30 Days of Thanks, The Grand Finale!

So… we’ve been doing our #30daysofThanks on Instagram and we’ve realized that really we could go the whole darn year thanking people who make our organization a possibility… but we tried to squeeze it into thirty days because it makes a better hashtag.

We also wanted to write this blog as a sort of omnibus thank you.  All the thanks rolled into one place.  We also wanted to point out that we wouldn’t be an organization without the NUMBER ONE group of people for which we are thankful… our members.

It’s YOU GUYS that keep us as volunteers and as an organization going. You think we do this for the good of humanity and worn babies everywhere?  No!  We are selfish!  We LOVE to help a caregiver discover the magic of babywearing.  That aha-moment… when it clicks… we eat that ish up!  And it wouldn’t be possible without you, our members.  Thank you for trusting us with your babies and for being generally awesome.

We thanked our  Volunteers last week (in this post), but it stands to be said again… I work with some awesome people.

We couldn’t have our FOUR meetings every month without the assistance and generous support of our FOUR awesome meeting locations.  Thank you to Lord of Life Lutheran Church, Faith United Church of Christ, BabyEarth, and Parker Lane!

And even if we had the meetings, they wouldn’t be any fun without our tremendous (almost 300 carrier) LENDING LIBRARY!!  Some of those carriers are bought, some our won through epic internet battles, and some are graciously donated by some incredible manufactures and retailers.  We would not have the library we do, the access we are able to provide, and the options for local babywearers if it were not for Beco, Ack, BeachFront Babies, Onya, Babylonia, Lenny Lamb, Boba , Sew Epic, Pavo, Ergo, Lillebaby,  5 Min Recess, Marsupial Mamas, and Heart Hugs! Thank you.  Deeply, sincerely, and humbly… thank you for all your support through the years.

And all that babywearing would be kinda lonely if we didn’t have the support of our sister chapters and  our parent organization! So thanks to BWI of Bell County , BWI of San Antonio, and BWI National with whom we love to idea-share and from whom we know we can always ask for support!  We love yall!

But we would not be able to #keepAustinBabywearing without the tremendous support of our local community partners.  Austin is an incredible community that is full of tremendous community organizations, we like to think of ourselves as one cog on this wheel that helps caregivers be better caregivers.  We are definately not alone.  Thanks to our partners Hike it Baby, Birth Without Fear, Resolute Health Hospital, Toybrary, Milk Maven, Austin Diaper Bank, Central Texas Breastfeeding Coalition, Central Texas Birth Center, Round Rock Express and Partners in Parenting, babies all through Central Texas and their caregivers are feeling better supported!

Last, but certainly not least, we JUST had a great time at our International Babywearing Week events and NONE of that could have been possible without our sponsors.  There are LOTS (it takes a huge village to make great events happen, yo), but we could NOT have gotten it done without the incredible support of our sponsors: Whole Earth Provisions Co, Just Between Friends Sale, Amy’s Ice Cream, Aneta Hayne Photography, Austin Aquarium, Bobble & Bobbin , Chuy’s, Dye Like Ike, Earth Mama Angel Baby, Go Picnic, Jenny Dombroski Hypnobirthing, Juiceland, June Bug Photography , Kendra Scott, Krispy Kreme, Mt. Playmore, Natural Bridge Caverns, Naturals By Celeste , Otavea, Phil’s IceHouse, Pinwheel Portrait, P Terry’s, Rose of Sharon Massage, Sabrena Rexing Photography, Sew Epic, SparkleKids Upscale Resale, Thirty One Independent Consultant, Thundercloud Subs, Toybrary, Upspring Baby, Waterloo Ice House, and Wonder World Park!

And ain’t no party like a babywearing party!!  Thanks to all our vendors who came out and shared their products with us! Ava Anderson Non-Toxic Independent Consultant, Discovery Toys, Dye Like Ike
Fluff n stuff, Gibberish Threads, Grace Faith Dirt, Handcrafted Wonderment Jewelry, Lovely Baby and Beyond, Luv2luvu, MaidenAustin, Milk Maven LLC, Operation Lactation, Red Poppy Doula, Sabrena Rexing Photography, Scentsy, Sew Epic LLC, SewCuteMama , Texas Tenacity, The Leaky Cookie, Thirty One, Thrive Chiropractic Center.

And of course no Birthday Party would have been complete without cake.  Thanks to our professionaly cupcake providers: Nikki’s Cake Shop and Rose Maes Cakes and Pastries!

In short, we have bucket-loads, pants-load, no… BOAT LOADS to be thankful for and we really milked our 30 days this year!  We couldn’t do what we love (empowering and educating babywearers) without you. Thanks… for 30 days and beyond!

Shhhh… here’s a PS that wasn’t on the list. You know… someone put this 30 days of Thanks IG thing together… every day!  I don’t know about you, but I fall off the wagon of hashtag challenges after like day 7. Thanks to Jessica, our IG Maven, who kept us #onpoint for #30daysofThanks and beyond!