My last vacation as a little girl...

The best decision that I made in the course of my 7.5 months of pregnancy was to take two "baby moons" - one with my husband and one without him. Well past my seventh month - I decided to spend a few days in Lake Buena Vista, Florida with my parents while they enjoyed their well-deserved annual two week vacation in their timeshare.

While I hate being away from my husband (sometimes), and I know that he wasn't particularly crazy about the idea of me traveling alone, I knew that a few days alone -- just me and my parents would be the last opportunity in my life to worry about nothing but being my parents' child.

So when I left out of the house before going to the airport I yelled "Goodbye Capone - Hope your daddy feeds you! Adios Pat, I hope you can find something to eat while I am gone!" -- and I was on my way.

Just walking through the airport terminal made me feel 10 pounds lighter. I bought myself a slice of pizza, a chocolate brownie, some sweet peach ice tea, and some hot chocolate. "Now this is life!" I thought to myself, taking joy in the fact that there was no one there to tell me to watch my salt or sugar intake.

Despite an uncomfortable airplane ride, my glee continued once I got to the Orlando airport. My brother (who now lives in Tampa) rode with my parents to come pick me up and after plenty of hugs and kisses - we all hopped in my parent's car and headed for the best seafood in town. (Merely stepping out into the fresh southern air began to reinvigorate my soul.)

As I sat around the table with my parents (who assured my brother and I that we could order anything that we wanted to eat) I was reminded of how wonderful the "good ole days were" when my parents provided everything that I needed, chastised me when I made an obviously poor decision, yet always provided me with the assurance that it was nothing that I could do to take change their love for me. Just being there - being loved, being taken care of, being watched over -- I felt a sense of comfort and security that I had almost forgotten existed in the six years I've lived on my own.

The following days were filled with precious simplicity, as we did nothing more than swim in the pool for hours, play cards for quarters, talk about life, and go shopping for souvenirs. They only tested my patience once -- when they spent 35 minutes trying to figure out which pool we should eat at when I bought them Chick Fil A.

Once it was time to go back to Chicago (in order to start baby moon #2) I couldn't let them see it but I almost cried. They had no idea how much the few days that we spent alone meant to me but I was sure that I would remember and relish this time for the rest of my life. In a moment, I will have my own child to care for -- a beautiful blessing who will surely be the prominent focus of my love moving forward. And true to form, I guess this last vacation as my parent's little girl was their way of showing me exactly how this thing called "unconditional love" is supposed to be done.