Spread the love

I love my home office. Truth? Mostly bc it's mine. Sort of ;) It's a work in progress, functionally and aesthetically. I have lots of ideas I collect on my home office board on pinterest.

Ever heard the saying that we thrive in our routines, and delight in the surprise? I happen to believe it. I believe we like to know what to expect, and we want a little surprise to remind us of our individuality. It's riding that line of the familiar and the unexpected. To me, nothing is more truly an expression of this than working from home with small children.

I move things around, switch things out and very often wind up with a dinosaur in my drawer, princess mixed in with my pens and some plastic food nestled in with my samples. I adore finding these little treasures.

They are very respectful if my room, and absolutely want to "work" with me. Hearing a little spontaneous sing-song and laughter, vrooooom car noises, and a drive by cuddle brightens my day and is such a gift to me. In those moments, I'm fully connected with cornerstones of my business: Family. Motherhood. Creativity. Joy. Humor. Simplicity.

I now have colorful little marker scribbles on my couch (oh WHY didn't I buy the washable markers first?), my pens go missing, my pencils are out of lead and the notes in my notebooks are interspersed with little drawings.

The sassy girl in the middle is Ava being a rock star. Notice the stance with attitude.

But, the number one office supply of 2-5 year old desire are my post-its.

Ok, they are a certain 36 year's old desire too. I love them, and I'm not afraid to say it. I use them on pretty much everything. Try it out for your next to do list! It's SO much more satisfying than crossing things off. Peel off the whole thing, and throw out!! Simple, sweet thrill! You'll notice they hold just enough space for a reasonable amount to do in a day too. They can be easily transferred from notebook to notebook.

If I'm going to reveal the true me, the only supplies that trump post-its are notebooks and pens. I'm addicted. Seriously, don't "borrow" my fav pen. I'll laugh and be friendly, but it's no joke. I'm just kidding (not really)...

So, being that I love post-its, I have them in many shapes and colors: bright pink, orange, green and blue, and flowers, stars and hearts. My daughter saw them, and I saw her little pupils dilate.

I'm a sharer (lets forget the whole pen thing for now), but feeling a little mine my beloved little ones (the post-its I'm referring to), and after several stacks went "missing," I suggested that we pick up some of her very own. Win-win.

Ava decorating my floor

Fastforward to yesterday. We bought Ava her own stack of pink and orange heart-shaped post-its. We got home and Ava's fingers were positively wiggling in anticipation. She quietly colored on them for nearly 2 hours.  It was the start of our evening, and we were busy with dinner, baths, milkies, laundry, lunchboxes, and finding lovies. After the house was quiet, it was just me and Andrew and we were getting ready for bed. I pulled back my pillow and found little post-it hearts sticking to the back. Andrew found a surprise for him too. Then he asked, "yeah, what's with all the hearts all over the house?"

Turns out that Ava had been busy filling out little messages on her post-it hearts, and sticking them around our home.

Flanked with love

Love Machine

I won't take them down until the glue dries up and they fall off. Talk about humor, joy, delight and the simplicity of straightforward love. Hers and ours.

Sweet Dreams

Halloween

It's the iconic music that makes your shoulders hunch and little hairs on your body stick up. It's "the shape" that comes from the shadows with a mask on his face. It's the 21 day shoot. The meager budget. It's all the right people in place. The selection of great ideas. The focus on the most important things, and nothing else. It's so simple, it's genius. I recently watched a documentary about the making of the movie Halloween. We all know it, right? Who knows the story about how it was made?

This is such a great story, and it felt so apropos that I was watching it at this moment in this phase of my new business development.

Literally this producer (sorry, can't remember) saw one of John Carpenters early student films, and decides he wants to work with him and a movie. Not written for this actor, no selected script, no studio studio...just a movie. Any movie. He recognizes Carpenter's raw talent and just has a feeling. He makes that ONE decision. He wants to work with him.

So, this producer approaches Carpenter, and says horror films are easy to make, so how about it? John Carpenter is much more interested in making epic films, but he's fresh from school and wants the work, and he gets a feeling about it  and says yes.

John Carpenter decides he can make the movie for $300K. Really? So, they head off to get financed. No script. No title. No big name actors signed on. Just a vague idea about a horror film that might be about babysitting murders. They have a meeting, and the financier says that he always gets nervous when a budget it too high or too little, but he had a feeling about Carpenter, so he handed over the money.

Are you recognizing a theme?

Next, the producer thinks hmm we're doing a horror film, it's near Halloween...what if we call the movie Halloween? No way, they all think, that's probably been done?!

Nope. Never in the history of Hollywood had the word Holloween been used in a movie title until 1978, when this movie was made. From there, the ideas and script literally bloomed.

First was the idea of Michael Meyers, literally called "The Shape." That idea alone was revolutionary. All horror films had made the antagonist bigger than real life (dracula, dr jeckyll and mr hyde, frankenstein, etc). This movie made him devoid of life. Terrifying. A shape in the dark. I'm creeped out writing it!! PS, I'm not a horror film junkie. I just LOVE "making of" stories like this!!

With a script finally in place, they had three weeks to shoot the film. Three weeks. That is all their bitty budget could afford. But, John Carpenter made sure of 3 things: 1) It was edited at the best studio, 2) it was shot with the best film, and 3) it was sound mixed at the best studio. That is where he spent his money. The rest, he, the cast and crew did themselves. Simple, straight forward, smart decisions.

The role of Michael Meyers was actually shot with 5 different people. The main actor, with really no acting experience, just had a physical presence about him. Which is EXACTLY why John hired him, and all the actors. His approach was not to coach the performance out of his team. He wanted them to just do what they do naturally, and to use their raw presence and talent is exactly why he hired them in the first place. How smart is that? He literally pulled THE essence of each character out and hired for that purpose only.

They did wrap up the filming in three weeks. The opening scene was actually shot last. It was a 4.5 minute continuous shot. Nearly unheard of at the time. They invented a body mounted camera so there would be subjective perspective with no shake. 70 lbs mounted on one camerman. All around the camera they had crew moving lights and bustling around to keep the shot going. The effect was a fluid creepy movement with the antagonizt POV, and it cost them NOTHING. They built it!

After they finished shooting, they screened it with a studio head who hated it. What was wrong? No music score. So...John Carpenter wrote it himself. There are just three sounds to the music. A high note piano di-di-di-di-dii-di-di-di-di-diii... an organ (we think it's an organ) that plays this long daaaaaaaaaa, daaaaaaaaaaaa, daaaaaaaaa and this third sound. To me it sounds like a fluttering. Andrew calls it a tapping. We listened to it a few times trying to break it down. If I had to break apart the music, the piano is the emotion the tension, the anxiety, the fear, it's fragile and vulnerable. It's Jamie Lee Curtis. The organ is the threat. It's Michael Meyers. The tapping is you. It's your heart racing, your breath shallow. Again, it's genius.

He screened it again with the same studio head, and she loved it.

They started with nothing, nothing but a sense, a feeling. They grew into an idea, and wound up in a creative explosion. Decisions made based on a gut sense, and intuition. Every role was filled with people doing the best of what they did. The sum of the parts equaling more than they could alone. They made simple decisions. Smart decisions. It seemed to me, there was also a total lack of expectations and a total fullness of commitment to what they were doing.

When I watched this documentary, I was reminded that you've got to trust your judgement, your gut, your idea and talent. I love this. I love that things dont have to follow a form, or formula, to be just exactly the way they are supposed to be. I need the reminder that sometimes even if the order isn't as I expected, it can still be exactly right. I needed this reminder b/c I feel stalled sometimes. I have doubts and fears. I start wondering how other people are doing it. It's valuable to learn from others, but not if it's cluttering my mind with comparison.

The update is that working with Kaia (talesinapparel.com), we've come up with 2 variations on first garment, the onepiece. We will do one of them. I LOVE them both!!  Unfortunately, it's took almost a full month to get the technical work done. It's felt like an eternity to me. The truth is, I didn't have the right person in place. I had A person in place. I've hired a new tech designer and she's amazing. She's brought so much more to this business than I could have expected.

The tech packages are with my factory agent as I write. I should hear back at some point in October, plug in my final numbers...THAT'S IT. Production!! What have I been doing during this time?
Creating mood boards for brand and art (can't wait to share), geting my website active (www.belleandbeanzer.com, there isn't anything there yet. But, it's THERE!!), getting my email address updated, and getting my legal paperwork done. That's no small amount of stuff...and hey, it only took me three weeks! :)

My Baby Boy

Two years ago my little boy was born. There are a lot of things I'm excited to blog about. But, I really had to dedicate this one to him.

My sweet boy is a lover for sure. The teachers like to rotate "turns" to cuddle him. When I was pregnant, if I poked him, he'd poke back. If I woke up in the middle of the night, he'd wake up and kick around too. When he was a newborn, he was happiest the closest, most mashed up against me he could get. He's a connecting sort of guy. He can be bit shy, but only until he sorts out a person, place or thing. Then, he's a happy, talking little ham. He prefers cookies over any other treat. He's an adventurous eater, and will try almost anything by huge handfuls. He loves cars, trucks, balls and cuddles.

We're celebrating his birthday in Nantucket this year. It's our end of the summer, beach getaway. As I think about my boy, and we celebrate him, I decided to share some of the highlights of his birthday....

Jonah is still not sure what he thinks of water. The first day of our vacation, he pressed his cheek to mine and hung on tightly as we waded through the ocean. I closed my eyes, and loved feeling that sweet, plump, wet cheek. By our last day, today, he's gained his courage. All on his own! It didn't take me wading in with him, our encouragement, or our pointing out other people. He quietly made the decision, and went in. After, he looked proudly at me, "I did it!!" He ran up to me for a drive-by kiss, circled back around to the water, and went running in. At which point, he tripped and went face down into the ocean. To his credit, he didn't let it stop him...for long.

When I put him down for his nap and he told me, "mommy, I want cud-dole you." I leaned over, and snuzzled him. He snuzzled back, it was a nice quiet a moment....aaaaand then he made "fake" sleeping noises. "ggghhhhaaa-shoooooooo...."

He woke up sweaty and happy and we took all little shower to wash the beach off from the day before we went out to dinner. After he got naked he ran across the room, flashed his butt and taunted, "wook! I'm nah-kad!! Toot-shie!!" laughed, and ran away.

At dinner, he was mad bc he didn't want water (yeah, HELLO two years old), and tossed it across the table. Why do I love this? PS - I didn't love it so much in the moment. In the moment, I was wet and annoyed. When I thought back on it, I realized this is not a man afraid to speak his mind! He is fully aware his feelings count.

We had a chocolate ice cream treat after dinner. He ALWAYS asks me if I want a bite. Always. He soon tires of the middle man, chucks the spoon, and dips his face into the bowl. It's really seconds I've got to arm myself with napkins before little chocatoo fingers (as he calls chocolate) grab a hold of me. No, I didn't get them in time, as usual. Yes, I came home home from dinner with dinner all over me, my hair, in my purse...

At bedtime, he was really tired, he told me he wanted bed...that he wanted all his "cars bed too." So, we stacked them up in just the right arrangement. Then, he held them up one-by-one for me to kiss them. Then we snuzzled and he told me "mommy go sweepy." (That's his way of telling me he's ready for me to leave the room). Another kiss. Good night my sweet boy.

Two amazing years.

Stepping Back and Building Momentum

Where have I been?! everywhere, nowhere and back again :)
Since I last posted, it feels like so much has happened, and yet it also feels like so little has happened. I planned to be further along than I am, but sometimes, you have to go backwards to go forwards.


My friend Kim Salter, of Design Thoughts, has been an amazing cheerleader, how-to guru, aesthetic sounding board, and a well-spring of inspiration. In a mood, I was sharing that I didn't feel accomplished recently. You know how you can have only 4 things on your list, but when you get into it each one actually has 3 or 4 sub-steps? At the end of the week you've taken 15 steps, but you don't have gratifying "check-mark" to put next to it. How I love the check mark...sigh. So, ever wise, Kim shared this with me:


"my dad told me that any successful decision, business or personal, should be looked at like a huge river...you would never try to jump across standing right at the edge...usually, you have to take 2 or 3 steps back first ;) it's what builds momentum (knowledge)."

SO. TRUE. 

Here's what I've been up to
the last few weeks while
stepping back and building momentum...

I've been consulting with an amazing creative designer and mentor, Kaia Canales, talesinapparel.com. In true ask and you shall receive fashion, I thought to myself, I need to discuss my designs, plans, ideas, etc. with someone in the industry who is free to share information and isn't competition. Hello, Kaia! This is EXACTLY what she does, and loves to do. She helps start-ups with big ideas make their dreams come true. We've met a handful of times to discuss the line, where I am, and what I need. At our last meeting, she really challenged me to focus. Nothing like the mirror put up in front of your face. She, rightly, pointed out that I have a clear vision for the line but I have way too many ideas for how to execute it. I'm a designer. I love A LOT of things. We put together a list of emotional words that describe the line. All things should filter through these words: colors, prints, stripes, blogs, logo, garment details...everything. It's all a part of and goes back to The voice. The message. The story. The experience. 

Stepping back...one, two three...Literally back to the mood board, baby! I'm (re)constructing my mood board with focus and intention. She (again) rightly pointed out that this first garment is only the beginning, true, but it also sets the tone and it needs to be the right tone. 

I'll be honest, I felt deflated at first.

I thought I'd be through the edits to the garment designs now, posting them on my blog and passing them back off to the factories. But, I thought about it again, and what this step-back turned momentum means for me. How awesome is it that the line will send a clear message to my customers right from the start?! Being a graphic designer in the industry, I'd have to say that is the #1 struggle I see at creative meetings. How great is it, that I can go into my new business with that confidence of clarity?? That is really, really, really good stuff. 

I attended the Playtime and ENK shows in NYC last weekend. Very inspirational, a bit overwhelming, and super glad I cleared out the weekend to go. I also found 2 direct competitors. Two years ago, when I dreamed this up, it totally didn't exist. NOBODY was doing it. I always thought I'd get knocked off. I didn't think someone would beat me to market. 

More Deflation...

But, but, but, wait a minute... I now have very clear real-time information on how the world is receiving this kind of concept, where it's selling, how it's selling, etc. Before it was me, my idea and I, alone, out on a limb taking a chance. Plus, how many white tees, jeans and black pants do you own? Right. There is plenty of room in the industry! My core values, focus, approach and aesthetic are also totally different from either competitor.

More than just the concept, my IDEA is still unique. 

We've been pricing factories...again. Logistics, spreadsheets and numbers, OH MY!! Pros and cons, cons and pros, numbers, numbers, more numbers. I have 3 options, which is amazing: NYC, domestic and overseas. I've spent more than a million hours plugging information in and running different scenarios. After we make these final garment changes, there will be more numbers to run too. I think I'm learning there will always be numbers to run. I had hoped that one would be the clear winner and we'd just do that. But, there are many ways to get from A to B. Momentumly-minded (yup, you heard it here first. I coined the phrase), all these bits, pieces and prices will be so helpful as I add more pieces to the line. Front loading all this knowledge is  a huge help as I grow.


So, here I am three steps back and, yes, the wheels are spinning, and YES! the momentum is building, the knowledge is growing, and the ideas are clarifying. 

Grateful Dead Business 101

Date night + Grateful Dead Further Show = WAY FUN!

I'm not a jam band kind of girl, historically. Call me stuck in the 80s, I've preferred music I can sing along to. So, when A bought the tickets to see the Grateful Dead, I was...underwhelmed.
But, in a marriage sometimes you suck it up and make the best of it. So, I tried to
enthusiastically embrace the experience and have a good time. And I did!

me and A

A and I were transported back to a freer time in our lives, and our relationship.
I'd say we were about 28 yrs old. We'd lived a little in the real world, but were still innocent
and the path of life felt infinite. We laughed, we flirted, we listened, WE TALKED.
Anyone with kids knows that typically you get 2-3 words out before interruption.
As you tell your child to stop interrupting, you find the conversation is still...well, interrupted.

barefoot at the concert

As unexpected a good time as the concert was (PS - I no longer consider myself not a jam band girl), who could have guessed I'd leave the concert with some lessons in business?! What was really great about this is that it didn't feel business. It was about a connection with the audience.

As I watched and listened, here are some observations I had:

It's All about the Experience:
The Grateful Dead welcomes people recording their shows. At most other shows, there are no recording/ no picture rules. Not at a Dead show. You are expected to record your experience. Ever heard of the expression people don't remember what you said, they remember how you made them feel? I've never felt and seen it so true. Fans record the show, copy it and share it with their friends. The net effect is a giant conversation phenomenon. Holy word of mouth, Batman! Companies hire PR and Marketers by the millions to get the same effect.
Lesson Learned: Too much proprietary information is archaic. Open your business, and let everyone in on the experience and they will share it.
The belle&beanzer experience: I'm sharing my belle&beanzer venture adventure in this blog. I'm going to listen to you. I'm going to incorporate your voice in the line. It's truly a garment line made with supporting families in mind. Less struggles, and more snuggles!!

Engage your audience with a new twist on familiar theme
If you've been to a Dead show, you know that a reason fans record the show is because they cant wait to anticipate what's next, and they want to remember/relive this later themselves and with others. The three guitarists lead the listeners on a journey. They drop hints in the transitional jams for what is to come. In doing so, they create a joyful expectant anticipation and they are right there with their audience. One plays the song now, one plays pieces of the song next, and one bridges the two melodically. As I understand it, each show is different, but the same. Not all the same songs are played, but it's all songs you know linked together in new creative ways. As I listened to this, I was actually amazed at the skill and talent it took. It was beautiful.
Lesson Learned: There is comfort and security in a familiar experience, but the surprises are key.
The belle&beanzer theme: We've taken all your baby basics and redesigned them for simplicity. When things are simpler, there is a natural grace and ease that follows. And that opens the door for more humor and connection.


What's old isn't always old, it can be awesome again.
After the show, I was way intrigued by The Dead. So, I started listening to The Dead channel on XM. The station replays shows from across the years, at different venues. Guess what? People remembered where they were, what they were doing, who they were with, how they felt...just like A and I felt transported. They're there again right along with the music.
Lesson learned: Amazing experiences are timeless.
The belle&beanzer legacy: All our clothes are high quality fabric and construction. They will be able to be passed down and passed on. They are soft, snuggly and utterly huggable. You will remember the closeness you've had with your little one in our clothes. How it felt to hold your baby, and have had time laugh and connect, rather than distract and hurry through a dressing or changing.

I'm so proud that we're creating quality garments that have real intention to support and connect families.

The update: I'm going through the process of deciding on a factory, picking the final fabric and updating the garment design. Not to mention, my logo, business cards and website features. All this busy-ness is why it's been so long since my last post. Staying true to sharing the experience, as soon as the garment updates are done, I'll do a fun post about the prototyping process with pics and video. I'm so grateful that my baby model moms have been so willing to share a pic of their little one. Also, I'm thinking through the tithing aspect of my business. I've known that I want the business to stand for something, to give back. My friend, and AMAZING marketing consultant, Deb, connected the dots for me. She clearly pointed out that if a key value of the business is to support families, why not contribute to a charity that does just that. LOVE THAT! It is so simple, and directly aligned with the simplicity and family support business values. I'm looking into ones that exist, and what it would take to create my own if it doesn't exist. Any ideas?? Please comment, send links, let me know!

What do you think about my Grateful Dead business lessons? Can you relate?

What are some business lessons you've learned in unexpected places?

What are your top three business lessons you've learned in general?

Pretzel chunks in my water

It's a hot (90+), sunny, summer sunday. 3 families. 6 adults. 7 children. 1 Thomas the Tank Engine "happening" for a 2 year old birthday party. We stop for a much needed lunch refueling and recharging. I pull a cold, beaded bottle of water from the cooler. Oooooh sweet relief. The anticipation is intoxicating. Hungry kids? What kids? I take 3 or 4 deeply refreshing gulps of my water. I don't even try to hide the loud, "aaaahhh" that escapes. My mind clears and I begin to focus again. Okay, so feed the little ones. I move on to my motherly duties. About five minutes later, I happily return to my water bottle. ...GAG! What are those mushy, questionable chunks? All the other adults around the table look at me, and we all look at my water bottle. Hundreds of tiny floating chunks of partially eaten, water logged pretzel chunks are floating in my water. I look down at my almost 2yr old son, and I'm pretty sure he's the lead suspect. Bright blue eyes look up at me, as he happily shoves 2 or 3 pretzels and part of his hand in his mouth. I think, oh well. I laugh. We laugh. I kiss my son.

When I thought back on this, it seemed like a pretty accurate parallel to how I've felt during this venture adventure.

The anticipation of making reality out of a dream is a feeling like nothing else. But, there are pretzels in your water. There are bumps and hiccups, highs and lows, fears and courage you never thought you had inside you. Are you going to have a laugh, and drink it anyhow? YES. B/c you know the pretzel chunks are there b/c of the big picture you're devoted to. That you have to accept them as part of the process if you're going to BE a part of the process.

Some of MY belle&beanzer highs and lows...
I have an idea!! What do I do with my idea?
I found people to work with me!! They're not the right people.
I found new people to work with me!! I'm doing a lot myself.
I'm so productive!! I feel like I got nothing done.
I found a factory!! The factory's minimums are too high.
I found a new factory!! They're more expensive.
I found the perfect fabric!! It's more than I wanted to spend.
I officially formed my business!! It's a lot of paperwork and questions.
My idea is awesomely unique!! I just found a competitor.

AND because I like to end on a high note...
I secured my domain name!! www.belleandbeanzer.com

By now you know the basic info about belle&beanzer.
We are planning a soft launch with the first garment Spring 2012.
Fall 2012 will introduce additional pieces and be widely available in boutiques.

Now, moving onto the fun stuff. I can't wait to get you involved in process!!
My baby line is for moms, dads and babies. Seriously. Can't we all just get along? YES!
See my next post...

More Snuggles and Less Struggles

After my second, Jonah, was born, it wasn't just interesting or clever that all things baby/children be easier...It was VITAL to the happiness of my family. You accumulate a lot of "stuff" with one child. With two, it can feel a bit like YOU'RE the needle in the haystack of baby items...trying to find yourself.

One tired Mama

The question that kept popping into my head while I rummaged around trying to find something, during a quick (yeah, right) 2am diaper change, as I tried to efficiently (again, yeah, right) to change his diaper and/or clothes for the 10th time in a day, while my husband helped out and I crossed my fingers Jonah would end up in something resembling an outfit (again, again, yeah right)...
WHY? Why is all this stuff such a pain in the A**??

Don't they KNOW how little time I have? Don't they KNOW my 3yr old daughter is pulling at my pant legs and completely impatient for my attention while I dress my baby boy? Don't they KNOW I don't have time to iron little bits and pieces down on a shirt every time I wash it? Don't they know the little snaps suck, they're impossible to line up when you're sleep deprived (and otherwise), and make my husband crazy? Don't they KNOW my baby is squirming and twisting while I dress and change him? Don't they KNOW my baby doesn't like to almost fully undress in the middle of a sleep bc his diaper is soaked?

My career, before I left it in the traditional sense, is as a graphic designer for newborn, infant and toddler clothes. I create all those patterns that go on the clothes, the graphics, appliques and embroideries. It's basically children's illustration with a talent for making a full print out of it. So, as a mom working in the industry I was a "they." I KNEW as a mom what I needed, and I KNEW as a member of the industry that it wasn't being done.

There are plenty of gadgets and gizmos with a bent towards making life easy as a parent. Some of them work. Most of them depend on your personality, and more importantly your child's. But, what I didn't see, haven't seen, is anyone addressing what we do with your little ones several times a day. We dress them, we redress them, and we change their diaper again, and again, and again. Baby clothes are pretty much the same, with variances on aesthetic. But, what about the clothes themselves??

As a mom, I needed something that no one was giving me. I needed simplicity. I needed ease. I needed more snuggles and less struggles. So, one sleepless, squirmy, unhappy-baby-night my mind started chewing on it. Okay, let's start with removing the problem...what if there were NO snaps, NO zippers and it takes 30 seconds or less to dress and/or change your baby in any position your baby wanted? What would that  look like? Whoa. I would LOVE that! I bet other parents would too!

So, I started drawing. I started looking at all the staples I used for dressing my children. I considered what was frustrating, what I always complained about, what my mom friends complained about, what I saw emails, postings, etc. complaining about. Most importantly, I talked to Moms and Dads. It occurred to me that moms will put up with a lot for cuteness. Dads don't care. Changed? Good. Moving on.
I believed I could marry those two view points.
Keep it looking super sweet. Keep it super simple. Yeah, that's smart!

So far, there are 10 garments designed and ready to go. I'm starting with my first garment, the sleep and play. Why one? Because I value simplicity. I'm keeping it simple as I kick things off.

I affectionately named the sleep and play,  Little Hammies. They very well may be named Little Hammies. Named this because they are very flattering to your baby's cutie-pie little chunkle butt. I promise I will post pictures and videos. I want to get you all involved in the process. I'd LOVE, love, love your feedback and thoughts. This is FOR YOU.

Also, your baby and/or child is going to love it. It's waaay super comfortable. All my prototypes have been in my son's age, much to my daughter's dismay. I got one sample that was way too large. She found it and put it on herself, with no explanation. I couldn't get it off her. My son loves it because dressing him is no longer me pinning him flat on his back, alternately singing songs like a lunatic and begging him to stay still (babies don't like radical emotional swings like that, do they? LOL). He could sit up. He could stand up. He could sit on my lap. He could keep reading his book. He could be on his belly.

My first core value in this venture adventure is...Simplicity. In ALL things. Can you imagine if dressing and changing were easier? There would be less tears (for parents and kids). If there are less tears there is less stress. Less stress is more time to tickle, giggle, talk, find toes, and point out a sunbeam on the wall. More happy moments, added up to create more chunks of stress free time with your little one.

Simplicity  = more snuggles and less struggles.

What are your favorite things you have purchased that make your life easier as a parent, or person?
How would you feel if you had more time to just enjoy your children?
What did you think would be a great product, and in the end it wasn't?
What does simplicity mean for you as a parent and as a family?