Baby and Family Fair
Trade and Convention Centre
September 16th -17th
The Baby and Family Fair are  two fun filled days which include fashion shows, hourly door prize draws, the 'Face of 2007' photo contest, baby races and exciting activities for "kinder kids" including face painting, a bouncy play area, Kids Corner and so much more. The Baby and Family Fair is conveniently set up with wide stroller-friendly aisles, a private nursing area with bottle warming, a separate diaper changing area equipped with comfy change tables and several water stations located throughout the show. An event not to miss!
Contact: 604-323-3761 or www.baby-fair.com

After nearly two years in gestation, Urbanmommies.com launched in June, combining commercial content with expert advice, information and resources for new and expecting moms.

When Arndrea Scott couldn't find a cool diaper bag for a shower gift, she turned to her friend Sydney Irvine in frustration.

"She's like, 'Where? Where can I find a diaper bag?'" Irvine said, mimicking her almost hysterical friend. "I'm like, 'No, no, buddy, there's so much. We have amazing homegrown products…You can get everything here, for goodness sakes."

But even the Web-savvy mother of two couldn't find a comprehensive and engaging local website to look for products and services for mothers.

So she and Scott, a Vancouver marketer, sat down with a glass of wine and hatched the kind of resource they wanted. A mere online shopping directory seemed too dull and Irvine, who had experienced her own difficulties moving from career woman to stay-at-home mom, wanted to give meaningful help to women regarding motherhood.

They decided to become a nucleus for hip Lower Mainland mothers, balancing commercial content with expert advice and information about community resources and events.

Urbanmommies.com kicked off in June after nearly two years in gestation. It garnered more than 1,000 return visitors in the first month and 1,000 subscribers to its quarterly online newsletter.

Irvine, who lives in Port Coquitlam, enlisted her family doctor who delivered both of her children to answer readers' questions. She's negotiating with a life coach to potentially offer further advice online.

"When you have kids, the first one especially, there's a million changes that go on and especially for a woman that has worked up until her pregnancy or up until her baby is born," Irvine said. "There's a lot of times that women feel alone in their feelings, whether they're good or bad, or they think they're crazy or whatever, so it's kind of nice to address some of those things and keep people connected, so you're not the lone crazy mom."

Irvine credits celebrities with making pregnancy hip and sexy. When she was eight months pregnant with her first child six years ago, Irvine caught dirty looks from older women when she wore a bikini to an Okanagan beach in 40-degree weather.

"That's changed," Irvine said. "We are embracing that belly and we love it. You put on a tight, layered T-shirt and little shirt and you feel sexy, if you can feel sexy with a giant bulge. Definitely the mentality has changed."

She wouldn't get pregnant merely because Hollywood starlets are doing it. "But I'm going to make a choice to wear the clothes that they're wearing when they're pregnant."

Irvine believes the shift goes deeper than fashion.

Her 78-year-old grandmother told Irvine in her day women tried not to gain weight and wore bulky clothes to mask their pregnancies.

"My grandmother once said, 'It was almost that we were ashamed, that people had known what we had done to get pregnant.'"

COUNTRY CELEBRATION  
Langley Campbell
September 16th & 17th, 10am - 5pm
Hosted by the Greater Vancouver Regional District, this traditional country-style fair is aimed at educating "city-folk" about farming traditions, activities and practices that play such an important role in this region. You can hop on a hay wagon, build a kite, and meet some fuzzy furry friends! Kids under 6 are free.
Contact: 604-432-6351 or www.gvrd.bc.ca/countrycelebration

Fred Penner Live – Brought to you by the Vancouver Public Library
The Central Library
September 14th – 6:30pm
Vancouver Public Library is having a party! Presented in honor of the CanWest/Vancouver Sun Raise-a-Reader and Vancouver Public Library's 10-year partnership with them, raising funds and awareness for family literacy and early childhood literacy programs for children across BC, the Library has invited Canada's favorite children's performer Fred Penner to the Central Library.
Want to join in the fun?  You must enter to win a free parent and child ticket at a VPL branch by September 7th. 
Admission is free, but tickets are required so head down to your local public library and enter before its to late!!

Contact your local VPL to enter for tickets.

The Ismaili Walk for Kids
Lumberman's Arch in Stanley Park
September 10th

United Way of the Lower Mainland and the Ismaili Muslim Community of British Columbia are partnering to raise funds for Success By 6, a United Way initiative that helps children 0 to 6. The 2006 Ismaili Walk for Kids, presented by Coast Capital Savings, a family walk and festival, is set and ready to go! This year’s Ismaili Walk for Kids features a 7-kilometre walk, a 3.5-kilometre children’s walk and a family festival complete with prizes, entertainment, food and activities for the entire family.

Contact: www.iwalkforkids.ca for more information