It's a Halloween Party and you're invited!!!

Come celebrate Halloween by joining us October 31st between the hours of 11 and 12:30! Drop in the New Mother New Baby store for some refreshments, coloring activities for kids, dancing, and a darling photo opportunity!

There's no charge! Bring the whole family! Tell your neighbors and friends! Get one more use out of that too-cute costume you're dying to show off!

Hope to see you there!

Pumpkin Baby Food Recipe

Some of you may be seasoned veterans when it comes to making your own baby food. I purchased a whole stack of "do-it-yourself" baby food cookbooks with my first child, in eager anticipation for all the Organic, homemade, nutritious purees I planned on making her. HA! I had the best intentions, but then, well...life happened!

So maybe making all your baby's food isn't a realistic goal (although if it is, I salute you!), so what about seasonal baby food? Maybe you don't make all your baby food, but you could get ambitious around the holidays, including your baby in some family traditions from an early age.

They sell various squashes pureed into baby food, so that got me thinking, there must be recipes for pumpkin baby food. A little research and I'd come across this site. If you want to find other pumpkin recipes or learn about the healthy benefits of pumpkin puree, then be sure to click on the link. Otherwise, here's just the recipe from the site.

Pumpkin Puree Baby Food Recipe (6-8 months)

• 1 sugar pumpkin
• water
• cinnamon, nutmeg (optional - sprinkle into the cooking water or when you puree/mash)

Pumpkin is best when baked, although you may peel, cube and steam it. Bake a pumpkin exactly as you would bake a winter (Acorn, Butternut etc.) squash. Pumpkin is after all a squash.

1. Halve the pumpkin, de-seed

2. Place halves face down in a baking pan with approx 1-2 inches of water

3. Bake between 375-425 F for approximately 40 minutes to 1 hour Skin should be "puckery" and/or wrinkled and pumpkin should feel soft when pressed

4. Scrape out the pumpkin "meat" and then mash or puree as needed for your baby.

The website also suggests adding some apple sauce or rice cereal into the pumpkin puree. Bon Appetit!

Recipe from www.wholesomebabyfood.com.

Emotional Wellness Workshop

Last Wednesday Dr. Sarah Allen, a Clinical Psychologist, came and provided an Emotional Wellness Workshop for moms. It was a fantastic night filled with valuable information, recommended resources, encouragement, and tips.

Some of the evening's best moments were when we debunked a number of the "good mother" myths--turns out, we can't in fact do everything ourselves! Who knew!? So we discussed the importance of asking for help and how we can allow our partners to support us. We also talked about the things we can do to nurture ourselves with a list of self-help suggestions. Mine is already hanging on my fridge! We also touched on some of the hormonal and emotional adjustments we have to make when a new baby enters our lives, including some discussion of anxiety and depression during pregnancy and postpartum. All of the moms in attendance were at different points in their lives and child-rearing, but I think we all left having heard some great advice!

If you missed it, all of Dr. Allen's notes and handouts can be found here, on her website. They're definitely worth taking a look at! Maybe if enough people beg Gail for a second one, she'll come back again! :) If you're interested in attending one of her wellness workshops in the future, be sure to leave a comment!

Welcome!

Our very first post! How exciting!

These days it seems like we spend a lot of time staring at a computer screen. It doesn't seem to matter whether we're a mom in an office, working from home, or a staying at home. It doesn't seem to matter if we have a child on the way, a brand new baby, or four kids tearing around the house. Here we are in front of the computer. Who can blame us?! From the comfort of our home or office we're socializing, shopping, surfing, studying, working, and frantically researching what to do about our child's first cold!

Hence the creation of New Mother New Baby's blog. There will be a variety of posts ranging from product spotlights, information on classes, recipes, special promotions, dicussion panels, guest bloggers, important links, and upcoming event news. Moms can comment, share links, ideas, contact information, and meet other moms in the area. (And best of all, you don't even need to change out of your pajamas to enoy.)

So thanks for stopping by, become a "follower" on the side bar, and drop in again soon!