New Camera!

I bought my Canon PowerShot SD400 back in 2005 for about $300, just before heading on a vacation in China. I remember one of our goals in China was to find an affordable 1 gig memory card. We could hardly believe 1 gig cards even existed, and they were at least $80! We did eventually find a booth selling them (the lady kept calling them "one jigga") and I haggled them down to about $20 for that card - which would've been a great deal, if it had truly ended up being a 1 gig card. Turns out it was really only half that, but oh well...

Regardless, the camera has been great. It still takes good pics, but lately the flash has been weak and low light shots take longer and are harder to get right. It's also started making a grindy noise when the lens closes, which doesn't effect performance but I figured it was probably time to go ahead and see what else is out there. Turns out the newer version of the same camera is actually a little smaller, comes in different colors, and has some pretty great upgrades. It also just happened to be on sale! Oh, and 4 gig cards are now only $15.

So, for less $$ than my SD400 cost me 4-years ago, I upgraded to the SD780, got a new case and a 4 gig card. Here we have our first photo from the new camera, and a picture of the new camera in its cute case taken by the old camera.

Not a huge difference... we'll probably keep the old camera as back-up.

I'm glad to have the new camera just in time for the pumpkin patch this weekend, the LIVESTRONG Challenge next weekend, and of course Thanksgiving at the Wadey household will be here before you know it!

Arthur

Today I picked Aurora up early and took her to work for an advanced viewing of an episode of the hit PBS show, Arthur, featuring Lance Armstrong. In this episode, the lunch lady is diagnosed with cancer, and it's all about the different ways the kids cope and talk about cancer with their friends and family. Of course, one of the kids ends up emailing Lance, and he comes out to ride his bike and talk with her.

Aurora's attention span didn't last quite as long as I'd hoped, but hey - any excuse to spend the afternoon with my girl.

I spent some time during the car ride home talking to her about who Lance is, and telling her that her daddy's a cancer survivor too. I fully realize she's way too young to understand any of it, but I figured it was the thing to do!

New Shoes!

Today we took Aurora out shopping and found the cutest pair of shoes I think I have ever seen. Aurora knew she wanted them right away. She even insisted on paying for them herself. She reached to get up on the check-out counter, grabbed my credit card out of my wallet, swiped it, and signed for it! She even put the credit card back into my wallet afterwards. I'm not even kidding - the sales woman thought it was one of the cutest things she's ever seen.

Aurora also tried to leave her old shoes on the display rack, where her new shoes had been. So yes, she wore her new shoes out of the store and spent the rest of the day breaking them in.

We also bought a new shirt - and the outfit will in fact be worn in this year's school pictures, which will be taken in just a few short weeks. For the first time, we're actually planning an outfit, instead of dressing her in pajamas! And she's old enough now to get class pictures as well, so yes - she will wear the shoes that day, and probably many days until then.

Pineapple Flowers

Remember that whole thing about stretching my birthday as long as possible? Well, thanks to our friends the McGinty's in Boston, my birthday extended all the way into October this year! They knew that we were on vacation and that I was sick for a little while after we returned - so they waited until yesterday to send me an edible arrangement at work.

It was the perfect day to receive it. Not only is my appetite back in full force, but I was actually sitting at the front desk all day, so I saw the bouquet coming and was wondering who it was for - already slightly jealous and prepared to sign for it and give it to somebody else. It was such a surprise that it was actually for me!!!

The pineapple flowers were delicious. It was fun to share with my coworkers, and even more fun to share with Aurora when I got home. She loved them. Not only were they yummy, but they were an interesting challenge for her to figure out how to eat! Hehe.

Walking and Talking

On Sunday we had a sitter come watch Aurora while we went to a movie and had dinner with friends. The first thing Stephenie did when she came over was take Aurora on a walk around the neighborhood. She said the weather was finally cooling down and she wanted to take advantage of the beautiful afternoon. I'd been thinking that I need to be more active, but it's been so hot that I didn't even consider neighborhood walks. Truthfully, it's still a little bit too warm, but Stephenie inspired me and I've decided to take Aurora on a walk every afternoon when we get home.

Monday we took a very short walk, and it was not easy. After being sick last week and not going to the gym in months, just one little hill and my legs were burning! Yesterday I walked a little further, and today I had a lot more energy and actually kind of pushed myself - went up some steep hills and even jogged at points! Those of you who've been to our house know that we live in a beautiful neighborhood for walking, but it's a little bumpy, as we don't have sidewalks and our streets are paved with gravel. Our jogging stroller has a flat tire, but I think we'll need to repair it if we're going to go deeper into the neighborhood than today's walk took us.

It's really the perfect afternoon activity for both of us. I spend most of my days sitting too much, and she spends her days running around! On our drive home we excitedly talk about grabbing a snack and getting in the stroller, then during our walk we have lovely conversations about everything we see - birdies, trees, cars, the colors of houses, etc. When the walk is over Aurora never wants to get out of the stroller. I take her out, and she objects and climbs back in! Silly girl...

Kiss me, I'm a FISH!

Today Aurora moved into the fish room at daycare.

In August several of her friends moved up and she's really missed them. When I drive her home from school, I'll ask her if she had fun playing with her little friends, and she'll say "Yeah... Adi, Emmy (Emily), NeeNee (Sydney)." It's sad because I know she hasn't been able to play with them in over a month! And every time a smaller kiddo moves into the bunny room, it becomes more obvious that she's ready to move up.

Chuck's excited to have her move up because she's actually graduated out of the baby area and into a real classroom. He said he's always looked forward to that, because the kids in the classrooms always seemed so big. It's true, Aurora's almost 18-months old!!! And she already has a little clique of friends. I wanted to take a picture of her with her friends, but they were outside playing when I went to pick her up today, so we just went into the classroom to get our stuff and I took a few pictures. You can see that in the fish room she has a great view...

We also grabbed a snack. Yes, she's eating goldfish. Very fitting for her first day in the fish room!

This Week

What a week it's been. Aurora and I both woke up sick Monday morning and had to stay home from work and school. Aurora recovered quickly and went back to school on Tuesday, while I worked from home. It was good that I could stay home and focus, as I had one very cool project to complete: setting up our account and listing 11 one-of-a-kind signed LIVESTRONG golf bags on eBay. Yes, I'm now the official eBay seller of the Lance Armstrong Foundation! I also tweet as @livestronghq, and I must say that those are two very fun parts of my job.

Unfortunately, Aurora and I were both too sick to make it to Jack's Sweet Life Celebration on Monday afternoon, and I've been thinking about it all week. While we were in Florida, I got a text from my friend Kristen, letting me know that they'd had a terrible family tragedy. Kristen and Dan lost their sweet happy healthy son this weekend, completely unexpectedly. Jack had just turned 2, and I can only imagine the pain they are enduring and will continue to feel for the rest of their lives. He was just a cute, smart, energetic toddler - so much like our little Aurora.

I met Kristen when I was 8-months pregnant and Jack was 6-months old. When you're pregnant, people tend to give strange advice and often say things that are flat out unhelpful, like, "Better get a lot of sleep now because you won't be sleeping once she's born!" or "You have no idea what you're in for." Kristen was so excited for me, and simply told me that parenthood was the best thing ever. Both on her blog and in person she was constantly talking about how lucky she was, how much she loves and is thankful for her husband and sweet children.

Kristen has been such a positive influence in my life, and I certainly have not taken a moment with Aurora for granted since hearing this sad news.

Florida

Chuck, Aurora and I just returned from a long weekend in Florida. We stayed at a great oceanfront hotel and did our best to relax and take it all in while visiting my parents and grandparents. It was a lovely trip and we have a bunch of great pictures to show it! Just click the photo above to see them all...

Birthday Week

I think you all know by now that I've been stretching my birthday for as long as possible. Party on Saturday, dinner and a movie with Amelia on Sunday, then yesterday I got a great birthday lunch with my friend Bill, a pedicure with Bailey, and our friend Nicolette offered to babysit so that Chuck and I could go out to dinner. Today my team took me to breakfast (crepes and coffee!), and I got some treats delivered to work.

I don't know if it was all the sugar and coffee, or simply the excitement of the birthday, but I had an INCREDIBLY silly day today. I feel like Bailey and I laughed for about 6-hours straight. We also both wore great LIVESTRONG hoodies...

After a very fun day at work, I went to pick up my sweet daughter and found her wearing a tutu and pigtails!!! She didn't even look like Aurora - she looked like some super cute big girl!

Alice said she had a great day, and said as close to an actual sentence as she's ever said at school; pointed at one of her classmates and said "That friend Alex." Wait... wait a second... she IS some super cute big girl!

I must seem so big to my parents now... we sure do grow up fast!

They say it's my birthday!

We're gonna have a good time! I mean, we DID have a good time, at my fab Beatles Rockband party last night.

Once Aurora was asleep, friends showed up for birthday cake, drinks, and some serious video game jamming. We had the full Rockband setup with drums, guitar, bass, and 2 mics for harmonizing. Awesome.

And that was just the beginning of my birthday week festivities... tonight I'm going out to dinner and a movie with Amelia, Tuesday we have a friend coming over to babysit (for free as a birthday gift) so that Chuck and I can go to dinner, and Thursday we're heading to Florida to relax and celebrate with family. Who knows what other fun might be in store... hey, you only turn 33 once! I have a feeling it'll be a good year.

PS: Happy Birthday to Preston - my nephew the TEENAGER!!!

Bathroom Remodel

You may recall that last year we did some MAJOR house remodeling; new siding, balcony, A/C unit, floors, cabinetry... not because we wanted to, but out of necessity thanks to some indoor water damage and exterior wood rot. This year's project was much smaller, faster, cheaper, less obtrusive, and definitely more cosmetic in nature. Of course, if you ask anybody who's stayed at our house, they'd probably call it a necessity.

Before: the ugliest peeling wallpaper imaginable (the wallpaper border, not shown, was blech), shower tiles with an ugly green stripe that didn't match up and had cracks in areas due to a poor self-patch job by the previous owner, and old fixtures that were rusted and falling apart.

After: bright white tiles with a cool multi-colored mini-tile stripe going through it, nice new fixtures, and pink... yes PINK walls! It's a subtle pink, and while you can't see a HUGE difference in the photos, it really turned out nice and is a big improvement.

You all know that I had a no pink policy at first, and Aurora's room still doesn't have pink in it - but her bathroom needed something light and bright and feminine to soften the dark green tile floors and stark white shower. Hopefully she'll love it and our house guests will appreciate the updates as well.

Cookie Monster

Aurora doesn't watch much TV, but there's just something about Elmo and Sesame Street...



Actually, she's not copying Cookie Monster directly from the TV. She's copying her DADDY, who likes to make silly Cookie Monster impressions!