Saint Nick

We went and visited with Santa last Saturday. The kids had a great chat with him. When Camilla was asked what she wanted for Christmas she said, "Just a puppy that walks". Santa might have to wait until we have our own place before he brings that one. It was cute seeing them on his knee. Even Joseph sat nice!

A Special Day

Today was a very special day! Joseph Allen was given a name and a blessing by his Dad. Great Gramma Purdon worked really hard and finished knitting his baby blanket for his special day. I love a baby in white! He looked so handsome, and his special baby blanket added the perfect touch.

When we arrived at the church I wrapped him up tight in his new warm blanket and he snuggled Great Gramma Hudkins while he slept. When it was time for the blessing his Daddy came, took him in his arms, and walked him to the front of the chapel where a circle of other worthy priesthood holders were waiting to help. As soon as his Daddy scooped him up I began to cry tears of joy. The Spirit was so strong. I watched as each priesthood holder put his his hand on each others shoulder, forming a circle around Joseph. Daddy gave him a great blessing!

He was blessed that he would learn quick the importance of his name as it is after two of his great-grandfathers and one who was present there today! He was blessed that when he hears his name he would have a desire to serve in the community. He was blessed with a firm mind and the ability to retain the things which are good. His talent for music was mentioned and should be developed to bless the lives of others. He was blessed with a strong body. He was blessed to feel joy as he spends time with his brother and sister. He was blessed to grow and serve in the church, and stand strong with his brother.

I am so grateful for my husband and the priesthood which he holds. It was a very special morning. We were blessed to have my parents and grandparents present as well as my sister. We snapped a few quick group shots after sacrament.
 

Family present

The grandparents and great-grandparents

The special men in my life!

Our sweet little family

All of the boys

All of the girls

Another thing from the blessing was that Joseph would develop a special relationship with his mother (that's me). I thought that was very special. It made me think of all of the long nights we've spent together these past four weeks and has really changed my outlook on things. I am looking forward to continuing to develop this special relationship with him and feel blessed to be called his mother.

Winter Fun

A few nights ago after Mr. Stannix had finished studying for his big exam, he took the children outside with him while he shoveled the walks. They all had a blast! When Joseph fell asleep I joined them for a few minutes on the back deck to admire the tunnel/slide Mr. Stannix dug out with his own two hands. The knees of his jeans were soaked, but he was pretty proud of it! The kids had a blast!

 My three look-a-likes

When the kids got cold they came in for Hot Chocolate while Daddy finished up the walks. A few minutes later he came in with a giant icicle that he pulled off the roof. So funny! When bed time rolled around they were pretty tired. After I tucked Camilla in I was summoned back to her room to help her take out her hair. She had done her own up-do that day and used about a thousand elastics to make a messy bun, or a ball as she likes to call it. It took a while, and was slightly painful, but we eventually got every last elastic out of her hair.
 

Mr. Stannix is officially done exam writing for a while! Today we celebrated by sleeping in as long as possible (which means 7:30), taking our time getting ready, and spending the afternoon with the children. It was wonderful to do whatever we wanted, and we all enjoyed Daddy! Joseph is officially one month old today and cuter than ever! He is the most serious baby I've ever had and I love his little looks. He's finally big enough to fit into real clothes, but still wears sleepers 90 percent of the time.

Before lunch we ran a bunch of quick errands, picked up our Christmas cards from busy Costco, picked up a sled, and finished up some Christmas shopping. Before going to visit Santa in the afternoon we hit up McDonalds for lunch with the children. I asked Camilla if she wanted a happy meal and she said, "No, I just want a sad meal". She totally cracks me up! We got a nice little booth in the sun and I nursed Joseph while everyone started on their meals. The children surprised us by eating every last bite.

Next it was off to see Santa, they had a blast (more on that later). When we finished up at the mall we headed home and got suited up for an afternoon of sledding! Mr. Stannix looked really hot in his ski pants. We drove over to the ravine where the hills weren't quite so big for the children. As we pulled up to park there was a lady in her electric wheel chair trying to shovel her walks. Before we began sledding Mr. Stannix jumped out and cleaned her walks for her. I felt such pride being married to that man! I love his willingness to serve. Hyrum finished up his nap while Daddy shoveled and Camilla and I chatted and watched people sled down the hill.

 

While they went down the hill, I got to hang out at the top with Joseph. He stayed snuggly warm beneath his carseat cover!

Hyrum squealed with delight each and every time he went down the hill with his Daddy. Camilla went for a few runs, but enjoyed rolling down the hill better.

Hyrum was a little dare-devil and would jump right back on the sled as soon as they got to the top! Daddy tuckered out pretty quick after carrying both Hyrum and the sled up the hill a few times.

I ended up squeezing in a few runs with my little man before we all got too cold. I haven't been sledding forever! I was a little scared to be honest, but we made it to the bottom and avoided almost biffing it. By the time we left the hill, the sun was just starting to set. The orange glow it cast was gorgeous.

Joseph's Photo Shoot

We were lucky this weekend to have Auntie Emma come up and visit us with her new fancy camera. Joseph will be a month old tomorrow and I have been really excited about this photo shoot for a while. Babies are just so precious and I wanted to document his sweet little feet, his wrinkles and rolls, and his other little features. We had a fun afternoon turning the living room into a make-shift studio and snapping away as the other two napped. It was fun to be able to focus some time on just Joseph and put him in the spot light for a while. I love these sweet little moments that we have to spend together and am grateful to my sister for helping me capture them! So without further adieu, here are a million pictures of our sweet Joseph.

 

So Happy Together

I snapped a couple of pictures of the three kids together the other day. You know you're siblings when you can start giggling uncontrollably over nothing. I adore their little smiles!

Moonlighting

It's almost mid-night and I am awake with a fussy baby, navigating the mouse and typing with my left hand and wishing I didn't leave my glasses on my side table upstairs so I could actually see what I'm doing without squinting. Joseph is definitely the biggest night owl out of all three of our babies. Tonight he is content to lay on his tummy across my arm as I rock him and type.

This first month with him has been a crazy blur of sleepless nights and busy days keeping house and occupying the children. The words "Carry on, carry on, carry on!" from a church hymn keep echoing in my head. I've come to accept the fact that I probably won't sleep between the hours of 11:00pm and 3:00am and it's made a big difference. Instead of being grumpy and irritable as I try hopelessly to get him to sleep, I am trying to enjoy my time with him more.  Tonight I snapped a few pictures with the webcam just so I wouldn't forget these nights that we get to spend together. As I looked at the pictures and saw his chubby cheeks I actually saw some Hudkins in him! He's almost got the same big cheeks that I did as a baby. That made me happy.

And so I will continue to press on, night after night, enjoying the extra cuddles and nursing sessions and reminding myself that one day I will miss this! Each morning I will try to wake up and make each day come alive instead of just living each day. I do love this little boy of mine. I guess night-time is just our special time to spend together, and it's nice to be needed.

Rockin' Around

Yesterday my camera card went missing for a little while after I had imported my pictures to the computer. The only thing I could think of was that Hyrum or Camilla pulled it out and put it somewhere. In desperation I began questioning them, trying to get them to understand what I was looking for. 

 

"Hyrum, Do you know where Mommy's memory card is?"

 "Card" 

"Did you pull that little piece out of the computer?"

 "Pee-s" 

"Where did you put it?"

 "Pu-it". 

I give up. 

"Camilla, did you pull my memory card out of the computer?"

 "Cards don't go in the computer, Mom" she responds matter-of-factly. 

I pull up a picture of it on Google and ask the kids again. Camilla stares at the computer screen with a blank stare and Hyrum has already taken off to use a Christmas stocking as a hockey stick (he puts it on his foot and then kicks the ball around). So we start tidying the toys and looking in all the nooks and crannies. I tell Camilla that if she finds my camera card I'll give her a mint (she'll do anything for a mint). Eventually, after a lot of cleaning up she claims she has found it and brings me... a brush for her doll. It was a nice try anyway. We say a little prayer and keep looking, but have no luck. Finally bed time rolls around and my two tired kiddos make their way upstairs for stories.

At 3:00am while nursing Joseph in the big green chair, I suddenly remembered where my memory card was! Sure enough the next morning I moved some papers off the top of the printer and found it underneath! I had taken it out of the computer earlier so it wouldn't get into little hands and get lost. How ironic. 

I've been trying to do one "Christmas-ey" thing a day with the kiddos. We've decorated snowmen and Christmas trees, baked cookies, talked about the Nativity and true meaning of Christmas, and drank lots of hot chocolate. Today we spent the late afternoon dressed up as reindeer and rocking around the tree to Christmas music. It was pretty funny to watch the kids dance. When I told them to "boogie" they would wiggle their little bodies and flail their arms around. It was so great to giggle with them!

Joe enjoys sitting by the tree and looking at the lights in the evening. Camilla will often come up to him, give him a gentle kiss and say, "Hi Handsome" in a nice high motherly voice. He is definitely handsome. His cheeks get chubbier every day and he's starting to get a little double chin. At his last check-up on Monday he weighed 9 lbs 3 oz. I Can't believe he is going to be a whole month old soon! Time goes way too quickly!

Mamma's Barber Shop

I've been wanting to trim Hyrum's hair for weeks, but just haven't gotten around to it for a while. This morning I had a few minutes where Joseph played happily in his bouncer and held his big sisters finger so I could finally give Hyrum the trim he's needed for so long. The poor kid gets such a rats nest in the back when he sleeps and says "ouch" when I brush it out each morning.  It was time to fix that.

 Before, During (thanks Camilla), After

If I started charging my boys for haircuts I'd definitely make some good money. Why, just last night I gave Mr. Stannix a hair cut, but he pays me in kisses. On the flip-side, we're saving A LOT of money this way! Thanks to my high-school Cosmo teacher and my Mum for sharing their mad skills.

I will miss those curly blonde locks of his!

A KD Kind of Day

Last night Joseph and I had our regular bed-time battle. Mr. Stannix and I stayed up late-ish watching the new Batman movie together for date night (after a family trip to Wal-mart of course). Just when we were ready for lights out Joseph started to fuss. Like most of the nights previous I sat up nursing, shh-ing, rocking, walking around, laying on the couch and crying tears of frustration and fatigue. Finally, on the couch in the living room with the dim light of streetlights peeking through the curtains, he decided to give in and flash me those sleepy-time smiles I adore so much. I wiped the last of the tears off my cheeks and smiled right back before making my way to bed. He sure knows how to melt my heart. Alas, the clock read 2:30am and I was exhausted!

Today we've been taking it slow. I answered the door in my jammies this morning (sold our old computer desk) and we managed to make it outside to play before lunch. It's a Kraft Dinner kind of day around here. In my opinion it tastes better when eaten with a fork and topped with a bit of ketchup, but that's just me. The kiddies gobbled it up and then I tucked them in for naps. Hyrum played with his "mo bike" for about 5 minutes before crashing. Camilla poked herself in the eye and pouted while falling asleep. Poor girl. Now I'm off to snooze until Mr. Stannix returns from studying and writing cases.

Morning Smooching

Have I ever told you how much I love smooching this chubby-cheeked, 

boogery-nosed boy first thing in the morning?

Because I do.

Like, a lot.