Limit Toxin Exposure During Pregnancy and Save Money at the Same Time {With Guest Blogger Katie Moore}

Our family has recently started to make some major lifestyle changes, so I am excited to have Katie with us today to share a few tips.

Katie is an active blogger who discusses the topics of, motherhood, children, fitness, health and all other things Mommy. She enjoys writing, blogging, and meeting new people! To connect with Katie contact her via her blog, Moore From Katie or her twitter, @moorekm26.”

Whether you have kids, are currently pregnant or just wanting to live a healthier life, there are plenty of options and no better time to start than right now.  When I was pregnant I had SO much to learn, from circumcision to what my baby’s cord blood was to swaddling and more!  I knew that a natural lifestyle was a priority. Many people associate a more natural lifestyle with added expenses. It's true the cost of organic produce and non-toxic household products is generally much higher than the price of conventional items, but this is only part of the story.

Many of those toxic household products can be easily and cheaply replaced with homemade versions using only a few ingredients. If you've never looked up the ingredients of window cleaner or baby bubble bath, it's time to start. Household products are filled with known carcinogens, untested chemicals, and many toxins that accumulate in the body with minimal exposures over time. Give your family a clean environment and safe personal care products with the following homemade solutions!

Bubble Bath
It's sometimes difficult to get the kids in the bath, and bubbles help tremendously!  They are also good for your relaxation. However, most bubble bath products at the store contain chemicals considered probably carcinogens by the FDA. One use isn't the end of the world, but multiple uses accumulate the chemicals in you and your children. The effects of this during pregnancy have never been studied. Look up specific bubble bath test results on this list from the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics.

Rather than paying twice as much for a more natural product that likely still contains potential toxins, you can make your own bubble bath from a few common ingredients. The following recipe is a great option for anyone already making Castile shampoo, which is really easy. You'll need:

* 1/4 of your homemade Castile shampoo
* 3/4 cup of filtered or distilled water
* 1/2 teaspoon of sea salt
* few drops of any desired essential oil (optional)

Start by mixing the shampoo and water gently in a bowl. You'll add the salt to this and continue mixing until it thickens. Add in essential oils at this point, and jar your bubble bath creation. Now you and your kids can enjoy a bubbly bath without the toxins!

Glass Cleaner
Conventional cleaners from the store, especially those popular industrial-strength brands, are full of toxins. Many children are poisoned outright by these products every year, and many more suffer the health consequences of repeated, minimal exposures to nerve agents, hormone disruptors and carcinogens. Since cleaning chemical manufacturers are not required to test ingredients, it's especially important to reduce exposure during pregnancy. If your current window cleaner has any sort of caution label, it's time to get rid of it for a non-toxic and equally effective cleaner. You'll need:

* Distilled water
* 1/4 cup of white vinegar OR 1 tablespoon lemon juice

Just mix these together in a spray bottle, and enjoy an entirely non-toxic cleaning experience! You'll still have to watch your kids in public to keep them from rubbing their faces on glass cleaned with toxic products, but your home will be much safer.

 

Katie Moore has written and submitted this article. Katie is an active blogger who discusses the topics of, motherhood, children, fitness, health and all other things Mommy. She enjoys writing, blogging, and meeting new people! To connect with Katie contact her via her blog, Moore From Katie or her twitter, @moorekm26.

 

 

Thanks Katie! I know my little girls would love it if I made them some bubble bath!

 

 

 

 

Foaming Hand Soap Refill

Because my children either completely leave the bathroom without washing their hands, or use five pumps of hand soap every time they do wash their hands, I have decided that there is only one thing to do. Completely switch to foam hand soap. Not only is there something about foam that makes it exciting to wash their hands, which eliminates problem number one, but it is ridiculously cheap to make, which means they can pump away and I don't have to freak out.

You will have to start off by actually buying a hand soap dispenser from the store, but if your children are like mine, it will be empty in no time.

To make your own refill, simply pour in 1 tablespoon of any liquid soap. It can be hand soap, dish soap or even shampoo. My kids and I tend to have really dry skin so I actually used baby shampoo since it is much more mild. Just try and steer clear of any soap with lotion in it because it can clog the pump.

Add warm water to the soap and fill to about an inch from the top. My dispenser actually hand this little sticker on the back with a line that said "fill to here."

Give the soap and water a gentle stir to get it well mixed and that's it. You could also add a drop of food coloring and or a drop of essential oil if you are into having your soap smell good and match the colors of your bathroom. We rent our house, and I have been forbidden to remove the ugly wall paper boarder in our main bathroom, so I wasn't all that worried about making my soap look pretty!

Of course you'll have to give it a few pumps to make sure it really did work!

Are you dying yet at home much cheaper it is to use foam soap than liquid? I was, when I first figured it out.

{How To} Remove Watermelon Stains

It's summer time! And you know what that means. Time for sweet, juicy, delicious watermelon! Its my girls favorite time of year. I swear they could each eat an entire watermlon on their own. They absolutely love it.

I happen to be a fan as well. Who isn't!? (Okay, I'm sure there are some of you out there.....) What I don't like is the mess and the stains. Oh, the stains! Grrr. Watermelon stains are the worst! They used to give me nightmares (picture giant watermelons with legs chasing after me yelling "I want that white shirt!").  Seriously. I hated giving my girls watermelon.  That is until my totally awesome sister-in-law Alicia (who you can also thank for the honey butter recipe) came to my rescue.  She gave me this totally awesome stain removal recipe for watermelon (and other fruit juice) stains. And it actually works! I even used it on an old stain and the shirt was like new!

So to help make your summer a little more stress free I'm going to share the recipe with all of you. Are you ready for this?!

How To Remove Watermelon Stains

1. Hand wash garment with dish soap (like dawn). This removes the sugars.

2. Lay garment on flat surface and pour a small amount of hydrogen peroxide on the stains. Let soak for 5-10 minutes.

3. Rub vinegar over the peroxide and let stand a few minutes.

4. Wash garment in washing machine as you normally would.

BAM! Stain Gone! How awesome is that?! Now go enjoy that watermelon!

 

Linked up @ sugarbeecrafts.com

Um...

Earlier this week I took my kids to the library and decided that on Friday it would be a good idea to do a post about summer reading. I even bought a little white shelf to hang above my daughter's bed to put some books on for her to read at night when she is having a hard time sleeping.

So, in case you missed Jenn's post on Wednesday, she pretty much covered all that. And I like her shelf a lot better than the one I bought, so I'm probably going to copy her and get the same one.

It's not uncommon for us to own the same things or think the same.

Once I posted this picture of my youngest wearing a bunch of the clothes I was trying to fold.


On the exact same day Jenn posted this picture of her daughter wearing a bunch of the clothes she was trying to fold.

We are just kind of in sync like that. It's part of that special sister bond, you know!

Anyway, ever since Jenn totally took my idea for a post, but did it much better than I would have, I've been stumped as to what I could share. Fortunately, kids provide all sorts of inspiration.

So, here is my little tid bit of information to share with you all today. If your daughter ever draws on her best Sunday dress with an ink pen, or if one of your children happens to write all over your in-law's kitchen cupboards with a permanent marker, don't panic. Walk upstairs to your bathroom and grab your bottle of hairspray and a washcloth. Spray and blot (or wipe if it's on the cupboard) and keep on breathing.

Another Change of Plan And My New Favorite Thing

The aches and chills have vanished and the nausea is under control. Except for an over all feeling of weakness from a day of eating only a few Ritz crackers, I'm pretty much back to normal. With that being said though I've decided to skip out on blogging again in favor of going to pick up my camera that is finally ready! Let's hope the price hasn't gone up.

I am going to leave you with one quick thought before I hop in the car for a 45 minute ride. I know a lot of you have already seen the You Tube video going around for the online job chart, but I'm going to put in my own little plug for it.

At first I didn't pay any attention to it, because I honestly didn't see how an online job chart could be any better than one you would make at home. This past Saturday though I was trying to figure out jobs for the kids to do and I decided it wouldn't hurt to give it a try.

It is Awesome!

I spent probably 30 minutes setting up our chart and now the kids do the rest. Each of my kids has their own password that logs them into their own job chart. (They think having a pass word is pretty cool) Once they finish a job they check it off and earn the points for that job. Once their whole list is finished they click done, and here is what my kids think is so awesome, the computer cheers for them!

Who knew a little cheering is all it would take to get them so excited about chores. And the points, there is a reward system involved but I won't go into detail about it. You can check it out for yourself here.

Anyway, if all that doesn't convince you than this just might. My six year old son who would not lift a finger to work or even get ready for school for that matter without being threatened, now runs down stairs each morning to start on his list and is always the first one done!

I love you online job chart! Ok, that turned into a long quick thought.

Our Favorite Things: Freedom Mop

If you've ever cut your husband's hair in your kitchen than you probably know how hard it is to clean up all those little pieces of cut hair. You might sweep the kitchen floor five times, but five days later you will still be sweeping up hair. It's a never ending battle.

Not long after I started cutting hair at home and dropping things on the floor only to pick them up covered in bits of multi colored hair I decided to invest in a Swiffer wet jet. At first I loved it. Even my regular mop couldn't pick up all those little pieces of hair my broom left behind. Then we replaced the tile in our kitchen and I started to notice a film left behind every time I mopped. I continued to use it though and buy the disposable pads, and the cleaning solution, and replace the batteries. Eventually the spray mechanism broke and I was ever so happy to throw the darn thing away.

Only once again we had those tricky little pieces of hair always hiding in the corners. Last week I broke down and went to the store to buy another Swiffer, only this time I came away with something SO much better.

The Libman Freedom Mop!
The cost was essentially the same as the Swiffer ($20). Only this mop has a reusable pad that you just throw in the wash and then stick back on. You can even buy a second cleaning pad for only a few dollars if you want to have two on hand. It has an empty container that you can fill with whatever type of cleaning solution you want. I love my all purpose cleaner recipe that I got from Here. It seriously costs pennies to make and works great. And finally, there are no batteries to change. You just squeeze the trigger on the handle like you would a spray bottle and out comes your cleaning solution. And it comes with a $5 mail in rebate if you ever remember to send those in!

Oh wait, I almost forgot my favorite feature. It's light and easy to use (no wringing out dirty water in the sink) so I can hand it to my kids and say "Here, go mop the floor!" And would you believe they actually argue over who's turn it is.

LOVE IT!

Day 14

I'm two weeks into my clean house adventure, and while it hasn't magically transformed my kitchen into this

I'm at least tolerating my horribly outdated excuse for a kitchen a tiny bit more.

Actually things are going fairly well. I'm not opposed to messes being made throughout the day, but they absolutely have to be cleaned up before another mess is made. This is the rule for myself as well. Although sometimes I would really love to 'leave it and come back to it later' I try to remind myself that if I just take five minutes now it will save me time later. Basically, rule number 1 is take care of it immediately.

My second big rule is that I no longer clean up after anyone other than myself. I started noticing that half of my time was spent cleaning up what my kids (or possibly husband) left behind, which meant that I didn't have as much time for things like laundry and bathrooms. Now, I spend five seconds explaining to the kids what they need to take care of and the rest of my time can be spent on more important things like blogging, I mean laundry.

Other than that I just make sure there are no dishes left in the sink at night or shoes by the front door. Oh, and a container of Clorox wipes under every sink really helps out a lot, especially in the bathroom.

Only 351 days to go!

Letting go

We pulled into our driveway last night at 9:30 with all three children sleeping in horribly awkward positions. We carried them in to sleep away the rest of the night in their beds, and then quickly unloaded the rest of the car into one big pile in the living room. I took the most heavenly hot shower, and then without even caring if my hair was dried, ran to my bed and whispered sweetness into the sheets.

Now it's 9:00 in the morning and I'm sitting here thinking about that monstrous pile in the living room, the bags of travel snacks sitting on kitchen counter, the clean laundry half folded on the couch that was left abandoned in our rush to leave town, and watching my kids eat Christmas candy for breakfast. Like my Mom said to me recently "Sometimes by 8:00 I feel like there's not enough day left."

We were having a conversation about how even seemingly "normal" days can feel overwhelming. As soon as my feet hit the floor I'm bombarded by fifty things screaming "do me first." The lists are never ending and I feel like I've failed before I've even started because there is no way to get it all done.

"So don't worry about getting it all done" she said. Sometimes the laundry is not the most important part of the list and you just have to be OK with that.

Definitely easier said than done most of the time, but true. While I would like to have my house in spotless working order, our fridge stocked with food, and my family fed three healthy meals, it's just not going to happen today and I have to be OK with that. What doesn't get done today can be finished tomorrow.

So for right now, it's Christmas candy for breakfast, and you know what, I'm really OK with that!

Slick Stix

It had to happen sooner or later. I knew it was inevitable but I tried as hard as I could to avoid it.

I had my first experience with crayons being used somewhere other than the paper! I can't seem to get this out of my carpet and I'm hoping for suggestions. These aren't just any old crayons so it's gonna need something heavy duty. This was done with Crayola Slick Stix Twistables.

I'm looking for suggestions and tips on how to get crayon out of the carpet. If you have any ideas please leave a comment and let me know.

As a side note: I really love these crayons. They are so fun. It feels like drawing with lipstick. I recommend them ONLY for children who are old enough for you to trust not to draw anywhere they aren't supposed to. As mine have obviously not reached that age, they went in the trash. :(

Tips For Cleaning

I used to have one day a week set aside as "cleaning day". It was a day I dreaded all week.

Then I had kids. My cleaning because eratic and scarce. Finding time to keep up the house inbetween taking care of kids and a husband (on top of keeping everyone fed) became a problem.

I solved my problem by reading from a book called "The Art of Homemaking" that I found on my mother-in-laws shelf. It's an old, outdated book that made me laugh when reading things like "a woman, if she is reasonable, does not expect a great deal of help from her husband". On the other hand it did have some good advice that I found helpful.

So here's your tip:

*Make a list of all the cleaning projects that you would do in your house daily, another list for weekly, and another list for monthly.

*Create a "cleaning schedule" by diving the work up to look something like this:

Monday:
Daily Chores, Laundry, Vacuum

Tuesday:
Daily Chores, Bathrooms, Dust

Wednesday:
Daily Chores, Vacuum

Thursday:
Daily Chores, Grocery Shopping, Dust

Friday:
Daily Chores, Vacuum


Daily Chores: pick up, dishes, sweep, mop, make beds

Monthly Chores: clean blinds/drapes, clean friday/pantry


Make a spread sheet if necessary, print it out, and post it on your fridge. Somewhere you can see it daily to remind you what needs to be done. You can make the schedule as elaborate or as simple as you want. Doing a few things each day instead of trying to cram it all into one day makes it easier and more enjoyable to clean.

Martha Says....

My sister Sally was so sweet and got me a subscription to the Martha Stewart Living magazine and I'm really loving it. She has so many good ideas and recipes that I just can't help but want to share them. So here it is. Another addition to this blog. It's called "Martha Says."

Martha Says:

To keep your fabric lampshades clean and dust free, hold the shade steady and pass an adhesive lint roller over the exterior.