1.07.2012

2011 Book List

Below is my 2011 reading list. The titles in bold were my favorites. Feel free to comment or ask questions.

Reading List 2011
Goal: 60 books

1. Decision Points by George W. Bush
2. The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown
3. Pursuit of Honor by Vince Flynn
4. Wise Blood by Flannery O’Connor
5. Cannery Row by John Steinbeck
6. Ancient Near Eastern Thought and the Old Testament by John Walton
7. The Difficult Doctrine of the Love of God by D.A. Carson
8. Church Planting is for Wimps by Mike McKinley
9. American Assassin by Vince Flynn
10 Cyndere’s Midnight by Jeffrey Overstreet
11. Raven’s Ladder by Jeffrey Overstreet
12. The Unexpected Journey by Thom Rainer
13. Upside Down by Stacy Rinehart
14. Evangelism: A Biblical Approach by G. Michael Cocoris
15. The Ale Boy’s Feast by Jeffrey Overstreet
16. Becoming a Contagious Christian by Bill Hybels
17. Business As Usual in the Missions Enterprise? by Tom Steffen
18. The Crossing by Cormac McCarthy
19. The Great Divorce by C.S. Lewis
20. Ministering Cross-Culturally by Sherwood Lingenfelter
21. Perspectives on the World Christian Movement ed. by Ralph Winter and Steven Hawthorne
22. The First American: The Life and Times of Benjamin Franklin by H.W. Brands
23. John MacArthur: Servant of the Word and Flock by Iain Murray
24. Serving with Eyes Wide Open by David Livermore
25. Golf’s Sacred Journey by David L. Cook
26. The Searchers by Alan LeMay
27. Slave by John MacArthur
28. Erasing Hell by Francis Chan and Preston Sprinkle
29. The Purity Principle by Randy Alcorn
30. Biblical Theology in the Life of the Church by Michael Lawrence
31. Cities of the Plain by Cormac McCarthy
32. I Kissed Dating Goodbye by Joshua Harris
33. The Next Story by Tim Challies
34. Teach as Jesus Taught by Roy Zuck
35. A God-Sized Vision by Collin Hansen and John Woodbridge
36. Don’t Call It a Comeback ed. by Kevin DeYoung
37. The Mission of the Church by Kevin DeYoung and Greg Gilbert
38. Sacred Parenting by Gary Thomas
39. Boy Meets Girl by Joshua Harris
40. Four Views on the Spectrum of Evangelicalism
41. The Cross of Christ by John Stott
42. Did Adam and Eve Really Exist? by C. John Collins


Fiction: 13
Non-fiction: 29

1.05.2012

Phew...

Alice did go back to sleep this afternoon and then really woke up after two hours, like usual. Very thankful.

I added some pictures to our web album from the Christmas season. Here's one that didn't make it onto an album yet. She's so put together. Such a classy young lady. So much potential. That's my girl!

Still There?

 Just checking... I haven't been able to see them from this angle for quite a while so it seemed appropriate to take a picture to make sure. Yes, I'm still pregnant. No, there have been no signs of labor starting. At our doctor appointment on Tuesday we didn't actually get to see the doctor because he had to go deliver a baby. So, I will know if there is progress at our next appointment on Monday. Emma's heart beat still sounds great. That's the only update.

Alice is napping and I'm tempted to do the same. I think my stuffy nose for the past few days has been allergies since my allergy medicine seems to help. Perhaps the warmer weather just threw my nose for a loop. Seriously, it's supposed to get to 85 degrees today! I think it was cooler during the May when Alice was born than it has been this January so far.

Uh... Now Alice is crying........ She's been asleep for 35 minutes. This is not okay.
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12.22.2011

Moms, Should I Force Her to Eat?

I need opinions/experienced moms to chime in here.

Alice seems to be going through a "reverse" growth spurt... at least that's what I'm calling it. She goes through phases where she eats whatever I put in front of her without a problem. Her current phase, however, requires me to pinch/pull her ear and tell her to open her mouth... with EVERY bite, no matter what I'm feeding her. I was attempting to hold her head and that was just hard to do. She turns her head and rests it on her shoulder away from the food. The ear pinch/pull has been most effective. Occasionally I can get her to "help mommy" by holding the fork/spoon with me and getting it into her mouth. Once in a while I just need to touch her ear slightly and she'll open her mouth. Most of the time I have to get her by the ear and (attempt to) patiently tell her to open her mouth and eat her food. If I give her finger food, she eats some and then plays with it and makes a HUGE mess or throws it on the floor.

Mind you, her meals have been significantly smaller because I can only force feed her so much. PLUS, if she doesn't eat a good sized meal at breakfast/lunch/dinner, she wants to snack all day. She does have a fairly regular "snack" after she wakes up from her nap in the afternoon. A typical eating schedule for her is breakfast at 8/8:30, lunch at noon, nap time from 1-3ish, snack around 4, dinner at 6. One book I read said that you shouldn't be concerned about what your toddler eats in ONE day, but look at the content of their meals over 2-3 days. Clearly that's not intended for a pregnant mommy who can hardly remember at lunch time what SHE ate for breakfast, let alone what her daughter ate two days ago. Do I really need to keep a food journal for my 19 month old??

So.... Do I continue the route I'm going, trying to get her to eat a decent meal at "meal time"? Should I let her dictate being all done and then not feed her snacks when she wants them so she'll eat a better meal at the next meal time? Do I just go with whatever and let her snack here and there throughout the day? No one ever tells you about these kinds of things before you become a mom. I guess I wouldn't have been that interested in hearing it before I had a child. Funny how that works. But seriously, I'd love to know what others have done or even if you're going through the same thing with your toddler... What has worked for you???

Three days til Christmas! And just for fun, here's a really cute picture of my two favorite people :-D

12.21.2011

Laughing with Daddy

Another one...

More Spaghetti

For those who don't have Facebook...

Moved

Russell Moore's writing usually leaves me wowed. His talent for turning a phrase in a new or unusual way makes me laugh or cry or marvel. His blog post today is worth a read and it probably affected me more because Moore just celebrated the arrival of his baby boy. Here's a sampler:
Early on in your unborn life, a doctor told us he thought you would have Down Syndrome. He turned out to be wrong, but we didn’t know that until you were born. Sadly, you probably won’t meet a lot of kids with Down Syndrome because so few of them ever make it to birth these days, so you might not even understand what that is.

When the doctor told us this, your mother and I looked at each other and knew right away that you would be a gift: Down Syndrome or not. Your worth and your value wouldn’t be in whether or not this age saw you as having “power” or “success,” but instead based on your bearing the image of the God who made you and who loves you.

Read the rest here.

12.19.2011

Thrift Stores

For those who don't know, I LOVE thrift stores. I especially appreciate ones that are well organized and know that they are thrift stores (i.e. CHEAP). This morning we went to my FAVORITE thrift store because as a club member I received 50% off all clothing, shoes & accessories. Woot. I'm totally there. We got a ridiculous amount of clothing for the girls (mainly Alice) and a few things for Andrew & me. I feel much more ready for "winter" in southern California and am thankful that I no longer will need to wash Alice's clothes every few days to keep her in long sleeves :-)

Today marks 36 weeks of pregnancy, which means only four more weeks until my due date. For a good couple weeks I was convinced that Emma was going to come early. I'm not so sure anymore. I think it was just wishful thinking since I'm starting to get more and more uncomfortable. We shall see if there are any changes to report from the next doctor appointment this Friday. It will determine our Christmas whereabouts.

This particular Monday also happens to be the first of SIX Mondays where Andrew will have the day off work AND school. Of course our thrift store morning was something that wouldn't have happened without him. I love having my husband home and less stressed with a break from school. We are so blessed!

12.13.2011

Quiet Moment

At our doctor appointment yesterday we learned that Emma is head-down! I'm very thankful for that as I'm not good at determining what lump on my stomach is which body part of hers. But she's creating a LOT of pressure and lower back pain that comes and goes.

Alice is having a rough morning and is now in playpen time--apparently the ONLY thing that's okay at the moment. She's already gotten one molar and the second one is either just poking through or about to. It appears the behavior (crying, inconsolable maniac) may be connected with incoming teeth. I've also had some pressure in my sinuses the last two days that's causing headaches and throbbing. I'm sure you can imagine how that feels with a screaming 19 month old to add to it. Please pray!

Less than half of the month until Christmas... :-D

12.09.2011

To Do

This morning Andrew pulled out the advent calendar ornament which begins the second third of the month. Just 16 days until Christmas!

It's also (according to the countdown <----) 38 days until my due date. THAT seems very soon. I think Emma "dropped" on Saturday. I won't go into detail, but I can breathe easier and haven't had any heartburn since then. She's still moving a lot, but does seem to have slowed down a tad. I'm pretty sure I look smaller than I did with Alice, but I'm not sure. I've gained right around 20 lbs, though having the flu certainly influenced that. I feel like there are still so many things to do before Emma arrives, so I'm going to make a list. I like lists :-)

To Do:
-Take hospital tour (planned for Monday, Dec. 19)
-Get a few more baby items
-Make list of who to notify of Emma's coming
-Figure out what to do with Alice when Emma comes
-Make & freeze some meals
-Pack for hospital
-Install baby car seat & move Alice's car seat

Okay... that doesn't seem as overwhelming as I was making it in my mind. And now Alice is awake. Today was a good nap day. This week has been good nap, bad nap, good nap, bad nap, good nap. At least she's sort of "consistent." Happy Friday!