Poppin Prints creates beautiful, high-quality birth announcements, like this Adore style. Printed on signature metallic card stock, the announcement is fully customizable, built around the photo of your new baby boy. 25 cards sell for $44.75; and other types of card stock such as heavy matte or linen are also available (some at an added fee). You can view all of the choices at PoppinPrints.com.

‘Tis the season to start thinking about buying Christmas cards, and what better way to show off your family than with photo cards? Crimson Lane, an etsy shop, creates some beautifully designed Christmas photo cards. Simply choose a design at the site, email a photo, message, size, and whether you want a digital file (just the image you can have printed yourself) or print package (where you receive actual paper cards and envelopes). Designs cost $15, and packages vary, starting at $1.20 each for 101+ 4″ x 6″ cards. You can view the entire price chart and designs available at etsy.com/shop/crimsonlane.

Here’s a neat gift idea: PicPads takes photographs you send them and turns them into notepads, shopping list pads, kid pads - any kind of writing pads you might need. This would be perfect for family members who might not get to see your children as often as they’d like - when Grandma goes to write something on her shopping list, there’s Johnny smiling at her. Each pad includes 40 sheets of paper, and an order is 2 pads. The basic note pads sell for $34.95 for a set of 2 pads using a color photo, or $24.95 for black and white. Go to PicPads.com to see all of the different ideas for pads. I think I might start my Christmas shopping early this year!

AreYouKidding.net, the website that showcases photos of babies and children in a safe environment, is having a Photo and Video Contest. From July 1 to September 28, upload a video to win a trip to the Renaissance Aruba Resort & Casino and a Kodak Z915 camera; or upload a photo for a free membership to nannies4hire.com, plus 8 hours of free nanny service from nannies who have been checked, reviewed, and given the nannies4hire seal of approval. Go to AreYouKidding.net for more details and to upload your photo or video.

Recently I discovered some beautiful, breathtaking Birth Announcements by MangoInk.com. These photo birth announcements do more than personalize the announcement to the world of your new little one - they also showcase the artistic skills of MangoInk’s professional photographers. I especially like this announcement, called “Nutmeg.” Many more announcements can be found in their online catalog, as can other cards for events, birthdays, graduation, and more. You can view the full line of offerings at MangoInk.com. Prices vary from $21.80 per 8 mounted square cards to $11.99 per 8 unmounted rectangle cards.

Every nursery or child’s bedroom needs a night light. Baby Night Lights offers parents a way to turn their child’s personal snapshot into a custom photo night light. Three steps on Baby-NightLights.com makes this a simple process: you just upload a photo, crop the photo, and approve it. In about a week, you’ll receive your child’s picture mounted into a museum style night light frame. Each night light is lit by a 4-watt bulb and features a toggle on-off switch. This would make a great gift for new parents, as anyone can use a night light with their child’s photo on it (especially new parents, who often tend to wake up and stumble out of bed on the way to the baby’s room!). You can view these unique night lights at Baby-NightLights.com, where they range in price from $19.95 to $24.95.

For a special gift, you may want to consider Picture on Crystal. This company cures black & white or color photos provided by the customer onto crystal shapes, with choices including a square, heart, and iceberg. The crystal remains clear, and you’re still able to see through the photo. They are available in a variety of sizes with prices ranging from $28.95 to $78.95 at PictureOnCrystal.com. It would make a nice keepsake for someone special.

As soon as (or perhaps even before) baby is born, parents are planning his or her first professional photos. To preserve these special moments, many parents opt to choose a professional photographer who specializes in portraits of newborns. Kylene Cleaver owns and operates Leave It To Me Photography, a custom portraiture business, from her home in Maryland. Although she photographs all ages, newborns and pregnant women are one of her specialties.

Cleaver is able to capture details that other photographers miss in her portraits of children. She takes the time to elicit a natural, unscripted reaction from her subjects as she shoots them candidly, without a “pose and shoot” mentality. All of her photo sessions are done “on location,” in the client’s home or a place of the client’s choosing, using natural light. She has taken photos of my son many times, always with spectacular results. In fact, she is the only person I would trust to take portraits of my family. You can check out some of her stunning photos at LeaveItToMePhotography.com. While she is based in Maryland, she has clients throughout Delaware, Pennsylvania, Maryland, and surrounding areas.

What better gift to present to a new parent than a digital key chain? Though you should shop around for the one you like best, I spotted a simple, inexpensive Insignia 1.8” LCD Digital Photo Key Chain at BestBuy.com that claims to hold 40 pictures and has a rechargeable battery. Showing off a new blessing has never been easier than it is in our digital world. Just make sure the person you are giving it to has a computer or access to one, because it will make loading it up much easier. Offered in black, red, or indigo, at $19.99 you can’t lose. The manufacturers maintain that you can even see it in dim lighting. I’m thinking of adding digital key chains to my ongoing personal list of things I like to give at baby showers.

BOB makes some of the hottest jogging strollers on the market. My sister and several friends swear by them. Currently, the company is holding a contest that will award a free stroller to one lucky winner. For a chance to win, upload a picture of your pregnant belly at BobGear.com/neighborhood. The winner will be chosen at the end of January. Even if you aren’t currently pregnant, or in the market for a new stroller, it is fun to check out the gallery of entries. I can’t wait to see the winner.

Don’t be tempted to send an email to announce your baby’s birth, send something a little more personal and a lot more tangible to receive. These Photo Birth Announcements by Mini Flower GIrl come with matching envelopes that can also be personalized with your return address.Viewing this item at tinyprints.com will show you the myriad of styles from which to choose.

If you’re thinking of a baby shower gift, you can pre-order these announcements and they will pre-ship the envelopes to the recipient. The new mom can then choose the announcement design and provide baby’s vital information. The announcements come in sets of 25 to 500+ beginning at $42.95 per 25. Matching Thank You cards are also available.

I think this would be a perfect baby shower gift because of its pure soft look. Take along a Polaroid Instant Camera (they’re still around) and add photos from the baby shower to include in this Nature’s Purest Hug Me My First Book. Another idea would be to include a gift certificate for developing digital photos at the Mother-to-be’s local photo store or for ordering online. With its soft, natural cotton cover, this photo book holds twenty-four 4″ x 6″ photos on 12 PVC-free pages.

You can view this product at ToysRUs.com where it has a listed price of $19.99.

Instead of making pencil marks on the doorways where they’re likely to get smudged away, how about this neat Personalizable Photo Growth Chart by RedEnvelope?  Fun, functional, and a lovely addition to the decor in your child’s room. It’s too good of an idea to pass up.

Personalize this chart for each of your children for an extra-added touch. It comes in blue/yellow and pink/green, and costs $39.95 at RedEnvelope.com.

The Snobby Babies Customized Photo Diaper Bag makes sense to moms and caregivers. Name tags get worn and unreadable and eventually fall off. What better way to find your diaper bag than to have a photo of your baby on the front of it? Having your child’s personal photo as a part of the diaper bag guarantees no one will mistake your bag for theirs.

The bag is 15.5″Wx11″Hx5″D and features 2 elastic side bottle pockets, interior zipper pocket, cell phone pocket, and mirror pocket. The Snobby Babies Customized Photo Diaper Bag also has metal feet, 1″x24″ handles with nickel loopers, and an interior attached key fob. You can send up to two photos for one side of the bag or for both sides. Price $125.00 @ Snobbybabies.com.