The Coolest Thing Ever!!

Shortly after I started blogging I came across a blog that I fell in love with called My Brown Baby. About the same time I started reading articles about the perfect age to have kids, and other topics on Parenting.com.

I followed @mybrownbaby on twitter and noticed the mommy of the month feature. I jokingly asked if I qualified... I didn't. But she did ask me to do a guest post. I was so honored... But I was even more honored when I realized that the author of My Brown Baby and one of the contributing writers for Parenting.com is the same woman! Oh and she also has a book she wrote with Steve Harvey that's currently #1 on the New York Times Best Sellers List!: "Act Like A Lady, Think Like A Man" and she's done a bazillion other awesome things, but I'll let you read more about her on her blog.

Basically, in regards to my parenting research, the name Denene Milner kept coming up everywhere. I swear I've noticed it on at least five different websites... And now, my name is on hers! Woop!

So check out my post for today over here at My Brown Baby.

The July Mommy Momment Feature!

I had the pleasure of interviewing Kelly, winner of July's Mommy Moment Contest. Be sure to check out her blogs and show her LOTS of comment love! :) Oooh ooh... Especially cause she JUST had her 2nd baby on Friday!!! Yay!

Want to be featured? There's still time to enter this month's contest.

Blog Name? Original was ‘Amelia Takes on The World’ but transitioning to ‘Dyar GirlsTake on Their Parents’ since #2 will be here soon; I also have a wine review blog that is somewhat on hold since I’m pregnant and a photography blog as I learn about our DSLR camera.

How many kids do you have? Amelia just turned 2 and baby girl #2 will be here sometime in the next two weeks.

What is your favorite thing about being a mom? How much love is in your heart for this little person, and how much it just keeps growing over time, especially when they start saying ‘I love you’ and look to you for comfort.

What is the hardest part about being a mom? Balancing being the best mom you can be while also retaining time for yourself and your husband which I believe are also keys to being a good mom; it’s really hard to find time for all three things so it is a balancing act that is never perfect but you try your best.

What is your blog about? Mostly about Amelia and her growing up; I don’t often write about issues of motherhood or marriage itself,although I’ve considered starting a separate page or blog where I would do that; I wanted her blog to be about her so it would be something I could print and save for her when she is older.

How did you start blogging? I actually started it because we started a wine review blog (http://www.ddwinereview.com/) with our friends – and when I was talking to a co-worker they said it would be funny if I also had a baby food review blog. That started when Amelia was around 5 months old and just grew into a journal of her life. I’ve gone back and added a few posts for those first 5 months just to have some documentation.

How long have you had your blog? Just over a year and a half since the first two started.

What are some tips for new bloggers? Write from your heart and just keep in mind, it will evolve. What I have now is not what I started with – and I never would’ve considered myself a good writer but I’m constantly having friends and family telling me a post makes them cry or just how they love my style of writing. I just go with my heart,very little editing involved, and I think that is the best advice I can give.

Your 3 favorite posts you've written ? The one I submitted here, Bunnies Eat Cereal, is one of my favorites. I also love my monthly updates where I write a letter to Amelia about her accomplishments – here was her 2 year letter. One of the few posts that I’ve written that isn’t necessarily about Amelia was about my experience with the 3-day Breast Cancer Walk and it is also one of my favorite posts; while its not really about her, she is one of the reasons I participated. I hope to see the day when our girls don’t have to worry about breast cancer.

Spread the love: 3 other blogs you love?
Besides Baby Making Machine of course – the first three blogs I followed on a regular basis back when I started blogging myself are still three of my favorites. All three get checked daily during the week – I tend to be more relaxed about getting on the computer on the weekend to spend more time with Amelia.
Dooce – while I don’t always agree with her politics, her writing about being a mother and family resonate with me; her letters to her daughter Leta were my inspiration for my letters to Amelia even though I take a different perspective on them.

Wouldashoulda- Mir cracks me up and can make me cry – she is just so real and I feel like she could be one of my best friends,things I look for in a blog

Motherhood Uncensored- At first I found Kristen a little too frank for me, but overtime I kept coming back and now I check daily for posts and follow her tweets (I follow all three on twitter actually). She is just refreshingly honest about motherhood.

ElleBows and More: Cutest Baby Sponsor #2

Do to popular demand (I've always wanted to say that). I'll be doing another cutest kid/baby/pet contest in a couple of weeks, and the closing bash to the March of Dimes fundraiser! I'll start collecting your photos this weekend (winners can't re-enter).

Now you moms with your cute little girls in the cutest baby contest may be wondering what prize is in store for you!

If you're anything like how I imagine I'll be, you love to dress your little girl up. So I have the perfect sponsor with the perfect prize for your little princess.

Meet Lisa, the mastermind and crafter behind ElleBows and More, a shop with a little bit of everything for a stylish little girl.
Lisa has been married to her supportive husband for 4 years now.

"Although," she added. "If I pick up one more hobby he may leave me, just kidding. I tend to start several craft projects and I would say about half of them actually get fully accomplished."

She has one daughter, Elle, two dogs and one cat and live in the crazy hot desert and are anxiously awaiting their 70 degree winter.

I asked her how she got into making all of these things and she said it all began as she was desperately searching for a creative outlet and a way to stay busy and feel productive as a new stay at home mom.I didn't know this, but she worked in the designer handbag industry before she had Elle and she missed it terribly.

"I loved all the aspects of fashion and design," she said. "So, I thought why not start a small business, use some of what I learned to produce and market a product and see what happens. I knew I wanted to incorporate my daughter Elle's name and I thought hair bows would be a great place to begin my journey into kids fashion. So, ElleBows was born. I included the "& More" because I hoped it would lead to different things, and slowly it has. I recently started to add clothing items to the shop which has been such a pleasure because I LOVE to sew."

Just look at some of the things she makes!She told me her favorite part about her shop is honestly, the people I have come to know because of it.

"I have 'met' the sweetest, most kindhearted and generous people through my shop, blog and twitter," she said.

For Lisa, making hair accessories has become a bit of a breeze. She makes them fairly quick now. The pillowcase dresses require much more time, but she said she's getting faster day by day!
With a competitive business out there of soooo many adorable baby girl hair accessories to choose from, it's great to be doing as well as she is. I think it's because of the love she puts into each little bow.

And what she loves most... Photos from her customers.

"I just adore the photos I get from customer's of their child wearing them," she said. "It puts the biggest smile on my face!"

She also donates a portion of her proceeds to charity. This month she's donating to Carter's Crusaders. Her blog also has a behind the scenes look at the life of a baby designer!

She is also donating some of her talents to help with my fundraiser! The little girl winner of the cutest baby contest will win their choice of a beautiful ElleBloom bow.So tell your friends to vote vote vote! Tomorrow I'll show those of you with the cutest kids what you're up to win!

Rathina Decor: Cutest Kid Contest Sponsor

In another two week wait! Wish me luck this month... Although I'm not as excited/anxious/nervous as last month.

But for those of you who have your kids up to win the Cutest Kid Contest, you are in for a fun surprise! And for those of you not sure what I'm doing this for, check out my March of Dimes Fundraiser post!

The winner will with an adorable switch plate of your choice from Rathina Decor.

She started making switch plate covers when she was redesigning my kitchen. Because of the variety of switch plate covers they used, she never could find a complete matching set. That is when she decided to make my own using fabric. Each switch plate cover is also sealed so that you can wipe it clean with a damp cloth. Just look at some of these adorable styles!

She and her husband have been married for 5 years and they have a little boy named Seth who is 5 months old. And one thing I love about her shop is that everything is so affordable! She this mommy has a sweet goal in mind with making all of these.

"I am trying to promote my switch plate store as much as possible so that I can try to stay at home with Seth," she said.

They also have two cats named Buddy & Bitsy.

She said her favorite part of her craft is probably the fabric shopping!

I am so addicted to fabric it is crazy," she said. "I have tons of bins all around the house filled with fabric." And jsut look at these choices!

Seriously, check out her shop because there's something for everyone, and every room in your house. There are also covers for all kinds of switches, and she can make them all to match! Maybe your cutest kid would love some of these in their room.

And if you love these so much and didn't enter the cutest kid contest, there is still a chance to win a free switch plate by being the 3000th person to follow her on twitter.

Crafted by Design Baby Sling: Sponsor #7

Short story: I.. The self-proclaimed Baby makin' Machine, found out making a baby isn't as easy as I had hoped. So to take my mind off baby makin' I'm spending a month raising money to help March of Dimes babies. Read the long story about how this fundraiser got started here!

Read my latest TTC update here.

I can't believe in two weeks we've already raised 75% of our goal! I couldn't have dreamed of this!! And not just that... SO many people have donated $15 or more, so I've been VERY busy making baby hair bows, and I'm sure I'll be making doggie bandannas soon too! I happily spend $50 at Hobby Lobby the other day getting supplies, so I could give back too!

It's crazy because originally I was just planning to donate baby bows to a charity, now, I'm still donating baby bows, but we've raised A LOT more money for the charity!

Now I'm not sure about you, but lately I've noticed a huge jump in the number of women carrying their babies in slings! At first I thought it looked a little strange, but now, the more I see it the more I'm like "Awwww CUTE!"

But I think one of the difficult things is finding affordable slings. I've browsed around and a lot of them seem overpriced to me. One of my best friends started making them, and she has been giving them away as gifts. If I ever get brave enough, I may try it myself. But until then, I'll be looking for people like KeriAnne, to help out.
KeriAnne is the woman behind Crafted By Design. But she doesn't just make slings, she makes a variety of things! Just look at some of this cute stuff!She said she's always been into crafting, but never really thought about it as a way to make money until after she had kids.
"I enjoy being a stay at home mom," she said. "But with that come the challenges of raising a family on one income. So I started making small things to sell to help earn a little money. I made my first sling after I had my 5th child (I can't believe I didn't figure it out until then!)."

She was so happy with it, that she wanted to share it with others. So many slings are very pricey, so her goal was to create good slings at a reasonable price. She enjoys custom requests the most, because she gets to use her creativity and her talents and share them with others.

Get a behind the scenes look at KeriAnne by checking out her blog or her Facebook page.

She also is very generous and is donating a beautiful sling and matching pouch to one generous donor.
If you happen to donate just $5 to the charity I'll give you 5 free tickets to win this prize from Crafted by Design! Not only are you helping a charity but (for free) I'll give you 5 tickets in my GIANT drawing! You can donate by clicking the "chip in" button to the right or by clicking here. (Paypal is NOT associated with the drawing, just with donations. Questions about the drawing? Email me at babymakingmachine{at}gmail.com)

This is just one of more than 40 prizes (worth over $1500) that's up for grabs in the drawing! See the full list here. 100% of the funds raised are going to March of Dimes, to help save babies!

Read how this got started here!
Check out all of the prizes here!
Enter my 2nd Cutest Baby Contest here!
Have a giveaway? List it here! Offer extra entries to your peeps for donating!

Trendy Scarfs: Henry Pete's Pasture: Sponsor #8

Short story: I.. The self-proclaimed Baby Makin' Machine, found out making a baby isn't as easy as I had hoped. So to take my mind off baby makin' I'm spending a month raising money to help March of Dimes babies. Read the long story about how this fundraiser got started here!
Read my latest TTC update here.

And we're just going to keep going! I'm really excited about this next sponsor... I LOVE scarfs. And before you go to Gap and spend $40 on a scarf from Gap check this out! My girl, NotTheSun has a great shop, Henry Pete's Pasture, with the cutest softest-looking scarfs!
Holidays are coming up and these scarfs make a great gift!
I tried to makes scarfs a few years ago (it was a hobby I developed while hubby would watch football or golf for hours on end) and mine always came out crooked! I also never attempted to alternate the colors. But look at all of the options she has!And she makes trendy headscarfs too!She said decided to start her shop after all her friends in art school started talking about Etsy!

"I had to check it out and I couldn't believe how awesome this site was," she said. "What an awesome concept!"

She doesn't remember why she started knitting but her mom taught her about 5 or 6 years ago.

"I have always been a creative and artistic person," she said. "I always have to be creating something and knitting allows me to constantly be creating! Now I am hooked and can't stop! So I decided to post my scarves for sale on here because I can only make so many for myself :)"

She, like myself isn't a mom just yet... Unless you want to consider her pooch a kid.

"He is great and I love him like he is a son!" She said. "Maybe one day I will have my own little family but I don't yet!" And that's ok... You all know I love my Snoop like my child sometimes too.

She's really great about customizing orders, so if you're looking around and see something you like, she'll make it a special size for you, if you like.

This month she's participating in the Susan G. Koman Foundation's THINK PINK promotion, and donating a part of her proceeds in the Think Pink category of her shop to the breast cancer research foundation. What a great cause right?And her generosity doesn't stop there... She's also donating ANY one item from her shop to one of you wonderful donors to our March of Dimes Fundraiser! Cool right? There's so much to choose from!

If you happen to donate just $10 to the charity I'll give you 10 free tickets to win this prize from Henry Pete's Pasture! Not only are you helping a charity but (for free) I'll give you 10 tickets in my GIANT drawing! You can donate by clicking the "chip in" button to the right or by clicking here. (Paypal is NOT associated with the drawing, just with donations. Questions about the drawing? Email me at babymakingmachine{at}gmail.com)

This is just one of more than 40 prizes (worth over $1500) that's up for grabs in the drawing! See the full list here. 100% of the funds raised are going to March of Dimes, to help save babies!

Read how this got started here!
Check out all of the prizes here!
Enter my 2nd Cutest Baby Contest here!
Have a giveaway? List it here! Offer extra entries to your peeps for donating!

Iris and Lily Photo Album: Sponsor #9

Short story: I.. The self-proclaimed "Baby Makin' Machine," found making a baby isn't as easy as I had hoped. So to take my mind off baby makin' I'm spending a month raising money to help March of Dimes babies. Read the long story about how this fundraiser got started here!

Read my latest TTC update here.

Sweet Diane donated a beautiful custom photo album during my 400th follower giveaway. She's a sweet woman who's children are grown and out of the house. She's created a beautiful way to document and save precious memories with her custom photo albums.

Unfortunately, she's had a busy, and emotionally draining run lately, so she's decided to put her album-making on hold for now. It's been a difficult decision, and seeing her talent I can understand how that would be such a hard one to make.

I still want you to get to know this lovely woman though. If you are into making things handmade and are thinking about selling it in the Internet, you should visit her blog Iris and Lily Designs to see the stuff she's learned along the way about selling handmade online! She also sells her scrapbooking supplies on Iris and Lily Supplies.

Being the generous woman she is though, she has still offered to donate one of her beautiful accordion albums to this cause. You can choose the photo that goes on the outside of the album, and she'll fix it up all nice for you!If you happen to donate just $15 to the charity I'll give you 15 free tickets to win this prize from Iris and Lily! Not only are you helping a charity but (for free) I'll give you 15 tickets in my GIANT drawing AND you win a GUARANTEED prize from ME!

You can donate by clicking the "chip in" button to the right or by clicking here. (Paypal is NOT associated with the drawing, just with donations. Questions about the drawing? Email me at babymakingmachine{at}gmail.com)

This is just one of more than 40 prizes (worth over $1500) that's up for grabs in the drawing! See the full list here. 100% of the funds raised are going to March of Dimes, to help save babies, and educate mothers on the importance of prenatal care!

Read how this got started here!

Check out all of the prizes here!

Enter my 2nd Cutest Baby Contest here!

Have a giveaway? List it here! Offer extra entries to your peeps for donating!

Glen and Constance Scarflett: Sponsor #10

Short story: I.. The self-proclaimed "Baby Makin' Machine," found making a baby isn't as easy as I had hoped. So to take my mind off baby makin' I'm spending a month raising money to help March of Dimes babies. Read the long story about how this fundraiser got started here!

Read my latest TTC update here.

Did I mention I love spunkyness? Oh but I do! And this next sponsor I think could fall in the dictionary under spunky... Along with her craft!

Amy is the proprietor of Glen and Constance.

She spends her days cooped up in classes and locked in her university's costume shop, and her nights in her attic bedroom dreaming up new environmentally friendly creations. That is, every night that isn't filled with watching Gossip Girl and drinking Pina Coladas with her mother.

Her current obsession is the neck piece/scarflette that grew from a costume she built this summer for Shakespeare Santa Cruz's A Midsummer Night's Dream, and her love of cowboy boots. She wanted something a little bit dressy and a little bit trendy to wear with her multiple pair of boots.

Her scarflettes are currently evolving into western themed bandanas for men, which are also apparently making a comeback.

Glen and Constance came to be out of pure necessity to force Amy's creations on the world, it is of now somewhat successful.

Thankfully (as she puts it), Amy is not yet a mother, as her wild college life in the theater would not be conducive to children, but some day...
tweet her: @bobbinoodlea

And her blog: http://bobbinoodle.blogspot.com/

She has offered her skills to this fund raiser and has offered to donate a $30 gift certificate to her shop!

If you happen to donate just $15 to the charity I'll give you 15 free tickets to win this prize from Glen and Constance! Not only are you helping a charity but (for free) I'll give you 15 tickets in my GIANT drawing AND you win a GUARANTEED prize from ME!

You can donate by clicking the "chip in" button to the right or by clicking here. (Paypal is NOT associated with the drawing, just with donations. Questions about the drawing? Email me at babymakingmachine{at}gmail.com)

This is just one of more than 40 prizes (worth over $1500) that's up for grabs in the drawing! See the full list here. 100% of the funds raised are going to March of Dimes, to help save babies, and educate mothers on the importance of prenatal care!

Read how this got started here!
Check out all of the prizes here!
Enter my 2nd Cutest Baby Contest here!
Have a giveaway? List it here! Offer extra entries to your peeps for donating!

Garden of Life Prenatals: Sponsor #11

Short story: I.. The self-proclaimed "Baby Makin' Machine," found making a baby isn't as easy as I had hoped. So to take my mind off baby makin' I'm spending a month raising money to help March of Dimes babies. Read the long story about how this fundraiser got started here!

I wrote a post before about prenatal vitamins! I have written about them a couple of times actually. Garden of Life hooked me up with some of their prenatal vitamins and I have really been liking them!

I wrote before about how I originally just bought a $4 bottle at the grocery store... I quickly learned (from several of my readers) that all most vitamins do is give you expensive (or in my case not so much) pee. So... When I found the Garden of Life Code RAW Prenatal vitamins I was really excited to see that they were made with organic materials!

I'm talking I can pronounce everything on the label! Here's a little thing that it says about their vitamins on their site:

"With Vitamin Code RAW Prenatal, you can rest assured that our vitamins are uncooked, untreated and unadulterated, with no binders or fillers, no soy allergens and always vegan, dairy-free and gluten-free. These factors alone should make Vitamin Code RAW Prenatal your multivitamin of choice. But there’s even more to Vitamin Code RAW Prenatal making it even more valuable. Vitamin Code RAW Prenatal contains clinically studied probiotics that not only enhance the immune systems of mothers, but that of their babies as well. Vitamin Code Prenatal is also a wonderful multivitamin for newly lactating mothers—with the immune support extending to that of the newborn, breast-fed baby."

They even sent me a bottle for my hubby!

Did you know it's important for men to take vitamins too? Yep! I've read several articles saying nutrients like Zinc are good for the swimmers... Some vitamins make them stronger, and some make them healthier, and some just pain help make more of them!

Vitamins don't always taste the best, but another nice thing about these is that they are in capsules. So you can pour them in your food or drink to get it down. I usually just swallow them like a (wo)man though.

What I love more about this company... When they heard I was doing this fund raiser for March of Dimes they were one of the first companies to jump on board! And they are donating A LOT!

Three donors will win a set of vitamins!

Winner 1:
Vitamin Code Raw Prenatals $30
Oceans 3 Oceans Mom $14

Winner 2:
Vitamin Code Raw One for Men $35
Oceans 3 Better Brain $34

Winner 3:
Vitamin Code Raw One for Women $35
Oceans 3 Healthy Hormones $33

If you happen to donate just $20 to the charity I'll give you 20 free tickets to win this prize from Garden of Life! Not only are you helping a charity but you get 20 tickets in our GIANT drawing! You can donate by clicking the "chip in" button to the right or by clicking here. (Paypal is NOT associated with the drawing, just with donations. Questions about the drawing? Email me at babymakingmachine{at}gmail.com)

This is just one of more than 40 prizes (worth over $1500) that's up for grabs in the drawing! See the full list here. 100% of the funds raised are going to March of Dimes, to help save babies!

Read how this got started here!
Check out all of the prizes here!
Enter my 2nd Cutest Baby Contest here!
Have a giveaway? List it here! Offer extra entries to your peeps for donating!

The Hempsphere Chic Choker: Sponsor #12

Short story: I.. The self-proclaimed "Baby Makin' Machine," found making a baby isn't as easy as I had hoped. So to take my mind off baby makin' I'm spending a month raising money to help March of Dimes babies. Read the long story about how this fundraiser got started here!

22 year-old-old Jessa, is the woman behind The Hempsphere.
She says she's been addicted to making things by hand for as long as she can remember.

"I love the feeling a finished product gives off," she said. "It's a beautiful feeling that you are going to be sending something off into the world, where hopefully it will find much love and use. That is what inspires me to create the pieces that I do- I know that as soon as they leave my hands, they will be sent off to make someone happy."

She said the idea for these hemp bracelets came out of literally nowhere. She had been fooling around with hemp one day, and she had made three simple matching bracelets. Then the night went on, and she got really bored.

"I started wrapping ribbon around the hemp," she said. "And at first it looked really weird. Then suddenly the ribbon was completely weaved into the bracelet, and it struck me as cute. I haven't stopped making them since that night."

She grew up in a decent-sized family.She has a my boyfriend, her two cats, and her two rats to look after. She said her parents are also very supportive, and she loves them dearly.

"I have no children of my own right now," she said. "But I do plan on children in the future, and I'm looking quite forward to it. I'm the kind of person who has to have all of her bricks in place before doing something so life-changing, but that only makes me anticipate it more. Right now I am just happy to help the existing children."

Man, can I tell you I know how she feels (and if you've been reading my blog for awhile you know what I mean)!

Jessa is donating a hand-made choker to one of you generous donors. The choker is about 16 1/2 inches long, and it is made with two strands of knotted hemp weaved together with a piece of black satin ribbon. The clasp will be a braided tie clasp with knots on the ends, and the product is very soft because of the smooth satin. The choker is about 1/2 inch thick, and it adds a nice touch of drama to any look!

Also look for @TheHempsphere on Twitter!

If you happen to donate just $5 to the charity I'll give you 5 free tickets to win this prize from The Hempsphere! Not only are you helping a charity but you get 5 tickets in our GIANT drawing! You can donate by clicking the "chip in" button to the right or by clicking here. (Paypal is NOT associated with the drawing, just with donations. Questions about the drawing? Email me at babymakingmachine{at}gmail.com)

This is just one of more than 40 prizes (worth over $1500) that's up for grabs in the drawing! See the full list here. 100% of the funds raised are going to March of Dimes, to help save babies!

Read how this got started here!
Check out all of the prizes here!
Enter my 2nd Cutest Baby Contest here!
Have a giveaway? List it here! Offer extra entries to your peeps for donating!

Bella Expressions Baby Cards: Sponsor #13

Short story: I.. The self-proclaimed "Baby Makin' Machine," found making a baby isn't as easy as I had hoped. So to take my mind off baby makin' I'm spending a month raising money to help March of Dimes babies. Read the long story about how this fundraiser got started here!

This has been sooo fun! Donations have slowed down a bit though and I'm starting to worry if we'll make our goal! Spread the word! If you can't donate, that's ok, let 5 friends know about it any maybe one of them can! Remember... There's TONS of prizes, so most people will win. You WILL win something if you donate $15, and yesterday I was making more cute bows for those nice donors! Just look!This of course isn't the finished product, just the bow part... Which, by the way can be detached from the headband and worn separately. Yep... Everyone who donates $15 gets TWO of these!

Oh, and I wrote a post over here, yesterday about being happy for a friend who just had a baby (cause it's easy to be jealous). I took her baby one of my bows, look how cute it is on her! I'm so proud! (And I REALLY want a baby!)
Ok enough about me, and my wanna-be craft, I'm going to introduce you to some REAL talent now!

Melissa is a stay at home mom to 2 girls (2 1/2 and 9 months) and the woman behind Bella Expressions.

Melissa has been designing cards for 3 years now since she moved to Italy (she's Canadian) where her husband is from. It all started when a friend back home was having a baby, Shipping stuff costs a lot from here so she offered to do her announcements and thank yous for her baby gift... She said it kind of took off from there.

I love her work, ranging from Holiday cards, to baby announcements, to scrapbook kits, she has a creative eye! Just look at some of her cute work!"I also have a photographer friend back home who tells her clients about me," she said. "It's a nice way for me to stay home with my girls but yet make a little extra moolah to put in their bank accounts for school."Melissa is so kind, and has offered to donate her talents to not one but TWO lucky donors of my March of Dimes Fundraiser. One of the winners will get to pick one of her cards... The cards will be designed digitally, so you can take the file wherever they want to have them printed. I know you ladies love to show off your little babies, you could win a cute Halloween card like this:
She's also donating one of her digital scrapbook kits to a donor... So if you're into making scrapbooks, or looking to spice up your blog design, she has the tools to make it cute! She owns Bella Style, her design shop.
You can also get more of a behind-the scenes look at this shop owner on her blog, Bella Style.

If you happen to donate just $5 to the charity I'll give you 5 free tickets to win this prize from Bella Expressions! Not only are you helping a charity but you get 5 tickets in our GIANT drawing! You can donate by clicking the "chip in" button to the right or by clicking here. (Paypal is NOT associated with the drawing, just with donations. Questions about the drawing? Email me at babymakingmachine{at}gmail.com)

This is just one of more than 40 prizes (worth over $1500) that's up for grabs in the drawing! See the full list here. 100% of the funds raised are going to March of Dimes, to help save babies!

Read how this got started here!
Check out all of the prizes here!
Enter my 2nd Cutest Baby Contest here!
Have a giveaway? List it here! Offer extra entries to your peeps for donating!

Hippo Baby Favor Cakes: Sponsor #14

Short story: I.. The self-proclaimed "Baby Makin' Machine," found making a baby isn't as easy as I had hoped. So to take my mind off baby makin' I'm spending a month raising money to help March of Dimes babies. Read the long story about how this fundraiser got started here!

One thing I CAN NOT WAIT for is to be able to shop for my cute little one. Did I ever mention I REFUSE to buy things for a baby I am not pregnant with? Yea... So I window shop a lot, but I've never before bought anything to save.

For now, I live vicariously through my friends who are having babies, and pray that one day soon that'll be me! One place I plan to do a lot of online shopping for my own little hippo at is Hippo Baby. They were one of the sponsors for my 400th follower giveaway, and they gave away an adorable bandana bib! I'm excited to introduce you to them because it gives me an excuse to post this picture:Erica is the owner of Hippo Baby. She's a mom of two girls, a toddler and a newborn and married to a computer geek/sports lover (oxymoron right?) going on eight years now.

"I began my business a little over a year ago when making plans to return staying at home with our oldest daughter," she said. "I wanted to create an online boutique that I could operate from home and I had babies on the brain so thus, Hippo Baby was born and named after the little Texas town we live in where the city mascot is, you guessed it, the hippo."

Her goal with Hippo Baby is to offer gifts that are unique and useful. Nearly all of her items were created by other moms and caregivers who understand the joys and challenges of caring for a baby.

"I love it when a product has a story behind it like the Baby Briefcase, created by a mom who was flabergasted by all the paperwork she received from the hospital after giving birth, or the moms who designed Teething Bling so they could have jewelry that's stylish and safe for babies to chew on," she said.
The newest addition to Hippo Baby and one she's very proud of, are my FavorCakes. These are decorative cakes made completely from party favor boxes and are a great centerpiece for birthdays, baby showers, or any type of party.
"I know as a mom, when you're planning a party you have enough things on your mind so I've designed my FavorCakes to serve as decoration, party favors, and a keepsake for the guest of honor all-in-one," Erica said. "All you have to do is set it up on a table and hand out the boxes to your guests. Now that Autumn is here, I'm excited to start designing cakes with Fall and Halloween themes."
For more information about our baby gifts or FavorCakes please visit their website at www.shophippobaby.com.

Erica is sweet enough to donate not just one beautiful CUSTOM mini favor cake, but also give a $15 gift certificate to anther winner towards a custom favor cake... That's TWO WINNERS here! This is a thank you for donating to this wonderful cause!!

If you happen to donate just $15 to the charity I'll give you 15 free tickets to win this prize from Hippo Baby! Not only are you helping a charity but you get 15 tickets in our GIANT drawing! AND you get a GUARANTEED prize from ME! (Either cute hairbows or a doggie bandanna) You can donate by clicking the "chip in" button to the right or by clicking here. (Paypal is NOT associated with the drawing, just with donations. Questions about the drawing? Email me at babymakingmachine{at}gmail.com)

This is just one of more than 40 prizes (worth over $1500) that's up for grabs in the drawing! See the full list here. 100% of the funds raised are going to March of Dimes, to help save babies!

Read how this got started here!
Check out all of the prizes here!
Enter my 2nd Cutest Baby Contest here!
Have a giveaway? List it here! Offer extra entries to your peeps for donating!