Talk about a Stash Shot!

If you attended any of the later November Instructional Meetings you got to experience a pretty awesome thing- the contents of our entire Lending Library!! Or at least close to it depending on which meeting you attended.  Since we had no check outs this months to accommodate our full inventory overhaul, we all got to see everything all at once.  This has never happened before!  It was so exciting seeing just how much our Library has exploded the past year and a half!  These pictures were taken at our North Royalton Meeting, so more carriers still needed to be returned at the two meetings that followed this one!  Holy cow talk about and incredible stash!!! 166 carriers to be exact!

ring slings, stretchies and pouches

Soft Structured Carriers and Mei Tai's

 

wraps, wraps and more wraps!

 

Once all of the 166 carriers were returned, we took this opportunity to split the library into three regional libraries that will always attend those specific Instructional Meetings.  It is so exciting that we actually have the resources to do this. It means that our chapter has grown in leaps and bounds and doesn't look like it is slowing down any time soon! 

 

December marks the reopening of our Lending program and the Grand Opening of our Regional Libraries.  Be sure to attend a meeting this month to see what pretties are at your favorite location!  To view LIVE stats on every carrier (which library they live in, full availability and when they are due back) please check the Lending Library tab at the top of the page. 

 

 

If you have any further questions about our big changes please email our Librarian Katie Abell at librarian@bwiofcleveland.org   



Thank you Community Partners Movin' Mommies and Advocare!

International Babywearing Week was such an amazing success and a lot of that success was due the Partnership we have now have with so many amazing Companies!  Two companies I want to take the time we thank for their generous donations are Movin' Mommies and Advocare. 

Movin' Mommies is "a class geared just for you and your little one. Dancing while wearing your baby adds weight and resistance to really help get you back to your pre-baby self. This class will work on posture, strength, poise and musicality. Each class will feature a ballet barre and floor work, abdominal exercises, and yoga-like stretching. Musical choices will vary throughout class from childhood favorites like Wheels OnThe Bus, to your favorite top 40 hits, to more traditional classical tunes. Your baby will love the gentle rocking and turning, as well as having some extra time to snuggle with you!"

During International Babywearing Week Christina Yoder of Movin' Mommies opened up her doors for a free class for our members.  It was such a blast!!  She also donated an awesome gift basket full of lots of great goodies for our Silent Auction, including a week of complimentary classes.  The winner was one lucky lady! 

AdvoCare is a premier health and wellness company offering world-class energy, weight-loss, nutrition, and sports performance products along with a rewarding business opportunity.

The gift basket donated, also by Christina Yoder, was jam-packed full of awesome goodies- meal bars, Advocare Spark, their Shaker cup, and two Advocare Slam's!  Alicia was the lucky bidder and she is thoroughly enjoying it all! 



Please visit their websites for all additional info on these two Community Partners! Thank you again Movin' Mommies and Advocare!

Ch-ch-ch-ch-Changes!

 

 

Silliness during a leader Inventory Meeting

Have you seen? Have you heard? Big changes are headed our way at BWI of Cleveland! Our membership is growing rapidly. Just this fall we’ve added more than 30 members. In response to that rapid growth we are moving meeting locations and changing how our lending library is stored and accessed. 1st changes are coming up ASAP in December!!

Our lending library overhaul will roll out for December meetings. Our library is splitting into 3 regionally accessible libraries. East, West, and South meetings will now have their own libraries! What does this mean? Each regional library will have carriers available for members to try on and check out at their respective meetings. Splitting will let our educators be able to keep the library close to their respective meetings so we don’t have to worry about bad weather influencing our carrier availability! Will every library have the same carriers? No. We plan on rotating carriers once a quarter so that each meeting location has a turn to try each carrier. (Several of each carrier type will still be available at all meetings.) Want to try a carrier your library location doesn't have? No problem! Members can check carriers out at ANY meeting location. Feel free to drive to the library location that has the carrier you want to try and you can check it out there. Want to know what’s in the lending library? You can check it out HERE.

Meeting times and locations are also making adjustments as the new year approaches! Upcoming in November and December our Beachwood meeting is at a new later 6pm time to see if that time works better for attendees. Our regular westside meetings are changing as well! Lack of volunteers has unfortunately closed our westside weekend meeting in Avon Lake but we are hopeful that it will not be out of the mix long! Our weekday meeting (formerly Lakewood) is also changing and will be at Fairview Park Public Library the 2nd Thursday of the month now! This is the 3rd location for our Westside attendees because we have outgrown our previous 2 locations. I don’t know about you but I am so excited to see that many babywearers! With all the new changes you may be wondering what’s the best way to keep up? All of our events are posted in our closed Facebook community group. RSVP both “Going” to events you plan on attending and “Declining” those you won’t be attending to make sure you get event specific updates! Not in our community group yet? Please join us: https://www.facebook.com/groups/BWIofCleveland/


written by Karyn Tankersley
VP of Memberships

30 Carries in 30 Days

Halloween has come and gone, but the opportunity to wrap yourself in something new has not passed!

Through the month of November, Babywearing International of Cleveland would like to invite all woven wrap lovers to participate in a '30 Carries in 30 Days' exploration. If your first woven wrap arrived last week and you are just getting your bearings or you have a closet full of woven lovelies and you'd like to spice things up a bit, here is your chance to stretch yourself and hone your skills!

We'll begin our month with front carries, include a few variations, then we'll work around to hip carries, and we'll celebrate the end of the journey with back carries!

Snap pictures of your practice, post them on our page as you go along. At the close of the month, one participant will be drawn for a babywearing *treasure*


Join friends new and old of Babywearing International of Cleveland for 30 Carries in 30 Days!

Cheers,
Jess

Why I really love Babywearing International of Cleveland

Why do I love Babywearing International of Cleveland? It is so much more then just a group of ladies that teach you the how-to's of babywearing.  It is a place to come and learn how to wrap your babies up in love.  A place to learn to care for your babies in a way that still allows you to cook, clean, shop, and play (with two hands!) your older children while still loving and holding and nursing your itty-bitties.  A place that welcomes you in with open arms, even if you have never met them before....

 

I discovered BWI of Cleveland during a time in my life where I needed new mommy friends oh so badly.  I had a deep ache inside of me where those other like-minded women were missing.  Ones that understood the type of parent that I was and could provide the support and true friendship I was craving.  And while I attended my first meeting with just the hopes that they could help me figure out this crazy long piece of fabric I had just bought, I left with so much more.  I left that meeting feeling so uplifted and completely welcomed that I was giddy; my happiness bubbling out making the long drive home fly by.  I got to know these ladies a bit more through their active facebook group and I was counting down the days until their next meeting.  So I went again, and again the following month, and then it got to a point where I couldn't imagine not attending a meeting!  THIS was exactly where I was supposed to be.  Right here in this village, this place that truly cared about the desires of my heart, loved on my children as their own and went out of their way to lift me up when I needed it most. 

 

Last May, just 3 months after I had attended my first meeting I had a miscarriage at 22 weeks.  It was heartbreaking and someone that has battled depression in the past, I was afraid the darkness was going to over take me again.  Well these ladies blew me away with their kindness to an almost complete stranger.  They set up a mealtrain and made sure my family was fed, they checked in on me regularly and lifted me up both in prayers and lots of love.  These ladies jumped in to care for me in ways that you would expect from people you had known your whole life.  I felt blessed and loved and that dark stranger didn't stand a chance. 

 

And yet again in August I had a freak accident and fell (while Babywearing no less) and broke my leg.  I was required to lay completely flat with just my leg elevated for 2 months.  After those two very long months I was then on crutches with a cast then a big old boot until mid December.  I had a 6 year old a 2 1/2 year old.  I am a stay at home mom and just the thought of complete and utter bed rest stressed me out.  How does one care for their family and not succumb to full on depression?  It takes a village.  Yes, yes it does!  Yet again these amazing ladies stepped in- wait not stepped, but jumped in to bring food, flowers, phone calls, visits, and countless texts and emails, to keep my spirits up which was a huge part of the healing process.  International Babywearing Week came, and I still couldn't drive let alone babywear (or toddlerwear in my case).  My sweet friends went out of their way to pick me up and cart me around so that I could take part in the festivities.  In a time that is easily the hardest of my life, I look back with such gratefulness. 

 

It can be difficult to make new friends as an adult.  It takes a lot more work then when you are younger and attending the same college, or able to bond over cocktails and wild nights.  Having  a group like this where we are all in the same stage in life- juggling children, husbands, housework and the occasional loneliness of being home alone with just little people to talk to is a necessity.  These women are my lifeline.   So when I was asked if I was interested in becoming a VBE, I jumped at the opportunity.  This group has given me so much I wanted nothing more then to be able to give right back.  And although the whole point of our group is the art of Babywearing, it is so much more.  We've shared sickness and health, pregnancies, childbirth, surrogacies, and children's birthday parties.  We've fought depressions, shared in one another's joys, late night conversations, tears and lots and lot of laughs.  It's real life.  And it's the good life.  Come for the lessons.  Stay for the rich friendships you will undoubtedly gain along the way.