Latkes & Cheerios

Happy last day of Chanukah! Tonight we lit the Menorah all the way and I made latkes with sour cream and apple sauce. Chuck was afraid to try my latkes, but I made them out of a box - how bad could they be? They were great, just like tasty little hashbrowns!

Aurora stuck to her Cheerios... or should I say, the Cheerios stuck to her!

Her newest trick is holding her hands out when she wants to be picked up. I think it's adorable, and the more she can communicate with us, the better.

Holiday cards

I just wanted to share some of the great photos and photo cards we received this year. Julian and his family; My parents with their dog Joey; my friend Pam's kids - who I used to babysit but are teenagers now! Melanie, Courtney, Avery and Jack; Joey and Benny, who I also used to babysit for; Jeanna's three beautiful daughters; and our old friend Jamie - what a beautiful wedding photo!

I did send photo cards this year, but was horribly neglectful in sending gifts. It was less financial, and more a time thing... one time Aurora and I went to the mall and didn't even get inside because we couldn't find a parking spot. And I didn't even want to think about going to the post office, trying to juggle a baby and a pile of packages. Next year we'll have to start planning ahead - like, shopping in September!!!

One week down...

One to go! It's great having 2 weeks off from work, but it's going way too fast. Today Aurora and I didn't do much. We had lunch with Tammy, Kim, and Bill at Romeo's...

And we hung out and played a lot at home. Aurora was a bit clumsier than usual; she took no fewer than 5 face plants that made me cringe and her cry. Amazingly, her face doesn't even show a mark! She also took more naps than usual. She was sleeping so deeply when we got home from lunch that I was able to unload the bags, take this picture, get the mail, open the mail, then run upstairs, grab the fingernail clippers, and actually trim her nails while she slept! Those nails were getting way too long...

Christmas Day

We had a pretty great day today with the Rhoades clan. Lena, Andrew, and 4-month old Atticus (hey, what's so funny about my little daughter!?)... Orion and Susan...

Chad and Pam (Aurora really liked Chad - I'm not sure why :)

And Bethany and Matthew, who graciously opened up their home to us. We've spent Christmas with them in the past as well, back when we all lived in LA, and we're so thankful to have them as friends.

The food was excellent, and if Aurora and I weren't so tired, we would've stayed much longer. Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!

Christmas Eve

My favorite thing about Christmas so far is that Chuck took today and will take tomorrow off work to enjoy the holidays with our friends. This afternoon we had lunch at Chuy’s with Andrew, Lena, and Kim.

Then we took a walk around Lady Bird Lake. Those of you enjoying a white Christmas may be interested to know that it was 75 degrees out today… not the most wintry of weather!

Afterwards we came home and opened presents. Aurora got SO MANY GIFTS! Everybody loves giving presents to a sweet little girl.

She got a cute outfit from Teresa, pajama’s from Nicolette, an Ugly Doll and an awesome wooden toy from Kim Barnett, cute little board books from Julian & family, a dolly from Pam, a peacock toy and Mozart Magic Cube from Grandfather Wadey, teething rings and a gift card from Katie, a cute bib and hat from Susanna & Johnny (along with a ton of cookies!), a dalmatian outfit from my Mom & Dad, and more...

My parents also sent a hoodie for Chuck and shower gel for me. Those were two of the few gifts not for Aurora, but for some reason the bath gel was the one thing she NEEDED! It was a near-meltdown situation. Perhaps all the toys and gifts coming at once was a little overwhelming.

I was trying to think of why we open presents on Christmas Eve, and I seem to remember opening gifts on Christmas day as a young child, then getting to open one present on Christmas Eve, and eventually my family decided that we may as well open them all a day early! I mean, why not? Hey, it works for me.

Playtime

This morning Aurora and I headed out to the Austin Children's Museum to spend some time playing! Mondays from 9am-Noon the museum is open for parents and kids under 3, so no big kids are trampling the babies, and the activities are all baby-friendly. Admittedly, Aurora was one of the younger kiddos and probably won't truly appreciate it for a few more months - but she had fun!

She was fascinated by these ping pong balls as they fell down this neat contraption:
She tried out the tiny little slide... whoa!

And she played in this awesome little corner area with all soft toys. I want an area like this in my house!

Afterwards, we met up with Chuck for lunch, then headed to the mall for some walking. Actually, after watching toddlers walk around all day, I decided Aurora needed some better shoes for all her standing up and cruising. We went to Stride-Rite and found a great pair of crib shoes on sale for $14.95! Rora had fun there too - she got her feet measured and a sales person helped her try on her shoes on to make sure they fit right.

"I'm ready to play some more now mommy! Perhaps a nap first..."

Happy Chanukah

Last year Grandpa and Bernice sent us our very own Menorah so that we could celebrate Chanukah with baby girl Wadey once she was born. While we will be lighting our Menorah each night this coming week, this year we spent the first night of Chanukah at 4-month old baby Larkin's house.

Jennifer said Chanukah is her favorite holiday, and Aurora & I are so honored that we could be a part of it this year! Aurora loved playing with the dreidel.
Jenn made latkes with applesauce and sour cream. Aurora wasn't sure what to think of those, but I thought they were YUM!

Jennifer lit the first candle and said the Chanukah prayers in Hebrew, then I read them in English.

The reading was a little bit different than what Grandpa & Bernice sent me, but both are very similar. Here are the Sandler blessings:

Blessed are we for kindling the Chanukah candles.
Blessed are we for our forefathers who made miracles in those days at this season.
Blessed are we who have been sustained and have lived to this season.

During this holiday season, I feel blessed for our parents and grandparents, for my little family here in Austin, and for good friends like Jennifer and Kim, who also celebrated her first Chanukah with us (she took pictures!).

While I wasn’t raised practicing all the Jewish traditions, I really do value that part of my life and want Aurora to know and celebrate all aspects of her heritage; Jewish, Christian, and Ukrainian.

Hanging out with grown-ups

On Wednesday night we actually hired a babysitter so that we could go to Chuck’s holiday party. We skipped my LAF party earlier in the week, but Chuck really wanted to attend his and we’re both glad we did. It was held in a new downtown condo building, catered by Whole Foods, and gave us the chance to play a little Rock Band (always fun!).

I found us a babysitter one day just walking around our neighborhood. She lives one street over and is a senior at Westlake High School. When she saw Aurora she started telling me all about the other babies in the neighborhood that she babysits. Aurora liked her automatically, so we lined her up.

As you may know, this was our first actual hired babysitter. Katie watched Aurora on Father’s Day so Chuck & I could go to a special dinner, and Teresa watched Aurora one evening so that we could see Dark Knight in IMAX. Before you go thinking we are total shut-ins because of Aurora, you have to realize – it’s not like we never go out without her. She’s in daycare 8 or more hours per day, 5 days a week! Chuck & I often meet for lunch or go out with friends during work hours, and we value the time we have with Aurora even more because we’re away from her for so long. Of course, she’s asleep every night by 7pm, and it is nice to be able to go out every now and again.

Earlier in the day I went to our annual DOVIA holiday party. DOVIA stands for Director’s of Volunteers in Austin, and I’ve been on the board for a couple years now. It was so much fun, thanks to a few of my favorite grown-ups; fellow board members Kristen, Rebecca, and Paige. Kristen should be having a sweet baby girl any day now, and I’ll be covering Treasurer duties while she’s on maternity leave. She did the same for me.

I’m glad we got a little grown-up time in before my two-week holiday break. From here on out it’ll be baby, baby, baby!

Clap your hands!

Yay! Aurora is 8-months old today, and continues to be the cutest and sweetest little thing. I know that most of the "milestones" I post may seem small, but every new skill surprises me and seems so exciting! Her latest achievement is clapping her hands, which just came out of nowhere. Now if you clap your hands and say "yay!!!" she just grins from ear to ear and starts clapping along with you. Waving will be next...

These last few weeks Aurora has become much more energetic and active. You already know she can crawl and stand up, but somehow the level of enthusiasm and energy she puts into it - as well as her strength and agility - have started to increase significantly, and I'm sure this is just the beginning of an exhausting and never ending stage of mobility. I'm suddenly SO GLAD I kept working!!! Aurora loves being at daycare - she's always smiling when I pick her up, and it's obvious that she has bonded with her caretakers as well as the other babies. I'm just glad she has constant supervision and a safe environment to play in all day.

Of course, I'm also looking forward to these next two weeks off with her. I'm sure I'll be exhausted and my back will hurt and my arms will be sore by the end of it, but I will do my best to enjoy (and document) every minute of it!

"What's this again... bread?"

Curt & Brooke!

Yesterday Curt & Brooke came in from LA for a long weekend in Austin. As our first order of business, I made them come to the LAF and help with some volunteer work ;) Today we've just been hanging out and enjoying the day. Aurora has LOVED having them around. She's feeling better, eating better, and sleeping better than last weekend, which is goooood news. Here are some of my favorite pictures from the visit (so far):

First, we had a lovely breakfast at Mimi's Cafe.

Then found Santa at the Hill Country Galleria! Cheezhead Robin was right about Aurora getting more chances to visit with Santa. This one was extremely serious about his job. I believe he actually said (in the deepest and jolliest voice you can imagine) "Ho Ho Ho, Aurora we could use your help at the North Pole, Ho Ho Ho..." She really liked him.

Here we are eating dinner at Springhill, our local catfish restaurant. Yum!

And here's Aurora wearing an awesome little hat that Brooke made for her! I picked out the yarn, and we all kind of thought it looked like a blue and brown afro :) Way too cute!!!

Now here's an amazing sight... Tater sat on Curt's lap! Curt & Brooke don't look scared at all, do they?! She wanted to stay there all evening, but Curt's legs were falling asleep due to the hefty weight of this kitty, and she had to move...

So, there you have it! We're planning a walk around Lady Bird Lake tomorrow... perhaps we'll have more great photos to share afterwards.

The View...

From our balcony. Yes, we woke up to snow in Austin, TX! The studio hasn't been getting much use lately, but here you can see how nice it looks with the new siding and paint colors.

Also from the balcony, but facing the other direction. I love how the leaves have been changing.

From my window at work this morning. It was such a nice clear day today, and I realized... this won't be my view for much longer! We're moving to a new office next month.

From Aurora's daycare late this afternoon. Can you see Lake Austin in the distance? It's really a beautiful location for a childcare facility.

From my drive down Bee Caves road this evening. Chuck got mad at me for taking a picture while driving, but I swear I had the camera ready ahead of time and there wasn't much traffic - it was perfectly safe! The sunset and moon were so beautiful, as was the whole day.

I hear it'll warm up again tomorrow, but I'm hoping it's not true...

Snotty Daughty

Those of you following me on facebook already know that Aurora has been sick this weekend. She hasn't quite been herself ever since we returned from AZ. At first, she refused to nurse before bed, and I figured she was just off schedule. Then Thursday she awoke with an extremely runny nose, and both Thursday and Friday she didn't finish her afternoon bottle at daycare. Friday Carole told me she didn't think Aurora was feeling very well, and that was how our weekend began...

Yesterday Aurora woke up with the runniest nose EVER - seriously gross and dried up all over her nostrils so she could hardly breath - along with goopy eyes, a red blotchy face, and extreme sadness. Turns out she had a 101.7 fever too. I started her on fairly regular doses of Tylenol, which really improved both her temp and mood.

She still tried her hardest to be happy and partake in her regular activities of crawling and standing up. Here are a couple pics I took yesterday, trying capture how much of a mess she was - but as usual, she saw the camera and just had to smile!

I have a busy week ahead, so I'm really hoping she isn't so sick that they make her stay home from daycare. I'm trying to secure all of our spring interns before the holiday break, and Chuck & I are preparing for company this coming weekend. Curt & Brooke will be visiting from LA!!! Oh, and I've been spending ALL of my free time reading the Twilight series. It's so addicting. Hey, who needs sleep anyway? It's overrated...

Pictures!!!

It was so fun to take the babies to a photoshoot during our time together. Zeland was so good, and totally conked out by the end, but I think Aurora was pretty overwhelmed the whole time. Here are a few of our favorites so far...

Phew

I’d like to start off by saying that traveling with a baby is not easy. Planning a day with 6 adults, an 8-year old and two babies who are on different schedules is a little challenging as well. Add in the logistics of Thanksgiving and Christmas (we celebrated early as it was the only time we’d all be together), and you have one hectic weekend. Actually, we had a nice time. Nancy fixed a traditional Thanksgiving meal on Thursday (no, Aurora did not eat turkey!), then we all opened presents. Rora's a lot like a kitty - she liked the ribbon best.

On Friday we hauled the babies off to Julia’s friend Nicki’s house for a photo shoot (I can’t wait to get the pictures!). Saturday was very low key – we just took a nice walk and rented a movie. Sunday we brought the babies to the park to play on the swings.



Sunday afternoon we took a quick trip up to Jerome for lunch, then on Monday we drove down to Phoenix for an afternoon at the zoo and a really lovely dinner in Tempe (thanks Andrew & Julia!).

We really had a good time getting to know little Zeland. He’s one month younger than Aurora and is such a little sweetie. He’s just sitting up and is the cutest little guy when he flails around on the ground, but Aurora started crawling a couple weeks ago and her main goal during this trip was to pull herself to standing and balance well enough to let go of whatever she was holding. I'm not sure what she's saying to Zeland here, but I can tell you that standing up was serious business. Now that we're home she's started standing up in her crib too...

I'll post more pics as I continue to go through them. I know that between Nancy, Julia, and Nicki, tons of great family photos were taken. Of course, I also need to catch up on all my food shopping, dishes, laundry, unpacking, sleeping, and reading (I just started reading Twilight)... better get to it!