Two Chicago Families Win The First Years Video Contest, Cast in Online Reality Series

Goad Family in North Center, Paddock Family in the West Loop, and Gabel Family in nearby Deerfield will document the twists and turns of being new parents, in online reality series airing in Summer 2015

OAK BROOK, IL (April 14, 2015) ― The First Years, a leading manufacturer of juvenile products for more than 60 years, announces three awesome Chicagoland families who are among the five grand prize winners in its first annual Welcome to The Family Video Series contest. Each of the winning Chicago-area families will take home more than $7,500 in prizes, plus be cast as the stars of The First Years “Welcome to The Family” Online Reality Series airing weekly from June to August 2015 on The First Years YouTube channel.

“The First Years embraces a totally honest view of what the first years of parenting are really all about, which is far from picture perfect,” said Willie Wilkov, Chief Marketing Officer, TOMY International. “Our video contest winners distinguished themselves with unique stories and video entries that showcase their joyous, funny and unpredictable parenting journeys. The Gabel, Goad and Paddock families – all from the Chicago area – captured the hearts of both online voters and the TOMY judging panel, and we look forward to seeing their stories come to life this summer in The First Years online reality series.”

The three Chicago-area winning families who will star in The First Years online reality series include:

The Goad Family (North Center) – “Windy City Family”

Raising Katherine and Andrew in the city isn’t easy, but we absolutely love Chicago and all it has to offer! One of Katherine’s first words was “taxi” and Andrew thinks Santa rides the el train. They shared a room for over a year, can take public transportation to school, and prefer to run on pavement instead of grass. We walk to church and enjoy exploring new parks and neighborhoods. City living is very different from how we were both raised, but we’re having a ball figuring it all out together.

The Paddock Family (West Loop) – “Our Changing World”

Our family has recently grown and we now have two boys, a newborn and a 21 month old. As working parents, we expected our lives to be busy, but when our oldest was recently diagnosed with type 1 diabetes, things got a little more complex. Shifting more responsibilities to home is the focus of our family now. We know all parents can relate to the laughter, wonder, and frustrations that come with raising a family. We hope by documenting our new situation that we will inspire other parents and families to embrace their changing world.

The Gabel Family (Deerfield) – “Totally, Happily Outnumbered”

In our last ditch effort for a boy (ok, we secretly wanted another girl) we got Callie! That makes a clean half dozen little girls. Yes, SIX future weddings and six drama-filled teenage years, but for now we’ll take our six sweet girls. The girls adore having Callie as their new playmate- she is loved a LOT (too much sometimes). We both love relearning the joys of a new baby. Sometimes we wish we could read her little mind- she’s probably thinking “what did I get myself into”! To that we would reply “just our crazy, hectic, invigoratingly fun family”!

The two additional winning families who will star in The First Years online reality series include:

The Hernandez Family (Dallas, Texas) – “The Perfect Conundrum”

There wouldn’t be a family without Kai Cataleya Marion. In 15 months, she has converted our house into a home. From the moment we knew she was coming, her Papa, a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu champion/Sales Professional by day, and I, an Immigration Attorney (Super Type A)/ yogi and fitness fanatic, obsessively calculated how we were going to raise the next super baby prodigy. Life with Kai has exceeded our expectations. Nothing has gone as planned and that has been perfectly fine with us. Kai is a charismatic personality. She’s a brilliant super ninja with lots of tricks up her sleeve.

The Walser Family (Rochester, Michigan) – “TWIN-tastic ----Not so easy!”

Well - here is why we are unique. My wife and I have fraternal twins (Jordan and Julia). I myself have a twin sister. When my wife and I brought our twins home, I was boasting about how easy parenting twins would be because I myself am a twin. Boy or Boy or should I say Girl and Boy was I wrong! This video clip shows my fraternal twins. This fraternal twin connection makes our family unique. We are doing great and loving life!

Once these families were selected as The First Years video contest finalists, the public vote was open and America weighed in on who should be cast in The First Years online reality series. In addition to earning online votes, each family was evaluated by the TOMY judging panel based on the uniqueness of their family story, persuasive argument, style and tone.

Each of the five winning families will receive $2,000 (ARV) worth of baby products, plus an Apple iPad Air 2 to capture weekly video of everything from the tiniest moments to the major milestones in their household. Each winning family completing the weekly filming project will also earn a $5,000 savings bond for their child! The First Years professional video editor will work his magic by using their footage to weave together a story of what life is really like during those wild, wonderful first years of parenting. Plus, each family’s story will come to life in The First Years online reality series, airing weekly from June to August 2015 on The First Years YouTube channel.

The five grand prize-winning video submissions for The First Years Welcome to The Family Video Series contest can be viewed at family.thefirstyears.com.

iPad Air is a registered trademark of Apple Inc. All rights reserved. Apple Inc. is not a sponsor or participant of this promotion.

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About TOMY International

TOMY International (www.tomy.com) is a leading global designer, producer and marketer of a broad range of innovative, high-quality toys sold to preschoolers, youths and adults under the TOMY®, Ertl® and Battroborg™ brands as well as products for parents, infants and toddlers marketed under its The First Years®, JJ Cole® Collections and Boon® brands. TOMY International also markets its products under popular licensed properties such as John Deere, Pokémon, Chuggington, Sonic the Hedgehog, Lamaze, Inside Out, Miles from Tomorrowland, The Good Dinosaur, Winnie the Pooh, Princesses, Cars, Fairies and Toy Story, and other well-known properties. TOMY International’s mission is to inspire and fulfill the dreams of children and parents worldwide. TOMY International reaches its target consumers through multiple channels of distribution supporting more than 25,000 retail outlets throughout North and South America, Europe and Australia. TOMY International is a wholly owned subsidiary of Japan-based TOMY Company, Ltd. (Tokyo Stock Exchange Code No. 7867). © TOMY