For the most part I am a very personable person, and I like to talk from the heart…I try never to be fake and to always speak the truth. So I felt compelled  to share a very personal story for you readers to get to know me a little better.

My husband (CJ ) and I married at the nice young age of 22. After twelve awesome years of marriage we decided that since we hadn’t had any children yet that we should seek out some medical explanations. So we began with me (Shal). At this first doctor’s appointment they did very invasive testings. These tests proved to be a huge blow to our hopes of ever having children naturally. This was also a very emotionally and mentally taxing time for me.  The doctor confirmed that I had a condition called Hydrosalpinx which in plain English means that I had blocked fallopian tubes which can cause infertility. This was totally devastating to both my husband and myself. Of course we didn’t like this report so we turned to God. We prayed at home as well as having our family and friends praying for us, we also received prayer at our church (Gateway Christian Fellowship).

In the meantime, CJ went for a series of fertility tests and the doctors also determined that he had a minor issue that required minor surgery. We were then referred to the top Infertility doctor in the state. On April 20, 2011 the doctor confirmed the same findings from the first doctor and said “in vitro fertilization (IVF) is without a doubt the treatment modality that will provide you with the highest likelihood of success.”, IVF Doctor. But, before doing IVF the doctor recommended undergoing surgery to remove my fallopian tubes to give us a whopping 30% success rate of getting pregnant with IVF.  We told the doctor that we were going to hold off on our decision to move forward with the surgery and IVF treatments until after our vacation to Colorado the following month. Needless to say we were both devastated, we felt hope drain from both of us, but still hanging on to our faith that God is bigger than the doctor’s reports. We prayed a simple prayer, “Lord we thank you for miracles, and it’s our hearts desire to start a family by Your hands and not by mans, and if it’s in your will for us to become parents we ask that you would do a miracle in our lives.”

We went on our trip to Colorado to celebrate our 12th year wedding anniversary. When we arrived home, I mentioned to my husband (CJ) that I wasn’t feeling quite right. We both asked each other “do you think we could be pregnant?” So off to the pharmacy we went and needless to say, 16 positive pregnancy tests later we thought, could it be possible that God could really have worked a miracle in our lives? We called the doctor the following morning. We were without response for a couple of days, feeling in limbo. When the doctor finally returned our call we said, “Doc, we have 16 pregnancy tests that read positive, could it be true?” Our doctor said, “I guess congratulation is in order.” We said, “But doc, the testing said that it was impossible without IVF.”  Our doctor replied with a surprised tone, “Wait…this is not an IVF pregnancy?”

On June 9, 2011 the doctor sent us in for immediate testing to verify that we had a true positive pregnancy, and also checking for proper placement of the embryo.  The results were beyond a shadow of a doubt that we were in fact pregnant and the embryo was in perfect placement.  At that test, the doctor informed us that our conception date was on April 22, 2011 which was Good Friday! (Now known to us as Great Friday!)

To finish our story we’d like to give all the glory to God and to say that we are overwhelmed with joy and excitement to be able to experience the blessing of the birth of our first child in late January of 2012!!

We are equally as excited to bring  our new bundle of joy into a toxic-free home environment by using Maidorganic’s all natural cleaning products in our home. We are dedicated to maintaining a safe environment for our family and we hope to help you do the same for yours.

So if you’re looking for that perfect baby shower gift to give to your preggo friend…Maidorganic offers an awesome gift basket filled with all natural cleaning products that are safe for the babes and pets too!! Check out our products link at

http://maidorganic.com/shopping.html

So as always have a wonderful day and keep safe!

Shal Gagne

Most of us will begin taking time out of your busy schedules over the next few months to spring clean your homes; but what about spring cleaning ourselves?

Many of us, myself included, are in the New England’s  trap of workaholism, we are stuck in the cycle of  not knowing when to say no, and there is no such thing as “ME” time anymore.  As many of us struggle to keep ourselves in the forefront of this rat race called life, we seem to have become desensitized that this rat race is taking a huge toll not only on ourselves physically, but most importantly on our families. I know exactly what you’re response is going to be, “well I have bills to pay”, or “I’m trying to save up for…” I love making excuses just as much as the next person that struggles with this, but I’m here to say enough is enough. We need to take back our lives and our families and go old school; eat dinner together and fill your houses with laughter.

Okay it’s a great concept, but how do we accomplish taking back our lives? I like to associate this process with spring cleaning our physical houses.
1) De-clutter thyself; remove the distractions of life. Make it a point to shut off ALL electronics everyday at 6p, people can wait, the world will not stop turning if you miss an email or a text. You be in control!

2) Clean out the cobwebs of your mind; exercise is the most important thing to maintain a healthy life. Go for a 30 minute walk after dinner with the family, and be  romantic, hold hands (duh). Walking or any other kind of exercise actually helps to de-stress and clear your mind.

3) Wash the windows to your heart; that’s right, our hearts should be like a crystal clear window, people should be able to see through and see you…the real you at all times. Listen, you’re an amazing person, and many people will be blessed to hang out with you when you’re real instead of trying to be someone you’re not. Now for those of us who struggle with self-acceptance and have a difficult time with this task, you gotta just start small, practice being honest instead of trying to say what you think others would want to hear. Be a great friend, be you, keep the window of your heart clean so people can see the beautiful you that you are.

4) Polish up the dull spots; this is my favorite one, it’s called a “spa day”…you deserve a little pampering every now and then. It’s not only the perfect way to straight up relax your body and mind – there are specific physiological and psychological changes which occur, even more so when massage is utilized as a preventative, frequent therapy and not simply mere luxury. Massage not only feels good, but it can cure what ails you. If you live in CT, you must try Green Lotus Salon and Wellness in Cromwell. http://www.greenlotussalonandwellness.com/home.htm.

5) Rest and Sleep; Nap-time is okay!  Here are a couple of important reasons for sleep; sleep helps to repair your body, keeps your heart healthy, reduces stress, improves your memory, helps control body weight issues, reduces your chances of diabetes, reduces the occurrence of mood disorders just to name a few. Make sure you get eight to nine hours of sleep a night.

There you have it my friends, take care of yourselves and love each other. Don’t forget, if you need help spring cleaning your house be sure to contact maidorganic.com

Before you pucker up and slap on that lipstick, read this!

Lipstick is the most toxic of all cosmetics.

Did you know that women ingest anywhere from 7 to 12 POUNDS of lipstick in their lifetime.

Some lipsticks contain substances that can cause cancer, deformities and stillbirths. Many women also experience dryness, chapping, cracked and peeling lips from using lipsticks.  The cause of the problems may be the perfume oils used, any of the colors, indelible dyes, vehicles for the dyes, or some of the other ingredients in the lipstick. It also contains lanolin, which can cause allergic reactions. Most contain coal tar dyes that are carcinogenic.

But here’s the real kicker…An ingredient so toxic it isn’t allowed in paint or gasoline may be lurking in your lipstick. LEAD! You know that stuff that had everyone freaked out because it was in those toys from China? That stuff.

How about this one…the FDA is not required to list lead as an ingredient in lipstick. You know how they advertise some lipsticks to be long lasting, well the ingredient that gives it the long lasting effect in aluminum with causes anaemia, osteomalacia (brittle or soft bones), glucose intolerance, and cardiac arrest in humans.

Thank God there are alternatives to all those toxic lipsticks, here is an awesome company that doesn’t use all that funky stuff…http://www.urbandecay.com/categories/lips.cfm

All those scary cleaning bottles under your kitchen sink? Stop buying those! Not only will you have to keep your supplies under lock and key when you have a curious and crawling baby but every time you use them you are putting those chemicals into the air and onto surfaces.

Luckily, there are baby safe cleaning alternatives, and I’m not talking about spending a fortune on natural cleaners either. (although those are nice too) I’m talking about going back to basics, learning how to clean baby toys like our great-grandparents did…don’t worry, you can keep your vacuum.

How to Clean Baby Toys – Teethers, plastic and wood toys. Most all “hard” toys fall in this category. When your baby is in the “putting everything in the mouth” stage you’ll want to wipe down her toys more often. Just think, the toys lay on the ground most of the time. Would you want to put something in your mouth that sat on the floor for a week? They also get covered in saliva (and even food if baby just ate) and handled by other babies during play dates, etc. Maybe the dog even grabs one or two. Yuck!

• 1 Cup Water, 1 Cup Distilled White Vinegar

Mix together equal parts distilled white vinegar and water for a cheap toy cleaning solution. Put it in a spray bottle and just spray a little on a cloth and then wipe down the toys. The vinegar smell goes away completely after it dries and it doesn’t leave any residue on the toys. Vinegar is edible…but you can clean with it too!

Maidorganic cleaning products are environmentally, pet and baby friendly.
Purchase through our website, maidorganic.com