I'm totally late with this post, but I did have a very busy weekend. And now I finally have a day off where I can finally sit down in front of my computer and relax!
Life Recap:
So last weekend I got to celebrate my 30th birthday, and find out the gender of my baby, with friends and family. It was fantastic! ....And a little chaotic. Dave and I had to give our house a thorough cleaning. And I mean thorough cleaning! Dave focused on the the yard and surrounding shrubbery, while I used my superior cleaning skills (ha!) to clean all 1,400 square feet of our home. It took all day Friday, but I managed it! The library is now neat and organized, the first floor is dust-free, and the baby's room is no longer a cramped storage space.
I was so exhausted by the end I could barely speak in coherent sentences, but rest assured that I did clean smart (for all you pregnancy-worrywarts out there): I used safe cleaning supplies, I took breaks to eat and rest my body, and at one point Dave and I cooled off at the local swimming pool (which felt amazing!). Despite all of these precautions however, I was still completely wiped out by the end of the day, and slept like a rock.
The next day (my 30th birthday!), started out calmly, then turned into preparation chaos, and then became busy fun before settling back into calm tranquility again. My hubby made me birthday pancakes before our parents arrived and took over our lawn and kitchen. I had to get creative to find room in my fridge for all of the food they prepared, Dave had to blow up a bunch of balloons, and both my mom and mother-in-law were practically everywhere at once putting up decorations. Thankfully, we were all ready by the time the guests began to trickle in.
The party overall seemed to be a huge hit! We had a volleyball/badminton net set up, a kiddie pool and sprinkler system to keep the kids cool, and plenty of food and drink. Dad made his legendary ribs, Dave's father was in charge of the burgers and dogs, and our moms were in charge of everything else.
I have to give Dave's mom a huge amount of credit for being so creative with some of the activities (my Mom gets a lot of credit too, but mostly for the incredible party planning). This was, after all, a gender reveal party as well as my 30th birthday party (no point in having two separate parties, and I didn't want to have all of the attention), so guests were asked to decide whether we were having a boy or a girl. Betsy created a raffle, and made a board of old wives tales that I had to fill out to help people decide.
The cutest thing she did was the "Diaper Toss"; basically a redecorated bean bag toss set where she made adorable little diapers to throw. It was too cute, and we had all the guests participate by assigning teams according to which gender they chose.
After the Diaper Toss came the moment of truth, although I didn't know it would be at the time. Mom brought back an Evans family tradition of what we called "The Fishing Game"; it's this game for the kids where each child throws a fishing line over a fence that's covered in a blue/seascape tablecloth, and they "hook" a personalized gift (my dad being on the other side attaching the presents, of course). It was a huge hit at our birthday parties way back when, so we brought it back for this event. All the kids present got a turn to snag a special present of their very own.
And then Mom suggested Dave and I have a turn. It was time for us to find out whether our baby was going to be a son or a daughter.
We threw the line and hooked a box.
And in that box was a card.
And that card said "Congratulations on your baby boy"
We're having a boy!!!!
Well of course I cried. It was a happy moment. We are having a son, and his name will be Jack Gregory Spiro.
So, overall, I guess you could say the birthday party/gender reveal was a success. We certainly had a lot of fun, although I did revel in the peace and quiet after everyone had left. The remainder of the weekend was dedicated towards cleaning and getting everything back to normal. And then we had to get back to work, and back to our usual routines. So, yeah, there wasn't a whole lot of time to blog.
But now it's time to recap on how well I did with reading last month, as well as July's reading plans!
Reading Recap:
I definitely started the month with a bit of a reading craze. I was finishing books left and right. But once my life got busy with party preparations, my reading slowed waaay down. Now I'm struggling to find a few minutes to sneak in a few pages!
Nevertheless, I did manage to finish 8 books this month, which isn't too bad, considering. Admittedly, only two of these books were new reads; the rest were comfort re-reads (because I'm craving comfort books during my pregnancy).
Anyway, here they are listed below:
Title: Warbreaker
Author: Brandon Sanderson
Date Finished: June 3
My Rating: ★★★★
Quick Review: A decent Sanderson novel that I can finally knock off of my TBR.
Full Review | Goodreads Link
Title: The Hobbit (Lord Of The Rings prequel)
Author: J.R.R. Tolkien
Date Finished: June 6
My Rating: ★★★★★
Quick Review: A comfort re-read of one of my all-time favorite fantasy novels!
Full Review | Goodreads Link
Title: Crocodile On The Sandbank (Amelia Peabody #1)
Author: Elizabeth Peters
Date Finished: June 8
My Rating: ★★★★★
Quick Review: A re-read of a historical mystery novel that I've loved since I was a teen.
Full Review | Goodreads Link
Title: The Clairvoyant Countess (Madame Karitska #1)
Author: Dorothy Gilman
Date Finished: June 9
My Rating: ★★★★★
Quick Review: A comfort re-read of yet another book that I've loved since I was a teenager. Super quick and easy to read.
Full Review | Goodreads Link
Title: A Spool Of Blue Thread
Author: Anne Tyler
Date Finished: June 19
My Rating: ★★★★
Quick Review: This a BOTM for a library book club. A very good read of an author I've never read before. I will definitely try other Anne Tyler books.
Full Review | Goodreads Link
Title: The Curse Of The Pharaohs (Amelia Peabody #2)
Author: Elizabeth Peters
Date Finished: June 20
My Rating: ★★★★★
Quick Review: Yet another re-read. This second book in a historical mystery series that I love. I actually like this book better than the first one!
Full Review | Goodreads Link
Title: Kaleidoscope (Madame Karitska #2)
Author: Dorothy Gilman
Date Finished: June 22
My Rating: ★★★★★
Quick Review: Another comfort read, and a sequel to a mystery favorite. Maybe not as good as the first one, but still very enjoyable.
Full Review | Goodreads Link
Title: The Fellowship Of The Ring (Lord Of The Rings #1)
Author: J.R.R. Tolkien
Date Finished: June 26
My Rating: ★★★★★
Quick Review: I'm on an LOTR re-reading kick. Always fun, always good!
Full Review | Goodreads Link
Like I said, not bad. But definitely a lot of re-reads. My plan this month is to read 9 more books, but have about 4 of them be new books. One of my book clubs is also doing a summer reading challenge, so I'm planning on fulfilling some, if not all, of the challenge requirements this month.
Here we go! The following books are novels I'm planning on finishing or re-reading:
- The Two Towers (LOTR #2), by J.R.R. Tolkien
- The Return Of The King (LOTR #3), by J.R.R. Tolkien
- The Mummy Case (Amelia Peabody #3), by Elizabeth Peters
- The Cuckoo's Calling (Cormoran Strike #1), by Robert Galbraith
And these are BOTM's I want to read:
- The Outsider, by Stephen King
- Ordinary Grace, by William Kent Krueger, or The Sleepwalker, by Chris Bohjalian
For one of the reading challenge categories, I'm going to try this one:
- The Reef, by Nora Roberts
For another reading challenge category, I'm going to try to read one of the following:
- Duma Key, by Stephen King
- The High Tide Club, by Mary Kay Andrews
- The Perfect Couple, by Elin Hilderbrand
And for a third reading challenge category, I'm going to try to read one of the following (note there is a bit of an overlap here--some of the books I'm considering could be used for either category):
- The Perfect Couple, by Elin Hilderbrand
- The High Tide Club, by Mary Kay Andrews
- Castaway Cottage, by Joanne DeMaio
- Shelter In Place, by Nora Roberts
Soooo, lots of options, but that's the whole point! I wanna feel loose, flexible, and relaxed about my reading, especially since I'm starting to reach that point where the pregnancy is starting to feel a little stressful (upcoming appointments, the need to exercise, the need to eat well, the need to start signing up for birthing classes, the need to start spending money on baby stuff, etc....anyone who's been pregnant before knows exactly what I'm talking about!).
So the plan is, read when I can, but try to set aside time for it, such as when I'm at the local pool (I've gotta say, swimming feels amazing as a prenatal exercise! It feels just as good as the running did, which I can't do anymore because of all this insane heat). Here's hoping that I can achieve at least 50% of this month's goal! Wish me luck!
Happy reading everyone!
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