As we both prepare to welcome our second babies, we know we haven’t gotten here without a little outside help. Along with our own parents, experienced friends, helpful doctors, and a LOT of praying, we’ve learned a good amount about this whole mom-thing from some of our favorite books. Here are some of the books we’ve found most helpful, and we’d love to hear your suggestions on books you can’t live without.
Pregnancy Book:
{Lauren} I stuck with the classic- What to Expect When You’re Expecting. Pretty basic, no frills, no laughs, just to the point. I’m pretty sure I read each month way ahead of time because everything was just so exciting. This time around, I just consult my iPad app on what’s going on with baby’s development, although I usually have several weeks to catch up on every time I remember to check.
{Casey} I definitely bought What to Expect… but just never really got into it. I picked up a random book early-on in pregnancy and ended up sticking with it. It’s called Your Pregnancy Week by Week. I like that it is short and simple, updating you about how baby is growing that week. That was about all I wanted to know.
Newborn Book:
{L} I actually didn’t read any newborn books. Although, the websites I consulted the most were BabyCenter and Dr. Sears. BabyCenter is pretty basic and helpful when it comes to medical and developmental issues. Dr. Sears offers lots of the same information and advice as BabyCenter, but he takes the attachment parenting approach on everything, which is a parenting approach I tend to lean a little more towards.
{C} Due to watching our friends’ babies have successful sleep habits, we were easily sold on Babywise. I know some people love it and others hate. (If you hate it and think it’s stupid, I bet you never read it 🙂 We followed the advice in the book and Halle has had a great sleeping pattern ever since she was 7 weeks old.
Parenting Book:
{L} Graced Based Parenting. This is not so much a methodical book as it is a parenting philosophy. It focuses on the simple principle of treating our kids the way God treats us, and really striving to focus on the heart of our children.
{C} I just started reading the follow-up to Babywise, called Toddlerwise. The author, Gary Ezzo, has books out for each stage of development. We had so much success with Babywise and I really agree with his approach on balance in the home, that I know I’ll like it. I foresee reading all these books as Halle grows up; he hasn’t steered us wrong yet!
Children’s Book:
{L} This probably changes weekly, but one book that Kyler has always loved is First 100 Words. There are just so many pictures and objects that he recognizes and loves to learn the words for. A few other favorite authors are Karen Katz, Eric Carle, and all the Bright Baby books. Kyler actually loves books so much, he takes one to cuddle with to sleep at night. No blanket, no stuffed animal, no paci, just a book.
{C} Halle is really into pointing to things on pages and especially loves any book with “touch-and-feel.” She really enjoys Baby Einstein’s First Look and Find, DK’s Touch and feel: Farm, and Biscuit’s Pet and Play Easter (yep, still reading the Easter one…7 months later!)
Mom-time Book:
{L} Where are my Twi-Hards at?? Sadly, I did really enjoy reading the Twilight series. Lately I haven’t had much time for books, but you can always finding me flipping through the most recent issues of Cooking Light and Real Simple.
{C} Well, I know this isn’t quite fair because I just got back from a child-free vacation but the last two books that I read that I L.O.V.E are The Thornbirds (just read this for the 2nd time in my life and it is a classic, a page-turner and so well written!) and Francine Rivers’ Redeeming Love. I know I’m a late-comer to the latter but better late than never with this book. It’s so good and encouraged me to love others more unconditionally.
Now we want to hear your favorite go-to books for all occasions. Anyone have some magical book that will ease us through this 2nd baby transition like super moms?? Anyone read any good fictions lately?
