Whole Foods Chemical Free Finds

Our journey to a chemical free home really started when I was reading the Young House Love blog and read her post on downsizing and in the process getting rid of chemicals around the house. I really don't know what finally inspired me to go into high gear, but it just finally clicked for me that I didn't want all these harmful chemicals around me or my family so I started on this journey to rid my house of chemicals. It has taken months and I have slowly gotten rid of almost every harmful chemical in the house. At first I thought this was just my cleaners but as I did some research, talked to friends, read blogs (my friend really inspired me, her blog is called Frugal Faye) I realized it was more than just cleaners, I needed to worry about, it was my makeup, cleansers, moisturizers, sunscreens, toothpaste, over the counter medicines, you name it and I needed to look into it. I am not new to all of this for the most part, I have been aware of alternative cleaners, eco friendly products, but I never thought it was necessary to switch until I found out what manufactures are putting into our everyday products. There are so many carcinogens (cancer causing ingredients) in so many everyday products, I was shocked. For example, in toothpaste and shampoos their is an ingredient called sodium lauryl sulfate, it is a foaming agent that makes your toothpaste and shampoos, and detergents sudsy. This is known to be a carcinogen. I also recently found out that Dove soaps (I have used Dove body wash for years) uses formaldehyde as an ingredient, and be mindful these ingredients aren't just easy to spot, they usually are listed under their chemical name, not a well known name like formaldehyde. I was shocked, I immediately decided to find a new body wash, but it was not easy. I even started looking at Norah's stuff and was shocked at the harmful ingredients in her brand name and non brand name baby lotions, soaps, etc. All those got switched too. But be mindful not every "natural" product in the natural aisle at your local Target or grocery store has every harmful chemical out of their products, I have found that some of Trader Joe's natural line of body washes, shampoos, etc. have harmful ingredients like sodium lauryl sulfate and others such as parabens. Also Toms of Maine toothpaste has sodium lauryl sulfate in it. I also got rid of both me and Casey's deodorants, all brand name deodorants contain harmful aluminum, which has been linked to Alzheimer's disease. After a few failed attempts with some natural ones, me and Casey found one we absolutely love and it works so well for a natural deodorant, the brand is Jason, we like the aloe vera one, you can find it at any natural food store or Whole Foods.

Some people have told me "well you can't be to paranoid about all these products, they say everything causes cancer these days." But after doing my own research and reading and watching documentaries about this stuff, its scary and you can't just trust what manufactures are putting into your products that go in your mouth, pours, etc. And many argue that its too expensive to change to the natural products. And surprisingly since we have switched I am buying less of cleaners because I don't have all these cleaning products that I thought I needed. I have saved so much money not having to buy Clorax wipes, Swiffer refills, 5 different cleaners for the bathroom, etc. I use only 2 cleaners in the bathroom, and I make my own laundry detergent, so that has saved us a great deal of money, and much more. 

I was introduced to Whole Foods a little over a year ago. I was immediately obsessed and was so sad that the closest one was over 45 minutes away. And then a few months ago I heard that one was opening in a nearby town only about 15 minutes away, I was so excited! Since our transition to organics and a chemical free home in the Spring I have been searching out the best places to find what I am looking for, well Whole Foods is like all of it wrapped into one! We were able to go today after Norah's 18 month well baby visit and I was so excited to get a salad for lunch from their amazing salad bar and then enjoy browsing the aisles. Luckily I had my amazing husband to distract Norah while I stood in the cleaning and beauty aisles for a half hour just looking, reading labels, trying to remember what I needed, etc. Casey knew I wanted to take my time so he was so kind to walk Norah around.

The best part is the Whole Foods worker said I can save my reciept and return anything I don't like after trying it! So long story short I wanted to share with you a few products I found today at Whole Foods that are chemical free and are great alternatives to some everyday products I use that were full of harmful ingredients. 

365 Stain Remover & Prewash

Whole Foods has their own brand called 365 and I found that this store brand was cheaper. I was glad to have found a stain remover for only $4.99 in their 365 brand and it is a huge bottle. I pay right now I think three something for my Oxi-Clean stain remover so I thought this was worth a try!

Bon Ami Powder Cleanser

I love AJax, I can't seem to find a chemical free cleaner that cleans like AJax in the sink and tub, but I read about this one that has been around forever and is so low on the toxicity level and super cheap, only $1.99. I can't wait to see if this works, I would be so happy to get AJax out the door.

365 Oxygen Whitening Powder
I use Oxi-Clean for almost anything stain removing related, it works great on my rugs and as an extra cleaning boost in the wash, but I did some research and found it contains harmful chemicals and so I was happy to find this safe Oxi-Clean alternative today!

Ecos Earth Friendly Products Dishwasher Gel

I tried making my own dishwasher detergent, but found my dishes were not getting as clean as I wanted and so I ditched it and went back to my old stuff, but still wanted to find a safe alternative without paying a lot and today I found this large bottle for only $4.99, all the dishwasher detergents I find that are safe cost at least $8 and come in small containers so I was happy to have found this one and see if it cleans well.

Aussan Natural Nursery Odor Eliminator
I have been wanting to find a safe odor eliminator in replacement of my Febreeze that I use on my rugs and upholstery and I was so glad to have found this today for only $4.99 and it smells great. It says nursery odor eliminator but on the back it says it can be used around the house and so I decided to give it a shot.

I also found a few beauty products that I have been looking for as safe replacements for my current ones.  

Acure Dry Shampoo

I was ecstatic when I found this today at Whole Foods, I can't live without dry shampoo. I wash my hair every 2 to 3 days and need a boost in between and I have been sticking with my chemically filled Suave Dry Shampoo until I found one I liked that was chemical free. The lady at Whole Foods says this dry shampoo is amazing and smells great, I was so happy to hear that and grabbed one as fast as I could! This ran me $10.99 so I will have to have to see how long it lasts for the price. 

365 Body Lotion
I finally found a body lotion that is not filled with harmful ingredients that doesn't feel sticky!!! Every chemical free lotion I have tested over the last few months comes in small bottles, is sticky feeling after you rub it in, which I hate!, and smells gross. Today I was so happy to find this glorious bottle that has no yucky smell and wasn't sticky!

Hope you found this post informative, thanks for reading!

October Harvest Fun!

 We recently visited a few pumpkin patches with Norah and to say she had a blast is an understatement. We went to one last year but it was more just to get some cute pics and grab a few pumpkins since she wasn't walking yet or anything, but this year was so much fun to see her so excited and running around trying to pick up pumpkins and throwing hay. The first one we went to was a few weeks ago and she thought it was so much fun to play in the corn they had for kids, we couldn't get her out of it, she also loved putting hay into the wheel barrow. It is so neat to see her this year so in love with all the wonderful fall traditions! 

 Below was yesterday at a great pumpkin patch that is also a childhood memory for where we would go to get our Christmas trees, its a Christmas tree farm too, but it was so fun to be there for fall! My mom got to go with us and that was so much fun. We got to feed ducks, which Norah thought was the best thing ever and we rode on a wagon around the farm, we saw animals and she got to run through the pumpkin patch, which she loved. We also got her face painted which surprisingly she stayed so still for!

Hope you are enjoying fall with your wonderful families!

Confessions of a Stay at Home Mama

I know it has been awhile since I have posted, but I have been making it a priority to focus on aspects of my life as a mom, wife and daughter of God that I want to improve rather than always stressing that I need to post on my blog or the DIY projects that I have been meaning to get to haven't gotten done. I have felt convicted lately to focus on the things in myself I want to improve for my family's sake and for my own sake. I can so easily get caught up in what I should be doing around the house, at church, with friends, etc., that I forget to stop and focus on what God is whispering in my ear and what He is telling me for my family and my marriage. But then often times I then let my overwhelming feelings set in and that's when I hear that voice of lies telling me that I am failing as a mom and wife and that I should be doing so much more and should be able to do it all..clean, cook, read my Bible, have an amazing blog, have all my DIY projects completed, be completely organized 24/7, have a perfectly behaved godly child 24/7, have a perfect marriage, and the list goes on and on and if I'm not accomplishing it all I'm failing. I tend to be a person who gets overwhelmed easily and as a stay at home mom sometimes I feel so overwhelmed with just the every day things that need to be accomplished and kept up that I get so hard on myself that I can't keep up with it all, let alone a blog or my DIY projects around the house that I have been wanting to get to or my chipped toe nail polish that I have been meaning to repaint for a month and so on. To all my fellow stay at home moms you know how routine your day can feel and there are some days I love that, but then there are some days I wish I didn't always have to clean up the same toys and clean the same dishes or how the laundry never seems to stay clean, and the month has rolled by again and it is time once again to clean the bathrooms, etc. Don't get me wrong I have wanted to be a stay at home mama and wife for as long as I can remember and I don't wish to have a career outside the home, I LOVE being home with Norah and I am so excited to have more kids. I have felt lately so overwhelmed with life as a mom and wife, but at the same time I feel that God has drawn me closer to Him to show me how much what I do means and the importance of it eternally and He is reminding me of why I have desired to be a stay at home mama and wife for so long. Sometimes I feel stay at home moms are forgotten about, we don't juggle work (outside the home) and home life like working moms, but I feel as if we do juggle work and home life because our home is our workplace and it never stops and never slows down, but only speeds up. As I'm writing this my eyes are not dry anymore and I realize it feels good to get some of these emotions out. But then I'm reminded the Lord hasn't forgotten me, He sees all that I do even when no one else does and He is the most important one of all!

I have been reading several books about raising up godly children and heart oriented discipline and I feel the Lord has already given me so much from these books, but not only has he only taught me things to teach Norah, but through the text He has so faithfully encouraged me and loved me and reminded me that me staying home and raising Norah (and our future children to come) and being a godly wife to Casey and making a house a home and putting healthy food on the table are all amazing things to be proud of and that He has designed me for this and I don't have to listen to what my culture tells me, but to listen to what He thinks of me and to honor Him in all I do. The other day I was reading "Don't Make Me Count to Three" by Ginger Plowman (a great book my good friend Danielle recommended to me) and I realized something when I read what the author wrote in concerns to being a stay at home mom..."God, is this really what I'm supposed to be doing? I mean, don't you have something really important for me that requires a little more skill than tying shoes and cutting the crust off sandwiches?"...then it hit me I realized that often I don't see the importance of me doing the laundry or cleaning the high chair for the 50th time, or cleaning Norah's poopy diaper, or staying consistent with teaching Norah godly ways, or vacuuming the dog hair off the floor every other day or doing the checkbook, cleaning sheets and the list goes on and on. Just because it seems that these mundane tasks aren't accomplishing anything great doesn't mean that they aren't. Ginger Plowman goes on to say,

 "Now let's talk about my greatest challenge today...and every day. It is raising these two precious children in the ways of the Lord. God does have an important job for me, and it does require much skill. It is my calling, my priority, my struggle and my goal. I will rise to the occasion and accept the task at hand. I will love, nurture, and train my children the way that God has called me to do. 

Moms, we need to be reminded of the awesome responsibility that God has given us. When we respond to the high calling of motherhood with passion, the rewards are far greater than any we could ever gain outside of that calling. The joys of motherhood are rare and beautiful treasures that can be easily missed if we don't seize the opportunity to grab them. Being a mom is more than being a cook, chauffeur, maid, counselor, doctor, referee, disciplinarian, etc. (just to name a few). It's about molding character, building confidence, nurturing, training, and guiding. There is nothing like the influence that a mother has on her child. A mother's influence has enormous potential to shape the person a child becomes, for good or ill."

After reading this I realized that its not about me and I am reminded to be a Proverbs 31 woman. So many times I think I feel overwhelmed because I am striving and I don't want to strive, my desire is to be a godly woman and in that a godly mom and wife, I think often times we separate these rolls and say oh but we can't loose ourself when we become a mom, we still must do things for ourselves, which is true to an extent, but we can't forget being a mom and a wife is who we are, its who God has created us as women, they aren't just separate rolls and titles. I have felt for quite sometime that being home for my husband and children is such a huge responsibly and I don't take it lightly. I have always felt what I do in my home has eternal value. I want to please the Lord so greatly in this area of my life. I want to be a godly wife and mother and raise children in the Lord and if that is all I accomplish in this life, I am content. More and more lately I feel the Lord reminding me this life is not mine, but His and I want to take His Word and put it in my heart, teach it to my children, live it out, live for Him in all I do and what He has called me to do. And right now in this season he has called me to be a stay at home mom, and I'm so incredibly thankful, and I will wholeheartedly put all of me into it. I was reminded in the "Don't Make Me Count to Three" of Galatians 6:9, "And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up." What I sow now in my children and my marriage will reap rewards later on in my life and most importantly eternally, so I must not grow tired of doing good! I also felt the Lord remind me in this verse below that I need to trust in Him when I don't understand, and if I continue to follow Him and seek His ways in my role as a mother and a wife He will direct my steps...Proverbs 3: 5-6 says "Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding, In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths."

I hope I didn't bore you with my post today, thank you for listening and I hope I encouraged you to be the woman God has called you to be!

Major Catch Up

I know it has been a little over a month since I last posted and I have been meaning to post for forever, but this 2nd pregnancy has been kicking my butt. The fatigue and nausea have been pretty brutal and then keeping up with Norah and the house has been a lot of work. I also am in charge of the decor for my church's upcoming Marriage Conference and so much of my time is working away at the projects for it.

What's New
1. In the last month I have tried cloth diapering again with Norah and it is going so well this time! I tried it when she was around 4 months, but had a hard time committing to it. But recently I was really having a hard time spending money on disposable diapers, knowing how cloth diapering could save me money and since I know we want 4 or 5 kids investing in cloth would save major $ in the long run. And if you know me I love to save money, that's why it was killing  me that I wasn't saving with disposables. I also have heard that babies who cloth diaper potty train so much quicker because they can feel the pee in the diaper. I want to start potty training Norah at 20 months. My goal is to have her fully potty trained before the next baby comes in April. A lot of my friends here in Cali cloth diaper and a friend of mine has a great local baby store, called Eco Chic Baby, and she sells cloth and all things related to cloth (and much more all things baby) and so I knew with all my friends so educated on the subject I could once again get started! This time though I did not want to purchase new, there is a wonderful used cloth diaper world that makes buying cloth even more affordable. I purchased my whole diaper stash used for around $280 from friends, and an online store called Spots Corner. My stash includes about 30 prefolds, 6 covers, 6 fitteds, 13 all-in-ones, 10 liners, and 10 cloth wipes. My favorites are the all-in-ones called Bum Genius Elementals, they are so amazing! This is a huge savings for how much I have. It would have cost me over $700 or more for all that I have if I purchased brand new. The best part is that $280 is a one time thing, I might have to purchase some replacements here and there with each kid, but nothing major and so $280 up front was totally worth it since I know I have spent more just with Norah's disposables. I also decided to make my own wipes since having cloth diapers its easier just to throw the cloth wipe into the wet bag with the dirty diaper. I found a great wipes solution on Pinterest and its so easy to make. I just put the solution into an old Huggies wipes box and throw the wipes in and your done! Anyways I love it and I have my wash routine down and its going really well!

Here is the cloth wipes.

2. We enjoyed a great camping trip as a family at the beginning of August at my childhood favorite camping lake, called Pinecrest. This was Norah's second time camping and she was so much fun this year. She did so great despite having a fever for the first couple days of the trip. She got so dirty so every night I would heat up some water and put it into a wash bin I brought and we would bath her, it was so cute. One morning me and Casey got to walk the lake, its about a 2 hour hike, while my parents watched Norah. It was a wonderful time for just the two of us. Norah loved playing in the water everyday while we enjoyed relaxing at the beach. She slept great and took 2 hour naps in her pack-n-play at the campsite. Such a great vacation!

3. I have been doing so many fun toddler activities with Norah, I just love Pinterest, but I especially love it for some great toddler activity ideas it has given me lately. Here are some she enjoys:

Here I bought some washable finger paint and let her go wild in her pool, she loved it and mom loved it too cause I got to paint Norah :)

This idea came from Pinterest, put raw pasta shells in a bowl and put a few shapes in it and let them have fun! I also gave her a spoon and some of her kitchen pots so she could transfer it :)

4. My dad finished Norah's play kitchen!! I purchased an old beat up cabinet at our local Restore. I follow Young House Love and they did this amazing little kitchen from an old cabinet so we followed their instructions and then we put our own touches on it and it came out AMAZING!! My dad is so amazing!! I purchased her play food on Amazon, Marshalls, Ikea and her pots and pans I thrifted. My dad has the before pics so I will have to get those and post! Norah loves it so much and the day we gave it to her she didn't want to eat dinner, she just wanted to play all night long :)