Gingerbread Cookie Making

Well, now that some of my hats are done, I have officially started Christmas baking. We did sugar cookies last week and I hid them away in the freezer to be iced later. Today we made Gingerbread boys and girls with Auntie Emma. Camilla helped me cut them out and Hyrum and I watched them bake in the oven. The excitement in his eyes was priceless. Camilla loved licking the icing bowl and eating smarties. She loved her Gingerbread man so much that she had to give it a hug. It was adorable! Auntie Emma did a fabulous job decorating, and taking snapshots of the day. All in all, a success!

**Pics by my sis**

A Typical Little Boy

Although this photo is a little blurry, I love it to pieces. 

Here's why...

I was cleaning up the kitchen today, and Hyrum needed to be fed. I made it up a quick bottle and when he was happily sucking away, I turned back to the sink to finish up the dishes. When I turned back around a few minutes later there was milk EVERYWHERE! Hyrum gave me an "I didn't do it" look and I burst out laughing. What I'd like to know is how his little fingers twisted the lid off. It's a typical little boy thing, to try to figure out how things work. I can just see his little wheels turning, "Hmm.. I wonder what this does?".

I love that kid.

In the cold of winter Camilla has now mastered getting warm by the heat vent. She sits on her plastic pink chair like a queen, snuggled up in a nice warm blankie to trap the heat. 

I also love that kid.

And, a big HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my Dad who turned the big Five-Oh today.

We called him this morning, and it was all Camilla could talk about all day.

"It's Grampa's birthday today. Soon it'll be mine birthday too...."

We already celebrated last month when all the family was home. 

He was sure surprised! 

Camilla ate all the icing with a spoon when we were all

chatting in the living room. Gotta love her!

Things to Remember

As I watched my baby boy the other day, I realized that there are so many things I don't want to forget about him at this stage. Every time I look at him I am filled with so much love. 

He is now seven months old, and has two bottom teeth.

I never want to forget the way he tugs at my shirt, grabs onto my sleeve, and rubs his face all over my chest area when he sits beside me on the bench at church. He's so goofy.

I never want to forget the way his arms vibrate as he holds them out to the side whenever food is in sight.

His tongue always cracks me up. He's always licking his lips, rubbing his tongue on his bottom teeth or sticking it out.

I love how easy he is to put to sleep at night, and I extra love cuddling him. I enjoy when he snuggles into my arms. After a minute he turns his head to the side, closes his eyes, lets out a deep breath and nestles his nose into me and then becomes super heavy when he zonks out.

I never want to forget the way he shakes his head side to side like a crazy, with a huge grin on his face.

I adore how quickly he has picked up on humor. He will sometimes pretend to nibble on my shoulder to make me laugh. The other day in the car he was turning his head side to side like a crazy to make Camilla laugh, and then he would crack up laughing.

I never want to forget the sweet way he rubs his face into his blanket when he's tired. He has always been a fan of his blankies. He is such a snuggle bug.

He loves to be carried and can frequently be found propped on my hip with my arm around him. When he is here, he is happy and content. He will grab my hair and hold on tight, sometimes turning to snuggle his head on my shoulder for a quick rest.  Nothing is better than a baby willfully melting themselves into you.

I love watching him zone out when I wash his face in the bathroom after dinner. As soon as I start wiping the crusties from his nose, his eyes become super tired and he stares off into space while I finish cleaning him up. So hilarious!

I love his adorable little nose wrinkle. I get it when he flashes me those energetic baby blues along with his giant smile.  It pretty much melts my heart.

Spider Legs and Cookie Cutters

Today we made sugar cookies. After breakfast, I put on my apple apron that my Gramma made for me, and the girl and I went to work mixing. She sat on the counter and stirred each time I added something to the bowl. The dough chilled in the fridge while I put Hyrum down for his nap. Then I came back down and we got ready to roll and cut the dough. When I dumped my cutters out of the Ziploc, out came two furry dried up spider legs. Talk about getting the heebeegeebies. All I could do was wonder what happened to the rest of the spider and it's other six legs. I was totally grossed out (ask Mr. Stannix who was studying at the table). I grabbed some paper towel and cleaned them up. Then Camilla and I went on sorting through the cookie cutters to take out the Christmas ones. In the middle of the heart shaped cutter, much to my surprise, I came across the rest of the spider and the six furry missing legs. It totally sent chills up my spine. Good thing it was dead...

As Camilla and I stamped stars and gingerbread men out of the cookie dough, Hyrum sat in the laundry basket. I think I did about 145700 loads of laundry today. As soon as the first pan of cookies went into the oven, Daddy was already ahead of the game and had the timer set on his fancy new phone. We watched the cookies as they baked and Camilla was quick to the table when I was putting them on the cooling rack. I turned around to cut some more shapes and I heard, "Uh oh, I broke his arm". I turned around to a gingerbread man broken on the table. I guess she couldn't wait for them to cool. After what seemed like her 123534th cookie, she climbed into the basket next to her little brother. They played in there until I was done with the cookies. It was super cute. Out of all of us, Camilla gets the best belly laughs out of Mr. Hyrum.

Anyways, I am back to hat making. Three down, three to go. Pictures to come!

Our Very Own Swiffer WetJet

Hyrum can officially push himself backwards on his tummy. I do believe this is one of the first steps to crawling. As I did a round of dishes yesterday in the kitchen, he pushed himself backwards around the kitchen floor. When I took a closer look, I noticed the drool coming from his mouth. It made me think of the Swiffer WetJet we had when we were first married. You squirt the cleaner out onto the floor and then Swiffer over it. It made the floor extra shiny, but in the end I preferred the good old fashioned hands and knees method with a hot bucket of water and Lysol. This method ensures you scrub all the nooks and crannies.  As soon as he learns to push himself forward, the Swiffer WetJet might have some competition.

Sweet Potato in my Hair

Just another regular dinner...

Some good eats...

Some laughter...

Some sweet potato spit in my hair...

Hyrum's crazy tongue...

A flying bun...

Singing at the table..

Sweet I love you's....

Some chubby little boy fingers that I love so much I could just eat...

And a little game of pat-a-cake for dessert...

P.S See if you can spot the flying bun in the video. Camilla's got a good arm!

P.P.S She is yelling "Some sweet potato" at Hyrum to make him laugh...

Oh Christmas Tree

Tonight we watched The First Presidency Christmas Devotional in our living room. It was a wonderful way to get into the Christmas spirit. When it was finished, Mr. Stannix brought me down one of my Christmas presents to open early. He said it would add to our night setting up the tree. I opened it up and it was a Mindy Gledhill CD that has one of my newest favorite Christmas songs. As soon as we turned the music on Camilla was jumping and dancing around our living room as we set up the tree.

We were shortly joined by our friends who assisted in setting the tree up and stringing the lights. It was great to visit and share Christmas music together. Camilla was a great little helper and loved putting the decorations on the tree! It was fun to see her so into it this year.

Mr. Stannix grew up with his Christmas trees being covered head to toe in garland, and my tree growing up was always loaded with tinsel. In case you don't remember from last year, this tree is the tree that I grew up with. It's super old, and still loaded with tinsel from my childhood. The garland and the tinsel just add extra sparkle to our short little tree. Mr. Stannix and Camilla finished off the tree by putting our new star on top.

The added bonus to having friends over for the night is that we had someone to snap a family picture for us! Hyrum was tired and rubbing his eyes by this point, so he looks just so impressed to be in the picture.

After the decorating was complete, we shared in some dessert with our friends. It was a delicious black forest cake! We visited until late into the evening. It was wonderful. We feel so blessed to have such great friends. After we parted ways, and got the little miss to bed, Mr. Stannix and I dimmed the lights and snuggled on the couch to the glow of the Christmas tree. 

He turned into a giant chatter box, and I love when he gets that way. We sat and talked about where we are at, the goals that we have and what we look forward to about our future. Then we both decided a hot drink was necessary before bed. I made us up a cup of hot chocolate with mini marshmallows and candy canes to enjoy. While I measured and stirred, Mr. Stannix stood in the doorway of the kitchen looking handsome and continuing to talk with me. We then went back to our cozy spots on the couch and shared in some more laughter together. I love this season. The lights, the smells. This is Christmas for me.

The Ward Christmas Party

Last night was our church Christmas party. It was a fabulous evening filled with beautiful decorations, delicious food, caroling, and a special visitor. So many people work so hard to put this on each year, and it's always enjoyable. Hyrum sat on Santa's knee for the first time ever and Camilla sat on Santa's knee without crying for the first time ever. Maybe next year we'll even get a smile out of her? When he asked her what she wanted for Christmas she said, "A present". She's easy to shop for! Hyrum saw the round, fluffly thing on the end of his hat and was immediately drawn to it. I'm so grateful to Mr. Stannix for watching the children while I played piano. I'm pretty sure he left the gym with one kid under each arm at one point during the caroling. Then I had to stay and practice some songs and he patiently waited on the couch for me. I love that man...

The Festival of Trees

Last night we took in The Festival of Trees with some friends. It was pretty amazing in there! After looking at all of the kiddy activities we decided it probably would have been more fun if our kids were a teensy bit older. It was family night and we did a mini scavenger hunt. We also went and saw Santa, but Camilla looked like she was going to burst into tears at any second, so she didn't sit on his lap. She did hold his bells and shake them though. We'll see how she does with Santa tonight at the Christmas party. 

There was so much to see! Her little legs went nuts all night running/sprinting from one thing to the next. About half way through, Daddy asked if we could trade kids for a while. Camilla was just so excited.

They had a lot of different types of trees and the whole place was lit up! At the front they had a stage with live performances. This one little girl sang and she looked like she was maybe four years old. She sounded amazing! I personally loved the look of this rest area with the floating present Christmas tree.

Just before we left we got our friends to snap a family photo. We exited the display room and joined the crowd in the lobby. You get a prize if you get all the stamps for the scavenger hunt, but we weren't even half way done. Taylor took Camilla and taught her to say, "I tried my best". They then went up to the ladies with the prize bags and she said, "I tried my best" as she handed them her not even half stamped piece of paper and they bought it! She got a treat bag full of goodies, a coloring book and stickers. 

I am now feeling super festive. Two more days until we have a lit up tree of our very own in our living room! I can't wait!!

Birthday Dinner

Last night we went out to Montana's to celebrate Mr. Stannix's birthday. He has been craving their ribs for the longest time ever. It was an enjoyable evening out and the kids were so good for us!

Miss Camilla and I wore our matching colored hats. The girls at the front thought she was super cute when she walked in and looked up at them. We got seated in a nice booth in the corner. I love when we get booths because Camilla is then stuck on the inside and can't go anywhere. We then ordered drinks. A Sprite for me and a Rootbeer for Mr. Stannix (as per usual).

I loved that our drinks came in Mason jars. I love the feel and atmosphere of that restaurant. I also couldn't get over how stinkin' cute Hyrum looked in the highchair. He had fun watching the waitresses go back and forth and smiling at the little girl one booth over. He entertained himself with the drink menu for a long time also. Mr. Stannix ordered his ribs and got the Chipotle Honey sauce. They were pretty much to die for. After looking over the menu, all I wanted was a burger. Plain and simple. Mr. Stannix always makes fun of me for this. No matter the resaurant, I usually order a burger, and usually a cheese burger or something really boring, with fries. This time I lived a little on the edge and got the Chipotle Firecracker Burger. It was delish. When the waitress asked Camilla what she wanted she said, "Noo-noos and cheese please". She is so grown up. 

I was extra proud of her last night because in the middle of dinner she asked if she could go use the potty, and wasn't even afraid of public toilets. I think that is a wonderful sign of being almost potty trained! On the way home she told us she was full. When we finally arrived home we got the kiddos ready for bed and then had cake! I can't get over Hyrum's expression in this picture. It was a great birthday!

In other news, the Stannix's have joined the cell phone world again. Mr. Stannix came home from the store and started telling me all about her. I will still call the cell phone it for the remainder of it's life span. Mr. Stannix has done a lot of research and has been in love with her for a while now. I found myself feeling a little jealous the other day as he sat with her on the couch all day. He's slowly coming back to reality though! In all seriousness, it will be nice to have a cell phone. We've gone so long with out. With winter coming and his job starting in January, it was a needed move. 

Speaking of a job in January, this morning I saw Mr. Stannix off to his last class of University ever. After almost five years, his hard work has paid off! All that's left is a few finals in December and then a long, much needed break over the Christmas holidays. 

I will be spending the rest of my day wrapping presents, getting the Christmas stuff out and thinking about how we are going to rearrange our living room for the Christmas tree.