My Favorite Fish

One of my favorite things to do is to ask Aurora about her favorite part of the day. Of course, I love when she says spending time with her mommy, but when I pick her up from school she almost always answers "FRIENDS!"

It's amazing to think that Aurora's been with the same sweet kids since she was just a few months old. This month they're moving up a class, and it looks like the core group will be staying together. Apparently Seth is sort of obsessed with Aurora right now - all he says all day is "Rora" this and "Rora" that - his mom told me that it continues into the evening and sometimes he even calls HER Rora!

Today I decided to take a couple of pictures of Aurora's best friends in the Fish, soon to be Zebra class. Sometimes when I go to pick her up, I ask if she's ready to go and she says "NO!" and frantically plays as much possible while I gather her things.

My favorite part of the day might be seeing the smile on her face the first time she notices I've walked in the room. Or, it might be getting notes and hearing stories about the day from her teachers. This one really cracked me up... Robin left this on her art project last week. It was written with such pride! If I'm being totally honest, instead of just laughing when I read it, I'm pretty sure I said something like "Yeah, we've been practicing with stickers at home. Aurora's pretty creative."

Birthday Blogger

This weekend we celebrated two more Birthdays. Aurora gets so excited just knowing that we're going to a birthday party - whether we're picking out presents or getting dressed up, she couldn't be happier. She starts singing happy birthday in the car, and talks about how she wants to wear a birthday hat on her head and eat birthday cake in her mouth (while pointing to her head and mouth). She always knows whose birthday it is and is thrilled when she sees them.

It occurred to me that all the birthdays we've celebrated have been our friends and their kids... we haven't even started going to Aurora's school friend's parties! If I wanted I'm pretty sure I could eventually just become a children's birthday blogger, as every party is so much fun and has something special that stands out.

Here's one of my favorite pictures from Larkin's Mickey Mouse party (yes, Mickey even made an appearance, and no, there are no photos of Aurora and Mickey together):

Atticus had a relaxing party in the park:

Happy 2nd Birthday Larkin & Atticus! Thanks for inviting us to your fun parties!

Eat your vegetables

Last year we decided to buy a Costco membership, and it's been pretty great. We do spend a lot when we shop there, but I have to tell you, the savings on diapers and wipes alone makes it worth it! We also buy all our paper products, detergent, milk, fish, eggs, snacks, and all sorts of frozen foods there, all for pretty good deals.

The main thing I struggle with buying at Costco are vegetables. I mean, I can go through the huge box of spinach pretty easy when I'm using it in recipes, but we like variety and I can't get all my veggies in bulk. This week we had the opportunity to sign up to have local, organic, farm fresh vegetables delivered directly to work. Today was our first delivery, and I was not disappointed. The coolest thing about it is that I don't choose what I get - they just fill a box with whatever's in season. Look at these beautiful veggies!

Combine this with all the staples I picked up last weekend and it'll be easy to come up with interesting and healthy meals.

Our last trip to Costco was actually pretty silly. We checked out and were getting ready to leave, but instead of walking out with us, Aurora just sat right down at a table and said "I want pizza!" I guess after a full year of membership, she has this placed figured out.

Here's hoping she'll like the vegetables as much as she liked that pizza. (not likely).

33 and 3

This weekend was filled with birthday fun as we celebrated Chuck turning 33, and our friend's son JJ turning 3. Yesterday was a hot day and we spent the entire afternoon in a swimming pool. Aurora had a great time trying out various floaties, pouring water on my head, eating cake and ice cream, and playing with friends.

For daddy's birthday we baked and decorated a cake together, shopped for presents, and painted wrapping paper too! Aurora got him Avatar on Blu-ray, I got him a graphic novel, and he got cards from his mom, my mom, Bernice & Grandpa. And in case you can't see it, there are 6 candles here... 3 and 3 for 33.

He also got some free time in the morning and sushi for dinner. Not bad!

Last weekend was Grandma Nancy's birthday - I wish we could've been there to celebrate. Hopefully we'll be able to spend Thanksgiving or Christmas in Arizona this year. I did just book our tickets to Florida, which will happen next month on my birthday. Until then, I'll just enjoy my last couple of months being 33 with my 33 year old husband and our sweet girl (who will be 3 before we know it).

Hanging out with Aurora

It was a nice, relaxing weekend here at the Wadey house. Friday was awesome, Saturday was fun, and Sunday I hung out with Aurora in the morning before heading out for a date night with Chuck. To top it off, Monday we had my girlfriends over to watch the Bachelorette, and I think it's the most funny and involved Aurora has been yet.

There are so many highlights that I'd love to share, but two that are especially noteworthy from last night are 1) the fake laugh that Aurora would use every time the group started to laugh at humor that was clearly over her head, and 2) the way she very politely asked me for more ice cream, and when I told her it was all gone, she immediately turned to her daddy and politely asked him for more ice cream! I was shocked!!!

I'm not exaggerating when I tell you that every single day she says or does something that surprises me. Her language skills are growing by leaps and bounds and it's amazing to watch her little personality develop. She has very specific ways to behave and interact at school, with us, with a babysitter, and with friends around. She's understanding relationships, expressing emotions, and turning into such a fun big girl. Pretty soon my friends will only want to hang out with me if Aurora can come too!

Business & Silliness

It has been hectic around here. We're refinancing our home, which takes a lot of time and energy. It's been busy at work, and with Chuck's job transition, outside projects, and an active toddler, some days I'm amazed we get dinner on the table! But, somehow we do, and we manage to have a pretty silly life throughout it all.

As much fun as we have, some days I am exhausted! So, tomorrow I'm taking a day off from everything. Well, until bath time rolls around again... who would want to miss this???

Bumper Bowling

This morning we did something I've wanted to do with Aurora for awhile now... we went bowling!!! Chuck wasn't sure she was ready for bowling yet, but he didn't know that you could use bumpers AND rails! Truthfully, I didn't know either. Our friends Bethany & Matt live near this great bowling alley and invited us to join them and their two boys for breakfast and bowling. How fun and easy could it be?

It was SO easy that Aurora almost won! She came in second place and nearly broke 100. On the 7th frame she got a strike by pushing the ball down the rails sideways with her eyes closed. Bragger!

She was also a great cheerleader, clapping for everybody and jumping around with Orion, who was amazingly happy and fun to bowl with. When it was Aurora's turn, she'd pick up the ball and say "oh, this is heavy!" in a silly deep voice. Another fun family activity for a hot summer weekend.

Weekend Plans?

I always think it's funny when Friday afternoon rolls around and my coworkers ask me, "Any fun weekend plans?". I mean, they're all heading out to float the river, take off for the weekend, maybe see a concert or go to a party. I just shrug my shoulders and tell them that I'll be hanging out with the fam. Even when I answer "we're going to a bounce house!" it doesn't sound all that exciting in comparison. Sometimes I miss having the freedom to take off and go to a party or have dinner with friends, but for the most part we do end up having a great time.

Yesterday we headed over to Kim Barnett's pool, which was amazingly warm and shady. I wish we had a pool like this in our backyard! Aurora liked it much more than I expected and we stayed out a little later than usual enjoying the evening.

You know you're the parent to a toddler when 8pm = staying out late.

Today we had breakfast and spent some time playing at Chick-fil-A before checking out the new LEGO store in the mall. We do have some other fun plans that you'll have to wait to hear about... they may not include any big parties, but if you like hearing about weekends spent with a toddler, you are in luck!

Anniversaries

Three years ago today, it was our 10-year wedding anniversary and I decided to start a little blog about deciding to start trying for a baby. It occurred to me this weekend that if I'd started this blog 13 years ago... heck, 7 years ago, it would've been a very different story. 400+ posts later, I feel so lucky about where our lives have taken us.

Our anniversary gift for each other was a new mattress and comforter set, which is just one of those big purchases you need to make every 10 years or so. We thought about getting a babysitter, but decided we could have a fun family weekend, and that's what we did! We headed out to Dave & Busters last night for dinner, games, and prizes.

Tonight we just stayed in, ordered pizza and watched TV. Nothing glamorous, but I have no complaints. I did get flowers, but they were from a sweet volunteer - a cancer survivor from Poland who was only in town for a few weeks. Yesterday was also my 4 year anniversary working for the Lance Armstrong Foundation, and I can't imagine a better place for me...

All in all, a good day with a lot to celebrate!

Frogs & Mosquitoes

I have to start this post by saying that Aurora is definitely two years old. I wouldn't call her "terrible" (yet), but she's on her way. She's a good communicator, but suddenly the instant we don't understand or do what she wants, she's face down on the ground sobbing. It would be really frustrating if it weren't so cute.

Earlier this week she stepped on her tiny cheap plastic frog toy and its feet broke off. It has to have been the most dramatic response I've ever seen her have to any situation! First she put it in her mouth (???), then begged me to fix it, and then realized she never wanted to see it again and threw it in the trash. No other toy could've possibly remedied the situation, so I told her we could get her a new frog tomorrow, at which point she forced us to put on our shoes and dragged us to the car, insisting we go to the store NOW. We decided it would be more fun to go shopping than stay home mourning the loss of froggy, so off we went.

It turns out they toy store did not carry the kind of frog she had, but instead of telling her that, I searched for ANY frog they carried and when I found one said "Aurora, is this your froggy?" to which she responded "YEAH! THAT'S MY FROGGY!!!" - Whew, what a relief! It's NOTHING like her froggy, but wow does she love it. Seriously, everyday since then she's insisted it go with her everywhere we go. She even sleeps with it.

If only her froggy could eat the mosquitoes in our neighborhood. On the 4th of July Aurora got so many mosquito bites I just couldn't believe it. Normally the mosquitoes go for me, but I didn't get one bite, which is why I didn't even notice it was happening! Look at these sad little legs...

I got some calamine lotion and let me tell you, Aurora LOVES the extra attention this gives her. I'm pretty sure she's going to continue asking for it twice a day even after her bites are completely healed, and the first time I don't put any on her she'll probably have a meltdown. They're almost gone now and I got some mosquito repellant in the hopes that it won't happen again. We don't go out too much in this crazy heat, but perhaps this weekend we'll test it out!

Watching the Tour

While I don't know much about cycling, one of the perks of working for LIVESTRONG is watching the Tour de France with a bunch of friends who do.

Saturday morning we kicked off the Tour with yellow chalk and breakfast tacos. Aurora didn't last long after we went inside to actually watch, but she had fun chalking and even ended up on the news, which was pretty exciting.

This morning we had another fun viewing party at work. We all wore matching shirts and ate crepes. Not a bad way to start the day!

I may not know much about cycling, but I do know that I'm lucky to work for a very cool place with a seriously kick ass founder. Go Lance!!!

Fireworks

Not much is on the agenda this weekend, which is pretty nice. Today we had lunch at the Iguana Grill on Lake Travis and it was just a gorgeous day.

Then we decorated with sidewalk chalk before setting off some pretty tame fireworks in our driveway...

Chuck was nervous that we were going to burn our house down (and rightfully so). Aurora loved it and kept asking for "more fire" and saying cute things like "we making fireworks!!!" Clearly she doesn't take after him COMPLETELY!

Tonight we'll just watch TV and check out the neighborhood fireworks from our balcony before heading off to bed. We just bought a new mattress and it was delivered today, so unless the fireworks keep going all night long, I think we'll all sleep well tonight. Happy 4th of July!!!