Nested

The Rookie Mom's Handbook

Even before you pop out your first baby you are bound to receive plenty of warnings about the downsides of the new world of parenting: No sleep, breastfeeding issues and the general feeling of "I'm supposed to know what to do?" usually top the list. But here's a little secret that most seasoned moms don't tell you:

What most new moms aren't prepared for is the overwhelming boredom that they encounter during those first months of motherhood. Getting out of the house is really more difficult than it should be and suddenly all those activities you used to do just don't make sense when you've got a baby in tow. And don't get us started about the soul crush that is daytime television.

That's why we absolutely love The Rookie Mom's Handbook: 250 activities to do with (or without!) your baby by bloggers Whitney Moss and Heather Gibbs Flett. Their suggestions are quirky, but completely doable -- the sort of things that you'd never think of doing and then wonder "why didn't I think of that?"

Win a Copy of Listography!

Here at Nested, we're giving away three copies of Listography Journal: Your Life in Lists, a soon-to-be-published Chronicle book by Lisa Nola and illustrated by Nathaniel Russell.  While Listography isn't exactly a children's book or a book for baby, we definitely see a tie-in that has to do with kids.

Listography is all about "creating a unique autobiography entirely in list form" by asking questions to be answered in list form. While you may not think you're past or present is currently that interesting, we know that one day your kids will love to read your answers and learn more about their folks. And even if it's a while before they can comprehend the concept of mom's guiltiest pleasures, they'll sure enjoy looking at the illustrations.

Baby Einstein & Buy, Buy Baby

With the recent press about the study conducted by University of Washington, it's very easy to villainize Baby Einstein and its devotees. But when you consider that ten years ago Baby Einstein was started by a mother (out of her home) who wanted to bring arts and languages to babies, it's hard to fault the original intentions.

That said, it's easy to fault the marketing machine and merchandising monster that followed after the Disney acquisition of The Baby Einstein Company. Susan Gregory Thomas' Buy, Buy Baby is an excellent read about the history of not just Baby Einstein, but also the movement to market to children and babies. While it's a great read that opened our eyes to marketing movements that happened during our own childhood years (Strawberry Shortcake, for one), we couldn't help feel a bit depressed after putting it down.

But even with the commercialization of childhood that Thomas presents, our ongoing search for neat things for parents and their little ones, make us realize that it's a pretty great time to be a parent [1]. It's incredibly uplifting to see so many mothers and fathers running web-based businesses or  selling individual items out of their Etsy storefronts. All of these independent vendors that are making us all realize how special a homemade item can be.

[1] Blogging has made so much of this possible. Just seeing the number of blogs out there which inspire parents to spend more time with their children gives us hope.

Grown-Up Merit Badges

Seeing these awesome Mama Merit Badges over at The Junior Society the other day reminded us of another source for merit badge motivation.

You Can Do It! The Merit Badge Handbook for Grown-Up Girls is exactly the sort of book that will give you that kick start to get out and do the sort of things you've always wanted to do or learn, but never quite had the time to try to conquer.

The book was begun by Lauren Catuzzi Grandcolas, who, sadly perished in Flight 93 on September 11. Her two sisters, however, recognized the power of this motivational guide and completed it in her honor. And each chapter, or rather, activity is certainly written to get you inspired. An activity is outlined, badge steps to get you started are given, you're introduced to a mentor in the field and then you're given examples of how to go "beyond the badge."

Best of all, when you've completed the activity (Cooking, for example), there's a merit badge sticker to give yourself as a reward.

We love this book because it breaks down the seemingly impossible and makes it quite doable. Highly recommended.

Book Giving Made Easy

It seems as if today's unofficial theme at Nested is turning out to be book giving. So, if you've found the perfect bookplates but are at a loss for what books to actually give or what books are age-appropriate, check out The Gifted Grasshopper for "bags bursting with books." Not only will they pick out books based on age and theme, but will also package their selections with trimmings that make reading time even more special.

More Bookplates

Speaking of bookplates, here's a set of small, medium and large bookplates that you can also print out and stick in your favorite books (for free!).

Want your child's bookplates to have a really classic touch? We suggest these customized plates featuring slhouettes. 20 labels for $40 from Simply Silhouettes.

Or, design your own bookplate with a more traditional design at bookplates.com.

Via My Mom Shops, these retro design bookplates straight out of the 40s and 50s from My Retro Baby.

Children's Book Shower Bookplates

We sure love the idea of a children's book-themed shower where guests are asked to bring a favorite childhood book of theirs as their gift. Sure, you may not end up with the bottle warmer you actually need, but you're certain to receive gifts that hold a certain amount of sentimental signficance to your guests.

A downside of the book shower? The person who will receive most pleasure from the books isn't yet born and will probably have a difficult time recalling who gave which book and why when thinking back on his or her in utero memories.

That's why we created these Gifted Bookplates to go along with the books you'll receive as gifts. The bookplate serves both as a space to note who gave the book as well as a place for the gift-giver to leave a special message for the baby.

Sushi Stuff for You and Baby

Deny yourself something for nine months and watch how much more desirable it becomes. Now, deny yourself something and then try to not go crazy as you see it on baby item after baby item. While we're waiting to see the new trend of mimosa onesies take off, we'll have to settle with the insane amount of sushi baby and children items appearing everywhere. Now don't get me wrong, we love sushi and love the alternative to the usual pink or blue baby animal everything. It's just a little too much when you're craving a hunk of fatty toro. But if we're to get our fill, we might as well do it right.

Here's some sushi-themed items we've found online:

Sam and Bellie recognize the sushi baby stuff demand so well that they offer their baby cloth bib set with matching burp cloth ($25) in two patterns: Sushi and Sashimi. And since every mother-to-be is warned that you can never have too many burp cloths, you can also pick up this two cloth burp set ($15) over at Hip & Little in the same "Sashimi" fabric. The nice thing about Hip & Little's set is that they offer a simple chopstick pattern that we haven't seen elsewhere.