The Itsabelly Blog

The Winners!

First of all, if you're reading this today Happy 4th!  I wanted to send out a note announcing Itsabelly's winners of the iPod Shuffle and Earth Mama Angel Baby "I Love My Mama" gift set contests.  I know, I know... I'm totally tardy and I apologize but with a new book soon to be released, a new website and company growth with Rishma as our new baby planner in Toronto, Canada  - I've been just a little bit busy these past few months :)  I'm happy to announce that our winners reach over into international territory, yahoo!

So, without further a due our lucky winners were:

Sonia Sousa of Barrigas & Bebes in Portugal won the yummy Earth Mama Angel Baby gift set.

Sonia is a Doula and Childbirth Educator. Barrigas & Bebés translates into Tummys & Babies in English, cute!  She's also an Infant Massage Instructor and loves to work with pregnant couples and parenting families.

Ellen Davis in Florida won the cool iPod Shuffle.

CONGRATS ladies and thank you for supporting Itsabelly Baby Concierge!

Two Cool Giveaways Right Here on Itsabelly!

Just a quick post to let you know Itsabelly's lucky iPod Shuffle winner will be announced shortly so stay tuned. 

Additionally, we're hosting one more giveaway contest to win Earth Mama Angel Baby's "I Love My Mama" gift set valued at almost $50.  You can enter until May 7th, 12:00 am PST by commenting on this blog, signing up for our blog through Feedblitz in the right hand corner of this page or signing up for our newsletter at the bottom of our home page here.  If you haven't already entered you have up to 3 chances to enter your name into our drawing as noted above.

So, what are you waiting for?!  You may win something really nice for the special mom or friend in your life just in time for Mother's Day!  Prize will be shipped to the winner on May 8th to arrive just in time.

Our Special Announcement to Honor Earth Day!

             

Itsabelly's Guide to Going Green with Baby is the first book to provide a simple resource for evaluating eco-friendly baby gear and to learn more about organic and natural family living. We offer mom-tested product reviews and tips to raising a healthy baby and creating a happy planet. The founders of Under the Nile, gDiapers, TheSoftLanding.com and Earth Mama Angel Baby provide insight on why choosing organic and natural baby products is important to creating a healthier lifestyle. Going Green with Baby features personal product recommendations from eco-minded moms Jennifer Lo Prete and Melissa Moog. Jennifer is a writer and mother of two that has long practiced green living. Melissa is mom to a toddler, writer and the founder of Itsabelly Baby Concierge, a premier baby planning agency that specializes in going green with baby.

Going Green with Baby will be released in the Summer of 2008. To pre-order your copy, please send us an email to info@itsa-belly.com or call us at (503)799-5719 with your name and contact information. We will contact you when the book is available for purchase. Wholesale inquiries are also welcome.

A Peek Inside...

• Plan your baby registry with the best mom-tested reviews of over 300 eco-friendly baby products. We cover all your baby’s needs from slings to strollers, non-toxic bottles to safe skin care products, organic baby clothes to eco-friendly diapers and sustainable nursery furniture.
           
• Learn why going green with baby is important for a healthy baby and happy planet. Our panel of eco experts weighs in on the importance of organic apparel, sustainable wood, non-toxic feeding products and natural skin care products.
           
• Discover our simple eco-mom tips to raising a healthy baby and protecting our planet.
           
• Decipher the meaning and standards behind eco-labels. What does organic mean anyway? We make your trip to the store easier with a useful guide to common eco-labels and organic certification standards.
           
• Gain valuable tips on going green on a budget. From our own experience, it may not be financially feasible to turn your household completely organic. We give you tips on how you can make green choices that are right for your family.

      

Happy Mama and a Great Green Company!

In honor of celebrating Mother's Day Itsabelly is giving away Earth Mama Angel Baby's "I Love My Mama" gift set (to enter contest see below).  Earth Mama Angel Baby is a genuine "green" company which produces the only line of 100% natural skin and body care products to support the ENTIRE birth process: pregnancy, labor, postpartum and c-section recovery, breastfeeding, baby care and even the loss of a baby.

It's no secret that I love Earth Mama Angel Baby's products since I use them on my baby and myself!  So, I decided to get the inside scoop directly from the woman and pioneer who started it all.  I was able to visit with Melinda Olson (founder) and she gave me a tour of her wonderful company.  I was impressed by Melinda's deep passion to protect our babies and mamas with her creation of pure and safe products.  Melinda has been creating Earth Mama Angel Baby's products since 2002 where she started out of her home.  She is one of the FIRST companies to exclude the use of phthalates and parabens for several years now (way before the recent media hype on toxins).  Her company continues to create positive waves across the country as families come to Earth Mama Angel Baby for phthalate and paraben free products.  Not to mention all the employees I've met and talked on the phone with are every bit as warm and kind as Melinda herself!

Earth Mama Angel Baby uses the highest quality oils and QAI certified organic herbs. Their products are cruelty-free, certified vegan, kosher, and 100% toxin-free - that means NO phthalates, parabens, SLS, artificial preservatives, fragrances or dyes.  In fact, Melinda has created an invaluable resource with her "reading room" materials on various toxins like phthalates to help educate parents, see information here.  The company also honors the earth by using only eco-friendly recyclable or reused/resuseable packaging and packing materials.  Earth Mama Angel Baby is even the proud recipient of the BRAG (Business Recycling Award Group) for their green practices.

The "I Love My Mama" gift set was specially designed to pamper mamas, so it's perfect for that special person on your Mother's Day list, birthday or just because you love them.  The gift includes Happy Feet soothing organic foot soak, Mint Herbal Lip Balm, Happy Mama Spray to ease both morning yuckies when pregnant and the downs after baby is here, Earth Mama Body Butter for healthier happier skin and Natural Nipple Butter, all packaged in a reusable pink organza bag.  The set is an almost $50 value.

To win all you have to do is sign up for our blog through Feedblitz located in the top right-hand corner of our blog, sign up for our newsletter as seen on the bottom of our home page here or leave a comment on this entry.  So, you can enter your name up to 3 times maximum if you'd like to!  The contest starts today April 19th and ends May 7th just in time for Mother's Day. 

What are you waiting for?  Treat yourself or a mama you know.  Sign up to WIN!

The Ultimate Blog Party is Here! Join us For Some Fun!

Welcome to Itsabelly's Blog Party as hosted by 5minutesformom.com! 

So, I thought my family and I would share the inside scoop on the people behind Itsabelly Baby Concierge during our blog party.  But let me explain what we do first...we're a premier service that assists new and expectant parents on how to navigate the world of all things maternity and newborn with a green focus.  If you want more info on our business click on our website here or click on our link located on the sidebar to the left.  I'm also the Pregnancy Planning Expert for The Bump and will be the Green Parenting Blogger for emomsathome.com soon.  BTW, if you leave a comment on my blog, sign up for my newsletter or blog feed via Feed Blitz before April 1st you will be entered into our cool iPod Shuffle giveaway contest, see details here.

So, above in our first picture we have Randy (husband, daddy,VP of Finance & Operations), Isabella (our 19 mo old, inspiration and Chief Tester of all Baby Products), and myself, Melissa (Head Mama, Queen Multi-tasker, x-HR high tech junkie).  This picture was taken in Cabo San Lucas just a few weeks ago.  As you can see we had a beautiful time!

Here we have Cindy (my sis-in-law and inspiration). Cindy actually flew up from Cali to help me register at BabiesRus almost 2 years ago.  Without her personal assistance I would have pleaded insanity and died of overwhelming stress from not having a clue about what to put on my baby registry (this is where I gave birth to Itsabelly).  Cindy was important in helping me come up with my business concept.  Thanks Cin!

Here is my mom with Isabella at 2 months.  Mom makes it possible to get Itsabelly work done and as Isabella's favorite playmate loves every minute.

Pictured below is Czari (pronounced Zar-ree), my sister.  She is with Isabella at 9 months during our picnic in Napa at Via Sattui Winery along with our little friend Malia.  Czar is a fabulous Auntie and always so supportive of Itsabelly, willing to help me with Sales and Marketing anytime!

Last but not least is Jennifer LoPrete and her 2 beautiful children (last picture).  Jennifer is a wonderful mama and Itsabelly's Marketing & PR Manager who has done a superb job.  Her excellent writing skills, marketing talent and dedication make her a rare gem.  We love her!!

I hope you enjoyed a view into the Itsabelly Family.  Thanks for stopping by and please leave a comment to say hello!

And if you're a parent, pregnant or know someone who's expecting please send them Itsabelly's way to sign up for our free parenting tips and information on non-toxic baby products via this blog.  Don't forget to enter and win an iPod Shuffle too just for saying hi!  Cheers! 

Sending Some Link Love - Come on Join the Party!

I'm happy to announce that women bloggers everywhere will unite beginning this Friday!

From our Friends at 5minutesformom.com:

"During the week of March 7-14th, the blogosphere will be party hopping - jumping through our Mr. Linky list of participating bloggers, meeting new friends and partying blogger-style at the Ultimate Blog Party 2008, at 5 Minutes for Mom."

Are you going to be there?

Join Itsabelly and fellow mom bloggers for some link love and fabulous prizes.  Check out some of their prizes here. 

Last year's event brought almost 1,000 bloggers so you won't want to miss this one!!

Announcing Itsabelly's iPod Shuffle Giveaway - The Contest Has Started!!

CONTEST RULES

To enter our contest you must do one of the following and your name will be entered into our drawing.  You can receive an entry for each item that you do. You must have an email so we can contact you if you win.

1)  Sign up for the Itsabelly Newsletter (by entering your email address in the space provided at the bottom of our website's home page)

2)  Leave a comment here or on any Itsabelly post that interests you

3)  Add your favorite Itsabelly blog entry to your del.icio.us account

4)  Add your favorite Itsabelly blog entry to your digg.com account

5)  Purchase an Itsabelly product or service on-line through our boutique

Deadline: This contest will end April 30, 2008 at midnight, PST.  We will announce the winner on May 1, 2008 through our newsletter and blog. 

Good luck!

                                                           

 

What would you do with $25,000?

Did you know that Kimberly-Clark (brands such as Kleenex®, Scott®, Huggies®, Pull-ups® etc) is sponsoring a fabulous contest where you can win $25,000 to renovate ANY room in your home that you desire!  They will award 16 lucky winners from January 28 to February 15, one person per weekday will be announced on The View and will win $25,000 to renovate any room in their house. The final contestant winner will be announced March 21st on the “Room-a-Day Giveaway” website.

If I won that much money I would probably faint initially.  Then I would scream happily at the top of my lungs!  I would re-do our master bathroom (totally gut it) and build a nice, huge tub & shower, dual bathroom sinks including beautiful counter tops, mirrors and tile.  I would also build a very LARGE size walk-in closet with special organizers for my shoes, purses, scarves and accessories.  My husband would probably only get 1/4 of this brand new walk-in closet space, poor thing!

So, what room would you make-over if you won $25k?  Why not enter and find out, you may be the WINNER!

ABOUT THE CONTEST:
The idea of the sweepstakes is to give very deserving Moms a great opportunity to “relax, restore and renew” through creating a fresh, new space in their homes for them and their families. Kimberly-Clark will award 16 lucky winners and from January 28 to February 15, one person per weekday will be announced on The View and win $25,000 to renovate any room in their house. The final contestant winner will be announced March 21st on the “Room-a-Day Giveaway” website.

Contestants can enter the sweepstakes daily by going to http://www.roomadaygiveaway.com/.