Category Archives: Prevention

Prevention

Green Christmas Tree

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Last year we chopped down our own organic Christmas tree.

The plan was to do it again this year, but then we actually thought about it. Realizing we have a very active five month old in tow, we decided to do the next best thing.

Buy a tree from Whole Foods, of course.

Is there anyone on the planet who does not know how much I love that store? They purchase the trees from Bottomley Evergreens & Farms– a family owned and operated farm in the Blue Ridge Mountains. For every tree that is cut down, two more trees are planted the following year. What’s not to love?

First we picked out a tree:

 

Then the terrific tree handler helped us prepare it for our journey home:

 

He tied it down tight:

 

And we’re off!

 

It was such a fun walk home, and melted my heart watching a three year old boy so proudly pulling his Christmas tree on his little red wagon. I wouldn’t trade that memory for chopping down our own tree any day.

 

How’s that for green?

Prevention

Ask Holly: How much is too much coconut water?

1 Comment

Hi Holly,

I am giving my son coconut water to drink every day as he seems to prefer it to water. (We live in Thailand so it’s available at every corner and fresh) He drinks app. the content of 1 coconut per day. I worry that he is getting too much sugar from it and if that much sweet liquid is not good for his teeth. Thank you for your answer!
p.s. besides that he still drinks milk formula

Katarina O.

Hi Katarina!

Thanks for your question- this is a good one. Technically coconut water is juice and pediatricians recommend no more than 4-6 ounces of juice a day for one year olds.

A young coconut can contain anywhere from 10 to 33 ounces of water. So try to limit your child’s intake of coconut water to 6 ounces and keep offering him plain water.

Another option is to dilute it with regular water- that way he still gets the flavor of the coconut but is consuming less sugar.
That’s great that he’s enjoying such a healthy beverage! Keep up the good work mama!

Prevention

Do You Have a List?

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Like most people, I keep a running list in the back of my mind of things I want to do during my lifetime. It gets updated often, as I check things off and add more.

I know these things won’t bring me true joy, but there’s nothing wrong with having events to look forward to. Plus, I  love crossing things off of lists.

I’ve not really thought of it as a bucket list,  but that is essentially what it is.

So today when I heard about a big giveaway Just Ask is doing that involved travel, I knew I had to enter. After all, travel is the common thread running through almost everything on my list.  All I have to do is share 15 things on my bucket list.

Here goes!

  1. Learn to speak a second language fluently
  2. Bicycle through wine country from vineyard to vineyard tasting every wine in my path
  3. Visit the small village in China where my great grandfather was born
  4. Seriously organize my closet (that would bring me such joy!)
  5. Play the piano more often and learn to play the ukulele well
  6. Spend at least 10 days in Bora Bora in one of those coconut thatched huts over the water
  7. Write a memoir
  8. Go back to school to become a Naturopathic Doctor
  9. Zen out at Miraval
  10. Chop my hair off
  11. Read all of the books on my bookshelves (how many lifetimes do I get?)
  12. Take my husband on his fantasy cross country Airstream trip
  13. Chill out at the Ice Hotel in Sweden
  14. Dine in the dark at Dans le Noir in Paris
  15. Hire a personal chef

This list is not to be confused with who I want to be as a person, what matters most to me in life, the love I have for my husband, family and friends, or the hopes and dreams I have for my children… all of that seemed a little too personal and soul baring to share. But it was really fun listing all of these things and is exciting to think about doing them!

This is my entry in the Just Ask Bucket List Getaway Giveaway. Just Ask offers a breast and ovarian cancer screening and is encouraging people to share 15 things that I want to enjoy in my lifetime as a reminder to be aware of my health. Want to enter? Head over to TodaysMama.com to get the details.