Letters...

Dear Belly Button,

You have disappeared, for the most part.  See you in the Fall....



18 weeks



21.5 weeks


Dear Scale,

I'm sorry I've been avoiding you.  My hormones can't handle stepping on you more than once a month.  I'll revisit our relationship in...ummmm, let's say December??

Dear Summer Sun,

Thank you for being there lately.  Brooklyn and I HATE being cooped up inside.  Though go easy on my fingers and toes okay?  I'd like to be able to wear shoes all the way until October!

Dear Prenatal Vitamins,

Thanks for making my hair grow so fast.  I may consider keeping you around indefinitely.  Though, I think I need a hightlight sooner than scheduled now.  Andrea??  Should we play sooner than June??


Dear Lake Powell,

I've missed you.  We're supposed to visit you next month.  Dr. England was NOT happy about this when we talked about you.  He may make me stay home.  Send good karma my way for my appt this Friday and again in three weeks so we can play for a week with the Gardner fam!!

Dear Progesterone Shots,

Good heavens you sting like crazy!  It took me three weeks to gear up to giving you myself.  Your needle is so long, and the juice so thick!  Please do your job and make this worth it okay?  My thighs sting for 4 days after I give you, just in time to do it again!!  (I know it would sting less if I gave you in my bum, but the image of me trying to reach behind myself with my gut sticking out front is hilarious.)

Dear Mom,

I love you.  You're a saint.  Thanks for loving your first granddaughter enough to watch her while this tired and cranky pregnant girl sleeps after graveyard shifts.  She's a handful.  Sorry if she's destroying your house.  She loves 'grama', though......especially your 'jump' (tramp).  She still wakes up asking to jump.  Christmas gift Roger??

Dear Meg,

I think Brooklyn is confused by you.  She occasionally calls you mom.  Thanks for trading babysitting days with me.  I'm sorry Brooklyn loves on your son so much......he'll have to give some good paybacks someday!

Dear Beau,

I'm sorry Brooklyn gets in your face.  And shoves your binki and bottle in your mouth.  And rocks you in your carseat and swing enough to give you motion sicknesses.  She's a fast one, I can't keep her away from you all day!  Though she just may end up calling her baby sister "Beau" for awhile - every baby she sees now she calls your name.

Dear Stomach,

Thanks for growing a little slower this go around.  As much as I like the 'gus-gus' effect, I better break down and buy a few more undershirts before you get too big huh?  And I'll try to lay off the treats -- will you forgive the doughnut and fun size candybars I ate by 9:30 this morning?  Couldn't help myself, they were leftovers from the baby shower last night and they were calling my name.

Dear Brooklyn,

My not so little baby girl anymore - do you have any idea what a gem you are?  Forgive my orneryness lately.  You make our lives complete.  Thank you for being so dang cute.  And for being a mama's girl still.  My belly is getting in the way, but I sure do love your snuggles lately.

Making sugar cookies for the cousins' baby shower last night!

 Dear Roger,

Do you have any idea how much I love you?  I have been so up and down with this pregnancy.  Thank you for being so patient with me.  Thank you for being excited about having another baby - another girl, too!  I owe you some golfing days for sure.  Date night soon?  Yes please.

Dear Baby Girl #2,

Wow are we excited to meet you!  But cook for a few more months please.  Please oh please.  I don't want to be meeting you in the next 6 weeks like last time.  My heart can't handle it.  Have a little chit chat with the angles up there in heaven and tell them to hang onto you for a bit longer okay?  Thank you for finally kicking mom - you had me kinda worried for a few weeks.  You're not as crazy in there as your sister was.  And your heartrate is consistently lower than Brooklyn's ever was.  Does this mean you'll be a little less hyper than her?  We are thrilled to have you join our family!

Love, Ashlee

Happy Mother's Day!

(Our picture this morning before church, camera propped on a bucket, and Roger trying to bend down so his head won't be cut off.  Brookln looks thrilled, Baby #2 looks lopsided.  The joys of timed pictures!)

To the women in our lives - Happy Mother's Day!  We hope the day is as great as you hoped it would be!

I love to celebrate any holiday, especially the ones when Roger takes full responsibility for Brooklyn during church so I could sit and enjoy the meeting.  He also cooked us breakfast.....maybe that's why I look slightly lumpy in the gut area!   I'm a little bummed I have to work tonight, but this is what I signed up for when I became a nurse.  So I'm just going to pretend this day doesn't include the working part!

I love the little girls (crazy that I can say that now!) that have made me a mom.  This was a title I wanted forever!  Being a mom is the hardest but most rewarding job.  It is a blast.  Good thing kids are forgiving, I'm still working on getting it down right!

To my own mom - you set the bar too high!  I'll spend my lifetime trying to match what you've done for us girls.....what you still do!  How lucky I am to have a friend, a lunch partner, someone to run errands with, someone to call everyday, an example, a shoulder to cry on.  Good luck with your talk today - its already over, but I'm still a little annoyed they made you speak in church on your holiday!

To my sweet mother in law, Susan -my heart is full today when I think of you.  You cannot know the impact you have had on your son, and consequently me and Brooklyn.  I don't think I can get through this post without some tears...the news of your cancer has me reeling from the heartbreak we've felt these last two months.  A mom (and dad) is supposed to be invincible, almost superhuman, not vulnerable to what life can hand you.  I can't describe the heaviness I feel each time I've watched my big, tough husband cry because he's losing his mom sooner than he ever thought he would.  Yet, you have faced this latest challenge with amazing faith and grace, being the backbone for this family.  The time you have left is not up to Roger and I, but we want you to know how much we love you and admire you.  You have impacted us in ways you can't imagine.  Your influence will be felt for many years to come.  So on this Mother's Day, we hope you know how much your family loves you, especially our little family!

Days to celebrate our parents are so special, an opportunity to thank each mother (however you define a mom) for their dedication and committment to their families.  To my 'moms', thank you for all you do!

Happy Mother's Day!!!