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Posted by Nicole on May 11th, 2009 in giveaways, Polls

UPDATE: The winner of this giveaway is #18, Christopher H. Thanks for all who entered!

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Babies. I love ‘em. They’re cute and little and they smell nice. Usually.

Now that my “baby” is 8 years old, I’m definitely out of the diaper-changing, burping, being spit up on stage. Honestly, there were days I thought that baby stage would never end, but just like that, my little bundles of joy grew up to be thinking, deodorant wearing, independent boys.

But when I was a new mommy, I took all the advise and help I could get from books, my own mom and other, more experienced mommies. I think that’s the whole point of baby showers…shower the new mom with gifts and resources that will help her adjust to her new lifestyle.

Today I’m thrilled to be able to give away a few great items for the expecting or new mother. Need a baby shower gift? Or are you a new mom yourself? Well, take a look…

Jumpstart 3D Virtual World – Way back when, when my 12 year old was just a toddler, we were given Jumpstart Toddler. I can still remember him moving the mouse across the scren to “pop” the bubbles to reveal the hidden animal. For more than 15 years, Knowledge Adventure has been creating fun, interactive and educational games for all ages (0-14), setting the standard in kid’s software.

Knowledge Adventure has recently launched a beta version of a browser-based virtual world at www.JumpStart.com. Here, kids can create avatars called Jumpeez for themselves and explore magical worlds, discovering and unlocking games, videos, and storybooks that teach everything from math to reading. More features, portals and learning games are continually added to the site.

Jumpstart 3D Virtual World offers free games and activities, with membership unlocking more games, adventures and benefits. Membership costs $7.99 a month or $74.99 a year.

The Complete Idiot’s Guide® to 40,000 Baby Names, Second Edition – Need help naming your soon to be born little one, or know some one who does? Think 40,000 choices might be enough?

The Complete Idiot’s Guide® to 40,000 Baby Names not only provides an alphabetized name list for each gender, but dedicates approximately half of its total pages to various lists that help parents zero in on the perfect name for their baby. Lists include movie/literary character names, names from favorite children’s books and shows, famous names (movie stars, pop stars, reality TV stars), winners (Nobel, Pulitzer, Oscar, Tony, Grammy, Emmy), top names by city, state, and country, and many more.

The Complete Idiot’s Guide® to Baby Sign Language, Second Edition – Did you know that babies can learn sign language far earlier than they can verbal language? Teaching each one of my babies simple signs trememdously helped at meal times. We taught them the sign for “more”, “all done”, “please” and “thank you”, enabling them to communicate with us effectively, even though they couldn’t verbally communicate their needs.

The Complete Idiot’s Guide® to Baby Sign Language, introduces parents to the 150 most common signs nonverbal babies are able to understand and can use to communicate with adults. New and expanded information includes using signs to communicate wants/needs, using signs to express feelings and emotions, signing to promote potty training, fun signing activities and more.

Questions with Answers – Vol. 3: “Christ and His Work” – This is the last in the series from Songs For Saplings. It teaches children about Jesus’ nature, what his roles (offices) are, and how he reconciled us to God. Sound heavy? Don’t worry. Kids are ready for it, and there’s no better time to start teaching them the deep truths of God, in a simple and fun way. Vol. 3: Christ and His Work was recorded in Vancouver, WA in 2007, and includes the voices of 11 children.

To round out the set, is the original Songs for Saplings: ABCs, simply my favorite. This CD is designed to teach your little ones the word of God as they study their ABCs. Parents will enjoy singing these simple songs with the little “saplings” in their care. Songs for Saplings: ABCs was recorded in Vancouver, WA in 2004, and includes the voices of 14 children.

The Side Yard Superhero - We all want to help our children grow up to be responsible adults. As president of the University of the Ozarks, Rick D. Niece, Ph.D., believes responsible children grow up to be responsible adults and that teaching begins and ends with parents. Beyond his 40 years as an educator, Niece is also the author of, The Side-Yard Superhero (Synergy Books, March 2009), where he comically recounts his childhood experiences as a paperboy in small-town DeGraff, Ohio, and the special relationship he forms with Bernie Jones, a teenage boy with severe cerebral palsy.  Through this heart warming story, Niece shares the lessons learned from cherished friendships that still inspire him today.

Win it! Enter to win thing Bouncing Baby Giveaway, which includes:

• Jumpstart 3D Virtual World – A 3-month membership to any virtual world at any time (ages 3-5, 4-6 or 5-7).
• A copy of The Complete Idiot’s Guide® to 40,000 Baby Names
• A copy of The Complete Idiot’s Guide® to Baby Sign Language
• A copy of Questions with Answers – Vol. 3: “Christ and His Work” CD
• A copy of Songs for Saplings: ABCs CD
• A copy of The Side Yard Superhero, including a copy of Niece’s “Six Tips to Teaching Responsibility in an Irresponsible Market”

To enter, simply leave a comment on this post. Earn extra entries by tweeting up to once a day about this giveaway (and come back and tell me you did so). Entries must be submitted by Friday, May 22 at midnight.