San Diego | Part I

Ahhh, the vacation recap(s). Boring to everyone else but me and my family!

A little backstory...my brother has been living in San Diego since August. He is out there for work for a whole year, and his company has been paying for everything--gas, groceries, rent, you name it. He's basically living the dream. So for Christmas, he told me all he wanted was for us to come visit him in Cali. It was basically a free vacation (except our plane tickets, of course)! Done and done.

I'm not sure how many "parts" this is going to take...but I took over 600 pictures during our 8 day trip, so get comfortable! ;) 

We left Thursday, April 2 after school. I was hoping Ella would fall asleep on the plane, since it took off at 6:30 and she normally goes to bed around 7. 

No such luck. 

The plane ride was a bit of a nightmare, but we survived! I told Travis when we got off that 5 hour flight, that it had felt 10 times longer than our flight to Europe. We landed at 11:45 our time (8:45 PST) and Ella had not slept one wink since her afternoon nap. 

{airplane shirt from here}

Good times all around. But the fun did not end there. Oh no. Of course not.

At the baggage claim, the carousel kept going around, and around, and around...and around. And then it stopped. WHERE WAS MY BAG?! Yes, thank you US Airways, for losing my huge, bright pink suitcase on a DIRECT flight out of your HUB airport (oh! and we had checked in with plenty of time to spare before our flight...). To say I was extremely pissed would be putting it lightly. There were tears from me (and Ella who was exhausted at this point) involved. 

An hour later (that's how long it took to get a claim taken care of because there were several other people in my same boat!), we get in my brother's car and head immediately to Target. At this point I noticed my poor child had soaked through her diaper...we were all exhausted...I had no bags....it was pitiful. Just pitiful. $70 later (and does US Airway reimburse? bc that would be nice, considering...), we had some clothes and essentials to get us through the next day until my bag arrived.

Ok, so Friday was a new day! I had my lovely Target attire...as did Ella, although she had no hair bow to match, so please don't judge us on this days' pictures!  

First stop was brunch, followed by La Jolla Cove. Gorgeous views of the ocean!

At La Jolla cove, there is a big beach where the sea lions hang out, and you can go right up to them (or, as close as they'll let you)!

Ella and I walked down to see them....they were SUPER stinky though!

That guy on the left actually barked at us when we tried to get on his rock!

After we left La Jolla Cove, we headed up the mountain to Mount Soledad.

More gorgeous views (are you beginning to see why I took so many pictures?)!

We went back to my brother's house so Ella could take a quick nap and I could try to locate my suitcase (which had still not shown up). 

After an hour or so, we were ready to do more sightseeing, so we went out on Point Loma.

First, we checked out the tide pools there.

I just loved how cool the rocks looked! And we found some sea urchins in the little tide pools.

Next, we headed to the Cabrillo National Monument, which is on the highest point of Point Loma. (If you are an Anchorman fan, this is where Ron Burgundy brought Veronica on their date.)

We were about 10 miles (maybe a little less) from Mexico, but Travis and I both got text messages from our cell phone providers saying "Welcome to Mexico." We kind of freaked out, but I'm happy to report that we did not get billed for any international calls or data!

Bless poor Ella's heart...she was so done at this point. 

But we can't stop now, it was only 5:00! So we headed to Pacific Beach.

There is a huge pier in Pacific Beach that you can walk out on (duh), so we did that. There were cars and houses on it! Crazy!

We got back to my brother's house...and this time, my suitcase had arrived!!!!!!!!!!

Tell me, how does one lose this bad boy?!?

We celebrated the return of my luggage with dinner at La Piñata. 

Ella tried the lime from my margarita...not what she was expecting!

Ok, so now that we have luggage...next up is the ZOO! 

Ella's Easter Basket

I'm baaaack! Did you miss me?!

We've been in California for the last week, so I have TONS to catch you up on!

But first, I need to share Ella's Easter basket from this year! 

bunny | pouches | puffs | turtle | elephant doodler | balls | Easter Bunny book | Peek-a-Baby | Five Little Puppies

We gave it to her early this year, with lots of fun things to keep her entertained on our plane ride (more about that in another post!)!

Trav's parents got her the bunny from Pottery Barn Kids, and it is SOOO soft! They actually got her the entire Easter basket on the left. #spoiled #onlygrandchild

I think she liked everything! :)

Stay tuned; later this week I will have some vacation recaps coming your way! :)

Five in Friday!

Let's be honest...I'm pretty sure the only posts I do from now until June might be 5 on Friday posts. There are just not enough hours in the day...or enough energy in my body...to do much else!

1. I am going to start off a little bit negative (so skip this one if you wish!)...I have gained almost 10 freaking pounds since Ella stopped nursing 6 weeks ago. My OB had told me that I would lose 10 pounds when I stopped nursing. WHAT THE HECK. I guess this is "normal" but I am not a fan! Will I eventually even out or am I just going to be permanently 10 pounds heavier forever?!

{yep.}

2. Moving on to better things, Miss Ella got her first pair of real shoes this week!!

In case you are curious, we got her these from here. She was not a fan of the lady measuring her foot, but she loves her new shoes and was fascinated by the store!!

3. She got to try her new shoes out at the park on Tuesday after we finished a run with the BOB (still obsessed with that thing)! The weather has been awesome this week! (Well, except today!)

4. Ella also got a new potty this week. 

No, I am not trying to potty-train my 13 month old. I know I can be crazy, but I am not that crazy. Homegirl has a big problem with going #2 in the bathtub. I am talking several times a week. I read somewhere to try putting them on a potty before/during bath time...and so far, it seems to be working! Too bad Ella hates the potty though...

5. Last Saturday, we had the opportunity to go to Knights Stadium for a special surprise. My long-term sub (who I owe so much to for doing a fantastic job while I was on my year-long maternity leave)'s husband got diagnosed with cancer, literally the week I came back to school. He is doing awesome fighting it, but since he was a baseball player for the Knights back in the day, they wanted to do something special for him and his family. So our whole school, his work, all of their family and friends came out to surprise him. It was really sweet and a perfect afternoon! {You can read more about it here!} Ella met 2 new boyfriends (my co-worker's sons), and even had her picture taken by the Charlotte Observer! 

So that's a little look at what we've been up to lately! A little "Life with Ella" if you will. We have some fun things planned for this weekend, so hopefully I can update you next week! 

Have a happy weekend! :) 

Five on Friday!

I don't know about you, but this was the LONGEST week ever for me!!

SOOO happy it's FRIDAY!

1. What would a Five on Friday in March be without mention of March Madness?!?

I have 3 brackets going this year: mine, Ella's (yes, she really did chose the teams...I laid out cards with each team's name and logo/mascot on it and whichever one she picked up first was what I went with....and I have video evidence in case you don't believe me!) and my kindergarteners' (we voted as a class for each matchup). As of 9 PM last night, all 3 of the brackets weren't doing awful...but so far my kindergarteners' is my best bet! They did really good with their picks I think! And my daughter did pick the Georgia State and UCLA upsets yesterday!

2. I finally broke down and ordered a BOB off Amazon last weekend. (I tried to do a price match and a 20% off coupon at Buy Buy Baby, but they said you could only use one; so I just ordered off Amazon since we had a gift card on there.) It arrived on Tuesday, and I am OBSESSED! Ella likes it, too! Here she is blowing kisses...

 We have been running lots outside since Tuesday...it's like a whole new world! My pace time is almost 30 seconds faster than it was last week when I ran with our old stroller! The BOB basically pushes itself...it is so magical! I wish I had just gotten a BOB sooner...can't believe it took me 13.5 months to get with the program! 

3. On Monday, Portrait Innovations was offering free pictures with the Easter Bunny, so of course I was all over that! Unfortunately, Ella was unsure about the EB...

She actually thought he was a "woof woof" and started barking at him. She was pretty excited about the whole thing, until I plopped her on his lap and she freaked out that I left her with this strange rabbit, who was in fact, not a woof woof (I would be scared too, if we're being honest...)! 

4. Last Sunday, I went to see the Cinderella movie with Kathryn. It was so good, but SO sad! I think because Cinderella's real name was Ella, it made the movie even more meaningful to me? Meanwhile...my Ella was home with her dada. She moved her chair to in front of the door, so she could read while looking outside. She cracks me up. 

{Never mind that the book is upside down...and it's a Halloween book....}

5. This past week was Rainbow Week in kindergarten, where the kids wore a different color of the rainbow each day. Of course Ella had to participate, too!

Today is purple day, but she was sleeping when I left the house, so that's why it's not in the collage above! But she does have on a purple dress! :) 

Have a great weekend!! :)

Five on Friday

Ohhh heyyy long lost friends! Sorry I disappeared there for a bit....my life has been pretty boring and un-blog worthy lately! Is it June yet?!

Miraculously, I did find 5 random things to write about for my Five on Friday!

1. Did you watch the Bachelor on Monday?! This is one of the only shows I am actually all caught up on (besides RHOBH), and as annoying as Whitney's voice was, I'm actually glad she won! 

She works with one of my sorority sisters (how cool is that?!) so I've been rooting for her since I found that out!

2. Not to be Debbie Downer, but am I the only person who is NOT excited about St. Patrick's Day? Now of course, it will be fun to put Ella in a SPD outfit and all, but I am getting a little too old for the whole bar crawl, green beer situation (although, is green wine a thing?! Maybe that's gross.). I think the highlight of my day might be graphing lucky charms with my kiddos, ha! 

3. Do any of you check the daily deals on Woot?! They had a BOB stroller on there for $225 on Monday, so of course I was all over that and got one! But then they emailed me and said they hadn't shown the correct model's picture, and I would be getting an older model instead. I didn't want an older model, so I cancelled my order. But now, I really want a BOB! 

I have tried running with our Britax stroller, and it just doesn't cut it. I ran 2 miles with it yesterday, and I felt like I was running a marathon. It was pretty awful! I'm going to try and get the BOB later today...I'm hoping Buy Buy Baby will let me use a 20% off coupon. I'll report back!

4. I feel like I need to make a little public service announcement here and get something off my chest: 

YOUR does NOT = YOU'RE. 

{Does this drive anyone else crazy or am I just psycho?!} 

Your is a possessive (it belongs to you), as in: I really like YOUR shirt; YOUR brother is kind of attractive; I can't handle how cute YOUR baby is. You're is a contraction; it stands for you are. As in: YOU'RE welcome; YOU'RE crazy; YOU'RE wasting your time telling me this (oh! see how I snuck the other your in there too?!). 

I have no idea why this bugs me so much, but it absolutely drives me nuts when I see people write Your welcome. NOOOO!!!! 

5. Moving on to something a little more positive and less judgmental (oops sorry, at least I admit it!), this weekend has some more fabulous consignment sales in store! Last week, I sold some of Ella's clothes (!!!!) and made over $100 at the Harris YMCA sale! I also have run into someone from our Bunco group at pretty much every sale I've been to thus far, and that just cracks me up. :) So maybe I will see some of you ladies this weekend, too?!

I'll leave you with Ella in her Kissy Kissy pjs that I picked up at a recent consignment sale for $10!!

Have a great weekend everyone!!! :) 

Ella Grace {13 months}

Ok, ok. I know this is completely ridiculous. I mean who does a freaking 13 month update?! 

But I just can't help myself! I can't let the 3rd of a month go by without posting some sort of monthly Ella update! ;)

So bear with me...or feel free to skip through and just look at the pictures!

Ella, you have been a toddler for one whole month! Here's a quick (orrrr not so much) look at what you're like at this age!

-I didn't weight you (I know, shocker!), but if I had to guess, I'd say you're around 21ish pounds.

-You are still in your infant car seat, but I think we will move you to the convertible seat in the next week or two...definitely by the next month. You are starting to look a little cramped in there!

-You are wearing mostly 12 month clothes and size 3 diapers.

-You are still NOT 100% walking. This is totally shocking Daddy and I! You are an expert cruiser at this point, and you have figured out how to get from any one point in the house to another while holding onto something. You have stood up all by yourself several times for 2-3 seconds each time, but I have yet to catch you doing it for longer than that. On February 10, you took a few steps all by yourself between Daddy and I! We were SO excited!!! We have since been practicing you walking between us almost every day...but you still only take a few steps and then you're done with those shenanigans. Ha! 

-You love to climb...on this chair, your Pottery Barn chair, your Cozy Coupe, anything. You have also figured out how to get out of this chair, off the couch and off our bed!

-We just dropped your morning nap. As in, 2 days ago. You were sleeping great in the mornings and then refusing to go down in the afternoon. This was going on for a few weeks, so I finally put your nanny out of her misery and switched you to just one nap. Since this weekend, you've been taking some solid 3 hour afternoon naps! You are even still sleeping when I get home from school, which is awesome because it makes me think I didn't miss anything while I was at work all day! 

-You are SO spunky! You love to "explore" people...but we are working on using gentle hands. You love to take people's glasses off, pull hair, and grab faces. But on the other hand, you also love giving lots of hugs and "kisses" (aka you biting someone's face...with love)! 

-Your new favorite thing this month has been the humidifier. You love to turn it off and on, and a few times you have knocked it over, spilling water everywhere. (But that does not deter you from messing with it again...you are nothing if not resilient!) You also love light switches and turning on the lights! 

-You talk. and talk. and talk. ALL. OF. THE. TIME. I love it! In addition to the words you already know, this past month, you've learned "ball," "hey," and "up." You also can tell me what a cow says ("mmmmmooo") and what a dog says ("wwwwwfff"). We are still working on what a sheep says, but you come up with "bababa" about 50% of the time. 

-You love to hand us toys. If we ask you to give us the ____, you always deliver! 

-We have been having quite a few dance parties lately! (PS, the Kids Bop Pandora station is our fave!) You love Cupid Shuffle, Cha Cha Slide, and Call Me Maybe...which is interesting because I am pretty sure they played all of those songs at our wedding. You rock back and forth and dance to the songs, and clap your hands lots! Sometimes, we get really crazy and get out the bubbles and you go 100% totally nuts. It's funny. 

A few examples of how you never sit still for more than a second:

{you love to climb up on the arm of that chair and give me a heart attack!}

{you still love the iPhone!}

{isn't this a yoga pose?!?}

You just get more and more fun, sweet Ella!! This month was tough because I went back to work, but you love your nanny so it's definitely been harder on me than it has you! We love you and can't wait to see what the next month brings!!