DAD'S. THE. MAN.

this is a picture from almost eight years ago, and our first day home with our first-born. or maybe it was night? who could really tell anymore? this man, is THE man that had a hand in helping to test and design the first line of fast easy, convenient and adorable baby clothes and accessory essentials made with Dad-In-Mind as much as Mom, from belle&beanzer. we love you mom, but you have to admit it, you've cornered the market in all things baby. 

this weekend, this whole month, really, (anyone else got roped into a month long father's day season??) we're celebrating this man, and all the men who are THE MAN in our lives. it's only fitting that my man star as THE MAN in our Dad's. The. Man. father's day video. watch for yourself as a Dad-in-the-know shows how dressing and changing your baby just got real simple with belle&beanzer.  the insanely cute, most dangerous baby-because he's making me want a another baby-pretty much steals the show. hello, natural born comedic timing. we liked to call him "one-take" baby. the dad is pretty hot cute too, but I guess I'm partial... I married him! 

and that's not all, folks!! starting today 6/15 thru Sunday 6/22 we are running a...

father's day gift set giveaway:3 of our quick-change garments! 

to enter, go to our Facebook page and like & comment on the video post. for an extra entry, share the video. for an extra, extra entry, post a father's day pic on our Facebook page. for an extra, extra, extra entry post your father's day pic on instagram and tag: @belleandbeanzer #dadstheman. winner will be picked at random and announced by wednesday 6/18. three days only! 

also, for your father's day season listening pleasure, for the month of June, we've created a music station, newly curated in honor of #fathersday. See that sliding bar with the headphones at the top of our website?? Click it. Enjoy!

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!! 

see you at the giveaway!! 

xoxo

Director of Operations: AKA "MOM"

Dang it! I missed this video for Mother's Day! Actually I missed my Mother's day post altogether. Here I am a little late, but with this little treasure! For two seconds, I was like COME ON, don't make it sound so bad!! But, then... You're going to LOVE this...

So, yeah, I took the WHOLE weekend off for Mother's Day. I've got loads to do, in a pretty major way. But, you know what? It was AWESOME! The fam asked me what I wanted to do more than anything. So, a hike it was, followed by a hamburger for dinner. Two of my faves. :)

What I usually don't do, but aspire to, and finally did this time, was let go of my expectations and goals for the hike. I followed the kid's rhythm.

This meant, LOTS of stopping to draw and document beautiful things...

This meant, abandoning our shoes, and the trail, frequently...

This meant, time stood still at the waterfalls as we explored the river and our bravery...

This meant, experimenting with lots of objects to see just what would flow down stream...

This meant, loosing ourselves in the moment with sunshine on our faces and the river in our ears...

This meant, I let go of what time it was, and my fat burning heart rate, and the view from the top. This mean, the view from right here was where it was at, and it was pretty awesome. My best gift, aside from the mountain of drawings, cards and hugs I received, was my own personal lesson is how beautiful everything is. Right here and now. Just look around. 

XOXO

mama told me there would be days like this

a friend recently shared this song with me. we all know the old version of this song. it's along the lines of how you're going to have crap days. wow, what a mama to drive that message home, huh? 

this little beauty is reminding you about all the gems along the way, especially when you're not feeling it and need a reminder that those days are out there around the corner, and oh yeah, you've had a few before too. pretty. awesome. mama. 

mama told me there would be days like this, by van morrison

When it's not always raining, there'll be days like this
When there's no one complaining, there'll be days like thisWhen everything falls into place, like the flick of a switch
Well, my mama told me there'll be days like this

When you don't need to worry, there'll be days like thisWhen no one's in a hurry, there'll be days like thisWhen you don't get betrayed, by that old Judas kissOh my mama told me there'll be days like this

When you don't need an answer, there'll be days like thisWhen you don't meet a chancer, there'll be days like thisWhen all the parts of the puzzle start, to look like they fitThen I must remember, there'll be days like this

When everyone is up front, and they're not playing tricksWhen you don't have no freeloaders, out to get their kicksWhen it's nobody's business, the way that you wanna liveI just have to remember, there'll be days like this

When no one steps on my dreams, there'll be days like thisWhen people understand, what I mean there'll be days like thisWhen you ring out the changes, of how everything isWell, my mama told me there'll be days like this

XOXO

fast. easy. convenient & adorable! can you have it all? YES!

What an amazing surprise this morning to find this AH-mazing write up by @celebritybabytrends!

fast & easy

convenient 

adorable

I'm sure you all know Rachel Florio the Celebrity Baby Trend expert. Well, we met not too long ago at the ABC Kids Expo in Vegas. Her husband and sweeeet baby were hanging out in the aisle. I am not one to resist a baby for more than about .0001 seconds. So, I immediately started up a convo with said sweet baby, and I'll just say... we HIT. IT. OFF. She must have put in a good word for me, because this write up on celebrity baby trends blog, was so amazing! You know when you know someone really gets what you're doing and why you're so passionate about it? This is it.  Click here to read!

two cuties in our rompers playing on our 4-in-one patent pending big love blanket™
It strolls, nurses, swaddles and plays!

Thank you so much!

XOXO

a new holiday tradition, KINDNESS ELVES - innovative alternative to Elf on a Shelf

a friend of mine shard a blog post on Facebook recently about Kindness Elves, and I almost fell over myself in love with the idea! the creator of this amazing idea is Anna, of The Imagination Tree. 

it's an innovative alternative to Elf on a Shelf,

not that there's anything wrong with that (couldn't help myself!)

you all know by now how much we LOVE innovative alternatives, as we've created a WHOLE line of baby clothes around that concept. the best part is, it's using the same fun, humor and creativity, as Elf on a Shelf, to delight your child, and help them to be the best they can be, and meanwhile you're engaged and embracing the true spirit of the holiday season together. 

it's a WIN. 

we hit up Etsy, immediately, and found these awesome little cutie elves from Whispering Oaks. 

we've got lost of kind activities planned for these little ones, and our little ones! 

Easy like sunday morning? Is your morning more beautiful than you think?

Last week, mommy shorts blogged about this photo shoot.  I don't normally comment on posts. Ever. Which is silly because I LOVE it when people comment on mine!! But, this one compelled me because it's near and dear to my heart. I'm not sure if it was fully intended to communicate this way, but what this post read to me was about the realization, the real seeing, of your beautiful moments in your day when you can shift your perspective just a tad. Through these photos, the author was able to see all those little moments through an other's eyes, and ultimately acknowledge and see it for herself. That is what embracing the moment, our mission, is all about. I cannot change the pace of life, or reorganize the flow of your day. But, I can bring you moments of opportunity. I can bring comfort and ease to the 15-100 diaper changes and care-taking moments, so you can more easily embrace that moment with your baby - focused on that sweet face, those little fingers, thigh rolls, and soft bellies. 

That said, it takes one to know one, right? It became my mission to strengthen connections between parent and child through smart design, because I was that busy mom. NOT focused on the moments. I was that busy mom just getting through it all. I was that busy mom who couldn't see the forest for the trees. Then I had my ah-ha moment, and my perspective changed. That is not to say I'm all changed. DAILY, I remind myself and work at this.

moments from a typical weekend morning. coffee, reading, knitting and fighting dragons before 9am.

My comment: 
"Okay, so throwing my comment in the ring :) I work from home, and have just launched my own/first business. I'm up, get the kids up, morning milkies for them and coffee for me, snuggle on the couch and then things usually go south. My son demands breakfast to the tune of

"HEY?! Where are my cheerios?!!" and my daughter refuses it. "sigh. I'm just not hungry, mom." 

Then begins The Game of Clothes. She wants him to get dressed first, he wants her to get dressed first. This morning it's Him. He wants to be dressed on the couch. He wants me to pick out his clothes. I agree. I pick them out. As soon as I return with them, he jumps up and runs away from me to the other end of the couch...laughing.

"come on, buddy, let's get dressed now"
"HAHA, nooooooooooooo!"

and my panic button goes off because it's turned into a frown and whine face.

"look what I picked out for you!" 
"NO. I don't like that shirt."
"okay, go pick another one out."
"NO. YOU."

This goes on for some time until potentially he's melted down and/or I give up and turn my attention to HER. She's older and she knows that I haven't actually dressed him so technically it's NOT her turn yet. I'm not ashamed to say, I beg.

"please, honey, he needs to calm down and we all need to get going."

She has pity on me. After a few shoes changes, and fixing the placement of her pony tail 3x.

"not, there. THERE!"

She is dressed and begins to chase her undressed brother around the house. This distracts him and he doesn't even know I'm changing his clothes. Clock check. Yup, supposed to have left 5 minutes ago. Run to fridge, no lunch boxes. We both forgot. Leftover noodles, juice box, carrot sticks, cheese sticks. Done! throw those in the back packs and let's go! aaand, I'm in my jammies. Pull back hair in to ponytail, throw in jeans and a tee. Glance in mirror, run fingers under eyes. Good enough. Let's go!

Not so fast, mama! he wants to be carried downstairs and she forgot something in her room. Two trips to the car and she's gracefully, a la Ms Universe, coming down the stairs.

Step.
By.
Step.

He's now gotten out of the car and has found some dirt to play in or puddle to jump in. Well if he can, she can! 

(let's go, let's go!!)

I pick up children that windmill their arms and legs in the direction of their new attention. In. Buckled. GO. 

School started 2 minutes ago. Adrenaline pumping, nail biting, I brace myself for THE LOOK. The late pass woman at Her school knows me too well. Dropping Him off, we're there too late, no adjustment time and he clings to me like a life raft.

20 minutes later, I've started my day an hour late. I haven't eaten, showered or brushed my teeth. Sadly, this IS 75% of the time. you'd think I'd do myself a favor now and again...make sure bags are packed, get up and shower first, etc. I guess I'm into self sabotage! ;)

That said, there are the little moments. Morning hugs as they cling to me when they first wake, "hi, mama." Kissing my son's belly as I dress him another one of them. When he stands in front of me, it's right in my eye line. Smelling my daughter's hair as I brush it and kissing her cheeks as she proudly smiles at me in the mirror. [addendum: since writing this comment, I can think of so many more!] I really appreciated this post. Yes, there are so many beautiful moments to the morning. Maybe I'll put on opera during our car chase of a morning tomorrow! :)"

Happy Sunday all! If you haven't started school already (our first day is tomorrow), enjoy the moments during your car chase!! Focus on those! :) 

xoxox

every sweaty little head, and all the dirty little feet

last year was our first summer "out of school." short days and part-time weeks. it seemed as though the whole summer was stretched out before me. long, sunny days of laughter, pool and play.

enter, reality.

i was late. every day. i was juggling our line launch, play dates, general entertainment and hygiene. no one ever got a big enough piece of me. worst of all, the summer flew by before i knew it.

near and dear to my heart is embracing the moment. belle&beanzer is built on that foundational feeling and action. so... this summer i'm committed to a different reality.

enter, adventure friday!!

every friday will bring a new and spontaneous adventure, even if it's just our back yard. it's about being present and enjoying this time. right now. my family and i will never be who we are right. now. i want to savor every sweaty little head and all the dirty little feet.

i'll be posting our little adventures and hope it will inspire your family to create space & opportunity for connection with each other!

how are you embracing the moment this summer? i'd love to hear from you!

xoxo