The Legacy of an Angel

I want to share a love story with you, not a love of story of adults but rather of a mother and her child.  In January of 2011 a dear friend of mine and her husband were anxiously awaiting the birth of their daughter who would be named Sofia, Sofie for a nickname.  In the early morning hours of January 26^th Sofie was born, and what was supposed to be the happiest moment of their lives quickly turned into the most frightful.  Sofie was born with a traumatic brain injury, and many measures were taken to save her life, but unfortunately on February 15^th 2011 Sofie gained her angel wings.  Soon after Sofie was born her mother Lori shared her life with many people through Facebook and quickly a community of people from all over the world came together praying, wishing, and hoping for the miracle that Lori, her husband Mike and Sofie needed.  Through her birth many people formed friendships, reconnected with old friends and joined together with the community of people who wanted nothing but a miracle for this family.

After Sofie’s death her parents created Team Sofie Chapter 2 as a way to keep Sofie legacy of love alive.  I have been a proud member of Team Sofie since it began, helping to share the life,love and story of not only this little girl but also of her amazing family.  This year to honor what should have been Sofie’s 3^rd birthday her parents have launched the "Find the Love" Project, the 21 day photo project will encourage all participants to take a moment each day focus and find the love that is all around.  Will you help spread Sofie’s message of love?

Not always so little

When I first decided to start writing a blog my hope was to point out all the little things that can go without realizing in our daily lives, the things that make our days easier, our lives simpler, our time more valuable.  The little things that can sometimes make you stop and say “at least….”.  When I first set out to write a blog I was a mom of 2 toddlers, I was a mom of 2 toddlers who were home with me all day, I was a wife of someone that was healthy, that had a fairly decent job, I was worried about our future (as all moms are) but knew things would get better, that we would move to a better house, a better community, that our children would go great schools (this is where being a teacher and a mom sucks) there was hope. 

 Today I am a mom of 2 children who attend school (one part-time preschool, one full time first grade), I am a wife to a husband who never knows when a seizure will strike (despite being on medication),  I am trying to hold my world together while falling apart inside, we are in a new house that we prematurely thought was going to be a great move for us and turned out to be not so great, my children are in great schools with amazing teachers who love them, we like so many American’s are fighting a losing battle with the economy.

 As I sit typing this Mr. O is preparing to take a leave of absence from work again (code: go back to on TDI) to focus on his health, something I know he has to do but at the same time scaring the life out me, leaving me with more questions than answers, leaving me more stressed than reassured, leaving me more short tempered with my children than I ever wanted to be.  I’m not writing this down because I’m looking for sympathy, or looking for a shoulder to cry on, I’m writing this down because it is what is in my heart right now.

 Right now all of the little things have added up to one big thing, a big thing that is completely out of my control, a big thing that has me worried.  So for now instead of taking one day at a time I need to take one hour at a time and if that is too much than I will cut it down and take 15 minutes at a time. I will try to make sure my children aren’t aware of the craziness that is happening around them, make sure that they always come first, make sure that I try to find at least one little things each day to be thankful for.

 

Thankful Thursday......

 

 

 

Today I had planned on linking up with another blog Baby Gators Den to take part in their Thankful Thursday blog post, but they are taking a blogging break for the summer.  This is the first Thankful Thursday post I have done, not that I haven’t had anything to be thankful for but rather the time to compile a list.  So without further ado:

                Today would have been my grandfather’s 87^th birthday, and I am thankful that I was fortunate enough to have him in my life for 32 years.  I am even more thankful that he got to meet his first great-grandchild while he was still here.

                I am thankful to have the knowledge that allowed Mr. O and me to make an educated decision as to which school we were going to send H.  And for the friends who listened to me hem and haw over said decision.

                Now that we are moving I’m happy that Mr. O has a job where getting empty boxes to pack in will not be a problem.

                Air conditioning in both the car and our house……enough said!!!!!!

                That we took the scenic route home one morning from our Sunday morning donut run to Allie's Donuts which led to us finding our new home.

                That my 85 year old paternal grandfather is still able to not only drive back and forth from his home in Florida but that he is able to be here to enjoy H&Z.  To see them together truly is something to be thankful for……

                                                  H & Z out for breakfast with Great Grandpa C     

 

What are you thankful for this week?  It doesn’t matter how big or small it is, after all life is all about The Little Things……..

 

 

Well Being Wednesday

                                           

Happy Well Being Wednesday!!!!  I am happy to finally report that the scale is not broken; it is not permanently going to display the same 3 numbers forever.  How do I know this for sure?? Because it finally moved….and in the direction I prefer, down.  Last week was not a weigh-in week for me, but I was curious, was there a weight loss, even a small change and I was astounded to see that there was.  Without further ado, let’s get to the stats:

                                                 6/18… 138.5

                                                 7/10…135.5

That’s 3 whole pounds.  I’m not going to claim that I have been eating an only organic diet, or working out for 45 minutes every day or even drinking plenty of water, because I haven’t.  While I have been more aware of what I am putting in my body, and aware of how frequently I have or haven’t been exercising the only thing I can attribute the loss to is a combination of doing the right things for my body.  Was this the jump start I needed?  I hope so; I hope that in 2 weeks there is even more of a weight loss.  I have also begun to see some minor tone and definition in certain areas of my body, I haven’t been as tired lately (granted with 2 children, that’s a relative statement), I have had more energy.  By nature I am very resistant to change, don’t like it and never have.  Perhaps my body is the same way; it just needed some time to realize that there is no other way besides to do things the healthy way???

Now this week is a special week, it is Mr. O’s birthday tomorrow and we are celebrating both tonight and tomorrow night.  Being that it is his birthday he gets to choose the dinner for tonight (yes, 2 separate dinners…..got to love divorced parents).  For tonight he has chosen a local Italian restaurant.  A favorite of ours, were everything is homemade and you don’t mind waiting an hour for your dinner to arrive.  H & Z helped me to make a cake this morning and we are all looking forward to a yummy dinner and dessert, but I am also looking forward to the leftovers I get to have for lunch tomorrow!!!!!

Now this next part of WBW was one of those moments I could have slapped myself in the forehead for not thinking of earlier.  Many friends and members of PIM have often said they would consider working out in the morning, but not me.  How could I with the children underfoot? Well this morning I woke up and it hit me, DUH after breakfast and a few housekeeping tasks I could put them in a different room with a video and give myself however long I needed…..EUREKA!!!!! Why hadn’t I thought of this sooner?  It worked out so much better than waiting until their rest time in the late afternoon.  I am going to stick with this plan as often as our schedule allows, which should be pretty often. 

What fitness challenges have you faced?  What would be your perfect workout routine?  The same exercise videos or classes every day, or do you vary what you do?

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Happy Friday!!!!

I hope everyone has had a good week, I thought I would end the week with a post about some of my "Little Things" that I've recently experienced, seen or heard. 

I love clean sheets, the feeling if getting into bed with fresh, clean sheets that have been all tucked in is a good way to end any day!!! 

Greek yogurt, YUM!!! I have always loved yogurt, but during my pregnancy with Z I suddenly became turned off, like could not even get a spoon in my mouth. Thankfully that is no longer a problem since discovering Greek yogurt!!! Mix that yogurt with 2 teaspoons of granola and that's breakfast or a midday snack. And the fact that I declare those little cups of protein filled goodness all mine is an added bonus. 

Yoga!!!! Oh yoga how I have missed you!!! After taking a series of classes several years ago I fell in live with this form of exercise. I've looked for, thought about, bought videos all with the intention of starting to do yoga again. I am happy to report that I have begun using the videos I bought, and yep I still love it!!!

This last thing little thing is purely silly but for me it's my little thing, my one thing that helped me one day this week. After slowly changing over my clothes from winter to summer, I begun the dreaded task of now switching from cold weather shoes to summer shoes. Hot damn, wasn't I shocked that when I began to pull out all my flip flops (and I have lots) they all had a match!!!! Now if there had been a shoe without its mate it would have driven me crazy, but nope they all had a mate!!!  Now if Mother Nature would cooperate this upcoming weekend my toes would appreciate it.

I know these things may seem silly or trivial but like the name of this blog "The Little Things" are sometimes what help get you through the big things and many times we forget about "the little things" that may make us happy or our life easier...

WBW - 5/22/13

Happy Wednesday!!!! Here in the Northeast the humidity has settled in for the immediate future, which is not conducive to really anything except consuming more water - which is never a bad thing. It is important to remember to not over-do it, take breaks if you are exerting yourself, even save that workout until later in the day when the sun has gone down. 

This week is not a weigh-in week for me, but that being said I'm sure that if it were the same 3 numbers would pop up on the scale display. I have taken some small steps over the past week to improve not only my health but the health of my family as well.  Mr O and I had a big talk the other night over all the articles that I have been reading about processed foods and certain health ailments, and how we still have time to change our eating habits and those of H&Z, whom we have always payed particular concern to what they are consuming. We have decided to start eating in a more clean and organic way, having only 1 income we will be looking to make this change over time and not do a radical change all at once. 

During yesterday's shopping trip I was able to buy some organic fruit, organic cereal, organic oatmeal and even an organic treat for H&Z.  Luckily my local Stop and Shop is stocked with a very nice selection of both organic and traditional foods, also we are very fortunate to have a Trader Joes and Whole Foods within a couple miles of our home. While we were on a recent trip to BJ's we were able to see their selection of bulk organic items and our local SAM's club (where we belong) is re-opening soon and I will definitely be checking out their inventory of organic and clean items. 

I have also ordered a couple of workout DVD's all with a focus on beginner exercises. 2 of the 3 have different workout options, including 10 minute, 20 minute or 1 hour options and routines. All of the reading I have done says it is better to do a 10 minute routine and gradually build up to longer exercise times, so these DVD's are prefect for me, also with 2 little ones underfoot working out carries its own dangers and time constraints!!!!  I had been doing some longer routines but found myself unable to complete them, so I would definitely rather do 10 minutes comfortably than 45 minutes strenuously. 

The workouts I ordered are a beginners cardio, beginners yoga, and a ballet workout.  I have done the cardio video and I like it, and look forward to doing the yoga one later today. Combined with walks, and maybe even a few random exercises during the day I will get healthy. 

With time and patience my physical and emotional health will meet and everything will come into focus, I've got nothing but time. What have you changed this week?  What will you be eating differently based on the information coming out regarding chemically altered foods? I'm including a photo I found on the Internet showing which fruits and veggies are called "The Dirty Dozen". 

Also follow along with our journey at perfectlyimperfectmamas.com also on Facebook and Twitter!!!