Naturally Knocked Up » Raising Peanuts

Giveaway: God’s Word from A to Z

donielle — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 18:08:23 +0000

When I was young, my church held a Vacation Bible School program each summer for the kids. And each summer we had contests to see who could memorize the most scripture. My mother, in all her wisdom, passed down to me the verses she knew by song. And to this day – 20 some years later, I remember them.

She helped me hide the word of God in my heart so that I may never forget.

Now as a parent, I want to help my own children remember and memorize the Word so that they never forget. I was thrilled when Liza Phillip contacted me about a CD her and her husband Abe have put together for children. It’s called “God’s Word from A to Z” and is a compilation of 26 different verses sung to music. And it’s not just the idea of the verse, but the actual verse itself, which is so very important to me.

Liza sent my family a copy of the cd a few weeks ago and we’ve been enjoying it ever since! The music is eclectic, varying in form, which lends itself well to a children’s cd, and it’s even easy on the listening for parents as well. Each song is prefaced by one of their young children reciting a verse and my young son loves to hear the kids voices! After a couple weeks now, he’s just starting to try and sing along and it makes the music that much more beautiful to me. He’s really getting into the “In the Beginning, God Created” (Genesis 1:1) and I tend to repeat the “Children Obey Your Parents” (Eph. 6:1) a few times!

You can actually listen to samples of each song off of their website to get the full idea behind this cd as well.

Abe and Liza are also going to be giving away a copy of the cd to one of my readers and this is one thing you don’t want to miss out on!

Help me make giveaways easier to process and enter your name and e-mail here! (comments on this post will not count towards an entry)

This giveaway will be open until Friday at midnight!

I have a lot of new and exciting things coming up here this fall, so make sure you add my blog's RSS Feed to your reader or you can sign up for free updates by Email. I can also be found on Facebook and Twitter! **

Giveaway: “Real Food on a Budget”

donielle — Thu, 01 Jul 2010 18:57:48 +0000

**giveaway is now closed!!**

When I started blogging a few years ago, I met Stephanie over at Keeper of the Home. Since then she has been a huge help in my own learning of how to afford real food on a budget. Recently she launched an eBook that teaches just that!

If you desire to learn how to eat well without breakign the bank, this book will lead you the way, step by step.

Stephanie sent me a review copy awhile back and here’s the review I sent her.

“Real Food on a Real Budget is a fabulous guide on how to make good food choices yet feed your family without taking a second mortgage on your house. I only wish I had been given a book like this when I was first married – or even as I first started eating ‘real foods’. Stephanie has truly outdone herself with a book that every homemaker needs.”

Thorough and informational, yet down to earth.

What you can expect to learn:

How to shave literally hundreds and potentially even thousands off of your grocery expenses every year, without compromising on what you buy!

How to establish a realistic food budget for your unique family, and actually stick to it.

How to provide better nutrition and cost effectiveness through a meal planning method that suits you best.

How to find places to buy whole and traditional foods wherever you live and compare prices so that you know you’re getting the absolute best deals.

Why, what and how to buy in bulk and what to do with all that food!

Which foods are both nutrient-dense, cost-effective, and how to work your diet around them.

Why cooking from scratch is key to eating real foods, how to find the time to do it, and how to use that time as effectively as possible.

Why you should purchase your foods seasonally and locally, preserve them for cheaper year-round eats, and even grow them yourself.

How to evaluate whether couponing can work for you and help to stretch your budget just a little bit further.

Countless tips for practicing frugality in your kitchen.

And more… (that’s what they all say, right? But it’s true!)

Stephanie even has a multiple page sneak peek you can check out as well!

I’ve read a good portion of the book already and have loved Chapter1: Working with a Budget, and gotten LOTS of great info in Chapter 10: Get Creative! The tips at the end of the book for how to find time to cook from scratch has been immensely helpful as well.

Right now “Real Food on a Real Budget” is on sale for $18.97 but you get a chance to win a copy for yourself!! To enter, I’m going to make it super easy – just leave a comment here at this post!

But….. if you’d like additional entries (and who doesn’t right?) click on over to Keeper of the Home’s Recipe page and tell me in a separate comment one you’d like to try. And for a second additional entry – go over to her brand new site Saving Naturally and then leave me yet another comment when you’ve followed her. You will totally want to follow that blog somehow as she posts deals for Real Food!

This giveaway will be open until Saturday July 3 at 8am EST (I plan on sleeping in!!)

I have a lot of new and exciting things coming up here this fall, so make sure you add my blog's RSS Feed to your reader or you can sign up for free updates by Email. I can also be found on Facebook and Twitter! **

Essentials of a Pregnancy Diet

donielle — Fri, 28 May 2010 09:34:04 +0000

Now that my 5 part fertility diet series is over, and I know I have quite a few pregnant readers, I thought I’d delve a bit into pregnancy diets. I started this post over at Amy’s blog (The Finer Things in Life) today talking about the importance of eating well during pregnancy, and while everything I outlined for a fertility diet is just as important I thought it important to specifically talk about pregnancy.

5 Things to Include

1. Consume a variety of foods – each food has different vitamin and mineral compositions and it’s important to make sure we’re getting a bit of everything so that baby can develop correctly. If you like carrots, fabulous! But you don’t need to eat them every day all day. Make sure your plate is colorful and switch it up day to day.
2. Eat more raw – Heating and cooking kills enzymes that are needed for proper nutrient absorption. Making sure you eat raw foods allows your body to fully use everything you consume. This includes fruits, veggies, and even milk ,yogurt, and butter.
3. Drink plenty of water – Water is essential to life and we need to make sure we’re drinking enough of it. Urinating is one was our body rids itself of toxins and we need to make sure we are constantly flushing them out.
4. Make sure you consume good fats each day – fats like butter, ghee, coconut oil, lard/tallow. Eating fat allows your body to actually absorb fat soluble vitamins like A, D, E and K. Making sure your diet includes good fats and cholesterol also helps your body to produce the hormones needed to sustain a pregnancy and helps baby develop properly. Diets low in fat soluble vitamins are more often associated with degenerative diseases in children as well as poor bone structure and crooked teeth.
5. Add probiotic foods into your diet every day, like yogurt, kefir, or sauerkraut. Not only do eating these foods help keep you from getting sick, they will pass on to baby and help populate and protect their gut. This helps baby absorb nutrients correctly and protects against disorders associated with leaky gut syndrome like ADD, autism, and allergies.

5 Things to Leave Out

1. Stay away from refined sugar and flour. They rob your body of nutrients needed for baby and cause a rapid rise and fall of your blood sugar levels. With large fluctuations in blood sugar levels, your hormones may have a hard time balancing causing issues with sustaining a pregnancy as well as morning sickness.

2. While controversial, I personally think that soy should not be included in a healthy pregnancy diet. Some studies say the phytoestrogens in soy help your body make it’s own estrogen. Other studies say it mimics estrogen in the body and therefore causes your body to slow down production of the hormone. The Weston A Price Foundation mentions that soy also includes something called phytic acid which can severely rod your body of nutrients. There is also the fact that 90% of the soy grown in the US is genetically modified and studies are showing that GMO foods are not compatible with life. In any case, we do know that they way people consume soy today (soy milk, veggie burgers) is not the way people ate soy even 50 years ago.

3. Vegetable oils are high in omega 6’s and in turn upset the balance between themselves and the omega 3’s, which our body is supposed to have more of. This and the fact that many of the vegetable oils (corn, canola, and soy) are also genetically modified.

4. I feel like even after the refined sugar and the vegetable oils I still need to say that processed foods should not be part of a healthy diet either! These foods have been completely changed from their original source and the nutrients are altered. They rob your body of vitamins and minerals as you try to absorb the damaged nutrients and can affect your growing baby’s neurological system with the pesticides, chemical flavor enhancers, and coloring.

5. The folks from Responsible technology left a comment on one of my fertility diets posts mentioning that all Genetically Modified foods should not be consumed as well, and I agree! Here’s what they left:

“The American Academy of Environmental Medicine (AAEM), for example, issued a policy statement that all physicians should prescribe non-GMO diets for everyone, citing a long list of disorders found in animal feeding studies.

A team of scientists re-evaluated data from three rat feeding studies by Monsanto, and published evidence showing “signs of toxicity” in major organs.

Two institutes in Russia found that by the third generation of feeding hamsters GM soy, most lost the ability to have babies. And the infant mortality was 4 or 5-fold higher than controls.

Scientists from the USDA, Purdue, and elsewhere, are now publishing reports about how the overuse of Roundup herbicide, used with GM Roundup Ready crops, may be depriving our food of key minerals.”

So what do you think? What’s the hardest to abide by?

What’s the easiest?

Tell me about your pregnancy diets!

This post is linked to: Fight Back Friday

I have a lot of new and exciting things coming up here this fall, so make sure you add my blog's RSS Feed to your reader or you can sign up for free updates by Email. I can also be found on Facebook and Twitter! **

Cloth Diapering? But…Why!? A case for cloth

donielle — Wed, 12 May 2010 10:37:22 +0000

The following is a guest post from my friend Kelly.

If you are currently expecting, or you are already a parent, you have probably contemplated diapers.

It is a wise choice to think about the diaper you will use for your little one, because they will sit in them 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, for an average of 3 years.

A wise choice to ponder because you will pay for every diaper you put on baby, and you will use an average of 7000 to 9000 from birth to potty!

There are so many reasons why parents choose to use cloth, and on the other end…so many reasons why they choose not to! Hopefully this article will give you a good launching pad into information on the benefits of cloth diapering. I am Kellie Rosenberg and I own a small Cloth Diapering and Natural Parenting business called EcoBuns. Our goal is and has always been to “change the diapers” one bottom at a time. We think the best way to do this is to educate, educate, educate on the benefits and ease of use that are cloth diapers.

When researching cloth diapers as an option you will come across a wealth of information (and opinions) that can seem overwhelming. I know that when my husband and I sat down to look through the info on cloth diapering we were so bombarded that we thought of giving up on the idea all together. In fact, I found myself doubting that the statics I was reading were true because they seemed so astronomical to me. I am going to draw for you a broad outline in the way of research and only point out facts I have personally checked – please when researching on your own check the sources of the studies, a study is only as reliable as who is paying for it. For example, if you find a study leading you to believe that the environmental impact of reusable diapers is not more or is equal to the impact of disposables, and then you read that the study was conducted by, and paid for, by a large disposable diaper manufacturer then take that into account. Vice Versa with a cloth diaper company paying for a study – check your sources and be an educated consumer. My sources are located at the end of this article and have been checked against numerous others for merit.

Broadly spoken, there are three main benefits to cloth diapering; benefits to baby, benefit on the family budget, and finally the most obvious is the benefit environmentally.

Benefits to Baby

As I stated previously, baby will spend the vast majority of 3 years in a diaper. Our skin is like a screen door into our body, things go out and things go in. Moisturized, warm skin acts even more as a “loose” barrier. Disposable diapers contain chemicals as well called SAP (super absorbant polymers). Also amongst the chemicals in a disposable diaper are sodium polyacrylate (the chemical that was banned from tampons in the 1980’s due to its link to toxic shock syndrome) and dioxin (a carcinogen). Because there are harsh chemicals present with disposables they are sometimes not well tolerated by baby’s sensitive skin. There are other studies being conducted looking into the link between SAP and asthma-like symptoms.

Benefits on the Family Budget

There is no doubt that it is more convenient to use something and then throw it away rather than launder it to be used again. However, we as a family had to decide whether the convenience factor of disposables was worth the $2000 more we would end up paying for it, (not to mention the environmental impact it would have). My husband works in finance and money, and how we chose to spend it is of large importance to him. He sat down and worked out the following the image. This is a very liberal estimation of needs for a cloth diaperer. Cloth diapering can be done much less expensively than this, but to play it really cautious we went as pricey as possible so that the savings were achievable for all, no matter what system of diapering you pick. The savings alone spoke volumes to our family and really made a difference for us. Also, we considered that this is savings for one child… so obviously for subsequent children the savings doubles and triples and so on.

Benefits to the Environment

The home run came when we realized that the environmental benefits of cloth diapering were astronomical!

Research shows that it will take a disposable diaper from 200 to 500 years to decompose – this even includes the brands that are more “environmentally friendly”. This means that the first single-use diaper ever made and used is still sitting in a landfill somewhere just as “ripe” as the day it was changed. 2.7 billion disposables enter our landfills each year and it makes them the 3^rd largest consumer product in landfills to date – and of the three they are the least likely to decompose.

I was recently at an Earth Day Awareness Event and was having a discussion with a man about cloth diapering. Something he said to me struck a chord; he said, “ so basically we (the majority of society that use disposables) are wrapping something that is very biodegradable (poop) in something that will never biodegrade (single-use diapers) and throwing it in a landfill.” Honestly, the idea had often crossed my mind as to how unsanitary it seemed to me that the majority of disposable diaper users (myself included up until recent years) took off a diaper full of poop and rolled it up into a little paper and plastic poop ball, put it in a diaper genie containing a loooooong plastic bag that sealed it and then took it to the curb for the trash every week. I think that if I had sat down and thought that through a bit, at the time it would have seemed appalling to me that I was doing it.

I liken it to smoking in the 1960’s, a ton of people did it, and no one really thought that it was bad for you…just didn’t really sit down and think about it. I often get asked about the environmental footprint created by laundering cloth diapers. There are many studies that have been done on this subject. My overall summary is this, when you launder at home, with an all-natural detergent the environmental impact is minute compared to the impact of the disposable diapering manufacturers. The average number of disposable diapers a child would wear from birth to potty would require 20 trees, 60 lbs of chlorine, 420 gallons of petroleum, and would generate 1 ton of solid trash that would enter a landfill.

The job of a parent is the hardest one out there, and there are many reasons why cloth diapering is not for everyone – I am the first to understand that. However, if cloth diapering can work for you it is worth giving it a shot, even on a here and there basis, to cut down on your baby’s carbon footprint. At EcoBuns we offer a “Try Before You Buy” program to allow parents who are new to cloth or ones who are interested in other modes of cloth diapering to try it out before committing. We are also happy to be an educational resource to parents. If this article spurs on more questions for you, please contact us. Happy Diapering!

Thanks for the informative post Kelly! A lot of the same reasons you chose cloth is the same reason I did!

What about you? Have you thought about using cloth diapers?

If you do, what was your main reason?

Sources:

“The Poop on Eco-Friendly diapers” (http://www.wired.com/news/print/0,1294,63182,00.html)

“Chemicals in Diapers Cited as Possible Asthma Trigger” (http://www.intelihealth.com/pcn/general/00245145.html) http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1510/is_n60/ai_6642692

“Country in „true‟ energy crises ups prices” http://www.usatoday.com/money/economy/2008-05-28- 1430029404_x.htm

“First Steps, The Diaper Debate” (http://healthychild.org/blog/comments/first_steps_the_diaper_deb ate/) Pamela Lundquist.

I have a lot of new and exciting things coming up here this fall, so make sure you add my blog's RSS Feed to your reader or you can sign up for free updates by Email. I can also be found on Facebook and Twitter! **

Post Partum Herbal Sitz Bath

donielle — Fri, 16 Apr 2010 10:00:00 +0000

There are lots and lots of herbal sitz bath recipes on the web if you do a search for them. Some include only one herb, while others include a whole list of them. I decided to kind of make my own and use what I had on hand (or could easily get my hands on).

Here’s the “recipe” I used to make my post partum sitz baths.

1/2 gallon boiling water
1/2 cup sea salt (or epsom salt, but it doesn’t have the same healing properties)
1/2 cup comfrey leaves
1/4 cup uva ursi leaves

Mix together and let sit, covered, for at least a few hours to steep. Basically what you’re doing is making a really strong herbal tea. Strain into a clean container and keep in the fridge, or freeze in Ziploc bags if you make it ahead.

It can be used in the bath after delivery: just pour a couple of cups into a warm bath and soak for at least 15 minutes. This is my favorite!! Not only do I get a few minutes of “me time”, it has really helped relax my sore muscles.

Can be used in a squirt bottle to use after going to the bathroom.

Can also be used to make “ice packs”. Just pour a bit onto panty liners and freeze. Then place over a regular pad to help ice your perineum. They don’t stay cold for long though. Oh, and they don’t freeze solid since it’s salt water.

Not only does this sitz bath help promote healing because of the herbs and sea salt, it does wonders for sore and achy muscles. And after hours of contractions, you’re muscles are gonna be sore!

I sure wish I had known about herbal baths after my first delivery, I think it would have made a world of difference in how I felt!

Have you used or made something like this?

*This can also be made dry by omiting the water and then seal by spoonfuls in a tea bag or spoon into a mesh tea ball. When needed, bring 2 – 3 cups of water to boiling, steep for 10 minutes, and pour into bath.

*I’m entering this recipe into Mountain Rose Herbs Recipe Contest!

I have a lot of new and exciting things coming up here this fall, so make sure you add my blog's RSS Feed to your reader or you can sign up for free updates by Email. I can also be found on Facebook and Twitter! **

How to Start Cloth Diapering

donielle — Fri, 02 Apr 2010 15:54:20 +0000

My biggest issue when I was trying to decided whether or not to cloth diaper, was where to start! I think most people have the same thoughts when it comes to it:

The ick factor. I knew cloth diapering was better for the environment, better for baby’s bum, and better on my wallet. But the memory of my own mom dunking and swishing poopy diapers out in the toilet (plus the nasty smelling ‘wet pail’) totally turned me off to it. Totally. Plus, how in the world do you wash them?

So many options, and everyone seems to have their very own ( and very different) opinion.

The upfront costs of cloth diapers makes just about anyone run scared. And frugal ‘ol me was having a hard time wrapping my head around it! Plus, it’s a big enough purchase that I didn’t want to buy the ‘wrong’ ones.

So let’s debunk a few things and chat about how to make it work!

1. The Ick Factor

Yes, there will be ick. I won’t lie to you!

But.

Did you know that disposable diaper manufacturers also tell you to dump the solid wastes? Go ahead and look on the package, it’s there!

The actual changing with cloth diapers is no different than with disposables. And if you use cloth wipes, it makes it super easy because the wipe and dipe get tossed into the same pail. But it’s what to do after the fact that had me stumped. Well….. if the baby is exclusively breastfed, unless it is a super huge mess, you don’t have to rinse it off. Just toss the dipe in a dry pail (got that? no more wet pail – you just have a diaper liner in either a garbage can or diaper pail). Done.

If your little one is on solids of some sort one of two things might happen depesning on how they go. You’ll just shake it a bit into the toilet or take a diap3er sprayer (cost to buy one is about $40.00, cost to make your own about $5.00) and spray it off. Then drop it in the pail.

You should wash every other day (or sooner if you have less diapers like I do) as the ammonia can build up and cause the pail to get quite rank. And it can have an effect on the elastic within the dipes. What you do is take the whole bag of diapers, turn it inside out into the washing machine (you never touch the dipes!) and toss the liner in too.

Wash on cold for one short cycle with a small amount of detergent- helps to rid the diapers of any solid matter left over

Wash on HOT for a long cycle with a small amount of detergent- cleans and deodorizes

Rinse one final time – helps rid the diapers of any leftover detergent

Dry according to diaper directions or dry outside to “sun” the stains out

After cloth diapering my son from 20 months old until he was completely without diapers (about 10 months) and now after having my daughter in cloth fulltime for over 9 months, I now realize it’s not near as icky as I thought it would be. And the extra washing isn’t a big deal either, though it took me a couple months to get a good system down so that I wasn’t running out of diapers!

The Options

Prefolds, pockets, one size, all in ones, fitteds, velcro, snaps…….ahhhh! So many options out there, where do you even begin to start! To make it easier, many cloth diaper companies (like EcoBuns who did a giveaway here just a bit ago) are now offering a diaper trial. I know with EcoBuns you let them know what type of dipe you’re looking to try out and she sends you 5 different styles or brands to try out and then you send them back after you use them for 2 weeks. Different companies offer something silimar. This way you get to really see how they work without a lot of upfront cost.

You could also buy a few different types to try them out. My experience has been that they all work – it’s just a matter of personal preference. And the great thing is about cloth diapers is that if you take good care of them and keep them in good shape, they are easy to resell! I’ve purchased many used diapers at half the price and they work just as good.

My advice is to just start! You don’t need to have all the supplies, and 24 diapers all at once. But a few and use them while you supplement with disposables until you find out what you really like to use. I started out with 3 diapers and now have built up a stash of about 14. (though I would highly recommend about 24 – you’d do laundry less and also not run out as often as I forget to wash!)

The Cost

Yes, cloth diapers are expensive. Spending $15.00 to $20.00 per diaper seems like way to much! There are cheaper options like prefolds (but remember you have to buy different sizes as the baby grows) but even that it still just less thna $100.00 to buy what you need all at once. So what do you do if you want to try cloth but can’t afford the upfront cost?

Enter The Cloth Diaper Foundation. (formerly Miracle Diapers)

The CDF Mission Statement

Our 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization is dedicated to helping qualifying families all over the United States get a jump start on cloth diapering. Cloth diapers are a more natural, healthy alternative to disposables that reduce overall waste, thereby helping the environment. As a supplementary program, it is not our wish to be a family’s sole source for cloth diapers; rather, we assist families while they build their own supply of diapers. We accept donations given by caring individuals and redistribute them to families in need.

What they do

Once approved through an application process (currently closed unfortunately) they loan you cloth diapers to get you started so that you can stop buying disposables and start saving for your own stash. (you just pay for shipping) It’s a fabulous idea!

Other ways to buy diapers:

Buy used through a site like Diaper Swappers or craigslist

Check Cotton Babies for ’seconds’ (dipes with slight blemishes but completely usable)

Sites like etsy and ebay have sellers who make their own diapers and many are great quality and cheaper than name brand (just check out their reviews!)

Cloth Diaper Clearance is also a great site to check out

Cloth diapering is an economical and ecological solution to diapering! Not only do you save about $2000.00 for the first child that uses them (second child it’s basically free if you’re dipes are still in usable condition as most would be) you save the landfills from about 1 ton of diapers per child. And those diapers will take about 500 years to decompose. Not that’s really the ick factor!

Do you cloth diaper? How did you get started?

If you don’t what’s stopping you?

This post is linked to Frugal Friday

I have a lot of new and exciting things coming up here this fall, so make sure you add my blog's RSS Feed to your reader or you can sign up for free updates by Email. I can also be found on Facebook and Twitter! **

Giveaway: Bum Genius

donielle — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 19:42:15 +0000

Now that I’m back…..let’s kick off this week with a giveaway!

Kellie, from EcoBuns, contacted me a bit ago about doing a review and giveaway and since she’s not only local for me, but also runs a store filled with cloth diapers and baby carriers, I knew you’d love what we were going to give away!! Plus I love introducing you to companies I love run by great people.

Wait for it…..

Wait for it…..

She’s going to giveaway a Bum Genius Organic one size diaper!

Since I hadn’t yet used one of these, she sent me one to facilitate my review. Wanna see it?

(and yes I know the picture is technically horrible, but with that smile, how could I not post it?)

(getting to quick on those knees)

(a model in training)

What I love about it:

The snaps. Seriously, someone was thinking when they decided to use snaps! They don’t come apart easily (the velcro can stick to clothes when it gets to curly) and they are much faster to snap than I thought they would be. It makes it easier in the wash as I don’t have to worry about the velcro sticking to the other dipes. I hate going back to my velcro dipes.

The elastic on it seems so much better then the other BG’s for some reason. They definitely don’t have the same seam.

It’s and all-in-one diaper meaning there is nothing to stuff or insert. It’s all one piece which makes laundry so much easier.

My only complaints:

It takes longer to dry than my other BG dipes. But that I can live with.

Not quite as absorbent as my insertable BG’s, and with my “heavy at night wetter” we save this one for the daytime!

Now for the part you’re really interested in….how can you win it?

To enter: ****THIS GIVEAWAY HAS NOW ENDED***

Go on over to EcoBuns and check our her store (it’s the least you can do to win something awesome!) leave a comment here at this post letting us know what product you love that she sells.

Now Facebook kinda changed the rules on us here a bit where I can’t give you an entry for becoming a “fan”. BUT, I can give you an entry for being awesome, right?! And it would totally be awesome if you checked out her Fan Page. (psst – she also has a giveaway going on over there too!) Leave a comment telling me how awesome you are!

Follow Kellie on Twitter and let me know.

For one last entry…if you already cloth diaper leave a comment with your best tip. If you don’t cloth diaper yet, leave a comment with your holdups.

Entries must be placed by this Friday the 19th at midnight and the winner must have a U.S. shipping address.

I have a lot of new and exciting things coming up here this fall, so make sure you add my blog's RSS Feed to your reader or you can sign up for free updates by Email. I can also be found on Facebook and Twitter! **

Giveaway: Jellie Babies Mei Tai

donielle — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 14:45:39 +0000

Last summer I had the pleasure of “meeting” Michelle Lloyd from Jellie Babies when I did a review for her hand made Mei Tai’s. (Don’t know what a mei tai is? This is an Asian-inspired soft baby carrier which can be used to carry baby either on the front, back, or even on the hip!) And recently I received an e-mail from her that you all are going to love!

“In honor of our 100th sale, Jellie Babies would like to offer up a giveaway for our newest design – Royal Peacock Blue! I personally want to thank Donielle and Naturally Knocked Up for reviewing Jellie Babies way back when, it has been a real blessing to our business!!

“Jellie Babies Mei Tais are now made with the inner layer of duck cloth, also called canvas. The straps are triple x-box stitched to that inner layer and triple stitched to the carrier itself. Jellie Babies has added these features to increase the sturdiness of our Mei Tais.”

I’ve been loving using my mei tai and right now it’s seeing a lot of use as my little one has recently gone through some teething and does NOT want to be put down. Ever. So I put her on my back and away we go!

(here’s a picture of her in it when she was only a couple months old)

Michelle has also started to use an extra layer of fabric (canvas) in between the minky lining and decorative outer fabric.

And so you can see how sturdy the straps are, here’s an image of the box stitching.

The finished product

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And a view of the minky lining (soooo soft!)

To check out my full review and learn a bit more about Michelle, you can read my review post. And make sure you go check out Jellie Babies to see all her designs!

To enter this giveaway, just leave a comment here on this post! (Michelle will even ship internationally!!)

For extra entries:

Become a fan of Jellie Babies on Facebook

Become a fan of Naturally Knocked Up on Facebook

Add my RSS feed to your reader or subscribe to free updates by e-mail

Share this giveaway with your friends on Facebook or on Twitter

(for each extra entry, please leave a separate comment for each to let me know!)

Rules:

Must leave a comment before this Friday (the 12th) at midnight – winner will be chosen by random.org

I have a lot of new and exciting things coming up here this fall, so make sure you add my blog's RSS Feed to your reader or you can sign up for free updates by Email. I can also be found on Facebook and Twitter! **

You Know Mom is a Blogger When….

donielle — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 12:07:42 +0000

Wordless Wednesday

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Kids Are Like Ice Cream

donielle — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 10:00:00 +0000

Sometimes being a stay at home mom is like eating ice cream that has a little frost bite on it. You really love the ice cream so you keep eating it, but those little pieces find their way onto your spoon every now and again. It doesn’t make you stop eating it, since you love it so, but it does put a sour taste in your mouth every now and again.

And if you don’t like ice cream (*gasp!*), let me explain. As stay at home moms, we love our children. We would do anything for them. But there are days, weeks, even months, that can really beat us down. The kids aren’t sleeping well, they’re sick, you’re sick, they test you to see what you’ll let them get away with. Everyday. Leaving us drained of energy, our minds in a mental fog.

Like with any full time job, there are days were you wish you could just quit. Not indefinitely of course, just for that one day. I definitely had my share of those while working a 9-5. A demanding boss, ungrateful customers, coworkers that were out to make your life miserable, and ledger books that weren’t balancing. And we would go through super busy periods that left me drained at the end of the night. Not so different from being at home actually. Who can be more demanding than a toddler, or more ungrateful than a child who doesn’t like what you’ve made for dinner. Some days, it does seem like it’s our children’s goal to drive us crazy! And then there are always the books (or budget) that don’t seem to want to balance. Especially now in this tougher economic time. Some days are so busy you seem to have no more energy left to give to your husband. Or yourself.

Don’t get me wrong, I truly and passionately believe that God has called me to stay at home with my family. Taking care of my husband, my children, and my home. It’s important for me to support my husband by making sure he has what he needs to get through his day. Teaching and training my son is high on my priority list as well. Not only teaching basic household chores and actual academics, but also teaching him about the Lord we serve. It seems a large undertaking some days but, when all is said and done, I hope to look back on my life and consider this my greatest work.

So what happens when your stuck in a funk? Just going through the motions? You know the feeling. Things get done, dinner gets on the table, the children are clothed, but you’ve lost your passion. You’ve lost your ability to truly enjoy being at home. And while you know the reason you do what you do, you just feel like something is missing, something just isn’t right.

**First and foremost, you need to know that this happens to all women. In every stage of life. I haven’t met a mom yet who hasn’t gone through a rough period. Even the best of moms can have times where they lose their focus! And it’s okay. We have not been called to be perfect. So why is it that we have such a hard time asking for help? Is it that we think our friends and family won’t help us out? Do we really have such little faith in them? I know I would jump at the chance to help another mom doing what needs to be done to give her a break. I also know that I don’t ask for help either. So what’s stopping us? Pride, and only pride. We feel we should be able to do everything under the sun, and look great and be happy while we’re doing it. A sense of guilt creeps in that you aren’t enjoying your family like you should be.

**Spend time with God every day. Just you and you alone. Preferably before your little ones wake up. And why before? There really is no better way to start the day than refreshed and renewed.

**Get up before everyone else. I never understood why my mom always got up early when she didn’t have to. We were homeschooled and had no bus to catch, and rarely did we have to be somewhere early. But every morning, there she was, sipping her cocoa and enjoying the news. I completely understand it now. While I would much rather stay up late and get to sleep in, I get up with my husband at 6:00 every morning to see him off to work. Then I normally have about an hour or so to myself. (sometimes I’m lucky and get two!) This time is pivotal in my keeping my sanity. I’m able to do my devotions, drink a nice hot cup of cocoa or tea, and do something I enjoy. Just try waking up an hour before everyone else for a few weeks. Take a shower while the house is still quiet, spend time reading a book or doing something you love. When your kids wake up and the house is all a bustle, you’ll be ready for it.

**You also need to treat your job like a job, because that is really what homemaking is. Set a schedule for yourself, organize your own life. I tend to focus on my toddlers schedule so much so that I forget about the little things that I need to do. Take a moment to plan out your week. Plan your meals so you never have that “what’s for dinner?” feeling at 4:00. If you really love organizing, plan out different laundry and cleaning days. Sometimes it may feel like over planning, and maybe it is, but a job outside the home has all sorts of schedules and deadlines, why shouldn’t your house? Get your little ones on a schedule, it’ll make their lives easier as well!

**Make sure you are nourishing your body. In order to keep up with all of the physical, mental, and emotional toles of keeping a home, you need to be in tip top condition. Your body will run ragged by the end of the day if all you’re doing is snacking on whatever is in the cupboards just to keep hunger at bay. This is especially important for pregnant and nursing moms! Your bodies are providing that same fuel to your babies, and they get the nutrients first, while you just get the leftovers. You need to be eating at least 3 meals a day with a couple snacks in between. And these meals need to be as nutrient dense as possible. Keep your diet low in sugar and low in refined flours. Both of these not only effect your blood sugar levels (which effect your energy levels) but they deplete your body of nutrients. It’s to hard to live your life when your body is tired and malnourished. There is even a strong connection between your diet and your mental state, as the chemicals in our brains are directly related to what we consume.

**Try and get some alone time out of the house every once in awhile. This is something that has taken me awhile to learn to ask for. But even grocery shopping without a toddler seems heavenly some days! Once in awhile I’ll go out at night to do my shopping when my husband gets home, and sometimes a friend of mine (bless her heart!) will watch him while I go. Just being able to run errands by myself can be a huge re-energizer! You don’t even have to spend any money. Get together with a friend, go to the library, or just get out of the house for a nice long walk.

**Ask for help. If you need that time away, or need some extra help around the house, ask. Call a friend, call family. Just ask. Swallow that pride and realize that you are not super woman. It doesn’t matter how many kids you have or how much homemaking you do, everyone needs a helping hand.

And most of all pray, pray, pray! Nothing can be done without our Lord. Period.

So how do you keep your life sane in the midst of tantrums and children? How do you stay refreshed?

This post was originally published on Jan. 27, 2009