April, 2008

Today was a busy day for Kenny and I.   We spent the morning with our local MOPs group getting ready for a fundraiser... eight moms and twenty-some kids under age four in a our co-chair's living room.   I was one of the "kid-watchers" and I have to admit that after a while I just kind of tuned out.   When you're watching that many toddlers in that small…

Humpty Who? A Crash Course in 80 Nursery Rhymes for Clueless Moms and Dads,  by Jennifer Griffen; Published by Workman Publishing, 2007 In the introduction to this charming and actually very useful handbook, author Jennifer Griffin describes the scene the first time she tried to soothe her newborn baby with a song: the only thing she could come up with was the commercial jingle for Sure deodorant.   Her second…

... so far away.     My due date, that is.   Only 8 weeks to go (if I stick with the scheduled c-section; 9 until the actual due date).   It feels like forever and it feels like way too soon all at once. I am finally starting to really feel BIG.   As in, this belly is getting heavy.   Turning over in bed in the middle of…

Today I asked Casey what he thought about my hopes for the birth of this little one.   I wanted to make sure that he was "on board" so that we didn't find ourselves at the hospital with two different game plans, should I go into labor early.   He actually trumped me one, and suggested that we consider really doing our research, get all the facts, and then re-consider…

As I hit 31 weeks of pregnancy, 14 weeks of those in maternity clothes, I have come to a new  craving for anything other than Target and Motherhood Maternity.   Enter ChulaMama, the super-trendy and hip "all-in-one" maternity and baby store. Let me note from the start that hip and trendy come with a price tag, so be forewarned that clicking on this website may entice you into spending some…

I will be 31 weeks on Tuesday, and already the crazed-nesting instinct it kicking in.   On Friday, my sister came over to help me go through all of Kenny's out-grown clothes.   They were in an mess of bags and boxes, not all quite clean and not in any kind of size order.   Not only did we go through all of it, but  I separated out the  "neutral"…

Kenny sings to himself all the time.   It's usually a Veggie Tales song or a Boz song or something from his Rolly Pollie class.   I'm talking "This Little Light of Mine" or "Circle, Triangle, Square" or "The More We Get Together."     Sweet stuff.   That changed today. While I was getting dressed this morning, I heard him singing to his stuffed animals in his room, and…

Today was one of the glorious days on the Chesapeake Bay when you know that winter has quit for good, and that Spring is really here; our Heron  returned for the first time since October!   It was the cause of much excitement from all involved:   Kenny ran shouting out the back door, "Look!   The HERON is HERE!"   Dudley ran so fast down the dock that I…

The Bright Side of Disaster,by Katherine Center, published by Ballantine Books, 2008 Opening the cover of The Bright Side of Disaster, by Katherine Center is like answering a phone call from your best friend; you don't necessarily intend to spend half the night gabbing, but the more you hear, the harder it is to hang up. Enter Jenny, engaged to Mr. No-Where-Near-Wonderful, and unexpectedly pregnant.   She is exuberant about…

Most of the books I reivew on this website are sent to me by publishers and authors; I read them through, let Kenny flip through them (if they're children's books) and pass them on to friends for their comments.   But recently, I received an interesting request from the author of a soon-to-be published children's book, asking if I would review his book online, as he was looking for press…