Weekend Reading! 2/22/13

Hey there!  Genevieve here.  You know, the person that used to do Weekend Reading regularly but has been slacking?  Yep, that's me! :)  I've been reading some good stuff lately and would LOVE to share with you.  But I decided to give you a little more than just what I'm reading...let me know what you think!


What I'm reading:

Excellent article on Newborn Procedures to Reconsider.  If you or someone you know is having a baby soon, read this!
 
Sarah shares her failures and triumphs as a parent, ultimately deciding that gentleness makes her children great.

ImprovingBirth shares statistics of "routine" maternity care and evidence-base care.

A true frustration on mine, "Why is Everyone Always Giving My Kids Junk Food?"

What I'm listening to and watching:

The Glorious Unseen- Close to Your Heart

Breaking Bad...not entirely sure I like this show.  It's a little too intense for me.

What I'm eating:

Melt-In-Your Mouth Chuck Roast 

                                       Happy Weekend!

Birthday Surprise: Honeymoon Hotel & The Civil Wars

If any of you remember, I happened to turn 30 earlier this month.  It wasn't emotional or anything and I survived turning an age that I remember my mother turning and thinking to myself at the time "Oh my gosh, she's SO old.  Almost, like, Grandma-old." 

Remember how I told you how I return gifts all.the.time so my husband had preemptively planned a birthday surprise for me that I wouldn't be able to return? 

Yeh.  He did an AH-MAZING job! 

He brought me to Minneapolis and sent me off to do whatever I wanted all day while he was at a workshop.  It was really fun to window shop for a couple of hours then spend the afternoon huddled in a small coffee shop reading blogs, studies and articles.  He thought I'd love several uninterrupted hours to get lost in the latest parenting and childbirth trends.  He was right!

Later that afternoon we went out to eat and he brought me to our hotel.  The hotel we stayed at happened to be the very same hotel we stayed at on our honeymoon the night we got married!  How romantical, right?  He scored a million points for that one!

He still refused to tell me what my surprise was (as if all that wasn't enough already).  As we drove downtown later that night, getting ready to go to my big surprise that anticipation was killing me!  I could hardly wait and was so nervous I was shaking!  I was SO excited to see what he had planned.  He let me take a couple of guesses. Cirque du Soleil?  Rock N' Roll Dueling Pianos?  But I was wrong on all those guesses.

As we approached our destination, lights and people EVERYWHERE, he made me close my eyes.  Not that I would've noticed.  I was too excited and giddy. 

We parked our car and walked amongst tons of Tyler Perry fans (Tyler Perry was in town - should've guessed that one, too).  As we approached my surprise, he made me look down and he guided me along.  Suddenly we stopped and he told me to look up and this is what I saw:

The Civil Wars in concert!

My husband had not only pulled off the impossible (surprising me) but the incredible, by taking me to The Civil Wars!!!  The Civil Wars are quite possibly our favorite band right now and have restored my hope that there are some out there with pure talent in a music industry.  A music industry that perpetuates perfect pitch and beats, all brought forth by a computer.  The Civil Wars are raw, harmonious folk vocals, accompanied by a guitar and the occasional jaunt on the keys.   Pause: if you aren't familiar with The Civil Wars listen to this song.

I got tears in my eyes as I held his hand (obviously, I don't get out much) and we went up at got our tickets scanned.  I just kept smiling while we got our drinks and were seated in the beautiful State Theatre. 

The beautiful State Theatre, waiting for The Civil Wars to start!

As we sat and waited for the concert to begin, Dallas explained it all to me; how he had to delete any messages he wrote to people while coordinating this whole thing, how he changed his passwords so I wouldn't know anything and even how he used a new credit card to pay for our room at the hotel.

As he talked I remembered that The Civil Wars tour had sold out and wondered how he got not only tickets, but tickets about 10 rows up in the center aisle.  He told me it really was a miracle.  :-)

Milo Greene opened for them, and they were quite impressive.  I look forward to hearing more of them.  The Civil Wars stole the show with every single song.  Their performance of "Barton Hollow" left the whole theatre in uproarious applause.

In the end, my husband succeeded at surprising me, getting me a gift I would love and there's no way I'd want to return it!  It's a gift I'll never forget!  Thank you, Dallas!

At The Civil Wars concert.  Ignore the flash blasting our eyes in the dim theatre.

Sunshine 1st Birthday Party (pics and video)

What a day of celebration for our little girl!  After a long time of dreaming and planning and doing, the day to celebrate India's first year of life came!

But first, here is a picture of her last day as a technical baby!

And here she is on her actual birthday!

OK everyone, take me serious, because I am ONE!

We had a Sunshine Party last weekend in honor of our girl. 

Think: Mason jars, classy country, gentle yellow and white, fresh breeze, barbeque, lemonade, music, fresh blue water. 

Here were the invitations to her party!

We decorated and my Dad even turned on the fountains in the front of the house....

The entrance to the party

The Birthday Banner that took hours to make!

India, month by month!

Beautiful hydrangeas!

The sweet birthday girl was a bit overwhelmed with all the people and was pretty sober the whole party, but was very interested in someway, somehow, getting outside!

We not only celebrated her first birthday last weekend, but her Daddy led us all in dedicating her to the Lord.

Of course, since we knew I was pregnant, we've dedicated her to God, but it was great to do it corporately with our closest friends and family members!

For the dedication, everyone gathered, Dallas and I shared a little bit (and cried),and I played the piano and sang a song.

Then we all gathered around her and whoever wanted to was welcome to pray blessings over our little India girl. 

Her Daddy closed the prayer time.

We then went down to the beautiful lake for Barbeque and Sunshine Party! 

It was the perfect day for swimming!

For the 10 days previous to the party, the weather forecast was horrible, predicting rain, which isn't a great thing considering this was to be a Sunshine Party!  Thankfully, the weather completely changed course and we all had a great (but hot) party outside. 

We had some yummy snacks, while waiting for the Grillmaster!

Cold drinks on a HOT day!

Everyone had their own personalized Mason jar for drinks!

Then we ate, and celebrated with cupcakes!

The menu: brats, hamburger beans, chips and watermelon!

My homemade, slightly unstable cupcake stand. :)

Yellow cupcakes, with buttercream frosting and lemon curd filling!  YUM!

Then it was time for India to enjoy her first bites of cake (and sugar, really)! 

 Everyone gathered around to watch her delve into her cake....

But after one bite, she just thought it was more fun to throw pieces of fondant on the ground.  All the while, I'm going, "Child, it probably took me one hour just to roll that little piece of fondant out just right!"  Then she decided she didn't want the cake anywhere near her.  Next year, I'm not spending hours making her the perfect birthday cake.  She can just have a Twinkie.

Well, at least Dallas and I got to eat the cake in the days following the party.  Seriously, what kid doesn't like cake?  Probably the same kid who doesn't really like to eat more than a few bites of solid food.  My kid.

It was then time to open gifts!

She was very happy to get more Signing Time DVDs!



A cool money tree!  We're putting the money towards a wood play kitchen for her so she can cook with Mama!





Ultimately though, she was more interested in treating her cousin Xiomara as her doll.
 

Aren't they cute?  Her cousin Brooklynn was there as well, but I didn't get a good picture of the three of them! :(

It was a great few days to celebrate our baby.  The Sunshine Party was a perfect fit for our family and mostly, for India.  A lot of work, but worth it.  BUT, this will be the last party I throw for her of this magnitude.  


I think. ;)





Wordless Wednesday: Starting Young