Prepared

Today was the day we've been anxiously awaiting - Aurora's first day of Kindergarten! Everything went exactly as planned. Aurora already loves school, she'd taken a practice ride on the bus, met her new teacher, and we've already spent plenty of time at the bus stop as it's right on our regular neighborhood walk. This summer the street pavers broke the bench at the bus stop, so last week we brought our own bench over as a replacement.

Our neighbors across the street bought Aurora a book called "The Night Before Kindergarten," which was perfect reading last night before bed.

Aurora work up early this morning, but eating breakfast and getting out the door still felt a bit rushed. Gone are our leisurely mornings! Instead, we got to meet tons of friends from the 'hood.

As exciting as it was, it all happened too fast. One minute we were chatting with neighbors and the next minute she was gone! Aurora was so happy and brave, and by all reports everything went great. The principal sent us email updates throughout the day, her teacher promised to post pictures on their classroom blog (coming soon), and at the end of the day she made it onto the CCOA bus just fine and spent the last part of her afternoon in their after school program. Our morning routine may have changed, but my evening pick-up stays just the same. The only way we could've been more prepared is if I'd packed her a lunch, but alas - I had school lunches everyday and Aurora just may have to suffer the same fate! Or, maybe next week I'll prepare some lunches ahead of time...

Toddler

Aurora's not the only one moving up in the world. Starting Monday, Clark is moving up into the Owls class at school. He's officially a toddler! Yesterday we took him in (a few weeks late) for his 1-year well baby visit, which went as well as it could, considering...

Well, considering that paper he's holding was one of 3 explanations of shots he was about to get, immediately followed by a blood draw. Sigh. Well, our little guy is getting taller and thinner, weighing in at just about 20 pounds and 28 inches long, which puts him pretty squarely in the 25th percentile for height and weight. He's a good napper, a good sleeper, a pretty good eater, not a very good milk drinker, and he's definitely teething. All in all, the sweetest little toddler we could ask for.

Meet the Teacher

Yesterday Aurora's Pre-K class had a final summer-end party and she said goodbye to Miss Mary...

Before saying HELLO to Mrs. Parolini! Daycare was closed today and it was Meet the Teacher day at Valley View Elementary. Mrs. Parolini seems great and we saw many of Aurora's friends, too.

You can't tell from my pictures, but the place was packed. Her school is so nice - each child has a cubby, locker, bins to keep their writing books, and an iPad for use in class. Starting Monday, our schedules and lives will change as our baby girl goes off to Kindergarten!

Weekend Outings

It was another fun weekend full of fun outings. We took Clark to the fountain at the Hill Country Galleria for the first time, which he wasn't so sure about. He sat on the sidelines and stayed with his mama while Aurora & Will ran around and had a great time getting soaked. 

I coaxed him out a few times, but he wasn't all that into it. Notice the sippy cup he was holding as he watched the other kids play? Well, he's not really into that either. Clark is very attached to me and as you probably remember, he's never been a fan of bottles. Turns out he doesn't like sippy cups either, which is especially hard considering I'm weaning the sweet boy and he's going to need to learn to drink from some sort of cup! Next week as Aurora moves up to kindergarten, Clark will be moving up into the young toddler room and he's not supposed to be taking bottles anymore by then, so we're trying all sorts of different cuppies, one at a time. Not a ton of success so far. Next I think I'll try one with a straw. I mean, clearly all the cool kids are drinking from juice bags with straws!

We had a nice time hanging out at my friend Amelia's new house, and her dog Brazos was so good with the littles. I also took Aurora to a fairy-themed baby shower, and last weekend I went to a baby shower by myself. Now that I'm not breast feeding during the day (only before bed and in the morning), I have the option to go places without the baby - but I already leave him so much during the week that I'd honestly rather keep him with me (and I have a feeling he feels the same way).

Music Man

One of the most awesome things about being a parent is watching your kids grow, learn, and take an interest in new things. I often wonder which interests are inherent and which are a product of our lives, where we are and what we do as a family. I remember when I was pregnant and Chuck worried that our kid might be interested in sports. I told him that most likely they'd like art and video games but if they like sports they can play sports - we don't have to coach the team, we just have to sign them up! Turns out, Aurora loves art. She loves to draw, read, write, and do all kinds of arts & crafts.

Clark loves music. He loves playing Chuck's guitar, and any toy that has music built in is the one he wants to play with. His favorite toys in our house are Aurora's music box, his microphone, a stuffed animal that plays music when you push its tummy, and the magnetic word builder on the fridge.

He can be fussy, teething and tired, but taking him to Tunes Day at the library is ALWAYS a good time. This summer he's experienced rock, country, polka, bag pipes, kids tunes, even a barbershop quartet, and he's been fascinated by all of them. He'll sit perfectly still in our laps watching intently, and before long he'll start walking around, dancing, squealing and clapping. Last night Aurora sang him a lullaby and it was so cute - he was completely into it. I don't know if he'll continue to be our little music man or if he'll move over to art, sports, video games, all of those or something else entirely. I guess my job is to continue to expose him to new things and see what he takes an interest in. Chuck's job is to find a place to put the guitar so he won't knock it over and break it or hurt himself. Pretty soon he'll be teaching him how to play!

Joey

This was a hard weekend. After being treated for allergies and recovering from surgery to remove an abscessed tooth, Joey's symptoms were not improving. Not only did they persist, they got worse to the point that my parents had to say goodbye to their sweet dog on Friday.

It turns out Joey had a tumor in his snout. The amazing thing is that he didn't seem to be in much pain - in fact, every time we visited he was incredibly happy and loved playing with the kids, taking walks, and rolling in the grass. He was a good boy and at only 5 years old we definitely lost him too soon.

Birthday Boy

Clark's first year has indeed been a blast, and so was his party! This weekend we invited a bunch of little neighborhood friends (and grandparents) over for a birthday party play date. Aurora was the party planner and she had a great time. She picked the colors, the goodie bags, helped bake the cupcakes,  organized a sticker activity and opened all the presents. 

It was so nice to celebrate with friends and family, though I'm not sure the birthday boy really understood what the fuss was all about. Clark definitely loves cake, he got some great new books, toys and outfits, and I think everybody enjoyed themselves. Thanks to all who came out!!!

One!

It's official... our baby's a TODDLER! Today we honored tradition by taking Clark to JCPenney for his first birthday photo shoot. Believe it or not, our happy-go-lucky guy refused to smile unless he was in my arms! We managed to coax some cute individual pics, along with some nice photos with the fam.

These are the highlights, though the adorable photo at the end was actually a melt down. Happy Birthday to my sweet, precious baby boy (and his daddy, too).

Blur

This past week we've had so much fun with tons of great activities, but when I went through my photos afterwards I was a bit disappointed that most of them came out blurry. Then it occurred to me that the blur perfectly defines our lives right now. In fact, if I didn't have the blog as my excuse to organize my photos, gather my thoughts, and reflect on the days and weeks - this whole awesome, crazy time in our lives would just be a big blur.

Swimming with my littles at a pool party.

Bouncing in an awesome trampoline room!

Clark can climb, Clark can slide.

The whole family loves live music at the library.

The kiddos love their Grandma & Grandpa!

Now that Clark's walking, both kids are always on the move and we don't spend much time sitting still, but we sure do have a good time.

Monday Night

For years my friends and I have been alternating homes on Monday nights to watch the Bachelorette together. Recently I've had to show up late and/or leave a couple of sad kiddos sobbing and begging me to stay (Mondays are hard!). Luckily, my friends have been coming over to my house more than usual this season - which allows me to watch, eat, participate in bedtime routine, and THIS:

As soon as my friends came over last Monday, Clark just started walking! What a big boy!!! This is something I normally would've blogged the day it happened, but I honestly haven't had a chance to take another video or post anything at all this week. It's my busy season at work and I've been focusing on fundraising and training for the marathon relay. This coming week will be just as crazy, and I'll be preparing for both Chuck's and Clark's birthdays! I wish we could just slow down time a little bit... but, another Monday night will be here before we know it.

Forever Home

The other day my friends and I were talking about how silly it is to watch TV shows about first time home buyers looking for their "forever home." Who only lives in one house anymore? People take new jobs, they move, families and circumstances change. I said that even if we were making more money, I think we'd stay right where we are - this could be our forever home. We might need to fix things up a bit more, but we're very much settled and we love it here. Then this weekend we were invited to a party at a house less than 2-miles from ours and... uhm... okay, so perhaps if I had a chance to move into a house like this, I could see myself upgrading! The pool, the deck, the view, the guest suite, even the fish pond (and I'm not a fish pond kind of person) were just really nice - not flashy but quiet, comfortable, private, and so well maintained.

Oh, and they had a fire truck come to the house for the party. The firemen stayed almost the whole time just eating the food and enjoying the view.

Today we had an equally fun party at a splash pad near downtown. The weather has been perfect for the pool and splash pad - hot, but not so hot that you can't stand to be outside.

We also spent some time looking at a condo my folks are looking to buy. They've decided they'd like to try having a small condo in Austin and another in Florida, going back and forth and living as long as they want in each location. Even with this new plan, I don't know that they're considering anything "forever," but I think it could really work out great. Instead of being 5-minutes away, they'd be about 30-35 minutes south, but that's okay. Eventually the neighborhood will have a pool, and we found a neat park nearby that Clarkie and Aurora loved!

The builder tried to coax us into considering a home in the neighborhood, but even if our current house doesn't end up being our forever home, I think we're pretty set on staying here as long as the kids are in school. Aurora starts kindergarten in just over a MONTH and we're in the best school district in the area. Plus, moving sucks.

On the Move

This week Clark has been reaching some pretty impressive milestones. He's zooming around using anything and everything as a walker, he can stand up and balance, and today he actually took 3 steps unaided!!! Yup, our little guy is on the move and it won't be long before he's walking.

He also used a sippy cup for the first time today, and I decided to take his little seat out of the bathtub so he can have a bit more freedom. His first birthday is quickly approaching and he's getting ready to be a big one year old toddler. Chuck's birthday is also coming up, and mine isn't far behind.

I wouldn't normally be mentioning my birthday at this point, but I set a special goal to mark the occasion. I'm going to run in a Marathon Relay, and I'm donating my birthday to LIVESTRONG in honor of having just hit 7-years as an employee and approaching 37-years as a person. In preparation, I got a new pair of shoes (I actually won them at work!) and I've started a running/walking program called Couch to 5K. I'm not training when it's over 100 degrees, but I've gone out for a few sessions and it's been really great to have some quiet time to focus on myself after the kids go to bed.

Yesterday was also our 16th wedding anniversary. That's such a ridiculously big number that it doesn't even seem like it can be real. Especially considering... I just don't feel that old! But, the years keep moving forward, and along with it - we keep on moving, walking, and running forward ourselves.