Fabulous February Fiesta Day #9~ BabyTalkBio/The Mama Sphere Review & Giveaway

As a mom, it's very important that you find yourself a community of peers that accept you for who you are and help you through the ropes. There are many ups and downs of parenting that really aren't covered in many of those "what to expect" type books, and honestly, it should be. The most valuable thing you are in charge of is your child's life, and there are absolutely no "how to books" that cover all the bases. Some women are very lucky and have that tight knit group of friends they grew up with, all having babies about the same time. Some find their niche in a playgroup or at the park, or even with their extended family.

When I was pregnant with Alex, I wish there was a place like BABYTALKBIO for me to run to at all hours and post my questions. Alex was my first, and I was young, and the only experience I had with babies was an occasional sitting job and the experience with my two nieces. I questioned all of his bodily functions, spit-up, the formula he was on and even how early he got his teeth! I called my aunt several times to make sure that him sleeping for 7 hours at night was ok, even though he was just two weeks old. I tried a couple of online parenting communities, but with all the cliques and drama, it was just too much for me to deal with. I wanted to find a place that I could go to and ask my questions without feeling belittled and uneducated about whatever topic it was. I am an educated woman, but seriously, did you know what color your child's poop would turn after he ate his first blueberries? Or that raisins or seeds from Kiwi's come out the other end and look just the same as they went in?

What do you you tell your son when he asks you why *he* can't have a purse when you and his sister carry one? "Because you're a boy," seems so... invalid. When you feed your child blueberries and then they poop this wild electric green poop at 11:45 at night, where do you go to look it up? Do you call someone? For the past three and a half years, I have been going to BABYTALKBIO with all of my motherhood questions, stories, experiences, and blunders.

The amazing group of women on this site are real women, with real children, with real stories, and with real questions, and most importantly, with real answers. On BABYTALKBIO you'll find moms who are nurses, police officers, teachers, car seat techs, entrepreneurs, business women, and domestic engineers! They all come from different faiths, different backgrounds, and they don't judge you because you diaper differently, or are having trouble breastfeeding and want to switch to formula; they treat you with respect, help and encourage you, support you, and educate you.

There are things that I learned as a member of Babytalkbio that I don't think I'd ever learn about having kids. I learned benefits of extended rear-facing car seats, I learned that I could make my own baby food if money was tight, I learned how to make my husbands new favorite meal in the recipe section, and I even learned some tips and techniques to keeping my love life.. lovely. *wink*

In the next coming weeks, Babytalkbio is going to be emerging from a beautiful make over & redesign and opening it's wings as The Mama Sphere.

Today is the celebration of BABYTALKBIO'S 4th birthday, and with the upcoming launch of The Mama Sphere,our friends at Babytalkbio are giving away a 2 MONTH subscription for current BTB members only!!!!

**HOWEVER- there is a way to earn MANY extra entries for this weeks giveaways if you become a new member!!**Are you interested?
Current members:

• If you are currently a member, tell me one thing that you learned from BABYTALKBIO that you would have never known without them!
• Refer your friends! Refer on BTB or Email at least three other friends and CC me at 4BabyAndMom [at] gmail [dot] com.
• If your referred friends join and actively post, (I will be checking!) you get an extra 2 per referral entries in this contest and in each giveaway this week!

New Babytalkbio members: if you do any of the following, you'll receive 2 extra entries in this week's giveaways! There's going to be some amazing stuff, including a Moby Wrap and jewelry from Lauren Nicole Gifts! You don't want to miss this awesome opportunity!

• Go check out BABYTALKBIO, and create a username. Introduce yourself, and tell the community that you heard about BTB on 4BabyAndMom. Post a little, get to know some of the other members, and then come back here and tell me about it (please include your user name)!
  
• Like what you see? Share with your friends! Email at least three other friends and CC me at 4BabyAndMom [at] gmail [dot] com.
• If your referred friends join and actively post, (I will be checking!) you get an extra 2 per referral!

ALL ENTRANTS:

• Tweet, Stumble, Digg this giveaway and opportunity!
• Follow this blog and/or subscribe for our feeds!
• Blog about this contest!
• Add our button to your sidebar!
  
• You get an extra entry in ALL of our giveaways if you follow the directions in this post!!

Fine Print: Please include your email or contact information in your comments. YOU MUST post separate comments for each one of the tasks above that you complete. This drawing ends Thursday 2/12/09 at 12:00pm EST. Any comments posted after that time will be deleted. If you post one reply saying you did all methods of extra entries, you will only receive 1 entry. Winner will be announced on Friday 02/13/09. Thank you for participating!