2017 Goals

It's still January, so I can still talk goals and resolutions, right?

Usually I like to do two posts, one as a review and wrap-up of my previous year, and one about my new goals for the year, but we're running into the end of January here, so let's just combine things.

10 Favorite Reads from 2016

Well, here we are half-way through January. It's past time for me wrap up 2016 and give my final reading report. 2016 was actually, surprisingly, my best reading year since I started tracking. My reading goal for the year was to read 50 books, and in the end I actually hit 56 books (maybe 57, but I didn't record any of my December books until January, and I feel like I'm forgetting one. I know I did a lot of reading, but everything from the month of December is kind of lost in a hazy fog of general miserableness.)

I never quite know how to go about assessing my favorite reads from a whole year. I thought it would be easier this year, with so many books to choose from, but it was harder. So, like with all of my book rating decisions, this is just a gut check list of what struck me as my top 10 today. (If I wrote this list two weeks ago, or next week, or next year, it would probably come out different.) Anyway, in the order I read them, here were ten of my favorite reads in 2016.

Baby #3 Birth Story

Okay folks, here it is. Birth story #3. It's a novel, but believe it or not this is the edited version. I hope it makes sense (I'm pretty sleep deprived these days, so no guarantees). Also, just a note for any readers who happen to not be fellow mothers, I use a ton of pregnancy-related lingo (pitocin, VBAC, dilated, etc.). If you don't know what I'm talking about, just Google it. And finally, for any new readers around here, if you want some more context, here's Baby #2's Birth Story, and some more background on Baby #1's traumatic C-section.

Jan. 10, her due date, and one day shy of two weeks old.

I don’t remember when I read Ina May’s Guide to Childbirth—it was at some point in one of my earlier pregnancies—but there is a sentiment expressed in that book that haunts me. Ina May describes a woman attending her childbirth courses who was surrounded by relatives, mothers and sisters and aunts, with highly dramatic birth stories. While this particular woman expressed the wish to experience a calmer and more natural birth experience, Ina May noted that she was too caught up in the competition factor of her family’s birth stories, and indeed ended up having a highly dramatic birth story of her own. Ina May’s point was that, even if it is unconsciously done, we write our own birth stories before they happen.

This sentiment haunts me because, if it is true, what does that mean for my birth stories? Particularly this one? Did I write this one before it happened? Because I don’t even know how I could’ve predicted this story, even unconsciously.

Introducing...

She's here! And a week old at that (if you follow me on Instagram, you probably already know this). Introducing Lily Grace, our sweet little baby girl. We are so thrilled she's here and so perfectly sweet and squishy and delicious. This whole newborn thing is so much easier to enjoy the third time around.

I'm currently working on the full birth story, but guys, it's a bit of a doozy. I'm on page 7 and not done yet (I will try to trim it down before foisting it on you here). Apparently I'm using this birth story as a sort of cathartic writing process to sort through all of my thoughts and feelings about how intense the end of this pregnancy was for me. But once I get it in a presentable form, I'll get it up.

For now, here are just a few more pictures for you to enjoy. Newborns are the dreamiest.

I still consider myself on maternity leave, so I can't promise how regular posting will be around here for the next little while, but as we get more into a new routine hopefully I'll find some more time to pick back up here. I've got so many bookish things to talk about!