Getting Through

Well we now have a six week old and an eighteen month old on our hands. We are slowly getting into a groove, getting past the crazy, and entering what I call a "normal hectic".  Still overwhelming at times, but a new phase nonetheless. I have two of the cutest kids on this earth and we wouldn't have gotten to this point without the awesome support of our family and friends. It's the big things and the little things that make all the difference.

It's my mother who stayed for five nights taking care of me and my family, providing company, food, and reassurance in the hours of uncertainty before my labour.  She constantly told me to sit down and rest while she took care of things. She watched over my precious little girl when Chris and I had to be away from her overnight for the very first time so that I didn't have to worry about her. When we came home from the hospital already sleep deprived, she was there, making things easier as we figured out how to juggle two kids. Our freezer was stocked with meals, our laundry was folded, and we had home made baby wipes made for us before she departed. Several follow up phone calls were made in the weeks to come, just checking in to see how we were doing. There are times as an adult when you still need your Mom and mine was there for me and I will always remember that.

It's my mother-in-law who stayed over and bought food for us and took care of all the cooking and got up at 4am to rock the baby when we were exhausted.  She was that extra pair of hands that were needed to juggle both kids at meal times and bath times, preventing meltdowns that would have ensued if I were on my own. She never hesitated to get down on the floor to play with Maya, knowing that she needed extra attention with all the changes happening.  She insisted that Chris and I get out of the house for a few hours for dinner on our own, helping us to relax and reconnect. She spent every moment during her visit soaking up the joys of being a grandmother.  She even stayed in her PJ's until dinner time one day because she was too busy taking care of Maya so that I could run some errands.

It's my best friend who met me at the park one day just so that I could get out of the house and have some adult conversation, and so that Maya could actually go on the swings and the slide (things that I wouldn't have been able to make happen by myself with a three week old baby who constantly wanted to be held).  Even though she was uncomfortably eight months pregnant, and just getting off best rest, she insisted on coming to visit when Chris was working afternoons. She let me take a shower and helped with dinner and bath time. She spent some quality time with Maya, french braiding her hair, and held Nolan to give me a break. She even stayed for girl talk and chai tea when the kids were sleeping. She was there during a time when I just needed the company of my best friend.

It's my other best friend who provided text messages of encouragement when I was feeling overwhelmed. She took the lead on pulling things together when we hosted a baby shower only five weeks after Nolan was born and she didn't make me feel guilty when I couldn't do more to help. She was there insisting that I sit down and eat when Chris and I were trying to juggle two cranky kids at my brother's wedding reception. She entertained Maya while her sister (who happens to be my sister's best friend) took Nolan off of our hands, all the while they hadn't even had their dinner yet. Their kind and selfless act warmed my heart and will always be a touching memory of my brother's wedding. I was even kept company when I had to leave the party to nurse Nolan in the other room (since he is such a distracted eater).  In the quiet of the room we had our usual girl talk.

It's my sister who always feels like she is not doing enough for me, because she lives so far away, but who always calls to see how I am doing even when I can't answer the phone or call her back right away. She always sends gifts in the mail, and always makes time to skype with the kids so that they can remember her face and hear her voice. She even paid for me to get my makeup done for my brother's wedding because she thought I deserved fifteen minutes of "me" time.

It's all the other people who visited, called, sent baby stuff, brought food, and mailed cards.

It's all of these things and more that have gotten us through. It's all of these things that have reminded us that we are loved and that we are not alone.

Only having two kids and feeling so overwhelmed at times, I don't know how my grandmother raised twelve and lived to tell about it.

I have a feeling maybe it was the big and little things that people did for her, just like they did for me, and just like I will do for others.

We may not have everything under control all the time, but I think we're doing a pretty good job so far thanks to all the help!

Maya and Her Daddy

Memories

TODAY'S MOTIVATION

In the new year, we've got a few family trips planned with Maya. When we look back at pictures of us as a family, creating memories for our child, I don't want to be thinking "Jeez, I wish I looked / felt better then".  I don't want things like that spoiling my memories.  Instead, I just want to be thinking about the good times.

RANT OR RAVE

The other day I talked about buying this book. Well, I am done reading it. I read every night before bed. Even though I should be trying to get to sleep as early as possible (to prepare for Maya waking up 2-3 times a night), I can't help but cuddle up and have some "me" time. 

The basic message in this book is to eat a diet of non-processed foods with little or no meat, eating mostly plants. It also stresses the need to reconnect with the pleasure of food, eating socially, and thinking outside of the traditional beliefs we have about food. He also explains how processed foods came to be, which is interesting, and cautions that foods fortified with vitamins are not as good as whole foods. 

Anyhow, this book has really left me feeling much more confident about eating and much more overwhelmed about eating at the same time. There are a lot of things in the book that I agree with whole heartedly. There are some things that I still wonder about. Some of it validates the beliefs I already have about food, some of it makes it more complicated. Mostly more complicated because if I were to embrace the concept of this book a hundred percent, I would have to make some changes which I feel is very difficult to do when you are competing with how our culture has changed regarding food. 

You see, it talks about getting back to basics, cutting out processed food, enjoying eating again, having more sensible portions (not the usual portions of the Western diet), getting back to having a relationship with the makers of your food, knowing where it comes from, etc. These are not new concepts but the thing is, when you go to a kids' birthday party and they are serving macaroni and cheese or you go to a friend's house who is serving white rice and ready made appetizers, how do you politely decline what they are serving? Do you bring your own food and look like a snooty "I'm too good for your food" kind of guest? Do you eat before you go and just not have anything at the party and in turn be the only one at the table watching everyone else eat? I tell myself that eating what someone serves you once in a while is not going to hurt you but when you are invited to things more than once a week how do you cope? When I was reading this book I had a new appreciation for someone who is, say, a vegetarian or a vegan. 

This book was not suggesting that you follow a strict eating guideline, but in a way it did. The good thing is it did make eating seem a lot simpler. It gave the dieter a green light to stop dieting and just eat healthy. It gave good reasons why you should spend more money on your food (which helped me make peace with yesterdays' rant). It helped you understand that you don't need to eat food fortified with vitamins and nutrients if you just eat the good foods themselves. The biggest message I took from this book is that you have to look at food as a whole, as a culture, and we need to stop processing everything and promoting all of this factory farming that goes on. Overall I agree with the general premise of this book, but like anything, I feel you need to take some of it with a grain of salt and remember that the author is trying to make traditional "nutritionism" look very evil in order to get the reader to see his point of view.  So it would be interesting to see a more balanced argument about such issues, but nonetheless, he makes some very good points. 

See for yourself and give it a read. 

RANDOMS

A while back I talked about taking on some hobbies to keep myself busy like sewing. I think I'm gonna make some home made Christmas stockings to spice things up this year. I'll let you know how it turns out. 

Both of these are going to inspire my project:

www.polkadotchristmas.com

www.breakfastfordinnerblog.blogspot.com

Getting Inked

TODAY'S MOTIVATION

Hubby and I have talked about getting tattoos for a long time. We both said that when we get into better shape that is something we could do together. I have one small one that I got when I was nineteen years old with some of my university room mates, but I want to get another small tasteful one somewhere else.

RANT OR RAVE

Can I just say that yesterday's weather around here was beau-ti-ful! Sitting outside with the fam for thanksgiving was very relaxing. Maya got to play with her cousin, and I got to visit with my brothers. I made it through the whole day of eating without any major transgressions. Overall it was a good day. The forecast calls for more nice weather in the next few days this week.  I'm gonna soak it up as long as I can!

NOTE TO SELF

Family Day

TODAY'S MOTIVATION

I love fresh blueberries. Yesterday we went blueberry picking. It is the end of the season and it took twice as long to get a bucket full of sweet nature's candy because most of the big juicy ones were already taken. It was hot and tiring on the body. Maya and I had to go in to cool off way before her Dad was done. Babies and heat don't mix. Nonetheless it was fun to get out of the house. 

Here are some pictures I took from my phone. 

Since it was so hot we decided to take a last minute detour to the grandparents' house for a dip in the pool to cool off.  The pool was cold and it took Maya a while to get used to the water, but she loved it anyway. It was a great family day. 

On the way home we were able to see the sunset and it was the biggest sun ever. You know the one that signals that fall is pretty much here? I tried to take a picture but my phone camera just didn't do it justice at all. 

Watching the sun with Maya sleeping in the back, and us on our way home, I started reflecting on the day as it ended.  It really got me thinking to just how lucky I am that I can do these things with Maya. Not everyone is as able bodied and fortunate. It made me realize that the saying "your body is your temple" really rings true. I really want to take care of myself so that we can create many family memories together and be active as a family. I want to be able to be right in there, part of the action with Maya, and still be active way into my senior years to do things with my grandkids too when I get older. So today I am motivated to take care of myself and never take my able bodied self for granted. 

RANT OR RAVE

Just my opinion. It somewhat bothers me when people say that others should accept themselves for who they are even if they are overweight. Yes I agree that you have to love yourself on the inside and there is more to life than looking great in a bikini. Yes, life would be a lot less stressful if some could achieve a level of acceptance of who they are inside and out. Losing weight is not about calories, but about changing your perspective on yourself and the world. But they also don't understand that most people want to lose weight so they can feel better, be healthy, and be able to do more things. If anyone has ever been pregnant, they know how limited they become towards the end with not being able to go up the stairs without getting out of breath, or not being able to bend over to tie their shoe. Well that's what it is like for some overweight people, only it's all the time. Being pregnant gave me insight into that and I don't want to ever get like that in my life. So yes, I would like to get rid of nasty sausage arms and neck blob. I don't like my back fat. But really when it comes down to it I am not aiming for perfect body, I am aiming to look healthy and feel healthy. And I'm sorry, but having neck blob is just not healthy.  I am learning to have a deeper love for myself and that means taking care of myself as mentioned above. 

NOTE TO SELF