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The MommyCon 2016 season has already ramped up and I am so excited for the Seattle event! After attending the first Seattle MommyCon event in November I knew that I had to be come back again for the 2016 date.

Sign here... #mommyconseattle #mommyconsea

A photo posted by Bianca @ The Pierogie Mama (@thepierogiemama) on Nov 21, 2015 at 11:31am PST

The MommyCon events are always star-studded with amazing speakers; including blogger The Leaky Boob, BabyGuy NYC and Jennifer Labit (owner of Cotton Babies cloth diapers).

Meeting Jennifer Labit, owner of Cotton Babies. #tmgpierogie #mommyconseattle #mommyconsea #bloggerbesties

A photo posted by Bianca @ The Pierogie Mama (@thepierogiemama) on Nov 21, 2015 at 9:36am PST

Last November my blogging bestie and real life friend That Mama Gretchen and I took the night out to have some much needed catch up time and a girls night before her little man Reid was born. We had a late night snack at the hotel bar, and retired to our room to chat about what we were excited to see the following morning.

Not only were there great speakers in the main room, but the smaller break out rooms had great sessions as well. I really enjoyed the Wrapping 101 class with Ergo Baby and a cosleeping consultation (which gave me the umph I needed to help begin Ruby's transition to sleeping with her older sister Penny!). The seminars include topics on babywearing, parenting, breastfeeding, cloth diapering, car seat safety, babygear and so much more!

Wrapping 101. On my to do list to learn this year. #ergobaby #lovecarrieson #mommyconseattle #mommyconsea

A photo posted by Bianca @ The Pierogie Mama (@thepierogiemama) on Nov 21, 2015 at 12:50pm PST

Truth be told, that Wrapping 101 class did me some good because Cassiope Wovens was doing a super fun instagram giveaway of a MommyCon exclusive wrap and guess who won? THIS GIRL! Her very first wrap!!

Big WOOOHOOO for joy! Thanks @cassiopewoven and @drbabywearingdad for the awesome prize of a #mommycon edition of your beautiful wraps. I spent all day thinking about them and really wasn't sure if I could leave the event without one. Can't wait to start wrapping. #mommyconseattle #mommyconsea #cassiopewoven #castaliacotinga #wovenwrap #wearallthebabies #cassiopewovenscavengerhunt

A photo posted by Bianca @ The Pierogie Mama (@thepierogiemama) on Nov 21, 2015 at 6:37pm PST

So if that doesn't give you the push to visit MommyCon this year, here's the schedule for the upcoming Seattle event.

In addition to all of these "grown up" talks, there are tons of kid friendly activities too! There's a toddler play area, crafting, a quiet room for nursing or napping and usually a food vendor for kid snacks and more. Don't be afraid to bring your child, co-parent, or anyone else who is interested.

Now- the super fun part-

ENTER TO WIN A PAIR OF MOMMYCON TICKETS TO ANY OF THE UPCOMING 2016 MOMMYCON EVENTS!!!

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MommyCon Seattle - Saturday April 2

MommyCon WEAR Chicago Friday May 27

MommyCon Austin Saturday June 26

MommyCon DC Saturday July 23

MommyCon Orange County Saturday August 20

MommyCon Orlando Saturday Sept 3

MommyCon San Jose Saturday Oct 29

More details here

@mommycon Seattle was this past weekend, in case you couldn't tell from my IG feed, and it was AMAZE-BALLS. @thatmamagretchen and I took a much needed mama's night out and took the conference by storm. Were you at any of the MommyCon events? What was your favorite part? My review on the blog - link in my profile. #mommycon #mommyconsea #mommyconseattle #tmgpierogie

A photo posted by Bianca @ The Pierogie Mama (@thepierogiemama) on Nov 25, 2015 at 2:33pm PST

2015 Wrap Up

Hi everyone! I am checking in at the midway point of my trip to Germany. If you've been following along on instagram, you've seen a ton of posts on some of the awesome sights that we have visited. By the way, you don't need to have an instagram account to see the pictures, so do go on and check them out!

Whether you've been following along with me for the last *almost* 4 years or have jumped in just recently, fret not - in the new year I'll be sure to "re-introduce" myself as it's been a long time since I've really done it officially. A lot changes when you start a blog in the month before you expect your first child, when 4 years later you find yourself with two daughters that are pre-school and toddler age. And a blog that has grown and maintained over that whole time and all you really needed was somewhere to write out your thoughts in a somewhat coherent manner! Anyways, I digress. Back to 2015.

Here's a round up of my 9 most popular posts of 2015 from Instagram -

1. I finally made Monte Cristo waffles. So good, but fair warning - the raspberry preserves are not easy (read: impossible) to clean off your waffle iron. Lesson learned. 2. Though I've been a babywearing mama from the beginning with Penny, just a few months ago I dove into the world of woven wraps. My dear friend That Mama Gretchen and I took a mama's night out and took MommyCon Seattle by storm. I fell in love with Cassiope Wovens and was positive that one way or another, I would be leaving MommyCon with a wrap. I took a chance, entered in Cassiope Woven's giveaway and I was the extremely lucky winner of a limited edition MommyCon exclusive wrap. Woo hoo! That's what you heard if you were at the announcement of the giveaway - I wooped with careless abandon. So here you see my Ruby and I in our first wrap job. 3. Here is an old fashioned, no calories spared pound cake made from no less than 10 eggs from my own chickens. I started keeping a small flock of backyard chickens right before Ruby's birth in 2014 and have been so in love with the delicious eggs these girls provide. This photo reminds me that not only should I make this again, and that I need to share this recipe with you, but also that I should at some point make a post about how my flock of 5 increased to a flock of 9 over the summer. Ooops. 4.  2015 was a year of a ton of work travel for my husband, and one time while he was out of town I treated myself to an avocado mask after I *thought* the girls were asleep. I heard Penny call for me, so I came up to comfort her. I forgot about the mask and she FREAKED out. She had no idea who I was, and I had to convince her that I am mama and not some random person. 5. This is the view from Zugspitze, the tallest peak in Germany. More pictures are on instagram, but I do promise you that I will give you the full details once we come home.  6. I have so much love for my husband, but there is very little more that tugs on my heart strings than when I see him wear our girls. One of our family traditions (which has been a tradition from his family of origin) is visiting family bible camp in the Okanagan mountains in British Columbia. This picture is from family camp this year while agate hunting.  7. Cloth diaper reviews & giveaways are still going strong on the blog! 8. Another babywearing daddy shot! 9. Sharing recipes is another favorite on the blog, and this past summer I shared my ever favorite summer recipe - lime cilantro chicken tacos.

And finally, if you need any more reading beyond what I've shared above, here's a few of my favorite blog posts this year too.

• Love salmon? I do too. Here's two ways that I absolutely love to cook it. 
• Visiting zoos and aquariums is kind of my thing. We did quite a bit of travel in 2015 and I absolutely loved the Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach. 
• Babywearing takes me everywhere - even the pool!
• I got a little crafty this year and did a bit of a Pinterest copy. Do you have a child in your life that loves model cars? This model car photo frame is so easy!
• With a team of friends, I sewed over 160 cloth menstrual pads for girls in developing countries. 
• On that same thread - why are cloth menstrual pads awesome?

Thanks for sticking along with me this year!

Don't miss out on the chance to win $20 PayPal from me as a New Year gift!

MommyCon came to Seattle...and I went!

Get your ticket for Mommy Con 2016 early! They always sell out, and here's a $5 code to get you started!

For the last few years my blogging bestie, That Mama Gretchen, and I have been pining away for a conference that we can attend together and to piggyback a mom's night out on. It's not easy, you know, when you've got two mamas who are on alternating years for pregnancies and birthing babies! But the fates aligned; MommyCon was coming to Seattle and even though Gretchen was in the final stages of her pregnancy with Baby #3 and I had not yet taken a night away from Ruby, we did it. We did it!

We split a hotel room at Motif, where the conference was to be held the following morning. After battling Friday evening Seattle traffic we checked and quickly made our way down to Frolick for an evening snack and a drink for me. There's something about a friendship that allows you to pick up and catch up with each other's lives, without missing a beat, even though it's been almost a year since we last saw each other in person. Well, keeping up with each other's blogs and social media kind of helps that.

Neither of us knew what to expect from MommyCon, even though we had heard great reviews. We stayed up late, talking about woven wraps, birth stories (one of our favorite repeat conversations), blogging life and real life. It was well after 1am before I shut my eyes and I couldn't wait for the following morning.

So what can I say about MommyCon? I was completely unprepared for exactly how great of a day that I would have. All of the vendors - spot on. I loved chatting with each business and met some people I had chatted with online and met new favorites. The brands ranged from cloth diapers, breast feeding support, babywearing, mama cloth, natural products for children and mama and so much more.

Between checking out the booths I attended several great talks - Cloth Diapering led by Jennifer Labit (owner of Cotton Babies), Wrapping 101, Co-sleeping and Beyond (so my life right now), Sex After Baby and Boobs and Bottles (both by Jessica Martin-Weber, AKA The Leaky Boob). I was so thankful that they were spaced out throughout the day because if I had to choose between any of those I'm sure my heart would have broken. Each of the vendors were so helpful and not pushy at all, which just makes everything so much better. I also was the lucky winner of a Cassiope Woven wrap that was a MommyCon exclusive - more about that later - but the excitement of their scavenger hunt was a fun addition to the day.

MommyCon is more than just a conference; it was a rejuvenation of what it means to be a mama. There were so many examples of a mother there, whether they breastfeed, bottlefeed, wore their baby in a soft structured carrier, wrapped them methodically, pushed them in a stroller or what was covering their bottom. It didn't matter if she had spikey rainbow hair or wore her business casual suit to attend. We were all there for the same reason - to gain community in this great journey of life and to better ourselves. For the first time in a very long time I was in a room with hundreds of other women and rather than worrying about the Mommy Wars, we all came together as we are.

Get $5 off your 2016 ticket by using promocode PierogieMama16!

Did you go to any of the MommyCon conferences?

Tell me about your favorite part!

Don't miss That Mama Gretchen's 7 favorite things about MommyCon post too!

Disclosure: I attended MommyCon Seattle 2015 as a media member and received a complimentary ticket. But seriously, I am so glad that I went and I plan on going any other time that this awesome event comes to my local area. And you should too!