MommyCon Phoenix Review

I'm sorry for the delay in posting this. MommyCon Phoenix was April 14th, but with all the craziness of the Great Cloth Diaper Change right on it's heels, I didn't have a chance to get this typed up. I'm also going to apologize for the quality of pictures, and overall lack of pictures. I brought my camera to be able to really share the fun with you, but when I went to take my first picture, I realized there was no memory card! (I blame pregnant brain) So I was forced to rely on my "smart"phone which constantly aims to out"smart" me.  Here's a little taste of what you may have missed:

Feeling like the Real Housewives of Phoenix!

With the lovely Krystyna from Sweet Pea Births

Learning about different options for babywearing

All about cloth diapers!

Setting up for soothing infant massage lessons

I know the Phoenix event was labeled a "mini" and to be honest, having not been to another event, I'm not sure what defines a "mini" versus an actual event. I think there was a great variance of information provided as well as a select number of vendors to seek additional information from. As a vendor, I think it was nice to limit booths with similar products/concepts, but as an attendee, I would have liked to have seen more options. Not just from people selling/making certain products, but by other companies and agencies in the area. Especially when dealing with midwives, doctors, doulas, etc. Selecting someone like that is a very personal experience and having a chance to meet with more than one agency would have been great.

Some of the presentations I attended included babywearing, carseat safety, information regarding GMO's, birth choices and healthy pregnancy. I thought it was great having professionals in these areas providing information that I hadn't considered or heard about before. I also think it was great having a babywearing "lounge" where there was an opportunity to try on multiple carriers and learn from babywearing experts how to properly wear your baby. While the presentation on GMO's was informative, I would have liked to have seen a naturopath, herbalist, farmer, or some type of nutritionist present it.  I think there is a lot of information on that particular topic that could be given, and having a professional provide it and supplement with handouts as well as having the the opportunity to followup would have been nice.

Overall, I had a great experience. I think this is a great event if your expecting your first or your fifth child. You are never too "experienced" to learn something new. The speakers were engaging and there were TONS of amazing giveaways. Which, let's be honest, who doesn't love free stuff? :) To me, the information was tailored towards expecting and mothers of infants/toddlers. Perhaps as this event grows having workshops or information for older children (preschool, homeschooling, peaceful parenting/discipline etc) would be a great addition. Also, I left B with Polish Prince for the day, but noticed plenty of little ones roaming around. The play area was a bit small, so I think having little play areas in each of the presentation rooms would be nice so the babies could stay entertained/safe while the parents paid attention to the speaker. Oh, as I type that, these play areas could be "supervised" by local nannies or daycare providers that are open to natural parenting methods (babywearing and cloth diapering etc). Just a thought!

When it comes down to it, if I had the opportunity to go again, I definitely would. If I had the opportunity to go to a "full" event versus a "mini" I would jump. I would love to see the differences between the two. It's a great way to get exposed to what other options are out there for parents and an easy way to gather resources for current and future pregnancies.

Great Cloth Diaper Change 2013

It's that time of year again! The Great Cloth Diaper Change is approaching! What is this? It's a Guinness World Record attempt to change the most cloth diapers at the same time. The event happens at 11:00 am local time and is a great way to meet other families in the area, be a part of history, and score some pretty sweet prizes!  

Since Phoenix is such a large area, there are multiple events going on. I'll be participating and co-hosting the event in Chandler, but there are also events in Scottsdale, Tempe, and Central Phoenix. Below is a list of all of the event sign-ups. Obviously, I'd love to have you in Chandler so I can meet you, but any event is an opportunity to be a part of the record and raise awareness around cloth diapering-which is the most important part after all! 

Those of you not in AZ, please check out the Great Cloth Diaper Change website to find a location near to you participate. Can't wait to see the numbers this year!

GCDC Locations in Arizona: 

Chandler, AZ hosted by Zoolikins with Bump to Rump
Scottsdale, AZ hosted by Zoolikins
Tempe, AZ hosted by GoGo Natural
Phoenix, AZ hosted at Midwives Rising
Phoenix, AZ hosted by Babymoon Inn
Tucson, AZ hosted by Green Baby Elephant and Rockn Babies
Yuma, AZ hosted by Baby Bump & Beyond

Please feel free to comment below with any other events that you know of or where you plan to attend! 

**If you're a family-friendly business that would like to donate prizes for any event, please feel free to contact me at bumptorump@gmail.com**

**If you'd like to volunteer to assist with the Chandler or Scottsdale events, please click here**

MommyCon Mini Phoenix Ticket Giveaway!

I'm so excited to share this latest giveaway with you! MommyCon is coming to Phoenix! There is a MommyCon Mini conference coming to the Mesa Convention Center on April 14, 2013. They've partnered with Krazy for Kloth to offer a FREE ticket to one lucky reader! 

Photo courtesy of MommyCon

Here's what you can expect at the conference:

"MommyCon brings the best in parenting tips, tricks and resources directly to the parent. A full day of mingling, learning and shopping is planned within the convention center. Attendees will not only have the chance to meet other forward thinking parents, but attend seminars and workshops from industry leaders, test out top notch baby and childhood gear and enjoy time with other moms, mothers-to-be and yes, even fathers.

Photo courtesy of MommyCon

MommyCon will feature over a dozen seminars and presentations including; birthing options with midwives and doctors, learn proper baby wearing with instructor Alyssa Ruben, cloth diapering for the modern family, certified lactation consultants will be on hand, as well as panel discussions with birthing professionals, pediatricians and other health care experts. A hands on workshop area will allow babies and moms to engage in infant massage alongside Amber Puzzi, LMT.

The schedule includes:

Yoga – Mom and Baby

Infant Massage Workshop

Introduction to Babywearing & Wrapping

Birth Panel Discussion

Car Seat Safety & The Best Seat for Your Family

Mothering Through Breastfeeding

Cloth Diapering 2.0

And much much more!

Kids of all ages are welcome to attend, and topics will predominately focus on the first three years."

So now that the giveaway is over, if you still need to purchase your tickets, you can purchase your ticket here, and use the code "krazy4mc". This will give you $5 off your ticket price! :) Just make sure to enter the above code in the promo code area.

I look forwards to seeing you at the show! And don't worry, after the show I will do a full write-up of my experience so all you non-local readers can know what to expect when MommyCon comes to your city! :)

Photo courtesy of MommyCon

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Our first Graduation!

One of my favorite things about giving birth to B in the hospital which we did is their "family centered" approach. When we toured the hospital I was impressed by the warmth of the rooms, they didn't have that "hospital" feel, and I loved that the baby was with you the entire time after birth (barring any medical necessity to be in the NICU). It made me feel comforted to know that we would be the ones caring for little B, but there was a staff on hand to answer any questions and help with any problems that may arise. One of the most important people on that staff team (in my opinion) was the first International Board Certified Lactation Consultant (IBCLC) that I had ever met. Her name is Tracey and she is one of the sweetest women I know. I believe she is a HUGE part of why B and I have been successful breastfeeding. Not only was there assistance and support offered in the hospital, but a "support" group was also available, free of charge, for the first year. Being a new mom I took complete advantage of the excuse to not only get out of the house but to meet some new mommy friends as well. 

So, fast forward a year later and B is officially graduating from the affectionately nicknamed "Boob Group".
I am so thankful for Tracey's leadership, wisdom and inspiration. I'm thankful for the women that I have met that I now consider close friends. They have helped me to not only become the mother that I am to B, but learn to laugh at the mistakes that I've made, and will continue to make! I love that these women are like-minded without being my clones. I love that we can have candid conversations about parenting, marriage, families, and even poop without fear of judgement. I also love that this first year is just the beginning, we will continue to keep in touch with Tracey and the other women from this group and look forward to the adventures that the next years will undoubtedly bring!

Congratulations to my little man on your first graduation, and congratulations to all of his classmates and families as well! :)

Life is like a circus, why not go!?

Anyone that knows me knows I'm not a huge fan of clowns, and my first trip to the circus included 5 year old me eating jalapenos, thinking they were pickles, thanks Dad! But, in an effort to not pass on my own irrationalities to B, I decided to participate in this program.

I had heard about a promotion from Ringling Brothers from my aunt. Something about registering your child with their website and getting a free circus ticket. I love free, so I thought I'd look into it. You can find the FAQ page from Ringling Brothers here. In a nutshell, you register your child before their first birthday, and they get a certificate for a free circus ticket to use whenever and wherever. Children over 2 are full-price tickets; registering your child in this program now ensure you can get a free seat when they're older!

How cute is this idea!? Now, if only I could get a free ticket to a Packers game by putting B's name on the season ticket holder list before he's 1 year old...

Weekend Events

Happy early St. Patrick's Day everyone! This is the time for everyone to celebrate being Irish, even if you're not! My mother was part Irish, so myself and little B have some celebrating to do this weekend! Sunday is supposed to be pretty crummy in the Valley of the Sun, BUT there are still some fun events going on this weekend! Hope to see you all out and about!

1) Anyone out in San Tan Valley? There is a mini-hike, crafts, and "Find Me Green Lucky Charms" Scavenger hunt for kids! Check out the details here. All you pay is $6 for parking! 

2) Not St. Patty's Day themed, but how fun does this sound for kiddos! Out in Fountain Hills, McDowell Mountain Regional Park is hosting a Reptile and Live Animal Feeding! Details are here. All you pay is $6 for parking! 

3) Totally FREE! Mesa Arts Festival! MACFest is a free event featuring unique artist creations, music and fun for the whole family. This it the last Saturday in March for the event. Come out from 10:00am to 4:00pm. Additional details here.

These are just a few I was able to find before heading out to start our day. Please comment below if you know of anything else going on around the Valley this weekend! 

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How to Make a Baby

1 part boy
1 part girl
1 bottle of wine (optional)

Combine all ingredients. Bake for 9 months, remove from oven and enjoy!

Seems simple right? Turns out this is not the recipe for some people. Yours truly to be exact. B was not sleeping too well last night (lingering effects of a head cold) so I was up, reflecting on the past couple years and how my life got to where it is now. I know! Pretty deep thoughts for 1am! :) Well, this is my recipe for how to make a baby

1 part boy
1 part girl
2 months of various tests
1 team of fertility specialists
1 round of drug injections
1 highly invasive x-ray
1 very special way to spend the day after Christmas

Be sick for 7 months, lose 10 pounds before gaining 45, bake, and bake, AND bake until you are about ready to serve an eviction notice to said oven. Remove via "emergency" dis-assembly of oven rather than the all natural "open the door" route, remove and enjoy!

Cooked to perfection!

To jump back just a little bit, I never thought I would struggle with infertility. Here I was mid-20's, healthy, non-smoker, rare drinker, IDEAL baby-making factory, or so it seemed. Shows how naive I was! When I first realized something wasn't "right" I didn't know what kinds of questions to ask, or who to ask them to. On paper, I shouldn't have these issues. Everyone kept saying "once you stop trying, it will happen", "when it's meant to be, it will be"....yeah yeah yeah. EXACTLY what I wanted to hear! :) Turns out, I have a form of Polycystic Ovarian Syndrom. When my doctor told me that, the first thing I did was hit Google. BIG mistake. I didn't fit the mold at all! But the ultrasound pictures didn't lie. So, off to a fertility specialst we went. The next month seemed like a blur, everything happend fast, shot here, pills there, cream here, x-ray next, sample here, looooooong tube WHERE?!, and again, a very memorable day after Christmas. We were told we had a less than 20% chance of conceiving "spontaneously" (think Teen Mom style). With the first few rounds of fertility treatments being IUI (Intra-uterine insemination) our chances of conception went to just under 50%. We had 3 different options for fertility treatments, each round increased our chances of conceiving, but those chances also increased the likelihood of multiples. Given that we weren't in a huge hurry and thought about getting pregnant summer of 2011 we started "small" with the IUI. Thankfully we had great insurance that helped cover some of these costs.

You know that they say "you make a plan and God laughs". Well joke was on us! We got pregnant with the first IUI. When we took the test, I was in disbelief. We pretty much stayed in shock for the first 6-8 weeks or so. It wasn't supposed to happen so fast, it wasn't supposed to work yet. Sure we were planning and "trying" but we thought we had time! Now what?! As soon as the shock started to fade, the morning sickness set in, and never really let up! Once we hit 12 weeks, it was safe to tell family and we told friends around 16 weeks or so. This was after many ultrasounds to confirm health, and MANY more to confirm there was just one little bambino in there! Fast forward 9 months, my water broke on my actual due date and little baby B came one day later via c-section. All 9lbs 3 ounces of him! We chose not to find out if we were having a boy or girl, so we were quite surprised when we got to meet him for the first time!

Part of me thought it would be interesting to fill you in our background and the other part of me wanted to raise some awareness about infertility. After going through what we went through, I started learning more and more young couples go through this. I don't know if it's more common nowadays or if it's just that people are more willing to talk about it, but it's nice to feel like you're not alone. A friend of mine told me about the Walk of Hope.

 "The Walk of Hope is a day to recognize the many ways in which families are built. People of all ages can participate as a walker or donor and raise awareness of how the disease of infertility impacts families nationwide. Funds raised from the Walk support local programming which includes support groups and educational events, public awareness initiatives, and advocacy efforts to ensure all family building options are available to all."

You can bet Polish Prince, myself and B will be there walking! To support us, you can click here.

How to get that pre-baby body back

To quote a favorite movie of mind "Someone's got a case of the Mondays..." When did Monday's get such a bad rap? As a SAHM, every day can either be a Monday or a Friday depending on attitude. Trust me, I'll get to the point of this post and make the title make sense in a minute. :) Attitude and choice dictate our lives, I think it's important as a SAHM to take care of yourself, model good choices and behaviors for your children, and have a little fun once in a while!

After having a baby everything tends to...well...shift, for lack of a better word. Attitude, eating habits, energy-level, and yes, physical appearance. Those days when you can barely muster up enough energy to do some laundry seem to be never ending those first couple months and those pre-pregnancy jeans keep staring at you from the closet. Taunting, practically saying "ha ha yeah right, just TRY to put me on." Maybe I'm alone in this but I'm going to venture a guess that some of you may be able to relate :)

A little backstory, I was not a happy pregnant person, I was sick 7 out of the 9 months, throwing up all the way through labor and after my c-section, yet I still managed to gain 45 pounds! Not bad in the world of yoga pants, but in reality, where denim exists, it just didn't work for me. So what did I do? Made a choice! I went back to my old standby, Body Heart.

Body Heart Fitness Studio is a women's only fitness studio in Gilbert, AZ. Joan is a certified personal trainer with plenty of years of experience. I take her Ladies Only Fitness Boot Camp, and have been for years (minus the whole pregnancy time). Not only is she a great person, she's a great motivator. She finds ways to challenge your body while still making you feel empowered. The fact that it's all women as well gives me a sense of camaraderie. It also gives me a sense of accountability! This is not a gym, there are no treadmills, elliptical machines, etc, but there are people; family. When I miss a class for whatever reason, I feel like I'm missing time with my friends. When I was pregnant my workout buddies and Joan threw me an adorable baby shower, and these are women I'd only known 2 times as week for an hour each time. I think when we have our moments of insecurity, it's nice to have a group of people to turn to that can help you through it as well as make you stronger, figuratively and literally! :) Joan celebrates positivity, women in their true form (Because let's face it, we're not all built like Jennifer Aniston), and healthy attitudes. She offers not only fitness classes but nutrition classes and offers DAYCARE for your little one! When I go to class Monday mornings, B comes with me. He gets to play with a nanny/babysitter for the hour I work out. He's in a separate room so I still have "me-time" but he's not far away ( I found this SO helpful my first couple weeks back and leaving him for the first time). If you have older kids, feel free to bring them and they can hang out in the playroom.

As a success story, I hit pre-baby weight when B was just under 4 months old, all while still being able to enjoy my dark chocolate covered cherries :) Joan is not a magician, you do have to work, but she has a great energy and sense of humor and if she can put up with my nonsense, she can handle pretty much anything! :) 

If you are looking for a gym-alternative or something to supplement all your workout ideas that you've pinned on Pinterest. I HIGHLY recommend you check out her website, like her on Facebook, pop in for a class! You won't regret it!

This is my own personal opinion/experience, I have not been compensated in any way for this review.

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Great Cloth Diaper Change!

Hey Everyone, want to be a part of a Guinness World Record?

Check this out: Great Cloth Diaper Change. There are two locations in the Phoenix Metro Area: 

Midwives Rising: 7th St/McDowell

Kiwanis Park: Mill/Baseline Ramada #5

Hope to see you and all your fluff there!

Moms at the Movies

Ok, if you're anything like me (pre-baby), the thought of a bunch of moms WITH babies at a movie theater does not sound like a great way to spend the afternoon. Heck, even post-baby the idea of bringing my baby to the movies was a little intimidating. Would he sit still (relatively speaking) for that long? Would I even be able to watch the movie? Will he scream his adorable little face off for whatever reason he deems appropriate? All very valid concerns, so what do I do? Gather a great group of girlfriends and their babies and give it a whirl. Buy Buy Baby is sponsoring "Bring your Baby" to the movies. It's the first Tuesday of every month here in the Phoenix metro area. There are 3 theaters that participate and it's only $5! It's breast-feeding friendly, stroller friendly, a little bit brighter lights and a little bit softer sound. Not knowing what to expect, I bought tickets early and waited for my friends outside. Once we all arrived we headed into the theater. There were about 40-50 other moms with their kids varying from a few weeks to I'd say under 2 years old. There were blankets on the floor, carseats on normal seats, and strollers everywhere! It was fantastic!! We staked out a spot, got comfortable, and settled in. Wouldn't you know, B did so great!! About a half hour into the movie he got a little antsy, so I nursed him, then stood up (without people yelling "down in front!") and wrapped him in my carrier. We stood on the side of the theater until he fell asleep. He slept for the last 1.5 hours of the movie!! This was great news to me considering he has been protesting sleep in any form lately. Other babies were in varying forms of dis-interest throughout the movie, some crying, some yelling, some playing, etc. and I didn't notice one mom that seemed freaked out by it. It was like in this huge room full of virtually all strangers, we all shared some sort of bond. No one judging for being "that person bringing their baby to a movie" or for having the screaming kid, or nursing in public. It was just...dare I say...relaxing! It was the first movie post-baby for me, and first movie in a theater in a long time, but safe to say, I think I'll make this a habit! When I checked out the website it seemed multiple states participated in this type of event! I love the fact it was only $5. I brought my own popcorn, candy, and water. It didn't seem to be a big deal (although I did feel quite sneaky smuggling it in a diaper bag) :). I think its a great way to get some "me-time" despite being a "we".

Here's where to find out if there's a participating theater in your area!