Currently October

I see my future with teenagers. HOLD ME.

I'll interrupt my travel posts to bring you a currently post! Here's what I'm up to these days...

eating: Hello Fresh deliveries. This is our third time to get a Hello Fresh box in the mail. I love the concept, don't love the price. For us, it's not budget friendly or cost effective, and I can't justify getting it every week. That said, I got a $25 off coupon and decided to get a box with it. It's for "new customers" only, so I sign up under a different email address and get it delivered to a different address! Don't judge me. With the discount, it feels like only a minor splurge. The two meals we got this week have by far been the best we've had. They were actually as easy to make as they claimed to be and were freaking delicious, and I feel like for once the Instagram ad is true to life. Sadly, we will not be continuing our subscription, but it was fun while it lasted. Until next time...

p.s. You can use this code to get $40 off if you want to try! (Or try again lol)

reading: The first Amory Ames mystery, recommended by Audrey on a recent book roundup. I've been in a reading funk for a month or so, and this book was a super fun, quick read I finished in just a few days. Definitely recommend for those who love mysteries but don't love all the gore/sex/language/creep factor that can sometimes go along with them.

He's 16 months old now! Just keep holding me, thank you.

ordering: A dress from this shop for R for Christmas. Yes, I said Christmas. She is really into dressing up right now, and when I pick her up at daycare she is always wearing some kind of outfit or princess dress. On Friday she was at a kiddie table with 3 other kids. They had food spread out in front of each of them, and R was standing wearing some kind of coat. When she saw me, she said, "Mama, we are having a picnic and I'm the food cooker." It was super cute. 

Anyway, someone in a FB group I'm in recommend these dresses, and it's a bit of a splurge, but I really think R will get a ton of use out of it and just absolutely love it, so I picked out one for Christmas. You can use the code GRmPpy3prS to get a discount. This is not sponsored at all, but I do think if you use that code I get points or something. I honestly don't know how it works, but I figured I'd pass it along.

wishing: Well it's probably no surprise that I wish I were back in England. I honestly didn't think we'd end up going. I bought travel insurance on our flight tickets and most of our hotels because I was sure something would come up with the world events or our kids or something and it wouldn't happen. But it did, and it was awesome. So thankful we were able to go. If you've missed the last couple of posts, I recapped our time in Boston and our time in Liverpool, and I have travel videos for both also if that's your kind of thing.

I drew the sun and the "hi" (yes, I am an amazing artist, thank you for saying that), and then when I wasn't looking R "colored in the white parts." JUST KEEP HOLDING ME AND NEVER LET GO. I'm fine.

wearing: this sweater, which I shared about in my Europe packing list post. I wore it this weekend when we took family photos, and my friend who was taking our pictures showed up wearing the exact same sweater in a different color. She said she bought it after seeing me post about it, and it made me want to buy three more because it looked super cute on her. It's still on sale, though sadly not as much of a deal as it was when I first posted the link a few weeks ago. I'm regretting not buying another one then! I think I'll stalk it now and see if it goes down again.

Well I think that's it for now. It's been a few weeks since we've been back from our trip, but I still feel like I'm adjusting. Work has been crazy busy lately, and I'm already feeling like I want a break again. What even is life. 

I hope you had a good weekend! It finally stopped raining and felt like fall here in OK for .087 seconds and I loved it so much.

Recent Reads

What I Talk about When I Talk about Running by Haruki Murakami // 5 stars

This is a memoir, so to speak, specifically on the topic of the author's relationship with running. If you don't like running, you will definitely not like this book. I, however, loved it. I must have just been in the right mood, because I devoured this one and found it so interesting and inspiring. Being a writer and a runner, I could relate to so much of this and found it a quick, very enjoyable read. I read it start to finish  in about 2 hours while sitting in an airport.

For fans of: running marathons, being inspired to run every single day while knowing that's not actually going to happen

Should you read it? If you are a runner, yes.

Books I Read in January

I read five books in January. FIVE. To be fair, I had started two of them in 2017 and only finished in January, which stacked my stats a bit, but still. I forgot how much reading I can get done while I'm pumping at work twice a day. It's not a terrible way to spend 20 minutes.

I don't know if anyone even still cares about book reviews anymore, but I like reading them and (perhaps oddly) I really like writing them, so book reviews will continue for the forseeable future. 

*I am adding two elements to my book reviews, inspired by the reviews of Michelle and Chelsea.

The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics // 5 stars

Fun fact about me: I love the Olympics. I mean, I know everyone likes them, but I love them. I discovered The Boys in the Boat on Goodreads when I was reading reviews of Fire on the Track, which I reviewed here. This book is not for everyone. There is a lot of world history, and it was at times slow reading, but for me it was completely enthralling. The ending account of the final Olympic race for gold gave me goosebumps and made me cry literal tears. It's never about the suspense of whether the boys win gold: we know they do by the time we finish the prologue. But it's all about the boys and how they ended up together in the boat and how they got to the Olympics and it was just all the emotions. I loved it. Yes, at times it was a bit heavy on rowing history and mechanics, but even that was interesting and now I want to go watch a regatta or something.

Should you read it? Yes
For fans of: the olympics, weird sports, historical nonfiction, being inspired, crying while reading a book

Love Unending: Rediscovering Your Marriage in the Midst of Motherhood by Becky Thompson // 4 stars

I thought this was a wonderful book that offers practical ways to build your marriage after having kids. The author walks through 21 days, each with one focus that builds upon the other in ways we can show love to our husbands, be patient, be thankful, be gracious, etc. There are spaces for journaling, which I didn't do because I was borrowing the book from a friend, but I think I'd like to get my own copy and go through it again at some point. I liked the simple but realistic (for the most part) application. The author is very traditional with her views on Christianity and the role of husband/wife, which is great for me, but just a note for anyone else who might not be able to relate. It was a bit cheesy in some places, but it didn't bother me. This type of book has to be a little cheesy, I think. Overall I thought it was great and would make a lovely gift for a mom friend or just for yourself.

Should you read it? Yes
For fans of: loving your husband well, motherhood, somewhat-cheesy-but-at-the-same-time-inspirational-and-practical Christian marriage advice 

Unstoppable: My Life So Far by Maria Sharapova // 3.5 stars

I didn't know Maria Sharapova (a professional Russian tennis player) had published a memoir until I was at a bookstore a few weeks ago and the cover caught my eye. I have played and follow tennis for years, but if you don't follow tennis, you won't like this one. It was not particularly well written, but it was really interesting and I enjoyed reading it nonetheless. The writing felt more authentic in author voice then other ghostwritten books I've read in the past; the choppy style felt realistic of how Maria would actually talk (because I know her so well in real life lol). I found the story of her start in tennis and moving up through the rankings fascinating, but I did get the sense that she is an unreliable narrator, and I was a little disappointed to discover that I did not find her very likable. The way she talks about herself and other players came off as pretty snobby. I suppose to be number one in the world in your sport you have to have confidence and be a little full of yourself, but it was too much in some places. But overall the book was still super interesting and I would definitely recommend this to tennis fans.

Should you read it? Yes but only if you are a tennis fan
For fans of: tennis, girl power, sporting rivalries, snobby narrators

The Trespasser by Tana French // 3.5 stars

I keep reading Tana French's novels, and I don't know why. It's like a bad habit I can't kick. This murder mystery is set in Ireland and follows the murder squad as they try to solve the death of a young woman. I have read all six of French's books now (all murder mysteries, although you don't have to read them in order). I always find them about 50-100 pages too long. However, I do think her stories and characters are extremely creative and unique. This wasn't my favorite of hers, but it certainly wasn't my least favorite. It was a pretty quick read and kept me interested. I couldn't guess who did it, but then again I never can so that isn't anything notable. I really didn't like the main character (who is also the narrator) at ALL and kind of felt like she was mostly ridiculous and whiny; but without spoiling anything, it turns out the author was intentionally making her character like that, so I suppose I can't be too grouchy about it. The characters do curse some, so be aware of that, but as far as mysteries go, this wasn't too scary for me, which I liked. My favorite Tana French books have been The Likeness and The Secret Place, so I suggest starting with either of those if you haven't read any.

Should you read it? Maybe/Sure (but I would try one of the other two books I mentioned first)
For fans of: murder mysteries, female narrators, Irish slang, books that could/should be 50 pages shorter

Last Stop in Brooklyn by Lawrence H. Levy // 2 stars

Set in 1894, Last Stop in Brooklyn is the third in a series and follows private investigator Mary Handley as she reopens an old murder case. This book is fiction but based on some real events and real people. I got it from blogging for books because the cover caught my eye and I thought the premise sounded interesting. It was a fast, easy read, but unfortunately that's about the most positive thing I can say about it. I thought there were way too many characters and not enough character development, so it was hard to keep track, and even if you did know who they were, you didn't care much about them. The writing itself was poor, with lots of telling and very little showing. There was no excitement or suspense in places where there should have been. It was just kind of blah, and I skimmed most of the second half. That said, when I got to the end and read the author's bio, I realized that he is a TV and film writer for some well-known shows. That made so much sense because the writing did feel more like a script, so that made me feel less annoyed about it. However, I still can't recommend the book.

Should you read it? No
For fans of: female detectives, poor writing, keeping track of a lot of characters, seedy goings ons, wanting everyone to die so the book will end


*I received a copy of Last Stop in Brooklyn for free from Blogging for Books. All opinions are mine.

Currently Reading

Lucky 666: The Impossible Mission by Bob Drury

Tell me what book you are reading or recently finished!

Coffee Date: December 2017

Hello! I hope you had a wonderful Christmas with your families. It seemed like a lot of people started their festivities early, but we didn't do anything with family Friday or Saturday, and it was nice to have some down time just the four of us.

Tuesday was the seven-year anniversary of the day Jordan asked me to marry him! December 26, 2010, we were downtown Chicago with my family, and Jordan got down on his knee in the snow and proposed and shocked the daylights out of me. You can read our engagement story here, our love story in 10 questions here, and Jordan's side of the story as he planned the proposal part 1 & part 2.

The last time I wrote a coffee date post was back in August when J was 6 weeks old. Now that he's 6 months old, I thought it was a good time to take you all out for coffee, or maybe a peppermint mocha as a fun, wintery treat. If we were out for coffee, I'd tell you...

...that I've been writing more sponsored posts lately, and I can't believe I'm going to say this, but I'm actually finding them kind of fun. Now, I realize that purist bloggers would never say such a thing, and I know that as a blog reader sponsored posts can be obnoxious. The ratio of sponsored posts to lifestyle posts on The Lady Okie is always always always going to be majorly favored to the latter, but I've been able to try out some products I never would have tried before, and having certain writing requirements for posts depending on what the brand is looking for grows me as a writer, which I consider a useful skill and has been interesting. Plus, I don't hate free stuff and I don't hate money ;) I'd really like to start saving up for a camera upgrade this year! Most recently I wrote a post about these potatoes, which both Jordan and I thought were delicious, and I will definitely be buying them again! (For more of my thoughts on sponsorships and working with brands as a small blogger, read this post.)

...that I've added some really fun things to my wardrobe lately. I don't regularly buy clothes, especially clothes that cost more than $10 or $15, but as I mentioned in a previous post, after having J, I just feel kind of blah about everything I own and have been wanting to add some fashionable, cute pieces to my closet that I can feel good in that aren't t-shirts I'm still wearing from college. I recently got my first Stitch Fix box, which was fun. I'd been wanting to try it forever and was very impressed by it. A blog reader (Hi, Amie!) used my referral code to get a box for free, and she emailed me to say that she loved her entire box and kept everything in it! It's always nice to hear from you guys who read this blog, especially when I recommend something I liked and you like it too.

...that speaking of clothes, I have gotten some really fun and cute things lately from this website. They had a giant Cyber Monday sale, and I snagged a double hooded sweatshirt I'd been eyeing. I also love love love this hoodie, which is super soft and has a full half-zip, which makes it perfect for nursing!

...that I've started reading again. I basically stopped reading after J was born and only just recently picked it up again this month, thanks to being back in the office and having twice-a-day pump sessions. I've read four books just this month and will have a reviews post up for you soon. I hope this reading trend continues into 2018! If you have a favorite book from this past year, let me know about it so I can add it to my list. There are a couple of books that Carolann listed in her 2017 book survey post that I haven't heard of and want to check out! Michelle always has great book review posts, and Kristen just posted her 2017 book review recap.

...that I am joining a gym in 2018. I've never in my life had a gym membership, but this year I am going to be like every other person in America and make fitness a goal for the new year. J is six months old and only just very recently (like, two weeks ago) started sleeping longer than 2-3 hours at a time. I've been working full time since he was 8 weeks old, and I've been trying to take naps and go to bed early, but that's no substitute for night sleep. I've honestly been too tired to make a solid attempt to work out, but I will be honest and tell you that I feel like a giant blob. It's never been about the scale for me, and in fact we don't even own a scale so I couldn't tell you how much I weigh, but it's about how I feel, and I feel gross and out of shape. I am already signed up for the OKC half marathon in April, which will be half #11 for me, and I hope to get to the gym at least 2x a week in the evenings for a run and workout.

Finally, I would tell you that I am working on a post about my return to the office this second time around. Some blog posts are really easy for me to write, and some feel so difficult to put my thoughts into words. This post topic is turning out to be the latter, but I hope to finish and post it soon. I've shared so much about working motherhood on this blog over the past two years and I feel like I can't not say something about how it's been going having both kids in daycare full time and me back at the office.

I always write a year in numbers, so keep an eye out for that one coming next year. I didn't do my annual reader survey that I've done for the past couple of falls, but if you do have a specific topic you'd like me to write a post about next year, please do let me know!

Thank you so much for reading and following along with The Lady Okie in 2017. I appreciate all the love on my posts and I enjoy interacting with all of you. Hope you have a great rest of the week. Jordan and I have been off work all week and are loving having some extra family time during this holiday season!

*Some affiliate links are used in this post. It takes a lot of work to maintain a blog, and I appreciate you supporting the brands that support my writing!

Book Review: The Gospel-Centered Mom

Hey, guess what? I finished a book! 

It only took me three months, but that's not the point here. 

A few months after J was born, I picked up The Gospel-Centered Mom from Blogging for Books. As I've mentioned before, I've started listening to the Risen Motherhood podcast and been so encouraged and challenged to think about motherhood in light of the Gospel. This book was the perfect companion to what I've already been learning lately. If you are a mom who desires to explore how the Gospel impacts and connects with our parenting, I think you would enjoy this book.

It didn't feel particularly dense as far as difficulty of getting through it. Even though it took me a while, that is only because I'm having a hard time finding concentrated time to read (and not fall right asleep). The author's tone is pretty conversational, and I would consider it an easy read. Sometimes I found the author's tone a bit too conversational and it annoyed me, and some of her personal stories were either hard to relate to or just kind of odd. But her overall message about how the Gospel applies to motherhood was great and gave me some things to think about. 

I just wish they had included a hyphen to make the cover grammatically correct. 

BUT ANYWAY.

My favorite part of the book was the chapter where she talks about a few lessons she learned from reading George Muller's autobiography and the connection she makes to motherhood. I definitely want to go check out Muller's book now! I also loved the last chapter, where she recaps the book in a short paragraph form, because she shares the basic truths of each chapter. There is also a discussion section with questions that a leader could use for a book club or group study.

I marked a couple of places and wanted to share one of my favorite takeaways with you, which kind of sums up the book's subtitle: The freeing truth about what your kids really need. 

"Enough will always be out of reach. We never arrive or quit needing Jesus. What's more, the effort of living up to what the world calls enough is exhausting, impossible, constantly changing. It sets us up for failure over and over again. We cannot be enough for our kids. Instead, we must rely on God to meet our needs 'according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus' (Phil. 4:19). When we do this, we're living as an accurate representation of the glorious God who created us and highlighting His glory and power to a watching world." (pg. 197)

As I've done in the past with some of my Blogging for Books books, I would like to mail my copy of The Gospel-Centered Mom to someone who is interested reading it. If you would like to check it out, leave a comment on this post, and I will randomly choose a winner in a couple of days!

I received this book from Blogging for Books, but all opinions are mine.

a collection of randoms

Last week was a WEEK. 

I mean, I say that, but nothing happened except that Jordan, R, and I all had colds and then poor J caught it over the weekend. Baby coughs are so sad. Four people sickly at once is enough to do me in even if I were getting 8 hours a night of uninterrupted sleep, WHICH I AM NOT. I feel like I am sitting on a middle school lunch tray heading down a slippery slope of grouchy about the fact that my four-month-old eats every three hours almost to the exact minute all day long. This is fine during the day, but give me a break at night why dontcha. Like, how does he know it's been exactly three hours since he last ate? Can't roll over but has magical powers of telling time. 

I really don't want to complain about this, though, because I am truly blessed to have a happy, healthy baby boy to snuggle. Over the past few weeks, Jordan and I have tried different things to try and get J to sleep, but nothing has helped one bit. 

Over the weekend I realized that I needed to let it go. It's great that other people's babies are sleeping 9+ hours (and R was doing that too at this age), but I'm stressing myself out too much and I'm going to just go with it. <--- Remind me I said that when I'm complaining again next week ;)

But, life is sweet, friends. I'm still working full time from home and taking J with me into the office a couple days a week, and it's just been so wonderful. I am trying to soak in every day and focus on being thankful for this time with him instead of thinking about how sad I am going to be in December when he starts daycare. Literally every time I try to talk about it I start crying, so that's a great conversation starter for me right now.

Working from home has given me more time with R also. Even though she's going to daycare during the day, I drop her off later and pick her up earlier than I would usually, and I am loving it. On Friday we were playing with blocks while waiting for J to wake up, and she looked at me and said, "Build tower. R so happy." These are such hard, tiring days, but sometimes I truly realize also how these are the absolute best days.

I finally started listening to the Risen Motherhood podcast a month or so ago, and I have been so encouraged and convicted and I cannot recommend it enough if you want a gospel-centered conversation about motherhood. One thing I've been feeling lately is a strong pull back to personal Bible study, and listening to Risen Motherhood has given me more motivation to get into the Word on a more consistent basis.

I discovered that you can download the workbooks for Jen Wilkin's Bible studies and then download to the audio from her group sessions. I just started her study of Hebrews and I'm really excited about it. One sacrifice I going to be making in order to be intentional about doing my Bible study is that I can't blog as much. I'm not quitting the blog by any means, but just in case you're wondering why I'm not quite as active on here as I have been in the past.

I also started reading this book, which I chose from Blogging for Books, and so far it's been matching up really well with some things I've been learning from Risen Motherhood. (Although I will say the author's liberal use of parenthetical asides is already annoying me. It's a weird pet peeve of mine and YES I understand the irony of talking about this particular pet peeve inside my own parenthetical aside. Leave me alone. I'm tired.) I'll do a full review once I'm finished, which at my current rate of finishing books should be in about 85 years. So really soon.

Something else I discovered recently is this, which I think might be one of the coolest things ever. It's a musical and visual art project using Bible verses from the ESV. They have lock screens and art prints and verses set to original music in order to aid memorization. I've only listened to a few songs so far, but this one is a favorite. You can download the songs right to your computer for free! So awesome go there now you're welcome.

In completely unrelated sports news, it was really exciting in our house for a while because both of our MLB teams made it to just one series away from the World Series. Jordan's Yankees could have played my Cubbies! Sadly, both teams lost, and even though we are both sad, we're also a bit relieved because another couple of weeks of late-night baseball would have not-quite-literally-but-actually-kind-of killed us. (See also: paragraph one.)

I don't have much else to say at the moment except that everyone needs to read this. Maybe I was just in a weird mood on Sunday from all the phlegm and running on a few hours of sleep, but I saw this on Facebook and was laughing so hard I was crying. I showed it to Jordan and he was less impressed, but I was dying. Sometimes the internet is ridiculous and enraging, but sometimes it is amazing and hilarious.

The end.

Things I've Been Doing (Instead of Blogging)

When R was about a month old, I wrote a post about the hierarchy of needs vs. wants and the things that I choose to spend my limited amount of free time on when I can get it. (You can find that post along with all my posts on motherhood in a handy list here.) 

Fast-forward two years, and I find myself facing the hierarchy struggle once again, only this time it's with even less free time than I had before. (Example: I tried to start this post once already and R decided to go on a nap strike and cry for a half hour, and then just as soon as I got her to sleep, J had a giant poop explosion! I think they planned it.)

You may have noticed that I haven't been blogging as much lately, although I did have a few sponsored/review posts that I needed to get done, so thanks for sticking with me. The truth is, although I have a lot of ideas, I find myself with less time to write and many days lately less desire to choose blogging as the thing I do when I do have a free moment. I do still love blogging and don't plan on quitting or anything, but it just might be a lot less regular for a while. 

I thought I would share a few things I've been doing lately instead of blogging, in no particular order...

Taking walks
See: photo above. I bought that double stroller back in March. It was a garage sale find, so I was pretty excited about snagging it for a cool $40 considering I looked this stroller up and it sells for a couple hundred dollars online. But it's large and somewhat hard to push, and I feel a bit like a drunk person weaving all over the road. It's a workout for sure! I recently started taking R and J on a morning walk before it gets unbearably hot. We go for 30-40 minutes, and I come back drenched in sweat and I don't hate it. I feel lame calling it exercise, but every little bit helps, right?

Making Turkey Sandwiches

I am utterly obsessed with cold turkey sandwiches right now. Forget pregnancy cravings, I have taken this to a new level. When my mom was here the week after I had J, she made me a turkey sandwich, and I don't know what kind of voodoo grandma crack she put in it, but I have craved one every single day for the last four weeks. I've made multiple trips to the store solely to buy lunch meat and swiss cheese. Our fridge may be bare, but at least I can make my sandwiches.

Not Working

Being on maternity leave is the best thing ever. I mean, I know that's probably obvious, but I'm just saying. Being at home with two little kids is challenging and sometimes frustrating, but there are so many things I'm just totally loving right now. I love having a slow morning where I don't have to rush out to get to the office on time while dealing with rush-hour traffic. I love being able to take afternoon naps on my couch. I love spending so much time with R, and I do not miss the feeling of missing her. I love being able to get out for a walk or run to the store in the middle of day instead of after work when everyone else is there. I'm so thankful to have 8 weeks off instead of only 6, and I'm trying my best to not let the cloud of my return to work hover too dark over this sweet time. Maternity leave forever amen.

Reading

The Road to Paradise came in the mail from Blogging for Books just before I went on maternity leave. I'm not reading a lot, but I have been enjoying taking a few quiet moments to dive into a book. It's the perfect book for me right now because it's pretty cheesy and predictable, but it's fun too and something easy to pick up throughout the day when I have a second. Brings me back to my Christian historical romance roots. I used to read that genre alllllll the time.

I'm enjoying the strong female lead character, the mysterious park ranger, and the fact that the setting is unique--it takes place in a US national park! While like I said, I found this rather predictable and at times pretty cheesy, I do recommend this book to anyone who loves the Christian historical romance genre for a light, fun read.

Organizing

Is post-partum nesting a thing? I have been feeling the desire to clean and organize everything lately! I want to go through my closet and get rid of clothes and organize the bath towels and buy storage bins for the random stuff in the closet in the extra bedroom. I don't even know.

Scrapbooking

I am making a photo book for J's first three months of life just like I did with R, and I have been trying to keep up with uploading and editing photos so I don't get too overwhelmed. It blows my mind that I am working on week FIVE right now! I have also gotten J's baby book up to date with photos and stats and printed off some photos to hang around the house.

Taking Naps

After I had R, I really don't remember taking too many naps, but I am killing the nap game this time. Every single night after R goes to bed, I feed J and then hand him off to Jordan so I can head to bed. I get an hour or two of sleep before he wakes up to eat, and it has been a game changer for me as I head into the midnight hours. I also usually take a nap in the afternoon if I can get both kids to sleep at the same time. Although right now they are both napping and I'm writing this, so you are welcome ;) But seriously, if I could give a new mom any piece of advice, I would tell her to nap. It really has helped me not feel so much like a total zombie person. Just do it.

Snuggling Babies

Last but certainly not least, when I'm not blogging or taking walks or doing dishes or editing photos, I am snuggling my baby boy. It's so cliche to say, but I really do appreciate so much more this time the fact that this is just a short stage of life. Even at 3:00 in the morning, I sometimes find myself wanting to just keep snuggling him instead of trying to put him down.

On that note, someone is crying, so I'm going to sign off. When I'm not blogging I am also keeping two other humans alive. Ha! Thanks for reading and for all the lovely comments you've been leaving me even though I haven't been as great about responding. I promise I read every one and will try to be better about responding in a timely fashion again soon.

Currently June

reading: I'm in the middle of The Selected Letters of Laura Ingalls Wilder, which normally I would be all over because I have all the heart eyes for the Little House on the Prairie, but I seriously lie down in my bed to read at night and get about three pages before my eyes start to close. Some day I won't be tired, but that day is not now.

watching: Jordan and I are obsessed with The Flash. The first few episodes are super nerdy and kind of cheesy, but oh man this show is so good. Plus you can barely find good shows these days that aren't full of swearing and sex!

feeling: Anxious for Baby Bum to join the party on the outside. My due date isn't officially until the 23rd, but I keep hoping he will take after his big sister and come early. The week of R having hand, foot, mouth followed directly by a week of me having the strep totally killed it for me, and I am over everything right now. My hips hurt all the time, I basically can't roll over in bed without a colossal effort, and being at work is dumb. Motivation, where are you?

working on: The crib to toddler bed transition. And by that I mean we going to make this happen because Baby Boy will be using the crib in a few months, and we can't be dealing with this bed madness once he comes. I like to think my mom and Jordan's mom have useful and helpful parenting advice seeing as how they each raised four kids, but in this matter they give us a blank stare and respond with: "Hmmm, I'm not quite sure how we did that." Thanks for nothing, moms! It's just confusing because no one seems to have any specific advice about this. Not even the Internet, which is weird because usually the Internet has a lot to say about everything. Needless to say, we don't know what we are doing, but like everything else involving parenting, I suppose we just move forward and hope for the best! Would anyone like a post about this? I fear it might bore everyone to tears, but if there's interest I might write something up, at least for my own reference later on when we are doing this with Baby Bum #2 down the road.

eating: Let's just say if you cut up a watermelon and want to eat any of it yourself, don't tell me there's watermelon because there might not be any left after I'm done with it.

making: Gifts for our L&D nurses! I didn't do this for R because I didn't know people did things like this, but I saw a printable on Rachel's blog and thought it was so cute and also easy and cheap (important!), so I made some last weekend. I don't have a hospital bag packed, but I do have M&Ms for the nurses so I'm winning at one thing, at least. Also making padsicles for post-delivery because they were the best ever last time. I'm living a glamorous life right now, friends.

organizing: The nursery closet! I mentioned a few posts back that Jordan was going to put a shelf in the closet. I'm thankful it's a walk-in, although it isn't huge, but he did finally add a shelf to one side, and I feel like it gives me more space to work with. My mom stayed for a few days last week and helped clean my house and organize things, and I do think this is an improvement! I totally forgot to take a picture of the before closet, but I have a during and after for you. P.S. That recliner/rocker is from Babies R Us, and I looooooove it.

I don't know how many more posts I'll get up before the baby comes. My motivation and ability to stay away in the evenings after R finally goes down is dwindling quickly. I do have a couple of sponsored posts coming up that I'm excited about, and I also want to do a roundup of baby stuff I've been loving lately from around the Internet! Until then, I hope you all have a great week!

Confession Session vol. 7

*As always, my confessions are to be taken with one grain of salt and two grains of sarcasm.

I am not a fan of naked newborn baby pictures. Am I a total weirdo or is anyone else with me on this? I can’t explain exactly why, but I just have never gotten on board with it. I also have never loved baby pictures where they are wrapped up tightly in that gauze-looking stuff and just their head is poking out. Looking at it makes me feel claustrophobic.

I didn’t get R an Easter basket this year, and I don’t feel bad about it. I only feel a little bad when I read so many Easter recaps about all the stuff people got for their kids in their Easter baskets, but since when did Easter come to mean a second birthday for your child? I called my mom to ask her if we got Easter baskets growing up, because I seriously have no recollection of this happening, and she said we did get Easter baskets sometimes, but it was “inconsistent,” which explains my lack of memory surrounding this subject. 

I guess this is an example of what you did as a kid reflecting in your own parenting, because getting R an Easter basket just didn’t even cross my mind. My mother-in-law got R an Easter basket with a small thing of bubbles, a carton of goldfish, and a wind-up Nemo toy for the bath, so she’s not totally deprived.

I have no anxiety about R becoming a big sister. Like, none at all. She is with younger kids sometimes at daycare when multiple classes are outside or in the gym at once, and they always tell me that she’s really good with the babies. I think she will love being a big sister and I have no worries about her adjusting or me having time for her or any of it. What I do worry about is going back to work. It was so hard for me last time and knowing how difficult it was makes me scared of starting all over again. Maybe it will be easier this time. I can hope.

On Tuesday, I stayed up until 11:30 reading Dead Wake. NOT LIKE I NEED SLEEP OR ANYTHING. It's fine. But I won’t lie: it felt good to be that into a book again. Jordan turned his light off just as the German U-boat was aiming its torpedo at the steamer, and I could not go to sleep without knowing what happened. Even though I obviously knew what was going to happen. Do you ever have that feeling while reading historical nonfiction that even though you know the tragic thing that’s going to happen, you still hold back a small hope that it won’t actually happen this time?

I am convinced that Starbucks is operating a covert social experiment on us with this unicorn frappe. I have literally not heard of one person who says it tastes any good, and yet people keep buying it! I do not understand this. The Washington Post reviewed it and said it tastes like "sour birthday cake and shame." I mean yum, don't you think?

I don't understand crop tops. Maybe it's a sign that I'm getting old, or maybe it's a sign that some fashions from previous decades really should just stay dead. No matter how skinny you are, I have yet to see someone wearing a crop top who didn't also have a muffin top situation happening. 

I guess to be fair, I should "never say never" because I remember a time when I was against skinny jeans and smart phones and now look at me.

Check back with me in a year or two and see if I'm wearing a crop top while hanging up a picture of my naked newborn baby wrapped in lacy gauze. I probably just got back from buying my children Easter baskets after picking up the newest frappe that's flavored like Smurf.

*See more confessions here.

Recent Reads vol. 2

Check out my first book review post of 2017 here.

I have been a super lame reader lately, which makes me sad, but I have just been so busy these past few months that reading hasn’t been high on my priority list. I also have been trying so hard to get through a collection of C. S. Lewis essays, and if you’ve ever read any C. S. Lewis, well, you know that he’s brilliant and also dense, so I read about one essay a night and then get super sleepy. Ha! 

But I do have two book reviews for you today, and I have four books that just came in from the library (all at the same time, of course), so hopefully I can get back on the reading train and not be ashamed of myself anymore.

The Whole-Brain Child: 12 Revolutionary Strategies to Nurture Your Child’s Developing Mind, Survive Everyday Parenting Struggles, and Help Your Family Thrive by Daniel Siegel and Tina Payne Bryson

Reading about the brain is fascinating to me, and this book was a pretty quick and easy read. It breaks down some of the brain's functions so that we can better understand what is happening when a child is experiencing different emotions/tantrums, etc. 

This actually gave me some insight into my own self as well, and I had an insightful realization about how I can better relate to Jordan. While I did find some of the examples hard to relate to since R is only a year and a half, I think the authors did a great job offering tips and suggestions for a variety of different ages. This would be a book I would read again in a few years to get a refresh when my kids are a bit older too!

A few quotes that stood out:

“Too often we forget that ‘discipline’ means ‘to teach’—not ‘to punish.’ A disciple is a student, not a recipient of behavioral consequences. When we teach mindsight [a concept talked about in one of the chapters], we take moments of conflict and transform them into opportunities for learning, skill building, and brain development."

“In terms of development, very young children are right-hemisphere dominant, especially during their first three years. They haven’t mastered the ability to use logic and words to express their feelings, and they lives their lives completely in the moment—which is why they will drop everything to squat down and fully absorb themselves in watching a ladybug crawl along the sidewalk, not caring one bit that they are late for their toddler music class. Logic, responsibilities, and time don’t exist for them yet. But when a toddler begins asking, “Why?” all the time, you know that the left brain is beginning to really kick in. Why? Because our left brain likes to know the linear cause-effect relationships in the world—and to express that logic with language."

“When a child is upset, logic often won’t work until we have responded to the right brain’s emotional needs. We call this emotional connection “attunement,” which is how we connect deeply with another person and allow them to “feel felt.” When a parent and child are tuned in to each other, they experience a sense of joining together."

Spaceman: An Astronaut’s Unlikely Journey to Unlock the Secrets of the Universe by Mike Massimino

If you know me at all, you know that this is not in any way completely not at all a book I would ever have read. But I saw this available on Blogging for Books and picked it up because I know that Jordan loves space and I thought he would like to read it. I was shocked to find that I enjoyed this book very much! This memoir was written by an astronaut who has taken two trips into space and worked on repairing the Hubble Telescope. It was well written and in some parts truly suspenseful. 

The author describes what it feels like to be in space, and I loved the photos that were included in the color insert. I had no idea all that it took to be an astronaut, and I found this book fascinating. I would recommend this even if you don't think you're interested in space. After I finished reading this book I started Googling all about the Hubble telescope and NASA, and that is normally not something I have any interest in. So give this a try if you are looking for something somewhat out of the box!

This is not a book about faith or God, but there was one quote that stood out to me that really resonated with me. This is during the author's first spacewalk when he gets his first view of Earth.

"The planet below was so beautiful that I actually started getting emotional... I know that might sound strange. There are so many horrific problems here: war, hunger, killing, suffering. But heaven is supposed to be this beautiful, perfect place, and from up there I couldn't imagine anything more beautiful, more perfect than this planet. We might discover life on other solar systems someday, but for now there's nothing but chaos and blackness and desolation for billions of light-years in every direction. Yet here in the middle of all that is this magnificent place, this brilliant blue planet, teeming with life. It really is a paradise. It's fragile. It's beautiful. It's perfection...

"My thought looking down at the Earth was Wow. How much God our Father must love us that he gave us this home. He didn't put us on Mars or Venus with nothing but rocks and frozen waste. He gave us paradise and said, 'Live here.' It's not easy to wrap your head around the origins and purpose of the universe, but that's the best way I can describe the feelings I had."

*I received a copy of Spaceman from Blogging for Books, but all opinions are entirely mine.

Here's what I picked up at the library recently:

Dark Matter by Blake Crouch-- because I keep seeing this book everywhere and I need to know what all the fuss is about.

Dead Wake by Erik Larson-- Erik Larson is my absolute favorite nonfiction writer and this is the last book of his that I have not read.

A Fall of Marigolds-- I liked the author's previous book, so I'm going to see how I like this one!

Confession Session vol 6

There is a bakery downtown OKC that I swear sells the best donuts ever. And I kind of definitely consider myself a donut connoisseur, so I know what I'm talking about here. And it's so close to my work it's just rude, and I have to talk myself out of stopping to get some donuts every. single. day. I pride myself on my willpower and then run to the chocolate bowl in our office kitchen and eat five Hershey's nuggets.

Last week I went a little crazy in the comments of a blog post talking (arguing?) about the difference between audio books and physical books. In the grand scheme of life, is this a big deal? Obviously no. But for whatever reason I feel very strongly about my opinion that audio books and physical books are not the same thing. Yes, if you listen to an audio book it "counts" as having read the book. I won't argue with that. But it is a totally different experience and not the same thing at all, and I think they should be on two separate lists. I have read books that I didn't like but thought I might have liked in audio version, and I've had people tell me that they listened to a book and didn't like it because the narrator annoyed them. Again, different. Plus, I think the act of sitting quietly to read a book is completely different from the experience of listening to an audio book, which you are most likely doing while also doing something else. Don't try to argue with me about this or I will get feisty.

Excuse me while I offend all 12 of my Instagram followers, but I have something to say about the Boomerang feature. In short, here are my thoughts: WHY????? I get nauseous just looking at them. I don't understand why this is a thing. I was talking to my sister about this a few days ago, and her thought is that it is okay as long as it's used with "the appropriate ratio of Boomerang to regular video." The appropriate ratio in my opinion being zero Boomerang to anything else. I also feel like Instagram stories is overused to not mean "let me tell you something interesting" but instead "let me show you 85 clips of my entire day all day long," which is odd to me but anyway.

I think I'm too grouchy for social media, is what I'm learning. I should not be spending this much time thinking about things like this.

Last week I was at a restaurant and I went to the bathroom and nearly got scared out of my mind when I realized that there was a TV inside the mirror (see above). This seems excessive and also confusing on multiple levels. Is this really a thing we need in our lives? How addicted are we to TV that I need one in the bathroom? And is the cost of having a TV inside the mirror reflected in the price of my fajitas? 

And also, now that I know there is something behind the mirror, I'm paranoid this is a two-way mirror situation and there is a room of people sitting and watching people wash their hands. This just raises so many questions.

I can't decide if I'm more confused about the point of this TV or the point of Boomerang.

Your thoughts?

Okay, this is the part where you either disagree or agree with me or share your own confession in the comments. Go.

See also: Confession Session vol 1. / vol 2. / vol 3. / vol 4. / vol 5.