Summer Babies!

Well, what have the green women been doing all summer? I know that the blazing hot days of summer have taken me away from my computer and out to the pool in an effort to stay cool... and as the days go by, Scarlett has become more and more of a 22month old mother... carrying her babies and nursing them and tucking them into bed. In an effort to provide Scarlett with the basic equipment each mother should have, I came across the Maya Wrap Baby Doll Sling, which she immediately fell in love with (and if you notice, her sling matches the one I carry her in daily). We at GWM will carry them at $16.95 if your little ones would love to wear their baby dolls... what a great way of teaching our children that babies should be held and loved and cared for... Carry your Baby, and Change the World! (Images Left: Scarlett with baby "matthew" & Right: Sierra and Scarlett and Gina and AJ... nursing and slinging together 2007) -Sierra

New Father Uses Baby Sling In First Hours of Birth

Grandmother Mardee Ropella who is an amazing Retreat Coach from Washington celebrated the birth of her first grandchild by reporting this:

Kara Marie arrived at 7:41AM on 5/30. She is 7#10oz and 20 1/4 inches.

We've used the sling already. Kara loves it. Daddy loves to use it too. I took a pic of him with it on. He loves his little girl and wants her close to him all the time.

Bluegrass On The River - Meet Us There!

Green Women Mercantile will be in Pueblo at the Greenway and Nature Center June 2 and 3 for their Annual Bluegrass Festival Stop by to learn more about healthy parenting products including our hot selling baskets from Africa.

Do you have a woman in your life with a baby? If so, then consider gifting her a Maya Wrap - a handmade sling for easy baby holding. Come and try one on yourself at our booth!

Mother's Day with Green Values

When the first baby laughed for the first time,

the laugh broke into a thousand pieces

and they all went skipping about,

and that was the beginning of fairies.

~ Sir James Matthew Barrie (1860-1937) from Peter Pan

Join Us At The Herb Fest

We love participating in fun events around the region. Our tables at the Pueblo and Colorado Springs Earth Day Celebrations were such nice ways to spend a day... and we love seeing you and your babies.

Please come and join us for this up coming event.

-Sierra

More on Sling Happiness

Photo: Inside the glow of the parent-baby sling bubble

I finally figured out how to write something on our own blog! My kids and I got together with Sierra and her kids today to take some pictures for our website (which will be up soon!) and I was reminded of how much I like to put my kids in slings, as big as they are getting. I haven't used one for a while because I am letting chronic back problems heal, at least for a while, and also Jacob, at almost 21 mos. is old enough to walk around by himself. But putting my "babies" in the Bundle Bug gives me such a feeling of closeness with them...and them with me! How can I tell? Well, because of how we nuzzle each other and by their immediate sense of comfort in the world.

Eliana, who weighs about 32 lbs. still fits nicely into my sling facing me, her now-long legs dangling by my side and her arms around my neck. As long as she leans into me and I have the fabric pulled way up on her back (to support me well enough), I am quite comfortable and have even carried her through airports while I pushed Jacob in a stroller. Jacob can still face out into the world or into his most comforting, number-one person--mommy--and even fall asleep there while I walk on for miles and hours doing what I need to do. If he started out quiet and reserved in a new environment, he starts to coo and babble when I put him in the sling, enjoying his new viewpoint from up high. Even after an absence from the sling of many months, he finds himself quite at home. I also loved that when Jacob was tiny, I folded his legs up just like the Bundle Bug is designed to do, and though he was scrunched up into a ball, he loved it because that's how babies find themselves in the uterus--it's actually comfortable for them.

So, I found an old picture of Eliana in the sling with me--she's about 9-10 mos. in the picture and now she's 3 1/2! Slings carry babies from newborn baby seed pods to grown-up-acting toddler size. The first sling I ever had was a Maya Wrap which was given to me for free by someone who was just passing it along. One of our goals is to get as many donated slings as we can, from as many companies or parents-passing-them-along as possible and offer them for free, like mine was given to me...spread the word, as we want everyone who wants one to have one and we'll offer a sling class with the giveaway, too. I was so happy that someone gave me the opportunity for such a delightful experience with my children--one that I hadn't even heard of. We want to provide that for all of you, too.

Green Women Mercantile Celebrate Women's Bodies

"The beauty of my body is not measured by the size of the clothes it can fit into, but by the stories that it tells. I have a belly and hips that say, 'We grew a child in here, " and breasts that say,
'We nourished life.' My hands, with bitten nails and a writer's callus, say, 'We create amazing things.'"

-Sarah, from I Am Beautiful: A Celebration of Women in "Their Own Words"