My sweet boy

I want to bottle 15 months up and save it so I never forget it. My Bug is full of sweetness, smiles and hugs. He bends low and puts his head against you for his hugs and his open mouth big drooly giggle-filled kisses are the highlight of my day. Yesterday he was hugging his plastic animals. He has a tender heart that doesn't like when someone's sad. His Mom-Mom has been sick in bed and he takes every opportunity to give her drinks from his sippy cup and hugs whatever he can reach; her foot, her hand, the mattress. There were two little girls selling girl scout cookies door to door yesterday, he heard them giggling and took off running after them. He caught up to them and just started hugging them and chattering away. I hope to have a heart like his, sweet and kind. My boy, I already want to be like you. May you never stop inspiring me.
Love,
Your Mama

Budgeting for Organic Foods-Step 1 Taking Stock and Prioritizing

A few of my friends have been asking me how we afford to eat organic foods after they watched Food Inc. After some discussion I was a little shocked to know that we had almost the same grocery budget (mine was $5 more a week). I was asked to tell how to eat clean foods on a budget. Let me give you a little background on this, I started on this lifestyle shortly after we got married and have gradually gotten "crunchier". We make some choices that have been viewed as extreme in order to be able to fit this into our budget. I view our budget as a game of "Would You Rather", lets dive in a bit.

In our home we:
cloth diaper
use rags for cleaning
use cloth napkins for food
clean with vinegar and baking soda
line dry whatever clothes that we can
change our own oil and do car repairs that we can (well the hubby does these)
mend our own clothes
try to learn new skills rather than paying someone to do them for us (plumbing, electrical, etc)
buy used "beater" cars with cash
stockpile food either by buying in bulk for better prices or by buying the max amount of a sale price
shop at multiple stores for best prices
buy used clothing for the whole family if possible
bake from scratch instead of buying convenience foods
turn off lights like freaks
I cut my husbands hair
we don't have premium channels (and our cable is free)
we don't watch tv until the evening
we drink water for beverages
we don't have netflix or hulu plus

This is not an exhaustive list but it gives you an idea of the types of ways we cut back on our budget in other ways to accommodate the things that we find most important. What's most important to our family right now is for me to be home with our son and for all of us to eat nutritious REAL foods. Now don't think we are complete misers here. We do allow some luxuries into our life. My husband and I have a slight Starbucks addiction, we both have smartphones (his company pays for his and because we don't have to pay for a cell phone for him we use that savings for the data plan for me) and other things. We live a rich full life that we enjoy by taking stock of what's important to us and cutting things out that we don't care about. I would rather do these things and eat well than have some more conveniences and not be able to eat this way.

So I challenge you to take a look at your spending and write every single blessed thing down that you spend your money on. Once you have a month of that take a look at what you are spending your money on and figure out if there are things you can do to reduce that number. Remember that Rome wasn't built in a day and you don't need to make complete and drastic changes overnight but just little steps in the right direction. Figure out what the most important change to you is (for me it was buying organic milk and cage free organic eggs) and make that change this month. If you have questions or scenarios that you want to know more about let me know and we can address them in future posts. I'm not the authority on this but whatever knowledge I have I'd be happy to pass on.

I know how you feel Bug

The hubs went into the office this morning only to turn around and work from home. Being the generally wonderful person he is he stopped and picked up Starbucks for me. Well, ever since he got home this is what I've been dealing with. Seems like the boy wanted his own and has been throwing an epic fit to get mine. Oh little one, this one, mommy can completely empathize with. That is totally how I feel before my coffee.

The Past Few Months

So it's been quite awhile. Things have been crazy hectic for the past few months. Shortly after Bug's birthday we found out my mother had breast cancer. What a terrifying phone call to get, but it really helps you put in perspective what is important. Thankfully after two minor surgeries and radiation treatment she is now cancer free. She still is dealing with hormone treatment and will deal with that for the foreseeable future. I don't envy her in this as I've heard that this can be a very difficult.

Shortly after my mom finished her treatments the hub's mom got horribly ill. For awhile we weren't sure if she would make it. Thankfully she is home now recuperating. I'm praying that 2012 is a year of health for our family.

During this time we have really just been focusing on being with our families and helping as much as we can. I'm thankful I am home and can help when needed. I'm more thankful that both our Mom's are ok.