Aurora's Summertime Adventures! - HUGE Photo update!

Oh boy have we been busy around here. Trying to enjoy as much of that summer sun as we can! Of course, now that I'm not taking so many classes at a time, it's actually a little chilly here this week. Hopefully it's nice out next week so I can enjoy my first full week off after 17 weeks of non-stop schoolwork! Aurora is growing by leaps and bounds. It's almost overwhelming. At her last appointment even the doctor was amazed by how tall she had gotten and that she was speaking in full sentences. It's like she went from a baby to a big kid overnight. There's very little trace left of that helpless baby I held in my arms just two and a half years ago. Lately, she's been making new friends, playing outside as often as we possibly can and, of course, eating lots of yummy foods! On that note; my new canning hobby has quickly turned into an addiction so I'm sure some canning posts will make their way onto the blog soon, as well. Stay tuned! In the meantime, here's some highlights:










 

Aurora's self-portraits....

Aurora's Totally Awesome Birthday Carnival Party!!

So, I may have gone a little overboard on Aurora's birthday party this year. I had a little extra money coming in and it seemed like every time I thought about what I was going to do, I had yet another idea that I thought would be fun. The party was carnival themed and I had a bunch of activities planned for the little ones... unfortunately most of them couldn't make it. Oh well, Aurora had enough fun for everyone! Next year I may have to tone it down a bit, but I have to admit I really liked putting everything together. It was exhausting but super fun.
As usual, the pictures speak for themselves...
Enjoy!

Presents for the birthday girl from mama.

Treat Boxes!

Decorations!

Duck Pond! (I was pretty proud of this idea!)

"Concession Stand!"

A few more highlights of my handy work and Aurora enjoying the results.

She wouldn't even keep the clown nose on long enough for a picture!

Woo-hoo, presents!!

Aura's Build-a-Bear Snowman from Auntie Rachel!

Happy Biiiiirthdaaaaay!

Mmmm.

Hanging out IN the duck pond post-party, of course.

Oh, and also.... We. Are. Dorks.

Halloween!!!!! (Sorry so late!)

Oh boy has it been a busy few weeks. Halloween and my birthday are so close together that it always takes me awhile to recover. This year I had an amazing idea for Aurora and I to dress up together but I couldn't make it happen in time, so I'm gonna hold onto it for next year. Get ready to be blown away though! This year, I went with something a little simpler. Aurora still doesn't eat candy or sweets so trick or treating is still a long way off. I knew that our only chance to show off her costume would be our neighborhood party, so spending a ton seemed silly. Plus I wanted something I could recycle for another idea I had. Soooo..... Aurora was a rag doll this year, she was still a huge hit!!

The party we went to had a trebuchet to launch pumpkins in the air!

Ready... Set....

GO!!

Aurora saw her first police horses up close!

So curious about everyone...

Clapping for the ladies who were playing music!!

Costume parade around the park!

The one and only time I got her to sit still for a picture.

Silly face!

Oh, did I mention I was a doll too? Yeah, that happened.

Hope everyone else had a great Halloween!! <3 p="p">

Oh boy have I been slacking!

Our summer has been pretty great, but school has been eating up the majority of my downtime. I'll have an easy week coming up where I can take the time to fill everyone in on what we've been up to. In the meantime... pictures!

Hanging out in the kiddie area at our favorite neighborhood co-op grocer!

Trying to decide what to eat at our necessary-evil giant chain grocery store.

Aurora has started eating whole apples. She loves them!

Ok, she REALLY loves them.

But she also still loves her original favorite.... bananas!

Good thing we're learning how to brush our teeth!

Our "First" Christmas!!

Now that the excitement has died down, it's time to tell you guys about our "First" Christmas! 

Ok, so technically this wasn't really Aurora's first Christmas, but considering she slept through it last year (at 25 days old) I think it should definitely count as our first Christmas experience together! We stopped by a friend's house for a small gathering on Christmas Eve and I wish I had taken pictures but I forgot my camera! Here's a picture of her cute Xmas Eve outfit from before we left though:

On Christmas morning Aurora slept until noon!!
Merry Christmas to mama!
Trust me, I know it'll probably never happen again so I definitely appreciated it! 

We opened presents before getting ready to head over to Nana Poo's house...  

1st present from Auntie Poo...

Hmm... what could it be?

Mega Blocks!!!

This one is from Mama... the matching bus!

She got good at opening presents fast!

'Say Please' Tea Set!

1st laptop! Maybe she'll leave mama's alone now!

Playing in the chaos...

 After a little bit of cleanup and breakfast it was time to get in a fancy dress (you may recognize it from our Christmas cards) and hat so we could go to Nana Poo's for Christmas part two!

Aurora LOVES climbing. Funny and a little scary.

 Unfortunately, pictures don't come out too great at Nana Poo's. We had the same problem on Thanksgiving. I'm pretty sure it's the lights from all of their fishtanks but you can still get a pretty good idea of what's going on in them...

She loves Nana Poo's TV...

And Poppa Poo's Xbox controllers.

The dress got old quick so we changed into comfy Xmas PJs

Have I mentioned that Aura's been walking up a storm lately?? 

In the dog toy bucket again!

That big doggie is the owner of all the dog toys.

Aura got her very own phone to play with!

That's Nana Poo!!

Those are the highlights, there was also a delicious dinner, a visit to some of Auntie Poo's other family and a bunch of other gifts. I'll post soon about some of the homemade gifts I gave this year. I'm not going to lie... our "first" Christmas was exhausting. But it was so worth it! Hope everyone else had an amazing holiday!

Aurora loves Mega Blocks.