When Mary was first born, I never had any sleep. No one had ever told me that babies seriously never sleep at all. And after about one day, I was ready to give up. I was an only child and had never even babysat in my entire life. In the hospital, the nurses had to literally show me how to change a diaper because I had no idea how to.

So when we brought Mary home, I thought it was going to be a team effort. But of course, I was wrong. My husband woke up early to go to work and got back twelve hours later so during the day, I took care of Mary. And since he worked, I had night duty too because he needed sleep for his job. So this was my normal face everyday.

And then sometimes it was this.

Mary usually woke up every two hours for a bottle and a diaper change so when she slept, I slept, literally. And she didn't start sleeping straight through the night until she was six months old. So in between that night, I was a walking nightmare. All I wanted was sleep. I didn't care about anything else, just sleep. If you couldn't tell by now, I don't do good with sleep deprivation.

Even though Mary is older now, sleep is still very important. She might be sleeping through the night, but I can’t keep up with her during the day if I haven’t had enough sleep. And while stress might be part of the reason we can’t sleep, an underlying chronic illness can also be the cause.

It wasn't until years later did I find out just why I couldn't handle going without sleep. It's because I have hypothyroidism. Without medication, you will feel like you can barely get awake.

But it's not just hypothyroidism that can make you not get much sleep either. Sleep apnea can be a cause as well. If you have trouble sleeping and wake on and off during the night, try taking the Aeroflow sleep apnea quiz.

Aeroflow has a lot of sleep apnea resources along with selling their CPAP supplies as well. What's so great is that you can arrange to pay with your health insurance and they deliver right to your door.

But something else that makes Aeroflow wonderful is that they offer home sleep testing services. After talking with a sleep technician, they will determine what sleep test is best for you and ship the devices to your door. You have 24/7 customer service and when the test is done, you ship the devices back for them to be analyzed. This is a much better route than having to go to a lab to sleep.

So how do I embrace sleep now all these years later? I make sure to follow these simple tips to help keep my night relaxing and ready for bed:

1. Maintaining a healthy diet is key to being able to sleep at night. If you eat a lot of sugar and starch then you will have a harder time getting to sleep than someone who eats from all the food groups.
2. Exercising during the day is a great way to help you get tired at night. Since after exercising most people feel energized, you don't want to exercise before bed since that will get you more awake.
3. Smoking, drinking and coffee should be avoided before bed since they can help you stay awake longer.
4. To help your body relax, you can use breathing exercises while lying down. Focusing on your breathing is a great way to forget about the day.
5. Thinking about peaceful images is also very helpful in aiding sleep. Thinking about something that relaxes you or makes you happy can help you finally fall asleep faster.
6. A comfortable mattress and pillow is a must.
7. If you have sleep apnea, make sure you have everything ready to go for when you get ready for bed.
8. Don't use electronics before bed. That includes the phone, television or tablet. Electronics can keep your mind going and having them on during sleep can actually disrupt your REM cycle of sleep.
9. Adjust your room temperature to something that is comfortable for you. I personally can't sleep if I am too hot or if I am freezing cold so my temperature is usually set on 71 degrees at night.
10. Finally, dim your lights while getting ready for bed to help your mind adjust to going to sleep. Keeping bright lights on can wake your mind up so you don't want anything brighter than a dim light on.

Breast cancer is the second most common kind of cancer in women, with skin cancer being the first. And about 1 in 8 women born today in the U.S. will get breast cancer at some point in their lives. That's a scary thought.

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, the annual campaign to increase awareness of the disease, offer information and support to those affected by breast cancer and raise funds for research into its cause, prevention, diagnosis, treatment and cure. So what better month to have the Race for the Cure!

This year on October 15th, Race for the Cure will be in Chattanooga, TN and I am registered and ready to go. No one deserves to die from cancer and I believe a cure is out there. If you want to participate on your local Race for the Cure, you can check where your nearest race is.
Valpak has joined the community of bold companies that share in the vision of Susan G. Komen for a world without breast cancer. To amplify awareness around this common vision, Valpak will turn its Blue Envelope pink this October during Breast Cancer Awareness Month while also working to raise local awareness within the communities that they serve and funds in support of the fight to end breast cancer. Valpak is my sponsor for the race in Chattanooga this year so I hope to see lots of you sign up as well!

And I have a signup code for you to get a discount on the race as well! The promo code is “DealPro” (it is case sensitive) and entitles the user to receive $5 off a race or walk registration.

Growing up, math was never my strong subject. Honestly, it was my worst one. At least after 4th grade it was. During the lower elementary years, I always got high grades in math but for some reason or another, during 5th grade math just stopped "clicking" with me. And it was a downhill battle for every year after that up until I finished school. Since Mary is in 5th grade this year, I certainly don't want her to have the same problems as me. Math has never been her strong subject either and she started struggling earlier than me. So this year we're using IKnowIt.com to get extra math practice.  With I Know It, you can turn learning math into something fun for the elementary aged kids. I Know It features interactive math practice that can be used alongside your normal math curriculum. It's not meant to be a full math curriculum but rather a supplement to help aid your child. The I Know It site is fully interactive and has a comprehensive lesson list for elementary aged students. From kindergarten through fifth grade, kids can have lots of fun with their interactive lessons. 

All lessons are done by grade level so Mary is set to 5th grade currently. The lessons for 5th grade include place value, basic algebra, fractions, decimals, percents, addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, geometry, word problems, measurement, graphs and data. In I Know It, you can choose whatever lesson you need your child to focus on and then assign it to their account. That way if they need extra help, you can assign them the perfect lesson to go with their current math. In your own teacher account, you can monitor the progress of your kids as well.  I Know It offers a 60 day free trial and I highly recommend signing up for it! It's well worth it to have your child have a solid foundation in math at an early age and extra practice is perfect for it! I'm looking forward to seeing Mary work through her assignments for our 5th grade homeschool year. And I know with extra practice, she will be able to get a hold of math better than before. If you're interested in learning more about I Know It, check out the other crew reviews below! And make sure to sign up for the 60 day free trial!