Dinner...or breakfast (fresh baked bagels are a HIT here), or lunch, or coffee from Mom's favorite coffee shop (I'd pay for a Starbucks skinny iced peppermint mocha vanilla latte {hold the peppermint mocha because it can deplete milk supply} or iced right now). Gift cards for local delivery places (sadly, I only know of pizza in our town). Bonus points for freezer crock pot meals. More bonus points for home cooked meals ready to eat with no heating or takeout delivered fresh and ready. (Easter dinner was on the table the day we came home and I was SO thankful. I've also remembered how much I heart soup and salad.) Dinner at the hospital is another bonus...sadly, I had to turn this down due to diet monitoring for the girls' weight and my iron levels, so ask ahead before bringing one's favorite college meal (Mad Mex was honestly offered to us, you know that was hard to turn down) to the hospital. Can't do a whole meal? I scarfed down a nice cupcake or 2 along the way, too!

Newborn Photo Session Our hospital offers professional newborn shots, including a package of digital shots with the rights to print / share the photos. Consider a gift card for this if applicable (Bella Baby is the Magee photographer) or pick your / the parents' fave local photographer and schedule them for a session. (I've been told 48 hours to 10 days old is ideal. I totally missed the boat on an at home session and am admittedly bummed out because I have no photos of all 6 of us in the squishy, comfortable stage I really wanted to remember...and no cheesy posed cheesecloth and headband shots like I wanted.)

Birth Announcements or Thank You Notes A gift card to an online retailer who does photo cards would be an awesome gift...even better if you help Mom create the birth announcement or if the site offers to ship for her. Thank you notes, in my mind, should be personalized as often as possible, but I think new parents get a pass on this one. I personally wrote all of ours so far...but could use some more cards (or a ride to the store), addressing help, stamps, and/or a trip to the post office. Trying to remember it all and thank in a timely fashion is tough!

A Phone Call or Visit This is powerful. I specifically remember calls from one of my aunts after all three births. (This most recent one included a 2nd call to support me through a tough time with the hospital staff.) She probably doesn't know it, but she was the only caller I had on the hospital phone with the twins' stay and integral in lifting my spirits at JUST THE RIGHT MOMENT after all three births. Our realtor (and friend) called us to congratulate us - some people are incredible at making the simplest actions mean the most. We had lots of precious visits from family and friends, all just the right length, during our hopsital stays, too. And visits at home have kept my sanity (especially with Greg going back to work) and helped with some of my other suggestions below.

Grocery Shopping I didn't think this one out before delivery, but our first grocery trip was going to be a daunting task. Two carts, each with a twin in a car seat. No way. Thankfully, I gave my list to a cousin and she handled the task then helped Greg put it all away. Huge time and energy saver. Maybe your local grocer has online ordering with curbside pickup -- offer to help make the order and do the pickup. Even better if there's a delivery service near you!

Cloth Diaper Prep We will be going to cloth once the girls we more "normal" (non runny newborn) movements. Our fluff stash is a mix of new and used cloth, and I opted to wait to prep until they were born. Not sure what I was waiting for, but the day is coming soon when we will switch and I have about 60 diapers that need love. If cloth diapers are your thing and a loved one is going this route, offer to help. Not doing cloth? Bring a pack of diapers (know this the size or bring a size 2 or wipes) when you visit. This takes care of a few awesome gifts at once (no store trip, diapers, and a visit).

Rides to Appointments Most new moms can't drive themselves for 2 weeks (I will be much longer at this point), and many dads don't get the time off. Both mom and baby likely will gave appointments in the weeks following coming home and may need a ride or company...or a.stop for a favorite coffee or milkshake. Personally, I've been glad Greg can go with me because my appointments haven't been fun; however, now that he's back to work, my schedule is going to be harder to manage. Bonus if you score a pedicure appointment for mom post doctor visit.

Want to see the other three ideas? Check out the rest of this post on lilburghers.com!

Easter Decorations and Gifts

Easter is a holiday that can sometimes be put on the back burner. Even though the holiday has a large commercial following, there are some things that you can do to make it a special day. It can also be a big drain on a budget. Here are some ideas on gifts and decorations that can help to reduce the money being spent.

Gifts

Gifts can be something that might be a good option when it comes to kids and Easter. Baskets are not always the answer, but a well-loved gift might be just the trick.

Play Tents are something that you can spend a lot of money on if you desire to. However, they are also a great do it yourself project to get those smiles. iVillage offers the instructions on how to make the tent all on your own.

Jewerly is always a special gift. iVillage offers some great ideas on making braided bracelets that can be enjoyed by anyone on your Easter list. Know of another mother that is in need of some wonderful jewelry. Look at Little Miss Fairytale they make beautiful teething jewelry for mommy. Little Miss even has a few clothing choices that are adorable for the littlest ones on our list.  

Decorations

Decorations are something that can take time to complete. However, they can be made as a wonderful project for you and your children.

Bunny or Egg Garland is one that can be simple and pretty at the same time. Titatoni offers a download that can make it a bit easier to make garland out of bunnies. If you are looking to make eggs you can use any coloring egg with a design, have it colored by the kids and hang on a piece of string. Modern Parents Messy Kids a unique suggestion to making egg garland. This garland is made from those free paint chips you get when trying to decide the best colors to paint with.

Origami Bunny Baskets is a decoration that your older children can enjoy helping make and not feel like they are making something babyish. Origami Sprirt offers directions on how to make origami bunnies. These bunnies have an open back allowing for chocolates, jellybeans, or any other little treat to be placed there.

Creating a magical Easter does not depend on the money you can spend. Many times, it is about the time you spend. Making decorations or gifts can be worth the time. Although, if making everything is not best, then finding that perfect thing might be even better.

Family Style Easter Egg Hunt Secrets

Easter is one of those busy times of the year. New dresses or suits are necessary. Tons of eggs needed to boil and color. Plastic eggs are always an option; however, that does not stop you from needing those hard eggs. One of the best parts Easter is the egg hunts. Here comes the biggest problem with Easter. After several years, the Easter egg hunts become mundane, and boring to the children. Here are some ideas to liven up your egg hunts.

Great Egg Race

There are several ways to play this game. Here are some options.

• Place an even number of eggs and placing them in a row. Have kids start at the beginning of the row and race to pick up as many eggs as possible. The one who gets to the end of the line first is the winner.

• Put tons of eggs all over the yard. They do not all have to be hiding. Some can be easy to find for those younger kids. Others can be more difficult so that the older children can still be involved. At the end, the winner will be the one with the most eggs. So, let the race begin.

Coded Messages

Once our kids get older, hunting no longer is something fun. In order to make it fun for them you have to increase the difficulty level. This idea is where you hide clues to the next egg in each of the previous eggs. You can print as many clues as you need, and it they can be long or short. It can be done simultaneously while the other kids are doing their egg hunt.

Golden Egg Contest

The golden egg contest is one of the simplest options to add something to your basic egg hunt. Best Family Traditions has some great options for a nice egg coloring. The golden egg is a great way to offer a special prize at the end of the basic egg hunt. You may use any color egg, but it needs to be just one egg of that color. This gives you the ability to know which one is the specific egg.

Letter Eggs – Making Words

There are some options when it comes to letter eggs. They can be used as a teaching tool or as a reward at the end of the egg hunt. Playing house had some great ideas.

• As a teaching tool, you can take a set of plastic eggs. You will want to get at least enough to make one per alphabet letter. Some letters that you will want to double up on, making the formation of words easier done. Then you will place a capital letter on half of the egg and a lower case on the other half. This can be a letter recognition, and then help with word formation.

• Each egg can have a letter on them. You can pick a secret word and have the kids use the letter eggs to form that word. For those individuals, that is able to create the word from letter eggs will receive a special prize different from the others.