Preggers!

So this is Daniela...she is one of my dearest and closest friends who lives down in San Jose with her husband and 2.6 kids...All boys by the way! She flew up to Seattle for the baby shower we had and was able to take a few days by herself before the arrival of her 3rd son who is set to arrive in just 10 short weeks!! We are about 5 weeks apart and I can't imagine getting as big as she is in 5 weeks!! Lord help me!! It was a fantastic weekend with my gal pal and made me miss her all the more! It was such a special treat to have her visit while we were both pregnant...boy we have both come so far! Love you Dani!

(I am 25 weeks in the photo and Dani is about 30 weeks.)

~crystal

Baby Dav for President!

Growing up in a house where a job within the Reagan administration paid the bills, I was born to follow politics with great interest. Unfortunately after watching so many politicians come and go, I became very cynical and couldn't ever see how electing a Republican or Democrat could ever make a large difference as they both get their money from big corporations. And then Barack Obama stepped onto a stage last night, 45 years to the day of MLK's "I Have a Dream Speech" and showed us otherwise. Nearly 40 million people watched on tv as he accepted his party's nomination for President.

Why do I bring this up? Like Barack, my child will have a Black father and a White mother. Often in this day and age children of color face many challenges to achieving their dreams. During an Obama presidency I can tell my child that he is capable of doing ANYTHING and there won't be a person in the world who can tell him otherwise. No longer will children listen to people say "you're Black and you can't do this or that" They'll say "Yes We Can".

To my unborn son, someday you'll be able to read this and I want you to know that you can achieve anything you want in life; and never listen to people say that you can't. Because you can, just like Barack Obama.

Anthony for President

I'm Exhausted! And I hate jet lag!

We arrived back in NYC this morning....EARLY!
It was such a nice visit home that I really didn't want to leave, but boy was it nice to sleep in our king size bed again this morning!! Poor Anthony had to get into work this morning after a quick power nap.
I will download some pictures as soon as I unpack the camera :) We had a very busy weekend once Anthony arrived early Friday morning with baby showers and BBQ's. It was great to see all of our friends who could make it. And we truly appreciate all of the wonderful gifts we received!! They will all go to such good use!!! Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!

~crystal

Danskin Triathlon 2008

Today was the Seattle Danskin Women's Triathlon and my mom, Margaret, was a 'first-time' participant with her friend and training partner Lourea Garka. It was a perfect morning for a race and they competed and completed with smiles the whole time. Our families are oh so proud of them for their accomplishments!! I am sure they will be online looking for their next adventure in triathlons by the end of the day!!!

WAY TO GO MOM!! WE LOVE YOU AND ARE VERY PROUD OF YOU!!!

~crystal

Happy Day and pretty toes!

I arrived in Seattle on Wednesday and immediately went to my Dad's office for a much needed chiropractic adujstment. It was nice to surprise my Dad with our visit as well. The flight was fine and I wasn't too uncomfortable which was nice. I watched two movies, Leatherheads (not recommended) and Ironman (highly recommended).

So on my first full day here, Thursday, we had a full day planned! We had to take my Dad's truck and Alex's car into the shop for some work on our way to get mani's and pedi's with Ramah and PJ. After our pampering we headed to Emery's for a wonderful patio lunch...All of this to celebrate, belated, Ramah's birthday which was on Sunday. We then hung out in Everett and went down to the boat that is docked and listened to live music while visiting with other family and friends. It was a perfect NW evening and made me miss this time of year here even more!!

Today we have more heat and sunsine...should be another beauty!!

~crystal

Daddy's Baby Bumb

Everyone says that a pregnant woman can expect to gain up to 30 lbs during the process. With this can come the adoration of other couples, perhaps someone giving up their seat on the subway, and at the very least some smiles from strangers.

So What do I get for my baby daddy bump? 23 weeks into the pregnancy, Crystal has gained 3 lbs, while I've gained 15+ (the + is the unknown variable that I will gain once I finish this tub of Chunky Monkey ice-cream. I've read that this is extremely common along with an influx of estrogen and male morning sickness. This would explain why I've been crying during Hallmark commercials and ask if a shirt makes my belly look big. Nobody explained to me that this would happen! Here's my theory on how this came to be. Crystal gets a craving late at night for some chocolate chip cookies, but we need milk from down the street. I wasn't feeling cookies, but after going down the street and smelling them in my house, I know must have 10 or 11 of them or someone will get hurt. With some milk to wash it down of course. Repeat this show for a few weeks, and suddenly people are asking which one of you is pregnant. No, It's not me but thanks for offering your subway seat.

Creating the Next Miles Davis

So we've been hearing from people that playing music to the baby in utero, can have long lasting and beneficial advantages for the tiny tot. Being a big fan of music myself, I understand the power of music and wanted to experiment with it on my firstborn. Two of our very good friends, Sergei and Amanda, bought us a contraption that wraps around the Mommy's Tummy and has a headset that places where the baby's head is (or supposed to be) and the other side hooks up into an Ipod where the greatest mix of Earth's music has been assembled for the task.

Conventional wisdom states that the baby should listen to about 10 minutes of music each day in order to help them better understand and adapt to the outside world once they join in the fun. Typically Mozart or Vivaldi is recommended. But we aren't looking for a future young Republican, we want a fun kid who controls his own universe and can crush the ideals of the weak who vote based upon fear.

So nightly we've been engaged in a quest for the best music to mold our lil bun in the oven into the next huge jazz musician. If we screw this up, he might end up listening to Yanni and John Tesh duets while discussing the best Starbucks that he's ever seen.

The first song that we played for him is John Coltrane's "A Love Supreme". If you don't know about this amazingly powerful piece, ask somebody cooler than you. Since then we've repeated it several times and noticed the baby kicking along every time. Ella Fitzgerald also has him tapping. He crosses his arms and has a think about Miles Davis. Still warming up to Stevie Wonder. Doesn't like Garth Brooks, anything on American Idol or Justin Timberlake (although we haven't tried). Next up: Public Enemy, Jimi Hendrix and Jay-Z. Any suggestions?

Rain, Rain go away!

It is raining here today and really gray out. But that is okay as I am having a great day already and will be off to Seattle on Wednesday morning!!

This is my niece Baylee...she is my brother Tony's daughter and I am very excited to see her when I get to Seattle. She becomes my shadow when I am in town and I just can't get enough of her 6 year old personality and her big heart! I miss her so much and wish I was nearby so she could be close to her newly arriving cousin! We will just have to make many cross-country visits for now.

I had my 4 week check-up this morning which included the usual weigh in, blood pressure reading, and belly measurement. All 3 were great today!! I didn't gain any weight since my last visit which puts me at a total gain of 3 pounds in the last 23 weeks!! This makes me very happy as it will be that much easier during delivery and after!! So the next visit I have will be on Sept. 10th and I will take the glucose test to see if I have gestational diabetes...this is a standard test that everyone takes around the beginning of their 3rd trimester. I have to drink some yucky stuff and they pull some blood.

Feeling really great with lots of energy, compared to the previous weeks, and enjoying being pregnant. Sleep has become a challenge...getting comfy in between trips to the bathroom...and Baby Dav kicking at all hours of the night have made things difficult to say the least. I guess it is just preparing me for the sleepless nights to come!!

I will blog from Seattle starting on Wednesday...

~crystal

Beijing Olympics 8-8-08

Our friends Steve and Lara hosted a little gathering of friends to watch the opening ceremonies of the Olympics. They prepared wonderful food with a Chinese theme and I provided the fortune cookies! It was a nice evening. Even though I wasn't able to make it all the way until the torch lighting, we made it home just in time to watch it! I love watching the Olympics and hate missing even a minute. Yesterday morning I learned all about hand ball! Very interesting sport...Then I watched a little badminton...this sport confused the heck out of me. This will be the last year for softball, but we have to watch two people hitting a birdie back and forth???

Working a lot this week since I will be in Seattle for 12 days starting Wednesday the 13th...so Anthony has been keeping busy with his running and hanging out with his new man friend Carlos. They are going to a soccer game in New Jersey today...should be a nice day for a futbol game!

Not much else going on this weekend...made my weekly batch of Belgian waffles today! Gotta have 'em at least once during the weekend!!

I will keep posting while in Seattle. I am sure I will have plenty of Baylee stories to tell!! I am so excited to see her. She made me a countdown and sent it to me in the mail...it is the cutest thing I have seen in such a long time! Whenever I go home she moves in with me too...she gives her mom and dad a hug and says, "see you when TT leaves!" I love her so much my heart sings...taken from her saying this about her Gamma (my mom).

~crystal

10 fingers and 10 toes!!

The anatomy scan sonogram was yesterday and this is the best shot we could get of Baby Dav as he was busy napping and didn't want to turn towards us, but it gives us a nice profile of his beautiful face!!

I can't wait to see him...in just a short 18 weeks or so!!

All of his fingers, toes, eyes, ears, heart chambers, kidneys, bladder, tummy, and other vital parts were accounted for and functioning properly! We even got to see his little tooth buds forming in his jaw! Technology is truly amazing these days. He is also right on track for growth and my/his due date has not changed...still Dec. 8th.

The Seattle baby shower is coming up! Aug. 23rd for the ladies shower and the 24th for the couples shower/BBQ/s'mores party!! Let me know if you need any of the details for either one of these gatherings as we would love to see all of you when we are in town!

~crystal

belly shot! 22 weeks

So here it is...the most asked for photo of the week! I almost cried when I saw it though...I think I have been in denial about the fact that I will be getting this huge belly! I will try to keep up and do a picture every 2 weeks at this point cuz I think the growing has begun!

~crystal