• Created on 11/22/10 by Melanie Mayo

Holiday BabyLegs from Granola Babies With the holiday spirit sneaking into many of us, it’s the perfect time to break out those darling holiday outfits again. These beautiful holiday edition BabyLegs from Granola Babies are the perfect way to keep your little boy or girl warm in the chilly weather. BabyLegs is the original brand of innovative children’s leg and arm warmers that quickly became a parenting essential across the world. Granola Babies has many wonderful styles of these great warmers–take a look. To enter the giveaway: Tell us why you would love a pair of... read more

• Created on 11/21/10 by AdinaL

Hello, Mamas! Please enjoy the debut of a new A la Mama feature: A Week of Giveaways (this time by UrthChild.com). Owned by a WAHM and devoted Mothering reader, UrthChild is a retail store that specializes in organic and eco-friendly items for the entire family. Each day this week, UrthChild is giving away an item to highlight their diverse selection of happy, healthy goods. First up is UrthChild’s toy department, which features organic, natural, and wooden toys that are free from BPA, lead, and other nasty chemicals. Just in time... read more

• Created on 11/20/10 by AdinaL

More on the way certain photos can grab you in the gut —and why. (It’s all about time, of course.) This, from Susan Sontag, from her book On Photography: “The force of a photograph is that it keeps open to scrutiny instants which the normal flow of time immediately replaces. This freezing of time—the insolent, poignant stasis of each photograph—has produced new and more inclusive canons of beauty. “But the truths that can be rendered in a dissociated moment, however significant or decisive, have a very narrow relation to the needs of... read more

• Created on 11/18/10 by AdinaL

In our family, birthday season lasts from August to November and, if we count kids and adults alike, we’re packing six birthdays into a few short months (my efforts to conceive at least one spring baby obviously were futile). This means we celebrate someone’s birthday every few weeks. With so many birthdays clustered together, it can feel, frankly, overwhelming. In years past, there were parties with homemade play dough favors, themed birthday cakes, and complicated obstacle courses and crafts. That was when there were fewer children, a younger me, a... read more

• Created on 11/16/10 by AdinaL

Thanks to everyone who entered the giveaway for the Bamboo Zoo Cuddlie (the lion) from Dandelion Earth-Friendly Goods! The winner is named at the end of the post! If you didn’t win you can still get a FREE Bamboo Shaker (rattle -$12.99 value) by subscribing, renewing, or giving the gift of Mothering right now!! Use code DXLBZF.  PLUS you will automatically be entered to win some AMAZING toys in our annual Toys Giveaway! We have 30 monthly prizes, 10 Grand Prizes and a Mega More prize!! Subscribe, renew, or give a gift to be automatically... read more

• Created on 11/15/10 by Melanie Mayo

Bamboo Lion Cuddlie Enter to win a beautiful, Bamboo Zoo Cuddlie (the lion) from Dandelion Earth-Friendly Goods! Simply leave a comment below telling us why you would love one of these great natural toys. For a second chance to win, “like” Dandelion on Facebook and leave a second comment telling us that you did. The Bamboo Zoo Cuddlies are the perfect hug & hold, take-along buddy for babies and young children. Their soft velour texture and tug and teethe features will allow children to feel that sense of warmth and security while on the go or at nap time. (MSRP... read more

• Created on 11/14/10 by AdinaL

How cool is this Hape wooden grill set? This is the first in a series of A la Mama holiday gift giveaways that will stretch into mid-December. So hang around : ) Toys, mama treats, family goodies…something for everyone. The BBQ features an opening hood, double-sided grill rack (one for grilling, the other for a stovetop), collapsible side table and wheels to move wherever grilling needs to be. Food includes two steaks, two fish, two skewers with six pieces, ketchup, mustard and tongs. Hape is a wonderful company; their bamboo games are... read more

• Created on 11/10/10 by Laura E Taylor

October was a rich month for me: the exciting and profound experience of traveling with Peggy, a lovely week with my parents in the land of my birth, an impromptu trip with my Tim to go visit College Boy Reeve in southern NM (then road-tripping with Reeve and his girlfriend for a couple of days.) I didn’t get around to blogging much during October, but now that I’ve left it behind, a few blog-appropriate reflections have surfaced: For optimal sense of adventure and  exhilaration of discovery: predawn runs with a camera are highly recommended when one is visiting a new... read more

• Created on 11/10/10 by mamazee

Artterro, “art of the earth,” is a company that makes beautiful, eco-friendly arts and crafts kits for kids (and they’re very alluring to grownups, too). Artterro is made up of 4 women who LOVE Mothering. I puffy heart them back and I think you will, too. They’re giving away…. a Bookmaking Kit A Wire & Bead Kit and an Art Dolls Kit. To enter this giveaway, please leave a comment below with your preference. I’ll be selecting 3 winners, one for each art kit. Thanks! “Arty” on, mamas! Subscribe to... read more

• Created on 11/10/10 by mamazee

Enter to win a Season 1 set of the TV show Parenthood by leaving a comment below. OVERVIEW Catch up with television’s most heartfelt family drama before the critically acclaimed series returns this fall! From Oscar-winning® producers Ron Howard and Brian Grazer (A Beautiful Mind, Frost/Nixon) and showrunner Jason Katims (“Friday Night Lights”) comes the refreshingly original hit sensation, “Parenthood.” A heartfelt and thought-provoking series, “Parenthood” follows four grown siblings of the far-from-perfect Braverman clan as they try to balance... read more