Today I would like to introduce you to Talli, a woman with a passion for health, a wife of 7 years, and mom to a six month old son. Talli graduated from the University of Puget Sound in Tacoma, Washington with a Doctorate in Physical Therapy, and is now a physical therapist by trade.

Talli, please tell all of us a bit more about yourself.

I owned my own physical therapy clinic, In Stride Physical Therapy, where I also did personal training. When I wasn’t working, I was avidly reading all the books and articles on health that I could get. I have used that knowledge both in my own life and in helping my clients. Through my work, I have inspired countless other people to change their lifestyles to healthier ones because I truly love teaching others ways to become healthier.

A few month ago, I started a health podcast, Being Healthy for Busy People (http://www.beinghealthy.tv), after realizing that while people understand that eating right, exercising and decreasing their stress is something they should do, it is still hard for them to do it because of their busy lives. This show is my opportunity to share those lessons that I have learned over the years with a larger audience and help them to build being healthy into their busy schedules.

Your son is six months old now. Did you always want to be a mom?

Yes, I love kids and I always wanted to have one of my own. My son is my life and I gave up my career to stay home and be with him. It has been a very fulfilling experience watching him grow.

If you could travel to any where in the world, where would it be, and why?

I would love to go to Antarctica, because it is one of the most untouched places on the planet. With global warming, it is hard to say what it would like in 20 years and I would like experience it before it is changed forever.

What is the most interesting thing about you?

I come from a very athletic family. I pretty much grew up on the track. I started competing at an early age of nine. My dad was an Olympic runner and qualified in the 1968 Mexico Olympics. Currently, my mom holds the world record in bench press for her weight class and my brother is sponsored by Sportiva for adventure running. What can I say I live and breath exercise and health. It is in my blood. With my son, I plan to teach him the benefits of being healthy!

Thanks so much for chatting with me today, Talli!

Thanks for making me Mom of the Week! I am very honored.

Do you have any encouraging words, tips or ideas for Talli? Would you leave a quick hello for her? Or maybe you have some words of encouragement that may help her on her journey as a wife and mother… You can leave them here for her!

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This week’s special mom is Tara, a pastor’s wife and stay at home mom of three – Aiden is 6, Owen is 4 and Olivia is 19 months old. She claims to be “entirely imperfect.” Aren’t we all?

Tara, thanks for visiting with us today. Can you tell us a bit more about you and your family?

Well, my husband and I have been married for 9 years and we live in a teensy tiny town in northeast Saskatchewan, Canada. I am not the best homemaker in the world (by FAR) but I am trying. I have a Bachelor’s of Religious Education which I use in a volunteer capacity at our church but I am SO thankful to be able to stay home with my kids.

I have experienced intense post partum depression with each of my children. I also had 4 miscarriages and a thyroid disorder which contributed to my depression. I finally feel like I am starting to ascend from the depths of depression- I am more able to see the light in my days.

Presently we are going through the process of my son Aiden being “assessed” and no one seems to be able to give us any specific answer as to what is going on. The latest potential diagnosis is asperger’s syndrome but they have also suggested everything from ADHD to sensory integration disorder. I am continually trying to learn how to better parent my son and how to advocate for him in his daily life. I tend to get very discouraged about my son and how difficult I find it to get him, and us, the help we need. But I DO know that God loves my son more than even I do and I don’t have to fight for him alone.

My son Owen is a great kid who often gets the short end of the stick in our family- his older brother needs a lot of our attention and his younger sister still needs a lot of our attention and since he is generally such an easy kid he sometimes doesn’t get the attention he deserves. Because of this he is a wonderfully cuddly kid. I love my Owen snuggles!

Olivia was the sweetest surprise I have ever had. After all my miscarriages and my depression I was VERY reluctant to ever have another child. When I found out I was pregnant for the 7th time I was certain I would just miscarry again. We told our church family our situation and lots of people prayed for a healthy pregnancy and God answered our prayers. I am thrilled to have a little girl. She has been wonderful for our family and she is growing up far too fast!

Did you always want to be a mom?
Yes. I am the only child of a single mother and I always wanted to have a family. But I never, even in my wildest imaginings, thought I would have 3 kids. I truly had no idea just how much children would change my life! And I must say that having SONS has been one of the biggest challenges! I really had NO idea about boys since I had no siblings and didn’t ever live with my dad… the differences between girls and boys continues to amaze me daily!

What is the most interesting thing about you?
I was raised by a hippy and we moved constantly- at least once per year. The crazy thing is that my Grandpa was a pastor and my Uncle is a pastor… which drove my mom crazy! So when I told her I was going to marry a pastor she was horrified! Don’t worry, she has adjusted very well and now she even lives with us- temporarily of course since she moves so often!

If you had to put your life motto into one sentence, what would it be?
Live for an audience of One.

How can we pray for you this week?
Pray for us as we continue to search for help for my son. He will be entering grade one in a couple weeks and I desperately want him to enjoy school and learn to function effectively in his world.

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This week I would like to introduce you to Pamela. She is the owner of Happy Panda, the tagless baby clothing line for bigger babies, and the creator of the Cyber Baby Shower. Pamela is due to deliver her fourth baby, a girl, in September.

Pamela, thank you for joining me today. Would you please tell all of us a bit more about yourself.
As you know, I am the owner of Happy Panda… I truly enjoy creating new graphic designs and working with a team of people to bring the public my end product. The experience of taking an idea and seeing it to a finished clothing item has been so much fun. I enjoy seeing babies and young children in Happy Panda clothing.

The online community has been great. There are many internet business owners and forums that have been helpful to learn from. I believe in being a pivotal business owner that remains involved with other vendors as well as bloggers and help promote everyone. Currently Happy Panda is hosting our 4th online Cyber Baby Shower. The showers have been a great platform for companies to introduce their products to participants. We do invite everyone to participate. The Cyber Baby Shower Sponsor blog was created to provide links to companies who have sponsored previous and current events.

Happy Panda is not only responsible for the updates on the cyber baby shower blog but also our company blog. It is important to let consumers know the designs we are working on and what events we are involved in currently. We have found Blogger to be a great resource for learning about coding and how templates work. Happy Panda also has a blog spot where we do more promoting of other blogs and online resources.

Bloggers and review sites are very important to all companies big or small. Opinions of the online community are a great marketing resource because people are using the internet as a research tool to find product reviews. We are seeing more and more appreciation devoted to bloggers by major corporations. The larger companies are helping to sponsor annual Blogher Events and conferences.

Did you always want to be a mom?
My childhood dream was to go to college and start a career before I began motherhood. The choices that I made resulted in being blessed with motherhood first. Being a mom was the best thing that could have happened to me. My first born gave me more of a purpose and clearer direction for my life and I’m truly thankful.

If you could travel to any where in the world, where would it be, and why?
I have always wanted to go to Ireland to tour the castles and hopefully run into Bono or any band member of U2. I’ve been a fan since I was a kid.

What is the most interesting thing about you?
The most interesting thing about me is that I love to research. I spend a lot of time trying to figure out all sorts of answers to business ideas, marketing, blogging, html coding. My educational background are in the fields of behavioral and social sciences.

If you had to put your life motto in to one sentence, what would it be?
Make mistakes but never make the same one twice.

How can we pray for you this week?
You can pray for my health. I have just recently come down with an awful head cold! I’m doing what I can to recover. I would also appreciate any prayers for the safe delivery of baby number four when she decides it’s time to come into the world.

Thank you so much, Pamela. You are an inspiration to all of us to make our dreams come true!

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