Tuesday, September 28, 2010

Oh Ian :'(

http://iansvoice.org/default.aspx


You have taught me something today. I was sitting on the couch, babbling like a idiot because I'm stressed out over bills. Yup bills.

How stupid of me.


Your mommy has went through SO MUCH more stress then me. And she's not babbling on the couch like a idiot. She's blogging and potentially saving other babies lives.

So Ian, I grabbed my computer and started surfing facebook to try to get my mind off things. A good friend Erin reposted your mommy's blog link from another mommy who had reposted it from someone who reposted it and so on and so forth.

I clicked. Because I wanted something to read.

Maybe I should have waited until I was a little more emotionally stable.

I cried through your whole story. My little boy, sleeping in his pack and play in my bedroom was awoken to mommy hugs and kisses.

I wish with all my heart your mommy could be doing the same.

Ian, you are another example why parents should be educated about vaccines. Rarely does this happen unless there has been a reaction/family history of bad reactions causing the parents to google it. Of course, some parents DO research everything from vaccines to diapers to breast milk/formula.But not that often.

What I see typically is "Doctor knows best". Doctor tells you to vaccinate (or hell, just brings the needles in and does it), you vaccinate. Doctor tells you to use pampers instead of Hughie's, you switch. Doctor tells you to give the baby this medication or these vitamins, you fill the prescription and give it to the child.

All 50 states allow medical exemption to vaccination. All states allow a religious exemption to vaccination except Mississippi and West Virginia. No worries Mississippi and West Virginia. Parents have successfully obtained religious exemptions to vaccination. The constitutional right to have and exercise personal religious beliefs, whether you are of the Christian, Jewish, Muslim or other faith, can be defended. The following 18 states allow exemption to vaccination based on philosophical, personal or conscientiously held beliefs: Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Idaho, Louisiana, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, New Mexico, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Washington and Wisconsin.

Parents, Educate yourself on vaccines. Do it for Ian. Do it for your child. Not all of these vaccines are as safe as they seem. Any vaccine can cause side effects. Like any medicine, a vaccine could cause a serious problem, such as a severe allergic reaction.The CDC has it posted in BIG BOLD letters on their website. Don't let any health care professional tell you otherwise.

Possible Side-effects from Vaccines: http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/vac-gen/side-effects.htm

Friday, September 24, 2010

Dear Eddie Bauer...

Dear Eddie Bauer,

You are so freaking awesome! Thank you for making such wonderful car seats (and handbags).

About a year ago my awesome aunt flew out to see me from Georgia and promised me your Deluxe 3-in-1 car seat for my son. Unfortunately since my only means of transportation was my sister in laws 3-seater truck, I hardly got to use it since I rear face. Rear facing that bulky of a seat is nearly impossible on that kind of limited space. We used a little, (dinky), Graco SnugRide.

Last week, my sister in law (Cady), bought a 1990 Honda Civic. Last week, we got the insurance, registration, and her licence renewal taken care of. Last week my husband's friend Steve properly in staled the car seat like the seasoned pro he is.

This morning I text messaged a friend of mine regarding how awesome this seat was. Randomly. See, we haven't used it much. She was in the market for a new seat for her daughter. I told her about it's plush awesomeness and durability. But I had yet to have experience with reliability in a accident.

Not even a couple hours latter, Cady passed Little Cesar's Pizza. We were going to get a Hot N Ready Pizza and go to the park with Rebel to picnic and play. She went to the next light, made a u-turn, began down the road and BLAM! So 70 year old crazy lady hits us.

Or as according to her, our car jumped in front of her out of no were as she California Rolled out of Taco Bell.

The car hit EXACTLY were Rebel was sitting on the back passenger side. Rebel didn't even flinch. Nor did he spill a drop of his apple juice.

Thank you. For cushy suede seats. Easy to cleaness. Durability. Dependability. Side Impact Protection. Built in head rest. Cup Holder. Easy to Installness.


Unfortunately, now we have to buy a new car seat. But at least I know which one to get ;-)


Sincerely,

The Pincott Family

Tuesday, August 31, 2010

What are your top three nursing must-haves?

This topic has been on my mind to blog about since I started unpacking Rebel's bedroom. Most of my nursing must haves got mixed in with his stuff and, since we're no longer nursing, in his closet. I found my little canvas box that contained my most sacred (tehe) must haves that allowed me to nurse his whole first year at ease. What are they you wonder?

1) My Prolacta Bioscience hospital grade breast pump. This is the most amazing pump I've EVER used. And trust me I used quite a few. It's easy to use, strong, has a carrying handle, and the power in it is absolutely amazing! This is the pump they give to you when you donate breast milk, it's for you to keep and in my case, free to pass on to a mama in need (mine was donated to me).

2) Cloth breast pads. Yesssss. These are AMAZING. They hold better then disposables, are FAR MORE cost effective, are cute, and if your getting them handmade, perfectly sized. I have 34d's and I always seemed to get the disposable nursing pads made for women who were a cups or less.


3) This one is really hard, because I could have survived with the above two. But I couldn't have lived without my husband (he's the latch master) or Lasholin brand lanolin. But since some people dont have or cant get a latch master, I'll leave it at lanolin!

Friday, August 6, 2010

ANOTHER (Yes, ANOTHER) Rebel:T/L/C Review!!

Can Kelli ever stop her genius? Psshh....That's like telling my kitten to stop chewing up my phone charger (we've gone through SIX so far). A few days after my 19TH birthday I received a package in the mail from Nevada. I love it when I get packages from Nevada because I always get cool stuff ;) This time I opened it up to see..

YUP...she even does CLOTH gift bags. She's THAT amazing. Now...whats INSIDE the gift bag is what really counted ;)











OooOoo whats inside whats inside?!

















And inside that??!!??


My awesome BFF sent me PRODUCE BAGS!!! YEY!!! And I'm not even being sarcastic because I've really really been wanting a set of these ever since a friend of mine, Lisa, showed me a set she had stashed in the truck of her car. I even went as far as to buying the fabric needed to make them myself and then Dude AKA Distructo Kitty (my iPhone cord loving kitty) got ahold of it and well....now I have claw marks in my tulle. Gotta love kittens though.



I used my bags immediately (they came on grocery day LOL...I think she plans this stuff) and I gotta say they are extremely useful (well...LIFE SAVING) from the cart to the car to the counter. I have several different sizes for different produce needs.













Thats esspecially helpful since I hate using a whole pastic bag for just one avacodo/tomato (Our taco nights are usually just for my husband since I don't "do" taco's so we end up with ONE avocado ONE tomato and ONE small thing of lettuce)













The next size up is good for about 2-3lbs of fruit/veggies/etc. I wouldn't reccomend more since I worry I might rip my perfect little bags (I'm sure you could get more in there if you wanted though). This week Rebel is trying fresh peaches (a 2lbs/99CENTS sale item ;) These are a great way to keep them fresh and easily accessible.











For the larger size I am TRUELY grateful. We are one of those rare families that don't own a banana hammock. I know I know....we're weird. But up until recently we never owned more then a couple bananas at a time and they were either eaten or forgotten before we had a need for storage. Now Rebel has became a banana junkie. Were looking for a BA but the white pages are not very helpful. Maybe there are online meetings ;)















The carry bag wasn't forgotten once all the bags were used either! I found a special special use for it for something VERY dear to my heart (wink wink)



(everyone says it stinks lol.)













All in all it was my most used birthday gift so far (besides the pre-paid credit card hehe) but by far my favorite (....and prepaid credit cards are awesome...so thats saying something). Kelli puts ALOT of time and effort into her work to make it perfect (gotta love OCD!)

If you like my blog "like" Kelli's page ;) http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=258218&id=113388705351049&ref=fbx_album#!/rebelTLCs She's my inspiration for most of my writing and has some AWESOME products, all made with WAHM (work at home mom) LOVE!!

Sunday, May 23, 2010

Do you like saving money too?

Over the past couple years I've had to learn how to stretch my money. Big time. I was out of the house by the time I was 15, pregnant at 16, and married at 17. Life comes at you fast ;)

I wanted to share today a few websites that make my life easier, the ones I turn to when there's $100 left to buy us all food, clothing, and entertainment for the week.

The first on is swagbucks. What is swagbucks? Swagbucks is google (basically), but every time you use it you earn points (or 'swagbucks'). After you save these up for a bit, you can redeem them for anything. Yes anything. Because if it's physically not in their 'swagstore', they also have pay pal (CASH!!) and amazon gift cars (and amazon UK, and amazon CA cards!). I usually save up and buy a amazon gift card, apply it to my account, and periodically when I need something but have no cash, I use my saved up amazon money to buy what I need.

Search & Win

Next is ChaCha. What is ChaCha? Have you seen a KGB commercial? No?! Ummm...Ok. ChaCha is a "Human search engine", a service were you can call or text a question (What was Abe Lincoln's birthday? Who gave us the statue of liberty? Is my boyfriend cheating on me? Whats the square root of pi?) and within a few minutes, you get a answer back (February 12, France, No, he's as faithful as can be, 1.7725)

But....Who is giving you these answers?

Regular Joe's, stay at home moms, just about anyone.

Are you going to get rich? No. Are you going to make $8 a hour? No. But it's a couple extra bucks when you need it. They have a new "Pay me now" option that allows you to save up your money month by month and cash out when you need it, plus special events to earn extra cash and cool prizes.

You can apply to be a guide at chacha.com, scroll to the bottom and click "Become a Guide"

(Hint: Use google on your tests....they expect you to!)


Next is www.retailmenot.com. This is my LIFESAVER! I use this site the most when I am ordering domino's ;) they always have TONS of cool promo codes! I've never paid more then $10 to feed my entire family on pizza night. This is also great for printable coupons, and all online stores. They have something for everyone, even international!


I'm also in love with www.freesamplesite.com. The ladies (and gents) on this site are amazing freebie finders! I've gotten so many tips and tricks to get free samples, coupons, and special offers from the manufacturers I use everyday. The best tip I ever got was EMAIL THE COMPANIES YOU USE! Eg. If your using Huggies, contact Kimberly~Clark and ask away for samples, coupons, offers, and to be on their mailing list. If you have a problem with any product EMAIL THE COMPANY! They will ALWAYS refund you or replace the product. And 9 times out of 10, they will throw in extras. I had a situation were I found red mike and ikes in my hot tamales. I thought it was accually a good combo and called Just Born. Turns out that 2 batches had got mixed up and now there was mike and ikes in everything. I received coupons, peeps, a 5lb bag of hot tamales, several small bags of fire hot tamales, mike and ikes, etc. 2 10lb packages! I also had a situation back when I was using disposable diapers were the tabs on my pampers kept riping right off. P&G send me coupons for 3 mega-boxes of pampers and a mega bag of wipes! The people on freesamplesite.com are truly amazing!

Amazon is another place I love. You can buy anything (even food) on amazon.com and have it shipped to your door. I always buy 'used' and get awesome deals! The only sucky part is when buying used, you have to pay shipping (buying directly from amazon you do not if your order is over $25 typically). But, even with shipping I usually save a bundle. Books I buy for $4 (1 cent for books, $3.99 for shipping) typically, and movies are just a bit more if that (some are even cheaper).

Graveyardmall.com is another great one. It's were "good deals come to die". It's like a online "Ross", full of other store's stuff they couldn't sell, so they sell it to GYM, and GYM sells it you you for wholesale prices. Unfortunately shipping can be high at times, but they have been getting better with this.

I can't talk about Listia.com enough!
Auctions for free stuff at Listia.com

Listia is Ebay, but free. You 'bid' on items with credits. Well, Jen, how the heck do I get these credits? Easy Peasy. Click the banner above, fill out the usual info (name, email, user name, password, etc), and score 150 points to start. You can get more credits by being a active member, sharing Listia and auctions on facebook and twitter, referring friends, or 'selling' you unwanted things (clothes, shoe's, jewelry, housewares, electronics, etc etc). If you find something you REALLY want, you can always buy credits. Usually you have to pay shipping for your winnings, but about 1/3 of the time the items are shipped free to you.


There's more ways to save money using the net, so I'll update you guys asap with my findings!

Sunday, May 16, 2010

Were do I start??

Do you know how many people I run into in real life and on the web that want to start cloth diapering, and are pleading,"WERE DO I START?"...

Pssh...you? What about me? The seasoned diaper-er? Were do I start??!

Ok peoples...here we go.

We all start somewhere. We didn't just wake up with a stack of OS AIO's. Very very few of us even had someone telling us whats good and bad, what PUL means and if Velcro or snaps will work for you or not. Most of us scoured the Internet trying to figure out was AIO means, what 'FB' stands for, what cracked PUL means, etc. I wanted to share a page that helped me quite a bit when I first started up:

http://babyproducts.about.com/od/clothdiaperingglossary/Cloth_Diapering_Glossary.htm

Friday, April 30, 2010

Spring Cleaning...*Pssh*

Spring cleaning...almost as fun as taxes. The two seem to go hand in hand, except taxes I could easily pass up. Cleaning, on the other hand is right in front of my face day in and day out.

Why am I blogging about this? Because I don't want to do it!!

I remember spring back home in Connecticut. A airy, clean, grass smell flowed through open windows as my mom vacuumed under all the furniture not moved in a year prior to the day. Dad gone at work. Ozzy, Offspring, AC/DC, or Aerosmith playing on our surround sound. The cat asleep on a warm window sill. Me sitting in my messy room. Yup....sure miss those days.

LOL I was like...5...how do I remember all this.

Well It's my turn. I get to move the bed and clean the crumbs and dust that accumulated throughout the winter. I get to scrub the baseboards I've put off for so long. I get to try to reorganize all the random boxes. Oh joy oh joy.

One thing I'm doing different then my mom did when I was 5 is using natural cleaning products. I have a question though...

WHY ARE THEY SO EXPENSIVE?

Seriously, even with coupons, sales, and a combination of the two I can't even break even to the same price as the leading chemical ridden cleaner.

So I did some research and of course, I find out I have half the stuff I need sitting in my kitchen. Vinegar. Lemon Juice. Baking Soda. Salt. Essential Oils.

Oh yeah. I washed my counter tops with plain old soap and water. Guess what?

THEY GOT CLEAN.

Just as clean as using chemicals or natural cleaners.

I'd love to share this link with you guys: http://www.ehow.com/how_2279699_clean-natural-products.html

(P.S. Aerosmith, Ozzy, ac/dc....yup I'm still playing them!)

Rebel T/L/C, Part Two

Ok, so I received the teeny tiny rice pack thingy and my dryer satchel. Or as I've named them the dryer poof and cold pack...the names are a whole different story.

Anyways... I go to the mailbox and sitting on top of the other 4 packages is a little gray envelope with a heart and smiley face (no peace sign? wth?)on them. I immediately rip the package open to reveal a bean bag like object and a little...poof. No other way to describe this but "tiny little poof thing".

Do they work? YES! The dryer poof lives in my dryer, only coming out to have the owner of fresh laundry smell it ;) All my clothes were gently sented and smelled extremely fresh. I'm truly loving the outcome, and I'm glad I don't have to replace it every week like those stupid bounce dryer bars.

The rice thingy...AKA cold pack, wished it lived it the freezer. The problem is with a family of 4 children, 3 of which are in adult bodies, were ALWAYS hitting ourselves on something. Rebel is just starting to get good at stairs and running....needless to say there's been bruising in that process. Cady, the inspiration behind them has yet to need it. And me and Billy, lets just say chemical burn and sunburn. On our faces. Both times. That's what you get when you ride a bike alot or are allergic to coconut and don't read labels like you should.

All in all would I pay $10 for these things (not that Kelli would jack up prices)? I'd probably pay $20. Do I reccomend them? Absolutely. If you have a child? Even more so. My only disclaimer is don't use the dryer poof with diapers, obviously a no-no since diapers are picky about scents and softeners and the like, and they might upset them. Oh, and don't use the cold pack if your on the Adkins diet or just plainly love rice like me ;) Lets just say I was in the kitchen vegging out with Jasmine rice with a big thingy on my face.

Wednesday, April 21, 2010

Rebel: T/L/C's...my wayyyy long overdue RAVE

I hate tinfoil. It's worthless junk. Unless you have a huge wad of it (one requiring it's own room usually) it's not worth anything when you go to recycle it. I hated buying it since the good stuff is roughly $3-$5 a roll and lasts a whopping 3 days. For a while I just stopped buying it, but then I was stuck putting half eaten dinners in the fridge uncovered. Soon I was tossing so much dried out food I had to figure something out. And I did!

Rebel: TLC's. I met the owner Kelli kind of, oddly. I'm a nightowl, as is she, and saw a thread that said "Rebel: TLC's" bumped up in the middle of the night, my prime time for web surfing. Seeing as to my son's name is Rebel I had to take a look.

Made from 100% cotton and food-safe vinyl (back when I met her it was PUL), Kelli had taken a great idea, a hatred for tinfoil and waste, and a sewing machine and created a amazing top/lid/cover (T.L.C!). I LOVED the idea, but short on cash I just subscribed to the thread until I have some money and made a comment about my son's name being Rebel.

Immediately almost I got a comment back about her LOVING the name and asking why I chose it. I told her what I tell everyone else, because I rebelled against everything a teen mom would do, the name was amazing, and it fit my child. After mentioning my eco-friendly habits she immediately professed her love (LOL) and asked if she could gift me a set of TLC's!

So Christmas morning.....umm mail time a few days latter :) I received the most beautiful, amazingly created set of TLC's, with MY SON'S NAME ON THEM:

Photobucket

Tell me these aren't amazing!! I litterally use them EVERY SINGLE DAY! The tiny's are great for Rebel's sippy cups when I can't find the little doohickey the pops in the ring, and the mediums are our go-to cereal bowl covers.

So fast forward to our now amazing friendship and my insane love for Kelli's product. Like if TLC's weren't the greatest thing to go through a sewing machine, recently me and Kelli created another insanely awesome product.

My sister-in-law (whom may kill me for this) wanted a plastic light saber from Walmart. I obliged her being the awesome person I am. Well the stupid thing didn't work....so my sister in law went to take a look and *BLAM* out pops the light saber. Now with a VERY sore eye to say the least she went in the kitchen to get a ice pack. Well we didn't own one. So she grabbed a tiny TLC and filled it with ice and held it to her eye.

*LIGHTBULB*

I almost instantly had to tell Kelli, whom within a few days had a prototype up:

Photobucket

More on the ice packs latter though, once I get my testers!

Sunday, April 11, 2010

New Mom, Old Style

Why, oh why, wasn't I born sooner? I missed out on the best era of all times. The 60's and 70's had to have been the best time to live. From bell bottoms to Aerosmith, Kiss, and The Stones, I feel like I missed out in alot. My mother is one lucky chick.

Cloth diapering and breastfeeding were normal. Most people were tree hugging hippies. Today I am looked at like a freak because I have my son walking around in a big fluffy diaper. He was exclusively breastfed until he decided to stop. He co-slept with me as he wished. He wears little punk rock baby clothes while I wear band t's and listen to bands that existed decades prior to my birth. My son fell asleep to my weak sleep deprived voice singing "Sympathy for the devil" "Dream On" "I was made for loving you" "Hay You" and "Dream Weaver"

And I'm not the only one. There's a website out there bring some of us mom's with old (good) taste together. Finally, I'm not the only one putting Led Zeppelin on my Ipod and not Motzart. Kushies, not Pampers. Breast Milk over Enfamil.

Ok, so this post isn't all about my music addiction. It's also about my diaper addiction. Yet another 'old' think that's making a huge comeback. My husband says we need a 12-step program. Why? Because cloth diapering is so addicting. No one has yet to figure out why it's so addicting except squealing, "Because it's soooooo cuuuuteee!!!" If anyone can figure out our shared insanity, let me know. I'd love to hear your thought because quite plainly put, I don't know why.

Why do I lust over cotton velour and organic hemp? Dream of soft anti-pill fleece? Spend hours scouring forums for great deals? I have no clue. I have plenty other things to do with my time. I just choose to let my mind float in a endless web of fabrics, brands, and colors of things to cover my son's bottom with.

I guess part of the addiction is about the money saving. You save, easily, several thousand dollars per child you cloth diaper. There's also many who say it's for the environment which I completely understand. If they made Pampers back when my great great great grandparent's were babies, they would still be in a landfill decomposing. Some say it's just 'easier' or 'cuter'. Whatever the reason, once you never get out!

I always urge new mom, and even women who think they might want children, to consider cloth. It's not as costly as you think to start up. My whole stash, one that while not pretty can diaper my son for over 2 weeks if needed, was bought with $150. I started on $50 and slowly, $3 here $5 there, built it up to were it is.

Anyways, more latter, off to spend time with the family.