Summer reading.

I'll admit that when e-readers first became popular (or when I found out about them, which was likely many months after they became a "thing") I kind of scrunched up my nose and thought to myself (and to anyone who may have asked), "No thanks, I'll read a book with real pages." I maintained this attitude despite reading quite a few books on both the iBook and Kindle apps on my iPad and thought, "I don't need an e-reader...if I want to read a book electronically, I'll read one on my iPad."

After I turned in my final paper for my internship this past spring, I became rather interested in Dan's Kindle. I liked how it was not backlit -- it made it very easy on the eyes and yet there was still an option to read at night without a bedside lamp because his case had a built-in light. I may or may not have commandeered his Kindle for a short time (April-May), reading all sorts of girly books that I was sure to not rate since it would show up on his Amazon.

I loved being able to read a book in bed with a dim light and also loved the ability to hold it in one hand. I need to derail for a second and explain why all of this matters to me. It may be a slightly long derail -- sorry. I promise I'll get back to the point.

Evelyn co-slept with us from the time she was a couple months old. Before she added some heft and length, she slept in the pack 'n play on my side of the bed. When Dan was doing his work ups for deployment, I shoved pillows on his side of the bed and she would sleep in the middle by me. When Dan deployed I ended up moving our bed back to where it was when Evelyn was just itty-bitty because it was shoved up against the wall. This way I didn't have to worry about her ramming into the pillows, the pillows falling off the bed, and her tumbling after.

When it was getting closer to Dan's homecoming, I started trying (keyword: trying) to transition Evelyn to her bedroom. It was tough especially when she was still breastfeeding but it did get a little easier once she was weaned. A little. Ha. Anyhoo by the time Dan came home, she was sleeping in her room and he changed her crib into a toddler bed. This was mostly for my benefit because the only way I could get her to sleep was to be in her crib with her. Yes, I was that mom that would get into her toddler's crib. I don't know if there are many of us but I am at least one of a few that I know of.

Having her bed as a toddler bed was super great because it was very easy in-and-out for me. She slept well for a little bit (about half a month) and then started re-waking multiple times in the middle of the night. Most nights I'd lay with her until she fell asleep, try to sneak out without creaking the mattress too much, and then would end up waking up in her room because she'd wake up 2+ times and I was sick of going in and out.

When I wasn't very far along with Cora, this wasn't an issue. I can't remember when it started to be an issue but when Dan went to the Philippines this spring for approximately 5-6 weeks, I pulled the mattress from our guest bedroom into her room so I could lay there. She no longer needed me right next to her but she did like to hold hands, and needed to hold hands to fall asleep.

Annnnnyway, about a month ago we finally decided that she didn't seem to be so scared in her room by herself anymore, so we weren't going to lay there with her until she fell asleep. 'Cause let us be honest for a minute -- once I laid down, I likely wasn't getting up because by the time she fell asleep, I had as well. Sometimes, though, it would take her for-ev-er to fall asleep and I would just lay there, steaming. I wanted to be able to do something -- I didn't want to just stare up at the ceiling, twiddling my one thumb by itself because the other was occupied by Evelyn's hand. (Can you see how this is coming back to the main reason I began writing this post -- to talk about reading?)

Cue Dan's uber-cool Kindle to the rescue! If I had the iPad on, it was too light and too much of a distraction for Evelyn to calm herself and get to sleep. Which was unfortunate for me because I was super bored but you know...oh well. I tried sneaking my iPad under a blanket but Evelyn was too smart for that and it didn't last long. The light on Dan's Kindle cover was not as bright and worked perfectly. I could read and wait out our stubborn sleeper.

For Mother's Day, Dan graciously gifted me a Kindle Paperwhite of my very own. I love my Paperwhite and bring it nearly everywhere with me. Don't get me wrong -- I still like "real" / traditional books, and I got one for my birthday (Hallucinations by Oliver Sacks, very excited to read it) but the Kindle is just so handy. Petite. Can hold lots of books. Etc, etc, etc.

Without further rambling, here is the list of books I've read so far this summer. If I could recommend just one of these books to any of you who read my blog it would definitely be "Broken" by Laura Hillenbrand.