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Holiday Gift Guide – Baby and New Parent Edition

Welcome to the final installment of our Holiday Gift Guide! If you haven’t already, make sure to check out our big kids, little kids, and moms editions!

Today we’re bringing you ideas for the babies and prospective parents in our lives. Since my BFF is currently pregnant, this edition is of particular interest to me!

aden + anais
aden and anais
These muslin swaddling blankets are so soft and cozy that I want to wrap myself up in them! Made from 100% organic cotton, they are the perfect way to comfort your newborn. Jenny and I are both big advocates of swaddling – it really made a difference for us in getting our babies to sleep and to nurse. I remember the first time I swaddled Kate – she slept for five hours straight, which was her longest stretch ever, and Andy and I felt like completely new people after getting that much sleep! Anyway, I really like these blankets in particular because they are big (47×47) and square, which is essential for good swaddling (and which are also features that oddly most baby blankets lack!). Also, because they are square, they’re perfect for swaddling but also for covering the stroller, throwing over your shoulder while nursing, tummy time, or anything. I love that the blankets are not just for swaddling, which means they will be used for years and years. And did I mention how soft they are?? Right now, aden + anais is running a holiday special so it’s a great time to buy! You can get 15% off any online purchase from www.adenandanais.com using the discount code ‘celebrate’ from Dec 3-18th!

Baby Eggi
baby eggi
I love, love, love this clothing line. These high-quality clothes feature designs from celebrity tattoo artist Mark Mahoney. They’re comfortable, stylish, and simply adorable. Sometimes I think it’s hard to find clothes for boys that don’t have… well, just lots of stuff on them, so I love the simplicity of the Baby Eggi line. In addition to just making great clothes, the people behind Baby Eggi are committed to making a better world for children, and donate 20% of their proceeds to children’s charities. Sam has the shirt pictured above, which is adorable with a pair of jeans. Love it!

Logitech Digital Video Security System
logitech dvs
Ever wonder what goes on at your house when you’re not there? I know there are times when I’d love to be a fly on the wall – not in a creepy way, but just to see how the kids interact with each other and their sitter while we’re away. Logitch’s Digital Video Security System makes that possible by offering a way to monitor your home from any PC! Set up is super easy – load the software, plug in the cameras and you’re ready to go. The cameras provide high-resolution color video and digital motion detection, and you can even watch them from your cell phone. How cool is that? There’s an indoor camera, which is great for watching what goes on when you’re away from home, or even what’s going on in the basement if you’re upstairs (which is very handy for me!), and an outdoor camera, which is the perfect way to keep an eye on what your kids (or pets) are doing outside.

Funkoos Organic Baby Apparel
funkoos
When my babies were born, I wanted to put them in the softest, most comfortable clothes possible. I wish I had know about Funkoos! This line of organic baby clothes is as cute as it is functional – don’t you love the flowers and the button-up front on the outfit pictured above? Better yet, the clothes are 100% organic and are completely free of chemicals and pesticides, and the price is right. These clothes would make great baby shower presents!

Bambino Wireless Internet Baby Monitor

bambino

(Hi, this is Jenny, butting in!) I must say that I adore this monitor! Even though Sophie isn’t a “baby” anymore, we’ve found this very useful. She loves to play upstairs in her room or in Joshua’s room, and now I can keep any eye on her from my laptop while I’m downstairs getting housework or blog work done! This would also be great for working parents, enabling them to see baby while they’re at work simply by logging on to the internet! It’s a totally awesome new parent gift!

DadGear Diaper Bag
dadgear diaper bag
Dads love carrying flowery diaper bags about as much as they like holding their wives’ purse. However, as we all know, having diapers handy is a necessity for parents of small children! The DadGear diaper bag is a great way to solve the problem – dads can carry everything they need to care for the baby while still looking awesome! I had the opportunity to try out the messenger-style bag pictured above, and I was very impressed with the quality structure. This bag will take a beating and still last for years, and it’s cool enough to be used as a carry-on or laptop bag long after potty training time. I like how the wipes are readily available just by lifting the top flap – that’s a feature I’ve not seen on any other diaper bag. I’ve already given one to the hippest dad-to-be that I know!

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We hope you’ve enjoyed our series of holiday gift guides. Stay tuned in the coming days, as tomorrow we’ll start giving away some of the fantastic products we’ve featured!

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Floatees are not for Big Kids

So, last night I was reading through my 100 Things About Me, and I thought it might be fun to tell you the stories behind some of my 100 Things.

Let’s start with #68: I didn’t learn to swim until I took a swimming class in college. I was the only one in the class who couldn’t swim.

I like to give my mom a hard time about the fact that my older brothers had swimming lessons and I never did. I guess when you have that third child, you start slacking off about whether or not they’ll survive the local swimming pool.

When I was in college, I decided to take “Beginning Swimming” because they were forcing me to take P.E. credits to graduate and I was paying good money for this education so why not learn something I needed to learn? I know, a novel idea.

Well, let me just say, that even though it was “Beginning Swimming”, I was the only idiot in the class who couldn’t go under water without holding her nose. For SOME reason, this caused the other students and the teacher to treat me like I was special. I became the class pet. A twenty-year-old who was encouraged to learn to breathe underwater in much the way we encourage our five-year-olds to learn to ride a bike without training wheels.

It was kinda weird.

But, in a very positive way.

When we were learning to dive, the teacher had to push me in. I was so petrified, I couldn’t quite force myself to tip forward into the cool blue liquid classroom. I did a complete somersault. But I came back up to the surface, and everyone cheered for me. Pretty soon I was diving on my own, and swimming the length of the pool. Still much slower than everyone else, but I was doing it. As the semester went on, I got better, and I was able to relax, and have fun. After awhile I began coming to the pool to actually swim for exercise. Crazy, right!?

At the end of the semester, I was sad to see the class end. I was really proud of myself – I honestly think that was the first skill I ever learned as an adult. And it was gratifying to see my peers encourage and help me – to kind of take me on as a class project, almost.

Sadly, I have not swum a lap in years now, but with a little practice, I think I still could.

For a long time when I looked back on that class, I would still feel only embarrassment at being the only student who couldn’t really swim, for being a big kid who still had the skills of a little kid. But now, I think of my fellow students, of the help they gave me, and I think that what is really worth remembering about that class is that a group gathered around to encourage one of their own who was nervous, timid, and anxious about the situation. They could have just done their strokes and earned their easy A, but most of them took time to help and encourage me.

How often do we as adults see others in our peer group struggling and offer to help? Maybe it is a new mom at church who seems overwhelmed and needs someone to tell her that they’ve been there (or offer to watch her baby while she gets a nap!) and that it will get easier. Maybe a teenager or college-age girl who seems lost, who needs someone to listen, to offer guidance, and talk of lessons learned.

I know life is busy. I often feel overwhelmed myself, but I have found it to be very true that I usually feel better when I am focused on helping someone else. I don’t love making my own dinner, but I take joy in preparing a meal for a family who’s been sick or has a new baby. I like having other people’s kiddos over to play for a couple of hours. I like finding a needed item on sale for a friend.

So why don’t I do it more often?

I let life get in the way. I close my eyes while I’m doing the backstroke and don’t see the person in the lane next to me struggling to stay afloat. Because I’m not looking.

I want to change that. I want to make my strokes more deliberate, turn my head to the left, to the right, rinse out my goggles and see what’s around me. Maybe there is someone who can move from special ed to the head of the class with just a little encouragement from me.

What can it hurt? It’s not like anyone actually has to see me in a swim cap!

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Who’s Your Mama?

mothers_day_heart

Today is my mommy’s birthday. I’ll be a lady and not tell you how old she is. Just that she only gets better with age!

I think I have probably got the best mom in the world. And I’m not just saying that because I wrote a nice post about my dad on his birthday and now I feel pressured *ahem*. As a matter of fact, I’ve said it before. Several of my 100 Things About Me are actually about my mom, such as #66 “I am not nearly as nice of a person as my mom is.” and #78 “I think my mom is the best mom in the whole world, even though – GASP – she didn’t breastfeed me or my brothers.” (Although I would like to add that she DID cloth diaper all three of us!)

My mom taught me, just by being herself, that you don’t have to fit into any category to be a “good mom”. You don’t have to stay home with your kids, work outside the home, make your own baby food, be able to french braid, co-sleep, know how to knit (thank you Lord!), or scrapbook, or buy them the hottest toy every season.

When I think about the good things about my childhood, it has nothing to do with what my mom could or could not do, or the things she did or didn’t buy me – it has everything to do with what she did – which is love me, care for me, read to me, sing to me, rub my back, come to every school event I ever had, and encourage me. When I think of my mom, I honestly cannot thing of anything negative. I can’t remember her ever making me feel bad about myself. I can’t remember every feeling that I was anything but very, very, important to her.

The thing is, there were lots of things that were important to her. Those two other dumb kids she had, for instance, and my dad, and her job, and her work in our children’s department at church. But I never felt second to anything.

I know that she doesn’t feel this way, but it would seem to me, that with my dad’s help of course, that my mom achieved that sought-after state known as “balance.” Balance seems to be a myth in this world, a buzz word, a lofty but unattainable goal. And maybe you won’t know that you’ve achieved it until 30 years later and your child is telling you what a fan-flipping-tastic job you did all those years ago.

Happy Birthday Mom! I hope it was worth the wait. 🙂

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