The place to get your eco-friendly packaging and other office supplies

Green Earth Office Supply
I have to share my new packaging supply find as this place has the best prices on truly eco-friendly products. Upon finding this site with it's html novice style layout I was a little deterred to try it as they don't use paypal however with it being through Yahoo Shopping I deemed it a bit safer to try out.
Below is a comparison of of the more expensive Jiffy padded envelopes that I got from another "green office" supply with the less expensive NatureWise ones from Green Earth



The more post consumer content the better as it's putting your recyclables to good (re)use.
I also applaud them for reusing packaging as my items were shipped in a reused box shown below! This is honestly the one green company that really works hard to to be green all around in contrast to where I was getting my packaging supplies from before the envelopes in their own separate 25 pack boxes creating more waste that I had to deal with.



The only cons are you must make a minim order of $40, they only ship UPS, and that it took a while for them to send out the items which seemed to be sent out after I called and emailed them and I didn't receive any response just my items a few days later. They also offer a free item with your order and I selected one but did not receive it as they may have ran out of the free items either way it would have been nice to get correspondence in some way. However these are the only down sides but not a big issue as I got what I needed.

Overall I am pleased with their dedication to being green and very cost effective I got my items and that's what counts, for this I look forward to ordering from them again and to better customer service/business management in the future from Green Earth Office Supply

Solace at 3 weeks

Easter was an interesting day where I realized that anything I want to do depends on what Solace wants to do. I wanted to go to church and she wanted to eat, I wanted to get to my mother's house by 1pm and we left at about 2pm because Solace once again wanted to eat right when we were ready to walk out the door. Anyways we did capture a pic of the Easter bunny

Yeah I did that pic up Anne Geddes style :D here's a few more pics of the little bunny in her Haba Dream Meadow




Yesterday was officially 3 weeks for our baby girl and to celebrate we went on a 2 mile walk! (actually I needed to go to the post office) Solace did really well with the walk so a piedi is the way to go for me to get out of the house and feel a sense of my freedom. Also yesterday Jason took me out to all you can eat sushi at Midori which was delightful being able to have raw fish again (this is what makes me the heathen vegan I can't get fish out of my diet especially when it's raw!) The only limitations on sushi still lies with the mercury so I couldn't have all of my favorites which will have to wait till Solace is weaned :(

Getting adjusted

Today was my first lone outing with Solace and the drive to downtown went smoothly. However after parking and getting the stroller set up I then tried to attach the car seat to the adapters that attach to the stroller and it clicked in but it didn't look right. I had the adapters backwards and now they were stuck to the car seat and wouldn't release. Flustered panic mode set in as I can't get the car seat back into the car without removing the adapters which were now stuck to the car seat! I take Solace out of the car seat and lay her on the floor mat then I turn the car seat upside down to try to pull the suckers off and they don't budge. I remember that my husbands tools are in the car so I grab the tool bag and find the longest flat head screwdriver to pop off the latch which doesn't work. I ten getting more frantic call the husband who's only solution was to break them off (cringe) which wouldn't work because that would break the handle of the car seat too making it rather useless. Then Solace decides to wake up and start crying while I'm on the phone and trying to pry the latch off at the same time but since it was latched wrong there was no way to pop off the latch because there was no slack to do so. After getting off the phone with the hubby I bend out the plastic a bit to get a better view and I realize that I can slide the latch off to the side which works! I thank God and pull the first adapter off and I hit myself in the face with it because I used too much force to get it off and yup it left a mark and will most likely bruise up.


I had better luck with the second adapter and I finally get it attached to the car seat correctly and then to the stroller and pick up the crying Solace and comfort her before putting her in the stroller. Disaster resolved! I head to my destination which is Bergers Beads and Solace attracts all sorts of attention cause shes cute, petite and Asian women (who pretty much run the store) adore her beautiful nose. I start getting my supplies and Solace wakes up and starts crying again the ladies can tell that she hungry and graciously let me breastfeed her in a secluded corner of the store! How friggin cool is that! Mad respect for the staff at Bergers Beads! This made my day and Solace's as well because she didn't have to wait till I was back at the car for boob-juice! After getting the rest of my supplies at Bergers I head to my other stops where the now sleeping Solace gets even more attention by the time I was done Solace started crying again but fell asleep on the way back to the car so I didn't wake her. Then I had to get some grocery shopping done at trader joes fortunately she remained asleep for that and finally woke up once we got home.
So overall doing an outing with the baby is like being permanently handcuffed to someone you are tied to this precious little being escaping the cuteness is futile. Anyways I'm exhausted and I need to muster up the perseverance to work outings more successfully.

Amusement

This is a creepy pic that Jason took of Solace's hand so I had to do something fun with it. This was achieved by using the Despair.com Parody Motivator Generator

Recent Study on Breastfeeding

Here's the low down on the study: "Exclusive breastfeeding at 1 month of age halved the risk, partial breastfeeding at the age of 1 month also reduced the risk of sudden infant death syndrome, but after adjustment this risk was not significant." the rest of it can be reviewed by clicking here

More about the Baby!

Sorry this is all I can talk about right now as she dominates my life at the moment. Anyways Saturday 4/4 was the day that Solace was supposed to be born =D and it also was the first time she met her uncle!


That's my brother Bryce with Solace.

More on the details of being a new mama
With home births it is recommended to have the baby get checked by a pediatrician within 72 hours after the baby is born. So once the birth happens the pediatrician is called and the appt is scheduled. The pediatrician I choose was Lauren Feder M.D. who is the author of "Natural Baby and Childcare"

which is a great resource for homeopathic remedies and Lauren recommends using the book during the off hours for non emergency situations. I decided to go with her because she seems to be the pediatrician leading the charge with homeopathy backed by her degree in the medical field. In addition to the book mentioned she also has another one about the ever controversial childhood vaccinations called "The Parents' Concise Guide to Childhood Vaccinations: From Newborns to Teens, Practical Medical and Natural Ways to Protect Your Child." I originally found out about her through my birthing class and I very thankful for her practice being local and that with her unique business she has space to see to Solace's care.
Tomorrow is our next visit and in other news about Solace she finally has been able to catch her ever elusive thumb to suck on and I shall leave you with a pic of that.