When you have a new baby on the way, you may start to get stressed with the large number of items you will need when the due date finally rolls around. The day you bring your child home from the hospital should be relaxing for baby and parents alike. Don’t worry if you can’t possibly get everything ready for that day – your friends and family will be able to help out with some essentials at the baby shower.

Baby and Me Boutique has a plethora of baby gifts and items that you will need when your little bundle arrives. Here are some things to ask for as gifts at your baby shower:

The Bugaboo Bee – Every parent needs a reliable stroller to go on wlaks with and there are few brands better than Bugaboo. Bugaboo’s Bee is a compact and easy to use stroller with a swivel wheel system that makes easy 360 degree turns. The Bee’s one piece design is a breeze and will make transport that much easier.

The Classic Large Yellow Baby Bunch – This one is definitely fun if you’re looking for some unique and creative gifts at your baby shower. A large yellow baby bunch is really just a bouquet of baby clothes made to look like a floral arrangement. If you are the host of a baby shower for your friend, these are perfect as centerpieces for the big day!

Pink 3-Arm Stacked Glass Ball Chandelier – Just because you’ve finished painting the nursery and setting up the crib doesn’t mean that you have furnished your baby’s nursery! A Jubilee Collection glass ball chandelier is perfect to adorn a little baby girl’s room. Featuring a series of u-drop crystals and etched glass crystals, this chandelier will remain in your family for generations to come.

Since this blog is primarily about baby gifts, I try to stray from the common gifts that every parent asks for on their shower day, instead focusing on more personal gifts that have an element of personality to them. Sometimes it is simply more meaningful to come up with your own gift, but other times it just makes more sense to go the conventional route.

This list of baby shower gifts contains the top ten ‘normal’ gifts that you can give someone for their shower. According to BabyCenter:

Bouncy seat – This versatile, portable piece of baby gear features cheerful fabric stretched across a metal or plastic frame, with straps to ensure safety.

Baby monitor – Nervous first-time moms and dads will appreciate the reassuring presence of a portable baby monitor receiver on their bedside table.

Bedding – …you can be sure that any new mom or mom-to-be will be grateful to have extra linens come laundry day!

Baby sling or front carrier – Babies love the feeling of being snuggled up close to a parent’s warmth, and the ingeniously simple design leaves a mom’s arms free to do housework or errands while her little one sits protected in a makeshift pouch.

Activity gym – Portable and lightweight, activity gyms are travel-friendly, whether you’re shuttling between rooms or across the country.

Bath kit – For a gift that’s both fun and practical, grab a baby tub and fill it with all the essentials a new mother will need to keep her child squeaky clean.

Starter library – If you love the idea of giving books, consider making it the theme of the shower: Have everyone bring their favorite with a note to the baby tucked inside.

Out-and-about – Help the happy new parents avoid mishaps with an assembled out-and-about kit.

Sleep kit – …a basket full of things that make the nursery more soothing after dark can help a new parent survive those first few sleep-deprived months.

Set up a group of dinner providers – …give new parents what they really want – dinner on someone else. Before you go to the shower, organize a group of the mom-to-be’s friends to volunteer to make dinner for the new family after the baby’s born.

Once you or your spouse is pregnant with a child, there are a number of different things to ready yourself for. You need to prepare for a baby shower (with a baby gift registry), have a nursery or other space ready for your new arrival and a bunch of other tasks. However, one decision that must be made is the name of your new child, no matter what the gender ends up being. Making this decision is difficult, particularly since coming up with a name that pleases both parents may be a problem. Here are some tips to make the debate a bit easier:

- Make Lists – Each parent should write down at least 20 – 50 names apiece that he/she likes. The key is to use this list as a starting place for the naming discussion.

- Name Theme – You should each find common ground in the type – or theme – that you want to use as a basis for the baby name. This could be traditional names, strange names, names of cities, and so on. Deciding on this will make lists shorter and easier to pick from.

- Don’t Bring in Friends – Bringing in friends and family when discussing the naming of your child can actually cause a much bigger problem than just you and your spouse arguing. Since it is your choice, you should keep it close to the chest.

- Use the Middle Name – The middle name of a child is almost never used as a main feature of anyone’s name. If you are having trouble finding a place for a deceased (or living) relative’s name in the family tree, the middle name will do fine, especially if you don’t want to make it a first name.

If you can’t decide, maybe just have a few names ready and wait to meet your new baby. They may look like just the name you want.

One of the major issues in America’s social ranking is the problem of teenage mothers who accidentally or otherwise got pregnant in their youth. However, this is one of the issues that has fallen by the wayside due to several reasons. There are other political topics that have taken precedence and the rates of teenage pregnancy have dropped considerably in the last few years. However, that doesn’t mean that these mothers do not need the same amount of support they received before.

A story in Delaware Online this week talks about a group that holds baby showers and shelters otherwise homeless pregnant teenagers:

“As with 700 teens and young women before them, the guests of honor all live at Bayard House, a former convent that is Delaware’s only fully licensed live-in facility for minors who are pregnant and otherwise homeless.

Even though the national average for pregnant teenagers has fallen, Delaware’s rate has been slow on the uptake, taking longer to deal with the problem:

“Delaware ranked 30th in the nation for its teen birth rate of 35.3 in 2009, and was cited as one of 10 states with most-dramatic declines, according to the new National Center for Health Statistics report. But as the national rate has declined over decades, Delaware’s rate, once far below the national average, has ebbed more slowly, University of Delaware policy analyst Janice Barlow said Wednesday.”

Because the young mothers in Delaware deal with limited resources and access to social services, the Bayard House holds this shower every year to help with items that the select girls need:

“As with 700 teens and young women before them, the guests of honor all live at Bayard House, a former convent that is Delaware’s only fully licensed live-in facility for minors who are pregnant and otherwise homeless.

Bayard House spokeswoman Paula Savini said the baby shower recipients are among a growing number of young mothers needing help in Delaware.”

A few weeks ago, I talked about the overwhelmingly large amount of celebs that are currently pregnant and ready to give birth to Hollywood royalty any day now. There’s Natalie Portman, Jewel, Jennifer Connelly, Jane Krakowski and many more, but I forget one of the most important preggo celebs! Singer Mariah Carey and actor husband Nick Cannon are expecting twins – a boy and a girl – any day now!

The important question for friends of the couple is what baby gifts do you get for the people that already have everything? There are always strollers, organic toys and other baby items, but how can you really blow their minds? The Frisky has a list of appropriately funny and surprising gifts for the Carey Cannon twins:

- Baby wipes scented with Mariah’s perfumes-Luscious Pink for her and Lollipop Bling for him, since that’s the scent Nick’s proposal inspired.

- A lifetime supply of glitter, all colors.

- Little elf outfits so that when mom and dad dress up like idiots in Santa suits on Christmas, they can be a big, matching family.

- Matching pink and blue butterfly nets, so they can catch pretty ones for mama.

- A lifetime supply of Ring Pops, because of Nick’s aforementioned proposal.

- An extremely sane nanny.

- Matching stuffed cougars, cause that’s what their mom has been accused of being.

- Tickets to Antigua for when they’re old enough to travel, since it’s where their mommy and daddy met.

- Onesies printed with the words “Mariah Junior” and “Mariah Junior 2.”

- Flower girl and ring bearer costumes, since their parents will inevitably keep renewing their vows.

Baby showers are a very important celebration for parents to be. They can use the event to share the joy of pregnancy with the rest of their friends and families and celebrate the little child who will be coming into the world. Showers are also a useful event for the parents to get baby gifts that will aid in their new role as a daddy and mommy. It is hard to make a baby shower more special, but a story out of Las Vegas may just do so.

According to 8 News Now, a group called Operation Homefront – which supports military families, recently held a baby shower specifically for 100 military mothers whose husbands are deployed:

“From cribs to car seats to diapers and clothes, more than one hundred expecting military moms and a couple of dads opened gifts at the biggest baby shower in Nevada.

‘He literally just left a couple of weeks ago, and it’s hard knowing she’s so close to coming and he was almost here for it. It’s so hard knowing he’s gonna miss it all,’ said Idland.”

Operation Homefront not only organized a shower for the women (and a few men), but also set up a lot of games and activities for everyone to participate in:

“‘You build a rapport with these wives and you wanna see them get through. This is a hard time for a lot of them. Their husbands are deployed, they might have two or three kids they’re a bit overwhelmed with the day to day life and just what’s going on,’ said Jody Shervanick, Operation Homefront Nevada.’

Shervanick organized the shower and says more than gifts it’s about showering these mothers to be with love while they’re husbands are serving our country.”

Now that 2011 has started, it seems as if a bunch of celebrities got together and decided to have babies! I’m not sure exactly what kinds of baby gifts the rich and famous usually get, but I’m positive that these famous mommies will be getting some excellent swag!

Natalie Portman – In possibly the most dramatically surprising pregnancy, Black Swan star Natalie Portman announced a few weeks ago that she was not only pregnant, but also engaged to Black Swan choreographer Benjamin Millepied. The announcement was unexpected and many of her fans are now beside themselves with grief.

Nicole Kidman – Nicole Kidman and her husband Keith Urban recently celebrated the arrival of their new daughter Faith Elizabeth. However, the baby was conceived through a surrogate, so Nicole didn’t have to worry about getting her movie star body back into shape.

Alicia Silverstone – The star of the 90s classic Clueless is expecting her first child with husband Chris Jarecki. The couple was together for eight years before their nuptials in 2005.

Jewel – The acoustic songstress Jewel and husband – rodeo star Ty Murray – are expecting a little bundle of joy some time soon. This pregnancy is especially exciting because the couple had been trying to conceive for two years.

Jennifer Connelly – The beautiful star of A Beautiful Mind and House of Sand and Fog is looking forward to the arrival of a third child with husband (and actor) Paul Bettany.

Jane Krakowski – Some time in mid-2011, Jane Krakowski and clothing designer fiancé Robert Godley will be cradling their new baby. The star of Ally McBeal and 30 Rock has never been pregnant before.

So there you have it! A big list of just some of the celebs who will be having children this year. It seems as if 2010′s Year of the Breakup was a precursor to something happier in 2011 – the Year of the Babies!

It’s a New Year and it’s time to reevaluate the décor in your home. Starting off your year with a new, fresh look can be the perfect way to reinvigorate the feel within your home. However, this redesign shouldn’t only affect your general living area; you should also reconsider the design of your baby’s nursery. Luckily, you don’t have to overhaul the look of your child’s room, but can simply add to it to give it a new look. Here are some items you can add to your nursery:

Guidecraft Sports Furniture – With baseball season right around the corner, there’s nothing more appropriate for young kids! Made from hand carved and hand painted wood, Guidecraft’s licensed Major League Baseball themed furniture will go great in any room. These sports themed items are available – toy chest, rocking chair and table / chairs set.

Lily Chandeliers – Don’t let the lighting in your baby’s nursery be drab – instead, install a Lily Chandelier to light up the room in style. I Lite 4 You’s Lily Four Arm Chandelier is perfect for the cause. Featuring 3 feet of hard wire ready chain, chain sleeve in pink or white, select ceiling and hardware, this chandelier has a number of customizable options for your and you child. Shades are sold separately.

Karla Trapp Growth Charts – As your child begins to grow up, you’ll want to keep track of all growth with a Karla Trapp Growth Chart. There’s nothing better than being able to figure out the exact height of your child while they enjoy the designs behind them. No longer will you have to erase measurements from your fridge or wall, just use a dry erase or permanent marker on the chart.

Now, since we discussed the most popular baby names of 2010 in the last post, I figured that the first post of the New Year should be about something new. Thus, I bring you the first 2011 baby in Illinois – at least in Pekin, Illinois. You see, the problem with determining who the real first baby of the year is the staggering amount of babies born early in the morning on New Year’s Day. For my part, I chose this baby out of the plethora of stories about New Year’s babies because I found the story to be interesting.

According to the Pekin Daily Times, little Presley Quinten Piscaglia was born after a long delivery time of 10 hours and 48 minutes to his grateful parents:

“According to Presley’s mother, 21-year-old Amanda Piscaglia of Bartonville, the 7 pound, 2 ounce boy came three weeks early, though the baby was healthy. Yet, while Amanda said she and her boyfriend, Ryan Pham, were surprised at the timing of Presley’s birth, apparently several of members of her family and her friends predicted the event occurring as it did.”

Aside from Presley coming weeks early, his name is a cool take off on two pop culture icons:

“Pham said the baby boy was named after Elvis, who is a family favorite, and his middle name was a variation of the name of the couple’s favorite movie director Quentin Tarantino.”

The parents became pregnant while living in Florida, where Piscaglia was working at Disney Resort. The two recently moved to Illinois, where the family could be closer to Piscaglia’s parents:

“She said the couple moved back to raise their baby around their family. ‘I didn’t think it was really fair to raise our child in Florida, not being around its grandma and grandpa.’”

I’m sure little Presley will start getting a lot of baby gifts now, especially being the first 2011 baby in Pekin.

Since Christmas has passed, it is now the inevitable time that all internet fiends wait all year for – the deluge of top ten lists! You can find a list for pretty much anything at this time of year: the best in movies, news stories, baby gifts, etc. One of my favorite lists to look up at the end of the year is to look up the most popular baby names of the year. With the majority of celebrities and common folk choosing more and more creative (and, let’s face it, crazy) names every year, you never know what will show up on the list.

This year the trend seems to have stayed relatively close to last year’s, but with a leaning towards the names of characters from the crazy popular Twilight book / movie series. The Post Chronicle has the lists, which go as follows:

“Boys list 1 through 10 as: Ethan, Jacob, Noah, Logan, Aiden, Liam, Jackson, Mason, Jack and Jayden.

Girls list 1 through 10 as: Isabella, Olivia, Emma, Sophia, Ava, Chloe, Abigail, Madison, Ella and Addison.”

The article goes on to speak about the overall qualifications of the names in terms of how they are decided upon and what they each mean:

“Isabella means “God is my vow,” according to some meaning finders; Ethan means “Strong, firm.”

In order to make the list, the name must be at least two characters long, and the year of birth, sex and state born have been recorded.”

Did you meet any new faces name Ethan or Isabella this year? If you did, I hope you picked up a baby gift for them that will really be a quite addition to their growing years. Baby & Me Boutique has a large selection of these types of baby toys, baby furniture and other goods that you won’t find anywhere else!