As i was driving home the other day, something popped in my head. I need to relearn how to walk properly. But is there a ‘proper’ way to walk? Ever since i broke my ankle and had to under go surgery to fix it, all i’ve been able to think about is walking again. Bein mobile. You never really understand how much that means to you until it’s taken away. You take it for granted. It’s second nature. So, i got home, ‘hobbled’ into the house and got on the trusting interwebz to figure out “How to walk properly” but what i found instead was a life lesson.

No two people walk quite the same way. Your style of walking is as individual as your fingerprints.
This makes perfect sense. No one has the same life.. while some have similar lives, something somewhere is different. YOUR life is a unique as your fingerprints.

Stretch before and after walking. The heel-to-toe action of walking tends to tighten your calf muscles, so stretching the lower legs is important.
You should think ahead and think it through. Life can wear you down and wind you up. By thinking, your body will thank you later.

Start slowly at a comfortable pace.
There’s no rush, keep it simple, keep yourself happy.

Maintain good posture. Keep ears centered over shoulders, which should be centered over hips. Don’t slump. Keep your chest up and out and shoulders relaxed. With this posture there will be less chance of foot, leg, or back pain.
Confidence. Keep those you love centered in your life. Don’t sweat the bad stuff. Take it in stride and it will make you better.

Heel first, rock, then swing the foot forward. Sounds simple, but as you walk faster it’s harder to maintain the rocking motion. Keep your foot swing natural.
Find a good peace within yourself, hold on to it, and savor it. Sounds simple, but as life flashes by, it’s easy to forget it. Keep your head up and never sway.

Pace yourself. Use the target heart rate to set your pace. Walking at a moderate rate will increase your stamina.
Enjoy the small things, stop and smell the roses. Set small goals and reach them. Just be yourself, stay true, it will make you stonger.

Don’t forget to swing your arms.
Don’t forget to let loose, go a little crazy. You don’t have to do it all the time but it feels damn good when you do!

So, i may walk a little funny now.. and thats ok, because i have what matters most, those i love and those that love me. Thats what makes the world go round and that’s what helps me walk.

My 4 year old is sick again. She lays her little blond head on my lap, and looks listlessly up at me with big watery eyes and flushed cheeks. My heart constricts as I notice her lips are chapped from the shallow mouth breathing she’s been doing and I see the pulse jumping in her neck. Just two days ago, she was violently sick and I thought she was getting better yesterday. But now, her temperature is between 101 and 103, even with Tylenol. I thought she already had H1N1. She’s been sick so much this fall.

I almost superstitiously avoid thinking about anything happening to any one of my kids. That’s because if I started to think about those “what if’s” it could become a bad habit that would drive me insane. I love them so much. I have had the luxury of healthy children, and a teenager who was not a risk taker. So, I’ve been able to protect this bubble of denial that anything truly bad can happen to my kids for all these years. But today I find myself holding my little girl and thinking “Could I lose her?” and regretting every time I’ve lost patience with her recently–and every missed opportunity for a hug or silly conversation about bugs.

The Mama Bear in me wants to call the clinic and raise holy hell until they agree to give her Tamiflu and apologize for the delay in getting vaccinations of both flus out (because of course they had a hand in that problem). Poor medical professionals who must deal with parents feeling powerless.

Edited to Add:  MamaBear didn’t have to raise holy hell.  The doctor sent my little girl to the hospital.  She was very dehydratrated.  One night of IV hydration and medications and she was sent home.  We’ve been trying to keep her fever down as much as possible with Tylenol and Motrin.  It’s Day 6 of this sickness, and her fever will spike again tonight (though probably not the 104 it was at the clinic).  The Tamiflu doesn’t seem to be helping, probably because it was begun too late.  My advice: don’t wait until high fever has been around two days to take them in, as all the websites recommend.

So, first let me say that I have nothing against smokers.  Hell, I used to be one.  What I do have a problem with is inconsiderate smokers. 

Why, oh why, do you think it’s appropriate to light up at a school bus stop?   As my oldest walks by and breathes it in, followed by my middle, then as I push my 7 month old through the smell I am left wondering why we should have to breath it because you couldn’t wait 5 minutes.  Just because you’re outside doesn’t make it better.  In fact, it permeates the air around you and floats a good distance.  Yeah, I know.   There is no sign that says you can’t smoke and it’s your right to smoke in that area but common sense tells me that my kids and I have the right to not breath in your toxic smoke at a school bus stop.  Ya know, where my kid and several other kids have to board the bus everyday.  I don’t have a choice to not have my kid use that bus stop but you sir certainly have the choice to wait until everyone is gone before you get your fix. 

All I am asking for is a little consideration.

I just got back from a great little trip to Disneyland with Jonny and our two friends. It was an excellent time with a couple setbacks but overall a win in regards to vacationing.

I pulled the bad mommy card and decided to leave Baby J at home so:

1. Jonny and I could experience our first real vacation together with minimal stress
2. We could celebrate our engagement as fiances and not as Mommy and Daddy.
3. Baby J’s first trip to Disneyland will be something our extended family could come to and enjoy as well.  (that and he can walk and go on rides and all that)

For the first time ever, I went on a vacation with no plan of what we were to do, budget of what I was to spend, and heck, we didn’t even know who was going until we got in the car and left!  It was a little stressful for me to go with the flow like that.  I’m little Miss Planner and little Miss Frugal all in one.  You can’t find the deals if you don’t know what you’re doing till you’re doing it!  I think I managed well but I have a feeling when I was overwhelmed by the whole idea of blowing so much money and not “getting your monies worth” the group could tell (sorry guys).

What was amazing about the whole no plan thing, is that most of the trip was unorganized chaos, something I’ve never experienced on vacation before!  The first and third day were running around, doing things on the fly and the second was one amazing shit show of drunks.  We drunkenly explored Tarzan’s Tree House, the Safari River and Downtown Disney, as well as sneakily drank in public, rode Grizzly Falls 100 times, and ate at the Blue Bayou.  I don’t think we ruined any children’s Disney vacations but we definitely ruined a buss driver’s night.

So overall, Disneyland for the WIN! My engagement ring, however, is now put on hold.

While I was gone, Baby J learned to crawl backwards, started a growth spurt, and can now go from sitting to crawling. I never noticed how many babies there are at Disneyland till this trip.. And every time I saw one, I found myself scrambling for my camera to look at old pictures of Baby J. He looks older now that I’m back and that makes me sad.  I feel like there’s a space between us now too.  Like when a baby animal falls in mud and it’s parents will shun it because they don’t recognize its scent.  Luckily, I’m more than aware this babe is mine.. Even though he seems different now.

It was a good trip and I’m happy to be home.  Next time I’d like to save for the trip a little better so I don’t feel like I’m spending my backup savings (and engagement ring funds ).  But really it was a nice, well deserved break from life.

#10.  Your formally macho-man husband now dances around the house singing childrens’ songs and quoting ‘Finding Nemo’.

#9.  You haven’t showered in 3 days, your hair is disheveled, your make-up is non-existent, and quite frankly…you don’t give a rat’s ASS!

#8.  75% of your adult conversations now involve baby poop.

#7.  One of your co-workers asks “What’s that smell?” and you realize it’s the lovely smell of baby vomit wafting from your shirt.

#6.  Much to your horror, you start referring to yourself  in the 3rd person.  “Mommy just loves her little man”! (puke)

#5.  You shamelessly enter your little one in cutest baby contests (something you swore you’d never do), because you are convinced there has never been a cuter baby in the history of the world.

#4.  You can hum along and know the order of songs for every one of your baby’s musical toys.

#3.  You CAN NOT walk into a store without perusing the baby aisles.  Because every baby needs 42 pairs of infant socks!

#2.  Sex is either non-existent, or a 45 second quickie romp before the baby wakes up screaming.  (And it’s pretty much a guarantee that the baby will wake up the moment you take off your pants)

#1.  No matter how bad your day, how tired you are, or how short tempered you’ve become, one gummy toothless grin from your adorable offspring can warm your heart and bring a smile to your face.

5 lbs potatoes peeled and cut into cubes cover them with chicken broth.. it’s like 1 1/2 quarts

season with garlic salt and pepper and cook till potatoes are tender.

Mash them up (i left mine kinda lumpy cuz that how i like it!)

throw in some cut up celery, green onions, bell peppers and onions

i fried some bacon really crispy and crumbled it in there

Let it cook till all veggies are tender and the soup is the consistancy you like

add in 2 8 oz packages of cream cheese, cook on high for about 30 mins until the cheese is melted and mixed well

and viola! Yummy! FYI: this makes A LOT!

My name is Allison, I am 28 years old and the mother of two wonderful boys. I will soon be celebrating my 5^th wedding anniversary to an amazing man. Jake (4years old) is the big brother. He has a great sense of humor and makes me laugh constantly. He was recently diagnosed with type one diabetes and will be dependant on insulin for life. Little brother Brody is 7 months old and in awe of Jake! He was born with a cleft lip and has already had one surgery to repair it. My goal as a mother is to raise my boys to be confident and happy (and total mama’s boys of course!).

My name is Sarah (like most of the western world) and mama to my first, Baby J. I am 28 years old and in 2004 married my husband and graduated college with a Bachelor’s in personal responsibility and conflict resolution (got to love roommates!). We live about a half a mile from the beach in a small coastal town in northern California. Just to clarify…no, I am not tall. No, I do not surf. (I am blonde, though, and you can catch me saying “totally” here and there). I am a pastor-turned-personal fitness trainer with an emphasis in sarcasm and dry wit. After giving birth to baby J and having a hard time losing the baby weight (and remembering what it was like to love fitness, pre-pregnancy), I decided to focus my attention on helping others with weight loss and healthy living, especially mamas.

I love good rock and roll. Even in the womb, baby J experienced his first concert (Ben Folds, at the Warfield at 23 weeks). I love a song with a strong melody laced in sardonic lyrics. And if my child didn’t need to sleep at night, we would be out at shows weekly. (But let’s be honest, who wants to deal with a cranky baby in the morning? Not I.) Most nights now, you’ll find me with a glass of wine or beer (or both) and a baby or fitness book.

Most of my entries here will focus on music, life on the coast, healthy living strategies and maybe recipe here and there. Oh, and of course-motherhood. I’d say my parenting style is one part attachment, one part by the seat of my pants, one part holy-crap-what-did-i-do, one part intentionality. Mostly, I love my kid and I am doing the best I can.

When I am not blogging or spending time with the family, you can catch me drinking coffee with friends, visiting social networking sites, cringing at American Idol, exercising on the beach or trying to organize my house after 3 years of neglect.

I was a cynic.

I truly believed that people who had children were really miserable on the inside. I believed that moms would talk about their babies, oogling over baby products, making crafts after storytime because they were delusional. They needed to tell themselves that they loved motherhood because they were committed to loving and raising a child for 18-24 years (or longer, if they are still living in the basement, mooching off mom and dad into their 30’s). Why not make the best of it? I was a jaded cynic.

Then it happened to me.

March 2009 marks the end of my cynicism. Here I was, hugely pregnant, wanting nothing more than my sciatic pain to go away and this baby to pop out. And after 2 days of contractions, 11 hours in the hospital and a vacuum extraction, baby J was born. He was beautiful. 7 pounds, 5 ounces of baby goodness. Each month, I fall more in love with this little human being. I want to talk about him all the time. I want to hold him, tickle him, hear his cute little squeal. I want him to have the best I can give him. I want to make crafts with him after storytime.

I am one of them. (But I still make sarcastic jokes, will never buy from Land’s End and hate to clean and bake.)

Laughing uncontrollably, downing drinks to encourage the loudest burp and more laughs. Yelling, more laughing, bumping into one another, more laughing, falling, more laughing, more drinking… it was a night that would make a college frat party look tame. What am I mixed up in, it was out of control – I had lost the upper hand. How could this happen?  What was the culprit that sent my kids into college party mode?

Caffeine. Yep, caffeine – not a big doobie or a keg stand. Although with the way they were laughing, it would have been a hard sell to convince outsiders that wasn’t the case.  We only gave them a few sips (I swear) and yet, “I love you Maaaan” and hugs were abound. They were running around our kitchen island like it was a race track dedicated to tiny humans without the ability to slow down, the brakes were drained.

How I long to have that energy, that belly laughing ability, and without the aid of doobies or alcohol to have the best laughs at the simplest things. *sigh*.

Oh well, since those days are gone…where’s my stash of vodka?

I love you maaan!

I can fly!

The room is spinning...

Youthful Joy