Coming Mother's Day 2011

Giftable Swag Bags for new & expecting moms

For more information and to pre-order please email info@hautemommy.com
*Available now at www.hautemommy.com!

Mom Central Grant

As you may already know from our facebook page, I've entered a grant competition in hopes of being able to get my business up and running. The Mom Central Grants Program is for mommy bloggers (like me) who want to expand their personal brand. I was so excited when I came across this because I've been planning something for a long time but I need a grant just like this one to get off the ground. Ever since my son was born, I've felt the urge to be a mompreneur. I've been inspired various people including:

• Lisa Druxman, the founder of Stroller Strides

• Mindee Doney & Julie Pickens aka "The Boogie Moms", the inventors of Boogie Wipes

• Jana Francis, the founder of babysteals.com 

My passion has become finding haute ways to be eco-friendly and use safer products for my son. I already share these ideas and products with other moms through this blog, but would like to expand my platform.

Almost two years ago, a couple months after my son was born, I won a free ticket to the inaugural Moms in Business Unite conference from The Boogie Moms who were the key note speakers of the conference. I took my son with me and was really nervous about leaving him in the daycare they provided (even though it was wonderful) because I had never left him with anyone before so they were nice enough to let me take him around the conference with me. Thankfully, he was still in the sleeping-all-day stage and I nursed discretely at the back of the rooms when he woke, so I don't think he bothered anyone :)

♥ sleeping on the chair next to me ♥

I learned so much from the conference and have been working on my business idea ever since. The conference encouraged me to blog in order to help grow my idea and brand. I would love to be able to attend the conference again this summer, this time with my business launched (or at least close)! But I need your votes to help me win... you can vote once every 24 hours. Thank you so much to everyone who takes the time to read this and vote (it only takes a minute to vote!) Please click the button at the bottom of this post to vote for me!

My son with the MIBU chairwoman Randa Cote

From the Mom Central grant description...
"The Mom Blogosphere is brimming with talented, smart, passionate and ambitious women. We feel so grateful and want to do our part in helping take Moms’ personal brands to the next level: be that a broader audience, getting media exposure, becoming a spokesperson, starting a small business, or better monetizing your platform. The possibilities are endless, and tie inextricably to the vision you have for yourself. So whether media training, graphic or technical help, a site redesign, shared office space, some intern hours, new business cards, self-publishing a book, launching a new blog, or attending a key conference will help you get to the next level – we want to pitch in to provide the support. So tell us what inspired you in the first place, your journey to take, and what you aspire to do next – because we care, and we want to help!"

Samples of my answers to the grant entry questions...
"The vision behind your personal brand: To help bring modern cloth diapers more mainstream by reaching moms who wouldn’t otherwise be exposed to them. I wasn’t exposed to modern cloth diapers and a lot of other great eco-friendly boutique baby products until after my son was born and I became an avid researcher of baby products online. I want to promote cloth diapering and other green living products to new and expecting moms in a fashionable manner.

What do you aspire to do next? Launch an online baby gift bag business and expand that business over the years to include more options and products. I would also like to find creative ways to get involved with certain organizations that share my vision."

Diapers Etc Blog Party

I've wanted to write a post on cloth diapers for a while now and this was the perfect excuse! The Diapers Etc Blog Party is an event organized by Eco Chic Parties celebrating "the love of cloth diapers" and the re-launch of Diapers Etc's website. I started cloth diapering when I started this blog (about 7 months ago) and it has since inspired me to become more "green" in other areas as well. As someone who never thought I would cloth diaper, I'm truly amazed and excited by how much I love it. Even though I hate doing regular laundry, washing our diapers is weirdly fun and coincidentally that's what scared me the most about cloth diapering! I had met a couple moms though mom's groups who were cloth diapering and I was intrigued but couldn't imagine actually doing it. Still I spent months researching it and asking questions. The more I learned the more I wanted to switch but I just wasn't brave enough to take the plunge.

When I finally did go for it, mainly to save money and partially on impulse (you know what I'm talking about if you're familiar with deal-a-day type websites), I bought a set of 3 GroBaby (now re-branded GroVia) shells and a couple boxes of disposable inserts from babysteals.com. I thought that the disposable inserts would help me "ease" into cloth diapering but what they actually did was throw me into the obsession ;) I ended up selling the boxes of disposable inserts to a friend because once I tried them I decided they were pointless (for me at least) since you're still washing shells and still throwing something away too. Then I bought some of the cloth inserts, also from babysteals, and started cloth diapering at home only. That really did help me "ease" into it. I used cloth diapers at home and disposables while we were out (and overnight until I found a cloth diaper that worked well enough). Once I was used to cloth diapering in general, I switched to full time and we haven't used a single disposable diaper since.

How it all started in our house...

 Starting gradually was perfect for us; it also gave us time to buy diapers slowly over time rather than making a huge investment upfront. I've tried quite a few brands and styles but I've narrowed it down to the perfect stash for us. I use GroVia AI2 diapers during the day at home, Charlie Banana one size for naps and when we go out, and bumGenius 4.0 for overnight. This is my personal cloth diapering "must haves" list:

• GroVia Shells

• GroVia Inserts

• Charlie Banana

• bumGenius 4.0

• Planet Wise Wet/Dry Bag

• Rockin Green Detergent

Win a $25 gift certificate to Diapers Etc! (Open to US only)

How To Enter:

Mandatory Entry- Visit Diapers Etc's website and let me know how you would spend your gift certificate by commenting below. (If you sign up for their newsletter while you're there please leave a separate comment for a bonus entry but this is not mandatory) Make sure you include your email address if it isn’t visible on your profile!

Additional Entries- Leave a separate comment for each additional entry.

1. Like Haute Mommy on Facebook

2. Like Diapers Etc on Facebook

3. Like Eco Chic Parties on Facebook

4. Follow Haute Mommy publicly on Google Friend Connect.

5. Follow Haute Mommy on Twitter

6. Follow Diapers Etc on Twitter

7. Follow Eco Chic Parties on Twitter 

8. Tweet about this giveaway: “I just entered a haute #giveaway with @HauteMommyBlog & @EcoChicParties to #win a $25 gift certificate to @DiapersEtc http://bit.ly/g06ROF” (you can tweet once a day for additional entries just make sure you come back here and comment each day)

9. Grab my button and tell me where I can find it.

10. Blog about this giveaway and leave me a link to the post.

Giveaway will end March 7th at 11:59pm PST. The winner will be determined by Random.org and will have 48 hours to respond or I will choose a new winner. Good luck!

The haute airplane shell I chose from Diapers Etc

*This is my personal story/experience with starting cloth diapering. I definitely don't consider myself an expert but would love to be called an activist. I've helped several friends (and online acquaintances) start cloth diapering and I would love to help anyone else who is considering it. Please feel free to email me at hautemommyblog@gmail.com

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And the winner is... Heather! Congratulations!

Heather said... 

I would use it on either a Thirsties duo diaper or BG Elemental.  

March 5, 2011 7:30 AM

Mama Wants

Recently I had the opportunity to attend a live seminar given by Lisa Druxman (the founder of Stroller Strides) on her newest program Mama Wants. The DVD series, Mama Wants Her Body Back is different from Lisa's previous programs because it's just for mom! "The short 20 minute workouts take into account your busy lifestyle as a mom. Fit one in before your family wakes up, during a child's nap time or anytime that works for you. They're short but super efficient!" (If you're interested in learning how you can work out with your baby check out our giveaway of Lisa's book Lean Mommy) I just wanted to share some of the points from the seminar that have really stuck in my mind and that you can implement on your own.

*It's all about baby steps!*
-You don't have to make the best food choice, just make a better choice
-Engage your abs at all times... grocery shopping, cleaning, etc.
-Try to be a healthy example for your children; this will in turn make you eat healthier too

KEGELS. I've always heard people (doctors, celebrities, friends, etc.) talk about how important kegels are but I never understood why. The pelvic floor muscles are attached to your lower abs aka the mommy pooch! Seriously, put your fingers on your lower abs on the inside of your hip bones and above your pelvic bone and do some kegels right now! You can actually feel your lower abs muscles moving! And the best part is you can do them any time, even when you're driving! Lisa also talked about creating a "butterfly effect" by telling other moms what we learned so that they can tell other moms and so on... So please share these tips with other moms you know!


Lisa Druxman and I after the seminar.



POSH Mommy *UPDATED*

As some of you may or may not know... Derek and I are not actually married yet. We have wanted to get married for a long time (we were even looking at rings and places to get married right before we found out we were expecting) but having Bryce put anything "extra" on hold.

"My boyfriend and I have wanted to get married since before we had our son but we don’t have the extra money for a ring/wedding... I would LOVE to have a piece of jewelry I could wear to symbolize our love and the child it created ♥"

Please vote for me to win a POSH Mommy necklace by "liking" my picture on their facebook fan page (link below)!

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=4918734&l=f831d8150d&id=619157092

Contest ends Sunday July 25th thanks!
UPDATE: CONTEST EXTENDED TO FRIDAY JULY 30TH!

The Beginning

Derek and I met working in a nightclub. He was a V.I.P. host and I was an alcohol promo girl… It was love at first sight! Some would say we were living the “glamorous life” since we only worked weekends and were able to go out and have fun the rest of the week. In fact, our first date was a day trip to Disneyland where we ended up upgrading our tickets to annual passes. That’s when I knew he was a keeper! When we became parents, it was a HUGE lifestyle change. I am now a full time stay-at-home mom and Derek works extremely hard at a “regular” job with “normal hours.” I’m sure if you asked any of my friends or family they would say that I transitioned effortlessly into mommyhood… Being a mom really does seem to come naturally to me BUT the biggest challenge for me has been trying to take care of myself. I never wanted to be a “frumpy mom” but I’m ashamed to admit that I now go days at a time without doing (or even washing) my hair. And I’ve even been known to rock the sweatpants multiple days in a row too! (This is coming from someone who pre-baby wouldn’t wear the same outfit twice.) So now that I’ve survived the first year of being a mom… Join me as I try to find “myself” again and discover what’s haute (and not) for moms and babies.

Derek & I the night we met ♥