Stroller Stride (a swan bit me)

Have I mentioned how much I love Groupon.com? A few weeks ago, the deal was for a 10 Stroller Stride classes. Here I have swiped info from their site:

Stroller Strides is a total fitness program for new moms that they can do with their babies. It includes Power Walking and intervals of body toning using exercise tubing and the stroller.

I have been having trouble working out again since I am taking care of Little Sir during my non-work hours. These classes are great because they are in a nearby park, Little Sir comes along and he really seems to enjoy being outside and riding in our new stroller.

Unfortunately, I am in much worse shape than I thought. I have also never been very good at interval-type training, so usually about halfway through the class I get nauseated and have to rest a bit (I feel like a wuss, but it's true). Today I actually got dizzy as well (this is my fault, there were extenuating health circumstances here which I ignored because I hadn't been to class in a while).

I took an abrupt sit on the ground to wait for the dizziness to go away. Little Sir and I were sitting by a small pond with a few swans in the vicinity. As I sat there trying to determine if it would be rude to throw up in the middle of Highland Park and whether I could make it to the bushes in time, a huge swan started walking toward us. It was actually two swans, a male and his wife.

This was a very large swan, it was taller than me when I was sitting down. I was still waiting for the ground to stop spinning and started wondering to myself if this swan was coming for my baby and whether I could defend Little Sir by puking on the swan. Turns out, I wasn't far off - the swan walked right up to me and pecked me a few times! I think he wanted food. Unfortunately, I had no food to give him. I waved at him and he went away.

So that was my experience with Stroller Stride today. A swan bit me.

* Groupon or Stroller Stride did not pay me for this review. In fact, I paid them.

A new haircut

After our traveling adventure this weekend (a 9 and a 6 hour drive within 4 days with a 6 month old baby...don't ask!), I realized that my current haircut does not travel well. Also, I have mom hair.

I have always been pretty good about having haircuts that travel well and are easy to maintain. I have let my hair grow out since giving birth, and I have not really targeted any specific style. Therefore, I have sloppy hair that is difficult to maintain and looks unkept. UGH.

I am considering two things here.

One is to just add some layers and highlighting, and maybe some bangs. Nothing too dramatic:

The other idea I have is more drastic. Maybe it is because of the nose ring, maybe it's just because I work from home and I feel like "I can", but I am considering a pixie cut and also dyeing my hair to be a mixture of strawberry blonde and light blonde:

Only, of course, not these colors.

What do you think? Should I do it in time for Little Sir's 6 month pictures?

Celebrating Earth Day

Happy Earth Day!
This post is a long one, so hang in there. For the first time, I've been contacted by several companies to highlight the way they are celebrating Earth Day and I'd like to let you know about each one even though I don't receive anything for any of it. I think it's important to let anyone who might be reading know about the efforts these companies are making because the way we spend our money on even things we normally buy means something! Support companies that are making an effort!



Expedia


Traveling this summer? To commemorate the 40th Anniversary of Earth Day, Expedia.com, has expanded the company’s Green Hotel program. The new program now offers more than 1,700 "green" hotels to travelers who prioritize environmental sustainability.

The hotels offered are certified by a cross-section of organizations, including Green Seal, Green, LEEDS and STEP. Expedia.com has also partnered with TerraPass to create carbon offset bundles, based on distance flown, to fund clean energy and carbon reduction projects.


Spend For Good: buy things on Earth Day!
I recently received an email about a neat web site called Spend For Good
Basically, if you sign up on the Spend For Good site and then you buy things at participating retailers like Amazon, just like you usually would, they donate part of your purchase to the charity of your choice!

On April 22nd (today!), Earth Day, several retailers who participate in Spend For Good are doubling the percentage of your purchase that is donated to charity, and their selected charity is Reverb.

Event details:

What: Spend For Good Earth Day Online Shopping Event; Top retailers will double charitable donations for purchases made through the Spend For Good site to support green music charity Reverb
When: Thursday, April 22, 2010 – 12:00 a.m. – 12:00 a.m. CST
Where: Spend For Good Online Charitable Shopping Site

To participate in the Spend For Good Earth Day Shopping Event, all consumers need to do is shop through the Spend For Good site on April 22nd. While shoppers will be able to choose from hundreds of popular online stores on the site, they are encouraged to support those retail partners that have offered to double their contributions on Earth Day: Cooking.com (10% of purchase amount); Land of Nod (12%); Shopbop (14%); eBags (12%); Moosejaw (10%); and PetSmart (11%).

What will I be buying?
I am totally excited because I have been drooling over the Baby Jogger City Mini stroller ever since Jes at Chirky showed me hers. We had kinda been putting off buying a real stroller for Little Sir and had been making do with an umbrella stroller, NOT ANYMORE!

One of my favorite kids' retailers, Land of Nod, is participating in this Earth Day Spend For Good event, and also offering free shipping on strollers! So not only will I get the stroller of my dreams, but Land of Nod will be donating around $25 of my purchase to Reverb!

It's a win-win!

Now, what will you do?

Get some ideas on how to celebrate Earth Day or share how you are celebrating on Twitter by visiting TwittEarthDay.

Happy Earth Day!

* disclosure: nobody paid me for any of this, I have to pay for that stroller with my own money. But hey, if you want to give it to me for free or book me some free travel GO RIGHT AHEAD!

Earth Day is coming

I am just going to go ahead and post some Earth Day stuff now, since it is very possible I will actually forget about Earth Day when it does come around (as I have been known to do in the past).

First of all, Amazon has created an Earth Day store, which is fun!

Be sure to check out their tips on green cleaning! One of the tips is to hire a green cleaning service. I hope to have a recommendation for you on local services very soon, keep checking back.

Amazon has also started a new Green Earth Exchange service, where you can trade your old electronic devices for an Amazon gift card!

Next, I'd like to share with my readers anything I could to encourage you to become more "green"!

I have a question for you:

What area of your life would you like to make more "green", or in what area have you tried and failed?

I will try my best to find an answer for you!



Disclaimer: Amazon did not pay me to highlight their Earth Day store, but if you buy something from them by clicking on any of the links from this blog, I get like 2 cents of their profit. Oooo.

Swiffer WetJet: "green" FAIL

In my last post, I guess it was pretty obvious that I'm not what you'd call a "green" blogger. I'm a "conscientious" blogger, meaning that I like to explore ways of doing things better (often greener), but I admit when I've failed.

So, I'll just follow up on that thought by telling you about my latest "green" FAIL: Swiffer WetJet.

I first used one of these babies when cleaning a friend's house for her. I thought it was awesome at the time, because it keeps you from having to fill the sink with water to mop (I usually use a microfiber pad mop, the microfiber pad can be washed in the washing machine).

But the things that bother me about the WetJet are many:

1) It uses plastic containers for the cleaning solution. Sure, they can be recycled - but why am I buying things just to toss them?? You have to buy more regularly.
2) The cleaning solution is in *no way* green - in fact, when I finally did break down and buy one, the smell from the solution was so strong after cleaning only my kitchen, that I had to leave all the windows open and I nearly asphyxiated. My child was in the adjoining room!!
3) The cleaning pads for the WetJet: disposable, full of plastic. I doubt they are biodegradable and I would almost bet they are leeching all kinds of crazy chemicals into landfills.

I was convinced I could "green" this thing, just like when I "greened" the Swiffer dry mop.

First, I tried attached a microfiber cloth to the bottom instead of the disposable pads. This did not work like it did for the dry mop because the cloth has to hold up to being wet. The little gripper things on the top of the WetJet just aren't up to the job of securing something as heavy as a microfiber cloth. Also, wrapping the cloth around the WetJet blocks the openings where the cleaning solution comes out.

Next, I tried replacing the cleaning solution. I asked for empty WetJet cleaning solution containers on Freecycle and somebody had some! I put my faithful Method cleaner in the empty container and...the container peed itself. I don't know why but apparently it can't hold up to being reused? Or else I have a later model WetJet and there are various sizes of refill containers and I had the wrong size? Why would they DO that??!!

I felt like I needed a Master's degree to simply replace the cleaning solution cartridge for this thing. And it's not like this is something I was doing outside the manufacturer's suggestion - the WetJet is supposedly made to be able to switch between different solutions, they make one for vinyl floors and one for wood floors (I have both).
Why so difficult to switch cleaning solution cartridges, Swiffer?

So now I am annoyed that I spent money on this thing that isn't green and can't be recycled.
I think I will post it on Freecycle for someone to come pick up.

The thing about breastfeeding

Breastfeeding is a hot topic among mommy bloggers, especially natural birth/attachment parenting advocates, who are the majority of the mommy bloggers that I follow. I completely agree with the whole "breast is best" philosophy, and had originally planned on breastfeeding for at least a year.

Since Little Sir did experience a natural birth, he was able to breastfeed immediately and really didn't have any issues with latch or gaining weight or anything - we were very blessed in that way. However, as I have gone back to work and had to pump for the majority of his day, he became less and less interested in breastfeeding. It's not that he prefers the bottle per se, but just that he is a very active baby and isn't able to pay attention to the boob for more than 5 minutes unless he is feeding in his sleep.

In addition, we had to add formula at about 4 months of age because my production just cannot keep up with his hunger. He never seems to distinguish between formula and breastmilk, so that was easy to do.

As of right now, I am still pumping, but we have to add 2 oz of formula to every bottle in order to get the 5-6 oz he needs at each feeding. Before bed he needs at least 8 oz in order to sleep through the night. We have to do straight formula for that one - there's no way I've ever produced that much.

Why am I telling you this? You might say: this is a "green blog", what do we care about your breastfeeding?".

Well, this is where the "confusion" part of being conscientious comes in.

Conscientious: I know on paper that breastfeeding is best. I realize that the API and natural parenting community wants me to breastfeed until Little Sir is at least a year old. Honestly, they'd prefer he be walking up to me at 2 years old and pulling up my shirt. (This idea creeps me out personally, but I understand the heart behind it and I respect that some people do this.)

Confusion: Here is the thing: I have to hook this machine up to my boobs and let it mangle me for a minimum of 3 or 4 times a day. And for what? So I can get a very minimal amount of milk, sometimes only 3 oz total. (and yes, I know about massage to increase production when pumping. I do that. That is what I get even after massage) When I try to get the little guy to breastfeed on weekends and on my days off, its like wrestling a cat. He pops on and off for a minimum of 25 minutes each time, and doesn't get much, so we're back doing it again in 2 hours. Every 2 hours, 25 minutes of wrestling and hair pulling and squirming. Aaaggh.

There have got to be better ways to spend my days and his.

I know the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends breastmilk to the age of 6 months and that is only 2 weeks away. I think we can make it that far. 

Then I am seriously considering ending this effort. Going almost exclusively to formula and breastfeeding only in the early morning when he gets up and comes into our bed with us (co-sleeping! see! see! I can be AP!!). For as long as my supply lasts at that rate.

Go ahead, yell at me and tell me that he's going to grow up some kind of serial killer or goth teenager because I didn't breastfeed long enough. I really would not mind someone else's perspective on this. I'm not going to lie and tell you it will change my mind, though. I'm pretty much done with it, to tell you the truth.
Because at this point, just looking at that breast pump is making me nauseated.