Five Years Old

Our sweet Camilla is FIVE today. She is getting so grown up! Last night as I was tucking her in, I whispered in her ear that it would be her birthday today. She then responded, "Great! Does that mean I will be taller since I'm five?" I love our bed time talks and snuggles. Camilla is an amazing little lady with a huge heart and desire to do good. She is constantly thinking of others and their needs. Whenever I have a short snooze on the couch she always covers me with a blanket. She is a fabulous big sister and is constantly looking out for her younger brothers with her little, "no no no, Joe" or "It's okay, Hyrum, I will help you." If she's ever grumpy or upset it doesn't last long and she will giggle away the tears and put a smile on. She brings so much joy to our little family! 

Happy Birthday Camilla!

Freshly Picked

Dear Mr. Stannix,

Hope you are well. The children sure loved chatting with you on Skype this morning, even if it was a gongshow trying to fit them all on the screen to keep them happy. We left for the Acreage shortly after talking with you. The drive went well and I endured multiple episodes of "My little Pony". Joseph napped for most of it and then when he started complaining I rolled down the windows. Works every time. The weather has been warm, though clouds were gathering this afternoon and the wind came in gusts after dinner. The children visited Gramma's not-so-baby-anymore chickens. Hyrum loved sitting in the pen with them and observing.

We then helped Gramma pick the strawberries. Hyrum liked to pick and eat his and Camilla wanted to make sure they were washed first.  We picked a whole bunch and there's still more to come tomorrow! We enjoyed fresh, juicy strawberries all afternoon (don't be too jealous).

 

I miss you terribly and can't wait to come and see you on the weekend. I look forwad to being in your arms again and spending time together! I am already planning out my outfit so that I can wow you at the airport. I am off to bed for the night though. Love you darling!

 



Splash Pad

This hot Summer morning brought us to a near by splash pad for some fun! It seemed to take forever to get shoes on all of their feet and get them out the door. They argued over who would open which door and it continued all the way to the park. It's funny how when one thing is off in their little lives, it affects them so much! I think it's safe to say that they already miss having Daddy around (I know I sure do). Once we got there, we found a nice shady spot to set our towels. The older two went towards the water and Joseph booked it over to a near by playstructer with swings (his favorite). It was stressful trying to keep them all together.

 



 

After a little while I was able to convince Joseph that the water was really fun and he followed the older two around.

 



Hyrum got more and more brave as the morning progressed and even stuck his head under a fountain. He then pretended to shampoo his hair. The kid could have his own herbal essence comercial! It was hilarious.

I am so glad that these three are such great friends! After everyone had enough, we went home for lunch. Joseph was pretty excited to cozy up in his bed for a snooze and the other two played away the afternoon.

Out and About

 Today brought an early morning walk to our favorite little bridge. The weather was perfect with a slight breeze to keep us cool. I'm not sure we would have made it if Uncle Arland wasn't there to help. Hyrum dared the very last STEEP hill and almost tipped his bike as he raced down. Thankfully, Uncle Arland was close by and able to grab him before he fell.

 We stayed at the bridge for a few minutes to check out the stream. These kids are so full of energy!

 

 Of course, Joseph had to do some climbing. This guy is such a handful lately. I can just feel the approach of the "terrible twos" and if he's anything like his older brother, I'm in for it big time.

Halfway home, everyone was pretty tuckered out!

Eighteen Weeks

Yesterday I hit eighteen weeks with this pregnancy. After everything with our last pregnancy, we've kept this one way on the down-low. It hasn't been easy since I was pretty much showing at eleven weeks along, but people have been kind enough not to ask or inquire. I feel like I've been on an emotional roller coaster full of excitement, anticipation, and fear. These last four and a half months have gone by so quickly simply because I am always looking forward to my next midwife appointment so that I can hear that tiny heart beating and have a few minutes of peace. My midwife is so so good as I have cried, expressed my fears, and related my emotions to her. I am so grateful for her and the time that she takes for me! 

A few days after I went for my first blood test, my midwife called, worried with some results that she had received. My thyroid levels were all out of whack and I needed to get into my family doctor as soon as I could to get a prescription to help level things out. I immediately began researching and coming across words like intellectual impairment, stillbirth, spontaneous abortion, and delayed development. It was a frustrating two days trying to get a hold of my doctor (as if I wasn't already stressing enough). I tried a walk-in clinic after the littles went to bed and after three hours of waiting, the server was down so no one could access my blood work and write me my prescription. The next day I prayed hard and lucked into a same day appointment with my family doctor thanks to a cancellation. I was able to get my prescription and my doctor was kind enough to let me hear the heartbeat since it was around the same time I had miscarried the last baby.

The children are excited and oh so helpful. Each time they pray they remember to bless the baby and tears almost always come when I hear those sweet words. They were extra excited to learn that baby was coming before Christmas and Camilla acted out a frantic scene that I'm sure will take place at Christmas, "No, you get the baby, I gotta decorate the..." "No, I'll get the baby, you decorate the tree.." "No, Camilla, you get the baby.." "Who's gunna decorate the tree?" It made me laugh big time. I love that girl. Camilla wants a baby sister and Hyrum wants a baby brother. I'm certain they will love either a baby sister or a baby brother. 

We are enjoying the last leg of Summer and gearing up for crazy as we accompany Daddy for three months while he's on training. It will be lots of back and forth as baby gets closer to arriving and my appointments get closer together. But we are excited for the adventure and family time!

The Birthday Girl

Since Daddy is going to be out of town for the next couple of weeks, we decided to celebrate Camilla's birthday a week early. Today was the special day! At breakfast Camilla asked me if I could please call her the birthday girl, and so we did! We had a lot of fun hanging out as a family! I made her a rainbow cake to celebrate and we did a mini photo shoot before the festivities.

 Camilla is such an awesome five year old and I can't wait to share a bit more about her on her birthday post next week.

 I love that she has to throw at least one funny face in there every time we have the camera out.

 Looking at how big she is in these pictures makes me tear up a bit. It's hard to believe that just five short years ago we were bringing this sweet little girl home from the hospital.

 She has grown into such a beautiful little girl and being her mother is an absolute pleasure.

(Excuse me while I cry all over my keyboard)

 We broke tradition and sliced the cake early for pictures. I am so glad I did because we didn't get one good one of that cake after dinner.

 A few weeks ago at Wal-mart she eyed up a little pink scooter and has been talking about it ever since.

 She was the most excited little girl today!

After lunch they begged us to go for a walk with them. They were getting bored of riding out front I think. We went down to the trails and let them go free. Hyrum conquered his fear of hills on his bike and Camilla pretty well mastered her scooter skills. We all came back pretty hot and tired!

We celebrated with some of the family here in the city with a BBQ, cake and ice cream. It was a pretty fun time! More on this little girl next week! We sure do love her!

Canada Day Festivities

 Our Canada day was pretty chill this year. Mr. Stannix and the littles came grocery shopping with me in the morning. It was sure nice to have his muscles for all of the heavy bags and the big jug of water! After lunch and some biking, we went to the mall for a few hours. Mr. Stannix was in desperate need of some new jeans and tees. Thanks to Naomi and her fabulous fashion sense, Mr. Stannix ended up with some stuff that he really liked! We then met up with Uncle Arland at the festivities in Millwoods and baked in the glorious sun. The only thing the kids really wanted to do (that was free) was go to the petting zoo. We stood in this ridiculously long line-up, but it ended up being sort of worth it. 

 This little guy always loves hanging with his uncle!

 These Llamas were Chilean and reminded me of the toy one Uncle Arland sent us from his mission.

 Joe was in love with this yak...

 They kept everything pretty clean considering all of the animals that were running around.

 Daddy had to help Joseph pet this guy.

 And the bunnies were a huge hit.

 This little guy was just the cutest!

 We then joined up with some friends for a BBQ. The food was great and so was the company!

 Joseph chilled here and ate his watermelon for a while. Once we got the kids into dry clothes, we went inside to wait for the fireworks. The kids ran around the house like a bunch of over-tired crazies. Eventually we decided to go get a spot for the fireworks and let the kids be crazy there!

 Our kiddos sure love these guys!

 Since we never made it back to the house to grab sweaters, Daddy let Mr. H borrow his.

 Love these handsome boys!

 The fireworks were pretty great! My camera really doesn't do them justice.

 Hyrum was in awe pretty much the whole time.

 Joseph woke up half way through and I pulled him out of his stroller for a snuggle. I'm not sure if he was shivering because he was cold or because he was afraid. He really had no reaction. I guess that's what happens when you get kept up four hours past your normal bedtime.

 Ohh...ahhh... Uncle Arland and Auntie Naomi also joined us for the show!

Happy Canada Day!

Success

Today was Joseph's first day in nursery without a parent. I had the thought to kiss and hug him good-bye just outside the door and then send him in with Hyrum. They walked into the room hand in hand and I slowly closed the door behind them and stood in the hall. It only took Joseph a few minutes to begin crying. I waited outside the door in case they needed to get me. After about five minutes Joseph stopped crying. I asked the next nursery leader to come out how things were going and got the thumbs up. I heard from about five different people how cute the boys were together in nursery. Joseph had jumped off a nursery leaders lap to run away. She thought he was running to the door, but instead, he ran to Hyrum for a hug. They hugged and hugged until Joseph felt a little better. He was calling, "Mamma, Mamma..." and Hyrum told him it was okay and that he would take him to me. They started for the door hand in hand and a nursery leader diverted them to the toys. Everything was great after that! When I picked the boys up after class, Joseph burst into tears at the sight of me and held me pretty close, but he did it! He survived nursery on his own! As we got our coats on I asked Joe if he had fun in nursery and he nodded his head and smiled a little. Here's hoping next week goes just as well! I am so grateful for inspiration and answers to prayers.

I went up  to check the boys shortly after bed time to find them like this. Hyrum is so sweet and always kisses Joseph softly on the cheek before jumping into bed. I guess after I left tonight, Hyrum decided to snuggle right next to him. It was pretty cute! These boys just melt my heart.

Shortly before bed I brought my trustee camera up again, and found them like this.

Friday Evening

 This afternoon the littles and I ventured to the Legislature grounds. Daddy took the LRT and met up with us after he finished work. It was relatively hassle free for three kids (minus having to take Hyrum pee all the time and Joe wanting to jump of every ledge he could climb). 

 I'm pretty sure Joseph was a baby last time we came, if we even came at all last Summer. He was loving every minute of it and tuckered me out pretty quick!

 Camilla and Hyrum are pretty great friends lately!

 Camilla complained it wasn't deep enough and resorted to the crab crawl to get more of her body in the water.

 This boy is getting so grown up! He's pretty much fearless. I had many visions of him splitting his head open on those awesome cement corners. 

 I spent the majority of my evening chasing him around the pools. Daddy joined us when we were munching nuts on the picnic blanket. All of the littles immediately cuddled up to him while we talked about our day. Joseph kept begging for a "nut" over and over again. We were all shocked that he could say nut, and knew what he was talking about. It was pretty cute. 

We jumped around to the different wading pools and ended in the deepest one before going home. Mr. Stannix is pretty awesome and rolled up his pant legs to join the littles. They were pretty tickled to be with their Daddy! It was a super fun evening and we all went home feeling ready for bed!

A Special Date

Yesterday evening Mr. Stannix and I went to the temple together to celebrate our anniversary.

The weather was beautiful!

I am so grateful for the peace that comes inside those temple walls.

And I loved being there with my sweetheart!