my books. my life.

The much-awaited nursery pictures are finally here and I am going to jump right into it.

To give you a full appreciation for the transformation, this is what the nursery looked like when we got started.

Then my dad worked his magic, and Ben and I put our own hard work into the room, and we got this:

And I am IN LOVE with the result.

Let’s take a look around, starting with the crib and glider.

(There actually IS a name on the wall at this point. But we’re still not sharing.)

The dresser/changing table (filled with adorable onesies):

Ben took out the mirrored doors and installed these closet doors instead.

And I painted the door knobs.

Here is the inside of the closet, which will never be this organized again.

The border, the start of it all:

The border is from the Lambs & Ivy Team Safari collection. I had to return almost everything else that I bought to go with it because of quality issues (and actually had to have a roll of border replaced as well), but I am still happy we went with this “theme” since I think the border is adorable and animals playing sports is pretty easy to piece together ourselves.

And finally, his books (in baskets until I figure out a bookshelf solution):

A lot of people helped us put this together, really. The crib is a gift from my mom, the glider and dresser are hand-me-downs from my boss, and my friends got me all kinds of helpful items at my shower. The little guy has a lot of people who love him already, including a grandpa who flew all the way from Boston just to paint his nursery. Lucky kid.

As I said, I am absolutely thrilled with the way this turned out. I had a vision in my head and I was afraid it wouldn’t come out quite right. Instead, I think it came out better. As soon as I put the last touches on the room, I felt ready to actually have this baby. But until he decides to make his appearance, I might just go sit and stare at his lovely room.

Happy Mother’s Day, moms of the world (or the U.S. at least – but you all deserve celebration). I will be one of you very, very soon. Between baby preparation and organizing the new house (see previous posts this week for some pictures), I haven’t found much time to read anything other than audiobooks. I have had Shine in my possession for almost two weeks and I am still only 100 pages in despite my, to quote Ben, Harry-Potter-level excitement for it pre-release. By the time things settle down and I can read again, I suspect it will be time for the little guy to make an appearance. But this is growing up, right? And on that note, I am ending this brief post to go fold some more baby clothes and paint some more things.

Have you ever had a book that you were crazy excited for and then put off reading once it was released?

You’ve asked for them, so here they are: house pictures! In order not to overwhelm you (and because some rooms aren’t quite finished), I’ve going to do this in a few different posts.

Here is the exterior of the house. Isn’t it cute?

And here is the view from the porch. I think this porch needs rocking chairs, don’t you?

The front door brings you right into the living room (please ignore the poorly arranged pillows).

The living room from another angle. The hallway to the right leads to the garage and the downstairs bathroom. Continuing straight brings you to the kitchen and dining room.

And here is the our favorite part of the living room:

Let’s look at those books again, shall we?

We actually have more of a library upstairs, but these hold a lot of our favorite books.

I think that’s enough for today. I’ll move on to the kitchen and the dining room (and the deck and lanai) with the next post. Then we’ll go upstairs after our bedroom furniture is delivered and the nursery is finished (thanks to my visiting dad).

Bonus: how many cats did you spot?

Dewey’s 24-Hour Readathon is one of my favorite bookish events. I believe I’ve participated in the last 5. So sitting this one out was a tough decision. Except it wasn’t.

Originally, we were going to be moving yesterday. Then when we weren’t, we were still going to be packing because we’re moving next weekend. Plus I had a birthday party to attend. And then I ended up going out to dinner with friends. And I still have the attention span of a fruitfly when it comes to reading anyway.

While I was a little sad not to be able to participate, I was really okay with the decision because of everything else going on in my life. I tried to pop on twitter and see how everyone else was doing and that was enough for me. I know – as everyone likes to tell me – that my life is changing in a huge way and I’ve accepted that I’m going to be shifting my focus from myself to this little guy I can’t wait to meet. And I’m ready. I have no idea what those changes will end up being, but I am completely ready for them to come. It’s a wonderful feeling, really.

That said, I still have hopes that I can do the fall Readathon ( when I’ll have a 5 month old…).

So, now that I’ve gotten all mushy and personal, tell me how YOUR Readathon was.

Not much new to report here, but I feel like it’s been awhile since I just chatted about how life is progressing.

HOUSE

We are set to – finally – move two weeks from today. Although I am still hesitant from the experience with the last house, we’ve made it through the inspection, pest inspection, and appraisal, and only await the final paperwork before we close so I think we’re really moving this time. Our apartment is a disaster as we pack and purge (and deal with incoming baby items) so I can’t wait to organize in the new place. My dad is coming down to help me get the nursery ready after we move (so sit tight, little guy, you need to wait a little while longer still).

BABY

I’m feeling pretty good still. Tired and achy and still not sure why all of these other women “love being pregnant,” but I really do feel lucky for how well the baby seems to be doing. After some concern that he wasn’t growing enough, it turns out he’s in the 58th percentile for weight which sounds just about perfect to me. I also had the opportunity to get a free 4D (what IS the 4th dimension?) ultrasound and saw just how cute the little guy really is. Should I share?

 33 Weeks

Isn’t technology fascinating?

READING

On the reading front, I have even less to report. Still making my way through audiobooks; still trudging through my print books at a snail’s pace. But, hey, I’m still reading more than most Americans. Today I hope to finish Candide, then I’m going to try a nonfiction/YA combination to fight the short attention span.

I hope you all are enjoying your weekend and the lovely spring weather the whole country seems to be having.

Last weekend, Ben and I headed on over to Orlando for the University of Central Florida’s annual Book Festival for a day of books, authors, and bloggers. This is the festival’s third year and I’ve been there from the beginning.

We started with the Writing Place: New Fiction from the South panel. Southern authors Nicole Louise Reid, Joshilyn Jackson, and Karen White.

I haven’t read any of their books but Joshilyn Jackson has been on my TBR list for awhile. I picked up A Grown-Up Kind of Pretty for her to sign.

But after listening to her talk and discovering that she narrates her own audiobooks, I’m tempted to listen to this one instead.

Next we went to the Contemporary Voices: Literary Fiction for the 21st Century panel with Lauren Groff, Darlin’ Neal, and Michael Griffith. Again, I haven’t read any of their books before but the day is also about discovering new authors.

The last panel Ben and I went to was called Embracing Imperfections through Young Adult Literature with Ellen Hopkins, Jessica Martinez, Ty Roth.

Most people were there for Ellen Hopkins but I was glad to see Jessica Martinez since her debut, Virtuosity, got such great reviews. I had Ms. Hopkins sign her latest book.

After the Festival, we went to dinner with a bunch of local bloggers (and we failed to get a picture!). Jenny from Take Me Away, Sandy from You’ve Gotta Read This, Heather from Book Addiction, Heather from Raging Bibliomania, and Anita from A Woman, A Wife, A Mom (who I was so excited to meet for the first time!) were all there despite the lack of photographic proof.

The UCF Book Festival isn’t anything huge like some of these events I see other bloggers go through, but I always enjoy myself and I have hopes that it’s only going to keep growing.

March was an excellent reading month for me. I finished 17 books, a new record. All while searching for another new house, preparing for the baby, working, and entertaining guests.

April Fools.

I am sure absolutely no one fell for that one. But I couldn’t resist.

I actually finished only 5 books this month: 2 print and 3 audio. But hey, I’m still reading – albeit at a snail’s pace – and thankfully I am still listening since audiobooks seem to be going steady. In March, I read:

• The Invisible Ones by Stef Penny (audio)
• Maisie Dobbs by Jaqueline Winspear (audio)
• The Big Over Easy by Jasper Fforde
• Pandemonium by Lauren Oliver
• The End of Everything by Megan Abbott (audio)

In addition to those reviews, I reviewed:

• Torment by Lauren Kate (audio)
• Where Things Come Back by John Corey Whaley
• Death by Black Hole (and Other Cosmic Quandries) by Neil deGrasse Tyson (audio)

I shared the music that makes me think of Harry Potter and turned 29.  I also made the decision to expand the blog’s focus a little to accomodate my changing lifestyle. Along those lines, I saw The Hunger Games and shared my thoughts and wrote my first Weekend Cooking post.

April should see us moving into our new house and enjoying the last child-free month of our marriage (unless this little guy waits until June to come). It’s an exciting time and I look forward to sharing it with you as the adventures continue.

I have been doing a lot of thinking lately. As you can plainly tell by my lack of posts and my constant complaints about my lack of posts, this blog just isn’t working the way it used to. I am having a really difficult time reading anything so my content naturally suffers. And then I get frustrated. I love this blog and I love interacting with all of you and I don’t want this to be something that stresses me out.

I tried to just take a laid-back approach until the reading came back. But the reading hasn’t come back yet.

Then I thought about it some more. I’ve accepted that my life is in a big state of change (baby, theoretical new house, etc). So why shouldn’t my blog reflect that? I’ve started cooking and baking more – maybe I should start joining in the Weekend Cooking discussion over at Beth Fish Reads. I actually have been reading some baby/parenting books – why not discuss those? Maybe I’ll talk more about my other interests – music, television, running, dance. I still want to review books – and I still plan on reviewing every book I read. But after narrowing the original blog a few years ago to fit what I thought a “book blog” should be, I think maybe it’s time to expand my topics again.

So I don’t really know what I’m going to be doing. Maybe I won’t end up doing anything differently. But don’t be surprised if you see some changes around here.

Well I am still in the midst of all things baby. I’ll be 30 weeks tomorrow and I’m feeling the end approaching. We are going on the hospital tour tonight and I’m back to Babies R Us in a few hours to finish continue registering. I’m taking a friend with me for some guidance this time, but if any of you parents out there have advice on things I absolutely need and (perhaps, more importantly) things I absolutely do not need, I’ll take it.

I did manage to read a book this weekend though. I finished Pandemonium and, just in case I don’t get around to reviewing it for awhile, I’ll let you know I loved it just as much as Delirium. So I have once again found a Book 2 I didn’t hate. Perhaps the tide has changed on my Book 2 woes?

Is everyone out enjoying this early spring (or in our case, almost-summer) weather?

[Attention: If you scroll down, you will see a very rare picture of pregnant me.]

Good morning, everyone. Is it Sunday again? Really? Well at least I have something to show this week. I finished both an audiobook and a print book, started my baby registry (and ordered a crib curtesy of my visiting mother and stepdad), and I turned 29. I’m still pushing for Ireland for my 30th birthday. I can bring a 9 month old to Ireland, right?

My big gift this year was from Ben and his family: a green KitchenAid Stand Mixer. I haven’t been able to make anything too complicated yet but I did make a quick batch of chocolate chip cookies just to try it out. And they are delicious.

Isn’t it pretty?

I also received this wonderful shirt from my mom:

I should really start saving just in case he IS a Future Wolverine…

Also on my birthday (I love birthdays, so I am going to just keep talking about it…), I did the “Pic an Hour” project. For each hour of the day, I took a photo and shared it on tumblr and instagram. Here is the teeny tiny cumulative result:

And now I must run to spend some time with my family (and go to a Tigers/Phillies spring training game later!). Enjoy your Sunday. One less hour and all.