Lavender Festival

I was in a bit of a rut after doing all the same summer activities over and over so when my friend Carrie invited us a lavender festival in Iowa we said "sure!"  We had no idea what to expect, but it was perfect!  A low-key event, perfect weather, a fairy garden, and lavender fields was just what I needed.  It was a cool evening so we sat on our blanket listening to music and chatting before heading home.  

Walking

Indie took her first official steps on Thursday, June 15!  That week at speech therapy, Indie spent her time standing up by herself in front of the mirror over and over.  She even took a couple of side steps and I realized we may not be too far from actual steps.  2 days later, I decided to put a lego stick in each hand to see if I could trick her into walking independently.  It worked, she took a couple steps so I called the entire family to the living room.  While we are all gathered around, Indie took 5-6 steps across the living room and we cheered her on like crazy!  It was an even bigger deal and better feeling than I thought it would be.

Fast forward a month and Indie is walking everywhere.  She still holds her hands out and still falls quite a bit, but she stands right back up and continues on her way.  She has become a bit of a tornado around here, she is relentless with opening cabinets, finding electrical outlets, and making messes whenever she can.  Luckily the girls are great helpers so I can shower once in a while.  Toddlerhood is officially here and I can't wait to see what's next with this little bear. 

Schwimming

We hit up the lake a couple of times while Indie had her PICC line in; she seemed pretty content to play in the sand, but I was sad to see her on the sidelines.  Once we got her line out, we had to wait 24 hours, then we hit up night swimming at Plattsmouth Pool.  The older girls loved playing in the water, but Indie only loved it for a 30 minutes then she was like "eh."  We have been visiting lakes and pools ever since and just finished up a couple weeks of swim lessons.  The girls excitement has worn off to the point that they only want to swim with friends, but Indie has become brave and unstoppable in the water.  

Milan's Birthday Party

This was Milan's Golden Birthday and last hurrah in Omaha so we had to make it good.  We planned a drive-in movie party with a sleepover.  

We started with her favorite dinner, Sausage Tortellini, cheesy broccoli, and rolls then headed outside for a Silly String Fight.  Silly String ran out after a couple minutes, but they had a blast!  It was pretty dang hot, so we were excited to head inside for cake and presents.  Milan received some very generous gifts like a new swimsuit, Target gift card, money, and a handmade wall hanging.  We were about to leave for the drive-in theater with the truck, comfy blankets, popcorn, and treats when we got a text that the movie was cancelled due to wind.  I was so bummed, but the girls didn't seem too bothered so we decided to hit up the splash pad.  They had SO much fun being together and throwing water on each other for hours.  The best part was they were pretty tired for the rest of the night and willing to go to sleep at 12:30 before the forewarned "mean mom" had to come out. 

The next morning we had more playtime and breakfast then sent these cute girls on their way.  We of course needed a little downtime from all the late night partying!  

10 Year Old Pictures

Milan's birthday was the day before her party so we enjoyed 2 days of birthday festivities.  We kicked off Milan's birthday was early morning snuggles in our bed.  This year, Eden and Cora both bought Milan their own gifts so everyone was up early and excited for gift time.  Milan opened up Magic Pens, Legos (from Eden), an American Girl bead kit (from Cora), Beados, and a gift certificate for pottery painting.  Dave got her a motorcycle helmet and Calvin and Hobbes book, but they arrived later.  After gifts, Milan graciously shared her Magic Pens with all the girls and they created forever!  Next up, we went to a ward bbq, then Dave took them to a old school soda fountain in downtown Plasttsmouth, and we ended the day with some birthday pictures. 

Milan's birthday pictures were so fun!  She picked out her outfit, I picked out her hairstyle, we drove a couple miles down the highway to the perfect empty lot/ drainage ditch area and snapped away.  

I am so glad I got to capture some of Milan's beauty, but more importantly, she is an amazing kid!  She is such a big helper, usually willing to play with Indie, help with a quick chore, or lend a helping hand when she can tell I'm stressed.  She is the peacemaker in our family and can usually solve disputes with a fun inclusive game.  As a mom, I obviously love these parts of Milan, but that's not all.  She has adopted Dave's sarcasm and can be pretty funny.  She is fun and has a great group of friends.  She is super smart and is often hiding out with a book.  She is inclusive of people that are different than her.  Dave and I are both proud of Milan and can't help to pat ourselves on the back a bit because she's turning out so awesome!  (Let's see if we can keep it going haha.)