Hello, friends! Join me in welcoming Graciela of @gracielaraquel on Instagram, who’s the newest addition to the Babiekins blogging team!
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Hi, my name is Graciela and I live with my husband and son Gabriel Mavi (2) in the Netherlands in a small lovely town near the sea. One of the great benefits of living in a small country like the Netherlands is that everything is so close. And I love that because that means I have my big Argentinian family near by me. I’m really a family kind of person and so is my husband. He comes from a big (Turkish) family as well. My little son is growing up with a lot of aunties and uncles around him to love and there is always someone to babysit — which is quite handy since my husband and I both work.   
Beside my big family, I also love fashion a lot. I have studied Design & Styling for one year in Amsterdam. And like most mothers I like the brands Bobo Choses and Mini Rodini a lot for my little guy. Besides all the playful kids’ brands, I also really like the more minimalistic little collection of COS. And for some reasons I always go for stripes. I love stripes.
(Our organic garden!)
I’m a dietitian and we have our own organic garden. Healthy food is an important thing in my live and since the birth of Gabriel it’s become even more important. I think every parent wants to feed his child with healthy stuff full of vitamins. But nowadays it’s more difficult to eat real healthy food, since there are so many products to choose from. Most of these products contain a lot of food additives. So I have some tips for you and your little one to eat more healthy:
1. Get your kid(s) involved. Kids enjoy helping adults to shop groceries, selecting what goes in their lunchbox and preparing dinner. I know that isn’t always an easy thing to do but give them a task. Because it’s also chance for you to teach them about healthy food.
2. Look at the ingredient list of the product you choose. You don’t have to read every ingredient on the list. But remember: The longer the ingredient list, the more processed a food is likely to be.
3. Healthy snacks. Choose for healthy snacks between meals. Make sure you have a variety of healthy snacks available instead of empty calorie snacks. I always have plenty of fruits, vegetables and nuts to eat. But Gabriel loves dried fruits as a snack, his favorites are raisins, dried apricot and cranberries.
4. Relax and enjoy. When your kid is a picky eater avoid struggles. But keep on offering because it takes most kids 8-10 presentations of a new food before they will accept it. Most of all it has to be fun. I’m a lucky mum because Gabriel loves to eat almost everything healthy. But he also has periods that he’s a picky eater and that’s normal. The most important thing is that you don’t make a big thing about it and relax.
5. Limit beverages before eating. Because liquids often fill up. When Gabriel drinks a lot before dinner he will not eat a lot. I also try to avoid surgery drinks and give Gabriel most of the time tea and water.
Of course beside the healthy food, we eat ice-cream, cake and cookies.
xo Graciela
A statement piece worn two different ways.
When I purchased this sweater I knew it was amazing & a piece like this can be worn so many different ways. Can be worn with a palazzo pant or with cute printed shorts. Also feel free to add cute accessories like this gold heart printed make-up bag I’m using as a clutch! Shhhh!
 
  
All items worn here are from Forever21.
XO
Britt Ritchie
Instagram can be a really inspiring community, don’t you think? There’s always something beautiful to see — and new people to meet! We first chatted with this lovely mama on her Instagram account @aubreyheidi – and as we oohed and ahhed over her little cuties, we knew we wanted to get to know her better. In fact, you’ll get to know her better too, because she’s going to be blogging for Babiekins every week!
Aubrey lives in the Philadelphia suburbs with her husband, son Kolton (4), and daughter Kira (2).
Here’s what Aubrey told us about Kolton and Kira’s style: “I’m crazy excited about matching, mixing and swapping my children’s clothes to coordinate with one another. Two of our favorite brands, Bobo Choses and Mini Rodini make that super easy because their clothing is gender neutral and their prints come in several colorways. I’m also excited to outfit my children in sustainable and organic, yet stylish clothing that inspires a sense of playfulness with their whimsical designs. So fun!”
As we chatted with Aubrey more, we learned she works from home. That struck a chord with us here at Babiekins — we know all about that — and we know it’s not without challenges! It’s hard to get anything done — let alone a full-time job — in the same house as two very busy littles.
So we asked her to share her secrets with us, and here’s what she had to say.
Aubrey’s Top 5 Tips for Working from Home with Littles Around
- Beast Mode – When you have free time to work, WORK and work hard! Close your personal email and any other distractions on your computer, power through your work.
- Plan a Play Day – Every alternate Thursday my nephew comes over to play. It might sound crazy to have another child come to your home when you need to work, but it usually works out pretty well. The kids are so busy playing together, I find they often need me less. The following Thursday my kids will go to my sister-in-law’s home and I get a free day to work.
- Plan Meals – I like to make my children’s lunch the night before so I’m not spending a lot of time in the kitchen preparing food during work hours.
- Ask your Partner for Help – My husband wakes up with our kids and feeds them breakfast and that is a huge help. It gives me time to sleep an extra hour and shower before he leaves for work. Ask your partner to bathe the children and put them to bed, prepare meals, or fold the laundry, every little bit helps!
- Outsource – When things blow up, enlist more help! Have a list of sitters you can depend on if you get in a pinch. Hire a cleaning service to help save some time.
Do any of you work from home, too? Chime in in the comments — let us know how you get stuff done!
-Gina xo
Sometimes, I take life too seriously. I get too wrapped up in what there is to do and what hasn’t been done yet, and I get stressed out. (If you know me, you’re waving your hands in mock horror, “You? High-strung? Ohhh what a shock!”) It doesn’t come as a hugely surprising confession, I know. And of course, it goes with the territory that I’m really bad at relaxing (Just ask my mom. Or my husband. Before I met him, I had a hard time watching movies all the way through! I’d watch half, and then wander off to do something that just HAD to be done.)
But I’m learning. I’m learning it’s not all about accomplishments. It’s not all about what I can achieve. I’m not getting graded on this life! When the stress creeps up on me because I’m perfectionistically attacking my to-do list, discouraged that it’s not getting done fast enough or perfectly enough, I’ve learned that it’s probably time to step back, stop what I’m doing, and turn my attention to something else. And not just another item on my list. Something different, something fun, and dare I say, relaxing? A break in the routine — like jetting out of the house at lunchtime to have frozen yogurt instead — does wonders for realigning one’s perspective. There’s just something about different surroundings that can put you in a completely different mood, don’t you agree?
How do you get back on track when you find yourself being too high-strung? (I can’t be the only relaxation-challenged person among us!)
-Gina xo
Image Credits: Priscilla Barbosa Photgraphy | Location: Menchie’s
Among the families on our editorial team, many of us have been heavily influenced by countries other than the United States. I was born outside the US and lived for a bit in Europe as a child as well. Our Editor-in-Chief, Priscila, is from Brasil. And as I’ve gotten older, feel more strongly than ever that experiences from other cultures should be a regular part of every kid’s childhood. It shouldn’t be a production or a big deal, it should just be a given! None of us are meant to just live inside our own tiny worlds. It’s so important for children to develop a well-rounded worldview.
While I dream of traveling internationally with my little family someday, until then, there are many ways to experience other cultures right here in our own city. And so yesterday, Aveline and I headed over to Silva’s Market, a local Brasilian deli and supermarket. (Our editorial team is primarily in Southern California, but a few of us live elsewhere — I’m in Orlando, Florida.)
Our friend Priscilla Barbosa — who is from Brasil and who had her camera along — met us at the market. Aveline roamed the aisles with the owner’s daughter, before sitting down in the deli to down nearly an entire helping of pao de queijo. (If there was any doubt that’s she’s two, fear not, she is. I turned around for one second to ogle the selection of sweets, and she plunged her mini GI Joe into a full glass, sending a cascade of water everywhere.)
See, the thing about introducing children to other cultures at a young age, is that it’s not a big deal for the kids. The outing wasn’t something different to her. It was just fun.
And isn’t that the way it should be?
-xo, Gina
Location: Silva’s Market | Images: Priscilla Barbosa
A little while ago, we mentioned on Instagram we want to bring you more of the real, behind-the-scenes, lives of the Babiekins moms-turned-editors. See, among the mamas on our editorial team, we have enough children to fill a small classroom. They range in age from in-the-womb to teenager, and as you can imagine, there’s a whole lot of craziness that extends far beyond the editorials and the photo shoots. And we’re going to start sharing more candid snapshots with you — the kind of scenes that we capture on our phones and then text to friends.
Here in my world (I’m Gina, the Copy Editor) I share every day with a feisty little person often referred to as “the human pogo stick”. She’s pretty great. She’s also very two.
This week, she didn’t just draw on the wall, she drew on the window. (“I colorbook a f’ower, mummy!”) She mistook the grapefruit at the farmers’ market for “fro and catch balls”. She jumped on the bed, stood up on the seat of her tricycle, hula-hooped in her underwear, sang loudly throughout her nap-times, turned a potted cactus upside-down, ate lots of mandarins and spilled one or two or five cups of milk.
Every week, she makes me cry and makes me laugh and makes a lot of messes and makes me gasp, “How on earth did you manage to do that so fast?!”
This wild-child-raising, it’s the most wonderful and the most difficult thing I’ve ever done. Every day, I interact with a tiny opinionated human who has the most profoundly confusing logic I’ve ever observed. Children are a paradox: stubbornly independent, and yet completely dependent.
It’s not easy.
But it’s also a paradise — a very loud, messy, colorful, and chaotic paradise.
And in the eyes of a two-year-old, that’s pretty much perfect, isn’t it?
I found this picture of my youngest son- Carter today and had to post it. There are a couple things I love about this
1. His outfit is mostly vintage (minus the boots, and tee)
2. That he put his whole outfit together
3. That he decided that rain boots were the last piece of the puzzle and perfect for his cowboy attire.
I got to say…I love shopping for my kids but they always end up making and putting outfits together that are cuter than what I could have even imagined!
Does your little one like to dress themselves? What has been your favorite outfit they have put together? We would love to see !!! Send us an email at info@babiekinsmag.com with a picture!
We’re seeking a talented, trendsetting tastemaker with a penchant for pinning. If you have a similar style to what’s found in the pages of Babiekins Magazine, (and you pin responsibly from original, credited sources) we’re interested in seeing your boards! We just might choose you to manage the Babiekins Pinterest account and find incredible items for us.
Leave a comment with a link to your Pinterest account, and let us know why you’d be the perfect Pinterest intern aka pin-tern!
UPDATE: Thank you to each one of you who expressed interest in this position. After going through the comments, carefully reviewing the boards, and taking a variety of factors into consideration, we have selected our pin-tern. Congratulations, Regina! Thank you, everyone — we’ll be pinning a lot of fabulous finds, so don’t miss following Babiekins Magazine on Pinterest!
Nursery / kiddo rooms are always a fun topic and as someone who loves home design, I wanted to share some spaces that I’m loving right now. Also, even though they’re clean, thoughtful and some sleek, these spaces feel kid friendly to me. What do you think?
 one // two // three // four
Have a great weekend! – LINDSAY // LITTLE ONE LOVE
In hindsight the latest fashion, cutest shoes and must-haves are so unimportant. We are living in a world with so much destruction, sadness and there are so many people and children that wake up and go to sleep feeling hopeless. This video reminded me that even though we all go through our daily struggles there are people out there that live it every second of the day.
I just purchased a Kony 2012 kit and when I get it I hope that I can sit down with my oldest and tell him about it. One part of making a change in the world is by being the change, teaching the change and being involved in the change. I hope that I can instil this in both my children so they grow up knowing how blessed they are and also grow up to be compassionate young men.
When I watched that video what came across to me was the hopelessness in those children’s eyes. Do they know they are precious or have they ever felt loved? See, I was one of these children who felt abandon, insecure and had so many unanswered questions.
I was adopted at the age of 5 and brought to the US with my sister from Sao Paulo, Brazil. Those first fundamental 5 years of my life was spent being tossed around to strange places like daycares and stranger’s homes. The only person I could count on was my sister , she was the only one I knew wouldn’t abandon me.
After coming to the US we found it challenging to learn to trust others. I can only imagine these children’s fears as they lay their head down to sleep and how trusting others would be hard for them too.
I have always said I was going to do something for those children that felt left behind and I hope you do too!
Please fee free to spread the word about the video and if you would like to join the cause please go here.
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