Books I have read in 2016

As 2016 comes to a close I decided to post my goals "check in" a little bit early this year. 

As you may remember I deleted all of my former blog posts because I felt like I needed to have more of a purpose and less of an online diary that nobody was reading. 

I only had one goal this year and it was simple. I wanted to read at least one book a month. Reading has always been my favorite hobby but I literally put it on the shelf when I had kids and college when I didn't think I had the time or energy. I hadn't read any novels since I was pregnant with my 8 year old 😳 This year I wanted to make time for me, in an easy and inexpensive way... By reading.

 

My family doesn't have any sort of tv service... In fact we only have one tv in my bedroom and it has Netflix and Amazon prime only. So instead of watching tv before bed I started reading a few chapters. And instead of listening to music while I did household chores I started plowing through my audiobooks.

Here are the results:

Books I have read 2016

*Breakfast at Tiffany's

-Truman Capote 

*The Girl on the Train

-Julie Hawkins

*Mrs. Lincoln's Dressmaker 

-Jennifer Chiaveroni 

*1984 (paperback) yay!

-George Orwell 

*One For The Money (paperback)

-Janet Evanovich 

*Eat, Pray, Love (paperback) 

-Elizabeth Gilbert 

*Illusion (paperback)

-Frank Peretti 

*Long Lost (paperback) 

-Harlan Coben 

*Changing the Picture

-Zig Ziglar 

*Parenting without Power Struggles

-Susan Stiffelman 

*Two for the Dough (paperback) 

-Janet Evanovich 

*Three to get Deadly (kindle) 

-Janey Evanovich

*The Hunger Games (paperback)

-Suzanne Collins

*Catching Fire (paperback) 

-Suzanne Collins 

*Mockingjay (paperback) 

-Suzanne Collins 

*Caught (paperback) 

-Harlan Coben 

*Pride & prejudice 

-Jane Austen

*Deal Breaker (paperback) 

-Harlan Coben 

 

*Miracle Cure (paperback) 

-Harlan Coben 

*Four to Score (paperback) 

-Janet Evanovich 

*High Five (paperback) 

-Janet Evanovich 

Currently in progress:

*Tiny beautiful things (paperback)

-Cheryl Strayed 

*Hot Six (paperback)

-Janet Evanovich 

*The Stand

-Stephen King 

As you can see I nearly doubled my original goal! In fact if I can finish up my lingering novels over Christmas break I will have exactly doubled it with little to no effort. It was simple, it may seem silly, but it made a huge difference in my attitude and overall well being for this otherwise very tough year for my family. Self care is an important piece of parenting and I encourage all of my friends to take that into account this year when then are setting their goals😘

Wishing you peace, love, and happiness this holiday season. 

-Stephanie 

How to get your 80 minutes of at home reading in with a busy schedule

I have been hooked on Audible for several years now. It helps cure my craving for reading during those blank moments when I could not otherwise sit and read (while cooking, driving, showering). This year while I was pinning ideas for my classroom I read a blog titled "Ways to use just 1 iPad in the classroom" and one of the ideas was to use Audible to create a listening center and I was exposed to a whole new world of children's literature available through Audible!! Ever since then I have been downloading chapter books for the boys to listen to on their commutes to visit their dads and for the 20 minutes we spend in the car morning and after-school picking up and dropping off their sister at daycare. As the school year comes to a close I thought I would sgare all the books the boys have "read" this year just during our time in the car: 

*A Bear Called Paddington 

-Michael Bond

*More About Paddington 

-Michael Bond 

*The Boxcar Children 1-3

-Gertrude Chandler Warner 

*Mrs. Piggle Wiggle's Magic 

-Betty MacDonald 

*The Beverly Cleary Audio Collection

(Ellen Tebits, Otis Spoffard, Socks, Emily's imagination)

*No Talking 

-Andrew Clements 

*Hank The Cow Dog #1 & #2

-John Erickson

*The Wind in the Willows

-Kenneth Grahame 

*Mary Poppins 

-P.L Travers 

*Magic Tree House # 1-5

-Mary Pope Osborne

*Matilda 

-Ronald Daul 

*Beezus and Ramona

-Beverly Cleary 

Isn't that crazy?! And that's in addition to all the reading we do at home :) We go to the library once a week to rent a movie for the week, pick new audio book on CD for the car, and to let the boys pick a selection of books that interest them. It's been a big help to our weekly routine! 

Books I have read in 2015

Usually in December I post my annual review of my goals from the previous year and write some big events from the year. This year I cannot do that because I deleted 7 years worth of blog posts including all of my goal posts. I'm sad about my decision, but it gave me the chance to rebuild my blog to be something more productive. I still have not decided how I'm going to do that, or what I want to write about routinely yet. What I did keep track of throughout 2015  that I decided to share was the books I have read this past year. Here is the list :)

*Angels&Demons

-Dan Brown

I loved the movie so I had to read the book. I'm also attempting to teach my children that the best movies start out as books first, so I'm taking my own advice and reading the original stories.

*Raising Boys

-Steve Biddough (paperback, yay!)

I need all the help I can get in this department. 

*Teach like a champion

-Doug Lemov

I am planning on reading this a second time, specific techniques to put to use in my classroom immediately. 

*The Time Travelers Wife

-Audrey niffeneggar 

Another book that is a favorite movie of mine. 

*How to Answer Interview Questions

-Peggy McKee

I listened to this on my commutes to Montrose for teaching interviews (paid off to!) 

*How to stay motivated (x4)

-Zig Ziglar 

I always have one of his books playing to keep me upbeat. 

*Changing The Picture (x2)

-Zig Ziglar

Again, he's awesome! 

*Inferno

-Dan Brown

After Angels & Demons I was intrigued to read another Dan Brown, loved it! 

*How Children Succeed 

-Paul Tough 

Another "work" book, very interesting. 

*Gone Girl 

-Gillian Flynn 

I had unanswered questions after watching the movie. 

*The 5 Elements of Effective Thinking

-Edward B Burger 

Self help, cause you know I'm crazy ;) 

*My Sister's Keeper

-Jodi Picoult 

A much better and more in depth story than the movie! Loved it! 

What new moms really NEED!

When I was pregnant with Aurora I spent hours on Pinterest reading blogs on all sorts of topics: feeding new moms, DIY projects for the baby, breastfeeding tips & must haves, and gifts for new moms. While I appreciated each blog and the writers unique perspective as a new mom myself I have made a list of my own of the top ten gifts new moms REALLY need. Let's face it we don't really NEED another cute outfit, or at least I didn't. 

Here is my version: 

1. Paper plates! 

I'm hoping that everyone has people that set up meal schedules on takethemameal.com like my church did for me because if it wasn't for this My family might have starved in those first few weeks... If not definitely add food to the list! I so appreciated when Levi's family supplied us with paper to eat from, less dishes for me especially when guests come. 

 

2. Nursing pads for breastfeeding mamas! 

You will need a ton of these!! And they get expensive fast when you are going through 3-4 sets a day! I still use these daily now and it was the one thing we ran out of vacation that we couldn't buy in airport gift shops etc. You might substitute for a can of formula for bottle feeding families that stuff isn't cheap! 

3. A bottle of oxy clean. 

I am going through this stuff 3x as fast as I did before baby (spit up stairs, leaking accidents, blowouts) and if I don't get it rinsed and sprayed immediately it stains! 

4. Pads

Not the most glamorous of gifts but definitely a necessity for the postpartum recovery time. We had to go to Walmart almost immediately because I used up what the hospital sent home so fast. Once again those unexpected costs add up. 

5. Gripe water & gas drops

These are approved for use in even very small babies and they do wonders for upset tummies, colic, gas, etc. It's so nice to just have these on hand in case baby gets fussy than to try and drag said screaming baby into the store. Did I mention my daughter hates her car seat?? 

6. Saline for baby noses 

This just comes in a tiny bottle but I use it almost everyday and she hasn't even gotten sick yet (knock on wood) helps us clear out those boogers and is safe for newborns 

7. Microwaveable sterilizer bags

These are cheap, can be reused up to 20 times and are good for everything!! Dropped a pacifier? Wash it off toss it in along with pump parts, bottles, etc. Dump 2-4oz of water and microwave according to the directions, dump the access out the spout and open and remove the contents. 99.9% of harmful bacteria and germs dead! 

8. Wipes

These are good for everything! And only 1 person bought me wipes as a baby shower gift so I had way more diapers than wipes. Even a single pack goes a long way! 

9. Diapers - sz 1 or bigger

I was shocked how quickly I went through my baby shower stash and had to order sz 1's! Luckily I had a giftcard from Levi's awesome coworkers because I was definitely not ready to be buying them at 5 weeks! Just a small pack will help out a bunch 

10. Ask if they need anything from the store before you head over! 

This could be a gallon of milk or a box of cereal. I know countless times I have run out of something and the thought of packing all 3 kids up to cart into Walmart for one or two things just makes me cringe, still! This is also great for C-Section mamas who cannot drive! 

How about you? What was the most helpful thing you recieved as a new mom?