PREGGO? DON'T BE SUPERWOMAN

My baby girl is almost here!  Her due date is a little more than a week away.  Everything is in place.  Her car seat is installed.  Her crib is set up.  Her clothes are ready to go.  And most important the house is clean.  The first few days of my maternity leave was spent organizing and deep cleaning.  To my blessing a dear friend sent her maid to take over this tedious chore for me.  God bless her & her husband.  Now I'm spoiled.  All throughout my pregnancy I tried my very best to keep up my household but part of me wish I would have thought about getting a maid sooner and ask for more help with the daily chores.  After reading Mommy Noire's article about what not to do when pregnant made me realize I didn't play the pregnancy card like I should have, lol.  Just because I'm preggo doesn't mean I'm immobile.  But I'm the type of person if I want something done I'll just do it myself.  Well lesson learned (for when baby #2 comes).  Don't try to be a superwoman while pregnant.  Enjoy this time to have someone do all the stuff that you shouldn't be doing.  Here is a brief review of what preggos should not be doing:

1. Cleaning with harmful chemicals.  I stayed away from this my first trimester but by time the second trimester rolled around I couldn't take it anymore.  I cleaned but wore a mask.
2. Taking out the trash & bending down.  I couldn't wait for someone to come by to bend down and pick up stuff for me.  I know I've bent down more than I should have though.
3. Moving furniture.  I was so bad at this one.  I would be motivated to do stuff like organize our bedroom/nursery when I was alone.  So I had no one to help.  But I should have waited to do this.
4. Laundry.  There is just no way I could let this go.  I would tell the hubby to put the clothes in the dryer from time to time though.
5.Mopping/Vacuming.  Once agian I just couldn't wait for this to be done if it needed to be done right then and there.

You can read the full article here from Mommy Noire.  What things have you done that you weren't suppose to do while pregnant?

Much Love & Fashion Fun,
Tea Todd

DIY - BEFORE & AFTER

I haven't talked to much about my pregnancy but once the hubby & I get my blog more organized there will be a section dedicated to motherhood/parenthood.  If you didn't know already we are expecting the arrival of our first daughter in 6 weeks or less.  We've been scrambling around trying to get everything ready for her birthday.  This past weekend we shopped for two days looking for the perfect travel system (a stroller & carseat combo) and crib.  I found the perfect crib at Ikea a few weeks back and we went there to pick it up.  Well needless to say it's on back order. 

So we continued looking around and found a closet.  We didn't intend to purchase a closet for her but it made sense to do so since all her 0-12 month clothes have already over taken our personal closet.  The closet (STUVA) we liked cost over $250 (more than the crib).  So with a little imagination we got creative.  We decided to forgo the door panels and the matching drawers.  This saved us $145 right away.  We decided to build her closet with four pull out wire bins, one shelf, and two closet rods.  So for a $105 (+tax) our lil Contessa has her own personal closet space.  This will grow with her because we can always change the rods, the wire bins, and the shelf to accommodate what we need to store in it. 

After building this unit we loved it so much we think we will get a second one for the extra storage for when she starts accumulating a lot of toys.  We love Ikea.  I was going to make a curtain to cover the closet but for now we are leaving it to showcase how cute all her tiny clothes are.  If your a parent of just looking for tips on how to stretch your dollar Ikea is the place to go.  You can click here to see how our simple closet can look with the change of the doors.  Here are options that are more sophisticated.  Another idea is buying a large bookcase from a yard sale.  You can re paint it and take the shelves out to install rods, bins, etc to make it your own.  I hope this was helpful.

Much Love & Fashion Fun,
Tea Todd

P.S. We taken one night stand out to accommodate her closet space.  There is a lot more storage space than a two drawer night stand.

BLACK BARBIE

Now knowing that JuJu is a girl I'm starting to realize there will be many Barbie play dates in the future.  I loved Barbie growing up.  In the 80's there were only white Barbie & black Barbie.  I had both colors.  But black Barbie was just a painted version of the white Barbie.  At 5 years old I really did not notice the difference, but when I got older I caught on.  Now Barbie comes in all complexions and hair textures.  I am so happy about this.  There are many options for JuJu to chose from now that I didn't have back in the day.  These dolls are so beautiful that it will be hard for me to let her play with these dolls and not store them as collectors items.  I pulled some images off the web to showcase the many choices young girls have when it comes to Barbie now.  I believe having a doll that looks like you does build self esteem but it's also up to us as parents to build our child's self esteem first.  Whether if JuJu is light, dark, or anything in between, it starts with me and the hubby in telling her how smart, talented, and beautiful she is.  Having a doll that look like her will only add to her self esteem.  What do you think?  Is Barbie a self esteem booster?

Much Love & Fashion Fun,
Tea Todd


Here is an interesting article published back in 2009 about Black Barbie.

All images pulled from the web (google)

DIY-BABY ONESIES

How many of you know how to sew?  I do, but I don't have the time to put towards this craft.  If I wasn't working a full time job I would sew all kinds of things.... Home decor, my clothes, and my soon to be daughters clothes.  I remember my mom would sew the cutest dresses for me when I was young.  I came across this tutorial on how to turn old adult tee shirts into baby onesies.  How adorable.  I have a few shirts I would to do this with.  For those of you who do and who don't know how to sew you can check out this easy step by step guide on how to create this unique item for the baby in your life here.  Enjoy!

Much Love & Fashion Fun,

Tea Todd

TEAM PINK OR TEAM BLUE

It's less than 24 hours till JuJu's gender reveal. Either way, boy or girl, Mommy will be styling (after pregnancy of course, lol).

Much Love & Fashion Fun,
Tea Todd

Team Pink or Blue by goofygyrl21

PREGGO STYLE

I have always loved to dress up and express myself through my clothing.  But in the past few years of settling into married life, buying our first home, working full time, and now being pregnant my lust for clothing had to be put to the side.  Oh and there's the little things called weight gain and growing older.  These two things alone makes it harder to find stylish, affordable clothing for my (tall, big breasted, small hips, but big butt) self.  Don't get me wrong I love my shape (I'm speaking pre-pregnancy and now) but I'm way too big to shop at places like Forever 21 and a little too grown as well.  So its a battle to find clothing to ft my shape without making me look bigger or sloppy, and not put together. 
Now I have the new battle of dressing around JuJu's (our unborn child) bump.  Because I'm so top heavy I have to pay close attention to how clothing falls on my body.  The past month I've hit some home runs and some I've had some strikes.  For instance I bought a dress before JuJu's bump was even showing.  I knew the dress would grow with me and I would look fabulous wearing it.  WRONG!  I put it on and I look like I was wearing an old school mumu.  Not flattering at all!  I started to think I would look horrible during the remainder of my pregnancy, I want to be comfortable but stylish too. I looked into my bag of styling tricks and started wearing tighter clothing.  I'm not trying to pull a Kim K. but I've noticed I look 20lbs lighter (and cuter) with a fitted tee and skinny jeans then I do with a flowing top.  So now I'm on the hunt for new clothing for the rest of my maternity; I donated almost all my clothes and rest left over I had to store away for post pregnancy.  Here are a few of my looks these past week.  Tell me what you think.  How do/did you dress for your pregnancy?  Did you prefer comfort over style or vice versa?

Much Love & Fashion Fun,
Tea Todd