Boog is thinking: “Is this all she does?”
Hercules is thinking: “I wonder what else he will try to feed me as I get older…”
Amy is thinking: “Did he sterilize that?”

Amy wanted to share this sweet moment between a new big brother (Boog) and his new little sis (Hercules). 

(I’m a little hesitant to tell Amy about my experience between my son Jagger and his little sis B - let’s just say I don’t have too many “sweet moment pics” to share on this blog!)

Every Wednesday we’ll be sharing a photo showing off a little bit of wonder in the lives of our extended Graco family of customers, employees and friends.

“Honey, I swear I see two lines! Do you?”  The excitement burning inside, we are elated, giddy and the feeling comes; there is no way we can go 3 months without telling anyone. There is one upside about waiting 3 months before the big announcement…you have plenty of time to get creative.

We have 13 nieces & nephews and needless to say my brothers & sisters are extremely creative when it comes to announcing the news. My husband and I were anxious for the day it would be our turn…and how would we announce to our family?

I love this topic, especially now, since, not too long ago, we shared the news of our 2nd pregnancy with our family. (Baby #2 due in July)

This announcement was fun – we were celebrating our daughter’s 2nd birthday. Our entire family was coming into town; so we decided to do a “Year in Review” video for our daughter. It ended with her Goal List for 2008 — which included the hard task of “becoming a big sister”. Needless to say our families were thrilled, a lot of screaming, crying and hugging. (the “goal list” is another blog for another day)

Announcing to your family takes one tone and announcing to your team-members at work is an entirely differently deal. I wanted to explain the reason for my growing waistline to my marketing team at Graco. You can imagine how news spreads in an office setting – and I wanted to be sure to tell everyone on the team ‘myself’. You should never break-up via email; but nobody said anything about pregnancy announcement via email.

I was quite impressed with the response time to my email (especially given the timing of 5pm on a Friday) – I received a phone call within 1 minute of pushing send and that phone call was quickly interrupted by 2 young ladies screaming (one pictured here) as they ran into my office. It’s fun to work here and even more fun working with the people on the marketing team!

So I had some fun pulling some of the best ways…and I have created a Top 10 List.

Top 10 Ways to Announce “We’re Pregnant”:
10. Email the ultrasound picture to your family
9. A picture says a thousand words, yes that’s the EPT test.
8. Wrap a baby shoe as a gift to your family or husband
7. If there is an older sibling – the t-shirt announcing “I’m going to be a BIG Sister/Brother” is a sure win
6. My sister-in-law gave my mom a teapot (she collects them) and inside was a note that read; “Time For Tea and Baby #3. Clever!!
5. That same family (they have 6 amazing kids) – met my parents for dinner at a quaint restaurant and my parents were quite excited when they saw the Pink & Blue balloons at the table when they arrived.
4. From a dad-to-be to the future grandpa, “It looks like we will need additional Football Tickets this season”
3. Put an ultrasound picture on your Holiday Card (our special gift is arriving in July)
2. Have a bouquet of balloons (pink & blue) delivered to work or a grandparent’s house
1. And the BEST announcement ever…Anonymous post on a Family Website “Guess Who’s Pregnant”

Any additional ideas you could share with our parents-to-be??

April 12, 2008 - Jodie Sweetin delivers baby girl Zoie, 8lbs, 7oz.

I had the pleasure of meeting Jodie Sweetin at the Boom Boom Room in LA this past January. It was pretty cool to have the chance to talk to someone that I grew up watching on TV. Yes, I was a huge fan of Full House, I still find myself watching the re-runs!! While she has been through some tough times in her life, she is more than thrilled to start the next chapter. Now Jodie is all grown up and will soon have a full house of her own (well not quite, but even with one infant crying I am sure it can seem like a full house!) Jodie is now married and had her first baby on Saturday via c-section, almost an entire week after her April 6th due date. You can find a detailed interview and amazing photos of Jodie and her husband Cody Herpin on Celebrity Baby Blog.

Here is a brief “free write” that Jodie wrote for Graco-

Wow! Being pregnant! I know everyone says it’s a life-changing experience, but until you feel that first kick or see the sonogram pictures, you have no idea what it truly means. Every day, I wake up and look at my belly and am amazed. There is a life waiting to be lived in me that I can’t possibly imagine! Only a small distance away from what I can see with my eyes is a little person who will forever change my life. How blessed are we as women to have this gift?! It is a power that I never dreamed I would feel. Of course, there are also those times I look down and think “Seven more weeks? How much bigger is this thing gonna get? And how is she getting out of here again? Ha! Impossible!” Or the moments of spontaneous hysterics over something like a sweet card from my husband or lost sock in the dryer. (I refuse to even try watching Extreme Makeover Home Edition!) But these brief moments of panic and upset are taken away when I walk into the nursery my husband and I painted pink. When I look at the crib we built and imagine the little person that’s going to fit in there. I can’t wait to wrap her up in a blanket and smell her little sweet smell. To love and protect something with all of my being as a person, as a woman, as a MOM! I just want to say to all the pregnant gals, sleepless moms and the husbands who we couldn’t live without, ROCK ON!! We are doing the most important work in the world!

One of Graco’s newest babies was born last week. After a 48 hour labor, she was born weighing in at a healthy 1.4 ounces! The 2008 Graco Registry Guide is hot off the press and ready to help you decide exactly what you want and need for your new little one on the way.

So, I can’t say that the printing process is physically painful (like real labor) but it is definitely physically draining. Press checks keep you up at all hours and often come along about every two hours- just like feeding schedules. Dreary eyed and half awake we stumble over to the plant to make sure all the product looks accurate, the babies look healthy (green/yellowish babies are not our goal…luckily we can “heal” sick babies quickly with the press of a few buttons), and as we get closer, the excitement of finally seeing a piece that has been in the oven for months, makes us a little giddy.

Evidence of just that is seen here…yes…I am tap dancing while the press is “down” and we are waiting for it to be fixed. Note: I get a free pass here…we had been up all night!

I thought it might be fun to show you a sneak peak with these photos of just how the catalog makes it into your hands. Check out the size of those paper rolls!

We started the development of the Registry Guide back in December, you may remember our photo shoot post, and we’ve spent the last few months defining exactly how to make this guide the best tool for you. We’ve added a registry checklist that you can easily tear out and take into stores with you, photographs of our collections so you can find one that fits your style, and a product section that walks you through basic information on what you need first, and why. Our goal is not to overwhelm you with all of the options out there; it’s to help simplify your decision making. If we can help you narrow down your choices, suggest a few tried and true favorites, and provide tools to help you register, than you have more time to spend painting your nursery or playing with your other children! Isn’t that the way you want to spend your pregnancy anyway?!

If you are interested in viewing the catalog or receiving a copy, you can simply request it here. In an effort to save trees and “go green” we now have an electronic version that you can view online, print out your favorite pages, or forward to a friend if you think they would like it too!

Let us know what you think about the new registry guide…we hope you think it’s a [useful] little thing. I just wish I could say that cover baby was mine…what a cutie!

And here’s Amy… (still on maternity leave!!) 

When thinking of everything I’d do as an “Experienced Mom,” there were definitely a few things that I planned on improving the second time around – especially in the early months.   

Yet, here I am at 3am watching TV and typing with a sleeping baby on my lap.  Hmmmm.  According to my plans the baby should be asleep in the bassinet and I snug in my bed.  We didn’t use a bassinet with the first baby and I didn’t sleep in my own bed for over a month.  This time is supposed to be different, but the new little one has a stuffy nose and I’m afraid to let her sleep flat on her back. 

And during the drive home from the hospital, I again made my husband stop the car so I could climb in the backseat to be next to the baby (yes.  I did the same thing with baby #1).  I couldn’t bear to have her be alone (OK with her older brother), with the sun in her eyes, and crying.  It ripped my heart out. 

OK.  And one last example of me breaking my resolution was when I decided I was going to be more laid back this time around – yet today I spent an hour creating a spreadsheet to track feedings, poopy diapers, and wet diapers.  I just want to make sure that she’s tracking OK and eating enough along the way. 

Yes.  I have a rationale for why I broke each resolution, but it all comes down to one simple thing. . . I love this little girl with all my heart.  While I had sound reasons why I wanted to change certain things with my second baby, I planned all of these when having an infant was a distant memory.  Now that she’s here and I’ve fallen head over heels in love with her, when it comes down to having to choose between her comfort and mine, hands down she’s going to win every time.   

I’m still hopeful that I will use the bassinet one of these days and that I can sleep in my own bed, but if that doesn’t work out then at least I’ll have lots of quality bonding time with my little girl (and the DVR!).

“Hmmm… I’ve got some explorin’ to do!” 

This is a picture of blogger Kristin’s daughter, Punkin’ Bear, in the Children’s Garden at Longwood Gardens here in PA. They had been building this garden since before Punkin’ Bear was born so they were all excited to finally get to see it! (all of it- even the stuff behind the locked gates!)

Every Wednesday we’ll be sharing a photo showing off a little bit of wonder in the lives of our extended Graco family of customers, employees and friends.

My son has one. He’s got it bad. But guess who’s not ready for rehab? Me. Jagger’s blankie is the love of his life right now – no, not after Mommy and Daddy – I mean the love of his life- A #1, numero uno, TLA. And who can blame him? Who wouldn’t fall in love with these qualities??:
- It will never let you down
- It won’t judge you
- It will never ignore you
- It won’t bite (even when bitten! That’s more than Jagger’s sister can say)
- It won’t tell you to “hold on” “please wait” “not now” “maybe later” – it’s ready whenever you are
- It won’t lie to you (white lies people – I’m just talking Santa and the Easter Bunny)
- It will always be there for you
- You can count on it to do whatever you want- always.

At this point, Jagger has 3 identical blankies but he only knows about 2 of them.  I interchanged those 2 for almost 3 years without him even knowing there was more than one. I wanted to be sure I always had a back up in case one got lost plus, this way I could wash one when the other one was being used. (brilliant, right??) They both got so nasty that my MIL and I found another one on Ebay to have a “cleaner” alternative. He was thrilled when he opened that present on Christmas but of course now he likes the clean one the best- giving us one option instead of the intended 3! Luckily (I think) the 3rd one is getting nice and nasty just like the others.

 My daughter B has a blankie problem too (apparently my husband and I are dealers) but it isn’t as bad. She carries it with her everywhere around the house (they are generally not allowed out of the house and mostly kept in the bedrooms) but B’s habit isn’t quite as problematic as Jagger’s. B simply holds it and rubs it on her face as she settles down for bed. Jagger, on the other hand, bites it- all night long. It is disgusting. I was happy when I heard someone else was dealing with this same issue but her son is only 2-she’s has time to change that (if she wants).

He’s totally getting an overbite because of it, he’s becoming more and more reliant on it and asking to keep it with him more often, and did I mention it was gross? And with all that, I still don’t want to “break him of his blankie habit.” I read Kim’s post about Bear getting rid of her binkies at two years old and for a split second I felt guilty about my slobbering, 3-year old with a mean overbite – but then I stopped. I realize that I love his blankie as much as he does. I love that it is, and will always be, the most reliable companion he can ever have. That blankie will never let him down or ignore him or yell at him and frankly, I know I will eventually do all of those things. I know a son’s true love can’t always be his mommy (and I was replaced at quite an early age) but maybe I’d rather be replaced by a blankie than another woman  :)  I hope his future wife won’t be jealous of Jagger drooling over “someone” else because if it were up to me, he may still have his blankie then.

Maternity leave…time away from work, time to spend enjoying your new addition to the family, time to bond and focus on the most important thing in the world during those few months- your new baby. Many people ask…What is she doing while she’s away? When is she coming back? Will she be different when she returns?

An amazing thing happens on maternity leaves it seems. Every time a woman at Graco leaves to have her child (sometimes planned, sometimes suddenly) it’s a little shocking. It’s like we are missing a piece of our puzzle here and it takes a little time to adjust to her being gone. However, it’s amazing to think she is leaving temporarily to accomplish something huge. She isn’t going on vacation; she isn’t kicking back and putting her feet up. Instead, she is embarking on one of the biggest and most rewarding challenges of her life. She is bringing a new life into the world. And that changes who she’ll be when she comes back to us at Graco.

She isn’t getting a break from her everyday job…she is starting a new venture that feels like much less “work” and much more “reward“. The fresh perspectives, the new memories, and the beaming face when she returns tell stories of all the fun (and sleepless nights) she enjoyed during her time away from the office. We hope they sometimes send the “boys” out for some fun so they can can enjoy some one-on-one time with their new little bundles.

For those of us who remain behind to hold down the fort while she is gone, it’s a reunion when she returns. It’s exciting to live vicariously through the Graco moms that take leave…we get all the great stories…we get to hold the baby when they get their first office tour…and we get to feel the love and excitement they have for their new little ones.

As you know, Amy Sleep just had little Allie and although it feels like three months will be forever until she comes back, time will most certainly fly for her. We couldn’t be happier to have her gone for such a special reason but hope she hurries back to us soon too. She at least needs to swing by the office so we can squeeze on her little one some! Then it won’t be long before we get to squeeze the cheeks of a little DeLoach and a little Lefko too!

It’s time to put the “O” back in Mommy and the “O” is Optimism!! How many articles are written about sleep deprived mothers, the challenges of balancing motherhood and work, how to whittle that waistline from baby #3 and more…

There is so much to celebrate about motherhood and we would all agree that even after a ‘tough’ day with a toddler, the next morning we can’t wait to get our little bundles out of bed. I think the “O” fell out of mommy when the tone took a shift…look at these “why’s” vs “why nots”
• Why the terrible twos? Why not the tremendous twos?
• Why is it sleep deprivation? Why not sleep efficiency?
• Why is it a struggle to balance being a working mom? Why not a gift to have the choice?

So, I’m going to go there…probably the ONLY conflict that exists between mothers today. Do you work or stay-home? (Also as a point of clarification Work-for-pay vs. Stay-at-home moms…because both are jobs) How many times have you been in a similar situation; you run into a complete stranger in the aisle of a Target – and as soon as you both realize you’re mothers, a conversation can spark-up with incredible energy and excitement. The only topic most women tiptoe around is “do you work or do you stay home”.  And I truly believe there is an envy and jealousy that triggers as a result of the other woman’s answer. And why the envy AND jealousy? …because we live in a world where we WANT IT ALL.

My point of view- why have a strong opinion about one over the other because both are GREAT!

Obviously, I’m a “work-for-pay” mother  (as I’ve now heard it put) and I wanted to offer an “optimistic” point-of-view for all working mothers out there. I had an awesome conversation with a great friend of mine (Tracy), who is also a working mother. As we sat on the beach we posed the question to each other; “If everything in your life remained the same; if you had the choice would you choose to work?” Put another way, “If you could remove the worries of providing stability and opportunities for your family, would you choose to work?”

My friend so eloquently described the situation a little differently; we shouldn’t get wrapped up in making the right decision for your family – staying home or returning to work. Rather, we should find peace in the idea that we have a choice! Every day we have the choice to work is a day to celebrate, because think about the many women who came before us. They didn’t have the luxury & freedom of choosing. The choice is what all women who came before achieved for us.

So next time we read Mommy Wars (looking for the answer on ‘how to have it all’)…celebrate the idea we have a choice. Here is a favorite quote that summarizes the sentiment, “Life is a journey and we can take a turn or detour anytime we want”. This quote offers incredible solace knowing that our decisions never have to be permanent.

Enjoy the journey of motherhood! Today we celebrate YOU!!

I didn’t do it. Nobody saw me do it. Can’t prove a thing.

This is a photo of Geneva Greenleaf’s (Fashion Team) 5-month Grandson in the Graco Baby Einstein activity center.  She said he takes his “playing” very seriously while he’s in there - like he’s clocking in and going to work.  (looks like a fun job to me!)

Every Wednesday we’ll be sharing a photo showing off a little bit of wonder in the lives of our extended Graco family of customers, employees and friends.