Posted in Celebrity, Celebrity Baby, Celebrity Dads, Celebrity Moms, tagged Baby, baby boy, baby boy names, Baby Names, celebrity baby, Celebrity Baby Names, Celebrity Dads, celebrity moms, celebrity pregnancy, contractions, Djimon Hounsou, hospital birth, Kimora Lee Simmons, labor, labor suite, latest celebrity birth, moms on twitter, moms who tweet, New Parents, Russell Simmons, sisters, tweeting moms, tweets, twitter on May 31, 2009| Leave a Comment »
Source: babyphat twitpics
It’s a boy! While having contractions, Kimora Lee Simmons twittered from her hospital labor suite and then announced the arrival of the newest addition to her brood! This is Djimon Hounsou’s first child. Simmons has two other children with her first husband, Russel Simmons. No word yet on a name for the little boy. Congrats to the proud parents and sisters!
Posted in American Idol, Office, tagged Adam Lambert, American Idol, American Idol Adam Lambert, American Idol as water cooler conversation at work, American Idol Season 8, commute, Danny Gokey, Danny Lokey Jacksonville FL, fans of American Idol, following American Idol, Heartless Song, iTunes, iTunes playlist, Jacksonville, Kanye West, Kris Allen, Kris Allen of American Idol, listening to music, Matt Giraud, Office division, Office water cooler talk, poor song choice, Season 8 American Idol, who got kicked off American Idol on May 29, 2009| 6 Comments »
We admit it, we are American Idol fans. It is the topic of “water cooler” conversation on Wednesday and Thursday starting in January, every year. We love the “Bad” people. We swoon over the cuties (each year we realize how much grosser that gets, as we get older, and they get younger!). We argue over the top 12 (errr…13, this year), then top 10, 5, 3, and finally, who is going to win.
The elimination or "out" list on the sales office window seen from the hallway...
This year the office was divided. I had my heart set on Danny Gokey from the minute he tried out in Jacksonville and was super excited when he made it all the way to number 3 (a mere “poor song choice” knocked him out, but I have faith that he will be back!). Diana was extremely upset when her dream hunk, Matt Giraud was kicked off. She swore she was not going to watch it anymore! TC (and the majority of the office) was rooting for Adam Lambert all the way. None of us ever imagined that Kris Allen would be the winner, but once my Danny got the axe, I was rooting for Kris. He had me at “Heartless”. His rendition of Kanye West’s song was just amazing! I even downloaded the song off iTunes and have been playing it every day on my commute into le•top!
...and the Winner! Neener, neener, neener, KRI-ISSS WOOOOO-WON!
Posted in Baby, Baby Names, Celebrity, Celebrity Baby, Celebrity Dads, tagged Baby, baby boy, Baby Names, celebrity baby, Celebrity Baby Names, Celebrity Dads, Kaydnz Kodah, T-Pain on May 29, 2009| Leave a Comment »
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T-Pain (Hip-hop and R&B star) welcomes his third child Kaydnz Kodah, with wife Amber. Kaydnz joins his siblings Lyriq and Muziq.
Source: Twitter
Posted in Family Pet, Friends, le•top, tagged adventures with children, Alexandra, Baby, Baby Names, clothing designer, daughter, designer, Fashion, friend, green eyes, Irish, Italian, letop baby, letop baby designer, Native American, pet chicken, photo shoot with children, photoshoot, playdate, Russian, Russian names, Sasha, Tatiana, the energy of children, Tricycle, Ukrainian on May 29, 2009| 4 Comments »
Everyone’s been wanting to see this infamous “zebra” jacket I wrote about last week, but I couldn’t find a good picture from the dinner. So, I decided to go see my friend and her daughter to do a little “photoshoot”. Her gorgeous (part Russian, part Native American, Ukrainian, Italian and Irish!) green-eyed daughter, Sasha (Alexandra) is a ball of energy who doesn’t stop laughing and running around! I asked her to come give me hug, so her mom, Tatiana, could quickly get a shot, but Sasha immediately ran off to grab something. That “something” turned out to be her pet chicken, that (strangely) loves being held and carried around. Then, there was a good 20 minutes of running around after the chicken, away from the chicken (that would be me), and trying to get the chicken to sit at the table…yes, I mean that…that wasn’t a typo. I managed to engage Sasha in a conversation about flowers, but the chair behind me quickly turned into a climbing post. A few minutes later she rolled out of the house on her tricycle, and we finally got our shot! Kids have an incredible energy that’s so contagious – I can’t wait for our next “playdate!” – it turned out to be such a fun adventure trying to get that picture!
Posted in Baby, Baby Names, Family, le•top Birth Announcement, tagged Aunt, Baby Clothes, baby girl, Baby Names, BBQ, birth, birthday, causes of labor, Giselle, going into labor, Great Aunt, great uncle, le•top baby, letop baby and kids clothes, letop baby blankets, letop baby clothes, letop baby pink collection, New Parents, niece, Popular baby names, siblings at work, tagging manager, Uncle, warehouse manager, what causes labor, wonderful cook on May 28, 2009| 3 Comments »
Giselle P. born May 17th, 2009 is wrapped in our Le Top baby pink blanket and dreaming about her Great Uncle's wonderful cooking...
Ok, so here is the scoop on the newest addition to Le top’s extended family! Daryle, our Warehouse Manager, and Judy, our Tagging Manager are siblings, and their niece Alicia (with her husband, Willy) became proud new parents to their first child, Giselle. The funny story that goes along with Giselle’s birth is that Alicia had gone over to Daryle’s house for a BBQ (he’s a great cook) the day Alicia went into labor. Two hours after she left his house, Giselle was born. They attribute her being so quick to come out into the world to Daryle’s cooking and because of her wanting to get some of that great cooking for herself! 🙂 Happy Birthday, Giselle!
Posted in Activities for Children, Baby, Breastfeeding, Children, Community, Friends, le•top, Parenting, tagged bonding through breastfeeding, Breastfeeding, children interrupting adult conversations, children's activities, Community, community involvement, families, Friends, friendships formed with moms in playgroups, introducing children to playgroups, kids at play, kids playgroups, leleche, leleche league, local parks for kids, making friends in a new town, McDonalds, meeting new people in a new community, moms and toddlers, mother's support groups, mothers' groups, Moving families, Nursing, nursing toddler, Parenting, parenting styles, perspectives on parenting, playgroups, preschool, relationship bond during breastfeeding, social gatherings with children, stay at home mom, stay-at-home mother, trying to have adult conversations with children around on May 28, 2009| Leave a Comment »
Our family moved to a new community when my daughter was 14 months old. It was tough to be a stay at home mom and figure out how to meet new people. I decided to try a local LeLeche League meeting. My daughter and I had a solid breastfeeding relationship going (and yes, she was a nursing toddler). I just felt drawn to meet other mothers in similar situations. One of the best finds from attending this meeting was hearing about a Wednesday playgroup. I got the information and called the woman who organized the activities.
It was fall season, but the group of moms and toddlers meet every Wednesday morning for two hours with varied activities each week. One week they would do an outdoor adventure, one week they would meet at someone’s home and play with the toys there, and the other two weeks of the month, they would meet at a preschool room of a local church. Such a schedule evolved, as the mothers wanted to avoid spending time at the local McDonalds during those months of poor weather! They meet at local parks during the summer months.
At first, I wondered what a playgroup would be like – would I get to talk with other mothers and visit about parenting ideas? Would my child make new friends and learn different social skills than she got when we were home alone? I soon realized these were high expectations. At the playgroup gatherings those first few months I had to stay pretty close to my daughter as she wanted that more than playing with other children. More than once I wondered if we were getting anything out of it, but the chance to interact with other families made me keep going back each week. Slowly, as my daughter grew up and her confidence blossomed, she was able to play on her own or with others. The mothers could talk a little until a fight broke out about toys, or a child began to do something dangerous.
I began to see it as a new fact of life that seldom were sentences (yet alone conversations) completed without interruptions from children’s needs. The same group continued to meet weekly and time passed into years of attending playgroup. The children watched each other grow up, learned from one another, and the mother’s friendships deepened. As new families would join, we could learn from one another, hear different perspectives on parenting, and see the diversity in children’s behaviors (that was helpful for me – the mother of one!).
One five-year old boy told his mom, “The play is for the kids and the group is for the moms.” He was sure correct on this, as the playgroup gatherings were like a form of therapy and sanity for us all. It’s been seven years now and although schools have forced us apart, our playgroup still comes together for social gatherings several times a year! I’ve been grateful and thankful for this group of families helping me along my parenting journey.
Posted in Contests, le•top, le•top Retailer, le•top Secret Contest, Mom, Mother's Day, tagged Alabama, Children, Children's Clothes, children's clothes with ducks, children's fashion, children's wear, clothing for fraternal twins, contest, Contest Winners, designer kids clothes, dressing fraternal twins, Father's Day Contests, favorite mom sayings, kids clothes, le top, le•top, le•top retailers, le•top Spring 09 Collection, le•top spring and summer collections, letop, letop baby and kids clothes, letop lucky duck, letop spring, letop store locator, letop tiptoe Tulip Duckling, matching clothing for fraternal twins, moms, moms on twitter, moms who tweet, moms who twitter, Mother's Day Contest, mothers, New York, things moms say, tweeting moms, twitter, twitter contest winners, Utah, Virginia, winning moms on May 27, 2009| 2 Comments »
Our twitter-only contest for Mother’s Day was so much fun! We asked moms for their favorite mom sayings, and we got a great response, with five super-excited winners! Congratulations to Jessica (Alabama), Gigi (Utah), Kerry (California), Victoria (Virginia), and Lisa (New York)! Each of these lovely moms won an outfit from le•top’s Tiptoe Tulip Duckling (available in sizes 3m – 6x) or Lucky Duck collections (available in sizes 3m-4t). Thank you for making us smile with your favorite sayings! Click on each winner’s state to find an online store in that state, or use our store locator to find a le•top retailer near you, so you can find our sweet ducks to put on your sweet little ones. Pssst! And stay tuned for our Father’s Day contests, coming soon…!
le•top Tiptoe Tulip Duckling for girls and Lucky Duck for boys. Click on the image to see all the offerings for both collections
Posted in Baby, Baby Gifts, Baby Shower Gifts, le•top, rabbitmoon, tagged Baby Blanket, baby blankets, Baby Shower, baby shower gift, babysteals.com, popular baby shower gifts, Rabbit Moon, rabbit moon baby and kids clothes, rabbit moon chenille blanket, rabbit moon velour and chenille blankets, rabbitmoon, Shopping on May 27, 2009| 1 Comment »
Our limited-edition rabbitmoon plush blankets are the exclusive steal-of-the-day on BabySteals — these four beautiful, plush, double-layer blankets are soft chenille on one side and deluxe velour on the reverse. They come in colors: rose, blue, pomegranate, navy (reverses to tan). 30 x 36 crib size. Washable and snuggly! Go to BabySteals and get a steal on this exclusive — for yourself, or as a very special baby shower gift (or, an effortless replacement of a magic blanket, as we did for Nadine)!
Posted in Activities for Children, Children, Cooking, Just for Fun, School, tagged children's activities, clay, food coloring, home made clay, homemade clay for children, how to make clay at home, le top, le•top, letop, making clay at home, play clay, Play Doh, preschool, preschool teacher, recipe for homemade clay, recipe for making clay on May 26, 2009| 2 Comments »
If your kids are like my child, then they probably enjoy playing with clay. I know my daughter can’t get enough of clay at home and at preschool. Play Doh can get old and hard, or the colors get all mixed up. Buying more gets expensive. So I had to ask my daughter’s preschool teacher how they make their “Play Clay.” Here’s a recipe to make at home. And if your child is old enough, s/he can even help you. Makes for a great activity!
Ingredients:
In a pot, mix a few drops of food coloring with the water. Then add the rest of the ingredients. Cook on medium heat, stirring constantly until the mixture becomes really thick and stiff. Cool, then knead. You are ready to play!
(Store in a resealable plastic bag.)
Posted in Conceiving, Just for Fun, le•top, Pregnancy, tagged answering children's question about pregnancy, answering kids questions about pregnancy, Baby, Baby Names, conception, explaining babies to children, explaining babies to kids, explaining how babies are made to children, explaining how babies are made to kids, explaining pregnancy to children, explaining pregnancy to kids, fairy-tales, insemination, Just for Fun, kids say, kids say the darndest, kids say the darndest things, kids say the funniest things, kids sayings, laugh out loud, le•top Takes: mouths of babes, Mommy and Daddy, out of the mouths of babes, Pregnancy, second pregnancy, Siblings, Siena, telling coworkers about pregnancy, trying for baby, trying to conceive, trying to get pregnant on May 26, 2009| 3 Comments »
No, I did NOT say that!
…submitted by a le•top blog reader
My husband and I are “trying” again, so we can give our 4 year old daughter, Siena, a sibling. I give answers that are more scientific in nature than the fairy-tale kind because Siena is seriously unsatisfied with my answers unless they’re very systematic and every facet of her question is explained (yes, of course I think she’s a genius) 😉 ! When she asked me (yet again!) how babies are made, I explained by saying that daddy puts something in mommy and plants his seed so the baby can grow. My daughter then started yelling:
I want to see Daddy’s seed!! I want to see Daddy’s seed!!”
Startled, I said calmly, “Sweetheart, you can’t see Daddy’s seed”, and Siena got SO UPSET!! I could hardly control myself from bursting out in laughter in front her, as I thought, geez, wait until I tell everyone at work about this one!
Le Top blog 