Author recommendation

Maybe this author is already so popular that you know of her and it's just me that was in the dark but I just discovered Diane Chamberlain novels.  I read "Secret Lives" and "The Secret Life of CeeCee Wilkes".  Both were really well written and had really original story lines.  They did have some similar elements among them but with totally different plots.  I couldnt put them down.

DESCRIPTION: Actress Eden Riley's decision to make a film about her mother plunges her into a shattering confrontation with her own past, irrevocably altering her life and the lives of those she loves. Her mother, Katherine Swift, was a renowned children's author who died when Eden was very young. Now Eden, recovering from a divorce and disillusioned with her glamorous life, returns to the childhood home of the mother she barely knew. She moves in with her uncle, archaeologist Kyle Swift and his wife, Louise.
Eden gets more than she bargained for when Kyle gives her the journal her mother had kept from the age of thirteen until her death. Eden is spellbound by the powerfully written, intimate diary that chronicles a life of hardship, madness and tragedy. But her fascination turns to horror when she discovers the shocking truth about her mother's life.
Eden turns for comfort to Ben Alexander, Kyle's colleague, not knowing that Ben has a secret of his own that could ruin Eden and her career. Now Eden must make a heartbreaking decision as she struggles to lay the ghosts of the past to rest and come to terms with her own future.

DESCRIPTION:  In 1977, pregnant Genevieve Russell disappeared. Twenty years later, her remains are discovered and Timothy Gleason is charged with murder. But there is no sign of the unborn child.

CeeCee Wilkes knows how Genevieve Russell died, because she was there. And she knows what happened to her missing infant, because two decades ago she made the devastating choice to raise the baby as her own. Now Timothy Gleason is facing the death penalty, and she has another choice to make. Tell the truth and destroy her family or let an innocent man die in order to protect a lifetime of lies.

We're still here :-/

Well....where do I begin?

I can't believe I haven't posted in 6+ months.  I am a terrible blogger, I admit.  I wish I was better at this but I'm just not.  I do, however, often visit and catch up on the blogs I follow. 

Maybe I'll start with some pictures...who doesn't love to see pictures?

 This was taken last weekend.  Ryan loves wearing his sunglasses outside.

 Close up!

 This was actually taken 4 months ago when Ryan started a new class in day care called the Froggy room.  This set up is inside his actual room.  They sleep on cots.

 This was maybe a month ago.  My Sister-in-law was staying in a nearby hotel and we went to crash their pool lol...

 Smooches!

 Loving his ice cream...it's just his size!

 Funny face!

 I love his day care.  They have a petting zoo set up in their parking lot every year.  Ryan was so cute...he wanted to pet everything he could see.  Small cows, goats, rabbits, etc.

 Playing in a box at home lol

Coloring!

So here are some quick updates:

Mostly everything is "same ol', same ol'" with me except that I've lost 26 pounds.  I've been on Weight Watchers since mid April.  It's been really great.  I've begun to walk a few miles through my town for exercise and I've been watching what I eat.

Hubby has been "same ol', same ol" except for 2 things: he has lost 45+ pounds and he had knee surgery recently.  He will be back to work in about a week.  He works from home most of the time though which is good.

As for Ryan, of course, so much has changed.  He says over 50 words now and 6 sentences, including "Ohhhhh nnnnnnnooooo!" which is among my favorite.  He's been really low on the weight percentiles (hovering around 3%-5%) but we're not worried.  We were for a little while there because he was actually dropping off her curve but he's stabilizing now and still growing.  He bit 2 kids in day care in the last week which is "not nice!".  They squirt lemon juice into his mouth when he does it so I think he's understanding that it's not a desirable thing to do.  "Not nice" is another sentence he says lol.  No signs of being ready for the potty or a toddler bed which is just fine with us.  He is pretty consistently having ear and sinus infections.  He got ear tubes placed months ago but he's had one ear infection and one sinus infection since then.  He does have enlarged adenoids but he's too young for surgery still.  I think we're going to take him back to the ENT soon.  Maybe get a second opinion about his issues.  i wonder if the adenoids are contributing to his slow weight gain.  He's only 21 pounds at 18 months old and 31" tall but he looks really healthy, happy, and eats pretty well.

As for our family in general, a BIG update is that we are planning on buying a house before the end of the year and then starting to try to conceive baby #2 next summer.  So wish us luck!