AA Gifts & Baskets Idea Blog

Archive for the ‘Baby’ Category

Aromatherapy has been around for a long time. It’s simply the use of scents to target benefits like relaxation, sleep, well-being, headache relief, etc. If you want to give an aromatherapy gift basket, it’s really easy to make one yourself.

The first thing you should do is choose a scent. If you’re not sure what scent your friend would like, do some thinking. Have you smelled candles burning in her home? What scent and color were they? Does she wear a certain perfume? What does it smell like? These are some clues into some of the scents she may like. If you still don’t have a clue, go with something like vanilla or buttercream which just about everyone likes.

Once you have chosen your scent, choose a vessel to put it all in. Often times inexpensive baskets work well, but you can also place everything in a decorative hat box or other display box that she can use again. If you want to make her a travel basket, put it all in a large cosmetics pouch that zips so she can take it with her on the road.

Aromatherapy baskets can include just about anything. Most include relaxing elements designed to help the recipient de-stress and unwind. Candles with strong but pleasant scents are nice as is incense. You do have to be careful to choose a scent that is meant to relax, like lavender, if you intend it for stress relief. If you give a basket full of peppermint or spearmint scents, the opposite effect will occur. Your friend will be much more alert instead of relaxed. Peppermint makes a great gift to give as an aromatherapy pick-me-up basket for someone at work who always hits that 3:00pm slump.

Arrange all your items on some sort of packing material. This can be shredded paper, recycled Easter basket grass, or even just tissue paper. The idea is to make each product stand alone in its own little spot so the basket doesn’t look thrown together. Include a simmering pot for spices or a candle warmer, which allows wax to be heated without a flame. Great for the office or around kids.

You might want to include soap and a soap dish, shampoo, conditioner, body lotion, a neck pillow, or an herbal pillow filled with buckwheat that can be used hot or cold for neck pain relief. There are hundreds of scents and thousands of products to choose from. So your options are limitless when putting together an aromatherapy gift basket. Include natural bamboo towels and face cloths, slippers, or a robe.

Tie it all up with a big ribbon and present it. Your friend will absolutely love getting a basket filled with products she can use right away to change her mood and her day. Whether it’s relaxation or alertness you are going for, research the different scents and what each one is thought to enhance. There are so many out there that you will definitely find one for the lady in your life. Don’t settle for the first one you find. Do some sensory research. You’ll have fun doing it and just may relax yourself, too.

Your doctor’s well-baby examination consists of many different parts, each designed to help her find certain information. You may have to watch closely to see her do each part of the exam because she probably has developed her own tricks and techniques. Some doctors like to have the new baby on the examination table; others prefer that the parents hold the baby. Sometimes the doctor will be talking to you while examining your baby.

Here are some of the major areas your doctor will consider and what she looks for in each category:

• General Appearance: cleanliness, nutrition, alertness
• Skin: color, rashes. Bruises, swelling, condition of hair and nails
• Head: Shape, softness of the anterior fontanel [soft spot]
• Eyes: redness, good movement, light reflexes [checked with an instrument called an ophthalmoscope, looking for problems with the retina]
• Ears: irritation or infection of the ear canals or ear drums
• Nose: congestion, discharge
• Mouth: gums, tongue, throat, tonsils
• Neck: swelling of the thyroid or lymph nodes, mobility
• Heart: rate and rhythm, murmurs
• Lungs: breathing rate, abnormal noises, air exchange
• Abdomen: bowel sounds [normal stomach gurglings], enlarged organs or tenderness
• Genitals: In girls-normal appearance of external genitals, redness. In boys-penis [if circumcised, check that it has healed well; if not, check that foreskin is normal], both testicles are in scrotum
• Arms and Legs: normal movement and color, absence of swelling and discoloration
• Pulses: equal femoral pulse [same on both sides]
• Neurologic: tone, muscle movement and coordination, strength

Next, review your insurance policies. For many people, life insurance is a kind of instant estate; its guaranteed financial protection for your family.

Term life insurance [temporary; bought for a specified period of time, or term] is often purchased by younger people who like the low initial premiums. Remember that premiums for term insurance rise slowly through your thirties and more quickly thereafter. For people in their sixties and beyond, term insurance rates may be out of reach.

Whole-life insurance [permanent; for your “whole life”] rates are about five times higher than for term insurance, but the premiums remain level from the date of issue. Additionally, the whole-life policy acquires a cash value that increases over time.

You may want to look into newer types of life insurance that combine term and whole-life. Such a policy typically will combine at least $10,000 of whole-life upon the head of the household with at least $50,000 of term insurance, all for a single premium. Another innovative policy is adjustable life insurance, which allows the policy-holder to raise or lower the amount of insurance and vary the type of insurance between whole-life and term, as life’s circumstances change.

If you or your spouse is staying home or working part time, that person should also consider buying a term policy that would cover the daycare expenses that would result in case the stay-at-home parent dies.

What about your health insurance? Many companies now offer membership in a health maintenance organization [HMO] as an option to the usual health insurance. You should definitely consider taking advantage of this corporate gift if your company offers it. HMO s are corporations that contract with physicians and hospitals to deliver health care under a prepaid plan. With these plans, employers can offer their workers enhanced benefits at prices comparable to traditional insurance. Joining a HMO can make sense, particularly to a family whose members seem to be running to the doctor’s office every other week. The costs of office visits, prescriptions, vaccinations, diagnostic tests, and hospitalization are often covered by an HMO plan. Keep in mind that you have to use the HMO’s doctors and hospitals, so if you have a doctor that you particularly like, an HMO may not be for you.

A new wrinkle in employer-or insurance-plan-pondered health care is the Preferred Provider Organization [PPO]. As with an HMO, a PPO plan provides discount health care to members, offering co-payment arrangements and other incentives. Typically, members contribute through payroll deductions. As a PPO member, you can choose your physician and hospital from those included in the PPO group. Fees for services are covered one hundred percent. If you wish, you can choose an outside [nonmember] physician or hospital, in which case you will be liable for a percentage of any fees. Obviously, what makes PPOs appealing is that a member can pick his or her caregivers.

Check to see if you have adequate protection through work or Social Security in the event you become disabled. If not, find out if you qualify for auto insurance that provides benefits for disability from traffic accidents, or for special private insurance programs that pay monthly loan or mortgage payments during a disability. There are different definitions of what disabled means; an insurance agent should explain exactly what “disability” means in the policy. The agent should also explain the policy’s “renewability,” or the conditions of extending the policy beyond its expiration date.

The whole point of insurance is to cover the “just in case” situations; you want to be sure your policies are appropriate for a family with young children.

It is never to early to introduce books and reading to babies.

Reading aloud to your baby is a remarkable way of fostering brain development and important in the development of language skills.

Reading to your child is the most valuable thing you can do and babies benefit immensely. Not only does it help develop baby’s eye muscles through focusing on pictures but it helps to encourage language skills. Each and every baby learns by sight, sound and feeling. When a baby sees, hears or feels anything, brain connections form and eventually create a piece of knowledge.

Babies first learn words by association with objects and pictures, which help them to understand the world around them. Eventually these associations are developed into language skills, where they begin sounding out the word. Language skills then develop into a way of which a baby can communicate with their parents and others around them.

As your baby grows into a toddler there are many other benefits that reading provides, such as:

• Reading aloud helps your child to learn new words, associations and language skills.
• Reading aloud to children helps them to learn and understand about the world around them and events and situations that do occur in everyday life.
• Reading aloud to children helps them to develop their creativity and imagination.
• Reading aloud to children helps them to learn about values and moral concepts, such as honesty, sharing and teaches them right from wrong.
• Reading aloud to children is calming and soothing and is a fantastic way to bond with your child.

The benefits of reading to your baby and child are endless!

Establish a daily routine and read to your child. Life can never be too busy to set aside some reading time to your child and the rewards your child will reap are infinite!

Introduce the new baby in your life with a world of words and pictures with a wonderful baby book gift basket. The new baby will be delighted and the joy derived from books will provide countless hours of learning and pleasure.

Start reading to your baby today!

Sometimes choosing a gift for a new baby is one of the most difficult tasks that one can face. This is especially true with so many people buying gifts, and you want to choose something that is different. After all, everyone brings sheets, comforters, blankets, and the usual types of clothing for newborns, so what can you do that is different? There surely has to be something different that you can do. Even if it includes the same items, you can find a different way to package it.

One gift giving idea that has become popular over the past few years is the diaper cake. For those who are familiar with this gift concept, you make a cake, often for a baby shower, using disposal diapers as the basis for the cake. Some people use the diapers with characters, but it works better if you use just plain, white Pampers or Huggies diapers. The diapers are to hold the cake together, but you can also roll and fold some little shirts, kimonos, sleepers, bibs, and other items to add to the variety of the cake. Small toys such as rattles and small stuff animals made specifically for newborns can be taped to the diapers as well. Another gift idea that has also been used is using the bassinette as a carrier of gifts.

This can be a real bassinette that you buy for the mother-to-be or that you rent as part of your baby shower theme, but rather than having just the bassinette, you line the entire inside with various baby items such as clothing, bedding, toys, lotions, diapers, baby formula, baby food, bibs, and any other small items that you would like to include. If you choose, you can cover it with a nice colorful blanket or quilt, and add a toy to the top for decorating. Personalized gifts are always nice to have as well, but these will have to wait until after the birth of the baby. Even if the parents have chosen names and been told they are having a girl or boy, it is always best to wait. In some cases, the position of the baby may cause the doctor to see a difference in the baby's gender, so to avoid giving girl's gifts to a boy, and vice versa, wait until after the baby is born to give personalized gifts.

There are several gifts from which you can choose, but one of the most popular is the personalized picture frame that the new parents can use for baby's hospital photograph. You may certainly come up with some ideas of your own; these are just some samples of things that you can do if you are fresh out of ideas. Gift giving for the new baby should come from your heart and your creative inner soul. If you have a great idea for a baby gift, share it with someone so that they, too, can give a gift that is different from the others the baby receives.

Planning a baby shower for the expectant mother is the best way to congratulate her blessed event.

Who plans the baby shower? Any relative, close friend or coworker can host the baby shower.

Most baby showers are held before the baby is born. Some are held after the conception but, more often than not, most baby showers are held toward the end of pregnancy. It is a welcome diversion for the expecting mom to have her baby shower in the last trimester. It also brings more enjoyment and fun as the new mom is sporting a big belly towards the end.

However, before setting a date for the party, ensure to consult with the parents-to-be first and foremost. It would be a shame if a party is planned and invitations are sent and then find out that the most important people cannot make it.

Send out invitations early enough to give the guests a few weeks’ notice. This allows the guests to free up their schedules as well as to shop for the perfect gift.

In the traditional way, baby showers were held for the mother-to-be. However, there is increasing popularity for co-ed baby showers. In my opinion, a co-ed baby shower is probably more enjoyable and it is wonderful if the father-to-be is included. A father often feels left out throughout the pregnancy and after the birth of the newborn baby. A co-ed baby shower is a wonderful way to congratulate the father as well!

Themed baby showers are also very popular and makes the party more festive. Plan your theme and purchase matching invitations, napkins, plates and all other baby shower party supplies. Although it takes more work to plan, a themed baby shower can make the party seem more organized.

The most favorite and enjoyable tradition of a baby shower are the activities and games. Here are some popular and fun games:

• Baby Food Taste Test - Buy eight jars of baby food - cereal, fruit, veggies, and meat. Cover the jars with foil and write a number on the side of each jar. Pass out plastic spoons, paper plates, and paper and pencil for each player. Ask players to write the numbers 1 through 8 around the outside of the plate. Pass around each jar of baby food and have players drop a spoonful next to each number. They must taste the globs and try to identify each flavor. Remove the foil to reveal the answers. Whoever has the most correct answers wins a prize.
• How Big is Baby? - Bring a roll of toilet paper pass it around and have everyone tear off the exact amount that they think will go around the expectant mother. The person with the length of toilet paper that is the closest wins of course.
• Diaper Doo Doo - Take 6 disposable diapers and put a different kind of candybar (½ a bar will usually do) in each one and let them sit in the sun or a warm place to melt. Label them 1 through 6. Pass the "dirty diapers" around and the winner is the one who can identify the most correctly.
• Don’t say "Baby" - When the guests arrive, give each a clothespin to wear. Tell each guest that they can’t say the word "baby". If a guest catches someone saying "baby", they may take the clothespin away from them. If, for example, a guest has 3 pins from previously taking them away from others and someone catches her saying "baby" then that guest now gets to take all 3 of her pins. The person with the most clothes pins at the end of the shower wins the game.
• Baby Pictionary - This game is based upon the original Pictionary board game. Before the shower, place words relating to baby activities and items on small cards. (ex: Changing a diaper, giving birth, feeding time) At the shower, create teams and give each one a pad of paper and pencil. Let one member of the team see a card, then tell them to draw the word or phrase for their partners to guess. Use a timer or just play until someone guesses. When the time is up, the teams total up the number of words they have guessed correctly and the one who has the most wins a prize.

There are many, many other baby shower games and activities that you can choose to make your baby shower fun and exciting.

Lastly, what makes for a great baby shower gift? Chances are the new mother requires many baby necessities including clothing, bottles, a car seat, bibs, personalized baby blankets, and more.

We have has charming baby gift baskets that are guaranteed to make the new baby squeal in delight, functional gift baskets filled with baby necessities that every new parent wants and needs and personalized baby gifts that make exceptional keepsakes of the blessed event. Be sure to browse our adorable musical crib mobiles and soft, cuddly baby blankets.

Make the new mom’s baby shower one to remember. This is a wonderful event in her life and what better way to congratulate her!