Ok, here’s a fun and helpful project that needs your help to ensure its success. Babies Online 2.0 beta is up and waiting for testers to test how well it works. No need to worry that setting up the beta account will affect your existing Babies Online baby pages. The two are independent until the testing period is over.

You may wonder what is a beta and who is a beta tester? A beta is simply a new or upgraded version of an existing software that is being developed. Beta testers are people who test this software to identify what works and what doesn’t, what could be added or taken away.  Your feedback will help shape what will ultimately become the final product. For those persons who become beta testers the thrill and challenge of being the first to test new software is exciting. Don’t you want to be among the first to use the new Babies Online?

If you already love Babies Online why not become a Beta Testers to make it even better? Click the here to set up a beta account.

The new site is really very attractive and easy to use. Some neat features include:

• Create a post
  You can now create a post to record whatever you wish. This virtual journal gives you the ability to record happenings in the life of you and your children.

• Enter a milestone
  • This feature allows the opportunity to capture each precious moment or milestone in a baby’s life as they grow or each stage of your pregnancy. The first smile, first haircut etc can now be recorded and shared with others online. One special part of this is the pre-selected milestones to jog your memory. These pre-selected milestones are many and include:
    • Pulled Myself Up Alone
    • Discovered hands
    • Cravings
    • Spreading News

• Post a picture
  Every parent wants to show off pictures of their children and this feature gives them the opportunity. This remote storage of your prized pictures will make it easy to share them with family and friends anywhere in the world. An added bonus is that you will always know where they are!

I liked the quick Invite Your Friends sidebar as it both prompts you in an in obstructive way to invite others to Babies Online without making you do too much work. The Guestbook and Status Message add-ons are neat features that add to the experience as well.

In addition the color scheme and imagery is relevant to the theme of babies and children. The colors used are cool and inviting and provides a sense of calm.

My favorites from the original site will be transferred over too! Such as Your Pregnancy Week by Week with due date calculator and Your Baby Week by Week.

Babies Online 2.0 is ready for beta!

I was fortunate to be able to easily conceive each time I wanted a baby. I did have a miscarriage in between pregnancies, which was, needless to say, very difficult. Going through this common but painful experience gave me a taste of what it must feel like to want a child but be unable to conceive or successfully carry a baby to term. I know people with fertility issues and see the struggles they go through, and often, the huge sums of money they spend on fertility treatments in attempts to get pregnant.

A piece of odd news I came across today made me think of such people. If I had fertility problems and wanted desperately to have a baby, I might just travel to the Ripley’s Believe it or Not museum in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.

Last Thursday, a collection of fertility statues went on display there. The statues are voluptuous, five-foot tall wooden female figures. They were acquired by a US company on the Ivory Coast of West Africa in 1993. The company says they were first placed in its corporate headquarters in Orlando, Florida, and that within months, 13 women who touched them became pregnant.

The display of statues has been all over the world and according to their owner, more than 2,000 women have become pregnant since touching them. The statues will be in Myrtle Beach until March 1st. Couples wanting to get pregnant can touch them for free during business hours.

If this piques your interest, you might also want to look into bringing some fertility frogs into your home, burning a fertility candle while trying to conceive, or wearing a fertility crystal necklace. I read about these superstitions while doing a search online, after being intrigued with the news of the fertility statues.

I hope to hear plenty of pregnancy reports related to the Ripley’s Believe it or Not exhibit!

I have to warn you upfront that Twitter is hopelessly addictive. It’s one of those internet inventions that it’s hard to see the point of at first, but after using it for a while, you’ll be hooked.

Twitter is a social networking website. it’s like a personal mini-blog, but one that has extra neat features like social networking, and chatting.

Twitter is used for posting short messages, called “tweets” on your Twitter page. You can either use Twitter as just a personal blog, but where Twitter really gets good is when you link up with your friends’ Twitter pages. Your friends can read what you are posting, and you can read what they are posting. You can see all your tweets and all your friends’ tweets together on one page, so it’s great for communicating with a group of friends.

Lots of moms would love to blog, but don’t have time to write blog posts. Here’s where Twitter is so perfect: tweets are a maximum of 140 letters long, so you can post short messages in those free seconds inbetween diaper changes. And it’s much easier to type a little message one-handed while your sleeping baby is lying on your other arm.

All you need to do is to open a Twitter account, it’s really easy, and it’s free. Then, you can start tweeting. Search for your friends on Twitter, and click on the “Follow” button on their Twitter pages to follow what they are doing.

What are you going to write about? Well, Twitter asks you: “What are you doing?” so just type in what you are doing right now. Check out some of these cool moms who use Twitter to see what they are tweeting about.

You can use Twitter to chat and network too. We had an unexpected free afternoon earlier this week, so I tweeted “anyone wanna go to the park this afternoon?” and within 20 minutes later, a couple of friends tweeted back and we had a playdate.

As well as linking with your friends, you can do lots of other things on Twitter. If you are not completely sick of the election, you can follow politics. Barack Obama has the world’s most popular Twitter page, and then there’s Sarah Palin and John McCain… actually, those are two spoof sites mocking the Republican candidates. The real ones don’t seem to have embraced Twitter yet.

News sites like the New York Times and CNN post breaking news on Twitter. Many blogs also automatically send their latest blog posts to their Twitter site so you can keep up to date with your favorites. You can get a Bible verse sent to you every day by following ESV Daily Verse. You can follow celebrity shenanigans by following Britney Spears‘ Twitter Feed, and find out what Dave Matthews is doing at his.

You’ll be able to see tweets from all the sites you follow on one page, so it’s perfect for keeping up to date with, well, everything!

Babies Online is on Twitter at https://twitter.com/Babiesonline so sign up for Twitter, and watch us, your favorite website and your friends. Get breaking news, entertainment, inspiration, and keep in touch with your friends, all in one place.

After 10 years and counting, Babies Online has added a new dimension to what they offer to parents, parents to be and anyone who wants to send a baby-related message. The Babies Online Baby Gear Store. This fun new Baby Gear Store offers unique and practical items to announce a pregnancy, give some clue to your due date, or tell the world that you are a grandmother.

Dads, don’t feel left out as you too can find a nice mug, t-shirt or messenger bag that proclaim your status. The colors are nice and neutral, and t-shirts come in both long and short sleeves. With Independence Day around the corner, proclaim your place as the world’s number one cook with a Gear for Dads BBQ apron.

Got invited to a baby shower and don’t know what type of gift to buy? The Babies Online Baby Gear Store comes to the rescue with items such as throw pillows, and keepsake boxes to keep all those precious little things you want to share later on.

To celebrate the opening of the Babies Online Baby Gear store, we have created a survey. When you complete the online survey you get a chance to win free baby gear ? now what better way to get some quality stuff for your little ones?

So what are you waiting for? Hop on over to the Babies Online Baby Gear Store, answer the survey and do some shopping.

If you’re anything like me, you probably spend some time perusing the various social networking sites like MySpace and Facebook. I’ve rekindled so many friendships using MySpace and I’ve found Facebook to be great for career contacts. In general, I find both sites to be pretty addictive and a lot of fun.

Guess what? Babies Online is on both MySpace and Facebook. You can add Babies Online as a friend and join the group both with both social networking sites. On the MySpace page I particularly like the feature that displays some of the latest Babies Online Blog posts. Now that’s cool.

Here are the links you need to get started:

• Babies Online’s Official MySpace Page

• Babies Online’s Official MySpace Group

• Babies Online’s Official Facebook Page

• Babies Online’s Official Facebook Group

I love social networking. Where else can you become friends with your favorite websites while also searching for your high school sweetheart?

Hope to see you soon!

Are you an internet savvy mom?

Are you tired of sifting through millions of search results when looking for pregnancy, baby, and parenting information?

If so, be sure to check out Babies Online’s all new Baby & Pregnancy Search Toolbar plugin and get relevant results every time you search!

Oh, and super double triple bonus: It’s free!

Last night I was playing around in my Facebook account and thought it’d be fun to start a BabiesOnline Moms Group. Come join us at Facebook by following this link or searching groups for Babies Online).

Not familiar with Facebook? You should check out about.com’s Facebook Dos and Don’ts page and then create your account!

Thank you to those of you who took the time to report the bug in our uploading software.? Apparently I broke something last week when upgrading the member’s area.? I finally figured it out and fixed it, so you should be able to upload photos to your baby’s home page again.

My apologies for the inconvenience!

Shannon

Babies Online was down due to a cut fiber-optic line from 5:30am to 10:30am ET. Everything seems to be back up and running just fine now.

Sorry for the inconvenience!

Featured Article: Holiday Gift Ideas for Your Baby and Toddler

It is the holidays and it is time to start thinking about WHAT you should get your baby or toddler as gifts. Depending on the age you may ask IF you really need to have gifts for your baby under the tree or not. Many people would say no, but if you really want something under the tree that you can help your baby unwrap, there are some great ideas!For babies under a year, it is probable that they won’t understand the whole “gift giving” idea or even be able to figure out how to unwrap a present on their own. They won’t care if there is a rattle, a gym, or a new outfit under the tree. If this is your baby then buy things that YOU need and that will help your baby developmentally, or clothing for the upcoming season. Wrap up these items so that they are under the tree so that your baby has gifts on Christmas morning, but that they are things he really needs. After all, he won’t know the difference. For the toys and other educational items you do buy your baby you need to be sure that you look at the age guidelines and recommendations so that you know you are choosing the right toy for your child.

? Click here to finish this story

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That’s a lot of memories for not a lot of pennies. Use Code FIFTY4ABUCK at checkout. We’ve been developing smiles for over 50 years!

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Quick Facts About Potty Training

By Elizabeth Pantley, Author of No Cry Potty Solution Potty training can be natural, easy, and peaceful. The first step is to know the facts.

* The perfect age to begin potty training is different for every child. Your child’s best starting age could be anywhere from eighteen to thirty-two months. Pre-potty training preparation can begin when a child is as young as ten months.

* You can begin training at any age, but your child’s biology, skills, and readiness will determine when he can take over his own toileting.

* Teaching your child how to use the toilet can, and should, be as natural as teaching him to build a block tower or use a spoon.

? Click here for more potty training facts!

Featured Freebies

Great Offers- Extended!
? 30 Free Prints Plus Free Shipping!
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? Win Free Cord Blood Banking for your baby!
? Exclusive savings from Sears Portrait Studio.
? For pennies, protect your Gerber Baby for a lifetime.
Get any or all of these free offers at Babies Online:
? Free Babytalk Magazine One Year Subscription
? FREE Diaper Bag, Coupons, & more Gifts from Enfamil
? Free issue and gifts with paid subscription to Zootles
? Free American Baby Magazine Six-Month Subscription
? Free Home Made Simple? Newsletter & Recipe Booklet!
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? Click here for these free offers and over 100 more!

Kids’ Toys -Think Before You Buy

There is a chore in my home that brings out the procrastinator in me. This particular chore is so big and so difficult, that I create new tasks just to avoid starting the dreaded job. What could
be so bad: My toddler?s bedroom ? a.k.a. fighting the battle of ?too many toys!?

The problem doesn?t arrive from a lack of organization or space to put things, but from just too many toys in the first place. His room, when tidy, looks like a little toy store gone mad. My husband built custom shelving just for the toys and books, with varying shelf sizes to accommodate
different types of toys and sizes of books. However, when I take a close look at the contents, it?s obvious that there?s lots of ?stuff?, but little thought went into most of it.

How should you select and organize your child?s toys? Choosing quality kids? toys, selected by their developmental stage and abilities, is the first step. Most toys have a recommended age on
the package to let you know the appropriate age group. Take cues from you own child to guide you in whether he is ready for a certain toy.

? Click here to learn more ? All new articles for toddlers

See you next month!

I hope you’ve enjoyed this month’s newsletter. Next month we’ll have more news, information, and freebies, so stay tuned!

Babies Online Webmaster
http://www.babiesonline.com