It's OFFICIAL! We're SORTA Crunchy!!

 Recently, our whole family has had a mental switch of trying to do things different and better, not only for ourselves but for our environment! We've been trying to eat healthier, live better, use more organic and natural products and our newest major project that Matt has taken on is a garden!

Our Family Garden! Keeping our friendly rabbits out of the garden will be the major challenge I think! Our yard is very obviously the favorite for the furry cottontails! They dig under our shed, the kids play set, the nest under our patio steps, and they leave "cocoa puffs" all over the backyard for our dog....YUCK!!! I think, too, the fact that our neighbor will shoot them if he sees them!



Our *hopefully* Rabbit Proof Garden!



So as far as the gardening.....oh boy! Matt's job was to build it, put the compost soil in it, and help me plant. My job is maintaining it! Really?!??! My grandma is either going to be yelling at me from heaven on what I'm doing wrong, or she'll be dancing around at my green thumb! From my past with plants alone, I'm thinking she'll be megaphoning down to me on my "not-so-green" thumb! If you get updates on the progress of the garden, then things will be going well....if you see no more gardening posts...well, then you know!

All of us, as parents, want to do what's best for our children. I know that I'm not the only one who feels that way! Now the hard part of "what's best" I think differs for each family! I don't even feel that each family can stick to one set of plans. Each child is different and things have to bend and weave different ways for each child! If I had cookie cutter kids, I'd be bored to death! The variety that each of my children brings to my life is what keeps my job, fun, amazing, entertaining, bearable, and enjoyable! God knows what he's doing!!

Well, what's best for you probably isn't best for me and what's best for me probably isn't best for you!!

With Peyton, I don't know if I can pinpoint one particular thing that we did as "different" then the normal routine of raising him as a baby. We were just one of the conditioned Americans that just "do what we're expected to do", and do what all the baby books tell you to do! As we have gone on though, all the new things that we are implementing with the others, obviously he partakes in if it's pertinent to him! Now that I'm thinking though...we did co-sleep with him! It did make for a terrible transition to his own room and bed times, when we decided we needed to get back on track with the "books"! Oh, I did breast feed exclusively too for a full year!

When Parker was a baby, we decided that we would make our own baby food! It was so exciting to feel like I was doing something I felt was important to help my baby! I enjoyed creating our own mixes, using organic veggies and fruits, freezing, and watching my little man enjoy some healthy goodness! I also, was a big baby wearer when he was younger. I'm not sure if I quite realized the importance of the bonding that it gives, as much as I just needed an extra pair of hands with chasing 2 year old Peyton around! EBF'd too!

With Joshua, it's a whole new bag of donuts! First we contemplated vaccinations...see previous post! We've decided on a delayed/selected vaccine schedule for him. I'm still a wearer, and I enjoy it more then just using it as a pair of extra hands! He's currently snuggled in his Moby wrap on my chest right now, sleeping so peaceful! As much as my hubby hates it, I do co-sleep with him occasionally in our bed, but otherwise, his crib is in our room! We're so excited to make our own baby food again for him too! We made the switch from normal Huggies diapers to Seventh Generation Natural Diapers. Our newest adventure now, is CLOTH! I'm so excited, and mad at myself that I didn't do this sooner! I feel that I should have more babies to experience this from the beginning! ;)

Thirsties

GroVia

The money that it's going to save us, and the benefits for him and our environment is astounding! Today was a grand opening for a store that specializes in cloth diapering, and I heard about if from a friend on facebook. It's always something I've tossed back and forth in my mind, but that's been as far as it's gone. I, immediately got in a flurry and began researching cloth diapers. Going to a grand opening event was probably not the smartest time to visit a store and expect to talk with employee's, but the thought of winning a gift card or raffle was enough to get me there! So I went....and was totally lost! I sat in the middle of this small store like a little puppy dog. :(

Finally there was enough of a break of customers coming through, that I felt I could visit with one of the workers. He...yes HE, was very helpful! I still was a little lost, and a customer started talking about her CD experience, and I started listening in! She was a wealth of info, and even used Joshua as a demonstration! I made my decisions on some pre-folds and a couple of covers...yes, there are a million ways, it seems, to CD your child! I also purchased some cloth wipes and soap cubes to make my own wipe solution! The smell is Monkey Farts, and it smells DELICIOUS!

Monkey Farts and the Super Soft Cloth Wipes

I'm currently preparing the diapers, which is a process and a half! I'm determined to make this work though, and am sure I'll be making my next purchase soon to complete my CD stash! I've been online for several hours now researching the process of how to prep and wash the dipes, the different kinds of dipes, making my own wipes solutions, making my own dipes (you'll have to stay tuned to that!) and so so so much more! I've reached out to friends on FB to get tips and points! I've joined some parenting groups that CD too! I'm sure we'll be fine and this will work out wonderful for us!! Wish me luck!