Chicago Moms Blog

For Melanie

When Melanie Stokes become pregnant, she seemed to have everything in place. She was a successful pharmaceutical sales manager happily married to a physician. She had a supportive family and her share of brains and beauty. She was a radiant pregnant woman, eager to meet the child inside of her and to begin her new life as a mother.

On February 23, 2001, Sommer Skyy was born, beautiful and healthy. When Sommer was only a month old, Melanie's depression had grown so severe that she had stopped eating and drinking and could no longer swallow. She began to have paranoid thoughts about others--she thought that her neighbors across the street had all closed their blinds because they thought she was a bad mother. She became gaunt, hallow-eyed, a shell of her former self. Then, she began searching for a way to end her life.

And Now A Word From Our Sponsor.....

If y'all look to the right on this page, you'll see ads (hey, gotta pay the blog bills). We leave the selling of those to an organization known as blogher. And blogher wants any of our readers who have personal blogs to know that BlogHer Ads has just reopened its bad self to bloggers wanting to join the ad network. Read the rest of this post for the details.

If you have a blog that's more than 3 months old and you post regularly (at least 2-3 times a week) that's pretty much all the requirements right there. Easy, right?

Okay, maybe you have questions like:

Huge Thank-You To Our Swag Bag Sponsors

It's Time To Celebrate Our Swag-Bags!

The Silicon Valley and Chicago Moms Blog contributors had a fantastic dinner sponsored by Yahoo, the night before BlogHer07.  You can see from the picture that we are all smiling, not only for the great company and food but because of our amazing swag bag! We were speechless after seeing all the wonderful swag our sponsors donated to our contributors. So, we would like to pass on a BIG THANK YOU! Here is a listing of the sponsors below. Please take a look at their products, they are all first rate. And another big thanks to Amy for being the Chicago swag production center.

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First of, we need to extend a big thanks to the sponsor of our dinner as well as 11 passed to BlogHer - Yahoo. Many of us are Yahoo users already so it was amazing to have their support to help our contributors meet-up at BlogHer.  Yahoo! Inc. is a leading global Internet brand and one of the most trafficked Internet destinations worldwide. Yahoo!'s mission is to connect people to their passions, their communities, and the world's knowledge. Yahoo! is headquartered in Sunnyvale, California. Yahoo has a number of company blogs including the Yahoo Search Blog,Yahoo Tech, Yodal Anecdotal, Yahoo Developer Network Blog, and many other blogs. Yahoo also donated a mini-colored pencil set to our swag bag.

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ZAZZLE - Zazzle not only donated our first set of blog tee shirts, but helped us with converting our blog design into a tee shirt design.  Their new printing technology allowed a quick turnaround time with a smooth feel, and their large selection of custom shirts allowed us to find the right style and color. We had so much fun, we are thinking about making buttons and stickers.

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PLANET MOMS APPAREL was a big hit with their high quality fabrics and fantastically funny sayings on their hats like "Nanny Deprived" and "Secretary of Transportation". And tee shirts such as "I need a playdate", "World's Best Moms when her kids are at school" or the  "Whine? No. Wine? Yes. shirt that Kathy Griffin wore on her Bravo show, "My Life on the D List."

We know that there will now be a bunch of moms walking around town wearing the "Nanny Deprived" hats and "I need a playdate" shirts... cause we all are! And we will proudly wear our "World's Best Moms when her kids are at school" tee shirt for school drop-off.
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WATI.  Have your kids ever worn a Wati Design? This is one hip, savvy, exquisite designer that you must check out. Wati is a local, silicon valley mom who designs the most beautiful children's clothes.  You can typically find her designs at high end, boutiques or or her site.  Consider purchasing a "back to school dress" from Wati!  Your little girls will simply look darling - and the clothes are comfortable and child friendly!

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Love-Me-Knots - What little girl wouldn't look Adorable wearing a beautifully designed bows in her hair.  The dynamic creators of Love-Me-Knots, have created darling bows for all occasions!  If you are a mother of a little girl, you must take a look at these beautiful, hair accessories.   

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Wateroos - Are you trying to teach your kids healthy eating habits, which of course isn’t easy. The founder of Waterloos (who happens to be a Silicon Valley Mom) was always “inventing” ways to get her daughter to eat healthy stuff. And we  don't need to tell you that it doesn’t always work. With so many packaged sugary kids’ drinks readily available, it’s especially hard to make healthy choices while we’re on the go.

That’s how she got the idea for Wateroos purified water and all-natural fruit-flavored waters. With Wateroos, your kids can sip from a colorful drink box while they play along with Puddles the Penguin and the other Wateroo-ligans. And we get the convenience of a juice box but with healthier water inside instead which helps make at least one of our daily nutrition choices a little easier....

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 Healthy Handfuls  generously gave us all boxes of cookies and Enjoy Life natural Brands Snickerdoodle cookies   Ok, let's be honest ladies - Who actually gave their kids the snickerdoodles?  I ate them before my kids, and they were simply DELICOUS! 

Healthy Handfuls, a company created by two moms, makes great-tasting
organic snacks that kids love – without all of the trans fats, high-fructose corn syrup, preservatives and artificial colors. Try all three yummy snacks, available in convenient single-serve snack boxes or fun-size pouches – they're perfect for on-the-go snacking!.

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Joan Goldner, the creator of the BusyBodyBook Family Organizer, screamed for joy and jumped up and down when we told her about the swag bags that we were giving to our contributors.  Joan has been reaching the blogosphere in full force, trying to let the mommy (and daddy) world know about BusyBodyBook.  This unique (and beautifully designed) family organizer is a great tool for the busy family, with many activities and events.  There are four different designs and a school year or calendar year option.  We absolutely encourage you to check out her website and learn more about BusyBodyBook!  Oh yes, Joan is also blogging, so check out her BusyBodyBook Blog!

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Teen Spirit by Lady's Speed Stick is a fun way to introduce girls to deodorant with yummy fragrances including sweet strawberry, cool coconut, berry blossom and pink crush. Their FAQ page has information for parents and kids on using deodorant.   (Let's face it, what teen girl wants to be walking around with B.O.?)

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Jif Peanut Butter - What can we say about Jif Peanut Butter other then what would moms do without that family food staple? The Jif website has recipes, giveaways, listing of entries from the Jif Most Creative Peanut Butter Contest and information about the Pillsbury Bake-Off.

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TUTOR.COM: Tutor.com donated a certificate for 75 free minutes of online tutoring to our swag bag. Tutor.com Direct is the leading live, on demand tutoring service for families. Students receive one-to-one help the moment they need it from a professional tutor. There are no appointments to make and no schedules to keep. Traditional and online tutoring services force students to schedule time with a tutor days in advance and results in help just once a week, in one subject, at a scheduled time. Tutor.com empowers students to get help on demand - whenever they need it, in any subject.  Access to a professional tutor "right now" is a powerful tool that ensures students never fall behind, get frustrated or give up.

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Innobaby Innobaby's Packin' SMART® is an all-in-one on-the go feeding solution for infant and toddler years. It's four products in one convenient stackable unit! The five-tier stack can be used as a formula dispenser, a snack case, a serving bowl, and a pacifier holder.

(Why oh why didn't they have this product years ago, when my kids were infants?)

LTDChix.com (which stands for Living The Dream Chix) provided our contributors with the most amazing (and soft) mom tee-shirts. These tee-shirts are for the active, hip, savvy mothers. 

LTDChix tee-shirts show every day, overwhelmed  "mommy" situations and showcases mommy-hood at it's finest.  Does this sound familiar?  Do you drive a minivan?  Are you stuck to the vacuum all day and/or do you seem to have mountains of laundry that never seems to go away?  Maybe you play referee  between your kids, or do all the food shopping, while dragging your kids through the store...... If so, you simply have to check out these t-shirts.  Believe me, every mom deserves an LTDChix shirt....

BTW, the shirts are so incredibly soft, and make a great YOGA shirt!  Really, the quality of these tee's are outstanding!

BABYSWAGS.COM

What do moms needing swag do for help? Call Phyllis of BabySwags.com. BabySwags.com provided us with these great products from two of her clients: DVD's from Baby Hands Productions and a PediaSense ReliaDose dropper

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Baby Hands - My Baby Can Talk First Signs and Sharing Signing DVD's. My Baby Can Talk has been honored with  fourteen national parenting awards that recognize this series as quality viewing for babies. These DVDs are the first baby sign language learning programs that features preverbal babies signing all of the words presented."

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PediaSense - ReliaDose bottles - a bottle with a built in medicine dropper. ReliaDose® works with a baby's natural desire to feed, providing an easy and precise way to give medicine to a baby. It can ensure complete and gentle dosing of over-the-counter and prescribed liquid medication, as well as for liquid vitamin/mineral supplementation. Designed for accuracy and ease of use, it's a medicine delivery system that works for both babies and their caregivers.
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VOX from Six Apart donated tee shirts for our swag bag. We use Typepad for our blogging platform from Six Apart, so it was great to have them join in the fun. VOX is a free blog, blog hosting and photosharing site that has privacy controls perfect for families and friends to keep in touch.

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One True Media - A one year premium membership to One True Media, an easy way to combine photos and video clips with words and music to personalize your online stories. "Quickly share with our Online Slideshow or get as creative as you want with our Video Montage. One True Media is quick and easy to use with no software downloads and immediate results."

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Carseat Couture generously gave our contributors Baby Bottle Covers....What, you have not heard of a Baby Bottle Cover? Tired of scraped up bottles and chewed up sippy cups? Introducing the bottle slipcover that grows with a child from baby bottle days to sippy cup independence. Velcro TM closures also make this cover easy to monogram flat and a turn-down cuff gives it a cute tailored look. The velcro expands to fit a standard water bottle. Moms love the way their friends respond, saying the covers help their little ones identify their own bottle at daycare, thus keeping germ exchange down.

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Clean Well What mom is not obsessed with keeping the children's hands clean? Really, arent we all walking around putting hand sanitizer on our kids 24/7?  Well, we are proud to let everyone know about CleanWell Hand Sanitizer Spray.   CleanWell Natural Hand Sanitizing Spray  is made with Ingenium, a patented formulation of essential plant oils proven to kill 99.99% of the harmful germs that can make you sick. The easy-to-use spray bottle with "no mess" flip top cap makes it perfect for your life on the go. The small size is great for any purse, back pack, glove box, or baby bag.   BTW, you can now get this hand sanitzer in Chicago at Whole Foods!

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And last but not least, this was the biggest swag surprise. When Sugarmama from the Chicago Moms Blog emailed saying she would donate Nipple Nibblers we originally thought it had to do with breastfeeding. But we then found out that Nipple Nibblers is a product from Intimate Pursuits for Adults only. (no, not for the little guys....it is for the big boys!)

One of our contributors told us that Nipple Nibblers makes a great lip gloss, as well.... hmmmm.... Dare I say, I don't think you would find Nipple Nibblers at a tech conference!

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Again, on behalf of all of contributors, we would like to thank all of the businesses that donated gifts to our swag-bags.  We really, really, REALLY appreciate it!

Jill Asher and Beth Blecherman ... and the contributors of Silicon Valley Moms Blog & Chicago Moms Blog. Cross posted on the Silicon Valley Moms Blog.

BlogHer & the Fire Dept.

BlogHer was all I wanted it to be and more. My life, y'know, reality... on the other hand, got in the way. In honor of Monk, which probably makes me really old, "Here's what happened".

It all started on Thursday Night at the awesome party that SV Moms put together with the help of Yahoo. It was great to finally touch and talk to the virtual friends I've made in the last few months. Our fearless leaders, Jill & Beth, put together bags full of swag that could make any woman cry with joy. From peanut butter to nipple cream, blouses to DVDs, they covered it all. Some highlights for me were that I met two bloggers who actually live just a few blocks from me. What fun. When I first arrived at Alina, I checked in with the hostess. I told her I was there for BlogHer and she lit up and said, "You guys are a fun group". Little did she know. Little did we know. Anyway, I met so many fun blogger sisters that it's really hard to remember. AND, for a girl who was offering to print business cards at the show, I think it's pretty hysterical that I forgot to bring some with me to the party. 2 hours flew by and we were all enjoying succulent food and libations. I was driving and still needed to finalize some details for my booth so I grabbed my bag of swag and went home. (It's hard to be a good girl all the time. The party at the W really sounded like fun)

***Note*** This is where my BlogHer fun filled weekend lets reality sneak in again and again.

Unbeknown to me the valet at Viand drove my car into something white and hard and smooshed in the back left corner of my pretty van. However, at this point, I'm so happy with my new found friends and my bag of swag and the fact that I started blogging that this little fact doesn't present itself to me and the valet, I guess, didn't fee it pertinent. I wish I could say that THIS was a big deal but ahh, this is just icing baby.

More BlogHer 07 Pictures

Amy sent us the link to her fabulous BlogHer pics. She also was busy liveblogging as did many of our Silicon Valley and Chicago contributors. Here is the Flickr badge, click on any pictures to see the full picture set. Click here to see our pictures from the Silicon Valley and Chicago Moms opening dinner.

www.flickr.com

This is a Flickr badge showing photos in a set called BlogHer07. Make your own badge here.

Here is a picture from a dinner that those Chicago and Silicon Valley Moms around after Day Two of BlogHer attended at a local Sushi Bar. We all enjoyed having live conversations after reading about each other's lives through the blog.

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Please share with us your BlogHer 07 pictures.

Live Blogging from Blogher 2007

I'm live blogging Blogher 2007 over at Viva La Feminista.

The swag is awesome, the bloggers are even better. I don't generally buy into the whole sisterhood thing, but this is one of the more diverse conferences I have ever attended. Young, old, progressive, conservative, and of all ethnicities. And you know what? The diversity makes me so comfortable. This is what we strive for when we talk about diversity, safety, and warming a chilly climate.

The art of self-promotion - Liveblogging from BlogHer

"Liveblogging from BlogHer"....

Interesting Q&A session at BlogHer currently about self-promotion and self-branding. Professionals Penelope Trunk, Nina Burokas, and Stephanie Cockerl have some good insights about building and maintaining your own personal brand and blog. This is all being written while sitting on the floor for an hour-and-a-half, so bear with me.

• Self-branding is like 5th grade- be smart with the smart kids and hip with the popular kids.
• You can blog about everything! You can't blog about knitting AND politics - so pick one.
• You need to have a unique voice and find something that makes you stand out.
• A good way to build traffic on your site is to write posts that intersect two areas that interest you- like if you are an astronaut and write about diapers (all jokes aside) that might be interesting. But if you are an astronaut writing about being an astronaut, well, that's not all that insightful.
• Good etiquette on the blogosphere is all about making the conversation- if you want to have conversations, blog. If you don't, then write in a print medium.
• A way to get known on the blogosphere is being authentically interesting and being interested in others.
• Take some risks!
• Some good sites: www.progblogger.net, www.copyblogger.com, www.profnet.com, www.prleads.com

Oh, did I mention I didn't bring enough business cards with me? Guess I failed in self-promotion today.

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Cross posted at: Self-Made Mom

Childcare woes

In the past 20 months, we haven't had any problems finding a babysitter for Hailey.  It's been wonderful having our family at our beck and call.  We've never had to "hire" a babysitter.  Occasionally, a friend of mine would even watch her if I had any last minute appointments.

BlogHer is just around the corner and now that we're starting to finalize plans for the long weekend, I have to make sure I have all of my ducks in a row or at least a babysitter for my child.  I'm well aware that the fine folks at BlogHer have provided a place for our children while we are out being crazy party animals learning our way around the blogosphere.  You can learn more about their childcare options HERE.  I suppose there is always Sittercity, too.  I, however, was hoping to leave my toddler with someone whom she is familiar. 

Maybe it's just me being paranoid or not wanting to put anyone through the stress of a crying, screaming child for 10+ hours for four days, but I would just have peace of mind knowing the person who was watching her.  We thought we had it all figured out (my husband and I).  His mother has the summer's off, so SHE can stay with Hailey Thursday through Friday when my husband gets home from work.  Piece of cake.  Done deal.  But wait!  She has a school function that weekend!  That really throws a wrench into the plan.  Then, my husband receives tickets to the Warped Tour through his music blog, which is being held in Chicago on Saturday.  Double wrench.  This leaves us with zero childcare for Thursday, Friday and Saturday.  I'm going to this conference come hell or high water, people. 

So, my sister-in-law who is graciously letting me crash at her Lincoln Square pad for the weekend has offered to babysit her only favorite niece on Thursday while I help fill swag bags and attend our beloved collective mom's blog dinner outing.  Then, it's BACK to the burbs for me on Thursday night to drop of the little tike.  I'll be heading back into the city bright and early Friday morning in time for Day One of the conference.  Hubby has offered to take the day off of work on Friday to stay home with Hailey.  Yes!  Two down, one to go.  We will be soliciting some more family members for their childcare services on Saturday so I can be at Day Two of the conference and hubby can attend the Warped Tour.

Anyone else having childcare woes for the upcoming conference weekend?

Shopping Prompts, or What to Wear to BlogHer

After several years at home with two energetic boys I’ve learned to dress for a mess. This suits me fine when I’m blogging from the dark corner of my basement or carpooling my kids. When I head out in into the adult world, though, I’m keenly aware of and anxious about my fashion challenges. In fact, I even fretted about what to wear for an appearance on a local radio show.

I'm excited for the BlogHer conference, but the thought of hanging with my fellow bloggers in person is a bit intimidating. As much as I dislike shopping, I realized a trip to the mall was inevitable. I headed to Hot Mama in the Glen Town Center. It’s a small boutique for moms and moms-to-be who love of cool clothes and don’t mind spending money on them. (Not me and not me again, but desperate times call for desperate measures.)

Before I stepped into the store wearing my typically un-hip garb, I stopped at the nearby Ann Taylor Loft, where I purchased a pair of pants--black croppy capri-ish things. I really wanted to dash across the street into the safe haven of the Book Mart afterward, but I dragged myself into Hot Mama with some ill-fated notion of transforming myself.

The salesperson was quite chipper and the dressing rooms were impressively large, plus they were filled with tot toys. But I didn't have a stroller or a tot in tow. And the item I most admired would have required both a tummy tuck and liposuction to turn me into a hot mama, so I left empty-handed.

Unsure of my next move, I brooded over the clothing issue. I wandered aimlessly in shopping purgatory until a fellow blogger mentioned that she uses blog prompts when she’s stuck for a good post idea. I knew I needed a shopping prompt. And I found one…through my blog. Yes, I decided to dress to match my blog!

Just as writing is easier when the writer has a clear focus. Shopping was a breeze once I narrowed the parameters. Rather than getting overwhelmed by rack after rack of clothes, I just headed toward the garishly pink items. Granted, I won’t be among the most fashionable women at the conference, but I may be among the geekiest best branded.

What are you wearing to BlogHer? Are you changing for the nightly parties?

Kim, who is planning a long overdue haircut prior to BlogHer, also blogs (in her ratty old t-shirts) at Scrambled CAKE.

Dear Oprah (again)

Yes, it's us again, the women of Chicago Moms Blog. We're not trying to be pesky or even get on your next Favorite Thing show (although we certainly wouldn't balk at the tix and we'd be happy to share a few fabulous bebe recommendations of our own). We're not trying to snag seats in the Amen Corner and we're not trying to get in good with Bob Greene (although my husband the personal trainer would love to talk shop and it would be fun to get the skinny on the Best Life straight from the source).

We're here because we wanted to let you know that in twelve short days, a gajillion women and a few men will descend upon Chicago with a mighty typing force for BlogHer '07. It will be the biggest blogging conference anywhere and it is happening right here in our beautiful, bustling city. We will basically be talking blogging for three days in your backyard.

I bet you're wondering exactly how much one woman, let alone thousands, can talk about blogging. The answer is: A lot. When we finally get to meet each other face to face after all the screen time we've shared, we will want to talk about the sisterhood among mothers. We'll talk homeschooling and selling our homes, getting away from home with the kids, kids at home and (even better) sending the kids away from home for camp, skate park invasions and more camp.

We will commiserate about paying for the sins of our past in potty training hell and hitting the bar with toddlers (to pee, really...you can even ask Dr. Oz how fast you must act when a kid's gotta go).

After that fab green episode, I'm sure you'll appreciate our conversation about Freecycling (*love*), trying our very best to get even the teensiest bit green and the pleasures and paranoia of turning our kids into eco-snobs.  And ohhhh, the glory and the grrr of the 'burbs.  Grrrlfriend to grrrlfriend, we know you'll appreciate how much we love to go on about Ribfest, kid's menus, milkshakes and super tasting and (ugh) trying to get back in the effing skinny jeans.

And speaking of you, the Chicago Moms Blog community is so Six Degrees of Oprah Winfrey. Catherine M. happily sat in your audience as a Dunstan Baby Language tester and Karen's getting fit with other women (oh so much like you did over Mother's Day with Gayle and many mamas at Canyon Ranch), Wendy was just at the beach and you live just steps away from the beach (coincidence? I think not) Marcie wants to talk about Obama (we all know you love some Barack, my friend) and Meagan's a transplant Chicagoan just like you (spooky, huh?).

And, of course, we will talk and talk and talk some more about mommy blogging. Because it's what we do. It's what we do when we're exhausted and out of breath from carrying the stroller, a diaper bag, four trucks and a doll, our own purse and an off-the-charts toddler up three flights of stairs. It's what we do when take out's on the way and when we're trying to just breathe through those awful cry-it-out afternoons. It's what we do when we feel hilarious and happy and full of it, and what we do when we're overwhelmed and irritated and so over it. It's what we do because it's our career and because we can sneak it in between projects and conference calls at our other jobs (shhh), because we're writers as well as being mothers and wives and partners and professionals and most of all, women together in this little space on our little corner of the internet.

It's what we do and we will keep sharing it with each other, with all the other women about to share our city for a few inspiring days and with you.  Care to join in the conversation, Oprah? I mean, really, darling. How can you possibly resist?

We'll have a cocktail waiting for you. Call us! No, seriously, O. Call me. I mean it. I'll even give you my personal cell number, not my assistant's or even his assistant. OK, who am I kidding? I don't have any people. But I do have a phone line that's way open, so call!

Jessica & the Chicago Moms Blog crew.

Jessica also spouts sassiness daily at Sassafrass.

photo credit: Oprah.com