Go Away Fuzzy Head

A Mom's Job, Books I Have Read, Earth Friendly Ideas, Frustrated Mommy Moments, Health and Hygiene 2 Responses »

Aug 272012

I was a bit fuzzy-headed this past summer. Everything ran in together it seems, I never was able to catch up and I certainly didn’t get to play around with my camera. My one personal summer goal was a failure. I barely took pictures let alone learn how to use the thing more effectively!

I forgot my wallet when I went to the store…twice in four weeks. I think that was the kicker. How crazy is it to go shopping without your wallet? Something that happens once or twice in your lifetime, not twice in a month!

Fuzzy head had to go. I had a plan. I implemented that plan last week when the kids started school. I didn’t want to go withdrawal mommy crazy on them. I feel better. I’m not so fuzzy-headed. I actually only started part of my plan due to the fact I didn’t want to overwhelm myself and I was sick with a bad respiratory virus. Another clue that I am unwell. My Hubby and two kids caught a sore throat and when I catch it it ends up being a four-day illness where I am in bed or wish I was in bed.

My plan is not simple. It’s not even fun. But it is working:

No gluten. No sugar (real or fake). No caffeine. No Dairy.

I am surviving. I am making a lot more from scratch. I’ve probably saved $10 in fast food/Dr. Pepper. Watching my family eat lasagna was hard last night as lasagna is my favorite meal, but I did it. My plan is a six-week elimination diet and then re-introduce foods slowly into my life to see if I react to any of them badly. I don’t think I have any allergies, but I may be a bit sensitive to some foods I don’t realize and the elimination diet helps be figure it all out in a relative short period.

I think what I am doing is like the Paleo diet I’ve heard so much about. The Hubby and kids are getting the same meals they usually eat, some a bit tweaked for me and other times I just eat something different. If it turns out I do have some foods I have to stay away from for sure, I’ll most likely pass it on into the family meals so I’m not constantly making different foods. The by-product is that we are all eating healthier which is great. I’m not calling this a diet as I don’t really want to model that for the girls, but just a change in eating habits to be healthier. Hopefully I’ll be a better mom with less fuzzy-head so they won’t care we are eating more veggies!

This week I go into my phase two mode of exercising at least 30 minutes a day and increasing the vitamin supplements suggested in The UltraMind Solution by Mark Hyman, MD. I’m not following his plan to the letter as I cannot buy everything organic or spend $300 a month on vitamins, but I’m doing pretty well.

The moral of my story is that I feel better, I have more energy, my clothes aren’t as tight (I don’t weigh myself in general so I don’t know weight loss) and I’m eating as much as I want. I have not yet been hungry and the only real cravings I’ve had were for chocolate (of course!) and they weren’t that bad as I have some real unsweetened chocolate recipes I’ve made.

My fuzzy head is going away and I hope it stays away!

(Disclosure: No one asks me to blog about this book and I bought it myself. If someone wants to pay me for doing this I’m open to that idea :)

Mother Of The Year Award Is In Jepardy

A Mom's Job, Earth Friendly Ideas, Just Plain Funny Stuff, Moments With Meg 2 Responses »

Aug 112012

Yesterday I went to my neighbors garage sale hoping to find some good clothing finds for my older girls. I found several cute things for them including this shirt for Meg:

I thought she would like the recycle theme to it since she just completed her Girl Scout Silver award on recyling jeans. I’ve never bought the VS Pink for them before, but it was only $1 and brand new so what the hay.

I get home and sort out the loot to the kids. I pick up said shirt and find this on the back:

Wonderful. I just encouraged my 12 year old to save water by jumping in the shower with someone. Perfect. Just what I was hoping to do as a mom.

We are thinking the front will make a fun pillow for her room…

Earth Day 2012 – It Rained. We Picked Up Trash Anyway

A Mom's Job, Earth Friendly Ideas, girl scouts, Moments with Mita No Responses »

Apr 222012

Our Team's Zone Of Clean Up

Yesterday our local community organization had a pick up some trash day. Of course it was 40 degrees and raining! We had 11 braved souls, kids and adults, show up from a few local Girl Scout troops. They were indeed troopers and we had a lot of fun in the wet and cold!

Here is a short video we did for a contest: Girl Scouts Earth Day 2012 Check it out!

Mita wrote up a little something for this special day:

Earth day is not just another day. It’s a day that we think about the earth and how fragile the earth is and how we can make it better or improve more. Here are some ways you could make the environment better below:

* Recycle cans, papers, plastic, glass,
* Reduce the amount of water you use like taking, shorter showers take a shower instead of a bath.
* Reuse paper on the back instead of throwing it away and getting a new one. * Conserve the amount of light you use ( turn off the lights you have on when you leave your home or room.
* Turn off your car when you’re in a long line at a fast food place.
* Turn off your TV when you’re not watching
* unplug a cord when you’re not using it

Countdown To Earth Day: Thanks To A Greener Product And Company

Domestic Goddess, Earth Friendly Ideas, Reviews, Stuff No Responses »

Apr 202012

I don’t pretend to know all about everything. Okay, to my kids I pretend to know all about everything, but here I just like to write about things I care about. As a blogger, even a small one, I get contacted by companies and sometimes get freebies to check out products and to write about them. This is a fun part of being a blogger I assure you, who doesn’t like to try free stuff? Oh course I am honest. I have received a few products that just weren’t my time, energy or integrity to blog about.

However, on this countdown to Earth Day series, I did recently get contacted by 3M. You know3M the company that gives us all the neat little tools to make our life easier. Think post-it notes, stickies, scotch tape and more. They have graciously donated several rolls of their new Sustainable Scotch® Greener Masking Tapes to my local school district.

Masking tape is a must around children. Think labels, repairing game board or boxes, painting over stained and messy walls. Not to mention the crafty side of masking tape. Now we have the opportunity to buy it made from recycled and renewable resources. An Easy-Peasy choice if I do say so myself.

I know that many a environmentalist curses at big business and big companies, but as consumers we have told said companies that we want a better, more responsible product. We vote with our dollars. This product is evidence that 3M is listening.

Here is a quote with the stats that are interesting:

SAINT PAUL, MN – April 16, 2012 – Today, 3M announced the introduction of Scotch Greener Masking Tapes which are designed to provide the same great performance as other Scotch Masking Tapes, while creating less waste and conserving paper resources. The new tapes are made with 56% renewable resources*, including paper backing made with 30% post consumer recycled content and adhesive made with natural, regenerating latex harvested from rubber trees. The tapes are manufactured using solvent-free and water-based processes. The tape core contains 87% post-consumer recycled fiber and the shipping cartons are made with 100% recycled fiber.

The tapes can be found just about anywhere, including Wal-Mart, Target, K-mart and Sears for about $5.

(Disclosure: I received several rolls of the about mentioned masking tape to donate to my local school district. I think the art teachers and maintenance people will be happy!)

Countdown to Earth Day: Better Shopping Practices

A Mom's Job, Earth Friendly Ideas, Stuff No Responses »

Apr 192012

I like a bargain. I like to use a coupon and get something for less. I am all for a generic brands as long as they work or taste as well as what I am used to.

With all of that it can be hard for me to spend a little more money on a product that is Earth Friendly. I do buy things that are better for the planet, but I want them to be competitive in price and quality.

So how can you tell a product is environmentally friendly? A lot of times the packaging advertises the fact to give consumers the heads up but here are a few other ways to tell:

Less is better. Does it have a huge box for a little product? Remember when CD’s came in the long cardboard box…they thankfully stopped that wastefulness.
Is the packaging made of recycled materials? Post-consumer waste is best.
Is the packaging itself able to be recycled locally? A lot of smaller towns (that would be my town) don’t recycle #3,4, 5,6 plastics.
Is the product locally grown/produced? Buying local not only helps out your neighbors, but it takes less gas to get it to the store. You can sometimes talk to the grower/maker and ask questions about chemicals and fertilizers.
Is it organic? This is what I seem to struggle the most with. I have a list of the dirty dozen, which are the 12 foods you should buy organic as they tend to have the most pesticides and chemicals. Organic can be pricey and it goes bad quickly (chemicals are there for a reason – to stop bugs and rotting.) I hate it when I let produce go bad, but I also don’t go to the store more than once a week. Having four growing girls that eat a lot and eat all the time can be expensive. I want to feed them healthy and organic, but I also don’t want to go into debt trying to accomplish that.

My goal is to become a bit less of a penny-pincher when it comes to healthier products for my kids. I go in and out of making my own cleaners, it depends on my busy level but when I do buy cleaning products I try to make them the “greener” ones. I need to focus more on my long-term goal.

I must also concentrate on the fact that where and how I spend my money makes an impact on the Earth not only by helping the natural state of the Earth, but telling businesses and corporations what I as a consumer care about.

Do you shop towards Earth-Friendly or Pocketbook-Friendly?

Countdown To Earth Day: A Billion Acts Of Green

Earth Friendly Ideas, Education, Family, girl scouts, Stuff No Responses »

Apr 182012

While it can sometimes be annoying to have certain days, weeks and months named for something (National Ice Cream Day is great and all, but what about National Taco Day?), it really does serve a purpose to have time set aside to think more deeply on a subject. Black History Month gives our schools the perfect chance add some colorful history to the normal curriculum (yeah, I know the curriculum should already have it…) and World Breastfeeding Week is great at bringing the amazing thing that is breast milk to the forefront of people’s thoughts. Earth Day is a great time to step back and evaluate our daily practices in helping sustain our Earth for the future generations.

This week I want to write about simple and more in-depth ways that I, as a mom, wife, nurse and Girl Scout leader am trying to put a dent in my wasteful ways. This is my Earth Day Pledge, or act, at least a part of it. We are also cleaning up our local reservoir with Girl Scouts on Saturday.

Today I will congratulate myself on what I have accomplished:

As a household we have been recycling (by carting to a local center or curbside pick up) our trash for five years.
I have been reusing my favorite two water bottles for over two years now. I rarely drink from a disposable water bottle and when I do it is normally because it is at someone elses place.
I don’t forget my reusable bags anymore when I grocery shop! I forgot them for a very long time and it has finally become habit now. I also carry bags in my purse and use them for everyday purchases or clothes shopping. It is amazing what you can get in a little bag!
I recently bought the cutest re-usable containers for my girls’ lunch drinks to replace the chocolate milk/apple juice cartoons. This saves me money (buying a gallon is more cost-effective than buying six individual boxes) and waste. You have to get good ones or the leaking frustrates you!
I have been using re-usable sandwich and snack bags for about four years now. I still do use some plastic baggies when I am not caught up on laundry but give myself a B+ in ditching the plastic baggies.
I keep the heat down lower in the winter months. I admit that I used to crank it up a bit high at times, but now I am better at just putting socks or a sweatshirt on to stay warm. I also did this when I heard that families stay healthier when the heat isn’t used as much. I think this is true as it keeps the dust down and the rotation of germs!
We talk about recycling and being Earth Friendly a lot in Girl Scouts. It is so much easier for this generation as they are growing up knowing that it is important to not be wasteful. As an eighties child, it seemed all about more and what was convenient than anything else.
I love to shop consignment or second-hand stores. You never know what a good deal you may get. I scored a beautiful, like new dress for Enu the other day for $1.09! She looks great in it, it saved me money and it didn’t end up in a landfill. Win, Win, Win I say.
I also congratulate myself on nursing my two bio babies and am pleased that my other girls were most likely breastfed as well. Great for the Earth not to have formula containers or plastic liners :)

So now that I am full of myself I will focus on my goals to improve my efforts and become more natural with using less, re-using more and in general being a better steward of my Earth.

That, my friend, is for tomorrow! Check out this site and make your own pledge.

Breast Cancer Prevention

A Mom's Job, Breast Cancer Awareness Month, Breastfeeding, Earth Friendly Ideas, Health and Hygiene No Responses »

Oct 182010

As a nurse my first love with health is prevention and always has been. I love teaching people how to prevent disease and illness. The basics of good health are good nutrition, hygiene , and mental/ physical activity.

Of course even the healthiest of people get sick at times. Disease like cancer can strike anyone at anytime. That does not mean we need to wait around for a diagnosis or not take care of ourselves because it may happen to us anyway. Attitude means a lot in our health.

We all hear of the special diets, exercises and pills that are supposed to reduce our cancer risks. Whether these work or not is always doubtful. Like almost everything in life moderation seems to be the key.

Let’s look at proven ways to reduce the incidence of breast cancer.

*Maintain a healthy weight and exercise regularly.

*Limit amount of alcohol intake.

*Know your family history and your cancer risk. There are medications that some women can take to prevent cancer. Knowing your history may also help you with deciding if you should take Hormone Replacement Therapy.

*Breastfeed your babies (You all knew this was coming!) Women who Breastfeed for one to two years total in their lifetime (all babies total) have a decreased risk of pre-menopausal breast cancer. There is some evidence that nursing only for a few months may help as well.

*Watch your environment. This is a little more controversial as in everyone seems to have different answers, but is always good to avoid know carcinogens. Decreasing our exposure to BPA is a good way to start when wanting to decrease toxins around us. Check out this link for a list of chemicals that may cause cancer.

So what am I doing to prevent breast cancer in myself and my family (Remember it does strike men)?

I see my doctor annually and will get my baseline mammogram in five years.

I do self breast exams.

I’ve gained a lot of weight in the last two year and have finally started taking steps get get back into a healthy shape by exercising at least three times a week.

I try to get as many fruits and veggies in our diet and use supplements as well.

We do not use bottled water and I use stainless steal water bottles for our purified tap water.

I have gotten rid of all plastic and containers that contain BPA.

I have breastfed for about three years total between Meg and Elle.

I know my history and limit my alcohol content.

I use enviromentally healthier cleaning supplies.

I am trying to buy more organic and less processed foods.

I teach my girls the importance of knowing their bodies and taking care of them.

What do I need to do more of?

Check out the content of the beauty products in our home and Keep up on the new research so that I can learn more and pass on this knowledge.

I would love to hear what you are doing in your own lives to help prevent breast cancer. Please share your knowledge!

Sites of interest:

Center for Disease Control and Prevention

Susan G. Komen for the Cure

American Cancer Society

ThredUP Is My New Place To Trade Give Away

A Mom's Job, Contests, Earth Friendly Ideas 8 Responses »

Aug 232010

As I mentioned last week, we have been doing a lot of shuffling around of clothing at my house, in preparation of the beginning of the new school year. The clothing shuffle is never easy with four growing girls who all have different likes and body types. I am a firm believer in hand-me-downs though so I make it work the best I can.

This year I have a new way of clothes sharing that I am really excited about:

ThredUP!

I first heard of ThredUP a few weeks ago at BlogHer10. They had a booth on the Expo floor asking parents to be more environmentally friendly this school year and trading clothing was one of their suggestions.

I soon plugged into the ThredUP site and was happy with how easy it was to manage my account. The first box I chose arrived in two days with clothing items my kids liked and could wear.

I quickly listed five boxes of our clothes that where in nice condition, but we didn’t need anymore and four boxes were picked the very next day giving me credits in my account since they were sizes the site needed at that time.

The basic membership is FREE and the pro membership is $29.99 a year/or $19.99 for six months. With the pro service, meaning you get all the bells and whistles that the site offers. With my link you can have pro service free for one month! This way you can feel out the site, list some boxes, maybe earn some credits and soon be a trading maven yourself.

Remember the site does not offer pictures of the clothes, just brief descriptions. I think it is important to remember that you are not shopping for Homecoming dresses and suits here. You are trading hand-me-downs to help out the budget!

Also, until August 30th, ThredUP will donate $1 to Cradles to Crayons for each transaction on the site. Good deeds, good clothes equals good for everyone! The site is easy to understand and I encourage you all to go there and see for yourself.

One lucky reader will receive a years pro membership for free! This is a $29.99 service for twelve months to use and keep your kids in jeans for a while. This contest runs from August 23 through August 31st at midnight. (2010!) The winner will be drawn via Random.org.

There are several ways to win:

1) Leave a comment below about your favorite back to school moment. It can be about your children or from your own childhood.

2) Leave a comment below describing your child’s favorite outfit this year that you hate!

3) Follow me on Twitter @FourAgainstTwo and leave me a comment that you are now following me.

4) Follow ThredUP on Twitter @ThredUP and leave a comment here that you did so.

5) Tweet the following tweet (once a day only) and leave a link to your tweet:

Win a membership to ThredUp with @FourAgainstTwo http://fouragainsttwo.com/index.php/2010/08/23/thredup-is-my-new-place-to-trade-give-away/

Good luck!

(Disclosure: I have not received any compensation for this post. I just thought a giveaway would be fun! I do get a month of Pro status when you sign up through me with ThredUP .)

Playing With Our Food!

Earth Friendly Ideas, Stuff No Responses »

Apr 282010

Last weekend our local store, Buttonwood Market, held a fruit and vegetable art contest to celebrate their first year in business. Buttonwood Market has been a favorite place of mine, that I have been frequenting more and more lately. It is full of fun, healthy foods with a selection of organic, non-organic and locally grown/raised foods.

All of my girls wanted to create some veggie art and here are the master pieces!

Meg created The Princess and the Frog out of raisins, green peppers and spinach.

Mita used lentils to make a “Peace and Love” mosaic.

Enu made unicorn out of carrots.

Elle (with mama help) made a dog out of a banana!

Here are some places to check out some fun playing with your food projects you and your kiddos might like:

Google Images

Photo Basement

With any luck, some of the fruits and veggies will end up in your childrens’ bellies and they may not be so afraid of the healthy stuff!

It was great fun and Enu and Elle won $20 Buttonwood Market gift certificates for winning their age groups. I made them both buy me a jug of milk with their winnings, since I made the initial investment in fruits and veggies! They have had fun spending their winnings (pop corn, ice cream, ice cream sandwiches, chocolate cake mixes!).

If you are local I encourage you to check out Buttonwood market. You may find Ethiopian coffee on sale right now! Elle bought some for her daddy…shhhh, he doesn’t know yet!

(I received no compensation for my mentioning of Buttonwood Market. I just really like this place!)

Baking Soda and Mis-Matched Socks

Earth Friendly Ideas, Health and Hygiene 5 Responses »

Apr 122010

Whoever said that little girls are sweet and rosy smelling has never met my four daughters. They have to have the smelliest feet the world has ever smelled. At least that is what I tell them anyway. I’m sure that there are other children that smell worse, but I really don’t plan on entering them in any contests to find out!

At a Girl Scout event I learned of a way to keep down the shoe stench is using baking soda and some mis-matched socks. I don’t know about you, but I have a few hundred socks with no mates in my basement and some of them are really cute Littlest Pet Shop or Wizards of Waverly Place socks. The cuter the sock the more fun they have with this project.

Simply fill each sock with 1/3 cup of baking soda and tie tightly with a string or a rubber band. I also tie the sock in a knot just to be sure.

Place filled socks into shoes to keep them fresh and clean! These sachets can also go into drawers or sports duffel bags.

Notice who is still in her pajamas!

Enu was home sick for the day, so I put her to work.

Ahhhh...fresh smelling shoes...okay..Fresher smelling shoes!

This makes a great rainy day or lazy day project before the hot summer heat hits your house and their shoes!

Some baking soda will ooze out of the sock if the sock is used as a weapon to hit with..not that my children would ever do such a thing…but I consider a little baking soda on the carpet deodorizer, so this works for me!

For more Baking Soda ideas check this out.

Recycling Can Be a BALL!

daddy, Earth Friendly Ideas, Entertainment, Hubby 1 Response »

Apr 082010

A lot of times recycling can be a bit boring. Lets face it, sorting trash isn’t the funnest thing on Earth (feel free to disagree and tell me why you love to sort trash!) Recycling can also be time consuming or tricky if you are making something out of an old something else and you are not particularly creative or crafty (aka me! I cannot even use a glue gun well). A few weeks ago, however, Hubby came up with a great Reuse idea that really worked well.

Our school age daughters, Meg, Mita and Enu, love to play tether-ball at school and were asking Hubby to get a one set up at the house last week. His green light-bulb moment happened rather quickly as he remembered that we still have the four poles from our old trampoline! These poles are from the net enclosure around the trampoline to keep the kids from falling off. These poles have hooks on them to hold up the net.

Hubby quickly set up two separate tether-ball poles and purchased the balls and ropes at a local sports store. Having two for us was a must with the four kids. I didn’t want to hear the whole taking turns battle that would have for sure erupted. For about $40 and an hour or so of time we were set up for action and the kids have been playing during every free moment is seems!

To Hubby, his idea may have been more about saving money than being green, but as it often is, we win both ways! I have seen tether-ball sets from $25-$65 online and that is just for one and the trampoline poles seem much sturdier than the poles for sale are.

We gave the other two poles to my brother and sister in law, and the recycling just continues. So go look for a old trampoline on Craig’s list or a yard sale and make some tether-ball poles! It is a great way to keep your kids active and busy and OUTSIDE. Oh yeah, my kids like to bend the rules a bit…here are the rules to tether-ball if you need them!

I would love to hear other ideas about reusing kids toys in creative ways!

A Kid’s Take On the Three “R”s

Earth Friendly Ideas, Moments with Elle 1 Response »

Mar 182010

Reduce, reuse, recycle. These are familiar concepts to almost everyone now. What was once a mantra for “tree huggers” (a term my father still uses!) is now a way of life for many families, if not for environmental reasons, then for economical ones.

The other day I was feeling quite proud of myself. Needing curtains for Mita and Enu’s rooms I shopped at Gabriel Brothers and dug for the matching curtains I needed. I saved a lot of money with that little bit of digging.

Then Elle and I were off to the Good-Will to see what treasures we could stumble upon. As we walked into the store Elle was confused as this was not the Good-Will she was familiar with. I explained that I often dropped off things we didn’t need anymore at the Good-Will drop of near our house, and that the store we were going into was the place were every-ones donations were sold. I then proceeded to over-explain for my five year old’s age level and discussed how this was a form of Reduce, Reuse, Recycle and it helped people find jobs. Not thinking anymore about it, I went shopping and I scored some Timberland shoes for Elle at $1.99 and some brand new Girl Scout shirts for adults for $1.99 each.

The next day I was wearing my “new” Girl scout shirt when someone commented on it and said, “Where did you get that?”. Before I could answer Elle jumped in and said,”My mom got it in the trash.”

So much for my lesson. All that fuzzy-good-for-me-feeling was gone as my attempts at being earth/people friendly were reduced to an episode of dumpster diving!

Photo Credit

September Stock-Ups And How I Save $

Earth Friendly Ideas, Sales, Seasons, Stuff No Responses »

Sep 022009

September is a great stock-up month. I have this issue withclearances, I see something on clearance and I think I need it or I come up with an idea to use it for the next year. This has saved me money over the years, but it can also be a bit of a clutter problem (ask Hubby). This year my goal is to not clutter up, but buy responsibly. So far, so good. I got Elle’s next years safetyswim vest for $13 with free shipping from Land’s End and Stainless Steel water bottles on sale with $2 shipping. I am trying to cut out the cheap plastic… but steel is pricey! I thought I would share a few of my go-to places for saving money and starting on Christmas and Birthday gifts for the next year.

Check out the Dollar General and you can get kites, bubbles and more for around $0.30. K-Mart often has bathing suits for under $5 so I can stock up for next year. Disney.com has really nice beach towels for super cheap. Of course school supplies are just screaming to be picked up and stored away for the cold winter months. Towards the end of September you may find great buys on backpacks, water bottles and more high-end school items. These can make great Christmas or Birthday gifts! The big wheeled back packs aren’t often great for school but make good overnight suitcases.

Land’s End has a lot of free shipping offers right now and their swimsuits are on sale as well. Soon they will have all those cool back packs and lunches boxes on clearance! I bought all of my girls backpacks from there in colors that will stay “cool” for a few years. I have not bought Meg a backpack since the First Grade (she’s in 4th this year, Yikes!) and it is still going strong. Mita and Enu also have Land’s End back packs that are in their second year of use. I learned early to not buy characters or really trendy backpacks and lunch boxes and it has saved me a lot of money. This year I will be eyeing deals for Elle’s Kindergarden back pack (sob sob).

I don’t do the while “school shopping” thing. It is still warm when school starts and the kids grow overnight, as you well know! Jeans, long sleeves T’s and shoes will hit great prices once the Holiday items come out (October!). TheChildrensPlace.comhas a flat shipping rate of $5 and monster sales for shirts especially. They have great quality clothes and are pretty affordable. Beware of the bright T shirts with Hibicus flowers on them though, they bleed horribly which is unusual for them. Hopefully it is an odd occurance!

To save money and to be green, I have re-usable sandwhich bags and buy snacks in bulk. Those 100 calerie packs have some much packaging. A re-usable 4 oz. Rubbermaid or Tupperware container hold is a great way to save on pakaging and is usually about 1 serving size or 100 calories. I like to find my sandwhich bags on Etsy.com. Don’t baulk at the prices…you will get your money back. I am using the same bags I bought last year and believe me they are used a lot!

Before buying anything on-line I do a google search for coupon codes. This normally works pretty well and cuts down prices and often shipping costs.

This is what I do in September to save money. Now give me your secrets!

Photo Credit

Help Protect And Promote Breast-feeding

Breastfeeding, Earth Friendly Ideas, My Soap Box No Responses »

Jun 302009

Elle raises her arms for Breast-feeding!

Anyone who knows me knows that I am passionate about babies and the feeding of babies. Both Meg and Elle were breastfeed into toddlerhood and it was one of the most rewarding experiences of my life. It is so empowering to grow a baby! Professionally, I have chosen to pursue my certification in Lactation to help other moms and babies during this time of their lives.

I have recently learned of a piece of legislation in congress that has been written to help protect breast-feeding moms and babies when moms return to the work force. I encourage all of you to read up on it and write your congressional leaders to support this bill.

The American Academy of Pediatrics wants babies to have breast-milk exclusively for six months and with complementary foods until twelve months of age a AT THE VERY LEAST! This is not happening and one of the major reasons why is that the workforce is not supportive of nursing moms in general. Companies are always looking for ways to cut costs, if they supported breast-feeding moms, their medical costs would be lower, workers would take less sick days and everyone wins!

One of these days people in power will realize that prevention is cheaper than treatment. Breast-feeding prevents many illnesses and promotes good health both physically and mentally.

Here is the link for more information:

New Breastpump

Breastfeeding, Earth Friendly Ideas No Responses »

May 012009

Evenflo Comfort Select Performance Dual Breastpump

As a Lactation Consultant and a mother of two breast-fed children, one of the most common questions I get asked is, “What kind of breastpump should I get?” The answer to this question is different with each mother and their situation. I will mention a few tips in deciding on a breastpump in this post. I highly recommend going to a breastfeeding class while you are pregnant and getting more information before you invest in a breastpump.

First I would check and see what your insurance may offer you. Most medical insurance companies do not pay for breastpumps still. This is unfortunate, as it would save them a lot of money. The American Academy of Pediatrics has estimated that if the majority of mothers breastfed their babies the U.S. would save millions in medical costs annually. If you qualify for WIC or have insurance through Medicaid you will most likely get help with getting a breastpump, possibly getting one at no cost. It pays to check first!

If you do not get any breast pump benefits, I would recommend looking at your personal situation, what can you afford at the time you need the pump and so-forth.

If you have a pre-mature infant, a special needs infant or are pumping exclusively I would recommend talking with a lactation consultant as you will need a hospital grade pump.

If you work part-time or full-time outside the home, a double electric pump is preferred by most mothers. I would go with a well-known breastpump company recommended by your Lactation Consultant.

Working from home or being away from your baby for only a few hours a week gives a mom more flexibility when it comes to breast pumps. Some moms like manual pumps, others like the convience of pumping both breasts at one time.

Evenflo has just released a new breastpump that deserves to be looked at by the mother who pumps occasionally, a few times a week. The Comfort Select Performance Dual comes with a double pump, a bag to carry everything in and some free breast pads. My friend Firemom will be giving one of these pumps away and has written up a nice review so be sure to check it out! MomCentral.com is also hosting a giveaway.

So if you are expecting, already nursing and want a pump or know someone who can use it, be sure to enter the giveaway!

Getting Back On The Green Wagon

Earth Friendly Ideas 2 Responses »

Apr 212009

Elle with her green bag, heading for the store.

Two years ago we started to recycle in our home. That may seem a bit late for the green movement, but we lived out in the middle of no where and I had to sort everything then take it to the recycling place. Waa, but I finally did it and we cut down our trash by half.

I actually made it into a summer project for my oldest daughter Meg. We kept track of how many bags of trash we went through in one normal week. Then we started recyeling for a few weeks and once we had the hang of it, we counted again and cut our trash from six bags a week down to three. In time I think we improved that number, I just never did another officially count.

The next summer I vowed to now us paper plates/cups/napkins anymore. I did make a few exceptions (birthday party themes are very important!) but I cut out all paper plates and cups and cut the napkins way down. I picked up a lot of cloth napkins on clearance. You can find a lot of post season sales to take advantage of. Of course my table is a collections of mis-matching napkins, but my kids don’t care and right now either do I. I’m sure someday they will all match and my house will be clean. Someday is a long time away.

The next year was our first summer with Mita and Enu home. I didn’t have any special projects or goals. I just wanted to stay sane. I did however start making most of my cleaning supplies out of baking soda, vinegar and lemon juice. It’s kid friendly and kids love to help out with cleaning as long as they can spray stuff. I also purchased re-usable sandwich bags that we use the majority of the time.

I must admit I was feeling pretty green. Then we moved.

Very busy + four kids+ winter time + exhausted mom = I took a week off being green

That week has turned into five months I’m ashamed to say. I have yet to figure out the recycling rules for our new house. I used paper plates the week our dishwasher went defective on me. When I throw out something I should be recycling the guilt starts.

So as of Earth Day 2009, I am back on the recycling green wagon.

How do you go green? I’d love to steal some ideas from you!

Four Against Two