Archive | July, 2012

The Willow Store Sprout Cream Review

July 31, 2012 By Melissa

Last month we were excited to kick off summer with the Summer Cloth Diaper Giveaway Hop. Thanks to our sponsors, we gave away a great package that included an Applecheeks, Ones&Twos, Rocky Mountain Diapers, and Sprout Cream. At the time I had not had the chance to try out Sprout Cream, but the Willow Store generously sent me a sample to try so I could share my thoughts with you. One of the things that stood out to me right away was that I received my package within two or three days of them telling me they were sending it to me! I love fast service!

The Willow Store was started in 2005 by Catherine Bolden. They carry lots of great products, and you can read more about their company in our Summer Cloth Diaper Giveaway Sponsor Highlight. You can also check out their store by clicking on the button below.

When I read the description of Sprout Cream on the Willow Store website, I was intrigued.

Sprout Cream is the all-over ointment that works to heal and prevent diaper rash. Great for use with any type of diapers, washes out easily, won’t stain.

Sprout Cream uses a unique formula that makes it hard for bacteria to live, but is extremely gentle on delicate skin and promotes the body’s natural healing process as well as reducing the potential for new diaper rash to start. Specially made with food-grade ingredients to keep it safe for baby’s skin. If you could eat it, you can wear it! (although we don’t recommend eating our diaper cream!)

We don’t deal with frequent diaper rashes here normally, but when my son gets accidental dairy exposure, he gets a painful, red, burn-like rash and his whole diaper area is extremely sensitive. All of my munchkins also have sensitive skin, so we frequently deal with eczema outbreaks with my older children. For those reasons, I love having cloth diaper safe, natural rash ointments in the house for those times we need them.

Sprout Cream comes in a 2 oz tub. I wasn’t sure how big that would be, but 2 oz ends up being a lot more than I anticipated. Even if you deal with frequent rashes, this tub should last for quite awhile. The tub is still small enough to throw in the diaper bag without taking up much space, which is also nice. Sprout Cream is a clear, lightweight ointment, with no noticeable scent. The texture reminds me more of vaseline than lotion, but without being heavy or greasy.

Nehemiah has had a few outbreaks over the last month, and each time that I’ve used Sprout Cream I’ve noticed improvement by the next diaper change. I’m not sure if these have been from dairy or just because he is teething, but I’ve been so glad I had Sprout Cream around. Some of his outbreaks have caused him to be in so much pain that just holding him on my hip makes him squirm and cry in pain. But after a time or two of me using Sprout Cream, he recognizes the tub, and gets excited when I pull it out. He even laughs while I’m applying it, which is a first with any of the creams we’ve used, so it must feel great!

Despite using Sprout Cream fairly frequently, I’ve had no issues with build up on my diapers. There are some cloth diaper brands that recommend using a liner with any diaper cream, so that is something to be aware of, but I’ve personally not a had a problem after a month of use.

Sprout Cream has also been used at my house to soothe eczema irritated skin, bug bites, and random boo-boos! All of my kids have really liked it, and it has always helped to calm the itching.

Another thing I really like about Sprout Cream is how simple it is. Just three ingredients! I’ve spoken to some moms who have children with a lot of allergies that make even the more natural creams off limits. However, there’s nothing in this to give those little ones issues, which is something I definitely appreciate.

If you are looking for a cloth diaper safe, natural, effective rash ointment, be sure to check out Sprout Cream. You can find out more about Sprout Cream and other Willow Store products at their website, and be sure to like them on Facebook and follow them on Twitter to stay up to date on specials and new products!

I received a complimentary 2oz tub of Sprout Cream to facilitate my honest review. I received no other compensation.

Read full story · Comments { 0 } in Cloth diapers, Diaper Rash, Reviews

A New Chapter for One Smith Family

July 30, 2012 By Melissa

I have been about to explode trying to keep this in for the last few months (I referenced it in this post), and I’m so excited that I get to share it with you now! My family is about to start a new chapter in our lives… One that we couldn’t be more thrilled about.

My husband and I found out Thursday that our application with Wycliffe Bible Translators has been approved! We’ve been in the application process for several months now. It has consumed a lot of my heart and mind, and it’s been so hard not sharing that here. I’ve also been trying to manage our blog Twitter account (@sistersncloth) along with a Twitter account we started to keep friends and family updated on the application process (@smithsonmission). I tweeted to the wrong account a few times, so a few of you did pick up on things!

I am overwhelmed with joy over our acceptance! I wrote a post on our family blog the day we found out, and you can read it here to better understand my heart right now.

Some of you may be familiar with Wycliffe, but there may be some of you who aren’t, and all of you may have some questions about what this means for our family (and the blog!). I’ve attempted to address some of your potential questions below.

What is Wycliffe?

Wycliffe Bible Translators was founded by missionary William Cameron Townsend. Townsend saw the need for Scripture in people’s heart language after men in the tribe he was working with expressed concern about the fact that Scripture was not available in the language they understood best. From that encounter, Townsend declared that every man, woman and child should have access to God’s Word in their own language.

Wycliffe is actively involved in Bible translation projects all over the globe, and has participated in over 700 completed translations. You can find out more about Wycliffe at their website.

Why Bible translation?

My husband and I have felt drawn to Bible translation since before we got married. We both love the vision of Revelation 5:9,

And they sang a new song, saying, “Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation.

Did you know that there are 350 million people in the world today who don’t have access to God’s Word in the language they understand best? 350 million.

I know many of us learned a second language in school – but imagine if you could only read God’s Word in that language. You would undoubtedly miss a lot of the meaning. Or what if I told you that in order to read the Bible, you had to learn Hebrew and Greek?

Shortly after we started the application process, I walked into a popular Christian bookstore. I stood there looking at row after row after row of Bibles. Several different versions. Pink covers, purple covers, blue covers… With imprinted designs like crosses, crowns of thorns, butterflies, and flowers. We have the “Mom’s Bible”, the “Boy’s Bible”, the “Girl’s Bible”, the “Princess Bible.” We have study Bibles, pocket Bibles, slim Bibles… Not to mention commentaries, study guides, Bible dictionaries, and Bible atlases. I stood there in tears, thinking of the huge excess we have, while so many are dying without one verse of God’s Word in their language.

What will you be doing?

My husband is pretty much a computer whiz. He loves doing all kinds of geeky web development, programming, coding, tech support kind of stuff that I don’t understand at all! Current translation processes rely heavily on software programs and other technology, which has greatly sped up translation work. However, it means there is a big need for people with my husband’s skill set to support those working in translation.

I will be doing a lot of what I do here. Parenting my munchkins, homeschooling, cloth diapering, running a home, and supporting my husband. I look forward to the opportunity to find new Sisters from different countries and cultures! We also want to keep our friends and family up to date on what is going on in our lives, and what God is doing in the work there. Thankfully, that’s something I love doing! As part of Wycliffe, I will also be open to other specific tasks that can support translation as they present themselves.

Where will you be going?

We feel a large pull towards Papua New Guinea, but we haven’t received an official assignment yet. We’d love your prayers!

Will you still be blogging?

That is the plan! This blog is still a big passion of mine, and I am excited about the many things going on here, like the fact that we have just taken over the Breastfeeding Blog Hop. My family won’t be able to leave for our assignment right away, as we have training programs to complete, and will also be spending time building a support network of ministry partners. The average time frame to leave for an assignment after starting the application is about 14 months, but that can vary in either direction. I’ll be a lot busier than I have been, but I still look forward to sharing here! Once we go to our assignment, I may not be able to blog as frequently, but I am planning on continuing to post and share here. There are many Wycliffe missionaries who have blogs. At the same time, I am sensitive to the fact that I am one person, and sometimes saying yes to one thing means saying no to something else. So although I don’t foresee it, it is possible that God will ask me to let go of my commitment here. Either way, you may be meeting a few new faces over the next several months as friends of Jeniffer and I jump in here some to ease the load on both of us. You can’t ever have to many “Sisters”!

And finally…

Although this is a huge part of my life, it won’t be the main focus of this blog, so if you would like to keep up with our family’s journey towards becoming full-time missionaries, or if you are interested in learning more about the work of Wycliffe and how you can help, you can find us at our blog, Facebook page, and Twitter.

Read full story · Comments { 3 } in Keeping it Real, Misc.

Abby’s Birth Story

July 27, 2012 By Jeniffer

I’ve been meaning to write this post for a long time, but it has been hard to find the words. Now, with my second daughter’s birth just around the corner, I think I can finally write it all out.**Warning! This post contains references to the birthing process, including contractions, dilating, epidurals, and forceps.**

When I went to my last doctor’s appointment, I had agreed to be induced the following Monday. That gave Abby about 4 days to come on her own. I was only 50% effaced and not dilated at all. I had also been miserable for weeks, was barely sleeping at night, and was disgruntled at the fact that Nehemiah was already here.

Saturday morning came, and my mood was just awful. I couldn’t stand to be online. Snarky remarks were just barely kept from the keyboard several times. I decided to take a shower to get my mind off of things. I did some nipple stimulation, which did bring some contractions, but they fizzled out. I was not a happy camper.

Around 3, I decided to take a nap since I was exhausted. However, I kept having contractions every 10 minutes and couldn’t sleep through them. The contractions didn’t go away, but it was a while before they were painful. My husband and I ate pizza for supper, I read some, and we just waited.

They started picking up around 1:30 AM and were coming every 2-3 minutes. I thought for sure that we needed to head to the hospital! So I woke Drew up and we headed to the hospital, which was about 40 minutes away. The contractions slowed on the way there, and when the nurse checked, I was at 1 cm and 70% effaced.

While we waited some more, Abby kicked at the monitor belts. The night nurse came in and scolded me for moving too much and didn’t believe either me or Drew when we said that Abby had kicked them. In fact, after a few times of coming in, she put me flat on my back. It was still a few hours before I reached 4 cm, but when I did, I definitely got the epidural. While I was able to rest some, I also couldn’t stop shivering.

Thankfully, the shift changed before that, and my new awesome nurse, realizing that I was super exhausted, made sure that only a couple of people were in the room at a time. I played games on my phone and updated Facebook a few times. My nurse brought me a popsicle and ice chips to help. At one point, they gave me a little pitocin because my contractions weren’t regular. (I seriously doubt that they ever would have been otherwise.) After that, I could feel the contractions. They also broke my water at about 8 cm.

Maybe it was the pizza or maybe it was having absolutely nothing in my stomach for several hours, but I had awful heartburn twice during labor. They gave me a small cup filled with the worst tasting concoction, but it stopped the heartburn. The second time I got heartburn was after I started feeling the urge to push, and it hurt worse than the contractions!

By this point, I knew my epidural was wearing off. I felt most of the pushing, and I also felt when the doctor stitched me up. I found out afterwards that the doctor was going to use one forcep to scoop out Abby’s head, but he grabbed the wrong one. When he turned back around with the right one, she was headed out! It took me about 20 minutes to push her out.

The doctor laid her on my chest immediately after birth, and then the nurses took her after a few minutes. She weighed 8 pounds, 9 ounces, and was 20.5 inches long. I was in labor for about 23 hours total. Afterwards, we were able to spend time bonding with her before they took her to the nursery for a little bit.

Abby’s birth was a hard learning experience. I had not prepared well enough for what I was about to go through. Next week, I’ll share what I’m doing differently this time around in order to hopefully have a better birth experience.