Should You Use Lubricants When Trying to Conceive?

Trying to have a baby is stressful. You have to worry about whether it’s the right time to have a baby. Whether you have the room. Whether your marriage can handle it. Making the baby should be the fun part! But did you know that using the wrong lubricant can actually interfere with your ability to get pregnant?
Check out my post “Why I Wish I Hadn’t Used a Lubricant While Trying to Conceive” on the Circle of Moms RoundUp for more information!

My Love Affair with Evernote (and How It’s Helping Me Save the Planet)

For as long as I can remember, I have collected recipes, crafts ideas, dream home inspiration, business articles and gift ideas. Most of these came in the form of pages torn from magazines, photos shot on my phone or pages dog-eared in books. About 3 years ago, I attempted to get my collections under control by spending weeks organizing everything in file folders on my computer and in my file cabinet. I did a pretty good job but then I never looked at any of it again. It was too inconvenient to sift through the stacks of paper, even though they were categorized, or to open and close hundreds of documents on my computer searching for that one page.

And then I found Evernote.

Links I Love This Week :: Jan 27, 2013

Recognizing a fraction of all of the fantastic blog posts, news stories, crafts and DIY projects that are created every week.

Good Deed #3 – Donating Baby Clothes

I’m lucky to have a mother-in-law who loves to spoil her grandchildren. She single-handedly outfitted my baby with enough clothes for her first two years of life. And because she is such an expert at finding good deals, I actually have more than enough clothes. I am choosing to fulfill Good Deed #3 and donate the clothing to a worthy cause.

Links I Love This Week :: Jan 20, 2013

I come across many great blogs, crafts and articles every week, so I figured now would be a great time to start sharing them! Of course, you can continue to see other links that I share daily through my Facebook and Twitter accounts.
And, for further inspiration, here is a little about what I’ve been up to this week:

Good Deed #2 – Muffins for Librarians (and a Banana Muffin Recipe)

For our second good deed, I wanted to do something for people in our community. So Monster decided on doing something nice for our librarians.

Good Deed #1 – DIY Bird Feeders

For our first of 52 good deeds this year, Monster and I created bird feeders. I have had this on my list of things to do for years now. The goal was to feed some hungry birds and encourage wildlife to visit our home. Plus, we recycled a pumpkin left over from Thanksgiving to make the bird feeder using this idea from Martha Stewart.

52 Good Deeds for 2013

In the spirit of new year resolutions and inspired by the tragedy at Sandy Hook, I am resolving to finally commit to doing more good deeds for the earth and for my community. I have been looking for ways to teach my 6 year old about helping others so that he can develop a stronger sense of responsibility and empathy. Every night, I tell myself that tomorrow will be the day that we bake cookies for some firefighters or bring coloring books to kids in the hospital. And then life gets in the way and I postpone our charitable work for another day.

A New Determination

You may have noticed that I haven’t been very active on One Part Sunshine over the past year. Between a horrible case of hyperemesis gravidarum throughout my entire pregnancy and a new baby (she is now 4 months old!), I decided to take a step back from my online obligations. This was extremely difficult for me because I put a lot of time, money and love into this website. I have dreams of it being an all-in-one resource for parents trying to create a non-toxic world for their children and a meeting place for like-minded people. I want to help parents (like me six years ago) who want to choose the safest and most natural products for their babies but don’t know where to start.

The Safe Way to Freeze Breast Milk

When I was pregnant with my son more than six years ago, the green baby movement was just beginning. I had no idea about the dangers of plastic, so I stocked up on plastic baby bottles and plastic breast milk storage bottles. Eventually I switched most of them out for the newer BPA-free options that began to come out, but now that I’m pregnant again and much wiser, I’m using glass all the way!

My Summer Bucket List

It’s the same story every year. I come up with a huge list of all the things I want to do during the summer, and then summer passes by before I realize it. This summer is moving by especially fast since I am due to have a baby by the end of it. Of course, I have another massive list of all that I want to accomplish but I’m trying not to stress myself out over it. Summer is supposed be about having fun, right?

So here is my summer bucket list:

Taking the Toxins out of Father’s Day: Lead Free Fishing Tackle

My husband loves to fish. Even if he doesn’t catch anything (which he rarely does), he loves being outdoors in quiet nature. So naturally, with Father’s Day approaching, new fishing equipment came to mind as the perfect gift for him. Little did I know that purchasing this equipment would ultimately result in the pollution of our lakes and rivers and the death of waterfowl.

Avoiding Toxins in the Garden

I was strolling through Lowe’s, checking out their gardening supplies, looking for a new spray nozzle for my garden hose. I picked one up to examine it more closely and noticed a warning with words like “birth defects” and “cancer.” Being 27 weeks pregnant, I almost threw the thing across the store. It turns out that this seemingly harmless nozzle was full of lead. And it wasn’t the only one. Every single nozzle in the entire gardening department had the same lead warning. As did the hoses and soakers and brass fittings and who knows what else. I was shocked. I have spent tons of money and time putting together the perfect organic garden and here I am watering my plants with lead, phthalates and BPA.

Buy Local Now: Honey

Honey is a perfect example of why it is important to know where your food comes from. Recent news reports have stated that honey imported from China is sometimes contaminated with lead and antibiotics. And even honey that claims to be from the U.S. may not be.

Buy Local Now: Jewelry

The Charlottesville City Market opened earlier this month. The reasons to buy local hit me full force as I browsed the local eggs, plants, honey, crafts and baked goods. Our post on The Dangers in Kids’ Jewelry brings to light how dangerous cheap jewelry from China can be for children and adults. This jewelry is often contaminated with toxins such as lead and cadmium which have been linked to cancer and hindered brain development. The safest solution is to buy locally made jewelry from artisans dedicated to using safe materials.

Sneaking Veggies Into Your Child’s Food

I’m lucky. My son is a vegetable lover. He will happily munch on fresh cherry tomatoes or red bell peppers. And his lunch of choice is a fresh spinach salad with herb vinaigrette. But like most children, there are times when Monster doesn’t eat enough vegetables. So I have gotten into the habit of adding veggies into other foods whenever I can. I do it for myself and my husband as much as I do it for my son.

An Explanation for My Absence (i.e. Hyperemesis Gravidarum)

I have not posted on this blog (or really had anything to do with One Part Sunshine) in months. Instead, I have been confined to my bed overwhelmed by nausea, vomiting and extreme fatigue. We found out we were pregnant with our second child shortly before Christmas. And a week later, I was a mess. I became one of more than 60,000 women each year to be afflicted by a condition known as hyperemesis gravidarum (HG). HG is a condition that occurs during pregnancy characterized by extreme nausea and vomiting which leads to dehydration and weight loss.

Christmas Crafts on Pinterest

My goal this holiday season is to step up the DIY. I’m handcrafting gifts, ornaments, decorations and snacks. And I plan to involve my son as much as possible. To get a look at my Christmas craft inspiration, check out my Pinterest board. You can see the crafts I did last year in my blog on My Green Christmas 2010.

Natural Insect Control

It seems as though the cold weather is driving all of the bugs to find warmth in our house. We are currently battling ants, fruit flies, stinkbugs and these little black beetles. Of course, using conventional insecticides is not an answer in our home. Such products are poisonous to both people and house pets. And children are particularly susceptible to the dangerous effects of insecticides since they are more likely to pick up that roach motel or crawl on the floor where you just sprayed ant killer.

DIY Halloween (The Lightning Bug Costume)

About a month ago, I asked Monster, “So what do you want to be for Halloween?” His answer: “A lightening bug.” Of course, I was extremely happy with his answer. I was dreading that he would say something like Buzz Lightyear and I would be forced to go to a Halloween super center in order to find his costume. But a lightening bug I could do . . . somehow.
Now it is the day after Halloween and I am pleased to report that the lightening bug/firefly costume was a huge success. And I was able to do it without buying anything! It was cheap, green and safe. Here is how I did it . . .

Let Me Know What You Think!