Details

Thanks for all the great comments on our last post! We spent the last 5-days in Arizona and have a few photos to share, but I wanted to answer your questions and give you more details as well.

Last Friday we had our first OB appointment and took Aurora with us. She's been asking for a baby brother or sister for awhile now, so before the appt Chuck said "Aurora, we're going to go to the doctor, and they're going to look inside mommy's tummy to see if there's a baby inside. Do you think there's a baby inside?" She said: "No, but I guess we'll have to wait and see!" Boy, was she surprised. Later that afternoon we called my mom and I asked Aurora to "tell Grandma what we did today." She said "We went to the doctor to see if there was a baby in my mommy's tummy, and there WAS!" I think my mom was more surprised than Aurora. Then we put a sonogram picture in a card for Grandma Nancy to open on Christmas morning. She didn't get it at first. Once she figured it out, Julia started crying and Nancy said "Oh no...  another baby?" Wow.

It was a nice relaxing trip, which went by pretty quickly. I won't go in to too many details, but here are a few of my favorite pictures (Nancy took a bunch more, so I may post more later):

Zeland's a pretty crazy kid, but I wish we'd had more time with him, Andrew & Julia!

Anyway, it's still pretty early on - we're just approaching 9-weeks along with a due date of August 5th. Robin, we won't know if it's a boy or girl for a few more months. Julian, if it's a girl we probably won't name her after a Disney princess, but if it's a boy we might name him Beast. I've been feeling okay, though in general, eating and digesting are not my favorite things. I suppose if our next one is as good as the first, it'll all be worthwhile!

Merry Christmas!

With Love, from Chuck, Amber, Aurora, and the littlest Wadey on the planet...

Holidays

Last week Aurora came home and asked: "Do you know what other holiday is right now?" Me: "What?" Aurora: "KWANZAA!" Yesterday her teacher asked if we celebrate Chanukah and Christmas, because Aurora's been talking about both. I said yes, but we probably don't do either very well.

Last night we lit the first candle on our little Menorah and I let Aurora open all of her Chanukah gifts, since we'll be going out of town in just a few days. Boy was she thrilled...

Today she asked if it was another Chanukah day, and when I said yes she squealed! She's also very into Santa this year. Last week when Bailey was babysitting, they made a list telling Santa what she wants for Christmas. Bailey was kind enough to make sure she included us in her wish list:

We didn't put up a tree this year, so we're placing gifts on the fireplace - and Aurora has adjusted the mythology to fit. "Mommy, when I go to sleep on Christmas, Santa's going to come and put presents on our fireplace, and then in the morning I get to open them!!!"

Last weekend we did indeed see Santa. We also saw SNOW! The Hill Country Galleria brought in snow to make a winter wonderland for folks to play in, and said it would be there until it melted. We didn't have a chance to go during the day, but after dinner we decided to drive by and there was still some left - right next to Santa. It was dark and Aurora wasn't really dressed for a picture with Santa, but it was clearly the thing to do...

Aurora knew the drill. She was ready for this. She told him that she wanted dress up clothes, and we figured that was that. Then he asked what else she wants... she thought for a moment and said "a people puzzle." And since she clearly didn't have any further requests, he started suggesting other things she should want! What!?!?! Santa: "Do you want a pillow pet?" Aurora: "Yes!" Santa: "Would you like a unicorn or a lady bug pillow pet?" Aurora: "A lady bug!" - then I said "Okay, thank you Santa, that's enough!" We've got the dress up clothes wrapped and ready, I found what I think might be a people puzzle, but... a lady bug pillow pet? Ugh.

Happy Chanukah, everybody! And Kwanzaa and Christmas too!

Play & Ballet

I seriously can't believe how much we did this weekend. I'm saving some of it for a future blog (or two), so we can focus on the fancy play and ballet! Aurora got to dress up twice in sweet dresses from my Grandma Bernice (who was on my mind a lot this weekend). I'll let the photos speak for themselves:

A very cute play at the Scottish Rite Theatre.

Meeting Snow White after the show.

A fancy lunch at the Driskill Hotel Cafe with Melody.

Gingerbread Houses.

Posing with a Nutcracker at the Long Center.

Balcony seats a the Nutcracker Ballet!

Remembering Grandpa Sandler.

More parties, as promised!

This week has been full of parties. In fact, Chuck's out at a party right now. Oh well, clearly I'm the one having more fun... blogging and going through all the photos from Monday's holiday party!

We had a crazy photo booth again, which is always fun. The "Where's Bobby?" sign is referring to our co-worker who was a no-show at the party (he was at home with his baby). He also missed the lovely volunteer holiday luncheon we held last week. We have some pretty great volunteers...

Chuck spent the whole day celebrating, but it had nothing to do with the holidays. Today his company had it's IPO and everybody was snapping pictures, eating and drinking, and watching the stock market. They got special t-shirts and a photo backdrop of times square. I think he's having a good day.

Aurora's school had their holiday party today, too. Santa came and gave them little presents. It was the highlight of her day, until I told her what we have coming up this weekend... (get excited!).

Topless Tapas

Last night was our first of many holiday parties on the calendar. Chuck's work took over a tapas bar (not to be confused with a topless bar) with great food and brought in a pretty awesome photo booth.

We didn't stay out TOO late, but we were so lucky to have Bailey come over and spend the night. She and Aurora did a little partying of their own. Warning: this part really was topless!

Whoa, bathtub hair! We'll probably lay low this weekend and get some rest, as Monday night we're going out again for my work's holiday party. Ah yes, more to come!

Don't say no to me.

I'm a pretty reasonable mom, but sometimes I have to lay down the law. Recently Aurora's been coming up to me - completely out of the blue - saying things like this:

"Mommy, don't say no to me."
"Okay..."
"And don't ask me where I'm going."
"Oh, okay..."

Then she'll head into the kitchen. Most likely she'll just grab a snack, but there's a chance she could be doing something a little more sneaky, like cutting her own hair.

I do tell her 'no' if she's trying to eat snacks right before dinner. This girl would snack all day long and never sit down to a real meal if she could. She'd also cut every piece of paper in the house with her little scissors. This weekend Chuck made these cool Star Wars paper dolls (which she LOVES)...

After playing with them for a couple days, she asked if she could cut them. I said NO!!!

By the way, when she plays with Darth Vader, he is good and he only sighs, he does not breathe heavily. And with hair like hers, you really can't tell that she cut it.

Breakfast with Santa?

This morning we went to Breakfast with Santa at our local mall. It was free and included arts & crafts, a goodie bag, food from Chick-fil-A, and of course, Santa. Aurora loved the art project, enjoyed all the snacks and goodies, and even took a ride on the train.

She sat in front and rang the bell the whole time. Check out this action photography!

Before the real Santa Claus made his appearance, an awesome Chick-fil-A Santa COW came out to greet the kiddos, and really, who could ask for anything more!?!?!

He posed for pictures, gave high fives, and even danced with Aurora! After all that, we were ready to go home. Santa did show up, but he was in high demand. We can get pictures with him another time...

It's beginning to look a lot like...

Christmas! I can't believe it's December. Our calendar is already packed with all sorts holiday activities, and this evening we kicked it off by making ornaments at the local toy store. Fun!

Napping

Believe it or not, we went into this long weekend without any plans. No travel, no visitors. I took Wednesday off so I could pick up Aurora early, and Chuck thought he might have to work but did indeed get four days off. We ended up spending Thanksgiving at a friend's house with their family, friends and neighbors. There were a bunch of cute little girls for Aurora to play with, and the food was excellent. Thank you so much for inviting us, Carmen!

We did a little shopping on Friday to find a new area rug for our living room. We got a great deal and really like the result. So, in general there was a bit of this happening in our house this weekend:

And even more of this. Chuck spent a lot of time playing video games, which Aurora loved. She asked tons of questions, narrated, and did a great job telling daddy what to do (while I napped).

We also saw a movie. We met up with Bailey to see the Muppets. Afterwards, I took a nap.

Otherwise... did I mention I napped? Such a rare treat. There was also plenty of playing, reading, and relaxing in the Wadey household. No epic adventures, but I hope your weekend was just as enjoyable!

Kids Table

Last week at work we had our 3rd annual Thanksgiving potluck, and it was incredibly delicious. A few of us sat at the "kids table," as usual.

Aurora's preschool had a special luncheon today, and all the parents were invited. It was not quite as delicious, but most definitely included quality time at the kids table.

Yes, she was acting like a turkey the whole time. The kids had clearly been hard at work making turkey table settings, learning about the first Thanksgiving, and talking about what they're thankful for.

I am thankful for pretty much the same things as she is: my Mommy and Daddy, Grandmas and Grandpas, and Aurora's teacher Ms. Brittany. My grandpa would've celebrated his 88th birthday next week, and he is so very missed.

Also, Aurora is thankful for her friend Seth. Of course.

Pizza & Cake

Add in a little fruit, popcorn and juice, and that's about all we ate today. Twice. Yes, today we went to two birthday parties! The first was at the Austin Children's Museum, which was so much fun. The current display is DINOSAURS! But the kids all seemed to be more interested in the train set.

We played for quite awhile, then had a few hours at home before heading down the street to our friend Savannah's house. Her family has an amazing backyard, and it was a very well attended party. There were two bounce houses, slides, a small rock wall, a whole table filled with play-doh...

... and all kinds of awesome Little Mermaid decorations.

Once the sun went down, they draped a white sheet on the balcony and showed the Little Mermaid with a projector. Just imagine dozens of little kids trying to find seats, spilling popcorn, standing up in front of the projector, squealing and talking about every character and scene. Serious craziness, but in a pretty great way. I think we'll all sleep well tonight.

Dinosaurs!

Last weekend we found a copy of Danny and the Dinosaur at a used book store. Chuck remembered it being a favorite when he was growing up and said the author even came to his school when he was little, so he thought it would be fun to read to Aurora. She loves it - in fact, it's the only book she's wanted us to read each night for the last week! In the book, Danny becomes friends with a dinosaur at a museum, so I thought perhaps this weekend I'd take Aurora to a museum. As I was searching online, I found something SO MUCH BETTER. Just half hour away there's a Dinosaur Park, right outside of Austin!

It was pretty awesome. They had a play area and dino dig, a cool gift shop, special photo spots, a 1/2 mile trail filled with close to 20 life size dinosaurs, and a scavenger hunt with other interesting fossils and facts for us to discover along the way.

Aurora was good at screaming whenever I told her one was scary, but she knew they were pretend.

At the end of the trail, we turned a corner to find the biggest dino yet, the brachiosaurus... which I think must be Danny's dinosaur in the book.

If only we could've gone for a ride on his back...

Too Easy

I have to admit, lately this parenting thing has been a breeze. This daylight savings was the first time change where I actually feel a little guilty... I hear my friends talking about their kids waking up at 4 or 5am, while Aurora is totally just going with the flow. She wakes up when the sun comes up, goes to sleep happily whenever I say it's bedtime, gets dressed and plays by herself, she's started "reading" books on her own, and nobody's gotten sick in our house for quite some time (knock on wood). We can take her out just about anywhere - shopping, movies, restaurants - and she just says and does cute things the whole time, like bringing her cat and wearing boots to see Puss in Boots.

She's also started telling poop jokes and thinks burps and farts are hilarious. Seriously, I had no idea 3 1/2 would be such a fun (or easy) age. 

Picture Proofs

It's mugshot school picture time again! They switched it up to yet another photo vendor, and I think these turned out pretty great. Her hair looked a little different when we dropped her off that morning, but they did a cute job styling the side ponies. Look at this big, sassy girl!

Which do you like best? Give me your opinion and I might just give you a copy! They used the close-ups for the class picture, which is not quite as cute as an actual group shot, but it works. Seriously, these kids just keep getting cuter and cuter...

Halloween

Halloween was not invented by moms. For some reason it made perfect sense when I was a kid, but now it just baffles me every year. We're basically teaching our kids that it's totally acceptable to knock on stranger's doors and beg for candy. You can go into their house and take whatever they have, as long as you're wearing a costume. Obviously.

Don't get me wrong - I'm all for it! We've never had a trick-or-treater at our house, so we were thinking of driving down to another area to beg for treats. Just as we were getting ready to leave, we met Thing 1 and Thing 2, our new neighbors two houses down, and decided to stick with them. Just about every house we went to said ours were the only kids they've had stop by in years - but they all had candy and it was nice to stay on our block and get to know our neighbors a bit better.

Aurora kept reciting Halloween safety tips she'd learned at school and insisted each house only give her one candy. What can I say, she's a stickler for the rules! We also carved a pumpkin this weekend - another tradition not designed by mothers.

She didn't want anything to do with the carving knives, but the girl does love fire. This is the only pumpkin we carved, even though we had three. Chuck refused to help because he "knows what's inside" of pumpkins. Yeah, delicious seeds! Oh well, maybe I'll bake something with the others... I'm not sure I have the skills or ingredients to do it right, but it sounds like a fairly safe, mom-approved activity.

Trick-or-Treat

Halloween may not be until Monday, but the festivities happened this afternoon at my work. Staff were invited to bring their kids in for some desk-to-desk trick-or-treating, which was a pretty great way to end the week for me and my little Pirate Princess.

We got candy and stickers, played with lots of big and little friends, colored, ate snacks, and yes... I even got some work done. We might do a little trick-or-treating in the neighborhood on Monday, but after today I think we have enough treats to last us for awhile.