SpanglishBaby wouldn’t be what it is today if it weren’t for our amazing regular contributors. Each of them was chosen carefully because we believe that there are many ways to raise bilingual children. Our contributors bring very different stories and voices to our growing community. Some of them are bloggers, some are teachers, some are writers, but they are all moms on the journey to raise bilingual and bicultural kids.

Elsie Rivas Gomez is a mother, wife, teacher, and writer living in Pasadena, CA. She was born in El Salvador and grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area. Her first collection of poetry, Swimming in El Rio Sumpul, was nominated for the Pushcart Prize. You can find her blogging over at MamaFeminista.

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Kimberly Stevens Lane was born to a Costa Rican mother and an American father and was raised in both countries. She is the mother of four-year-old twin boys, both of whom have special needs and are in full-time special education programs. She has a Master of Arts degree in Conference Interpretation and is a freelance translator and interpreter in the Washington, D.C. area.

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Susan O. Stephan is a credentialed Spanish Teacher in the state of California who earned her Master’s degree in Educational Linguistics from the University of Pennsylvania. She has taught in Spain, Japan and the United States.  She teaches Spanish at a 7-12 public school in southern California, she also uses her teaching skills with her sons and in her Spanish speaking play groups.

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Suzanne Garcia Mateus is the proud mami of a one-plus-year old little girl whom she is ambitiously trying to raise with three languages. Her research interests as a doctoral student in bilingual and bicultural education and life experiences growing up with Mexican immigrant parents inspired her to create a blog, Interpretations of a Bilingual Life, in order to better understand the rich nuances that living with multiple languages offers. Connect with Suzanne on Twitter: @TrilingualBaby

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Vanessa De Su Mama Bicultural Biracial Bilingual Vanessa is Cuban American, married to her African American husband, and mother to their beautiful daughter, Alina. Vanessa explores issues of personal identity, the complexities of raising a bicultural/biracial child and the impact it has on her womanhood. Vanessa is also passionate about photography and capturing Alina’s every move. You can read more of Vanessa’s story at De Su Mama.

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Amy Conroy is the mother of three young children and holds a Master’s degree in Anthropology. An advocate of bilingualism, Amy founded habla blah blah and is passionate about introducing non-native speakers to Spanish through music and fun. Amy is a native Los Angelean on extended leave in San Miguel de Allende, Guanajuato, MX. She also contributes to Dotcoms for Moms as their ‘modern maven’.

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Books & Libros Editor/Contributor

Chelsea Kyle is SpanglishBaby’s Book Editor and a regular contributor. She is not a native Spanish speaker, but is raising her Latino son to be bilingual. A graduate of Rollins College, Chelsea lives in Orlando with her blended family and is a self-employed private tutor (Habit Of Excellence) with ambitions of being a published author.

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The Culture of Food Contributor

Ericka Sánchez–Proudly born in Torreón, Coahuila Mexico, Ericka arrived in the United States in 1982 to El Paso, Texas. Her love of food began in her mom’s kitchen but flourished in a food photography studio where she assisted in food styling/design and photo shoots. Now a wife and a mom to a 2-year old toddler, Ericka launched her bilingual blog Nibbles & Feasts in 2010 as a guide to satiating food cravings through recipes and to share her restaurant recommendations and food events in Los Angeles. You can read all of Ericka’s recipes here.

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Morena EscardoMorena Escardo is half the team of Peru Delights. She studied Philosophy in England, and Literature in Spain, worked as a magazine and book editor, and had a catering business for 3 years in Lima. Together with her mother, a professional chef and cookbook writer, they decided to share the food of their country with the world, because they believed people were missing out on this wonderful, extremely varied cooking heritage. Peruvian food is considered to be the next big thing in the culinary world.

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Kids Activities Contributors

Ruby is a wife and mother to 2 little ones. She is the blogger at Growing Up Blackxican, where she blogs about raising her kids to be proud of their two cultures: Black and Mexican. Her family recently moved from the West Coast to the East Coast and are transitioning from being a military family to a civilian family. She is passionate about family, education and all things crafty.

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Mari is the founding editor of Ezine, Inspired by Family Magazine, a place where we want you to feel encouraged as you join us in our journey to leave a legacy to our children and strengthen our family relationships. This is a place where you will get inspired to create, laugh and live together. So stop by, grab a cup of cafe con leche, and get inspired.

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Elizabeth Masturzo-Baldeón  is a language education specialist who lives with her familia in the suburbs of Washington D.C. She left her teaching job in an elementary school to work at home raising her daughter Sofía- and she couldn’t be happier!  You can read about how her familia makes a conscious effort in their daily lives to bring baby up bilingual at her blog, La Mother Tongue.

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Jennifer raised her three children speaking Spanish and English. She holds a Master’s degree in Spanish Literature and has been teaching Spanish for over twenty years. She shares resources for teaching Spanish to children on her website Spanish Playground.

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Features Author

Tracy López is a writer living outside the D.C. Metro area. Her blog, Latinaish, examines cultural differences she discovers as she navigates life in a bicultural, bilingual family. She can also be reached via Twitter @Latinaish.

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Forum Leader

Beth Ortuño, the SpanglishBaby Forums Leader, is a farmer’s daughter from the midwest heartland of the USA who started learning Spanish around age thirty just because she wanted to. Later, she married a man who’s from the mountains of México. They are committed to raising their baby son bilingual and bicultural. Her two stepchildren and eight of her nieces and nephews are bilingual, and she is the proud mom of her monolingual daughter who is now in college. Beth holds a degree in international economics and works in maritime logistics. She and her husband live in a diverse urban neighborhood of Houston.