Monday, May 3, 2010

Swim Diaper Giveaway - WINNER!

Random.org picked number 8 out of 1-76! So Suzanne won! Congratulations!

However, I do not have any contact information for you! Please contact me @ rgnaturalbabies@yahoo.com to claim your prize!!!

Wednesday, April 21, 2010

When I don't sleep...

I end up sharing with you my randomness.

It is has been a while since I blogged... well here on this blog it has been! Do you know I have another blog? Done with my friend Kristin? http://gogreenwisconsin.blogspot.com/ ~There it is! For your reading enjoyment.

So life has changed a LOT since I wrote last. Kimberly Clark did yet again turn us down for renting - that was way back in February. It was frustrating, yet a blessing. God obviously knew best. We are now renting a building at 430 Main St. Which is MUCH nicer than the other space. It has more character and a little less work to it. And natural light comes in the windows! AMAZING! Not a lot, but some to where I don't need to have the lights on during the day when it's myself there! It's a leap of faith renting this space, but God gave the green light and off we are. I "love" when people say "wow, if I could afford rent on a space like this..." and in my head I'm always like "we actually can't afford to either... but praying and trusting that God will make it work."

It's a challenge, more than a challenge. Some days I want to give up, but there is no turning back now. Been working hard at getting things together... cleaning, setting up, getting shelves, putting products on, getting all the products needed, trying to work with the kids (HUGE challenge) at the store, trying to get the kids to nap at the store, finding time to catch up on current online biz stuff... and the list goes on! Oh and trying to find time to sleep - thankfully my body just tells me to sometimes... but still can be hard when my mind is racing with a million and one things to do.

God is good though and teaching us. Now it's a matter if we learn or take what we're learning and apply it. It's a blessing even though at times it seems more frustrating than that.

One of the many things I've always wanted to express that well... obviously for not writing in a few months I've had "too much to do" - and the "too much to say" part has just gone to the wayside... is how talking to people about cloth diapers, raw milk (yes, we drink raw cow's milk and it is awesome... do you cook the breastmilk that you give to your baby?), and other natural things is really similar to sharing Christ with others. The difference can be in the people that it's shared with. Such as I'm not getting odd, weird looks or the phrase "that's really good for you, but that's not for me" from my friends that are Christians if I talk to them about Christ and Spiritual things. However, I can talk to others that are in Christ and they can give me those responses and think I'm totally crazy, possibly out of my mind for doing these options. And even better when a person thinks your crazy for being a Christian AND being natural.
"13If we are out of our mind, it is for the sake of God; if we are in our right mind, it is for you." 2 Cor 5:13

But to me being "natural" goes in hand with being a Christian. God created this Earth and everything in it is his. As a Christian, I want to do my best to treat it as kindly as I can and respect what God has given us. I'm by no means saying I'm perfect and there are a lot of things I still need to change (as I eat my thin mint Girl Scout cookies that I won't even dare look at the ingredients listed on the box), but I know that when God created this Earth, he had us in mind.

"Then God said, "I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food. 30 And to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds of the air and all the creatures that move on the ground—everything that has the breath of life in it—I give every green plant for food." And it was so. " Genesis 1:29-30

Where am I going with this? I'm not sure because as the title says "When I don't sleep..." well, this is what happens, I go on random tangents.

If I ate all that he provided and it was more accessible, I probably wouldn't need all the vitamins and essential oils and other stuff that I take to help me. But when I feed my body with things such as thin mints, ramen, and who knows what else when it's convenient, my body will feel ill or I become tired and other things that wouldn't if I nourished my body with things that God provided, that are good and healthy and all that other good stuff :)

Just as when we are hungry for something other than food, we often fill our minds with things that are not, well maybe not even things that are "bad" but things that aren't necessarily good. Like I could eat crackers like crazy and they aren't necessarily bad, but they aren't necessarily good and beneficial. But if we fill our minds with things of Christ, he will renew us.
" Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. " Matthew 5:6

Not the verse I was looking for, but it totally worked thanks to biblegateway.com!

Amazing though and so true - again! Isn't God really awesome like that. Oh and the hunger analogy was completely reminded to me when we were at homegroup this evening and talking about hungering and thirsting for more of God.

I know about hunger and thirst too - in my mind I do ( I know in 3rd world countries my saying that might be offensive). I am hungry and thirsty ALL the time! Right now I'm hungry, but I should be sleeping. I drink water and yet I am thirsty again. But when you drink the living water that is from the living God - you will thirst no longer.
"10Jesus answered her, "If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water."

11"Sir," the woman said, "you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water? 12Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did also his sons and his flocks and herds?"

13Jesus answered, "Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, 14but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life."" John 4:10-13

Yeah, isn't he good! So true too - I'm thirsty all the time. Now that doesn't mean I should give up drinking earthly water, it's just to truly be filled we need the living water that comes from our Savior Jesus Christ.

So that is where I end and go to sleep because it seems fitting. And I think I got totally away from where I started, but again... that's what happens "When I don't Sleep!"

If you read this and it totally sucks, please don't tell me, but if you read it and like it, I'd love to know cuz I'm really self conscience when I make posts (hence another reason it takes for me to be so tired to post that I don't care) and I just need encouragement in general cuz I've been pretty down lately, so i'd appreciate it. Thanks!

Monday, February 1, 2010

Miracle Diapers is now - The Cloth Diaper Foundation

This is a great non profit organization that helps needy families be able to use cloth diapers!


Miracle Diapers Is Now The Cloth Diaper Foundation

empowering families, improving the environment

As Miracle Diapers has grown so has the number of families they assist. In 2009, they helped over 450 babies directly, more than 100 babies through sponsorship and local distribution, and assisted other charities with the same mission as well!

To better serve those families Miracle Diapers reaccessed it's structure and practices. They have:

New leadership with Roxanna Jolly—CEO and Lisa Johnston—Operations Manager and Board Chair

Relocated their headquarters to Katy, Texas

Restructured how they process and accept applications

Opened a retail store for fundraising

Founded a new membership program

Welcomed several new board members from the cloth diapering industry

In it's fifth year Miracle Diapers wants to continue moving forward and has decided to take on a new name that better describes the organization and it's mission.

Miracle Diapers is now The Cloth Diaper Foundation.

We felt that a more appropriate name would help the community have a better understanding of who we are, as we have often been mistaken for a diaper manufacturer. Our desire to move forward and build a legacy of support for the cloth diapering community will be reflected in our new name: The Cloth Diaper Foundation.

-Roxanna Jolly, CEO, The Cloth Diaper Foundation

Monetary donations fell last year do to the economy. Which means there are more families out there for The Cloth Diaper Foundation to help! While diaper donations are always appreciated, we must be able to financially support organizational growth. Let's make this happen together and spread the CD love. Visit http://clothdiaperfoundation.org today to find out how you can help!

Tuesday, January 26, 2010

It's been a while

Hello blogger world - it's been a while since I've posted over here... not because I haven't had a lot to post about, but because I've had too much other stuff to do! Also have a new blog together with my friend Kristin. So IF I have time, trying to focus a little more over there.

Well, we have still been on the search for the perfect RG Natural Babies location. Let me tell you, there are some great spots available in Racine! A lot of very nice landlords which we've had the opportunity to meet and talk to. But my heart still sits in the property that said they wouldn't rent to us because of "conflict of interest".

So what do I have to lose to ask them again if they would reconsider - nothing! I've been praying about it and I'm just not settled on the other properties that once again would be great locations/buildings/you name it! And so I wrote this letter:

Dear Kimberly Clark,

I hope this letter finds you well. My name is Michelle Schimian – I am the owner of RG Natural Babies. Back in October/November we were trying to rent a space from you in the city of Racine, WI.

About 5 weeks after going back and forth with negotiating a price, you had decided you could not rent to us because of conflict of interest. Honestly, that baffled us, and literally, it left me speechless. First we thought it would come up right at the beginning if the fact that I sell cloth diapers would be an issue, but it didn’t seem to be. Also many people were surprised to find out that building was owned by Kimberly Clark, so to find out it was conflict of interest was a shock to many.

Yes, I understand that you make Huggies and Cloth Diapers and my mediocre sales probably impacts your bottom line ever so slightly. But the majority of people that are switching to cloth diapers are not doing so because I have a local store – it is because they are researching and deciding to do so on their own and then happen to find a local store to support versus purchasing from the plethora of online stores available. I am a stay at home mom working hard to help my family.

When the probability looked good to rent from you, I was actually quite excited to be renting from a corporation as yours at the hopes that the “going green” impact would be seen and in turn more “green” products would be taken into consideration for development by your company. Maybe even something I might want to carry in my store in the future. After all, I do and have carried disposable liners and disposable inserts. They are chlorine free, all natural based. I do understand that cloth for some cannot be a 100% of the time idea and these are a nice option for others that wish to avoid the chemicals.

We are coming to the drawing board and going to choose one of the many locations to rent from – all of whom want and are excited to work with us because of today’s economy. But my heart can’t seem to get away from the location that you own. So I ask once more if there could be any consideration again to rent to us.

This space would allow for a more community-like atmosphere than most of the others would. To be able to hold classes so others can learn more about natural childbirth options, breastfeeding, and the like. With this space, I was hoping to make children’s books a main item and hold story times. Events that would be free to the public to help make downtown Racine a better place.

Thank you again for your time.


I took it over to Susie who is the apartment manager over there and super sweet to work with. She sent it over to corporate for me. This is the space that makes the things I would like to incorporate into Racine possible. It has the offices, retail space, front rooms that would be so fun for creating a story time (opposite days of what the library has of course). The build out is there and ready to go and is available (for 3 years it has been vacant). There is another space we are considering that could incorporate things like this, but some of the others would be too small to add books and other conventional baby items into the store.

If you think of it, please pray for God to work in the hearts of those that will be reading the letter at Kimberly Clark - that they may open to realizing I'm not really a threat to them (goodness, I can't convince some of our closest friends to use cloth diapers... but could probably steer them towards Pampers or Luvs if they aren't using them already, LOL) and reconsider renting to us as they did in the beginning.


Thursday, November 19, 2009

"Conflict of Interest"

I am slightly miffed right now. I am thankful that God is Gracious and always has something better, but for the moment am irritated nonetheless.

We have been on a quest to find a building to open an RG Natural Babies store in Racine. Gone through many places and found some places that would work with us, but found 1 in particular that had a lot of room for growth. Started working on a plan with them about 5 weeks ago. There are many places available but this one was the one that took us the longest to talk through a plan. Particularly because it all had to go back to the owners - Kimberly Clark... yes folks, the maker of Huggies. Now I am extremely even more grateful I don't use Huggies and even when we did use disposables, we used Pampers (which I know... not much better).

I thought... okay maybe they'll have an issue because we sell cloth diapers, but if it was so, they would obviously see that right away as they wanted more information about the business, references and such. And as time went on I didn't think it would be an issue.

Thankfully we have kept our options open elsewhere as 5 weeks later I get a call saying that they cannot rent to us because of "Conflict of Interest." Seriously... you couldn't have even told me that say.. 4 weeks ago? Or even 3 weeks ago!

All in God's timing and God is good. Obviously he wanted us to learn something from that situation though right now I am having a hard time getting past the annoyance of it taking that long for them to give us that answer. If they didn't like the price, that is one thing... but the "conflict of interest" should have been seen right away. Especially as I am an extremely small business, but apparantely a threat to their bottom line.

Now, I will be switching toilet paper brands, etc... a little extreme maybe... but that's okay! There are many options out there and many buildings out there. Thankfully we do have some other good options out there. I just needed to express my annoyance.

Sunday, September 6, 2009

Happy 5th Anniversary

Brad and I celebrated our 5th Wedding Anniversary yesterday. It's hard to believe that it's been 5 years already, though at the same time feels like it's been much longer!

He has been on 3rd shift, so he worked, came home at 7am, slept, I woke him up when the kids wouldn't stop and we had to go somewhere. He wanted to come with to our church picnic. It was a good time, but I know exhausting for him.

Came home, kids needed to nap (since Noah had been pretty much awake for 6 hours (he did have a 10 minute nap, but that doesn't count)) - Noah went down beautifully, Rachel Grace a different story. She wouldn't nap, I couldn't rest or get anything done- just one of those days and it was later then her normal nap time so I think she was overtired. Brad took a nap because well, he needed to. Noah gets up, both kids are fussy - we needed to get out of the house.

We get gift certificates from restaurant.com and Brad was willing to wake up around 5 so we could go out to dinner. I mean it's our anniversary, we have to go out! We had our romantic date with the kids at Old Madrid - they always have AWESOME food and very good service! It was nice. Our typical romantic night out where I feed Noah while Brad and Rachel Grace eat - I get crabby because I'm hungry. Noah is fussy because we're eating in front of him and he wants it. Honestly, I've wondered if it's the lighting in restaurants that gets to him - not sure, but once outside he is fine.

So of course once Brad is done eating, he holds Noah and walks around with him while RG and I hang out and eat. I really wonder what it's like to eat slow and enjoy my food again because I just don't seem to get that opportunity as much! Then Rachel Grace wants up so the 3 of them walk outside a little while I get to finish eating.

We drove down by the harbor and took a lovely stroll out there - however it was a little chilly out so lots of shivers! Did get some nice pictures though:



Twas a beautiful sunset!!!

Go home and get the kids to beddo. Since RG didn't take a nap, she slept beautifully! Noah did pretty well also!

Brad and I got to spend some quality time, we finally had gotten Noah's next size clothes up and ready, so we organized those and got them ready to go into his room. Then we finished folding and putting away the huge basket of clean clothes that has been in our room for over a week. By the time we finished that, I realized it was about 9:50 and Brad had to leave for work at 10. So I got some food out for his "lunch" (seriously what is it called when it's at 3am?) and off my wonderful husband went to work.

I do hope one of these years he will not be working on our anniversary and that we can get a babysitter so we can enjoy an evening out just the 2 of us, but we actually were able to have some good conversation working together on folding the clothes. I know that sounds strange, but it's those moments where we have to make the most of the opportunity to actually communicate because most of our day is focused around the kids.

If I do remember correctly 3 years ago on our anniversary, I was sick and preggo w/ RG - 2 years ago, the 3 of us went for a nice lunch at Asiana and then he worked 2nd shift. Last year I was sick and preggo with Noah... so maybe next year will be our anniversary year together? We shall see!

Thanks for reading and please pray that God will continue to bless our marriage and that the next 5 years will be better than that last!

Tuesday, April 14, 2009

RG Natural Babies 1 Year Anniversary!

April 24, 2008 was the Grand Opening of RG Natural Babies. WOW, how far it has come! I started out carrying products from Under the Nile, Ecobaby, and Imse Vimse... since have added BumGenius, Green Earth, Thirsties, Wahmies, Fuzzi Bunz, Knickernappies, Jolly Bums, and more!

Some special deals are going on during this time. I'm having 2 drawings for 2 people to win a $20 Gift Certificate to my store. Also there will be the following:

Free Shipping on orders over $40,
Free Gift valued $5.95 or more with purchases over $50
Free BumGenius One Size Organice Cotton Diaper with purchases over $150

And a couple other specials will be through Go Green Deals and Bits and Pieces from my Life Blog

Check out these deals and please spread the word around and celebrate with us!!!