Aquarium

For Dan's birthday we went out to eat at the Olive Garden, where since Emma told them it was Dan's birthday, he was sung to. He thought that was pretty cool. Then we went to the "fishy place." Dan loves the frogs, so he got to sit on one and we bought him a stuffed frog for his birthday. All in all, not a bad 2nd birthday. He was sure proud of himself for turning 2. Every time someone wished him a happy birthday, he would get the biggest grin on his face. It was so cute.

Happy Birthday Dan!!!!

Two years ago today, I was induced and after a very hard labor and a couple of hours of pushing, I had my third little boy. When Dan was born, he had a lot of problems breathing which put him in the NICU for four days. Scared the hell out of his mother. His chest xray was so bad, they thought he had pneumonia, but four days later the xray was fine. Thank goodness for that because there was no way I was going to be able to leave my baby in the hospital; I bow down to all who have done so.
7 lbs 10 ozs. (I have Dan looking at the picture and he says the baby has ickys all over him and needs a bath---had to include that, it was funny) I only got to hold him for a minute, and he wouldn't nurse for 18 hours after he was born, not for lack of trying on my part.

Shortly after Dan was born, Joe was deployed for a year, so Danny is my little comfort. When I first found out I was having a boy, I cried forever. I never had wanted girls but since I already had Emma, I really wanted her to have a sister, but I sure didn't want anymore than four kids (have a hard enough time with 4), so I was pretty upset--damn Merkley genes. No, I would never send Dan back. He's the sweetest child. He is so loving. He always makes his mom laugh, he never hesitates to give a hug, and he is the most playful little one we've had. He truly is a mighty blessing, and the exact child I needed at the time.

My blue eyed, (dark) blond haired boy. I prayed for a blue eyed girl, so I guess we call the glass half full because FINALLY one of them is mine!!!! He got his mom's blue eyes. Man, I love this kid.

Happy 2nd Birthday Dan Paul!!!!

Books Read in October

Delved in and finished up the series. I LOVE Obert Skye. He has this great knack of making me bust out laughing whenever I read his books. Sadly, this series is at an end. Luckily he's going to continue the story of one of the main characters in the series, so I'm really excited to see how he continues.

Leven Thumps and the Whispered Secret - 396
Leven Thumps and the Eyes of the Want - 389
Leven Thumps and the Wrath of Ezra - 389
Leven Thumps and The Ruins of Alder - 356

Dan Brown's latest installment of his great professor, was okay. It gave me a good list of nonfiction to read, and other than that, all I can say is "is Robert Langston just the dumbest man alive or what??" The only time the character ever gets going in the right way is once a really smart woman comes to his aid; I guess I've got to give Dan Brown his due, at least he knows men can't do a thing without a good woman at their side ;) I also find that Dan Brown has this knack of criticizing and being rude; I find that one can criticize without being rude and not take away anything from a story. Oh, well. It wasn't a horrible story, and it definitely made me more curious about the Masons and their history. I will say that Dan Brown has a knack for making me curious and that is to his credit.

Lost Symbol - 509

M. L. Forman is the author of the next book. Now, I read this book mainly because Joe is friends with the author's brother (I should be too, seeing as we are suppose to be in a writing club, but I am so horrible and haven't really gotten involved yet. I really need to get over myself and be more involved!!! Oh well, hopefully I can get my act together.) Anyway, to the book. I LOVED it and can't wait for the next. It's so fun to read a book by someone I sort of know; it makes it all more tangible. I use to want to write when I was young and had so much to write. I could never get past fear to really figure out how to publish, plus, I don't deal with criticism very well. When I write, I put so much of myself into it, it's like someone is standing over my child and abusing them. It's cool to see someone successfully achieve their dreams of writing a story that is not only good but worth publishing. This story is alot like Lord of the Rings without all the sitting around and eating and drinking until they are 100. Sorry, I love Lord of the Rings, but I've always found all the sitting and wandering around really boring. Anyway, this has gotten off topic which I guess is usual for me, especially since I can't concentrate because my kids are driving me completely and utterly FRUITY right now, but the point of this all is, this is a book worth reading!!

Adventurer's Wanted Slathbog's Gold - 382

Mitch Horowitz--this is a nonfiction book. Now, not as many people may be completely and utterly fascinated by the "occult" as I am, now if you don't know what that word really is referring to, find a dictionary. Not to be rude, but I've become irritated with people who assume something just because others have taken a long time to condemn it. Hence the word occult meaning some wacky people who think that drinking poison takes them on a wild ride to the cosmos, when in fact it means "hidden." The book even discusses the development of "Mormonism" because at the time it fit into the category of an occult. Anyway, I am completely obsessed right now with learning about religion--ALL religion!! But most especially, ancient religions and paganism. So this book was great in gathering a massive list of MUST READS for me, and also for some really fascinating facts about how occultism helped to shape our nation's history.

Occult America - 258

New series for me to tackle. Written by Trenton Lee Stewart. This is so far a fun series of the power children have. I love that it's a fun adventure that shows me just how becoming an adult can take things away from us. We can learn so much from children. I'm looking forward to reading the two others that I have in this series.

The Mysterious Benedict Society - 485


Total for October -- 3164
Total for 2009 --32, 694

Well, I've met my goal for the year!!! 30,000 for the year. I guess I can stop now ;) Okay, so that's not likely to happen, so it will be fun to see how many pages I will actually read this year. As, always, if you have a question about a book I've read, I will be happy to answer anything you want to know.