Merry Christmas

 

We are closed for the Christmas holidays from 24th December.  Yes, you can place your order and we will dispatch on our return on the 10th January 2011.

 

www.bellybeyond.co.nz

Belly Art Inkless Kits

December's Favourite Gifts
 
We absolutely love these Baby Inkless Kits, the pictures really don't do them justice, in the flesh they look and feel amazing.
 
The kits contain no ink, no paint which translate to no mess!  You simply wipe your little one's foot with the non-toxic inkless wipe and then press onto the special paper and voila! - a perfectly formed footprint capturing all the detail of those tiny toes and feet.




Options:

• Original Baby Inkless Kit - comes in funky gift tin $43.95
• Baby Inkless Kit Birth Certificate Kit - with storage tube $43.95
• Baby Inkless Kit Photo Frame Kit - $79.95
• Fits your favourite 6' x 4' image and the inkless print
• Comes in four frame colours:  white, black, pink and blue

Horrific abuse suffered by child found hiding in cupboard

Dita De Boni sums this up this latest case much better than I can in her open letter to the Minister of Social Development and while there is massive failure at CYFs, what about the adults, at least 5, that knew about this abuse for two years and said nothing? 

There is a lot more I could say about this, but none if it would articulate the sense of disbelief and sheer horror that this has happened - again.  To me, the question isn't "why?" but "why does this happen so often?"

The disgusting way in which we beat and kill our children in this country has to be the most appalling issue facing NZ.  Shame on us, shame.

ERGObaby Year in the Life - Christmas Update

The other day I got an email, one of those weekly updates about your baby... and it was the 22 week update!! I couldn't believe it, time feels like it has flown by. He certainly looks and feels like as 5 month old baby tho :-) He is quite a solid baby and so I found myself unpacking the 6-9 month old clothes as he is just squeezing into his clothes now. Nice to see his big brothers baby clothes once again. He is not moving about too much yet, quite content to just 'be'...extremely chilled out wee bubs. He gets a good giggle going when his big brother entertains him- not quite sure what it is about silly faces and monster noises, but he loves it!

Our ERGObaby has been at the Markets!!. I have recently become a WAHM and had a stall at a local craft market a couple of weeks ago. I was so pleased to know I had the ERGO as there was no room for anything at all- only a seat. My hubby brought him to me for a feed and then he just hung out with me as I chatted to the locals. The ERGO sucking pads work a treat... no more slobber on my arms and shoulders & straps now. He made great use of them that day too. He has no teeth yet, but big brother got them at 4 months so I'm expecting them soon- all the signs are there. I had forgotten how much babies dribble - and William especially likes to dribble a lot and blow dribbly raspberries - so those pads are fantastic! You can just throw them in the wash -easy! A must have for your ERGOBaby to keep it clean and dry.
I have been trying the side carry but need a bit practice adjusting it - But what a great way to carry your baby, he can see more of his world around him as well. I have another market this weekend - I couldn't do it with out the ERGO to have him with me.

I also cant believe it's Christmas...like next WEEK!! Its going to be great! All my Hubbies side is going to be here, traveling from Holland, Australia and Wellington. Big family reunion -8 Adults and 9 Kiddies (including William and his new Cousin born just before him!) So it will be great for everyone to meet the new babies and for the cousins to catch up. We'll be out and about for sure- hopefully a few days at the beach or the school pool. I'm sure my Sister in Law will love trying it out for her new baby too!

sacrific.love.beauty Calendar 2011

Buy now at Belly Beyond for $19.95, with $5 donated to Mothers Matter

Put together by a dedicated team, this amazing calendar is the brain child of business women and mum, Rebekah Lipp, definitely one of life's "good guys".  

The calendar is all about celebrating mothers and all they do for their families and communities.  Day in and day out, with no annual leave or sick leave a mother's job is never done.  No matter what stresses  they are under they have to keep going.  I wanted to do something that let mothers know that they are doing a WONDERFUL job and to say THANK YOU! 
 

The sacrifices we make as mothers are HUGE! We often focus on the needs of our children whom we love unconditionally and forget that we have needs also. We are women first, we need to see the beauty we may have forgotten, to remember we are gorgeous and amazing!

Twelve lucky mothers were recently selected in a competition with over 500 entries coming from throughout New Zealand.  The winners not only won an amazing prize pack of goodies donated by some amazing companies valued at over $1500 each but they each will take part in a photoshoot and become this years stars in the SLB calendar.  

Sassy, funny and just a little sexy, the photos are tongue in cheek tribute to motherhood and the many roles that mums take on and the myriad of duties they juggle on any given day.

This calendar is available to purchase for $19.95 with $5 from the sale of each calendar being donated to Mothers Matter. 

Check out more about Rebekah and the team behind Sacrifice.Love.Beauty and watch the Behind the Scenes video


____________________________________________________________________ 

Mothers Matter is a charity organisation which aims to improve awareness and understanding of postnatal depression (PND) and related mental illnesses in pregnancy and after childbirth. Visit their website for more information http://www.mothersmatter.co.nz

Thumbs Up - Cosmo Pregnancy

When the image of a baby bottle is still used so widely as the universal sign for baby, it's refreshing to see Cosmopolitan Magazine taking this approach and using a breast feeding image on the cover to represent their 'Feeding' section.

And while we applaud them for this, we note that an image on a magazine cover does not a breast feeding culture make, but baby steps and all that.   Check out what a true breast feeding culture looks like when you see the caption for  this image from the La Leche League NZ Facebook page.  See the caption    Classic!

Kevin Bacon Ad

We do love people who can laugh at themselves.  Nice one Kevin!

HOTmilk Inner Beauty Model Search

Having just finished up the biggest HOTmilk sale of the year we know there are a whole lot of you now enjoying the delights of HOTmilk Lingerie and sleep wear.

I mention this, because HOTmilk have launched a model search with a difference - NO PHOTO REQUIRED!!!

Just purchase any HOTmilk product in December 2010 or January 2011 and answer three simple questions and you are in to win from a prize pool of $6500!!

You can buy your HOTMilk at Belly Beyond of course, and enter the draw at the HOTmilk website

nzgirl - Breasts gone wild

Heidi and I have uploaded an image to the 'Lovely Pair' campaign on www.nzgirl.co.nz where women are encouraged to 'get your boobs out for a good cause' - for every 50 sets of breasts uploaded nzgirl will give $1000 to breast cancer research.

Detractors say that this is a cynical way to bring traffic to the nzgirl site.   Well it is a marketing campaign so yes that was probably the point and it's certainly had a massive impact on traffic.  Detractors also say it sexy-fies breast cancer, degrades women and puts pressure on them to look a certain way.  I disagree.

I do agree that young girls and women face incredible pressure to look a certain way, but not because of this inventive initiative by nzgirl.  I believe this pressure comes from the media all around them - magazines, music videos, TV are all dedicated to images of 'perfect' and often enhanced, breasts.

For New Zealand women to see the hundreds of pairs of breasts that are being uploaded by ordinary women just like them is fantastic.  I loved seeing the different shapes and sizes of breast and of nipples - every one unique - just like the women who posted them.  The photos uploaded by women that show the scars of surviving their cancer battle are powerful and moving.  I wonder if there is some small liberation in having a platform to show the world?

Some of these images have unfortunately and perhaps inevitably ended up on porn sites.  The women uploading their images live in a digital world.  They understand the risks and are aware of the possibility of any image of them posted on the web, appearing later in an undesirable place.   For us, our image is not pornographic (nor do we believe are the others appearing on nzgirl) and will be quickly dismissed and bypassed by anyone seeking such.

The great pink-wash debate is also raised in a campaign like this.  "No one talks about the deaths from colon cancer" they cry.  Again I tend to agree.   But I can live with pink-wash and see it for what it is.  It's like the puppies at the pound, the ugly one will still be left at the end of the day.  Breast cancer is the cute fluffy puppy that will always be picked by companies looking to give something back to a charity organisations.

The question for me, is should it have been done in the name of breast cancer?  Would it have been better to simply say "get them out and be proud of them" and simply make the charity donation anyway?  Possibly.

At the end of the day they are just breasts - functional, beautiful, breasts and while the campaign might have it's flaws, the nzgirl team have their heart in the right place and they are getting off their backsides and doing something that appeals to and educates their demographic.  And that's why we included our image.

Footnote:  My mother is a breast cancer survivor so I will always be motivated to raise money for breast cancer research wherever the opportunity presents itself.