With summer here and the stories starting to pop up in the news children drowning in pools and lakes I had a water  safety discussion with my almost 4 year old daughter today.   We are a water loving family!  We have an above ground pool with a deck wrapped around, a hot tub, a family lake cabin, a boat, and plenty of yard water toys so for us it is very important to be safe around water.

I sat my daughter down and told her that can never go in the pool, the hot tub, or the lake without mom or dad swimming with her.  Not only do we make sure our daughter understands the dangers of swimming alone,  we also try to have safety measures.  We have an alarm on our back door that we set at night, that if the door is opened it will make a screeching sound and quickly wake me up. We have a climb proof deck railing and a lock on the gate that surrounds the pool deck.  We have a fenced in yard with locking gates surrounding our yard.  Our hot tub cover weighs about a hundred pounds and it locks. We never leave our kiddie pools filled up when they are not being used and our children are supervised while playing. We try to practice as much prevention as possible but there are always ways that kids could figure out a way to get in if they want to, that is hopefully where the discussion of the dangers of being in a pool alone can kick in.

We have our daughter in Foss Swimming lessons so she is learning how to swim she can currently swim 20 feet underwater on her front and back so she is learning well but that does not give me a false sense of security. I just want to make sure that she has as many tools as she can to be comfortable in water if something ever does happen.

We have  a lake cabin where there is 500 feet between the cabin and the lake, she has been taught since she was little that she is not allowed to go to the lake by herself under any circumstances.  We also have a boat and there is a family pontoon at the cabin have the children wear properly fitting US coastguard approved life jackets on the boats and they are never in the water without a parent right next to them.

Children need to be constantly watched in and around water, a child can drown in minutes when they are not being constantly supervised.  I will always try to  teach and practice water safety with my children and I hope that we can help others remember the danger water poses to children.  Please have a safe summer and have fun in the water!

I am trying to create a cleaner home environment for my family.  I have eliminated all chemical cleaning products and now use vinegar, lemon juice water solution for my kitchen, baking soda to scrub and hydrogen peroxide for stains. I realized that even though I was providing my children with a clean kitchen and less chemicals in the air for them to breathe, I was still dressing them in clothes washed in harmful chemicals. I had these chemicals touching their soft skin 24 hours a day!

Laundry detergents contain phthalates, chemicals that have been linked to cancer and reproductive system harm in lab tests.    I have been trying to avoid exposing extra hormones to my children but I was placing phthalates next to their skin daily.   I was also using fabric softener which deposits even more phthalates on your clothes. I needed to find a safe alternative that would clean my clothes and not cost me an expensive, organic price.

When I was trying to find a recipe for homemade laundry soap, I referred to my list of safe cleaning products to make sure it was made with approved ingredients.  When researching healthy home care products I found the EPA has certain cleaning products that they approve as safe for the environment.  Not only do I want to have safe chemicals in my house, I try to help protect the environment and doing something positive for the future of my children.  I found a homemade laundry soap recipe, It is made with EPA approved green ingredients that are easy to find, and costs less than $2 for 200 loads of laundry.

It is made with Borax, Washing Soda, Water, and Fels-Naptha Laundry Soap, I was able to pick up all of these ingredients at my local grocery store.  After making one batch of this recipe there is so much Borax and washing soda  in these boxes I will have enough to make at least 15 times more of the same recipe.  I used Fels-Naptha bar soap for my homemade laundry soap, this is also a fantastic spot stain fighter, it will remove blood and grass stains, and costs a fraction of a stain fighting spray like Shout.  Buy an extra bar as a laundry pre-treater for bad stains.     If you don’t like the smell of Fels-Naptha soap or want something even more sensitive, you could choose an unscented bar of soap or something sensitive like Ivory soap.

I have used this laundry soap for five weeks now and I am very pleased with the results.  The stains are removed with no discoloration to my colored clothes and whites are white, and my clothes come out clean and fresh.   My husband, who is extremely picky and slow to accept my green and hormone free changes, he only liked to use Gain laundry soap up to this point.  I asked him what he thought of the laundry detergent and he said, “It works good!”   I am comfortable recommending this recipe to my friends. It would save them a lot of money on laundry soap, they would be using an environmentally safe product, and to keep phtalates off of  their clothes.

Homemade Liquid Laundry Soap Recipe

4 Cups hot tap water
1 Fels-Naptha soap bar
1 Cup Washing Soda
½ Cup Borax

• Use an old pan, and an old spoon that you will not need for cooking again, so your food does not taste like soap
• Grate or finely cut up one bar of soap
• Place ground soap in the pan with the 4 cups of water, on the stove top over low heat.
• Stir constantly until soap dissolves and blends with the water
• Use a clean 5 gallon bucket with a lid
• Fill bucket half full with hot water
• Add the melted soap and water mixture to this bucket
• Add the washing soda and borax
• Stir all ingredients until they combine
• Fill the bucket to the top with water
• You can add 10 drops of an essential oil like lavender (optional)
• Cover the bucket and let it cool and set up overnight
• In the morning it will turn into a big bucket of thick gel
• Stir it up and It will turn into a liquidy lumpy jello consistency
• Use your mixing spoon to stir it up before you scoop up your laundry soap for each load
• I use 1/3 cup of laundry detergent per load

Now that you are eliminating the chemicals in your detergent stop using fabric softener! To eliminate static, use dryer balls such as Dryer Magic Dryer Fluff balls to fluff and soften clothes, or 1/4 cup of white vinegar in your rinse cycle. The vinegar will deodorize your clothes, naturally soften them, and keep your laundry machine clean and free from hard water buildup as well.

A list of harmful chemicals people use in their households and safe alternatives recomended by the EPA.

An article from NaturalNews.com on harmful chemicals and ways to avoid them in your life.

My daughter had so many ear infections by the time she was 15 months, that I stopped counting at twelve.  I spent so many nights sleeping sitting up in a recliner with my daughter sleeping in my arms, because she could not lay down with the ear infection pressure and pain. She had her first ear infection at two months and continued having them until they were not healing in between antibiotics treatments, and she was quickly becoming immune to all antibiotics. I am someone who only takes antibiotics when it is absolutely necessary, and my daughter was on them so much she was becoming immune. I had to do something!

We got an appointment to see our pediatricians favorite ENT Doctor and had her hearing tested and a consultation.  The ENT recommended we get her tubes because she thought she was a perfect for the procedure and that her life could be improved.   We asked tons of questions, did the research, and weighed the pro’s and cons of the the surgery for tubes.  We were worried about my daughter having complications and having to be put under during the process of the surgery.

I did not only consider tubes and antibiotics, I also was looking into alternative therapies.  I researched elevated sleeping, chiropractic care, eliminating dairy, natural ear drops and massage but there were questions, difficulties and risks for each of them.  I was weighing my ear treatment options and was working at the high school career center at the time.  I  spoke to a 17 yr old who’s was sharing the story of why he wore two hearing aids.  He said his mother wanted to be natural and avoid surgery for tubes when he had chronic ear infections as a toddler.  He ended up needing hearing aides in both ears for the rest of his life, because of the significant scar tissue that formed, he only had 10 % hearing remaining in each of his ears.  His experience and lifetime disability helped me make up my mind quickly.

She was 16 months old when we arrived at Children’s Hospital day surgery center.  We had to arrive two hours in advance for her 10 AM appointment and she could not eat or drink anything before midnight the night before.   I chose to not eat or drink anything either, so I would know she felt and not be eating or drinking in front of her.  All she wanted was some milk and she was hungry and thirsty while we sat in the waiting room.  When we arrived we checked in, they put her in a little yellow gown and booties, and took a Polaroid picture of her with us.  I look at my face in that picture today, and I as so nervous.  We did everything we could to distract her from her hunger as she in the waiting room with the other little kids wearing the cute little yellow gowns, until it was her surgery time.  Jon and I carried her into a private room connected to the bright lights of the surgery area.  I held her on my lap and held her arms down while they blew bubbles and hooked her up to monitors, and put her to sleep with a sedation gas mask.  The creepiest part was feeling her body go completely limp.  I laid her on the wheeled hospital bed and they wheeled her away to surgery.  We went back out into the waiting room and watched the monitor nervously to see when her surgery status was changed to recovery.

The procedure took less than 15 minutes, and we were called back to the recovery area, told that when she woke up she might be really confused and scared.  She woke up and was a little wobbly, but she was fine, all she wanted was apple juice and graham crackers.  They observed her for a while and we were released before noon. We drove her home gave her Tylenol and were told to give her antibiotic drops in her ear for a week.  The rest of the day of the surgery she was normal, playing and she did not seem to have any ill effects from the tubes or the anesthesia.

Since that day she had only one ear infection, and with the antibiotic drops that we already had, it was healed within 24 hours.  No more pain, no agony, and she was able to sleep in her own bed that night. I had an ear infection about a year after her surgery as an adult and it hurt unbelievably bad, and I felt guilty for letting my child go 16 months with ear infections when tubes were such a fast fix to her pain.

Tubes changed our lives for the better, she could sleep at night, and she was not in pain anymore.  I don’t know if getting the tubes put in helped her to hear and speak because she was right there developmentally but she did start speaking clearly very soon after the surgery. I believe tubes are a wonderful way to improve a child’s quality of life.  If my son had ear infections like she did I would not hesitate at all to get tubes put in. If your child has chronic ear infections I would highly recommend speaking to an ENT and getting tubes to ease your child’s pain and avoid possible hearing damage.

Today was the last day of ECFE for the summer. I walked out the door with happy tears in my eyes and was trying the whole last song not to breakdown in front of the other parents when I was reliving the memories and changes in mine and my children’s lives. It was also such a great year for my daughter and my son, and such a great experience for myself.

My son who was just 9 months when we started ECFE was having trouble leaving me when he was in the sibling care during my daughters class.  He was still having some bottle refusal issues when we started and had just started to master crawling.   Now he is 16 months old, can drink out of a regular cup by himself, runs instead of walks, and is learning how to talk.  His life is totally different and he is a comfortable happy boy.

My daughter was so anxious when we started the class because she had just had the trauma of separating from me at a daycare center and now we had to ease her back into trusting that she can be separated from me without being afraid I would leave her there.  She had to relearn how to trust adults and get corrected by someone other than mom without breaking down into tears. She was just learning how to sit and follow directions, she was just learning how to join in imaginative play with other children and make friends that she chose herself.  Now she can be separated from mom without blinking an eye, or even pausing from her play with her friends at school.  She simply says, “Bye Mom!”  instead of clinging to me in tears when I had to leave the room.  She has learned how to trust other adults again and has regained her funny, outgoing personality, it was wonderful for her.

For myself, I started out the year shell shocked from just becoming a stay at home (professional mom) mom, trying to re-identify myself and feel confident about my decision, instead of the initial embarrassment I felt about it.  I had to figure out how to balance maintaining myself, my home, and my children without the break you get while at work.  I know I have become a better parent, more patient, more present, and enjoying my time with my children.  I went from being frazzled and disorganized on outings to scheduled and prepared when I leave the house.

I am a different person, more comfortable in my parenting, my daughter is older, more self confident and happy, my son is no longer a baby, he is adjusted and comfortable leaving me. What a year, what wonderful changes, and I am glad I got to be here full time to experience each of them.  *Happy Tears*

I was just pondering how wonderful and fragile life is.  How amazing it is to be able to get pregnant, carry a baby and experience the joy of hearing a new baby cry and becoming a mom. Today I am trying to remember how wonderful my children are and how much I appreciate the fact that I have them.

I have a friend who spent five years and upwards of $50,000 trying to conceive a child. They tried every type of fertility treatment, tried every test, and read negative pregnancy test after negative pregnancy test.  When it took me 4 months to conceive my daughter and experienced the frustration of people asking me constantly if I was pregnant yet?  I thought about my friend and how frustrating it would have been to try to get pregnant for years instead of a few measly months.

I have a good friend who miscarried while I was pregnant with my second baby, she experienced the excitement of finding out she was pregnant, she got to see the baby on the ultrasound and was able to share her happiness with others, but it ended up that she miscarried right before her 2nd trimester.  I was so careful to never complain about feeling nauseated, pain or discomfort of my pregnancy, because I know she would have done anything to change places with me.

I am so grateful for having two healthy babies be delivered and listening to them cry for the first time!  I have a wonderful neighbor who has been so excited to have her first great grand child. Every time I saw her she has been sharing details about her grand daughters pregnancy, and showing me the little things she bought in anticipation of the babies arrival. Today she told me that the baby was delivered yesterday, and everyone was at the hospital excited to meet him.  Once the baby was delivered they noticed that he was not pinking up, they tried to intubate him but they were not able to get the tube down his throat because his throat was not developed.  He was born alive but only lived 10 minutes without air. They never got to hear their baby cry.

Think about how lucky you were to be a Mom, think about how different your life would have been if you would have not been able to have them.  From the amazing feat of one healthy sperm fertilizing one healthy egg, the cells dividing perfectly, the placenta attaching right, the fetus developing perfectly for 9 months, having a safe delivery, and hearing your healthy baby cry.  What a miracle!