Some things that are getting me through my last trimester

READING

Some days I just want to rest, but I feel so unproductive on the couch. I don't know what I would do on the slow days if I couldn't read a good story or self-improvement book. Some are books I've read many times before, and others are books that I'm reading for the first time, but it makes me feel a thousand times better than just watching television.

IRON SUPPLEMENTS

Apparently, not only was I borderline anemic with my last pregnancy, but according to my blood tests, I'm also borderline anemic during this pregnancy as well. I don't know why, I take my prenatal pills every day and I feel like I eat a lot. When I asked my doc why, and she said that some peoples bodies are better at keeping iron in them than others, and that my body is just that way. So by doctors orders, I take some "Slow fe" in the morning every day along with a glass of orange juice to help it settle in my stomach. It helps keep my energy up, which makes me a happier pregnant lady. I was given a list of other foods to eat, but like I said I eat pretty well. Something I didn't know was that prune juice is loaded with iron, but just trying one cup the other day was too much for me (if you know what I mean)...I don't think I can do that again.

YOGA

All I can say is why oh why didn't I do this during my last pregnancy! It's not like I've never done yoga before, but for some reason I didn't exercise much during my last pregnancy except for walking. I don't know what I would do if I couldn't get up early in the morning and do my yoga. It gives me motivation to face my big fat pregnant day, it improves my breathing which can be pretty short when the baby is taking up lung room, it improves my blood circulation and makes me feel happy and relaxed at the same time. Without doing yoga I think I'd have some serious anxiety issues with how my pregnant hormones can be. I'm much more of a patient person when I do this exercise. It also makes me feel less like a tired old lady (which is how I describe what being pregnant feels like) and more like a healthy vibrant mom.

A MATERNITY BELT

Coming into these last couple of months is where this one is coming more in handy. Needless to say, it makes the weight of what feels like a moving bowling ball, feel more bearable, and keeps me from wearing out too soon. It also helps my back. It's a great little gadget to wear around the house especially when I do my daily cleaning.

A LITTLE SUNSHINE

I get depressed when I don't see the sun after a while. I'm so glad that I'm going to give birth in a sunnier time of year. Just feeling it on my face for a couple of minutes makes all the difference in the world to me. I'm so glad that I have my own car to drive when my husbands at work so I can take my daughter out to the park whenever the sun is out and just enjoy the weather. Hopefully it won't keep SNOWING! Which is what happened yesterday. I hate snow.

TYLENOL

It may not do much, but sometimes those darn headaches just won't go away no matter what I do. I'm thankful that there's something safe I can use in this day and age that can help on those days when you just have to be in some pain because your pregnant.

TURKEY, BACON, AND AVOCADO SANDWICHES

This is one of the new loves of my life. I could eat one of these everyday (as long as their fresh). It seems that every restaurant I go to has one or at least something similar, which I order every time. They're the best with fresh tomatoes and lettuce, and I swear they're actually releasing endorphins every time I eat one. I don't eat them every day, but I think I probably would if I could.

GETTING ENOUGH SLEEP

This is important for anyone, but it's a concept that's taken me a long time to get the hang of. When I was single I would go off of 2 or 3 hours of sleep a lot of the time, which now I think was insane. No wonder I caught every cold that came into town! Since I got married 3 years ago, I've done much much better...even though I'm still more of a night person than a morning person, and probably always will be. Being pregnant makes me require more sleep than usual, but I've learned over time, that it's not bad to rest when you need it, and nobody is so tough that they don't need an occasional nap. Pretty basic logic, but it helps me a lot.

Last but certainly not least...

MY HUSBAND AND DAUGHTER

Everyday I'm amazed at the support and love that come from both of them. Scott helps me around the house when he's home even though he already works so hard with long hours every day including Saturdays, He still takes time to change a diaper or make me a meal, which makes me the luckiest girl alive. Crystal is great company to have at home. She does her best to help me clean the house and always looks for garbage to help throw away. Last week for no reason at all she was sitting with me on the couch and looked at me and smiled and said enthusiastically, "I love you because you're mommy!" What a wonderful thing to say right when I needed it! I have so many things to be thankful for during this pregnancy, but Scott and Crystal take the cake.

Easter Sunday / Month of March

My daughter is pretty spoiled. She got a bunch of new clothes with her Easter basket this year:








The white and yellow dress was hand made by her Grandma deHoyos.
















Of course the basket was her favorite.


Here she is in her Easter dress:











It was such a nice day! After church we walked around the Timp temple and took pictures there:




After that we went to Grandmas to have an Easter Egg hunt. Crystal found all 24 eggs!





We also had Easter dinner at Grandmas house. While we were at it, we busted out a cake and sang happy birthday to everybody in the family who had a birthday this month. Lisa's brother Matt turned 18 on the fifth, Mike turned 25 on the 17th, Scott's birthday was last Saturday, and Jared's birthday is today. So we sang a big happy birthday to everybody.

Easter is so much fun while you have a family to share it with!


Anyway...

I think this is the last of the excitement for a really busy month. Like I said, Everybody's birthday was this month. Scott and I dropped Crystal off with the grandparents last Saturday so that we could spend his birthday alone together. It was wonderful. We went to fuddruckers for lunch, then went shopping for his present together, then went to see Vantage point at the movies, and then ate dinner at Black Angus. It was nice to have an all day date with just the two of us.

I'm happy that this pregnancy is almost over. My hair is thinning already. (With Crystal it didn't start thinning until she was born.) Even though it grows back, it drives me insane to have hair falling out. I'm going to have to take a few trips to the salon before this pregnancy is over, I may be forking out some money for some extensions to make my hair look nice and thick until my hair goes back to behaving itself.
I also hate this part because it's when I get really big. Until about now the belly is somewhat manageable, but from now until June I start to retain water, and it's already starting. Ugh. On the plus side, I'm looking forward to having a little man added to the household. As you can see, Crystal is pretty spoiled with all the attention being the only child and the only grandchild on both sides of the family. She needs to share the spotlight before her character starts to get affected. lol. I don't know though, she's still going to be the only girl and I can't help but love getting her girly clothes to wear! In the meantime, I try to keep myself busy with cleaning, reading, and going out with family and friends.
So that's what we've been up to this month. Hope you all had a fabulous Easter!

Happy Easter

How Crystal expands her vocabulary

She does this all day long! She finds an object, asks about it and keeps going. I guess it's as good a way as any to learn about the world around you.

Bedtime

Sometime last week Crystal was in a bad mood at bedtime and insisted on being sung to and stayed with all night until she fell asleep. (The problem is since mommy is the one who tucks her in, mommy, being tired, pregnant, and slightly low on patience these days, can only deal with it for so long before she gives up and just lets her whine in her crib/room and goes to bed.)
Anyway like I mentioned, last week she was being particularly insistent, and when Mommy left to go to bed for herself, Crystal started screaming. After listening to her whine for about five minutes in her room, it finally quieted down and we figured she'd fallen asleep. However, no more than thirty seconds later, we heard a huge THUD, followed by the sound of the doorknob to her room.
I jumped up and opened her door to see her standing innocently with her blanket in hand and a big smile on her face yelling "I did it! I did it!"
The moment I've been dreading since she was just an infant had arrived. She had learned to vault her body over the crib. To her credit, she's very talented. She looks like she had military training with the way she can launch herself over those bars.
So we went to Walmart a couple of days later to pick out a toddler bed, and we let her pick out her own bedding set to go with it. All her favorites were displayed in the bedding sets to choose from. Her three favorites in the display were Disney princesses, Micky mouse, and Elmo. We held all three out to her and asked her to make a choice. She deliberated for at least five minutes,(I'm not exaggerating) and after changing her mind a couple of times, went with Elmo. The smile on her face was ear to ear.
I wish you people could see her dancing and squealing around the room as she watched us set up her bed and Elmo bedding to go with it. These are the moments that make having kids so awesome. She was so happy. I wish I felt like dancing every time a little thing like new bedding came into my life. Here she is on her new Elmo bed with all her Elmo dolls piled on top of it....(her hair is in a ponytail, it's longer than that, I promise)

Yes...those Elmo dolls are all hers. It was no surprise that she settled for the Elmo bedding to match her obsession.

Since the switch she's actually done really well. We have to put a plastic safety knob on the door to keep her from coming out of her room after bedtime, but she only tried to come out once. It's been over a week now and we're all sleeping better than we thought we would. I thought the conversion would be much more scary than this, and I'm glad to say that she's been handling it wonderfully.

A dinosaur egg!!

Crystal likes the first ten minutes of the movie Dinosaur, by Disney. During those first ten minutes you follow this baby dinosaur egg that gets tossed around and finally hatches.
Last night she found an avocado I'd left out on the kitchen table and started screaming that there was a dinosaur egg on the table.
I tried to explain that it was a fruit that we eat with chips and tacos here at home, but she wouldn't have any of it. In her heart, she knew she had found her very own dinosaur egg.
She lugged it around with all her toys all day long, and the only way I could get it away from her is when she fell asleep.
On the plus side, she was very gentle with it, which gives me hopes that she'll be good with her little brother when he comes.
I love my little monkey.

Good Times and Great Oldies

Okay, so it's been nearly an entire week, but I've finally gotten around to making this post.
Last Saturday I got together with two of my posse from the old days at UVSC. Paula and Leigh. Paula and I see each other every once in a while, but it had been around seven years since I'd seen Leigh. It was so much fun!

It made me miss some of the fun times, the food, folks, fun, dances, going to all night diners at the crack of dawn, break dancing, thinking we were the coolest people there, and of course, hanging out in the hall of flags and people watching. So here's a toast to the days when we were younger and much more careless:

As silly as we would get when we were together sometimes, our friendship went beyond the weekends, dances, and parties. The fact that we had just as much fun last week as we did back in the year 2000-2001, proves that we're still true pals!
This makes me want to get together with all of our girl clan...Happy, Kathy, and Natalie, I wish you were there! Maybe some time when we're all in town we can have a bigger reunion!

Thanks Leigh and Paula for a great afternoon!


Love these gals:

P.S. Leigh, I do have a picture with the three of us that Todd didn't come in and block. As soon as I can get my scanner working again I'll send it to you and Paula okay?

Call me crazy but...

My sister thinks it's a little mean, but I bought a child harness for Crystal, for the times I take her to the store.

The problem is that as my belly gets bigger, my coordination, agility, and speed are beginning to slow down, whereas the bigger Crystal gets, the more coordination, agility, and speed she has.
Her new favorite game is to take off running in the store whenever I put her down and making me chase her. Granted, it's good exercise, but her little body moves fast and darts all over the place, and I'm terrified of loosing her.
I'm getting too pregnant to carry her for more than five minutes, and she only sits in the shopping cart when she's exhausted...if there even is a shopping cart at the store I'm in. She doesn't like holding hands anymore and always pulls it away. Not to mention the big, and sometimes heavy diaper bag that I also carry everywhere.
She isn't afraid of being lost. I've tried hiding around the corner and watching her by herself, and there is no fear at all there.
The other day I couldn't find her for a mere 10 seconds, but as a mom, and a pregnant, hormonal mom, it was all I could take.
So yesterday we went to target and I let her pick out her own harness...she chose the one with the teddy bear backpack,(there was also a monkey and a puppy) and so far she loves it. She thinks it's a game, and that the furry harness strap is her tail that I hold on to. I'm sure she'll figure it out that she's under restraint, but I'd rather look like one of those crazy moms, than risk loosing my child. I'd rather risk a future tantrum when she realizes that she can't escape.
She actually doesn't throw many tantrums in public at all, and when she does, I carry her for the five minutes that I still can until she calms down. She never really makes it past two minutes of crying anyway.
So now I look like a mean, controlling mom, but I'm hoping that she'll outgrow the running away phase soon enough.

A new craving...

So along with strawberries, I'm also really enjoying Sandwiches with peanut butter, honey, and banana slices. I have one at least every other day if not every day. Today I had one for breakfast...that's right, breakfast.
I'd like to thank Erin Forsloff, for introducing me to this sandwich while we were companions in the mission field. I had no idea that nearly 4 years later I'd crave them when I'd be pregnant with my second child. The blessings from the mission keep on giving and giving...

This is a great sandwich and gives me quick energy.
Don't knock it till you try it!

A dedicatory video...

I met Scott the day before Valentine's day in 2004. Because of this, Valentines day is very special to me.
I was at an institute dance with his friend, David. Our first Valentines day spent together was in a group date the next day, where I was once again with our now mutual friend.
When I first met him the night before, I thought he was kind of cocky because he made a bet that he could get five different girl's phone numbers and a date the next night all at that same dance. He did. I don't know what made it more cocky to me...the fact that he claimed he could do it, or the fact that he actually did do it. OR the fact that the next night when we were all together hanging out again, that his cousin pointed out a random girl in the room for him to hit on, and he went home with her number too.
After many group hangouts, I got to know him much better and realized that not only is he much more humble than he will ever admit to, but that he was very dedicated to the Gospel and we had much more in common than even I knew possible.
I'm so glad I found someone who has the same point of views, same standards, and the same passion for life that I do. After all, he may be a hot blooded Italian, but I'm a hot blooded Latina, and we do great together.
I've never met such a forgiving, dedicated, and noble person. I'm still very much in love with him, and I always will be. I made this video to show how great the last four years have been since that night we first met.

What a man!

Scott has been hired at his first job since graduating! Hurray! He's been hired by a privately owned CPA firm in Murray. Details as to weather we want to move further up north or not are still being decided.
We've been praying for someone to take a chance on a college grad with no outside experience for the last month and a half. We were worried, because out here in this state there are at least 10 colleges, so most people around here are looking for experience rather than a college grad that they can grab any time they want. Even more, we were hoping that we could find a job that will support us and our two children.
Our prayers were answered as we found a job that not only will support our family, but also give Scott the exact experience he needs when he eventually takes over his father's CPA firm in Philly. The job requirements are require exactly the same expertise that he needs to develop to feel confident taking over his fathers business. Our prayers have been answered, and we're thankful to our family members who were also remembering us in their prayers.

I am so proud of my husband! He has worked so hard for this opportunity. He was working full time in the day, and going to school full time at night, and coming home stressed out and exhausted. He has been dealing with the stresses of home, with the needs of his now pregnant wife, and needy toddler who also want his time and attention. He takes time to cook the meals at home when I've been feeling sick and queasy from the pregnancy. He takes the garbage out. He helps change diapers and clean. He has come with me to every prenatal appointment of mine, and every pediatric appointment for Crystal. He took three days off work when I came down with the flu a couple of weeks ago, and couldn't get out of bed, just to help me out. He tells me he loves me every day, several times a day. He never makes a decision without checking on how I feel about the situation. When I'm tired and worn out, he still has the energy to play games with our daughter and make her laugh. He makes sacrifices every day, and learns to deal with my pregnant raging hormones as they change by the moment. The list goes on and on of what my poor husband has gone through, and continues to go through on a daily basis to give us a better life. I love and appreciate him. For Valentines day this week, he has more than made my dreams come true with a beautiful family and a happy and productive life. He is a wonderful example to our little girl. He has always been my hero and continues to be there to take care of me.

Lisa's random stuff

Okay Cathy, you requested 7 random facts, so for Cathy and those who care here you go:

1. I'm really really happy that the Giants won the superbowl. The patriots get too much hype, and they're snub and cocky. I'm not even going to go into my opinions on spygate and they're cheating ways because it would take too long. I was glad that they were taught a lesson in humility...not to mention the fact that I like the Manning brothers and I think it's cool that they both won a superbowl. I also truly detest Bill Belichick, and think that he showed his true colors by not being man enough to stick around for the last second of the game and take his loss with dignity. It was a great game and I was happy to see the humble Giants get what they deserve. Sorry to all you Patriots fans...we're still friends, right?
Disclaimer: Just so we're clear, if it was a choice between the Giants and the Eagles, Scott and I would obviously be on the Eagle's side. GO EAGLES!



2.During my first trimester I couldn't stop craving fast food...mostly burger king, Taco bell, and Arby's. Now that I'm in the second trimester all I want/crave are fresh foods: Salads, fruits, veggies, sandwiches, etc. This pregnancy is so much weirder than the last one. Even the smell of junk food makes me feel ill now. I swear to you people, I can actually smell the chemicals in fast food and it makes me sick.
I have a special love for strawberries lately...I can't get enough of them. I've never had food preferences change so dramatically from one trimester to the other.


3. I want to take up sewing. I like having creative projects to keep myself busy as a housewife. I got really into doing nails with the acrylics and everything, mostly because I discovered it was much cheaper to do do it myself than paying someone else. I've backed off on the nail thing since I got pregnant though due to the fumes/chemicals. So now I'm going nuts trying to find new ways to fill my time, and for right now I've decided that sewing little dresses for my daughter might do the trick.



4. My only body hair is on my head, eyebrows and eyelashes. I am compulsive at making sure that there is no hair anywhere else. This is pretty ironic since I married a hairy Italian. Body hair is fine on other people...just not me.


5.I've known what I was going to have both times I've been pregnant. With Crystal I was already buying girl things and picking girl colors as soon as I found out I was pregnant. With my soon to be Son, I told people I didn't know, but I did and was just afraid that I would be wrong and look stupid...but I always referred to him as a him when talking to people, and I told my husband that I was pretty sure it was a boy this time. Even before I ever married I told people I was going to have a girl and two boys, in that order. We'll see in a few years (maybe more) if the third one is a boy too and I'm actually three for three. If I am, even I will be amazed.




6. I can't physically fall asleep in my bed unless I check on my daughter and make sure she's sleeping soundly and comfortably. Sometimes I do this more than once. I need the visual image of her actually sleeping before I can relax in my bed. If she's not sleeping yet, I check a few hours later, just so I can get that visual image. Sometimes this results with me going in there at three in the morning if I've forgotten somehow to check on her earlier. I spend all day every day with her, and I feel weird when we're separated, even if it's just for a few hours. As clingy as she can be, I honestly think I need her more than she needs me. She's my little sidekick, even though we fight sometimes. lol.



7. As a child growing up, I've had all kinds of pets. I've had five different dogs, a cat, ducks, a rooster, hermit crabs, frogs, a snake, lizards, literally over a hundred rabbits, several guinea pigs, turtles, hamsters, gerbils, an aquarium full of all kinds of fish and salamanders, chinchillas, parrots, love birds, insects and a pot belly pig. Even though I like animals, I refuse to keep any in my home as an adult. I think all the poop and animal care traumatized me, not to mention the heartbreak when an animal would die or have to be given away. If I ever got a pet, it would probably be a dog, and he would have to be extremely well trained...but my husband doesn't like dogs because of all the yucky dogs in his mission, so that will never happen, and I'm not heartbroken over it since I don't think I could handle animal hair in my home. No more pets for me.

Okay, that's all. Have a nice day!

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.