Next week is the big BlogHer conference and, like many of you, I’m not going. But, that doesn’t mean that we can’t have a ton of fun right from home! Stefany, my fabulous co-host from ToBeThode, and I are going to hold a No-Go BlogHer party just for all of you that are sitting at home next week with us. Stefany has been working to get some great giveaway prizes for you and we are so excited to be able to give you some swag simply for playing along with our party.

This is going to be easy. We want you to meet and greet bloggers just as if you were at BlogHer. We are going to give you a set of questions to answer and post on your own blog. All we ask is that you complete the following two requirements:

1. Answer the questions on your blog and then link up that post in the linky that will be available on both ToBeThode or Musings of a Marfan Mom. (you only need to link up once)
2. Grab the button for the No-Go BlogHer party and place it on your sidebar during the duration of the party. (If you have any problems doing that, let us know and we would be glad to help).

Easy peasy, right? We thought so!

Here are the questions we want you to answer:

1. When did you start blogging?
2. Why did you start blogging?
3. What is one thing you are going to do this week that is WAY cooler than going to BlogHer?
4. Share a post that you think says a lot about you or is your favorite. (share the link in YOUR post so we all can see)
   

Once you post on your own blog, come back on Wednesday (or anytime through Saturday) and link up. Then, start hopping around and meet some other bloggers. Leave some comments, follow some new blogs if you are so inclined, and just have some fun.

You want to know about prizes, right? This is just a quick list of sponsors (we will be more specific on the linky post of what you will actually win and give you the sponsors website). If there are any additional prizes, you will see them when you come to link up!

(A lot of these fantastic sponsors have offered Stefany products for review in the past. I will have the link to her reviews in parentheses if you want to see what she thought of their products.)

Okay, here you go:

• Zhu Zhu Pet Hamsters (review)
• Baby Banz (review)
• Safety Tats (review)
• SmartyRents.com
• CSN.com
• Smart Knit KIDS (review)
• Baby Dipper (review)
• Fibers.com (review)
• Kidz Gear
• Mabel’s Labels (review)
• Beibi Shoes (review)
• Sleepy Wrap (review)

Those are the ones that we have full confirmation on at this point! These are some fun prizes that everyone can enjoy. Canadians are welcome to play along because many of those sponsors will ship to Canada!

What do we want you to do now? Start thinking about those questions. Get your posts ready for next week. Grab the button off our sidebar and post it on your blog. Start spreading the word. If you are on Twitter, use the hashtag #NoGoBlogHer to talk about the blog hop. And, finally… get ready to have some fun!!!

note: To be eligible to win prizes, you will need to complete the two requirements stated above.

I had this really cool Friday Favorites post planned with articles by some of my favorite bloggers. However, it’s 1:30 in the morning and I just finished my brownie sundae after being in Labor & Delivery for several hours to rule out premature labor and long story short they couldn’t find anything wrong so I’m just supposed to “take it easy, drink a lot, and keep monitoring the symptoms.” And, I’m going to go have another brownie because every pregnant woman knows that calories certainly don’t count when you’re in a pissy mood from a condescending OB resident. Also? I just ate what I thought was a brownie crumb. Only it wasn’t. Might have been one of Menininho’s boogers. GROSS. Thanks, Kid.

Aaaaanyway, since I don’t have the time or mental energy to devote to doing the articles I was going to talk about justice, I’m just going to post the link to a nifty site called Mila’s Daydreams. It’s nifty. Makes me wish I was more creative. Or less busy. Or both.

Oh and there is something really nifty coming here tomorrow. I’m co-hosting a blog hop party with To Be Thode! And there will be PRIZES! So, come back on Saturday for a post that explains the party and then prepare to join in. You can grab the button code from my left sidebar if you’ve heard about this on Twitter and already know you want to participate. Basically, it’s a party for everyone who is not going to the BlogHer conference next week.

The Menininho had his first speech therapy appointment yesterday. FINALLY! His speech therapist is a guy, which was a little surprising to me just because I’ve never met a male speech therapist, but hey, that’s cool (let’s call him The Man from now on). Overall I really liked his methods, such as immediately rewarding M. after moving his hands into a sign once, then saying YAAAAY. The speech therapist we’d seen for the initial evaluation, whom I wasn’t fond of, insisted we move his hands into the sign ten times before rewarding him, which just led to a really angry toddler. Menininho actually responded amazingly well to the shorter method and by the end of the session, although he couldn’t make the sign, would mimic YAAAAAY after his hands were made into the sign for “more” (the sign of the session). This was huge and I pray this kind of improvement continues.

The Man was also willing to be flexible with his planned activities. For instance, when he saw Menininho was interested in playing with goldfish, he let him do that for quite awhile, all the time practicing “more.” But eventually, he guided M. to other activities as well so that he could assess his adaptability and sorting skills.

Yes, there were a few things that I wasn’t 100% happy about, but hearing that YAHHHH from my son over and over again is enough to keep me happy for now. Mimicking sounds just isn’t something he’s really done before. Even better, it continued after the session and into the evening.