1 Recipe, 2 BG Photos & 3 (More) Book Reviews

One Recipe: First, I MUST make sure you saw this awesome slowcooker recipe. Sorry, but I'm a huge fan of Real Simple. Yes, it requires a bit of healthifhying (unlike, say, Cooking Light) but I always end up happy with the results and this one didn't let me down!

Slowcooker Pork Ragu - fab!

Two Beckett Photos: Hard to pick just two as I'm insisting on daily photo shoots (obsess much? Yes, yes indeed!). Here are two of my recent favorites...

Today! Day 42, just before nap time!

Day 39, looking like she's having a ball!

We're just loving being parents! It definitely keeps me on my toes. I feel like when i'm with her I'm still - feeding her, staring at her, reading to her, playing with her, listening to Baby Einstein.... then once she goes down it's like  a whirlwind of pumping, cleaning bottles, making formula, doing laundry, cooking, doing dishes and of course trying to hang with the pups and do things like, ya know, brush my teeth. It's pretty wild but I wouldn't trade it for anything and like to think it gets easier each day!

Three Book Reviews: I've been reading a TON lately, especially thanks to the Kindle my in-laws bought me for Christmas! Here are three more reviews for books I read this month - about to finish another that's really good - can't wait to see how it turns out (called Elisabeth Naughton's Wait For Me).

Rachel Schurig's Three Girls and a Leading Man was the third (and at the time I thought last) in a series of these books. The first followed Ginny with her baby, the second followed Jenn with a wedding, and the third followed Annie in her quest to become an actress. I loved it because Ginny and Jenn were in it so you got to see what happened to them, and it was a good story as Annie found her career and found a guy - super cute and I enjoyed it just as I did the other two. I finished this book sad that I was done with them... until I found out there was one more! 4/5!

Rachel Schurig's The Truth About Ever After focused on Kiki, who showed up in the second book as a client of Jenn's, and remained in the third book. She was a cute, bubbly girl who was super rich but it turned out she had a sweet past that was fun to learn about. This book focused on her marriage, her desire to have a baby and, again, you got to keep up with Annie, Jenn and Ginny in it but from Kiki's perspective. I flew through it just as the other ones - another cute book! 4/5!

Tracy Brogan's Crazy Little Thing told Sadie's story, a woman who had just gone through a divorce from her cheating husband and was looking to move on with her two kids. She decided to spend the summer on the beach with her eccentric aunt. At first I was like meh, this is going to be standard, nothing special, but it was free (true story - Kindle's lending library!). BUT, the writing was hilarious. I loved the characters, especially the aunt and her cousin Fontaine, and I enjoyed reading about her new relationship with a doctor down the street, his past and of course the drama between her and her jerk of an ex-husband. It was a good book - would definitely recommend as a beach read. 4.5/5!

So yes, I"m clearing getting some reading in. I'm also squeezing in some workouts. Like I said, each day gets a bit more normal, but really it's new normal and better normal - I just love being a mom!!

Q: Read any good books lately? Cooked anything yummy?

Q: What are you up to this weekend? I am celebrating my nephew's second birthday tomorrow - can't wait to see him!