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

Baby Photo Shoot: Check out this little cutie in our holiday 2012 launch line

happy Friday, all! as we wind up this monday-friday, we are excited to share a few more sneak peeks at our holiday 2012 launch line. If you missed the peeks at the two previous, they are work a look! click here to see our very first holiday launch line photo shoot with this 9 month old sweet pea, and click here for the little 9 wk old flirt we spent the day with. yesterday we were in NYC, and spent the day with this 4 month bright eyed hunka cheeks and her dad. enjoy!!

oh, HI! sweet cheeks in our bib&burp cloth

holding hands with dad, wearing our cloud dancer romper with picot trim

lounging in our stripy romper. so comfy and soft!

sweet tush & a cuddle with dad in our stripy romper

girl on the go! wearing our cloud dancer romper with picot trim and stripy booties

waaiit, she has to check her shoes for a quick minute. wowie, unbelievable soft and comfortable! Okay, let's go!

xoxo

Spending the day with a 9wk old little flirt

we had another photo shoot yesterday for our holiday 2012 launch line. we spent yesterday with a 9 week old little flirty-flirt! in these photos & video he's wearing our stripey roo gown, and has just had a blissful nursing with mama snuggled with our big love blanket. they were snuggling, giggling, touching and talking the entire time…connecting…just what we'd intended when we designed the line. really, we just stood there and filmed it while it all happened naturally :) watch and enjoy!

somewhere between dreams

oh, hello!

it's life funny?!

embracing the moment photo contest! enter now!

we are SO excited to kick off this week and announce our embracing the moment photo contest!

we believe that dressing your baby is an intimate & nurturing time of connection. our line supports and reflects that point of view, and our message to all new parents and seasoned parents is to embrace the moment. it's the simple moments that add up to a life time of memories.

share a favorite moment you captured with our belle&beanzer community, & enter to win one of two gifts from our holiday line. we are looking for special photos that capture embracing the moment with your baby. your images can be taken anywhere in the world. they can share any aspect of embracing the moment with your baby: touching, difficult, or hilarious. 

How to Enter

entering your embracing the moment photo in our contest is super easy & fun!

1. Fill out the entry form & upload your photo: Your baby must be 0-12mos at the time of entry, and you can submit your photo through our website, click on the green box on our homepage, or click here. or, you can submit your photo on our Facebook Fan Page, just click on the "win" tab.

Choose one favorite photo, and submit it just once. The ideal photo size is 100KB, if it's larger we will resize to fit properly. Photos are not expected to be professional quality, it's all about those real moments, but if your picture is too small, blurry, dark or bright, it will be hard for others to see and vote for it.

2. All qualified entries will be posted to our embracing the moment photo album on our Facebook fan page for viewing and voting.

3. Vote! You may vote just once for any one photo, so spread that word so your friends and family can vote for your photo!

Winning

The contest runs starting, today, Monday, 9/10/12 though Monday, 10/8/12.
There will be 2 winning opportunities:

1) Grand Prize winner will be selected by the belle&beanzer panel of judges and will receive one (1)
4 piece holiday gift pack

2) Winner by popular vote will receive one (1) two piece gift set from our holiday collection. 

all winners will be contacted and announced October 13-15th.

please know, the confidentiality of all families who enter are of the highest importance to us. only names, ages, photo & embracing the moment description will be posted

please see official contest rules and regulations for more details.

we are so looking forward to seeing all these special moments together!
can't wait to see your photo, please, enter now!

21 Days: My gift to myself

21 days...Isn't that what it takes to change habits? I think I read that somewhere...In just under a month, it will be my birthday and I'll be one step closer to 40, than 30 (ok, maybe 2 or 3 steps closer. crap.). Across the past 5 years, I've been feeling...tired. When I fully absorbed the fact I was talking about five whole years of my life, I was shocked. Then, to make myself feel better, I rationalized that I have two small children, one of whom is turning 5 this month. It's been a busy 5 years, after all! I thought about my (previously) stressful job. That, before that, it took my son a good year to sleep consistently. All good reasons. Yup. Good reasons until I realized that I'd been feeling this way longer than 5 years. Isn't that like cold water on your head? I can recall my regular weekend afternoon naps when Andrew and I were first dating...over 10 years ago.

I truly believe comparison is a root of evil. But, when I looked around, I could see that something was off with me. First thoughts: maybe I'm sick? Depressed? Bad habit?? nope. nope. ...maybe?

This summer, I was inspired by my old friend Marla Carter of Marla and Shane Photographers and the popular blog, Left on Amelia. She wrote about TheWhole30 and eating Paleo...as in Paleolithic. Think eating foods like nuts, seeds, berries, fruits, veggies, lean proteins and healthy fats.

2-3 years ago, my husband bought a book called The Paleo Diet. So there I was reading Marla's blog, and I could see the good health in her pictures and hear it in the tone of her writing. Then I read about her mid-day bike rides b/c she was no longer tired in the afternoon. What the what?!

Andrew and I talked, and we did it. It wasn't always easy. But, that's the truth. It's not always easy. I LOVE a good muffin with my coffee, a little wine and dark chocolate, and I'm a comfort food girl at heart. But, the pay off was tremendous. Within a week, my troubled skin cleared up, I was no longer taking a siesta, my moods had evened out, I had loads of energy, and was thinking more clearly. I have no idea if those kinds of results were common, but they were mine.

Paleo Carrot Soup with ginger, cardamom, and coconut milk. Crazy good!

off-the-tree apple slices to saute in coconut oil, cinnamon and almonds

Then, enter our summer vacation to Nantucket. Hello ice cream cones, cocktails and Portuguese breads. Hello naps, moodiness and troubled skin. We got home, and we definitely had a great time, but we felt like garbage.

We've gone back on Paleo, (ahem) loosely. Some weeks more loosely than others.

Paleo-ish homemade oreo cookies

What beer? This is clearly a picture of me making a Paleo-ish Apple Pie!

All forms of denial and kidding aside, my bday is around the corner...and I'm thinking to myself, what do I want? A spa day, carte blanche at Anthropologie, jewelry, a vacation?? Ummm, yeah, ok yes I'd like all of the above. (Andrew, are you reading this?? Anthropologie, are YOU??)  But, really when I get down to it...What do I want?

I want to feel like a million bucks when I wake up on November 4th.

I want to open my eyes and smile bc I feel awake, rested, and aware. I want to look out at the autumn morning golden sunshine, and be totally psyched to start my day.

I want to give myself the gift of my good.

So, my reconnection with true Paleo is part of this gift of good health. But, really, there is more to the story than that. Good health is more than just food, it's about a balance of all things in my life. My first step and shift towards choosing my gift of good health, really started last year. For me, the logical next step was reconnecting with my husband, children and family. Career-wise, it has all been all about rediscovering with MY aesthetic, voice, and point-of-view.

I'm a working, designer mom with an amazing husband and two small children. I'm blessed with amazing friends and family...AND I'm starting my own business. YAY!!!! Budding and dreaming entrepreneurs, it's A LOT to balance. There are pockets of feeling overwhelmed and times of push and craziness, and it wont always work out like a feel-good tv show. But, it's also so totally awesome. There is always something else to do, and for the most part, I can't wait to do it! (no, I'm not talking about you dumb forms!!)  Just like my physical health, for my business to thrive, there needs to be good health within it.

I've made the decision to cut back a bit on my freelance hours, to free up more for belle&beanzer.  My freelance work is definitely a good thing, it's fun, I looove NYC, but it  isn't where my excitement lies. I'm lucky to have it, to interact with SO many creative, talented and interesting people. It's actually put me in touch with some key people I've needed to play a role in my business. But, ultimately, it's really about the bigger picture. The big picture being belle&beanzer, and that I want to go live January 2012. 

Speaking of which, the latest and greatest is... my final prototypes will arrive at the end of the month. As will my final costing estimates, etc. I'll need to plug those numbers in and see where I land with everything. PS - run your numbers, folks. Seriously, hard core numbers. In a future blog, I'm going to be interviewing an truly amazing woman who wrote a book for people just like me. We've opened an email correspondence, and she's agreed to be a guest blogger here. More on that later...

As for the one-piece, I'm REALLY excited to do a reveal as soon as I get the protos back. I've been pulling together the pics and video from along the way. I've got some goood stuff in there. We'll get a glass of wine and have a good laugh together! 

In the meantime, I can't wait to post my mood board, logo, etc. It's all getting there, with the branding. I find it SO serendipitous in my venture adventure, that order to have a clear brand and point-of-view, I've had to really understand MY point-of-view, aesthetically. It's a simple concept. It's amazing how long it too me to get it!! I was too busy doubting and second guessing myself and comparing my ideas to others. GAH! Done with it! 

The less exciting news, but reality, is the surprising amount of paperwork and the appalling lack of information about how to fill out said paperwork. 

Oh yeah, heads up!...pretty soon, hopefully within the month, I'll be migrating my blog to my website. Therein lies the next piece, technology...migrating my blog, getting the website looking the way I envision it, setting up my email, linking up all my social technology. LEARNING. CURVE. 

So, there you have it. 21 days to better overall health. Finding a better balance in all aspects of my life and how they interweave. I'll keep you updated!

My Baby Boy

Two years ago my little boy was born. There are a lot of things I'm excited to blog about. But, I really had to dedicate this one to him.

My sweet boy is a lover for sure. The teachers like to rotate "turns" to cuddle him. When I was pregnant, if I poked him, he'd poke back. If I woke up in the middle of the night, he'd wake up and kick around too. When he was a newborn, he was happiest the closest, most mashed up against me he could get. He's a connecting sort of guy. He can be bit shy, but only until he sorts out a person, place or thing. Then, he's a happy, talking little ham. He prefers cookies over any other treat. He's an adventurous eater, and will try almost anything by huge handfuls. He loves cars, trucks, balls and cuddles.

We're celebrating his birthday in Nantucket this year. It's our end of the summer, beach getaway. As I think about my boy, and we celebrate him, I decided to share some of the highlights of his birthday....

Jonah is still not sure what he thinks of water. The first day of our vacation, he pressed his cheek to mine and hung on tightly as we waded through the ocean. I closed my eyes, and loved feeling that sweet, plump, wet cheek. By our last day, today, he's gained his courage. All on his own! It didn't take me wading in with him, our encouragement, or our pointing out other people. He quietly made the decision, and went in. After, he looked proudly at me, "I did it!!" He ran up to me for a drive-by kiss, circled back around to the water, and went running in. At which point, he tripped and went face down into the ocean. To his credit, he didn't let it stop him...for long.

When I put him down for his nap and he told me, "mommy, I want cud-dole you." I leaned over, and snuzzled him. He snuzzled back, it was a nice quiet a moment....aaaaand then he made "fake" sleeping noises. "ggghhhhaaa-shoooooooo...."

He woke up sweaty and happy and we took all little shower to wash the beach off from the day before we went out to dinner. After he got naked he ran across the room, flashed his butt and taunted, "wook! I'm nah-kad!! Toot-shie!!" laughed, and ran away.

At dinner, he was mad bc he didn't want water (yeah, HELLO two years old), and tossed it across the table. Why do I love this? PS - I didn't love it so much in the moment. In the moment, I was wet and annoyed. When I thought back on it, I realized this is not a man afraid to speak his mind! He is fully aware his feelings count.

We had a chocolate ice cream treat after dinner. He ALWAYS asks me if I want a bite. Always. He soon tires of the middle man, chucks the spoon, and dips his face into the bowl. It's really seconds I've got to arm myself with napkins before little chocatoo fingers (as he calls chocolate) grab a hold of me. No, I didn't get them in time, as usual. Yes, I came home home from dinner with dinner all over me, my hair, in my purse...

At bedtime, he was really tired, he told me he wanted bed...that he wanted all his "cars bed too." So, we stacked them up in just the right arrangement. Then, he held them up one-by-one for me to kiss them. Then we snuzzled and he told me "mommy go sweepy." (That's his way of telling me he's ready for me to leave the room). Another kiss. Good night my sweet boy.

Two amazing years.

More Snuggles and Less Struggles

After my second, Jonah, was born, it wasn't just interesting or clever that all things baby/children be easier...It was VITAL to the happiness of my family. You accumulate a lot of "stuff" with one child. With two, it can feel a bit like YOU'RE the needle in the haystack of baby items...trying to find yourself.

One tired Mama

The question that kept popping into my head while I rummaged around trying to find something, during a quick (yeah, right) 2am diaper change, as I tried to efficiently (again, yeah, right) to change his diaper and/or clothes for the 10th time in a day, while my husband helped out and I crossed my fingers Jonah would end up in something resembling an outfit (again, again, yeah right)...
WHY? Why is all this stuff such a pain in the A**??

Don't they KNOW how little time I have? Don't they KNOW my 3yr old daughter is pulling at my pant legs and completely impatient for my attention while I dress my baby boy? Don't they KNOW I don't have time to iron little bits and pieces down on a shirt every time I wash it? Don't they know the little snaps suck, they're impossible to line up when you're sleep deprived (and otherwise), and make my husband crazy? Don't they KNOW my baby is squirming and twisting while I dress and change him? Don't they KNOW my baby doesn't like to almost fully undress in the middle of a sleep bc his diaper is soaked?

My career, before I left it in the traditional sense, is as a graphic designer for newborn, infant and toddler clothes. I create all those patterns that go on the clothes, the graphics, appliques and embroideries. It's basically children's illustration with a talent for making a full print out of it. So, as a mom working in the industry I was a "they." I KNEW as a mom what I needed, and I KNEW as a member of the industry that it wasn't being done.

There are plenty of gadgets and gizmos with a bent towards making life easy as a parent. Some of them work. Most of them depend on your personality, and more importantly your child's. But, what I didn't see, haven't seen, is anyone addressing what we do with your little ones several times a day. We dress them, we redress them, and we change their diaper again, and again, and again. Baby clothes are pretty much the same, with variances on aesthetic. But, what about the clothes themselves??

As a mom, I needed something that no one was giving me. I needed simplicity. I needed ease. I needed more snuggles and less struggles. So, one sleepless, squirmy, unhappy-baby-night my mind started chewing on it. Okay, let's start with removing the problem...what if there were NO snaps, NO zippers and it takes 30 seconds or less to dress and/or change your baby in any position your baby wanted? What would that  look like? Whoa. I would LOVE that! I bet other parents would too!

So, I started drawing. I started looking at all the staples I used for dressing my children. I considered what was frustrating, what I always complained about, what my mom friends complained about, what I saw emails, postings, etc. complaining about. Most importantly, I talked to Moms and Dads. It occurred to me that moms will put up with a lot for cuteness. Dads don't care. Changed? Good. Moving on.
I believed I could marry those two view points.
Keep it looking super sweet. Keep it super simple. Yeah, that's smart!

So far, there are 10 garments designed and ready to go. I'm starting with my first garment, the sleep and play. Why one? Because I value simplicity. I'm keeping it simple as I kick things off.

I affectionately named the sleep and play,  Little Hammies. They very well may be named Little Hammies. Named this because they are very flattering to your baby's cutie-pie little chunkle butt. I promise I will post pictures and videos. I want to get you all involved in the process. I'd LOVE, love, love your feedback and thoughts. This is FOR YOU.

Also, your baby and/or child is going to love it. It's waaay super comfortable. All my prototypes have been in my son's age, much to my daughter's dismay. I got one sample that was way too large. She found it and put it on herself, with no explanation. I couldn't get it off her. My son loves it because dressing him is no longer me pinning him flat on his back, alternately singing songs like a lunatic and begging him to stay still (babies don't like radical emotional swings like that, do they? LOL). He could sit up. He could stand up. He could sit on my lap. He could keep reading his book. He could be on his belly.

My first core value in this venture adventure is...Simplicity. In ALL things. Can you imagine if dressing and changing were easier? There would be less tears (for parents and kids). If there are less tears there is less stress. Less stress is more time to tickle, giggle, talk, find toes, and point out a sunbeam on the wall. More happy moments, added up to create more chunks of stress free time with your little one.

Simplicity  = more snuggles and less struggles.

What are your favorite things you have purchased that make your life easier as a parent, or person?
How would you feel if you had more time to just enjoy your children?
What did you think would be a great product, and in the end it wasn't?
What does simplicity mean for you as a parent and as a family?