Canada trip - reunion week

 At the end of June we drove to southern Alberta for a family reunion near Waterton National Park. It was beautiful there and it was so exciting to see everybody. All of Bry's siblings and their kids made it, probably for the last time since the oldest of the kids are 18. Reunions will still happen every other year, but they'll probably be a bit different. We're so grateful everyone was able to make it to this one. 

The kids had a blast running around with cousins. Gwen was much adored, being the youngest one there. Bry was glad to be back at Waterton which holds lots of memories for him and I was so excited to finally go to it! It was beautiful and a perfect destination for our group. We did a couple hikes, walked around the town, ate good food, got bit by mosquitoes (Emma in particular turned out to be delicious to them), spent time chatting with family, and really had a great visit. 

Emma spent the longest time in the lake - 20+ minutes.
I got out when my body was so cold it started to feel like stinging.

It was EXTREMELY windy the day we did our hike up Bear's Hump. The kids did awesome, though.

Life's good with a rock and a stick. 

Rochelle headed a craft for the kids and brought paints and picture frames. The kids had a good time and Emma really loved it.

About a third of the group went horseback riding. It was Emma's first time riding a horse (she'd been on a pony ride before) and she was a natural. She did great and LOVED it. I was so happy she had a good time and look forward to taking her again sometime. 

Cameron Falls. The rocks around it are really cool with how the water has cut through them. 

We got dinner in Waterton that was really delicious. 

We visited the Cardston Temple that was Bry's temple growing up. 

The view from the Prince of Wales Hotel.

Cameron Lake was beautiful. It was a drive from downtown Waterton, but a nice destination.

9-month-old Gwen

Gwen is a proficient army-crawler. She likes to follow us around and explore the house. She's still pretty cuddly and likes to have regular contact with her loved ones. She's most happy carried around by one of us. 

Food is starting to be more appealing to her, but she's still adamant about feeding herself, so it's soft finger foods for her. She usually doesn't eat very much but she drinks plenty of bottles of milk so she's growing! She has her own growth curve for height above all the rest. 

Gwen can go from crawling to sitting. She has now climbed up our whole staircase (with someone nearby but not assisting). Her sleep schedule is still a mixed bag, but her naps are starting to get more consistent, so hopefully nighttime sleep follows. In general, she's been trending toward sleeping better at night, often waking just once or twice. 

Trying to hold her still is a challenge.

Having fun with her siblings.

Looking up to her big sister, literally.

Easter Sunday

Easter morning the kids woke up and got to search for their baskets. 

The kids both reached for the Bluey puzzles first. 

We had breakfast, got the kids dressed and then had them do an Easter egg hunt.

6-month Gwen

Gwen is a sweet, happy girl as long as she's with her people. She loves to be held but will spend some time in her jumperoo or on the floor stretching out. She has mastered the back-to-front roll and almost always rolls over after we put her down. Her sleep continues to be all over the place - some nights she wakes up every 30 minutes and I end up sleeping with her in my arms in bed, other nights she wakes up 2-3 times (gets help settling back down and/or eats), and on rare occasions she'll sleep through the night (for example 11pm-7am). It seems to go back and forth between the first two for the most part and it's utterly exhausting. However, I am deeply grateful it's rare for her to keep me awake for any significant stretch of time through the night. Usually she's up for 30 minutes or less and goes back down, at least between the hours of midnight and 7am, anyway. 

She loves attention from her siblings and they adore her for the most part. This picture is her smiling up at one of her siblings. She follows them with her eyes whenever they're around. 

She is curious and strong. She's getting better at sitting but still can't sit without support. She isn't slumping over in her high chair anymore, though, so she's making progress!

She is our little giant (off the charts tall!) and we love her happy, squishy face. She is typically easy-going and doesn't mind being loaded into her carseat to drop off and pick up her siblings from school three times a day (Henry's preschool is a half-day). 

So far she is not very into trying foods. We've tried a few pureed foods now, bits of bread and other soft foods, but the only thing she's seemed very into was peanut butter. Even that she was done with pretty quick, though, once her mouth got sort of sticky. I've come to realize just how unusual it was for Emma to just eat every baby food she tried and finish them. It was pretty spectacular. I'm hoping Gwen starts to get more of a taste/feel for food over the next couple months. We'll see!

G 4-month photos photo dump

 Here are some 4-month photos posted late.