Our Master Bedroom

I feel like our room is done enough (as done as it will be for awhile now) to show you all!

When we bought our house this room was a lovely pale pink color. Which matched the rosy pink carpet quite well. The bathroom is also pink, with a pink countertop to boot! So, while I don't mind some pink accents, this room was clearly taking pink to a whole new level. I painted in a creamy white shade and did a gray/blue (shocking right? I mean, I never use this color!) accent wall behind the bed.












I know the photos are too big. Sorry! We still need to do some (a lot) of things to this space. Aside from new carpet (or hardwood? We can't decide) we also need new baseboards, doors and casing. I'll show off the bathroom another time. Perhaps while we're redoing it as a before/after. I'd also like to do a few smaller things. I'd love a gold frame around my book wreath and I'd love some frames surrounding the window for our black and white family photos. The dresser needs some decorating love as well.

My favorites about this space are the bedding and the large window and our walk in closet. The space feels the perfect combo of warm and light to me. But the carpet is disgusting and needs to go. And the brown doors are not my fav either. Baby steps!

More of the house to come soon I hope!

What I Read: January

I would like to start this post by saying that this month felt like I was inundated with goodness. Just pure amazingness ALL THE TIME. Some fantastic books this month, plus I listened to the Serial podcast (devoured it in 2 days - I couldn't stop listening) AND we watched season one of Transparent on Amazon. I am loving that show! So, now that you all know I have no life other than reading, listening to and watching things, let's get started with the books of the month, shall we? 

The Impossible Lives of Greta Wells

This was my book club's selection for the month. I thought it was a cute story until the very end when it completely lost me. I actually feel like I should re-read the ending because wha-the-wha? I have no idea what just happened there and it was sort of abruptly trying to cram all of these little golden nuggets in at the end... it didn't need that. The nuggets were implied. I felt like it had some potential to wrap up beautifully and it didn't. 

Everything I Never Told You

One of my favorite books of all time now. This is a story of a young girl who dies and her family's journey up to that point and beyond. So beautifully written and haunting and thought provoking. I would highly recommend reading this book. Or, listening to it! I think I got SO much more out of listening to it. I have a tendency to skim and when someone else is reading, you cannot skim so you have the benefit of hearing EVERY single word. It was a perfect experience for me. 

Not That Kind of Girl

Oh, Lena Dunham. This was exactly what I thought it would be. It's really just one woman's experience with coming into her womanhood in this world we live in. I realized that she's not my favorite person to read about (or watch on TV - I really tried to like "Girls" but just don't) so it was a little long and tedious reading this. By the end I was fighting through it just to check it off my list. Darn! I wanted to like it, but I didn't. 

Outlander

Sometime after Christmas I realized that I hadn't read much over the break and I had received a lot of non-fiction for Christmas. I started the Lena Dunham book but put it down because I wanted a good story and everything I had received wasn't cutting it. So, I put on my big girl panties and started "Outlander". This is a long book, like 700 pages long. But I had heard rave reviews and I figured there's no time like the present. It did take me about 3 weeks to finish (I read in on my phone while I nursed Crosby and finished 2 other books during that time as well) but I really loved it. I was pretty riveted the whole time. It's a fabulous story AND it fits into a category of a reading challenge I took on for the year! 

That might be hard to read... but "Outlander" completes the category of "A book in a genre I don't typically read". Bonus - I liked it! 

The Children Act

Ritchie read this and wanted me to read it so we could talk about it. He loved it. I LOVED the first half and the second half I was like..... "What the hell? Wait, what?" A lot. And the ending sort of brought it all back around, but I still felt like it was really botched together weirdly. And I'm not sure if it's Ian McEwan's writing style because this is my first time reading him, but this book went ON and ON about things that I didn't see the relevance in. Ritchie didn't feel that way at all though and he was able to read into every part and tie it together poetically. He's smarter than me, though. Duh. 

The Book of Unknown Americans

Another audiobook! I also loved the listening experience of this book. At first it was a little hard to follow because it has many different narrators but soon you get the rhythm and it all makes sense. This book has so many important themes and sub-morals but at its core, it's a story about love and community. Amongst that there are immigrants in Delaware in current times and their experience with everything from not knowing the language to just being outright ignored or bullied. It made me think about my own perceptions and judgements. I recommend this book with a warning that it's not a quick story line. It's a lot of rich character development and more than it's a story, it's just following 7 months in time. It does climax and get intense towards the very very end, so hang in there. The message is worth the slow pace. 

Big Little Lies

This was the 3rd book I've read by Liane Moriarty and boy do I love her more and more! Great characters and plot and I'm usually riveted (The Husband's Secret wasn't as riveting for me, but I still really enjoyed it!) I was up past midnight last night just to finish this book and the ending was SO fantastic! I won't say much about it because it's a murder mystery (a comical one) but it's really great! 

Phew! I'm going to post this a few days before Feb even starts because after 7 books I'm just done reading for a few days. I need a little time to clear my head before starting my Feb book club book. But this month caught me up on my goal! I'm 30 weeks in and 30 books down. Yay! 

What I Read: December

The Fever

A young girl falls over in convulsions and it begins a string of weird similar instances with other girls in the high school. I read it in a day. Easy, quick read. The plot was just ok for me and the ending was lacking. I didn't hate it, but I didn't love it. I wouldn't even say I liked it all that much. 

Christmas Jars

A FAVORITE Christmas story of mine. A must read! This was my 3rd or 4th time reading it and I loved it just as much as the first time. 

Christmas Jars Reunion

Really sweet story! Much like the first, a little sappier, but still enjoyable and worth a read. 

We Need to Talk About Kevin

Absolutely riveting. It took me a while to get into the writing style and Shriver's overly (in my opinion) descriptive writing style but once I got into it I couldn't put it down. So disturbing and so sadly relevant. I never want to send my children to school now. I think this book is completely worth the read. 

I'm officially 1/2 way through with 26.5 weeks down in my 52 weeks and I've read 23 books. So, I'm a little behind but STILL! 23 books since June 30. The goal for me was to simply rekindle my love of reading and I've certainly done that. My days don't feel complete without a book to read now and I love that. 

A Book Gift Guide

I'm giving quite a few books this year (duh).

Here are my favorite (and, I think, gift worthy) books that I read in 2014.

These aren't books that came out in 2014, so this may or may not feel relevant in your world. But, it's relevant here in my little world and isn't that what blogging is all about?

Behold, my favorite books that I read this year:

Bread & Wine

This book is like a blanket. Or a hug. Or warm coffee on a crisp morning. Or just something you really would enjoy. This book is that. 

Me Before You

Still probably one of my favorite stories ever. 

Sea of Tranquility

A close race with "Me Before You" for first place in the love genre for me. I still get chills when I think of the ending. That's probably pretty dramatic, but who are we kidding? I've always had a flair for the dramatics. 

We Need to Talk About Kevin

Once I got into this one (and it took me a little bit...) I could NOT. STOP. READING. IT. I still think about it. I also never want to send my kids to school. An important book but also a gripping page turner. Not to mention the writing is incredible. Winner. Although, be careful whom you gift this to. It's about a sensitive subject and one that many people harbor strong feelings towards. Tread lightly. 

And here is one more that I haven't read, but is on my short list. It's on a ton of lists this year as one of THE books to read and gets some pretty rave reviews. I can't personally recommend it, of course - but it's worth mentioning. 

All the Light We Cannot See

Happy Reading! I'd love to know which books you're gifting this year (or which books you've added to your wish list!) and what your favorite reads of 2014 were! Geek out with me! 

Crosby at 8 Months

Poor, sweet third child. I just realized yesterday that I didn't even save the outfit that I brought him home from the hospital in. Nor can I remember which outfit it was. Whoops. I suppose therapy makes you a better person. 

I'm going to briefly cover months 4, 5, 6 and 7 because we are now past the 8th month mark and I can barely remember anything. 

Month 4:

Crosby started tripod sitting! He also was sleep trained this month and began going from nursing approximately 12 times a night to just once. I'm now a much happier mother. Crosby also officially rolls at this point and will not stay on his back for anything, including sleep. He's lucky he's my third child because I'm not nearly as nervous about this as I would have been with Maxton. 

Look at that cute baby. That's what we call him. Cute baby. Like... why won't cute baby stop crying? And, what shall we give cute baby for dinner tonight? 

Month 5:

I believe this is when we embarked on solids. Also, full time sitting! Tummy time and being put down ever is not enjoyable for Crosby at this age. Also, this was the time that we discovered that he wasn't really gaining weight. He also didn't love to eat solids, so that wasn't especially helpful. Lots of stress and worry about his heart since weight loss or no weight gain is a sign of trouble. He had no other signs of concerns at that point, but still. WORRY. You don't generally worry about things as much with each child (or I don't anyway) but when your baby has something that you haven't experienced with all of your other children, you worry like he's your first. Anyway, lots of weight checks and Dr visits and waiting and trying to feed him solids that he gags and vomits from. But we're still sleeping and sitting and having to hold him all the live long day. 

Rosy cheeked and darling. 

Sitting! 

Month 6:

Crosby remembered that eating all night long was glorious and fattening him up so he went back to waking frequently. I was feeling so stressed about his weight gain that I couldn't let him cry so I fed him every time he woke. That quickly spiraled into about every 1.5-2 hours. My timing is fuzzy on this though... I think this went on for about a month? Anyway, he was checked and he had lost weight right before all of this happened so I just know I was down to feed him whenever. We also started baby led weaning for feeding since he blatantly prefers to feed himself. He'll now eat beans and peas and rice and bananas and avocados and all sorts of things as long as he is in charge of putting them in his mouth. The inability to put him down is now in full force. I carry him ALL DAY LONG. I chant things like, "the days are long, the years are short" and, "he's my third.. I know this won't be like this forever" and, "one day I'll wish for this back" while I try to hold it together. Not putting a baby down ever is pretty much exhausting. But so is listening to him scream if I attempt anything without holding him, so usually I just hold him or sit next to him while he plays. Thank God he naps well. Two naps, one around 9 am for 1.5-3 hours and another one around 1pm for another 1.5-3 hours, depending on the day. He's starting to get up on all fours and scoot backwards. He's REALLY good at watching Christmas movies with me. 

This is because I'm not holding him. 

It got worse because I continued to not hold him. 

This one is because he likes to make a liar out of me. 

7 Months:

He had his heart checked and it was FINE! Well, not fine, but not any worse than usual, so YAY! His lack of fattiness was not due to his heart. AND, he had gained 1/2 a pound. It was a great day. So, we went back to sleep training and now he's back to just one feeding a night. We keep upping the solids and I feed him very frequently during his waking hours. He's trying really hard to army crawl and he squeaks and babbles and makes loud noises almost constantly. He's our loudest child and that is really saying something. 

Picking his pumpkins. 

Eating his broccoli! He LOVES broccoli! 

We don't call him cute baby for no reason. 

This is a picture of him being very very loud. Can't you hear him? He's saying, "fuggedabout it...."

Hot damn, I love this kid. Before I put him in bed I cradle him and sing to him and he is so calm and sweet and gurgles little baby loves at me and I think it's not possible to love someone as much as I love him. He is baby gold. 

What I Read: November

The Sea of Tranquility

I had a really hard time getting into this one until about page 75.. then I read the rest in one day. I could. not. stop. reading. And, it's one of those books where I'm going to be all depressed that it's over because I feel like I lost the people from my life when the story ended. I want to keep reading about them. If you like mystery, love, all with a bit of life is really effed up sometimes then this is for you. It's YA (young adult) just so there's no confusion. 

Station Eleven 

I really, really wanted to love this book. Or even just like it. It's about 400 pages and it took me until about page 350 to be interested enough to WANT to keep reading. It's post apocalyptic, which is generally not my thing but it's not exactly doom and gloom. It's probably beautifully written in a way that's super uninteresting to someone like me (read that as... I'm probably not smart enough to like this book). I've been starting to feel badly that the only books I enjoy are the ones that are so enthralling that I cannot put them down. I WANT to like more challenging books that I have to sort of work my way through. I want to savor books and enjoy them slowly. So, I tried very hard to enjoy this book. And, I just didn't. I'm glad I read it to sort of prove to myself that I could get through it. Go, me. 

Bossypants

After all that seriousness from "Station Eleven", I needed something easy and fun. This was definitely that. It made me want to watch 30 Rock and all of the skits of Tina Fey being Sarah Palin on SNL. I laughed and didn't cry. It was perfect.

Maybe someday I'll blog about something other than what I'm reading. Although, that would seriously cut into my reading time. 

What I Read: October

Delancey

I was SO excited to read this book. The story of a husband and wife opening a pizza restaurant in... Seattle! So, of course Ritchie and I went on a date there after I read it. Delicious and fun because I felt like I had the inside scoop. The writing for me was just ok and it's certainly not a gripping story, but it was enjoyable and easy to read. I found it interesting to read all about how they acquired the space and renovated it on a budget, etc. Fun read!

The All-Girl Filling Station's Last Reunion 

This was my book club book for October and I loved it! It turned out to be an awesome choice for discussion because there's so much in this book that leads to other topics. Anyway, such a fun, sweet story with rich characters. I love that it was a book I would have never chosen and I really loved it. I'd like to try "Fried Green Tomatoes" now because it's by the same author.

The Farm

What a creepy book. Riveting. I couldn't put it down. But... it was more of the NEED to know what happens than actually enjoying it. I don't think I liked it. I'm learning that I can enjoy an intense book, but there are certain issues that just register more with me and it's hard for me to read about those. This book had some of that going on. I'm being cryptic, I guess. I don't want to give anything away! If you like suspense and don't mind creep factor, give it a whirl!

The Husband's Secret

A few months ago, I read "What Alice Forgot" and I've been recommending it to everyone ever since. I loved it! "The Husband's Secret" is by the same author, so I was excited to read it.  It didn't grab my attention as quickly as "What Alice Forgot" did, but it was enjoyable and made me think a lot about life's path and how our choices play into the cards we're dealt sometimes. The epilogue is really important to read if you read this story as (for me) it was very redeeming. Without it, the whole basis for the story seemed far-fetched. Anyway, not my fav, but good enough.

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time

Another book that I had heard rave reviews about and was just "meh" for me. The narrator is a young boy with autism and it's essentially his quest to find out who killed his neighbor's dog. It's really interesting from the perspective of hearing the thoughts of a person who thinks differently than you might, but I just found it really hard to get invested. I'm not sure why. I think it might have been the wrong time for me to read this one. You know how you could pick up a book and struggle with it but then devour it and love it a few months/years later when you try again? I forced my way through this one, but I'm not sure it's the book's fault.