Within that time we have realized that much of what is important is often beyond what we are able to see in the day-to-day, but that is in fact where it exists. We have learned to live outside of fear, to push forward and do something a little scary everyday because that is truly the only way to grow. We have tried as hard as we can to stay in the moment so that the future will not be filled with regret, but rather with stepping stones to lead to becoming better, stronger, happier. We have tried to worry less and consider what we have and appreciate the simple things as we did when we were kids. Each of these elements are natural characteristics in children that come with innocence. Facets that we have lost over time as adults, but in that sense, can learn from our kids. And so with each year, we hope to get a little bit closer to that unfiltered goodness, where there lies only the present. “It takes a long time to become young.” -Pablo Picasso

Here are TruKid’s stepping stones that have led us to where we are now: 1. Jennifer’s 2^nd son and 6^th child was born. We had almost forgotten our birthday, and had it not been for Rowan’s, we would have missed it completely. Her best friend had come to the hospital in the middle of the night and was there taking photos of her and laughing. Her husband Fred was on the floor, while Haley, her second oldest daughter, who wanted to see her brother be born the entire 9 months, was on the couch; all waiting for the big moment. She just couldn’t forget the ridiculousness of it all with her friend photographing her as she was scrambling to keep herself together. “I was just trying to go pee!” “I had to hold my gown shut and we were laughing so hard!” When labor began, her friend saw everyone else trying to take care of her and tried to switch modes to caretaker. “Just stop shoving ice in my mouth,” Jennifer laughed. She clearly wasn’t helping. “You just stand back there and make comments and take photos, and make me laugh.” I suppose the lesson in this was, “Be who you are.”

2. The discovery of EWG (Environmental Working Group). We had no idea what this was when we found our sunscreen ranked as #2 on their site. We thought, “Who are they??” and then, “Oh my goodness! Look at us, top 5 in the country…Surprise!!” 3. TruKid hit 20,000 fans on Facebook. This was a point where we realized, “Wow, people really do love us” and it gave us even more confidence in our product and ourselves. We knew we had a good thing, but it was just so incredible to know others cared about what we were doing and wanted to be involved.

4. Creating our Champion Mom Tester Panel. With an incredible board of moms across the country to test our product and give us feedback, we knew we were at a pivotal juncture where we knew we were moving in the right direction and creating products that truly were solving everyday issues for families with quality products. These moms have shared their experiences and stories with us in addition to their feedback and we are ever grateful for them. [caption id="attachment_2055" align="aligncenter" width="388"] Judge holding gavel, portrait, close-up[/caption] 5. One of our “original” TruKids grew up to be a TruKid intern. Anna, friend of the family who was over every day playing TruKid Town with the kids came in to the office to work and be a part of the team. It was unbelievable for someone who had been around since the beginning, who grew up with the brand, to come back and contribute in an entirely different way.   6. We said it would be 5, but we just couldn’t leave out our winning the Red Tricycle Award (http://www.trukid.com/redtri2013/) 2 years in a row for “Most Awesome Sunscreen.” Our Sunny Days, which was recognized by EWG as mentioned above, was chosen by you, our dearest customers, and thousands of families across the country as their favorite family-friendly sunscreen. Also, we were in the top 3 for kid’s and babies’ skincare! We couldn’t be more proud. As it was undeniably difficult to narrow it down to these few experiences, there may be more coming, but here’s our top 5 (or 6 rather) for now. Also, don’t forget we’re giving away gifts all week for our Birthday Blast, so be sure to check out our Facebook on how to win!