We had a great time last weekend at our big event at Kenzie Kids and K-Girl in Wellesley, MA!  Many thanks to all of you who helped promote it on Twitter and who came out to see us!   It really was so nice to put faces to all of the comments, emails and tweets!  I had a blast!

First of all the store, to which I had never been before, was…. aahhhmazing!!  My personal heaven, perhaps.  So many of my Favorite European kiddie fashions and a few new ones that you will soon be hearing more about!  Estelle Colgan, the queen bee at Kenzie Kids and K-Girl was absolutely so much fun and I was really so very happy to be able to support her businesses.  All of you know I’m a big believer in small business, right???  YES.  I most certainly am:).

Speaking of small biz, I also met Johanna Parker of Kaya’s Kloset who brought some of the cutest little no slip slippers ever for everyone from little babies to adults!  Let me tell you, Isabella loves hers; in shiny pink sequin, if you must know!  Definitely check them out and buy a few pairs:).  (Great stocking stuffers and totally affordable!!)  We also have a custom pair coming for Camilla.  Baby’s first custom shoes… awww! 

It was of course nice to be able to trunk-show-it-up with Bellaziza, but my Favorite part (beyond that aubergine Charabia dress that I’m still dreaming of!) was definitely the connection with the other moms and bloggers!  Of course Christine Koh of BostonMamas.com was there with her little sweetie pie (pictured above).  It was so nice to meet Christine IRL (That’s Blogger for In Real Life…ahem.)  Not many people know this but Christine gave me one of my first little pieces of press with Bellaziza shortly after I first started out.  It was a while ago, but some things are just special and this is one of them for me.  Support.  It means a lot.  Small business… remember?

Then in came Jody Grundig who I personally, was really looking forward to meeting.  I really enjoy her writing and her humor on the sites that she writes for.  You know, one of those people online that you just know you’d really get along with IRL??  Like someone that you could really be friends with?  Yes.  I was right.  She’s fabulous and a very classy lady.  I’m sure we’ll be getting together again at some point (but in the mean time she’s slotted to be Favorite Tweep O’the Week on Twitter next Friday for #ff… but shhh because she doesn’t know.)  (Oh!  If you’re not on Twitter, that’s just my way of sending her a little extra love and some smiles;).)  …and now I’m laughing… .

So you’re probably wondering who was the youngest person there?  Who is our youngest reader in the Boston area who would come out to visit?  Little Liam, that’s who.  He has the sweetest mom too.  (You should follow her on Twitter too)  Yes, and little Liam was only three weeks old, yet felt the need to come out and represent… or “REPRESENT!” as Isabella says.  He was definitely our youngest attendee and the cutest too I think, for that matter.  Spitting image of his father too, just in case you were wondering, hehe!  (Silly me forgot to take his picture.  Drat!!)

I was so happy to have met so many of you and definitely felt the Boston love!  It was great meeting Eli and Sheri Gurock from Magic Beans, Kim of @KimWorld and all of the other wonderful people that came out.  Thanks for coming and supporting me, Bellaziza, Kenzie Kids, Boston Mamas and our other wonderful sponsors!  Like I said, some things are just special and this is one of them for me.

Is this for real?!?!

That was my first thought as I skeptically watched.  I thought it was just a very well produced practical joke.  Not real.  Just a spoof.  BUT, it’s not! It’s actually 100% real, and that’s just way too scary.   I thought I would post it since the vaccination issue is something that we are all so concerned about with our own families right now.

The topic of vaccination is something that we make a decision on whether we we want to or not.  “No decision is a decision” as my father always says, after all.

As of right now, we’re still a “no” here at Chez Bellaziza on the H1N1 and Flu vaccines.  We’re also careful of where we go and are trying to limit outside contact to a reasonable minimum since there seems to be an outbreak in our area within the past few days.  Lots of probiotics and hand sanitizer here!

I have to say though that I have never felt quite this way before. It could be because of the media circus surrounding the flu, vaccinations and/or H1N1, or because of being a medical statistic a little more than I’d like to have been over the past year.  Okay, perhaps both.  Pretty scary video though either way.   I just want to make sure my kids stay safe… oh, and healthy! Didn’t those words used to not go together that way?  Know what I mean?

Here’s a great idea of how to turn the corner of your little sweetie’s room into her own mini dance studio!  Just find a great old mirror to mount behind the door, put up some hooks to house the tutus, a few little decorations and *voila*!  Instant playspace!!

What other great ideas do you have going on behind your kids’ closed doors?

With all of the current controversy over the H1N1 Vaccine as well as vaccines in general, I found this video interesting.  Will you be vaccinating your kids for H1N1?  Will you not be?  Dr. Oz says his kids won’t be getting the H1N1 vaccine.  Do you vaccinate in general?  Do you wait?  Will you be getting the H1N1 vaccination yourself?  We’d love to know since as moms we all struggle with these tough decisions and could use each other’s support in frightening times like these.

I just spent the last twenty minutes putting a doll back together.  Cherry is her name.  It’s one of the Madame Alexander dolls like I grew up not playing with.  You remember the small ones jointed by rubber bands, right?  As a girl, mine sat on top of my dresser.  Germany and Spain.  That’s where they were from, of course.  Germany wore a black tuffet hat and a traditional peasant shawl.  Spain had the prettiest flower headpiece and an embroidered gown that I just loved.  I dusted around them each week, playing with them a little bit but remembering that they weren’t really to be played with.  They weren’t that kind of doll.  So there they sat, and there they sit now.  Still in my childhood bedroom at my parent’s house.

Not much has changed there or here with the Madame Alexander dolls.  Isabella knows that that doll in particular isn’t really one that we play with.  She likes to hold it and asks often for her father or I to take it off of her dresser for a hug and a kiss.  So we let her.  It’s a little treat, and then Cherry goes back.  Back on the dresser.  So you can understand my surprise as I found Cherry in pieces tucked underneath the sheets in my bed just a little while after we put Isabella to bed earlier tonight.

I knew I could fix it.  Well, me and a hair pin and a paperclip, that is.  Mommy can fix anything!   Sometime between the doll’s head popping off and getting everything back on I started to think of more than just this doll.   I wish she had just come to me and asked me to fix it.  Maybe we could have done it together, teaching her to be a little handier like her mommy in the process.  Did she really have to hide it from me?  (Well not so cleverly hidden on my side of the bed, but you know what I mean!)   I don’t want Isabella and Camilla to feel that they have to hide their mistakes from me,  and especially when they need help to fix those mistakes!  It wasn’t a broken doll for me.   It was realizing that because of my rigidity, my little girl couldn’t really come to me with her problems.   She knows I’ll just get mad and tell her she shouldn’t have done what she did.  Sorry, but *DUH!!*   She knows she shouldn’t have done what she did at that point.  The mistake was made and she didn’t know how to fix it, so she hid it from me.  Right now it’s broken dolls, but later it could be more important things.   I don’t want to be that kind of mommy or friend.  My husband and I always tell her that she’s out best friend and she says it back, but we need to be a little more best friend-ly I think.   You can tell your friends things, you know.

So I’m starting a new tradition with the Madame Alexander dolls starting tomorrow morning.   No more dolls you can’t really play with.  You’re all fair game now, so watch out my pretties!   All dolls are meant to be played with from this day on at Chez Bellaziza.  Oh and something else, we’re going to rescue the other dolls at Gram and Grampy’s house too.  There’s Hansel and Gretel, the Bride and Groom, Cinderella who even lives in a glass house to keep her really pretty (COME ON!!) and of course Germany and Spain!  I think that Madame Alexander would definitely approve, and as a mom these little dolls are teaching me a valuable lesson.   I can’t wait to see the look on her face when I tell her about freeing the dolls!

How about you?  Have you ever learned so much from a broken doll?  Was it a truck perhaps?   I’d love to hear!

Crista

I just found something that is going to save me time and money on a regular basis!  It’s a lot of fun too:)!  Check out Alice.  It’s a service to help you buy all of the kitchen, bathroom, household, baby, kid and lots of other STUFF that we all have to get regularly but have to go find first, put it in the cart, purchase and then lug it home.  We are now happily ‘lug-free’!  Heck, let UPS do it, right?!?! Oh, it’s ALWAYS FREE SHIPPING at Alice too!  Even for tiny orders:)!!!  Definitley, let UPS do it since it’s easyyyy and only takes 2-3 days!

Saves me MONEY:  The best part (other than saving a ton of time on a regular basis, which I know I mentioned) is the AUTOMATIC COUPONS!!!  Yes, that’s right!  All of those manufacturer’s coupons are automatically found and applied to your order!  Yesterday I placed my first order and bought a pack of Huggies Supreme diapers that retails for $10.99 and usually costs $9.69 from Alice… for only $3.50 after coupons!  Take a peek and notice how MANY of the things I bought had coupons!!

All in all, I bought over $80 worth of things I buy ANYWAY, I got it delivered for free, and AFTER COUPONS I ONLY SPENT $56.76!!!!!!!!(…)!!!

Saves me TIME: Now instead of tromping though the store and forgetting a few things along the way… and buying some more that I don’t really need… I get to pull up my “Shelf” to see what I always buy!

You can even get automatic reminders if you want.  Alice’s organizational features are truly fantastic and I am really looking forward to never running out of anything ever again, and the cumulative savings of both time and money thanks to Alice.

Also, Alice makes shopping Green and Organic very easy!  They carry lots of great brands like Earth’s Best, Gerber Organic, Tom’s, Kashi, Seventh Generation and MORE!

Want to try Alice and save $10 off of your first order?  CLICK HERE, sign up to shop and never run out of anything again!  It’s SO simple and trust us it’s going to be one of your Favorite Things just like it is ours:).

I’ll see ya there!  Look for me online at Alice as Bellaziza in the “Neighborhood” and we can chat or tell me what you think in the comments of this post:)!  For now, back to shopping….

Crista

Have you ever been somewhere outdoors with your kids and been just mesmorized by your surroundings… only to see that they weren’t quite so thrilled?  Yeah.  About that.  What happened to beauty being enough?  Nature itself just being enough?  The ’simple things’?  Where are they you ask?  They left with he latest update to your kid’s iPod.  Sad but true, kids are jaded now more than ever and it’s showing.

This past weekend I took Isabella and Camilla out to a family friend’s home.  Miss Anna.

Miss Anna has the most beautiful property with gardens, and orchards, and it seems to go on forever and ever until you walk right up to the riverbank!  Just lovely.  There’s even a magic forest!  That’s where the fairies live, you know.  Miss Anna says that they like it if you’re quiet and that sometimes they leave little treasures lying around. Isabella?  Quiet?  Um, yeah.

So it really is such a magical place, as you can see.  The ‘fairies’ were there not long before we got there too!  Aaaah, how fortunate:)!  They left behind a delicate trail of pink silk rose petals that led us to the back of the forest.  How much fun, right?  This is where the need for me to write about this here on BFT comes in.

In spite of the glory, Isabella was bored.  All of this beauty and magic in the air… and my three year old was BORED!  I was cast more as the camera-in-hand mommy waiting for her in her big dress to burst into laughter and skip around soaking in the rose petals.  No, she was more concerned with a few pesky mosquitos and “mushy grass”.

I started getting excited and showing her what a magical thing it was… and OOH!  THERE”S ANOTHER PETAL!!!  LOOK ISABELLA!!!  It took a little coaxing, but soon enough she started to get it.  “Look Mommy!  There’s another one!” but with a suddenly scowled “You go get it” attached.   So I went to get it and then a few petals later she was in the groove, picking up petals and putting them into her bag.  She got it.  It took a little bit of teaching on my part and learning on hers… but she got it.

Am I wrong to have thought that her imagination would take flight and she would have just loved the experience?  Didn’t I love things like that as a kid?  I think I did.  Regardless, I want my girls to enjoy nature and simplicity and non-commercial things, etc.  Thank you Wonder Pets and Yo Gabba Gabba, but things like this should be considered more fun by the three year old set, in my humble opinion, with or without DJ Lance.  I’m really happy that in the end she was running around smiling with excitement, and picking up the pink petals on her own.  The first part of things got me thinking though.  I had to teach her how to enjoy something overwhelmingly… simple and beautiful.

In conclusion, there will be a lot more teaching going on in this area at Chez Bellaziza.  We are going to get really good at this:).  I welcome your comments and suggestions.  As Miss Anna commented laughingly, “Boy, she really is a city girl!”  I want Isabella to be savvy and smart, but also contented in quiet reflection and able to enjoy beauty.  In measure, ok?  I know she’s still three.

Crista

PS – Love the dress?  Me too!  Gap Outlet.  Linen.  Fully lined.  Clearance section 12.99 mark down from 29.99.  SCORE!

Fashion Tip: Buy dresses big because long hemlines make great photo ops!  This is a 7/8 on a 3 year old.  Hey, sometimes it works!  The straps were fully adjustable so we shortened them up easily and *poof!* instant mini haute couture.  Seems more Simonetta than Gap for sure!

Doing our best… It’s something that we all believe is enough in theory, but in practice we still many times go through a range of emotions.  As parents it’s inevitable, right?  We do our best for our kids, teaching them in the process that their best is good enough… or not.  It’s a theme that’s been coming up again and again in my life and something that I thought that you, our lovely readers could relate to, so I just wanted to take some time to share what’s been going on here.

We’ve been going through some great transitions here as a family at Chez Bellaziza… most notably a change of well, chez! We made our big move from Texas back to New York and just 3 weeks ago moved into the house of my dreams.  She’s 100 years old, but the girl’s got good bones!  Sounds like a nice thing to say about a beautiful old Victorian, right?  Hehe!  Just before the move I read that death, divorce and moving are the three hardest things to go through… and I didn’t believe it before… but I do now!  Thank God things are just starting to settle down:).

I had been posting my “Crista Goes Cloth” segments a while back and know there are definitely some of you wondering if cloth stuck.  Well, it did… kind of.  I did my best.  Through moving?  No.  When we go out?  No.  But at home, where we are most of the time, absolutely!  Unless for some reason I don’t…. but I usually do.  I love the three-day-wash of the ones we’re using too.  Let’s just say it makes it doable:).  I feel a little greener with each disposable that I don’t need.  Go green!  Just me doing my best here.

Doing my best, often translates in my mind into giving my family the best.  That’s much of the premise of this blog.  I have always been a huge supporter and believer in breastfeeding being the only best way to go… but sometimes your best just isn’t enough.  That’s been my experience recently anyway.  It’s been so emotional too!  I found myself in the formula aisle looking absolutely lost the other day when I realized that it was just something that I was going to have to do.  Was breastfeeding Camilla about her or about me afterall?  Breast is best, but when your girls aren’t cooperating and baby’s hungry and increasingly irritable, something’s got to change.  It was quite literally the first time I had ever even thought about formula.  Naturally, I looked to which one was the most expensive, thinking it probably sucked the least,  and bought it.  It did the trick until I found the wonderful formula that we’re happily using now.

Later that night I looked online and researched formula… a lot.  DHA?  ARA?  Cow’s milk?  Soy?  Lactose free?  Powder?  Liquid concentrate?  Plastic bottle?  One of these is supposed to make my kid smarter??  Arghhhhh!!!!  TOO MUCH!  It took a long time, but I finally found what I have come up with as the absolute best option for moms and babies who just aren’t able to breastfeed… or who need to supplement with formula (*raises hand*) and breastfeed as much as you can.  It’s called Baby’s Only Organic and it’s made by an organic pediatric medical food company called Nature’s One.  If you’re asking what’s the difference between their organic formula (being an organic pediatric medical food company) and the other mass marketed brands, I’ll be sharing more about that a little later.  There is a huge difference though and one that makes all of the difference in the world to a mom who can’t supply what’s best.  It’s been a little emotional here:).

I just wanted to let everyone know what’s been going on though with our big move, why things have been a little slower than normal here on BFT (but no less fabulous!!  Is it the Summer of Strollers here or WHAT?!?!) and also the info on our choice for Camilla’s formula.  With all of my recent research on formula, I felt I needed to get the info up fast so that if any of you were going through the same thing, that you would have our findings to benefit from too.

Doing our best and giving our kids the best is something we all strive for, but in the end, I really feel at peace with just what is MY best.  My girls will grow up seeing me make mistakes, solve problems, be resourceful, maybe not quite measure up, succeed gloriously and everything else in between.  In the end they’ll love me the same too I think:).  That’s mommyhood.  It’s not always what we think it will be, but we do our best in spite of circumstance, and both learn and teach from the experience.

So I have to say, I use this handy little bag from Fleurville ALL THE TIME!  It’s in my purse.  It’s instead of my purse.  It’s on my stroller.  It’s my essentials kit.  It’s the clean pacifier holder.  It’s my lip gloss, Rescue Remedy, pen, paper, credit card and GO bag.  It’s SO darned handy.  I had to pass it on.

Best features?  Clip on strap to go around anything securely, made of durable and fashionable oilcloth, pretty interior that cleans up easily, AND it’s just plain cool.   At the playground today after our walk I realized that it’s surely one of our Favorite Things.  Trust me, you simply MUST have one.

Isn’t Camilla adorable too:)!?!?!?!?  Our little miracle baby, she’s doing wonderfully at 4 1/2 months old and is an absolute joy!!!

Crista

THIS JUST IN: Nicole Richie’s little sweetie pie Harlow was recently spotted wearing Bellaziza’s Baby Got Bling #1 Barrette!

Harlow is one of our very Favorite celebutots for sure and we’ve definitely shown her and her stylish mommy some love on Bellaziza’s Favorite Things over the past year or so!  It’s so exciting to see her actually wearing our barrettes though!!!  Baby steps and then big leaps!  Come see what all the fuss is about at www.Bellaziza.com!

Just for fun, use code “WeHeartHarlow” for a FREE barrette at Bellaziza.com to the first 10 orders starting…NOW!

Crista and the Bellaziza Moms who make our beautiful barrettes!!!

PS – CLICK HERE to see the full story on Celebrity Baby Blog!

Image courtesy of Splash News

I just read this article on The Giggle Guide, one of my favorite kids industry sites.  It talks about cloth diapering and the come-back that it is making.

Did you know that it takes 2.5 times more water to manufacture disposable diapers than it takes to wash reusable diapers?  Well I was surprised too.

I’m well into the swing of things here and it’s going pretty well.  I’ve taken a few breaks here and there, but the sense of accomplishment when I take a clean load of diapers out of the wash is something pretty unique.  Maybe someday my girls will thank me for it.  In the mean time, my bank account and my dear husband are:).

Other great cloth diapering resources that I found in the article are www.Diaperjungle.com, www.clothdiapers.com, and www.realdiaperassociation.org.  These are all wonderful sites that not only answer questions, but really get you feeling good about making the commitment to going cloth.  Bravo!!!

Just tell me she’s not the cutest!  TRY IT!!  I dare ya!

Crista

Okay, we’re all moved and I’m ready to do this!  We recently relocated from Dallas back home to New York and I knew I needed to wait until after the big move to make my switch from disposable diapers to my brand spankin’ new Bambino Mio Cloth Nappy System! UPS delivered everything on Friday and I watched the DVD, and read the instructions thoroughly, being the cloth virgin that I am. I washed my ‘nappies’ in hot water as instructed and I was ready to go. Oh my gosh they are so soft and cushy after washing!  I’m in love!  I’ve never been intimidated by a product, so this is a new experience on top of a new experience for me.

It all seems pretty easy though, I must say! We did 4 cloth nappies total yesterday on Mother’s Day, so YAYEE!  Four less diapers in our local landfill – GO ME!!! I was a little scared to leave the house in them, so we did disposable for our little jaunt out for lunch and to visit family.  I also kept our little sweetie in disposables for bedtime. What can I say?  Getting completely comfortable will be a little bit of a process it seems. She is taking her morning nap in the cloth nappy right now though, so it’s getting better already:). I really like it so far and I feel like it’s my little contribution to our Mother Earth this Mother’s Day.

Can you imagine your name in lights?  Are you a fabulous mamma who deserves national recognition?  Know anyone else who is?  Okay, well we have THE perfect thing for you (and them)!

We just love these news-spoof Happy Mother’s Day e-cards!!!  Do check them out at HERE!  Trust me, it’s SO funny and one that you’ll definitely want to pass along to all of your girls!

CLICK HERE to see mine, and thanks Chantel!!!

Crista

Okay, so this is something I never thought I’d see myself doing, but (drum roll please) we are going to attempt to quit disposable diapers!  (OMG, I know!)  Do I not have enough on my plate between this lovely blog that you all come back to read so faithfully, our two sweet babies, my dear husband and oh yes, we have a product line too!  So why bother?

I do care, however I’m just not one of those ultra eco types.  Convenience is my dear friend.  My laundry gets laundered no prob… but is sometimes, ahem, not promptly folded (visualize: the mountain on the guest room bed, a.k.a. The Situation Room, thanks to my dh.).  I can’t shake the thought of our landfills though and all of the diapers and everything else that our family contributes that’s going to affect the planet our girls inherit.  I won’t go over to the brown-paper diapers either since I’m all about the premium super duper comfy deepees for our little girls.  What is more premium than cloth though?  Being that I am a high thread count type of gal, I think that’s what got me interested.

BambinoMio’s system is what finally got me to give cloth diapering nappying a shot (”nappy” because it’s a British company… hey, is ‘nappyING’ even a word?).  It’s supposed to be convenient and even affordable!  I was sold there since easy is just that, EASY… and who wants to go out and invest $500 or so to get started in cloth diapers when you’re not 100% sure you can realistically commit?  Bambino Mio kits are about $100 per size which is totally do-able even if you go back to disposables.  There is also some sort of special bucket / storage / laundering system that makes it all very easy …and a DVD.  Dumb it down for me, sil vous plait:)!

So I’m excited!  If I can do it with how crazy things get here, I know others of you who have been toying with the idea of cloth can too.  I’ll keep you posted:).

Crista

PS – In the mean time, there’s a great Celebrity Baby Blog poll that you should check out on cloth diapering and the trend of going back to it that’s started over the past few years.