Gramma and Grampa's

Yesterday was my last day at the Acreage with the kiddos before leaving them in the loving hands of Gramma and Grampa for a few days. They love the extra space to run and explore and love visiting Great-Gramma and Grampa Purdon for their daily chocolate fix. 

Joseph shared a bowl of Cherries with Grampa for his mid-morning snack. He gave a satisfied, "Mmmm!" after each half. 

The three kids also spent some time feeding the little chickens grass.

Joseph helped Gramma refill the chicken's water bucket.

We spent the early afternoon exploring the historic park just outside of town. I had to get a picture with my birthday girl!

We walked the trails and spent a lot of time here in the fort. The older two loved this rope swing! We probably spent majority of our time in here watching them take turns on the swing.

Eventually Camilla discovered the nearby stump of wood. Grampa helped her get it in position and they took turns swinging off the stump. After each turn Hyrum had to empty out his sandals from using his feet to stop. 

After a short nap, Joseph woke up and joined in the fun.

Grampa even helped him have a go on the rope swing and he giggled the whole time!

 Watching him run and explore was super fun!

And a trip to the fort wouldn't be complete with out a teepee.

We finished off our visit exploring the trail and then went into town for a birthday lunch!

After eating two mini burgers and some fries, Camilla got a huge piece of cake. She got a little embarrassed when they sang to her which really surprised me because she's such a social butterfly.

After the meal, Hyrum hopped down and walked around the table. "What are you doing Hyrum?" I asked. "Oh, Just going to give Camilla a birthday hug," he replied. Those two are the sweetest! Thanks again for lunch Gramma and Grampa!

We finished off the day with our nightly visit to the strawberry patch. Joseph got pretty into it this time. I loved watching him carefully pick a red strawberry and bring it to his mouth. Life couldn't be any better in that moment.

We ended up with quite a few strawberries and the littles enjoyed eating them for their bedtime snack. I'm sure this will be a nightly occurrence while I'm away visiting Daddy.

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!