Review : Don't Bit Me Patch

We live on a mosquito farm.

Seriously.

Everyone has them at their house in the summer right? Right.

Except we also have a good size river that floods during the spring/summer rains and then proceeds to fill all of the low lying areas just a few hundred feet from our front door. I mean, we used to live 2 miles (big move huh?) from where we are now and it was nothing compared to this. At night we get swarms of the outside the sliders and basically can't go outside after about 6pm. It borders on ridiculous.

And that is the reason why I jumped at the chance when Momfuse asked if I wanted to try out some Don't Bite Me Patches. This patch is a new, natural, way to repel those stupid biting insects. It contains only vitamin B1 and aloe. The vitamin B1 travels through your system and the excess is the sent out your pores, thereby masking the carbon dioxide you body emits. The aloe is an anti inflammatory that helps minimize any inflammation that occurs if you do get a bite.

Sounds great right? At least a way to not use lots of chemicals. But does it work?

I put one on my leg about 2 hours before I tested it out. (it takes 2 hours to be effective) After dinner I went outside, right up to the edge of the woods. What transpired was really weird. I was being swarmed, yet none landed on me. After a few minutes I received only one bite, which is a miracle seeing how many where out there.

Since then I have used the patches a few more times, and each time received one bite or less. So these things really do work! My only beef is that it takes a couple hours to be effective so it doesn't really work for impromptu outings. But for camping or for when you know you'll be outside for great lengths of time, these are awesome! They're waterproof and they even last for about 36 hours!

Best of all, you can put them on kids without having to worry about Deet!

So if you'd rather not feed the mosquitoes this summer, try out the Don't Bite Me Patch. I'm pretty sure they can be found nationwide at RiteAid and I've also seem them at our local Health Food Store.

Potty Training

I've been meaning to write this post now for months. Literally.

See, we did all our potty training almost one year ago when Cody turned 2. Actually just a couple days before. But I guess this does seem to be a good time since he is now 100% diaper free as of a few weeks ago and in time for his third birthday!

How I did it:

Once I decided to start potty training I made the decision that what we started would not be stopped. I was not going to revert back to diapers. So I went out and bought a little potty at Target and about a dozen 'big boy' underpants. It was just a simple little potty, no bells and whistles.

It soon went right back to Target.

See, umm...boys pee out. Not down. And there was no way in tarnation that he could sit down on that thing and actually go into it! So I did some searching online and it seemed moms of boys liked the Baby Bjiorn potty as it had a higher guard in front. Plus it's a very basic potty and of good quality for only a few dollars more, so I highly recommend it as well!

One morning after breakfast I took off his last diaper and we put underpants on both him AND his teddy. We walked downstairs to the potty, where I had already put a bit of water in it, and placed teddy on it. So teddy got to be the first one to go potty and get a potty snack. (I had some organic m&m type candies) We then talked about what he was supposed to do.

Then I got him some juice. Yup, juice. He rarely ever gets juice so for him this was HUGE. And he drank and drank and drank it all day. Why? Well, when they have to pee more often it gives them more of a chance to learn when they feel the urge to go.

At first he had shorts on and let me tell you, this did. not. work! After the 3rd time of him just peeing and barely getting wet, I put on his cotton pj pants that fit quite snugly. And this was the ticket for him! The first couple times he got wet, he lost it. He did not like getting all wet.

By the end of the first day he was starting to hold it much longer and by the second night he actually started telling us he had to go potty! (I had taught him the sign for potty previously) Every time he went, he did get a potty snack and of course we made a big to do about everything as well. And I did a ton of laundry!!

Sure he had accidents, but for the most part he was trained #1 within a few days time. But then after a couple weeks, the newness wore off and he started having accidents multiple times a day. So I decided to take all of his hot wheels away when he wet himself and he could get them back by going in the potty chair.

Worked like a charm! In no time flat he was staying dray all day again.

Then we got some sort of stomach bug and let me tell you, this really did not help for training #2! Because of the cramping he felt and the pain while going, I'm pretty sure this scared him away from going on the potty. And then I got pregnant. And was so tired I just couldn't train anymore than what he already was. So he ended up scheduling himself to go during naptimes where he still used a diaper. I guess all I can say is that I'm glad he at least wasn't going in his pants during the day as he only wore underpants then.

A few months go buy and I make it my goal to get him to go #2 on the potty by the time baby comes. And I knew it was my fault he wasn't fully trained as I was being a bit inconsistent with the training. So we try the treats again. And we try the taking the toys again. Nope, still going at naptime.

So then I started putting him down naked. Yes, you heard me right. Naked. Cause I knew he wouldn't go unless he felt the security of the diaper. And while we had a few wet sheets here and there, it worked like a charm! Until he held it for days and then hurt himself again while going in the potty.

So while we finally had naptimes down, he then started going in the morning.

Ugh! I talked to a few of my friends and got a few different ideas. But when talking about rewards with one friend I finally got the idea to use hot wheels as a reward. So I went out and spent 10 bucks buying some new cars for him.

The next morning I had them all lined up on the counter and we discussed what they were for. And you know what? Two hours later he told me he had to go!

Bingo!

I had finally figured out how to break his habit and within a week he was fully trained except for bed time.

And last month I figured it was as good a time as any to start night training when he started peeing in his diaper right after we put him to bed. Actually it was the "just a minute mommy. I have to pee in my deeper first" when I went to take it off one morning! I knew then he was ready!

I just told him if he woke up dry he got a treat. Of course it didn't work for the first couple of nights and I was up changing wet sheets. But of course I was already up with the baby so it wasn't that big of a deal! After 2 weeks he stayed dry. And has been dry since.

Now, we aren't without accidents. I mean he's not quite 3 yet. But all of those are due to the fact that he get's lazy or to busy to go.

So if I were to give any advice (yea, I know you didn't ask, but I'm gonna give it anyways!) I'd tell you to:

• Buy more underpants than you really need. Like 2 dozen so you don't have to do laundry as much!
• Use a favorite doll or stuffed animal to show them what to do
• buy treats or prizes for each time they go (I only gave them out when he went, not just when he tried)
• Make sure you have a week at home with out interruption
• Give them lots to drink the first few days!
• Unless it's before naptime or bedtime, don't tell them when to go. Wait until they feel the urge themselves. Yes, it makes more laundry, but at least they'll be trained, and not you who's trained.
• Don't use pullups. All it really is is a diaper and will give them the same feeling as wearing one.
  
• Be consistent! I know that the reason it was drawn out for a few months for us was because of me. I was being inconsistent and that translated into untraining.
• and most of all, expect your kids to get the hang of it. It seems no matter what you say or do, if you somehow don't expect your kids to 'get it' or if you think it's gonna take forever, somehow they feel that and only live up to your true expectations.

Well, that's what has worked for us thus far. And I know my way of doing things definitely isn't for everyone, but I thought I'd share just in case there's a mama out there who's only told that boys take forever to potty train. It is possible!

Any other mama's out there wanna leave us some of your own tips? What worked for you?

Lost hours

You know... when I thought how my life would look with a second baby I figured I'd be losing a lot of 'me time'. It's just what happens when children come along. You just have less time to do things. Well, baby number two came along and really not much changed. Sure I had a bit less time to myself, but after we woke in the mornings I had ample time to get things done and blog before Cody woke up.

Hmmm.

I seem to have forgotten that my son does not sleep well in the summer. June 1 hits and he somehow needs about 3-4 hours less sleep per night.

So instead of me getting my blogging time done in the morning before he wakes at 8:00am, I barely get the baby fed before he's up at 6:30. Some days he's even up before Todd leaves for work! Even skipping naps doesn't seem to work as he just gets crabbier and crabbier. What I miss most of all though is my ability to sleep in on Saturday morning. Sure, the baby wakes to eat, but she's at such a young age she'll nurse herself right to sleep again.

Anybody elses kids do this?

A few ways to get things for free

So, I know I posted about these few things yesterday when I put up my resources page, but I got a couple questions about some so I thought I'd go in depth about a few so you knew they weren't scams. Cause, I'd never direct you all to a scam let alone something I hadn't done myself! And I know many of you already joined these, as I always seem to be the last one to post about them!


First up is Paperback swap. I joined up about a year ago now and have received quite a few "new to me" books. The easiest way to explain paperback swap is to call it an online book swap. You post any book that you currently own that you no longer read. (if you post 10 books right away they automatically give you 2 book credits!) Now at some point, you'll most likely have someone request your book. When you send it out to them (you pay the shipping) and they receive it, you get a book credit. You can then use that book credit and search the site to request someone else's book. They then pay the shipping to send it to you and you get a free, used, book! I've sent out many of my own books and have received some great books in return. I've never had any issues with people not sending out a book, although it is up to the people who post them to follow through. It's a great way to save some money! And if you have friends sign up with your refferal link you earn even more book credits! (so if you haven't signed up yet, you can click on the button above to use my refferal link. I'm currently saving up my book credits to be able to get some 'schooling' books to use for preschool this year)



DVD Swap - Same premise as the Paperback Swap but with DVD's. I joined this one much later on, but have since gotten 2 DVDs that my toddler enjoys quite a bit.




SwagBucks - A search engine that rewards you for using it with "points". These points can then be turned into online gift certificates to all sorts of online stores or to buy prizes. I've earned $15.00 in Amazon.com cards in about 6 weeks! This works just like google and you can even pull the swagbucks search up into the top right hand "search area" say the Mozilla or IE window. You then do nothing different at all when yuo search. Every few times you search for something online it pops up that you have earned a swagbucks and it gets added into your account. So far I've used my swag bucks to purchase an amazon gift card so that I could buy some California Baby Sunblock! A fabulous way for me to buy things that are normally out of my price range! And of course, you can also earn extra points here and there by refferals as well. (*clears throat* the above button!) So once you sign up, your friends and family sign up, you'll all be earning 'bucks' for something you'd be doing anyways.

Mitetees winner

Here are your random numbers:

2 

Timestamp: 2009-07-01 22:50:29 UTC

Tami - an e-mail is on it's way!!

Resources

Here is a decent list of companies/site that I frequent in my quest to live a healthier, greener, and more nourishing life. This definitely is not a concrete list and I will add resources as I come across (or remember) them!
(also - if you have any that you think I'd like to know about, send them my way!)

Recipes/Cooking Sites:
AllRecipes - A great searchable site for all kinds of recipes. Includes ratings from those who have tried certain recipes which is helpful to know which ones to try. My most used recipe site, and I just modify to adjust for our nutritional standards.

RecipeZaar - Another searchable site for recipes.

Tammy's Recipes - A blog run by a stay at home mom of 3. She posts some great, easy, recipes.

The Nourishing Gourmet - Lots of Real/ Whole foods recipes!

Sue Gregg - This site includes nutritious and nourishing recipes.

Real Asian Made Simple - Has a great listing of some easy to make Asian foods.

The Pioneer Woman - Seriously, this woman can cook! I personally love her mac and cheese.

Rachel Ray - I love to browse her recipes and I usually alter tham a bit to make them a bit more nourishing or based around our dietary needs.


Beauty/Hygiene Products:
Skin Deep - An awesome database by the Environmental Working Group to search cosmetic products for chemicals, etc. Gives a listing of the most and least toxic products.

Flora Botanicals - They sell handmade body whips and scrubs along with products for mom and baby. (my review here)


Real/Whole/Nourishing Foods:
Weston A. Price - "The Foundation is dedicated to restoring nutrient-dense foods to the human diet through education, research and activism. It supports a number of movements that contribute to this objective including accurate nutrition instruction, organic and biodynamic farming, pasture-feeding of livestock, community-supported farms, honest and informative labeling, prepared parenting and nurturing therapies. Specific goals include establishment of universal access to clean, certified raw milk and a ban on the use of soy formula for infants." Basically a grest resource for all things pertaining to nourishing foods!!

Real Milk - A great site on the hows and whys of drinking raw milk. They also have a search feature to find a local source for raw milk.

Moutain Rose Herbs - A great resource for herbs, spices, oils, and things pertaining to natural body care. I've ordered from them and loved everything I got!

Cultures For Health - A site that sells, Yogurt and Sourdough starters as well as kefir grains.


Finding Local Resources:
Local Harvest - A great site to find farmers markets and CSA's near you.

Real Milk - A great site on the hows and whys of drinking raw milk. They also have a search feature to find a local source for raw milk.

Eat Wild - A great site all about healthy meats with a search feature to find your own local source.

Azure Standard - I've never ordered from them, but know a lot of folks who do. They sell bulk and natural foods.


Green Living:
Neela Bags - Stylish reusable bags. (my review here)

EcoTouch Waterless Car Wash - Wash your car w/o water! (my review here)

EcoStores - eco friendly laundry detergent, dish detergent, bath and body stuff, pet care, etc. (my review here)

Green Lemonaide - offers "green toolkits". (my review here)

Tappening - Offers BPA free water bottles. (my review here)


Pregnancy and Breastfeeding:
Kellymom - A great resource for all things concerning breastfeeding!

The Bradley method - This method focuses on husband coached childbirth and was a great natural childbirth resource for me!

The Best Birth - a nice DVD to watch to get yourself ready for birth. This seemed to help my husband really know what was going on 'down there' since we chose not to take actual classes. (my review here)

The Christian Childbirth Handbook - A wonderful book about natural childbirth from a Christian perspective. The website also has some wonderful information on it as well.

Giving Birth Naturally - A site all about natural childbirth. Even has online childbirth classes.


Babywearing:
The Kylie Wrap - *Handmade* wrap style carrier using jersey knit fabric. (my review here)

Wrap and Wear - Another wrap style carrier using crinkle cotton fabric. (my review here)

Ring Sling - *Handmade* ring slings by Kangaroobabe. (my review here) She also sells tutu's and baby leggings.

Mei Tai - *Handmade* Mei Tai from Jellie Babies. (my review here)

Ergo - A soft structured carrier. (my review here)

The Peanut Shell - A pouch type sling. (my review here)


Cloth Diapering:
Cotton Babies - a great resource for learning about and buying cloth diapers. I've ordered a few things from them and never had any customer service or shipping issues. Everything was as stated on the website.

Nicki's Diapers - another great place to buy diapers and supplies. I've also ordered from this site with no problems!

Wooden Toys:
Ogunquit Wooden Toy - Super cute *handmade* baby rattles and toys for kids.

Play Child Toys - A great source for Melissa and Doug, Wooden Thomas the Train, PlayMobile, pretend play toys, Uncle Goose blocks, and they even have a made in the USA section.


Free Stuff:
LaBump - A great place to search out free maternity and baby clothes. Not yet available in every area though.

Paperback Swap - A great site in which you list books you have that you no longer read and can then pick out another book from someone else that they want to pass along.


DVD Swap - Same premise as the Paperback Swap but with DVD's.


SwagBucks - A search engine that rewards you for using it with "points". These points can then be turned into online gift certificates to all sorts of online stores. I've earned $15.00 in Amazon.com cards in about 6 weeks!




Freecycle - A website with locally based groups where you can both offer free items or look for them yourself.

Review : Thai Kitchen (and a giveaway!)

I've had Thai food once, at a wedding reception. I have never, ever cooked it myself. But when Mom Fuse asked if I'd like to review some stuff from Thai Kitchen that I would make in my own kitchen, I thought in light of my whole "Try It Tuesday" thing, it would be a good way to expand my horizons!

They sent me the curry paste, coconut milk, fish sauce, and jasmine rice so I could make either some curry vegetables or some curry chicken. I went with the chicken. I was a bit worried it wouldn't turn out, or we wouldn't like it, so I had some quick dinner items in the fridge just in case!

Here's the recipe I made:

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 15 minutes

1 can (14 ounces) Thai Kitchen® Coconut Milk, divided

2 tablespoons Thai Kitchen® Red Curry Paste

1 tablespoon brown sugar (I used sucanat)

1 pound cooked boneless, skinless chicken breast

1/4 cup chopped fresh Thai basil (I totally forgot this! oops!)

2 tablespoons Thai Kitchen® Premium Fish Sauce

1. Bring 1/2 of the coconut milk to simmer in large skillet on medium heat. Stir in curry paste until well blended. Add remaining coconut milk and sugar; bring to boil. Reduce heat to low; simmer 5 minutes.
2. Stir in chicken. Cook 3 to 5 minutes or until chicken is heated through.
   
3. Stir in basil and fish sauce.Serve with cooked Thai Kitchen® Jasmine Rice. Garnish with additional basil and red chile slices, if desired. Makes 4 servings.

It was super easy to make and get this - we all liked it! I did lower the curry paste by a half a tablespoon since I didn't want it to be to spicy for my toddler, and it wasn't hot at all. Next time I'll put the full amount in. It even reheated well when my husband took the leftovers to work the next day. He even liked it so much he made the comment "This is really growing on me!". So nice when I step out on a limb and it actually works!

I also like the fact that they have all the allergy information right on their labels as well as on their website. Since my husband is on a gluten free diet right now, this is especially helpful. And with their variety of products, I may just try my hand at something else soon! And the curry chicken is on the menu again for later this week!

Now, the sponsors of the review, Thai Kitchen, are also going to giveaway a Thai Kitchen cookbook to 2 of my readers! So now you can try out something new as well. To enter to win, just go check out Real Asian Made Simple and leave a comment back on this post with a recipe you'd like to try. I'll choose the winner via Random.org next Monday (the 6th) at 6am.

A Day in the Life...

A stay at home mom always get's the "So what do you do all day" question at least a couple of times during her mom career. And lately I've been feeling like I'm busy all day, but not getting a lot done, so I thought I'd take a random day this week and actually jot everything down!!

5:30am - Baby wakes up to eat. (slept since 10pm!!whoo hoo!!)

6:00 - Toddler tries to get up. Tell him to go back to bed, it's to early to wake up!

6:30 - Let toddler get up since he's not going back to sleep. Kiss hubby goodbye! Toss a load of dipes in the wash.

6:45 - Breakfast and kitchen cleanup. Let the dog out.

7:15 - Put baby down for a nap and let toddler watch some PBS while I get some morning baking done. (normally he helps, but he's in a bit of a mood today from going to bed late and then up way to early!) Got a batch of granola bars and GF zucchini muffins done!

8:00 - Quick check of the e-mail, get dressed and ready.

8:30 - Forgot the dog was still outside and let him in to eat. Fold clothes from the dryer (washed yesterday) Toss the dipes in the dryer. Get the toddler dressed and ready.

8:45 - Sit and read books with toddler while I nurse the baby

9:15 - Snacktime while I try and get a package ready for post office. Baby is NOT happy that I put her down and is screaming away. Toddler then gets in trouble after snack for getting into something he can't have. Starts screaming. Goes to sit on his bed till he calms down. Change and feed baby some more cause she obviously wasn't full enough. Listen to toddler have a complete meltdown and cough and gag because he's crying so much.

9:45 - Get ready to head to post office to mail package and then to the farm to pick some strawberries and get our milk.

10:00 - Finally leave.

10:45 - Back home. Only got 1 qt of strawberries before we had to leave. Guess, I'll try again later. Baby asleep in car seat, toddler in his room for "playtime", I send out a few e-mails and deal with some vbs business. Throw dipes in the dryer and wish I had a laundry line outside since it's so hot they'd dry in no time! Toss another load in the washer.

11:00 - Wash strawberries and set out to dry.

11:15 - Nurse baby again, while toddler play with toys in livingroom.

11:30 - Put half dozen eggs in pan to hardboil. Head outside to check on the garden.

12:00 - Make lunch. We had a salad, GF muffin, applesauce, and sliced cheese.

12:30 - Put toddler in naptime, baby in the Ergo and then transferred to bed. Fold laundry, and cut and bag granola bars. Put GF muffins in bags and put in the freezer.

1:40 - Blog time/Me time! Then send out e-vites for a bridal shower next month. (good thing the kids slept so long as it took me longer than I thought!) Swap some more laundry out.

3:15 - Toddler up and has some dried pineapple for a snack.

3:30 - Feed baby while toddler plays.

4:00 - Show toddler how to run in the sprinklers since it's over 90 out.

4:30 - Let toddler play on the back deck with buckets of water while I clean the kitchen again. Throw in another load of laundry. Clean up the house a bit before husband comes home.

5:15 - Get dinner started with baby in wrap as she wouldn't let me put her down. Toddler still playing in water on deck! Except by now he's ditched his clothes. Still can't figure out the whole "swim shorts" thing!!

6:00 - Eat dinner.

6:20 - Feed baby while the rest of the family finishes dinner.

6:45 - Relax for a bit.

7:30 - Toss in more laundry, clean up kitchen.

8:00 - Start getting toddler ready for bed. Then let him play for a little while.

8:30 - Kiss toddler goodnight and have hubby put him to bed.

8:45 - Feed baby again.

9:15 - Try and put baby to bed, but it's a no-go for walking her to sleep and I'm to tired to keep it up.

9:30 - Take the easy way out and nurse baby to sleep. Fall asleep myself while nursing her on the couch.

10:15 - Barely notice husband turn off the lights and head to bed. To tired to get up and join him, plus I don't wanna wake the baby. Guess I'm sleeping on the couch for the night.

Review : Mitetees

I totally got hooked up again through Mom Fuse to do a review on a personalized infant tee from Mitetees. They sell onsies and t-shirts that you can customize in a lot of different ways.

I thought about getting this one that says "go green"
and I probably should have gotten the one that says "run, mommy, run!" since I do need to get my behind out there!
But then I decided to go with something I could put some pink on and got this one that I had personalized to say Cody's little sister.

I was impressed with the actual quality of the onesie as I've seen some like this where the fabric is kind of stiff and not comfy. These are soft and definitely wearable! And they wash well without the font coming off. And Cody is super proud that Sophia can wear his name!

These would make a great gift for either the new baby OR for older siblings. (they have regular t-shirts for older kids) Just seems like such a fun way to give something that no one else is going to give. So if you have a new baby to buy for soon, check out Mitetees to see what they offer!

OR

Since Mitetees is a super rocking store, you can just comment on this post to enter to win one for yourself! I'll keep comments open until Wednesday July 1st at 6am when I'll choose the winner. (US residents only) ***GIVEAWAY NOW CLOSED!**

This post is also linked to: Things I Love Thursday

Grateful for my Handy Man

My husband is one of those guys that's just plain handy to have around. He fixes what breaks, and builds what we need.

And two weeks ago I needed a fence.

See, I have this garden. And this year I'm really hoping to get a good harvest out of it!

But the deer? Well, they seem to have other plans. They ate all of my cucumbers, half my peppers and even started munching on my strawberries! And while I had some great comments on my other blog about it (human hair seems to keep them away) we figured it was time to "go big or go home".

See what he built me?
My garden right now is about 24' x24' and is now guarded like fort knox! He spent his whole Saturday morning and early afternoon putting this up all by himself. And don't worry - we know deer can jump. That's why we haven't yet cut down the posts yet. If they come back we'll put a bit more fencing up. :-)

And that's what I'm so grateful for today - my awesome husband!