Great Frugal Glass Storage Solution

I just wanted to let everyone know of a great storage solution that I found while shopping at Dollar Tree. We don't find many things that are very useful there but sometimes they have a good product. They have 2 cup glass storage bowls (Pyrex knock-offs) so the bowl is clear glass and the lid is #4 plastic, which is one of the safest. I purchased six of them to help us avoidably stop using our #5 plastic Rubbermaid containers and haven't missed them yet! And they are made in the USA. Pretty good for a buck.

Top 5 Breastfeeding Items

This is just a list of the top 5 breastfeeding items that I am glad to have had while nursing.

1. Nursing tank top: It has been the best help, I know that I don't want my bare side showing while I'm nursing in public and this seems like the best way to prevent anybody getting any sort of peek.
2. Nursing cover: This is essentially a blanket with a strap that goes around your neck so the baby or the wind doesn't pull it off, giving an unexpected victim any surprises! There are several manufactures of them, or you can find tons of tutorials to follow. I made mine and want to make one more, when I do I will post my own tutorial.
3. Breast pads: I think everyone needs these. I needed them all the time those first few weeks, but especially at night when you might be having a further stretch in between nursing or laying in a strange way. I recommend either making  your own or investing in some good ones. The reusable ones from target ( Nuk brand) are terrible, not soft at all and just poorly made. And who thought It would be a good idea to make disposables? They gross me out just thinking about, they are made of the same bad stuff disposable diapers and pads are made of. Dioxin and that toxic gel ( and they want me to put that on my babies natural food source, no way!) Some of the brands I like are ImseVimse and several etsy shops sell nice, even organic nursing pads. I would recommend having at least 5 pairs at a minimum to get you through several changes before you need to wash.
4. Some sort of nipple cream, one that is safe for the baby to ingest and one that is not super stiff. Even just simple coconut oil is wonderful.
5. A big glass of water. This is the best way for me to get all the water a nursing mom needs, if you are dehydrated it will effect your milk supply. Make sure your container of choice is BPA free and made of safe materials. Glass or stainless steel are the best, but if you must have a plastic container opt for one that is safe. BPA will pass through breast milk so unless your 100% sure don't use # 7 plastics. The safest plastics are 2, and 4. Never use #3 or #6 plastics though they are known to cause problems.

There are other things that come close to making my list of favorites. A nursing pillow is very nice to have as well as a nursing bra, and ice packs. But these are the 5 things I would be very sad to live without! ~Erica

2012 2nd grade homeschool curriculum choices

     I wanted to share with you all our families homeschool curriculum choices for our 2nd-ish  grader, our son just turned 6 over the past weekend. The main reason I said "ish"  is because he is only 6, my husband has worked at a private classical christian school for the last several years and before our 2nd child was born when our son was ready for school we choose to put him in kindergarten there and both my husband and I were able to work there together with him. Then when our soon to be one year old was born I have been able to stay home with our children. We began our homeschool journey in august last year and just kept him going in the subsequent grade level. He has done surprisingly well and so this year we will keep the process going, I know that if the need arose to slow down or go back and redo something, or if I just don't do well as a teacher I will be fine with that knowing we have a bit of buffer room. So here are our choices so far.
     For Bible we will be using

1. The Bible  (ESV or NASB)
2. The Gospel Story Bible  written by Marty Machowski, our family has been disappointed by most story bibles by the lack of truth that they have. And we found our selves having to change the stories as we were reading and just don't enjoy doing that. This one had some recommendations and endorsements from some people we respect, once we read through it I will post a review of it, but for now I can't give my opinion.

.      For English we have chosen

1. Rod and staff: Preparing to build, the 2nd grade text

    For Math

1. Math u See by Steve Deme: Beta ( we used the alpha this past year and it went well so were staying with it)

.      For History we will continue using.

1. The Story of the World by Susan Wise Bauer

For Science my husband and I felt that for now at least Apologia was the best choice. They have several places you can start for Elementary Science including Astronomy, Botany, and Zoology: flying creatures of the fifth day. We gave our son the choice of the three, and for Science we are doing

1. Apologia Elementary Botany

For Penmanship he copies the Westminster shorter Catechism and memorises them as well.

for reading he starts his day by reading one page of his Bible and then we will begin reading for 20 minutes a day from a book of our choosing.
     This is our plan as of now, I will update as this changes and let you know how he does with our choices. I know that this looks like a lot but it shouldn't take him more than a few hours to complete a day. I will  soon write a post of what our schedule looks like after we get into our new curriculum in a week or so.

Party In My Pants ~ free cloth panty liner review

     A few days ago I received my free (after $3.99  shipping) Party In my Pants cloth pantyliner sample. I was very excited upon receiving it! I love having surprises delivered to my doorstep. Now I am pregnant so I can't give a full review of the functionality of this pad but I will tell you what at first glance I think of there product.
     It arrived in a tiny Mailer that was plain brown and had the owners names in the return address spot, which I was much appreciative of ( I could only imagine what our mailman would think if the company name was boldly displayed in the corner). I quickly opened the package and retrieved the pad that was folded up and unfolded it to display the surprise print, I wasn't disappointed it was cute with stop signs and traffic lights. When you order you have a few sizes to choose from, I chose the Luxe liner which is the longest choice, you can also choose cotton, flannel, or organic fabric for $1.50 upgrade. You can also add an extra snap for .25 cents, I opted for just the flannel. I didn't want to get to crazy with my "free sample". It came with a piece of dark chocolate it made it my little personal party!
     It is what it says just a liner I couldn't feel any absorbent fabric in the middle, but there is one layer of cotton in the middle, the outside of mine is flannel and the back is a water proof nylon. The only other pad/ pantyliner brand I had tried was Fuzzibunz, I purchased those while I was pregnant with my son just to use as protection against sneeze and pee and a horrible misdiagnosed yeast infection. I HATE those pads they are hot and thick and a poor design, I have used them a few times on my period and they work but are uncomfortable. So the other day we were going over to a friends house and I decided to give it a try. The pad is very trim you cannot see it through your pants, at first you can tell its there but after a few minutes you forget about it. The flannel is very soft and not hot at all and the nylon was more breathable than I thought it would be. like I said earlier I can't give a full review, but my first opinion of the company is a good one, I would recommend this product to my family and friends. This is a much better product than the Fuzzibunz. My only con is the price, this is one of the higher priced cloth pad companies. The Luxe liner on their website without the introductory offer is $9.99 plus shipping and handling, they do offer free shipping but you have to purchase $100 worth of product first, and I'm not about to drop that much into cloth  pads at least not from one company.  I would recommend them if you have tons of cash you just want to spend, but one of the pros for me to use cloth is to save money and there are several other companies that have better prices, but I can't vouch for the products yet. Plus you can make them yourself which I plan to do as soon as I can order the fabric I want online. So unless I have a coupon code or they have a sale I don't know if I would buy again from this company, but they do have a good product in my opinion. ~ Erica

Blossom cloth pads

I thought I would make a post about a website having a sale through memorial day, use the code "summer" at check out and recive 15% off your order! I should let you know that I have never used these pads. I just made a purchase a few days ago, but I have heard wonderful things through online and youtube reviews. The prints are super cute and you can also purchase "into" kits that are a really great price, 3 pads for $12-13.50 if you add a PUL underliner. I will post a review of this product when I recive it.

     This is my first "blog" and I suppose its a long time in the making! I should tell you a bit about myself, I am a Christian women who is trying to follow the Lord to the best my ability. I am a wife of a wonderful husband, and we have three children. Our oldest is turning 6, we have an 11 month old, and are expecting the third in November! I am blessed to be able to stay home and raise our children.
     I plan to use this blog to encourage and equip other ladies in faith, homeschooling, and natural living. I love all things cloth, cloth diapers, cloth pads, pretty fabric. And I also love cooking healthy flavorful meals and treats for my family. I freak out (maybe more than is necessary) when I find out I just ingested hydrogenated oil, or dies in someones baked goods, and get the you did what look alot from a handful of (dearly loved) friends!
     I am sure that that is enough crazy talk for today and look forward to the blogging adventure!