Guest Blogger: Great Expectations!

I am so thrilled to have been asked by Kyna over at Great Expectations if I would guest blog for her today.  On Mondays she does a quick and easy recipe meme and she contacted me a few weeks back to submit a recipe and I was beyond excited!  I have never done a recipe post b/c I never have time to take pictures of my food as I'm making it or even think I have enough good recipes to share.  On 2nd thought, I do have a few, but again, no pics and everyone knows you can't do a recipe post without pictures.  So in any case, here's my 1st one!  Head on over to Kyna's blog to see one of my very favorite desserts that's pretty quick and easy.  And always a winner with my husband, who got this as his birthday cake last week!

Happy Birthday Daddy!

Today I want to wish a very Happy Birthday to my amazing husband and Gage's awesome Daddy!  Today we are spending Luke's 33rd birthday at Dutch Wonderland, a kiddie amusement park, for Gage's last hoorah as an only child!  hah...it just so happened he already had off work and it was as good a day as any to go, so here we are.  We'll be back tomorrow to update you on our trip!  Happy Birthday Luke!

Although this picture is over 6 months old now, it is still my favorite of my 2 favorite men.

Wordless Wednesday: The Zoo

Alice

This guy is pretty cute!





I think zebras are so awesome looking!

 

Update: 31 weeks

How far along:  31 weeks 3 days

Total weight gain: same at 25 lbs.

Stretch marks: Negative but I can feel my belly stretching....

Sleep:  Eh, can't get comfortable.

Cravings: my sweet tooth from Gage's pregnancy is coming back. I need chocolate.all.the.time.

Best moment this week:  Gage sleeping past 7am 3 days in a row!

Movement: This kid does NOT stop. (foreshadowing, perhaps)

Gender: BOY!

Name progress: We think we have one, no middle name yet though and can't agree on the 'backup' name

Labor signs: Thankfully no!

Bellybutton in or out:  Almost flat

What I miss: Dr. Pepper! and sleeping!

What I am looking forward to:  Getting both boys' rooms all set up- we're slowly making progress on Gage's.  Excited about getting out all of Gage's old clothes and getting them all ready for Round 2

Milestones:  only 9 weeks to go?!?

Once again, this is the best I could do with pictures.  It's not like I don't own a camera, just too lazy to get Luke to take my picture...

My 1st official book review: Love's Tangled Web

If any of you are olden readers, you would know that I attempted to review a book last summer (I won't speak the name, you have to look it up if you care that much).  But it was so horrible that I never ended up actually posting a review on my blog, but instead just submitted a review to the publisher as I had agreed.  I was too embarassed because I had NO idea what to write and it just wasn' for me at all.  The book was chosen for me....

So this time around, about 6 weeks ago, when the publisher contacted me again (I was positive I'd never hear back) I wasn't so sure, BUT it was one of my goals this summer to read a few books, since I rarely find the time during the year.  Also, this time I got to choose the books to review and after reading their summaries, I found two I thought would fit my style.  Nevertheless, here goes.....

BTW, I read this book in a little more than week, which if you know me, speaks volumes to the readability.  I am a very slow reader.




Love's Tangled Web, written by Keren Franklin, immediately caught my attention because it was written so simply and easy to read. Now don't get me wrong, I know some people like to read and think critically, but for me, I think reading should just be super easy and require little thought process.  It's what I like to do to relax.  In any case, the book was a little under 200 pages and in my opinion was the perfect size. 

This book follows the story of a 30 something cookie cutter all-American family super involved in their church and super involved in the perception everyone has of their family.  Bridgette, the main character, has a not-so-perfect sister who attempts to rock her world by sleeping with her husband.  Bridgette's husband complies, as he realizes his marriage is not as perfect as everyone thinks.  About 90% of the book follows this plotline and the drama that ensues afterwards.  It is then that the book takes a very God-centered standpoint and suddenly Bridgette has a conversation with a fellow parishoner that seems to change her life forever.  The ending is not the happiest you could come up with, but I definitely think, the most realistic.

As I said, I really enjoyed reading this book because it was easy to get through and not too 'preachy'.  I did find the ending of the book, while comforting and a true ephiphany, quite abrupt and a little too 'all-of-a-sudden'.  I feel that if that was the understanding the main character was going to come to it should've taken more than a few pages and should have been more gradual. While I understand that things like that happen, I think more often than not they would happen at a slower pace.

This book, as most things I read like this, do make me wish that at times I had greater faith and realize that people in such situations really can find forgiveness through God.  However, at the same time, it allows me to remember that some churches aren't as they seem and that the outward appearance is not always accurate.  I do commend Franklin, the author, for portraying this, as I think sometimes it's hard for people to see that just because you go to church doesn't mean you are a 'good Christian'.  You know, just because you stand in a garage, doesn't make you a car, kinda thing.

Although I don't really judge a book by it's cover....ha ha, the summary on the back was enticing enough that I chose the book to review.  It gives you enough information, but not too much to ruin the plot line.  I would be interested in reading more of Franklin's book to see what else she could write about.  They are easy readers and I think she has a promising future.  I would recommend this book to someone who is looking for a quick, light-hearted, but Christian read!

To purchase this book for as little as $12.50 ($9.99 for a Kindle/Nook version), you can visit Amazon, Barnes and Noble or Deep River Books.
ISBN-10: 1937756076

ISBN-13: 978-1937756079
Deep River Books (May 2012)

To read more reviews like this one, go to Tell Us The Truth Reviews!

Photo Challenge: Story

I'm pretty sure I've already shared one of these pictures, but I tend to do that if I take one I like.  In any case, here it is again......I'm linking up to Paper Mama's Story photo challenge.

The Outer Banks

There is no other place I'd rather be.  As I'm deciding what to blog about this week, many baby posts come into my brain:  the nursery, that is nowhere close to being done, the fact that I have but 10 weeks to go, the thought of holding a new teeny baby.  All of those things I'm sure I'll write about soon, but there are also tons of pictures I've been neglecting to post:  mainly ones of our last 2 trips to the Outer Banks.

When we go and do things with Gage these days, I sometimes struggle with taking pictures.  I want to live in the moment and play with him and not worry about snapping pictures at every turn.  Then again, of course I like having our family events caught on camera and would be sad if they were completely undocumented.  Therefore when we're at the beach, I usually take a couple days off as photographer just to play with him (unless we're doing something pretty special), then usually take a day or two to for sure to snap some new beach pictures.  I mean at this point, I probably have 100's from the Outer Banks since we frequent it so much.  And you can only have but so many sand/sea pictures.  In any case, the last 2 trips we have made to the OBX, one with friends and one with family, were ignored on this blog, visually at least.  They didn't consist of too much out of the ordinary, just so good ole beach time and fun with friends and family, so I'll just share some pictures of our weekend/week.

Gage's friend, Jake (May 2012)

Splashing in the water with Daddy



Mommy, Daddy and Gage, June 2012 (2.5 years)



I think the birds look cool in this shot.

Smiling at Nana

How do you get this thing off?

1st swim in the ocean with Daddy

Looking for seashells with Nana

Wordless Wednesday: Buddies: Outtakes



They didn't quite understand, 'put your arm around him'.





A hug worked better




I have no idea what that face even is....but it's hysterical!



Happy Birthday Kat!

I feel like I haven't done a birthday post in forever!  Maybe I just don't know that many July birthdays.  Anyway, I'd like to take a minute to wish Kat from Living Like the Kings a very Happy Birthday!  She is the blogger I wish I could be (I probably said that last year) and yes, it's still true.  I love reading about her family and seeing her pictures,  but she also has a great mix of recipes, weekly memes and interesting material that you never want to miss a post.  I hope she and her cute little family have a WONDERFUL day and she has a relaxing birthday!


*ha, funny, after I wrote this I went back to look at last year's post and it's almost identical.  ha...oh well.  I guess that proves its true.

Friday the 13th

There will never be a Friday the 13th as long as I live that I don't think about Friday, November 13th, 2009 when I went into labor with my sweet Gage.  I know I've said it before, but really, Friday the 13th has an entirely different meaning to me than it does to everyone else (unless of course you birthed your child on that day).  Now, I'm about to embark on another similar journey and have another day that will probably stick in my  mind forever.  Here's a few newborn pictures that take me back to that day.



Picture Dump

I have a few ideas for some posts, and plenty of things I need to post about, but today I'm just not in the mood.  I want to post about 2 really good recipes that I have, but I've never posted about recipes before and as I was making them I knew I should be taking pictures step by step as you good recipe posters do, but unfortunately I didn't, AND I don't know when I'll be making them again, so....so much for that.  Can't even take pictures of the final products, although I knew I'd regret that too, since they are half eaten now.  I could give you guys the links to them, but that just wouldn't be as fun.

Anyway, without further ado, I'll just post some fun pictures I've taken in the last week and maybe tomorrow write a few good posts.

This was the only picture I got of him in his 4th of July outfit, nice face, huh?

Enjoying the parade, at least he had some shade.  It was miserably hot!

I can't believe how teeny he looks in this picture.

Most recent and rare family photo, July 4th 2012.

My favorite picture of  late.

Bubble hat

I've wanted these pictures for a long time and if I was a good photographer, they might have turned out cool.  I'll keep trying.

Wordless Wednesday: The Potty Edition