Change of Pie Plans

Well...more like the cancellation of pie plans. That idea died out within two days of writing the post about it. Sad, I know. But really, thinking about it...it just won't work.

Fortunately I've come up with a new idea that has stuck with me for a couple weeks now. As you all know I've recently started cloth diapering my daughter, as well as looking into many homemade/natural alternatives to everyday cleaning products. I want to start making these products, test them out and if all goes well...sell them. I'm still in the research stage, trying to find the best recipes for everything. When I get to the testing stage, I will need a few volunteers to help "test" my products. (Unfortunately the testers might need to make a donation, since I can't exactly hand out stuff for free.) Anyway, here is a list of natural homemade products I am thinking of making and selling:

Lip balm
Deodorant
Bath Salts
Reusable cloth breast pads (for lactating mothers...or the few men that might have a lactating problem)
Reusable cloth menstrual pads (washable, comfy, money saving, eco-friendly)

That's all I can think of right now. Depending on how the making and testing stages go, I may or may not drop/add items. I am going to be making laundry detergent and hair care but I'm not sure if I want to sell them. I can however still give you the recipes I end up using.

For this next part of the post if you are opposed to talking about a woman's monthly cycle I suggest you discontinue reading.

I know the idea of cloth menstrual pads sounds a little gross at first. But if you think about the benefits for you and the earth than it's not so bad. That is one reason we switched to cloth diapers for Elliott. They are more comfy for her tiny tooshie, they cost friendly, eco-friendly  and come in many cute colors and designs (I know that no one will see them but we woman like things pretty even things that don't get seen.) Disposable pads can be scented, and feel to much like a plastic diaper, added chemicals to make them smell can cause infections or allergic reactions. And NO ONE wants an infection *down there* When making these cloth pads I will also be making a storage bag, that you can put the dirty pads in until washing day.

Ok I'll finish now.

Oh and if you made it this far I want you to comment! I want feed back on this idea and feel free to ask questions. =)

Here's a cute picture as a reward for reading through this slightly awkward post.

Sisters

Sisters are pretty amazing. I have 4 of them and I love them all. They are pretty much amazing. =)

We all have our faults, we all mess up but we are all there for eachother when we need it the most. I would do anything for those 4. And I know they would do anything for me. I love my sister and miss them very much. I can't wait for Christmas! They (excluding Laura) are coming to my house! It's going to be amazing. We'll spend the time picking on eachother, playing games (maybe even hide and seek! and karate!!) Eating and just having fun. It will be epic. =)

Tree Hugging.

So as many of you know I've recently decided to switch to cloth diapering Elliott, rather than using plastic disposable diapers. We just recieved our first pair of cloth diapers and have been washing them daily so she can use them at night. We love them! They are easy to use, and you can tell they are 20 million times more comfortable than disposables. With all this cloth diapering excitement I've also done some research and have recieved a few recipes on how to make your own laundry soap, softener etc. Which got me doing even MORE research and looking for MORE ways I can make cheap and all around better soaps for my home and family. I've found some interesting stuff on homemade hair products which I can't wait to try! So not only is all of this stuff I am finding better for our wallet, better for our lives (chemical free and all natural) it's better for the enviroment! Who knew that I would be hugging trees!? =) Maybe I will post recipes and new ideas as I go. For now, here is a couple of pictures of Elliott in her new cloth diaper!!

She had just gotten out of the bath, she was hungry and she was exhausted! But she was nice enough to let me take these three pictures to share with you all. =)

Plastic to Cloth

I have finally convinced my dear husband to try cloth diapering Elliott, instead of using those icky plastic disposable diapers. I'm really excited about this. Not only will Elliott be less likely to get diaper rashes, she's less like to have a blowout, and we save a ton of money in the long run! Did I mention I was really excited? Cloth diapers come in pretty colors and designs, and you just through them in a "wet bag" (From what I gather it's just a laundry sack, made for cloth diapers, probably water proof so the icky diapers won't soak through and icky-fi anything else) then every few days do laundry. There is also cloth wipes, that you can wash and re-use, but I haven't looked into them much. For now we are just doing the diapers.

See they're cute! And they look so much more comfy than those plastic crappy (pun totally intended) ones. =) And of course there are endless possibilities for color and design.

Who doesn't like Pie??

Seriously!? There is a pie out there for every single person:
Fruit
Chocolate
Vanilla
Lemon
Sugar-Free
Gluten-Free
Vegan
Organic

There is no end to the kind of pies you can make. And all this pie talk brings me to my "IDEA" that some of you may have read on FB.

I want to start my own little at home business of making and selling pie!!

Isn't that the best idea ever?! I'll start out by just practicing, since I haven't had the oppertunity to bake in quite sometime. I'll bring the practice pies to Matt's work and let the guys test them for me. (I think I'll find plenty of willing particpents, they know my baking skills and I havn't heard a bad word about anything I've brought in before.) Oh did I mention that cheesecake is in the pie family? Yep and it will be on the menu as well. It's going to take sometime and little (lot) a bit of money to get started, but I think in the long run it will be good for me. It will give me somthing to do on a daily basis besides sitting around on my tushie forever.

Some plans for after I get this thing up and going:
Shipping. I know there is a way to ship temperature sensitive foods. When my little pie business gets going I'll figure out exactly what that is, and I can start shipping pie out to people, over night. It will of course cost more...but be totally worth it!

Oh and one of the best selling points, especially up here in Portland, is that all of my pies will be home-made with only locally bought ingredients. It will cost more for me, therefore more for you. BUT I know how much Portland loves to buy local. =)

I really hope this idea works. I like baking, I love pie, and of course wouldn't mind a little extra money. =)

I'm not completly sure on a name for this little business. But I'll come up with something. Or I'll have a contest on here and who ever comes up with the most original creative name gets a free pie. Haha, we'll see.

They were playing with the cars. =)

Sad and Lonely

So, talking with Peggie and Matt...we've all decided it's best if Peggie stays in Utah. She's got so many more oppertunities there, and she's doing amazing in school. I would hate to disrupt that with dragging her back to Portland. I am completely ok with this. The problem is...well see I posted an ad on craigslist for friends, pathetic I know. And it seemed to work out. I had 7 people respond. 2 didn't write back after I did. I asked the other 5 to all get together at once and have a ladies movie night. We all needed friends so why the hell not right? Well only one ended up able to come to that movie night. That's fine, I did ask only 3 days before the planned day. So I made plans for next week. A full 7 days before the movie night. The one who showed up to the first movie night still talks to me and we are still making plans to hangout. The other 4 havn't written me back. Sigh. I know this is all pointless and annoying crap that you don't care about but, for the moment..deal. Then I had plans to go to a play group today for church. But that didn't work out. So all plans I had for human interaction have gone down the drain and I feel like crying...again, because I already have a little.

I've thought of trying to host a foreign exchange student. I've talked to Matt about it a little, but we havn't talked about it extensivly. I think it would be awesome! Maybe we could get a kid just for the spring semester of school. Of course they would be in school so they wouldn't always be around, but they would be here earlier in the day. Give me someone to drag around to the Saturday market. Or if school is canceled, we could go to the mall. But now it's sounds like I'm ordering a live-in friend.  Haha even more pathetic than craigslist. There are a few things holding me back from persuing the exchange student route. First, the fact that Matt and I are so young, with an infant...would we actually qualify to host a student? I know any kid would LOVE to live in Portland, and we are right on a bus line so it's about perfect. Second...do we have enough money? Matt managed to support me, Elliott, Holly, Gabriel and himself rather well for 3 months. And an exchange student would have their own spending money, so all we really provide is a roof over their head, a bed, food and transportation. Which brings me to my third problem...transportation. We have one car, and I don't even have a license. I'm thinking that might cause a problem. But will it? We live on a busline. The kid will be in school during the week so there's not many places they can/will need to go Mon-Fri. And if they do we could probably get there via bus.  But I'm sure a car of my own would be plenty helpful. What if there isn't a bus (school or public) that could get them to and from school? I can't take them.  Oh! and what if they get in trouble at school?  Or hang out with the "bad kids" and drink and smoke and do stuff they aren't supposed to? How am I supposed to dicapline them only being 2-5 years old than them? Which 15-18 year old is going to listen to a 20 year old. It would be like their older sister trying to get them in trouble. And another thing...what if they don't like me? What if they're a little stuck up bitch? (Pardon my French...no pun intended.)

Ok I'm done with that long and boring subject for a moment.

And now Elliott is awake so I must go. =)

Yep, she's a thumb sucker. =)

Just the 3 of us.

Elliott is helping me write this one, because she decided we should wake up a whole 2 hours earlier than normal. Thank we normally wake up around 9, so waking up at 7 didn't completely kill me. It also helped that when I went to get her out of her bed she was happy and excited to see me. =)

She is getting so big! She rolled over the other day. Rolled from back to belly, and then back again. Rolling from belly to back again was deliberate, you could totally tell she knew what she was doing. She's such a chunk, turning into the cutest rolly-polly you've ever seen.

Mom, Holly and Gabriel left on Sunday. It's just Matt, Elliott and I in this big ol' place. It almost seems to big now. The biggest thing I don't like about this place is the spiders. There are a million of them out back, and it seems that I am getting bitten by them, but I'm not sure when. I just randomly find new bites. And all the bites would be covered by shorts, that's where they all are. In my hip area. It's crazy.

I made bananananananananana bread today. Elliott helped. And by helped I mean hindered. She sat nicely in her bouncer for the first half of the making part, then decided she was tired of sitting in her bouncer. So I ended up finishing mixing with her in my arms. I of course had to put her back in the bouncer to put the bread in the oven...which pissed her off. I think she's just jealous that she can't have bananananananananana bread yet. =)