As 2008 comes to an end, we’re looking forward to all the cool stuff we have planned for next year. To fully take advantage of everything that Babies Online 2.0 will have to offer, you really should be in the “inner circle.”

The first step was, obviously, registering with Babies Online. Step two is simply being our friend.

Many of you are already play with us on Myspace, Facebook, and Twitter, but we just set up our Youtube and Flickr accounts and hope that you’ll join us there as well. And to encourage you to be our friend sooner rather than later, we’re giving two random friends some cool prizes this New Years Eve!

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Free Stuff for Youtube Friends

One lucky friend of Babies Online on Youtube will win a Flip Video Mino Camcorder!

All you need to do to be eligible is add us as to your Youtube contact list today before New Years Eve (but why wait, go ahead and do it now). While you’re there you can subscribe to our channel and be the first to know when we upload new videos, and you can also join the Babies Online Group to share your precious baby videos with other members!

We will choose one random Youtube friend on 12/31/2008 to win this awesome pint-sized camcorder. (Please note that we can only ship within the US)

Free Stuff for Flickr Friends

Oh we haven’t forgotten about our Flickr Friends! One of you will win my personal favorite point and shoot camera: Canon’s PowerShot SD1100IS, so be sure to make Babies Online your Flickr Friend today! And yes, we have a Babies Online Flickr Group too, so please be sure to join and share your pics with us!

We will choose one random Flickr friend on 12/31/2008 to win this great pocketsized camera. (Please note that we can only ship within the US)

Be sure to tell your friends to join us too! We’ll have a multi-media-momma party!

Ah, the rigors of life in Hollywood. While the average woman is able to keep her pregnancy close to the vest until it starts showing, female celebrities find it a bit more difficult. In fact, it doesn’t take much for speculation to start running rampant, a new relationship, a slight bulge, just about anything will set tongues wagging.

Former Friends star Jennifer Aniston is expressing her frustration at what must bother a lot of expectant Hollywood celebrities. She is dating singer John Mayer again after a brief split, and she has spoken out asking gossip columns to stop announcing a pregnancy prematurely.

Clearly, Aniston feels that it should be a surprise to friends and family when she does reveal the news, and rightfully so. She was quoted as saying, “It’s almost going to take away the fun from actually being able to say one day, ‘I’m pregnant. Everyone will be like, ‘Yeah, right.’ It’s the boy who cried wolf. Stop stealing my thunder…”

It’s easy enough to sympathize with Ms. Aniston but in an industry notorious for invading the privacy of its stars, her plea will likely fall on deaf ears. Paparazzi will be taking shots from every conceivable angle trying to catch a telltale bump. Tabloids will no doubt be falling over themselves trying to be first with the story.

One may recall that Ashlee Simpson’s pregnancy was talked about long before she was ready to make her own announcement. The same can be said for so many celebrities in Hollywood. It seems like rumors of any kind sell papers and are seen by many as legitimate news.

Sadly, this would only be the beginning of the attention for Ms Aniston. When she does have a baby the scrutiny will become even more intense. Fans and tabloids alike will probably be asking for shots of the baby, maybe before she even has time to recover from giving birth.

If she is in fact trying to have a child, then best of luck to her. We certainly hope everything goes well. If her own words are any indication, she certainly seems ready to have a baby. “I feel like that’s (pregnancy) in my future and I’m on the verge of it in some way,” she said.

A couple of months ago, a friend of mine became pregnant after five years of hoping and praying. At the time, I was also a few months pregnant with my second child. Though we had been friends for several years, our newly-common interest deepened our relationship. Our husbands are also buddies. So it was a great honor when they asked us to be their godparents.

In some communities, the role of a godparent is somewhat symbolic. For both of our families, though, it is a meaningful commitment. They wanted us to help keep them accountable for raising their son (and any other children they may have together) according to our faith. We are to be a second set of parents for him, cheering him on at soccer games, praising his good report cards and steering him in the right direction when he loses his way as a teenager. They expect us to pray for him as we do our own children. And, God forbid anything should happen to them, they have asked us to raise him to be a man.

When they first asked us if we would be their godparents, it seemed an easy decision. We disclosed to them every teensy medical condition and possibility for our own early demise to make sure they didn’t want to change their minds. And so it was settled. But that was last summer. This past Sunday, it was time to say, “I do.” We stood in front of the church, promising to God and our friends that we would take their boy as our own. It was kind of scary. But it was also really awesome.

It’s amazing to think that I have friends that love and trust me enough to ask such a thing. It’s reassuring to know that they-and a few other couples we know-are deeply committed to my children, even if they haven’t promised to be their guardians. I never had such relationships when my son was born almost twelve years ago. And I never realized what I was missing. It has made me think about how much my friends have added to my life, and how much harder it would be to raise my children without them.

True, sometimes my friends take up “too much” of my time. I get behind on my work or my chores. And it can be stressful if I have a deadline. But truly, my friends don’t add stress to my life; they add balance. I am so lucky to have them. Take some time this week to be a good friend. Make a short phone call. Stop by. Send an email. Then thank your lucky stars.

According to a government report conducted by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention in the United States, around 3 out of every 4 women breastfeed their children. This is an all time high according to researchers who track this sort of thing. Some reasons for the increase include public awareness, changing perceptions about breastfeeding, and educational campaigns geared toward encouraging people to breastfeed.

I always have mixed feelings about studies like this, simply because I know of women who have tried to nurse their children, and have for a variety of reasons, not been successful. So, that ?one? woman may have wanted to nurse, but may not have been able to nurse, for a variety of reasons. I remember very vividly how saddened my one friend became when she realized that her child would have to be bottle fed. Adding to the sadness was the opposition she faced from family and friends when she had to bottle feed.

I had just the opposite with my family when I decided to nurse my oldest child 15 years ago. They were very opposed to nursing and they were very vocal about those feelings. I remember spending many family gatherings in the back bedroom nursing my children just to get some peace and quiet. However, my persistence paid off and many of my younger cousins decided to breast feed their children. It was with pride that I noticed they were able to nurse without being confined to the back bedroom during family gatherings.

I?ve also noticed a positive change since my breastfeeding days 15 years ago. At that time, if your child needed to nurse, you pretty much had to go to the restroom and find a stall where you could feed your infant if you were out in public. Now, it?s common to find rooms in public places for nursing mothers. When my husband and I took our children to a local amusement park, I noticed that there were rooms at the first aid stations where mothers could nurse. There were bathrooms that had a stall specially designed for nursing mothers! Yes, I was back to nursing in a bathroom stall, but at least I wasn?t forced to sit on a toilet seat to do so.

I still think we have a long way to go at least in the United States as far as this issue goes. There are still mothers who are asked to leave malls for nursing, even discreetly, in public. There are still women who face opposition from their families for making the decision to nurse their children. There are also women who face opposition if they are unable to nurse, but must bottle feed their children.

Whatever you decide, I encourage you to do what is best for you and your baby. That may mean breast feeding your child. It may mean using formula in a bottle. It may be a combination of breast and bottle feeding. It?s important to ignore the negative comments and do what you need to do!

What have your experiences been with feeding issues? Have you faced opposition when you decided to breast or bottle feed your infant?

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.

New parents, if there is one thing I can tell you that I wish I would have known when I had a newborn in my arms it is this: People want to help you. Anyone who has ever had a baby knows how incredibly confusing, exhausting, and stressful it can be. Nobody expects you to be a perfect parent the second your baby is born. If you’re anything like me you’ll spend a lot of time fumbling around, trying to figure out how to take care of a new baby without losing your mind.

The thing I didn’t realize is that most new parents – particularly new moms who are staying home from work for the first time and experiencing a HUGE life change while also dealing with hormones from labor and delivery – is that the vast majority of new parents struggle quite a bit. Everyone gets tired during this confusing time, but it’s important to realize that everyone gets overwhelmed at some point too when dealing with a new baby. I have some friends who didn’t get nearly as overwhelmed as I did, but all of them admit that at some point they could have really used some help but didn’t ask anyone.

Why are we afraid to ask for help? I think we want to seem like we’re good parents, and for one reason or another many of us think that translates into not needing help from anyone. I also had a problem with trusting anyone with my baby because I was convinced that nobody could care for her like I could. If you don’t believe me, then ask my husband about the horrible sobbing fit I had when the nurses took my baby for two hours so I could get some sleep. True story.

Don’t think that anyone will assume you’re an inept parent if you ask for help. I wish I would have taken more people up on their offers of help back when my first baby was born. When people asked what they could do to help, I should have said “please bring dinner over one night” or “please come watch the baby so I can get a long shower.” Instead I said the same thing that was my knee-jerk reaction: “Thanks for the offer but we don’t need any help right now.” I didn’t want anyone to think that I needed help. I wanted to be Supermom.

It’s no shock that I wasn’t Supermom. I was tired and overwhelmed.

When your baby is born you should be prepared to field plenty of offers of help from people. Practice saying this over and over again, “Yes, please!”

Today I stopped by a friend’s house unannounced to drop off a flyer for a church function. Actually, I didn’t think she was going to be there so I didn’t think it was a rude move since I would just slip the flyer under her door and call her later. It turns out she was there, and before I could apologize for stopping by without an invite she blurted out, “Hi! My house is a mess!”

I got to thinking about how I would react if someone were to stop by my house unannounced and I really think that the first words out of my mouth would be along the same lines. I long ago came to grips with the fact that if I’m going to work from home while raising my two kids there is an excellent chance that the majority of the time my house is not going to be guest-ready. Don’t get me wrong…I clean up if I know that someone is going to come over, but on a day to day basis there are toys on the floor, dishes in the sink, and I swear the unfolded clothes on the couch are silently mocking me.

Why should I feel guilty about this? My first priority is to make sure that the kids are okay, my second priority is to make sure that my deadlines are met, and my third priority is to make sure the house is in good order. I’d say that if I make it all the way down that tier and have everything set then it’s a really, really good day.

Today’s experience with my friend helped me to realize that I’m not the only mom with a messy house. You may laugh that I actually needed that revelation, but sometimes I think we forget how difficult a job it is to keep kids content and relatively injury-free. If our houses are a little messy but our kids are thriving, then I think that’s a pretty good trade-off, isn’t it?

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!

All a parent wants is for their child to be happy. When you see your child struggling with making friends in school, being bullied, a parent no doubt hurts for their child. Study after study shows that a child with a healthy self-esteem gets along better with their peers, is less likely to be bullied, and recovers from disappointments faster. As a parent, it is our duty to foster our child’s intellectual, physical, and emotional growth. Instilling in them self-confidence and raising them with self-esteem is an important aspect of their growth.

What if you are a parent who believes that you have been a loving, nurturing parent, yet you see your child continue to struggle? You want real, solid steps to help your child build their confidence and esteem. What should you do? Here are some tried and tested ideas that have worked for me, personally, and with children of my mommy friends.

1. Enroll them in martial arts. Take your pick. Tae-kwon-do, karate. If your child is not particularly athletic, this is a great alternative for them. It will not only instill a sense of discipline, physical endurance, it will also teach them self-defense. An added bonus is the new set of potential friends they can meet in this brand-new environment.
2. Build a great support system for your child. If you think your child is missing good role-models, of the opposite sex for example, seek out the help of their grandparents, aunts or uncles, cousins, friends of yours to spend one on one time with your child. This will help your child feel well-supported, and well-loved, which can be a buffer for times where they feel lonely, or isolated. If you are lacking good role models in your family or circle of friends, you can contact Big Brothers Big Sisters which matches a child with a safe role-model.
3. Help your child make friends by being a good role-model. It helps if you start while they are young. Children learn how to socialize by watching how adults do it. Invite friends over, or bring your child along if you meet them out. Let her watch you interact with them; converse, laugh, be at ease.
4. Do not reward shyness. It’s strange, but let me repeat it, don’t reward shyness. If your child refuses to say hi to guests, don’t coddle him and explain his behavior away by saying “oh he’s just shy”. Instead, experts suggest requiring your child to practice good habits of interacting with guests, adults and other children alike by prompting him to be polite. “In our house we say hello to guests.” Or, “it’s not polite to ignore our guests.” A shy child especially needs to practice these social graces which may come so easy to other children.
5. Teach your child how to join a new group of children. The best way to do this is to teach them how to single out the friendliest face in a group, approach that child particularly and ask if they can join. The friendly child will most likely be well-liked and will say yes, and now your child can join the game, or activity. Expose them to a variety of environments where they can practice this skill. At summer camp, at their martial arts class, at gymnastics, playdates, etc.

Hopefully, these tips will get your child on the way to social and emotional success.