Wednesday, February 18, 2015

February Member of the Month: Andrea Young!




Meet Andrea - creative mama extraordinaire!


Let's start simple: your name, children's names and ages?
Andrea. My children are Joshua (11), Brandon (9), Zakeriyuh (7), Nikolas (5), Lukas (3), and Kyra (17 months).

How long have you been wearing?
Off and on for 11 years

What led you to babywearing and how has it changed your parenting?
Originally, my mom bought me a horrible carrier at a yard sale! Then I found a Moby, then Ergo/Tula, and finally hybrid and woven wraps. Over the years, babywearing had grown from basic cuddles and being able to eat something while holding a clingy baby to now I wear for everything. Cooking, cleaning, shopping, working, feeding baby, and feeding my self. I've learned to love and snuggle and grew to realize spoiling wasn't possible.

Have you had an interesting babywearing experience you'd like to share?
Interesting? Maybe disgusting? So, tandem wearing at the fabric store and a stomach bug apparently hit both of my kiddos at once. Front, back, hair and all......... yup, 'nuff said.

What is your favorite carrier and why do you prefer it? 

Loving their reverse onbuhimo!
I'm in love with my reverse onbu from a woven wrap. It's the best of both worlds, SSC and wrap. Fits both of my kids like a dream. A quick up and secure to please the 'I hate when you lean' attitude, but still has the wrap passes for the extra support and perfect seat. I think I need a dozen or so more.

Do you feel like you have support from family and friends on wearing your baby? I would say I have support in that I'm not discouraged. Family loves the carriers and watch in awe as we go up or down, but there's none to share wearing with. That's why I love having BWI available!

What do you like to spend time doing aside from babywearing and spending time with your kiddos?
Oh that's easy. I love making stuff! I like to make food, clothes, carriers, bows, candles, soap, babies ;) ha ha

What is your favorite thing about living in Knoxville?
I love that everything is right around the corner. We live in an area that we can get almost anything we want/need in 20 minutes or less. There's also a huge variety of activities!

What's your favorite cartoon from childhood? 

We didn't get much television as I was growing up, so I'll go with a book - The Wizard of Oz.  I swear I rubbed the words from the corners from reading it so much.

Gotta have some juicy in every interview right? Tell us one guilty pleasure of yours?
Hmmm, not sure I should disclose that. ;) I do have an unhealthy appetite for chocolate and rum. Maybe I'm part pirate? 


Happy snuggles
What do you like best about BWI?
I love the support, encouragement, and the amazing teaching we have access to. Getting into wrapping beyond a stretchy wrap was so much easier and less scary learning from people in real life versus YouTube! The lending library was so nice to try out different sizes to really know where to invest for our stash. Was that suppose to have just one answer? Oops

What would you like to see in the future with BWI?
I'd love to see BWI-KNOX grow into sections. Having smaller, more intimate meetings closer to everyone would be lovely!

What's the cutest habit of your kiddos you feel the need to share with the world?
Joshua and Brandon think they're too big to do "cute" anymore. Zakeriyuh tells every woman he talks to they are beautiful and he wants to marry them. Nikolas is a flirt, bats his long lashes and uses his daddies crystal eyes to melt your heart. Lukas is a mix of bashful and dopey..... so shy, and yet so silly. Kyra has learned to blow kisses, and it's just to sweet.

Let's be open ended and vague to close: anything else you just want to tell us about yourself?
There's not a whole lot to me. Prefer to keep things simple and really enjoy the important things!

Wednesday, February 11, 2015

Happy Valentine's Day

Happy Valentine's Day from Babywearing International of Knoxville. And remember to always keep your baby close enough to kiss!

Monday, February 9, 2015

Open House

Babywearing International of Knoxville is Celebrating our First Birthday! 



Come Celebrate our anniversary with a special Open House to be held on Saturday March 21st, 2015 from 1-3pm. 


The event will be held at Remedy Coffee House in the quaint Old City. Remedy Coffee House has not only a beautiful and spacious back room, but an amazing Tree house Room for the kids to play in!



Let's do a little chapter review from our last year.

  • Chapter was founded by Sarah Murray, Carrie Plemons, Mary Rodio, Ashley Teller and Jenny Arden. 
  • Since we have added Anna Hurley, Nikki Moore, and Brittany Ridley to our  Board of Directors. 
  • Two babies have been born to the leadership team. 
  • We have over 1,000 members in our Facebook Group! 
  • We are rounding the curve to 100 paying members! 
  • There was one really awesome Group Warming Party last April. 
  • We had close to a dozen special events for International Babywearing Week! 
  • We've given out many prizes including several carriers! 
  • Currently we are hosting two educational meetings a month and one Mom's Night Out. 
  • Our Lending Library has close to 50 items available for check out! 

To celebrate our special day we will have a lot of fun things going on.

All current members that renew at this event will save $10 off their $30 membership price! Come out to take advantage of great savings!

One of our lovely VBE's, Carrie Plemons has put her face on the line for us! $50 raised will give some lucky person the opportunity to throw a pie right in her face! The biggest amount donated to that cause will get to toss the pie!
She looks pretty scared! Can you do it!?

Carrie looks a little scared about that pie in the face!

There will be a handful of local vendors available that have Babywearing related items as well as just some fun other wares. (they will also have prizes in our Silent Auction!)

Hannah Harris' amazing metal work art 



Six Little Monkies Wrap on the Loom
Carry Me Close's babywearing ornaments 
Metal Work by Hannah 

We have other prizes for our silent auction donated by:
The Muse of Knoxville
Chick Fil A, Fountain City
Pax Baby
Tekhni
Kelsie Chic Crochet 
 and More!
We will have two local photographers on hand. One, Megan Smith, will be on hand as our overall event photographer.

In addition to that you will have a very special opportunity to do mini babywearing or family sessions as a fundraiser for the group! Photographer Hope Stooksbury will be doing mini sessions, $1 per minute for a $5 minimum and $20 max. All shots will be edited after the event and emailed to you. 



 Your little ones can have fun playing in the Treehouse, enjoying our coloring station and donating a dollar at our Temporary Tattoo Station as well!

Remember this is a fundraising event meant to keep your local chapter alive and growing! Please come out to support the group and bring a friend to check us out!

Sunday, February 1, 2015

Close Enough to Kiss - Babywearing Safety

This month for our Valentine's themed post, we wanted to focus on safety and keeping our little ones close enough to kiss.

Babywearing is a great way to bond with your kids and get things done while having your hands free. Before you start wearing and getting in all those snuggles, make sure you keep these safety tips in mind.

There is a great acronym for remembering the safety tips: 


T I C K S







TIGHT: Keep the carrier tight. Whether or not you are wearing a wrap, ring sling or a soft structured carrier, the carrier needs to be tight. This keeps baby secure and close to your body.





IN VIEW AT ALL TIMES: Baby needs to be in view and you should be able to see baby when you look down (if baby is on your front). This means that fabric should not be covering baby's face. If baby is on your back, you should be able to glance over your shoulder and see him, or be able to glance in a mirror and see baby's face.







CLOSE ENOUGH TO KISS: Baby should be high enough that you can kiss the top of his head. If baby is on you back, baby should be high up and you should be able to feel his breathing on your neck.





KEEP CHIN OFF CHEST: Baby should be in an upright position and his chin should not be touching his chest. This compromises baby's breathing. While wearing baby, you should be able to fit 2 fingers under baby's chin.





SUPPORTED BACK: Baby's back should be in it's natural position (the C position) and baby should be facing their caregiver in the tummy to tummy position if on the front, or in an upright position if on your back.








Some other tips to keep in mind: 

Baby's knees should be higher than his bum, like in an "M" position.



Make sure that the carrier you are using fits baby properly. The carrier should fit knee to knee.


If you have questions, ask your VBEs at a meeting. We're here to help!

Keep those adorable littlest valentines close enough to kiss and remember your TICKS!