Lilybaby Creations Winner

According to Random.Org our winner is comment #5 from the Catherall Family, congratulations :) Jen I will be e-mailing you soon!

Blog Worth Blogging About-Silly blogger

*This WAS scheduled to post Tuesday-but for some reason it did not- One of those blogger quirks, sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. AND of course my usual image for this is not loading..grrr
-BLOGS WORTH BLOGGING ABOUT-



For today I only have 1- HELP!!!!! I am running out of blogs to blog about. I know they are out there. I just have not managed to stumble across them. I try to feature blogs that don't already have a TON of followers- because those people are already getting enough attention and honestly I am not trying to send hits to pages that are getting paid for it- I have been trying to share people who are dedicated and passionate about their blogs and are obviously not in it purely for income or some sort of gain. I get bored with blogs that every post listed in my reader is a review or giveaway of some sort- I want to know who YOU are by reading your blog, not your sponsors.

A little Sugar-n-Spice- This is a lovely one, if I do say so myself. This is a blog about a Christian stay at home mom of 3- And the babies are twins-YAY for moms of twins. She home schools, cloth diapers, breast feeds and baby wears :) She is also a small business- yes indeed she is crafty, check out her blog to learn more. She has links to her Etsy shop on there. Kudos to this busy mama!


Okay so I am reaching out for nominations!!! Please don't be shy, nominate yourself if need be :) All of my blogs featured thus far have been written by mothers- I think for now I want to keep it like that- Lets empower mamas everywhere :) We all have a voice- let yours be heard or read...lol

PS- You might be missing out on some great giveaways- check the giveaway tab at the top for more details!

Wordless Wednesday- Proud Papa

Choose Handmade with a Giveaway!

LilyBaby Creations

"Style-Savvy Treasures for you & your Little Treasure"

Jamie is a work at home mom of two boys Mason, 3 and Avery, 6 months. She got started by sewing baby shower gifts for all of her friends who were having girls. The gifts were such a big hit, she decided to start an Etsy shop! The name LilyBaby Creations comes from her hope of one day having a baby girl and naming her Lily. She sews whenever she can find the time! To get projects done she utilizes night-time, nap-time and whenever else her teething little one will allow it! Her work station consists of a tiny 2 person table in her kitchen. Jamie enjoys Farmer’s Markets, the view of Mt. Rainier from her living room, road trips, decorating her home and of course her family!

Jamie has some adorable things in her shop including dresses, little boy’s ties, reusable bags, nursing covers, boutique baby blankets and so much more available upon special request- See her website for all the details!
Guess What?? This is also an awesome giveaway opportunity. Jamie has generously offered to send the winning reader their choice of item from whatever she currently has in stock! There are a TON of awesome choices. See the bottom of this post for details on how to enter!

Jamie was kind enough to send Adelea one of her signature Lily dresses. Designed to be a mid calf length dress for infants- then by loosening the bow around the collar it can transform into a tunic and then a stylish summer top for older girls. Such a versatile piece that will get years of use from my little one! This is easy to wash and wear. It is also great whether you need to go some where nice or just need something cool to play in. Check it out- it is adorable on her chunky butt.

To enter for your chance to receive a signature piece from Lilybaby Creations simply visit her Etsy shop and leave a comment telling me which item you would like if you won.(your free to change your mind if you do win!) Do not forget to include your e-mail so I can contact you!

Additional Entries-please leave individual comments for each entry including the URL where applicable!

• 
  
  Like Lilybaby Creations on Facebook- 1 entry
• 
  
  Follow My Eco Family's Blog- 1 entry
• 
  
  Follow Myecofamily on Twitter-1 entry
• 
  
  Tweet about this giveaway including a link and @myecofamily- 1 entry
• 
  
  Purchase something from the LilyBaby store-5 entries
• 
  
  Blog About this giveaway-5 entries 

There are a total of 15 possible entries for each person! Good Luck contest will end on Sunday May 23rd at 11pm EST. I will announce the winner Monday morning on my blog and by e-mail.

Introducing.....

These days it is hard to shop in mainstream stores and find classy and adorable little girl’s clothing. Everything is obnoxious with glitter and plastered with not-so-cute sayings like “Drama Queen” and “Princess”. Girls clothing has definitely gone down hill over the years. They are making things for them to wear that look inappropriate even for teenagers. All of this scared me when I found out I was having a girl. I have been so used to primary colors, simple designs, bugs, dinos and tools. How easy it has been to find great clothes for my twin boys.

Thank goodness for talented people and handmade clothing! I am always able to find something that will look precious and preserve my daughter’s time as a little girl. I want to share some of the treasures I have found, in a new series called Choose Handmade. Not only will I be featuring some lovely ladies who make adorable little girls clothing, but all kinds of other great finds too! In a day in time that everything is mass produced in factories overseas, let’s get back to the basics and pledge to choose handmade!

Changes Have Begun

So the page will be changing on and off for the next few days or few weeks..... we shall see! I welcome any suggestions you may have. I was just ready for somethng more warm and inviting! I wanted a friendly feel- because that is what this is all about! For now I am experimenting with lots of different things to see what works the best :) Hope everyone is having a great weekend. I know it has been beautiful here- Adelea and I went to the Scottsville Community Farmer's Market this morning- Scottsville is just 10-15 minutes down the road from us.The Strawberries in the new heading are from Gobble N Grunt Farm in Buckingham Virginia- and they are delicious! I will be posting the rest of the pictures soon. Remember: When you can buy fresh and support your local farmers!

                                                     

Yucky Weather Holding Me Back

I have some amazing people that I am working with for some reviews and giveaways- I already have the reviews written, but whats a good review without some amazing pictures? The weather here has been on the chilly side, grey and raining for days and days blah....come on sunshine and warm spring weather I NEED you and my artists and crafts people need you too. I have some cool apparel and things that deserve pictures in the beautiful, bright and sunny outdoors! I had not checked the weather yet today but I hope it will change soon. I do not want anyone to think I am slacking. I really want to do a good job and have my readers not get bored looking at the inside of my house. Thanks for being patient- You are all wonderful. I do have a cloth diaper review that does not need the outdoors- so that will go up possibly tomorrow....oooo and it has a giveaway too...time to feed some one's stash!!!! I am also working with a company who is launching a line of organic baby products next week- I just got them in the mail today and WOW you will love these! Can't wait to share :) Much love to you all!
Do any of you by chance know someone who would help me out getting my blog design worked on?  I know what I want but I am not savvy in that department, so some help would be very much appreciated- I would love to trade for some advertising on the page or something- Thanks and e-mail me Myecofamily@gmail.com Do look for a major re-design of this blog in the near future (hopefully)

Here is what it look like today-see even Adelea thought it was crappy-no smiles-

A Night With One Twin AND Cookies!

Yesterday my Grandmother- who the boys refer to as GG for Great Grandma offered to take one of the boys to spend the night. If you have twins or even more than one child you understand how valuable it is to to spend time with each child alone. Usually here, it is all about the boys as one, especially since they are twins. GG decided she would take Avery this week and give Aidan a turn next week. Last night Aidan and I decided to bake Organic Chocolate Chip cookies- This was awesome because it is hard for me to do anything like this with both of them- It can get totally out of control :) I think Aidan ate more than anything else during this process, but here are the pics I was able to take- We had lots of fun!

Wordless Wednesday- Cow Butt

Loved this one so much I had to post again :)

It's a Social Parade- Wednesday Link-Up

Okay this is my first Link-Up I have done---- If I am doing something wrong please feel free to tell me!!!
I know that this week it is Google Friends Connect!

If you would like to participate as well please head over to Smart and Trendy Moms for all the details.









Look forward to meeting lots of new people :)

Blogs Worth Blogging About

Sorry it’s REALLY late in the day, but hey it is still Tuesday, so I feel like I am doing pretty well. We were busy for the first part of the day; a friend of mine from high school came over with her son, who is about the same age as the boys. What a circus- three- 4 year old boys! Bless the soul of any mother of multiple boys, 2 can be ridiculous but anymore than that God help you! I do intend at some point to write about the wonderful yet insane life of raising multiples. Now for this weeks- Blogs Worth Blogging About.




Reaping What I Sow- This lovely Mama of two has a lot to share! She has her original “Etsy Love” featuring amazing shops, shares kid’s activities and pieces of her everyday life. She is also sharing her struggles with a possible Autism diagnosis for her almost 15 month old son- She is a very strong woman, mother and wife.



Grrrrr Cancer!- Sarah, a mom and her battle with her 4 year old son Sven’s diagnosis of cancer a year ago ( he is now 5). It is heartbreaking to see children with cancer- but this mom’s strength is inspiring- she attempts to approach her anxiety about cancer with humor and says that it gets easier with time. Sarah is delightful and I believe they will “kick cancer’s butt”!



Inside My Heart- I am so happy to have found this blog! I love it- This mama’s motto seems to be “living and loving naturally”. Now this is my kind of stuff :) She is a newbie-but I cannot wait to see more. She has some great posts already about re-purposing things and her garden- not to mention the great circumcision debate.



Once again I am going to ask you kindly to give these ladies all of the attention they deserve- You never know you might just learn something new :) That is why I love the Internet and blogging, you get to experience so many things that we might never get the chance to explore! Happy Reading. BTW- would anyone be interested in posting their own Blogs Worth Blogging About? I had considered creating a Link-Up for it, but wanted to know if there would be an actual interest- Let me know.

My Boys Love Watching Cinderella

Its true- I don’t care if it is a “princess” movie, it’s Disney. They love to watch movies- really anything that it is cartoon. I think most kids this age do. We try to limit the time spent watching TV- We do not pay for cable or satellite and since we moved no longer even pick up PBS. So movies and shows on DVD are our only option! The television privilege is also the first to go when bad behavior warrants consequences. Well, this morning they were watching Cinderella while I was getting the housework done- After it went off I was still doing laundry and cleaning the kitchen. I was shocked when the boys, without being told pulled all of the laundry from the dryer and put it in the living room for me- how sweet. It actually was all of their cloths anyway. BUT WAIT! Avery and Aidan then decided they wanted to fold it all and put it away. I was loving every piece of this :) They kept getting mad at Adelea because she would lunge herself forward and grab the piles that were already folded, needless to say she thought it was hilarious. They finished the laundry and I proceeded to start on lunch. Next thing I know they have wet rags and are on the floor scrubbing it….definitely not something to complain about- they both boasted about being big helpers- then told me how Cinderella had to do all of these chores too- Why thank you Walt Disney for inspiring my 4 year old twin boys to clean! Hmmm we have not seen Snow White yet... "Whistle while we work...do do do do do do do!!!! "

Lots to Share

I hope everyone had a delightful Mother’s Day! I got so sleep in, but then Steven had to go to work :( So it was my Baby girl and I pretty much all day. I did have 2 awesome friends come by and spend a few hours with Adelea and I in the afternoon- they brought me Christian’s Pizza- a YUMMY local place here in Charlottesville- I wish I had more! The boys were with their Dad until the evening. Michael (the boy’s father) was kind enough to have them call me first thing yesterday morning and wish me a Happy Mother’s Day- the perfect way to be woken up :) Friday the Boys picked me some flowers so I considered that an early gift from them. We are not big gift givers around here- We do not think it is necessary to say how we feel with store bought things. Usually Steven and I make card for each other. I thought he forgot yesterday. When we went to bed, I tucked my arms under my pillow and there it was- a lovely Mother’s Day card!!!! I think the surprise of it being there was perfect.

I have lots going on this week with the Blog very excited to be doing some great new giveaways- here is a little about something I am doing- Oh but first, this is what Adelea loves to do now- She does not get there by herself yet, but will stay there for several minutes and just laugh! She is very good about just plopping down on her butt to get down! Uh Oh I might be in for it with this one- I am thinking she will be on the move much earlier than her brothers were~

Okay - getting back on track
Etsy is an amazing place- Where artists of every kind unite to sell their crafts. With thousands of stores it can be difficult for some people to get the credit they deserve for their creativity and the quality of their goods. I thought it would be nice to start doing some Etsy features with reviews with some AWESOME giveaways. I want to share with you some things that have caught my eye along with some that we already enjoy at home! I love handmade goods-sure does beat “made in China” hands down LOL. I am happy to have already lined up several talented people with lovely shops for your enjoyment! There will also be other people and products I will continue to feature that are not Etsy related as well- Keep your eyes peeled for some must have stuff- Very Soon!

Don’t Forget---- Blogs Worth Blogging About is coming tomorrow!!!!

Banana Splits for Breakfast!

I put these together for the boy’s breakfast one day and they called them banana splits! Well creative little 4 year old boys I have, we’ll just call them that from now on. I think it’s great that we could have a healthy version of this popular dessert. It is fine by me that my boys love eating this and don’t even consider having Ice Cream drowned in all sorts of sugary toppings.


I have made this for the boys with many different combinations of fresh fruit and other toppings- Be creative the more color the better!

Try to use as much Organic and Natural ingredients as possible. Even on a budget I buy Organic and Natural for the majority of food we eat. Watch for sales!

This morning I used-

• Organic Vanilla Yogurt
• 1 Organic Kiwi
• 1 Large Organic Banana

• Fresh Ground Peanut Butter from Whole Foods

• Local Wildflower Honey

I pre-chilled the Vanilla Yogurt in the serving dishes for approx. 15 minutes. While they were chilling I peeled and sliced the kiwi-my boys like it in thicker slices. Then I peeled and sliced the Banana down the middle. I then used the Peanut Butter to make a “sandwich” with the Banana. I pulled the Yogurt out and placed the Peanut Butter and Banana down in the Yogurt. Then the Kiwis in the side and topped it off with a drizzle of honey! Any kind of fruit is great to add. Some fun ones we have used are Berries, Star fruit, Dragon Fruit as well as different kinds of nuts or some granola :) This one has limitless possibilities!

It can be a bit messy especially with boys-but they LOVE it!

mmmm..... Friday = Food Day

Yes, I do have some baby weight I still need to lose. I was not one of the lucky breastfeeding moms who dropped the weight in no time. Another downfall to the situation is I like to eat- not crap, but good food. BUT “good food” is not always healthiest for you! Not to mention Steven cooks for a living- always the temptation around for an amazing from scratch meal. Lately I have been working on my cooking skills. I have been trying to use whatever I could find in the house to make a good quality meal. No planning, no recipes NOTHING. It has actually been kind of nice not planning groceries around specific meals. I keep a variety of natural and organic meats and produce around. For me it is about being spontaneous. I want to be a well rounded cook, one of the reasons, unless I am baking I don’t measure a thing. So here I am deciding that I will share some of my cooking adventures with you guys- I would love to hear about some of your favorite recipes or cooking tips!

Yes, I know this meal is not a diet friendly meal-but it sure was good! Moral of my story- I think I am going to enjoy eating for a while...it is summer time so there will be lots of activities to burn it all off!
Last night was my first time ever cooking Pork Chops. I am not a huge fan of pork, and at one point in time I was a vegetarian- but the 1 ¾ in thick fresh cuts were beautiful to me :) They weren’t cheap so I prayed I would not screw them up! Here is a run down of what I did, remember I was making this up along the way!

Basic Ingredients

• Thick cut Pork Chops
• Fresh Garlic
• Large Red Delicious Apples (found these babies on sale for 99 cents per pound and they were huge!)
• Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• Onion- can be of your choice but I used a yellow onion.

And the extras…all optional according to taste I suppose-but let me tell ya, I would have paid a lot of money in a restaurant for the way that these turned out!.

• Cumin
• Coriander
• White wine
• Salt
• Pepper
• Brown sugar
• Butter

Pre heat oven to 375

Cut up onion and 2 large Apples- Toss them in a skillet with EVOO, white wine, crushed garlic, cumin, coriander, salt and pepper. Let them cook down until the apples are soft and the onions become transparent.

Then add the Pork Chops. Brown them evenly on each side approx- 5-6 minutes per side. Add small amounts of EVOO and white wine as needed to keep things moist. Ad some additional seasonings if you would like.

When finished browning-transfer Pork Chops to a glass baking dish. Cover them with the apples and onions-basically everything left in the skillet! Put them in the 375 degree oven- Mid way through the cook time slice s few small pieces of butter on top and sprinkle a little bit of brown sugar.

                                   

The cook time will depend on how thick the chops are and how well you browned them in the skillet. Mine took about 45 minutes to be completely done. Check them by sticking a fork in and twisting- the meat should feel tender. OR if you want to be sure slice the thicker Chop in the middle-make sure it is white all the way through.

Then Serve- went very well along side of some Garlic Mashed Potatoes!

So since I have dubbed today my Friday-Food Day I am going to post another cool kid friendly recipe for What my boys call breakfast Banana Splits! OHHH and these are healthy-PROMISE :)  Check back because they are REALLY yummy!

Prefold Lover

            

 This one is for all those cloth diapering Mamas out there and those of you who might be considering it. When I first started cloth diapering I was in LOVE with prefolds. I did not understand all of the hype about AIO (all in ones), Hybrids, Pockets, whether or not they were one size, had snaps or Velcro. To me I felt like I was cloth diapering the "real" way. I only used Green Mountain Diapers- unbleached Indian prefolds with snappis and occasionally pins- Using prefolds can be the most cost effective form of cloth diapering but it is kind of BORING! Once tax time came around I really started to figure out what people saw in all of these other more glitzy diapers. The secret was, it made buying diapers FUN and interesting and that is when it  became a hobby for me. Words of caution: be careful- Cloth diapering can be addicting! Now I will refer to my self as an equal opportunity diaperer (yes I am aware of the poor grammar). I own a bit of everything and use it all!

I still hold a love for prefolds, they have their ups and downs and many WAHMs are trying to spruce them up. One that I love is Meg-A-Roos extended tab prefold. I was pleased with every aspect of this diaper. It still was simple and basic like a prefold should be, but with a few twists, that made it all around amazing :) Normally your typical prefold is just a rectangular shaped flat diaper- Meagan has added tabs or wings to the tops- I can't tell you how much easier this makes it to put on a squirmy baby especially for those less experienced with cloth. You can also get away with using 1 pin-if your brave enough to use pins at all.....LOL. They are very soft and stretchy. Being stretchy and having tabs allows you to get more wear, because it will fit for longer. These prefolds have some major absorbency-got to love bamboo fleece! They are made from 2 layers of bamboo fleece, with a third stitched down in the middle. She adds style by replacing the usual plain white outer with your choice of knit fabric. You can always add doublers for night time or a heavy wetter. This is by far the most absorbent and easy to use prefold that I have come in contact with! Thank you Meagan for another awesome product! Here check put the pics I took of it and with Adelea in it-Sorry about the picture overload. I wanted to show how much I loved this dipe, and Adelea is so fat its just stinkin' adorable. Let me know what you think! Remember to check out her website: www.megaroosdesigns.com