The Quiet Life of Violet

Got Health? (A Giveaway, Too!)

Hi there!

I had a huge long day of shopping at Michael's for photo frames today. Actually, I was only in the store for about thirty minutes, but I swear, it takes all day to get the timing right and get anything done with a baby. Bath time and food time then nap time then more food, then clothes change and maybe another nap and then a quick snack and... out the door. Not to mention the whole feeding and showering myself thing. I did laundry today, too. Wooo! Actually, I do laundry everyday, but I FOLDED AND PUT IT AWAY today... Go me! Oh, gone are the days where I could loaf on the couch all day and still have things done before Dustin got home. Ha! What the heck did I do with all of my time before the baby came?!

Anyway, ( I may be sipping wine and feeling fabulous, at the moment), my sweet friend, Miss Lacy of LacyLike, has been brewing something new for you, my sassy, amazing readers.



She, along with her friend Lisa, has launched a super important wellbeing and health coaching course, Thriving Through The Holidays. If you need more than just the desire to get healthy, need a little accountability and inspiration, this is totally for you. EVERYONE wants to be healthy and  look and feel amazing. I don't know anyone who says, "I enjoy feeling bad not only physically, but mentally, as well."  Do you? Like many things though, the urge is there shining and shimmering as bright as a Christmas candle, but the "getting there and doing it part" is where you get lost. Well, pretty lady, let Lacy help!

Not only has she been working on the above, she's personally launched a pretty little something called Campaign for Confidence. The message is: when you eat beautifully, you'll feel and look nothing but! She's taken a few (veg?) saucy, confident pictures with only the beautiful body that God gave her and some choice veggies. She wants you to do the same and share.



Racy Lacy! Join her and women everywhere by taking and sharing your picture, complete with the veggie or fruits of your choice, with the world. Dustin (who will have no complaints, I'm sure) is going to take mine this weekend! I can't wait to share!

[Yeah, I totally cried the first time I watched this.]

The Holidays are about family, traditions, giving and making beautiful memories, right? What better way to honor all of the above by honoring you and your well being? Like the saying goes, "If Mama ain't happy, ain't nobody happy." Let Lacy and Lisa help you find the most beautiful you, even if she's hiding deep down and scared.

It's time, friends. Do it for your Husband. Do it for your sweet children. Do it for YOU -- you're worth it. <3

 

Now for the giveaway part!

Lacy is also offering an eBook that she created herself: 12 Tip & 12 Recipes to Thrive Through the Holidays and one lucky reader will win a free copy! Just leave a comment (one per person, please!) stating which fruit or veggie you'd most like to take your picture with, plus your email address, and I'll draw one lucky winner's name on the 26th!

Have a great Thursday!

XO,
Veggie Lovin' Violet

 

 

 

(1 + 1 = 3) A Shower of Emotions

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It was nice being around so many women who loved me and this little boy growing in my tummy. The decorations were beautiful, the food was tasty and the gifts blew my mind. At the same time, it kind of felt like I was watching from the outside in. The pretty hair on my head (done by my amazing friend Jewels) and the dress on my body were on some other woman. Watching my family and friends sip tea, eat scones and chat with the women who sat next to them, I almost felt as if I were there for a nameless guest of honor. When I was opening gift after gift, each wrapped with so much care, it felt like I was watching someone else do it. Like the books and outfits and diapers were for another boy named Roman, not MY Roman. How could I be here, be experiencing this beautiful moment that I had dreamt about for so long? It was like I was almost going in and out of consciousness -- one moment I was there and it was MY shower for MY son and the next I was just looking in.

I had a talk with my Sister afterwards and expressed what I was feeling. Effie always seems to snap me back into to reality, as she's very much about, "Your life is NOW. Let yourself enjoy it and try not to let your fear hold you back." It's really difficult to totally open my heart and let myself really get excited about the things that matter the most to me -- I have this nagging fear that if I let my heart fill to the brim with joy, happiness and satisfaction, something horrible will happen and it will all be taken away.

Is it really possible that God's decided that after everything I've survived, all the cancer, the surgery, the tears and heart break, that I'm allowed  to stay alive long enough to give life to this baby? Will I really be able to hold a human being that has equal parts of me and the person that I love the most in the world?  To smell his sweet baby head and tickle his big (Dustin style) spatula feet? Is it really true that I'll be allowed to see his first steps and hear him call me Momma and maybe even go to Kindergarten?

How did I ever get so lucky?!

 

Leigh-Ann and I are off to go see Lori, have Thai food and then off to see The Squid and make sure that he's growing!
If my belly is any indication, I'll say that he's doing just fine. Wish us luck!

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P.S. - Guess who won?  Eeeeppppp!!!!

Hope, Fear and The Son

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This pregnancy, so far, has been hard on me in more than just the "normal" aches and pains way. It's brought light to many different things about being a Mother that I hadn't thought about before.

Roman will eventually learn that his mom is different.

• I hope that he won't be angry with me for being different. 

• I hope that we can raise him to be compassionate and understanding and the other kids won't tease him because his mommy has one leg and is in a wheelchair. Also, that his Mommy has scars and is missing a lung and is constantly wheezy and asthmatic.

• I hope it doesn't bother him that Momma won't be able to chase him around the park like other Moms do or that he won't be embarrassed when I park in a handicapped spot.

• I hope he digs my wheelchair. Free rides!

• I hope I never run over his toes.

• I hope he never catches my fear of the cancer that may someday decided to re-populate my body.

• I hope he never understands the anxiety that rushes through me each time I have a scan.

• I hope he never knows how sad it makes my soul to know that I could be gone before he is in Kindergarten.

• I hope there never comes a point where Bubby and I have to sit him down and explain that Mommy is sick and will be going to live with God.

• I hope I won't beat myself up when he needs help with his homework and I have no clue how to do it.

• I hope I can teach him how to drive (Yup, I drive an automatic with my left foot!).

• I hope I get to hold his hand when some little strumpet breaks his heart for the first time.

• I hope I get to adjust his tie before he heads out to prom.

• I hope I'm there when he gets married so we can figure out how to do the Mother/Son dance with me in my chair.

• I hope I get to hold my Grandbabies.

 

I  HOPE.

 

 

 

(A vote for hope?)

A New Season

I've been cleaning house in more ways than one and boy, oh boy, it feels so good! It doesn't hurt that I have an amazing Husband who isn't afraid to tell me the truth (good or bad) and sticks by my side just like Fonzie on a cold night. 


                                        [Isn't he a dreamy mush-puff?]

There comes a point in your life when you have to step back and figure out what's REALLY important to you, and then just go from there. My Husband, my child, my family, God, my health and a handful of REALLY close friends. Everything else that's positive in my life is just frosting on my sweet little prego-bellied cupcake, and the negative stuff can just take a hike.

When one door closes, another is flung wide open somewhere -- streamers floating from the ceiling, tasty desserts on pretty trays and  your favorite song blasting through the boom-box (OH YES. I said boom box).  I can't wait to see where this new chapter takes me! 

Have you had any new doors open lately?

(Two clicks for cleaning!) ---> 

(1 + 1 = 3) Good Advice

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" Choose to be alive everyday."
-Bubby

Today was an emotional up and own for me. It's like someone strapped me into the Big Cry Baby (my lame attempt at making up a roller coaster name!) and I've been looped about, dipping up and down, all day.

As much as I say that we should appreciate everyday and be so, so thankful for every little thing, I still find myself needing to hear the same advice. I guess it's in my true love for the little things and wanting to live for many, many long years that the tears and worries, ups and downs still come.

I love this boy that's growing inside of me. I love his father, too. I love them both with everything, every little drop that is my entire being. If you could possibly count and compartmentalize each drop of water in every ocean, my love would still be of a greater number.

I WANT to be able to know that I'll be here for them. That Roman won't have some sob story about how, despite his Mother's unending love for him, her time on earth was cut short... with him being just a boy, a baby even. I worry that he'll have no one to dance the Mother-Son dance with at his wedding (The logistics of me actually dancing in a wheelchair will have to be figured out at a later date. *wink*).  I don't want his hurt to, to only remembers THINGS about me - my favorite food, my smell, the little bits - but I'm just not there. I don't want to be gone.

I knew that these thoughts would come  when we started having children, but I didn't know what it would FEEL like. It's difficult to explain and I assume that some of you know what I'm trying to verbalize, but it's almost like trying to explain love or a sneeze or sunshine... the only possible way to understand it is to experience it.

As the summer season draws near, my worries escalate like usual. Summertime is hard for me -- I've only ever had cancer come back during the Summer months. It's funny how something that's only happened three out of twenty-six (almost twenty-seven!) of my years can taint my thoughts and plans for the future. I guess it's not funny, though. It hurts my heart and makes me cry and leads my mind into scenarios that I really don't much care for.

So, in honor of the man that loves me with all of his ounces (that's a little thing we say to each other), I choose to be alive today. Even if there's crappy little tumors in my lung - which is one of the looming fears that I will always have, and since they won't do my nice little reassuring CT scans while pregnant (for a good reason!), I won't be able to ease my fear until after Squid is born.  With that aside, knowing that there's nothing I can do about any of that today, I choose to take Bubby's advice. I've got this - one day of happiness with my son in my belly and my Husband by my side is totally do-able.

*deep breath*

 

(1 + 1 = 3) What Makes Us Worry

    

This Momma fears a few things that I'm sure EVERY Momma fears. I don't think that it matters if you're carrying your first baby or your sixth. I think adoptive Moms fear the same things, too. For me, the fear comes from how much love is in my heart for this little boy.  We think:

"Will there be something medically wrong with this sweet baby that I'm growing?"

"Will I know that something is not right by the look on the doctor's face during an ultrasound?"

"Will something go wrong with me or the baby or just will it just be fate that this little guy is born before he's finished developing?"

I swear, I still celebrate every time I pee and the t.p. is nice and clean and normal. The memory of what I went through when I had my miscarriage will never leave my mind. Ever.

With this sweet baby, the boy that kicks and squirms and is already perfect in my eyes, I am even more afraid because he's growing into a REAL baby. When you lose a baby at 9 weeks, I don't think it's quite the same as experiencing what could happen at 27 weeks. And the thought that I might carry little Squid (Real mame: Roman, "Squiddy" forever in my eyes, though!) to term and find that after a long 9.5 months and a crazy, painful and emotional birth, there is something that still might threaten his well being, well, it kills me.

Women who have to go through that, who have to watch their sweet babies fight for their tiny lives, those women are total heroes to me.

Here are three bloggers that, in my eyes, deserve Superwomen capes and the sweet babies that put Arnold's strength to shame:

 Kayla Aimee (who is ADORABLE) from My Life Is Only Slightly Neurotic has her sweet baby girl, Scarlette at 25 weeks. I found her blog a month or so ago through somebody that I follow on Twitter (can't remember who!) and I've been a daily reader ever since.

[Source]

Little Scarlette and her Momma, Miss K.A. are two tough chicks. When I was 25 weeks and convinced that Squid would be born any day, K.A.'s blog got me through. She was inspiring and Scarlette's fight kept hope in my heart in case anything were to happen.

[source]

K.A. is raising money for The March of Dimes on her blog and is a bit away from her goal of $1,860. She's got 25 more days to reach her goal and if you'd like to help her, click HERE.

Keep going, Little Scarlette! We're all rooting for you, darling girl!

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Robbie is half of the team that makes up a little blog called A Story of Two Moms.  When her partner, Trina, became pregnant with TRIPLETS(!) through I.V.F., they were in for a ride! Trina had terrible pregnancy sickness, but because she kicks ass, she delivered 3 amazing little boys at 34 weeks! The tiny gentlemen are: Dexter, Linus and Simon.

[Source]

Within Little Linus's first week of life, it was discovered that he had some heart problems and what was called critical Aortic Stenosis which means that his aortic valve no longer opens completely, so your heart must work much much harder to eject blood and get the required amount to and fro in his little body. (source)

[Source]

Two weeks ago little Linus went into surgery to have his mitral valve replaced by a mechanical one.  He's such a tough baby and contines to fight everyday.

Robbie has a Paypal donation button on her blog and asks that if you can't donate, you give blood. Donated blood has saved Linus many times so far in his short life  and even I can say that I've benefited from donated blood. (It's kind of gross to get a transfusion, but boy it helps those in need feel like a million bucks once they receive some fresh red stuff!)

Just keep swimmin', Linus! Your brothers need you to stay strong and eventually come home so that you can pick sides later on in life! Two against one is oh-so-much-fun (says the oldest of three children)! ;)

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Last but not least...

Kate from Getty Owl has a BEAUTIFUL baby girl who, at the age of 4 months, was diagnosed with SMA1. Spinal Muscular Atrophy is a genetic disease. Babies with SMA are born with very little muscle tone and develop weak muscles. They experience feeding and breathing problems as the weakness gets worse over time.  There is no cure or treatment for SMA. The lifespan  for sweet babes with SMA1 is seldom longer than 2 – 3 years.

Baby Getty is a rockstar! Her eyes are sky blue and her smile could beach a whale.

[source]

One of her many friends contacted me asked if I could share the following link with you guys:

The Damnwells are releasing a sweet lullaby album called  Sweet Water Child--Lullabies for Getty today with all of the benefits going towards The Getty Owl Foundation and finding a cure for SMA1. Everybody loves music. And everybody loves feeling the warm fuzzies that helping squishy babies brings. 

 

Now, if you're lucky enough to be one of those Mommas who is having a "normal" pregnancy or is blessed with one (or twelve!) healthy babies, jump up and down! Be thankful! Celebrate! Give the smooshiest hugs you can, because girl, you're lucky!  We're lucky! Most pregnancies and babies come to fruition perfect as peach pie, but it's really hard not to worry about the "what-ifs". Let these blogs give you hope and comfort just in-case, goodness forbid, anything happen.

GOTTA HAVE HOPE!

Sending mountains of love and good thoughts to the Mommas and babies above and I'm keeping my fingers crossed for you all, as well! Hoping you'll do the same for me and Mr. Squid! 

 

Love you guys,
Violet