Converting to Cloth

In our continued efforts to cut our spending in order to focus on saving money we've decided to try out cloth diapering. It only took us about 2 years to come to this decision. We considered it briefly before Kai was born, but Ben vetoed the idea. His biggest problem was the poo going in the washing machine. 4 years later, we both laugh at that being worrisome.

When Kai was about a year old we considered it again. I really looked into the savings, but again Ben wasn't too keen on the idea. I also, wasn't completely sold. I was worried that the amount of laundry I'd be doing would negate any savings. I was also used to the convenience of disposable diapers. The real clincher was that I ended up babysitting a child who was cloth diapered and I was completely turned off to the idea. The smell of the diapers and the rash that the child had were repulsive.

A couple weeks ago Ben and I were crunching numbers and moaning at how much we were still spending on disposable diapers. Even now that Malakai is (FINALLY) potty-trained we still spend about $75 every 4-6 weeks on Desmond's diapers and overnight pull-ups for Malakai. I'm currently looking into cloth overnight undies for Malakai. At $30 a pair, I'd like to figure out how to sew my own (or recruit my Mother-in-law!) before going in that direction.

I emailed a friend from college who has a little guy the same age as Desmond (check out her blog here). I knew that she'd been cloth diapering and was knowledgeable on the subject. I trust her opinion and was hoping to get better information from a friend than what I was finding scouring the internet. INFORMATION OVERLOAD! Amanda was a great help. Additionally I asked friends through facebook to share their favorite kinds. Then I crunched the numbers of half a dozen different trial programs.

I decided to go with Just Simply Baby. They had a great deal on a starter package of 10 pocket diapers, 20 inserts, 10 cloth wipes, a detergent sample, and cloth safe diaper cream for under $90. I got free shipping by adding 2 wet bags to my order and meeting the $100 minimum. They have a 30 day money back guarantee so I knew that I could send it all back if we weren't satisfied or if we decide cloth diapering doesn't work for us. Currently they are running a $10 diaper deal!

My second choice would be the trial through Jillian's Drawers. They send several types for you to try out at a fairly low cost. You can then send back any or all of them after 21 days. Your next order then ships free!

I just got our package today and have it all prepping as I type. I'm pretty excited to start something new and I'm really hopeful it'll work out and we can start saving!

 I received a trial amount of EcoSprout detergent to use, but need to figure out an affordable option for use after it runs out.  Any tips, tricks, or products you'd recommend or NOT recommend? Leave a comment!

where my time goes...

I've been terrible about updating around here lately. I knew it would happen once Desmond was born, but there's no way I could've predicted just how busy and different life would be. I feel like I have about 30 different projects going all at one time between work and home, all in different stages of "doneness" and all demanding my attention. Nothing demands my attention more than Kai + Des though, and they always win.

However, when I do get a chance to work on something here is how I spend my time:

* laundry. every person in charge of the laundry with a family of 4 knows how ridiculous and NEVER ENDING this chore is. It's always overwhelming, always. Right now there are about 10 categories: 1. Mine + Ben's dirty laundry. 2. The boys' dirty laundry 3. dirty linens 4. mine + Ben's clean clothes that need put away. 5. The boys' clothes that need put away (currently occupying the crib in the playroom-yikes.). 6. linens that need folded and put away 7. Des' clothes that are soaking in oxi-clean 8. clothes that are in the process of being washed/dried. 9. things that are hand wash only. 10. Clothes in the closets/drawers/on our bodies.

* dishes. pretty much the same story as laundry, although these get done quicker because 1. it gets gross faster and 2. there isn't room in my tiny kitchen to have dishes piling up.

* gift sorting. this is kind of an odd one, I know. We had a pile of gifts from Christmas and my birthday that was kind of taking over our living room (along with the clean laundry to be sorted). I don't give Kai all the new toys at once, nor Des for that matter. First I had to sort through the clothes, de-tag and wash the ones that fit now and put away the ones they'll grow into later. Next I dug out all the books and when I need a good distraction while nursing or putting Des down for a nap I'll grab a new book for Kai to read. Next are toys, which are all in a plastic tote until their time to shine. Last is the giftwrap/bags that I'm keeping. I'm almost done with this project as I had some time over the weekend to tackle it.

* Taxes. Right now I'm in the collecting stage, we still have 3 documents we're waiting on before I can get started.

*General cleaning. I sweep the floors every day and vacuum about twice a week (sometimes more). Kai helps me clean the playroom every couple of days and I'm constantly wiping down the dining area after he eats. I try to dust and wipe the whole house down, and scrub the bathroom at least once a week.

* General clutter. Every flat surface in our house has the tendency to accumulate clutter. Birthday cards, grocery lists, user manuals, books, vitamin containers, pens, paperwork, etc. Sometimes we'll go weeks without really putting these things where they go. It never takes long to clear off the desk/table/dresser/etc. but cleaning up dirt overrides clearing off clutter in my list of priorities.

* 2012 calendar. For the past 3 years I've done a photo calendar with pictures of the previous year's events on each month. I'm behind every year. This next calendar may have a starting month of March...

* organizing photos. I'm the most behind on this project. Before we moved here (almost 2 years ago) I had been in the habit of deleting photos that weren't great and renaming them by the date and putting them in folders by month and year. Once we moved, unpacking and getting the house ready took a priority over this project and I still haven't been able to catch up. Just about every photo from 2011 is in an obscurely labeled folder on the desktop. ugh.

* blogging. It's one of very few things that I consider "me" time, but I also do it for my family. It's my alternative to scrap booking or journaling.

* Reading. I NEVER get to do this, but last week I read The Help. I can't wait to see the movie!

* appointments. I used to make all the appointments, but now I have Ben take care of his own. So now I just schedule doctor, dentist, eye, and other appointments for the boys and myself.

* work. I've taken on a new job, which means more projects. I work on recruiting and scheduling volunteers at our church for nursery through 5 year olds. I make sure there are supplies for lessons, snack, clean up, diapering, and more. I organize curriculum for the two's and will soon be taking over the curriculum for 3-5's. I brainstorm ways to better the classrooms, volunteers, and more.

* finances. I keep track of our income + expenses, although this is something we've been talking about having Ben take over.

* small group. Ben + I just decided to host a small group through our church. It starts this week and I'm so excited! I need to prepare a snack/dessert and clean my house from top to bottom. (see all of the above items).

I'm sure I've missed something, and of course this is just all the indoor stuff since it's winter and we aren't tending to our yard + garden yet. Plus there's all the things that Ben does! He helps with the household stuff when I need it, but he also has plenty of other things to do like take out the trash, clean and organize the garage, maintain the cars, take care of all things technology and electronics and more.

Sunny Day

I was not expecting a sunny + somewhat "warm" day today, but here it is! Malakai hasn't tromped around outside in way too long with the cold + wet weather we've been having, so I jumped on the opportunity to take him outside.

I didn't feel like getting myself ready to go out, so we played in the backyard. I think it's safer that way anyway to be in the grass, leaves + mud than to want to play on the wet play structures and soggy bark.

He had a ton of fun and looked too cute in his galoshes + hoodie. He got super muddy because it's apparently hard to stand up after falling when your stiff rubber boots go up to your knees.

{we started out clean + dry and really excited}

{it didn't take long to fall + get wet, but it was still fun}

{the start of the muddy clothes phase}

{super grumpy about coming in for lunch}

I'll spare your hearts the ache of seeing his face after he got really upset about coming in. Luckily, he likes food just as much as he likes outside. Once he understood I was going to feed him, he calmed down considerably. 

I'm hoping for some more sunny days + time outdoors. It's so good for him to explore and really fun for me to watch him learn + play. 

Did you have sun today?

7th Generation Review + Giveaway {CLOSED}

As you may have noticed I've been trying to be more health + environmentally conscious. I think being a mom has really made me think about the chemicals we have around and put into our bodies.

Recently I contacted the wonderful people of Seventh Generation about working with them on a Review + Giveaway. Obviously, they agreed! I was so excited to try out their baby + cleaning products. They sent me their Natural Baby Starter Kit which included the following:

Chlorine Free Diapers

Chlorine Free Baby Wipes

Disinfecting Multi-purpose spray

Disinfecting Bathroom spray

Disinfecting wipes

Baby Laundry Liquid

Natural Recycled Paper Towels

The first thing I noticed is that the labeling on all their products encourage consumers to know more. They list their ingredients and some information, but then go beyond that and invite you to view more information about what is in their products at their website. I love that they are so transparent, it's refreshing in comparison to most manufacturers. 

Their disinfecting cleaners are fairly new and use natural ingredients to disinfect instead of the usual bleach or whatever else is in your typical household cleaner that most of us can't even pronounce. Gotta love that!

I was the most excited to try out the diapers. Malakai hasn't had trouble with any other disposable diapers, but I was still curious of these would hold up to what we were used to. Normally we use Target's Up & Up brand during the day and Pamper's Extra Protection for bedtime. The Seventh Generation diapers did great during the day, they actually kept Kai dry longer than his normal diapers.  I was even brave enough to try them out overnight a couple of times and we had no leaks and no redness!

The wipes were okay at first. They seemed a little thin and sort of dry. Fine for a wet diaper, but both Ben and I hated using them for soiled diapers. Even after using 4 or 5 wipes I felt like I wasn't cleaning Malakai's diaper area good enough with them.

I used the disinfecting multi-purpose spray in the kitchen the most. My favorite thing about the spray is the bottle itself. The sprayer works really well and doesn't drip. I think I may have been buying too many sprayers at the dollar store recently. I liked the fresh scent and it cleans up really well. I don't feel like I have to clean twice to get rid of chemical residue or deal with the sour smell of vinegar. I've used the Clorox Green Works before and I think it smells absolutely awful and stopped using it. The Seventh Generation Disinfecting spray is MUCH better!

I used the natural paper towels with the spray often or just with water in the kitchen. They work better than the regular paper towels I get. They were very absorbent but a little on the scratchy side for the occasional wiping of my son's face/hands/arms etc. after a meal if I needed something quick.

I tried the bathroom spray in the shower. It worked okay but I think I prefer an abrasive cleaner for tubs + toilets. If Seventh Generation came out with something like Ajax, I'd buy it right away! Although they do carry specific shower and tub + tile spray cleaners that I haven't tried.

The disinfecting wipes are one of my favorite items. Having a baby, I have a lot of surfaces that need a quick wipe down {changing table, high chair, counter top, spills on the floor, toys, etc}. I used these in all of those places and more. They work great and have a pleasant smell, but it doesn't linger. Ben even used them to clean up a hand-me-down toy we received and was pleased with the result.

I've used the laundry liquid several times. It comes in 2x concentrated so you don't have to use very much and it's specially formulated to work in cold water. I almost always wash Malakai's clothes in cold, but I tried it with our clothes too and liked being able to wash more things in cold and feel like they were getting clean! There is no scent or color. I'm used to using a free + clear detergent, but love that the ingredients in this are natural. 

Overall I loved Seventh Generations products and am so happy to have had the opportunity to try them out!

GIVEAWAY!

Now it's your turn to try out Seventh Generation's wonderful products. One reader of Breaking New Ground will win the Natural Baby Starter Kit that I reviewed. Open to US residents only.

For your first and MANDATORY entry please visit Seventh Generation and leave a comment here with what product you have used and love or would try if you've never used their products before.  

Giveaway ends Wednesday July 28th at 5pm PDT!

For additional entries {leave 1 comment for each fulfilled}: 

• Become a member of the Seventh Generation Nation + leave a link in your comment to your profile once you've signed up. 

• Follow me + Seventh Generation on twitter and tweet the following: "#win Seventh Generation Products from @ShanLeAnn + @SeventhGen at http://bit.ly/9VMcnT " can be done once per day.

• Become a public follower of my blog

• Add my button to your blog and leave a link where I can find it. 

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Any comments that do not fulfill the requirements for entry will be deleted without notification. If you are not signed in to a google account with an email attached to your profile, please leave an email address in your comment and use the example at gmail dot com format to avoid spam!

Disclaimer: While I did receive products from Seventh Generation for the purpose of review I was not compensated for this or any review and the opinions stated are honest and my own. For additional details see disclosures. 

As always, please feel free to contact me if you have any questions or need clarifications. Find me on twitter or click the email me button to the right. 

Good luck!

and I lived to blog about it

I've had a doozy of a day and it's not even noon yet. Let me share my misfortune with you, yes? Misery loves company, so feel free to share your crap days with me if you find the time :p

A little background- Ben and I only have one car. I may have mentioned that before. Mommy mush-brain makes it impossible for me to remember things like that anymore. Anyway, so if I need to do anything that involves leaving the house during the day I have to take him to work at 7am. This morning we did that for the first time so I could have a SAHM date with a girl friend of mine this afternoon.

I got halfway back home and realized that I didn't have the housekey on my key chain and Ben had made a point of the fact that he wasn't bringing his keys since I was driving. It just so happened I had taken off the house key to put in my pocket when Kai and I went for a walk about a week ago and said key got buried underneath the mail sitting on the dining room table.

I checked the keyring at two stoplights before calling Ben. I knew he couldn't do anything since he didn't have a key, but I needed him to tell me what I should do. He said to call my dad.

My dad is also our landlord. He also works graveyard and lives 40 minutes away. I called his cell phone in hopes that he was in town still after getting off of work. No such luck, he was cozy in his pj's about to go to bed. ugh. I thought about the options- I could drive out there and have Henry's mom bring him to work and then pick him up when I got back to town, or I could watch Henry at their house and then go get the key after. My dad insisted on just coming back into town and saving us the trip. Saved by G'Pa.

So for the next 45 minutes I sat in the car with Malakai- who was THANKFULLY fast asleep and waited. I prayed that my dad would get there before Henry's dad dropped him off. How embarrassing to have to explain that Henry could wait with us in the car too? No thanks. I was never more happy to see my dad speeding up our road. He of course complained, and I made a peace offering of xbox live (they live in rural area sans high speed internet and G'Pa LOVES video games) but he wanted to get back to sleep.

Five minutes later Henry got dropped off and fell asleep immediately. I thought that my day could only get better. I went to feed Malakai in bed after changing him and when I picked him up discovered his very first up the back diaper BLOWOUT. Ew.

About a year ago when I was first pregnant I explained blow-outs to my childish husband who wouldn't stop snickering. I got him to agree to change each and every blow out upon Kai's arrival since he thought they were so humorous. He even shook on it. Unfortunately, daddy was 7 miles away. just.my.luck.

The poo soaked through his pj's onto the WHITE bedsheets, and when I had picked him up it was on my sleeve...which is actually my sister's sleeve. SHHH don't tell! I also had to change him on the floor in the living room because Henry was sleeping and I didn't want to wake him with Kai's coos in the nursery.

When I headed to the laundry room to start the wash I then discovered annoyance # 3 of the day...our utility sink where we bathe Malakai had been dripping. It usually does, but when we were bathing the boy I had cranked the faucet to the side and it was dripping onto the floor and my craft shelf. The paint on the shelf is artfully cracked (maybe I'll leave it in the rain to make the rest of it look antique-y) and the floor was soaked. freakin' great.

I sopped up as much as I could on my still empty stomach between attending to my fussing little guy.

Then Henry woke up and Malakai was hungry again at the same time. So I sat criss-cross-applesauce on the nursery floor and nursed Kai while rocking Henry in his carseat.

Then...the worst thing of all happened. The baby swing died. And there are no batteries in our house. I found myself swinging it with my foot to lull Henry to sleep and feeding Kai again. It didn't work, so I had to walk my son to sleep and place him in the carseat while I walked Henry to sleep.

Finally- peace and quiet. This day will get better right?