Food Focus: Sea Vegetables

In traditional Chinese healing, sea vegetables correspond to the winter season and to the kidneys, adrenal glands, bladder and reproductive organs.

The strengthening, balancing and cleansing properties of sea vegetables are known to help these organs as well as the hair, skin and nails.

Sea vegetables (or seaweeds) provide a large array minerals and vitamins, including calcium, iron and iodine, and can help balance hormone and thyroid levels in the body.

Eating too many processed foods or foods grown in mineral-depleted soil can result in a lack of minerals in the body, leading to cravings for salty or sugary foods. Adding sea vegetables to your food repertoire can help balance your energy levels and alleviate cravings.

My kids love to snack on seaweed out of convenient packets- especially Dulse (has a bit of a jerky texture) and Nori

I also like to add a strip of Kombu to soups to impart extra minerals, and adding a strip while cooking dried beans will make the beans softer and easier to digest (ahem, less gas!)

Products, Recommendations

Holiday Shopping Guide For Kids ages 0-5

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Looking for something fun, eco friendly, safe, non-toxic or just different for your little one? We have a 5 year old and a 2 year old, and here is a list of some of their favorite things.

All the items on this list are eco-friendly and non-toxic toys, or they promote active or educational play.

These make great gifts for both boys and girls:

Age 3 months+

We LOVE these Indestructible books that don’t scratch the baby when he chews on the pages!

Indestructibles: Baby Faces

These amber teething necklaces really worked for our boys. Amber is a fossilized resin that contains a powerful antioxidant and analgesic called succinic acid. When the amber lies against your baby’s skin, his body heat will warm the fossilized resin and allow the release of the healing and pain-relieving properties. Plus, they are totally cute!

Certified Baltic Amber Baby Teething Necklace w/The Art of CureTM Jewelry Pouch

Sophie was peeking out of our 3 month old’s stocking on his first Christmas.

Vulli Sophie the Giraffe Teether

The green beans were my baby’s favorite.

Under the Nile Organic Cotton Veggies in a Crate

Age 1+

Kids as young as one love these blocks, and my husband enjoys playing with them too. I love gifts that keep their interest for YEARS!

Tegu Tints Pocket Pouch 8 Piece

This was a one year old birthday gift in my house, and both of our boys have loved playing with it:

City Beads

How cute is this truck? We’ve had one for 4 years, and it’s still a big hit.

Green Toys Recycling Truck

Age 2-4

This balance bike is one of the best things we own. Transitioning from it to a regular pedaled bike (no training wheels) was as easy as putting our 4 year old son on the bike. Our 2 year old has been riding it since about 22 months, and LOVES it.

Classic Balance Bike

My son was 10 months old when he hopped on his brother’s scooter for the first time. He was thrilled when he got his very own for his 2nd birthday. We love these scooters- they are also great for big cities (and travel to big cities!) as it helps the little ones keep up with our long strides. Then when they get tired, you just let them stand on the scooter as you pull them along. Genius. And super fun!

Mini Kick Scooter – Red

Who doesn’t love a tool box?

Work Bench ‘N Box

I have had countless cups of tea and bowls of soup and platefuls of cookies from this set. I love the gender neutral color, and that they are made out of recycled milk cartons!

Green Toys Cookware and Dining Set

Happy Shopping!

Prevention

8 Ways to Avoid Phthlates

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Here I am again with my natural products spiel. But it is so important! Cancer of every kind is on the rise. And many many hormone disrupting chemicals are in our lotions and other products, and these toxins contribute to infertility, miscarriage, birth defects, learning disabilities and preterm birth (to name a few).

Another study has just come out linking exposure to phthalates during pregnancy with preterm birth. Preterm birth is the leading cause of infant death.

Phthlates are chemicals used to make plastics flexible and soft.

They compared women who gave birth spontaneously before 37 weeks with those who carried their babies to term by analyzing urine samples 3 times during pregnancy for levels of phthalate metabolites.

From JAMA Pediatrics:

“Conclusions and Relevance Women exposed to phthalates during pregnancy have significantly increased odds of delivering preterm. Steps should be taken to decrease maternal exposure to phthalates during pregnancy.”

It is crystal clear. Here are 8 ways to avoid phthalates for our health, and the health of our babies:

1. Check the labels of your products. Phthlates show us as DBP (di-n-butyl phthalate) and DEP (diethyl phthalate) in nail polishes, deodorants, perfumes and cologne, aftershave lotions, shampoos, hair gels and hand lotions. BzBP (benzylbutyl phthalate) is also used.

2. Check the products you use in the Skin Deep Database.

3. Use glass for drinking, eating, food storage, etc. Also buy food packaged in glass as an alternative to plastic or cans.

4. Look for fragrance free products- many phthalates hide under the term “fragrance”.

5. Make your own skin care products out of items in your kitchen! Think oatmeal scrubs, olive oil moisturizer, etc.

6. When using plastic, look at the recycling code on the bottom- 3 or 7 are most likely to contain phthalates.

7. Never microwave in plastic, as the plastic leaches into the food.

8. Don’t put plastic in the dishwasher- the extreme heat breaks down the plastic and makes it easier to ingest.

Products, Recommendations

Bundle Me

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Tonight we walked to an event in extremely cold weather- cold for anywhere, but frigid for Austin, TX…especially when two days ago we were playing outside in 85 degree heat.

It was 36 degrees, windy and kind of sleeting. Having lived in New York City for many winters, I actually enjoyed walking briskly in the cold, totally wrapped from head to toe- complete with my floor length wool coat.

My kids were in a bit of shock. We had them bundled up like crazy- my 5 year old in three layers, a down coat, hat, scarf, gloves and a blanket. My two year old had a snow suit layer, fleece lined jeans, a ski coat, gloves, and was tucked inside the JJ Cole BundleMe. Poor child was actually hot.

I don’t mind the cold when I’m prepared for it, and tonight we were prepared. As we were watching a Texas band play Christmas music, my husband leaned over to me and said that our two year old had become a side show with his blue stroller and sleeping bag. It was true- several people stopped us and told us they liked his “sleeping bag” and wished they were in it.

Stokke Stroller

So whenever lots of people talk about stuff we are using, I have to share.

This information is nothing new to those living in walkable cities in the northeast, as pretty much anyone with a baby has one. I’m talking about the JJ Cole BundleMe. Yes, it looks like a sleeping bag, and it keeps baby (or toddler- I have a BIG two year old who fits in it nicely, with room to spare) super warm and cozy. It fits over car seats and strollers with slots for the straps to easily slip through.

So if you live in a warm climate and you’ll be traveling somewhere cold this winter, this is for you. Or if you live in a cold climate and will soon have your first baby and don’t know what you need to keep baby warm, this is for you too. Or if you lived in Hawaii when you had your first baby and have recently moved to Elizabethtown, KY, and have a newborn and are facing 26 degree weather, this is for you.

Party

My Favorite Day

Holly 2 Comments

It’s my birthday.

Though I have always LOVED my birthday, I never really appreciated the significance of it being my “birth” day until I gave birth. Now I know why H. Jackson Brown, Jr. wrote in Life’s Little Instruction Book wrote, “On your birthday, send your mom a thank-you card.”

It is just as much my mom and dad’s birthday as it is mine. I love to think about the story I always hear about the day I was born- we lived in the mountains, there was a snowstorm, and only one other baby was born in the hospital that day. My older sister jumped three feet off the ground when telling people, “I have a baby sister! I have a baby sister!”

It was the day before Thanksgiving, and my mom and I spent our first Thanksgiving together in the hospital, while my dad and sister had Thanksgiving dinner at our church. The night they took me home from the hospital, it was freezing cold and I slept the whole night through. My mom and dad looked at each other thinking,”Wow- this baby is amazing. We are going to have it so easy with her.”

I never slept through the night again.

In fact, I remember waking up in the middle of the night and crawling into their bed when I was at least 6 years old. Maybe 7.

Every year on my son’s birthday I tell him the story of his birth, and how happy we were when he came into our lives and how much we celebrated that day. I can only hope I get the message across to him the same way my parents have always done for me.

So happy “birth” day to my mom and dad. How thankful I am to have both of you.