Put The Lime in the Coconut.

I am going to try to make my own shampoo today! I'm really excited. I've become pretty nervous about the chemicals in beauty products as of late. Even "natural" products have ingredient lists that sound like chemistry experiments. I don't know what any of those words mean, so how can I be an educated consumer when it comes to purchasing them? The recent news about Johnson's Baby Shampoo hammered home the importance of trying to limit my family's exposure to these unknown chemicals.

But, natural and organic beauty products aren't regulated. You can pretty much throw any label you want on a bottle of shampoo to get suckers like me to buy it. You never really know what you're going to get, and these products tend to be UBER expensive.

I tried to go no poo. I got about five weeks into it and then gave up. My hair was just so disgusting. I'm sure if I'd pressed on, it would have been lovely, but I didn't have the patience. I have kept it in my mind that I want to find a truly all natural alternative to shampoo. So I will give this a shot.

I came across a recipe for homemade coconut milk shampoo on Pinterest:

"1 part coconut milk, to 2 parts liquid castille soap (I use Dr. Bronner's) makes an awesome, silky smooth lathering SHAMPOO. Combine it with the vinegar rinse for gorgeous, soft, eco-friendly hair. "

This transitions into my love for coconut oil!

I bought this brand at Whole Foods for $9.99. It's even less expensive on Amazon. I've substituted my facial moisturizer for coconut oil, and my skin looks lovely. A little goes a very long way.

It's also a cloth-safe diaper rash cream! Again, $9.99 for a jar that's three times the size of other cloth-safe commercial diaper rash creams for the same price.

It's great for fattening skinny babies! Use in place of butter for a heart-healthy fat. Yet many people use coconut oil to LOSE weight, because it "boosts your metabolism, gives you energy, makes you feel more full and improves your thyroid function. They say that the type of fatty acid in coconut oil is a healthy one, and that your body quickly burns it for energy." Scientific results are mixed on that one. But it's certainly better than a trans fat!

It's also a TTC-friendly lube, and it cures hemorrhoids. It's like Apple Cider Vinegar: A natural product that has more uses than you can even invent.

I will keep you posted on the shampoo results. Keep your fingers crossed!

Giveaway Train!

I'm only entering giveaways for things I want and need these days. I'm going to keep track of them here! Giveaways I'm entering today:

Simplisse Gia Nursing Pillow

MobiCam Digital DL Video Monitor, ends 12/5. This is my good friend's blog and it rocks my socks off.

Bamboobies Nursing Pads. I'm hoping to find a great re-usable option for this baby instead of going through 2 boxes of disposable pads a week. All those little wrappers killed me.

Sunday doin stuff day!

After an amazing breakfast at our dear friends' house and a failed nap attempt, MJ and her daddy went to the neighbors for the Eagles game. I decided to do something I've been meaning to do for, hmmm, 2.5 years.

To have a baby is to have been given a crazy amount of semi-useless flannel receiving blankets. You know the kind... They come in a multi-pack and are good for about, hmmm, three days.

Before:

They do have a fantastic second life: cloth wipes! Now when I set out to cloth diaper MJ, I never thought I'd bother with cloth wipes. But as part of the Crunchy Cascade, it becomes easier to throw the dirty wipes in the same container as the dirty dipes, instead of having a trash can and a diaper pail at your changing station. Using cloth wipes becomes time- and money-saving.

During my maternity leave, I spent about 16 feverous hours making about 40 cloth wipes, pulling out stitches and trying to make them perfect. While most have held up, the ones that I've had to toss was because of finding them disgusting and forgotten at the bottom of a wet bag after like three weeks.

It's time to re-up the stash. I have four receiving blankets, and a more realistic idea of how pretty these suckers have to be. They clean up poop. No need for glamour. Imperfect sewing is a-ok in my book! No hems necessary. Just take a receiving blanket, cut into 16 even-enough pieces (no need to measure; folding is fine), then sew 2 pieces together. Blammo! Cloth wipes.

Some people like to store them wet. I prefer to store them dry and keep a spray bottle of wipe solution handy. You can buy commercial wipe solution, but what works for me is to take two tablespoons of baby shampoo (I like California Baby since it smells so delightful), and a tablespoon of olive oil. Whisk them together and mix in about4 cups of water. I boil it first; probably unnecessary. Plain water works well too!!

It took me about an hour to make these 8 wipes today. I have three more blankets and we will be totally re-stocked by the time baby boy arrives.

Finished Wipes

Big Girl Bed

Big news in the Stilljes household: Miss Molly, at 2 years, 5 months, finally got the cajones to climb out of her crib. Yesterday, naptime consisted of my husband and I taking the rail off of her crib and converting it into a daybed. She'd scaled out of her crib three times during the space of 1/2 hour, so we figured it was time. Nap, obviously, didn't happen. Last night went well overall... after about an hour of fussing, she did fall asleep.

Today, it's naptime redux. In the past 42 minutes, we've removed her from the closet with one of those folding doors. I've removed all her toys, hoping that she'll turn her attention to her bed. I sit next door, listening to her talk and keeping an ear out for mischief.

How long did it take your kids to adjust to their toddler beds?

Sleeping Tiger

60% of the time, my daughter is a sweet, adorable, agreeable child. And then, there's the other 40%, always always triggered by her sleep schedule getting knocked off. It's like our life together is like a soothing, satisfying record of Bach cello concertos. Then kid skips a nap, and life turns into Marilyn Manson... irritating, full of conflict, robbed of joy.

That's a little harsh. There are breaks of sunshine in the clouds (man am I metaphorical in this post). It's just hard for me to appreciate them when running on just a few hours of fitful sleep. My fuse is short, and MJ is on a mission to test every boundary in front of her when she's on these sleep hating binges.

I'm not even sure what happened this week. Her naps got pushed way back, from 12:30 until 2. After a day or two of this, she then started fighting her bedtime. Finally, the death nail: the dreaded 3 am wake up. And I mean UP.

It's on these days (like today) when parenting with patience is so very difficult for me. I would never raise my hand to my little baby, but I'm sure as hell tempted when she's making a run for the throne. All my parenting and discipline ideals go out the window on these days, and it's all about survival.

I sound kind of hyperbolic here, but I can't express how my child's personality completely changes during these sleep disruptions. It takes me a good 5-7 days to get her back to a normal sleep pattern after this happens, but I know it will end. Eventually. I'll have a newborn in the mix in February to make things really interesting.

WAIT WHAT!? DAYLIGHT SAVINGS TIME STARTS TONIGHT?!?

NOOOOOOOOOOO!!! WHY GOD WHY?!

This is the face of a child on Day 2 of a sleep strike. It looks like we're gonna have a long haul until her eyes are no longer purple.

Date Night!

We did it!! Husband and I went out to dinner last night.

Oh my oh my do I hate the concept of "date nights." I remember going to a baby shower when I was sooo far away from even thinking about parenthood, and a bunch of super-dee-dooper lame moms (who I probably would think are refreshingly awesome if I were to meet them now) were discussing the frequency and scheduling rigidity of date nights.

It sounded so stifling... every third Thursday, they would go out for a dinner or a movie. If I were to ever have children... ah, you know the drill. Needless to say, in retrospect, I'm ridiculously jealous of those women who made keeping a relationship as a couple who relates to the outside world a priority.

It just felt so. damn. good. to have a reason to do my hair up all nice and put on full makeup. It was so refreshing to sit across a table from my husband and concentrate only on each other. I don't think I've been that relaxed in months.

I'm not sure anyone reads this, but anyhow, do you have date nights? Do you schedule them?

Day After Halloween

This was the first Halloween we really participated in as a family. First year, MJ was such a peanut and none of our friends had kids yet. Last year, we were in Wisconsin and didn't know where to go. So this year, we went all out and MJ's mind was blown!

We weren't expecting to have such a great time either. It was so much fun to watch our big girl boldly demand trick or treat from neighbors. Good stuff.

Today we're recovering. This pregnancy is taking a physical and emotional toll in me and i'm finding that I have less energy for out-of-the-house activities than I predicted I would. I've also had a pretty wicked case of the blues, but what can you do.

Thankfully, Pinterest keeps inspiring me to do more crafty things with the little monster.

See, toilet paper roll necklace!