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f you have ever had the pleasure of shopping at Mom’s Milk Boutique in West Frankfort, IL then you have probably had the pleasure of meeting Bonnie in person! If you have ever ordered on-line or over the phone, then perhaps you have interacted with Bonnie? And of course if you are on facebook, you have certainly seen a picture or two of her and her adorable son working hard at MMB. 🙂
Even though she’s constantly zooming around the store, she stopped for a moment to answer a few questions so you all could get to know her a little better! 🙂
What is your title and role at MMB? How long have you been working there? I am the Co-Owner with my lovely sister, Abbie. It has been a trip! Whoever said “working with family is a bad idea” couldn’t be more wrong. Abbie and I have been driven closer together as sisters because of the store. The amount of time we spend speaking with each other is astronomically more than it would have been if we wouldn’t have begun this adventure together. She moved away for college while I was just coming into my “real” teens and life kept her away. We spoke occasionally but not enough. Our conversations were merely small talk. Moving from home, to Michigan, to Arizona, and now to Switzerland, distance would have been our enemy. But MMB has given us a bond with one another that cannot be matched. Over the last 5 1/2 years, I have loved every minute sharing this experience with her. We are truly blessed to have this opportunity and with out it, may have gone through this life never really “knowing” each other due to the distance.
What is your top favorite product at MMB? I don’t believe that to be a fair question. 😉 However, given my 5 month old’s current speed bump in life, I would have to say the Amber Teething Necklaces and Bracelets! Oh my goodness how they have been a life saver for us. We have cut our two bottom front teeth and working on the top. We have them on ALL.THE.TIME.
What is your favorite baby carrier and why? Again, a hard one. Each carrier has a special place in my heart. I LOVED the Sakura slings during our newborn stage! It was so easy to put on, get him in, and take him out, and take it off. But right now, I am addicted to the Boba. It has great support, a high back for Gummy, and the prints are adorable!
What does your cloth diaper stash look like? Wow, well….I got a lot of Abbie’s preloved diapers from Kaatje and Legend. So my diaper stash looks PRELOVED, LOL. I have SO many different styles. Mostly older diapers from like 3 years ago. I have a few new that I have added to the bunch, like wool and fitteds…by far my favorites!
Who are the members of your family? I suppose you want me to stick with my immediate family and not, sisters, brother, mom, dad, Grandma…. 😉 I have an amazing husband, Theo (Theodore) whom did I say was amazing? This guy, I tell you, a woman couldn’t ask for better. I have two girls, Faith (10) and Ilana (6). Faith is the sweetest child you will ever meet and Ilana…well, she is a firecracker. We just recently added Lil Gummy (Mongomery) who is getting ready to hit the big 6 Monther in 2 weeks. The girls absolutely adore him and are such a wonderful help. He has been a hoot. It is so different already with a boy. I can tell I am going to have my hands full with this lil guy!
What do you like to do for recreation? Recreation? I wish I had some awesome story for you on this one. Alas, we are a kind of boring family, a little laid back and enjoy our quiet evenings together. Theo’s a farmer so that takes up a LOT of our time and vacations don’t come easy. However, in the summer we enjoy a day at the lake, tubing, skiing, swimming. So there it must be. Our recreation is the Lake; which is only fun in the summer…during the fall and winter we hibernate.
Share a favorite family tradition: Again, I will have to say Sunday’s at the Lake is my favorite tradition.
What is one tip you have for breastfeeding mamas? Mind over matter. If you THINK and believe you aren’t enough, guess what, you won’t be. We are our biggest enemy. Just like you can talk yourself into being scared of the dark, you can talk yourself into not making enough milk. We as women are run by our emotions and hormones. When we convince ourselves that we are going to have problems, we are going to have problems. I highly recommend standing in front of your bathroom mirror, grab hold, gently squeeze, and yell, “I AM WOMAN! I AM ENOUGH! WATCH ME NURSE!” Nothing like a good pep talk session to start the day off right.
What are some of your favorite “me” time indulgences? This may sound crazy, but I don’t enjoy “me” time alone. I hate being alone. I get bored. I want to talk, and talking to myself is too rhetorical for my liking.
If you could have any superpower, what would it be? I would like to have Superhuman Speed. I want to get things done FAST! I want to get places FAST! And then, I want to be able to slow it back down while I’m enjoying family, friends, and life. But all that work stuff, all that getting there stuff…that needs to happen quick.
What is one of your favorite quotes? “A person’s a person no matter how small.” I think Dr. Seuss had life pretty much figured out.
What are your goals/intentions/resolutions for this new year? Don’t get behind!
Thanks Bonnie! So great to get to know a little more about you and your family…and I LOVE your suggestion about standing in front of the mirror and giving yourself a pep talk! It’s happy visual to think of women actually doing that for themselves! 🙂
-Sarah
First, our production team personally selects the best raw materials. Each piece that we buy is checked for quality and inspected by the Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Lithuania so that we can be certified by the Ministry as selling genuine Baltic Amber.
To clean the amber, we use a process called wet polishing, in which quartz sand is used to polish the amber and remove any dirt. The longer it says in the wet polish stage, the more round and shiny the amber becomes. Then, the amber is dry-polished with special wood or ceramic beads.
