Because I need to remind myself to relax and enjoy this…

Funny moments at home with Kaden and Molly I don’t want to forget:

1. When we tell Kaden to be quiet b/c Molly is sleeping, he usually responds with a “shhh” and his finger either touching the tip of his nose or sticking up his nostril…  like so:

2. Sometimes for fun I’ll puff my cheeks out with air and let Kaden poke my cheeks and then blow air in his face.  Life around here is exciting, I’ll tell ya what.  But he thinks it’s hilarious.  Well the other day completely out of nowhere I think he thought Molly was puffing her cheeks out b/c of how chubby they are and he started poking her cheeks… she didn’t think it was hilarious.  I did.

3.  Every. single. time I go to change Molly’s diaper Kaden follows me to the changing table and says “Moll go poop”  and starts digging his finger in the bag balm (what we use for diaper rashes) so he can help put it on her butt.  And we usually have a few good laughs over Kaden’s variations on “Yuck”… (usually sounds like it starts with either and “s” or an “f”… :-/…)

4.  We are quickly learning that Kaden now understands and can repeat most of everything we say… so his new favorite phrase is “hush up moll.” Followed closely by “mama. mama. mama. WOOK! WOOK!  eh-plane!!” (insert any fairly boring inanimate object or animal, like tuck (truck), suh-cull (circle, or the letter O), tow (cow), tat (cat), and Santa!)

5. Kaden’s version of counting to 10:  two, two, tree, foh, fai-eeev, sis, sewen, eat, naine, eat, naine, TEHHN!  Seriously, try and make him say ‘one’… it ain’t happening.

6. Pretty much every time I pull out the camera to take a picture of Molly… Kaden immediately flings himself down next to her and does this:

Never a dull moment.  And never enough sleep.

But  my favorite picture of late that makes me crack up every time I look at it is this:

This is what happens when Daddy styles his hair... Mommy has now taken back that job.

A few pics of life with 2…

Molly’s almost 2 weeks old and Kaden is acting like a 2 year old (can you say, TANTRUM??) but we are surviving and adjusting.  Here’s a few pics of the kiddos in the past week and a half:

Kaden's "gift" from Molly when we came home from the hospital.

Mowing the lawn with Daddy (aka- Daddy trying to wear Kaden out for Mommy)

Wide awake... a rarity

Not sure, but I think there's something wrong with this picture...

Brotherly love... also a rarity these days

Sweet girl

High’s and Low’s of Week 1

Tomorrow Molly Jane will be a week old, and we are significantly more tired than we were a week ago at this time…  It’s been a great week, but certainly has had it’s challenges; so, while I have a second I thought I’d reflect on what’s made this week great and what’s been, well… not-so-great.

High: Watching Kaden’s interest in Molly go from zero (a half-hearted “Hi baby” from across the room when prompted) to, eh… a 5 out of 10.  He now wants to watch me change her “poop” and likes to point out and name her features (with the occasional eyeball poke) and gives her head a kiss before he goes to bed for the night.

Low: Not being able to physically love on or care for Kaden like I’d like to.  Recovering from a c-section means I can’t pick up Kaden for the first couple weeks… which means I can’t get him ready for bed and rock him to sleep, can’t pick him up and comfort him if he’s hurt, can’t hug him or wrestle with him… basically it’s launched my mothering guilt to full-scale since I already feel guilty for rocking his world with a new baby when he’s still a baby, and now I can’t even care for him on my own or freaking pick my child up to hug him.  (Cue irrational hormonal 5 minute cry)

High: Molly is the EASIEST baby of all time during the day and most of the night.  I swear all she does is sleep and half the time I have to fight to wake her up to eat.

Low: The only time of day Molly has been awake the past several days is from about 10 or 11 pm until around 2 am.  Not awesome. Starting to really feel the sleep deprivation.

High: Breastfeeding has been a dream this time around.  I won’t go in to much detail here… but suffice it to say that when Kaden was born I cried from excruciating pain pretty much every feeding for about 4-6 weeks.  This time… I have essentially zero pain, my milk came in before I even left the hospital, Molly eats quickly and is content to be finished, and she gained back half the weight she lost in only 2 days.  You have no idea what a relief this has been for me.

Low: Remembering how much time nursing takes throughout the day and being completely unavailable for Kaden all of the times I’m stuck on the couch with a baby attached to me.  Not to mention having to plan everything around when Molly will be hungry.

High: Feeling so blessed and loved by family, friends, and neighbors who have already offered so much help and support.

Low:  Knowing we won’t be able to do much with said family, friends, and neighbors for a little while as we adjust to life with a newborn and a toddler.

High: Watching Trey and Kaden interact and play more than they ever have since Trey’s been home from work all week.  Don’t know what I’d do without him here.  And I think he may be gaining a new appreciation for why I go to Target for no reason so often…

Low: Anticipating how overwhelming things will be a for a little while when Trey goes back to work.  Not looking forward to that. AT. ALL.

High: Having a pumpkin pie here all week thanks to my wonderful Mom!

Low: Daylight savings.  I’d like to punch it in the face.  Kaden has been waking up at 6 am (sometimes a few minutes earlier) this whole week since he’s been home.  Our great sleeper who usually sleeps till close to 8 am is now waking up while it’s still dark outside at 6.  As I’m getting back in bed from feeding Molly… Kaden starts chattering away.  Thankfully Trey’s been getting up with him this week and letting me get a couple more hours of sleep.  But starting next week… ugh, I shudder at the thought.

High: Baby girl clothes and bows.  So much more fun to dress a baby girl

Low: Toddler boy whining.  Over any and everything.

Wouldn’t trade this life for anything and I know in a few weeks things will feel more normal and settled, but I’m not going to pretend it’s all daisies and roses all the time. Having a newborn is hard.  It’s amazing how much you remember but also how much you forget when you just did this 18 months ago.  We still don’t know what we’re doing and find ourselves looking at each other with a shoulder shrug more often than not.  But I do know if we’re not careful, we’ll blink and Molly will be Kaden’s age.

Tomorrow is B-Day.

I made it.  Tomorrow I am getting this baby out of me and will be DONE being pregnant (for a while, at least).  Up until about a week ago when people would ask me if I was ready to have Molly here my response has been, “Not exactly… she’s pretty dang easy to take care of in here… nice and quiet, sleeps, no dirty diapers or crying spells….”  But I’ve hit my limit.  I haven’t slept well several nights in a row, there is no such thing as a comfortable position anymore (whether sitting, standing, or lying down), my stomach is unbearably itchy 24-7 from my skin stretching farther than it’s ever stretched before (woop-woop! Tankini Club for life!), and I know I’ve whined about it before… but the heartburn.  Seriously… this girl better have freaking Rapunzel length locks for the intensity of the heartburn I’ve experienced this time.  As you can see, I’m over it.  O-V-E-R it. Get her out. Get her out now!

But then… my emotions sway quickly and seamlessly in the other direction and I become a ball of anxiety and mixed emotions about bringing home another baby.  I feel guilty for how we are about to rock Kaden’s world.  Last night as I read him books and rocked him before bedtime, I was a complete mess thinking about how he’s no longer going to be the baby or the center of our attention.  I know in the long run it will be so great for him to have a sister so close in age and to have to learn to share my attention and be more patient with getting what he wants.  But today… I’m sad that it’s his last day as my “baby.”  I think about how easy it is right now to get out of the house, get plenty of sleep, and basically do whatever we want with only one easy kid. We have our routines and I like them.  And I’m also reminded of how I’ve never been very good at dealing with change… and bringing home a second child is a major life change.

So, for these reasons and then some… you could say I’m so ready to meet our daughter tomorrow (and eat some Mexican food without my esophagus turning into the fiery pits of hell afterward), but I’m also slightly apprehensive about how life’s about to turn upside down.  Any of you mothers of two close-in-age kids out there have any words of wisdom? I’m all ears (and big belly)…:)

Letter to my future self: Back to the Newborn Stage

Dear Me in about a week,

You are about to be back in the newborn stage of life, only this time you get to do it while wrangling an energetic 18 month old. So there are a few things I’d like to remind you of before you are too sleep deprived and hormonal to remember them with a clear head.

1. You will sleep again. Maybe not for a few weeks months… but I promise you will get to sleep again someday.

2. You are going to blink and that baby will be a year old.

3. Life might feel ANYTHING but normal right now; but within the next 6 weeks or so, you’ll feel right at home in your new normal.

4. If you start crying, whether it’s for no reason or for a very good reason… there’s no shame in that.  The waterworks will go away soon enough.

5. No, your baby doesn’t respond to you much and is basically an ungrateful, demanding, chubby ball of sleeping, eating, and pooping… but cherish it more this go round… b/c before you know it she won’t even stay in one place for more than 2.5 seconds and those quiet baby snuggles will seem like a blurry, distant memory.

6. If nursing doesn’t go smoothly and beautifully from the get-go… well, at least this time you are mentally prepared for that.  So… it can’t be much worse than last time, right? And if the baby is starving and you’re stressing about milk production and open nipple wounds and God knows what else… give her a freaking bottle of formula and get some rest.

7. Just because you are breastfeeding does NOT mean you can eat everything in sight… for 9 months straight.  You’ll just get really sick of the way you look and have to start over to work it all off again.  Seriously, step away from the pantry and go for a walk.

8. If the laundry piles are so big you have to hike over them to get across, and the bathrooms are growing unidentified species, and there are more dirty dishes in the sink than there are clean dishes in the cabinets, and there is 3 weeks worth of dog hair, crumbs, leaves and debris from shoes on the kitchen floor, and you have to order pizza for dinner again this week and it’s only Tuesday… well, what else is new?  It’ll all get done eventually… you have two kids who love you in spite of your housekeeping deficiencies.

9. It’s ok to ask for help if you need it.  Accept it gratefully.

10.  On one of those days…Take a deep breath. Make a big pot of coffee.  Say a prayer. Embrace the chaos. And take it one hour at a time.

11. Smile and laugh as much as you can… you have a lot to be thankful for.

A Nursery for Molly

Well, our little girl finally has a room to call her own… with 6 days to spare  I’m scared for our future 3rd child… he/she may end up sleeping in a dog crate if it takes us progressively longer to get going on a nursery with each kid.  Alas, I am in LOVE with how Molly’s nursery came together (essentially over the course of the past week).  Thank you Mom and Dad (and Trey) for painting her room, and to Sheila and Roxanne for lending their time and decorating expertise to taking what little we had on hand and finding a few more finishing touches to turn her room into the beautiful nursery it is now.  It’s amazing what a finished room can do for making you feel a little more prepared to welcome another little one into your home.  Can’t wait for you all to see it in person,  but here’s a few pics for now.

(Only things missing are the curtain and chair cushions which are in process!

Love this, but the lighting in this photo is awful.

Alright Miss Molly Jane… we’re ready for you Can’t wait to see your face on Friday!!

How I know we’re about to have a baby…

besides my new waddle, the fact that I am out of breath at the top of a flight of stairs (but what else is new, right?), the 10 minute production required to roll over in the middle of the night or get out of bed to waddle to the bathroom, and the heartburn. Oh, the heartburn.  I can’t even talk about it it hurts so bad (I’m a little worried Molly might be covered in hair from head to toe it’s so bad).

We are officially in full-on get ready for baby #2 mode in our house as she is scheduled to arrive in about 2 1/2 weeks (hopefully not any sooner!!!).  In case you don’t believe me, read on:

1. If Kaden hears the word baby on the tv, radio, in public, etc. he repeats “beh-beh!” and proceeds to pull my shirt up and pull my maternity pants down in order to accurately point to the baby in my belly.  That gets awkward in public.  However, I don’t think Kaden’s really aware of the fact that a baby sister is about to take over his life… poor guy

2. Molly’s room is finally a nursery and not an office/junk room/Millie’s crate.  We spent all day Saturday getting it cleaned out and getting the crib/changing table moved in and put together.  Let me tell you what, walking down our hallway now and seeing two nurseries side by side is a bit unnerving! And exciting.  But really unnerving.  :)  Now I have a couple of weeks to decorate and do a little nesting.

3. While shopping for a double stroller with Trey on Saturday, it seemed to finally dawn on him that we are about to have another baby.  While pushing some of the monstrosities around the store, he remarked, “Good grief! These things are huge! How are you supposed to take these normal places? This won’t even fit in the back of our car!?”  Then there was a long pause, followed by a very concerned, “Kelly!?!  How are you going to go grocery shopping with both of them??????” You know, that’s a dang good question Trey, and something I’ve been wondering (stressing) about for the past, oh I don’t know, 9 months or so!  Alas, we left without a stroller b/c we don’t know what we’re looking for and are not going to spend $200 bucks for a stroller the size of my car.  Help?!

4. At my 36 week dr’s appt last week the doctor measured my stomach, which up to this point has measured right on target every appt, and goes, “hmmm… that’s odd.  You’re measuring quite a bit bigger this week…”   Uh, Doc? How much bigger?  ”Well, you’re measuring 39 weeks today.”  As I try not to choke on my spit and pass out I manage to ask, “huh? how? why? what?”  Needless to say, I’m having an ultrasound this week to check on the baby’s size and make sure everything’s a-ok.  The doctor suspected she was breach and that could have had something to do with the jump in measurement, as he remeasured at the end of the appt after she’d moved around some and found she was now measuring 38 weeks.  Let’s just say I’m thankful to be having a scheduled c-section if she’s breach and humongous.  Because curbing my ice cream addiction is not an option at this point.  Not to mention there is halloween candy in my house now.  Well… there was…

5. I’m tired. Tired of being pregnant, tired of trying to fit Kaden on my lap for books/snuggles at nap and bedtime, tired of sleeping on my side, tired of heartburn, tired of going to the doctor every week, tired of looking at my mess of a house that I can not keep clean b/c I’m too tired to do anything but sit and read while Kaden’s napping, tired of struggling to shave my legs, and tired of  having to continuously pull my shirt down (and hold it down) and my pants up b/c none of my shirts covers my entire belly anymore.  However, what I know this time around is how much easier this baby is to take care of right now than she will be in 2 1/2 weeks… I don’t have to feed her, change her, get her to stop crying, or lose hours and hours of sleep right now.  So I’m not too tired to wait a few more weeks.

Watching the Braves

From April until October, you can pretty much bet on the fact that the Braves game will be on the t.v. in our house 6 out of 7 nights of the week.  I’m usually ok with this because summer t.v. totally sucks (except for SYTYCD!) and the Braves provide nice background noise to read my books to (kind of like how golf on Sundays provides good background noise for sleeping… b/c you can’t watch golf on t.v. without falling asleep).  But whether we’re watching the Braves on t.v. or listening to them in the car, it always cracks me up how Trey and I can essentially be doing the same thing, but be on such completely different wavelengths. In a period of about 5 minutes during any given Braves game, here’s what you might hear:

Trey: Come on Braves, don’t let me down.

Kelly:  I told you back in April they are going to break your heart just like they do every year.

Trey: Kelly, there are 30 professional teams in the major leagues.  Being one of 8 teams that made the playoffs last year was hardly heartbreaking.

Kelly: Whatever. I’m just saying… every year you get your hopes up that the Braves are going to be as awesome as they were in the 90′s, and they haven’t been… since the 90′s.

Trey: Alright, come on Uggla.  Get the freaking runs in.  Whatever you do, don’t hit into a double play.

Kelly: Man, his name is so unfortunate. You uggla, yeah yeah you uggla… seriously.  Do you think he had friends growing up?

Trey: Good grief Uggla! Could we please leave more runners on base?

Kelly: Hey, look at the shape of my stomach right now…

Trey: (glances over for .25 seconds) uh-huh. Alright, come on Chipper.  Let’s take the lead baby!

Kelly: Hey did you know when I was in middle school Chipper lived in a neighborhood near mine and cheated on his wife with a Hooter’s waitress.

Trey: (throws hat across the room) Chipper! Good Lord Braves. Thanks for nothing.

Kelly: Is there any ice cream left in the freezer?

Trey: (texting one of the same three people he texts every night about how frustrating it is to be a Braves fan) silence…

Kelly: Hello?

Trey: huh? what? ice cream? No, I don’t want any, thanks.

Kelly: ugh… not what I asked.

Trey: Alright Braves, let’s go! Freddie Gonzalez, what are you doing?! You are single-handedly destroying our bullpen. Hudson was pitching great. Why would you pull him in the 7th? Give Venters and Kimbrell a break, for the love.

Kelly: I like Hudson.  He seems so normal and funny.  You know, like he could be your next door neighbor or something. Remember that game we had good seats for when he fell off the mound during his wind-up?  Oh! Remember that lady’s hat that walked by us that time? I’m gonna make a goofy braves hat and wear it in public to embarrass you.

Trey: (silence)

Kelly: Man, I could go for a ballpark foot long hot-dog and diet coke in a souvenir cup right now.

Braves Announcers: That’s the ballgame.  Braves lose 3-2 to the Nationals.

Trey: Thanks for nothing Venters. I hate you Braves. Why don’t you just hand the Cardinals the Wild Card. (furiously resumes texting his “braves buddies”)

Kelly: You know, you could talk to me about the Braves instead of texting Jason, Will, or Kevin every night, all night. I’m sitting right here.

Trey: Who’d the Braves just lose to?

Kelly: Um. Another baseball team, duh. Fine, I’m going to get some ice cream and read Harry Potter. Text away my dear.

Trey: (under his breath) Freaking Braves. Ugh.

You may not know that…

my favorite time of day is in the evening after dinner is cleaned up and Trey and Kaden and I just hang out for a little while before Kaden’s bedtime.  Sometimes we sit outside and play with bubbles or “bees” (disc golf discs/frisbees) while Kaden and Millie chase them around the backyard.  Sometimes we go for a walk.  Sometimes I watch Trey and Kaden play catch or chase each other around the downstairs.  But whatever we’re doing, we’re home and there’s laughing and bedtime is near and life is sweet.

if I could only eat one thing for the rest of my life (and not gain weight…) I would choose to eat two things.  And they would be chick-fil-a sandwiches with lots of extra pickles (none of this one extra pickle slice crap they sometimes try to pull on me) and Oreo Blizzards from Dairy Queen.

one time I used my teeth to bite one of my toenails off.  But I swear it was just once.  Okay okay.  More than once. Shut up, you know you’ve done it too.

I HATE gum. Can’t stand the smell of it.  Don’t like the taste of it.  Don’t like hearing other people chew/pop it near me.  Gross. Don’t get it. At all.

Hi, my name is Kelly and I’m addicted to Diet Coke.  (Shhh… don’t tell Trey I admitted that to you).

when I was little my life’s goal was to be a waitress at the Olive Garden so I could eat all the breadsticks I wanted.  Now my life’s goal is just to be able to eat as many Olive Garden breadsticks as I want.  Without having to work there.

I don’t like change.  It terrifies me.  I get anxious and sweaty and lose sleep over it and get sweaty and tend to get really cranky without realizing it or knowing why.

my favorite singer/songwriter of all time is Patty Griffin. Hands down.

I don’t know what “hands down” really means… why do we say that?

when I was in high school I had to use prescription deodorant for a period of time b/c my armpits were so sweaty.  I couldn’t take off my jacket until like 4th period when the sweat stains finally dried.  It was terrible.  But I feel so much better now that that’s out in the open and off my chest armpits.  I don’t like keeping secrets from you.  But I wish I had never told my husband b/c he teases me about it constantly. Hey, did I ever tell you about the time he dressed up for super hero day when he was in high school and wore his underwear outside of his pants? And there were poop streaks on them? True Story.  So when he makes fun of my sweaty pits I just say “Shut up Streaks!”

my favorite movies from my childhood are: Troop Beverly Hills, The Wedding Singer, Ever After, Armageddon, and 8 Seconds. Seriously, Luke Perry in 8 Seconds?! *swoon*

if I could relive any period of my life thus far, it would be college.  And Trey would have been there instead of on a boat. Arms Down.  (That works right? Or is it just hands down? Sorry, tried to go out on a limb there…)

if I could go anywhere in the world before I die it’d be Italy (Tuscany, Rome, Venice…). I would eat more pasta and pizza than should be allowed for any one human being in one lifetime.

even though I’m nearing 30 (say WHAT?!), I still want to call my mom when I have a bad day. or a good day. or any kind of day really.

I have the worse temper of the two people in my marriage.

my dog snores louder than any human I’ve ever met.  It wakes us up at night.

Anything you’d like to get off your chest that you’ve never told anyone? This is a safe place… hardly anyone reads this stuff but me and my mom

Ten Best Books I’ve Read This Year

In no particular order:

1. Unbroken: A World War Two Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption by Laura Hillenbrand

I don’t normally read a lot of Memoir type books, but this was recommended to me by my parents after they saw Louis Zamperini speak for a few minutes at their church about his experience and forgiveness.  Zamperini was an olympic runner who joined the U.S. Army at the start of WWII and spends most of WWII in a Japanese POW camp.  It’s a well-written novel that reads like fiction (and frankly, for Zamperini’s sake, I wish it was fiction).  I couldn’t put the book down and was blown away by the power of the human spirit to survive against all odds.  I highly recommend this book!

2. Secret Daughter by Shilpi Somaya Gowda

I’m usually a big fan of stories that are told from different points of view and Secret Daughter does that really well.  It’s about an Indian woman Kavita, who’s husband takes their newborn daughter to an orphanage b/c he needs/wants a son, the American woman Somer, who adopts that same little girl with her Indian born husband, and Kavita’s “secret daughter,” Asha, who’s being raised by Somer and Krishnan and trying to make sense of who she is and why she was given up as a baby.  It’s a really intriguing story, told in 3 distinct and compelling voices, and just an overall enjoyable read as each of the stories slowly begin to intertwine.

3.  The Hunger Games Trilogy by Suzanne Collins

I had heard about these books (The Hunger Games, Catching Fire, and Mockingjay) several times in the past year or so.  It took me a little while to get hooked into the first book, but after that I could not put them down.  I bought them all on my Kindle and was so glad I could immediately start the next book each time I finished the one before it.  Lots of cliffhangers, suspense, and craziness. Now… it’s not exactly a happy read.  It takes place in the future after the U.S. has been destroyed and is replaced by a rather depressing dystopian society.  But the books are very thought-provoking and focus largely on the effects of war on mankind (particularly young people).  Again, not a feel-good read, but suspenseful and hard to put down once you get going.   (Not telling you much about the story b/c I don’t want to give too much away.)

4. Firefly Lane by Kristin Hannah

Not my favorite book of the year, but if you are looking for an easy, girly, “beach-read,”  then give this one a try.  It’s basically the movie Beaches re-told with 2 different female characters.  Make sure you have a box of tissues nearby for the last 1/3 of the novel… but sometimes a good cry is good for the soul.

5. The Paris Wife: A Novel by Paula McLain

This certainly wasn’t the most fast-paced and exciting book I’ve read this year, but if you’ve read any of Hemingway’s books or are a fan, then this story is interesting.  It’s told from Ernest Hemingway’s first wife, Hadley’s, point of view.  The large majority of the action takes place when the newly married Hemingways move to Paris so Ernest can write and the time he spends in Pamplona obsessing over the bull-fights and eventually writing The Sun Also Rises. There are cameos by Gertrude Stein, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ezra Pound, James Joyce, and others.  I have to warn you though, you will not fall in love with Hemingway… and there were times when Hadley irritated me in her continual denying of herself while making excuses and sticking up for her unworthy husband.  However, if you are at all interested in the writers of the “lost generation,” and obviously, particularly Hemingway, then this is a worthwhile read.

6. Room by Emma Donoghue

This book captured me from the opening lines: “Today I’m five. I was four last night going to sleep in Wardrobe, but when I wake up in Bed in the dark I’m changed to five, abracadabra. Before that I was three, then two, then one, then zero. ‘Was I minus numbers?’”  It’s a story about a 5 year old boy named Jack, and his mother, who are being held prisoner in a small room in their captor’s back yard.  Jack is the narrator and has a charming voice and personality.  His mother has spent his whole life trying to make life normal for him in the room, where he has no concept that there is a bigger world outside their door.  There were a few times where I felt like the story dragged a little bit, but it may have just been that I didn’t get to read it as quickly as I would have liked and just get absorbed into it.  After I finished it the Jaycee Dugard specials started airing and it made me wonder if Donoghue got the idea for this story from Jaycee Dugard’s real life story…. but I don’t know that there’s anything more than coincidence to the similarities between the two. Overall, I would definitely recommend this book.

7. The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest by Stieg Larsson (Really, the whole Millenium trilogy)

I read the first two books of the Millenium trilogy last year and couldn’t wait for this book to come out.  I got it for Christmas and read it back in January.  I would recommend all three books in this trilogy if you are looking for an exciting, suspense-filled, crime/mystery/drama type read.  I have to follow up my recommendation with one fairly large reservation: Larsson had to have been a messed up dude to write some of the twisted stuff he puts in these novels.  Be aware that there is some seriously sick stuff in the first book, which is then referenced in the second (if I remember correctly?).  I think the 3rd was the least sick/twisted of them all, but I couldn’t put any of them down.  The first book takes about 100 pages to get going (but it’s 100 pages of fairly important historical background), and after that… these are the kind of books you’ll stay up till 3 in the morning trying to find a chapter you can call a good stopping point, but it never comes.  So eventually you have to force yourself to put it down and try and get your heart to stop racing so you can get a few hours of sleep.

8. A Soft Place to Land by Susan Rebecca White

I would call this another fairly quick, pleasant, girly beach read.  It’s the story of two (half) sisters who lose their parents as kids and are then sent to be raised on different sides of the country (the younger by her aunt and uncle, the older by her birth father and step mother).  The beginning of the story is set in Atlanta, and if you are from around here, it’s fun to recognize the places she mentions and read about the quirks White writes about Buckhead and the types of wealthy families that live there.  Whether you have sisters or not, this was an enjoyable book and worth reading.

9. Heaven is for Real by Todd Burpo

Ok, I am usually very skeptical about books that tell about a near-death experience where the near-dead (or temporarily dead..?) claims to have been to or seen Heaven for a period of time.  I always suspect that person is out to just make a few bucks and almost never choose to read the book.  However, I had multiple people, whose opinions I generally trust, recommend this particular book to me and decided to give it a try.  While it takes a good 40 (depressing, especially if you are a parent) pages to get into the story, once I started reading about the author’s son (at the time 5 years old or so) sharing details of his experience in Heaven while he was undergoing emergency surgery for a burst appendix, I could not put it down.  I stayed up way too late finishing the book b/c I was so intrigued by the little boy’s story.  Now, I’m not about to make a confident statement either way about whether or not this story is absolutely true.  But, it did feel genuine as I was reading it and the author (the dad) gives the scriptural basis for everything the little boy shares that he couldn’t possibly have known on his own. If nothing else, it’s a great reminder of how much Jesus loves us and how Heaven is very real and more than we could ever imagine and hope for.

10.  The Harry Potter Series by J.K. Rowling

It has taken me YEARS to jump on the Harry Potter bandwagon.  I have tried to read the first book multiple times over the past 10 years but could never get more than about 50 pages in before I got sick of feeling like I was reading a children’s novel.  But a good friend (hey Wallace!) finally talked me into giving it a legitimate shot for once.  So I bought the boxed set and promised him I would get through the first 2-3 books before I decided whether or not to give up.  Once again, the first book (HP and the Sorcerer’s Stone) took me a while to get into, but I did start enjoying the story and finally finished it.  I took a break to read a couple of “adult” books before I decided to pick up book 2.  But once I started the second book (HP and the Chamber of Secrets) I started to enjoy the characters and the story much more.  I’m now almost finished with book 4 (HP and the Goblet of Fire)… all freaking 700-some pages of it.  Wallace, you win.  Trey teases me constantly, but I’m really enjoying the HP books and hoping to finish the 5th-7th books before #2 is born the first week of November.  If you were a skeptic like me and just felt silly jumping on the HP bandwagon… I’m gonna have to say, give it a shot. And “get through” the first book or two and then you’ll really get into them.

11. Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?

Not! Seriously… purple cat? blue horse? Can you say confusing?! Not to mention I’ve read it 8,000x’s this year.

Ok, here’s where you come in.  I need some more good book recommendations.  As soon as I finish the Harry Potter series I’m going back to my love affair with my Kindle and am ready to load her up with some good books.  What have you read lately that you’d recommend or particularly enjoyed? Leave a comment below so we can all share in each other’s recommendations. Happy Reading