Favorite Books:Motherhood/Parenting Edition +new blog series

I have loved to read for as long as I can remember. I was an early reader and was always reading way above my grade level. I use books for comfort, distraction, an escape and knowledge. When I'm stressed or going through something I immediately head to barnes and nobles, stock up on books and devour them quickly. I got through many break-up's doing that! The minute my husband and I got engaged I brought every book out on the market that dealt with military relationships and deployments. It should come to no shock to you that I  that the minute I was done peeing on 8 pregnancy tests to confirm my pregnancy with my first baby the husband and I rushed to barnes and nobles and bought every pregnancy book they had in stock. And now since having the kids I am still buying every parenting book I can get my hands on. Or memoir's on motherhood in general. So today I thought I would share a few of these books with you

1. Parenting: Illustrated with Crappy Pictures This book I read in a day. And then passed it to all my friends and sent to my cousin when she found out she was pregnant. I loved this book. At first I was kind of iffy when I ordered it. I'm sure you've come across the memoir's on motherhood where the author spends all 300 pages talking about how she hates motherhood and how her children annoy her. This was not that book. This book captures the honesty of motherhood while also perfectly describing how amazing it is to be a mom. The author may be a sleep deprived mama of 2 who pulls no punches talking about endless nursing sessions, sleepless nights, poopy diapers and everything else that new motherhood contains, yet it is clear that this woman loves being a mom and is a good one at that. the author had me go from laughing to crying within seconds. Read this book. You won't regret it

2. Bringing up Bebe I started reading this book while getting my 3 hr glucose test done when pregnant with Ethan and then put it down and forgot about it. I picked it up again when Ethan was few month's old and quickly read it. It was so good. I know some find this book controversial and of course I didn't agree with everything the author had to say but I found it interesting none the less. French parenting reminds me of the way I was parented. Except I never lived in France!
 The author compared the American culture of parenting to the French way. The author refers to us Americans as helicopter parents.We run around trying to keep our kids entertained all day long,  sign them up for every activity possible in the hopes of turning them into well rounded, talented individuals and spend our days catering to their every whim and desire. According to this author in France parents do not do this. At the park, the kids play while the mom's hang out, read or watch. They don't get involved in their kids play and they don't get involved in the fights between children unless their is blood. The kids don't eat snacks constantly instead eating what their parents are eating. Parents in France relish their personal lives as much as they did before having kids and woman are encouraged to quickly lose the baby weight and into their pre pregnancy jeans. They have to look good for their husbands of course. Not sure my yoga pants would fit in over there
Oh and their aren't millions of parenting books on the market. There is one!
The book is fascinating and I thought provoking. Again I felt these French principles were similar to the way I was raised.  Both my parent's worked and when home stuff needed to get done. Although my parents did play with us and we spent lot's of time together, we also were able to entertain ourselves. We did not snack constantly and at the park we played with other kids instead of our parents. And if my mom sat and read a book while we were playing, she didn't get judged. All the other mom's were doing it as well. Today if you did that you'd come home to facebook posts about your awful parenting skills. I could go on but I'll keep this short. This book is def worth the read. You won't agree with everything this author says but I valued her opinions and research

3. Sparkly Green Earrings I think this is my ultimate favorite on motherhood. I read it in one night, and have reread it numerous times since then. I also bought this for a friend as a baby shower gift. The author shares her journey from getting pregnant, to the actual pregnancy and then the days and years that followed her daughter's birth. Her writing style is like warm and welcoming. I felt like I was actually sitting with the author, listening to her stories over coffee. Such a beautiful read. And I still can't stop laughing about the author's story of wanting to get a suntan, cramming her pregnant  self into a bikini and then getting locked out of her house. Hilarious and something I would totally do. Oh wait I did do that! The author also has a book coming out on marriage called the Antelope in the Room. I've had it preordered since Dec. A few more days until it is released and my copy will be on it's way.

4. Carry on Warrior I saw this author on the Today show talking about how we don't have to Carpe Diem everything about motherhood. I looked up Glennon's blog and immediately ordered her book. Her book reads essay style. She shares her own personal story, marriage struggles, letters to her children and thoughts on life and religion. I loved it and will probably be rereading it again soon.

So there you have some of my favorite books on parenting and motherhood. What are your favorites? Also since I am back on a reading kick and have stacks and stacks of books to read I thought I would have a post at the end of each month listing and reviewing the books I had read during the month. If people are interested I can create a link up and we can all share what we are reading.
Here is my stack for this month

Happy reading! I usually share what I am reading on Instagram along with cute pictures of my kids. Follow along!