by Heather
What could be better than molten chocolate, some close friends, and very little cleanup? Precious few things, I tell you.
I stumbled upon this idea on the Student Cook website and decided it would be a fun time for at-home, once-baby-is-down-for-the-night socializing.
We hosted the other Rookie Family for chocolate fondue and games not too long ago (I guess it was kinda a while ago because I was still pregnant, but whatever). Pick your favorite dip-ins and delegate those to your friends, potluck-style. It’s fun to tell your pals, “bring organic marshmallows and a pineapple please” while you make a delicious dark chocolate soup.
[I'm only sorry the picture shows cheese and not chocolate, but cheese is fun too.]
by Whitney
Ok, I realize this post doesn’t meet any Rookie Mom goals. It’s not cheap, free, or crafty. It doesn’t get you out of the house or help you socialize with friends. It doesn’t liberate your body from baby-holding for a chunk of time so that you can do what you want to do. It doesn’t help you get dinner together with less stress. And it certainly doesn’t help you declutter your life. But, I like it and I want to share.
Customglamgirl.com (classy URL, no?) sells personalized screenprinted shirts to which I am addicted. I bought the t-shirts depicted below for Heather and her husband to wear during their bachelor/bachelorette weekends. They read “My (heart) belongs to Heather”/”My (heart) belongs to Alec”.
They also have baby and kid sizes. My fave baby gift for folks who have a second child is to put the names of both siblings as the name of the trucking company on the shirt below. As in “Ashley & Griffin’s Trucking Company.”
I tell you this because I just got a promo email from these folks and they have some Valentine-themed merchandise. (I will confess that I bought myself some boycut undies with a message on the back and wore them a few valentine’s days ago.) Buy large, friends. The clothes are cut for teenage bodies.
by Heather
If you still have that yoga ball around (and you’re not currently using it for ab work), get it out to thrill and delight your baby. We kept ours in Holden’s room for about 22 months — until his new brother was born and the room just got too crowded.
Each morning, he found some new way to explore it. Try one of our home-tested ideas or come up with more of your own:
- Pepper likes rolling around on her tummy on top of the ball. Her mom, Jeanine, supplies the balance.
- Holden [pictured] really likes sitting next to it and pushing on it. When it gets far enough away… it rolls back and he is amazed.
- Julian loves standing next to it while Whitney dribbles it by smacking her hands on top of it. Whoa.
by Whitney
Kendra from ShoppingForTwo sent this suggestion to us last year.
She wrote: Keep yourself and your baby snuggly warm this winter by making your own baby carrier. I learned how to make this just a week before my baby was born and not only is this the most comfortable baby carrier, but it’s also the least expensive. I made two carriers for about $16.
Take a trip down to the fabric store and pick out five yards of either woven cotton (you will need to hem the edges to keep from unraveling) or fleece (no need to sew at all). Cut the five yards in half horizontally, so you end up with a 20″ by 5 yards piece of material. Then follow the instructions at wearyourbaby.com to learn how to wrap your baby.
Kendra wrote that her baby instantly falls asleep when he’s wrapped up which makes running errands or taking a walk more peaceful. “I wish I had found out about this when my older son was a baby, it would have made life so much easier!”
Heather secretly made me a wrap just like Kendra’s as a Happy Pregnancy present. I wore it proudly when Scarlett was tiny.
