Right before I had my daughter I finished a great book about Tsarist Russia. This was a great read for anyone who loves historical fiction. This book is about a young Kitchen boy, who lived with the Tsar Nicholas and the Royal family while they were under house arrest in Siberia prior to their execution. This was a great look into the last days of the Russian Tsar and what their life must have been like during their imprisonment in Russia. What was great about this book (which I love in all books) you thought the book was heading in one direction but had a surprise in the last few chapters. The only complaint I have is that having read this author before I do not feel that the ending of the book with its twist was really that historically accurate. Yet again, I guess I should have realized that this is historical fiction and the entire thing is not accurate, but still it was a bit unbelievable for my taste. This is a must read though for anyone who loves Russian History. This is a four star book!

This past weekend my little man turned three. I don't quite know how that happened, but it did. Somehow before my very eyes my small little baby with the pineapple shaped head turned in to a super cute blond little man. Although I think he is the greatest little person I know with such a sweet and loving disposition, he can sometimes push me to the limits of sanity. I am thinking this is what three year olds are suppose to do though. In those moments where he is pitching a fit, or refusing to use the potty, or crying about something not going his way, I long for the times when he was a baby and would snuggle on my chest for hours. I feel that at times I mourn for the baby that he used. That is until he comes bounding up to me and looks at me with his bright blue eyes and says "Momma, your my best friend, I love you" and gives me a hug and a kiss. Then any sadness about the loss of my baby is no more, because a baby can't say I love you (or throw a tantrum, but that is another post).

So I have been off the grid in terms of blogging for awhile. The baby and I came down with a horrible case of thrush which if any nursing mom has had they know that this is horrible. So needless to say I have been bit overwhelmed. Well this were finally starting to setting in, we are getting ready for a my son's third birthday, and I even began exercising again. I have the routine of dropping my son off at daycare/preschool then spending the day with my little girl. Well yesterday we got some sad news. Dylan goes to a home daycare that is run by three sisters whose mother originally started the daycare center twenty years ago. Well sadly she has been in failing health. Well yesterday when I dropped Dylan off one of the sisters came over and was really upset and said the daycare was closing early because mom was dying and they needed to go to the hospital. Needless to say she passed away yesterday which breaks my heart because these ladies are like family.

Well let me start by saying that this is my first book review of a kindle book. My hubby got me a kindle for Christmas thinking that it would be useful for me to read while nursing the baby, and he was correct. I can totally multitask which I love. I got the name of Phillippa Gregory from my friends at work who love anything Tudor. I did not know which book to start with in the Tudor collection so I started with this one. I loved it. Then again, huge history buff so that might be why!!! The only thing that was a bit tough for me was that I had a hard time keeping everyone straight in the beginning. I think it would be best to have a bit of background on who everyone is in Tudor England to help you out. Plus reading on the Kindle did not make it easy to go back and look up names from previous pages etc. What I enjoyed most about this book was the author's ability to not only show the historical aspects of England at this time and the fear that was felt around King Henry, but more than that she really did a nice job of what it meant to be a woman during this time in England. Gregory did an excellent job of capturing some of the desperation that comes from being a woman during this time period and a woman's complete lack of options and rights in Tudor England. A great read for anyone who like historical fiction. I gave it a four out of five stars!

Well lets just say that I had false high hopes for the dentist. I was bringing Dylan to the pediatric dentist that I had gone to as a child. It is a great place that they let the kids wear sunglasses, give prizes, and even allow them to enter the monthly raffle for adoptable pets (the newest animal at build a bear gets to be adopted by the winning child). Dylan was so excited to go we talked about it for days and even woke up at six in the morning asking when we were leaving. You all know where this is headed. So we get there still excited, We walk into the examine room-still excited, we are asked to sit in the chair-Hysterical panic sets in. So here I am, one month out from a c-section, and he is on my lap and won't leave. They were great with him trying to encourage him, work with him, bribe him etc. Then finally the dentist comes in and asks if they can help me "hold him" so she can check his teeth and not to worry that this happens all the time. So the two assistants come in and hold him into the chair and the dentist used Dylan's new tooth brush to prevent him from biting her fingers while she checks her teeth. The entire time he is screaming and crying and the dentist is continuing to tell me what great teeth he has and that this is all normal. So finally, the trip is over and sniffling Dylan has gotten his prize I am stressed and sweating from the battle. A half hour later we are eating lunch and Dylan looks at me with a big smile and asks me "Momma, Can we go to the dentist tomorrow"