Resort Life

I surprised myself when I realized I wanted more of a 'resort' vacation for this trip. I really wanted an opportunity for lots of Rest & Relaxation and no pressure to make plans or run around seeing the world in one weekend. Ryan picked an awesome resort that had great amenities and we took full advantage of them!

Our favorite amenity was the pool! The live music was an added bonus as well. And the hot tub (and soaking tub in our room) at night felt so good on my tired legs.

Another favorite was the tennis courts -- I'm not sure if this is good or bad, but I'm playing my best tennis these days at 32 weeks pregnant!

We spent our mornings walking hand-in-hand on Silver Strand beach, just a short walk from the resort. There's nothing better than starting your day on the beach! We collected sea shells, wrote in the sand and just enjoyed each others company.

 I'm not always up for staying at a resort, but for this vacation it was perfect!

 

Picnic with a View

I read about a local park in San Diego that offered great views of San Diego and the Bay, Mary Sessions Memorial Park. We decided a Sunday evening picnic would be perfect for that setting. A quick trip to get fried chicken, pasta salad and some lemonade for our picnic dinner and we were on our way. As we were driving there, we felt like we were on a wild goose chase -- that perhaps the park wouldn't be what we were expecting. We were pleasantly surprised to see that the views did not disappoint, and it was so fun to feel like a local in this city. Too bad we didn't have a frisbee or a kite to play with!

A great way to spend a Sunday evening!

Torrey Pines State Park

I love trying new things and exploring new places. When I found out about Torrey Pines State Park, it was a must-do for our San Diego Trip. The weather was perfect for a couple short hikes, and the views were just breathtaking. This was one of our favorite things from this trip!

So cool to see the natural environment of San Diego!

Our 2nd hike took us down to the beach, where Ryan dug a hole for my belly -- I took a fabulous nap this way!

So happy to be face down! :)

Would definitely recommend Torrey Pines State Park for locals and visitors to San Diego!

San Diego Temple

The San Diego Temple has always held a special place in my heart. I remember as a young 8 year old girl going with my family to the open house -- I remember the experience and how I felt--- knowing that one day I would be married in the House of the Lord. Although I've been back to this Temple and stood on the outside for family and friends weddings, I haven't had the chance to go inside. When we decided to go to San Diego for this little vacation, we also decided we would go inside, together, to the temple. This temple is just as stunning on the inside as on the outside, and the feelings of peace and joy I feel when I go to a Temple are always the same. I love it.

It was also an amazing coincidence when we were walking in and I ran into my old roommate, Katie Packer McLellen!! It was so fun to catch up with her and her great husband and reconnect after 5 years (well, thank goodness for Facebook, we keep track of each other that way too!).

The temple grounds are always so pretty with the seasonal flowers :)

The temple at night as we were leaving.

I'm so grateful for a husband who enjoys going to the temple just as much as I do. We always try to attend the temple when we travel, it's an amazing thing to have temples around the world!

The Island

Coronado Island is so quaint and charming and quiet -- I love it! These purple trees are everywhere and the houses are gorgeous, that just a walk around the neighborhood was relaxing and enjoyable. I think we picked a great weekend to go because it wasn't too busy with tourists just yet. It was also a perfect location because we had all of the great things about San Diego-- but got to get away from the city and enjoy the quiet island life. To be honest, I really didn't take a ton of photos -- I was too caught up in the moment, so here's a few that don't capture the ambiance and character of this cute Southern California Island. 

Most people associate Coronado Island with 'The Del' - which is gorgeous!

View of San Diego Skyline from the Coronado Bridge

A cute shop.

Sunset on our way to dinner.

Dinner on the patio

Amazing Fish Tacos!!

 

This flower-covered gazebo was in the divider in the road! It was gorgeous, so of course we had to go see it and take a photo. Don't mind my outfit -- that's my swimsuit and skirt after pool time -- we were grabbing sandwiches for lunch!

Obsessed with these purple trees -- and all the gorgeous flowers on the island!

Sunset at the Del

Coronado Island

A little R+ R for our last little get-a-way!

We went to Coronado Island and stayed at the Loews Resort -- which was awesome. We were worried when the forecast said 64-68 for the long weekend -- but then we got there our weekend theme soon became:

"65 Never felt so good" 

The cooler weather was amazing!! Perfect for laying out at the pool and the beach and not getting too hot :) With the heatwave across the rest of the country (and Chicago) I was so grateful we were in the one place that had perfect weekend weather for this pregnant lady.


We enjoyed long walks on the beach, collecting sea shells and flowers, going to the temple, tennis, hiking, reading by the pool, laying out on the beach (with a special hole dug for my belly!) Fish tacos, mexican food, Gelato and Ice cream, gorgeous views and spending some much needed quality time together. It was amazing!!

Coronado Island.

Torrey Pines State Park

The view from our room :)

More to come!

Pregnancy Diary {Favorite Things}

A few of my favorite things helping me enjoy this pregnancy:

1. Scarves (pictured, Club Monaco, a gift), 2. Great With Child (gift from a friend), 3. Mother's Special Blend (yay for no stretch marks to-date!), 4. Dr. Teal's Lavender Epsom Salt (relaxes my tired legs after a workout), 5. Body Pillow (helps me sleep at night!) 6. Maxi Skirts and dresses (So comfy-- especially for plane rides. Pictured, Gap Fold over skirt).

I'm also excited to see What to Expect When You're Expecting!

NATO

The NATO Summit was held in Chicago over the weekend. We had been hearing about it for months, received alerts about closed streets, urging locals to get out of town to avoid the congestion, and the likely protestors. Scenes from the Seattle WTO Summit in the 90's were shown on the news as Chicago prepared for the Summit and making it's world debut as a World-Class City (why are we always trying to prove ourselves to the rest of the world?)

Needless to say for us it was a pretty quiet weekend -- outside of the thousands of cops (12,000 to be exact) that were patrolling the streets to ensure our safety. We did have some protestors come by our building, but they were pretty quiet and at a 3-1 ratio with Chicago PD.

Sorry for the dark photos. There were 10 cops in each of those 10-passenger vans and an additional 20-30 cops on bikes and of course the cops that were standing on each corner. By 10pm when we saw this group, there were only 200 protestors and they were pretty quiet.

We were safe and enjoyed seeing the motorcades close down the freeway and rush by us. I'm pretty sure we saw Obama's cade (or maybe that's just my optimism!).

Our Weekend: What NATO?

Although we watched the NATO protests on the news and saw helicopters and the freeway close down for motorcades, we didn't let it interrupt our weekend. We enjoyed the warm weather and the company of our friends for dinner, brunch and a play! We also enjoyed an afternoon in the Ravenswood neighborhood where this pretty much captures our adventure:

Yes, I smelled every peony, the mural on the building is exactly what the neighborhood looks like and our Birthing session at Bloom was awesome. Oh, and Milk and Honey for brunch -- delicious!

Pregnancy Diary: {30 Weeks!!}

 Excuse me, Miss--

Week 30/Mothers Day!

The countdown is on!

• I felt the shift to 3rd trimester almost immediately -- the exhaustion came back and I realized we just have a few (10) weeks left. Yikes!
• We got to do a 3D ultra sound at week 28 -- as always, I love to do ultra sounds and see our little peanut moving around! He was shy for the camera, but luckily we got at least one cute face shot! Who does he look like? Ryan is convinced he has all of his features -- of course. 
• I noticed sometimes I grunt when I try to put on socks or shoes -- boots are especially difficult! A sign that my belly is as big as ever!! I now have a new way to put on socks and shoes that is slightly more comfortable...
• Baby is moving more than ever. It's still my favorite part to feel him in me. I wish I had a little camera that could see what he was doing -- sometimes it feels like he is turning somersaults over and over inside me! Other times I know he is kicking my ribs :)
• As my body was recovering from travel and our fun NYC weekend I took a lot of baths with epson salt to help relax my muscles. I'm really obsessed with my bath tub! Candles help set a relaxing mood as well.
• The pregnancy hormones combined with birthing anxiety kicked in -- we've been having lots of talks about our 'birth plan' and how we are going to prepare for this huge event. I have never felt so unprepared! I think that's normal, but is still a little alarming! (Note: any advice is appreciated fellow mama's!)
• I had another work trip at week 29 of my pregnancy. It was in DC, which was supposed to be a quick 1 hour flight -- too bad the weather had other plans in mind for us; it turned into a total of 20 hours travel time start to finish and I was one sore pregnant lady at the end of it! Luckily, seeing my family helped ease the pain of a long travel experience. 
•  I decided to switch doctor's -- after 30 weeks I realized I don't like how they run their practice and I leave frustrated after almost each appointment. I didn't want to feel that way going into these last few weeks, so I luckily got into a highly recommended doctor to finish out this pregnancy with! I am looking forward to meeting her next week. 
• I have started to get more uncomfortable with this large belly and extra lbs on my body. I don't enjoy driving anymore, because sitting for too long makes me uncomfortable (I normally love driving!) and movies seem extra long because I can get uncomfortable in my seat. Church is a whole other story -- with our 1900's auditorium with no A/C and wooden fold out chairs, Sacrament meeting can feel incredibly long sometimes! 
• I was sitting next to one of my young women, 16, at church, when she looked at me and said "How do you shave your legs pregnant?!" It was funny to see/hear her confusion written all over her face! I told her luckily my shower/bath tub has a ledge I can prop my leg on ... I hope I can keep shaving through summer :)
• A funny moment from the last week- I was out for a walk (in my workout clothes) when I heard "Excuse me, Miss" -- I look over to see a car full of guys with their windows rolled down and they said "You are the most beautiful pregnant lady I've ever seen" -- haha um, thanks?! Awkward-- what do you say to that? Men in Chicago say what's on their mind!

 A few more photos:

Week 28

Week 29

DC - Family Photos

On our last day in DC we celebrated an early Mothers Day with brunch, church, a quick stop at the Temple, and a yummy California-style BBQ! Shortly after, Tarin took the kids back to C'ville, and Ryan was on a plane back to Chicago.

All of the grandkids-- and Sawyer tryin to run away!

I love this -- that's Nicola's finger, trying to tickle Daniel and make him laugh!

We took Ashley shopping for her post-baby hot bod! She found some great stuff at Target-- we wore Daniel out!

I love this little man and his dimple!

Aunt Kiley got him to laugh!

I enjoyed spending a few extra days with Mom, Dad, Ash, Daniel and Matthew, while preparing for my meetings in DC. It was a great week and I can't wait to see them all again!

Mother's Day and Ryan's Birthday

I had a wonderful 'first' Mothers Day! Ryan was so sweet to ensure my Mothers Day was extra special, and I feel so blessed to have such a thoughtful husband and daddy-to-be! I didn't take any photos of the day -- but I enjoyed Magelby's French Toast with strawberries, a very generous and beautiful gift from Ryan, thoughtful talks at church, and a yummy dinner which included grilled salmon, asparagus, risotto and salad. Yum! I made lemon poppyseed blueberry cupcakes to finish off our day! Thanks Ryan for an amazing Mother's Day. We also enjoyed talking to our mom's and Grandmas -- it's hard to be far away from family on holidays.

Tuesday was Ryan's birthday -- we had a quiet celebration with just the 2 of us and an overall great day. Below is a photo of a few of the highlights:

Dinner outside on a gorgeous patio, Oatmeal Cake and Daddy/Son Sperrys!

I'm in the middle of baking (yes, again) a birthday cake for 2 of our Young Women who have birthdays this week! All this sugar is going straight to my hips....

Surprise Baby Shower!

My amazing sisters and mother planned a surprise baby shower for me while we were in DC-- and I was surprised! I don't know how they kept it a secret  -- I talk to my mom and sisters almost every day and I was there at my mom's house a full 24 hours before the shower took place. My mom did a good job at dodging my questions, and I wasn't suspecting anything so I fully believed her.

On Saturday morning somehow my mom and sisters were all sick while we were going to go out to the farmers market. I didn't think much of it, and headed out with my Dad, Ryan, Matthew and a few of the kids. When we got back -- I walked in the house and was really confused -- I even asked, "what's going on?!"

They had invited a few of my favorite people who live in DC to join in our fun, and it was the perfect small intimate baby shower. Tarin planned a beautiful shower and spent many hours cooking, baking and prepping with the help of my mom and Ashley.

I feel so blessed to have such sweet family and friends who want to show their love and support to me and our new baby!! I loved spending the afternoon visiting, planning, and talking all things baby with them. It was also fun to have Ryan and my dad and brother around to enjoy it as well!

Thanks again to Tarin, Ashley and my mom for an amazing shower!!

Mom and Dad to be!

The spread

These are my favorite!!

The strawberry shortcake was also amazing!

Yummy lemonade and Pellegrino.

Charlotte loved helping me open gifts!

Baby's outfit for the Notre Dame Game!

Great to see you, Jen!

My Favorite Ladies and Mama's.

How big will Baby Merrill be? Clearly my family is known for big babies!! :)