Baby Reading

Reading books is was one of my favorite things to do in my spare time (spare time, ha!) for fun, but when I want/need to know something reading books, all the books!, is how I make myself an expert.  For my second baby I reread a few books I'd read with the first baby and found quite a few new ones to add to my list.  Consider this an informal book review.

 

These links are not affiliate links, just links because I thought I'd make it easier on you if you're interested in the book yourself.  Although, I'm not opposed to affiliate links...

 

 

From the bottom to the top:

 

100,000 Plus Baby Names  

We bought this one in 2012 for Mayhem.  I have the 2009 edition.  Not much to say about this, everybody needs a name book.  I read through the names again and we didn't pick names for Chaos from this book, but they are listed.

 

Your Pregnancy & Birth

My insurance company sent me this one in 2012 for Mayhem.  I cracked it once about two weeks before Chaos was born because I wanted to read up on Group B Strep

 

What To Expect When You're Expecting

I have the third edition.  Only read it this time to look up something about Group B Strep.

 

The Thinking Woman's Guide to a Better Birth

This was a new one for me and I loved it.  I think I read it all in a week during naptimes and before I went to bed.  I liked it because it gave comparisons on every possible option for every possible situation birth-related.  If you want to give someone a book and not sure which books they already have I recommend this one.  To the point and eliminates lots of fluff.

 

The Birth Partner

I have the third edition.  Never got around to reading this one.

 

Preparing for Birth with Yoga

I read this.  It was...interesting.  I don't yoga enough for it to be a good one for me.  Maybe if you do yoga regularly or more seriously it would benefit you more?

 

Natural Childbirth the Bradley Way

I read this one with Mayhem and reread it for Chaos.  Another one of my favorites.  The pictures are graphic (real, nekkid people).  I love this one.

 

Not pictured:

Husband-Coached Childbirth: The Bradley Method of Natural Childbirth

Another new one.  I liked this one, but it kinda set me up in a bad way.  It's all about the husband and how much he's going to help you and be involved in the labor.  Don't read it unless you a) have a reader-type husband who is going to read this and do what it says or b) can hold back unrealistic expectations easily.

 

HypnoBirthing: The Mongan Method

Did not read this one this time.  Got rid of it.  A little too out there for me.

Phony

Sometime back, at the encouragement of Emily P. Freeman, I begin to think of myself as a writer.  Think.  I have yet to say those words out loud to anyone.  I don't even like to tell people that I write much less am a writer because, funny thing, when you tell people you write they...expect you to write?  And we all know I'm currently experiencing some serious problems in that department.

It looks like my writer's block has also turned into reader's block which is possibly even more upsetting.  Writers are readers and now I am neither. 

On Sunday nights, I'm in a women's Bible study class at church.  The past few months we've done the Ever After study by Vicki Courtney and watched a few of Beth Moore's videos from her "Sound Mind" series.  Now we're doing the '90s version of Anne Graham Lotz The Vision of His Glory complete with now discontinued workbooks and VHS tapes.  (Age has nothing to do with this, I'm just throwing that out there because VHS tapes, yall!  We're having to remember how to work them!  Ha!)

Ever After was kinda sugary, sweet, and easy.  I liked it, but didn't really feel challenged.  Beth Moore is my woman.  She gets it and is hilarious.  Anne Graham Lotz...I wanted challenging and I got it. 

She has a little method you might call it, a 5 step "this is how you read your Bible" plan.  You start by reading the passage (duh), you write out the facts of what you read in the passage (easy enough), then you look for a lesson to learn from each fact (getting a little tougher), and (this is where it gets hairy for me) you use the lessons you learned from the facts and figure out how they apply to you before moving on to step 5 and, you know, applying what you learned to your life.

All this is good and fine with this "new" way of reading to comprehend, but did I mention that The Vision of His Glory is about the book of Revelation?  Yeah.  And have I ever told you (this is the worst part!) that I do not get symbolism???!!

How can you call yourself a writer when you don't get symbolism????  How can you even read?? 

It's bad, yall. 

Even in high school, reading all those books in Lit about dead trees and black birds (1984 really got me) I was like, "I don't have a clue." 

They're trees!  And birds!  Don't get me started on poetry, it makes me cross-eyed.

I have learned some symbolism though and occasionally it is humorous in real life situations, such as my stepbrother's wedding.  I can even watch TV and yell out, "Foreshadowing!" at the appropriate moments.

Anne Graham Lotz says there are two extremes: some people stick to the "happy" parts of the Bible like the Psalms (I don't always get those either) and whatnot because they're easy to understand while others get all into the prophecy of Revelation and hung up in the symbolism and counting all the numbers.  (I don't think I'm either of these, by the way.)

I believe that you can learn something from every one and every situation so I'm trying to get the symbolism and apply what I'm reading to my own life and not get all freaked out by how much my little mind is boggled, but today's passage (Revelation 4:3b-8a) has really thrown me for a loop.  I'm just not with it.  I think I might need to take another day and try it all over again tomorrow.

Do you have any experience studying Revelation or care to share anything you've learned?  No conspiracy theories, please, I'm confused enough already!

No Rest for the Weary

So far, this parenting thing has been better than I had expected.  Sure, I'm physically exhausted and constantly sleep-deprived, but I haven't been through the thissuckssobadwhydidIwantababy pull-my-hair-out-whines yet.  Until this week.

For the past month, Mayhem's naps have gone from good to annoying.  The kid would sleep 1.5-2 hours at a stretch and then it seemed like all of a sudden he started waking up after 45 minutes.  The book I've been reading says that babies tend to wake up after their sleep cycle ends (usually 45 minutes) and can't put themselves back to sleep.

The book describes what to do to help them learn how to go back to sleep on their own (shushing and patting, picking them up when they're crying then laying them back down when they stop) and I've been trying to follow it like she says to, but it is so hard.  I totally understand "accidental parenting"  and how people just let their kids do whatever the kids want to do because it's easier than doing what's right.  Right is hard and wrong is easy, my brain is fried and I feel like giving in.

Today has been the worst day of all of the worst week of all of the worst month of all.  Mayhem's 45 minute naps have gone to 25 and even ten minutes!  Apparently, when you complain about your kid sleeping less than you'd prefer, the little boogers tend to listen and silently formulate plans of revenge inside those tiny minds of theirs.  He's all, "I'll show her!  Heh, heh!" and refuses to take naps at all.  I make jokes and laugh like this is funny, but really, I'm running out of rope here, people.

This afternoon, the little critter slept 20 minutes before he woke up so I quit what I was doing and went in determined to shush-pat him until he went back to sleep.  I've done it before.  It takes about 20 minutes of patting and not quitting because it is awfully boring and I get an awful headache from leaning over in his crib, but it does work.  He was hell-bent on not going back to sleep even though I knew there was no way he was rested.  Shush-pat did not work so I moved onto pick up/put down because at this point he'd started crying.

Ya'll, he screamed and cried and bellered and hollered and snorted and snotted and pushed and bucked all over me for the rest of his nap, 70 minutes!  The front of my t-shirt was soaked with his tears and we were both hot and sweaty even though I had a fan on and the air down low.  I stood in front of his crib shushing and patting the whole time.  He only calmed down after he wore himself out and slept the last seven minutes.  I had the bright idea to wear earplugs this time because his screaming usually works on my nerves.  That was the first time I've done that and the earplugs really helped me keep my cool I think.

I want so bad to just sit and hold him the whole time he might sleep, but I can't do that.  I don't want to spoil him and get him used to something I'm not going to do forever, but man it would be so easy.  This is the hard part I've been afraid of.

Tell me it gets better.  I know it will, but I need some "don't give ups" and "here's what I did that workeds."  At least he's sleeping at night, right?

Obsessed

Today work was quiet.
Work was slow.
I had plenty of time but no book to read.
Too much time to think.
I browsed online until I had an epiphany, mistake, idea and decided to check out iPad.
After reading half the manual and checking out all the features and specs I have literally become obsessed with this little thing.

I want one so I can take my blogging on the go.
I have so many great ideas and thoughts that I lose because I can't get to a computer fast enough.
I've taken to writing them down on paper or making drafts in my text messages but remembering what you thought just isn't as great as running with it when you first think it.

I want one because I fear that any day now my computer is going to crash.
My laptop has so much junk on it that I can't even put one more picture on it.
Its literally full even though I have bought an external hard drive and transferred everything I care about to it.
I've tried to wipe my computer clean of everything by doing disk defragmentations but they don't help much.
I don't even have enough space to update my virus protection!

With iPad I could blog, upload pictures from my cameras to iPad then to my external hard drive, I could email, create documents, and read ebooks.
I have wanted a reader for a few years now but I never could decide between Kindle, Reader, and then Nook.
iPad has made the choice for me.

I want an iPad!
If I had an iPad I would name it "Escribir."

I really want an iPad.
Did I buy myself a graduation present?
What about Christmas-- did I buy myself a Christmas present last year?
I'm basically looking for any excuse to run out and buy one but I need to spend money on the house instead.
I'll just wait for my computer to kick the bucket.

And Now, A Break From Boring House Pictures!

High school literature makes kids emo.

Remember how we always had to figure out the symbolism in the books we read?
"Dead trees mean this, green grass means this, such and such means this."

Some of those kids took that stuff to heart and ran with it.
That's why the emo-rage is running rampant among teenagers these days.

Why couldn't they be happy like the kids from the 60's and 70's minus the dope and stuff?

(This has been a public service announcement on What's Wrong With America?!
Part One can be found here.)