How to make your home GREENER!

Here are a few products that I use to make our home healthier and chemical free!  A great website to use if you aren't sure about the products that you are using in your home is http://www.ewg.org/.

1. Green Shield Organic   It was created by a dad on a mission to protect families from harmful chemicals found in most cleaning products. They manufacture the only line of USDA Certified Organic Laundry and Dish Detergents and Spray and Specialty Cleaners in the country.  

  You can find this cleaning brand in several grocery stores or online. Disclaimer...if you are shopping online, Amazon prices are way higher than anywhere else. On Green Shields website these wipes are $4.99 but on Amazon they are around $32.00!!!   To learn more about Green Shield and to see all of their many eco-friendly products go to http://www.greenshieldorganic.com/. 


2. Baking Soda and Vinegar

Another great good ol' cleaner to use around the house is baking soda and distilled white vinegar. You can use this combination for anything from unclogging drains to an All-Purpose cleaner. There are tons of recipes on Pinterest, and the best part about this cleaning concoction is that it's CHEAP!!! A "Reader's Digest 5 best Baking Soda and Vinegar recipes"... http://www.rd.com/slideshows/5-best-baking-soda-and-vinegar-cleaning-solutions/#slideshow=slide1 .

Happy Cleaning!!!

Top ten cleaning products to NEVER use...

Top ten cleaning products to NEVER use...

Are you using the same old toxic cleaners that have been in your pantry since you owned your own home and started making it spic-n-span? What most of people don't realize is how many toxic chemicals are in our everyday household cleaners and how hazardous they are to our families health and environment. Another interesting fact about household cleaners is that the industry is largely unregulated and companies aren't required to include ingredient lists for cleaning products, like they are for food, drugs, and personal care products and the companies are taking advantage of this. 

Simple Green All-Purpose Cleaner- this all-purpose cleaner from Simple Green contains 2-butoxyethanol, a solvent known to damage red blood cells and irritate eyes. Despite its “non-toxic” claims on its labeling, this all-purpose cleaner also contains a secret blend of alcohol ethoxylate surfactants; some chemicals in this family are banned in the European Union.

Scrubbing Bubbles-Antibacterial Bathroom Cleaner & Extend-A-Clean Mega Shower Foamer-These products contain chemicals banned in the European Union including DEGBE, which can irritate and inflame the lungs. 

Easy-off Heavy Duty Oven Cleaner Aerosol Spray- The chemicals in this cleaner can burn your skin and eyes. The label states to avoid eyes, skin, mucous membranes and clothing. Something this dangerous should not be found in your home. 

Target's Up & Up Cleaners- This brand of toilet bowl cleaner, glass and surface wipes list no ingredients whatsoever. I feel like they have something bad that they are hiding...what do you think?

Lysol Disinfectant Power Toilet Bowl Cleaner with Lime and Rust Remover-  This toilet bowl cleaner from Lysol even states on the label that it is “harmful or fatal if swallowed”. The label also suggests wearing safety goggles as a bit of this acidic concoction can cause “irreversible damage” to eyes. So not worth a clean toilet.

Ajax, Dynamo and Fab Ultra Liquid Laundry Detergents- How do you feel about washing your clothes in formaldehyde...that's what I thought. Leave it off you shopping list.

Comet Disinfectant Cleanser Powder- This product has one hundred and forty six different chemicals!  Some of the chemicals are known to cause cancer, asthma and reproductive disorders. The most toxic of the chemicals found, including formaldehyde, benzene, chloroform and toluene, are not listed on the label.

Citra-Solv Cleaner & Degreaser- This cleaner and degreaser is made from d-limonene and orange oils from citrus peels. Sounds innocent, but when sprayed into the air these oils can react with trace levels of ozone air pollution to form ultra-fine particles that can penetrate deep into the lungs.

Clorox, Fantastik, Febreze, Formula 409, Easy-Off, Lysol, Mr. Clean and Spic and Span- Many of these brand name spray cleaners are laced with ingredients that cause asthma, including quaternary ammonium compounds or ethanolamine. These products spray these dangerous chemicals directly into home's air.

DampRid Mildew Stain Remover Plus Blocker- This bathroom cleaner contains up to 10 percent of a toxic solvent called 2-butoxyethanol. Canada only allows this chemical’s use in non-aerosol cleaners up to 6 percent. As if that wasn’t enough of a hazardous toxin for one cleaning product, this product also includes nonylphenol ethoxylate, a chemical prohibited in cleaners in the European Union.

Once you know the ingredients, you should avoid these seven:

• 2-butoxyethanol (or ethylene glycol monobutyl ether) and other glycol ethers
• Alkylphenol ethoxylates (some common ones are: nonyl- and octylphenol ethoxylates, or non- and octoxynols)
• Dye (companies often hide chemical information behind this word; when it's unknown, it's safer to skip it)
• Ethanolamines (common ones to look out for are: mono-, di-, and tri-ethanolamine)
• Fragrance
• Pine or citrus oil (on smoggy or high ozone days, compounds in the oils can react with ozone in the air to form the carcinogenic chemical formaldehyde)
• Quaternary ammonium compounds (look out for these: alkyl dimethyl benzyl ammonium chloride (ADBAC), benzalkonium chloride, and didecyl dimethyl benzyl ammonium chloride)

Family Photos

We recently took our first family photos! We had tried when Brady was younger, but he was such a fussy baby that we never really got any that he wasn't screaming in. So for his first birthday I decided to try again and I absolutely LOVE how the came out. Beautiful scenery, happy baby and husband :), wonderful photographer, and an all around great evening. Photographer Jill Marson 

  Fall Fun List:

       1.           Decorate the house for Fall

2.         Enjoy the season

3.      Make homemade soup or chili

4.        Go to a Halloween Party or Trick or Treating

5.        Visit a Pumpkin Patch

6.        Carve a pumpkin

7.         Make caramel apples

8.        Watch a football game and eat yummy appetizers

9.        Make hot apple cider and popcorn balls and watch Charlie Brown’s The Great Pumpkin Patch

10.    Bake an apple pie

11.       Watch the Thanksgiving Day Parade

12.     Give Thanks!

First Birthday Boy Gifts

Here are a few gift ideas if you are going to a boy's first birthday party.
Brady got so many wonderful and generous first birthday gifts. Some of his favorites (for the week :)) are...Lego Duplos, Little Tikes Cozy Coupe, Little Tikes Adventure Play Set, Fisher-Price Power Wheels Camo Quad, Lawn Mower, and That's Not My Monkey!

Brady's First 'Little Man' Birthday Party!

I can't believe our sweet baby peanut is already one, it seems like just yesterday we were rushing to the hospital in a rainstorm. This year has flown by so fast, and I can't even remember what life was like without him.  He fills our lives with so much joy and happiness!

Happy Birthday, Brayden Gray! You are the sweetest, silliest, and most delightful little boy. We can't wait to see what each year brings. We love you!



We had so much fun celebrating his first birthday with friends and family, and our sweet baby peanut had so much fun himself!


We started the day with blueberry pancakes...

Then our Little Man party...

I found felt mustaches and hot glued them to the chevron straws that I got from Hobby Lobby. 

Brady loved tearing into his birthday cake, but he didn't care so much about eating. Instead he tried to feed it to anyone that was around...sweet little boy:).  The banner is homemade by me out of cardboard and construction paper.

Sharing cake with daddy

On the go!   I loved his tie !

 Our favorite new toys!

The day turned out perfect, it was so much fun and festive. I loved planning this party and can't wait for more! Thank you to all the friends and family that joined us to celebrate! Love you baby boy!

Brady's Nursery

Welcome to Brady's Nursery...

Pottery Barn Blackout Curtains

For Brady's nursery I chose to go with the baseball theme; however, I didn't want to go crazy with the theme, so I went with a more classic look of navy/cream colors with baseball accents. We painted the walls a color taupe color and then added the cream stripes to one wall. I love how it turned out!

 I really wanted to have a navy blue dresser so I had Donny sand and paint an old dresser that we had (a job that will probably take a lot of beers and convincing for him to do again :) ). I found a great way to sand and paint a dresser at iheartorganizing click here for the directions.

Ikea spice rack   Baseball lamp   Rug

For the bookshelves I used Ikea spice racks and painted them with the same paint as the dresser. I ended up buying a third spice rack/bookshelf and hung it under the other two and it looks a lot better with the odd number. The baseball lamp, rug, and diaper basket is from Pottery Barn Kids. I got the striped white frames from Target and they look get with the painted striped wall across from it. 

Baseball sign was purchased from Michaels Craft Store

 We also redid the closet because it was just two wire racks and I really wanted shelving.  I designed the walk-in-closet that I wanted and Donny and I went to Home Depot to get all the supplies. Inside to the left there is floor to ceiling shelving, where I have the stock pile of diapers, wipes, bumbo seat, and all the random extras.  And to the right is a navy blue laundry basket.

Striped bedding I bought from RH baby&child

The beautiful baseball quilt was made by my very talented mom. It's something Brady will have forever.

I love the way his nursery turned out!!!

Wedding

I loved every moment of my wedding from the planning to the day of.  Here are some details from our wonderful day... 

Our wedding was located in beautiful Squaw Valley, CA. My husband and I absolutely fell in love with the scenery and the feel that Squaw Valley offered. Tucked in mountains the PlumpJack Hotel offered a charming and quaint atmosphere, where everyone could stay.

I ordered the N and D from Etsy

We had the stemmed mason jars with tags that
said Bride and Groom

                                             

We bought a mason jar for each guest to drink out of for the night and then take home.  We served a signature drink from them during cocktail hour (champagne, orange juice, and grenadine). I tied orange and white string with the tags that I printed from home.

I created the wedding programs from home using
supplies from the local craft store. I chose the blue
and orange paper to match my colors and then used
a cream shiny cover as well as for the inside and tied it
all together with lace ribbon.

Instead of having guests sign a book we had them write well wishes on river rocks with metallic pens.

The reception area turned out beautiful and just how I had imagined. I loved the color arrangement of the flowers. The table runner on the head table was made by my mom. She bought burlap and blue satin fabric and sewed the two together. The Mr and Mrs signs I made by printing out the font I want from word and then using copy paper transferred it onto the burlap fabric and painted it white.  The table numbers we found from a craft store and then my dad add a stand and hot glued moss around the numbers.  I did the Thank you cards on word and then send them to Kinko's to have them printed.  

. 

The Man Table....

My husband played baseball in college and is in the Hall of Fame so I decided to add some baseball detail into the wedding by creating the man table with cupcakes, peanuts, popcorn, licorice, and cigars. The cigars totally backfired on me, because instead of dancing the men spend the night smoking and chatting outside (however they had a blast not having to dance). 

Dessert..mmmm

We had yummy cupcakes and what's a wedding these days without a candy bar. My dad made the cupcake stand from a tree they had cut down in their backyard :).   

My mom embroidered this linen napkin for the cake table.
So cute...and add the perfect personal touch.

A beautiful location...wonderful people...great details...I couldn't have asked for a more perfect day!

Loved the way the adorable flower girl and ring bearer outfits turned out. They stole the show :)!

• Photographer- Monique Sady
• Florist- Art in Bloom
• Location- PlumpJack- Squaw Valley, CA

Check the wedding out on Borrowed and Blue...

http://www.borrowedandblue.com/lake-tahoe/weddings/nicole-don--2