i went to see Dr. Love today. i'm about 23 weeks. so glad to be at this point with no complications or much discomfort to speak of. i feel very blessed for every day with Hazel-baby. i love to feel her moving around and kicking and punching. i can feel her getting stronger every day,  but still not to the point that she hurts me. when i was pregnant with Margaret i nearly cried from the pain of her kicking me in my ribs all the time. i haven't had that problem with subsequent pregnancies. i guess my rib cage stretched after that first baby. even so, Hazel seems way lower than any of the others were at this point. i weighed in at 123 today, which means i've gained 14 pounds since my first visit to the OB. that's nearly what i weighed when i had Margaret. but i feel good about my weight gain since i'm exercising daily, walking at least 4 and a half miles and doing weights and push ups. i'm trying to see how long i can continue to do real push ups. i had been doing 20 every day, but last night when i did them i had to stop at 19. LOL. all this weight up front is getting hard to deal with. i feel like Pamela Anderson or Dolly Parton. i am sure ten pounds of my weight gain is up there. it's rather indecent.

i have another ultrasound next month to look at my placenta. it will be fun to get a peak at baby again!

i ran into a former City School (the private school the kids used to attend) teacher while i was at the doctor. she's 30 weeks pregnant, and we had such fun swapping pregnancy stories and showing off bellies. i'm so happy for her! i remember her losing a baby late in pregnancy while we were at City School. since then she's had a little boy and is now expecting her second boy. i have so many friends who go to Dr. Love that i always expect to see someone i know in the waiting room.

we've started going to a Bible study at the Koplin's again. it's a study of Psalms. it is so refreshing to get together with friends and discuss Scripture!

Redeemer will be having a VBS next week. i'll be working in the nursery, Margaret will be an assistant in the 4 year old class, and the boys will be in attendance. we're going to try to bike to the church every morning if i can get everyone out the door on time. 

last night we tool the kids down to the Lady Bird trail and walked the three mile loop. we intended to go listen to the symphony play out in front of the Long Center, but we got there just as they were wrapping up and missed the whole thing. oh well, we'll try again another Sunday night, i guess. we still had fun being downtown at night, something we haven't done in awhile.

we have two beach trips coming up. one to the Texas coast with my family, and another a week later to the Alabama coast with my inlaws.

Brian and i decided to not go to Jefferson for our anniversary this year. this will be the second year in a row that we've missed and i hate that, since it's such a special place for us. but i'll be 36 weeks pregnant at that time, and we figure it's probably not the best thing to go 6 hours away. also i don't know how well i will handle car travel at that point. we're going to New Braunfels instead. Gruene will be having their food and wine fest which will include lots of the music we like, so i think it'll be a decent alternative to our usual getaway.

i've been doing a couple of days a week of school work with the kids. it's fun, but tiring. there is just so much to cover! each has their own math, grammar, and spelling. John and William are working from the same science book, Samuel from another book, and Margaret from another. John and William are studying the same history, 4th grade U.S. history, and Margaret and Samuel the same, 7th grade world history.  i'm trying to cover two years of phonics and grammar with John as he did so poorly in those areas last year. we're covering 1st grade now, and hopefully will be ready for 2nd grade half way through the school year. there is just so much i want to cover with the kids that i feel like doing school over the summer is a necessity.

i'm about to head out to take Margaret to her swim practice for the night. i get in another 2 miles of walking while she's swimming, which is a pleasant way to wind up the day.