Embracing My Lovely Lady Lumps*

I'm hippy.  

Not a hippie (the smell of patcholi makes me sick) but rather hippy.  

As in, I have hips. Not just hips but curves. Lots of them.  Yes, I also have extra pounds creating those curves but even if I lost 100 lbs, I would never be some stick thin supermodel.  It's not in my blood.  If you look at the women on both sides of my family, you see that even those who could classified as thin still rock big boobs, a small waist and big hips.  We are a breed of curvy ladies with bodies designed for birthin' babies.  I have several thousand cousins.  We breed frequently. 

Even as I continue to lose weight, I keep a realistic body image.  I've struggled with it for years, but I finally accept and grown to love the fact that nothing about me will ever be flat. At a healthy weight I will still have round corners and wide hips.  That's ok.  

As a teenager and young adult, I had issues with my curves, especially my hips.  But as a mother, I'm really starting to embrace them. 

It's those wide hips that allowed me to have a 10lb 4 oz baby naturally. I try to look at stomach pooch not as a result of too many Oreos but rather as a beautiful war wound from a happy pregnancy.  

Today I appreciated my hips as they helped me balance a fussy, dirty baby, 4 bags and an iced latte into the Target bathroom.  Max perched securely on one hip while I fumbled with the changing table.   After the changing I used my hips to close the table back up, open the bathroom door and push a cart that was blocking the exit. Now that I seem to constantly have my hands full, my hips are working overtime to help me get through thte day. 

While I still, and may always have body issues, motherhood has helped me embrace my body and see that it's truly amazing.  Especially those hips.

*Sorry for the terrible Black Eyed Peas inspired title.  That damn song kept running through my head as I wrote this.

Coffee, the exlir of life.

This wonderful machine,

 

which produces this wonderful cup of coffee,

has been my saving grace over the past few weeks.

I knew sleep would be limited when I became a parent, but I had NO IDEA how difficult it would be.  Sleep is my obsession these days and I've tried every hint, tip and technique out there to get Max to sleep more than 2.5 hours at a time during the night.  

Occasionally he will go down for a blissful 6.5 hours but sadly my body is now trained to wake up every two.  So when morning comes and Max's squeals drag me out of bed I fumble to my Keurig and in less than 2 minutes I have a fresh cup of coffee to help me feel human.  No boiling water and grinding of beans needed. Those steps are too complicated for my clumsy, exhausted self.  The french press sits silently in the corner, waiting for the day when I'm able to be a coffee snob again.  Until then, I blissfully sip my instantly brewed cup of joe aware it's ridiculous to have so much affection for a machine.

And now, obligatory cute Max picture.  Look who discovered his hands!