Guest Blogger: The Eco Chic - 5 Things I Would Do Differently the Second Time

I just had a baby! While I am out on maternity leave for a few weeks or so, I have begged some of the bloggers that I stalk most admire to contribute guest posts to this space so it won't be lonely. The posts are so awesome that I am afraid you won't want me back.

The goal of these guests posts is to bring new and different insights to this space. Viewpoints that I am unfamiliar with, advice from those who have been where I have not been, and ideas that might seem foreign to myself and my readers but are important to consider.

Today's guest blogger is Calley, The Eco Chic (@TheEcoChic). I met Calley for the first time in person at BlogHer 2010, after possibly lurking following her blog for quite a while. Calley is a cloth diapers expert, natural parenting green blogger at night and an environmental consultant by day. She can also be found @EcoChicParties.

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It’s no secret that the hubby and I are officially done having babies!  We’re both in our 30’s and have always known that two children would be our limit.  I only wish I had known about the modern cloth diaper with my first child so I could have played with them more.  As we approach the potty learning days (our tot is 2 years old) our cloth diapering days are numbered. 

In honor of Jenny’s newest arrival I thought I would share some things that I would do differently if we had more babies.

1. Our initial investment in cloth diapers would include more of a variety in brand and styles.  We purchased a bulk of one type and style of cloth diapers with the intention that we would use them and sell them and have no need to buy any more along the way.  While this CAN be done and many people can only afford the one time investment I wish we had tried more brands and styles at the beginning.  I would have bought a trial package or starter package like the ones they offer at Kelly’s Closet and would have built a diverse fluffy stash.
    
2. I would have bought some second hand newborn diapers and I would have taken them to the hospital with us.  We didn’t really get a chance to experience cloth diapers with a newborn since our stash was one-sized diapers that didn’t fit our petite baby until almost 8-10 weeks of age.  Then I would have resold them as we outgrew them.  I would have tried a variety of newborn styles and types too – and not just one brand or style. 
    
3. I would have taken more professional photos of our baby in cloth diapers.  Looking back at the first few months of our journey I don’t have a lot of cute cloth diaper pictures.  A newborn picture in cloth diapers would be adorable hanging on our walls and would be a great way to share our passion with friends and family.
    
4. I would have signed up for Twitter before I had a baby and started to talk with other #clothdiapers moms online.  I can honestly say that almost everything I learned about cloth diapers I learned from Twitter – or at least from the connections I made on Twitter.  Most Monday evenings from 9-?? PM ET you can find mom’s online discussing cloth diapers using the #clothdiapers hashtag.  This unsponsored chat was originally hosted by bumGenius and now it’s just a great place to meet up with moms around the world who use cloth diapers.  Some weeks bumGenius will still show up to offer their advice and maybe even a giveaway or two.  Many weeks you can even find me hosting a cloth diaper Twitter Party by various cloth diaper retailers and brands under @EcoChicParties.     
    
5. I would have blogged more about our journey and experiences with cloth diapers in the early days.  Sure, I did some early blog posts but I had no idea how valuable my lessons would be to others.   You can read more about my cloth diapering journey, read my cloth diaper reviews, and enter the occasional contest at The Eco Chic blog. 

Guest Blogger: My BFF - On Being Child Free by Choice

I just had a baby! While I am out on maternity leave for a few weeks or so, I have begged some of the bloggers that I stalk most admire to contribute guest posts to this space so it won't be lonely. The posts are so awesome that I am afraid you won't want me back.

The goal of these guests posts is to bring new and different insights to this space. Viewpoints that I am unfamiliar with, advice from those who have been where I have not been, and ideas that might seem foreign to myself and my readers but are important to consider.

Today's guest blogger is actually not a blogger at all… she's my BFF who lives in another state. I specifically asked her to write a post about being child-free by choice because she has an awesome perspective!

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I have never had the, “Aww, baby”s.

Most of the time when I am handed a baby, what’s going through my head is, “this would be much more fun if this were a kitten or a puppy”. I like kids, I love all the children I am related to (by marriage or otherwise), I love the children birthed by those I love (love by association). When I see my nieces, nephews, 2nd cousins in law, etc., we have the maximum amount of fun to be had; I organize activities, games, and crafts. But, at the end of the day, they are not my responsibility. I see the stress, the heartache, the sleepless nights, the money issues, the family drama associated with holidays, stressful travel, piles and piles of child laundry, poop, pee, noises, battery operated toys, waste, toys that make loud noises, buying the newest toy, the sleepless nights (yes it is in there twice) and I think, “This is not for me”.

Unless I have a great desire for a baby of my very own, I don’t feel I should give in to societal pressure to have kids. Having a child for the wrong reasons isn’t healthy for the parent, or more importantly, the child. I am aware of the credence, “once you see the baby your heart will transform and sparkle because your baby will poop unicorns and rainbows.” I am not 100% buying that because I have had lots of friends whose children are not currently, nor have ever pooped rainbows and unicorns.

Because I don’t want this to become an, “I don’t want babies” stream of consciousness, I will briefly discuss 3 points that lead to my decision (I am not speaking for my husband and his reasons): 

1. Uncertainty of the future: I look at the number of people who do not recycle and have kids (or grandkids) and wonder, “Why they are doing this to their children’s future?” I look around at war, joblessness, political climate, environmental issues, and I can’t imagine bringing a person into the world to deal with what the future seems to hold. People continue to make messes for the next generation as people have done for decades.
   
   
2. Overpopulation: I do not know enough about this subject to knowledgeably elaborate, but I do know it is an issue and the earth was not intended to sustain the ever expanding population forever. Here is a website that gives brief statements on the issue of overpopulation.
   
   
3. Selfish reasons: I like to travel, something that becomes increasingly more stressful and less affordable with kids. I like watching movies in peace and I like watching the movies I want to watch. From time to time this includes Pixar, Ramona and Bezus, and movies with talking animals, but I also like Quentin Tarantino and movies staring Sam Rockwell. I like quiet and having time to sew and make greeting cards. While listening to my co-workers whine about “yet another snow day” and “what will I do with my kids”, and how their kids are driving them crazy, I am thankful I can snuggle on the couch with my cats and watch a DVD. I like not having to figure kid expenses into the budget. I can go on but I will not - while all these things may sound selfish, they are all factors in why I do not want children of my own.

Child Free, childless, whatever you want to call it doesn’t matter, because labels do not make a person; to me both these terms mean the same thing. My husband and I have made the decision not to have children. The decision not to have a child is a decision we have made together, just as the decision to have children should be made together and for the right reasons.

Little Lady's Natural Birth Story

Don't forget, I'll be having guest posts starting on Thursday, February 24, during the time I'm out taking care of our new little girl!

Be sure to check back or subscribe in a reader to receive the posts from some of my favorite bloggers as guests.

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Little Lady's Birth Center birth story

I had the day off work on Friday. First, we had our regularly scheduled prenatal exam and then my plan for the day was to go get pedicure and massage. At the appointment, I was 4cm dilated and about 50% effaced, which is normal for my body considering the amount of prelabor I have had for weeks in both my pregnancies. Unfortunately, when I got to my spa appointment, the massage therapist cancelled last-minute (while I was at the spa), so I had only a pedicure and a brief neck massage. I had not slept well the night before - typical pregnancy insomnia had me up at 4:30 AM and could not go back to sleep after that.

While I was getting the neck massage at the end of the appointment around 3PM, I had a contraction that felt very real. I ignored it, but headed home instead of doing errands, so I could take a nap. I kept having fairly persistent contractions from that point on, although not always very strong and not evenly spaced. When I got home, I got into the bath in order to slow the contractions down or make them go away, so that I could sleep. I laid down for a little over an hour after the bath, but kept having contractions that woke me up on a regular basis and nausea.

When Christian got home at 6 I did not feel great due the nausea and the lack of sleep and the contractions and cramping that would not go away. We had leftovers for dinner and put Asher to bed. I was starting to have to breathe through the contractions and they were about 5 minutes apart, lasting 1 minute. Christian was working on our labor playlist on the computer, even though we still didn't think I was actually in labor.

If it was labor, I did not want to go into it feeling so tired and nauseated, so I poured another bath and Christian got me a glass of wine. I wasn't able to finish the wine due to the nausea and I finally decided we might need to call the Beverly, the midwife on call, who had also been the midwife who had seen me at my appointment earlier that day. I told her that I was in the bath trying to make the contractions stop and she said I was welcome to try that for another 15 minutes or so and then call her back because what I was describing sounded like labor to her and she knew how dilated and effaced I had been earlier in the day. I got out of the tub after about 15 minutes and started shaking uncontrollably. Being in the tub had only slowed the contractions a little, a few had breaks of 7 minutes instead of 5. I had Christian call Beverly back and she said we should go ahead and come in. I had been texting our nanny and told her to go ahead and come over - the plan was for her to spend the night at our house, Asher was already asleep.

We got our stuff packed up and the nanny arrived. While I was talking to her I had another break in the pattern of the contractions (I wasn't timing them at that point either), but they came back fully and regularly in the car. We left the house around 10:40 and got to the birth center around 11PM. I was still bummed about having gotten no sleep and not convinced this was "real" labor.

When Beverly checked me, I was still only 4cm, which was disappointing after having annoying contractions all day. I was around 100% effaced, though, and Beverly said the only reason I wasn't more dilated was probably because my bag of waters was still intact and the baby's head wasn't low enough to press on the cervix and cause further dilation yet. She said if we wanted she could break the bag of waters and let the head go down, or we could just do a lot of power walking and  work on positions that angled the baby down onto the cervix. We decided on the walking so we walked around the park for quite a while. At one point there was a gush of fluid (I was, of course, wearing my Depends, which are MY BEST FRIEND), but when tested, it was not amniotic fluid. I think the movement of the baby and the contractions made me pee myself a little which is embarrassing. Especially since it happened more than once!

Squatting into a contraction inside the birth center

After we walked for a while the contractions got harder but I was still only dilated to a 5. We went back outside with instructions to stop every 3 contractions and have me squat leaning backwards onto Christian while the contraction was happening. This is definitely the most flattering position EVER, and I was doing it at 2AM in a public park gazebo wearing a birthing gown.

It occurred to me while we were walking that I needed to mentally accept that I would be having the baby that night. I am a big believer in Ina May's theory that what goes on inside your head has a huge impact on the progress of your labor, and it was my belief that my refusal to accept the idea that I was really in labor might be hindering my further dilation.

The next time when we went back inside from the park to be checked, I was 7cm, which was better. I was also feeling very tired, I had been awake almost 24 hours at that point and the contractions were painful and close. We got the go-ahead for me to keep laboring in the tub. I love the tub. I went through transition in the tub during Little Sir's birth and this birth was the same. I tried very hard not to tense up during transition because I was so focused on trying to make sure my cervix opened more.

Cherie showed up and checked me around 2:45 AM, I think, and I was 8 cm. I think the check caused my water to break because something popped and I started losing my mucus plug. My vocalizations changed from humming to more like long grunting and I started feeling pressure to push.

I had the antibiotics hooked up to my port at that time because it was 3AM and had been 4 hours since the last time (I was Group B Strep positive again), but I needed to get out of the tub so I could get into a pushing position. Moving around while needing to push and hooked up to an IV is just the most fun thing EVER. I left the tub at 3:15 AM.

I only pushed on the bed post through maybe one contraction and the head started crowning. I felt the need to keep pushing even when I didn't have a contraction. We moved up to the bed to deliver and, oh, I HATE moving mid-push, I remember I hated it last time too. It is really difficult to move through that kind of pain and I thought I couldn't do it! While things were being adjusted on the bed, I was on my hands and knees between contractions and that was a huge momentary relief.

When the next contraction came, I was in position on the bed and ready to go. I was fully dilated so there would not be any trouble delivering the head without a need for anyone cutting anything. I was really focusing on using my diaphragm to push. I had recently spoken to our Bradley instructor about pushing, since I felt I didn't do it correctly with Little Sir and it wasn't terribly effective. This time it was more effective - again, I felt like pushing even without a contraction so I did that too. Overall, the pushing time was probably around 10 minutes total and then our little girl was born at 3:25 AM! When she came out, she had her hand over her nose, so her elbow was folded and it did cause a little tear when it came out, but it wasn't bad - I didn't need stitches.

Starting to come out...

She was covered in vernix and HAIR! To us, she looked almost exactly like Little Sir did in his first few minutes of life. Christian "caught" her just like he caught Little Sir, and put her on my chest where she stayed for over an hour. She nursed perfectly for about 45 minutes shortly after the cord was cut.

Then, after the birth, Christian got in the tub with her for a LeBoyer bath while I ate some food and rested.

We are so excited to welcome the newest member of our family!

It's a girl!

We are excited to announce the early arrival of Baby #2, Finn Janell Bradford - she's a girl! She was 7 lbs, 12 oz and 20.25 inches at birth, despite being what the early ultrasound suggested was only 38 weeks and 3 days of gestational age.

For the purposes of my blogs, I'll be referring to her as "Little Lady".

Although we definitely didn't expect her this early, it was a really good spontaneous (not induced), completely natural and unmedicated vaginal birth at The Birth and Women's Center in Dallas (our 2nd birth there).

I can't wait to write up her birth story once I've had some rest and we've uploaded the pictures and video!

7 Quick Takes Friday #13

--- 1 ---

Lots of exciting things happening on the blog right now - don't forget to enter my giveaway of a $25 gift certificate to Diapers, Etc.! And check out their redesigned site, it looks great! I have been visiting almost every day and plotting what I am going to order next. I am trying to make myself wait until after this baby is born and we know the gender, because I am planning on buying some gender-appropriate patterned cloth diapers!

--- 2 ---

We are in the home stretch of this pregnancy, and I am feeling it. I'm at that point where I'm uncomfortable and tired at all times. I have prelabor contractions and cramping almost constantly, just like last pregnancy. Frankly, it's getting difficult to function.

Fortunately, Thursday was my last "real" day of work - I have Friday off due to a vacation day I had to "use or lose" and Monday is President's Day. Then, on Tuesday of next week I think I might let the midwives do a few things at my prenatal appointment that morning to see if labor starts. If not, no pressure, we will go home and just wait some more. If you want to weigh in on the background of what is going on there, just visit the blog post on my family blog and read the comments. I really am thankful for all the feedback I got from The Feminist Breeder and her birth professionals - I am taking all of it into account, and I learned a lot from them all!

--- 3---

I am excited to have won a gift certificate to the Elements Spa at Great Wolf Lodge in Grapevine from She Is Dallas, a collaborative local blog to which I contribute. Friday I will be spending a few hours getting a massage and pedicure in preparation for the birth!

If you haven't checked out the new She Is Dallas, please do - it was formerly named BurbMom.net. My blog post about meal planning was reposted there last Saturday!

--- 4 ---

It's been rough keeping my attention at work the last few days, one thing that has helped is listening to the "podiobook" Blood Witness by Dave Hitt. A podiobook is an audiobook that is released as a series of podcasts. It's about a Jehovah's Witness who is turned into a vampire. Pretty hilarious concept, and it's kept my attention and made the hours go by quickly! It is NOT a kid-friendly book - there is some sex and cursing in it, so please be aware of that before downloading it, but it is a captivating story overall.

--- 5 ---

I am also still working on reading Organic Housekeeping: In Which the Nontoxic Avenger Shows You How to Improve Your Health and That of Your Family, While You Save Time, Money by Ellen Sandbeck. It's a good book but very long, because the author goes into great detail about the exact methodology of cleaning every room in your house.

I have been reading it on the Kindle and it is taking FOREVER.
I really want to finish it so that I can review it on this blog because there are some things I agree with and some things I DO NOT and I cannot wait to tell you about them. However, I am pretty sure this is going to be a post for after the baby. So feel free to read it now for yourself and get ahead of me!

--- 6 ---

I don't watch much TV, but I used to watch 30Rock regularly. I have been disappointed in how it's gone downhill. It's just not funny anymore. But you know what IS funnier now? Community. I love Abed and Troy.

--- 7 ---

See, Levar Buton just showed up on the episode of Community I am currently watching on the DVR.
I rest my case.

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Well that's all for this week, be sure to visit Conversion Diary for links to more 7 Quick Takes Fridays.

Dallas 911 dispatch and the weirdness at Kroger

I was walking from my car into the store when a man flagged me down asking for help assisting an elderly women who had fallen. My arms were full of reusable bags but I reached out to help, even though she was telling him she didn’t need help (she DID). Another fellow came along and helped instead, in retrospect, I guess what the elderly lady might have meant is that she didn’t want a 9-month-pregnant person helping her. It turns out that she was bleeding from her head and I asked if I could call an ambulance for her. The guy helping her agreed we should, so I dialed “911” from my mobile phone.

We were at the intersection of Coit and Beltline, which is right in the area where Richardson and Dallas meet. I called 911 from my phone, my number is in the 214 area code. I reached a dispatcher, who seemed kind of reluctant to talk to me from the very beginning. I told him that I was in the parking lot of Kroger and a lady had fallen and was bleeding from the head and we need an ambulance ASAP. He asked my location and I told him the Kroger at the intersection of Beltline and Coit. Let me specify that Kroger is a large store and there are not multiple Krogers located at the intersection of Beltline and Coit. However, he would not proceed without the actual street address of the store. I told him that we were in the parking lot with a bleeding lady and I could not go inside and enquire the exact street address but that there was a “160” above the front door which I assume means “160 Coit Road”. After another long delay he came back and said “Oh, you are in Richardson. You called the Dallas dispatch” in an accusatory tone, suggesting I never should have called him in the first place. Then he just stopped talking

...OK? I mean, I dialed 911 from my phone… I didn’t have any control over where it was going. I mentioned this to him and asked him what I needed to do because by this time the lady’s head bleeding was actually increasing substantially and there was a puddle growing on the ground. I told him this and asked if he could please tell me how to get an ambulance.

While I was getting this attitude from the dispatcher, at the SAME TIME, a Kroger employee who was coming out to get some shopping carts ALSO FELL in the parking lot and apparently could not get up. I was the only person around and he was asking ME for help!! I honestly wanted to help, I did, but he was a grown man and larger than me, I am 9 months pregnant, and I was on the phone with 911 who was giving me attitude, and I was afraid the 911 dispatcher was about to hang up on me. I didn’t know what to do because I could not help the employee who had fallen!! All I could do was tell him that I was on the phone and would get him an ambulance.

Meanwhile the dispatcher was reluctantly agreeing to transfer me to the Richardson emergency service. When he connected me to Richardson he mentioned to them pointedly that I had called the WRONG CITY. Thank you for that. Really. Once Richardson got on the phone, it was much better. But it was still chaotic, because both the fallen people were still trying to talk to everyone and by this time Kroger management had showed up. No one on the phone seemed to be in a hurry and the other employee was still on the ground.

Another odd thing about the whole deal was that all the Kroger employees and able-bodied bystanders kept looking at me accusatory, like there was something I should be doing. What did they want me to do? Pick up everyone manually, all by myself? If so, why would a pregnant woman be the person to look to in a situation requiring lifting and balance? One bystander kept asking the status of the ambulance, a question I also wished I knew the answer to.

Eventually the ambulance showed up and I went inside and got my groceries. 

When I came back out, everyone was gone.

The whole thing was very weird, what with 2 people falling down in the parking lot on a completely dry and ice-free day, people expecting me to help them regain balance that I don't really even have myself at this point, and the fact that 911 seemed very unwilling to help anyone.

So what does this mean, is 911 no longer the appropriate number to call when one needs an ambulance? Do I need to somehow memorize exactly where the dividing line between Dallas and Richardson is and have both cities’ emergency numbers programmed into my phone? And why were the other people at the scene not more helpful?

Is it a full moon today?

Relaunch of Diapers, Etc. and gift certificate giveaway!

NOTE: per the bolded deadline below, this giveaway ended February 28, 2011. The winner has been contacted by Diapers, Etc. Thanks so much for participating!!

I recently discovered a new resource for cloth diapers and other natural parenting needs: www.Diapersetc.com. I actually think I might have purchased something from them a while back, but now they have relaunched their web site and I am so excited! They are hosting a special blog party in honor of their relaunch, there are 20 bloggers total participating in this blog party. See the bottom of this post for a list of all the other participants!

Calley, The EcoChic, let me know this relaunch was upcoming and as part of their celebration, I was allowed to select a few items to try from their new inventory.

First, I knew I wanted to try GroVia diapers (previously called GroBaby). I have heard so much about this diaper brand from other bloggers. While I have always been a BumGenius pocket-diaper mama, I have to admit that the idea of a diaper whose shell you can reuse while snapping the used liners in and out sounded great, especially as I approach the challenge of diapering two kiddos at a time. Anything to lighten my laundry!

I tried the GroVia diaper in Mandarin. The first thing I noticed was that the velcro on these diapers is STRONG! I mean, you really have to pull to detach it! Which I love, because my son is getting to the age where he likes to play with the velcro and remove it. If I don't put him down for a nap with pants or a onesie on, I can expect to see him on the video monitor completely in the buff, having removed his own diaper. I really don't think this would be an issue with GroVia velcro!

I also love how securely the leg elastic fits him. We've been having trouble keeping him dry overnight, since he sleeps with his little bum in the air, but I am wondering if this diaper might just be the solution we've been looking for!

GroVia diaper: A+
Can't wait to buy more!

Another item we tried and love is the thinkbaby BPA Free Trainer Cup. I have wanted thinkbaby products for a very long time as well, because they make a point to specify that they don't use BPA or phthalates in any of their products. When we made the transition to sippy cups, I was horrified to find that a lot of the cups could not verify being free of either of these toxins! Not to mention that we have had a little trouble getting Little Sir to drink milk from a sippy cup. He is fine drinking water or juice from sippy, but not milk! I love that the top of the thinkbaby BPA Free Trainer Cup is soft and feels like the nipple of a bottle to him. He has even agreed to drink milk from it a few times!

thinkbaby BPA Free Trainer Cup: A+

Giveaway Time!

And now I get to give away a $25 gift certificate to Diapers, Etc!!

To enter, you must be 18 years of age and live in the U.S. Contest ends February 28, I will be passing your information on to Diapers, Etc. at that time. Please make sure that you enter your email address in the comment system (it will be private) so that I can contact you.

You get one entry for doing each one of these things (so you can do as many as you want and get as many entries). Please leave a separate comment for each of the actions that you take.

• Comment on this post (required to enter). Cause I love getting comments. I don't even care what you say! Tell me what you did for Valentine's Day maybe?
• "Like" Diapers, Etc. on Facebook
• Follow Diapers, Etc. on Twitter
• Follow me on Twitter @_conscientious
• Follow Conscientious Confusion in an RSS reader or subscribe via email

In addition to my giveaway, the other 19 bloggers participating in this launch party are also each giving away $25 gift certificates! So, if you don't win mine, you might win on one of their blogs... if you'd like to enter ALL of the giveaways, here is a McLinky list of all the other participants!

Good luck, everyone!!

Disclosure: I was given a free GroVia diaper and Think Baby Sippy Cup in exchange for this review. All opinions are my own - I lucked out and I would gladly pay money for more of both, and probably will!

-- Blog post exported from http://www.conscientiousconfusion.com --

Coming Attractions: blog redesign update & guest posts!

I am currently 37.5 weeks pregnant with Baby #2! If we choose to go ahead with some suggestions from our midwife, we might be having this baby in the next 2 weeks...

I wanted to give all my faithful readers some hope that this blog won't be neglected while I'm out on maternity leave.

First of all, I've mentioned that my husband is currently working on the layout for the redesign of this blog, so far it looks like we'll be able to stick with Disqus and Blogger platforms, so that's a relief. As far as the "look" goes, I wanted to give you a quick look at the inspiration for it: Dave Rizzo Studios.

I encountered Dave Rizzo's sculptures at The Cottonwood Art Festival early last fall.

The minute I saw the sculptures I thought "this is what I want for my blog!", but I dismissed it because it was sculpture and I thought, I can never afford that! But the images just wouldn't leave me... and finally I went to the Cottonwood web site and clicked on every single sculptor's web site until I found Dave Rizzo Studios and sent them an email asking if they would be open to letting me use the sculptures as a basis for my redesign. I was so excited when they said yes!!

So, it's been quite a while that we've been working on this in our "spare time", but I think it is getting closer. I still don't have a hard launch date but hopefully before the next Cottonwood Art Festival, which is May 7 and 8! Be there! And check out Dave Rizzo Studios while you're waiting.

Secondly, I have some exciting plans for the first few weeks after I've had Baby #2. I know I might not be up to producing new content, so I emailed some bloggers I've been privileged to meet in the last few years and whom I really admire, and asked them if they would be interested in re-posting some of their fabulous content here on Conscientious Confusion as guest posts while I am out. I was so excited about the response I got, and the posts they've submitted are amazing.

It's going to be so great, you might not even want me back!! Just please don't leave me, OK?
I can't wait to introduce you to each of them!

Motherlove BlogHer Sponsorship entry: GREEN

I am excited to announce that I'll be attending BlogHer 2011 this year!! I'm already registered and will have more to share about what I'll be doing there in a few months.

Are you familiar with a company called MotherLove? They are a company that makes herbal personal care and supplement products. I absolutely LOVED their organic nipple cream after Little Sir was born and already have some for Baby #2! Well, they are running a special BlogHer 2011 Sponsorship contest and this post is my official entry.

The writing prompt for the GREEN category (what other category do you think I'd write for?!) is:

What do you want to accomplish this year to make the world a better place?

What kind of things could I possibly do that would make a huge difference? All I do is go to work, come home, spend time with my family and friends, cook food and clean!

It's my belief that the small things are exactly what is going to change the world. That's what I try to focus on with this blog. Small decisions like what cleaner to use on my floor, whether to pay the $1 extra for cage-free eggs or support factory farmed hens, how I should discipline my children, how to spend my free time, and even how I evaluate what makes a good book or movie.

Sometimes I wish I could escape the thought that the small things have a big impact. The other day, after 3 days of icy weather here in the Dallas area, I went to the grocery store to get eggs. I buy cage-free eggs even though I realize that doesn't always mean the hens are free-range. I would like to buy eggs I KNOW are free-range, but they are usually $4/dozen and we go through about 2 dozen eggs per week. So the closest I can get is cage-free.

Due to the icy weather, apparently the store had not received any shipments of cage-free eggs, and there were none available at all. No cage-free or even merely organic. Only traditional eggs, which of course were pretty cheap.

I knew we needed eggs and I didn't have time to go to another store, but I kept seeing the film footage from "Food, Inc." and other documentaries in my mind: dirty, bleeding hens, a foot deep in their own filth, trapped in an airless and stinking dark cavern, with their fallen siblings and colleagues' bodies littering the floor around them. Or the images of the birds chained to dirty bins until they expelled eggs. I thought about the articles I've read explaining why eggs were recently infected with salmonella (due to the filthy conditions). All these things came to my mind the minute I thought about picking up those traditional, cheap eggs. I thought about how the money from my debit card would be transferred to the grocery store and then to the people who put the hens in these conditions. That transfer would be my tacit approval of the poor treatment of these hens.

I couldn't do it, I left without buying eggs.

Does this make a huge difference? Maybe not. But what if EVERYONE did it? What if we all stopped buying eggs if we suspected the hens were treated badly? What if our buying power changed that industry?

I have heard that even Walmart is making an effort recently to change their food selections, because they pay attention to what people buy and act on that information. Think about their buying power. Then consider that they are analyzing what you buy every time you shop there.

Maybe it's not so crazy.

MeridaHome.com natural fiber rug giveaway

As we preparing to add another rugrat to our little family, I am focusing more on the off-gassing of chemicals from traditional home textiles. The issue is particularly applicable to rugs (which the babies crawl, play, and walk on) and mattresses. More about the mattresses in an upcoming post... Today is about rugs!

I was contacted recently by a representative from Merida Home, a manufacturer of eco-friendly rugs, who let me know that they are hosting a giveaway of a 4x6 sisal area rug via a contest that is being promoted almost exclusively through bloggers!

About Merida:

Our sustainability philosophy has certainly evolved since our founding more than 30 years ago, but a few simple principles have guided us each step of the way. Today, as always, we strive to:

• Offer high quality rugs made from rapidly renewable materials
• Guarantee excellent, highly competitive benefits for our employees
• Engage in community development and support causes we believe in
• Build long-lasting and mutually beneficial partnerships with suppliers around the world

These practices provide a solid foundation for us to build on our commitment to sustainability. In recent years, we have broadened our understanding of the issues affecting our planet and our communities, and have taken some exciting steps.

About the rugs:

Their rugs are made of all natural fibers, meaning there are no synthetic chemicals added that would off-gas into your home (of course, natural rubber does have it's own smell, as do the natural fibers themselves).

Merida’s large area rugs and sustainable flooring products are made from rapidly renewable materials that come from plants (sisal, jute, abaca, seagrass, coir and paper) and animals (wool). Merida has always chosen to work with natural materials due to the many advantages they have over synthetics, such as:

• Sustainable flooring products are rapidly renewable. With the use of sustainable farming practices, these fibers may be harvested over and over again without damaging the environment.
• Sustainable rugs undergo very little processing. Natural fibers generally require fewer resources than synthetics to become finished products.
• They do not contribute to climate change since they do not produce CO2. Through photosynthesis, plants actually soak up CO2 and release oxygen.
• They can be biological nutrients, if properly disposed. While many of our area rugs are backed with a natural latex derived from rubber trees, others are unbacked and may even be chopped up and used as fertilizer at the end of their useful life!

Rapidly Renewable materials and sustainable rug products are made from plants that regenerate quickly – typically they may be harvested every 10 years or less (www.usgbc.org).

Also, they look pretty awesome!

I would encourage you to visit Merida's web site, they have sooo much more information on their site about their environmental and sustainability practices, as well as how they strive to treat their worldwide employees and give back to the community through Habitat for Humanity and other charitable efforts.

Again, here is the link to enter the contest for the sisal area rug giveaway - one of the lines in the form asks for the blog that referred you, and that's me! Just enter http://www.conscientiousconfusion.com in that area!
The drawing will take place on March 14, 2011 and the winner will be announced via email.

Good luck!

* Disclosure: For everyone who enters the giveaway I also get entered into a special blogger giveaway for the another of the same rug. So my readers and I will have the same odds of winning, only my entries won't affect your odds, because the giveaways are separate...does that make sense? Other than that, I was not reimbursed or compensated in any way for this post.

My green home wish list

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If you know us in real life, you know that my husband and I are chronic renters. This is partially financial and partially because we are both commitment-phobic and terrible at any kind of maintenance or handywork. As we have discovered since living in this particular house for the past 9 months, we are no good at yard work either. Our poor neighbors, I know they must be embarrassed for our yard to be on their street!

At least in the last 5 years we have rented houses, rather than apartments, like we did when we were single and then when we were newly married. After living in rental houses for so long, I have realized there are far more things I want in a "real" house some day than are ever going to be available in a rental property.

I have composed a list of things I have learned from experience that we would need/want in a house. Many of these things would help the house run "cleaner" and "greener" but would also be convenient, or just plain common sense.

• Bathrooms larger than a closet. There's nothing "green" about this one except that 4 ft by 4 ft is not big enough for a pregnant woman and her husband to share, especially when the door opens INWARD, taking up 75% of the floor space when it's open. And I included the space that the sink and toilet take up in that measurement. In reality, there is only about 2 ft by 2 ft of floor space.
• Two sinks in master bath. Similar reason.
• There should be central heating/cooling in the bathrooms. Because when there is no heating or cooling in a bathroom, when it is 12 degrees outside, it is 20 degrees in the bathroom and when it is 110 degrees outside, it is 115 in the bathroom. The result is longer showers and more water used.
• I really, really want tankless water heaters like they have in Japan. The cost savings of these water heaters are debated but they definitely result in less water usage.
• Digital thermostat that can be automatically programmed to drop or raise the temperature at certain times of the day and on particular days. We had this at our last rental house and it was awesome. Again, very energy efficient.
• Insulation, of any kind, anywhere in the house. I don't know why landlords skip this one (probably because they don't pay the utilities) but none of the rentals we've lived in have any insulation at all. Ideally, I would choose a combination of a radiant barrier and eco-friendly insulation.
• Xeriscaping - because not only are we terrible at yardwork, but pouring hundreds of gallons of water into the ground every year is wasteful and expensive.
• Vent the gas stove into the attic rather than right back into the kitchen. Seriously, it's a fire hazard to throw gas fumes right back into the kitchen. Not to mention, when it is 110 degrees outside we can't even use the oven or the stove because the automatic fan kicks in and blows all the heat back into the middle of the room. Who decided this was OK?? 
• Laundry waste-water pipes should be inside an interior wall, not one that is on the outside of the house. Cause when it is below 20 degrees for 48 hours, there is no way to keep these pipes from freezing (since the are inside the wall and cannot be wrapped...and again, there is no insulation in this house) unless you run the washing machine 24/7 and that wastes huge amounts of water. So when the pipes do freeze from all that cold, the water can't drain from your washing machine, which is filled with clothes the baby peed on... and you can't wash your cloth diapers either.
• A garden area in the morning sun but shaded from the evening sun. In our first house, the only places we could plant things were either in the direct sun all day or in the full shade all day. If I bring plants in the house, the cats eat them. In this curent house, I could build a raised garden, but I have been pregnant since we moved here and unable to do that much manual labor. We really hope to be moving houses shortly after this baby is born.  One day I want to grow my own herbs.
• Linen closet, kitchen cabinets, a coat closet, garage, closets larger than the back seat of a compact car. Basically - storage space. Rental houses don't have it. We really do not have that much "stuff" but I'd like somewhere to keep what we do have. Like, say, our clothing and our towels.
• Open kitchen. I have been lucky enough to have one of these everywhere we've lived because it is a requirement for me. By having a kitchen that is open to the living areas, it's easier and more sociable to cook meals. If I have to choose between cooking and hanging out with everyone else in the house or in the family, I would cook a lot less. Which is a lot less healthy!

That's all I can think of right now but I'm sure there are more.
What attributes do you look for in a house?

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