Hand Washing: As the Diapers Swirl

One of these was handwashed. The other was machine washed. Can you tell the difference?

Didn't think so. Neither could spouse, and he even had to sniff them.

So as promised, here is a breakdown of todays handwashing routine.

This is where I keep the fluffies. Yes, it's a Repurposed Tidy Cat liter bucket, 'cuz that's how we roll around here. Reduce, Reuse, Recycle. All about the Reusing.

From there they go to the bathroom to be rinsed with the diaper sprayer. I actually took the camera in to take a picture for you, but lets just face it, some days you don't want people looking round your bathroom, you know?

From there it's out to the washtub in the tiny alcove in the garage, and by tiny, I mean two feet wide.

In my narrow, yet deep but plumbed alcove I have a washtub, complete with spray nozel, and handy dandy fence stuff for hanging things like scrub brushes and bags of, yep, you saw it, Rockin'Green. Yeah, I'm still hearting the Rockin' Green.

The diapers got dumped into the sink, complete with freshly found plug and recently steralized plunger. (That was fun, not!)

Then, while filling the wash tub with HOT water and 1TBSP of Rockin' Green, I invoked the Laundry Goddess, Mischief. Oh wait, that's just my cat.

I agitated the water with the plunger for a while. It didn't really do it for me so I went back to using my fists and body weight to agitate the water. I'm still not quite sure what I was doing wrong with the plunger, but I'll try again tomorrow. After the "wash" cycle, I was really wet. So I decided to do the rinse cycles in the bucket after I drained the sink.

So I drained the wash tub, put the bucket back in the sink, and filled it half way with HOT water while wringing out the diapers into the washtub.

Then I put them all in the bucket and agitated them by plunging both hands in as though I was kneading particularly stubborn and squishy bread. I agitated it for a few minutes, then dumped it out, and wrung the diapers while refilling the bucket again.

This step got repeated 3 times, because I'm all paranoid 'n stuff, and then I wrung them, sprayed them, and wrung them again.

After they were thoroughly wrung, I lugged them through the house and to the back porch hang out on the rack to sun.

While todays batch were sunning, I pulled yesterday's out of the dryer (where today's will end up after they're done sunning, because in this weather, there is no hope of hang drying in just one day) and folded them.

I was a little proud that I had gotten them all clean, as well as the wipes and inserts to the pockets that got used yesterday too.

For tomorrow, again, I plan to make a few changes.

1. I want to see how Tiny Bubbles works compared to the Rockin' Green.

2. I want to see about using a different style of plunger.

3. I want to see if I can scare up some gloves (still) because my hands aren't loving the HOT at all.

I am, however, feeling fairly confident that by the time we get the washer fixed, I will know how to wash a fluffy backwards, forwards, or inside out.

For the record- they aren't repelling today, so yay handwashing!

And for the germaphobes out there- I am planning to boil the inserts and prefolds on Friday, but the sun works wonders for killing bacteria too.

Body After Baby Challenge- Fit by Labor Day 3

What's that you say?

Three?

Shouldn't it be more like 7????

Yes, yes it should.

So where have I been?

Sitting on my FAT arse eating lots of CHOCOLATE.

Not walking.

Not swimming.

Eating my emotions and mad at myself for doing it.

Well, til after the funeral.

I woke up the next morning drained, but less moved to eat anything with cocoa powder in it.

I'm not saying that I didn't just eat a bowl of icecream today, but I also went swimming today, and I went on a long family walk in the nice crisp fall air under a dappled blue sky.

And I went swimming the day before yesterday.

And the day before that.

I have been moving.

I remembered my tried and true rule of eating LESS fats, and MORE fiber, and my jeans are fitting more loosely. My arms don't seem to be going anywhere, but that's okay, because they miraculously haven't enlarged either.

This isn't fair to me to put it this way. I *have* been swimming. I *have* been walking. It's just been a lot more hit & miss than I had intended.

So starting weight: 210 lbs

Goal- lose 5lbs and tighten up a little (especially my arms)

Current weight: 203 lbs

Hips tighter, arms may be making headway, but if they are, I can't see it.

I was, actually surprised that I've lost weight. So go team PURPLE. I hope you are all still sticking with this. I'be personally been a little overwhelmed, so my apologies.

For more Fit by Labor Day, head over to Mama Notes.

Blue Monday: Water Water

Some things are best done wet, and Summer is one of them.

Mongoosine had a positively divine time swimming nearly every day. Sadly, some days it's been a touch too chilly to brave the blue, but four out of five days between this school year and less, if a body was looking for Miss Mongoosine, she was most apt to be found in the deep end.

For more Blue Monday, Swim on over to Smiling Sally, or follow the Bird.

Hand Washing 101^

Well, this morning, while Snapdragon was lazing in that sweet just-woke-up-and-nursed way that he does, I sucked it up and dealt with the fluffy laundry.

Today's routine went like this. (Tomorrow's might get pictures if I think of it.)

*Change baby-butt. There's no sense in leaving a wet diaper on a baby when you're about to wash diapers.

*Rinse entire bucket of diapers with Diaper Sprayer. I really love this particular gadget.

*Lunk sopping wet bucket of diapers out to wash tub in garage.

*Discover there is no plug for washtub in garage.

*Frown.

*Dump diapers into right side of washtub, place bucket to the left of them. (Just so you aren't surprised, it's an old plastic Tidy Cat liter bucket. So now if there are pictures at some point, you know.)

*Squeeze the rinse water out of diapers while filling bucket half full of HOT water over 1TBSP of Rockin' Green clothdiapers detergent.

*Grab ten diapers or covers at a time and place in bucket.

*Swirl around a bunch, rub and scrub them against themselves and one another until they seem to be showing no signs of anything other than the discoloration left by EBF poo. Basically, as thoroughly agitated and scrubbed as I can do with my bare hands and the occasional use of a scrub brush.

*Pile "washed" diapers again in the right side of the wash tub.

*Dump dirty water outside. (I didn't want to risk pouring it down the drain next to the just washed diapers, as it was pretty dirty looking at this point.)

*Rinse bucket out.

*Wring diapers.

*Spray diapers, individually, with HOT water.

*Wring diapers.

*Spray diapers with HOT water. Individually, again.

*Wring diapers.

*Spray diapers with HOT water, in a group.

*Wring diapers.

*Lug diapers through Mongoosine's room, my room, the living room, the dining room, the kitchen, and out to where my laundry rack is.

*Hang to sun the discoloration out, and to kill any nasty bacteria.

*Wait some 10 hours, then toss them in the dryer on Low to finish drying.

Observations:

It is too cold to dry hand washed diapers outside effectively or efficiently, despite my best wringing attempts.

I got a LOT more dirt out of the diapers than I would have expected, judging by how dark and creeptastic the wash water got.

Handwashing leads to very dry hands. I need to investigate non-latex gloves of some sort. I might even have some in the box of kitchen stuff from when, well, from before.

It was less gross than one would think.

They seem to have, post sunning, come just about as clean as being machine washed. So long as they don't repel, I think we're in business.

Alterations I intend to make:

I think I technically used just under 1 TBSP of Rockin' Green, and I need to bump it up a little tomorrow.

I plan to steralize, as best I can, the plunger to agitate the water. I hear it works really well and will save some wear and tear on my back.

Spouse found me a plug for the drain. It's a little small, but with a diaper over it, I'm sure I can manage this without the bucket, or at least I intend to try.

^101 refers not only to the educational aspect of this post as it pertains to one's clothdiapers wash routine, but also to the fact that this is my 101st blog post!

With These Hands

So it's official.

These 12 (Gerber)prefolds are going to get a lot of wear.

Why are they going to get a lot of wear?

Because my washer died. That's why.

Died how you ask?

In the non-draining broken pump kind of way.

We knew it was coming eventually, what with the noises it's been making, but it's still not so much fun when you're a full fledged 100% cloth diapering family.

So yeah, my dozen, cutely embellished because that's how I roll, prefolds are going to be getting a LOT of wear.

Everyone who is big on the hand washing says it's the best way to go, and that makes sense since if I get worried about how clean they're coming, I can boil them, which is something I'd NEVER do with pockets.

So since I've started using prefolds as my primary diaper, yesterday, I've learned something. 1. Three covers is not enough. Since Snapdragon is exclusively Breastfed, there is that whole poo-splosion thing that tends to get on the covers by the leg. Yes, this is because I fold my prefolds in thirds beneath the cover. Why? Because it's E to the A to the S to the Y. EASY.

I do have pins and plastic pants, but they leave red marks on his legs and the pins make me N-E-R-V-O-U-S. Which is strange, since I used them with Mongoosine all the time, but I was 10 years younger and therefore less paranoid.

Of our three covers, we have a Berry Plush, a Thirsties Duo Wrap, and the GroBaby shell set which I use with prefolds after he soaks the snap in soaker. Of these, oddly, I have to say, I like the way the GroBaby works with the prefolds best. The Duo Wrap would probably have my heart a little more, but it's quite nearly too small for my hulking 3.5month old, and so it's a little harder to wrestle on Mr. Snapdragon Rollingpants.

So yeah. I'll be washing these by hand.

From what I've read this means hot hot hot water, possibly disinfecting a plunger to use in my big sink in the garage as an agitator, and getting my self psyched to strip if I need to.

Not me, the diapers. Get your mind out of the gutter and back in the potty where this post started!

I've also read that I might need some sort of hand protective gear since detergents can be nasty on the skin. Eep! With my latex allergy, this should be interesting.

I'll keep you posted!

Pink Saturday: The Wheels on the Bus

This week Mongoosine rode the school bus for the first time. It was hard for me, but here she is, boarding it like a 5th grader should!

Last week I visited The Artful Paper Doll, and really liked what she had going on over there. Her whimsical creations brightened my day and gave me all sorts of ideas for fun things to do with some of the art papers I have in a big clear box. I think Mongoosine will approve of these plans.

For more Pink Saturday, visit How Sweet The Sound.

Woah, is there a break on this thing?

Wanna know something scary?

Do ya?

This....

113 days ago, this used to be ... well, this.

Yeah. Hard to believe, isn't it? I can hardly fathom how my tiny little Snapdragon turned into my big little Mr. Cutes with all the personality. No, really, lots of personality.

These days, Snapdragon is smiling, cooing, babbling, blowing spit bubbles, playing with things, talking to the baby in the mirror, giggling, flirting, pulling up to sitting, latching on of his own accord, and oh yeah, rolling over. That's right. Rolling over. Both ways.

This has created some new and interesting challenges for me.

As I've been none-too-shy in discussing in the past, we co-sleep. It makes breastfeeding so much easier, and frankly, I can't imagine not cuddlesleeping with Snapdragon. What began as co-sleeping with separate sleep surfaces (in theory) has grown, as he's grown, which is a lot, into out and out co-bedding. Our sweet little separate surface co-sleeping unit was sadly only two feet long. Well, he was only two feet long for all of ten minutes, or so it feels. Really, he had completely outgrown it by about 12 weeks.

So this, is now this

That is, unless it's closer to this, minus the Boppy and the underhead blanket, plus a little snuggles.

And now that we're co-bedding and he's ROLLING OVER, I have a whole new set of concerns to deal with. Like, if I get up to pee in the night, how do I know that he won't roll off the bed (other than the completely out-of-it milk-drunk stupor he tends to sleep in)?

Then there is also the issue of nap time. See earlier crib-shot for reference. It's not that this never happens, it's just that it rarely lasts more than 10 minutes. It'd be nice if it frequently lasted more than 3. Now, on my bed? Sure. On the floor? You betcha. Bouncy seat? Why not. In the swing? No problem... just not for very long, and again, SomeBaby has decided to get all mobile on me.

Not that I'd change him for anything.

I wouldn't.

I LOVE waking up in the middle of the night all snuggled beside my sweet Snapdragon. I love the way he nurses to sleep and then cuddles so gently for a while. I love being able to smell him and hear him breathing beside me. I love the ease of soothing his wakeful wimpers before they become out and out cries. I love having Mr. Rollingpants in the bed with me. I even love giggling quietly when he goes back to sleep with milk dots on his forehead.

Just sometimes wish that the simplest things were a tad bit simpler, or maybe that I could just linger over the sweet snuggly parts without having to worry, so soon, about the rolling off the bed parts.

Wordless Wednesday: Hangin' Around

Jump on over for mroe Wordless Wednesday.

The Sun Never Ceases

Clocks don't stop without a reason, and even when they do, time continues to pass. The closest you can come to stopping time is engaging in something painful, or painfully boring, and still, time just keeps slipping away.
It feels like school just let out for summer vacation a few days ago, weeks at the most, but this morning it was completely and totally over.
This morning I embarassed my daughter when I followed her out to the bus stop with bedhead, no bra, and in my pajamas, to take a picture of her boarding the bus to school for the first time.
I still remember the anxious kindergarten days of trying to learn to let go, and I realize I haven't quite learned it yet. Fifth grade is here and I'm still not so sure how I feel about this whole school thing, this whole growing up thing. Change.
But the sun doesn't rest. Time keeps moving, or we keep moving through it.
No one ever told me that being a time traveller would be so hard, especially when I only know how to pass through it in one direction.
So tonight I'll hug my Mongoosine extra tight, because I miss her already, even if yesterday I thought I couldn't wait for this.

Blue Monday: The Baby Blues

Woke up this morning, want something to eat- but the lady who feeds me isn't acting very sweet, I got the blues. I got the Baby Blues.

Oh, I got the blues, the baby baby blues.

The B-A-B-Y B-L-U-E-S

Spellin' it don't make me feel it no less, Blues.

Next thing I know, my fluffy needs changed,

But that woman who changes me is actin' so DERANGED!

I got the blues. I got the Baby Blues.

I'm Blue.

I got the Baby Blues.

B-A-B-Y B-L-U-E-S

Spellin' it really don't make it no less, Blues.

This afternoon, I was feelin' just fine,

Then that nutty lady tells me it's time for TUMMY TIME!

I got the Blues, I got the Baby Blues.

I got the Blues, the not-so-sky blue Baby Blues.

B-A-B-Y B-L-U-E-S

Oh I'm tellin' you spellin' don't make it no less, Blues.

Heard those dreaded words,

"We're going outside"

But all that sunshine and pollen just makes me wanna go and hide!

I got the Blues, I got the Baby Blues.

So so so Blue, I got the Baby Blues.

I got the B-A-B-Y B-L-U-E-S

If only spellin' helped, but again I digress, Blues.

My big sister, she's playin' a pest,

All this hoppin' and singin' has got me so distressed!

I got the Blues. I got the Baby Blues,

B-A-B-Y Blues, I got the Baby Blues

I'd spell it again, but I'm tellin' you true,

Spellin' ain't better for me or for you, Blues.

For More Blue Monday, follow the bird.

Pink Saturday:Displeased with the Photoshoot

Babies are creatures of very little patience. They also tend to be independent minded, and therefore do not care f you said "hold that smile" while waiting for the digital camera to catch up with the proceedings.

If I have one gripe about digital photography, it is the excessive time lapse between pressing the button and the picture actually being captured, which, with older subjects leads to fake-y strained smiles, and with younger ones... well, you see, I'm sure.

On the upside, digital cameras have made me a lot less afraid to try. No longer am I terrified of wasting film on a shot that only "might" be good. No, instead I can click off a hundred in the hopes that maybe one will be print-worthy. This bravado has, blissfully, led to more and more printworthy shots and a much more colorful family album than if I had to ration each snapshot.

Nonetheless, I do miss me some instantaneous 35mm captured joy.

For more Pink Saturday, head on over to How Sweet the Sound.

Mommy Necklaces: Review and Giveaway CLOSED

CLOSED at 138 comments.

If you don't follow me on twitter, you might not yet know this, but Snapdragon has been quite the distractable baby lately. It's to the point that if Spouse walks through the room and says something, some baby is whipping his head around looking for the noise instead of focusing on the task at hand. If you're a breastfeeding mom, you know exactly what just happened to my nipple. OUCH! Well, it's also become a bit of an issue when the TV is on, or we're out in public.

No, that's not true. It's not a "bit" of an issue in public. It's a huge issue in public. When we're outsde of the house, there are new and interesting things to see, new voices to find the faces out of which they came, new animals, new smells, and just a whole lot of distraction causing newness to take in. And take it in he does.

Now, on occasion I've gone the nursing cover route with Snapdragon, and if nothing else, it gives him something to focus his attention on that is closer to my body and therefore more keenly aligned with nursing than staring all over the room, and that's nice, but it also means he is sometimes pulling at the thing, which can at times get irritating.

Of course, his distractablility also means that I'm just as likely to be nursing him in discreetly in public, you know, showing less skin than most tweens, and then all the sudden have one of "the sisters" completely exposed for the whole world to stare at, because Snapdragon is busy gawking at something else while twiddling my shirt so I can't quickly pull it back into place.

I know some of you are nodding, because he surely isn't the only one.

Well, I know he's not, because otherwise Mommy Necklaces woudln't exist.

Mommy Necklaces are the brainchild of Raelynn, who back in 2004 gave birth to a distractable baby. She had no idea that trying to nurse her sweet bundle of tactile curiousity would lead to all sorts of trials, but after being pinched and having her hair pulled time and time again, all the while trying to wrestle her baby into nursing while praying that no new sound would distract her, she realized that time and time again, her jewlery was the subject of her daughter's interest. But, of course, she wanted to replace the precious and irreplacable necklace in her nursling's hands with something a little less valuable, a lot less fragile, and most importantly, something safe for her nursling to play with.

You can read the full story of how Mommy Necklaces got started here, and I reccommend that you do.

I wasn't entirely sure this whole "nursing necklace," Mommy Necklaces thing was going to do the trick. I admit, I was skeptical. More than anxious to try on the off chance it worked, and more than thrilled to try it out when Raelynn offered to send me a Mod Flat Rocks Mommy Necklace from the Vibe collection.

Well, I have to say, it worked.

Snapdragon seems to be pretty nearly entirely mesmerized by the thing. He likes the colors. I've caught him staring at it in the car on occasion, and even once managed to eek out a whole 5 minutes of distracted silence, or should I say "focused" silence by hanging it from the carseat handle so he could stare at it, mobile like. (No, that isn't a reccommended use of either a Mommy Necklace or a carseat handle. I'm aware of this. Just sayin', he liked looking at the pretty sparkly shiny goodness.)

So let me break it down for you.

The Good.

It works. It helps Snapdragon focus on the task at hand and gives me the relief of knowing that he's playing with a piece of jewelery that is SAFE for him to be playing with. It isn't going to break letting beads fall all over the floor. It isn't going to accidentally cut him. If he pulls it too hard it won't be damaged. Oh yeah, and it's pretty darn cute, too! Of course, I am partial to pretty sparkly shiny goodness.

I love the way it holds up to full strength baby tugging from my super-strong 17lb three month old who hasn't yet learned that you don't need to tug things as hard as you can to pull them toward you. He hasn't yet managed to tear it off of me, although I once went to refasten the cup of my nursing bra back into place and somehow put my arm through it and popped it open, but that was a fairly ridiculous situation, and had it been another necklace, I'd have broken it. Yes. I am that woman. The one who breaks jewlery through bizarre happenstance.

The Not So Good.

There is only one "not so good" I can come up with here. Occasionally one of my hairs will manage to get trapped between the beads. It happens to be a pet peeve of mine about beaded jewlery in general. It's a problem you only run into when the beads are strung *really* tightly together so that they're capable of pinching, and really, it's a GREAT thing that they're that well strung, but sometimes it does pull at a strand of hair.

The Details.

They're WAHM made. I love that.

They're tested for lead and phalates, to ensure that they're safe for your baby.

Mommy Necklaces has a great policy in case of breaks, where they'll restring it free for 3 years. Awesome.

They're designed with a nifty clasp that was specifically made to come open if tugged too hard so that instead of picking beads off the floor, you can just put it back on.

Want one? I thought so.

Buy it.

You can get your very own Mommy Necklace at their website, or at a Mommy Necklaces Retailer. Most of their designs are just $24.99 with 99 cent shipping! And with so many styles within so many collections, your choices positively abound! Don't forget to check out their signature necklace, Simply Snazzy.

Win it.

In addition to sending me a Mod Flat Rocks necklace from the Vibe collection to review, Raelynn also sent me one to give to one of my readers. It too is a Mod Flat Rocks necklace from the Vibe collection, with the super-pretty oval center stone. Nice, no? It's pretty spectacular.

To Enter:

Go to Mommy Necklaces and poke about the site, then come back and tell me your favorite style and collection of Mommy Necklace, as well as something cool you learned about either the company or the product line. This entry is mandatory and all other entries will be void if it hasn't been completed. Got that?

Extra Entries:

Join Mommy Necklaces' Facebook fan page.

Buy your own Mommy Necklace.

Follow my blog.

Tweet this giveaway and leave a comment with the permalink to your tweet. (you may tweet daily)

Please leave a seperate comment for each entry, and if your email address is not visible through your blogger account, you MUST leave it in your comments. (name AT emailserver DOT com, or any other equally understandable variation acceptable)

This giveaway closes 11:59 PM, central time, September 3rd, 2009. The winner will be notified by email and announced either on this post or in a seperate post. The winner will have 72 hours to respond or else a new winner will be chosen.

Since I'm shipping this baby, it's open to entrants from the USA and Canada,

'cuz that's how I roll.

Wordless Wednesday:Generations

My Grandmother, with her grandmother.

More Wordless Wednesday Love

Passing

My Grandmother passed away this morning.

I suppose it was technically yesterday morning, but I haven't been to bed yet, so it is still today for me.

She lasted 11 hours off the ventilator.

We're all very tired.

Don't let me make it out like today has been entirely sad.

There have been good things.

Today Snapdragon learned to roll over. He can roll both from front to back and back to front. It's a very important milestone, and I am thrilled.

Today we got to spend time as a family and share heartwarming stories, like the one about the time when my uncles were skinny dipping and some girls came and stole their clothes, and as they climbed up the nearby hill to try to figure out where the girls had run off to, standing stark naked in the sun, they were faced with my grandmother who had come looking for them since they weren't supposed to be gone in the first place.

Today was not an awful day.

My grandmother had cancer. This was a less painful way to die than to die slowly of cancer.

This was a less agonizing event for the family than to watch her die slowly of cancer would have been.

This was not an awful day.

But I am drained.

It has been a hard day, and I need to go to bed now.

I promise I'll be back to upbeat shortly, but for now, thank you for bearing with me.

And the winner is....

Denise said...115

tweeted
http://twitter.com/Fullnest/statuses/3315782804

4:16 PM

You have 72 hours to get back to me with your shipping info and un/scent and formula selection! Congratulations!!!

Blue Monday: A hat, a hat, now how about that!

Mongoosine thought she had picked the right size of hoop to knit Snapdragon a hat.

Alas, the best laid plans of Mice and Mongooses...

So sister was blue that it didn't fit brother, and brother thought that was entirely too funny.

I was a little relieved that it was much to small, becuase looking at the way she "finished" it, I wasn't exactly sure how to make it function for a single use, let alone repeat wearing!

For more Blue Monday, the bird will show you the way!

Pink Saturday

I've only been to Las Vegas once, and I can't say I'd ever go back.

It's strange, however, that I keep coming back to this picture time and time again.

I remember that I had an awful headache from how loud it was,

but nonetheless, it was an experience I'm glad I had.

It's not all that often, outside a science fiction movie

that you get to see the whole sky lit up above your head.

Anyhow, for those of you who have wondered, that's what Spouse looks like.

If you'd like to see some more Pink Saturday, head over to How Sweet The Sound.

This week Beverly asked us to say a bit about how we are going to be choosing blogs to visit and comment on. I normally would have some fun and grandiose way of participating, but I expect that most of my tomorrow will be spent dealing with the situation with my grandmother, and therefore if I'm looking, it will be via my phone which doesn't allow me to comment on a good many blogs. Sorry folks. That said, since only two people are allowed in an ICU room at a time, I suppose that I'll have plenty of waiting around time to at least look.

Wow

So yeah, I just got one of those calls you hate getting. Only I didn't hear the phone ringing because I was a touch heat-sick from dropping Mongoosine off for a Girl Scouting event and hanging around too long under the hot sun when I'm no good at hot. So I let my phone ring.

When I got home, Spouse was all "I need to talk to you."

And I'm all ?

So I went to get Snapdragon out of his carseat. "I need to talk to you."

I'm wondering if I did something wrong, like that time that I allegedly started a (true) rumor about a creepy guy who lives down the block and he got irritated and pestered my MIL about it at the library. Did I mention I didn't start said (true) rumor and that um... first ammendment, look it up sometime?

So yeah, I'm going through a list of all the stupid things I've done lately and having trouble coming up with what the matter could be.

Well, sadly, it wasn't something I'd done.

This is what has been relayed to me.

This morning my grandmother had an episode. She went into respitory distress and no one came to assist her quickly enough. By the time the nurses got there, she was not breathing, and had not been breathing for a while.

Despite the DNR bracelet on her wrist and copious paperwork to that effect in her file, they felt that they weren't positive if she meant it, apparently, and they decided she was a GAR. You know, go ahead and resuscitate.

She is now in the ICU of a local hospital, on a ventilator, and in a coma. There is still some brain stem function, but nothing in the parts of the brain responsible for things like cognition and a person's sense of self.

Prior to this morning she was in a nursing home because she has stage IV cancer, which has spread to lots of parts of her body. She also had a stroke many years ago and only enjoyed the mobility of one arm, her neck, and head.

In the hospital she tested positive for a MRSA infection.

So if I don't get back to my emails the way I normally would, or if you @ me and I'm usually slow to reply, it's all very confusing at the moment.

I don't know what I think at the moment.

Your son's going to be gay if you dress him like that.

First, let me apologize for the straight-out-of-camera-ness of this picture, but I'm NAK at the moment, and photo-editing is just a touch beyond me right now.

Babylegs. Love 'em or hate 'em, they're gaining popularity, especially amongst the cloth diapering crowd.

I personally LOVE them. I love the way that they keep his little legs warm and still allow me to change his diaper. I love how adorable they are. I love the way that I can put his diaper on him with his babylegs and he's good to go in this hot summer weather. I also love that they guard against that awful carpet burn that little ones tend to get on their knees when they start crawling. Sure, Snapdragon's not crawling just yet, but he will be some day, and I love that we're ready to go when he's ready to go.

Now, this is one of my absolute favorite outfits to dress him in. I like the way the piping on the onesie nearly matches the blue on his babylegs. So, when we're getting dressed up to go somewhere, this is what I like to put him in. I even have a sweater and bib to finish the outfit, but on the day in question, he wasn't wearing any of that. Just this.

What day is that, you ask? The day I took him to my brother-in-law's house to pal it up with his family and my husband's sister who was also there with her little, er, big baby who is two days older than Snapdragon.

Well, after about two hours of happily playing, my brother-in-law's wife came home (I refrain from calling her my sister-in-law, else you think she's married to my brother) and she's playing with the babies. Holding them and cooing over them. Yay, we're having a grand time for all of 2 minutes, when she looks at me and says, "Your son's going to be gay if you dress him like that."

Excuse me?

"Your son's going to be gay if you dress him like that."

That's right. My adorable little boy's adorable little babylegs are going to make him gay. Aren't you glad to know that after all the years of research into the biological reasons a person might be homosexual that its aparently as simple as the way you were dressed as a baby.

Dress that kid like a sissy, he'll grow up to be one.

It is overwhelmingly sad to me that this sort of ignorance about homosexuality still exists. More upsetting is that these sorts of comments are tossed about in front of children (for instance, the six children who were present at the time of said comment) thus perpetuating this type of ignorant biggotry.

Dressing your child in adorable clothes will have no effect on whether they grow up to like men, women, or a little bit of either! But forcing rigid stereotypes upon them *will* influence how comfortable they are in their own skin, and how well they interact with anyone who might deviate from the social "norm" which they have been taught.

Boys can play with dolls and still grow up to get married and have children. Girls can play with trucks. Boys can wear pink and girls can wear jeans. If I want to let my son have a floral blanket, that's okay, because flowers are lovely, whether you're male or female. They're aesthetically pleasing. Just because it's pleasant, boys don't have to dislike it. The fact that these biggoted ideas still dominate the social consciousness reflects poorly on us as a people.

So yeah, the babylegs look a little preppy. But who cares? The next day he was in skulls and guitars punk clothes. Does that mean he's going to grow up to be a punk? I don't think so.

So please, next time you go to make a comment about how girly a boy's outfit, haircut, choice of toys may be, please remember, there's nothing wrong with anderogyny. It leads to acceptance of both one's self and others. Spread the love. Not the hate.

Next time, I know what to say in response. "Your son's going to be gay if you dress him like that."

"Happy? I hope so."

The fine print.

I was not compensated in any way for writing about BabyLegs, particularily not compensated to make a case as to why they may or may not look/be/induce-one-to-become gay. That's really not how I roll. I did win these BabyLegs, and without the Born2Impress giveaway, I'd not own a pair. In my dealings with the company to arrange shipping, I made a comment which they did ask if they could quote, and I said yes. Yes, spouse called me a sell-out at that point, but if saying "sure, you can quote me, and by the way, thanks," is being a sell-out, so be it. If you look at pictures of Snapdragon's cuteness and think, "I need a pair!" Well, good for you, but that's not my point either. If BabyLegs would like to compensate me by sending me another pair to review all formal-like, that's their business, and they're free to email me, but I'm not going begging.

Things I Want Thursday

So yeah, I usually blog all the great giveaways (most of which get announced on Fridays or Mondays) on Saturday, but this week I've been so drained that I just couldn't do it.
Not til tonight when I realized, *gasp* that I've now recieved all the fluffy mail I've won and been expecting, and there's some more winning that's gotta happen if our stash is going to grow. (other than very non-hintingly, okay, blatantly mentioning to family members that if they wanted to buy me this, I'd be okay with that! size M, ftr)While I had been supposing that a two day stash is sufficient, when we got down to prefolds and plastic pants today while doing laundry, I realized that maybe a few more would be a great idea, especially since he's about two outgrow a few entirely. (At least I can put them up for the next, right?)

So, this week I'm really hoping to win some of these giveaways.
Cloth Diaper Blog is giving away 3 Bum Genius and babylegs for Feed Your Stash Friday. You guys know I'm a sucker for babylegs!

The Eco Chic is hosting a giveaway for a GAD, and I'm all kinds of wanting to try a GAD!

The Cloth Diaper Report is giving away a Rocky Mountain one size diaper which would mooove me to smile if it were on Snapdragon's bottom side!

The Cloth Diaper Experiment is giving away a three pack of FuzziBunz, and I love how very very soft they are, so I would LOVE to win those. Especially since Snapdragon's only FuzziBunz is lavender and too big for him. (I know, who would have thought that anything would be too big for my 3 month old who's sporting 12mo clothes!)

So SAHMy

There's been a lot of type cast about lately on being a SAHM, or WAHM, and how these terms define us. I'd never given it much thought, really. I gave up the new car and huge house lifestyle when I made the choice to be here, taking an on-call 24/7 role in the raising of my children.
I don't get paid for what I do. My compensation comes in milky smiles from Snapdragon and moments of creative genius from Mongoosine.
It's worth it, but that doesn't mean it isn't work.
I'm doing much more than just "staying home." In that light, its limiting and inaccurate.
But more inaccurate in that, as a "stay home mom" I'm really only occasionally home. I'm at the park, engendering a healthy love of play. I'm at appointments making sure everyone's healthy. I'm at the grocery store giving Mongoosine an opportunity to, albeit slowly, determine which item is best, either healthiest or most cost efficient. I'm walking the kids to the library to teach them a love of books and that there are more ways to travel by car. I'm at the pool watching Mongoosine conquer the high-dive. I'm in the voting booth quietly explaining how the electoral process works so that Mongoosine will grow up to be an active citizen.
I'm not staying at home by any stretch of the imagination.
I'm just not being financially compensated for the work I do, and I'm not punching a clock.
So what does this make me?
I'm a woman. I'm a mother. I'm a daughter, a sister, aunt, cousin, teacher, friend, college graduate, lactivist, blogger, writer, singer, milch-cow, artist, environmentalist,and sometime short order cook.

Brief Breastfeeding Musings

One of the key steps to the normalization of breastfeeding is, quite simply the presence of breastfeeding in pop culture.
Sounds pretty simple, doesn't it?
But we live in a world where Janet Jackson creates an uproar for momentarily exposing a nearly unidentifiable breast during a barely watch worthy performance, and that shows where the FCC comes down on the girls. What television producer, outside of the folks over at the Discovery Health Chanel, which isn't broadcast and therefore not subject to the same scrutiny, is going to run the risk of having some woman's tatas in plain view while feeding an infant?
Then there is the further problem, aside from possible censorship issues, that most actresses aren't lactating.
Sure, we can hire someone to play a one time spot on a show where there's a nursing mother, but that's not normalizing. That's incidentalizing.
So help me out here. Should cartoon moms be nursing the babies instead of giving them bottles?
How can we get more breastfeeding awareness in our entertainment so that when people encounter it in the real world, it is both accepted and expected?

Any thoughts?

A Brand New Teether

Friday morning, a brand new teether came in the mail.
Rather, a Moby Wrap. Snapdragon, however, is fairly convinced it's a teether.

It's UV treated, which is kinda cool, but let me reiterate, Snapdragon thinks it's a teether.

I won it from the forums over at Babywearing, and I have to say, I squeed. I squeed a lot. I squeed like a tween who just spotted Johnny Depp. I squeed.

I also won a matching pair of babylegs (as he is so cutely sporting) and the Moby swaddling blanket.

Of course, I'm very impatient, so as soon as the package arrived, I had to tear into it and start reading the directions. They look a little intimidating the first time you pull out yard after yard of fabric with a complicated drape and wrap how-to pictorial guide, but it didn't take long and I had it secured, thank goodness. Slipping snapdragon in and out isn't too hard, but I have to say, I'm not entirely sure how breastfeeding in it is any easier than out of it. I mean, to get him in a sidewaysish position was really complicated, involved taking him out, adjusting it, and putting him back in, and I think it would have been easier to just hold him to feed him.

Of course, our first attempt at nursing in the Moby was at a Barnes and Noble, so it's not like I wasn't under any pressure to get it done right, quickly, and without making a scene.

It might have been easier if I'd been wearing a plunging v-neck instead of a t-shirt.

All in all, he sorta loves it, but mostly for it's value as a mommy hugging teething device.

So yeah, I <3 it.

Of course, this hasn't prevented me from entering this months giveaway for a hella-cool adjustable pouch sling... I figure he'll teeth on it too if he has half a chance!

World Breastfeeding Week: Closing Thoughts

Tonight at my mother's house for dinner, as Snapdragon began to fuss and move his head rapidly from side to side, searching for the breast he knew had to be close by on account of the fact that he'd decided he was hungry, a conversation my mother relayed to me earlier this week came back to me.

She'd been out with friends, both of whom are now in their sixties, and if you're in your sixties and think that my pointing out their age is ageist, you might be right, but nonetheless they are, and the subject of breastfeeding came up.

Now, as you may remember, my mother isn't exactly the type who thinks breastfeeding is particularily nifty, so when she told me that they'd been surprisingly turned off by the idea, I was all (defensive) ears.

It's probably the standard story. The squicked out body language. The gestures one uses when talking about underdone chicken. The grimace intended to look like sophisticated disdain.

"What do you mean she doesn't give it a bottle?"

"What does she do if they're out in public?"

"Or what if she's at your house, does she just expose herself in front of her dad?"

"But what does he think about that?"

"But what does she do if she's in a resturant?"

"Well, it's a good thing she didn't come tonight, she might have had to feed the baby!"

Hmmm....

If I'd been there...

No. No bottles. We haven't had a need to, although I have tried pumping and have had milk sit unused in one. Pouring it out always breaks my heart.

In public? Feed him.

I'd have been tempted to say that I first do my ceremonial milk-dance, which involves stripping topless, spinning in a circle and ululating, but of course, they would have only half believed that.

That said, this week alone I've nursed him in public at the library, at the outside eating area of the local icecream parlor, at a coffee house, and in a Barnes & Noble. And I don't get out much.

Yes, I've fed my son in front of my father. Which is what brought this conversation to mind, as I was preparing to do so as I'd done before, sans cover and everything.

He hasn't told me what he thinks. I haven't asked, but they're free to.

Yes, if he'd been hungry, I'd have fed him. Regardless of the fact that I was in an EATING establishment. Doesn't scoffing at feeding a child in a place intended for being fed seem a little, well, like something out of Alice in Wonderland?

Good thing? Yes, it was, because I was at a Breastfeeding Cafe sponsored by the La Leche League, getting to know other breastfeeding moms and women who intended to breastfeed. I got to ask and answer questions, converse and bond with women who were both supportive and in need of support.

Good thing? No, it wasn't, because if there was a woman or girl at the next table idly listening, then she needed to hear that although women of a certain generation generally did not breastfeed because they were *wrongly* taught that formula was healthier, better, safer for their children and therefore have no real experience with it, that it is indeed the healthiest, best, and indeed most natural and therefore normal way to feed an infant.

So if you're a little bit of a lactivist, please, the next time you're out and someone starts in, make sure that anyone listening in gets to hear the supportive side of the story too.

Happy Breastfeeding Week.

Love and Light.

Old Navy Coupons Winners

I have emailed our sponsor with your email addresses, thank you for playing!

1 Congratulations #29 Kim!

2 Congratulations #10 Enith Hernandez

3 Congratulations # 11 Thrifty Mama B!

4 Congratulations #40 Amanda!

5 Congratulations #7 Denise!

6 Congratulations #44 Deanna!

7 Congratulations #40, again, so redraw. Congratulations #6 Nicole!

8 Congratulations #10, again, so redraw. Congratulations #30 Upstatemomof3!

9 Congratulations #25 Congratulatinos Daniella!

10 Congratulations #2 Megan!

two points, 1. i don't know how to do a screen cap yet. 2. ya get the wonkiest looking result copying and pasting, so you'll just have to trust me. eep!

i lost my comment ennumeration in trying to make the comments more user friendly last night, as blogger was being harftastic. consequently, i've recounted a few times.

Thanks for playing!

Old Navy Coupons Giveaway

CLOSED at 47 comments

Okay, I am going to admit something dreadful and shocking.

I haven't gone clothes shopping since early November of 2008.

Really. Prior to that... I have no recollection of how long it had been since I went clothes shopping.

BUT, I can tell you that some of my fondest memories of shopping for the next cutest and most cost-efficient items to add to my wardrobe were of scouring the racks at Old Navy.

What? Not some fancy department store or eco-boutique? Nope.

Why? Because Old Navy makes functional clothes that a body can feel comfortable in, and they have a broader range of sizes.

Did I mention that the only kind of sticker-shock I've ever had at Old Navy was the "you're kidding, it's only $4.00?" kind. That's my favorite.

I love that they have adorable clothes for babies, little kids, teens, and even pregnant women. That's right. They have maternity clothes. They also carry what I call "fat lady clothes" (I can get away with that, because that's the size I wear, LOL) and they're actually trendy!

How fantabulous is that?

Well, I know you're salivating, waiting for me to skip to the punchline. So here it is.

If you've been checking out OldNavyWeekly.com, or should I say, stalking it like a ravenous leopard, hoping to pounce on one of their way-too-cool coupons, but somehow managed to again not be one of the first people to the site, then this giveaway is for you. Because although I know you heart the still cool 15-20% off coupons you can find with your awesome hunter-gatherer skillz after the mad dash to find the uber-coupons is over, there's a good chance you'll heart this even more!

Old Navy, through their spifftacular PR agency, M80, has very generously offered to make 10 of their FABULOUS coupons available to my readers.

Cool, no?

What's that, you want to know how FABULOUS???

They're giving away 10 (ten) coupons for $50 off $100.

That's right.

$50 off $100

And get this. Their item of the week, the wicked-cool Women's Mandarin-Collar Henley is only $9.00. Remember that awesome kind of sticker shock I mentioned earlier?

This would be that.

So yeah, now I suddenly feel the urge to go shopping again. Pity I can't win my own giveaway!

Alright then. How to win. You have 2 Chances to be entered into this competition. The first is absolutely mandatory.

Mandatory:

1. Let me know what you're planning to buy if you win, as well as which color of henley rocks your socks.

Optional:

2. Follow me on twitter and tweet this giveaway. Tweet must link back to this post. Comment back here with the permalink to your tweet. You may tweet as many times as you want, but it's only going to count for one entry.

10 Winners will be randomly selected on 8/7/09 at 4:00 PM, central. Winners will be notified Friday evening.

Please leave your email address in your entry so that you can be notified if you win.

Winners MUST be able to print a PDF to redeem their coupons. Coupons are good 8/7/09- 8/13/09

.

World Breastfeeding Week: Even Though it Makes You Squick

My mother gets all squicked out about breastfeeding.
As I've pointed out in the past, she is not exactly a fount of moral support.
She's the type who will be holding a baby and get spit up on, sit there happily, and then be in a mad search for a clean shirt, not because its puke, but because she realized that it started out as breastmilk.
She's a firm believer in the bottle, and I suspect these views are mostly a product of her generation.
So if I run into any tata trouble, I'm much more likely to call my aunt, who is my age and nursed all of her children, and therefore is more knowledgeable and more supportive. She isn't going to say with strained voice and only loosely hidden disdain, "oh my gawd, does he ever stop that, that suckling?"
My mom? Well, yeah, there's a reason for the quotes.
But that said, I really have to give her credit.
Yes, the whole breastfeeding thing goes against her every fiber and squicks her out to no end, but she is trying so hard to be supportive.
She's done some research on it. She even supplied me with nursing pads when I was still pregnant. She's learned all about nursing bras, more when I was pregnant with Mongoosine than Snapdragon, but nonetheless, she has.
She will even quote the "lactivist propaganda," even if it is with a sigh and prefaced with the phrase, "well, now they're saying."
It makes me a little proud though, that she is trying so hard to be supportive, to be informed, to be openminded.
My mom does kinda rock, even if she fed me formula.

Letter to a Child

Dear Little Sister,

There will come a day when all this tense excitement will be forgotten. You are too little to understand right now how eagerly your mommy and daddy are looking forward to meeting you, to holding you in their arms. And although they will tell you how much they hoped and wished and prayed for you, and how they longed to hold you , and rock you to sleep at night, to cuddle you and stare into your beautiful eyes, they can not tell you what only the rest of us know. How their excitement and eagerness was so huge, was so gigantic, was so utterly uncontainable that it spilled across thousands and thousands of miles, not just to Ethiopia, where you were born, but all across the United States, and Canada, and across the whole wide world so that people who could smell the air of all the seas and oceansthat cover this planet, which, in terms of planets, is a moderately sized one. Mind you, in terms of people, it's actually quite large.

You need to know this, because if it comes from them you might be skeptical. You might not believe that women in the strange land of Texas set aside what they were doing to spend time praying for you, and that women in places of no consequence, but so far distant from you and yours that their homes may indeed seem exotic gathered at their computers to celebrate you.

You may wonder, some day, if you were destined to be raised as an upstate kid, why were you born so far away? And I tell you, at this point, I sometimes wonder if it wasn't so you, so little now, had to be born so far from your mommy and daddy so that all of us could be more greatly blessed by the outpouring of love they already feel for you, never having laid so much as a kiss upon your forehead.

You may not agree with me, but I truly believe that every act of kindness and love and giving in this world somehow affects us all for the good. We are each and every one of us more blessed for having witnessed the love your mother feels for you, and for that, I, for one, am grateful.

May you soon be held in your mommy's arms. May you soon be covered in kisses by Big Brother and Big Sister. May you soon be comforted by the sound of daddy's voice. May the love that stretches all around this globe, for you, stay with you all of your days.

Bright blessings on you, Little Sister.

Love,

Slee

World Breastfeeding Week: An Announcement

Three Months today, exclusively breastfed.

Wordless Wednesday: Don't Forget To Wear Sunscreen

For More Wordless Wednesday, click here.

And yes, I know it's not a Breastfeeding picture, but I do have to still be married tomorrow. Right?

World Breastfeeding Week: NAK and Twursing

I spend a lot of my time these days NAK. Typically, I'm both NAK and Twursing.

If you know what this means, well, then you're probably doing it too.

For those of you who don't know, it's "nursing at keyboard" and nursing while Twittering.

I love twitter because it suits my OCD. I also got addicted to it while I was pregnant with Snapdragon and spending most of my days in a horizontal attitude as per my OB's "suggestion."

Today I would like to say thank you to those of you out there in the Twitterverse who have helped mentor me in this breastfeeding adventure. Your advice has been golden. Your support has been a blessing. I don't know how I'd have gotten past the initial soreness without your encouragement and constant barrage of anti-formula propaganda, rather, information.

Thank you.

Tomorrow will be three whole great big months of nursing Snapdragon every few hours. I didn't believe that this would be the way I'd be spending my days before he was born. I was sure I'd teach him to take a bottle and supplement with formula so that daddy could get in on the action and I'd not be so attached. But I can't imagine it being any other way now.

Thank you.

He's some 26" long and some 16lbs these days. That's 5" and 8 lbs of growth all due to this bizarre alchemy by which my hamburger becomes baby-grow-juice.

So thank you for being there tweeting at 2 AM with me and LOLing when I posted a pic of the first time i accidentally sprayed his face with milk.

Thank you for helping me to become a tweeting, twursing, blogging, NAK lactivist.

A Rockin' Green Giveaway!

CLOSED 140 Comments

If you've been reading my blog or following me on Twitter, you have most likely read that I am pretty taken with Rockin' Green Laundry Detergent. You've probably read this more than once. Maybe a few hundred times. You may have read the very filky "Ode to Rockin' Green" I wrote while up late one night. You may even have seen the silly YouTube version of said ode that Mongoosine and Snapdragon "performed in" that we filmed the following morning. (Melody and Costuming by Mongoosine, Adlib Fussing by Snapdragon)

So yeah, I love it.

I actually was very fortunate in that I first got to try Rockin' Green as the result of a Random Act of Kindness. @eclairemom won a sample of Rockin' Green during a Monday night #clothdiapers chat on Twitter. For whatever reason, instead of keeping it for herself, she gifted it to me. Isn't that awesome? Well, we rocked that sample, (Vanilla Buttercream, Soft Rock) and I was so sad when it was gone. Then we were blessed again by winning another sample of it during a #clothdiapers chat last Monday night. (Cherry Lemonade, Soft Rock) and it's pretty awesome too. They both smell so good that I have to remind myself that they're not for tasting. Good thing there's a prominent reminder to keep away from kids and animals. That would be one form of Pica I could really understand!

Well, I hope this counts as paying it forward, and yes I know it's all because of the generousity of Kim, the mastermind behind Rockin' Green Soap, that any of this is possible. You hear that? Kim rocks. Kim rocks it out old school.

So here's what you need to know about Rockin' Green Soap.

"If you have skin that's prone to fits, but you need clean that never quits, Rockin' Green..."

and "If you don't want to break out but want the poo stains to come out, Rockin' Green..."

So yeah, I break out. I break out really easily from soaps. The perfumes, the dyes, the abrasive chemicals all leave me looking kinda like a hairless sunburnt chicken. Creepy, no? But alas, I have the dreaded sensitive skin, which makes it hard to branch out and try new things. I'm pretty much allergic to everything that smells good. But, since I had the opportunity to try Rockin' Green, I figured "it's a small sample, go ahead. Once won't kill you."

And you know what?

It didn't.

No itchies. No scratchies. No rash. No nothing. Just clean laundry. And clean Fluffy laundry at that!

And little baby boy?

No itchies. No scratchies. No rash.

Even his sensitive baby skin was good with Rockin' Green, and I use it on his sheets, blankets, clothes, and diapers. I use it on my clothes too, because I figure, I'm the only surface he's in contact with almost as much as his diapers. It's been all good!

"Want some detergent that smells good? Better than most food? Rockin' Green..."

Like I mentioned earlier, I'm allergic to nearly everything that smells good. That's probably why I married Spouse. No worries about an allergic reaction, LOL.

But seriously, I have never in my life been able to use scented detergents, so at first I was a little skeptical of all of these fancy named scents. "Monkey Snacks you ask? What is this crazy banana-y goodness and why would I want it on my clothes?" I asked. "Vanilla Buttercream belongs on a cake, not in my washing Machine!" I declared. "Sure, Cherry Lemonade sounds like a great drink, but It'll give me a headache," I scoffed.

Besides, aren't perfumed detergents supposed to be all anathema or something for cloth diapers?

Well, again, I figured, that it couldn't hurt to try, because if I couldn't handle the scent (and Kim also makes an unscented version) I could always give it to a friend who likes scented cleaners and detergents.

Also, because Kim hasn't had to strip her cloth diapers in MONTHS, yes ladies, I said months, more than six of them, then maybe just maybe I woudln't have to be all paranoid about trying this on Snapdragon's diapers.

Well, they're not repelling, and I've tried both the Vanilla Buttercream and the Cherry Lemonade, and I have to say, they smell divine. More importantly, they don't induce any sneezing or headaches. Nope, just a delightful scent while I'm doing the fluffies. And the best part is, when I pull everything out of the wash, I'm not overpowered by something sweet and confectionary smelling, but rather, the laundry just smells clean.

I heart that.

"If your water's wicked hard"

Other than when I lived in Texas and the water from the villiage was 490ppm sodium, I've never really had soft water. My family is usuall too darn cheap, er, environmentalist, to waste all that salt in the water softener, so I'm pretty used to looking at the world in terms of hard water. As a matter of fact, I often do laundry at my parents' house, and they have rock-hard well water, and no, I don't mean it comes with an intoxicating radical hydroxyl group, just that it's not soft.

Seriously people happy hour's down the street, none of that here.

But with hard water, this stuff works, and it works well.

You might also want to know that Rockin' Green is:

• Dye & perfume free
• No fillers
  
• No enzymes or optical brighteners
  
• 100% Phosphate Free
• Vegan
• Great for sensitive skin
• Easy rinsing formula
• Works wonders on microfiber stink!
  
• Perfect for cloth diapers
• HE Compatible
• Reusable packaging
• Great for all water types
• Economical at .13 cents a load!

So I know you want to try some of this wonderment that is Rockin' Green, Right?

Well, there are two ways to accomplish that.

1. Buy some. Head on over to Rockin' Green's website, or to GADBaby and buy some.

You can go now. That's okay. I'll wait for you.

Back already? Okay, on to two.

2. Win Some. Kim, the brilliant creative genius behind Rockin' Green Soap has very generously offered to give one of you, my readers, 45 loads (90 HE) of Rockin' Green, in your choice of Classic or Soft Rock formula, and in your choice of scent. Now that's just heavenly, if you ask me.

Here's how to enter.

MANDATORY Entry: (as in, if you don't do this, none of your entries will count and you can't win, which would suck, right? ) Go to Rockin' Green and come back and tell me precisely which type you'd want if you won. Which Formula, and which flava', er, I mean scent.

And because we all love us some extra entries:

1. Buy something from Rockin' Green or GADBaby. Then come back and leave five comments telling me what you bought. That's right. This one is good for FIVE entries.

2. Follow my blog, publicly. Leave a comment letting me know that you do.

3. Grab my button for your blog or website. Leave a comment telling me you do, and the link to where it is so I can go check it out.

4. Blog about this giveaway or why Rockin' Green rocks, linking to both Rockin' Green and my blog. Leave a comment with the link to your blog POST, not just to your blog.

5. Follow both Me and Rockin' Green on Twitter, and tweet this giveaway. Leave a comment with the permalink to your tweet. (you get the permalink by clicking under your tweet where it has the time and date, or says something like "five seconds ago")

You can do this once a day. Not so much the following, but the tweeting.

6. Become a Fan of Rockin' Green Soap on Facebook. Leave a comment telling me that you did and your facebook name.

7. Vote for Snapdragon (#16) on GADBaby.com's Biggest Fluffy Butt contest. Yes, I am buying your votes. Live with it. After you vote for #16, come back and let me know the name your comment is listed under so I can check, and that you voted.

8. Random Act of Kindness. Do something really nice for someone else. Then come back and leave a comment letting me know what you did, unless it's something you don't want the other person to know you did, and in that case, you can leave a comment saying you did one, and then DM or email me the details. (I LOVE random acts of kindness and spreading the blessed) Feel free to do as many acts of kindness as you'd like!

Please, be sure to leave your email address in the comments if you don't have a blog or if your email address isn't attached to your profile in a manner in which I can see it. Otherwise I won't know how to contact you!

This contest will run through noon on Monday, August 17th. I will randomly select a winner using Random.org's random number generator. The winner will be announced on this contest, as well as in #clothdiapers chat and I will also email the winner. The winner will have 72 hours to contact me, otherwise I'll have to pick a new winner.