An article from the November 1949 edition of Mechanix Illustrated offers a step-by-step process to transform baby's first pair of shoes into a permanent keepsake. It is long and complicated, so be prepared to spend a while on this if you tackle the challenge.
I know I'm not the only one who did "photo shoots" with my son when he was a baby, because I see it on blogs all the time. We are all trying to get the perfect pictures of our babies. In fact, one of my favorite photos of our son was captured in one of my "photo shoots" that my mom and I set up at home. Jack was seven days old here and this photo became our birth announcement.
Since most of us aren't professional photographers, Nikon is offering a webisode series called Look Good In Pictures, which features Carson Kressley, the star of Lifetime’s How to Look Good Naked. Carson is in studio with Carrie Sandoval, an internationally recognized photographer (you'll see just how amazing she is!), to show us how to make everyone look their best in infant, pregnancy and family photos.
Carrie looks so at ease during the photo shoots and the babies do too. Watch the videos, take some notes and try to use the tips for the next photo shoot you have with your baby...because I'm sure you will have another shoot soon.
Below is their latest video on photographing newborns. This one stars a tiny 10-day-old baby.
This next webisode shows how to capture perfect pictures of tiny tots.
The final video below shows the increasingly popular trend of taking portraits during the final days of pregnancy.
What are you waiting for? Put these tips to use during your next photo shoot, so you can have the perfect picture for your blog header, birth announcement or first birthday party invitation.
My husband and I were pretty clueless about pregnancy and parenting when I found out I was pregnant. I knew we needed to learn as much as we could before the baby arrived, so we wouldn't be more overwhelmed than we needed to be facing parenthood. We read books, took classes at the hospital (childbirth, newborn care and breastfeeding) and checked out some videos from the library. This all helped, but was very time consuming.
I was recently introduced to the Laugh and Learn DVD Series (Childbirth, Breastfeeding & Newborn Baby Care). Wow! I watched the DVDs and all I can think is that I wish I had known about this series three years ago.
Sheri Bayles is the nurse with the personality behind the successful DVD series. She is an award winning childbirth educator and lactation consultant. Plus she is the mother of twin boys, so she knows what she is talking about.
The great thing is that you can watch the videos in the comfort of your own home, on your own time frame (you can press pause every time you get a little overwhelmed about the childbirth explanation or if you feel the need to pee every 10 minutes) and even go back to certain parts as a refresher when you are reaching milestones like giving your baby it's first sponge bath or deciding what pump to buy for breastfeeding.
The About Childbirth DVD was great. I don't think I was the only one who still felt a little clueless about the whole childbirth thing, even after the classes I took. These two dvds about childbirth are very thorough. In them, Sheri gives some great pros and cons of using drugs like demerol, pitocin and epidurals. She also talks about the window of opportunity and how it works. I found the part about a c-section to be especially interesting since I really didn't pay attention to it in our hospital childbirth class only to find myself having a c-section for my son. It's best to just pay attention to it all just in case.
I would suggest watching the dvds then passing them on to your pregnant friends when you are done. You might just want to write your name on the dvds, so you can get them back as a refresher for baby #2!
We just received the most adorable shoes in the mail. The Pink Ballet shooshoos are ballerina style slip on baby shoes. They came tucked into a cute little clear baggie, perfect for gift giving. These shoes retail for about $19.95, but some are on sale for $12.95. That's less expensive than similar shoes with a different name.
These leather shoes are so cute, practical and well made. This slip-on soft style is great for the baby who isn't walking yet, but still needs his or her little toesies covered.
Shooshoos began in Cape Town, South Africa in 1996 to uplift disadvantaged communities. It is now a worldwide brand with sales in over 20 countries, including the USA.
We are giving away two pairs of shooshoos. Two lucky winners will each receive a pair of their choice. Enter the giveaway above.
The International Association of Infant Massage is a great resource for finding Certified Infant Massage Instructors around the U.S. and the world. This association trains and certifies instructors who in turn teach parents and caregivers how to massage their babies.
One of these Certified Infant Massage Instructors is Cali Petitt, who introduced us to this program. She is a mompreneur (and Baby Blog Addict reader) who recently started her own business, Tender Heart Infant Massage.
"It's basically in-home infant massage instruction that can be done privately or for groups of friends who want to get together for a series of three mommy and me classes," Petitt told BBA. "Using a teaching doll, I teach parents how to properly perform infant massage. I strongly recommend learning from a certified instructor, since all of the massage strokes have been researched."
Some of the benefits of infant massage include:
Cali Petitt, CCLS, CIMI, teaches in the Mandeville/Covington, Louisiana area, so if you are in that area, you can reach her at 985-502-0629. If not, you can find a Certified Infant Massage Instructor in your area by checking out the U.S. list of 7,000 instructors.
The idea of going back to work when your maternity leave ends can be overwhelming. If you can ease back into it by working part time for a little while, try that. If you don't have that flexibility and have to go back full time when your maternity leave is over, try to start with a short week. Instead of going back on a Monday and having to face five full days of dropping your baby off at daycare and working for eight hours a day, you should think about going back on a Wednesday or Thursday.
Consider this option. Sign up your baby to start daycare on the Monday of the week you go back to work. Drop them off for a couple of hours each day - Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. This will give you some time alone to get things prepared at home and will ease you into the transition of being separated from your baby. When you go back to work on Wednesday or Thursday of that week (my vote is for Thursday), you can see light at the end of the short tunnel. Friday is only a day or two away. Now I'm not saying this makes going back to work after maternity leave easy, it just makes it a little bit easier.
Throw away the markers for labeling your kids' sippy cups. We have better and cuter options for you. A while back we featured Baby Labels on BBA. Now, here's another way to label your kids' sippy cups.
BumpyName Orbit Labels are a great solution for labeling bottles, sippy cups, snack containers and other drink containers. I haven't used them yet, but I've heard a lot of great things about them from other moms. They are no
n-adhesive, so you can use them to tag different items, but if you want to keep them on the same cups and containers all the time, they are also dishwasher and microwave safe.
$12.95 will get you four custom labels and you can get a four pack of two-line custom labels for just $1 more. The two-line labels are also great to list a food allergy below the child's name as a reminder to child care providers.
Parents who heat plastic baby bottles risk feeding their children a synthetic hormone linked with medical, reproductive and developmental problems, according to a University of Missouri study released recently.
Infants have to get shots, and they hurt. But a new study finds that there is an anesthetic that is not only effective but also easy to administer and safe: sugar water.
Last week, safety officials announced a recall of 24,000 cribs and also warned parents against putting their babies to bed with pillows and other soft bedding that could suffocate them.
