Small Steps on Our Journey - review & giveaway!

  

Rachel, a friend from church, has a blog called Small Steps on Our Journey.  It is dedicated to recording their journey to improving their health and reducing their impact on the environment. 

This week, Rachel reviewed our body & hair butter, and she combined the review with a giveaway!  The drawing will be on Friday night, April 8.  You can check it out here. :)

Oh, so easy.

Want to support our adoption fund while shopping for something fun for yourself?  Check out these links! 

We earn a 15% commission through Chunky Bling.  Their necklaces, bracelets, rings, and watches are beautiful! 



At Kelly's Closet we earn 5% on all orders through our button.  Kelly's Closet does not just sell cloth diapering supplies.  They also sell baby carriers, bedding, swimming gear, laundry detergent, skin care products, nursing supplies, and Mama care items. 



Truly Pure & Natural also sends 15% our way.  I recently blogged about them here and here.  Awesome company.

Our body & hair butter is now sold through Curly Is Cuter.  Check out Rachel's beads and beaders, snaps & barrettes, hair & skin care products, etc.  She has a huge assortment for sale, and you can do all that shopping from the comfort of your own home. Watch out -- don't get addicted to the hair bling! :)

If you want to grab our button and spread the word about our fundraisers, the html code is on our blog home page.

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Thank you, thank you for supporting our adoption fund!  It is humbling to see how many of you are supporting our efforts to bring home our baby.  Family, friends, acquiantances, and people we have never even met.  It is such confirmation of God's call for us to be available for one more precious child.  Even now, He is paving the way for him/her to be joined to us. 

Work is picking up for Andy, and if all goes well he will be able to fully support our family again in the next few months.  As soon as we are off partial unemployment, we will be ready to be presented to expectant Mamas through our local Christian agency.  We are so excited! 
(If you need a licensed architect for your home addition or other project, please let us know. :)

Truly Pure & Natural

After reading my recent post about Truly Pure & Natural, a few of my lovely readers have expressed an interest in ordering their products.  I thought it might help if I share a few of my favorite products (so far).

One of our favorite products is Tate's The Natural Miracle Shampoo.  Created with organic, all-natural ingredients (no chemicals, preservatives, fillers, etc.), and PH balanced, it is meant to be a multi-use product.  It not only smells great, but it also lathers wonderfully!  Andy and I both love it as a body wash and face wash.  I have struggled with acne pretty much my whole life, and since purchasing this about 6 months ago, it has not been an issue!  Apparently it is the perfect product for my skin.  :) 

Although there is a regular conditioner to pair with the above shampoo, I ended up prefering this conditioning shampoo, which is also nice because I can skip a step and avoid shampooing and conditioning separately.  I had to get used to the fact that it doesn't lather well, probably because of the conditioner in it, but it cleans my hair great, and leaves it manageable and easy to comb.  I also use it as face wash sometimes.  It's not my favorite as a body wash simply because it doesn't lather much, but it still gets the job done.

Although a little pricey, we are completely hooked on Tate's The Natural Miracle toothpaste.  It is the best tasting natural toothpaste I have ever used, and I assure you, I have tried quite a few.  You will not be disappointed with this pick.  A little goes a long way.

Truly Pure & Natural also carries hand-made and cut bars of soap.  I tried out the Lemongrass scent, and it is wonderful!  Our whole bathroom smells great, and our hands are lightly scented, too.  (Andy is reading over my shoulder, and he says he loves this soap!)

The 'Soap for Teeth' is the one product I have not been happy with at all.  I read some good reviews somewhere, and thought it might be a money saver if we like it.  I'll suffice it to say that I'm not a fan of soap in my mouth, and this is soap...for my mouth.  Not a sensation or taste I prefer. ;)  If you'd like to give it a try, I'm happy to pass it along to you.  Maybe you'll like it better than me.  I hate for it to go to waste. 

And of course I recommend the Lifefactory glass water bottles.  Read more about our favorite water bottles here.  And don't forget to spread the word about our raffle fundraiser and get a free raffle ticket here.  Last day is Thursday, 2/17!

Just a quick reminder....  If you buy from Truly Pure & Natural, you not only support a lovely adoptive family, but you also support our adoption fund!  Nick & Denise have pledged 15% of all sales through my blog post links or the button on our side bar to our adoption fund. :)

Things We Love: Lifefactory Glass Water Bottles

  

A while back, Andy and I discovered Truly Pure & Natural, an online store devoted to healthy, non-toxic living.  Nick and Denise started their store after searching out safer everyday products for their four children, who have a variety of special needs.

The first item I purchased was a Lifefactory glass water bottle.  As you can see, it only took one, and we were hooked! :)

The kiddos each have their own 9-oz water bottle, which they use for water or juice, often on-the-go.  I sometimes use one of the 9-oz bottles for an iced mocha when we're running out the door.  And I definitely use my 16-oz water bottle daily!  The 22-oz bottle is used less often, but I sometimes bring it along to refill the kids' bottles. 

We store several water bottles in a reusable lunch bag hanging by the front door, so we can grab them on the way out the door.  Others sit on the kitchen counter, replacing the IKEA plastic cups we used to use constantly.

As described by Lifefactory: our BPA-free reusable beverage bottles are clear soda lime glass wrapped in a modern silicone sleeve -- an intelligently designed, clean tasting, chemical-free container for all your favorite beverages.  (I would agree, by the way.)

Lifefactory also makes baby bottles, safe teethers, and other accessories.  Soon they will have sport tops for their water bottles.  If there is enough demand, Nick & Denise would be happy to sell these items through their store as well.  Let them know if you'd like some! 
 
The Big News: 
I told Denise a while back that I love the water bottles and will be blogging about them.  Of course they were thrilled, but then she came back with some exciting news.  As an adoptive family themselves, they love supporting other adoptive families.  They have decided to donate 15% of TPN sales through our blog to our adoption fund!  (Happy dance! :)
 
If you decide to purchase a Lifefactory water bottle, or anything else through TPN, please use the link from this blog entry or the button in the side bar.  
 
I'd love to know if you order, and what you think of them.  And thank you!  :)

1st foods

  

Brooklyn enjoying coconut cream. 

With our other kiddos, I read the book Super Baby Food and made homemade organic purees and introduced a wide range of healthy foods from about 6 months on.  I followed all the directions and learned how to pick the right foods, steam them, blend them, and freeze enough to last a few weeks.  And I enjoyed it!  It felt meaningful and important to feed my children this way. 

This time, however, I'm happy to mostly nurse Brooklyn and take a more laid-back approach to introducing foods.  I'd like to do just a few baby foods, and then jump straight to finger foods.  We'll see how she does as time goes on. :) 

Next stop, mashed avocado from Grandpa and Grandma's avocado ranch in California!

Credit for this baby food idea goes to my friend Julie.  Her sweetie did a taste test with some coconut cream and it was a success, so we thought we'd give it a try as well! :)

Check out this post to learn more about my new favorite approach to baby food.

Oh, baby!

I am so excited.  This is the creamiest, most luxurious hair and body butter I have ever made.  It is amazing on my kiddos' skin and in their curly locks.  Made from 100% organic, unrefined oils and butters, for maximum benefit for your skin and hair, it is safe to eat as well as wear!  Good thing, because it is so yummy my kids lick it off their skin. :) 

I have three tubs made from 100% organic, unrefined coconut oil, shea butter, and cocoa butter (natural cocoa scented from cocoa butter), and one tub of 100% organic shea butter, coconut oil, and mango butter (mild shea/coconut scent).  The mango is refined, so it is unscented. 

It costs me approximately $6 to make each tub of body butter.  We will distribute these on a donation basis.  The cost of supplies will come out of our family budget, so 100% of what you donate will go to our adoption fund!

Comment here to claim a tub.  First come, first served.  Only 4 tubs in this first batch.  Thanks! :)  Update - the first four tubs have been claimed!  Watch for another post this week with more body butters, and I'll also be making raw sugar body scrubs.  Yum!

shea/cocoa/coconut -- Kim, Monica, Stephanie 
shea/mango/coconut -- Lucinda

Future batches will come with other combinations of oils and butters, and in a few scents, such as orange and peppermint.  I will also fill smaller tubs that will mail well for those who do not live in the Valley of the Sun. 

Thank you for the amazing response, and for choosing to support our family this way!

Bountiful Baskets

We've been enjoying fresh fruits and vegetables, purchased through the Bountiful Baskets co-op.  Can you believe all of this came in one basket?  And is that not the biggest mango you have ever seen???  The produce is usually locally grown or sustainably farmed, and we choose the organic basket for health and environmental reasons.

Today's basket was such a blessing.  Although we're definitely sold on the value and quality of the produce, we've passed on ordering the last few weeks.  We just couldn't squeeze one more thing out of the budget.  And then I received an email from Cate.  Cate had a giveaway on her blog recently, and she asked her readers to leave comments sharing what they are doing to stretch their budgets in these tough times.  I mentioned how much we are saving through cloth diapering, and when she did the drawing, I won! 

I needed this kind of encouragement this week.  It's like a whisper from God, a reminder that He is caring for us, even in this tough season.  We continue to pray for a job for Andy (anyone out there in bloggerland need a talented and dedicated architect? :), and in the meantime, God is showing Himself faithful.  Day by day....little by little. 

How have you been blessed lately?  :)

all natural gum

My kids love gum.  And I'd love to give it to them as a treat from time to time.  But it drives me crazy to see the list of ingredients on those gum packs at the grocery store!  So today I did a search for 'gum without artificial sweeteners'.  The first to catch my eye was Glee Gum.  Check it out at www.gleegum.com. 

When I mentioned it to the kids, they were so excited that I decided to pack up all four kiddos in the car and we trekked over to Sprouts to buy a few packs.  Yep, I was feeling pretty energetic today!  Our Sprouts had cinnamon, tangerine, and bubble gum flavor.  All were a hit with the kiddos, including Keandre, who promptly swallowed his but did better with subsequent tries.  I wasn't overly impressed, as it loses its flavor fairly quickly, but I won't be the one chewing it anyway.  As long as the kids give it a thumbs up -- which they did -- that's all we need! :) 

What do I love about this gum?  Great size, no artificial colors/flavors/sweeteners, and it's 'green' -- made from sustainably harvested rainforest chicle.  To top it all off, it will look great in a gumball machine we have laying around that is currently full of marbles.  (Yeah, I'll admit that was not the best idea we've had.  Choking hazard, anyone?)

Here is a coupon for Buy One Get One Free boxes of Glee Gum.  To purchase it locally, go to Glee Gum's home page and search for a local store using your zip code.  We had several options within a mile from our home.  

For those of you with children dealing with sensory or attachment issues, check out Cate's blog post for an idea on using gum to help your child and encourage healthy bonding.  We will be using this idea in our family on rough days, along with healthy doses of loving affection and prayer, to help close the gap between us and our sweeties' hearts.  (Destany's OT said chewing gum will help her with her sensory issues, so that is an added plus!)

Enjoy!