Heather at Not a DIY Life tagged me for a book meme.

These are the rules
1. Grab the nearest book.
2. Open the book to page 56.
3. Find the fifth sentence.
4. Post the text of the next two to five sentences.
5. Don’t dig for your favorite book, the cool book or the intellectual one. Pick the Closest.
6. Tag five people to do the same

The closest book I have to me is called Artemis Speaks: V.B.A.C. Stories & Natural Childbirth Information written and compiled by Nan Koehler. I have no idea what I’m going to get on page 56.

“Most obstetricians use technology defensively in VBAC labors, in spite of the fact that there is no more justification for routine intervention than in any other labor. If a horizontal scar separates, it does not cause massive hemmorage, so there is no need for prophylactic IV. The uterus usually continues to contract normally, and an electronic fetal monitor will not pick up a scar separation.”
There you have it. I did want to break rule #5 by the way, but I didn’t do it.

I’m supposed to pick 5 people to do this meme, but instead I’m going to say if you do it, leave a comment and I’ll come read your meme.

It’s time for my favorite carnival! It’s the 5 Minutes for Books monthly “What’s on Your Nightstand?” carnival. Yay!

This is so hard for me. I have so many books I want to read. I have told my husband several times recently that there are just too many books and too little time. Last month, I spent most of my reading time reading the Twilight series by Stephenie Meyer. It was okay. Yes, that was a lot of time to allocate to something that is just okay. Generally, I’m not the type of person who sticks with something and follows it through if I start to lose interest, so I decided that I was going to read all 4 books no matter what. Also, I was curious. I liked some of the characters, and I liked the first book quite a bit, so I wanted to see how she wrapped it up. It seemed to me like there was a LOT of room for another book in the series and that it wasn’t really wrapped up. I know the movie just came out, but I don’t go to movies so I most likely won’t be seeing it for quite some time if at all.

This month, I’m back to my pile of books from BookMooch and PaperbackSwap. I’m also thinking a lot about homeschool, parenting, and breastfeeding toddlers, so maybe I’ll read some of those types of books, too.

Do you have any homeschooling, parenting or breastfeeding books you’d recommend?

This is a quote from the book of 2 Samuel in the old testament of the bible. Through October and November, I was attending a bible study at my church studying the life of David. One of the day’s homework was about this verse. “and David was dancing before the Lord with all his might.” At first, I read over it and blew past it. Then, when I went back, I thought about how it must feel to be doing something with all his might. Then, I thought about how he was praising the Lord with all his might. To me, that sounds like a very beautiful picture. Although, I’m sure to some of those around him, it probably looked more strange than anything else.

One of the questions in the study was “When was the last time you saw someone doing something with all their might?” or something similar. I thought about it for a while, and I really didn’t have many examples. The one thing that came to mind was thinking about how athletes celebrate after winning a championship game. Seeing them jumping and screaming and crying and just laying on the ground in awe is what came to my mind. Then, I wondered when was the last time I did something with all my might. I apologize in advance to anyone who thinks this is more than they want to know. The last time, I did something with all my might (here’s your last chance to stop reading) was childbirth and pushing. Most of you other moms who have been through labor know what I’m talking about, right? That was great, because it was for my kids. Of course, I would do all that I could for them.

So, again, I was thinking, thinking… This month, I committed to NaBloPoMo. I missed two days, but I have definitely blogged on days when I would rather have skipped. I mentioned at the end of last year that Jason’s sister is doing a photography project that involves taking a picture every day for a year. She’s sharing them online at her Flickr account. It’s called Project 365. It got me wishing that I had some sort of neat project that I could commit to like that. I’m actually still wishing that, and since it’s coming to the end of the year (can you believe it?!?!?), I’ve started thinking about it again. Unfortunately, last year, I didn’t do much about these thoughts. I’m hoping and praying that this year, I will make a commitment to something. I’d like to do something meaningful and challenging. For a year? Maybe not. I’m not committed to a year, but I would like to do something that stretches and challenges me. Maybe, I can do something with all my might.

This is a blog carnival from 5 Minutes for Books. It’s held the 4th Tuesday of each month, and it’s a blast! I get a lot of great recommendations and a few new blogs for my feed reader each month by clicking through to others’ posts.

What

Last month, I set forth a nearly impossible reading goal for myself. Instead of reading all the books faithfully on my list, I got side tracked. I read the first two books in the Twilight series, Twilight and New Moon. I will be completely honest this month and I’ll admit that right now the other two books are the priority on my reading list. I’m waiting for Eclipse to be returned to the library and then I’ll read Breaking Dawn right after that. Right now, I’m reading Eat. Love. Pray. and I have to admit, I’m not loving it. I’m definitely looking for a diversion. So, if anyone knows who has that copy of Eclipse that is 2 weeks overdue, tell them to take it back! Normal reading plans of way too many books in way too few days will be resumed next month.

A couple months ago, I found Paper Bridges through a carnival from 5 Minutes for Books. I clicked around her site and found several interesting posts. One of them was a book giveaway. I entered and won this book. She has another book giveaway going now. If you have ever heard of or read For Men Only or For Women Only, you might enjoy having this book even if it’s not directed at you. If you have (or will soon have) a teenage boy, you definitely will enjoy this book. Click on over and check it out!

I’m joining another 5MinutesForBooks carnival. I love Tuesdays! This one is called, “I Read It!” I have several of their book recommendations saved in my Google Reader, and this is a chance for me to tell you about one that I read and what I thought.

The book I read is Finding Stephanie by Susan May Warren. Here is the original review. I’m not much of a book reviewer. I can’t always tell you exactly what I liked or didn’t like about a book, but I usually can tell how much I liked it by how late I stayed up in order to read it! This book must have been pretty good, because I stayed up later than my husband! That has probably only happened 3-4 times in the last 6 years.

Finding Stephanie is the 3rd book in the Nobel Legacy series. The first two books are about her somewhat-prodigal brothers and how they find their way back to the family ranch which she has been running. The third book is about Stephanie. I had hoped it would get into more of how she felt about being “the good child” who waited on her own dreams and sacrificed in order to maintain the family’s ranch. It did talk about that a little, but I felt that discussion was pretty superficial. I didn’t really feel like I knew how hard it had been for her. In this book, Stephanie becomes neighbors with a movie star who purchases a nearby ranch. He seems to have some interest in her based on her lack of interest in his stardom. This is one of the two main story lines. The other storyline is about a boy and his two younger sisters who are on the move. They are without parents, and it appears they are in danger of being split up in the social service/foster care/adoption system.

To me, this book was good. I enjoyed it. It has some good, sweet romance and a little suspense. It definitely held my interest, and if you’re looking for a good, quick read, I would recommend this one. If you’re looking for something deeper or that has more character development, or if you’re looking for a book where you really miss the characters after you finish reading, I’d say skip this one for now and save it for a day at the beach!

Right now, I have two sons.  Both are at the age where they regularly have meltdowns or tantrums when they don’t get what they want.  Luckily, K is getting to the age where he can understand sometimes when he doesn’t get what he wants.  He doesn’t necessarily like it, but he can understand that sometimes things just can’t happen in a way that he wants them to happen.  Unfortunately, A is still pretty young and we’re not to that stage of understanding the whys and why nots of decision making.  However, his tantrums are often pretty short lived, so that is a plus.

To be honest, this is one stage that I didn’t ever anticipate.  I thought about what would happen when they were both nursing and how to handle that.  I thought about what I would do when A became mobile and wanted to take K’s toys.  I thought about what I would do when we were at the mall and one child went left and the other went right.  I just didn’t think about having them both be in the tantrum stage at the same time.  Whoops.  I wish I would have thought more about this stage so I could have had some ideas on how to proceed when it arrived.  Instead, I’ve had to take each day as it comes and learn from the one before.

Right now, K’s tantrums or meltdowns tend to happen when he is hungry or tired.  Generally, when he starts to yell or cry, my first thought is when did he last sleep (and how was the sleep quality) and when did he last eat.  If either of those is contributing to the issue, I try to remember that.  Of course, it doesn’t excuse a tantrum, but it does put the cause into perspective.  He’s pretty serious about being mad, but I have to admit that I have a pretty hard time keeping a straight face when he starts to jump up and down and wave his arms at me in an attempt to show me just how angry he is. :)  Unfortunately, if Jason and I don’t catch the tantrum early or if we don’t react in a constructive manner, it can go on for a while.  That is definitely the drawback of an older child’s tantrums.

A on the other hand tends to explode into meltdown mode as soon as he worries something might not go his way.  In fact, today, he and K were playing in our play kitchen area.  A thought that K was taking a toy from him when actually I put it on the floor instead of letting it fall.  A turned toward K and had his mouth WIDE open in anticipation of a good, hard bite.  When he saw his toy on the floor, he just sat down and started playing with it.  Luckily, the tantrum was avoided.  Unfortunately, he is currently in a phase when he hates, hates, HATES having his diaper changed.  Sometimes, all I have to do is move toward the diapers and he starts getting mad at me.  He is easily distracted though, so once the diaper change is over, he’s happy again.  Yay!

Right now, I don’t think that I have a “good” or 100% effective way of responding to either one of them.  I’m not sure if I ever will.  I do think that parenting isn’t always about finding the most effective or efficient way of dealing with a situation.  I think it’s more important to respond in a way that is respectful of the child and myself.  I haven’t read the entire book, but I’ve seen Harvey Karp on a few tv shows.  His book, The Happiest Toddler on the Block has some good tips.  Also, Elizabeth Pantley has a book called The No Cry Discipline Solution.  I haven’t read the entire thing, but the one part of it that suck out to me was that a child will not learn from what you are saying once he/she is crying.  I think part of parenting is seeking out solutions and then using what works.  For us, we haven’t found a foolproof method, but that won’t keep me from continuing to look!

I love to read, and I have loved it as long as I can remember. According to my mom, I’ve been reading since I was 4 years old. I don’t think I remember that, but I do know that the library, books, and reading were a major part of my youth. I used to go to the library every Monday after school and exchange my books. I would sit there and read until about 4:45 when my dad got off work and met me there. Generally, in that time, I would have picked out 8 books (1 for each day of the week plus one for the time at the library) and returned the one I had just finished. Once I got into college, my pace slowed down, but I still read when I could. The day that I turned in my master’s independent study, I went to the library to celebrate. I checked out 4-5 books and read for the next week straight, I think.

Recently, I’ve gotten a little claustrophobic with all the stuff we have in our house, so I decided that I should list some of my books on some book swapping sites. I listed books on BookMooch and PaperBackSwap. The idea of the sites (with a few differences of course) is that you list books you’ve read. Someone else requests them and you send your books to people that want/need them. Then, you find someone who has books you want/need and you request those books. Of course, the books I want right now are also ones that 300+ others also want, so we’ll see how soon I get them. Haha…

But, why should I save all my swapping for people I don’t know and have no contact with? Anyone wanna swap with me? I’m putting 5 books up for a swap. If you want one of mine, offer me one of yours. I’ll pay my shipping, and you pay yours. I’m going to list my books, books I have liked in the past (to give you an idea of what my tastes are), and books I want now. If you think we could make a match, either leave me a comment or e-mail me at casey at berbs dot us.

First, books I have and want to give away:

A Family Apart by Joan Lowery Nixon- This was a book I had to read for one of my elementary education classes in college. I remember it being a good book, and I remember being somewhat tempted to read the rest of the series (The Orphan Train Adventures). It is a book that is appropriate for kids in the upper elementary grades. I would say it would be good for an advanced 3rd grader or an average fourth or fifth grader. There are some themes in the book that are somewhat intense for kids of this age (orphans, family/sibling separation, families that do not adopt the children out of love but are looking for labor or servants) so be aware of that if you are intending to give this book as a gift or to someone younger than 14ish (?).

A Time to Kill by John Grisham- This is a great book. It’s a crime drama. It’s about a man who kills two men who raped his young daughter. This book isn’t in great condition. I got it off the library swap table. It has the library book tag on the side and the barcode on the back. The binding is broken and page 117-118 falls out. It’s definitely readable, but it’s not fresh. It’s a book worth reading though.

The Witness by Dee Henderson- I read Dee Henderson’s books The O’Malley Series and The Uncommon Heroes series. I really enjoyed those books. I thought The O’Malley Series were her best books though. This book is good, too, but I didn’t like it as well as the O’Malleys. I think that I got so attached to those characters I missed them when I was reading this book. It’s a Christian suspense book. There’s a little romance in it, too, if I remember correctly, but it’s definitely PG.

The Nanny Diaries by Emma McLaughlin and Nicola Kraus- This book is light chick lit. It’s about a woman who becomes one of “those” nannies to a wealthy New York family. The job starts out as caring for one small child. She ends up becoming much more than just a nanny. It reminds me a little of The Devil Wears Prada Nanny Edition.

Every Storm by Lori Wick- I read this book quite a while ago, so I’m not all that clear on the details of it anymore. I remember something about a plane crash and that’s about it. It’s Lori Wick. That should say it all. The main character is sweet and maybe a little unrealistically perfect, and there’s romance in it. Also, this is Christian fiction and PG. It’s a good book. It’s hardcover in case that matters, too.

Books I have read in the past and liked:

See the list above. I liked all those. I have read books by Susan May Warren, John Grisham, Dean Koontz, James Patterson, Lori Wick, Anita Shreve, Dee Henderson, Dr. Sears, Mary Doria Russell, John Piper, Henri Nouwen, and Beth Moore.

Books I am looking for right now:

I’m particularly looking for

You: The Owner’s Manual by Michael Roizen and Mehmet Oz

The Omnivore’s Dilemma by Michael Pollan

In Defense of Food by Michael Pollan

Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver

The Shack by William P. Young

You can try me on Christian fiction and non-fiction, but I’m not interested in the Beverly Lewis/Amish type of Christian fiction.

Ready, set, SWAP!

I’ve been blogging on this site for over a year now, and I’ve been reading others’ blogs for even longer. Only recently, though, have I really started participating in the comments and giveaways on others’ blogs. Apparently, I’ve had a great streak of luck, because I’ve won 3 giveaways in the last few weeks. So, I want to take a minute to say thanks to those bloggers for their fun contests. Thank you, 5 Minutes for Books, for the book, Shop Your Closet. I have big plans for my closet! Thank you, Heather, for the lipstick. I love it, and I’m so glad I took a chance on the Raisinberry. It’s so fun. Thank you, Monica, for the book, Wild Goose Chase. I have a lot of reading I want to do, but I think this may make its way up to the top of the list rather quickly.

I have enjoyed reading new blogs, and of course, there’s always an extra thrill that comes with winning something. Hmmm, maybe some time it will be my turn to do a giveaway!

I think over the course of the next several months, I will probably be changing my blog topics up a little. When I was breastfeeding K frequently or when A was born and I was feeding both boys frequently, I felt like I had a lot more to say about nursing specifically. Now that they’re getting older, it’s just something that’s an every day part of our lives. It just is. I don’t think or worry about it too much. We’ve gotten over most of the hurdles and pitfalls. A is sleeping better, and K has kept up his 2 a day nursing routine for the past few weeks.

Some of the topics that I have become more interested in lately are healthy eating, green living, cooking, exercise, and expanding my reading repertoire. Maybe I’ll finish a book (without reading the ending ahead of time) and do a review of it. Who knows?