 If you're planning to breastfeed or currently nursing, I'm sure you’ve checked out the various nursing pillows in the market. Most pillows are a life saver, or at least a back saver, once you find the right one. I've owned four different types, three of which I would recommend to a friend. First off, we'll start with the bad. I grabbed a no name nursing pillow at a consignment sale. It came in the same half-circle shape as other nursing pillows, but was pure fluff with no support. I threw it in the back of my car for infrequent car nursing sessions, and eventually dropped it off at goodwill. Don't waste your time and money on no names pillows, because they leave you with no support! The Boppy nursing pillow, My Breast Friend, and Ergo nursing pillow are far more worth your time and money.
Which nursing pillows have you used? How would you rate it?
0 Comments
 My Facebook and Instagram have been packed with ads for Grove.co and the Mrs. Meyers deal convinced me to dive in and give it a try. So- here's how the program works, what I purchased, and my honest, unsolicited opinion. The Mrs. Meyers Cleaning Kit came free with my first purchase and I was only going to buy things that I absolutely needed. I found my new chapter multivitamins, a big bottle of hand sanitizer, and a toddler toothbrush and hit order! The package arrived about 5 days later, and I was super excited!  The multivitamins were just as expected. I ordered a 48 count of New Chapter Multivitamins for $24.95, which breaks down to about $0.50 per serving. Amazon has the vitamins for $0.40 per serving, so I paid a bit more- but was getting a cleaning kit! The toothbrush that I ordered was the Radius Totz Toothbrush for $3.99. That's about 3x the cost of a regular kids toothbrush, but it claims to be safer and supports a charity... so I went for it. The photo showed a white one, and we received a purple, sparkly one which my son didn't like... so that purchase was a bit of a bust. Then I ordered the Grove brand hand sanitizer for $6.95. I figured we go through so much of that this time of year, so trying a new one with coconut oil in it sounded great!  The Mrs. Meyers cleaning kit came with a bucket, sponges, dish soap, floor cleaner. The dish soap was labeled pumpkin spice but only smelled like coconut and the sponges were in a package but felt moist and didn't smell great. :/
I did leave a low star rating and customer service promptly got in touch, which was great! The two products I unexpectedly fell in love with were the hand sanitizer and floor cleaner. Both smell amazing and do their jobs incredibly well. Ultimately, I feel like the products I received were a great value and the customer service was superb. I plan to order from them again, and am really excited about their dish towels. I know... I'm at that point in life when dish towels are exciting... but what I didn't love is that the service automatically subscribes you to ordering the products monthly. I like to pick out my stuff and order when I need it, so I always unsubscribe. I also don't like that after 60 days, you have to pay for the VIP service. That's not something I can financially justify at this point, especially when the products seem to be priced a bit higher than amazon. The bottom line is Grove.co is offering an amazing introductory deal, which you should take advantage of! Then, decide for yourself if it's worth keeping long term! If your interested in trying out Grove, I'd love for you to use my link so we both get bonuses. Right now, they're offering their Christmas scents, [and if it smells like coconut, customer service can help :)] https://www.grove.co/referrer/77135332/ Have you tried Grove? What did you think?  One of the hardest parts about motherhood is that everywhere I look, there's a need, and someone looking at me to fulfill it. There are emotional needs like love and encouragement, educational needs for my second grader and kindergartner, play need for my three year old, and a baby who needs milk, and food, and protection and diapers. Then there's all the crazy physical needs, like financial, organization, cleaning, and cooking. The list is completely endless.
When I grabbed my bible after a particularly trying day, I opened up to Mathew 15. Jesus just learned that John the Baptist had been beheaded, so he retreated to a quiet place. BUT, people followed him. As I was reading this passage, I was struck by the notion that Jesus gets it. He understands the moments when you want to hide from your kids, eat ice cream and cry. [That was me yesterday after my kids managed to spill THREE smoothies on carpets]. When Jesus retreated to have some alone time with the Father, people followed too. But, Jesus had compassion on them and healed their sick: The mute spoke, crippled where healed, the lame walked and the blind saw (Matt. 15:31). Then Jesus fed them, and not just a little snack. We're talking about 5,000 men plus all the women and children (Matt. 15:38). The fact that he miraculously gave in abundance out of that trying moment, to me, is assurance that he will also give each and every tired mama who seeks Him the grace, strength and patience they need for the tasks ahead. "I do not want to send them away hungry, or they may collapse on the way..." (Matt. 15:32 c). Mama, Jesus sees your weary heart and he never wants to send anyone away hungry. He's got every bit of provision waiting for you so that you don't collapse on this journey. Seek him at each step, and remember, He gets it.  I just love spaghetti squash. To me, it's just as good as pasta. To my kids, not so much. But, my 5 year old loves very vegetable so she eats my veggie concoctions with me- and this ones a favorite! Plus, it's super simple! All you need is a spaghetti squash, some fresh spinach and a jar of Newman's Own Vodka Sauce. Start by cooking your spaghetti squash. I like to microwave mine for 4 minutes first. This makes the skin more tender and easily cut. One the squash is cut it two, bake it on 350 for about an hour. When the squash is cooled, scoop out the seeds and scrap out the spaghetti squash. Next, take a medium sauce pan and add vodka sauce and cut spinach. Bring it to a simmer and add in your spaghetti squash and stir. That's it! You'll have a veggie packed dish that's healthier than traditional pasta in vodka sauce- but just as delicious!  Last year was our second year of homeschooling as my oldest son worked through first grade. It was also the hardest homeschooling year for us as we tackled learning to read and added a 4th baby into our household. I’m pretty sure I wanted to quit every three weeks and was certain I couldn’t continue this journey. Thankfully, this year has been much more peaceful and productive. Hindsight is always 20/20 and I wish I could travel back in time and tell myself a few helpful tips... but I can't so I'll share them with you instead! 1. Don’t interrupt playtime for school.Yep, you read that right... Tip number one is not to interrupt play for school. Playing is so important to learning, young children need to play. If my son is lost in his lego world or playing with his sisters, then school can wait until later. 2. Playing is Messy- clean up laterBooks, puzzles, toys everywhere- every day. That’s life, and I have no one to try to impress but myself. Messes mean fun and learning has been happening here, and that’s ok. This is what my living room currently looks like as I write this, thanks to my 10 month old... it happens to us all ;)  3. Read [AT LEAST] One Book a day- outside when possible Reading with your child is crucial to them being able to read on their own. For second grade, we implemented a 30-minute reading slot in each day where I read with my son and he follows along and then jumps in and reads paragraphs when he sees words he likes and knows. This simple time of discovery and learning should be free and fun, not a painful task. Last year, I would hand my son books he “should” be able to read and then get frustrated if he couldn’t. I wish we had started dedicated reading time earlier, but was waiting for my kids to read independently. It's NEVER to early to start!  4. Reading isn’t a race- it’s a journey.I felt like my son was “behind” with his reading ability. We had used an online program and he quickly completed grade one, but I noticed many gaps in his ability to read so I picked out a good ol’ fashion paper curriculum and started first grade again. Because I felt behind, I rushed us through instead of working on phonics mastery. I wish I could tell myself to relax. Reading will come... keep practicing and make it fun! 5. Televisions are tools, not babysitters.The television often feels like an enemy living within my walls, so I have pretty strict TV rules. But, there are some really educational shows that teach important lessons, values, science, and history. In moderation- it’s an excellent tool to tackle new ideas and reinforce other learning that's already taken place! 6. Set Learning GoalsCurricula tends to feel like a challenging race to me. That's probably because we review curricula, so I take the task upon myself to try to read all the material so I can accurately review it. When I use it with my kids, I'm on a schedule and often crunched for time. Instead, this year I decided to set learning goals for each child- topics and material that I want them to learn in the fall and then the spring. Then, we get books at the library, and find projects on pinterest to expand our learning on our time and work towards goals! I find this particularly helpful for my littles. For instance, this fall I'd like my kindergartner to master the ABC's, 10 sight words, numbers up to 50, and the continents. We've done this through puzzles, songs, games, and easy reader books- having fun along the way! 7. Lead by example, and don’t underestimate the long term value.There are so many things I want to teach my kids, and most of those lessons aren’t from a book. I want my kids to read their Bibles every day, so I read to them from the Bible every day. I want them to enjoy healthy food, so I prepare healthy food even if they don’t eat it. I want them to value education, so I read books and include them in what I’m learning. It’s exhausting, and sometimes discouraging, but I’m not doing this for the moment, I’m doing this for my children’s future and eternity.
What are your tips for successful homeschooling? I'd love to hear about them in the comments! When I was pregnant with my first child, nearly 7 years ago, I knew I wanted to use cloth diapers. I had babysat for families that used them and loved how they were eco-friendly and saved you thousands of dollars. Diaperdecisions.com reports that you'll save approximately $2,500 by using cloth diaper! Multiply that by 3 children, and we've saved a ton! (Not sure were that money went though ;)
As first-time moms do, I researched endlessly! Choosing diapers and detergents might as well have been picking a house! After hours of research, I decided to use Charlie Soap for cloth diaper detergent and ordered a set of Oh Katy cloth diapers that were on sale on Amazon.com. I also bought some pre-folds, covers, and diaper clips, and was gifted a BumGenius diaper. We chose to use disposable diapers for the first few days until the black tar poop stopped and then I wrapped my bundle of love in cloth diapers, and they worked wonderfully for the first 6 months. We had occasional leaks, which were mainly from waiting too long to change him, but all things considered, I was happy with our choice. After 6 months, the Oh Katy diapers began to leak in the legs, every single time he went to the bathroom. I would change him and ten minutes later he was soaked. I decided to strip the diapers and strip them again... But nothing helped! It was as if the inserts just weren't wide enough. I tried stuffing them with pre-folds instead, and they still leaked. My sole BumGenius diaper was my only trustworthy friend. I hung up my cloth diapering hat for a while after that and was disappointed in my diaper investment. Oh Katy was Oh Bummer so I decided to gradually build a stash or BumGenius diapers. By the time baby number 2 came, we were set. I wash my diapers with one tablespoon of Charlie Soap under hot water. Make sure your washer setting is turned to the highest water setting. (My HE washer has an “extra soiled” setting, and with my older washer I’d simply select “large load.” ) Occasionally, I sub a scoop of OxiClean to remove any build up on the diapers. Then I dry them on low heat for 50 minutes with wool dryer balls. The dryer balls are non-essential, just NEVER use bounce sheets. I learned this the hard way! My BumGenius collection has served three kids with no leaking and I'm currently adding new elastic to a few of the legs for baby number 4. If you're going for cloth- go with the best and save yourself a mess! I should trademark that :) Do you cloth diaper? What are your tips for new moms?  About three years ago, my family was living in a relatively small town in Virginia. There was a downtown city area, some housing developments, and then a lot of farmland. One day, I was at the playground behind the grocery store with my son and my daughter. We had the place to ourselves and were enjoying a beautiful early spring day. Another car pulled in, and I watched to see if the passengers were familiar playmates.
Instead, a woman emerged from the car dressed in all black from head to toe. She was wearing classic Islamic dress, and the only part of her that was visible was her eyes. This was particularly uncommon in our area. Sure, there were Muslim families, including our lovely next-door neighbors, but the full black dress was rarely seen. What shocked me even more was when she began to speak to her daughter. I anticipated a Middle Eastern accent, but by her voice, she was a southern African-American woman who had converted to Islam. She let her six-year-old daughter play on the playground while she sat in the car with a smaller child. I continued to play with my kids, looking over at the car periodically. When her daughter got stuck on the slide, I went and helped her, and the mom emerged from her vehicle. She came over and we had a brief, pleasant exchange before she loaded her daughter in the car and they left for the day. As she was leaving, I was still watching with perplexity. Jesus interrupted my thoughts. Now, Jesus rarely interrupts my thoughts. Normally, God seems to wait for me to talk to Him… but we had a brief and powerful exchange. “Ask me what I think of her…” Jesus said. “I know… you love her…” I thought. “No, ask me what I think of her…” Jesus responded. “Ok- what do you think about her?” I asked. “I think she’s a princess.” Jesus said. [now I’ll be brutally honest, my next thought wasn’t my finest] “…princess of darkness…” I scoffed. But, my heart meditated on those words, and soon enough agreed. When we look at people, we see flesh. We see what is current, we see what’s now. When God looks at people, He sees how He created them. He sees their [and our] full potential and it’s the job of the spirit of prophecy to speak that truth and call people as God sees them, not what our own eyes see. I never got the chance to tell that woman what God said on that day. I saw her another time, and fumbled the words in my mouth in a mess of nerves. But, that experience greatly shaped my own perspective on dealing with people… particularly the difficult people we don’t want to deal with. Though what we see and experience in our interactions has physical truth, the spiritual truth of what God sees will always be higher, and sometimes just needs a word or two of encouragement to manifest in people’s lives! I've been particularly negative these past few months, from interactions at home to my prenatal care nightmare that I've been dealing with... but last night God pressed my heart to start envisioning my birth and prenatal care in a perfect world. Sometimes, choosing to be positive is the first step to releasing faith when you feel like you're past EMPTY. So, this week I challenge you to release God's love to people who we don't think deserve it, and try to see them how God sees them, and release positivist into areas of your life that feel barren and filled with dry bones! ...and let me know how it goes! Blessings, Alex There's something about fall that has always filled me with a beautiful sadness. I used to think it was merely because summer was closing and a bleak winter awaited, but as I've gotten older, I've begun to see it differently.
Fall is beautiful because the world we know catches fire with brilliant colors, orchestrated as only a Master Artist could. No two trees dressed the same, the ground sprinkled with the soft crunch of fall. But the beauty slowly fades to the cold grey hues of November, the soft sunlight sets too soon with little chance to enjoy it. But as are the seasons in nature so are the seasons of life. Humanity blooms, changes, and softly fades like the leaves of the trees. We need seasons of rest to produce great harvest. The womb always lays barren before birth. Rest has never been my companion. It always sits too close to it's cousin, idleness. I simply have too many passions, projects, and goals to rest. But I've cone to realize that I won't be able to accomplish any without ensuring my own rest. I've been spread about, much too thin, and end up doing a thousand things but none of them well. I love to write, but having to constantly write for clients and as a contractual obligation has diluted my content and pulled me away from larger projects that need more of my attention. Having my vision stretched across multiple fields has diluted my ability to zero in and focus on where I want to grow to, so, I hope you'll walk with me into fall, friends. Some changes will be coming to this site- and the two others I run will be taken down. I'm not certain how fall will look around here, but I can promise that more magazine articles are slated to run in 2020, life updates will make there way to the blog, Instagram will continue as normal- and there might just be some new sewing projects appearing up here as I change my pace. |
Alexandrais an author, blogger, and homeschooling mom of four, giving her excellent credentials to run her own circus one day!  
Archives
December 2019
Categories
All
|
RSS Feed