Happy Birthday to Me!

My golden birthday is today and what a great day and weekend I've had. For those of you that don't know, a golden birthday is when you turn the age of the date of your birthday. So for me turning 28 on the 28th of June is my golden birthday. Other than that, I'm not sure if it's supposed to signify something special but it sounds good, doesn't it? Today is also Carolina Day, how fitting that we moved to South Carolina and my birthday is on Carolina Day! For those that don't know, on June 28, 1776, a small band of Palmetto State patriots defeated the mighty British navy in the Battle of Sullivan's Island. Patriots stationed at an unfinished palmetto log and sand fort near what is today Fort Moultrie defeated a British naval force of nine warships as it attempted to invade Charleston. The victory put off a British occupation for four years.

Yesterday morning started out with Jackson sleeping in until 7:45AM!!! I think he knew his mommy wanted to sleep in...although I'm not sure why he didn't do that on my actual birthday today. Nick, Jackson and I got ready and took our first trip to the Botanical Gardens which are gorgeous and then the short tram ride to the Riverbanks Zoo next door. Good thing we have an annual pass to the zoo since Jackson's favorite part of the visit was the tram ride! He just wanted to go back and forth and ride on what he called the truck. We enjoyed a laid back afternoon and evening but it was so nice to all be together.

Nick was on call today for my actual birthday which was disappointing. I knew I didn't want to be alone all day, so I decided to host a playdate this morning for my mums and kids group. Jackson and I both had so much fun with everyone, thanks for coming over to play with us and celebrate. As soon as Jackson woke up from his afternoon nap, we left for the Palmetto Falls waterpark to meet Gina and Karen and their kiddos. This was our first time at any waterpark so I was excited (mommy code for nervous) to see how Jackson would react to the pool, splash park, water slides, etc. Well, I quickly realized it was silly for me to be nervous, he LOVED it and actually I did too. The kiddie pool was amazing, 1' deep all the way around with the cutest little slide in the middle of it that Jackson enjoyed over and over again. We also took a few turns lounging on inner tubes around the lazy river. We had such a great time and are so thankful for the invite from the Hepler Family and the great company with the Cho Family.

I had a wonderful and very memorable birthday. Thanks for all the birthday wishes from near, far or facebook!

Flashback Friday

Every Friday I'm going to post some flashback pics. Here are a few of Jackson last June, hard to believe that was just one year ago...

Breakthrough!!!

We are in the middle of Jackson's second full week of school. Our morning crying ritual has continued every day but according to his teachers, it doesn't last as long anymore. When I pick him up, he's usually sitting in Miss Gloria's lap cuddling with Buddy and sucking his thumb. Today I walked in expecting the same scene and...breakthrough...he was playing with the other kids and happy as a clam. The best part, Buddy was in Jackson's cubby IN THE HALLWAY!!! Miss Gloria said he had been there almost the entire morning! I know this may not seem like a big deal, but Buddy is Jackson's comfort so to know he was able to put him away and play is such a relief. I know he's adjusting and soon I'll be posting describing a drop off without tears (hopefully).

Happy Father's Day!

Happy Father's Day! It's strange not spending half our day in the car driving between the Salman and Kelly households to celebrate. We're sorry we couldn't be with you this year but hope you had a wonderful day, we love you!

Nick was post call today so we didn't have any crazy father's day plans. Luckily Nick came home early around 11AM so we were able to enjoy him for longer than his usual post call days. We ate lunch, Jackson took a nap and then we all took part in Nick's favorite thing to do...WATCHING SPORTS! We flipped between golf, baseball and soccer. Jackson had a blast since he normally isn't allowed to watch TV and of course, Nick enjoyed his relaxing day cuddling with his little buddy...

Random Rant

Every Tuesday is kids eat free day at Moe's and Jackson and I go pretty often with friends of ours, the Shahs. Moe's has hired a balloon man to walk around the restaurant and make fun balloon animals for all the kiddos. He is only there from 6-8 and if you've ever been to Moe's on a kids eat free night, you know how overcrowded with LITTLE kiddos it gets. Well last night was no exception, it was packed.

The balloon man arrived at 6PM and the first table he chose to go to was a table of teenagers! Seriously? We were sitting at the next booth so naturally Jackson and Salil were very excited that the balloon man was coming to our table very soon...or so we thought. He spent half an hour at the table of teenagers talking, laughing, and making them 4 different balloons. Again I ask, SERIOUSLY?!?!? You have a restaurant full of toddlers and young children and not only do you go there first but you also stay there for ages!!! He also had multiple parents ask him to come to their table that night since they usually missed him and he told all of them he may not have time. No kidding, how would you have time if you're talking to teeny boppers all night?!?!? His unprofessionalism and obliviousness to all the younger kids waiting was extremely annoying. Couple that with the "Oh my God!" screams and "Can you do an octopus balloon?" and the deafening shrieks from the teenage girls, and you get my random rant!

Poof, they're gone...

We had such a wonderful weekend thanks to Tamara and Emerson visiting. We miss them already and have started the countdown to the next visit, 4 weeks and 3 days!

Yesterday was Jackson's birthday party at My Gym. He had a blast with all his buds and Emerson loved it, especially the tambourine. Here are a few of my favorite pics...

Jackson was the birthday "king" riding around in the wagon and this was our group picture or the best we could do with 18 toddlers!

They're Here!!!

Tamara and Emerson arrived today around 11AM, just in time to eat lunch, play and take good afternoon naps. Well only Emerson took a good nap, I'm pretty sure Jackson was too excited about our visitors to stay asleep! After naptime, we met a friend of mine, Karen Bell, who is starting up a photography business at Pooh Park for a cousin photo session. We let the little lovies run around while she snapped away. Thanks Karen!

We came home and made a yummy dinner and let Jackson and Emerson play. Emerson liked all of Jackson's toys but Jackson didn't like that she was playing with all of them, we're still working on sharing ;) They will be here until Monday so hopefully he'll stop saying mine to everything Emerson touches...including the air conditioning vent!

New school, day 2...

Today was Jackson’s 2nd day Lake Carolina ELC. On the way there he wasn’t showing any signs of hesitation. He has figured out where we’re going based on which way I’m driving so I was worried he would know we were going back to school and freak out. So when that didn’t happen, it was a huge relief. He got out of the car and walked in with me. As soon as we stepped foot in the classroom, he grabbed Buddy (his blankie), wrapped his arms around my leg, and started crying, “No mommy, no.” Needless to say, it was devastating. I knelt down, gave him one last kiss and hug and told him mommy would be back soon and I was out.

I just got back from picking him up and I'm happy to report it was a fabulous experience! He was not crying and he had eaten lunch today! Hooray!!! When we were walking back to the car, I asked him if he had fun and he said yes. Then we got home and he threw a tantrum because he didn’t want to be home and he wanted to go back and play. I guess you can’t win no matter what you do. I’m just happy he seems to be adjusting well, and quickly.

Now all I have to do is get through the next 48 hours and then I get to see Tamara and Emerson! We are so excited they are coming to visit. Jackson keeps saying auntie and Emerson, which sounds more like Eh-son but you get the point.

Jackson's First Day at LCELC

Jackson has been on the waiting list at Lake Carolina Early Learning Center for months and finally got a spot on Tuesday and Thursday. Yesterday was his first day. I was prepared for him to cry when I dropped him off since that's what he used to do at NE Presbyterian Church MMO for the first few weeks. We walked in and as I was signing him in, he walked towards another kid in the class and started playing. I wasn't sure if I should say goodbye so I started to leave and as I turned to shut the door, I noticed Jackson looking at me so I just smiled and waved...no tears!!! Needless to say I was thrilled.

I went back to pick him up at 11:45AM and saw through the classroom window he was in the teacher's lap. I opened the door and he immediately ran to me and was sobbing. My heart broke into a million pieces. Apparently as soon as lunch arrived, he wouldn't eat and started crying and had been crying for half an hour. I know it will just take time for him to get used to it but it doesn't make it any easier to see your baby crying. Fingers crossed for tomorrow :)

And last, but definitely not least, our water finally got turned back on after twenty hours! Unfortunately, I have a feeling that is not the last of the drama with the water company.

Scary Bushes?

We had our water turned off yesterday by the wonderful City of Columbia Water Company. It was an error on their part which they advised would be solved that day. At 7PM there was a knock at my door and I saw the Water Company truck so I opened up to hear a guy asking me to cut my bushes. He said he couldn’t get to my water meter to turn the water on because he couldn’t get around the bushes. Now unless those bushes miraculously grew in 5 hours, they are the same bushes that were there when the water company turned off my water. Needless to say I was furious and I asked the guy to wait while I called the water company. He asked me if I was going to cut the bushes after I got off the phone to which I said, “Do I look like I’m going to cut those bushes?!?” He then got in his car and drove off. I called and was told they would send someone else that doesn’t mind bushes out that night. Well I woke up this morning and guess what? NO WATER!
I called again this morning and the person that answered the phone was literally at a loss for words. He kept asking me how it was possible that they turned off my water and then refused to turn it back on because of some bushes. At last, it seemed like I was speaking to someone that understood where I was coming from. So now I’m still waiting for them to turn the water back on hopefully sometime this morning.

In other news, we started potty training Jackson Saturday morning. In the morning he seemed really into it, I asked him if he wanted to be a big boy and wear big boy underwear and he shrieked yes with excitement. We quickly had 6 wet pairs of undies and 1 dirty pair, which was actually hilarious. He took a great nap (in a diaper) and woke up in a pretty good mood…until…Mommy said it was time to be a big boy. He insisted on keeping his diaper on. I asked him if he wanted to wear big boy underwear, he screamed no. I don’t want to force him into it and after remembering that he was starting a new school this week, we felt it was better to try again when he didn’t have any other changes going on. So for now, we’re back in diapers and will keep him on or around the potty as much as possible and try again in a month or so.

Busy, busy, busy

It’s been a pretty low key week after an extremely fun weekend. We had a playdate every single day starting last Thursday! One would think this would have worn Jackson out and he would be in a really good mood and okay to play at home this week so Mommy could work. One would be wrong. He’s been quite anxious this week to get out of the house. I’m sure he’ll be super excited to see Nana and Jiddu (my parents) tomorrow! Nick and I are excited about having a night out and knowing Jackson is being watched by trustworthy babysitters as we’ve had quite the experiences trying to find a good one in Columbia.

We are also going to attempt the 3 day potty training this weekend!!! I say attempt because Jackson has toddlers diarrhea and I’m not sure how successfully you can be potty trained with all that going on. But I’m sure I’ll have some interesting (and gross) posts to come.