Oh how I want...

a blog design makeover! I have a chance with Designer Blogs and I'm praying I win.

I'll leave it at that! :)

Bummas Cloth Wipes Review & Giveaway

It's no secret around here that I love to cloth diaper my girls. I started when Zoelle was 7 months old and I haven't looked back. When I first decided to cloth diaper, I decided to start slow and not use cloth wipes. It took me awhile, but I eventually followed using cloth wipes.

Thus I was super excited when Bummas sent me a pack of 3 wipes to review. When I first opened the package, this is what I saw

Cute right? I was immediately impressed just with the look of them. Next, I felt them to see if they were soft. I wish there was a way for you to virtually feel these cloths as they are super soft. Not only were they soft, but they are also very well made. On the Bummas site, it says they are used to:

*Avert the squirt when changing diapers.

*Thoroughly dry baby after cleaning up.

Other uses:
*Convenient shoulder armor for burping and feeding.
*Take them with you for quick clean-ups.
*So soft and supple, it's perfect for their little noses.
*Great for baths as a baby wash cloth!

My husband, who does the majority of bathtime in our house, used these last night on the girls at bathtime. I asked him what he thought and he said, "They are great, I just wish they were slightly bigger". I have to agree. Here is a picture of how big they are when open

I love these things, I just wish they were just a bit bigger as I will probably use them as cloth wipes. However, for wiping noses, drying baby off after cleaning up, or any of the other uses, they are perfect! Plus, you just can't complain about the softness of them.

Buy It!

Go to the Bummas Website and buy some of your own! You won't regret it!

Win It!

Bummas has generously offered to give one of my readers a set of their own Bummas Cloth Wipes.

Here's what you have to do...

Mandatory Entry:

1. Since they are offering one of my readers a set, you must follow me publicly on Google Friend Connect.

2. Next, go to the Bummas website and pick out the color set you would love to own! Then come back and leave a comment stating which one that is.

That's It!

Making it easy for both you and I! Winner will be chosen at random from random.org
Contest ends Saturday, February 6, 2010 at noon CST!

Winner:

#1-Angie. Yay! Hope you enjoy them as much as I do. 

*The featured product(s) in this post were provided to me free of charge by the manufacturer or pr company representing the company. All opinions expressed in this review are my own and not influenced in any way by anyone.

Wordless Wednesday: Disappearing Baby Feet

Judge Not

I recently read an article about Jennifer Garner in Parade magazine. Now I typically do not follow celebrities, but what she said in the article is something that I have been thinking about for some time now. Here is what she said:

"I will tell you what I can't abide -- and I think the Internet has really created a space for it -- women criticizing other women and mothers criticizing other mothers. It just makes me crazy, whether it's between staying at home, going to work, how long you breast-feed, if you use formula. I feel like we should just assume everyone is doing the best they can. Women should take care of each other, not tear each other down. I would just like to see a mother who really believes that she has done it all so right, you know what I mean?"

Makes sense doesn't it? I don't think it's any secret that I am passionate about car seat safety, extended breast feeding, anti/delay vaccinating, being a stay at home mom, cloth diapering, etc. However just because those are my passions, it doesn't mean that someone the opposite of me isn't just as passionate about her choice to formula feed, vaccinate, work out of the home, use disposables, etc. I get so saddened when someone says to me: "Well, I quit breastfeeding because it just isn't for me, I know you love it, but I don't (and then they sheepishly smile at me)." There is no judgement in formula feeding, at least not from me. Same if you use disposables. Heck even I use disposables out in public because for me, it's easier. The funny thing is, sometimes I feel embarrassed that I put my children in disposables out in public for fear that someone who knows how passionate I am about cloth, will judge me. That is not right! Yes cloth diapers are safer and have less chemicals, but perhaps disposables make more sense for a family who is busy and the extra work just seems like too much. Yes, there are harmful components in vaccines, but perhaps someone else feels strongly that the risks outweigh the cost of getting a life threatening disease.  Heaven forbid I ever admit that at times, I am jealous of the other moms who get out into the real world and have a job. Gasp! Nevermind the fact that many of them are probably thinking the same thing about staying at home. You won't find me ever judging those things. About the only thing I will  judge is car seat safety. Even that isn't really judging, rather just sadness when those presented with the info, continue to not extend rear face or extend 5-point harness. That is a matter of life and death to me. Of course, I suppose one could say that cloth diapering, not vaccinating, eating organic, etc. are also a matter of life and death. In a way, I suppose it all is.

The point is this: When have we as mothers decided it was ok to criticize, gossip, judge each other? I'm not sure when it started, although I think Jennifer is right when she says the Internet (message boards in particular I think) have fostered judging each other for our choices. I've been guilty in the past, and my goal from here on forward is to not judge other moms. Instead I want to be supportive no matter what their choices or, no matter how different we may be from each other. After all, I am not a perfect mom and neither are you.

Your turn: Have you been guilty of judging other moms? Do you feel that as moms we criticize each other unfairly?

Wordless Wednesday: Ladies Licking Lollipops

One little heartbeat at a time

My mind is racing! There is so much devastation all around me. Haiti, Human Trafficking, Drugs, People Lost, Orphans. Yet here I sit at home doing what seems like nothing.  What am I doing to help?

As most of you know I am a pretty die-hard champion of many things. I cloth diaper, I make my own baby food (well that is when I do make baby food, most of the time she just eats what we eat), I extend breast-feed, and I'm big into car seat safety (right now particularily extended rear-facing).

However, I was challenged to think lately when my sister posted a link on her facebook status to the above link on human trafficking. I had no idea that even happened in the United States! I really was naive in thinking it was something that only happened in other countries, but not here. So I started thinking (which is always a good thing) and it made me wonder if my passions for car seat safety, extended breastfeeding, etc. are even worth it. I mean there are hundreds of thousands of people dead in Haiti right now, there are 27 million people currently enslaved, people lost to drugs. Am I doing the world any good by promoting car seat safety? Or could my energy, my passion, be spent on something more worthy?

I still don't have those answers. My husband and I talked about it and he had a wonderful point in that each person is called to reach out to others in different ways. Each person has a different passion. As a mom, I can definitely reach more people with things concerning children. For my children are my passion.

While I still don't have the answers and I plan on praying and seeking God to direct me in those areas, I was struck with one thought today. While walking outside with my little two year old, I realized I am changing her. One little heartbeat at a time. I am changing the world. For who really knows what passions God will lay on her heart so that she can, in turn, go and change the world one little heartbeat at a time.

Wordless Wednesday: Baths and Bundled Up

The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

DH and I got in one of those rather shall I say, interesting, fights yesterday. You know the fights in which when you finish fighting, talk it through, etc., you really don't know why you got as mad as you got. Or exactly why you even got in the fight in the first place. Well I technically do know why: it's because I am a stubborn, selfish woman with a little less stubborn and non-selfish man.

It got me thinking about life; about marriage. How we show honor to God through our relationships with each other. We were very young when we got married; him 20, me, 19. I sometimes look back and wonder how we EVER survived that first year! After all we were young, selfish, and both extremely stubborn (but me more so). Yet, we were also so in love. I think when we got married we thought that love would carry us through anything. In a way, it has, but ultimately it is God who has carried us through. He has had to work on my heart over and over again in my marriage but He is finally getting through to this stubborn girl.

So last night, there we were 6 1/2 years of marriage later and I was snuggled into my handsome hubby's arms asking him for his forgiveness. Letting him know how very wrong I was. He forgave me, as I knew He would, and then said to me:  "I'll love you forever; in the good, the bad, and the ugly.". And I thought to myself, I will too dear, I just hope to have a lot more good in me than bad or ugly. That is my prayer this year: to have more good in me, to be a blessing to my husband in marriage, to encourage and uplift him. Because he deserves it and because I love him.

Best of 2009 Giveaway!

One of my all time favorite bloggers is Stephanie at Metropolitan Mama. I often lament that we don't live closer to each other because by reading her posts, she and I sound like we could be really good friends in real life. I appreciate her honesty, humor, and her love for both her husband and girls. I always go check out her blog at least once a day in the hopes that she has posted something new. :) Right now, she has a Best Of 2009 Giveaway going on, so if you want to try and win some stuff for you or someone else you know, head on over there. If I were you though, I'd stick around just to read her various posts as she really has opened my eyes on many different things! Enjoy!

Wordless Wednesday: Just Like Mom

Sigh...frustration!

Sigh

I'm frustrated! In an effort to be honest in all aspects of my life, I'm taking my frustration to my blog in hopes that it will help me put my thoughts on paper  computer.

I'd like to say my girls are great sleepers/nappers, etc. but the reality is, they aren't. Well I shouldn't exactly say that, because they are, but it's just not until they go to sleep that they are.

Zoelle for example is suppose to be napping right now, but I have been in her room three times already telling her she has to sleep, yet she is still up. It used to get me extremely upset when this would happen. It still does, but to a lesser extreme. I have come to realize that I can't force her to nap, I can only just tell her to and hope and pray that she follows. Now I do understand that at 2.5 she may be coming to an end of naps, but I'm not quite certain she is. Most days, she cannot make it without a nap or else she is extremely crabby. Thank God for the fact that she sleeps great all night long and has since she was a babe.

Of course now that Zoelle is awake, Meridian decides to actually nap today! And by the time Zoelle falls asleep, Mer will probably be waking up. Sigh...I feel as if I don't get a break.

Meridian is still having a tough time with sleeping. She will sleep absolutely great for naps in a sling, our arms, in her swing, or in her carseat. I keep telling myself that I should be ok with that, yet I really have a desire for her to sleep in her crib for naps. For one, I think she would sleep much better being away from all the noise. Bedtime is still a big struggle too. She will fall asleep in her crib, but wake up two hours later and think that it is awake time. Being that her and Z share a room, I cannot keep Meridian in there and work with her, so I end up taking her into the light, which in turn wakes her up for another two hours until it is our bedtime. In which she will sleep then with relatively little waking up time.

Sigh...it's a good thing they are cute!

Life In A Glass House

MckMama recently posted a post on being bold that completely challenged me and made me think. I pride myself on typically being pretty outspoken on things. I have, in the past, had no problem sharing my viewpoint, and sometimes it wasn't in a respectful way either (not that I'm proud of that). So when Jennifer posted that God had been stirring in her heart to be honest and not hold back I felt that familiar feeling of panic.

You see, I try and be "myself" wherever I go and in whatever I do. I try so hard not to hide anything, or worry what others will think. Yet, in real life, and in my blog world, or even on facebook, I tend to hide sometimes the truth of who I really am. I often find myself thinking- Whatever would they think if they really knew that I didn't parent that way? They would judge me. I don't want people to realize that sometimes my hubby and I do fight, or sometimes I am crabby with my kids.

I'm not perfect, no one is, yet somehow I try to be perfect and sometimes I think we all expect each other to be perfect. I mean why else do you think we only post the good stuff on our blogs, or our facebook statuses? In the end who cares if you and your hubby fought*? Who cares if you have yelled at your child*? Who cares if you don't have your child sleeping through the night by one month of age? I certainly don't care because I know you are not pefect, and neither am I.

*Note: I'm not saying these are ok things to do, I'm just saying that this, at times, is the reality of life. Why not just admit our struggles and know that as the body of Christ, we can pray, not judge each other for who we are, and what we do.

MckMama certainly doesn't know it but she so challenged and convicted me with her post. I'm sure it's exactly what God wanted, but I'm not sure I like that! I'm working hard to live as if I were living in a glass house. I'm working hard at being the real me here and in real life. It's not going to be easy, but I plan on getting there this year. For I truly think it is what God wants. He doesn't want us to be passive, but agressive in our walk with Him, and to be open with others. I challenge you to open yourself up, to be real, and to hold nothing back. Because maybe, just maybe, God wants you to reach more people for Him by being who you truly are with others, a sinner in need of God's grace each and everday, just like me, just like them.