My neighbor had her fourth child on Sunday. Now she has three girls and a new baby boy. Her house is tiny, and I often wonder how she manages to maintain that lovely homegrown smile so well.
I remember the baby years with my children. Although many will tell you they were in a fog, I remember the look and feel of my mother fog as if it were yesterday. I devoured pages of parenting books, even purchasing the Seven Habits of Highly Effective Families before I was even showing with my first child. Yes, I was a Type A mom before I even became one.
Today it seems moms are even more equipped with information than even a short eight years ago as I browsed the parenting book aisle for the first time. You now have fabulous resources such as Great Expectations: Baby's First Year by a mother-daughter team who really know their stuff. Sandy and Marcie
Jones harmoniously point out all the challenges and milestones you will see that first year. It offers current Web site information and phone numbers of organizations and agencies to make your mother fog disappear, or at least dissipate.
The ninth edition of Consumer Reports Best Baby Products also slid into my mailbox the other day. As its subtitle suggests, it truly is an A to Z guide on everything you could ever want for your baby. From dynamic 
brain-stimulating stuffed toys to car seats for obese children (gulp), you can find virtually everything you want in Sandra Gordon's 368 pages. It is well-written, honest and fun ('Feeding a hungry baby in a high chair isn't always a picnic," Ms. Gordon writes on page 195) My dad always reads Consumer Reports magazine. Why didn't he get me this book when I needed it most?
For you parents out there whose minds are a'twirling with questions about what to do, expect and not buy for your kid, I highly recommend these two reads for your sanity...and your pocketbook.
It's too bad my neighbor can only speak German and Bosnian. I'd give her both books as a baby gift this very minute.
Sandy & Marcie Jones, authors of the successful Great Expectations series, are about to release Great Expectations Best Baby Gear, a guide to the latest, safest and best-quality products for baby. Like all books in the series, it's written in a warm, straightforward voice and provides parents, grandparents and any gift giver with great advice on what one really needs to purchase as well as info on hundreds of products. The sound advice also includes tips on where one can cut corners and where one cannot. Thankfully!
