Last October, singing sensation Justin Bieber performed for the Today Show.  He also took part in an event launching the debut of TodayMoms.com, the mommy website for TodayShow.com.  (If you haven’t checked it out you really should.)

He autographed a few posters to his swarm of fans… and we couldn’t let him get away without signing a few of our Today’s Moms books.  (Notice Alicia’s autograph has a heart on it.  Think he liked her best.)

Rather than have the books sit on a bookshelf (which they look really good on, btw) we thought we’d share the love and give them to two deserving people.

** Are you a new mom who shares the name Alicia or  Mary Ann?

** Do you have a friend, neighbor or relative who is a first time mom (or 2nd time mom) who could use a few funny stories about motherhood?

** Are you simply a Justin Bieber fan who would like his autograph?

Justin Bieber with Alicia & Mary Ann

If you would like one of these books, please submit a comment to this post by Friday, February 26th.  Valentines Day may have come and gone, but this is still the month of love.  We will randomly select two posts and send them out.

Good luck and happy reading.

Two Words:  Can’t Wait!

Four babies from four different parts of the world – Namibia, Mongolia, Japan and USA – are followed from birth to first steps…

By Alicia Ybarbo

I was invited to be a speaker for a panel at Blissdom, to discuss, “ Getting Published: The Real Deal” in Nashville, TN.

It

Was

So

Much

Fun

The most amazing part?  Meeting the bloggers that Todays Moms has been following since we entered the social media world 9 months ago.

Being a newbie to this type of conference was nerve-wracking.  I mean, just figuring out what to wear was enough to make my head spin…

My friend and roomie @IsabelKallman was so kind to me.  She took me under her wing and introduced me to everyone like it was her job.  How nice was that?

Alicia & Isabel

@BarbaraJones, @AlliWorthington and @PaulaBruno were champion hosts and I can’t thank them enough for inviting me to be a part of the conference.

I was super-excited to be on the same panel with @SimpleMom, @5DollarDinners, @WeAreThatFamily and @SharynRosenblum.   I hope to see many books come out of that panel.

Sharyn, Kristen, Alicia & Erin (missing is Tsh)

My favorite part was catching up with friends – both virtually and socially - like @BabyCenterMom, @EMom, @SelfishMom, @CecilyK, @ReneeJRoss, @TodaysMama, @ExtraordMommy, @JessicaKnows, @ResourcefulMom and @KatjaPresnal…  while making new ones like @SGetGood, @Carrie_In_TN, @BrittanyMohr, @TypeAMom, @HerBadMother, @DearBadKitty, @SavorTheThyme, @5MinutesForMom, @BostonMamas, @VodkaMom, @MTTSM, and @FaintStarLite.

With Barbara & Sharyn

Cat, Dina & Isabel

Hanging with Esther

With Jennifer & Amy

We are so excited for our friend and colleague, Amy Robach, who is an anchor for Weekend Today and a Today’s Moms book contributor.   She married Andrew Shue on Saturday at the Lighthouse in New York City.

Amy Robach & Andrew Shue with Today's Moms Alicia Ybarbo & Mary Ann Zoellner

We are honored to know them both.  

They met at the Today’s Moms book launch party last April, at Rouge Tomate.  The launch party, which was hosted by Pampers, was also a diaper drive.  Pampers ended up donating $50,000 worth of diapers to Baby Buggy, a non-profit organization that helps families in need.

Little did we know that launching a book would also launch a new life for two beautiful people and their five children.

The invite where it all started

Hoda Kotb, Ann Curry, Matt Lauer, Meredith Vieira & Amy Robach at Today's Moms book launch party (photo: Stuart Ramson)

Andrew Shue at Today's Moms book launch party at Rouge Tomate (photo: Stuart Ramson)

Who’d a thunk that your local laundromat would be the place for a book reading/social event/classical music concert?

Mary Ann Zoellner, Sara Sant'Ambrogio, Emily Rubin and Alicia Ybarbo hanging at the laundromat

On a windy winter evening, Today’s Moms partnered with Grammy Award winning cellist Sara Sant’Ambrogio to a night of Dirty Laundry: Loads of Prose at the Avenue A Laundromat on the lower east side of Manhattan.   The event is the brainchild of Emily Rubin, who has traveled the country – and some parts of the world –  to bring the beauty of books and music to the laundromat…  A perfectly warm place for such a cold night.  It was an especially sweet treat, because Sara usually performs in places like Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center.

We shared a little bit of scoop from our book, Today’s Moms, on how to keep the romance alive with your partner after baby (the perfect subject for airing your dirty laundry) and afterwards Sara performed three pieces from her newest release, Suites For Solo Cello Vol. 1.  We had so much fun that we hope to do a similar reading/performance in the summer.

Check out our Animoto video with highlights of the night…

http://animoto.com/play/rFoTp4euSsRFNr6dSp10Pg

By Alicia Ybarbo

Life as a TV producer for the number-one morning television show has many upsides.  It’s a wildly creative job with extremely creative people.  I love it!  My career is like taking a continuing education course, because in the course of one week I can go from writing segments about the dangers of concussions in football to Martha Stewart making five healthy weeknight meals to celebrating the birthday of Nadya Suleman’s (remember the Octomom?) eight children.  The thought of jumping from one segment to the next really keeps me on my toes.

This week I’m part of a team that produces breaking news segments, so we can have them ready for the next morning’s show.  It requires me to be in the office later in the day, often working till the wee hours of the morning.  Since it’s basically the overnight shift I don’t get the chance to see my children before they’re off to school in the morning, but I am sometimes lucky enough to spend some time with them when they get home from school.

When my son came home from school yesterday I jumped at the chance to help him with his homework before I left for work.  Instead of it being the wonderfully blissful moment between mom and son over his 1^st grade readers, it turned into pure frustration over his passiveness to read right after getting home from school. (Can you blame the kid?  He’s hungry.  He wants to see his toys and hang out.)  I left the house a little bruised that my picture perfect moment didn’t happen.

Later that evening I called home before bedtime to apologize to my son.  I told him I was sorry for getting upset before I left.  He apologized in return for being tired and not wanting to read to me.  It was the sweet mom/child connection that I was looking for.  I totally felt that hug over the phone lines.  Then he directed a question to me.  “Mommy,” he said, “What is your real job?”

“My real job?  I’m a television producer, sweetie.  You know where I work.”  “Oh,” he said, “I thought your real job was being a mommy?”

My first reaction was that of “ouch.”  Those words hurt… and not being home to give my munchkin a squeeze before bed felt like salt on an open wound.  When I shared with my husband and girlfriend what happened, they both had unique, positive perspectives.  My girlfriend felt that “kids can teach us a thing or two,” and that I am a mom first, and career woman second.  My husband said it was a very mature question and quite funny.

Sometimes, even during those tough work weeks, it takes a moment like this to be reminded of my real job as mommy-in-chief.  I love being a career woman, but I realized that a work/life reality check is needed every once in a while.  Leave it to my six-year-old son to deliver it to me.

If you’ve ever wondered what it would be like to air your dirty laundry while DOING your dirty laundry, check this out:

Alicia and Mary Ann from Today’s Moms… along with Grammy Award winning cellist, Sara Sant’Ambrogio will be part of the 22nd Dirty Laundry – Loads of Prose book reading/social event on Thursday, January 28th at the Avenue A Laundromat on Avenue A between 6th and 7th Street.

The night is focused around, “Babies!  We Know Where They Come From… Now What?”

Alicia and Mary Ann will chat a little about parenthood, babies, burp cloths and stain removal secrets, haha… and Sara will perform several soothing pieces from her latest CD, “Bach Suites for Solo Cello.”  What mom, dad or baby doesn’t like Bach?  It sounds like one hour of good, clean fun, doesn’t it?  (Okay, the puns will stop now…)

We’d love to see you there.  Click here for more information and to RSVP:

Big thanks to @katjapresnal and @erikalehmann for throwing such a fun Tweetup in NYC.

We got to spend time with some old friends and meet new…  like @complicatedmama, @classymom, @dawnsandomeno, @stylemom, @nycitymama, @isabelkallman, @cecilyk, @polarnopyret, @anelson1…

Where’s the next one?

Mary Ann Zoellner and Katja Presnal

Alicia Ybarbo w/Elizabeth Mascali & Dawn Sandomeno of PartyBluPrints

Carol Cain (aka @NYCityMama) Shares Some Scoop

How Cute Is Nichelle Pace? (aka @StyleMom)

With Isabel Kallman (aka @alphamom)

By Alicia Ybarbo

Who doesn’t love these?  The minute I saw them I was smiling…

Winter in NYC means checking out museums.  Last weekend my family and I went to the Cooper-Hewitt to check out their latest exhibit called “Design USA.”  This exhibit houses National Design Award winners from the past 10 years.  It was pretty cool for my kids to discover that toothbrushes (with their creative packaging), running shoes (with their bold colors) and shopping bags (with their cool graphics) are works of art.  My kids had fun looking through the exhibit and spent time designing their own creations (tote bags)… but they really enjoyed their time hangin’ with these pillows.

Who doesn’t love a little downtime mixed-in with their art?

This Just In:  Confirming attendance to this year’s Blissdom 2010 in Nashville, TN.  Going to be talking about, “Getting Published:  The Real Deal”… Won’t you join?