Kitchen Spring Cleaning

Thursday I spent the majority of the day spring cleaning my kitchen. I only got done about 3/4 of what I wanted to get done, but I already feel so much better! We had alot of clutter in our cabinets and they were not very functional so that is where we spent most of the day.
One of the first things I did was clean out our cabinet where we had been storing our plastic grocery bags. I literally had a whole cabinets of nothing but plastic bags. Thanks to Pinterest I found the idea of storing them in an empty wipe container. I put about 50 grocery bags in the wipe container and saved the rest of the bags in the attic for when we have yard sales this summer.

After

Before

Now I had freed up an entire cabinet for more storage! We decided to put our microwave in our largest cabinet and run the cord through the bottom to the nearest outlet because it was taking up a ton of counter space and we don't use the microwave alot. It's not the most convenient place, but for as much as we use it it will be just fine. I am trying to declutter as much as possible while also deep cleaning because I like things to be simple and functional. I like to know that everything has a place and if I can't find a place for it chances are it needs to go!

Before: Everything out of our cabinets!

After

Then, kitchen spring cleaning turned into kitchen reno! I've been wanting to tear down the wallpaper in our kitchen for a long time because it was just not my style. Minus the new dishwasher we hadn't made any changes to our kitchen since we moved in two years ago. So, yesterday I was at the point of either washing down the wallpaper walls or just tearing the wallpaper off. I decided on the latter because it was already starting to peel off in spots. As I began to tear it off I realized that the wallpaper had been put in before the cabinets were even installed so it had been up for about 13-14 years! 

Wallpaper gone! 

Once I got that wallpaper down my gears started turning. I could look at my kitchen now as a blank slate. I sent a picture of my now bare kitchen to Leah at Grace Lee Cottage because she has an amazing eye for home renovations and decor! We also have the same taste in that area so I knew she would have good ideas. After talking with her I have decided to paint the cabinets white and change out the hardware, add beadboard wallpaper under the cabinets (I will probably paint above the cabinets with a light gray I have left over from when we painted our bedroom), take down the beam going across in front of the sink and add shelves instead, and paint the countertops a darker color and replace the sink faucet. This will definitely take time because I rarely have a full day to devote to something, but I'm just keeping the end goal in mind! Eventually, I would like to replace our fridge and range with stainless steel and replace our laminate floor with something else, but I think with just a little paint and wallpaper this kitchen will get a major face lift! :)

Under Construction:
Top cabinet doors removed, taped, sanded, and ready to be primed
 and beam removed above sink
. I still have to remove some wallpaper scraps up top,
 but just focusing on cabinets right now!

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DIY Wednesday:Family/Household Binder

I have been wanting to make a family/household binder for a while, but I could never remember to pick up a binder when I was out, but today I remembered! I've seen some very detailed binders out there with every checklist you could imagine, but I wanted to keep it simple and only pick out the ones I know I would use regularly. So I'm going to give you a tutorial on the simple family binder I made.

The supplies you will need is:

-1" binder

-page protectors

-free printables which I'll link below

-pencils/pens (I prefer pencils because I change my mind a lot)

-optional:mini calendar planner

1" binder. I thought I would go with a fun color!

I found those cute mechanical pencils and the mini 2 year planner in the dollar section of Target! Thanks to the gracious and definitely crafty ladies of I Heart Organizing and Thirty Handmade Days I was able to get some really cute (and free) printables.Unfortunately we only have black ink in our printer right now, but usually these would have amazing color on them.

Here is how I organized my binder:
-Year At A Glance Calendar
-A Peek At The Week
-Meals For This Month
-Grocery List
-Our Family Home Projects
-My Fabulous Blog Ideas
I stuck my mini planner in the front inside pocket for easy access and clipped the pencil to the top ring on the inside of the binder so it will always be handy. If you have a hole punch handy you can leave out the page protctors, but I wanted to try to keep the pages clean and hopefully protected from little hands! :)

These ladies have a ton more free printables on their site, but I just stuck with the basics for now. I figured I needed to do this now more than ever because I missed my dentist appointment last week because I did not write it down! With two small children my brain feels like scrambled eggs most of the time and it seems like I cannot remember anything anymore, so to have a centralized location where I can write down everything I need to remember should do wonders for me!

I'm sure I'll add more to it later, but I'm excited to try this out!

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The Honest Company "Health and Wellness" Bundle

After signing up for the Honest Company's Essentials bundle and literally loving every product I received, I decided to try their Health and Wellness bundle for our vitamins which is also $35.95. I was getting ready to run out of my prenatal vitamins and Natalie was coming up on 6 months which is the age they can start taking their baby and toddler powder vitamin so I thought it would be a good time. Plus, if you have two bundles going on at one time you get free shipping on both bundles, but they dont have to ship on the same date! In my first bundle I received the Honest Co. Prenatal Complete One A Day and the Honest Co. Baby and Toddler Multipowder. 
What drew me to those prenatal vitamins was the fact that they contain probiotics and iron. Before I was taking a prental, an iron supplement, and a probiotic, so it was nice that all of that was combined into one. Also, the ingredients in the prenatal vitamin are excellent. I had been taking a gummy prenatal vitamin because I am not good at swallowing pills and every prenatal I had taken before had iron in it which would make me very nauseous, but I did not like that they had high fructose corn syrup as a main ingredient.

The Honest Co. Prenatal

So to make it simple I'll make a pros and cons list of my personal opinion on the Honest Co. Prenatal.

PRO:

• Mostly everything I need in one pill
• Only have to take one a day
• Vanilla coated so it doesnt leave a bad taste in your mouth
• Great ingredients
• Come in a glass container

CON:

• They are big pills, so if your like me and have a hard time swallowing pills they may not be the best choice
• The iron in them still made me nauseous even though they also contain ginger and B6, but not as bad as normal prenatals
• They do not contain DHA/Omega 3 like most prenatals do, so I had to buy a separate bottle of that
• A little on the pricey side

So my overall consensus is that I am going to use up the bottle I have, but I don't think I will repurchase just because I am soooo sensitive to iron and taking pills that just that combination makes me feel nauseous every time. I will probably go back to my old regimine of the gummy prenatals even though I do not like their ingredients that much, but at least I know they don't make me sick!

Today was our first day of trying out the baby multipowder because Natalie is 6 months old today! I just mixed her rice cereal as normal and then mixed the packet of powder in with it. She at almost the whole bowl so I'm hoping she got enough of the vitamins in her! She seems to like it so I think we've found a winner there. I love the fact that it is a whole foods blend and also contains probiotics! I also love that are already individually packaged in the cute little packets!

My next Health and Wellnes bundle I have set to ship with 2 boxes of the Honest Co. Baby and Toddler Multipowder because each box contains 30 packets so that way we can make it through 2 months before having to order again!

If you would like to get $10 off your first Honest Co. bundle CLICK HERE!

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The Honest Company Review

A major step I have taken to more natural living is that I have cleaned out all of my toxic household cleaners and replaced them with either my e-cloth (which I will review a little later) or products from The Honest Company. I signed up with the Honest Company because they had sent me an awesome coupon code in an e-mail. I decided it was now or never if I was going to take the plunge! I had been reluctant to sign up with The Honest Co. because they work on a subscription system. The subscription bundles offer a great discount on their products, but I was afraid that I would be obligated to get a bundle every single month. After further research into it I realized it is not like that at all! You can schedule your bundle to ship whenever you want and they do not charge you until your bundle ships! So, I went with the "Essentials" bundle which allows you to pick form 5 of their cleaning or bath and body products for $35.95. If you use someone's referral code you can get $10 off your first bundle making it only $25.95! I'll leave my referral link at the bottom of this post if you would like get $10 off your first bundle! Considering most of their products retail for $10 or more at Target this is a great deal. Now I usually set my next bundle to ship about 6 weeks from the last bundle, but if I need products sooner or later I can always go in and adjust the date.Their shipping is fast too so I can wait to ship until 2-3 days before I need something. Also, if you have two bundles going even if they ship at totally different times you get free shipping on both! So far the "Essential" bundle products I have tried are:

-Stain Remover
-Dish Soap
-Hand Soap
-Hand Sanitizer
-Soothing Bottom Wash
-Shampoo
-Organic Healing Balm
-Face and Body Lotion
-Fruit and Veggie Wash
-Organic Breathe Easy Rub
-Wipes
-Suds Up Dish Brush and Dish
-Diapers
-Oxyboost Tabs
-Dishwasher Tabs
-Dryer Cloths
-Multipurpose Spray

I also have the shave oil and spray sunscreen, but haven't gotten to try them yet. I also have the new deodarant and air freshner spray on the way! I have loved every product I have tried of theirs! We use cloth diapers so I just used the Honest Co. diapers I got with my free trial, but if I did not use cloth I would definitely go with the Honest Co. diapers. if you would like a more extensive review on any of these products let me know, but overall consensus of their company is they are wonderful! Their customer service is awesome and in my December bundle I received a pack of organic sugar cookie mix with a cute snowflake cookie cutter free!

 I have also signed up for their "Health and Wellness" bundle for my prenatal vitamins and Natalie's vitamins. I will do another review for their "Health and Wellness" bundle too. :)

If you would like to get $10 off your first bundle($10 off is good for any 4 of their bundles) or a free trial of 3 of their bundles (only pay $5.95 shipping) CLICK HERE

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Time For A Change

If you've been following along for a while you will know I've been trying to find the right direction for my blog to go. I thought about a daily blog, but that became overwhelming quickly and most days we just stay home so I never felt like I had anything to exciting to say. I have the heart of a teacher and a desire to encourage others so I want to use this as an outlet to encourage other mothers and maybe help them somehow along the way. I have had so many people encourage me to where I am now through blogs or vlogs so I want to pay it forward.

I am now on a hard core mission to a more natural yet modern life style because I feel that's where the Lord is leading me. I think it will be fun to learn together and also a great place to document my progress. I plan to pass along any wisdom that I may gain along the way!

I would say I began this process about 2 years ago when I started cloth diapering Maddox and it has gradually progressed into other areas since then. It wasn't until recently though that I really felt the urge to jump in feet first so to speak. I've been literally purging my home of anything that contains harmful chemicals from our food to cleaning products to bath and body products. 

Everything in the box contained the word "paraban" in its ingredients, so they had to go.

I just want the safest and healthiest environment for my family that I can possibly give them! 

I just pray my journey can encourage other mothers to first seek God because he gives wisdom liberally to those who ask, but also to go against the grain or the "norm" and really research the conventional products you use in your home and maybe replace them with a healthier, more natural option! 

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Big News! Name Change!

So I have some big news to share and if you found me again you probably already know what it is! I have changed my blog name from "Simply Being Mommy" to "Naturally Being Mommy". I did this for two reasons.

1.I recently found out that the domain name "simplybeingmommy.com" is already taken which means if I ever want to own my own www.com I would not be able to use that name and also because if that name is taken then that means some other momma out there is using that name for her blog already and you can get into some copyright issues there.

2. "Naturally" fits my lifestyle (or trying to be lifestyle) to a tee right now. I am now on a hardcore mission to rid my home and body of anything potentially toxic and I want to take you all along with me on this journey. I feel like this is something the Lord has led me to do and I'm going to follow His lead!

You can now follow me on bloglovin'.com!

Follow Here!

Here's to a beautiful, grace filled journey to natural living and parenthood!

I will update more soon!

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Cloth Diapering Series Day 3: Diapering a Newborn

Cloth diapering in the first few weeks of your baby's life usually requires a little different approach than once they start fitting into the standard one size diapers. Natalie is my first baby I've cloth diapered as a newborn since we didn't starting cloth diapering with Maddox until around 6 months old. There are several different options for diapering a newborn. There are all in ones, prefolds with covers, or flats with covers. I'll give you some pros and cons for each type.

ALL IN ONE- Common brands that have newborn AIOs are Bumgenius Newborns, Fuzzibunz XS, Charlie Banana XS, Lil Joeys by Rumparooz, THX newborns, and Smart Bottoms Newborns.
     PROS:     
    -Most like disposables
    -Grandparent & Dad friendly
    -No stuffing. All one piece

    CONS:
   -Most expensive
   -Take longer to dry
   -Babies grow out of them quickly                                                                                                   

I had about 12 AIOs with Natalie made up of bumGenius newborns, THX newborns, and a Smart Bottoms newborn. I used these at night time because they are easy to put on and take off when you are half asleep! :) But, we were only able to use these for about 2 or 3 weeks before she outgrew the absorbency.

This was the Smart Bottoms newborn diaper we used. I loved the cut out for the umbilical stump!

Natalie in a THX newborn AIO

Prefolds & Covers-Commons websites or brands of prefolds are Green Mountain Diapers (GMD), Diaper Junction, Osocozy, & Cotton Babies. I purchased one dozen of my newborn prefolds from GMD and one dozen from Diaper Junction. Common brands of diaper covers for newborns are Thirsties XS, Imagine Newborn, and some people use Best Bottoms covers from birth too. My personal recommendation are the Thirsties XS. They are the perfect size for the first month or two of a babies life. Using prefolds and cover for newborns was definitely the best option for us. Here's my list of pros and cons.
Pros:                                                                      Cons
-Inexpensive                                                          -A little more of a hassle to put on
-Great Absorbency                                                -Bulkier
-Longer Lasting                                                      -Not typically grandparent/dad friendly

Flats are basically the same thing as prefolds with the exception that you have to fold them into the shape you want. This can be a pro and a con because being able to fold them to the size and shape you want allows flats to be used literally from birth to potty training. You can fold them very small and you can make them big as well. They are also the least expensive option because my personal favorite flat diaper are just flour sack towels from Wal-Mart found in the kitchen towel section. They are usually around $5 for a pack of 5, so only $1 a piece! It could be a con though because it does take extra time to fold it before you put it on and it's not very grandparent/dad friendly, unless the grandparent is 60+ years old and then they will probably know how to put it on better than you and will ask you for some safety pins and rubber pants! 

-Hannah

*Disclaimer: I am in no way compensated or affiliated with the products, brands, or websites mentioned in this post. These are simply my personal favorites and opinions. :)