Mompreneur Spotlight: Chic Chanta

My semi-formal spotlight on mompreneurs has had a snowball effect of sorts and has been opening my eyes to all the fellow mompreneurs around me IRL (in real life) and online. 

A while back I won a giveaway that Christina of Being Mrs. Jones was hosting to launch her new business Chic Chanta - an online boutique for tutus and accessories. I won a cute tutu and bow set for my Lil Love bird  -  Christina added in a bracelet bonus as well!

I gave Christina a color scheme and she customized Nia's prize!

What I love about Chic Chanta is the attention to detail. As a graphic designer (Christina designed my current blog template - yes, she's multi-talented!), she has an eye for color and style. Her items are packaged neatly with tissue and a custom label. Nia was excited to open up her surprise package and model it for me. 

She prefers not to wear any other clothing with her tutu

Adding Chic Chanta to Nia's growing collection of tutus has been wonderful! The products are well constructed and made with love. I encourage you to support Christina and check out her blog too - her girls Izzy and Zoe are the cutest!

Do you have a tutu lover in your household? How do you manage your growing collection?
 
   

Lil Love Bird & Her Geico Gecko: A Love Story

It all started when I received a message that I received a Klout perk from Geico which was a plush gecko. My Lil Love Bird had already developed an obsession with the Geico gecko from the advertisements around the city, but little did I realize what was about to transpire. It's been a whirlwind romance. . .

They met right before Christmas . . .

Some kind of ritual set up by Nia was going on here (it freaked me out actually!)

Sometimes the Geicko gecko needed some alone time (I found him in bed like this - Nia really shows she cares)

After returning from Christmas, Lil Love Bird donned her Christmas dress and booties and promised she'd never leave him again

A Little Someone moved the signed photo from our Christmas card wall (where she demanded it be included) to my office

At times the Geico gecko stands in as her prince

At night he is her ever-watching protector

Have a happy Valentine's Day everyone! 

Disclosure: I received the Geico gecko as a Klout perk and was not obligated to write this post; Nia's obsession all opinions expressed are my own.


   

P.S. Mr. Love Bird is away on business so we're having a belated Valentine's Day this Saturday. More to come on how that goes. .  .

Hi Virginia! Episode 1 (My First Vlog)

I hinted a while back about recreating the "Life with Nia" monthly updates I wrote until my Lil Love Bird was 2 into another format and at long last here is my very first one!  

{Annnnd it's my first vlog!}

 

A Love Birds' Thanksgiving (or My Child Prefers Paper Towel Tubes Over Turkey)

We made it! Past Sandy, past the nor'easter and alla that. So glad we're on the other side and were blessed with mild weather this holiday weekend, lots of yummy food and precious family time. It was very much a chill holiday for our family, and I loved every minute of it!

Here's how it went down . . .

What We Ate

I posted our menu here, but I actually had a few alterations ...

Williams-Sonoma ran out of Turkey Brine (the first time this has happened in the 6 years I've been using it!) so we made their brown sugar/peppercorn brine, and it was SO good!

I decided to make America's Test Kitchen's cornbread sausage stuffing instead of the boxed stuff. It was time consuming more flavorful than Stovetop, but the cornbread crumbled too much when added to the wet despite me following the directions to a T; next time I'll use less liquid.

Mr. Love Bird vetoed the sweet potato pie and make a 3 layer pumpkin pie instead (pumpkin, cheesecake and pumpkin cheesecake layers). To say it was rich is an understatement.

Despite our yummy food Lil Love Bird preferred to eat this:

Yes, a paper towel tube O_o What child doesn't like mac & cheese? Apparently mine.


Where We Went (or Didn't Go!) 

Thanksgiving Day we stayed in our PJs and it was divine. We've never been into Black Friday so the following day Mr. Love Bird went to work, and I took Lil Love Bird to visit her friends for a farewell picnic as they are moving to TX. It was a beautiful day, and we ended up hanging outside from morning until the late afternoon when we met Uka at his office. Saturday morning we hopped in the Zip Car to visit family further out in New Jersey.


What We Did

This was our Black Friday . . .

Later that night . . .

The tree wasn't enough so another project was necessary . . .

Mr. Love Bird is a wee bit competitive . . .

I on the other hand really didn't know what I was doing and needed a lesson from my brother-in-law . . .

Mr. Love Bird and I watched this movie that I can't get out of my head! Have you heard of it? I highly recommend it (and whoever wrote the script definitely had a toddler!).

What We Listened To

 

I can't listen to Christmas music until Black Friday!

How was your Thanksgiving? Are detoxing like I am or do you carry the indulgent feasting all the way through New Years?

 

Life with Nia: 2 Years Old (and DSW Giveaway Winner!)

Yesterday was Lil Love Birds' 2nd birthday and we are still in recovery mode!

It was smaller than last year's and my biggest fear was that it was going to rain, but thankfully we had a gorgeous day (thank you Weather Anchor Mama for the confirmation!).

My Spidergirl insisted on wearing a sticker on her cheek! And thank you to my mom for making the spiderweb-infused tutu.

My parents arrived Friday night and Nia was excited to try on her Spidergirl tutu right away. We packed everything up on Saturday to head over to our local splash pad and had an awesome time with our family and friends. 

Nia and her crew!

We let her have her "big girl" present - a balance bike, and she was a little intimidated but excited to give it a try. 

Thank you to our friend Jennifer for capturing us singing "Happy Birthday" to Nia (I was so bummed that last year we didn't have it on video): 

Here's the update: 

R1 (l to r): 13-16 months, R2: 17-20 months, R3: 21-24 months

• Toddler's Weight: Nia is 26 1/4 lbs - she's  been the same weight for about 4 or 5 months now! I don't mind since it means it's a cinch taking her around the city.

• Toddler's Height: Her 2 years dr. appointment this past Friday confirmed she's 34 1/2." Gee, I wonder where she gets her height from???

• What size of clothing does toddler wear? 24 months for width and 2T/3T for length depending on sleeves/pant legs. I still have to keep her 24 months tankini pinned up on the waist!

• Any milestones toddler reached during the month:
• Potty training was the big milestone last month but now we're just continuing. We've had a little regression due to how excited/distracted she gets so I think plastic pants are in order!

• Special outings toddler had during the month:    

• Going to The Little Gym was very exciting for Nia

Nia and her cousins

• Spending time with her cousins last weekend while I was at BlogHer was another highlight

• What was toddler's routine?  
• Still late to bed and early to rise (I don't get it!), but now with some of her 2nd birthday presents I'm letting her play quietly in her room after lunch time. Today that ended well with her getting into her toddler bed on her own (we have guard rails up at last!).

• The nighttime screaming that our neighbors complained about last month has stopped and "quiet feet" is working well. Whew!

• Reflect about the highlights of the month?  
• Nia is just communicating more which is to be expected; I love to hear what's on her mind. She's very creative with her dancing and singing - she comes up with remixes all the time!

• Did any big changes occur?  
• Nia's doctor agreed going through weaning, toddler bed and potty training was a lot for her to undergo in a few short months. Things should be settling down for us soon. 

• What are toddler's favorites - toy, food, person, etc...  
• Nia is excited for her new bike - she had been talking about one for the past few months and especially likes her helmet.  

• She also loves her new rain gear set from her birthday twin, Jerve and family

• What I'm looking forward to? 
• Heading to the Jazz Age Lawn Party this weekend (remember the pillowcase dress I made for her last year?) 

Finally (and here's the fun part!), I'm excited to announce the winner of my $25 thank you giveaway to DSW:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Didn't win? I have a very fun giveaway coming up which includes some cool prizes I brought home from BlogHer 2012. Stay tuned . . .

Life With Nia: 23 Months

Notice anything new this month???

Nia's taken to adding other things to her monthly photos now (last month it was her Bible). When I tried to take away her doll so she could "help Mommy take a picture" Nia stood up in the chair and defiantly yelled, "NOOOOOO!" 

 

This past month went by way too fast mostly because of travel and preparing for her 2nd birthday. Honestly, I need more time! I blame Nia partly for her indecisiveness with selecting a theme (and yes, she is very aware of themes!). We're leaning towards a Thomas the Tank Engine party, but I know she really wants Spiderman (Mr. Love Bird does not like that choice!).

Here's the update: 

• Toddler's Weight: She's gained a little over a pound since last month and is 27.4lbs

• Toddler's Height: Tall. Her legs and feet are growing way too fast!

• What size of clothing does toddler wear? Still wearing 24 months and not filling out in the width. For example, I purchased a 24 months swimsuit and had to get an 18 months one instead which fits her much better.

• Any milestones toddler reached during the month:
• POTTY TRAINING! This happened so fast because we simply could not keep a diaper on her anymore (she kept taking them off!), and we are now able to go out and about with her in panties (she's rocking them in the pic above). We've been putting her in a diaper at night and at naps and she keeps staying dry throughout and I'm so glad we haven't bought diapers in a month! So that's 6 months of disposable diapers preceded by a year of cloth diapering. 

Just her little head peeking out! We have rails to add but the company is taking FOREVER to send the missing hardware.

• Sleeping in her toddler bed. This was a result of her climbing out of her crib although it was on the bottom rung and for helping with potty training.  

• Eating and napping regularly! I think she's mourning weaning (it's been 7 weeks now since she last nursed and I'm long overdue on the full explanation of how weaning happened!), but has now taken to cow's milk like crazy. We were using protein powder but now she'll drink it without it. Also, with regular visits to a new pool near us she's napping 2-3 hours each day which has helped with my productivity. Going to bed at night especially with the toddler bed conversion has been a challenge though. 

   

• Special outings toddler had during the month:    

• July 4th fireworks on the Jersey City waterfront

My water baby is so confident!

• Maryland pool party at my parents house (post forthcoming!) - Nia stayed dry on the bus ride too!

• What was toddler's routine?  
• Nia goes to bed at 10p.m and wakes up between 6 and 7a.m. We're working on getting her back to bed at 8p.m. but since converting to a toddler bed coupled with weaning and the new potty training success I think is causing her to be super attached. She just doesn't want to leave us at night and clings to me so very tightly when it's time for bed. I can hold her and within 5 minutes she's knocked out but gone are the days when I can lay her down and she falls asleep. 

• Another challenge is that our neighbors complained to our landlord about the noise Nia makes - she wakes up angry and crying loudly and runs A LOT really heavy-footed. What's odd is they have a school-aged child so I think they'd remember what it was like having a toddler. They run EVERYWHERE. So needless to say we've been practicing quiet feet but honestly the more I tell her to have quiet feet, the more she runs. Typical toddler. We were CIO whenever she'd have sleep challenges but now with the neighbors complaint we can no longer do this so we've been hemmed in by them. It's a real pain giving into Nia's crying demands for fear of another complaint to the landlord. Ughhh. There's 6 months left on our lease so I'm hoping they go by very quickly and we can move (yet again) to a place that's much better insulated (our last building was so wonderfully quiet with super thick walls and soundproof windows).

• Reflect about the highlights of the month? POTTY TRAINING!

• Did any big changes occur? Just potty training (can you tell I'm excited???) and toddler bed. 

• What are toddler's favorites - toy, food, person, etc... Right now she is obsessed with water and our new local pool. Everyday she asks to go to the "wah-der". Most days it's just the splash pad that's a 5 minute walk from our house. 

• What I'm looking forward to? 
• Her 2nd birthday
• Taking her along to BlogHer '12 (can't believe it's so soon, but stay tuned this Monday for my epic how to do BlogHer/Blogalicious post!)
  

Life With Nia: 22 Months

I remembered Patrick Pup unlike last month, but this time she insisted on reading her Bible while I took pictures!

Somehow time has collapsed, and we are hurtling towards Nia's 2nd birthday. I think all the travel we've had over the past 4 weeks has something to do with it!

I'll get right to the update:

• Toddler's Weight: Mr. Love Bird and I debate about the accuracy of our scale and her weight, and I'm thinking our scale is wonky. Her doctor didn't measure her at her vaccination appointment she was scheduled for last month due to a fever she had. She's around 26 lbs according to how I weigh her!

• Toddler's Height: I think she's 34."

• What size of clothing does toddler wear? Still wearing 24 months and not filling out in the width. For example, I purchased a 24 months swimsuit and had to get an 18 months one instead which fits her much better.

• Any milestones toddler reached during the month: 
•  Use of the word "No" has reached epic proportions; here's an excerpt from our family's first review courtesy of our Airbnb host after our recent stay in Boston, which proves this point:

Quiana, the mother of the family was here for a Wellesley college graduation reunion. But little 2 year old Virginia aka Nia stole our hearts. She was adorable and her favorite word was NO! Thank You Virginia, I use the word all the time now and get interesting results.

• She let her Aunt Charity braid her hair! She NEVER lets me do more than puffs without screaming and apparently she didn't even put up a fight. Wow! They were actually two strand twists and upon returning from our friends' wedding last Sunday this is what we saw - I followed the pattern and cleaned up the style while traveling to Ohio:

Although she doesn't look it, Lil Love Bird was overjoyed to be with her cousins!

• Special outings toddler had during the month:   
• Memorial Day weekend trip to Ohio with my parents (without me!)
• Boston for my 10 year Wellesley College Reunion (recap coming soon!)
• Ohio for my grandmother's funeral
• Smaller, local outings have included continued playdates with our local moms' meet-up groups. She had a dirt playdate before we left for Boston that she LOVED, especially since I recently saw her with something black around her mouth, I asked her what it was and she told me it was "medicine." I asked her to give me some and she led me to dirt in the windowsill. GROSS GROSS GROSS! {reminded me of Baby Making Machine's post about her daughter licking a toilet seat!}

 

• What are your thoughts about this past month?
•  Time, please slow down! She is so verbal and shares all her thoughts, wishes and demands with me constantly ("COME. HERE. MOMEEEE!" is her newest one!)
• I can tell she's going to be a good mommy's helper when the time comes for a sibling so I'm cultivating her helping skills now
• The best way to describe her is like a Sour Patch Kid as seen in this commercial - she'll do something naughty then turn around and be so cute:

• What was toddler's routine?  
• Traveling has made things a little wonky but most importantly she's weaned as a result of her trip without me to Ohio with my parents over Memorial Day weekend; she's acting out a lot because I can tell she misses nursing - she'll nuzzle my chest and occasionally attempt to sneak and nurse but I gently remind her she's a big girl now and redirect her to solids

• Reflect about the highlights of the month? WEANING!

• Did any big changes occur? Did I mention WEANING! HALLELUJAH! I knew we were getting close to the end of our breastfeeding relationship so I was taking pictures the last week wondering which time would be the last. It was on the morning of Friday, May 25. This is what nursing a toddler looks like (not this):

I almost lost this picture due to my BlackBerry's unexplained corrupted SD card; after 8  hours of research, trial and error, I recovered it via MiniTool Power Data Recovery Free Edition. A streak remains on top due to the corruption, but I'd rather have that than no picture at all left of this precious moment!

• What are toddler's favorites - toy, food, person, etc... Still loving Thomas the Tank Engine so I think that will be her 2nd birthday theme!

• What I'm looking forward to? 
• Six Flags this Saturday for a family Father's Day trip
• Our 3rd anniversary on June 26 {see how we spent our 2nd here}
• July 4th pool party at my parents' home outside Baltimore
• Planning details for Nia's 2nd birthday