Mckenna Giggles

This is an older video, but I figure that it never hurts to share baby giggles :)

Thankful Thursday: Routine & Mother's Day (early)

It's thankful Thursday time! We all have so much to be thankful for and we love to take this opportunity just to write down each and everything that comes to mind. Please take this time to share with us what you're thankful for as well. If you have a blog expressing your thankfulness, please share the link! Without further ado, here's what we're thankful for:

Mandi's List:

I'm thankful for nursing bras. Yup, I went there. This isn't really as a result of anything that happened in the last week. But for a momma who has nursed 6 months straight and plans to nurse through Mckenna's first year, I appreciate these fine inventions. *Click*, boob out, feed, *Click*, boob hidden. Beautiful.

I'm thankful for sippy cups. They are not only a great way to have kids be able to drink without spilling all over, but they provide A TON of entertainment for kids and adults alike. Mckenna is occupied as long as the cup is in hand, and watching her use it provides laughs for any adult nearby....yes, we do laugh AT her from time to time...only in the most loving of ways of course.

I'm thankful for routine. Everyone in the Sharpe household functions better with a routine. And I LOVE it!

Ronnie's List:

I'm thankful for celebrating Mother's Day a bit early. We won't be able to celebrate with my mom when Mother's Day rolls around this year, so we were proactive and celebrated it today with her! We let her tell us what kind of food she was feeling (Chinese) and then picked a place with a little help from Yelp! The food was good, but the company was even better. Thank you for everything that you are mom - I wouldn't be alive without you!

I'm thankful that plants can be brought back from the "dead". The other morning I walked out to find all of my spaghetti and acorn squash clinging to life. It seemed to happen overnight and came out of nowhere. It's hard to describe what the leaves looked like, but let's just say that I have never seen non-dead leaves more droopy. I thought for sure that some type of bug got to them or they were just a victim of the Arizona sun. I gave them a very generous soak, and wouldn't you know it, 3 hours later, they looked brand new. I still marvel at how it all works!

I'm thankful for peeps willing to be guest bloggers. Some of the best stories on this blog are from guests whom I have approached or have approached me in order to share their story. If you missed last Saturday by the way, you should definitely go back and read it, AMAZING. But anyway, this blog would be nothing without the community involvement it gets and for that, I am very thankful!!

So, what are you thankful for today?

Because We Can

Last week, I was talking to a cyster in the community and she was sharing with me some of the struggles she had been encountering over the past few months. It just seemed that at every moment she started to turn the corner, she would get hit with another cold, or another flu, or another exacerbation. She was of course frustrated, but also optimistic. In the previous week she was battling some sort of head cold and even though it was tough, she chose to run every day. 


It wasn't because she felt like the king of the world, but it was because she could. 


She realized that she doesn't run after she becomes healthy, but she's going to run to become healthy. The last thing she wanted was for whatever was going on in her head, to make it down to her lungs. She knew that she couldn't completely control what happens with whatever sickness was going on, but she could control whether or not she was active. 


She told me that she has spent so much time on her vest that it's almost awkward. She hadn't missed a treatment, and in fact, done extra ones. She'd been focusing on getting rest when she could get rest. She was determined to do everything by the book.


Was it easy? Nope. Was it what she wanted to do? Nope. Does she have a burning desire to put her health first? Nope.


But that's the thing, there aren't many of us that could answer "yes" to any of those questions. I know I certainly couldn't. There are times when we must do something for one simple reason - Because we can.


After our phone call, I was inspired. I'm feeling pretty good at the moment, yet I find myself just going through the "exercise motions" at times. Yeah, just exercising is a good thing for me, but is it the best thing? Nope, not unless I'm challenging myself each and everyday. Going through the motions isn't going to produce the results that I am looking for. Going through the motions isn't going to increase my lung function. Going through the motions isn't going to increase my life function.


Now, for the past several weeks, I've been running the 2.1 mile loop 4 to 5 days a week. It's challenging, but it's also becoming easier and easier. Each time I completed the loop, I knew I could go further, but why, 2.1 is far enough. It's not like I enjoy running!


After talking with my friend, I got the answer to my question - Because I can.


So I decided to go for it. I went to the gym, got on the treadmill and just started to run. I didn't worry about time, I didn't worry about distance and I didn't worry about how I felt. I just ran because I could. I just ran further, because right now, she can't, but she does. 3.85 miles later I had run further than I had in about year. Not because I wanted to, but because I was capable. I ran because she ran.


She has every reason to stay at home, sit on the couch and do nothing. She has that ever so accepted excuse of "I don't feel good", yet she still pushes. 


If she can push, I can push. If I can push, you can push.


So what aren't YOU doing? What can you do today that someone else can't? What are you stopping short because it's uncomfortable? What can you do today for your health without needing a reason?


Some of us wait around until we get an answer, or until everything feels "just right", when in actuality we should be pushing forward for one reason - Because we can.

Sour Sauce?

Apparently applesauce is sour? She's a good sport, though. She keeps coming back for more.