It's the holiday season...

Which really just means that we have been much busier than usual, planning and attending lovely holiday parties. Last week my team held a special luncheon for our amazing office volunteers, complete with food, music, and some pretty great gifts.

Then we went out to Chuck's company party. It was dark so we didn't take many pictures, but we did enjoy ourselves.

And we MORE than made up for it with the photos taken at my holiday party last night. Wowee wow! A professional photographer volunteered to work our event, and we ended up with some very lovely - and some extremely wacky - photos! You can see more on my facebook page.

It's been pretty fun to have excuses to dress up and spend time with friends. Two things we definitely do not do enough. Of course, we DO have a pretty good time with our wacky little daughter! Had to sneak in a silly Rora pic...

Happy Chanukah

Tonight was the first night of Chanukah, and I planned an entire evening filled with lighting the first candle on our Menorah, giving Aurora her first Chanukah book, and of course making potato latkes with applesauce and sour cream.

We also opened the wonderful gift basket of goodies from Grandpa and Bernice, and played with a Dreidel (that was Aurora's favorite part!).

This year our friends Amelia and Patrick joined in the festivities. Once Aurora went to bed, they stayed to babysit while Chuck and I went to his company holiday party. I honestly didn't think it would be possible to observe Chanukah as a family AND get to Chuck's holiday party, but thanks to Amelia and Pat, we were able to do both!

There are some events I plan ahead for and get babysitters lined up way in advance, and other things that sneak up last minute and just make me sad that we don't have family nearby to come over and watch Aurora so we can go out to parties, concerts, and dinners. Then just when I'm feeling saddest, a good friend offers to help and I realize how lucky we really are.

Tree Time

Today we had nothing on the schedule - just a lazy day at home. It really is beginning to feel like winter around here, with temps dropping low enough to bring a few snow flurries earlier in the week.

We already opened a bunch of Christmas gifts over Thanksgiving, and had debated over whether to put up the artificial tree, buy a real tree, or just leave the house undecorated (which is what we did last year). This morning, it just seemed like the thing to do. We dug out the tree and ornaments, put on some classic holiday tunes, and Aurora helped decorate her first Christmas tree!

I really wasn't sure if she'd help or hinder the process, and ultimately she did a little of both. She really did "get" the idea of hanging the ornaments on the tree - at first putting 4 ornaments on the same branch - then moving around and finding nice places for them. Of course, I put the breakable ornaments on myself, closer to the top of the tree, but that didn't stop her from dropping and breaking a few. If she's anything like her cousin, Lillie, this may end up being her favorite part of the season! Perhaps next year we'll get a real tree.

I decorated a few other areas, pulling out the red table runner, holly place mats, and even a wreath. It's so festive and cozy in here now!

I haven't figured out how to hang our stockings yet, but the Menorah is on the fireplace mantle, ready for use next week! We don't have any grand holiday plans for the rest of the month. No travel booked, no house guests lined up. But I'm looking forward to everything the season has to offer.

Family Photos

It would be silly to have THIS many Wadey's all in one place, and NOT get professional photos taken.

Wait, let's try for one where Cameron actually looks happy. Yes, much better. Do we have cute kids or WHAT!?

This is one of my favorites. I gave everybody holiday socks to wear for the photo shoot and this one really shows 'em off.

As as Julia noted here, taking family photos is and should be a yearly occurance. Check out how much Aurora and Zeland have grown! Our silly little babies last year at Thanksgiving...

This year they're big toddlers! If only I'd put Aurora's hoodie up.

There were many more great pics, but you'll have to wait until you see our holiday photo card (and Nancy's, and Julia's) for more.

Back to work

I must say, I truly enjoyed having so much time off for Thanksgiving and welcoming everybody to our home for the first time. It really was stress-free, and Aurora loved having family here. Grandpa Chuck just left this morning, and we will miss having him around.

We already miss Zeland, Julia, Cam, Steve, Nancy and Andrew - who left Saturday and Sunday. Here's one of the last pictures we took on Sunday... Grandma Nancy and her boys!

After a long weekend, I never know whether I'm going to wish I had more time off, or jump at the chance to have a break from being a full-time mom. The same goes for Aurora - sometimes she's first to the door, ready to go back to school, and other times she's positive we've become a stay-at-home family and wants to keep it that way. It's always harder to recover when we've done the traveling, which is why it was nice to stay at home this time around.

Well, this week we've already made a pleasantly easy transition back into work and school. Everybody's happy and every thing's back to normal. I've been busy at work, but in a really good way. Today we got to see the finished product from that PSA we recorded at a sound studio last month. I wanted to share it with you...

Listen closely and you'll hear my voice at the end! We are Team LIVESTRONG - too cool!!!

NEW MOON

Okay, so there's one other thing I'm thankful for that I failed to mention on my last post, and that's NEW MOON! Nancy, Julia and I went to see the second installment of the Twilight Saga Thursday night, and it was amazing. Better than expected. I'm still thinking about it. Of course, unless you've read the book and know exactly what I'm talking about, I don't recommend it.

Seriously, I loved everything about it. I loved that we got to leave the men and babies (and incidentally our cell phones) at home and have a night out. I loved that we went in our Twilight Mom and Twilight Grandma t-shirts. I loved that we got popcorn even though we'd just gorged ourselves on Thanksgiving dinner and pies. I loved that Edward sparkled and had spray painted abs. And I LOVED that I got to see it with Julia - exactly one year after she lent me the first book and got me hooked on the series. If the third movie, Eclipse, comes out next Thanksgiving, we're seeing it together!

Thanks!

In no particular order, I'd like to give thanks for...

Our great new park in Bee Caves, and having Grandma Nancy here as a playmate for the kids.

ABC videos, which provide a few minutes of quiet time, even in a house with two toddlers.

Chuy's fish tacos and margaritas. Possibly my favorite food! Definitely my favorite place to take out of town guests.

A stress-free Thanksgiving dinner, ordered precooked from Luby's. And my friend Nancy, for lending us these beautiful serving dishes.

Christmas at Thanksgiving. Hey, we don't get together very often - may as well combine holidays when you can!

SANTA! Who doesn't love sitting in Santa's lap?

Family portraits. We did a professional photo shoot (pics to come), but as you can imagine we also took LOTS of great family photos ourselves. This one might be my favorite.

A new tradition... decorating gingerbread houses. Fun!

I'm thankful for the family who came out to Austin this weekend, and for all of our family and friends around the country. I'm thankful for my LIVESTRONG family, and for having a 4-day weekend. I'm thankful for my Grandpa, who turns 86 tomorrow! I'm thankful for our sweet baby girl, who brings such joy to our lives - and for my digital camera and Macbook, for making it so easy to capture and share every moment.

Thanksgiving Begins

This morning Chuck and his dad joined Aurora and her little friends for a special Thanksgiving lunch at daycare. Here she is with her best friends, Emily, Adelina, Seth, and Sydney:

She's definitely enjoyed having her Grandpa around these last couple days... it's one more person for her to boss around. "Seet down, Gampa." I don't think they fed the boys much, but hopefully they enjoyed participating.

This afternoon Julia, Cameron and Zeland arrived in Austin as well. I think Aurora's glad to have family in around, but she is a little possessive of her things ("MINE!"). Regardless, we've been having great weather for playing outside and taking nice walks together.

And on occasion, we can even get Aurora and Zeland to kiss!

Nancy, Steve and Andrew arrive tonight, and we'll have a FULL HOUSE! Okay, so they're not ALL staying here, but it'll still be a full house. Lots of pictures to come.

Goofy Girl

I wanted to share a couple of silly videos so you can see for yourself what a goofy girl we have. I know many of you will be seeing her in person VERY soon (yay for Thanksgiving!), so you can consider this a little sneak peak. She's so silly and most certainly has a mind of her own.

Believe it or not, she can actually say most of the alphabet. Katie can attest to this, as Aurora recited most of it to her over the phone the other day. But we're DEFINITELY approaching the "terrible-two's" and when Rora decides she wants something to be a certain way, that is the only acceptable way. Ooooooh boy.

Fast Food

Lately I've started to appreciate the beauty of fast food. Mind you, this coming from a fairly health-conscious vegetarian who worked at McDonald's for over 4 years. Everything changes once you have a toddler.

Cooking these days isn't out of the question, but I've been opting for prepared meals from Whole Foods, Super Suppers, and Soup Peddler for weeknight dinners. We still enjoy eating at restaurants once or twice on weekends, but it's not our favorite scenario. Don't let this photo deceive you... Aurora does not sit still at restaurants. She's a good happy kiddo, but waiting patiently and staying in place are not virtues she possesses.

Fast food is not only fast, but there's almost always a play area and other kids to keep her occupied. In fact, we've started to see the same friends each week. This little girl is at McDonald's every Sunday. Her name is Robin, and believe it or not, she has a big brother named John.

Another food option I'd like to mention is pretend eating. Aurora has definitely figured out how to pretend play. She loves sitting at little tables and saying "num num" while acting like she's lifting a spoon to her mouth. We spent about an hour at Pottery Barn Kids on Sunday, pushing the child-size shopping cart around, putting little pots and plates inside, even pretending to wash dishes in the cute little kitchen sink!

If you're still wondering what to get Aurora for Christmas, I say little plates and bowls, fake food sets, toddler sized pots and pans, and kitchen things would probably be a hit. And while I still prefer we stick with the primary colors - I will admit defeat to my brother and tell you that she's already started gravitating to all things pink. And any kind of phone. I believe Julian predicted that by the time she was 2 her favorite thing would be a pink Disney Princess cell phone, and I must say that if I were to purchase that for her, it would very likely be her favorite toy. Her second favorite thing at Pottery Barn Kids (aside from the mini-kitchen and table accessories) was the old fashioned vanity with pink phone. I'm not sure how she even knows this is supposed to be a telephone - when was the last time you used a phone like this? But she sat there and very sincerely answered the phone at least three times. "Hello?"