Currently

Reading:  Summer Wives by Beatriz Williams

Loving:  baby snuggles and watching my two kiddos together

Feeling: tired but good.  i feel a lot more relaxed than I did after my first born.   

Anticipating: Halloween! I'm excited for the excitement of my kiddo.

Grateful: that I have two!!!! awesome girls.

Working: on organizing newborn clothes and maternity clothes and getting them sold/donated and out of the house!

Listening: to podcasts.  So far behind on so many of them.

Watching: Southern Charm New Orleans!

Wishing: for a few more weeks of beautiful fall before the cold, crummy winter hits us!

What are you reading and listening to currently?

TGIF!

This was my first week home alone with the baby and I feel like we've done a good job.  We've napped, gotten big sister to school, managed some cleaning/organizing, and I've gotten through a lot of recorded shows that I was waiting to watch until she was here.  I was lucky this week that I only had to do both pick up and drop offs on Monday and Friday.  My mom picked up on Tues, Wed, and Thurs.  She even dropped her off for me on Thursday! The nightly sleep schedule has been good enough that I've been able to pull myself out of bed in the morning and not feel like death to get us out the door.  Hopefully, this all stays the same!

My favorite picture from the week:

The high of my week was watching my big kid interact with her little sister.  She is so patient.  She really wants her to play with her haha! She does get annoyed with the constant crying and last night she said to me, "You are always holding Adeline."  Then she proceeded to climb herself into my empty lap and have me hold her.  She is doing amazing at being a big sister and learning how to share our attention, which is so hard to do after constant attention only on her for 8 years.  It's really helped that my parents have taken her to do fun things by herself a few times since the baby was born.

The low of my week was  every night when I want to fall asleep and that is the time the baby is still cranky.  She pretty much cries/yells for a few hours before bed.  I nurse her, everyone else tries to entertain her, and basically she just needs to pass out but she wants to eat a few more times and let us know she's tired before she passes out.

Meal plan for the week was  

Monday - Stuffed Pepper Casserole that was prepared and delivered by my bff!! It was so delicious and we devoured it.  I need to get the recipe from her because it was a huge hit.

Tuesday -  Chili and Baked Potatoes

Wednesday -  Chicken Stir Fry and yum yum sauce

Thursday -  Turkey Breast, broccoli cheese and rice, corn and cookies that was prepared and delivered by our neighbors! It was also so freaking delicious.  The turkey was from the ones they raise on their farm.  And so was the corn.

Friday -  Steak and baked potatoes

We have been so fortunate to have meals dropped off to us! We've had potato soup (by two different people), Lasagna, Baked Ravioli, Ribs/Day ahead salad, countless desserts,and in our freezer from family we still have two sides (broccoli/rice and cheesy potatoes),  a pan of stuffed shells, a dozen muffins, and a pie! I'm so thankful.  I froze a few meals ahead of time but it is so nice to have diverse dinner options and be able to save our soups for later.

The best money I spent was on I am hoping that the baby k'tan I ordered today will be life changing! I stopped at a friends house today (she gave birth same day as me ha) to try on hers to see about sizing and it seems super easy to get on compared to the moby so I'm hopeful I can get that to work until my ergo or lillebaby is more comfy!

What I’m listening to  podcasts! Enjoying Hell and Gone !

What I’m watching just got myself caught up on Southern Charm and now working my through Southern Charm New Orleans.  After that I am going to work on Jamestown and Hallmark movies!

What I’m reading:  My grandmother told me to tell you she's sorry by Fredrik Backman.  It's taking me forever.  When I'm reading, I'm in it, but it's also making me sleepy, so I have been doing far more internet scrolling than reading!

My plans for the weekend include watching football, attempting to pump for the first time, getting pumpkins/carving them.  And just relaxing.

What are you watching/reading/listening to?

5 Bookish Things I'm Loving Right Now

This is the 4th installment of 5 Bookish Things I'm Loving Right now.  You can find my last post here. 

1.  So the first thing, isn't so much a thing I love, as a thing I read and felt the need to share it.  YA author, Julia Watts was recently uninvited to a teen literary festival because someone on the library planning committee googled her and found out she also writes erotica! WTF?? The library system putting on the festival claims it wants to represent diverse authors and include LBGTQ persons, yet dis invite her because she also writes a different genre? As any rational human being does, I'm sure Ms. Watts isn't about to go on a tangent about her erotica writing when her YA writing is the focus of the festival.  Also, it makes seem like erotica is wrong and no matter what she writes or does she won't be suitable for young adults because of the other writing, which is just wrong! They tried to make it better by inviting her to a standalone event, but I think they are making a huge mistake by not allowing her to participate in the teen lit festival.  And, now I've added one of her recent books to my to-read list.

2.  When I saw this Book Riot post I got super excited! Growing up in the 90s, I was a HUGE fan of Sweet Valley High and Saved by the Bell.  This article compares the two and matches them up with their doppelganger from the other! I felt their matches were on point and it was funny at how the characters matched up so nicely! I enjoyed the Screech / Winston Egbert comparison.  I had almost forgotten about Winston.  I'm sure the similarities have a lot to do with the simple set ups of YA/ teen TV but this trip down memory lane was fun!  My favorite Sweet Valley character was Elizabeth Wakefield and my favorite Saved by the Bell character was Zach Morris.

3. I saw a review for the book Patron Saints of Nothing by Randy Ribay and the cover caught my eye first and then I read what it was about! 

"A powerful coming-of-age story about grief, guilt, and the risks a Filipino-American teenager takes to uncover the truth about his cousin's murder.

Jay Reguero plans to spend the last semester of his senior year playing video games before heading to the University of Michigan in the fall. But when he discovers that his Filipino cousin Jun was murdered as part of President Duterte's war on drugs, and no one in the family wants to talk about what happened, Jay travels to the Philippines to find out the real story.

Hoping to uncover more about Jun and the events that led to his death, Jay is forced to reckon with the many sides of his cousin before he can face the whole horrible truth -- and the part he played in it.

As gripping as it is lyrical, Patron Saints of Nothing is a page-turning portrayal of the struggle to reconcile faith, family, and immigrant identity. "

This sounds like a infusion of present day politics, diversity, coming of age and YA that should appeal to a lot of different audience.  It came out in June, and I will be checking my library for it!

4.  

5. 

My oldest girl reading to my littlest girl!!!! Melts my heart.  There have been many stories shared here so far.  Favorites include Don't Press the Button,  That's Not My Unicorn, and The Going to Bed Book. 

What bookish things are you loving right now?

Adeline Elizabeth

My littlest love is here! We have had this sweet girl in our midst for almost two weeks.  She was born after 16 minutes of pushing and about 2 hours of active labor.  Much quicker than her big sister.  I labored mostly in the shower with hot water spraying on my back and leaning against the wall with pressure being put on my back.  I spent a lot more time standing this time and could feel her moving down.  I also felt like pushing sooner and could feel it working so much better.  I did not have any pain medication and did have some Zofran towards the end because it was going so fast that I kept feeling like I was  going to puke.  Thankfully, I did not.

She was 8 pounds 3 ounces and 20 inches long.  Slightly bigger than her bigger sister but she seems so much smaller.  Her head is definitely smaller and I think that affects my overall judgment of size! When we left the hospital she was 8 pounds 2 ounces and at her doc appointment a couple days later she was 7 pounds 15 ounces but my milk had just come in. She was also up to 21 inches. 

She of course had to have a dramatic entrance.  I was in my zone pushing through contractions and I could feel her coming and to me it felt like she must be so close or almost out, and she was.  But then all of a sudden the room filled and people were yelling at me to push and then all of a sudden she was out and blue.  She wasn’t making any sound and there were so many people in the room.  But then she let out a cry and the next thing I heard from the crowd of nurses around her was, “She has red hair!” And boy does she! The shade changes daily but it is red and growing by the day!

After they got her breathing, we were able to do skin to skin for close to almost 2 hours.  She even latched right away, which is something her sister didn’t do either! So that was a relief.  We had my parents bring the very excited big sister that night to meet her and it was the sweetest thing.  It still is the sweetest thing.  My oldest girl is THE BEST.  We are all struggling with some sleep issues at the moment, but when it comes to her sister she is the best.  She wants to hold her, she asks if she missed her, she will do anything if it’s for her Adeline.  And for that, I feel like I’m winning parenting.

We were supposed to stay in the hospital for 2 nights because I was positive for group b strep, but they are changing the protocol on that and we got an on call pediatrician who let us leave shortly after 7pm on Saturday.  It helped that our nurse was my husband’s cousin’s wife and my midwife is my husband’s aunt.  They vouched we were smart enough to seek help if needed.  The first night home was rough and we’ve had some rough patches here and there, mostly dealing with some ridiculous gas issues, things have been good.  I notice I have a lot more patience and feel a hell of a lot better than I did the first time.  Probably, because I’m constantly not worried about my kids nursing habits. 

My husband has been off since the day she was born and he goes back to work next Monday.  I’m kind of scared how we will all get out the door and how we will get through school pick up, but we got this.  And if we don’t, we will call grandma and grandpa!

What I Read in September

My September reading total fell back to a 'normal' level of 6 books read.  I just wasn't in a reading mood this month.  I spent way more time scrolling the internet and reading articles than reading books.  My brain wasn't in to it.  Also, I just couldn't handle any books that weren't 'lighter' material, which is odd for me.

The Runaway Midwife by Patricia Harman is the second book I've read by her.  This is not part of her Hope River series, it's a standalone.    It was set on a small island in Lake Erie.  Clara Perry, a midwife, is hit with a lot of life issues at once and runs away under an assumed name and all of her husband's savings to this island to start fresh.  She runs into a few issues, like she left behind her passport and she had to sneak into Canada.  She tells people she is writing a book, but the most she writes is about the different birds she notices around the island.  It's a cute story, with a hint of thriller but very very tame.

Life After Life by Kate Atkinson was a book I had picked up at a used book sale and our book club picked for the October book.  It was a bit on the longer side, but it was fascinating.  Ursula Todd is born and dies on the same day.  This happens over and over again over the span of a lifetime.  It's almost like how a 'choose your own adventure' could turn out, but well written and well developed.

Saint Anything by Sarah Dessen is yet another brilliant young adult novel that I read very quickly.  Sydney's brother Peyton, is currently incarcerated and it has affected her entire life.  But, since she's so good she has become the family after thought.  Until of course she messes up one time and then is front and center in her mom's bulls eye.  I did struggle with the one character that is a friend of her brother's who is a recovering addict/questionable choice maker and her parents just let him hang out with her and put him in charge of her and there is such a creepy vibe from him that I just was like PARENTS, WAKE UP. 

The Library at the Edge of the World by Felicity Hayes- McCoy was a little different than what I thought it was going to be about, but it was still a quick light read.  I thought it would have focused more on the librarian and her travels around the peninsula as a librarian but it was more focused on her personally and the local politics of the small town she grew up in. 

The Simplicity of Cider by Amy Reichert is set in Door County, Wisconsin, which when I stumbled upon it at the library, is the main reason I picked it up.  Plus, it was about life on the orchard making hard cider.  YES, PLEASE.  The book has some 'magical' aspects which reminded me of a Sarah Addison Allen book.  The orchard is 5th generation owned and is struggling.  However, Sanna, is hoping to sell her cider and save the orchard.  There is a lot of family drama involved with a sweet love story.

The Girl Who Chased the Moon by Sarah Addison Allen is set in the town of Mullaby, North Carolina, which is a quirky town where lots of interesting people live and strange happenings are overlooked.  Emily Benedict moves in with her giant grandfather, who she didn't even know existed until the recent death of her mom.  She meets a whole cast of quirky town residents who teach her things about her mother that she never would have believed just months before. 

I'm currently working The Alice Network by Kate Quinn and then I think I'm going back to some more light reads to get me through the early days of a newborn, whom should be making her entrance in the next week!

What did you read in September? What is a book you are currently recommending?