What Boobs Are For-- Part I

I'm going to do a 2-part rant about breastfeeding. I'm doing it in 2 parts to (hopefully) keep it all readable lengths. Because I have a lot to say (as usual). Also, because I have 2 separate ideas I would like to discuss.

The first point I'd like to talk about is extended breastfeeding. It's been on my mind a lot lately since I have an 18 month old who still nurses a number of times a day. I'll start by telling you about an experience I had Saturday. I'm still not sure what to do about it. Maybe you can help me decide.

I was in desperate need of new nursing bras since the ones I was currently using were the same bras I bought when Lady was born and I've been using them consistently since then. They were also about 3 sizes too big and it was getting harder to hide the wrinkles under my shirts. After attempting to find some at JCPenney (they only had about 4 varieties and the ladies there weren't helpful AT ALL), Macy's and Dillard's (which don't even carry nursing bras-- which is discrimination, if you ask me), I was at a loss. Luckily my friend came over to do my hair a couple of weeks ago and told me about a local little shop that specializes in maternity/nursing wear. I was so happy! So I went there Saturday and fell in love as soon as I walked into the store. It was FULL of bras! I knew I'd be able to find something there. And even better than the amount of bras was the service I received from the sweet, little lady who was working there that day. We were the only 2 in the store and she helped me figure out the right size and helped me adjust each bra just right so I could really see/feel the differences. It was the best bra-shopping experience of my life!

Except for one detail.

When I first told the lady (we'll call her Lorraine) that I needed a nursing bra, she asked me how old my baby was. I told her, "18 months." She took a longer-than-necessary pause and then the conversation went like this:

Lorraine: "Oh." As if she didn't know what to do with that information. She then asked, "How long do you nurse your babies?"

Me: "I don't really have a set time limit. I'd like to continue however long my baby would like to."

Lorraine: "How long is the longest you've nursed?"

Me: "This is actually about when my last baby quit because I was pregnant with current-baby and my milk dried up and she didn't like that. But I'm not pregnant now and current-baby is still going strong!"

Lorraine: "Oh. Well, I had a friend whose daughter was old enough to actually ask for "chi chi." I just think that's too old. But that's just my opinion, of course."

Me (surprised at the direction this conversation is taking, and not quite sure how to handle it): "Well, it's just so good for them. And it doesn't stop being good for them just because they can ask for it."

Lorraine: "True."

Me: "It's certainly better than cow's milk."

(Which, if you think about it, is also breast milk, just from a bovine instead of a human. I'd much rather my baby be getting breastmilk from her own species, MEANT for her own species.)

Lorraine: "Hmm. Well, I know that in 3rd world countries, where they don't have a lot of food, they nurse their children until they're MUCH older than they do here. I guess it's just not kosher here."

Me: "Yeah, I envy those societies. They know what they're doing. That's what's natural."

Lorraine: "So, what do you think about that bra? It's a nice fit, isn't it?"

Thus ends the awkward conversation.

This is not the first time I have been questioned about my nursing practices, but it is the most lengthy questioning I've experienced. I was caught off-guard because I'd (wrongly) assumed that a woman who worked in a pro-breastfeeding job would actually have a little more knowledge than the average person who just takes the "norms" of society and aligns their thinking accordingly.

I am ashamed to admit, I actually used to think the same way as her. I might've even uttered similar words about not nursing "after they can ask for it".........before I became a mother.

The thing is, when you're in the middle of motherhood, nursing is just something you do everyday (and night). And there wasn't ever a time when I looked at my baby and thought, "Now you're too old to nurse." Each day, they were just one day older than yesterday. And what sense does that argument make anyway? Just because a child can ask for something, we shouldn't give it to them? What if they were asking for a bottle, or a glass of water? And some babies as small as 6 months old can sign for milk. Does that mean they should be cut off? It's just a silly, silly nonsense reason for weaning a child.

Some of my biggest regrets as a mother are the ending of my nursing relationships with each of my 3 oldest children. With AJ, I bottlefed along with breastfeeding because I was too scared to nurse in public, and also because I was in school still and wanted the reassurance that somebody else could feed my child. None of my children since her have ever had a bottle. We don't even own any now. AJ was 9 months old when she started getting all 4 of her top (middle) teeth at the same time. The bottle was easier for her, so she started refusing to nurse. NOW I understand that this was just a nursing strike and I could've pushed through it and continued our nursing relationship. I didn't know that back then, and I had no support to continue nursing. My mother had nursed each of her children for 6 months and thought that was plenty of time. (And in her defense, it was a LOT more time than most women were nursing in that era.)

With Roo, it was such a struggle to nurse him from the beginning. I saw a lactation consultant for 4 MONTHS! My nipples bled for the first 2 months because we could just not get his latch right. So I was not about to give up soon after. My goal was a year, and I made it there. At that point, Roo fell madly in love with food. Real food. And he lost interest in nursing. Again, I could've pushed through and kept the relationship going if I'd have realized it was so good and important. But I didn't.

With Tink, I mistakenly thought that I had to quit nursing to get pregnant again, even though my period had long since returned. So I weaned her at 15 months. She wasn't ready to quit. This is really one of my biggest regrets as a mother. Because it wasn't in any way Tink's choice. It was mine. I still mourn the loss of our nursing relationship.

Finally with Lady I knew better. I got pregnant while nursing, and about halfway through the pregnancy, my milk dried up. I would've kept going. I was actually looking forward to tandem-nursing. But Lady would have nothing to do with it. Our nursing relationship ended when she was 18 months old.

Recently, I've had a few people ask me how long I plan to nurse June. My answer is, "As long as it is beneficial for both of us." She still loves it and I still love it. Just yesterday she was being restless in Sacrament meeting and I whispered in her ear, asking her if she was excited for Nursery. Well, all she heard was "nurse" and got a huge smile on her face and immediately flopped herself back in my arms, ready to go. I laughed out loud, and then I nursed her. :)

Breastfeeding a toddler is very different than breastfeeding an infant. It has its pros and cons, just like anything else. But, in my opinion, the pros far outweigh the cons. I love the cuddle time. I love talking to her and knowing she understands what I'm saying. I love singing to her and seeing her smile while still trying to hold on to her latch. I love having something at my disposal that can immediately calm an agitated, sad, hurt, or frustrated toddler.

Did you know that breastmilk changes as the baby grows up? Toddler milk is quite different than infant milk. It has MUCH more fat in it. You know how doctors tell you children are supposed to drink whole cow's milk after they're a year old because of the high fat content? Well, guess what! Toddler breastmilk does the SAME THING, only it's actually made for the species that's drinking it.

So back to my experience with Lorraine. I'm unsure what to do about it, if anything. Part of me wants to write a letter, expressing my concern about the lack of support some new mothers might feel when talking to someone with these biases. Part of me wants to call her and talk to her over the phone. And part of me just wants to let it go, knowing I can't save the world. The trouble is, it's misinformation and opinions, based on cultural norms rather than biological/natural norms, that perpetuate the problem. As long as people who think like her keep walking around speaking their opinion, it's going to continue to be hard for new mothers to see past that and have the confidence to keep nursing their children. Ugh.

I feel like women today don't have the support they need to breastfeed in the first place, let alone breastfeed beyond a year. I was reading about another country, recently, (I believe it was the Netherlands, but I'm not certain and I can't find the link now) where they have a postpartum nurse/doula that comes to live with the mother for 2 weeks after birth (the Netherlands also have one of the highest rates of homebirth). She acts as a lactation consultant, and takes care of the new mother's every need. Why, oh why, don't we have anything like that here? There are some places where you can see a lactation consultant for free, but they are rare. And most new moms aren't particularly excited about leaving their house over and over to seek help. They have lactation consultants in the hospital, but in my experience, some are better than others. And there's the problem of them only seeing you once or twice during your stay. For me, I felt like I needed someone with me at each nursing session, to help me gain confidence and to just be there for moral support. I think things would've gone much smoother had I had that kind of support. And I think the number of breastfeeding women would increase if there was just some type of support system in place for new mothers. What is currently available is sadly lacking.

So leave me a comment and tell me what you think I should do in regards to Lorraine. I can't make up my mind.

And for anyone who'd like to read more about extended breastfeeding, there are lots of support groups, including La Leche League. Here are a few more good blog posts I've found:

http://compulsivewriter.com/?p=162

http://www.breastfeedingmomsunite.com/2009/05/the-pros-and-cons-of-breastfeeding-a-toddler/

(This one has some more links at the end.)

http://www.accidentalpharmacist.com/2010/12/extending-breastfeeding-beyond-year.html

(This one has a lot of good links at the end as well.)

http://healthland.time.com/2010/12/20/want-smarter-kids-consider-breastfeeding/?xid=rss-topstories&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+time/topstories+(TIME:+Top+Stories)

And just for fun, here's a video that went around during National Breastfeeding Week, and is what my title references.

What Am I Doing For My Birthday? ramble

My sweet visiting teacher dropped a little gift and card by my house yesterday and asked me what I had planned for my birthday. I shared my plans with her and she looked at me like I was crazy. Ha! Apparently Brent and I don't put enough emphasis on birthdays. They're usually just an ordinary day and then we celebrate later that weekend with a night out on the town. Fancy, aren't we?

So what am I doing today?

Well, so far this morning, I've managed to steer clear of the shower which I desperately need. I was supposed to get up and exercise with Brent this morning, but the sweet man let me off the hook when June woke up an hour before we were supposed to get up, destroying every ounce of motivation that I tried to muster. I needed that last hour, dang it!

I ruined breakfast in bed when I got up too early, having been woken again by Lady's screaming. Brent makes me breakfast every morning, that awesome man! A yummy green smoothie. This morning, I got the extra special treat of raw chocolate in my smoothie! Yum! I tried to talk him into staying home since he looked extra HAWT in his button-up shirt and sexy-butt jeans. He used the excuse of having lots of meetings today, but I'm secretly wondering if it was my lack of shower and greaseball hair. Hmm. Did you know he shaved his goatee a couple of weeks ago? He did. And immediately got multiple comments about how young he looked and what a baby face he has. Yep. Not helping my insecurities, here, hon!

I managed to get the kitchen cleaned up while the 3 middle children were downstairs playing in the bounce house. Can I tell you how awesome that thing is during winter to get extra energy out? Love it! AJ took over making June look pretty since Mommy had obviously dropped the ball this morning. She often takes over in this area. Now her hair's all done w/a pink flower and everything. Then AJ took her out in the backyard to watch Luke (cat) torture and then behead a mouse. June's response? "Whoa!" That's her new favorite word. Have I told you how cute she is lately? I love toddlerhood for so many reasons. I love to watch her run with her top half getting ahead of her bottom half. She pulls everything out of cupboards and drawers and rearranges them. Speaking of which, if anyone can think of a good hiding place for a can opener, pass it on to me please. She loves to "help" unload the dishwasher and write me love letters on post-it notes.

It's now 10:30 and I really need to get going for the day. Plans for the rest of the day, you ask?

-Chores (today it's bathrooms (AJ, Roo, and me) and dusting (Tink and Lady and June))

-School (AJ claims to be done with hers already.....hmmm)

-Carving pumpkins (Yes, I know we're terribly behind on this. I took the kids grocery shopping yesterday and upon seeing the piles of pumpkins, they all exclaimed, "Pumpkins, Mom! Can we get some?" I tried to avoid the subject by reminding them how busy we've been this year and couldn't we just wait until next year? They responded by reminding me that we didn't carve pumpkins last year. Insert awful mommy-guilt here. So we bought 5 ginormous pumpkins at Harmon's yesterday and, by-dang-it, they need to be carved! So that's in the works for this afternoon sometime.)

-Leftover dinner from last night

-Frantically getting the kids in their costumes and make-up.

-Trunk-or-Treat tonight w/the ward. AJ's in charge of one of the games along with some other Achievement Days girls. There will be scones, hot chocolate, tractor rides, and plenty of candy for all. (I'm quite pleased with myself this year. Instead of candy, we're passing out junky toys! (spider rings, pencils, plastic bracelets, rubber skeletons, etc.))

-Come home, showers for those w/make-up, pajamas, stories, scriptures, prayers, and bed. Ahhh. I love bedtime.

-Yoga w/Brent. Can't wait for this part. I always feel GREAT after yoga!

-Check email, FB, etc. Then prayers, scriptures, bed for me and Brent.

Happy Birthday to me!

This weekend, my sister will be enjoying a night away w/her hubby for her birthday in 9 days (we're only one year apart for 9 days! Woohoo!). I'm a little jealous. Maybe someday I will get to do that again with Brent. Before that happens we have to convince June that she CAN, in fact, go to bed without some bewb first. Hmm.

This weekend, Brent and I will be celebrating my birthday by going out to eat at a restaurant of my choice (have no idea yet which one), then coming home, putting kids to bed, and then maybe watching a movie. 'Cause we're fancy like that. And of course, this all hinges on whether or not we can get a sitter. Fun, fun!

Aren't you jealous of my life? I wouldn't trade it for anything!!!

Irreplaceable

As we, once again, mark the anniversary of arguably the most important day of my life (even though I wasn't even close to being conceived yet), I'd like to write another tribute post to my husband. Because really, it can't be said too many times how much I love this man and how grateful I am for him.

Dear Brent,

For your 34th birthday, I'd like to make mention of all the often-overlooked, under-appreciated little things you do that make my life better.

1. Thank you for always being the one to close the windows, lock the doors, and turn off all the lights before bed. It puts my mind at ease since I know you check them at least 3 times each. Besides, I'm afraid of the dark.

2. Thank you for being the sole motivator when it comes to exercise. Without you, my butt would be much bigger.

3. Thank you for stealing the sheets, but always leaving me the blankets.

4. And along those lines, thank you for being my personal space heater in bed.

5. And along a not-the-same,-but-similar line, thank you for not laughing when I come to bed in just g's and socks. I really hate pajamas, but DANG my feet get cold.

6. Thank you for being the same as me and the opposite of me in all the right ways. It makes the whole "work as a team" thing go so smoothly.

7. Thank you for being the type of husband whose wife has never had to have a "honey-do" list.

8. Thank you for always watching the gas tanks on our vehicles since I seem to be blind to them.

9. Thank you for always restocking the t.p. and tissues in every bathroom.

10. Thank you for taking care of all the finances (even though I know I need to get better at paying attention to these things).

11. Thank you for listening to me in bed even when all you want to do is roll over and go to sleep.

12. Thank you for asking about my day and validating the work I do.

13. Thank you for encouraging me on the bad days and rejoicing with me on the good days.

14. Thank you for making me your best friend and always putting me and the kids first on your list of priorities.

15. Thank you for showing our son the way a woman should be treated and for showing our daughters how they need to demand to be treated by any future beaus.

16. Thank you for insisting on (almost) weekly date nights even though they are getting more and more expensive with each kid.

17. Thank you for being my shoulder to cry on, my hand to hold, and my bear hug when I need them the most.

18. Thank you for not writing me off with each of my "new" ideas.

19. Thank you for cleaning our white cast-iron sinks that don't like to stay white very long.

20. Thank you for taking care of our lawn. I know I mowed for you once this summer, and while I didn't hate it, it's definitely a job I'm glad you do 99.9% of the time. :)

21. Thank you for being the kind of man who, instead of thinking, "I can't." thinks "I need to learn how to...."

22. Thank you for keeping your goatee for family pictures even though you wanted to shave it. Of course I love your face either way, but I have many insecurities, one of which is this:

I really like that you look older than me when you have a goatee. I'm not secure enough to have you walking around looking like a newly-returned missionary whilst I tote my 5 kids and gray hairs around, letting everybody assume that I'm in my mid-40's and that it was *I* who robbed the cradle.

Proof:

(This was almost 2 years ago....the last time you didn't have facial hair.)

23. Thank you for always replacing my toothbrush in the battery-charger when I forget.

24. Thank you for always putting the lid down.

25. Thank you for always motivating me with all of our "projects." Most of them would never get done if it weren't for you.

26. Thank you for being the kind of dad worthy of having 4 out of 5 "daddy's girls/boys." (And probably the only reason it's not 5 out of 5 is because the 5th one is still attached to my chest.)

27. Thank you for always striving to be better and for encouraging me to do the same.

28. Thank you for living worthy to hold and use the priesthood.

29. Thank you for being the bread-maker in the family. (And the bread-winner as well.)

30. Thank you for being the kind of dad that takes our kids for rides in a wagon hooked onto the back of a riding lawn mower when I'm not around to freak out and make you stop.

31. Thank you for always fixing everything that needs to be fixed and making it better than brand new.

32. Thank you for kissing owies, giving loves, listening to endless Star Wars Lego stories, watching our girls dance, laughing at the way Lady says "cumber-you" instead of cucumber, reading bedtime stories, tucking-in and giving endless drinks at bedtime, and changing cloth diapers.

33. Thank you for your voluptuous lips.

34. And thank you for loving me through thick and thin.

I love you, Babe! Can't wait to see you tonight for our own private birthday party! ;)

Talents

I have come to the realization in the last few years that there are many talents that I was not gifted from Heaven. I used to feel bad about it. Now I don't. I realize that I have many talents that fit me perfectly. And I feel blessed to be able to enjoy the talents of other women without feeling (too much) jealousy. On that note, I present to you an incredibly talented and creative mother.

Here is her beautiful blog with her beautiful daughter and her beautiful daydreams. :)

Enjoy.

Yellowstone, Pollyanna-style

Remember the Glad Game?

We're going to play the Glad Game today. For everything about our trip that was sad, there was always something to be glad about. And sometimes there were some great things to be glad about without any sadness attached to them.

Ready to play?

We decided to split-up the trip up there. So we stopped at Cheryl's parents' house in Blackfoot, ID on Wednesday night to spend the night. We got there later than planned. As we were pulling up to their house at 11pm.....

Sad: June started crying and then puked all over herself and her carseat and the van seat.

Glad: It was great that we were pulling up to a house (with a washing machine) instead of our campsite. Everything was ready to go by morning.

-----------

Sad: When we were about 15 minutes outside of our campsite in Yellowstone, June puked again.

Glad: This time there wasn't as much and we were able to clean it up quickly with wipes. Also, June was acting totally fine between these incidents and so we chalked it up to car-sickness. Also, we saw a moose on the way in, but didn't get any pics.

------------

Sad: The realization that it was NOT, in fact, car-sickness came when we were awakened by June puking in bed at 3am the next morning.

Glad: She was still acting totally fine before and after the puking, so at least we weren't dealing with a crabby baby on top of puke. And this was the last bout of puke from June.

------------

Glad: Some deer strolled into camp as we were getting things set up the first day.

------------

Glad: We had yummy wraps and then went for a walk by the lake after dinner. The scenery was breath-taking.

------------

The second day we drove to the mud volcanoes.

Sad: I didn't get to see them since June and Lady were asleep in the van. I stayed with them while everyone else went on a short hike to check them out.

Glad: Brent got some great pics for me to "experience."

The sulfur smell was extremely strong there. :)

------------

Glad: On the way to the mud volcanoes, we ran into a herd of bison (and yes, they are called bison. I had to look it up since other tourists kept calling them buffalo. I was sure they were bison.....and I was right. ;) ). We actually saw a number of herds while up there. Apparently it's quite rare to see that many.

This one walked across the road behind us as we were leaving.

-------------

Sad: It started to rain.

Glad: Luckily it wasn't raining super hard, so we went and saw a beautiful waterfall from a distance. Then we drove around and made the short but steep hike down to the top of it. It started raining much harder right as we were coming back up to the top.

From a distance:

From the top:
This was AJ taking a pic of us trying to recreate the pic in the header of this blog.

--------------

Sad: Since it was raining, we couldn't go do the other hikes we had planned.

Glad: Luckily there were some indoor places we could go hang out for a while. So we went to the museum and watched a movie about Yellowstone.

--------------

Sad: It was still raining hard once we were done at the museum. So we had a dilemma about what to do for dinner. Do we go back to camp and make dinner in the rain? And what do we do with the kids during that time? Or do we go spend a fortune at a restaurant in Yellowstone and also wait in a huge line because everybody else had the same idea?

Glad: So glad we had awesome husbands who made dinner in the rain (they were mostly covered by the awning on our trailer and a canopy that Brandon and Cheryl brought). Also so glad we had the trailer for the kids to hang out in and watch a movie until bedtime. B & C's kids watched a movie in their van and then braved the cold for a bit outside when the rain let up a little before bed. (My kids were already in their jammies and were quite upset with me that I wouldn't let them out to play with their friends.)

--------------

Sad: After the day of rain and little sleep for 2 nights and a pukey baby, I was almost ready to throw in the towel.

Glad: Brent managed to talk me out of that nonsense and the 3rd day was absolutely beautiful. Sunny skies most of the day and the temperature was much more bearable.

Glad: We saw an elk on the way to Old Faithful. While waiting for more puke from Old Faithful, we went in the gift shop and bought souvenirs. Roo got his first pocket knife, lucky kid.

-------------

Glad: After lunch we went to a beachy spot by the lake and decided to just "dip our toes."

You can guess how long that lasted. It's like that book, "If You Give a Mouse a Cookie".....only it's "If you give my kids some water, they're going to get wet."

Dipping our toes.
Going a little deeper.
Splashing in the "waves."

Deeper still.
I didn't get a picture of it, but AJ ended up going all the way under. She's a fish.
June got her first taste of black sand.....literally.
And Lady made her first sandcastle.

------------

Sad: It took us longer to get packed up than we thought it would, so we didn't leave camp until 11am.

Glad: But the timing worked out perfectly for us to see a bear on our way out. We were supposed to stay at least 100 yds away, but we got a bit closer than that. I'd say more like 50. It made Brandon quite nervous, but I was banking on the fact that there were other people much closer than us and so they'd be the first targets. :p

------------

Sad:
- The kids were......"restless" (read: horrible) on the way home. I'm showing a picture of June sleeping as proof that there was at least one moment where she wasn't crying.


- Somewhere in Star Valley, WY Roo said from the backseat, "Mom?" And I turned to see him holding his fingers to his mouth. I yelled at Brent to pull over, to which he responded, "Are you sure? Is he really going to throw up?" To which I yelled louder, "PULL OVER!" We got him out just in the nick of time. I was probably a little too forceful when grabbing his shirt and yanking him out of the van, but luckily he's very forgiving and was grateful (along with Brent and me) that most of the puke ended up on the side of the highway.

- Upon returning home at 9:40pm , all 5 kids had fallen asleep about 10 minutes prior. After helping Lady out of the van, she looks at me and happily says, "Momma, I not frow up!" And promptly threw up on the driveway.

Glad: Uh.....we were glad to be home and glad that more puke didn't end up in the van.

Oh, and one more thing to be glad about......
After discussing with Brent WHY our kids had been so "restless" on the way home, we realized it was most likely because we'd brought a bunch of sugary snacks in the car thinking it would be a special treat for them since they don't get them often. In hindsight, that was a very stupid thing to do. Lesson learned.
On another "glad" note, about halfway through the trip, the kids were telling me they were hungry, so I offered them more "treats." They all responded that they wanted "real" food, so we stopped and got in the trailer and retrieved "real" food for them: apples, oranges, bananas, and whole wheat bread and bagels. Turns out my kids are more sensible than me.

Summertime

I have an upcoming post in my head. And I have many pictures on my camera. The issue is getting it here on the computer. See, I have no time. How is that possible, I ask you?! I looked forward to the summertime so that I would have FREE TIME! And yet it has escaped me. The time I thought would be plentiful without school lessons every day has been taken up by......other things......other people......other commitments. (I should note that I have enjoyed all of these "others" immensely.)

I am so glad that August is here. July was beautiful. I had some of the greatest times and made some of the best memories during July. But I didn't ever have a minute to sit and catch my breath, it seems. Between 3 family reunions, 2 families visiting us, 1 work party at our house (the day after returning from a reunion), and getting some more fun boxes checked off our "home improvement" list, this has been one busy month. I loved nearly every minute of it, but it was definitely tiring.

So now we're going on vacation. And as all you mothers out there know, "vacation" doesn't really mean "vacation" when you're packing your whole family up for a camping trip. But after this past month, I think it might just actually somewhat resemble a vacation for me.

Yellowstone, here we come!

Hopefully I'll have some great pics of bears and bison for you when we get back.

Hopefully they will look nothing like this.

And hopefully I can get around to posting at least a few pics from this last month before we leave.

Going Green

UPDATE AT THE BOTTOM!!!


I'm going to do my best to keep this post friendly, informative, and devoid of politics for all of my readers that don't like the controversy that I keep getting into. :)

Over the last few years, I've tried to lessen the amount of garbage we go through, the chemicals that come in contact with my children and in my house, and basically just reduce our carbon footprint. Some of this I've done because it's best for the environment, some of it because it's just plain cheaper, and some of it I've done because I believe it's what's best for the health of my family.

Here are some of the things we do:

Laundry

- I switched to a more natural detergent without brighteners, enzymes, yucky chemicals, and perfumes. I originally got it for my cloth diapers because regular detergents aren't good for them. But now I use it for everything. I got it in bulk (4 boxes) on Amazon.com about 2 years ago for $50 and we're still working on our 2nd box. Country Save is what I use, but I've heard good things about Charlie's and Allen's Naturally, also. If you make the switch and feel like you need a softener, try vinegar in the rinse cycle.

- We have a front-load energy-efficient washer, which is one of the reasons we don't go through much detergent.

- I hang dry my cloth diapers most of the time. I use the dryer for them a little more often in the winter since they take a lot longer to dry then. But in the summer time, it's a breeze (literally) to hang them up outside. They dry so fast that way! Brent and I have talked about putting up a clothesline outside for our clothes too. Maybe that will happen this summer!

- I no longer use fabric softener or dryer sheets. Like I said above, instead of fabric softener, try a bit of vinegar. And I use dryer balls instead of chemical-filled dryer sheets. This is also good for cloth diapers if I do put them in the dryer since residue is left on the dryer from the dryer sheets that make the cloth diapers repel water (which obviously isn't what you want when it comes to cloth diapers).

Personal Hygiene

- First we got rid of antibacterial soaps in our house. There are numerous articles showing that there really aren't benefits to using antibacterial soaps in a home setting. Hospital settings, maybe beneficial. But their overuse is causing all sorts of problems and has the potential of causing many more, some foreseeable, some not.

- I got a bunch of the "foaming" soap dispensers since they save on the amount of soap used. And I make my own mixture to go in them. I bought a big refill container of regular handsoap (gel, non-antibacterial) and I mix a 2:1 ratio of water to soap in the foaming dispensers. Makes one of those refill containers last a LONG time! I think sometimes people forget that the most important aspect to hand washing is vigorous, prolonged (20-30 seconds) scrubbing. The soap is just there to aid in getting the dirt off easier, but the scrubbing is what gets the germs off.

- Shampoo and Conditioner:
This is one I've been playing around with for a while. I've always had greasy hair and had to shampoo everyday. I often wondered how pioneer women went a week or more at a time without washing their hair. I figured I would've just been the ugly, greasy lady nobody would want to date. :) But then I started looking into it more and found out about people going shampoo-less. Meaning they never washed their hair. How is that possible? So I started digging deeper. And I found that there are varying degrees of it and different things work for different people and different hair types. I've known for a while that using shampoo only worsens the amount of grease in my hair because it strips all of the natural oils each day, but I didn't know what to do about it.

Over the last couple of years I have come to learn that baking soda is one of God's gifts to us. It has SOOOO many uses. One of them is being an alternative to shampoo. Vinegar is another awesome thing. And apple cider vinegar works great as an alternative to conditioner. Who knew?

Here are a couple of great sites about it:
http://www.naturemoms.com/no-shampoo-alternative.html
http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-Go-No-Poo/
http://ezinearticles.com/?No-Shampoo---How-to-Go-No-Poo-Successfully&id=3803613
http://www.naturallycurly.com/curlreading/curl-products/all-about-the-no-poo-routine-2

I haven't gone to strictly baking soda and ACV yet, but that's my goal....and who knows? Maybe if I keep going, I can be like the pioneer women and wash my hair with just water once a week or so. Wouldn't that be amazing? At the moment, I'm using a shampoo and conditioner that don't have as many of the harsh, abrasive, toxic, stripping chemicals in them. It's the Tresemme Naturals line. I've heard that the Suave Naturals line is also pretty good at leaving the harsher chemicals out (plus it's super cheap).

I haven't switched out my soap yet. Waiting to finish out the box we got from Costco. But again, really all that's needed to get clean is warm water and scrubbing. And soap is SOOO drying for the skin. So the only places I use soap now is in my armpits and "down there." The rest of my body gets clean just by being in the water and any shampoo running down. :)

For the kids, I used to use shampoo and conditioner on them every single time they took a bath (2-4 times a week, depending on the season). I no longer do. I let their natural oils keep their hair and scalp healthy. For AJ, I use the same shampoo and conditioner as I use, but we only use a little bit. Just a squeeze about the size of a dime of shampoo for the top of her head. I don't shampoo the ends....too drying. Then a squeeze about the size of a quarter of conditioner for the ends of her hair only. (I wash my hair this same way.) For Roo, he has such little hair now that he uses just a small amount of shampoo. For the little girls, I don't use shampoo at all. But I use a bit of conditioner on the ends just to make it easier to comb out. And for soap, we only have them soap up in their armpits and the parts under their underwear. :) (That is, unless Lady's gotten into the markers again and then we'll use it wherever she's created art on herself.)

Here is a great website that has all of the ingredient info for so many of the products we buy. It rates them on a scale of 0-10, with 0 being the least toxic and 10 being the most. It also breaks it down so that you know which ingredients are the toxic culprits. (The new Tresemme Naturals line isn't on there yet, but a lot of the Suave Naturals are.) I've used this site now a number of times in looking for deodorant, shampoo/conditioner, lotion, make-up, sunscreen, etc. It's awesome! Right now I'm researching toothpastes to make a switch in that department too.

- Speaking of deodorant, I've made the switch to a less toxic deodorant. The aluminum in regular antiperspirants is really not good for us and is absorbed into our skin when we apply it. I switched to Tom's of Maine. It's just a deodorant (not antiperspirant), but I've found that it doesn't last all day. So if I want to still smell good for Brent when he comes home from work, I need to apply it twice during the day. I've just ordered Ban invisible solid online (it's on its way to us now!) for both Brent and myself. It got good reviews on Amazon, so I'm hoping it works a bit better for me. I'll have to let you know once we get it. :)

- Now we'll be getting into the "strictly feminine" aspects of personal hygiene. :)

A few years ago, I heard about an alternative to pads and tampons. After years of using tampons I made the switch and I haven't looked back since. I never really was comfortable with the thought of tampons being inside of me in such a "personal" area for a week out of every month, but the thought of using pads instead was just too......icky. (Plus they still have awful chemicals as well.) I hated the 6 weeks postpartum when I HAD to wear pads......Babies are the ones who usually get diaper rash, but it was Mama that did when it came to me and pads. So uncomfortable!

So let me introduce you to my new best friend...... the Diva Cup. Pure bliss. There's a bit of a learning curve (no worse than learning to use tampons), and it comes with a "stem" at the bottom that I snipped off for comfort's sake, but once you get it down it's AWESOME! No trying to remember to keep tampons everywhere under the sun (purse, glove compartment, diaper bag, every drawer in every bathroom, etc.). No more chemicals in your "personal space" all week. No more diaper rash from yucky pads. It's a beautiful thing.

And for those of you who still prefer pads, I have an alternative as well......Mama Cloth. Now most of you might react with "ICK!" But let me tell you, either way you're dealing with an "ick" factor. This "time of the month" that we deal with is just icky any way you look at it. So there's a choice to be made whether we deal with the "ick" factor of nasty chemicals making their way into our most private of areas or whether we deal with the "ick" factor of touching something somewhat unpleasant for a few moments, but we're then able to wash it right off of our hands. I have a friend that I adore who once said, "There's not anything that the human body can produce that CAN'T be washed off." So true. And for those of you who enjoy supporting work-at-home-moms, you're probably familiar with Etsy. It's my new favorite place to shop. There are plenty of women there who can make the perfect Mama Cloth for you! My friends who use Mama Cloth just keep a small trash can (with a lid) in their bathroom just for these and a small wetbag in their purse for when they're out and about. Then they toss them in the washer and wash on hot and they're good to go.

These things may seem expensive up-front (kind of like cloth diapers), but they are SO MUCH CHEAPER in the long run. You can find Diva Cups on sale for between $15-$20. That's probably about 1-2 months worth of tampons for me. And the Diva Cup will last so much longer! Same with the Mama Cloth. A bigger expense in the beginning, but it won't take too many months to pay them off! And if you happen to sew, then it can be even cheaper! Just make your own! There are plenty of sites with tutorials and patterns.

- Along the same lines as Mama Cloth is, of course, cloth diapers. I know lots of women who just toss their Mama Cloth in with their diapers at the end of the day. Cloth diapering has been one of my favorite switches that we've made. The cloth wipes we use (you know, those super-cheap baby washcloths you can buy like 12 for $3 at Walmart) really come in handy too. But I already did a whole post about that, so I won't repeat myself here.

-I feel like I should also mention one thing for those of you who may want to take this type of thing and run with it. It's not something that we've done at our house, but I'll never say never. It is reusable toilet paper. Enough said.

Cleaning Products

A couple of years ago when I started wanting the kids to help with the cleaning more, I realized I really didn't like the idea of them spraying and coming in contact with all of the chemicals in the cleaners I'd always used. So I, again, researched alternatives. There are some good options you can buy at the store. But I found the best alternative for us.

- Baking soda and vinegar. My kids could eat the cleaner and they'd be fine! (Not that they'd want to....yuck!)

We use these 2 things for pretty much all of our cleaning now. (My friend, Jen, did a similar post today about cleaning supplies. She has some great ideas as well and I love all of her reusable stuff. But I wanted to correct one thing..... Vinegar IS a disinfectant because of the acetic acid in it.)

Each bathroom is equipped with a spray bottle of 1 part vinegar, 2 parts water. There are 2 washcloths also. One for the toilets, one for the sinks/counters/tub. (Using the same one for everything gives me the heebie-jeebies.) The vinegar/water also works great on the mirrors. Also in each cabinet is a tall tupperware container of baking soda. This is for the toilets, tubs, and any hard-to-scrub spots on the counters/sinks. The kids just open the container and shake a bit into the toilet and the tub and then scrub away! Works great!

You can also find a spray bottle and container of baking soda under my kitchen sink. It's all I use in the kitchen now as well. I also use vinegar and water to mop my floors. It's always done a great job! This is currently the mop I use, but I'm thinking about getting one like this instead. I don't like having to wrap the elastic edges over my current mop every time I rinse it out and I think I'd like to have the microfiber pads instead of cotton.

Costco has 2 big jugs of vinegar for like $3 or something like that.....SO CHEAP! And they also have a big bag of baking soda....can't remember how much it is, but I'm pretty sure it's less than $5. Again....SO CHEAP!

We used to use so many throw-away products.... Lysol/Clorox disinfecting wipes, Swiffer dust cloths, Swiffer wet cloths, dryer sheets, I can't even count the number of different cleaners I had all over the house (Bleach, detergent, fabric softener, toilet cleaner, Windex, a bathroom spray, a kitchen spray.) All of that has been tossed out now, and I'm all about reusable stuff.

Want to know my new favorite cleaning secret? Microfiber towels. Really, they have a million different uses. I bought a big package of them from Costco when I first started cloth diapering. I planned on using them as inserts for my pocket diapers, but I found other inserts I liked better. Now I use the microfiber towels every day for other things.

They make the perfect duster. There's one in each of the kids' rooms for dusting each week. I rotate them about once a month.

They're super-absorbent, so I use them all the time in the kitchen. I keep a bottom drawer full of them and just pull one out whenever I need it. I use them almost exclusively instead of paper towels now in the kitchen. If there's a spill, the microfiber towels will get it up twice as fast.

I keep one on the counter for when I'm cutting up veggies and constantly washing them off and needing to dry my hands off. I use them for wiping up my children. I use at least 2-3 a day. And the best part is, you just toss them in the washer along with the regular kitchen towels and rags, and use them again and again! In fact, we just bought another huge pack from Costco. I can't seem to find them online to post a link, but they're in the automotive section at the store. Ours are bright yellow.

- I'm currently searching for some cloth napkins. I'll probably order those from Etsy as well.

Misc. Going Green Stuff
I know that there are a lot of things we could be doing, but aren't. Here are some more miscellaneous things we do along with some things we WANT to do, but aren't doing yet.

- We try to limit our sprinkler use. We turn them on in the evenings or early morning. And we just switched out some of the sprinkler heads to more efficient ones (instead of spraying, they have tubes you hook on that go to specific spots like bushes and plants).

- We use the energy-efficient lightbulbs. And I like them just fine, but they scare me a bit because if you break them, you practically have to call a HazMat team to clean it up.

- We use rechargeable batteries where we can.

- We have ceiling fans in all the bedrooms (except Tink's and Lady's room...still trying to figure that one out) to cut down on a/c use.

- We recycle. Our recycle bin is usually more full than our garbage bin.

- We use glass tupperware instead of plastic and we don't microwave on/in plastic containers.

- We just put down cork flooring which is a sustainable resource (quicker recovery than wood).

- We try to take quick showers/baths.

- We teach the kids to turn off the lights when they leave a room (this one is still a work in progress).

- Brent built 2 garden boxes this year. :)
We have yet to plant anything in them, but that's the ultimate goal! We're considering getting 1 or 2 of these. (They're $99 each at Costco right now.) But we'll probably only get them if we get a garden in.

- If we don't do a garden ourselves this year, our stake does a "Community Garden" with some land that the church owns next to our building. We can participate in that by helping plant and weed and reap the rewards when it's time to harvest!

- We buy local produce when we can. There's a small produce stand (owned by a family in our ward) just outside of our subdivision and another larger produce stand just up the street. I buy as much as I can from them throughout the summer.

- Eating vegetarian/vegan is considered green since we're not supporting the meat/dairy industry and farms.

- We have energy-efficient appliances.

- We just had a company come fill our attic with a whole lot more insulation than was currently up there. Right now there are some rebate incentives going on, so it really didn't cost all that much when all was said and done.

- We try not to drive too much. (Or maybe this has less to do with being green and more to do with the fact that I have 5 kids to haul around with me everywhere I go and therefore really try to condense my errands to as few as possible and try to be as efficient as possible with them.) ;)

- We've gone to paper-less billing for most of our bills. There are still some companies that are apparently behind the times and not offering this yet. But with those that do, I LOVE online payments.....so quick and easy and they help my stamps last a LOT longer!

- I'm currently looking into dishwasher detergent and toothpaste alternatives. So if you already know of some, let me know!


There are probably a few things I'm not thinking of and even more that I haven't even thought of doing. So give me your ideas. What things do you like to do to be more green, natural, or cheap?
I can edit them in at the bottom of the post as you comment. :)

----------------------------------------------------------

EDITED TO ADD:

Be forewarned that Etsy is a dangerous place. I found some cloth napkins I want and in doing so, found more things I want. These are great! (There are all sorts on there!) I bought some cloth bags from Harmon's that I love, but I need to be better at remembering to take them in the store with me. :)

There are also these and these. For those of you who send your kids to school with lunch, there are a LOT of reusable sandwich baggies and lunch bags/boxes.

I also found these and I really want some for the bread Brent makes each week. The woman who makes them has a blog that has inspired me a bit. Going plastic-free (as much as possible). Intriguing. I'll have to think on that a bit. We've already done quite a bit of that already, but she showed me even more ways I can be better.

Seeing stuff like this makes me realize I should just learn how to sew better. But the reality is that I have about 10 sewing projects that are needing to be worked on (and have been in need for longer than I care to share.....THAT'S how embarrassing it is). So the reality is that it might be worth my money to let someone else sew these things for me. Thank goodness for talented women!

****My awesome dental hygienist sister-in-law answered my request for a new toothpaste! She emailed me this response:

"Fun post Ann!! As far as a tooth paste goes. . .try your tried and true BAKING SODA!! Seriously, it works great! Technically, you don't really need a tooth paste to remove plaque from your teeth. . .water would be just fine as well. All the stuff they put in toothpaste is just for marketing anyway. The key to tooth brushing is at least 2 min of gentle brushing (not hard, fast scrubbing. . . leave that for the hands)"

See? Baking soda rocks! (Along with vinegar!)