Rimmel London Eye Makeup Remover

I am always excited to try new products. I was lucky enough to be given this eye makeup remover from Influnster and Rimmel London. 

I so badly wanted to love this, the bottles promise of no oily feeling was what had me so excited, I HATE how my current product leaves a oily residue on my eyes. 

I drove right in and gave it a try, my cotton pads had make up on them. So I thought it did the trick and like promised no oily feeling. The big bad ugly, huge dark circles of black eye makeup left under my eyes. 

So I broke out my cheap Wal-Mart brand eye makeup remover and took off the leftover. 

As you can see on the cotton pad a lot was left behind and that was just one eye. So the Rimmel London eye makeup remover would be great if it took off all the makeup or if you didn't use black eyeliner or mascara. Note I was wearing Rimmel London eyeliner and a basic Avon mascara, nothing crazy or thick. 

Celestial Seasonings Tea

One of the items in my frosty vox boy from Influnster to review was Candy Cane Lane Green Tea by Celestial Seasonings. I was excited to try this seasonal tea in the cold winter. I dropped a tea bag in a mug of hot water after a few minutes I dove in. On first sip I was not in love. :-( super bitter! Yuck, wanting to love this tea I stirred in a pack of Splenda. Let's just say it was love at second sip. The Splenda did the trick. Now to find a full box and make it mine!

Frosty Vox Box

So Influnster sent me another great Voxbox filled with fun stuff to try. Check out my YouTube video showing everything included in this free box to review. I will also have reviews on individual products in the future. 

http://youtu.be/6MPKdP8SdmM

How I wash my cloth diapers.

If you ask 100 cloth diaper parents how they wash their diapers you will get 100 different answers. Are they all wrong? No are they are right? Maybe. Here is the thing everyone had what works for them, what they think works and what doesn't really work but they think it does because so and so told them to do it that way. The trick with cloth is all babies are different, washers are different and water  is different. So what works for someone might not work for another. Rinse, rewash, add extra water, add 15 different chemicals to the wash. Nope not for me. For one I got into cloth to keep chemicals away from my baby and help keep our planet healthy. So how do I wash my cloth? Starting from the moment the diaper comes off CJ's bum, if it's poo I use a diaper sprayer and flush the poo to live with the rest of the family's poo. Pee goes right in the wet bag. I use a planet wise pail liner in a kitchen trash can with a lid.

Nighttime and nap diapers get a spray down too, this gets rid of my heavy pee soaked diapers and makes the wash easier. I wash diapers every other day, just because that is when my pail is full. CJ pees a lot! Diapers go in the washer, inserts pulled out of pockets with a full scoop of Country Save. 

After I run this hot wash I run a second wash on warm. That's it! No extra chemicals no adding water no million rinses. I am lazy I don't want to live with my washer, I see it enough thank you. Here is where most people freak out when they hear about my wash routine. I have a top loader HE washer and live in an area with very hard water. Both things people say you need to do all these extra things for. Nope the first hot wash gets the diapers clean and the warm wash gets rid of any soap that didn't make it out on the first wash. CJ is 17 months and has been in cloth from birth. This is the only way we have washed diapers and we have never stripped. Our diapers don't stink, we don't have leaks. Stains are taken out by the sun. I line dry my diapers. If the stain is not gone right away re-wet the diaper and stick it back in the sun. The sun only works to remove stains on wet diapers. 

     So the point of all this. Do what works for you, use a manufacturer suggested detergent. Don't add extra stuff just because someone says that is the only way. And just because you wash different then someone else doesn't mean your right or they are wrong. Clean chemical free diapers are the end goal!

 

Teething Oil

My teething lifesaver has been teething oil. 15 drop of Lavender oil, 10 drops of Roman Chamomile and fill the rest of a 5ml roller bottle with Fractionated Coconut Oil. Roll along the jaw line for a happy baby. Make sure you use a high quality essential oil, I use DoTerra. My other teething tricks are cold wash cloths to chew on but CJ's favorite is a nice big cold carrot. 

Yard work- Dirt+Water=Muddy Fun

We have been working on a project in our back yard. It involves a lot fill dirt, CJ loves this. Exploring the dirt and adding water to make mud has been so much fun for him. The big problem the wonder red dirt -STAINS- nothing I have tried gets it out. So Chris gets to run around outside in just a diaper. What is great about this. The PUL of cloth diapers do not stain, Chris has tested it for sure! Today he had on his black and white cow print diaper and rolled in the mud, yup head to toe every inch covered. I just hose him off before we come in and the diaper is good as new. A muddy toddler is not a good mix with a camera so I didn't get any photos, but I will try to get a few soon so you can see how stain proof a cloth diaper really is.

Use old cloth diapers for cleaning.

I had a million ok maybe not quite a million but a lot of newborn prefold that were not getting any more love. Yes they can be used as extra inserts in pocket diapers or wash cloths. But I found a new way to use them, on a swiffer mop! I soak them in a mix of hot water and DoTerra OnGuard cleaner and they work great. Please note if you use the diaper for cleaning you won't want to use it on babies bum again. I took my sad prefold and marked them with a big X on each side to make sure they were used for cleaning only. Do you have any tricks for your newborn prefolds. 

A Proper Introduction.

For those of you that might want to know who is behind the keyboard a proper introduction is due. I'm Laura, mother of CJ(17 months) and wife to Shawn a disabled Army Vet. I consider myself semi crunchy. I try to eat healthy but have a weakness for junk food and choose natural items as often as I can. We are a cloth diaper family and love to babywear. I am also hooked on DoTerra oils! I am not shy to answer any questions you might have so feel free to ask. 

Goals... Setting them high and still trying.

When a friend first suggested I start blogging I thought it was a great idea. My son was just born and I had no idea how busy he would keep me. I had set the goal to make a blog and post something new each day. Dream big or don't dream at all right? Well we was almost a year old by the time I created this page. Life just got crazy. My husband medically retired from the Army. We moved from Texas back to my hometown in Arizona. All the while learning to be patents to our sweet son. Me being stubborn didn't want to give up on my goal, ok maybe I was late but I would still do it. Here I am with just a few sad excuses of post and have not hit my daily goal. So let's try this again! Post may be short but as any parent knows, life can get crazy!

New lano love.

If you have ever tried to make a lano bath for wool covers you know it can be tricky. But once you find the right mix it is easy. I had been using a sloomb cube to emulsify my lanolin with lots of problems. Today I tried Bee Green Naturals and am in LOVE! My lano bath was quick and easy, just like it should be. I will make a step by step post on how I do a lano bath soon. 

ProFoot Triad Orthotic

I had a chance to try the Triad Orthotic by PRoFOOT thanks to Influenster and the Go Voxbox. I was scared at first they would feel weird in my shoe that already had a good arch support, but it only made it better. The cushion on the heel feels great not to soft or firm. This makes my walks pushing CJ in his stroller much easier on my legs. The bonus for CJ longer walks because I don't get sore as fast! 

Travel with and under 2 year old

So we just had to take g-pa (grandpa) to the airport. It's two hours away so we made a mini vacation out of it. Traveling with CJ can be fun it a challenge. Toys! We always pack a small bag of toys to keep him busy, but when it's time to go tracking down the toys is a challenge. So my trick is to pack a note card with a list of which toys we brought. That way we make sure they all come home. Oh and we pack outlet covers too! What is your favorite travel trick?

Wait it's Saturday ?!?

Have you ever lost a day? I did. I spent 3/4 of my day thinking it was Friday. Talk about your days blending together. At least I don't wear those day of the week underwear, don't laugh you know you had some as a kid! 

Woolie bath time!

Tonight my wool shorts needed a bath. They get a nice dip in lukewarm water and a squirt of unicorn fiber wash. Then it's time for the lano bath. A sloomb cube (kumquat) and sloomb lano get mixed with hot water until it is milky white. This gets mixed in with clean lukewarm water and joined by the clean woolies. After soaking for at least half an hour. (Overnight in this case, mama needs some sleep) In the washer they go, don't freak out it's just for a low spin to get extra water out. Lay flat to dry and enjoy the squishy wool goodness over your favorite fitted cloth diaper! 

Influenster and the govoxbox

I was lucky enough to get the govoxbox from influenster. It had some great stuff inside. The one thing I was most excited for was the fit n full shakes from nextstep. Being the mother of a very active little man I have zero time to make a meal. So in the morning I need something quick, healthy and yummy. The fit n full shake fills that bill. As I try the other items in the box I will let you know what I think. Some of the other items I was sent to try are, blue diamon blueberry almonds, profoot pedi-rock and orthotics. Muller Greek corner (a coupon to get a free one) playtex sport fresh balance and aqua spa bath salts!

Where to start?!?

I don't know where to start so I will just start with HELLO! My name is Laura, I am the mother of a sweet little guy. Christopher Johnson. Let's just call him CJ, he is 14 months old and handful. This blog will follow my adventures in parenting.