Wondering What My Plans For 2012 Are?

This past year has been great. Life, business, all of it. I'm so blessed. 

In 2011, business speaking, I've added a product line, grown my FB page to 300+ followers, met some awesome friends & biz owners, grown my coaching biz & had a great year in sales.

But, I'm not finished yet. Not because I'm not content or greedy or anything like that, but because this is business & businesses are meant to grow. I have big plans for 2012 & I want to share some of them with you.

Let's start with the biggest one. 

I'm switching gears & opening a new shop. 

Yeah, you heard me! I've been hinting around at making this big change for a while now. So I'm here today to let you in on my little secret.

My natural skin care line - Baby Swank Naturals - has done so well that I want to expand it even further, beyond babies & in order to do that, I'll be phasing the herbal products out of my shop & into a new one. 

Now don't stress. I'll be giving everyone plenty of time to get used to my new shop & the products will overlap for a while. Right now is just the beginning of this new shop. I've still got a lot of work ahead of me. I'm working on graphic design at the moment & that doesn't happen overnight. I'll be keeping you posted on this big change & I'm definitely going to launch this baby the right way!

As for Baby Swank

Baby Swank will remain for the time being. Once I'm in the new shop {name to be revealed later} I'm not sure what will happen to it. Do I move the Washcloth Bibs over to the new shop too or keep all that good stuff in Baby Swank??? I'm just not sure, but if you have an opinion, I'd love to hear it.

Other than that...no matter which shop or what products we're talking about, here are some of my big plans.

1. I'd like to get 4-5 wholesale accounts with retail stores.
2. I'd like to get one of my products featured in a magazine.
3. I'd like to triple this year's profits.
4. I'd like to launch at least 2 new product lines.

Sound good? Sound ambitious? Great! 

As long as all goes well & business is staying in perspective with my family responsibilities, you'll be hearing from me throughout 2012 as I reach these goals & then in December, you can cheer with me as I say, "I did it!!"

Thanks for sticking with me & for all your encouragement & support. I need you!

xo, Meagan

A Merry Christmas & A Happy New Baby

I hope you all had a wonderful holiday season with your friends & families. Ours was excellent. Busy & hectic, but wonderful & relaxing at the same time! 

We visited lots of family, gave & received a lot of gifts, ate too much food, & enjoyed our time together. What a wonderful season!

We also welcomed our third little man into our family early Wednesday morning {3:26am}. Yay! Uriah is finally here! He weighted 8 lbs. 5.6 oz. {my biggest so far} & he was 20 in. long. Labor & delivery was quick, all-natural, & with no complications! Praise the Lord!

I'm so glad it was before Christmas. I had time to recover & get things together before we had holiday plans upon us. 

He's a wonderful baby. He's calm & content & he's adapting well to our family... even with two excited little bros to get used too! Below are some pics. Enjoy! I'm sure there will be plenty more!

Little Uriah!

Ummm, baby love!

Meeting his big bros!

Some... of the family!

Judah is so happy to have his little brother here!

My midwife/doula, Angie, & I.

Stay Healthy this Winter

With little kids it always seems that someone has a cold, but bring on cold, wintry weather & you've got the flu & other nasty bugs to consider.

Here's what I use to keep myself & my family healthy during the winter months.

Double E Immune Booster via Bulk Herb Store

This herb mix is full of immune boosting herbs to help your body protect itself against those nasty little critters that want to make you & your family sick. 

It contains Nettle Leaf, Peppermint Leaf, Echinacea Root, Echinacea Tops, Elderberries whole, Ginseng Root and Rosehips. Best of all, it's totally organic & everyone can take it as much as they'd like. No contraindications here, but it's always good to err on the side of caution if you suffer from severe allergies to weeds, grass, hay, or plants.

It has a great flavor & the kiddos even like it. The echinacea & elderberries are what give it it's immune boosting properties & everything else has great vitamins & energizing properties to keep you going strong.

For me & my man...I take this mix & make a tincture out of it with Vodka.

For the little ones, I make their tincture out of glycerine...a sweet, edible syrup that doesn't affect blood glucose levels.

We all also drink it as tea sweetened with honey or maple syrups on these chilly Tennessee days.

Almost Ready

My, oh, my how time has flown!

Not that I knew it wouldn't. From the beginning of October I knew the next 3 months would pass quickly with all the holidays that are jammed into the end of the year, but still, I can't believe it's the middle of December & Uriah will be here any day now...hopefully!

So I'm still doing some last minute things to get ready for him to be here. So far I've cleaned out the dressers & the closet in the boys room to make space for his things. I've washed all his clothes up & they're where they need to go. I've gotten all the baby equipment out which has been washed & cleaned. It's all set up & ready for him. I'm stocked on diapers, feeding supplies, & baby products. Plus, I actually have our bags packed early this year.

So I feel like I'm more prepared. I'm still trying to get Christmas stuff together. The house is decorated, but there are gifts that still need to be wrapped. That's on my to-do list for this week! I think I need to stock up on laundry detergent too. Better add that to my list.

Anyway, all is well here. We're just waiting & getting more excited by the minute. Thanks for all your thoughts & prayers! I really appreciate them!

Get Your Holiday Glow on with this Easy Natural Facial Moisturizer

Do you ever look back at pictures & think, "What was going on with my skin!"

Don't let that happen to you this year! Be prepared!

Today I'm gonna give you another recipe for beautifying your skin & giving yourself a naturally healthy glow that will radiate in your holiday photos this year!

My first piece of advice would be to start out with the exfoliating scrub recipe I gave you last month. Use this 1-3 times a week or however often you need it to keep the dead skin cells off your face. This alone will give it that healthy glow.

Follow up with this recipe for a facial moisturizer that is light & absorbs well into your skin. Put it on before your makeup & especially after you wash your makeup off at night.

You'll Need:

1/2 cup distilled water
2 tsp. vegetable glycerin {draws moisture to your skin}
5 drops of essential oil {whatever smell you prefer}

Here's Whatcha' Do:

Quick & simple. Put all ingredients into a bottle & shake well before use. Apply via a cotton pad or using a spritzer attachment on your bottle to mist your skin & let it dry!

Here's to love skin in this year's pics!

Enjoy!

xo, Meagan

Are You Following Me on Facebook Yet?

Are you following me on Facebook yet? 

Just checkin! I'd hate for you to be missing out on all that's going on over there.

If you are, way to go! Be sure to leave me your thoughts & comments. I'll get back to you, I promise!

If you aren't, click here to "like" my page now. {Psst...you'll get a little something when you do!}

Winter Washcloth Bib Collection

If you want to keep your little guy or gal looking fashionable this season while being eco-friendly at the same time, these Washcloth Bibs are your ticket to eco-friendly fashion!

Check out the newest collection right here!

2011 Winter Collection

 Yellow & Gray

 Blue & Gray

 Red & Gray

 Pink Geo

 Blue Swirls

 Green Night

Get em' before they're gone...right here @ Baby Swank

Our DIY Advent Calender

Last year I wanted to make an Advent calender for the boys, but I never got around to it because I was busy. This year I made sure to put it into our schedule so that we could enjoy some extra seasonal festivities. In fact, we'll be doing a lot of festive things this year thanks to our Advent calender.

So here's a pic of our calender & below you'll find the steps I used to make it. It's simple & fun for the kids.

Start with scrapbooking paper of your choice. Cut into 4x6 inch pieces or whatever size you need to get the size pocket you want.

Fold & glue 1/4 inch all the way around. Fold in half & score with a bone folder.

Glue edges to create your pocket. Set under something heavy until glue dries.

Print off numbers 1 - 24 to put on your pockets. Cut out.

Glue your numbers to your finished pockets.

Print out tags for your daily activities, punch holes & tie with twine or ribbon. Write your activities on your tags...one for each day.

Put your tags into the appropriate pockets & hang up however you'd like! Be sure to have fun!

Below are a few of the activities we'll be doing.

Make an Advent wreath

Drive around looking for Christmas lights

Drink hot cocoa with marshmallows

Watch a Christmas movie

Paint holiday pictures on the windows

Read a Christmas story

Decorate the Christmas tree

Wrap presents

Make a homemade Christmas gift

Sing Christmas songs

Read about Baby Jesus's birth

Color Christmas pictures

Make ornaments for the Christmas Tree

....and more!