Renne Monthly

Alright, I haven't posted Renne's montly pictures since she was (gasp) 2 months old!! Bad mama!

So here are a few from each month...

I can't believe she's going to be 9 months old in a few weeks already :0

3 MONTHS

Renne weighs 12 lbs 8 oz and 23.5'' long

This little peanut is sleeping through the night consistently, and doing so well! She rolled over at 16 weeks, and loves to roll to move around. She is our entire world, we are just obsessed with every smile, noise, and snuggle. She is getting so social, and loves to squeal! Her favourite things are her fists, which are in her mouth constantly. Time is just flying by! We love being her parents (as proven by the many videos and pictures we have on our phones)

4 MONTHS

I can't get enough of this age! Renne weighs 13 lbs 2 oz and is 24.7'' long.

She is holding her head up like a champ and has a super strong kick! Seriously, watch out!! She loves to swing her legs up and kick the ground super hard. When you are downstairs and she is above you, you can hear a "thud, thud, thud" with each kick. Our little girl knows what she wants, and knows how to ask for it. She doesn't like to be left alone, and is currently going through a bit of a clingy phase. She is so happy and smiley and loves saying "hello" with a nice high pitched squeal to even complete strangers. Being her mom has made me the happiest person on the planet. We just have so much fun together. I love Renni girl. Slow down...

 5 MONTHS

Renne weighs 13 lbs 15 oz and is 25.5'' long. 

What a whirlwind her fifth month has been! Right as she was turning 5 months old, we moved down to Lethbridge, and are now living with my parents and sister in Coaldale. She is loving all of the attention she is getting, and they equally love seeing her all the time. She is just the sweetest peanut, we have so much fun. Lately we have been doing more outside, being summer and all, and we even went to Echo lake and she loved laying out in the sun with her mommy. Renne still sleeps awesome, we are very grateful for that! She loves swimming and bath time, I think we have a water lover on our hands. We noticed right around the time we moved that she was starting to reach out and grab for our food and water whenever we were eating. She showed HUGE interest in food, so we introduced solids a little early, and she loved rice cereal!! She couldn't get enough. Renne is very grabby lately, and loves to reach for objects. She is also suuuuper squirmy, and never sits still! She wants to do her own thing. These pictures were nearly impossible to take. She is a very determined little squirt, I tell ya! My favourite thing is her adorable chubby legs and her little whispy hair that is starting to grow in! I can't wait until there's enough to put it in a little pony!

 6 MONTHS

I could just eat her right up! Renni girl, you are growing into the funniest little human! You make me laugh all the time. This girl has 2 front teeth!!! 

She weighs 14 lbs 13 oz and is 26'' long. She love eating fruits, veggies and cereal now 3 times a day! She is making lots of new sounds like "baba" and "Dada" and is the squeeeeeeliest babe! She still has such a hoot, just laying on the floor kicking her legs. She also does this hilarious fake cough, it's priceless. She does it to get our attention, hey mom, i need you, I have a bad cough. Cracks me up. She is very close to sitting up on her own, but is still a bit tipsy. Her hair keeps coming in, and that smile. Is. To. Die. For. I guess i should also mention, that she is looking TONNES like her daddy, but also a bit like her auntie Bry. 

 7 MONTHS

this expression is so darn cute!

hehe my cutest bug

this is a typical, "i'm done mom" face

Renne is 15 lbs 5 oz and 26.5'' long.

Her hair is getting so long, and it sticks straight up!! My mom says she looks like a chia pet! This month she looks lots like her uncle dal did, especially in certain pictures. Renne is using her hands like crazy, and can now grab small objects. Her favourite are her puffs, which she goes crazy for. This month, mommy and Renne went to the library for the first time. She mostly just stared at all of the other kids, trying to take it all in. She loves people watching, and she loves other babies and kids! She still doesn't like being left alone, and protests when someone isn't next to her, or playing with her. I put her in her exersaucer quite often, and she loves it, as long as I am nearby. I suppose I don't mind all that much ;) I actually love that she needs me still. Stop growing so fast Renne! I can hardly keep up with you. Love you so much!

  8 MONTHS

"Mom, I'd say that's enough pics..."

Here is a quick update about Renne:

- She is so social. Loves to be around people, loves to chat and smiles at everyone!

- She loves to be held. She wants to be where mommy and daddy are, and hates being left alone by herself. She wants to be part of the action! 

- She has the cutest giggle in the world, and she laughs all the time. She makes the funniest raspy noise when she's excited or hyper. It sounds like, "Haaaaaayyyyeeeee"

- She weighs 16 lbs 8 oz (last time we checked) and is still measuring small, but tall for her age.

- She is eating solids 3 times a day now and likes most food we give her. Although, she is a bit picky with textures. We are really hoping that she will grow out of it, and that it's not a Whidden family curse! ;) Her favourite foods so far are green beans and sweet potato! Go figure!

- She rolls all over the floor and has started doing an "army crawl" on her tummy. Hasn't quite figured out how to move her knees yet. We are workin on it :)

- She loves music. Even when she was brand new she was soothed by music. She loves it when mommy or daddy sings to her and tries to sing along. She likes to sit on my lap and we play the piano together. She squeals along to the music and can really hit some high notes, I tell ya!

- She is busy busy busy lately. Grabbing at everything, and chewing on everything in sight! We have started saying, "No no, Renne" and she smiles and giggles at us when we do!!

-She has her two front bottom teeth, and now two in the top just coming in! 

-We love her-

Summery Summary

Ok, so maybe I am the world's worst blogger and am blogging about summer in November, but here are a few pics, and a few side-notes from our summer adventures:

Happy Canada Day from Renne!

We spent the day enjoying the city as it was one of our last weekends in Edmonton. Complete with Renne's first LRT ride, a trip to the Legislature and fireworks with friends!

WHIDDEN FAMILY REUNION

Park City, Utah 

We all gathered together at the very fancy WestGate Resort in Park City. We had soooo much fun!!! Seeing everyone was the best part! Our activities included visiting temple square, seven peaks, shopping, hiking, riding a gondola, marshmallow gun wars, hot-tubbing, and lots of laughs and games.

The oldest and youngest Whidden grandchildren. Riley holding Renne.

She was sure spoiled by all her big cousins who took such good care of her!

Tim and Gary trying to act tough.

Beautiful girl cousins! (missing Hayley and Airlyn) Renne wasn't cooperating...

Riding the gondola

Whidden family picture time!

Renni girl loved the swimming! She loved to splash- a fishy just like daddy.

ECHO LAKE

We just love it here! 

View from Grandma and Grandpa's cabin

Our smiley girl being a good sport in her bouncer, enjoying some sunshine!

-I can totally hear the sound she's making-

First swim in the lake with mommy! Didn't last long.

Shade bathing

Skiing with Bee

Renne's first tubing experience!

Don't we look like we are having so much fun?!

We loved getting to spend so much time with this crazy chick before she moved away for school :)

"It's kinda bright daddy"

Renni loved her shaded pool Grandma bought for her! 

WATERTON

Waterton has a very special place in my heart. It's a place where I have so many summer memories. I love the feelings I get when I go there. I feel like I am 6 years old again! One of my favourite activities is riding around the town site in a surrey! We took Renne on her first ride, and at one point, had 6 people crammed on that thing! We also went to Red Rock canyon on a little hike, and of course hit up Big scoop for some delish ice cream! So glad we all could make it out there!

Haha classic...

FAMILY TIME

Time at home with Mommy

i promise she's mine...

She's a mini-Tim with a strange mixture of my siblings in her.

We loved park visits and walks 

Just playin

With Renne's great Grandma and Grandpa Low at one of many family get-togethers. We were so happy to get so much family time in, after years of feeling like we were always missing out! 

Renne with her 2nd-cousin Sadey Low. 

Renne is so lucky! She has 5 second cousins her age in Lethbridge alone!

All my cousin buddies! All the same age-ish. Man i love these guys! Jonny and the girls :)

Renni and Grandpa

We had such a wonderful summer and were so lucky to have so much fun and see so much family! Summer, we sure do miss you!!

Well, we moved!

This probably isn't news to many anymore...but, we moved!!

To Lethbridge! (well Coaldale for now ;))

Didn't see this coming, but we are so happy things worked out the way they did. Here's a quick summary of how this happened:

Back in the spring Tim and I were having many discussions on what we wanted to do since my parents were hoping to sell the house we were living in in Edmonton. We explored a few options, one of which was purchasing the house from my parents. We had considered doing this many times before. It seemed like the best thing to do. Seamless. Easy. Realtor free! Edmonton real estate was looking rather daunting, prices in the city are quite high, but we took a look at what we could afford and with only our one income, it meant most likely buying with the intent of having renters - which we have had our entire married lives. We haven't ever had a space that was just ours, and we both wanted that so badly. Don't get me wrong, living close to my siblings was wonderful, and I loved seeing them often, but over time we really wanted to have our own space, more privacy. So we ruled out that option - which left us to thinking maybe we could buy elsewhere in the city. It would mean most likely leaving the central southwest, which we loved, and going to a more affordable area. We didn't want to leave the ward, and that option just didn't feel right. So then we started to think - what IS right for us? Maybe we should start thinking bigger picture. Neither of us thought that we would end up in Edmonton when we first got married. To be honest, when Tim was in his avionics program I figured we would most likely move to Calgary for a while, and then probably to southern BC somewhere. I always told Tim that staying within close proximity to my family was important, and before Renne, Edmonton seemed close enough. After we had her though, I heart yearned to be closer to family. The Whiddens are so spread out, but moving anywhere south would be a step in the right direction to get to most of them. :) And I have quite a bit of family in southern Alberta. I loved growing up close to my grandparents and cousins. It was such a blessing in my life. 

Tim was really enjoying his job, but felt that he could find better. He had only been there a short while, but wanted to see what else was out there. So this led to him job searching over the next few months. A few he explored, but nothing really promising. Then one day we had this conversation: 

TIM: "Hey Ash, guess where they need a mechanical designer?"

"Where?"

"Nobleford"

"Huh? Where is that?"

"In southern Alberta! It's like 15 minutes west of Lethbridge."

"Hmm Nobleford. Haha. That's so random...WAIT, did you say Lethbridge?? You're joking!"

So after a last minute trip for the interview, and a few weeks of waiting (felt like a year to me!) he got an offer we were really happy with and we just knew it was right for us. We were officially moving...

I cried. Mostly tears of joy and relief, but some sad tears too. Edmonton was where Tim and I met. It's where we fell in love. It's where we both went to school. It's where we had built our life together. It's where we had so many memories and great friends. We had 4 wonderful years in our beloved Greenfield ward, and all of a sudden our life would be so different....

Buuuuutt then I would remember how amazing southern Alberta winters are in comparison to the last 7 I had experienced and those sad tears dried up pretty darn quick. Haha. Sorry Edmontonians, it's the cold hard truth. 

Hello chinooks. :) Yes, you are windy, but you are glorious and life changing!! Can you say "running outside year-round"?? Yes PLEASE!!!!

Our Edmonton house where we lived for 4 years. I'll miss this place and the memories. I'll miss the awesome Movie Studio just a walk away where Tim and I would frequently visit on our date nights. I'll miss being 3 minutes from a temple! I'll miss all our friends and our ward family. I suppose i'll miss the river valley and all it's glory. 

Well, packing up your house isn't very fun. Especially when you've only got ten days and your baby wants to be held all day. So I strapped on my baby carrier, and got busy while Tim completed his last two weeks at Jet power. It sucked. No other way to put it. But on the plus side, moving forces you to clean out closets and get rid of junk. Ok, last time I checked we aren't hoarders, but holy dina, how did we even collect all of that stuff in just 4 years?? Paint cans, old furniture, random junk left behind by old renters - it needed to get lost. Needed to give up the ghost and head to the dump. Feels great to throw things away. I'm a new woman. ;)

So with some help from some amazing friends and family, we got our truck and trailer loaded up, and we were off! It was so weird driving down our street, that street we had driven down a thousand times. But I was overjoyed to be moving. And so thankful to have a crew of men waiting for us at the storage unit to unload it all so I wouldn't have to. 

And now we are living the dream. Living with the parents with our baby!! Haha I still laugh when I say it out loud. I never thought i'd ever move home again! Never. I guess never say never. Tim and I are that couple - the couple I never thought we would be. Moving in with Ma and Pa. With a kid, no less ;) And hey, let's be honest, it IS the dream. Renne gets to spend all the time she wants with her Grandpa and Grandma, we are having tons of fun spending time together and we are saving some moola for our future house, which will hopefully be coming to a blog-post-near-you soon! 

But I know more than anything this move was right, and that Lethbridge is where we need to be. I'm excited for our new adventures here, and a new chapter in our life. Grateful to have an amazing boy to spend my life with and I am so glad I moved to Edmonton so I could find him.