Our Big Week

Phew this week has had a lot of milestones! Ethan our little boy is growing way too fast! Last Sunday his first tooth broke the surface! Finally!! Then 4 days later another one poked through! Two teeth in one week!

If that wasn't enough Ethan has started waving and clapping! The waving I have been teaching him for awhile but I didn't think he got the concept as he waves very randomly, mostly in his highchair waiting for food. BUT yesterday we were walking in Banff and as a group of ladies passed and swooned over Ethan, one of them exclaimed "He waved at me!". Since someone else saw it, then it must be true! On the drive he started clapping! He loves to study my hands as I clap and but never did it. And out of the blue he did it:) As I know every parent says "my baby is the smartest baby ever":)

Yesterday was a gorgeous day, we decided to drive to Banff after church to take advantage of it. We walked along the Fenland Trail on the northwest side of Banff. It was a beautiful walk but we saw plenty of carnage left behind by the flood. No, not wildlife but trees. Majestic trees that are hundreds of years old just ripped out of the ground. We could see lots of freshly sawed trees that had sat across the path after the flood waters settled, so sad to see them fallen. The landscape has been forever changed by this flood. 

Fenland Trail

Family Shot... 

A serene river

The beautiful trail, with rivets throughout from the flooding

Water pulled this tree out!?

more debris

And there is the tooth!

One of my favorite shots I think I have every taken:)

Sentimental Heart

I enjoy reading blogs, especially well written blogs. I do not think I am a good writer which is why I am so hesitant to post much! I love reading Kelle Hampton's blog, Enjoying The Small Things, she is an amazing writer and photographer. I originally found her blog on Pinterest. Her blog post about her 2nd daughters birth is incredible, she only found out when she was born that her daughter was Down Syndrome. She writes everything, it is raw and insanely moving! Plus she has a son, Dash, who is only 5 days older than Ethan and who kind of looks like him too! 

I was catching up on her blog and this post jumped out at me. She writes how I feel perfectly "I've always been mindful of my sentimental heart, but I'm learning to nurture that hyper awareness for how my babies are growing and changing into a good place. I want it to serve as an appreciation and motivation tool rather than a rut that makes me yearn for yesterday or focus too much on how quickly time is passing. Because I'm pretty sure that focusing too much on how quickly time is passing and mourning that it's gone only makes it worse. Besides, right now is pretty awesome. Forward, forward we go."

A sentimental heart is the perfect term for what I have. That is why I love Christmas so much, that time of year is filled with love, warmth, tradition(I am a stickler for tradition) and joyfulness. Pictures are what do it the most for me, they tug at my heart bringing back memories of things past. But the memories are (almost) always the best ones:)

Ethan keeps this sentimental heart in the moment. I do think back to when he was only a couple weeks old and would snuggle with me all day and I miss those days. But I treasure remembering those moments and this bouncy giggling boy sitting in front of me makes me content to be here now. He is constantly changing, growing and learning which I feel blessed to be apart of. 

A rare shot of just Ben and I

Watching the cars outside, he gets very excited as they pass.

Tummy time

My stylish little man is ready to take on Ikea!