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What are the ingredients of a great baby shower?  When it comes to baby showers, you just can't go wrong.  Joy is already in the room, (your baby!)  so the rest is just icing on the cake. 

1. Start with Evite. How can 22 million users be wrong? This thing is so easy - it doesn't even need directions. Save on stamps, save a tree and get peoples attention online, where they'll respond promptly.

And you won't be skimping on creativity either. There are dozens of Evite Baby Shower Templates to customize, or start from scratch and make your own design. 

2. For amazing menu and design ideas check Hostess with the Mostess. Just like Evite, there is a special section for Baby Showers. Customize the themes to suit you and your guests. 

3. For a wealth of baby shower activities and games, look over the extensive list of Editors Picks on BabyCenter, the Web's #1 interactive parenting network. Have fun!

When I began researching Prenatal Yoga, it wasn't long before I learned about Jennifer More.  Based out of San Mateo, CA Jennifer is a registered Yoga Alliance Vinyasa and Prenatal Yoga instructor, a certified doula, childbirth educator and a mother.  Her passion for the benefits of prenatal yoga extends beyond the United States.

She has trained yoga instructors in Prenatal Vinyasa Yoga techniques in Peru, China, South America and numerous US locations. Her techniques have given yoga instructors the tools to modify poses as needed to incorporate pregnant women into their existing classes in a safe and effective manner.

She is the creator of several bestselling prenatal yoga DVDS which have received noteworthy mentions in The New York Times, Fit Pregnancy, Pregnancy Magazine and received the "Top Gear of the Year" award in 2007 from ShapeYou.com.

A perfect companion to our Maternity Yoga Pants, Belevation has decided to offer Jennifer More's Prenatal Vinyasa Yoga 2 DVD set on our online store. We love it because it provides the most flexibility for your yoga practice and can work around your busiest schedules and varied energy levels. One lucky Belevation Facebook fan will receive a complimentary copy during our November give-away. But don't wait till then to begin doing Prenatal Yoga. Enjoy!

While doing PR work for Belevation, I have been in contact with an amazing group of women! Amy Tara Koch, author of the 2010 Random House pregnancy book, Bump It Up is one of those special people.

A Chicago mother, Amy is a style expert and trend reporter at numerous media outlets including NBC, Vogue and USA Today - to name just a few. With adorable illustrations and a humorous style, Bump It Up found it's way to my list of books for Belevation's upcoming Facebook give-aways.

"A cheat sheet to chic" Amy's pregnancy primer "shows moms-to-be how a handful of basics can yield dozens of jaw-dropping maternity ensembles."

You can follow Amy on her Bump It Up Style Blog . While you are there, take note of her Aug 30th post Serving Up: An Extra Dose of Support for Bellies, Boobs and Backs.  We were excited to learn that for the 2nd & 3rd trimester, Amy highlighted Belevation's Brief and PettiPant as that extra dose of support!

Using "strategic layering", Amy's easy tips transform pregnancy from frumpy to elegant. They say "it's what's underneath that counts..." So, take advantage of Belevation's affordable pricing and everyday free shipping for a perfect 1st layer to support your growing belly. Thank you for the mention - Amy!

This week there's not only one, but there's two, Mom-Blog Belevation give-away's going on!  I've been surfing the mom-blogosphere like crazy and it's simply amazing. What a vast community of intelligent moms blogging from all around the USA!  In June, we ran a Band give-away on I Still Hate Pickles in Houston.

This month, we are heading north and south at the same time. (Mom Power!) Michelle from Georgia, seen on this beautiful southern front porch, writes The Not So-Secret Confessions of a 2nd Time Mom. I caught up with Michelle, a recent business school graduate, busy mother to 2yr. old Noah, and a blogger.

We mailed her a Belevation Support Band to try-out and here's what she had to say: "The Belevation band is great! It really offers a lot of support to my belly and back! I feel like I have awesome coverage and don't have to worry about my back or the bottom of my belly showing when I'm wearing it.

 Amy, a first time mom and accountant, who writes the Heard it from the Hills blog, from Illinois agreed to review our Yoga Culotte.  (*Please note Belevation has discontinued this item for now, sorry.)

"At 27 weeks, my baby bump is starting to put a strain on my petite frame. I was researching support products, when I received an email from Belevation regarding the launch of their new collection of maternity garments. I found the Belevation Yoga Culotte to be very comfortable and supportive. The blend of Nylon and Spandex Micro-Fiber allows the fabric to be lightweight and easily stretch and move with me, which is especially important to me while exercising, doing housework, and running errands.

I really like how the Belevation Yoga Culotte has an integrated Tummy Support Panel, to give me a gentle lift, while the tummy portion of the panel is super soft and stretchy to perfectly fit and expand around my growing belly. I think the Tummy Support Panel of the Belevation Culotte would provide me with some extra support post-pregnancy, too."

Amy's Belevation give-away on Heard it from the Hills ends on Sunday, August 7th at 11:59 PM, while Michelle's on The Not So-Secret Confessions of a 2nd Time Mom ends on Monday, August 8th also at 11:59. Check each site for guidelines and thanks for your interest in Belevation Maternity Support garments!

During the past month I have read about several amazing advances in the area of prenatal medicine.  Results of a long awaited $22.5 million study on spina bifida surgery were published February 9th by The New England Journal of Medicine.

A neural tube disorder, spina bifida can be reduced by up to 75% with a diet rich in Vitamin B6, so don't skimp on your Vitamin B intake before or during pregnancy. About half the babies in the study were randomly selected for traditional surgery after birth, while the rest underwent the procedure as a fetus between 19 and 26 weeks of pregnancy.

Results showed that the group that had surgery in utero "were nearly two times as likely to walk without crutches at 30 months", said study co-author, Dr Scott Adzick, chief of pediatric surgery at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia.  

Additionally, news came this week from Greece about the successful development of a prenatal blood test that could help women avoid the invasive procedures currently used to diagnose Down syndrome, a gene mutation that causes a form of mental retardation.

While currently used tests such as amniocentesis are only about 80% accurate and also carry a small risk of miscarriage, the new test (which is not expected to be available for a year or two), is believed to offer a 100% accuracy rate and can also be done earlier. Truly awesome.

January 2011.  Even South Carolina is looking like a frozen tundra this week.  So, under the circumstances, a bad economy and iced-over roads, the occasion is perfect to dig-into your Netflix account and tour the world for nine dollars a month. 

Who can forget Julia Roberts depicting the true story of Erin Brockovich uncovering information about toxic dumping in her town? Haven't seen it? Well, change that up when the kiddies get to bed tonight.

Another wonderful Mom-Flick that will pull at your heartstrings is the true story of two 9-11 widows who each gave birth shortly after losing their husbands. Through their common tragic circumstances, depicted in the film Beyond Belief, Susan Retik and Patti Quigley made an instant connection with one another.

Needing to get beyond their grieving, they find the strength together to embark on a spiritual bike ride from Ground Zero, home to Boston. Conceived as fundraiser for Afghan widows, this beautiful film chronicals their travel to Afghanistan and the two womens realization that we are all connected. Their goal lives on through the organization they founded, Beyond the 11th.

Speaking about fundraisers, another personal favorite is the 2003 British success Calendar Girls, also a true story about a bunch of old girls who go bare to raise money for a couch in the local hospitals cancer wing.  To date, they have raised more than two million British Lbs. for Leukemia research, leaving the role of a determined woman not to be underestimated. How's that for Mom inspiration on a snowy day?

Welcome to our Belevation Blog page. For a multi-tasking mom like me (and probably you), taking the time-out to write this Belevation Blog provides a perfect opportunity for reflection. Belevation products were not around during my pregnancy, nor was the Internet for that matter.

Remembering back to my special nine months (more than 20 years ago), I was definitely a seeker of information, as I still am today. So, I will joyfully do the research to make this Belevation Blog a useful parenting resource in this fast past world of products and information. Most special of all, is that my web designer, blog partner, tech source is the very same character who made me so violently ill for those first four months, and then got so comfy he didn't appear to have any plans of coming out at all. So treasure every