Sun Power

 So when I was just starting with cloth diapers I asked  Melissa, my sister, why she hadn't cloth diapered her kids. She said she would put her oldest in pre-folds when he would get bad diaper rashes, but it had always kind of grossed her out a little when the diapers would get stained. I had only line dried my dipes at the time (my dryer was on hiatus boo!) and never had any staining. So when  little man had some tummy issues this week that left some pretty bad stains on the inserts from my pocket diapers I took some pictures to demonstrate the Power of the Sun. The sun has amazing bleaching power. (natural bleaching power) A few hours in the sun and voila good as new. Check it out.

Poor kid-o you can see all the stains the diarrhea left.

  

      a couple hours later inserts are as good as new. 

My cooking's gone to the dogs

   On my path to becoming the ultimate crunchy mama (yea right). I've decided to include our four- legged family member.  I'm making homemade dog biscuits! Oh no I've totally lost it now. I couldn't just make my own baby food and call it a day I had to keep going until everyone is included in this delicious mess. All joking aside it's a really easy recipe. I found the recipe and the cutest bone shaped cookie cutter at Target. It only takes about half an hour to make and she really loves them. My girl deserves the best I can give her. After all she is part of our family.

Peanut Butter Dog Biscuits
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup oil
2 eggs
3 tablespoons peanut butter
2 tsp. vanilla
2 cups flour
1/2 cup cornmeal
1/2 cup oats
Mix wet ingredients. Then add dry ingredients to form a ball of dough. Roll out and shape. Put on cookie tray.
Cook 20 minutes at 400 F. Turn off oven allow to cool in oven until crisp and hard. 

Goat's Milk Soap

     I've got a wonderful review for everyone today! Last Thursday at the Farmers Market I decided to treat myself. I picked up some locally made goat's milk soap from Goat Rodeo, a husband and wife team. They use milk from their own goat! I looked up some of the benefits and properties of goat's milk for your skin. Goat's milk is chalked full of vitamin A which is great for acne, scars, stretch marks and wrinkles. It also has E, C and B vitamins to help nourish. Goat's milk contains Alpha Hydroxy Acids to sloth away dead skin cells. The most fascinating fact I found was that goat's milk contains selenium which has been found to have a role in preventing skin cancer. What?! Now that's some awesome stuff. The bar I bought is called lime/cilantro and smells amazing! They also had soaps called: Ganja (which had hemp oil), one with orange and cinnamon  and an anise bar that smelled like delicious black licorice. My skin is so smooth and soft which is a miracle because it was in such bad shape. I picked my sister Melissa up a bar also. Living in Alaska she told me she has really dry skin, so we'll see how it works for her. Maybe we can get her to be a guest blogger for us!!!

The Controversial Amber Teething Necklace

          Here's a hot topic in the natural parenting world: the amber teething necklace. Just the word teething causes parents everywhere to cringe!! Teething turns beautiful happy babies into screaming, drooling, biters. We try everything to make them feel better. No one wants to see their baby in pain.
            In steps the amber teething necklace. It's a necklace made of Baltic amber that a toddler wears around the neck or wrist or ankle. The amber is supposed to have a reduction in teething pain and anti-inflammatory and therapeutic properties. I have read all kinds of things both for and against them. Some moms swear that it really helps with their babies teething pain; while others think it's homeopathic nonsense. Doctors are worried that whatever help it gives is out weighed by the choking hazard. I couldn't find any real scientific or documented studies to support either side. 

            
           So when our local mom-pop-green shop went out of business I had to snatch one up at half price (I paid 13 dollars.) I was concerned that he would play with it. I also talked to Nic to make sure he didn't pull or yank on it. It sits under his clothes most the time so these weren't issues. After a few days the swelling and redness in his gums went down. He still drools like crazy and chews on anything and everything! lol So I'm still torn on it's effectiveness. It's not a miracle worker, but it's so cute. I'll leave it on Matty for a little longer; it doesn't seem to be hurting him and in the world of teething every little thing helps.