

Nightime Serenade

This weekend was wonderful! I love getting out of the city and going 'home' to the acreage. Mr. Hyrum has been having some trouble at night time lately. The nights that I am most tired, it seems he has the hardest time getting to sleep. On Saturday night, this happened. It was shortly after 1:00 in the morning and we had just finished a movie. Mr. Stannix and I headed to the spare room to get some sleep.  I had to feed Hyrum before bed, but for some reason, he was having troubles eating and started crying a lot. I got up to bounce him in the moonlit room. Once he calmed down a little bit, I could hear the frogs serenading us through the open window in our room. It was the best sound in the world. It made everything so peaceful. There were no buses rushing up and down the street, no loud cars or music, no streetlights...Just the frogs and the quiet. I rocked my little man for a long time before he actually decided to eat and go to sleep but it was such a special experience to take a step back from the business of the world and enjoy the quiet of the night. I watched his little eyes look around in the moonlight and studied his little face. I think he finally drifted off shortly after 2:00 and I was able to cozy up in bed and listen to the frogs put me to sleep. I loved it! Those are the things you just don't experience in the city.

May Long

This weekend my parents invited us to the acreage to spend some time out of the city.  It's been quite eventful to say the least. We got up nice and early and packed up the car and the kids. We left and noticed a strange grinding noise in one of our tires. We weren't sure what it was, but it wasn't too awful sounding, so we pressed on. We made it two blocks and decided it sounded bad enough to pull over. We pulled into a 7-11 parking lot and Mr. Stannix hopped out to check the tire... As he was checking, I remembered that there were little fingers playing with rocks by our tire the other day, and these little fingers dropped some rocks into our tire and the rocks were now making a horrible grinding noise as they wedged against our brakes. I hopped into the drivers seat and Mr. Stannix had me pop it into neutral while he slowly pushed the car back causing the rocks to come slowly un-wedged. We tried pliers, pens and sticks to get them out, but had no luck. I thought we maybe could just take off the tire so we could reach, but that would take so much work. Thankfully, we have AMA and today it payed for itself. We sat in the 7-11 parking lot for almost an hour waiting and then getting it fixed. While we waited, I bet Mr. Stannix a kiss that the tow truck would come from my direction (and it did).  The guy took off the tire, wiped out the rocks and put the tire back on. Poor Camilla started screaming in the backseat when he jacked up the car. He said, "Oh, I didn't realize there was still people in the car! DON'T open any doors!". The poor girl looked so sad, and I had to comfort her through a closed window. Hyrum, thankfully slept the whole time! We were glad that there was no damage to our brakes or anything else, and we took off to Gramma and Grampa's. When we arrived, these beauties were waiting on the counter for dessert.

The kids did great in the car. Hyrum only screamed the last 7 minutes of the drive and Camilla woke up super happy from her nap. She could not wait to get outside when we arrived. She ran around in her bare feet all night long! She was Daddy's go-getter when he was practising horse shoes.

I got a kick out of watching Camilla carry these heavy horse shoes to her daddy in her bare little feet. I also enjoyed soaking up some sun with Mr. Stannix on the deck!

I am loving this warm weather and hoping the rain stays away for the weekend!!

Camilla had a fun ride on Uncle Arland's shoulders. She also enjoyed when her Daddy would throw her up REALLY high in the air and catch her. Man, I love her giggles, and I seriously love that picture of her and her daddy. Her feet are so dirty in it!. Hyrum is getting lots of snuggles from his Aunt, Uncle, Gramma and Grampa. I'm looking forward to getting some rest while the kiddos enjoy time with family. Life is good. How special our families are.

Behold Your Little Ones

The other night as Mr. Stannix and I studied the Conference Ensign together, I was given a good reminder about how special children are. Jean A. Stevens quoted the scripture in 3 Nephi that talks about when Jesus took and blessed the children and said to the multitude "Behold your little ones". She went on to quote Elder M. Russell Ballard when he said: "Notice that He didn't say 'glance at them' or 'casually observe them' or 'occasionally take a look in their general direction.' He said to behold them. To me that means that we should embrace them with our eyes and with our hearts; we should see and appreciate them for who they really are: spirit children of our Heavenly Father, with divine attributes". Sister Stevens goes on to say, "There is not a more perfect place to behold our little ones than in our families. Home is a place where we can all learn and grow together...It is here in our families, in an atmosphere of love, where we see and appreciate in a more personal way the divine attributes of His spirit children". 

The whole talk was amazing, but that was definitely my favorite part. How special our little children are in our lives and what great examples they are to us of being loving and forgiving. My newest goal is to take time to 'behold my little ones' and not just 'casually observe them' throughout the day. I want to look into their eyes, gaze upon their faces, admire their rosy cheeks, study their little hands and feet and enjoy their smiles. I want to be able to recognize their divine attributes and enjoy the special spirit they bring into our little home.

Papa's Twinkly Eyes

I absolutely love this picture! It was taken at the Old Spaghetti factory on Saturday night when we went out to Dinner with my Dad and my big brother. I love the action that is captured in this picture. The twinkle in my Dad's eyes, the bowl of ice cream all eaten up, Camilla playing with her Uncle Chris, and Hyrum's sock falling off.

There's just something about my Dad's eyes in this picture that totally captures my attention.  I have always loved my Dad's eyes and I was lucky enough to inherit his baby blues. His eyes in this picture are full of life! They look very loving and almost proud as he is snuggling his new grandbaby. To me, it seems that they are  twinkling with delight. I especially love the little smile lines on the edges of his eyes showing a life of love and hard work.

Camilla loves spending time with family, as this picture shows so well. I love how she plays pretend, but I admire how intently Uncle Chris is playing pretend with miss Camilla, causing her face to light up with happiness and love. He's such a great Uncle!

Lastly, I love how Hyrum is sitting so calm and cozy in his Grandpa's arms, and how his sock is half falling off.

What a great night that was!