Speaker 1: Who baby, my baby, I need you, Oh how I
Speaker 1: need you? What to expect? As a production of I
Speaker 1: Heart Radio, I'm your host Heidi Murkoff and I'm a
Speaker 1: mom on a mission, a mission to help you know
Speaker 1: what to expect every step of the way. Has I'll
Speaker 1: be home for Christmas taken on a whole new meaning
Speaker 1: this year at your house, as in, we're stuck at
Speaker 1: home and we're not going anywhere this holiday season. There's
Speaker 1: no doubt a lot to miss this year, especially time
Speaker 1: spent celebrating with extended family and friends, hosting and hopping
Speaker 1: from party to party, sharing dinners and traditions, exchanging gifts
Speaker 1: and hugs. But at what to expect. We're here to
Speaker 1: help make your holidays as festive and fun and joyful
Speaker 1: as possible in a kind of way. Today we're talking
Speaker 1: about what to expect during an unexpected holiday season, how
Speaker 1: to make your celebrations as special as they are safe,
Speaker 1: and of course, what to give everyone on your gift list,
Speaker 1: from babies to grandparents. And I am here with Emma,
Speaker 1: who takes all of her holidays seriously, especially Christmas. I
Speaker 1: really do. It's my time to shine, So this year
Speaker 1: a little different, A little different. What are you looking
Speaker 1: forward to this holiday season? Well, I personally am looking
Speaker 1: forward to not having to make excuses why I don't
Speaker 1: want to go out on New Year's Eve. Yeah. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I'm looking forward to my husband taking a few days
Speaker 1: off work, God willing, and having help with my kids.
Speaker 1: Your gift, it's a real gift. That's the gift that
Speaker 1: keeps on giving. I'm really looking forward to just like
Speaker 1: having that quality family time that maybe we wouldn't necessarily
Speaker 1: have of if like there was all these events. And
Speaker 1: I know Simon has a lot of work parties usually,
Speaker 1: so I think it's going to be more just like
Speaker 1: close knit and nice. And I mean it's only one
Speaker 1: year hopefully, and you know we'll just be a year
Speaker 1: to remember, Yes it will. What about you? Ours is
Speaker 1: pretty much the same as usual, except I don't have
Speaker 1: to set the table for as many people so or
Speaker 1: prepared quite as much food. It's just you guys are
Speaker 1: little pod the kids, Whyatt and Simon, That's it. So
Speaker 1: I do feel somewhat less pressure. But that said, we
Speaker 1: never go anywhere on Christmas and New Year's anyway. I
Speaker 1: think the last time we went out for New Year's
Speaker 1: Eve was the first year we got married, So we're
Speaker 1: talking a year or two ago exactly. Oh boy. So
Speaker 1: something that a pandemic can't take away at least as
Speaker 1: long as there's an Internet and you, Emma, is meaningful
Speaker 1: gift giving. And I know it's a little late in
Speaker 1: the game. We got what like a week and a
Speaker 1: half until Christmas, But if you haven't quite scored those
Speaker 1: gifts yet, we are lucky to have a true expert
Speaker 1: in that department, the world's most gifted gift giver with
Speaker 1: us today. Trust me, Santa would be lost without and
Speaker 1: so would I. So am I. Yeah, let's talk a
Speaker 1: little bit about your gift for gifts and why giving
Speaker 1: is better than receiving to you. Well, first of all,
Speaker 1: I was talking to my girlfriend the other day and
Speaker 1: she's like, oh, I hate this, like I can't go
Speaker 1: to the stores, And I'm like, are you kidding? I
Speaker 1: never go to the stores. I always shop online. So
Speaker 1: there's nothing new this year in like that aspect of it.
Speaker 1: For me, it's so much easier. You can do it
Speaker 1: in your under or you could do it on the toilet,
Speaker 1: and you don't have to deal with the holiday crowds
Speaker 1: in the parking I prefer online shopping, and every year,
Speaker 1: for me, my favorite part of Christmas is giving gifts,
Speaker 1: not receiving gifts. I can sometimes be a negative Nancy,
Speaker 1: so it kind of keeps my glass full and I
Speaker 1: get so much more joy having somebody be so happy
Speaker 1: to receive what I gave them. It's so much more
Speaker 1: meaningful to me. Yeah, So let's talk about gifts for
Speaker 1: expectant and new moms, because they're giving the gift of life,
Speaker 1: so I think everybody should get them a gift as well.
Speaker 1: I always would have said a prenatal massage, because who
Speaker 1: can really go wrong with massages? So I would be
Speaker 1: like returned to send me too, me too. But most
Speaker 1: moms do enjoy a good massage or manny petty. But
Speaker 1: these days, with COVID precautions and shutdowns, that's not really
Speaker 1: a great option. So I am going to go with
Speaker 1: the food delivery service. Oh you know what. I was
Speaker 1: going to say something, but I feel like for this
Speaker 1: year it's talking to work. I would say a great
Speaker 1: gift would be to give a mom maternity pictures, like
Speaker 1: a cooper aternity pictures. And actually a lot of photographers
Speaker 1: are doing distant photos on the computer like a zoom
Speaker 1: photo shoot and they look beautiful, So like if you
Speaker 1: want to do, like if you know your friend and
Speaker 1: she's totally into like being sexy, so like a boudoir
Speaker 1: shoot at which I did when I was pregnant with Seby,
Speaker 1: But they're doing these photo shoots through zoom and literally
Speaker 1: these pictures look like they were in the same room.
Speaker 1: Oh that's actually all that's really cool. Maybe you could
Speaker 1: do that plus some lingerie for the pre I liked it,
Speaker 1: so she could wear that photo shoot. We also wanted
Speaker 1: to hear from you, so we asked our moms at
Speaker 1: what to expect the best community on the planet, what
Speaker 1: is the best gift you ever got when you were pregnant,
Speaker 1: And we got a lot of comfy, cozy maternity pajamas.
Speaker 1: So I guess maybe not the lingerie as much, but
Speaker 1: they definitely want some cozy and comfortable maternity pajamas. What
Speaker 1: do you think about that? Um, I think that's great
Speaker 1: because I literally would just use my husband's shirts. Yeah,
Speaker 1: but a lot of things when you're pre that are constricting,
Speaker 1: and you don't want things to be too like tight,
Speaker 1: especially when you're sleeping because you're already uncomfortable. So definitely
Speaker 1: comfy pajamas. I'm not mad at that. Lots of self
Speaker 1: care gifts, so face masks, not the covid kind um
Speaker 1: candles that smell yummy. I mean, that's debatable because a
Speaker 1: little bit of queasiness up in here, and that's who
Speaker 1: it depends. You know. That is tricky because depending everybody's
Speaker 1: got a difference. Some people can't handle certain things. And
Speaker 1: if you give them her candle and she like vomits,
Speaker 1: and it's your fault, it's upsetting. One mom's yummy is
Speaker 1: another mom's yuck. Yeah. Comfy slippers, that's good one. The
Speaker 1: only thing I want to add to that is make
Speaker 1: sure they're not slippery on the bottom. They should be
Speaker 1: not skid, because pregnant women are tend not to stay
Speaker 1: on their feet. Well, because I can't see them guilty.
Speaker 1: Pregnancy pillows they are. I love me a pregnancy pillow,
Speaker 1: and you know, I'm that person who would still sleep
Speaker 1: with it afterwards until husband's like, Okay, I'm in this
Speaker 1: bed too, if you want to cuddle, cuddle with me.
Speaker 1: But yeah, they're great when you're pregnant. They're really comfortable.
Speaker 1: We also ask what's the best gift you ever got
Speaker 1: as a new mom, and of course your baby is
Speaker 1: the best gift. We're gonna start with that. I mean,
Speaker 1: that's debatable when it comes to depending free the baby
Speaker 1: Perry bottle was the best thing that's ever happened to
Speaker 1: my vagina. That be coming out of your vagina wasn't
Speaker 1: the best thing that ever happened. Now that ripped me
Speaker 1: a new one. But with my first pregnancy, I had
Speaker 1: the hospital squirt bottle and that thing is a nightmare
Speaker 1: compared to this thing. Like the Freed to Perry bottle
Speaker 1: literally has a curb. There's not one person in my
Speaker 1: life who I haven't bought it for who is pregnant.
Speaker 1: And you can use it afterwards like a bid day,
Speaker 1: like if you want to freshen up before sex or something,
Speaker 1: or after it's a little squirt squirt and you're ready
Speaker 1: to go fresh as a days. The Freed to Perry
Speaker 1: is literally the gift that keeps on giving. And I
Speaker 1: want to add that Emma does not get any money
Speaker 1: from Freedom constant endoors spend that. I just love it.
Speaker 1: I love it. I have to say, every mom I've
Speaker 1: ever talked to has the exact same feedback, um boppy pillows,
Speaker 1: love a good boy, loved boy. Lots of moms said
Speaker 1: meals and food delivery, gifts, certificates and certificates for friends
Speaker 1: to come and clean, which is a great idea. Maybe
Speaker 1: not during COVID though, so ran check. Maybe your husband
Speaker 1: can give you that certificate. Well yeah, hopefully he's already cleaning,
Speaker 1: like he doesn't need to give me a certificate for that.
Speaker 1: Someone also said, and I think this is genius organizer
Speaker 1: pouches because when you have a new baby of all
Speaker 1: kinds of stuff, every little bit of stuff needs a
Speaker 1: home or it could be spread out all over your
Speaker 1: living room. Yeah, I'm not about that organizational life, but
Speaker 1: maybe I should be him. So let's talk gifts for
Speaker 1: little ones. I think we can safely say we have
Speaker 1: very different philosophies on this front. Like for me, mine
Speaker 1: is less is more and I'm more. The merrier exactly,
Speaker 1: and the merrier the Christmas, the more the gifts. But yeah,
Speaker 1: I'm really not here to kill your gift giving dreams.
Speaker 1: I'm here to save you money and time and space
Speaker 1: in your home, which Emma, you don't have any of
Speaker 1: anymore because capacity beyond capacity. So the reality is babies
Speaker 1: and toddlers they don't really care. They love the bright,
Speaker 1: shiny objects. They love ripping off the wrapping paper, right, Yeah,
Speaker 1: you know, especially kind of depressing because you buy them
Speaker 1: this amazing present. We bought Seby this car last year
Speaker 1: and he didn't care. He just cared about the damn
Speaker 1: bow on it. Yeah. They love the bows, they love
Speaker 1: the ribbons, And I'm just gonna throw in a safety
Speaker 1: bulletin that you want to keep those ribbons and bows
Speaker 1: away from your kids after the unwrapping is done, because
Speaker 1: they're safety risks. They love unboxing, and then they love
Speaker 1: playing with the boxes. Right. It's a cliche. You've heard
Speaker 1: it over and over, but this is a cliche that's
Speaker 1: actually true. So just wrap a box full of ribbon
Speaker 1: or like wrapping paper, you could do that. Just don't
Speaker 1: let them play with ribbon unattended. Too many gifts are
Speaker 1: just going to overload their senses and their circuits and
Speaker 1: they're not going to be able to focus on playing
Speaker 1: with any of the toys that you give them because
Speaker 1: they're just so damn many of them. So, like, if
Speaker 1: you can't help yourself, Emma, I'm not naming names, but
Speaker 1: it's better to stagger the giving rather than putting them
Speaker 1: all under the tree at once. I think that's something
Speaker 1: that Hanukkah has going for it, is that that it
Speaker 1: naturally staggers it over eight nights. So that's that's that's
Speaker 1: a smart idea. I'd also limit the ones that we
Speaker 1: love so much, the ones that were impressed by that
Speaker 1: makes so much noise and they move and have light shows,
Speaker 1: because it's more overload for their senses. And honestly, it's
Speaker 1: better to give them toys that you know they have
Speaker 1: to do the work of play and play is their work.
Speaker 1: Also like super depressing when you get your kids all
Speaker 1: these gifts and they're like, what's next? And because I
Speaker 1: get too badly, Yeah, it sucks. I hate it and
Speaker 1: I keep for punishment though you always say they save
Speaker 1: it for his birthday. Yeah, clearly you are go big
Speaker 1: or go home. Um more is more, and you buy
Speaker 1: so much for kids that we actually just use your presence,
Speaker 1: your leftovers for our gifts. Other grandparents have a tendency
Speaker 1: to overdo One mom. She wrote that her mother gave
Speaker 1: eight nights of presents to the baby who wasn't yet
Speaker 1: born for ron Oh my God, wait until that baby
Speaker 1: is born. Not going to be spoiled at all. That's amazing.
Speaker 1: So what about dad gifts? What are some gifts that
Speaker 1: you've gotten for Simon that have scored Um? I'm super
Speaker 1: into like sexual gifts, but also like sentimental gaily. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I had naked pictures. I took it myself and I
Speaker 1: put on our wedding veil and I had them pre
Speaker 1: known pillows and then one day kids went in the
Speaker 1: bedroom and brought them downstairs during a party and it
Speaker 1: was not great. So you might not want to do
Speaker 1: that one. I've done so many things with coordinates where
Speaker 1: we met, where we had our first kiss. I don't
Speaker 1: even remember that stuff. I mean I I do. There's
Speaker 1: just so many things that I've done that he loved.
Speaker 1: And I'm not going to tell you what I've done
Speaker 1: this year because they're so good. But we'll also I
Speaker 1: don't want him to know when we got married, I
Speaker 1: used to write these love notes and I still has,
Speaker 1: you know, and I wrote a poem about you when
Speaker 1: you were born. Yeah, but we know the gift of love.
Speaker 1: But you know what a good book like a coupon
Speaker 1: book they homemade with like blow jobs and stuff is
Speaker 1: always a winner. Yeah, I mean Christmas, don't spend it
Speaker 1: all in one day. Sorry, I just made this episode
Speaker 1: n C seventeen, So listen. Eric and I have been
Speaker 1: on the receiving end of so many amazing gifts since
Speaker 1: we became grandparents, and they are from you, of course,
Speaker 1: the most personalized, the most thoughtful. So if you're looking
Speaker 1: for a gift for the grandparents in your life, you're
Speaker 1: gonna want to listen up. So you need a little
Speaker 1: lead time here. Emma has turned drawings into so many
Speaker 1: cool things. Drawings that the kids made, stuffed animals, necklaces,
Speaker 1: one necklace that I have that I wear every single
Speaker 1: time I wear a necklace. It's a picture of Lennox
Speaker 1: and me holding hands and you had it made into
Speaker 1: a silver necklace. Yeah. I found it on Etsy. This
Speaker 1: guy and I think Taiwan and he makes everything by
Speaker 1: hand and it took months, but it was just such
Speaker 1: an amazing process. He did such a beautiful job for
Speaker 1: the link. And yes, well you had the kids decorate
Speaker 1: handbags and this is balsy because they were pricey handbags
Speaker 1: and it was really stressful. I got these bags and
Speaker 1: I had them one year. I think they painted it.
Speaker 1: One year, they did handprints. I've done sweatpants and sweatshirts
Speaker 1: with their handprints. All you need is fabric paint. I've
Speaker 1: done blankets, bubble heads, calendars, those Russian dolls, those sackable dolls,
Speaker 1: the Russian sacking dolls. Um one was Lennox, one with Seby.
Speaker 1: One was the Dog. I think that's it. You have
Speaker 1: pictures of the kids made into blankets, and my grandparents
Speaker 1: talked about this like every time I see them. They
Speaker 1: talked about the blanket that's with the kids on it.
Speaker 1: Love those around my bed. And then the wall calendars.
Speaker 1: You made a wall calendar that was epic, twelve Months
Speaker 1: of Lennox. I think I did it twice. The first
Speaker 1: one I did my dad's all times favorite movies, So
Speaker 1: I bought all these costumes of my dad's twelve favorite movies.
Speaker 1: So it was I don't know, like Godfather and Apocalypse Now, yeah,
Speaker 1: Apocalypse Now. And I had Lennox. I did backdrops, I painted,
Speaker 1: I did everything. And then another one. The first one
Speaker 1: I did was just the twelve Months of Lennox, which
Speaker 1: was I think it was the New Year's Baby. And
Speaker 1: then there was June Gloom with like a rain, and
Speaker 1: then there was May he was a flower, and Valentine's
Speaker 1: Day he was Cupid, and Christmas he was Santa, and
Speaker 1: then he had a turkey costume for Thanksgiving. But now,
Speaker 1: but like you know, because we're all at home, this
Speaker 1: is a really great idea and you can do it
Speaker 1: really fast, and places like snapfish they do it and
Speaker 1: it's really inexpensive and they have amazing fifty off codes,
Speaker 1: so you end up spending like twelve dollars for this
Speaker 1: beautiful calendar. They're really the gift that keeps on giving.
Speaker 1: I actually would rather have these gifts than anything you
Speaker 1: could buy in a store. I mean, they're priceless to
Speaker 1: me and for you guys out there, I'm going to
Speaker 1: share some pictures of some of Emma's best of gifts
Speaker 1: so you can see for yourself on my social media.
Speaker 1: And you know, if having Emma here with us wasn't enough,
Speaker 1: What to Expect Team at what to Expect dot Com
Speaker 1: has holiday gift guides for babies of all ages, parents, grandparents, caregivers,
Speaker 1: So if you still need inspiration, please take look at that. Now,
Speaker 1: we all know that the holidays are about so much
Speaker 1: more than gifts they're about the holiday parties and big
Speaker 1: family dinners and get togethers, and for me, Dave spent
Speaker 1: cooking and baking and decorating. And usually it's about a
Speaker 1: whole lot of stress and a whole lot of performance
Speaker 1: pressure and anxiety and travel and lugging strollers and bags
Speaker 1: through the airport and little ones who are over stimulated
Speaker 1: and undernapped and they're missing regular meals and bedtimes, and
Speaker 1: if they're old enough, they're all sugared up on those
Speaker 1: gingerbread houses. Maybe. Plus, if you're pregnant, who can really
Speaker 1: have fun at a holiday party, because even if the
Speaker 1: eggnog is pasteurized, you can't have it with the rum.
Speaker 1: So really, what's the point. So this year it's a
Speaker 1: little different, and in some meaningful ways, I'm going to
Speaker 1: venture to say it's good difference. We asked our moms
Speaker 1: at what to expect, how this holiday is going to
Speaker 1: be different for them, and most of you say it's
Speaker 1: bitter sweet, but it's really more sweet. A lot of
Speaker 1: moms said they're gonna miss seeing their friends and their
Speaker 1: extended families, but they're actually looking forward to staying at home,
Speaker 1: like you, Emma, with celebrating just us you know, with
Speaker 1: that little family unit, which makes it you know, less
Speaker 1: stressful and more special. So no obligations to party hop
Speaker 1: or hosts or to travel, just hunker down and be
Speaker 1: together with less stress and less pressure. No sleep schedules
Speaker 1: mess with unless you say so. Just like matching Christmas
Speaker 1: jammie's and holiday movies on the sofa. That's what it's
Speaker 1: all about this year, and that's kind of awesome. They're
Speaker 1: a little sad, but mostly excited. Most of them said
Speaker 1: to to skip the fast lane and the t s
Speaker 1: a line. Who wants that at Christmas season? And the
Speaker 1: Santa line at the mall. But that kind of brings
Speaker 1: us to the next topic, which is the Santa photos.
Speaker 1: You know, it's a holiday tradition, so it's definitely risky,
Speaker 1: if not impossible, to do Santa photos at the mall now.
Speaker 1: So it's a good thing that motherhood is the mother
Speaker 1: of invention, because we had our mom's come up with
Speaker 1: some great mall Santa substitutes. Tears not included. One was
Speaker 1: putting the baby and a Santa outfit or parents dressing
Speaker 1: up as Santa and Mrs Santa and baby as the Elf.
Speaker 1: I feel like that would work for young, young, young kids. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I would say like over too. Maybe not. Yeah, I'm
Speaker 1: gonna say a cat might be trickier. But if you
Speaker 1: have a dog, especially a big dog, and you dress
Speaker 1: them up as Santa and then the baby can sit
Speaker 1: in their lap kind of thing. Some moms said they
Speaker 1: had photoshop Santa into their family creative, don't ask me how.
Speaker 1: And and when you're doing a call with Santa, you
Speaker 1: did a call with Santa. I'm so excited. We're doing
Speaker 1: a call with Santa. They ask you all these questions
Speaker 1: ahead of time, like what are your kids names? What
Speaker 1: do they want for Christmas? So it's super personalized. It's
Speaker 1: probably more personalized than actually going because there's not like
Speaker 1: a line of like fifty screaming kids, and just like overwords.
Speaker 1: The best part is for me, this is what sold
Speaker 1: me on this using this one is that they send
Speaker 1: you a video afterwards of the whole thing. So you
Speaker 1: get pictures and a video and it's kind of just
Speaker 1: like a whole souvenir from experience. So nice. But yeah,
Speaker 1: they're so excited. Does Lenox still believe in Santa? And
Speaker 1: it's hard at hearts? He does. Okay, let's keep it
Speaker 1: that way, So me, I'm just happy to hunger down
Speaker 1: with you guys with the kids. I'm really sad that
Speaker 1: um Abby norm the great grandparents can't be with us
Speaker 1: because everybody's locked down. Something else about the holidays this
Speaker 1: season that's different and really sad is the extreme hard
Speaker 1: ship that so many families are going through this year
Speaker 1: because of the pandemic. And we talked about this all
Speaker 1: the time, but how many little ones are hungry, how
Speaker 1: many families aren't home for Christmas because tragically has left
Speaker 1: them without a home. So in the true spirit of
Speaker 1: the holiday season, we were to expect, always aim to
Speaker 1: help organizations that support families in need, and this year
Speaker 1: they're just more of them than ever. I mean, you
Speaker 1: and Lennox decided to donate to Toys for Talks. Yeah,
Speaker 1: normally they have the bins everywhere, but I haven't seen
Speaker 1: them obviously this year because of COVID. So we went
Speaker 1: online and Toys for Talks was great because they had
Speaker 1: a list of things and he picked something to represent
Speaker 1: himself for an older kid and something to represent a
Speaker 1: baby for Seby. But there's so many organizations like that
Speaker 1: online where you can adopt a family and give them gifts,
Speaker 1: like a lot of the parents need like underwear and socks.
Speaker 1: It's amazing, Like you see my child's Christmas list and
Speaker 1: you see these kids lists who just want like a
Speaker 1: soccer ball or a scooter or like one thing all
Speaker 1: they want. So it's really great to be able to
Speaker 1: like give them that. My older son's school does a
Speaker 1: secret and a toy drive for underprivileged children, and we
Speaker 1: picked a child and he just wanted a Target gift card,
Speaker 1: so we got a Target gift card. But I just
Speaker 1: think it's really important to get back in any way
Speaker 1: you can. It is, and it's also I think an
Speaker 1: important message to kids because you know, especially if you
Speaker 1: know they've got the gimmes, that you know there are
Speaker 1: other kids who aren't as fortunate, and we need to
Speaker 1: remember that. More great organizations that what to Expect wants
Speaker 1: you to know about this year there's no kid hungry,
Speaker 1: Save the children and family promise just to name a few,
Speaker 1: and you can go to what to Expect dot com
Speaker 1: slash giving for more information on how these incredible organizations
Speaker 1: are helping this year and how you can help them
Speaker 1: help others. I say, let's embrace this new relaxed holiday
Speaker 1: normal because there is plenty of time to party like
Speaker 1: it's in one, so let's just resolve to do that.
Speaker 1: It's like the best line I've ever heard. In the meantime,
Speaker 1: we are sending lots of love for meaningful holiday season.
Speaker 1: Emma and I and What to Expect podcast will be
Speaker 1: back with brand new episodes starting on January six. Happy
Speaker 1: holidays and happy New Year. Hugs to you and those
Speaker 1: you love who babylove my baby love. I need you,
Speaker 1: Oh how I need you. Thanks for listening. Remember I'm
Speaker 1: always here for you. What to Expect is always here
Speaker 1: for you. We're all in this together. For more on
Speaker 1: what you heard on today's episodes, visit what to Expect
Speaker 1: dot com slash podcast. You can also check out What
Speaker 1: to Expect, You're Expecting, What to Expect the First Year,
Speaker 1: and the What to Expect app. And we want to
Speaker 1: hear from you. Connect with us on our community message
Speaker 1: board or on our social media. You can find me
Speaker 1: at Heidi Murkoff and Emma at Emma bing wt E
Speaker 1: and of course at What to Expect. Baby Love is
Speaker 1: performed by Riley Peterer. What to Expect is a production
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