Getting ready for a baby is overwhelming, especially these days where ingenious moms have come up with products for every possible move your baby will make. I'll never forget the day that I forced my husband to take me to Buy Buy Baby where we spent hours walking around in a daze and eventually left in tears. I couldn't figure out what we actually needed and what was some marketing ploy and I was determined not to fill up our apartment with a lot of crappy looking stuff that would never be used.

After conducting extensive research (ie emailing all our friends with babies) we have come up with a list of essential things to have that first year. We've updated our store with great ideas for all your baby essentials perfect for your next shower, registry or if you just need to stock up yourself.

If you've walked through Grand Central Station or in lower Manhattan's Foley Square, you may have seen the StoryCorps booth sitting there and wondered what it is for.

What is Story Corps? Here's what the website says:

StoryCorps is an independent nonprofit project whose mission is to honor and celebrate one another??™s lives through listening.

By recording the stories of our lives with the people we care about, we experience our history, hopes, and humanity. Since 2003, tens of thousands of everyday people have interviewed family and friends through StoryCorps. Each conversation is recorded on a free CD to take home and share, and is archived for generations to come at the Library of Congress. Millions listen to our award-winning broadcasts on public radio and the Internet. StoryCorps is one of the largest oral history projects of its kind, creating a growing portrait of who we really are as Americans.

Everything you would have read last week...if there were 3 of you. We picked out the cream of the crop from last week's press for NYC parents, online or in print, informative, fun, or just laugh-out-loud funny.

Want to share a link? Leave it in the comments or if you want to contribute to next week??™s round-up send an email.

Learn to juggle or just watch the fun, see Irish short films for kids, see a children's version of the opera Carmen and more all for free with our weekly list of free family activities for New York kids.

NYC 7th Annual Juggling Festival:
JUGGLE THIS! - NYC 2008
Friday March 7-Sunday March 9, 2008

Adults and kids can learn to juggle or just come and watch. Three days of open juggling, workshops, juggling games, and more. The main event will be the juggling spectacular

The MTA always seems to be raising its fares, which always begs the question: "When exactly do we start paying for our kids to ride the subway." I've gotten so used to shuffling them under the turnstile, it occurred to me that at some point I'm probably supposed to start paying for kids to ride the subway.

While registration for the American Museum of Natural History's summer camps hasn't started yet, it's a good idea to keep a look out. In 2007, the camps sold out before they were even made available online.

For more information on these camps complete with hands-on investigations, behind-the-scenes tours and visits with Museum scientists, visit their site, and read on.

2009 AMNH Adventures Summer Camps will include:

Robotics Camp
Interested in a robotic expedition to Mars? Design, build, and program your own robot to explore an unknown planet! Using Lego Mindstorms robotic kits and computers, participants learn principles of robotics, computer programming, and teamwork during this exciting week.

Sampler Camp (for first graders)
Want a taste of the AMNH Adventure Camps, but still just one year too young? Come get a taste of what hands-on learning is all about, with a day of astrophysics activities, a day of frogs, and a day of water!

Fossils and DNA
Who are we and where do we come from? Embark on an exciting journey through human evolution and learn about our ancestors, from early primates to the first hominids. Explore the brand new Spitzer Hall of Human Origins while learning how to use fossil evidence and DNA??”and have fun doing it!

Meet the Beetles
Break out your magnifying glasses and get ready to observe the natural world and its amazing creatures! From the beetles, birds, and giant tortoises Charles Darwin made famous to the local array of bugs and plants in Central Park, children will enjoy discovering and learning about science and nature during this fun-filled week.

Astrophysics Camp
Have you ever wondered what it would be like to live, work, and travel in space? Could life exist on other planets? What are black holes and do they really exist? Join others who share your interest in space science and learn about the universe through hands-on activities and Museum explorations.

For more camp ideas, check out our Summer Camp Guide! 

photo by Lincoln Karim

The NYC birding world is all aflutter over recent hawk activities in New York City. Last week people were watching a pair of Red Tailed Hawks building a nest. And this morning there were bald eagles over Riverside Park. It is rare to be able to see these hawks building their nests and children will especially enjoy the idea of seeing the birds building their homes.

Remember when you had time to sit down and read the paper? It almost seems like that was someone else doesn't it? We thought it would be great to create a weekly round-up of the best kid-related articles in the NY media. Want to share a link? Leave it in the comments or if you want to contribute to next week's round-up send me an email.