Um Happy New Year?

This has to be the longest I have gone without a post. It is kind of funny... I don't check my stats or anything and I think I have zero "official" followers but in the past month or so I have had SIX..yes, SIX emails from readers asking me if I was OK. HA. I'm cool...

We have been very busy though. I haven't really stuck with making or adhering to New Year's resolutions BUT this year my husband and I actually created an awesome plan together. It is pretty complex but it incorporates CleanMama's super simple cleaning guidelines and 52 Small Bites simple living/organization.

For the month of January we have focused on having a green juice or smoothie every morning. So far we have only missed 2 mornings! We have also increased the green factor and decreased the fruits--making the juice/smoothie even healthier. My husband is still a bit fixated on protein so I do add a dollop of yogurt for him but lately I have been able to slip him a smoothie without it and he doesn't notice. I put in hemp seeds that I run through a coffee grinder instead.

In February we plan to end our coffee addiction. We have already started the process and have cut back quite a bit. Currently we each get 1 of our Bodem mugs full a day- which is probably more like 2 true cups. We calculated that we spend about $150 on super pure awesome coffee beans and then we add this horrible (but so yummy) Coffeemate Creamer. So they both have to go!

We just recently decided that in March we will end our addiction to cheese. We've been 90% cows milk free for over a year but the cheese is SO hard to give up. I have picked up YumUniverse's Dairy Free e-book. I'm looking forward to experimenting!

Well there you have it, my not-so-exciting first post of 2012.

Happy New Year!

Happy Veteran's Day

I honestly expected this "holiday" to come and go without much thought in our house. We live in a community fairly saturated with military families so I think I have already become a little insensitive to the lifestyle. It takes seeing someone's face and knowing their situation, whether it be a mom at home with multiple kids and a deployed husband or a friend who lost a loved one overseas, to shake off the numbness. I have come to know some extremely tough moms who maintain their sanity better than I do despite a deployed husband! Just getting through a week as a stay-at-home mom is tough for a lot of us, but living daily without the support of your husband has got to be intense. *I know there are women deployed too, but I haven't met any dads (yet).

I am extremely thankful that my husband's position isn't deployable, at this time. If that were to change in the near future I am not sure what I would do with myself. It is hard enough making friends in a new place as it is but to create a support system would be insane. My short experience of being a stay-at-home mom with two girls, alone, didn't go so well and I was in a community where I knew plenty of other moms. My stomach still churns when I think back to last winter and the months the girls and I struggled together. But, it could have been worse. We could have been sending Stephen off to war instead of North Carolina! There are so many families with deployed loved ones...so many kids missing their parent(s)...they deserve so much love and appreciation.

My little brother has been stationed overseas for the past 4 years and is about to embark on another 2 year tour on a Naval ship. The first two years I was stressed and worried about him so much! He got into a few nasty situations and came out just fine so I have learned to trust that he really is a soldier. I will always worry about him, of course, but I am so proud of him for becoming a Seaman and sticking with it (I think he finally beat his longevity record of working at Pizza Hut for several years). It does break my heart that he has met Avery only twice...the last time being right before her first birthday. He has yet to meet Ainsley- who just turned one. I am thankful that he has been stationed in "mild" places (Greece and Italy) and not Iraq or Afghanistan...so far. I pray he never gets his wish and enters a more hazardous zone. It is fortunate that deployments to war zones are typically 6-12 months long. I can't imagine what it would be like for the family or the solider to spend several years in a dangerous place. Separation is hard...regardless of the time and the location. There are so many families dealing with it every day. I really can't complain when I look at the families in our community. I am humbled by my experiences thus far and pray I don't get the opportunity to spend any more time without my husband than I already did this last winter. If you are like me and have become a bit numb to the military families around you- I hope you take today to think about life in their shoes.

Healing from Birth

I've spent just 4 days shy of a year contemplating the concept of "healing from birth". My first daughter was born via c-section. At the time I fully trusted my midwife when she said I needed a c-section. It took the duration of my second pregnancy to understand how wrong she was and how wrong I was for not educating myself more. Directly after my cesarean I was miserable from the physical pain of the surgery. A year later I was over the physical pain but struggling with the emotional agony of wanting more children but wanting to avoid another cesarean. I am stubborn and argumentative and these two traits helped me tremendously in researching, preparing and successfully having a vaginal birth after cesarean (VBAC) with my second daughter.

I truly thought that succeeding in having the birth that I wanted would help me heal from the emotional pain of my first birth. Sadly, I still have regret, anger, grief and flat out disgust hanging on about my surgical birth. I am disgusted by medical professionals who treat birth as an illness. I'm disappointed in myself for "studying" all the wrong things during my pregnancy. I skipped over sections in books on c-sections because I just *knew* that would never happen to me. Ugh! How could I have been so ignorant!?!!?

Even more tragic, I am not the only intelligent mother to approach pregnancy and birth with blinders on! We assume the medical professionals who care for us during our pregnancy want what is best for us. We can just show up and they will tell us what to do, right? So wrong. They aren't caring for us...they are treating us.

While I have no regrets about my VBAC with my second child, I still want a "do over". I want the birth that heals me from my previous births. Does that really exist? I read 2-3 birth stories each week. I can feel the bliss and joy in so many birth stories...usually homebirths. I want that for myself. Yes, I want one more child too, but I do want to experience birth that is...happy? Is that the word? Neither of my births were terrible, like life-threatening terrible. But they were very emotional and traumatic in their own way.

Review: Burt's Bees Natural Skin Solutions

I have been a BzzAgent for a looong time! I have had the chance to receive free products in exchange for Bzz (Buzz). Sounds cool, huh? It is. This month I received a free, full-sized Burt's Bees Natural Skin Solutions cleanser and moisturizer. This is the second Burt's Bees product I have tested with BzzAgent and the third product I have actually used in my home. I have to say, I'm done with Burt's Bees. I kind of feel like their product line is "health-washed". That nifty new word floating on the internet just means a product contains words or descriptions that make it sound "healthy". Similarly, the product can be "green-washed" to sound eco-friendly when it isn't.

Burt's Bees is owned by Clorox. Their products are not certified organic and they contain a lot of natural-sounding ingredients. But they also contain all the other junk we don't want in our items...YET they still charge a ridiculously high price. Not a fan. Here's a link to the EWG's review of many of the Burt's Bees products.

The cleanser was drying anyway. I do have sensitive skin and this product line did nothing to calm it down. It just didn't irritate it...so I guess it is good for sensitive skin. The moisturizer did not replenish my skin enough after the drying cleanser. I found the mild "non-scent" to be pleasant. Overall, I just wouldn't spend that much money on a non-organic product that doesn't perform.

The Picky Toddler Chronicles: Beet Pancakes

Before she closed in on the one-and-a-half mark, Avery was easy to feed. She liked veggies in muffin form or raw and she would try meat if it was dry (like plain grilled chicken breast). She wasn't picky by definition but that soon changed. She went from picky to fickle...which, in my opinion, is the worst form of picky eating. Moms read about how toddlers may eat a bunch one day and go without the next, or they may eat one thing for weeks on end and then quit, or some other fun variation. Avy does a fun variation- she will eat one thing for a long time and then NEVER touch it again. By never- I mean that since she has said "no" to some food items she has not touched them again to date. She is also absolutely particular about textures- nothing wet that wasn't born that way, no chunks, no multiple colors unless it is a muffin/cake and absolutely no dipping or sauces of any kind.

Well this just keeps me awake at night. Even after a visit to the pediatrician who described her and others like her as "air ferns" I did not find comfort. I realize the pediatrician meant that toddlers thrive on basically nothing-- but that doesn't make it an easier pill to swallow. So I have tried every "trick" I can find. From Muffin Tin Mom to Jessica Seinfeld I have tried it.

A little of this and a little of that seems to work....for a moment.

Thus, I have a notebook going called "The Picky Toddler Chronicles". In it I mark down the things I have tried and Avy's response. By the time I figure out a good formula she will probably be on her way to college. But it has helped me with the guilt and worry I feel over her lack of eating.


Today we tried Beet pancakes from Weelicious...the recipe is found here. They were a big hit. As you can see in these photos!

You can taste the beet but Avy has no idea what that is. They aren't very sweet, which is great. She ate 3 without any topping. They are a little thicker than I like pancakes to be but Avy didn't complain. We followed the recipe as written the first time around. I'll make a few changes next time- like Agave instead of brown sugar and maybe olive oil instead of butter. I did not use white and wheat flour- I just used wheat. They seemed to be just fine- nice and soft.

Definitely worth the hassle of roasting beets and peeling. By the way, I didn't use gloves to peel the beets and I have no staining. And when you roast the beets- if the skin doesn't peel off super easy- then cook the beet longer. The instructions for roasting beets are found here...but they are kind of vague.

Paper Covered Cardboard Boxes=Organization!

I saw this done several different ways with various materials: paper, canvas, fabric etc. None really gave me the steps I needed so I just jumped in and tried it myself.

This is the first box I completed using some old scrapbook paper and Craft Glue (tacky glue or whatever). I DO NOT recommend using tacky glue. I'm sure you veteran crafters are saying, "well, duh!" But this is the first bottle I have ever owned, so I had no idea that tacky meant tacky...like tacky-almost-dry-before-you-get-done-spreading. So my little paint brush and I made the best of it.

I did the rest with good old Elmer's and my paint brush. I didn't measure anything. (You can kind of tell in spots). I just took the paper and made creases over the box before putting glue on. This seemed to make the process really easy (and easier for making cuts too). I did not cover the inside or the bottoms. These boxes are for our craft shelf. I have plans to make prettier boxes for other areas in our home. I'm half done with the craft shelf. I have no plans to match the paper either! I imagine these boxes will get destroyed in a short period of time so they will serve their purpose perfectly.

Yay for leftover scrap paper that was too ugly for photos!

Here's the top half of the shelf so far. Total time spent: 45 min.

Fun and Easy Homemade Laundry Soap

My husband has green shirts that he is to wear under his uniform (AKA Camis). Apparently he has held onto the ones he purchased back when he first became a Marine (eww, right?). We've picked up 2-3 new packages of t-shirts but they don't fit right...his words, not mine. It is a freakin' under shirt! Oh well. He is pretty lean so most men's shirts just don't fit right and bunch. So whatever. I've been given the task of finding a way to get the smell out of them. They really don't stink after washing but I guess something happens when he wears them-- something that doesn't happen to any other clothes.

I tried vinegar, baking soda and even my dear Rockin' Green soap. So far no luck. We were about to try some bleach...something I try not to keep in the house because then we find reasons to use it. But a friend suggested Borax and some recipes for making our own laundry detergent.

When I read Peppermint laundry soap from Soulemama, I was sold. So today the girls and I drove around town getting the ingredients for the recipe. I had to go to 4 stores just to get them all. Next time, I know exactly where to go so it will be cost effective. I'm going to see how far this homemade batch goes and figure out if it truly is more cost effective than other eco options.

So Soulemama's recipe calls for
1 cup of baking soda (0.59 cents)
1 cup of Borax ($2.99)
1 cup of washing soda/soda ash ($3.49)
2 cups of finely grated soap (Peppermint Dr. Bronners--1.5 bars at $4.49 each, $8.98)

Total spent $16.05, my usual Rockin Green Soap is $14.95 for 90 loads. However, to make an additional batch I will only need to spend $4.49 for a new bar of soap (I have half of one leftover). This would bring my per batch cost down to $10.27.

Grating was really easy but I am worried I didn't get it fine enough.

Little Avery loved grating the soap. Actually- she wanted to hold and smell the bar all the way home. She unwrapped them both and was SO proud of the detergent we made that it was the first thing she wanted to show daddy when he got home. The stuff does smell great- the whole Creative Space smelled like it until I put it in a sealed container.

I'm running my first load of diapers with the detergent now. As soon as the door locked I had a bit of remorse. I sure hope the soap rinses out easily...yikes...we used the finest holes on the grater but I have read about people using food processors. I'm running an extra rinse just to be sure.

We shall see!