Children's E-Book Review and Giveaway: Candy and the Cankersaur

**I received an electronic copy of this book for review purposes. All opinions are my own.**

Reading is one of my favorite things to do. I hope to instill my love of reading in my daughter and any future children. Even though she's just under 5 months, I read to her every night as part of our bedtime routine.

Even though I still love holding a book in my hand, there are definitely benefits to having e-books available for your children as well. They are easy to travel with and you can have them on your phone (which you always have with you) to entertain your child on demand. 

Today, I'm teaming up with Jason Sandberg to give away 10 copies of his e-book, Candy and the Cankersaur.  

Candy and the Cankersaur is a picture book about a girl who receives a dinosaur as a gift and her determination to train him to be a good pet.  It's a fun homage to Syd Hoff and will make all dinosaur-crazy boys and girls happy. 

You can learn more about Jason Sandberg on his website or you can view information about Candy and the Cankersaur or more of his e-books on his e-book page.

As it was intended, this book reminded me of books from my childhood. The illustrations are eye catching and the story is simple while still teaching a  few good lessons. I like that even though the main character, Candy, is showered with gifts from her rich father, she is not spoiled. The story points out how she shares her fancy toys and she is quick to forgive. I think these are important qualities for children to see in a character. I also like how the "bad" character doesn't stay bad. The events of the story change him and he's redeemed in the end. As a teacher, I see a lot of opportunities in this story to make predictions, analyze characters, and make inferences.

Now, it's your turn to win a copy of this e-book to share with your little one(s)! Enter using the Rafflecopter below. 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Baby Hall's Birth Story- Part 2

*To see how we got to this point, be sure to read Part 1 of Baby Hall's birth story.*

So, at 41 weeks 6 days pregnant, we were finally going to meet our baby.

We headed home and I ate something quickly so that I could get in one last meal before my midnight cut off. Then, I tried unsuccessfully to sleep. I could not shut my mind off. I got on up early to spend some time praying for a safe delivery, for Baby, and for our future as parents. We got ready and too soon it was time to head back to the hospital. My parents were on their way, but had gotten into some traffic and I wasn’t sure if they would make it before the procedure.

We checked in and they led us to the triage room. More vitals were taken and questions were answered. Then, I met the physician who would deliver (I hadn’t seen any physicians during my pregnancy. I’d seen the midwives.) The midwife who would assist her also stopped by. My parents arrived and I was glad to get to see them before I had to go back for surgery. The anesthesiologist came in next to introduce herself and ask if I had any questions or concerns. My biggest concerns were that I would freak myself out during surgery thinking about what was going on on the other side of the curtain and that I would get nauseous and sick during surgery. Everyone tried to reassure me. 

Finally, it was time. Lee and my parents stayed back in the triage room while they walked me to the operating room to prepare. I was surprisingly calm. The operating room was freezing. I was shaking so hard. They had me sit on the table and the anesthesiologist began prepping my back for the spinal. The nurse rubbed my shoulders and tried to warm me up. Getting the spinal was not bad and shortly after, I was lying on the table and could tell the bottom half of my body was numbing. The doctor and midwife came in at this point and started doing their prep work. Soon they were putting up the curtain and going to get Lee. It was time to get started.

I continued to be amazed at how calm I was. It was a very strange sensation to know something was going on with the bottom half of your body and I could feel that people were touching me and doing something, but it didn’t hurt. Lee and I tried to talk to ease our nerves of meeting Baby.

After a little while, they said it was almost time. I heard them say “Look at all that hair.” Then, I felt them pushing on my stomach and could tell they were pulling her out. There were many comments about her hair and how beautiful she was. They held her up and we got our first glimpse of our daughter. Then, she was handed to a team of pediatricians who took her over to another section of the operating room to check her out. Lee walked over there to take pictures and I watched from the table.

She was crying and her dark head full of hair was curled. She ended up weighing 9lbs 1oz and was 21 inches long. After the pediatricians finished with her, she was brought over to me. She was laid over my shoulder and her head was right up under my head. Lee held her there and she calmed down. We noticed right away they she went to work sucking on her hands. As she was moving her hands around, she kept pulling the oxygen from my nose. It was so surreal to finally meet her.

Lee got to sit there holding her while they finished stitching me up. I continued to be so thankful that none of my fears came true. I didn’t get freaked out. I didn’t get sick. I didn’t feel like I couldn’t breathe. Everything went perfectly. When they were almost finished, they put Baby in the basinet and took her and Lee to the recovery room. Then, they cleaned me up and transferred me to a bed. I was amazed at how efficient everything was. Everyone knew what to do and everything ran smoothly. 

When they wheeled me to the recovery room, Lee was there along with my parents and my mom was already holding Baby Hall. We hung out there for a little while before being taken to our room. We ended up staying 2 nights in the hospital and came home Thanksgiving evening. 

Overall, my pregnancy and birth experience were great. The worst part of having a C-section for me was having them have to come in throughout the day and push on my stomach and the fact that I couldn’t really hold Baby right away and I wasn’t able to do much for her in the first 24 hours due to being sore and confined to the bed. We also were really impressed with the hospital and staff.

Being a mom has been a wonderful, yet exhausting experience. I definitely have a new appreciation and respect for moms everywhere. 

*Lee and I decided for many reasons not to share the names or pictures of any children that we may have. I really wish I could share a picture of her with you, but you'll just have to take my word for it that she is so beautiful and perfect!*