Page 29 - Blog
February 12, 2014
We're still deep in cold & flu season and it's still important to stay healthy during this season of sniffles and seemingly constant coughs. Are you overwhelmed by the amount of Tylenol and antibiotics you take every year? Read on for some holistic tips on thriving through cold and flu season…
1. Wear a scarf
Grandma was right! It is crucial to cover your neck, especially the back of your neck and the occipital ridge. There is a saying in Traditional Chinese Medicine, “wind is the leader of a thousand diseases.” Cover your neck (and head too, when it’s really cold) so the wind doesn’t whisk pathogens into the body via the acupuncture points along the back of the neck and head. Even during summer, it’s important to keep our necks covered and away from drafts when we are constantly in and out of air conditioning.
2. Get Acupuncture
It is especially important to get acupuncture at the change of the season. Acupuncture helps boost immunity, regulates the
February 11, 2014
Easy peasy last-minute Valentine's Day project for the kids: Mason Jar Lantern. What? It's February already?! Did we not just open gifts and countdown to midnight?! Where is this year going? Time to act like you have your act together and surprise the kids with a Valentine's Day project that you probably have the supplies for already. Let them think it was planned.
- Mason jar(s)
- Tissue paper cut into one inch squares (in a bowl)
- 50/50 glue/water mixture
- Stickers
- Paintbrush
Arrange stickers on your Mason jar in whatever order you'd like. Spell things. Add simple hearts. Whatever tickles your fancy.
When your stickers are placed, you'll be covering a layer of tissue paper all over the jar, using the water/glue mixture.
When the jar is covered, you can tie a ribbon around the edge. Of course, the only ribbon we had on-hand was "It's a Girl!" design. Perfect for Valentine's Day. Or not. We skipped that step for obvious reasons.
Add a votive candle, and you have a simple
January 30, 2014
Dear new mom and mom-to-be,
You're not going to be perfect. Not ever.
And that's ok because you are the perfect mom for your child.
I don't mean that no matter what you are the perfect mom, because you can screw it up. In some ways, I promise, you will, but as long as you're not burning your child with cigarettes, starving them, beating them, or neglecting them, then you are the perfect, flawed mom for your child. The sooner you accept that, the sooner you'll be able to live in the enjoyment of being a parent.
It is very, very possible (as in rather likely) that at some point after having your baby you may find yourself thinking you've made the most terrible mistake of your life. Television, movies, and social media like to portray having a new baby as this sweet, warm, fuzzy time of bliss or a hilarious string of out of control buffoonery and don't get me wrong, it can be all those things. The hilarity will be there, you just may not find it so funny when you're the one living it. You'll
January 15, 2014
Hi Moms! Autumn here from Tailored Fitness back this week to help us tackle our next trouble spot, the Butt, with a baby-wearing workout you’ll love. If you missed our first post about how to tone the tummy, you can check it out here.
There are 3 changes that occur during pregnancy that affect our backsides:
Weight gain
It is completely normal to gain weight in places other than your belly during pregnancy. It’s part of the way your body makes sure you have enough nourishment for the growing baby. You may have noticed that as your front was getting larger (aka: breasts and belly) that your backside was getting larger too (aka: your butt). I like to think of it as the good Lord’s way of making sure we don’t fall over!
Loss of muscle tone
Towards the end of pregnancy, the weight of your growing belly makes it much harder to exercise and to build up the intensity necessary to maintain muscle tone. We end up losing much of our muscle tone, especially in our glutes!
Postural Shift
January 01, 2014
Happy New Year Moms! Now that the family is gone, Christmas cookies are eaten, and presents are all opened, you are probably settling back into your normal life as a mom. If you are like most people, you are probably thinking about the new year and how you’d like to make it even better than last year. One of the areas you might like to improve in the New Year is your health. Let’s face it: as a mom, caring for yourself usually takes last place. You make sure your kids’ needs are met, take care of your spouse, and after that, if there’s time, you take care of you. Sadly this often leaves us moms disappointed…with how our clothes fit, with how often we get to exercise, and with our lack of energy.
Let’s make this year different! To be the best moms we can be, we must take care of ourselves. The good news is that by carving out just 20 minutes a day you can make some big changes this year! Over the next 3 weeks, we are going to tackle the top 3 trouble spots for moms:
December 13, 2013
Whether it's Spring Break, Summer or the holidays, travel with baby can be hectic, with crowded airports and frazzled nerves. But a flying with a baby during the busy times like the holidays doesn’t have to be stressful, according to MiniTime.com, the family travel website that provides parents with travel recommendations based on the ages of their kids. Here are MiniTime’s top tips for stress-free holiday air travel with a baby:
Consider an alternate airport.
Not only can it be significantly cheaper to fly in and out of a regional airport within a short drive of a major hub, but smaller airports tend to offer a more pleasant experience anyway, with fewer crowds, shorter lines and cheaper parking.
Grab the first flight out.
You can greatly reduce your chances of getting delayed if you book a morning take-off. As the day goes on, there’s often a domino effect as one delayed flight bumps back into the next, which is why afternoon and evening flights are more likely to get log-jammed.
December 10, 2013
Traveling with children can be a fairly daunting task, a friend once told me it could be compared to swimming in a pool of sand. You just don't get very far, very quickly. Just like so many other things in life change when you become a mom, so does the way you travel. Gone were the days of one carry on, you now have to pack spare outfits, bottles, toys and so much more. My son Atticus and I make a pretty nice travel duo. We have flown around the country together, and in under 2 years racked up 87,000 miles together. Not too shabby for a tot that up until recently did not know how to zip his sweater. I'd love to say we have traveled to foreign lands, but MommyCon keeps us pretty busy domestically, and we have kept our travel to seventeen contiguous US states. When we travel I try to keep things concise and efficient. I learned long ago that some comforts of home should just be left behind, and in hopes of inspiring my fellow mothers to take flight and travel,
November 22, 2013
We're walking through a tunnel of coastal tea trees. The end of the tunnel is black, until sunlight pokes through, leaving the silhouette of a big wallaby, furiously jumping straight towards me. A second passes as both the wallaby and I realise what the two-headed creature we're facing is. When I do, I grab my camera out of my Ergo pocket, but it's already too late: the wallaby and her joey have jumped off our hiking path, into the bush.
We are spending a month in Australia, where my husband is working. The children and I are enjoying all of Melbourne's wildlife, zoos and child-friendly museums, the superb coffee, cakes and ethnic vegetarian food, and meeting up with friends from various places and phases in our lives. I feel right at home in this country full of marsupials, since I often feel like one. I don't think I've taken my Ergo off since the day my son was born five years ago. The baby carrier carries my most precious cargo, and I don't just mean my children. I can't think of a
November 20, 2013
If you’re anything like me, the holidays are a time when your boundaries lessen or—complete honesty—totally disappear. (My favorite day-after-Thanksgiving breakfast? Pumpkin pie, thank you very much.) Luckily, Mama & Baby Love’s Stephanie Brandt Cornais, mama to 4-year-old Penelope, was up for sharing a few tips on how to have a healthier, saner season.
What are some of your Thanksgiving traditions?
Last Thanksgiving was my first grain free Thanksgiving. I was worried that my family might feel deprived, but it ended up going really well. So I’m excited to do that again this year. I’m trying to think back to the first time I did a roast turkey…. It was six or seven years ago, and I remember being terrified. It seemed so out of my league. But once I realized how easy roasting a chicken is, I just pretended the turkey was a bigger, fatter chicken. And I’m happy to say I can do a pretty damn good turkey these days. Also, my aim with Thanksgiving is good enough; I’m not going for Martha
November 19, 2013
It was a warm and sunny day in October when my husband and I met our daughter for the first time.
I was certain I would burst with excitement as we drove the hour commute from our home to the home of her foster parents’. I was giddy as I spoke with Brian about what it would be like to see her sweet face and cuddle with her for the first time. Brian was also looking forward to meeting her but he was very nervous. He is the thinker in our family and I am the feeler. We had only found out about Naomi a few days prior. Her caseworker had called to inform us we had been chosen to be her legal risk placement. The only other information we received was that she was a 5 month old African American girl. I immediately told him that yes we would be thrilled to be her family and we wanted to meet her right away.
I then had a few phone conversations with her foster parents. They were the most delightful, warm and loving people. They were in their seventies and had taken care