Baby Wise

When Travis was born, he had jaundice really bad and ended up being hospitalized twice. We spent 7 of his first 10 nights of life in the hospital where I would feed him, change him and then put him right back in his bassinet under the bililights.

When I got home all I wanted to do was to hold and snuggle him. That led to him only sleeping in my arms during the day, which I didn't mind because I just wanted him near me all the time. At bed time I tried to put him in the co sleeper and he would cry and cry and cry, and Jon and I would get no sleep. So I pulled him into bed with us, sleeping with him in the crook of my arm where he would nurse until he fell asleep.

These things combined to create a child who would only sleep in mommy's arms or the swing and wanted to snack all day instead of eating a full meal. Some days he would fall asleep eating and then he would wake up a few minutes later acting like he was starving. Basically he was never satisfied with food or sleep.

We stayed with my sister Angie last month when we were in town for our sister Fish's wedding. I told her that I really wanted to get Travis on a schedule and she lent me the book Baby Wise by Gary Ezzo and Robert Bucknam . When we got home I went to find the book and it was no longer in my bag...turns out that Jon thought our 1 1/2 year old niece had put it there when she was playing in out stuff, so he put it back on the bookshelf.

When we were there for Christmas Eve I made sure that the book made it into my bag so that it would make it home with me.

Saturday evening I sat down and read the whole book. I was so excited to try it that I almost started right then. I thought about it some more and decided to wait until the next morning.

Sunday morning I got up and started the routine. I decided to start with a three hour cycle. Feed, wake time and then nap time.
Rinse and repeat.

First nap time he screamed the whole time.

Second nap time he screamed for the first part and then slept for a bit.

Third nap time he screamed, slept and then screamed.

That continued all day.

His last scheduled feeding was at 10pm. I fed him, changed him and put him down in the co sleeper where he cried until 1:45am. Every 15 minutes or so I would reach over and give him his pacifier and tell him it was nigh-night time. At 1:45 I decided to feed him. Afterall, he was going to need to keep up his strength if he was going to continue to cry like that. I put him back down at about 2:15, he fussed for a few minutes and then slept soundly until 7 this morning when I woke him up to eat.

I am so tired, but I am seeing promising results with him already...

First nap today he turned his head to the side and went right to sleep! Victory!

Second nap today he cried then slept and is now crying again. **sigh**

I just have to stand firm and give him some time to adjust. I think he is going to do well once he gets the hang of it, and if not, I will find another method that works for him.

I am just so thankful for all the great mommy friends who talked me through last night....even though I knew I was doing the right thing it helped tremendously to have the support of other mommies who have gone and are going through this with their kids.

Mr Bub

Hello big eyes! You are such a joy for your mama...
I love you so much.

I Love:

FUZZIBUNZ!

If you had told me a few years ago that I would be using cloth diapers, I would have laughed in your face!

My mom used cloth diapers and when I would change my siblings' diapers I would have to fold a rectangular piece of cloth just so around the baby and then try to pin the sides together while holding on to a wiggling baby. Then came the crinkly plastic cover that had to be slid up the legs and over the diaper.

That part wasn't all that bad once you got the hang of it...it was taking it off when there was a messy diaper that was tricky. The, uh, "solids" would smear down the legs when I would slide off the plastic diaper cover and it would take that much more time to clean up the baby before putting on another diaper.
It was not fun.

So when I had Brooklyn six and a half years ago, the thought never crossed my mind to use cloth diapers.

When I was pregnant with Travis I was online looking at all of the baby stuff that has changed since I had Brooklyn and I came across these amazing cloth diapers that were all one piece. No pins or plastic covers necessary! What?!?!? I was so amazed!

There are so many great options now and so many fun colors. I researched different brands and styles until I settled on the One-size Fuzzibunz cloth diapers. They have adjustable elastic strips in the legs and in the back of the diaper and there are multiple snaps on the front to allow you the perfect fit
no matter the size of your baby.

My main reason for wanting to use cloth diapers was the money it would save us, but once I put one on Travis, the look on his face gave me another one. He turned his head to the side and coo'd. Seriously.

Thanks Belle!

Raddest Advent Calendar ever!

I got this in the mail and was so excited when I realized what it was! I saw one in a scrapbooking magazine and wanted to make it, but then i realized just how much work that would be.

Thank you Belle! We love it:)

I am so Blessed

These three are my love and my heart.

Brooklyn, Jon and Travis

My boys.

Travis Ezekiel

This boy has my heart.

Travis, 11 weeks old

I love his tiny feet.

Brooklyn Elizabeth

Yesterday was gorgeous so we walked out to our pond to take a few pictures.

Here are a few of my favorites:

I love this girl! She loves the camera, which is great because I love to take pictures.

Merry Christmas

Travis and Brooklyn with Santa

Glitter shoes and Christmas songs

Last night was Brooklyn's school Christmas program and it was just me and the kids. Jon went to a concert with friends(a Christmas present), so I was left to fend for myself.

I, of course, underestimated the time it would take to get ready and ended up running out the door frazzled, thinking to myself "Am I dressed? Did I put on deodorant? Is the baby changed? Does the kid have underwear on? Where are my keys? Is the camera charged?" As you can see, it's pretty stressful and crazy in my brain.

We got to the theater and it took me awhile to wrestle the baby into the baby carrier which I was so thankful that I remembered, or truthfully, had left in the car from the last time I had used it. Then I slung the camera bag and diaper bag over my shoulder, grabbed the girls hand, locked the car and then weaved my way through the busy parking lot to get into the warm theater.

Once we got inside I went to our section and took pictures of all the kids in their holiday best, looking so adorable in ties and dresses. Brooklyn wore her white flower girl dress from my sisters wedding along with silver glittery shoes; it made her feel like a princess and it showed. Next year she said she wants to wear a red dress and the year after that, a green one. She decided that she would rotate the Christmas colors each year. I love her:)

When it was time for the first grade class to go up on stage I pulled out the video camera. Of course it is at that time that Travis decides to cry. So there I am, bouncing the screaming baby and trying to record my first born singing with her class. Every time I would look down at the baby to try to hush him I would look back up only to find that I was filming the floor. I will have to remember to hand out barf bags when we view the tape later.

Thankful

I am thankful for:

• My husband Jon. I would not trade him for anything, except maybe coffee, but probably not.
• My daughter Brooklyn. She is hilarious! I laugh everyday with her around.
• My son Travis. When he smiles my heart explodes. That's a good thing.
• My huge family. They have made me the crazy person I am.
• My husbands family. They are amazing.
• Coffee! Without which nothing would get done.
• Digital Cameras. Without pictures I have no memories.
• Facebook and Blogs. Don't judge me, you are too!

...and so much more.

I am so blessed.

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Sick and cozy...

This is what we have been doing for the past three days. Brooklyn came down with a crazy cough and sore throat on Thursday night, so we have been laying around watching movies. I'm just thankful that she has this next week off of school so she can rest.

7 weeks old

As of yesterday my son Travis is 7 weeks old. Seriously? It feels like he has been a part of our family for much longer than that. Maybe that's because I am attached to him, or more accurately he is attached to me, 24 hours a day. The boy thinks that if he is awake he should be eating and that if he is breathing he should be in my arms. 99% of the time I am alright with this...I actually love the closeness that I feel with him. There are times though (the other 1%) when all I want is to take a long hot bubble bath with a book and a glass of wine. **sigh** Someday. Until then I will enjoy my baby snuggle time;It goes by way too fast.

Pork Chops with Apples and Stuffing

A couple weeks ago I was reading my friend Mary's blog and found a recipe for Pork Chops with Apples and Stuffing. I am not one of those people who love to be in the kitchen experimenting with random recipes...I wish I could be, but I am not. I have a few simple recipes that I make and that's it. I am not a fan of recipes with 27 ingredients. A dash of this and a pinch of that and an oodle of something else; it's just not my thing. Right in the title of her blog post is "5 ingredients or less". Heck yeah! Now that's the kind of recipe I can get excited about! Add to that the fact that the name of the recipe alone had me salivating and I just had to try it.

Yesterday me, Jon and the kids went grocery shopping and I got the few things we needed to make the recipe...I was so excited! We got home and I started right away browning the pork chops and making the stuffing. As I was spreading the apple pie filling in the bottom of the pan I was giddy with excitement and Jon was in the living room trying to recover from the shock of seeing his wife in the kitchen. I took the browned pork, layed it on the apples, then covered them with the stuffing and then foil before popping the whole thing in the oven.

The recipe was everything I had hoped for it to be...it was simple and fast and the way the flavors mingled was amazing. I will definitly make this again, but next time I plan to use thinly sliced fresh apples instead of the very sugary pie filling.

Thanks for the recipe Mary! Keep the easy ones coming for those of us who are Kitchenly Challenged:)

Sunny Saturday

Today was gorgeous. This afternoon we loaded up the family in the car and headed out to a local walking trail. Brooklyn rode her bike while Jon and I walked with Travis in the stroller. It was so nice to get out in the fresh fall air and get a little exercise with the family. I hope to do this more often...it felt amazing.

Jon, Brooklyn, Amy and Travis getting ready for the walk.

Take 2: I'm not used to taking family of 4 self portraits

She loves to ride her bike.

Me and my girl...

Oops! How did this one get in here?

Gingerbread and Family Traditions.

With the beginning of the holiday season comes all the gingerbread stuff which reminds me of my experience of baking gingerbread cookies for the first time. This is a blog from December of 2006:

Before Thanksgiving I was reading a magazine and there was an article about people's favorite things about Christmas. One woman wrote that there was nothing better than the smell of Gingerbread baking. I have never made them. My family has never made them-at least not when I was around. I decided that I was going to start a new Culp Family Tradition for Christmas-Baking gingerbread men (and women).


About a week ago I was talking to my sister Fish on the phone and I told her about my newest tradition. She asked me if I had ever tried them and I said no. She laughed at me and suggested that perhaps I should try them before I decided to make them a tradition. I told her that I just didn't care. I liked the idea of Gingerbread men(and women) being a Christmas tradition for my family; that Brooklyn would one day grow up and make them for her children and that the smell of them would bring back memories of Christmas Past. I even told her that even if they were nasty I would make nasty cookies every year because it was a tradition-I think I may be a little stubborn:)


Today I drove to a couple different stores looking for the cookie cutters...the gingerbread man shaped one was everywhere, but I couldn't find the one shaped like a woman-with a skirt as opposed to wearing pants as if that really indicates the sex of a cookie, but it was the principle. I finally found her in a 20 pack of christmas cookie cutters at Bed Bath and Beyond. Score!!! I went to the grocery store and got all the ingredients that I would need to bake gingerbread cookies as well as sugar cookies. I pulled out my cookbook and flipped to the recipe so excited to start my great new tradition. I made the dough for the sugar cookies and put them in the fridge and then I started on the gingerbread. Halfway through the mixing I noticed the nastiest smell but ignored it hoping that it would get better-it just had too! When I finished mixing the dough the smell seemed even worse but I thought, "Well, it is supposed to be refrigerated for at least two hours, maybe the smell will be not so bad then. Or maybe it smells oh so much better once it's baking in the oven. That is what that lady in the article said....that the smell of it baking was wonderful."


Fast forward a couple hours.....I finished baking the sugar cookies-yummy!!! Now on to the gingerbread!!! I pulled the bowl out of the fridge and opened the lid expecting to inhale this heavenly scent-despite the fact that three hours prior the smell had made me want to jump out a window. What I smelled hit me like a brick wall and sent me into a gag attack that would make any bulimic proud. It was even nastier then before! All I could think of was the poor woman whose fondest memory of Christmas was the stench of this wretched stuff baking. Oh the poor woman! What kind of torture has she endured in her life to make this seem pleasant? Once my stomach stopped turning I laughed at myself and dialed my sister Fish. I knew she would get a kick out of my new "tradition" and what a flop it had turned out to be. We laughed and then I would smell it again(out of morbid curiosity-you would too)and then the gagging would start again which would make Fish laugh harder. I threatened to smear some on a card and mail it to her so she could share in my pain, but decided that the postman did not deserve that. Needless to say Gingerbread men will not be a Culp Family Tradition, but this story will be told every year at every family gathering and pretty much any time gingerbread is mentioned.

Listen to me! I'm the MOM!

Brooklyn is going through a phase where she won't answer me and has the biggest attitude about the tiniest task I ask of her and it is driving me crazy.

I cried today. Sitting on the couch feeding the baby and bawling my eyes out.

Most of the time I feel like I am doing a pretty good job, but days like today I feel like a big failure...like I am faking my way through life as a parent.

After I prayed I felt much better:)

Loving every minute

So the laptop is back from the shop...Yay! That means that I can stay connected through blogs and facebook again.

One month ago today our son Travis was born. He has grown so so so much over the last month that i find myself staring at him to see if I can catch the exact second that he changes from one stage to the next. They just grow up way too fast. My house is a mess and some days I don't take a shower, but those are choices that I make so that i can enjoy this wonderful baby that God has gifted me with.

I love to watch him sleep...he smiles and laughs in his sleep. He laughs! I have never known a more pure joy than the sound of my tiny baby laughing. It is as if he is so filled with joy that it just bursts from within him. Such a blissful thing to witness and I don't ever want to miss it when he does this.

Even in the moments when he won't stop crying and I have done everything I can think of, I am filled with a love and joy so deep and thank God for that moment with my son. The son that I thought I would never have. I am so very blessed.

Brooklyn adores her little brother, but sometimes she resents him. She has had her parents all to herself for six and a half years. Then this little baby comes into our lives and changes everything so completely. I try to remember this when she acts up and I talk to her about what she is feeling and why. It helps so much to understand why a child is acting the way they are so that you know how to respond.

"A misbehaving child is a discouraged child" ~Jane Nelson, author of Postive Discipline

It's been too long..

Well hello there dear blog friends,

It has been way too long since my last post. That will change. I am waiting to get my laptop back from the doctor and then I will catch you all up on what has been happening, as well as catch up on my blog reading.

Eggs!

Our chickens have finally started laying eggs! Jon went out to refill the chicken feeder and I headed outside a few minutes later to see Jon and Brooklyn walking up to the house with 5 eggs in hand. It took me a minute to realize that the eggs were from our very own chickens....at first I was like, "Um, why are Jon and Brooklyn walking around with eggs? That's so strange!"

and then it hit me and I got soooo EGG-cited!!!
My little egg retriever:)
I love our farm life:)

My new favorite blog:)

Okay folks,
So my sister Patricia is an English teacher in Taiwan and she has started her own blog all about her adventures. So far there are only a few posts, but each one has made me laugh....partly because I know her and can picture her awkward hilariousness as she does things, but mostly because she is just straight up funny. She has a different way of looking at things already and then you throw her into a different culture and she just cracks me up! Anyway, go check it out:)
thentheylaughedunderthedesk.blogspot.com

Lazy Sunday Morning...

It is Sunday morning and instead of being at church, which is where I want to be, I am at home. Yesterday kicked my butt so hard that I woke up exhausted, with every muscle in my body heavy with soreness. Is that even a word? Oh well. What did I do yesterday? I went to a baby shower for my friend Tammi, went to the mall to get soap(on the Saturday before school starts...OMG I wanted to hurt people), and then went to a house warming party at Patrick and Bethany's house, all while working on my current project of growing a small human being.

School starts tomorrow...Brooklyn starts first grade! We are all so excited because we got a great teacher and are looking forward to what this new school year will bring. I'm going to cry tomorrow, so hopefully I remember the waterproof mascara and my big sunglasses:)

31 Weeks

That's right! Only 9 +/- weeks to go until we get to meet our baby boy. Jon had a dream two nights ago that made me laugh and then shudder:

When our son is a toddler, he's gonna look like Chuck Liddell with a buzz-cut mohawk and goatee, and his nickname is "Tank"

Oh man! So now we are calling him Tank. With how hard he kicks me in the ribs and hip bones I am thinking this nickname is spot on.

Coast Day Trip

We took a much needed day trip to the coast yesterday. Jon would have preferred a camping trip, but since my growing belly made that an impossibility, we opted for a day trip. We got up early and packed everything we may have possibly ever needed and then some(when you have children you have to be prepared for everything) and then hit the road.

We went to Arcata to get a coffee and browse some shops. There was a farmers market going on and there was some really REALLY good people watching. We went into a little jewelry shop where I fell in love with a sterling silver pair of leaf earrings. I have wanted a pair for years, but could never find ones that I really liked...until yesterday. It was like they called out to me; like they had been waiting there just for me. Brooklyn found a couple of pairs of earrings there too. She got some tiny silver crown studs and a pair of sparkly ladybugs.

We walked around some more and found a children's store where Jon found a pair of green fuzzy socks for the little man and I found a tiny blue hat that will probably be huge on the baby. Brooklyn found a princess crown that was made out of pearls with hot pink lace and gold ribbon veils on both sides. When we left the store we saw a bunch of tiny fairies dancing in the quad, so Brooklyn went to join them. It was so fun and random. For lunch we went to The Eatery in Trinidad for clam chowder bread bowls. They make the chowder and the bread bowls there and the lid of the bread bowl is cheese bread. It is absolutely fantastic. I had been dreaming of this bread bowl since we had it for the first time two years ago and the reality was better than my memories. Mmmmmm!After lunch we took Brooklyn to the beach where I thought she would just dip her toes in the water and then play in the sand. Wrong! She ran in the waves and danced and jumped and enjoyed herself so freely while I stood on the beach terrified that each wave was a hand of the ocean sent to steal my child. Melodramatic? Perhaps, but it's how I felt. I made myself relax and set about taking pictures of her in her moment of blissful freedom. There is a picture where she is facing the ocean with her arms spread wide as a wave rolls toward her and I can't help but think of her saying to the water, "Let it come." Children have a way of living that is so pure and joyful. The wind was crazy so we went to a more secluded beach around the corner with some friends that we ran into and I was able to relax a bit because there were no waves. But then she discovered seaweed and decided to chase me with it:)
After a bit we went back to The Eatery for their blackberry cobbler and ice cream....so bomb! We went to the lighthouse and took a few pictures, then drove around scouting for our next camping trip and then headed home.

It was a great day. I'm not saying it was easy for me at 30 weeks pregnant....I went through three instant ice packs for my ribs and could have used three more, but it was worth it.

K & B Playdate.

I love when Kallai comes over for playdates....the girls play so well together. Yesterday she came over and I took the girls to Jon's parents pool for some summer fun. They swam and played games for hours...it took a bribe of a happy meal to get them to leave the pool willingly:) We had a great time together.

Ahhhhh!

I'm starting to freak out a little...

• I am having a baby in 11 weeks +/-
• We have so much still to buy for him.
• Wondering if he will be early like B or make up for that by being late.
• He has to come out somehow **shudders**

I know it will all be worth it once he is in my arms.

Painting

I am so very tired....yesterday was crazy. Woke up at 5 and couldn't go back to sleep, so at 6 I got out of bed and got some stuff done around the house. Okay, so basically I moved things from one chaotic pile into lots of little organized piles and now my house looks messier than ever, but at least it's organized chaos. I woke up the kid and got her ready to go to swim lessons and then after that we went to one of my favorite places....the hardware store. I LOVE the smell of a hardware store.....seriously, if the Body Shop had an oil named "hardware store" I would buy a lifetime supply. I got new air filters and a can of spray texture for a few smaller sections that needed texture still. Then we went to the feed store to get food for the chickens and the ducks and then it was time to go home.

Once home I rolled primer on the walls of the entry room and the hallway and then I had to get up on the ladder to do the edging. Usually that is not a problem for me, but with the addition of the enormous lump protruding from the front of my body, my center of gravity has changed quite a bit, which made the task much more difficult. After priming I had to lay on a heating pad to help relax the spasms of pain that were shooting down my right leg with every step, then it was time to roll the paint, edge, and do clean up. I finally finished at 10:30.

Today I am SO sore.....and I get to do it all again, only this time in the new office:) Thank God for Tylenol, Bag Balm and coffee!!!

The end is in sight!

We have been living in a state of utter chaos and construction for the past few months and today there is an end in sight!!!

This is what I got to do last night to get prepped for texture

Today our friend Josh is coming over to texture the walls of our new office, the entry, the hallway, the kitchen patches and the hall bathroom(He doesn't know about that last one yet). After that I get to paint! I LOVE to paint walls. I will put on some music and my painting sweats, brew some coffee and go to town. I love to watch something as simple as paint completely transform a room...the whole feel is different afterwards. I'm not doing anything crazy with color this time....just taupe, but it will be a far cry from the white/blue paint combo, complete with a blue rose wallpaper border to separate the colors and an oversize chair rail, which were left to us by the previous owners. After the painting is done, it's time for Jon to put in the baseboards and new door trim. Then we get to move the office and I will finally have a place to put all the baby stuff that has been stacking up all over the place.

I am so excited that I will soon have my house back! I am brewing some coffee and waiting ever so patiently for Josh to get here so we can get started:)

Here are some pictures to show you what our lives have been like the past couple months:

Would this stress you out?

Speak up!

Yesterday was the last day of Brooklyn's swimming session. The teacher gave me her report card at the beginning of class and I eagerly opened it to see what new skills Brook had mastered and what we needed to work on together. Other than a note telling us we needed to do the same level again it was blank. If you have taken swimming lessons at the Aquatic center you have seen these report cards...they have a list of skills with two check boxes next to each one. One box says "Pass" and the other says "Needs Practice". Nothing was marked. As I looked over the skills I realized why nothing was marked; the teacher didn't teach half the stuff on the list! Seriously? She worked on skills that weren't even in the next two levels and skimmed over about half of the skills in her current level. I had been wondering if she was teaching the right skills for that level, but didn't want to say anything about it unless I was sure. She was really a very nice girl and the kids loved her, but it just seemed like she was treating it more like a summer camp than swimming lessons. So when I got the report card and realized that the reason she needed to repeat the class was because the correct skills were not taught to her I went to find the manager. I told her the situation, showed her the report card and asked to have Brooklyn evaluated to see what level she needed to be in. I was willing to have Brooklyn repeat that class if that is where they said she needed to be, with a different teacher of course. The head instructor got in the water and went through the list of skills with Brooklyn. At several points the teacher was met with a blank stare of confusion as she named a skill for Brook to show her, so they really got to see what was and was not taught. After seeing the teacher do the skills Brook was able to do them and the instructor said we could go to the next level! Yay!!! I made sure that they really thought she could handle the next class and weren't just passing her because I was there...that was not my intention. I really wanted to know what level she was so we could put her in the proper class. Having taught gymnastics for 7 years I have seen the effects of moving a child up to a level they are not ready for and I have also seen the effects of keeping a child in a class that they are too good for....neither are good.

Moral of the story folks: Speak up! Have your child evaluated if you believe they are in the wrong level of any class...in the long run it will save you time, money and frustration and will keep your child from boredom or feeling like a failure.

I left you Daddy...

This evening was so nice out...it cooled down enough that we were able to go out a bit before bedtime. Jon was working on the misters for my deck(Yay!), while Brook fed branches to the goat and I sat and watched all the animals playing together....it was a very peaceful evening.

Brooklyn ran past Jon on her way to get something from the house and then stopped and came back and said, "I left you Daddy!" Jon and I looked at each other and shrugged because, well, she's our daughter and she can be quite strange sometimes. She saw our look and decided to explain: "My heart is on the left side of me and so I left you means that I love you." Then she skipped off towards the house while Jon and I laughed and shook our heads.

I totally "left" that kid!

1 in 500

I had a doctors appointment on Tuesday and was told that I am growing right on schedule. The nurse listened to the baby's heart and his heart rate was around 128, which freaked me out until she told me that anywhere between 120 and 160 was "normal". Whew!

Dr Rodgers asked me if she had talked to me yet about the baby's heart......the ultrasound showed a bright white spot on one of the heart valves, called an Echogenic intracardiac foci (EIF). She told me that this white spot was a soft marker for down syndrome and that it increased my odds of having a child with downs from 1 in 1,000 to 1 in 500.

The tears that I tried so hard to hold back came flooding out as she said that she knew that we would not "do anything" about it, but that we could probably still do an amniocentesis to find out for sure. I asked if knowing now would mean there was something we could do to fix it and she said no. I told her that the amnio was not an option for us then...the baby either has it or he doesn't.

I sobbed all the way home. What parent wants to hear that there may be something wrong with their child? I prayed out loud as I drove home, still sobbing, and told God:

"Lord, I know that I can handle having a down syndrome baby; that you would not give me more than I could bear. I love this child and will take him in whatever form you choose to give him to me. I would rather have a normal healthy baby, but if you decide to give me one with downs I will love him just as much."

So now what? Now I learn as much as I can about down syndrome...and we pray and wait.

23 Weeks

23 weeks down, 17(ish) to go!!! Sweet! The baby is moving more and more, but Jon and Brooklyn have not been able to feel the kicks yet. Hopefully it will happen soon, because I think that will help them both to feel more connected to this baby.

Nausea has been replaced with heartburn.....even a small sip of water can give me heartburn. I have great energy in the beginning of the day and then crash by early afternoon....I have told Jon and Brook that if they need something done to get me early or they will be out of luck.

Here is the bump at 23 weeks.

Today I took Brooklyn to the river trail, where I walked and she rode her bike. We started at the Sundial bridge, went to Jump River park where Brook got to play for awhile and then we made the trip back to the bridge. It was such a lovely day.....the sun was shining bright and there was a wonderful breeze that helped to keep us from getting too hot. Brooklyn really enjoyed herself and got much more confident in her bike riding skills.

Brooklyn loved riding her bike across the bridge

Brooklyn and Mommy...what a fun morning!

I crashed hard when we got home and ended up being in pain and had to lay in bed all day long....I guess I may have overdone the whole walking thing:) It was worth it though for a special one on one day with my favorite girl.