Mattress Wrapping - 100% Reduction in SIDS

Have you heard of mattress wrapping? I had not. Well, if you've got a little one, or you care about the health or you and your family, you certainly should read this. Since 1994, mattress wrapping has been 100% successful in the prevention of SIDS or crib death. Yeah, 100%. It's based on the toxic gas "theory". "The theory states that toxic nerve gases permeate from all used mattresses: crib, bassinet, adult mattresses and even sofa cushions. The gases are created when fungus grows inside the mattress (or foam) and eats certain elements in the mattress, including phosphorus, arsenic, and antimony. Babies, especially those sleeping on their stomachs, breathe in the toxic nerve gases, which results in crib death, or SIDS."
Although I disagree with them advising against co-sleeping, their site is very informational. Some other methods of prevention are to avoid fabric softeners and clean with natural cleaners (Itsa Greener Clean found here and here covers that), to become educated about vaccination, breastfeed, do not smoke, and expose baby to fresh air whenever possible. More information on SIDS can be found at Ask Dr Sears.
We are looking into a way to cover the old mattress Jon sleeps on and the couch Aiden and I share. (Yeah we sleep on the couch, if your mattress was as old and springy as ours, you would too!)
Thanks to All Natural Mommies for the original post.

Yeah Baby, I'm Gonna Win It!

Jenna's blog pointed out this awesome contest, which, as the title proves, I am going to win. Win what you ask? An awesome Dyson slim vacuum, that's what! You can enter yourself at 5 Minutes for Mom; it'll just add to how cool it is that I won :)

And the winner is...

Christy from Sapphire Stitches not only choose a name that I love, she made me a label! So, what name did she come up with you ask? Itsa Greener Clean. I didn't use her label in the end (I went with a simpler, all black label) but it's the thought that counts! Check out her store later; she just had a baby but she'll be stocking it soon.

Thanks to everyone who entered a name! I liked them all, but many were already in use or had suds in the name (it's suds free :) Itsa Greener Clean spoke to me, and it's wasn't trademarked.

Itsa Greener Clean is $1 off right now, and can be found here and here. It will be in a few brick and mortar stores soon as well.

Maine Maple Sunday

Maine Maple Sunday could not have fallen on a more beautiful day. The Grimmel family ventured over to Peru, ME (a 10 minute drive) to check out Thurston's Sugarshack. I so greatly miss making maple syrup. I enjoyed explaining the process to my husband and one of the many old friend's from school we ran into. I could not narrow the pictures down, so I apologize if you have dial up!

These Valiant Steeds were the highlight of Aiden's day. He doesn't have much interest in Grammy's horses (although Mac loves him, and sniffs him every time they meet). I could not believe how many people came and went while we were there. These beauties had quite a day pulling us all to and from the sugarhouse.

Their sugarshack. Inside were new and antique tools of the trade, and my favorite, a maple tree with it's rings marked with the year they represent. Above that was a time line of what historical events during that one tree's lifetime. I think the first ring was 1800. It was before Lincoln became president. Ice cream was made, and served with maple syrup. Yum!

Checking out the snow with Daddy.

Throwing Snow

Didn't want a picture taken with Mum, just wanted to know what the heck was making all that noise (generator in the old sugarhouse behind us).

On the ride home. Oh yeah, he's playing with the block!

Playing outside after we got home. Stepped in a land mine and fell in the mud. Ah, spring is here.

Jossilyn

Jossilyn Adams lost her fight with cancer yesterday. She was a beautiful girl, full of spirit, and she will be sadly missed. Please donate to the For Love of Jossilyn Fund if you are able to. A little more information can be found in this post. And remember to cherish the time you have with your babies, every day.

Aiden's new tote & toy

Here are pics of Aiden's new tote. I love this fabric! Inside is Aiden's favorite book "Owen" by Kevin Henkes. Aiden reads it all the time. I adore it as well :) I made this toy since my last post to go with his tote. It is stuffed with a rice cakes bag for noise factor and hemp/organic cotton scraps. I plan to grab up a lot of this fabric next time I go to the fabric store!

Boys' day out, Mom's day in

I’m still here. Not sure when I will be off-line, if at all. I do plan to check in every few days regardless.

Jon took Aiden out without me for the first time today. (Thus far they have met up with Uncle Joe, sat on motorcycles at a Harley dealership and visited Pappy.) It’s amazing how quiet the house is without all of Aiden’s noises. I’ve had to keep music on just to feel comfortable. I miss the little bugger. With him being gone, I had to do something I hadn’t done for a while; pump. If you don’t want to read about it, feel free to scroll down, I won’t be offended :) I could not believe how much milk I produced. 4 ounces on one side. Man, when Aiden was little and I was pumping nearly every day (because I thought I needed to have milk in the freezer just in case), I was lucky to get 4 ounces total. By the way, Aiden wouldn’t drink out of a bottle, and all that milk got thrown out. (Next time I will be donating to a milk bank. I looked into it when Aiden was 10 months, but by the time all the testing was complete, I would have only been able to donate for 1 month. They only accept it for the first 12 months) I’m sure he will be happy to find milk in his cup at dinner. We’ll see if he downs it like it’s lemonade.

Without little fingers helping me, I was able to get a lot done, and I plan to continue as they won’t be home for another hour or so. I got 11 pair of nursing pads cut out, 3 sets of flannel backed wipes and 15 flannel front diapers. Yesterday I completed an additional 3 pair of nursing pads, 2 sets of flannel wipes and a pair of pants & tote bag for Aiden. Add to that a beautiful morsbag that I intend to keep for myself, and you can see that I have been busy!

Alright, back to work…

**CONTEST**

Between the new site and custom order slings, I have been busy. My mother has been a huge help. She has cut out so many diaper, wipe and nursing pad pieces that I am beginning to wonder whether I can complete them all! She has also helped with the formulation and testing of my new products. Very soon, natural laundry detergent and all-purpose cleaners will be available on www.slingsandsacks.com!

The story: I was quite excited when the family from Maine who makes natural laundry detergents and cleaners agreed to me selling their products on my site. I was equally as disappointed to find, through personal experience and that of other retailers, that they are unreliable. My passion for natural cleaning products drove me to create a detergent. (I in no way copied their detergent, or any other. The formulation is my own.) I am even more pleased to find that my products out clean the other natural products I had been using.

**The contest: Come up with an original name for my natural detergents and cleaning products. Send it to aimee@slingsandsacks.com with "name contest" in the subject line. If I choose the name you have come up with, I will send you a free 16 load bag of detergent. Contest closes whenever I decide :) **

Some more info that may help: Products are free of phosphates, biodegradable, safe for sensitive skin, suds free, and do not contain any sodium lauryl sulfate or dyes. All scents are created using essential oils.

The small print stuff: By sending me a name idea, you release all rights regarding that name, and any variance of it, to Slings and Sacks to use at our discretion. The free bag of detergent will be mailed in the cheapest way possible, therefore it may take a couple weeks or longer (depending on the postal service and where you live) before you receive the product.

I'll post some pictures soon (I know, I said that a week ago). I made Aiden a pair of pants from corduroy my mother used when I was a wee one. And the new flannel front diapers, nursing pads and wipes are un-fricken-believably cute. The old Euro-Pro machine I have been using is in need of a new foot control so I have switched to a Singer that we're guessing is from the 60's. Alright, back to adding bath & body products to the site, only after messing with threading a bobbin on the old singer. But first, off to my weekly visit/cleaning spree with my favorite person in the world besides Aiden, my Gram. Ever noticed how much easier it is to clean someone else's home?

For your viewing pleasure

I'm still working diligently on my website. Since there's not much to look at here at this time, do check out some of the beautiful treasuries on Etsy! Here is a screenshot from one I found this evening. I love to see what people choose to fill their 12 highly sought after treasury spaces. Anyway, until I add more, check 'em out!

Updates!

Yeah, I'm still here. I haven't been posting lately because I am building a new website! It will offer my products but will also have natural mama and baby products! It's on a temp address so you can't peek yet, but the logos give a lot away :) I have wanted to post about so many things; I made a beautiful hemp/cotton pouch sling for someone on Etsy (pics below), I have pics of Mr. Fish (aka McFish) that I wanted to post, Aiden's been playing outside more and there are many pics of that as well, my b-day cake was so cute, my new logos are awesome (pics above), and so much more! I hope to get some more pics posted at some point, although we may end up with winter pics posted in the summer!
If you check this between now and Sundayish, check out my Nursling treasury on Etsy.