Good To Go Baby Gifts

I have heard from so many people this Thanksgiving season who have expressed that they are thankful.  I remember having my students write about what they were thankful for every year.  I heard from a dad who just became a father and told me how thankful he is to have a son.  His newborn son is doing quite well now but had some health problems at first. 

With our economy like it is, I think we are all looking at being thankful for small things.  I am thankful for being born and I am thankful for every child that is born.  The little newborn baby gift baskets tell others who are having babies that we are thankful that their child is born.

Have a good Thanksgiving and be thankful for yourself and your children!

I couldn’t stop laughing today in the store.  One mother had her monogrammed burp cloth with her and was trying to catch the “burps” from her little baby while trying to wipe the face of the older one, who was eating a snack, with the other monogrammed burp cloth.  All I could think was, “thank goodness the personalized burp cloth comes in a package with two in it.”

I asked her if I could help her and she said that she does this all of the time.  She was glad that she received several baby gifts with the monogrammed burp cloth because they are constantly in the wash.  She was so relaxed when she shopped with her little ones.  She told them what she was buying and let them look at the item.  She went on her way just like she does every day!  What a good mom.  Whoops, I just saw another burp that she caught!

At one time Opra talked about having a “Thankfulness Journal.”  She said it was to help us focus on the positives in our lives and write it down.  She said that it would surprise us that we had “great and wonderful things in our lives” when we actually sat down and focused on it. 

I know what you are thinking—-not another thing to do!  I felt the same way, so I plan a short time each day to THINK about the things that I am thankful for each day.  It helps me to appreciate what I have and to keep me from going to that negative feeling that can bring us all down.  I did buy a journal and maybe someday I will write in it, but right now a few minutes of thinking about being thankful helps me a lot.

Working with baby gifts is one of the things for which I am thankful.  It reminds me every day of how precious each baby is and how thankful we should be for each baby brought into this world.

I just got an e-mail from a young mother (She e-mailed in the middle of the night.) who just had their fourth little girl.  She is so busy (We won’t even go into the economy aspect.) that she is afraid she won’t get her holiday shopping done and have a personal touch to it.  Her three older girls love the new little baby but she knows that they also feel that they don’t get very much individual personal time. 

She is ordering the three personalized baby bracelets that are all different.  The one year old is receiving the Sterling Silver My First Identity Bracelet.  The two year old will get the pink My First Swarovski Crystal Baby Bracelet since she loves everything pink and the three year old will receive the Percious Pearls Personalized Baby Bracelet.

All of the bracelets fit up to four years old but I talked to the jeweler in our town and he said he could add links to the bracelets to make them bigger as they grow.  I’m sure most jewelers would be able to do that.  The three little girls will receive a personalized gift this year and the mother didn’t have to even leave her home.  

The mother is going to sit with them individually when they open their personalized baby bracelets to show them that she is always thinking about them even though she is so busy.  They are going to be the first gifts they open so they can wear them over the holidays.

I don’t know about you, but I work out just about every day and still have a “muffin top” and weigh more than I want.  After reading an article from Dr. Oz and Dr. Roizen, I have something to try (I’m not willing to cut back on Thanksgiving food.).  The article goes on to say that you can make your usual workout burn more calories.  The article continues to say that you don’t need to work harder or longer but just switch the order of your workout. 

The secret to burning more calories with the same workout and the same time frame is to do cardio before you strength train.  You are to do walking, cycling, etc. first and then do the weights.  It helps to boost postworkout metabolism–which is the rate at which your body burns calories.  The result is a higher calorie burn, plus muscle burns more calories than fat which ups the total even more.

I’m going to give this a shot as I usually do cardio OR weights instead of both of them.  Stay tuned to the results!!!

They do conclude the article by saying that it is better to get moving at whatever you do instead of milling over it and not doing anything.  So, one of the best baby gifts you can give your baby is to get moving!  Try the cardio for half the time and the weights for the half the time and see how it works for you.  After all, this is advice from two very fit doctors!

I recently got an e-mail from a mother who says she uses her child’s puzzle step stool as much as he does.  She is always needing to get into a top cupboard in the bathroom or in the kitchen.  I guess I don’t recommend using the personalized step stool for that purpose but I guess that proves that the step stool is sturdy enough for an adult. 

She says that her child takes the letters out of the puzzle and puts them back in every day.  He does not tire of doing it and he can say all of the letters in his name already.  He uses the puzzle step stool to sit on while he plays with his toys, to reach the sink, and to reach his toys that are on shelves. 

Guess what? After doing my own survey on what is the best baby gifts to GET, the answer was—drum roll please—a personalized baby blanket.  It really didn’t surprise me, as a personalized baby blanket always fits and you can use more than one as they seem to always be in the wash.  Many mothers hang the personalized baby blanket on the wall for decoration and it looks great in the baby’s room.

Can you believe that I still have my baby blanket?  The blanket was wool, which really surprises me as the blankets now are way more washable and way more soft.  My baby book states that I got it from an aunt of mine.  Now you know that a personalized baby blanket is the way to go for baby gifts!

Now that both of our grandchildren have received their Thanksgiving gifts, I can write about it.  I ordered the personalized layered T-Shirts that are found in the personalized baby gifts section with their first name on the front.  I chose the pink shirts and had their names put on with red lettering.  They look so cute with little jeans.  I ordered the T-shirts in sizes 2T and 3T since our granddaughters are 1 1/2 and 2 3/4.  I wanted to make sure they wouldn’t be too small. 

Since the T-shirt material isn’t real heavy, the shirts are perfect for this time of year and since both of them live in warmer climates than I do.  I had the personalized baby T-shirts delivered to their homes so that I didn’t have to mail them.  I also put in a personal note to each one of the little girls. 

The T-shirts can also be a monogrammed baby gift as the initials of the baby can be put on the shirt instead of their first name.  There are also different colors of threads that can be used and the baby T-shirt comes in blue also. 

I went to definitions of gift baskets from Wikipedia on the internet and found:  “A gift basket … is typically a gift that is delivered to the recipient at their home or workplace.”  The article went on to identify various types of gift baskets and lists “baby shower” or “baby gift baskets” as specialty baby gift baskets.

Sometimes we overlook the baby gift baskets when we give gifts but they include so much more for the money than when each item is bought separately.  It is so much easier to choose a gift basket and have it shipped to the recipient.  The gift baskets also look so outstanding under a Christmas tree or on a baby shower table. 

If any of you watched the Today Show this morning you heard about the “secret filth exposed.”  What they were referring to was that store shopping carts have more germs on them than public restrooms!!  There can be 1 million germs on one shopping cart!  Next to playground and transit handrails the shopping carts come in third.  They found Ecoli on 44-89% of the shopping carts that were tested. 

If you are like me, your skin is crawling right now.  What can we do?  Some stores provide antibacterial wipes to wipe off some of the cart.  You may want to bring your own antibacterial wipes along to wipe off the shopping cart before you put your child in it.  You may buy a cover to put over the seating area of the shopping cart where your child sits.  You may buy a cover that fits over the handle of the shopping cart. 

Some stores have rented a “Pure Cart” that disinfects each cart right after use.  It costs the store about 1 cent a cart.  Some mothers interviewed said that they would go out of their way to shop at a store that provides this service.  The decision is yours.  Healthy baby gifts that you can give your child are to keep the millions of germs away from them as much as possible.