Birth & Baby Fair preparations!

It is approaching fast!  In just over three weeks I will be at the San Francisco Birth and Baby Fair at Fort Mason selling my Push Pack.  I am excited, focused and a little nervous.  This is my first time as a vendor & I have no idea what to expect!  For now, I am trying to get all of my little (and big) things checked off my to do list.

Yesterday, I bought the fabric for the cover of my display table.  It is a lime green with white polka dots.  I wanted something that people could easily identify.  I think this fabric does the trick!

This is a huge event & I am so excited to be a part of it.  If you haven't been to one of these before and are expecting a baby, I suggest you go!  Not only will I be there ;)  but you will see all of the latest & greatest things for your new precious baby.

Check out the website www.birthandbabyfair.com get your discounted tickets today!!  When you are there, please come by and say hello!  I'd love to meet you & mention my blog for an extra discount on your Push Pack!

Have you been to a baby fair before?  What did you think?  What did you like?  Comments please!

The "Binki" Habbit

Pacifier, plug, nuk, and a few others are all names that I have heard for the thing we call a binki in our house.  All three of my girls use binkis, and have since they were two days old.  They all still use them now, at ages 4, 2 1/2 and 1.

When Vivienne was a newborn, I like so many other new moms, I was given many pieces of conflicting advise by well meaning nurses in the hospital when it came to breastfeeding.  One nurse told me to let her nurse (at two days old) 30 minutes on each side.  I was in so much pain at the end of the day I was ready then & there to switch to bottles.  Then Vivienne's pediatrician (a man in his 80's to the best of my knowledge) came in & gave her a pacifier.  He told me, sometimes, babies just want to suck.  It is comforting for them.  It can be you (the mom) their thumb, or a pacifier.  I chose the pacifier.

There have been over a hundred times I have questioned that decision.  My kids are all VERY attached to their "binkis" and even know the difference between each one, have color preferences & only like the "baby" ones.

Coco showing off her green binki, the preferred color for now.

I have been thinking of ways to get rid of them, short of just throwing them in the trash & saying no more.  I don't want to deal with the fall out from that.  I like to limit the use to when we are not in public.  They also can't talk with them in their mouths.

I decided to try & get Vivienne out of the habit of using a binki & looked into creative ways that have worked for other moms.  I found one I thought was cute, and decided to give it a try.  Basically, explain to the kid you are giving their binki to a new baby so the new baby can have one.  Good friends of ours are expecting & we were going to a family baby shower so I thought this would be a prefect opportunity to give it a try.

Vivienne was very excited about the idea of giving her binkis to the new baby.  She explained how she was going to wrap them & put a note on the gift.  This morning it was the BIG DAY.  She gathered up about 5 binkis, some she must have had stashed away.  She put them in a bag & wrote a long note to the baby.

THEN, she explained to me that on the way home we needed to buy some new binkis since that baby would have all of her old ones.  I think that means, the experiment failed ... or is it just I didn't follow through?  Wasn't the point of this that there are a limited number of binkis to go around?

Forget it, I said to myself.  Honestly, I really don't care.  One day she won't want it.  I think I'll just wait until then.

Thoughts?  What did you do?  Is it a big deal?  Am I ruining her for life?

And .... she booked!

My last modeling post was that Vivienne was put on hold about three weeks ago.  Well, it turned into an actual booking.  Hooray!

The hold was for Wednesday.  That is all I knew, no time or location.  Being the mom of three, this presents a little challenge.  I have to arrange a babysitter for my other two for any time during the day.  Fortunately, I have family who is retired near by that can usually help out.

At 4:15 pm on Tuesday, I got an email from my daughter's agent saying she still hadn't heard anything & was calling the client.  At 4:45, I got a call from the agent.  Vivienne was now on hold for THURSDAY, not Wednesday (tomorrow).  Again, no time or location.  This is a prime example of how flexible you have to be!  A reason that you need to think twice before getting your child into modeling.  Do you have this flexibility?

Wednesday evening, 4:30 pm I find out the hold has become an actual booking!  It is for Thursday, 3:00 PM in San Francisco.  This is on of those times I am grateful I have lived in "The City" as I know a lot of people who get nervous navigating their way once inside.  The only challenge:  3:00 is getting close to massive traffic trying to leave SF.  If you can get out by 4:30 it's not too bad (still a mess) but after that, gridlock city.  I have taken Vivienne to shoots that have lasted 15 minutes, to 3 1/2 hours.  I was also nervous because my babysitter had to be somewhere at 7.

Then I read the details of the shoot.  It is for a children's furnishings & accessories company.  On the paper it said, "Please bring: play clothes: light layers, sweaters, skinny jeans, cropped light pants, ballet flats.  Colors: pink, lavenders, pinks, and light blues." Now, this is where panic sets in.  The agent said not to worry too much about the clothes, but I freak out inside.  Vivienne doesn't have anything like this!  She wears: dresses, skirts and leggings.  As far as sweaters, I have nothing yet in her size now & her shoes are dark purple!  Jeans never fit her as she is a little stick!

Vivienne put this outfit together .... 

I look online at various stores to see if anyone has that "look" at a reasonable price.   H & M works.  The next day I drag all three kids into H & M for some quick shopping.  I show the list to one of the associates.  He helps me out & 30 minutes later we are on our way with some clothes.  I get home and panic again.  What if they don't have an iron there?  So I iron all of the clothes.  I think this paranoia comes from having done mostly clothing shoots.  The clothes are the main focus so the people are very concerned about lack of wrinkles etc.

Waiting for the shoot to begin.  Snacking on crakers & Orangina.

We left the house at 1:30, and headed in.  It took a little less than an hour to find the location.  The company had rented out someones house in Cole Valley (a neighborhood near the Castro district).  There was a park nearby with soccer practice going on, so we just watched that until it was closer to 3.  The studio teacher came out & got us about 2:45.  That is when I got a little nervous.  Vivienne turned on her extra shy mode.  She wouldn't say hello, wouldn't even look at the guy!!  He was great and just went with it.  He has dealt with this before and had many tricks in his bag.

We got inside & guess what?  There was an adorable outfit all ready to go, ballet flats and all.  Vivienne started warming up a bit, but was still a bit "shy" when the stylist came down to do her hair.   Then we went to the shoot.

This was the cool "behind the scenes pat for me!  They had taken a part of this persons house & repainted it in a beautiful mural to create a bedroom scene.  They said after the shoot, they put the house back together just as it was before they came.  I never knew.

They had a music box on the floor and wanted Vivienne to "just play".  Well, you don't need to tell her twice.  She loves jewelry.  After a little while, some joking with the people on set & teasing by the studio teacher (and me leaving the area) Vivienne did great.

It will be out around February / March!

Push Pack Reviews

One of the fun things about having Small Batch Studio, my own business, is that the items I sell come from my heart.  My main item right now is the Push Pack.  You can find the story of how it came to be on this blog by clicking here.  It was my first blog entry and this story is on every Push Pack.

Since developing the Push Pack, I've given them as gifts as well as sold them.  I just love the look on a pregnant lady's face when she sees the gift.  The response is always one of excitement, maybe because they are thinking about the day they get to use it too!  I also love when people who get one call & order one (or two) for their friends!!  I recently asked a few women who had received the Push Pack if they could write a review.  Here is what they said:

I was given the Push Pack for my fourth hospital delivery. What a lovely thought! The Push Pack was filled with everything I could have possibly needed while I was on my "hospital getaway." It was wonderful to have several fewer things to pack considering the busyness of a mama with other children. The Push Pack will make a great gift for any mom-to-be!  Laura G.  Mom of 5.

"Well, we have to get this baby out today, tell your husband to pack a bag for you and meet us at the hospital in 30 minutes, said my doctor. Yikes! How is he going to know what I need? How am I going to know what I need? I've never done this before! Bring the push pack and some pajamas, I tell my husband frantically on the phone. (I'll skip the birthing details out of kindness.) in hospital, painful to move after c- section. Look in push pack and lots of goodies inside. Ah gum & snacks comforting. Toiletries that my husband doesn't even know women need to stay sane. Know I'll be clean and acceptable when friends come to visit. And all this new stuff I need, that I had no idea. breast pads came in very handy between baby feedings. Thank you Laura in being so clever on your invention. New moms on the way need this! Lisa V - First time Mom

I was given the Push Pack by a friend at my baby shower and I was so happy to have it during my hospital stay. Everything I needed (including several things I never would have thought of) was included. As a first time mom I really appreciated the experience that went in to the contents of the pack. I would recommend the Push Pack to any first time mom who doesn't know what she will need or want at the hospital or any experienced mom who doesn't want the stress of trying to remember and pack every little thing.  Annie C - First time mom.

Now, is there any question that you need to get a Push Pack for your friend, or for yourself??  

Buisness stuff ...

Summer is coming to an end.  Kids are heading back to school.  My schedule is about to get nuts.

For the next five weeks I am going to be focusing on my company, Small Batch Studio, getting ready for for the Birth and Baby Fair and Prego Palooza both in October.   Since this is my first tome attending these events I have no idea how many Push Packs to bring!  I've decided to bring 40 to the Birth and Baby Fair.  I'll see how that goes and then decided on how many to bring to the Prego Palooza two weeks later.

I've also decided this will be a great time to launch my new product, Doughy Fun.  Doughy Fun is home made play dough.  I am also making play dough kits.  A mix, all ready to go just add water & oil.  I love cooking with my girls & know many of you enjoy cooking with your kids too, but sometimes finding the right recipe or having all of the ingredients is challenging.  More on Doughy Fun (thanks to my good friend Stephanie & her son Carson for the name!!) later.

Time management is a HUGE challenge for me.  I am constantly working on getting it down.  My goal is that the week before the shows  I'll only be worrying about the outfit I'll wear.

Picky eaters

As I begin to type this entry, my dauughters are on their second helping of pasta with meat sauce.  15 minutes ago, they were almost in tears because they DID NOT want pasta for lunch.  Vivienne told me she wanted ANYTHING but pasta.  She didn't like pasta.  She wanted a sandwich.  What about .... the list went on & on.

I have read that you should always offer a choice if possible.  Sometimes, there is no choice.   It is what it is.  I could have made a sandwich, but we had pasta from last night that needed to be eaten.  They liked it then.   I was almost tempted to give in to the request for an alternative until the request became a demand.  Then I decided no way.  I do let them pick dinner sometimes, and because of this home made mac-n-cheese is on the menu at least once a week.

My philosophy for my kids is this:  Though I believe that kids really don't like some things,  there are very few foods that my kids always refuse.  "I don't like that" most likely means "I don't want it." Kids, if hungry, will eat.  So, if a meal is placed in front of them & I know they have eaten it before ... that's the meal.  Don't want to eat?  Too bad.  I am not going to "make" them eat a certain number of bites.  We have dessert a few nights a week & it is usually quite small.  An ice cream cone with 1T of ice cream is perfectly fine.   I do not like to "battle" over food.  If you don't eat any dinner you don't get dessert.  My kids don't eat a lot of junk food, we just don't have it in our house.  They don't eat fast food often ... I would lie if I said never.  The drive through has saved my bacon more than once ... maybe 4x a year?  We just don't go.   So, I figure if I keep putting healthy food in front of my kids, they'll eat healthy food ... eventually.

What stratagies have you adopted?  Do you "give in" to the meal requests?   What are your rules?  Let me know!

When you're not watching ....

Some nights bed time for the girls is easy.  Other nights, it drags on & on.  I am usually flying solo, as my husband works at night (well, all day & into the night).  Getting three girls settled down & asleep is another story.

I try to follow a routine.  I do pretty well actually.  Bath (most nights), teeth, stories & songs.  Then in bed.  I have the two youngest still in cribs in one room & Vivienne falls asleep in my bed, then I move her to her bed.  We start about 7 or 7:30, and end about 8 or 8:30.

Audrey is the easiest, heck, she can't climb out of bed yet.  Coco is pretty good.  She has a habit of getting out of bed & running into get in bed with Vivienne which can make Audrey scream as then she is alone.  This happens about twice a week.  She'll get out of bed, then they (Vivienne & Coco) play and I put Coco back in bed, she gets back out  ... until she (Coco) gets too tired to get out of bed again.  Then there is Vivienne.  She likes to drag bedtime out.  I think this is a sign that her nap time should be eliminated, but I don't want to give it up!!  (You moms that have kids who nap at the same time know what I mean!!)

Last night, was a "challenging" night with Vivienne.  After 9 pm I refused to go up to see her & ignored her calling "mom, mom, MAAAHHHHMMMAAAA, mom, mom, mom.  Finally about 10 it stopped.

Little did I know what was going on between 9 & 10PM .... this is what I found in the morning:

Yes, that is ball point pen all over.  I didn't make a big deal out of it.  I just told her that we don't put pen on our skin and secretly thanked God that it was only on her skin!

What would you have done?

Coco the cat ...

I realize it has been a while since I wrote about one of my kids' antics.   You know, one of those things that you really don't want your kid to do, but it is quite funny so you have to hold back the laughter as you reprimand them ... one of those things.

Coco & Vivienne went into the garage from the house.   They'll follow the cat in there & feed him.  The other day, they were taking a little too long.  I opened the door & saw Coco kneeling down with her face on the floor .... eating CAT FOOD!!!   (I wish I had had my camera with me and almost staged it again so I could get a picture, but figured that would only encourage it more.)

Coco, so sweet & innocent.

Our conversation went like this:
me: "COCO!"  I said, "DON'T EAT CAT FOOD!"
Coco: "Mommy, I cat.  Meow Meow."
me (trying desperately not to laugh let alone crack a smile) "Coco, I don't want you eating the cat's food."
Coco pleading: "But Mommy! I HUNGRY!"
me (really trying not to laugh) "Coco, you don't eat the cats food."
Vivienne now replies in her "motherly tone", "But mom, she really likes it."

OK .... full disclosure here.  I was reminded by a very good childhood friend that at around age 7, We did in fact try dog food.  I guess Coco comes by it honestly.

Pixieland!

For those of you who grew up in Concord, CA in the 70's ... it was Pixie Playland.  For kids now, it is just  Pixieland  A hidden gem inside Willow Pass Park.  I remember going when I was little.  My parents have the pictures to prove it!  I believe the train & the carousel are the only rides left from my time ... but the ones that are there now are just as fun for the kids.

There is no entrance fee, you buy tickets and each ride requires 1 - 2 tickets.  Fortunately, the two ticket rides are ones my girls avoid, so we get a little more bang for our $1.25.  If you buy just one book of tickets, it is a bit pricey, but if you buy multiple books, you get a free book so here is my tip.  Buy multiple books.  They make GREAT birthday gifts for anyone who has kids with in 20 minutes of Concord.  I know I struggle with what to get the 5 year old who has every Lego set on earth.

 We love to go over at random times, just because or as a "special treat".  Usually if we are alone, Vivienne goes on 4 - 5 rides.  Coco for some reason is happy just to watch (again, at $1.25 a ticket, I don't mind!) .  We are usually there for about 30 minutes to an hour.

A few days ago we went with some friends.  The kids had a BLAST!!

 This plane ride is just like the "Dumbo" ride at Disneyland ... but no lines here!  You never have to wait more than 5 minutes for a ride.

 Up up and away!!!  The height limit is 40 inches to ride alone, so Emma (2) got to go with her big brother.

 They also have a train that runs around a little pond.  Complete w/ Canadian Geese.  This is a two ticket ride.  My girls have NO desire to go on it.  I don't know why.  They love all things trains ... except the rides.

 Vivienne is obsessed w/ Carosels.  This is the reason she comes to Pixieland.  Where ever we go, if there is a carosel, she has to ride it.

Our attempt at a group picture.  At the end of the play time, it just wasn't happening!

As you can see, this place isn't that crowded if you are there during the week.  I have no idea why.  It is such a fun place.  They have a tea cup ride, and a small roller coaster too.  This time they also had a girl doing the fancy face painting.

For all of my Bay Area natives, what are your Pixie Playland memories?