LilSugar

Lil Apparel: Spike & Annie

LilSugar — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 11:00:18 -0800

The holidays may be over, but many of us don't feel as if we've had a vacation, so we're planning an actual getaway for 2009. As most moms and pops aren't able to take a tot-free jaunt, we've got to get them geared up.

The adorable clothing line, Spike & Annie, takes resortwear for kids to a whole new level. The youthful collection of frocks, swimsuits, and playwear is a bright addition to your lil ones vacation and Spring threads. I am especially fond of the line of adorable bathing suits the Beach Baby Two Piece Bathing Suit, which turn lil cuties into bathing beauties - more than enough to melt a mommy's heart.

Spike & Annie: 2-Piece ($96)

Shade Your Growing Belly at the Beach With a Stylish Coverup

LilSugar — Tue, 26 May 2009 12:00:07 -0700

Once an expectant mama's picked out the best swimsuit to flatter her curvaceous figure, it's time to select something to protect that baby belly. From expensive designer tunics to inexpensive dresses, take a look at some of our favorite beach coverups that are sand, sea, and poolside appropriate.

This strapless, lightweight Motherhood Smocked Dress ($20) is made of a poly/cotton blend, which can be worn both on and off the beach.
Lilly Pulitzer's linen beaded beach cover up ($140) features her signature color patterns, one-button closure, and plenty of detail to keep it interesting.
Motherhood's babydoll swim coverup ($25) can double as a sun dress and is made from a cotton/spandex blend that will dry quickly.
Old Navy's embroidered tunic ($25) can be worn over a bathing suit or a pair of cropped white pants to create a go-to Summer outfit.
A Pea in the Pod's keyhole swim coverup ($58) will keep a mama's belly covered while exposing her décolleté.
The smocked swim coverup ($68) brings a lot of color and detail to the traditional tunic – with bell sleeves and embroidery, as well as a smocked neckline.

Do You Object to Nude Babies at the Beach?

LilSugar — Wed, 20 May 2009 08:00:47 -0700

In foreign countries babies strip down to their diapers or bare bums and tear across the beach enjoying the sunshine, water and freedom from clothing. Girls and women go topless and wade in the surf wearing just bottoms and no one bats an eye or does a double take. But in America, most people keep themselves and their kids - even wee babes - covered with a pair of swim trunks or a bathing suit. Does it bother you when youngsters soak up warm weather in just their birthday suits?

Simple or Swank: Tankini Maternity Swimsuits

LilSugar — Tue, 19 May 2009 05:00:49 -0700

Memorial Day weekend signals the beginning of Summer - a season filled with pool parties, beach outings and lakeside barbecues. For expectant mamas, it also means shopping for a bathing suit that will take them through the warm months as their tummies expand. Tankini style suits flatter almost every body shape and provide pregnant women with the added benefit of being able to easily use the restroom without completely undressing.

Simple: The hardware-detailed Motherhood tankini is sold as two separate pieces ($37 total), allowing mamas to select the perfect top and bottom for their body. It also gives you the option to purchase additional tops that match the bottoms to create more options at a fraction of the price of entire new ensembles.

Swank: The Prego Black Ring-Kini ($70) has a supportive cross-over style bra top and also includes decorative hardware on its straps.

Which do you prefer?

Lilly Pulitzer's Celeb Studded Jubilee Collection

LilSugar — Fri, 08 May 2009 04:00:16 -0700

Preppy chic never goes out of style and after 50 years of "Palm Beach" socialite design, Lilly Pulitzer is celebrating its golden jubilee with some of our favorite mamas. The company worked with nine celebrity moms to create "Mommy and Me" looks for bathing suits, tunics, dresses and tops featuring the design house's famed patterned prints. Perfect for Mother's Day, or Summer picnics, the garments reflect Lilly Pulitzer's classic silhouettes.

Among the famous mommies involved in the collection are Gwyneth Paltrow (whose bathing suits are featured here), Brooke Shields, Angie Harmon, Bridget Moynahan, Garcelle Beauvais-Nilon, Marcia Cross and Debra Messing. A portion of the Mommy and Me collection sales will benefit EBMRF, a non-profit organization devoted to finding the cure for Epidermolysis Bullosa, a rare skin condition.

Kelly Rutherford Battles Ex on Son's Safety Around Home Pool

babysugar — Thu, 21 May 2009 08:00:47 -0700

All a youngster needs to hear is the words, "swimming pool," to dash in and slip into a bathing suit. For parents, an open body of water means entertaining the "what ifs" that can cause stress and panic. Even well skilled wee swimmers fall victim to tragedy in an unsupervised pool.

Gossip Girl's very pregnant Kelly Rutherford is in a battle with her estranged husband, Daniel Giersch, over pool safety at his residence. Concerned for her 2-year-old son, Hermes' safety, the actress went as far as hiring a private eye to tape her ex's home for three days to illustrate the danger his uncovered pool poses to their young son. In court documents, Giersch said:

Hermes is not in any danger whatsoever with regard to my pool because I have the pool fully covered with an automatic pool cover. Hermes has no access to the pool area unless I take him to the pool myself.

Would you allow your child to stay or visit a home with an uncovered pool?
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Five Easy Ways To Exercise With the Kids

LilSugar — Sun, 22 Mar 2009 06:00:07 -0700

As bathing suit season looms, many moms find themselves desperate to increase the fitness regime and lose their back fat or saddle bags. Finding time away from the kids to exercise is often a tough task, and workouts tend to get cut from the "to do" lists. Check our slideshow for ways to get moving with your mini mes. Source

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Parenting Q&A: Getting Son Dressed Is Causing Such Distress!

LilSugar — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 08:00:48 -0800

Q. My two-year-old hates getting dressed. It’s a daily struggle to get him into pants and a shirt. Why did this happen so suddenly, he never minded being outfitted before?

A. The job of a two-year-old is to establish independence from mommy and daddy. The job of mommy and daddy is to help him understand boundaries and ground rules so his new found need to be independent isn’t harmful. Why so sudden the Tim Gunn attitude? Because he just realized he has the magical power of Choice.

To see the rest of Lonna's answer, read more.

Go ahead, let him choose, but set those choices up for him. Only provide pants, shirts and socks you approve of and let him choose from those. Get the Spiderman costume out of the closet for a while if he’s choosing that for school. The teachable moment here is in telling him there are appropriate clothes for home and appropriate clothes for the outside world. Give him plenty of examples, would he wear his bathing suit in the snow? Would mommy wear her PJ’s to work? Parents should not be afraid to be firm with clothing rules. It isn’t a fashion judgment - it is a part of being in the real world. Most people frown upon anyone in sleepwear in public. If he throws a fit then the plans for the day are put off until he wears appropriate clothes.

- Lonna Corder

Parenting expert and Montessori school director, Lonna Corder has been doling out advice for 25 years as a teacher, parent/child consultant and on television. For more information, visit lonnacorder.com.

If you're at your wit's end about an issue and want another take on the situation, private message your question to lilsugar. We'll be running this feature all week!

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Interview With Liz Lange: Best Maternity Wardrobe Splurge!

LilSugar — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 07:00:03 -0800

Liz Lange creates designer duds and affordable frocks for the masses. Whether you are pinching pennies or doling out dollars, any expectant mama can afford a piece of the fashion mogul's signature clothing. While chatting about the relaunch of her high end line, Liz dished on wardrobe staples as well as items worth a splurge!

lilsugar: What one item should a woman splurge on during her pregnancy?

Liz Lange: I love a great little dress, like a fun dress. I find to me that is like practically wearing a nightgown it is so comfortable, and yet you look so pulled together and so great and so sexy and so chic. There’s a dress on our line called the Tina dress in a palm-leaf coral print and I just think it is so universally flattering, so cute and so happy. I think there are really two ways to spend this Spring. Either you are going to spend on something so practical that it is just an investment piece that you are just going to turn to again and again and it is so versatile that you know you can just wear it to death. Or I think also it is something that is irresistible and that is going to make you feel so happy and so cute every time you put it on, even if it's not one of those things that you can wear every day of the week and I would put the Tina dress in that [category].

The Cathy Off-the-Shoulder Top you could wear with your white jeans or your dark jeans, you could wear it over your bathing suit this Summer. Depending on how tall you are, you could probably wear it as a little mini dress with a pair or slides or flip flops. I’m having that piece made for me. I love it. I just think you want there to be some pieces that are just special to you and make you happy. Don’t just treat your pregnancy wardrobe strictly like a commodity-driven thing. Have a little fun with it – even in this horrible economy. This is still such an exciting time for you and you should indulge yourself a little bit.

I do believe in mixing and matching and that is why I do the line with Target – because I am a huge believer. The other way to make your maternity wardrobe look super expensive is if you haven’t outgrown any of your accessories. I love costume, I collect costume jewelry, the chunkier the better. Load it up with bling – and it doesn’t have to be real. Just add some fun, and that’s stuff you already own. The same goes for your shoes, and scarves and your cardigans that maybe you can’t button any more that are fun pop colors and you can throw on unbuttoned and tie around your neck just to change things up.

lilsugar: Your line at Target revolutionized maternity-wear beyond the mumu and empire tops. Do you plan to make any changes to that line now?

Liz Lange: That line we’ve always tried to keep connected to our high-end line. I just love that line for Target. Beyond its price point, that I find to be genius, that line is a little bit more casual. We’ve always done a lot of denim on that line. [It] has been in place for six year and it works as it is. The only change is that as seasons change and inspirations change, I’m only one person so I’m always kind of inspired by similar things for both lines.

Check out Liz Lange's tips for maintaining work-life balance, and the joys of motherhood in tomorrow's post. You can see the entire interview by clicking here.

Why Didn't Anybody Tell Me? Bathtub Disaster

babysugar — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 04:00:45 -0700

Yesterday was a strange day for me. Not a particularly productive day at the office, I was unusually wiped out for some reason when I got home. Hubby had other dinner plans so I was only responsible for feeding my lil one. After her dinner, I put on my pajamas and got ready for her bath time.

To see what bathroom disaster occurred, read more.

After I got comfy, I stripped my babe down to her birthday suit ready to plop her in the tub. A big fan of tub time, she played with the bubbles and her toys while kicking and splashing like the wild child she is. After a crazed moment, she froze and locked her eyes into mine. Then she leaned a tad to her left – away from me. I thought to myself, she's about to toot. Unfortunately, she had more in store than that. She pulled a Caddy Shack and presented a live Baby Ruth. Horrified, I grabbed her out of the tub and left her two "friends" bobbing about the water.

Thankfully I had a mini trash bag right next to the sink to grab the floaters. I put her to bed, ate my meal and spent the rest of the night bleaching and scrubbing the tub. Oh the joys of motherhood.

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