{ the jaunty magpie }

In this Year of the Rabbit, this Bird may not have a little bun in the oven, but all her friends sure do! And it can be a challenge to come up with fun and unique gifts for the new family. Sure, there's a baby registry, but as I've said before, swaddling blankets and spitup cloths are useful but a bit of a killjoy to receive. It's nice to come up with something special if you know the family well, and you figure the baby will get a ton of things, so don't forget to consider the parents themselves! 

These are some J'adore-worthy gift ideas for new families that are all about the most precious thing of all -- time. Schedules will be unpredictable and it's hard to get the basic things done around the house, plus when the baby's finally sleeping, the parents deserve a break for all their hard work. These are gifts that aren't about wrapping and bows, just services that make life a little easier. Leave the cute frilly dresses and adorable sailor outfits to the grandparents to give to the babies -- which they'll promptly wear them for maybe five seconds before tearing it off.

Grocery store runs for basic items can be tricky when you barely have a free moment and it feels like it takes triple the time to get the baby bundled up for travel. How about a gift subscription to a service like Amazon Fresh? If they don't deliver to the family's area, try Safeway's home delivery service .

For those who live in and around the Seattle area, how about old fashioned milk delivery? Smith Brothers Farms from Kent, Washington, does home delivery including yogurt, ice cream and cheese, and they also deliver other items like bread, coffee and cookies. It's all locally-made items either from the dairy itself or neighboring regions, and you pick and choose the items from their website.

While certainly not a new concept, if a newly-babied couple doesn't have a Netflix subscription, give them the hookup! Granted, you can watch plenty of things online for free, but it's nice to have whole television series on streaming or catch up on old movies instantly.

And don't forget the house itself - consider gifting a family a housekeeping service. Getting around to just cleaning a bathroom is going to feel impossible, at least in the beginning. Having someone come once a week to help tidy up is a blessing and a half. There are national services like Merry Maids or look up a smaller, local service using something like Angie's List.  


Jaunty Fine Print:  photo of Crane Paper Co. letterpress cards by Denise Sakaki