Baby Love Knowledge

Set of little reminders of what really makes people come alive... 

A group of professional people posed this question to a group of 4 to 8 year-old kids: 

----------------------------------------------------------------------

'What does love mean?'
----------------------------------------------------------------------

The answers they got were broader and deeper than anyone could have imagined:


'When my grandmother got arthritis, she couldn't bend over and paint her toenails anymore... So my grandfather does it for her all the time, even when his hands got arthritis too. That's love.'  Rebecca- age 8 

'When someone loves you , the way they say your name is different.
You just know that your name is safe in their mouth.'   Billy - age 4


'Love is when a girl puts on perfume and a boy puts on shaving cologne and they go out and smell each other.'  

Karl - age 5


'Love is when you go out to eat and give somebody most of your French fries without making them give you any of theirs.' 

Chrissy - age 6


'Love is what makes you smile when you're tired.'   Terri - age 4


'Love is when my mommy makes coffee for my daddy and she takes a sip before giving it to him , to make sure the taste is OK.'   Danny - age 7


'Love is when you kiss all the time. Then when you get tired of kissing , you still want to be together and you talk more. My Mommy and Daddy are like that.
They look gross when they kiss'  Emily - age 8


'Love is what's in the room with you at Christmas if you stop opening presents
and listen.'   Bobby - age 7 

----------------------------------------------------------

It brightened my day I hope it does yours too!

Toxin Free Maternity Clothing --- what is Oeko-Tex?

Here at Bella Materna we are committed to the health of our customers and the environment in the creation of Maternity Clothing.
  
Our high quality materials cost a little more because of the steps taken to ensure this 
level of saftety on all of our fabrics.

Oeko-Tex Standard 100 was introduced in 1992 to offer consumers the greatest possible assurance in 
terms of health.  For each certification process, tests are carried out on the following key issues
at one of the 14 authorized Oeko-Tex facilities.

- Substances which are prohibited by law, such as carcinogenic dye.
- Substances which are regulated by law, such as formaldehyde, softeners, heavy metals or pentachlorophenol.
- Harmful substances such as pesticides, allergy-inducing dye or tin compounds.
- Precautionary parameters such as colourfastness and skin-friendly PH value.

For additional information please go to their website: www.oeko-tex.com, thank you for treating yourself and your planet well.

Bras 2 Moms

So glad we found this fantastic resource

Bras 2 Moms:  http://bras2moms.wordpress.com/

Bras2Moms exists so that no mom becomes discouraged with or stops breastfeeding because she cannot afford a nursing bra.

As you know anyone who manufactures products, inevitably has some number of items that are not suited for sale, something happened to the poor little item along the way and the company does not want to sell it.  

Well, we make our bras espcially good, so they last extra long (one of our early start-up commitments was to make quality products -- not something that would be short life span / landfill bound). 

Therefore, if an item cannot be sold -- snag here --- stain there --- bra strap issue here - or unforseen thing there....we obviously don't sell it.  It just kills me to think of it going in the landfill unused or short of its life potential even though it is not perfect!  (One quick story; cousin Mindy - who, of course had a bra from our early years said just the other day- "you make these bras too good -- they last so long I can still wear this one and it is great!")

ANYHOW - back to Bras 2 Moms.  So inevitably we have some items that cannot be sold.  We box them up and send them off to Bras 2 Moms.  There they clean them, repair them and give them to moms in need! 

Today I recieved an email from Emily of Bras to Moms - here is a snippit:
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dear Anne!

Thank you so much, I picked up the bras that you mailed. They are wonderful! You really do make some of the most beautiful bras out there, and I would know, I see a lot of bras! A lot of these bras have padded cups which is the only request I ever get, moms like padded cups, so they will be extra appreciated.

One of the moms who came to tonight's fitting left saying "I can't wait to go home and breastfeed!". She was so excited to have nursing bras, she had been having to undress each time she nursed her baby and was so grateful for her new nursing bras!

Thank you for all of your support!

Emily

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

With all this in mind; we have been discussing the possibilty of  starting a donation program at Bella Materna.  The idea is: our customers who have loved their bras, but they are done nursing, done having kiddos....can donate their loved Bella Materna bras and in exchange get $ off toward a new regular Bella Materna bra (without the nursing clips).   We will need to find larger partner organizations and the best place to fill the need (Breastfeeding is still a foreign idea to millions of people!!!).  If you know of any organizations please let me know -- or if you think this is a good idea please give us your input! 

Thanks - Anne of Bella Materna

All Weather Blanket

All Weather Blanket Style: WP06G

$58.00 The only thing softer than your baby’s skin is the velvety microfiber of the Woobee Plush made here in Seattle. Signature ribbon ties make it easy to attach the weatherproof Woobee to all of your baby gear, but this blanket is meant for so much more – like having a picnic, laying in the park and bundling up on a cold day.  A perfect Baby Shower Gift - practical yet cozy! This blanket is velvety tangerine plush on one side and water resistant grey backing on the other.   Coordinating striped grosgrain ribbon ties. Hand sewn in Seattle Size : 30 in x 36 in 100% polyester front 100% nylon backing machine wash cold, line dry (machine dry was fine for mine - durable as a Filson!)

All Weather Blanket

All Weather Blanket Style: WP06G

$58.00 The only thing softer than your baby’s skin is the velvety microfiber of the Woobee Plush made here in Seattle. Signature ribbon ties make it easy to attach the weatherproof Woobee to all of your baby gear, but this blanket is meant for so much more – like having a picnic, laying in the park and bundling up on a cold day.  A perfect Baby Shower Gift - practical yet cozy! This blanket is velvety tangerine plush on one side and water resistant grey backing on the other.   Coordinating striped grosgrain ribbon ties. Hand sewn in Seattle Size : 30 in x 36 in 100% polyester front 100% nylon backing machine wash cold, line dry (machine dry was fine for mine - durable as a Filson!)

RANTS FROM MOMMYLAND: What's Wrong with Mother's Day in Table Form

How is it that I have been working the mommy angle for more than 10 years now (started this business before kids....business 11 years old, oldest child 8 years old, 2nd child 4 years old) ? ANYhow - today I found this blog that is like the TV channel for life at the moment. 
It helps that for whatever reason I can hear her - like i am sitting in the Paramount theater at a comedy show*  *(sigh happy feeling)  this graphic is funny but read the blog - well I will be reading some more: chuckle chuckle. 

RANTS FROM MOMMYLAND: What's Wrong with Mother's Day in Table Form: Here is something else I don't want. I posted the graphic below last week when I introduced the Mother Pucker project , then people star...

Bras are like jeans...fit is different depending on your shape and the brand.

 

 Have you had THOSE jeans? the ones that could make your dierier look better than usual?  I finally did and was like WOW no wonder they are worth the money!

Good bras are like that - right!?  We aim for comfort -- great support and fab shape with every single maternity or nursing bra...(now i feel like some kind of superwoman - with those magical cuffs.  I find your size...lift and separate!)

Today had a lovely new pregnant customer in the boutique who is 18 weeks along.  She walked out looking marvelous in our Smooth Cup Wire Free Nursing bra 34H! Just right for half way through pregnancy --- with room to grow but great fit now, and again when breastfeeding.  Our plush wide elastic evenly distributes the weight on the band, shifting for high rising pregnant bellies.  

Plush Wide bands are on our Smooth Cup Wire free, Mesh Plunge and all Full Cup Wire free styles.

Spread the word that we like to make the Maternity Bra Shopping experience a happy one!