January 10, 2006 09:33 - How to take part in creating the Web's ultimate baby shower ideas resource for everyone to share and enjoy?

There are millions of babies been born in this planet every year, and there are thousands of Shower and baptism planners looking for some very special party ideas to use for their celebration for that special little one.

Can you invest a little bit energy to save them bunch of time, money and energy?

Imagine this: A web savvy shower hostess (or host) that lives on the other side of this planet searches on the web for the most creative baby shower ideas and finds a page full of your original write-ups and photos of your last celebration for that little one.

She/He gets inspired from your ideas and photos that throw a cool baby shower that all the guests will cherish for a long time. And the mom-to-be(and the dad-to-be too!) will never forget what a great celebration she/he had. Thanks largely in part to you!

Submit Your Baby Shower Ideas and Photos Now!

So the energy you invested into the baby shower will be shared with others and come back right at you when you're in need of a few great ideas.

That's what I called the reward of sharing.

You can also WIN an entire theme of baby shower supplies and cool shower printables, and the chance to showcase your photos and write-ups on the web's ultimate baby shower website for others to enjoy and learn from.

Go for it...

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January 13, 2006 22:23 - Awesome Baby Shower Idea with Everything in Pink

Here are a few cool baby shower ideas and foods that I found at Delicious Day. Although it's a old blog entry published almost one year ago, but I just can't stop telling how cute it is.

And here is original write-ups and photos...

"A very popular event in the States, that is just about to be adopted over here in Germany. With the huge success of Sex and the City almost everyone (who was their target audience again? ;) has at least heard of it - a party thrown for the mother-to-be who is joyously expecting her first child. A great event for a girls get-together (reverse discrimination because this party is for females only?), that is all about the soon-to-be-mom and her soon-to-arrive-baby. Girls, games, chitchat, presents, food and loads of fun!"

"My first baby shower experience took place in Atlanta, USA, a few years ago, and probably couldn't exactly qualify as one, because some hubbies "snuck in" (is there a trend?). Actually, it was very entertaining if not exhilarating to watch them blush in various shades over discussions on c-sections, breast-feeding and other delicate topics!"

"The setup for the baby shower last Friday was completely different: The host did a perfect job in decorating the party scene with pink items everywhere and all the invitees brought delicious food. Somehow in contrast to one of the games: Baby Food Taste Test, including several masked jars with different flavors of baby food. Urgghhh! Out of the five jars, only two I could get friends with. The other three had a rather strange smell, I hardly could focus on their taste anymore. I remember my mom telling me over a thousand times how difficult is was for her to feed me this sort of baby-food and that she had to ultimately change my nutrition - seems she must have finally gotten the hint, that even a baby can have some culinary standards! Probably not, I guess I was just being difficult, ;)

"Luckily, I was being tasked with helping out on the dessert front - which I always love to do! Lately, I¡¯ve been experimenting with different kinds of fruit panna cotta. Starting off with a panna cotta cream basis (reduced cream, sugar, vanilla bean, soaked gelatine) and then added different fresh fruit purees (raspberry, green grapes, apricots, passion fruit). The results varied quite a bit in taste (intensity) and texture, even though I added the same amount of fruit puree in every jar. The one with grapes, for instance, had problems to jell, even after four hours. But over night they all developed a very creamy, smooth consistency. For the baby shower I prepared little ceramic pots with half raspberry, half passion fruit panna cotta, which were my two favorite tastes out of the recently tested four. As an eatable decoration I dipped a handful of physalis in melted chocolate, which were also chilled. To appease my creative demands, some cutout-happy-baby-prints on toothpicks gave the finishing touch."

"I keep thinking about further and even more extravagant variations, but O. ask me to have a break. No more panna cotta for the next weeks¡­ ;)"

Click here for more games, food, and shower favors of a pink theme baby girl shower.

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January 16, 2006 20:10 - World's Largest Baby Shower benefits Heartbeat Pregnancy Center

Pregnancy Help Center Director Paula Havard was ringing bells, clapping encouragement and desperately searching for a dry diaper at a photo shoot Wednesday to promote the World's Largest Baby Shower taking place next week.

She recruited five babies for the picture, shot by fleet-footed photographer Melinda Sullivan at her studio, The Photo Shop, on Feagin in Lufkin. While Havard struggled to herd babies more interested in chewing on the props then posing with them, KSWP on-air personality Billy Baldwin outlined the upcoming Baby Shower event.

"We wanted babies in the photo to show that this Baby Shower is for the ones who have the needs," said Baldwin. "It's important to have people who are going to participate in the shower see a representation of the babies they'll help," he added, noting the babies posing in the picture are actually the children of ministry supporters, not ministry clients. "Babies touch our hearts."

The World's Largest Baby Shower has become an annual event for KSWP/KAVX Christian Radio. Scheduled during Sanctity of Human Life Week Jan. 16-23, the shower is a collection drive to benefit Heartbeat Pregnancy Center of Nacogdoches and Pregnancy Medical Help Center in Lufkin.

Both ministries operate as crisis pregnancy centers, offering free pregnancy testing, adoption counseling, and other support programs for women.

Items collected in Lufkin go into a unique program at the Pregnancy Medical HELP Center ¡ª the Baby Stuff and More Store. Women who are participating in the Learn to Earn Parenting Program earn vouchers, which can then be spent at the store. Classes offered through the center include parenting, prenatal and postnatal care, first aide, infant and child CPR, budgeting, and how to find and keep a job.

The classes and the store are part of the support ministry offered by the Pregnancy Medical HELP Center. Women opting to continue their crisis pregnancy will have help for the road ahead.

"Each year, over 900 young women in East Texas find themselves in a desperate situation and faced with an unplanned pregnancy," Al Ross wrote in a KSWP press release. "Every year East Texas shows its overwhelming support for area crisis pregnancy centers by participating in the annual KSWP/KAVX World's Largest Baby Shower."

The Baby Shower event includes the following:

* Collection bins at Wal-Mart Supercenters in Lufkin and Nacogdoches for items for mothers and babies. Starting Jan. 16, a collection box will be located in the customer service department of the stores. Gifts will be used in the two local ministries. Additional drop-off locations include Wrap-It-Up in Nacogdoches and X-Press Lube in Lufkin.

* Open Houses are scheduled at both crisis pregnancy centers on Thursday, Jan. 26 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. KSWP/KAVX will broadcast live from both centers:

* Heartbeat Pregnancy Center in Nacogdoches, 621 Russell Blvd. Representatives from Heartbeat staff and KSWP/KAVX on-air personalities will be present to answer questions.

* Pregnancy Medical Help Center in Lufkin, 110 S. Bynum. Staff from the center, along with KSWP/KAVX on-air personalities will be on hand to answer questions.

Details to note: For more information, call the Pregnancy Medical Help Center at 632-9393. The Lufkin ministry is also presenting the Celebration of Life Lunch on Sunday, Jan. 22, the 33rd anniversary of Roe V. Wade, at the Lufkin High School Auditorium from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Lasagna, green beans, salad and dessert will be served, for a donation at the door. The Culinary Arts program at the high school is preparing the meal.

Also in recognition of the anniversary of Roe v. Wade, Planned Parenthood will be holding its annual pro-choice luncheon on Wednesday, Jan. 18 in Houston, and will feature Julianne Malveaux, PhD as the guest speaker. For more information, check the Web site, www.pphouston.org.

By BRONWYN TURNER, The Lufkin Daily News - Saturday, January 14, 2006

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January 22, 2006 23:06 - How to Keep Your Baby Shower Away From Boring Activities?

Can you imagine a baby shower without games? Some one think so.

A baby shower is supposed to be a happy occasion, so why do so many people cringe at the thought of attending one?

Sometimes it's even the mother-to-be who is thinking of an excuse to leave before it starts.

"A shower can be boring," acknowledges entertainment consultant Gia Russo.

To make a baby shower the pleasant experience it should be for everyone involved, it's important to have a plan beyond some snacks and the opening of gifts, Russo says. However, traditional shower activities -- bottle bowling or name games, for example -- shouldn't be on the schedule. They're the things that make people cringe most.

Instead, Russo suggests projects or crafts that become keepsakes for the baby, or spa treatments such as manicures, pedicures or reflexology as activities. Another idea is to ask guests to bring a copy of their favorite children's book as a contribution to the baby's library.

Watching the almost-mom open presents shouldn't be scrapped, since giving her supplies and gifts is indeed the purpose of a shower, Russo says.

It's OK if the gift is bulky (maybe a stroller or a Diaper Genie) to send it to the expectant mother's home and simply bring a card to the shower alerting her the gift is on the way, Russo says, but it's not OK to show up empty-handed, even if the guest is superstitious or religious about pre-birth gifts. In that case, the guest should decline the invitation to attend the shower -- and send the gift when she's comfortable with it.

"Gift-giving is such an important part of the shower. Most moms open them at the shower, at the shower, and it might seem strange to not have one," Russo observes.

If the expectant mother thinks it's bad luck to receive gifts before birth, she should forgo the shower and consider a "welcome-the-baby" party when she feels up to it, adds Russo.

She had two showers, perfectly acceptable by etiquette rules as long as the same people aren't invited to both. One was intimate for close family members and friends, the other was for business colleagues.

"What was fun about one of my showers was that everyone was asked in their invitation for a [gift] theme. They were 'baby's first' something. First outing at the beach. First plane trip. It was kind of a game, because I had to try and figure out the theme," Russo recalls.

One of her personal favorites was the beach gift, which included a shovel and other sand toys, a bucket, a passport holder and baby-styled luggage tags."

Russo, half of the MiGi party-planning team that wrote the book "Baby Showers" (Chronicle) is based in Los Angeles. She was in New York to stage "the ultimate baby shower" for the winner of a babyGap contest.

At the event at the posh Four Seasons hotel in Manhattan, Russo treated guests to an Asian-themed buffet, sleek, sophisticated and mostly brown d¨¦cor instead of pink and blue streamers, and those aforementioned spa treatments.

The guests also made a scrapbook for the baby using a Polaroid camera and pretty stationery with written explanations on how each guest met the baby's mom.

Baby showers are best held in the early or late afternoon for either lunch or tea, Russo says.

By SAMANTHA CRITCHELL
Associated Press 01/21/2006
From http://www.delawareonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060121/LIFE/601210309/-1/NEWS01

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January 23, 2006 23:32 - Do-It-Yourself Gift For Your Safety Baby Shower

If you're a new mom or dad, what is your biggest concern of the new member of your family? Of course, it's all about keep your baby in safety.

If you're looking for some oh-so-pratical gift to bring to a baby safety shower, here is a choice to consider.

The nationally recognized health expert, Debra Smiley Holtzman recently contacted Blogging Baby and ask their editors to take a look at her book, "The Safe Baby" A Do-It-Yourself Guide to Home Safety."

Below is a quite-long-but-quite-useful book review by Karen Walrond, one of the Blogging Baby editors. Here you go...

I wasn't disappointed. The Safe Baby is a comprehensive guide to ensuring that your home is as safe as possible for your new baby and/or young child. In addition to giving the advice that you probably already knew (check the bathwater carefully to avoid scalding your child; cover your electrical outlets to protect prying, inquisitive fingers), it's also chock-full of safety tips you probably didn't know (Did you know you shouldn't give your baby home-prepared collard greens? Or that it might be prudent to investigate your tap water to ensure that it doesn't have things like arsenic, radon, lead and the ominous-sounding THMs?) And in case you're wondering that the content of this book is all doom and gloom without providing solutions for mitigating risks, never fear: the book also gives lots of practical advice on how to recitfy potentially dangerous situations -- either by doing it yourself, or recommending a professional do the job.

The Safe Baby also contained information I didn't expect: advice on how to acclimate your pets to your new baby (or vice-versa), and tips on finding a good babysitter and daycare are also provided. There is also a summary at the end of each chapter with all salient points condensed in bullet form -- and the book even concludes with a room-by-room checklist, lists of safety products, and a resource guide with contacts for more safety information.

I wish our family had this book when we were preparing for the social worker home visit that all prospective adoptive parents undergo prior to having children placed with them; however, if I had one criticism, it is the author's inadvertent presupposition that all families are created the old-fashioned biological way. In the section dealing with allergies, for instance, Holtzman says, "If you or your spouse has a family history of allergies -- to animals, dust, pollen or foods -- your child may be at an increased risk for developing allergies." That's all well and good for many families, but what about those of us who may not have that information for one or both of our children's birthparents? (And, tangentially-speaking, isn't "spouse" a bit presumptive?) It would have been good to see a couple of sentences on how to deal with the issue when all or part of your child's medical history might be an unknown variable. Similarly, while the section on travel had tips like opting to fly nonstop and how to choose a child safety seat for the airline, no effort was made on issues of international travel: immunizations or potential regional diseases to watch out for, for example, or complications resulting from changes in diet. After all, not only are more and more families traveling internationally, many are also bringing home new family members from foreign countries, and may find themselves dealing with some of these issues once their new sons and daughters arrive home in their adoptive land. Perhaps these subjects will be dealt with in future editions.

Nonetheless, potential readers shouldn't be put off by these negatives -- the truth is, I'm thrilled to now own a copy of this book, and plan to use it over and over again as a handy reference -- both in making sure our current home is up to scratch, and ensuring that I'm aware of any issues for any future homes (or the homes of family members we may visit). I unreservedly recommend this book to any new parent, and this is probably my new gift to any prospective adoptive parents in preparation for that nerve-wracking home visit. So if you're a new parent (or grandparent, or close family member or friend of a new parent) run out and grab a copy soon. You'll be glad you did.

Posted Jan 23rd 2006 8:42AM by Karen Walrond on Bloggingbaby.com

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January 27, 2006 23:04 - Bridal Shower, Baby Shower - A Washed-up Tradition?

The Shower, no matter it is bridal shower or baby shower, is setup to support people to start their new life. They are heart-warming parties, aren't they?

However, according to Emily Bailey, no every Shower she attended can bring warm and happy memory to her. What about you?

Here is her article published on Portsmouth Herald...

According to legend, the practice of the bridal shower began hundreds of years ago in Holland, where a poor young miller wanted to marry a beautiful maiden. Because the miller had spent much of his life helping others and giving his earnings away, he had nothing to show for his years of hard work. The maiden's father refused to allow her marriage to this impoverished suitor. To ensure the prevention of the union, he refused to provide his daughter a dowry, which, in those days was used by the new couple to start their household.

Madly in love, the maiden threw caution to the wind and married the pauper of her dreams and they began their threadbare life together. Soon, the community learned of the situation, and recalling the generosity of the miller during their own times of need, came together and "showered" the new couple with the household items and money they needed to set up their new home.

This is a heart-warming tale, isn't it? Now, remember the worst bridal shower you've ever attended. The bride was greedy, she and the man she was marrying had lived together for many years and really had most everything they wanted. There were tasteless cakes and endless blenders ... Then, after you shelled out for the bridal shower gift, the hostess makes sure to tell you where to buy the wedding gift that's expected, too. Not so heartwarming, was it?

What about baby showers? The tradition of giving small gifts to a mother and father after the birth of their first child is one that dates hundreds of years, but the baby shower itself did not become popular until after World War II.

Recently, I was at a pretty wonderful baby shower. There were no party favors (think candy-filled rattles), no insipid games (pin the diaper on the baby?), no crustless cucumber sandwiches. The hostess served decent wine, real food and the guests numbered fewer than 10 (the latter factor important because the longer the guest list, the longer you will sit in a giant circle and ooh, ahh and grin over the 12th "onesie" the expectant mother unwraps). After the mother opened her gifts, talk turned to labor. Most of the women there had children, and the memories of their births were fresh in their mind. Very naturally, they shared their stories. There was no competition, just a fond recollection, with no forced advice for the overwhelmed mother-to-be.

It made me feel all warm and a little earth-mothery. Instead of a gathering that followed all the "rules" and "tips," it was a show of support of a woman about to bring her first child into the world and a celebration of a new member of the extended clan. And unlike the off-putting and often unnecessary bridal shower gifts, the idea of helping a couple as their already taut budget is stretched in new and unexpected ways is welcome. In my idea of a perfect world, it would have been a coed affair. Men deserve to celebrate this arrival too, especially the expectant father.

The reason I noticed, in such detail, what made this shower different was that I've attended some doozies. You know the ones. Somehow because a newborn is on the way, the age and IQs of all the guests are forcibly lowered at the door. You are asked to play ridiculous games, coo and sigh while eating food sized for woodland fairies. And forget about getting a Bloody Mary to ease the pain. Everything is baby-themed, from the wrapping to the card to the cupcakes ... I'll do anything to get out of this type of affair (after friends and relatives read this, I won't be invited anyway).

Somewhere along the way, like all the other traditions surrounding the most important moments of our lives, these were appropriated by marketing professionals and their clients. They made up party rules and "must-haves" - their traditions based on their profit, and we adopted them as our own. What would the poor miller and his wife think about that?

Emily Bailey is the community editor of the Portsmouth Herald. She can be reached at ebailey@seacoastonline.com. For a complete archive of Public Emily columns, visit www.seacoastonline.com/news/wiggin.htm

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January 28, 2006 10:16 - Baby Shower Gift in The Season of Chinese New Year

January 29 is the first day of Chinese new year.

Here is a wonderful baby shower gift to give to a special baby to commemorate the Chinese new year.

According to RedEnvelope, in northern China, the birth of a child is celebrated with a colorful Bai Jia Bei or 100 Good Wishes Quilt. Inspired by this tradition, RedEnvelope has silkscreened 100 good wishes on this quilt which can be monogrammed to personalize the quilt for your little one. It's US$95 (plus extra for monogramming).

Here is a short poem you can write on the gift card along with the 100 Good Wishes Quilt:

"I wish you always: Happiness to fill your heart, Wisdom to fill your mind, And confidence in faith to fill your spirit. May you live your life being your True, authentic self."

Here are more extra special Chinese new year or zen supplies and gifts make the Chinese soon-to-be-parents know that you really put some thought into the baby shower planning.

And if you 're looking for some baby shower ideas all about throwing abundance, prosperity, good fortune and better health to the soon-to-be-parents, try some "East Meets West" activities and serve your guest an Asian Luncheon.

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