Editor's Note

It’s January…and there’s a whole lot of birthing going on. The sales manager of our sister publication in Orange County just welcomed a perfect pink bundle into the world – Sabrina Nichole. Congratulations, Susan Vega! As I’ve always said, “You can’t have enough women in the world.”

    And a few weeks ago, after months and months of hard labor, we gave birth to a new-and-improved website: inlandempirefamily.com. You’ll love our new bundle of topics, bloggers and pull-down menus that will help you navigate your way easily through motherhood. (Please, no cigars.)

    As for me…well, I’m Lynn Armitage, the brand-SPANKING-new editor of Inland Empire Family Magazine. (I’m trying to stay with the birthing theme here.) Like you, I’m a busy parent trying my best to balance it all – raising and running 2 daughters around, and keeping dust balls in check around my house. It’s a hectic life, to be sure. Sometimes I whine, sometimes I secretly roll my eyes, sometimes I wish I was someone else. But what I always come back to is that, hands down, motherhood is the best job I’ve ever had.

    There’s no denying that as mothers, we are members of a privileged society, joined at our birthing hips. Lest you forget how miraculous it is to bring new life into the world...pull out those long-forgotten ultrasound images. A colleague, who is 4 months pregnant with her first baby (a boy!), shared these most-private pictures with me and I was awestruck!  How is it possible that we can “grow” another human being inside us? I saw a tiny foot and even teenier toes, a head connected to a delicate spine, an eye forming and that unmistakable projection that declared “it” a definitive “he.”
    Simply miraculous!

    As 2008 gets off to a start, make this the year YOU deliver. The year you generate new ideas, start a new business, create new memories with your family...and breathe new life into your own.

editor’s pick
For my very first “pick,” I’ve selected an item that I just can’t keep quiet about any longer – the Allyson Wonderland Storytime Bear by Gund. Not only is it absolute eye candy, a toy that will delight young ones just by looking at it, but also, this animated bear tells the dream-come-true story of Allyson, a young girl who loves to bake and eventually opens Wonderland Bakery.
 
>> Cost: $59.95
>> Where to buy it:  wonderlandbakery.com in the “Wonder Gifts” section