My Word for 2018

Last year was the first year I ever had a word of the year. I wasn’t really planning on it, but it had gotten stuck in my head and had turned out to be the perfect word for 2017. I was hopeful for everything the year would bring, and 2017 turned out to be so wonderful. I will forever treasure that year. The same thing happened to me this year. I wasn’t even thinking of having a word of the year for 2018, but one word just kept popping into my head over and over again.

That word is joy. There are definitely good days and bad days in parenting, but I hope to find joy in every single day with our little man. Anthony is so full of joy. He is full of smiles and squeals these days. I can’t even begin to explain the joy I feel when he gives me a big smile first thing in the morning when I go to pick him up, even when that morning wake-up time is sometimes 5:30 a.m. I have always wanted to be a mother, and, honestly, I have been truly thankful for every day with him so far. I really hope to continue to find joy in our daily life as I watch him grow!

Six Books I Read in December

Happy Monday, friends! Chris is in the middle of working 12 days straight, so we didn't get much of a weekend, but there is light at the end of a tunnel with a three-day weekend coming up! After only managing to read six books total in October and November, I ended up reading six in the month of December (and the first part of January!). I attribute this to two things-I read some really good books, and Anthony had a week where he didn't want to go to sleep till 11. I ended up reading a wide variety of books last month, so hopefully there is something you will enjoy, too!

The Wife Between Us by Greer Hendricks
(c/o NetGalley)
I have mixed feelings about this book. I thought some of the twists were extremely clever and surprising. My problem was the build up took FOREVER, and I prefer for my thrillers to get exciting as soon as possible. That said, I would still recommend this thriller just for how good some of the twists are.

When You Disappeared by John Marrs
(c/o NetGalley)
First off, I must say this book was well written. It kept me interested, and I wanted to know how it ended. Part of the ending was really obvious from the beginning, but that's not what bothered me. Simon, the main character, is just awful. This is truly just a depressing, terrible story about a broken man and how he broke his family. I wish I would have passed on it.

A Vicarage Christmas by Kate Hewitt
(c/o NetGalley)
This book was a lot more serious than I expected, but I ended up enjoying it. It was really more of a novella, so it was a quick read. It's the first in a series of four, and I think I'll keep reading them.

The Trust by Ronald H. Balson
(c/o NetGalley)
I have loved all the books I have read by Ronald H. Balson, but this one is my least favorite so far. I liked learning more about Liam Taggart and the conflict in Northern Ireland, but I think he made who the killer was a little too obvious in this novel. That said, there were some really interesting plot twists, and I enjoyed the book overall. Also, I really like how even though this is technically the fourth book in the Liam & Catherine series, all of the books can easily be read as standalone novels.

The Life She Was Given by Ellen Marie Wiseman
(c/o NetGalley)
I sped through this book. Usually, when a book is in a past/present format (though the "present" is the 50s in this case), I usually prefer the past, but both parts of this story were great. Ellen Marie Wiseman does an amazing job of tackling important topics (in this case child abuse and animal cruelty) in interesting ways. I must admit I didn't expect this book to be so depressing, and I finished it feeling a bit bummed, but it was fascinating to learn more about circus life and the treatment of those in the sideshows. I thought the big reveal at the end was pretty obvious, but it didn't detract from the story. I do want to note there was some horrible animal cruelty in this book, but it was only a few pages long, and you can tell it's coming for those who would want to skip it.

The Little French Bistro by Nina George
(c/o NetGalley)
This book started off really depressing, and I was worried I would hate it. I turned out to like this journey of a woman finding herself after finally walking out on a horrible marriage. The prose is just beautiful, and all of the other characters are on journeys of their own. It's a lovely novel to read at the beginning of a year.

Favorite reads in December: The Life She Was Given and The Little French Bistro.

Linking up with Steph & Jana.

I love book suggestions. What have you read lately?

A Year in Review: 2017

Happy New Year, friends! Now that Anthony is a bit older, I am hoping to start blogging regularly again. This will be my only post this week, but then next week, I want to start my normal schedule. I’m writing that here so I can try to commit to it. 2017 will always be a special year for us because it was the year we became parents! After a difficult 2016, I am so thankful 2017 brought us Anthony!

January

Most Popular Blog Posts: California Road Trip: The Most Beautiful Place in Big Sur and Five Things You Must Do in San Diego 

We kicked off 2017 in a different way than usual. Chris had been working a lot, so instead of going to a party, we decided to celebrate the new year as a couple by going to Texas de Brazil. We had a blast reminiscing over 2016 and bringing in 2017 together! I started out January full of hope, and I even made that my word of the year. I was hopeful 2017 would be better than 2016, but the one thing I was truly hoping for was that I would get pregnant in 2017.

February

Most Popular Blog Posts: Eight Ideas for the Best Romantic Getaway to Paris and Five Reasons You Should Visit the Great Smoky Mountains National Park 

February brought us a lot of joy as I found out I was pregnant on February 17! Christopher and I kept it a secret for a week (here is how I told him) before telling both sets of parents right before our trip to Colorado. We had a wonderful time exploring Colorado Springs and Breckenridge with my in-laws.

March

Most Popular Blog Posts: Happy Sixth Birthday, Skyler, Five Reasons You Should Visit Breckenridge, Colorado, and Five Things You Must Do in Marseille, France

We got back from Colorado in early March, and I almost instantly started feeling horrible morning sickness. March was a bit rough, but I was so thankful for the little one growing inside me that I didn’t care. My very first prenatal visit was March 31, and it was amazing to see the little peanut for the first time and hear the heartbeat. That was also the day we shared we were pregnant with the rest of the family and some close friends.

April

Most Popular Blog Posts: Best Weekend Trips from Chicago and Let’s Have a Coffee Date 

You can really start telling by the amount of posts I wrote that I had a rough April. It was also busy as we moved to a bigger apartment and celebrated Easter! We also ran around on what was the coldest day by far in April with giant baby balloons to prepare for our pregnancy announcement.

Easter Sunday selfie

May

Most Popular Blog Posts: Best News Ever, All About Baby, and Pregnancy Confessions

On Mother’s Day, I finally shared our pregnancy with the world! It felt so great to be able to share our joy. We had a busy month with my brother-in-law’s wedding and my parent’s housewarming back to back.

June

Most Popular Blog Posts: Gender Reveal and Stunning Views of Chimney Rock 

June was also really special because we found out we were having a little boy! We had a fun gender reveal party where we shared our news. We also decided we were going to go to Maine for our babymoon!

July

Most Popular Blog Posts: How I Told Chris About Baby and Reflections: Surgery Day One Year Later 

July is always a really busy month for us, and 2017 was no exception. Chris started the hardest year of his residency, and we celebrated both of our birthdays and our eight-year wedding anniversary on our babymoon to Maine. We struggled picking a location for our trip, but it turned out to be the perfect place to go before baby!

August

Most Popular Blog Posts: Five Reasons You Should Visit Maine, Eight Favorite Experiences in Eight Years of Marriage, and Pregnancy Update: My Second Trimester 

August was another fun month. We had our first baby shower and I planned a fun weekend for my best friend’s bachelorette party. We did an “Only in Dallas” Food Tour that I still need to share on here!

September

Most Popular Blog Posts: A Decade of Just Us, Our Elephant-Themed Baby Shower, and Pregnancy Update: One Month to Go

Our last full month before baby was super busy! We had another fun baby shower, celebrated our ten-year dating anniversary (which is exactly a month before I gave birth to Anthony!), and I helped with the coordination of a conference of doctors’ wives. We also took our maternity photos when I was 36 weeks pregnant.

October

Most Popular Blog Posts: Our Maternity Photos and End of Pregnancy Confessions

We spent the first few weeks of October preparing for our little Anthony! We went to one last party on October 1, and I realized I was at the point in pregnancy where it was just too difficult to go out to parties. We also went to our birthing class (and the second part, which was taking care of an infant, was actually the day I gave birth! The instructor came and visited us when she found out.) Chris and I went on a few dates, and exactly a week before Anthony was born, I had one last dinner date with some great friends. My water broke at 3:30 a.m. on October 19, and Anthony Christopher was born at 3:46 a.m. on October 20. I had severe preeclampsia during labor, had to have a blood transfusion a few days after he was born, and then got discharged only to come back with a kidney infection a few hours later. Needless to say, I was so happy when I got discharged on October 28, and we could officially start our journey as a family of three!

November

Most Popular Blog Post: Welcome to the World, Anthony!

I basically completely took November off of blogging as we adjusted to life with a newborn! The highlights of this month were, of course, watching Anthony grow, and my dad turning 50 on November 3. We also celebrated Anthony’s first Thanksgiving!

December

Most Popular Blog Posts: Six Books I Read in October and November and Coffee Date: Newborn Edition

December started out with two straight weeks of nights for Chris, so we spent the time with my mom. It was nice because Chris could sleep upstairs during the day while Mom and I spent time with Anthony. He would have constantly woken Chris up in our apartment otherwise. The holiday season with Anthony was the best—we decorated the tree and spent Christmas weekend at my in-laws’ house before coming back on Christmas Day to spend some time with my family.

I’m so thankful for everything that happened in 2017, but I am even more excited for 2018 and our first full year with Anthony.

Let’s Have a Coffee Date: Newborn Edition

I’m amazed at all of those bloggers out there who write with a newborn. I’ve been so eager to start writing again, but I haven’t managed to do it between taking care of Anthony and some big editing projects. I thought I would start off with a coffee date to share some tidbits of life with Anthony.

I can’t believe Anthony is two months old today! It has truly been the longest and shortest months of my life. It’s amazing how much love you instantly feel when they put your baby on your chest for the first time. Life with a newborn isn’t easy, but it’s just so worth it.

Chris has had the craziest schedule since Anthony was born. I mentioned in my last pregnancy post I had a feeling Anthony would be born while Chris was on nights, and he was. One of his friends covered two nights for him (he had to take vacation time for those and still has to make them up to her), but he’s been basically working a bunch since those first few days. His schedule was completely different each day, except for the three weeks of nights he has had in the last eight weeks. He just did two weeks of nights in a row, so I spent them at my parent’s house. Living close to my parents during residency has been a huge blessing, as I’m not sure I would have handled the nights well without mom around. She has helped me so much, and I am so thankful for her.

Anthony has been showing a lot of interest in his toys lately and loves to smile and laugh these days. He especially loves anything musical and will “dance” if you play one of his musical toys. I love watching him discover new things.

He has also given me one five to six hour stretch at night for the last few days. I’m praying he keeps it up because it really makes me feel like a new person. I basically laugh at myself for any time I felt I was tired before having Anthony—this is just a whole new level of tired. I really had no idea how difficult it would be.

As I mentioned in Anthony’s birth announcement, my recovery was a bit on the difficult side. Thankfully, I am feeling significantly better. There have been a few things that have popped up here and there, but overall, I am doing well.

The holiday season has taken on a whole new meaning with a newborn around. Thinking back to how difficult Christmas was for me last year, I’m so grateful for the blessing of this new life. I wish I could go back and tell that girl sobbing on Christmas Eve that she would have a two-month old in her arms this Christmas. God is so good!

Soon, I’m hoping to share Anthony’s birth story and some of his newborn photos with y’all. Thank you so much for bearing with me as I adjust to life as a mama. I am hoping to get back to my regular posting schedule in 2018!

Six Books I Read in October and November

Hi, friends! I’ve been in the mood to write for weeks, but after an extended hospital stay, Christopher’s crazy schedule (more on that soon), and adjusting to being a first-time Mama, I have barely opened my computer. I’ll be back soon with some updates on seven-week-old (!!) Anthony, but today I wanted to share some of my recent reads. Like with writing, I didn’t read much during the first month of Anthony’s life, but I’ve gotten into the habit of reading while I’m feeding him, so hopefully I’ll have more to share next month! I mostly wanted to read cute, fluffy Christmas reads, so I have a few of those. I’m finally reading my first thriller in a long time this week and am excited to share about it soon!

Summer at the Little French Guesthouse by Helen Pollard
(c/o NetGalley)
When I started reading this book, I didn't realize it was the third book in a trilogy. That's my fault, though, and it didn't change the book for me. I was a little discouraged about the lack of conflict until close to the end of the book-I feel like it could have been introduced earlier. That said, it was still a cute read, and I really liked the setting!

Castle of Dreams by Elise McCune
(c/o NetGalley)
I enjoyed this book, even though it was a little slow at times and definitely a bit predictable. I liked all the characters, especially the ones in the present story. It's not the best World War II historical fiction I've ever read, but I liked that it was a little different, as it was based in Australia.

Snowflakes, Iced Cakes and Second Chances by Sue Watson
(c/o NetGalley)
This was a sweet Christmas story about misperceptions and second chances. It did feel a little redundant at times, but overall was a good read.

The Wildling Sisters by Eve Chase
(c/o NetGalley)
I enjoyed Eve Chase's Black Rabbit Hall, so I was excited to read The Wildling Sisters. It started off really interesting, but the middle really dragged for me. The ending was really good, though, and I enjoyed the book overall. Black Rabbit Hall was better, but I would definitely read another Eve Chase book.

Mr. Dickens and His Carol: A Novel by Samantha Silva
(c/o NetGalley)
This story is a fictionalized account of Charles Dickens and his state of mind while writing A Christmas Carol. For such a short book, it did drag a few times, but overall, I enjoyed it. It's a nice book to read during the holiday season!

We'll Always Have Christmas by Jenny Hale
(c/o NetGalley)
I was in the mood for a fluffy Christmas story, and that's what I got. You know what you're getting when you read stories like this-as an editor, I get frustrated with some of the sentence structure, but it was a sweet read for the holiday season.

Favorite reads in October & November: The Wildling Sisters and Mr. Dickens and His Carol

Linking up with Steph & Jana.

I love book suggestions. What have you read lately?

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