Monday, April 29, 2013

My 35th Birthday Celebration

This past Wednesday (April 24) was my birthday celebration! It was a great day.  I had a few friends and family over for cake and snacks.  I decided to give Joy a piece of cake and let her go nuts eating it.  It was so cute! Getting her ready for her first birthday.  The next day I wish I had a piece of cake because I just wanted to watch her dive into to cake.  

Anna



Thursday, March 7, 2013

Weight Loss Blog

For those of you who are not aware yet, I have started another blog that is focused on my weight loss.  I look forward to hearing your feedback on my new blog.  

Here is the link: 
Shedding it off

Anna

Thursday, February 14, 2013

Dealing with Infant loss

Last night I had a rough night for sleeping.  Then Joy decided to wake up at 12:30 am.  I was a little annoyed, but as I am making her bottle I was reminded of a Mother who most likely getting up every 3 hours to feed her newborn, well last night she wasn't.  Instead she was most likely up all night grieving the loss of her 3 wk old son.  I was also reminded how upset it made me when people would complain about not getting any sleep when Faith died.  I had to repent right there and I do not think Joy understood but I apologized to her too.  It is a part of being a Mom.

Every time I hear of an infant passing away, whether it is genetic issues and expected, SIDS, or stillbirth my heart breaks for them.  I understand how they are feeling.  People think that we will get over it.  That is so not true, we never get over it!! We learn to cope.  Our lives are changed forever! 

Ways to help a friend or family who have are going through this difficult time:
  • Let them vent, they will be feeling angry and sad all at once.
  • Offer your shoulder to cry on.
  • Prepare meals for the family, believe me they will not want to cook.  They will appreciate that.
  • Take up a collection to help with burial expenses.
  • Let them share their memories about their child.
What not to do:
  • Not acknowledging the baby lived, the baby lived in the mothers womb, and maybe lived a short life after birth.  No matter how short the baby's life was they existed.
  • Do not say things like, "God has a plan", "It was for the better", "He/She is in a better place" "You will have another one"  No matter how many babies you have, they will never replace the one you lost.
  • Do not throw scripture in their face, that is the last thing they want to hear.  They are probably angry at God whether or not they believe in Him or not.
  • Avoid giving the pity look
  • Do not avoid them like they have the plaque.  This is the time that they need their friends and family for support. That will force the grieving Mother into isolating herself from others and it is bad enough that postpartum depression is creeping up.  Then there is the grief on top of it.

Thank you for reading my blog post.  I hope you have an understanding of what a grieving Mother goes through and is able to be there to help them through it!.

Anna

Thursday, January 10, 2013

Getting Back on Track

Well it has been awhile since have written.  Christmas went very well.  Joy did not fully understand what was going on.  She just saw that she got a whole bunch of toys.  Joy was sick over Christmas, two more teeth where getting ready to pop through.  Tooth #3 and #4 has popped through.  I cannot get over how well she is handling it all.  She may be sick, or her gums may be sore but she laughs and smiles through it all.  She is not really a fussy baby.  She has her moments.

Trying to figure out a workout schedule is not very easy.  The toughest part is lacking motivation to go.  I really want to set the example for a healthy lifestyle.  What I went through growing up being overweight was awful.  Getting teased at school it was awful.  They say kids will be kids but they do not understand how hurtful they are until later on the years as they grow up and mature as adults.  I really do not Joy to go through that torture.  I do not want her to become an emotional eater like I struggle with.  How can I teach her how to eat healthy and to get active if I am not doing that myself.  Every day I make it a point to tell Joy how beautiful she is.

During Christmas was a huge struggle for me.  We have had some really stressful times but we still enjoyed Christmas.  I was not consistent with taking PGX so therefore I totally binged out on sweets.  So needless to say I gained 12 pounds.  Now I have to stop taking it because I am participating with with a group with friends to be a part of a Biggest Loser, so to be fair I have stopped taking it. I look at it from this perspective, I am saving money.  I do not want to have to take it for life so maybe this will help me get started so I am not depending on it.  I love the product but right now I cannot afford the product.

Anna