The past few weeks I can be labeled as MIW (missing in wool). I have to admit, I'm obsessed with it. This whole new turn in my cloth diapering world is simply because about 3 months ago my daughter had a horrible diaper rash and the microfiber inserts in her pockets smelled horrible all the time. Washing them had turned into an excursion of, prewashing in warm water, soaking overnight in hot with soap, rinsing in hot 2 times and then 2 more rinses. It has just become unacceptable and simply a HUGE pain in my butt. So when the rash came and wouldn't go away, I busted out my crochet hook and whipped up my ugly woolie pattern that I used as an overnight cover with my son. Slapped on a prefold diaper and within a day her rash was gone. Completely mystified and beyond impressed. I made a trip down to our local cloth diaper shop and bought their gently used (dyed in pretty colors) prefolds, some snappis and boingos, along with some fantastic smelling wool wash. Went home, washed the diapers, and never looked back. I have since learned how to make a star, heart, bear paw, bear face, and frilly wool covers. I'm working on a pair of longies, but progress on that stopped after a visit to ETSEY with one of my bf's.
Up cycled wool longies?? My obsession monsters eyes grew large as drool started to trickle. "MUST TRY IT, NOW!!" I then found myself at the local Salvation Army on their 50% day. I raked through the racks looking for anything and everything that was 100% wool. I found 4 sweaters, 2 black, 1 brown, and 1 red. I came home and did what you are never supposed to do with wool sweaters. I washed them in HOT water and threw them in the dryer on HIGH heat. (MWAHAHAHAH) I could hear them screaming as they shrunk, but I didn't care. My fuzzy wool obsession monster was in a frenzy. I then proceeded to cut off the sleeves and sew them into pants, using either elastic or extra cuff for the waist. I then cut out the torso and made more pants. I soaked them in the gentle, organic wool wash with extra lanolin to soothe their seething dried wool fibers. It took two sessions of lanolising to get them to where they need to be for water repelling and wearing.
Upon doing this I erased one step from my daughters diaper changing routine. Instead of : diaper, cover and pants, it's : diaper and pants. So easy and she loves how quickly she can fly in full scooting crawl mode on our hard wool floors. The only downside is that they have to be washed more often because they get things on them that normal diaper covers wouldn't get, like, oatmeal, or eggs. It's okay though. I'm still not through with my sweater torturing. I'm hoping to maul and brutalize at least 3 more sweaters, this time I'm hoping they will be different colors and maybe some more cable knits.
I should also finish the one I started to crochet myself. Should being the key word here.
Why Wool?? Wool is naturally water repelling, fully breathable, and antimicrobial. Think about what kind of underwear you like to wear. Really, be honest here. You love the 100% cotton, because of how breathable they are and how comfortable they are. Same goes here with baby. As a woman, my reasons for cloth diapering were really very very simple. I don't like wearing a pad, I don't like how it feels, I don't like anything about it. Paper diapers (disposables) are just that, they are a big pad. If I don't like it, why would I put it on my kid. And after the whole pocket diaper rash thing, I can even say confidently that PUL (as wonderful as it is) is still not as breathable as wool. My baby is a happy wool baby and it makes me happy knowing that her girly bits are getting proper air flow, especially after how my OB lectured me about cotton panties. There's a reason.
Monday, April 9, 2012
Saturday, March 24, 2012
The blight of cooking
It happens every day, 3 times a day. I am called upon by little growling stomachs to prepare a small masterpiece that is balanced and healthy to feed the growing minds and bodies in my house.
Lately, I've been burned out on cooking. To the point that that small part of me no longer feels guilty if they just ate chicken nuggets 24/7. Yet, I can't do that.
After watching 'Food Inc' again with my friend who had never seen it, I started thinking about what I was really feeding my family again. Beyond just something to survive on. So, I made the trip back to a local shop to buy locally grown meats. I was excited while shaping the ground beef into hamburgers. Just the way it smelled, it smelled real, fresh. Even though it had been stored in a deep freezer at the store and thawed overnight, it smelled fresh and just healthier than anything else I've thawed and used. I enjoy the smell of grass fed beef. Weird I know. I diced the onions and sprinkled seasonings upon it. Chopped potatoes and carrots, wrapped everything in aluminum foil and set it in the hot grill.
I felt good about hamburgers as lunch. Until my son had a melt down and refused to eat it.
The arguments on getting him to eat are so extremely frustrating. The fact that I have to convince him to take a bite of a hamburger when he wants to eat the broccoli makes it worse. I have no trouble getting him to eat most vegetables. Other moms stare in disbelief when my son reaches for carrots instead of cookies. My son, who won't eat macaroni and cheese, yet devours spinach patties.
I get very angry at my self when I lose my temper at him when he refuses to eat. Especially when it is something that I have gone out of my way to make sure it really is healthy for him to eat. I get frustrated with my daughter as well, but she is only 1 and there is no reasoning with a 1 year old about how something is good for them. They don't want it, it's on the floor.
Most of where the frustration of getting my son to eat comes from, is the fact that if it's not how he's used to seeing it, he won't eat it. If we are someone elses house for dinner or lunch, he won't eat. He'll ask for snacks, but turns up his nose and wails "I Don't Want to Eat!". Making me feel embarrassed as though their food isn't good (sometimes it isn't, but sometimes it's just like mine.) So the real fight here is just getting him to eat something somewhere else or just trying things. We've had the rule of 5 bites of something different. But lately, he's figured out that if he gets himself upset enough, he can make himself vomit. Our daughter also contains this special ability, which makes crying it out not an option for either of them in sleep training.
So, with this as the daily thankless job, I am at a new loss as to what to make. I enjoy new recipes and trying new foods. But when screams of protest follow an excursion of cooking, it makes me want to scream. How far should I bend in? I know long term it is worth the fight as I have friends who refuse to eat vegetables even as adults. But when every meal is either on the floor or sobbed into until stone cold. It's hard to see the light at the end of the tunnel.
Lately, I've been burned out on cooking. To the point that that small part of me no longer feels guilty if they just ate chicken nuggets 24/7. Yet, I can't do that.
After watching 'Food Inc' again with my friend who had never seen it, I started thinking about what I was really feeding my family again. Beyond just something to survive on. So, I made the trip back to a local shop to buy locally grown meats. I was excited while shaping the ground beef into hamburgers. Just the way it smelled, it smelled real, fresh. Even though it had been stored in a deep freezer at the store and thawed overnight, it smelled fresh and just healthier than anything else I've thawed and used. I enjoy the smell of grass fed beef. Weird I know. I diced the onions and sprinkled seasonings upon it. Chopped potatoes and carrots, wrapped everything in aluminum foil and set it in the hot grill.
I felt good about hamburgers as lunch. Until my son had a melt down and refused to eat it.
The arguments on getting him to eat are so extremely frustrating. The fact that I have to convince him to take a bite of a hamburger when he wants to eat the broccoli makes it worse. I have no trouble getting him to eat most vegetables. Other moms stare in disbelief when my son reaches for carrots instead of cookies. My son, who won't eat macaroni and cheese, yet devours spinach patties.
I get very angry at my self when I lose my temper at him when he refuses to eat. Especially when it is something that I have gone out of my way to make sure it really is healthy for him to eat. I get frustrated with my daughter as well, but she is only 1 and there is no reasoning with a 1 year old about how something is good for them. They don't want it, it's on the floor.
Most of where the frustration of getting my son to eat comes from, is the fact that if it's not how he's used to seeing it, he won't eat it. If we are someone elses house for dinner or lunch, he won't eat. He'll ask for snacks, but turns up his nose and wails "I Don't Want to Eat!". Making me feel embarrassed as though their food isn't good (sometimes it isn't, but sometimes it's just like mine.) So the real fight here is just getting him to eat something somewhere else or just trying things. We've had the rule of 5 bites of something different. But lately, he's figured out that if he gets himself upset enough, he can make himself vomit. Our daughter also contains this special ability, which makes crying it out not an option for either of them in sleep training.
So, with this as the daily thankless job, I am at a new loss as to what to make. I enjoy new recipes and trying new foods. But when screams of protest follow an excursion of cooking, it makes me want to scream. How far should I bend in? I know long term it is worth the fight as I have friends who refuse to eat vegetables even as adults. But when every meal is either on the floor or sobbed into until stone cold. It's hard to see the light at the end of the tunnel.
Monday, March 12, 2012
Small Business
Recently, I had to make the switch back to prefolds and covers with my daughter. She was starting to break out into rashes way to easily with the pocket diapers I've been using. Switched detergents, washed and repeated, still a rash. So, I busted out some prefolds and a cover I saved from my son and rash was gone. Almost overnight. I then started thinking about air flow and wondering if that could of been part of it. I had had some left over wool yarn and an easy old pattern that I used for my son. I quickly made a cover and was able to put it on her the next day. I loved it, her bottom loved it, it was love. So I bought more wool and started going crazy. I began to experiment with patterns woven in and they all came out nicely. Then I tinkered with the sizing and figured out what would work for each size. So, I'm now on the brink of leaping into the WAHM world. I'm still scared. Not sure if sitting and crocheting covers all day is what I really want to do yet, but I am addicted to make cute patterns.
There is a market for it regardless. So I will see where this takes me.
Yes, this is the reason why I haven't been blogging as diligently as I should be. I will come up with more topics and entries. I promise.
There is a market for it regardless. So I will see where this takes me.
Yes, this is the reason why I haven't been blogging as diligently as I should be. I will come up with more topics and entries. I promise.
Saturday, February 25, 2012
Why some arguements will never go away...
There are a lot of arguments out there that I'm getting tired of. Not to the point of not involving myself in them, but just make me feel like all I'm doing is hitting repeat on my internal player.
To name a few: to circumcise or not, any breastfeeding arguments, cloth diapering, crying it out, etc.
Apart from myself, I've heard a lot of people who just wish that they would just go AWAY. They are tired of hearing about them, tired of putting in their 2cents or tired of hearing about it in the news.
The trouble is that everyday there is a new parent, somewhere, who is either having a baby or finding themselves to be pregnant. This person, whose world has just been TV, movies, job, dating, eating out, shopping, etc, is suddenly finding themselves in a mindset that they never planned on being in. They are now in charge of choosing things for their child. The overwhelming amount of information out there is now pummeling their brain. Things that they may of once thought right, now have an argument as to why they are wrong or they are being attacked for making a decision of any kind. It's no longer as easy as picking out an outfit. Moms are attacking moms for just about everything.
If the mom looks put together : the child is being abandoned in someway.
If she is bottle feeding : she is attacked for not breastfeeding.
Or vice versa.
This is the simple reason why these arguments will never go away. There are new parents who now have a view of something or think that they have hit onto something big, that has already been argued about long before they came along. It's a hard thought. It doesn't mean that the fight should be over. It just means we need to back out if we are tired of the fight and rest from it. Being on the war front all the time is exhausting and burns us out to the point that we forget why we were fighting in the first place.
Standing up for anything today takes guts and lots of energy. Especially with social media being as it is. People now feel that they can attack and say what ever they wish without feeling a real backlash from it. It's all words and going back to the old rhyme "Sticks and Stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me." Which, as much as we all wish it wasn't true, it is. There are chatting forums, websites, blogs that are loaded with all sorts of hate filled spite towards someone of opposing views. When did we shed our ability to be civil and why is it so accepted? Why do we think it is OK to bash another parent for their parenting? It is one thing if they are asking for an opinion, but when they are simply stating what they think to be true, who are we to verbally beat them down?
To name a few: to circumcise or not, any breastfeeding arguments, cloth diapering, crying it out, etc.
Apart from myself, I've heard a lot of people who just wish that they would just go AWAY. They are tired of hearing about them, tired of putting in their 2cents or tired of hearing about it in the news.
The trouble is that everyday there is a new parent, somewhere, who is either having a baby or finding themselves to be pregnant. This person, whose world has just been TV, movies, job, dating, eating out, shopping, etc, is suddenly finding themselves in a mindset that they never planned on being in. They are now in charge of choosing things for their child. The overwhelming amount of information out there is now pummeling their brain. Things that they may of once thought right, now have an argument as to why they are wrong or they are being attacked for making a decision of any kind. It's no longer as easy as picking out an outfit. Moms are attacking moms for just about everything.
If the mom looks put together : the child is being abandoned in someway.
If she is bottle feeding : she is attacked for not breastfeeding.
Or vice versa.
This is the simple reason why these arguments will never go away. There are new parents who now have a view of something or think that they have hit onto something big, that has already been argued about long before they came along. It's a hard thought. It doesn't mean that the fight should be over. It just means we need to back out if we are tired of the fight and rest from it. Being on the war front all the time is exhausting and burns us out to the point that we forget why we were fighting in the first place.
Standing up for anything today takes guts and lots of energy. Especially with social media being as it is. People now feel that they can attack and say what ever they wish without feeling a real backlash from it. It's all words and going back to the old rhyme "Sticks and Stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me." Which, as much as we all wish it wasn't true, it is. There are chatting forums, websites, blogs that are loaded with all sorts of hate filled spite towards someone of opposing views. When did we shed our ability to be civil and why is it so accepted? Why do we think it is OK to bash another parent for their parenting? It is one thing if they are asking for an opinion, but when they are simply stating what they think to be true, who are we to verbally beat them down?
Sunday, February 19, 2012
A History of Breastfeeding in pictures...
I've been in love with pictures of breastfeeding from days gone by. Whether they are paintings or not. I just love the fact that it was so common place for so long. So I've decided to share what I've found.
Enjoy!!
Enjoy!!
Thursday, February 16, 2012
Hazel wood
I know you are thinking of a tree right now. This is a hazel wood tree.
But this necklace is why I'm talking about hazel wood. I've known about the benefits of amber for a while. Both of my children have amber teething necklaces which have been shown to alleviate the symptoms of not only teething, but of osteoarthritis joint pain and sore muscles. I had purchased one for myself to help with my Lupus symptoms and was enjoying the results until my daughter broke the clasp when she was pulling on it in a raging fit. I need to get around to fixing it.
When I was online this past winter looking for amber bracelets for my mother in law for Christmas, I stumbled upon an amber/hazel wood necklace. Curious, I googled hazel wood and discovered that it helped out with eczema, cavities, GERD, and acid reflux. The reason being that it helps absorb acids from your body. You need to replace it every 3-6 months to maintain effectiveness. This made my heart jump. My son has horrible eczema on his arms, legs and starting on his face. We use the most sensitive soaps for detergents, body wash, and lotions. Things are almost always scent free. I've tried goats milk products, hydrocortizone creams, calendula lotions, etc. Nothing really seemed to touch it anymore. I had been eyeing a new line we got in at work that was designed to help with eczema. I was worried because nothing in the line was under $10. I want my son to be comfortable, but I wanted to buy him some birthday presents this month more.
So, I was happy to see that hazel wood necklaces with amber beads in them, started at around $14. They also aren't coming from as far away as the amber I have purchased in the past. I love the idea of buying Lithuanian amber, but I have no patience for international shipping. These necklaces are mostly being made in the Quebec province of Canada. I am only 5 hours away from the Canadian border to Quebec. So, I quickly purchased one this past week with lemon amber stones in it. My son has been wearing it since. He was sad to take off his other one and wanted to wear them both at the same time, but he didn't like them all tangled. I told him I would put his amber one on his dresser and if he wanted to wear it to let me know. The nice thing is that it looks more masculine than the amber one did. I've always been slightly offended when people made comments as to why my son was wearing a necklace. I'm hoping to see the effects of it soon. It's hard to not feel bad when your child has bumpy rough skin on their once so soft cheeks.
Thursday, February 9, 2012
Tripping downstairs and Arnica gel
This past Tuesday evening, I had the fun and memorable experience of missing the last step on our back porch. I made my ankle do an L and found myself lying in the driveway crying. After a few minutes, I was able to get up and finish bringing in the bags of groceries into the house. After I put them away, I hobbled into the bathroom to observe the damage. My ankle was swelling up to the size of a naval orange. I immediately reached for the Arnica gel, slathered it on and wrapped it in an ace bandage.
The Arnica is the reason I'm writing this. Arnica cream or gel has been a mainstay in my life since I was a child. I can remember my mother pulling out a tube of Arnica and rubbing it daily on any play injuries I had. I have since done the same with my son. There was one day he was playing a game of flopping onto his toddler bed, when he missed the pillow and hit the headboard. His eyebrow was huge and black, yet with the daily treatments of my good ole Arnica, the bruise was gone within a week. I took it orally after I had my daughter and am now in need of a new tube. It's one of those things that I use that people give me looks when I tell them about it. Almost as though I was talking about eating ground up moon rocks. If ground up moon rocks helped heal bruises, I would try it.
The funny bit about Arnica is that if it is ingested in large amounts, it is toxic. There have been studies on the effects of Arnica on osteoarthritis and on bruising. They have resulted with it being favorable enough to continue use.
I personally will never give it up.
The Arnica is the reason I'm writing this. Arnica cream or gel has been a mainstay in my life since I was a child. I can remember my mother pulling out a tube of Arnica and rubbing it daily on any play injuries I had. I have since done the same with my son. There was one day he was playing a game of flopping onto his toddler bed, when he missed the pillow and hit the headboard. His eyebrow was huge and black, yet with the daily treatments of my good ole Arnica, the bruise was gone within a week. I took it orally after I had my daughter and am now in need of a new tube. It's one of those things that I use that people give me looks when I tell them about it. Almost as though I was talking about eating ground up moon rocks. If ground up moon rocks helped heal bruises, I would try it.
The funny bit about Arnica is that if it is ingested in large amounts, it is toxic. There have been studies on the effects of Arnica on osteoarthritis and on bruising. They have resulted with it being favorable enough to continue use.
I personally will never give it up.
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