Your DIY Baby Food Making Guide + 12 Books To Help You Get Started

Posted on September 5, 2018

There have been a few baby food recalls in recent weeks that have prompted some new moms to consider making their own baby food from scratch for their little ones.

The idea of blending, pureeing, storing, thawing and making batches of baby food or toddler pouches can seem daunting, and time-consuming, but fortunately, in recent years, technology in the form of baby food blenders and scores of new books have cropped up to demystify and simplify the process.

Blender

To start, you may want to go out and get a blender with a puree function on it. I like the Magic Bullet for making smoothies and milkshakes for my little ones because it is easiest to clean. The company that makes it also sells a special version just for baby food making called Magic Bullet Baby Bullet Baby Care System which retails for $59.99 on Amazon but is sold in retail stores like Target, Walmart and the like.

Storage

Next, you’ll have to invest in tiny containers to store the foods you make. The Baby Bullet comes with its own containers and lids but you can also order storage containers. Sage Spoonfuls Big Batch Storage Set includes twelve 4 Ounce containers for about $20, enough for vegetable, desserts and other purees. They are freezer, dishwasher and microwave safe and durable portable jars with leak proof and easy to use screw on lids.

Recipes

Then comes the hard part: whipping up yummy recipes. Here are some books with tips, recipes and other suggestions.

ONE

The Amazing Make-Ahead Baby Food Book: Make 3 Months of Homemade Purees in 3 Hours ($17.88)

This popular hardback book will give you to tools and tips for making up to three months’ worth of healthy, homemade baby food in just three one-hour blocks of time. It has unique combos like Peachy Strawberry Salad, Coconutty Mango Lassi, Plum-Gingered Brocco-Quinoa, and Purple Papaya Flax Yogurt, blending in a rainbow of nutritious options while expanding your baby’s palate.

TWO

Real Baby Food: Easy, All-Natural Recipes for Your Baby and Toddler ($10.79)

The toughest part really is making the time but this book helps new moms create a routine that is easy, fast and flexible. The author starts with the building blocks of solid foods, and shares how to recognize food allergies, and easy ways to cook in bulk. Recipes progress from single-ingredient purées to multi-flavor blends like Salmon, Kale, and Sweet Potato Smash; then move on to finger foods—Turkey Meatloaf Bites, Maple Graham Animals—and finally toddler meals and snacks. Most can be made ahead and frozen, many are easily adapted for grown-up tastes, and all include full nutritional information. Nice!

THREE

101 DIY Baby Food Pouches ($10.99) specializes in baby food pouches for older babies and toddlers. This book includes instructions for filling your own pouches for cheaper, healthier, and eco-friendly options for your little one.

FOUR

Fast & Fresh Baby Food Cookbook: 120 Ridiculously Simple and Naturally Wholesome Baby Food Recipes ($11.87)

This book targets the early stage new mom who “can’t keep up with the laundry” or “can’t fit into anything but yoga pants” and “can’t make your baby sleep through the night.” The book promised to help this mom “make the best food for your baby in 30 minutes or less.”

FIVE

Little Foodie: Baby Food Recipes for Babies and Toddlers with Taste ($13.59)

This book comes from a certified baby chef and blogger over at Baby FoodE, Michele Olivier. She offers over 100 food recipes, helpful FAQs and a comprehensive overview.

Baby food recipes include: Apple + Mint + Ricotta Purée / Fennel + Pea + Peach Purée / Pumpkin + Thyme Purée / Sesame Tofu Sticks + Peanut Sauce / Curried Egg Finger Sandwiches + Mango Chutney / Slow Cooker Chicken Tagine + Couscous / Sausage + Kale Over Creamy Polenta / DIY Toddler Sushi Bar, and more.

SIX

Super Easy Baby Food Cookbook: Healthy Homemade Recipes for Every Age and Stage ($11.74)

This book focuses on super simple recipes with just 5- ingredients each and includes over 150+ nutritious recipes that grow with your developing child. It has time saving sample menus for kids 4 to 18 months.

SEVEN

The Baby and Toddler Cookbook: Fresh, Homemade Foods for a Healthy Start ($15.68)

Packed with over 90 recipes and loads of nutritional information, The Baby & Toddler Cookbook makes cooking healthy meals easy, even for busy parents. By setting aside only a few hours a week, you can make and store an array of nutritious foods to keep baby happy and fed. All along the way, this book will give you helpful hints, guidance, and plenty of recipes to ease your path to nutrition.

EIGHT

Top 100 Baby Purees ($10.52)

Like the other books, you’d learn to wean your baby who is transitioning to solid foods, discover food allergies and how to make 100 Baby Purees with information tricks on finding the hidden nutrition in everyday foods. Dr. Michel Cohen, New York pediatrician and author of The New Basics: A-to-Z Baby & Child Care for the Modern Parent opens the book with a forward.

NINE

Cooking for Baby: Wholesome, Homemade, Delicious Foods for 6 to 18 Months ($12.30)

This book is organized by age and has smart tips on prep and storage with added suggestions on transitioning as baby grows. From celebrated children’s-food author Lisa Barnes, Cooking for Baby is a fully illustrated, gorgeous, four-color book that takes parents through the basics of preparing nutritious, delicious (and easy!) meals for your child, from six to eighteen months.

TEN

The Pediatrician’s Guide to Feeding Babies and Toddlers: Practical Answers To Your Questions on Nutrition, Starting Solids, Allergies, Picky Eating, and More (For Parents, By Parents) ($12.30)

A team of doctors came up with this comprehensive manual for feeding your babies and toddlers during their first crucial yeas of life. With The Pediatrician’s Guide to Feeding Babies and Toddlers, you have the expertise of a team of pediatric medical and nutritional experts—who also happen to be parents—in a comprehensive manual that takes the guesswork out of feeding. This first-of-its-kind guide provides practical, easy-to-follow advice to help you navigate the nutrition issues, medical conditions, and parenting concerns that accompany feeding. With recipes, parenting stories, and recommendations based on the latest pediatric guidelines, this book will allow you to approach mealtime with confidence so you can spend more time enjoying your new family.

ELEVEN

201 Organic Baby Purees: The Freshest, Most Wholesome Food Your Baby Can Eat! ($10.25)

When you can have 100 recipes, why not 201?! This book has even more healthy recipes that are organic and blends classic combinations such as turkey, sweet potato, and corn; Superfoods like avocado, blueberries, and spinach; and Puree-based transition recipes including soups, biscuits, frozen desserts.

TWELVE

The Happy Family Organic Superfoods Cookbook For Baby & Toddler Hardcover ($14.54)

This book comes from the organic family-focused food company Happy Family Organics and Cricket Azima, founder and CEO of The Creative Kitchen. Inside, find more than 70 easy-to-prepare recipes made with all-natural ingredients. It includes recipes with ingredient vegetable and fruit purees, including Happy Family’s best-selling spinach, mango & pear recipe, to recipes with quinoa, chia, and kale —Shazi’s and Cricket’s superfood recipes will nourish and please every kind of baby. Recipes for toddlers (1–3 years) include avocado & chicken whole wheat pizza; 3 bean farro risotto; and baked salmon with peas & rice balls; toddlers will love tasty snacks like strawberry-beet pudding with coconut milk and chia; avocado, melon & mint smoothies; banana, chocolate chip & quinoa muffins; and grilled nut-butter sandwiches with smashed berries.

Good luck!

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Financial Tips Every Stay-At-Home Spouse Needs to Follow

Posted on September 4, 2018

Money Tips for Stay-At-Home Spouses

Most stay-at-home spouses work more hours than the average 9-to-5 employee. Most stay-at-home mothers and fathers work at least 94 hours each week, more than double the average 40-hour workweek.

Consider that the average stay-at-home spouse’s duties include cooking, cleaning, laundry, behavior management for kids, and teaching, just to name a few. In theory, one should earn more than $100,000 a year with those skill sets.

However, stay-at-home spouses don’t get a paycheck. As a result, they feel financially powerless. They also feel down because they don’t have money to spend on themselves. Going out with friends or buying a new dress would feel like taking something out of the family budget.

Some people think that they need to justify their personal expenses. Others feel guilty about buying things for their own consumption. Here are financial tips for stay-at-home spouses.

How to Get a Credit Card

The best way to keep personal spending separate from business expenses is through a credit card. However, spouses who don’t have an income can’t get their own card because of the CARD Act US legislation. The homemaker can only get a credit card via one’s partner, as a joint cardholder or an authorized user.

When you open a joint credit card account with your spouse, both of you are responsible for the account. If you and your partner are working on your finances as a team, this is a good idea. You need to open a new joint account together to get the card, since you can’t convert an existing account into a joint one.

Keep in mind that you share responsibility in paying the balance on a joint credit card. You should use it responsibly to improve your credit. However, missing payments could hurt you and your partner. Therefore, is important to monitor the balance and payments so that you don’t make any mistakes.

Another option is to be an authorized user on your partner’s credit card. You can do this through online banking or by contacting the company’s customer service hotline. An authorized user also gets a card bearing that person’s name.

Only the principal cardholder is responsible for paying his or her bill in this case. That means late payments would affect only the credit score of the actual cardholder and not the authorized user’s credit. If the authorized user has a higher credit score, the partner would get a boost in his or her credit score.

If you manage your finances well with your spouse, sharing credit is a no-brainer. You can improve your credit score together through proper communication and trust.

Protecting 401(k) Retirement Fund

Stay-at-home spouses rely on their working partners for retirement funds. The 401(k) fund is one of the largest assets couples own. According to federal law, a married worker needs to get the signature of the spouse if he or she wants to change the beneficiary of the fund. However, the person can cash out the retirement fund if jobs are changed. The person would be able to put the funds into another retirement account with the same or a different beneficiary.

In the past, stay-at-home parents couldn’t contribute to IRAs. It wasn’t until1996 that the US tax law allowed non-working parents to contribute to investment accounts. The working spouse can open a spousal IRA as a pre-tax Roth account or a tax-deferred option.

IRAs don’t have the same requirements as 401(k) funds. Spouses don’t have the rights to IRA except for the states that have community property laws. The law has no requirement for the spouse to be named as the beneficiary.

Saving for Retirement

As a stay-at-home spouse, you might not have a paycheck, but you can still save up for your retirement by setting up an IRA in your name. The purpose of an IRA is to help people start retirement funds.

Homemakers can contribute a maximum of $5,500 a year and the contributions they make can be deducted from the gross income of the couple, if the contribution is to a Traditional IRA. However, they come with restrictions. It is important for stay-at-home moms or dads to have retirement funds in their own names.

To prepare for retirement with a single income, couples need to talk about their retirement lifestyle. They should also discuss their savings goals. It is important that both parties agree with the goal in order to improve the chances of reaching it.

Optimize Social Security

Homemakers who haven’t earned a salary for a long time would suffer when they retire because their Social Security payout will be based on their lower earnings. When it comes to divorce, couples need to be married at least ten years to get 50 percent of their former spouse’s benefits.

Filing Income Tax Returns

Homemakers who earn little or no income don’t need to file separate income tax returns. They can choose to file a joint return with their working partners, which is less costly than filing taxes separately. Filing separately causes the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to treat each person as having an individual source of income. That means that both will be taxed at higher rates, and the total will usually be greater than filing a joint return.

It is important to make sure that taxes are filed correctly, so that both partners are responsible for the figures sent to the IRS. If one person includes false information, both people may be considered cheating.

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Create a Budget for the Household

It is important to create the budget for the household as a whole, with both parties having the same access to the money. It is also important to create equal savings funds so that the stay-at-home spouse doesn’t feel like a second-class citizen because of not contributing income to the family.

There really is no formula on how much to allocate for each partner, but make sure that it is fair for all. Both parties should consider anticipated needs, such as food, clothes, and other necessities. The amount allocated to each partner should be theirs to control with no questions asked.

The money allocated for the stay-at-home spouse is not called an allowance. It should be known as a personal budget or expense account. The term “allowance” would make the person feel he or she isn’t in an adult relationship, and it connotes that someone else has control over that person.

The working spouse should also discuss applying for loans with the partner. Although the former would be responsible for paying the unsecured loan, it could greatly affect the budget of the household.

Earn through Savings

The stay-at-home parent can find several ways to save, which includes using coupons. Even a little money can start a savings fund. It is hard work to reduce the overhead costs of the family. Achieving it is a great achievement. and it is only fair that some part of the savings goes into a savings account.

The stay-at-home parent is responsible for childcare and household management. Taking care of the monthly budget is vital to ensure that a single income goes a long way. Both parties should consider all the expenses and how the retirement of the working spouse would affect their lifestyle.

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The 10 Items To Stock in Your Fall Maternity Wardrobe (+PLUS SIZE)

Posted on September 3, 2018

This fall, as you shop for your wardrobe for essentials to last you through the season whilst carrying a baby while pregnant or as a new mom, keep in mind some of these basic pieces.

If you start your capsule collection in your wardrobe with these key wardrobe items, you will be well on your way to establishing a foundation of basics and can go from there.

1. Black Dress – The classic black dress comes in maternity styles and is a perfect thing to wear for a variety of outings, date nights, corporate parties, concerts and more!

2. Wrap dress – A wrap dress is THE best option, especially in black, for any event. It works well in casual, after 5 or more formal occasions. Use accessories and shoes to make it appropriate.

3. Fitted Suit – Even if you cannot find a suit tailored to your belly, a blazer that fits on the shoulders but is tapered at the waist and a matching pair of maternity slacks will do. It’s not easy to wear a traditional suit with extra belly, but it can be done.

4. White Collared Button Down Shirt – Every woman must own a white button down collar shirt in her wardrobe. A crisp shirt is great for the office or weekend.

5. Silk Scarf – A colorful silk scarf will add the spark of flavor and style to a monochromatic or otherwise vanilla outfit.

6. Khaki pants – Khaki pants can complement a variety of tops and are casual but can still be pulled of at more formal events or venues if paired with some pears or a twin set.

7. A Tote – A staple for any woman whether she is preggers or not is a handbag tote that can fit all of her essentials and then some. These can double as a diaper bag too if necessary and are more stylish than typical diaper bags.

8. Bulky Sweater – A bulky sweater is your friend when the temperature drops and even if you are going into venues with the air conditioning still blasting. Get them in dark colors that can complement whatever you are wearing.

9. Diamond Studs – Classic studs can be dressed up or down and if you are toting around an infant, she won’t yank them out your ear as she would a pair of hoops.

10. Stretchable Boots – that can expand as your calves grown and that have more give so it is not too constraining and tough on your circulation

Here is a plus size version:

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4 Things Your Child Should Know Before Kindergarten

Posted on September 3, 2018

Kindergarten is supposed to be fun and educational, and allow children an opportunity to blossom because it is usually the first time the tykes are away from their parents for any significant amount of time.

And while most kindergartens don’t exactly have GPA requirements, for a child to succeed there are a few milestones that should be reached before they toddle through the door, says Alise McGregor, founder of Little Newtons , an early education center with locations in Minnesota and Illinois.

“New parents especially can have a hard time understanding that there are actually things their child should know prior to kindergarten,” McGregor says. “But if they take time to make sure their child knows some basics, it will make kindergarten a better experience.”

McGregor says the typical things a child should know prior to entering kindergarten are:

Basic shapes. The child should have learned basic shapes like the square, circle, rectangle and triangle in preschool. If not, parents should teach them. In kindergarten, they will probably be introduced to the hexagon, star, heart and octagon.

The letters of the child’s name. They should at least be able to recognize the letters of their name. In kindergarten, they will learn their uppercase letters and begin lowercase letters. They will also begin to learn how to write freehand without tracing.

Numbers 1 to 10. Although some children will be able to count to 100 by the time they reach kindergarten, all should be able to at least be able to count to 10. Numbers will be used starting on the first day of kindergarten so the children need to at least understand and recognize numbers.

Social skills – The child should be able to follow directions, be able to be separated from the caregiver and use the restroom independently. Children who scream and cry when they are separated from caregivers disrupt the rest of the class. Teachers simply do not have the time to supervise individual students who cannot independently use the restroom.

McGregor says that it is important for children to get off on the right foot early in school. By teaching children these skills prior to attending kindergarten it should make it easier for them to succeed.

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New Parents: 4 Age Old Tricks to Calm Your Colicky Newborn

Posted on September 2, 2018

I was in the drug store the other day and noticed an age old treatment for colic still being sold: Gripe Water!

My mom used that on all of us kids, who are now ages 28 to 44 and I in turn, learned to give it to my kid whenever they developed an upset tummy or cried uncontrollably during the night or day.

It went out of fashion because although it is a relatively medication free solution, a lot of new moms and modern treatments prefer all natural solutions.

The thing about colic is that doctors do not know what cause it though we think it has to do with digestive problems and/or gas in the baby ‘s tummy.

Based on my experience as a veteran mom to three kids and auntie and Godmom to many more, here are four tips and tricks I recommend you try performing when your baby is crying for no reason with no sign of letting up that you try three things:

Walk him by swaying gently but with big moves. I am so bold that I once got a couple to hand over their colic baby who cried all the way through a red eye flight, and who I suspected had colic. I did the slow rock with the baby and he stopped crying. Of course, I couldn’t do this all flight and as soon as I handed the frantic new parents back their baby, she started wailing all over again.
Feed him a spoon full of warm water. I know a lot of pediatric healthcare practitioners tell new moms, especially those that are breastfeeding that the baby gets all the water he needs from breast milk. However, there is nothing wrong with a little water clearing out a tummy full of milk. It cannot hurt to try when you have an inconsolable newborn on your hands.
Give her a tummy massage. take your hand into a letter “c” and massage the baby’s tummy to break up any gas that may be in there. Doing this will cause the baby to either burp, let out flatulence or poop. Any of these three outcomes are likely to cause some relief.
Give him a full body massage. Finally, take some baby oil or some other scented essential oil like lavender, peppermint or eucalyptus and massage your baby’s body. Look up sample videos of how to give an infant massage on YouTube. Massages calm you as an adult, and babies enjoy them too.

I shared these tips on an old video post I did on this blog’s verified YouTube Channel a few years ago that you can check out here! Excuse the poor lighting!

I can almost guarantee these tips will work wonders. And if they don’t, you cannot go wrong with breaking out your gripe water! It’s worked for ages. They were selling it for about $12 at my local Target Pharmacy but you can get it online for about $6 from Drugstore.com or Amazon.

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Tips

Here are the Best Labor Day Deals and Sales

Posted on August 31, 2018

Labor Day is coming up, the holiday to celebrate the worker. However, in modern days, the day is looked at as another day off from work or school and also for mattress sales! Really!

WalletHub’s Best Labor Day Deals & Sales report gives shoppers a roadmap to savings. Its Labor Day Fun Facts report helps to educate and entertain consumers with stats on all aspects of the holiday – from hotdogs and history to financials and 5Ks.

You can find highlights from each below:

Best Labor Day Deals & Sales

Treadmills are the best items to buy in September, relative to the rest of the year.
2018’s 10 best Labor Day deals are:

1. Whirlpool Dishwasher – 43.40% off	6. Gourmet Griddle – 25.00% off
2. Inspiron 11 3000 Laptop – 35.00% off	7. NFL Jerseys – 33.33% off
3. Realspace Leather Chair – 35.72% off	8. Insignia 32″ Smart TV – 27.78% off
4. Moto Z2 Force – 44.44% off	9. Beautyrest Mattress – 64.03% off
5. Leather Tote, Peachy Pink – 40.00% off	10. Gemini Loudspeaker Pack – 40.00% off

Labor Day Fun Facts

76% of Americans say legal immigrants are essential to the labor force.
52% of Americans left a total of 705 million vacation days unused in 2017.
818 hot dogs are eaten every second from Memorial Day to Labor Day.
$250+ Billion is the annual cost of worker injury and illness in the U.S.

Wow!

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14 Chic Mom Life Tees That Say It All (SHOP)

Posted on August 30, 2018

Ever since I launched my Mom Charm Store’s cute T-Shirt and novelty shop, I’ve been rocking graphic tees with fun sayings on them. They are conversation starters and I get tons of comments about them. People have actually stopped me in the street and in store lines to get a photo of these shirts.

I invite you to head over to my shop to see if any I have on sale catch your fancy. If not, I’ve curated some other cute sayings on shirts sold by various vendors over on Etsy for you to check out

CLICK THE IMAGE TO BE TAKEN TO THE SHOP TO PURCHASE THE TEE!

And for those trying to conceive, still thinking about starting a family but only have fur babies, there is this final one: (smile)

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Back To School Braided Style for Girls

Posted on August 28, 2018

It’s Back to School season and parents may be scrambling in a few weeks to find a low-maintenance and pretty style for their little girls to wear for the first day back! I’m in the same boat.

I used to turn to Tumblr blogs for styling ideas but in recent years was turned onto social media. YouTube, Pinterest and Instagram are now my go to. There are a couple of old standby blogs that I can turn to for maintenance and other tips: Beads, Braids and Beyond and Chocolate Hair, Vanilla Care are my faves. Rory Mullen was able to raise her adopted daughter on income from running Chocolate Hair…blog but has since retired it to focus on fiction writing and her styles are still abundant on the site. Simply search.

Good Luck!

Check them out today!

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5 Back To School Reminders About Online Child Safety

Posted on August 27, 2018

Back in the day, it was a little simpler. Parents would tell their children not to get into a stranger’s car. While still an enormous concern, cyberspace is posing an entirely new set of dangers that need to be addressed in real-time.

Especially considering 88% of kids ages 12-17 own a phone with 80% accessing the internet. The team at SafeHome.org recently released a report / infographic called Keeping Kids Safe in Cyber Space.

Here are 5 tips from the report. To view the full report, visit the links above.

1. Parents Must Be Proactive: The first step for cyber safety is for parents to block inappropriate sites, use a VPN and create a firewall. It is critical to closely monitor your childs online activity and step in the moment something or someone seems suspicious.

2. Identity Theft: Warn Them About Giving Out Information: When a pop-up says you just won a new XBOX, or someone needs your bank account to wire you money, even some adults fall for it. Warn your child never to give out information such as your address, phone number or credit card.

3. Check Social Media for Cyber Bullying: Determine when your child can go online — mornings, evening, weekends, after they showered or finished their homework. Be clear about what activities they can do online: email, do research for homework, listen to music, etc.

4. Warn Them Never to Meet In-Person: Online predators lure children into situations that could result in sexual abuse and other physical harm. Warn young children never to meet with anyone without a parent and older children to do so in a public place.

5. Set Age-Appropriate Guidelines: Determine when your child can go online — mornings, evening, weekends, after they showered or finished their homework. Be clear about what activities they can do online: email, do research for homework, listen to music, etc.

Good luck parents! Safe websurfing, kids!

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The Birth Control App the Catholic Church Approves

Posted on August 24, 2018

The FDA has approved a fertility-tracking app that boasts a lower unintended pregnancy rate than the pill, without the side effects of hormonal contraception.

The Natural Cycles app was developed by a Swedish nuclear physicist Elina Berglund and her husband Raoul Scherwizl. They created the app as a way to go “beyond contraception,” and to “get to know your body and unique cycles,” according to their website.

Berglund told o last year that the goal of the app is use scientific research to empower women with knowledge about their body, and to replace medication with technology.

In approving the app for use to prevent pregnancy, the FDA noted that its expected failure rate is 6.5 percent – lower than the 9 percent expected failure rate of the contraceptive pill, and 18 percent expected failure rate of condoms.

“Consumers are increasingly using digital health technologies to inform their everyday health decisions, and this new app can provide an effective method of contraception if it’s used carefully and correctly,” said Dr. Terri Cornelison, assistant director for the health of women in the FDA’s Center for Devices and Radiological Health, in a Aug. 10 statement.

Users of the Natural Cycles app record their temperature each morning with an extra-sensitive thermometer. This data is combined with information about the woman’s menstrual cycle into an algorithm that can help determine when a woman is ovulating. A woman’s body temperature rises slightly when she is fertile, allowing her track her fertility day-to-day.

The app had already been approved by German inspection and certification agency Tüv Süd.

As of last year, the app reported having more than 150,000 users in over 160 countries around the world.

While the Catholic Church teaches that the use of contraception is immoral, because it intentionally separates procreation from the sexual act, it does approve of fertility mapping methods like natural family planning, which helps married couples achieve pregnancy – or avoid it, if there is a just reason to do so – by tracking a woman’s natural fertility.

Continue reading.

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Tips

Blender

Storage

Recipes

ONE

TWO

THREE

FOUR

FIVE

SIX

SEVEN

EIGHT

NINE

TEN

ELEVEN

TWELVE

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