The Fam!

A little update for those of you who aren't close enough to see us on the regular...miss and love you guys!


Everyday, Gwen is learning a new syllable to practice and picking up on more and more words- and it's so cool to see how her little brain is forming! She loves to communicate in anyway that the people around her seem to prefer and the more we encourage her to talk, the more she listens intently and repeats. She has been saying "ma" for a couple months off and on, but recently she figured out "mom" and she says it with her bottom lip over her top lip- and she knows it's my name... it's the best and I love it! We're also learning little games, like high-fiving and clapping together when something makes her happy or she accomplishes something. She loves to bring me things and trade toys. Occasionally, she'll point to one of the cats and proclaim, "cat!" proudly and she's been working on talking to Arya, our pup... I'm sure so she can master the art of bossing her around. ;)


More and more little steps as of late too! The more she gets excited about playing in her room and not so much in her walker, the closer she gets to walking. She's always been a quick learner and ahead of the curve, but her development in the last month has been really staggering. AND BED TIME! Oh, the dreaded bed time... finally, we have figured out the magic routine that makes bed time look so much more appealing to her, and she is starting to dig it. The breakdown is a little romping about an hour before bed time, a bath, some more playing, a bottle with some cuddling in her room with the lights down- two or three books, some snuggling, and then by the time we put her down she actually seems content to be in her crib. A month ago, even carrying her in to her room when she started to get sleepy would trigger the crying fit, and there was absolutely nothing we could do to console her except let her wail it out. I am so glad that this is on the out! No momma likes to hear her baby flip her lid and be unable to calm and comfort her. So praise God for that! 


She's also becoming proficient with drinking out of cups and using sippy cups more throughout the day. She is super close to kicking formula all together, which I know that Tristan and I are looking forward to. Less money to be spent, and less weird, fake crap going in our daughter's tummy. All good things! 


Tristan and I are enjoying each other as much as ever- perhaps in a more exhausted and quiet way than normal, but we still manage to have fun together and go out and do things too. As you may or may not know, we're experiencing some plumbing issues as well as general household disarray- which I have realized is temporary, so I am not fighting it. One day, many moons from now, our house will be clean and decorated and prettied up- but we've made peace with it coming in baby steps. Right now, our energies are focused far more on raising some healthy, happy kids, loving and keeping up with each other, and maintaining our poor plants alive through this dry, dry weather. We are still discovering everyday what it means to be married and what it means to be parents and it's the most positive challenge we could ever hope to go through. 


We go in for our first ultrasound on Tuesday the 21st, and that is when we will be finding out if the little bean is a boy or a girl! We are so excited, and it looks like Gwen will be there too. She won't be able to remember this (more than likely) but it's going to be so cool to do this as a family. I think I might be a little farther along than my midwife thought, as not only can I feel the little babe move but so can Tristan. So, I'm thinking I am actually more like 6 months along, as I had previously suspected... but we'll find out on Tuesday! :) 


To all of you who read this and support us (and it means so much, even if it is from far away) thank you a hundred million times. We feel your love, prayers and positive thoughts each and every day!