Sunday, November 16, 2008

Friends

I am feeling thankful this morning. Despite the fact that I hopped out of bed at 7am after being awake for over an hour with a headache, I just feel really great today. This weekend I have seen so many of my favorite people. David and I have been living like hermits this last month and a half and last night and Friday we had dinner with good friends and it felt so good to just have conversations.

One of these favorite people is my best friend, Kelli. A week after my dad died, she moved 2,486 miles away, to San Jose, CA. It has been hard not to have my best friend around to cry with or be excited about the baby with. I am thankful that today it is easier than ever to stay connected despite distance, but I miss not being able to just pop over to her house and read magazines. I am so thankful she is here this weekend. It really feels as if she never left. I think I am going to cry when she leaves again though. I made the bag at the top of this post for her. It only took me about a year to deliver on it. I guess it took moving to California to really motivate me. The pattern is a variation on a pattern in the book Quilts by Denyse Schmidt and I've made it before and even posted about it on this blog. It is a nice easy project that really only takes a couple hours, not a whole year.

I started reading a (so far) fantastic book Friday, Operating Instructions: A Journal of My Son's First Year by Anne Lamott. It is both hilarious and heart-breaking and just the type of pregnancy/parenting book I need right now. I can't put it down. It has already made me cry and laugh out loud. I am trying to hurry up and finish this post so I can go back to reading it actually. It is a memoir so it isn't even really a parenting/how-to book at all. I like how honest it is and I am relating to so much in it: the writer lost her dad too early, she has an amazing best friend, her disdain for Republicans...I even think David would read this book.

Do any of my mamas out there have any more reading recommendations? I have always been into the self-help genre and have already ordered in about 20 books on my library card only to feel overwhelmed and realize there is no way I am actually going to be able read them all. The recommendations of friends are surely a better way to go on this one, so please do share!

6 comments:

Cheryl said...

Hey Amanda, I didn't realize Kelli moved. I am sad for you too.

Reading advice - I think I read so much about pregnancy and should have read more about the actual baby coming! When she arrived it was too hard to try and read up at the same time.

Best book/DVD for right before the baby comes - The Happiest Baby on the Block. Amazing techniques to shush, swaddle.... for happy babies or fussy ones like mine. It was a LIFE SAVER and I always recommend it. xx

Cheryl said...

p.s. Michael said get the book BE PREPARED. It's done up like a boy scout manual and we both liked it. Very practical (and hilarious).

diane said...

The Girlfriends Guide to Pregnancy was just out when I had the kids--also Healthy Sleep habits, Healthy Child was an important one for Kyle!!!

Cat Herself said...

I read "What to Expect When You're Expecting" and then I read the one for the first year. I found them very helpful to figure out what was really happening with my body, etc. I also read Dare to Discipline by James Dobson, and Games Babies Play by Silberg. :-) The didn't have as much stuff out there as they do now - not about brain development and all that - but you probably don't need to read up on that.

Right now I"m reading "Primal Teen" about the teen brain. Some days, I don't feel I need to worry - he doesn't have a brain to worry about! LOL 14 is a tough age sometimes - but it's WAY tougher for him than for me, poor dear.

Jennifer said...

Totally agree with Cheryl, The Happiest Baby on the Block total lifesaver.

katie said...

Hi Amanda,

I just came across your blog because of a comment you left on Cheryl's blog. I didn't know you were expecting! Congratulations!

I also read Operating Instructions, although it was after I had my son, and found it insightful too. I also recommend Milk Memos to BF mamas (sorry, I know that's a little personal!). Oh, and a couple months ago I read Accidentally On Purpose: A One Night Stand, My Unplanned Parenthood, and Loving the Best Mistake I Ever Made. It's a fun one.

Good luck! Oh, and, that bag you made is amazing! I love it!

-Katie

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