Everyone realizes that we all of us feel much better and work much better when eating a balanced diet. Planning and sticking to a good diet before pregnancy ensures that your developing fetus receives proper nutrition during the first few weeks or months of your pregnancy.

Typically a woman will good care of herself once she finds out she is pregnant. By planning ahead, she will just about guarantee that her baby has a healthy environment for the entire nine months of her pregnancy and not only the six or seven months she discovers her pregnancy. When she makes her nutrition plan, she is preparing the environment in which the baby will be conceived and will develop and grow.

Before you even try to get pregnant, you have to pay attention to your weight. Try not to be too overweight or too underweight. Either of these conditions can make pregnancy more rough for you.

Do not diet during pregnancy or while you are trying to get pregnant. And certainly do not take diet pills, unless you are using reliable contraception. Consult your doctor if you are considering a special diet for weight reduction or weight gain before you even attempt to get pregnant. Dieting may cause temporary deficiencies in vitamins and minerals that both you and your developing baby need.

Do not self medicate with large amounts of unusual combinations of vitamins, minerals, or herbs. You can actually overdo these. Certain vitamins, such as vitamin A, can cause birth defects if used in excessive amounts. As a general rule, stop all extra supplementation at least 3 months before pregnancy. Eat a well-balanced diet and take one multivitamin or one prenatal vitamin a day. Most doctors are happy to prescribe prenatal vitamins if you are planning a pregnancy.

Folic acid is a B vitamin that can contribute to a healthy pregnancy. If a prospective mother takes 0.4mg of folic acid each day, starting three or four months before pregnancy begins, it may protect her developing baby against various birth defects of the spine and brain, called neural-tube defects.

One of these defects, spina bifida, afflicts nearly 4000 babies born in the United States every year. It develops in the first few weeks of pregnancy. Studies have shown that about 75% of all cases can be prevented if a mother to be takes folic acid. As you plan your pregnancy, ask your physician about supplementation.

Do not forget that the trick to proper nutrition is balance. Stick to eating a balanced diet. Going to extremes with vitamins or fad diets can be harmful to you and your growing baby. It could even make you feel very run down during pregnancy.

Traditional baby books are quickly transitioning online and digital. Compared to old-school scrapbooks, online baby books offer clear advantages. I especially enjoy online baby books for two key reasons. They help parents capture all the moments and memories of little ones in one central, well-structured place. Moreover, I can easily share those moments online with my family and friends.

In my opinion, the perfect baby book offers you three key characteristics. 1. It is an easy-to-use online baby book that you can share with family and friends. 2. It should be free without any commitments or restrictions. 3. When complete, you should be able to order your online book as a professionally-printed and bound hard-cover book. BabyChapters meets all these criteria.

Creating your digital baby book is done easily at BabyChapters. First, point your browser to BabyChapters.com to open a new online baby book. This is free of charge. You can immediately start adding your baby’s first moments in the book, organized into easy-to-use chapters such as Introduction, Family Tree, Journal, Milestones, Favorites, Growth Charts, Photo/Video Gallery, and Guestbook. You can also share your online book right away with family & friends. This is done with a password that safely lets you invite friends and family to view the book as guests.

The process of opening my BabyChapters book was very simple. I started creating my pages in minutes. I have now used BabyChapters for nearly a year and like how quick and easy it is to add content.

With BabyChapters, your online baby book can be produced into a hard-cover book. When done with your online book, BabyChapters offers an option to get it as a high-quality hard-cover book. This gives you and your baby a beautiful, long-lasting keepsake.

Tender memories of Christmas joys are only enhanced when the gifts mean a little more. As each of us roam through the golden toned corridors of our Christmases past we can select a few cherished moments and gifts that shine a little brighter than others. In homage to these meaningful Christmases of our youth new parents embark on a frenzied journey each year to buy those toys that will in turn shine brightly in the adulthood memories of their new babies.

Nostalgia is priceless

There is no way to put a price value on these holiday gifts. The gift itself may have cost a small amount, but the love felt with its giving and the memories that span a life time are without price. It will be the same for your children. It may not always be possible to gage what gift will be the one to engender such fond memories.

Parents are surprised to find their babies and toddlers paying much more attention to the trinkets in their stockings than the elaborate gifts beneath the tree. For a child there is no mystery - it is not the price tag they count, but the imagination, time and love that is put into the gift itself.

Make it personal

Not all nostalgia toys come from a store. Kids love to hear stories that are true. My children’s interest is never piqued more nor held longer than when I relate stories to them from my or their father’s own childhood. They love to hear about what toys and candies we ate, the movies we loved, the songs we sang and the traditions our families had for different celebrations. Hardly a week fails to pass that they request a ‘mommy’ or ‘daddy’ story at bedtime instead of the usual book. Our children are not alone in this interest. My nieces and nephews and friend’s children share a similar obsession with their parent’s past. Each child latches onto a different memory and takes it to heart.

Keep these stories in mind when shopping for your toddler’s Christmas gifts. Purchasing a doll that resembles your beloved Emma-Lou, will delight your own baby girl when she knows the full story connected with her new baby doll. The same is true of boys. My son’s favorite gifts for Christmas to date were a collection of well-loved and abused Star Wars action figures that his dad had played with as a boy.

Old is New

Don’t panic if all your childhood toys went to Goodwill years ago. You can still get your child a gift with a story. A growing trend among toy manufacturers is to recommission toys from yesteryear. If you are new to the Christmas shopping scene for youngsters it might surprise you to see how many familiar toys you will find greeting you like old friends from store shelves. Nostalgia toys are fun not only for the children to get, but for parents to give. This year as you shop for your baby and toddler and bask in the magical memories of your childhood Christmases you may discover that it is truly better to give then to receive.

If you are not inclined to share your much loved toys or they are no longer in your possession, why not start a new tradition? Pedal cars, trains, tractors and even pedal airplanes are making a big comeback for the new generation, in classic and new colors sure to please the little ones in your life.

Everyone realizes that we all of us feel much better and work much better when eating a balanced diet. Planning and sticking to a good diet before pregnancy ensures that your developing fetus receives proper nutrition during the first few weeks or months of your pregnancy.

Generally speaking, a woman will great care of herself once she finds out she is pregnant. By planning ahead, she will almost guarantee that her baby has a healthy environment for the entire nine months of her pregnancy and not only the six or seven months she discovers her pregnancy. When she maps out her nutrition plan, she is creating an environment in which the baby will be conceived and will develop and grow.

Before trying to get pregnant, you need to pay attention to your weight. Do not be too overweight or too underweight. Either of these conditions can make pregnancy more difficult for you.

Do not diet while pregnant or when you are trying to get pregnant. And absolutely do not take diet pills, unless you are using reliable contraception. Consult your doctor if you are considering a special diet for weight reduction or weight gain before you even attempt to get pregnant. Dieting may cause temporary deficiencies in vitamins and minerals that both you and your developing baby need.

Do not self medicate with large amounts of unusual combinations of vitamins, minerals, or herbs. You can actually overdo these. Certain vitamins, such as vitamin A, can cause birth defects if used in excessive amounts. As a general rule, stop all extra supplementation at least 3 months before pregnancy. Eat a well-balanced diet and take one multivitamin or one prenatal vitamin a day. Most doctors are happy to prescribe prenatal vitamins if you are planning a pregnancy.

Folic acid is a B vitamin which will help in enjoying a healthy pregnancy. If a prospective mother consumes 0.4mg of folic acid every day, beginning at three or four months before the pregnancy begins, it may protect her developing baby against various birth defects of the spine and brain, called neural-tube defects.

One such defect, spina bifida, afflicts about 4000 babies born in the United States every year. It generally develops during the first few weeks of pregnancy. Studies have indicated that around 75% of all these cases could have been prevented if the mother had taken folic acid. As you plan your pregnancy, consult your physician about supplementation.

Do not forget that the trick to proper nutrition is balance. Stick to eating a balanced diet. Going to extremes with vitamins or fad diets can be harmful to you and your growing baby. It could even make you feel very run down during pregnancy.

Let’s face it - we all love the idea of the little red wagon. For some their fondness may have grown out of their attachment to the wagon they had when they were young. Other’s obsession with it might be more sentimental with memories linked to grandma’s house and quality time spent with cousins as grandma pulled you around the block. Perhaps you always harbored a secret and unfulfilled desire to have a wagon of your very own.

No matter the starting point of the red wagon obsession, you vowed that your children would be properly and continuously supplied with a one of their own to enjoy hours of play and fond memories for years. Now the time has come for you to make good on your vow to yourself. You have been blessed with a bundle of joy that you would like to take on a ride in a little red wagon.

The thought of a wagon which pops into most adult’s heads brings with it an uncannily similar mental image: a red metal contraption, with a black handle and white decals on the sides, rust spots and wear may vary depending on use or abuse. Times have changed and with it the wagon we all love. If you have a girl you can get a princess wagon befitted with sparkles and pink paint. Boys also have themed wagons of their own. Not to be out done, popular children’s shows have emblazoned their images on many wagons. You can choose from metal or plastic.

There is still the perennial favorite of the traditional red wagon. Yet even the traditional item has morphed into several varieties. You can choose from the basic red wagon for use out doors, a red wagon topped with wooden railings and even a mini-red wagon for use inside with stuffed toys and dolls.

When trying to choose let your nostalgic need be placed on the back burner and consider what your baby or toddler is likely to want most. Girly-girls will love the red models. If your child is nuts for Barney, as embarrassed as you might be to pull your son in his very own Radio Flyer wagon while he belts ‘I love you, you love me…’ at the top of his voice, looking lovingly at his purple friend. This is is the memory and toy he is likely to cherish most. A large wagon is not always feasible. In this case a small indoor red wagon might be the perfect way to get your child a wagon of his own.

If you are ahead of the game and your child is still a baby, then buy the item you want most (maybe think about the models with higher sides) and your child will grow up with the wagon they love most because you played with them in it since before they could remember. Any way you slice it, it’s a winning gift.

When most baby girls hit about 18 months they begin to show great interest in babies. It is always so cute to see toddlers, only barely past infancy themselves pointing to and trying to care for other children they identify as a ‘bebe’. Most toddlers of this age and interest are provided with a baby doll of her own to love, in some cases many baby dolls.

Your toddler loves to hold and cuddle her baby. Why not foster that interest and imaginative play by adding the fun extras this Christmas? There are many different baby dolls to choose from. Everything from dolls that cry to dolls that wet their diaper after feeding them a baby bottle full of water.

Doll furniture is available in any shape or size you can imagine. There is no end to what you can find. If a real baby uses it, there is a replica made for her baby doll too.

Cribs for baby dolls come in all shapes, sizes and colors. It is so much more fun to shop for doll furniture to baby your baby’s baby than it was to pick it for yourself. A word of caution here: toddlers like to climb. Large upright or rocking varieties might need to be carefully considered. More basic models that are close to the floor will keep your toddler out of trouble.

When it comes to doll furniture cribs are only the tip of the iceberg. You will find high chairs, mobiles, swings, rocking chairs, car seats, bouncy seats and diaper changing tables. Just remember your child is likely to test them for her own baby, so make sure they are sturdy and safe in case your child climbs in too.

Strollers are very popular as the ‘little mommy’ can pretend she is taking her baby for a walk in the park or across the family room to the grocery store she has set up on her own little table and chairs she also got for Christmas or her first birthday.

If your little mommy likes to bathe her doll there are accessories for that too: miniature tubs, towels wash clothes and shampoo bottles. There are even some kinds of dolls that show clean or dirty spots depending on the water temperature your child uses to clean their faces.

Baby towels, washcloths and blankets are important to round out the imaginary story your little girl will have made up, as she plays out the day, including putting her baby to bed at night, complete with bedtime stories.

A diaper bag is a must have for baby care, even when your baby is a plastic doll. Toddlers love to do what they see their parent’s doing. Give your child a diaper bag and a few extras like tiny diapers, a set of wipes, bottles and Velcro bibs and they will have hours of fun simply packing and unpacking the diaper bag.

Don’t forget the dress up clothes. Putting on a play dress, complete with high heels, hat and purse sets the stage for looking her best when she is out on the town with her newborn. In her fantasy world, she wants to look her best as she stops on the way to allow other fantasy mom’s to ooh and aah over her carriage.

All of these play activities are important to discovering how the world works and to expand the imagination muscles that will help to form her ability to create a life of wonder and turn that into her own reality.