In Vanessa’s own words, she’s just a little bit obsessed with children’s books     She loves reading them, writing about them, and sharing them with others – in particular, with her preschool daughter, Juliet.   I’m planning to have a regular feature here on the blog of “Best Books for Babies” but first, I thought it would be super to have an expert talk to us about blogging, books and kids.  Please read on for our latest “Blogger Spotlight:”  here’s Vanessa!

Q:  When & why did you start blogging?
A: I started blogging about 2 years ago after a friend of mine suggested that I try it out. She insisted that I would LOVE it, but I was skeptical. I remember writing my first post and then deciding that I just could not do it–I think I even contemplated deleting my blog permanently. But after a few days (weeks?) off, I went back to it and haven’t looked back. (She was right, by the way, I DO love it.)

Q: As a mom, what does blogging mean to you?
A:  Blogging is a place for me to be creative and to have something separate from my life as a stay-at-home mom. Even though I write about my kids and my life as a mom, the blog is holding my “career” spot for now. I have a degree in English literature, taught high school English and worked as a textbook writer for several years before having kids. Writing a children’s book blog feels like it goes with those things that I used to do and it makes me feel like I haven’t completely left those skills and interests behind.

Q: Is there any advice you can offer to new parents about how to nurture a love of reading?
A:  Make reading a part of your daily routine from the time they are babies until they grow up and move out.  Fill your bookshelves with beautiful books, make them accessible to your kids, and read with them as often as you can.  Let them see you reading your own books as well.  Kids do what they see.  If they see that reading is important to you, it will be important to them.

Q:  I love the craft projects you do with your daughters on the blog that are inspired by the books you share.  What made you begin to associate books with art?  And what has been your favorite project?
A:  The illustrations of many vintage children’s books have always intrigued me. I think I just went from “Wow, I want to rip this page out and frame it” to “let’s see if I can make this” one day. Sometimes, we’ve had great results with our projects, but sometimes it’s a complete flop. The only problem with my creations is that now my oldest daughter believes that I can make ANYTHING she sees in a book. When I tell her that I absolutely cannot build her an actual fairy house out of an old watering can (one that she can fit inside), she just looks at me with a puzzled look and says, “Well, why not, Mom?!” So basically, I need to find a giant watering can ASAP.

Q:  Many new and expectant parents want to build a small, but special library for their babies.  What are your top recommendations for them?
A:  I love cloth books for babies because they let you begin the “reading” experience early with your child. Just sitting down with your baby and letting him grab at the pages is a start in the reading journey. Jellycat makes some really special cloth books. I like all the interactive elements of their books.  Ikea also usually has a really great cloth baby book in their toy collection. Priddy cloth books are another go-to favorite in our house.

The next step is board books.  I suggest Good Night Moon, Pat the Bunny, and Brown Bear, Brown Bear What Do You See? as must-have classics. Then I would recommend a few Karen Katz titles for some “I love you” books. (Counting Kisses is our favorite.)  Then add a few of your favorite ABC and counting books.  (I love Charley Harper’s ABC board book and 10 Black Dots by Donald Crews.)  And everyone needs a copy of Mem Fox’s Time for Bed.

Of course, I could go on and on all day about this, so if you are interested in more of my favorites, you can check out my baby book guide on my blog!

Q:  And I have to know, what is your favorite Graco product?  Was it the same for both of your daughters?
A:  I love the Snugrider Stroller! We discovered it a bit late with my first daughter, but still got a lot of use out of it especially during trips to the airport. It made transporting my baby/toddler and her car seat so much easier. With my second daughter we used it exclusively during the first six months: for shopping trips, church, walks around the block, etc.  I love that it is easy to open and drop the car seat right in–both my babies loved being pushed around all snug and cozy in their car seat. Also, the storage underneath is perfect for all my gear.

You can find more great book suggestions and art projects from Vanessa on her blog or you can follow her on twitter or facebook. 

How often do you read to your little ones?
What are the books that they love you to read to them over (and over… and over) again?

A huge thanks to our friend, Mommyfriend, for this wonderful post!

One of the few constants in parenthood is imperfection; messy, exhausted, beautiful imperfection.

Before I had children I was one of those people who would strive for perfection in everything. While even true perfectionists understand perfection is unattainable (in theory anyway), somehow we still have our doubts. Once I learned I was expecting, I decided I would be the perfect mother to my perfect baby in our perfect home and life would be, well…perfect.

About 30 seconds after my son was born I traded perfection for survival. My baby was where the perfection ended. I had no idea how to be a mother, let alone a perfect mother! I was tired, overwhelmed, tired and did I mention tired?

Abandoning perfection wasn’t an easy transition for me. I tried to maintain order amidst the chaos of motherhood, but I fought the chaos and the chaos won. Begrudgingly, I raised the wrinkled white flag. I could no longer concern myself with those pesky cobwebs in the corner of the ceiling or the dust on the ceiling fan. I was beginning to understand that as a mother I had a higher purpose than chasing elusive perfection. I had been blessed with a precious baby boy who thankfully didn’t need a perfect mother, he needed me.

I realized soon enough there was perfection to be found in parenthood; it was all about the unexpected bliss and sparks of joy right in the heart of the imperfection. It was about recognizing the magical moments in our everyday. Perfection is dropping everything to cuddle with your child. Perfection is the disastrous (and infamous) family portrait. Perfection is the child who grabs your cheeks with both chubby hands and gives you slobbery kisses. Parenthood is beautiful, surprising and perfectly imperfect. These perfect imperfections are the memories that become part of our family folklore.

I strive to recognize the perfection in my everyday because it’s there; constant, comforting and real.

I encourage my fellow parents to add that dash of crazy, sprinkle of chaos and endless love to your family recipe. It’s yours, it’s delicious and it’s perfect!

1) When & why did you start blogging?
People were constantly asking me what my son was up to on this particular day or that, and I would always have to recount a crazy story multiple times. So I started blogging in July of this year, mainly as a way to answer that question of what did Mr. A do today?

2) As a mother, what has blogging meant for you?
Blogging has been a true release for me. Sometimes as a parent, you may have days when you just want to sit in a corner and pull out all of your hair. My blog is my way of taking those particular days and adding a funny twist just to make me feel better about the randomness of parenting!

3) What’s your favorite part of the day with your child?
I love when my son first wakes up either in the morning or after a nap. I give him a little bit of time to himself before I go into the room to get him. We have a baby monitor in his room and I can hear him babbling and singing to his toys and himself. It is the cutest thing in the world. Then when I hear that little voice start yelling “Ma”, I know it’s time to go in and get him.

4) What was your latest wondrous moment with your child?
My son is trying to walk and it is so sweet to watch him try to take his first steps. He seems to like trying when he thinks no one is watching. It’s fun to watch him from a distance while he figures out this new way of moving.

5) What is your favorite Graco product?
We have had the Pack ‘n Play® Playard in the Lowery design since our son was born. We loved the Newborn Napper® feature because it allowed him to sleep comfortably in the room with us for his first 3 months. Now he enjoys playing in it while I’m cooking. We recently received the My Ride 65 Convertible Car Seat in the Prentis pattern as a birthday gift, so we are excited to make that a favorite Graco product in our family as well.

Do you have a favorite blogger you want to see here on the Graco Blog? Let us know, and they might be featured in next month’s Monthly Blogger Spotlight!

1. When & why did you start blogging?
I started blogging in June 2007 with my cousin Emily Berry, because we both became mothers at the same time and were cracking ourselves up with our pregnancy/postpartum complaints. We thought of writing a book, but by then our babies were toddlers and we just couldn’t find the time! So Emily suggested we start a blog, and we did, even though we had no idea what we were doing. It has been three years of fun, connecting with readers, and amazing opportunities.

2. As a mother, what has blogging meant for you?
Blogging has made me a better mom, because it’s allowed me to be real about my struggles as a parent. I have an outlet to vent, to seek encouragement and advice, and to help others through their struggles. In putting myself out there, I’ve gotten a lot back.

3. What do you think will be your biggest challenge facing the birth of your third child?
I think the biggest challenge will be surviving the sleepless nights and constant neediness of a newborn while tending to my other two. My youngest will be four when the baby is born, and she is VERY much mama’s girl – I think her “sharing” me with the baby poses an equally great challenge!

4. What’s your favorite part of the day with your child?
With my six-year-old son, my favorite part of the day is early morning. He is allowed to get in bed with us after 6am (7am in the summer!) and he is very snuggly and sweet. Those are really precious moments for me when he just loves on me. With my three-year-old daughter, it’s right before nap time in her bed, when we snuggle. She puts her arms around my neck and holds on tight. I have been blessed with two very snuggly kiddos! I hope this new baby loves to cuddle, too.

5. What is your favorite Graco product?
My favorite Graco product is the Infant SnugRide® car seat & base. It made getting my babies in and out of the car safely and quickly SO easy. A close second would be our Graco imonitor™ baby monitor. It’s over five years old and still going strong. I sleep with a lot of white noise, so I still keep a monitor on my three-year-old because otherwise I wouldn’t be able to hear her if she needed me. We have the imonitor™ with two receivers, one for each floor of the house, and it is fantastic!

Do you have a favorite blogger you want to see here on the Graco Blog? Let us know, and they might be featured in next month’s Monthly Blogger Spotlight!

Photo courtesy of Locke Innovations.

I had the opportunity to represent Graco and meet (in person!)  some of our favorite local (to PA) Mommy Bloggers  from Classy Mommy, Mommies with Style , Chester County Moms, and Phillyburbs Mom.  These VERY energetic and enthusiastic moms hosted a fabulous raffle and baby “shower” event attended by 50 lucky expectant moms and their guests.   I’ll tell you about the lucky part in a minute!

Tickets for the event (while they lasted) were free with donation of diapers.  For the number of diapers donated, guests received raffle tickets they could use to enter raffles to win all kinds of baby products from national sponsors, local sponsors and Mompreneuers alike!   It was SO MUCH FUN and ultimately, over 50 boxes of diapers were donated to the Maternal and Child Health Consortium of  Chester County to help new moms in need of assistance..

Graco was a major sponsor of the event and we were excited to be there to showcase OUR newest  arrivals – Myfirstbaby.com  a new online community for new moms to share experiences, advice and upload videos,  AND our new Facebook page Ilovemybabybump which is packed with information for new parents. 

Myfirstbaby.com will feature webisodes hosted by Jill Cordes (from HGTV’s My First Place) who is a new mom herself.  The first webisode “Taking Baby Home” was shown at the event.  We even took some video of our new mom guests at the event. 

Aside from the awesome deserts and even a shower cake, I loved getting to meet so many new and expectant Moms, some of them with their new arrivals all swaddled along.   I was just in Awwwwwww!!  the entire evening.   The event was also chronicled live on Twitter and facebook throughout the evening with a dedicated hashtag – #gracobabyshower.  

Here comes the Lucky part……Graco raffled a Snug Ride 35 Car Seat in the Laguna Bay fashion to one lucky mommy and I was so excited to get to announce the “Oprah Moment” when all 100 guests were given a Graco iMonitor™ digital baby monitor with a retail value of $89.99!  Everyone stood and cheered! It was really exciting, I really did feel like Oprah for a moment.  Here we were getting setup for the big moment:

Thanks to everyone for joining us for an amazing #Gracobabyshower Extravaganza!

Mommy Blogger Dooce (Heather B. Armstrong) shown 40 weeks pregnant with baby Marlo

Meet the Armstrong’s:
Heather B. Armstrong and husband Jon, live in Salt Lake City, Utah with their beautiful six-year-old daughter, Leta Elise, and gorgeous blue-eyed ten-month-old daughter, Marlo Iris. Don’t forget eight-year-old SuperMutt Chuck and their two-year-old miniature Australian Shepherd, Coco.

Maybe you’ve met the Armstrong’s on the popular mommy blog, Dooce.com, where Dooce shares all, and I mean everything, through her Daily Photo, Daily Chuck and Daily Style– not to mention detailed pregnancy stories and other mommy adventures. You might be one of her 1.6 million (yes, with five zero’s) twitter followers  or facebook “likers.” Maybe this is your first time hearing of Dooce.

Heather has captivated her audience through unparalleled photography and an unprecedented sense of honesty, which are reason enough for why Dooce was my obvious blogger spotlight. I am honored and thrilled to present my interview with the pioneer mommy blogger, the creme de la creme: Dooce!

1. When and why did you start blogging?

I started blogging in February 2001 when I was working as a single web designer in Los Angeles. This was back when no one really knew what a blog was, and I didn’t think more than a couple of dozen of my friends would ever read it. I set it up to write about music and movies and life a single woman in the city never knowing or expecting that one day it would become not only my job but the story of my life as a mother and wife.  

2. What’s the thing that has surprised you most about being a parent?

I didn’t realize how much more sensitive and understanding it would make me not just toward other parents, but toward all other human beings. We are all children. Everyone is the son and daughter of someone, and when I became a parent, I became a lot less judgmental of people.

3. As a mother what has blogging meant for you?

Well, I really thought I was going to give up my blog when I gave birth to my first child, but I found that writing and articulating my feelings during her first few months of life helped me work through some pain and confusion. I had a really bad bout of postpartum depression, and my audience reached out to tell me that I wasn’t alone, that I was going to be okay. I credit my audience with saving my life because they helped me get to a place where I was willing to check myself into a hospital.

Marlo Iris, Dooce's second baby girl

I also feel like I have a written history of our family life. Having an active audience provides a lot of motivation to continue to write, and now I can go back and read about what I was feeling seven years ago when I was pregnant with my first child.

4. What does your own mom or dad think about Dooce?  

Initially they had a really hard time with it, but that was back when I didn’t think they were ever going to read it. They found it on a particularly bad day, in fact, and I took down a lot of the writing I did in the first few months. I’ve since had to rework my boundaries, and now I write knowing that they read it every day. And they are proud of me, despite having to close their eyes from time to time. I get my drive from my mom and my sense of humor from my dad, so I know they can see than in my writing.  

5. If this blog was written just for parents about to have their first child, what would you want them to know?  

Be prepared for the ride of your life. Everything changes. You will never be the same, and that isn’t such a bad thing. Also, you’re not alone.  

6. Is there any advice that you can offer to new Moms?  

Yes! Find some way to get a break as often as you can. Once a week, three times a week, every day, something. If you can afford to hire help, hire it. If your mom is willing to help, take it. Or find a friend you can swap time with, or join a church and ask for pity! It’s so important to find some time for yourself however small or infrequent it is just to keep your sanity. Those thirty minutes can recharge you for days.

Photo Copyright: © Armstrong Media, LLC. All rights reserved. Used with permission. Photo Credit: Heather B. Armstrong

I am very excited to introduce our first Dad-to-be featured in Graco’s monthly blogger spotlight series! Here are some questions I asked Shane at Calgary Daddy. Be sure to check out his blog & follow CalgaryDaddy on twitter.

1. When & why did you start blogging?
I started calgarydaddy.com in November 2009, just 6 weeks before Kyron was born. I thought it would be fun to share some of my journey with everyone, as it seems there are not as many dad bloggers out there.

I also find that blogging allows us to share video and pictures with our family and friends that live in other cities. I really do enjoy blogging and love the feedback I get from my readers.

2. What is your favorite part of the day with your child?
This is easy! My favorite part of the day is first thing in the morning! I usually get up with Kyron and allow mom to sleep in. Seeing his big smile and laugh the first time he sees me in the morning is priceless. I look forward to it every single day.

3. What is your favorite part about being a dad?
My favorite part is seeing Kyron grow. I often daydream about who he is going to be when he grows up and what he will be like. It’s a big responsibility, but I love the fact that we are helping to shape his life.

4. Is there any advice that you can offer to new Dads?
Best Advice…. Just Relax! I found that the first few weeks that I was so worried about how I was doing. Was I doing this right? Did I do that right? It is a learning process…so just breathe!

Another piece of advice…help Mom as much as you can. Allow her to sleep/rest as much as she can. It really is a 24/7 job for mom, so make sure she gets a break.

5. What is your favorite Graco product?
We actually have a lot of Graco products. My favorite is probably the imonitor™ Video Baby Monitor! This video monitor allows us to actually see into his crib, even when the room is dark.

Do you have a favorite blogger you want to see here on the Graco Blog? Let us know, and they might be featured in next month’s Monthly Blogger Spotlight!