Picking Names Can Be Tough
Category: raising children, yourchicfamily
Gyneth Paltrow named her first born Apple, but baby number two had a more conventional name -Moses. You don’t have to be a star to bestow a unique name on your baby. What better way to individualize your baby’s identity than to select a terrific name? Ask yourself how different you want your child’s name to be. Do you want your baby boy to have a name like Jaedon which could either be for a boy or girl? Do you want your daughter to have a name like Vebecca – where the spelling will always be questioned.
Want to know what your favorite celebrities have named their offspring – from the traditional to very hip? Will this name inspire you or will you come up with something all your own? Check out the latest celebrity baby names below:
Jessica Leccia & Brian Mallory – Ivy Lola
Hand Azaria & Katie Wright – Hal
Victoria “Posh” & David Beckham, kids named Brooklyn, Romeo & Cruz
Courtney Cox & David Arquette – a girl named Coco
Jennifer Garner & Ben Affleck, a girl named Violet
Angelina Jolie & Brad Pitt, kids named Maddox, Zahara, Shiloh & Pox
Sean”Diddy” Combs & Kim Porter, twin girls named D’Lila Star & Jessie James
Brittney Spears& Kevin Federline, kids named Sean Preston & Jayden James
Johnny Depp & Vanessa Paradis, kids named Lily Rose & Jack
Jada Pinkett Smith & Will Smith, kids named Jaden & Willow
Maddona & Guy Richie, kids named Lourdes, Rocco & David
Julia Roberts & Danny Mader, kids named Hazel, Phinnaeus & Henry
Gwen Stefani& Gavin Rossdale, a boy named Kingston
Katie Holmes & tom Cruise, a girl named Suri
Heidi Klum & Seal, kids named Leni, Henry & Johan
Nelly Furtado, a girl named Nevis
Halle Berry, a girl named Nahla
Marcia Cross & Tom Mahoney, twin girls named Eden & Savannah
Kelly Ripa & Mark Consuelos, kids named Michael, Lola & Joaquin
Tori Spellings & Dean McDermott, a boy named Liam Aaron
Brooke Burke & David Charvet, a girl named Heaven Rain
Will Ferrell & Viveca Paulin, boys named Magnus & Mattias
Kate Winslet & Sam Mendes, kids named Mia & Joe
Tiger & Elin Woods, a girl named Sam
Naomi Watts & Liev Schreiber, a boy named Alexander
Hottest Trends
Trends we’ve seen this year at NamelyNewborns.com (embroidering baby names quilts, blankets and stuffed animals) are old-fashioned classics like Emily, Emma, and Kate. Formerly forgotten baby girl names like Ella, Sophia, and Lillian have reinvented themselves as very enticing names.
Unisex baby names like Tyler, Taylor, Jaedon and Jordyn are equally popular for girls or boys. Airport names like Reagen, Logan and Kennedy have become unisex favorites. Old-fashioned masculine names like Sam, Nate, and Jake have made a resurgence as well as classic boy’s names like Michael, Robert, Eric and Charlie which. Biblical names such as Noah, Adam, Rebecca and Sarah are also making a strong comeback.
One of the most interesting trends is to combine ‘new’ name like Madison with an old fashion middle name like Rose. So we have tiny babies with names like Tyler Maximillian, McKinley Grace, Logan Elizabeth or Sophia Rose. Double surnames have always been used to unite families of different cultures. We have embroidered Maria Perez- Gomez and just recently a Jacob Ching- Chang Block.
A name is the greatest gift you can bestow on your child. What’s in a name is a question that is age old. Many cultures believe in the mystical powers of names to influence the success or destiny of the child. The names of heroes and kings have always been popular; now replaced by celebrities and sports heroes. Elaborate naming ceremonies celebrating the selection of a child’s name have become increasingly part of our social scene.
Have fun selecting a name for your new baby, but make sure it is a name that will last a lifetime or you may be surprised one day like my brother was. His daughter, Forest Light, changed her name legally in court the day she turned 18.
Roz Stuzin is owner and operator of www.namelynewborns.com. Check out their selection!
Discussion questions:
What do you think of celebrity baby names? Do you even care about them? Did this factor into your decision to name your baby in a positive or negative way? Do you ever regret what you named your child?
From a Chef’s Kitchen to Yours
Category: cuisine, yourchichome
You may not think that your home kitchen has much in common with a professional kitchen, but think again. Oh sure, you’re not cooking for hundreds of diners each evening. But you also don’t have a staff of 5 to 8 people helping you. You, and you alone, are left with the task of cooking dinner for your family each night. So, just like a professional kitchen, yours should be organized and efficient.
So let’s bring some of the practices of professional kitchens I’ve worked in to your home kitchen. The focus of this article will be on the organization of your pantry and refrigerator since that’s where you spend most of your time when cooking – and experience the most frustration.
A place for everything and everything in its place.
From the milk in your refrigerator to the bread in your pantry, most everything in your kitchen needs a dedicated “home”. And its home should make sense for you and the way you cook.
REFRIGERATOR
In a professional kitchen, the walk-in refrigerator is equipped with industrial-strength, ventilated, metal shelving. It’s up to the chef to adjust the shelves to maximize space and to place items in there designated homes. Dairy is grouped together. Fruits and vegetables are housed in their ideal place. Meats and poultry must be assigned a home to be kept at the ideal temperature, as well as for food safety. Everything should be labeled and dated.
For the home cook, today’s refrigerators have many spaces designed to house specific items, such as milk, butter, and deli meats. But you can also create dedicated spaces for sodas, leftovers, condiments, eggs and so on. Assign a bin or shelf for a go-to snack area and the kids will know where to go when hungry. When buying plastic containers for your leftovers, consider buying all the same size and shape or at least similar ones. This will make it easier to get them all on one shelf.
Adjust the shelves to maximize your space. You can place the shelf where you keep your eggs so that there is little space between it and the shelf above it. (Side note – always store eggs in their original container, never the plastic bin that came with your fridge or the cute cups built into your fridge door. Storing them uncovered, the eggs can pick up flavors of other items in your fridge. They also lose moisture and gas more quickly. This decreases their ability to coagulate or foam. If the little cups are in the door, they can be jarred, breaking the chalazae membrane which holds the yolk in the center of the egg.) Then put similarly sized items on the same shelf. That will leave more space below for taller items. Same thing goes for sodas, juice pouches and small water bottles. They’re about the same height. Use that to your advantage and put them on the same shelf and then adjust the shelf above to get more room for other items.
PANTRY
The pantry in a restaurant deals with items on a much larger scale than at home. For example, flour and sugar arrive in 40-pound bags. Think ketchup in 180 ounce cans, not 15 ounce bottles. Again, everything must have a dedicated home so that all the cooks can find what they need every time and quickly. Proper storage must also be maintained to ensure pests and rodents don’t use the pantry as their own personal buffet.
While the size of the dry goods in your kitchen may be smaller than a restaurant’s, so is your kitchen. You want to maximize every inch of your pantry and know where things are so you don’t waste that last English muffin or onion.
Group similar items together. Place canned goods in one spot, rice and boxed items in another, and condiments in their own home. If you bake frequently, put all your ingredients and supplies in a bin so you can easily move them to the counter when you’re ready to bake your next cake. Put infrequently used foods on the top shelf, while items used every week are more accessible.
You can also buy shelf extenders or risers to maximize your space. The typical pantry space has fixed shelves spaced 20 inches apart. Think of all the wasted real estate above the cans of soup! By creating a shelf on the existing shelf you are doubling your space.
TAKE INVENTORY
We’ve all had this happen: You dig through the veggie drawer to discover that bunch of parsley that has decomposed almost beyond the point of recognition. Or it could be something costly, like the leftover tuna steak that was pushed to the back of the fridge and now has no hope of being enjoyed a second time as tuna salad. Your freezer can also have hidden treasures.
The same is true for a professional kitchen. Chefs must be aware of everything in their pantry and walk-in. How long has it been in there? Is it still on the menu? Can it be used in another dish? Periodic inventory will ensure that the flank steak hidden behind the chicken will make it to the grill and not die a slow death by freezer-burn.
Every week or so, look in your refrigerator and take stock. Check expiration dates. If something is getting close to going bad, include it in one of that week’s dinners. If the cilantro is close to dying, make enchiladas on Tuesday. If the zucchini is past it’s prime, toss it out. It’s taking up valuable real estate in the veggie drawer. You may also find a forgotten treasure that will inspire you. The jar of Tahini paste turns into Hummus dip for a casual get-together. Or the basil becomes pesto sauce for fettuccini.
So remember, a little organization and investigation go a long way. I hope these restaurant practices help you get the most out of your cooking at home. As always, enjoy your family, enjoy your meals and most of all, enjoy yourself.
Discussion questions:
Do you have any tips for organizing your kitchen that have made your life easier? What’s the oldest food you’ve ever found in your frig?
Twelve Ways to Savor Momhood
Category: yourchicfamilySimple heart-felt ideas create memories for a lifetime
*Take as many luxurious bubble baths with your infant that you can possibly squeeze into your schedule. Memorize the luxurious softness and gorgeous scent of your baby’s skin. So much of motherhood is unromantic, and this can be a truly intimate time for you to look up in your memory and return to when that infant drives you crazy as a teen.
*On a dreary morning, take a mommy-mental-health-improvement-connect-with-your-loved-ones break. Don’t get dressed. 
Spread a quilt over your bed, and let everyone pile on for a long leisurely breakfast. Don’t answer the phone. Read something magical or your favorite story from childhood. Then, if they are able, let them read that story to you.
*Write a love note to your child during the day. Include the date, and place the note on their pillow. Even if they have reached an age where it borders on cheesy, they will love the thought and drift off to sleep feeling cherished. Tuck the notes away safely in a box.
*Ask your kids to put on an impromptu fashion show. There are endless variations – towels only, toilet paper, pantyhose…My own sons invented their own “London-France” show for the catwalk. They layered on every pair of underwear from their drawers until they could only waddle, tied on a blanket cape, and donned one last pair of undies as a hat. It never failed to make my cheeks ache.
*When you or your child has a particularly bad day, whip up an indulgent snack together. Let them help you make decadently rich cookie dough from scratch, but leave out the eggs and the baking. Eat the dough as dip for apple wedges and pretzels or mix it into ice cream. Allow them to get sticky and gooey while devouring it, and document it all on film.
*Keep a diary or journal. When your child melts you with something precious such as, “mommy, I just bless-you’d and da juice cames ride outta ma nose! “ – you will be ready to record it. When you feel absolutely frazzled by momhood, write down exactly what you feel – exclamation marks, drama, and all. Don’t hold back. You may find you’ll instantly feel better after expressing it, and you can return to the entry on a calm day when you’re up for a good laugh.
*Sacrifice your tastefully decorated family room for a day and let the kids build an ultimate fort with every blanket and sheet in the house. When complete, head inside to play “Don’t Break the Ice” (my kids’ personal favorite) and “Candy Land” a dozen times or more. They never tire of the classic games, and you are their favorite player. The day will arrive when your kids will be too busy for you.
*In your planner, pencil in an entry every two months reading “celebrity photo shoot.” Have your spouse or friend take a picture of just you and your child, and then change places. Go outside if possible to capture the season. You will have a wonderful treasury of smiles as you both grow up, and no mom on the planet has said she took too many photos.
*Let your child have a blast styling your hair. Supply them with colorful clips, rollers, bobby pins, whatever is on hand. When your makeover is complete, go to the mirror and rave you look fabulous. Pretend you love it and say you plan to wear it this way forever. Now let them apply the makeup.
*If you have teens or ‘tweens, sit down with them and a pizza to watch their favorite comedy or youTubes, no matter how lame. Remember there was a time you thought Pretty in Pink should win the Oscar. They will appreciate the gesture because they know it’s a little painful for you, and though it may seem mindless, you might be rewarded with joyful expressions and laughter.
*When they have reached an age where it is safe, place your infant in the large oval roasting pan usually dusted off only for the Thanksgiving turkey. Place baby in roaster and give him a gentle but thrilling ride of a lifetime across the kitchen floor. Have your camera ready to preserve his joy for future generations.
Discussion questions:
What are you doing to savor motherhood?
Moms, Keep Music in Your Lives!
Category: yourchicselfWhether you became a mom in your early twenties, or are just now beginning this adventure at 40, all mothers lament having had “a life” prior to children. For many of us, this “life” included the experience of taking time to engage with culture. Music, for example, was a huge part of my life before I had children. I dated “a guy in a band” when I was in college. At that time, I remember occasionally seeing parents with their children at rock shows and thinking that I would be the same way when I got to that phase of life.
Cut to my late 20s when my first baby arrived: The rock show? Not even on my radar. I was so engrossed in loving that baby that the thought of dragging him to listen to loud music (which might damage his hearing!), or even paying attention to what was going on in the world of music, was completely unfathomable. Raffi and Red Grammar wrote the soundtrack of my life. My ride was fully “mommed” and, really, I couldn’t have been happier.
But today, women who transition from cultured individuals to mommies don’t have to believe that their only link to the music of our times is via a few minutes of top-40 radio in the car. For today’s moms, there are many other ways to stay connected to good music and to learn about new music. After speaking with some of my mom friends, I came up with a list of some possible avenues that moms can use to tread a path to enriching their busy lives with some new tunes.
The first is something called Genius on iTunes. If you use iTunes to manage music you own either in cd format or that you have downloaded, Genius will assist you in pairing music you like with other music you currently own to create playlists. Genius will also tell you about new music you may be interested in learning about based upon your musical tastes as indicated by songs you select.
Similarly, Pandora is a part of the Music Genome Project that breaks down musical taste into 400 attributes and “maps” music into particular categories. Pandora creates “radio stations” tailored to your particular tastes as indicated by the name of bands or songs that you program into its search windows.
iTunes permits the user to create playlists. In iTunes, you must own the music you put in your playlists. What if you want a playlist for a particular evening but aren’t interested in purchasing $50 worth of songs? Another option for playlist design made popular by MySpace users is Project Playlist. Project Playlist allows you to search for music and create playlists, up to 200 songs long, by searching the internet for free-use mp3 files being used in other capacities. It is available wherever you have internet access.
If you are a researcher by nature, Wikipedia, Last.fm, YouTube, and MySpace are great resources to do your own investigating of particular bands or genres of music. Last.fm is a UK based project that is similar to Pandora but with the inclusion of videos. These resources can provide histories, similar artists, and genre based suggestions to expand your musical horizons.
Lastly, if money isn’t an issue for you, there are many ways you can make your engagement with music as a busy mom more enjoyable. Sonos is a hardware package you can purchase to pipe music through your entire home. It connects to your personal music collection, Pandora, or internet radio. XM/Sirius satellite radio began as an alternative to the standard radio programming most of us listen to, and is available on receivers in your car as well as via the internet in your home even if you don’t have a home based receiver. Rhapsody is a similar product that permits paying users access to unlimited music that can also be downloaded to Rhapsody approved portable music devices.
Feeling daunted by all of this technology? Thinking that Daddy is the one who usually handles this stuff? It is my promise to you that it is far less intimidating than it seems. Give it a try. Go to Project Playlist and click on “log in.” Enter the username: chicmommagazine. Then enter the password: musicmomma. You will find our first playlist here. Give it a listen. I hope to continue to develop more playlists over time with reader suggestions. If you like what you hear, you can create your own Playlist account and add some of the same songs to your own playlists
Discussion:
What do you think of chicmommag’s playlist on project playlist? Got any of your own to share? How often do you let loose with your kids? When’s the last time you danced with them?
