Baby Nursery Design to really Stimulate your Baby By

To many expectant parents, nothing tells them that their baby's really arriving, quite the way designing a baby nursery can. Parents often get into the details of their baby nursery design with an almost palpable excitement. It's such fun, they feel, to go out together, think about a baby nursery design, think about the theme to put the nursery together to, finding out to make it safe and stimulating at the same time, and so on.

That's right, stimulation happens to be a major theme when it comes to baby nursery design. Go out visiting the baby store to see what's on offer though, and often, the makers of baby toys appear to equate stimulation with flashiness and a lack of subtlety. While that kind of thing certainly is bound to stimulate your baby in a certain way, there are better ways to do it without annoying the child.

You could build stimulation right into the theme of your nursery design. Decorating your baby's nursery in beautiful and interesting colors can be a great way. For instance, consider how pink and blue are the traditional colors to use in a baby's nursery depending on whether it's a boy or girl. Have you ever wondered why products intended for babies are always made in bright primary colors? It's because small children aren't really capable of distinguishing between different colors when they are really young. In fact, up until the time they are three months old or so, black and white are easiest for them to distinguish between. They find colors just confusing and they can ignore them.

Past three months, your child certainly is able to understand color. But she will still have trouble with subtle shades. That's why bright primary colors are a good idea. Try decorating your baby's nursery in bright primary colors and you'll find that since she understands these colors, she will pay more attention to them and find them more stimulating.

Sure, we were all taken in by the Time magazine article all those years ago that said that playing Mozart to your child would make her smarter. Even if it does make your baby smarter, quality music is certain to stimulate your baby's mind because obviously, its something for her to pay attention to. Babies love music. Keep your tot happy and stimulated with music in all kinds of styles.

You dont need to make your child's nursery a veritable domestic branch of Toys-R- Us. A small choice selection of great toys should be enough look for ones that will help your child develop her motor skills. These don't have to be anything fancy balls, building blocks and so on, should do.

Babies are truly anxious (even if they don't look it) to learn language skills. They love to listen to people talking to them and they love to listen when they are read to. A great selection of brightly-illustrated baby books are the greatest stimulant possible. Intelligent baby nursery design for stimulation is all about putting your money where it matters.

Baby High Chairs for every Need

As your baby begins to grow, usually, you find yourself needing different kinds of baby equipment for the different things your baby does. For instance, the moment your baby is old enough to begin on solid foods, she'll need to be in your dining room right next to the table so that she can eat at meal time like everybody else. When it gets to that stage, youll need to be shopping for baby high chairs.

Baby high chairs are a great idea. To begin with, they help your baby sit up at the right height and look everyone in the eye and not feel left out. As for you, it makes it a lot easier for you to feed your baby properly when she's at the right height. Why, when she's at the wrong height, it's often easy to try to feed her without bending (because it gets tiresome), and there's the risk you might send food down the wrong pipe.

So now that you know that baby high chairs are a great idea, what kind do you buy? There are all kinds on the market today made of different materials, to different styles. There are booster seats, infant high chairs, big chairs, small chairs. You basically want something that gets up to the right height, that's adjustable, that isn't too big and sprawling for your kitchen, and perhaps you want something that looks good wherever you plan to place it.

Let's say that you really want a chair that goes with where your child is at, at the moment a really fun place. It's difficult to go wrong with a highchair that's covered in bright colors and fun cartoon prints. Lots of baby high chairs these days come with seat covers that are printed with delightful cartoon shapes. Some of them put the print right on the plastic so that it will cover the tray and the legs as well.

If you're really looking for a highchair that is classically styled and actually beautiful, you couldn't go wrong with wood. Wood is easy to clean, it is heavy and sturdy, and it tends to be difficult to topple. Not to mention, it just feels old-world special.

Some parents like convertible highchairs. These are designed to be turned into whatever you want to make of them at the moment. They can be booster seats, high chairs, stools, what have you. Some of them even convert to baby swings.

Go Shopping for a Baby Highchair

When your baby is ready for this first spoonful of cereal or mashed carrots (yuck!) or other solid food, it's a great thing to have a baby highchair handy. Not only does it make it easy on your back to be able to feed your baby at a level that's comfortable to you, the baby feels good about being the same level as everyone else, too. Babies thrive on attention, and they are often a lot happier with their food when they know that everyone's able to see them.

Also the baby highchair makes for choke-safety too. How many times do you think you'll be able to bend down to the child's level and spoon food in her mouth at the right angle? At some point, you're just going to try to feed her standing upright and send it down the wrong pipe.

Now that we're pretty sure that a baby highchair is good thing, how to choose one? Of course, you need something that's sturdy and impossible for the baby to tip over no matter that she should choose to do a little jig in her chair for joy (why can't we want to ever do that when we're grown up?).

If you're planning to have more children in the future, one of the more expensive models may be a good idea. They last longer. Not to mention, some of the better high-end models are actually able to adapt to your child as she grows.

When you go to the store, you'll find yourself drawn to wooden baby highchairs right away. They're just very beautiful and we all have this image in our heads (perhaps placed there by beautiful pictures in children's books) that highchairs have to be made of wood. But wooden highchairs aren't really a good idea. To begin with, it's often too heavy for a woman to comfortably handle by herself. They don't fold either, often.

And then, they aren't that comfortable for babies, either. For some reason, the designers of these chairs make a point of making them too big for babies. The seats are often too far down the trays are too far up.

Full-featured highchairs have everything you need detachable trays, padded seats, wheels to roll them around, tray inserts to throw in the dishwasher, adjustable everything, and so on. Not surprisingly, these are the most expensive ones.

You could also try a hook-on high chair. If you have a really small kitchen, these chairs can be great they don't stand on their own you just hook them to your kitchen table kind of the way they hook that tray to the door of your car at the drive-in.

You can spend anything from between $50 for the hook-ons to $250 for the best full-featured models. Since there are just way too many variables involved in the making of a safe highchair, make sure that you look for Juvenile Products Manufacturers Association certification.

Think of Great Unique Baby Gifts for Boys

It can be a wonderful thing to do to put a lot of thought into a gift you bring a family that's welcoming a new baby into the world. Putting in the thought required to make a unique gift is the best way to show new parents that the joy they feel is shared all around. It doesn't even have to be a gift that you buy after the baby is born. You can easily buy one for the baby shower or for the first birthday or any of the other memorable events that are sure to come up from time to time. Here are a few ideas for baby gifts for boys that are really unique.

Parents are always on the lookout for something to get their little child that could prove to be entertaining as well as stimulating to the tots senses. Stimulating toys are sure to help the child grow and develop. So if what you need is to look for baby gifts for boys that are unique, try toys that the parents can give the boy when he is strapped into his baby seat at the back of the car. The parents will be amazed that you could think that far. They'll be astounded at the thoughtfulness. Babies in a car seat are typically unhappy and bored in the back. A gift like this could be godsend. Each time the baby giggles because he's playing with a toy back there, the parents will smile.

There's another thing that parents will undoubtedly make use of to entertain and stimulate the baby every day and night it's baby books. Parents can never have enough of these. If you can find a way to think of and look for great unique books that a little boy would like, they would make great baby gifts for boys. Every night when the parents pick up a book up to read to the little one, they'll know it's from you and they'll smile at how smart and thoughtful you gift was. Especially so if you manage to snag that perfect book. And do you realize that baby books are great keepsakes? Children hang on to those books forever. Lots of people at 40 or 50 years old, still have that one special book from their childhood their parents used to read to them.

A well thought-out purchase for the baby nursery can be such a great gift to give especially if it's an article of furniture that they can really use. A rocking chair, swing, a changing table. Make sure though that they don't already have the thing you are planning on buying.

And finally, if one gift won't do, you can always package several together in a baby gift basket. Package it full of baby books for other essentials, and you can be sure you'll make an impression.

Trendy Baby Gift Ideas for Today

There you are, invitation in hand to your best friend's baby shower. And then, you plan later to show up at the hospital to greet her with a big smile and a great gift. You just have one little problem in all of these scenarios you have no real baby gift ideas. Certainly, you could just look up "baby gift ideas" on Amazon or someplace else and go with whatever the search engine came up with. But that's not what you're really looking for. You want some real baby gift ideas of the kind that are considered cool today. Well, let's talk cool gifts.

What do you convey when you gift someone with actual essentials? Will an expecting mother be pleased to receive a gift of baby supplies like diapers and stuff? Well, actually, expecting mothers really freak out about how much all having a baby might cost. Anything that you give that actually helps save on some of the stuff the mother is worried about, is going to be quite a hit. In fact, actual supplies could be great for the shower. To a woman who is anticipating the joy of motherhood any day, for anyone around her to actually pretend that it's happened already by giving her everyday stuff for it can be particularly sweet.

And then there are mothers who actually like something fun. Well, you could choose a baby gift set or gift basket. They make hundreds of kinds of these they are filled chock-full with all kinds of things the baby and the mother will need. Theres usually stuff that could just be fun, like toys, skin-soothing creams and lotions for the mother, and such. They even make baskets for specific purposes boy baskets, girl baskets, bath time baskets, sleep-time baskets the whole lot.

Often, mothers enjoy the pregnancy just as much as the actual birth of the baby herself. A little keepsake something to help remember the pregnancy by can be a sweet way to recognize this fact. You could also give keepsakes of the delivery and first day if the baby a nice digital photo frame with all of the babys first day well-documented in pictures, a little sterling silver pacifier and other such things, can be terribly precious.

Designer gifts are particularly popular as baby gift ideas these days. A Sophie teething giraffe, a designer diaper bags, a set of designer baby care products all of these can be perfect baby gift ideas.

Create Great Memories Your Child with a Baby Easter Basket

Create Great Memories Your Child with a Baby Easter Basket

Some of the fondest memories that children usually carry through life often come from the way they were introduced to family cultural traditions when they were little. Now take Easter; your traditional Easter basket is usually packed full of treats and sweets like chocolate eggs, that are meant for older children. Is there anything you can do for the youngest children in your family the two-year-olds and the three-year-olds? Wouldn't such an early introduction to Easter and its fun traditions really help fill a child with fond memories? Well, you could start creating memories for your child with a baby Easter basket.

What would you put in a baby Easter basket that would be age appropriate? It should be something your child would enjoy and know how to use. There are all kinds of ideas you could make use of. Soft toys and baby snacks would be nice. A children's storybook or three and ian Easter costume wouldn't be a bad idea either.

So let's get started with a baby Easter basket your baby's first. Make sure that you pick in Easter costume to go with the basket. That should really put your child in the spirit.

The first thing you need to do to make a nice baby Easter basket would be to go pick a wicker basket at the store. Try to pick something that's kind of unfinished-looking. Those are the nicest kind. But as you do, you need to look for something that's safe. Make sure that while it's rough, that you don't pick something with sharp edges or anything.

Once you have a basket, you need to line it with something. Some people try being extra traditional by picking something like grass clippings. Pretty clipped grass might look cute lining the bottom of a baby Easter basket. But you do remember that little children have a habit of trying to eat everything. Don't tempt your child. Instead, just line it was a nice soft cloth.

Now comes the fun part what do you fill your baby Easter basket with? Think of all kinds of fun things the favorite snack that your child might always ask for, toys that might be age-appropriate for the stage your baby is at, a few picture books and storybooks that you could read to your child, and so on.

And of course, it's not just a basket with goodies. It's supposed to be something your child can identify with Easter. Deck the basket out with little soft bunny toys and so on, and you should be ready.

Picking the Best Baby Crib Sets for Girls

To many expectant parents designing a nursery for their first baby girl, the baby crib set that they buy works as design inspiration. They use the design of the crib set to build the theme of the nursery around. That's because when you buy a crib set, you have half your nursery's design work done for you. The design experts think of a theme and build the full set on it with matching quilts, mattress, sheets, bed skirts, bumper pads you name it. Sometimes, they also include other nursery decorations in the set too like a diaper stacker, window curtains, and other such stuff. Let's look a little bit closer at how to pick baby crib sets for girls.

Think about it is there any other time in the 20 years or so that your little girl will spend living at home with you that you're going to be allowed to decorate her room? Starting with the time she learns to point and demand, she's going to have her own ideas on what goes into her room. You can be sure that little-girl pink, and flowers are not going to be her idea of coolness.

So grab your chance when you still can (before she's born) and knock yourself out with a darling pink floral theme. They make baby crib sets for girls this way that look feminine as well as sophisticated. The sophistication part of it that should work for her when she's a toddler. It'll keep her a bit unsure about whether she's to nix the room design right then.

Remember that old cartoon character from 50s Harvey comics called Little Dot? She was best friends with Lotta Plump. As you can tell from Dot's name, the whole comic was about how she was dotty over dots. The comic worked because there really is something feminine and precious about polka dots. And the designers of baby crib sets for girls see this. At any baby shop, youll find a number of sets that work on the theme of polka dots and stripes. These happen to be great to mix and match, and they certainly can be spectacularly colorful.

No matter how modern young girls get, they have this thing for being a princess. That's why movies in which regular girls discover that they are really princesses, are such great hits. Well, this little piece of insight hasn't been lost on the manufacturers of baby crib sets for girls. This kind of theme can give the designer of a crib set a great canvas to work with castles, fairies and little fantasy creatures everywhere.

And finally did you realize that all those different colors that you put into your kids nursery don't really make sense because they don't see in color until they're six months old or so? Well, how about a high contrast theme or a black-and-white theme then?

Buying a Baby Crib Mattress

So there you are, with your $150 or so, ready to go out and fetch the best baby crib mattress there is. What should you get? You certainly know what you want in a mattress for yourself. How do you know what your baby will find comfortable? Since your baby is so light, perhaps a firm mattress will feel very hard to her. Perhaps you should get a really soft mattress. Well, there are all kinds of things one can think of, going by common sense.

Buying a baby crib mattress though has to be a scientific decision not a commonsense one. Get a really soft mattress with the reasoning above, and you could actually put your baby in danger. When a mattress is soft, when you baby turns over her sleep, her head can sink into the foam and make breathing difficult. It's scandalous of course that the authorities let this be your decision as a parent. They should just ban soft mattresses altogether. But seeing as how you can practically buy anything you want at this point, it's really up to you to stay on the alert.

So basically, you want a mattress that is soft but not too soft. A good firm innerspring mattress is usually the best kind even if they cost about $200 or so. If you're going to go with a foam mattress, you need to pick something that's made of really dense foam.

How can you tell how dense the foam in a mattress is? They dont really print it on the package. One way to judge the density of the foam used in a mattress would be to just look at how much it weighs. If it weighs 20 pounds, you can be sure that it's dense enough. You could also do an actual pressure test. Press down with the palm of your hand into the mattress for a few seconds and then remove your hand. If your hand was able to leave an impression behind, it's too soft.

Innerspring mattresses that use 15.5 gauge coils and that have about 150 coils in them can be ideal if you're willing to spend the cash. But you don't really want to think about durability too much. Certainly, when you spend all this money, you want a baby crib mattress to last as long as the baby stays in the crib. What you don't want to worry about is keeping the mattress for a baby you may have in the future. Stored mattresses have this nasty habit of collecting mildew and fungus.

It might be difficult buying a baby crib mattress online. There are so many little things you need to pay attention to. First of all, make sure that it's certified by the American Society for Testing and Materials and the CPSC for safety standards. Make sure that there are plenty of venting holes all around the spine. Diapers leak and mattresses can begin to smell really foul if there aren't plenty of air vents. You also want the mattress cover (otherwise known as the mattress ticking) to be really sturdy and nylon-lined.

Keeping an Eagle Eye out for Baby Crib Ratings before

Keeping an Eagle Eye out for Baby Crib Ratings before you Buy

When you go shopping for a baby crib, you're certain to look for a well-known brand name to try to find models that have good reviews and so on. Chances are, that you aren't really looking for the best baby crib ratings before you buy model. Well, the baby crib happens to be just about the most important thing you buy for your baby. And you do want professional advice on what the best model is, dont you?

So what is the best model? Something the baby magazines call the best? While those reviews can be very useful, what you want for a baby is scientific validation for everything you buy. Countless children have been hurt or worse by baby furniture that doesn't meet safety standards. Often, even the major brands forget certain safety standards. What you want is to go by scientifically developed ratings.

So what baby crib ratings should you pay attention to?

To begin with, you want to pay attention to safety, more than anything else. You'll find crib safety ratings on a label hanging off the crib. If you're buying online, you want to do a bit of research on the manufacturers website to do with what it says on the label, as your online store may not publish this information. The most important thing to affect how safe a crib is, is how the bars on the crib are spaced.

That's about the main area of danger in a crib that the bars are so wide apart that your baby could get her head stuck in there. There are other safety related areas of how a crib is constructed that can make it unsafe too. Look for ratings for quality of paint used, for how heavy the crib is so that your baby can't somehow tip it over, and so on.

Once you have the safety angle taken care of, you can look to online user reviews to see how good the ownership experience is likely to be for the crib you have in mind. There have been countless sitcom episodes out there that have played a theme of how difficult baby equipment can be to assemble once you get it home. Be sure that you go with something that's not unduly complicated.

It's a funny thing that some makers of baby cribs will make them in nonstandard sizes. Now that might be just fine if it weren't for the fact that you need them to be a standard size so that you can find a mattress to put in there. What do you do if you find that every mattress out there is 4 inches too small for your crib? You certainly do need to pay attention to this.

Making the Right Choice in Baby Changing Tables

You'll find at the baby furniture section of the store that baby changing tables come in every kind of design. Some of them are large multifunction changing solutions with a storage unit built into the bottom and the sides, while others are compact and super sleek. A changing table is the first thing you want to buy when youre out shopping for baby furniture. While a baby crib may not be something your baby will prefer to sleep in for the first couple of months, baby changing tables, you'll find, certainly see a lot of use from minute one.

A new baby for the first couple of months will easily poop 15 times a day. If you don't have a well-organized changing solution for your baby, you'll quickly find that things get thoroughly out of hand. When you compare baby changing tables, make sure that you consider not just how convenient it's likely to be, but also how safe its design is.

The thing is, baby changing tables are not strictly considered baby furniture. They're just considered regular furniture used for baby purposes. For this reason, the law doesn't look as closely at baby changing tables as it does at baby cribs. What that means is, that it's really up to you to make sure that your choice of changing table is indeed safe.

The first thing you want to look for in a purpose-built changing table is how difficult the design makes for a baby to just roll off when you're looking away for a second. A properly-built changing table should have two-inch-high raised edges to prevent this from happening. In fact, a changing table that has harnesses to secure your baby with while youre doing your thing should be the safest.

It's easy to make good-looking furniture these days with very light particleboard. Make sure that you don't go anywhere near these things for furniture for your baby. You want sturdy stuff that's steady on its legs and that can never be knocked over easily no matter what. Some changing tables come with wheels built-in. If that's the case with the model you're looking at, make sure that they are easy to lock securely.

Finally, you want to check how large the changing table is, so that it'll fit into the space you have at home marked out for it. But apart from that, try to get something with storage drawers and cupboards. You really will have plenty of stuff to store.

Getting through into a Baby Casting Call

Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera, Justin Timberlake there are some children who just have their whole lives mapped out for them because their parents chose to answer a baby casting call. Well, it could turn out really well for some children. If your child seems to have a real ease with the unblinking eye of the camera, it just might be a good idea to go answer a baby casting call.

In the Michael J Fox movie Life with Mikey, you do see how desperate some parents get coaching their children to within an inch of their lives to give them into some kind of significant production. As long as answering a baby casting call doesn't mean that a child will have to go through that, it's a great choice to make to introduce a child to show business.

There are all kinds of casting organizations out there that look day and night for the right kind of face and personality, too. They're always searching for the right baby to use in a print ad, on television, a store catalog or a magazine.

If you catch such an advertisement making a baby casting call, your first step is to learn as much as you can about the opportunity as possible. There are lots of parents out there who are desperate for a chance, and scam artists know this. There are plenty of scammy businesses out there that will try to rob you of a little money in exchange for a little hope that you'll be invited to some big audition.

Any time anyone claiming to be an agent or a talent manager comes to you and asks for anything to do with money, you have to quickly know that you're being conned. That's the number one rule with these things that you never have to pay to win and audition even if it's with Disney.

When you're actually there with a genuine casting call in hand, you want to prepare you baby to look her best for the big day. Make sure that she sleeps well in time the night before so that she's fresh and quite herself. Try not to put any pressure on her children don't respond well to that kind of thing. You don't have to be very nervous about how you well your child ends up performing at the audition. The casting director knows fully well how moody babies can be. And they'll be understanding.

They also know how to look through whatever unhappy mood your child may be in at the point and see how well she can do for the project on hand. Be sure that you come in prepared with your baby's portfolio all those shiny photos of the baby smiling and having fun. You did remember to bring it, didn't you?

All about Baby Boy Clothes

Babies are really bundles of joy and when another set of parents gets the chance of welcoming a baby into the world it is often something worth celebrating. Among the things that parents of a newborn will be thinking about are baby clothes. To be frank, many parents do not have a problem shopping for baby girls but when it comes to baby boy clothes many parents will be found scratching their heads. This is because in the past there was the notion that there is not much that one can get when they decide to buy clothes for the baby boys except for the standard stuff.

These days however, the situation has changed dramatically and now there are more choices for baby boys and they range from the trendy clothes made by designers to the traditional variety. The traditional clothes in this instance include dungarees, tee shirts and sleep suits.

It is a well known fact that baby boys are usually very hard on their clothes and it is therefore very important that one buys clothes that are made from tough materials. This will prevent the early wear and tear that is usually associated with boys. Babies also tend to grow very fast ad it is therefore advisable that a person only buys a few clothes for a start to prevent them from getting stuck with a bunch of clothes that have become useless. As opposed to the past when blue was the main color that was chosen when buying baby boy clothes, these days parents have gone a step further and are experimenting with different colors for their baby.

When shopping one should also follow suit and buy clothes of different colors to give their childs wardrobe a variety. The comfort of the baby is another consideration and one should only dress their baby in what will make them fell comfortable the whole day.

Baby clothes that are in step in fashion are quite ideal for dressing the baby. It is therefore important that one goes through fashion magazines to determine the trendy baby boy clothes their children should wear.

Another source of updates on what is going on in the baby world is the internet. One can get so much attention from the internet about the latest trends as well as the best places to get the clothes. If one wants to buy clothes they should go to specialty stores that only deal in baby clothes and here they will get all the help they need. The mall is another great place for one to visit if they want to buy the best clothes for their baby boy. Consider all these and have only the best for the lucky baby boy.

Should you Buy a Baby Bouncer or a Baby Swing?

Should you Buy a Baby Bouncer or a Baby Swing?

Should you buy a baby bouncer or a baby swing if you want a way to soothe your child when she's acting up? Each one of these baby pacifying devices has specific advantages. While they both work quite well giving busy parents a helping hand when they are busy and need to pacify an agitated child, you do want to think of what works best for your specific situation. If you're trying to weigh a baby bouncer against a baby swing, here's what you need to know to make the right choice.

The first thing you need to consider making your choice is how much room you have. If you live in cramped quarters at home, you'll notice right away that a regular baby swing kind of takes up a lot of space. While there are portable baby swings that you can buy that you can just fold up and put away when you dont need them, you'll find that most regular baby swings just take up too much room and are very difficult to move from one place to another. If you're looking for space-saving design, you really need to go with the baby bouncer.

Now let's come to the actual way each device entertains your kid. The swing uses a different kind of motion when compared to the bouncer. It really depends on what kind of motion your baby tends to prefer. It's all down to individual choice here. Swings, as you might have probably seen, move in a back-and-forth motion or a side-to-side motion. And as you might guess by how they've named baby bouncers, those just bounce they do a quick pick-up-and-drop motion. You might try bouncing your baby on your knee or rocking her in your arms to see what kind of motion she seems to prefer. The kind device you buy should completely depend on what your baby prefers.

There happens to be a price difference between the two kinds, too. Bouncers are not motorized devices. They don't need any kind of power source. You just set one in motion with a quick push of your hand, and it keeps going. And sometimes, they equip with some models with the music and lights to keep your child entertained. You might need batteries for then. For the bouncing itself, there are no batteries required. Swings on the other hand, usually work with batteries to run the motor.

Of course, a motorized device is always going to be more expensive than a hand-operated one. You can get a basic bouncer for $25 or less. Even the fanciest model cannot set you back by more than $100. Baby swings inhabit a price range that's much higher the cheapest baby swing will set you back about $50.

A Baby Birth Announcement Doesn't Have To Be a One-Time

A Baby Birth Announcement Doesn't Have To Be a One-Time Thing, You Know

Remember how it used to be with a baby birth announcement? Basically, your announcement started and ended in the waiting room at the hospital when you handed cigars out to everyone. Sometimes, you would send out cards to friends and family. Or the hospital would take care of the standard newspaper baby birth announcement in the Births section for free. These days however, things have changed somewhat, it's safe to say. It isn't uncommon these days for parents to start up a Facebook page for their new baby (talk about setting the wrong example).

While the baby Facebook page isn't that common yet (thankfully), the baby birth announcement going out on the social networks is pretty common. Parents take to their own social networking accounts and really work hard to spread the word. Facebook and Twitter are particularly popular, as might be expected. And then there is that text message thing where you can text-blast everyone on your contacts list or send out e-mail.

Most interesting of all, parents don't believe these days that a baby birth announcement has to be a one-time thing. That probably sounds interesting to you how do you announce the baby more than once, you're asking yourself.

The thing is, you only have a problem with this if you consider a baby as having been born, only once she's born. What if it's not a single event to you but a process? Some adventurous parents of course put the entire birth out on YouTube live. While most parents are too squeamish to do that, they will easily set up a live feed on Facebook and put out a second-by-second update on everything that's happening, as it happens. The father stands by with an iPhone or something and keeps the live updates going.

Some parents get on Skype using a smartphone, free Wi-Fi at the hospital and the Skype app. All their friends come on during the birth, and everyone shares the experience. See an announcement doesn't have to be a one-time thing. It can be a process.

Other parents have even better ideas how about starting a website or a baby blog, they wonder. They sit down and design a website or a blog, put in everything they can think of on there and keep it updated all the time. Everything from the babys sonogram pictures to the babys first cry everything goes recorded forever on the website.

One wonders what the children born today will do with technology and baby announcements when they have their own babies.

Should you get Auto Focus Binoculars?

Auto focus binoculars really shouldn't be called that; even self-focusing binoculars isn't a name that does the product justice. The thing is, when you hear that name, you think of something like a modern autofocus camera something with a system of motorized lenses, sensors and so on. With auto focus binoculars, you get a product that's not even as versatile as regular binoculars that come with a focus wheel. What you get is something akin to the disposable box camera you had as a child a system where everything is fixed and always in focus, near or far. The more accurate term for this product therefore would be fixed focus binoculars.

Buy a pair of these auto focus binoculars, and you find that it acts like a kind of magnifying glass everything that's about 30 feet and beyond is magnified for your viewing pleasure and your entire depth of field is always in focus. So should you buy them? Will they serve your needs?

The good thing with these binoculars is that since there are no moving parts involved and no set of lenses to move with precision, they are less prone to failing. These are also much easier to make waterproof or dustproof. If you have an adventure trek in mind up the mountains or in other harsh places autofocus binoculars would be an excellent choice. These are what the military usually uses.

These are also extremely convenient when you're trying to follow fast-moving things. If you're out bird watching for instance, a darting animal or bird is something you would want to look at in an instant. You would hardly have time to fiddle with a focus wheel to get the thing in question into focus. You just want to grab something for a quick look. Fixed focus binoculars would be perfect for this. It could also be extremely liberating to just be able to grab something and go with no adjustments to make.

So if you are convinced that this is the product for you, what brand would you go for? Auto focus binoculars were first made for the mass market about 65 years ago by an American company called Jason. The name Jason even became a generic name for all such cameras. But then, Bushnell bought them out. You could probably not go wrong buying Bushnell 7x50 Marine Binoculars today. These don't get called Marine for no reason. They are so waterproof, they'll actually float. You could also not go wrong with similar products by Steiner.

Learning to Collect Antique Hand Tools

Certainly, people who are handy with their tools can go to the DIY section of a home improvement store and salivate over all the high-quality tools their are on display. There's another side to the love of tools you see in those who really love working with their hands the love of antique hand tools that they just have to collect.

The surprising thing with antique hand tools today is that these aren't as much of a niche item as you might expect. These have been gaining in popularity not just among collectors but among actual people who choose to buy these over something brand-new to get actual work done. There's so much interest currently in antique hand tools that there is research being done, there are books being written and there are fan clubs being formed all the time.

What gets a collector started collecting antique hand tools?

Have you ever seen one of those bumper stickers that go "Engineers build the world"? That's probably an engineer in the driver's seat; nevertheless, fans of antique hand tools look at their collection and think that it's these early tools that have helped bring the world where it is today. From the Mona Lisa to the space shuttle to the iPod, everything in the world started with these hands tools. And it ives these collectors a shiver of excitement to get back to the roots of the modern world.

The great thing about getting into such an area of interest is that you get to meet all these people around the country and the world who share your interest. Being a collector of any description is a great way to meet people.

If you've been into tools for a while, you have to wonder at some point if you're ever going to have seen it all. Even well-seasoned toolies from time to time come across something that's been purpose-built for a job that they never thought had a dedicated tool before. The technical name they have for it of course is the ever-convenient stand-in, "Doohickey".

So how do you actually get into collecting antique hand tools? Where do you start? Usually, starting with a brand name is a good idea. You identify a classic toolmaker something well loved like a Stanley or a Windsor or a Miller for instance and you start collecting their tools. The idea here would be to collect everything from the one manufacturer that you've picked. Pick a brand like Stanley and you really set yourself up for a demanding hobby there are thousands of tools under that brand name. For sanity's sake, you could do something like confining yourself to a particular kind of tool by the maker.

There are all kinds of other possible involvements in antique hand tools that you could get into. Some try to track the evolution of a toolmaker and learn everything possible about tools by that maker.These are other people who can take a look at a tool and identify it right away. Others try to gain expertise in the artistry that is to be seen in tools. These are people who admire the esthetic in how tools look. The Art of Fine Tools by Sandor Nagyszalanczy explains how this is done.

You could collect antique hand tools as a kind of investment. If you have a rare tool in good condition, it could fetch tens of thousands dollars. If the tool has been provably owned by someone famous, that could add to its value. You'll find a great market for antique tools on eBay.

Following the Interesting Turns of Early American Furniture

One of the best ways you have of understanding American furniture is to see the style involved as a reflection of America eclectic a blend of many different kinds of influences from around the world. Seeing American furniture as an invigorating and exciting mishmash of artistic talents, styles and influences from every corner of the world that immigrants have arrived in America from can make a lot of sense.

The American furniture style got its start when the Pilgrims first set foot on American soil in 1620 and brought a few sticks of furniture with them from the Old World. The furniture they brought took the solid and overly-serious style of the time. It was known as the Jacobean style, and it came from England. Later on, the Jacobean style became the first kind of American furniture. It was mostly oak and walnut, and you can recognize this kind of furniture today by the solidness of its build, it's simplicity of design and it's strong, squat and massive proportions.

A lot of American furniture in the Jacobean style was so thick and solid, it allowed its designers to opt for carving as opposed to inlay work. The carving was usually of geometric design. You can always instantly recognize a bed of the Jacobean style. These are intimidatingly massive four-poster beds that can be completely covered up in heavy material to keep the cold out.

But it wasn't all luxury for the Pilgrims at all. Antique furniture stores that specialize in American furniture today still keep truckle beds low, mean beds on wheels that were meant for servants or children. These were typically stored under the massive four-poster beds and pulled out when needed.

For the most part, austerity was the way life was lived in pre-Colonial America. Seating arrangements were mostly done with stools instead of chairs. Often, the stools of the time were used alternatively as tables and step stools too.

Most chairs of the early 17th century era were extremely spartan affairs. What they called armchairs for instance, offered no cushioning whatsoever. In fact, they were just side chairs with wooden arms stuck on as an afterthought. Their chairs generally came in solid back and slatted-back designs. One of the finer designs in chairs of the time, the banister back chair that was built with wide upright slats, and there was rich carving on the crest.

As conditions began to improve towards the end of the 17th century, the Restoration Period in furniture design in England began. Designs that followed these influences shortly began to show up in America. This furniture was less ponderous, lighter and a lot more richly decorated.

Is there a Viable Alternative to Cable TV?

A customer's unfavorable reaction to bad behavior by a company doesn't usually worry anyone at the company at first. Even a thousand customers turning away from a company every year wouldn't worry them if they were large enough. Last year though, about half a million cable TV subscribers dropped out. They weren't even dropping out of one cable company to hitch themselves to another. They were dropping out altogether looking for an alternative to cable TV.

They couldn't have done this before; there was just no alternative to cable TV that was particularly desirable. Today, you can just hop online and for $8 a month, watch movies to your hearts content on Netflix to catch individual television episodes from iTunes, Hulu and many other sources. It can be cheap (on the off-chance that you aren't stealing your cable), reliable and less frustrating. Before you actually go and cut the cord though, you should probably live with every alternative to cable TV that there is to see if it works for you.

Your first option would be to get an HDTV antenna. This should make television feel like television not something you download all the time. With an over-the-air antenna, you'll be able to flip channels and watch whatever comes. The quality can be staggeringly good for an antenna you buy for $10.

So what exactly do you do if you are a television show fan more than anything else? What do you do if the Daily Show or NCIS or any of the other great television programming you get with cable TV are what rock your boat? Of course, all the episodes of everything are available online 24 hours after they are shown on TV. You'll get almost everything you want on Hulu. Search engines like Sidereel and Clicker help you find the exact episode you need, too. And Netflix is starting to offer television shows like SNL too.

Many people who consider cutting the cord often think at first that this will mean that they need to give up their big-screen TV and stick to the computer monitor. Nothing could be farther from the truth. Not only can you connect your computer directly to your big-screen TV through HDMI, you can use devices like your PlayStation, your Xbox your Blu-ray player are Apple TV or any other to connect to the Internet with your TV too.

And finally, you have to realize that the alternatives to cable don't work for everybody. It all depends on what kind of watching you do. If you're a sports fan more than anything else, you'll have a hard time getting all your favorite games. On the other hand, if you're a movie or television show fan, you can do very well for yourself.

What you should know about all inclusive trips to Mexico

What you should know about all inclusive trips to Mexico

Mexico is known all over the world as one of the most interesting and lively holiday destinations and this is why many people will be found trooping to the country in numbers during the holiday seasons. There are many ways through which one can get into Mexico, but this is for people who can afford the trips the conventional way. As for people who want to go to Mexico on a shoe string budget the best route to take will be all inclusive trips to Mexico. As their name suggests, all inclusive trips include quite a number of things and these include snacks and meals, drinks and accommodation. As far as meals are concerned, one should expect to have things like grills and buffets.

Some packages also include interesting excursions and activities. The best activities that can be found at most of the resorts are sailing, kayaking, fitness centers, snorkeling and pool side games. In some of the expensive resorts, beauty and spa services are offered as well. The packages can be found at particular resort locations.

When most people are thinking of travelling to Mexico it is important that they know about some of the best resort areas where they can have a great time. Among the best places in Mexico that one can have a great time include Cancun, Cozumel and Acapulco bay. While the resorts in these areas were the reserve of only politicians, millionaires and film stars, these days most people can afford them. This is mainly thanks to issues of the economy as well as the healthy competition among the various airlines and resorts. The fact that affordability of most things differs from one person to another is also considered in Mexican resorts because they have different packages at different costs. For instance there are basic packages that only include drinks, food, accommodation and airport transfers.

On the other hand there are more costly packages that also include things like sea views, a private pool in a detached villa, driver/limo, business services, beach cottage and concierge. Therefore one should not be afraid of the cost when they are thinking of all inclusive trips to Mexico.

When planning a trip for a Mexican vacation its important to take some time to know about the place that one is going so as not to get lost once there. Having some knowledge of the place will also help a person to get along with the natives to their advantage. Buying a bunch of maps is a good way of starting and so is knowing a few words in the local language as this usually serves as an ice breaker in many instances. Finally, if travelling with kids it will also be wise to carry along items that will keep them busy along the way to avoid boredom. Now there is no reason why people should not be rushing to buy tickets for all inclusive trips to Mexico.

Readjusting our Alcohol Addiction Facts

At one time, back when modern medicine was just starting, a century ago, scientists and medical professionals didn't have the right alcohol addiction facts to work with. It was routine back then to diagnose alcohol addiction as a kind of disease. That kind of outlook persisted for so long that even today, when science knows better, that kind of feeling still persists in the medical community. And it makes it difficult for alcoholics to get diagnosed and treated properly.

The problem with seeing alcohol addiction as a disease is that it makes it more acceptable. People begin to think of an alcohol abuser as someone who's just a bit ill someone who isn't really responsible for his condition. They begin to expect less from him.

As for the alcoholic, having incorrect alcohol addiction facts to rely on makes him want to try less hard to quit. He also feels that since it's a real disease, it's really nothing that can be helped. He feels it's a permanent part of this system. To describe it as a disease works both ways though.

People who are addicted who do want to escape their addiction are encouraged to find a way to find a cure. People who arent interested in leading a normal life on the other hand take encouragement in the "disease" label to just continue to be the way they are.

To follow current scientific alcohol addiction facts does not require giving up looking at alcoholism as a disease altogether though. It means that the disease label has to be taken in perspective. Upbringing and other social causes can have as much effect.

The other problem with overreliance on the disease model is that it gives addicts an excuse to completely rely on a professional opinion. As anyone who's been to a psychiatrist for trouble with depression or anything else will tell you, it can be hard to find any two psychiatrists agreeing on a diagnosis. Since psychiatrists only have a little time with a patient, it can be hard for them to really tell what's going on. The patient's family on the other hand can be much clearer on how serious the problem is even if they have no professional training.

Calling alcoholism a disease makes alcoholics wonder if they can't find a doctor who will weigh in with a professional opinion that they aren't alcoholic. It isn't difficult to find such a doctor.

Basically, scientists now are recommending that we readjust our alcohol addiction facts so that we give personal experience and knowledge as much weight as we do a professional opinion.

Use Your Imagination and Picking the Right Advertising Promotional Products

Use Your Imagination and Picking the Right Advertising Promotional Products for Your Company

There are all kinds of things that you could do with your advertising budget if you were in charge of it. Have you noticed though how even the largest corporations often resort to the use of advertising promotional products to get their name out there?

That's right, Google, Microsoft, Boeing, McDonald's the list of companies that use advertising promotional products to make sure they remain popular, reads like the who's who of the world of big business. That alone should be sign enough that the use of promotional products with the name of your business printed on them could be an advertising strategy that works.

It doesn't just work with the big boys either. The kind of return on investment you receive investing in advertising promotional products can nearly be second to none. Consider a simple example for instance.

You run a small local pizza delivery service. Certainly, you do know who your potential customer base is it's the people who live within a 10 mile radius the distance you can deliver to within 30 min. Distribute promotional bottle openers or salt shakers or refrigerator magnets things people would use around their food to those people and you're constantly going to make sure that they associate your business name (helpfully printed on those products youve given away) with food.

Since you'll mostly be giving those freebies away to customers who walk in or those who call to order, you can be sure that youre only targeting people who are actually in the habit of ordering food in your area. It's about the most efficient use of advertising dollars anyone can think of to advertise to those who are already converted.

There is a great deal of creative freedom to exercise in the actual choosing of a product to give away. Usually, for the best effect, you want to pick something that the receiver would tend to use often. A business that wants to be associated with a certain class of customer might want to give away promotional golfing gloves. They wouldn't want to give golf balls away because one tends to lose those. A travel agent or an airline ticketing agency might want to give away sunscreen, for instance. The more thoughtful and well-thought out the gift, the better the effect that it will have.

There are all kinds of places that you could give them away at, too. Just think that of all the places that youve personally received advertising promotional products. Businesses give them away at trade shows, at fundraising events, they throw something in when they deliver an order to a customer, and so on. It doesn't even have to be expensive. Buy a book online, and they often send it to you with a simple cardboard bookmark with the company's name printed on it. They can be as simple and as effective as that.

Learning to Advertise Blog you Write

If you run a blog of your own, it's probably safe to say that keeping your blog interesting, retaining the readership you have and getting new readership on a regular basis are all things that tend to be on the top of your mind. Now no matter how new you are to this, you probably know that if it is drawing in readership that youre looking at, you need to get the word out about your blog. You need to advertise blog posts that you publish from time to time.

About the easiest (and the free-est) way of doing that, of course, would be to visit blogs and websites that you would imagine your potential audience might enjoy. You could leave word there about how your website was something those readers might want to visit. Now that's a great way to advertise blog sites. But somehow, lots of blog owners happen to screw this one up.

The thing is, often, they go and waste their efforts trying to advertise blog posts they write, on websites that aren't right for their purposes. For instance, what use would it be do you think if they headed for a website or blog that wasn't all that popular? That would be like putting your advertisement on a TV show that aired at 3 AM. It might be a very good show, but what use is it to you immediately, if no one watches it? If the website that you're aiming your efforts at gets just a handful of visitors everyday, what are the chances that the beautifully-worded comment you leave at the end of some article there with the name of your blog included, will get read?

How do you know how many visitors the website you're visiting has though, when strategizing about it? Well, how about trying the site out on Alexa or maybe trying out the PageRank it gets? That could work.

Would you believe that there are blog owners and webmasters who believe that they could advertise the blog posts they write just about anywhere at all? What would it be like for instance, if a blog that tries to write about the New York Knicks goes and leaves comments on a site called FashionFirst? You'd think they'd see that it wouldn't be much use, but they don't. They reason that there must be a few Knicks fans among those fashionistas. Go figure.

But to merely target a blog that dealt in the same general subject that you did wouldn't entirely be enough. To really target your efforts at the very kind of people who tend to usually be interested in your blog, look at the kinds of keywords that your blog generally tends to target. And search for blogs that answer to those very keywords. That would really be targeted advertising.

But of course, sometimes, if you really know your target audience, you really could get away with deviating from the straight and narrow a little bit. For instance, if you're still writing about the Knicks, and you know your readership well enough to make an educated guess as to the kind of incidental interests they might have food websites, entertainment websites and so on leaving comments there wouldn't be a bad idea, really.