A woman who takes good care of herself is a more powerful mother - at least that is the way I see it.  If we are willing to settle for ‘nothing but the best FROM ourselves’, that will carry over into our parenting. A Mom Matters when she cares enough to be a good example - in word and action to her children.

Take Leah Segedie for example (many of you may know her as Bookieboo!)  What you may not know is Leah’s story.

Three years ago, when Leah gave birth to her first child, a son, she weighed 253 pounds.  While she was pregnant, her father was diagnosed with cancer and given only 6 months to live.  Five days a week, Leah helped her mother to care for her dying father. Watching him suffer was tremendously painful and Leah found solace in food.

Like so many of us, she believed the weight would come off after she had the baby.  But, also like many of us, that wasn’t the case.

When her newborn son was only 3 months old, Leah’s father lost his battle with cancer.  Though she had prayed for an end to his suffering, she was devastated.

But with the devastation came a ‘moment of clarity’, as she calls it.  She didn’t want to be the ‘fat mom’.  She wanted to ‘model healthy behavior’ for her family.  In that moment, Leah decided to make a change.  So, she stood up and started walking.  At first it was once a day and then twice.  She joined Curves and began to practice Taebo. Five pounds at a time, Leah began to see a difference.

Working at a healthy lifestyle the traditional way, with  diet and exercise, Leah lost over 100 pounds.
It is this weight loss journey, and Leah’s desire to motivate those around her that inspired her friend Kelly Loubet to nominate her for Why Moms Matter.

After losing the weight, Leah decided to create a ‘go-to place where moms could share their struggles staying or getting into shape”, and Bookieboo.com (named after her son) was born.  The site has over 40 contributors, many are certified personal trainers, but all are moms.

Knowing how tough it can be to balance being a mom with taking care of yourself, Leah is reaching out - hoping to give a little extra resolve to one mom at a time. Having recently had a second son, Leah is on the ball with getting back into shape one more time - and she has the support of whole bunch of moms on Bookieboo - doing the exact same thing.

Join us on Why Moms Matter on Blog Talk Radio, Friday at 12:30PST/2:30CST to learn how Leah stays motivated to keep up with her healthy lifestyle and how she balances work with family.  You’ll also learn about her new Blog Talk Radio Show - MomActive - launching on June 19th.

Do you know a Mom Who Matters?  An ordinary mom doing extraordinary things?  Nominate her today.

Post by Danielle Smith from ExtraordinaryMommy.com

The Why Moms Matter Project

The WhyMomsMatter Project was created by the founders of MomFaves to celebrate and honor the significance and beauty of motherhood. Moms are nominated by their loved ones to receive the “Why Moms Matter Award” by clicking “Nominate” at the top left of WhyMomsMatter.com. If you would like to nominate someone for the WhyMomsMatter project, we would love to hear from you!

Download the Why Moms Matter E-book - full of stories and pictures of moms nominated by their loved ones for the positive impact they are making in the world.

The older I get, the more I value the friends I have.  True friendship as an adult, as a mom, takes time and effort.  It isn’t easy because we all have so much ‘life’ spinning around us - our families, our homes, our work (either at home or away from it).

We have carpools and soccer games, dinner times and preschool graduations, doctors appointments and teacher conferences, family vacations and work obligations - to say nothing of taking care of your home, or spending quality time with your kids and significant other.

And yet, we manage.  Because our friends matter.  They keep us sane, help us navigate the minefield of motherhood and even guide us through pain.

It doesn’t matter how you met your ‘best friends’ - it matters only how you treat them and how they treat you.

Take Brandy Tanner and Dwan Perrin.

They met online.  The entirety of their friendship has been via the Internet and phone. And yet, they are there for each other - they share a mutual respect and loyalty.

They nominated EACH OTHER as a Mom Who Matters.

Brandy on Dwan: “Dwan is extraordinary because she is a single mother of three children.  No matter how hard life may be financially and emotionally for Dwan, she is still a Mom who does extraordinary things for her children.  She gives all she has to them and tries her best to make money working from home.”

Dwan believes her most important job as a mom is to teach unconditional love by example. This is a philosophy she lives daily as she cares for Tapanga who is 11, 7 year old Gabby and almost 3 year old Noah.

It was while dealing with Gabby’s extensive medical problems that Dwan moved from the corporate world to working at home full time, while caring for her children.  Gabby suffered a pediatric stroke in utero and has since struggled with  Cerebral Palsy and Epilepsy.  In only her 7 short years, she has had 5 major surgeries - 2 of them on her brain - one of them only a week ago on her arm and hand.

With Dwan by her side, Gabby sees 6 specialists and 5 therapists on a regular basis.  This is modeling unconditional love. And she constantly supports her family on all levels, “I work from home literally around the clock, in between caring for kids, doctor appointments, running errands, maintaining the house and sleeping.”

How is it even possible to balance everything Dwan has on her plate? “I take one day at a time and just when I think I can’t handle another day, I remember my children NEED me.  I am the one they count on and I know God would never hand me more than I can handle.”

And of course, she has Brandy, “We talk daily and learn on each other constantly. I’d be lost without Brandy!”

Dwan on Brandy: “Although Brandy is married, her husband works at least 6 days a week and she basically has to run the home/children on her own.  Along with breastfeeding, diaper changing (she has 2 in diapers), dealing with a child with ADHD and juggling business, she makes time to be a best friend to me.”

Balancing life as a work at home mom with raising three children - a 6 year old daughter and 2 sons who are 2 years old and 10 months, Brandy’s days are full. And yet, the only thing she would change would be to have her husband around a bit more.  She worries about the stress he endures working a 6 day, 50 hour week.

Though she does it all at home and manages a new business, Brandy considers having two small guys in diapers to be one of her biggest challenges, “it seems when I am changing one, the other wants mommy all to himself.”

Clearly, being a Mom is a priority for Brandy, “I hope to teach all three of my children that it is ok to make mistakes as long as you learn something from those mistakes and move forward in a positive direction.”

Helping her to constantly move in that positive direction: Dwan.

Both Moms are in the midst of managing blogs (visit Dwan and Brandy) and starting new businesses online.  Brandy is an online virtual asistant and Dwan will soon be launching her new business - a definite passion for her.

Join us Friday on Why Moms Matter on Blog Talk Radio at 12:30PST/2:30CST to learn more about these amazing moms who use their friendship to keep them afloat on their best and most challenging days.
And don’t forget to keep telling us about Moms Who Matter - we have been amazed by each and every nomination.

Post by Danielle Smith from ExtraordinaryMommy.com

The Why Moms Matter Project

The WhyMomsMatter Project was created by the founders of MomFaves to celebrate and honor the significance and beauty of motherhood. Moms are nominated by their loved ones to receive the “Why Moms Matter Award” by clicking “Nominate” at the top left of WhyMomsMatter.com. If you would like to nominate someone for the WhyMomsMatter project, we would love to hear from you!

Download the Why Moms Matter E-book - full of stories and pictures of moms nominated by their loved ones for the positive impact they are making in the world.

Jyl Matters.

MomItForward.com

About Jyl

She is drive, determination and discipline personified.

She is motivated to make a difference in the world - any way she can.

It is this calm but focused spirit that drove Carissa Rogers to nominate Jyl Pattee as a Mom Who Matters.

“I can tell you first hand that she truly cares about people and not in that fake kind of way,” Carissa explained in her nomination. ” And Carissa should know - she and Jyl have partnered on a one-of-a-kind website and social media driven community - MomItForward.

Their goal is “to change the world one mom at a time by focusing on three pillars: me, mom, and my world.” Carissa and Jyl believe changing the world starts with you.  They contend your ability to impact the world is magnified by your desire to care for yourself.

But where does this passion to ‘change the world’ come from? “My parents instilled in me a love of serving and a sense….almost a duty…of being actively involved and doing my part, ” Jyl explains. Calling her mom the ‘rock’ of her family, Jyl credits her love, her commitment to her family and her ability to keep her chin up to the woman who raised her.

The lesson in ‘keeping her chin up’ has been especially handy.

Diagnosed with Epilepsy at age 14, Jyl spent years denying the disease.  It wasn’t until a very public seizure at the age of 23 forced her to come to terms with the condition. At that time,  she was able to truly embrace the notion that nothing could hold her back.  During that seizure, Jyl fell and broke her jaw in 3 places.  A mere three months later, a fall fractured her skull and left her with an epidural hematoma.  That hematoma could have killed her, but fast acting EMTs recognized the problem and likely saved her life.

Jyl’s epilepsy is completely controlled by medication, so she says she is not forced to deal with the day-to-day of the condition as many patients are.

Join us later today at 12pm on MomFaves - Why Moms Matter Blog Talk Radio to hear more about Jyl and what inspires her to be a mom making a difference.

Posted by Danielle Smith from ExtraordinaryMommy.com

The Why Moms Matter Project

The WhyMomsMatter Project was created by the founders of MomFaves to celebrate and honor the significance and beauty of motherhood. Moms are nominated by their loved ones to receive the “Why Moms Matter Award” by clicking “Nominate” at the top left of WhyMomsMatter.com. If you would like to nominate someone for the WhyMomsMatter project, we would love to hear from you!

Download the Why Moms Matter E-book - full of stories and pictures of moms nominated by their loved ones for the positive impact they are making in the world.

She is a mother of 4. She home schools. She runs her own website. She co-hosts the Blog Talk Radio Show - Chicks Who Chat. And according to her co-host, Jen Hinton (and the friend who nominated her), Sugar Jones is a true blessing as a friend, blogger and mother.

Sugar Jones matters because she puts her family first - she chooses to home school because she thinks it is the best option for her children. She maters because she balances home and work while acknowledging that it is hard, and because she considers the best thing about parenting to be, “reliving your childhood through the eyes of your children - everything is new and amazing again”. She manages to put herself in her kids shoes - and EXPERIENCE.

There are 10 years between Sugar’s oldest daughters, Jasmine and Lauren and her two younger children - Hannah and Ryan. That time has given Sugar a chance to evolve as a parent, “I’m not parenting from a place of fear anymore. I’m trusting myself more and listening to others less. I never even pretend to have this parenting thing down. I love being the mom that says this is a tough job that isn’t always fun. I think it gives moms permission to do the same”.

It is, in part, that drive to ‘give’ that prompted Jen to nominate Sugar, calling her ‘REAL’ and a ‘true blessing’. Jen also points out Sugar’s willingness to promote any cause or business she believes in.

Join us on Why Moms Matter on Blog Talk Radio to learn more about Sugar, what motivates her as a Mom and what drives her to give so much of herself. The show airs today at 12:30PDT/2:30CDT.

As always - if you know a mom who Matters - nominate her!