One Proud Mommy!

Jackson asks for directions and street names wherever we go lately. Last Sunday we were on our way to church and this was our trip conversation...

Jackson: You said we were on Two Notch, it doesn't look the same, I don't see Target (yes, we frequent Target)
Me: I went a different way, Target is behind us but this is still Two Notch.
Jackson: What's the name of this road? (as we make a turn)
Me: Polo Road
Jackson: Polo? Ahahahaha, that's not a road. That's the name of my jeans and shirts!

It's that time again...HOLIDAY CARDS!

I love shopping for holiday cards. Although with all the designs to choose from, it can be a very tough decision! I upload our photos to http://www.shutterfly.com/ and usually order all our grandparent photo gifts from Shutterfly. A couple years ago, I also used Shutterfly for our Christmas card. I couldn't narrow down the pictures I had taken of Jackson to just one so I loved that I had the option to insert more than one picture into the holiday card design I had chosen.

I like pretty simple cards so I'm thinking of using one of the many choices they have on www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationary/christmas-cards. They have HUNDREDS of options so feel free to check out the link and help me decide :) While browsing their site, I also noticed they have holiday story cards. Since we have big news to share this year of adding to our family, I may go with one of these cards, www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationary/holiday-story-cards.

Too many decisions...at least I'm starting early! And I love this time of year so I'll enjoy every minute and save some money! Shutterfly is offering 20% off all holiday cards so if you're interested check them out at www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationary.

California Dreamin'

Nick and I decided to take a little vacation without Jackson and head west to San Francisco. We have been able to take a couple vacations this last year but they have all been with family so it was nice for just the two of us to get away for a few days. Nick had never been to San Francisco and I hadn't been in twenty years so we wanted to pack in as much touristy activities as possible. Here is a quick rundown of our trip:

~ We arrived Saturday afternoon and decided to take the BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) to our hotel after the flight attendant told us a cab would cost $45 and our hotel was a couple blocks from one of the stops. What we didn't plan for was the rain we'd have to walk through to get to the hotel and that the "couple blocks" was more like 10!

~ Almost two hours after our plane landed we were in our room relaxing. Our itinerary (yes I had a daily itinerary for our trip) for Saturday afternoon included walking around Fisherman's Wharf which we decided to skip due to the rain and just hang out until dinner, which was so nice...I can't remember the last time Nick and I just hung out for a few hours. And he didn't even turn football on!!!

~ We had an amazing dinner at Town Hall followed by the most delicious dessert, Butterscotch and Chocolate Pot de Creme! We were so full but the dessert was so good, we took the rest back to the hotel and asked for a fridge in our room so we could enjoy it the next day, ha!

~ We woke up bright and early Sunday morning and decided to walk to brunch since the rain hadn't really started yet. We borrowed some umbrellas from the hotel and started our hour long walk to Home Restaurant. At this point it was drizzling which wouldn't have been so bad if it wasn't so windy. I had MANY issues with my umbrella, I'm blaming it on the umbrella and my height ;) Needless to say our walk was a wet adventure full of laughs...at my expense!

~ After enjoying a delicious brunch, we headed back to the hotel stopping at a few stores in search of ponchos! We had booked the Alcatraz tour that afternoon and the forecast called for heavy rains. After a few stops, we found some adult ponchos at Walgreens and were ready to head to the Pier. Although we missed the views on our way out to The Rock, we really enjoyed the Alcatraz tour.

~ The rain finally stopped about an hour before dinner so we decided to walk to dinner. Although I specifically told Nick, I was fine strolling but I couldn't walk fast in my 4" heels, we ended up booking it to dinner! We ate at Boulevard and had another yummy meal. Both of our appetizers (crab salad and tuna tartare) were the best we've ever had, mmmm.

~ Monday brought our first day of beautiful sunshine. The time difference had us up early again so we had a quick breakfast at a diner around the corner and walked up (and I mean UP) to Fisherman's Wharf and Ghirardelli Square. After walking around for a couple hours enjoying THE toursit location, we hopped in a cab and headed to the Ferry Building. The Ferry Building is a marketplace all about local, seasonable and sustainable food. We could've stayed all day eating all the yummy meats, cheeses and breads! There are also a few restaurants overlooking the bay so we enjoyed an outdoor table at The Slanted Door for our first Vietnamese meal. After lunch we decided to take a walk along the bay to AT&T Park since the SF Giants were headed to the World Series.

~ We were picked up by a tour bus on Tuesday morning to head to Muir Woods and Sausalito. We spent about an hour at Muir Woods walking the trails and then headed to Sausalito with a quick detour to enjoy an amazing view of the Pacific Ocean! We arrived in Sausalito at noon and Nick and I decided to go our separate way from the tour, enjoy lunch, walk around all the shops, and take the ferry back to enjoy the views. The weather was picture perfect, pun intended, and we got some great shots of Sausalito, The Golden Gate Bridge and The Rock.

~ After arriving back at the piers, we headed up to the top of Lombard Street and then back down and across to North Beach (Littly Italy) and Chinatown. We walked through a few of the markets and by we, I mostly mean Nick as I was too grossed out by what I saw in the first one! Then we headed over for dinner at House of Nanking, a popular hole in the wall restaurant. Unfortunately, their menu was very limited especially for those with seafood allergies and those (Nick) craving specific Chinese entrees (Mongolian Beef).

All in all it was a fantastic trip and we were able to do/see all we had planned despite the weather the first couple of days. Wednesday morning, we were all packed up with our Ghirardelli chocolates, sourdough bread, and of course trolley cars for Jackson and Emerson, and ready to head back east!

Jacksonisms

Yesterday Jackson saw a couple gifts I bought for my friend Laura's baby shower this weekend. This is how the conversation continued:
Jackson: Are these for me?
Me: No, they are Mrs. Laura's baby!
Jackson: Baby? Where is her baby?
Me: In her tummy.
Jackson: Oh (sounding shocked), she ate her baby?!?!

Hilton Head Highlights

We're back in Columbia after a fun but not so relaxing trip to the beach. Jackson and I were there for the whole week with Tamara, Emerson and Mariam and although we didn't do much, it's still not as relaxing as a week away should be when you have two toddlers with you :) On Thursday, the rest of the family joined us with a surprise visit from Yousif!

The week was spent mostly at the pool with some beach time each day. We spent the first few nights cooking and eating in and enjoyed some dinners out once the entire family had arrived. On Friday night, we went to Shelter Cove and as we were walking around after dinner, we stopped to enjoy a show that seemed centered around children. There was one man up on stage with tons of little ones surrounding him. Soon enough Jackson was one of those little ones, I really couldn't believe it! Not only did he go sit up on stage, he waited his turn (patiently) and then got up on the man's knee and talked into the mic!!! I am still upset I didn't have my flip with me but here's how the exchange went:

Man: What's your name?
J: Jackson
Man: How old are you?
J: 3!
Man: What do you want to be when you grow up?
J: Mommy....how old will I be when I grow up? (everyone in the crowd laughing)
Man: Sorry let me clarify, what do you want to do when you're all grown up. (Jiddu standing on the side loudly whispering doctor...)
J: FIREMAN!!!
Man: What song do you want to sing tonight?
J: ABCD..."Itsy bitsy spider..."

Jackson continued to sing the entire Itsy bitsy spider song in front of everyone! I was so shocked and proud and loved every minute of it :)

Jacksonisms

Jackson LOVES dancing especially to Disney music. In addition to his dancing, we often hear him singing songs while he's playing with his toys. A few nights ago, we heard him singing "Prince Ali" from Aladdin. It was hilarious because he didn't know all the words and the words he did know weren't entirely accurate. Here's what we heard...
"Prince Ali, Ali, Ali, Ali a Baba."
Then he continued on to sing this and got louder each time...
"Prince Ali, Prince Ali, Prince Ali!" You get the picture, Nick and I couldn't stop laughing, it was adorable!

He also sings "Skidamarink" but instead of singing, "I love you in the morning and in the afternoon, I love you in the evening underneath the moon," Jackson sings, "I love you in the distance and under the tress." Again, it's hilarious especially because distance sounds like dentist!

Tonight as Jackson was cleaning up his toys before bedtime, he kept dropping them by accident. Each time he dropped a toy and had to pick it up again, he would say, "Oopsie spaghettio" instead of "Uh oh spaghettio!"

Jacksonisms of some sort...

Sometimes Jackson gets very excited when telling a story or asking questions that he can't seem to get the words out fast enough. Recently when this happens, he will be rambing and mixing up his words and then all of a sudden he'll say, "Aaahhhhh" pause for a minute and then go on. It's really funny and cute :)

Jackson has been requesting to dance a lot lately. We usually turn on Pandora to the Disney channel. Jackson has become very good at identifying which songs come from which Disney movie and dances (jumps) around for ages. The other night after dinner he was dancing around the living room and the next thing we knew, he had taken off all his clothes and was dancing around totally NAKED! We aren't sure what prompted this but it was hilarious, clearly we have an exhibitionist on our hands ;)