Parenting & New Baby Advice Blog

Archive for June, 2007

Insure that the Mommy-To-Be and guests have the time of their life at your baby shower! Like most things in life, it all comes down to preparation and organization to make sure that things flow smoothly on the shower day. Enlist the help of a couple friends if you ever feel overwhelmed by the planning process. Just follow these 10 simple steps to make sure that you shower is the best it can be!

1)     Put together the guest list. Do you want to invite both sides of the family plus friends and co-workers or will they be throwing their own baby showers? Contact a few of her friends and call her office to see if they are planning anything. If not, ask your contact to put together a list of potential invitees. Once you’ve gathered and assembled the list, make sure that you have up to date addresses and phone numbers for everyone. Also, give the list to the honoree to make sure that she doesn’t have anyone else she’d like to add (or take off) of the list.

2)     Choose a shower date. Normally showers are thrown on a Saturday or Sunday one to two months prior to the baby’s due date. It is also recommended that you contact the mom-to-be relatively early in the planning process to make sure that the date is good for her too. Once you have a few dates in mind, contact the out-of-town family members and the central shower guests to find a date that works best for all of them.

3)     Set a budget range. The cost of a baby shower can add up quickly when you account for the location rental fees, food and drink, decorations and gifts. If you have a large guest list, you may want to consider enlisting a couple of co-hosts so that you can split the shower costs amongst a small group of people.

4)     Choose a shower location. Based on the guest list, you should be able to get a rough idea of just how many guests can be expected at the baby shower. If you are on a budget, try to find a home (either yours or friends or family) that can accommodate the number of guests. Another low cost option is to throw the shower at a neighborhood recreation center or local church. Often times, neighborhood residents and church members can use the facilities for a nominal fee or even for free. You could also consider a restaurant with a banquet room, but remember this will cost a bit more money.

5)     Choose a shower theme.  Does the mom-to-be know if she is having a boy or a girl? Do you know if she has a motif picked out for the nursery? What is Mom’s style? These are just some of the questions to ask yourself when deciding on the baby shower theme. If Mom knows the baby’s gender, you could simply use a pink or blue color scheme. But if you know she is having a boy and she is decorating the nursery in a Winnie-the-Pooh theme, you might throw a shower that has a Pooh bear theme by incorporating that with Pooh themed dinnerware and balloons.

6)     Finalize the guest list, order and mail out the invitations. Invitations need to be mailed out 3 to 4 weeks prior to the shower date. When choosing invitations, be sure to select something to match the baby shower theme that you’ve chosen. Order enough invitations to cover the guest list plus a few extra to cover any unexpected additions to the list. The invitations should include the Mom’s name, shower date and time, location of shower including the specific address (include a map), name of person(s) who is throwing the shower along with their phone number, RSVP date (should be at least 7 days prior to the shower), shower theme and baby registry information (if Mom is registered somewhere). If you aren’t comfortable including the registry information, you can always mention it when people call to say they are attending. If you haven’t heard from everyone on the guest list, you should call them about a week before the shower to see if they are planning to attend.

7)     Choose the menu. Depending on the shower location, you may have several options here. If you decide to use a restaurant, you will need to coordinate the food selection through them. If you are having it in a home or church where you can bring in your own food and drink, you can either make all of the food yourself, have the event catered or buy prepared food from somewhere like Sam’s Club or Costco. They have great cakes at reasonable prices too and we suggest that you order the cake a few weeks prior to the shower date.

8]    Buy shower decorations and baby shower favors. Balloons, streamers, plates, cups, napkins, tablecloths and utensils should be purchased a few weeks prior to the shower. Of course, these items should fit-in with the shower theme. Be sure to coordinate with friends and family to make sure that you will have enough tables and chairs to accommodate all the guests if it is being thrown in a home. You can always rent a few tables and chairs if necessary. You can also buy baby shower centerpieces to put on each table or one central centerpiece to put on the food table.

9)     Choose the baby shower games and buy game prizes. Again, you have a couple of options. You can buy shower game kits online at Baby Gifts & Gift Baskets or you can use do-it-yourself games that cost little money. Be sure to have enough writing paper and writing utensils on-hand. When buying prizes, make sure that you wrap them all and buy a few extra in case you have ties on some of the games.

10) Prepare for the day of the baby shower. Clean up the party area and house if you are throwing a home shower. Set up tables and chairs. Print out name tags and seating assignments if necessary. Prepare the food and get the platters ready. Decorate the location with balloons, streamers and other party gear. Set aside a special table or area for the baby shower gifts that guests bring. Be sure to have lots of film for the digital cameras and batteries for the video cameras on hand.

If you’ve followed these 10 easy steps, you should be all set for a successful shower. The most important baby shower tip is to relax and have fun!

Did you know that the social security administration keeps a running tally of the most popular names given to new baby girls each year? When the proud parents apply for a social security number for their new little one, the SSA puts it in their database. Each year they release a list of the most popular names across the United States and they even break it down into most popular names state by state. If you want to see where you or your child’s name ranked on this year’s list, just visit the Social Security website.

In 2006, the top 10 U.S. baby girl’s names in order of popularity were Emily, Emma, Madison, Isabella, Ava, Abigail, Olivia, Hannah, Sophia and Samantha. If you had twin girl’s in 2006, you likely went with one of the top names for twin girl’s handed out in the U.S. – Ella & Emma, Madison & Morgan, Gabriella & Isabella, or Faith & Hope.

Of course, the popularity of given names varies by state as cultural background and ethnicity play significant roles in the baby name selection process. Take the name Mia for instance, it was the #1 most popular girl’s name in Arizona and the 4^th most popular name given to girls in California. However, Mia ranked 13^th overall in the U.S. In Minnesota, Montana and South Dakota, the name Grace ranked in the top 5 while it ranked 17^th overall in the U.S.

The most popular baby names of 2006 were recently released by the Social Security Administration. Each year the government tracks the statistics for baby names across the United States by tallying the number of times a particular name shows up on the social security number applications submitted to their office. Then each Spring, they release that tabulated data to the public which can be viewed online at the Social Security website.

This year there weren’t any real surprises on the list of the most popular boy’s names in the United States. The most interesting trends showed up in the state by state analysis which clearly showed naming trends reflect the ethnic, local and cultural backgrounds of the parents. Across the U.S as a whole, the top 10 baby boy names of 2006 were as follows (in order of popularity): Jacob, Michael, Joshua, Ethan, Matthew, Daniel, Christopher, Andrew, Anthony and William.  The top five names on this list have been the top 5 names for boys for the last 3 years running.

As for the state by state tallies, the boys name Angel was ranked number 1 in Arizona, number 3 in California and Nevada. However, it ranked as the 17^th most popular name in the US overall.  Two of the top five names in Hawaii are Dylan and Elijah. Yet these names rank 26^th and 29^th respectively in the overall U.S.

Just for fun, you should visit the Social Security Administration’s website to see where the names of your children show up. Better yet, look up your name and your spouse’s name to see just how popular your names were in the year you were born. You might be surprised to see just how popular your name was back then.

If you are hosting a baby shower, you know just how important it is to choose a fun and unique baby shower theme. Themes not only help the hostess keep organized, but they also give the guests some focus and ideas for gifts that they might not normally consider. Here are some unique theme ideas that your shower guests will love!

1. Book Baby Shower – Ask each guest to bring their favorite storybook to the baby shower. What a great way to help Mom build a baby library! Consider using bookmarks for the baby shower invitations.

2. Pamper Mom Shower – Great for 3rd or 4th time mom who doesn’t need more baby stuff, tell the shower guests that they should bring gifts to pamper Mom. Items like bubble bath, scented lotions, candles, etc are perfect. Spa gift certificates would be great too.

3. Gift Certificate or Coupons Shower – Perfect for the Mom who already has everything because she is on child number 3 or 4, the guests give gift certificates or coupons that Mom can utilize. Examples include a spa, diaper service, maid service or restaurant gift certificate. Better yet, guests can give their time and make up coupons good for things like a few hours of babysitting, a home-cooked meal delivered to the family, or house cleaning.

4. Diaper Party – Ask your guests to forego the typical shower gifts to bring diapers of all sizes as presents. What Mom doesn’t need diapers? She’ll be thrilled to end up with 6 or 8 months of diapers. If guests want to spruce up their gift a bit, they could make a baby shower diaper cake.

5. Time of Day Shower – When you send out the shower invitations for a time of day shower, each guests should be assigned a time of day (meal time, nap time, play time, dinnertime, bath time, night time). Guests should bring a gift that corresponds to the time of day that they were assigned. For instance if someone was assigned nap time, they could give the Ocean Wonders Aquarium which is designed to help baby sleep.

6. Seasonal Shower – Theme the shower around the season or time of year. For instance, in February, throw a heart or Valentine shower. In April, you could do an ‘April Showers bring Baby Flowers’ flower themed shower. In July, you could do a patriotic red, white and blue color scheme and throw the shower as a backyard barbecue. In October, throw a Halloween party where shower guests come dressed in costumes. In December, decorate the shower in a holiday motif and have the guests wrap their baby shower gifts in holiday Christmas gift wrap.

7. A to Z Shower – Each guest is assigned a letter of the alphabet on their invitation and asked to bring a gift that begins with the letter they were assigned. A cute way to carry this theme through to the party is to use ABC themed plates and napkins and then decorate with wooden baby blocks that have the letters of the alphabet on them.

8. Time Capsule or Scrapbook Shower – Each guest is asked either to bring a scrapbook page (usually the host has to buy matching pages and send one with the invitations) or something to add to the time capsule. Examples might include a letter to the baby or newspaper clippings with current events. These gifts will hold memories that can be cherished for years to come. If you are looking for fun baby shower games at your memory making shower, ask each guest to bring a baby photo of themself and then have the shower guests see if they can guess who is who.

More Baby Shower Themes:

• Top 5 Baby Girl Shower Themes
• Top 5 Baby Boy Shower Themes

Since it only happens once in a lifetime, Baby's First Christmas is the perfect time to indulge the little one by giving a gift that they can treasure. Online gift shops seem to know just how important this occasion is as they offer a somewhat dizzying array of holiday gift items themed for Baby’s First Christmas. This holiday season commemorate your grandchild or child’s Christmas with one of these five fabulous sure-fire winners.

1)      Baby’s First Christmas Ornament – Whether you choose an elegant Waterford Crystal ornament, a personalized traditional glass ball or a themed ‘Baby’s First Christmas’ ornament, this is a gift that will hang on the tree year after year. Kick off a new family tradition and give the baby a new ornament every year. By the time they are 18 and ready to move out, they’ll have an entire collection of ornaments that they can share with their own family and children some day.

Celebrate baby's first Christmas this year with a personalized Christmas Baby Gift Basket from Baby Gifts & Gift Baskets. We have a wide variety of baby gifts that your baby will treasure for years to come. Visit Baby Gifts & Gift Baskets today!