Guest Post by Leah

When my children wake up in the morning, I sometimes chuckle to myself as I’m reminded of some old horse races I used to watch as a child. The whistle blows, the announcer proclaims, “And she’s OFF!”, and the remainder of the race is spent simply trying to keep up with what’s going on, and preparing for what’s to come around the next bend.

While doing my best to nourish precious little bodies, minds, and spirits each day, there are occasions when I can’t help but feel like I’m in a race of my own: a race to check off my to-do’s and compile my will-do’s before the day ends.

It is easy to become so absorbed by the responsibilities of being a joyful wife, mother, and homemaker that we neglect to adequately tend to our own personal health and well being. Often times, we may just dismiss the warning signs of stress as they appear, or even allow them to go unrecognized until physical symptoms begin to develop.

Did you know that too much stress can lead to digestive issues, depression, insomnia, and even skin conditions such as eczema? The list goes on and on, and let’s not forget the ill-effects it has on our family as well!

Photo credit

I will be the first to admit that I have frequently failed in the “cheerful disposition” department, especially after receiving an unpleasant health diagnosis last fall. Since this time, I have been on a mission to intentionally rebuild my body as the temple God created it to be, and renew my spirit within.

It has been a process requiring time and considerable effort, but the results have been well worth it. Most days, I can honestly say that I am feeling healthier, more joyful, and more at peace than ever before. Each step towards your own good health is a blessing, both to you and your entire family as well, and it’s much easier than you may think!

Commit your works to the Lord, and your plans will be established. Proverbs 16:3

Start by making a list of goals for yourself.

Divide these goals into 3 groups: physical, personal, and spiritual. Write down everything that comes to mind, and then start to number each category in the order of importance. Once you have everything laid out in front of you, you can begin to make a workable plan.

The next step is to look at your current routine and search for areas where you can squeeze in some personal time, even if it’s only five minutes. It’s easiest to try to establish one new habit at a time before moving to the next. Be patient, and start with the most important ones first!

Here are a few of the habits that continue to work for me:

Waking up at least an hour or so before my children. This has been the single most effective strategy I’ve found to nurture my craving for personal and spiritual growth. In the quiet morning hours I can journal and read uninterrupted, shower, and gear up for my day. Recently, I’ve also started using a great program called PraiseMoves which incorporates stretching, gentle exercise, and scripture meditation all in one, and I simply adore it. You can read my full review of PraiseMoves and enter a giveaway here.

Dedicating five minutes or so to myself in between my daily activities. This has been a simple way to focus on a few basic recurring needs, such as having a glass of water, or taking my vitamins.

Playing “copycat” when spending time with the kids. This is a great way to fit in some exercise. If they are running and jumping around, why not join them for a few minutes of fun? When they get thirsty, join them for a drink!

Designating a home spa time for myself once a week during my children’s nap time. This consists of taking a nice, relaxing bath, reading a good book, and then fussing over my hair and skin a bit more than usual. I find this regular time of self-pampering works wonders in my mood and disposition. I highly recommend that you try it!

Work on eliminating stress.

Besides exercise, another very helpful stress-reducing technique is called diaphragmatic breathing. The name may sound a bit daunting, but with a bit of practice, you will be filling your lungs with more oxygen than you have since you were a child, and letting go of loads of tension in the process! Here is a video tutorial to help you get started.

Meditating on God’s word is an extremely valuable tool in maintaining a more peaceful spirit as well. Find verses that are most helpful to you, especially ones that focus on His wonderful qualities. After all, our true identity is based on Him alone!

Enlist a few helpful allies.

If you don’t have a set schedule to follow each day, consider setting a timer to go off periodically as a reminder to stop and take a short break. Pray, have a cup of tea, and get refreshed! You may benefit from asking a friend to check with you weekly and hold you accountable. I personally do much better when I have someone else helping to keep me straight.

Another thing that I find helpful is to post little reminder notes throughout the house, and place scripture verses to meditate in practical locations such as beside the toilet or above the kitchen sink.

Above all, don’t forget that we can do ALL things through Him who gives us strength.

The important thing to remember is to trust him for the timing. He doesn’t expect us to be perfect, so neither should we expect it of ourselves! Take the time to relax and care for your body and spirit today. Your family will thank you for it, and you’ll be on your way to feeling better than ever!

What are some of your ideas for putting better health into action?

Leah enjoys a simple life as wife and home schooling mama to 4- ages 9,3,2, and 1! Through the Lord’s strength and amazing grace she has overcome a past of drug addiction, approval addiction, and atheism, and now knows her true identity as a child of the King! Challenged by personal hardship, Leah started her blog, Dance And Be Glad, to share her heart and testimony of the power of God to bring joy, health, and healing back into our homes.

Top image by TriggerHappyDave

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4. Nourishing Traditional Diets- For those with PCOS and anyone else desiring good health!

Today I'm over at Simple Organic, sharing about my journey with PCOS and natural ways to treat it through lifestyle changes.

Call me naive. I didn’t know that there was something terribly wrong about going 6 months without a cycle.

I was 20 years old and in my last year of university. My health was far from superb, but I certainly didn’t think that there was anything seriously wrong with me.

A friend suggested that I just get myself checked out, and I was surprised when my doctor referred me to an OB-GYN for further testing. A few blood tests and an examination later, I had an answer for what was going on in my body.

I had PCOS, or Poly-Cystic Ovarian Syndrome.

Read the entire post here.

You can also read more of the posts that I've written about living with PCOS and healthy changes here at Keeper of the Home.

Image by D Sharon Pruitt

Our Sponsors:

• Spoonk Rider: The Portable Accupressure Mat
• Plan to Eat: Drag & drop meal planner with automated shopping list maker.
• Fertility Flower: Helps women predict ovulation, increasing chances of conception. Outstanding charting tools.
• Experience God as Your Provider: Does Your Financial Future Feel Like a Crumbling Sand Castle?
• Learn to Cook With Sourdough: "Pay What You Can" Classes in Sourdough and Traditional Cooking
• Holy Ambition: If you're thinking, God can't use me, think again! YOU can make a difference.

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Guest Post by Kate Ferry

A few weeks ago, I introduced myself and talked about my past experience with beekeeping in a post titled “Beekeeping: A matter of the heart”. The response was quite welcoming and many people were interested in getting more information about beekeeping as a hobby.

Keeper of the Home invited me back and asked me to put together both a “Beekeeping 101” intro for those of you who are interested in possibly starting beekeeping and another snippet on “Welcoming Honeybees” that covers the importance of the honeybee and how to help them even if you aren’t interested in keeping them as a hobby.

So, let’s get this started…

Beekeeping 101

• Are you fascinated by the honeybee?
• Do you have access to a bit of land? Anything over about 20 feet by 20 feet will do just fine.
• Are you interested in reaping the benefits of a well-pollinated, seasonally rounded garden?
• Do you have a spare hour every two weeks or so?
• Do you have a sweet tooth for honey?

And, last but not least…

Can you check off the “no” box on the doctor’s information form that asks “Are you allergic to bees”?

If you can answer yes to these questions – any or all of them – then beekeeping might just “bee” the thing for you.

I first became interested in honeybees while studying anthropology in college a few years ago. The social structure of the honeybee is unlike any other living organism and the level of organization, community and work ethic is second to none. Inside the hive, they are truly remarkable creatures. Outside the hive, they are both critically beneficial and incredibly fascinating to study.

After graduating from college, I enrolled in a six-week course at a honeybee learning centre just outside Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. It was an intense learning environment and it only fueled my interest and determination to bring honeybees into my life.

That next spring I jumped in headfirst and haven’t turned my back on them since. For the past seven years, I have enjoyed keeping bees at my homestead in northwest Washington. And, through trials and tribulations have managed to keep the honeybee a sacred part of my life and that of my family.

But, back to you and keeping YOUR bees…

1 - First things first – Read up on honeybees. Get familiar with the terms and the level of time involved. Start to understand the basics and what you will be tackling when you make the commitment.

My absolute favorite book on beekeeping goes by a somewhat embarrassing moniker, but it’s loaded with quality information that is presented in an easy-to-follow format – whether you are a complete novice or well-practiced beekeeper.

Beekeeping For Dummies by Howland Blackiston and Kim Flottum

The second and third book worth taking a peek at are Natural Beekeeping: Organic Approaches to Modern Apiculture by Ross Conrad & Gary Nabhan and The Backyard Beekeeper - Revised and Updated: An Absolute Beginner's Guide to Keeping Bees in Your Yard and Garden by Kim Flottum.

Still ready to keep going? Good, because you’re gonna have fun!

2 - Find your local beekeeper’s association and check it out. And, if you are lucky enough to find one or get to a meeting and meet one – try, try, try to hook up with a mentor that you can observe in the field and go to with question after concern after inquiry.

3 – Get your ducks, well bees, in a row. Find that plot of land to keep your hives. Order your gear through a local supplier or a number of online retailers including Mann Lake and Glory Bee. Start-up cost for one single hive and all brand-new gear is going to be about $200 to $300. Be on the lookout for used beekeeping gear (hat, suit, smoker, etc…) but, be wary of used equipment (hive boxes, frames, tools). Hive parts can harbor diseases and parasites that may have infected the previous colony and transfer over to your new, healthy bees.

4 – Scout out sources for acquiring your bees. A box of bees is going to run you about $80 and a nucleus colony is around $100.

• Order them online through a retailer of choice
• Get in with your local beekeeper’s association and join in on their group order
• For the brave at heart – capture a swarm (a.k.a. FREE BEES!!)

5 – Enroll in a formal course. If you live in the Pacific Northwest, check out the Honeybee Centre in Surrey, B.C., Canada (add link here). Otherwise, you can check out your nearest university and ask to speak with their agriculture department. Most state universities offer extension courses at the very least, but a number of them have an apiculturist on staff, too!

Well, if you know you aren’t planning on keeping honeybees, thank you for sticking with me and reading the past 600 words. The next bit pertains to those interested in welcoming honeybees into the garden and providing a safe haven for an endangered insect.

The past five years have seen an enormous decline in honeybee colonies.

The honeybee population is vanishing at an apocalyptic rate and keepers are opening the hives in spring to find them empty. The fate of the honeybee is particularly worrisome when considering that over one-third of the food on our table is the direct result of honeybee pollination.

So, even if you aren’t interested or can’t keep honeybees, you would doing a world of good to educate yourself on how to help keep them relatively safe and enjoy the benefits of their industrious work ethic.

Image by NJ..'s

How can you help?

Keep that garden natural – a bonus for the honeybee, your home, your health and your environment! Avoid pesticides at all costs and work with natural, environmentally friendly products. Or, embrace the weeds.

Try to have a variety of flowers and plants in your yard that are in bloom all year round. Think early spring to harvest time - work with the dandelions in April and finish with some sedum in late fall.

Get those wasps. Wasps are carnivores that feed on honeybees. A hive can be severely incapacitated by a wasp attack and the only evidence for the keeper is the body remnants after wasps have dissected the abdomens of the bees. Wasp queens are all that live over winter and are responsible for starting the entire hive on their own come spring. So, each wasp you kill in late winter or early spring (you know those sneaky slow movers that come out of the wood pile?) is one wasp hive down. An affordable and effective organic bait for wasps is half orange juice/half water in any sort of trap. If you use a sugar bait – you are going to be killing honeybees, too (a big no-no).

Keeping bees is a wonderful hobby, but is understandably not for everyone. Even if honeybees are not an integral part of your life, they can find nectar and pollen from organic sources in your yard.

Give beekeeping a whirl – it’s truly a delightful pastime and a special stewardship to the honeybee.

Any fellow beekeepers out there? Or have you thought about giving it a try yourself?

Written by Kate Ferry. Visit her blog at www.sacredbee.net to follow the Ferry family's effort to buy organic and local, reduce their waste and eliminate artificial and harmful products from their home.

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1. Beekeeping: A Matter of the Heart

Preserving season is in full swing! I've taken a brief break from it myself the past couple of weeks, after a busy bout of preserving in July. Now it's time to jump back in with both feet, as I get set to tackle pears, peaches, tomatoes, pickles, herbs, apples and probably more.

Wanting to provide you with a very extensive resource for all your real food, summer preserving, I scoured the web so that you don't have to. These recipes are made with whole foods, natural/wholesome sweeteners, and give you a wide variety of different ways to put up local and seasonal foods to feed your family throughout the rest of the year.

With that, I give you...

The Real Food Preserve-Till-You-Drop Resource Roundup:

Image by goodncrazy

Canning

Canning 101- The Basics

Canning 101

Canning Basics for Preserving Summer Produce

Tomato Canning Tutorial

Canning Pears

Homemade Salsa Tutorial

Sweet Cherries for Winter Days

In the Pits: Canning Stone Fruits

Garlic-Dill Pickles

Canning Peaches

How to Make Sweet Pickle Relish

Awesome Easy Tomato Soup

Canning Tomato Juice and Tomato Sauce

How to Make and Can Applesauce

Canning Peaches

Image by vieuxbandit

Dehydrating

Dehydrating Tomatoes

Drying and Grinding Herbs

Dehydrating Blueberries

Drying and Freezing Fruit

How to Dehydrate Vegetables

Homemade Fruit Leather

Image by epSos.de

Freezing

Freezing Raspberries and Strawberries

Blanching and Freezing Vegetables

Freezing Blueberries

Freezing Spinach

Freezing Garlic

Go Bananas Preserving (freezing bananas)

Freezing Broccoli

How to Freeze Sweet Corn

Preserving Produce by Freezing

Freezing Peaches

Putting Up (Freezing) Green Beans for the Winter

Putting Up Corn for the Winter

Image by llsimon53

Jams, Jellies, Syrups and Butters

How to Make Homemade Jam in 30 Minutes (With No Special Equipment)

"Raw" Berry Freezer Jam (Honey Sweetened)

Fruit Butter (Recipe- Rhubarb Pear Butter)

Freezer Jam (Recipe- Nectarine-Raspberry Freezer Jam)

How to Make Your Own Blueberry Syrup

Chunky Spiced Pear Jam

Raw Naturally Sweetened Berry Freezer Jam

Peach Pit Jelly

Rhubarb Rose Jam

Image by dnfisher

Lacto-Fermentation and Other Traditional Methods

Pickles- Dill and Bread & Butter

Lacto-Fermentation: An Easier, Healthier and More Sustainable Way to Preserve

Preserve the Bounty (blog carnival of traditional preservation methods- still happening!)- Week 2 (Fermentation), Week 3 (Vinegar Preservation)

Lacto-Fermented Dilly Carrot Sticks

Cultured Salsa

Dill Sun Pickles

Other References:

Heavenly Homemaker's Guide to Gardening and Preserving-- A wonderful, affordable ebook ($7.95) to get you started, full of helpful photo tutorials.

Preserving Food without Freezing or Canning: Traditional Techniques Using Salt, Oil, Sugar, Alcohol, Vinegar, Drying, Cold Storage, and Lactic Fermentation-- I am LOVING this book this year!

Putting Food By -- An excellent, basic guide to canning safety, times, headroom, acidity, etc. I reference this multiple times every year for all the important details that I forget, like how long I need to process a quart of peaches, or a pint of diced tomatoes

Putting It Up With Honey: A Natural Foods Canning and Preserving Cookbook-- Perfect for those who prefer to use honey as a natural sweetener.

Do you have any more real food preserving recipes or tutorials for me to add? What do you usually preserve each summer?

Top image by thebittenword

Our Sponsors:

• Spoonk Rider: The Portable Accupressure Mat
• Plan to Eat: Drag & drop meal planner with automated shopping list maker.
• Fertility Flower: Helps women predict ovulation, increasing chances of conception. Outstanding charting tools.
• Experience God as Your Provider: Does Your Financial Future Feel Like a Crumbling Sand Castle?
• Learn to Cook With Sourdough: "Pay What You Can" Classes in Sourdough and Traditional Cooking
• Holy Ambition: If you're thinking, God can't use me, think again! YOU can make a difference.

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Written by Emily McClements, Contributing Writer

If you are somewhat new to going green, or are just beginning to dabble in homemade and non-toxic cleaning, you may be a little overwhelmed about where to start, what products to use and where, and how to get rid of toxic cleaners from you cupboards once and for all.

The thing that I love the most about homemade, green cleaners is how simplified my cleaning cupboard, and cleaning routine in general, has become. Gone are the days of needing a separate cleaner for each different job, and each different room - kitchen cleaner, floor cleaner, bathroom cleaner, tub & tile cleaner, toilet bowl cleaner, window cleaner, dusting spray, multipurpose cleaner - these can all be replaced by a few basic products that you probably already have in your kitchen cabinets or somewhere around your home.

To create simple, green, and frugal cleaning products, I have found that the following 5 items are the ones that I use the most, are the most multi-tasking, and the best performing.

Basics for Frugal and Green Cleaning

:: White Vinegar

This is probably the most frugal and versatile non-toxic cleaner. It is a safe and natural disinfectant that, mixed in a 1/1 ratio with water, can clean everything from floor to ceiling in pretty much any room, including mirrors and window. You should not, however use vinegar on porous natural surfaces like marble or granite.

I use vinegar to clean my kitchen counter and floors, and wipe down cabinets (although that doesn't happen very often!), it's great at cutting grease. I also use it to clean my bathroom, it's especially good at cleaning up stainless steel fixtures and making them shiny. The vinegar and water mixture is also works as a stain remover on carpets and rugs!

Some people, like my hubs, have a hard time with the smell of vinegar. I find that the scent disperses pretty quickly, especially with a fan or window open. But, you can also try adding essential oils to your vinegar and water mixture to achieve a scent that you can live with, and maybe even enjoy!

You can also use vinegar in the rinse aid compartment of your dishwasher instead of a commercial brand like Jet Dry. It helps to keep residue off dishes and keep them spot free.

Vinegar is also a great replacement for fabric softener in you laundry. Add it to the fabric softener dispenser, or fill an old Downy ball with vinegar.  While it doesn't leave a scent like store-bought fabric softener does, it does help to repel static cling, and I have learned that I  like the smell of just plain clean, and that artificial scents are actually irritating to me now.

Image by cjmartins

:: Baking Soda

This is an essential replacement for abrasive toxic cleaners like Comet. You can keep it in an old Parmesan cheese container, or other type of shakeable container so that it is easily accessible for cleaning. Use it alone, or make a paste by mixing it with water, it is great for scrubbing off all different types of surfaces.

I pretty much exclusively use Baking Soda to clean my toilets. Just a few shakes around the bowl and a good scrubbing with a toilet brush and we're good to go. It's also great for scrubbing off burned on food on my glass top stove, cleaning and whitening my white enamel kitchen sink.

Sprinkle baking soda on your rug or carpet and wait a few minutes and then vacuum it up for a natural freshener and deodorizer. This is especially nice if you add a few drops of essential oil to your baking soda, it adds a lovely scent to your home as you vacuum.

:: Hydrogen Peroxide

Hydrogen Peroxide is great for cleaning areas that you want to be disinfected. It breaks down when exposed to light, so it's best kept in an opaque bottle. I leave mine in it's original bottle and add a spray nozzle from a cheap dollar store spray bottle. You can mix hydrogen peroxide 1/1 with water to stretch it even further.

Spray down surfaces in the kitchen and bathroom with hydrogen peroxide to disinfect and kill germs. It's not the best cleaner in the world as far as actually scrubbing and cleaning, but I like to use it on my kitchen counters after I have already wiped them clean, just to make sure they are disinfected.

The mix of hydrogen peroxide and water also is great at removing certain types of stains on clothing. Dark stains, like blood, blueberries or other berries, or juice, come out easily when you spray them before putting the clothing in the wash.

:: Castile Soap

Castile Soap has many uses for both cleaning and as a personal care product. Along with tea tree oil and water, it makes up my favorite homemade multipurpose cleaner. Just add water to a spray bottle and add a few quirts of castile soap and a few drops of tea tree oil and you have another multi-tasking cleaner for all around the home.

This multipurpose cleaner is a great alternative if you don't like the smell of vinegar, because it is just as versatile. I use it whenever I'm cleaning around my hubs, and for cleaning and dusting in my living room.

:: Natural Dishsoap

This is just one more great multitasking cleaner that is, obviously, excellent at cutting through grease. Not just for washing you dishes, you can dilute it with water in a spray bottle to clean pretty much any area of your kitchen. It's great for cleaning out your sink and washing down counter tops.

A spray bottle with dishsoap diluted with water (actually mostly water and a few squirts of dishsoap) makes an acceptable laundry stain remover.  While it doesn't work for some stains, like grass or dirt, it is good on food based stains and those annoying little grease spots that are hard to get out of clothes.  Keep a bottle handy in your laundry room along with the other natural stain removers we've been talking about here the past few weeks.

:: I have to mention one more product that finds it way into several of my homemade cleaning products, so an Honorable Mention goes to Tea Tree Oil.  TTO is a natural antiseptic and disinfectant and is great to add to homemade multi-purpose cleaners.  I also use it in my cloth wipes solution, as well as when I make homemade disinfecting wipes (like reusable Clorox wipes).

Those are the basic items that I use for cleaning all around my home. What are your top green and frugal cleaning products?

Emily is a blessed wife and mama to two little ones. She is passionate about caring for God’s creation and people by being a good steward of the resources He has provided. As part of her journey towards living more “frugally green” she blogs about the things she is learning and the changes she is making at Live Renewed.

Top photo by Chiot's Run

Our Sponsors:

• Spoonk Rider: The Portable Accupressure Mat
• Plan to Eat: Drag & drop meal planner with automated shopping list maker.
• Fertility Flower: Helps women predict ovulation, increasing chances of conception. Outstanding charting tools.
• Experience God as Your Provider: Does Your Financial Future Feel Like a Crumbling Sand Castle?
• Learn to Cook With Sourdough: "Pay What You Can" Classes in Sourdough and Traditional Cooking
• Holy Ambition: If you're thinking, God can't use me, think again! YOU can make a difference.

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At long (long) last, time to analyze this survey on Breastfeeding vs. Return of Menstural Cycle that just blew me out of the water with all of the responses it received!

So... what is the relationship between breastfeeding and the post-partum return of fertility?

I thought that the answer would become more clear, but although I feel like there are some definite trends and general aspects of the relationship between the two, overall my answer would have to be "Well, it really depends...". How's that for clear as mud?

I did manage to confirm something that I already thought, which is that I have a pretty crunchy readership- over 75% breastfed for more than 12 months, and over 36% breastfed for 18 months or longer! Mamas, you rock!

Let's dig in and see what the survey said:

I'm going to apologize now that these charts are not as clear as I would like them to be-- I couldn't increase the size any more without cutting off the chart!

This is one of the results that blew me away. Those fuzzy numbers say that over 39% of moms were still nursing at night when their cycle returned! Additionally, less than 40% were feeding baby any sort of solids, only 15% offering a pacifier, and 6% offering supplemental bottles.

What that means is that significantly more than half of breastfeeding moms see the return of their fertility while they are NOT offering bottles, NOT using a pacifier, NOT feeding solids, and CONTINUING to nurse through the night!

The next part of the survey asked moms when their cycle returned, in comparison with how long they breastfed in total. You can see that there is definitely a significant holding-off factor that more extended breastfeeding offers. For those moms who continued to breastfeed past the 6 mth mark, another 7.5% of them managed to stave off the return of their fertility.

BUT, for the great majority (over 80%) that didn't seem to make a difference.

In fact, if you look also at the two charts below, which are for moms who breastfed for 12-18 or 18+ months, most moms still get their cycle back by the time their baby is 6 months old. A whopping 72%, according to my oh-so-scientific survey!

Extended breastfeeding does make a difference, obviously, as a much greater percentage of these moms who breastfed for 12 months or longer saw their cycle hold off for much longer. As many as 10-15% of moms did not regain fertility until after baby was 1 year old.

When I look at these results, I have to extrapolate the fact that perhaps we North American women (brace yourself for the broad, sweeping generalization...) are NOT practicing the kind of ecological breastfeeding that naturally prolongs the return of fertility.

What exactly constitutes "ecological breastfeeding" anyways?

Glad you asked! I did a bit of research and found these 7 basic tenets of ecological breastfeeding, as put forward by Sheila Kippley, author of Breastfeeding and Natural Child Spacing

7 Standard of Ecological Breastfeeding

From an article on the La Leche League International site, by Sheila Kippley

1. Breastfeed exclusively for the first six months.
2. Pacify Your Baby at Your Breasts
3. Don't Use Bottles and Pacifiers
4. Sleep with Your Baby for Night Feedings
5. Sleep with Your Baby for a Daily-Nap Feeding
6. Breastfeed Frequently Day and Night and Avoid Schedules
7. Avoid Any Practice that Restricts Nursing or Separates You from Your Baby

Anyone want to do a quick run-through of the standards and see how your breastfeeding practices matched up, according to when your cycle returned?

For me personally, with my first I was only practicing #1, 6, and 7 completely when my cycle returned at 12 months (though fertility didn't return until 15 mths). She was in our room for night nursings as well (#4) until she was 6 mths and night-weaned at 11 mths. With my second, I was practiced #1, 2, 3, 6 and 7. He also slept near me until 6 months. He was 18 mths old and still getting one early morning (3-5am) feed when I caught the first egg and conceived my third.

Currently, I'm nursing my 12 mth old frequently, but just night-weaned (naturally- I didn't force it) about a week and a half ago. I've practiced #1, 2, 4 and 6 with her, but have had times when I've had to pump and use bottles for her while I was away. She also slept near us until about 11 mths old, as I continued to night feed. My cycle is just showing signs of returning.

That's just my story, though. As I said earlier in this post, my true answer as to the relationship between fertility and breastfeeding is that there are definitely some practices that seem to have a fairly consistent effect on the return of fertility. And there also seem to be a whole lot of women for whom there isn't a lot of rhyme or reason, but their bodies just seem to work in a particular rhythm of fertility no matter what.

Image by tedsblog

Here are a sampling of the interesting additional comments from moms who took the survey:

• My cycle returned as soon as I started offering my baby solid food--even though it was just rice cereal. Offering food means the weaning process has started, no matter how little you offer or how long you breastfeed at the same time (in my case, 20 months). My body just seemed to know that it wasn't the "one and only" any more, and lo, my period came back.
• I have breast fed all 7 of my kids. With each of them, my cycle returned around 7 months. With each child, they had somewhat different habits.
• Both I and another breastfeeding mom I know found that the return of our cycles took longer with each successive child. So I had the longest break from my cycle after my third child was born.
• For me, my cycle returns withing a month of baby night-weaning.
• I always breastfeed on demand around the clock and my cycle always returns around 3 -4 months postpartum!!
• I was actually tandem nursing my 15 month old and my newborn and my cycle returned at week 5 post-partum. It return the same time with my first baby as well.
• My period returns when I quit nursing.
• My cycle hasn't come back with any of my 5 children until i was down to about 2 nursings a day....just my experience....I'll be interested in your finds.
• I have had three babies and it was different every time. My first nursed until she was four, and my cycle came back when she was 14 months old. With my second, I was tandem nursing a LOT, and was shocked to discover I was pregnant again when he was only seven months old. With my third, I was again tandem nursing and my cycle returned when she was nineteen months old. At that point, I was just two months shy of having gone four entire years with no period.
• My baby is exactly 18 months old (to the day). I'm still breastfeeding - several times during the day and also at night. My menstrual cycle has not yet returned.
• I transitioned my son to a crib when he was almost 1yo. Previously we had been co-sleeping. As a result he nursed less at night - though he was still not STTN. A few weeks later and my cycle returned.
• From my own research and the info I've received from fellow NFPers (from our ministry site www.sweeterthanhoney.org), a HUGE reason for an earlier than expected return to fertility is due to baby sleeping through the night. A woman could be breastfeeding exclusively (no pacifiers, no solids) for an entire year but have a early return to fertility (when baby is 9 mo old, for example) because baby began sleeping through the night at 8 mo. I've advised young moms who want to delay fertility to co-sleep or wake up the baby to nurse in the night.
• I was breastfeeding TWINS full time when my cycle returned after only 3 months. :-)
• I found with all three of my kids that my menstrual cycle returned when I completely cut out nighttime feedings (so baby would go about 8 hours without a feed during the night)- for my first two this was around 6 months, and the third it was around 9 months.
• I have birthed four babies at home. We have nursed on demand (rarely more than two hours apart even as they approached one years old), co-slept, practiced babywearing, etc. Our babies do suck their thumbs, but we've never encouraged it over breastfeeding, and they have all nursed a LOT during the night. With my first three pregnancies, my cycle returned at 2 mo. After my first, I got pregnant when he was six months, then we waited until our second baby was one to conceive. We got pregnant for the fourth time when our third was five months old. Just sharing all of this info, because it is something I'm so greatly interested in. I struggle to come to terms with the fact the my body is allowing me to become pregnant when my babies still need my milk. Couldn't be happier with our four little ones, so a mixed blessing :)

It's a whole lot of food for thought. I've come to the conclusion that perhaps there is no conclusive answer.

I'm quite certain that trends in the North American diet, environmental toxins, etc. play a role in our hormones and fertility. I also think that (as a general rule) most of us don't practice true ecological breastfeeding, as it is practiced in many other cultures.

After all this, what do you think about the issue now? How do you think that breastfeeding practices and individual differences between women account for the timing of the return to fertility?

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4. next pcos post

Written by Sherrie Cook, Contributing Writer

There are many reasons to choose cloth diapers for your baby.  Many mums choose cloth to aid in the prevention of diaper rashes. Cloth diapers are breathable, allowing air to flow freely through them.  This  constant air movement provides a natural, dry environment without using harsh chemicals next to baby's skin.  In most cases, rashes are "gone with the wind".

Unfortunately, not even using cloth guarantees a rash-free childhood for your little one.  Rashes in the diaper area can be caused and/or made worse by a variety of different things.

Some of the most common irritants include:

• moisture trapped against the skin from heavy wetters, infrequent diaper changes or insufficient diaper absorbency
• irritation from urine and feces (pH is raised with this combo to a higher alkalinity allowing baby's delicate skin to break down more rapidly)
• chemical irritants from detergents/soaps
• allergic reactions from dyes, fragrances, fibers, etc.
• friction/chaffing
• restricted air flow
• oral antibiotics (kill the "good" bacteria and leave the "yeasty" bacteria to run a muck)
• microorganisms
• diarrhea
• introduction of new foods
• commercial wipes

How do you know which one(s) of these factors is causing your child's rash?

Unfortunately, it's basically a process of elimination (no pun intended).  In the meantime, while you solve the mystery of the rash, it is extremely important to give your baby's skin a helping hand while it heals. This does NOT mean you will be forced to dig into the far reaches of the hall closet for that dusty, left-over disposable diaper (now two sizes too small) from last May!

Here are a few ideas to give you hope for finding more natural solutions:

:: Ointments

Most diapering systems suggest that you do NOT use creams and ointments since these products can coat the fabric of your diapers and cause repelling issues.  Nobody wants that!  What I suggest to concerned moms is two-fold.

Choose a cloth diaper friendly ointment. A couple of my favorites are petroleum-free Baby Bottom Better Salve and Grandma El's Rash Cream.  (Many moms really like Northern Essence Diaper Salves, too, though I haven't needed to try the latter because the first two always worked well for my babies.)  Used sparingly, a little goes a long way, these ointments should not clog your diaper fabric.

If you are still concerned that the use of ointments might ruin your diapers, place a piece of fabric (i.e. flannel, fleece, a cloth wipey, a prefold diaper, or even a strip ripped from an old tee shirt) between your baby's bum and the cloth diaper.

This additional layer will serve as a barrier and will keep most ointment residue from transferring onto your favorite diapers.  Once used, you may launder the fabric with your cloth diapers or, for cautious parents, with a load of jeans.  If you think yeast may be involved secondary to your child's rash, this may be one case where tossing the barrier fabric might be your best bet.

*Be sure to check your manufacturers warranty prior to the use of any diapering ointments listed here.

:: Naked Time

(If your babies are like mine, they're cheering already!)  Babies generally LOVE to be freed from all things that bind them - including diapers! 

Right after a bath or diaper change, consider letting your little one air out a bit before replacing the diaper. Make sure all baby's cracks and crevices are patted completely dry.

Resist the urge to use talcum powder (bad for the lungs if inhaled) or cornstarch (cornstarch rings the dinner bell for yeast - you don't ever want to encourage the presence of yeast by setting out a yummy treat) in the diaper area, especially when the skin is already broken and vulnerable with a rash.

An absorbent prefold placed under your baby (if he's not yet mobile) will provide ample coverage for a few minutes . If your baby is on the run, a loose fitting prefold, soft diaper cover or trainer will do the trick for a few minutes - just don't forget he's not leak proof and start dinner.  :)

Happy Rash-Free Diapering!

Photos courtesy of:  Ozrix, La Grande Farmer's Market & crimfants

Sherrie is a wife, mother, peer counselor, speaker and author. She enjoys helping fellow moms in their quest for a simple, God-centered home for their natural living families. She notes her (hopefully) helpful hints at The Proverbial Woman.

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I've struggled with dry, itchy and painful eczema on my hands for a long time. Some things have made a big difference (like cod liver oil, eating less sugar, keeping my stress down and my sleep up, wearing gloves, etc.).

Other things have never really made much of a difference, including the zilllion types of lotion that I have tried over the years. We tried almost everything and though some lotions helped a little, none of them really gave the relief that I needed. Until I tried MadeOn Hard Lotion bars.

I first received them as a sample from an advertiser. They were novel (since they are hard lotion that comes in a tin, rather than liquid lotion). I was intrigued and began using them here and there. After a while it became evident that whenever I used them, I actually had a few hours of relief with my hands, and when I used them consistently my hands were markedly improved!

I wanted to know more about why and how they worked. I thought you might want to know, too. So I interviewed Renee, the incredible mom of 7 who created these lotion bars and here's what she had to say:

1. There are so many different kinds of lotion out on the market, but a hard lotion bar was a new concept for me. Why hard? What the difference?

What makes the hard lotion hard rather than soft is the beeswax. The beeswax has a high melting temperature so it creates a hardness when melted and mixed with other ingredients. What I like about the beeswax is that it seals in the other ingredients so it lasts longer than many of the pump lotions that you find on store shelves. It takes 30 seconds longer to apply (the bar warms and absorbs into your skin as you rub it), but the need to reapply it compared to pump lotions is much less frequent.

2. I've struggled with very dry skin and eczema for about 10 years, mostly on my hands and fingertips. It gets worse when my hands are frequently in water, and especially during gardening season. Right now, my hard lotion bar from MadeOn Lotion is the only thing giving me relief... why does it work so well?

The Beesilk lotion bar contains no water, and I've read that repeated contact with water actually dries the skin. That explains why moms like us who wash our hands frequently also tend to have dry skin.

Here's another reason: when you look at the ingredients listed in your favorite pump lotion, you'll find that the list takes up most of the label. Many of those ingredients are preservatives (to extend the shelf life) and fragrances (to please the consumer). Unfortunately, preservatives and fragrances are often the ingredients that aggravate the skin. So less is more when it comes to lotion. Look for fewer ingredients, and make sure the lotion works for your skin.

Beeswax

Image by blumenbiene

3. What is special about the (very simple) ingredients in MadeOn Lotion that works so well to address extremely dry skin?

Coconut oil. Shea butter. Beeswax. That's it.

I don't know enough about the chemical make up of the ingredients to tell you exactly why it works so well, but shea butter has been used for skin, hair, and even as an edible oil in Africa for years and years. The ancient Egyptians, Greeks and Assyrians used beeswax for various skin conditions. And coconut oil... well, it's done wonders for my family's diet, as well as for our skin! We don't need anything else to conquer dry skin. Plus, all three ingredients are edible, so you don't have to worry if the baby gets a hold of it.

There IS a reason why you won't find something as simple as the Beesilk hard lotion bar on store shelves: no preservatives. The ingredients I use have a shelf life of about a year, therefore I sign and date each bar (hence the business name "MadeOn:"). Because I make lotion, hair butter, diaper rash cream or lip balm almost every day, the products that leave my special lotion workroom are extremely fresh when they arrive to the customer.

To make sure the ingredients are safe, I submit them through Environmental Working Group's cosmetic database to ensure that my products have a low hazard rating. Check my products and you'll find that all my products listed have a 0-1 hazard rating.

4. Tell us a bit about your own story and how you came up with the idea to make these lotion bars?

I have always struggled with extremely dry skin - from the cracked heels from walking barefoot, to the cuts in my fingers that would make me cringe to even look at a slice of lemon. I had tried everything, from overnight gloves, to Bag Balm, to all forms of Eucerin, and Nivea, and, of course, Band-Aids. I didn't care whether a product was natural, biodegradable or green; I needed something that worked. My mom, whose dry skin genes I've inherited, told me someone had given her a lotion bar that worked really well on her skin. I Google'd "lotion bar", found the easiest possible recipe, and made it.

That was two years ago, and today, it's the same simple recipe I use to make the Beesilk bars. Not only did it work amazingly well on my hands, it did wonders for my son's eczema. By the way, I show how to make it at home on my how to make hard lotion video.

I think it's because we homeschool that our family has an entrepreneurial spirit, and we saw an opportunity to try something new that would be a teaching tool for our children. We spent a few months of having over 50 people test and survey my product, and then began selling at the farmer's market with my two boys, Jonathan (11) and Caleb (9). They passed out lotion samples while I answered questions and made sales. It was a great experience but next I wanted to try an internet store. We launched a website and I was able to do the work from home.

What surprised me is the amount of customer interaction I get to have over the internet, and most of the products I developed after the original Beesilk bar came as a result of suggestions from customers. (I'm currently working on an all-natural diaper rash cream and so far I've had fantastic feedback from my product testers, most of whom are cloth diaper users.) It has been a fruitful learning experience for our entire family and I'm hopeful that my six boys will know enough about running a home business that they'll be able to support their own families someday doing something they love, from home.

Image by MadeOn Lotion website

5. As someone who has been there, done that... what are your personal tips for those struggling with dry skin and seasonal eczema?

To not wash your hands is unrealistic, so that's out (to my children's disappointment). Keeping the body hydrated and avoiding soaps or any products that have a lot of filler ingredients (fragrances, parabens, chemicals, etc.) helps. I've noticed that I'm just about on a "scent-elimination diet" with products... my shampoo, dishwashing and laundry detergents, the perfume on people around me... scent seems to be unavoidable. So I'm trying to go scent-free with my purchases so that my nose can enjoy true scent, like the lavender in my garden.

Eczema itself involves even more careful evaluation of our lifestyle and there may be a need to identify and remove any eczema triggers, like certain foods, stress, or changes in environment. The Beesilk bar relieves the symptoms of many forms of eczema but I don't want to promise that it will eliminate it altogether. Finally, it helps to know the ingredients in your products and to find those products that 1.) won't irritate your skin, and 2.) will relieve your skin problems.

The biggest lesson I've learned from this is that it really doesn't take many ingredients to: replenish your skin with natural oils, add oils and style to dry, coarse hair, clear up a rash, repel mosquitoes and bugs, or relieve chapped lips. I work with beeswax, coconut oil and shea butter as the base, and those alone solve a multiple of skin issues.

You can order MadeOn Hard Lotion bars here, or simply go check out the site to learn a little bit more about the bars, read testimonials, etc.

Renee has also created a wonderful resource of podcasts, where she answers many of the questions that you might have about hard lotion, it's safety and more.

As well, for those wanting to learn more about getting to the root issues with eczema, check out my blog series on that topic. Eczema: What is it and what causes it?, Solving the Underlying Causes Part 1 and Part 2.

Has anyone else tried these hard lotions bars (or similar)? What have you found to be effective for eczema or extremely dry skin?

Our Sponsors:

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• Plan to Eat: Drag & drop meal planner with automated shopping list maker.
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• Holy Ambition: If you're thinking, God can't use me, think again! YOU can make a difference.

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2. Eczema: Bringing Relief to the Discomfort
3. Eczema: Solving the Underlying Causes, Part 1
4. 1000th Post Party Giveaway: Wholesome Family Skin Care Gift Basket Giveaway ($140 Value)

Not our closet... this belongs to the Duggar Family, who have 19 children!

When I knew that we were moving to a new house with a much larger master bedroom closet, I made the happy decision to create a "family closet" rather than continue to keep everyone's clothing in their own rooms.

What, you ask, is a family closet? It's a rather unique concept that I learned about initially from larger families, where all of the clothes for the whole household are stored in one convenient place.

Why use a family closet? There are many reasons, but the most popular reasons are:

1. For ease of putting laundry away, and keeping all of the dirty laundry together in one place.
2. To keep the general clothing mess and mayhem to a minimum.
3. To make getting lots of little ones dressed more quickly and easily in the mornings (or into their pajamas in the evenings).
4. As a place to store all different sizes/genders of clothing, making it simple to pass clothes from one child to the next as they grow.
5. To remove dressers from bedrooms to make more room for beds and lots of sweet kiddos. :)

Take a moment to go on a little tour of our own family closet and consider whether this might be a useful option for your own family:

It's only been a month and a half since we began using a family closet, and even less time that it's been very organized. I still have more than I want to do with it, but I am already impressed at how the clothing mess and stress has disappeared, and my laundry time is beginning to be cut down as I get into the rhythm of using the closet!

Other Resources:

Creating a Family Closet @ Lots of Kids

A Family Closet Pictorial @ Lots of Kids

Finding a Laundry System That Works for You @ Organizing Your Way

Laundry Help: The Family Closet @ Raising Olives

Do you use a family closet? Have you considered it? What do you think of the whole idea?

Image of the Duggar Family's closet

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Stephanie's note: Have you begun to notice a theme here this month? We're talking about laundry strategies, hence the posts on stain removal, one of the biggest questions that I get in regards to natural laundry care. Find charts for successful stain removal, and the trick that saves my sanity and my kid's clothes. Coming up are cloth diapering tips, a tour of our Family Closet and a mom's laundry detergent consumer panel in September!

Written by Beth Corcoran, Contributing Writer

Stains are a big deal at our house.  It seems that my kids are stain magnets.  I know that just about everyone would say that their kids do their fair share of staining clothing.  But my kids have a penchant for attracting stains of the gross and unusual kind—you know, the kind that no one really knows how to get out.

A while back, when we started fostering kids, I decided to go through my clothing storage and pull out the baby clothes just in case we got a small foster child.  Much to my dismay, most of the baby clothes had yellowed and had huge brown spots on them.  I was so sure that they didn’t look that horrible when I put them away! But time and heat (they had been in the garage last summer as we moved) had set in previously mild spit up and food stains.

I was determined to find a non toxic way to get those set in stains out of those cute baby clothes, which is a daunting task, because, let’s face it, even the toxic cleaners don’t really get set in stains out.

Then this past winter, we entered a time of a few months when the air was really dry.  My children started getting nosebleeds.  And about 99% of the time, of course, it would happen in the middle of the night while they were sleeping and no one would know the better until the next morning when the blood was dried all over the sheets.

This summer I have faced yet more frustrating stains.  During the summer, we keep white sheets and a white quilt on our bed.  All in the same day, my muddy dog decided to come inside and hop up on my bed, leaving the red Oklahoma clay mud stains all over my nice quilt; and my 3 year old daughter proved that she could open child proof caps by spilling a whole bottle of grape cough syrup all over my sheets.  What is a mom to do?!

It seems that there are several good options for getting fresh stains out of clothes, and many of those have been highlighted on this website.   But after much experimenting, I have found a very easy solution to getting really tough set in stains out of fabrics—powdered oxygen bleach.

I have found oxygen bleach to be highly effective in getting awful stains out of just about everything. Here's how I use it:

1. I simply fill a large tub (think trash can size) with hot water.  I know hot water is contrary to everything you have heard about getting stains out of clothes.  However, it helps the bleach dissolve better and thus, work better.
2. Then I stir in the appropriate amount of powdered oxygen bleach.
3. After that, I simply add in whatever clothes or bed linens need to be soaked.  At that point, I leave it alone for up to a whole day.
4. I will periodically check to see if the stains are fading.
5. Once they appear to be gone, I then throw the soaked items into the washer to be cleaned as normal.

Photo credit: edwebproject

Is Oxygen Bleach Safe to Use?

There are many options out there for oxygen bleach.  When shopping for a good product, you will want to find one that doesn’t have any fillers.  Many of the more popular brands don’t work as well as they could because they are full of fillers.

If you are like me, you may be wondering what exactly oxygen bleach is and how it works.  I was hesitant for quite some time to use it because when I hear the word “bleach,” I automatically think about chlorine bleach.  But rest assured that oxygen bleach is a very different cleaner.

Oxygen bleach is made of two natural chemicals, sodium percarbonate and sodium carbonate, and it is completely biodegradable. It doesn’t have any strong odor and, while I wouldn’t recommend soaking your skin in it, it is fine for normal contact with skin.   It can be used to break down set in stains or fresh stains, and it can be used on organic and inorganic stains.

The one drawback to using oxygen bleach over using a commercial spray is that it takes time to work—sometimes it takes a lot of time.  My muddy white quilt had to be soaked twice, each time for a whole day, before it came clean.  But the good news is that on most kinds of fabric, the stains should come out completely.

So if you have a houseful of little stain magnet children, or even a naughty muddy dog or two that like to jump onto your bed, I highly recommend trying oxygen bleach. As you can imagine, oxygen bleach is definitely this mom’s favorite go-to product in my laundry room!

Ok, mamas, how do you get out set in stains? Share your secrets!

I am the mother of four children (wait- make that six as of recently!)—two girls and two boys, ages 7, 6, 5, and 2 ½. While not homeschooling or chauffeuring the kids to their activities, I enjoy all kinds of craft projects and learning how to be a better steward of all that the Lord has given me. My blog is stewardshipnotconvenience.blogspot.com.

Photo credit: chiots run

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• Holy Ambition: If you're thinking, God can't use me, think again! YOU can make a difference.

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