Book Club

If someone asked you to join a book club, would you join? Oh how I hope you would!

For some people, the very thought of enduring anything similar to a college classroom literary experience would be nothing short of torture, but for others (namely me) it is heaven. 

I LOVE reading. I love reading great books, and having great discussions about those books. I love dissecting novels and examining them to see what I have learned about myself. In college I was an English major, and with all honesty, thoroughly enjoyed all of my literature classes.

Now that I am married and have  a small, in-to-everything- munchkin, I rarely take the time to actually read a good book. Oh I'll start several, with every intention to finish, but after a few days, our house is littered with partially finished novels. 

Because I love reading so much, and wished I would make more time for it, when my friend told me that she was trying to start a book club and asked me to join, I jumped (probably literally) at the chance to be apart. Here was my opportunity to have to read a book :)

After exchanging a few emails, our book club, we have now so aptly named "The Cougars" (don't ask us why), was a go. We meet once a month, eat delish food, and talk about the book. With as much emotion as I can convey over this blogosphere, I tell you that I have SO enjoyed this book club. It does my heart, soul, and mind well to spend a couple of hours laughing  and talking with these women. 

So far we have read:

 HIGHLY recommend this book. It was not a short read, but it was so good that I devoured it.

This book will challenge you and encourage you. Honestly, I really loved the first half, and probably could have not read the second half and still walked away having learned a great deal about myself. 

Our most controversial pic yet. For a book that so many of us were skeptical we would finish (the protagonist has an affair with a monk!) the discussion at our book club meeting was probably the best yet. As a follower of Jesus, you simply cannot read something without viewing it through the lens of Christ.With that said, there were parts of the novel that were hard to get through; however,  those very parts of the novel led to brilliant conversation that I know I was challenged by. Although I thoroughly enjoyed our discussion, I'm not sure if I would recommend this book to others. You can be the judge. 

And for next month we will be discussing:  

I can't wait!

Now that Adam and I are both in book clubs (Adam's is a bit more manly. He likes to call his a bible study where they read books:), I consider our family pretty well-rounded. Now only if we could get Jackson in a book group....

only kidding...sort of :)

Go read! Be blessed!

Halloween, Atlanta, and Babyfood

Hello all! So I'm not so good at posting weekly, oh well:) We have been quite busy lately. 


A couple of weeks ago was Halloween and Adam, Jackson, and I all dressed up. Adam picked out my costume. Enough said. It was ridiculous. He was spiderman, which was awesome, and I ...well I was some dumpy version of Mary Jane. If I had known she was a model in the comic books, I would have changed my costume. But apparently neither of us knew that, and Adam thought a pre-teen boy shirt from Old Navy would suffice as part of my costume. Well that and a hideous red and black wig from the halloween store. Oh dear, I was a mess! I'll post pictures of that too. Jackson, on the other hand was adorable! He was the most precious Tigger I had ever seen:) Next year I will do the planning, and the three of us will coordinate:) We went with some friends trick-or-treating, and Jackson stayed in his stroller holding up a bucket as people gave him some candy. We felt a little strange since everyone was aware of the fact that Jackson could clearly not eat his candy. But it was so fun taking him, and I think some people genuinely liked dumping candy in his bucket anyway:)


Last week, I went up to Atlanta to meet up with several women who do what I do with The reThink Group. We were there for 4 days, and it was amazing! A good friend of mine just got hired with the company as well, and she and I rode up to Atlanta together. Each day we had several creative meetings with a few fun lunch and dessert breaks:) If you've never heard of us, The reThink Group, you can visit the following sites. You should especially read the posts on the parenting website. They are great:  Orange Parents  and Orange.


I had a little bit of anxiety leaving for the week. I was worried I would not have a good place to pump, that Jackson wouldn't nurse when I returned home, and I worried that I would have a melt down missing him so much. I know lately God has been giving me numerous opportunities to trust Him, and to prove Himself faithful. And that He did. As small as it may seem to others, it was a big deal to me that I made it through the week, had fun, and didn't have a melt down from being away from Jackson (I was able to skype with my boys while I was in Atlanta. Skype is wonderful!) And the sweet lady who is my direct boss had set up a discreet place for me to pump while I was there, AND Jackson nursed like a champ the minute I got home. God is faithful! 


I got home on Thursday, and Saturday we took Jackson to the fair! We met up with some good friends of ours who also have a little boy about the same age as Jackson. The fair was great, but it was freezing! I really think we picked the coldest day to go! Oh well! We had Jackson bundled up pretty well, and he had on his toboggan just like his daddy:) Adam and I ate our favorites: roasted corn, corn dogs, barbecue and elephant ears! yummo!


Speaking of food....Jackson has been eating pretty much anything that I have been feeding him, and a lot of it. I am still making his food, and I would def. recommend doing so. So far I have made:
-pears
-plums
-applesauce
-peaches
-sweet potato
-squash
-green beans
-sweet peas
**And I've mashed avocado and bananas. He LOVES bananas!


I will not make applesauce again though. It took way too long, and it didn't save us that much money, since I can buy huge jars of All-Natural Applesauce from Publix. But everything else was pretty easy to make, sweet potato being the easiest! All I do is wrap them in foil, bake them, slide off the skins and blend em up! SO easy.  I try to alternate yellow vegetables and green vegetables, so if I'm low in green beans, I pick up sweet peas the next time I'm at the store. Same for yellow. If I'm low in sweet potato I just pick up more squash at the store. I have found it is easier for me to make batches as I go. I plan on adding some blue/ purple fruits and vegetables soon. So far though, I love doing it, and it has been so easy and cost efficient!


I know I've said this in the previous posts, but Jackson is getting more and more fun each day. His little personality is coming to life. Sometimes he will just talk and talk to himself and play with the toys around him. And other times he wants to snuggle with me or Adam on the couch and play with either our cell phones or the remote control, neither of which I particularly want him to play with, but he is so good at spotting them and crawling/ reaching for what he wants before I even realize what he has done.


He is also sleeping great. The time change did rattle us just a bit. He was waking between 7:30-8:00, but for the past 3 mornings he has woken between 5:30-6:30. I don't think he knows that we have changed times on him:) I'm hoping he can settle back to where he was soon. But I'm not complaining. I've been going in and rocking him when he doesn't settle in the early morning, and that has been great. I know he won't be this little forever, so I'm trying to soak those moments in. 


He is also really really close to crawling. He has been pushing up on all fours and rocking back and forth. And he is also scooting sideways and backwards. It's just the funniest thing! Adam and I laughed and laughed at him the other night trying to crawl. It's precious! I did take some video. I'll post the video at the bottom of this post along with some pictures. 


Ok, I think I've caught you up over the past couple of weeks. I hope you are enjoying your fall, and I hope you are all thanking sweet Jesus for all of the things you have to be Thankful for this holiday season. 


Be blessed,
Monica

I know this video is a couple minutes long..but I think towards the end you can see where Jackson is almost crawling! He is so close!

Spiderman and Mary Jane

Our little Tigger:)

 I just love this little rascal!

These we took before we left for the Peanut Festival.

Family pic at the fair.

Just Mommy and Baby

Well, this week it's just mommy and baby. Thank goodness for baby, or mommy would be very lonely!

Adam is at a Lighthouse Retreat this week, serving families who have children with cancer. He is the emcee for the week, which means that he's the "fun" guy who lets everyone know what they will be doing each day, and I am at home holding down the fort without him. 

I don't know about you, but I HATE it when my hubby and I are separated. If I had it my way, we wouldn't spend another night apart for the rest of our lives   for a very long time. Sheesh! Can't wait for him to get back...ok on to other things.

About a month ago, our local bible study started back up again, and once again, I am amazed at what God is teaching me through these women. And to think, I almost didn't sign up.  Last year I wasn't  in a core group. I taught the home school kids who came with their moms. So when this year rolled around, I had a decision to make. Would I teach the kids again? Be in a  core group? Or not do it at all?  Just between you and me, part of me didn't want to do it at all. They do have childcare, but I didn't know how Jackson would do, when I would feed him etc. etc. I think those were just excuses because, newsflash, I don't really like change! And I had just just settled into a nice routine with my little man. Anyway, I bit the bullet and signed up to be in a core group. And I am SO incredibly glad that I did. Jackson does great every Wednesday (the lady who keeps him is excellent), and God has been teaching me a ton of stuff so far. Lesson learned: don't let fear cripple you!

Jackson is about 3 weeks away from being halfway through his first year! I cannot believe how fast time flies. So far, I love this age/stage the best. Mainly because he can reach out and touch my face, and because I can so easily make him laugh:) I also love how observant he is. When I take him outside, or when we walk into a place he's never been, his face lights up in wonder. It's like I can see his brain working to identify all of what he is seeing. Each day I'm also getting a few more glimpses into Jackson's budding personality, which is so fun to see. I love learning what makes him laugh (tickling his hip bone, or collar bone) and what makes him frustrated (the star toy on his exersaucer.. we actually had to remove it from the exersaucer because Jackson kept getting so very mad at it).

And, thank goodness, he has been sleeping wonderfully lately. For awhile he was sleeping about 9-10 hours at night. Then we hit a roadblock of teething, rolling, and congestion.  Now that his first tooth has popped though (thank goodness!) and he can roll both ways, he is sleeping much better now! He now averages 10-10.5 hours at night. And some mornings he wakes, but happily plays for another 30 minutes or so which means 11 hours for me in my bed:) Well, I'm not technically in my bed for 11 hours, but you get the point.

Onto something non-baby related....If you like to read, and you like adoption stories, but you don't mind shedding a few tears, I highly recommend you read Mary Beth Chapman's Book Choosing to See.  Mary Beth is Steven Curtis Chapman's wife (the famous christian music guy) , and about 2 years ago one of their adopted daughters was tragically killed in an accident involving her older brother. It was a terrible terrible terrible tragedy. BUT, Mary Beth has hope, and she shares it boldly and courageously, and at times gut-wrenchingly honestly in her book. There was one point in the book where I had to literally put it down because I was crying so hard. But I don't say that to discourage you from reading it. I cried because I was so overwhelmed with how short life is, and with just how so very good our God is. He is so good. He brings hope where there appears to be none. Praise God. Anyway, get the book. It will minister to you!

Ok, well I think that wraps things up for now. I am going to turn off the Food Network Channel (that I have kept on for just about 24 hours a day since Adam's been gone. It has become "background music" while I'm home:) and I'm going to hit the sack. Goodnight!