It is pretty late and I'm pretty tired, but alas here I sit to keep up our family record. Before I sat down I glanced around the main floor of our house. Super hero costumes are strewn around the kitchen, empty sippy cups hide in the corners of the couch and mismatched socks dot the stairs. These last few weeks have been pretty crazy. I wish I could spend all day holding and cuddling Finley while he sleeps. Luckily I get lots of cuddle time in the evenings. I'm even typing this one handed as I snuggle Finley in my other arm, waiting for him to drift off to sleep so that I can sleep in my own bed for a few hours.
Mr. Stannix is back to work this week. I am pretty emotional still some days as I survive on limited sleep and eat here and there when I can squeeze it in. Days still blur into each other and I end up feeling quite unproductive at days end because all I've managed to do is nurse the baby, change a bunch of diapers and keep bellies full. I have felt totally stuck, and the thought of leaving the house with four kids was terrifying to me. Today we did manage to get groceries out of necessity because our fridge was empty and I missed having cereal for a quick breakfast. I am so grateful for a loving husband who looks me in the eyes at days end and says, "You're a good mom. We have happy kids."
One of my goals this year is to spend more quality time with the kids. Not just being present each day, but really being there for them. I want to give them more hugs and kisses, and make sure they have my full attention when they tell me things. I want to lecture less and love them more. There have been many evenings where I've been in tears as I go over the days events regretting not having made that extra effort with one child or another (or sometimes all four). I long to ask those mothers of large families how they successfully divide their time between so many children. Sometimes the only thing that keeps me going is to blog and record these little things that I jot down each day to savor later.
Camilla is so grown up and says the funniest things. She does such a great job with her little brothers and enjoys being a little "mommy". She is constantly reminding me how lucky I am to have her. I think helping out makes her feel good about herself. She has such a giving heart and eyes to see the needs of others. Sometimes when I'm sitting on the couch she will wrap me in a blanket to warm me up. Lately she has been coming up with these hilarious ideas and the way she explains them always leaves us laughing together. Her latest is, "What if we had a robot that makes spaghetti so fast you'll have it in a jiffy?! I wish I had one of those." Her imagination is still used constantly and I love hearing the three kids imagine and play together. Tonight after I finished tucking her in, I could tell she still had something to say. "Do you have a question for me?" I asked. She replied, "Well yes...but I forget. Oh yeah! It's a funny one..." She let out a little laugh and then elaborately described a day from this Summer that she tucked away in her memory. I layed beside her in the dark and smiled as she spilled out every detail. She is sure a special girl.
Hyrum cracks me up lately, though he has really started to enjoy picking on his brother and making him scream. One morning when he had spilled his cereal for the second day in a row I muttered, "Bummer dude" as I cleaned it up. Then Hyrum happily exclaimed, "Nope! Not on my bum! Gee that's clean mom!" He is really into super heroes lately and is always pretending to be one hero or another. He sometimes sticks his play sword down the back of his shirt and pretends to be a ninja turtle. He adores his new spider man costume and has some pretty sweet sound effects to go with it. When we were out at the acreage last Hyrum came up to me one morning and said, "There was somebody in my bed last night, Mom." I replied, "Oh really? Who?" He said, "I dunno, but it sounded like this..." and then made some sweet snoring noises. He was convinced there was someone in his bed with him, but I think it was someone in the house who sometimes snores really loud. We all got a good laugh out of it. Lately it's been hard to get a good picture of Hyrum genuinely smiling. I'm not sure why that is, but we are working on it! Sometimes when we are driving or eating at the table Hyrum will say, "Camilla, Is this a good smile?" It's super cute watching him practise all of his different smiles. He is such a sweet kid and has such a desire to be good and do what's right, even if he is a bit of a "rebel" right now.
Joseph is as busy as ever. He rang in the New Year with a bang, literally. On New Year's eve he fell off a tall chair onto a cement floor right on his noggin. The next day he was sledding and went right underneath a parked truck. He's looking a little rough and tumble these days. He also has a "big boy" hair cut now. It's super short and I still want to cry over all of the blonde locks that were on the floor that night. I miss my baby Joe. He is so grown up now! Some of the things he says just kill me. Whenever I ask him to do something he replies, "Ahhhh-kay Mommy...Ahhhh-kay." He is talking a lot but can still be tricky to understand. Anything that starts with an "S" starts with an "H" if you're Joe. Soup is "Hoop". A Sippy is a "Hippy". When he is done eating he will say, "I needa cwof a wipe hans". "Joe do it!" is also a popular phrase these days. Whenever we stop at a store I will hear "I anna come too! Joe come too!" And when he says he loves you it comes out "I woof you!" He loves to brush his teeth. He is constantly stealing my phone (or the "he-wo"). He is a little parrot and loves to repeat what the older two say. He has a strange obsession with the toilet brush so I've had to hide it. He's a total show off, has a pretty awesome cheesy grin and a contagious laugh. He loves to take his pants off and will often pull them down when company is over just to get a laugh. He asks for "bepest" (breakfast) all day long and is constantly hungry! Camilla's name is now "Wee-a" which is totally adorable. He will often point at our family picture and name each of us, "Da-dee, Wee-a, High-a, Mommy, Dough!" He calls his shadow a ghost and pretends to be afraid of it. He loves curious george and calls him "Kee-kee gorsh". If you kiss his cheek he will exclaim "Ucky! Pee-you!" while he wipes it off. If he toots in the car and you call him a stinker he will respond, "Noooo. High-ya a tinker!" and blame it all on Hyrum. He is a busy boy, and keeps us on our toes, but we sure do love him!
And then there's baby Finley. He is such an easy baby! He still sleeps a lot and is very easy going. He is passed around from sibling to sibling most of the day and just eats up all of the attention and snuggles. The noise doesn't seem to bother him and he will still nurse while Joseph screams away beside us. Every day I wish I could just sit on the couch and snuggle him while he sleeps because I know all too well how fast this time passes!
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