A Good Life

When Mike and I were first married, we both knew we wanted a home where I was able to stay with our children each day. This meant a lot of sacrifice over the years as we juggled university, pinched pennies, welcomed new babies into our family, paid off student loans, and established a career that has helped Mike provide for our needs. There is never a day that goes by where I don't feel blessed to be a homemaker thanks to the hard work and efforts my husband puts in each day. Thanks to him, I get to stay home and stare at this sweet mug all day.

When I sent this photo to Mr. Stannix at work, his reply was, "You have a good life, sweetie!" 

I smiled.

These days I spend a lot of time sitting on the couch, staring at this sweet little face. I'm certain he's going through a growth spurt because all this little man wants to do is eat and sleep on repeat all day long. 

I've resigned myself to the fact that nothing else is getting done, so I may as well enjoy it! I do indeed have a good life. I wouldn't change it for the world!

A Place for Everything

Today the house was probably the cleanest its been in a very long time. And since it probably won't be this clean again for a very long time, I decided to snap some pictures to remember my sparkly counter tops and organized living spaces. It's not easy to keep a home spotless when ten people inhabit it. Once, when Camilla cleaned the kitchen to surprise us when we came home, one of the little kids said, "She wouldn't even let us get a glass of water! We had to go over to Gramma and Grampas!" and I totally sympathize. Cleaning can feel so useless sometimes when the cups end up scattered all over the countertop again, and the dishes end up in the sink...again. But it really does feel good when it's all tidied up at the end of a long day!

 

The evening brought us to the highschool for Camilla's basketball game vs Camrose. One of her sweet friends made up a few posters and gave this one to Lily to hold.

Lily is Camilla's loudest cheerer and felt quite proud to hold this poster up for her big sis!

"Go WEBELS!" "Go Camilla!"

It was a tough game and the outcome wasn't quite what everyone wanted. The girls played sooo hard and sooo well!

I think seeing her sweet little sister cheered her heart a little bit after the game!

And Runnin' Runnin'

Cooper finally had a few decent stretches of sleep in a row. After two blowouts and a bunch of feeds, he finally fell asleep around midnight last night. I was only up a few times in the night and woke in my own bed. He woke so close to our normal wake up time that I just snuggled him in with us and nursed him back to sleep. He stayed snuggled in our bed through most of breakfast prep and then cuddled Daddy before he left to take the big kids in early.

We all gathered for Come Follow Me, ate pancakes for breakfast quickly, and then Camilla headed to Seminary and Hyrum went to early morning Jazz rehearsal. I spent the majority of my day nursing, but when I had a few moments I did dishes and tidied up. We have a photographer coming to take pictures of the build for our builder tomorrow so I have been cleaning and tidying and hiding junk all over to make the house look presentable. 

In the late morning I made bread as well as some cookies to bring to the basketball game later. I picked up Camilla and Fin and Ollie and headed to the Catholic school to watch Joe play. Hyrum walked to the school with some friends and met us there. 

I came home on a practically empty tank of gas to have spaghetti for dinner and then we headed back to town to play basketball at the church with the missionaries. Hyrum brought a few friends along (they joined us for dinner too) and they all had a lot of fun together. When they were done, we drove his friends home and prayed we had enough gas to make it back to town. I fueled up, grabbed some snacks for school lunches and finally arrived home shortly before 10pm to locked doors and a quiet house. Cooper was still sleeping in his seat, so I unloaded groceries and helped the older three make ham sandwiches for their lunches in the morning. Camilla will be off to seminary and the two boys have an early morning basketball skills practice at the school. 

The circles under my eyes just keep growing. The running never stops. But we have such good conversations in the car and I love how funny my big kids are! They are so fun to be around and have such great, polite friends. I really am proud of each of them!

Naptime Moments

This morning, after breakfast and before the sun came up, I noticed Joe sitting on the couch with Cooper, the puppy, and his Book of Mormon. 

He decided to kick his Monday off by catching up on some reading, and the scene was too precious not to photograph for later. 

Joe is going to make an incredible dad one day! He has such a big heart and adores his little brother.

The day passed slowly and I spent a lot of time nursing and snuggling. The afternoon brought me another sweet scene as Lily and Cooper briefly napped together. I have a picture of Sawyer and Lily in the same position when she was this tiny that I cherish.

This season is filled with a lot of feed the baby, nap the baby, and watch the baby nap. Productivity (and sleep) is at an all time low, but joy is at an all time high.

Cooper's Blessing Day

Today was Coopers blessing day! The morning went relatively smooth for a Sunday morning, and I was even able to snap a few pictures before leaving the house. The family that we were counting on coming weren't able to make it due to the flu and the birth of a new cousin (I guess those are acceptable reasons), so it ended up being just our crew and Gramma and Grampa! I may have felt a tad sad about that, and the fact that I hadn't had enough time to crochet Cooper a special white blessing blanket, but I tried my best to make it through the day.

He wore the same blessing outfit that all of his older brothers wore, which was pretty special! It was a little bit big for him, but I think he still looked quite handsome in white.

With Daddy in the bishopric, we weren't able to snap a family picture at home, so we got one quickly before going into the chapel (thanks to a sweet friend for snapping it). It's crazy to me how many bodies are in this photo, and how many baby blessings Mr. Stannix has performed for our growing family! They are all getting so big and I am cherishing this time when we are all still living under one roof. Together is my favorite place to be!

As Mike gave our sweet son a name and a blessing, I quickly jotted down as much as I could for Cooper to read later in his life. 

Here is some of what Daddy said in the blessing.

I bless your body that it will grow and perform its functions. I bless your mind as you observe that it will be absorbed and that you will be attentive to all of the blessings in your life. I bless you with compassion and the spirit of discernment. As you recognize the needs of those around you, you will be able to reach out with love. I bless you that you will have a strong relationship with your mother and learn from her humility and faith in Christ. I bless you to be a giver of peace and joy to those around you. I bless you with the knowledge that you are a son of God with an eternal destiny of promise and hope as well as callings of leadership. I bless you with hope and enthusiasm and a zeal to help your fellow men and an energy for the work of the Lord.

How blessed we are to have this boy in our lives. He has already filled our home with immense joy and gladness. It was a beautiful blessing and a wonderful sabbath!

 

Camrose Tournament

This weekend Mr. Stannix drove Camilla to Camrose for a basketball tournament. She's really enjoying her team this year and has learned a lot already from her coaches. I was sad to miss out, so when Mr. Stannix let me know about the live feed, cleaning the house took a backseat and I ended up spending the majority of my afternoon standing in front of the TV to watch our team play. Watching sports on TV is 10x more fun when you actually know the players in real life! The boys would laugh at me as I cheered and yelled (even though the girls couldn't hear me).

And if Camilla ever wonders why her ankles hurt after ball, I'll just show her these pictures.

Ouch!

 

Welcome February

Hello February! We are enjoying your sunshine and warm weather as we think of ideas to show some extra love to those special people in our lives.

Whipping up these kiss cookies during naptime to surprise the children should help them feel the love!

We are looking forward to longer days and more gorgeous sunrises!

 

Juggling Act

Today was a busy day! The morning was rushed as Camilla left early for Seminary with Mike. He had some office furniture in the back of his Pathfinder, so I had to run the boys in early for basketball and make it back in time to get Ollie and Fin on the bus. Cooper was grumpy and the morning passed slow. Ollie forgot his skates, so I ran them in to the school at noon and then we stopped in and brought Daddy lunch.

Cooper was able to visit with Daddy for a little while so that I could eat my food before it got too cold! Cucina's is always our favorite!

When we arrived home cooper was still fussy and just wanted to nurse all afternoon. I didn't get the after school snack made for the kids who would be coming home while I was driving Hyrum to his game in Caroline. I pulled out a lasagna for dinner and then got cooper ready to leave. Just as I took off his diaper he had a poo-splosion all over his jammies and it ran up his back, so it was off to the bath for a quick rinse! 

When we got to town finally, we picked up Hyrum and then dropped Camilla her forgotten piano books. As Hyrum ran down the sidewalk to pass her her books, he slipped and fell into a bit of a puddle. They both had a good laugh about it, but the poor kid ended up with a wet bum for the drive. 

The boys played hard and ended up winning their game! It was a close one though! Cooper filled his diaper in the last quarter, but I had a hard time making it out to the van in the cold with Sawyer and Lily in tow. The game ended up running a lot later than I thought it would as well and the two kiddos were getting bored. When we finally made it out to the van, I realized there was no diapers left in the diaper bag, so the poor kiddo had to wear one that was a few sizes too big. As I was driving home I realized I forgot to call and ask mom to put the lasagna in the oven, so I wasn't sure what we were going to be eating for dinner now as we had to leave for youth right away after getting home. Daddy was working late and so the boys who were all ready home mooched some dinner from Gramma and Grampa before we got home, and Hyrum whipped himself up some peanut butter and jam toast (we would all enjoy lasagna after activities).

I fed and changed Cooper AGAIN while listening to BOTH pianos being played while Ollie and Lily ran and wrestled around the house laughing and screaming. I could just smile and shake my head at this crazy, loud, chaotic life we lead. I sent the boys with Dad early since Hyrum hadn't quite finished eating yet. Then I loaded Cooper and turned around to head to town once more to drop Hyrum at activities, pick up Camilla from basketball and bring her to activities, and hit up my board meeting at 7:30pm. Whew! It was the first meeting of the season, so it went late. When I was finally able to come home and crawl into bed, I was exhausted!

 

Visiting the Midwife

Today We woke to another beautifully painted sky. I love the extra light as we near Spring. It makes the last little bit of Winter a little bit more bearable. 

Cooper and I went and visited the midwife for a two week check up! I dressed him in a sweet little outfit made by one of my good friends! 

It's a little big yet, but so stinkin' cute!

When he's all curled up and sleeping soundly, I just can't help but snuggle him up!