Gratitudes

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Be a bra – support the breast

Wednesday, August 5th, 2009

…Today is post 5 out of 7 for World Breastfeeding Week (August 1-7)

If you’ve been blessed by the breast, whether it be you were breastfed, you breastfed or your wife breastfed, take time to appreciate this special dedication and commitment of love.  Show some support to those who do it (including yourself), those who promote it and those who support it:

  • sit down and nurse your baby
  • write a thank you to your mom, your wife, your La Leche League or your lactation consultant
  • don’t accept freebie from formula companies (including those diaper bags from the hospital)
  • treat yourself to a new bra (a sexy, lacy push-up one if you are not currently breastfeeding or invest in a truly supportive garment if you are)
  • nurse proudly in public
  • pass on a breastfeeding book to a friend or relative
  • get involved with activism and awareness of breastfeeding (ProMom.org)
  • declare it: I Make Milk, What’s your Super Power?
  • talk openly to your children about breastfeeding
  • get yourself a new nursing cover (for free here using promo code: “onefree”) or make a fancy one yourself
  • support new legislation
  • join the Global Breastfeeding Challenge - they need groups in more areas
  • be a mentor to a new mom

Breastfeeding is best feeding.

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A day for fathers

Sunday, June 21st, 2009

Yes, daddy’s get their day too.  For it took a daddy to make us mommies and to create our most precious gifts.  So I wish all you dads a Happy Father’s Day (especially those who read my blog) and I hope you enjoyed your time today with your kiddies.

My husband Aaron celebrates his third Father’s Day this year with our two little ones.  I’m sure he can tell all you coaches/dads-to-be out there that nothing humbles you more than seeing and sharing in the birth of your baby, nothing lifts you up more than hearing “I love you daddy” for the first time and nothing makes you more excited than imagining the person your little one is to become.

My father Jerry came into my life when I was on the brink of my teen years and he was my friend, my teacher and my protector (I remember him offering to beat up my high school boyfriend when he broke up with me) even before he officially became my step-father.  He’s not perfect but he’s been a great influence on what it takes to be a good husband and parent and he also is a great poppa (pull my finger).  I love you Pops and I am thankful for you.

QUOTES ABOUT FATHERS

“The most important thing a father can do
for his children is to love their mother.”
~~Author Unknown

“Fathers, like mothers, are not born.
Men grow into fathers-
and fathering is
a very important stage in their development.”
~~By David M. Gottesman.~~

“It is a wise father that knows his own child.”
~~By William Shakespeare (1564-1616)~~

“It doesn’t matter who my father was;
it matters who I remember he was.”
~~By Anne Sexton (1928-1974) U.S. poet.~~

“I cannot think of any need in childhood
as strong as the need for a father’s protection.”
~~By Sigmund Freud (1856-1939)~~

“The greatest gift I ever had
Came from God, and I call him Dad!”
~~Author Unknown.

Daddy’s Footsteps  Author unknown

“Walk a little slower, Daddy”,
Said a little child so small.
“I’m following in your footsteps,
And I don’t want to fall.

Sometimes your steps are very fast, 
Sometimes they’re hard to see;
So walk a little slower, Daddy,
For you are leading me.

Someday when I’m all grown up, 
You’re what I want to be;
Then I will have a little child
Who’ll want to follow me.

And I would want to lead just right, 
And know that I was true;
So, walk a little slower, Daddy,
For I must follow you.”

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A day for Mothers

Sunday, May 10th, 2009

To all those grandmothers, mothers, first time mothers, soon-to-be-mothers, stepmothers, adoptive mothers and foster mothers – HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY!  Whether it’s celebrated with a fancy dinner, simple card, a handpicked weed bouquet or even macaroni art, I hope you enjoy your day.

There are a few people in my life that I share this day with as their roles in my life really allow me to be honored today (this is the start of my acceptance speech for when I get chosen for the mother of the year award).

I am so grateful for my mother but I did not appreciate her fully until I became a mother myself.  I’ve taken many things from my mother: determination and drive, creativity and strength.  Thank you Mom for your unconditional love.  I still need you and I love you very much.

My husband has a lot to do with this day.  Thank you, Aaron for making me a mother in the first place (that was fun, wanna do it again?) and for supporting me in my decisions for our family and for appreciating my efforts.

My children are such wonderful beings and they make me the mother I am.  There’s not a whole lot of better feelings out there then what you feel when you first hear your child say “I love you, Mom”.  I love learning and growing right along my children.  My goals as a mother are to treat my children as individuals, help them set their own path in life, listen to them, chasten them and to show by example, including standing up for my own beliefs.  Ethan and Grace, you were made with love.

 so-crafty-i-make-people1

Mother

Before I was myself you made me, me
With love and patience, discipline and tears,
Then bit by bit stepped back to set me free,

Allowing me to sail upon my sea,
Though well within the headlands of your fears.
Before I was myself you made me, me

With dreams enough of what I was to be
And hopes that would be sculpted by the years,
Then bit by bit stepped back to set me free,

Relinquishing your powers gradually
To let me shape myself among my peers.
Before I was myself you made me, me,

And being good and wise, you gracefully
As dancers when the last sweet cadence nears
Bit by bit stepped back to set me free.

For love inspires learning naturally:
The mind assents to what the heart reveres.
And so it was through love you made me, me
By slowly stepping back to set me free.

by Dimitri Shostakovich

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