Before & After: Part II

I’m sure our yard looked nice when we moved in, but even pre-baby the most we could do was mow the lawn and try to pull out weeds before they took over. Not easy tasks pre-baby; nearly impossible post-baby.

The main challenge with our yard is that it’s just so darn big! And it’s segmented into all these different areas, each with their own issues.

The pathway leading to the front door had several overgrown shrubs that were impossible to maintain. I’d prune them, then it would rain and all the places I’d cut would sprout an extra foot of thick green growth! Not only were they were multiplying out of control, but they had caused the siding to rot behind them. Now they’re gone, replaced with lovely well-spaced pineapple guava plants which may not look perfect yet (they definitely have some growing to do), but will be much slower growing and should even flower in the Spring. Here you can see the new siding too...

The small side-yard next to the driveway had become totally overrun with weeds, and now has a new layer of mulch and a lovely array of shrubs. This is one of the first things people will notice as they drive by.

That same side in the backyard is what I see out my kitchen window and dining room glass doors, and basically was just dirt and weeds. While visitors and passers by may never notice this area, it’s truly my favorite improvement. Okay, so the before isn't the EXACT same area, but it's a continuation of the same area (it was the closest I could find)...

As you can see, Aurora loves getting strapped into her Snuggli to help water the new plants!

We’ve made a lot of progress, but there’s a lot more to be done. There are several other areas that we haven’t even touched, and I’d love to beautify them all. For now, we’re just trying to get everything to the point where monthly maintenance is the only yard work we’ll need.

Before & After: Part I

We’ve done a lot of home improvements in the nearly 3-years that we’ve lived in Austin; from new floors, paint, and fixtures, to siding, windows, and even a new roof. This month it felt pretty good to finally get around to working on the landscaping. I'm planning to post a Before & After blog with pictures of the changes, but I have to get some better "after" shots this weekend. Until then, I thought I'd give you a little teaser, even though it has nothing to do with mulch, plants or shrubs! I took this "after" photo while our lawn guy was working, and just searched around to find an appropriate "before" pic.

What a difference 10-months makes!!! Aurora might be my favorite home improvement of all time...

Mother’s Room

When plans for our new office were first presented, all we heard was that it would be a totally open floor plan with no closed door offices, and conference rooms with glass walls. At the time, I was the only nursing mother at the LAF and I was a little concerned about where I would pump! Not just for me – four of my coworkers were pregnant.

I wrote up a report outlining the need for a private room, and what it should include: a locking door, mini-fridge, electrical outlet, table and chair. As it turns out, the ladies restroom was being designed with two showers, and I'm pleased to report that one of those showers ended up being converted into a “Mother’s Room.”

Now, it’s not PERFECT. We didn’t get a locking door. In fact, we didn’t get a door at all – we got a curtain. After using the space for a few days, I can tell you that it’s not as scary as I feared it may be. The furniture and layout are also different than what I'd hoped for, but again – it’s working out! Here’s a picture of our cute little lounge:

My favorite feature is definitely the mini-fridge. No longer do us girls have to put our milk in the refrigerator with everybody’s leftovers. We also use it to display pictures of our babies! I was concerned about what it would be like to pump in the bathroom – being in such a public space with echoing acoustics – and it’s actually fine! Only women know when we’re in there, and we can rinse our pump accessories in the bathroom sink. We also have lockers in there to keep all of our supplies.

Pumping is not my favorite thing, but I feel confident I’ll reach my goal of a full year without purchasing one canister of formula. That takes a lot of dedication! It certainly helps to have an employer that supports it's working mothers...

Eastside Amber

Today the Lance Armstrong Foundation officially opened our doors at the new World Headquarters in East Austin. The building used to be an old warehouse, and almost everything that was torn down was re-used or re-purposed - pretty cool!

We had a special welcome breakfast this morning and Lance came by for a group picture. I know you can't see anybody very well here, but Lance is front and center, and I'm right behind him, two people back.

We all spent the day unpacking and organizing our cubicles. Mine is right up near the front doors, a pretty good spot!

The worst part about my job moving to the Eastside is that I live way on the Westside. When we lived in LA I commuted about an hour each way, and hated it. That’s one of the reasons I needed to get out of there! Luckily, my commute this morning wasn’t as bad as I expected. Traffic was better than usual, and it took me about 40 minutes each way. It’ll be a challenge to get out the door 15 minutes earlier everyday, but it’s worth it to have a stable job that I enjoy.

Kid’s Club

Today I finally decided to get back to the gym for the first time in over a year. Of course, I was doing prenatal and postnatal yoga up until a few months ago, but my 24 Hour Fitness membership had gone unused for longer than I care to think about (luckily I only pay $7/month).

24 Hour Fitness has a Kid’s Club that takes kiddos over 6-months old, and when I was pregnant I imagined I’d be dropping her off all the time! Four months ago I didn’t think Aurora was ready, and it turns out that now, at 10-months old, Aurora’s still not ready. At first she just sat and watched what was going on. I took a quick picture just before leaving her, and I was fairly certain she’d be playing and having a good time in no time…

Nope. At daycare they’ve told me that Aurora’s wary of strangers and just gets attached to her main teachers. I guess it’s no surprise that she didn’t like being left with the Kid’s Club staff. There were older kids running around all over the place, and after the 1-year old in the photo left, Aurora was by far the youngest one there and was probably a little scared. They came and got me halfway through my yoga class, and even I couldn't console her. She cried all the way out of the gym, into the car, until we started driving. Then suddenly she started making happy noises again, and had a fine afternoon!

I don’t know what I was really expecting. Aurora is usually happy and playful. She's going through this really cute phase where she likes to grab a book and sit herself in my lap, then help turn the pages as I read. Her afternoon daycare teacher told me she did that at daycare the other day too and she’d never had a baby do that before!

No, I didn’t expect she’d do that at 24 Hour Fitness, but I did hope she’d find something fun to distract her for a good hour and a half. Oh well… I do think we’ll try again in a few weeks. It felt good to workout again.

Round Three

Today we went back to the pediatrician, and unfortunately Aurora still has an ear infection. It's been a month since we first discovered she had a double ear infection and started our first round of antibiotics. They didn't really work at all, so 2 weeks ago we started a different kind. That cleared up one ear, but now we're on to our third round.

Aurora's starting to hate going to the doctor. I think she's just remembering the needles - vaccinations and blood draws - but now she even cries when they're listening to her heart or looking in her ears. In fact, this time she cried when I placed her on the scale! Speaking of the scale, I'm pleased to report that she's almost 20 lbs now. I knew she'd been going through a growth spurt this last week or so because she's been waking up hungry at midnight (normally she sleeps through the night no problem). Such a big girl.

She also has a lot of tooth action going on. Rora currently has 5 teeth, and the pediatrician said she could tell that more are getting ready to poke through. While I haven't been consistent, I have started letting Aurora brush her teeth. The other night she actually slept with her toothbrush in her crib - she wouldn't let me to take it away!

Our little daughter has got such a sunny disposition that she doesn't fuss about ear infections OR teething! At daycare they're surprised that she has an ear infection, and Chuck was certain she'd come out clear at today's appointment. She seriously only complains when she bonks her head or is hungry or overtired (or goes to the doctor).

Here's hoping the third time is a charm.

Aurora is NOT a vegetarian

Last week at daycare Aurora tried (and apparently LOVED) chicken nuggets. While I didn’t actually “approve” her eating meat, I am totally fine with it. In fact, I decided to buy a few Lunchables in order to support her meat-eating habit at home, and found that she did indeed do very well eating turkey.

Cayte sent me this picture of Aurora eating at daycare via picture message on my phone (how cool is that!?). Here she's eating corn, cheese quesadillas, and refried beans (yes, those are refried beans all up her arm!). I have to say - I am SO glad that she's in a daycare that provides all her meals. I wouldn't have even thought of giving her refried beans, but apparently she is a big fan of eating all kinds of food and does great with whatever they throw her way!

I’ve been a vegetarian for 10 years now, and kind of played with the idea that Aurora might be a vegetarian too. But Chuck eats meat, I ate meat when I was growing up, and I want Aurora to have a good well-rounded diet and eat the way her friends eat. So, there you have it. Heck... maybe one day I'll start eating meat again too. Who knows?

First Steps

Just three days shy of her 10-month birthday, and Aurora is well on her way to walking. Check out her first steps caught on tape:

I didn’t mean for the end to be so dramatic!

Along with increased mobility, she’s also becoming more and more curious about her surroundings. Of course, along with this increased curiosity comes an increase in injuries! On Friday she got her finger stuck in the foot pedal on the trash bin while Chuck was watching her, then tried closing her finger in the entertainment center door under my watch. Her fingers are all intact, which is more than I can say for her cute little nose! She was cruising around a stack of books at Barnes & Noble yesterday and had a pretty good wipe out, which not only made her bleed, but left a bigger mark and scab than I expected. I took a picture in the car driving home, which is not the best quality, but… you get the idea:

How is it that my baby is turning into an accident prone toddler already!?

My Valentine

Last weekend I was contemplating what kind of baby-friendly activities there might be for Aurora to celebrate her first Valentine's Day. I came to the conclusion that other than a 5pm dinner out, we probably didn't have many options. So, I decided to plan my own Valentine's party for all the Momma's and Babies, and invited our local girlfriends for some Valentine's fun.

We had a potluck lunch because I figured that cleaning the house was about all I'd be able to handle. I'm especially glad because everybody brought such delicious food, and we have enough leftovers to last us all weekend!!! Here's Yvonne, Zoe, Teresa, Chuck, Brittany, Bailey and Aurora enjoying the yumminess:

Of course, Aurora had a few of her closest baby friends over to celebrate as well. Here she is with Julian, Larkin, and Zoe:

And here are Jennifer and Raquel with their babies - Julian is 5 months and Larkin is 6 months old. They played so nice together!

After lunch and playtime we decorated cupcakes and worked on some Valentine's Mad Libs before all the babies (and Chuck) simultaneously needed a nap. What a fun party, thanks for coming everybody! Happy first Valentine's Day to all the babies and puppies out there!!!

Camera pics

Chuck & I recently upgraded to new cell phones. Chuck finally got the iPhone of his dreams, and I got an LG Shine, which takes great pics and can take video as well. Once we set up and activated the new phones, I realized that there were several photos on our old phones that, while not the best quality, I didn’t want to lose.

I have been running around trying to figure out how to save those photos. I actually did attempt to email them to myself before the phones were deactivated, but the emails failed for some reason. If only that had worked! It turns out the cell phone providers can transfer data (phone numbers) but not photos, and photo places can blue-tooth the pics onto a disc, but only if the phones are active. I finally decided that my only choice was to take pictures of the pictures – which was hard considering the low quality, tiny screen, glare and crazy pixels. But, at least these little gems won't be lost forever…


Little Rora Roo the weekend she was born, and squirming around on the couch at 3-months old. There are many more, but these are the two we were using as wallpaper on our phones, and I already miss seeing them everyday. Of course, I've taken some pretty darn cute pictures with my new phone... now I just have to find a way to ensure that those can be transferred to my computer!

PS: Chuck said Aurora took her first unassisted steps this morning!

The first of many

I meant to post these photos awhile back, but never got around to it – a couple of cute pictures from our friend Gina’s twin’s first birthday. Aurora had so much fun playing at their house, which I’d say is evident here. Look at that smile!

I didn’t think she’d want to go through the blue tube, but once she saw me at the other end she was inside and crawling full-speed!

I’m sure this was the first of many first birthday parties Aurora will attend, including her own in just a couple short months! Until then, we’re looking forward to our baby-friendly Valentine’s Day party and a trip to Vegas for Andrew & Julia’s wedding. It’s too bad we can’t be in Florida to celebrate my Mom & Dad’s 40th wedding anniversary too! So many reasons to celebrate.

Lounging Around

Today Chuck took the WHOLE day off to hang out with us girls. First, we took him to get a haircut. I've been the only one to cut his hair since he was in the Marines, but just haven't had time lately... having somebody else do it was so fast and easy! Then we grabbed lunch at Hang Town Grill, where Aurora had french fries and fruit. She's really becoming a good eater - not too much ended up on the floor at all. Next we headed to a club downtown called Qua, where every Saturday afternoon they have what's called "Little Lounge Lizards" - basically, it's a dance party for the kiddos complete with dim lights, a DJ, and a shark tank dance floor.

It was crazy! I heard about it and won us free tickets thanks to a weekly email I get from Baby Scoop Austin. There were probably 5 birthday parties going on there, and the place was packed with kids dancing and parents drinking.

After the dance party, we did a total 180 and headed to a park we just found out about down the street from our house. How did we just find out about it, you ask? Well, Chuck just got an iPhone, and while he was playing around with the feature that locates you, he scrolled around the map of our neighborhood and found this huge waterfront park called Commons Ford Ranch. It's really nice! There's hiking, boating, picnicking, and today there were even a couple of people fishing. And it's less than a mile from our house! Aurora loved it. I think she prefers the great outdoors to the bustling party scene...

Chuck & I just ordered pizza and will be watching a movie tonight. He says tomorrow he'll spend the day working and I know Aurora and I will have a lot of chores to do. We sure did enjoy lounging around as a family today though!

A few of my favorite books

We are so lucky to have the most generous and thoughtful friends and family. I don’t think I’ve actually purchased one book for Aurora, but I must say she has a pretty good collection! My favorites to read to her are two that Maren picked out for us called “Peek-a-WHO?” and “Who Loves you, Baby?” We spend countless hours reading the many Baby Einstein board books and cute soft books we’ve gotten as gifts.

Aurora loves to read and play with books. Sometimes she just turns pages and “talks,” as though she’s reading it herself! Here she is playing with a soft Sesame Street book from Grandpa & Bernice...

The board book she's holding below is called “What’s Bigger than Me?”

The answer; this amazing oversized version of “The Very Hungry Caterpillar” we just received from our good friend Christie!!!

Thanks Everybody!!!

Feeling Better

These last couple weeks have been a little rough here at the Wadey household. As you know, Aurora was diagnosed with an ear infection a few weeks back, before even showing symptoms. By the time we finished that course of antibiotics, she was showing symptoms, which means they didn’t work and she’s now on a stronger second course of antibiotics. Her congestion is finally clearing up and she’s nursing better now, so I’m hopeful that this will do the trick.

I saw the doctor on Friday because I was having my own issues, and it turns out I’ve developed good old Austin allergies, which had progressed into a sinus infection. Now I’m on antibiotics as well as Flonase, and doing much better.

Today it was Chuck’s turn. He was already scheduled to see his oncologist for his 5-year post-chemo exam (5 years!!!), and just figured he’d ask him for advice about his never-ending cough as well. Tomorrow Chuck will start a Z-Pack. Who knows, maybe by this weekend we’ll all be better!

Regardless of any of that, today was an absolutely gorgeous day in the ATX. Aurora and I considered going on a walk after work and daycare, but it was actually a little too sunny so we played on the balcony instead. This was the first time Aurora’s been able to roam the balcony on her own little hands and feet and she had a great time!

Cruisin’

I realize I haven’t posted a video in awhile, so this weekend I recorded a bunch in the hopes of getting some good footage for the blog. Chuck decided to do some creative editing and we came up with this little video, showcasing some of Aurora’s pre-walking skills. If you watch carefully, you’ll also catch some glimpses of silliness!



She did have more impressive moments of assisted walking, but it’s really hard to tape at the right time! She’s also been trying her hand at and unassisted standing. She’ll balance and stand up for a good 5 seconds before gracefully falling on her butt. It won’t be long now…