Big City Moms Baby Shower Event

Last week I had the pleasure of attending the Big City Moms “Biggest Baby Shower”event at the Skirball.  I love attending events/expos like this!  The freebies you walk away with alone make it worth attending, not to mention any extra knowledge you may glean by talking directly with vendors.  There were all kinds of companies there, from stroller & car seat companies to local masseurs to baby food companies.

My very first stop when I arrived was a local reflexology & massage booth.  I got a free five-minute reflexology massage.  As the lady was working on the pressure points on my hands, she correctly ascertained that my back has been hurting lately (what pregnant lady doesn’t have back pain?)  But then she said that it felt like more than just pregnancy related back pain and said that I was very tight – which is a usual state of affairs for me.  My muscles in general are very tight.  I told her I was a dancer and maybe that had something to do with it?  She said she’d never worked on a dancer before and maybe that was it.  Or I’m just weird and have a super tight back (which anyone who has ever given me a massage can attest to).

After that I strolled around a bit and talked to some people from a fantastic non-profit called Baby 2 Baby.  They are basically like Goodwill, but specialize in baby gear. They have drop off points throughout the city and can arrange for pick up from your home.  Since this will be our last baby, I am definitely holding on to their information for any & all baby items that I want to donate.

The number of vendor booths and people was almost overwhelming at this event!  After spending several minutes chatting with the first couple booths , I decided that I needed to pick up the pace and cruise a little faster if I ever wanted to get home at a decent hour.  (At least the GD diet allowed me to skip the Sprinkles Cupcake booth!)  Here are some highlights of the most memorable booths where I did stop:

-       Diono car seats:

o   If you want a car seat that looks like it’s fit for a race car, this is your seat.  My favorite aspects of this car seat are: a) it’s narrower than others, so it would be more likely to fit in my Corolla next to another car seat .  Some car seats are super wide! b) It converts to a booster seat so that you really only need this seat from birth (or toddler age) until the kid gets old enough to sit in a seat by themselves (which I think is around 8 years old according to CA law right now – not 100% sure since 8 feels forever away right now).  As a booster seat, it can hold a kid up to 120 pounds – which means non-pregnant Brenda could sit in this thing and it would hold up! Aaron and I had previously decided we would just get another Britax for G for his car, but the advantage of this one converting to a booster seat almost has me thinking maybe the extra cost up front would be worth it. 

-       Magnificent Baby Clothes:

o   This is such a clever idea – they use magnets instead of snaps or zippers to fasten the baby’s clothes!  So all those middle of the night diaper changes where you are struggling with a squirming baby and half-asleep would go much faster. I meant to go back at the end of the night and buy some of the samples they were selling for 50% off, but then I forgot.

-       Placenta Encapulation:

o   This company will not only freeze dry your placenta and turn it into pills, they will also turn it into a tincture so that you can add droplets of your placenta to whatever food you want or turn your placenta into a body cream that you can rub all over yourself.  Hey, if you’re into placenta encapsulation, good for you.  It’s just not for me.  I had a hard time keeping a straight face and not looking completely grossed out . . . especially when I saw that in addition to placenta encapsulation, this company will also make art out of your umbilical cord.  Seriously people, this is a thing!  They take your umbilical cord, twist it into the shape of a heart and frame it for you to hang on your wall as a mummified reminder of squeezing that baby out.  Click here to see an example.

I also ran into Rachel from Club MomMe and her brand new addition to her family.  In case you don’t remember, when I was pregnant with G, I attended a registry event held by ClubMomMe and loved it.  I just love their positive outlook on everything.  They are constantly holding events and seminars and I wish I had the time & money to attend all of them!

When it was time to leave, I checked out at the registration booth to get my gift bag of awesome!  As part of the admission fee, everyone was guaranteed a hug bag of goodies to take home with them at the end of the night.  I paid a little extra to also be guaranteed to take home a Lillebaby carrier.  It’s like the Ergo, but allows the baby to face forward.  G was forever trying to twist around in the Ergo and see everything once she got curious about the world.  After we test out our new carrier, I will definitely let you know how we like it.  The best part is that the Ergo can still hold G in the back pack position, so now we can go on hikes and things carrying both kids!

Can't wait to try out our Lillebaby Carrier!

Here are the contents of my bag of awesome all laid out on my dining room table:

Oh, also, I can’t forget the best part.  At check out, they had me draw a number and then they went back in their secret room of prizes and said, “You won a stroller!”  Then they brought me out this stroller:

Maxi Cosi Kaia Stroller

Holy wow!  We’ve been wanting a smaller, lightweight stroller for a while now.  I haven’t tested it out yet, but will definitely let you know how we like it once we do.  G keeps walking up to it and wanting to sit in it in our dining room.  Too bad we get home so late every night.  Otherwise, I would love to take her on a walk in the evenings.  Maybe as the sun continues to stay up later and later, we will be able to do an evening walk or two.

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