Graco management thinks a little fresh (cold!) air helps kick-start new thinking… and it does! Thinking like, “what did I get myself into?!”

We wanted to share some pictures of a recent Graco business meeting where some adventurous staffers decided to check dog-sledding off their list of things they have always wanted to do in life.  They came back full of great business ideas and insisted they were simply trying to get the “real” feeling of being bundled up in full winter snowsuits, strapped in a stroller.   (This completely redefines “team building”… just look at that seating arrangement! Oh boy.)

If you can believe it, that is our very own, blogger extraordinaire Amy Sleep in the front (6 months pregnant and all!)…Don’t worry though, the sled didn’t hit 5 mph…Baby Sleep was safe, always our #1 priority.

As you can see, sometimes it’s just as important for big kids to get out and play too. I am pretty sure most of them would have preferred to ride with their own kids in their laps (rather than colleagues) but they certainly got a kick out of the experience nonetheless.  (although Kim smuggled Bear in her suitcase so she could get a taste of her own version of dog-sledding)

It must have been something about the light falling snow, being bundled up like a swaddled baby, or how the situation took them back to their own beloved sled rides as kids themselves. Whatever it was, they welcomed the break from long days in the office and they’ve all come back rejuvenated.  Even kid-like.

Business trips can be fun – they give me the opportunity to visit new cities and sample different cuisine from around the world – all on the company tab (thanks Graco!).

I did not, however, enjoy my recent business trip to Shanghai. Oh, getting there and being there were great. Getting home – not so much. Due to some mechanical mishap on board the plane, near the end of the flight home, we had to land quickly in Chicago and make our exit from the plane via the inflatable exit slides. You know, the ones the flight attendants tell you about when you’re not paying attention? Sure I’d seen it done in the movies a bunch of times, never actually did it myself, though. In fact, I’ve never been a huge fan of sliding boards in general – it’s not so much the sliding or the height that bother me, but the sudden stop.

Anyway, all we passengers made our way to the exits and then one by one (just like in the movies) we hurled ourselves out the door and down the slide. I could just imagine my kids doing this, shouting “Wheeeeeeeeee” as they slide down that long fluffy slide – no doubt they would have asked if they could do it again. I on the other hand, jumped and then braced myself for that sudden stop, but you know, it really wasn’t that bad – better than the playground slide, really - higher, faster and a softer stop, too! It was nonetheless, unnerving.

I was so glad to be safely on terra firma again, so happy I’d be seeing my wife and kids again soon. When at last I did, I told them my toiling travel tail. My kids thought it sounded like great fun – like I spent the day at the O’Hare International Fun Park – had to remind them it was the airport – and that they probably had more fun hearing the story than I did living it. I suppose they got the impression that my business trip consisted of jumping around all day in one of those bouncy-house inflatable things like at a carnival or something. I wish! It was a long, scary trip and I was exhausted. Couldn’t wait to just unpack and take one last slide - into bed, “Wheeeeeeeeee!” Now that’s MY kind of fun.

Greetings from the East Coast!  Yes it’s true; I am back in Pennsylvania… Unfortunately I didn’t get “discovered” out in Hollywood so now I am back in the office and working hard on all of the follow up from the Boom Boom Room. What an amazing event. I am still running off momentum from the mind-blowing two days I spent at the Pre-Golden Globe gifting suite schmoozing the celebrities and trying my darndest to make some new A-lister friends. You already heard about Scott Baio making fun of me. I mean, come on, why??? I understand I look young- but 15?  I guess I will appreciate looking 8 years younger than I do- probably in about in 8 years!  If you think about it, I probably look young to any 46 year old.

Ali Landry also stopped by our suite (which we shared with 2 great women from Chic Papoose). She was so nice and appreciative. Ali was so excited about sweetpeace, she gushed over the product and she really couldn’t stop talking about it. She was looking forward to using it with her daughter Estela who is 7 months old but is just as excited to share it with her sister who is due very soon. Oh and I met  my favorite funny girl, Joely Fisher (she had her daughter in the Graco Mosaic designed by Cynthia Rowley which she picked up at last year’s Boom Boom Room). Her show on Fox “Till’ Death” is my absolute favorite! Joely was just as witty in person and very down to earth. It looked as though she and Carnie Wilson were buddies. They greeted each other with a BIG hug. And whenever Lola becomes a big sister, Carnie Wilson will definitely be using sweetpeace because she thinks sweetpeace is “GENUIS!” (I didn’t say it- she did) 

Another highlight from the Boom Boom Room for me personally was meeting Jodie Sweetin. I grew up watching Full House, so meeting “Stephanie Tanner” was so exciting for me. She and her husband were wearing customized “his and her” Converse Sneakers which I LOVED- how original (and cute)! She was so nice and very bubbly. Jodie already knew all about sweetpeace and was a HUGE fan! Make sure to check out Celebrity Baby Blog in the beginning of February, they will be posting a story on Jodie.

Other celebrities that stopped by are: •         Angela Kinsey
•         Catt Sadler
•         Chandra Wilson
•         Chris Noth
•         Christie Lynn Smith
•         Cole Hauser
•         Dave Kushner
•         Denise Richards
•         Evan Handler
•         Guiliana Rancic
•         Kevin Frasier
•         Kevin Weisman
•         Kim Porter
•         Leah Remini 
•         Louis Lombardi
•         Nicole Tubiola
•         Niecy Nash
•         Omorosa Manigault
•         Rena Sofer 
•         Roger Cross
•         Salli Richardson
•         Samantha Harris

As you know, I am in LA at the Boom Boom Room celebrity gifting suite. It has been absolutely amazing and I have much to share, but we will get to that later. As of right now I have some pretty exciting news – word on the street (or more precisely, word on Beverly Blvd where Cedars-Sinai Medical Center is located) is that Nicole Richie gave birth to a beautiful baby girl named Harlow Winter Kate Madden. Harlow was born yesterday afternoon and weighed 6 lbs. 7 oz. Congratulations to the proud parents!! Oh, did I mention they have sweetpeace!?  

The rum0r mill is-a-going… apparently Christina Aguilera has checked into the same hospital and is in labor, however the popstar’s rep denies, stating that Aguilera is still preggers.  Other celebrity births to report on:

David Alan Grier welcomes Luisa Danbi
Courtney Thorne-Smith welcomes Jacob Emerson
Toni Collette welcomes Sage Florence
Stella McCartney & Alasdhair Willis welcome Beckett Robert Lee

Remember to check back for more celeb baby news and updates from Sarah Granger of the SV Mom Blog on how the Boom Boom Room is going!

PS- I can officially say that I have been made fun of by a celebrity. Scott Baio totally poked fun at how young I look . I guess he showed me “who’s in charge!”

So if you read my blog bio, you know me as “Erin McHugh, Marketing Coordinator;” (so formal, which I am not) however my friends refer to me as “Little E.” I may be vertically challenged, but I don’t know if “little” is the proper adjective to describe me, as I am kind of a big deal around here (probably why the nickname never caught on at the office)!! Well, maybe I am not as much of a big deal as I would like to be, but I am the resident Graco celebrity baby news blogger, which I think is HUGE!!

I mentioned in my bio how I spend my Saturday mornings, but I didn’t mention Sunday mornings. Well, I spend every Sunday morning and evening working. I know it sounds like a real drag, but it’s great. When I say work, I mean reading every celebrity rag mag on the shelves. Let me tell you- it’s fabulous. I can totally get out of doing the dishes from our big Sunday dinner because “I have work to do.” What my boyfriend doesn’t know is that I am in fact hiding away indulging in a little US Weekly or People! A job does not get any better than this!

So up until now I have read tons of magazines, watched a mass amount of entertainment news television shows, and of course followed every celebrity blog site I can find! I’ve kept track of celebrity pregnancies and births and most importantly, reported back to my co-workers on which celebs are using Graco products! It’s been a real hoot! But now I have to get my game face on because today, Graco hits the Boom Boom Room and I will be face to face with tinsel town’s finest!

I will be attending The Boom Boom Room’s Wonderland with fellow blogger Lindsay Lebresco and our colleague Jen Callaghan. The Boom Boom Room was intended to be a pre-Golden Globe gifting suite for celebrity parents and those who are expecting. I think we all know by now that the Globes have been canceled, but the Boom Boom Room must go on!!! I am super excited to have the opportunity to have one on one conversation’s with the amazing superstars whom I professionally stalk from afar. The latest attendee list has all us freaked out!! I will have to try my hardest to play it cool because it is likely that I may be completely star struck! Check back for more juice on who I met and how the event turned out. I will have some awesome pictures, I promise!!

In the meantime, look out for LIVE blogging (!) from our room where Sarah Granger from the Silicon Valley Moms Blog and is coming to give the play by play. Keep checking back to see if your favorite celeb stops by!

The Pack ‘n Play turned 20 years old on December 3rd. We had a little celebration here in the office to commemorate the occasion – noisemakers, birthday cake, sparkling cider (honest)- the whole shebang! It’s quite an accomplishment for a product to set the standard for an entire category and remain the leader for two decades!

I was fortunate to have been a part of the Pack ‘n Play team here at Graco for about a quarter of that time…..It began as a simple rectangular playard that folded easily to go places. It has since evolved into an essential part of a new mom’s wish list and home with lots of useful features being added to the product over the years.

Personally, I found that the earlier you start using a playard with your child, the easier life will be and the better you can keep your child contained (that’s the word moms use in research)- so you know where he or she is. Unfortunately I waited a bit too long and couldn’t keep my son in it long enough to get anything done around the house. He’d always be jumping out, running through the house, asking to borrow the car keys, whatever. But really we did not use it early enough for him to become accustomed to it and so by the time we tried it, he was used to the freedom of the open hallway….ZOOM! He was off to the races. So I grew accustomed to having projects half-finished, showers half-taken, and meals half-cooked.

I became rather skilled at running after him saying “NO,NO,NO,NO”….”SIT,SIT,SIT SIT” “STOP IT, STOP IT, STOP IT, STOP IT!”

I spent nearly 5 years working on the Pack ‘n Play team and envied the moms who, in focus groups, would tell us how wonderful playards are in helping them get things done around the house and keeping their little ones out of trouble. 25 million kids using Pack ‘n Plays over the past 20 years, and I get Harry Houdini – the escape artist! Now he’s 13 and can’t get out of bed in the morning! But I suppose it all works out…he’s turning into a really good kid. Maybe now I can get back to some of those incomplete projects around the house, take a nice long shower, and eat a well done steak for a change.

Happy Birthday Pack ‘n Play!

I am very excited in writing this post to introduce Graco to the blogosphere. Today is certainly a “first” for Graco but it is just one step in a long journey that Graco has been on for over 50 years. Graco certainly has great hopes, aspirations and goals for this blog, but much like entering into parenthood, you never quite know what to expect.

Graco has been watching the corporate blogosphere evolve with various brands talking with real voices in conversations with their customers. We are excited to be able to take a more active role in the online parenting community and we hope we can contribute at least as much as we learn. Of course, when we say “corporate” blog, you can appreciate that there will be limits to what we can say and who we respond to, but our intention is to create a voice that truly represents who we are – a company of individuals who are moms and dads, grandmoms and pop-pops, aunties and uncles, caregivers, soon-to-be parents and lovers of all things Baby.

We hope to engage all of you in conversations about the wondrous journey of parenthood, talk directly with consumers, share industry knowledge, be a resource for parents, but mostly, we hope to make it an open community with a two-way conversation. We are excited and anxious to hear from you. We truly believe this will help us to become a better brand in servicing the “real” needs of parents.

Now to introduce myself- I’m Lindsay Lebresco, your connection to Graco and your blog guide. I’ve been a blog reader since I became a mom almost 3 years ago and while I’ve kept a journal for both of my children since they were born, I’ve never had a public voice where these two worlds come together. For this I’m excited, but it may take me a bit to find that voice – one that is truly representative of me as well as this entire company (which honestly, can be a bit intimidating!).

My journey as a parent has been incredible- as most are, but I have the privilege to work in an environment that shares my passion and dedication to children. And now, I have the opportunity to tell you more about both journeys. I hope you will enjoy the conversation here and be sure to keep watch for contributions from other employees, experts and friends of Graco.

We consider your feedback an integral part of this conversation, so feel free to share your thoughts on how we could make this blog more useful, more informative and even more engaging for you. Please keep in mind that Graco works within a highly regulated industry, which means there are certain topics we will not be able to discuss here. For a full understanding of what we can and can’t discuss, be sure to reference our Rules of Engagement and terms of service.