News

The Amazing ‘Bucket List’ Feat This Soon-To-Be Blind 6-Year Go To Do

Posted on April 29, 2017

Before 6-year Cailee Herrell goes blind from a rare genetic disease, she created a Bucket List of things she wanted to accomplish. One of them was to create her own fashion line.

With help from the folks at FabKids, Herrell, who was diagnosed with FEVR at age two, got to experience each step in the process of designing and producing clothes from conceptualizing the designs, selecting the colors and releasing them to sale.

The result is a very adorable line of three t-shirts that shows Herrell’s optimistic and uplifting spirit. Herrell is already one step ahead of the inevitable outcome of her condition. She has already started learning braile and age 3, she started learning how to use a can with an orientation and mobility instructor. Brave and Tough Girl, she is!

And quite fitting of her personality, the empowering T-shirts have phrases like, “Girls are tough,” and “Brave” on them. Another has hand-stitched emoji patches – all of Cailee’s faves on it.

The cute shirts are just $14.95 each and net proceeds from all of Cailee’s Tees will go towards a goFundMe account so she can accomplish the other things on her Sightseeing Bucket List. Very nice!

Here are some of the items on her list, including those completed, and those yet to complete!

1. Sand Dunes (Completed)

2. Sea World (Completed)

3. Beach (Completed)

4. Disneyland (Completed)

5. Snow

6. Horseback riding

7. Camping

8. California Redwoods

9. New Mexico Hot Air Balloon Fesitival

10. New York Fashion Week

11. Nutcracker

12. Cooking classes

13. Crayola Factory

14. Hershey Chocolate Factory

15. Art Classes

16. Braille Camp

Very nice! Good luck, Cailee! She really is brave and inspiring!

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Celebrity

Does Laila Ali Really Put Being A Mom Fourth on Her List?

Posted on April 29, 2017

I saw Refinery29’s feature on Laila Ali and was captivated by the headline which read, “Why World-Famous Boxer Laila Ali Puts Being A Mom 4th On Her List.”

Interesting because a lot of women put motherhood in front of everything else in their lives, including ahead of themselves and their own dreams and aspirations.

So, to read a headline that insinuates a famous actress and boxer prioritizes motherhood so far down on her list, is eye catching (and click worthy).

Indeed, the feature focuses on Ali’s work on encouraging and empowering other women and mothers to not sacrifice ther hopes after they become moms.

“The 39-year-old mother of two is in New York with T.J. Maxx (a Refinery29 sponsor) promoting her role in the brand’s Maxx You initiative, which is aimed at helping women shrug off the stereotypes that hold us back,” writer Laura Norkin notes.

Though, ironically shortly after, Norkin pens that nothing about Ali “flashing a French manicure, palest pink pedicure, and a bright-red bodycon dress that can barely contain the face-bashing biceps for which she is most known” says “mom.”

Well I know plenty of moms that fit this description, individually and collectively, but she’s right, society doesn’t equate sensuality, femininity and physical strength with motherhood. It should.

And for the record, Ali didn’t say she put motherhood fourth in order of her priorities, rather when asked the ways she self-identifies, Ali simply named “mom” fourth.

“I’m a professional boxer, athlete, entrepreneur, mom; now cooking enthusiast coming out with a cookbook.”

Later she adds that she also has a podcast, Norkin writes.

Really, the headline was literally accurate in that she did list it fourth but to me, naming it fourth doesn’t make it fourth in order of Ali’s focus. So realistically, it is misleading.

But I get it.

The point of the Maxx You Initiaive is to encourage women to shield whatever obstacles hold them back.

“Despite the stereotype of motherhood as an all-consuming identity, I know many people who’ve achieved new levels of career success after having children. I’m wondering if you relate to that experience at all,” Ali says.

“I think in general people assume that when you have children, that’s all you are — a mom, and that’s actually not true. You can be a mother and still pursue your dreams.”

Ali will be hosting the Maxx You workshop later this summer alongside Shark Tank’s Barbara Corcoran; 80 selected online applicants will receive a cash prize and personal mentorship from the two.

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Eco-Friday: Our Latest Organic Kids’ Clothing Crush; You’ll Love it Too!

Posted on April 28, 2017

Every now and then, we come across a wonderful fair-trade, organic and natural baby, mother and children’s clothing and accessories company that makes us smile broadly. Our latest organic store crush is Wild Dill.

We love Wild Dill so much, we partnered up with it as an affiliate and decided to share the love with our readers.

While “wild dill” sounds like a plant herb, it actually is named for the son, Dylan, of Jennifer, the original owner of the San Francisco-bay area organic children’s clothing store. In 2014, mom of two Tina Bar jumped at the opportunity to purchase the store when it came available for sale and took it online.

Today, Wild Dill partners with a large range of Fair Trade partners and craftspeople with an organizational mission.

Think indie designers, fair trade artisans and USA based-family businesses.

Wild Dill picks brands that integrate color, pattern and a global perspective; and those that select soft, comfortable fabrics with a focus on organic and pima cottons; handmade and heirloom quality toys made from top quality sustainable wood, soy fiber, bamboo fabric, and organic cotton or other natural materials.

You cannot get any more social conscious than that!

Whimsical and inspired, Wild Dill celebrates “curiosity of childhood, joy of motherhood and comfort of home.” Yes. Love!

Here are our top picks among the ample options available at Wild Dill starting with their Organic Animal Onesies (above). We imagine they are great for teaching your infant his alphabet early in life by having her wear a letter with an animal whose name start with that letter. Or each onesie could represent the baby’s first or last name and be a monogram-ish item. Eh? eh? Can you see it?

The onesies are pre-shrunk and tagless, made of 100% organic soft baby ribbed unbleached natural cotton. They are are $26 each, a bit pricey for one onesie, but for a personalized, heirloom quality item, that’s not bad. Also, the purchase supports social good. Portions of each sale goes toward the Tree Planting Foundation, a wonderful non-profit that brings fruit trees to a range of communities worldwide.

Not just for infants and babies, for little girls, these organic dresses are lovely and start at $30 on sale right now! Sweet!

These series of dolls are adorable dolls are designed in Brooklyn, New York but finished and created in India from the Hazel Village Woodland collection. Their clothes can be removed and worn on other dolls in the collection. They are wonderfully priced at $44.

Super adorbs but I really love The Dsenyo collection of handmade dolls hand-stitched by a women’s cooperative in Malawi, Africa.

These fair trade stuffed animals are made of 100% cotton African batik fabric (an Afrian wax-print textile) with soft jersey knit. They have no buttons so they are safe for kids and proceeds from the sales of these dolls that start at $44 go to Mwayiwathu HIV Support Group. Very very good!

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For mom (or dad), I totally adore this handmade unlined journal made from recycled leather and handmade cotton paper is environmentally friendly and runs $38.

How cute and stylish are these sets of Scarf bibs? These 100% cotton made in the USA bibs are perfect for your teether who is constantly drooling. They have a velcro closure and are lined with with ultra lightweight yet absorbent cotton flannel and are perfect for any season. They’ll run you $18.

These long sleeve organic onesies are perfect for cooler temps and start at $10 on sale!

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I love this Baby Animal Memory book which is eco-friendly and made with soy-based ink is also $38. It comes with 2 pre-baby pages for photos, ultrasound and note to baby; 3 pages for when baby arrives including a spot for footprints, a page to place birth announcement and hospital bracelet; 2 your world pages for a photo of home and how much things cost when baby was born; 12 pages of month documenting; 10 pages that include family tree, favorite things, many firsts including holidays, first scribble, etc.; 5 birthday pages; 1 first day of school page and 11 blank pages with embellishment

Made of 100% organically grown cotton, this trio Organic Rainforest Towels feature exclusive designs that celebrate some of nature’s wildlife: Happy Lemur, Silly Frog and Funny Bird and made of low-impact dyes are large enough to wrap your baby up! The set cost $44 and would make a great baby shower gift!

For the nursery and for teaching your toddler to child-aged kid the world beyond the confines of his block, there’s this lovely completely machine-washable World Map Rug, made up of 100% natural cotton and non-toxic dyes. Sadly, it’s out of stock but runs $250 when it is available.

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Another finally, this last item we’d love for a child’s room is this beautiful print by artist Juliet Meeks, which is a magical sleepy narwhal swimming under a starry sky and moonlit night. The item is on matte slightly textured 100% cotton acid-free paper and digitally printed with archival pigment inks. And runs $28. You can get one with a frame for $75. It would really stand out and stimulate baby.

That’s it! Hope you get a moment to check out their other offerings. You’ll be glad you did. And also, we love Wild Dill so much, we partnered up with it as an affiliate and decided to share the love with our readers so any purchase you make from our clicking one of these links from our site will net us a small share in the sale. Happy Shopping!

WildDill.com owner Tina Bar and her sons.

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Study: Childhood Cancer Survivors Face Future Pregnancy Complications

Posted on April 28, 2017

Women who manage to conceive after surviving childhood cancer may encounter treatment-related pregnancy and labor complications if they got radiation for their malignancies, a recent study suggests.

Female cancer survivors who got abdominal radiation are more than three times more likely to develop diabetes during pregnancy as their peers who received different tumor treatments, the study found. After radiation, these cancer survivors are also more than twice as likely to develop anemia during pregnancy.

Survivors of Wilms tumors, a rare type of childhood kidney cancer, had more than three times the risk of high blood pressure during pregnancy when their treatment included abdominal or pelvic radiation.

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Where to Get Beyonce’s Date Night in Red Look (SPLURGE or SAVE)

Posted on April 27, 2017

It didn’t take long for a photo of Beyonce ordering dinner at her April 19th date night with her husband to become a meme and the source of humorous spoofs in social media. And now, Internet sleuths over at PEOPLE have figured out where you could get her look.

The red dress she wore in the red-themed Polaroid framed set of pics she posted on social media is from Halston. It is their Heritage low V-neck, high slit dress which features a flowy silhouette, cape-like sleeves and cost a mere $237. Not bad. The dress has spandex in it making it forgiving and body hugging.

Bey complemented-the look worn at the private celeb-studded intimate birthday celebration for husband Jay Z‘s best friend and Roc Nation’s SVP Lenny Santiago at Beauty & Essex in Los Angeles with a pair of suede Prada platform sandals with a metallic leather-trim which will cost you a pretty penny but still isn’t out of reach at $860.

Where you’re going to drop some serious coins is on the black velour Saint Laurent flap front cross body bag with double tassels and cord fixed strap and trim she carried that cost $1,250. Too bad it’s sold out at Neiman’s

If you don’t have $2,500 to fork over for one date, we put together a similar look for under $70! BOOM! Look:

And peep the rest of the pics:

Beyoncé Wears $400 Halston Heritage Dress in Latest Maternity Photos https://www.instagram.com/p/BTXU248A1p6/ Credit: Beyonce/Instagram

Credit: Beyonce/Instagram

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You and Baby Will Get Better Sleep with This Inventive Tech Swaddle A Mom Invented

Posted on April 27, 2017

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Innovation around products for moms and new babies never stop. The inventive and creative solutions that are released regularly are truly amazing.

The latest on our radar is a swaddle blanket that takes the guess work out of swaddling a new born and adds technology of “touch” so baby can feel even more secure when sleep. It’s called The Zen Swaddle and it was created by a desperate mom who came up with an ingenious solution for some long sleepless nights.

They do say necessity is the mother of invention and as we’ve learned time and time again, mothers are great inventors! That’s the case here as well.

Back in 2010, Manansi Gangan had just given birth to her second born child who would only sleep in her arms under the touch of her palm. One day, Gangan discovered that if she placed a beanie baby in the place of her hand, her son slept soundly! It was the perfect substitute to mimic her loving touch. It is said that touch is the way we intuitively connect to our loved ones that we care. Also, there’s plenty of research about the emotional connection babies that are touched often feel compared to those in orphanages with limited access to touch, and how touch impacts development.

In 2011, Gangan took her concept to the design stage and came up with the Zen Swaddle. She put it under rigorous tests, had pediatric pulmonologists review it and made it so it was constructed to 8 times the safety standards before taking it to market.

HOW DOES THE ZEN SYSTEM^™SLEEP WORK?

The Zen Swaddle^® and Zen Sack^™ mimic your touch with lightly weighted pads on the chest and sides.

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As a result, your baby sleeps better feeling your reassuring touch. The company, Nested Bean, reports that moms who have used it say their babies sleep better in 1 to 3 nights.

The Zen Swaddle^® is made for newborns thru 6 months. And for those that are too big for a swaddle, yet not quite prepared to quit it altogether, Nested Bean created the Zen Sack^™.

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It is reversible and features a zipper making it super easy to place baby in and take him out.

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And the design is award winning. The Juvenile Products Manufacturer’s Association awarded the Zen Swaddle with an innovation award for its ingenious design and The Zen Swaddle was chosen as one of the finalists in the competition for ” Swaddles”Snuggliest. Nice!!

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The Zen Swaddle retails starting at $28.99 and the Zen Sack starts at $33.99 and has different designs. And the best thing is shipping in the US is absolutely FREE! Yes! That’s a deal if you factor in the value of the sleep you and your baby will regain using this system and it works!

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Celebrity

‘Power’s Naturi Naughton Gets a Surprise Baby Shower

Posted on April 27, 2017

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Power actress Naturi Naughton was caught off guard by a surprise baby shower a few friends threw for her recently. The petite star took to Instagram to express her gratitude for the gesture by her friends.

“OMG!A Surprise baby shower!! ???Thank u @yasmine_pearl & @breshawebb 4 doing this 4 me! #truefriendship #LALove #Grateful #ItsReallyhardTosurpriseMe #IAskTooManyQuestions ? #SoBlessed #Mommy2Be” the former member of the trio 3LW captioned a photo of herself being embraced by her two friends.

Naugton and her beau Ben are expecting their first child together. She told PEOPLE that the pregnancy was a surprise but that she had been getting loads of support from the cast and crew of her his STARZ! Network show which is in its 4th season and has already been renewed for a 5th season.

“They’ve been really good at keeping it on the low, but they’re also super excited,” she told the mag. “Omari [Hardwick], who plays my husband, we have kids on the show and he’s like, ‘Now you get to be experiencing motherhood in real life!’ Everyone’s been really supportive.”

Naughton, who is also known for her standout role as “Lil Kim” in the Biggie Smalls biopic Notorious, said she’s been having a good pregnancy so far.

“It’s been a little surreal, but I feel really good, healthy and strong,” she told the magazine.“I feel like being pregnant and entering this new stage has made me stronger and more excited about life in general. Everything seems so much more purposeful.”

Power returns on June 25th. I am almost caught up and have one more season to go to catch up! She’s been on a promotional tour and looking fab too:

OMG!A Surprise baby shower!! ???Thank u @yasmine_pearl & @breshawebb 4 doing this 4 me! #truefriendship #LALove #Grateful #ItsReallyhardTosurpriseMe #IAskTooManyQuestions ? #SoBlessed #Mommy2Be
A post shared by Naturi Naughton (@naturi4real) on Apr 24, 2017 at 10:16pm PDT

#LA #PressDay #Day1 Fab Glam by @takishahair @syd4makeup & @mrenriquemelendez ❤️#PowerTV
A post shared by Naturi Naughton (@naturi4real) on Apr 24, 2017 at 4:41pm PDT

#PressDay #Day2 #PowerTV #LALife Thx 2 my glam @syd4makeup & @xavierlwestbrook 4 hookin me up! ??
A post shared by Naturi Naughton (@naturi4real) on Apr 25, 2017 at 3:09pm PDT

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Parenting

We Are Experiencing The Rise of the ‘Bully Moms’

Posted on April 26, 2017

Women may be stereotyped as “catty” but the truth of the matter is, generally, we sometimes are most judgmental of one another and often, we do, in fact, prey on each other’s insecurities. We then use them to impose and dictate our standards onto other women and shame them when they don’t measure up.

I’m guilty of this for sure.

Moms do this too.

Heck, the Mommy Wars is all about Judgy Judy McJudsons, and in fact, a recent survey of millennial moms reveal that 80 percent of them have been shamed by other moms. le sigh

Getting bullied and made to feel inadequate by the popular girls and cliques was supposed to end at high school graduation, right?

But it doesn’t.

In a new piece by Anne Roderique Jones in MarieClaire published today, Jones describes the “Bully Moms” (also the title of the article”) who are fueled by social media and pop culture.

I love how Jones starts:

You can’t identify a mean mom by her Birkin bag or her lycra Lululemons. She comes in all sizes and socio-economic classes and lives in no specific zip code, rearing her head in the heartland, crunchy California, the Deep South, New York City. But you know a mean mom when you meet one: She criticizes your parenting style, calls you out on Facebook, or slathers you in snark. These are the mean girls, all grown up and blossomed into adult bullies with kids of their own. You’ve probably encountered a few at your local playground. Hell, maybe you are one.

The author then goes on to perfectly explain the evolution of “Keeping up With the Jones” from the perfect TV families to Reality TV wives and beyond:

I hesitate to blame pop culture for the mom-on-mom hate, but life does imitates art. Our parents’ generation grew up watching scripted sitcoms with impeccably behaved children (The Brady Bunch, Happy Days) and modeled their own actions accordingly. But as our entertainment appetites evolved, so did the way we treat each other … Girls who watched ‘The Simple Life’ as teens in the mid-aughts are now moms hooked on ‘The Real Housewives.’

In a world dominated by Pinterest and Instagram, is being a mother (which women have been doing since the beginning of time, mind you) starting to become an endless race towards perfection, lest you get called out for being anything less? Do we all have to keep up with the clever birth announcements, the gender reveal parties, the elaborate maternity shoots, the professional post-birth shots in the hospital ward? I recently came across a post in my feed of a beautiful blonde woman wearing an off-the-shoulder shirt with #MomLife scrolled in gold letters across the front. It’s all a perfectly curated existence, this motherhood thing.

Maybe moms today—with the pressure to be selfie-level beautiful, to cook Instagram-worthy (organic) meals, to plan lavish playdates, and to maintain a career so they can, in many cases, not just contribute to their household but be the breadwinner or even the sole source of income—are just too damn exhausted.

Fascinating and sadly accurate!

Head on over to MarieClaire.com and digest the rest.

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Celebrity

We Now Know Why Serena Williams Deleted Her Pregnant Snap Right Away

Posted on April 26, 2017

During an interview with Gayle King recently at the Ted Talks conference on Tuesday in Vancouver Canada, Serena Williams said that she did not mean to make a pregnancy announcement on Snapchat.

Rather, she explained, she was doing one of her personal weekly pregnancy progression photo for her own documentation using her phone but accidentally hit the “share” button. Oops!

“I was on vacation just taking some time for myself and I have this thing where I’ve been checking my status and taking pictures every week to see how far along I’m going,” the 23-time Tennis Grand Slam chat said. “I didn’t tell a lot of people to be quite honest and I’d been saving it,” Williams said about staying mum about being preggers. “On social media, you press the wrong button and… Thirty minutes later I missed four calls and I’m like, ‘That’s weird.’ ”

That explains why she rapidly deleted the snap afterwards. She was totally caught off guard. Some had speculated that perhaps she wasn’t pregnant but was just toying with her fans and followers. But the business woman and Nike brand ambassador said she was set to tell the news anyway.

“But it was a good moment. I was only going to wait five or six more days [to share].” she added.

This week, her fiance, Alex Ohanian, who is the co-founder of Reddit released his own official pregnancy announcement that featured an Reddit avatar of himself and Serena, with the caption, “A new Snoo is on the way!” He was referencing the Reddit brand mascot which is a little alien called Snoo.

A new Snoo is on the way! https://t.co/qTOXiysuJ9 pic.twitter.com/XC534R7zw4
— Alexis Ohanian (@alexisohanian) April 24, 2017

Sooo cute!

photo: Ryan Lash / TED

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Tips

Want to Know What Color Your Future Baby’s Eyes Will Be? Answer Isn’t Simple

Posted on April 26, 2017

Expecting moms (and dads) often wonder what color eyes their baby will have when it is born.

While designer babies genetic manipulation is on the horizon, it isn’t here yet so a lot of folks just have to wait it out.

The color of a person’s eyes depends on the amount of pigment called melanin present in the eye iris (melanin is also responsible for skin color).

People with blue eyes have little melanin while people with brown eyes have lots more melanin. Those with another eye color fall usually somewhere in between these 2 ends of the spectrum.

Newborns inherit genes from both mom and dad. The combination of genes from these two will predict what color the baby’s eyes will be.

All babies, with a few exceptions, are born with blue, gray or brown, or black eyes.

Generally speaking, newborns with fairer skin have less melanin and thus are more likely to have blue eyes, while newborns with darker skin have more melanin and will be probably be born with brown or black eyes.

However, it would be a mistake to think that only brown-eyed babies can come out of brown-eyed parents because while the likelihood is high, you never know how genes will manifest themselves in offsprings.

Also, don’t forget, many babies eye colors change as they age.

This usually happens with babies with lighter eyes as they gain more melanin as they get older

Parents with Different Eye Color

A baby may not inherit the same eye color as either of his parents.

The reason is that because carry 2 children for each gene, one from the mother and one from my father. These 2 versions of each gene are called “alleles” and in some cases some are more dominant than others. In eyeglass control eyelashes, brown is dominant in blue, but a baby can inherit the recessive gene from one or both parents.

To better understand the above, assign the letter ‘B’ to brown eyes and the letter ‘b’ to blue eyes (each person has a combination of 2 eye color genes, one inherited from each parent). Because we know that the brown eye gene (B) is dominant to the blue eye gene (b), then a brown-haired baby may have either the ‘BB’ or ‘Bb’ combination, while a blue-eyed baby can only be ‘bb’. Got it?

So, if we say the mother has blue eyes and the father’s eyes are brown, then a blue-eyed baby will be born like this:

The father has brown eyes, so he has one of the 2 possible combinations, either ‘Bb’ or ‘BB’. The dominance is brown (B) to blue, so blue is called the recessive gene.
Mom has blue eyes, so the only possibility she can have is ‘bb’.
Thus, for the baby to have blue eyes, the father must have a pair of ‘Bb’ genes and transmit the recessive gene ‘b’ to the baby. The mother will only be able to convey to the baby a ‘b’ gene. The resulting combination for the baby is in this case ‘bb’, so the baby will have blue eyes.
If the father had the ‘BB’ combination, it would not have been possible for the baby to have blue eyes.

If both parents have brown eyes, but the baby has blue eyes, it means that each parent has a combination of ‘Bb’ genes and both have passed the recessive gene ‘b’ to the baby. If at least one of the parents had transmitted the dominant B-gene to the baby, then the result would have been a baby with brown eyes.

Again, it’s all genetics and they’re quite unpredictable and thus why even scientists and geneticists have a difficult time telling parents for sure what to expect.

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Jeneba Jalloh Ghatt