Blog Posts by Team Mom Staff

Stay radiant with winter skin care tipsTired of dull and lifeless skin? Help is at hand! Makeup artist Beth Carter speaks with Easy Does It Host Ereka Vetrini to share her winter skin care tips.

For many women, their skin gets flaky and dry winter after winter. Carter explains that in the winter months, it's much cooler-and often windier as well. Plus, she adds, "you're in and out of areas that are heated indoors." These factors combine to dry skin out.

Related: Smart tips for fixing dry winter skin

The key to avoiding this problem, says Carter, is to stay moisturized. "First of all," she says, "you need to use a cream or lotion-based cleanser." She suggests applying the cleanser in an upward and outward motion. "We don't want to drag our skin down in any way," she explains.

The next step in a winter skin care routine is exfoliating, which allows the moisturizer to penetrate more effectively, says Carter. She adds that by the time women turn 30, they should be exfoliating more often, and they should always be using an

ThinkstockAccording to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the rate of childhood obesity has tripled over the past 30 years-and we as parents may not be helping to reduce it, says Dr. Natalie Muth, author of "Eat Your Vegetables and Other Mistakes Parents Make."

Dr. Muth tells Away We Grow host Diane Mizota that a common parental practice that could lead to childhood weight gain is the "clean plate club." When parents require their children to eat everything on the plate, kids then lose the ability to use their own feelings of hunger and fullness to decide how much to eat. "And that habit stays with that child for their whole life," says Dr. Muth.

Related: Childhood obesity: A Growing concern

How parents try to get their children to eat vegetables may also lead to problems down the road. A classic mistake that parents may make is to tell their children that if they eat the vegetables, they can then have dessert. All of a sudden, the dessert becomes a reward.

"It starts early,

Save money in the new yearOne of the most common New Year's resolutions is to save money, but this may be easier said than done. Financial expert Erica Sandberg joins Easy Does It host Ereka Vetrini to help tighten your purse strings with some money-saving solutions.

Sandberg says that before you start thinking about making more money or having a budget, the most important thing you need to first is get rid of your debt. "Put yourself on a plastic diet," she says. "Totally stop using the card while you are paying that debt off." She suggests giving yourself goals-for example, "I'm going to put $500 toward my credit card debt every single month, and I'm going to be out of debt by May."

Related: 6 new ways to tame credit card debt

Debit cards can also be problematic, as they may come with high overdraft fees. In addition, "if you're constantly going to the ATM and if it's not your particular bank, you've got fees associated with it," Sandberg says, noting that these types of fees are a waste of money.

The Perfect Mother MomentJohanna learns how pregnancy can help a person become her higher, better self. (Or, in Johanna's case, her lower, dopier one.)

Related: 5 tips for surviving the first trimester blahs

"The second trimester has been kind to me," she begins, "and I am feeling all of the things the books say I should feel: feminine, serene, and in a state of emotional ecstasy. I spend most of my waking moments picturing my future perfect motherhood with my future perfect baby, and when I do, it's in soft-focus, with dappled sunlight and hippie wind chimes. I'm so happy I could puke a friggin' rainbow."

Related: Mom humor: 5 funny books on pregnancy and parenting

Johanna continues, "I'm at a picnic table with some friends when a woman in a bikini walks over and asks if she can borrow a bottle opener. She is quite fit--except for her very exposed tummy, which is taut yet full; there's no mistaking it, this is a belly full of arms and legs. Sizing up the bulge, I pin her at maybe five months along. I

Super-MommiesIt's true what they say: nothing compares to the arrival of your first child--that feeling of "family," the shared sense of purpose, the built-in excuse generator: "Sorry we can't make it, the sitter cancelled!"

Related: 5 "new mom" things I swore I wouldn't do

But Johanna was not prepared for the Club of Motherhood.

Related: Mommy wars: Why good parents judge others as bad

The minute you shoot a wad of humanity out of your body, Stein says, "you're suddenly fair game to the criticism of other women--women who are doing it better than you. These women are known as 'Supermommies' - in Germany, Uber-mutti; in Spain, Madre Estupenda; and in Holland, BesteMoeder - and if you don't do as they do, a horrible fate is in store. If you've ever been shunned by the Amish, you know what I'm talking about."

Check out the video for more from Johanna about how to recognize these Super-mommies!

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IMake resolutions with your whole familyt's the new year, and everyone is making personal resolutions. How about making some to improve the lives of your whole family? Katie Hurley, child psychotherapist and parenting expert, shares her ideas with Away We Grow host Diane Mizota.

Hurley notes that instead of referring to family resolutions, she prefers to talk about "making family goals." She says people tend to make enormous personal resolutions, like losing 30 pounds or getting a big promotion--resolutions that can be hard to keep. She adds, "When you make smaller goals that are attainable, your self-esteem goes up because you reach those goals."

Related: A new approach to the New Year's resolution

When families set goals together, Hurley says that it's always important to keep things simple, fun, and positive. "Instead of mom and dad deciding on what the most important things are that the family needs to work on, give everybody a chance to have some input into these goals," she says.

Related: Revive your resolutions

Timing is everythingWith the New Year around the corner, wouldn't you like to make better life choices for next year? Mark Di Vincenzo, author of Buy Shoes on Wednesday and Tweet at 4:00, joins Easy Does It Host Ereka Vetrini to share some timing tips that can make all the difference.

Related: Shopping online? Insider tips on the best times to buy

According to Di Vincenzo, timing is crucial because "if you know the best time to buy things, or do things, or go places, you can save a lot of time, you can save a lot of money, and you'll just look smarter." He offers the following timing tips, covering everything from shopping and social media to asking your boss for a promotion:

• Buy shoes online on Wednesday to save up to 40 percent.
• Send tweets or retweets between 4:00 p.m. and 5:00 p.m., when the most people are using Twitter.

Related: Time management tips for busy moms

• Begin a weight-loss program in the winter, when the cold weather causes your body to work harder to burn more calories. "We

Don't catch colds from your kidsWhen kids go back to school, they bring home homework, artwork…and germs. And there is nothing worse than nursing a sick family while you're feeling under the weather. Dr. Nicole Nourmand talks with Away We Grow host Diane Mizota about keeping germs at bay.

Sometimes it can feel like children rebound much faster than adults when it comes to colds. Dr. Nourmand explains, "I think that women take care of everybody but themselves. And if we don't sleep, if we don't exercise, if we don't eat right, then we're run down. When you don't rest, your immune system isn't able to fight off viruses the way it normally would."

Related: 5 ways to boost your immune system naturally

Exercise can help boost your immune system in many cases. "High cortisol--or the high stress hormone--compromises your immune system. So if you're doing some cardiovascular activity, you're decreasing that stress hormone, and that's going to boost your immune system," says Dr. Nourmand. She adds, however, that depending