Tip of the Day

I love being able to reuse items around the house. Not only is it good for the environment it's also good for the pocketbook. I recently came across some great green tips that I wanted to share.

1. Plastic baby bottles make great bath toys for kids.When you need to clean them just place them in the dishwasher. You can also make rattles out of them by placing beads or beans inside of them. Just make sure you use nontoxic glue to glue the cap in place to prevent a choking hazard.
2. Clean laundry measuring cups and scoops make fun beach and sandbox toys.
3. Worn out pre folds and old mismatched socks make great dust cloths.
4. Use shoe boxes for storing photos, recipes, bills, small toys and art supplies.  Cover with wrapping paper to make them more attractive and add a label that describes the contents.
5. Greeting cards can be cut up and used as post cards and gift tags.
6. Envelopes from junk mail can be used for to-do lists and shopping lists.
7. Spray bottles from household cleaners can be washed thoroughly and then used for household cleaners and water spritzer bottles for house plants.
8. Save orange and lemon peels and put them in a fireplace.  They will add fragrance to the room when you have a fire.

Cloth Diaper Review - Gro Baby

My family and I are planning on going on vacation this week. This will be the babies first vacation. Since I am using cloth diapers I wasn't sure if I should use them when we go on vacation. I recently read an article discussing traveling using cloth diapers and the article mentioned the Gro Baby disposable inserts. I decided to buy the shell and disposable inserts system to use while on vacation.

GroBaby Shell Blackberry

When my package arrived in the mail I was very excited. I decided to try out the inserts before we went on vacation so I could get use to them. The inserts looked just liked a disposable diaper but instead of having velcro tabs their was a peel and stick strip in the back. I put one on while we went to the grocery store. Boy was I shocked to find my daughter with a horrible diaper rash when I changed her diaper. It was the worst diaper rash she has ever had. I looked at the filler material ingredients and I found that the diapers contained the same gel chemical that the regular disposables have. Since my daughter was allergic to the inserts I won't be using them. I decided that I would use the shell with my Flip Insert. I was very disappointed with the Gro Baby shell. First off the cover was much narrower than my other diaper covers so my insert barely fit inside. I was afraid that their would be a leakage issue since the mid section of the diaper barely covered her. Another problem is the cover isn't as long as other covers so it won't be fitting her much longer. She is only 9 months and 16lbs right now. I hated the velcro fastening in this diaper. Their aren't any laundry tabs or middle velcro strip. You have to use the fabric to attach the velcro and it is very hard to take the tabs off/put the tabs on the fabric, which is a big problem when your child is squirming around. The shells (diaper covers) are very had to use and don't cover tall/chubby babies. I don't recommend the Gro Baby shell/disposable insert.

Getting Organzized

My work has been so busy lately that all my other projects have taken a back seat. My craft area is still a huge mess. I have a bunch of started projects that I haven't gotten a chance to finish and since I haven't had time to get my craft room ready everything is thrown across my dining room table. I have decided that I need to get organized. I found some great online tutorials for making a travel journal, binder cover, and some free planner templates. I wanted to use the travel journal idea and make my own planner for sewing/craft projects. Since I really don't have the time right now I decided that instead I would do "A goal a day" to conquer all my unfinished projects. I will pick one specific thing I need to get done everyday and make that my goal for the day. Remember to be specific when picking your goal, the more specific the better. For example I need to get my daughter's tutu finished by Saturday instead of making finish tutu my goal for today, my goal for today is to finish attaching all the tulle pieces that are missing. My goal for tomorrow is to sew the ribbon sash on the tutu. If I can get my 2 goals done then I will be finished with the tutu. It's that easy. Remember to be very specific when choosing your goal. You might also be tempted to pick more than one goal a day. Don't! If you start picking multiple goals a day you might not get them done, we all know how busy life can be, and then you would be right back where you started!

Tip of the Day

Do you love Robeez's shoes? I love them and so does my daughter. It's the only shoes that she doesn't try to take off and they have such cute designs. For a limited time you can get 20% off any purchase of $50 or more. Use coupon code MOTHERS20 at checkout. Offer expires May 12, 2010.

Sew Mama Sew is turning 5 this month and they are offering 15% off your entire order. As always, shipping in the US is only $5 no matter how large your order. Enter the code 15SMSISFIVE when you checkout. Offer good through Monday, May 17, 2010.

My Preemie Experience

My daughter was born at 36 weeks. She weighed only 4 lbs 6oz at birth, she was a tiny baby. She was so much smaller than all the other babies and our top priority was to keep her healthy. Our doctor told us how important it was to keep her healthy. At her age and weight if she got a cold she would need to be hospitalized. I wanted to share some of the useful things I learned about having a preemie. The hospital nurses told us it would be best to limit the number of guests we had come to see the baby. Not only were their germs to think about but they also warned us that having to many visitors often fatigued newborns. We followed the nurses recommendations and only our immediate families were able to see the baby. All other family and friends were turned away nicely. This was hard for some people to deal with but our daughter only lost 4 ounces during the first week and that was a great start. If possible I also recommend breastfeeding. Even if you don't plan on breastfeeding for long, any amount of breast milk is a great help. Our pediatrician had us supplement with formula for preemies and at first I followed that. When my milk came in though I only gave her breast milk and during that time she started gaining lots of weight. Breast milk also helps your babies immune system and much more. Make sure that anyone who is going to touch the baby washes their hands first. I know this sounds like common sense but you must be vigilant about this. Don't expect everyone to just know that they should have clean hands before they touch your baby. Another good idea is to get a car seat sign. When your out in public people WILL touch your baby without asking first and they will have germs on their hands. Once I put this sign on my daughter's car seat no one touched her again. I didn't take the baby out of the house until she was 2 months old. I know how hard this was on me but it was cold season and I didn't want to risk catching a cold. Another wonderful tip the hospital gave us was to have lots of skin to skin contact. They mentioned studies that showed preemie's do better quickly with skin to skin contact. I would suggest using the Moby Wrap. It is safe for preemies to use and it makes skin to skin contact easy. My last piece of advice would be to stay positive.

Mother's Day Gift Ideas

Mother's Day is almost here, it's May 9th for all those who don't know. I decided the best gift to give my mom and mother-in-law this year was a framed picture of their kids/grandkids. I found and printed the cutest pictures and I found some cute cheap frames at Target. I love Target they have such good stuff! To make the gift extra special my little sisters and I are getting together this weekend to make our Flower Card and personalized Bookmarks. I plan on changing the bookmark slightly. Instead of using fabric we will be using our favorite school picture or any wallet size picture will do. You can use any scrap fabric you have aroundt he house to make the flower card. Any mother will truly love these gifts!

DIY Invitations and Book Labels

My daughter's first birthday is fast approaching and I am trying to start her birthday planning early. I wasn't sure what theme I wanted to do for her first birthday, do you even need one, but a good friend suggested a princess theme since that's her nickname. I came across some great FREE printable invitations that are breautiful, Free Invitations.They have a wide variety and they even have a cute recipe card template. I think I will be using the Frame Monogram invitation but I haven't decided yet. They add new invitations frequently, I LOVE the peacock feather invitation. I also came across cute templates for This Book Belongs To labels. These labels are an image file so you have to print the whole block and not just the ones you like but they are still very cute. They can come in handy for school books and gifts.