Three Years of Blogging

It's been 3 years and 1 month and 3 days since I wrote my first post on February 8, 2011. In 2012, I commemorated my first full year of blogging with a little look back (aka a blogiversary post). I didn't do that last year because I was on blogging hiatus at the time. And, at first, I didn't think it was appropriate to do this year because, frankly, there's not much to recap. Not much has happened on NSB during the past 12 months. But, that's silly. Right? It's not important how much or how little happened. I'm blogging again so I should be blogiversary-ing again!

Let's start with a quick timeline of the last year on NSB:

February 2013 - I managed two measly posts (here and here). The arrival of my daughter at the end of 2012 had, understandably, altered my free time and my priorities. Blogging took a seat in the way, way back. Ever seen the movie The Way, Way Back with Steve Carrell? It's great.

March 13, 2013 - I finally posted a "Proper Farewell" in which I admitted that I needed an official break and wouldn't be posting for a while.

December 2013 - I randomly stopped by NSB and after some perusing, realized that the This Blogger page needed some major updates. So, I updated it and posted about the update. I've since updated it again.

January 13, 2013 - My quick December post got me thinking about blogging again. When the new year hit, it felt like the write time to get back on the horse. So, I did. But, before I could really get started, I addressed the need for an update to the blog name. So, technically, Next Stop Baby is now Next Stop (Another) Baby. Though you'll notice that I still use the NSB acronym because NS(A)B doesn't flow, it doesn't.

February 7, 2013 - While I didn't write a blogiversary post, I did write a "refresher post" to remind myself and my readers what we could all expect on NSB.

FAVORITE POSTS

The most read posts on Next Stop Baby seem to be driven by pop culture - what's everyone watching on TV and at the Movies, and what's the latest trend in baby shower themes. Posts about Teen Mom 3 command three of the Top 10 favorite posts. Here's the full Top 10 list, with #1 being the most viewed post of all time.

1. Rosie Pope Said Wha...???

2. Your Burning Rosie Pope Questions

3. A Day of Celebration - Teen Mom 3

4. Baby Bears

5. How Much to Spend on a Baby Shower Gift

6. Winnie the Pooh Baby Shower, Tttttttterrific

7. Katniss is Not A Real Name

8. Teen Mom 3 - It's On

9. They're Baaaaack...

10. Owl Themed Baby Shower, Hoooo-Hoooo

Since I've been blogging again in 2014, the favorite post is The Perfect Double Stroller. This is not hugely surprising. Everyone relies on the internet for product research and reviews, so I am happy to have provided some (helpful?) info.

READERS

Readers come to NSB from varying sources on the internet - google searches (the #1 source), subscriptions (by email or by blog feed), Pinterest and Twitter and Facebook, and other blogs. Readers also come from varying places in the world - US, Canada, Poland, Germany, UK, Russia, Australia, France, Sweden, Ukraine name the Top 10 countries in order of most pageviews. I find it super interesting that non-English speaking countries rank higher than some english-speaking countries (i.e. more people in Poland read than people in Australia). The Polish People and I are kindred spirits and I dig it.

Once again, special shout out to WW who is a tried and true reader, commentor, and lover of NSB. And I am a lover of her. Did that just get a little creepy?

Meanwhile, I miss commentors like The Mrs./The Mom and Whitney M. who had previously been staples.

PLANS FOR 2014

Guest Bloggers - Haven't had a guest blogger since January 2012. Maybe it would be fun to do a follow-up with some guest bloggers to catch up and see what's changed in their baby-related worlds. 

Suburbia - I don't live in NYC anymore, which is a bummer in some ways, though a wonderful thing in many more ways. In terms of blogging, my travels on the NYC subway system and encounters with disgruntled New Yorkers provided quite a bit of fodder for NSB. Will there be a large, sewer cap sized hole in NSB's content due to my new locale? No, there won't. I can already tell you that suburban Massholes are going to provide plenty of great posts as well...stay tuned.

Baby Names - I love Nameberry.com. I peruse the website with great frequency, and probably always will. And I even exchange tweets with Nameberry here and there. BUT, I need some new name inspiration. It's time to spread my wings.

Crafting and Nursery Decor - Over the years I've made a fair amount of moodboards for nursery decorating ideas. My inspiration has been whatever is trendy. While I'll continue to do this, I'll also be moodboarding from a more personal place. I'm in the process...the very beginning of the process...of decorating my daughter's bedroom. I'm pinning like crazy (love Pinterest) and all over design/DIY blogs. I also plan to venture into crafting territory, which you got a taste of on Valentine's Day. I'm starting simple. VERY simple (as you saw).

Happy Blogiversary to me and thanks for reading. It's going to be a great year.

For other blogiversary posts click here, here and here.

Where To Get Your Baby Gear for Number Two

If you read the title to this post and thought to yourself, "she's going to post another list today", then you thought correct.

A couple weeks ago, I gave you a list of baby gear that you may need to purchase/borrow/steal for your second baby. Today is a sort of sequel to that post. You likely have less money to spend on this bambino. You already stretched your budget to incorporate the first mini person. Stretching your budget further may not feel feasible, especially for costly items like a second crib or a double stroller. The other big factor for baby number two is that there's no baby shower. Last time around you relied on incredibly generous family members and friends for the lion's share of your needs. Well, that was a one time deal. You're on your own this time. But, rather than throw everything on a credit card and close your eyes, here are some money saving ideas.

And now, for the list:

Craigslist - Some of us get an itchy feeling when we hear the word Craigslist thanks to some of its unsavory forums and some high profile, high scandalous users. But, Craigslist is actually an incredible resource for secondhand shopping. For big ticket items, like double strollers and car seats, you can find very new products (1 or 2 years old) with minimal wear and tear. I have a friend who scored a 2013 Bumbleride double stroller, that had been used a whopping two times with some accessories still in the original packaging, for half the price of retail.

eBay - Same shpeel as above. You can get some fantastic, near new (and sometimes actually new) baby gear for super cheap. Just pay close attention to seller ratings and the location of the seller (i.e. is the item coming from Columbus, OH or Shanghai). 

Borrow from Friends and Family - This is the obvious one. Email your friends and family with the list of your needs. Even if they don't have what you need to borrow, they each have their own network and they may be able to connect you to someone who does. 

Facebook - I've seen many a Facebook post asking for anyone who has unused baby stuff up for grabs. On the flip side, I've seen posts from people who want to sell or give away their old baby stuff. You don't want some old co-workers junk, but you never know what gem is out there and it's nice to know the previous user (versus Craigslist/eBay). A quick "Anyone looking to get rid of their double stroller?" post could be the best thing that Facebook ever does for you. 

Register - You don't get a baby shower for your second baby. But, that doesn't mean that you can't register for stuff. Pottery Barn doesn't know whether you're having another baby shower (and I'm pretty sure they don't care). If you want those pink Penelope sheets, why not register for them and then use your 10% registry completion discount to buy them? I don't recommend making a registry for every item you want for your children throughout their lives in order to get a discount, but I think a registry for another baby is totally legit. 

Secondhand Baby Stores - These may not be your thing, but they are certainly worth a peek. Especially the fancy versions that only except high end, brand new or as-good-as-new stuff. These boutique stores are typically more prevalent with better inventory in the city (versus the burbs) and I recommending reading some reviews on Yelp before you made the trek. 

What creative place did you get your baby gear? Any horror stories?

Apollo, ScarJo and Celebrity Baby Soccer Tournaments

It's Friday again (NICE) and it's again time for a weekly summary of celebrity gossip, baby style. My last roundup can be found here, in case you missed it.

Our week started, on Saturday (3/1), with the birth of Apollo Bowie Flynn Rossdale. Apollo is the third son for Gwen Stefani and Gavin Rossdale. Between all three of their boy name choices, this one is only moderately unique. Their first born, Kingston James McGregor, is the most standard, their second born, Zuma Nesta Rock, is the most creative (obviously) and Apollo sits in the middle, leaning toward standard. Gavin Rossdale's Twitter birth announcement and explanation of the name's meaning is...confusing, upon first read. Does Apollo have more than one mother? Does Gwen Stefani have more than one maiden name? No and no. Bowie is Rossdale's mother's maiden name. Flynn is Stefani's mother's maiden name. I'm guessing most of you figured this out right away. I didn't.

Scarlett Johansen is pregnant. She may not have beaten Ryan Reynolds to marriage number two, but she is officially going to beat him to baby number one. Unless I've missed the news that Blake Lively is pregnant as well? I'm interested to watch this one progress. I can't picture her pregnant, though I'm guessing her bra is going to give Kim Kardashian's bra a run for its money. And I wonder what kind of baby namer she will be. Will she bend to the Hollywood pressure and try to find the last unique name in the world or will she surprise us with an Emma or Jacob?

Last, but certainly not least, Fraser is going to be a father for the sixth time. He will be officially even with the Jolie-Pitt squad, except that the age range of the Grammer brood is significantly more expansive. There will be a 21 year difference between the oldest and the youngest. In a couple years, when baby Grammer is walking, they should do a Grammer versus Jolie-Pitt soccer game or something. 

Happy almost weekend.

What Happens at a Baby Shower

What happened on your sophomore year spring break in Cancun stayed in Cancun. This is, of course, assuming that your sophomore year spring break happened pre-Facebook. For your sake, I hope it did. While (fingers crossed) the happenings in Cancun remain a mystery, baby showers aren't so mysterious. They're pretty simple - the mom-to-be opens a ton of gifts and guests cheer her on. I've been to many and they all follow the same sequence of events. There's some fun DIY decor, an embarrassing game (or ten) and lots of sweets. But just in case you haven't been to one lately (or ever), I'll break it down for you.

Pre-Event Considerations:

What should you wear? Whether you go to church or not, you probably have a sense of church appropriate attire. Your "church outfits" can double as baby shower outfits. If this description isn't working for you, think "business casual" but more fun. Jeans are not a great call. Neither is a taffeta cocktail dress. Here are a couple images courtesy Pinterest that hopefully help (quick plug: you can follow NSB on Pinterest by clicking here and then clicking follow).

My fashion sense leans conservative, as you can tell, so you should funk it up and trend it out as much as your heart desires. The basic guideline is not too casual and not too dressy. Image sources: outfit on left (here), outfit on right (here)

What should you bring? You and your gift. I have previously written about how much money to spend on a gift (here) and whether to buy off the registry or not (here).

What time should you arrive? On time. This isn't a fashionably late type event. But don't stress if you're fifteen minutes behind schedule. Typically, the guest of honor is going to arrive about 15 - 30 minutes after the invitation asked you to arrive. This is because the host wants the guest of honor to enter a room full of people and love. So, just make sure to arrive before the guest of honor.

Will there be alcohol? Yes, boozy, there will. Probably. If the guest of honor is someone who drinks alcohol in a non-pregnant state then alcohol will most likely be served. It will usually be some champagne or wine, maybe a signature cocktail. I've even been to baby showers with open bars. In case you're hoping wondering, I've never seen anyone throw down a shot.

Will there be men? Unlikely. I've never been to a co-ed baby shower. It's relatively common for the father-to-be to show up near the end to say hello, thank everyone and carry the gifts away. But, I can't say that I've been to (or even heard about) a co-ed baby shower. Co-ed wedding showers are on trend, so perhaps co-ed baby showers are next.

Arrive and Mingle

Nothing major happens out of the gate. You'll show up to the country club or the grandmother-to-be's house or a cute local brunch spot in the late morning or early afternoon on a Sunday. I have gone to Saturday baby showers and I have gone to evening baby showers, but these are the exception. The first hour of the shower will be spent mingling and munching. Even if the shower includes a formal sit-down meal, appetizers will usually be served right away. You'll catch up with friends and family of the guest of honor, or you'll meet them for the first time. There might be a clothes line of onesies to check out or a jar of Hershey Kisses to count (person who guesses closest to the number of kisses in the jar gets a prize). You'll also have time to check out the table full of gifts that include at least one diaper cake and several baskets full of bath supplies or first aid necessities.

If you're not keen on making one of these yourself but you think they're awesome, check out Etsy for some lovely crafters that will make it for you. Oli-G's Designs makes owl-themed diaper cake above.

Sit-down Meal

About fifty percent of the baby showers I've been to had a formal sit-down meal. It will probably indicate this on the invitation and it will definitely lengthen the party.

Game Time

During the meal or while the guest of honor opens presents, games will be played. I haven't been to a baby shower without games. Even at baby showers honoring a mother-to-be who isn't a game playing type, there will be games. So, buckle up. Here is the list of games that I've played:

• Baby Food Tasting - Taste jarred baby food and guess the flavor (on one occasion the jarred baby food had been smeared into a diaper, I'm not joking)
• Toilet Paper Predictor - Tear off however many squares of toilet paper you would need if you were going to the bathroom in the woods. The punchline is that the number of squares you take is the number of children you will have. Hope I didn't ruin it for you.
• Word Games - Think of a baby-related word that begins with each letter of the alphabet, think of ten songs that have the word "baby" in them, cross-word puzzles full of words like diaper and ointment and breastfeeding, etc.
• Make-a-onesie - Use puff paint, glue, fabric scraps, stencils, markers, scissors, etc.) to personalize a white onesie for the baby
• Baby Photo Guessing Game - Sometimes there's a big poster with a bunch of baby photos. Sometimes everyone gets a piece of paper with a collage of baby photos. The idea is to guess who the baby is, which is usually a guest at the shower or a celebrity (depending on how it's played).
• Sage Advice Journal/Cards - Write a note to the mother-to-be and father-to-be with your best parenting advice
• Message to the Baby Journal/Cards - Write a message to the baby
• Gambling - Some baby showers will host a "buy a square" (think Super Bowl) or just a friendly wager as to the birthday, gender (if it's unknown), weight and height of the baby.

Example of a classic baby shower word game
from Pulp Paper Goods 

Present Opening

Look around the room and guestimate 2-4 minutes per guest. That's how long this portion of the day will take. Could be a very long time if there are fifty (or more) guests. The good news is that there will be group gifts, which knock out a bunch of guests at once, and a few guests bring gift cards, which take about thirty seconds to open and show off. Many gifts will be from the registry. But, it's also common for baby shower guests to buy non-registry items for at least a portion of their gift. So, there will be some interesting and awesome surprises.

Grab Your Favor and Go

The favors are typically a food item (i.e. chocolate covered something) or baby related (i.e. travel size Purell). There's not much after party action, for obvious reasons. So that's it. Hope it's a good one.

What games have you played at baby showers? Any go-to outfits that always seem to work? Any disastrous gift opening stories - something broke, a turn-of-the-century dangerous hand-me-down?

Classic Pink Baby Shower (Round Two)

I know, I keep posting baby shower mood boards despite the fact that I've already had my baby shower (about a year and a half ago). But, there are many loved ones in my life who are expecting. And even more who I expect to expect at some point. And, it's fun. So, I'm allowed to continue mood boarding and I will.

My idea of a classic blue baby shower came together a couple years ago (here). As did my idea of a classic pink baby shower (here). But, in reviewing the classic pink baby shower post, I thought it need a bit of updating. There were some cute finds (especially that pink umbrella), but I thought I could do cuter. Here's my attempt...Jelly Belly still made the cut.

Image Sources Below

Where To Find These Lovely Items

Girl! Invitation from Minted.com

Little One Tags by Wild Sugar Berries

Pink-a-boo Nail Polish by Essie

Pink Grapefruit Jelly Bean from Jelly Belly

Tissue Paper Potted Flower by Old Ways Fuss N Feathers

Pink Paper Lanterns by Janie Girl Crafts