Baby Registry and Consumer Reports

As a first time mom-to-be, registering was a little overwhelming to say the least. I highly recommend asking friends and family for their baby must-haves before heading to register. It helped me make a list of things I knew I needed and things that weren't worth the money.

I've been debating over what infant travel system I want to put on our registry. A year ago about this time Consumer Reports put out a report that only Graco SnugRide was the only infant car seat that passed their tests. Shortly after, they had to retract it due to the outpouring from parents who didn't own the SnugRide and the other car seat manufacturers.

This link suggests that Consumer Reports rated the Chicco KeyFit the highest. Unfortunately, I don't have a subscription, so I can't read any further details. I think I'll make a trip to the bookstore to pick up the latest copy to make sure which infant travel system is safest.

Work from Home after Baby!

One of my pregnancy gifts was a subscription to Parenting magazine. I found a small callout about a great site for those of you who have the type of background that may allow you to work from home. It's called HireMyMom.com. It's $30 for 90 days or $99 per year to get emails with work from home openings in accounting, graphic design (I might have to check this out after I give birth!), public relations, and more! No need to resort to home party hosting gigs!

Daycare vs. Nanny

Who wouldn't want Mary Poppins taking care of their baby? Daycare vs. Nanny has been a tough subject for us. Being a daycare baby myself, I don't mind sending our soon-to-be daughter to daycare, but I would much rather have someone in my home taking care of her. Actually if I could, I would rather stay home myself! However, living in California it's not easy to swing being a stay-at-home mom.

There are plenty of Nanny services in our area, but from what I've researched so far there is a minimum of a $2000 placement fee, plus nanny fees. Craigslist is big out here in the Bay Area, but I'm not quite sure I trust finding a nanny on a posting site. Another similar site I've found is Sitter City. We have a few months before our baby arrives and then a few months before I head back to my full-time job, so this decision will continue to weigh heavily on our minds.

Baby Love Prints :: New Logo, New Items!

Baby Love Prints has an updated logo, updated paper and a new line of Folded Note Cards! We are very excited to introduce our fabulous new coordinating Thank You/Note Cards, as well as our new line of papers. After weeks of testing professional printers, we have found the best of the best digital printers to outsource our orders for perfect color calibration to make your announcements look beautiful and perfect!

We now offer three types of paper for birth announcements. Choose from Glossy Standard Photo Paper, Matte Standard Photo Paper and Premium Card Stock. Each option provides the best quality for something unique, something affordable!

Bebe au Lait Nursing Covers

When we were traveling over the holidays I saw a woman put one of these Nursing Covers from Bebe au Lait on so she could breastfeed. I had never seen these and thought it was a very clever idea. Guess I've seen too many mothers just lift up their tops and expose themselves or use a baby blanket.

I recently just picked one up at Motherhood Maternity and also noticed from Bebe au Lait's website that they are in the nearby town of Los Gatos just minutes away from me. I look forward to using my Nursing Cover and not exposing myself.

Should You Buy Baby Insurance?

Moolanomy had a great post about Baby Insurance and it got me thinking. Is it really something to consider? The GROW-UP® Plan from Gerberlife offers a whole life insurance plan that offers:

• Whole Life Insurance up to $35,000
• Automatically doubles at age 21
• Low payments that never increase

You can be the judge for yourself by filling out some simple information on the GROW-UP Plan Life Insurance site and seeing if it suits your future needs. Based on Moolanomy's calculations, investing on your own may be a better long-term solution.

Making Room for Baby

We moved into a new home and found out we were pregnant in the same month. We knew eventually one of the guest bedrooms would be a nursery, but we are just now getting around to organizing to make room for baby and getting our stuff out of the soon-to-be nursery.

The Container Store runs a 30% off sale on Elfa® shelving systems every winter between January and February. This is the second home we've installed Elfa closets and I highly recommend them. Not only are they super easy to install, they double, if not triple the amount of storage space. The most time consuming thing about installing the Elfa closets is removing the old closet shelf and rod. Once you have that removed, sanded and painted, take a few measurements, drill some holes for the top hanging rod and all the shelves and rods hang from the top bar. They can hold a tremendous amount of weight too!

Elfa ranges from simple white to platinum with wood accents. This year is the first year The Container Store introduced Elfa Freestanding—great for media or office areas.