Thursday, December 31, 2009

New Years Eve!

Stolen from my friend Mandi's Blog:

5 THINGS I'M THANKFUL FOR IN 2009:
1) Watching my children grow and blossom into amazing people.  Anthony is reading up a storm now. It makes it difficult when we are trying to hide things from him - no more spelling anything to keep it a secret! Anastasia is fully potty trained and such a speaker.  Her vocabulary is absolutely amazing and most adults are surprised at the complexity of her sentences.  David turned one this year and has hit numerous milestones.  It's amazing how sweet he can be, and then how rough and mean he can be a split second later.  He's always ready for a sweet cuddle though


2) My amazingly support husband who has been such a rock for me as I regained the strength in my legs and relearned the ways to use my arms. I don't think he realizes how much I appreciate him and all he has done for me and our children.  He is truly an amazing father, and an amazing husband and I'm so grateful to have him.

3) My physical Therapist Sarah.  She met me at the end of 2008 when I could hardly walk. Through this whole past year she has worked with me and regained the strength in my legs.  I went from not being able to get on the floor with my kids, or walk down stairs, or even get up off the couch without help - and now I'm back to nearly perfect.  She's been a tremendous help in learning the news ways I need to move and use my body.  She saved me from being confined to a wheelchair!

4) My friends - especially Sandra and Kenny.  My two closest friends and an invaluable support system.  Though we may not always see eye to eye - and with Kenny we hardly ever do - they are always there for me to vent to, laugh with, or gossip with.  There are numerous other friends that have been there for me but these two are definitely my closest friends, outside my husband of course.

5) My jar/can/thingie opener.  Don't laugh.  These are amazing gadgets that enable me to still do things around my kitchen.  As I can no longer use my wrists or arms to turn things, these do that for me! I can cook again!

5 THINGS I WANT TO IMPROVE IN 2010:

1) My arms.  If I can regain the use and some of the strength in my arms I would be able to do so much more for my family, friends, and home.

2) Stop becoming so dejected.  It's easy to get down when things get tough, it's a lot harder to remain positive.  I've had numerous days where I haven't been the greatest person because I get so down about the state of my body.  I really want to work on staying positive during the hard moments and inspiring others in similar situations to do the same.

3) My path to religion. I've been searching for many years for the religion I identify with.  I know what it's not and I am slowly learning what it is.  I identify a lot with the Pagan religions but I do not know enough to claim one for myself.  I hope to be able to do this - as I do feel something is missing from my life.

4) I want to show Chris more how much I appreciate him and his role in my life and our childrens lives. Sometimes I find myself griping too much on what he hasn't done, rather than saying thank you for what he has done.  I want him to know how much I love and care about him.


5) Do more activities with the kids.  It's easy when you are a stay-at-home mom to feel as if you've done enough just by taking care of the kids and the home.  I don't want to just be a maid or a fixture on the wall for the kids - I want them to have memories of what we've done together.

5 WAYS I WANT TO GIVE AND HELP OTHERS THIS YEAR:

1) I want to volunteer with Way of the Midlands charity as we have every year.  They do families days that allow our children to participate as well.  I think its important for children to learn, at an early age, to give back.

2) Get really involved with the Breastfeeding Coalition and the La Leche League.  I dream of one day helping women successfully breastfeed for as long as they'd like to.  Already I offer breastfeeding advice to those who ask me to, but I'd love to reach more people on a larger scale.
 

3) Go through the kids toys more often and donate them to the Airmans Attic or Goodwill. It's difficult because we keep having more kids and therefore they don't really outgrow the toys, but they definitely have way too much.

4) Be more available to my friends - especially those with children and whose husbands aren't around much (due to the military).  They need nights out as much as anyone else.

5) Donate some of our old, not getting used diapers to miraclediapers.org. I also want to see if they have a chapter opened in my area I can be a part of.  I also want to start donating breastmilk once Charlie gets here to mothers who are unable to breastfeed for whatever reason.



Switching Blogs

I've been a faithful member of livejournal for numerous years. As of late I just have fell out of love with it. It seems nearly stale, I suppose. I have many blogger friends and I'm always so impressed by their layouts that after much thought I've decided to switch. This is completely new for me, and I'm not a person who enjoys change, so please bear with me while I figure this out. If anyone wants to give me suggestions on how to customize the look of my blog I'd appreciate it!

I'm hoping to be a lot more faithful to this blog than I have been of late with my previous one. So be prepared to glimpse into my crazy world of Attached Parenting, using natural products as much as I can, my love of lactivism, my journey to discover my religion (Paganism), my crazy life a military wife, my journey as a mother, and struggles with Ehlers-Danlos syndrome!

Old journal link - http://fregs.livejournal.com/