In the Beginning...

Last Sunday night while Matt was at church, I stayed home with a sick little boy and very possibly a sick little girl.  I was also sick.  It was super fun.  For reals.

I calmed headache induced temper tantrums, nursed a hungry little girl oblivious to the outside world.  I got up from my spot on the couch to put Missy Moo into her infant rocker and before I could even take two steps everything went completely dark.  Fearing that he would be afraid of the dark (he wasn't), I instructed Mini Mange to stay where he was while I put his still-sleeping sister down and that I would come to him so we could search for a flashlight.

We skipped his bath that night and went through the remainder of his normal bed time routine without even a whimper of protest.  He was totally digging the whole get dressed and read by the light of a flashlight thing.

Back in the living room, Missy Moo had woken up and decided that she was "still hungry" so I sat down and settled in for some comfort nursing.  When the light of the flashlight began to fade I clicked it off and stared into the darkness.

Then the Holy Spirit spoke into my ear.

"In the beginning was the Word.  And the Word was with God and the Word was God."

"Then God said, 'Let there be light,' and there was light."

"The light shines through the darkness, and the darkness can never extinguish it."


In a silence that can only come from a city-wide power outage, when the computer stopped humming and the electricity stopped buzzing through the walls of our apartment and the only thing I could hear was the growing storm outside my window, God reminded me that he is here.  He has always been here, He is always here and He will always be here.

Oh, like you don't...

I am a nose picker.

Yep.  You read that right.  I pick my nose.

I broke my nose 10 years ago and haven't been able to cleanly blow it since then.  True story.

Picking is more productive.

The good news is that I wash my hands frequently.

Unless I know I'll be at it for a while.  Then I just make myself comfortable.

Little Dutch Girl

Last night I cried my 2 month old daughter to sleep.

Yes, you read that right.  I cried my daughter to sleep because...

• the kitchen sink was full of dirty dishes and I couldn't give her a bath for the third night in a row.
• my son watched 90 minutes of cartoons instead of the "no more than 1 hour" that the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends.
• toddlers and babies who watch TV have decreased standing long jump performance when they are 4-years old.
• there were three baskets of overflowing laundry in need of either being put away or folded.
• the only meaningful contribution I've made to my husband's ministry this month is baking the perfect chocolate chip cookie.
• I eat too many chocolate chip cookies and I'm going to get fat and develop Type 2 Diabetes.
• someday Mini Mange will find out that the vultures in Disney's The Jungle Book are not really singing about friendship.  He'll be heartbroken.
• Missy Moo's poop is more orange than it used to be.  I think it's the cookies.
• the last five of Mini Mange's poopy diapers smelled worse than they did last week.  Like, vomit-in-my-mouth-take-this-to-the-dumpster-right-now-and-grab-the-air-freshener-on-your-way-back-in worse.
• I don't drink enough water.
• Missy Moo sleeps great during the day but won't go to bed until midnight or later.
• we haven't been outside to play for at least four days.
• the only places I go are church and the grocery store.
• Mini Mange won't be a professional athlete because he won't jump very far as a 4-year old.
• there are two pictures on the floor that need to be put back on the wall.  They've been on the floor since May.
• it's been 13 months since my last hair cut.
• I'm afraid that Mini Mange isn't having fun with his mommy anymore.
• I'm afraid that I spend too much time telling my kid what NOT to do and that I'm creating a defeated little boy.
• every other mom on the face of the planet is better at this than I am.
• there are babies whose parents leave them in their cribs or in front of the TV all day and they DON'T feel any remorse.
• there are babies and toddlers and children in hospital beds whose parents would give anything to simply worry about giving their child too much TV time and barfy-smelling diapers.
• there are parents without any babies at all.
• there are babies without parents.
• I want my children to know Jesus.
• I was crying.

I know that this kind of thing happens after you have a baby but it didn't hit as hard with Mini Mange.  With Mini Mange I joked to my friends that I was only "leaking hormones."  But Missy Moo pulled her tiny little finger out of the dike and those hormones went everywhere, taking all rational thought with them.

But today we're okay.  Mini Mange still watched two episodes of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and his two poopy diapers almost sent me running to the hills.  Missy Moo took two 2.5-hour naps and one 1-hour nap which is only weird because it's completely opposite from what I experienced with her brother.  But we played and wrestled and laughed.  Big brother gave his sister kisses and hugs, modeled his blue rain hat for her and made sure she had plenty of toys with her in her wiggle chair.  Mini Mange thanks God for Daddy, Mommy, "Ah-son" (Allison), cows, frog, and boys (other kids) when we pray before nap and bedtime.  Daddy is the Tickle Monster, Mommy is the Kissy Monster and to chase them both away, our sweet little boy becomes the Hug Monster.
 

I encourage you to follow along in the 30-Days to Enjoying Your Children More series over at fiveintow.com.  I've already gotten a lot out of the first six days and been encouraged to know (more like be reminded) that I'm not the only mom who struggles with this stuff.  I also recommend reading her quote wall.  But not if it's 1:20 am and you needed to be in bed 30 minutes ago.  Like me.

Fatal Distractions: Conquering Destructive Temptations

Silly me...I requested another book to review right before I had a baby!  Again, I had to go through it twice before my brain shifted from "life sustaining" mode into "functioning human" mode.

Some sins can become so deeply rooted in our lives that we don't realize how badly it's undermining our faith.  Kay Arthur's, Fatal Distractions: Conquering Destructive Temptations, walks us through six of the "deadly" sins (Pride, Anger, Jealousy, Gluttony, Slothfulness, and Greed) that can sneak into our lives and wreak havoc on our effectiveness as believers.  The book includes leader notes and the text of all referenced scriptures are printed in the margins.  Each study is meant to take 40 minutes to complete in a group such as a Sunday school class or bible study.

If you're looking for a lot of scripture commentary by the authors on the above listed topics you won't find it in this book.  Each study is accompanied by a set of open ended questions that the group is meant to answer and discuss together.  I wasn't super enthusiastic about the format for a couple of reasons.  The first being that I was confused by some of the instructions to draw circles, boxes, underlines, etc. under specific key words in the passages.  But I've never been one to write in my bible or text books as I'm studying so this was more distracting to me than anything else.  Maybe that's how Kay Arthur and crew roll but I'm not a fan.

The second impression that I got from this book is that depending on the group you're going through the study with, it would be very easy to regurgitate "Sunday School" answers to the questions.  I was skeptical that a larger group could get into meaningful and challenging discussion given the 40-minute time parameter of each chapter.  To be fair, that says more about me and the type of people I've spent the last few years studying the bible with that it says about the authors' ability to write a quality bible study.

Oh, while the cover is beautiful, there aren't any bells or whistles on the inside that make the book fun to look at.  It's just two columns of black and white text on each page.  (I imagine that keeps the cost of printing down.)

Some pros:

• The book is small and it would fit inside one of those leather or canvas zippered bible covers that everyone uses.
• There's no homework! Everything is contained within a 40-minute study meant to be done in a small group.
• LOTS of scripture references for each deadly sin.

Overall, I give it 2.5 stars


*I received this book for free from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for this review.*

The Scent of Rain

I love e-books!  (Mostly, I love free e-books but who doesn't)  They are a nursing mom's best friend.  The only thing you need is a thumb or a finger to turn the page.  I tried reading a paperback while feeding my daughter and wanted to pull my hair out but that would have required an extra hand - which I didn't have.  Anyhoo...onto the book review.

The Scent of Rain by Kristin Billerbeck brings us into the world of professional "nose" Daphne Sweeten.  Left at the alter by her fiance on page 1, Daphne packs up and moves to Dayton Ohio to get away from the humiliation of being a jilted bride.  After passing up her dream job in Paris at a prestigious fragrance company and accepting a position as a scent developer with a small household goods company where her fiance was hired, she has no where else to go.  Unfortunately, Daphne loses her sense of smell after being left at the alter.  Jesse Lightner doesn't think his department needs a professional nose to help create the next great household product but Daphne was thrust upon him by his overbearing boss.  The two come to an agreement for her to stay on with the company for six months.  Enough time for him to bring his poor sales numbers up and for Daphne to convince her former employer to hire her back.  The problem?  Jesse doesn't know that Daphne has lost her sense of smell and Daphne struggling to to hide her secret.

First of all, I thought the cover was beautiful.  I selected this title to review because it really made me want to read this book.  I read a couple of Kristin Billerbeck's books a few years ago.  Scratch that - I started a couple of her books but I wasn't exactly thrilled by them so I didn't bother to finish them.  I can honestly say that that is not the case with The Scent of Rain.  I read it once when I was pregnant and then had to read it again after Allison was born (because my brain had turned to mush).  I enjoyed it just as much the second time through.  And because it's the equivalent of a "chick flick" I didn't have to work too hard to get through it despite sleepless nights, a nursing newborn and a busy toddler.  There were a couple of laugh out loud bits of dialogue, such as when Daphne's best friend Sophie gives her a hard time about eating the top tier of her wedding cake in the back of a limo and Daphne replies, "I had something to prove."  Because if my fiance had left me at the alter, I would totally gorge on the top tier of my wedding cake in the back of a limo.

My only negative critiques are that I would have liked to learn a little bit more about being a professional nose (because I'm one of those crazy people who likes Kathy Reichs' novels for the science and not the mystery) and the resolution to Daphne's problems with her fiance seemed a little far fetched.

Overall it was an entertaining book and I'll probably read it again when I'm looking for something silly to keep me entertained on a road trip.

3.5 out of 5 stars

 
*I received a copy of this book from BookSneeze in return for an honest review.*

Tonight was The Branch's official launch.  It's been a few years in the making and I'm completely overwhelmed at how God guides and directs our paths so that we can be a part of making his name known.

"We're not church planters" and yet, here we are.  Matt is one of four pastors of a new church plant at Oregon State University.  It's without a doubt insane and exhilarating at the same time to know that our lives and our relationship with each other (and with others) have been slowly building to this.

I think the best part of all is knowing that God isn't done with us.

Ten Things I Think I Think (Because I'm too tired to remember other stuff)

1. There are two things that make me beg for drugs like a coke addict going through withdrawals: 1) Labor and 2) a head cold when I'm pregnant or breastfeeding.

2. Missy Moo likes to have her diaper changed, then eat, then poop, then eat again.  Sometimes she throws a couple of naps in there too.  In all, meals take about an hour to complete.

3. When life gets busy it's really easy to play the "Who's Job is Harder?" game with your spouse.  Don't do it.  Nobody wins.  Except the baby who is oblivious to it all and has her needs met no matter what.

4. I wish I was a baby so I could have my needs met no matter what.

5. I love cookies.

6. When I was a senior in high school, my chemistry teacher, Mr. Frederickson, once said, "I'm woefully out of touch with popular culture.  No, really.  Unless it's Veggie Tales or Disney, I have no clue what you're talking about." I'm starting to understand where he was coming from.

7. I'm desperate to go shopping.  Or at the very least have 12 hours in a vast retail establishment to try on clothes, drink a smoothie and not feel guilty about how my husband is stuck at home with Mini Mange.  I don't even need to buy anything.  I just want to experience that New Clothes Smell.  (Holister and Abercrombie don't count.  They smell like high school and I hated the smell of high school - that's why I spent most of my time in a gym with a bag full sweaty volleyball gear.)

8. No, seriously.  I. LOVE. Cookies.

9. The craft bug is staring to hit me hard but I miss the days when I didn't have to pick up my mess before our Tasmanian Devil woke up in the morning.

10. Last week I saw a lady walking down the street.  Her entire head was bald with the exception of a 1x6 inch strip on the lower left part of her skull.  It was like a weird bald mullet side ponytail.  Even the guy in the car next to me was freaked out.

Finished DY Projects

Wow time flies doesn't it?  I was all like, "I'm really gonna be good at this blogging thing again.  For reals y'all!"  Not so much for reals.

BUT I do have a sort of excuse.  After I re-covered my lampshades I was just waiting for my husband to upload the pictures from the camera.  Yes, I could have done it but it's his camera and well, I just didn't feel like it.  He doesn't do the laundry even though he's the one who wore the underwear and that's pretty much the same thing...  Well, the photos have been uploaded and here they are:

The old toile lampshade

Seriously, this had to go...

Lampshade with fabric removed.  This part was harder than I thought it would be.

I took the lamp and traced the top and bottom with a pencil while rolling it on the new fabric

I used spray adhesive on the back of the new fabric to lay it over the shade.

I used my hot glue gun to glue the edges to the inside rims of the shade.  Then I trimmed the excess fabric so that you can't see it when the light is on.

I added two strips of dark blue braided cord to the lamp to hide the seam.

Then I tackled the space on our kitchen counters that was really annoying me.  We have more phones that need to be charged than we have people in our home.  Why?  Because Mini Mange has three of his own phones that he plays with.  Yes, three.  They don't have service but he likes to take pictures of himself and pretend that he's talking to daddy and grandpa.  So, with all of those cords and keys and other things, well, you can imagine the visual clutter can get pretty out of control.  And Mini Mange kept getting a hold of the keys and pushing the panic button on the key fob.  We needed a new system.

Charging station: $4 at Goodwill.  The white parts are where pictures are supposed to go.  I can't decide between pictures, cute quotes or scriptures.

Paper towel roll $13-ish at Bed Bath and Beyond.  I really like it.

This mess is called "The Cage" (you know, like from that Will Smith movie, Enemy of the State) and it needs to change.  I'm putting it here because I want to humiliate myself.  But toddler-proofing this part of the house in a budget friendly manner is proving to be impossible.

So, Matt's side of the bed was pretty miserable.  He has a side table but there wasn't much room for anything on it once you put a box of Kleenex and the alarm clock there.  He also didn't have a reading lamp because we were using it for the living room (it was one of the lamps I re-covered).  So my solution (and I don't even know how I came up with it) was to take two book ends that Matt made in junior high shop class, turn them on their sides and plop a leftover glass shelf from Ikea on top of it.  It's raised up enough so that he can put the super thick book he's reading underneath the glass.

Yes, that is dust and a price sticker that I didn't bother to remove before I took the picture.  I don't want to hear it.

It's not Pottery Barn, but it was free and I used items that we can't use for their intended purposes right now thus freeing up storage space and emptying yet another moving box that hadn't been unpacked.  So I'm pretty proud of how it turned out.

 

Now, the other eyesore that I'd like to change is the Rubbermaid Office Supply drawer that we've shoved under the table but there's really no where to put them where Mini Mange can't get to them.  Just today, I moved the larger white plastic drawers that you can see on the left into our closet.  This nesting thing has been awesome.  I have a LIST of stuff I want to do before the baby gets here in about four weeks and I think I just might do it.

Siren Song of the Goodwill

I've been working on a lot of projects lately.  And by "working on a lot of projects" I mean to say that I've completed two (twoish - okay, one for sure), am in the middle of the ongoing battle to declutter my bedroom, am brainstorming an office organizational project and a wall decoration project, have informed my husband of how he can best utilize his "Man Skills" to upgrade my dresser before the baby comes (complete with diagram and measurements as well as a walk through the lumber department at Home Depot), and have pinned about a thousand more projects and recipes on Pinterest.  And since I haven't uploaded the pictures of my lamp re-do, I thought I'd tell a funny little story about how crazy I am.

When we first moved down here to our sleepy little college town Matt and I had some tense conversations about what to unpack, where to store stuff, what to keep and what to give away.  I think I can count the number of arguments we've had on one hand.  Okay, big arguments.  I can count the number of disagreements that haven't ever really been resolved on two hands.  This is not because we're excellent communicators but because we clam up and avoid issues until it doesn't become an issue anymore.  And we don't really disagree on all that much.  Or if we do, one of us usually "sees the light" and compromises on something.  (I don't want you to think we're a complete mess of a couple).  Anyway, I say all of that to emphasize the point that if we had some tense conversations about possessions it was a pretty big deal in our world.

One day, after unpacking a box of things (I couldn't even tell you what the box was full of - Matt probably could, he was very traumatized by the event) my husband came out to sit on the couch and  brought a big black cloud with him.

"Are you okay?"

"I'm fine." I could tell he was completely NOT fine.

"You don't have to get rid of your stuff if you don't want to." Because I'm an enabler...

"Too late, it's already in the trash."

At this point I had to abandon ship to another room because I sure as heck was not going down with Captain Grumpy Pants.  And the Oregonian in me was riding a major guilt trip over all of the things that went into the dumpster that could have been recycled...

Fast forward a few days to when Matt is telling some friends about the difficulty we had in getting our house unpacked...

"...I realized as I was unpacking my box that this thing that I was so attached to could not love me back.  So why was I having such a hard time getting rid of it?"

Matt has said many profound things in the time I have known him but this statement has almost turned into the Munger battle cry over the last nine months.

It cannot love me back.

Five little words that have set us free on a many occasions.  Five little words that have ended arguments and added perspective to tense conversations.

So here we are in June of 2012, awaiting the arrival of our little Sweet Pee (yes, I spelled that right).  I'm elbow deep in box number two (of five) of stuff that has been sitting in our bedroom waiting to be stored, purged, or donated and I come across a white desk lamp.  I haven't used this desk lamp in about 10 years, but there it sits in a box with a "SUPER!" sticker glued onto the base and a "United Way" sticker stuck to the metal bell shade.  I love this lamp.  Why?  Because it was one of the last Christmas gifts that my Grandpa Jones gave to me before he passed away 20 years ago.

This lamp cannot love me back.

I put it down on the bed, took a few steps back, closed my eyes and said to the empty room, "My Grandfather's legacy is not tied to this lamp."  I picked up the lamp, put it in the "donate" box, walked to the living room and asked Matt to take the box to Goodwill that afternoon before I started pulling items back out.

Two weeks later, as I wandered through the Goodwill looking for only God knows what, I saw The Lamp.  And next to it was another exactly like it.  Two white lamps!!  What are the odds?!  My stickers were gone so it's hard to say which one was mine.  Come to think of it, it's hard to say if either lamp was mine.  Both were in good condition and both were only $4.99.  I can buy the happy memories of my loving, generous Grandpa Jones back for only $4.99?!  What a steal!!  I reached out my hand to stick it in my cart and completely froze as I realized that I was being completely ridiculous.

I raced to the front of the store to pay for Mini Mange's giant bag of Mega Blocks before insanity overtook common sense and drove straight home where I sheepishly recounted the story to my patient, loving (and now flabbergasted) husband.

It's Alive! (And it wants a cookie!!)

So first of all...blogger changed their interface when you log in.  I know a lot can happen pretty quickly in "technology years" but nothing really brings home the fact that you've been a blogging slacker better seeing a big gray screen with a white box in it and not having any clue what's going on.

What's new in our world?

I just ate some of these cookies and they were awesome.  Mine had mini chocolate chips in them.  Highlight of my week.  I wanted to put a picture of a pregnant lady with a paper bag over her head but what I found was from the Getty Image library and since my sister used to work for Getty sending collection letters to people who used their licensed material without permission I decided that it wasn't a good idea.  (She still works for Getty but in a different department - I imagine the rules still apply.)

Baby number two is on the way.  But most of out readers know that because...well because I think I already mentioned it.  I also don't have that many and what few I had before probably have given up on me altogether and now resort to getting information via text message, facebook or phone call.  Or grapevine.  We found out that it's supposed to be a girl and she's supposed to arrive on or near August 30th but we're not getting rid of  Mini Mange's clothing until we see her with our own two eyes.  Or four.  But we really only need one eye between the entire family to figure this one out.

I was diagnosed with Gestational Diabetes a few weeks ago which has been...discouraging but at the same time an answer to prayer.

The discouraging part was that I had this idea that only girls with a family history or were unhealthy or overweight were diagnosed it.  I've since learned that that's not true at all.  Well, the family history thing is true and that's a pretty major factor.  But the reason that you get it is not because you're overweight or don't exercise or eat poorly it's because the placenta produces hormones that interfere with the ability of the insulin that your body does produce to be effective.  Once you deliver the placenta?  Bam-o! No more Gestational Diabetes.  Or at least in most circumstances.  If that doesn't happen, it's possible that you already had diabetes but just didn't know it.  Unfortunately, once you're diagnosed with GD, you have a much higher chance of developing Type 2 diabetes later in life if you don't alter your lifestyle and eating habits.  In fact, your lifestyle has a bigger influence than eating habits when it comes to warding off Type 2 diabetes.  The more you know...

So what I've been doing is testing my blood sugar four times a day, eating a little differently (meaning, I'm eating the way ALL Americans should be eating.  Though I'm not supposed to eat fruit or cold cereal first thing in the morning and that's been HARD!)  I'm also supposed to exercise regularly.  So really, no big deal.  I lost two pounds since my last doctor's appointment and I start my first trimester tomorrow and I'm still wearing my pre-pregnancy jeans (just unbuttoned and secured with an elastic hair tie.)

And how has this been an answer to prayer?  Well, I was telling my husband that I wanted to find a way to meet people outside of church and that I was having a hard time motivating myself to do it.  I'm an introvert but I've really morphed back into my pre-college introverted self and it's been discouraging and lonely at times.  Once I was diagnosed they said I was supposed to start going to gestational diabetes counseling.  Turns out that it's a group meeting!  Huh, imagine that.  A couple of the girls there are in the same boat as me - completely caught off guard by their diagnosis.  They're people that I would never have met before either; one's a beautician (I've been putting off getting my hair cut for so long now that I'm going to ask her tomorrow if I can make an appointment) one's a sweet little Mennonite girl (with an iPhone! I still keep track of my schedule with pen and paper).  There are two others that I only met at our last meeting but they seem really nice too.  Sooo...yay God for the diabetes and stuff.

Other Munger highlights that I'm excited about:

1. I've been learning to make lots of new things in the kitchen and we've been wasting less food because I've been more diligent about meal planning.
2. I'm going to be an aunt in December!  Matt's sister is expecting her first.  I'm hoping for a boy so that we can share Mini Mange's clothing with family.  But a girl would be nice so that our little chickadee has a little chickadee cousin.
3. Mini Mange is talking more and more every day.  I don't understand half of it but he's very earnest.
4. Mini Mange is also learning how to throw some righteous temper tantrums.  So far ignoring him is the best way for them to stop.  Unless he's hungry or tired and then mom needs to get her act together and fix the problem ASAP.
5. Mini Mange was also off the growth chart in height at his 18 month check-up.  He towers over most of the two-year-olds at the park.

So I think that's it.  I'm sure I'll think of more things later but hopefully it doesn't take me six months to post again.

The Inconvenient Marriage of Charlotte Beck

After the last few books that I requested, I decided that I would rather read something light and fluffy (at the time of my request, the morning sickness was still pretty vicious - that's how far behind on life I am.)  A Chick Flick in a book if you will - you certainly wouldn't see my husband reading a book called The Inconvenient Marriage of Charlotte Beck!

Charlotte Beck is the daughter of a millionaire business man who's only dream is to go to college and return to help run her father's company. Charlotte is often unpredictable and usually bucking tradition and social decorum - things not appreciated in a young woman of Charlotte's social standing near the turn of the century. In order to put a stop to Charlotte's rebellious ways, her father arranges a marriage between Charlotte and the son of his business rival, Alex Hambly. Naturally, the two get along like oil and water Charlotte and Alex agree to the deal to her father's face but secretly plan to annul the marriage after a set amount of time. But when Alex has a change of heart and refuses to annul the marriage, Charlotte must figure out a way to convince him otherwise.

As far as an easy Saturday afternoon vacation read goes, Charlotte Beck isn't the worst book you could pick up. There is a little bit of historical fact sprinkled throughout the story (Buffalo Bill Cody is a family friend and so makes quite a few appearances). Ultimately the main problem I had with the book is that I did not find Charlotte to be a likable heroine. Spoiled and disrespectful of others, I found the attraction between Alex and Charlotte to be unbelievable. Alex certainly had his flaws but Y'barbo writes a backstory that elicits sympathy rather than frustration. Y'Barbo spends a lot of time laying the groundwork for this immensely contentious relationship (which spans years) and then asks the reader to buy in as our heroine seems to change in just a matter of weeks. There were also a few loose ends that I wished were tied up better such as Alex's brother's condition, her grandfather's relationship to Alex's father and Charlotte's relationship with her estranged best friend.

Bottom line: There are better boy meets girl, girl hates boy, girl changes her mind and they all live happily ever after romances out there. But if you've already read all of the modern attempts to recreate the Darcy/Elizabeth fairy tale then The Inconvenient Marriage of Charlotte Beck is at least putting on your list of things to (eventually) read.

*I received this book for free from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for this review*

The Inconvenient Marriage of Charlotte Beck (Chapter 1 Excerpt)

God Gave Us Two

I received a copy of Lisa Tawn Bergren's Children's book, God Gave Us Two from Waterbrook Multnomah Publishers back in December(!).  We left for Christmas vacation, then I found out I was pregnant and before I could write my review, the morning all day sickness hit and sitting in front of the computer and putting together a coherent thought was the last thing I wanted to do.  So this review is a long time in the making.  God Gave Us Two is the follow up book to God Gave Us You, which tells the story of where Little Bear comes from.  In God Gave Us Two, Little Bear is nervous about the arrival of her new sibling.

"Papa," she said, "if we don't like the new baby, can we send it back?"

"If the new baby cries too much, can I move next door?"

"Will she go iceberg hoppin' and puffin pouncin' with me?"

On and on, Little Bear asks questions about the new baby and her parents gently and calmly reassure her that she will love the new baby and that it will be a gift from God.  At the end of the story, we find out that there is not just one new baby in the house, but two!  Mama has given birth to twins.  And yes, Little Bear is very happy about it.

First, I will say that this is a sweet little book that is beautifully illustrated.  Mini Mange however, was never particularly enthralled by it.  He doesn't really become engrossed in many books at his age but he does like to look at the pictures for a second or so before zipping through the rest of the pages.  I tried many man times but he always threw it aside and reached for something else.  But, he's also 15 months and not exactly the target audience for this book.

Mostly though, I was a little disappointed that Mama Bear gave birth to twins in the end.  I was hoping that as I got closer to the end of my pregnancy that I could read this to MM and he would get excited about having a new brother or sister.  But since I'm not having twins...well, it takes away a little bit of the excitement of the story completely relating to our situation.

Please, please rank this review!!


**I received this book for free from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for this review and was not required to provide a favorable review.**

Mini Mange

The newest bout of Munger Mange is not contagious.  We're going to have another little Baby Mange in August.  So now that Baby Mange will be a big brother, he will soon be known as Mini Mange.  Or MM.  Or The Artist Former Known as Baby Mange.  Or Metta World Peas (That's both a vegetable and a Ron Artest joke).

So this post is to serve as notice that I am trying really hard to get motivated to blog on a more regular basis.  I know I keep saying that but I really do have the best of intentions.  There are like, a billion pictures on my camera that I took while composing posts in my head.  I also have video of Mini Mange's first SNOW DAY!  And a hysterical video of MM laughing hysterically at his giant stuffed dog.  (Well, we think it's funny.)  Seriously, Blogging Gold.

In the meantime, here are some cute pictures of Mini Mange.

What could Santa have left for me?!

FISHIES!!!

Mommy, Mini Mange and Great Grandma Jones

It's Book Blogging Time! (Heart of Ice)

I recently received Heart of Ice by Lis Wiehl and April Henry from ThomasNelson publishers.  Heart of Ice is third in a series of Triple Threat Novels which follow Federal Prosecutor Allison Pierce, FBI Special Agent Nicole Hedges, and crime reporter Cassidy Shaw.  Elizabeth Avery is beautiful, manipulative and a dangerous killer.  Elizabeth recruits former fellow juvenile detention inmate, Joey Decicco, to set fire to the home of her boyfriend's ex-wife.  Not satisfied with simply the destruction of property, she soon seeks to have Sara and Sara's young son killed.  Allison, Nicole and Cassidy must uncover the truth before one of them loses their lives.

The title of this post invokes way more enthusiasm for this book than I actually felt.  In fact it took me over a month to get to page 89 at which point I reluctantly decided to give up altogether.  I tried, I really tried, but I simply found the character development to lackluster and the subject matter too disturbing to want to finish.  (And I'm not squeamish about suspense novels.  Kathy Reichs is one of my all time favorite authors and her stuff is not only gruesome but creepy.)  It's possible that reading the book from five(!) different points of view at one time or another was too much.  I never really felt connected to any of the three heroines and starting at book three instead of book one may have contributed to that.  One neat thing about the story is that it takes place in Portland, Oregon and there were a few things that made me smile and think, "That is sooooo Portland!"  But the familiar setting might have contributed to the creepiness factor.  I don't want to think about those things happening in my (former) back yard.

Overall, I would give the book two stars but I am willing to come back to it later in the year and try to read it again.  Maybe after the baby is born and my mommy hormones aren't crying out for rainbows, puppies and fairy tales.

** I received this book as a part of the BookSneeze program through Thomas Nelson Publishers and was not required to write a positive review.  The opinions expressed are my own.**