Wednesday, April 7, 2010

Poetry, Birthdays, Autism Awareness, and nuun

April is my month! I have already won 2 giveaways!  Some pretty blue Rachel Ray baking dishes and a Celestial Seasonings Wellness kit. Those are my Birthday presents from the universe!

  My wonderful 3rd son Milo Atticus and I share a birthday!  Tomorrow he will be 4 and I will be 33!  He was born at 12:43 ish at the Birth Center in Topeka Kansas on April 8th 2006. He was the best Birthday present ever! I called into work "in labor" and had a huge breakfast with Jaymon at Denny's. Our midwife suggested eating to stay strong and walking to get labor going. Thats what we did. Hung out at Gage park. Jaymon napped on the grass since he had been up all the night before and I walked and walked and walked!    We had a lovely day and at the end we had a beautiful baby born peacefully into my own hands after hours of dancing and swaying with Jaymon and sitting in the labor tub. He was born at 37 1/2 weeks weighing 6 lbs 10 oz.

After we were cleaned up and dressed we sat around on the queen sized bed and talked and laughed with my beautiful and kind midwife and her nurse Lori. We ate huge Submarine sandwiches which will stay in my mind forever as the best sandwich of my life. I was ravenous after that birth!  A couple hours later we went back to our hotel room and slept. We drove back to Salina later that morning and went around showing off our new little Milo Atticus!  Such fun :)

 April is Autism Awareness month. My son Jupiter has autism. He is 8 years old and is nonverbal.
His autism has taught me so much about myself. Far more than I ever think I will teach him. I never imagined my life would take the turns it has but I am happy and thankful.   Please look into Autism Speaks.org  for more information. The earlier treatment is started the better the outcome although older children also do well with the same treatment options including supplementation and dietary changes like going Gluten and Casein free.  Even as an adult I have found that going gluten free has helped me tremendously both mentally and emotionally. The food intolerances may run in families.  Autism is a guessing game. We don't know what causes it and why some people respond to certain treatments and other do not.
 Autism Speaks will be doing much fund raising this month including the Walk Now for Autism campaign. They are held all over the country and raise huge amounts of money for research and services for people with autism and their families.

 April is National Poetry month. The following is from Poets.org,
"Inaugurated by the Academy of American Poets in 1996, National Poetry Month is now held every April, when publishers, booksellers, literary organizations, libraries, schools and poets around the country band together to celebrate poetry and its vital place in American culture. Thousands of businesses and non-profit organizations participate through readings, festivals, book displays, workshops, and other events."

There are many national events throughout the country. There is a handy map and many lists of ways to celebrate on Poets.org.  Making up poems on a long run is a stellar way to pass the time and so much inspiration  to draw from.  You could make a poem about the wonderful tree you just passed or the food you will eat when you get home or how the breath fills your lungs.  Or that damn dog that keeps barking at you.

Here at Barefoot Angie Bee, you can enter my nuun hydration giveaway and to get 5 bonus entries, write a poem about your sport. It can be a Haiku, prose, Dr. Seus style, whatever just get those creative juices flowing! You might just win something special for your your poem as well!

Running oh running you are testing me these days. It seems as if many people in the bloggersphere are suffering from bad mojoidis.  I took yesterday off from running because I was exhausted. The kind where I felt ill I was so tired.  I am still single parenting and hanging on for the most part but yesterday beat me down! I did take back an Old Navy running skort and got the right size and a very very comfy sports bra in a pretty blue with adjustable straps. They gave me the online sale price even in the store where there was no sale.  They redeemed themselves after posting grossly inacurate online size charts.  Vanity sizing is a rip off when you pay for shipping and counter productive when trying to reduce weight. I even measured myself to get it right and everything was 2 sizes too small.  All in all I feel productive and have been doing well with my goals even though I am going solo with the child guidance thing.

Today I feel like I am fighting off some kind of bug.  It may just be the weather and an accumulation of stress so I am going to try and run and see what happens. Sometimes getting the blood pumping and some lung expansion is exactly what I need. I have to be  careful since long runs can weaken the immune system for the first 12 or so hours afterwards so I am going to gamble and see what happens.
Resting is proving to be one of the hardest parts of training!
Its raining and cool here today and I think everyone here is suffering from the barometric pressure changes. Jupiter and I have both had headaches all day.
Dear Body, You are a dear friend and I love you. I am listening but you are kind of mumbling when you tell me what you need.

17 comments:

Teamarcia said...

Happy Birthday to both of you! What a sweet and special day to share! I think I'm the queen of bad running mojo these days, but ya know what? On some level I know it's all going to be ok.
Hope you're feeling restored and refreshed soon.

Tricia said...

happy birthday to you both!

Katie Kift said...

Happy Birthday guys. Thanks for all the help you have offered me lately regarding D and his ASD diagnosis.

Sometimes the running hiatus allows us to take change things up a little. Challenging us in new ways and making us come back as better runners. I am finding I am enjoying a bit of cross-training and swimming, although how long I can go without the need to run I don't know. :D

You have all my best wishes. Have a great day.

AM! said...

love the pic of you and your son. So sweet.
I didn't know April was Autism Awareness month, and I hope to help bring awareness this month.

Again, you are a fabulous strong chica and deserve to have a FANTASTIC birthday! Go out and dance and have sub sandwhiches tomorrow!;-)
ps.also, i'm really digging the chia seeds! thnk u!

Unknown said...

That's such a sweet picture! Happy birthday to you both for tomorrow, hope you both have a fantastic day!

Julie said...

Hi Angie,
Happy Birthday to you and your little man!! I love the picture of the two of you!! It is a beautiful picture and your little guy has such a joy and sprarkle in his eyes:) He looks happy!! He should be because he has the best mom!

I love the letter you wrote to your body! Very funny:) Angie, I hope that you have a wonderful day!

ShellBell said...

Happy Birthday to you and Milo! You guys have the most stunning blue eyes!

We've been suffering from high pollen counts here. I thought I was getting a cold but it turns out it was just seasonal allergies.

I hope you're feeling restored & refreshed soon!

misszippy said...

Happy birthday to you and Milo! Is Atticus from To Kill A Mockingbird? One of the best characters ever! Enjoy your day.

Ewa said...

Happy Birthday to both of you and what a wonderful picture this is.
As for running, gosh, I would love to be able to be running now but I am noticing that in the past couple of years because running just took over, I have been neglecting other exercises. Maybe cross training would keep me from getting injured.
It is so true that our kids help us grow in so many ways. Actually the more challenging they are, the more growth opportunities for us.
Again, have a wonderful birthday.

Marny said...

Happy birthday to you and your beautiful boy.I hope the running gods smile down on you for your special day :)

Unknown said...

Happy Birthday and I hope you have a FUN day together! I love that picture and hope you enlarge it...too cute.

Anonymous said...

Let's see - you are 33; he is 4; that means you gave birth to him when you were...aw, you do the math!

Happy Birthday.

Sherri said...

That is such an adorable picture of you and your son! Happy Birthday!

I love how much information you give about autism awareness...my nephew is autistic, and I just want to know as much as I can about it, so that I can better understand him!

As for the mumbling body...mine is not communicating well either!

Maggs said...

Happy birthday to you both!

The Boring Runner said...

Wow, obvs your blue eyes run in the fam!!

Happy bday! :) (late)

N.D. said...

what a great story, it's funny I remember what I ate when I was in labor like no other. Sounds like a great time for #3. Thanks for the autism info!

Kelsi said...

So special that your son was born on your birthday! By far the best gift any mom could ask for! =)
I agree with you 100% about our children teaching us more than we could ever teach them. My son also has Autism and I have learned so much about him, the world, and myself.
I'm a new follower, I LOVE your blog. I wish I could run like you do!
Come say hi @ Modernmomredefined.blogspot.com
<3 Kelsi

I provide Bradley Method childbirth education, doula, belly casting, placenta encapsulation, and post partum doula services.
I serve families in Kitsap County, Bainbridge Island, Poulsbo, Bremerton, Silverdale, Kingston, Port Townsend, Bremerton, Port Orchard, and the greater Seattle area. email me atangiebeehotz@gmail.com with any questions you might have
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