Baby names

By: Sophia Ton
The hardest part of being a new mother is taking the time to simply enjoy your new child and store away all of the precious memories. New babies require a tremendous amount of time and energy

Preserving Those Precious Memories

The hardest part of being a new mother is taking the time to simply enjoy your new child and store away all of the precious memories. New babies require a tremendous amount of time and energy. You are completely consumed caring for your infant, when suddenly, your baby is a toddler, and you never had a chance to start, much less finish his baby memory book. This scenario is so common that it’s actually embarrassing to mothers everywhere. There are ways to be sure those memories are preserved, however.

(more…)

By: Sophia Ton
If you plan ahead a little, you can target getting just that perfect gift for someone special in your life. And here are some tips to help you with your planning.

Choosing Products and / or Services

Gifts can be divided up into two main groups: products and services. A service gift would be something along the lines of a certificate for house cleaning, yard maintenance, carpet cleaning, baby sitting or errands and grocery shopping. And products generally fall into two categories: perishable and non-perishables. Issues to note here with regards to giving service certificates or products follow.

Service Certificate Tips

- Unless the actual “doer” of the service is a family member or friend, the certificate generally comes with an expiration date to keep up with the economy, availability and pricing for business purposes. So you’d need to watch the timing here so that it does not conflict with the recipient’s plans.

Make sure the service is offered in the location of the recipient, and not just where you are (unless it is one in the same, of course).

- See if the certificate is transferable just in case the recipient cannot use it and would like to trade it or give it away. The reason for non-use could be simply that time was going to expire, and it would be a shame for your gift to go to waste.

Ask about a nice greeting card when purchasing certificates. Some companies include free ones to place your certificate inside and use for mailing.

Product Buying Tips

-When possible, purchase a gift certificate for products so that the recipient can choose the perfect gift on the own – and have a fun shopping experience.

When giving a personalized gift, do ask for correct spellings of names and nicknames; otherwise purchase the gift with an engraving certificate so that the recipient can have the correct spellings done.

-When giving perishable items, beware hot seasons for sending items like chocolate and flowers. Shippers need to send them via quicker delivery times when temperatures are over 70-degrees Fahrenheit or pack goods like chocolate in dry ice, which means more money in shipping and handling costs.

-Regardless of what you give, be it a service certificate or product, remember this: Many times people get caught up in their festive environment – and hectic times with newborns, and forget to thank givers. So don’t take it personally and do follow up with a call and / or visit.

Thank you!

By: Sophia Ton
People of all ages with all budget ranges (even free!) can make their own memory books. And here’s how.

-Gather paper for the size book you’d like to create. For regular 3-ring notebook sizing, 8 ½ X 11-inch paper is the best choice. If you have no budget, gather whatever sized paper you can find, then trim to size with scissors and a straight edge (a ruler or book edge will do fine.) Those with a budget can purchase a decorative stationery sheets or printer paper, even with special occasion or other holiday borders. You can search your favorite engine on line for scrap booking supplies, check out office supply stores, dime stores and discount or outlet stores.

-Next get creative: gather together photos and other mementoes you are saving, stickers, colored pencils and markers, corners (that hold photos in place), tape, glue, glitter, ribbons, fabric swatches and any other fun crafting materials you can think of in a shoebox or other storage container.

-Then relax, turn on your favorite tunes, and begin. Focus on one page at a time of your memory book. Choose a focal point - like one main photo or photo grouping. Place them on the page, leaving room for a memory sheet; i.e. your written description of what the page is about. Then when you see there is sufficient room for all, affix everything in place. Finish the page by adding creative touches here and there; for example, sprinkle glitter framing around the photos, glue grandma’s bow at the top of the page, etc.

(more…)

By: Sophia Ton
What is your Baby Book Style?

Baby books come in a variety of styles. Here are popular picks:

Photo Album – No doubt is left in your mind when you pick one of these up. Grandmas generally carry one around in their handbags. Photos, photos, photos - -that’s what they really want to show off! So give them a little baby book album.

(more…)

By: Arthur Lee
A digital baby scrapbook with a print-out tool available for all of the photos, messages and other content would make a great gift for parents, grandparents…anyone. And now you can turn your digital photos into one of these memorable online baby albums in just a few simple steps.

Website Building

You can create a basic website by grabbing a library book with HTML code and using Notepad on your PC, by using software like Microsoft Frontpage or by heading to a 3rd party company who has everything handy for you like GoDaddy.com. There are other options, too, like purchasing a website from someone selling at places like eBay, or purchasing a template from online vendors and revising it with your Notepad or other software on your computer (check with templates to see compatibility.)

Here are basic website features to look for and add to your website:

(more…)

By: Sophia Ton
Babies bring to mind many precious memories from men and women of all ages. Here are many memories captured in quotes from people you may recognize and see your self – and your baby – reflected in, in some small ways.

“It sometimes happens, even in the best of families, that a baby is born. This is not necessarily cause for alarm. The important thing is to keep your wits about you and borrow some money.” - Elinor Goulding Smith

“When babies look beyond you and giggle, maybe they’re seeing angels.” -Quoted in The Angels’ Little Instruction Book by Eileen Elias Freeman, 1994

“A baby is God’s opinion that the world should go on.” ~Carl Sandburg

“Getting down on all fours and imitating a rhinoceros stops babies from crying. (Put an empty cigarette pack on your nose for a horn and make loud “snort” noises.) I don’t know why parents don’t do this more often. Usually it makes the kid laugh. Sometimes it sends him into shock. Either way it quiets him down. If you’re a parent, acting like a rhino has another advantage. Keep it up until the kid is a teenager and he definitely won’t have his friends hanging around your house all the time.” - P.J. O’Rourke

“You know your children are growing up when they stop asking you where they came from and refuse to tell you where they’re going.” - P.J. O’Rourke

“Every baby needs a lap.” - Henry Robin

“A baby is an inestimable blessing and bother.” - Mark Twain

“Having a baby changes the way you view your in-laws. I love it when they come to visit now. They can hold the baby and I can go out.” - Matthew Broderick

“Babies are such a nice way to start people.” - Don Herrold

“Children are supposed to help hold a marriage together. They do this in a number of ways. For instance, they demand so much attention that a husband and wife, concentrating on their children, fail to notice each other’s faults.” - Richard Armour

“If you were to open up a baby’s head - and I am not for a moment suggesting that you should - you would find nothing but an enormous drool gland.” ~Dave Barry

“Little children are still the symbol of the eternal marriage between love and duty.” - George Eliot Romola

Savor your own sayings!

By: Sophia Ton
Personalizing items like memory books shows you’ve taken an extra step and care. But personalizing does not have to mean just adding your name, although it can. Here are ways to add a personal touch to your memory book.

Name Plate – Have a name plate engraved or you add your own printed name plate to the cover.

Special Photo – select a special photo and really go to town on it, making it shine: ask for a reprint, ordered to size for your memory book cover, ask about tinting, getting any red-eye out, trimming for better focal point, zooming in, etc.

Matting – Select a nice matting that coordinates well with your book binding, photos, name plate and any other images and features on the outside of your book.

(more…)

By: Sophia Ton
Some say that perfection is in the eye of the beholder. However, with regards to memory books, there are a few tips that can sure help with the selection of the perfect one.

One Size Fits All – Not here! Find one that suits your style. Are you an avid collector needing lots of writing and photo space as well as space for gluing old greeting cards, postcards and whatnot? If so, either find a large memory book, like a 3-ring binder style with pockets. Or choose multiple-memory books – like maybe one for writing, one just for photos and a pocketed binder for the bigger items.

Compliment Your Style – If you are not a gold and glittery person, don’t choose a memory book with that style. Instead, check out country style patchwork-themed pages and cover, for instance. Or choose pastels or polka dots or beach scenes…but the picture?

(more…)

By: Sophia Ton
There are several different kinds of popular baby memory books that moms like to fill in for keepsakes. And most won’t remain flat for long!

Small semi-soft cover photo album types are popular where you stash away single snap shots each month – then gradually spreading them out to the annual daycare photos. You can also keep tiny snippets of those first curls here and other small mementos – hair ribbons or bows, scalp cap, squashed bootie, etc. Average sized books are about 5.9 x 8.5 x 0.9 inches with a sort of soft, quilted cover…but they sure won’t remain flat for long.

Similarly larger hardcover baby memory books have photo pages for storing copies. Plus they generally feature questions where you fill in the blanks as baby grows up. These are popular because moms (and dads!) like to record first words, favorite foods, during early years, etc. These books run around 11.6 x 9.4 x 0.9 inches, and their binding does allow for some “fluff” as the books expand with hair snips, ribbons, favorite package bows from grandma, etc. But they still grow too big for their bindings!

Other real moments captured by moms with these baby memory books include:

- Favorite greeting cards from family members, co-workers, friends – anyone and everyone!
- Fun package tags that held tiny trinkets like baby booties or rattle.
- Bookmarks for mom, dad or baby.
- Newspaper announcements about baby’s birth!
- First tooth that fell out (unless the tooth fairy took it, of course!)
- Family Trees
- Favorite songs of the times
- Favorite videos / DVDs, movies (like any of Disney’s).
- Silly but cute crafts created during those early years.
- Fun coloring pages.
- Finger painting page – for finger prints as security – plus for fun.
- Nursery swatches
- Photos of everything with baby in them
- Paper dolls and clothes
- Hair clippings
- Vacation mementoes, postcard(s) and brief write up of adventurous time you had.
- Autobiography and history of others in family.
- List of books you read baby

As you can probably tell, just one baby memory book is probably - - OK definitely not going to be enough room for everything. So get real, and get real baby memory books with extra space. Or just get more space for your baby memory books. But do have fun!

By: Sophia Ton
When you think of the little time you have when children are in their early years, it makes you wonder whether or not you really need a baby book. Plus there are so many “physical” memories to add like favorite greeting cards and money folders that you may wonder if there would be enough room in a baby book to hold everything?

You may at least have one handy to record events like first words, first solid foods, first steps, etc. And you can always toss other mementos in a shoe box to use in a baby scrap book later on when time allows.

Another option is to ask grandma or auntie to write fill in everything for you. Chat on the phone or PC (like with instant messaging) or email entries for your helper to cut/paste into the baby book. Then when time eases up on your end – if it does – take over authoring on your own.

Even another option is to “loosely” create your baby book. Head to the office supply store – or shop online – and order some of those 8 ½ X 11 sheet protector sleeves. Then load your memories inside, one year per sleeve or something along those lines, to keep things organized. When you’ve filled a page, insert it into a 3-ring binder in chronological order.

You can do the same thing with an empty shoebox or drawer. Start on the bottom, dumping all your goodies. Then insert pieces of cardboard or colored paper between the years to make time.

Or course you’ll want to only save small, hopefully flat, items. But you know how that goes once those crafting years begin in daycare and preschool years. Then all these goodies itch to be saved:

- First tooth
- First curl & other hair clippings
- Family Trees
- List of favorite songs & books
- List of favorite videos / DVDs / CDs
- Crafts
- Bedroom swatches of carpet, wall paper…
- Pages they’ve colored or painted
- Photos
- Paper dolls and clothes
- Package bows and tags
- Bookmarks
- Newspaper clippings
- Vacation souvenirs
- Family histories

So get with the program! You know you’ll need something to organize all that cute baby stuff. So either get a baby book or two … or start finding creative ways to store your baby mementoes. You’ll want to take a stroll back down memory lane someday!