The other day I found myself scrolling through the blog archive in the year 2012. So many adorable pictures and wonderful memories were brought back to me. I adored our old little white, two bedroom home on the tree lined streets of Edmonton. I loved being a mamma to two littles who said the cutest things every day. There was a lot about Hyrum when he was around Fin's age. I was suddenly so grateful that I took the time to record all of those memories. I had forgotten almost everything in most of those posts, the way the kids talked, the funny things they used to say. It was so fun reading back and remembering that stage of life again.
We've come a long way since then and life keeps chugging along. The children are growing before my eyes and there are days when they just wake up and seem more mature than the day before. It's been a while since I've done a little "snapshot" of life, so I started jotting things down last week about each of the children and where they're at right now.
Camilla is loving school and reading so well! She keeps complaining that her books are too easy and begging her teacher to move her up a level. I'm glad she's comfortable with her books and doing well in school. She has such a great sense of humor and loves telling jokes at the dinner table! Her optimism is still a huge part of her life and I am grateful for the ray of sunshine that she is when I'm having a tough day. The other day she melted my heart while I watched them play at the park. Joe had fallen down and she immediately ran to his rescue and wrapped him in a big bear hug to console him. She truly is a little mamma at heart. As the boys raced to the swing Camilla waited to be last. She lifted Joe onto the swing after a couple of tries and pushed both her brothers in turn. She is such a petite little girl with such a big heart. She has always been so full of love for those around her, so thoughtful. She is a great problem solver and has a quick mind. Lately I've enjoyed her wit and humor and the way she makes me laugh. She's often the one that rescues Finley from his crib in the morning. It's pretty funny watching such a petite little girl lift such a big boy, but she loves it!
Hyrum still adores drawing, crafting, and art. He will spend all day constructing things out of the recycling (and then I spend all night picking up pieces of cardboard and paper). He has an awesome imagination and is full of creativity. He loves to build and plan things. One thing I've learned about Hyrum recently is how much he is motivated by love (I suppose we all are in one way or another). When I am more loving in my approach he responds so much better! He is learning to help his brothers without being asked. The other day he zipped Joe's coat up when they were headed to the park. At bed time Joe told me that it was the best part of his day. They were feelin' the love that day. I shared with Hyrum what Joe told me and he tried to hide his smile under his covers. Humility is another awesome characteristic that Hyrum has. Whenever I notice the good things he does and mention them at bed time, I find he is more aware of his actions and excited to be good again the next day. He is learning more about being a big brother. He has started being more accommodating and gentle with his little brothers. We still have lots of moments where they can't seem to sit by each other during scripture study without elbowing, poking, or teasing, but we have had a few blissful mornings of play where things just click and they get along great! His newest accomplishment is learning to ride his two wheeler! It was such a confidence builder for him. This week he's been practicing on the little hill in our backyard. It's a nice small stretch that helps him work on starting, stopping, and balancing on his own.
Joseph is all boy. The other day he drew me a picture and said, "Look, Mom! A Happy face. I drew it all myself. There's a nose....and boogers..." Sigh. He also always aims his toots at me and exclaims, "I tooted in your face, Mom!" while he giggles uncontrollably. We are in trouble. Some days we will make it through without any potty talk and he will proudly tell me, "I didn't say yucky words today! Like poop...or bum..." Sheesh. Aside from his boyish tendencies I have really noticed how grown up he's becoming. He is more thoughtful, gentle, kind and service minded. He loves to help. He is my one kid that tells me at least 100 times a day how much he loves me. It's usually in those moments where he feels my love like when we're sitting on the couch together, or he's helping me bake cookies. He loves unloading the dishwasher and putting the soap in after I've re-loaded it. I am no longer his teacher in primary and it's been funny asking him what he learned in his class. One Sunday he came home and said, "We learned about water, and Jacob, and the Lamanites were THIRRR-STY!" He cracks me up every day. He refuses to graduate into Hyrum's old bike with training wheels. He loves the thrill of his little trike and has worn out a couple pairs of shoes using his toes to stop. The other day on the biking trail he found a grassy hill and asked if he could try it out. The first time he did great and the second time he thought it might be fun to go down backwards. Daddy witness the end of his epic crash and burn. All I saw was him picking himself up off the ground while spitting grass. He didn't cry a bit!
And then there's Mr. Finley. He is in a climbing phase and likes to climb EVERYTHING. He loves climbing on our little kindergarten table in the basement to look out the window. He climbs onto the couch by crawling under one cushion and up to the other side. He babbles and points non-stop. When he gets really chatty the kids start giggling and telling me how cute he is. No one knows what he's saying, but it's pretty cute. The other day when Camilla came home he was the only one inside and he ran up to her excitedly and wrapped his arms around her in a hug. It was a heart melter for sure. He loves when Daddy comes home! Another one of his favorite things to do is suck the juice out of the kids markers. They are constantly on marker duty and I am always reminding them to put the lids on and put them away. His favorite thing to say is, "Ohhh YEAH!" and he has also learned how to say "Yes". He has a pretty great audience and loves being the "class clown". He gets us all laughing pretty hard and I know he loves every second of it. If he wants something he shows you. The other day he wanted to join his brothers at the park. I was doing dishes so he grabbed my hand and led me downstairs to the door, grabbed his boots, and pointed outside. The dishes waited until we got home, and he was the happiest one year old on the block. I think his biggest change is the fact that he sleeps 11-12 hours EVERY night now. I have been spoiled with 8-10 hours of sleep each night and it has been amazing!
In January we were pleasantly surprised to learn that we were expecting baby #5. We have always wanted five and I couldn't be happier with the gap between this baby and Finley. It's been a crazy three months and I've been holding my breath hoping things would work out. After experiencing the loss of a baby it's sometimes hard not to worry! But today I heard the heartbeat at the doctors office and it was the most comforting thing ever! We are looking forward to meeting this baby mid-September. Camilla keeps calling the baby "she" in hopes that it will be a girl. They are all excited to have another baby in the house and I'm glad that I have so many little helpers!
So there's a little bit of life right now. We are in a busy season with all these littles, but we love it. We feel blessed to have such great kids. Mike's still enjoying his job, he's good at what he does and provides well for all of us. I am grateful that I get to be home and witness all of these cute moments while the children are growing! Life is good, crazy sometimes, but good.
