Beware that Pharisee in the Mirror

Tonight I realized being a pharisee can sneak up on you. 

That darn humanity and sinfulness. 

I was putting littler man down after nursing, and was holding him for a bit next to his crib. He likes to fuss, put his head this way, up, that way, suck thumb, mmmmm-ing and grumbling and gurgling in his wonderfully soft voice. After a couple of minutes, I started thinking of all the things I could be doing, and was about to put him down when I thought: what DO I have to do? 

Husband: home, reading to little man, who is all set for bed. 

Kitchen: good enough, dishes away, food in fridge. 

Toys: put away earlier by growing boy learning responsibility

Phone calls: made already, or too late

So what am I putting him down for? 

Now, I'm not against parents having down time, relaxing, or having something of their own to do. A moment of solitude? Take advantage. Recharge.

However

Sometimes 

You should hold your baby until he falls asleep

Because you can.

We want to be good stewards for our Lord with everything we have.  Money, time, resources, our children, each other. Yet it can so easily turn into Doing for the sake of doing, instead of Living in obedience and thankfulness. Rules for rules sake. 

Easy to forget in the everyday of life, that

 I can't earn my salvation, it has already been paid.

 I can't earn my Lord's love; I can only give what He's already given me. 

I've been provided with a home, money for bills, food, life, and love. I've been forgetting, though, about other gifts.

He gave me a baby boy who is already trying to walk, who is grumbling and gurgling and wanting to talk to me all day by climbing my pants and peeking over the couch cushions to give me a grin. 

Eight months and I've already gotten regrets about missing things. 

So. 

Tonight I held my baby. 

Parenting is...

Letting your arm go numb because they look so comfy 

Seeing the world through new eyes

Dressing up your kids to for your own enjoyment 

 Making birthdays and holidays special, no matter what age

 Going for walks with Batman  

Finding new reasons you love your husband 

Hiding the fancy ornaments 

Sharing small moments of happiness  

Persevering through unimpressed looks 

 Encouraging your children, even if you know they're going to run into a wall

Appreciating sleep-yours or theirs

 Pain, Reality, Beauty

Growing in love 

Cloth-diapering: toilet swishing to wash-room nausea

Cloth or Disposable? 

Cloth wipe, paper towel, or packaged? 

Insert? Doubler? Liner? 

Pouch, prefold?

Wool?

Charcoal?

Hemp?

Microfleece?

Cotton?

Organic Cotton?

Bamboo?

HELLLPPPP!!!

Thus it goes for many people interested in cloth diapering. 

Our reasons for cloth diapering: 

Money-Around $50+/week on average for disposables for two boys: not happening. Yes, we might pay more for water, spend more time, but I'm home and thus far the investment has paid off. 

Ecology: I'm not a fan of buying something that won't decompose and adds to trash. Plus, the little I've read about the chemicals that are in the disposables touching my babies skin...I'd rather not. I haven't been able to budget out enough for chemical-free or organic disposables when we travel, but maybe one day. 

We started out with Flip and Econobum diaper covers, (Our favorites, find them here )based on a friends recommendation and gift. As for inserts, we have everything from charcoal, hemp/bamboo combo, microfleece, and some I don't even know anymore. You've got to figure out what works for your family. 

we have a bunch of G-diapers, but our boys soak through them fairly quickly, and taking out the plastic liners before drying was more tedious than what I wanted from my routine. 

my favorite if we could afford it: Blueberry Diapers 

I only have one thus far, but it's been great for my heavy-pee boys for nighttime and naps. 

We also use cloth wipes made from old receiving blankets, but I've bought a few pre-made sets as well. Check out hereif you're interested in ordering, though they aren't hard to sew up if you have the inclination! 

Downsides to be aware of when cloth diapering 

I have yellow gloves to swish dirty diapers around in the toilet to get as much as I can off, and then I have a bucket for everything to soak until I do a load in the washer. With running around with two children, more often than not, there isn't time to put gloves on. And sometimes boys can be curious about buckets in the shower (although usually the door is shut for safety of the little guy) and wonder what else can be thrown inside. 

*For you essential oil users--a drop of Lemon, Melaleuca, or Eucalyptus in the bucket can be helpful for cleaning and absorbing smell, as well as the same in the washer*

I'm actually pretty good with the smell of urine. It's something I've gotten used to. However, last year with diapers added onto morning sickness, every load was a challenge to do, and my hard-working husband often came home to a waiting load that he would do so I wouldn't have to. ah, Love. 

You need to be aware of how many diapers you have left and know when you need to start a load so you don't run out before they're washed (which usually is a hot load with detergent, and then cold to rinse and second time) and dried (twice with these apartment dryers and the thick inserts). Ideally, we like to have a box of disposables on hand for those times when we wake up and go, 'hmm. three diapers left'. Those boxes usually last a few months, but they're only there when we can afford them. 

For us, it all comes down to stewardship: how can you use what you've been given, knowing that it isn't yours in the first place? God has blessed us most richly with a job for Travis that pays our bills, and enables me to stay home with our boys. Two boys that give us joy and push us further towards the Throne of Grace in sanctification. Each other. For the life we've chosen to lead and the priorities that follow, cloth diapering naturally followed, and the extra laundry and folding is worth it. 

Our DIY Toothpaste Journey

So.

Toothpaste. 

Our first foray into this do-it-yourself world was our basic toothpaste. We usually order from my brother-in-law, but ran out of money, and toothpaste, at the same time. I turned to the handy dandy interwebs, and cruised along. Here's what we used: 

Coconut oil. mmmm. delicious. cook, oil pull, moisturize, and apparently, toothpaste. I get mine here atVitacost. Organic, cold-pressed, the good stuff. I usually make enough for two containers, so 1/4 cup each coconut oil. 

Baking soda. pretty basic. 1 tablespoon.

10-15 drops Peppermint oil.  I am your friendly neighborhood DoTerra Wellness Advocate, so I will cheerfully recommend DoTerra as a reliable place to get quality Peppermint oil. I also add Melaleuca if I remember, as that's also a good antibacterial, anti-infectious, antiseptic, antiviral, and all sorts of other good things you can learn about in this book, Modern Essentials.

Basically, mix and use! See why I started with this recipe? 

Notes on taking this toothpaste:

 Know that coconut oil will melt. You can still use the toothpaste, just beware the container you use so you don't have greasy spots on your kitchen sink. Pyrex is nice. You can store it in the kitchen fridge, but that might be easier if any of these situations apply:

 A. you don't have kids trying to kill themselves by diving headfirst into the bathroom sink, necessitating your unceasing eye over them during toothbrush time.

 B. you care enough to do so

C. you have the time and energy

Which I don't. 

Also, the same rules apply with brushing with coconut oil as they do when you oil pull (see here for a basic tutorial and reasoning behind oil pulling): spit in a trash can, not the sink. 

For those with chillens: I've been giving my guy this toothpaste for over a year, and although he's no closer to spitting, I'm just fine with using it, knowing that what's going in him is not crud. Horray!  He gets his own paste container, and he can put it on himself. Learning independence for the win.  

To Update you on my Toothpaste journey, we recently started using DoTerra's OnGuard Toothpaste (here if you want to order either samples or take the plunge), and we are fans.  Good ingredients. Yum. And no, my guy is still not spitting. One day.

We're also going to be attempting to heal our dental woes with a remineralizing toothpaste shown here  by Paleo Mama: I will update that another time. 

Good luck! 

Running out of toothpaste ain't so bad.

I gotta say, money was the 1st reason I got into this. Mostly because we didn't have much.

Well, and I wanted us to be healthy.

So, get rid of toxins and other grossness.

Also because I enjoy making things from scratch.

And my husband might call me a Christ-saved-tree-hugger who is somewhat crunchy.

Which might mean I me hug a tree at least once a year, just to be spiteful.

Maybe.

But 1st, it was ye old moolah.

I had coconut oil, I had baking soda, I had peppermint oil. I did not, however, have toothpaste. Or the money to get the one we liked until the next paycheck. What's a girl to do?
Why, do what someone who has plenty of experience in on-the-fly cooking: see if there's anything in the pantry that could make a decent toothpaste.
Voila.

And thus it began.

What else could I make out of regular household ingredients?
O, I found many things.

Three years and two children later, we've expanded our reasons for continuing in this. Having little ones tends to do that. I look for new ways to save money, because I want to use what we have in the best way we can. Glorify God by using his creation--whether that means oils, plants, food, or the brains He gave us to keep our family healthy and growing. Keep that crud out of my little boys body. Have an arsenal at my disposal for our health. Enjoy working with our own hands and passing that knowledge on.
And yes, to save that moolah.
Run out of toothpaste. It'll change ya life.

Trucking Health

My husband is a truck-driver.
Workin' hard, driving all day, navigating the roads and hazards while keeping his sanity and providing so well for us trucker.
Here:

I think he's pretty handsome, myself. 

Mine. 

I digress. 

This new season of our lives with him gone throughout the week means I need to be more creative with my meal prep. Buying fast-food as needed while he drives is neither possible with our budget, or healthy for his hard-working self. Add that to only having a mini-fridge with no way to heat anything up, and it's been a challenge. Then toss in the fact that we're trying to heal our teeth, and it becomes fry your brain frustrating. Naturally, I gave it a try. 

His menu thus far: 

Breakfasts: Mason Jar Oatmeal with my own variation

Lunches: a pound of whatever healthy deli meat and cheese is on sale for easy roll ups. No bread.

Snacks: in season veggies and fruits that A. he likes and B. will stand up for travel. Usually apples, oranges, carrot sticks and green beans. Hmm. Need to try my homemade ranch recipe out...

Add-ons: My crock-pot yogurt for pro-biotic healthy goodness or homemade applesauce

Dinners: Whatever meat from the weekend we have leftover. This week it was a large chicken leg, and a Pyrex-worth of pork roast we bought from our friendly farmer friend. 

Other ways we try to keep him healthy are sending his vitamins and DoTerra essential oils with him. Lemon for water and general upkeep

OnGuard for cold prevention 

Deep Blue for his sore everything 

(Feel free to ask around here if you have any Essential Oil questions, by the by)

So far this routine has been very helpful for our wallet and his health. He doesn't mind having the same things each week, for which I'm thankful. Still, I'm always on the look out for new ways to send tasty and worthwhile food with him. Want to keep our provider going strong so he can come back to us at the end of the day! 

If you have a situation where healthy living isn't easy, don't give up. Brainstorm and try new things. You never know when a new recipe or creative friend will help you out. 

Feel free to suggest any other teeth-friendly, tasty foods for me to try! 

Monday Morning

 I love being a mom to my guys 

my wonderful, human, sinful, beautiful boys 

They bring so much joy to me 

At the moment, my little man has gone down for a nap over two hours earlier than usual, and my littler man has a sinus infection that I'm fighting to keep from becoming a respiratory issue. There's laundry in the dryer, clothes on the bed, yogurt on the chairs, and toys all over the living room. I haven't taken a shower or worked out yet, but the we're having a good day.

I love being a mom. 

I thought I knew selfishness, and then I got married. Then I realized I was. Then I had my babies, and saw we had barely scratched the surface of sanctification. Sleep? psh. Warm food? hah. Personal space? see you in 20 years. Joy? tons. 

So this is a reminder to myself that if we had never had these guys, we'd probably still be living up north, both working to pay off debts faster, with a savings account and less chance of ripped books, snotty tissues, and stepping in pee.

 And I'm so glad we have them! 

Thank you, God, for my babies. Remind me how much I love them when I'm exhausted. Amen. 

Essential Oils in a day of the Shoemaker Household

6:30  I am usually woken up, or wake up in an attempt to be up and ready before littles start the day. Wild Orange layered with Frankincense for a feel-good morning mood for Mama. Fennel (occasionally) for keeping my milk supply up. Melaleuca for any skin issues. Lavender for my lymph glands if I'm not feeling well. Clary sage if it's Aunt Flo time. Oiled up. Boo ya.

6:50 In theory, I have successfully oil-pulled, and can now drink and eat. Two drops Grapefruit, Lemon, or Slim n Sassy in my water throughout the day. yum.

7:00 Or when the chillens awake: Lemon diffused to start the day and absorb cooking smells

7:30 Lemon or Grapefruit in little man's water because we're trying to avoid lots of juice.

8:00 Medicine time! we do Elderberry syrup (here for our basic recipe, save moolah baby), Liquivite from Neolife, and usually OnGuard on the chest if we're under the weather. Little man likes to point to places for me to put the Q-tip. I love that this is medicine for him.

9:00 At some point during the day, I do clean. In theory, this would happen in the morning. So I'll put it here and feel accomplished. Lemon, Melaleuca, Oregano, or Eucalyptus depending on what I'm cleaning.

11:30 After lunch, more lemon to absorb cooking smells

12:30-3:30: Diffuse in the boys room for nap-time--Lavender, Onguard, Frankincense...can't lose.

2:00 Inevitable headache because I forgot to drink enough: Melaleuca or Peppermint

4:00 (Or any time during the day or night, at the moment) my littler man is teething. Clove in coconut oil. phew.

5:00 A.K.A. Insanity Hour, when dinner is being finished but the kids are tired and everyone is fried: Wild Orange to recuperate and endure!

7:00 Bath-time, then Lavender on the back of their necks to relax. Using Onguard toothpaste uses Peppermint, Wild Orange, Clove, Cinnamon, Eucalyptus, Rosemary, Wintergreen, and Myrrh.

7:30 Lavender or OnGuard and diffuse for the boys

8:00 Frankincense on my pulse points, Deep Blue Rub for sore muscles/neck, enjoy the evening with a favorite oil diffusing before bed.

At the moment, there's our day. As we grow our collection, the uses will vary. Can't wait. If it seems like a lot, don't worry. It's second nature now, and doesn't waste any time. Knowing I'm not only saving money but keeping us healthy without needing to go anywhere is worth it.

What are the oils that you use the most during your day?