Aurora Smiling and Cooing

The first 30 seconds of this is cute but it gets rather long because I kept recording to see if she would talk more.

My Birthday

I love birthdays! I will always celebrate my birthday no matter how old I get. I might lie about how old I am but I will always be excited for my b-day! :) This year was one of my favorites.

So in the above pic we are at the Carlton's who watched Aurora on Friday night, while Jared and I went to dinner at a seafood restaurant, The Regatta. It's connected to my favorite bookstore (really does it get any better than a good restaurant at a bookstore?!) and we browsed books while we waited for a table to be open on the patio that overlooks the large pretty pond.

My dinner was delicious! I absolutely recommend the Tortellini with Shrimp Pesto Alfredo.

Here is my daughter and I on my actual birthday. Aurora is the best present that I could have ever received and she is the main reason why my birthday was just wonderful.!

Jared made a fantastic dinner for me on Sunday. I kept singing "It's my party and I can eat if I want to!"

Cilantro Lime Chicken, asparagus, red potatoes all cooked to perfection on our grill then add a Caesar salad and some strawberries. It looks great doesn't it!

Then we had dessert (a very yummy Apple Crisp) with our friends, the Ashworths.

Last year for my birthday, Jared bought me the game Ticket to Ride. As you can tell it really is a game for the "whole family"

This year due to the fact the game has been very abused or well-loved...I received the expansion pack.

Thanks Alyssa for allowing me to win on my birthday. No thanks to Jared who on the other hand almost won the maiden voyage of the game by cheating!!! But to concerned readers, I did conquer and win and let the moral be absolutely cliche: "cheaters never prosper"

especially against the birthday girl.

Chunky Monkey

When we went to the doctor's office for Aurora's two week check up, the doctors were surprised at how much she weighed. Even though 8lbs 4ozs isn't a lot it was more than they were expecting. I know she looks little but by the way she keeps hitting the bottle she will be one chunky monkey before too long! :)

Just For Fun: Observing Nature

It has been quite a rainy summer in Lexington and one morning we awoke to a mushroom wonderland! It was truly an amazing sight.

Shhh! If we are very quiet and look closely we might see what creatures live in this wonderland.

Oh, look it's a little "Princess Leia toting a blaster" gnome!

Now in this photo, I believe I heard the Ewok music playing for this party (the song at the end of Return of the Jedi before they botched it all up by changing it).

You're starting to think I might be a little too much into Star Wars now, huh?

Daddy

Aurora truly does love her Daddy. The other day when he got home from work and Aurora saw his face and heard his voice she became more alert and her whole face lit up in a way I hadn't ever seen before.

Aurora has about 5 or more onesies that say "I love daddy" or "Daddy's princess" etc... and she didn't have a single one that said anything about Mommy until so-named-Mommy decided she wanted equal representation and went out and bought a onesie that said "Mommy's Lovebug." I couldn't find one that said "I love mommy." Sigh. So it begins...

I always knew Jared would be a good dad but he is more than that. He is exceptional!

I have heard many stories from others that when they were with their future spouses they wanted to be better, to be their best selves. I didn't quite feel like that with Jared, I always felt like I could completely be myself and that self was accepted, valued and loved.

When I'm with Aurora, I find myself wanting to be better and then when I witness Jared interacting and loving Aurora, the feeling grows stronger to almost bursting. At times, I wonder how much motivation to be your best self can a person take? :)

Bath Time

Aurora loves taking a bath! She is a pretty calm, easy baby but bath time is when she is really peaceful and happy. I would give her baths all the time if possible because of how sweet and special she makes it.

Note: We purposefully made this a PG blog.

Our little Jedi bath time baby. The force is strong with this one.

Doesn't she look completely blissed out? :)