current favorite baby books

Reading to our daughter every night before bed just might be my favorite thing to do with her right now.  I love our bedtime routine, being home for it is just non-negotiable for me.

For the last five months she can turn the pages on her own & I just love how engaged she is in reading these books.  Even if it isn't reading time with me, she loves her books.  I'd call it a win if she liked to sit there & chew on them (since she doesn't talk yet) so when I see her sit with a book, turn the pages & babble - it makes me so happy. 

Playing with Mommy's Favorite Book

Side note: my mother-in-law encouraged me to read the names of the authors & illustrators each time we read the book, since they all worked so hard on them, & I think that is a worthwhile habit.

Below are a few of my favorites to read to her right now.

Hello Ninja
Adorable, rhyming read that is perfect for naptime.  If she gets to pick the book, she always picks this one. 

Go to Sleep, Little Farm

Sweet, simple & has the perfect cadence 

Dream Animals: A Bedtime Journey 

A beautiful, creative & inspiring perspective on dreams

Mr. Brown Can Moo, Can You
A Dr. Seuss classic & just so much fun to read, can't pass up the opportunity to go MOO MOO

Little Owl's Night  & Little Owl's Day
Captivating because of their sweetness & simplicity - the author paints a lovely picture with her words.   

The Very Hungry Caterpillar 

Our daughter loves turning the partial pages in this book & poking at the holes, I love how the author sneaks in learning the days of the week & counting too, clever! 

Rosie Revere Engineer
I have a lot of thoughts on this book.  I love it, I really do.  I love the message. I love the illustrations.  I love the historical appendix that the authors include. But I hate it because I can't read this book to her without tearing up.  Each time I read the words that are intended to encourage her, they are at that moment undoubtedly the very words that I myself, as an ever learning & experimenting engineer, need to hear.  It is challenging to read a story of fearlessness & resilience, lay her down to bed & and set out to be exactly those things.  So this book gets to me, D has to read it to her because I literally can't even.

I am so thankful for each night that I get to come home with our baby girl, sit with her & enjoy reading about the exciting world around us. 
D&H

good news for bad moms.

In Luke 2 Mary and her family accidentally leave 12 year old Jesus behind on the way home from the feast of the passover in Jerusalem.  Her and Joseph return to Jerusalem to find Jesus three days later hanging out in the middle of the doctors in the church, talking with them and "astonishing them" with his understanding.  Mary, like any mom, scolds him for scaring her half to death, and he responds by asking her if she knows that he is there on his Father's business.  Jesus' response to her goes right over her head. 

So what happened there? And why is this story in the Bible?  I mean, poor Mary leaves her kid behind ONE TIME and people read about it for two thousand years.  Not the proud moment any mom would want to have, let alone to have generation after generation reading about it.  Also, why does Mary not understand what Jesus was talking about when she finds him? 

I think this story is in the Bible because Mary is just like any of us.  She heard the word of God spoken about her family by an angel, shepherds and prophets.  But she, like us, was caught up in the daily challenges and routines of everyday life.  Two separate times in Luke 2 it says "Mary kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart".  Mary knew God had a plan for her family, she had heard the words spoken over her family's life, but she was also human and her focus could be distracted from what God had promised.  

I love this because we are reminded to keep what God has said to us in our heart, to ponder it and reflect on His words, and I love that God doesn't hide Mary's imperfections from us.  He doesn't make her out to be a saint by any means, she is basically a frazzled mom who lost her freakin kid on the way home from Christmas Eve service!

Ladies, this is phenomenal Bible reading for us.  It really is.  We get to have our dingbat moments and God still includes us in his plan. I mean, that is legit savior business happening here!   

I read this and am reminded that God's promise for our families is valid whether or not we are perfect at every single moment.  I am reminded that even though we know God has a purpose for us, we don't always understand it in the moment, and for this very reason we need to keep His word in our heart, we need to meditate on His promises, we need to think on the faithfulness of His words and ponder them until we understand that God's plan is perfect so we don't have to be.  Here's what is even better: He openly, lovingly and intentionally weaves our imperfections into his perfect plan.  

Imperfect as it gets. 

Amazing grace, how sweet the sound!
~D&H