New Zealand!

Hi everyone! I am currently in New Zealand working and between the travel and time

difference its been hard to find the time to write but here I am thousands of miles away in a rainy day waiting to shoot and the first thing I did was pick up my computer so I can share some of the fun stories with you all. It took me almost 20 hours to get to this amazing location where we are shooting in Queenstown, NZ(and btw totally worth it). Its one of the most breathtaking places I have ever been to. After I arrived here and got settled at the hotel I decided to go down to the store to get some healthy snacks to keep in the room and carry with me while on location. How refreshing + nice to find so many wonderful and natural snacks. No need to search for the organic section, no preservatives or toxic chemicals here,never had them never will. The shopkeeper noticed my delight and commented, ohhhh everything is natural here…I was so thrilled …she looks at me and says everything you see is chemical-free. I was in heaven as I continued thru the isles and I see all these products and they are all organic or natural. What can I say? I know one day we will have so many more choices like these back in the States as people become more educated to the importance of a return to clean living+eating. Looking forward to my return tomorrow to my family,in the meantime, here are some cool pictures of the trip! Stay tuned,I will be back to the states Friday and then off to Puerto Rico for a great charity event on Sunday May 2nd for Casa Cuna( which is a very close charity to me as it involves children). Speak soon,

xx

model mommy

Nice and fluffy!!!

I am getting ready for the longest trip in a long time...I was doing my laundry and I thought of a great topic for my next post. We all love the laundry detergents with scents, softeners and especially those little sheets that we throw in the dryer that make our clothe so nice and fluffy. Well guess what they couldn't be worse for our body and even the environment. There are very good reasons for switching to a green product. Most of the conventional products are made from petroleum (nonrenewable resource) They don't biodegrade as quick and they can also threaten wildlife after they go down the drain. A lot of this products contain chemical fragrances and phosphates (this can build up in streams and lakes, upset natural balance, and starve fish of oxygen they need to survive) They also contain chemicals linked to cancer and reproductive problems. Basically not much good comes out of this products for your family or the earth. There are a few homemade replacements, for fabric softener you can add a quarter cup of baking soda to the wash cycles and another one is that for static cling you can add a quarter cup of white vinegar to the wash water. Well I hope this will help and if you decide to change your products some of my favorite brands are Seventh Generation and Method which are environmentally friendly.

xx

model mommy

No more red tushy's (on our babies haha)

When my daughter was born I was very concerned with keeping everything that wasnt natural away from her at any cost. During one of the many sleepless nights I discussed with my mom why I didnt want to use the 'regular' manufactured ointment for diaper rash on my daughter... . My Mom said to me "I understand where you are coming from, but if she gets a rash are you just going to let her suffer? It made me think ,so I went back to my favorite book Raising Baby Green and I looked for a better solution. The book gave me some great ideas but the one that worked the best was changing the diapers frequently and letting her have some free diaper time during the course of the day. I am proud to say that I can count on one hand the times my daughter had mild diaper rash. The easy remedy was a nice warm bath along with keeping the area clean and dry... no chemicals. For many years I've seen moms covering their babies bottoms with Desitin type creams just because that's all we knew, what we had learned from generation to generation. The main reason I started this blog is because I want every baby out there to have the best chance possible at a healthy and chemical free life. Not only are we helping ourselves directly, we are helping our environment by keeping it free from toxins by using earth friendly products. Little by little we can all make a huge difference in this world for future generations to come. The same air we breathe comes in contact with our largest organ,our skin, lets all live clean + green.... who knows, maybe with advances in medicine combined with clean living our children will think that 100 is the new 80!

xx
model mommy

Safest Bubble!

The safest and greenest room in the world can be a mothers womb. I guess I didn't understand the amazing things that our body can do until I decided that I wanted to get pregnant and started to read about the process. Our womb is the first place our babies live and is also the provider of the first source of nutrition they get. Basically, everything that touches our bodies impacts their development in our womb. I was shocked as to how little things like exposing ourselves to unhealthy environments and conditions can affect our pregnancy. Not only does what we eat or drink affect our growing jewel, products that we apply to our skin and even the paint we use on the nursery walls in our babies room affect their development. I know we can't close ourselves in a bubble and ignore our daily routines, but I do believe that we can do our best for our baby by eating organic and switching to organic or natural cosmetics(from soap + shampoo to almost every product we all use on a daily basis). I understand that keeping your body moisturized is a must during pregnancy especially if you want to try and avoid and minimize ,as much as possible, the infamous stretch marks. There is no reason why we can't pamper ourselves in a healthier way. A great example: I love soda(who doesn't?); easily discovered were brands that exchanged the chemicals for naturally produced,carbonated and sweetened ingredients (My fav being Izzy's,made in Boulder, CO and readily available in almost every supermarket, yummy and healthy for both Mom and Womb resident . The same way I was able to give up sticky(artificial) mainstream sodas I continue to find replacements for all the things I thought I couldn't live without...I have to say, I am so used to it that I dont even think about it as something missing in my life or a compromise, as a matter of fact, its more of a re-adjustment to how things should taste,smell and feel, real and natural. I guess I feel that the healthier I became the longer I could be around to see my most precious gift (my daughter) grow up. Healthy practices**(**thanks Allie's mom) for a healthy lifestyle. As I think about my message(s) in this column I can only hope I help us all be just a little bit healthier and a little bit more socially and environmentally responsible. Stay tuned, feel free to ask me for help. Lets all learn, grow and enjoy together....Organically.

xx

model mommy

Brown Diapers?

So i am changing my daughter's diaper out by the pool and someone asked me why is that diaper brown? Since my daughter was born i have used organic diapers or natural diapers. This diapers are made out of cotton that's grown without toxic pesticides or chemical fertilizers, organic diapers are produced without harsh chemical bleaches or dyes and are hypo-allergenic. By using this diapers you are not only giving your baby's bottom a better choice you are also contributing in keeping the famous "landfill diapers" smaller every year. It has been estimated that we use 8 thousand diapers from birth till toilet training stage, imagine if just by using Eco-diapers, flushable diapers or even cloth diapers what a difference we could be making in our world.

xx

model mommy

Out and About!

There isn't anything more fun than a day at the beach with the kids..this is probably one of my favorite topics to discuss. We are all crazy about protecting our skin with sunblock, very important. Now please please make sure that you buy a natural or organic product to protect yourself and your little ones.....!! there are sooo many options out there and they all come in the fun shapes, sprays, creams as the traditional products that we are so used to buying. You can also buy wet shirts that already have SPF, same goes for hats. There is no reason we cant all enjoy the outside but lets protect our skin with natural or organic products.

xx

model mommy

ps-if you like to know specific brand i can post some links...

Traveling with your kids...!

Hi...i find myself today packing for a trip with my family and i knew i had to share a few details with you. As we all know packing for a trip isn't easy, specially when we are taking kids that are still in diapers and cant eat just anything. Normally i use a website called (diapers.com) in which you could order pretty much everything from diapers, food, formula to toys for your trip, they deliver all over the country by fast free shipping in orders over 49.00(UPS ). Well unfortunately i am going out of the country so instead i went to my local market and picked up all the things i needed from organic whole milk(no need to refrigerate until opened), local grown fruit and organic diapers which are of course Eco friendly. There are many ways to provide your family with an organic meal while traveling and also making sure that we are being environmentally conscious..

model mommy

The New Way!

Dear Mommy's.... well i have been thinking about sharing my experience for a while now. i started writing a book in which i could pass everything i had learn thru my experience to all the other first time moms...but then i realized that it wasn't as easy as I thought it would be. At the same time i had so many girlfriends that where pregnant and having their first child that i felt the need to share all i knew with them...i believe in the organic way 100 percent.... nothing better for your child. i found myself noticing that most moms didn't understand the importance of this for a healthy development. i have done extensive research and i would love to be able to share all of this information with all of the moms out there and learn as well from other moms......my first language is Spanish so i apologize if my spelling isn't perfect....hope to get some feedback soon.....

TX

model mommy