Little known facts about us...hopefully

We were tagged by Daniel and Kristen to give six facts about ourselves so here goes:

John:
1. I hate blogging (Katrina is even typing this for John).
2. I like to watch Hannah Montana when my wife leaves the room.
3. I should've studied architecture in school. In retrospect, I should've become an architect.
4. I really really REALLY want a pool, but my wife won't let me get one until we have our final home.
5. I swore I'd never live in Utah growing up.
6. I speak Thai and Laotian fluently and am learning Spanish, Bermese, and Cambodian so that I can take over Southeast Asia.

Katrina:
1. I love to watch Broadway shows and plays. Also, comedy shows. Oh, and shows about crime because I am trying to understand the criminal mind, but my husband thinks I'm trying to kill him.
2. I get really cranky when I'm hungry. If you feed me you're my new best friend. If not, back off.
3. I can't "sit around" all day and do nothing. I'll go crazy.
4. I think John is the most talented person I've ever met and he's teaching me lots of new talents like how to tile, caulk, patch holes, etc.
5. I speak Spanish and a bit of German and am learning Thai (very slowly b/c of lack of time).
6. I want a new car. SUV really. I like the new Mercury Mariner. Want to buy me one?

We tag:
Everyone who reads our blog.

The Rules
A - Each person has to list 6 facts/habits about them.
B - After part A, go to 6 people's blogs and leave a comment letting them know to read your blog, and that they have been tagged.
C - List at the end of your posting who you have tagged.

Potty Training?? Please give opinion.

So I've been going back and forth about whether or not V is ready for toilet training. The first time I ever put her on the potty and asked her to go she went! I was amazed. Perhaps, she is ready. Since then, she's gone a few times consistently in the morning and about once or twice since then in the afternoon. Granted on our NY trip we were unable to "train" her, but she's shown a few signs she's ready. Sure it would be AWESOME if I could train her before the new baby arrives, so my dilemma is this. If I wait until after I have the baby then it'll be a while since there is an adjustment period with a new sibling for both her and I, but if I start now would I just be backtracking when the new baby does come? And of course if she's ready, why not? So I need your opinion. Here's a checklist of what are signs for them being ready from Babycenter.org. I'll let you know where she's at and you give your opinion...please. :)

Physical signs:
Can walk and run steadily. YES
Urinates a fair amount at one time. SOMETIMES, mostly it's still whenever
Has regular, well-formed bowel movements at relatively predictable times. NO IDEA
Has "dry" periods of at least three or four hours, which shows that her bladder muscles are developed enough to hold urine. NO

Behavioral signs:
Can sit down quietly in one position for two to five minutes. YES
Can pull her pants up and down. YES
Dislikes the feeling of wearing a wet or dirty diaper. SOMETIMES (she'll care one day and not the next)
Shows interest in others' bathroom habits (wants to watch you go to the bathroom or wear underwear). YES
Gives a physical or verbal sign when she's having a bowel movement such as grunting, squatting, or telling you. YES, well sometimes
Demonstrates a desire for independence. YES
Takes pride in her accomplishments. YES?
Isn't resistant to learning to use the toilet. YES, she likes sitting on her potty
Is in a generally cooperative stage, not a negative or contrary one. YES

Cognitive signs:
Can follow simple instructions, such as "go get the toy." YES
Understands the value of putting things where they belong. NO
Has words for urine and stool. YES
Understands the physical signals that mean she has to go and can tell you before it happens or even hold it until she has time to get to the potty. NO

NY Vacation

Roll out the red carpet 'cause we're back! We went to NY to visit my grandmother, uncles and a few cousins. I felt sick most of the time because of the humidity, but we walked around NY city and saw a Broadway show (Hairspray). "Wicked" was sold out so we couldn't see that.
Victoria was good and spoiled the whole time. One day we went to Playland and she went on all these kiddie rides, some of which were a bit rough for such a small person, but she's a daredevil. She loved it! I got sick when John made me go on one that spins around in circles. I told him I didn't want to do that one and that I would get sick, but he made me and well I got sick.
It was nice to see family and do a few things, but it was hard to coordinate things because of lack of a ride so at times we were at the mercy of others. Next time we'll probably take a shorter trip. But, bottom line, we're back.

4th, ok it was the 5th, of July party

This year as usual we went to Provo for the fourth and watched the Stadium of Fire fireworks from our Riley house roof. Victoria enjoyed them a lot, but then fell asleep next to John and didn't see a lot of the show. She was so tired because she did not take a nap that day and it was passed her bedtime. After the firework display we jumped in the pool for a while because we were waiting for the traffic to clear up. It took so long for it to clear up that we didn't leave until 2am. Anyway, we had planned a bbq at our Salt Lake home for the next day so we had our own barbeque on the 5th with our Salt Lake friends. Here are some pictures from it. Above our friend Dani was trying to say it was the 4th (hence the 4 fingers) but it wasn't. Please ignore how tired and big I look in the last pic...I was tired and I blame pregnancy. If that counts for anything. :)

Swimming

I did it! Well, John did it. We finally figured out how to transfer pictures from my new camera. It turns out my laptop ports are going bad and not always working properly so we transfered them using John's laptop instead. Here are some pictures of Victoria swimming with her friend Maverick. Everything was going great until he pushed her over and then she didn't want to swim anymore. Go figure. :)