Daddy dressed me...

Yesterday when I went to pick up Aurora from school, Alice gave me a silly look as I approached (Aurora was playing in a tent so I couldn't see her) and said "I thought about changing her outfit, but I really wanted you to see this... this is how Chuck actually dressed Aurora for school today." Out walks my sweet little daughter with a huge smile on her face, wearing a backwards dress with denim shorts (both about a size too large). You can't really tell from this picture that the dress was on backwards, but take my word for it. Needless to say, Alice and I had a good laugh.

To his credit, the routine was rudely disrupted yesterday morning when Aurora puked all over herself and his car on the way to daycare. He had to go home, clean everything up, and try to find her a new outfit. He's not normally the one who picks out her clothes, and yes - he was shopping in the wrong part of the closet. And he claims he let her pick out what she'd wear herself, which is very sweet. For those of you more concerned about the puke than the clothing situation, we strongly feel that it was just something she ate, and she's been fine ever since.

On the flip-side, here's Aurora today in one of the cutest outfits she's been able to wear in a long time, thanks to today being cooler and rainy. Yes, mommy picked out these clothes, and while I like to brag that mama's choices are more stylish and functional - I will say that it took us trying 3 different outfits to decide on this one, and Aurora did not have any say in it.

Clothing choices aside, I have to give a big shout out to Chuck for taking such great care of his daughter under less than optimal circumstances. She's lucky to have such a good daddy, and really - she can pretty much pull off any style!

Bigger and Better

Sometimes I laugh at how much I used to think Aurora was so big when she was really just a teeny tiny little thing! NOW she's big.

Okay, so she's still pretty small, but she certainly is getting bigger fast. One of the more fun parts about her growing (both physically and mentally) is shopping and buying the things she needs for the "next phase." To all of you who are waiting until you're financially stable to have kids, it's not a bad idea. Not because you NEED all the bells and whistles - I mean, hand-me-downs and used stuff is great, and not everything is a necessity. But graduating from one stage to the next is great fun and I'm constantly amazed by the changes that happen before our eyes every single day.

This weekend I bought a toddler bedding set that fits in her crib, and includes a bottom sheet, top sheet, comforter and pillow case. Yes, that means we bought her a pillow! As an infant, we'd been dressing her warmly and leaving her each night in a stark bed with no suffocation hazards. Now that she's a big girl and nights are getting longer and cooler, it was time to make her crib into a real bed. It's amazing how much bigger she seems to me because of it!

Her new pillow and blankie are so comfy that when it's time to wake up in the morning, Aurora buries her head in the pillow and says "Nuh Night." It's adorable. She's on her way to becoming a teenager! Chuck says he looks forward to sleeping in on weekends again.

Another thing she did this weekend was climb up on a counter height dining room chair so that she could eat with us. First, who knew she was such a sturdy climber? And second, she has her own little table and chairs and I didn't realize that it mattered to her if she ate with us or not!

So, we went out and got her a booster seat. Now she can sit at the dining room table with us. Not only does it add height, but it also has safety straps. Nice!

Why can't every weekend be a 3-day weekend?

I guess we really didn't do a whole lot, but I for one really enjoyed the extra time off. We hung out with Bethany and her family at the beginning of the weekend...

And ended with a seafood boil at one of Chuck's coworkers homes...

It's still a bit too warm, but we had plenty of shade, cool beverages, activities and friends.

In between... we ran errands, cleaned the house, and just hung out. I'm getting ready to redo Aurora's bathroom (AKA the guest bath), so I spent some time making decisions on tile, paint and fixtures. I read a lot, drank wine, sat on the balcony, and Aurora helped with yard work. Something about that extra day off just makes it a little bit harder to think about going to work tomorrow, but at least it'll be a short week!

Notes from Alice

Everyday when I pick Aurora up from daycare, I take home a "Daily Report" which outlines what she ate, how long she napped, and well, the specifics of her diaper changes. All good information to have! At the bottom of the form there's a fill-in spot where Alice can tell me what fun activities Aurora may have participated in. Apparently I'm one of the few parents who actually reads it, so Alice has been leaving me some pretty awesome comments recently. Here are a few of my favorites...

- Today I taught my friends to say "a book a book a book a book."
- Today I jumped with both feet off the ground!
- Today I practiced counting ("two!")
- Today I enjoyed pointing out objects in books - but refused to believe the whale was not a fish.

Of course, there will be no official "Daily Report" for the next few days, as it's Labor Day weekend! But perhaps I'll update the blog a little more often if we end up doing anything fun or interesting. Enjoy your weekend, loyal readers!

Gooby-eyed Girl

Yesterday Aurora's teacher warned me to keep an eye on her eye. I guess it was no surprise that she woke up this morning miserable with red, puffy, goopiness. We've been through this before and knew that daycare would be a no go, so I made the earliest doctor appointment possible, and Chuck took Aurora in for an 8am with Dr. Sood.

She didn't use the words 'pink eye' or 'conjunctivitis,' but she did prescribe eye drops which have already been making a difference. We have to give them to her every 4-hours for 5-days, and as you can imagine, it's not her favorite thing ever...

The good thing is that she should be able to go back to daycare tomorrow. And all things considered, today wasn't the busiest day for me or Chuck, so that worked out. Friday, yesterday or tomorrow would've been rough. Here's hoping tomorrow's a healthy eye day!!!

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!