Monday, May 23, 2011

Smiles & Sunshine

I know it seems that I might always be posting about sad or negative stuff.  But this is just one way for me to let it all go.  For me if I can write it out then it is like setting it free.  So I decided to do a quick post on the things that do make me happy.

There is nothing better than a sunny warm spring day in Oregon.  The birds chirpping and singing their songs and letting you know it is time to celebrate.  I love digging in the garden or flower beds..to me I do get pure enjoyment from pulling weeds.  Yes it is probably weird but it is calming and fullfilling to me.  I love being outside and getting dirty and planting flowers and veggies.  I love the anticipation of what is to come.  And I love all the memories that come with this....they are the best memories that I have.

I love my girls....I love them more than anything.  I love Lindsey's giggles and I love her adventurous side and wanting to help mommy outside in the garden or inside in the kitchen.  I love Mindy putting her arms out sooo wide and banging her feet on the ground in excitement.  It melts my heart to see her big ole HUGE smile that she gets and she is so excited that she isn't even sure what noise to make.  My girls are my everything.

I love my husband.  I honestly never imagined having a husband like him.  I never thought I would find someone that is fine with me being me.  Someone that trusts me and believes in me without all the strings attatched.  I love the fact that he sometimes is brutally honest unintenionally and it just makes me laugh.  I love that he loves me and I love that he trully knows how much I love him.  He is amazing and am so grateful and blessed to have him in my life.

I love my extended family and love how much they take care of us. 

And I truly love frozen yogurt and yummy fruit.....yes this is one thing that makes me smile.

Some days I almost cry at how blessed I am.  Life is good and can only get better.

Round 2

So I knew with  my pregnancy with Lindsey it wasn't going to be the "normal" experience.  I was pregnant and my mom was battling cancer.  And my pregnancy was the one thing it seemed our family could be excited about at that time in our lives.  My mom clung to it and focused on it.  She used all the strength she had to make it to see Lindsey Lou come into this world. 

I really debated in my head if I could do another pregnancy...mentally.  Physically it takes a toll on my body.  I might produce healthy babies but my body is beaten down by the time it is all done.  I didn't even know how I could mentally handle being pregnant and not being able to talk to my mom every day.  Last April when I found out I was pregnant I was excited and scared all at the same time.  There had been a lot of deaths on both sides of the family after a baby had been born and I just couldn't take someone else dying after having a baby again.

But this time it was different.  I realized I could make this pregnancy as calm or as crazy as I wanted.  I knew after Mindy was born I needed some calm and peace in my life that I didn't have when Lindsey was born.  I craved it and was very excited to know I could make it happen.

The funny thing with plans...they are just that.  You can't plan for getting sick or getting injured.  You just have to roll with life and see where it takes you.

I had master plans of recovering fast from my c-section, loosing my baby weight, running in a 1/2 marathon 6 months after giving birth.  Well I didn't plan for postpartum, I didn't plan on Rob's back getting bad a month after having Mindy and I didn't plan on the differences from one child to the next.

Now I almost find it amusing that even without the craziness and sadness of my first pregnancy there is still all of that but in different ways and different variations with my second. 

There have been so many life challenges that have been thrown at me these past 5 years.  I am now just hoping I can learn from them and maybe even someday embrace them.  All of these stresses haven't killed me yet so they must be making me stronger.  And most importantly I hope...just hope it will help teach my girls that we are strong enough to make it through anything that God throws at us.  Some days it doesn't feel that way but I am still standing and still loving the life I do have.