This giveaway is now over. The winner is Laura. Congrats!

If you want a great book for a new mom, The Rookie Mom’s Handbook is just what you are looking for.  As a mom, I often found myself nodding at many of the suggestions in this book.  This book is all about how having a new baby changes your life, but it offers you around 250 activies you still can do!  There are outings, crafts, and tips for you to explore.  The book begins with a list of newfound fears, but it balance that off, there is a list new skills you’ve acquire.  It sometimes it is hard for new moms to relize that we weren’t all pros when we started either.  That list just helps remind you that your not useless.  Chapters are arranged by how old your baby is, so it is easy to find things to do based on where you are at that time.  One of my favorite lists has to be 7 Reasons to Leave The House Each Day.  I also love the suggestion to make a “did do” list.  Then you can really see that you are getting things accomplished (and as a stay at home mom, I could show my hubby too since he sometimes thinks I do nothing but sit on the couch and watch soaps). I also enjoyed the “pretend you’re in Paris”?  Who told you you had to quit playing make believe when you were little? The Rookie Mom’s Handbook is a must have for all new moms.  It has some great ideas to allow new moms to keep some of the individuality and not feel like they are cooped up in their house.  It is funny, but still has a lot of really great ideas.

Now, I know you want a copy of this for yourself.  Here’s what you need to do:

Leave a comment on this entry.   Tell me  some good advice you heard when you were pregnant or raising your kids.

Each of these gives you one additional entry:

1. Twitter about this contest.  Please leave me your username so I can verify.  Or use something like this:

RT @blm03 is giving away The Rookie Moms Handbook! http://urlbrief.com/619ec9

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If this isn’t working, please let me know.  For some reason, Wordpress seems to be eating the code up when I post.  This contest is for US residents and will end at May 4th at noon CST and is for everyone!  Good Luck!!!

When you had your children, did you wish that they came with a manual?  Maybe the better question is who didn’t wish for that.  Now, no one has come up with an all inclusive version yet, but if you want one for naptime, the no cry nap solution is it!  I wish I had this book when my kids were born.  There is some great advice laid out in this book.  Even as a mom with two kids, I learned some things I didn’t know.  I love that they lay out exactly how much sleep your kids should be getting based on their age.  I love the chapter about what to do when you kid refuses to nap (where was this when Madison decided at 18 months she wasn’t going to nap anymore?!?!).  I love that the author does not guilt you into using every single method in the book.  It is often repeated that you need to do what works with your kids.

This is a book that every soon to be mom should read.  It definitely gives a lot of really good sleep advice that they can definitely use!

Sugar Plum Fairies is a book the will resonate with little kids of all ages. It is about a little girl named Alexandrea Petrakova Johnson. She does not want to be a beautiful ballerina, and she does not want to leave her friends in Apple Creek. However, her mother feels differently and moves them to Harlem and enrolls her at the Nutcracker School of Ballet. Once at the school, she gets picked as the the Sugar Plum Fairy in the school recital! She’s a terrible dancer and has stage frights, so you will have to read the book to see how it ends!  Having moved 8 times before I was in second grade, I call tell you that this story is believable.  The illustrations are great too.  They truly add to the story.  This is the first book out of a series, and the author, Whoopi Goldberg, did a great job, because I want to read more!  This book is great for anyone who has moved around a lot (or is going to) and really any kids that are just trying to fit in.

For the person who has everything, Inkubook is another great gift for them.  I recently made one for my family, and we love it.  I made it of the kids without telling my husband.  When it was delivered today, I let him open it.  He loves it.  It was so cool looking at the kids pictures as they have grown up. There are a few things I did learn.  When it tells you the picture may not look good, it won’t.  Trust me on that.  Also, make sure your clean up your pictures (like get rid of red eye) before you send them over.  They don’t fix that. However, if you end up having any problems (I had a browser that wasn’t clearing its cache), their support staff rocks.  They talked me through fixing it.  Also, the most time consuming part of this is when they upload your pictures (which you can do from both Flickr and/or your computer — how cool is that?  You are able to custom put your pictures in too or autofill.  Now, I used the autofill, and I was still able to move around the pictures where needed.  The site is pretty easy to use and navigate.  Overall, we love our new family album and are thinking of doing this for the grandmas for Mother’s Day since I already have their Christmas presents bought.  This ends up being a great quality book that you can keep forever.

Ever feel like nobody would understand how you feel?  Ever feel the need to connect to other moms?  If so, I definitely have the place you need to check out:  Moms Like Me.  I love the community on this site.  We are able to do everything from talk about cookie recipes to talking about how to get our kids to bed at night. It is one of those places that you get support from everyone even if they don’t have any helpful advice for you.  I remember a time when it was just Madison and me at home all day, I would have loved to have found this site them.  However, I am glad to be a part of it now.  I don’t mind telling people my story and my issues.  I have found Moms Like Me a great resource for me also.  I just recently learned how to sign up for the Toys R Us Newsletter!  There also have been some great giveaways over there for new members.  You can also sign up under one of the groups there are if you find one you like.  They have everything from a fundraising group to a blogging group to a knitting group.

If you are trying to find your place in this world, this is a great place to stop and check out.  If you have any mommy questions, this again is someplace to check out.  If you need a bit of support, you should definitely check out Moms Like Me!