Changes LOTS of Changes

The end of July my mother-in-law introduced me to a toxic free product called Melaleuca.  Because of her endorsement I didn't really research it, she has always been very conscious of toxins.  Then I started thinking and that is when a LOT of changes happened for my family.  I started becoming more educated on ingredients, cleaners, toxins, the laws that are suppose to protect us, and then I started looking around my home, my children's primary environment.  I was appalled at how many things we were using that had toxic ingredients in them.  When I had talked to a natural path she had said, "Don't put it on your skin if you wouldn't put it in your mouth".  That statement got me thinking, about the changes that we needed to make. Because skin is so absorbent cleaning my bathroom in Clorox and then having one of my children touch even a very small particle of it was literally like me putting it on the rim of their sippee cup.  I also learned about leading detergents and how when kids sleep they are warm and the bad chemicals in the detergents that I thought were cleaning are being inhaled all night long.  That also makes me sick.  I learned that it would take 17 rinses to get all the soap out of a piece of laundry washed in most brands of conventional laundry soaps and they use fiberglass to get the clothes really clean.  I learned Colgate and Crest has formaldehyde in it, yummy!  All of the soaps and shampoos that we had for the kids and myself had SLS, sodium lauryl sulfate, which is a poison and I had been rubbing it on my kids skin.  I also learned that kids immune systems to toxins doesn't fully develop until they are 12 years old.  I thought about how much my kids were exposed to in their OWN home.  I literally threw out so many products that I had been using in my house.  I started ordering all my cleaners, detergents, soaps, deodorants, toothpastes, dish soaps, and vitamins.  I love the vitamins having 3 kids in under 4 years has drained me.  I feel so much better, literally I do not crave the sleep that I used to and I can function pretty good.  Todd too takes the vitamins and has noticed a marked difference in his energy.  I love that I can order this online, which saves me time, all the bottles are concentrated so they last a long time, containers are recyclable, safe, work and smell awesome, and affordable!

Just a portion of what I threw out and replaced in these 2 photos

Then I got to thinking what about the food that we are eating.  I watched Food Inc and was so disgusted.  I changed the way that we eat.  I started attending classes at Natural Grocers and started getting familiar with terms natural, organic, hormone free, antibiotic free, grass fed, cage free and what these terms meant in regard to what it means for us when we eat this food.  Now, we only eat hormone free, antibiotic free meat that was raised in a good environment with a diet of what is normal to their system.  We only eat organic veggies and fruits.  Only organic milk with no hormones for my kids.  The growth hormones in food are linked to earlier puberty in kids and a fatter generation.  Our groceries cost us a little more a month.  The hardest change is to make 50% of the plate veggies.  I am used to the main course being meat, but with meat being much more expensive we now eat it as a side and have a night a week that is meatless.  At first this literally hurt my being, but now I am getting used to it and we are all doing fine.  I am very excited for these changes in our household.  My family trusts me to do the best for them and I feel that we are definitely a steps closer!