Le Top Darling of the Day: Maria

This beautiful princess, Maria (2-month-old), comes to us all the way from Russia. How international! Her mom is the childhood friend of our Le Top baby designer, Elena. Maria is just the cutest little girl who enjoys sleeping, smiling, and being adorable! Proud parents Katia and Alexander say they are overjoyed with her addition to their family. Congratulations to Maria for being chosen the Le Top Darling of the Day!

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Le Top Darling of the Day: Tara

This ray of sunshine, Tara (11-months-old), is a sweet little Jersey Girl. She is very inquisitive and when she hears a sound – abandons any previous activity! She is intrigued by and regularly monitors her mommy and daddy – no matter how mundane their activity. Water sports bring her the utmost joy – whether it’s a bowl of water or sitting in the little pool in her backyard!

It’s not hard to believe that this little one is always on the move (shown here in her Rabbitmoon “neapolitan” collection velour jumper, brown dot bodysuit and strawberry pink leggings) and is walking everywhere! A favorite pastime is cruising the house with a rattle making lots of noise! I think she’s just celebrating being crowned the Le Top Darling of the Day!

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Claudia Schiffer Releases Name of Baby Girl!

Image By: Richard Young/Startraks

We mentioned on May 15 that Claudia Schiffer had a baby girl in London…It was just released that Schiffer and her husband Matthew Vaughn named her Cosima Violet. She kept her daughter’s name under wraps until both of their families had met their new bundle of joy.  Cheers again to baby girl Cosima!

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Real Housewife Becomes First Real Housewife Mom!

Dimitrios Kambouris/WireImage

The Real Housewives of New York City reality star Bethenny Frankel is now a first time mom!

Bethenny and husband Jason Hoppy welcomed their first baby girl on Saturday, May 8th!!  Talk about a mother’s day present.  Baby Bryn Hoppy was born at 8 a.m. in New York and weighed in at 4lbs 12 oz.  According to Bethenny’s rep “Bryn, mom, dad and (their dog) Cookie are all very happy.”

Congratulations to the happy couple, and to Cookie of course, for the newest edition to the family!

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Thank Heaven for…Haven!

Haven Bella looking like a Sweet little Flower

Our family finally has its first baby girl!  My niece, Haven Bella, was born on July 8^th of this year – a great birthday date to remember – 7-8-9!  We are excited to have a girl join the ‘boys club’ we had going.

Four months have now passed since the glorious date that we all ooo’d and awww’d over little Haven.  She is growing bigger by the day, and although still a ‘little baby’ her mom and dad were ready to take the big step and go out for some much needed time together – without children!

Friday was the first night that Mike and Joslyn took a breather from the kiddos and headed out for a nice relaxing dinner for two.  My nephew Justice was spending some quality time with Grandpa – and little Haven came to spend the evening in Aunt KK’s arms (that’s me!!!)  I have to admit that Aunt KK is not 100% confident with tiny babies.  Maybe I am just not completely comfortable, but at 4 months old…I thought I could handle it!  The evening (to say the least) had its ups and downs – here is how it unfolded:

6:30
Bye Bye Mommy and Daddy – Hello child that is (supposedly) about to fall asleep…

7:10
40 minutes later – after walking around the house, rocking and singing lullabies to Little Miss Haven, she FINALLY falls asleep

7:11
Carefully laying her on the couch next to me I pop in a movie – ready for an hour and half of quiet bliss

7:53
Haven is awake….Cry….Cry….Cry….

7:53:30
Aunt KK picks up Haven and tries to sooth her – more walking, rocking and singing (did I mention that I am NOT a singer?)

8:00
Dinner Time (Haven is a ‘Baby Wise Baby’ and she knows when it’s time to eat!) I pull out the Dr. Brown’s Bottle and warm the milk… 

8:05
Haven is NOT having it!  Try as I might this little girl does not love her bottle – go back to walking…

8:12
Haven is still clearly upset and not eating – I am at my wit’s end and praying for Joslyn to walk through that door…

8:13
Haven and Aunt KK say in unison:  HELLOOO MOMMY!  THANK GOD YOU ARE HERE!

Of course we all survived…and I am sure every parent (and every babysitter!) has experienced nights like this.  What are some of the tips you give your sitters – I could really use some!!!!

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Should Grey’s Anatomy be renamed “Baby Boom?”

source: http://www.greysanatomyinsider.com

Ellen Pompeo, 39, and husband Chris Ivery welcomed a daughter, Stella Luna Pompeo Ivery, on Sept. 15 in Los Angeles, her rep confirms to PEOPLE.  Ellen and Chris married in 2007 and announced they were expecting in April.  In an interview with Allure in 2008 Ellen had this to say about motherhood, “It’s a huge lifestyle change, and I take it very seriously.”

Why the ‘name change for the show?  There’s been quite the baby boom on the Grey’s set – costar Katherine Heigl recently adopted a daughter, 10-month-old Naleigh, while Chyler Leigh is also a new mom to daughter Anniston Kae, 4 months. 

Congratulations to Ellen and Chris and ALL the new parents of Grey’s Anatomy!  This set should be a fun place – especially if everyone brings their baby to work!  All of us at le•top are excited about their baby boom!

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Creative Baby Shower Gifts: The Diaper Cake

My cousin, Joslyn, is getting ready to have Baby #2 (a girl, Haven Bella) soon and this weekend, we are holding her baby shower! Since I work at a baby and kids clothing company, it’s no secret that most of my baby shower gifts are going to be our gorgeous baby clothes from le•top and rabbitmoon, but sometimes I like to mix it up a little. “Surprise” is a big thing for me, and because my gifts are generally predictable, I like to throw a zinger in there.

• For Jess’ baby shower gift, I put together a HUGE basket of clothes, along with some great products I have come across since being in the industry (Nookie pacifiers, Baby Legs, Pedipeds, etc).
• For Erin T’s, I did the basket and a Starbucks Frappuccino 4-pack filled with clothes instead of drinks. (Erin T. LOVES Starbucks!)
• For Joslyn (since she already had a similar gift with the first baby), I decided my “surprise” would be a diaper cake.

I have come across a lot of these online, but was never sure exactly how they did it. So the other night, I YouTube’d it, and sure enough there was a cheesy – though resourceful – How-To video. I bought the diapers, the ribbon, the jewels, the rubber bands, and the pins (my variation from double-stick tape), and went to work. I had to roll the diapers slightly differently than the video explained because the cute “character scene” on the front was turning my white cake into a blue one. All in all it took about 45 minutes to roll 92 diapers (size 1 & 2) and assemble them in the cake layers; about 30 minutes to put the ribbons and the jewels on; and 5 seconds to lay the shoes on the top as the cake topper.

Remember, this was my first time doing this, and I have learned some lessons:

1. Use ALL white diapers, if possible.
2. There is an advantage to using the double-stick tape (my ribbons are falling down because I only tautly pinned them — and in one place for that matter)
3. I need to figure out a way to secure the shoes on top (double-stick tape?)
4. Use a circular cake stand to start out the bottom layer. My bottom layer is too big for the cake stand.

Have you done a DIY shower gift? Please share your ideas and/or pictures!

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