We’ve heard a lot of talk lately about the value of carrying a baby with Down syndrome to term.

One of our sponsors, Bethany from The Polkadot Platypus, and her husband are actually CHOOSING to adopt a little girl from Russia who has Down syndrome. The couple already has two birth children including a daughter with Down syndrome.

Bethany and her husband will be traveling to meet their soon-to-be adopted daughter within the next couple of weeks and will hopefully bring her home soon after that. As you know, adoptions are pricey.

The Web site – The Mom Crowd – is hosting a raffle to raise funds to help with their substantial adoption costs. Each raffle ticket purchased will enter you into a drawing for amazing prizes listed here.

Raffle tickets are $5 each. The more raffle tickets you purchase, the more chances you will have to win.

The raffle ends midnight Wed. Sept. 24. Winners will be announced Fri. Sept. 26. Click here to purchase tickets.

Searching for a professional photographer whose sessions won’t break your bank?

Check out our sponsor, Lynnae Weller, owner of “Weller Is Deeper” and some of her work pictured here.

Lynnae has a passion for pictures. She loves to photograph, create, combine, and work with pictures to see them come to life and capture special moments. She specializes in photography, DVD slideshows (also known as photo montages) and photo restoration.

Lynnae photographs families, children, pets and events. Her love for life spills over into her art. She finds nothing so beautiful as outdoor photography, so she chooses to do only on-site shoots.

Any images taken during a photography shoot will not be copyrighted. You have the option of receiving your photos on a CD, download them from a private website created just for you or have them uploaded directly to a website that you can order them from. You may have them printed where and how you choose.

Contact Lynnae by clicking here or call 912.921.4541. She offers $5 off to SouthernMamas subscribers.

The popular Toddler Tuesdays craft, storytime and animal program @ Oatland Island Wildlife Center is about to get better.

Starting Tues. Sept. 16, Toddler Tuesdays will feature more age appropriate activities on alternating weeks.

• Each month, the 1st and 3rd Tuesdays of the month will be more appropriate for 6 month-2 year olds.

• The 2nd and 4th Tuesdays of the month will be more appropriate for 3-4 year olds.

• On the rare 5th weeks of each month, the program will be appropriate for all ages

Of course, all toddler ages from 6 months-4 years are welcome to attend any of the programs! Toddler Tuesdays is from 10:30-11:15 am every Tuesday. It’s free with regular admission to Oatland Island Wildlife Center.

Dates, ages and topics are also posted on Oatland’s Web site. Click here.

Just for Baby & More is in a new location @ 7701 Waters Ave. – right across from their former spot. Look for the polka dots.

And to celebrate their move with SouthernMamas, Just for Baby & More is giving away a $50 gift card to a lucky SouthernMamas subscriber! To be eligible for this week’s giveaway, just email your name and the answer to the following question to anne@southernmamas.com.

One example of the fun baby gear Just for Baby & More carries are adorable bottle pets – soft, plush bottle covers that turn feeding time into cuddle time. Bottle pets come in a variety of animals. Email us the name of the monkey – pictured here. Or the name of the turtle or the cow. Hint. Visit the Just for Baby & More Web site by clicking here. Then click on toys and scroll down.

Deadline is 9 pm Thurs. Sept. 11. We’ll pick a name at random and announce the winner Friday.

You have to be a SouthernMamas subscriber to participate. Subscribing is free. Click here to do so.

Does Sarah ‘Barracuda’ Palin make you marvel and wonder “How does the supermom do it all?”

If so, you’re not alone. Be sure to read my column “Pitbull in lipstick’ puts moms to the test” in today’s Savannah Morning News Accent section. Read the column by clicking here.

But a much better article is this one from the New York Times about parents of special-needs children being divided over Palin’s promise to help. Read it by clicking here. The question raised is what Palin, whose youngest son has Down syndrome, would seek to accomplish for disabled children as vice president.

Parents of special-needs children ask whether her promise to help in her nomination speech means she will improve services and financing for special-needs children; get rid of Medicaid wait lists to get kids services; quickly pass the American with Disabilities restoration act?

Would love to hear from any parents of special-needs kids about your take on Palin’s promise that you would “have a friend and advocate in the White House” in a McCain-Palin administration. As the NYT article points out:

“The last time a candidate explicitly appealed to families of the disabled at a national convention, advocates said, was 20 years ago, when the presidential nominee, George H.W. Bush, endorsed the Americans with Disabilities Act — and got a 10 percentage point bump among voters who identified themselves as having disabilities.”

Starting Sept. 15, Telfair Museum of Art will offer youth studio art classes for a variety of age levels, including as young as 5. Check out all the classes by clicking here.

Sessions include:

• Home-school art: painting – art fundamentals for Savannah-area home-schooled children.
• Photography, drawing, mixed media.
• Multi-media Saturday series – painting, sculpture and drawing.

To register, call 912.790.8823.

Don’t forget, the next Toddler Third Thursday @ Telfair’s Jepson Center of the Arts is 10-11:30 am Sept. 18. Toddler Third Thursday is designed for preschoolers ages 3-5 and their adult companions.

Toddlers explore artwork and partake in a fun-filled art project relating to their tour. Colors, shapes and material vocabulary are encouraged. Each month brings a different tour and project. This month’s is s farms and barns art activity based on the work of William Christenberry.

Kids also get time to play in the ArtZeum, the Jepson’s interactive children’s section, and can take home their art masterpieces. Admission is $4 per child with adult admission fee. Call 912.790.8823 to register.

You spent all summer cultivating your child’s love for the ocean.

Now you can celebrate that nautical love @ Gray’s Reef 2008 Ocean Film Festival. The festival has a special program for kids – Seaside Saturday. It will be 9-10 am Sat. Sept. 20 @ SCAD’s Trustees Theatre – Broughton Street. All children are invited to attend this FREE! event with their parents.

The event includes these kid-friendly films:

• Sanctuary Sam – (1 min) – The National Marine Sanctuary System’s “flippered” ambassador delivers a message.
• Water Detectives – (11 min) – Children of one Mexican town teach the adults how to conserve water.
• Ride of the Mergansers – (11 min) – Baby mergansers get their first look at the world.
• Always Ready – (4 min) – A kid-sized view of the U.S. Coast Guard produced by 8-year-old Herbert Gilman.

For more info, click here.

Bang your drum, shake your tambourine, sing and dance with your child at one of the Kindermusik classes that start next week in Savannah, Richmond Hill, Wilmington Island, The Landings and Rincon.

There’s still time to sign up for this early childhood music program. Registration includes your own Kindermusik CD so you can continue the dancing at home.

Attention work-outside-the-home SouthernMamas who have difficulty finding weekend mommy-and-me activities: Saturday Kindermusik sessions will be offered in Savannah, starting Sept. 20!

Kindermusik classes are available for children ages 0 to 7. Classes are divided by age including the “Zoom Buggy and Dream Pillow” class for ages 0-20 months; “Milk and Cookies” for ages 18 months to 3.5 years; “Hello Weather, Let’s Play Together” for ages 3 to 5; and Family Time classes for newborns to 7 year-olds and the whole family.

Kindermusik also has a baby sign language class, “Sign and Sing,” for hearing children ages 6 months to 36 months and their parents. You and your child will learn over 150 signs to help you communicate.

Browse the local Kindermusik Web site and register for the Fall’08 session. Be sure to tell them SouthernMamas sent you!

Melanie Barton wins the gift cube from Cry Babyz, a mom-owned and operated Webshop. The cube includes an original paci pocket and CryBabyz pacifier. Congratulations Melanie!

And Alexia Pittas Webster wins a free soccer team registration and soccer ball from Savannah Celtic, for her son, George. The league has different programs for children ages 3-8. Congratulations Alexia!

Look for another giveaway to be announced here Monday.

Has your couch seen better days?
If you have the ugliest couch in America, you could win a $5,000 living room makeover from SureFit slipcovers and HGTV.
All you have to do is send a color photo of your hideous couch to Sure Fit Inc., c/o “Ugly Couch Contest”, 6575 Snowdrift Road, Allentown, PA 18106.
On a separate piece of paper, include your full name, address, phone number and email address. Or you can enter online by clicking here.
Make sure your photo gets in before October 13, so HGTV’s panel of judges can decide just how ugly your couch is.

Nothing like a vice-presidential candidate and governor who’s also a mother of five, including a special-needs infant son and a pregnant teen-age daughter, to add fuel to the already heated debate about the appropriate balance between child-rearing and working .

Within two hours of The Washington Post reporting on its Web site the pregnancy of Sarah Palin’s 17-year-old daughter, more than 1,000 people had weighed in, fighting about whether Palin, 44, is placing her own political ambition above the needs of her family.

Social conservatives, usually advocates for stay-at-home motherhood, mostly defend Palin. Others, including working mothers, are concerned she is taking on too much.

What do y’all think?

If you had a 4-month-old infant with Down syndrome, would you take on the job of full-time campaigning across the nation? Would you go back to work as governor of Alaska three days after giving birth?

And if you knew your 17-year-old daughter was pregnant and not-yet-married, would you accept the vice-presidential slot or bypass the chance to make history in order to spare your daughter the embarrassing spotlight?

Or is it unfair to scrutinize Palin about any of these questions, that, after all, no male candidate has to endure?

Learn about a new early childhood music program @ an open house, 5-7 pm. Thurs. Sept. 4 @ Trinity Lutheran Church, 12391 Mercy Blvd. on Savannah’s southside.

Vicki Mills, who has a masters in vocal performance and more than 20 years of experience teaching children, offers early childhood music for ages newborn to 8. Classes begin Sept. 25 and are held Thursday @ Trinity Lutheran Church.

At the open house, you will be able to experience a FREE demo class @ 5:30 pm. Come dressed to move with your newborn to 5-year-old. There will also be drawings every half hour of instruments, CDs and reduced tuition. Those who register @ the open house receive 10 percent off tuition.

To find out more about class times, contact Vicki @ MakeAJoyfulNoiseMusicStudio@comcast.net or call 912.920.6542.

Add this to this week’s kids events we highlighted in your weekly SouthernMamas newsletter (If you didn’t receive yours, email anne@southernmamas.com): crafts and coastal reptiles @ Skidaway Island State Park on Fri. Sept. 5.
2 pm: crafts and critters bags @ the park’s interpretive center.
4 pm: coastal reptiles. Learn all about them. See live ones. Bring your camera for pictures.
8:30 pm: sensory awareness night hike. Learn about different creatures that come out at night and awaken your senses with experiments on this hike.
For more info, call 912.598.2300. For driving directions, click here.

More than 11,100 U.S. women younger than 40 will be diagnosed with breast cancer this year. More than 1,100 will die.

Not trying to depress you, but trying to illustrate the need for young women to take the risk of breast cancer seriously. Don’t ignore a lump or other irregularity in your breast because you think you are too young for breast cancer.

My column in today’s Accent section of the Savannah Morning News is about the journey of a Wilmington Island woman diagnosed at 37, when her daughters were 7 and 4. Read the column here. She went on to form a local support group through the Young Survival Coalition for other young women facing breast cancer.

Learn more about the support group, which meets once a month on a Sunday (to accommodate working women), by attending the Pink Tea “Celebration of Life” , Sun., Sept. 7, 2-4 pm @ the Wilmington Island Club, 501 Wilmington Island Road. Tickets are $5 per person and must be purchased in advance. Purchase tickets by clicking here or call Susan Richardson at 912.897.3933 or srisland@aol.com.

Ladies of all ages are encouraged to attend and there will even be activities for young girls if you would like to include your daughters.

Tickets can also be purchased at the following spots:

Wilmington Island Golf Shop: 501 Wilmington Island Road, 912.897.1615

Transformation Station, Nancy N and J.C. Lewis Cancer & Research Pavilion, 912.819.8386

The Misty Marsh Shoppe, 7906 US 80 E, 912.898.9399

Merle Norman Studio, 216 Johnny Mercer Blvd # A, 912.897.5705

Colonial Quilts, 11710-A Largo Drive, 912.925.0055

Time to register for fall Kindermusik sessions, which start after Labor Day in Savannah, Richmond Hill, Wilmington Island, The Landings and Rincon.

Attention work-outside-the-home SouthernMamas who have difficulty finding weekend mommy-and-me activities: Saturday Kindermusik sessions will be offered in Savannah, starting Sept. 20!

Kindermusik classes are available for children ages 0 to 7. Classes are divided by age including the “Zoom Buggy and Dream Pillow” class for ages 0-20 months; “Milk and Cookies” for ages 18 months to 3.5 years; “Hello Weather, Let’s Play Together” for ages 3 to 5; and Family Time classes for newborns to 7 year-olds and the whole family.

Kindermusik also has a baby sign language class, “Sign and Sing,” for hearing children ages 6 months to 36 months and their parents. You and your child will learn over 150 signs to help you communicate.

Browse the local Kindermusik Web site and register for the Fall’08 session. Be sure to tell them SouthernMamas sent you!

Tracey Erwin!!

Congratulations, Tracey. She wins a $29 baby cow footed romper from The Polkadot Patch Boutique, where they believe children’s clothing should be fun, unique, and let children express their individuality and their personality. The Polkadot Patch hand selects every item and each product must match their philosophy

Thanks to everyone who participated by picking out their wish item from the Polkadot Patch. Tracey’s pick was this funky unisex kids monster outfit – which was a popular item with many SouthernMamas!

Look for a different giveaway to be announced here Monday.

Coming Sat. Aug 23: the opening of Oatland Island Wildlife Center’s new Wolf Wilderness exhibit.

No more looking down on the six wolves from a viewing platform, behind a chain-link fence and several feet away.

The Wolf Wilderness observation cabin, pictured under construction here, will allow you to stand at four 6-foot-tall windows and watch the creatures at ground level, according to this article in the Savannah Morning News. The article points out the special safety glass in the windows is the same tough stuff used in zoos for gorillas.

Other creatures will also be displayed in the cabin – bats, snakes and a tarantula. Nearby will be enclosed displays featuring a peregine falcon and some armadillos.

So you want to trek to Atlanta to take in one last summer treat, but don’t want to pay rockstar prices.

Have we found a deal for you. The Atlanta Braves slashed 50 percent off their ticket prices for upcoming games. Cheer them as they take on the San Francisco Giants and Florida Marlins at the lowest prices @ Turner Field this season. Prices include Field Level for $18 (reg. $36), Outfield Pavilion for $11 (reg. $22) or Upper Box for $6 (reg. $12).

Watch Atlanta vs. the San Francisco Giants on Aug. 17-18 or the Florida Marlins on Aug. 26 & 28. To buy tickets, click here and use the promo code TRZOO to get the offer.

Popular Thursday morning story and sing-along time @ Bull Street Library goes on summer holiday this week until after Labor Day.

So what’s a mom to do come Thursday morning? Check out Squats N’ Tots – a mommy-and-me fitness class held every Thursday, 11:30 am-12:15 pm @ the Heart & Lung Building, Suite 120, on the Candler Hospital campus, 5353 Reynolds St.

The class helps stretch and strengthen overused body parts, as well as focus on muscle endurance, low impact aerobics and abdominal work. Babies ages 6 weeks to 1 year can participate or watch sitting next to Mom. To pre-register, call 912.819.6463.

If you often wonder whether your “mom rules” make sense and how to best implement them, then check out the Parenting with Dignity seminar, 7 pm Tues. Sept. 9 @ the Jewish Educational Alliance, 5111 Abercorn St.

The FREE two-hour parent coaching session is open to the public and sponsored by the Clinical Social Work Association of Savannah and Jewish Family Services.

It’s a chance to compare or discuss your parenting techniques and strategies with a clinically trained parenting professional and other parents. Presenter Helen D. Schandolph, LCSW has over 12 years experience in assisting families and their young, adolescent & adult children how to communicate, compromise and conciliate; and, as a result, function most optimally.

The learning objectives for the program are:

Learn to objectively assess your parenting style.
Explore the foundations of your thoughts and feelings about parenting.
Determine whether your parenting style is the most effective.
Learn skills to identify & cope with difficult emotions associated with parenting.
Learn to respect yourself as a parent and feel more comfortable in a parental role.

For more info, call 912.355.8111.

Jen Anastasopulos, a single mom who relocated to Richmond Hill about a year ago, has a rewarding job.

As owner and operator of the Cruise Planners franchise – our newest sponsor – she gives her clients the opportunity to enjoy life to the fullest with unforgettable memories, no matter what category they fall under: family vacations; family reunions; corporate incentives; weddings; honeymoons; high school graduations; and much more at the best prices.

Cruise lines included, but are not limited to are: Carnival, Disney, Princess, Royal Caribbean, Holland, Voyages of Discovery, Celebrity, Cunard, Oceania.

If you are just looking to get away for a few days or travel the world, Cruise Planners will make it happen. Interested in a Bahamas cruise starting at $199 per person and other deals? Click here. Or check out Norwegian Cruise line travel specials by clicking here.

Ready to plan that special getaway? Contact Jen @ 912.704.1337/866.636.4995 or via email eugenia@exotictraveldealz.com. Tell her SouthernMamas sent you.

The foreboding fall doesn’t have to signal a swimming hiatus for your kids.

The Chatham County Aquatic Center offers swim lessons, teams and camps during even the coldest months. Find out more about Starfish Swim School classes and the Savannah swim team @ a Parents Open House. It will be 6-8 pm Thurs. Aug. 21 at the indoor swim center @ 7420 Sallie Mood Drive.

Deadline for registration for swim classes is Aug. 29!! So don’t delay.

A variety of classes are offered, including Starbabies for ages 6 months to 36 months. That class helps such very young children develop a high comfort level in the water while at the same time training parents in water safety. One parent must be in the water with each child. Be prepared for lots of singing (“Splashes. Splashes. We all blow bubbles….”) Sessions offered include Tuesdays/Thursdays or Saturdays. Click here for the fall class schedule.

Other classes include:

SeaSprites for ages 3-5: swim skills through creative water activities.
SeaStars for ages 6-8: core swimming skills and the opportunity to progress to advanced strokes;
SwimStars for ages 9 and older: swimming skills, water safety, water sports and adventure learning activities.
StrokeStars for any age that meets the skills requirement: refine freestyle and learn stroke technique for backstroke, breaststroke, butterfly and more.
AngelFish program for special-needs children

Classes cost $50 for non members and $45 for non-member consecutive session/second child; $38 for members and $33 for member consecutive session/second child. Call 912.652.6793. Learn more by clicking here.

We’ve all visited many cute baby-kid product Web sites.

But y’all are really going to swoon over The Polkadot Patch Boutique, where they believe children’s clothing should be fun, unique, and let children express their individuality and their personality. The Polkadot Patch hand selects every item and each product must match their philosophy

This week, the Polkadot Patch webshop is giving away this adorable baby cow footed romper pictured here to a SouthernMamas subscriber in the size of her choice. The $29 unisex cow romper from Empress Baby is made of super soft velour.

To win, answer this: If you could have any item from the Polkadot Patch, what would it be? Would it be these personalized lunchboxes. Or this funky unisex kids monster outfit? You gotta love this colorful surf’s up children’s wall clock, too. Or would you select one of these baby gifts?

Email your answer to anne@southernmamas.com by 9 pm this Thurs. Aug. 14. We’ll pick a name at random and announce it here Friday.

You have to be a SouthernMamas subscriber to participate. Subscribing is free. Click here to do so.

Polkadot Patch donates a percentage of their gross yearly sales to Prevent Child Abuse.

Would love to know your thoughts on my column today in the Savannah Morning News Accent section. The subject: to spank or not to spank? You can read it here.

The column prompted several emails from anti-spanking advocates, including the folks @ the Center for Effective Discipline, which subscribes to the belief “Spare the child, lose the rod.” They pointed me to a Q&A for parents with experts answering parents’ questions about discipline. Read it by clicking here. Their Web site also offers a theory on the origin of Biblical quote “Spare the rod, spoil the child.” Read it here.

Check out an extremely detailed debate about spanking between parenting expert John Rosemond, pro-spanking, and the Center for Effective Discipline, anti-spanking. Click here to read it.