The Atlanta Ocean :)

While we were in Alabama visiting my parents, Matt had to go to London on business. Zoe talked to him on the phone and he told her he was across the Atlantic ocean. So, she turned a laundry basket into a boat so she could sail across the Atlanta ocean to see her Daddy. :) Too cute!

Photoshop.com Album: Alabama trip, 2009

Zoo fun

Before it got too cold to be outside we took a trip to the zoo. We've had a bunch of baby animals born this year, so it was neat to see them out and about. There were tiger triplets, baby snow leopard, baby elephant, giraffe, and orangutan. I think the coolest part of the day was being able to feed the giraffes.

Halloween fun

Yes, I'm way behind. Here are a few pictures of the family having fun with out holiday traditions.

This year was Matt's turn to clean out the pumpkin and I got to carve the face. I found this really cool stencil for the face, but of course it was a failure, so I had to resort to the triangle eyes and goofy grin. I didn't take a picture of this year's creation. :)

Our neighborhood has a common area that we line up in while the kids come around to collect candy. It keeps them from going door to door. Zoe was a princess. It was pretty cold, so we all had to bundle up. Being the forgetful mommy I am, I didn't even take a picture of Aspen all bundled up. Oh well. She was wrapped warmly and pushed around in the stroller. We went to a few houses in the neighborhood for Zoe to trick-or-treat. One lady had a glow stick in her candy bucket so Zoe sweetly asked "Can I have that?" I don't think the lady intended on giving it away, but how can you resist such a sweet request. She used it as a guide to find the rest of the houses we visited that evening.

Here's a picture of Aspen for posterity, and one of the girls in their matching pj's. Aspen isn't too happy about this picture. :)

Photoshop.com Album: October 2009

Photoshop.com Album

Introducing...

Aspen Elizabeth Crill!! She was born at 6:33 pm on August 17, 2009, at Davis Medical Center in Layton, UT. She weighed 8 lbs. 6 oz. and was 20 inches long. After going to the nursery to get a bath, her nurse noticed that her lips were turning dusky and she was having some difficulty breathing. So, they ended up putting her in the NICU for the rest of the week. We are thankful that God blessed us with such good nurses and doctors to take care of us while in the hospital. She was able to be weaned off the oxygen in just a couple of days and was given a clean bill of health on Friday the 21st.

We're now going through the adjustment phase of having two children. Sadly my parents leave on Sunday for Alabama, so we'll be on our own. Zoe's going to miss her Meemaw and Poppy being around to play with her. We miss Nana and Papa too. What a blessing to have such wonderful family.

I'll try to keep up somewhat with pictures at least on our postings. My quiet time is limited at the moment. :)

Photoshop.com Album

Photoshop.com Album

Summer fun

We've been doing our best to enjoy the summer despite my lagging energy. Today my friend Melissa and her two girls went with us to the Weber County fair. It was hot, and I'm beyond the waddling stage, but we managed to have a good time. Zoe really enjoyed getting to see and pet the animals. We watched some miniature horse events and wandered around the fairgrounds for a few hours. My doctor told me to do more walking, so I fulfilled that request today. :)

Zoe also recently went on a fishing trip with her Daddy to one of our local ponds. She didn't use any bait, but had a ton of fun casting and pretending to catch a fish. Matt's been enjoying spending more time with her doing outside things. She loves his attention and looks forward to playing with her daddy when he gets home from work.

Our congregation threw us a diaper shower after evening services the other night. It was in combination with a yummy ice cream fellowship. Zoe tried to run off with the balloon bouquet. We looked over and the balloons started moving off the table. She sure does love balloons. We got enough diapers to last us a couple of months and a new diaper genie. We're so blessed to have a Christian family that takes care of us.

We're almost finished with the basement construction project. This week has been the painting phase. Next week the carpet will be installed and we can move the furniture in. We're moving Matt's office space down there along with the guest bedroom. He's going to be starting a master's program shortly after the baby arrives, so he needs a quiet workspace. I'll post pictures when things are a little neater.

So, now we're down to 10 days till I'm induced and our lives change yet again. We're excited about our growing family and can't wait to share her with everyone.

I think the pictures to go with this post are in their own post. I'm still working out the kinks. :)

35 weeks

Wow, time is flying! In just a few short weeks Aspen Elizabeth will make her appearance. Are we ready? Not really. :) I've gone through Zoe's old clothes and washed what we can reuse at least.

We're in the middle of basement construction to add a bedroom and office space. It's coming along and will hopefully be done the week before the baby arrives. Then maybe we can get Zoe's new room painted and get her moved over so Aspen can have the nursery. Zoe's excited to have the new room and a new sister.

Matt's 32nd birthday

I'm pretty sure Matt has had a good birthday week. It started with cinnamon rolls for breakfast on Monday. Unfortunately he had to go to work early that morning, but that's life.

We discovered that someone (we still don't know who) attempted to tp the house. Thankfully it was only one string of streamer attached right above the garage. We don't have a ladder, so it would have been difficult to clean things up. Thanks whoever you are!

I attempted to make another cake. This time it was an orange jello cake, and yet again it was somewhat of a failure. It tasted good, but it stuck in the pan. I have no idea what I'm doing wrong. Zoe didn't care, she just wanted to help blow out the candles and have a piece.

Then I grilled shrimp for the first time. Matt said it turned out great. I don't like them, so I'll have to take his word for it.

Wednesday company descended on the house. Our good friend Brian from Ft. Worth, TX and Matt's sister Rhianna and her husband Clayton and Ainsley from Colorado came. The guys went out for a 3 day camping/fishing trip while us girls hung around town. They all caught fish, saw some wildlife, and got thoroughly exhausted together. Unfortunately I don't have any pictures of their trip.

Now we're back to life as usual. We're getting ready for the arrival of Aspen in 5 weeks. Time is flying by and we're nowhere near ready for a new baby in the house. Lots to do!

Check back later for pictures of what the girls did over the weekend.

Happy 4th of July!

What a fun day we've had! The weather wasn't too hot, the activities were fun, and our daughter got to experience some things for the first time. Always fun.

Our day started with pancakes for breakfast. Zoe helped me set the table by putting forks on the napkins I had placed at our chairs. Well, apparently I was forgetting about Aspen, so she got into the silverware drawer and got one of the plastic forks out and put it on a napkin for her. Then when she went to tell Matt that breakfast was ready she proclaimed, "Baby Aspen is going to flip out of Mommy's tummy and eat pancakes with us because she really likes pancakes!" It makes you wonder what she thinks about Aspen being in my tummy.

After breakfast we headed out to the annual Clearfield parade. Zoe has never been to a parade before, so I don't think she understood what to expect. We had to park about a block away and walk down to find a place to set up our chairs. Then, when the candy came she wanted to go get some with Matt. We saw all sorts of fun things. The pig from Famous Dave's BBQ seems to be what stuck with her the most though.

After dinner we went to Baskin Robbins for ice cream. On the way there she told us that she was going to get pink ice cream (strawberry), Mommy was going to have green (mint?), and Daddy was going to have brown (chocolate). She loves the treat of getting ice cream.

Then of course there's the fireworks. We had originally intended to go see the ones for the city with friends from church, but their plans had to change, so we stuck around the house. She watched the neighbors set of fireworks in the street and then did a couple of sparklers with Matt. She's had a very fun, full day.

Check out the pictures here: http://www.photoshop.com/user/crillcircus/?galleryid=2908ca31991343c281c576ef8a551165&trackingid=BTAGC&wf=share

Enjoy the videos!

Swing set fun

Zoe has really grown. She can get up on the teeter totter all by herself and swing it really high. She loves to sing "Baa, Baa, black sheep" all.the.time!

Patty cake

Matt caught Zoe tonight doing patty cake all by herself. She's getting good at the nursery rhymes, when she wants to.

Just too cute

Here are a few pictures of our super sweet little girl. She's just getting so big! What a crazy personality!

Playing dress-up.

Playing the kazoo, complete with rain boots.

Look, I built a bird house!

2nd Baby Ultrasound Pics

Here a few 3D ultrasound pics our our second girl.

Who does she look like?

A historic day

Well, I have officially moved Zoe from a crib to a toddler bed. Actually, I just turned her crib into a daybed by taking the front off. I decided upon this when Zoe was getting frustrated about getting a toy out of the crib. She never would climb in and out of the crib, so we really could have left her in it. However, she couldn't get to what she wanted in her bed, so I thought this was best. And yes, I did the switch over all by myself while Matt was at work.

She took her nap in the new bed this afternoon and did ok, so we'll see how bedtime tonight goes. Of course, she really enjoys the new freedom. She wouldn't settle down for nap time this afternoon, so I just left her in her bed and closed the door. I could hear her running around in her room upstairs. And then I heard something make a really loud noise. It turns out that she was throwing her shoes around her room. Fortunately no damage was done. So after a diaper change and a few minutes of rocking she settled down and slept fine. Matt's going to be on his own to put her down tonight. I wish him luck.

Zoe's figured out how to open doors, so we've added a contraption to keep her from doing this on a few crucial doors. One of these is on the inside of her bedroom. You can imagine her frustration when she can't practice her new skill.

Tagalongs

Mommy, can I have a chocolate peanut butter cookie?

Of course you can sweetie.

Thanks you Mommy!

What a mess!

Treehouse museum and gardening

We've been having a lot of fun now that spring has decided to show up.

The Treehouse museum in Ogden had a Peter Rabbit party for toddler time, so Zoe and I went. I thought she'd love seeing Peter Rabbit. I was very wrong. She's never seen someone dressed up as a character before, except for her friends at Halloween. This nice girl was dressed up as Peter and wandered through the museum during play time and then joined us for story time. Every time Zoe saw her she ran to me and was whimpering in my lap. We had to leave story time early because she was so scared. Poor baby.

She did have fun playing in the exhibits though. One of her favorites is the garden area. She planted corn and carrots and turnips in the "dirt" and then harvested her veggies for Mommy.

A couple of days later we bought flowers for our garden. She picked out some purple ones to sit on our back stairs and helped me plant them in pots. She loves playing in the dirt and helping us in the garden. She carried plants to Matt and helps dig holes. Dirty but fun. She's certainly not a prissy girl.

Painting, field trips and jewels

Zoe has become a very active two year old. She loves to do art projects, so I let her try out the watercolors. We've been talking about painting on the house, so she's been wanting to paint. Here's the safe way to let her do that. :)

She told me that she was painting a gorilla. She did a good job not mixing the paint up and remembering to dip her brush in the water. I need to get a portfolio for all her masterpieces.

We had Matt's brother Michael and his wife Jennifer and their son Nehemiah in town for the weekend, so we took the kids on a field trip to the aquarium. Melissa, Travis, Holly and Heather(friends from church) met us there for and outing and lunch. The girls all had a good time. I don't think Nehi had much of an opinion. Zoe's favorites were the frogs and the piranha. I don't like this aquarium very much. It's really small and expensive. But, the kids like it. One day we'll make it to the Atlanta aquarium. One day.

Matt thought it would be funny to take pictures of the pregnant girls eating ice cream sundaes. We had fresh strawberries and bananas with it, so it was a "healthy" treat. :)

And lest you forget, our child is in fact a little girl. She got this play jewelry from her bible class teacher and had to put it all on. The earrings didn't stay on for long. She loved the ring that came with it, but it got left in the floor, and then stepped on and broken, so it is no longer in her collection.

Ah, the fun of childhood. We're loving this stage.

Matt's hobby

I'm going back into March with our pictures and updates. We've had a lot going on in the past month, so it might take me a little while to get caught up.

I thought I'd start with a little about one of Matt's many hobbies. Matt loves to be outside, as does his daughter. We have been having lovely weather, and we weren't sure if we were going to be moving (we're not), so we took a trip to one of Utah's well known fishing sites. In the past year Matt has taken up fly fishing, and wanted to take us with him on a trip. So, we set out for Flaming Gorge for an over night trip. Of course, Zoe and I don't fish, so we hung out and explored the area while Matt enjoyed some time in nature.

Let's go Daddy!

Collecting treasures.

He didn't catch anything, but he said he enjoyed the quiet time. We met him for a picnic lunch at the Green river and we got to watch him fish for a little while. Zoe had collected some pine cones and rocks to share with her daddy. Her treasures. :) She then had fun throwing them into the woods.

Picnic lunch.

Matt on the Green River.

It was a beautiful place and reminded us of some of the things we love about this area.

Flaming Gorge Dam.

It's a girl!

I had a doctor appointment yesterday and got to see the baby again. He declared that he believes this baby to be another girl. So, the Laton curse continues. :) This will be granddaughter number 5 for my parents. I'm one of 4 girls, as is my mother.

When I got home I asked Zoe if she wanted a brother or sister. She replied, "A sister!" I said, "Good, because that's what you're getting." Her reply: "Yea! She can play with me!" So sweet. Now we have to pick out a name.

She's so literal

We were playing games on the computer this afternoon to kill some time. Zoe loves to play Sesame Street games, Elmo in particular. Well, one of the games is a keyboard game in which you press the keys on the keyboard to make something happen. The character kept telling us to push a key to make the animal sound. Zoe's looking at the keyboard for a really long time not doing anything, so I asked her what was wrong. She replies, "I don't see a key." She was looking for a picture of a key to push, not understanding that the buttons on the keyboard are called keys. I love her sweet innocence. So many teachable moments.

Fun with a 23 month old

We're almost to the two year mark, and Zoe's personality is just blossoming. She's constantly cracking us up with the things she does and says. She's learning how to get herself dressed, and can be stubborn about it sometimes. Which leads to this:


And she's also very loving and compassionate. She loves her beta fish, Cobalt.

The best part of a day

There's just something about playing with Daddy that makes life more fun. Tonight Zoe wanted to line up pillows in front of the couch for her and her toys before Daddy could read her some stories. Oh, and Daddy had to be covered with his Broncos blanket before the stories could commence. She's gotten very particular about how her world is. Sometimes it's cute, sometimes it's very frustrating. Tonight it was cute.

Go Spurs Go!!

For my Christmas present Matt bought us tickets to the Jazz vs. Spurs game. We took Zoe to her first professional basketball game and had a blast. I'm so glad I wasn't feeling sick that night. It was freezing outside though!
The Jazz bear was celebrating his birthday, so several mascots from around the league came to celebrate. I think that was Zoe's favorite part. Especially since one of the mascots was a gorilla. She's still talking about the bear and gorilla at the basketball game. :) Of course, she got to eat some junk food too.

Zoe and Matt enjoying the game.

Zoe and Jenny.

The Spurs won, but it was close. Go Spurs go!

Compassion or curiosity?

As with the last pregnancy, I'm suffering with morning sickness. Sadly, this time it is all day sickness. My sweet little girl hears me gagging and comes running into the bathroom, pats my back and asks, "Mommy, are you ok?" Isn't she sweet? Or, is she curious about that strange sound mommy keeps making. Hopefully this will pass soon. My sickness, not the sweet little girl stage.

What in the world?

For some reason Zoe has started pretending that her food is dog food. She's been mixing all of her food up in one section of her plate when she gets bored and tries to eat it like a dog. I have no idea where she got the idea except for the possibility of watching my sister's new dog eat at Christmas or the dogs at Nana and Papa's house. She's seen all of this before, but I guess she just made the connection. So, being the good parents that we are, we got a video of it the first time. Now we're trying to keep her from doing it.

In other news...

In case you haven't heard, I'm pregnant again. Hooray! I had my first appointment today and the baby is measuring at 7 weeks, 2 days. I got to see a heartbeat and everything looks great. We're due on the 24th of August. I'm in for a fun hot summer!

Zoe is excited and keeps telling people "Mommy has a baby in her tummy!" My doctor does an ultrasound at each appointment and records it on a dvd, so I had that to bring home for her and Matt to watch this evening. Now if I can just get past the yucky "morning" sickness feeling we'll be in great shape.

We're back!

After a two week escape from reality, we're finally home. And what have we returned to? Lots of snow. I know it's no where near as much snow as my sister got in Spokane, but it's still a lot of snow. In fact, it snowed ALL DAY here. Poor Matt had to shovel the driveway when he got home from work today. This is definitely one of the downfalls of living in this area.


We're working on getting Zoe to not squeal and scream so much. At the moment it's a losing battle. She gets so excited she just can't control herself. She's been yelling her ABC's and other nursery rhymes. She's proud of herself for knowing these things, and we are too, we just don't want her to yell them out. We caught her at dinner tonight singing Baa, Baa Black Sheep.


Enjoy!