When this first photo was taken my daughter was three years old and just started having status epilepticus seizures and I was STRESSED out. And skinny. I felt sick to my stomach a lot of the time—great for my jeans, but not much good for anything else.
Five years later, we’ve settled into our lives. There are still stressful moments, but as you can clearly see by my shapely rump, I’m not letting it get to me. “A fourth slice of pizza? Why yes, I think I will.”
This post isn’t a commentary on weight gain or the fact that my hair hasn’t changed much in half a decade. No, it’s more about…
~ leaning on friends and family
~ understanding it’s easier to focus on the negative than to find the positive, but that the latter is so much better
~ choosing to laugh, because sometimes it really is a choice
~ being gentle with yourself (I’m still working on that)
~ realizing we can’t control everything (working on that one too!)
~ spending meaningful time with family because man, kids grow up fast don’t they??
~ learning that stress can be managed with a little work and not all stress is necessarily bad
~ living now and not looking too far ahead
~ indulging…big booties be dammed
~ teaching our kids that every day is worth celebrating
~ accepting that none of us is perfect
It’s also about being happy with where we are and who we are in this moment.
Avery was just a little girl in my arms and now in the blink of an eye, she’s a beautiful, kind, hilarious, thoughtful individual. I can’t believe how much she’s grown.
We are so thankful for her and for her big brother. Life is good.
That said, can we just go back to me for a moment? Where the heck did my waist go? And.. wait, I’m just going to zip it. I don’t want to negate everything positive I’ve said here.
See what I mean about the whole “being gentle with yourself” thing?
And with that, I’m off to walk the dogs to burn off last night’s pizza…..
