My little tiny baby is turning 1 on September 30th. I have never felt like time has flown by so fast in my entire life. This year was a flash before my eyes. When I look back at my daughter growing up (she is now 11), it honestly felt like she was a tiny little baby/toddler for SO LONG. This first year with Emmett has felt like I accidentally blinked and he was suddenly getting ready to turn 1!
This year we have grown in to a socially conscious, green, loving family all because of this one tiny little person.
This one little person inspired me to remove all harmful chemicals from the household and use only natural products. He inspired me to exclusively breastfeed for 6 months and then continue to breastfeed until at least 2 years and after that, let him self wean. He inspired me to face parental fears of sickness and death and do hours upon hours of vaccination research, which ultimately inspired my decision to not vaccinate him ever. He inspired me to baby wear and co-sleep and cloth diaper! From all of that stemmed our now incessant need to be so green it almost hurts (in a good way!). We have our compost out back, we love our clothes line (even more with fluffy clean diapers hanging from it). We love all of our amazing, delicious fresh organic foods! We love feeling healthy and it makes me happy knowing that my children are happy, healthy, and will have a better life because of the decisions Ive made... All because of tiny little Emmett who is an inspiration 100%.
So, for this little inspiration, I plan to make his 1st birthday amazing and something fun to look back on and remember. His birthday party will be all of our close family and friends watching him smash in to his (of course) completely organic amazing cake, opening his presents and watching him play. On his actual birthday we will be going to St. Louis mainly for a day trip to the zoo. This will be fun for the whole family. Emmett just LOVES animals, especially frogs, so we hope to see some frogs there. Since we will be in St. Louis that day and the zoo closes at 5 I plan to make a long awaited stop in to Cotton Babies! I can not WAIT! Here in Bloomington, IL we have just one diaper store showroom at a woman's home who sells cloth. I cant wait to visit this beautiful shop and touch all the diapers in there. One thing I really hate about online shopping, you cant get a real look at the diapers your buying, you cant touch them, play with the snaps and resizing ect... So basically I will be in HEAVEN at Cotton babies!
I have been MIA for a while now but I have a great excuse! I have been diligently making fun crafty functional items!
As a single mom working from home, my income is extremely low and limited. I finally decided to take my talents at creating and hopefully turn them in to some sort of profit to help make my families life a little easier. I try not to stress out about bills but its really difficult sometimes when you really are not sure how your going to pay the power bill each month.
So, here it is, my new shop. Please check it out- share it with your friends and family and if you like something purchase it :) Even if you dont see something you like listed, send me a message, I am happy to do custom orders anytime! I can create outfits in any infant and child size, I can search for all sorts of different colors and prints of fabric and the same goes for the binky clips as well!
I have been cloth diapering my son since he was big enough to fit in the tinniest little cloth diapers I could find. There are so many reasons to use cloth, but here are mine:
1. Its very economical. A package of diapers cost roughly $11. This is referring to Seventh Generation brand which I LOVE for its lack of harsh chemicals. My son would go through a package once a week. That is $44 a month I was spending just on diapers! Now that I do cloth I have saved a ton of money, the start up cost can be scary but it evens out in the end.
2. The chemicals. Disposable diapers contain traces of Dioxin, TBT, and sodium polyacrylate. Dioxin is banned in most countries because of its carcinogenic properties. However it is not banned in the USA. All of these chemicals are being absorbed in to your babies skin when they wear a disposable diaper. No judgement here though! I disposable diapered my first! But, that is why research and knowledge are wonderful things :)
3. Its GREEN! Disposable diapers will sit in landfills for hundreds of years. On average each baby will produce a total of 6,000 diapers in the first 2 years of life. These will be sitting in the landfills anywhere from 250 years to 500 years from now.
4. Adorable-ness... Okay, so I made that word up, but its true! Cloth diapers now are easy to use and come in so many different colors, prints and styles its rediculous!
That brings me to the entire point of this blog. I am reviewing two AI2 diapers that were made by a work at home mommy. We have been using them for roughly 2 weeks now and just absolutely love them! They came in a size medium, brown outer PUL and Minky inner, one green, one yellow. Each diaper came with 2 snap in inserts.
First we used these as an AI2 (all in two) meaning you could snap in the insert and when it got wet, just switch out the insert and put in a new clean one. This works really well for wet diapers, but not dirty (which is the case with most covers and inserts anyway). I loved this option because I could leave my house for several hours with just 2 diapers and the inserts which left more room in the diaper bag. Generally I have the bag stuffed with atlest 4 or 5 diapers, the wet bag, toys, extra outfit ect... But this new option was great.
The minky inner is also very soft and im sure that is nice for my son. He hasnt had a single diaper rash while wearing these dipes as the micro terry fleece inner really pulls the moisture away from his skin.
These dipes have held up very well in the wash as well. They have been through 2 dryer cycles but are generally hung to dry on the line. There has been no pilling, no fraying, no ripes ect... And they also stood up really well to my son scooting across the sidewalk the other day when we were out drawing with chalk lol
One of my favorite options on this diaper were the adjustable leg gussets. Inside the diaper there is a strip of elastic on each leg that can be adjusted with snaps for different sizes. This is great for babies in medium diapers that may have thinner or wider thighs and need a different fit but also I feel that my son would be able to stay in these diapers until potty training age. He is currently quite the chunker and they fit him well on the 2nd leg gusset setting. If I put it on the largest setting he could easily wear these longer.
I would absolutely love to see these diapers come in one size, to allow the adjustable leg gussets to change the size of the diaper to fit from newborn until potty training age. It would also be nice if they came in snaps instead of velcrow. So far the velcrow holds up very well but I prefer snaps personally and that also would allow for size adjustment. Otherwise, I really have no complaints for these dipes! I love them, they are adorable, soft, absorbant and the snap in inserts are very convenient for use as an AI2. I was also able to stuff the back pocket of the dipe with a different insert as the inserts that came with the dipe were too long for stuffing. However, I could stuff the pocket and use the snap in insert for extra absorbancy at night which is nice for heavy wetters!
All around I would deffinately recommend these diapers to other mommas out there cloth diapering their babes. Her diapers will be available on her website after their testing is over, but also be sure to check out her other adorable items like apliqued onesies and cute printed burp cloths: http://www.jillybeanshop.com/
This is a neat way to utilize all that rain water coming through your drainage pipes (and for me, inevitably collecting in your basement). Give the dog water, water your plants, fill the kiddie pool, wash the car! Without ever turning on a hose! What could be more green?
This blog and most likely several more future blogs will be surrounding an incident I recently experienced at a local swimming pool.
I have never had a problem nursing in public in the past. For 8 solid months I enjoyed hassel free, comfortable, wonderful public nursing. Until of course, June 1st 2010. On this day I took my family to swim for the first time that season. My 8 month old son is under the assumption that me being in a swimsuit equals him being able to nurse 24/7.
While I was enjoying the cool water on this extremely hot day lazying about in the zero depth pool my son decided once again it was time to nurse. I was enjoying the fact that I was not sweating despite the 85 degree temperature, severe humidity, and sun beating down on us. So, I decided to just cradle him right then and there and nurse away. For a good 5 minutes we went un noticed. My suit was covering most of my "goods" and my son was wearing a very large brimmed sun hat. To people around me it just looked as though I was cradeling my sleeping babe. Apparently however, from the perspective of a lifeguard tower, the view shows otherwise.
This lifeguard begins to violently blow his whistle at me. I turn to him and he motions for me to exit the pool immediately. I calmly explain that I am just nursing my son and have every right to be there. He tells me that I can not do "that" there... When I continue to refuse to leave he runs off to the lifegaurd house to tattle on me.
Now that he has brought attention to me with his whistle blowing and yelling, I have everyone in the pool staring at me. Not only is everyone staring but about 20 men and teens of varied ages are now aware that some woman (GASP) has her breast out! So they all start swarming around me, pretty closely, trying to get a peak. At first I was just floored that people were so brass and bold to just crowd a single woman and her small baby and then they got closer and closer and I was starting to feel uncomfortable and fearful. I looked over at the lifeguard post and the evil man that blew his whistle at me was so overly concerned with my breastfeeding that he had completely abandoned his post and now left me totally alone and vulnerable to these harassing crazy horny men.
Thankfully I have a brother that can tower several feet over most other men when standing and also has the amazing ability of well, being a complete asshole :) He yelled at them all and made enough room for me to get out of the pool. I went over to a bench and continued to feed my son.
Since I am located in the state of Illinois, I am thankfully very protected by the Civil Liabilities Right to Breastfeed Act. Wich clearly states:
(740 ILCS 137/10)
Sec. 10. Breastfeeding Location. A mother may breastfeed her baby in any location, public or private, where the mother is otherwise authorized to be, irrespective of whether the nipple of the mother's breast is uncovered during or incidental to the breastfeeding; however, a mother considering whether to breastfeed her baby in a place of worship shall comport her behavior with the norms appropriate in that place of worship.
(Source: P.A. 93‑942, eff. 8‑16‑04.)
So far I have taken action against this incident by writing a strongly worded letter to the towns parks and rec department. Further updates, I promise :)
In the meantime please comment below and tell me, when have you ever felt violated of your right to breastfeed? Have you ever been asked to leave an establishment? What actions did you take? I would love to hear of other moms experiences in this area since this is a new ballpark for me.
Here is a super neat and very thrifty way to be green. Forget about purchasing paper towels. They are wasteful, cost alot of money over time, and are deffinately not earth friendly.
Since I had made the switch from disposable sponges for the dishes to knit washclothes I decided to make the switch from paper towels to UN-paper towels.
The concept is not new, but surprisingly few people actually think of it. You can purchase Un-paper towels that are WAHM made with snaps and they can snap together and can be rolled up around your paper towel holder! But also if you want to be just as thrifty as eco friendly you can cut up scraps of any cotton fabric and use those, or what I chose to do, purchase those bundles of white or colored wash clothes (i found a dozen for $3.50 at walmart) and the next time you go to wipe off your counters, instead use your UNpaper towels.
Why is it that in todays society, breastfeeding is still looked down upon? How on earth can giving your baby or child what is best, what was intended for them to eat, be taboo?
There was a lot of controversy back in 2009 when SalmaHyak visited a hospital in war torn Sierra Leone. She selflessly comforts and breastfeeds a one week old baby who was malnourished. His mothers milk had dried up and Selma felt she had plenty to share as she was currently weaning her 1 year old daughter. Watch the video below:
When I saw this video I was immediately impressed with her willingness to step up and feed this hungry little person. I would absolutely do the same thing in such a situation. I have in the past donated my milk to mothers who were having supply issues and did not want to give formula.
Why is this considered so taboo to others? We willingly, by the millions, feed our children cows milk and formula (which is man made chemicals with cows milk) on a daily basis. Cows milk and any other milk that isn't human breastmilk was not intended for humans. Cows milk was designed to be the perfect food to help sustain a baby calf. Human breastmilk was designed to be the perfect food to help sustain a baby human.
In our worlds History, it has been documented that wet nurses were a common solution to a mothers lactation complications. If a mother was unable to sustain her child with her own milk, a lactating mother would be brought in to help feed that child. Even more importantly, if a mother had died during childbirth it was crucial to have a wet nurse come in to feed the child until it was weaned.
This of course, is before breast pumps and formula and all that jazz. But its the very basic concept that a human child needs human milk and that, regardless of circumstance, should be what that child receives to be as healthy as possible.
Sure, people will cry and say that formula is the second best option. But this is not true. According to the WHO (World Health Organization) infant feeding is ranked by,
1.Breast milk from the breast
2. Pumped breast milk from the baby's own mother
3. Donated breast milk
4. Infant formula
Why is it that most mother immediately gravitate towards formula when needing to supplement?
I believe that it because formula has been made readily available without a prescription. You can purchase it at any grocery store, even some gas stations and County Health Departments hand it out like free candy. Formula is not sterile like breastmilk. It is overly processed, is made from cows milk, has high fructose corn syrup and sugars sweetening it up just so babies will drink it, and if you have ever read the ingredients on the back of a can, you would be floored.
Most parents are pretty health conscious about the foods their toddlers and children eat, I know I am. We stay away from overly processed foods, preservatives, non organic produce and milk... But why are there parents who still immediately gravitate towards formula when they hit a small bump in the road of breastfeeding (and believe me, I've been through those bumps!). My son has never had a single drop of formula. Ive been through a gall bladder removal surgery when he was just 2 months old, I pumped like a mad woman for WEEKS before I had it taken out. My mom bottle fed him the pumped milk while I was away. Once I was home I writhed in pain, only taking 2 doses of my Tylenol with codeine and then throwing it out so I could breastfeed him. Later on we suffered through a week of pain with a clogged duct that finally was relieved when I developed a nipple blister I was able to pop. It was painful to feed him for the next few weeks but we got over that hump too. He's now 7 months old and still breastfeeds for 90% of his nutrition. He takes a bit of yogurt or pureed veggies and fruits here and there but that's it.
So, while it seems this blog is going no where fast, I just wanted to say, no SCREAM out there to all the mommas. Breastfeeding is the best, most natural, amazingly healthy thing you can do for you babies!
The WHO recommends exclusive breastfeeding to 6 months, and then breastfeeding until at least a year and after that up until age 2 or beyond with child led weaning... I would like to see more mommas out there boobing their babies on the playground, in the mall, at the restaurant, at the pool, anywhere- ANYTIME. Who's with me? I know I don't mind publicly announcing that I will do what is best for my baby :)
Vada and I really loved the first season of Jamie Oliver's "Food Revolution". To go along with our de-stressing and dietary changes we have been making some of his recipes. One we recently embarked on was a super easy, very yummy Omelet.
We chose of course to go with completely organic ingredients.
First I heated up a stainless steel frying pan on med/low heat, then added half a tablespoon of Organic salt free butter and let it melt to bubbling.
In a bowl i whisked 3 cage free, organic eggs, a pinch of natural sea salt, and my rendition of shredded cheese (the cheese grater decided to hide from us this morning. Possibly with all our missing socks).
My daughter didn't want spinach, but I did add full circle brand Organic canned spinach to mine. (fresh spinach would have been better but i didn't have any).
Then I poured the eggs in to the pan, moving the pan around to let the eggs cover the entire bottom of the pan. Then leave them be! I just let it cook for about 5 to 10 minutes (time i use for clean up) once you can get the spatula to lift all around the edges you are ready to fold it in half.
For my daughters I added 2 slices of Hormel's all Natural ham in the middle before slicing, then sprinkled the horribly ugly non shredded cheese on top lol
for mine i just folded in half and walla... done.. So easy, perfect, and amazingly tasty. Now, everyone go forth, be healthy, and make your family a fresh organic breakfast!
I desperately want to press pause. My little guy is 7 months old today. It seems so old and at the same time like it wasn't that long ago he was born. He is more than halfway to one!
When my daughter was a baby it seemed like the time was slower, looking back. I remember her being a baby for so long. As you get older, time just speeds up. Maybe Adam Sandler will let me borrow that neat remote from "Click"?
7 months ago I was leaking amniotic fluids in my best friends husbands truck lol
Being a single mom, I actually had enlisted my best friend Maggie as my birth partner. I chose her over other people in my life because she is a rock, is sweet as pie, loving and caring but when she has to be, a complete psycho controlling bitch. That is why I love her :) lol
I needed her rock side to get me through the birth, and then I needed her controlling side to tame the nursing staff who all felt that birth was a major medical emergency needing massive amounts of intervention. I believe otherwise. Unfortunately being a single mom also has made me financially strained. My medical insurance doesn't allow for a home birth and financially I could not afford one with a midwife. Thankfully I was able to have a midwife still, just had to birth in the hospital...
My birth plan was extensive. I wanted the option to move about and walk around and not be forced to lay in a bed. I wanted the option of eating and drinking instead of an IV. I wanted no epidural. And that was just for ME, the mom in labor.
Everything went so fast mostly because when your in pain, time has no more meaning. Maggie drove me to the hospital at 5:30 after my water had broken. By 8pm I was in pain. Pain pain pain pain. It was deep, strong, low pain all through my pelvic area, contractions in my lower pelvis, not at all like labor with my daughter 10 years earlier where it was all in my stomach and much more manageable. This was intense. Then my midwife informs me that I have to stay in bed, because I have to have antibiotics for testing positive for strep-b a week earlier... awesome.
With limited mobility I was now in so much pain I couldn't keep my eyes open. I shut down and went in to my own world. I remember screaming through every contraction even though I tried hard not to. I have no idea how long this lasted because at some point I cried out for an epidural, screaming at nurses that I didn't care if the anesthesiologist was at home in bed, get his ass in here NOW. No, I didn't want the freakin pool that you all just spent 30 minutes filling. No, i don't want to sit on that ridiculous ball, no, i want drugs. NOW, lots!
I really wish I could say I regretted getting that epidural, but I don't. I am a huge advocate for natural birth, really. I just wish I could do it. I have no tolerance for pain what so ever. But literally moments after having it, I was dilated to a 10 after being stuck at 3 for HOURS. And a few pushes later, my little Emmett Michael was here! So, I would like to think that little to none of the epidural got to him :) He was wide eyed and very aware from birth, looking around, always sticking out his tongue. He was amazing, and still is! He is my non vaccinated, exclusively breastfed, intact, co slept, baby worn, organic little guy.
But now, we are more than halfway to one. Time to hit pause!
For our Earth Day celebrations the kids and I spent the morning playing without electricity, just enjoying the beautiful day. Then that evening we spent with friends playing "whatever ball" which is a neat rendition of softball, kickball, using any kind of ball. Hence the name, whatever ball :)
Then we made a trip to the hardware store and picked up the fixings to hang a clothesline in our backyard in an attempt to lower the use of the dryer and also save money on our electric bill. However, according to my landlord, the city in which we live has an ordinance that says you are not allowed to have a clothesline or hang any clothing from porches/fences at any time.
This seemed outrageous to me. Why on earth would there be such an ordinance? Hanging your clothes to dry conserves energy which is good for the planet, and saves money!
Since I am not the kind of person to take no as an answer, i acted immediately. I called the city clerks office and spoke to a very nice woman. She informed me that while it was ridiculous, it was truly an ordinance. So, I decided to take it upon myself to have the ordinance changed. I asked the clerk to call me back with the location on the web I could find a copy of the ordinance and then diligently began researching ways to have this ordinance changed. Not of course before posting a status update on facebook letting all my friends and family know that the bag of poo was on fire in my neck of the woods...
Turns out, its extremely hard to locate information on how to go about getting an ordinance changed, most likely because the people who make and enforce the ordinances don't want them changed....
About a half our in to my research I get a call back from the nice lady at the clerks office with great news. Turns out allot of people THINK this is an ordinance but its not. It is not found in any chapter or section of the city ordinances. HOORAY!
So this morning while my little dude was happily gnawing on a teething ring riding in his sling, I hung our clothesline. Its nothing fancy, is minimal, and was cheap - exactly how I like it.
We love our clothesline and little mans dipes smell wonderful now!
My son and I co-sleep, we do this for many reasons but mostly because its beneficial to my health (i get tons of sleep :)
So early yesterday morning my little guy wakes up cooing next to me, ready to nurse. As per usual I get situated so he can nurse and I can peacefully fall back asleep as he usually does once he starts nursing.
Just as I am entering dream land "YOWWWWW"! that HURT! It feels like someone has decided that I needed my nipple pierced during my slumber! I look down and what do I see? My little man, smiling up at me, one little white pearly tooth sticking through...
I sure will miss the days of nursing without teeth lol... But mostly I am going to miss my little guys adorable toothless baby grin.
I am a homeschool/unschool parent. I say both because while we do workbooks and focus on particular subjects- there is no time limit, no schedule, no due date, no grades. She may spend one night on division and have it all figured out, or 3 or more months learning Spanish. I give her the amount of time she NEEDS to properly retain the things she is learning and we got back to cover the basics all the time so she wont forget. She has no pressure to learn on a time limit.
I was a public school student. As I school my 10 year old I find myself having to re-learn things I had already been taught in school because I did not absorb it properly. I would complete an assignment in the time allotted, get a grade, and move on. For tests, because I was so terrified of being embarrassed by a bad grade, I would study and study and study until my eyes and brain were raw with information. I would get an A. But if you would have tested me on the same thing a month later the information was gone, because I had exhausted myself in to learning it, all for a grade- NOT because i wanted to know the information. So, my brain tossed it out to make room for other temporary knowledge. I did not retain, I was simply trying to survive and pass.
Now, when speaking to other parents about homeschooling I often get asked, " how on earth does your child socialize?"
Yes, your public school child gets to socialize 5 days a week for 7 hours a day with other students. But the difference with my daughter is that while she doesn't spend as much time with other children, when she does- their time is valuable. They enjoy being together. She is also not restricted by age. My daughter has friends who are 4 and up. Some older, some younger, a few the same age. She gets along with anyone and makes friends easily and well. We are in a home school group that gets together weekly for play dates, she also has choir once a week at a Unitarian church. She has plenty of socialization and it doesn't end with the school bell.
To top it off she is not being bullied every single day. At 10 years old, when her little friend who is 4 wants to gallop around and pretend they are horses, she happily leads the way through imagination. She is not afraid someone will laugh at her, she has no self esteem issues. She just wants to have fun.
I spent all of my school aged years being bullied, torn down, ridiculed, and made to feel like the fattest most unintelligent being in the room. But, I wasn't fat, nor was I the least bit unintelligent. However smart I was did not outweigh how cruel the children in class were. The first time I experienced this was in Kindergarten while learning the alphabet. The teacher asked the children to raise their hands if they knew what sound "Y" made. My enthusiastic little 6 year old self raised a hand and when called on I shouted, "eeeee!"...
Most of the children laughed and the boy sitting next to me called me a "retard"...
Except, I was RIGHT and they were assholes, even at 5 and 6. Regardless, that moment changed my enthusiasm for learning and made me a timid, scared little girl. Another time in 3rd grade we were going alphabetically through the classroom coming up with words that rhyme with grape. When we got to "R" the boys sitting behind me told me to say "rape". I'm in 3rd grade, I'm 10... I have no idea what this word means, only that it starts with R and rhymes with grape. Because really, why should a 10 year old know what that word MEANS?
Of course those boys thought it was gut splitting hilarious what I had said and roaring laughter erupts around me. I was oblivious, and then later scarred when my teacher pulled me aside and explained what the word meant. Don't worry, later that day while they were in the lunch line, I spit in their milks...
These are only two small stories from a childhood PACKED with moments just like them. So, in conclusion- children are evil. They are raised in a public school system that thrives on competition, grades, winning and losing. Kids will do what it takes to come out on top, and then the weak ones are left in the dust, failing and struggling.
So for us, homeschooling works.
To my readers, do you home school or does your child attend school? What works for you and why?
Today is the beginning of a new life. What better way to start that, than to document it in a blog to the entire world right?
I have officially decided that my life is to be free of stress. No one is allowed to stress me out, not a single bill, not a small paycheck, not a boringly empty fridge, and not one single angry, cursing customer on the phone. I will sit blissfully unstressed and let it all pass me by.
How can I do this you ask?
I'm going to ignore the balance in my debit card. Ill pay the bills that need to be paid, and then pretend I have no other money- which hopefully will help me save up, and also not be as stressed when there isn't as much as I want to be in there...
Then, I will ignore the pile of laundry, walk past my kitchen sink full of dishes, step over the smelly dog that needs a bath and go outside to play with my awesome children.
On top of eliminating stress I will also be eliminating processed chemical laden foods and purchasing as much local organic as possible. No more high fructose corn syrup or hydrogenated oils for this family!
We have also become more earth friendly. We switched to all the fancy Eco bulbs to save energy, we put a brick in the back of the toilet to conserve water, There is a big smelly awesome pile of compost out back (which is also the main cause of our smelly dog that needs a bath)... We will put all of our organic purchases in reusable sacks! My son is sporting adorable, soft, beautiful cloth diapers. Adorning our sink is a brand new bottle of Seventh Generation dish soap and hand soap. In the drawer next to the sink is a colorful arrangement of knitted dishcloths that I will wash and reuse instead of disposable sponges.
I feel better already! If anyone has some more suggestions to help de-stress my family and make us more organic and earth friendly, please let us know and we will absolutely try it out and then, inevitably- blog about it afterwards!
My son and I co-sleep, we do this for many reasons but mostly because its beneficial to my health (i get tons of sleep :)
Today is the