Our children are born with by and large the healthiest skin we ever see. They are born with a fatty padding, which gives it a smooth, soft appearance. It has no damage from the sunlight. However, as children play outside, often spending most of the summer out of doors, there is often massive exposure to the sun, which will have long term consequences.

The care of their skin is almost entirely in the hands of their parents. Regular protection against the sun should begin now. Read the rest »

Dear Henry,

I have to let some of this adoration that I feel for you out of my system. I fear that if I don’t I will burst open tomorrow, or maybe even tonight, in my sleep. I wish I could pause time to preserve this phase of innocent wonder that you are running through on squishy, square feet. When I watch you dunk your chubby fists in your yogurt cup to get those last, hard-to reach bites, or dump your bowl of fried rice over your head, or christen your toothbrush in the toilet, or pick your “boogies nose,” or come out of the closet with my underwear on your head, I wonder if I’ll ever be able to teach you all the things you need to learn to function as a “normal” member of society. And then I look around, and I realize that I don’t want you to blend too seemlessly in with the “norm.” I realize that what I should be concerned about is whether or not I am learning all of the sterling little lessons that you have to teach me in this utterly guileless phase of your existence. Read the rest »

In March 2005, Christine Steendahl was a stay-at-home mom of three and her family was feeling the pressure from a tight budget. Wanting to stay home with her children, Christine decided she needed to get creative. After brainstorming various ideas to bring in extra income, Christine had her lightbulb moment when she was preparing her weekly menu like she does every week. “Menu planning is a very helpful thing, but it takes time,” says Christine. “Why not share my menus with other busy moms to make their lives easier?” So Christine researched what was currently available on the market and found various menu planning websites, but none that were focused primarily on simple recipes for families. And Dine Without Whine was born. Read the rest »

Thank You for Helping Make Operation Shower a Success

Imagine being pregnant while your spouse is deployed in Iraq or Afghanistan. Operation Shower is a non-profit organization that supports our troops and their families by providing baby showers to moms and moms-to-be whose husbands are deployed overseas defending America’s interests. Founded by the owners of Clever Parents and Lena’s Notebook, Operation Shower throws baby showers around the country for these deserving women. On Saturday, December 8th, 2007, 50 Army spouses will be showered with gifts in Fort Hood, Texas.

Operation Shower would like to thank the following generous organizations for providing gifts for all 50 of the women being honored at the upcoming shower at Fort Hood. Thank you for making Operation Shower a success!

Baby Gear

• EuroTotes by lillebaby Traveling just got easier with the lillébaby EuroTote™! Ideal for parents on the go, the EuroTote does far more than any single function baby carrier or bunting bag on the market. www.lillebabyusa.com

Bath & Body

• Love Me Baby Me gift sets. The Love Me Baby Me natural baby skincare line includes five pure, safe and gentle skincare products: Bubbly Wash, Smoothy Shampoo, Creamy Cream, Hair Putty and Butt Balm. www.lovemebabyme.com
• Tiny Truffles Little Twig’s Baby Basics gift pack will help get your favorite new family off to a great start with fun, all-natural infant bathing essentials-including a plush caterpillar washcloth, refreshing extra mild baby powder, and organic lavender baby wash & bodymilk. www.tinytruffles.com
• JOHNSON’S® - An assortment of bath and skincare products. www.johnsonsbaby.com
• Trimfoot Co Make bath time even more fun with a bath gift set from Trimfoot Co. Adorable hooded towel, slippers, bath mit and brush arranged in an adorable basket with cloth liner. www.trimfootco.com

Clothing & Shoes

• Vincent Shoes The hip Vincent™ collection of children’s shoes are fun, fashionable and functional. The Vincent shoe brand is 100% focused on children’s shoes, including sneakers, dress shoes, dress-up shoes, prewalkers, baby booties, boots, slippers, high tops and sandals. www.vincentshoestore.us
• Baby Legs Baby Legs leg warmers are great for crawling over all surfaces. www.babylegs.net
• Baby Ears Hats from Karen Alexis. Sweet hats with little ears to keep baby’s heads warm. www.karenalexis.com
• The Stowers Swaddler This unique swaddling baby blanket makes swaddling easy to do and easier to maintain. The blanket’s design is based on techniques used in maternity by nurses, midwives and other professionals. www.uniquenotecards.com
• My Rockstar Baby Is your baby reporting for ACTIVE DOODIE? Then this is the perfect little onesie! www.myrockstarbaby.com
• Tiny Sprouts Show off your little sprout’s style with adorable, personalized onesies embroidered with the words of your choice. www.tinysprouts.com
• Baby Once Baby Once offers stylish apparel and accessories for newborns, infants and babies. For Operation Shower, Baby Once provided an assortment of baby items including blankets, diaper covers, baby legs, baby socks and more. www.babyonce.com

Decor

• Wee Gallery Cheer up baby’s room with three new collections of Wee Gallery animals now available as gallery-wrapped canvas prints. www.weegallery.com
• Kirby Ink Show your support of our soldiers with patriotic artwork from Kirby Ink. www.kirbyink.com

For The Moms & Dads

• Miss Elaine Miss Elaine specializes in fashionable sleepwear, robes and loungewear to suit the lifestyles of today’s woman. Whether it’s cozy robes or comfy pajamas, Miss Elaine’s products are designed with carefree fabrics detailed with feminine lace trim and beautiful embroidery. www.misselaine.com
• Sand Dune Publishing Between You and Me Keepsake Journals for Mom and Dad. Each hardcover, spiral-bound book contains 35 - 45 fun-to-ask and fun-to-answer questions. You get them back with handwritten responses you’ll cherish forever. www.sanddunebooks.com
• TRG Group Soren® has added to an elite collection of totes designed to meet the needs of a wide array of consumers. Soren® totes range from high fashion totes to everyday shopping totes. www.trgcorporate.com
• St. Martin’s Press Army Wives: The Unwritten Code of Military Marriage by Tanya Biank. www.stmartins.com
• Tobi Woods Designs Beautiful and artistic journals, magnets and notecards from Tobi Wood Designs www.tobiwooddesigns.com
• Hollyberry Baking Company Individually packed homemade cookies. www.hollyberrybaking.com
• Cornerstork Baby Gifts Cute and practical “About to Hatch” egg timers work fabulously anywhere. The egg-shaped timer twists at the bottom to countdown any interval of time from one minute to 60 minutes. www.cornerstorkbabygifts.com
• Safer Mom Inc Auto safety magnets from Safer Mom alert and remind drivers that there are children on board. www.safermom.com

Books & Multimedia

• Carol Kaplan-Lyss’s Lollipop Tree CDs (a collection of popular American folksongs) and Minnie Macaroni CDs (a homespun collection of simple songs and stories for young children) and cassettes of each. Sold exclusively on-line at Lena’s Notebook: http://notebook.myshopify.com/
• Cedar Valley Publishing Let’s Get Ready for Kindergarten by Stacy Kannenberg www.cedarvalleypublishing.com
  
• Giddio Billy Brown and the Mystery Package CDs www.giddio.com
• Blue Orchid Press Blue Orchid Breastfeeding and Newborn guides for your personal health. www.blueorchidpress.com

Many thanks to these generous companies and to the numerous other companies and individuals who contributed to the Fort Hood shower. If you are interested in donating items to an upcoming Operation Shower event, please visit www.operationshower.org