Ethan and Lisa: San Diego

Ethan, Julia, and I went to San Diego last weekend. We wanted to have one last vacation before our little boy arrives (or before I get too pregnant to go anywhere). San Diego was a perfect get-away because it was only a few hours away. We arrived Thursday afternoon and left Sunday afternoon.

Ethan always gets us great deals through Priceline.com. So, we got a great deal for the Sheraton right on the water front. Our balcony had a view of the water and Coronado. It was really nice! Our room was quite large which was great, especially now that Julia is getting more and more busy... more room for her to run around, explore, etcc.

Vacation was really good for me, physcially. I have been getting pretty worn-out in my 3rd trimester (I'm 29 weeks). When I was pregnant last time with Julia, I felt pretty run down and was getting a lot of braxton hicks, but I assumed that was just because I was teaching full-time, on my feet, not resting, etc. Well, I am starting to feel the same way even though I'm home and resting a lot more than last time. It appears that my body just handles pregnancy this way. It seems that as long as I'm resting a lot and getting to bed early, that I have more energy during the day and don't get as many braxton hicks. Thankfully, I know the warning signs, so I'm hoping that if I just lay down/sit down whenever I'm getting braxton hicks/tightness, that I can keep from having to go on complete bedrest like last time (at 32 weeks).

Anyway, vacation was good because Ethan held Julia a lot, took care of many of the diaper changes, etc. It was a good break for me and I was able to sit or lay down a lot. Also, vacation is so good for our family. Ethan and I love having quality time together. It's also so good for Julia to spend so much time with daddy. She is usually pretty clingy with me at home, but on vacation she starts to prefer daddy and gets close to him. It is super sweet.

It was so cute to see her personality come out more during vacation. It appears that she might be more friendly than I realized. At restaurants, she kept smiling at all the servers and would make these cheesy-silly faces to try to get their attention. Also, when anyone would show interest in her, she would try to make conversation with them by using her limited vocabulary such as saying "shoes" and pointing to her shoes. Then she would say "dada" and point to Ethan and say, "mama" and point to me. It was fun to see that.

Here are some pictures of our special time in San Diego.

The San Diego Airport was pretty close to our hotel. So, we parked in a local neighborhood and let Julia watch the planes fly overhead. She likes airplanes, so it was fun for her to see them so close.

I think this picture is cute because Julia and Ethan have similar expressions.

Julia watching the plane fly overhead

We found a yummy ice cream place. The lady at the shop asked if she could give Julia her own ice cream cone with a little tiny scoop. Julia enjoyed it and ate most of it!

Such a big girl!

This was at breakfast our second morning. Julia was tired because we had kept her out late the night before and she woke up early that morning (funny how you would think that she would sleep in when she goes to bed late, but it doesn't work that way as many of you know who have kids of your own...). The sweet part about this picture is that Julia hardly ever snuggles with daddy. But, like I said, vacation is good. It is sweet to see Julia get more attached to Ethan while on vacation.

Why is Julia's mouth wide open? Because we were drinking an iced vanilla latte. Whenever Julia wants something of ours, she opens her mouth all wide. It was hilarious. We let her have a sip (I know, shame on us!) and she liked it and wanted more.