Congrats to the winners of the Iris Awards honoring the best of the parent blogs.

Last month when we heard we were nominated for the first annual Iris Awards for Outstanding Blogs in the Best Sponsored Content Campaign category, we were thrilled to be recognized for our Baby Shower Gift Guide and Celebration of Motherhood Firsts series with babyGap. (A seriously fantastic partner in every way.) Cliché though it may sound, we were sincerely honored just to be nominated, especially considering the amazing work of our friends and fellow bloggers who were listed among us. When our names were actually called as winners at the ceremony this past weekend at the Mom 2.0 Summit in Atlanta, we were completely and utterly shocked. Nearly speechless. (And it wasn't just our Spanx cutting off the blood flow to our brains.) The idea of being recognized your peers for something you love to do so passionately is one of the best feelings in the world, and we're so grateful to the hundreds of voters who supported us.

We couldn't do what we do here every day without our amazing team of editors, contributors, and tech gurus, as well as the support from phenomenal brand partners like babyGap who support online publishers and bloggers like us, and  allow us to do what we love: seeking out, cool, fun, useful content for our readers every day. And of course, a huge, heartfelt, teary congratulations to all the Iris Awards winners, all of whom we can't recommend more highly. If you had been in that room Saturday night, you would have felt the remarkable outpouring of love and support for each and every one of them from the blogging community. That was easily the best part of all.  

IRIS AWARDS WINNERS

Blog Vanguard: Heather Armstrong of Dooce Best Writing: Rebecca Woolf of Girl's Gone Child Best Photography: Karen Walrond of Chookooloonks Best Video: Olive Us by Gabrielle Blair and Ben Blair Most Thought-Provoking Content: Kelly Wickham of Mocha Momma Most Entertaining Content: Jenny Lawson of The Bloggess Best Brand Campaign of the Year: babyGap A Celebration of Motherhood Firsts from Cool Mom Picks Breakout of the Year: Momma’s Gone City Instagram: Jessica Shyba Game Changer: Brene Brown: Daring Greatly movement Philanthropic Work: Katherine Stone of Postpartum Progress Web Personality of the Year: Theo and Beau from Jessica Shyba Best Brand Content Campaign of the Year: Dove: Campaign for Real Beauty / Girls Unstoppable Blog of the Year: Rage Against the Minivan by Kristen Howerton   Congrats to all the nominees and winners of the first annual Iris Awards! We are thrilled to be able to know and support every one of you. To see a list of all the Iris Awards nominees, please visit the Mom2Summit website. [top iris awards photo via michael cummings for mom 2 summit; acceptance photos via mom 2 summit instagram feed]