Natural as Possible Mom

Whirley-Pop Stovetop Popcorn Popper, $22.39 at Amazon.com Pros: Easy to use and clean. Stores easily. Makes delicious popcorn. Comes with a 25-year warranty on all mechanical parts. Manufactured (mostly) and assembled in the U.S.A. (Lid assembly pieces are made in China; Pot is manufactured here in the States as per Wabash Valley Farms customer service.) [...]

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I keep asking the kids what they want for Christmas. Since they don’t watch much TV — and the TV they do watch doesn’t have commercials — they haven’t given me much to work with. The big one wants a Lalaloopsy doll. The little one wants a purple Pillow Pet. We’ve taken care of both [...]

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Hey, thanks so much for your recent letter to me. You know, the one congratulating me for being a mom-to-be and telling me how important it is to wait to deliver until 39 or 40 weeks? I really appreciate it, and I must tell you that I am completely on board with you on the [...]

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Big Girl inherited many of my positive traits, but just as many of the negative ones. One such trait is the inability to let others help her. She seems to want to carry the world on her slim little shoulders. Another that goes hand-in-hand with the first: Projection. She is always thinking those what ifs. [...]

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Christmas trees are as individual as fingerprints. Some people favor white trees with multicolored twinkling lights. Others go for a more monochrome look with the lights, the ornaments, and the tree skirt all matching in shades of red, silver or gold. Tinsel, angel hair, garland, lights, stars, angels — there’s a look, a decorative element [...]

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Little Girl was up every few hours on Wednesday night. We thought it was because we took blanka away, but it turns out she was developing a fever. I figured it out after she woke up sobbing at 9:45 a.m. Gathering her into my arms, I realized instantly that she was putting off as much [...]

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A recent Consumer Reports story took a look at the safety of apple and grape juices, and the results were less-than-comforting. The organization tested a variety of juices including some organic options and found both arsenic and lead — neurotoxins that can cause a multitude of problems such as bladder, lung, and skin cancer as [...]

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Sodastream Soda Maker machines and kids range in cost from $79 to $249. SodaMix flavors cost $4.99, $6.99, or $9.99 depending on the variety and size. Carbonators start at $29.99 and go up to $99.99. Pros: Eliminates the need to purchase plastic bottles and cans of soda; Healthy options such as sugar-sweetened soda syrup, seltzer, [...]

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It’s easy to say I don’t want anything for Christmas except a happy, healthy family and friends who fall into the same categories. In fact, usually it’s so easy to say that it’s exactly what I’ve professed to for years. This Christmas, however, I find myself at a crossroads of sorts. A moral dilemma if [...]

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