To potty, or Not to potty train???

At our last Dr's visit with Presley she told us we could start potty training @ 18 months. I've been reading online to see when kids are ready etc. Presley fits most of the signs (ie hiding when she has to potty, wanting it to be private, she understands commands like go sit in your chair, bring me this etc..). But I thought I would see what other moms out there thought about this. I decided to take a month and just introduce her to the idea of it. I got her a potty book and movie and have been keeping track of when she goes #2 etc. We also found a cheap kids potty at sears and picked it up. I let her sit on it but its pretty clear she is unsure of what it is. So please post your thoughts or your experiences and if you found a book useful for parents let me know.

Valentines Day 2009

Ben got to take the day off of studying, so we spent the whole day together-- :)
We went to Kens House of Pancakes for breakfast

Looked around at a few shops, came home and took a family nap, then made valentines for the grandparents with Presley (for the Nelson and Cloud Grandparents)

watched a few cartoon movies with P and then put her to bed early. Then Ben and I ate a really yummy dinner at Cafe Cloud:) It was really relaxing to have a dinner without P hanging on my leg. We listed to Sam Cooke and it really felt like we were dining out.

Menu
Grilled Strip Steak
Baked potato
Steamed asparagus
Sparkling grape juice

and

Earthquake cake and ice cream

Then we watched "The Day the Earth Stood Still"

(movie sucked! but the day was fun anyways:)

Family Update- some of you may be asking what happened to the Clouds???

So its been nearly 2 1/2 weeks since I have posted anything. I guess I didn't have much to say. So I decided to give you all an update on each of us.

1st: Presley

She is nearly 17 months old (Feb 19th). As you can tell she is starting to look so grown up. She has learned to throw little fits and right now I think its funny, but it is wearing thin!! She loves food, almost anything I give her she will eat, (minus raw veggies-still have to mash those). But she is so much fun, she's like my little best friend. But she has learned to do things I hate like run down our drive way away from me laughing while I yell for her to stop! I guess all kids like to disobey:)

2nd: Ben

He is doing really good. This semester seems to be so much better for him then last semester. We actually get to see him more. He really likes his hospital rotation and gets to see some crazy patients, he loves to tell me about them. He is making great grades in his classes and has been able to play a little more sports this semester (ie golf and b-ball).

3rd: Me
I am doing good. I will be nearly 6 months (24 weeks) next week. This pregnancy is getting to me, my belly seems to grow daily (I swear its much bigger then with Presley!). I had my first ultra sound a few weeks ago and baby is really healthy and moving around like crazy. The Dr.'s are 85% sure its a girl, so we will see..

my new favorite craving (open face, toasted, honey-wheat-bagel sandwich with pepper jack cheese!!- I could eat these all day long. )