First Week Thoughts

Crunchy Beach Mama is officially one week old! Wahoo!

First I have to thank you to these great bloggers for putting up with my endless questions...And Baby Makes Three! who has become my true blogging friend and helped me set-up and more. Eco-Friendly and Frugal, who gave me tons of great starting tips. And My Crafty Mom who has been helping with design now and maybe a new look in the future! Check them out :)

Let me tell you what I've learned this past week...

- That there are TONS of blogs out there!! Wow! And TONS of giveaways! I've entered so many lately that I better win something!

- That I need a new computer! My dinosaur aged one can't handle every one's images, buttons, backgrounds, etc. It gets so overwhelmed!

- That I don't like the way Blog Hops seem to work. Yes I love it when someone visits my blog and follows me (Thank you soooo much!) but do you know how many blogs I visited, made sure I checked out their blog, read a post, commented, and how many I received back? The ratio is low. But putting that aside, they bother me because 1) most people are coming here to just Google Follow me and never return and vice versea. 2) my biggest peeve - leave me a comment on a post that only says 'I'm following you so follow me' without even reading what my blog or the post is about.

   There has to be a better way to do Hops. Maybe I should start one and the rules will be

     - only follow a blog that you have some interest in and know you will return one day     

     - please take the time to read a post and write a genuine comment.

     - after your genuine comment it's ok to say I'm a new follower but leave it at that and don't babble on because good people will check you out in return.

    I was irked more than once this week from the Hops . With that being said, I made some good friends and connections this way too :)

- That I don't understand Twitter at all! So when you reply or tag someone they don't really see that? Then what's the point of replying and tagging? What am I missing here?

- That Facebook fan pages should have more to them. I want to get emailed when someone "likes" me or leaves a comment on my Wall. I want to be able to "like" people through my fan page. I want to keep track of other blogs through FB without it mixing into my personal account. This frustrates me because I use and like FB a lot but it doesn't seem to be the first choice for bloggers.

-  What was the most important thing I learned? That blogging is ADDICTING and I love it! :)

Thank you to everyone who visited me this week. I am truly honored that you even clicked into here to check out what I was doing. Please keep continuing to spread the word ~ and I still have that great pair of Babylegs to give away. Keep 'em coming! :)

What is Crunchy?

I've gotten this question a ton since I began this blog. I was pleasantly surprised to find a great definition from the online Urban Dictionary. 

 An adjective describing persons or things relating to any or all of the following: vegetarianism; herbs; all-natural and organic products (such as food, skin and hair care products, etc.); recycling; protecting and preserving the environment; natural medicine; etc. People that are earthy-crunchy are sometimes called tree-huggers or hippies.

And Crunchy Mama is defined:

Mother who supports homebirth, breastfeeding, baby wearing, cloth diapering, co-sleeping, gentle discipline, etc. One who questions established medical authority; tends to be vegetarian and/or prepare all-organic foods.

If you would have told me in high school that I would become a "hippie" I would have laughed in your face! In fact it took me until my third child to become this way and I still don't consider myself all the way there. I am excited to explore all the ways to be crunchy through this blog!

Are you a Crunchy Mama? If so, would you like to be featured on this blog?

Kids & Chiropractic

I thought I'd honor Hubby and make one of my first stories be about Chiropractic. We "heart" get adjusting in our house (not that we have a choice! :). All of us visit Hubby's office regularly, even baby P'Diddy. But why do children need to start getting adjusted at such a young age you ask? Well I'll tell you.

It all starts in the birthing process as baby's head and neck gets pushed and pulled through the birth canal. That causes the spine to become misaligned, or the chiro term "subluxated". The vertabra needs to be put back into place so that the body can continue to function in a normal healthy manner. It may seem scary to adjust a newborn but a light finger-tip adjustment with just ounces of force can remove that subluxation!

Here is P'Diddy getting adjusted from daddy.  He didn't even know what was happening! He first got adjusted when he was only hours old in the hospital. I had a c-section and I heard Hubby wince when the Dr. pulled him out of me by his neck.

As babies grow they learn to crawl & walk. Their spines are modified by their newly acquired body positions and by gravity. You know all those bumps & falls they take! Those jolts will cause misalignment. I have a great YouTube video to share with you.

Wasn't that wild? Think about what that does to your spine. With each vertebra that gets taken out of its natural place, our body can't function right, which causes other symptoms.

Here is O'Bear getting his adjustment. When he was little it took him more than a few times to get comfortable with what Hubby was going to do. It can be scary for a child at first because it is something they have never experienced so be sure to find a chiro that specializes in pediatric care and is really good with children. Now O'Bear just hops on to the table and is ready! But his favorite part? The cute chiropractic stickers he gets at the end. Even at his daddy's office! :)

Now C'Man is another story. He loved getting adjusted right from the beginning and will tell you how much better he feels afterward. He had a foot that slightly turned in when he walked so he always gets his side/hip adjusted each time.

Some common problems that Hubby sees children for are persistent earaches, sore throat, colic, headaches, reflux, & even bed wetting! He believes that all problems can be helped with chiropractic care. But it's not instant! So don't think you can go get adjusted one day and be cured. Everyone is different.

I will occasionally be writing on topics that surround Chiropractic so you will learn a lot from me in the coming months, but a great book to start you on is called One Minute Wellness : The Natural Health and Happiness System That Never Fails (Body By God) . It's a book that is split into two parts - the first section reads like a story and is about one man's life. It's not boring and I promise you will enjoy it and learn great things.

Welcome BabyLegs Giveaway!

I am so excited to officially launch my blog today! My journey began many weeks ago when I checked out a copy of WordPress For Dummies at the library. Boy did I study it. I am NOT technical and many headaches came my way. I was spending hours at the computer and getting nowhere. My husband just laughed at me and didn't understand why I couldn't just jump in. Well, to make a long story short, here I am at Blogspot and loving the ease of it! And mostly I've been jumping in! Well, with a little help along the way... :)

Please read the About Me so you can get to know me a little. This blog will be about my family because they are fun to write about, how to live more naturally (with my 3rd child I'm breastfeeding, babywearing, cloth diapering, & all that good stuff) as a parent but also as a person trying to simplify, live healthier, & taking care of our environment in the eco-friendly way. I'll be focusing on my Favorite Things page where I'll happily promote handmade items, wahm sites, deals, and anything I personally use and love. On my Giveaways Page I hope to give away these items to help promote myself and those mamas! And, if you have a giveaway I'd be happy to list it on there. So spread the word :)

To start things off and have a little fun I'd like to give away a pair of BabyLegs! These leg warmers are something I have recently been introduced to and I have to say I love them! As the name implies you'd think they were just for the little ones but my six year old thinks it's so cool to wear them on his arms. My favorite use for them are at nights when baby just wears a diaper & t-shirt to bed, we add these for a little extra warmth, and when he gets changed in the night we don't have to worry about messing around with pants. Also, he is practicing his crawling and will one day soon be on the move and what a great way to protect those little knees! Here are my guys showing off their 'Legs...

And if you didn't know, this company was started by a wahm. Look how far she has come!

Check out their Facebook page because they are always posting good deals and you can see a sneak preview of their Fall lineup which will be premiering in August. I emailed them to find out what other great announcements I could share with you but I'm low on the totem pole and didn't hear back...sniff sniff...:)

Now what you've all been waiting for...BabyLegs Giveaway...I'm personally giving away a new pair of my own so I don't represent the company in any way. Please enter to win a pair of Supersoft leg warmers in the Americana color. Take note that the regular pairs are 33cm but the Supersoft ones (and they are soooooooooooooo soft) are 40cm, so a little bit longer and don't fit as nice on the tiny ones. O'Bear is wearing the Flame pair above and they fit all the way up his arm.

To enter comment below what you think of my new blog and any tips/advice you have would be greatly appreciated :)

Additional Entries are as follows and please comment for each entry and how I can find you...

- Sign in through Google Friend Connector and become a follower (I love Friends!)

- Follow Me on Twitter (link above)

- Like Me on Facebook (link above)

- Grab My Button and let me know where you posted it so I can see how you spend your days... (3 entries!)

- Help me spread the word with FB status updates & Twitter Tweets @CrunchyBchMama

- If you're a part of Networked Blogs follow me there though you may need to explain to me how to optimize this

Thank you so much for helping me launch my blog!

This giveaway will end on Aug. 6, 2010 at 11:59 ET. Winner will be drawn via random.org. Once a winner is drawn I will contact them and they will have 48 hours to reply before I draw a new winner. Giveaway is open to residents of the U.S. & Canada only who are 18 years of age or older.

Sophie the Giraffe Teether

"You bought him a dog toy?" was my husband's response when he came home from work the other day.

"No!" I definately cried, "Everyone has one. She's 'the thing' for babies"

"Oh, the follower," he smirked to me.

I was appalled! For a second...because it's true. P'Diddy had to get Sophie. I didn't actually mean to go with the crowd, I was just looking for a teether, but once I started researching teethers I learned that everyone does have one. And to prove my point - when we go out and P'Diddy is playing with Sophie, everyone says "oh, we have Sophie too!"

What makes Sophie so special? Check out all her unique traits...
P'Diddy loves Sophie! She is just the right size for him to hang on to and as you can see his favorite part of her is the ears! They are the perfect little bite to nibble on. And perfectly safe. Sophie's natural rubber comes from the Hevea tree. Yes a tree! And her colorful spots are non-toxic food paint.

 Admit it, you have a Sophie too?! ;)

New bumGenius 4.0 cloth diaper

Are you suprised at what the announcement turned out to be? Are you disappointed? For me the answers are NO and YES. I was betting all my money on an upgrade for the 3.0 but no new bright colors? no patterns? Aren’t we tired of pastels? I love their products which is why I wanted MORE!

The 4.0 is a one size pocket cloth diaper. It fits babies from 8-35+ pounds. The new product features:
Improved Hook & Loop
Snaps – which I know many are excited about!
Roomier to accommodate bigger babies
Easy replacable elastic
And colors – ok I shouldn’t complain since there are 3 new ones – Sweet, Bubble, & Noodle. At least they have cute names!

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I had some credit to use at Cotton Babies so I put my pre-order in for a Sweet Hook & Loop. July 14th it will ship so I will let you know what I think. I really like all the bumGenius products so I’m sure I won’t be disappointed!

UPDATE: I'm always so excited to get fluffy mail! Yesterday I got our new bumGenius 4.0 and lucky for me I was doing a load of diapers so I got to prep it right away!

First of all, I have to admit I was disappointed in the color. From the picture I posted above I choose a light blue color. What I opened was almost white. See for yourself...



I mean that is white, right? If you look in the light you can see a hint of blueish/greenish.


Then I matched up the new 4.0 with the older version 3.0. You can definitely tell the difference in size. I set my grasshopper green on top so you can see. The wings on the new one are about a half an inch longer. And the inserts inside? They look the exact same, you still get two, but they are wider, which I really like!

The Hook & Look? I can't tell what is different?

I put it to the ulitmate test - the overnight run - and it did great for the eight hours P'Diddy had it on.

Overall, I like it but come on Cotton Babies, we need MORE colors AND prints!!!!

Swagbucks

Have you heard of this search engine yet? I'm always looking for free money and as much as I dabble online I think this is kind of fun. This website lets you search the web and earn points or swagbucks as they call them. A search can yield points worth 5, 9, 11, 14 or more if you're lucky. The kicker is, not every search wins you points. But there are other ways to earn - surveys, offers, polls, & referrals are just a few.

Each day can easily award you 4 points just by clicking into the site. 1 point - if you have installed their ToolBar, you'll get a point everyday you log online. 2 points - clicking into their Trusted Survey section. (completing a survey will earn you more!) 3 points - completing a free Offer (click into Free Offers then the one on the top right is quick and easy). 4 points - Answering the Daily Poll. These steps take less than 2 minutes.

Referrals - everytime someone signs up under your name you get their search points too! (up to a 1000 points that is). They will give you a referral link to send to friends/family - mine is www.swagbucks.com/refer/bjncourt - or you can install a Widget or Banner on your Website/Blog to help you advertise. This is my favorite because no work involved for me! :)

A couple of tips I've learned:
- Once you've earned points for a search you won't earn them again for a few hours. So I'll usually search once in the morning, afternoon, and evening. It doesn't take very long to get some. I've heard that you typically don't earn search points more than four times in a day.
- I've put a couple of search topics into my Favorites so once I click on them it goes to the swagbucks site as a search and may have earned me some points.
- Their Toolbar, Blog, & Facebook pages are all places they sometimes post BONUS points to so I'll periodically check them.

There are TONS of prizes, money, certificates you can redeem your points for. An example, 450 points earns you $5 to Amazon. Not bad! But don't do what I did. I was saving up points to make a purchase for O'Bear's birthday and when I went to the Swagstore to buy my Amazon e-cards, they told me it takes up to 10 days to receive it. Ugh! So plan ahead...

Sign up and you'll instantly get 30 swagbucks to start off. Let me know how it works for you and any tips you have would be greatly appreciated! I'm off to sign up with Netflix through Swagbucks and get 850 points for it!!

Face Painting

We are a sucker for Kid's Nights at restaurants. Tuesday nights are huge around here for promoting free kid's meals. One place we frequently visit is Chick-fli-a. Not only because each child receives a 4 count meal but because they always have an activity to go along with it. Last night? Face painting!

My boys were standing in line, waiting patiently for their turn. They kept pointing at the board where all their choices were laid out and changing their mind about what they wanted to plaster on their face. Now, I am not a big fan of face painting. Why? It is to messy and the paint ends up getting over everything! So I calmly ask the boys what are they going to get. C'Man speaks up right away and says a paw print! He is pointing to the orange paw and thinking about Clemson I'm sure. Good choice buddy. I turn to O'Bear. With a huge grin on this face he shows me a shark. Not a small shark but one that covers his entire mouth and up the side of his face. I immediately tried to talk him out of it. Do you think that worked?


Not a chance! I have to admit though that it was kinda cute. I had never seen anything like it before. He loved it. That's all that counts right? And C'Man? He apparently forgot he wanted a paw. :)

First Time Eating Solids!

I went against all the breastfeeding knowledge last night and started baby P'Diddy on solids. Well, I'm not sure I should say we are actually starting - more like trying it. He just turned five months. I know I was supposed to wait until six months but this child needs more! He can be a bored cranky child that never seems satisfied. I am hoping this is the key!
We were shopping in the fun baby aisles at Target and I decided to grab a box of cereal for him. I went with Earth's Best Organic Whole Grain Rice Cereal. What a mouthful! Speaking of mouthful's...here is one for you...


He actually liked the first few bites! Well maybe he liked the mess it made...but then he was done. Done done. We'll try again soon! :)