Me and Cora

I have lot of pictures with Indie, which I completely love.  One of my goals for the new year is to get in more pictures with my girls.  It may sound like a narcissistic goal, but it is important for me that our family photos reflect our interactions and our time together.  I have a handful of pictures with  my cuddly book loving Cora and I hope to add more with Eden and Milan!  

Sledding

We have had a tough couple of weeks with really cold weather and no snow.  But the past couple of days have been perfect with both snow, decent weather, and even some sun!  Thursday, Eden walked out of school with her snow stuff on and grabbed the sled as soon as she got home.  Eden never misses snack time, so I know she was excited!  The girls found the perfect hill in front of the neighbor's house and played all afternoon!  Indie is less than excited about cold weather; Milan and I showed her some snow and she thought it was okay to play with for a couple of minutes so maybe winter will win her over after all.    

My little artist

 Milan is quite an artist and can make beautiful creations with markers, paints, pencils, you name it.  They have been having inside recess at school so Milan and her friends have been staying busy with a card club.  Between this and her love of reading, Milan is ready to ride out the rest of winter.  

Indie {13 Months}

Indie is at such a fun age!  She sleeps all night and wakes up with babbling, clapping, and beaming smiles.  

She babbles all the time!  She talks when she is trying not to fall asleep and has been known to talk loudly in public.  Her signs and words seem to be very intermittent.  She was just accepted into the Munroe Meyer Speech Study, which I have heard amazing things about.  I am hoping that the weekly signing practice will help our signs stick better!  

Indie still takes 1-2 bottles a day, but mostly eats table foods with us.  She is interested in running the utensil with me and sometimes even makes it into her mouth. 

Her bottom teeth are finally growing in.  I have been waiting for those guys for months, but was surprised to feel that both her top molars are also growing in.   

Indie learned how to 4 point crawl on December 9!  She surprised me at therapy then continued crawling 3-4 scoots at home.  She was happy to perform all day long, which is why I have been surprised that she hasn't crawled the same way again.  She has developed a 3 point crawl that she consistently uses to get where she wants to go so looks like she is sticking with that for a while.  

Indie's 12 month blood work revealed a low white blood cell count, which had me more than a little convinced that she had Leukemia.  Lower numbers on the subsequent blood draw didn't help either.  Meanwhile, she developed a stomach flu, which explained the wonky blood results.  It took her forever to kick that bug and I was so glad to have our healthy little girl back along with normal test results!  

We have seen Indie pull up to standing a couple of random times, but she just started doing it consistently this week.  It still takes her a couple of tries, but once she has her mind set, she keeps trying until she can get it.  She can also stand assisted for quite a while and has even started taking a couple of teeny tiny cruising steps.  

Indie loves rocking on the horse, dancing, clapping when people say hi, licking the sliding glass door, banging the computer cabinet, bath time, and having us all wrapped around her little finger.  

Pool Day

We spent 2 full days at the family pool right in The Villages.  It was less than 5 minutes away and had lots of lounge chairs in the shade, which is exactly how Dave and I like to do the pool.  We borrowed a couple of pool noodles that were laying around, unhooked some rings from Indie's car seat, and threw some coins in the pool for Milan and we all played forever!  Jack stopped by both times and the girls all loved playing around with him too.  

The last day Jack treated us to Steak and Shake and it was fabulous!  That place was hopping with retirees at 4 pm and in the midst of the craziness we met a little 4 year old with DS and her family, which I always love.  

Our Florida vacation was far from perfect with lots of hiccups along the way, but it was amazing!  The weather was beautiful, we found a lot of fun things to do, and most importantly got to hang out with family.  It was hard to leave (and not just because we had a 2 day drive home) and I think we might even do it again next year.  

Fresh Squeezed Florida Orange Juice

Grandma Kat has created a beautiful yard and one of my favorite things was this orange tree.  It just seems so Florida-ish to me :)  Indie wasn't quite sure about eating oranges, but was a big fan of playing with the orange balls around her.