#184 *The Night Circus*

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

Number #184- Make a list of 100 books and read them all.  Looks like I am crossing off number 1 on that list (finally).

And to add to that, I have recently found the local library.  The library in my neighborhood is very small, but is in a walking distance and scanning through the 5 isles of fiction I found this book and remembered it was on my list of books I wanted to read.

The Night Circus initially caught my eye because I saw one of my friends reviews on it, and it also contained the words "circus" and "magic".  Who doesn't love a good magic book?  By the way, there is a "tragic" (depending how you look at it) love story within the plot; The Night Circus is ideal for guilty pleasure reading. 

The Night Circus is about a young woman and a young man who are bound together as children to have a life-long magical battle held within a circus.  What I love about the magic element in this book is that the author implies that anyone can produce magic, it isn't something that you are given the ability to do, but that if you study the right materials you can learn.  It made me excited like a five-year-old girl.  Morgenstern is a very good visual writer.  The descriptions of the tents within the circus were believable and I felt like I was there while I was reading.  However, like most modern books the characters lacked a lot of depth and emotion.  Reading The Night Circus reminded me a lot of reading The Hunger Games because of this writing style. 

Overall The Night Circus was very enjoyable for me.  I wasn't looking for some "grand" novel (thats why the book is listed on my guilty pleasure list).  I was looking for a good story and I got one.

Beloved Giveaway Winner!

I had a total of 8 entries for this contest.  I just plugged in 8 in the random number generator and whichever number it gave me would pertain to that number comment...which is Amy! Amy, I will be contacting you via email so no need to respond to this post.

And for everyone who missed the contest, or for the people who didn't win...don't worry! I will be posting another one shortly!

It's a....!

I am so excited! I think I would have been excited either way but now that I know I can go shopping! The technician wasn't quiet 100% positive it's a girl because she wouldn't spread her legs out super far, but he said he was "pretty sure, but save receipts just in case."  I guess it's harder to predict something when you are looking for something that isn't there.

I am not a doctor, but that sure looks like a girl to me!!

The technician had a little difficulty getting her to move her hands.  Apparently, me having chocolate chip oatmeal and orange juice doesn't seem to effect her very much because she slept almost the entire time with her teeny hands in front of her face.  The doctor pressed down on my uterus a few times trying to get her to move her hands and she gave the camera a super serious angry face.  I giggled and she put a huge smile on her face before covering it up again with her hands.


The best news is that she is extremely healthy, she has all of her baby parts and no cleft lip.  No abnormalities and a strong heartbeat.  Also, all my blood work came back and there are no serious genetic problems.  I am really excited!

Okay- Go ahead and call me a hippy

BUT

I think I am going to try to go "Shampoo free".  I have been doing a lot of research on the internet about this topic and I think I am ready to commit.  I am going to start tomorrow and hopefully next week I can post an update.
I am doing this purely because I think it's better to not absorb chemicals if I can avoid it, and cutting shampoo and conditioner out of my life seems like one step in that direction.  Also, I have seen some women getting better results from their hair from not washing it, weirdly enough.
So I am taking the pledge to at least try, and if it doesn't work...well then I can go back to my corporate shampoo ways.


How many people have tried this?

Baby update

Ahhhhh "The Bump" has arrived.  And as you can see Lou has a new best friend.  My cat has assumed the protective role over the last couple of months and loves to be around the bump.  I am excited that I will be finding out the gender next week!

Me: We are going to find out the gender! I am so excited, what do you want?
Husband: A baby.
Me: haha yeah, but do you have a preference?
Husband: Alive.

We already have names picked out, so now it's just a matter of knowing (and of course shopping).  I can't wait to get the baby book ready, I haven't decided if I am going to scrapbook or buy one that you just fill out the pages yet.

Today I had to go to the doctor because I started having Braxton Hicks, which is really unusual this early in the pregnancy.  Thankfully, everything was checked out and everything is normal.  My doctor said that it's normal for some people to contract early on because their body is having a hard time breaking through the muscle and your body has a lot more preparing to do for labor ( I hate writing that word because I am not looking forward to that part at all).  But, Shingles is cleared up and so has the morning sickness and I am now in a normal feeling stage which has been great.

What problems did you face in your pregnancy?


*Oh and don't forget to enter my giveaway!! It ends June 15th- Click here to enter*

Baby Registry

As a first time parent the Newborn essentials list can be very overwhelming.  I ended up separating things that we really need and things that I just want and we NEED a lot of stuff!

Looking back on your list, are there items that you said you didn't need but you found yourself not being able to live without?