There is nothing like the sweet, creamy taste of melt in your mouth, decadent cheesecake. It’s become such a favorite with my kids that they now request a cheesecake to replace the standard frosted sheet cake for their birthday parties. Although I’m stubborn and insist on serving the traditional birthday cake, I occasionally give in. And every now and then, at the end of a long day, it’s the perfect way to end a busy, hectic day. A hot bubble bath, a good movie and a nice slice of strawberry swirl cheesecake with a cold glass of milk.

Cheesecake is believed to have originated in ancient Greece. Supposedly the first recorded mention of cheesecake was it being served to athletes during the very first Olympic games, which were held in 776 B.C. The making of cheese however, traces way back as far as 2000 B.C. History notes the Romans spread cheesecake from Greece across to Europe. It wasn’t until centuries later that cheesecake appeared in America. Immigrants brought the recipes over with them. American dairymen invented cream cheese in 1872 in an attempt to recreate the French cheese, Neufchâtel. Then, in 1912, James L. Kraft invented pasteurized cheeses, which lead to the development of Philadelphia cream cheese, yes; you guessed it, the most popular cheese used for making cheesecake today.

Although deserts as gifts have always been popular, the giving of cheesecake to loved ones may have once required slaving in the kitchen for hours whipping up these delicious creamy deserts. Although these days you can pick up a quick cheesecake mix at your local grocery store. With families and friends living so far apart and with the Internet now accessible to more and more homes, giving these scrumptious desserts has become as simple as a click of a button. Susan’s Gourmet Gift Basket Store offers a delicious variety of delectable cheesecakes just waiting to arrive at the home of your friend or family member. Try our most divine cheesecake sampler. This unique sampler offers a delightfully fruitful mix of our most popular cakes: Strawberry Swirl, Triple Chocolate Raspberry, Marionberry and features our newest cake Apple Crisp. This cake will remind you of your grandmother's sweet apple pie, flavored throughout with delicious fresh Oregon grown apples. This melt in your mouth cheesecake sampler is set in a savory graham cracker crust, and topped with sour cream. Your cheesecake is fresh-cooled and rushed from bakery to doorstep in a special cool-pack container to ensure freshness.

Whether you choose to send a scrumptious cheesecake, fruit basket or gourmet wine gift basket, Susan’s Gourmet Gift Basket Store has it all. Whether it's the birth of a new baby, a birthday gift, or anniversary, or even to say Happy Father's Day, Susan’s Basket Store has a gift basket for you.

Most babies get their first tooth around 6 months of age. Teeth generally erupt in pairs. Most babies will experience a few days of discomfort, including fever, crankiness, sleeplessness and diaper rash.

The bottom front incisors typically come in first, followed by the top ones, then the molars and canine teeth. The back molars are usually the last to emerge. Babies usually have their full set of 20 teeth by the time they are 3 years old. The permanent ones don’t usually start coming in until between the ages of 4 and 6 years.

What can you as a parent do to help your baby through this process? Massaging of the gums is a great way to relieve some of the discomfort associated with teething. There are many different types of teething toys on the market. The kammi^tm teething doll is made of made of soft terry cloth. The hands and feet of the doll are knots that you can wet and freeze. The cold terry cloth feels good on their gums and the body of the doll is very absorbent – for all the drool these little ones will generate during teething.

Having had three babies of my own, I’ve seen differences in each one when going through teething. My first daughter had little trouble at all – I barely even knew when she was getting a tooth in. She was about 8 months old when she got her first one, so maybe that was why she handled it better than the others.

My son got his first tooth at about 6 months. He had fever and couldn’t sleep for days. Plus, he refused to teethe on anything but my fingers! After the first couple of teeth though, he had a much easier time.

My youngest daughter got her first tooth at about 4 months – very early! She had everything! Fever, sleeplessness, crankiness, and the worst case of diaper rash! Many doctors have told me over the years that teething does not cause all these symptoms. However, I disagree since I’ve actually seen them myself. My Mom, who had ten children, also believes there are many more side effects associated with teething then what the medical community tells us.

My youngest also hated to put any kind of hard teething toy in her mouth. She did, however, love the soft ones. They are great because they catch the drool in addition to making their gums feel better.

With the kammi^tm teething doll, the addition of the frozen knots makes it a perfect teething toy all around.

This Mother’s Day I’d like to share an article that I wrote in 2000 on being a successful parent. I think that every Mother at one time or another wonders if she is making all the right choices for her children. I hope you enjoy the article and as you read, think about how important, often difficult and sometimes thankless the job of being a Mother really is. Sometimes the weight of responsibility can be overwhelming. This Mother’s Day,........

Read the full Mother's Day Article

Finding out I was pregnant was one of the most exciting experiences of my life! I will never forget how long the 3 minutes seemed when doing the home pregnancy test. And then when it showed two pink lines instead of just one – elation!

The next few months seemed to be just getting used to the idea of being pregnant. Coming to terms with the fact that you are carrying another life inside of your body is overwhelming to say the least. Once it finally started to sink in – step two for me was dreaming about the baby’s nursery.

I love decorating anyway, so I had tons of ideas of what I could do in the nursery. I wanted something unique and tasteful and I had very specific colors in mind. For some people though, it may not be so easy to come up with an idea.

When I’m struggling for a decorating idea, I try to find one thing to center the plan around. Artwork is a very good place to start. If you have a painting that you love, you can pull all the colors in the room from that painting. Even better is to have a custom piece of artwork that you use for your plan. This will give you something completely unique.

Custom artwork can be very expensive, but Susan’s Baby Store offers some wonderful pieces at a very affordable price. This extremely affordable piece titled “Lavender Sophie” would make a great choice for designing a baby theme around. I would use a pale yellow color for the walls and the brighter purple shade for accents. Select butterfly themed items to accent the room. One idea that I used in my daughter’s room was to use wallpaper cutouts of flowers sprinkled across the center of one wall. In the center of the same wall, I mounted a quilt rack and hung a flower-themed baby quilt.

Once I had my idea in mind, I couldn’t wait to get started. I worked feverishly over the next couple of months and completed a gorgeous room for baby. One flaw in that plan – I then had months to wait for baby to arrive!

Finally, my beautiful daughter arrived! We had two weeks of bliss and then for the next three months – COLIC! She cried day and night and I slept holding her in my arms every night just to get any rest at all! So much for my beautiful nursery getting any use whatsoever!

We did finally get to use the nursery. After she turned four months old, the colic finally went away and I got to put her in her crib. All the hard work was worth it after all! She is a perfect angel now – guess she got the bad stuff over with early!

Whatever you choose for your baby’s nursery – remember to take the time to enjoy yourself! They are only little once and they grow up so quickly. Before you know it, a new design will be in order!