I am back!!!

Hello all!!! Sorry it has taken me so long to catch up with life. I am now a mommy!!! Layla Ellen was born January 9th at 1:02 am. 8lbs 5oz and just beautiful!!! My labor experience was wonderful. I had so much support around me at all times.

I have been staying home with Layla and really enjoying my time with her. Monkey Beanz is still going strong. We have added so many awesome things to the website. http://www.monkeybeanz.com/

The diaper bag has been great!!! We also are using the booties. Sooo cute. I look forward to writing more and catching up with everyone. Thank you all for the support!!

Nyki and Layla

Packing for the hospital

Good Morning Bloggers!!!
I am one week away from my due date. I am so so excited. I am really trying to be prepared and have everything ready. The lack of energy that I have is a bit frustrating and holds me back a bit. I miss that second trimester energy. Nothing was out of place at my house.
SO my task for the last few days has been to get packed for the hospital. This is what I have so far
Mommy Bag
Comfy pants
Sweat Shirt
Undies
Thick socks
Nursing Bra
Items to shower with
Lip balm
A blanket my grandmother made me to use for nursing
Deodarent
Toothbrush
Toothpaste
Still need to pack
snacks
books
music

Baby bag  I used my new Monkey Beanz Diaper bag. Mine is the second one in the green one.
.
Pacifier
2 Onesies
2 Outfits
Blanket
Cap
Warm outside suit. (It is very cold in January in Maine)

This is all I have packed... is there anything you think I might be missing?? What did you wish you had packed or was happy that you had packed?? Was there something that saved the day?? Help this first time mommy!!!!
That is it for me time to go get this house in order...
Peace Love and Fair TRADE!!!
Nyki

Sunday Preggo Post time!!!! I am officially 35 1/2 weeks pregnant!!! A month to go..well I hope...
My venture this week, dealing with the idea of being a "stay at home" mommy. Money is so tight right now so the idea of me giving up my full time job as a bakery manager is really scary but staying home is very important to both of us. Thank goodness for Monkey Beanz or we would be in a lot more trouble. So here are a few money saving techniques my husband and I are doing...

1. Cloth Diapers: As I posted before we are going to be using cloth diapers
2. Breast Feeding
3. My husband and I have become bulk shoppers (this is hard for us, we are very much "foodies")
4. We will continue to have just one car
5. We have netflix so we can watch the instant view instead of renting or going to the movies
6. Using the library instead of buying the books we want to read
7. Only getting clothing at thrift stores (thank you to my friends for all of the hand me downs we have been recieving for Spencer/Lily
8. We started making our own cleaning products a long time ago, I love it!!!

I have faith in us!!!! I am open to any other money saving tips... bring it on ladies!!!

Oh and we finished our nursery finally!!!!

Have a great week everyone

Peace love and turtles

Nyki

Cloth Diapers

SO as always I will start out my post with mentioning that I am now 34 weeks!! 6 Weeks to go. My complaints this week .. Heartburn!!! I never knew heartburn could possibly feel this bad. Otherwise I am pretty happy besides a quick battle with the flu last week.

I have been getting everything ready for when our little cutie arrives. This including our cloth diapers, I am actually really looking forward to this venture. I get a lot of doubt from my friends and family which I find quite odd, I have never been someone who gives up on anything but I will use their doubt as encouragement!! It is important to me because of many reasons.
Here are a few facts that I have found (http://www.rpi.edu/~cummia3/Portfolio/SaniSolar_3_files/SaniSolar%20Poster.pdf)

1.The US uses apx. 27.4 billion disposable diapers per year.
2.100,000 tons of plastic and 1.3 million tons of
wood pulp, amounting to 250,000 trees, are
wasted in the production of the annual 27.4 billion
disposable diapers.
3. An average baby uses 5,000 diapers before potty training, almost all of which end
up in a landfill making up 3.4 million tons of waste
4. It is estimated to take 250-500 years for a disposable diaper to decompose (GROSS!!)
5.It costs Americans on average $350 million annually to dispose of single-use diapers
in landfills.
6. The average family spends $800 per year on disposable diapers. (This is also a huge reason for my husband and I to use cloth diapers)

So here are some things that I found to make using cloth diapers easier.
Use a 5 gallon bucket with a cover, this way you can keep it contained until it is wash time. I also plan on keeping a little bit soapy water in the bucket, this is something that was personally suggested to me. For number ones you can just throw the wet diaper into the bucket.
For number twos it is suggested that you clean it off as much as possible, this can be done by using the toilet to shake off the as I like to call it doo doo.
When it is time to do a load of laundry you can run them through the wash just like any other piece of clothing. (You may want to use a detergent that is less harsh than what you use on your clothing) You can use a mesh bag as a liner in the bucket which you can just pull out the liner and throw it all together in the washer.
BIG TIP: USE COLD WATER!!! This will prevent stains.

Now really does that seem that hard!

7 months and Counting

Happy Monday everyone. Can you all belive I am 32 weeks pregnant!! Just 2 more months to go.
This so far has been such a great experience (well most of it). I am so excited about the idea of being a mom. I also know how fantastic of a father my husband Nick is going to be. He already is!!!

So on my mind this past week has been parenting, what morals will we teach Lily or Spencer?  Clearly I am very much a supporter of Fair Trade. It will be important to me for my children to understand that not everyone lives like we do. There is so much poverty and struggle out there, not that we are rich by any means but in comparison to some cultures we absolutly are. This is why Fair Trade IS so important, it is really us doing our part to make sure we are not supporting sweat shops. Obviously it is going to happen without us even being aware of it. I am so excited that I have great toys for my children that I absolutly know are fair trade..well because I work for the company that pays the wages!!!!!
So there is my weekly fair trade rant!!! Help to support fair trade, even if it is just one cup of coffee or preferably an item from us... !!!!
Thank you all for listening.. peace love and fair trade
NYki
P.S. The crib sets are coming soon!!!

What? We should play with our own kids???

I'm sure many of you heard about the controversy over Disney's Baby Einstein series and their claim that the series will make your baby smarter.  Unlike those of you in touch with the outside world, I actually had not heard about it until I listened to the story on NPR's Talk of the Nation last week. 

I was absolutely speechless (well, not exactly but that gets the message across in a much more polite way!) listening to the topic being debated.  I am also quite sure that the talented Neil Conan shared my opinions as host of the show.  Poor man, I felt bad that he was not able to speak to the idiotic claims and parents feeling the need to make their baby smarter in the first place.

Now, I know that tv and video games have taken over for many kids in the US (I'm not that naive) but is there really such a large portion of mainstream American parents that do not realize that plopping your baby/toddler/preschooler/child in front of the tv for these videos is not going to aid in their healthy development as much as actually playing and interacting with your own children?!

I am not anti-tv at all - I've been known to put on some Olivia or Charlie and Lola so I can make dinner or get some e-mails out.  I just find it a bit unnerving that playing with your kids is not commonly recognized, and practiced, as the healthiest way to promote normal development.  And out of curiosity, why is it exactly that we are trying to "make our babies smarter?"  Are we claiming that we were all not particularly smart babies and are trying to make up for our own loss of infant intelligence?  I can double check my facts, but I'm pretty sure babies have been developing just fine around the world for quite a number of years and we have managed to churn out some pretty smart people out there. Enough of my rant ... get off the computer and go play with your kids.  I will if you will.

For some fun ways to play with your kids and encourage some fun in the house, check out the Monkey Beanz fair trade soft drum set and fair trade soft tool set or the always popular fair trade counting book.  No guarantees on IQ boosts but I bet you and your kids will have a good time together and, I'm no expert, but I'd say that is pretty important to raising a smart, healthy family.