Resolutions

 I somehow made it through my day today without snapping a single picture of the children. It's been quite a day. It seems everyone is suffering from lack of sleep which makes for very cranky children first thing in the morning and lots of sibling rivalry. I was recently enthralled with this book by Linda Eyre and have been thinking about this quote a lot.

"I relaxed, settled back a little, closed my eyes, and remembered that life is not one exhilarating joy after another. But the occasional flashes of real joy make us able to chalk up the rest to experience."

Right now I feel like I'm chalking up a lot to experience. Having three kids three years and under is no easy task, and let's face it, some days are just plain hard.  Lately I've just been trying to let go of things and enjoy a little more.

(Our family in Silhouettes)

I kicked off the year feeling very excited and super motivated to magnify my role as a mother. I wanted to focus more on my children's nutrition and have healthier snacks and meals. I wanted to be able to spend more quality time with them laughing and playing. I wanted to work harder at keeping our home tidy, and the dishes caught up. Above all, I wanted to improve the general feel of our home. I was sure I could have a softer voice when it came to addressing the children and discipline. This seems to be impossible somedays, especially when dealing with tricky situations with a baby screaming to be fed in the background.

Each night before bed I pray for strength, self control, and the ability to use a quiet voice. Most days go really well and I'm able to succeed. And then there's those hard days where you feel like pulling your hair out or poking yourself in the eye because no one wants to listen to you. A certain three year old has recently developed very good selective hearing. It's those tough days where I go to bed feeling guilty and ready to throw in the towel. I find myself wishing I had spoken a little more kindly when a certain little boy visited my bedside at 5:30 in the morning requesting pancakes.  Or feeling badly for shushing an excited little girl who had no intention of waking the baby when she climbed down the stairs exclaiming, "Good morning Mommy!"

There's so many times during the day when I struggle to keep my cool. Sometimes it's in the heat of a really intense sibling rivalry. Or when I come into the kitchen to find my toddler has stabbed my chicken pot pie so many times that the crust has been obliterated. Or when both kids tumble off the couch and cry after I've asked them for the tenth time not to jump on the couch.

Sometimes at days end I feel really discouraged and think to myself  well, you definitely didn't win mother of the year today...

The great thing is that I get to try again tomorrow. My children are ever forgiving and we do share special moments throughout the day that make everything else seem small and unimportant. Hyrum excitedly exclaiming my name as he runs up and hugs my legs or Camilla arguing that she loves me "the mostest" definitely make this motherhood gig worth it. As long as I can dwell on the positives, I think we'll be okay. And who am I kidding, this really is the most rewarding job in the whole world.

Days End

Night times around here are pretty exciting. I am happy to announce that everyone ate their dinner all gone tonight! My kids haven't been loving dinner time lately. Yesterday night I made them sit at the table for quite a while. Eventually Hyrum got the brilliant idea to dump his soup all over the table, after which Camilla used a paper towel to "clean it up", resulting in my whole table top being smeared with orange colored soup. I forced a smile as I wiped it up, and bed time soon followed. Tonight we had cranberry chicken and rice which is always a huge hit. I walked back into the kitchen after checking on baby Joe to find Camilla sitting on top of the table spoon feeding her brother the rest of his plate. He ate every last morsel of rice thanks to his sister.

After dinner usually comes baths. Hyrum whines the whole time I wash his hair and then plays with the bath toys. Camilla then tortures her brother with the squirt toys and then we pull the plug when the water is too freezing to stay in any longer. After everyone is cozy warm in their PJ's we do scriptures and prayers. Sometimes this is completed with a screaming baby, Hyrum making car noises and Camilla peeking and giggling, but at least it gets done. Then we all climb the stairs, turn on the space heater and read stories. After we finish each of the children make their way to their beds and say their prayers. Hyrum is at the "repeat after me" stage and is adorable. "Kee-koo day, Kee-koo family, pees bwess Joo-peh..." I love that boy. After a tickle session for each and big kisses and hugs it's lights out. Soon enough drinks of water are requested, Hyrum is running out of bed to chat with his sister and the giggling commences. FINALLY they all fall asleep, and it's onto phase two of my evening.

Joseph and I make our way back downstairs where he plays on his play mat. He's getting a lot better at entertaining himself and enjoying floor time.

While he coos and hits his toys around, I start the nightly tidy. As I go into the kitchen I discover the drum set and building blocks stacked up beside the counter. Camilla used them while I was busy to sneak the left over chocolates beside the cookie jar. It makes me grin and I have to secretly give the girl props for her ingenuity. I then go around the livingroom with the laundry basket and grab all the toys, crumbs and left over cookies. Once that's done I take it to the office and sort it all back into the toy bins. I like the kiddos to have a clean start to their day each morning.

 

 Soon Joseph has had enough of his play mat and needs a change of scenery. Since it's close to 9PM and Daddy still isn't home from Young Men's I decide to bath him. I run the water in the bathroom sink nice and warm and add a squirt of baby soap to it. Joseph splashes his arms and legs around while I wash his sweet face, the crusty puke under his chin rolls and the rest of his rolls. I talk to him and make eye contact as I wash and he smiles back nice and big. Bathing him is my favorite, it always makes him happy.

Baby on My Bed

The late afternoon brought me this...

The Cookie Jar

Yesterday the kids and I made up a DOUBLE batch of big soft Gingersnap cookies. They are Daddy's favorite. Would you believe that this cookie jar was full to the brim just one day ago? I'm sure Mr. Stannix and I had at least ten a piece last night while snuggled up to our favorite show. I dipped mine in Milk, Mr. Stannix drank Juice.

Tonight the kiddos enjoyed cookies and milk as a bed time snack. They were so cute and giggly at the table. I love those two! Hyrum will  come up to me randomly during the day when he knows the cookie jar is full and go, "Pssssst. Coooooookie?" So adorable. Now if I could just keep the cookie jar full, we'd be set! Cookies and milk every night for everyone! Yum.

Two Months

Dear Joseph,
Today you are two months old! I can hardly believe it. You are such a handsome little man and I adore your smiles and coos. You are already quite the people-person and love to be looked at and talked to. Your most favorite time to interact is still late at night, but I'll take it. Your little grins are priceless and when I get them I can't help but squeeze you tight and smooch your chubby cheeks over and over.

At two months you will sleep for an hour at a time in your crib. Once I got a three and a half hour stretch out of you. Your favorite place to sleep though is snuggled up on my chest, beside me in bed, or in the wrap. You will also sleep for a long time when I put you in the swing so that I can get things done.You still sleep the longest and hardest first thing in the morning, but we're working on getting your days and nights switched around.

You love your big brother and sister and always have the biggest grins for them. Your big sister is very good at watching you and keeping you safe for me while I tidy or do the dishes. They both love you very much and you are constantly smothered in kisses and gentle hugs. Hyrum is always extra concerned and will say "Jo-peh pying!" every time you are crying. Camilla likes to tickle you under the chin and giggles at you when you smile.

Just before bed you enjoy your Daddy time. You will smile, blink, turn your head and coo while Daddy talks to you. I enjoy watching you interact with your Daddy and seeing the excited look on your face as your arms flail around beside you.

While I was nursing you the other day you were wearing your little man nighty and I loved holding your chubby feet in my hands. I feel like it's a bit unfair that time seems to go so quickly. You have lost that light weight newborn feel and can be quite a lug to bounce to sleep already. I love seeing all of the rolls on your thighs when I diaper that cute bottom of yours. It means that you're healthy and well and that I am doing my job.

I feel a special closeness to you after all of the time we get to spend together at night. You struggle to get comfortable and have a hard time with your burps sometimes. The older you get the easier things are getting and your becoming more content. It's been such a relief and it's nice to be able to relax a little bit more and enjoy you. The love I feel for you is amazing.

I'm not sure how I'd describe your personality at this point. When you are happy, you are such a joy to be around. You seem to have very soft, kind eyes and a quiet way about you. You don't mind sitting in the background and watching everything go on around you. I am excited to see your personality develop more over these next few months. 

I feel so blessed to call you mine and am excited for the months ahead! Keep growing little man! I love you.

-Mom

My Hockey Nut

My little boy has such a love for Hockey. Today he emerged from the front entry way wearing Daddy's giant mitts as Hockey gloves. His tongue was sticking out which meant he was concentrating extra hard on hitting that ball. The cuteness factor was so high that I almost died and had to jump off the chair to snap a few pictures.

January's Spring

This morning when I opened the front door to grab the mail I couldn't believe how warm it was. The air was crisp and fresh and smelled of spring. As I did the morning clean I cracked open the sliding door and upstairs windows, I couldn't help myself. While cleaning the children's room I had the thought to rearrange it so that the crib was away from the window. I followed through as a last effort to get little man to spend more time in his crib at night. Each child seems to have their own little needs and I think Joseph just likes to be close to someone while he sleeps. We'll see how tonight goes!

After lunch I looked outside at the sunshine and icicles melting. It was too warm to pass up a good afternoon outdoors! We kiboshed nap time and suited everyone up to play in the snow.  Since it was almost 10 degrees I decided to bring Joseph out to enjoy the sunshine and fresh air. It was pretty bright on his little eyes at first, but he got used to it. 

He was so cute, I could have taken a million photos with those chubby cheeks, sweet little lips and sparkly baby blues. Not to mention the perfect lighting! I love the way the sun casts and orange glow over everything mid-afternoon.

The kids had a lot of fun and really enjoyed getting out of the house for a few hours. The first thing they found were the puddles of water. Camilla even brought her rubber ducky out for a swim. It was pretty cute.

Joseph eventually fell asleep, so I set him down in his seat so that I could play with the kids. We constructed a snow man in under five minutes and spent the rest of the time searching for things to dress him up with.

Camilla was so focused and precise with everything she did and loved putting the arms on. I love that girl and her little personality.

 

Hyrum was just loving life! He is such a giggly boy and so fun to be around. We had a fun game of hide n' seek between our two little snowmen. His little tooth filled grins were absolutely priceless.

Little Joe enjoyed his very first afternoon nap outdoors all cozied up in snow gear and a blanket. I sure do love my kids and it was nice to take a full afternoon to just play with them and enjoy each of their personalities. They are all so special and unique in their own ways and it's nice to see the similarities and differences. I think the fresh air and sunshine was definitely needed. We were all suffering from a bit of cabin fever!

Wee Little Pirates

My house is being taken over by wee little pirates today. We woke up to snow again and Daddy has the car for the week so we needed something to keep us busy. The kids are having fun with it! They've spent the morning sword fighting and running around the house.

Hyrum likes to use his sword as a pirate telescope.

"Arr Matey's!" 

Hyrum's a pretty cute little pirate in his tight green pants!

He also makes a handsome little sailor when he turns his hat to the side.

We had to get Joseph in on the action too!

So far there's been lots of jumping on the couch and sword fighting. 

I think we'll spend the afternoon building a pirate ship and searching for buried treasure.

Then we'll all take really long pirate naps... 

I can always dream right?

My Little Sunbeam

Camilla's second week in Primary was a total success.

She loves her teacher and seems to be adjusting well to the change.

All week I've been hearing stories of her first week from different people at church.

"Did you hear about Camilla's first week in Primary?" 

A lot of them were pretty funny.

"Sister so-and-so knows the answer".

"I just always twirl to this song when my Mommy plays it". 

She is a total ball of energy and talks pretty much non-stop.

Gotta love her!

The Thing about Winter

The great thing about winter is that I can pull all of my groceries to the front door on the sled! 

It's a great time saver!