The 12 Days After Christmas ~ Day 6 ~ New Year's Eve

I am not sure if it is just me but did today sneak up on you?  It didn't even sink in when hubby didn't get home until 2 hours after his initial off time.  In fact, I had moments today when I forgot simple things like hours of stores being affected by this "momentous occasion." I think at one point I tried to tell Joy what tomorrow was and she was more concerned about how much closer we were to her next field trip... nice, kid!  Just like your mama ;-) At least that meant I got to take it easier from lunch on today for the most part.  I sure felt like I have needed it.  And it also helped, that hubby made cookies and gave me yummy pizza.  But no, for the most part, today was just another day in this household.  Hubby went to work, stayed a little longer.  The kids and I ran a few errands.  They went to bed fairly close to their normal bedtime.  And tomorrow David s tarts 4 days of usual back-to-back shifts.  Oi!

But as little of an occasion my family may see today (yay us), I am looking forward in hopes to a year of LIVing, of Life! I am looking forward to my new challenge group starting on Monday, the 5th (see my Facebook page).  I am looking forward to welcoming our baby girl into the family this spring!  I am looking forward to weddings, a graduation, a retreat and some other events.  I am looking forward to kicking off some great traditions with my own little family and reaching a comfortable level of stability and flexibility.  What are you looking for?  Perhaps that is all that is on my mind at the moment as a little girl does the wave in my tummy :-p  1 hour until midnight here...

God Bless you all.  See you in 2015!  
As always,
Melissa

The 12 Days After Christmas ~ Day 5 ~ Mommy's Expectations

Another reminder in "mommyhood" ~ Just because you did it for them does not mean they will necessarily understand or appreciate it... However,  if that is why you became a parent... :-/

Drove to Livermore to run a helpful errand or two and quickly discovered with a friend a last minute playdate could be arranged but not until later in the afternoon. So this mommy played "surprise" & tried to make lunch and the trips in between fun and enjoyable,  despite the errands. While my 6 year old seemed to grasp this concept,  my soon-to-be 3 year old could care less.

So what ensued started out reasonable but soon wore this mommy out and brought me to the edge of my own personal sanity. A now broken Christmas train decoration combined with then missing but later found socks of Micah's and a prescription for me made me seriously reconsider this lovely playdate of ours. But as much as I wanted to "teach them a lesson, " my softie, Christmas break heart took over. A closed coffee shop later, mommy and the kiddos got a 45 minute play date at the windy park. (I don't think Micah even noticed the wind though.  Haha)

We ended up with errands once we made it back home but I was blessed with some help from the hubby. I am now sitting here in bed realizing I made it to 25 weeks with this little princess and tomorrow is a new day and I have no plans to go anywhere... at all! Looks like 14 more weeks max at this point!

As always,
Melis

P.S. When your doc recommends a maternity support belt that your hubby graciously buys you the same day and you immediately notice a positive change from, do not... I repeat do not forget to put it on in the morning before you leave the house!! Oi... preggo brain...

The 12 Days After Christmas ~ Day 4 ~ Hubby Blessed & Blissed!!

It isn't every day my hubby gets an actual day off from work. In fact, just because it is a new week does not guarantee that he will have one at all. (Ask our life since August! )  However,  being that as it may, one thing I can say for certain is that the man I married loves me very much and quite often spends part or all of a day he actually has off to do what I like (and he would prefer not to). And by that very fact, I truly am blessed.

Last night,  after spending most of the week with family,  the kids and I stumbled in exhausted and I clearly wanted to sleep. Hubby was finishing his 6th shift since Friday morning.  (I knew this because we were fortunate to see him for his brief dinner break when we arrived back home.)  Even though our time with family has been a quite fun or relaxing experience (kids one - other me - you guess), I personally was dealing with more discomfort than my average day (which I think is saying a lot). I had done something to my upper back which was in turn hurting my chest and then as I arrived home my lower back pain started kicking in.

Tylenol to the rescue?  Well, it was as much as it could be but soon enough hubby arrived home to a startled wife who slept maybe 10 minutes. I woke up 2-3 more times like this before midnight.  And yet, at my plea this morning,  my hubby agreed to follow me to the mall with the kiddos this morning on his day off... where I did not use my gift card and I started hurting again and requested he take me to my appt and so on and so on...

And I guess to some this might seem like no big deal. But the wait for my doctor's appointment was excessive with he and Micah attempting to sleep in the car and Joy likely bored for a good chunk of it. And after a productive appointment?  He then took my doctor's advice and took me to get a maternity support belt and have a pleasant evening yet a little further from home.

And I don't know why I feel the need to document this all other then to tell you all I feel... so... blessed!  I am just shy of 25 weeks pregnant and this pregnancy has been no stinkin' joke I tell you, emotionally or physically.  He has not just been a trooper but a helper but really more like a self-sacrificing man who rarely tells you when he has needs to begin with. 

Sometimes I wish others saw some of this side of him, the side that shows his deep love for his wife and kiddos no matter what it takes... the one who wants to give up some days but always presses on... the one who continually looks back to the Lord,  even somewhat frustratingly some days and says "ok"... the one who lifts me up in prayer when I am tired or having a hard day... This man is amazing and I am so proud to be his wife and best friend!

I am still amazed that he is that guy I struck up a "random" friendship with some 17.5 year ago, who I celebrated being with 9 years in Thanksgiving and have been married to almost 7.5 of that... through thick and thin,  no matter what happened. This man is NOT a saint but he is definitely My Best Friend!

As always,
Melis

The 12 Days After Christmas ~ Day 3

I was planning on a description of the last 24 hours of our visit with family in this post but I am not feeling 100%, not even 70% so I am going to make this a brief one...

I posted a little bit on my 1st challenge group of the year on my Facebook page.  I am pretty excited about getting back into it and helping some of you start a "New Year, New You" ~ I truly hope you will consider joining me.  It is a mere 3 weeks and will go by so quickly and it is all about encouragement and getting reinspired in a new year.  The trip was a fairly good one and we made our way home this afternoon, stopping to eat dinner with Hubby on his break this evening.  Micah walked in and promptly got into several boxes & baskets while I brought up the bare necessities from the car.  Abby jumped all over us to welcome us home.  Since both kiddos napped today, they're both more awake than I would like but are in the process of going to sleep for the night.  I plan to join them shortly in that land ;-)

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and I'll be checking in again tomorrow with some more details (I hope) on things to come.  God bless you all!

As always,
Melissa

12 Days After Christmas ~ Day 2... Time for a NEW Year!

Okay so it is December 27th today, not quite January 1st!  However, as many of you know each year David & I select a word for the year for our family.  (This will be #3!)  And... we have already selected one.  Well, I actually yelled it out over a week ago and further discussed it with David prior to Christmas and he agreed... I think ;-)  I thought about waiting to tell you all about it until December 31st or January 1st... but seeing as my level of patience is well, not the best... I have decided to share it with you all here on my blog, on the 2nd day AFTER Christmas!  Many of you may wonder what I am referring to.  A few years back, I heard someone on the radio saying that instead of a list of resolutions each year, they focused on ONE word to focus on the for their family.  In 2013, we focused on FAITH.  This was an especially hard one but necessary one as we lost 2 babies and I was hospitalized with a pulmonary embolism this year.  Some people say you get what you ask for.  I say you trust God and get what you get ;-)  God knew what our year would look like long before all of that went down.  As a result of the hardships, we found out more about my health and how to deal with it and how to approach future pregnancies.  I know we also learned a lot about our wonderfully FAITHful God!

In 2014, we hemmed back and forth and settled on CONTENTMENT for the year.  I do not think we were quite 100% at this point.  We were looking at where we had come from and knew we still had to wait for a clearance on my lungs and what that might mean for my health and our family down the road.  We were talking more about normal, everyday things and not just trying to survive.  We did not want to get complacent but we did not want to take anything for granted either. God had brought us through some truly hard, life-altering circumstances and we certainly could not and would not try to erase them.  I will admit this one has been quite the struggle in comparison.  Go figure, right?!  It seems when life circumstances are not so drastic, we often try to take things into our own hands more than we should.  God and I did a lot of talking this year about frustrations and my own struggles to trust Him and be content where He had us.  And frankly,  I do not know if I came out a better person for all of the arguing I actually did.  Yep, arguing.  As I said, this one was quite the struggle for me in the later months of the year...

This brings me to our word of 2015 which I think fits perfectly for where we are and where we WANT to be!  We are Striving.  We are Moving Forward.  We want to Succeed and see things Change for the Better...  We.. Want... To...

For us this means NO MORE Complaining about not being able to do things, about David's bosses not letting him off work to be with us, about not making enough money, or "feeling" happy enough.  It is not dependent on our neighbors to change their ways (whether we agree with them or not, which we most certainly do not).  It is not dependent on whether we make others happy all the time.  It is not our job to make everyone else in our lives happy all of the time either!  It is however about taking responsibility and seizing each opportunity that comes our way!  We have chances to change and be better for it and make a better life for our children.  And I pray we truly seek God in it all and choose to make those decisions that will help us LIVE!!!

So join with us and think about what it is that would make 201?5 the BEST YEAR no matter what is thrown your way.  What will YOU DO?  I have some ideas for you popping up on my Facebook page over the next week or two so stay tuned...

As always,

Melis

12 Days After Christmas ~ Day 1

So as promised, here is the first of my 12 day series following Christmas.  Expect a mix of emotions, ramblings, daily happenings and so on...

Christmas was spent with some of our extended family.  David arrived to my parents' house just after 11 at night on Christmas Eve, due to some "shenanigans" at work.  I was so glad to see him that I didn't care so much about the timing.  At this point, Micah off his schedule had just fallen asleep not too long beforehand.  Micah slept with us so I slept worse than usual, which here meant cold and sore, leaving me to contemplate leaving early.  

We did stay, however, heading over to my aunt and uncle's house later for the afternoon and evening.  David left for home to get home around dark since he had to work 12+ hours each the following 3 days.  It was calm and enjoyable, watching the kids play, enjoying the relative calm and of course, a yummy dinner.  I went to bed a little more hopeful for sleep last night and was pleasantly surprised to do so once Micah was out.

Today was restful, cleaning up my computer and some e-mails with cute children playing near me.  For now, the plan is to stay a few more days so the kiddos can have the run of the place and enjoy the space and backyard here.  I'll breathe more and pray this cold either stays at bay or gets its worse out while I have the "backup" here.  We will head home sometime Sunday and work on reestablishing a routine so when school starts back up, Joy won't be completely caught off guard.

Overall, I am mostly just surprised at the calm.  I came into this week sort of ready for disaster, not because of any particular person but because of the cold and all of the morning sickness I had earlier on in the week.  My creative powers are zapped at the moment it seems.  I have nothing witty to say and my challenge groups are still in my head not developed as planned.  I am busy thinking ahead to the New Year only days away but nothing concrete still...  I hope you all had a blessed Christmas.   I will post again tomorrow, hopefully something more...

As always,
Melis

Merry Christmas Eve!

I am sitting here with a cute little girl in my belly and an almost 3 year old boy calmly playing near me.  My big girl is at church with her Nana, Poppy, aunt, 2 uncles and Great Grandma.  I sit here nursing my sore lower back just thankful to be near family.  David is still working but we'll see him tonight or tomorrow and this little girl of ours kicks enough to remind us of God's miracles in our lives, events we often overlook, because they don't seem so big to us.

Last year, I was feeling completely crummy, followed by a trip to the ER on Christmas Day and a very short yet exhausting trip to see family.  I just wasn't in the right place.  The year before, we had either just lost our first baby or were about to and were completely unaware to this fact.  Those Christmas experiences are not lost on me.  I am fortunate to be able to drive my children to see family, even if I am fatigued and sore.  I am blessed to not hit any traffic along the way and to have family who adores them as I do and give me some much needed relief.

Last night was my Joy Joy's 2nd of 2 dance performances.  Her studio performed "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" & she was able to have some family in attendance last night, even Daddy and Micah!  She was beautiful and excited and has shown so much growth this year.  On our way out, one of her friends handed her a pink rose!  Boy, was she touched!  And again, I sit back amazed at God's goodness in our lives...

Just a week or so ago, we were blessed with some extra food and gift cards.  The kiddos and I found our way into Walmart and out without falling apart and came away with some much needed new shoes, school pants, diapers, a few Christmas supplies, as well as a few food items.  It wasn't expected and it definitely brought me to a place of humbling myself some but I realized God had brought these people and gifts into our lives for a reason and that getting angry, confused and frustrated would not get me anywhere.  For the people involved, they were showing God's love to us at a time when we really needed some things.

In 43 days, my little guy, my Micah Boo turns 3.  I cannot believe it some days.  We welcome his new sister around 2 months afterwards.  Joy turns 7 yet another month or so later and we have half a dozen weddings, graduations and family events spread throughout our spring and summer on the calendar... so far!  I am truly very excited to be able to share with you all our 2015 adventures just around the corner...

However, for now I just want to wish you all a wonderfully Merry Christmas!  There will be a blog series or so to follow in the "12 Days After Christmas" which will also be posted to my Facebook page.  I will be documenting adventures, goals & blessings all around as we head into our New Year, including our "Word of the Year" we have already chosen!  I am so excited to transition into a new chapter in our lives with adventures and blessings I am sure we have not yet discovered!  So come along with me and tell your friends too!  I am here and on Facebook and would love to chat with you as I share about family, health, fitness and adventure!  Maybe you can share with me too?

God Bless You All!
As always,
Melis

24 Weeks & In the Midst...

Imagine this... 

  I am laying on my bed typing, small fluffy dog "snuggled" up to the warm laptop.  Micah just beyond her, under one of my new blankets. (Because if Mommy brings home a new blanket, it must be HIS, right?)  After several hours of pleading and negotiating, Joy sitting next to the end of my bed has finally not only found her play clothes but put them on.  Oh yeah, and Pistachio (Veggie Tales) is playing.  I move to get up briefly, my back yells at me but I press on...

Lunch is pending but clearly there are some other things that need taken care of first.  Apparently, the latest Beachbody fulfillment has arrived while I am out of the room.  Abby felt the need to bark at them and Micah is begging to open it for his Daddy.  And I smell something...

We have some family due to arrive later today for Joy's 2nd dance performance in "How the Grinch Stole Christmas."  Micah still has not gotten dressed and is now definitely hungry.  And it sounds like several of us are coming down with something...

In other news, we managed to get a progress pic before David headed out the door for work.  Hoping to update some more later.  Hope you all are having a wonderful holiday season.  Merry Christmas!

As always,

Melis

Don't Lose Hope!

I am 23 weeks pregnant today!  Another week down, another reminder of God's goodness on our lives!  Still plenty of things are not quite the way I would like but today is a testament to His goodness and His power and the reasons I have not given up on all of humanity yet...

A day that started with me telling Joy we were going to have to leave her dance class after Christmas and me contemplating how to deal with that...

It went down quite differently than that actually.  After her mature response, I found myself almost in tears, feeling guilty and frustrated that I could not change things to be better for her.  She is 6.5 and she handled the announcement with grace.  And I could not get it out of my mind.  Fast forward a few hours, several episodes of Chuggington with Micah later, and I was touched...

All I can say is things were taken care of.  At least the big one was and we could deal with the rest of them as we went.  Micah and I headed off to see David on his lunch break at work, where Micah made "dirt angels" on the floor.  (It isn't as bad as it sounds, I promise!)  We visited with David and then headed into Livermore a little early to grab a surprise for Joy and then walk with a new friend and her kiddos.  I was surprised to have a kind stranger return my cart for me at Target where I started to realize how blessed we truly were .  The walk with our new friends was far too short but definitely fun.  We then walked over to pick up Joy from school and dashed off (safely) back to Tracy for dance class.  On the way over, Joy discovered a surprise new dance outfit which she told Micah and I both boldly how much she loved.  Spilled coffee and yet a still pleasant Joy later, we arrived a few minutes late for Jazz but Joy was happy.  And Micah was content.  And I was sitting, reveling in the moments that God created, in the day He planned long before I arrived there.

A few errands and a long wait later, we finished up dinner at Red Robin on the end of my Christmas money.  It just made sense.  So, today I am 23 weeks pregnant and Baby Girl has been kicking up a storm and dancing all over my bladder... repeatedly... but I am genuinely and truly amazed.  So DO NOT lose hope.  God's got ya!

That's all for now...

Melis <3

I am not so happy...

Okay so my usual personality tends towards positivity... seeing the beauty, the good, the lovely in all that I possibly can.  But I will be honest, that has been super hard lately... and I've been grumpy.  And yes, I can blame it on a million things... the clotting disorder, the bipolar disorder, the miscarriages, the blood pressure issues, our less-than-nice neighbors, stolen wallet, stolen cans, grumpy or non-communicative family, friends, coworkers of David's... but I am not going to... or maybe I am?  I 

I am tired.  I miss my friends.  I wish other friends lived closer.  I miss my hubby and wish he could be home more often.  I wish his bosses knew how good they really have it with him, I mean really!  And yes, I will say it.  I wish I had more money, more means to help my kids see what life could really be like.  And yes, we have those moments, those precious times with them and I know they love us!  But I am sometime very ashamed of this place we call home and making them live in a place I don't feel 100% safe in myself, a place where being loud can get us reported to the landlord... all because a 2 & 6 year old were playing.

I have slowly started working on my business again.  (GO Beachbody!)  I have tried to stop making excuses about why I cannot do it.  I will still hurt.  I will still be limited this pregnancy but I am not incapable of being the BEST me I CAN be in THIS place.  Because I am in a different place, I need to adjust and deal with it.  I need to find a ways to share with you all WHERE I am NOW and what that means.  I do not have to stop; I just need to realign?  Does that make sense?

What is on your mind?  Check me out on Facebook if you like...

That's all for now,
Melis

P.S. How cute is this precious girl?! 

P.S.S. Baby girl just kicked me.

In the last 36 hours...

...Was encouraged by 2 Michelles

...Visited with my close friend who is hosting my baby shower

..."Outsmarted" Micah when it came to errands today

...Got a little grocery shopping in

...Heard encouraging news about a pregnant friend

...Chatted with one of my best friends in Santa Cruz

...Fell asleep quickly
...I figured out easy, happy dinners for 2 days in a row

...Was given a few pieces of school clothing for my Joy Joy

...Found out my phone survived its latest catastrophe

What are YOU Thankful for???

As always,

Melis

What was stolen? Broken? Hurt?

Phone appears to be broken... check!

Stolen wallet on Halloween at work (David)... check!

Phone that was working is now overheating and not working again... check!

Popped tire on freeway... check!

Other car won't start... check!

Discover heater does not work... check!

Half of recyclables stolen off of porch... check!

Phone screen officially refuses to turn on again... check!

This is a snapshot of our last month and a half or so...

OR IS IT?

As I cried to my friend today about our recent "disasters" today, I realized how easy it is to focus on the negatives.  Sure finances haven't been anywhere near great for awhile.  Sure, my pregnancy hormones have me crying, puking and forgetting just about everything.  Micah is 2.  Kids are 2.  They survive.  And so do their parents!  Oh, and my phone didn't die for 1.5 months after it started acting up!  The car with the popped tire was partially paid for by someone close to us who heard what happened.  The other car was opened and jumped by our insurance company a day later.  It did not cost us a cent!  (This is why my hubby is in charge of taking care of our insurance.)  The person who stole our recyclables off of our porch... missed some!  Our heater is still broken.. but we have at least a dozen blankets in this house.

And guess what? Even though we deal with struggles... we have people in our lives who care.  One of my friends regularly picks up and brings home my daughter from school 2 of 3 school days each and every week.  Today, when I had a panic about the car not "registering" the little bit of gas I put in, a friend bought me some.  In fact, she bought me more than I needed to get home.  Today,  my close friend who I adore did my hair.  I love going to her.  She always gives me such a good experience and she is a precious, precious friend.  If she allowed, I am sure I could talk her head off for much, much longer.  Last night, hubby cooked me dinner.  (I took photos but they are on the currently broken phone.)  Oh yeah, and he baked cookies... from scratch.  Tonight too!  Do you know how hard it is to feed a pregnant woman?  Especially one who is picky to begin with and has been puking almost every week of her pregnancy??? Oh yeah, and this guy gives foot rubs sometimes before bedtime on his nights without doubles! 

So I guess what I am trying to say is just that... our lives are not always easy... or fun... or what we want them to be for that matter.  We go through stages and seasons, sometimes which feel... way... too... long.  But they don't last forever.  And if you are paying attention, you will often notice those little or bigger blessings God is trying to show you along the way.  When I was on the side of the freeway a few weeks ago, I went through the list of blessings.  Thank goodness the car stopped in Livermore, near friends, 30 minutes from home, not where the road is dangerous or where I do not have cell phone signal.  The car stopped 30 minutes before David was off of work, not in the middle of his shift.  My mom was free to talk to me on the phone while I waited for David and the guy to help me.  It was just a tire, not something worse, not something more expensive.  And we still had our spare available and the guy changed it for us!  Oh yeah, and the kids slept though 99% of the entire experience.  We got home just before midnight.  It was the eve of one of a holiday, a day without schoolwork for Joy... you get my point, right?

I am not asking you to forget what happened or not mourn or grieve or be sad at frustrated.  People have real reasons to be upset, often around the holidays especially.  And it is important as friends to be there for them and listen.  But I guess I am trying to shed a little perspective on things.  It has taken a me 2-3 days of pondering & praying about this blog ent.y to get it here.  And I am not even sure if it came out the way I liked fully.  Feel free to share your thoughts...

As always,

Melis

P.S. Still working on adding more graphics and photos.  It's a work in progress for sure!

22 Weeks & Counting

Tomorrow marks 22 weeks pregnant with my little rainbow princess and since David had a rare day off, I asked him to take some "bumpies" today. (Excuse my hair, ahem.)  This pregnancy has not been fun... almost at all. In fact,  it's made us really think on whether we want a large family anymore. But that is for another day.

  What it is...
    •A reminder of God's promises
    •A miracle
    •Cuddly
    •A time of reflection
    •Proof I have the right doctors in my corner

Today was one of those preggo days where I spent more time lamenting my hormones than I would of liked. Let's just say the tears kept a flowin' & if they were not flowin' somebody was getting glared at or eyes rolled at.  And David had the day off... Now, normally I would pity him some but today he took it all in stride.  He always seemed to be right there when I least expected it, right when I needed a hug, or an arm around me, or a ridiculous joke to get my mind off things temporarily.

And then there's this little princess inside of me who has kicked pretty much all day long.  (Do babies EVER sleep? Am I in trouble? ) At least her kicks are still fun for the most part. She is a constant reminder of who our God is.

Tomorrow I take on another walk. I feel like it's the little things that keep me from losing every bit of my mind (if there's any left). Most of my walks are shorter these days but I am trying to make the effort to do them anyway. Feel free to join me in setting a walking goal for yourself! (I'm on RunKeeper.)

So another week is upon our little family. Baby girl is AT LEAST as big as a papaya this week.  (Have you met my children?) David works back-to-backs Thursday-Sunday after 6 hour shifts Tues/Wed. Joy soared through her homework today so I am confident in her upcoming week at school. Micah has finally started acknowledging his little sister (well, sort of). And Abby... she is still fluffy.

Another week in the lives of this Voeltz Family ahead. What is your family up to this week???

As always,
Melis

Miracles Come in Different Shapes & Sizes...

As I sit here cradling my little belly, I can't help but thank God for the blessing of this precious baby girl.  I read something this morning that really put things in perspective for me from a personal standpoint~ "If you don't believe in miracles, perhaps you've forgotten you are one."  This applies to anyone.  But in my personal life, I've found myself calling all of my children miracles...

Micah & Joy were both conceived and born before I discovered my Factor V Leiden clotting disorder.  I had no complications or serious issues with either pregnancy.  Baby girl due this coming spring is a miracle because we found out why we lost our 2 precious angels and were able to put me on an injection that would medically mean this little girl would most likely make it safely into our arms... If you ask me, without God none of them are possible, including my own husband who I feel blessed to have in my life, a man I met at church during middle school.  Clearly, I didn't know God's plan then... as we didn't start dating until 8 years after we met ;-)

Miracles, Blessings, Thankfulness... this is where I am tonight as I pray for God's leading as we move forward.  What are you thankful for???

As always,
Melis

Sparkly,Fit, Beachy Mama!

Time for a change and some updates!  Remember that announcement I made back in August?  Well, here's me a few weeks ago...

 

I am now 21 weeks, 1 day pregnant according to my dates.  Baby Girl is due April 14th, 2015!  It's been a very trying pregnancy, physically and emotionally but I am seeing the hope, that light that is this beautiful girl inside of me due to come in to this world this coming spring.  I am so excited but also ready to start making some changes elsewhere.  

Due to the trying nature of this pregnancy, I really have struggled to keep a lot of things up as I processed it all and really tried to stay calm and focus.  Hoping to start reaching out and really showing you all a little more again.  So without further ado, I have renamed my page and am renaming my Facebook Coach page to reflect it so I may connect more with those of you out there interested in knowing and learning more...

Sparkly, Fit, Beachy Mama is here!  (Formerly Lions, Giraffes & Puppies) 

I hope to focus more on the details of life as they intersect.  In other words, you won't just hear about medical or pregnancy topics here and my Facebook will have more than just my fitness love!  Does that make sense? Hoping to get some new graphics, headers, etc up as well as some new Challenge Groups launched by the New Year so stay tuned! Have questions? Just ask!  And if you do have some suggestions, let me know!  I hope to make these outlets better all around with these changes! 

Have a fabulous day!

As always,

Melis