IMG: Amazon.com

Christmas Themed Outfits- I know not everyone likes these so I’m including some that are very traditional and others that are just cute. Up first we have your traditional baby dressed as Santa
and a tiny Santa in a bunting outfit. What do you think? Are they cute?

Now here are two that would be beautiful on a toddler girl, of course the romper could also be good for a boy. As you can see one is a bit more fancy than the other but some girls are totally girly while others aren’t.

Toys: Whether you are getting these for your own baby, your grandchild or just the babies in your office one of them will surely be a winner. My favorite is the Busy Zoo Activity Center, mine have loved them both at home and doctor’s offices. When it comes to toys for babies I always lean more towards educational products and I have a love for anything Leapfrog, Little Tykes or Baby Einstein.

Finally lets not forget the baby furniture, diapers, diaper bags and of course bottles or breastfeeding equipement that might be needed. Many times people overlook the mom in these cases, however just a few items can make her day a little easier. For those going back to work after the baby is born she may really like a high class breastfeeding pump to help her out.

Since we were just talking about them I found a beautiful Sorelle Tuscany Convertible Crib – Cherry
that comes with the whole diaper changing pad, dresser, etc and looks amazing. It’s rich in a cherry color and costs $431.26 right now which is marked down from almost $600.

Post from: Babylune

IMG: TLC

The divorce papers were signed yesterday and Jon was even banned from making any money on television. Curious as to how he will make the child support payments if he can’t be on tv…maybe he’ll sell his face.

The big question however should be how are the kids coping with this new adjustment, their entire world has been flipped upside down and right side up. Truth is they probably hated the cameras in their face all the time, but  to them these people would’ve been like their family. These are faces they saw every day and suddenly they went away. According to an interview Kate recently did she finally came clean with them and told them their show had been canceled and that the kids cried the entire way home from school. I think this would’ve been the hardest part, they never even got to say goodbye, these kids have known these crew members since they were babies. Hopefully they’ll adjust quickly to all this.

Post from: Babylune

IMG: Newscom

c-section had to be done and the baby girl was born 3 months early. With all that being stated the baby is in stable condition and mom is still recovering.

So far it has been kind of hush-hush and we got to hear of the birth and that mom and baby were recovering, however new news has come out. Doctors sound worried that if Michelle Duggar had anymore pregnancies many things could go wrong.

Doc. Harper told ABCNews of the following issues:

-  The more children you have, the more likely the placenta will implant in an inopportune place such as over the cervix (placenta previa). “You run the risk of developing problems with the placenta attachment,” Harper said. 

-  stretches the mother’s pelvic muscles and ligaments, sometimes to the point of causing uncomfortable or embarrassing problems.

-  Moms who’ve had multiple pregnancies usually have short labors. 

- ”The abdominal wall will lose all tone, causing intestinal hernias as well as putting intestines at risk for volvulus [a bowel twisted in a loop],” 

I must agree with the second one, while I’ve only given birth to four I have experienced a quicker birth with each child and I deliver pizzas. (30 minutes or less)

Of course there is always the risk of death or bleeding. Some doctors believe it isn’t how many kids a woman has but the age at which she has them. It is believed that babies will be born with genetic abnormalities such as down syndrome. With all this in mind and the loss of life to a mother of 19 children, do you think she should have more kids?

Do you think she’ll do any operations that would prevent her from getting pregnant in the future? Or will she risk it? Honestly I hope she tries to prevent it, I’d hate to see this kill her or hurt her family.

Post from: Babylune

IMG: Ferree

Finally, when it was all done I strung up the new lights. A few days later we made Reindeer Candy Canes with the kids and had them hang them on the tree.

Today he found the rest of the candy canes that had not been used in the arts and crafts session. What did he do with it? No, he didn’t eat them, instead he put them all on the tree and clapped for himself. He was so proud that he decorated the Christmas tree all by himself. I couldn’t help but smile, clap and of course take a picture.

Here are a few tips for getting toddlers to help with decorating the tree and keep them safe doing it:

- Ask them if they want to put something on. My advice is don’t give them something breakable, just in case it falls.

- tinsel isn’t always good. But if it must be done watch your child closely. This is a fun item to toss on the tree, even for little ones but you need to make sure they don’t stick it in their mouth or wrap it around their finger.

- No turning on the lights. Explain to them they can’t turn on the lights, the plugs are OFF-LIMITS. My son always runs for the plug if we haven’t turned the lights on, no matter how much we tell him no. Now we have been hiding the plug inside the tree to give us that few minutes to stop him.

- Make sure the tree is steady. You know little ones, he/she may try pulling on one of the branches. Check the tree and see if it is steady, sometimes those screws don’t always go into the trunk right. If it is a fake tree you know the legs don’t always lay straight. One thought might be to use fishing line or floss and hang it to the ceiling from the top of the tree just to make sure it won’t tip over.

- Get a fake mini tree. If your tree doesn’t seem to be left alone, you may want to try to get your little one their own small tree about their height so they can decorate it and feel like it is something that they can touch. You’ll be amazed at how easy it is to forget about the big one.

Post from: Babylune

I don’t know about you but my girls have yet to wear high heels and they are 6 and 9. I know as an adult that it is easy to lose your balance and to have heels on can make it that much easier to trip. Why allow my kids to do it until they can wear regular shots with a flat that has just a soft heel to it. No way would I ever allow them to have the type of heels that Suri has been seen in.

A NY Podiatrist recently told FoxNews that Katie and Tom were hurting Suri by allowing her to wear these dangerous shoes. Here’s the statement:

“A common side effect of adults wearing heels too often is the tightening or shortening of the Achilles tendon,” Zong told FoxNews.com “At Suri’s age, children are growing quickly, and you want everything growing at the same rate. If the tendon is not growing at the same rate as everything else, it could become a problem.”

What do you think? I think the risk would be her taking a stumble and hurting herself that way, or maybe hurting the arches in her feet. Not sure if that can happen though.

Here’s Katie Holmes’ Response:

“They are actually ballroom dancing shoes for kids,” she said. “I found them for her and she loves them.  She, like every little girl – she loves my high heels,” she said.

Yes, every little girl loves dressing up, but they normally do this indoors and not running all around town.

IMG: Amazon.com

Post from: Babylune

This has made me wonder if babies don’t have some type of thing where they think they are the only ones. I mean obviously they learn there are others out there, but NOT others in your home. Any picture of a younger child is a picture of them, any picture of a sibling that doesn’t look like they do now is not them. Could this be because they haven’t seen a sibling’s looks change? Possibly. Even if you have a small chronicalogical (sp) album of just the baby and let him/her flip through it they will not believe.

The above picture is Little A looking at SoccerBoy’s picture album. He got really into it and took over an hour looking at the pictures.

Post from: Babylune

IMG: Sxc.hu

Toys R Us:
You didn’t think Toys R Us would leave you out on this special sale day now did you? Of course they wouldn’t, in fact there are a ton of toys you can grab today to place under your tree. If the link does not work, go to www.toysrus.com click on 60% off Cyber Monday Sale and then the toy section you are looking for.
-  60% off a ton of stuff baby toys, stuffed animal and play houses.

Amazon:- Playskool has a coupon deal for you, when you spend $50 you’ll get $10 off: PLAYSAVE
- Fisher-Price has a coupon code for you, spend $100 (toys) save $20 off: FPSAVE20
- LeapFrog toys get 25% off read more here: Leapfrog deal

BabyUniverse:
- Buy 4 wipes, get 1 FREE
- 70% toddler furniture (toddler beds, chests, etc)
- 50% baby furniture (cribs, diaper changing tables, etc)
- 70% off toys
- 75% off slings
-  60% off infant swings

Babies R Us:
-  50% off name brand carriers, slings, diaper bags,  stroller, booster seats, high chairs, etc
-  Free infant swing with Gear collection purchase.
-  $5 off a variety of baby items, plus you can always match up diaper coupons with these that you already have. Woo hoo!!
-  $4.99 Fisher-Price Happy Days 50 count diaper size 1

Hope these help someone out there, I’m off to blow out some candles.

Post from: Babylune

IMG: Sxc.hu

It doesn’t matter how hard it has been up to this point, it matters that you are still here and so is that little one sitting next to you.

Tonight, I can’t help but smile at that sleeping 2-year-old that is in my arms right now as I type. The wisp of hair that has went into his eyes to even the chapped lip he grabbed earlier today. It’s cold here and even though he wore chapstick he still managed to get it chapped. I’m even thankful to the way he acts, it proves that he has personality, even though the “no” and defiance can drive me up the wall. I am thankful to have him as well as his other three siblings in this home. Each one has a special place in my heart, at one point I wondered (during each pregnancy) if I’d have room in my heart to love another, sure enough I do.

I’m thankful to each one, for the love they share with me and give me every day and to you my dear readers here at Babylune. Happy Thanksgiving!!

Post from: Babylune

IMG: Eliza Ferree

which was extremely soft but looks so incredibly sad.  Little A hasn’t put the dog down and even takes him to the store, thankfully he doesn’t have to bring him in the store. He ran up to me earlier to tell me, “Awww mom, puppy sad. Look.” He showed me the sad face but then went on playing with him. Later I took the puppy and felt how soft he was, I guess he was really soft as I fell asleep on the couch with him.

Little A also got a tiny little elephant teething toy that would be great for babies, especially since it is so soft.  Check out all the other types of soft stuffed animals they have.

IMG: IKEA

Last year the IKEA Soft Toy program rose over $7 million with these colorful animals that donate 1 euro ($1.47) to UNICEF and Save the Children with every toy purchased November 1 through December 24. This year by visiting www.IKEA.com/SoftToysAid,kids and adults can interactively play with their favorite soft toy character (each has their own name and homeland!) and teach them to sing and even give their favorite character some dance moves. IKEA wants you to help create the world’s largest choir, by recording songs with your own character. Visit the Soft Toys Aid website to view the music video and join in on the fun!
 
Ranging in price from $1.49 to $19.99, these lovable creatures make a great stocking stuffer or featured present for kids of all ages.

Head on over to IKEA/Softoysaid and sign up and pick a character. It does take a bit to load but once it does you and your child will have some fun.  Once it loads up and begins singing you can watch them, but we had more fun joining the choir (it is free). You can choose to sing with it or just do the dancing, since we didn’t have a microphone we picked dance. Here’s my oldest daughters:  http://www.ikea.com/softtoysaid//?id=2067587279 

Now, I want to tell you IKEA has donated two VERY cute stuffed animals to two lucky winners. Want to win one?

                                                                                      GIVEAWAY:

Prize: IKEA Soft Stuffed animal (BARNSLIG KROKODIL and the GOSIG BULLDOG) There will be 2 winners, one will get the dog and the other gets the crocodile.

RULES: Head on over to www.IKEA.com/softtoysaid and join the choir. Then come back here and tell me out of all the characters which one you chose. If you can’t recall the name you can say dog for Gosig bulldog, etc.

Extra Entries:

1.  blog about Babylune’s IKEA Toy giveaway with a link in the comment section.
2. tweet this giveaway ”IKEA is giving away toys at Babylune”
3. Follow me on twitter (www.twitter.com/homemom3) and leave me your name in comments.
4.  Subscribe to Babylune’s RSS feed.

Deadline: December 5, 2009 and I’ll announce the winner Dec 6. The winner has 24 hours to respond to my email (homemom3@gmail.com).  US only please.

(Due to the FTC I wanted to state that we were sent two soft toys to review and keep. IKEA will be sending two toys out for this giveway.)

Post from: Babylune

IMG: Elizabeth Ferree

I don’t know about you but I’d like to see the pictures as is, without all the touch-ups.

It has recently come out that magazines actually airbrush babies. Yes, that’s right, not even babies can have a bit of extra weight on them. You thought teens had it bad.  To be honest I’ve never found anything wrong with a baby with rolls, in fact I find them cute to a degree. How can you deny one crawling around on the floor and think they look ugly? Why cut out the fat? There is a time where many babies get a little chubby before they turn 2 and then they go right back to thinning out. But to actually airbrush it away like it never happened, that’s a bit strange to me.

According to Telegraph this is something they are really looking into and it sounds like it may be coming to an end soon. It seems that this has been a practice they’ve been doing for a while, however not many of us knew about it. Telegraph goes on to state the following:

Practical Parenting and Pregnancy, a monthly magazine, has said it has retouched photographs of babies to “put them across in the best light”.

The practice came to light in a BBC documentary, My Supermodel Baby. In footage of a photo shoot for the magazine, the casting director explained how the photograph of baby model Hadley Corbett, five months, was airbrushed: “We lightened his eyes and his general skin tone, smoothed out any blotches and the creases on his arms,” he said. “But we want it to look natural.”

Daniella Delaney, the editor of the magazine which sells nearly 40,000 copies, told The Sunday Telegraph that photographs were airbrushed but that it was kept to a minimum.

“We’ll remove things and even-up skin tone, that sort of thing. But very little is done, in fact, because obviously babies are beautiful the way they are and that is what we went to get across.”

You know I can totally get taking the red out of an eye, boogers out of the nose and same with the drool hanging from a baby’s chin. But I don’t agree with taking away the rolls. What baby is that perfect? For those that are, why continue the trend that so many hear about for Hollywood, you know the whole we have to be a size 0 or 1.

Ms. Delaney never did comment on whether or not her magazine has ever airbrushed a baby for the folds or rolls. But she did admit to airbrushing away the other things like spit, etc. What do you think of airbrushing babies? Should this continue or should it be stopped? Read the rest of the article on airbrushing babies here.

Post from: Babylune