Tag Archive for 'family'

My Summer Bucket List

Published on May 22, 2012 in Activity and Family Time. 3 Comments Tags: , , , , , .

My recent hiatus from blogging has given me some time to think as I’ve refocused my attention on my family, myself, and others. I think it all started about 3 months ago with a badly-sprained ankle.

It was pure clumsiness on my part. I came home that evening from work unable to walk and in desperation as I wondered what I would do with my husband leaving town the next morning for a week-long business trip.

It was incredibly humbling. It was one of the first times I reached out to friends and neighbors and asked for help. As I was crawling across my kitchen floor on my hands and knees just to get to the bathroom, I knew I couldn’t do it on my own.

It started with a request for crutches on our neighborhood freecycle group on Facebook. And by evening’s end, I had crutches, an ankle boot, and meals volunteered from friends and neighbors, some of whom I’d never met before. Other close friends came to my home in the morning to help me dress my kids and drive them to and from daycare and shuttle me to dr’s appointments.

I couldn’t believe that people were so willing to help, especially when I felt like for so long I’ve been immersed in my own little world doing little for others because I just didn’t know how I could find any more time in the day.

So now I’m making the time – for more quality time with my family, to take care of myself, and to do more for others. Rather than rush to my computer at the first opportunity, I’m spending more time with my girls reading Dr Seuss and singing lullabies at bedtime, going on dates with my dear husband, taking meals to sick friends, washing my face and getting to sleep at night.

I apologize that this means less time for PureBebe, but I hope that you understand. I don’t want to look back on these years with guilt knowing I could have been more present.

And so I’ve vowed that this summer, I am going to continue re-focusing my attention and re-balancing my life. And I think what better way to do so than with a summer bucket list. I’ve seen these floating around Pinterest and blogs I follow lately, and I’ve been inspired.

My bucket list is not a to do list, though, but an idea list. I won’t expect to do all of these, but these are among the things I could and would love to do with my family. I will definitely make time for some of them.

In fact, just last week, I took a day off of work and took my girls to our local farm for U-pick strawberries. We had the most wonderful time. We spent the morning picking and eating strawberries and the afternoon feeding baby animals, climbing on playgrounds, and drinking slushies in the sun. We were sad to see the day come to an end, but I hope to take them back again soon. So this tops our bucket list.

  1. Visit our local farm and pick fruits and vegetables – Check!
  2. Make homemade ice cream – Check! Stay tuned for my recipe.
  3. Frequent the farmer’s market.
  4. Try my hand at canning & preserving.
  5. Buy a popsicle mold, and make our own popsicles.
  6. Camp out in the backyard. Roast smores over the campfire.
  7. Hand-written thank you notes to all those who have helped me with my injury.
  8. Go for a picnic.
  9. Play in the rain or run through the sprinklers.
  10. Host a playdate for my girls and their best friends.
  11. Host a BBQ for family friends.
  12. Take a few lessons from my hubby, and learn to use our smoker.
  13. Visit the Washington DC National Zoo.
  14. See the space shuttle Discovery at the National Air & Space Museum – we saw it fly right over our house and were in awe!
  15. Fly a kite at the Washington Monument.
  16. Ride in the paddle boats at the Tidal Basin.
  17. Decorate our driveway with sidewalk chalk.
  18. Catch fireflies late at night – a fond memory I have from my own childhood.
  19. Plan and do random acts of kindness for others.
  20. Spend a whole day in our pajamas.
What’s on your bucket list? I’m taking my list to Pinterest to add to my ideas there. If you have a bucket list you’d like to share, leave a comment below!
-Jasmine

 

 

 

 

 

Happy Mother’s Day from Purebebe!

Published on May 13, 2012 in Holidays. 1 Comment Tags: , , , , .

We hope that you are enjoying the beautiful day and soaking in every ounce of Mother’s Day Love!

Here’s a photo of me with two of the most amazing moms that I know, my Mom and Grandmother. My mother for her selflessness, passion, energy, strength and endless love; and my Grandmother for her loving and nurturing nature, patience, determination, and she has always told the best stories at bedtime. :)

Many wishes to you for a happy Mother’s Day!!!

-Heather and Jasmine

Creating a Neighborhood “Freecycle”

Published on April 11, 2012 in Baby Gear and Eco-Friendly. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , .

Last Christmas season, a few residents in my neighborhood decided to create a ‘freecycle’ Facebook page, in an effort to have a more “green” holiday. Basically the idea was to take toys your kids don’t use anymore and swap them for toys that your kids want/need.

One of the biggest benefits about a neighborhood site over craigslist and other freecycle sites is that the geography is limited so you know that the goods are just around the corner, which is super convenient. People leave the goods in plastic grocery bags, and you leave the money for the seller in a pre-determined spot (or hand it over at the door).

Well, pretty soon toys turned into clothing, household goods, and basically everything under the sun was getting listed on our ‘freecycle’ site. After the holidays, we decided to keep the site going, and ended up creating additional sales sites for various items to be sold.

You, too, can start a similar site for your neighborhood. Here is what you need to know to get started:

1. You’ll need to have a Facebook account. I’m pretty sure everyone has one these days, so this shouldn’t be a barrier.

2. Create a Facebook “Group” for your neighborhood and invite your neighbors and/or friends.

3. Don’t forget to set your Group’s security settings. We have ours set so that residents have to be invited by other residents, and other friends can’t see what you post / comment.

4. Take a photo of whatever you’d like to sell or give away, and post a brief description of the item.

And here are a few lessons we’ve learned along the way:

1. Decide how you want to limit the geography. At some point, you want to draw the line so you don’t lose the convenience of picking up items from a neighbor.

2. Relating to point #3 above about security settings, groups should be set to “secret”. The benefit is that your friends won’t see your posts or comments in their feeds. One woman in our community learned this the hard way. When the group was open, she posted a Christmas gift from her MIL who then saw her post. Also, a “secret” group can’t be found on Facebook. You have to be invited by a member of the group.

3. Don’t leave home addresses for the drop-off/pick up under the photo Comments for everyone to see. Instead, send a personal message to each other. At one point, items left on porches began to disappear. No one is sure whether it was because a member of the group was watching posts for addresses or if it was just a random thief spotting goods on porches, or whether donation-related services mistakenly picked up the bags on people’s porches. Either way, it’s always better to be anonymous with your home address.

Below are a couple of photos of things that were free or that I’ve bought for my kids (from the site):

These were free:

Ladybug Slippers

I bought this used bike for $15:

Used Bike

Newborn Euphoria

Published on March 21, 2012 in Learning & Development and Parenting & Discipline. 1 Comment Tags: , , , , , , .

I love newborns. When they sleep, their sweet faces scrunch up, their lips pucker, they whimper, smile, and make some of the cutest involuntary facial expressions and noises. I could seriously stare at my six-week old’s precious little face all night long. Especially when she’s in a really deep, serene sleep and her face bears a look of utter peacefulness.

And they smell really, really, REAlly divine. Like a bed of flowers. Even their little bums smell good. I don’t know what gives them their fragrance (hormones maybe?), but I do know that it’s one of the most precious, fantastic-ly delicious and enjoyable scents that I’ve ever experienced in life.

As much as I’m yearning for a night full of slumber myself, like longer than say 3 or 4 hours, I know that I will miss not having a newborn in our house.

What makes me the saddest is knowing that if we decide that 3 kids completes our family, then the next newborn in our house will probably be when my kids have babies. And of course as much as I love newborns, I don’t want that to happen for a long, long, LONG time.

I can’t wait to watch my baby girl grow. What color will her hair be? Will her eyes stay blue? Will she love books as much as her sisters? What will her sweet voice sound like?

So much to look forward to.

Ultimately, I guess this is why photo albums were invented – so that we can relive a time in life that can’t be returned to. To savor the moments that have passed.

And to dream about the future.

-What did you like/dislike about the newborn phase?

St. Patty’s Day Sugar Cookies

Published on March 14, 2012 in Organic and Recipes. 1 Comment Tags: , , , , , , , .

I know, I know, this photo is from Valentine’s Day. And clearly I had my act together enough to get this recipe out in time for Valentine’s Day. ;) So…rather than wait until St. Patty’s Day has come and gone, I wanted to publish this recipe because it is SO perfect for St. Patty’s Day cookies! I’ll be making these with my girls to celebrate our Irish roots.

I usually use organic flour, butter, sugar, and eggs. And for the icing? I mix organic powdered sugar with milk and mix in a little canned beet juice. For St. Patty’s day cookies, you could mix in a little juice from a can of asparagus or puree a few spinach leaves in water and mix into the sugar/milk mixture. Sounds gross, but with the tiny amount you’ll use, you won’t be able to taste the veggies. Try to avoid those food dyes!

St. Patty’s Day Sugar Cookies

Ingredients:

2 3/4 c all-purpose flour
1 t baking soda
1/2 t baking powder
1 c butter, softened
1 1/2 c white sugar
1 egg
1 t vanilla extract

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. In a small bowl, stir together flour, baking soda, and baking powder.

In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until smooth. Beat in the egg and vanilla. Gradually blend in the dry ingredients. Roll dough into rounded balls (using a teaspoon), and place onto ungreased cookie sheets.

Bake 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven, or until golden. Let stand on cookie sheet for two minutes before removing to cool on wire racks.

Praying for Poop: When Your Newborn has Jaundice

Published on March 8, 2012 in Health & Safety. 8 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , .

My newborn was born a month ago. As many of you know, the first seven days of her life were full of trips to the hospital to have her bilirubin blood levels checked. By her fifth day of life, her bilirubin levels peaked at dangerously high levels and she was sent to the hospital for phototherapy to lay “under the lights” for 24 hours. Although my husband and I knew that jaundice is very common among newborns, it didn’t help alleviate our anxiety over the fact that our baby’s tiny body was struggling and there was nothing more we could do to help her. We both took turns sitting next to her in the hospital, praying for poop.

That’s right, poop. (Suddenly I’m having flashbacks to Triumph, the Insult Comic Dog).

Why poop, you ask?

Jaundice, or a yellowing of the baby’s skin and eyes, is caused by excess bilirubin in the baby’s blood. Bilirubin is produced by a normal breakdown of red blood cells. Jaundice occurs when bilirubin builds up faster than a newborn’s liver can break down the bilirubin and pass it, via poop, from the baby’s body. Newborns make more bilirubin than adults and many newborn’s livers, not yet fully developed, may not be able to remove enough bilirubin from the blood.

High levels of bilirubin, usually above 25 mg, can cause deafness, cerebral palsy, or other forms of brain damage in some babies. In less common cases, jaundice may indicate another condition, such as an infection or a thyroid problem. The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommends that all infants should be examined for jaundice within a few days of birth. An estimated 60% of newborns have jaundice, many of which will not require additional treatment.

What to Expect if Your Infant has Jaundice
1. Heel pricks.
This is how they extract blood from newborns to check their bilirubin level. Most labs will put a foot warmer on your baby’s foot before they prick their heel. If your lab does not do this, I would find a lab that does. My second daughter had to have her bilirubin levels checked and it took the lab technician 25 excruciating minutes, while she screamed, to push enough blood out of her heel to fill a small vial for testing – because her heel was cold. If their heel is properly warmed, the blood will drip out (instead of being squeezed out) and should only take a couple of minutes.

2. Different ‘acceptable’ bilirubin levels based on your newborn’s age.
The older your newborn is, the higher the acceptable level of bilirubin. Of course, there is a ceiling. Most newborns’ bilirubin peaks when they are 5-7 days old, and then it begins to decrease. Generally, when a newborn’s bilirubin level gets close to 20, most doctors will require that they get phototherapy treatment immediately – but ultimately your pediatrician will determine what level is safe for your newborn.

3. If you’re a breastfeeding mom, you might be required to introduce a bottle early
I have nursed two babies before my third and have always been blessed with a massive supply. No matter how amazing your supply is, if you have a jaundice baby, the doctors will probably suggest that you supplement baby with breastmilk in bottles. My pediatrician recommended that we offer our daughter a bottle after every feeding with an additional 1 oz of breastmilk. She wanted to make sure that we gave our newborn the opportunity to “fill up” after every meal, since the only way newborns can eradicate jaundice from their bodies is to poop it out. I didn’t hesitate to follow doctors orders, despite my concern that she might reject my breast by introducing the bottle when she was only a few days old. Well, doing this had no effect on breastfeeding. She is over a month old now, and I typically nurse during the day and offer her bottles of breastmilk during the night (makes it easier on me since my husband can give her a bottle and I can get a few hours of uninterrupted sleep).

4. Several types of treatment options, home phototherapy and/or hospital phototherapy
Hospital Phototherapy while in Recovery & Postpartum
Our newborn’s bilirubin levels were elevated before we were released from the hospital. Because of this, our pediatrician recommended that our daughter be placed on the lights. Since her levels weren’t high enough to warrant triple phototherapy (which we’ll get into later), she was placed on lights. The photo on the left is what this phototherapy option looks like. The lights are below the baby, and they are allowed to have a blanket on top of them, exposing their back, bottom, and back of their legs to the lights.

Home Phototherapy
The last day we were in the hospital, our daughter’s pediatrician prescribed a home phototherapy kit. The hospital nurses called an outside agency, and within a couple of hours a representative from a phototherapy company came to the hospital and trained my husband and me how to use the unit. She was to stay attached to the unit 24×7 for several days – while eating, sleeping, even while having her diaper changed. The light was a small piece of plastic, about 4 inches by 6 inches, that was to be placed on our daughter’s back. A long cord came out from below the plastic, that had to be plugged into an electrical outlet.

Every day, we were required to return to the hospital’s lab to have her heel pricked and her bilirubin level checked. By the time she was 5 days old, her bilirubin level was so high that our pediatrician told us that she needed to go back to the hospital for hospital phototherapy.

Hospital Double or Triple Phototherapy
While the lights at the hospital are much stronger than the home phototherapy unit, insurance usually dictates what bilirubin level are “high enough” to warrant hospital double/triple phototherapy.

For hospital double/triple phototherapy, the newborn is placed in an incubator-looking device, and the lights are underneath and above the newborn. Although it is quite warm under the lights, the newborn is not allowed to wear anything other than a diaper and a pair of glasses designed to protect their eyes. It is very uncomfortable for most newborns, as they usually prefer to be swaddled. In the incubator, their arms and legs flail about and they constantly struggle to get comfortable. Our newborn also swatted at her glasses on her eyes, which required either her dad or I to be sitting next to her 24×7 so that we could adjust her glasses every few minutes to protect her eyes.

While in the hospital, your newborn’s blood will get drawn every 6 hours. When the baby’s biirubin levels drop below levels that the hospital doctors will deem safe, the baby will be sent home.

5. A rebound bilirubin check
Once your newborn is released from the hospital, they will have to have their heel pricked at least once more. The doctors call this the “rebound check.” Basically, if the newborn’s bilirubin returns to dangerous levels 6-12 hours after leaving the hospital, they will likely require additional phototherapy. The hospital staff assured us that high rebounding bilirubin levels were rare. When we had our daughter’s bilirubin levels checked 12 hours after she was released from the hospital, they had decreased slightly from when she was released from the hospital. This indicated that her body had responded well to the phototherapy and would continue to eradicate the bilirubin over time, through her poop.

And today, thankfully, she is jaundice-free.

-Have your children had jaundice?
-What treatment options did your child undergo to eradicate the jaundice?

Will the New Princess ‘Couture’ Help or Hinder Our Daughters’ Sense of Self-Esteem?

Published on January 19, 2012 in Learning & Development and Parenting & Discipline. 6 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , , , .

By hudsonthego, Flickr

About a year ago, I took my 3 year old daughter to Target to buy a new blanket for naptime at school. I told my daughter, whose favorite color at the time was blue, that she could pick out any soft blanket that she liked. As we strolled down the aisle, we passed Rapunzel, Cinderella, Snow White, Ariel, Dora the Explorer, and several other “girl” blankets. But when we saw the blue blanket, Spiderman, she got excited and told me she wanted that one. Despite the giggles coming from the observer lady in our aisle, I put Spiderman in our basket and headed to the register.

Now four years old, my daughter has expressed little interest in “princess culture.” And to be honest, we do have quite a bit of princess merchandise in our house. From dress-up clothes to princess learning laptops, to princess pull-ups to princess coloring books, you can’t escape the princess culture these days. In fact, you can hardly buy little girls’ panties these days without having a smiling princess across your child’s bottom.

I would be lying if I said that her non-interest in the princess culture wasn’t a huge relief to me. Just like the Barbie culture that I grew up in, I began to think about the type of impact princess culture would have on my daughter’s sense of self esteem.

How would she learn to define beauty? Would she begin comparing her looks to the princesses?

My husband and I have been making a conscious effort to compliment and highlight her inner strengths – how smart, capable, independent, loving, caring and generous she is. But would any of our efforts be over-shadowed by a culture obsessed with princesses, toddlers in tiaras and the Kardashians?

For some reason I just don’t remember growing up being surrounded by all of the princess ‘couture.’ I went to Disney World as a child, and loved the princess stories. But I didn’t wear princess underwear, and I didn’t own any princess dresses or tiaras.

So how did we get to where we are today – a culture that’s been engulfed by princesses?

When I saw a video of Peggy Orenstein on Anderson Cooper, everything started to become crystal clear. As it turns out, mass-marketed princess merchandise hit our stores around the year 2000. And as Peggy says in the video below, from 2000 to 2009, the princess merchandise industry went from a $300MM to a $4B industry. By 2009, there were 26,000 Disney Princess products in stores!

At the end of the day, the real question is how do we raise self-confident, independent, loving, caring, accepting children, in a culture that is obsessed with external beauty?

I can’t say I have the answers (but if you do, please share!).

As a parent, I think it’s important to remember as the kids get older that they are extremely vulnerable to external influences, and should be reminded that beauty comes from within rather than what they look like on the outside. That being said, it’s also important to compliment them and nurture their attributes that matter the most – how helpful, smart, loving and caring that they are.

“Holy Moly” Chunky Guacamole

Published on January 17, 2012 in Food, Health & Safety, Organic and Recipes. 6 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , .

Although guacamole is traditionally Summer fare, it’s one of those foods that has a lot of nutritional value, yet still can be considered comfort food. We make this recipe in our house and serve it with salad, on chicken tortilla night, spread it on homemade turkey sandwiches, or eat it as a snack with carrots and/or tortilla chips. YUM.

And the best part about this comfort food (other than its taste)? It is super healthy for you! Studies have shown that avocados can help prevent breast cancer (as it is high in oleic acid), prohibit the growth of prostate cancer, and destroy pre-cancerous and cancerous oral cancer cells without harming healthy cells. They are also known to lower cholesterol, reduce the incidence of heart disease and stroke due to the fruit’s high levels of folate. Avocados are also chalk full of Vitamin E, which protects our skin from free radicals.

“Holy Moly” Chunky Guacamole

Ingredients:
3 – 4 small ripe avocados, or 2-3 large ripe avocados
1/2 medium-sized red onion
2-3 large garlic cloves, pressed (if you REALLY love garlic, add 3 cloves)
1 large tomato, diced (make sure to remove the seeds & pulp beforehand)
juice of 2 limes
1/4 c fresh cilantro
ground cayenne pepper, to taste
coarse salt and black pepper, to taste

Directions:
Wash the avocados, then separate the flesh (from the seed and peel) with a spoon and place the flesh in a bowl. Gently mash the avocados with a fork, being careful not to mash them up too much (especially if you’re like me and like your guacamole a little on the chunky side).

Add the onion, tomato, garlic, cilantro, cayenne pepper, and a little salt and pepper. Mix the ingredients together. Gradually add the lime juice, tasting the guacamole as you go until desired taste is reached. You can add additional salt and pepper to taste, if needed, as well.

2 tips for preventing your guacamole from turning brown while storing it in the refrigerator:
1) Place the seeds of the avocado in the bowl with the guacamole.

2) Cover the guacamole with saran wrap, so that none to very little oxygen bubbles are between the saran wrap and guacamole.

Enjoy!

How Did You Announce Your Pregnancy?

Published on January 12, 2012 in Pregnancy. 8 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , .

This past year, Christmas morning started with an incredible announcement in my family. Before the presents were opened, my brother and his wife passed out Christmas cards to all of our family. I think most of us had a feeling there was something more inside than just Christmas wishes this year, so we all opened ours at once to a fantastic announcement:

He and his wife were expecting their first child! And how sweet is that picture! Aren’t those the cutest little moccasins?!? I can’t wait for those little feet to enter this world.

And to add to the excitement, my brother’s announcement was followed by an announcement from my other brother and sister-in-law that they were expecting their second! AND…both babies are due within a single day of each other! Lots of hugs and congratulations ensued. It was so exciting to have all of our family together for that moment. It’s not often that all 7 of us children make it into one room with our families.

In fact, when my husband and I announced both of my pregnancies, we were 2000 miles away. By the time we were expecting our second child, nearly all of our family had discovered Facebook though so we thought we’d let our first child make the announcement there. My husband edited our privacy settings for a period of time allowing only close family to see our postings, and then we put up our announcement: 

We called our parents first, because of course we wanted them to be the first to know, and directed them to our latest addition to Facebook. It was tradition for us to call whenever we uploaded a new set of pictures of our little one for them to see, and so their first reaction was “Oh, how cute she’s starting to read”.  It took a moment for them to look a little closer and see our message, but then there was plenty of excitement. Once the word was out amongst family, we opened up our privacy settings to our friends and shared the big news.

How did you announce your pregnancy? We’d love to hear your story!

 

Reboot Your Health in 2012 with Immune and Energy-Boosting Tips

Published on January 3, 2012 in Food, Health & Safety and Organic. 4 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , .

Happy 2012! We hope that you enjoyed the holidays and that the new year has started off well.

We will be focusing on health and nutrition throughout the month of January. To start out, we have created a list of ways in which you can reboot your family’s health in 2012, including how to boost your immune system and increase energy levels. We wish you and your family a healthy year ahead!

Boost Your Immune System

1. Eat as many organic foods as possible
Plain and simple, organic foods do not contain genetically modified organisms (GMOs). Genetically modified organisms were invented so that crops could be sprayed the heck out of with pesticides. If you don’t eat organic foods, especially fresh fruits and vegetables, you’re consuming lots of pesticides. Yes, it is true that organic foods are generally more expensive than non-organic foods. However, if you know where to shop, the difference is minimal. See our comparison shopping results of organic food prices versus non-organic food prices.

If you are beginning your organic food journey, then it’s important not to feel overwhelmed from the get-go. Please read our article on Simple Steps to Begin the Organic Food Journey.

2. Eliminate (or reduce) your intake of processed foods
For the same reasons as above, processed foods are loaded with GMOs and other toxins that are not healthy for your body. If you’re used to eating hot dogs, mac-n-cheese, chicken nuggets and other easy go-to foods, try substituting one or two of those meals with an easy homemade quinoa recipe, a nutrient rich kale Greek salad, black beans and rice, or our potato leek soup.

3. Take a probiotic supplement
Probiotics are beneficial bacteria that inhabit our digestive tract and leave behind useful by-products while bad bacteria leave behind disease promoting waste. Probiotics can be used to help with diarrhea, constipation, reflux (if your child has reflux, please talk to your pediatrician about incorporating a probiotic into their daily food intake), yeast infections, lactose intolerance, restoring the immune system after taking antibiotics, ear infections, acne, diaper rash, colic and a host of other common issues. You can buy a probiotic from your local health food store. Since they are living organisms, refrigeration is necessary.

My children and I are all taking Natural Creations Enterobiotic S-IGC 60Caps.

4. Take a daily multivitamin
A daily multivitamin will provide the essential vitamins and nutrients that your body needs and is not getting from a daily diet. You want a food-based vitamin, instead of a chemical vitamin, as we outline in our article “Is Your Child’s Vitamin Healthy?”

My kids take the Nordic Naturals Multivitamin Gummies.

5. Drink a nutrient-rich smoothie 3-4 times per week
Chalk full of phytochemicals and antioxidants, a smoothie will help your immune system pack a powerful punch against invading bacteria. I have been alternating giving my kids their daily multivitamins with smoothies. So on days they get a smoothie, I don’t give them their multivitamin. If you’d like to try our liquid vitamins, here’s our recipe for our immune-boosting smoothie.

6. Stop using chemical-laden body care products
Right now is a good time to take inventory on how many chemical-based products you use on a daily basis. If you’re ready to “get real” and take stock of how many products are junking up your immune system, this article is a great place to start.

Boost Your Energy Level

7. Make sure you’re getting plenty of Vitamin D
Are you tired all the time? Feeling sluggish? You should go get your blood checked for vitamin D at your next Dr. appointment. I am in my 33rd week of pregnancy and have noticed a HUGE difference in days that I take an additional vitamin D supplement and days that I forget to take my extra capsule. Vitamin D is needed by your body to absorb calcium, and helps prevent osteoporosis in adults and rickets in children. And according to the NIH, laboratory and animal studies suggest that vitamin D could help prevent colon, prostate and breast cancers.

If you’d like to read more about the importance of vitamin D, see our article called “What is Your Vitamin D ‘Number’?”

8. Exercise
Among other healthy benefits, exercise helps control weight, combats disease, releases endorphins that improves ones’ mood, boosts energy, and promotes healthy sleep.

9. Make sure you’re getting plenty of sleep!
Sleep is very important for our minds and bodies to function normally. ‘Nuff said. Now go get some shut-eye!

-What do you do to keep yourself and your family healthy?

-Heather

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