Dynamic Duo

These two boys make quite the pair! The two of them have been keeping me on my toes lately. Somehow they managed to dump a whole container of sprinkles on the floor after we decorated the sugar cookies. Hyrum gladly vacuumed it up for me while Joseph stuffed as many as he could in his mouth. Ignore Hyrum's awesome leggings, he likes to wear his sisters things sometimes.

Uh-Oh Spaghetti-o

 Last night we had spaghetti for dinner which means the baby gets to eat with just a diaper, make a mess, and take a bath immediately after!

Indoor Play

 This Winter has brought us LOADS of snow! The older two like to go out and play when it's not too cold out. Our backyard is quite the place to adventure now. But after being stuck inside for a while, the littles and I have been in need of some good play time!

Today after we ran all of our morning errands we popped by an indoor play place for a while. Going on a weekday is the best thing ever. We were practically the ONLY ones there. I could actually hear my kids and keep an eye on them because there was no crowds. It was great to just spend some time playing without any distractions (such as house work, e-mails, internet etc.). We had SO much fun!

 Hyrum only got scared a few times when he felt "stuck", but his sister was always quick to the rescue!

 This super fast slide was a favorite!

 Joe mostly liked wandering around and would giggle so hard when I chased him!

 While we waited for our lunch we did some gaming and won enough tickets for a few treats at the end. The kids had a blast and Camilla has already asked repeatedly if we can go back soon! 

An Even Number

The other day I was remembering back to when Joseph was just a few months old. I had just placed him in his crib after his midnight snack only to have my heart skip a beat as I scanned the room checking out all of my other sleeping babes. Someone is missing! I panicked. It took me a good thirty seconds to remember that we only had three and everyone was snug in their bed and accounted for. I sighed a breath of relief and cozied back into my bed for the night. This wasn't the only time that this someone-is-missing panic happened, but each time it happened I got quicker at slowing down my heart rate and laughing at myself. Though we had both decided a bigger gap between Joe and the next one would be nice, we both felt strongly impressed that someone was missing. 

At the beginning of October we found out that our little family will be growing come June. We are totally thrilled! Around the same time we were blessed with many tender mercies such as Joseph learning to sleep through the night so that I could get the sleep I needed and a very helpful four year old. Instead of being really sick at first, I was mostly just REALLY tired. I managed to get all three of the littles to nap a few afternoons a week and turned off the ringer on the phone just so I could catch up on my rest. Growing a human is hard work, especially when you have three other ones to care for! Gradually the morning sickness also set it (mostly just when I would go to bed too late). I have spent a lot of time cozied up on the playroom floor while the children play around me, but I'm starting to feel a lot better!

I have had two doctors appointments so far, and both times we only got to hear the heartbeat for a very short time. I am now 15 weeks along and time seems to be flying by! I am cherishing my time with little Joe before he's not the baby anymore. I am also loving when both the boys nap and I get to spend some one on one with Camilla. It won't be long before the older two spend afternoons together while the younger ones nap. I have also spent some time thinking about how to rearrange Camilla's room to fit the crib. Things will come together though, they always do.

 

Harry Potter Exhibit

Tonight we went to the Harry Potter Exhibition at the Telus World of Science. Mr. Stannix has been into Harry Potter since the beginning and made me read the books with him after we were married. We had a fun time reading aloud to each other and I have also grown to love the series (though I probably still don't appreciate it as much as Mr. Stannix). We got to enjoy the night with Mike's brother and girl friend! We started out by getting our photo taken in front of the green screen, and since they don't allow photo's anywhere else, I had to have a copy to remember the night! We then went with our group and a few of us got to try on the sorting hat and get put into houses. It was neat to see the real costumes and props from the movie. They had the Great Hall, Hagrids hut and the Gryffindor common room. Mike was excited to see the real life wands. We also got to see the Quidditch uniforms and toss a "Quaffle". They also had an area where you could pull out a Mandrake and listen to the horrible screeching. It was really fun to see everything and do the audio tour. Big shout out to my little brother for watching our crazies while we had a date. It was sure nice to get out and enjoy some time with Mr. Stannix!

A Tender Moment

Lately I have been praying to find joy in the normal hum drum of every day life, and ya know what?It's working. Even between moments of, "please stop dragging your brother around!" "Hyrum, please stop poking her!" "Joseph, stay out of the cupboards!" "Camilla, for the 100th time, can you PLEASE make your bed?" "Can you PLEASE PLEASE eat your dinner?!"...

Yes, even amidst the chaos of running a household with three littles, we are still finding joy. I am grateful for this prayer in my heart each day as it causes me to focus more on the children and less on the piles and piles of dishes. I learn to see life through their little blue eyes. I feel such an overwhelming love for them all that I want to squeeze them tight and kiss their chubby cheeks over and over. I am always grateful when I pause to soak in those moments. Take yesterday for example. After reminding Hyrum to go pee for what seemed like the 200th time, he finally made his way to the bathroom,just a few seconds too late... I walked in on a puddle of pee just short of his potty. I could have cried, I felt so frustrated. And let's face it, who likes cleaning that up? I quietly took him up to the bath and ran some warm water. He played and played. Out of necessity I stuck Joe in the crib so that I could clean the floor without worrying about him. He fussed for a few minutes, until his big sister came to the rescue. When I had finished cleaning the floor and drying Hyrum off, I walked into the boys room and happened upon the sweetest little scene.

Camilla had pulled her rocking chair just inside the door and placed it next to the crib so that she could help her brother be happy. She sweetly read him a story, guessing the words from the pictures. We had read the book enough that she pretty much caught the jist of it. My heart completely melted and tears of joy welled up in my eyes. I was so grateful to have witnessed that tender little moment.

 I am so grateful to my Heavenly Father for these special little people and the things that they teach me each day.

Christmas Light Lovin'

Camilla's bedroom door closed and her lights flicked on well before 6:00am this morning. 

I stayed in bed listening to them giggle and whisper.

Joe started singing shortly after that. 

We all went down to the family room and turned on the Christmas lights. 

Camilla and Hyrum quietly watched a show on the iPad while Joseph drank his bottle and 

admired the lights in a fresh diaper. 

It was too cute not to photograph, even that early in the morning.

Santa's Reindeer

This afternoon I came downstairs to find Santa's lead reindeer training hard. I have done about five loads of laundry today to catch up on last week. Camilla found an empty basket and decided it would make an awesome sleigh.

 She then said, "You know why reindeers have antlers? They stand up real tall on their heads and help them keep their balance!" Who knew? Apparently reindeer also like sliced apples and sugar. It helps keep their "energies" up.

 

Joe had a lot of fun being pulled around and would cry each time she would stop. I sure love her imagination!

The Magic of Christmas

Today was one of those crazy Sundays that you bear with a smile and can't wait to end. Church went fairly well for the most part, but Mr. H has become SUPER independent lately and doesn't understand the word "walk". He bolts from point A to point B and refuses to hold a hand or have you hold onto any part of him or his jacket. Sometimes he's good about the holding hands thing, but after church he was so quick that he was almost out the door without a jacket! Instead of arguing with him about the jacket thing, I ended up wrestling him into it and having Mr. Stannix wrangle him out to the car for me. Mike had to stay and do some things for his calling, and I got to listen to Hyrum scream all the way home, and for another half an hour after we got home. "I want out!" "I'm not coming!" "I'm staying outside!" "I don't want to take my jacket off!" "I wanted a cracker!" The thing that makes me the most crazy is when I ask him something like, "Hey, wanna come help me stir the soup?" and he gets this glimmer of mischief in his eye while he complains and whines and screams "No!". It's not until after I toss the whisk in the sink and divvy up the soup that he wants to stir it. Or when there's only three crackers left and I ask him five times if he'd like a cracker. It's not until after I eat the very last cracker that he decides he actually wants one. Bah! He didn't end up eating any lunch, instead he and I snuggled up on the couch and fell asleep. At least it was a happy ending. 

I was telling my friend the other day how I just wasn't feeling the Christmas Spirit yet. I've just been so busy with the kids that I haven't taken time to feel it and teach them. The First Presidency Christmas Devotional always seems to kick off the Christmas season for me, along with a book of stories counting down to Christmas that my Mom gave us our first year together. That book was lost for a year or two, but when I found it amidst packing in June, I made sure to stuff it in with our Christmas box so that it wouldn't get lost again. We read our first story last night. There is something about reading those stories out loud that always makes me tear up. I had to pass it off to Mike to finish up, and even HE had a hard time making it through. Anyways, we finished off our afternoon by setting up the tree with the littles. 

 Still the same little old tree that I had growing up! Next year when we are actually home for Christmas we will probably get a real tree.

 Joseph was so intrigued by the whole ordeal.

 But his favorite part was definitely the lights!

 Once we got Cj out of her Grinchy mood, she enjoyed helping Daddy. Our tree is very "full" this year thanks to her awesome decorating!

 Hyrum just played pretend with the Nativity pieces, making boyish sound effects and all that good stuff. I was mostly just glad he was happy. And his socks were totally festive too!

 Camilla pushed the chair over all by herself so that she could put the tiny ornaments up high so Joe wouldn't choke. She also requested to help put on the star this year!

 I still got some snuggles in with Joe. Hard to believe he was only a month old at this time last year! Time goes by way to fast!

And Daddy requested a cute little shot with his little men. Do they ever look alike! I sure am grateful for the Christmas Season and the joy it brings. I am also super grateful for a husband who gets so excited about Christmas each year and helps bring a great spirit into our home. I am blessed.

Christmas Crafting

The Stannix's have kind of been out of commission for the last couple of days. Both Mike and I were down and out with a nasty flu bug, leaving the littles to kind of fend for themselves. Luckily they are pretty independent and Camilla managed to get cereal and milk for the two of them. Hyrum is also pretty self sufficient and managed to open the fridge and polish off five little yogurts that I had just picked up the night before. Oh well, at least they were happy and fed. 

Friday was kind of a catch up day and now the house is almost in order once again. I also managed some crafting with the older two while Joseph had his morning nap. I picked up a cute little nativity kit at Michaels and it was super fun and easy to stick together. I didn't even know it made two sets, so that was even better! Both Camilla and Hyrum spent the day putting on puppet shows. Great fun.

And here's a cute little shot of our messy haired little guy at lunch the other day!