We are working with Rachel at Happy Green Babies doing a new giveaway for a $25.oo gift certificate for our site. Thank you Rachel for all of your kind words about the site! We are so happy to hear them!

Make sure you subscribe to Happy Green Babies after you enter the giveaway, it is worth the read!

-Sheri

P.S. How was your thanksgiving? Are you in full Holiday shopping mode?

We are offering 20% off on all Rumparooz diaper products through Monday! Enter this promo code when you checkout: 8225455b

(Don’t worry. If we sell out and they are backordered, we will still honor the discount.)

Click here to see our Rumparooz products:

(This photo isn’t related to the post, but don’t you think it  is how the turkey must feel.)

I was thinking today about all of the things I have to be grateful for, as so many of us are as we approach Thanksgiving. I also find myself thinking back to previous thanksgivings and missing the family we won’t be with this holiday.

I also evaluate my life, where I am right now and where I am headed. It reminded me of something I read in Skirt Magazine, in Richmond:

The Finish Line

“We’re always just one more run,

One higher degree,

One newer car,

One fancier title,

One bigger house,

One better romance,

From a happy ending.

Stop in your tracks and love where you are.”

Perhaps tomorrow is the perfect day to start this.

What are you giving thanks for? What are your plans for thanksgiving? How many of you are eating vegetarian/vegan this year?

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I am committed to not using this blog for plugs for our products. I want it to be a place of education, learning, fun and ideas. But, today, I couldn’t help but plug our site.

Recently there have been a lot of blog posts on baby registries. People are frustrated by the big box stores and disappointed with the online options. We hear you believe me! Several people in our company have recently had babies or had new babies in the family and we too found it so frustrating to try to register. We took that frustration and created a registry that works, not only in the way it functions but in the quality of the products available and the breadth of choices you have.

We created a baby registry that is user friendly, and completely available from one place- our site. (Although I will unhappily point out the two things we don’t have yet. A diaper pail and monitor. I will happily add we are working hard to get those added to our inventory and they should be available soon.) Now, so what right? You can get everything at other large stores. The difference: ours is all highly scrutinized to meet our requirements for safety, absence of hazardous chemicals, and educational value. You can now come to one place and register for your baby and know that everything you are registered for is natural, organic or eco-friendly. We sell products produced by companies with consciences who are trying to change the future for our children.They support our mission and goal of being able to raise our children with better toys, clothing, gear and education. Isn’t that what you have been looking for?

We went through our site and put together sample registries to help guide you in your selections or to make it easy to register with only a few clicks. We have registries pre-made for boy, girl or neutral baby.

Take a look, let me know what you think. I would love to get your feedback not only on our registry but other registries available.

Have suggestions? Let me know, I would love to hear them!

-Sheri

My friend told me yesterday that she has high LDL or “bad” cholesterol. She was shocked. She isn’t overweight, she doesn’t eat fatty foods or sugary foods. She excersises on a somewhat regular basis, eats decently and has no family history of high LDL cholesterol.

It turns out, which I had no idea, that not coping well with stress can raise your levels of LDL cholesterol.  Adrenaline and cortisol trigger the production of cholesterol, which is a substance the liver makes to provide our bodies with energy and to repair cell damage. When our cholesterol levels are too high our arteries become clogged.

The thought is that stress causes our bodies to release adrenaline and cortisol. When we do not burn off the stress hormones (thus the adrenaline and cortisol) it builds up in our body as fat deposits. The cortisol, which produces sugar in the body, turns into triglycerides (LDL cholesterol) and fatty acids. These then put us at risk.

As adults we need to learn coping mechanisms and we need to learn to incorporate exercise into our daily lives. By coping with our stress we are not allowing fear and anxiety to trigger our bodies into producing adrenaline and cortisol. By exercising we are burning off the fatty acids and deposits created  in our bodies.

Recommendations:

• Yoga
• deep breathing
• daydream
• excercise
• walk 3o minutes a day
• listen to music
• engage in a hobby
• sleep eight hours a night
• eat well

The great news: You can do all of these activities, with the exception of sleep, with your children. You can teach them how to cope with stress and how to be well without them even realizing it.

Ideas:

• Have you taken a walk with your children lately? I can’t imagine anything more relaxing than watching your child discover the world, or listen to them tell you stories about their day. Teach them to talk about their emotions instead of holding them in.
• What about finding a hobby you can do with your children and then make sure you do it once a week at least.
• Find ways to make family goals for exercise.
• Practice meditation with your children, teach them how to sit quietly in one position and just breathe. If you make it cool they will want to do it.
• Ask your children to help you watch for stress triggers and then learn together how to take deep breaths and relax.
• Teach your children to daydream and then you can each share your dreams with each other. Were your thoughts silly,  did you dream of traveling to far away places or think about how to make something really fun or cool?

The most important thing you can do with your day is show your children how to live a healthier more peaceful life. You will both live longer, and happier.

Sometimes I forget that my choices to live organically, resist plastics and chemicals and buy locally is not mainstream.

I went to the local organic grocery store today and shopped with such a peaceful feeling. The products were displayed with care and consideration, they list where they came from locally and even have signs posted occasionally telling me why a certain food is good for me. I discovered all kinds of new products and even thought creatively about what dishes I could make with certain items.

Then, I had to go to the mainstream grocery store. What a difference. It was chaos, there were loud obnoxious signs everywhere. The people who work there are nice but not informed about the products in the store, or how they affect me, the planet, or my family. All I could think about while I was there was how fast could I get out of the store!

This is mainstream, this is actually our locally owned grocery store chain. Has “mainstream” America gotten so used to the chaos, the shouting, the interruptions and the chemicals and plastics that they don’t even notice?

I would like to run an experiment. I would like to take a shopper from the mainstream grocery store and send them to a Whole Foods or a local organic grocery store for a month. I know they would feel better but I wonder if, upon the return to the mainstream store, they would hear the noise, and notice the sreaming signs? Would they want it to stop as much as I do?

As the holiday season approaches I am thinking more and more about ways to avoid the chaos, to make a difference with my dollars, to tell mainstream America that I would like my dignity, my health and my planet back by not purchasing from them. Even if it means I buy everyone less.

How are you shopping for the holidays this year? Online or in big box stores? Are you choosing companies that have philosophies similar to your own? Let me know.

-Sheri

The UK has an answer to this very HUMONGOUS problem.

“Having a child can be the most rewarding experience that a young couple can have, but there are many responsibilities and decisions that go along with raising a child.  One of the first decisions that new parents must make is what kind of diapers their child will wear.  Diapers have gone through many transformations since being introduced, from the cloth variety of the past to the newest biodegradable disposables.  Each kind of diaper has various drawbacks, with the cloth variety being expensive and inconvenient to maintain, while disposables can be costly to both the pocketbook and the environment.  Recently an announcement was made which will change the way the parents approach diapering their child.

Because of the convenience that the offer, as well as the fact that they are cheaper and easier to find than biodegradables, standard disposable diapers are the ones most chosen by parents.  This has led to diapers being one of the largest contributors to the world’s landfills, and a major bane in the side of environmental groups.  This may change soon after an announcement by Versus Energy and Knowaste, who have teamed to create the world’s first diaper recycling plant in the United Kingdom.  The plant aims to literally take waste and turn it into energy.

This plant will not only keep disposable diapers out of landfills, but will use their organic contents to create energy.  The diapers will first be shredded, then washed, sanitized, and then separated into reusable plastic and paper pulp, and organic material.  The recycled plastic and paper pulp can be made into a variety of things, while the organic material can be used to generate energy.”

-This was found at this site.

Isn’t this awesome!!!!!!!

How can we get this done in the States? Any one have any suggestions?

-Sheri

Our family uses Preserve toothbrushes. We have since the company started in 1996. I love that my toothbrush is recycled into other products, not into waste. These products can then be recycled if you want. They don’t contain BPA and are super cool! Here are a few things about Preserve I didn’t know, and maybe you didn’t either:

They have adorable kids toothbrushes, Preserve Jr. (which my grand daughter will now be receiving in the mail). These toothbrushes can be mailed back just like the adult ones but they have endangered species on them helping to educate children about our endangered animals.

Preserve’s Gimme 5 program, where you can send them your #5 plastics to be recycled, or drop them off at participating Whole Foods markets, also recycle Brita water filters. In January they will be starting a Retail Gimme5 program where you can drop off your used #5′s at no cost.

Their products make great stocking stuffers, hostess gifts and alternatives to your “bad” plastic storage, cutting boards, toothbrushes, razors, measuring cups and mixing bowls.

Preserve’s manufacturing process saves the planet these resources:

How much of a difference? Preserve plastic requires:

I became an Aunt last week! My niece is beautiful, healthy, and eating well. She is calm and content most of the time. Her birth was full of new lessons for me. My sister and brother in law chose to give birth using the Bradley method and decided to stay at home until she was dialated 8 centimeters or so.  Part of the reason they did this was to avoid the pressure from the hospital to use drugs or to have a cesearean birth.

My sister was 2 weeks late giving birth. After discussing the possibilites for induction my sister chose to stay on her course for natural delivery. She was given instructions to take Castor oil with peanut butter in regular intervals to start labor. For my sister it worked amazingly. She went from being 1 centimer to completely dialated and giving birth in 12 hours.

This began my questioning of the use of drugs to induce labor. Why are they given if we have natural remedies? Why do women take the risk if they can avoid it by using natural remedies? What are the “real side effects of Pitocin?

I am sorry to say that the information I found was worse than what I had imagined it could be. (Let me pause here and say that I am not a medical expert, nor have I read every single document on the risks and rewards of Pitocin.)

Twenty years ago this statment was made by Dr. Roberto Caldreyo-Barcia, M.D. former president of the International Federation of Obstetricians and Gynecologists “Pitocin is the most abused drug in the world today.”

He goes on to say:

* Pitocin generally produces contractions that are much longer, more intense, and more painful than normal contractions.

* The intense contractions caused by Pitocin have a tendency to abnormally restrict oxygen supply to the fetus, often causing fetal distress and frequently resulting in C-section.

* Pitocin has the potential of causing tetanic contractions-contractions coming so frequently that they merge into one sustained contraction-which can result in premature separation of the placenta, uterine rupture, cervical tearing, excessive bleeding postpartum, as well as severely restricting oxygen supply to the fetus. Some of these complications are potentially fatal to mother and/or fetus.

* When Pitocin is introduced to the labor process, oxytocin receptors in the body tell the brain to stop producing natural oxytocin.

* Pitocin does not act like the oxytocin produced by a woman’s own body. Oxytocin is a “feel good” hormone which causes the body to be bathed in coping chemicals which help a woman to handle labor more effectively. Pitocin does not do this, which partly explains why contractions produced by Pitocin are more painful.

* Naturally produced oxytocin produces feelings of calmness and love and facilitates bonding. If a woman has been given Pitocin, her body is likely to have stopped or slowed production of its own oxytocin. This could interfere with the carefully orchestrated oxytocin peak that is designed to occur at the time of birth to prepare a woman to accept and bond with her new baby.

This was 20 years ago. The only change that has been made since then, more women are now receiving Pitocin than were at the time Dr. Caldreyo-Barcia wrote this. It is now also being administered after birth as well.

I could go on and on with more research and findings, listing the  complications  women have due to not being constantly monitored once they are given this drug as they are supposed to be. But I will leave that research to you.

I want to share this link with you and encourage you to read the whole article. It is a study done by a doctor on the long term effects of Pitocin on a child whose mother was induced using the drug. It is frightening but not surprising.

In my humble opinion the reason the drug is given is convenience, money and laziness. But the interesting thing is that so many women don’t understand what they are doing to themselves and their bodies. They don’t know that the horror stories they hear about painful births, long labors and the necessity for pain drugs are often due, in large part, to the use of Pitocin.

For thousands of years women managed to give birth without the use of drugs, why is it now that they are so necessary? Why are women being convinced that they need these drugs to give birth? Are we so programmed to listen to what our doctors say that the majority of us don’t question the effects of things? Have we become so concerned about convenience that we are sacrificing our health, and wellness for it?

The biggest lesson I learned from my incredibly brave and amazingly strong sister is that choosing to eliminate drugs from your delivery makes the entire experience much more beautiful, rewarding and serene. Unlike what happens to many women who are given Pitocin my niece fed almost immediately and my sister was able to hold her right after birth. It was the most beautiful thing!

What have your experiences been? What advice do you have for our pregnant readers?

As you may be aware, Consumer Reports ran a test recently testing for  the existence of BPA in canned foods. They tested 19 brands of food, anything from soup to tuna and almost all the tests came back positive for BPA. Unfortunately, there were some organic food companies who were found with BPA in their canned foods as well. (You can read the report here.)

Are you kidding me?  I never thought of this being an issue,  honestly. I don’t use canned food very often but still,  I was pretty upset about these findings.(After all I do use canned tomatoes and beans sometimes). The part that bothered me more than anything was the organic companies that were found with BPA. Here you think you are buying “safe” food.

I know the only way to stay away from these dangers is to cook from scratch, and I do, almost every night. But, then there are those nights, when my day went completely awry and I can’t whip up an entire meal, I don’t have the energy, inclination, time, whatever, it just isn’t going to happen. I know all of you have the same thing happen, probably more often than we like to admit.

So I thought I would share a standby that is great.  It is fast, easy, healthy, delicious, vegetarian (but pleases even the biggest meat lovers, I know because I am married to one) and nothing comes from a can.

Spaghetti Squash Spaghetti

Serves 3-4 depending on the size of the squash

You will need:

1 organic spaghetti squash

1 glass jar of organic spaghetti sauce

parmesan cheese to taste

Take one large organic spaghetti squash, cut it in half long wise. Place it into a baking dish, and then fill the dish partially with water. (You don’t need a lot of water, just enough to create a steam effect.) Cover the dish with aluminum foil.

Bake it in a preheated, 350 degree oven for about half an hour to forty five minutes, or until done. (You will know it is done when you can take a fork and scrape the inside and get strands of “spaghetti”).

While your squash is cooking heat up your favorite organic spaghetti sauce out of a glass jar, or some homemade that you canned or froze over the fall harvest.

Once it is done remove it from the oven, and then slowly and gently scrape the inside of the squash with a fork, creating your “spaghetti”.  Place the strands of “spaghetti” in a large bowl. Pour your tomato sauce over the top, grate some parmesan and voila, an incredible spaghetti dinner with minimal effort and a lot of nutrition.

It may sound like a strange meal but it is really delicious, and almost identical to eating spaghetti. Trust me.

I also wanted to remind everyone to hit up their local farmers market, and buy whatever veggies freeze, bring them home, chop them and prep them, and then freeze them in BPA free containers. Great for the farmers and great for you family!

Do you have any great ideas for quick, nutritious dinners that you can make without using any canned foods? Or, just want to vent about the fact that our food isn’t safe unless it is in a glass jar? Go ahead, we hear you, believe me!

-Sheri