Mom Pop and Tot Fair Prep

I have nicknamed our booth at the Edmonton Mom, Pop and Tot Fair the "BLISS Grand Opening", as it will be our first venture out into the public eye. I've been very busy, with the help of some amazing friends and volunteers, preparing for the booth.

My dear friend Sharon has diligently created a Breastfeeding Myths handout, a smart-looking BLISS brochure and is currently working on a banner. My good friend Sarah is making me baby-sized breastfeeding t-shirts and onesies to sell at the booth, and to use as giveaways and door prizes. Brandy has single-handedly put together the whole BLISS website and done a fantastic job! I am forever in her debt. So many people have helped out, I'm worried I'm going to forget someone......Danielle made up entry forms for the draw prizes; Teresa helped sort and stuff gift bags; Melanie, Erin, Bernadette, Tammy, Hope, Jenny, and many more wonderful ladies gave prizes and donations to BLISS to support the MPT Fair. And more than two dozen offered to pass out BLISS postcards or volunteer at the booth. And, can't forget Dawn and everyone else who has supported me through my entire venture. Thanks, everyone!

I've also been spending time emailing for information, photocopying information to put in the gift bags, ordering breastfeeding postcards and magnets galore from vistaprint.ca, ordering breastfeeding bracelets in bulk....oh, that reminds me, I put in an order for some sweet breastfeeding pencils but they haven't arrived yet. Yikes, not much time left, I hope they come in the mail soon.

What has taken the most time is my "Edmonton's Beautiful Breastfed Babies" display. I emailed everyone I could think of who breastfed, asking for pictures of their gorgeous babies. I bought from ebay a trade-show display booth to mount the photos on, bought mattes for all the pictures, printed them all out at Costco, made a title with scrapbooking supplies, and threw the entire thing together. I must say, it looks wonderful, with all the gorgeous nurslings with squishy cheeks and big eyes peeking out, or dribbly, milky smiles that melt your heart. I kept the display up in my house for a few days, admiring the "wall o' boob" as I jokingly call it.

Only a couple of weeks left! Time to hustle!

BACE meeting

I was invited to attend a BACE meeting (Breastfeeding Action Coalition of Edmonton), an informal get together to discuss the 2007 Breastfeeding Challenge. I love attending the Breastfeeding Challenge. BACE organizes the yearly event, and puts alot of work into planning and gathering door prizes and booths. However, the 2006 Edmonton location had less than 30 registered participants and I KNOW that we can do better than that in 2007.

It turned out to be a really informal meeting, as I was the only one who could make it. I met a great lady named Nicole, and her husband, and discovered I have lots of common with them in regards to our attachment parenting values, and society's attitudes towards breastfeeding in general. I offered help with the 2007 Challenge in any way I can. I thought it would be a great idea if I or a BACE member could put together a small bf'ing challenge flyer, and I could hand them out in my gift bags at the Mom, Pop and Tot Fair. Just to get the name out there, and make more nursing moms aware of the event.

We'll see how it goes.