Dear Daddy

A Mother's Kiss

Hyrum is over six months old now, and we are trying to teach him how to fall asleep on his own. 

Yesterday I put him down for his nap, wrapped him in a blanket, gave him his frog teddy, and left the room. A few minutes later I could still hear him crying, and went up to check on him. 

I could tell he was almost asleep, but he was so so sad. 

I wiped his tears and rubbed his head and then kissed him on the forehead, between his eyes. 

As I kissed him he smiled that sweet smile of his and let out a tired giggle. 

I kissed him again, between the eyes. More smiles came as his sleepy eyes began to close. 

I kissed the tip of his nose, his tiny lips, his chubby fingers, and his forehead once more.

 Soon, his eyes became to heavy to stay awake and they closed as he turned his head to the side. 

He started breathing heavily, and I knew he was asleep.

I watched my sleeping boy for a few minutes and then tip-toed across the creaky floor.

I love the magic of a mother's kiss. 

I love watching him drift off to sleep after I touch my lips to his little forehead. 

That will always be special to me with all of our little babes.

No Secrets

A few days ago I did some early birthday shopping for Mr. Stannix. He's been hinting about completing his Harry Potter collection for a while now, and since the last one came out on DVD I thought I would get a copy while I was at Wal-Mart getting groceries. Perfect. Done. I made sure to hide it before Mr. Stannix got home from school. Just as we were finishing up dinner, Camilla somehow remembered we picked it up. She looked across the table and said, "Watch Hotta Potta Daddy?". He tilted his chin down, and raised one eyebrow like he does when he's asking her a really important question and replied with, "Did Mommy buy Harry Potter today?" to which she replied, "Yeah". I'm a crappy liar, my face went red as I tried to cover. We had a good laugh. Poor Mr. Stannix now knows what he's getting for his birthday at the end of the month but he wasn't the least bit disappointed about it.

Mr. Stannix and I got sweet passes to the leisure centers. He dubbed Tuesday nights mine to do whatever I wanted. Last night I went to drop in aquafit and had a blast. It felt good to feel my legs and arms burn again and my cheeks go all rosy. On my way home I picked us up some Hot Chocolate from Starbucks. I came home to sleeping kids and Mr. Stannix sitting on the couch watching Toy Story. We turned on Fringe as soon as I got in and cozied up together on the couch for the rest of the evening. We watched one too many episodes, and today I feel tired. The combination of exercise that I'm not used to and lack of sleep isn't a fun one. Crossing my fingers for an afternoon nap!

Winter is Here

We had our first snow of the season yesterday. Camilla couldn't wait to get outside once she noticed it coming down. It brought back memories of the first snowfall from my childhood. So much fun! She was thrilled to put on her snow pants and get out the door. It didn't matter to her that it was almost 5:00pm and very chilly out.

 Originally I was just going to send her out on the back deck to play for a few minutes, but then I figured what the heck let's all go out! I bundled up our little-big boy and we all went out to enjoy the falling snow.

That look in Camilla's eyes was promptly followed with pushing her brother back into the snow. Despite the cold and wind, he had a blast! I just love his one-toothed grin and funny faces. I'm excited for him to experience winter this year!

 Camilla enjoyed running around and sliding in the snow (like baseball players would slide to first base). I'm sure we'll have plenty more outside days to come!

Hyrum's Favorite Toy

We're home! After a wonderful weekend away from the city visiting family, we are home. 

We pulled in around 7:30 last night. 

While I bathed the children, Mr. Stannix unloaded the car and cleaned up the house! 

Did I mention how much I love that man? Because I do.

Highlights from this weekend included a surprise 50th birthday party for my dear ol' Daddykins

(a nick name he acquired on one of my 7th grade outdoor ed trips).

We had the whole family home, which hasn't happened for a while.

We snapped some family pictures out in the fresh snowfall to send to my little brother in Chile.

Hyrum's favorite toy at Gramma and Grampa's is "The Backscratcher". 

It's quite hilarious really, he will play with that thing for hours!

A few of my favorite things from yesterday included Camilla sitting all by herself on the 

"big potty" singing "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star". 

I really wanted to change the lyrics to 'tinkle tinkle'.

I feel like my life has turned into a musical as Camilla will make up songs everywhere she goes.

"Sitting on my potttttty, sitting on my pottty" was one from yesterday.

I also enjoyed watching Hyrum play with his toes as he snuggled with Grampa before we left.
He is the most content little boy I've ever met. I love how goofy his personality is.
He was up a lot last night, I'm thinking tooth #2 will soon be making an appearance.

We all slept until 9:00 am, and I have had a rather lazy day.
We ran out to Wal-Mart this morning for milk and other necessities, and then home again. 

Camilla fell asleep on the couch watching "101 Dalmations"
cozied under a blanket while the snow began gently falling outside.

Hyrum just woke up, and is enjoying a bottle in his saucer.

He is looking out the window at the big snow flakes that have just arrived.

 

The falling snow always makes me extra excited for Christmas! 

Evergreen trees, baking, hot chocolate, the smells, lights...

I can't wait!

Silent Night

Mr. Hyrum didn't sleep too well last night. I was up at least three times before 3:00 am. I finally had to bring him upstairs to change his diaper because he was soaked. After I changed him, I went to the kitchen to get a drink, and was pleasantly surprised at the view out the window. Snow had been silently falling all night long and the world was now covered in a fluffy, white blanket of fresh snow. It was beautiful. I love waking up in the morning to the surprise of snow cover. Me and my little man snuggled on the couch for the night, and every once in a while I would wake and look out the window at the beautiful world outside. By the time 7:00 am arrived, my baby boy couldn't sleep any longer. I picked him up and we went to the livingroom window to peek outside just as the sun was coming up. As I stood, Hyrum cuddled his chubby cheeks into mine and we were still as we gazed upon the world outside. Snow is a completely new thing to Hyrum. After a few minutes he let out a little giggle of excitement. I can't wait to bundle him up and take him out today! I love the quiet and still of the middle of the night and early morning. Babies are such sweet blessings.



Sisters are so Special

I have always felt blessed to have a sister. We enjoyed a lot of things together growing up including late night chats and giggle sessions over toast and nutella at the table. We have so many good memories together. With our middle man (my brother) gone on his mission, we are realizing how important our relationship is. Today we decided to take some time, just the two of us, and capture memories on camera. These sisterly pictures will be forever special to me.



"C" is for Cookie

Hyrum has recently discovered baby cookies. To say he loves them would be an understatement. He goes nuts over them! Why, just the other day I was munching on one myself and he had to have a taste. What's mine is yours buddy. 

What's mine is yours...

Being Two is Terrific

What is your favorite color? 

Blue

You mean purple?  

Yeah

What is your favorite color? 

Actually RED

Who's your best friend?

My bear is my best friend

What is your favorite thing to do?

Color

How old are you?

I'm two. I'm not three.

What's your favorite food?

It's alphabet soup

What's your favorite treat?

Cookies

What's your favorite animal?

Cat, he's cute!

What's your favorite show?

Doodoodops

What's your favorite thing to do with Daddy?

I like to play blocks with Daddy

What's your favorite song?

Hyrum

So we're done here then?

Yeah...

My Testimony Shoes

I have a pair of soft, red shoes that I bought when I was living in Costa Rica during my grade twelve year. They are my favorite pair of shoes by far. They are comfortable, soft on the feet, easy to slip on and off, and they don't have heels. Although those are all fabulous reasons to love a pair of shoes, these shoes tell a special story for it is in these shoes that I first gained my own testimony of the Gospel. 

Although I've always had a testimony of the Gospel, I guess I never knew it until I was on my own, in a foreign country. When you don't speak the language, it is easy to feel alone, even when surrounded by people. It is in these shoes that I began devoting my spare time to reading and studying from one of my favorite books, The Book of Mormon.

It was in these shoes that I learned that Heavenly Father is always there for us. As I would kneel in prayer and ask for comfort, I would always receive it. If I was ever on the bus, or walking to seminary and felt unsafe, I could always say a little prayer and feel at peace.

It was in these shoes that I stood and joined in prayer for safety with my Spanish family every time we or another family member left the house. My testimony of prayer grew each and every day as we encountered bus accidents, potentially dangerous situations downtown, and scary acquaintances. I was always kept safe.

It is in these shoes that I learned that the Holy Ghost speaks in one language that all can understand. I attended church every Sunday with the family that I was staying with. Although the language was different, the feeling was the same. The hymns were just as beautiful in Spanish and even though the words were different, the meaning was still the same to me.

It is in these shoes that I walked to and from seminary at sunrise every morning to study and learn.  Because of the rough roads and sidewalks, they became very worn. One morning, the seminary teacher asked us to memorize Section four of the Doctrine and Covenants (in Spanish mind-you) to recite the following week in front of the class. It wasn't an easy task for me, but I am always grateful for that inspired seminary teacher and the wisdom she shared.

It was in these shoes that I stood and shared my testimony one of my last Sundays in Costa Rica. The closing song was "Las familias pueden ser eternas" (Families can be together forever). I had just finished crying my way through my testimony in another language and was missing my family so bad, still this Sunday makes my top five Sunday's list. I will be forever grateful for my experience there and for the family that took such great care of me and treated me as one of their own while I was there.

Mi testimonio es como la de un niño. Yo se que la iglesia es verdadera con todo mi corazón, y que José Smith fue un Profeta de Dios y que el libro de mormon es verdadero. Yo se que nuestro padre celestial nos conoce y cada personalidad y conoce a todos los que lo necesitan. Yo amo a Jesucristo y mi familia. Yo estoy agradecida por los templos asi yo puedo vivir con mi familia en eternidad. Yo se que me Padre Celestial oye mis oraciones y repuestas de mis oraciones.