May 2012 Book Log

Specials – Scott Westerfeld

Extras – Scott Westerfeld

The Good Sister – Drusilla Campbell

The Weight of Silence – Heather Gudenkauf

The Secret Life of CeeCee Wilkes – Diane Chamberlain

The Lies We Told – Diane Chamberlain

Falling – Shirley Miranda

The Midwife’s Confession – Diane Chamberlain

The Shadow Wife – Diane Chamberlain

Just The Way You Are – Barbara Freethy

Breaking The Silence – Diane Chamberlain

Summer’s Child – Diane Chamberlain

I started the month by finishing the Uglies trilogy with Specials or so I thought. The cover of the book says “the final volume in the highly acclaimed Uglies trilogy,” but apparently there was more to write and now I have to read Extras.  It is a good thing I enjoyed all the books and look forward to reading the fourth and final? book.  I would definitely recommend this series (young adult or not, haha).  Westerfeld had me hooked.  I was hoping for a different ending to this book (mainly the love story), but sadly I was disappointed.

I think Westerfeld should have stopped with Specials.  I was disappointed with Extras.  The book is broken up into three parts and the first part did not even discuss any of the characters of the previous Uglies books.  He should have just put the ending of Extras into Specials and called it quits.

On to “adult books…”  I must say that I loved The Good Sister.  I read it in 24 hours, which says how much I loved it.  I could relate to the subject matter of post partum depression and depression in general.  I would recommend anyone who has dealt with postpartum depression to read this book.

Two great books in a row!  It must be my lucky week!  Just finished The Weight of Silence and I couldn’t put it down.  When I first looked at the book and the way it was written I put it aside.  I have read books that are written from different people’s point of view and haven’t liked them, but this book was written well and kept me on my toes the whole time and was easy to follow and get to know all the characters.  I will cross my fingers for more good books.  I checked Barnes and Noble to see which books they recommend for people who like The Good Sister and The Weight of Silence then headed to the library to pick up a couple of new books.  I hope Barnes and Noble doesn’t steer me wrong!

The Secret Life of Cee Cee Wilkes was the only book the library had that Barnes and Noble suggested.  It was a good suggestion based on what I said I liked so I think they did good.  The Secret Life of Cee Cee Wilkes was a long book (522 pages).  I think it could have been shorter and if it was it may have held my attention more.

My next book to read will also be by Diane Chamberlain because I got my kindle today!  I am going to try my hardest to get books that are free through amazon and through my library.  The library just happened to have one available by Chamberlain and I want to see how it feels to read on the kindle.

Falling…This book was somewhat painful to read.  I can’t believe I made it through it.  Clearly it is not geared towards my age group, but I can’t imagine my niece reading it and liking it either.  I downloaded it from the Kindle website so maybe there is a reason it was free.

The Midwife’s Confession and The Shadow Wife were both Diane Chamberlain books.  I partly read them because I could check them out for free on my kindle, but also that I really do like her books.  Chamberlain also lives in North Carolina so a lot of the locations are familiar.  Both of the books threw me for a loop at the end.  They are good, easy, enjoyable reads.

Just The Way You Are was another free Amazon book.  So much better than the last free one.  It said if you like Kristin Hannah then you would like this book and they were right.  I will be looking for more books by Barbara Freethy.

Ending the month with more Diane Chamberlain.  I do really like her story lines and I love that I can borrow them from the library on my kindle for free!

Do you want to know what you are good at?

Be careful when a newly five year old asks you this question.  Today she told me I was good at napping, spending money and being pregnant.  I truly hope Sky has better female role models than me.  

I must say I am pretty good at napping.  I say it is an experiment to see if napping really does make you live longer.  I will let you know how that pans out.  I am pretty good at spending money, but I am also pretty frugal and creative when spending money.  As far as being pregnant…I have no clue where that one came from since she has never seen me pregnant and never will see me pregnant.

That little one always has some funny things to say.  She is lucky she is so darn cute.

Mother’s Day Breakfast

We had a Mother’s Day breakfast yesterday and I think it may have to be a new tradition.  All the food was super yummy.  We (as in Marty) made baked oatmeal and a cinnamon french toast bake.  Here are the recipes in case anyone else has a breakfast anytime soon (sorry, no pictures)…

Baked Oatmeal

1 cup applesauce

1 cup brown sugar

2 eggs, beaten

3 cups oatmeal

2/3 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

1 cup milk

¼ ground & chopped walnuts (optional)

Heat oven to 350.  Mix above ingredients.  Bake for 30 minutes in a 9 x 9 ungreased baking dish.  Serve with warmed milk or applesauce or eat just plain.

Cinnamon French Toast Bake (taken from the Oh My Sugar High blog)

1/4 cup melted butter

2 cans (12.4 oz each) Pillsbury® refrigerated cinnamon rolls with icing

5 eggs

1/2 cup heavy whipping cream

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

2 teaspoons vanilla

1 cup chopped pecans

3/4 cup maple syrup

Icing from cinnamon rolls

Powdered sugar

Melt butter and pour on ungreased 13×9 inch glass dish. Separate cans of dough into 16 rolls reserving the icing for later use.  Cut each roll into 8 pieces and add to buttered baking dish.

Beat eggs in medium bowl. Add cream, cinnamon and vanilla and beat until well blended. Pour over cut pieces of cinnamon roll pieces.

Sprinkle with pecans and drizzle 3/4 cup syrup over the top. Bake at 375 for 20 to 28 minutes or until golden brown. Cool 15 minutes.

Remove the covers from icing and microwave on medium  or 50% power for 10 to 15 seconds. (Should be thin enough to drizzle.) Drizzle icing over the top. Sprinkle with powdered sugar. Serve with syrup if desired.

Having a sister…

I sometimes joke that my girls will be able to bond with each other when they are older by talking about me.  Good or bad, they will have me in common so that will bind them.  They can talk about the way I nagged them to clean their room, do their homework, share, be nice to each other or they can talk about the way I would write them notes in their lunch boxes, or take pictures of them sleeping at night because I think it will crack them up in the morning, or the way we would all sit and read books together.  Anyway, I just read a book called The Good Sister by Drusilla Campbell (I will put it in my book log) and I really liked it.  It had a sentence in it that made me think of me saying this to people…Having a sister makes having a mother bearable.  I suppose that quote is only meant for the bad moments, but hopefully they will remember the good moments too.

Mother’s Day

Oh Amazon…everyday I faithfully look at the Deal of the Day and this is what I saw today…

I hope my family never gets me something this gaudy for Mother’s Day or any holiday.  I could see my girls both thinking it is beautiful though with it being a heart and covered with “jewels.”

Speaking of Mother’s Day, my little one keeps confusing Pottery Barn for Harry Potter so instead of getting this…

I am afraid that she would actually end up getting this…

Thankfully, I took Mother’s Day into my own hands and ordered myself a Kindle Fire (when it was the Deal of the Day on Amazon).

The girls don’t know that I ordered my own gift so I will have to act surprised.  I know that when they are wrapping it they will be so excited to give it to me so it is worth the wait (or at least I hope it is worth the wait).

April 2012 Book Log

Uglies – Scott Westerfeld

The Murderer’s Daughters – Randy Susan Meyers

Pretties – Scott Westerfeld

Vacation slowed my reading this month.  I thought I would have time to read on vacation, but I should have known better.  Anyway, at first I had a hard time getting into Uglies.  It is broken up into three sections and the first one wasn’t holding my interest, but once I got into the second one I was hooked.  I now want to read the second one in the series.  The story line is very interesting about government making everyone pretty and conformed to their standards.

I switched it up while waiting for Pretties at the library and decided to read an “adult” book.  The Murderer’s Daughter caught my eye while browsing at Target and the library happened to have it.  It dove right into the subject matter, which I was kind of surprised about.  You really do feel for the daughters during the whole book.  Unfortunately, I wasn’t crazy about the ending.  It made me think about my relationship with my biological father and how well I know him and how well he knows me, which is just about as much as one of the sisters in the book.

Ahh…Pretties.  The library has surprised me and I haven’t had to wait too long for this series.  I now have the final two books of this series in my possession and can’t wait to read them!  I know, the series is geared towards young adult, but I consider myself to be a young adult.  I am hooked on these books.  Rumor has it they will be making them into a movie too!  I didn’t think I was into futuristic books, but it really gets you thinking about things.  If you liked the Hunger Games series then you will like this series as well.

Happy Birthday to You? Happy Birthday to Me!

Today is the day my little one was born.  At this time five years ago I was probably awake as well (it is currently 4:53 am), but for different reasons.  Most would think because of being uncomfortable lugging around an extra body, but nope it was because I was fearfully awaiting my c-section and what was to come after (oh, and leaving my precious 2 1/2 year old while I was laid up for days recovering).  Come to think of it, it wasn’t only the night before it was the entire weekend before.  I didn’t want anyone to come over to our house because I was crying all weekend.  Pretty pathetic for a 26-year old grown woman.  Oh, the things you learn as you age.

My prior experience with a c-section wasn’t the greatest.  It wasn’t awful, but going through18 hours of labor then having a c-section kind of stunk.  Also, the feeling of your stomach being completely cut open and not being able to walk kind of stunk too.  Walking after the first c-section was such a challenge and I wasn’t up for it so I laid in bed only to get up to go to the bathroom.  Most people think a catheter is awful, but since I had an epideral and couldn’t feel the whole painful process it wasn’t bad and it prevented me from having to get up to actually walk so to me it was the best thing ever.  I was not happy when they actually took it out and forced me to walk to the bathroom.  Sometimes the nurses are big jerks.  The nurses are also big jerks when it comes to breast-feeding, which brings up my next experience that made me so fearful of actually having you here, the pressure I felt after the first time to breast-feed.

People don’t tell you the horror stories of nursing.  They tell you it is a natural, beautiful thing.  They don’t tell you that it is the worst pain ever!  Apparently for some woman this is not the case, but for me it sucked.  Even my friend who gave birth naturally two times agrees, which does make me feel better about being such a wimp when it came to this.  So, I felt pressure the first time around and gave it everything I had and when it didn’t work out, I tried more causing more pain and more stress leading to a case of postpartum depression.

I had, of course heard of postpartum depression, but thought woman were crazy not being able to get control of their emotions.  I wanted and planned for a baby so how could I not love, bond and be the perfect mother when I had her.  Well, apparently postpartum depression is real and I had a serious case of it.  I could not stop crying.  I literally thought I was going to die, so much so that your Dad (who going through this with me makes him a saint) called the hospital to let them know this.  They said I needed to rest so he let me sleep the entire night and got up with your sister by himself the entire night (again, a saint).  A week after being home from the hospital I was still crying and went to the doctor, just my luck (too bad writing doesn’t show sarcasm) it was the only male doctor in the practice.  Daddy met me at the doctor and stayed in the waiting room with your sister while I sat in the sterile exam room wearing nothing but a paper gown, balling my eyes out with milk soaking through the paper gown.  A lovely sight to see.  They suggested to stop trying to be super mom and ditch the breast feeding and get on some drugs, so I did and I slowly started my road to recovery.

I remember when I couldn’t get pregnant with you going to the doctor and having her question me, “Are you sure you really want to go through that again?”  She was so shocked that I was there even thinking about having another baby after how I felt the first time.  I really wanted your sister to have a sibling because of the bond I have with mine so I told her yes and started the fertility process.  I say process, but really it wasn’t bad, just a few months of clomid so I was lucky.  When I found out I was pregnant I was happy and scared all in one.  The first time around we didn’t tell anyone until 12 weeks, but with you everyone knew we were trying and I couldn’t keep on letting people think we were still trying (it took us 6 months).  I was still scared, but made it to the 12 week mark!

At 13 weeks, out of the blue I started bleeding, like I thought I was having a miscarriage bleeding.  It was awful.  I called my sister, my Mom, and finally my Dad answered and I cried through the phone, “I need Mom.”  I think he was scared too and handed it right to her and I cried, “Mom, I need you.  I think I am having a miscarriage.”  I was so scared.  They got to our house to take care of your sister, while your Dad (what would I do without him?!) took me to the hospital.  We could not believe our eyes when they saw your tiny heartbeat on the monitor.  We should have known then that you would be born fiesty.  We could not have been happier.  Apparently, my uterus tore away from the wall, which caused the bleeding.  I was to be careful for the next few weeks.  I went home and cleaned the blood off our bathroom floor and then did nothing the rest of the time I was pregnant with you.  This experience made me think of the doctor questioning if I really wanted to go through this again and I now knew I did.

I was so happy to make it to my actual scheduled due date.  After I had the miscarriage scare I remember counting down the weeks just trying to keep you inside of me.  On the day you were born I was pretty much a wreck, but humor is my way of coping so all the nurses thought I was handling it well.  I went to have my spinal tap and they waited for it to take effect before the c-section procedure.  They started the process when I yelled, “I can still feel it!”  They waited, it still wasn’t taking so they did another spinal tap, lucky me (again, sarcasm) and then you were born.  After you were born I requested more drugs and was out of it for a while.  When I saw you you were a tiny little thing at only 6 pounds and with completely wild hair.  I thought after I had your sister I would be scared to hold such a tiny baby since she was so big, but I wasn’t scared at all because you were mine.

The nurses, of course pushed the breast feeding on me.  I started to feel like I was going down the slippery slope to postpartum depression hell.  I was so scared and called your Dad, who was on night time duty at home with your sister.  He gave me a pep talk and told me to stop trying to breast feed.  That was just what I needed, someone in my corner to tell me it was okay to not breast feed and he did that for me.  Your Dad is an amazing man.  It gave me the courage to say no to the nurses and be fine with my decision.

When I left the hospital with you it was such a different experience.  I felt grateful to have had my Mom watch your sister for the time I was in the hospital.  I was in much better physical condition because of all the walking I did in the hospital and with you I felt such an amazing sense of love.  No drugs needed.  I truly felt like I was on a high the first two weeks.  It was such an incredible feeling and I couldn’t imagine never feeling it again.

When I think of your birthday, that is what I think of.  The feeling I had after I had you.  The love I felt for you holding your tiny body in my arms.  Seeing your spiky hair and long eyelashes.  I am so thankful that you were able to give me those incredible feelings.

So… Happy Birthday Bug, but really Happy Birthday to me!