I {HEART} Blogging ~ Women I Admire: B2B Day #4 and #5

I am participating in the SITS Girls Back2Blogging challenge.






I missed Day #4 and it's now Day #5, so I'm going to double up here. (bear with me, I think it's worth your time?)

Day #4 of the B2B Challenge asked that we discuss A woman we admire.....I had trouble narrowing this down to one woman. So I decided that I would create a LIST of Women that I admire.

~ I admire Mothers of Preemies. Preemies come with so many special challenges at the start of their lives and the mothers have to be resilient, and remain hopeful in the face of the uncertainties. There are SO many unknowns when you have a child(ren) born too early.

~ I admire Mothers of Multiples.
One child is a challenge. I thought I had it tough with one....AHAHAHAHA....and then I had twins. And now I watch mothers of triplets, quintuplets and sextuplets and I am grateful for my twins and singleton. I admire those women who, often after enduring life in the NICU find their way to a balanced life with multiples underfoot. Well done ladies!

~I admire Mothers of Monoamniotic-Monochorionic Twins - it is a special journey all its own.

**These women mentioned above, happen to be in a group with me...and I really do not want to seem like I am admiring myself because that is not the case. I have a unique perspective, because I have been in their shoes and I know what they are enduring, I empathize with their journey and I know that I personally came out on the lucky end of all three of those things. I had two babies, who were preemies and Monoamniotic-Monochorionic twins...but our journey wasn't nearly as challenging as it could have been. I am blessed with healthy, happy babies who have wonderful temperaments. I am lucky. I admire those with triplets (or more!), those with preemies who had a journey filled with setbacks, and mothers of Momo twins who lost one or both of their beautiful children. Although we endured some of these challenges, I know we were fortunate to avoid the bulk of the most difficult and heartbreaking scenarios. So...this is why I admire those who have been in my shoes but amplified ten fold.

~I admire women who have battled cancer . I am inspired by their resiliency.



~I admire single mothers. They do it all on their own, and make it work. It's amazing and something to be proud of. We all live our lives, and most of us envision life in a partnership raising children, and when it must be endured alone, that's an exceptional challenge.

~ I admire wives of deployed soldiers. Especially those who remain positive in the face of life without their partner for an extended period of time.

~ I admire Nurses - I was cared for by an army of nurses throughout my hospital stay with the twins. There are no words for their dedication, patience and love. They are the reason my girls are here today.

~I admire Mothers of Special Needs Children - Children who require continued assistance requires a Mother with optimism, unconditional love and overall commitment to their child's needs over their own.

~I admire Women who in the face of challenges choose the positive path. It's not always easy to make that choice to focus on the good in life, to continue to make good choices, even when the bad are tempting and simple fixes. I admire those who make their lives work in the face of challenge and they do it in a way that's positive.

Phew......I'm long winded! I could honestly go on...why did I not post yesterday? SHEESH!

Day #5 of the SITS girl challenge was to explain our reasons for blogging....

Top Reasons Why I Blog:

1.) I like the idea of having my words out there for my daughters to read in the event that I cannot be with them. I worry a lot about something happening to me and not being here for my girls, blogging brings me comfort in knowing my words are there for them. My girls can log on anywhere and find “me”.

2.) I enjoy journaling my thoughts and experiences as a reminder of days gone by. And when I am an old lady and barely sane – it’ll make for an interesting “story”.

3.) I try to keep to my blog’s overall message and focus on the moments that define me while keeping a positive perspective. It’s a good reminder to myself that life is good, even when the half-empty days happen.

4.) I blog to connect with other mothers and women who share my perspective on life. It makes the experience of motherhood a little less lonely.

5.) I enjoy reading inspiring stories as well as those that make me laugh out loud. It's a nice way to enjoy my morning coffee.

6.) I am a writer and this is the start of the elusive platform. I aspire to share my words with others and I hope that I will find my way to a larger audience one day.


Thanks for enduring a double post! I hope it was one that brought additional perspective on life and those Defining Moments that make us who we are.

Back2Blogging Day#3 ~ Blog Title Success! (I think?)

I'm participating in the SITS Girls



Back2Blogging challenge this week. Day #3 instructed that we share a post with a title that we were proud of..
I loved this post in general, and I think the title is catchy and one that hopefully brings in the reader.


-------->My Minivan Does Not Define Me!!<---------Awesome Title?

I am a stiletto wearing, cabernet sipping and yes……minivan driving Mama of soon-to-be three children. That’s right… I said MINIVAN (and did I mention I’m going from one child to three in fell swoop?)



I have found myself struggling with the idea of driving a minivan for several weeks now, ever since we drove it off the lot. I swore I’d never be that Mom. The one who drove a Minivan because somehow, that means I’ve given up right? Given up myself to that persona of “Soccer Mom” or “Mom Jeans wearing Mom”?

Absolutely not!

I recently read a status post on Facebook from an acquaintance and I quote:


“Why on God's green earth do people ever buy mini-vans? Does anyone realize that SUVs have just as much cargo capacity and don't make you look like you've completely given up on aspiring to be at least minutely cool. Seriously, what's the draw? Are they giving away lifetime supplies of unisex mom jeans with each purchase....?”


Really? REALLY?


What disheartened me about this post was the fact that many people make this assumption! I tried not to let it bother me. I did. But it still sits with me because I totally disagree with this assumption! My BCBG shoes and dresses are still in my closet….I will still find time to slip them on from time to time (once the twin belly is gone of course) and while I can acknowledge that with twins, and a four year old those totally awesome shoes and dresses will take a small break, they will not retire! They will simply be on hiatus. Period. No argument. Got it judgmental people with no kids?


That is all. Thanks.


I had fun writing about this topic because it was such a tough transition for me to make in life.......I actually used the first paragraph in an article I wrote for Hawaii Parent Magazine ~ a local magazine that I have had the pleasure of writing for this last year.

Back2Blogging Day #2 ~ A Post I Wish You Would Have Read.....

Back2Blogging Day #2 with....





Assignment: Share a post you wish more people would have read......

I wrote this post in June and I really liked how it came out......


Keeping it all in Perspective



I often reflect on my life and wonder how I've gotten through the things that I have endured - not just the ordeal with the twins (see posts Nov. 2009 to present), but so many other things along my 31 year journey in this life. And I have come to the conclusion that we are all innately strong and therefore capable of weathering any storm given the right perspective. Life is complicated, it's messy and it's often times unfair. Life is full of selfish, disheartening individuals who cause undue pain and that just plain stinks.

~BUT~

Life is also

BEAUTIFUL



MIRACULOUS



and

AWE INSPIRING.



I am a "glass is half-full" kind of person. I try to choose the positive perspective and run with it as much as possible. Occasionally, I have a "half-empty" day - after the last six months and other life hardships, it's kind of a given. If I have those days, I allow myself the cycle of emotions - because they are warranted.

~then~

I pick myself up

dust myself off

and

move forward.

I consider myself blessed and I choose to focus on my blessings rather than the hardships...it's this perspective which has carried me through even the most daunting of challenges that life has thrown my way.




I like to write posts like this to remind myself, as well as others that there are remarkable things in our everyday life that we should be thankful for. And with the journey of our twins being Monoamniotic-Monochorionic a.k.a Momo's....I remind myself regularly how very blessed we are. I had hope more people would read it because I think it is a reminder of how beautiful life can be and it can serve as a place to visit when you or I are having one of those "glass half-empty" kind of days.

Back2Blogging Day #1 with the SITS Girls! My First Blog Post......

I'm participating in the Back2Blogging Event with:




My very first Blog Post was written in 2006 about my oldest daughter. She is now five years old....still very much into music and dancing.


Dance! Dance!

My Daughter has a love of music. She sways, bounces and flings her arms in the air to anything musical. She does not discriminate. She loves Sesame Street, the Oscar Mayer commercials, and Mommy's booty rap. All music inspires my girl to bounce her tush or sway her arms around. It is so adorable and free. I say to her, "That's right Jordan, Dance! Dance!" She looks at me with her beautiful round eyes, that are the spitting image of her Daddy's, smiles excitedly and continues her bouncing....(dancing).
Sometimes we dance together. I scoop her up into my arms and we rock back and forth, cheek to cheek to whatever moves us on the radio. It warms my heart and has made otherwise average days, beautiful and more spectacular.
Today, she and I danced together standing in front of one another. This is new for us, because she just started walking and now has the ability to dance while standing. Prior to this week, her dancing consisted of being held by me while she moved her arms up and down or bouncing from a sitting position, swaying her arms back and forth, up and down. Now, well, she is a pro! She stands, bounces on her legs AND sways her arms all at the same time. My growing girl is growing to fast. I only hope she will continue to dance with me as she gets older.


...this was my kickoff post into the blogging world. Unfortunately...I only wrote a couple more times that year (In My Daughter's Eyes and Wild Horses) and then took a very LONG hiatus....I love looking back like this. It inspires me to continue documenting my journey as a mother and otherwise.....

Reasons I like this post.....

***It focused on one of my favorite things about my daughter at that age
***I wrote in a way that you can picture whats happening

Something I would change....

***Add a picture of my Luv Bug at that age! :-)



***I would also space out the post a little more for affect and maybe change the fonts to make it easier to read.

I'd Like My Brain Back

Dear God,

We've known each other for quite some time and I have a small request....

I'd like my brain back please.

It's really become apparent that I have lost a significant part of my brain power. And since you are my creator, I feel like you have the ability to make this happen for me.

Just today, I was driving along, happy as can be because I dropped Jordan at school on time and managed to get the twins both dressed complete with diaper bag prepped for their OT appointment. I EVEN had a hot cup of coffee ready to go in the travel mug.

All very timely....SCORE for Mommy!

As I wave goodbye to my big brave Kindergartener and head out to get on the highway, I'm marveling at how "together" I seem to have things today.

And then...

my minivan begins to slow....and sputter........and finally, it dies.

That's right....dies. On the highway, at a major merging point.

FABULOUS.

Lets not forget I currently live in Hawaii....and that beautiful, breathtaking Hawaiian sun is at it's finest today.

AND

My wardrobe choice for the day....jeans, black top, black flats - no, not the shorts, tank top and flip-flops that I normally wear...it's laundry day. So....yeah....I'm feeling the burn. But hey, I looked totally cute for that Emergency Roadside service!

How did I let this happen?

No brain.

You see God, hard boiled eggs don't taste so great when they're charred due to forgetting them on the stove. Jordan really isn't a fan of being left at school way beyond the normal pickup time. And those crocodile tears that she shed last Friday because I forgot to put her Jamba Juice fundraiser money in her backpack....heartbreaking.

I'm seriously going to start losing friends because I rarely remember our planned get togethers unless they remind me repeatedly and with multiple forms of communication. Thank goodness for facebook Birthday reminders because I would really be dropped from the friend list!

I completely understand that I need to be accountable, but this is getting ridiculous. So.....if you could just make an exception in your policy of free will and all....

I know I should be able to figure this out, but your intervention is obviously needed.

Thanks in advance.

~Nicole

~~~~~A quick open letter to Honda~~~~~~~


Dear Honda,

The little yellow circle light, the size of an eraser head, you know the one that lets us know we're out of gas....NOT EFFECTIVE. Please add bells and whistles in future models. Maybe one of those really friendly OnStar-type services could call me....repeatedly.....until I fill up. I don't know...something? And if you have an add-on kit for those of us with the minivan already, that would be awesome. Thanks.

That is all.

Sincerely,
A recently stranded Mama of Three