The Kindle

I got it! I got the Kindle from Amazon! I'm so excited! I know a thing is not supposed to make you happy but the Kindle makes me happy. For those of you who don't know it is a wireless reading device. Below are the features Amazon boasts about.

Say Hello to Kindle

Slim: Just over 1/3 of an inch, as thin as most magazines

Lightweight: At 10.2 ounces, lighter than a typical paperback

Wireless: 3G wireless lets you download books right from your Kindle, anytime, anywhere; no monthly fees, service plans, or hunting for Wi-Fi hotspots

Books in Under 60 Seconds: Get books delivered in less than 60 seconds; no PC required

Paper-like Display: Reads like real paper; now boasts 16 shades of gray for clear text and even crisper images

Long Battery Life: 25% longer battery life; read for days without recharging

Carry Your Library: Holds over 1,500 books

Read-to-Me: With the new text-to-speech feature, Kindle can read every newspaper, magazine, blog, and book out loud to you, unless the book's rights holder made the feature unavailable

Free Book Samples: Download and read first chapters for free before you decide to buy.

Large Selection: Over 300,000 books plus U.S. and international newspapers, magazines, and blogs available


Low Book Prices: New York Times Best Sellers and New Releases $9.99, unless marked otherwise

For someone who loves to read and someone who has a new baby this is a DREAM!! I only have to take the Kindle whenever I go places. I don't need to bring 1-10 books everywhere I go. I don't even have to bring my Bible because I downloaded the ESV Study Bible (which is an excellent Study Bible if you're shopping for one) for only $9.99. I also got the entire Sherlock Holmes collection for 99 cents. If I don't want to spend money I just buy a classic (many are free). I can also read while feeding, rocking, or holding Grace. If I need to get her a pacifier I just set the Kindle down and don't have to find a bookmark. This thing is a-m-a-z-i-n-g! This thing is going to be totally worth the money.

Grace's Boyfriends

Grace has a ton of little people girlfriends who we spend a lot of time with but she also has a couple of really cute boyfriends. Of course she is not allowed to date for a LONG time but it's good to know she has some prospective boys being raised by good Christian parents.

Elliott just wanted to touch Grace's face.

Andrew was very willing to give kisses.

Look How Much I've Grown....

I don't have any really good car seat pictures from when we left the hospital but I think the top picture taken the day we left shows a little bit of how small she was in her seat. The bottom picture was taken today 11.5 weeks later. I can't believe how much Grace has grown. I don't really notice it day to day but when I look back at her 1st days pictures she just seems so tiny compared to now. I wonder how she'll fill out the car seat in 3 more months!

I Get It Honest

A couple of weeks ago my sister came to visit Grace and me and we had some typical Illinois stormy weather. The day was muggy and by mid-afternoon a line of thunderstorms started rolling in. They were pretty vicious even to the extent of producing a few tornadoes. So, when the sirens went off in our neighborhood Laura, Grace and I all went into my closet (we don't have a basement) to stick to Tornado Warning protocol. Of course Matt just sat out in the living room on the computer but we weren't going to risk it. We also brought our weather radio into the closest too. The weather radio was a gift from my dad a couple of years ago and everyone in our family has one. Now throughout the weather ordeal both of my parents called to make sure my sister wasn't going to drive home in the weather and to give us updates on the weather. Matt was a little perplexed because he knows I am slightly obsessed with the weather but has never seen my whole family involved in it. So I said to him, "see I get it honest," and he looked at me like I was crazy. He had never heard the phrase "I get it honest" before and didn't believe it was real. So, we referred to the Internet and couldn't find much evidence of the phrase. The next step was posting a comment on Facebook about it and several people confirmed they had heard it or at least the more grammatically correct version of the phrase, "I come by it honestly." In case you haven't figured out it means you picked up or inherited a trait from your parents. Of course Matt was still skeptical until yesterday when a friend of ours said....."I COME BY IT HONESTLY." It was perfect and now we use the phrase all the time (even when it doesn't fit).

Happy 4th of July!

The 1900 House

I've been watching an intriguing PBS reality TV show the last couple of days the I got from Netflix. It is called The 1900 House and here is the description on Netflix, "A contemporary family is transported back in time almost 100 years, from 1999 to 1900, as they spend three months in a townhouse restored to reproduce the ambiance and amenities of middle-class life in Victorian-era London. This intriguing program, originally broadcast on PBS, follows a real-life human experiment that explores the everyday modern luxuries and technological advances people so often take for granted." After watching the show I am SO glad that I do not live in the Victorian era and here are 10 reasons I love 2009...

1. I am wearing a tank top and shorts right now and in 1900 I would have had on 75 layers of corset, underpants, and dresses.

2. I own many outfits and in 1900 they owned 3 outfits.

3. McDonalds! Life without Big Mac's is pretty lame.

4. The women in 1900 had to make their own pads for that time of the month out of cloth (yuck!).

5. Electricity was just making and appearance in 1900 and I like turning the lights on at night not to mention...

6. The array of electrical appliances that I can use now to get chores done (and if I don't do my chores I am not a disgrace to society).

7. They didn't have shampoo in 1900. Hair was washed with a gross soap or homemade concoctions.

8. I like heating and air conditioning both of which were unavailable in 1900.

9. There seemed to be little time for leisure and if there was time for leisure the available activities were very limited.

10. Lastly, I love modern medicine.

2 Months Old!

Trying out her Bumbo at 2 months old. She can't sit in it very long but we'll be using it lots soon.

Grace celebrated her 2 month birthday on Monday and today we took her to the doctor for her 2 month appointment. She is doing great. She weighed 12 lbs. 4 oz. and was 23 inches long. Both of those measurements were in the 70th percentile. We were predicting she would be around 12 pounds so it turns out we were right. She also had to get shots today which was pretty painful for me but she seems to be doing fine now. We're just going to stick around home today in case she is fussy or gets a fever. Lately she has been pooping less often but much bigger poops. She has had a blowout everyday since Saturday except Monday. Both sets of Grandparents were around to witness one of the said blowouts so that was fun. My parents were watching Grace Tuesday when it happened so they had to change her. Speaking of Tuesday, we had a great anniversary date and Grace did really well. We went to our favorite restaurant in Champaign, Timpone's, and to a new soft serve frozen yogurt bar after dinner. Then to kill time before we had to go home we did some shopping at T.J. Maxx and Kohl's. So, all is well in the Ahrens household. I'm loving being home with Grace and feel like I've found the perfect job. I've always known I would want to be a stay at home mom but now that I'm doing it I think it's better than I imagined.