I pray we never forget the sacrifice that so many have given so that we can live and worship Christ freely in this country! May God bless the soldiers and their families both this weekend and all through the year.

We’ve had a busy week and we’ve got an even busier weekend coming up! So, I have much to do, but I did want to write a quick blog before things got TOO crazy. 🙂

Nathan has ALWAYS loved Kody! He thinks Kody is about the coolest thing ever and pretty much exists for his personal entertainment.

And lately (this could be due to Nathan eating table foods that can now be dropped down to him), Kody has decided that Nathan is not as bad as he originally seemed. I caught them doing this the other day:

And I just thought it was the cutest thing! Someone loves his puppy.

Hugs are much better than Nathan sharing his paci with Kody (don’t even ask).

Our friends Clint and Leigh Ann will be gone most of the summer doing a training in Colorado, so Nathan had to go see his friend Hayley one last time before they left. I think Nathan was more thrilled with her than she was with him. Ha! He might have to get used to it!! 🙂 We’ll miss you guys!

Last, Nathan and I went to the zoo yesterday with Melanie, Julia L., Jamie, Joel and Julia P. I am horrible about taking my camera with me to the zoo, but we got this one of the two of us while we were on the train. This might have been the only 1/2 second that Nathan wasn’t bouncing off the bench with excitement. And I’m pretty certain that the man behind us was not part of the exhibits.

Overall, we had a great time at the zoo – no pun intended! Ha!

I’m SO happy that it’s Memorial Weekend! Jon’s last day of school is today – yay for the summer! Hard to believe that at this point last year, I was hugely pregnant and we were just counting down the days until July! What do you guys have planned for this weekend?

So sorry for the long absence, guys. I’ve sat down four times to write a blog and Blogger wouldn’t let me login.

Quite frustrating.

And now it’s late. So I’m going to summarize what I was going to say in bullet points:

1. Interesting day today. About lunch time, I let Kody outside (which, no, isn’t very interesting), looked out a few minutes later and saw him playing with what at first looked like a piece of bark. On a closer look, though, I saw it was a MOUSE.

2. I am horrendously afraid/grossed out/disgusted/horrified/on the verge of breakdowns with anything that involves mice. So I called Jon, who thankfully is on his last week of school, and he was able to run home on his lunch break to get it for me. Nathan and I waited in the car for him because NO WAY was I staying in the house close to the rodents.

3. Because of this, we will now be moving shortly. Which is a shame, because I still haven’t decorated my living room completely.

4. I think it’s sad that we’ve lived here almost three years and I still haven’t decorated my living room.

5. If you haven’t seen Ramona and Beezus, you need to watch it. It is one of my new top three favorite movies. I have teared up with happy tears almost every time I’ve watched it. Go buy it. Don’t even bother renting it. You’ll be glad you did.

6. Don’t forget that Easter Carats is available on Kindle. And to answer a few questions: No, it won’t be releasing in book form, it’s only going to be released on Kindle. Also, you can download a free Kindle app to your computer – you don’t need a Kindle in order to read it. 🙂 Thanks so much to those of you who have read it and told me your feedback – I love hearing it!

7. I know that it is customary to hear a mouse story and respond with a disgusting one of your own, but PLEASE, for all that is good and barely sane in this world, DO NOT leave your gross mouse stories in the comments! I will not sleep tonight as it is.

8. Aren’t these the cutest pictures of Nathan? He was driving Gammy and Pops’ Corvette this weekend. Didn’t make it out of the garage, though. 😉

Y’all have a rodent-free night.

Sara F!! 🙂

I’ve sent you an email! Thanks so much for entering, everyone! Here’s the link to Easter Carats. 🙂

Have a great weekend!

You can now download Easter Carats!!

Go here to buy it on Kindle! Yay!!!!

Would anyone like to win a copy? 🙂 Leave your name and email address (if you want to avoid getting spam, leave your address like this: erynnmangum @ gmail.com) in the comments and I’ll draw a winner tomorrow (Saturday) at noon!

Don’t forget, I posted yesterday how to download a free Kindle app straight to your computer if you don’t own a Kindle. Or you can get the free app in the App Store!

I love book releases. 🙂

I mentioned this a little bit ago, but coming to a Kindle near you TOMORROW is:

Easter Carats! (Yay!)

I’ll be posting as soon as it’s up on Kindle. I’ve been trying to make the most of nap times and decided that since September is so far away for Sketchy Behavior‘s release, we could at least have some lighthearted summer time reading!! 🙂

Don’t have a Kindle? No worries. You can download an app to read Kindle books on your Mac here and on your PC here. Also, if you have an iPhone, iPad or one of the new iPods, you can download an app for them here. I’d really encourage you to get the app – there are TONS of fabulous Christian fiction books that will occasionally be on sale (sometimes as low as free!) on Kindle.

I hope y’all enjoy Easter Carats!! 🙂 I haven’t written just a sweet romance in a long time. I have to say – I loved getting to know Emilie and Blake’s story!

I discovered today during a moment of weakness involving graham crackers, a grouchy needing-a-nap baby and me just trying to eat a bowl of cereal in peace that my son loves watching Barney and Friends.

Crap.

Those songs have been playing in my head all day. Actually, it was kind of cute. Nathan danced, laughed (sometimes at the right places!) and clapped his hands when all the entirely too cheerful and starchly dressed kids on the video did. I would be lying if I told you I didn’t take a video of him watching Barney.

But that seems like a hundred and twelve degrees of FIRST TIME MOMITIS, so I might have to lie and pretend that no such videos exist in this house. 🙂

Y’all have a great afternoon!!

Nathan and I have just been hanging out at home today. I’ve been working on writing and he’s been doing his normal play time with his toys.

And he has a new favorite:

Juice! (When you consider how much actual juice I put in there, is really just apple flavored water. Ha!)

I realized today is the first day where we have been home ALL DAY since I don’t even remember when. Which is probably why both of us where just kind of sitting there looking at each other for a little bit today like, “What do we do now?”

But then a tickle fight started and we got a little distracted.

This could explain why my carpet has stains all over it now.

He still has a little bit of a problem getting it to all stay in his mouth. Evidenced by his collar. 🙂

I’m so excited about my upcoming Kindle release! 🙂 But it’s got me thinking – what are things you look for when you are picking out a new book to read? Cover art? A friend’s recommendation? What plays into your decision?

My little bean is ten months old today.

I know I say this every single month but… seriously??? He’s already ten months??

This has by far been the best month yet too (I know I say that every month too – ha! I just love every single stage he’s been in so far!). He’s so funny, so entertaining, so goofy and SO exhausting!

He’s discovered that he can play with us – so this month we’ve been doing a lot of chasing around the house and last week, Nathan started attacking Jon while he was laying on the floor like he was wrestling with him. It is SO cute. He starts growling and crawls as fast as he can over to us and buries his head on us. I love it!! He’s also discovered that he LOVES books and I cannot tell you how happy that makes me!

Still not walking, but he’s a lightning fast crawler and he pulls up on something about every four seconds. He’ll stand by himself for a little bit, but he hasn’t tried to take his first step. We’ve got the video camera all ready to go, though, because I have a feeling it might be soon. He’s very into pointing these days – it can be a little awkward when we’re out. Ha!

He’s now almost completely on table foods – such a big boy! He eats most meats, lots of veggies and fruits. Anything that we eat, he wants some. So he’s also had bites of cookies, donuts, milkshakes (we are both on dairy! I am so glad to have ice cream again!! Nathan has only had yogurt, but he’s been doing great with it!) and I don’t even want to know what else. There goes my grand plan of making him wait until a year to have sugar! 🙂 He still eats like a five year-old. It scares Jon and me to death about what he’ll be eating like when he’s 15.

He has been doing SO good at leaving things alone when we tell him no. Thank you, Lord! I hate, hate telling him no, but he’s caught on pretty quick. I’m praying hard that this continues to be the case!!

He talks ALL. THE. TIME. When he is awake, there is constant baby babbling going on at my house. It’s so cute!

He has now been to the zoo twice and absolutely LOVES it! We have so much fun! He waves at all the animals and just smiles. I love our little zoo here – it’s small, but it’s fun. Plus, it’s nice to be able to get out on pretty days and walk around.

And since he’s ten months old and Mother’s Day just passed, I thought I’d write a Top Ten List of things I never anticipated about parenthood. 🙂

10. The way that my house would start smelling – every time I walk into my house, I can totally tell that a diapered baby lives here. We heart Febreeze.

9. How absolutely disgusting a high chair tray can get.

8. How my heart completely stops beating anytime I feel like he’s about to fall.

7. I never thought I could be so exhausted and yet be able to keep going through my normal day.

6. I never in my life ever thought I’d pray for someone as much as I pray for Nathan. My days are sometimes like one constant prayer (particularly during grouchy days – ha!).

5. It takes me three days to get somewhere on time now. And spur of the moment Walmart trips? Those are long gone. And I only have ONE kid. I don’t know how you moms of multiples do it.

4. I never knew how much STUFF one little baby could collect. And how big most of that stuff is!

3. I don’t think I ever realized how long and short a day is at the same time. We love when Jon gets home, but when I tuck Nathan in bed, it seems like the day has flown past.

2. I never knew I could love someone like I do Nathan. It’s a totally different type of love than I have for Jon or anyone else. It’s completely changed my view of the Cross – I honestly can’t comprehend how God could give us His Son like He did.

1. And my all-time favorite: I was nursing Nathan in a little back room at a friend’s wedding and a lady walked in and said, “Oh, is that your baby?”

Definitely did not anticipate every getting asked that question. WHILE BREASTFEEDING.

😀

I love being this kid’s mom. 🙂

Yesterday was my very first Mother’s Day.

It kind of weirded me out, to be honest. 🙂 I’ve spent my whole life being the kid on Mother’s Day, so to suddenly be the MOM was cueing all sorts of Twilight Zone music in my brain. This whole past week, I’ve been looking at Nathan as he crawls around, gets slimy while he eats chunks of bananas, grins with soap on his head in the bath and I’ve been just shocked by this:

I. AM. A. MOTHER.

I have a son!

I am so blessed. It takes me off guard most of the time.

Yesterday was so fun! Jon made it very special for me. I got in the shower to get ready to go to church and in the meantime, Jon and Nathan disappeared. When I came into the kitchen, they had Starbucks and flowers sitting on the table. 🙂

We had lunch after church with my family and Clint and Leigh Ann. It was such a sweet time because it’s both of our first Mother’s Day! Afterward, Nathan gave me his card which was ADORABLE – it had his little handprint and footprint inside! I loved it!

And then we went over to my parents’ house so we could be with my mom on Mother’s Day. I love this picture of Nathan helping his Gammy unwrap her gift! And can I just say that having a baby has completely changed my perspective on my mom? I love her more now than I ever have in my whole life. God has blessed me so much in giving me a mother who loves and serves Him. And I know now exactly what she went through with me as a baby and trust me – the respect is flowing unheeded nowadays. 🙂 THANK YOU, MOM – I cannot ever say it enough!

Yesterday was also one of those days where it was just sad being so far away from Jon’s family too – we missed you, Connie! Love you and looking forward to celebrating Mom’s Day in the summer! 🙂

But the best thing about Mother’s Day? It’s the wrapping paper Slip-N-Slide on the carpet after all is said and done:

Goofus. 🙂

What did you do for your mom?