The following is a guest post from Cara Terreri.

New moms and moms-to-be have their hands full. Whether they’re in the throes of caring for a new baby or spending days, weeks and months playing incubator while trying to maintain energy, stay healthy and plan for the impending birth-day, suffice to say that motherhood brings with it a whole new set of life challenges (oh, and joys!). Moms are entitled to a ”freebie” every once in a while, which is why Giving Birth with Confidence, the Lamaze blog written for women and by women to support each other during pregnancy, birth and parenthood, is hosting a WEEK OF GIVEAWAYS for moms and babies!

 
Everyday this week, the blog is giving away a new baby, mommy or maternity product. Each giveaway is open until Sunday, August 15. So far, here’s the line-up:
Monday: 4 sets of Lamaze toys and teether bundles
Tuesday: Belle Baby Carrier ($109 value!)
Wednesday: $25 gift card to Maternitique, an online baby and maternity boutique that promotes natural and organic products
Thursday: 2 Discover the Sea Carousel Soothers from the Lamaze toy line ($54.99 value each!)
 

There will be two more giveaways featured on Friday and Saturday. The giveaway is free to enter and open to anyone worldwide and will close on Sunday, August 15 at 11:59 EST. Winners will be announced on Monday, August 16.
 
Are you past the new mommy stage? Then consider entering to win on behalf of a friend, or share the Web link (www.givingbirthwithconfidence.org) with your friends and family. While you’re at the Giving Birth with Confidence blog, check out all that there is to offer… articles, tips and stories covering all topics related to pregnancy, birth and parenting, as well as online discussion forums.
 
 
Cara Terreri is the site administrator and blogger at Giving Birth with Confidence in addition to working with Sherean at New Thought Marketing. She’s a full-time mom to two busy boys and part-time blogger, writer, editor and social media maven extraordinaire.

My best friend’s 10-year old daughter is in the Nutcracker this weekend and I’m going to see her perform today. This is her fifth year (or maybe sixth?) performing and it’s been fun to see her move up from hopping across the stage in a bunny costume to performing in two scenes this year. I’m so proud of her!

Last night, my son “cruised” for the first time, pushing his wagon walker across the living room. Very exciting!

And yesterday, we met with both the builder and decorator for our home. We made a few minor changes to the floor plan, like moving windows around, and made a lot of color and finish choices. We selected the exterior color (a blue-gray) with light tan accents and a dark Chestnut wood for the doors. We got the inspiration for the color palette from one of my son’s outfits!

I was at a marketing association lunch the other day and sat at a table of folks who work for a staffing company. They tell me that their business is growing and orders are up. I’m hopeful this means the economy has turned the corner since jobs are a lagging indicator.

What’s open in my browser? Well, I’m still shopping so Amazon is up, Red Envelope is up, and Toys R Us is up. Later today, I plan to do a holiday card so I imagine I’ll be spending some time on Shutterfly. But in terms of what might be interesting to you, check out these sites:

DesignPublic – a great site with modern furniture, accessories, and lots and lots of gifts. Plus kids stuff! You’ll find everything from Jonathan Adler to Thomas Frank to Dwell to Amenity here. Happy browsing!

CoolMomPicks Holiday Gift Guide – I always think I have good gift ideas until I check out their gift guide and realize I am SUCH an amateur. They have such great ideas and discounts on a lot of them. If you’re stuck for someone on your list, check them out.

Parenting.com’s Toy Contest – You may enter twice a day until Dec. 14th to win $900 worth of their selections for toys of the year. Get all your relatives without kids to enter, too, and increase your chance of winning!

Hope you all have a great weekend! We’re going to take the tot to Gymboree tomorrow and hit up some showrooms for interior house ideas (cabinets, tile, etc.). Atlanta’s supposed to be cold and rainy tomorrow, though, so that may put a damper on activities. What do you have planned?

Hi there! I’m helping my Ob-Gyn group with a contest on their Facebook page. This is the fabulous group that delivered my baby. They hired my marketing company to redo their website (what do you think of the design?) and now we’re helping them with their Facebook page.

To kick off their Facebook page, we’re doing a series of contests all month. Right now, you can go to their page and register to win a personalized name book for your child (or any child) from I See Me. I’ve blogged about I See Me before because I think their custom name books are unique and make very special, sentimental gifts.

Anyhow, wanted to let you all know so you can hop on over there and register. And be sure and check back all month. We’ll have other great contests!

Congratulations to Andrea T., who won our $75 Zutano shopping spree. Her comment — # 100 — was selected by Random.org as our winning number. Andrea, I hope you love your Zutano stuff as much as I love mine! In fact, I just placed a big order yesterday for fall clothes from Zutano for my baby. I can’t wait to put him in some new prints and those DARLING hats!

When I first discovered Zutano shortly before my son’s birth, I was SO excited! My husband and I hated all the baby boy clothes we’d seen in the chain stores. Too much powder blue. Too many trucks and puppy dogs. I work in a creative field. I wanted big. I wanted bold. I wanted bright colors! Enter Zutano.

Zutano began 20 years ago, the brain child of a designer/art director, Uli Belenky and her photographer husband, Michael. Frustrated with what they saw in the stores, they took matters into their own hands and began designing colorful, high-quality clothes. Zutano is headquartered in a beautiful farmhouse in Vermont. One of the things I love about the brand (besides the cute clothes) is that they let their employees bring their babies to work. Why don’t more companies do this?

I had a chance to ask the founder, Uli, a few questions. Here’s what I learned:

Q: Where do you get the inspiration for your new designs?

A: The inspiration for our new prints come from so many different things! Mostly things found in the world around us: color schemes, gardens, little gum wrappers, urban landscapes and trees changing colors in the fall. Constant observation and investigation are integral to the creative process. A great regard for playful and humorous situations and a focus on happiness is the place from which we approach our work. At Zutano we always try to challenge our boundaries and look at everything from different perspectives.

This fall’s collection was inspired by the Vermont countryside, forest jaunts, cozy afternoons baking bread by the warm kitchen hearth and natural autumn landscapes.

Q: How many prints do you release each year? When and how do you roll them out?

A: Zutano divides our year into two seasons: fall and spring. We divide our clothing into three categories: Newborn (Itzy Bitzy), Baby and Toddler

In Toddler (2T-4T) we offer styles in all the Baby fabrics, but with a slightly smaller selection and in different silhouettes for older children. Again, we add a few new styles and silhouettes to the mix each season and sometimes retire a few.

Overall we add about 20-25 cotton Interlock prints to the line each year and retire that same amount.

Q: What are some of the most popular prints?

A: Some of the prints that have become Zutano customer favorites and have been in the collection a long time are Circus, Monkeys, Zoo Crew, and Good Dog, and Chocolate Five Stripe. New prints are released over time throughout each season on a month to month basis.

Q: Why don’t you make footies in sizes larger than 9 months? (This question was just for me cuz my puddin’ pop outgrew his Zutano footies at 6 months old.)

A: We will take your request to heart about making footies larger than 9m!

Don’t forget to enter our giveaway to win a $75 gift card to the Zutano Itzy Bitzy boutique. Deadline is Wed., Sept. 30th.

Congratulations to Melissa who had comment # 36. That was the winning number in our maternity shirt giveaway (selected using Random.org). Melissa will get TWO maternity shirts from Apple and Eve.

I loved reading all your comments. You all clearly liked the shirts and had your own funny stories to share. Thanks for participating! Make sure to enter this week’s contest to win a $75 shopping spree from Zutano.

Eeeek! It’s Zutano, Y’all! I am beyond excited to announce this week’s giveaway . . . the final one in our month of giveaways! You all know I love Zutano, right? Literally, about 2/3 of my baby’s wardrobe is Zutano.  They have been kind enough to offer one of my readers a $75 gift card to spend in their online store. Their online store features their Itzy Bitzy line, which comes in two sizes, from 4-8 pounds and 9-13 pounds. Perfect bring-home-the-baby from the hospital outfits — and beyond! (My little one lived in his footies for the first few months of his life.) In addition to the generous prize, I also got to ask the founder, Uli Belenky, a few questions. I’ll post my interview here tomorrow.

GIVEAWAY RULES

1. To enter, go check out Zutano’s Itzy Bitzy Boutique and report back here with a comment on your favorite Zutano outfits or accessories.

2. To gain one more entry, follow us on Facebook and leave me a comment telling me that you’re a follower.

3. To gain yet another entry, follow Zutano on Facebook and leave me another comment to let me know. They have a great FB page!

Giveaway is open to U.S. residents only. Entry deadline: midnight PST, Wednesday, September 30, 2009. The winner will receive a $75 gift card to Zutano’s online store. The winner will be selected using Random.org and announced on Thursday, September 30.

I am seriously obsessed with Zutano. They make such great, vibrant, bold, graphic prints. Totally appeals to my inner designer. They come out with over 20 new patterns a year. It’s easy and fun to mix and match their prints, stripes and solids. Here’s my little bean in some choice Zutano clothes. I just stocked up on new prints for fall (love the moss stripe!) and am already formulating my plan on what to mix, what to match, what to layer and where to take him to show off his cute clothes!

Two days old

Two months old

Three months old

First snow, four months old

Six months (and getting some hair!)

Have you entered this week’s contest yet? We’re giving away two maternity tees from Apple & Eve Maternity to one lucky reader! I had a chance to catch up with Lynnie, the creative mind behind the designs at Apple & Eve. Here’s what she had to say:

Where do you get your design inspirations?

I actually get most of my inspiration for designing my tees from my children! For example, my very first design came about with the help of my son Codi back in 1994 (when he was 3 1/2).  I was pregnant with baby #3 (Clay) and my son asked me, “Mommy, why do you have a ‘bump’ on your belly?” I told him, “The bump is there to protect the little baby inside.”  That innocent question from my child gave me the inspiration for “Baby Under Mommy’s Protection” (aka BUMP).  I now use that phrase on every mommy tee that I design as my signature logo! It is located at the lower corner of each of my mommy tees. To make the logo even more special, I had the footprints from my two youngest sons birth certificates replicated and incorporated into my logo, with the phrase “Baby Under Mommy’s Protection” arched above the newborn footprints.

I also try to keep things humorous (I’m well known for practical jokes around my house!), which you can probably tell from the “OMGIMPRGNT” tee. With baby #4 — better known as Colten – I was 37 years old and, bless his heart, he was an “OOPS!”  One of the first things I said was, “Oh my God, I’m pregnant!” My daughter Christina came up with the text version for the design of this tee! I guess you can truly say this is a “family” business!

How often do you release new designs?

I try to release a new design or two every six months. I will be releasing another Christmas design by mid-October.  I am also adding long sleeve and tanks to my collection! I love designing my maternity tees, it really is so much fun. And it certainly helps that the feedback from my customers is wonderful!  One of my customers even used the OMGIMPRGNT tee to announce that she was pregnant.  She had her husband and parents/family meet her at the local Olive Garden.  She wore the tee and as everyone figured out what the “text” message said, well, let’s just say, there were a lot of happy screams coming from a certain table in Olive Garden. Stories like that are what make this job so much fun!

Do you have a favorite tee and why?

I would have to say my favorite is the classic Baby Under Mommy’s Protection maternity tee, because it was my first design and is very sentimental to me.  I also am partial to my design “Watch Love Grow” – the detail in the artwork for this tee is just beautiful!

Ready to win TWO of your own Apple & Eve Maternity tees? Check out yesterday’s post, follow the rules and enter to win by midnight on Wednesday, September 23, 2009. We’ll randomly select a winner using Random.org. And don’t forget to follow us on Facebook for a whole other contest – a chance to win a $50 Amazon gift card!

Virtual drumroll, please . . . the winner of the cute splat mat and matching bib is Nicole with comment # 10. I used Random.org to select the winner. Congrats, Nicole. I hope you love your set as much as I love mine!

We just announced this week’s contest: Win a mod mom maternity shirt from Apple and Eve. LOVE their shirts, Y’all. Please tell your friends!

I wish I’d seen the maternity t-shirts from Apple & Eve Maternity when I was pregnant. I found that most of the maternity tees out there were too cutesy, or in some cases, too in-your-face. The shirts at Apple & Eve are really clever and have a simple, understated modern design. I just LOVE the “OMGIMPRGNT” shirt and totally wish I’d had that one. I also like the “did a little dance, made a little love…” shirt — that shirt really hits the nail on the head!

And the best part about the shirts at Apple & Eve Maternity is that you have the chance to win one TWO shirts from her shop!

GIVEAWAY RULES

1. To enter, go check out Apple & Eve Maternity and report back here with a comment on your favorite screened maternity tee.

2. To gain one more entry, subscribe to my RSS feed and leave me a comment telling me that you’re a subscriber.

3. To gain yet another entry, follow me on Twitter, then leave another comment and tell me your Twitter name.

Giveaway is open to U.S. residents only. Entry deadline: midnight PST, Wednesday, September 23, 2009. The winner will receive a maternity t-shirt in your choice of size and style. The winner will be selected using Random.org and announced on Thursday, September 24.

And don’t forget to follow us on Facebook for a whole other contest – a chance to win a $50 Amazon gift card!

Check back here tomorrow to read my interview with Lynnie, the originator of the phrase “bump: baby under Mommy’s protection” and the woman behind Apple & Eve Maternity.

UPDATE: Lynnie just informed me that the winner will get her choice of TWO maternity shirts from her shop, not one. Wow! That’s an almost $50 value, Chicas. Not pregnant? Win some for a friend!