Summer= Freedom to live and do as I choose!

It's been two weeks since school let out and my summer vacation began. Life got a little busy while working and taking care of a new baby that I couldn't post on here like I originally intended to. We started off the summer vacation with an unpleasant surprise of hand, foot and mouth disease. This delayed all fun to be had and wanted while I babied my little Noah. He was better right in time for his first birthday as we celebrated surfing in the sun.

Mommy's birthday kisses for Noah

Some pinata fun!

Red velvet cupcakes!

Noah ate his cupcake on his very special Birthday plate from Grandma!

I've also had a lot more time to spend on sewing. It has been so rewarding to teach myself how to sew! I tried appliqueing for the first time today...it wasn't that bad! And you can make them really quickly i've noticed! Maybe that's why you can find a million of these on etsy?? Glad I don't have to spend money on them and have fun making my own!

Here's what I made:

Little Birdy for Noah

I'd like to try some dinosaurs next...or maybe try some monogramming on towels? We shall see!
Can you tell I love being a SSAHM (Summer Stay At Home Mom)?? I sure do!!

How Many Bags Have YOU Gone Through?

Ever since Noah was born,  more and more I noticed how many Ziploc bags we went through. I am somewhat of a germaphobe, so when I used a Ziploc bag to store one of Noah's pacifiers, I would almost always throw it out after only one use. As I threw the plastic into the garbage, a sense of guilt overcame me. I felt bad for throwing it out after only a single use, and that I was throwing money away.

Another guilt I have is with plastic grocery bags. These days, I see more people bringing reusable bags to the grocery stores. I say to myself that every time I'm going to start doing the same. We have a million plastic bags sitting in our pantry and I wonder how many we have used in just the past month. Since plastic comes from oil, and oil usually spells disaster (insert Iraq) (insert BP), maybe we should try to use a little less of it.

I've decided I'm going on a Ziploc and grocery bag strike, and I want to see how long I can go. To replace the Ziploc bags I plan on purchasing a few of these. They have so many fabric choices and I love all of them!

As for the plastic grocery bags, I have a bunch of reusable bags that I've gotten for free here and there, so no additional cost there.  From now on, I'm going to play it safe and make sure to leave some reusable bags in my car in case I make an impromptu shopping trip!

One more thing. Since Christmas is right around the corner, many of you will be using a lot of wrapping paper and/or plastic/paper bags. Why not wrap your gifts in reusable fabric the Japanese way? I came across this website that shows you how to wrap your gifts in fabric (called furoshiki) and it looks so adorable!

How will you stop using so much plastic? Are you ready to go on the strike with me?

Cloth diapers aren't what they used to be!

While browsing the internet before Noah was born I came across a website selling cloth diapers. Wow were they super cute! I thought I would buy a few and see what they were like. I ended up just going for it! I did a WHOLE lot of research reading reviews by other mamas to see which were the very best. There are so many different kinds and brands of cloth diapers out there, it can be pretty overwhelming. I don't like to brag, but I must say I've become quite the pro on cloth diapering over the year, and so has my husband!

That's one thing, if you're thinking of cloth diapering you must know that many people that use disposables will be very anti cloth diapering. Many people don't even want to give it a try. What you will discover if you take that leap of faith is that it is actually quite simple and VERY cost effective.

It's very easy to spend the same amount on cloth diapers for every kid you will have in your family (because they are cloth remember you can use these cloth diapers on kid one, two, three, four...) that you would spend in one month on disposables.

CLEANING. Many people stop here. "I have to clean it off the diaper?!" If you nurse your child, you can just throw the dirty diapers (number one AND two) in the wash and that's it (breast milk poo is water soluble). If you formula feed or your baby eats solid food you can't just throw it in the wash because their poo will not be water soluble. That's when technology comes in hand!

This diaper sprayer attaches to your toilet and you spray the poo off! Yes, quite amazing.

The debate: Hook and loop (Velcro) vs. Snaps

Cloth diapers are available in both Velcro and Snaps. Velcro is very easy to use and is much like a disposable diaper. You are able to get a really good fit with Velcro. Some people prefer snaps because they keep up better than diapers made with Velcro. After many washes Velcro can start to look a little shabby, but usually still does it's job and can also be replaced.

This is a snap closure diaper made by Fuzzibunz.

This is a Velcro diaper made by Bum Genius.

You may have also noticed that the second diaper has snaps on it. This allows you to make the diaper smaller or bigger, adjusting the diaper as your child grows. This diaper is also called a One Sized diaper. You only need one diaper from newborn to toddler! The first diaper is a Sized diaper. You need to buy different sizes (small, medium, large) as your child grows. It's preference, but it's also a money saver if you go with the One Sized diapers.

If you are interested in cloth diapering your child, or your next, do your research or check out a local cloth diapering store. Use your resources! There are many helpful mama's at the babycenter.com cloth diapering community group. There are so many options (and pretty colors!) that you are bound to find one that agrees with you. And remember... you will be saving the environment and thousands of diapers from sitting in a land fill....

Freshly baked baby food

I feel so much better giving Noah homemade baby food... I like to know exactly what he's eating and that there are no preservatives. I've found that it's super easy to do even as a full time working mama. I just make sure to do all of my baking on the weekends. I can actually bake a few vegetables and puree them and he's set for a few weeks! So far I have made:

Vegetables: sweet potatoes, butternut squash, acorn squash, carrots
Fruits: avocado, banana, apples

I thought I would mention that I started Noah off with baby rice cereal that was store bought. He was on it for a month and in that time I decided to start making my own baby food. You can make your own rice cereal for babies but I have not.

After I puree the vegetables/fruits I store them in ice cube trays in the freezer. In 24 hours I empty them into tupperware and they stay in the freezer until I feed him (just use a microwave).
 

Squash in ice cube form ready to be heated!

He definitely enjoys mama's cooking!

I get all of my information from Wholesome Baby Food.

Looking forward to getting these for Christmas! Baby Cubes