Probing ancient Christian practices for renewal, Almost Holy Mama chronicles one mom's quest to discover an answer to her most pressing question: Can God use the challenges of parenthood to grow your character?You long to spend time with God and catch your spiritual breath, but you find yourself honestly wondering--how and when? Ellis gets its. It's hard to carve out space for a quiet moment with God, let alone a quiet time! Instead of adding more tasks to your plate, Almost Holy Mama will help you integrate your spiritual practices into your daily life. From studying Scripture in the shower to listening in prayer at the foot of Laundry Mountain, Ellis finds that meeting God in sacred disciplines can breathe new life into one of life's most joy-filled and trying seasons.Paperback, 256 pages, 5.5 x 8.5 inches, ISBN 9781628627909. Table of Contents:Running on Empty, Longing for More Car Rides & Contemplation: Finding Jesus on the Freeways Sleepytime & Service: Sacrificial Love at the End of a Long Day Eating & the Examen: Finding God at the Dinner Table Laundry & Listening Prayer: Because Sometimes the Voice of God Sounds a Lot like the Dryer Showering with Scripture: Wash over Me, Lord Fasting from Facebook: Giving Up to Gain Suffering & Stillness: Because Sometimes All You Can Do Is Nothing Getting Ready with Gratitude: Thanksgiving amid Chaos Travel & Pilgrimage: Going Away and Coming Home Ceasing & Celebration: Discovering the Playful God Almost Holy, Fully Loved: Where Do We Go from Here? Perfect for:Parents Gifts for expecting parents Single mother/father groups Foster parents and guardians Pastors and counselors And more About the Author Courtney Ellis serves as associate pastor for spiritual formation and mission at Presbyterian Church of the Master. She holds degrees from Wheaton College, Loyola University of Chicago, and Princeton Theological Seminary, and has been published in Marriage/Partnership, Rock & Ice Magazine, and Christianity Today Women. She's a contributor at The Glorious Table and The Mighty. Courtney is a sought-after speaker for leadership and women's retreats, MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers), and young adult ministries. She's a gifted storyteller with strengths in bringing parents, marrieds, singles, and millennials together. Courtney lives in southern California with her husband (and co-pastor) Daryl and their children.

    Now you can relieve your worst IBS symptoms by adopting a low FODMAP diet. FODMAPs are simple carbohydrates that can be the hidden culprits behind digestive disorders. The Low FODMAP 28-Day Plan, from New York Times and Amazon best-selling publisher Rockridge Press, is a straightforward 4-week plan for removing FODMAPs from your diet and banishing digestive pain forever. With easy guidelines and simple recipes, you’ll learn how to identify and avoid FODMAP foods, and make healthy and delicious FODMAP free meals in your own kitchen. With The Low FODMAP 28-Day Plan you will soothe your digestive system and make it easy to enjoy meals again, with:•105 recipes for delicious, nutritious low FODMAP dishes including Huevos Rancheros, Maple-Soy Glazed Salmon, Butterscotch Pudding, and Spiced Popcorn •A “symptom tracker” so you can log what you’re eating and how it affects your symptoms •An easy-to-follow quickstart guide to help you begin a low FODMAP diet •Comprehensive lists of foods to enjoy or avoid based on their FODMAP content, •10 tips for sticking to a low FODMAP diet when dining out

    Softcover

    Illustrating what you should be eating to keep your body in its best-ever shape, 'Clean & Lean Cookbook' takes you through lunch and dinner with ideas for quick, easy meals that won't impact on your waistline.

    We'd just toss out our birth control pills and before we knew it, we'd be rocking our little one to sleep. Little did we know what was in store for us, or the energy it would take to face all of the crazy, unpredictable and (sometimes) irrational emotions we felt along the way. Neither did our husbands. Sound familiar?If your idea of foreplay is screaming, "I'm ovulating; it's time!!!" to your oblivious husband... If your ovulation schedule is ruling your life and every trip to the drug store includes a bulk purchase of pregnancy sticks... If you're running out of answers to the chronic questioning from the pregnancy paparazzi about your plans for parenthood ... Then this is the book for you. Whether it's been three months or three years since you've been trying, the more complicated and overwhelming the process becomes.The Conception Chronicles shares candid humor, hold-nothing-back banter and practical advice on everything that goes along with trying to start a family: from dealing with your fertile friends to the battery of tests you may have to face; from surviving "sex on demand" to navigating the ins and outs of high-tech fertility treatments. This book will guide you through the emotional journey to motherhood, offering compassion and laughter like only your best girlfriends can. And we promise you'll never hear us say, "Relax and you'll be pregnant in no time."

    It almost makes me want to have another child. Almost' Bryony Gordon ***Your No Guilt Pregnancy Plan is a revolutionary new guide to pregnancy and childbirth that puts the power firmly in your hands. It won't tell you what fruit your baby resembles week-by-week, but it will cover the huge shifts happening in your relationships, body, work and emotional life right now, giving you practical tools, tips and real stories to help you make a plan that is uniquely yours yet flexible enough to accommodate whatever your pregnancy, birth and life throw at you.***Further Praise for Your No Guilt Pregnancy Plan***'The book has everything a pregnant woman needs ... I'm sure this will be the go-to book for women in years to come' - Helen Thorn host of the Scummy Mummies podcast'Rebecca is a living, breathing Wonder Woman heroine. In a sea of complicated, important and sometimes angry debate around childbirth, she is a mast to hold onto.' - Cherry Healey, presenter and author of Letters to My FannyI can't think of a panicky question I had thought of through either of my pregnancies (and I thought of them at a rate of five per second) that wouldn't have been answered by this book. I wish I had had it, in fact. A very empowering guide to becoming a mother.' - Robyn Wilder, The Pool

    She will empower you to challenge any negative stories or attitudes you might have towards food and transform them into a positive lifelong love affair with eating well. The exclusive 10 day plan included in this book is a version of the plan Amelia gives to her clients, which has been developed and refined over her decade of work as a nutritional therapist. It is NOT about deprivation. It is a liberating, energising plan that will equip you with the building blocks needed to develop and implement a lifetime of balanced eating that is unique to you. Leaving behind all the confusion and negativity surrounding diets and healthy eating, this book helps you find out exactly how and what it means to eat well for you, for the rest of your life.This ultimate guide includes over 50 exclusive gluten, dairy and refined sugar free recipes, complete with vegan and vegetarian alternatives. Together with a unique and exclusively curated tool - Amelia's Positive Nutrition Pyramid - which will ensure you are unequivocally nourishing yourself with all of the essential ingredients needed for a happy, healthy body and mind.Give Amelia ten days and she will change how you think about food for life.

    The rapid changes in your body, your lifestyle, and your very identity call for a certain mental agility. Mindfulness can help you meet the challenge and approach every experience with your new baby with open eyes and an open heart.Easy ten-minute meditation exercises and yoga poses throughout this book will help you cultivate greater flexibility and mindful awareness during pregnancy, childbirth, and your baby's first year. Whenever you have a moment to spare, open Mindful Motherhood and discover a skill that will help you find balance and fulfillment during those times when you feel most overwhelmed.Co-published with the Institute of Noetic Sciences (IONS).Mindful Motherhood contains what so many other parenting books omit:: the consoling information that each mother has the ability to know, deep within, how to care for her child. Mindful Motherhood is a gem.-Christiane Northrup, MD, author of Women's Bodies, Women's WisdomWise, soothing, and helpful-this is really good stuff for new mothers.-Jack Kornfield, author of The Wise Heart

    Drawing upon her twenty years as a practicing Buddhist, as well as many other wisdom traditions from around the world, she offers powerful insights into cultivating a more spiritual attitude toward parenting.In chapters, guided by central Buddhist themes-Simplicity, Nurturance, Joyful Service, Unconditional Love-Kramer's personal experience of pregnancy, birth, and then raising her daughter to adulthood serves as a guide to integrating the roles of parent and spiritual being. A celebration of all that motherhood can be, Buddha Mom presents an inspiring vision of child rearing.

    

    Imagine easily managing your blood sugar, effortlessly gaining the right amount of weight during your pregnancy, and giving birth to a beautiful, healthy baby. This can be you! Real Food for Gestational Diabetes offers an alternative to the conventional nutrition approach that embraces nutrient-dense and delicious foods that nourish you and baby without causing high blood sugar. With the wrong information (or no information at all), far too many women are left alone struggling with erratic blood sugar and excessive weight gain, often leading them to high doses of insulin or medications and difficult births. Sadly, this often happens despite these moms dutifully following the dietary advice given to them by well­-meaning clinicians; a restrictive diet that leaves them feeling unsatisfied, unhappy, and confused about ever­ increasing blood sugar numbers. In Real Food for Gestational Diabetes, prenatal nutritionist and diabetes educator, Lily Nichols, RDN, CDE, CLT, sets the record straight, offering revamped carbohydrate recommendations and exercise guidelines based on the latest clinical research. You can have gestational diabetes and have a healthy baby. Lily will show you how. With this book, you have the tools to turn this diagnosis into a blessing in disguise. You’ll learn: - Why conventional diet therapy often fails and what to do instead - How the right prenatal nutrition can reduce the likelihood you’ll need insulin by 50% - Exactly which foods raise your blood sugar (and more importantly, which foods DON’T raise your blood sugar) - How to customize a meal plan with the right amount of carbohydrates for YOU (there’s no one-size-fits-all plan, despite what you may have been told) - The truth about ketosis during pregnancy (and why checking urine ketones isn’t useful) - Information on insulin and blood sugar-lowering medications used in pregnancy - Which foods to emphasize to provide your baby with the right nutrients for optimal development (these real foods have a long history of producing strong, healthy babies) - The best prenatal exercises to control your blood sugar and prepare for labor - What to do after delivery to prevent type 2 diabetes

    But the reality is, your pregnancy might be a sweaty, moody rollercoaster, and your children will almost certainly spend the first few years of their lives covered in food, tears and worse. And the experience is no less magical for it. In this no-holds-barred collection of essays, prominent women authors, journalists and TV personalities explore the truth about becoming mothers. Covering topics from labour to the breastapo, twins to IVF, weaning to post-birth sex, and with writers including Cathy Kelly, Adele Parks, Kathy Lette and Lucy Porter (and many more), Things I Wish I’d Known is a reassuring, moving and often hilarious collection that will speak to mothers - and mothers-to-be - everywhere.

    Doulas, or professional labor assistants, have led thousands of expectant women through the birthing process in a way that’s safe and meaningful, and that creates the birth and postbirth experience all mothers long for. What exactly do doulas do?How to find one that suits you.What are the “trade secrets” only doulas know but every woman should be aware of (even if you don’t have a doula)?In The Doula Guide to Birth, senior-level doula Ananda Lowe and award-winning health reporter Rachel Zimmerman have written a most comprehensive book that draws on the wisdom of these skilled experts, whose experience with doctors, midwives, nurses, and hospitals makes them invaluable advocates before, during, and after birth. * Labor techniques anyone can use* Pain medication: do you, don’t you—and when?* What dads and loved ones need and can do best* When should you really go to the hospital in labor?* How to prepare for unexpected medical procedures, including cesareans and epidural* Postpartum—what it’s really like * A clip-out chart of labor techniques, birth plan worksheets, and much more Combining science, wit, warmth, and support, as well as the inspirational stories of dozens of mothers and their partners, you’ll find the “doula viewpoint” on every major pregnancy and delivery issue, making this one of the most important childbirth books you’ll ever read and recommend.

    She offers little nuggets of gold while reminding us to point some of our kindness and love inwards.' Giovanna Fletcher, bestselling author of Happy Mum, Happy Baby 'Anna is breath of fresh air - relatable, funny and wise' Sarah Turner, bestselling author of The Unmumsy MumBaby-proof the house; panic-proof the mum.Do you overthink what you said to the mum in the supermarket queue? Is your internal dialogue more critical than kind? Perhaps you wake to check your baby is breathing, or the sight of a rash sends you down an internet search rabbit hole. Whatever your level of anxiety, however much it impacts your life, this book is for you.Anxiety is making motherhood a less pleasant, more fraught and pressured experience, and we do not have to accept joy-sapping worry and energy-draining overthinking as part of the motherhood job description. In Mind Over Mother, Anna Mathur, psychotherapist and mum of three, explains how to:* Understand anxiety, why it affects you and what to do about it* Make your mind a kinder, calmer, happier place to be* Transform your motherhood experience by addressing your thinkingThe most powerful tool Anna has to communicate this isn't the letters after her name, it is the fact that she is open about her own experience of maternal anxiety. By sharing her journey, she gives you the confidence to reframe yours.Mind Over Mother is full of light bulb moments of realisation. It will have you learning, laughing and loving yourself through the journey of motherhood. You will learn to address the most important conversation you'll ever have - the one inside your head, because investing in your mental health is the best gift you can offer yourself and your child.

    The first pregnancy journal devoted 100% to you and your belly, The Belly Book is organized by trimester and includes pages for “time-lapse” belly photos and ultrasound images, as well as prompts for writing about morning sickness, food cravings, maternity clothes you never want to see again, and much more.96 two-color pages (guided), 8 x 9 inches, with a concealed wire-O binding