Keeping up...

I just hit my busy season at work - which I really enjoy - but it sure makes it harder to keep up with life. And life just keeps getting more hectic! With monthly OB appointments, Aurora's birthday and 4 year doctor visit to plan, finding and scheduling a new dentist, trying to get an electrician out to help finish the big girl room, daycare registrations (for TWO!), financial stuff to take care of, etc etc... I just chip away at things a little at a time.

Of course, outside of work my priority right now is enjoying time with my sweet daughter. No matter how busy I get, we ALWAYS have time for fun with friends! This week we went to Chick-fil-A for family night with Presley and her mom. Free kids meals AND balloon twisting? Yes please!

Last night we went to Waterloo Ice House with friends in town from Boston. It was a little rainy, but the kiddos still played in the sandbox and all had fun.

Somehow I still find time to relax, watch TV, and read each night - probably because Chuck's been helping with chores around the house and spending his evenings playing video games! I often think about how much harder it'll be with two kids and wonder if we're crazy, but I've been working on my maternity plan and I'm pretty confident we can keep up with it all.

Dig it.

It was such a nice weekend and we were lucky enough to spend much of it outdoors. We had a lot on the calendar, but made time to play with sidewalk chalk, take walks, and eat as many meals outdoors as possible. We even had friends over for some homemade pizza on the balcony! Yum.

We also met up with one of Chuck's friends for lunch on the patio at the County Line. I must admit I got a little too much sun sitting out there, but Chuck and Aurora made their own shade.

The highlight of the weekend for Aurora had to be her friend David's birthday party. We've been to a lot of parties lately and this might've been the coolest. It was at the Austin Nature & Science center, where we got to dance with a musician from school (Mr. Will), learn about dinosaur fossils, do a dino dig (which included making little volcanoes erupt), and then... there was this:

I hope the weather stays this nice and our party is as fun next month when Aurora turns 4. Plans are in the works for a very groovy party... just a few weeks away!

Oh Boy

A few days ago we hit the halfway point for this pregnancy, which means it was time for our 20 week sonogram! Of course, the first thing I wanted to know was if he is still a he, and indeed he is...

It's a boy! A big healthy boy. All his measurements are great. She said that he's about 10" long and weighs almost a pound. The sonogram estimated his due date as August 1st, and Chuck thinks that would be amazing - but I have to say I don't think I'd want to share my birthday with my kid! 

We came home and took a 20 week belly photo. I think I finally look more pregnant than Aurora.

My Girl

I've taken a lot of pictures of my girl this week. I mean, she's pretty cute and we do have fun...

We went to the library for Krafty Kids where we celebrated the Year of the Dragon, which comes along every 12 years. My mom's a dragon, I'm a dragon, and Baby #2 will be a dragon. How is this possible? My mom was 24 when she had me, and this year I'll be turning 36, so... yeah. I'm 12 years older than my mom was when she was having kids. Yikes.

We also did a fun art project at home, played and ate at P. Terry's (they have a great sandbox and Aurora loves their banana bread), and took a pretty awesome picture to celebrate St. Patrick's Day and showcase our lovely Texas wildflowers. Bluebonnets are blooming just about everywhere right now!

These all seem to be things that make my girl happy, which makes me pretty happy.

One More

I thought I'd post one more blog, as we got one more full weekend off before heading back to work. Saturday was pouring rain, but we had fun with Aurora's friends at a bounce house birthday party.

Check out that Cinderella cake! Most of Aurora's friends have turned 4 now, and it's time for us to start planning her party. Grandma Nancy will be coming and I'm sure it'll be great.

Today was bright and sunny, but Aurora decided she wanted to stay in her jammies and play with her daddy all day long, which is exactly what she did! I went to prenatal yoga then did one more staycation project, which was cleaning out my closet. We did lots of laundry and I traded out all my size 2/4 jeans and small shirts for a closet full of maternity clothes. Sigh... until we meet again.

This week is going to be crazy. Daylight savings didn't throw us off at all today, but it's sure to make waking up a lot harder this week. It's also spring break and SXSW, which means traffic will be insane, interns and staff will be gone, and the office will be busier than usual. Also, tomorrow night is the Bachelor Finale at my house!!! Just one more girl's night until next season. 

Staycation: Part 2

It's pretty early Friday afternoon, and somehow we managed to complete all of our staycation activities successfully! I mentioned juicing before, and thought I'd start with just a bit more detail. Chuck & I have a juicer we've used on and off since he was in cancer treatment, nearly 10 years ago. I craved fresh orange/grapefruit juice when I was pregnant with Aurora, but lately our schedules just haven't been jiving so we haven't used it much in the past few years. This week we picked up huge bags of carrots, red and green apples, oranges, grapefruit, lemons, kale, spinach, parsley, and ginger, and planned a week full of different delicious flavor combinations. I think these have been the best juices we've made!

Juicing each day has really given me an extra boost of energy, and I actually didn't spend nearly as much time napping as I expected. But, on to where we left off last time. On Wednesday, we checked out of the hotel and headed straight for IKEA. We'd already taken the car seat and back seats out of the Element to accommodate, and as you can see we definitely needed the extra space...

No, these are not boxes of baby furniture for the nursery, they're boxes of big girl furniture so that we can transition Aurora out of the nursery! We've been telling her that when she turns 4 years old, she gets to move into her own big girl bedroom with a big girl bed, and this week was the perfect time to begin preparing for that change. We cleaned, spackled, and painted the inside of the (currently guest room) closet, which was in pretty bad shape, then we built new shelves and drawers to put inside.

We'll build the actual bed frame and change the decor another weekend when we have people here to help, but quite honestly, I thought this process would take a lot longer than it did. I decided to show Aurora our progress when she got home, and boy was she surprised!

She was also surprised when I picked her up yesterday with a new hairstyle. I gave Chuck a haircut earlier in the day, then headed out to the salon for a new 'do of my own.

This morning we went and saw John Carter in IMAX 3D, which was a great movie. At the same time, we got the windows tinted on my car. Just another little project that I never would've done on a weekend with Aurora in tow, but I hope it'll make a difference during the hot, bright days of summer - especially now that I'll have two car seats and kiddos in the back.

Another staycation activity that we did was get our taxes done. We joked all week that our refund would pay for all these little splurges, while in reality we knew we'd owe quite a bit. Still, this was way cheaper than airfare and hotel anywhere we could've gone, and although it wasn't all rest and relaxation, it was very laid back - and we got so much accomplished. Hopefully we can do it again sometime!

Staycation: Part 1

We're just about halfway through our staycation, which I think it's about the perfect point to update the blog. We've planned a week full of activities - some relaxing, others not so much - all with the idea that Aurora will be at school every day as usual while we take the week off together.

Monday morning started with juicing, a 3.5 mile walk, then lunch and a movie date. We saw Rise of the Planet of the Apes, which was pretty good. Tuesday we juiced again (that's going to be a recurring theme here), but instead of taking a walk we cleaned the house and Chuck mowed the lawn. I'm not sure which morning workout was more exhausting. Afterwards I got a pedicure while having a state inspection done on my car, then we packed up and headed to the Vintage Villas - a boutique hotel just 30 minutes away, overlooking Lake Travis. They upgraded us to a deluxe balcony suite, which was so nice. Here's a picture of the outside of the building. Our room was basically the entire third floor.

We were welcomed with champagne and chocolate covered strawberries. This is just the dining and sitting area... there was another room with a king size bed and a huge bathroom with a double jacuzzi tub. Talk about luxurious relaxation at its finest! People, this is the way you staycation.

Here's the view from our private balcony. Temps were in the high 60's.

I knew when I booked this hotel that they specialized in weddings, and the grounds were just beautiful. After a full breakfast this morning, we walked around and enjoyed the scenery.

I'd like to say I slept in, but alas, I was awake just after 7am as usual. Chuck on the other hand... he slept as late as he possibly could to still get to breakfast on time. It may have helped that he got all the champagne (not that I'm jealous or anything, harrumph). Aurora's teacher brought her home yesterday and spent the night, then drove her to school this morning. It sounds like they had a great time, too!

After check-out, Chuck and I continued with our pre-scheduled activities, but I'm saving those for the next post. Let's just say it's been a busy afternoon and there's more to come. But a night (and morning) of quiet relaxation all alone... this might just be the highlight of our week!

Cupcakes

I may not be a fan of cupcakes right now, but Aurora sure is - and this weekend she was in luck. Saturday we went to her friend Seth's Super Hero birthday party. Aurora dressed like a princess super hero (she's the one in the yellow mask)...

Today our friend's daughter Lily turned two, and there were a lot of younger kiddos at her party. I think I forgot what it's like to have a two year old, but I suppose it won't be long before I'm reminded.

After all those kid parties, it was so fun to head out to a karaoke party tonight! I left Chuck & Aurora at home and headed to the Highball to sing with a group of mom friends for over 2-hours. No photos or cupcakes, but good times. More good times are coming this week as we begin our weeklong stay-cation. I only hope a week is enough time to do everything we've decided we want to do!

Baby likes...

I think I've mentioned a few differences in cravings this time around vs. last time. When I was pregnant with Aurora I really wanted citrus and loved veggie burgers with BBQ sauce and pickles. This time I've needed lots of spice in my foods (if only it didn't cause heartburn) and have not wanted coffee or any sort of sweets. I tell Aurora "baby likes spicy food, but not cookies." I had some coffee a few weeks ago and she asked "Mommy, does baby like coffee now?" Not really, but every once in awhile it's okay.

Baby also likes all the nice little gifties we've gotten already! Katie sent some sweet onesies and a nice maternity top, and my mom brought us some cute bibs when she came to visit. Our friend Nicolette gave us a gift for Aurora this week and I couldn't help but give it to her...

I asked Aurora if perhaps it was a bit early to be wearing this shirt to school and she said "No... I'm already a big sister, even if the baby hasn't popped out your belly yet." Baby is definitely going to love his beautiful big sister - and her impressive mane of hair!

Grandma Slane

We had such a nice weekend with my Mama. She came to Austin to check out a few neighborhoods, as my folks are considering a move wanted to look at Austin as a possibility. We have no idea if it'll really happen - but Aurora and I sure enjoyed showing Grandma Slane around the area.

We found some great parks, ate some good food, and all in all had a fun and exhausting weekend which included a couple of meltdowns, locking my keys in the car, tons of hugs, lots of laughs, and a lovely date night for me and Chuck. If my parents don't move here, I hope they'll come visit more often...

I love being pregnant...

I really do. Now that I'm actually starting to show and am feeling the baby move, it's pretty amazing. I'm nearly 17 weeks along now, and this afternoon had my monthly OB appointment. No sonograms, no interesting photos, but I did get to hear a heartbeat which my doctor said was strong at 135bpm.

I also hate being pregnant. I hate this in-between stage where I'm not big enough for maternity tops, but my shirts are just too tight. I HATE how much my chest has already grown. I know this is TMI, but it's just crazy to me... I started as a 32D, 6 weeks ago measured in at 34DD, and last weekend I was sized at 36F. Seriously people. SERIOUSLY. We still have 5 months to go here.

Sometimes I wish this whole process would speed up a little, but I have a feeling these coming months are going to be very full and will fly by. My mom's coming to visit, we're planning a stay-cation, and before you know it, this little cutie will be turning FOUR! She also loves that I'm pregnant...

Perfect

A day off with Aurora is fun, a day off on my own is relaxing, but today I had a day off with Chuck, which was quite a treat! We dropped Aurora at school, went to breakfast, ran some errands, then took 3+ mile walk through our neighborhood. We used to take this walk all the time, but since Aurora came along, long walks just don't happen anymore. In fact, adult conversations rarely happen anymore - Aurora likes to make sure we are only paying attention to her! I'm not complaining - I like paying attention to her, but the quiet time was pretty great. Of course, we still had the whole weekend together as a family. On Sunday we went to see the Secret World of Arriety in the theater, which was such a good movie. Afterwards we shared a smoothy. Chuck took this picture:

And Aurora took this one!

During our long walk, we had time to discuss all the things we want and need to do before and after baby #2 arrives. I suggested we plan a vacation, and asked Chuck where he'd want to go or what he'd want to do. He said he'd like to take a week off while Aurora's in school and have a stay-cation. A whole week just like today. I think that sounds pretty perfect, so if schedules permit, that just might be happening in the near future! In case you're wondering what our long walks look like, here's a pic:

Being in Austin and even seeing our house, you would not think we lived in such a rural area! But just a few blocks away there are goats, sheep, and beautiful stretches of quiet gravel roads. There are also tons of nice homes and normal streets, but the goats. I had to show you the goats.