Guest Post:

As my second guest post (ever!) I am so happy to introduce Meghan, a dear friend of mine. She doesn't actually blog, but wanted to write a post for me! I thought it was fitting seems how July is Cord Blood Awareness Month and she actually has experienced banking her son's cord blood. I didn't know much about it, but thanks to Meghan I am fully aware! Here, Meghan describes her journey into motherhood- enjoy!

For any new mother-to-be, pregnancy brings on so many feelings and emotions that sometimes it’s hard to separate which feeling is which. For me, pregnancy brought on happiness—happiness that I was finally starting a family with my loving husband, Ryan; fear—fear that I wouldn’t be a good mother; and wonderment—wonder at how amazing it was that I was creating this little person inside of my body and wondering what sort of person my baby would become. When my son David was born, my whole world changed and refocused—my life was now all about my family (mostly David, of course) and I couldn’t be happier to begin on the journey of motherhood.

Pregnancy involved many more preparations than I had originally thought—I pictured a cute round belly and afternoons spent looking fabulous in cute maternity clothes while perusing baby shops, picking out equally fabulous clothes for my son. But life is full of transitions and fine details. With my round belly came morning sickness and swollen ankles. Trying to maintain my ‘cute maternity look’ required pregnancy exercise classes and not indulging in my ice cream sundaes topped with mountains of hot fudge. Small sacrifices for the big picture—a healthy baby boy.

More important than worrying about how I was looking and faring the pregnancy changes, was worrying about my baby’s future health. My side of the family has a scary history of leukemia that has taken loved ones too soon. Ryan’s side also has suffered from cancers and diabetes. There is no cure-all insurance to save my little David from future sniffles and ailments, but I wanted to do what I could to help him and his future brother and sisters from whatever sickness I could protect them from—this thought was what fueled my decision to use umbilical cord blood banking. After much research and deliberation, we chose to go through ViaCord, a private cord blood banking company. They we so helpful every step of the way! While there are few guarantees in life, we know that if anything were to ever happen to our David, (or another child down the road!), we have done anything and everything we possible can to help. 

David is a healthy, happy baby—although he is growing too quickly before our eyes! I’ve already started scaring Ryan with talks of our next addition to the family—I can’t help but love being a mommy!

Physical Activity for The Winter

The winter season plays havoc with your family’s fitness routine.  Cold, short days promote hibernation and tempt you to pack on pounds- unwanted pounds.  Promote family fitness by playing together, having fun and exercising all winter, inside and out!

There are plenty of great ways to stay active even when its cold or snowy outside. All you have to do is think outside the box and not let a little cold weather scare you! Here are some easy and fun ideas for your whole family:

Build an indoor obstacle course.  For hurdles, place sofa cushions, baseball plates, towels or other objects on the floor.  Arrange tables or chairs under which everyone can crawl.  Set a timer and challenge each family member to navigate the course.  Be sure to use caution and be safe at all times! Allow the winner to choose the next movie on movie night!

Create a fitness challenge.  Establish exercise stations throughout the house- this will be beneficial to Mom, Dad and Kids!  You can draw hopscotch on the kitchen floor- (Only if you ok with this).  Place a jump rope in the dining room.  Put an exercise ball in the family room.  Here’s what you do: Post a chart at each station and challenge a each family member to visit each station every day. After completing a station be sure to mark it on the chart- children will enjoy putting a god star next to their name!  At the end of the week, the family members who meet the challenge receive a special reward.

Play in the snow.  Build a snowman, a family of snowmen or a fort.  Going sledding can be one of the best winter days for everyone! Find a local hill that allows sledding, put on the snowsuits and grab some sleds. If you don’t have any many chain stores such as Wal-Mart, Target, K- Mart and Walgreens sell them for a reasonable price. If you want to get really creative and not spend money, try sledding using the top to your garbage can! 

found on: http://tinywhitedaisies.tumblr.com

Visit the park.  Bundle each family member in warm clothing, and enjoy playing on the swings, slides and monkey bars.  Most parks remain open during winter weather and give your family a free fitness outlet.

Meet your family’s fitness goals this winter with creative exercise activities.  Strive to move every day.  Play together to increase each family member’s fitness level and to make fitness fun all winter. Children will be more apt to play and be active if you join them!