Congratulations Kelsey & Jim!

Tonight Chuck & I were lucky enough to attend our friend Kelsey's wedding. The weather couldn't have been better, the venue was perfect, and the whole event was truly beautiful.

I actually bought a new dress just for this occasion, knowing that all of my girlfriends (well, except Kim Barnett) would be dressed just as nicely. It certainly was fun getting dressed up and hanging out with them outside of work. Kim suggested we should throw an LAF prom... nah.

I was wishing Aurora could've come to play with Abby, the flower girl. Abby danced the night away and was just adorable. It was definitely worth getting a babysitter so we could attend.

Good Morning

All summer long I've been spoiled by light traffic and bright sunny mornings that made getting up and going to work a breeze. On Monday the local schools started up, and coinciding amazingly, this week that early morning sunshine has been hiding away. So, suddenly traffic is an issue again and it's still dark when the alarm goes off. I don't really have a problem waking up, but Aurora is definitely noticing the change. She's still going to bed at 6:30pm, but now she doesn't want to wake up until after 7am! Such a good sleeper.

Every morning we have a routine that I'm afraid is going to change. We wake up when Aurora wakes up, around 6:30 or 6:45am, and I get ready while Chuck takes her downstairs for breakfast. Then we all gather up our stuff and go around 7:20am. Actually, during the summer we could wait until about 7:35am and I'd get to work by 8:00, but now I need to leave by 7:20am - back to 40 minute commutes. Ho hum.

Regardless, my FAVORITE part of the morning is when Chuck & Aurora go outside to sit in the driveway and wave bye-bye! It's so darn cute. Aurora waves, blows kisses, and says "bye-bye!" over and over as I drive away. Sometimes she's sad when she knows it's time for me to leave, but she's always happy when she's waving.

Chuck does the drop off and I pick up, which I'm sure won't be changing. But I'm afraid that soon it'll be too dark in the AM and Chuck & Aurora will want to sleep in longer - then before you know it, it'll be too dark to wave good-bye. Knowing that may be the case, I took pictures today.

I won't miss the heat of summer, but I will miss this. Of course, it's worth it to come home early and spend the evenings with my girl.

Too darn hot

If I could just say, this summer has been ridiculously hot here in ATX. It seems like we've had record breaking triple digit heat almost every day/week/month this summer, and it's not letting up! As you know, Chuck won't go out in the sun for long, and really - when it's this hot you just can't take advantage of all the great hikes, parks, and outdoor activities Austin has to offer.

Today we had friends in town who are considering moving here. We took them to breakfast and wanted to spend the day showing them around, but where to go? We thought about Hamilton Pool or the Westbank Preserve, but ultimately decided on Mt. Bonnell, which you can get out and see pretty quickly. It sure does have a beautiful view...

Of course, after just 15 minutes outside, we were all baking! So the rest of our site-seeing happened at the mall, where we could all get smoothies and Aurora could get out and play. She LOVED playing with Sharon and Kory - but I must say it was not her best outing ever. She's starting to understand that she doesn't HAVE to stay with us or hold our hands, she can fight getting into the stroller, and she can squirm out of our arms. She's still a little doll, but I can totally see the terrible two's coming!!!

Forced day off

Aurora's daycare is closed for teacher planning, which means all the teachers are cleaning, brainstorming, and decorating the classrooms while mommas and/or daddies throughout Bee Caves and Austin take the day off. It's also "Tax-Free Friday," which makes it a pretty great day to be out and about if you have school shopping (or shoe shopping) to do!

This morning Aurora and I went out for some coffee (er, milk), did a little shopping, then went to the library for story time. Story time was pretty cute - all the books and songs were about monkeys, and there were a bunch of little monkeys in attendance doing their best to pay attention.

These last couple of weeks have been incredibly busy at work, so while part of me feels like I should really be working (there's SO much to do), part of me is grateful for the forced day off. Believe it or not, days like today make me love my job AND my daughter even more. Aurora and I absolutely enjoy all of our time together, but 3-day weekends make us both appreciate our respective school/work/friends and independent time even more afterwards.

Table Manners

Lately it's become clear that Aurora has outgrown her highchair. When she's done eating (or even when she's really not), she'll stand up and lean back or try to get out, which is just a little bit dangerous. I've started letting her out of the highchair when she asks, but then she just grabs whatever food is left and brings it over to her little red chair or sits on my lap to finish.

I mentioned the situation to one of my coworkers, who recommended I check out a place called Pumpkin Patch, a consignment store with kid's furniture, clothes, books and more. I can't believe we hadn't heard of it before - they had EVERYTHING and for CHEAP! We picked up the perfect cute little table and chairs for the Rooster.

Our first lunch with the new table proved to be just a tad messy. Peas and corn all over the table, the floor, and eventually in-between my toes (purposefully placed). I know they've taught her table manners at school, but for some reason they just don't translate into the home setting. Or perhaps I'm just not a very good enforcer.

Now the question is what to do with the highchair? I think we should keep it for use with a potential little brother or sister, but it's rather large and I'm just not sure where to store it! We still have the pack'n'play and exersaucer out in the living room, which she's technically outgrown and take up some space. For some reason she's kind of into the exersaucer again - and we still do use the diaper changing station on the pack'n'play. Regardless, I'm just not sure where else to put them! I definitely foresee this being a recurring issue as our little cutie continues to grow up.

Who has more hair?

Over the weekend I gave Chuck a haircut, and the next day he was holding Aurora and I said "I think she might have more hair than you now." Apparently he'd forgotten all about the haircut or the fact that his daughter's hair is getting longer every day, and he was certain I just meant that he's balding!

Okay, so his hair may be thinning out a little, but that's beside the point, right? Who do you think has more hair!?

Bouncy Bouncy

We took Aurora to the Hoppin' House over the weekend, and once again, the bouncy castles were a hit. I posted this to my facebook account, but I think all you blog followers need to see it too...



She just laughs and has fun all the time. Well, most of the time!

Spoons, cups, and kisses

We've been encouraging the use of spoons and cups for awhile now, but this weekend Aurora got it. She figured out how to drink out of a cup and eat with a spoon, and can do both fairly consistently through an entire meal without making a mess! I was too busy monitoring the cup situation to get a picture, but check out the spoon action.

Another thing Aurora's mastered is, well, not quite what you'd call a life skill. You know, you can kind of teach these babies anything you want, and if you're consistent enough it just might stick. I decided that every time Aurora gets to the top of the swing set we should kiss. Now it's her favorite part! She puckers up and says "mmmmuuuuuah!" It's so sweet and I just love it - except when there's excessive drool or snot - but honestly, it's a small price to pay.

More More More!

We've taken Aurora to the Hill Country Galleria many times, but she's never been too interested in playing in the water fountain. I think it might be because of the day we spent in the pool, or perhaps she's just getting more adventurous - but this time she got totally SOAKED!!! I mean, her little pants were dripping wet and her shoes took 2 days to dry out!

When I told her it was time to go, she started walking away, then turned back and sadly signed "more." She usually uses that in situations where she wants more milk, crackers, banana, etc... this was totally adorable.

This evening she didn't need to sign for more, she said it clearly, along with cracker, banana (er, nanny) and thank you. She's such a good, polite, sweet girl.

Speaking of MORE, I'm getting a new title at work which will include more responsibility. I think this will be a great position for me and I'm excited about it!

We got it!

My summer project was to find a swing set for Aurora. I started by asking my facebook friends what they'd recommend, and they kindly lead me to Rainbow Systems and Costco. I checked out the selection online and got a Costco membership just in case. They sell Rainbow sets (among others), and of course they're also great for diapers, milk, and snacks. After some thought and searching, I decided that those sets are just too big, too expensive, and too advanced for us right now. So, I found the perfect alternative - a big plastic swing set made for toddlers and kids through about age 6. As much as I liked it, it was also pretty expensive and hard to find. I started looking on craigslist every weekend - I looked, and looked, and looked. For over a month I've been searching, and this weekend it finally paid off! I got the exact $599 swing set I wanted for only $200!!!

Bailey and Kreuzer brought their pick-up truck and helped us get it home. The boys put it together, and now it's finally ours...

It's got a nice big slide, two swings, and a cool little clubhouse underneath. The whole time we were playing, Aurora just kept clapping and saying "Yay!!" while grinning from ear to ear.

Aurora loves it and I know it'll give her years of fun. Looking out the window, this house really feels like a family lives here - and I really feel like a parent. Not that I didn't before, but wow. We've got a swing set in our yard!

We're so fortunate to have such great friends, willing to spend the whole day helping us out. Thanks guys!!!

Happy Birthday, Chuck!

And Corey, and Kreuzer, and Haley, and JJ... that's right, it's birthday season! But the most important birthday in our household was Chuck's, and I like to think he had a great day. We let him sleep in a little later than usual, then I made breakfast for my two favorite people. After a lazy morning, we headed out to a party to celebrate our friend's son JJ's 2nd birthday! Aurora loves hanging out with JJ, and we all had a great time. The only way it could've been better is if we could've stayed longer!!!

They have the best pool in the world at their housing development, and we headed out before everybody else because we were on a tight schedule - had to be home by 5pm for Chuck's birthday date night! This entire area of the pool is about 2 feet deep and SO warm, so Aurora walked around, floated, and totally enjoyed herself. Seriously, we could've stayed for hours.

I took Chuck out to sushi and ice cream, then we headed to the theater to see a movie called "Moon" with Bailey and Kreuzer. It really was a great night, and Aurora loves her babysitter, Stephenie - she let her run through the sprinkler eating a popsicle, and it sounds like they enjoyed their evening as much as we did. Perfect!