We hope 2008 is off to a great start! Here's an update with the latest news from Fresh Baby.

We were extremely satisfied with last year's performance. Most notably, our So Easy Baby Food Kit sales doubled and So Easy Baby Food Tray sales more than tripled! The rising interest in green parenting is tremendous and we believe it will continue to drive strong sales demand for Fresh Baby products.

Along with green being "in", Fresh Baby continues to expand their marketing programs to reach parents. This newsletter offers a snapshot of these programs and provides information on how you can take advantage of them to grow your Fresh Baby sales.
If you are looking to reduce your carbon footprint making organic baby food is a great way to go. Consider the GREEN facts:
Organic - Organic fruits and vegetables are the best choice for making baby food. They are the most natural ingredients and organic foods drastically reduce harm to the environment.
Less Waste - When you make your own baby food, there are no jars, labels or metal lids to dispose or to recycle. Any waste from making baby food is biodegradable or can be composted.
No Factory Required - Just a little energy to steam foods and run a blender is all you need to make your baby's meals! Did someone say near "zero" greenhouse gases?
Local - Your baby's food does not need to be trucked to you from a factory thousands of miles away. Instead you can simply buy organic produce from your local farm market (or grow your own) and get started.
Healthy - Homemade baby food is safe and nutritious. Baby food jars are often lined with bisphenol-A, a controversial hormone disruptor that should be avoided. In addition, homemade baby food has no preservatives, additives or chemicals - it is pure, natural goodness.
The Bottom Line: Making baby food is a great gift to give the environment and your baby. Plus homemade baby food tastes great. Who knows? Your baby may even grow up to like the taste of Brussels sprouts and mangoes!

Goodnite Moon Kids

High quality art work makes such a difference in the feeling you get in a child's room. It is easy to decorate with Goodnite Moon Kids. They have many themes: princesses, fairy tales, ballet dancers and tea parties, nursery rhymes, pirates and treasure maps, safari animals, dinosaurs and farm animals,sports and trucks.All the art work is stretched on canvas. Some pictures are embellished with trims of beads and buttons and range in size from 12 x 12 to 24 x 30. Goodnite Moon's art work is carried over in clocks and growth charts and a wonderful collection of melamine dish sets. The dish sets include forks & spoons, a TV tray, sippy cup, suction bowl and plate and cup. They also do a wonderful range of oil cloth bibs and aprons with matching fabric burp cloths. Many of the fabrics are vintage. Come and look! You will soon be able to see it all on their web site www.goodnitemoonkids.com.

Satsuma Designs

Things we love:
Satsuma Designs amazingly soft and stretchy receiving blankets.
Satsuma Designs takes great care in sourcing eco friendly and sustainable resources. They choose partners who adhere to conventional processes that meet international criteria for earth friendly manufacturing of soft goods.

For example, Satsuma Designs works with:
- Raw bamboo suppliers that employ sustainable harvesting practices and adhere to strict industry guidelines in the processing of bamboo
- A fabric mill that ensures environmentally friendly production processes that don’t pollute the local environment
- They never dye their fabric to ensure that the natural properties and naturally antibacterial nature of bamboo remains intact
- They design and produce their products in U.S. factories that employ local artisans
- Their packaging can be recycled

Chewable Jewels

Dr. Bloom Chewable Jewels

Birmingham dentist Helen Bloom Smith was at her own baby shower when her twin nephews started using her glass beaded bracelet and necklace as teething toys.
Smith, who was still in dental school at the time, was frantic about what the glass and metal could do to the babies' developing teeth.
"I saw their teeth biting down on these glass beads and it horrified me. I tried to pull it away, but they wanted them - they always want what you're wearing," she said. "Then I looked around the room, and I noticed that the moms weren't wearing jewelry and I thought, why can't we wear pretty jewelry?"
So Smith set out to create her own line of teething jewelry made of food-safe silicone. The result, called Chewable Jewels, is now on the market.
The products were designed for busy moms who need even their accessories to do double-duty, said Smith, who has more than once slipped off a bangle and passed it to her son to keep him busy while she drives.
The bangle-style bracelets and chunky pendants are designed to look like sleek resin or stone, but gently give way on baby's gums and are dishwasher safe. All of the parts, even the cording that holds the pendants, are made of FDA-approved products and are free of latex and phthalates, controversial chemicals used in plastics that some say are linked to hormone disruptions and other health problems. Infants and toddlers need something to soothe sore gums and stimulate growing tooth buds.
The price is right and the packaging works. Look for Chewable Jewels on display in the showroom or check out their website http://www.chewablejewels.com/.

Happy Valentine's Day

I’m very behind in keeping up with the latest information from the showroom. Bunnies and chicks are here from North American Bear as well as all the special keepsake gifts from Child to Cherish. Basics are here too from Bumkins, JuJuBe, Hotslings. L’oved Baby, Little Knits, Mustela, Prince Lionheart, Regal + Lager Brands, Tuffo, Summersault, Silver Treasures, WallCandy Arts and Wee Gallery. Don’t forget to ask about out furniture lines.
We have a host of new lines that feature innovative, whimsical, and down right practical products. We have added notNeutral to our product mix. They create bold, colorful and innovative products that encompass all categories of the modern lifestyle. We are most excited about their kid’s products. They have tied in with WallCandy Arts to have their designs as removable and reusable surface graphics to complement their dish sets, rugs, pillows, and t-shirts. They also make great furniture. They have a twin bed, night stand, shelf unit and rocker. These pieces are in addition to their famous table and chairs designed 15 years ago for a child care center at Warner Brother’s Studio. notNeutral is a fun addition to our other modern offerings.
We are very excited to be offering a new layette line, Piccolo Bambino: Beautiful packaging, key products with great synergy, pure organics in muted pastels and amazing price points. This will be a keystone line for your baby section.
Earth Friendly LLC is importing organic wooden toys from India. Maya Organic has initiated efforts to create a niche market for a brand of wooden educational toys with a strong emphasis on safety, quality and the use of natural vegetable dyes. All Maya Organic toys meet CE and ASTM standards.
We had a great market the end of January and look forward to seeing everyone who could not get here. We will be at the showroom most Mondays and Tuesdays or by appointment. We will also be showing at the NW Kids show the end of March at the Embassy Suites Southcenter.

In support of Breast Cancer Awareness Month and in honor of Sharon’s own mom who is battling stage 4 breast cancer, L'ovedbaby will donate 25% of the profits from October sales of our "Think Pink" nursing shawls to the Susan G. Komen Foundation.
Spread the word...think pink...save lives. "Make your baby a L'ovedbaby!"

The Budding Family series of fun books that help little kids through big transitions is a valuable parenting tool. This is an award winning line of keepsake albums for siblings-to-be and/or children moving to a new home. It is a book that you fill with photos in the 38 interior die cuts of assorted shapes, 24 pocketed pages, and 12 easy to use removable insert cards. It has a fill in the blanks format for a personalized story. There are interactive flap doors. Its beautiful designs have a laminated cover and interior for durability. Great value—highest quality materials and construction for making a time capsule filled with cherished memories of your child’s milestones. ($25.00 msrp available now)
Introduced at the recent ABC show are the new sibling photo cards by Budding Family. Cracking the code of sibling transition is at a new level with the series of Kid Sister and Kid Brother-On-The-Way keepsake cards that provide a unique, forward-thinking approach to getting only-children ready for a new baby and a new role in the family. ($3.75 single card/$19.50 6-pack.) The easy-to-personalize photo cards offer two potential uses: one for expectant parents and another for expectant siblings. Parents can use them with their own child as a fun, creative way to deliver the news about a pending new addition and begin explaining the meaning of being a Big Sister/Big Brother. Only-children, starring in their new role of sibling-to-be, can use the cards to announce the family news far and wide (or just across the street). Sharing the excitement with loved ones during mom’s pregnancy allows a child to gain confidence to embrace his/her coming new role in the family. “These sibling cards are an innovative new tool,” says nationally renowned psychologist Dr. Susan Bartell. “Allowing your child to participate in the excitement is a loving way to guide him through this life-changing transition.”The bright colored 5” x 7” tri-fold cards include a red and white “Hurry up! Open it!” sticker for the outer envelope. In addition, these distinctive keepsake cards fit into standard 5”x7” picture frames for easy display and lasting memories.The cards will be available in January, 2008.