Last week Bebe au Lait was invited to take part in a Mommy to be Breakfast by Nordstrom at Valley Fair, San Jose.
Nordstrom Kid’s Wear Manager, Danielle Reich did a wonderful job of gathering all of the latest and greatest products available to Mom and Baby and provided each Mom with a check list to make shopping a little easier. Bebe au Lait, along with Bugaboo, Isabel and Ingrid (Bella Band) and Noodle and Boo showed the lovely Mommies-to-be all of the wonderful features of our products. It was a lovely morning for everyone involved!

Did you enjoy shopping for your baby, or where you completely overwhelmed? Let us know if you need any advice!

Read on for the ‘Baby Must-Have List’ according to Nordstrom…
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On Friday we received a shout out on The View, the popular daytime TV show featuring Whoopi Goldberg, Barbara Walters, Joy Behar, Sherri Shepherd, and Elisabeth Hasselbeck. Remember when we posted last week about What Would You Do?, the ABC prime time program that looks at how people react to uncomfortable social situations? The View’s May 14th, 2010 episode featured a discussion about the very episode we posted about — where a nursing mom is harassed by a cafe owner and how people react — and at one point Elisabeth Hasselbeck encouraged breastfeeding mothers to use Hooter Hiders!

If you missed What Would You Do? on Friday night, you can catch the breastfeeding segment here:

The View’s discussion about breastfeeding in public begins at around 4:30 below:

Here at Bebe au Lait, the idea behind the nursing cover is to make the person breastfeeding feel comfortable. Period. The product’s conception came from the creator of the Hooter Hider, Claire’s own discomfort. She is quite a shy person, so while it is the most natural thing in the world to feed a hungry baby, there was no getting around her shyness. It turns out there are a lot of people like her.

We didn’t set out to cover up breastfeeding moms and we are not making any political statements. What we are doing is providing an alternative for those moms who might otherwise have given up nursing altogether.  We at Bebe au Lait are proud that we have created a solution to bring freedom to nursing mothers in any situation and have received many letters and emails of gratitude as testament to this fact. In a perfect world a mom would choose what is right for her and her baby in the nursing situation and she would not be judged either way.

As our website advocates, “Breastfeeding is something to be proud of.” For those of us who are not so comfortable breastfeeding in public, Bebe au Lait has got you covered – and in style.

This Friday at 9 pm PST we’re watching ABC Primetime’s “What Would You Do?”  A portion of the program will explore how bystanders react when a restaurant manager harasses a mother breastfeeding her baby in plain view of others. Both the restaurant manager and mother are hired actors but the reactions are real.

Will you watch?

Bebe au Lait is working with the fine folks over at Mindful Mama, an online community of women and mothers dedicated to thoughtful, sustainable, and healthy living. In addition to their community, Mindful Mama produces excellent editorial about parenting and mothering issues; everything from food and nutrition, to beauty and style, as well as the all-important issues of emotional and physical health.

Head over to the Mindful Mama Marketplace, a place to grab some great deals on some great products.

Visit the Mindful Mama Marketplace

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Join the Mindful Mama Community

Meet Laura. She is one of my dearest childhood friends.

Me (left) and Laura in my backyard circa 1990

Though we’ve grown apart and come together and grown apart again throughout our middle and high school years and have now carved lives for ourselves in different states, I have had the good fortune of rekindling a friendship with her thanks to Facebook. Though it’s not the same as being there in person, through her status updates, messaging, and photo uploads I’ve been able to follow and support her recent milestones: engagement, marriage, pregnancy and birth of her first baby!

Doesn’t she make the most radiant mama-to-be?

Just last week she became a beautiful, strong mother to Baby Eden.

Laura has always been extremely gifted when it comes to anything arts- and crafts-related. When I was five I was taking my drawing cues from her. As part of Laura’s preparation for Baby Eden she taught herself to knit. Just try telling me you don’t have baby fever after scrolling through these.

How cute are those little booties?! And the little coveralls with the fish buttons?! Her photos just make me melt. Then she had to go and post photos like this below of Baby Eden wearing her knitwear and my heart almost burst from swelling with joy for her and her family.

Congratulations, friend! Yours is one of the richest lives I know. Thank you for sharing it with me and allowing me to forward it on.

For Baby Eden’s birth story you can visit Laura’s blog here. In fact, I encourage you to read it. It is the most eloquent, insightful, beautifully-primitive birth story I’ve ever read.

We’ve been talking in the office this week about the Health Care Reform and the inclusion of rights for working, breastfeeding moms. Employers are to provide a ‘non-bathroom area’ in the workplace for the mom who needs a quiet, private place to pump breast milk. Regular (unpaid) breaks are also to be allowed until their baby turns 1 year of age.

We don’t currently have any breastfeeding moms at the Bebe au Lait offices, so we talked about previous places of employment and the provisions for this important time in a new mom’s life. Pleasantly, we seemed to agree that in our experience U.S, as well as U.K companies are way ahead of this law.

For more reading on this part of the Health Care Reform go here and for more reasons to breastfeed go here. And please send us any stories you have of breastfeeding/pumping in the office.

I’m always asking people what they are having for dinner, just to get some inspiration. I don’t enjoy making everyday food, I love making food at the weekend though and I will try some really complex recipes, its just the everyday food that is so, well, everyday.

My criteria is: everyone in the family has to eat the same, it can’t take more than 30 minutes to make (start of prep, to being on the plate), it is healthy – not a lot to ask?

Anyway, I came up with a very simple ‘recipe’ the other day and I will share…but please send me something you like in return? I’m in need of some inspiration!

For the recipe:
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I hadn’t felt the need to see the latest Cirque du Soleil in San Jose. I thought we would sit this one out, but when the opportunity to go with some friends came about, we dutifully went along– more for the children than for ourselves. What was I thinking??

As a youngster, I loved the circus. Of course back then, there was no Cirque du Soleil and the acts were mainly with animals – a man sticking his head in lions mouth, a woman riding around on a horse displaying varying levels of risky moves etc. Now our children sit open mouthed, marveling at the pure beauty, precision and athleticism of these multi-talented performers.

This particular Cirque was Ovo. “An immersion into the teeming and energetic world of insects”. It was the perfect one to see with the kids. – Not scary at all, not inappropriate as some can be, just a permanently moving, entertaining feast for the eyes.

If you get the chance to go, I highly recommend it and so do our girls.

Seven years ago, I packed my first diaper bag and proudly showed my mother. She laughed and told me, “Maybe you don’t need 20 diapers, Shannon.” Ok, so I was a rookie. But now that I’m at kid number four, I think I’ve got it down to a science. Here’s a quick glimpse of my diaper bag essentials…

The Extra Outfit

Extra clothes are necessary for your little one. You never know what sort of mishap might happen. I go for layers, beginning with a onesie, and then a few warmer items including a sweater, hat, and my absolute favorite, Baby Legs. These little leg warmers are so cute and great for your new crawler or cruiser to protect knees.

Feeding Time

For nursing mothers, the Hooter Hider and matching burp cloths are a must-have. And once your baby is ready for food, here are some key finds:

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My current life consists of diaper changing, breast feeding, and comforting a cranky infant. Alright, alright, it also includes baby coos, sweet smiles and nuzzles from an extremely cute two month old boy. So why can I only focus on what I can’t get done? How about I give you a little sample? I am now lousy at responding to my friends emails. I forget to RSVP to important events in my friends lives. I didn’t know my girlfriend had stopped working in October. I forgot to pay the mortgage, don’t worry they aren’t going to foreclose on my house, but I now lack the time to get the bill paid…and I use bill pay, so technically it is a click of the button. How is it possible that I haven’t done it yet? I honestly don’t know. These are just the trivial things I haven’t gotten to, and don’t get me started on my career that is also currently on hold with no definite time frame of when I am going back.

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