The Bridesmaid by Beverly Lewis

I know, all of Eliana's grandparents are probably getting impatient with me. As soon as I get her pictures off of our camera, I will post her 8-month update. At this point, it may come right before her 9-month update. I'll probably wait to post her 9-month one until after her doctor's appointment, which is a week later.

Anyway, it's time for another book review. This time, Bethany House Publishing sent me a free copy of The Bridesmaid by Beverly Lewis in exchange for writing an honest review for them.

I have read many Christian novels, but this is actually the first book by Beverly Lewis that I have read. It's also the first Amish fiction book I have read. I can honestly say that it probably won't be the last of either.

The Bridesmaid is the second book in the Home to Hickory Hollow series. I was unaware that this was the second book in a series when I began reading it, but I do not feel that I had to read the first book in order to understand this one.

Joanna Kurtz is a twenty-seven-year-old, single Amish woman who is beginning to feel like her time for getting married has passed. This changes for her when she meets Eben Troyer. They quickly decide that they would like to begin a courtship, but difficulties arise in the fact that they live in different states. Distance, family, and the Amish lifestyle all play a part in adding trials to their relationship.

Overall, I found this book to be enjoyable to read. At first I was annoyed by the random Amish words that are scattered throughout the book, but eventually I just started overlooking them. There were a few sections of the book that seemed to drag out the plot a little, but many times I found myself wondering what would happen next in Joanna's life. Although the ending is slightly predictable, I still enjoyed reading it. I'm not one to dislike a book because of that.

I am intrigued by the other books in the series, and I will add them to my "read eventually" list. This book also sparked my interest of the Amish lifestyle. I'm not sure how accurate Beverly Lewis' portrayal of it is, but it is definitely something that I would like to learn more about.

Apparently, I've become a book reviewer.

I know, you would rather be reading Eliana's 8-month update. Don't worry...it's coming. However, this blog is going to be a book review.

I recently learned about a book review program from Bethany House Publishers. You sign-up on their list, they e-mail you choices for books, you select a book, they send it to you for free, and all you have to do is write a review and post it to your blog and a retailer's site, like Amazon. I am all about some free books, so I decided to give it a try. Honestly, at first I thought nothing would come of it. I really did not expect to receive any books. The e-mails that they send say that just because you select a book does not mean that you will receive one. This happened to me several times. However, one day I ended up with a book in my mailbox. I had actually received an e-mail confirmation about it, but it ended up in my spam folder. A week later I received another book, and not long after that I received another book. They request that you post your review within 30 days of receiving the book. So....needless to say that can be difficult for me right now with taking care of Eliana, working, cooking, cleaning, etc. But again...free books!

My first review is on the book What Your Husband Isn't Telling You by David Murrow.

I must admit that although I enjoyed reading this book, sometimes it was hard for me to believe the things Murrow had written. Let me rephrase that. I didn't want to believe the things that he had written. For example, one chapter explains that men look at other women no matter how hard they try not to do it. That's not something I want to think about. I want to live in my happy bubble where my husband only has eyes for me. I'm not saying that I disagree with Murrow. I'm just saying I didn't like to read it.

Murrow writes in a way that is easy to understand, which makes for a very quick read. The book is divided into sections explaining the foundation of a man, a man's body, soul, and spirit, and what a woman can do to help her husband and her marriage. Although I would have liked to have more practical ways to help my husband, Murrow explained at the beginning that his goal was "more descriptive than prescriptive."

One of my favorite aspects of the book was Murrow's use of the sentence, "Here's something your husband isn't telling you..." He would then go on to explain something that husbands rarely say to their wives. For example, "Here's something your husband may never have told you: It means a lot when you prepare delicious, nutritious food for him."

Overall, I found Murrow's book to be quite helpful. He gave me many things to think about regarding why my husband may respond to certain situations in a way that I would not expect. There were many times in the book that I wrote the word, "ouch," in the margin. I wrote that when Murrow made a point that hit a little too close to home for me. These are areas that I need to work on in my own life.

However, there were a few things in the book that I did not agree with. At times I felt like he was showing women how they could get away with manipulating their husbands, but in a seemingly submissive way. This may not have been his intent, but there were a few instances that came across that way to me.

Murrow also has a free website: speakingofmen.com where he has many valuable resources for both men and women.

* This book was given to me for free by Bethany House Publishing in exchange for writing an honest book review for them.

Eliana - 7 months!

Eliana you are 7 months old...

Okay, technically you are almost 8 months, but that post will come soon!!!

-You are still wearing 6 month clothes, but you can also wear 9 months (although they are 

long on you). You also have a few things that are 6-12 months.

-You are still wearing a size 3 diaper.

- I’m not sure how much you weigh right now, but you weighed 16 lbs 13 oz at your doctor’s 

appointment on 9/12/12.  I would guess that you are between 17 and 18 lbs.

- I don’t know how long you are.

-You have at least played with your sippy cup now. We started giving you a little water in it 

after your 6-month appointment. I don’t think you actually get much water out of it, but 

you at least don’t refuse to put it in your mouth now.

- We have added carrots, applesauce, a few bites of broccoli at a restaurant, and a few bites 

of potatoes to the list of solids that you have tried. Next up will be pears. I think that’s all 

of the new things that you have had so far, but I could be forgetting something. You are 

getting pretty good about eating them and not spitting them back at us.

- You are almost crawling. You can get wherever you want to go, but it isn’t traditional 

crawling. You either roll to get there or scoot. One night we were playing on the floor with 

you, and I said to Daddy, “I’m surprised she hasn’t figured out that she can keep rolling to 

get where she wants to go.” I’m not kidding, less than 3 minutes after I said that you 

started doing it. We thought that was so funny!

- You still love to give kisses, and I still adore it! It really is one of the sweetest things ever 

(even if you are quite slobbery)! You also give snuggles sometimes when we say the word, 

“snuggles.” It is super sweet!

- You still make the “stinker face,” but now sometimes you clench your fists when you do it. 

It is quite entertaining. You are full of opinions now, and believe me you let us know if we 

aren’t doing what you want.

-You have really started recognizing people. You have been doing that for a while, but now 

you give people huge smiles when you first see them.

-You are still sleeping through the night!

- I think you have gotten used to naptime being right after lunch. Unfortunately, I’m still 

carrying you into the house in your carrier and leaving you in it for your nap. Eventually, 

I’m going to have to start putting you in your crib, and I know that will result in some 

“crying it out.” That isn’t fun for Mommy or Baby.

- You’re getting better in the car. You still scream sometimes, but usually it is just when 

you are tired or the sun is in your eyes.

- You love attention! Oh my do you love attention! You are happiest when there are plenty 

of people paying attention to you.

- Still no teeth!

- Dr. Adams said that your head tilt was much better! Yay!

- You don’t play with your burp cloths as much as you used to, which is a little sad because 

it was so cute. You really like toys now! However, sometimes you prefer the tags on your 

toys as much as you do the toy itself. Anything that has a tag on it, you will manage to find 

the tag.

- You can sit up on your own for long periods of time now.

- We are still working on getting you to play by yourself without being held.

- You still suck on your fingers and thumb.

-You still love to be held, but if I try to hold you and sit down, you get very squirmy.

- It makes me sad that you don’t like getting your diaper changed anymore. Ever since you 

learned to roll over, you get angry during diaper changes because I won’t let you roll.

- Your right tear duct is still clogged. I really hope it gets better before you are a year old!

-

- You love bath time! We got you a few bath toys (some animals that can squirt water and a 

plastic book), mainly you just like chewing on them.

- You smile every time we show you a picture of yourself. It’s hilarious! You also smile 

every time we hold our iphones up in front of you because we have taken your picture so 

many times in these 7 months.

- You are definitely babbling a lot now. You say, “da da da da da” all of the time!

- You are starting to get more hair! Yay!

- You love to pull Mommy’s hair! You also love to chew on hair. Any chance you get you 

will put someone’s hair in your mouth!

- I think you are starting to hit the separation anxiety phase. It isn’t terrible yet, but I can 

feel it coming. Sometimes you cry now when I start to walk away from you or if you can’t 

see me.

- You have the sweetest giggle in the whole world! Daddy is the best at getting you to 

giggle! You are ticklish which is one easy way to get you to giggle.

- You love to grab my hand and grab my hair when you are nursing. Even when your eyes 

are closed you will try to find my hand to hold. I love it!

- You tend to get easily distracted when you eat now, though. I almost have to sit in a 

completely quiet room to get you to eat. You are so curious about everything around you! 

It is really cute (except when you are eating)!

- Daddy planned a surprise trip for Mommy for our 5^th Anniversary, and you got to go, too! 

We went to Atlanta to watch Peyton Manning and the Denver Broncos play football against 

the Atlanta Falcons. I was so excited! You got your picture made with Brandon Stokley at 

our hotel. Daddy booked us a room at the Omni because it is super nice and it is super 

close to everything, so we didn’t have to take you on the subway. You were such a good 

baby on the entire trip! We also went to the Georgia Aquarium! You liked looking at all of 

the fish! At the football game, you got attention from everyone sitting around us! They all 

commented on what a good baby you are (especially since the game was at 8:30 pm). We 

even got to see the inner workings of the Georgia Dome because we got to go to an office 

for me to feed you before the game started. We ended up missing pre-game, but that’s 

okay. I decided to try to cover up and nurse you at our seats during halftime. It was so late, 

and you were so tired, that you actually didn’t get distracted, and you ate and fell asleep for 

a little while. After you woke up, you were super happy!