EcoMomics

De-Stress the Everyday Clutter

2010-04-17T13:23:00.000-07:00

We all have it. Areas of clutter that prevent us from feeling like we live in the house that we want to live in. We also have those people who are so organized they make us sick - sick with envy. I'm jealous of my mother-in-law, which is totally unfair since she is probably borderline OCD (but, boy, is her house clean)! And even though I know she loves me, I can't imagine what she thinks of my house!

There has to be a happy medium though, a place between OCD and hoarder. After all, I have kids and aspirations beyond human vacuum.

So here's the plan. I'm making a list of all the areas in my life that need a thorough de-clutter and organization. And we're working through them. This week it's my fridge (see post below) and below I've identified other hotspots, or areas that get me all worked up and stressed out. There's one catch though. I'm taking my sweet time. I'm doing this right by creating a workable plan. It's unrealistic to devote 8 hours a day to a project right now. These projects have to fit into my everyday chores not overwhelm them. I mean what good is it to get something organized if the rest of your house is in shambles?

My Hotspots

the hall closet
kitchen cabinets
laundry room
garage
office (bill system)
the kids' closet
Syd's changing table

any other organization would be gravy

Clean your fridge plan

2010-04-17T11:57:00.000-07:00

You know the reason your fridge gets out of control and you avoid cleaning it out? Because somewhere we got the stupid idea to do it all once...yucky and time-consuming. Why not take one week a month and do it day by day? Or for the ambitious, do each task everyday (I bet it would take 5 minutes tops that way)!

DAY
1. the Door- remove all expired products, reorganize keepers and wipe down (15-20 minutes)
2. the Freezer - trash freezer burnt items, organize (meat, veggies, sweets, etc) and wipe down (15-30 minutes)
3. Shelf 1 - trash spoiled items, empty and wash out left-overs, wipe down
4. Shelf 2 - trash spoiled items, empty and wash out left-overs, wipe down
5. Shelf 3 - trash spoiled items, empty and wash out left-overs, wipe down
6. Bins - throw out bad produce and wipe down
7. Quick Inventory and meal plan for next week! (Do every week)

Been a long time

2010-04-15T08:17:00.000-07:00

So before anyone asks - yes, it is hard to have a second baby. Really, really hard. My house is a wreck, nesting instinct is still there, and my overly-helpful toddler is anything but helpful. But it's time to get back to my to-do lists and decluttering plans before I go nuts!

Oh and the link to the birth story is on the left side of my blog if you are interested in that sort of thing.

Menu Plan Monday

2010-02-15T10:22:00.000-08:00

Monday
Turkey and Black Bean Chili

Tuesday
Chicken Stroganoff
Broccoli

Wednesday
Turkey Meatloaf
Sweet Potatoes

Thursday
Grilled Burgers (lettuce wrapped)
cole slaw

Friday (hubby works)
Leftover meatloaf

Saturday
Chicken patties with homemade creamed peas
salad

Sunday
Wild Card :)

Getting back to square one

2010-02-12T08:44:00.000-08:00

What is square one? It's a mythical time of clean and organized that probably never existed in any home. As a homemaker, we fondly recall when we first moved into our home and how fresh and new everything seemed. The carpet was cleaner, the walls were freshly painted, the tiles pristine, right? Hmmm, probably not. We forget the dirt the movers traipsed in and the dozens of boxes piled all over the house. The weeks of not being able to find what we needed, and how long it really took to unpack. But still we long for those early days or the possibility of getting back to square one, of having a home that is totally neat and organized. Why? Because we theorize that if we could get back to square one, we could keep it at square one. Clearly, we are glass half full people.

Recently, I've been obsessed with getting back to square one. My poor husband has heard, "If I could just get back to square one, I (would stay on top of the laundry, keep the bedrooms clean, keep my sewing area organized)." You get the idea. I'm sure he is sick of it. The thing is that getting back to square one is easier said than done. So I've been creating a strategy based on the idea that not all homemakers are created equal and we need to employ different methods to meet our personal cleaning and organizational needs.

The Square One Plan

1. Determine what type of homemaker you are
2. Begin the square one plan for your type
3. Share your strategy - let your family know your plan so they can help or, at least, not hinder
4. Reevaluate your needs - done with your square one plan, maybe you want to kick it up a notch to the next level

Stay tuned as I post each step over the next few days!

Frugal find: Easy loose leaf tea brewing

2010-02-01T10:39:00.000-08:00

I've been enjoying Earth Mama Angel Baby Heartburn Relief Tea the last few weeks. The only problem? It's a loose leaf tea and my muslin tea bag has disappeared. My guess? Josh tossed it and I can't really blame him. I had a hard time getting all the bits of tea of it myself. We use to have a tea ball. You know one of those metal balls that you can fill with tea and steep in your cup. Not sure what happened to it. All in all, I didn't get much use out of the muslin bag and I don't feel like spending the extra money to go buy a new tea ball.

The solution? Coffee filters! A simple paper filter can be set down in the cup and filled with loose leaf tea. Pour hot water over it and let steep for 2 minutes. Then simply pick up the filter at the top and all the tea will come with it. I keep a small bowl on the counter and put my filter and tea in it for an additional steeping. If you are buying high quality tea, you should be able to get 2-3 steepings.

I think of this as a frugal find because it serves two purposes. We use the filters for coffee and tea, and it's something almost everyone already has in their house!

Drum Roll Please!

2010-01-26T12:05:00.001-08:00

I am a woman with many interests. I definitely fall into the category "Jack of all trades, Master of none!" As such balancing what this blog is about versus some of my other passions has been daunting at times. So I've made a decision. EcoMomics will continue to a great place to come for couponing, cleaning, and home decor/organization tutorials. However, with the upcoming arrival of Sydney in March, I know I've been a little baby crazy. I've also been wanting to spend more time writing about parenting philosophies, products, and theories but I haven't wanted to overwhelm EcoMomics with it. So I've created a second blog which will now house my baby/child project tutorials, articles on birth and parenting issues as well as reviews of various products. You can expect it to be super crunchy and very AP-friendly. So if you are as interested in cloth diapering and co-sleeping as you are cleaning, come over and check it out (warning: it's a big work in progress!): http://connectedmom.blogspot.com

Couponing: Live like no one else!

2010-01-21T20:54:00.000-08:00

Josh and I are attending Financial Peace University and tonight was a lesson on cash flow planning. Dave Ramsey discusses in the video that when he and his wife first started budgeting and doing the envelope system, they had a grocery budget of $500, which he says was a lot back then. I immediately thought, geez! $500! I would kill to have a $500 grocery budget. Our budget for groceries, personal care, laundry and more is $200/month, and I would like to get that down to less than $150 so we can put the other $50 in savings.

And then it hit me, we do get almost $500/month in groceries. I'm saving between $200-350/month couponing and sale shopping. Coupons are essentially money in your pocket. Some people think of them as inconvenient or an affront to their pride, but my goodness if you aren't couponing, I want you to consider something. I just told you I save over $200/month by couponing a couple hours a week - what could you do with $200, $300, or more a month? What bills could you pay? What could you save for? Even if you don't need the extra money, it's almost criminal not to take advantage. And if you do need the money, give it a try! It's a little tricky at first but well worth it.

Sustainablebabyish Giveaway on Dirty Diaper Laundry

2010-01-17T15:33:00.000-08:00

If you cloth diaper, you want a Sustainablebabyish over or longie set, they are gorgeous but oh so pricey. Lucky you, Dirty Diaper Laundry is giving some SBish away: Click here to enter!

KC Moms: 1 Day left for Hy-Vee Deals!

2010-01-17T04:21:00.000-08:00

I apologize for not getting this posted yesterday. Hy-Vee is running some awesome specials through today, Sunday Jan. 17th. You can get some amazing deals if you have time to stop in. Please not, we don't shop the center aisles much, so there are probably some great finds down them as well.

Also, I can't say enough good things about the store at 40 Hwy and Noland Rd. It's really worth the trip for us to go there from Blue Springs. I'll even tell you why. According to my Uncle, who worked for a while as a butcher after he retired from the force, meat department managers are allowed to set their own sales. They have a specific quota to meet (hee hee) and it's up to them how they do it. Well, the meat manager at this location is one smart cookie! He runs 2-3 amazing specials every day (in the past, he's had fresh ground buffalo 2.50/lb and smart chicken for $1/lb for instance). It's always changing and since it is location specific, it's not advertised. he also runs the dairy department, so there are great deals there. Anyway, I save bravo to him! I'm sure he's meeting those quotas just fine from the swarms of people shopping the store.

Sorry no picture for this trip! We did have 8-10 bags of groceries for less than $50 though.
Dairy
Kraft Natural Shredded Cheese 5 for $6 + get a $5 coupon good toward your next transaction - that's like getting 5 bags of cheese for $1! You can only do this deal once per transaction. When Josh and I got there, we each went through the line, bought 5 bags of cheese, got our $5 coupon, and went back to finish grocery shopping!
eggs - large dozen 99¢ w/ coupon in store flyer available at door or online
Horizon Naturals Yogurt Little Blends 4 pack for 39¢ - set to expire on the 19th, but you can freeze them! (this deal may be limited to the location at 40 hwy and noland)
Smart Balance 16 oz sour cream - 78¢ (may be limited to 40 hwy and noland location)
Horizon Organic Eggnog - 99¢ (may be limited to 40 hwy and noland location)
Hy-Vee Orange Juice - 99¢

Frozen
Blue Bell Pints 4/$5 - bit of a splurge for us, but Josh loves them and it is a really great price.

Produce
Bananas - 28¢/lb! (Varying levels of ripeness too)
Jonagold Apples - 69¢/lb
Red and Golden Delicious Organic Apples - 1.18/lb (advertised, but not avail. at 40/noland)

Meat
Smart Chicken Ground - $1/lb (in a tube frozen near dairy at 40/noland)
We are picky on our meats, but I'm sure the 40/noland store is running lots of great specials!

Health Market
Boca burgers - $2.67/package (probably a coupon out there for these)
Kashi single serving Roll bars - $1.20 ea -$1 peelie = 20¢
Hansen soda (select varieties) $3/6pack

So here's a run-down of everything we got and our total cost (please note I was shopping with Josh, so there were some splurges in there that brought our bill up about $10 )

1st and 2nd trip through line
Kraft shredded cheese 5 for $6, received $5 coupon (did this twice)
OOP=$12

Barbasol Shaving Cream - $1
Diapers (James has outgrown his cloth) - $5.99
Eggs - $1.60
Egg nog - 99¢
Orange Juice - 99¢
Horizon yogurt 4 packs - 39¢ x 5
Smart Balance sour cream - 78¢
Boca burgers - $2.67
Kashi bar - $1.25
Hansens 6 pack - $3
Sahale Nuts (fancy pants snack nuts for Josh) - $4.69 x2
Blue Bell Ice Cream Pints - $1.25 ea x 6
Bananas - 4 1/2 lbs - $1.31
Apples - 2 1/2 lbs - $1.82
Celery - 98¢
Smart Chicken - 4lbs - $4

Total $48 - $10 from cheese deal - $1/kashi coupon - 61¢/eggs coupon
OOP= $35.76 (even with my having my husband there)

How to get started couponing

2010-01-14T21:53:00.000-08:00

I was talking with some other moms today about how addictive couponing has become for me. When they heard how much money I was saving, they wanted to know how to get started. One even told me she had tried and gotten too frustrated. Boy, do I understand that feeling. I spent a good year reading other mom blogs, drooling at their savings, but feeling completely overwhelmed with getting started.

Couponing can be as much or as little work as you want it to be, but you will obviously see more rewards with more work. I spend as much as 5-10 hours a week organizing, clipping, and creating grocery lists. I clip from the Sunday paper (and I get 3 sets of those coupons from family), print coupons online, and cross check sale lists for all 4 major grocery stores in my area as well as CVS and Walgreen's.

Now it wouldn't be very ecomomical of me to spend a lot of time explaining the basics of couponing when many others have written detailed accounts on the same topic. So my first set of links will take you to a variety of articles on how to get started.

The second set of links are legitimate coupon printing websites and forums that can help you get started couponing.

Lastly, always check company websites for coupons and promotions. Just because you are budgeting doesn't mean you always have to go without! I'll often check a website for a new product, get a coupon, and watch for it to go on sale to get the maximum deal.

How to get started couponing:
http://www.mrsmoneysaver.com/getting-started/
http://momsloveshopping.com/easy-steps-for-grocery-savings-show-21/
http://www.moneysavingmom.com/money_saving_mom/2008/03/cvs-101.html

Great sites to get coupons/get started:
http://www.afullcup.com/
http://www.organicgrocerydeals.com/forums/
http://coupons.target.com
http://www.coupons.com (this site provides many of the same coupons you can get in the Sunday paper)

If you want help matching your coupons to store sales, I recommend the following websites. If you are interested in local and organic couponing deals, I try to post the best deals every week. However, I no longer buy non-organic, non-natural groceries.
www.thegrocerygame.com
www.moneysavingmom.com

I challenge you to DECLUTTER

2010-01-13T04:18:00.000-08:00

Today I am going to do something extraordinary. Ok, who am I kidding? I'm nearly 8 months pregnant this may take 2 days. Anyway, I'm taking trash sacks into every room in my house and filling them up. With what you might ask? With all that stuff that is not being used. The clothes Josh accidentally shrunk in the dryer. The excess fabric scraps that I really will never use. And the books, oh the books, that threaten to topple over and trap us in our home. Now my friend, Lara, did this and was able to produce 20 - TWENTY- 20! bags of stuff to donate to local charities and shelters. That is pretty impressive. I'd love to say I can beat her, but I'm using those amazing Glad ForceFlex and they hold quite a bit (anyone buying that?). Actually, a significant amount of the stuff is in the frigid garage/basement, so it may have to wait until Josh is home to help.

So what's my challenge? Simple. Do the same thing. Get a handful of grocery bags, pop in some Abba and get going (Abba is optional). Bag it up and take it to your local goodwill or call around to local shelters and see what they need.

But before you do, take a pic of all that extra stuff, all bagged up and ready to go and share it with us on your blog or comment below. Let's start 2010 off right - clean and clutter free!

Organic and Natural Grocery Deals for the week of 1/10

2010-01-10T16:22:00.000-08:00

Whole Foods (Overland Park, MO location - check your local ad for the same sales here

Stonyfield fat-free yogurt (listed as o'soy in ad, but it's the fat-free in store!) 2/$1 + coupon in Whole Deal flyer B4G1 = 5 for $2
There are also Stonyfield coupons available at their website for 50¢ off 3.
Ground tukey breast 2.99/lb ($3 off)
Kashi Go Lean Cereal 2.99 (look for $1 peelies)
Mangoes $1
Cara Cara Oranges $1/lb (so sweet, look for a sample!)
Kettle Chips 2 for $4

Target
Kashi Cereal 2.75 ($1/1 and $3/2 peelies on cereal boxes!) Buy 2 boxes for $1.25 ea w/ $3/2 peelie
In case your store doesn't have peelies, you can also print 75¢ coupons at target.com
Earth's Best Organic Waffles $2.39 (Use $1/2 Sesame Street products here)
Target.com also has a number of Kashi coupons for printing, I believe they are MFG and can't be combined with other Kashi coupons but if I am wrong please let me know.

Clean Sweep - Using the Buddy System

2010-01-10T15:53:00.000-08:00

I am not an organized person, despite what it might seem like on my blog. Worst yet, I'm an organized person trapped in a hoarder's body. This has kept the hoarding from reaching reality television cry for help level, but it leaves me feeling like an utter failure most of the time. Combine that with being thirty weeks pregnant (aka nesting phase) and you wind up with an emotional wreck of a housewife. So, in a less than gentle moment, I let my husband have it. Didn't he care? How could he just come home and never want to work on the house? He was totally anal when I met him, what happened?

He lovingly explained that when he married me he had to learn not to care so much about everything being in it's place. It seems that we both started pushing each other more towards the other's line of thinking.

Now don't get me wrong. It feels like we live in the world's most cluttered, disorganized house, but I watch t.v. - we don't! Not by a long shot. And I'm happy to say that I stay fairly on top of the actual cleaning tasks (toilet, vacuuming, laundry, etc), so our house is "clean." But I want my house to be welcoming. It doesn't have to be a flippin' museum, but I want people to come over or drop by and not leave wondering if my 2 year-old completely rules the roost.

So my husband and I came up with a plan for the living room only. He had a meeting at work, so we had limited time and I wear out easily anyway. We easily spend the most time in our living room, so it seemed like a good place to start. And it worked, we got the whole room clean and clutter free in less than an hour. First, we pared down the dreaded toy box that had grown larger and larger as my 2 year-old added to his treasure trove. Then we took down the Christmas tree, an activity which I generally dread. We made a basket for books and bagged up DVDs/tapes we no longer watch.

It wasn't anything groundbreaking, but it worked so much better than me doing it myself. For instance, I had pared down the toybox only 2 weeks ago, but I had a hard time getting rid of and putting away all his toys. Instead my husband filled an entire 13 gallon trashbag with toys and let me jump in and save a few I knew James loved. A small store size bag of toys was rehomed to the toy chest in the basement to be rotated with the toys we kept in the living room. Our son now has about 5 carefully chosen toys he has ready access to in the living room.

It worked because we buddied up. My husband was able to approach it with fresh eyes. He knew that most of the toys wound up all over the floor because our son was trying to get to the few toys he did play with, and he reminded me that we are the parents. It's okay for us to graciously accept yet another obnoxious toy and then make it disappear after a few days.

So you know that room you are avoiding, or, in my case, that house, because you just don't know where to start? Grab a buddy and get going. Husbands are convenient, but good, honest friends work too!

Hyper Homemaker List Redux

2010-01-08T09:35:00.000-08:00

Here are my personalized edits to the Hyper Homemaker list. One of the reasons I like this list is that it reminds me of the good old days when I worked for someone else and thus had accountability to someone else. For the short time I ran a video store in grad school, I used daily lists to account for the tasks that needed to be done and when. So I'm hoping that I can initiate a similar system in the home.

I've taken into account that we have a maintenance free lawn, although this spring I will hopefully add in gardening! And my laundry conundrum.

Monday: Bedrooms
Tuesday: Kitchen
Wednesday: Bathrooms
Thursday: Living areas
Friday: Project Day
Saturday: Off
Sunday: Project Day

Weekly Cleaning List
Kitchen:
-Mop the floor
-Wipe the cabinets, backsplashes, appliances, and fans
-Wash the dishrack
-Wipe the switchplates and phone
-Wipe the inside of the garbage can (yuck! but necessary)
-Quick clean fridge (toss last week's leftovers - you aren't going to eat them!)

Bathroom:
-Scrub the tub and tiles
-Mop the floor
-Wipe switchplates, doorknobs, and doorjambs
-Empty and wipe out wastebasket
-Clean toilet/sink

Bedroom:
-Change the sheets
-Dust all surfaces - including electronics, books, pictureframes, window sills, ledges, tops of the door frames, and ceiling fan.
-Vacuum floors and carpets.
-Wash hardwoods
-Wipe switchplates, doorknobs, and doorjambs
-Empty trash
-Straighten closets (I tend to drop stuff through the week)
-Vacuum heating vents and closets

Living Areas:
-Dust all surfaces - including electronics, books, pictureframes, window sills, ledges, tops of door frames, and ceiling fam.
-Vacuum floors and rugs
-Wash hardwoods
-Vacuum upholstery
-Wipe switchplates, doorknobs, and doorjambs
-Wipe and disinfect telephone
-Shake out/vacuum doormat
-Vacuum HVAC vents
-Clean high chair

And because I love you all, here is a link to pdf checklists that you can print and tape on the back of your doors!

PDF to-do lists

Hyper Homemaker List

2010-01-07T16:18:00.000-08:00

I came across this list of daily household chores from a website called Hyper Homemaker. Unfortunately, the site is now gone. The list lives on though. I'm going to be tweaking this to meet my needs, but it's great way to get started, and I'm guessing that a new year is a great time to get started on a new method of housekeeping!

The idea behind this plan is that each day of the week, you focus on cleaning one part of your house:
Monday: Outside / Garden
Tuesday: Kitchen
Wednesday: Bathrooms
Thursday: Living areas
Friday: Bedrooms
Saturday: Laundry
Sunday: Off

Below is the weekly cleaning list for what to do each day of the week:

Weekly Cleaning List
Kitchen:
-Mop the floor
-Wipe the cabinets, backsplashes, appliances, and fans
-Wash the dishrack
-Wipe the switchplates and phone
-Wipe the inside of the garbage can

Bathroom:
-Scrub the tub and tiles
-Mop the floor
-Wipe switchplates, doorknobs, and doorjambs
-Empty and wipe out wastebasket

Bedroom:
-Change the sheets
-Dust all surfaces - including electronics, books, pictureframes, window sills, ledges, tops of the door frames, and ceiling fan.
-Vaccuum floors and carpets.
-Wash hardwoods
-Wipe switchplates, doorknobs, and doorjambs
-Wipe and disinfect telephone
-Empty trash
-Vaccuum heaating vents and closets

Living Areas:
-Dust all surfaces - including electronics, books, pictureframes, window sills, ledges, tops of door frames, and ceiling fam.
-Vaccuum floors and rugs
-Wash hardwoods
-Vaccuum upholstery
-Wipe switchplates, doorknobs, and doorjambs
-Wipe and disinfect telephone
-Shake out/vaccuum doormat
-Vaccuum HVAC vents

I dislike the idea of doing laundry just on Saturday, especially since Syd will be cloth diapered, so I will be doing daily laundry (ick!). Basically, every other day I wash clothes and every other day I wash diapers. Fun stuff, right?

The Home Stretch: Sewing Projects for Baby

2010-01-04T09:13:00.000-08:00

Wow, I cannot believe that this weekend I will be 30 weeks pregnant. Pregnancy is so surreal. On one hand, I feel like time has flown by and nothing is ready and on another hand, I don't remember ever not being pregnant. With only 10 weeks to go, maybe less (!), I have a lot to do. One of the many things I need to do is start sewing! I have a lot of baby stuff I need to make still. I promise to do tutorials on the ones that work out :)

The Sewing List
DIAPERS! I'll be sewing some fitteds, covers, AIOs and possibly embellishing prefolds. This is a huge project, so I am giving myself a specific timeline.
3-5 more PUL covers
2 more fleece covers
1-2 more fleece longies
wool longies if I can get my hands on some wool!

Swaddlers. Josh is a huge fan of Happiest Baby on the Block and I picked up some knit to make cute swaddlers out of. I'm going to be experimenting with different styles.

Washclothes

A portable play yard

And some bows! Which require no sewing, but I'm still psyched to make!

Target Organic and Natural Deals

2010-01-01T18:10:00.000-08:00

DH and I have decided that we have to be more selective about what brands we buy and our goal is to move toward 100% organic, natural or locally produced foods. So I went to Target tonight to pick up a few things, most of which were not part of this resolution, and wound up buying a ton of stuff! This was definitely an unexpected stock-up trip. DH and DS should be set on cereal, crackers, and granola bars for a while (I'm currently restricted from eating a lot of what I bought - cry).

Here's a little pic of what I got for $64:

Now let me break it down for you:
1 Cascadian Farm Organic cereal (2.50-$1/1 MQ)=$1.50
4 boxes Kashi Cereal
4 boxes Kashi Crackers
7 boxes Kashi granola bars
1 Box Kashi cookies (b/t 2.50-2.75/each X 16 - $3/2 X8) = $15.74
2 Kashi frozen pizzas (4.55X2-$3/2 peelie)= $6.10
5 boxes of Annie's Homegrown Mac-n-Cheese ($1X5) = $5
Package of 3 organic Romaine Hearts ($1.59)
1 bunch organic bananas (89¢/lb)
1 dozen organic brown eggs ($2.29)
1 box Morningstar Veggie burgers
1 box Morningstar Chikn nuggets (2.99x2 - $1/1x2 MQ - $2/2 TQ) = 99¢X2
Jumbo pack of Huggies Pure and Natural diapers(18.49-$3 MQ) = $15.49
2 64 oz bottles Mots 4 Tots juice (1.79X2 - $1/1X2 MQ) = 79¢ X2
1 bag of Purina Cat Chow (3.99 - $1 MQ) = $2.99
2 10 lb bags of Tidy Cats (1.77X2 - $1/1X2 MQ)= 77¢ X2

Total OOP= $64.51
Total savings with price cuts and coupons=$86.41

The great Kashi $3/2 coupons were peelies on their cereal boxes. If you don't find peelies on the Kashi cereal at your store, make sure to check their granola bars and crackers as I've found them there before too!

The New Year's Resolution

2010-01-01T11:12:00.000-08:00

New Year's Resolutions get a bad rap. I heard someone suggest recently that rather than set a resolution, you should set New Year's Goals. Well, I guess I have an issue with that. I understand why. Goals are things you hope to achieve, things you want to achieve whereas a resolution is permanent, fixed, something that must be accomplished. I guess what I'm saying is that the idea that you shouldn't set a resolution seems to imply inevitable failure. Maybe instead we should stick to our resolutions and not get caught up in the learned helplessness that seems to accompany these goals.

So how does one set a New Year's Resolution? Be realistic and accept that you have a year to accomplish those resolutions. If you are going to lose 20 lbs, you have a year to do it not the first week of 2010!

Now you might be wondering about my New Year's Resolution and I'll be honest, its a big one. Something for another post or 100.

Shopping Lists for week of Dec. 7th - national and K.C. specific

2009-12-07T04:30:00.000-08:00

Wal-Greens

ALL detergent and snuggle 2/$7 - $2/1 (x2) = $3 (Doing this twice!)
Skippy Peanut Butter 2/$3 w/ walgreens coupon in ad - 50¢/1 (2) = $2
M&Ms Premium $2.49 - $1/1 = $1.49 OOP - 50¢ register rewards = 99¢ (stocking stuffer!)
Puzzles and color books 3/$1 with walgreens coupon (stocking stuffer!)
Schick Razors $6.99 - $2/1 = $4.99 OOP = $3 register rewards = $1.99!

1st trip
Shick Razor oop = $4.99
M&MS OOP= 1.49
6.49

2nd trip
Shick Razor 3.50 rrs = 1.49 oop
1.49

3rd trip
ALL 3 RRs = free
ALL = $3
coloring books $1
PB $1
$2 OOP

Total Walgreens before tax $13
for 2 Schick Quattro Razors , 2 ALL detergents, 2 snuggle fabric softeners, 3 coloring books, a package of premium m&ms, 2 jars of peanut butter

TARGET
Price match Kellogg's to 1.69 with Price chopper ad 1.69 x4 = 6.76 use $5/4 = 1.76 for four boxes!
Price match TRIO King's Castle with KMart ad to 29.99 use $10 target coupon and $5 mfg coupon (keep eye out for $10 mfg peelies at some stores!) = $15!!!!!

PRICE CHOPPER (KC area)
Ragu 2/$3 + free pasta - 2 75¢/2 = 2.25
Tidy Cats 20 lbs $3.49

HY-VEE
Hormel fully-cooked entree $4.88 - $1.50/1 = $3.38
Stacy's Pita Chips 2/$5 - 2 $1/1 = 2/$3!

HEN HOUSE
Sargento cheese $1.25 package!
Knorr Sides $10/10 - 50¢/2 coupon will double to $1/2
Bounty basic $5.98 - 25¢ will double to 50¢/1
18 count Large eggs $1.49

The CVS plan

2009-12-07T03:47:00.001-08:00

So I've been saying for, oh, about 6 months that I was going to start doing the CVS thing. If you know what I am talking about skip ahead to the next paragraph, otherwise read on. Apparently if you coupon CVS well and combine that with their Extra Care Bucks (ECBs), you can pretty much never spend a cent at CVS. Sounds great, right? Basically, you wait until a product is eligible for ECBs and then combine it with your coupons to knock down the out of pocket cost and receive ECBs, or essentially store credit, as well. The problem is that it takes some planning and some initial expense out of pocket. Once you get going, though, if you plan your trips well, you should be able to use your ECBs to earn more ECBS and so on. So I'm biting the bullet and getting it started.

This week, they are offering some fantastic ECB deals on Revlon, which is how I plan to get started. I don't normally buy make-up anymore, but if it's going to be free why not. I chose Revlon because I have a ton of coupons for them (about $9) and the ECB return rate is high. Spend $15 get $7 ECB. So if I can use nearly all of my coupons I will spend about $6 oop and receive $7 ECBs for future purchases - not too shabby!

Other ECB offers, I am taking advantage of this week:

Crest toothpaste 2/$4.50, receive $2 ECBs combine with 2 75¢/1 crest coupons from Dec. P&G
OOP $3 - $2 ECBs = $1 (50¢ each!)
Emergen-C immune booster pack is $3.99 with $3.99 ECB! So it's free!

So here is my plan:
Trip one
Go in and purchase $15 in Revlon products using coupons, receive $7 ECBs (OOP approx. $6)

Trip two
Purchase Crest 2/$4.5o - $1.50 in coupons = $3
Emergen-C $3.99
Total =6.99, use $7 ECBs
Receive $5.99 in ECBs!

Britax Giveaway on MrsMoneySaver

2009-11-29T14:46:00.000-08:00

How often do you get a chance to win an uber-expensive, super-nice, highly-rated car seat? Not often unfortunately, but now through December 8th you can enter to win a Britax Advocate CS on MrsMoneySaver.com

This is one very nice, convertible carseat that is ideal for extended rear facing and contains awesome features like the HUGS (Harness Ultra Guard System) which helps reduce forward head movement in the event of a crash.

Sure wouldn't mind some for James and little Sydney.

I've got a secret...

2009-11-25T04:49:00.001-08:00

Ok, well, it's not a secret if you are my facebook friend or a family member or an ultrasound tech, but alas, some of you might not have heard yet. I got to cut into a very important cake last night. The inside was going to be either blue or pink. Can you guess what I found?

Scroll down like it's a bad forward and find out:

We have a little GIRL on the way! As you can imagine, I'm ready to hit the fabric store, so expect some pretty, girly projects in the next few weeks!

Remember those gorgeous boots?

2009-11-25T04:43:00.001-08:00

The tutorial is up and they look so super easy. I may tweak mine a bit (I'll let you know), but for now if you are dying like I am to make a pair, here it is: Upcycled Boot Tutorial

Blog design contest courtesy of P.B. & James!

2009-11-19T04:00:00.000-08:00

P.B. & James is my alter-ego graphics and web design site that I spend my very little free time on. I decided if I was going to have a blogging obsession, I better teach myself how to make a good one. Lucky you, because I am feeling generous today (perhaps, it's all the Christmas music).

So one lucky reader/fan is going to win a blog revamp. Here's what is included:
Custom header
Background design
Horizontal nav bar
2 or 3 column layout
Blog button

How do I win such an awe inspiring prize you might ask? There are many ways to enter and I'm listing them below! Each counts for an entry!

1. Become a fan of this blog on facebook. I just set up a page, and my fans are limited to little old me.

2. Follow this blog. Over there on the left.

3. Write a post about your favorite ecomomics tip, post, tutorial, etc on your blog or facebook page and leave a comment with a link below.

4. Tweet this giveaway with hashtag #ecomomics in the body of your tweet (do as often as you like, each tweet counts as an entry)

I will randomly select four finalists from each method of entry (1 fan, 1 follower, 1 blogger, 1 twitterer) and then randomly select the winner from there!

You may enter until November 30 at midnight CST.

KC Moms Frugal Find: Necessities Consignment

2009-11-18T19:18:00.001-08:00

There are a lot of great consignment shops in the K.C. area, but sadly many of them cater to the pint size crowd or the size zero audience, since most of us moms fall into neither category, it seems like we miss out on a lot. So the other day when I decided I wanted to upcycle a sweater using this tutorial, I wondered if I would be forced to visit Goodwill for old sweaters, and then I remembered Necessities. The unassuming little shop sits on the corner of Walnut and 7 Hwy in Blue Springs with a sign that declares it open only on Tuesdays -Saturday. As lucky would have it, it was a Tuesday!

I found that Necessities was a nice little mix of consignment, garage sale, and antiques housed in a series of tiny rooms in an old home. There was a certain warmth to the atmosphere and the prices were excellent.

In all I walked away with a J.Crew wool sweater for my scarf project, a wool cape/cloak thing, and an American Eagle sweater for $19 - all of which are being transformed into hipper, upcycled clothes. So if you'd like a quiet, eclectic shopping experience I'd recommend checking it out.

Belly Bund: 10 minutes, $1

2009-11-17T19:07:00.000-08:00

I made myself what I affectionately have deemed a Belly Bund. It's sort of like a certain name brand maternity accessory that retails for $15-20. Actually, its pretty much exactly like it. What is it? A stretchy band of material I can pull over the top of my jeans and belly to help with too short shirts or too tight pants (I'm carrying funny this time and I can't zip my maternity jeans, with this I can leave them unzipped and be comfortable!)

It took me 10 minutes to sew and the fabric cost me $1.25 out of the remnants bin at the fabric store. So if you have basic sewing skills, you can whip one up for yourself.

What you need:

2/3 - 3/4 yard knit swimwear or dancewear fabric (it feels like thick tights or the lining of a swimsuit - there is often remnants of this in the bin at the store, but it only runs $3.99 a yard if you have to buy off bolt)

sewing machine or a needle and thread

your belly!
Fold fabric in half lengthwise.

Now this is pretty technical, so try to follow :)

Wrap folded fabric around your waist where you will be wearing the bund. Place a pin where the fabric meets.

Trim down to a 1/4 of an inch past the pin.

Now sew a quick zig zag stich along the length of the fabric where the raw ends meets (opposite of the fold.

It should look something like this! Make sure that your seam caught both edges, this fabric can slip and you may have a pocket or two where you didn't catch both ends.

You've created a long tube out of your fabric. Flip the tube inside out so that you don't see the seam. If this is a gift, you might want to topstich along the seam to make it prettier, but it will work just fine if you skip this step.

Now take the ends of the tube and sew them together. You'll notice that I left a substantial seam allowance. Because the material is so stretchy and I measured it to be exactly the circumference of my waist, I wanted it to be a little smaller by an inch or two. If you find your belly bund is too loose, you can always quickly take it in an inch or two.

Trim the excess fabric down to the seam.

Turn inside out and you have a belly bund!

Ok, really bad in use pic coming up. I was all alone and took a quick mirror pic, but you get the idea!

Total cost $1.25
Total time 10 minutes
Totally comfortable!

Christmas Craft Inspirations

2009-11-16T23:07:00.000-08:00

The holidays are once again upon us and well, money is tight here in the ecomomics household. So I guess it's a good thing that I have three sewing machines and an abundance of fabric! I'm slowly working on my Christmas crafts and I will post them as I go along, but I thought I would share some great ideas from other blogs to help inspire you now. I'm breaking this down into three categories: beginner - friendly, intermediate, and ambitious. I hope you enjoy!

Beginner - Friendly
Dish Towels and Coasters from Homemade by Jill

Intermediate

This gorgeous scarf was upcycled from a sweater by My Mama Made It

Ambitious
The difficulty level of this isn't really what makes it ambitious. It's more a matter of time, materials, blood, sweat, and tears. This card table playhouse by Homemade by Jill is an awesome present for a little one.

7 Day Forecast

2009-11-15T20:26:00.000-08:00

In my ongoing efforts to get more organized and thus be a better, more efficient homemaker (because to be honest, I sort of suck at it), I'm attempting a new weekly post - the 7 Day Forecast.

There are three aspects to my 7 Day Forecast: Daily Projects, Weekly Menu, and Errands/Appointments. I'll only bore you with the first two.

The menu is self-explanatory, but my Daily Projects is something new. Every Saturday night I will sit down and think of 7 small projects that can be done within 15 minutes - 2 hours. Each day I will pick one project, based on my other responsibilities and chores for the day, and do it. It's going to be little things that are bugging me, the kind of things that add up until your whole house feels overwhelming and disorganized and you don't even know where to start to get it back to square one!

Daily Projects
Clean the stairs, which have accumulated an unsavory amount of crap to be taken upstairs in the last few weeks - DONE!
Rehome boxes of books in dining room
"Organize" hutch, which has become dumping ground - find way to prevent future dumping
Sort the toy box - DONE!
Finish the kids' room shelves
Organize bathroom cabinet - DONE!
Create cleaning kits for both bathrooms (all-purpose cleaner, mop, and rags) Half-done (whoops)!

Menu

Sunday
Thanksgiving pot luck

Monday
Turkey Meatloaf
Dressing
Baked Potatoes
Green Beans

Tuesday
Butternut Squash Soup
Grilled Cheese Sandwiches

Wednesday
Apple and Bleu Cheese Pizza

Thursday
Shepherd's Pie

Friday
Date night

Saturday
Spaghetti
Salad

Kansas City Coupon/Ad Deals - Thanksgiving Dinner

2009-11-15T19:08:00.000-08:00

Price Chopper - Mrs. Smith pies $1.97 - $1 coupon from KC Star = $.97
Best Choice Turkey $.40/lb w/$25 purchase= lowest price in all Sunday's ads if you're doing a lot of PC shopping
Swanson Broth $.47 -$.25/4 = $1.63

Target (will price match w/ads!)
10 lb russet potato $1.99
Market Pantry Turkey $.68/lb = lowest price runner up
Ocean Spray Cranberry Sauce $.95
Del Monte canned veggies $.45/each - 1.00/8 = $2.60
French's Onions $2.75 - $1.00/1 = $1.75
Reddi Whip $1.89- .50/1 = $1.39

in progress still!

Crafts I love: Upcycled Boots

2009-11-14T21:07:00.001-08:00

I am in love, love, love with these boots, which were entered in this week's craft challenge on So You Think You're Crafty. Desperately, hoping this baby is a girl so I can whip some up, but if not some lucky family member or friend will be getting a pair of these for Christmas.

The crafters of last week's challenge have been revealed and I have to give credit to Jessica at So Happy Together. She's got some beautiful stuff over there!

My Homebirth Journey: VBAC & Choice

2009-09-18T13:46:00.000-07:00

Many of you know that I am planning a home birth after cesearean. Many of you applaud this and many of you think I'm crazy. It really doesn't matter all that much, because this choice has to be about me. And yet, I find myself compelled to explain my motivations. Not to elicit your support, but to spread awareness about the issue itself.

So let me break down my thoughts on c-sections a little first:
1. I believe there are circumstances which necessitate a c-section, and I am thankful they are available.

2. I believe that what many doctors believe necessitate c-sections and what biologically necessitates c-sections are not in line with one another.

3. I believe most women are not being truly informed by their physicians about the risks of c-section nor are many truly given a choice.

4. I believe we must get out of the mindset that once a woman is a cesarean, she is always a cesarean.

5. I believe maternity care reform should be as important as health care reform in the minds of every American - you have all been born after all.

That said, the following article articulates the complex issues that surround cesarean and vaginal birth after a cesarean by illuminating what is really at stake.

VBAC & Choice: Many Questions and a Few Answers
by Nancy Wainer
© 2008 Midwifery Today, Inc. All rights reserved.

[Editor's note: This article first appeared in Midwifery Today Issue 86, Summer 2008. This article is available in Spanish translation on the Crianza Natural Web site. Go here.]

When is a “choice” truly a choice, and when is it not?

Recently, I received an e-mail from a VBAC client. “When I agreed to have a cesarean, was I really making a choice?” she asked. “First of all, I, the chooser, was not truly informed; second, my doctor lied to me. Third, my insurance company limited my choices in many ways. Many of us women are so acculturated as to be unable to think outside the box, so if our insurance doesn’t pay for midwives or cover homebirth, we think we can’t choose it. Fourth, my family and friends were also ill-informed and thus played into the hands of the doctor; and in fact, I didn’t even have the doctor I chose—I ended up with the one who happened to be on call that evening.”

She went on: “[M]any women just like me end up having the primary c-section because of the ’choices’ they made, even though, again, many of those choices were false and ill informed! Then, they are really stuck when trying to plan a VBAC in this climate and culture. The truth as I see it, Nancy, is that the choices are false, the lies are rampant and the truth (some c-sections are needed; some babies will die) is simply hard for people to face.”

Each baby has only one opportunity to be born, there are no second chances; so whenever possible, the experience ought to be safe, wonderful, natural, empowering and amazing. I have a sincere passion to assist women in having the best births possible. VBAC feels like my baby. Having had my own VBAC in the early seventies and having coined the term, I’ve spent my adult years researching the subject—teaching it, talking about it, thinking about it and writing about it. Along with many other midwives and childbirth educators, I’ve done my best to bring the subject of VBAC to light and to assist women who choose to birth normally after having been surgically delivered. My heart still drops into my toes every time I learn about a woman who received a c-section and leaps with delight when I either hear from, or am able to assist, a woman who has had a VBAC.

When Barbara birthed her 9 lb 4 oz son (vaginal birth after two cesareans—VBA2C) out of her supposedly contracted pelvis, in the privacy of her own bedroom, five hours after I walked through the door, and when I saw the look of relief-accomplishment-ecstasy on her face, I was happier for her than I could express. Ditto for Laura’s 11 lb VBAC daughter, who slipped out of her body one crisp winter night. In one capacity or another, I’ve assisted thousands of women who have chosen to have a VBAC; many have had births that exceeded their wildest expectations. Sadly, some of the women who have sought my help didn’t have the births they were hoping for, and some have had a repeat c-section.

We have learned in newspapers across the country this month that the cesarean rate has been consistently increasing. It is well documented that the rate has increased at least 48% in the last nine years—one in three women are now having c-sections. Before that I remember someone telling me that the rate was “barely twenty percent.”

Barely? Many of us remember back to the days when the c-section rate was approaching 15% and the headlines all over the country stated that the cesarean epidemic was indeed upon us and something had to be done! We were told that, conservatively, at least three-quarters of the one million cesareans that were being done were preventable and that this major abdominal surgery was far more dangerous than vaginal delivery.

Was anybody listening?

A few, but not enough, of us were.

Before beginning a dialogue on this subject, we must start from the understanding that birth is, in one sense, a “first beginning,” that how a baby comes into the world is important, and that the birth experience creates life-long sequellae. Unfortunately, not everyone understands this, and many seem not to care.

All of us have met women who just loved their cesareans and who don’t bat an eye when their obstetrician tells them, weeks ahead of time, that they are being scheduled for the c-section on a certain date. We also have run into our fair share of women who believe that a woman should be able to choose a cesarean whenever she wants and for no good reason except that it’s what she “wants.” I suggest, for starters, that these women read ICAN’s Cesarean Voices, a magnificent, informative, educational and sobering booklet that I believe should be given to every middle school student.

The Compleat Mother’s Jody McLaughlin often reminds me that we all know that given the “kind” of vaginal delivery that is being “offered up” at most hospitals these days, “choosing” a cesarean can seem, at least on the surface, the best of the alternatives. However, we know that a decision that is made out of fear, or based on a traumatic past experience, is not a decision at all; it is a forced reaction. A decision that is made without adequate information can’t be considered a true choice.

We know that birth choices offered by those who have little understanding about or experience with natural birth—and have no personal investment in creating an environment in which this kind of amazing experience can evolve—are not choices but opinions turned into edicts. We also know that, for some women, going back into a hospital and having a “repeat performance”—enduring an experience similar to the one they had before—takes a lot of courage. Other women choose to return to the hospital without understanding that the reason they had such a painful or horrendous experience in the first place may have been due to the setting itself and the rules, routines, policies, beliefs and regulations there. Instead, they believe that the hospital saved them from birth-hell and that birth is, indeed, hell, however you cut the birth day cake.

For many women, the act of giving birth is as close to heaven as we can get here on earth. “It was amazing, I’d do it over again in a heartbeat” is music to a midwife’s and to babies’ ears.

“I wouldn’t have missed this for the world,” remarked one VBAC mother, as she paid tribute to Jeanine Parvati Baker. “I was one of those women who’d had a near-birth experience,” she said. “This time, I bought a ticket for the right ride and it was the ride of my life.”

Rather than discuss the subject of choice ad nauseum perhaps we need to ask some questions.

Who would choose a cesarean?

What type of woman would choose to be cut open? Who would choose to be totally numb from her breasts down and to have major abdominal surgery, rather than to give birth normally? A woman who is into convenience and control?

C-section is an ultimate example of lack of control: The woman is totally immobile while another individual wields a sharp object and starts to slice. Have the dangers of anesthesia to mother and baby been fully explained, or have they been downplayed? Does the woman know what happens to many women sexually when they have a c-section? Does she understand how traditional childbirth education classes, given late in the pregnancy, support cesareans and increase the chance that it will be the mode of delivery? What brochures and information have been left out of her packet of goodies? Who disseminates the information that creates her “choice” of a c-section? What kinds of births did her mother, her aunts and her sisters have? Does she know that what is considered normal prenatal care in this culture—waiting in a waiting room and then being seen for six minutes by whoever happens to be “on” that day—is often worse than no care at all? Does she know that one blood pressure (BP) reading does not clinically prove pre-eclampsia? Does she know what to do if she does have a higher BP reading than normal? Does she have any idea of the vital role nutrition plays in the outcome of her pregnancy? Does she understand that many of the tests that are part of her routine care are unnecessary? Does she know what kind of births her obstetrician had, or what kind of births his wife had? Did she ask, does it matter and does she understand that the answer to that question may influence her care provider in many ways? Why is she willing to have to “recuperate” (as opposed to just rest) after having her baby excised from her body? Does she understand that all living consists of risks? What information is missing when a woman in our culture thinks it doesn’t make any difference in bonding when a mother has a cesarean?

Plenty. Pulling the wool over someone else’s eyes is easy, and goodness knows that the sheep continue to march to slaughter. No, pain doesn’t make a mother, but the process of meeting fear head-on and conquering that fear just might. Sadly, many women “choose” a c-section, desperate to get it (the pregnancy, the fear) over with and not willing to find strengths within that will help them as they parent and travel the rest of their lives.

How many of us know that, as mammals, we do not birth well with strangers close by? Our bodies close up/contract/stop laboring when we are in unfamiliar places; in case a predator is near, we have to be ready to react. Do women know not to cross their legs during pregnancy, not to sit with their knees higher than their pelvis, to sit straight and not recline—do their obstetricians tell them these things? Do they know to reduce milk intake and to read authors who actually understand pregnancy and birth, such as Ina May Gaskin, Marsden Wagner or Henci Goer? Do they understand how they become oh-so-compliant patients? Do they “get it”—that new mothers who have had major surgery are at a distinct disadvantage for so many reasons?

Do any of us consider what a c-section is like from the baby’s point of view? Of course, the way babies are often treated in this culture is appalling, regardless of the mode of delivery, but that isn’t the point here—or maybe it is. Do we understand that a hospital cannot be “mother-friendly” unless it is “motherbaby” friendly? Do we see that withholding food during labor, putting in IVs, having no idea how to adequately support a perineum, cutting cords too soon, taking babies away from mothers, bottle feeding, bright lights—the myriad of interventions that have become “normal” in childbirth—are not baby or mother friendly?

Why bother doing research when most of the evidence-based research is ignored anyway? Why does it take more than a decade for policy to change after we know that something being done in hospitals regarding birth is wrong? Why is secondary infertility not discussed as a reason to avoid a cesarean? Why aren’t obstetricians, as well as CNMs and labor and delivery room nurses, required to attend at least ten homebirths so that they can see what birth is in the most normal of settings?

The first definition in most dictionaries for “choose” is “to select from a number of possible alternatives.” Another definition includes the phrase “to decide.” In most situations, women are not presented with a number of alternatives. They are told that the only alternative, in order to “guarantee” a healthy baby, is a c-section. They have little choice but to “decide” to be cut. When the “dead/damaged baby card” is played, even the most stalwart of women break down.

Jody McLaughlin reminds me that if we had a system of maternity care with just midwives (not medwives) learning and passing authentic birth knowledge from one to another, and doctors and hospitals weren’t even an option, more babies would live. Of course, some babies who are now living would have died; but more babies who now die would live.

Amy told me that all the doctor had to say to her was that her scar might open up and she “chose” to have a second cesarean. Maryann “chose” a c-section when the ultrasound report noted a possible problem with her baby’s brain that would be exacerbated by a vaginal birth. Her baby was healthy and well: The “problem” that the ultrasound had reported did not exist.

This evening, a woman e-mailed me. She is thirteen days “past dates” and in early labor, but her hospital midwives now refuse to attend her and have scheduled her for a c-section tomorrow morning. They have frightened her about the ability of her placenta to nourish her baby one more day, even though all of the tests they put her through came back normal and her baby looks fine. She told me, “I’m getting really tired of fighting and am ready to give in to the c-section.”

Is “giving-in” a choice, or will she be one of the many women who felt pressured into having a c-section, even though they “agreed” to it, and in that sense “chose” it? Did the woman who had “a shot of who-knows-what” put into her IV during the cesarean without her permission “choose” the drug?

We know that the rising maternal death rate is largely a result of the increase in c-sections, as well as in the drugs used to induce labor. We also have known for decades that maternal mortality in our country is grossly underreported and is much higher than it should be. Did you know that?

Do you quilt?

(This refers to Ina May’s Safe Motherhood Quilt Project [www.rememberthemothers.net]—many of the squares honor women who died after non-emergency cesareans.)

We probably all remember a phrase that we first heard a number of years ago: patient-choice cesarean section. Women don’t choose the operation in a vacuum; they “choose” it in a culture where the benefits of natural birth are all but lost and the “benefits” of surgical birth are grossly exaggerated. They choose it because they are removed from their own selves in some basic, feminine way. They choose it because they have chosen, in the first place, care providers who don’t care if women get cut, would prefer that they get cut or are afraid not to cut. They choose it because they haven’t heard Michel Odent’s brilliant explanation about how a woman is different, a baby is different and the bond between the two is different when the path that is “chosen” is the one that puts them on a table in the OR. They choose it because they haven’t met obstetricians like Leo S., Beth H. or Dr. John Stevenson. They “choose” cesarean—some enthusiastically and with relief, some reluctantly and with ongoing and lasting emotional pain—for a number of reasons. What about patient-choice vaginal birth or patient-choice homebirth?

Once a woman has a cesarean scar on her uterus, she then has a number of questions to answer and choices to make concerning future childbearing. Does she want another baby? If she does, but is one of the women who suffer secondary infertility as a result of the c-section, will she have to “choose” her response: anger, frustration, acceptance, grief, or all of the above?

If she becomes pregnant again, is she willing to climb onto the operating table on a prescheduled day, or will she go into labor and then hop onto the table? Will she do her best to stay home long enough so that she can’t have a c-section once she arrives at the hospital? Will she decide to return to the same hospital and use the obstetrician who performed a c-section on her in the first place or choose a different site and surgeon? Who will take care of her two-year-old while she is “inhosperated” (incarcerated + hospitalized—a term used for women who wanted to have a homebirth but were unable to find midwives to support them in their decision and so, reluctantly, went to a hospital) and what kinds of ideas and feelings will that child incorporate about birth as a result of the choices that his/her mother makes?

I truly appreciate the knowledge, skill and expertise of obstetricians and other hospital staff who are able to handle true childbirth emergencies. Having said that, we all know that the vast majority of c-sections are preventable and that the incentives and awareness (political, spiritual, nutritional) necessary to decrease the number of surgical births are dutifully ignored, seemingly unavailable and/or seem monetarily impossible.

Many women tell me that they chose not to go to a hospital and be a sitting duck for all the interventions and interferences that caused them to have a cesarean in the first place. Many have told me that they would almost rather die than be cut again. These are pretty strong words, but quite common. Do they mean it?

In one sense, women do die when they are cut, or at least a part of them does. The normal-birthing woman inside of them disintegrates, dissolves and disappears. More women are choosing to birth at home, many of them unassisted. These women are conscious and committed to VBAC—they know of the risks involved with most decisions in life and have decided that the best choice for them is to go into labor in their homes.

Do we understand that we alter birth when we interfere, observe, control and/or disturb the woman who is birthing? Do we see that one of the most valuable aspects of giving care to a laboring woman is “holding the space”—keeping things peaceful and calm and mirroring confidence? Do we know that everything we do and say matters and influences this time when a woman’s entire being is opening and richly, emphatically vulnerable?

I attended the 25th anniversary conference of ICAN and spoke to many women from all over the country who had birthed normally after having had one to five previous cesareans. These women had to make choices: Where would they feel safest? Who, if anyone, would be their care provider? What would they do if they went beyond the “guess date”? What would they do if their water released and they were not in active labor? What was most important to them? How could they help to ensure the best possible outcome? What would they do if things didn’t go well this time? Whom would they “blame”?

Once a woman chooses to have a VBAC, many additional questions must be asked, some with answers and some without. What type of incision did the woman have? (Did she get to “choose” this?) What “week” was she in when her labor began? (Or this?) How big was the baby? How long did labor last? How long did the woman push? All of these factors need to be considered.

Regardless of the “particulars,” some women plan for and reach for VBACs and HBACs. I’ve had many women travel to my area to be given what they consider to be the best possible opportunity to birth normally, including several women who had had more than one cesarean. Not all these women have been able to birth normally; but none have regretted the decision to “try.”

A woman who was 36 weeks pregnant and who had had two c-sections selected me as midwife. She said she didn’t want to undergo major surgery again. I was confident that she could birth normally. Much to everyone’s surprise and sadness, she changed her mind and chose to go into the hospital and have an elective cesarean without labor. Her baby was 6.5 lb, and perhaps “chose” her entrance into the world in order to spare her mother—a nurse who spent most of her waking hours in a hospital—some anxiety, not knowing what a calm and wonderful experience traveling down “the girl parts” and “sliding out like a wet seal” could be. (Quoted from Stella, age-two-and-a-half, describing her brother’s homebirth, at which she was present.)

Several other nurses, a medical student, a radiologist and an anesthesiologist chose homebirth because, as one of them said to me, “Patient choice in an institution is, for the most part, an illusion.”

How do women choose VBAC in this climate? We all know that elective c-sections generally pose more risk than VBAC, and that many of the problems associated with VBAC result from induction of labor and the use of Pitocin. We know that waiting for a woman to go into spontaneous labor and undergo that labor takes more time than having her come into the hospital and get cut. Time is money; and cesareans are, among other things, convenient. Natural labor assumes the mother’s body is in control; cesareans put the docs at the steering wheel.

Women who become pregnant and choose to avoid a subsequent cesarean are hitting the same stone walls that caused the generation before them to band together and form organizations such as C/SEC, Inc., the CPM and ICAN. “Enough!” these groups chanted, as more and more pregnant women were being wheeled into operating rooms at record numbers. The term “cesarean epidemic” was coined. Do you remember when VBAC wasn’t considered safe?

And then it was.

And then it wasn’t again?

And then it was again?

And now it isn’t anymore?

Which factors made it safe and which now make it unsafe? Do you know that despite the fact that obstetrics literature fails to mention it, VBAC was a grassroots movement? And that only when hospitals lost clients—i.e., revenue—did they then begin not only to accept VBACs, but to welcome them? Women were having VBACs all over the country—many at home—at which time doctors began to tout the idea as theirs; until that time, they had disregarded their own literature that deemed it safe.

“It seems we no sooner wind up one battle to save what we fought for and won years ago than we have to gear up and fight [again].” This quote was from a retired teachers’ newsletter, although these same words have been spoken by numerous childbirth activists over the years.

Another quote, “The master’s tools will never dismantle the master’s house,” by Audre Lourde, is germane to many in this society as well.

Do we have any idea what we are doing when we bring babies into the world before they go through labor? Apparently not. Why do we ignore the risks involved in major surgery for birth? Why do we continue to induce labors—for the doctors’ convenience and because we are tired of being pregnant? Why are the dangers of induction not s-p-e-l-l-e-d o-u-t just as the “dangers” of vaginal delivery are? Do we not understand that if a woman is not in labor her body is not ready to birth the baby and that our attempt to ripen a cervix and “get things going” are ways to control a process that is, most often, better off left to do its own thing?

Why don’t we rebel against having a particular “due date,” which is merely a guess and which is not sacrosanct? When did the normal 36–42 week range of normal become a few days around the “due date”?

Why do we hear such a fluff about “big babies”—don’t we know that a 9 lb or 10 lb baby with its head in a favorable position is easier to birth than a 6 lb baby whose head is not? And that a 6–7 lb baby can have the same head circumference as a 10 lb baby; the 10 lb baby just has thunky (thick and chunky) thighs and “chubs”!

Why, since twins and breeches are born naturally all over the rest of the world, are they cut out of women here in this country? Do we know that what is considered “medically necessary” is often not? We have so many examples of this—the most dramatic was the woman who left the hospital in labor and hid in a church and had her baby there, easily and naturally. She had been ordered to have a c-section by the courts in her state. So many women have contacted me who were pressured into having a c-section and who wished they’d had the courage to pull out their IVs and find the closest place of worship!

On a similar note, my doorbell rang one hot July evening a number of years ago. I answered it to find a very pregnant woman in tears, with her husband standing behind her. She explained that she had just been “risked out” of the birth center near my home. She had been told that because her water had released almost twelve hours before and she was not yet in active labor, she would have to go to the hospital. She knew what that meant—a cascade of interventions and “necessary” routines would be waiting for her, none of which would be her choice, and many of which would increase her chances of having another c-section. Her choice was to not go to a hospital. What happened to the “choices” that the birth center midwives should’ve been allowed to make? Their hands were tied because the obstetricians they worked for made the choices and rules at that center. The woman, by the way, went into active labor within an hour of arriving at my home and birthed a lovely daughter in my den five hours later with her two-and-a-half year old sleeping peacefully on the couch.

Whenever we make a choice, even one resulting from much thought and research, we have no guarantee that we’ll get the desired result. However, many doctors convince us that if we do things their way, we’ll have an almost 100% guarantee that everything will turn out exactly as they predict. We can increase our chances of things going well, but we cannot absolutely control outcomes. In The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable, by Nassim Nicholas Taleb, we learn that we act as if we are able to predict events; however, our learning from observations or experience is severely limited.

Why do we act as if we can control birth and predict outcomes by measuring the amount of Pitocin we use (or don’t use) or by using continual—or intermittent—monitoring, for example? Why do we even use fetal monitors for most births, knowing that they’re fallible and were designed to be used only for high-risk situations?

Oh, we are all high risk, oops, I forgot.

Why did a particular “VBAC-hopeful” have a uterine rupture, but thousands of others, including several with four or five previous c-sections, didn’t? Why do we have trouble accepting that, as much as we know, there’s so much that we can’t know and, as a result, our “choices” are perhaps based on intuition and fluff as opposed to reason and research? Why do we think that true informed consent is even possible? If it’s not, then how does that affect the “choices” we make? How can we give information we don’t know? Or “information” that is influenced by money, power, legal matters and anxiety?

Why do a few doctors still champion VBAC and some use double-layer suturing and others do not, and no one knows for sure if this makes a difference, although everyone seems to have an opinion about it?

Why do we think doulas have made any difference at all in the general scheme of things? The c-section rate, as well as epidural rate, has risen dramatically despite the fact that doulas have become an accepted (though not necessarily welcome) part of births in the US. The doulas who write to me feel powerless (they are, for the most part) and frustrated. Doula/midwifery student Jessica Petrone remarks that going to births in the hospitals in her area is like watching the same bad movie over and over again. Sadly, doulas often spend their time helping women relax until they get their epidurals or c-sections. They can choose to speak up in a hospital, but if they do so one too many times, they may be asked to leave.

We are hearing in many arenas about the link between vaccines and autism. What about a link between epidurals and autism? Ultrasound and autism?

We hear all the time that a link exists between induction and cesareans, between epidurals and cesareans. We hear too, about the link between Pitocin and fetal distress, which leads to cesareans. Today, a woman told me that when she went into the hospital to have her first baby, she was 3 cm dilated. The nurse told her to have the epidural right then and there, “before the pain got too bad.” Surprise: Now she aspires to have a VBAC.

How many women do we know who chose to disregard their obstetrician’s advice and instead chose a VBAC—despite his/her insistence that they would suffer severe consequences—and had a wonderful, safe experience? How many of these women were told that they were “lucky” that nothing went wrong? How many women have been “lucky” enough to be in a hospital when something went wrong—something that would most likely not have occurred had they been laboring or having a VBAC at home? How many women have been unlucky in either setting?

Why do so many more American babies go into fetal distress than babies in other parts of the world? Why are our birth statistics so abominable? Why do women in the US seem less able to “do” their labors than women in other parts of the world? Why do they think pain is a four letter word? Are they willing to find ways to birth from a place of calm? Why haven’t programs like Gentle Birth and HypnoBirthing been adopted in their true form by hospitals? Why are most of the labor and delivery wards stocked with staff members who have never seen or had a true natural birth?

How do we know that the woman rather than the doctor is making the choice? Fact and fiction are insidiously interwoven, leaving the woman to think that she is making the decisions, when, in fact, a carefully selected word, placed in a strategic location, can set her mind reeling and cause her to doubt her ability and therefore to make a choice that she wouldn’t have made had she been on her own.

A medical student who worked with me last year noted that doctors, as deified authority figures, can influence women at any point in their lives, but most easily during pregnancy and labor, when the woman wants to have a healthy, live child (and also perhaps, as mentioned earlier, to have the pregnancy over and done with!). Why don’t we remember that most of our ancestresses gave birth successfully and that birth itself is what we “do” to “people the planet”?

Why doesn’t vaginal birth seem to “work” anymore? This failure causes women to have to recuperate from major surgery and then, if they are planning more children, to deal with VBAC issues of choice? Of course, the ability to choose a VBAC is being threatened these days, forcing some women to choose a homebirth or an unassisted birth, which they may not have chosen if VBAC were still a viable option.

Are we all aware of the plethora of literature that tells us that VBAC is safe, as well as the reasons that VBAC seems to have fallen out of favor in the past few years? Are we willing to listen to Eugene Declerq or to get some information from Gloria Lemay, Sarah Buckley and Henci Goer? Is a pregnant woman who has had a VBAC really a VBAC mom any longer, or is she now simply a VBAVB—a vaginal birth after a vaginal birth mom? While some wonderful, vibrant, brilliant, enthusiastic and frustrated-with-birth women are certainly following in the footsteps of those who have been championing natural birth and VBAC for years, where are the other women of this generation who, instead of being hoodwinked, incised, debilitated and helped to feel as if cesarean section is a true “choice,” should be educating others about the dangers of major abdominal surgery and the absolute joy of natural birth? This kind of joy is totally different, and impossible (if for no other reason, than at least, for certain, hormonally) with an operative delivery.

While writing this article, I received an e-mail from a couple who told me that recently the medical board in their state had passed a law that makes attending a homebirth illegal in the case of VBACs, breeches and twins. Who gives the medical board the right to legislate over our bodies? Elizabeth Noble, prolific author of childbirth publications, tells me that birth is not the practice of medicine, but a physiological event.

Midwife Valerie El Halta agrees, noting in correspondence that midwifery is a healing art, not the practice of medicine—which is a science. If midwives are illegal, how can women “choose” midwives? Is it difficult to understand why some women choose unassisted births? Will these become illegal, too? What of the women who birth at home “accidentally” or those who birth in cars because they are unable to reach a hospital in time—will they be considered criminals and prosecuted, too?

I was at a VBAC less than 24 hours before writing this. After many hours, we transported the woman to a hospital. Once there, she had an epidural—much appreciated—and, even in my anti-epidural mindset, a necessary choice. The baby was born vaginally five hours after we left the couple’s home, largely because we chose a hospital that is still willing to do a VBAC. They made the choice to continue offering/attending VBACs even when the rest of the institutions in the area chose not to.

When a person makes a choice, he or she must, in some measure, take responsibility for that choice. Some women may find it easier to allow others to make their choices for them. When I made a choice to have a VBAC 33 years ago, it didn’t feel like a choice; it felt like a necessity. I could no sooner walk into the hospital and offer myself up as in some sacrificial ritual than allow my next newborn to be taken from me as my first baby had been (she was anyway). I knew of no one who had had a VBAC. I was told by eighteen doctors that I would die or that my baby would die (there’s that aforementioned card) if I dared to make this choice. I knew from my research that I was, instead, making a choice to live. (Do we have any guarantees in life? A few.) Was one incision, one scar, enough for me? You bet. Would I have been disappointed if I had had another cesarean? Yes. Would I have survived? I think so.

Lois Estner, co-author of Silent Knife, remarked in a February 2008 letter to the editor of the Boston Globe that for eons we females had been capable of giving birth with very little medical intervention. Then, childbirth moved to the hospital and the process became a medical—and increasingly a surgical—event. She reminds us that if the trend continues, the only women who will be able to “choose” a vaginal birth will be those who don’t arrive in time for their cesareans.

Recently, I had the pleasure of meeting with a dynamic midwife who has attended thousands of out-of-hospital births and who is a dedicated cesarean-preventer and a true VBAC advocate. She is deeply concerned about the lack of choice for women in her state. She suggested that we start educating young girls in nursery school about birth. She is deeply concerned about the constantly increasing number of cesareans and the fact that women are afraid of their own bodies’ “workings,” which alienates each woman from her self. She remarked that she’s thinking about starting a birth Web site for all women: my*****works.com, and one for the men: mywifes*****works.com, in order to reduce the number of cesareans and increase the number of VBACs. I think she should. Why not?

Carla Hartley, director of Ancient Art Midwifery and the Trust Birth Initiative, offers a map for confused obstetricians who don’t seem to know the location from which the baby is supposed to emerge. She wonders why the motto in US hospitals today seems to be “No vagina required.” Do you want to live in a culture where the women are deemed (or deem themselves) unable to give birth and babies are greeted in operating rooms with surgical masks and scalpels?

It’s happening.

Oh, and one more question: Did you know that among the thousands of women I have worked with who had VBACs, not one has had postpartum depression? This includes women who had serious problems in this department after they had c-sections. They may be tired, perhaps, and a few may have tender bottoms, but this is mixed with joy, pride, awe, ecstasy and euphoria. Some say that the mode of delivery doesn’t really make a difference and that women who are upset because they had a cesarean ought to get their heads examined. Hogwash. Women who have c-sections miss out on a huge event in their lives, something that, when the choices are right and love and caring are present, is nothing short of spectacular.

A VBAC mother asks, “Would I like to believe I got the wonderful birth I wanted because of the ’choices’ I made? Absolutely. But that would be false, because even while I would argue our choices about our care are incredibly important, at the end of the day there is a mystery at the center of birth. I don’t think that mystery can be understood by our rational minds, and it certainly can’t be controlled or predicted by our choices. It (birth) just is. Even while our choices during pregnancy and labor do matter, birth is not, ultimately, a matter of choice.”

To the women who choose to have a VBAC, may your births be all that you desire them to be. When a VBAC is not attainable, may each of you choose to feel strong and proud for having done what you could. For those who “choose” a c-section for reasons that aren’t birth-necessary, may you “choose” not to get an infection, not to have to hobble to the bathroom, and not to have an unsightly scar on your belly. May you choose to get in touch with the real reasons you decided to be cut open, and may you choose to find someone who can tell your children about the normalcy of birth, so that when they become pregnant, they will be free to make their own body-loving choices.

Deal?

Nancy Wainer is a midwife and has been a birth activist for more than a decade. She teaches childbirth classes, is a Hypnobirth instructor and attends birthing women in their homes. To read more about Nancy, see the interview, “Nancy Wainer: Supporting Birthing Women,” by Julie Brill in Midwifery Today, Issue 83, Autumn 2007.

KC Mom Deal: Special Ticket Price for Ringling Brothers!

2009-09-11T10:51:00.000-07:00

The circus is coming and I am super excited! I've never been and I can only imagine how much James is going to love it! The best part? I've been given a chance to offer special ticket prices to you all!

The show is in town Wednesday, September 16th - Sunday, September 20th.

Also make sure you get down there early for the All Access Preshow. The Preshow begins at 6:00pm and will give you a chance to head down to the circus floor to meet the performers, get autographs, try on costumes, and clown around! This is free for all ticket holders, so feel free to mention it in your outreach.

So here is the nitty gritty:

Ringling Bros. Coupon Code Details

* The coupon code is MOM - you can get four tickets for $44 for all weekday shows and any additional tickets are still priced at $11. The code will also give you $4 off all tickets for weekend shows.
* The tickets can be purchased from http://www.ticketmaster.com and by entering the MOM code in the "MC promotion" box when purchasing tickets.
* Minimum purchase of 4 tickets required
* Offer not valid on Circus Celebrity, Front Row, or VIP seating.
* Cannot be combined with other offers. Service Charges, facility & handling fees will apply.

Morning Sickness=Blogger Malaise

2009-08-13T21:29:00.000-07:00

I have been a horrible blogger the last few weeks. I apologize, but in all honesty, I had nothing to post. I have not sewn, cooked, or shopped in weeks. The first two weeks of knowing I was pregnant was spent reveling in the knowledge and interviewing midwives, and stupidly wishing for symptoms. The last two weeks have been spent over the toilet, on the couch, and in bed. I am a horrible first trimester-er. I'm blessed with the all day morning sickness that gets worse at night - lovely. Couple that with an inexhaustible two year-old and all bets are off.

I swear I am going to be better, but it's going to take some time. Maybe a post or two a week till the second trimester hits on September 13 - not that I am counting the days or anything.

But for all the complaining above, I'm grateful. Grateful that this pregnancy is sticking around after enduring the losses after James. Grateful to feel pregnant. I'm grateful to have found an amazing midwife, who gets me and what I'm doing. Grateful for a family that is supporting my decision to homebirth - how awesome is that? And grateful for a husband, who I'm sure is suffering from boredom and lack of sex, but who rarely complains. Even if he does remind me occasionally that I wanted to be pregnant.

Check out Chelsea's blog- winner of the Blog Redesign Giveaway!

2009-07-23T21:20:00.000-07:00

I finally got the blog for Chelsea finished and I'm pretty pleased. I went in and created a new banner for her, a custom background, tweaked her font colors, and added a third column to her template.

What do you think? Check it out here: My American Family

Modern Day Montessori

2009-07-19T22:07:00.001-07:00

I'm strongly considering doing a Montessori inspired bedroom for the kids I say inspired, because I am dragging the train table into the room, which is definitely not Montessori. I'm primarily interested in the idea of the floor bed. Now I'm a huge AP fan and James bedshared for 18 months. We know we will bedshare with this baby as well, but I'm curious as to moving the baby earlier into a floor bed.

Here's a great pic of a floor bed from Modern Home. Modern Baby

I love the idea of fostering independence by allowing baby to explore his or her own room. The only problem? It won't be his or her own room. Baby will be sharing with big brother. If anyone out there has experience with a shared Montessori room, I'd love to hear it.

Interested in a Montessori room for your little one?

1. Keep toys and books to a minimum. Place the toys and books you do keep in the room on low shelves, so babies can crawl to them upon waking.

2. Babyproof! Remember baby will be exploring on his or her own.

3. Use a low lying futon mat instead of a crib. Baby can then get in and out of bed on his or her own.

The Midwife Project

2009-07-16T19:53:00.000-07:00

I have to apologize for being an appalling lazy blogger the last few days. We got some fantastic news last Friday. Apparently, our anniversary present of babysitting from the in-laws garnered more than a night alone - we're expecting! Josh and I are thrilled and I'm already thinking up baby projects. I'm even taking up knitting, but we will see how that goes. I'll have some awesome baby accessory tutorials over the next 9 months, so stay tuned!

Anyway, I've been distracted with the task of finding a midwife. I had a C-section with my first pregnancy, don't get me started, and Josh and I have decided that we will be trying midwife-assisted homebirth for this baby. I'm in the process of writing an in-depth article on why, which I will post later. There is a lot of research going into it:) Anyway, choosing the right midwife is key to this working, so we are driving for interviews and making lots of phone calls. If you have any great advice on choosing one, we'd love to hear it.

If you are interested in midwifery and/or homebirth, check out these books and films:

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Good, cheap popcorn

2009-07-12T14:59:00.001-07:00

So quite possibly my son's favorite food is pop corn, or pop-pop. He loves it. I only have two problems with it. First, its pretty hard to find healthy microwave popcorn and secondly, it is expensive, especially when your little one only eats 1/2 cup at a time. So I've got a great alternative for you. Some of you remember using popcorn machines, right? Well, you can still buy bags of popcorn for those machines, but you can also pop it over the stove or in the microwave.

To make microwave popcorn, pour about 2 tbpns of kernels in a brown paper grocery sack. Drizzle some olive oil or canola oil in the bag, fold down the top and place in your microwave on the popcorn setting. IT WILL PROBABLY BE DONE BEFORE THE TIME IS UP. However, your popcorn setting is adjusted to the right power setting for popcorn.

This method allows you to not only save money (1 bag of kernels + 50 lunch sacks = $2.58 and make almost 100 cups!), but it allows you to control the amount of salt, butter, and oil you and your kids are consuming.

It's so cheap, you can afford to rent a movie to go with it.

The Final Frontier: Mama Cloth Tutorial

2009-07-08T20:51:00.000-07:00

Two years ago, I wrote a blog post for another site declaring my intention to cloth diaper. I called it the final frontier of Attachment Parenting for us. This month I'm embracing the final frontier for my family's switch from paper/disposable good dependency to reusable items: making mama cloth.

I feel the need to preface this by admitting that I've been apprehensive about the switch. I felt like mama cloth was sorta gross. I mean didn't women endure "the rag" for years? Why in god's name would I want to deal with that? Don't we have advances in technology and industry so we don't have to deal with these inconveniences? And then I realized, these are all the arguments people use to justify disposable diapers! It was like a slap in the face. Suddenly it only made sense to me.

I'm starting out slowly. I made some pantiliners for this month. I'm hoping that I will get addicted to mama cloth and become obsessed with making it (fingers crossed). My mama cloth skills need some work. The tabs are a little crooked and the shape is off, but it's a start.

So without further ado, here are some simple directions for making mama cloth. I used a serger, turned the pad, and then top-stitched to prevent funny bunching. Remember, you can always sew the outside with right sides together, turn right side out and top stitch with your sewing machine if you don't have a serger.

I used a pad I had around the house to sketch a template for the mama cloth.

I cut two, so that I could trim one down to pantiliner size. The original will serve for making full pads later.

Since it is so lightweight, I was able to layer all the cotton print and cut the pattern at once. I repeated this step with the bamboo fleece I used for the inner lining.

Taking the ad, I traced wings from the pad and cut out a layer from both the cotton and bamboo fleece.

I serged the tab pieces together first.

Turn the tabs and then place the print side on the right side of the cotton print pad cut.

Then place the fleece cut wrong side up over the pad cut and tabs.

I serged it all together, leaving one end open to turn it right side out.

Then serge the open end, lock your blade and repeat the serge.

Top stitch with your sewing machine along the length of the pad.

Use a snap press to add snaps to the wings to hold it in place. Don't have an industrial press? You can use velcro, sew in snaps from the notions aisle, or buy a hand-held press and metal snaps in the notions aisle!

I'll be sure to let you know how it goes!

Full moon drumming

2009-07-07T22:00:00.000-07:00

I took James to participate in a drumming circle tonight. It was such a beautiful way to introduce him to group music. We arrived at twilight and enjoyed watching a family of deer graze at the edge of the field, undisturbed by the growing group of people appearing with drums around a bonfire. It is such a peaceful location, I suppose even the animals feel safe. We took his little coffee can drum, but he soon decided he wanted a real drum. He took off his shoes, ran and danced in the grass, picked clovers and made friends with the rest of the group. If you have a Unity church near you, you might be able to attend a drum circle. They are open to folks of all denominations, sexual orientation, ethnicities, etc. And if you are in the K.C. area, I'll be sure to post before the next one.

So very excited...

2009-07-06T19:34:00.000-07:00

to announce that I am finally starting an Etsy shop (mostly to help feed my crafting obsession). It will be filled with beautiful, handmade items for children and parents. You can get a sneak peek here. I hope to stock a few items by the end of the week.

Perfect Protein Pancakes

2009-07-04T21:40:00.001-07:00

Not only is this the easiest recipe ever, it's much healthier than traditional pancakes. I love to whip this up for James, since it's hard to get him to eat meat or eggs. It's much faster to make than a traditional homemade pancake mix, and it has a crepe like quality. This recipe is based on a recipe of my mother's, which I have dressed up by adding lemon. Want a traditional pancake? Leave the lemon and zest out! I love to serve this with a homemade fruit compote or butter and powdered sugar in a pinch.

Perfect Protein Pancakes (makes about 12 medium size pancakes)

In a blender, combine:

1 cup cottage cheese

4 eggs

1/2 cup milk

1/2 cup oil (use canola to get your Omega-3s!)

1/2 cup flour

pinch of salt

1 tspn vanilla

zest of one lemon (great excuse to buy a micro-grater) (OPTIONAL)

juice of one lemon (OPTIONAL)

Blend for 1 minute. Cook in greased pan like a regular pancake. They take a little longer and don't "bubble" like traditional pancakes. Top with fruit compote or favorite topping and enjoy!

Favorite Fruit Compote - Strawberries and Syrup

Chop strawberries (frozen or fresh) and combine with 1 tbsn sugar, simmer for 3-4 minutes over medium-low heat. Remove from heat and add in another 1/4-1/2 cup sugar, depending on desired sweetness.

This will give you the effect of both a compote and create a nice syrup. It's much better than that fake maple stuff they hock at the grocery store!

Blog Makeover Winner!

2009-07-04T11:55:00.000-07:00

Congrats to poster #6, Chelsea. Stay tuned for more giveaways!

Projects for a Rainy Day

2009-07-03T09:53:00.000-07:00

What $41 in Groceries Looks Like and an Awesome Way to Remember your Veggies!

2009-07-02T22:16:00.000-07:00

I'm pretty proud of myself this evening. I took to the grocery store sans the kid, which always makes it a little easier, and came home with this:

Unlike a lot of other mom bloggers I know, I can't stock up too much. I know a lot of the best money-saving moms out there stock up on meat one week, dry goods the next, focusing on what is on sale. That's a great idea, but there are two things standing in our way. First, we need a second fridge. Second, the hubby and I are foodies. Meaning that it's hard enough to try and plan a week in advance. Thankfully, I am a frugal foodie, but my husband is not, so I try to meet him in the middle. It also means we don't have a lot of processed or premade meals in the house. We keep cereal, chicken nuggets, and some mac n cheese and that is about it. So I've been trying to get the most bang for my buck, bringing home produce, meat, and other sale items each week.

Here's what I got from Hy-Vee in Blue Springs:

red bell pepper
organic red grapes
bananas
red onion
chives
sweet potatoes
baby carrots

flour tortillas
spaghetti
elbow macaroni
penne rigata
large bag of popcorn kernals

3 cans of pork and beans for upcoming bbq!
2 cans pineapple
medium size honey
2 cans of pringles (a special treat for hubby, since Walgreens had them for $1 and I had a buy 2 get $1 off coupon)

3.25 pounds boneless, skinless chicken
2 pounds ground beef
1 package turkey sausage

1 roll of Bounty paper towels
1 package of brown paper lunch sacks to use for making popcorn
1 package freezer storage bags
1 package sandwich storage bags

and a gallon of milk, of course

not too shabby.....

Now I promised an awesome way to remember your veggies, and I don't just mean eating them! If you are like me, you come home with some asparagus and throw it in the crisper and promptly forget about it until it has gone bad. There are two ways to combat this. First, only buy veggies and fruit for the week never longer. Second, make a fruit/veggie basket.*

Take your veggies for the week and put them where you can see them in your fridge. I'm not sold that the crisper does much to help crispness anyway. You'll be more likely to use them if you can see them.

* Don't forget that putting apples and tomatoes together will encourage ripeness. This is great if you have a green tomato but not so great if it is already ripe, so you may want to keep them separate.

Sun Flower Cookies Recipe

2009-07-01T20:58:00.000-07:00

I'll level with you. I'm calling this the soft recipe, since the cookies are nice and soft. I am working on making them crunchier. It's a completely original recipe, so it's a work in progress. That said, they are actually pretty good, compulsively pop-able. My son loves them and because I use unbleached all purpose flour they are healthier. Why? Unbleached flour is technically classified as a complex carb by bakers! So if you want to feel less guilty making desserts, switch to unbleached! I recommend King Arthur brand. (Big thanks to my hubby, the fabulous baker, for the flour facts!)

Ingredients
2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 cup rolled oats
dash of salt
3/4 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 cup butter (2 sticks)
1 tbspn honey
1/2 cup sunflower kernals

Preheat oven to 350.

Quickly grind rolled oats in a coffee grinder or food processor until they are coarse!

In a mixing bowl, cream eggs and better, add sugar and honey. In a separate bowl combine dry ingredients. Slowly add dry ingredients to cream mixture. Stir in sunflower kernals. Roll into balls and place 1 inch apart on no-greased cookie sheets. Bake 10-12 minutes!

Yield 3 dozen.

Natural Cleaning and Laundry Products You Can't Live Without (or shouldn't)

2009-06-29T18:21:00.000-07:00

1. Vinegar - Hate the smell, love the results. Vinegar can be used to clean glass, as a disinfectant, throw some in a bottle with some water and you've got all purpose cleaner. My favorite use? Throw a cup in during the rinse cycle with your towels and it will get rid of any of that musty smell they tend to develop. Bonus: It's ridiculously cheap.

2. Baking Soda - Helps to remove stains and odors. Throw a little in an old spice jar and keep it by the diaper pail to sprinkle on those really icky diapers.

3. Essential Oil - Pick up one good bottle of essential oil at your local natural foods store. You can use it to sent homemade cleaning products, to add to personal care items, or in with your laundry. Want a natural air freshener? Place a few drops of essential oil on a cotton ball and place it in your vacuum. The scent will blow out with your filter!

4. Clothesline - Seriously, do you really want to spend 2 hours drying your microfiber inserts after the wash? You can buy a retractable clothesline at Target and install it outside or in your laundry room for extra drying time and space.

5. Oxi-Clean - much safer and more effective than Bleach. Oxi-Clean degrades easily and is a preferred by cloth diapering moms to help get rid of those nastier stains.

6. Tea Tree Oil - A natural disinfectant, tea tree oil can be diluted and used in skincare and dental care products. I use a few drops of it in my hanging pail to keep odor at bay.

Win a blog makeover! ENTER HERE

2009-06-27T13:20:00.000-07:00

How would you like a custom banner and background for your blog? On the fourth of July I will randomly select someone to win a blog makeover!

What you get:
-a banner
-a background
-three column layout, if you so choose!

How to enter:
Leave a comment below with your name and blog address or email address, and who told you about ecomomics.

For an extra chance to win, tell your friends. If they enter and there name is picked, you will automatically win a blog makeover too!

Felt Play Food = Endless Fun

2009-06-26T12:00:00.000-07:00

You want to know how much fun felt play food is? My darling son hasn't played with anything else this week. In fact, I've packed up three-quarters of those obnoxious plastic, loud, flashy toys to donate and sell. We started slow and I will be doing more in-depth tutorials for our next project!

If you don't sew, but would like to, I highly recommend starting off with some thing basic like this! Your little one will love it, its good practice, and super easy.

So here is the completed product:

I will post a tutorial for something similar to the milk carton, since it is James' favorite, sometime this week. The carton opens and he enjoys pouring milk for Josh and I as well as anyone who visits us.

In the spirit of brevity, which Shakespeare says is the soul of wit, I am only including a tutorial for making the bread.

Using a piece of beige felt, cut three diagonal leaf shapes. Stitch them onto the middle of a piece of brown felt, like this:

Fold in half, so that the crescents are on the inside, stitch a rounded edge along each open side, leaving a small hole for stuffing. Trim the excess along the edges.

Flip inside out, stuff the hole.

Stitch up the hole and you have a loaf of bread!

Cloth Diaper Project - Hanging Pail Tutorial

2009-06-25T21:20:00.000-07:00

First of all, I want to point out that I am using PUL film in this tutorial. I do not recommend using PUL film; however, I have a lot of it and I want to use it up. I would recommend using a yard of PUL with the laminated side (plastic-y side) on the inside. This will keep smells and leaks in much better than PUL film. If you are like me and somehow wound up with 15 yards of PUL film though, you can use it sandwiched between two layers of cotton.

I will be posting a tutorial for a zippered wet bag using PUL next week, as I've swapped with another mama for some more PUL.

This hanging pail uses a zipper closure. I do this for three reasons 1) it allows me to hang the pail on the changing table rather than needing a diaper pail 2) its very easy to transport and clean and because you can throw it in the wash, it won't get stinky like a diaper pail 3) that zipper holds in smells!

I wanted to put this together quickly, since I have previously made one and wanted a second for washing day. I used 2 yards of Michael Miller groovy guitar and 2 yards of PUL film. Open and spread the 2 yards of cotton fabric so that you are looking at the wrong side of the fabric and spray one half side with adhesive (you need this if working with PUL), fold PUL film widthwise and place on the glued side.

Fold the cotton fabric over the PUL film to create a sandwich (cotton, doubled up PUL film, cotton), smooth down.

Sew or serge the ends of the fabric, making sure to catch the PUL as you sew. I have added a microfleece scrap on one end. I will use this to drop essential oil or tea tree oil as a deodorizer for the pail! I've also left some length at the end for a flap (just trying something different)
Next fold the sandwiched fabric in half lengthwise, making sure the microfleece patch is on the outside when you begin to sew, stitch or serge along the sides to form a bag.

Flip inside out. I sewed the sides of my flap to make it prettier. Then I sewed the zipper. Because I included a flap, I did not sandwich my zipper. I was in a hurry, but this actually turned out to be a fortunate short cut as I find it much easier to zip and unzip this bag then my others! The flap also covers it nicely.

Please note I also added a loop on one edge so I could hang it off the changing table. You can use ribbon, fabric, elastic, whatever you have and just stitch it on :)

This pail will hold several days worth of diapers. I wash every other day, but you could easily get 4 or more days worth of diapers in this.

Weekly Menu

2009-06-24T13:30:00.000-07:00

I know! I know! It's supposed to be Menu Monday, but I've had a lot going on the last two days and, as luck would have it, our power went out last night in the storm, so if I had grocery shopped early, it would have all been ruined! So without further ado:

Weekly Menu (in no particular order)

#1 Chicken, cheese, and onion enchiladas
Rice
Chips

#2 Hot dogs and sausages on the grill
Grilled corn

#3 Grilled Pizza

#4 Turkey burgers
Grilled Sweet Potatoes
Grilled Tomatoes

#5 Spaghetti
Bread
Salad

#6 Anniversary

#7 Dinner @in-laws

Book Review: Creative Play for your Toddler

2009-06-23T08:17:00.000-07:00

I've really been enjoying reading through Creative Play for your Toddler, a book of patterns and directions for making Steiner Waldorf toys for your child. I picked it up at the library (a very ecomomical idea!), and so far I'm very impressed. The book contains directions for making a Waldorf doll to encourage nurturing and role play for your toddler. It also includes directions for a doll sling, so they can babywear just like mom and dad, finger puppets, a butterfly mobile, and wind wands.

The idea behind Waldorf toys is simple - give your child simple toys to inspire their own imagination and encourage creativity and discovery. We're very fortunate to have a family who spoils my son with toys, but unfortunately, most of them don't inspire much creativity. I'm thrilled to make him some toys to promote development, and even more excited that many of these toys can be made with things I already have at home. You can also pick up Creative Play for your Baby and The Creative Family.

Next Week's Fun Project - Felt Play Food

2009-06-19T20:44:00.000-07:00

I picked up a play kitchen at Children's Orchard for James today, and he loves it! We have some felt play food, but I thought I would make him some more. I'm using this as my inspiration:

I'll be sure to post pics and a tutorial!

The Cloth Diaper Project - Pockets and Fitteds Photo Tutorial

2009-06-18T20:15:00.000-07:00

As promised, here is a photo tutorial on the cloth diapers I am working on for my son. So far I have made three pocket all-in-ones and 2 fitteds. I also whipped up a second hanging pail. I made these diapers from a variety of fabrics that I had in my sewing room. I had some PUL scraps, which I combined with microfleece to create the pocket diapers. The fitteds are a combination of Snappi friendly knit outers and organic bamboo fleece inners.

All-in-one Pocket Diapers
I used a favorite diaper as the base for my pattern. Luckily, these dipes have adjustable elastic so I was able to pull the fabric slack and get a good base pattern. I used pattern paper to trace the diaper, which I folded over. I then used the pattern to make diaper cuts from the fabric.

From there, I serged a layer of microfleece and PUL together, right sides together, leaving a pocket opening in the back for stuffing.

Turn right side out, and mark snap placements. You can press snaps before or after elastic. I didn't notice that it was easier either way.

I chose not to do adjustable elastic, so I turned it back inside out and sewed elastic along the leg contours (be sure to stretch the elastic as you sew!)

Stretch and sew elastic along the top of the PUL near the pocket only. This will keep it nice and snug and prevent blow-outs.

I chose this design and snap placement so I could use these dipes as my son grows and when we add more members to the family!

Microfiber Inserts
I picked up some microfiber towels for $1 each at the dollar store, folded over 4 times and serged along the edges! I find microfiber is my favorite stuffing for night time.

Fitted Dipes

I sewed these the same way as the pockets using the knit and bamboo fleece. The bamboo fleece is super soft and has anti-microbial properties.

With these dipes I sewed several layers of the fleece together to create a soaker, which can be attached by snap to the inner layer of the dipe. I can also stuff the diaper if I need more absorbency using the pocket.

I added snaps to one and left the other without to determine which I prefer. I have already found that the knit works with a Snappi remarkably well!

Eco Deal - Reusable Grocery Bags 3/$1

2009-06-16T18:48:00.000-07:00

Make sure to take advantage of Walgreen's 3 for $1 deal on reusable bags - coupon is in their weekly ad!

Weekly Project 6/14 - Sewing cloth diapers

2009-06-15T21:48:00.000-07:00

With three moves in the last year (yep, three), we've fallen victim to what I call convenience diapering, i.e. using disposables. Before the moves, my husband and I were passionate about cloth diapering. However due to a series of strange circumstances, we found it nearly impossible to keep cloth diapering. Now that we're finally settled, I'm ready to start up again. There's even 2 new bottles of Charlie's Soap down by the washer. The only problem?

He's outgrowing our stash!

So what's a good ecomommy on a very tight budget to do? Put her resources to work for her (my resources = sewing machines + fabric!)

So this week I am sewing up a stash of cloth diapers. I'm basing my design off different elements of cloth diaper brands I really like.

I'll be posting tutorials throughout the week and pictures of my progress. I'm making both pockets and fitteds. I plan on trying my hand at prefolds in the future when we have larger stash needs (wink wink). If you would like to sew along, gather up the following supplies and watch for my next post.

Paper grocery bag or newspaper
pencil
your fave cloth diaper (the one that fits your child the best)
fabric of your choice (I am using microfleece, bamboo fleece, knit, and PUL)
1/4" elastic

If you want to buy fabric, you can try to find some flannels and knits at your local cloth store. Or you can pick some up online at www.wazoodle.com or www.celticclothwholesale.com

If you don't have a favorite cloth diaper to base your pattern on, you can use some of the patterns from Celtic Cloth here (there's also a great sling pattern!)

Savings Sunday - great coupons and deals (KC friendly)

2009-06-14T20:09:00.000-07:00

I had a lot of fun clipping today's coupons from the paper, but I was disappointed that there was no RedPlum insert this week! I'm highlighting some great finds for you from Price-Chopper, Hy-vee, and CVS!

Price Chopper
Take advantage of the Buy 3 boxes of Kellogg's for $12, get 3 boxes free at KC area Price Choppers. Last Sunday's paper also had coupons for $1 and $1.50 off boxes. If you have relatives who get the paper, you might try to snag a few. You can use up to 6, making each box $.50 or less!

Hy-Vee
Betty Crocker brownies are on sale for $.88/box. Use a coupon from bettycrocker.com for $.75 off two boxes and get two bozes for $1.01

CVS
Schick Quattro razors are on sale for $7.99 with $3.00 back in extra care bucks with your CVS card. Use the $4.00 off a Schick Quattro razor in Sunday's paper and spend only $.99

My grocery trip to Price Chopper

1.75 lbs boneless, skinless, chicken breast
2 lb rump roast
1 lb butter
2 lbs seedless grapes
2 lbs sweet potatoes
1 lb on the vine tomatoes
1 vidalia onion
4 packages of shredded cheese
2 packages of Kraft American Singles
6 boxes of Kelloggs cereal
1 box of Cheez-Its

Total Spent $41 and change
Total saved over $40

Easy, Economical Gourmet

2008-06-16T18:13:00.000-07:00

Sassy Apricot-Glazed Salmon

This is pretty awesome if I do say so! You can use the apricot sauce for stir fry too if you choose! This was my first day on the fertility diet in preparation for trying to conceive our second little one in a few months. I served it with wild rice :)

4 servings

1 pound atlantic salmon
1 cup apricot preserves
1 tbspn red pepper flakes
1 tbspn vinegar
1 tbspn soy sauce
1 red bell pepper chopped
1 tbspn olive oil

In saucepan, saute bell pepper in olive oil. Brush olive oil on a cookie sheet and place salmon skin side down on it. Broil for 5-7 minutes or until salmon is opaque and top is golden and slightly crisp. While fish is broiling add preserves, vinegar, soy sauce, and red pepper flakes to the sauteed bell pepper.

Cut and serve salmon with a generous bit of sauce and bell pepper.

© Jennifer Albin 2008. All rights reserved.

Sweet and Salty Peas and Carrots

2008-06-15T20:18:00.001-07:00

My son won't eat jar baby food except carrots, but he has a hard time holding out to slippery veggie pieces. So I got frustrated tonight and decided it was time to make some baby-friendly veggies. I had started making him babyfood when we introduced solids at 7 months - he wasn't interested.

Well, I tried the jar of Earth's Best Organic I was giving him tonight (or rather he was splattering) and while it wasn't bad, let's face it, it's hard to make jarred veggies appealing.

So my new mantra?

My baby's not eating anything I won't eat! Likewise I shouldn't eat anything I shouldn't feed him.

This is all part of my move to go completely organic this summer. We're so close! Anyway, here's the recipe. Let's just say, they're incredible. I had to stop myself from eating it.

I made enough for several days servings, but feel free to half or double as necessary.

4 servings
1/2 cup peeled and chopped carrots
1/4 cup fresh or frozen peas
1/4 cup fresh or frozen broccoli florets
1 tspn butter*
1/4 cup water
1 tspn brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt*

In a small skillet stem carrots, water,1/2 the brown sugar, and butter until carrots soften slightly. Add broccoli and peas, steam for about 2 minutes. Add salt and brown sugar and simmer for another minute. Use a food grinder or food processor to get your desired consistency for babyfood or serve as is for the whole family!

You can substitute olive oil for younger babies.
Salt acts as a flavor enhancer and a slight preservative here.

© Jennifer Albin 2008. All rights reserved.