We’d like to wish everyone a very happy, healthy  2009!  We are so looking forward to welcoming you 2009 babies out there!

Warmly,  ~Sandee and Kristen~

We know that finding that perfect gift can be difficult, and that finding that perfect price can be even harder. Perfecting Expecting is happy to offer a holiday discount of 20% off of all services and gift certificates purchased now until December 24^th.

Contact us for more information or to purchase a special gift for that special someone.

Happy Holidays! ~ Sandee & Kristen~

Perfecting Expecting has teamed up with CityMommy Boston, an online forum for moms and moms-to-be. CityMommy has message board groups, lists of local resources and events, and they are even organized down to the neighborhood level. They have created a group just for us, so that members can ask us whatever their heart’s desire.

Stop by CityMommy on Thursday, ‘Perfecting Expecting Day’, to ask us any and all questions you may have about prepping for baby. We hope to see you there!

As we approach the holiday season we are all starting to think about what gifts to add to that growing shopping list. Given the state of the economy now, one thing to keep in mind while shopping is how to give a gift that will be used, used, and then used some more. We want to get lots of bang for these bucks! Check out our list of three delectable baby gifts that Perfecting Expecting know will go the extra mile this season.

The Oooh Gift~The BellaBand

This life-saver is the perfect present for any mom-to-be or new mom who doesn’t quite love the fit of those pre-pregnancy pants! There is a variety of designs to them, and they will last you from the first signs of belly all the way until you are walking that new baby around waiting to fit into your favorite jeans again.

The Ahhh Gift~The Stokke Tripp Trapp High Chair

This high chair is breaking the mold! If you want a clean-lined, sleek high chair, this is for you. Not only is it aesthetically pleasing, but it doesn’t take up much space and your baby sits right at the table with you. Why does it keep on giving? It grows with your child. Just adjust the seat and voila – toddler seat. This will take you from baby to adult.

The WOW gift ~The UPPABaby Vista

You will be strolling in style and strolling with ease in the UPPAbaby. Based in Boston, this company has created a stroller with a price-point under the bigger names, but with all the bells and whistles. The color palate is also AMAZING. They recently revealed their add-on toddler seat, turning this into a stroller built for two.

Good luck fighting the crowds, and feel free to contact us for more gift advice!

**We heard from our friends at Isis Maternity ~ they have published a top-10 list of their own gifts that keep on giving!  Check it out.**

With Thanksgiving around the corner, we’d like to take this opportunity to thank all of the wonderful people that have made Perfecting Expecting possible…our families, vendor partners and of course YOU- our clients! 

What a perfect year…we’re so grateful!

Happy Thanksgiving!

-Sandee and Kristen

Perfecting Expecting is often asked:

How do you decide who to partner with or what products and services to recommend?

Recently, we have been spending a lot of our time developing partnerships with some of the very best vendors in the baby biz. So, what does this mean exactly?

Well, we hear from MANY vendors each day who want Perfecting Expecting to feature their work on our site or share their product with our clients. How do we begin to approach this? First, we ask them for a sample. Second, we put the products or services through rigorous tests including pushing/pulling/poking/admiring/eating/drinking/reading/touching… etc., and we’ll meet with the business owners in person or over the phone to talk details. Third, we read reviews, raves and/or rants and extensively research the products and services online. THEN, we make our decision. If we LOVE them (and only if we love them), we agree to put them into our portfolio of ‘Perfecting Expecting Picks.’  Our promise is to offer the very best products and services to our expecting families.

When we meet with our clients, we show them our Perfecting Expecting Picks. Our specialty is that we really hone in on which PE Picks we think are suited to their unique needs, desires, and budget. In most cases, we can also offer our clients an exclusive discount from these companies based on our partnership with them – and who doesn’t love a discount!?

We want you to know that Perfecting Expecting will not partner with just anyone. Nor will we recommend products or services to you because we are getting a kick-back. Nope, we are in this for you, dear families…!

And we’re picky.

We love moms and we love shopping…so nothing is more fun than a night full of BOTH!

Perfecting Expecting is proud to be a sponsor of Mommies Who Shop and their upcoming holiday event. For $15 you can enjoy admittance to the event, complimentary wine and nibbles, and fabulous event specials. Not to mention there are some SUPER fun swag bags…take our word for it.

We hope you can join us for a night out of mingling and shopping. You might just get a few of those holiday gifts purchased early this year!

Imagine this…a lovely baby shower, shades of light pink, yellow, green, or blue abundant. Teeny cupcakes as a treat, cups of tea, chatting women. Everything is SO beautiful and sweet. The gifts are given, and the guests “ooooh” and “aaah” in delight. And then, one of the gifts is opened…and laughter ensues for the gift of PUKIES has just been opened!

We met the creative minds behind this fabulous product and just loved what they had to say right away. They claim that “Pukies is what you want AND what you need.” We agree. They have designed enviroment-friendly and soy-based organic clothing, bibs, burp cloths, etc., in wonderful colors to match the colors of your baby’s food. You can disguise stains without using harsh chemicals or washing and scrubbing things 20 times over.

Aside from the environmental, fiscal, and humor-driven reasons to buy this product, we have even one more. They are super soft and the colors are actually quite lovely themselves! And, lastly, they have fantastic bright orange packaging to capture the mood of the product.

If you are looking for a memorable and special gift, this is one that that will surely be talked about (and spit up on) for months and years to come.

Well, ladies and gentlemen ~ it is the day we have been waiting for…the Prudential Center Isis Maternity is opening on Sunday!  Most of you know what Isis is, but for those of you who don’t, it is an amazing one-stop shopping center for new families.  They offer classes for expecting parents, a boutique of the BEST baby gear, post-natal classes, a playroom for toddlers, and the most knowledgeable staff around.

Isis has been open in Needham, Arlington, and Brookline and now they have a GORGEOUS new state of the art space in the Prudential Center for us city folk.  Starting with the Pru Boo on Sunday the 26th (an adorable Halloween party and parade for kids and families), they have an entire week of seminars, demos, lectures, videos, book signing, visiting vendors, and more.  Check out their opening week schedule here.

How does one pick a day with all of those fabulous events!?  We will be there checking out the new digs and visiting with our friends at Isis a couple of days over the course of the week (we couldn’t narrow it down to one day, either) ~ so we hope to see you there.

When we’re not meeting with new clients, scouring local baby boutiques, or searching the web for all things baby, we might be found Dishing It Out! From the very start of Perfecting Expecting, we’ve had the pleasure of joining groups of great local, women entrepreneurs who get together regularly at events called, “Dish It Out” to meet, network, and gab about their business experiences. Through these meetings we’ve encountered some brilliant, super-friendly women who have started some really incredible businesses. This past meeting, in September, we were able to talk shop with even more fabulous fem-preneurs. We meet some of the best small business owners in Boston, from PR stars, photographers, inventors, designers, shop owners, and chefs.

The events are coordinated by Catherine Howe (far left in the picture above), owner of Beadiful Jewelry, and designer of drop-dead gorgeous, one-of-a-kind jewelry. Not to mention, she is just a wonderful woman with impeccable taste and a knack for blending business and pleasure.

If you are a female business owner, get in touch and hopefully we can dish it out with you in the near future!