Living and loving the mom life

Finding time?

2012-01-09T19:27:00.000-08:00

I started a part time job over the summer and I am having a really hard time finding the balance I used to have when I was a stay at home mom. It is funny how 20 hours a week can totally screw up my schedule at home.

I am struggling to find time for everything is my life. My kids come first but I still want time to read, knit, craft and be on the internet. I am finding that in order to get some balance in my life some things are just going to have to go.

I am cutting back on games on face book. I had gotten kind of bored with them anyway so it really does not break my heart. I might still play one or two but for the most part I am just done with them. I am cutting back on time of the computer all together. Since I am working in the afternoons my morning and evenings need to be spent doing other things. I need to spend more time one the kids schooling, baking more items and now that Amelia is eating solids I am making all her food.

After my kids are in bed I will split the few hours I get between the other things I like to do. Hopefully this will help me find the balance I need.

Lack of compassion

2011-12-16T19:55:00.001-08:00

I am sure by know that everyone knows that the Duggar family lost their last child. I do not watch the show or any reality television show but I do enough about the family to know this was a devastating loss to them.

I have to say over the last couple days I have seen comments about this subject that sicken me. I can not believe how many cruel and down right sick things I have seen people post. I think that the human race has lost compassion and honestly I think people get a sick sense of satisfaction over the cruel things they say about others.

This poor family is grieving the death of their child, they lost a baby and in this time of need they do not need to be ridiculed and belittled. I do not care what you think of how many kids they have, if you think they should stop having babies or anything else for that matter. This family deserves compassion and kindness. They deserve nothing but your sorrow for the loss of the child they will never get to know.

I lost a baby in 2010, mine was an early miscarriage so I did not have to actually deliver my child the way Mrs. Duggar did but I do know the pain of loss. The heartbreak that comes with the death of a baby. They ache you feel in your heart for the child you do not get to raise. All the what ifs and how comes that go through your mind. I was a wreck for months and to this day I can not talk about without sadness and often tears. I have other children but that does not stop me from hurting over the loss of that child.

My heart goes out to their family in there time of need and my prayers are with them

Life update

2011-11-26T12:11:00.000-08:00

Wow I can not believe I have not added a new blog for so long. I have been really busy with the kids and working part time so I have been slipping on my blogging.

Well in the past month and a half since I updated a few things have gone on. Kairi had her appointment with the specialist at Blank Children's Hospital in Des Moines. Her lead level dropped and we are really thankful for that. We need to take her back in another could weeks just to make sure it has dropped to a normal level. We did have a lead inspector come to our house and we found areas with high amounts of lead. Right now we are working on getting rid of all the lead in the house. SO far we have already replaced the living room windows ( they had already been ordered when this was found out ) and we are removing lead paint in the basement. We still need to get rid of all the lead outside, on the front porch and replace four windows upstairs. We are hoping by this time next year all that will be taken care of.

Amelia is five months now. I can not believe how fast it has been going. She is getting so big! She has two teeth now, is rolling and want to sit on her own. She is currently sick with an ear infection and RSV. It has been a scary couple sleepless days for mama. I am up all night watching her breathing to make sure she is ok. She seems to be on the mend and I am really thankful for that.

We found out that my sister is having a boy! I will have a nephew coming in March and I am really excited to meet little Johnathon.

Alex and Destiny are doing really well with their school work. Alex is starting to read more and more and Destiny is not far behind.

Chris is still out of work. We are waiting to hear back on a couple jobs. I really want him to find something soon, while we are doing okay money wise it will be nice to be able to get back to being more then okay so we can do more house repairs.

Well that is all for now!

Update on Kairi

2011-10-11T12:25:00.001-07:00

Kairi does have an elevated lead level. The blood draw said her lead level is 37.5, we will be taking her to Blank Children's Hospital in Des Moines soon to be seen by a hematologist. I am not sure what the want to do yet.

We are going through the whole house to check for anything that could have caused this. Our two best ideas so far are that it came from the outside of the house, we are in the middle of scrapping and painting. Our home is really old and while the inside has been remodeled, there may have been old paint underneath the top layers of paint. Otherwise it may be from old hot wheel toys that my son has.

I will update again when I know more.

Kairi might have lead poisoning

2011-09-29T19:55:00.001-07:00

I found out yesterday that my two year old daughter might have lead poisoning. Her level from the finger prick was 40. I am taking her in for a blood draw tomorrow.

I am pretty worried right now. We are not sure where the lead poisoning is coming from. She does like to put things in her mouth still. I have gone through her toys and nothing was recalled that I have found so far. She does put dirt and things in her mouth outside and it could be from that. Especially since my husband is currently scrapping our house. The house is very old, remodeled on the inside but there could be left over lead paint on the outside still.

I will know more tomorrow when I take her in, in the mean time I am trying not to freak to much!

Back from our vacation

2011-09-29T19:48:00.000-07:00

We got back Sunday night but I am just getting a chance to sit down and share a little bit.

The trip went so much easier then I expected and we had a great time. Amelia did amazing in the car. She only cried one time the whole way up there. We ended up taking about 7 hours to get there because we took out time, stopped and had lunch, let the kids run around and there was some road construction.

The day we got there we just hung out with my Grandma, let the kids play and relaxed a bit. The next morning we got up and went to a local animal rescue center called fawndoerosa, kids had a blast.

After that was the reunion. We had a good time visiting with family, I had not seen most of them in two years so it was nice to see everyone.

We headed back home the next morning. Kids were a little more wound up on the way home but over all everyone handled the trip very well!

Wish us luck!

2011-09-22T21:49:00.000-07:00

We are taking our first long trip with all four kids tomorrow. We have a big family get together in MN, which is about a five hour drive from us. I am really looking forward to seeing all my family but dreading the trip a little bit.
We did get some snacks, have some car activities and a portable dvd player, hopefully this keeps things calm and everyone can relax in the car!

I will let everyone know how the trip goes when we get home and I will have lots of pictures to share. :)

Back into the swing of things

2011-09-14T19:52:00.000-07:00

Now that Amelia is 11 wks ( hard to believe ). I am finally getting back into the swing of things.
Life has been crazy here at the Walter's home. I started working part time to bring in some extra money until Chris can find a new job. It was really hard leaving all the kids but it is only part time and they are home with dad so I have been okay with it. Amelia took to the bottle really well which made it easier.
Pumping and nursing had been very painful during the last couple weeks thanks to a nasty case of thrush but we are getting better now.
We have started school for the year. Right now we have Alex and Destiny on a day 1, day 2, day 3 schedule. Day one is reading/writing, day 2 is math and day 3 is arts/science. We have a lot of fun things planned for school this year and I am really excited to do them.
Next week we will be going to visit my extended family in the WI and MN area. I am sure the trip will be interesting since Amelia is not always so happy in the car seat. Here is to hoping she does ok!

Some pictures for your viewing pleasure-

Destiny recently had her first slumber party:

Kairi enjoying some ice cream:

So excited about the money they earned doing chores for me:

Amelia, cute like always:

Summer is almost gone

2011-08-12T18:43:00.000-07:00

This has been a fun but busy summer for us and I can not believe that fall is almost here! Summer is my favorite time of year because we are always out doing something fun. We did spend a little more time indoors this year then normal but with the crazy weather we had that was expected. I was going through all my summer pictures from this year and wanted to share some of my favorites.

Vote for Amelia!!

2011-08-02T19:41:00.001-07:00

Contest details

A full day of fluff

2011-07-06T19:18:00.000-07:00

Amelia's birth story

2011-06-29T17:24:00.000-07:00

Here is the wild and crazy story of Amelia's birth

Thursday, June 23rd I started itching like crazy, seriously it was horrible. I stayed up until early Friday morning scratching myself raw. The bottoms of my feet and palms of my hands were the worst. So as soon as my doctor was open Friday morning I called and they got me in to be checked out. After running some blood tests it was discovered that I had Cholestasis of Pregnancy , my doctor actually had never dealt with this condition before and had to call the high risk in Des Moines to find out what we needed to do next. He called me back about an hour later and said that he wanted me to come in that night to start the induction. Since I was already 37 weeks and the complications to the baby start at 38 weeks or after he wanted to get her out. We went in at 7 pm June 24th to start the induction. They broke my water at around 10:30, at this point I was only dilated to a 2 so I knew it was going to be awhile still. I had planned on going all natural but between the pain of the induction, the itching and pain from SPD I decided to go with the epidural. I tried to rest for awhile, the nurse came in and checked me at 3:30 am, I was barely a four, about an hour later I called her in because I really felt ready to push, she checked again and I was a 9 so they called the doctor in, after he got there it was only three contractions later I was holding Amelia. She was born at 4:51 am June 25th, 7lbs and 20 inches long.
They got her all checked out, got me cleaned up and stitched the one tiny tear I had and just when I thought we all were going to get some rest is when the madness started. I started bleeding heavily, the nurse was there with me and she was pressing on my stomach because she could feel something in there. At first she thought maybe it was a piece of the placenta but it turned out to be a very large clot ( weighed 1lb 6 oz and was the average size of a placenta ). After that is when she called the doctor back in, along with several other nurses. The bleeding and clotting just would not stop, they tried five or six different medications and finally had to call in the gynecologist to see if he could get it to stop. It took him a little while longer but he was finally able to get it to stop.
Later that afternoon I needed to use the rest room so the nurses came in to help me, I was holding onto Chris when I told them I was dizzy and that is when I passed out, had a seizure and actually stopped breathing for a few moments. I do not remember any of that, I remember waking up to about six different nurses asking me my name and if I knew what happened. Apparently due to the blood loss, my blood pressure crashed when I stood up causing the black out and seizure. It was decided at this point that I was going to be given blood after all, I had lost three units of blood and they were going to give me two units of blood. It took the rest of the day to get me back on track, we did have to stay in the hospital an extra day because of it all but I am doing a lot better now.
Amelia is nursing like a pro and is a pretty calm baby. We are adjusting to life with four children and things are going pretty well. It is going to take some time for me to get back to 100% but I am getting there slowly.

My labor and delivery was nothing like we planned which was disappointing but we are just happy that everyone is okay.

Meal plan 5/1-5/14

2011-05-31T18:01:00.000-07:00

I did not post my last few meal plans but I am back on track now and ready to share.

5/1 pancakes, eggs and fruit
5/2 tuna sandwiches and fruit
5/3 whole chicken, carrots and potatoes
5/4 chicken and noodles with corn
5/5 mashed potato and beef casserole
5/6 cheesy beef burgers, carrots and fries
5/7 grilled cheese and tomato soup
5/8 cheesy scrambled eggs and fruit
5/9 meatloaf, mashed potatoes and corn
5/10 pancakes, eggs and fruit
5/11 spaggetti and meatballs
5/12 chicken on the grill, baked beans and green beans
5/13 french toast, eggs and fruit
5/14 french toast, eggs and fruit

What is it about the breast?

2011-05-27T21:27:00.000-07:00

So after hearing yet another women tell me she had a nursing picture deleted by facebook I have been sitting here thinking all day, really what is it about the breast? What is it about a nursing mother that makes people act so oddly? Why are we so offended by a breast.

Honestly you can not walk into a store that sells adult clothing without seeing several pictures of women half dressed, walking by a victoria's secrets makes me cover my son's eyes ( yes I seriously do this ) yet very few people seem to be offended by this. Really have we become so over sexed that the only thing that breasts are good for is selling over priced lacy bras?

I can remember a trip we took to the zoo last summer, there was a mother sea lion sitting on a rock, nursing her baby. Of course everyone thought it was so sweet and snapped pictures. One of the same people who did this walked by a mother sitting on a near by bench, nursing her newborn and was disgusted by it. I heard her lean over to the person she was with and make comments on how disgusting it was that she was sitting right in public for everyone to see. It took everything in me not to say something to her.

I myself have been targeted due to a nursing picture, I was targeted by someone I trusted and it was one of the most hurtful experiences I have had. Speaking from experience I can say that I do not think people really know how hurtful it is to target a women because she is nursing. It does not matter if they are asked to leave a public place or if they are harassed about a picture they have posted online or have in their homes the feeling you are left with is a really horrible one. You are left feeling like you are doing something wrong or dirty because you are wanting to breast feed, using your breasts in a way designed by God to nourish your child.

Americans as a whole need to take a serious step back and look at the way they react over nursing in general. The stigma over nursing in public needs to stop and a women should never be made to feel poorly for wanting photographs of her nursing experience or for nursing her child while she is in public.

Oh for the love of fleece

2011-05-27T21:10:00.000-07:00

It is common knowledge that I have a bit of an addiction when it comes to cloth diapering and trying all there is to try. Since I started using fitteds and prefolds I have tried every style of cover there is. While my favorite will forever be wool, fleece is a very close second and here is why.

Fleece makes a great cloth diaper cover, it wicks wetness away from your babies skin, it is very breathable, hardy and will hold up to lots of usage and washing, easy to care for and clean and it dries very fast.

Another great thing about it is that it is very affordable and comes in a large variety of prints for boys and girls, plus the embellishing possibilities are endless.

If you have not tried fleece for a diaper cover yet I really suggest that you do!!!

Raising girls

2011-05-23T13:52:00.000-07:00

I know that every child is different but I really did not know how different little girls can be from one another until having two of my own. It is really amazing to watch how my girls differ from each other.

My oldest daughter, Destiny is pretty much as girly as they come and she has been this way since she was born. She has always been attracted to frills, bows and shoes. She loves pink, lace and babies. I can remember her loving shoes since before she was a year old. We have actually gotten her one or two pair of new shoes as part of her birthday present every year because she loves shoes so much. She pretty much lives in dresses, loves hair bows and head bands and loves to play dress up. She very much so has the princess personality.

Then there is my younger daughter, Kairi. She is not into frills or girly things. She does not like wearing shoes or socks and is most happy if I let her run around nude. She would rather play in the dirt then play dress up, rips out a hair bow faster then you can put them in and has little to no interest in all the girly things her sister loves. She is way more rough and tumble then her sister ever has been.

We are currently expecting our fourth child, our third girl and I am really excited to see how different she is from the other two. It seems like right now the other two are polar opposites so it will be exciting to see how Amelia will fit into the mix.

Mother's Day

2011-05-08T17:40:00.003-07:00

My mother's day did not get off to a good start. My day started at 1:30 am when my toddler woke up screaming. Her mouth is hurting since she is cutting a molar and nothing I did would calm her down. I was finally able to get her back to sleep around 4 am when her diaper leaked and got pee all over me and the couch, so I had to wake her to change her. Luckily it only took around half and hour to get her back down but as soon as she went to sleep my five year old son woke up from a nightmare. I got him calmed down and finally fell asleep around the time my husband woke up to get ready for work which was 5 am. I started sleeping soundly only to be woken up shortly before 8 am when our dog started barking, apparently he needed out and could not wait anymore and pooped all over the freshly shampooed nursery carpet. I get him outside, the carpet cleaned and think about laying down on the couch for awhile when my middle child wakes up ready for the day.

Needless to say all this put me in a pretty sour mood. I was upset that I had no sleep, that my husband had to work and once the other two kids were awake, they were all in really bad moods. I stayed in a sour mood for awhile, until I got online and saw posts from other people I know and read some stories on a forum I like to visit.

I was shocked at the amount of people who felt completely ignored and uncared for by their husbands. Yes my husband had to work but he did not forget about Mother's Day. He called me to tell me Happy Mother's day and he had taken the kids to the store a couple days ago and let them pick out presents for me. He also said on Monday since he does not work, it will be my day, he will clean for me and let me relax. I have a wonderful husband and I know he appreciates me as the mother of our children.

I also saw several posts from people who recently lost their mother or their mother is currently sick and in the hospital. I got to spend most of the day with my wonderful mother, she is in good health and I need to be more thankful for that. My own mother in law spent today with her mother who is currently in the hospital with a blood clot in her brain.

Thinking of these things made me realize I should not let the start of my day ruin Mother's day for me. After all everything ( minus the dog mess ) is part of being a mother.

Been mia but back now

2011-05-03T19:14:00.000-07:00

I have been lacking in the blogging department but I am back and ready to post!

April was a busy month for us. My little man turned 5! Hard to believe that I am the mother to a five year old already but time really does fly. Easter was great also.

Baby Amelia will be here in around 10 weeks. We are still preparing for her arrival but we have almost everything done.

Lots of new blog posts are coming, so stay tuned!

Very easy recipe that is sure to please! Cheeseburger puffs

2011-04-11T20:15:00.001-07:00

Lunch has gotten a little bit boring and routine around here so I have been trying to make different things that are still easy and quick. The cheeseburger puffs I made were a huge hit here.

Ingredients-
hamburger
garlic salt
pepper
ketchup
mustard
shredded cheddar cheeese
croissant rolls

Preheat oven to 350

Fry hamburger and season with garlic salt and pepper. In a large mixing bowl add ketchup and mustand ( I did this to taste ), add in a couple hand fulls of shredded cheddar and mix.

Open the croissant rolls, unfold them into the triangles and lay them flat on a large baking pan or baking stone, scoop a spoonful of the meat mixture onto the large end and then fold the roll over, you will be able to see the mixture on the sides and that is okay.

Bake until roll is done and enjoy!

Meal plan 3/30-4/14

2011-03-30T17:38:00.000-07:00

Trying to change things up a bit so there are several new recipes we are trying to time around, I have included links for you.

Wednesday - chicken, potatoes and carrots
Thursday - chicken alfredo and broccoli
Friday - chicken and black bean burritos
Saturday - grill night
Sunday - roast sandwiches and veggies
Monday - dinner sausage, fries and carrot sticks
Tuesday - italian white bean soup and french bread
Wednesday - grilled cheese and tomato soup
Thursday - fagioli pasta
Friday - cheeseburger pie and veggies
Saturday - ravioli and garlic toast
Sunday - cheeseburger ring and veggies
Monday - pancakes, eggs and fruit
Tuesday - cheddar dogs, french fries and veggies
Wednesday - lasagna pie and veggies
Thursday - cheese quesadillas, re-fried beans and rice

Let me know if you try anything out and if you like it!!

Best bottom diapers

2011-03-22T17:51:00.001-07:00

When I first heard about the hybrid style diaper I really was not at all interested. I just did not like the thought of unsnapping an insert once it had been peed on. Then I got an offer to get some best bottom diapers in trade and I thought why not, if I don't like them then I will just sell them. I have to say once I got them I was really happy with them. They fit really well, are trim and the liners I have absorb really well. I usually change the liner in Kairi's cover every 1.5- 2 hrs and she has yet to soak it to the point that it is fully saturated. Since getting the couple I got in that trade I have went on to purchase several more liners and covers from FSOT on diaperswappers. I plan on using them for Amelia when she is born this summer also.

Action shot-

Spring is finally here

2011-03-21T20:10:00.000-07:00

I don't know how the winter was for the rest of you but I know for me it felt like it was never going to end. I am really happy that spring is finally here and we can start doing more outside.

We spent a day at the park a couple days ago, just wanted to share some new pictures.

Have you tried scentsy?

2011-03-20T17:26:00.000-07:00

A friend of mine, who recently started selling scentsy gave me the opportunity to review scentsy for her. I took her up on the offer and I am glad I did. While I had heard a lot about them I had yet to try any of their products. We had company over the day I popped one of the tarts into the warmer and it did not take long before my whole house smelled like jumpin' jelly bean. Everyone was commenting on how great it smelled, the scent was sweet but not over powering. It was really lovely.

I started using a tart warmer after having children, I was the type that always had a candle burning but I did not want to chance one of the kids burning themselves so I made the switch. I have used several other brands of tarts in my warmer and I have to say that the scentsy tarts are longer lasting, more fragrant and over all just a better product then the others I have used. I will be making a full switch to scentsy for my tarts.

She also sent me one of the scent circles which I have put in my van. I like that it makes the van smell nice without being really over powering. I have had it in there for several days now and it still smells just as strong as it did on day one.

I asked Jonita if there was anything she would like to say about scentsy. She had this to say "I got some Scentsy products because I didn't really know what it was a little before Christmas, and I knew it was something I needed to be a part of. I started selling in Feb, and I am loving every moment of it. It brings a smile to my face whenever I hear about someone else enjoying their Scentsy products. I love that my kids enjoy it, even my husband enjoys it!"

You can buy scentsy here. I strongly encourage you to try them out.

Jonita is hosting a really great give a way.If you enter be sure to let her know I sent you to her group.

~*~ A little promotion! ~*~
A Drawing for a FREE bar of April's Scent of the month FLUTTER!
WAYS TO ENTER:
-- Everyone that adds at least 10 people to this group will be entered into the drawing 1 time!
-- For every person you refer to me that... may be interested in becoming a Scentsy Consultant under me you will be entered again
-- For every person you refer to me that *may* be interested in hosting any type of party...or if *YOU* are interested I will enter your name
-- You can enter again by posting this promo on your FB page and linking it to my personal or Group Page!
♥ IF ANYONE BOOKS A PARTY OR BECOMES A CONSULTANT AS THE RESULT OF A REFERRAL THROUGH THIS PROMO THE PERSON WHO REFERRED THEM WILL BE PUT INTO A DRAWING FOR A FULL SIZE WARMER & BAR OF FLUTTER!! ♥

Meal plan 3/14-3/29

2011-03-14T15:07:00.000-07:00

I have been meal planning for awhile now. It has saved me a lot of time and a lot of money. Having a meal plan made it easier to stick to a list at the grocery store and I never have to worry about what to make for dinner.

I thought I would start sharing our meal plan with you all.

Monday - chicken, rice and green beans
Tuesday - ham and bean soup and dinner rolls
Wednesday - chicken, roasted potatoes and cauliflower
Thursday - home made hamburger mac and cheese and green beans
Friday - chicken alfredo with brocoli
Saturday - pancakes, eggs and fruit
Sunday - chicken and black bean burriotos
Monday - Cheddar meatloaf, mashed potatoes and corn
Tuesday - chili spaghetti and corn bread
Wednesday -cheeseburger loaf and fresh veggies
Thursday - chicken, cheesy potatoes and green beans
Friday - dinner sausage, mac and cheese and veggies
Saturday - beef and noodle casserole and veggies
Sunday - beef and creamy potatoes
Monday - pancakes, eggs and fruit
Tuesday - Chili

Alexzander's story

2011-03-10T18:57:00.000-08:00

I have been thinking about writing this post for awhile and after a conversation with a friend today I finally decided to get around to posting this long story.

My husband and I were married July 9th 2005, we wanted a family right away and ended up conceiving our first child on our honeymoon. We were thrilled to be expecting and the pregnancy was a normal healthy one. I went into labor on April 17th 2006, 8 days past my due date. Labor was hard on me, I had been contracting off and on for days and was already exhausted. Things seemed to be going normally and then all the sudden my labor stalled, I had been in labor for 17 hrs at this time. My mid wife started talking about our options and we ended up consenting to induction, water breaking and an intrathecal. I was upset by this because I wanted an all natural delivery but I was ready for my labor to be over and I wanted to hold my son. They got the pitocin going and were about to break my water when it broke on its own, a short while later they did the intrathecal. Everything after this is kind of a blur to me, I barely remember a lot of it. I remember pushing, I remember my son being born at 12:01 a.m. April 18th after 20 long hours of active labor. I remember holding him but then I go blank. I guess I ended up loosing more blood then normal, getting fourth degree tears, my mid wife had to call in another doctor to stitch me up because she was not able to get it good enough. She later told me I had the worst tearing she had ever seen on a patient.

My son was a healthy 8 lb 5 oz boy, I was over the moon in love him with. My husband and I did notice right away that his head seemed slightly misshapen but they told us it was normal and was probably from the long labor. It was suppose to go away on its own. Well it never did. We would not find out until his three month check up why though. We went in to his check up, our normal doctor was not in so we saw someone else, she was going through the normal questions when she started asking us about his head and his soft spot. She seemed concerned about it and asked us to take him over to xray but would not tell us why, all she would say was that his soft spot was not correct. I was not happy at the idea of my little guy getting an xray but we went ahead with it. No one would tell us why so I went home and looked it up. My research brought me to Craniosynostosis which is the premature closure of sutures. I was devastated but tried not to worry to much until we got his results. Sure enough he was diagnosed with Craniosynostosis and our next step was to get a cat scan so they could see the extent of the closures. After the cat scan we saw a couple different doctors to discuss our options. I did not care for the first doctor so we ended going with doctor number two ( this was the best choice we made, he was amazing ).

Luckily enough for us, Alexzander's Craniosynostosis was a milder form and would only require surgery, some kids need many surgeries and to wear a corrective helmet. He had his corrective surgery, which was the removal of a strip of his skull so his head could form correctly, when he was 4 months old. It was a really hard thing to go through. I cried on the way to the hospital, I cried when they took his blood and I cried when the nurse took my baby. I was an emotional mess during the hours we sat in the waiting room and a nervous wreck until I was able to hold my little man again. He came through the surgery with flying colors, he was a little out of it the rest of the day while we were in the NICU but the next morning he woke up with the biggest smile.

Today you would never know that there was anything wrong with my boy. Besides on a scar on his head there is no lasting affects from his surgery or condition.

Here is with dad right before surgery

Right after

With mom the next day

And today

If you would like to know more about his condition here are some links:
Craniosynostosis
Craniosynostosis

Give a way!! Flower head band

2011-03-10T18:42:00.000-08:00

I am thinking spring and nothing says spring to me more then adorable flower head bands on adorable little girls!

I just got a bunch of new flowers that I will be making into head bands over the next week and I want to give one of my choosing to one of you for free!

Action shots of past ones I have made:

To enter:
1. You need to be a follower of this blog. Post a comment saying you are.

Extras:
1. post this give a way on your facebook, leave me a link in a separate comment saying you did
2. blog about this give away and leave a link saying you did.
3. Refer friends, every person that posts saying you sent them counts for an extra entry.

Give a way ends March 21st

Custom Hairbow holder giveaway!!

2011-03-01T20:42:00.000-08:00

I have started making bow boards for my girls, it is a lot of fun and a really cute way to store the massive amounts of hair bows we have in this house. My oldest daughter loves to wear hair bows, we probably have a hair bow for almost every outfit and she still wants more!

Here is the one I made for my girls:

If you win you get to pick the fabric ( within reason, I do need to be able to find it easily ) and the ribbon color. As long as I can get the fabric locally I will have it ready in less then a week.

To enter-
1. You must be a follower of this blog, leave a comment saying you are.

Extras-
1. Post a link about this giveaway on facebook or another site, leave me a link to the post.
2. Refer friends, every friend that posts you sent them counts for an extra entry.
3. Blog about it and leave the link in a comment.

This give a way closes 3/8/2011

Good luck!!

What's coming?

2011-02-27T09:56:00.000-08:00

I have not spent a lot of time on here lately but there are some exciting posts coming soon!

I am going to do a post on making the most of the space you have, fitting two kids into a small space, there will be a diaper package giveaway and other posts in the works. Be on the look out!

Deckydoodle shirt review

2011-02-08T17:25:00.001-08:00

I was lucky enough to win a really adorable shirt for Destiny from an awesome WAHM Deckydoodle. I have been wanting to get some shirts for her for awhile and Destiny loves pretty shirts so when I saw this go up for auction I could not let it pass without bidding.

I let Destiny open the package and she was thrilled when she saw the shirt. She wore it today.

I highly recommend getting shirts from Deckydoodle, they are adorable, her customer service is wonderful and I know the mom behind Deckydoodle and she is really sweet!

Journey of fluff - part 4

2011-02-05T13:56:00.000-08:00

My diaper stash is really starting to come together. I really happy with all the things I have so far. We have set up the date for the ultrasound, we will hopefully be finding out the gender of our little bean on the 28th of Feb.

Since my last post I have gotten a few more things. Since we are really close to finding out the gender I have not been buying anything, I have only been doing trades for items that I just really wanted to have for my stash. We will be finding out the gender right after getting our tax return back and I am prepared to finish my stash with things for the babies gender once we know which gender we are being blessed with.

I got this adorable pair of longies from a trade on diaperswappers.

I got all these items from trading with my one and only friend that cloth diapers also. I had some pul covers of Kairi's that just did not work for her anymore and a couple pair of recycled longies that she outgrew so we swapped some items.

The tote that I am storing all my newborn goodness in is to the point of overflowing. I am going to need to get another tote to finish my shopping. I honestly do not need a whole lot more. I would like to get some more small bg and xsmall bg aios, a few small nana bottom aios and some summer wool.

My total spent so far is still sitting at $140.

Mashed potato and beef casserole

2011-02-03T16:34:00.000-08:00

Looking for something easy and simple for dinner? This is my take on a recipe I found in a cook book I have.

Mashed potato and beef casserole
Ingredients-
1lb hamburger
salt
pepper
garlic
1.5 cups cut baby carrots ( I cut them into thirds )
2 stalks chopped celery
2 cups beef broth
mashed potatoes

Brown the hamburger in a skillet, add the salt,pepper and garlic while the meat is cooking. After the hamburger is done combine in a large casserole dish with the carrots, celery and beef broth. Cook uncovered for about an hour or until carrots are soft at 350. Top with mashed potatoes, cover and cook for another 15 mins.

Serve and enjoy!

Home schooling- dealing with unwanted advice

2011-02-03T10:15:00.000-08:00

My son is about to turn five which has started the long line of people asking him if he is excited to go to school, of course then I have to explain that my children are home schooled. While I have been lucky and most people have nothing negative to say, I have run into a few people that thought they needed to give advice on why I should not home school my children, while I find this a little upsetting and rude I have been able to remain civil and never let them get under my skin.

I think the worst thing I have ever dealt with was when my son was actually just a baby, I was at a family gathering on my husband's side and one of his relatives was talking to me about Alex, the conversation started out pretty normally, just asking about how he was doing and normal questions that you would ask about a baby. Then for some reason she asked if we were going to use preschool for him. I told her we would not using the public school system at all because we are going to home school him. That is when she told me I really should think about putting him in school, how she knew home schooled children that were socially backwards and school is vital to his social development, he needs to have friends and kids make most of their friends in school. I let her finish what she was saying and went on to explain how I was hom schooled in middle and high school, was able to make many friends still and it in no way hurt me socially. Home schooling gave me the chance to learn at my pace, in a way that was best suited to me and take classes that were not offered at the school in my town. I went on to graduate at 16 and then work full time for two years before I got married and started my family. After hearing this she quickly changed the subject and I dropped it.

I am not sure why people think they need to give their advice or views on the educational choices my husband and I are making for our kids but I know that it will continue and will probably get worse as they get older. The best thing to so is remain polite when unwanted advice is given, offer facts when questions are asked and show them why home schooling is the best choice for our family.

The best little boxers ever

2011-01-24T15:27:00.000-08:00

My son had been asking me for underwear like daddy has. I looked in the store but could not find straight boxers for him that had any prints on them so I ended up contacting Heather from FortheLove and seeing if she would be able to make them for me and boy oh boy did she deliver. Alex got three pair of the cutest little boxer shorts and he just loves them.

Here is Alex showing his fancy new boxers off:

Editing history - History was never meant to be sugar and spice

2011-01-07T15:11:00.000-08:00

I am a true lover of classic literature and history. I love buying antique books, reading classic literature and we have a lot of historical books. I noticed in high school that many history books were leaving out and even editing American and world history and for many years I have been taking part in the banned book week. I am sure that by this point you are wondering where this blog is coming from. I recently read a news article about editing Huckle Berry Fin, if you are like me you are probably wondering why on earth would we be editing a classic novel that was written almost 130 years ago? The reason is they are taking out the word Niger and Injun.

Personally I am shocked at the fact that they are going after a novel who was written by a man that can not even stand up for his works being as he has been dead for 101 years. I can not even begin to imagine the outcry that would be taking place if the author was still alive since this a clear violation of his write to free speech and completely unnecessary censorship. If they are going to start editing classic books because “Race matters in these books,” Gribben told PW. “It’s a matter of how you express that in the 21st century.”, then how about going after the rap artist that use racial slurs in almost every single one of their songs, tell my why it is okay for them to use these words but not okay for it to be in a book even though it was part of the time era that the book was written?

I have read arguments on both sides of this debate, people that are for it are saying that removing the words will make the book less offensive to the African American society. My argument to this statement is that just because you remove the words for a book is not going to erase what happened during that time era. We can not erase our history to stop people from being offended. How do you expect our children to learn and grow from the mistakes of their forefathers if we do not allow them to learn about it.

There are many books out there that are being banned from schools because they are being deemed unfit for children to read because of their content. Yet have you walked into a book store lately, go look at the books that are being written for pre teens and teens. Personally I would rather have my children be reading classic literature and learning about their history then vampire romance novels.

There are so many amazing classic novels out there that contain racial slurs, it was part of the time they were written. If we remove these words from every book out there, it would be like trying to take an eraser to our History and that is something that simply should not and can not be done. Trying to sweep things under the rug is not going to make things any different, it is not going to change the things that happened in the past and it sure is not going to help make our future any better. How are we to better ourselves if we do not learn about and learn from the mistakes made in times before?

History is not pretty, it is full of violence, pain and brutality. The human race has done some really horrible things and they still do a lot of horrible things. We can not remove things from the history of our nations, we can not sugar coat the evil things that have been done in our world. What we can do is learn about it and what we can do to better ourselves.

Why I homeschool

2011-01-03T14:56:00.000-08:00

My son will be five in the spring was of course I have had a lot of people asking me lately if he was excited to start kindergarten. I go on to answer that he will be home schooled and most people just leave it at that but I have had a few people that were surprised by it and tried to tell all the reasons why I should enroll my son in public school.

My husband and I decided we would home school our children before my first son was even born. My husband went to public/private school while I was in public until 6th grade when my mom pulled me out to home school me. I was not overly thrilled with the idea at first but it did not take me long to see how much better it was going to be for me. Not only was I able to have more control over what I studied, the extra classes I would take but I also was able to advance, something the public school system refused to let me do. I received a wonderful, hands on education and went on to graduate at sixteen.

Homeschooling just seemed like the natural choice, we both agreed that our children deserved to get the best education we could get them and we both agree that homeschooling was the best option for our family.

The top two reasons we are choosing to home school are the following:

1. We both believe that the current public school system is failing our children at an alarming rate. We have seen far to many children slip through the cracks, get pushed a long when they are not learning anything and other children who are very bright, get bored and not want to be in school anymore. We want to make sure that our children are able to learn in a way that best suits them. Every child learns in a different way and by homeschooling them we know that we will be able to make sure that happens.

2. We are raising our children in a certain way and want to make sure that the morals and values we are raising them with are not put down and they are not harassed for them. We believe that child hood is the most important and shortest time in your life. This said we want to make sure that our children are able to remain children for as long as possible and we want them to remain innocent to many aspects of today's world until their childhood is really over. We live in a very sex saturated world and I am choosing to protect my children from it in the ways I know I can.

I have had many people tell me that I need to place my children in the public school system so they are properly socialized and know how to interact with the outside world. I personally believe this could not be further from the truth. I believe that socialization starts at birth and I think to be truly socialized you need to be interacting with people of all ages, not just people that are the same age. Our children get plenty of interaction with other children and with other people. We attend church and they have classes there that they enjoy, we have play dates with friends, events we attend that our town and our church puts on, we will be joining a home school group and when they are old enough we will be taking part in sports. As they get older I will start having them volunteer at nursing homes and other places so they learn how to act around people of all ages, not just kids that are the same age as them.

These are just a few reasons why we are homeschooling our children. Education is a very personal choice. Whatever choice you make is the right choice for your family. Do not let anyone tell you that you are wrong as long as you are making the choice you feel is the right one for you.

Verychicbaby review

2011-01-03T09:15:00.000-08:00

I had the pleasure of buying and trading with the mama from verychicbaby. She made me the cutest little owl dress for Kairi.

It fits so well, is very well made and she was a pleasure to work with. I will be back for more items from her for sure.

I also have a problem with Kairi leaving her socks alone. She does not like to wear them but we have wood floors in the living room and they are kind of cold. Her feet were always cold so I wanted to get her some cute little soft soled shoes. I had heard amazing things about verychicbaby's shoes so I went ahead and got a pair of wool topped, leather bottomed shoes for Kairi. They are wonderful, keep her warm and she will even leave them on! I highly recommend everyone to check out her products.

Keep those kiddos safe in the car

2010-11-30T12:57:00.000-08:00

With winter well on its way ( or already there for many of us ) I just wanted to take the time to write a little bit on the importance of car seat safety in the winter.

Make sure your car seat is properly installed before you hit the road this winter. If you are unsure if you car seat is properly installed, take it to a professional. Many fire stations and police stations will do this for free.

Never leave a heavy winter coat on in the car seat. This is not safe at all. Car seat straps are suppose to be snug against your child, if you leave a coat on the straps can loosen and in the event of an accident your child can be seriously injured or even killed. Only have your child wear the same clothing they would be wearing inside the house when they are buckled into their car seats. If you are worried about your child staying warm you can put their coat on backwards once they are buckled in, give them a blanket or buy a car seat poncho.

Here is to keeping our kids safe and warm all winter long!

Tis the season for giving

2010-11-30T12:33:00.000-08:00

In the spirit of Christmas I would like to do several give a ways for all my lovely readers.

The first one I am posting is for a free knitted hat. You pick the color, gender and I do the rest.

Here are some pictures of some of the hats I have made in the past.

To enter:

1. Post a comment. Make sure you leave your email.

Extras:
1.Follow this blog and let me know if you already do.
2. Post about this on facebook, leave me a link.
3. Blog about this give away and leave a link.
4. Send your friends, every person that says you sent them is an extra entry.

Good Luck!

Contest ends Dec. 13th

Give a way from icanonlyimagine

2010-11-10T19:14:00.000-08:00

Jonita from http://hyenacart.com/icanonlyimagine/ has been kind enough to offer a $10 gift card to her store for a give a way to all my lovely readers.

Here is a little bit about Jonita.

Tell us a little about your self: My name is Jonita, I'm mommy to 2 crazy girls, Graceen and Mackenzie.

When did you start crocheting: I started crocheting as a kid, but haven't touched it since, till about 2 years ago.

Tell us about your business: I decided to crochet for other people when I felt the need to fund my crochet/cd addiction lol. One of my most favorite things is someone enjoying something I made for them. I think its a very personal thing. I think about the person behind the item every time I use a wahm item, and I hope others think about me when they use my products.

I am lucky enough to have this beautiful skirtie from her:

And she made these dresses for my girls:

She is offering a $10 giftcard to her store. Below are the details on how to enter.

1. Leave a comment with your email address so I can contact you.

Extra entries:
2. Become a follower of my blog and let me know ( or let me know you already are )
3. Post this blog your facebook ( let me know about it )
4. Blog about this give a way.

Give a way ends Nov. 24th.

My frugal fun has moved

2010-11-02T11:26:00.001-07:00

This is one of my favorite blogs, I love reading her posts.

To celebrate her move she is offering a contest and you could win a $25 amazon gift card.

She is now located at http://myfrugalfunlife.com/ , go check her out and make sure to enter the give a way!

Christmas is coming!!!

2010-11-02T09:41:00.000-07:00

It is hard to believe that is is November already and we all know this means that Christmas is going to be here before we know it! My husband and I decided to keep things fairly simple this year with buying for our children. Since they have grandparents, Aunts and Uncles they will not be lacking in the gift department at all.

A friend of mine introduced me to this saying, something you want, something you need, something to play and something to read. I gave myself a limit of $100 out of pocket per child and so far I am doing way better then I thought I would with that budget.

We did one large joint gift for all three of them and got them a puppet theater, this was paid for entirely by swagbucks ( if you have not joined yet you really should and I have a blinkie for them on the main page of my blog )

Alex:
want: race track ( found brand new at a garage sale for $8 )
need: clothes ( these I have not bought yet but most likely will be spending around $20 )
play: puppets ( paid for by swag bucks )
read: book from hpb store ( we are getting this over the weekend and it will be around $10 )

I will also be stuffing his stocking but this will not cost more then $30

Total oop for Alex: $68

Destiny:
want: baby doll items, cloth diapers, wipes, a diaper bag and whatever else I can get my hands on ( I have a small diaper bag that I never use so I am giving her that and filling it with the other items I am looking to spend a max of $20 here.
need: dress (bought on ebay NWT $8 )
play: puppets ( paid for by swagbucks )
read: book from hpb store ( again buying this weekend for around $ 10 )

Stuffing her stocking again for $30 or under.

Total oop for Destiny:$68

Kairi:
want: B. Parum Pum Pum Drum ( paid for by swagbucks )
need: dress (hand made from verychicbaby $30 ) and diapers ( got free in a trade )
play: puppet ( paid for by swagbucks )
read: book from hpb store ( again buying this weekend for around $ 10 )

Stuffing her stocking again for $30 or under.

Total oop for Kair: $60

I am pretty pleased with myself so far. I have a couple other people to buy for but I have been able to find some great deals for them also and no I am not telling what they are because some of them read this blog!

Want a chance at a free Guidecraft Complete Kitchen Center?

2010-11-02T08:57:00.000-07:00

If you want a chance at winning this fantastic toy then you need to make your way over to http://lifemoresimply.blogspot.com/ and enter!

What a great gift this would make!! If one of my readers is lucky enough to win this make sure you come back and let me know!

Be safe on halloween!!!

2010-10-29T08:57:00.000-07:00

Just a little reminder for everyone to be safe on beggar's night! Have fun trick or treating everyone :)

Halloween Safety Tips for Trick or Treating

Kids look forward to Halloween for many reasons. They like the dressing up in costumes but the mostly they like it for the candy and treats! Who wouldn't? Even some adults still like to go our trick or treating. It makes them feel young and happy again. While this section sticks mainly to guidelines for kids, they are just as useful for adults.

Some parents like to take first dibs on some of the candy that the kids have picked up during the night. It's their reward for taking them around from house to house! We suggest that you watch the candy intake when you all get home, too much at one time can lead to stomach aches and indigestion. That includes mom and dad as well!

Make your child's Halloween a memorable holiday and they'll have good memories that last a lifetime! If you are taking your kids out for the night, dress up as well. Mom and dad should get into Halloween as much as the kids do!

Trick or Treating should be one of the great adventures of Halloween for kids! They can get dressed in scary costumes and go door to door, begging "Tricks or Treats!" from neighbors or at the local mall. Lots of small towns have a Halloween Safe Night at the community center or school so kids can Trick-or-Treat safely but going door to door is the stuff of childhood memories! It should be a fun time, without trouble and pain, so following some easy tips can keep your child safe every Halloween.

Children should always go out trick or treating accompanied by a responsible adult. If you have a group of kids going, the parents should choose two or three of them to go along and keep an eye on things.

Some towns set a curfew for trick or treating which makes it easier for townsfolk to know who's coming to their door. Make sure and stick to the curfew times and stick to subdivisions and areas with a lot of homes so your kids can get in as much trick or treating as possible in a few hours time.

Plan a safe route so parents know where their older kids will be at all times. Set a time for their return home. Make sure that your child is old enough and responsible enough to go out by themselves. Make sure that they have a cell phone.

Let your children know not to cut through back alleys and fields if they are out alone. Make sure they know to stay in populated areas and not to go off the beaten track. Let them know to stay in well lighted areas with lots of people around. Explain to them why it can be dangerous for kids not to do this. If they are going out alone, they are old enough to know what can happen to them in a bad situation and how to stop it from happening.

Instruct your children not to eat any treats until they bring them home to be examined by you. This way you can check for any problem candy and get the pick of the best stuff!

Instruct your child to never go into the home of a stranger or get into their car. Explain why this is not a god idea and what to do if someone approaches them and tries to talk to them.

Make sure your child carries a flashlight, glow stick or has reflective tape on their costume to make them more visible to cars.

Let them know that they should stay together as a group if going out to Trick or Treat without an adult.

Source:
http://www.halloween-safety.com/halloween_safety_treats.html

The kind of trick or treating I can get into!!!

2010-10-25T17:45:00.000-07:00

http://www.mamaandruby.com/index.html is hosting a great halloween event! If you want a chance to win some prizes mamas you really need to get involved in this!!!!!

Rave for PrettyBittyBoo

2010-10-25T16:50:00.000-07:00

I was introduced to this adorable set through diaperswappers. I fell in love and it was Kairi's size so I knew it needed to come live with us.

It is constructed very well, the fit is perfect and it is so adorable.

She does not have a lot of items available at the moment but she should be stocking soon!

Check her out!
http://www.etsy.com/shop/PrettyBittyBoo

She also has a facebook fan page:
http://www.facebook.com/wjwalters?ref=profile#!/pages/Colfax-CA/Pretty-Bitty-Boo/132308173488615

Give a way from For the Love

2010-10-21T18:07:00.000-07:00

Heather, the mom behind http://hyenacart.com/FortheLove/index.php has offered a great give away for all my lovely readers. You have the chance to win one short mama cloth pad (approximately 10" long, 3 1/2"wide not including wings) from For the Love... Heather will chose the colors but the pad will be topped in flannel and backed with PUL.

A little about Heather:
Why is mama cloth important to you?
Cloth menstrual pads are important for so many reason. First, like cloth diapering, using mama cloth is so much better for our earth and our environment. All of those disposable menstrual products really make a negative impact on our environment. Another reason is it is SO much healthier! Add to that the fact that using mama cloth has show to reduce the length and cramping of your periods and I'm a fan!

How did you get started making mama cloth?
I actually started making mama cloth as a "Toddler Pee-Pee Pad". My son was potty learning (all on his own!) and I needed something as a "just in case". So I made up what is now known as my short pad. It was topped in flannel, had several absorbant layers, and was backed in PUL. I snapped them into his little underwear just like if you were using a pad. They were absorbant enough for one pee, but didn't feel like a diaper on him, so that he KNEW he had an accident. From there, I just figured if cloth was good enough for him, it was good enough for me. I expanded my cloth line from there.

How long have you been sewing?
I have actually been sewing for about 15 years. I've always been crafty, and able to make something out of nothing for as long as I can remember. In fact, one of my first sewing projects was an outfit for my dog (back before dressing your dog up was cool!). I made it out of one of my old pairs of jeans and a flannel shirt that was past it's prime. I measured him and drew out my own pattern to make that outfit.

Rules and how to enter:

1. To enter please leave a comment.

2. Extra entries:
1. Be a follower
2. Refer someone to the blog and have them leave your name in the comment
3. Post about this give a way somewhere and come back with a link.

Contest will run till Nov. 1st, a winner will be picked using a random number generator.

Why I make my own laundry soap

2010-10-15T09:31:00.000-07:00

I have extremely sensitive skin and our last adventure with it was when my husband bought some laundry soap on sale, I figured it would not hurt to give it a try and it ended up causing me to break out from head to toe ( I am not joking ) in hives that lasted about two weeks. I had to rewash everything and needless to say I was not going to deal with it again. I had been reading on DS how mamas there were making there own laundry soap so I decided to give it a try and I was shocked how much I really liked it. It cleaned my clothes, left a clean smell and I could use it on clothes and diapers without ill effects.

This is how I make my soap:
1 bar of laundry soap ( grated )
4 cups of baking soda
4 cups of washing soda
4 cups of borax
2 cups of oxyclean ( I get the store brand since it is cheaper )

Mix it all in a large tupperware container and I add 1 full scoop ( using the scoop that came in the oxyclean tub to a large load of clothes and about half a scoop to the diapers )

Being a mom

2010-10-12T19:23:00.000-07:00

I always wanted to be a mom. Even when I was in high school and I did not know what I wanted to do for sure with my life one thing always stuck, I wanted children. I got married when I was eighteen years old and got pregnant on my honeymoon, I know a lot of people thought I was to young to be starting a family but I knew I was ready and my husband and I were thrilled to be starting our family together.

I knew the birth of my child would bring about changes in my life. I knew I was going to have many sleepless nights, I knew that I would worry more then I ever had before and I knew that I was going to be taking care of someone that needed me for everything in their life. The things I did not know was that I would spend many nights in tears wondering why my friends did not seem to want to be around us anymore, that poison control would become a contact number in my phone book ( in the first year of my sons life he tried to eat a Christmas Cactus, perfume, deodorant and almost a whole bottle of teething tablets )and I did not know how badly it would hurt when people judged me for the way I chose to raise my child, how badly it would hurt when they looked down on me for one reason or another or how defensive I would get over it all. I wish I could go back and tell myself to let it slid but it hurt so badly at that time.

Now that my son is four years old and I have had two other children I have learned to let the judgments go. I have learned that no matter what I do someone somewhere will have a problem with the choices I have in my parenting style. The thing is now, I do not care. I know the choices my husband and I make are the best ones for my family and I have learned that I do not have to defend them to anyone.

Being a mother seems to open you up for the whole world to tell you what you are doing wrong and honestly I have noticed that other moms are really bad about doing it to each other. I have seem moms rip each other apart on some of the message boards I am on. They will seriously go head to head over what to feed kids for breakfast and I will be the first to admit that I have been pulled into this before but I am doing my best to not let it happen. I know first hand that moms need to stick together and be there for one another.

Being a mother is very hard, there are days that I want to throw a fit right along with my kids. There are days that they test me more then I can explain but it is always worth it. Yes they test me, yes they can be very naughty sometimes but they can also be the sweetest, most lovable kids in the world. I love it when they run up to me and give me a big hug and for no reason at all tell me they love me. I love snuggle time and I love the sleepy smiles.

Being a mother has changed me in every way. I have more patience, learned to live off very little sleep, have become more selfless and I know that my kids will keep on changing me. I look forward to the changes and times to come.

The new eco friendly and fashionable trend in cloth diapers

2010-10-12T07:45:00.000-07:00

The new eco friendly and fashionable trend in cloth diapers

Check out this video.

I have a doopsy diaper and I really love it!!!

Decky doodle grand opening! You must check it out!!

2010-09-23T19:28:00.000-07:00

There is a really awesome hyena cart store opening the 30th and I am excited to share it with you all. http://hyenacart.com/DeckyDoodle/index.php?c=0&p=42665 has some adorable items coming soon. If you are shopping for some tshirts to match those new fall woolies you have been buying you really need to stop by at check her out.

If I had a newbie I would snatch this up in no time!!!

http://hyenacart.com/DeckyDoodle/index.php?c=0&p=99876

I braved the art of home made yogurt!

2010-09-23T13:55:00.001-07:00

I kept hearing a lot of people talking about making yogurt in the crock pot. My kids eat yogurt like you would not believe and I have been looking around trying to find a whole milk yogurt since both my older kids are skinny minnies I figured the extra calories would do them both some good. Since I have not been able to find any in the stores I decided to be brave and try making some in the crock pot and I am so glad I did.

I followed the guide here http://crockpot365.blogspot.com/2008/10/you-can-make-yogurt-in-your-crockpot.html and when it was done and I let it sit in the fridge for a while, the kids and I tried some. They wanted it vanilla so I added a dash of vanilla from watkins and a spoonful of sugar and they loved it. I personally wanted blueberries so I put some fresh ones in my food chopper, added those a spoonful of sugar to it and I do say it was the best yogurt I have ever had.

I am not buying store bought yogurt anymore, this is way better and it was really simple to make!!

Fall is coming

2010-09-23T13:33:00.000-07:00

Which means it is longies season once again! I just wanted to share what Kairi is wearing today, I love the new fluff we have been getting for fall and winter!

Yes I am THAT mom

2010-09-19T09:39:00.000-07:00

You know the mom I am talking about. The mom that has screaming children in the grocery store, the mom that has spit up on her shoulder, the mom that is over protective about everything, the weird mom that loves cloth diapers and all things home made. Yes I am that mom and I am proud.

Being a stay at home mom and that fact that I do not always want to wait for weekends or ten o'clock at night to go to the store I do often take all three kids with me to the store and while mostly they are good we have had our fair share of grocery store melt downs. Most recently we were at Wal mart and Alexzander was walking to close to the end caps, he turned around to talk to me and scratched his shoulder on the corner of one, this added to the fact that he was over tired after playing at the park that day turned into a way over the top crying episode. The old women walking by gave me the look of death and I simply ignored her. Go ahead and judge me and my kids based on a moment of the day, I do not know you and I really do not care what you think.

It does not seem to matter how often I change, my clothes always end up dirty. Kairi is getting teeth right now, so not only is she slobbery more then the average bull dog but she spends a lot of the day on my shoulder. Since I already have laundry that seems to multiply like rabbits I do not want to change a dozen times a day so yes I have been in public more then once with drool all over my shoulder. I chalk it up to a mark of motherhood.

As for the over protective mother, yes I openly admit I am THAT mom. I watch my children like a hawk when we are in public, I have been known to parent another child ( you push my kid down at the park you better believe I will give you a mouth full ) and I spend far to much time researching everything that involves my kids. Some may think this is over the top protective behavior, that is okay with me.

I love my cloth diapers, I have openly admitted that even if they never saved me a dime I would keep using them. While I do not really do it for the saving the planet aspect ( it is just an added plus because I know God called us to care for his planet ), honestly I do it now because they are adorable, yes I am a cloth diaper addict. I also openly admit that I am that mom that would rather have all my kids clothes home made, I even have been known to have my girls wear the old time bonnets because I think they are adorable. I love home made toys, I love home made just about everything, yes I am that mom and once again, I am proud.

I have come to the point in my life where I know other people ( especially other mothers ) are judging every aspect of my parenting style and I say judge away. I will proudly wear the badge of THAT mom if it means I have happy, healthy and safe children.

Add some emotion to your soakers!

2010-09-17T18:58:00.000-07:00

I was lucky enough to snag a tester spot to test a new soaker from EmotiBums. I love trying out new fleece soakers and I am really in love with this one. The fit is fantastic and I run into issues since Kairi is a long baby, many times her diaper stick out the top of the soaker, I am not having any issue with this soaker at all. I have used it over pre folds and fitteds and both have been great!

I am not sure when she is going to start selling them but I know I want more when she does and I will let all my readers now when they are available also!

Kids in the kitchen ( baby proofing )

2010-09-13T17:39:00.000-07:00

I have had several people ask me, "how do you keep you kids out of the kitchen while you are cooking"? Simple answer, I don't. The only time I will not let them out with me is if I am cooking something with hot oil that could splatter them.

I really feel that introducing my kids to cooking and baking early is going to help them in the long run to become great cooks and bakers themselves. Not only am I taking that time to teach them about cooking but I also use it to teach them to count, read and other things.

Earlier today my daughter helped me make home made whipped cream, she poured the sugar in after I measured it and helped me whisk it. She loved being able to help. My kids help me with at least one meal a day when we are at home.

When it comes to safety matters in the kitchen I have baby proofed in a way that was easy, all the knives in drawers they can not reach, cleaning supplies are in one cupboard and the older two know they are not allowed to get in the cupboard, we are still teaching Kairi that she is not allowed to get in that cupboard. I found it easiest to give them a couple cupboards they can dig in, it gives them an area they can go to and then the cleaning cupboard does not seem so tempting. I let them play with my plastic storage bowls and my pots and pans. While I am out doing dishes Kairi will be happily playing drums on the pans and the older two will usually be coloring at the kitchen table. When I do not want them in the kitchen for one reason or another I simple put the gate up. My oldest can take it down but he is learning that I put it up because the kitchen is off limits.

Awhile back we had a pizza and movie night, the kids made their own little pizzas and then we watched a movie while we ate. They had a great time!

Mini pita pizzas-
pita bread
pizza sauce
cheese
Your choice of toppings

Spread the sauce and on the pita bread and then let you kids decorate their pizzas. Then bake the pizzas at 350 till cheese is melted and bread it toasted.

At my daughter's birthday I let the kids decorate their own cupcakes. I got some frosted cupcakes, set out bowls and containers of sprinkles and let them go. It was a simple activity yet the kids really enjoyed it.

I really do encourage you to find ways you can let your kids be involved in cooking and baking at a young age, it is a great way to spend time with them, a great learning tool and it will help to encourage them to cook when they get older.

Kids in the kitchen ( why hamburger is a staple )

2010-08-30T18:54:00.000-07:00

Being a stay at home mom I do a lot of cooking and since I have a picky husband and a picky four year old son it can make dinner time tricky. One thing I know for sure is the number one kitchen staple in this house is hamburger. It is such a versatile ingredient and I can make some many different things from it.

My kids love pasta, we eat a lot of different pasta dishes in this house. Tonight we had a pasta dish that they ate really well. Very simple and easy to make also!

You need:
wheat elbow noodles
1 pound hamburger
1 small bag of frozen corn
catsup
v8
tomato sauce
garlic powder
Italian seasoning
salt
pepper

Cook your noodles like normal. While noodles are cooking start frying the hamburger, I add the garlic and Italian seasoning right to the hamburger while it cooks. Drain noodles when done, add hamburger and corn to noodles. Pour in enough v8 so you can start to see it coming up the sides, do not add to much or it will make your pasta soupy. Add 1 can of tomato sauce and a small squirt of catsup. Stir and heat through. Add salt and pepper to taste.

It only takes about 20 minuets to make and it was a huge hit in my house.

Later this week I plan on making meatloaf cupcakes again. They are really tasty, the cup cakes makes for a perfect portion and the kids really liked them. All you need to do is make the meat loaf the way you normally do.

Here is my recipe:

1lb hamburger
1 sleeve crushed ritz crackers
3 large eggs
catsup
garlic
Italian seasoning
pepper
meatloaf seasoning ( I get it from watkins and it is really yummy )

Then I line my cupcake pan with cupcake liners, fill the liners almost to the top and bake at 350 for around 30 mins or until baked through.

While those are baking I make garlic mashed potatoes to frost the meatloaf cup cakes with. After frosting them with the potatoes I add shredded cheddar cheese for sprinkles and serve with a side of corn.

It is a really simple way to make a meal fun, the kids love it and always clean there plates.

A great give a away for all my readers

2010-08-30T15:53:00.000-07:00

Sweetpeaboutique has been kind enough to offer a custom shirt for a give away for all my readers. I love her shirts, she is such a sweet mama and does a great good on her items.

Here is Kairi in one of her shirts:

How to enter:

To enter you simply have to comment on this blog entry. A winner will be picked 9/17.

Extra entries:

Become a follwer ( or tell me you already are a follower ) of this blog and get one extra entry.

Post this give away on your facebook, blog or another forum and post the link here to get one extra entry.

Send a friend, if they say you sent them you get one entry per person.

Go visit http://hyenacart.com/sweetpeaboutique/ to see all her adorable items!

Diaper give a away!

2010-08-13T18:01:00.000-07:00

Have you ever checked out http://www.ragababe.com/Home_Page.html? I recently found out about them on facebook and while they are not selling yet I have already been admiring the prints of their diapers. I am hoping to get a newspaper print and a heart print, they are so adorable!

They are hosting a give a way on their facebook fan page, check it out and enter for your change at a free diaper!!!

http://www.facebook.com/pages/RagaBabe/127158910630142

Breast feeding beyond 12 months- why I do it

2010-08-12T13:08:00.000-07:00

When I was pregnant with my first child I knew I wanted to breast feed but I had no idea how long I planned on doing it for. My goal was until he was 12 months, I figured when he was old enough for cows milk that he was old enough to be weaned.

Time went on and when he was six months old I got pregnant with our second child, I had a lot of people telling me I should wean him but I kept nursing him. My plan was still to wean him at 12 months, that way he was weaned before his sister was born. Before I knew it his first birthday was here, I had been doing a lot of reading on breast feeding beyond a year but I was just not sure what I wanted to do. I loved breastfeeding him, I knew it was the best thing for him but I really was not wanted to nurse a toddler and a newborn, so I started to wean him. I started with night weaning, Chris would get him to sleep each night with a sippy cup. It was going well until a couple weeks later he walked right off the end of my moms bed and broke his leg. He wanted the comfort of nursing and there was no way I was going to deny it to him. At that point in time I just decided it was not time to wean and if he was not weaned before his sister was born so be it.

Our second child was born when he was fifteen months old and he was still nursing. I really thought nursing a toddler and a newborn was going to be a major pain but it really was not. Alexzander kept nursing till he was 18 months old and he self weaned.
Since I nursed Alexzander for 18 months I decided that was how long I was going to nurse Destiny. Destiny was a very difficult baby, she did not sleep through the night until well after a year old, did nothing but nurse for about the first six months of her life and I am pretty sure if I would have weaned her at a year it would have been very difficult, she really did not like milk at all. I got pregnant with our third child when Destiny was about fourteen months old, she continued to nurse until she was 18 months old and again she self weaned.

My youngest is now thirteen months old and still nursing. There are times that I really want to wean her. She bites a lot and as any mom that has been bit by a nursing baby knows it hurts a lot! For a couple months now she has been waking up more then an average newborn and unless my husband goes into the other room with her she will not go back to sleep without nursing but I just can not bring myself to do it yet. Yes she is over a year so she can have a cup of milk but to me she is still a baby and I love the connection we have. As of now the plan is to nurse her for eighteen months also.

If you are a nursing mom and you are not sure how long you plan to nurse I highly recommend these sites to you. There is a lot of very good information. What ever you decide to do, best of luck on your breast feeding journey.

http://www.llli.org/NB/NBextended.html

http://www.kellymom.com/bf/bfextended/ebf-benefits.html

The daily life of a stay at home mom

2010-08-11T18:07:00.000-07:00

If you are a stay at home mom I am sure you have had at least one person ask, " what do you do all day?" Well this post is my answer to that question.

I am a stay at home mom, my usual day starts with one or more children jumping on me to wake me up way to early, especially since they had me up way to late. If the usual saying mommy in my ear about thirty times does not get me up fast enough for their liking they will start opening my eyes and announcing " wake up mommy, it is morning time". I then drag myself out of bed, get the already rowdy kids some breakfast ( did I mention I am not a morning person ) and turn on a cartoon, hoping for a few more minuets of peace before the day goes on, this rarely happens.
After they have eaten their breakfast and I have chased them around the living room or kitchen several times trying to wipe them off the older two usually will go into their playroom for awhile and the baby spends some time playing with her toys in the nursery. On a good day I only have to break up a couple fights on a bad day I am breaking up more fights the average bar bouncer.
If they are playing nicely I usually take this time to wash some dishes, do some laundry or vacuum. The thing about having three young kids and a dog in the house is that their is never a lack of something to clean and there really is never enough time to clean everything.
Soon it is time for lunch, we sit at the kitchen table, eat our lunch and then usually make something for dessert, on a lazy day I grab a popsicle, on a more ambitious day I have two very helpful little chefs that love to make cookies, cakes brownies and more. By the time we are done baking my kitchen would be enough to give the British ladies from that one house cleaning shows a night mare but listening to my little chefs giggle with excitement while helping me is well worth the clean up afterward.
In the afternoon we do many different things depending on the day. Our usual activities include, coloring, preK homeschooling, playing together, watching cartoons together ( I know every song in Kai-lan, mickey mouse and dora by heart ), outside activities and so much more. While the oldest kids are coloring or doing something else fairly quiet I get the youngest to nap and pray the house stays quiet enough for her to sleep for a good amount of time.
My evenings include cooking dinner, more cleaning, bath time, story time and trying to wrangle the kids into bed.
That is a brief over view of an average day in my house. While some days are calmer then others and I do have time to sit around doing nothing that is a pretty rare thing. On average I do a million things a day.
I am a cook and believe me when I say toddlers can be worse then food critics.
I am a nurse and doctor. A kiss from mommy is a miracle potion for bumps and bruises.
I am a professional entertainer and multi talented at that. Some days I am a singer, other days a dancer and always a story teller.
I am a teacher and councilor. I have to teach them not only manners, morals and education but I also have to to remember they are watching me and learning from how I act.
I am a coach and a team mate. Sometimes I am the one teaching about the sport or game and other times I am learning new rules that did not exists a few moments prior.
I am a stay at home mom, I work long hours, get no vacation or sick days, spend most of my time discussing board books and singing along to cartoons and while my days are long and at times my nerves get fried I know I have the best job in the world. My breaks are filled with cuddle time with the best kids in the world, my bonus' are finger paintings and color pages and no other job will pay you in the best slobbery kisses and sticky hugs.

The oldest cloth diaper system- prefolds

2010-08-06T13:15:00.001-07:00

I have been cloth diapering my kids for almost three years now and I was never brave enough to try a prefold. I was happy with my pockets and aios but after I started using fitteds I really wanted to try out some prefolds.

My husband and I went to a local cloth diaper shop and I decided to take the plunge. I bought a six pack of prefolds, two snapis ( there was no way I was trying pins ) and a brown cover. When we got home that night I started the prepping process and a couple days later I used the prefolds.

Here is a picture of her first time in a prefold:

and with the cover:

I can not believe how much I love my prefold diapers, the are really easy to use, really easy to clean and I love shopping for cute covers. This is one of the newest covers I have:

If you are a cloth diapering mama and have not yet tried using prefold diapers I highly recommend getting them, you will be pleasantly surprised.

The death of a pet

2010-07-19T11:44:00.000-07:00

So we had to have the death talk with our kids today. Last night we had to put down our almost three year old kitty Toby. He was acting very ill and my husband took him to the ER vet and it was soon discovered that he had feline leukemia.

My husband decided he wanted to be the one to talk to the kids so he sat them both down and explained that Toby had died. Since they are only almost three and four years old I really do not think they understand. Destiny was upset and just asked if he was coming home. My husband explained he got very sick and that he was in heaven now. He would not be coming home. Alexzander seemed to grasp it a little bit better then Destiny did but I do not think he really understands completely, he has been asking us to get another cat.

We have been taking care of a stray that wandered into our yard, we are going to take her in for testings and shots and then try bringing her into the house. She is a really sweet, good with the kids and really friendly. I am just praying for a clean bill of health for her.

RIP Toby, you are greatly missed!

Cutest smile photo contest

2010-07-06T10:41:00.001-07:00

1.

2. =

3.

4.

Cutest smile photo contest for Whitney's bowtique

2010-07-05T16:39:00.001-07:00

Due to the new rules on face book, I have moved the photo contest over to my blog.

Please send your picture to whitneywalters@live.com and I will post them to a new blog post.

How this is done:

You have until Friday to get me the photo you would like entered. Voting will begin right away and will continue until next Monday.
Voting is done by posting a comment on this blog with the number assigned to the picture of the child you would like to vote for.

Join the fun, it should only be a couple more days until the big grand opening!!!

A contest on my face book fan page

2010-06-28T13:20:00.000-07:00

I am opening a bowtique very soon and currently I am hosting a face book fan contest. All the details are here:

http://www.facebook.com/reqs.php#!/pages/Knoxville-Iowa/Whitneys-Bowtique-and-Childrens-Items/126813590687216

Come check it out!

Calling all fleece lovers

2010-06-22T10:32:00.000-07:00

I want to draw your attention to a shop on etsy, http://www.etsy.com/shop/cottontailbabies

I recently received a soaker from her and I really love it. Kairi has entered the stage of taking off any diaper she can so I have been using a cover over all her diapers. I love the print I got from her and it is made excellently. I know I will be back for more!

Here is Kairi lounging on the couch in her new soaker:

I have found it - the best rash cream of all time

2010-06-08T18:29:00.000-07:00

I am a sucker for WAHM cd safe products and I love trying something new but I have now found my rash cream, I have become loyal to rump rub from http://www.liloutlaws.net/

The rub not only works amazingly well but it smells so good. Never in my life have I been more tempted to eat something that is designed to rub on my babies bottom!

Last winter my whole family was suffering from a horrible stomach bug and middle child seemed to have it the worst. Not only was she sick but because of how sick she was she got a horrible rash. She has very sensitive skin and nothing seemed to be helping, I tried two other creams first, all she did is scream until I wiped it off. Finally I tried rump rub, she did not scream and it helped immensely.

The owner, Jacklen Taylor is a very sweet mama, easy to work with and has excellent customer service. I highly recommend her product!

Battle of the breast: normalizing nursing in public

2010-06-04T08:04:00.000-07:00

breast (plural breasts)

1. Either of the two fleshy organs on the front of a woman's chest, which contain the mammary glands; also the analogous organs in men.

mammary gland (plural mammary glands)

1. (anatomy) A gland that secretes milk for suckling an infant or offspring.

Seems pretty cut and dry right? To bad it could not be further from the truth. The land we live in today sees breasts in a totally different manner.

I have been a breast feeding mother for over four years now, I have three children and I have nursed all of them. Since I did not want to be a hermit I have also nursed in public ( shocking I know ). You would not think some one sitting down to feed their child was be such a hot topic but it is.

You see it on the news often, women kicked out of one place or another for nursing. Just a quick google search will pull up way more articles then I care to list on the amount of women that have been asked to leave or harassed because of this. What many people do not know is that this is a right protected by 45 states, 28 states have laws exempting it from public indecency and 24 states have laws when it comes to breastfeeding and the work place.

Recently I was reading a post on a local news website about a women being asked to leave a mall because of breast feeding. While the news article did a good job of being non - biased ( like any good news article should be ) the comments left by other readers were pretty shocking to me. I could not believe the amount of people that thought she should not be feeding her baby in front of them. Comments like " breastfeeding is not even the healthiest way to feed your child anymore" , " that is disgusting, go do it in the bathroom " and " I do not want to see your hooters" were very prevalent in their posting. Yet after looking at another article posted by the same site about a lingerie football game some of these same people thought that was perfectly okay. I was pretty shocked by this.

Not only is it in the news but I have also seen nursing in public come under attack in parenting magazines, woman's magazines and other places.

When it comes to nursing photographs, myspace and facebook have been deleting them and comparing them to porn. I have only had one photo removed but I did recently have facebook take down a picture a friend posted on my wall, that I had asked for to post in this very blog. Not only did they remove the picture but they warned her for posting something of a sexually nature. I have contacted facebook about it and basically was given the excuse of " some employees do not see the difference "

While I know that breasts are way over sexuality in this country, I never imagined that something like nursing in public would come under attack the way it has.

I have personally experienced a pretty horrible event when it comes to nursing photographs and nursing in public. I was attacked by people I trusted, called horrible names, said nursing in church was ungodly and they went as far as to tell me that by posting a picture of my son nursing I was causing my christian brother to stumble. This was very hurtful and damaging to me. I could not believe I was attacked in this manner for something like nursing my child.

Women that nurse need to be held up and praised, not put down and demeaned. I honestly think that all nursing mothers need to nursing in public more. The more that women nurse in public the more we will normalize it. Ladies, keep nursing in public, keep your head held high and never let someone put you down for doing what is best for your child!

Here are some photos for your viewing pleasure.

And last of not least a couple great videos:

*** for a complete list of all laws mentioned and other laws not mentioned please visit:
http://www.ncsl.org/issuesresearch/health/breastfeedinglaws/tabid/14389/default.aspx

WWYD NIP on 20/20

2010-05-16T17:05:00.000-07:00

I watched What would you do on 20/20 last Friday, this episode they had a situation were a nursing mom was being harassed by a manager of the cafe. I just wanted to take some time to write my thoughts on what happened.

While I am glad they took the time to do a show on this real life issue over all I was very disappointed in the show.

1. They used an actor and a doll instead of taking the time to find a real nursing mother that would be willing to do the show.

2. I found the acting of the manager to be very unbelievable, most times the harassment is not that over the top.

3. I thought the last scene, which was a women NIP while drinking was very distasteful, that is a whole other issue in itself.

While all the women ( except the one that was drinking ) did have someone intervene I was shocked at the reaction when they used a actress that looked young. It took a longer time for someone to step in and most people thought she should not be nursing in public at all. The nursing rates of teen age and young moms are low enough without having people respond to them this way. They should be getting the encouragement they need, not being looked down on for it.

I had my first child at 19, I was married but I still was young and I looked young. I can not believe people would react differently to a mother feeding her child in a natural and normal way simply because she is young.

I have nursed in public many times, most of the time people simply leave me alone. I have gotten a few comments and dirty looks but mostly I was able to brush them off. I have not been asked to leave, yet and if I ever was I would raise a stink about it. I think more women need to nurse in public to make it more normal. If people saw this happening every day then no one would even bat an eye.

I did have one negative experience that had to do with nursing but it was more on the issue of having a photograph of my son nursing on a public page and nursing in the church that I was at the time attending. It was a horrifying and embarrassing situation. I had never been angrier of more mortified in my life. I was told that my picture was like porn, I was causing my fellow christian to stumble and hurting my parents business. Being talked to like this made me angry, mostly because it came from a pastor whom I trusted. Since then I have found a new church but this experience left its scars. I have become very edgy when it comes to this subject which is sad. No women should ever have to go through something like that or be made to leave simply because of the way she is choosing to feed her child.

When I nurse in public I do not use a blanket, simply because it just makes my kid mad, she would rip it off and yell. You would be able to see a heck of a lot more with me trying to wrestle the blanket, her and trying to pull my shirt down then if I sit down and simply life my shirt from the bottom or ware a nursing shirt. Most women I know do not over expose them selves and most are very discrete.

Ladies I encourage you to keep nursing in public, do not be ashamed of feeding your baby the way nature and God intended. You are doing nothing wrong and do not let anyone tell you that you are.

Kairi's new sunsuit

2010-05-14T11:53:00.000-07:00

I contacted kannondicarpo from diaperswappers wanting to know if she could make me a fleece sunsuit for Kairi. She runs flaokers, http://www.diaperswappers.com/forum/showthread.php?t=319677 and I have gotten fleece bodysuits from her in the past. I love what she came up with for me. I know I will be getting more!!

Want a free skirtie?

2010-05-11T17:52:00.000-07:00

I love wool and I have entered this contest for a free skirtie from http://hyenacart.com/underthewillowtree/index.php

It is easy to enter to win one for yourself, all you need to do is join diaperswappers if you have not already then post on this thread:
http://www.diaperswappers.com/forum/showthread.php?t=968139

If you win please come back to this post and show me an action shot!

Beyond the money

2010-05-09T19:47:00.000-07:00

When I first started to cloth diaper it was because my middle child has very sensitive skin, we were battling diaper rashes daily and I knew we need to do something to make her better.

We looked into cloth because we knew it was a way to not only possibly stop the rashes but save money.

I had no idea how much I would grow to love my cloth diapers, it has become so much more to me then saving money.

Even if it did not save me a dime I would keep using my cloth diapers. I love how cute they are, that they are gentle on my babies skin and chemical free.

In my two years old using cloth now I have been able to use a lot of different cloth diapers, some I have loved, some not so much but it is nice to be able to find what we love and sell what we do not.

Here are some of the adorable cloth diaper pictures I have taken over the last couple years.

Skirties, skirties and more skirties ( part one )

2010-04-06T09:43:00.001-07:00

As we all know by now I have found my fitted diaper love. Now that is getting warmer I have been buying more skirties for Kairi. In a previous post I showed you the cherry set that my mom bought for her. Since then I have gotten two more and I have more in the works.

Both of these I have gotten from the everything swap on diaperswappers.

Rotarix rotavirus vaccine contaminated, officials say

2010-03-24T09:46:00.000-07:00

(CNN) -- Federal health authorities recommended Monday that doctors suspend using Rotarix, one of two vaccines licensed in the United States against rotavirus, saying the vaccine is contaminated with material from a pig virus.

"There is no evidence at this time that this material poses a safety risk," Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Dr. Margaret Hamburg told reporters in a conference call.

Rotarix, made by GlaxoSmithKline, was approved by the FDA in 2008. The contaminant material is DNA from porcine circovirus 1, a virus from pigs that is not known to cause disease in humans or animals, Hamburg said.

About 1 million children in the United States and about 30 million worldwide have gotten Rotarix vaccine, she said.

Rotavirus disease kills more than 500,000 infants around the world each year, primarily in low- and middle-income countries, she said. Before rotavirus vaccine became available, the disease was blamed for more than 50,000 hospitalizations and several dozen deaths per year in the United States, she said.

The FDA learned about the contamination after an academic research team using a novel technique to look for viruses in a range of vaccines found the material in GlaxoSmithKline's product and told the company, Hamburg said. The drug maker confirmed its presence in both the cell bank and the seed from which the vaccine is derived, suggesting its presence from the early stages of vaccine development, she said. The FDA then confirmed the drug maker's findings.

GlaxoSmithKline emphasized Monday that the pig virus is not known to cause illness in humans, saying "it is found in everyday meat products and is frequently eaten with no resulting disease or illness."

"No safety issue has been identified by external agencies or GSK," Thomas Breuer, the drug maker's chief medical officer, said in a written statement. "GSK is committed to patient safety and to the highest manufacturing standards for all our vaccines and medicines. We are already working closely and discussing this finding with regulatory agencies around the world."

Another vaccine, RotaTeq, is made by Merck and was approved in 2006. There is no evidence that the Merck product is affected, Hamburg said. Both vaccines are given by mouth to infants to prevent rotavirus disease, which is marked by severe diarrhea and dehydration.

Asked whether Merck would be able to meet the nation's demand, Merck spokeswoman Pam Eisele said, "Obviously, we will work with the ... FDA to evaluate supply needs."

In the next four to six weeks, the drug agency will convene an advisory committee to make recommendations and seek input on the use of new techniques for identifying viruses in vaccine, Hamburg said.

"We're not pulling it from the market, we're just suspending its use during this period while we're collecting more information," she said. "It should not be in this vaccine product and we want to understand how it got there. It's not an easy call and we spent many long hours debating the pros and cons but, because we have an alternative product and because the background rates of this disease are not so severe in this country, we felt that the judicious thing to do was to take a pause, to really ask the critical questions about what this material was doing in the vaccine, how it got there."

Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases at the National Institutes of Health, said "a substantial amount" of the DNA was found in the vaccine. But, he stressed, "there is no evidence that it causes any disease. ... There is no evidence that it ever does anything."

The research group that discovered the contamination has asked not to be identified pending its paper's publication in a scientific journal, Hamburg said.

Anyone who has already received a dose of Rotarix should switch to the Merck product for the next two doses, Hamburg said. Preliminary testing of the Merck product has found no evidence of the porcine circovirus 1 DNA, she said. Doctors should be able to tell parents which of the two products their children received, she said.

Hamburg stressed that the suspension applies only to the United States. Public health officials in countries where the incidence of rotavirus is more severe may decide that the benefits of continuing to use the vaccine outweigh any concerns raised by the contamination, she said. "Such a decision would be very understandable," she added.

A similar virus, porcine circovirus 2, also does not cause disease in humans, but it does cause disease in its pig host, Hamburg said.

Source:
http://www.cnn.com/2010/HEALTH/03/22/rotavirus.vaccine/index.html

Entering the world of fitteds ( part three )

2010-03-16T19:26:00.000-07:00

I take part in the everything swap every month on diaperswappers.com, I got a bunch of fleece longies from Heather8183. Here is one of my favorites:

I won another auction on hyena cart, Tessa's Bumwear made this adorable pair:

I did another trade on diaperswappers with slingmama4, here is one of the pairs I got:

I have started collecting wool and fleece for summer so more to come!!

Entering the world of fitteds ( part two )

2010-02-26T11:13:00.002-08:00

My mom bought Kairi her first skirtie set, from http://www.etsy.com/shop/Stitchenmama. I love it, so adorable.

I bought some fleece soakers from http://www.etsy.com/shop/londonware to be part of Kairi's Christmas present, this is one of my favorites.

I bought a pair of recycled wool longies from TerraMade Products on hyena cart, she made me a pair with an owl on the bottom, I love owls!

I traded with BigSamsMom on diaperswappers for a pair of cupcake recycled longies, she even sent a cupcake to sew on a shirt to match, ( which I still need to make )

More to come!

Entering the world of fitteds ( part one )

2010-02-25T08:14:00.000-08:00

I have been cloth diapering for the last two years now but only now have I entered the world of fitteds. Before I was strictly a pocket or AIO gal. I just did not want to get into a diaper that was going to require a cover, my thinking was it just meant more laundry for me but after months of browsing the extra fluffy forum on diaper swappers and seeing all the adorable fleece and wool longies I decided to give it a try.

Right now in my fitted collection I have:
loveybums
ewe baby
thirties
nanas bottoms
zippidys
sugar peas

I am still looking to buy a few more fitteds. I love trying new diapers.

I won my first pair of woolies on hyena cart, from Born Again Baby $15 and I quickly fell in love.

I tested some fleece longies from littlemunchkie09 on diaperswappers, I really love these, the built in soaker is great!

I tested two fleece snapless body suit from kannondicarpo on diaper swappers, which are adorable, soft and warm.

There is a start of my new collection, more to come!!

Meatball soup

2010-02-18T20:33:00.000-08:00

Lately I have been trying to find new things to make, which normally is not that hard but I do have a picky three year old son and a picky 26 year old husband.

Tonight's soup was a great hit.

Meatball soup:
Water
Beef base
v8 juice
italian season
garlic
salt
rotini noodles
frozen meatballs
corn
shredded italian blend cheese

Start with making your base, which is the water, beef base, v8 juice and other spices, after letting that simmer add your noodles, let those cook for about 10 minuets and then add your meatballs and corn. Cook until meatballs are fully cooked and noodles are soft, top with cheese and enjoy!

Our new carseats

2010-02-18T20:29:00.000-08:00

Recently I posted about the great trade in event that was going on at babies r us. My husband and I took advantage of this great deal and we got Alexzander and Destiny new car seats. We ended up getting Destiny an Alpha Omega Elite and Alexzander got a nautilus.

We really love our new seats! Alexzander is loving having his own little cup holder and both the seats were easy to install.

If you are looking for new seats I recommend looking into these more.

Here are some links for more information:

http://www.car-seat.org/showthread.php?t=32792

http://www.car-seat.org/showthread.php?t=10452

Chilli beef and noodles

2010-02-05T17:33:00.000-08:00

My three year old son has entered the picky stage of eating so it has been interesting to find new things that he will eat. Tonight was a success and I thought I would share with you all.

Chilli Beef and Noodles

Egg noodles
hamburger
canned chili ( with beans )
salsa
tomatoe paste

shredded cheese

Cook the noodles like you normally would. Brown your hamburger, then add the rest of the ingredients, pour over noodles and top with shredded cheese.

It tastes great and only takes about 20 mins to make!

Great trade in event

2010-02-03T19:49:00.000-08:00

If you are in need some some new baby gear make sure you check out the great trade in event at babies r us, bring in your old gear and get 25% off your new item!!

Get information here!!

Why goodwill rocks

2010-01-28T13:03:00.000-08:00

Until recently I had not done much shopping at goodwill, I love thrift stores but for some reason just never really did much looking at good will.

Recently I went there and I was very happy with the out come. I was out shopping with my mom, looking for shelves and other items to upcycle.

I found a white shelf with glass doors that I am in the middle of painting, a like new sweater for Destiny, a pair of thick winter tights for Destiny and four like new hard back Dr Sues books for Alexzander, I walked out spending about twelve dollars.

New Study: Hepatitis B Vaccine Triples the Risk of Autism in Infant Boys

2010-01-20T13:06:00.001-08:00

The science is largely complete. Ten epidemiological studies have shown MMR vaccine doesn't cause autism; six have shown thimerosal doesn't cause autism."-- Dr. Paul Offit, "Autism's False Prophets"

"16 studies have shown no causal association between vaccines and autism, and these studies carry weight in the scientific industry."-- Dr. Nancy Snyderman, NBC Today Show Medical Editor

Conventional wisdom holds that the autism-vaccine question has been "asked and answered," and that at least 16 large, well-constructed epidemiological studies have thoroughly addressed and debunked any hypothesis that childhood vaccination is in any way associated with an increased risk for autism spectrum disorders.

But there are several critical flaws in such an oversimplified generalization, and they are rarely given close examination by public health experts or members of the media.

To begin with, it is unscientific and perilously misleading for anyone to assert that "vaccines and autism" have been studied and that no link has been found. That's because the 16 or so studies constantly cited by critics of the hypothesis have examined just one vaccine and one vaccine ingredient.

And, the population studies themselves have had critical design flaws and limitations.

The current US childhood immunization schedule calls for 28 injections with 11 different vaccines against 15 different diseases by two years of age. Of those 11 vaccines, only the Measles-Mumps-Rubella (MMR) shot has been studied in association with autism, (although a CDC study of an MMR-plus-chickenpox vaccine did show that the risk for febrile seizures in infants was doubled.) Meanwhile, those 11 vaccines contain scores of ingredients, only one of which, thimerosal, has ever been tested in association with autism.

It is illogical to exonerate all vaccines, all vaccine ingredients, and the total US vaccine program as a whole, based solely on a handful of epidemiological studies of just one vaccine and one vaccine ingredient. It is akin to claiming that every form of animal protein is beneficial to people, when all you have studied is fish.

Now, a new study has shown that giving Hepatitis B vaccine to newborn baby boys may triple the risk of developing an autism spectrum disorder.

An abstract of the study was published in the September, 2009 issue of the respected journal Annals of Epidemiology. In it, Carolyn Gallagher and Melody Goodman of the Graduate Program in Public Health at Stony Brook University Medical Center, NY, wrote that, "Boys who received the hepatitis B vaccine during the first month of life had 2.94 greater odds for ASD compared to later- or unvaccinated boys."

The conclusion states that: "Findings suggest that U.S. male neonates vaccinated with hepatitis B vaccine had a 3-fold greater risk of ASD; risk was greatest for non-white boys." The authors used U.S. probability samples obtained from National Health Interview Survey 1997-2002 datasets.

Critics will point out that this sample was limited to boys born before 1999, so the results are only applicable to that U.S. male birth cohort, and that the study's cross-sectional design limits inferences on causality. Another weakness is that the autism diagnoses were parent reported.

On the other hand, these results are generalizable to US boys age 3-17 born prior to 1999; vaccination status was confirmed through medical records; and there was controlling for confounders that may be associated with care seeking behaviors. (The P-value equaled 0.032) The full manuscript is currently under review by another journal.

Assuming that the full manuscript is published in a peer-reviewed journal, it will be among the first university-based population studies to suggest an association between a vaccine and an increased risk for autism. And that would be in direct contradiction to all those MMR and thimerosal studies that purportedly found no such link.

Does that mean that Hepatitis B vaccine causes autism? Of course not (though any relative risk above 2.0 is generally considered to prove causation in a US court of law).

But there are other studies, both published and greatly anticipated, which might support a hypothesized causal association between HepB vaccine and ASD, at least in boys.

Any day now, data culled from CDC's Autism and Developmental Disabilities Monitoring network (ADDM), is expected to be published in the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, and the numbers are expected to put the rate of autism at around 1 in 100, or higher.

ADDM researchers examine the education and (when possible) medical records of all eight-year-old children in selected US cities and states. They look only at eight-year-old cohorts to allow time for all diagnoses to be made, reported and counted.

So far, ADDM has published data from just two birth cohorts: children born in 1992 (eight-year-olds in 2000) and those born in 1994 (eight-year-olds in 2002). The 1992 cohort revealed an estimated ASD rate of one in 166, or 60-per-10,000. (This has since been revised to 67-per-10,000, or one in 150).
For the 1994 cohort, the estimate was virtually unchanged, at 66-per-10,000.

But now that number is expected to exceed 100-per-10,000 for the 1996 birth cohort, born just two years later. The overarching question, of course, will be, "why?"

There are many possible explanations, though a 50% increase in just two years is astonishing, no matter what its cause.

One possible answer is the Hepatitis B vaccine, (which also contained 25 micrograms of mercury containing thimerosal up until 2002). Introduced in 1991, it was the first vaccine ever given on a population basis to newborn babies (within the first three hours after delivery) in human history.
But according to the CDC's National Immunization Survey, only 8% of infant children received the Hep B vaccine in 1992, when that birth cohort showed an ASD rate of 1-in-150.

By 1994, the number of children receiving Hep B vaccine had reached just 27% -- and the cohort showed a similar ASD rate, though it did go up by as much as 10% in some locations between the two cohorts.

But by 1996, Hep B coverage rate had risen to 82%. And that is the cohort whose ASD rate rose to around 100-per-10,000 or more.

Correlation, obviously, does not equal causation. But the uptake rate of that particular immunization is at least one environmental factor that did demonstrably change during the period in question.

In addition, some recent studies and Vaccine Court decisions have supported the contention that Hepatitis B vaccine can damage myelin -- the nervous system's main insulating component -- at least in certain genetically susceptible adults and infants.

A study published last October in the journal Neurology found that children who received the Hepatitis B vaccine series were 50% more likely to develop "central nervous system inflammatory demyelination" than children who did not receive the vaccine.

Most of this increase was due to the Engerix B brand of the vaccine, manufactured by the UK's GlaxoSmithKline. That brand increased the risk of demyelination by 74%, and patients with confirmed multiple sclerosis were nearly three times more likely to develop the disorder.

"Hepatitis B vaccination does not generally increase the risk of CNS inflammatory demyelination in childhood," the authors concluded. "However, the Engerix B vaccine appears to increase this risk, particularly for confirmed multiple sclerosis, in the longer term. Our results require confirmation in future studies."

Let's hope that future studies of neonatal HebB administration, demyelinating disorders, and ASD are completed as quickly as possible.

Source:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/david-kirby/new-study-hepatitis-b-vac_b_289288.html

26 Ways to Change Birth Globally

2010-01-12T15:40:00.000-08:00

Some of things are meant for midwives to do but many of them are things we all can do!!

26 Ways to Change Birth Globally
by Sara Wickham, RM

© 2000 Midwifery Today, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

[Editor's Note: This article originally appeared in Midwifery Today Issue 53 (Spring 2000), page 28.]

This action list of small things all midwives can do to change societal attitudes toward birth and to promote midwifery and the midwifery model was derived from some research I carried out a few years ago. All the suggestions are either free or very low cost, and none will take too much time or effort. Some things on the list won't be new ideas to you, but they might act as a gentle reminder that simple, everyday things might have a positive impact on the way our society sees birth and midwifery. No. 26 wasn't on my original list but was a suggestion that Judy Edmunds offered and is something she does herself. Thanks, Judy!

If you are interested in why they work, here is a brief lowdown of some of the main factors involved:

* The more people are exposed to hearing about midwifery and gentle birth, the more it will become a norm for them.
* Attitudes are formed in childhood; therefore, we need to ensure that children are exposed to these ideas at an early stage.
* Experience is an important part in attitude change—if you can encourage people to experience something for themselves, it is much more powerful than telling them about it.
* People are more likely to listen to those who appear to understand and sympathise with the other side of the argument. Appearing to be unbiased means you will appear more credible than if you come across as feeling very passionate about your cause (even though the majority of us do feel this way).
* Talking to people who support birthing women (partners, grandparents) is just as important as talking to women themselves, because these are the people who influence women's decisions.
* Reflecting on past decisions and their outcomes helps us think more logically about why a situation might have happened and discourages us from making (possibly incorrect) assumptions.

Action List

1. Get a bumper sticker that supports midwifery and gentle birth.
2. Wear a T-shirt that does the same!
3. Talk to everybody you meet about what you do and why you do it.
4. Be able to cite the evidence for midwifery care, homebirth and so on.
5. Offer women free/low-cost experiences of midwifery services (free tours, short talks or pregnancy testing). This can enable women to meet midwives for themselves or bring potential clients into a birth center to see what they could be experiencing.
6. Talk to people in an unbiased way.
7. Talk to children/school audiences.
8. Offer workshops/talks to the public.
9. Breastfeed in public.
10. Offer to go on local TV/radio.
11. Write short articles for local newspapers.
12. Write to TV shows that misrepresent birth.
13. Create and distribute information leaflets about midwifery/gentle birth.
14. Target partners and grandparents as well as women themselves.
15. Arrange to have your births listed in the local papers—offer photos on special occasions (e.g., first baby of the new year).
16. Enable women to reflect on their experiences.
17. Encourage others to reflect on their practice.
18. Encourage people to visit your place of work.
19. Develop a team of birth change agents in your area, to work together and support each other.
20. Ensure that women you know understand the enormity of the decisions they need to make.
21. Seek opportunities to speak to teenage girls.
22. Be able to lend books/videos.
23. Know your enemy and practice his argument!
24. Foster a dialogue with women's groups.
25. Ask everybody you midwife to tell a friend about their experience of midwifery and about their birth.
26. Sponsor a couple of miles of highway—in return for clearing up the rubbish, you can have the name of your practice or group displayed for all to see!

Sara Wickham, MA, BA (Hons), RM, is a direct-entry midwife who has practised in both the United Kingdom and the United States. She is currently a lecturer in midwifery at Anglia Polytechnic University, England, and is the UK country contact and a contributing editor for Midwifery Today. She can be reached at withwomanuk@yahoo.co.uk

source:
http://www.midwiferytoday.com/articles/changebirth.asp

Doctor Sears Sleeping safely with your baby

2010-01-11T12:17:00.000-08:00

SLEEPING SAFELY WITH YOUR BABY

There has been a lot of media claiming that sleeping with your baby in an adult bed is unsafe and can result in accidental smothering of an infant. One popular research study came out in 1999 from the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission that showed 515 cases of accidental infant deaths occurred in an adult bed over an 8-year period between 1990 and 1997. That's about 65 deaths per year. These deaths were not classified as Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS), where the cause of death is undetermined. There were actual causes that were verified upon review of the scene and autopsy. Such causes included accidental smothering by an adult, getting trapped between the mattress and headboard or other furniture, and suffocation on a soft waterbed mattress.

The conclusion that the researchers drew from this study was that sleeping with an infant in an adult bed is dangerous and should never be done. This sounds like a reasonable conclusion, until you consider the epidemic of SIDS as a whole. During the 8-year period of this study, about 34,000 total cases of SIDS occurred in the U.S. (around 4250 per year). If 65 cases of non-SIDS accidental death occurred each year in a bed, and about 4250 cases of actual SIDS occurred overall each year, then the number of accidental deaths in an adult bed is only 1.5% of the total cases of SIDS.

There are two pieces of critical data that are missing that would allow us to determine the risk of SIDS or any cause of death in a bed versus a crib.

* How many cases of actual SIDS occur in an adult bed versus in a crib?
* How many babies sleep with their parents in the U.S., and how many sleep in cribs?

The data on the first question is available, but has anyone examined it? In fact, one independent researcher examined the CPSC's data and came to the opposite conclusion than did the CPSC - this data supports the conclusion that sleeping with your baby is actually SAFER than not sleeping with your baby (see Mothering Magazine Sept/Oct 2002). As for the second question, many people may think that very few babies sleep with their parents, but we shouldn't be too quick to assume this. The number of parents that bring their babies into their bed at 4 am is probably quite high. Some studies have shown that over half of parents bring their baby into bed with them at least part of the night. And the number that sleep with their infants the whole night is probably considerable as well. In fact, in most countries around the world sleeping with your baby is the norm, not the exception. And what is the incidence of SIDS in these countries? During the 1990s, in Japan the rate was only one tenth of the U.S. rate, and in Hong Kong, it was only 3% of the U.S. rate. These are just two examples. Some countries do have a higher rate of SIDS, depending on how SIDS is defined.

Until a legitimate survey is done to determine how many babies sleep with their parents, and this is factored into the rate of SIDS in a bed versus a crib, it is unwarranted to state that sleeping in a crib is safer than a bed.

If the incidence of SIDS is dramatically higher in crib versus a parent's bed, and because the cases of accidental smothering and entrapment are only 1.5% of the total SIDS cases, then sleeping with a baby in your bed would be far safer than putting baby in a crib.

The answer is not to tell parents they shouldn't sleep with their baby, but rather to educate them on how to sleep with their infants safely.

Now the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission and the Juvenile Products Manufacturer's Association are launching a campaign based on research data from 1999, 2000, and 2001. During these three years, there have been 180 cases of non-SIDS accidental deaths occurring in an adult bed. Again, that's around 60 per year, similar to statistics from 1990 to 1997. How many total cases of SIDS have occurred during these 3 years? Around 2600 per year. This decline from the previous decade is thought to be due to the "back to sleep" campaign - educating parents to place their babies on their back to sleep. So looking at the past three years, the number of non-SIDS accidental deaths is only 2% of the total cases of SIDS.

A conflict of interest? Who is behind this new national campaign to warn parents not to sleep with their babies? In addition to the USCPSC, the Juvenile Products Manufacturers Association (JPMA) is co-sponsoring this campaign. The JPMA? An association of crib manufacturers. This is a huge conflict of interest. Actually, this campaign is exactly in the interest of the JPMA.

What does the research say? The September/October 2002 issue of Mothering Magazine presents research done throughout the whole world on the issue of safe sleep. Numerous studies are presented by experts of excellent reputation. And what is the magazine's conclusion based on all this research? That not only is sleeping with your baby safe, but it is actually much safer than having your baby sleep in a crib. Research shows that infants who sleep in a crib are twice as likely to suffer a sleep related fatality (including SIDS) than infants who sleep in bed with their parents.

Education on safe sleep. I do support the USCPSC's efforts to research sleep safety and to decrease the incidence of SIDS, but I feel they should go about it differently. Instead of launching a national campaign to discourage parents from sleeping with their infants, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission should educate parents on how to sleep safely with their infants if they choose to do so.

Here are some ways to educate parents on how to sleep safely with their baby:

* Use an Arm's Reach® Co-Sleeper® Bassinet. An alternative to sleeping with baby in your bed is the Arm's Reach® Co-Sleeper®. This crib-like bed fits safely and snuggly adjacent to parent's bed. The co-sleeper® arrangement gives parents and baby their own separate sleeping spaces yet, keeps baby within arm's reach for easy nighttime care. To learn more about the Arm's Reach® Co-Sleeper® Bassinet visit www.armsreach.com.

* Take precautions to prevent baby from rolling out of bed, even though it is unlikely when baby is sleeping next to mother. Like heat-seeking missiles, babies automatically gravitate toward a warm body. Yet, to be safe, place baby between mother and a guardrail or push the mattress flush against the wall and position baby between mother and the wall. Guardrails enclosed with plastic mesh are safer than those with slats, which can entrap baby's limbs or head. Be sure the guardrail is flush against the mattress so there is no crevice that baby could sink into.

* Place baby adjacent to mother, rather than between mother and father. Mothers we have interviewed on the subject of sharing sleep feel they are so physically and mentally aware of their baby's presence even while sleeping, that it's extremely unlikely they would roll over onto their baby. Some fathers, on the other hand, may not enjoy the same sensitivity of baby's presence while asleep; so it is possible they might roll over on or throw out an arm onto baby. After a few months of sleep-sharing, most dads seem to develop a keen awareness of their baby's presence.

* Place baby to sleep on his back.

* Use a large bed, preferably a queen-size or king-size. A king-size bed may wind up being your most useful piece of "baby furniture." If you only have a cozy double bed, use the money that you would ordinarily spend on a fancy crib and other less necessary baby furniture and treat yourselves to a safe and comfortable king-size bed.

* Some parents and babies sleep better if baby is still in touching and hearing distance, but not in the same bed. For them, a bedside co-sleeper is a safe option.

Here are some things to avoid:

* Do not sleep with your baby if:

1. You are under the influence of any drug (such as alcohol or tranquilizing medications) that diminishes your sensitivity to your baby's presence. If you are drunk or drugged, these chemicals lessen your arousability from sleep.

2. You are extremely obese. Obesity itself may cause sleep apnea in the mother, in addition to the smothering danger of pendulous breasts and large fat rolls.

3. You are exhausted from sleep deprivation. This lessens your awareness of your baby and your arousability from sleep.

4. You are breastfeeding a baby on a cushiony surface, such as a waterbed or couch. An exhausted mother could fall asleep breastfeeding and roll over on the baby.

5. You are the child's baby-sitter. A baby-sitter's awareness and arousability is unlikely to be as acute as a mother's.

* Don't allow older siblings to sleep with a baby under nine months. Sleeping children do not have the same awareness of tiny babies as do parents, and too small or too crowded a bed space is an unsafe sleeping arrangement for a tiny baby.

* Don't fall asleep with baby on a couch. Baby may get wedged between the back of the couch and the larger person's body, or baby's head may become buried in cushion crevices or soft cushions.

* Do not sleep with baby on a free-floating, wavy waterbed or similar "sinky" surface in which baby could suffocate.

* Don't overheat or overbundle baby. Be particularly aware of overbundling if baby is sleeping with a parent. Other warm bodies are an added heat source.

* Don't wear lingerie with string ties longer than eight inches. Ditto for dangling jewelry. Baby may get caught in these entrapments.

* Avoid pungent hair sprays, deodorants, and perfumes. Not only will these camouflage the natural maternal smells that baby is used to and attracted to, but foreign odors may irritate and clog baby's tiny nasal passages. Reserve these enticements for sleeping alone with your spouse.

Parents should use common sense when sharing sleep. Anything that could cause you to sleep more soundly than usual or that alters your sleep patterns can affect your baby's safety. Nearly all the highly suspected (but seldom proven) cases of fatal "overlying" I could find in the literature could have been avoided if parents had observed common sense sleeping practices.

The bottom line is that many parents share sleep with their babies. It can be done safely if the proper precautions are observed. The question shouldn't be "is it safe to sleep with my baby?", but rather "how can I sleep with my baby safely." The data on the incidence of SIDS in a bed versus a crib must be examined before the medical community can make a judgment on sleep safety in a bed.

Source:
http://askdrsears.com/html/10/t102200.asp

Looking for free diapers!

2010-01-07T11:55:00.001-08:00

Become a fan of http://www.facebook.com/?ref=home#/pages/Sacramento-CA/Sew-Crafty-Baby-Cloth-Diapers/178538736528?ref=nf. They are hosting a contest in the discussion tab.

Come check it out!

Benefits of making your own baby food

2010-01-05T10:05:00.001-08:00

This is a really good article:

Benefits of Making your Own Homemade Baby Food
by Bridget Mwape

Making your own homemade baby food will ensure that what your child is eating is fresh, nutritious and free of additives. By making your own baby food, you'll be saving money. Also, you will have total control over what is put into your baby's food. You can therefore take the extra steps to ensure that only high quality foods are selected and used. You will be able to feed your baby according to his or her needs because you will know what foods are best suited for your baby from experience.

Making your own baby food also ensures that your baby is exposed to a greater variety of tastes and textures. This will help your baby when making the transition to table foods and also help him or her
develop healthy eating habits.

Baby Food Preparation Tips

1. As babies are susceptible to digestive upsets, always work with clean hands and use clean cooking utensils, preparation surfaces, pots and pans etc., when making home made baby food. Prepare foods
immediately upon removing them from the refrigerator and freeze immediately after cooking any foods you want to store.

2. Steaming vegetables is the best method of preparation. This softens them, makes them easier to chew, and preserves more of the vitamins and minerals than boiling. A steamer basket is cheap and by
cooking fruits and vegetables in it, you'll be sure of keeping the nutrients in the food, instead of in the cooking water.

Kidco Food Mill3. To puree your foods, you can use a fork, a food mill or blender. A blender quickly purees almost anything into the finest consistency. When your baby first starts on solids, you'll be pureeing things to a very fine consistency and, as baby gets a little older, you will make foods a little coarser. You may wish to buy a food mill which comes in large and small sizes. It is very handy and inexpensive. The food mill strains most cooked foods to a very smooth consistency, although meats can be a problem as they will have a coarser texture. Remember all the tools you need to make baby food are probably already in your kitchen.

4. You can prepare large amounts of foods at once and freeze them.
Take your prepared foods and plop by spoonfuls onto a baking sheet. Freeze the plops right away and then take them off the sheet when they are frozen and put them into plastic bags. You can also freeze the food in plastic "pop out" ice cube trays. Small tupperware jars with lids serve the same purpose and stack easily. Special Baby Food CubesBaby Food Cubes are also available. Label and date the packages rotate them putting the most recently frozen foods behind the previously frozen ones. Frozen baby foods can be stored for up to two months.

5. When you take frozen foods out for baby, warm the food in a cup placed in a saucepan of boiling water with a lid on. If you use a microwave to thaw or warm baby food, be sure to stir the food well to avoid hot pockets.

6. Cereals are typically the first foods given to a baby because they contain lots of iron. You can prepare your own, by running oatmeal through your blender. Fruits are generally given next. Except for raw, mashed banana, you will need to cook all other
fruits till they are soft.

7. Try making your own apple sauce and pear sauce; don't add any sugar, as these fruits are sweet enough on their own. You can also peel peaches, plums and apricots and boil or steam them.

8. Buy and use organic fruits and vegetables. Use fresh and organic vegetables whenever possible in order to provide the best nutrition and flavor for your baby. Your baby deserves pesticide-free foods. Frozen vegetables are better to use than canned.

9. Yogurt, mashed cottage cheese, mashed pumpkin, baked potato, avocado and tofu (oriental soy bean curd) are all popular with babies. One good idea is to blend together cottage cheese, banana and fresh orange juice - delicious!

10. Meats should be added slowly. They can be boiled or broiled, then put in the blender with a little milk and perhaps banana or cream of rice to get the right consistency. Chicken is generally the first meat baby is introduced to and usually goes down fairly well.

11. There is no rush to start your baby on solid foods. Milk is his most important food. Your doctor's recommendations and your own intuition will help you to know when to begin introducing solids to your baby's diet. Introducing solids prepares the baby for the transition to adult food and offers further vitamins and minerals as the baby grows. Always remember to be patient with your baby and allow at least a few days between newly added foods to make sure the baby doesn't suffer any reactions.

Source:
http://www.maternitycorner.com/mcmag/articles/baby0028.html

Diapershops

2010-01-05T08:10:00.001-08:00

If you are looking for a one stop shopping page on face book for all your cloth diaper needs then you need to check out http://www.facebook.com/pages/DiaperShopscom/56135876030?ref=nf#.

Here is a list of their online shopping:
http://KellysCloset.com
http://FuzziBunzOnline.com
http://OneSizeDiaperStore.com
http://BulkClothDiaper.com
http://HappyHeinysOnline.com

Some sales that are going on right now:
In your post you can mention the following:
*www.KellysCloset.com has just lowered their free shipping to orders of $49 and up for the holidays.
*For a limited time, www.KellysCloset.com is offering a FREE Econobum diaper with a $50 or more purchase. Use code ECONOBUM
*www.OneSizeDiaperStore.com and www.FuzziBunzOnline.com have free shipping on ALL orders

I am now making dryer balls

2009-12-28T17:15:00.001-08:00

After watching my electric bill sky rocket because of all the laundry I am doing I decided to look into dryer balls. I had heard they could cut your drying time in half which would save me a ton of money on my bill. I currently have two in my dryer and I have noticed a slight difference in my drying time but today I made a bunch more and I will be adding them to the dryer! They recommend having 8 for a large load of clothes so that is what I am going to do! Anything to save some cash!!

Already planning for next year

2009-12-28T08:43:00.000-08:00

Even though Christmas just happened I am already planning for next year. I have big plans for next Christmas and it is going to take me a year to get it all done.

I know for sure I am expanding what I knit and more people will be getting knitted items from me. This year my mom made all us kids a beautiful blanket, they were a huge hit and I am thinking of making a couple for gifts next year. I know they took her a long time so I better get to work on them now. Plus I have a lot of other projects in mind, including longies and hudson hats.

What I do not make I am going to try to find on clearance. If I shop all year it should make it so much easier to finish closer to Christmas. Even though I do not like the thought of getting up early, I do plan on black Friday shopping next year, Chris did this year and it saved us a lot of money!

A really great soup recipe

2009-12-11T09:17:00.000-08:00

I am always trying to find more foods that my kids will eat. I decided to try making a new style of soup. I thought it turned out great so I thought I would share with you all!

2 large cans of stewed tomatoes
3 cans of black beans ( do not drain )
1 bag frozen corn
1 bag frozen green beans
1 bag fresh baby carrots
4 cups of v8 juice
4 cubes of beef base
garlic
italian seasoning
frozen beef ravioli

Combine all ingredients in a large soup pan except the ravioli, simmer until carrots are tender. Add the beef ravioli and cook about another 10 mins

Serve and enjoy!

A major rave for diaperchange cloth diapers

2009-12-04T19:38:00.000-08:00

I have found my favorite cloth diaper!

Kairi is a very long baby for her age and these diapers are a fantastic fit on her. Not only do they fit very well and are very well made but they come in all kinds of super cute prints!

Plus the customer service is great! I was having issues ordering some diapers on cyber Monday and I was contacted quickly and she did everything she could to help me resolve my issues.

If you like pocket diapers you really need to give these a try.
www.diaperchangediapers.com

Action shots!

Halo sleep sack sale

2009-11-05T14:00:00.000-08:00

These are a great product for babies!

http://kids.woot.com/

Reduce the Risk of SIDS

Designed by a parent who lost an infant to SIDS (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome), and now being used in hospital nurseries nationwide, the HALO® SleepSack™ wearable blanket replaces loose bedding in the crib that can cover your baby's face and interfere with breathing. It's the only product that carries seals from leading SIDS organizations in both the U.S. and Canada.

The Safer Way to Sleep®
Regular baby blankets in the crib can be dangerous! The HALO® SleepSack™ wearable blanket eliminates the need for loose blankets and is the #1 choice of parents and leading experts for keeping your baby safe and warm all night long.

Remember that "BACK IS BEST®" for babies safest sleep.

How much do you really save using cloth?

2009-10-20T10:30:00.000-07:00

I have been asked this question more then once and when you sit done and really do that math you will be shocked.

I have three children, let's start with disposable diapers. When I used then I used huggies so this is using their prices and this estimate is from birth to about 2.5 years.

Buying atleast one jumbo pack a week is:
$51.96 a month
$1558.80 for 2.5 years
4676.40 for all three children

Now cloth diapers. I personally like to have a decent sized stash and I have bought almost all my diapers new or used off www.diaperswappers.com or new off www.etsy.com
I will average out my spending to about $10 a diaper, atleast 20 diapers per size.

So far on my diaper stash I have spent around:

cloth diapers - $800 total for all three kids
extra water - $120 yearly
laundry soap - 60 yearly
= $980

Now let's talk about the fact that you can also resell diapers you are not using anymore, which I have done and you can also trade diapers you are not using for diapers you will. If you take this into consideration I have spent way less out my pocket for the diapers I have because I have sold the diapers I had for my son and I have traded many diapers also.

Now you can spend more on diapers if you buy all new but you will be saving money in the long run. Another way you can save even more money is to buy only OS diapers, most times they will be able to be used all the way till potty training. We do use some OS diapers.

If you want to save even more then you can use cloth wipes also. I use cloth wipes and they do a much better job cleaning and you do not have to worry about using a wipe warmer because you can just use warm water when you wet down the wipe!

My favorite pocket diapers

2009-10-16T22:04:00.003-07:00

If I had to choose only one diaper to make up my whole collection it would be BG OS. They fit so well and the MF inserts that I bought from cottonbabies.com work wonderfully. I was a little leery of the one sized diapers at first. I did not think the same diaper that fit my 26lb two year old would really fit my 14lb 3 month old but they do! They can be a little more pricey to buy new, I have bought or traded for all mine off FSOT on diaperswappers.com

My next favorite would be knickernappies. I have only used these in a large and I know they work wonderfully for Destiny. I have the side snapping diapers which can be interesting to get on a two year old who never wants to sit still but I really do love them other wise.

I love the diaperchange pockets also, not only do they work really well but they have some super adorable prints!

I have have many other diapers but those are my top three favorite pockets for sure!

A site to share

2009-10-16T22:04:00.001-07:00

We started cloth diapering our children when Alexzander was about 20 months and Destiny was around 4 months. We had thought about it before but I honestly did not want to wash dirty diapers.

Once I sat down and did the math on how much money we would be able to save I was shocked so we decided to go ahead and give it a try.

This website has tons of cloth diapers for sale, a long with baby carriers, breastfeeding gear and so much more.

Please check out:
http://www.momsmilkboutique.com/

Let me introduce myself

2009-10-16T21:42:00.001-07:00

Let me start of my new blog by introducing myself and what I hope this blog to become.

My name is Whitney, I am married to my best friend in the world and I am a stay at home mom to my three beautiful children.

Chris and I were married 7-9-09 and we wanted to start our family right away. Our son Alexzander, was conceived on our honeymoon. He was born 4-18-06. Only a few short months later we were dealt a blow, he had been born with a rare condition called craniosynitosis, basically meaning he had no or little soft spot and it was affecting the growth of his head. Luckily for us it was a milder form and would only require one surgery to correct. It was a hard time for us but we made it through. He is now three years old and besides a scar on his head you would never even know!

Our second child, Destiny was born a short 15 months after our son. She joined our family on 8-4-07. She is our strong willed little girl, we love her to pieces but she does know how to test anybodies patience level!

Our newest addition to the family is Kairi, she was born on our fourth wedding anniversary 7 -09- 09. Her brother and sister simply adore her and we love watching the way they all act together.

Before my oldest was born I did a lot of reading on different parenting styles and we soon came to find the we seem to fit best into the AP style, while we may not be as crunchy as some people out there we do enjoy the AP life.

My hopes for this blog is to write about my life has a mom, to post things that are important to me as a mother and maybe just maybe help other mothers by doing so.

Enjoy!