The MilkSaver is fabulous!
By Heather Ledeboer | Category: Hot New Finds, Mom 4 Life Product Feedback, The Journey of Motherhood | Posted Monday, August 31, 2009
This last weekend Trent and I went to Seattle together for a weekend get-away to celebrate our 10 year anniversary. Hunter and Ashlyn stayed with grandparents so it was just us and Quinten. Man it seems easy to just have one child (why didn’t it seem the same way when we only had one?)! 
Both nights that we were away Quinten slept from around 10/11 at night until 8/8:30 in the morning! Amazing. I will mention that at 11 weeks of age, Q weights almost 15 pounds so he is by no means in “need” of eating during the night. However, this extra long stretch between feedings left me a little uncomfortable in terms of milk production since my body wasn’t used to waiting that long to nurse. I found myself with an ample supply of milk throughout the day. Then today I remembered the new product “The MilkSaver” that we recently added to our site. It occurred to me that I should be using this to catch the extra leaking milk while I nurse.
So tonight tried out The MilkSaver for the first time and I really like it. When I first took it out of the box it was larger overall than I expected but I found that it fit right inside my bra while I nursed and was easy to use. I was thrilled to see the 1 oz. of milk that was collected during one short feeding. The main drawaback that I could think of for this product is that I can’t use it when I nurse laying down (which I do at night) but for my daytime feedings I am going to start using this regularly and saving up those extra oz. of milk!
I have avoided pumping just because it can be a hassle to get out the pump and clean it out etc. but I want to have Quinten try using a bottle. I think The MilkSaver will be perfect because I can save my extra milk and use it to try him on a bottle without even having to pull out my pump! Overall, I am thrilled, I think The MilkSaver is a fantastic innovative product for the breastfeeding mom!
One month later (a follow-up):
I felt I needed to follow up with a design flaw that I discovered–they are too comfortable! Let me explain:
The other day I was nursing Quinten and collecting milk on the other side with my Milk-Saver. When I finished feeding him, because the Milk-Saver is so comfortable, I forgot that it was “in” my bra on the other side. My typical routine is to change Quinten’s diapers after I feed him so I leaned over to put him on the ground and “splash” all my saved milk split out onto him! At first it took me a second to figure out what caused the mess, I thought he somehow spit up really quick;)! Once I realized what had happened I thought, “Ok that was funny, now I know I won’t do that again:)!”
The next day I was sitting on the couch thinking about it and deciding that I should blog about it so you could share in my funny mistake and no less than 10 min later I did it ALL OVER AGAIN, talk about a short memory! . . .
I will finish up with a comment sent to me by Mom 4 Life, Heather J. about her Milk-Saver
“I just bought the Milk-Saver from you guys, MAN, I LOVE it! It’s so
wonderful! I love being able to save the milk for baby oatmeal, or when
in-laws keep the kids, etc! I will be telling my friends about it!” ~ Heather J.
Wool Yarn Dyeing
By kristinabjornbak | Category: Home Crafts, It Worked 4 Me | Posted Monday, August 31, 2009
I love making wool diaper covers for my little monkey. And I love color. The problem is that wool that's been pre-dyed is more expensive than undyed, and there's no guarantee that you'll find the color or dye pattern that you want.
But did you know that dyeing wool, or any other animal fiber for that matter, with Kool-Aid of all things, is fun and easy? If you are interested, my favorite tutorial can be found here. Read through the tutorial and look at the pictures and decide if this is a project that interests you.
That being said, I did deviate from the tutorial slightly. This is what I did different:
1. I didn't have a syringe of the suggested size, so I just poured slowly and carefully onto the parts I wanted dyed.
2. I didn't have gloves, but scrubbing your hands with baking soda (and not that hard!) takes any dye off.
3. Before I did the heat set method, I carefully squeezed out the excess water by sections.
4. I used the microwave heat set method, but because I was dyeing a full 8oz of yarn at once, I did 2 minutes, flipped the yarn over, did it again, and then once more.
In the end, I came out with some nicely colored yarn. It is purple, violet, and red, but unfortunately the red next to the purple looks pink, but it's still nice.
If you have a little time and patience, this project is well worth the effort.
*Note: You cannot use this dye method for cotton or synthetic fibers. Animal fibers (including silk) only!
Sleeping like a baby
By Heather Ledeboer | Category: Surprize Me! | Posted Saturday, August 29, 2009
Quinten is now 2 1/2 months old and is a rock star with sleeping at night. I don’t take this for granted either because Hunter was REALLY not interested in sleeping through the night until somewhere around his first birthday and being our first we really felt helpless to know what to do with him (we were total softies). Ashlyn must have been better because I don’t specifically remember her sleep habits to the degree that I do with Hunter. A good night of sleep is an amazing gift for a mom (I am sure you will agree). I have had my eye on a feather bed for our mattress. I have heard good things about them (have any of you tried one)? I was thinking of celebrating once Quinten really gets serious about sleeping through the night on a regular basis and getting one . When I do, I will report back and let you know what I think of it!
Weekly Giveaway – Relaxations for a Healthy Pregnancy & Delivery CD
By Heather Ledeboer | Category: Mom 4 Life News & Giveaways | Posted Friday, August 28, 2009
Congratulations to Dia, who won the organic, natural Shower Hug by Belmama and Cherub.
All Belmama and Cherub products off this week (until Thursday night).
Congratulations to Jessica, Alisha & Hope, who each won Milkscreen this week in our
Facebook Fitness Challenge.
Join Heather on her venture for better health, fun, fitness and her
pre-pregnancy jeans.
Join our Facebook
Fan Group to participate in this fun, two-month fitness challenge and
be eligible for weekly prize giveaways, exclusively available to Fan Group
members!
Don't do Facebook?
No worries. We will still be doing weekly
prize giveaways on the blog each week that everyone can participate in. So, it
is double the prizes!!
Celebrate "Labor Day" with us!
Relaxations for a Healthy Pregnancy & Delivery CD by The Biofeedback Clinic
Retail Value: $15.99
she is owner of The Biofeedback Clinic, which assists individuals with stress
management and relaxation training. One of the most life-giving experiences of
her career was to welcome babies into the world as a labor and delivery room
nurse.
The potential benefits of this CD are enormous: the guided relaxation teaches
the difference between tension/relaxation and serves as a tool for learning how
to relax, while the imagery models a way of bonding with the developing baby.
Another key feature is the guidance in preparing a woman to maintain her focus
during the transition of labor and delivery. It is a must for all soon-to-be
moms.
Take a look at our products designed for relaxation during labor
and tell us which one looks the most interesting to you.
If you want, share another way you have been able to help yourself relax during labor.
The winner will be
randomly drawn.
You have until Tuesday evening, September 1st, to enter.
Good luck!
Artwork worth framing!
By Heather Ledeboer | Category: Home Crafts, Kids Crafts, The Journey of Motherhood | Posted Thursday, August 27, 2009
I have been meaning to have my kids do some artwork that I could frame for quite sometime. I finally decided this would be the week, no more putting it off. First, I thought I would make homemade finger paint and let them create some art and I would frame it. The recipe is easy:
Homemade Finger Paint:
3 T Sugar
1/2 Cup Cornstarch
2 Cups Water
Food Coloring
Mix sugar and cornstarch and then add water. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until well blended and thick (you can also do it in the microwave according to the cookbook but I didn't try it). Divide the mixture into portions and add different colors to each portion. You can also add a tsp. of powdered detergent to help remove the paint from clothing.
When I made this I think I cooked it longer than needed and it became too thick. It was still usable and the kids had fun but it was clumpy on the paper. If any of you try it and have better results if you don't cook it long please let me know.
My initial plan had been to let the kids use this finger paint to create a painting on scrapbooking paper (or any paper that is acid free so that it won't yellow over time) and then to let it dry and frame it for the wall. Because the paint was too thick I came up with a "plan B". I went to Target and purchased a frame with a mat for Hunter and Ashlyn. I opened up the frame and removed the mat. I placed it on their Piggy Platters and allowed them to paint it any way that they wanted to with their crayola paints.
We allowed the mat to dry and then I marked it with their name and
date. Then I chose a recent photo of them and placed it in the mat and
put it back in the frame. The end result turned out really awesome. I
love that I have both a personal art piece but I also see how old they
were at the time that they created it! I decided that they turned out
so well that I purchased another frame for them to paint as a gift for
my moms birthday.
