Fourth of July-Indianapolis

Warning:  I posted way too many pictures!

Travis told me on Thursday evening that he had off the next day for the fourth of July.  We made an impromptu trip to Indianapolis for the long weekend.  It was our first vacation as a family of four!

We left on Friday morning and drove straight to the Indianapolis Children's Museum.  We wanted to get our money's worth so we stayed pretty much all day.  Adelyn did awesome considering she missed her nap all together! 

Tea Party with the three little bears!

She was facinated that the stars on her shorts lit up!

First carousel ride for both girls.  This was the best picture Travis could get. 

There were so many fun things to do!  If you have never gone, go!  It is huge and there is something for everyone!  Here she is loading "rocks," moving them with a pulley and stacking them!  So much fun!

Still in the construction zone!  This was her favorite area!

 Lila was a champ too!  Here we are taking a lunch break!

Adelyn is into dinosaurs right now and loved dressing up as one!  She was sitting on her eggs in this picture!

Daddy's biggest fan!  I can't tell you how much these two adore each other!

The Museum closed at 5 so we headed to our hotel.  We found a great deal and ended up staying right in the center of town!  I loved it!  After settling in, we went out to explore and grab some lunch.  Indianapolis is such a neat city!  It was very clean and not too crowded!  I felt completely safe walking around with my two girls where I don't think I ever would in Atlanta!  The city center had such neat architecture and classic feel!  We spotted this neat car!  It said just married on the back!

After dinner we found the cutest little frozen yogurt shop where we got a small treat and sat watching the people go by.

 

We retired to the hotel early to get this little one in bed.  She looks cute here, but it was a nightmare!  She did not want to go to sleep and she wanted to sleep in bed with us.  It was miserable!

Vacationing with kids is so much different than if it was just me and Travis!!  We were so laid back and go with the flow.  This is a huge change for me because I like to plan everything out and make the most of every minute!  I am learning that it is better to relax a little and meet the needs of everyone.  Everyone ends up much happier that way!

Adelyn hasn't been in a pool since she was a baby so I really wanted to take her.  As soon as we got up, we headed to the pool.  Adelyn had the time of her life!  Look at how happy these two are playing with each other!!

She did remarkably well considering she hates getting her hair washed!  We never let her go under all the way, but she almost did when she would jump in to Travis!

After checking out, we explored down town a little more.  I really did love the feel of the city! 

Our hotel was right on this street!

Adelyn loved all the places to explore!

After walking through the city, we went down by the canal.  I don't have any pictures on my camera, but we went on a paddleboat.  It was such a cute area!  Adelyn loved sitting on the back with me and hanging her feet in while Travis took us around! 

Since it was the Fourth, a couple museums we open free to the public!

I hardly took any pictures of Lila because she was always strapped to me.  This was back at the hotel!  We did not stay out for fireworks but we were able to see some from our room!

On Sunday we got up and drove by the new Indianapolis temple.  I wanted to get a picture by it but there was someone there blocking anyone from entering because it is not yet open to the public.  I had never heard of this before, but apparently they have people on watch because of protesting that surrounds the openings of temples.  I was sad we couldn't stop more.

After church we headed over to a park that was recommended to us.  We didn't realize it was more like a museum and it was more expensive than what it would be worth with the time we had left.  Instead we looked up a local park and it was perfect!

It had 3 nice play areas in the shade and a splash pad!  As we were driving, we saw so many nice parks.  I really was impressed with how clean the city was and how many free places there were to go with the kids!

I have only taken her to a splash pad once and she was not a fan!  This time she LOVED it!  I assume it's because it wasn't crowded and Travis went around with her! I love her faces!!

It was such a fun, quick trip!  The girls did great and it was a good family refresher for us!

Lila's Blessing Day

My little Lila Rae was blessed a couple weeks ago on June 21.  My parents were able to come up and it was a perfectly imperfect day.

We were able to have many friends and neighbors come and support us!  I love that my friends support me even when we have different beliefs.  It shows that love really is the most important thing!  We have met many great people in our short time here.

Travis gave a beautiful blessing to our baby.  I was only able to hear half of it because the mic wasn't on at first and the child in front of us was being loud.  I do know that Travis was touched by the spirit and got emotional.  Travis loves his little girls so much!  Some of our best friends were able to join the circle to help bless her!

It was father's day, so the rest of the speakers talked about the role of the father.  I thought it was the perfect subject for Travis on this special day.  During the last hour, Lila had a little incident.  Mom was holding her and had lifted her dress up so she could have a better grip.  All of the sudden, she let out the loudest toot!  It sounded like a teenage boy was in the room!  People on the opposite side of the room all turned and looked because it was so loud.  There was a little laugh and the lesson went on.  Lila was starting to get fussy so mom handed her over to me.  That's when I felt it.  She didn't just toot.  She had a poop explosion!  It was all up her back, on her beautiful dress and all over mom's skirt.  We all got up and went to the bathroom to clean everyone up.  Luckily we were able to get it all out of everyone's clothes.  That's my little ladylike girl!

After church, my talented friend Lisa came over to take a few pictures!  I love how they turned out!!!

Us with my parents. 

 Me and Lila!

My favorite family picture ever!!! I love this little family of mine!!!

 My happy little baby!

 I love this picture!  Lila loves grabbing on to her clothes (or mine) and it turned out to look so cute here!  You can kind of see here, but the dress was SUPER sparkly.  We left a trail of sparkles everywhere we went.  It took me a week to get it all off of Lila!

 Look at this gorgeous dress!  I am in love with it!  My talented mother made it!  I explained to her what I wanted and she dove in.  No pattern necessary with her talent and skill! 

Mom used parts of her wedding dress to make Lila's gown.  If you look closely you can see lace medallions in the skirt about halfway up.  Those were hand sewn onto my mom's wedding dress by my Gingums, Rae.  Such a special dress!

 The headband was made by my sweet friend Rachael! It was perfect!

 I love this sweet girl!  Thanks to everyone for making this day so special!

Au Revoir Stewarts

Ohio has been really great to me the last 4 years!  It has seen me through tough times and great times.  It has brought many tears, triumphs, trials and tender mercies.  When people ask me how I like Ohio, I say that it is nothing compared to the beauty of the west but the people are AMAZING!!!  I have met some of the best friends I have ever had here in Ohio.

Moving here was tough and there were a few people that really took me in under their wings.  We live near an airforce base so most of our friends are used to this way of life and understand how moving and establishing yourself is sometimes hard.  They made it a million times better just by being there.  The people at our church are so welcoming of new people because they have been that new person.

I will never forget my first Sunday at church.  I felt so uncomfortable being a fresh, newlywed couple.  We were surrounded by families and kids and I couldn't find my place.  That is, until Leisy reached out to me and invited me to bookclub.  I was excited to go even though I hate reading.  Leisy soon became one of my best friends.  She introduced me to many other wonderful people, including the Stewarts.

Aleese is one of the most genuine and kind people I have ever met.  I have learned so much from her about service, parenting and asking Heavenly Father for help with specific needs. 

Last year Leisy moved away to Japan and my other best friend Alison moved to Utah.  This year I had to say goodbye to Aleese as they are headed to Alaska.  It has been one of the hardest things about living here.  I meet these amazing people and then get torn apart when they leave. 

I am so grateful for the examples of so many great women!  I hold many of them near to my heart as they helped me through some of my hardest times.

Aleese, we love you and your sweet family!  You will be missed but I am excited to hear about your new adventures!  The people in Alaska are lucky to get you guys!

 

Adelyn will miss her friend Briony!

 

Saying bye a year ago (sorry timehop cut you off Ashley and Amy!)

And saying goodbye now. It doesn't get easier.

 These ladies are all so fabulous!  I love them all!!

Summer Happenings

I have loved being home with my girls so far this summer!  I love being able to see them meet milestones and learn and grow.  After my first week off, I found myself getting into some bad habits though.  I found that I was glued to my phone and I noticed that I started letting Adelyn watch more tv than I would like because I was tired or needed a break.  I wasn't being as hands-on as I wanted to be.

To change that, I searched Pinterest to find things that I could do with her.  They are just very small basic things, but it is our time together.  A lot of times we wait to do things while Lila is napping so it is special mommy-Adelyn time.  I bought 5 bins (one for each weekday) and in each bin I included a book and related activity, an art or craft, a quiet time activity and a fun activity.  Adelyn has LOVED having these bins and gets excited when I pull them out to play with.  It helps me having something already prepared so I don't just plop her down on the couch.

We have never gotten to all the activities in one day and some days we don't do any because of other things going on.  I love that I can take Adelyn to playgroup now.  It has been pretty nice outside so we have also gone to the park and splash pad and had play dates with friends!  We get to go to story time at the library and much much more!  I love summer and all the fun things going on!

Here are some random pictures from the past 2 weeks!  Most of them are from off my phone so the quality isn't the best, but the moments are! Warning: there are tons of pictures of my babies!

We had playgroup at the park and did a Father's day craft.  Our neighbors from our last home came with their granddaughter!  She loved all the kids and helped Adelyn on the playground equipment! 

 

I love this little girl of mine!! She struck this pose when I told her to look at me!

 

We read "Clara the Cookie Fairy" and then made cookies one day!

She begs to play with these sail boats Grandma B gave her pretty much every day!

 This little lady smiles all the time!!  When she smiles, her whole face lights up!  It makes me so happy!

 

This is another activity she begs to do everyday!  She runs over and grabs this book and asks to make monsters! 

 

Playgroup at the park!  This is one of her best friends!  (Adelyn is sitting beside me right now and when she looked over and saw the picture she gasped and said "Cora!!") 

 

National Donut day and trip to the taco truck!  The picture on the left is probably my favorite picture of my two girls! 

 

Another one of Adelyn's best friend's (Cora's mom!) ran a half marathon on Saturday that went right by our house.  We made a sign to cheer her on.  We also saw her nursery teacher with her husband and my friend Mary!

 

It is outdoor BBQ season!!!  We love all the parties!  Adelyn loved this Tricycle and watching Travis play corn hole and CanJam with the guys! 

 

Summertime means lots of bath times!  It is twice as much fun with 2 girls! Adelyn loves putting washcloths on Lila and dumping water on her.  

 

Travis finally got to see Lila in a great mood!  Evenings are her fussy time and that's the only time he is home.  I was happy that they were able to bond a little bit!

 

Look at this chunky monkey!  She is now starting to move on to 6 month clothes and she just barely turned 2 months old!!   

 

More adorable smiles!! 

 

We have had lots of cuddle time while watching some of my favorite childhood movies! 

 

We have been working on getting Lila's room done.  We finally got it painted and the beadboard put up!  Now we just need to find wall art! 

 

Travis went on a campout and set up his tent to air it out and clean it when he got home.  Adelyn loved playing in it!

 

I am excited for more summertime adventures, vacations and family visits!