Easter and Spring!

I love that spring is upon us and we have had beautiful weather to enjoy it! We've tried to get out and take advantage of this unusually warm weather so here are a few photos:

Seriously, could Chicago be any more beautiful? I LOVE this city!

I think these tulips win the prize for my favorite this spring.

I'm kind of in heaven at this point. General Conference Sunday.

I got Ryan to jump into the Tulip field with me!

April 1st, a gorgeous Saturday morning. Water Tower and Tulips.

On Michigan Ave enjoying the hundreds of thousands of tulips!

Easter Sunday was a beautiful morning. We woke up, opened our 'baskets', enjoyed a yummy Magelby's French Toast breakfast before heading off to church. Church was wonderful-- we had beautiful talks and I taught a lesson on our Savior Jesus Christ to the Young Women, which included the new Easter Video the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints put out that weekend. It was spiritually uplifting and lovely. Sunday afternoon Ryan joined me in the kitchen and we prepared a meal for a few of our friends including Ham, scalloped potatoes, chive biscuits, corn salad (thanks Linds!) and carrott cake for dessert. It was delicious. And exhausting! Baby boy makes me a little more tired than normal when I want to do the things I like to do :)

My Easter flowers - Ranunculus, so gorgeous!

This is making me want french toast right now ...

Easter. These tulips are amazing, too.

Happy Easter! Love, The Merrills. Ps. thanks Eliza for my pretty dress!!

Easter Dinner at our place. Yes, every one got their own 'Easter Basket' - it was awesome!

Our balcony is a little windy :)

I was so excited about this carrot cake I forgot to take a picture until we had already cut into it. It was so amazing I was sad when we ate the last piece! I think I need to make another.

My heart is sad that the tulips are leaving .... we got to enjoy them for a whole month, which is longer than normal. Now I am excited for summer!!

Gotta Love the LBD

A few weeks ago Ryan and I went to the temple on a grey Saturday afternoon. I was so excited to see the beautiful blossoms on the trees and the sweet scent of flowers (I'm sure you know by now I'm obsessed with spring and flowers).

I love going to the Temple and while my temple dress is barely fitting these days - my new LBD will be my best friend through this pregnancy!

23 Weeks Pregnant in this photo. Thanks LBD for making me look good with a baby bump!

Pregnancy Diary: {24 Weeks} 

Week 24

Getting my fitness on. Week 24 + 4 days

It's hard to believe I am 24 weeks/6 months! I can finally say this pregnancy feels like it's flying by! :) And I'm still in 2nd trimester bliss and loving it. With the next few months being busy with work travel and family-time I know the next few months are going to be gone before I know it! Spring/summer gets to be so busy which is fun and stressful all at the same time.  A few highlights the last 4 weeks:

• If I wasn't showing much before- I am showing now! I feel like I am growing by the minute :) When I asked my Dr about weight gain she said "you're on track-- you're doing fine!" I sure hope so because I feel like I am just growing growing growing.
• Which leads me to -- shopping! I've been maternity clothes shopping -- Old Navy, Gap, Target and H&M are my new best friends. Any other stores my fellow mama's shop at?
• On that note, in spite of my belly I get hit on by random men walking the streets of Chicago! Never before have I gotten so many compliments; I guess I have the 'glow'. 
• I still enjoy working out consistently. Loving this warmer weather so I can play tennis, jog on nature trails and of course keep up my pilates/yoga routine. I like to think baby enjoys all the activity. I feel lucky it feels comfortable and normal to be doing everything I'm doing. I feel really great after I work out.
• When do I get really tired or sore I love to take a warm bubble bath with a Eucalyptus-Mint scent. Yum. So relaxing.
• Ryan has been super supportive and sweet to step in and help cook and also help with the dishes! It's not his favorite chore but he just jumps in and gets it done.
• Food: Obsessed with strawberries and pineapple! I keep buying them by the cases and they are gone in a matter of days. Loving Scooters frozen custard and Pinkberry as an evening treat! Making homemade guacamole every day for a week. Other than that, my eating habits are 'normal' -- which is awesome. Bring on the cuban food, korean food, italian, thai, etc etc.
• Baby saw his first movie!! THE HUNGER GAMES-- at midnight! I took a few 13-15 year olds to see it and we had such a blast. Luckily my pregnancy sweet tooth came in big time for us with Red Vines, Sour Patch Kids, Skittles, etc. I also snuck in Orville Redenbacher Popcorn (way better than movie theater stuff) and I had a coke to keep me up -- I could feel baby moving all over like crazy and I"m not sure it was the late night hour or the soda-- so I've sworn off caffeine!! (it was only my 3rd soda of the pregnancy anyway so its not like I was drinking a lot of it to begin with).
• Had my first 'scare' with baby. We were off to go tulip peeping and I fell off my bike! Luckily my shoulder took most of the fall and sweet lil baby is just fine! A trip to the chiropractor helped with my pain/soreness. It definitely scared me though and I don't plan to get back on my bike ... 
• Sleeping can still be tricky. No more dry mouth (thank goodness) but restless legs, etc.  Luckily a friend let me borrow a body pillow which helps me get through the nights!
• I get to feel baby move all the time now. I can tell he is growing bigger and stronger. He likes to kick kick kick, and my favorite moments are when Ryan feels him kick with me! We'll sit with Ryan's hand on my belly in the evenings after dinner and feel him move all night long :)
• No names picked out yet -- we are still struggling with this, so for now we call him 'baby', JR, or sometimes RJ (Ryan Jr.). 
• We have started thinking about what types of things we want for JR-- there are so many options for each necessary item! Strollers, Cribs, Carseats, carriers, etc etc etc. Any advice? It's definitely overwhelming.
• I'm in big time nesting mode getting our condo ready for baby to arrive in a few months! Perhaps I'll share some before and after pictures :) Looking to increase our storage space for everything baby needs and to finish off a few projects I've been dying to do forever. Looking forward to expanding our family in our Chicago 'home'.

xo,
Future Mama

Signs of Spring

We were pleasantly surprised when we returned from Florida to find a heat wave upon Chicago -- very quickly the weather was just as nice as South Florida! We enjoyed 2 weeks of 70-80+ degree weather!! Very un-Chicago like for March and we were loving it.

amazing?!

The result of the amazing weather included Spring coming upon us more quickly than ever. As this is my favorite time of year, I've been trying to soak up the signs of spring that I usually get to enjoy for weeks and weeks on end. I keep hoping the tulips will stay in bloom extra long this year so I can savor it.

Love!

Of course, a few photos of spring in Chicago-- and I can't promise this will be my last post on Spring/Blossoms/Tulips/Etc.

First signs of spring- I love these bright yellow blossoms on this bush.

Tulips coming!

The first daffodils I saw -- so cute!

First tulips- in front of this gorgeous CPS.

pretty blossoms.

Love the white blossoms and tulips about to pop!

Tulips budding.

Tulips in bloom! love the double layers.

2-inch petals- so gorgeous.

Love love love.

I hope you are all enjoying spring as well! It's the BEST.

Spring Break {Naples}

I don't know that Naples would have made our Florida vacation list if it hadn't been for Ryan's awesome cousins who live there. Naples prides itself on being out of the way of the hustle and bustle of Miami, and its a gorgeous beach community on the West coast. They love their sunsets and pristine neighborhoods. We had such a fun time hanging out with Rob, Sheree and sweet baby Aubree, we can't wait to hang out with these guys again!! Our weekend was full of good food, laughs and the beach.

Naples.

Naples beaches are the best! So gorgeous.

Love this cute little babe.

This is the life!

Did I mention the concert in the park we attended? 500+ Retirees -- it was awesome.

We had a blast kayaking through the mangroves. Even when I almost tipped us over because I thought I saw an alligator...

Naples Sunset.

My baby bump! 21 weeks!

The sunset.

Spring Break: {The Everglades}

Check out those teeth and that sneaky grin.

Hands down our favorite thing we did in Florida was go to Shark's Alley - a 15 mile trail in the Everglades where there are alligators everywhere!! It was so fun. We rode our bikes and enjoyed the trail (practically) to ourselves.

Gorgeous day -- even more gorgeous husband. xo

Don't let this picture fool you -- these alligators were as big as me!

The everglades.

Their skin is so cool.

Momma bird feeding her new babies.

We also saw some beautiful birds and even some babies!! I loved riding my bike next to Ryan and enjoying the beautiful surroundings in a quiet, peaceful Saturday afternoon. It was so much fun! The alligators gave us a bit of a scare once or twice.....

Ryan's 3 legged friend-- he can actually move pretty fast!

When we started on this trail it wasn't more than 5 minutes that was saw 6 alligator on the paved path!! I jumped on my bike and let out a squeal -- I wasn't ready for so many all at once! So so fun.

Spring Break {South Beach}

We were a little nervous about staying in SoBe during Spring Break season --- as we drove up the main strip, my fears were beginning to be confirmed. It was crazy! But, the one place I wanted to go on this trip was South Beach -- I've heard so much about the Art Deco architecture and the vibe that I just had to check it out. Luckily Ryan was up for the adventure!

awesome.

After a quick nap (I am 20 weeks pregnant at this point) and a shower, we headed out at 9pm for our night on the town. We found an awesome pizza place and ate out on the pedestrian mall and people watched. The weather was perfect, there was plenty of 'entertainment' and amazingly the stores stay open until 11pm! We admired the amazing architecture of a few key buildings by night, had the best gelato I've had in the states, and continued our people watching.

Do you like our matchy match outfits? Not on purpose, but I kind of loved it.

Movie Theater in South Beach (SoBe)

Orchids!

This was one of my favorite evenings. Enjoying each others company, exploring a new place and embracing the unique and diverse culture. Of course my favorite part of the evening was finding these incredible orchids growing on the trees!! So cool. We ended the night with a romantic midnight stroll along the beach-- with a full moon overhead.

The next day we headed to the beach early to secure a good spot on the sand. Our hotel fees included beach chairs and umbrellas, which was so worth it with the sun blaring at 9am. We read our books, magazines, ate a pseudo breakfast (bananas and fiber one bars) and took a walk along the beach.

Baby bump- 21 weeks.

Love these lifeguard stands.

For lunch we found an awesome cuban restaurant (another must-do in Florida) and we walked along the main drag and admired the partying going on mid-day at the outdoor restaurants and bars. Again, I obsessed over the architecture, colorful buildings and diversity that surrounded us. I haven't experienced anything quite like South Beach, and I loved it. Would do it again in a heartbeat.