For nearly 12 years my family’s farm has run a disabled horseback riding program.  Throughout the summer we have the privilege of working with and witnessing first hand children with special needs blossom.  For once in their lives they are equal to others and can maneuvre a 1200 lb horse as easily as an able bodied person can.

We never knew how much that program meant to us until it personally affected us.

Our beautiful little girl, Mclaren Faith was born over a week ago.  Unfortunately she suffered asphyxiation and suffered damage to a portion of her brain. Miraculously she survived and after several heart wrenching days watching her cling to life she pulled through… but not without damage.   In what way? only time will tell but in an instant our life as we envisioned it will never be the same.  Needless to say our family is in shock and numb and need to make this little miracle our primary focus.

I cherish all of those whom I met through blogging, many of you have become a great source of support.  No doubt I will continue reading some of my favourites, continuing to be inspired by all of the great mom’s that are out there.  Please take care, all of you.

God Bless

Niki

I am still alive…barely.  It has been a crazy month with no end in sight.  I am sorry for not updating this blog, I have no creative excuses.  Truth be told I am too darn tired to come up with any at the moment.

We did survive the big move and are anxiously awaiting the baby, which is now 10 days overdue.  Typical for a little lady to be fashionably late.  I would love to post pictures but for the life of me I cannot find our battery charger which reminds me should be located before the little one makes her appearance.

I promise I will have some pictures of the new arrival as well as her newly decorated nursery.  After two boys I am lovin’ pink…and lots of it.

I LOVE my cloth diapers and only those that practise this can relate to that absurd statement.

I love hanging them on the line, placing doublers into the AIO’s and stacking pre-folds in a neat little pile in Dane’s change table. Did you notice all of those statements relate to the clean aspect of diapers?  But what about the part before they are all laundered?  Well whoever says they love handling poop is a little sick in the head but with cloth diapering or diapering in general there still needs to be some hands on when it comes to changing messy ones.

I did extensive research going into this when I started cloth diapering Dane at 9 months, but I missed out on those lovely breast fed explosive projectile poops.  You know, the ones that go clear up to their hairline and can easily fill the whole left leg of a footle sleeper?  No cloth diaper, disposable diaper or a full on car cover can contain these moments.

Since I plan to cloth diaper from day one with the new arrival, I would love to know what other experienced cloth diapering mommies use.  Did you use the wet pail/dry pail, diaper sprayer or toss it all in the poor washer and hope for the best method?  luckily, the baby will be born in May enabling me to take advantage of the summer months to hang them out in the sun to bleach clean.

If anyone can give me a heads up as to what to expect with cloth diapering a new born, I would be eternally grateful.

Check out We are that family for the backwards edition of Works for me Wednesday.  This is where we tell what doesn’t work and hopefully someone out there can give us some tips to rectify that.  Check it out.

If you were not super paranoid about all the toxins and chemicals you are exposed to each and every day, you may want to skip this next site.

A simple search will get the low down on your everyday beauty products on a health and toxicity scale from 0 all the way to 9.  You can choose various categories from baby products to makeup and skin care.  Simply punch in your tried and true products and weep at the high number that shows up larger than life on the screen.  Lucky for me I wear little to no makeup BUT the little I do own reported a shockingly high rating. I vow to change that going forward.

I decided to start with my cleaning supplies, hand and body soap.  With the recent purchase of a new home, I thought what better time to clear my home of toxins once and for all. After lengthy research I decided on products made by Dr. Bronners.  This stuff has been around for over 150 years and relies on pure organic Castile soap for the base of their soaps.  The peppermint stuff is a favourite of many and people report how awesome the tingly sensation of the soap is when lathering up in the shower.  With a rating of 1 on the toxin scale and a price that is hard to beat, I quickly placed some products in my shopping cart over at Well.ca.

Many Americans can easily pick it up at their nearest drug food or health store but here in Atlantic Canada we have to rely on the power of online shopping to get our hands on this stuff.  Luckily, I found a site with free shipping and periodic sales.  I also lucked in and got a 16oz bottler of organic baby wash for the price of an 8oz and with free shipping on all orders I decided to go big or go home and threw all of this in.

I ordered the 16 oz bottler of organic baby wash

DESCRIPTION:
Our unscented baby contains no fragrance so is great for people who have allergies or sensitive skin. Of course it is great for babies as well. All oils and essential oils are certified organic to the National Organic Standards Program. Packaged in 100% post-consumer recycled plastic bottles.
INGREDIENTS:
Water, Saponfied Organic Coconut Oil*, Saponified Organic Olive Oil*, Organic Glycerin, Organic Cannabis Sativa (Hemp) Seed Oil, Organic Simmondsia Chinensis (Jojoba) Seed Oil, Citric Acid, Tocopherol (Vit. E), * Certified Fair Trade by IMO

8 oz of peppermint wash

DESCRIPTION:
Our most popular fragrance. The peppermint essential oil tingles the body and clears the mind. Because therapeutically peppermint oil is a mild stimulant it increases vitality and clarity. All oils and essential oils are certified organic to the National Organic Standards Program. Packaged in 100% post-consumer recycled plastic bottles.
INGREDIENTS:
Water, Saponfied Organic Coconut Oil*, Saponified Organic Olive Oil*, Organic Glycerin, Organic Cannabis Sativa (Hemp) Seed Oil, Organic Simmondsia Chinensis (Jojoba) Seed Oil, Mentha Arvensis Extract, Organic Mentha Peperita (Peppermint) Oil, Citric Acid, Tocopherol (* Certified Fair Trade by IMO)

8 oz of sal suds for cleaning the entire house

DESCRIPTION:
Sal Suds is a balanced formulation of naturally derived surfactants with pure fir and spruce essential oils: it cleans and rinses with exceptional power yet is mild and gentle on the skin. Sal Suds is not soap-based and is formulated especially for all-purpose hard-surface cleaning. Available in 32 oz. bottle. Perfect for general household cleaning: dishes floors laundry etc. Equally effective in hard or soft water rinsing freely hot or cold. Concentrated and self-preserving: no hidden preservatives or ingredients. No synthetic dyes or fragrances: all ingredients fully disclosed and described. Biodegrades rapidly after doing its job. Pure high-quality fir and spruce essential oils: no cheap harsh pine stump oil. No animal testing: Coalition for Consumer Information on Cosmetics certified.
INGREDIENTS:
Water, Sodium Lauryl Sulfate, Coco-Betaine, Lauryl Glucoside, Fir Needle Oil, Spruce Oil
Sodium Lauryl Sulfate (SLS): This surfactant cuts grease and dirt, generates copious suds, and biodegrades quickly and completely. SLS is made by combining a sulfate group with lauryl alcohol from coconut oil, then attaching sodium. If improperly formulated, SLS can irritate skin, but our superb formula uses coco-betaine and lauryl glucoside to counter this. Coco-Betaine: Mild and easily biodegradable, coco-betaine is formed by combining coconut fatty acids with betaine (a nature-identical synthetic so-named because it was first discovered in sugar beets). This foam-boosting cleansing agent buffers irritation caused by SLS. Lauryl Glucoside: This powerful grease-cutting surfactant is especially mild and quickly biodegradable, and is made by combining glucose from corn with fatty alcohols from coconut and palm kernel oils. Lauryl glucoside not only works with SLS to cut dirt and oily soils with exceptional ease, but also combines with coco-betaine to give Sal Suds smooth mildness. Fir Needle Oil & Spruce Oil: Pure essential oils from fir and spruce give Sal Suds its wonderful aroma. Most other cleansers use synthetic fragrances or cheap harsh pine stump oil.

Because this stuff is concentrate and easily diluted with water it should last me a good year, even with the amount of cleaning I do. I can use this to clean my floors, wash my dishes, added to a little baking powder can scrub toilets and tubs.  It really is an all purpose cleaner.

For those Canadian readers here is the site I ordered from.  It is called Well.ca and they have free shipping on all orders regardless of amount.

For more green ideas visit Green baby guide.