What's a Girl to do

It's after 11PM on a week night and I'm still awake.

It's been a long day.

When everyone was napping I had big plans to be productive.

Instead I fell asleep in the chair with my feverish 

Babe snuggled on my chest.

Daddy is away at Hockey tonight and it is super windy.

As I type my curtains are blowing frantically around the open window.

I came upstairs early intending on going to bed.

Instead I ended up listening to conference talks while 

Joe slept between my outstretched legs on the bed.

Poor baby has been burning up all day.

I think he's the last member of the household to get it.

Around 11PM Hyrum couldn't stop coughing. 

Camilla got scared that he would puke and kept asking

him to drink some water.

Each time he would shout back, "NO!"

It wasn't long before I heard Camilla's feet on the hardwood floors. 

Now she's nestled in beside me.

Daddy's going to come home to a bed full tonight...

Joe is still warm and snuggly. 

I have a feeling we will spend most of our night together.

Character

Sundays are almost always an adventure, and this morning proved to be true. Mike left to his early morning meeting just as I jumped in the shower. When I was finished I heard Hyrum happily talking about how he got himself a drink.  I rushed to the kitchen (knowing how much fun the water cooler can be to a two year old) leaving Joseph on our bed surrounded by pillows. When I entered the kitchen I saw my blonde boy in his blue footy pyjamas skating around my kitchen like the floor was an ice rink. So many glasses of water had been dumped that the water around the baseboards was at least an inch thick. I put on my best serious voice and called Hyrum by his full name. His fun quickly ended and his smile turned to a pouty lip as he choked back tears. Oh that sensitive boy of mine, how I love him.  We grabbed some old towels and mopped up the floor.

I quickly went back up to finish getting Joe dressed for church. The moment I took his diaper off he peed all over himself and my bed, so it was off to the bath. He giggled as I carried his naked chubby baby body down to the bathroom. This Sunday was not looking so hot already and we hadn't even left the house yet.

Church went relatively well. Daddy had to bless the Sacrament which left me with the three children. As I sat there singing the opening hymn, cuddling Joseph to sleep I felt so blessed. Hyrum and Camilla were sitting relatively quiet on either side of me. I am so glad they are learning to sit through church and feel the Holy Ghost. When Daddy joined us on the bench, Hyrum quickly climbed up on his knee. A few minutes later he was snuggled in fast asleep. With two of the three kids out for the count, the rest of the meeting went amazingly.

Our Relief Society lesson was on character and how we should strive to “establish a character before God that could be relied upon in the hour of trial.” (Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Lorenzo Snow, Chapter 8: “Search Me, O God, and Know My Heart”) It just made me think about how I can grow and develop more character when I am dealing with the children in moments like we had this morning. I want my character to be relied upon, and I never want my children to doubt my love for them. I learn so much from them each day about love and forgiveness.

We spent the afternoon running around outdoors in our bare feet soaking up the sunshine and breathing the fresh air. It was heavenly.



Fancy Feet

Today it was my turn to take Camilla to her Saturday morning dance class. It was so wonderful to see her so excited and independent. She was so comfortable with her teacher and little classmates. I couldn't help but watch her through the glass window from a distance. It was so cute watching her twist and jump and wiggle that petite little body of hers. The very last day they have a little recitle and you bet we'll be there to watch!



We enjoyed having Daddy around for the day and even made a little trip to the park! Camilla was so excited to ride her bike and Hyrum patiently waited until she got off to slide and then continued to ride his bike around the park the entire time. He can put his feet on the peddles, but doesn't quite understand how it works yet.

 If we weren't pushing him he would repeat, "Not workin' Mommy, not workin'!" until one of us helped him along again. Daddy was a real trooper and helped his little man navigate the park the whole time we were there. The fresh air was wonderful!

Camilla is such a big sister!

And these giggles pretty much made my day. You may have to listen very carefully to hear them over Hyrum, who is sad his "byc-ick-l" isn't working...


 

Spring Afternoon

Today the littles spent a lot of time outdoors playing in the yard, laughing together, and kicking a soccerball around with the neighbor girls.  With the gorgeous sunshine I couldn't help but take out the camera to capture their sweet little faces.

 I love looking back on these pictures of all of them together. I'm so glad that they have each other to play and laugh with. It's always fun to see their little personalities shine through and recognize their different developmental stages.

Camilla gets really giggly and goofy whenever I pull out the camera lately. I love her sense of humor. Hyrum just loves life and loves to do whatever his sister does. Joseph was more interested in feeling the grass between his fingers. A whole new world has opened up to him now that the snow is gone!

I let Camilla operate the camera for a few minutes. She loves to snap pictures and I love to see it. She grabbed some shots of Joseph and I and some funny ones of Hyrum.

 Then we set up the camera for a couple self takes of me and the littles. I sure do love them and their big personalities.

 And look who can sit handsomely by himself for a whole five seconds!



Little Gems

Last night felt like another all nighter for this mamma. Hyrum was sick yesterday, slept all afternoon, went to bed without a peep and whined every half hour all night. He was crazy hot and his fever finally broke sometime between 3 and 5 in the AM. I spent half the night scrunched next to the poor little dude in his toddler bed, listening to his shallow breaths. I spent the other half of the night dozing in the big green chair nursing Joe and maybe half an hour in my bed.

Joe snuggled between Daddy and I in the early morning kicking, flailing and screeching in delight. His smiles helped me wake up happy and I loved holding him in the air above me listening to him giggle while I lay in bed. Hyrum soon joined us. He proceeded to name the colors he spotted on my bed. "What's that Mommy?...Red" He nailed every color, no doubt he's learning from his sister. When Daddy pointed to something white and asked Hyrum what color it was he said, "snow". We both got a chuckle out of it. Camilla wasn't far behind and asked if I could make her breakfast because she was so hungry from her long sleep.

Despite being tired I braved the Medicentre with all three children where we waited two hours to see the doc, and got some X-rays done of Hyrum's chest. Thankfully all is well and I was told to wait it out and make sure it didn't get worse. The kids drew on old receipts, played doctor and counted all fingers and toes to pass the time. They were gems.

I spent the afternoon enjoying one on one time with Camilla, doing laundry and finishing up yesterday's dishes. I always feel like I do things backwards. I still don't know why I insist on doing dishes before dinner. I can't wait to have a dishwasher. It was near the top on the list of Must Have's in our new home. I also must have about a million kisses from this little boy each day.

Sun Bathing

Oh how we are looking forward to Summer afternoons in the sun!

Today Joseph enjoyed some tummy time in the afternoon rays that

pour through our living room window.

He played and cooed and twisted and turned while the warm rays kissed his soft baby skin.

I could have watched him play and eat his blanket all afternoon.

When Hyrum and Camilla came down from their naps they quickly put their imaginations to work.

Joseph loved watching them play.

I love quiet afternoons like these.

Two Today

Dear Hyrum,

Today you are two years old! You've grown up so fast! We had a very tiny birthday party on Saturday with some family and cupcakes. Today you opened your little gift from us though. It was a tiny man with magnetic clothes so that you could dress him up as a fire fighter, super hero, police officer and a few other things. The first thing you did was pull out two of the man's boots (which are oddly shaped like hockey sticks) and shoot and pretend puck around the living room. I have no idea where your obsession with hockey came from but it sure is interesting to see what you turn into a hockey stick these days. The other day it was your cracker and you and your sister had a shoot out at the lunch table.

You love to run and skip around the house and have recently fallen in love with jumping. Each time you wash your hands on your stool in the bathroom you ask me to hold you hand so you can jump super high and land on your feet with a giggle. The way you move your little body right now is priceless and I love watching you swing your arms and shake your hips while you dance along side your sister in the living room.

It has been such a joy to have you in our family. I love your sweet little voice, your obedient nature and your love for reading. I adore the way you said "I lub you!" a bunch of times before bed tonight. I love smooching you before bed as you excitedly cling onto your Daddy's back for a piggyback ride up to bed. Thank-you for making me smile each and every day. We sure love you!

Cupcakes for Dinner

Today we held a super low key birthday party for Hyrum.

He turns two on Monday.

The weather started out lovely in the morning and turned to rain by the afternoon.

The children spent the morning outside.

Hyrum asked if he could bring his cowboy out with him, which meant his hat.

They played soccer for quite a while.

 I joined them outside just in time to witness a sweet moment  between Daddy and his boy.

Hyrum had blown a shoe while kicking the ball and Daddy came to his rescue.

 Gramma, Grampa and Uncle Chris came in the afternoon to celebrate with us.

We had a little BBQ and ran out of propane just as the smokies were ready.

Phew.

After we had filled up, we busted out the cupcakes.

I tried to make them into the shape of a hockey stick with a puck, but I'll spare you the pictures.

I'm not very creative without my artsy fartsy sister.

They were still delicious though and I caught the kiddos sneaking more 

and hiding under the table to eat them around dinner time.

After all the hustle and bustle Hyrum ended up crashing on Gramma's shoulder for the evening.

I brought him up to bed shortly after 6:00PM, took off his jeans and changed his bum.

He slept through it all.

I still can't believe this boy is going to be TWO!

Thrill Seekers

Tonight Mr. Stannix and I went on a date to Galaxy Land! A super awesome friend offered to watch our kiddos for us, and did a great job! I have never left Joe that long with anyone, but he took his bottle fine and was sleeping when we got home. I didn't hear a peep from him until well after three in the morning which hasn't happened in quite a while. She's a baby whisperer I tell ya! It was super nice to have an evening out. Neither Mr. Stannix or I are big thrill seekers anymore. I used to LOVE amusement parks, but I have to admit if I didn't have my dear husband there to make us go on rides, I probably would have stuck to the bumper cars and kiddie rides.

This was my first time EVER doing bumper cars.

Everytime after we got started on a ride we asked, "Why did we do this!?" It was still fun, but my stomach isn't quite as strong as it used to be!

Mr. Stannix talked me into going on the swings. 

Our very last ride of the night was The Mind Bender. I am shocked we even went to be honest! How could you not go on the WORLDS LARGEST INDOOR TRIPLE LOOP ROLLER COASTER at least once in your life time. The lineup went quick and before we knew it we were strapped in wondering what the heck we were thinking! I survived it though, even if my arms were too short to comfortably grab onto the bar in front of me. I closed my eyes for a lot of it. I've never seen the look of fear in Mr. Stannix's eyes until tonight. It takes automatic pictures while you're riding, and ours was pretty funny. When the ride finally came to a halt I was sure I might puke, and as I looked over the edge of the roller coaster car I saw some nice dried stuff from a previous rider and knew at least I wasn't alone. After a walk through the mall and an ice cream cone from Marble Slab, I felt much better. We came home to a quiet house and sleeping kiddos. Thanks so much to a super awesome lady for watching our babes for us!



Growing Older

Today we ventured out to the library for some new books. It turned out our favorite program was running and we had friends there, so we stuck around a little longer. Hyrum is growing up and actually joined in on the songs for the most part. He was very quiet and shy for a little bit and held my hand while he did the actions. He is totally a boy and eventually lost interest and went to climb the small ledge by the window and explore the room. It's hard to believe he will be two on Monday.

His new favorite phrase is "Okay, Mom." Anytime I remind him to sit on the couch, or ask him to make his bed or do a little chore he says, "Okay....Mom" in his deep little voice. He can be so obedient sometimes and those words are music to my ears.

After lunch he picked the old lense-less 3D glasses out of the toy box. He loves to put them on and take them off. Today he thought it was super funny to put them on his belly. I almost giggled every time he said the word belly. "Put glasses on beh-yee, Mom". Whenever he says Mom it melts my heart. I couldn't have asked for a better job title. Anyways, he took the glasses up with him at nap time and ended up looking super cute after he fell asleep.

Last week he had a cold and would often come up to me and say, "I have booger Mom. Would you pick booger? Mom?" Part of the joy of motherhood I guess. He is getting a little old for me to pick his nose, so I did the next best thing. I taught him how to pick his own. Just kidding. But with some Kleenex and a little encouragement I am hearing that question less and less.