Archive for May, 2007
May 31, 2007
In honor of Father’s Day, Babble Soft is offering 20% off on subscriptions of Baby Manager during the month of June 2007 using coupon code FATHER#1.
We thought about offering 15% off for Fathers’ Day because we have noticed that dads generally need less incentive to try out new technology and gadgets. However, in the interest of fairness and to acknowledge men’s more active roles (check out Daddy Clay’s blog) in the parenting gig, we decided to match our Mother’s Day offer. Plus since about 42% of customers who purchased Baby Manager in the past were guys (who we assume were new fathers) we thought they deserved the same discount. 
In this day and age men are much more involved in parenting and although they can’t have babies or breastfeed (yet), overall they are generally more helpful around the house and with a new baby than their dads were (i.e., change diapers, get up at night, feed the baby, do dishes, etc.). So if you know a new or expecting dad, get them a subscription to Baby Manager for Father’s Day and give them an excuse to play around with cool, new technology while helping out their spouse (which may be you)! You can even take it for a test drive by signing up for a FREE Trial.
Dads, you now have a reason to replace your existing phone with a cool, new Smartphone; to assist the mother of your child in ways neither you nor she ever expected you could. Imagine your wife asking you when and how much you last fed the baby and you being able to drag your mobile device off the nightstand and say in a sleep-deprived tone of voice “Honey, she had 3.5 oz of breastmilk/formula at 2:42 AM and I changed her diaper at 2:30 AM.” She then replies “oh, thank goodness it’s 3:00 AM and I can go back to sleep for a little while longer…you’re the greatest!” This scene can be a reality for all the tech savvy, new dads out there if you choose wisely and give them a subscription to Baby Manager for Father’s Day! For a wonderful testimonial from a dad user see below.
Happy Father’s Day to all you Super Dads out there! 
Testimonial
“My wife and I are missionaries in Bolivia. Our first child was born here while our extended family was in the U.S. On our own for child care, we found that waking up every few hours to feed and change the baby was challenging.
Since we wanted to put our baby on a schedule, we decided it was best to take shifts at night. My wife took care of him from 11 p.m. until 3 a.m., and I took care of him from 3 a.m. until about 10 a.m. We shared responsibilities during the daytime. We learned quickly that it was not helpful for me to get up with the baby at 3 a.m. only to have to wake up my wife and ask her when he was last fed. When we downloaded Baby Manager for Pocket PC, it transformed childcare in our house.
First, we no longer needed to bother the other person with questions about diaper changes, bottle feedings, and breast feedings. It was all there. Second, since my wife breastfed our baby and pumped, Baby Manager provided an easy way to ensure she was “keeping up” with the baby by pumping as much milk as he needed. Finally, not only did we have the answers to our pediatrician’s questions, she was actually impressed with the level of detail and information we had from the reports on bottle feedings, breast feedings, diaper changes, etc.
Baby Manager helped us get through the first difficult months of child care. We needed to develop the good habit of recording important information about our baby, and Baby Manager helped us do that. In turn, it helped me and my wife to communicate better about baby care. It is the best solution for a single parent, or for a family with multiple caretakers, who need to collaborate and share this vital information.
We are now expecting our second child and are excited that we can count on Baby Manager to help from day one!”
-J. Eggen, La Paz, Bolivia
http://eggens.blogspot.com
May 27, 2007
A friend recently introduced me to the sounds of Lisa Lynne Mathis. What a voice! Her music and lyrics are obviously inspired from deep within her. My favorite song on her new CD Hancock Place is called The Anchor. I didn’t realize until I read her reason for writing the song that it was inspired by a friend of hers who survived the tsunami in Sri Lanka. Since I was born in Sri Lanka, I now understand why that song resonates so much with me. Another song on that CD is Comfort Zone, her muscial interpretation of what having children (two daughters) has meant to her…the raw, pure feelings that are a part of being a parent…and how our kids often pull us out of our comfort zone.
So on this Memorial Weekend in between parties, BBQs, and get togethers with friends & family, let’s remember our soldiers in Iraq and all over the world. We wish them a safe return to their families, children, and friends. Whether you agree with the war or not our soldiers are there fighting for what they have been told to fight for…fighting for what they believe is right to fight for. Let’s make sure we do not ignore them “when the cameras are off” and that we are available to serve as their Anchor when and if they return.
Aruni
May 24, 2007
On Wednesday, May 23, 2007 Baby Manager was the featured Cover Story on KEYE-42, the local CBS news station’s 5:00 pm news. Originally they were scheduled to do the interview on Thursday, May 17 but as luck would have it, they had to reschedule. Thank goodness, because as I mentioned in one of my previous posts, my son was home sick Tuesday-Thursday of last week. They ended up coming out Monday, May 21 which gave us time to clean up the house 
and make sure everyone was reasonably in good health.
It felt good to be back in the limelight again even if for a few minutes and it felt even better that the reporter, Elizabeth Dannheim, did such a great job producing the story! For not being a parent or a PDA/Smartphone user, she asked very relevant questions. She and her team did a wonderful job at pulling the whole story together. Maybe by the time she decides she wants a baby we will have convinced her to get a Smartphone.
To me the most amazing thing about the interview was that our kids behaved nearly perfectly. They wanted some shots of me playing with the kids and the kids cooperated wonderfully. They were polite and took turns playing with the toys….often it’s a grab fest with each of them shouting ‘it’s my turn!’ Their good behavior (for me) was the highlight of the interview. I was thankful for the exposure for Babble Soft and Baby Manager but I was even more thankful for looking like a ‘mom whose kids listened to her’ (i.e., a good mom) for a little while (on TV no less) and that feeling was priceless! Maybe we should have a TV crew in our house all of the time.
Needless to say, I gave them a bunch of hugs & kisses and promised them some ice cream after dinner. When dinner time came around, our son reminded me that I had told him he could have ice cream and my daughter started getting the illness that our son had last week so she was home sick two days this week. The wonderful ups and downs of parenthood…. 
May 22, 2007
After looking off and on for over 2 years (Yes TWO years!) for the perfect toddler pillow, I finally turned to the Internet, did an exhaustive search and happened upon Mr. Bobbles’ Blankets. Over the years, I have been in Target, Bed Bath and Beyond, Amazon.com, and pretty much any store or site that I thought might carry them and was often disappointed and shocked that I couldn’t find a good toddler pillow. Target would always tell me to check back just before school started. Of course I would come back only to be told “if we had them, they would be in aisle number X” and they were never there! A friend of mine found one at the Salvation Army store once but by the time I made it there they didn’t have them anymore.
I ordered two pillows…one for our son to use as his nap pillow for school and of course one for our daughter…just to make sure there would be no fighting over the pillows. They have washable, replaceable pillowcases AND you can wash the pillows themselves…with kids the washability factor is key. I liked them so much that I bought two more for my niece and nephew.
I contacted the genius, Renee Sirulnik, behind these pillows and we have been helping each other promote our businesses ever since. It’s amazing the relationships you can build over email and the Internet! If you buy a subscription to Baby Manager, you will get a coupon code to save money on purchases at Mr. Bobbles’ Blankets through the end of May 2007. If you buy from Mr. Bobbles’ Blankets you will get a coupon code for 15% off a subscription to Baby Manager through the end of June 2007.
Renee just shared with me that they are in the process of launching a new line of crib sheets that have zippers for safety and she has added a new line of designer fabrics (funky/retro inspired prints in flannel and percale). She also has a new Pirate theme fabric coming out soon so any of you with kids who get caught up in the Pirates of the Caribbean III movie mania, this fabric just might be for you!
As for the funny name, you’ll have to read her About Us page to get the story! Please check out her site and share your thoughts.
Aruni
May 17, 2007
Jennifer, also known as The Lactivist, posted on The Dark Side of Breastfeeding on May 15, 2007 and “WOW” the response has been huge and the moms who are breastfeeding or have breastfed are still chiming in. I agree with her thoughts on breastfeeding….it’s not always as easy, fun, and rosy as some people make it out to be. It is a full time 24×7 job. Check out her post and share your thoughts. I’m glad people can be honest about this topic. We need to educate new moms who want to breastfeed ab
out the challenges as well as the joys of breastfeeding. It is a wonderful experience but as Jennifer suggests there is also a darkside.
Jennifer is also a huge advocate for the Mother’s Milk Bank. She is in Ohio. I am in Texas (Austin) and fortunately both of our cities have Milk Banks in them! For more information on milk banking please refer to my last post on the Mother’s Milk Bank of Austin.
May 16, 2007
Are you on the mommy track? If so, you should check out Mommy Track’d: The working mother’s guide to managed chaos. Their mission is to provide a helpful and entertaining resource for all the time-crunched moms managing the daily tug of war between work and family. I know we can all use some entertainment to get us through the day sometimes! If you are a multi-tasker like I tend to be (or sometimes have no choice but to be) this site is for you.
My 4 1/2 year old son has been sick the last couple of days so I’m trying to get as much done while he takes a nap and watches the TV shows he never gets to see during the day such as Go Diego Go, Handy Manny, Little Einsteins, and the Backyardigans. Yesterday he felt pretty bad so he mostly wanted me to sit with him while he watched the shows. So I, too, got my Playhouse Disney and Nick Jr. fix! He is much better today and has been bouncing off of the walls most of the time. He’s taking a nap right now so I have a chance to work on this blog post without being interrupted every 30 seconds. Earlier today he told me his head hurt when he talks so I told him not to talk. He laughed and then said ‘not really, I’m kidding.’ For him ‘not talking’ is equivalent to ‘not breathing.’
I recently signed up for Mommy Track’d’s email newsletter and am looking forward to getting some entertaining ideas on what to do when one of our kids is home sick in the future. It’s free to sign up for the email newsletter, you get valuable information, and if you are so overextended that you can’t even read straight you can unsubscribe easily and re-subscribe when it works for you. At any rate, you should at least check out thier Hot Topics page and browse through their Message Boards.
The reason for the birth of Mommy Track’d : “While there are countless general parenting resources available today, we think working moms need a place to call their own. These juggling, struggling women have careers, families and friends. Some might even say they have a version of “it all.” What they didn’t have until now is an informative, fun website that speaks just to them. Now they do.” Oh so true! As they say, ‘it takes a village’ and us moms (whether working for pay or not – all moms work hard!) should always try to support each other so we can help make the world a better place!
Posted by Aruni
9:11 pm •
mom,
mother,
parenting •
May 14, 2007
I’ve decided that I need to start watching more Oprah. I usually don’t have the opportunity to watch her show often, but on many occasions I hear about a show that I wished I had seen. So now I’m recording them. On Friday night I was able to watch two shows from last week. One was called A Mother’s Day Special where Maria Shriver interviewed Demi Moore and Vanessa Williams on their motherhood experiences. The other was a show Oprah called Cheers to You where she visited people at their place of work and then brought them on the show to experience the applause that she experiences almost every day. On that show, she brought in a woman, Debbe Magnusen, who founded a program called Project Cuddle. What an amazing program!! Debbe helps pregnant women either become better equipped to mother their own kids or helps them find an adoptive family for her baby. So far she has helped 570 babies and their families. Pregnant women call her and she helps arrange prenatal care for them immediately. She then helps identify the ‘perfect’ adoptive family.
Debbe happens to be friends with John Stamos’ mother and John has used his celebrity status to help promote Project Cuddle. What a great thing to do! I definitely agree with Oprah: Cheers to YOU Debbe!
Aruni
May 13, 2007
Happy Mother’s Day from Babble Soft! Our Mother’s Day special is still available through the end of May 2007. I hope every mother is being treated like royalty this weekend. On Saturday I took my son to his swim class, we went to a birthday party, I took a nap, then went to the mall (by myself!), and then my husband planned a date night for us. It was nice going to the mall and having time to think about the things I wanted to buy, instead of having to make decisions in 5 seconds because one of the kids wants to be carried or is about to run off somewhere. 
I went to Victoria’s Secret and bought some of my usual items (some on sale), bought some sunglasses from the $10/first pair, $5/second pair sunglass kiosk, and got some things for the kids at The Disney Store. The Disney Store had beach towels (Nemo and Micky Mouse) for $9.99 each , and flip flops for $4 a pair! I was feeling so good about my accomplishments, that I didn’t realize what time it was. I had arrived at the mall around 5:00 pm and thought I had plenty of time…until my husband called to ask where I was. I said “I’ll be home by 6:00 pm” and he said “it is 6:00 pm!” I was surprised because I thought it was only 5:30 pm. The girl at the Disney Store checkout laughed with me and helped me get out the door in a hurry!
After dinner at a nice local restaurant called Shoreline Grill, my husband got out his Blackberry and looked for jazz clubs. We don’t get out much so we aren’t up to speed on the downtown club scene. The place we went to is called The Elephant Room and it had a nice ambiance. We got there around 9:00 pm, they said the band, Gnappy, would start at 9:30 pm, but they didn’t start until around 9:50 pm. We had to leave at 10:00 so our baby sitters could go home. We liked what we heard the 10 or so minutes we were there! Maybe next time.
Today, we went with some friends for a nice brunch at Chez Zee. They had balloon animals and face painting for the kids. We came home and my husband took the kids across the street to play with the grand kids of one of our neighbors, and I was able to call my mom and have a nice mother’s day chat with her. Both kids are napping now so I thought I’d take the opportunity to blog a little.
Happy Mother’s Day everyone!
Aruni
May 8, 2007
Not only is the Motorola Q phone running Microsoft’s WM 5.0 compatible with Baby Manager Mobile, it also has a few other nice features. It’s sleek, it fits nicely in dad’s pants pocket, a purse, or a diaper bag, and I believe it also serves as a good “here look at this” distraction toy for those ‘rare’ occasions that your baby might be fussy. Although I’m sure parents have given it to their baby to use as a teether, I don’t think Motorola recommends that particular use. You can also use it to try to keep up with your hectic life once baby arrives by having your schedule and emails at your fingertips. You can easily text message your spouse with “I need help…where are you??” statements throughout the day with one hand while holding baby up and away from a diaper disaster.
For those interested in the new MotoQ 9H phone running WM 6.0 (unveiled at the 3GSM World Congress in Barcelona in February 2007) due out later this year with apparently even neater baby distracting features, we are working like crazy to make sure Baby Manager Mobile is compatible. Every time Microsoft releases a new OS, us little mobile application developers invariably have to make some ‘tweaks’ to make sure our app works as designed. We can never figure out why they keep making changes….maybe to see how many hoops we can jump through!
May 3, 2007
When people ask me why I donated to the Mothers’ Milk Bank at Austin, the first thought that comes to my mind is “For hope. The hope that a fragile new baby has for survival. The hope that his/her family hangs on to that they will bring them home soon.”
When my first child was born over 4 1/2 years ago my life changed drastically. Although our son was a healthy, full-term baby, I felt overwhelmed and had challenges establishing breast feeding. I couldn’t even imagine what parents of sick, premature, and fragile infants had to deal with emotionally and physically. When my daughter was born just over 2 years ago, breastfeeding was easier and I pumped a substantial amount of excess milk. I didn’t want to throw away what is often referred to as ‘liquid gold,’ so I got in touch with the milk bank to learn more.
After a quick phone screen, written approvals from my OB and our daughter’s pediatrician, and a blood test, I was approved. I collected the milk in the containers provided by the milk bank, froze them, transported them in a cooler and dropped them off at a nearby hospital. It was really easy. My daughter often came with me to make the drops, and I was able to transport cooler, stroller, and baby with ease. She would often slap the cooler and laugh/smile as we strolled up to the nurses station. The milk bank also coordinates pick up days/times for those who do not have easy access to a drop off location.
Before I knew it, I had donated just over 500 oz which I later learned put me in a high volume donor category! After I finished donating, MMBA sent me a wonderful certificate (now in her yet-to-be-completed baby book) made out to my daughter thanking her for sharing her milk with other babies. I know she’ll feel good about being able to help other babies. I know it’s strange but I looked at the certificate and looked at her and felt proud that we were able to help, together as mother and daughter, bring hope to people who were relying on hope to get them through each day.
During one visit to the milk bank, I took a tour and was fascinated to see how they collected, pasteurized, mixed, and stored the milk to specifications ideal for premature and sick babies. It was amazing to see how my and other women’s milk could be used to help potentially save the life of a baby and make those fragile infants first days of life a little more comfortable. Mother’s milk is less likely to upset their little tummies and more likely to give them energy to grow faster and get better sooner. If you are interested in donating, there are milk banks located in the US and around the world who can give you more information on how best to share your ‘liquid gold.’ It’s a great thing to do and feels great doing it!
Aruni
The Mothers’ Milk Bank at Austin (MMBA) is a nonprofit organization that accepts donations of breastmilk from healthy breastfeeding women, pasteurizes the milk, and dispenses it by prescription to premature and sick infants, primarily those in the hospital. MMBA is one of several milk banks in North America that is a member, and therefore follows the standards and guidelines, of the Human Milk Banking Association of North America. Medical research clearly shows that premature infants are 6 to 10 times more likely to develop life-threatening intestinal diseases if fed formula instead of human breastmilk. If their own mothers are unable to provide milk for them, pasteurized donor milk is the next best choice.
