Kelly Trepp, Author

As a way of commemorating the birth of my first son, I shared my birth story publicly on this blog on his first birthday. Birth is something that is not often talked about in polite conversation, and as a newly expecting mother 4 years ago, I had very few friends with kids to talk to (or at least that I felt comfortable talking to about labor and childbirth). I would like to keep that tradition going on the first birthday of my second son so that any expecting mother who comes across this blog will know that not all births are created equal.  But it is the unexpected things you can't plan for that make childbirth amazing.  Here is my story... If each pregnancy is a fruit, my first was an apple and my second was an orange. My first pregnancy was sweet and enticing. Everything was easy. I went day to day blissfully aware of this miracle of life growing inside of me, but I was able to carry on with my regular activities. I was in the gym four or five times a wee...

A lot has happened in the three years since I regularly kept up with my blog. A lot. My love for fitness, nutrition and CrossFit lead me down the path to training and sharing that love with others. After about a year of training, I decided I wanted even more out of life. My husband and I happily added a new member to our family one year ago today. I had a healthy, relatively uneventful pregnancy (and continued to workout and eat healthy through the entirety of it) and my labor was everything I wanted it to be. As others around me struggle to obtain their own pregnancy and labor ideals, I realize just how blessed we were and how rare it is that everything should go according to plan, although I was completely unaware of it at the time. Looking back over the last year, I have come to the conclusion that there are certain aspects of parenthood that people do not talk about in polite conversation. Labor being the primary culprit. To commemorate the birth of our son, I want to shar...

I had great success and popularity with the Established Family craft I posted back in October, both in the blogosphere and with those whom I gifted this craft to. Such success, that I decided to recreate this as a craft for baby. Ladies and gentleman, I give you the Foamies Craft for Baby! Oh how fun! This particular craft was created for baby boy Trevor, expected February 2012. His loving parents have created a jungle oasis for his nursery, complete with banana tree wall decal, and plenty of greens and browns to make the tiniest monkey feel right at home. This project follows the instructions given in The Established Family craft post ( found here ), with the addition of a few steps and a fun material that I had never worked with before: Foamies Sticky Back Foam Sheets. Available at most craft stores, I picked up a multicolor pack of Foamies like the one pictured from JoAnn Fabric and Crafts . Also from JoAnn, I grabbed a pack of pre-cut flowers and vines. I may not have work...