Bowlful of kale

How was your weekend? We had an enjoyable one, although we weren't home much of it. It involved alot of fun with family and lots of outdoor time with the weather around here being so darn nice. We even ate a birthday meal outside in the shade, which was quite enjoyable. My two Loves accompanied me to the park for my long run Sunday morning and Lovebug had a blast walking, running, and playing in the dirt. That girl loves rocks! She loves finding them, collecting them, organizing them, and holding them in her hands. She loves getting dirty too and ANYTHING outside - anything.

Yesterday was another really great day. It was the perfect combination of playing, learning, and productivity. Lovebug fell asleep nursing in the maya wrap or "ling" as she calls it while I was doing some things in the kitchen. So precious. No matter how much of a little girl she is looking and acting like, she's still my sweet baby and loves being worn. I love it too because we get to snuggle and be so close to each other :) while I do random things. Plus, she gets to be in on the action and see everything I'm doing, which we talk about and discuss. Wearing her is SO much easier than holding her and makes things "doable" that wouldn't be otherwise. Even though there are days when for whatever reason I forget about them, slings/wraps/carriers are a true lifesaver and I don't know what we would do without them.

Anyway, I was able to get Lovebug on the bed to finish her nap and when she woke up she was quite hungry. Her Daddy had set aside some steamed kale the night before from the pasta dish he made us, and she just devoured a big bowlful of it. I am so proud of my little vegan! We love kale around our nest and put it in alot of different dishes, but it's just as great on it's own too. So nutritious and yummy! Tell me, how do you like your kale?...or do you even like it?

Well, have a wonderful day...OH and happy September (which I still cannot believe)!

How our nest does it...

So I've talked about WHY our nest does 100% organic, but HOW do we do it exactly?

Well, first of all, let's talk about our budget. For 2 adults and 1 breastfeeding/solid eating toddler, we spend an average of $100 a week on 100% organic groceries. Probably about $50 of that is spent on fresh vegetables and fruit. Lately, Lovebug has been eating alot more vegetables, so sometimes it's $125, but most of the time it's right at or around $100.

This amount does not include supplements or personal care products, as we get those from other sources. It also does not include any cleaning or laundry products since we make all of them with supplies mostly from Mountain Rose Herbs. Since we cloth diaper/wipe, this amount also does not include those, which saves us quite a bit of money. Further, that amount does not include any cooking/baking oils, herbs, spices, salt, pepper, and so forth, because we also get them all from Mountain Rose Herbs in bulk.

We do our weekly shopping at Central Market but make a monthly trip or so to Whole Foods as well. From April - November, we go to the local farmer's market every Saturday morning where we stand in the long line at the ONE organic stand. At any of these places, if they don't have it organic, we don't buy it. It's really that simple. Even if that means changing things up that we had intended on doing, we go in another direction or find an organic substitute that will work.

Things that help us buy 100% organic 100% of the time:

-My Love keeps great track of what we are spending. As he is the "top chef" around our nest, he also does our grocery shopping. Sometimes Lovebug and I tag along especially when it's farmer's market season, but alot of times, it's just my Love heading to the store early Saturday morning with the list we carefully made together. He has his ipod and listens to music while he tallys up things as they go into the basket. Somtimes he put things back if we're going to go over what we had intended and sometimes he calls me to say "do we want this or that this week?"...And we make that decision based upon what we really need. We never ever take anything away that is for Lovebug though as her health is our top priority!

-Simply, we don't overbuy. Probably most anyone that would come over to our nest and look in our refrigerator or pantry would probably think both are pretty bare, but to us, they're completely full. We just don't overbuy and keep to our list, which helps tremendously. Actually, come Saturday our refrigerator does look pretty empty! :)

-We buy in bulk. As mentioned above, about every month we load up on organic agave, maple syrup, and other things from Whole Foods. Also every month, I generally take a trip to another grocery store, Market Street, to load up on organic nuts and chocolate chips because they have the best prices on those. Then, every couple of months, we load up on LOTS of beans, lentils and such from Whole Foods. Buying in bulk truly helps! Plus, you're using less packaging (especially if you re-use your own bags).

-We keep our paper products to an absolute minimum at our nest and this helps our budget a great deal. So that means no TP (except for guests), no paper towels, no napkins, no paper plates, no diapers, and so forth. These things can quickly add up...

-As mentioned above, from April to November we go to the local farmer's market every Saturday morning to load up on organic vegetables. This helps our budget a TON because we can go and spend $35 on veggies with the same amount normally costing us $50 at Central Market! Find your local farmer's market here.

-Since we eat by far mostly vegan (with the very rare local eggs and fish we catch), our organic protein sources are much cheaper than meat-eaters. Organic beans cost a great deal less per pound than organic chicken or beef, so that's something to consider. Even if you can't go vegan, vegetarian, or pescetarian, then consider at least making more of your meals meat/chicken free per week than not. You'll end up saving money for sure!

-We drink a ton of water and don't buy bottled beverages hardly ever. We don't buy soda and I know this is kind of crazy to most people, but we just don't drink the stuff. We also don't buy bottled water, but instead have our reusable bottles that we re-fill. This saves us quite a bit! We do buy a carton of orange juice every week that we partake of a little bit every day, but a treat is when we can get an organic beer for my Love and a GT's Kombucha for me! :)

-We don't buy packaged foods - no cookies, crackers, cake mixes, boxed dinners, and so forth. That stuff can easily add up in more ways than one, so we just don't buy them. Plus, fresh is just best...

-This may seem minute, but we compost and recycle like crazy. Thus we don't buy trash bags but once a year. We only put out trash maybe once a month if that, so this is something little but a small money saver.

-We are still breastfeeding and practice baby-led eating/weaning. This also might seem minute, but it has saved us money for sure. However, financial savings is by far NOT the reason we have done either of these things, but rather, an added benefit. We have never done baby food, cereal, formula, bottle-feeding, and so forth, but instead have only breastfed and started to offer cut up fresh vegetables to Lovebug around 10 months once she started to show interest. She has always fed herself and decides how much/little she wants to eat. Her vegetable intake continues to increase although her breastfeeding really hasn't decreased much :), but we have definitely noticed a small difference ($15-25) here and there certain weeks in our grocery bill due to this and know it will only increase from here.

SO these are some things that came to mind in how we save and are able to keep to the 100% organic diet. However, we also have to do away with other things (like cable, etc.) to maintain it. There are certainly ways that we can improve though:

-We would love to get where we always make all of our breads. I make them here and there and always make our pizza dough and baked goods, but would love to make all of our tortillas, and sandwich and pita bread as well. Currently for these things, we buy Ezekial 4:9 which is sprouted and very delicious.

-Currently we buy a big thing of purified water every week, but really hope in the near future to install a whole house water filtration system so we don't have to do this. We had Eco Water Texas come out not long ago and test our water - eewwwww! Disgusting what's in it!! Really. I highly recommend getting your water tested and not drinking tap water!

So, maybe some of this will help a few of you. It IS really hard, especially with today's economy to stay within budget and make things work...but I truly believe if it's a priority, everyone's diet can be 100% or at least mainly organic.

The above is what currently works for our nest, but I would love to hear any tips of how you make it work for you and your families as well, so please share!

Oh and the photo is a little box I've been working on by making use of all of the organic produce stickers we go through :)...

Today

We woke up to ice and snow...not anything crazy, but this is Texas, so we freak out over the littlest bit of it! As soon as the sun came up, it all started to quickly melt but I was able to get some shots first.


Today is CPSIA Blogging Day and I couldn't NOT post on it because it's an issue I feel very strongly about. To catch up any of you who aren't aware, as of February 10th (National Bankruptcy Day as it has been dubbed) any product that is meant to be used, worn, read, etc. by anyone under the age of 12 is going to have to go through strict third party testing. Here, here, and here are my other posts about it for easy reference.

So you're not a crafter or don't care about buying handmade and you think you're not going to be affected by this? You're wrong! If you ever plan on buying anything for someone under the age of 12, then you ARE going to be affected. The CPSIA does not just affect clothing and toys, but books, school supplies, furniture for kids, sport equipment, and on and on. Here is a really great list that shows how this affects everyone from environmentalists to secondhand shoppers to entrepreneurs. We should all care about this and do what we can!

There has been a really great three part series on it at Forbes for further reading. Here is part one, two, and three. At the core of CPSIA is something good as we all want to protect our children and keep them from harmful things. But not in this way...and not what the CPSIA is going to do. The crap made in China is scary and shouldn't be bought in the first place for MANY reasons, but it is OUR economy that is going to suffer DEEPLY from this if it continues as is and SO many small businesses are going to cease to exist.


Although I don't care too greatly about how this is going to affect the big-box stores that are going to suffer because 1.) it won't be much, 2.) we don't shop there, and 3.) it's the crap they sell that initiated this whole thing. However, I do deeply care about the environmental aspect of all of this in regards to what they are going to have to do after February 10th. Here is a quote from National Bankruptcy Day in relation to an economic impact study that was recently done between December 31, 2008 and January 10, 2009:

The cut to the chase summary shows over 70 million dollars worth of inventory must be destroyed on February 10, 2009 (National Bankruptcy Day) and of those enterprises that expect to survive the fall-out (61% will not), over 40 million dollars in lost product sales are anticipated.

Isn't that crazy? How is it going to be "destroyed"? Are they just going to inundate our landfills even more with all of it? How are the harmful ingredients/materials that the products are made of going to be contained or is all that lead (and goodness knows what else) just going to end up in our waterways??? Are they going to recycle what can be recycled? Lots of questions and not many answers.

Supposedly there is alot of misinformation going around regarding all of this, and there are MANY aspects that are very unclear and confusing. What also is unclear is how exactly the law is going to be enforced as the CPSC only has about 100 investigators...so we'll see. Supposedly, Congress has denied a second hearing on it and have no intention of changing the law. BUT we should still continue to do what we can! Here is a great "kit" at Etsy that lists out all of the different things you can do with links, petitions, addresses, and sample verbiage. Some of the same stuff is available at Handmade Toy Alliance as well.


Again, at the heart of CPSIA is something really good as we of course want our children protected and there should absolutely be restrictions placed on lead and phthalates and so on! It was just so poorly conceived and hurriedly put together, and although it's not surprising, it's very disheartening. I still cannot imagine our life without being able to buy secondhand things for Lovebug at thrift stores or organic handmade things from my beloved Etsy.

Well, stay warm my friends...

Tagged Twice

I was tagged twice last week, so let's have some fun, shall we?

This is the 4th shot from the 4th picture folder on my computer, and I didn't crop or edit it in any way. It's a reject from the shots I took for this spring post last year. Looks pretty, doesn't it? I cannot wait to start seeing this again...


The next tag is called "Honestly Honest" and I'm supposed to share "10 honest things about me you possibly do not know"...Ok, here it goes...

1.) I'm one of 7 children and have 4 brothers and 2 sisters and all of our names start with a "J". We're all uniquely different but somehow fit together. We're pretty crazy and would make one entertaining reality series if you ask me!

2.) Speaking of names, my Love and I have had ALL of our baby names picked out since we were in college...so for about 7 years now. One night we were sitting around talking about our future together and we picked our names out! We sometimes still go back and forth on middle names but the first names we have, unless God blesses us with all of one gender! :)

3.) Our nest is "vegan" but we do eat fish a couple of times a year that we catch and plan on doing so more this coming year. I KNOW, that's not even vegetarian!!! But we love fish very much (and fishing) and are not supporting factory farming or environmental degradation by eating them occasionally in our home. It's something I have struggled with and thought alot about, but we don't buy fish from a supermarket or eat the types of fish that are unhealthy or disappearing. ALSO, we are going to start getting organic free-range eggs from a local source here soon and eat them once a week on Sundays, as well as add fish oil back to our diet. Also something I've struggled with, but with alot of thought and research I feel it's what my body needs at this child-bearing/breastfeeding time in my life. Apparently, the name is "pescetarian" for someone who eats fish but doesn't eat any other meat, but whatever, as we still eat out, bake, and cook 99.5% of the time "vegan". Labels really aren't important though! In the end, our goal is to constantly become healthier and if that means eating some fish we catch or organic free-range eggs, then so be it.

4.) I'm famous...OH YES people...by the early age of 10 I had already walked the runway for Espirit (anyone remember them - they were cool!) and been in a YMCA commercial (oh YES)!!! AND it gets even awesome-er...in college, I was interviewed for the local news. ALSO in college, I performed on a gorgeous Renaissance stage in Italy for one night/one show! Are you impressed? :)

5.) Speaking of college, my blood is not red, it's maroon. YES my friends, I am an Aggie...one of THOSE. We're very proud Aggies around here! Not the annoying kind in any way, but still very proud that we attended and worked hard at Texas A&M. My Aggie blood line is a long one, which I am immensely proud of!

6.) Ever since I was super little I wanted to be an attorney, but not just any attorney - the BEST (like my Dad). Everything I did in high school and halfway through college was to prepare me for law school...Teen Court, Teen Council, Mock Trial, and so forth. BUT about midway through college, I realized God had a different plan for my life. Thank goodness He always has a plan, right? I realized my creative talents would have no outlet if I continued down that path and I wouldn't be happy. SO event design it became and I am so very glad...

7.) Although I love sleep, I can function pretty darn well on very little of it (even uncaffeinated). In high school my extracurricular activities list was LONG and I was up late many nights and up early many mornings. This continued tenfold in college because I was a huge nerd and was always studying. Yes, I love studying and test taking and find it quite fun. I'm a dork. Anyway, this functioning on little sleep certainly comes in handy as my 24/7 job as a Mommy now, so I'm glad I haven't lost it! I think I just have really high adrenaline and that's what keeps me going, especially during high exciting times like major events and happenings (new babies, tests, big parties/events, etc.).

8.) In the 4th grade, I wore these massive super cool red glasses...NOT because I needed them as my eyesight was great back then, BUT because they were amazingly cool. I wore them as a fashion statement and rocked the heck out of them! :)

9.) I'm a workout fanatic...seriously. It's a big passion of mine! I'm not addicted, but it's something I HAVE to do to make my day complete. Otherwise, I'm not happy and don't feel good about myself. Wait, hold the phone...maybe that is an addiction. Really, I'm just a health nut. OH and I have to do yoga every morning as it helps center and get me ready for the day.

10.) One time we belonged to this massive gym and I was talking to my Love as we were getting on treadmills. Well, I didn't realize that someone had left the treadmill ON and I completely tripped and fell on top of it...it was hilarious! Good times. Thank goodness I didn't break or hurt anything. Actually, another small tidbit is that I've never had a broken bone!

I had these other two scribbled down so I might as well share them as well...

11.) I used to be a movie buff...I was heavily involved in theater in high school and college and WAY into movies. I saw probably any "good" movie (thanks Dad and my Love!) that came out and took pride in the dissecting and critiquing of the acting, directing, writing, and so forth. Again, a big nerd. Along with that, I was a major fan of the Oscars. My Mom always made it a fun ordeal when I was younger to watch them together. Anyway, I started to write this "Predictions" email every year with who I thought would win and why, and who/what REALLY should win and why...with lots of stupid commentary thrown in there. Funny, I know...Stupid, I know...but I think some people enjoyed it. Well I stopped somewhere in there during college and now I couldn't tell you who was nominated and haven't seen or maybe even heard of most of the movies. :) Funny how your priorites change, isn't it?

12.) My middle, ring, and baby fingers are pretty weird. They look "normal" but I have really poor control of them. Like ask me to do the "I love you" sign and it's hard for me to get those three fingers to cooperate. Isn't that strange? OH I have others...like I HAVE to brush my teeth twice at night and floss in between! I'm pretty weird.

Alright, that is some pretty honest and revealing stuff (and I did 12!!). NOW you all know many things about me that the vast majority of you did not know before! Hope you enjoyed that Jashley and Emily. :) Now my friends, I tag any and all of you with these...do one...do both...do neither. Up to you, but it WAS pretty fun to do. :)

Let's all have a wonderful week!!!

The Future of Handmade Toys

Hope you all had a wonderful weekend...we sure did! The 10K went great and I was very pleased with my time...and Lovebug's birthday went perfectly! I'll share details, pics, and all of that later this week once I download and go through the ridiculous amount of photos that were taken :)...

I wanted to pop in today though and bring your attention to this in regard to handmade toys. Many of you probably already have heard about it, but it's called the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA). It does ALOT of good like banning lead and phthalates, and requires certification and thirty-party testing on all toys. Which sounds wonderful, doesn't it? Except for all of the WAHMs, WAHDs, and artisans that lovingly handmake beautiful toys within their homes and sell on sites like Etsy...Their toys would be "illegal" unless they send out their toys for third-party testing which apparently costs quite alot per toy! It also affects textiles and clothing for children as well!!!!

Nearly all of the clothes, shoes, slings, toys, etc. etc. we buy for Lovebug are from artisans off of Etsy using natural, organic, and recycled materials...are these wonderful sellers no longer going to provide us with all of these beautiful handmade products??!!! I'm VERY concerned...

There is alot of info at the Handmade Toy Alliance, and then some posts here, here, here, and a page of links on the Etsy forum page...and then some good info at National Bankruptcy Day. This law goes in affect after February 9th and it's already passed and been signed...but people are calling their Congresspeople, calling and emailing CPSC officials found here, and signing petitions here, amongst other things to have the bill altered. This also is affecting brands like German-based Selecta (love them), whom says they are no longer going to be distributing toys to the U.S. because of the new high testing costs!

I love this paragraph from Z Recommends:

If the first major consumer legislation to pass Congress in decades pushes the safest toys out of the market, leaving only those companies that have cared the least about chemical safety and thus are in the most robust financial position to undertake new expenses, we will all be poorer for it.

and this one as far as what should be done:

We believe the Consumer Product Safety Commission and Congress should immediately issue more detailed and targeted guidelines and clarifications which protect reputable natural toy companies as well as offering intelligent ways for small, independent manufacturers to continue producing and selling their products.

Obviously, we want the toys and clothing we buy for Lovebug to be as safe as possible! However, we ALSO want to support small artisans/companies making natural/organic/recycled products before we support large ones! I am just so confused as far as what needs to be done. It really seems that small companies are going to suffer with all of this even though the biggest offenders are typically the large ones.

We just bought a set of these beautiful wooden keys for Lovebug's birthday and they are adorable!! The seller, Mamaroots, was so wonderful and customized them for Lovebug, used non-toxic watercolors, and then sealed them with beeswax. Have the keys been tested by a third party to ensure all of that?? No. There is a trust that is out there within the community of Etsy...which I know, isn't always justified, because I'm sure there are sellers NOT using safe materials and NOT being honest about the materials used in their products...BUT that is why you convo with the seller, you read their feedback, you research, and you make sure you're comfortable before ordering from someone.

I just don't know...I'm really at a loss here. I am going to sign a petition for sure...but as far as the answer to all of this, I just don't have one...

What are your thoughts?? Any new info anybody has or had you even heard of this before now? How much do you think this will actually affect you? I'd love to hear from everybody...

Catalog Season...

Have you all seen the new Nova Natural catalog (or is catalogue, which is how I've always spelled it)?? WOW, it is filled with such beautiful toys, crafts, and living products and I love nearly every single thing! If you haven't checked them out, I highly recommend doing so! We have their organic terry ball and some of their wooden books, all of which Lovebug adores!


Here are some of my new favorites:

*Bubble Buggy...these come in such fun colors!
*Baby Boo Silks...Lovebug would adore these!
*Wee wooden mug...she's not quite ready for this but how precious!
*Rainbow stacker...don't tell her but Lovebug is getting this for Christmas!
*Rainbow bowls...this would be so much fun for her!
*Four Elements set...LOVE this of course, but I know Mama and Dada would have more fun playing with this right now than Lovebug though :).

And really, that's just the beginning of all of my Nova loves and I could go on and on. However, much of it isn't age appropriate for Lovebug just YET. Anyway, check them out if you haven't already.

Speaking of catalogs, this time of year our mailboxes can easily get pretty full of them, right? I have tried to get off nearly all of the lists either by calling the company, emailing them, AND going to Catalog Choice, which is a free service that lets you pick and choose which catalogs you want to receive. That way you're no longer getting the ones you don't want (and just end up recycling), but still getting the ones you do actually enjoy going through (and then saving or recycling:)!

I love getting Nova Natural because all of the beauties in it, but I also love getting it because this is the first one all year we've received. I really appreciate that since some companies waste a ridiculous amount of paper sending new catalogs out every couple of months (I'm talking to you Hanna Andersson!). We bought an organic sweater from Hanna after Lovebug was first born and on came the crazy amount of catalogs...thankfully, I was able to end that (finally). But then last month we bought her some special organic pajamas for Christmas Eve and the catalogs have started again, so I have to get on that asap...


However, HERE is something wonderful about the Hanna Andersson catalog - Lovebug loves it! She loves going through it and seeing all the babies and children and tearing it up (as seen above:)...It entertains her for quite awhile! So when Mama or Dada need to get something done - we give her the Hanna Andersson catalog! :)

Birth & Babywearing

Hope everyone had a wonderful weekend...ours was fun and productive! The weather here in Texas was enjoyably cold, which meant inside time organizing and drinking hot coffee and tea! There were a couple frustrations though that came to me via the great internet that I wanted to share, which involve two big passions of ours - natural birth and babywearing!

This NYT article ran last week on home births, and it's pretty positive overall I would say. What has been so disheartening though have been the response/comments to the article, or rather to home/natural birth, as seen at a couple different websites that Marvelous Kiddo linked to. I wish I hadn't read some of them honestly. They get me all worked up!

I feel so bad for many of the women that posted such vicious things regarding it. Most of the extremely negative ones are from women (or maybe girls I should say) who have never actually given birth. Some of the comments are so ridiculous they're hilarious (well, kind of, but also so very very sad). They cannot imagine that someone would want that "mess" in their home, they complain how annoyed they would be by a loud laboring neighbor, they say children would be traumatized by the moans (?), they say to "bring on the drugs", etc. etc. etc.

Like I said, pretty much every comment I read that was negative was by someone who has not given birth and was pretty much grossed out by the mere thought of doing so. These women (and some men) are so uninformed or misinformed and it saddens me greatly. I just wish people would truly educate themselves about their choices (and the consequences of them) before giving birth and making the decision where it's going to take place, which should be wherever the woman is MOST comfortable. For me, that would NEVER be in a hospital...too many unknown people, too many risks, too many germs, too many sounds, too many lights, way too many machines, drugs, and pressure, and not enough love, comfort, support, or intimacy.


Giving birth is a life-changing event and as such, really is something that deserves and requires a ton of research, thought, and prayer. If you have not already, I highly recommend renting or buying The Business of Being Born, Birth As We Know It, Birth Day, Birth into Being, Orgasmic Birth, and others at this website. Plus there are so many incredible books out there that need to be read while pregnant!!! Sadly, it seems most people get their misguided information and opinions on birth from movies and tv shows, which are all far far far from reality. Lovebug's birth was neither messy or loud by any means! It was peaceful, beautiful, and amazing...and I know many mamas whose experience was the same. The above dvd's all are reality - real-life mamas and real-life births, so check them out. Birth can be, as it was for me, incredibly empowering and that empowerment has extended to every other aspect of my life. I so wish and pray that every woman could experience that!

Anyway, it's been sad and disheartening reading the responses to the article, but I'm so glad the NYT decided to cover such a topic!

The other frustration was a Motrin ad campaign that was directed at babywearers...I'm sure most of you have heard about all of this by now, but you can read the ad copy here. It was just bad advertising and has made many of us babywearers (the target audience with the campaign) very mad. Following all of the blogosphere feedback, Motrin pulled the online ads, but unfortunately it's already in magazines. It makes babywearing sound like a new fad, something everyone is doing to stay "in fashion" or to be seen as an "official parent"...which isn't why anyone I know wears their baby and babywearing is certainly NOT anything new! :) It is also sexist as it's certainly NOT just mamas that wear their babies.


Further, babywearing is NOT supposed to be painful, but actually quite the opposite. It's supposed to offer a pain-free alternative to carrying or holding your baby all day. If you're experiencing pain, then you have the wrong carrier or are wearing it wrong. It also kind of questions whether or not babywearing actually promotes bonding, which it certainly does, as well as helps make breastfeeding easier and can soothe babies to sleep, amongst SO many other benefits! Anyway, what's most frustrating about it is that the ads put more misguided information out there for people to get a wrong idea of natural parenting methods.

BUT, here is something WONDERFUL...did you know that tomorrow is the last day of International Babywearing Week?? Well it is! So all you mamas and dadas, get out and proudly wear your babies! And HERE is a wonderful cause that the incredible local Peppermint Baby Boutique is helping with - it's called No Mother Left Behind which believes the MANY benefits of babywearing should be available to all mamas (and daddies) regardless of their financial situation. So send in any gently used baby carriers to either of them in honor of Babywearing Week or you can make a financial donation as well.

Let's all have a fabulous week!!!

OH and the pics are some babywearing favorites from the last year of my gorgeous Love wearing Lovebug, which he has been proudly doing since the day she was born.

Clean Your Air - Household Cleaners

Awhile ago I did a post on cleaning your air with plants...wanted to follow that up with how to clean your air with healthy household cleaners. In college, I bought Windex and the "typical" cleaners because that's what my Mom used, but once we got married and started re-analyzing our choices, the way we lived, and the effects these had on our home, health, and the environment, we knew a change needed to be made. Started by buying green cleaners but then soon after that began making our own, which ends up being a far cheaper alternative, but more on that later...


Since so much time is spent indoors and the air quality is much poorer than outside air, it's really important to do as much as we can to keep it clean. One of the best ways this can be done is by NOT bringing toxic cleaning products into our homes, as the majority of indoor pollutants are actually from cleaners. So what is supposedly cleaning our houses is dirtying the air we breathe!! Have you ever gotten a headache or been irritated at all whilst cleaning and wondered why? I know I used to!

With most regular cleaning products you're allowing toxic chemicals into your home that can lead to fatigue, illness, and disease. Especially if you have children (or are pregnant), you need to be careful, as little one's developing bodies are MUCH more susceptible to damage, specifically their nervous, reproductive, and respiratory systems. Think about where children play - on the floor - where they are much closer to the pollutants than adults are, because the floor is where allergens, dust, and heavier-than-air chemicals settle and collect. Further, children are constantly putting their hands into their mouths and thus more easily tranferring the toxic substances into their bodies...AND household cleaning chemicals are the most frequent type of chemicals involved in children's poisonings, which is scary.

I would suggest getting rid of the toxic cleaning products you have RIGHT NOW (some would suggest finishing them and then starting over "green"/healthy, so that's another option, but I think it's better to just rid your home of them). BUT don't throw them away - you have to dispose of them properly - if you just dump them, those chemicals end up in our landfills and then in our waterways!!! SO, contact your city or go to your city's website and find where/when to dispose of hazardous waste, because that's what your cleaning products are - HAZARDOUS waste! Isn't something wrong when what we're "cleaning" our houses with is considered hazardous??


Most people just continue to buy what they have always bought or what their parents did (me!!!) without really looking at what's in the products. But we need to, have to, because WE are responsible for our health, we can't trust the government and certainly NOT big business to take care of us! It's our responsibility, especially as parents. Thank goodness, there are many green options readily available now for purchase...Seventh Generation has some great products...and Ecover.

Look for products that ARE:

Biodegradable
Bio-based and made from renewable sources - plant, vegetable, or fruit-based
Color-less/Clear - NOT formulated with dyes
Non-flammable

DON'T buy products with these ingredients:

Petro-dyes
Artificial perfumes (like if it says "Fragrance")
Petroleum distillates or crude oil
Ammonia
Bleach
Chlorine
Benzene
Ethylene
Formaldehyde
Optical Brighteners
Solvents
Acids
Phosphates
Borates
Nitrates
VOC's - volatile organic compounds
AND any Synthetic ingredients

Here are some others that you should look out for!

BUT really be wary of greenwashing from companies..."Greenwashing" is basically advertising and marketing of a product/company that makes it look "green" when in fact it really isn't - it's very misleading! S.C. Johnson and their GreenList line is a good example of this. The commercials and ads for their "green" products really upset me because some of their ingredients are certainly NOT green, not healthy, and are actually toxic (ethylene glycol and isopropanol, amongst others) and they themselves created "The GreenList" that their products fall under, which doesn't really make sense. So just be careful - really read the ingredient list and any warnings that the product has. Some others offhand to look out for include Target's Method line (thus the pretty colors of their products - and they have SLS and petroleum-based ingredients in some of them), and Clorox Green Works...supposedly Green Works is 99% "natural" (which really doesn't mean anything), but that 1% of "un-natural" ingredients is from petrochemicals (dyes) which give it that light green color, namely Kathon, which according to the MSDS for it, can be irritating to skin, damaging to eyes, and may cause long term adverse effects to the aquatic environment..." Hmmmm...doesn't sound very green!


As mentioned previously, I highly suggest INSTEAD making your own non-toxic cleaning products from common household items like baking soda, vinegar, lemon juice, salt, olive oil, castile soap, and pure essential oils. That way you know exactly what ingredients are in your products, and if you buy in bulk from places like Mountain Rose Herbs (try Costco or a grocery for bulk vinegar), you're reducing the amount of packaging you buy, as well as saving money. Find some inexpensive containers and spray bottles you can label to store your products in, some good reusable cloths, natural bristle brushes, and there you go! Here, here, and here are some excellent resources for making your own cleaning recipes - we use many of them and they work great!! BUT THIS ONE, this one is the best !!

One concern some people might have about non-toxic cleaning products is that they don't clean as well...well I'm here to tell you they REALLY do - I promise!!! A mixture of vinegar and water is the BEST window/glass cleaner I've ever used and baking soda is AMAZING - nothing cleans our sinks, showers, tubs, etc. better - seriously! Vinegar is effective at killing mold, germs, and bacteria due to its acidity and it's extremely economical - here are 1001 uses for vinegar, involving everything from cleaning to pet care! Baking soda is another cheap incredible cleaning ally and here are some great uses for it! Many pure essential oils have amazing antiseptic and antibacterial properties, such as tea tree, lemon, lavender, and many others, plus they smell beautiful! Really, you can get your home as clean (and healthier) with non-toxic products!

In the long run, it ends up being much cheaper and is SO much better for you and your family's health, as well as the health of the environment. Plus, it's so simple and easy....Do you see a pattern in my posts?? - Simple, easy, and inexpensive...:) So get to it - do some green summer cleaning - and get your home (and air) truly clean!

Going-ons of our girl

Well, ALOT has been changing with our baby girl! SO, for you followers of her going-ons (i.e. family:), here's what...She:

...has a new friend whom she enjoys playing with (or rather, sucking on)...


...now sits all the time completely on her own - it's her preferred playing position currently...


...LOVES being outside and going on walks/runs and hates coming inside afterwards - gets very disappointed!


...really enjoys "reading" her textured books and others as well...


...wants to touch/play with/suck on everything, especially her wooden toys and blocks...OH and the bamboo floors - loves that!


...is moving around like crazy (especially interested in going to electrical outlets - thank goodness for those covers:)...


...loves playing in her tub of bath water...


...is talking SO MUCH and making so many noises/sounds..."ma-ma" alot, but she kept saying "nigh-nigh" this week...we're still working on "da-da"...


...finds the tags on everything and is SO fascinated by them...


...is very intrigued by my camera - constantly comes towards it as quickly as possible whenver she sees it (as she sees it ALOT), so I'm thinking we might get her a small wooden camera to play with...


...has a new little highchair seat that connects to the table so she can feel a part of our meals even though she's not eating yet...


...SO enjoys looking for Daddy out the window and smiles as soon as she catches a glimpse of him...


...started standing up in the crib, so down went the mattress...


...likes to do lots of downward facing dogs and hold on (sometimes suck) on her toes -aaawww, a little yogi already :)


AND...she's teething very badly (poor thing -has 2 on the bottom coming in that we can see/feel), which has meant restless sleep and waking up at 3 AM to just hang out because she can't sleep :(...we're using some homeopathic remedies to relieve her, as well as the occasional (clean) organic baby sock filled with crushed ice (tied with a rubberband) which seems to feel good on her new teeth...


So there you go, much has been going on and she's constantly changing and growing - every single day - and it's such a blessing to watch, be a part of, and capture to share with others!


Happy weekend everyone!

Water Baby

This last weekend was wonderful but busy...on Friday our babe had her first dip in a pool...it was a saltwater thank goodness so it was much better for her delicate skin. She LOVED it and is a water baby for sure - she kept splashing about and enjoyed herself immensely!




Saturday and Sunday were mostly spent helping my Mom move...Whilst going through stuff, I ran across these amazing Childcraft books which are currently on loan to me...She's had them forever and I remember flipping through them alot as a child but they are WAY more cool and interesting to me now as a mama (of course:)...I borrowed the "Green Kingdom", the "Guide for Parents" and the "Make and Do" volumes...the last of which has some really wonderful craft and game ideas which I found particularly inspiring. They are the 1988 editions...Wonder if they can be found anywhere because they're a great find (?).

I have to brag on my Mama for a second...I meant to post something around Mother's Day about her but never did...she probably got some great crafting ideas from the "Make and Do" volume above, but she sure didn't need any help! She always had amazing field trips and adventures planned for us (meaning us 7 kiddos), would have our fellow homeschooled friends over for pottery classes (she's a very talented potter) and craft parties, made us incredible costumes, really encouraged (and participated in) imaginative play, and threw the most creative and detailed parties/events, which is where I got my love of hostessing and what inspired me to become an event designer...Anyhoo, here's to my Mommy, the Queen of creative mamas!

Vaccine Ad

Everyone please read this great Vaccine Ad that ran in the USA Today this past Tuesday...I encourage more people to practice informed consent and educate yourselves on what you're injecting into your little baby's/children's bloodstream, and not just do what the "norm" is or what your doctors tell you to. Read the ad and think about the ridiculous amount of vaccinations that are "required" today and the dramatic increase in neurological disorders. Yes, there are other factors - environmental, nutrition, etc., but I strongly believe there is a link to the toxic ingredients that vaccinations currently contain. Thank goodness, most vaccines don't have mercury anymore (but some like most diphtheria-tetanus and flu shots still do)...but they still contain aluminum, ether, formaldehyde, antifreeze, animal blood and cells, and aborted fetal tissue, amongst MANY MANY other nasties! More people need to know what are in these vaccines - the doctors aren't going to tell us, so it's up to us to educate ourselves and then make the decision accordingly. Something that most people also don't seem to know is that there are religious and philosophical exemptions in nearly every state, which I urge you to consider until some day all of these toxic and disgusting ingredients are no longer in the vaccinations. An interesting website is the Vaccination Debate which has some great research however about the ineffectiveness of vaccines, because they don't treat the causes of diseases or the toxic conditions of the body from which diseases arise. Also interesting is that most outbreaks of diseases occur WITHIN the vaccinated population! It's a decision that every family has to make for themselves, but please inform yourself before doing so!