What do you think? Can you make one teenie tiny little change each month to be more green? I'm sure with a little help and encouragement you can think of 12 things you can do to be more green. Don't worry, you don't have to tell me what they are. You don't even have to know all 12 changes you plan to make right now. All you have to do is make a commitment to go green. To begin your pledge simply complete this simple pledge form: Pledge to Go Green in 2012. Once you make your pledge you'll be subscribed to receive my monthly newsletter with more easy tips for going green. ... [ Read More ]
Happy 3rd Birthday Lil’ B
How is it possible that my Lil' B is actually turning THREE years old tomorrow? Just a few minutes after we introduced him to his baby sister for the first time. January 2009 First photo in a cloth diaper! bumGenius 3.0 - February 2009 January 2010 - 1st Birthday Yes, I made the tutto to match the top. January 2011 - 2nd Birthday Last picture as I kissed my tot goodnight on the eve of her 3rd birthday! (Photographic evidence that mommy needs a new iPhone with flash! Oh, and yes - she does have a fat lip from the weekend just in time for birthday photos!) Happy Birthday Lil' B! You'll always be my little baby! Remember how we said goodnight when she turned two? We officially gave up the boob (breastfeeding)! She never looked back but she does still remember that milk came from mommies boobies. She'll be happy to tell you all about it if you ask her. ***** OK - I'm going to go shed a few tears as I look through more photos. Oh, and I have a big surprise ... [ Read More ]
Ask The Eco Chic
Do you have a question about cloth diapers? Breastfeeding? Homemade baby food? Living a more eco-friendly lifestyle? Pinterest (hehehe)? Leave your question below and I'll be happy to answer it right here on The Eco Chic. No question is too big or too small...chances are if you have a question so does someone else who isn't brave enough to ask me. Loading... ... [ Read More ]
Can I Really Make a Difference?
A few weeks ago I had lunch with a very nice woman who works with the American Lung Association who was looking for influential bloggers to help her spread the word about the Clean Air Act and our children's health. We had a nice conversation and I enjoyed listening to someone who was so passionate about her cause and her mission. When I started this blog I didn't have a clear mission other than to share my knowledge about the environment and going green with others. As time progressed you can see that my primary mission these last few years has been cloth diapering and raising children in a safe and eco-friendly environment. Like most of us in the cloth diapering community I am just as passionate about our diapering choices as Heather is about air quality. She didn't understand how women/mothers/parents/etc couldn't be as passionate about our air quality as she was. I've struggled with this question for years but I've come to the conclusion that we all have our own personal ... [ Read More ]
What Makes You #HauteGreen?
I’ve had the idea of hosting a special meet-and-greet for months in conjunction with my trip to BlogHer. When I arrived at BlogHer last year I didn't know anyone and I hid in my hotel room tweeting away trying to find someone to have lunch with. I ventured out and made a great friend (thanks Kate for having lunch with me) and the rest of the weekend I was a social butterfly. This year I decided to join forces with some of my blogger friends to help me organize the details of the party. Once we started making our invite list we realized just how large the community is and how hard it would be to limit the invites to only 50 bloggers. There are so many wonderfully talented bloggers and over 3,600 of them attending BlogHer. We had an agenda of course – since the organizers and I are cloth diapering addicts and advocates we wanted to reach out to other like-minded bloggers. What are other like-minded bloggers like? What do they blog about? We found in our search that like-minded ... [ Read More ]
The Eco Chic interviewed on My Baby Experts by Shari Criso (5/24/11)
Tuesday night was a stressful night as you could tell in my previous post but in the end I had a fantastic evening on the My Baby Experts Season 3 Finale with Shari Criso. The theme for the evening was about how the internet has changed motherhood. Along with myself 4 other bloggers were interviewed to share their personal experiences and how they use the internet. If you missed the original airing it's recorded and ready for you to view. My part is about half way through the show but you should really listen to the other bloggers as well. Quite an inspiring evening. Video streaming by Ustream Links worth sharing: Shari Criso - http://www.sharicriso.com/index.php, http://www.facebook.com/ShariCrisoFan?sk=wall My Baby Experts - http://sharicriso.com/mybabyexperts/my-tv-show/ Green and Clean Mom (Sommer Poquette) - http://www.facebook.com/greenandcleanmom PhD in Parenting (Annie) - http://www.facebook.com/phdinparenting The Feminist Breeder (Gina) ... [ Read More ]
Blissdom 11 – Looking Back
Has it really been a week since I left Nashville and headed back home from Blissdom? I'm so glad that I decided to go this year and I have even more stories and moments to share with you. Why do I want to share my conference experiences with you? To give you a look behind the real reason we all blog and attend blogging conference - to make real life connections. We tend to hide behind our computers all day (or night) and forget that these are real people with real families and real stories. While there are lots of lessons we learn that make use better bloggers I think the real value is making those real connections in life. 1. I want to thank Sommer Poquette of Green and Clean Mom for encouraging me to register. She told me that it's the one conference she will go to every year because she gets so much out of it. She's totally right! Only having BlogHer to compare it to I know my experience may be different than some but wow - I'm fully charged, inspired, and ready to go! To ... [ Read More ]
Bamboobies Reusable Breastfeeding Pad Reviews
It's almost been one month since I weaned my little princess - hard to believe that I will never again breastfeed another baby! As an update to our weaning story the tot will still ask for milk but only when she's really tired or frustrated. She's now exploring and will pinch and grab my boobs just for fun. I never really experienced any pain this time around drying up. It was much easier physically to wean slowly over the last year because I had no engorgement at all this time. I just remember how painful that was with my son when we stopped with little preparation. Fortunately I get to continue to advocate to my friends the benefits of breastfeeding and that you as a parent can set your own limits and guidelines. A few months ago I was introduced to a new product on the market - bamboobies™ reusable bamboo breastfeeding pads. It was past the time when I would actually need to use them personally but I shared them with a few of my breastfeeding friends locally to get their ... [ Read More ]
Natual Eczema Care & Prevention
What do I like most about babies? Rubbing their soft silky skin - especially their toes! Don't laugh but I love how smooth baby toes are. Unfortunately many babies, tots and children suffer from severe dry skin and eczema which leaves parents wondering what they did wrong. My daughter has suffered from mild eczema for several months and I've always dreaded the treatment - hydrocortisone. I've always hated using hydrocortisone creams because they contain steroids which can be harmful to your children with repeat exposure. We didn't notice the first flare ups of eczema until she was about six months old (maybe older) and it was on the back of her knees and inside of her elbows. My first instinct was to adjust my diet since I was breastfeeding. I cut out milk from my own diet and limited other dairy and acidic foods (like tomatoes). As she started eating solids we limited those same items from her own diet. Now that she's totally weaned we continue to limit milk but that's ... [ Read More ]
Breastfeeding – Weaning at Two
I'm sure it's no surprise to you but weaning at two is much different than weaning at one. When I weaned our son we had been planning an anniversary trip out of town for a long weekend and I had slowly weaned him over a week (hardly enough time to do it right) and then we went cold turkey! What I learned that weekend was a very painful lesson - weaning hurts. Over the next two to three days my breasts were very engorged and painful as the milk dried up. Fortunately it wasn't an emotionally painful experience for either of us. At one he couldn't really communicate well and couldn't verbalize his desire. He quickly took to his sippy cup (which we had already introduced) and we never looked back. I guess one (of the many) reasons I held off on weaning my daughter was because I remember how painful the weaning process was. With her we've been working on weaning the right way for over a year. We slowly reduced the frequency of feedings over the year and she usually only asked ... [ Read More ]