SortaCrunchy Q&A #4 - Their future men

Elle was sweet enough to offer two questions for my month of Q&A, and here's her second question: " . . . as a mom of girls, what qualities would you ask moms of boys to consider in their training of future husbands and daddies?"

Well, a quality that I would personally place as the highest priority is to raise up men who know and love the Lord. Not just men who were raised with the memorization of scripture and perfect attendance in Sunday School, but men who had modeled for them what a real relationship with Christ looks like lived out in every day life. Men whose reality matches their theology. And ideally, men who have seen what a healthy and vibrant marriage can and should be.

Not that I have high standards or anything.

Men who would say to my girls when they are dating, "I only have eyes for you." And show it.

Men who would say to my girls after they have become man and wife, "You are more lovely every day." And mean it.

Men who would say to my girls once they have started the journey of parenthood together, "What can I do to help?" And do it.

Those, my friend, would be some mighty fine men whom I would welcome to our family with open arms.

SortaCrunchy Q&A #3 - Choosing a baby carrier

I need more coffee, ya'll. Or more sleep. Somethin. I am so sluggish these days! I feel awful that I am not making my bloggy rounds to see what everyone is up to this fine week. I am just plum worn out. I hope to be up for more socializing very soon . . .

In the meantime, my next SortaCrunchy question is from Elle of A Complete Thought. (VERY insightful and informative writer, by the way. I highly suggest you check her out!) She asks, "I was a baby wearer as well. I loved the soothing aspect for both mama and baby. What benefits would you discuss with a new mama debating whether to Bjorn or sling?"

It's funny, just this very morning at playgroup day at the gym, a mama asked me this question!

Let me start by saying that babywearing is one of those practices that I was sorta forced into by my lovely high needs oldest daughter. She just would not lay in that stinkin' infant car seat (we call it the bucket) while I grocery shopped, and it all it took was one trip through the aisles with her precariously clutched against my chest with one hand while I dragged the cart with the other for me to decide I had to find a better solution. I had registered for a Bjorn, but never received one. I'm a (wo)man of means by no means, so I had to settle for a cheaper knock-off. It worked okay . . . for about a month. Then my shoulders started to ache within fifteen minutes of wearing Jabba the Baby (D weighed fourteen and a half pounds at two months and eighteen pounds at four months!), and by the time I had made my rounds through the grocery store, I would be close to tears.

Again, I knew I had to find a better solution. By sheer chance miracle, I saw a post on my mommy message board about Lucky Baby pouch slings. By this time, D was five months old and could easily ride on my hip, so I ordered one, and my love for babywearing began!

To get back to Elle's question, the biggest benefit, in my opinion, to choosing a non-structured carrier instead of a Bjorn-style carrier is that you will be lucky to get six months of wear out of a Bjorn. A non-structured carrier (pouch sling, mei tai, wrap, ring sling, or soft structured carrier) will take you well into toddlerhood. I was wearing D in our Ergo right up until I got pregnant with AJ. Certainly, any new mama may want to choose the more mainstream and widely available Bjorn and it will work fine while the baby is little. But if she is already planning to spend close to $100 on a carrier (or someone is buying one for her), I highly recommend researching non-structured carriers as an alternative.

(Side note - there are some concerns about structured carriers having some negative impacts on a baby's development or possibly contributing to hip dysplasia, but this would generally only happen if baby were worn for hours on end for several months in such a carrier. Interestingly, there is evidence that a non-structured carrier will contribute positively to a baby's developing spine as is evidenced by this article.)

My personal recommendations, you ask? I will tell you my two very, very favorites are the above-mentioned Ergo and our Mei Tai Baby. Neither of my girls have liked be worn in the cradle carry which is a popular way to wear newborns in a pouch (like Lucky Baby or Hotsling) or ring sling (like Maya Wrap or Taylor Made). Both the Ergo and Mei Tai Baby allow me to wear them upright which is the three of us seem to prefer. I prefer the Mei Tai Baby over the many other makers of mei tai carriers because 1)it has the adjustable bottom which makes it easier to wear newborns and 2) you have the option of ordering one with removable panels so when you tire of the print, you can switch the panel out for a totally new look! So, those are my favorites, but there is great big (overwhelming) world of choices out there.

Again, returning to Elle's question, here's what I would advise a friend who is looking into buying a carrier and wants to go a different route from a Bjorn. (JB and KM, this is for you!)

1) Register for an account at TheBabywearer.com. Once you have registered there, you have access to the plethora of carrier listings and reviews. HUGE help.

2) Sign up for a Paypal account. If you decide to buy a brand new carrier and want to shop from a parent-owned business, there are some who can only accept payments from credit cards through Paypal. You can link your Paypal account to your checking account as well which works out nicely if you are paying cash for your new carrier.

If you decide you want to buy a used carrier, you will most likely need a Paypal account to pay the seller. More on that in a second.

3) Start browsing stores that sell carriers. There are many. Many. Many. Attached to Baby is a great resource. Fox Den Lane is another good one. Then there's Mamas Milk.

Readers - where do you like to shop for carriers? Who would you suggest?

Browsing these stores will give you a good idea of what style of carrier you might like and how much they run brand new. If you are buying new, then you may just find the carrier of your dreams while you are window shopping one day!

4) I have only purchased a few of our slings brand new. I am a bargain hunter and hate to pay retail when I can find it for less somewhere. Two places you can shop for gently used slings are Ebay and the For Sale or Trade Forum at thebabywearer. Ebay - ehhhh. I am not a good Ebay shopper and never seem to get quite as good of a deal as I think I am going to. If you are a good Ebayer, maybe you will have more luck than I have had. I prefer the FSOT forum.

5) If you are shopping the FSOT forum, it may be intimidating at first because most every listing will use abbreviations. What you can do is use the "search forum" feature to search only for the specific carrier you are looking for (for example, do a search in that forum for "hotsling").

If you are going to buy from FSOT, make sure to read through the stickied post called "FSOT rules and helpful hints."

Speaking of abbreviating, I should wrap this up. (Get it? Wrap?)

Here's a neat blog I just stumbled across as I was preparing this post - will have to check it out: The Baby Carrier

Would love to hear from anyone who wants to share their babywearing favorites! I am always up for some babywearing chit-chat!

Our Selective/Delayed Vaccination Schedule

IMPORTANT UPDATE AS OF APRIL 20th, 2008

This month, I finally purchased Dr. Bob Sears' The Vaccine Book: Making the Right Decision for Your Child. I can say with absolute confidence this is a book every parent should have in their library. It is decidedly pro-vaccine, so if you tend to lean towards not vaccinating, it may cause you some concern. But if even you are not vaccinating your children, this book may give you some insights into the decision-making process of parents who do vaccinate. If you tend to lean towards vaccinating but have concerns over the CDC schedule and/or vaccine ingredients, I believe you will find this book to be immensely helpful.

Having said that, I am updating our original selective/delayed vaccine schedule below based on what I now know having read The Vaccine Book. For example, I did not realize that now (2008) all the major vaccines are now mercury-free. (There is still trace amounts of mercury in some brands of the flu shot.) Therefore, I have removed the "mercury-free" label that I had put in front of each of vaccine names. Additionally, I am switching the order of the measles and mumps vaccines. Originally, I had measles at 15 months and mumps at 39 months. Now, I will do mumps at 15 months and measles at 39 months. I still feel comfortable with delaying the Prevnar (Pc) vaccine, but please bear in mind that my babies are exclusively breastfed and not in group daycare situations. Dr. Sears feels that young babies should be receiving this vaccine, so please remember that your circumstances may warrant this one earlier than I have it scheduled.

I have received so many emails and comments from parents who are trying to make this hugely important decision for their children. I appreciate each email and comment and try to respond quickly and accurately as often as possible. I want to stress that this schedule is one that is best for our family, for my child. Every family has a unique set of circumstances that are made up of your family's medical history, your geographic location, and your access to doctors (and evidently, insurance coverages) that are open to alternate approaches to vaccines. All of that is to say that while my schedule may be a good starting point for you in creating your own schedule, please know that it is by no means a definitive selective/delayed schedule. You alone can make the best choice for your child.

*******************************************************************************

This morning, I took AJ in for a well-baby check, and it reminded me that this might be a good time to share the delayed vaccination schedule we have come up with for her. This schedule is based on Dr. Stephanie Cave's What Your Doctor May Not Tell You About Children's Vaccinations (shout out to my friend KM for passing this on to me!!).

Here is our schedule:

Hep B
Delay until the year before starting school, although we may consider starting the series as early as two and half if we are considering preschool at the time.

Hib
4 mo, 6 mo, 8 mo, 17 mo

IPV
4 mo, 6 mo, 8 mo, 17 mo (booster at 4 years)

DtaP
5 mo, 7 mo, 9 mo, 15 or 18 mo (booster at 4 years)

Pneumococcal (PREVNAR)one dose at age 2

Varicela (Varivax)
Age four, if at all

MMR
Mumps – 15 mo
Rubella – 27 mo
Measles – 39 mo
Booster – age 5

Now, some physicians will tell you that you cannot get the MMR separated. This was a huge area of concern for me as my youngest sister had a reaction to the MMR vaccine that resulted in her having both epilepsy (now outgrown) and Asperger Syndrome. I did just a little digging in the Delayed Vaccinations forum at MDC, and found this information:

Dr. Stephanie Cave is an advocate for children being immunized with three separate doses instead of the MMR combined. Reportedly, she asked for American Medicine (wholesale pharmaceutical company) to carry these immunizations. The owners of American Medicine are Mark and Bridgette Schexnayder who are also pharmacists.

The pharmaceutical company of these three separate immunizations is Merck.

American Medicine will need the following from your doctor:
Doctor’s prescription with the child’s name
Copy of Doctor’s license
Have your doctor fax this to 225-924-0249.

You will then pay American Medicine (225-924-0247) and they will overnight the immunizations to your doctor. You will have to pay the overnight shipping fee due to the medicine needing to be refrigerated.

Make sure you ask for the expiration dates so that you will know ahead of time and for your records.

September 2007- Cost is appx. $119 (for all 3) plus shipping/handling (+-$20.)

I called the company and talked to Bridgette Schexnayder today. She said the $119 is for all three vaccinations which they overnight to your doctor's office at one time. She said the vaccines are currently on backorder, but they should be receiving a new shipment next month (Dec 07). She also said the vaccines will have about eighteen months until they expire. If that is the case, we will have to reevaluate and adjust when AJ gets each of these three vaccines as I currently have them spaced over a longer time period than eighteen months.

Another MDC member posted that Johnson Drug will also send you the separate vaccines. I have not personally contacted them to verify this information, but I wanted to share it as well. This MDC member stated that to order from Johnson Drug, you need a prescription from your pediatrician and to expect to pay about $40 per vaccine.

Anyone else have a delayed vaccination schedule you want to share? I would love to read what other people are choosing. Post in the comments or share it on your blog and let me know so I can check it out!

Two months of wonder and joy

Dear Aliza Joy,

Two hours old



to two months old,



every day you are our Joyful Joy.



We love you and can't wait to get to know you better in the days and weeks and months and years ahead of us.

(Your sister loves you , too. She just doesn't quite know how to express that yet beyond the "gentle" bounces she gives you in your bouncy chair and obsessively switching your swing from the first setting to the second because she loooooooooooooves the number two and is quite sure you do, too.)



Love you, love you, love you,
Mommy and Daddy and Dacey

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I promise to get back to my SortaCrunchy Q&A questions soon!

It's the simple things, like a well-cooked steak

It occurs to me that I don't talk about The Coach much here on the ol' blog. He is an extremely private person, so I try to honor that by not revealing too much about him on the web that is world wide. You know, because I have a lot of readers and all. But I am going to make an exception today to share this with you about my man.

My husband really is a Renaissance man. Equally at ease with coaching up three hundred pound defensive lineman as he is with shopping for and hanging brand new drapery in our living room, there is simply nothing he can't do. Well, except change dirty diapers. As much as he enjoys some good old-fashioned toilet humor, there's something about coming face-to-face (hand-to-diaper?) with real life toileting that brings him to the brink of vomithood. I can only handle one clean-up at a time, so he gets a free pass on the dirty diaper changing.

Anyway, one area where he really shines is in the preparation and grilling of meat.

(Vegetarian Friends, it's at this point that you may want to tune out.)

Last week, we had planned to celebrate a really big victory for the team with a really big steak dinner. However, in a week filled with the distractions of Halloween and intense game planning, the really big steak dinner plan never came to fruition. He hadn't forgotten the plan though, and called yesterday morning to say he had just received a nice bottle of red wine that needed some rib eye steaks to go with it. Off to the store I went and found some gorgeous rib eyes, marbled to perfection.

I set them up to bathe in our secret family recipe for meat marinade and spent the rest of the day comforting and cuddling a feverish Miss D. Because she was sick, the girls and I stayed home from last night's game, but by the time the last seconds ticked off the game clock, The Coach and I had another big win to celebrate! He skipped the post-game tailgates and hurried home for some quality time with his much-neglected grill wife.

Finally, a little after ten in the evening, we loaded our plates with pan-fried green beans, mashed potatoes, Hawaiian bread, and those gorgeous, glorious steaks. As we blew the dust out of the wine glasses, we joked that eating at such a late hour made us feel like them fancy New York types. And, oh, we were fancy, indeed! He in his wind pants and me in my gray running shorts . . . But the wine was rich, the potatoes were comforting, and the steaks were perfection.

D had long since gone to sleep and AJ snoozed peacefully in her bouncy seat. We talked about the game, the scores from the day, the weather, the future . . . It was the first date we had been on in ages. Our dinner last night reminded me of why I treasure simplicity so much. A great meal in the cozy comfort of our own home confirmed for me that in this season of life, simple is the new fancy.

What's that you say? You were wondering if I could share the secret family recipe for an outstanding meat marinade?

Well, if you are going to twist my arm like that, I suppose I can let it spill.

It's simple.

Combine equal parts soy sauce, vegetable oil, and lemon or lime juice (we like lime). Put the meat in a gallon size freezer bag and pour in the marinade. Let the meat soak for as long as you have . . . overnight is great, but even just a few hours will work. Before the meat is cooked, we like to generously dust the meat with garlic pepper. Works nicely for beef or chicken and is definitely, definitely good eats!

SortaCrunchy Q&A #2 - Raising Girls

What worries you most about raising daughters?

This question, from my sweet friend Corey at Living and Loving Every Minute of It, has prompted a lot of reflection for me.

I remember with vivid accuracy how elated I was when the ultrasound tech moved the wand over my belly and proclaimed over D, "It's a girl!" Over the moon, I was. Visions of sugar and spice, of tutus and dress-up heels, of shopping for prom dresses and a wedding dress, began to dance in my head. "A girl baby! A girl baby!" my nieces shrieked when they were told our happy news. Little girls and grown-up girls alike go a little ga-ga over brand new bundles of pink and sweet. Gazing into those baby girl eyes, we imagine a sparkly future replete with all the glittery memories of our own girlhoods. Pigtails and baby dolls. Slumber parties and puppy love. Phone calls and pom-pons.

As a mother to not one, but now two, little visions in pink, I daydream those sunny futures for my girls. And as a mother, I am sometimes gripped with extraordinary fear when my thoughts take a turn down darker paths. Sometimes it's a story on the news that triggers a nearly paralyzing reaction in me as I consider what evil could be waiting to prey on my precious daughters. Other times, a flash of memory from my own past takes my breath away as I consider how painful it can be to grow from girl to woman. So yes, in the midst of the ribbons and bows, I worry.

For I know all too well the sting of a best friend's rejection . . . She doesn't want to be my friend anymore.

I know the heartache of not being good enough . . . My name wasn't on the list.

I know the sorrow of a broken heart . . . He just wants to be friends.

I know that even if I confined my daughters to our house, that somehow the hurt and the sad would still find its way in. I guess what worries me most is that I am helpless to protect them from the scrapes and stings and tears and blue that are all part of being wrapped up in this skin called woman. I am as helpless as my own mother was to protect me from the many dramas (both real and imagined) that she walked me through and talked me through. As each of us know, those lows that come with the highs and the pain that comes with the joy are all part of what makes us who we are as women. I'll always be fighting that urge to protect them, even as I loosen my grip on their hands to allow them freedom to experience this life for themselves.

There is so much to be tempted to worry over. In the face of that worry, I am reminded to pray. I pray so much for my daughters, but my most earnest request for each is that the love they fall for first would be the ever-pursuing, ever-steady love of The Bridegroom. For if each of my daughters is rooted and established in the love of Christ first and foremost, I can be sure that when the day of hurt and heartbreak finds them, they will have a safe place to land . . . in His Arms.

Feeling Notesy?

So, uh, here's the thing. Along the path from our bedroom to the laundry room, little piles of little clothes (mostly pink and purple) are beginning to form. Seeing as how dirty laundry is literally climbing the wall up and out of the laundry basket in our room, I do believe our clothes are now so overdue for a good cleansing day at the spa, they are trying to just up and walk themselves to the laundry.

Because random piles of laundry scattered throughout the house couldn't be a sign of my shameful housekeeping habits. Oh no, surely it could not.

But I am also kind of thinking the Toilet Fairy has gone on strike (again! ugh! good help is so hard to find . . .) because dem potties are lookin' nasty.

Which brings me to today's post . . .

The next question on the list for my SortaCrunchy Q&A is a good one, and I don't have the time I want to spend with it today (mostly because of aforementioned laundry piles and dirty toilets, but also because of other housekeeping horrors which I would feel quite shameful in sharing out loud), but what I do have time for is a work-at-home-mama-brag/recommendation/let-me-point-you-in-this-direction/you-need-to-shop-here! post.

Upon arriving home from this morning's prayer coffee gathering, I was thrilled to find the mailman had delivered my order from Just Being Notesy! Hoorah!! For those of you not familiar with this brand-new business, it's the newest project of the sweet treat of a mama over at The Wooden Porch. Take a minute to click on over there and check out her creations.

I was needing to find a gift for a dear friend of mine who can be a challenge to shop for (she can easily afford to buy the things she wants or needs the most), but she loves all things stationery. When Just Being Notesy opened, I knew I had found the perfect gift for her. Here's how my order turned out (but please ignore my bad photography!):
So modern! So hip! So chic! And working with a mama-run business is always such a treat for me. It's very obvious Lani has put a lot of thought into all aspects of her new business. Every detail is just right, and she included a sweet and thoughtful handwritten note which just topped off the whole experience.

Without a doubt, I will be back to order more cards - soon! If only I can ever decide on which design I want . . . Hmmmmmmm . . .

(This is not a paid-for endorsment in any way. I ordered and paid for the cards myself. I am just so happy with my order I had to share my enthusiasm!)

SortaCrunchy Q&A #1 - Dream Vacation

Hi everyone! Hope the end of your October was great and included lots of thorough teeth brushing.

We are kicking off NaBloPoMo today! As promised, I will spend the month answering questions from ya'll, and when I run out of questions I may just start asking you some questions. Stay tuned to find out!

Today's question is from the very sweet, very busy mama-to-five Julie of love, laughter, and laundry. She asks, "If money or time was not a concern where would you chose to vacation with your family? How long until you got homesick and would want to come home? Would you want to bring extended family with you, or just take your hubby and kids?"

Thank you, Julie, for getting me started!

Oh, for a real vacation! Sounds dreamy. Because we live so far from family, the precious time that The Coach has for vacation is most often spent visiting family and friends in our beloved Oklahoma. I don't think we have taken an honest-to-goodness vacation since our honeymoon!

Let's see, I think I could be pretty well delighted with a nice little jaunt through the nation of Greece with a cruise through the Greek Isles for dessert. Studying Greek myth was one of my favorite courses as an English major, and I can only imagine how fascinating it would be to walk through history there while soaking up the current Grecian culture.

As far as length of the trip, I have to say that both The Coach and I are major homebodies. Our ten day tours through Oklahoma often leave us longing for our little home. I am thinking a maximum of two weeks away from home is about all either of us could handle.

I do love both of our families dearly, but I don't think I would be great at vacationing with them. I have this weird thing were I tend to think I am exclusively responsible for making sure guests are enjoying themselves. I imagine if extended family went on vaca with us, this weird quirk of mine would translate into me checking on everyone every half hour or so . . . "You doin' okay? Can I get you anything? You havin' fun?" So yeah - just the SortaCrunchy fam would be most enjoyable for me, I do believe. Particularly if all the SortaCrunchy kiddos are out of diapers!

Thanks again, Julie, for the questions!

Please feel free to offer up more questions as the month goes by. No question will go unanswered!

Wordless Wednesday - My Winged Girls

No need to deceive this one!

Evidently, there has come to be some heated discussions in the past few weeks regarding the idea of hiding veggies in the kiddos' food (a la Deceptively Delicious and The Sneaky Chef). I, for one, stand on the side of the fence with the big billboard that says whatever works. Jen and I are still waiting on our backordered copies of Deceptively Delicious to come in, but I have a sneaking suspicion the deceitfulness won't be all that necessary when it comes to D and her veggies.

Yesterday afternoon, we were working on some "art" projects when I felt the need to raid the kitchen for some afternoon snackage. I pulled out a shiny new box of puffed Club crackers as my snack du jour. Look at the box:

Notice how it says MULTI-GRAIN? That means it's good for you, right? Never mind the back of the box . . .

. . . and all that about the delicious butter-y-ness of it all. (They are quite enjoyably crispy, by the way.)

So I am trying to get D to join me in the perfectly puffed snacks, but she keeps asking for corn.

You want corn?

Yesh!

Like corn on the cob?

YESH! (with much emphatic head nodding)

So while I crunched on fat grams and calories of the buttery multi-grain variety, D took the high road with a satisfying whole food snack. I feel confident that the denizens of this household who will benefit the most from the Deceptively Delicious eats and treats will be The Coach and myself.

And just so no one feels left out, here is a gratuitous AJ shot from today, just shy of eight weeks:

Busy day in blogland

I realize that everyone who is anyone is busy with THE fall blogging event - Shannon's The Fall, Ya'll! Bloggy Giveaway! I think Shannon is an absolute peach for hosting a giveaway festivus again.

I had a blast doing the Dog Days of Summer Bloggy Giveaways, but having just done a giveaway on my lonesome, I am going to sit out the fall giveaways. Oh, I will be entering those that my dear readers/fellow blogistas are holding, to be sure. But I think I will spend the rest of my down time today reading my back issues of Mothering Digital that I just haven't quite gotten around to yet.

Hope the start of your week is as gorgeous as it is here!

What Are You Into This Month?

I first saw this over at Adventures in Babywearing. Musings of a Housewife posted hers today, and since I haven't a thing else in the world to be doing right now (ahem), I decided to play along, too.

This Month...

The Book I Am Really Into (or one I want to get into!): Reading. Ah, yes. I remember it well. Days on end spent snuggled up with a book, my imagination ignited by the glories of the written word. *sigh* That season of life, the one with monthly book club meetings and stack after stack of books on the nightstand, has been eclipsed by the the raising babies span of years . . .

A friend did just send me The Dreams of Ada - a true crime story about the small town in Oklahoma where The Coach and I went to school and spent our early newlywed years. Looks good!

Also, my Bible study group is about to start Preparing My Heart For Advent: A Spiritual Pilgrimage for the Christmas Season. So looking forward to this one!

TV Show Worth Watching: Well, The Office. Totally. And The Coach and I are very into the new detective show on NBC - Life. Great writing and fascinating storyline.

And just one week until The Amazing Race kicks off again! WOO HOO!

Movie I’ve Seen (In or Out of a theater): I am so, so sad to say I truly cannot remember the last time we "went to the show" (which is what we called going to the movie the-a-ter in small town Oklahoma). I do remember our last visit there left us largely disenfranchised with the high ticket prices and noisy teenagers. Yes, we have become those people. You know, old.

Anyway, I am even more sad to say the movie we most recently rented was Blades of Glory. I usually do love Will Ferrell, but I am afraid this one just didn't quite do it for me. I'll take Elf any day.

The Candle I'm Loving: None at the moment, but I do love the smell of mulled cider simmering!

Blog I Am Always Visiting: Oh goodness. Too many to mention them all. One that I always find fascinating, encouraging, and enlightening is My Quotidian Mysteries. Laura and her sweet family currently live in Doha, and I always look forward to the perspectives she shares.

What I'm Most Looking Forward To Next Month: The end of the football season! (Let's see, I'll need to order my Worst Coach's Wife of the Year badge now. Any ideas on where I can find one of those?) Really, I generally love the football season. This one, however, has been particularly difficult for many reasons, not the least of which being the whole bringing home a new baby thing.

Oh yeah, I should say I am looking forward to the start of NaBloPoMo as well!

Now, who else wants to play? What are you into as October obligingly steps aside to make room for November's grand arrival? If you play along, let me know!

Catchin' Up

Blog Business . . .

Finally! I had a little time to update my sidebar by taking down Barefoot Buys and adding the Delightful Hands section. Here you will find links to work-at-home-moms whom I either know "offline" or through the blogging community. Did I leave anyone out who wants to be on the list? Let me know!

I came across this really fun giveaway at Crunchy Domestic Goddess! This is the most darling idea . . . baby and toddler t-shirts with sparkly words spelled out in braille! The company is called Bitty Braile and their designs are clever and original. They also offer personalized shirts with the child's name spelled out in braile - perfect gift for the baby who has everything! If you want to enter this giveaway, too, pop over to Crunchy Domestic Goddess before November 5th.

Hey Jen! I found these two articles at Ask Moxie for you! Maybe they will help with your cloth diaper dilemma? I was going to do a pro-and-con list of each of the different systems, but it looks like Moxie has pretty much covered it all.

Finally, a big thank you for a couple of awards I've recently received:

My sweet friend Corey gave me the Community Blogger Award! Thanks, friend!

The community of bloggers I have come to know are an absolutely joy to me. Three bloggers I would like to pass this award on to are Deb of Mom of Three Girls, Kristen of Diary of a Shoe Addict, and Karla of Looking Towards Heaven. Thanks, ladies, for all you do to promote community in blogland!

The Wooden Porch was nice enough to pass on the Nice Matters Award to me. Thank you, mama!

It would be utterly impossible for me to choose just one or two to pass this award on to. All of my friends and readers are wonderfully, marvelously nice!!

That's all the blog business for now. Make sure you have asked me a question for my SortaCrunchy Q&A NaBloPoMo challenge!

Bit O' Crunchy, October 26: Autumn Air Fresheners

There is simply not a time of year that I love more than I love autumn. Deep in the heart of Texas, we may not have the vibrant foliage or the early frosty cold weather that other parts of the country enjoy, but we do have crisp cool nights when the air is punctuated by the sounds of the high school marching band playing under the stadium lights. The leaves do eventually turn and fall, and a toddler can entertain herself for a good long time sweeping the crunchy brown harvest off of the front porch. Pumpkin breads, pecan pies, and apple cobblers abound, and a lovely benefit to baking the season's favorite foods is the warm and inviting fragrance that fills the house.

There are many candles and air fresheners that have tried to mimic these appetizing scents of the season, but there's no need to spend money on knock-offs of nature. Even if you don't have time to bake, there are easy and natural ways to make it smell like you've been busy in the kitchen.

Here are some resources to get you started -

From Care2.com's Sweet Autumn Air Fresheners:

* Add a tablespoon or more of ground cinnamon to a pan of simmering water. You could also add a cup of apple or orange juice to the water and use ground cloves instead of cinnamon.

* Collect autumn-y essential oils (cinnamon, clove, and sandalwood) and make an essential oil blend. The blend can be used in dried potpourri bowls around the house or added to water in a spritz bottle for a fast air fix.

If you have a minute, read the rest of the article for a few other great and natural ideas!

* Feeling particularly Martha Stewartish? Try her Pumpkin Pie Potpourri!

* How about making a nice, big batch of mulled cider? Here's a recipe I found at Eons: Lovin' Life on the Flip Side of 50
* 2 sticks cinnamon
* 5 or 6 whole cloves
* 8 cups organic apple cider, or as needed
Choose a large nonaluminum pan (apples are acidic and can leach aluminum from the pot), and add the spices and organic apple cider. Simmer over low heat for 3-4 hours, adding more cider as it evaporates. When you are ready to drink it, strain out the herbs, and serve it in cups and mugs.

* Finally, if you do decide to pick up an air freshener at your drugstore or supermarket, make sure it is free of toxic phthalates. Check this article at GreenerPenny for more info on that.

Hope everyone is taking time to drink in the sights and the sounds of this beautiful season!

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NaBloPoMo kicks off in less than a week! I could use some more questions for next month's SortaCrunchy Q&A!

Loss for words

I had a Thursday Thirteen post all planned, but I just received news that one of my dear and sweet friends lost her mother today after a long and difficult illness. My heart hurts for her and that is what is on my mind most today. If you think of it, say a prayer for my friend S and her family. I know they will appreciate it . . .