MAMA!

Cruz said Mama yesterday for the first time! He has said it before, but not in reference to me. It is one of those moments in life where you feel total bliss. He now is saying mama, dada and a bunch of other jiberish (is that how you spell that?) words. He's so cute!

San Francisco

Unfortunately, Joe had to work late both Thursday and Friday of our trip, so we didn't get to explore the city as much as we would have liked, as a family. So, we decided to add an extra day to our trip so that we could really enjoy our vacation together. We decided to rent bikes and bike across the Golden Gate bridge, and return by ferry. Aidan had been asking, everytime we passed one on the pier, if we could ride on a boat. So we knew that he would love that part of the excursion. The ride was a little bit more difficult than a "beginners ride" as the rental company described it. But it was a really, really beautiful way to see the city. We would recommend it to anyone who even remotely likes that sort of thing. Just be prepared to work just a little bit (there are a couple of good sized hills where I had to walk), but it was doable. We had so much fun exploring the city and enjoying it's food. We WERE all happy to come home, though, and sleep in our own beds!

San Fran so far

Joe had a 2 day job in San Francisco this week, so we decided to come with and take a long weekend. The drive up was a little crazy, but we made it and were very thankful to be here- FINALLY!! Both the boys did great, until we had about 2 hours to go, and they were both just so cranky and didn't really want to sleep in the car. Our only sanity saver at that time was the DVD player. Thank goodness for that! The boys and I have had a lot of fun so far, exploring and walking around fisherman's wharf. Aidan got to ride on the double decker "carouself" as he calls it. And both the boys were fascinated with the sea lions that were lounging by pier 39. We are hoping daddy will be off work early today so that we can all go exploring together!

Christmas!

Our Christmas was so great this year! We had my Uncle Pete and my cousin Sam, and my Aunt Julie and cousin Sydney all in town. On Christmas Eve, we all went to church and came back to our house for dinner. Aidan had so much fun playing with Sam. He was definitely the favorite. Aidan could not stop talking about him. Sam this and Sam that. It was so cute! And since Sam and Pete were staying with my parents, even when we go over there, now, Aidan asks if we are going to see Sam. He always loves being around the other men in the family!
On Christmas day we woke up and opened presents. It was so fun this year because Aidan was SO excited to see all the presents under the tree! He had so much excitement with each new gift he opened. So fun to see how much happiness can exude from their little faces! It always reminds me to see things a little differently. If only for a little while... Oh, if life were so simple!
We all got dressed and went over to Nonnie and Poppy's house. We opened more presents and had breakfast with the fam. It was so great to relax and spend some time with everyone we love. Aidan, of course, was more excited about the presents than the fact that it was Jesus's birthday, but he does still mention his birthday, but not the presents. So, hopefully in the long run, that's what will stick. The birth of our Savior is what should really bring us joy during Christmas time. It's so exciting to see that slowly becoming a part of his memory bank.