It's International Babywearing Week

Before Jonah was born, I had never heard of the term "babywearing". And the first time I did, I laughed. I thought, that's wierd...I mean really, you don't "wear" a baby....do you?

I was first introduced to Steph's Adventures in Babywearing blog by a friend from work, Meagan. She used to go to church with Steph, and told me that I should check out her site. I did, and after reading a long for awhile decided that I just HAD to be friends, in real life, with her.

I learned a lot from Steph, and the amazing group of mama's that became our little group about many many things, no doubt, making me a better mama than I thought possible. And babywearing was one of those things I learned a lot about.

Now, Jonah was a few months old when I met Steph, and that first day, she brought along a stash of slings, for me to try out with Jonah, so I could see what worked for us before I made my first purchase. Now, at this time we did own 2 "carriers", a Jeep 2-in-1 Carrier and an Infantino Sling Rider. Neither which I really liked or worked very well for us.

The slings Steph brought for me to try were a combination of different styles, so I got a good idea of what I liked and what I didn't. I ended up purchasing a number of slings from various online places, mostly mama-owned, mama-made sling companies, and the one I found I used and loved the most was my Bloom Ring Sling from Nest Baby Sling, now known as Nonny & Boo. I found it was easy to use and the most versatile of all the different carriers I was acquiring. Plus, it was the prettiest too ;-)!

With Jonah being as mobile and active as he is now, he isn't much into the babywearing anymore, so I am very happy to be having a new baby soon, who will hopefully love to be worn, out of love of bonding, as well as protection from her rambunctious older brother and the three kitties who already reside in this house. I am hoping to get her used to a variety of slings, since I have a good selection right now, but am always wanting more and more! LOL.

Sling I have:

Bloom Ring Sling from Nest Baby Sling, now known as Nonny & Boo**
Fleece Pouch from Mommie Nearest
Black Hip Carrier from Portamee
Kiwi Baby Wrap from Lil Peeper Keepers**
Mei Tai from Ellaroo**
Organic Ring Sling from Parents of Invention (just won this one on from a bloggy giveaway, so I haven't had a chance to try it out yet!)

**=my favorites!

And of course, there are many that I am WANTING....

Pop Ring Sling from Nonny & Boo
Blackbird Wrap from Nonny & Boo
Beco Butterfly II in River or Organic Joey
Custom Designed Baby Hawk Mei Tai

wanna play along? Post about babywearing and follow the instructions in Steph's post about International Babywearing Week, and you cna be entered into her giveaway for a Pop Sling from Nonny and Boo. and hey, if you win, and wanna give it to me, that's cool too! LOL!

New Nest's

My good friend Ashlee (who owns the amazing Nest Baby Sling) has just launched her new Spring Collection of slings. She has the most beautiful prints that any mama would be proud to flaunt, not to mention the best quality and most comfortable slings at that. If you have never "worn" your baby before (and those cheapy, commercial carriers don't count!), maybe now is the time to try. Babywearing isn't just for newborns either! You can wear a baby well into the toddler years, as long as the two of you are comfortable that is! I plan on wearing Jonah as long as he will let me, no matter how much he weighs. There are millions of benefits to wearing your baby, probably millions that non-babywearer's aren't even aware of.

*click on the pictures to get more info

(and who's that hot mama sportin' the beautiful slings but our very own gorgeous mama Jaymi a.k.a. The Flip Flop Mamma

These SHOES are made for walking...

So, as always...Steph has gotten me hooked on another really awesome baby product. Today, we are talking about SHOES. Now my little guy is only 5 months old, not really old enough to neeeeeeeed shoes, but any kid can look cool right??!?! Any of these Vincent Shoes, will make your kid feel just that...cool, no matter what age they are!

As I got to looking around at the Vincent Shoes, I immediately fell in love! And being the "Project Runway" fan that I am, seeing that these guys are the designers made me feel so trendy and New York-esq! Plus, they use terms like fashion-forward, chic, and urban to describe their products. I don't even own anything that can fall into those catagories! Needless to say, Jonah MUST own a pair of Vincent Shoes. Plus, they are having a phenomenal sale right now. Up to 75% off select summer shoes. And here's the secret, some of these shoes don't HAVE to be only for summer! I could definitely see some little guys running around this fall in the Andy's or the Flagga's, no doubt!

You MUST check out this story about how the shoes called FACE came about, it's so sweet! I hope Jonah (and every other child on the planet has the opportunity to have a teacher like Thomas. Because it's teachers like that, that make me want to send my child to a public