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In Chicagoland? Come to the American Baby Faire! (win tickets)
Babies “R” Us and American Baby Magazine are hosting the nation’s largest baby show, and you’re invited!
New Products, Interactive Entertainment, Samples, Baby Derby Races, and Family Fun - if you’re wondering what’s going to be going on (other than Baby Derby Races (how can you say no to baby derby races?) read on, because it’s going to be fun…plus kids and grandparents get in free!
Information Stations
National and local childcare professionals will provide new and expectant parents with information on various topics such as transportation, safety and nutrition. Certified car seat safety experts will conduct free demonstrations.
Amy Clark, founder of MomAdvice.com, will be hosting Kenmore Kids’ Kitchen preparing family- and budget-friendly recipes, sharing tips for natural, child-friendly cleaning and showcasing fun crafts you and your family can create at home this holiday season.
Exhibits
One hundred manufacturers, product, service and retail companies from across the country, including Babies“R”Us, Fisher-Price and Chicco, will showcase product lines, trends and innovations. Consumers have the unique opportunity to interact one-on-one with the nation’s top juvenile product manufacturers.
Numerous new products representing the latest advances in safety, efficiency and fun will be showcased at the event. The Chicco KeyFit 30 Infant Car Seat takes the human error out of installation by giving parents visual-check green bubble levels. Fisher-Price My Little Lamb™ Cradle ’n Swing surrounds baby in plush, cozy fabrics, while it cradles and swings, soothes and delights growing babies, and Philips Avent IQ Bottle and Baby Food Warmer automatically calculates the cycle time required for warming frozen or chilled food and liquid with no risk of overheating.
In addition to providing extensive information, the Babies“R”Us pavilion will highlight everything new and expectant parents need when preparing for baby’s arrival, setting up a nursery, traveling with a newborn and establishing a safe environment for baby, as well as information about product demonstrations, expectant parent and grandparent seminars, and THE signature state-of-the-art baby registry. Parents will be able to preview eco-friendly alternatives to conventional baby products and items from the recently launched Amy Coe Collection, which is available exclusively at Babies“R”Us. Featuring baby merchandise for today’s fashion-conscious moms and gift givers, the Amy Coe Collection includes modern infant furniture, colorful bedding sets, fun room decor, trendy diaper bags, whimsical plush and gifts, adorable meal-time accessories, plus stylish layette and apparel for infants and toddlers.
Family Entertainment and Activities
The American Baby Faire offers continuous stage entertainment for children of all ages, including dancing and giant-sized books that come to life in musical storytelling productions of Pocahontas, Aladdin and Cinderella.
Everyone’s favorite event, the Babies“R”Us Baby Derby returns once again. Crawling babies will race hourly for the title of Chicago’s Fastest Crawlers. Up to 500 babies will race for Babies“R”Us gift cards while cheering moms and dads await the tiny winners at the finish line. Prizes will be awarded to first, second and third place winners.
The Chicco Rodeo will debut at the American Baby Faire Chicago this year. Cowboys and cowgirl toddlers can mosey on down to the official “rodeo track” and race toy horses. The rodeo track features complete with official racing lanes, cowboy referee, straw hats for the racers and fun prizes for winners.
KISS invites parents to dress up their babies & kids in Halloween costume and come to American Baby Faire. Any child in costume will be entered in a drawing to win fun prizes.
Pricing and Details
The 12th Annual American Baby Faire Chicago will be held Saturday, November 1 & Sunday, November 2, 2008 at the Renaissance Schaumburg Hotel & Convention Center, 1551 North Thoreau Drive, Schaumburg, IL 60173. Hours are: Saturday, 10:00 am–5:00 pm and Sunday, 11:00 am–5:00 pm.
Admission for adults is $8.00, but discount admission coupons are available at local Babies“R”Us stores. Children under 12 and grandparents are admitted FREE.
The Giveaway
If you would like to attend, MommyBlog Reviews has ten free tickets so not only will gramma and the baby get in free…so will you!
Enter by leaving a comment! Don’t delay or dawdle now - the show is this weekend, Nov 1&2! You know you’re going to want to get the kids out of the house after trick-or-treating on Friday, this will be the perfect place with exhibits to play on and things for you, too, mom!
Then She Found Me (movie review)
Helen Hunt marries Matthew Broderick (who still looks 12 years old) in the first scene of this beautiful movie.
Unfortunately, that’s the last good thing you see for a while. This movie is heart-wrenching to say the least. At one point I found myself wondering if the movie was ever going to cut Helen Hunt a break.
Then I thought, oh there it is, there’s the sun through the clouds.
Yeah, that was a fake out.
But I laughed, I cried, and really found the performances to be real. No overly made up stars in this film, no fake moments. Maybe a little overdramatic, but only when it was necessary to get the point across.
This is a fantastic movie and I look forward to recommending it to my friends, because if you like the Lifetime Movie Network, well, let me just say this movie blows anything showing on Lifetime out of the water.
Good plot, great characters, subplots weave together beautifully.
I highly recommend it.
Aquadoodle and Bath Blizzard (Team Mom Review)
We got this huge box in the mail from Team Mom and couldn’t figure out what it was!
When we opened it there were two very cool products inside. The Bath Blizzard and Aquadoodle Floor Mat from SpinMaster.
We’ve been fans of Aquadoodle products for over a year now (the girls had the travel pads and wall sized Aquadoodles) but hadn’t gotten the kids a floor mat yet. They were thrilled.
One of the things I think is such a nice extra touch on the Aquadoodle is the pictures on the side of the mat. The wall ‘doodles have the pictures too. They are 1-2-3 step pictures on how to draw simple things like a sun, a house, a stick person…my daughter follows the directions. So she’s learning while she’s having fun.
The other package in the box was also a SpinMaster product called the Bath Blizzard. It made the amazing claim that it created bubbles and dumped them into the tub so it was like a never-ending bubble bath for the kids! (never-ending = about fifteen minutes = a lot of bubbles)
While it took us a while to get it going, we followed the directions and did not give up…see what happens…
Even though my fantasies saw those bubbles coming out much chunkier, what matters is what the kids thought. They loved it…and have asked for it every time they’ve taken a bath since the first time.
So I think it was a success!
Make Them Smile Before They Open the Card (review)
If you are looking for the perfect invitation, the perfect thank-you card, birth announcement, or even the perfect holiday card…you’ve thought about the envelope.
People do all kinds of crazy things to make the envelope special so the recipient knows what is inside is really special. From wax seals to calligraphy, there are many ways to make your card or letter stand out from the rest of the mail.
PictureItPostage is betting that you’ll want to personalize your correspondance to the last detail - the stamp.
MommyBlog Reviews received a sheet of stamps from PictureItPostage, and here is what I think…
Click here to read the rest of the review…
Camera, Printer, Storage (offsite giveaways)
Get Some Great Shots
This giveaway over at Parenting Squad is for a Panasonic Lumix DMC-LZ3 (5MP, 6X Optical Zoom, 2-Inch Diagonal LCD) digital camera! You can get some great shots of your kids, yourself, your family, and your friends without having to spend a penny.
Drawing closes on 10/30/08 and is only open to U.S. Residents.
Print Those Awesome Shots!
An Epson printer with (I kid you not) waterproof ink is yours for the winning. Kristen at Biz Chicks Rule is giving away not one but two of these amazing printers. Make sure to comment with the type of printer you currently use in order to qualify for the contest!
The deadline is Monday, October 20, at 11:59:59 p.m. ET.
Keep Those Awesome Shots Safe
Over at My Organized Biz, Becky is hosting a giveaway for a year of free online computer backup. If a fire happened in your home, your backup drive is just as much at risk as your regular computer. Back up your files in a safe place - away from your computer!
The deadline is Friday, October 17, at 5:00 p.m. PT.
GAP Winners Announced!
Thank you to everyone that participated! You are what make giveaways so special, and I have to say I am thrilled to be giving all these jeans away.
Winners (in no particular order):
1. Heather on October 3rd, 2008 1:54 pm
I need new jeans desperately and I have no budget. This would be wonderful to win.
Cool giveaway!
2. Nancy on October 3rd, 2008 3:43 pm
Yes… I would love a pair of Gap jeans. I so hope that I win!
3. Jessica on October 3rd, 2008 4:56 pm
I signed up for your feed!
4. Rainy on October 2nd, 2008 7:26 pm
Good Luck tomorrow! (:
5. Dawn on October 4th, 2008 6:35 pm
What a great opportunity! Thanks for the heads up on the casting call. Please Please pick me for the give away, I am in need of a new pair of good gap jeans, they are my favorite!
6. Muthering Heights on October 5th, 2008 7:15 pm
Oh, please pick me!
We are a GAP lovin’ family on a thrift shop budget. 
7. Lori Z. on October 11th, 2008 3:57 pm
I love Gap jeans, they last forever. I did enter my daughter in the casting call and afterwards felt a tinge of guilt. Am I that kind of mom? I do think that my daughter would like it since she gets in any picture she can and she plays dress up, but who knows?
8. Rachel Witt on October 11th, 2008 10:23 am
Hi, this is my first time on your site, but this is really cool stuff! I am a missionary wife in Mexico. I finally lost weight after 3 years of being pregnant and breastfeeding my 2 girls. Last night I was on a search trying to find GAP jeans for as inexpensive as possible! We are extremely tight on money, but someone gave me a pair of GAP jeans and they fit sooo good, I could use another pair! at this time I have 1 pair of jeans that fit and one pair of black pants!
9. kerri on October 6th, 2008 9:48 am
this is so wonderful ,I love gap jeans ,thanks for a wonderful giveaway
10. shannon on October 2nd, 2008 1:52 pm
O O O O pick me:) I also subscribed to the feed (I come here often enough, I probably should have awhile ago hehe)
shannon
Congratulations!
To everyone who didn’t win, the digital camera review and giveaway goes up tomorrow!
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