State of the Chapter

 

In a little over a month the president of our country will deliver the annual State of the Union address. It is a time to reflect on the past year and look ahead to the next. The leadership team thought this would be a great time to do the same and talk about where we have been and where we are going.

 

Looking back

It has been an amazing year filled with change and growth! Babywearing International of North Central Illinois was established in May 2013 to serve Rockford and the surrounding areas. The area was previously under served and we saw huge interest and potential, and wanted to bring the love of babywearing to Winnebago, Boone, Kane, Kendall and Dekalb counties. When we first began talking about starting this chapter we had no idea how quickly we would expand! Our long term goals quickly became short term goals as participation and memberships grew. Since May we have expanded to 5 regular meetings, seen our chapter grow to over 50 members and we currently have over 350 Facebook members.  These numbers amaze the leadership team every day and we are so excited we have reached so many of you in such a sort time.

Due to the rapid increase in meetings and memberships we have needed to increase our lending library.  We went quickly from one library to two and we have now just expanded to a third library.   Because of this we do have some debt we are working to pay off. The leadership team has made it a priority to pay off this debt as soon as we can.  We have already paid back about two thirds of the original debt.  For now, money collected in the areas of fundraising and cash donations will typically be used to help eliminate the debt.
Membership dues always go to purchasing new carriers for the lending library.  Fifteen dollars of the dues stay local and the other fifteen goes to Babywearing International for expenses at the national level. Once we have saved up enough dues we shop for that perfect carrier to add to the lending library to keep it diverse and exciting.
Each new membership helps us build our lending library which in turn helps us attract new members.  We want to thank our past and present members for their support and participation.  Without you we would not be as successful as we have been in building our library or in reaching other caregivers and spreading the word about babywearing. 

We also have some amazing businesses and individuals that have donated to the lending library and contributed to our success. Please take time to thank these individuals and businesses and support them as they have supported us.

A Portee des Coeurs
Catbird Baby
Color Dip Studios
Kindercarry
Marsupial Mamas
Oscha Slings
Sleeping Baby Productions
Sling Rings
Onya Baby
Boba
Shiny Stars Designs
Zanytoes
Lillebaby
Baby Bjorn
Beco
Ergo Baby
Action Baby Carriers
Wrap Nap Fairy
Heart-Hugs
Alyssa Ruben - visit her blog! -  The Mommy Dialogues
Drea Eisenberg - visit her blog! - The Maiden Metallurgist
Tess Manicki
Rashada Hamlin

Feedback needed

We are looking forward to planning an exciting 2014! To help us do that we need your feedback on how we did this past year. Your ideas and opinions matter to us and we want as much feedback as possible to help us plan activities, meetings and events.
You can fill out a survey here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1vgm4Raksd3LxDzB21spIGjwvcLtooMYoKj1T98xnHRE/viewform?edit_requested=true
If you attended any of our IBW events you can also fill out this survey: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1p-zSJADOZXAjmyLeNhSHwVm84LHfn0d0ItPUZ4xTN_s/viewform?edit_requested=true

A Glimpse into the Future

What might you see in 2014?

• Additional meetings and locations
• Fundraisers
• Play dates
• Member only meetings and/or classes
• Increased outreach
• Another fun filled International Babywearing Week

We are always looking for help planning and organizing activities. If you would like to help in any way please let us know. Some examples of ways we might ask for help would be: being a greeter at a monthly meeting, organizing play dates, or scouting out new meeting locations in a predetermined area. 

Thank you to all those who have been a part of  this journey. We are excited about how far we have come since the start of our chapter and even more excited about where we are going. We look forward to continuing our reach out into the community and providing education and support to even more caregivers in 2014.

Fundraiser

With the weather turning much cooler the last couple weeks, I think of Winter and warm drinks. It's time for coffee, tea with a teaspoon full of honey and hot chocolate with little marshmallows floating in the top. It's also time to start thinking about holiday parties and gifts. What gifts are you giving this year? Candles, bath products, baking mixes, honey? Will you be looking for natural, organic products for your friends, family and teachers this year? Will you be looking for products that are made in the USA? If we gave you an opportunity to do all that and support BWI of North Central Illinois at the same time, would you? Well, here's your chance!

BWI of North Central Illinois is partnering with Bee Authentic to bring you natural, organic products that are made in the USA! 

What does Bee Authentic sell? 

Honey! Bee Authentic has several different types of honey. Have you ever tried Buckwheat honey? Avocado honey? Mangrove honey? The honey will taste different based on where the bees get their nectar so you might just want to buy a sampler!

Baking mixes! Are you gluten free and looking for a cupcake mix? Bee authentic has both Lemon and Red Velvet mixes that are gluten free! They also have organic cookie, pretzel, focaccia and pizza mixes. 

Spice mixes! Do you want to feel like you are relaxing beachside in Key West? There's a spice blend for that! Bee Authentic also has Original, Italian and Southwest spice blends available.

Drinks! Bee Authentic buys Fair Trade coffee and roasts the beans in South Florida. You can buy whole coffee beans or ground. If you aren't a coffee drinker, cocoa is available too!

Candles! Want candles without paraffin? These candles burn longer and paraffin candles and clean the air while burning! Bee Authentic has several styles of beeswax candles available. 

Bath and Body Products! Would you like to relax with some essential oil body wash? Orange or Lavender? How about Lavender or Peppermint Bath salts for a little relaxation time? Would you like a solid lotion bar to help with that dry, Winter skin? Solid lotion bars have no bottles. They are made with beeswax, honey, cocoa butter, shea butter and essential oils. (Yes, I will be trying the solid lotion bar! Will you?)

Soap! Would you rather wash with an organic soap bar? Do you need some organic, foaming hand soap for the kids? Both Lemongrass and Lavender are available. Bar soaps come in Honey, Citrus, Patchouli, Peppermint or Oatmeal Lavender.  These bars come in three-packs so you can split the set and make three people happy! 

Garden in a box! What kind of flowers do you want in your garden next year, patriotic or sunflowers? Will your garden have vegetables or herbs? These kits have seed packets, dirt pellets, biodegradable cups and instructions. 

Seeded wrapping paper! Want a gift within a gift? Wrap your package in this seeded wrapping paper and you'll give two gifts in one! The wrapping paper can be planted to grow wild flowers! I love this idea. I need some wild flowers!

Pet products! Want all natural shampoo or treats for your dog or cat? How about some catnip? These are natural, organic products for your pet!

How do I order?

There are two ways to order. When you order from either the catalog or the website, 40% of your order goes to BWI of North Central Illinois.

To place your catalog order, contact a leader by December 2 at 11:59pm. You can also e-mail us at BWIofNCIL@gmail.com to place your order. Order forms will be available at meetings through December 2. If paying by check, please make checks payable to BWI of North Central Illinois. We are told these orders will be delivered before Christmas. We plan to have meetups so that we can get these orders to you. 

You can also order directly from the website here: http://beeauthentic.com/   BWI of North Central Illinois will still get 40% but the products will be delivered directly to you! Please enter "BWI of North Central Illinois" in the box for the "Organization Name"and in the box on the checkout page.  

What if I like the products? Can I order more?

You can always order directly from the Bee Authentic website. Anything you order from the website will be shipped directly to you. Please identify "BWI of North Central Illinois" in the "Organization Name" and we'll get 40% whether it's next month or next year!

So, please support BWI of North Central Illinois with your Christmas shopping this year!

Happy Wearing!

IBW Wrap Up

Yes, it's finally here. Our leaders did so much work gearing up for International Babywearing Week that we took it easy for a couple weeks. IBW was big for us so we wanted to share some photos, summarize what happened and make a few announcements. So, here we go!

Meetings
For IBW week, we had four meetings - Sugar Grove, Dekalb, West Dundee and Rockford. We showcased traditional carriers. Attendees tried on an Amuautik, Onbuhimo, Hmong, Selendang, Kanga, Podaegi and wide-blanket pod.  The Rockford meeting was held at Rock Cut State Park and attendees went on a hike afterward.

We thank Swell Gallery in West Dundee for donating meeting space at short notice! Giveaways during meetings included items donated by Salon Ellenbe, Fairytale Journeys by Bethany, Fluff Envy and Lavender Llama.

Scare Crow Festival
We also had a scarecrow family wearing at The St. Charles Scarecrow Festival. We won 3rd place in the traditional category and got a check for $150! We want to thank Sarah and Daron Montgomery, Jacquelyn Jennings and Justine Garcia for working on this. We also want to thank everyone that came out and voted!

Big Event
Our Big Event was, well BIG! We offered Babywearing 101, Wrapping, Ring Sling/Pouch and MT/SSC classes.

Missy Bedford put together a wonderful DIY table for everyone.

We had lots of great food generously provided by Briana's Pancake House in Elburn and our kids got to play next door at Elburn Hill Church, where church volunteers donated their time! This event was also made possible by cash donations from Alice's Place and Fairytale Journeys by Bethany!

Karl had some awesome games for everyone to try including a scavenger hunt and a "guess which wrap this is" with close-up photos.

Participants and winners for classes and games were given tickets to enter into a drawing for our Natibaby Bicycles wrap donated by Marsupial Mamas. Our wrap winner was chosen at the end of the day. Kate Yoder won the bicycles wrap and immediately gave it to her friend, Jessica! Congratulations Kate and Jessica!

Auction 

During IBW, we auctioned a wrap and custom dye job that were donated to us. For these items, we thank Marsupial Mamas and Crafting Out Loud!

Raffles
We had some awesome raffle packages for IBW! For a review of our raffle packages, please look at the blog post here: http://bwiofncil.blogspot.com/2013/10/drum-roll-pleaseraffles-and-giveaways.html Our winners were as follows: 
Package #1 (Gimme Some Love): Chris (Tabitha) Goins
Package #2 (Feeling Pretty): Rachel Dreyer 
Package #3 (Fire and Ice): Rachel Dreyer 
Package #4 (Who's Your Baby): Sarah Chrzaszcz 
Package #5 (Sirens Song): Patricia Butler Hager
Package #6 (Girls' Day Out): Justine Garcia 
Package #7 (Dipped in Stardust): Kayla Moreno 
Gift Certificate #1 (Marsupial Mamas): Erica Walton 
Gift Certificate #2 (Iddy Biddy Pool School): Kim Tibbetts 
Gift Certificate #3 (Radiant Heart Yoga Studio): Veronica Ruiz 
Free Membership to BWI of NCIL: Stephanie Ackley

We raised a few hundred dollars from the raffles. Because we are a new chapter and we set up two libraries this year, we have some debt. We decided that fundraising money should go to help pay that debt. Once our debt is paid, we'll continue to do fundraisers so that we can buy more for the lending libraries! 

These raffles would never have been possible without many generous sponsors. While we encourage you to check out "Our Wonderful IBW Sponsors" page, http://bwiofncil.blogspot.com/p/ibw-sponsors.html, here's a list of businesses who donated items for the raffles: Becoming Isis, Chunky Potatoes, Color Dip Studios,  Fluff Envy, Goodwin Homestead, Express Yourself, Iddy Biddy Pool School, KM Berggren, Lavender Llama, Marsupial Mamas, My Lil Market, Oscha Slings, Purple Elm Baby, Radiant Heart Yoga and Wrap Scrap Creations. 

Memberships

Several people signed up for memberships during IBW week and one lucky person, Stephanie Ackley, won a free membership! What happens with membership money? Half of membership money goes to Babywearing International for insurance, support and sometimes new baby carriers! The other half stays in our chapter and is used to buy new baby carriers for the lending library. Since we have several new members, we got to buy some new fluff!

New Fluff
Yes, we have bought a few things for the lending library! There are also a few things that we plan to purchase in the near future. So, what did we buy? An Ellevill Ming 4 and an Ellevill Lady 6 are here!

We also acquired an Easycare #2 size 4 and a Storchenweige Cafe size 6.

Nope, we're not done yet! We're adding a new SSC that has often been requested. We know that a lot of people want to try a Tula so we're adding one to the lending library too! This is a stock photo of the one we ordered and it will be here soon!

We also got some donations during IBW! Oscha sent us a Starry Night Raven 5 for the lending library.

A Portee des Coeurs donated a Natibaby Little Dream wrap size 4.

Kindercarry sent us a toddler-sized Kinderpack.

Catbird Baby provided a new Pikkolo.

Shiny Stars Designs sent us two ring slings.

Our IBW care package from BWI came with an Onya, a Sleeping Baby Productions ring sling and Sling Rings!

We thank these sponsors for sending donations! Also, after winning a Girasol #4 ring sling donated by Purple Elm Baby during the raffle, Rachel generously donated it to the lending library.

We had a great time during IBW and we hope you did too! We appreciate all the support from everyone who came to meetings, our event and bought raffle tickets. We also appreciate all of our sponsors. Please remember that these are the people who support our chapter and lets support them too!

Happy Wearing!

Get Carried Away! Gearing up for International Babywearing Week 2013

The leadership team has been busy, busy, busy these last few weeks getting ready for International Babywearing Week! We have some fantastic events planned this year. Get your calendars ready...

What is IBW?

IBW, or International Babywearing Week, is a chance for us to spread the babywearing love as far and wide as possible. Events will focus on education, exposure, and FUN. It's a chance for us to broaden the babywearing community and celebrate what we are all about! We will have lots of fun social events and there will be raffles galore for some amazing prize packages!

When is IBW?

International Babywearing Week of 2013 takes place from October 7-13. 

What's planned for IBW?

We have a theme and/or event each day. We will also be hosting raffles for several different prize packages. You will be able to purchase raffle tickets throughout the week (more details to come on this) and the winners will be drawn after IBW ends.

Monday 10/7: Meetings and Traditional Babywearing

Morning Sugar Grove meeting, 10:30-12:30 as usual at the Sugar Grove Public Library.

Evening DeKalb meeting, 6-8 PM as usual at First Methodist Church of DeKalb.

In addition to our regular meeting routines, we will talk about traditional babywearing! We will have baby carriers from a variety of cultures for you to try on and learn about.

Tuesday 10/8: Tutorial Tuesday

Check in on our Facebook page for the debut of our YouTube channel!

Wednesday 10/9: Web Wednesday

Get the word out online! Post as many babywearing pictures as you can on Facebook, Instagram, your blog, or any other online forum you want. Show the world where babywearing takes you!

Thursday 10/10: West Dundee Meeting and Traditional Babywearing

Join us for our meeting in a NEW and exciting location! 

Swell Gallery is a 650 sf exhibition space in the lower level of a historic building in the downtown business district.

123½ W Main Street in West Dundee, Illinois

10:30-12:30

As with our Monday meetings this week, we will be available for help and carrier checkout and will also be talking about traditional babywearing across the globe. You will have a chance to try on carriers from a variety of cultures. 

Friday 10/11: Frightful Friday! 

Come check out our babywearing scarecrow in the St. Charles Scarecrow Festival! 

Saturday 10/12: Sweatin' Saturday

We are planning a group hike at Rock Cut State Park. Bring the whole family and join us for some babywearing in the great outdoors!

Sunday 10/13: The Big One

1:00-5:00 PM

This is our showstopper, our main event. Don't miss out on this one. We will be teaching intensive babywearing classes at a gorgeous, 1897 Victorian mansion in Elburn. Classes will be available on many topics including newborn babywearing, wrapping 101, back wrapping, ring slings and pouches, and mei tais/SSCs. We'll have a demo table of DIY baby carriers for the craft-inclined. Karl Dreyer, our resident babywearing daddy, will be working with the dudes. There will also be some fun babywearing games with chances to win a prize. Childcare is available on site! There will be refreshments! The best part? This is all FREE! So come spend the day with us and learn as many new tips and tricks as you can! A full class schedule will be posted prior to the event. We will ask you to pre-register if possible so that we can fully prepare for our classes and activities. 

If you're planning to attend Sunday's big event, please pre-register here: https://bwiofncil.eventbrite.com

(If you don't pre-register, please come anyway!)

International Babywearing Week 2013 is going to be HUGE fun. It's our first IBW as BWI of North Central Illinois and we plan to make it a week to remember.

Come on out and Get Carried Away with us!

Kinderpacks

Kinderpacks (KP's) are one of the most popular soft-structured carriers in our library. With four different sizes, a child can be worn in a KP from birth until you can no longer carry them. However, it can be difficult to determine which size is best for you and your family. This blog post will help!

Kinderpack comes in four basic sizes: infant, standard, toddler and preschool. These sizes refer to the body sizes. You can also order carriers with two different strap lengths: standard and plus. You may also see petite strapped KP's if you are buying in the second-hand market. With addition of Perfect Fit Adjusters (PFA's), Melissa no longer carries petite straps. PFA's can reduce the strap length to one size lower. That means that plus straps can be cinched down to be standard length and standard length can be cinched down to petite.

So, how do you know what size to buy? General guidelines can be found on the kindercarry website (http://kindercarry.bigcartel.com/carrier-info). To assist with sizing help, we took photos of three different children in all four sizes! Except for the infant size, all of the pictured carriers have plus straps.

Our first "model" is Spencer. He is 16 months old, 27 inches tall and 25 lbs. I usually wear Spencer in a  standard size Kinderpack. An infant size would also still be appropriate for him to wear. He isn't completely knee-to-knee but is well-supported. Toddler and preschool sizes are too big for him. The photos in the toddler and standard KP's show the wrinkles (or bunching) that occurs (usually close to where the straps attach) when a baby is too small for the KP. (Yes, I know he's a toddler but I'm going to call him a baby as long as I can!)

 Spencer in Infant KP

 Spencer in Standard KP

 Spencer in Toddler KP

Spencer in Preschool KP

Our second model is Lincoln. He's 24 months old. He is 31 inches tall and 29 pounds. The infant Kinderpack is too small for him. Both standard and toddler sizes are appropriate for him. 

  Lincoln in Infant KP

 Lincoln in Standard KP

Lincoln in Toddler KP 

Lincoln in Preschool KP

Our third and final model is Celia. Celia is 3.5 years old. She is 37 inches tall and 33 lbs. I usually wear Celia in a toddler size (but sometimes a standard). She is only knee-to-knee in the preschool size but is well-supported in both the standard and toddler sizes. I would be comfortable wearing her in standard, toddler or preschool sizes. 

Celia in Infant KP

Celia in Standard KP

Celia in Toddler KP

Celia in Preschool KP

As you can see, there's a lot of overlap in sizes for the Kinderpack. While each child has a size that fits them best, I could easily wear all three children in a standard size. 

And since we're talking about Kinderpacks, I'll make a little announcement. We now have both infant and standard sizes in both libraries! The pretty kitties infant size KP in these photos was recently purchased and will now be in the Sugar Grove library. It has perfect fit adjusters so it will be great for all you petite caregivers as well. This adorable cupcakes KP is a standard size KP (with PFA's as well) and will be in the Rockford library. 

We hope to eventually add the toddler and preschool sized KP's. Our leaders have toddler and preschool sized Kinderpacks and are happy to bring them too meetings when requested. 

Happy Wearing!!!