The first printing is back from the printers!

I received my first printing, 33 copies, back from the printers on Thursday and the books have been really moving! I really appreciate everyone's support and would love to hear your feedback for the next edition!

I've even had a successful purchase completely through our website: www.joeandkatie.com/book Thanks, Teresa T!

I'm so glad that I get to switch hats now to marketing! I love contacting people and asking them what they think of my book. I'm hoping that a maternity boutique with a gift registry would like to carry it.

I'm going to be contacting stores in all the major (and not so major) cities around Jacksonville, like Orlando, Gainesville, Tallahassee, Tampa, Savannah, Atlanta, and Macon.

If you know of a store that would like to carry my book, please let me know: http://www.joeandkatie.com/book/contact.html

Thanks!
Katie

Car seat clean up #2

I just pulled out my son's car seat buckle to clean it. It had over 4 years of food growth on it.

Please, everyone, clean your car seat buckle!

Cleaning the car seats!

As I am working through the final edit of Chapter 3, Getting From Here to There, I am recommending all the things that new parents should consider when transporting their baby. One of them is buying a car seat that is easy to clean.

Wow! I had not cleaned the buckle of my Britax Boulevard until today. It has been sticking and spontaneously releasing the straps. Not good. I finally took the time to read the owner's manual to find out how to remove and clean it and Wow, I learned two things:

1) It was incredibly easy to remove the buckle.
2) It was incredibly disgusting!

The manual recommends cleaning it using just warm water. So I filled a cup with warm water and stuck the buckle in to loosen up the 2 years of juice, cookies, milk, and other substances. After a few minutes, I looked at it and it was almost tea colored! Eww! So I dumped it and put some fresh water in and soaked it again. Same thing happened! I'm on my 3rd soaking now.

I really hope this helps my DD stay buckled in tight now.

I did not know that chocolate could sustain me during a convention! No money + no desire to use ATM + free chocolate at a vendor booth = enough calories to keep me focused.

Now... I'm crashing!

Things I like: a free golf lesson!

June is American Express Women's golf month! PGA professionals all over the country are giving free lessons at designated clubs. Last night I had a lesson at San Jose Country Club in Jacksonville, FL by Todd Bork. By the end of the night, I was hitting straight shots with my new improved grip!

I think I read about this in the paper, either our local Times-Union or the Wall Street Journal. This website http://www.playgolfamerica.com/ will list out all the places that are participating.

Of course, they are hoping that you will come back for more lessons, but Todd did not push it. He gave a really great lesson that was very positive and helped us correct our swings.

Next week, we go back to play on the course!

Gotta love free!

Things I like: Smucker's Strawberry squeezable fruit spread

I love the idea of this product and love to use it!
http://www.smuckers.com/products/details.aspx?groupId=1&categoryId=260&flavorId=432

Now, I just have to dirty 1 knife at lunch!

p.s. it is called a spread because there are certain requirements for something to be called preserves, jams or jellies. the ingredients are good enough for our pb & j!

Jon & Kate: Am I the only one who thinks....

I've enjoyed watching Jon & Kate plus 8 over the years. Even my kids enjoy watching it.

I just think that the timing for the expose of marriage troubles came right after Season 4 ended and hit the news again right as Season 5 started. Any publicist would have been proud of all the hoopla that this has generated!

Just because this is a "reality" show doesn't mean that it has to be factually the truth. Everything is he said/she said and some video that doesn't really prove anything except being at the wrong place/bad decision making/etc.

Does anyone else think that maybe the wool is getting pulled over our eyes just so that more money could be made on ad revenue? Remember that television programs of any genre are only there to encourage you to watch commercials, unless they are paid for by the advertiser already (infomercials, church programs, etc.)

A very talented group of video editors could select very different parts of a "day"from Jon and Kate Plus 8 and turn them into anything they wanted. For example, the video could probably produce 20 minutes of just kids screaming. Or they could just show people eating, yet staying skinny! They could show Jon & Kate working out all day and the kids watching TV all day. Thousands of people would call to have them investigated.

So, are they really having marital difficulties? Any publicity is good publicity!

I apologize if this is too preachy. Just thought someone needed to say it.

Things I like: The start of a series

I have just found this new Peanut Butter: Jif Natural! It was $2.09 at Target (not a Super Target) which I think is cheaper than what I had regularly paid for the Skippy Natural. It only has 5 ingredients and of course, no partially hydrogenated anything.
http://www.jif.com/products/details.asp?prodID=669

So, should the title be Proactive Pregnancy?

Picking a title is kind of like picking your child's name. It will live with you forever and you are to blame or praise.

Proactive Pregnancy started off as What You Need to Know Before the Baby Comes, which is thoroughly descriptive but kind of long. I started looking at other book titles and noticed that some have sexy names, like Skinny Bitch Bun in the Oven, and How my Breasts Saved the World, but then I noticed that some books have a double title. A short title, followed by a more descriptive one, like, Belly Laughs: The Naked Truth about Pregnancy and Childbirth by Jenny McCarthy.

So I thought long and hard and came up with Proactive Pregnancy. I wanted a search term with either pregnancy or baby and I like alliteration. Proactive sounds like a business term that means to get ready for and anticipate future problems.

The only other reference to the term Proactive is the acne solution which I've heard good things about.

Of course, now that hurricane season is almost upon those of us in the East and Southeast, I started seeing references to our Hurricane Preparedness Guide. So I started thinking, what if I call it a Baby Preparedness Guide? When a new baby comes to a first time mom, it is like a hurricane to her. But I don't want people to think that having a baby is a bad thing like Hurricane Katrina.

So I think I'll keep it Proactive Pregnancy: What You Need to Know Before the Baby Comes.

To view sample chapters, visit Proactive Pregnancy's website at www.joeandkatie.com/book.

Why did I write Proactive Pregnancy?

I was a math major in college and my teachers never praised my writing. So why did I write a 90,000 page book on babies? I certainly had no idea that I would be capable of such a thing...

Here's how it happened...

I was at a baby shower of a friend, Victoria, just after my second child turned 1 year old. This was her first and I was excited for her. As she was opening her gifts, I found myself giving her advice like, "You'll need to get another pink blanket, in case you misplace that one" and "it's great you got so many different types of pacifiers because you'll never know which one she'll like." After a while, Victoria said, "Why don't you right these down for me?" I agreed but I knew that I didn't have much time because she only had a month before her baby was due.

While my kids took naps, I started writing down some tips that I wished someone had told me. I had read a great many books on pregnancy and babies when I was pregnant with my son, but still felt ill-prepared for motherhood. I think my document was about 3 pages long filled with one sentence tips.

I sent her the document and gave her a week to read it. She loved it but added the suggestion, "Could you maybe explain things more?"

And so, while my kids slept in the afternoon, I would work on this project.

I sent her an expanded copy and she added "Could you organize it better?"

Thus, a 3 page list of suggestions has become an over 300 page book. I have emailed draft copies of it to pregnant women with glowing responses like, "Wow! I think you could publish this!"- Shelly B.

Of course, I have sent queries to literary agents (about 10) with all of them turning me down. From what I have read, I need to have a guaranteed audience for a publisher to take a chance on me. That's why so many books are coming out by television personalities. I like to say that they only publish books from people who are famous or who have killed someone famous.

So for the past 18 months, I have been working on Proactive Pregnancy a little almost every day while my preschoolers have slept. I have given up working out, watching tv, or any other pleasurable self serving thing that a stay at home mom does while her kids sleep (including cleaning house!)

My goal is to finish this final edit, let someone proof read it for me, and then print 40 copies at Office Depot to sell online, at baby boutiques and to give away to pregnant women.

Thanks to all who have encouraged me.

If you would like to see some sample chapters of the book, click over to Proactive Pregnancy's website at www.joeandkatie.com/book

Direct link to Proactive Pregnancy book website

Here is a direct link to Proactive Pregnancy's website:
http://www.joeandkatie.com/book

Proactive Pregnancy is a book for moms who want to be prepared before the baby comes. It includes two chapters on setting expectations for yourself, as well as your husband and the baby's future grandparents.

Some of Proactive Pregnancy's chapters are Buying Baby Gear, Preparing the House, Colic and Crying, and Baby Care 101.

What makes Proactive Pregnancy different from other pregnancy and baby books is the way it can help a new mom do as much as possible to get her life together, house organized, baby room set up, and herself educated in everything baby. Why wait until the baby gets here and the mom is sleep deprived before becoming prepared?

Adoptive parents will also find Proactive Pregnancy to be a great help before they bring their little bundle of joy home.

Sample chapters of Proactive Pregnancy are available for viewing at www.joeandkatie.com/book

Yea! I'm going to be published in MOPS magazine

I had almost forgotten about it, but then about a week ago, I get a wonderful email from MOPS letting me know that they are going to use my article, 8 Ways to Reach Out to New Moms in their July/Aug edition.

I had written an article so that I could get more publicity out about my book and now I'll have some! Now, I just have to make sure that people can find it!

Proactive Pregnancy: What You Need to Know Before the Baby Comes is available at www.joeandkatie.com/book.

I've got several chapters out there for free as well as how to order your own copy.

Another part of our lunch with daddy was eating at Firehouse Subs. But I actually planned ahead and made the kids' lunches as well as my own. I included sandwiches, carrots, cut up apples, juice boxes, and water. Daddy, of course, got a sub as well as a kid's sub for my son. But it was so great having our lunch with us already; a lunch that I knew that the kids would eat. It worked out great for me because then I knew I wouldn't overeat!

So it was eating AT Firehouse, but MY food. It was fun! I should do that more often!

Today we had a visit to daddy's work and got to ride the Riverside Trolley which does a loop through Riverside and then around downtown. I was getting impatient and looking at my watch and Joe reminded me that riding the trolley was THE experience, not just transportation. I have to remember that with kids, I need to take every moment of downtime I can and just enjoy the time with my kids, even if nothing is happening and we are stopped at a light. To my kids... something is always happening.

Vacation or teaching experience?

I spent this last week at my friend Lisa's house a few hours away. She helped me see where I could improve in the discipline of my son. She seemed so natural - and she had learned a lot from watching the nanny shows on tv.

She helped me see that I was inconsistent with threats of punishment and that I gave in to his whining.

The funny thing was.... I didn't think there was much of a problem. Ryan has been so easy out in the stores, etc. He used to throw a fit if he couldn't get his way in the store. Now, we can play with toys and then put them back without an issue. MacKay is just peachy with the way everything is.

This week, I'll work on giving him a warning once, then following through.

Thanks Lisa! (Thanks nanny shows!)

I just love to snuggle with my children

I just took the opportunity to snuggle with my daughter while watching a Barney video. She was sucking her thumb and clutching her blanket. The moment only lasted a few minutes but the love lasts forever.

I'm planning on adding more graphics to the book to make it more visually appealing.

oh... and someone else wants to buy it! :)

Julie loves the cover! That means a lot coming from someone who has a fantastic design eye.

What I tried today:
I have made yogurt before but since my mom brought over some DanActive yogurt, I thought that I would make some of it. I added some powdered milk, granulated sugar, and strawberry preserves to the milk before adding a container of the DanActive.

I poured the mixture into the larger size baby food jars and put in my yogurt maker. I'll let them cook for a while, 3-12 hours is the recommendation. I started it at 4 p.m. today. I'll post tomorrow how they turned out.

By the way, I've never had DanActive before, but I just drank one before making the yogurt.

Program at Mandarin Library on Feb 28th

I have scheduled a program at Mandarin Library to talk about subjects from my book, Proactive Pregnancy, What You Need to Know Before the Baby Comes.

Date: Saturday Feb 28th, 2009
Time: 10 a.m.
Place: Mandarin Library
Address: 3330 Kori Road, Jacksonville, FL 32257

Community Education Class didn't happen... here's why

I was really hoping to bounce some of the ideas of my book off of some pregnant women/couples with this class. I handed out flyers to local ob/gyn offices and contacted the newspaper to post the class. Of course, community education sends out a flyer, too, with a description of my class. Here is how my description came out:


The way it reads... it appears that the participants must be in 6th to 8th grade! Needless to say... no one signed up.

New Title! Proactive Pregnancy!

I have decided upon a new title for now, until a publisher pays me to change it. ha ha
Proactive Pregnancy...What You Need to Know Before the Baby Comes.