A Healthier Halloween

I've had some inquiries about what has been happening in my kitchen this apple season. . . I promise, I will get to that. . . but this is not that post.  Since Halloween is right around the corner it is only right to discuss all that candy!  

I will start with a few questions I've gotten about our own family's Halloween traditions:

Family Files #1

This is for our friends that enjoy seeing what we have been up to not only with our attempt at healthy living but our day to day life..  A lot of our Mommy friends enjoy getting some fresh ideas for their families and hopefully you find something helpful or at least entertaining.  This is post number one in hopefully a series of Family File posts.  While we haven't been up to too much this is what we have been up to:

We have been searching for a safe, natural toothpaste.  We had some luck with us at Trader Joe's.  For the girls we still cannot find anything we are happy with.  HOWEVER,  Honest (no, I never stop talking about this awesome company that has changed our lives!) has finally come out with adult and children's toothpaste and I will let you know how it is when my July order gets here! So excited!

Honest. . . Products We Love

I sound like a broken record, but The Honest Company founded by Jessica Alba, actress and author of The Honest Life, and Christopher Gavigan, author of Healthy Child, Healthy World: Creating a Cleaner, Greener, Safer Home,  has to be my most favorite company!   Here is a list of what Honest products are free of directly from the Honest web page:

Our HONESTLY FREE GUARANTEE means you won't find the following list of toxic nasties in our products or packaging:

phthalates, sodium lauryl/laureth sulfates, PVC, parabens, benzene, chlorine, synthetic fragrances, triclosan, formaldehyde-based preserving agents, nanoparticles, TEA, MEA, phosphates, polyethylene glycol (PEG), quaternium 15, DMDM hydantoin, 1-4 dioxane, bisphenol-A (BPA), alkylphenol ethoxylates (APEs)/nonylphenol, BHA, benzalkonium chloride

(We hereby confirm this to the best of our knowledge based on information from our raw material suppliers & manufacturers.)

When The Princess was two months old she was diagnosed with Eczema.  Her skin would break out in red, rashy areas and they were super itchy.  When it got really bad we used Hydrocortizone and it would clear it up.  I felt bad putting Hydrocortizone on her skin all the time, but I also knew she was itchy and miserable.  I tried every natural baby soap and lotion out there.  Ones specifically for Eczema, baby ones, sensitive skin ones, the list goes on.  There were two things that helped, but nothing made it stop!
For the first few years we were getting by with Aveeno Baby soap and lotion and Aquaphor.

Upcycled Patio Garden

We searched Pinterest for a garden solution.  I did not inherit my mother's green thumb, we have a tiny patio, a large "dig-happy" golden retriever, and a budget of as close to nothing as we could get.  According to Pinterest, a raised garden would take care of the tiny patio problem and maybe a portion of my lack of green thumb problem.