Loving the Dream to Life

Happy Valentine's Day!!

Today's guest post is from our fabulous Blogger of the Month, Sandi of Deva Coaching. I usually share  more to introduce, but I don't want to take away from her beautiful words.



February. The month of love.

At least that’s what we’ve been conditioned to think, and I’m good with that.

I love thinking about love. Last year, my husband wrote something he loved about me on heart shaped post-it notes for the entire month. He left these little love notes around our home for me to find.

I saved them all. I’m a softie like that.

I love love and I don’t apologize for it.

In her introduction, Kelly shared that I made her think and share her dreams. That’s my passion, it really is.

• I love hearing what people want in life, what’s important to them.

• I love helping them go after it.

• I love reminding them of their dreams when they forget.

Because they usually do.

You do, you know. You forget your dream, you forget why it’s important and you file it away in a someday-maybe part of your brain.

Then? It’s my work to remind you.

Some people though? They don’t forget and how they pursue their dreams is inspiring. My BFF is like that.

I can still picture us at the cafe a few years ago. She was humouring me by working through a coaching exercise together. It was a thought provoking exercise on values.

I think values are like your fingerprints or DNA, so knowing what they are and living your life true to them makes a difference. For example, my core values include curiousity, integrity, fun, love, creativity and freedom.

Friends would say those are pretty accurate words describing who I am. Life works when I honour my values. I am 100% sure of that.

So there we were at the cafe, working through the values exercise and my BFF is suddenly moved to tears.

     Me: “What’s wrong?”

     BFF: “I think I want to be a mother.”

     Me: “Are you sure?” (not my finest coaching question, but I was flabbergasted!)

     BFF: “Yes, really, really sure. And I’m scared.”

The fear was palpable, but so was her sudden clarity.

It wasn’t an easy road for her to become a mother. She’d had cancer at 30, leaving her unable to bear children. Her partner would not commit to either marriage or a child. Her ovaries stopped working. Her dream could have easily gone the way of many dreams, disappearing into the ethers.

And then one day she woke up.

She ended her relationship, unwilling to live with the uncertainty and lack of commitment any longer. She began taking the necessary steps. Each of those steps was shaped by her values. When things got tough, she remembered how much she wanted to share her love with a child.

Her dream of being a mother seemed impossible at times. But she loved that dream to fruition. She made difficult choices. She invested her time, energy and money.

And it was worth it.

The adoption has been finalized, and she’s coming home with a baby. Bringing him home to a new, loving partner, to a family and circle of friends already in love with this child.

Your dream?

Is worth it too.



During this month of love, how can you love your dream just a bit more into reality?

 
Thank you Sandi for such a lovely post! So happy for your BFF!!
 
Please be sure to share your comment love today with Sandi!
 
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Visions of 2011 and New Beginnings

Today's guest post is from our Blogger of the Month, Laurie of Taking the Long Way. I do hope you have stopped over to her blog. It really is a fantastic place and I know you will enjoy her photography as much as the words that enhance the story behind the image. Read her post below, and you will see what I mean! She is one heck of a woman and I am so honored that she was here for December!

Five days. Count 'em. There are five days left in 2010. I'm writing this as I fly against the sun's grain to the east coast. The clouds are white, like a blank slate. The horizon is pink and the sky is bluer than I've seen in months (hailing from Portland, Oregon will do that).

I realized as I took off this morning in the dead of night that I haven't had a moment to reflect on the past year or more importantly set a vision for 2011. My guess is you haven't either. But there's time - five days if you want to hit the ground running and more if you want to ease into your year's journey.

Last year at this time Kelly and I had both received rather disappointing news. We would not be traveling to Vancouver, British Columbia to blog from the winter Olympic games. I was crushed, we both were, but at the same time the moment felt ripe with possibility. The possibility that comes from doors opening and new years beginning. Pretty powerful stuff if you ask me.

I set some goals in that heady moment - a map for my year. I didn't follow the road exactly. (what fun would that be?) But the process and the vision that resulted made all the difference. So I plan to spend the next several days, as I celebrate the old year and ring in the new one, harnessing the power that new beginnings can offer. 2011 is going to be one beauty of a year - filled with love, adventure, grace and blessings galore.

As I set a vision for 2011 I know I owe a great deal to the community of writers and creators I've met in the blogosphere. Kelly is at the top of that list and she's joined by Susannah Conway, Danielle LaPorte, and the reverb2010 project - whose process of living life to the fullest is a continual inspiration and one I drink up at this time of year. So thank you Kelly and cheers to 2011!
 
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Guest Post: Lessons Going in Circles

Good morning! Wanted to let you now that I am a guest over at Tough Cookie Mommy today! I'm so excited!

I wrote a piece on being a speedskating mama!! Go check it out and leave me a comment to say hi!

I would love it if you did.

Tomorrow will be my Blog of Christmas Future post. Can't wait to share with you all the big things that are going to happen with Mom Got Blog! :)

Bitter Sweet Holidays

Today's Guest Blogger is Maria, author of the blog Tough Cookie Mommy. A native New Yorker who shares her stories, reflections, triumphs and so much more. Stop by her blog to gain some insight into who she is and maybe, make you reflect upon who you are.  You might be a tougher cookie than you think...


BITTER SWEET HOLIDAYS

The holidays have a wonderful way of bringing out the best and the worst in people. More often than not, we hear holiday stories where everyone had an amazing time as much as we hear stories of family gatherings gone wrong. It is a unique time of the year where everyone's emotions are running high and a lot of stress and preparation goes into getting ready for a few days of festivities. As a result of this, there are many things that we all love about the holidays and, unfortunately, there are also many things that we all dread about the holidays. I guess you can't have a complete holiday season without experiencing both. Being that I happen to be somewhat of an expert on the "good, bad, and the ugly" of the holiday season, I thought I would enlighten you with a list of the 5 best things about the holidays and the 5 most dreaded things about the holidays:

5 Things That We All Love About The Holidays:

1) Buying presents for all our loved ones.

2) The looks on children's faces as they open their presents.

3) Eating all of the wonderful food that we prepare around the holidays.

4) Spending time with those who matter the most to us.

5) Singing along to holiday music.


5 Things We All Dread About The Holidays:

1) Seeing those family members that we work so hard all year long to avoid seeing.

2) Looking at our bank accounts after the holidays.

3) The morning after New Year's Eve...

4) Going crazy trying to buy that "must have" toy for your child that is sold out everywhere.

5) Having to clean up after all of your guests go home.

*HONORABLE MENTION* Your Mother In Law!

Luckily for most of us, the holidays are such a magical time that we very often think that the good experiences outweigh the bad ones. It is really important that you don't lose sight of the things that truly matter during the holidays such as family, friends, and unity. This is the time of the year where we slow down from our daily grind and focus on our loved ones and what they mean to us in our lives. This year, I am especially grateful for my two sons and the fact that they are healthy and happy. At the end of the day, that is what celebrating the holidays is really about, celebrating life and all of its many blessings. I would like to take this opportunity to wish you and your family a very healthy and happy holiday season and New Year.

November Series: Thankful Thursday

Today is our final installment of our guest post series. I am so thankful to have had such wonderful contributors this month! What great posts they shared with us!!

I hope you have a wonderful holiday today with friends and family, eat lots of turkey (or whatever feast graces your table) and be sure to laugh and share stories!

Our guest post today is by Mary Biever author of Real Life in River City Blog is a corporate computer trainer, blogger, and speaker. She writes a lovely blog about her daily life in Evansville, IN.



I am thankful for…


A dead watch battery that reminded me of the value of unplugged, stopped time.

The 1st day of our family’s vacation in the Smokies last month, my watch battery died. In addition, our cabin was so remote we had neither Internet nor cell phone access. Richard, my husband, wanted our family to have an unplugged break.

Most of the time, I liked it. Except when our kids raced ahead of us on a trail and were out of contact for two hours when we had no phone access. Or when we took the mountain shortcut on the unimproved road that beat any theme park roller coaster. How I wanted my cell phone access! Everything ended well in both adventures, even with no bars on my phone.

When I couldn’t check my phone, I heard the wind rustling in the trees and the crunch of the leaves as we walked trails. We could savor the stars in the midnight sky from the hot tub on our cabin deck. Whether we picnicked by a rushing creek or cooked out at the cabin, for a few days, we were just the little family in the little house in the big woods.

I like stopping time. My babies are now teens in high school – 1 a junior and the other a freshman. In 3 years, both of my kids will be in college. Now I understand why grandparents are so indulgent with young grandchildren. They know how quickly those years pass. I can’t make back the younger years of their childhood when I got so busy meeting schedules that I sometimes left out downtime to enjoy each other. What I can do is savor the time we have right here, right now.

We’ll be home this Thanksgiving instead of in a mountain cabin. Nevertheless, I hope we can take off our watches, unplug ourselves, and savor time just being who we are. Just for today, I hope time will stand still so we can enjoy our dinner, hear the crunch of the leaves rustling in our own backyard, and maybe play a board game.

Just to help me along, I suspect my husband or kids will kidnap my phone and my laptop and hold it hostage for the day! If they do, I wonder what ransom they will demand?

How will you stop time and seize the moment this Thanksgiving?

November Series: Thankful Thursday

It's Thursday! Time for another Thankful Thursday guest post!

Today's guest post is by Marie of 1000 Reasons I'm a Crap Mom, who shares her cheeky wit about being a single mom and raising her precious little bit of joy. She tries to weed through all the millions of do's and don'ts of "tips for moms" that clutter the inbox and often wonders, between mom's feedback, the conflicting advice bombarded at her, and her own insecurities, if the blog should be called 2000 reasons. Or 5000!

I am Thankful For A Book About Kangaroos

Thanksgiving approaches, and Americans around the world are thinking about what they are thankful for this year. I am neither American nor living in the US (yet!) but I am thankful for the opportunity to be a guest on Kelly’s blog and I am also very, very thankful for a book about kangaroos.

Kangaroos?

Kangaroos!

My son C has relatives in Australia, and they recently sent a large parcel full of presents for his first birthday. Everything was lovely: the cute t-shirts with smiling crocodiles on VW buses, the koala backpack that is just too cute for words, the beautiful story books for reading at bedtime.

I had no way of imagining that “Mummy’s little bush babies” would make such a difference in our lives.

C is the best and bravest baby who ever was, but he is prone to night terrors. I do not wish those upon anyone, not even the guy who invented high heels. The night terrors are terrors indeed: in the middle of the night, for no reason I can discern, C suddenly starts screeching as if his limbs were being torn off. He is inconsolable, and anything I do to try to comfort him only makes things worse: if I hold him he cries harder, if I back off he cries harder, if I try to move him to a safe position he cries harder, if he as much as touches the headboard with his head he cries harder. He slaps me off if I try to hug or pat him, violently rejects any offer of a bottle, and generally seems to suffer a LOT until suddenly a switch goes off and he crashes back into sleep.

During this whole ordeal (which has taken as long as an hour sometimes) C’s eyes are either shut or open but vacant. And by the end of it, my eyes are usually full of tears.

It is brutal. Brutal.

(And now everything will make sense!)

About a week ago C got such a bad case of the terrors that I ended up conceding defeat and accepting our amazing babysitter Adi’s help after an hour of battle. His screams had become so loud he actually woke her up. At 4 am.

She was as much at sea as I was: singing didn’t help, cuddling was not going to happen, and the bottle was slapped off as if it were cyanide. I must admit I am such a sewer rat  that I was secretly somewhat pleased about Adi’s lack of success. The love triangle between mom, baby and sitter is a complicated one.

At her wit’s end, Adi started randomly showing things to C, hoping to distract him: “Look, sweetheart! Your ball!” More wailing. “Here’s your truck, do you want your truck?” Louder wailing. “What about your empty bottle! You love your empty bottle!” The bottle flew across the room. “Oh look! Your kangaroo book!”

The crying stopped.

Adi and I held our breath.

C stretched a tentative hand towards the book, turned a page, and smiled. He turned another page, looked up from the book, and smiled at us through the tears and the snot and the drool. My boy was back!

(The hostages were free! The bomb had been defused! The plane had landed safely! The world was safe! This must be what Bruce Willis feels like all the time.)

This midnight rescue would be enough to make me have that kangaroo book gold-plated and encrusted with diamonds, but there is more: ever since that night, if C’s terrors get intractable I show him the book and read it to him. And it helps him calm down every time.

Last year, I was grateful for my perfect baby boy, the beauteous C, who is to this day the best and bravest baby who ever was.

This year, I am infinitely thankful for a kangaroo book.

Now I just need help deciding – should I have the book dipped in white or yellow gold?

November Series: Thankful Thursday

It's Thankful Thursday, a month-long guest post series that will be shared on Mom Got Blog every Thursday!

Today's guest post is from the lovely and beautiful Sandi who authors Deva Coaching where she is always "asking the right questions at the right time". Be sure to ask her questions on her blog or connect on twitter @devacoach.


Giving Thanks


Photo credit: Mark Faviell

I’ve often wondered why we Canadians celebrate Thanksgiving in October rather than November like our American neighbours (yes, the ‘u’ belongs there, I’m Canadian!) In preparing to write this post, I thought I’d finally solve that mystery – although I’ve gotta say it’s not nearly as interesting or mysterious as I’d imagined!

We’re north. We harvest earlier. We celebrate earlier.

That’s it?

Yes indeed, and rather unsatisfactorily simple. I was hoping for a bit of historical intrigue, but no. Not today.

Today is about giving thanks.

Today I’m feeling especially thankful for the amazing women I know; some IRL (in real life) and some online. They are the kind of women, that if we all lived in the same city, I’d never get anything done because I’d want to be hanging out with them all the time! That kind of awesomeness that is like really good chocolate or fresh baked bread...you know you should stop after two pieces, but you can’t help wanting more.

These are the gals I usually want more of (I’m using their Twitter handles as that’s how I connected with many of them!). They are the ones who inspire me, make me laugh out loud and make me long to meet in person. In my mind I’ve already started planning a big meet-up/party where we dress up, drink martinis and chat live for hours!

For each of them, I give thanks and share a favourite post from their blogs:

@KPugs – for your dream and commitment to making a difference for the blogging community, along with nourishing home and family

@Nirvana_Mamma – for your initiative and ability to inspire so many during the summer 31 day blogging challenge and for having the courage to follow your bliss

@CrayonWrangler – for your wit & humour, gorgeous talent and ability to dance between mother, entrepreneur and sometimes philosopher

@Mofthesea – for oozing love for C in spite of oh so many reasons you challenge us to call you a crap mom; we and C are blessed

@JaneofAustralia – for living fully, persisting in the face of life’s challenges, beautifully sharing your creativity in its many forms

@ItsLeisa – for lighting the fire under my butt and continually inviting me to play, but mostly inspiring us all with your words

@KarenParitee – for wrasslin’ with those damn diet monkeys on our behalf, freeing us from their tyranny, taking ‘crushing it’ to a whole new level

@FrAmericanDream – for sharing your transatlantic journey so openly and in a way that touches the adventurer in all of us – merci!

@PrettyAllTrue – for magically weaving tapestries from the memories of life, some days inducing tears and other days? SNORT!

@thesyddiegrl – for bouncing back with humour and courage that continually makes me smile with delight

@AnneMelnyk – for your invitation to a Juicy Life; your friendship and partnership has made this a most memorable year

@andreaiolson – for your presence, a way of being that lures me back time and again, and for your delightful money experiment

Thank you.

Two small words that don’t quite cover the depth of appreciation I have for these women and all that they offer. A feast for the senses to fill you up like the best Thanksgiving dinners do.

November Series: Thankful Thursday

For the month of November, Mom Got Blog will be sharing a series of guest posts with you every Thursday called "Thankful Thursday"!

Today we welcome Jane of Australia from Life @ Number 8( http://www.janezworld.com/blog.) where she 'blogs holistically'. Her glass is always considered half-full, which shines through in her writing. 


 Last Tuesday I went on a movie binge with my dear friend Lee. We had decided upon just 2 movies this time. Over the years, I occasionally joined both Lee, and her late husband for triple-movie binges.We’d escape from a hot summer’s day into the world of cinema.

This half- price Tuesday saw us arrive with sandwiches, water bottles and nibbles.

Later, after the 1st movie ended, during the 20minute break we went for a walk.
I continued on a little further alone and purchased a crunchy crisp royal-gala apple. I bought my friend a white chocolate cup cake.

The films, while pleasant, charming and delightful were a little slow.

Mid afternoon we came out into beautiful Brisbane sunshine. As we walked towards our cars, we made arrangements for this to be a monthly event. I made a comment about how Lee’s husband would have loved the day.

A quick hug and I set out across the road, as I did I felt a sudden lightness of heart.
I opened my car door and slid in.
A wave of happiness washed over me. ‘I love life’ I thought.

Yes. I do.

I’m alive, feeling good, grown up, able to drive, with my own car, and just had a fun day with a dear friend.
As I drove home, I took a different route, because I wanted to. I drove over the newish
GoBetween Bridge, for the first time ever.


GoBetween Bridge


The toll tag beeped.

I laughed as I had forgotten it was there on the windscreen

I thought how often are we happy, and fail to see it?


I’m thankful for the feeling and for recognizing it.

Thoughts Of A Social Media Mom

Today's fabulous guest post is by The Crayon Wrangler, who has been our September Blogger of the Month. I hope you have had a chance to visit her blog to enjoy her flare for words and most recently her eye for the fun and beautiful. She has just opened her own photography studio and the photos are just wonderful. Please join me in thanking Alycia for sharing her site with us this past month! 


6am
Personal Action: Woken up by the baby

Social Media Reaction: Tweet about how early it is. "Follow" Folgers on Twitter. Search Facebook for a Fan Page of moms addicted to caffeine.

7am
Personal Action: Wake up other children and start breakfast

Social Media Reaction: Search back of cereal box for a web address. Start a discussion in a forum about how you fed your kids a cold pop tart so other moms will chime in and make you feel better about your choice.

8am
Personal Action: Flip on some educational programming for the kids

Social Media Reaction: You are now in a full fledged battle about nutritious breakfast ideas within the previous mentioned forum.

9am
Personal Action: Hurriedly throw some clothes to make it to the grocery store before first nap.

Social Media Reaction: Tweet about the mean breakfast food women, take a Twitpic of your pathetic yoga pants in the store, take another Twitpic of your temper tantrum 2yo and receive tons of sympathetic tweets from other moms who have "been there, done that"

11am
Personal Action: Put up groceries and feed children lunch making sure it would be nutritious enough for the mean mommy forum.

Social Media Reaction: Get caught up in reading 18 blogs with healthy meal recipes and somehow one about raising chickens and farming crafts.

12pm
Personal Action: Put children down for nap

Social Media Reaction: Write a long blog post about how some moms are judgmental and how we should bond as women over the fact that we want what is best for our children, rather than fight about breakfast food. Check comments every 3 minutes to see if someone blasts you. Tweet with your friends about your post.

2pm
Personal Action: Wake kids up, snack time and out to the park

Social Media Reaction: Wonder about snack nutrition (this woman really got under your skin) twitpics for the next hour of your kids blurring on the swings and blurring down the slide.

4pm
Personal Action: Realize hubby will be home in one hour.

Social Media Reaction: Tweet about how you will be gone because you got nothing done.

4:05pm-8pm
Personal Action: Whirlwind of cleaning, cooking, eating, bath times, brushing teeth and bedtime stories

Social Media Reaction: Brainstorm about 40 good blog posts. Tell husband all about mean breakfast nutrition lady (Gals...don't do this one...he really doesn't care!)

8pm-9pm
Personal Action: Spend time with hubby and tell him all about what was going on in the Twitter universe. Shockingly he actually remembers these people by their screen names.

Social Media Reaction: None - it's hubby time and he will take away your phone if you tweet one. more. dang. time. when. he. is. talking. to. you.

9:30pm
Personal Action: Sit down to write one of those killer blog posts from earlier

Social Media Reaction: Blank on posts. Go back to blog about raising chickens and read until you get sleepy. Tweet that you are going to bed. Wait up another 30 minutes to see if anyone is going to tell you goodnight.

Weekend Still on My Mind & Scary Mommy

I just spent the weekend in one of my all time favorite cities....Chicago!!

If I ever won the lottery, I would so buy a little place downtown. I love the vibe of this place....

I am still recovering from this trip, which my husband and I took with some friends. We toured, walked, ATE, shopped...lots of fun.

By the last evening, we could equate our trip to "Gilligan's Island" and could match each character with someone we met. It's true! I will catch you up with a few posts next week which will all be dedicated to the Windy City.

For now, I am trying to catch my breath with being away and getting back into the swing of work and school schedules.

I did want to tell you about something exciting though....

I will be guest posting on another blog tomorrow!! I cannot wait! The blog is one of my favorites and I am so honored that my post was accepted! Be sure to check out Scary Mommy tomorrow! That's right! I am on Scary Mommy! Woo-hoo!

Guest Post::Parenting You Should Never Lose Your Humor

I am so excited to have our first Guest Post! And who better to kick this off than our Blogger of the Month, The Crayon Wrangler! Have you had a chance to visit yet? Getting to our Blogger of the Month is easy! Click the link on the sidebar, or follow the link through the tab above and prepare for some fantastic writing.

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Parenting is one of the hardest things you will ever do. It requires an insane amount of forward thinking, being fast on your feet and even faster with your responses. It can easily bring the strongest adult to their knees either in exhaustion or prayer. One should never look at a parent and believe that they have an easy life. Likewise, never tell a parent that their job is an easy one. You will get eaten for dinner with a nice red wine. 

I get asked a lot how I am able to look at parenting with so much humor. Don't put me on a pedestal just yet; there are many days I am hiding under my bed armed with a box of chocolate and murmuring incoherently about my spawn when my husband is able to find me and pull me out. The majority of the time, I try to just laugh about it. I am able to do this because:

If I don't laugh about it, I will cryI look at it as a home movie and ask, "If I was watching this 20 years from now; would I laugh?"Laughing about life lessons teaches my kids to laugh and builds self esteem. 

Let's face it, many times in parenting when you walk into a kitchen with cereal spilled on the floor, trying to get a pea out of a child's nose or the infant just painted the crib with a certain body function; you just want to cry. I believe the response to cry is because you are living in the moment. What if you don't live in the moment? What would your outlook be on those scenarios? If you look at that moment with the forward thought of it being someone else's kid or you are watching a home movie about it 20 years from now; you would be laughing. Why wait 20 years to laugh about it?

Let's look at the home movie of the cereal spilled all over the floor. You see the entire contents of the Cheerio box coating the floor. You are amazed at the fact that such a small box can actually cover 40 square feet with enough grain and wheat O's to make valleys and peaks. It the middle of all this is a child with an expression mixed with pride because they just fed themselves and fear over what your response will be. Instead of immediately grabbing the vacuum, you have other options. Grab some deep belly laughs and a camera. Praise your child for trying to feed themselves. You have just taught your child that while mistakes happen, the intention of what they were doing was correct. They have seen their mistake and learned that its OK to laugh at it and move on.

You have increased their self esteem and empowered them to continue to try to learn the correct ways of doing things, but if they make a mess of things you will be there to help willingly and not criticize. Later in life this will be crucial, because you want your children to come to you with the really big mistakes to ask advice and receive help. The lesson they learn from you blowing your top over spilled cereal is one of fear of messing up and fear of your correction.

Don't get me wrong and send me hate mail; there are times that a serious situation warrants a serious response. Not everything in life can laughed off, but with our children...don't sweat the small stuff and understand that every situation can be a learning lesson for them. This parenting thing is hard; no doubt about it. If you want to see some lessons that parents have learned check out some of these lessons from myself and other parents. http://coloringoutsidetheline.blogspot.com/search/label/lessons%20learned  If you visited that link, I am assured you are laughing. Let's keep that laughter in our parenting, know that you are not alone in the daily trials with your kids and never wait 20 years to laugh.