A Name Before a Baby

I seem to know more and more parents-to-be who choose and publicize a baby name before the baby is born.  Do you know any of these folks?  Are you one of these folks?  Is it a recent trend or am I just noticing it now that I'm baby crazed?   

Forty years ago (maybe even thirty), sonograms simply weren't standard parts of prenatal care.  Without a sonogram or two, the gender of the baby can't be discovered.  And, in most cases, without knowing the gender of the baby, a single name can't be settled upon.  So, relatively speaking, it is a trend for parents to decide on a single name before the baby is born thanks to modern technology.  But, if I'm considering only the last five years (the years when my peers started to become pregnant), it's really the last two years that I've noticed this naming habit.

While I won't choose this route, I don't think it's wrong or bad.  At all.  Quite the opposite, I understand the fun in it.  I imagine that it's fantastic to call him or her a real name rather than a nickname or...a pronoun.  Using a name (the name) might make it feel all the more real?  Choosing a name as early as possible hopefully prevents pregnant friends, acquaintances and coworkers from scooping up your jewel before the due date.  But I don't think any of these reasons are why people do it.  My theory on this seemingly newish trend is that people have been taken by all the amazing baby swag that requires a name or initials.  Below are a few examples of these desirables.

Pottery Barn has a bunch of personalized books, like the one below.  In fact, Pottery Barn has an entire section of their website dedicated to personalized baby stuff (here) with everything from blankets to toys to furniture.

The wall decal below by Stephen Edward Graphic ($35) is one of many that you can find on Etsy.com.  Personalizing a nursery can be nearly instant.

Two blue peas has a slew of awesome, inexpensive (!) baby gifts that can be personalized with a name or initials, like the giraffe and raccoon blanket below.  Check them all out here.

While I just realized this name picking trend, I have known of the general love for personalized gifts since the start of NSB and written about it twice (here and here).  So, was it the chicken or the egg?  Did personalized gifts become popular because people were choosing names before babies arrived or were people choosing names before babies arrived leading savvy retailers to capitalize?

Orange You Excited for a Gender Neutral Baby Shower?

Yes, this is a recycled title, I'm using "orange" as "aren't" again.  I posted about an orange nursery last November, entitled Orange You Excited to Decorate a Gender Neutral Nursery?  It featured the mood board below.

Go to the original post (here) for product details

Today I'm pulling together ideas for an orange themed baby shower.  Color themed parties are extra easy to pull together because necessities (decorations, invites, etc.) are readily available and they allow for creative party planning because the elements don't have to be matchy matchy.  After all, matchy matchy is a big NO, as Giuliana Rancic would say on E! Fashion Police.

I'm pleased to present some of the coolest Etsy born baby shower products that I've ever found.  I'm kicking it off, as always with invitations.

From top to bottom:

1. Chevron umbrella invitation by Executive Creations ($20 for set of 10)

2. Modern blue and orange invitation by Sophisticate Suite ($10 for digital file)

3. Elephant and peanut invitation invitation by Swanky Press ($30 for set of 20)

This banner by Parker Prints ($15.50) is unique and sweet.  It's perfect to hang over a refreshment table.  And, if you're not going to find out the gender then the banner can read "welcome baby".

Before coming across these raffle tickets by Middle Before ($6 for digital file) I had never heard of a diaper raffle.  I like it.  I'm into practical baby shower gifts (more on that here) and this is a fun way to encourage that.  

Orange (or tangerine or clementine) flavored macaroons would be baby shower perfection.  Here is a recipe for orange hazelnut macaroons from Cookstr.com.

This beautiful box is full of cupcake mix as a favor for shower guests.  It's made by Favor Box Bakery ($40 for 12 boxes) and I love it.  The colors are customizable.

Stuff People Google 50

Fifty weeks of Stuff People Google.  Nice.  This week's edition brought its typist to NSB thanks to a caption contest featuring a unique cake posted over a year ago (here).  I love caption contests.

cake for teen pregnancy

Pregzilla Anyone?

I'm contacted by many a random website owner/product pusher at the Next Stop Baby email address (nextstopbabyblog@gmail.com).  Several times a week someone asks me to promote a cause on Next Stop Baby.  I pretty much never oblige.  I'm not a snob, I'm a preservationist.  I want Next Stop Baby to be about products, website and (mostly) thoughts that authentically strike me in my daily life.

I was emailed two days ago with one of these standard requests to pass along information to you, my beloved readers.  Right off, I was annoyed because the emailer called me a "Mommy Blogger".  You and I know that I'm not a mommy blogger, but I decided to continue reading.  Despite the introductory faux pas, the content of the email was interesting enough that I couldn't just blow it off.  One can't break an unwritten rule without serious consideration.  So that's what I did and after about 4 minutes I had made my decision.  I'm sure you'll understand why.

She also called me a mommy when she signed off.
She is clearly NOT an NSB reader.

The emailer is affiliated with a reality television casting company and she's working on an upcoming show: Pregzilla.  That's right, Pregzilla.  You understand my extremely quick decision to pass along the good word, yes?

I'm a reality show addict.  I don't waste my time calling it a guilty pleasure because I'm not guilty about it. You know that I've written about Teen Mom several times (here, here and here) and referenced the Real Housewives (here and here).

I'm an urban dictionary addict and "pregzilla" is a defined term (here).

I found a t-shirt with the
Urban Dictionary definition of Pregzilla
(from zazzle.com)

I'm a Pregnant in Heels addict critic.  My posts about Rosie Pope and Pregnant in Heels have been reigning fan favorites.  I envision Pregzilla as being a direct competitor of Pregnant in Heels (aka more fodder for NSB).

The sum of all this meant I had to share the casting information.  I would freak out if a Next Stop Baby reader applied for the show and made it to any of the casting rounds, much less onto the show.  So, if you're interested or know anyone that would be the info is below and keep me posted!!!  Look out Rosie Pope, Pregzilla is on the way.

Now casting the humorous and crazy side of pregnancy! 

EXPECTING MOTHERS: You thought PMS was bad, but this just got a whole lot worse! Are you losing your mind? Hormones running amok? Freaking out over the littlest things? Are you making yourself and everyone else around you nuts and using your pregnancy as the excuse?

This is your pregnancy and you need to be treated like a queen! Let's face it, you're never going to have a better excuse to act up, diva out, regress to childhood, and take command as the queen!

SIGNIFICANT OTHERS:  Do you not recognize the woman you fell in love with?  Are you feeling more and more like an alien took over her body and turned her into an emotional monster?  This is your chance to have fun with the fact that your lady has gone off the rails.  

Looking for both expecting mothers and significant others to participate and share with us the comic drama that surrounds wild ride of pregnancy.  

Doron Ofir Casting, the star-making casting company behind Jersey Shore, Millionaire Matchmaker, My Strange Addiction and RuPaul's DragRace, is now casting pregnant mothers who are loud and proud pregzillas! If you or someone you know qualifies, please apply now!

If you and your significant other are currently expecting and appear to be between the ages of 21-35, you could be eligible to star in a new exciting series that celebrates the roller coaster ride of pregnancy. 

This is your opportunity to express yourself and tell the world what you've been going through. Vent, complain, brag, show off...and get the ultimate travelogue of your journey to parenthood. 

If selected, you will receive an episodic stipend of $5,000.00

To apply, please visit www.pregzillascasting.com and fill out the digital application. 

What Not To Expect

Who's going to see What To Expect When You're Expecting?  I'm tapping out.  Not interested.  First, I'm not a huge fan of the book.  Granted, I've never read the book, but friend reviews suggest that it's encyclopedia-like and fear-inducing.  I'm not into encyclopedias nor fear.  Second, those ensemble cast movies don't do it for me.  Valentine's Day was horrific.  Even Bradley Cooper couldn't save it.  I didn't bother to see New Year's Eve for the same reason I'm boycotting What to Expect, but I heard it was equally terrible.  There is one exception to this rule and that's Love Actually, my favorite movie of all time (that and The Cutting Edge and Clue: The Movie make up my top 3).

Bottom line, it's not my cup of tea.  But, by all means, check it out and let me know how it goes.  I imagine that it will do quite well in the theaters and satisfy many movie goers.  Plus, I've been wrong about a movie once or twice (you've probably already questioned my cinematic taste after learning my top 3 list).

The reason I mention What to Expect is not merely to bash pregnancy education and big budget film.  I bring it up because I was highly disturbed by a billboard that I saw for it over the weekend.  I was taking the subway (of course).  As I exited the train car, I was confronted by a huge, life-sized image of a pregnant Cameron Diaz glowing from across the subway platform.  It wasn't actually glowing, but those damn subway billboard are so big and shiny that it might as well have been.  It was Hollywood perfection with a slight exception, someone had scrawled the following across Cameron's perfectly taut, round belly:

Die Breeder Scum 

Woah, right?  I so wish I had taken a photograph to share.  I'm used to a scribbled mustache or a classic profanity, but this was a whole different form of graffiti.  It was hysterical.  Highly disturbing and hysterical. 

Turns out there's someone else out there who will also be boycotting What to Expect, just for very different reason.