Ultrasound

Well we finally had our 20 week ultrasound today!




We're so excited! Now we have one of each!

Potty Training Crystal

Well, today started the first day of potty training for Crystal. It is probably going to be a long process, but we decided to start now, so we don't have to be changing two sets of diapers when the new baby comes in 4 months. So the goal is to have Crystal completely potty trained in 4 months. We will see how it goes.
Well our game plan is to put her on the toilet as often as we can, then have her sit on the toilet until she goes pee, or poo. When she goes, she is rewarded by getting a treat. (She prefers gummy worms.) So we started early today, having her sit on the potty after her breakfast. (The video clip below is of this try.)
As you can see, she put up a struggle at first, but then about 20 minutes later she finally went pee in the potty. It was a big success for her, since it was her first real try. After that, we put on her big girl underwear, and sure enough she had an accident an hour later. So we put on a pull up after that.
So for the rest of the day, she continued to struggle, and go in her pull up but we did get her to go in the toilet another 2 times. So she went pee pee in the potty 3 times on her first day!! Unfortunately (or fortunately) she was constipated today so she didn't have any success or accident with that particular substance. So we will see how it goes from here.
Crystal potty training from Lisa on Vimeo.

Clip of Lisa's birthday

The camera wasn't available yet, so here's a one minute clip of Lisa opening her 3 favorite presents. She's kind of calm on camera because she's 5 months pregnant and doesn't particularly enjoy to be on film while pregnant. It's good to keep a record of these events no matter what though, so she agreed to have it posted.

Lisa turns 28 from Lisa on Vimeo.

Clip of Crystal's birthday

Well I had some problems with my video camera and some software on the computer, but I've finally been able to upload a one minute clip of Crystal blowing out the candles and reacting to her presents for her second birthday. It's almost a month late, but better late than never.

Crystal turns two from Lisa on Vimeo.

Playing with the features on my new camera

It's such a relief to be taking pictures again. Crystal loves be followed around during her adventures. I got pics of her trying on Uncle Matts boxing gloves, finding new places to hide and playing with blankets and stuffed animals. the only time I tried to make her pose was when she's holding the rose so I could play with the color features. Granted, you can do all the same stuff on photoshop, but it's pretty cool to have a camera that can do it for you and load onto the computer exactly like you want it to. I'm no photographer, (like the talented Liz) but it's pretty fun and addicting to play with all the fun things to do on this camera.

Good birthday

Yesterday was Lisa's birthday and as a very generous surprise, Scott bought her a new digital camera (since she was so upset about loosing her old one). Not only did he get her a new one, but it was a Canon powershot s5is, which is much nicer than the older one she originally had in the first place. Where he came up with the money out of nowhere remains a secret, but the universe is back in order now that Lisa has her camera back! What a nice husband!

We also went out to eat, and had went to the in laws house to sing happy birthday. The cake was Strawberry short cake, which is Lisa's favorite. So it was a good day.

Note to self: DO NOT eat black bean soup while pregnant

Walmart sells a couple of organic soups in their soup section. One of them is an organic black bean soup, which I was craving. It seemed delicious down to the last bite.
About 30 minutes later I experienced some of the worst pain I've ever felt during any pregnancy...or any anything for that matter.
No amount of Rolaids or Gas-x could cure it...all my organs wanted to explode and there was nothing I could do but curl up in a ball on my bed and suffer.
I had no idea a stupid can of black bean soup would almost kill me.

On the plus side, I have learned a valuable lesson about giving in to every craving while pregnant. On the down side, I've been traumatized for the rest of my life...I will never eat black beans again.
You may think I'm exaggerating...I'm not. I'll leave the details to your imagination...though no amount of imagination can really compare. It was pure suffering and torture. I should call the FBI and suggest it as a means of making people talk.

MY CAMERA!

Aargh! I left one of my purses under the sacrament bench at church last week and when I went back for it, it was gone. It's been over a week and I've checked with the lost and found, the bishops office, and the clerks office and nobody's seen it. There were some diapers and wet wipes, my brush, some somewhat pricey makeup and MY DIGITAL CAMERA!! I really hope it will turn up, but it could be lost for good. I really really hope someone wasn't so pathetic as to steal from the sacrament room at church. I'd like to give it the benefit of the doubt and hope for the best. Well...it looks like you'll be getting video clips instead of pictures on my blog for a while. I'm distraught over this.

Christmas vacation 2007

Our vacation was awesome this year. We were able to spend it out in Philly with Scott's family and it was a lot of fun because all of Scott's brothers (except Dan who was on his mission) were able to make it home. It was a full house, but there were lots of games played and movies watched. We even had our own 'Jason Bourne' marathon in the comfort of Nick and Margie's home.
There was excellent shopping, before and after Christmas...Lisa spent a lot of money in a name brand outlet mall similar to Park City's in Utah, but also mixed with higher end stores like Neiman Marcus...which Lisa still couldn't afford because in stead of 3,000 dollars for a shirt or dress it would be marked down to only 1,500.... Gee, thanks, Neiman. However there were more economical outlets like the Gap and Nike and Banana Republic as well, so Lisa was able to get her money's worth in winter fashion and Maternity clothes.
We also took a trip to the Franklin Institute of Science in downtown philly. It's a very huge museum dedicated to discoveries in science from space travel and aviation, to Sports and Optical illusions. With four floors and nine exhibits, it can take all day to get through. The highlight for us was a giant human heart that you can actually walk through to get a visual of how blood travels through it. There were hundreds of hands on activities, with virtual reality experiences and rooms even for toddlers Crystals age, which made it anything but boring. Lisa thought it was cool to touch a meteorite that was over 5 billion years old...literally the world's oldest rock, which was actually older than the world itself. This may sound pretty nerdy, but we thought that all the stuff there was really cool.
It was a great time to spend with family, relax, and enjoy some East Cost Pizza and some Philly Cheesesteak sandwiches...(both of which cannot be duplicated out here in the West), and most of all just enjoy the Christmas season.
I have so many Christmas pictures, I don't know what to do with them. However to spare you on the boredom, I only put a few of them on this slide show. Mostly just of Crystal and the family on Christmas. Crystal of course, received more gifts than anyone there, but to spare you the never ending photos, there are only a couple of her opening presents on here.