Strawberry Pick'n

We have been to Bellevue Berry Farms a couple of times, but this is the first time we did it right!  We visited right as strawberry season began so that we could enjoy cool weather and lots of strawberry choices.  After we filled our strawberry buckets, we stayed and played with the Fiddlers for hours!  The girls had a blast playing at all the random play structures, exploring unused Haunted Houses, and adventuring all around the grounds.  Another beautiful summer day in the books.

Memorial Day Weekend

We would have loved to go on a fun trip for Memorial Day Weekend, but we decided to stay home and adult.  (Dave is finishing the front of the house and getting ready for our upcoming camping adventure.)  We did find some fun new adventures in Omaha, starting with a trip to Lauritzen Gardens, which had free admission in honor of the "Amazing Stinko."  It's a plant that rarely blooms and emits a strong disgusting odor to attract flies.  We checked out the stinky plant and got to explore the rest of the gardens, which were actually really neat.  The girls loved seeing peaches, bananas, and pineapples growing.  The older girls loved the experience so much, they wanted to return the next day when the Amazing Stinko bloomed.

We celebrated Memorial Day downtown with the Luddington family.  It was a beautiful night with splashing, rolling down hills, tormenting a frog, spending time together, and watching fireworks. 

We have also been enjoying beautiful evenings at local parks so we can squeeze in some PT time for Indie and play time for the girls.  Bed time has not been an issue since we started summer vacation haha.  

School's Out for SUMMA!!

Yesterday we ended the school year with an obligatory last-day picture and partied it up at Field Day.  We joined the younger classes in the morning and loved watching Eden in her element.  She rocked the shoe-kick event and I barely beat her in a race through the jump house obstacle course.  

After a short lunch break, we went back to school for Milan's class.  Milan is pretty athletic so it was fun to watch her.  She even beat me in the obstacle course!

Cora loved participating in most of the events, especially the Popsicle Station, twice.  Indie worked harder than anyone and walked across the playground for hours.  It was a success for the entire family and the perfect ending to a great school year!  Now, bring on summer!     

Milan's Gymnastics Pictures

Milan's been doing gymnastics at Omega all year and has really enjoyed it.  It was especially fun to see her use some of her skills during their talent show performance yesterday.

I thought the gymnastics pictures were a little boring (and overpriced) so we took our own and enjoyed a little time together too.  

Flowers with my Girls

There were some flowers and some happy girls so there were some pictures.

 "Look mom, I have Rapunzel hair."

Indie's Neck Saga

4 weeks ago, Indie started having fevers and seemed grouchy.  She also grabbed her ears once in a while and seemed to cry when I moved her into a new position suddenly.  The ENT said it was probably teething, Urgent Care said she was constipated (which was also probably true) then finally a pediatrician referred us to Children's for blood work.  All of her lab results came back normal, but she had high inflammation numbers so we started discussing pediatric arthritis and autoimmune disorders, made specialist appointments, and went back for more labs.  That night I had an epiphany and realized that Indie was not grabbing her ears like I had barely noticed for a month, but her short arms were grabbing her neck, which totally explained the crying when I moved her.

Dave was mowing the lawn so I ran outside and told him that something was wrong with Indie's neck.  I'm not sure he was totally convinced, but I called her pediatrician early the next morning anyway and told her it was Indie's neck.  The pediatrician gave me an early appointment, confirmed that it was possible, then sent us to Children's Hospital for admittance.  It was an awful day with more labs, IV fluids, anesthesia, MRI, lots of conflicting information, and finally a best-guess diagnosis that Indie had a rare bacterial infection around the C-2 vertebrae in her neck.  Once one of the doctors delivered Indie's diagnosis and antibiotic treatment, I asked if we could take her antibiotics home that evening.  Clearly I wasn't getting it because we still had more testing, monitoring, anesthesia and the insertion of a Picc line before we were able to leave 4 days later.

Now we are home and Indie is happy. So happy!  She smiles at everything, laughs just for fun, claps all the time, destroys the house and loves life.  I have had some sad times realizing that she was miserable for a month and I didn't know how to help her (mom guilt is real!)  I have also been so full of gratitude for Indie and her joyous personality.  I am so so grateful that she had a fixable problem and she is home improving with our family.  So grateful that Dave completely took over my responsibilities at home so I could be at the hospital with Indie (but my favorite part when always when they came to visit.)  I am so grateful that we have a strong family that was able to take on this challenge and grow from this experience.  I was humbled by all the people willing to serve our family and really appreciated meals, visits, thoughtful gifts, and so many offers to help with the girls.  I feel so very fortunate and appreciate the perspective I've gained through this experience.

Indie does have a Picc line in her leg, which will be limiting this summer, but we've gotten comfortable with her IV antibiotics.  She also has a neck brace that we're not great about, but we're working on it.  And she does pull off a neck brace like a rock star!

Mother's Day in the hospital wasn't my plan, but I got to spend time with my girls and that's what this mom gig is all about!