...few things

good afternoon! It has been a little bit busy here in ole CT, but my littlest one is down for his nap finally and the other kiddo is having some iPad time in the living room. (Yes he is allowed a little bit of iPad time on days where he has been going easy on mama...he has 3 apps and they are all educational...no judging! sometimes its the only way I can get a minute lol) 

anyways, just a couple fun things I wanted to share. Starting with what I THINK is going to be this mamas new hobby. You all know that our dream is to buy a home with enough land that we can be a bit more self sufficient. Bigger garden, more animals, etc...Well, we can only do so much on the property we have now. For the time being I have to find little ways to do more things myself and spend less money. I decided to put my oils to a new use & on Monday, I experimented with making my own soap! This may not sound at all exciting to anyone else lol but for me, well I cant contain it. 

in our house we only use real, natural goats milk soaps. My hubs has reactions to the store bought soaps and for as long as we have been together its been goats milk all the way. If anyone else uses these types of soap, you know they do not come cheap. My mother in law usually stocks us up. She purchases them from her co op in Maine and send them to us. Which we LOVE since it saves us money. For my first batch, I made Peppermint Soap. I bought Shea and Goats milk so I could make a few different batches. (this was GM)  I love experimenting! 

i bought the mold and the soap base for cheap off Amazon. I started with a SUPER simple recipe since I am indeed a beginner. As you can see in the photo I did not fill the molds up all the way b/c I wanted to stretch the soaps. I only bought 4lbs total and this was 1/2 a pound. Check out the "EO Recipes I Love" tab for directions on how to make this soap!!

i used a bar last night in the shower and I think it is great!!! The peppermint is not over powering and the soap made a great lather and was very moisturizing! The next batches coming will be with lavender, and then an oatmeal honey!!

to add to my excitement over the idea of making my own natural soaps, I decided to order supplies to make my own lip balm!!! The stuff will be here today and I am literally like a kid in a candy shop!! or maybe an Etsy shop?? now wouldn't that be fun!!! We will see!

the other thing I wanted to share was that I was selected by Green Moms Meet (again, thank you!) for a sampling group. The product they are sending me is called the NeliMed Naspira Nasal-Oral Aspirator. It is a (get ready) mucous suction device for little ones. You suck from one end while the other is up the nose!! Yes this sounds so disgusting and there is another product like it on the market which I swore Id never go that far. However, this past winter was horrible on my littles and my baby ended up in the ER and testing positive for RSV. He was so clogged up with mucous that he could barely breath. It was very scary and I have no desire to go through that again. The doctors and even some friends told me these are the best things going. There is a filter so that anything sucked up does not come close to the mouth. Which is great b/c no doubt I'd throw up. 

i saw this as a sampling opportunity and applied. Of course my kids are finally over all the sickness, but at least I will have this on hand should it happen again. They are including a lot of other goodies with this sampling which I will share when it arrives. If you have experience with these...please do share!! Seriously, I've been dealing with puke, poop and pee for years now...whats a little mucous suck? hahaha;)

 (hope youre keeping your lunch down;)

have a great day!

xo

Product Review : Well Beginnings Diapers

Good Morning all! Well, I am finally posting my review for the Well Beginnings Diapers that I was picked to do via Green Moms Meet. 

Now, I am not what I would call a "diaper snob" but I tend to stick with Huggies. I have used Pampers in the past, and I just don't care too much for them. The main reason for me being that the area where the straps are to stick the diaper on is too thin, causing me to rip many a diaper. Also I always felt like they were too tight in that area on my sons upper thigh. To me, a size 3 in Pampers was tighter than a size 3 in Huggies. Huggies diapers are much thicker in the upper thigh area and the part where you stick is as well. I never rip a Huggies diaper. The Pure and Natural is my favorite, but it is more cost affective right now to purchase regular Huggies since I get more in a box for a little bit cheaper price. That being said, I was interested in trying out these new diapers from Walgreens, just to see how they would stand against my number one pick. 

 

WB on left, Huggies on right

The package I recieved was 31 diapers for size 4 ( 22-37lbs). I did not have to pay for these, but I believe they are under 10$. Compared to Huggies Little Movers, the Well Beginnings Diaper was only slightly less thick inside. Right away it reminded me of the Pampers diapers. I thought for sure my son would pee right through this diaper. However, we were actually tested on that theory and not on purpose!! I change my son whenever I feel a large poofy wet diaper. He never goes longer than 1.5 half in one diaper with me. He pees a lot! One day last week I had a bridal shower to go to and daddy got to spend time with his boy. Well, lets just say for someone not used to changing diapers all day long left his son in the same diaper MUCH longer than he should have! Not horribly long that mom would freak out, but certainly longer than I would ever leave him. (longer than 2 hours) My goofy husband just "forgot". Anyways, you would think that he would have been soaking wet since he was peeing in the same diaper for a decent amount of time. He was not though! It was absolutely a full diaper, but nothing had come through. That right there was one big plus for this brand of diaper. Even though it is a little thinner than my Huggies diapers, it still fought against the leak. 

 

WB on left, Huggies on right

The second most important thing was the strap size. As you can see in the picture, the part on the WB diaper where the diaper sticks is basically the same size as the Huggies. Like I mentioned, my son has cute little chubby thighs and I worry about too tight diapers. With the stretchy waist band, it is more comfortable and does not leave a mark on the skin caused by tightness.  I also found that even though there is no "double grib strip" like the alternative, these diapers stay on just fine. I have changed diapers for years (I worked in daycare for many years) and sometimes when changing a chaild I would notice the diaper had come un stuck under the pants. So far this has not happened with the Well Beginnings. He has been wearing these for about 3 weeks now with no issues. 

Lastly, these diapers are hypoallergenic, cotton and soft. The liner contains aloe, vitamin E and natural botanicals. I have researched and haven't found anything stating any added chemicals to the diaper. BIG plus. 

Cost wise, these are pretty affordable. If you CLICK HERE you will find the package I got is listed for 9.49 and if I were to order I could buy one and get one 50% off. That's not too shabby. Also depending on the size you need, the deal is even better. Size 2 diapers come with 46 diapers to a pack (mine was only 31) same price and you can buy one get one 50% off. Right now on amazon.com there is a pack of Huggies 27 count, size 4 diapers listed for $17.62. Now you all know I love my Huggies, but if I am trying to save some money...the Well Beginnings is the way to go. You get more diapers for less money. 

In my opinion, Well Beginning Diapers are just as good as the Huggies I use every day. If the two were side by side in the store and the price was right, I would have no problem choosing the Well Beginnings. They have been put to the test (not always on purpose haha) and have passed. 

I thank Green Moms Meet for allowing me to review this product, I am happy to have learned about it and to be able to share the experience!

Please head over to walgreens.com/wellbeginnings or their Facebook page for more info or if you have any questions!


I received this product for free from the sponsor of the Moms MeetSM program, May Media Group LLC, who received it directly from the manufacturer. As a Moms MeetsSM blogger, I agreed to use this product and post my opinon on my blog. My opinions do not necessarily reflect the opinions of May Media Group LLC or the manufacturer of the product.


(just a reminder...anything I review is all of my own experiences and opinions. I understand it is not the same for everyone.)