Minnmoms.com

So thankful to Ali Kaplan for the great writeup on Minnmoms today, and to Keena Marxhausen with Hope Photography for the great pic!

It's Tuesday...I like you.

"Give him tuna...it's a great source of protein!"
I wish the Doctor would have been around to clean up THAT diaper.
On the bebe side, we're working on new foods. With only six teeth (yes, six, and yes, it looks funny) there isn't much he can chew so we're limited. He eats a lot of pasta, loves carrots, apples and strawberries...and then we throw in some sweet potatoes, bananas, puffs, o's, yogurt melts and chicken here and there. I've even peeled and diced grapes. We're going to try eggs tonight (bracing for another up-the-back-out-the-sides-on-the-floor-diaper).
b&b side - search engine stuff, PR stuff, inventory stuff...nothing all that interesting, so I'll spare you all. We are looking forward to an amazing holiday season!
On the "me" side, I'm in love with this blogger - read her blog, Facebook her, Twitter her...
http://www.extraordinary-ordinary.com/

Advertising

So this is kind of fun...we're working on advertising now. Now that the site is live, we can move forward. Forward motion is good; progress is good.



photos by teryn glenn photography

Love my little Elliot!

And yes, his eyes really are THAT blue - they are not Photoshopped! The new b&b pattern is pretty cute too... :)

Where have we been?

We have been busy creating the site and creating beautiful baby organics. Today is October 1 - and I am such a deadline-driven person it absolutely kills me that we are running behind. Realizing that not everyone runs on "Ann time" has been difficult...and "Ann time" can mean either super-speed or turtle-speed. I've been back and forth between the two for the last three weeks or so. There has been a lot of hurry up and wait...
The little ones in my house have distracted me quite a bit - and they are always the priority. Jax started crawling (or scooting, rather) about two weeks ago and seems to get from one side of the room to the other at the blink of an eye. We hit the point where all of the low-sitting breakables and possible ouchie things had to be moved up higher. His favorite things to do are to climb under the coffee table, seek out any and all cords and play climb mount Mommy. That said, there is pretty much no more working while he's awake (as I write this he is on the bottom shelf of the coffee table near my feet - see picture). He's been a little clingy as well, and anyone that knows me knows that I have a very hard time letting him fuss for more than 30 seconds before I give in and pick him up. That all said, naptime has been reserved for cutting fabric and working on copy for the website...things that need immediate attention to move forward.
So, we still have a bit of work to do on the site - writing some copy and dealing with some technical coding. I'm hoping this will be done within the next week or so. I have also designed a couple more super cute pant sets that need to be photographed...that should be done mid-next week.
Perfection takes time - I'd rather have a site that I am perfectly happy with, than a site that I am constantly re-evaluating in my head.

Fall 2010

Just a few pictures of what is to come! Media - please contact Lola Red PR @ (612) 333-1723 for pictures and more information. All items are made from organic and eco-friendly materials and will be available at buttersandbeans.com in October of 2010.

Photo by Teryn Glenn Photography

Photo by Teryn Glenn Photography

Photo by Teryn Glenn Photography

Photo by Teryn Glenn Photography

Photo by Teryn Glenn Photography

Photo by Teryn Glenn Photography

Photo by Teryn Glenn Photography

Photo by Teryn Glenn Photography

Photo by Teryn Glenn Photography

Photo by Teryn Glenn Photography

Photo by Teryn Glenn Photography

Photo by Teryn Glenn Photography

Photo by Teryn Glenn Photography

Photo by Teryn Glenn Photography

Photo by Nancy Hauck, Liz J. Design Company

Photo by Nancy Hauck, Liz J. Design Company

Photo by Nancy Hauck, Liz J. Design Company

Photo by Nancy Hauck, Liz J. Design Company

Buzzing Week

A week of buzz - photo shoot in t-3, first pieces of production due tomorrow (dresses and pants finally coming in), PR, screenprinters, website programming going on...
Butters heart appointment today with the pediatric cardiologist - hopefully we'll have some answers about the hole in his baby heart. Feeling a little somber until we get through this appointment...

Break before craziness...

Well, almost a break. When I say a break, I mean my web developer is off today and I do not have any meetings or appointments. I have some media things to work on (media is hearting us already!), and some writing to do and some numbers to crunch, but that would be considered a break.
Tomorrow on the other hand is going to be one of "those" days. My Mother-In-Law gets in from Jersey (actually a wonderful thing - I adore her) at 1:30 so I have to pick her up from the airport, I have a meeting with my merchant account company at 3:00, and then we have the last of our cutting to finish up at 6:30. I also have to approve the final web design - just the basic design aspect of the home and secondary pages - so we can stay on deadline and move into the programming phase of development. This will mean a lot of emailing back and forth with my developer and constant checking of updates she makes to the current design. This may not sound like much to the average person, but you need to factor in all of the in between stuff like, um, kids? And having an extra person in the house. Janie is easy to have here - she is not one that needs to be entertained, but I know I'll want to sit and chat with her after she gets in and I won't really have the time to do that. Chatting will have to wait till Saturday...
Personal note is that my fat cat, Miles, thinks he's a dog. He's a huge Maine Coon, and is an indoor/outdoor cat. He does everything a dog does - meows to get outside and inside when he wants to, follows us around the yard and the house, hops up on the couch on our laps when we are watching TV, sleeps on his "bed" (a blanket on the chaise in the living room), rolls on his back so you can scratch his belly...I wonder if he was raised with dogs? He's the best cat ever and is huge but is so docile. "Beans" comes over and has tried to ride him on several occasions - failed every time unfortunately - and he just saunters away like it's not a big deal, but he's just not having it. Oh - and he chases and meows at the squirrels. And walks around the yard and pees on everything to mark his territory. Hilarious.

A little overwhelmed.

There is a lot going on right now, a lot to keep track of both in my head and in my planner. Bank stuff, budgeting, website stuff, media stuff, writing the bio/organics info, obviously production, the photo shoot, PR...a lot to handle. And then there's the kiddoos (priority) in between all of this. Lots of meetings...my phone rings constantly. I went over my phone plan last month by 2800 minutes - time for that unlimited plan. Luckily AT&T backdated my plan (one of the few things they've done right in the last five years).
Eight days till photo shoot!

Almost done cutting...

We are so close to being done with the cutting phase...which is kind of boring, so that makes me happy. There are two bolts left that haven't been cut and we are taking care of that tomorrow night. Thi and I took care of a lot of cutting last night - we finished up the bibs, travel blankies and large blankies. I am SO loving the fabrics and the way they are going to look finished. The fleece is so soft...there is such a huge difference in the way organics feel as opposed to regular cottons. Every time I roll out the bolts of fleece or herringbone I just want to curl up in them...
I've spent a large amount of time the last couple days writing our mission statement and our "Why Organics?" statement for the website. It amazes me the facts I've found about non-organic cottons. It takes one POUND of chemicals to produce three pounds of cotton? Amazing, and absolutely disgusting.
I finished up the cutest upcycled travel blankie made out of a turtleneck, sweater and pair of cords...darling, I absolutely heart it. I'd love to post a pic, but I know that's a major no-no. Must wait until October! The anticipation is killing me, and I know it's only going to get worse! I've gotten other big news as well that I can't share and it drives me insane - I'm a terrible secret-keeper...you should put the below stamp on my forehead!

More cutting...

I think this is going to be the news for the next week or so. It's quite a process, and there's four bolts of fabric that haven't even been touched yet. Yikeroos. We're going to be in a time crunch soon which is exactly what I didn't want. Photo shoot is in 11 days, and we need a least one of every piece in every size for pictures. I was cutting last night (with one wonderful friend that came over to help me) and got a few pieces done. I'm going to get as much as I can done today, and just keep plugging away at it by myself until we have another cutting night where all my seamstresses are here. We should be able to get the rest done at that point.
On the upside - the weather is MUCH nicer, the humidity broke and it cooled down. Only in Minnesota can you have a 40 degree temperature swing in a matter of 24 hours...feels like fall and is absolutely beautiful outside.

BIG news...

Butters has slept through the night for the last three nights. That tops anything I can think of... :)