I have to sit down and put my feet up out of the San Diego sun from time to time anyway, so I figured I may as well post a blog while I'm at it! We're having more and more fun each day we're out here. Yesterday (Monday) we went to the San Diego Zoo. It was amazing. We toted Nora around in the wagon the whole time...well except when She wanted to get out and push it. I was tempted to jump in and take advantage of her kindness, but thought that might look a little wrong...well, and...not...work. So I wanted to post some good zoo photos, as there are many. I think the only animal we didn't see was a giraffe. We see those at the Phoenix Zoo when we go though so that's not too big a deal. OK, here they are: One happy kid at the zoo...





We also went to the beach a bit yesterday morning and made a few good memories. So I am posting a couple pictures of that. We've been having great breakfasts at this cute place called Cafe Mono. Sooo good. They make this fresh 5 dollar breakfast wrap that we just can't get enough of, until we saw the tiny breakfast cafe on the boardwalk that had COCONUT BANANA PANCAKES with MAPLE SYRUP. Hubba Hubba. So that's where we went this morning (Pics should be posted tonight or tomorrow). Nora chose to eat sand instead. Here's yesterday morning's pics to leave you with. You'll love the shot of Nora punching my lights out. Enjoy!

Nora at the Beach

I'm sorry to everyone (if anyone) who has been expecting a blog for a long while now. I'm sure that's poor "blog etiquette." Please forgive me in my tired busy pregnant-ness...= ) Mark, Nora and I are in San Diego right now. We are on a family vacation for the first time in way too long. I haven't been to a beach in about 5 years, and I've never been to a Cali beach, so this is quite exciting to me. We are having a blast!

We arrived last night around midnight after a six hour drive with a one-year-old who doesn't approve of sleeping anywhere but in her crib. The drive was a little rough, and the parking was even worse. It took us an hour to park. Yes we have a garage in our cute little beach house, but we decided to borrow Mark's folks' minivan so we could fit all Nora's "gear" we wanted to bring, and it didn't even remotely fit in the garage. What a long night that was. Then, to make matters worse, Nora screamed probably 45 minutes after we put her down in the pack-n-play...I didn't sleep well.

But this morning we woke up to the sound of the Pacific Ocean waves and beautiful cool foggy weather (at the earliest 7AM I can remember in a while). We walked down the street to a cute little cafe with great coffee and very fresh breakfasts then strolled back on the beach. So life is good again. And later today after a good lunch, we took Nora to the beach, only about 100 feet from our cute little red front door. She had a blast. Loves sand. Cold ocean water not so much...but we did get some great photos. She was towed around like the Queen of Sheba in her red wagon, ate her first whole apple (not a fragment went to waste), hugged some poor random sleeping guy she thought was Dad, and helped build--and destroy--her first sand castle. It was great. Now she's sleeping after all her accomplishments, and we're just kicking back having a beer or gestating a fetus, depending on which one of us you are talking about. Good times.

Oh, and I'm finally 3rd trimester--28 weeks and change now. I feel like I am looking huge again already, and am rocking the contractions many times a day. Maybe this kid isn't going to wait a week after her due date like Nora. Eh...we'll see. For now, I'm just going to thing about the sand in my toes and my lovely family. How's that?
First WHOLE apple ever (sand, seeds and all)...
Queen Nora...
giving baby sister hugs....
Our cute little "red door" beach house we're renting...

Just another day in paradise...

Nora's sleeping so I'm blogging and cooking. She seems to be getting back into her two-nap schedule after a few weeks of only one a day. She was sleeping in until almost 9AM, but now she's up at 7 or 7:30 daily. I, myself have been unbelievably tired these last few days. I slept through her entire 2 hour first nap today, and I'm tempted to lay down now, during her second. She's been out an hour and a half now though, so I'm sure she'll be up soon.

Mark and I just can't believe how much she is growing up. She does sign language now very consistently for "more", "I'm hungry", and "please". Usually "I'm hungry" is the first thing she tells me when she wakes up. She's a good eater, what can I say? She's always poking my tummy now, saying "baba", which I'm pretty sure is nora for "baby", and when I tell her to give the baby hugs, she lays her head on my belly and pats it. It's gotta be the cutest thing ever. I need to get pictures of that. Most of the time she runs around saying DADA, and I know she knows who Daddy is, and that that is what that means, but she likes to say it all the time too. She'll say MAMA when I encourage her to, but DADA is definately her favorite word-ish thing.

Mark had the day off yesterday so the three of us spent the day together. We cleaned and cooked and got the car serviced for almost 3 hours, and it was PARADISE! I love the time we spend together. MArk was saying the other day that we are lucky because we have a lot of those moments that you just long for when you're bored or having hard times, but really just about every time we are together ends up being one of those times. I love seeing him with our little girl, and I absolutely can't wait to see him with our newest little girl (due now in 14 weeks). We are so lucky to have the relationship that we have, and our daughters are so lucky to have parents this much in love. I thank God often for this.

I am so excited. We are going to San Diego on the 22nd. I haven't been to a beach in 5 years and it's killing me! We got a great deal on a beach condo, and we are going to the San Diego Zoo. I've not been to California since I was to young to remember, so it will be very exciting. I hope Nora enjoys the ocean. I'm thrilled that we're gonna have a chance to kick back and make some good memories together.