Body Image

Supermodel Kate Moss

Mariah and I had the opportunity last night to attend a presentation on Body Image. I wish I would've invited every woman and girl I know to come. It was excellent! The girls who were presenting really focused on the "ideal body image" that we as a western culture celebrate. And this is it. It is the literally the body of a prepubescent 12 year old. And an undernourished one at that. On top of this, Kate Moss alone is not good enough. Nearly every picture of her and ALL models is photoshopped to the point that 99% of all the pictures you see in any magazine are pictures of unattainable fiction. The publishers of such magazines spend GOBS of money editing these pictures and putting them on the cover for you to see and feel WORSE about yourself, and that no matter what, you will never be good enough, thin enough, pretty enough. Exactly the message that Satan wants you to get.

One message that they shared that really hit me was this: Depression in girls is never higher than when they are going through puberty. It is largely because their bodies are turning from this "ideal" into bodies of real women. Women's bodies, by nature, are built to have babies. We get breasts, (which, contrary to what the sexualized world would tell you, are for nourishing babies) our hips widen, we get extra fat stores so that our bodies are perfectly equipped to handle pregnancy. Our bodies are filled with hormones that are suited to help with this process. This is who we are as women. To go to the extreme measures it takes to TRY to fit into an ideal, (remember the ideal is pure fiction), is to really deny who we are as women. I would never trade my four awesome kids for any body out there, real or not. There is no ideal. It is also largely genetics. If you have a poodle mama and a poodle daddy, you won't grow up the be a German Shephard. As much as you want to and wish for it, you never will be. We should focus so much less on what size or shape our bodies are, and focus much more on all the AMAZING things our bodies can do. Like have babies. And help us nurture and love those babies and grandbabies. Boys are built differently. Their hormones help them stay lean and muscular so they can go slay animals and plow the fields and bring them home to feed those babies. :)

I want to right now stop wishing that my body is something that it's not. I want to be healthy and feel healthy and let my daughters know that they are beautiful and loved, no matter what. And most of all, I want to quit obsessing about the big pimple I have on my chin currently, and the fact that I still get pimples in my 30's... not cool.

Oh, I thought it was an orange

Gabby and I were looking at this ABC book, and naming pictures. I asked her what this was, and she said, as clear as day, "Juicy fruit." That's easier to say than orange? And, the way she says horse? So stinking funny. Love to listen to babies learn to talk!!

Have a Banana

Gabby loves her baby. Loves, loves her baby. And loves the bug on the baby's outfit. She shows me the bug no less than 15 times daily. Something else she's a big, big fan of: bananas. I seriously think she's might be part monkey because she can down a whole banana in like 3 bites. Without choking. It's really something to see. Anyway, on this particular day, she HAD to have miss baby in the chair with her while she was having herself a snack. I walked away to load the dishwasher, and this is what I came back to:

Now, either that baby has a serious snotty, or Gabby decided she needed a nibble of banana. Incedently, this baby looks exactly how I feel tonight. ENOUGH of the colds, already! I think I need to stop volunteering in the kindergarten class. That good deed is certainly not going unpunished!!

Cheeto Face

This is, so far, Ben's favorite picture ever of Gabby. I'm not sure what it is about this look that he's in love with, but he bugged me for weeks to email it to him so he could put it on his phone wallpaper. If this doesn't say "Mischief", I don't know what would.

Conquering Camelback

Ben has been in the hiking mood lately. Maybe it's in the new hiking boots he just got. Not sure. Last week we went on a little hike around South Mountain. It was fun. The weather was perfect. Ben discovered his love for photographing wildflowers. Life was merry. Well, he decided since the kids did so great on our 4 miler around South Mountain, they were probably definately ready to go for Camelback Mountain. I thought it sounded super fun. Until, being the fact finder that I am, read some reviews/advice about said hike online. Here's a sample of what I found:



"Summary: Echo Canyon Trail or Summit Trail also commonly referred to as simply “Echo” is one of the most intense and hardcore hiking experiences in Phoenix, Arizona. This is a trail for hiking enthusiasts, and those looking for a difficult workout. Many hike, stop, snap pictures and enjoy the challenge while others hike hard for time. Echo Canyon Trail presents a great all around adventure.
Elevation Gain: 1,264 feet
Challenge: (Extremely difficult) Very good conditioning and/or strong will required to complete this hike.
Terrain (Trail) Description: The Echo Canyon trail starts off with a pacing stair step portion leading up to a steep incline of rock faces. This levels off for a few hundred feet before leading back to steps for another few hundred feet. Then comes the first rail, which is an extremely vertical rock face sandwiched by chain link fence and the mountain edge itself. Running down the east side of this section is a man-made metal rail, installed to help people through this section. Although it can be traversed without rail assistance, many choose to utilize it especially coming down.
After this first rail is a small downward slope and a relatively flat section before entering the second rail section which is not as steep as the first one. Another flat section follows leading up to a choice of two paths. To the left is a sheer rock face, called “The Red Rock Way” and to the right is a highly inclined boulder section. The red rock section rejoins the main trail at many points and also carries all the way to an ancient Native American cave on the north side of the mountain.
Once the two paths rejoin it is a fairly inclined path for the rest of the hike. This includes boulder and gravel sections. Towards the top of the trail it loops back north before reaching the summit"


WHAT!?!?! You want me to do huh? With my 4 kids? And Mariah's friend? This is true love, I tell ya. Happy late Valentine's Day to you, Ben. So we set out at about 2:00 pm which turned out to be PERFECT. There was tons of parking, which can be a huge problem, we hiked in the shade a lot of the way, and we were hiking down during sunset, which was so, so beautiful.

Here's Chandler at about the halfway point. He kept right up with Ben at the front. He was carrying his Camelpak and a backpack full of our dinner for the summit. He did awesome! (I should mention, too, that Ben had Gabby on his back in a kiddo carrier. Whadastud.)


This is Mariah and Maddie at the summit. 360 degree views of Phoenix. Amazing, incredible views! Worth the trip up.

Jackson was THE ONLY 5 year old I saw on the trail. I saw one other little boy whose mom said he was 6. There was not a single complaint from J! He loved it, and loved the fact that he could scamper up those rocks faster than mom, who thought at times that she might pass out and roll right on back down. No, really. There were many, many of those times.

This is a view standing near the top looking down the first big hill you go down. See the tiny guy in the white shirt? With the baby on his back? That's Ben, kicking my bum down the hill... let's just say I was humbled by Camelback. It was so fun, and so awesomely hard. I would never, ever in a million do this in the summer. There would be a word for that: suicide. But on a perfect 70 degree afternoon in February? What a way to spend the day!

(And, P.S., I'm really going to try to blog more. I really, really am. Look forward to Ben's pictures of wildflowers. How's that for incentive?)