Valentine's Cookie Party

You might think this would be the perfect toddler activity for a cold Sunday afternoon. And it was a very fun way to spend the day! But I think Aurora would've enjoyed it much more if I'd let her dip her hands in frosting and pour sprinkles everywhere while grabbing everything and shoving it in her mouth. Instead, Aurora participated sporadically while Amelia and I made adorable cookies.

I really think this is the first time I've ever made sugar cookies from scratch, and it was fun and easy! We'll definitely have to make this a holiday tradition. And when I say holiday, I mean Valentine's Day, Fourth of July, Christmas...

I know I'm a week early, but Happy Valentine's Day!

Hazeled

My friend Natalie happens to be a professional photographer (www.hazeled.com), and we were lucky enough to spend an afternoon with her at UT a couple of weeks ago. These are just a few of the beautiful pictures she took...

Have no fear, we will indeed be printing copies to frame and send to the grandparents. Thank you Natalie!!!

Here we are now, entertain us...

Lately I feel like I spend much of my free time in the pursuit of entertainment. We certainly have enough toys and books to keep Aurora pretty well occupied and happy at home, but it's nice to have something special to do over the weekend, especially when it's too hot or too cold to play outside. She's still not quite into TV enough to watch for long - and I have no idea when we'll be able to take her to a movie - but I did just change my DirecTV package to include Nick Jr, Sprout, Boomerang, and some other kids programming.

Yesterday we went to a baby shower, and there must have been 10 kids of varying ages running around, spilling drinks and stepping on each other... until they turned on YO GABBA GABBA and a calm fell over the 3 and under crowd. This stuff is mesmerizing - pretty amazing.

Here's a cute picture of Chuck and Rora watching cartoons together this morning. Snuggle time quickly turned into peek-a-boo silliness!

This afternoon we took Aurora to the bouncy house. She had a great time, but we've reached a new developmental stage - the one where the more fun something is, the more she fights and cries when it's time to stop doing it. I wonder how many kids leave the bouncy house in tears each day? Oh well, it's fun while it lasts!

We don't have much on the calendar for February. Next weekend we'll probably head back to yoga, and Sesame Street LIVE is coming to Austin soon, which I'm considering. I know these things are for me as much as for her, but I hope she enjoys and appreciates them as well. She does still talk about the circus elephants! I go back and forth on the idea of planning a vacation. She's not quite old enough for Disneyland, and I'm afraid even an all-inclusive beach resort vacation wouldn't be incredibly relaxing with a toddler. Luckily, we do have a pretty fun life here in Austin.

What's going on?

This has been another very busy week at work. It feels like Aurora and I don't get enough time together during weeks like this - and when we are together, I know I should not turn on my computer, but sometimes that's easier said than done! Believe it or not, I haven't taken a single photo of Aurora since Sunday. But rest assured I have read countless books, given countless hugs and kisses, and run my fingers through those perfect curls countless times in the past few days. What else has been going on?

Everyday this week Aurora's teacher has written "Rooster" on her daily reports (wow, it's official now? Ha!). Yesterday she took a dance class at school, and I'm told her favorite parts were waving scarves and knee bends. I wish I had photos of that! Lately when I pick her up from daycare, she waves to her friends and says "Later!" - and instead of a very polite "thank you" she's started just saying "thanks." Still a polite girl. Tonight in the bathtub she spent the entire time having her hippo toys kiss each other. She's starting to count and recognizes letters of the alphabet. And she actually pooped in the potty last week. I'm not saying she's potty trained, but she seems to get the concept!

Over the weekend I did indeed buy an exercise bike. We cleared out a corner of the living room, and I have this sweet set-up where I can ride the bike while sitting on my butt, watching TV, on my computer. Not bad! My goal is 30-60 minutes each night while I watch one TV show.

And... I guess that's about it! What's going on with you?

A windy day at the park...

Working out

This morning I decided to try out a toddler and mommy yoga class downtown. It ended up being a drop-off your toddler class, with a hip hop yoga option in another room for mommy! Aurora's never been okay with me dropping her off at the kid's zone at 24 Hour Fitness, but of course this was different... there would be an attentive teacher and fun activities. So, we gave it a shot. When I left Aurora, she was happily arranging yoga mats and playing with balloons.

I headed next door to do the fastest paced yoga class I've ever been to. The music was actually great, and I have to say it may be the best work out I've gotten in the last 2-1/2 years. I certainly worked up a sweat! When I went back to collect Aurora, she was amazingly happy.

Apparently she spent the first 20 minutes clinging to the nice front desk lady, but once she got into it she just loved it. She did downward dogs, hand stands with her feet on the wall, and all kinds of other things that I wish I could've taken pictures of! In the car afterwards she kept squealing and telling me that she likes yoga.

Then we headed to Kirby Lane for brunch with Daniela, Teresa and Brittany. I must say, Aurora seemed to have used ALL her positive energy at yoga and was a little tired and cranky afterwards. She perked up when we headed outside to see the huge teddy bear next door to the restaurant.

We bought 2 more class passes for separate mommy and toddler yoga, so we'll definitely be back to try it out again. I've been feeling a little too lazy lately and have wanted to get back into some kind of exercise routine, but it's hard to come up with something that will mesh with the whole working mom thing. I'm contemplating getting an exercise bike for the living room, so that I can sit on my butt and watch TV while exercising every night after Aurora goes to bed!

Busy week

Wow, this is such a busy week for me. I won't bore you with the details, but I will tell you that no matter how busy I get, I am incredibly grateful to have a job which allows me the work/life balance I need in order to succeed as a working mom. I love my job, and I love being home to capture sweet moments like these.

Aurora and I had Monday off and stayed home to read, color, and play. Just last week I mentioned looking forward to the day Aurora can read to me, and on Monday it happened! Aurora just picked up her book and started "reading" it. Clearly, it's a very simple board book which does not require the ability to read, but still - I was very impressed! Those of you who know the Wocket in my Pocket may also recognize that she's reciting a line from that book while trying to turn those pages as well.

Then today I grabbed the camera again, thinking I'd capture some video of her asking "What's that!? What is that!?" (over and over and over). Instead, she started running around and sang a pretty sweet rendition of "Rock-a-bye Teddy Bear."

So, as busy as this week has been (and will continue to be), I get to work at a job I enjoy, play with Aurora each evening, and watch the Bachelor or American Idol every night. I have no complaints!

Circus

I wasn't really sure if Aurora was old enough to appreciate the circus, but I've been hearing commercials every morning and figured it would be fun to give it a try. While Aurora could've just sat in our laps, they had a deal where kids seats were free with the purchase of an adult ticket, so she had her own seat (which she sat in for maybe 15 minutes before getting into our laps).

We had great seats, right up front, and the different acts kept Aurora's attention the whole time. From tigers and acrobats to clowns, jugglers, bikers, trapeze artists and more - Aurora pointed, reached out, said "YAY" and "WOW!" and clapped at all the right times. It was adorable.

During intermission we got to see the elephants right up close while people rode on their backs. Aurora really wanted to ride the elephant and I kind of wish we had, but I don't think she's big enough yet. She was sad when they had to leave the stage, but it was so exciting when they came back on to do their act! They were awesome, balancing and posing and interacting with each other. Very impressive - definitely the highlight of the show.

On the way home, Aurora kept talking about how happy she was, and saying "bye bye elephants." This was the Shriner's Circus, and I must say that behind the scenes they seemed a little disorganized. I know the Barnum & Bailey Show comes through town each year as well. Next time they're here we'll have to check them out!

HAPPY!

We are so very blessed to have such a happy daughter. She loves to laugh, smile, sing, dance, and makes silly faces all the time. Of course, she has her sad times too. Lately she's been crying every night at bath time. I think it's probably because she knows it's almost time for bed, but she also hates having her nose, hair and ears washed. She'll stop crying if we pretend to cry, and then she'll laugh and make us take turns crying... "Mommy cwy? Daddy cwy? Rora cawwway? waaaaaahhhh!"

This weekend I'm hoping she'll be extra happy, as we have some pretty fun plans. Saturday we're going to the circus, Sunday our friend Natalie will be taking us out for a photo shoot, and Monday we have the day off together. I'm looking forward to another long weekend with my girl!

Read It

Aurora has always loved books. Instead of playing with toys, she brings books over to us constantly. Now that she's a talker she says "read it," or "here, read this mommy" as she hops into my lap to settle in for a story. I'm lucky in that she usually puts each book away before grabbing the next one (well, sometimes she just throws them on the floor), and her attention span has gotten long enough to sit still for an entire book (okay, sometimes she leaves halfway through and brings a different book over instead). I'm also very thankful that Chuck usually comes home just before Aurora's bedtime, and she LOVES having daddy read to her before bed.

I must admit, Chuck and I are both getting tired of most of the books we have. Aurora has actually started memorizing certain books and can repeat and anticipate each page, which is awesome. But we've started pawning off other books on each other... "here, give this one to daddy, he can read it to you." I decided we needed more books to choose from, and found a sweet deal on eBay for 9 books (mostly Dr. Seuss) for only $14. They arrived today and Aurora brought them to me one at a time until I'd read all 9 to her. Of course, she still needed us to read all her bedtime books to her as well.

Not that I'm complaining - I love reading to Aurora. But I'm looking forward to the day she can read to us!!!