Team Hoyt shows the potential in all of us

As parents, we all say we'd do anything for our children. We care for them, fight for them, pray they'll be happy and healthy. Some parents, faced with extraordinary circumstances, demonstrate the greatest virtues of humanity in the service of their children.

Meet Dick and Rick Hoyt. Rick wanted to run marathons. His dad ran with him. He wanted to complete the Iron Man. His dad was with him every step of the way. Warning- you might wanna get out the tissues:



To learn more about Team Hoyt, and their amazing journey, see their website here.

And Still I Rise

For those days when it all seems pointless...Maya Angelou reminds me to live with joy and courage. This gives me goosebumps:

On body image and motherhood

My ds is 7 weeks old today, wow time flies. Yesterday I went shopping with my best friend. She had her baby girl five days after I did, and we were eager to get out of the house even though it took us two hours to do so. We were two mommas in great need of pants that actually fit, balancing babies in slings while we took a range of sizes into the change rooms.

I had to remind my friend that it's ok to be big right now. Let me clarify...she looks like she had a baby 6 weeks ago, and she did. She also looks fantastic. But it's her first baby, and I can remember looking down at my body after my first and being both amazed and saddened by its new look. I didn't know what the female body is supposed to look like after a baby is born. All the celebs seem to go out and get tummy tucks and personal trainers and torture themselves thin by the time their baby is 6 weeks old. We really don't have a lot of resources to show us anything different, and many of our girlfriends, instead of helping us love ourselves, are complaining about how fat they are and how they need to lose weight even as they tell us not to worry about ours.

After my first two, I lost my extra baby weight gradually over several months. I think I was down to within 5 lbs of my prepregnancy weight at around one year postpartum. How did I do it? Breastfeeding my baby, eating healthy foods, and walking a few times a week. I didn't cut back on my food intake, and there were times when my babes were going through growth spurts that I was ravenous, so I ate more than usual. (I have to be honest here and say that I was lucky enough to grow up in a house where food wasn't an issue, and I have a healthy happy relationship with food.) The walking was more about getting out in the sun and fresh air and working out the creaks than focusing on a specific goal.

Even though I lost the weight, my body has never looked the same as it did when I was a maiden. I have a bit of a saggy stomach. My boobs sag, as does my bum. I'm a little softer and rounder than before. I have 'jiggly bits', to coin a term shared by my partner from his friend on Twitter:

"When did looking like a twig become sexy? Women should have jiggly bits. You hear me? JIGGLING IS SEXY, YOU FOOLS." ~ Jacquelynn Rasmenia Massoud

Women need to be more honest with each other about their motherly bodies. A few months ago I came across a great website devoted to loving our bodies as they are, called "The Shape of a Mother". On a more universal note, I love the website "AnyBody" and its challenge to limited representation of the female body in our society.

I guess the point of my post is: love yourself, share yourself, nourish yourself, take care of yourself. Oh, and get some clothes that fit. If you are still early on this journey to accepting your body, and you have to cut out the size tags to make yourself feel better, so be it. Or recognize size for what it is: a number. People can't see it, but they can see if you feel comfortable and confident in your clothes. For the record, I'm wearing new size 14 cords today.

PS There's been ongoing discussion about "real bodies" at Glamour magazine over the past few months....check out their article "These Bodies are Beautiful at Every Size".

Driven to distraction

I did it again. I just wasted the last two hours trying to find another template for my blog. Jeez. I am very good at finding ways to keep myself from getting anything done.

Okay time to take a deep breath, forgive myself, get some breakfast and do something productive. Onward and upward.

PS I just realized that I have elements on my blog now that aren't supposed to be there, so I may be spending (read: wasting) more time trying to fix it. Crap!!

PPS FIXED!! And it only took two minutes. Off to make coffee :)

Contemplating the big questions

Lately, I've been musing. Alot. I've had the time to: six weeks ago I gave birth to my third child, and we spend many hours nursing. My two older children are in school, and my partner takes on a fair share of household responsibilities. And so, more than any other time in my memory, I have time to muse. I could have called this post "Thoughts while nursing" or "The meaning of life" or "Who am I?" My brain is on overdrive.

Whilst musing, I've come up with a few questions and fewer answers. What is my potential? How do I define success? What do I truly want? What is the meaning of it all?

I realize how much I've grown in my lifetime, what hurdles I've overcome, and what blessings I've been dealt. I'm a good mother. I'm a caring friend. I love easily and deeply. I cherish my days. I am a chronic procrastinator. I fail to plan. I want to live with integrity and honesty, but in all honesty I know that I sometimes bend with the wind and avoid painful truth. I am brilliantly smart. I am fiercely proud. I carry shame. I love my life.

I am seeking nothing more and nothing less than to live a life that is meaningful. I want to wake each day with clearly defined purpose. I want the thrill of meeting a goal. I want to impart a sense of joy and success to my children and those I meet. Most of all, I want to be heard. I'm looking forward to this blog as a place to state my particular viewpoints to the world.

Thanks for listening.