Cool MOMpreneur - Baby Maven

Check out local MOMpreneur and cool business . . .

Baby Maven - Dedicated to helping couples become a secure parenting team.

Carrie Grange Isaacson is the successful mom behind the great business. I met Carrie early on at the start of my own business venture. She was actually recommended to me by one of her colleagues and she was spoken of so highly that I quickly contacted her for a meet up of our own. Carrie's soft spoken and friendly and right away she impressed me with her professionalism. She also impressed me with her dedication to both her business and her family. She's a mom who truly seems to have achieved that much sought after balance between life, work and family.

To me, the best part of Carrie's mission is to bring couples together in order to help them find the parenting style that best fits them. You can only imagine the benefits.

Here's a little more about Carrie:

Q: What motivated you to start your business?
A: I have always worked with families as a therapist and educator. After the birth of my first, very wanted child I found that parenting a high needs baby was so much more challenging then I had anticipated so I went on to get additional training to focus my practice helping other new parents have a smoother transition for themselves and their couplehood.

Q: What is the hardest part about owning your own business?
A: The hardest part for me is not being able to dedicate 100% to building my practice because I've chosen to work part time and be a mother first.

Q: What is your business's biggest draw for San Diego folks?
A: My services are unique because in addition to office appointments, San Diegans can meet me in their own home via skype or on the phone. My practice is geared towards busy parents so appointments can be made in the evenings or on the weekends and many families in my practice save on child care by scheduling sessions in their homes after children are sleeping. All of my classes, consultations and therapy is based on cutting edge research and getting information and support early on helps young families thrive.

Q: Do you have any advice for expecting families?
A: Yes. Let me start with some stark statistics:

• Parenting today is harder than ever, in fact it's 42% harder than for previous generations. Couples fight eight times more frequently after having children and 67% if couples report a decrease in relationship satisfactions.

So, my advice for expectant couples is to know that nothing can truly prepare you for the enormous changes ahead and that it will be more wonderful and more challenging than you can imagine so be gentle on yourselves and your partner. Get all the assistance that you can from family, friends and professionals like Essential Baby Planner who will save you both time and money. And most importantly, don't forget in all the preparation to be the best mother and father you can be, that it's essential to be the best partner to your spouse. Baby Maven's services of course can help too.

Bringing Baby Home is the perfect class for expectant couples, recently featured on Good Morning American, this class is the only one that teaches couples not only how to care for their baby but also for one another.

Next Bringing Baby Home class starts July 12th and mention 'Essential Baby Planner' in your registration and receive and exclusive $25 off.


Contact Carrie at:
1.800.383.1790
Carrie@babymaven.org
www.babymaven.org

Bootie After Baby - Perfect Father's Day Gift!

Did your sex life come a screeching halt after having kids?

This class will help you jump start the passion. Bootie After Baby was just featured in Urban Baby New York http://blogs.urbanbaby.com/newyork/2009/06/10/sexy-back/ and makes a father's day gift that is sure to please www.babymaven.org to register.

Bootie After Baby

June 25th NYC 6-9pm $119 / couple
Metro Minis 821 Park Ave @75th

Get back under the covers together:

-The Art of Married Modern Flirting
-Making Overtures into Invitations
-How to Dialogue about Desire
-The Secret Potion for Passion

There is no need for personal self-disclosure, and communication skills are practiced in break out sessions one on one with your partner.

FREE Baby/Toddler Classes!

Hey folks,

Sorry for the late notice on this one but they do it regularly so check back in a few months.

Summer 2009 Child Development Class Schedule

Continuing Education - San Diego Community College District offers free for babies and tots ages newborn to 5 yrs old. They also offer some really interested parent and family classes at minimal cost.

Definitely something to look in to and I love that it has a feel of San Diego helping San Diegans. And what better time to help out then at the early years of parenting when we're most unsure and in need. Camille and I are definitely taking advantage of this. It came at such a great time too. I was just wondering how to start expanding Camille's world and help her grow.

Maybe I'll see you there!

Essential Baby Planner's First Blog Award!

We were pleasantly surprised to receive our first blog award this week from Bundle 2 Baby. Thanks Jan!

Here are the rules:

1) Accept the award, post it on your blog together with the name of the person who has granted the award, and his or her blog link.

2) Pass the award to 15 other blogs that you've newly discovered. Remember to contact the bloggers to let them know they have been chosen for this award.

Here are 15 of B2B's favorite blog friends:

Baby's Little Log Book
Baby Maven
Babies-in-Bloom
San Diego Bargain Mama
Seaside Nannies
Ciara Cusseaux Photography
Budget Sense
Baby Fabulous
Sugar Jones
Playing Daddy
Health Center for Women
Bookie Boo
San Diego Momma
Meladramatic Mommy
HipMamaB

Thx all!

Need Maternity Photos?

Stills by Hill Photography is running a great Maternity Promo!

Reserve your newborn session and receive your maternity session 1/2 off! This fantastic deal is good until July 1st.

I met Hillary a while back at a Parent Connection Family Swap Meet. We just got reconnected through a friend of hers that I had met at a networking event for a friend of mine. Lol, I know - jumbled. But the moral of the story . . . networking rocks! ;-)

Check out Hillary's website at: www.stillsbyhill.com

Product Review - Serena & Lily Coloring Blocks

Serana & Lily - Coloring Blocks

I actually first 'spoke' with Serana & Lily via Twitter. Twitter is quickly becoming an extremely cool way to connect with folks I might not normally meet. Anyway, after reading a post asking for product reviewers I quickly jumped on board! Far be it for me to bypass reviewing something cute from Serana & Lily.

After a flurry of tweets and emails, I received an amazing package in the mail and couldn't wait to tear it open. Inside, sweetly packed were a beautiful set of their coloring blocks. Lovely.

Now the reason I was hankering for these blocks is because I was about to head out on a vacation to St Thomas and St Croix. For those of you not in the know that's like a nine hour flight from Cali and I was frantically trying to think of things to keep my 2yr old busy. And the Serena & Lily coloring blocks looked well-made for small hands and I loved that they're non-toxic.

To be more accurate, the coloring blocks are 'made of the highest quality, pesticide-free beeswax . . . thick rectangular crayons that won't smear, crumble or stick . . . and are coated with a nontoxic, wipeable coating for longevity.' Now how can you beat that? I was sold!

And my daughter thought they were great. I kept them in the little tin they came in instead of using the carrying case. Although the carrying case is super cute, I figured the tin would protect the blocks from breaking and would fit a little more snugly in our carry-on. I did have a little trouble keeping all the blocks on the seat's drop-down tray but quickly learned to only hand over a few at a time to save my body from contorting into all kinds of bizarre shapes trying to pick them up off the floor.

This really is a wonderful set of crayons. The colors are great and look true to form. I wasn't sure how 'yellow' the beeswax yellow would be as compared to regular crayons. The blocks did fit nicely into Camille's tiny hands and the shape actually gave her different thicknesses depending on how she angled the crayon while drawing.

All in all, a great buy. Especially for those parents looking to 'green' up their baby's world or just looking for something to tidy them over while traveling.

Product Review - SafetyCaps

SafetyCaps . . . "My daughter choked on a standard outlet plug so I designed a safe alternative!"

I can't even imagine hearing those awful sounds coming from my baby that means she's swallowed something and is choking. Even just thinking about it now makes my stomach clench. As a first time mom (although I'm sure that doesn't matter), this is one of my biggest fears. So, I can't imagine what George DeCell went through when he found out that his daughter, Sage, was choking on a standard outlet plug. But, I can imagine that his experience as a parent spurred him on to create SafetyCaps.

IMHO, this is a truly great product - the next generation in outlet plugs. And the engineering behind the design is smart. George actually took the safety regulations used for pacifiers and applied them to his outlet plugs! It seems so logical to me. In accordance to US Pacifier Regulations, these plugs have two small holes in them to allow for ventilation which makes them a 'safe product regarding choking'. This means that if they do get swallowed there's still the ability for breathing. They're also fit regulation measurements.

So, I got a few samples and tried them out with my daughter. They fit snug into the outlet and with a 'Too Hard To Do', Camille easily gave up trying to pry them out. I like that George specifically made them clear to blend into the outlet cover. 'First and foremost is safety. The more it blends, the less likely a child is to notice it'.

EBP highly recommends SafteyCaps to all our clients!