Last night’s triple overtime thriller of a game meant a late night. My friend Greg was able to fly up to Detroit and get a couple tickets to the game. It would’ve been cool to see the RedWings win it all. Greg is a RedWings fan, and I would’ve loved for him to see his team win the Cup. I’m a little fried today between a late night and an early morning meeting with a client. I’m going to make this quick.

JustDaddys.net is a new forum for dads. Jason, the site administrator extended me a personal invitation to join. It’s still in the early stages, but this is where it can be fun. As an early adopter, you have a chance to shape the tone and feel of the forums.

The user base is growing every day. Jason already has tons of great discussion forums already in place. Everything is covered – you can get advice on dealing with an unruly teen or how to calm a colicky baby. Not only is this a place for dads to be dads, but it’s a place for dads to be men. There are discussion forums about plenty of guy things, like sports, cars, and gaming. It’s not a total sausage fest. Moms are welcome too.

When you sign up, please be sure to put “Elliott” (spell it with two T’s please) as the user who referred you. I’ll be totally transparent here. Jason is running a contest and awarding a prize to the top referrer of new users. Don’t let me have all the fun. Spread the word and you’ll get a chance to win too.

If you want to get in on the fun, here are the rules:
1. All referrals must sign up with the site by 11:59PM July 3rd 2008 to be considered a complete referral.
2. All referrals must have a minimum of ten (10) posts before July 13th 2008 to be considered a complete referral.
3. Both Referrer and Referral need to PM me the below items in order to be considered a complete referral.
a. Referrals PM me the name of the Referrer
b. Referrers PM me the name of the Referral
4. For each referral that is completed correctly the referrer will earn a chance to win the prize.
5. Prize will be a $30 dollar gift certificate to the store of your choice (limited to what is in my area to purchase, PM me with requests)
6. Decision of winners and prizes is completely up to me and names will be drawn from a hat randomly at the conclusion of the contest.

Please visit JustDaddys.net and take a look around. You’ll be glad you did.

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I’ve known about Meetup.com for a while, but just recently signed up. I’m not always first in line to adopt things. I feel like I’m “Web 1.9″ sometimes.

Last week, I went to 3 events I found through Meetup.com:

• South Florida Graphic Design/Creative Meetup
• South Florida Web Design Meetup
• Babies, Toddlers, and Little People Meetup

So far, meetup.com is 3 for 3. I met some great folks in my industry at the design meetups. I was especially looking forward to the Babies, Toddlers and Little People meetup. Renee was at one of their meetups earlier this year.

The organizer of this particular meetup is Jordanna Egan. She runs a licensed home day care center here in South Florida. She uses the group to promote her business and foster a sense of community. Renee and I felt an immediate kinship with her. Her two children are named Austin and Erianna.

Renee and I continue to get better networked locally. One segment of our circle of friends is an older bunch without children. That was the group we spent most of our social time with until the baby was born. They are a wonderful bunch, but we were hungry for circumstantial peers – other local folks our age with children. Meetup.com is proving to be a great way to fill that need.

If you haven’t checked out meetup.com, it’s worth a look. This concludes my wholehearted, sincere, unpaid, and unsolicited endorsement of meetup.com.

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Isn’t it amazing that such a small mammal requires so much stuff? Preparing for a baby’s arrival is a huge undertaking. You don’t have to buy brand new. Used is perfectly OK. I will even tell you how to get things for free!

Are you one of those people who likes shiny, brand new things? Get over it! You’re about to have a baby. Some outfits are worn only once or twice as babies grow so rapidly. Clothes still look fresh enough even after several hand-me-down cycles. Maternity clothing only gets a couple months of wear as moms expand into the next size up.

Friends and Family

Once you share the joyous news, anyone with available hand-me-downs will speak up. The easy way out would be to just donate the items, but most people would rather offer their help someone they know. Our friend Barb has a daughter a year older than Twilli. She gave us an entire suitcase full of very cute and stylish clothing.

Thrift Stores

You can’t blog about bargains without mentioning thrift stores. Just about everything you’d need except diapers, wipes, and formula is available here. If the expectant grandparents are around, bring them along. The Goodwill chain of thrift stores here offer discounts to senior citizens. On a recent trip to the thrift store, we found an outfit identical to one Twilli had as a newborn, except this one is her current size.

Freesource and Freecycle

I’ve used Freesource and The Freecycle Network to de-clutter my house. When we learned the joyous news, we knew we had to work the groups for free baby stuff.

In large metropolitan areas, there are several groups that you can join within reasonable distance. Baby items are abundant, offered almost daily. You might also score some items that aren’t posted to the boards when you pick up the item you claimed. We got most of the clothes, bedding, blankets, a bath basin, a bassinet, and some toys.

Craigslist

We got our crib for $40 and changing table for $35. The lady who sold us the changing table also threw in a bunch of other goodies she had lying around. Children grow out of things. They are fickle creatures. Many nearly-new toys and items are sold here too.

The Baby Shower and Gift Registry

My wife and I were overwhelmed at the show of support at our baby shower. We’re socially outgoing and we were able to leverage the relationship equity that we spent years building up. Traditionally, this is a women-only affair, but we elected to have a co-ed baby shower to be more inclusive of all our friends. The friends who could not make it to the big bash and our out-of-town friends also came through. We got to know our UPS driver very well.

We couldn’t have pulled it off ourselves. Our dear friend Shantelle is a party and event planner. Part of her gift to us was to provide her services. Now she has built up a successful business organizing tea parties for young girls. You better believe that in a few years, Twilli will be having a tea party.

Take What You Can Get… You’ll Need It.

The arrival of a child is an exciting time. It’s easy to get carried away and fall into the trap of consumerism. You want the very best for your child, but the very best also means that you, as parents, are financially responsible parents too.

When you announce that you are expecting your first child, everyone you meet, especially people who already have children, become very supportive. You’ll need all the help you can get. Accept it graciously. It takes a village.

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View Larger Map

Renee originally posted this early last month. She’s added several new locations to the map since then. Keep your eyes peeled and shout out in the comments below if you find more!

Since the beginning, I was focused on writing content and everything else related to getting this blog started. I know there has been a recent flurry of pimpin’ the ‘zon, but that’s not the main reason I’m here. It’s about time I started sharing some of the great parenting blogs I’ve found since I started this adventure. I found all of these without the StumbleUpon toolbar. The darn thing doesn’t work!

I highlighted a few of our favorite bloggers over at ReneeAndElliott.com. Some of our friends are a little slow getting on board with Web 2.0. This list here is parent-centric. Long-time readers may recognize that some of these are recent additions to the Blogroll.

Parent Hacks – Asha Dornfest

Parent Hacks. I hack my kids. Do you? You should too. Asha has really built a sense of community on her site. She’s got plenty of great hacks of her own to share and readers are encouraged to submit their own hacks. It’s a daily read for me.

Metro Dad – Poppycock from a Cocky Pop

MetroDad is brutally honest and forthright. He doesn’t post daily, but when he does, it’s always entertaining. If you’re offended by the occasional (or frequent) F-bombs, then proceed with caution. I get a little sneak preview of what my little one might be like 3 years from now. I hope he doesn’t mind that I’ve branded him as “The F-Bomb Dad.”

Thingamababy

Thingamababy makes me feel good when I read it. AJ, the writer, takes the high road with product reviews. He doesn’t take kickbacks from affiliate programs and writes extensively on products that he really uses. Occasionally, he’ll highlight cool things he’s seen online, but the true value comes from the real-life use perspective. Hooray for investing in some graphic design for the blog header.

Shooting The Kids

Amy and Chris Frazier bring us Shooting The Kids. They have great tips and tricks for everyone, regardless of what camera you own. This is a topic I just started covering myself. There’s room for both of us in the blogosphere but my kid is cuter. Amy is a fellow Nikon DSLR shooter. Yay!

Rice Daddies and Kimchi Mamas

The Rice Daddies (and the Kimchi Mamas) are helping me reconnect with my Asian heritage. When the Korean population in my house increased by 0.5 people, I took notice. The Little One will want to know about where she came from. The whitewash is starting to wear off a little.

Baby Cheapskate

Being a parent means you’re watching your finances more closely. Baby Cheapskate is a one-stop shop for finding amazing bargains, coupons and deals.

Daddy Types

Can’t mention the Yin of Baby Cheapskate without the Yang of DaddyTypes. DT is like the Gizmodo of parenting. I had no idea you could spend $6000 on a crib.