Calling All Atlanta Moms-To-Be! Mark your calendars for Saturday, February 12 from 10:00 a.m. until noon for an event all about you!

We think planning for your new baby should be fun – but sometimes it’s hard to know where to start!  If you’re looking for helpful pointers, tips and solutions to make your transition to parenthood easier – this event is for you. Join Graco and a panel of mom experts from the Atlanta area to hear advice from real moms on how they prepared for their new arrival.

This group (the final list of panelists will be announced soon!) will answer all of your burning questions about becoming a new parent — like pregnancy, labor, registry and more! Have a question or topic you want to hear about? Leave it here in the comments and we’ll add it to the agenda.

Then stick around for a Graco product giveaway and to meet tons of other parents -to-be just like you. We can’t wait! So bring your bump and come join in the laughter, fun and a chance to meet other new moms in the area.

Here are all of the details:

Date: Saturday, February 12th

Time: 10 a.m. – noon

What: Atlanta New Mommy Event

Where: Cator Woolford Gardens

The Frazer Center

1815 Ponce de Leon Ave NE

Atlanta, GA 30307.

(hors d’oeuvres and drinks will be provided)

Want to join us?! RSVP by emailing your name and contact information to GracoRSVPATL@edelman.com by Friday, February 4! We can’t wait to meet you.

The Zaelit’s are extremely grateful for their prize and it was a pleasure celebrating the arrival of baby Kaitlyn (now 9 months), their first grandchild.  Grandpa Zaelit entered the family in the sweepstakes after his first grand-daughter was born, and was shocked and so grateful he won. “Thanks so much for all that we are getting.  It is a great opportunity for all involved and we could not have had this get-together without you.”

I had a chance to talk with Grandpa Zaelit and he offered up some great comments about being a grandparent.  Check it out:

1. Tell us a quick story of how you found out about the sweepstakes and why you entered.

We love Disney and I do a lot of online stuff (blogs, forums, web sites, pod casts…).  We have visited the theme parks many times.  I enter a lot of online contests for Disney items and my wife and kid tease me about this.  My daughter was doing research on baby products on-line and came across your contest on your web site.  She told me about it and I add it to my daily entries.

2. What do your grandchildren call you?

“Grandpa & Grandma”

3. What is the best part about being a dad/grandfather?

Our small family has always been very close.  It is great being involved in their lives and spending time with them.  We love spending time with Kaitie and watching her grow.

4. What has surprised you most about being a grandfather?

How fast she changes.

5. What is the biggest difference between playing “dad” vs. playing “grandfather”?

I can enjoy her more and not worry as much about needs and care.

6. What has been your most special moment as a parent (or grandparent)?

Watching her birth.

7. What prize are you most excited about?

There are several answers to this question.  Her dad’s  family is flying in for the party, which is always a treat.  Also one set of grandparents have not met Kaitie yet and they will be at the party.  They are also excited about sharing some of the Graco products with family members.  We are always excited to have any kind of family get together.  The savings bond will also be a great help to Kaitie in her future.

8. How many people do you have flying in to celebrate?  What’s the farthest distance someone is coming from?

We are flying in 10 people from Boise ID, Sacramento CA, and Dallas TX.

Congratulations to the Zaelits! The Graco family is thrilled to share this experience with you and we hope you enjoy celebrating the newest addition to your family.

I am happy to have added these fabulous ladies to my list of “IRL” friends:
Colleen from Classy Mommy
Whitney from Mommies with Style
Jo-Lynn from Musings of a Housewife
Beth from Total Mom Haircut
Sarah from Genesis Moments
Melissa from Girly Mama
Shannon from You Ott 2 Know
Amy from Occupation: Mom
Teresa from Elebelly
Cecily from Uppercase Woman
Leslie aka Lollie Peep
Mary Fran from Everyday Adventures
Sue from 1 Year Apart
Julie as herself
Lynette also as herself
Kristie from Mommy’s High Heel Shoes
Shannon and Anna Maria at PBS Kids Sprout (our hosts for our wonderful evening)

Here’s a great video from Sarah of the event (I think her mad editing skilz kept me from looking too stupid!)

One of the best things of the evening was a scavenger hunt we did. We found out some very interesting tidbits about each other.  For instance, we found out that not one of the Philly Mom bloggers (or at least of those present) was a vegetarian. I bet that’s a stark contrast from our sister sites on the west coast! It was a great way to get people up and mingling and checking each other for tattoos that might be hiding in undisclosed locations

We were excited to feature the My Ride 65 and give away lots of other goodies.

And of course the entire evening went off without a hitch because I showed up Erin did everything! (thank you Erin!!) 

I think this night certainly helped stave off a bout of seasonal affective disorder (it’s been quite gloomy here for weeks!) and helped bring an online group closer together. Thanks to everyone that came- I’m sure these ladies will be getting back together again soon!

Like many other companies, there were discussions about canceling the party this year, but we didn’t. Some traditions are just too important to toss out the window when the going gets tough. I hope that the members of this Graco family truly enjoy the time we get to spend together. I have read numerous blog entries where people write that they hate company holiday parties and feel obligated to “make an appearance”. I can only hope that none of the employees here at Graco feel that way-I know I don’t.

So, the 2008 Graco Children’s Products Holiday Luncheon has come and gone…fun was had by all (I think). And everyone walked away with visions of treadmills (or some form of “work off lunch” exercise) dancing in their heads. Although I didn’t get a final count, I believe we had somewhere around 200 employees, a handful of spouses, 85 children (ranging in age from one to sixteen) and Mike the Magnificent.

Did I mention Mike the Magnificent? I should mention that he strolled around during lunch performing magic tricks and making balloon animals for the kids (and hats for some of the adults). After lunch he put on a great 45-minute magic show for the kiddos complete with live bunnies! What a good time. I think the kids (in all of us) really enjoyed his involvement in the day.

We listened to holiday music and raffled off prizes, gave out gifts to the children and gift bags to the employees (stuffed, of course, with products from our other Newell Rubbermaid brands). And yes, Jon did get another Rubbermaid container…

So, I hope Jon didn’t have his heart set on shoofly pie or ring bologna…we went a little more conservative on the menu selection. Hey, Jon…were they still “good eats?”

Graco has been lucky enough to meet some of the fantastic contributors in this book and is happy to be sponsoring some of their upcoming book signings. I was also extremely happy when a very early version of the book landed in my e-mail so that I was able to print all 207 pages of it for my early perusal. (on 100% recycled paper, both sides)

It turned out to be the perfect little bedside read. Because the book is a simple collection of great blog posts, it’s perfect for quick reads on the nights you may have found yourself wheeling and dealing with a 3 year old for 2 hours during bedtime routines or for longer exploration on nights when you may have escaped after-dinner clean up for the comfort of your bed. Each entry was either entertaining, touching, squeamishly familiar, uplifting, belly-laughing funny or heartwarming- and always insightful. There were many nights when even my husband enjoyed the book second-hand because I just had to read him the latest “that-is-so-trueism”

So- not only should you go out and buy this book for you, your expectant friends and perhaps even your mother as a “I totally get it now” peace offering, but if you live in the cities listed below, you should come meet some of the blogging authors at the various Sleep is for the Weak book signings. Here is some information about the signings:

TONIGHT! Friday, Sept. 12 - Rita Arens, Stacy Morrison, Alice Bradley, Laid-Off Dad Doug, Liz Gumbinner and Joanna Polyn give a signing at The Tea Lounge in Brooklyn from 4-7 p.m. (837 Union, Brooklyn, NY 11215) Sponsored by Graco

Saturday, Sept. 13 – Susan Wagner gives a reading at The Full Circle Bookstore in Oklahoma City at 11 a.m. (1900 NW Expressway, Oklahoma City, OK 73118)

Saturday, Sept. 13 – Jenn Satterwhite gives a signing at Barnes & Noble at 1 p.m. (Creekwalk Village 801 West 15th St Suite E Plano, TX 75075)

Saturday, Sept. 13 – Birdie Jaworksi gives a signing at Tome on the Range at 6 p.m. (158 Bridge Street, Las Vegas, NM 87701)

Saturday, Sept. 20 – Joanna Polyn gives a signing at The Big Blue Marble Bookstore in Philadelphia at 3 p.m. (551 Carpenter Lane , Philadelphia, PA 19119)

Sunday, Sept. 21 – Mir Kamin gives a signing at the Borders in Athens, GA. Time TBD (196 Alps Road Athens, GA 30606)

Saturday, Sept. 27 – Rita Arens, Tracey Gaughran-Perez and Amy Corbett Storch give a signing at Vinoteca from 5-7 p.m. in Washington, DC. Wine cash bar. (1940 11th St. NW, DC 20001) Sponsored by Graco.

Thursday, Oct. 2 – Stefania Pomponi Butler, Lisa Stone, Grace Davis, Jen Scharpen and Jenny Lauck give a signing at Keplers in Menlo Park at 7:30 p.m. (1010 El Camino Real Menlo Park CA, 94025) Sponsored by Graco.

Saturday, Oct. 4 – Rita Arens, Eden Marriott Kennedy, Stefania Pomponi Butler, Lisa Stone, Grace Davis, Jen Scharpen and Jenny Lauck give a signing at Swig in San Francisco from 5-7 p.m. (561 Geary St, San Francisco, CA 94102). Sponsored by Graco.

Saturday, Oct. 11 – Rita Arens and Amy Jo Jones give a signing at The Book Cellar in Chicago at from 4-6 p.m. (4736-38 North Lincoln Avenue, Chicago, IL 60625)

Saturday, Oct. 25 – Rita Arens and Kelli Oliver George give a signing at Borders in Omaha at 11:30 a.m. (13105 Birch Drive, Omaha, NE)

Stop by, buy a book, and say hello. Sure, there will be a good book in it for you, but I also happen to know you’ll get a Sharpie with your purchase which might come in handy next time you need to label your kids’ medicine bottles, draw bellybuttons on underwear or write your phone number on your kid before a day at the zoo (seriously)!  Hope to see you!

Here are all the reasons the unofficial Philly Graco Get-Together was officially awesome:

- These ladies were in full effect:
Colleen – Classy Mommy
Sarah- Water, Water Everywhere
Amy - Occupation Mommy
Beth- Total Mom Haircut
Margie – Gunning It
Jo-Lynne – Musings of a Housewife
Kim – Situationally Single
Whitney – Mommies with Style
Mel – Life is Like a Box of Chocolates
Melissa – GirlyMama
Katia – Freeform Katia
Amy – Crazy, but the cool kind
Sarah – Genesis Moments
Kris – SparklyKatt

- It was at Buca di Beppo which is 5 minutes from our office (that wasn’t meant to rub it in Mel- I know it took you 4 hours to get there but I didn’t choose the restaurant!)
- The dessert tray was too heavy to lift so they had to put it on the huge lazy susan just so we could take stabs at it as it came around. D-lish!
- I sat next to Margie who happened to grow up near me in Maryland. And graduated the same year of high school as me. And her 3 year old son’s name was the same as my 3 year old son’s name. And she lives near me! (and she was ready to pop -meaning she was due any day! Everytime she moved we all got a little scared!)
- We squeezed 18 of us around a table in the “Pope Room” and chatted non-stop for the next 3 hours
- Colleen brought goody bags and flowers for everyone (including us!)
- Graco had 2 door prizes- Nautilus car seats, which we made the bloggers work to win.
- Everyone went around the table and introduced themselves, told us when and why they started to blog, and they talked a little bit about their blog. I found that to be incredibly interesting.
- And best of all – - we ended with “We must do this again!”

I’m confident we will get together again and until we do, I’ll just follow their every move on Twitter! Thanks for a great time ladies!

It was certainly fun to see Graco and our NYC mom blog party on the Today Show, but it was even cooler to see some of the smart, funny and sweet women that we have interacted with online like Mir, Kristen, and Jill talking about why they blog. I also enjoyed the interview with Dooce (Heather Armstrong) where she said that she blogs because of the incredible community she has become a part of (well that was one of my favorite take aways- some other folks found Kathie Lee’s lack of computer knowlege rather entertaining).

Either way, it was a fun experience and so is all this blogging stuff!

2 weeks ago, Graco sponsored the 4th and latest blog launch, the New York City Moms blog (sister site to Silicon Valley, Chicago and DC Metro). The upscale cocktail hour was held at the Brassierie 8 1/2 in mid-town.

I was greeted by Erin who had so wonderfully set all the Nautilus information up in my absence and it was a whirlwind from there…

There was Beth from SVMoms with the cutest short haircut ever! (I say that because we looked like we went to the same hairdresser), Jill, also from SVMoms, who I had never met in person was there and Stacy who we met out in Palo Alto just a few months back. Jen Lemen stopped by to give me hugs and photography tips and the Today Show’s Janet Shamlian (mom of 5!) interviewed me for a piece on corporations reaching out to mommy bloggers! (haven’t seen the footage yet, if it’s good, you can be sure I will share it )

After the mini-reunion and tv-time, I thought I should meet some of the new women who make up the NY City Moms blog. I talked to Andi first who recently published a book “Mama Knows Breast” (that would have been helpful for me a few years ago) and Beth who had written her own book (published that day!) called “Peeing in Peace” (which will be a good read if I can get some peace and quiet to check it out). We then chatted with Alexandra and Carolyn who both had slung tiny babies and were clearly happy to be out and about (and looking fantastic, I might add) and then awarded Kelcey a Calphalon One set for winning our “Day in the Life” photo contest with a telling photo of her daughter going potty on the streets of NYC! (not something the moms of suburban PA would understand!)

This is only a handful of the women we met- all of which seemed to be enjoying themselves and each other. Here are a few posts and pictures from the event:

- The post at NYC Moms Blog (scroll down past Katie Couric!) http://svmomblog.typepad.com/nyc_moms/2008/04/katie-couric-kn.html
- Beth’s Excellent NY Adventure – http://techmamas.typepad.com/main/2008/04/techmamas-excel.html
- Kelcey’s famed photo- http://www.mamabirddiaries.com/?p=696

As we were planning our Graco Get-Together with the DC Metro Moms group, and looking forward to meeting so many great mom bloggers face-to-face, we were excited to see that the ever-inspiring WhyMommy was planning on attending. She was kind enough to wrap up her chemo just in time to attend the party. (although I’m not 100% sure she was motivated to do that just to come to our event) Perhaps what motivated her was the opportunity to meet some of her “friends” and “Team Members” who are big supporters of WhyMommy and of course, dedicated readers of her blog.

Well last week, we saw this incredible video that her friends put together for her which just illustrated why the online community is so powerful and so important, especially with moms. Take a look:

[kml_flashembed movie="http://youtube.com/v/3nNjyk_a76U" width="425" height="350" wmode="transparent" /]

The time and effort that went into this tribute from all the moms (under Midwestern Mommy‘s guidance) is one powerful signifier, but even more so, is this list of posts, all titled ‘Tomorrow’, that some amazing moms, bloggers and friends wrote in support of WhyMommy the day before her surgery:

Canape, Mamma Loves, DC Metro Moms, Stimeyland, Lawyer Mama, Queen of Spain, Slouching Mom, Motherhood Uncensored, I Can’t Complain Anymore Than Usual, Two Is Now Three, Two Lines on a Stick, It’s Not About That Anyway, Around the Island, A Decent Bookmark, A Mother’s Musings, The Dairy Wife, Dirty Laundry, All Things Angela, Anderson Family, Kim at BabyCenter, Baby Makes Family, Bubba’s Sis, Bubblewench, Coming to a Nursery Near You, Crazy Bananas, Do You Not Know What Causes That?, Pretty Babies, I Can Fly, Just Not Up, The Further Adventures of SpaceMom, GoodyBlog, Harmony in Motion, Hotfessional, Jen Lemen, Useless Ramblings, Tumble Dry, House of H, Fertile Mertile, What Works for Us, Mountain Momma, Coffee, Shoes, and Ramblings, Dirty Laundry, My Five Little Monkies, My Life As It Is, My Collective Life, Crib Chronicles, Karaoke Diva, Live from the Wang of America, Mom 2 2 Teens, A Bead a Day, Blonde Mom Blog, The Estrogen Files, The Farm House Kids, The Dana Files, The Fourth k h, Growing a Pair, Her Bad Mother, Hormone Colored Days, Just Another Mommy Blog, Just Enjoy Him, Lead Baby, Playgroups Are No Place for Children, Petroville, Phoenix Says, Pundit Mom, Daily Verses, Little Buggas, Sarah and the Goon Squad, So D.C., Chicken and Cheese, Zone Family, Life with Our Little Ladies, Andria and Co., “That” Psycho Family, Sassafrass, Ladybug & Lizards, Parentopia, Plans2Match, Marie Millard, Miss Zoot, Mrs. Fussypants, The Magpie Files, Make Mine a Quad, Nervous Girl, Mommy Needs a Cocktail, Mom, Ma’am, Me, Mommy and the Marine, Monkey Business, Monkeys and Marbles, The Mummy Chronicles, Never Too Late, Okay, Fine, D’it, Ontario Emperor, It’s My Life, Laugh if you Must, Mommy Dance, Slacker-moms-r-us, The Blogs of Life, Midwestern Mommy, Mommy to the Snugglebunnies, PediaScribe, The Pile I’m Standing In, The Ramblings of a Woman, Reality Testing, The Road to Home, TechMamas, Ten Minutes to Naptime, Tiny Mantras, Hearts Wide Open, Baby Cubed, The Butrfly Garden, Reflecting, Sunrays and Saturdays, Amy and Chris, Useless Ramblings, Veritable Life, Mayberry Mom, The Musing Mommy, Wheels on the Bus, Working Mama 24/7, Mommy Needs Coffee writing at BlogHer … BabyMinding, Life with Hannah and Lilly, Mommy … etc., Kat and Rob, My Collective Life

Thank you to all of these bloggers for showing us why community is so important and the significant impact individuals can have when they care about each other.

And Thank you to WhyMommy for sharing so much of yourself. The expression “you get what you give” is clearly the case here.

Since the Silicon Valley and Chicago Mom’s Get-Togethers, Graco has launched this blog so I was able to rub shoulders with fellow (yes- fellow!) bloggers! Many of them were kind enough to give me the thumbs up while some I think are waiting to read it before they go that far.

We’ve seen a number of great posts pop up from the great bloggers since the meet up, here are some of the best:

• What a Night! – WhyMommy (and crossposted – with some great comments)
• D.C. Moms Gone Wild – LawyerMama (also cross posted)
• Wine, Women and One Incredible Baby Soothing Machine – Mommy Chronicles
• Graco Newborn Soothing Center – Julie
• DC Metro Moms Caucus – PunditMom
• I Love Y’all – Stimey
• Friday’s Fun Find – Graco Sweetpeace -Vicky
• Party in the DC – Momma K

The whole evening was just abuzz with a high energy that resembled nothing of a post-holiday wrap up party. Thank you ladies for ushering in the New Year with such umph.