1 1/2 months later....

I stink at this blog thing, huh?
Well, it's been forever since I wrote here, so here's a brief update:
Tyler has 4 teeth, two on top and two on bottom. He's using them against us, as cute as they are! He bites hard and often!! Sitting is a small accomplishment compared to the recent development of being able to stand up! This occurred on Saturday night. Daddy was playing with him and we decided to see what he could do without us holding on to him. We positioned the toy basket in front of him, which he immediately grabbed ahold of and up he went, without us holding him!! He was so proud and smiled so big at us :) It's incredible how fast he's changing and growing.
So that night, we lowered his crib mattress (in case he tried this new talent in the crib). Sunday we went out and bought the much needed convertible carseat. It's installed and ready for momma's big boy to use.
Seems like it all comes at once...
Oh- and he's eating like a champ! He loves his fruits and veggies and his rice and oatmeal. We think he's allergic to only one thing so far- Apples! Supposed the one fruit that is an extremely low allergen. I guess I can't complain too much, at least he's not allergic to everything like his dad was!

Dave and I are enjoying our summer. We're heading home to Rochester again this weekend for a spectacular wedding. We've been looking forward to it for some time! (Yea Kelly and Mike!) This is wedding #4 this year, with one more to go!

I continue to work on sewing diapers and bags and the like. I've recently made a few covers for a girl in a mom's group that I'm apart of... they turned out nice, so I hope she likes them too!
Oh! I forgot an important detail. I'm heading back to work in November. Though it's a few months earlier than I had planned, I'm looking forward to it- a little. We've started touring day cares and trying to find the perfect one. So far we've found one we like that will actually use our cloth diapers!! I can't believe so many are closed to the idea and won't even discuss it! Ughh... the one that will use them said "wow, they're just like disposables but you wash them!" DUH! I wish more would be open to discussing it at least!!

Ok- I'm starving- I'm going to run to the kitchen to grab a snack before Tyler wakes from his nap.

Going Crunchy

OK- so first off, I'm such a slacker at this blog stuff. Sorry.

I've been talking with a lot of the "Eco-friendly" sorts. I've been tipped off to a lot of things and have picked up a few of my own.
I've been trying my hand at making our own cloth diapers for Tyler. They are super cute and cuddly! I've made mostly covers- fleece soakers to be specific. I've just started doing prefolds and tomorrow will try my hand at pockets. I'm hoping this works- I'll save a TON more $ on diapers this way!

prefold- owl print flannel

fleece soaker- Go Bills!

I'm also interested in starting to make our own laundry soap, and have started using more natural cleaners. You know the sorts- vinegar and water, some essential oils, castile soap. The best cleaning product I started using is castile soap and baking soda- mixed together to make a frosting texture- it's a homemade soft scrub of sorts- and no bleach!! Yea! I just dyed a few shirts in the stainless steel sink the other night. The directions on the dye said to "immediately clean the sink with bleach". I hate bleach so I thought I'd try this soft scrub mixture... my sink has NEVER been so clean before! It shined!! Guess I'll be adding the castile soap into that cleaning regime (I used to use just baking soda).

Today I decided to try a recommended hair wash, well conditioner. I washed my hair as usual (using castile soap actually), rinsed, then poured diluted apple cider vinegar on my hair, let it sit for a minute then rinsed out really well. My hair is so soft, dried faster than usual, and I was able to run my fingers through it without brushing it first!! It doesn't smell like vinegar either! I think I will give my sister my huge bottle of conditioner and replace it with a bottle of ACV

I'm going to become addicted to these natural and cheap beauty fixes!

Until next time....

EcoFriendly moves

The last few months I've been working on the 3R's: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle. I'm thinking I'll start posting about these efforts, as well as updates on Tyler.
So far, I've been working hard at recycling all products that we use; paper, plastic, and glass. Our local website was very helpful in telling me what is and is not recycable. Here's a link if you want to see how it's set up, but you should check with your town's website or recycling center. http://www.townofboston.com/PDF/Rubbis_recycling.pdf
The trouble I'm having is figuring the "right" way to have the recycling out so that they will put it in recycling and not the garbage. In our town, one truck does it all. They pick up the garbage and put it in the back, then they pick up the recyc bins and put that stuff in the front of the truck. What's the problem? Well, since you asked, they don't always put the bin in the front. The first time, I found that I didn't put the paper in a brown bag. Fine, I'll start asking for a brown bag or two when I'm at the store. But that method doesn't always work. I plan to call the Waste Management company to discuss this with them, and if it's not me, I'll be making complaints.
What else am I doing to be more "Eco Friendly"? Tyler's cloth diapered. I love it. It's so easy and really not much work at all. I love that we have minimal disposables going into our garbage. We still use them once in a while, mainly for overnight diapers because he's such a heavy wetter and I only have a few hemp liners. I think we but a diaper genie bag into the garbage once a month, if that... which is pretty darn good since we used to put probably 2 of those bags a week.
I've purchased some reusable bags for groceries, love these too. I'm working on making some more fashionable and cuter ones too. And I've made some reusable produce bags. I'm thinking maybe I'll open an etsy shop and start selling them. We'll see.
Speaking of making things, I'm going to be trying my hand at some laundry soap too. We'll see how that works. I'll keep you posted.
I'm doing a little at a time to improve our "footprint". Thought I'd share some things.


Tyler- he's doing well. Sitting up tall on his own, playing a ton with toys now. He loves his baths and his doggie! They are so interested in each other it's crazy! He also loves to be outdoors, and looking out the window when we're inside. Tyler is definately daddy's little man!

Welcome to our world

I've decided to try my hand at this blog stuff. I thought it may be easier to post updates and pictures here rather than in multiple spots for friends and family to see. We'll see how well I keep up with this and what I end up actually using it for.