5 Reasons Why You Should Sign Up For A Baby Swimming Class

Well, that is if you actually have aformentioned baby. If not, joining one of these classes could be considered a bit creepy. Just saying. You know, looking back on my first 16 months of being a parent, I really don't have many regrets. Obviously not everything has been perfect. But I tried my best making the best decisions I could, and thankfully they turned out pretty well in the end. There is only one thing I regret, and that's not enrolling into a baby swimming class sooner. I just started a couple of months ago, and looking at all these moms with their itty bitty babies made me feel like we missed out on something.

So if you are a new mom, I dearly recommend enrolling into one of these swimming classes as soon as you're ready! Obviously you need to be fit enough to participate in some mild phsycical activity, so you should be healed up nicely from your birth. Also your baby should be big enough to hold it's own tempature to avoid hymothermia. Our pool advices to start taking classes from 12 weeks and up. Most public swimming pools organize special baby swimming classes. The water is usually warmed up a bit more, they have extra changing tables set up around the pool area and they have a special swimming instructor teaching you and your baby to be comfortable in the water together in a fun, playfull way. There are a lot of benefits to starting these classes early, probably way more than I can think of! But here are five to get you started!

1. Fun! 

Well first of all, it's a lot of fun! There are a lot of other babies around which always seems to facinate the tiny ones. Babies and small children are automatically drawn to each other and it's so adorable to see them socialize. There are toys, games and alot of singing and playfulness. It's just a very fun activity to shake up your regular mommy and baby time.

2. Water safety!

Besides fun, these classes also teach you and your baby a lot about water safety. During these classes your baby will learn to be comfortable in the water and to not panic when he or she goes under for a second. It also teaches very basic survival skills, such as clinging onto floating objects. It is very important for all children at every age to have the basic survival skills in water. You never know when they could come in handy!

3. Exercise!

Let's face it, picking up our old exercise routine after giving birth can be pretty difficult. This is a fun and easy way to get some genlte exercise going and get you in the right direction. Plus, you are surrounded by new moms, so nobody is judging you on that extra babyweight you're carrying around. It is also a way of gently introducing exercise to your baby.

4. Bonding!

 Well, this one is a bit of a given really. Any activity will help you bound with your baby. Swimming together can be a great bonding experience as well and it can build alot of trust between parent and baby.

5. Development!

It is a great way of developing your baby's coordination and fine motor skills. Like jumping though a hole in a floating object or grabbing a small toy from the water. Plus, since your baby is getting used to being in the water from a young age,  there will be an advantage once it's time for real swimming lessons.

So there you have it! Five reasons why you should join a baby swimming class! Have you ever been to a baby swimming class or are you planning to anytime soon? I'd love to hear about your experience! 

Love,

Tessa

Rediscovered & Repurposed- Hidden Treasure!

Yes, we've all been there. We all remember buying that cute little item on a whim that ended up in the back of a closet somewhere without ever being used. It's just something that happens every once in a while. You get seduced by a great deal, a cute color or a fun shopping trip you just don't want to end. And that's exactly what happened to me when I bought this little wallet over 5 years ago. In all honesty, I knew from the start this wasn't a very practical wallet. First of all it's way too small and it doesn't have a zipper compartment for coins. And I'm really a full blown wallet kind of girl anyway. But I convinced myself that I would get a coinpurse to go along with it and that it would do just fine. Yeah, right!

Now I picked up a new bag about two months ago and since it only has one big compartment, I was constantly struggling to find my keys. I decided I needed a big chuncky keychain. That's when I remembered this wallet and that I would actually love something like that as a keychain. So I took a nail and decided to heat it up with a lighter and poke a hole on one side of the wallet. I then collected a couple of keyrings and attached them to the wallet and voila! I had just the kind of keychain I was looking for! And yes, it did take this genius 5 years to come up with this briliant idea, haha! 

Now since it originally started off as a wallet, it comes with a couple of handy perks. It's a keychain with a couple of cardslots and a compartment to store those daily essentials in. It already has all my keys on it, but it can also hold my access card for work and some debet- or creditcards. Which is so handy when you just want to run out of the house for a quick errand. I got everthing I need in this little thing and I absolutely love it! It works so much better as a keychain than it ever could as a wallet!

So it got me wondering, could there be more hidden treasure awaiting a new goal in life? Could I turn that huge knitted sweater into a cool infinity scarf? Can I take those cute flower applications from my daughters headbands and turn them into cute broches for her blazers and jackets? Have you ever succesfully rediscovered and repurposed anything? I would love to hear your ideas!

Kisses,
Tessa

What I got for mother's day!

Well, I'm back! It's been a while since my last post. When I started this blog, I never really thought about the direction I wanted to take it. It was just a way to document my first clumsy attempts at this new thing called motherhood. But I'm at a different place now. I'm not a rooky anymore. So I though about the purpose of this blog and if it shouldn't turn into something more than just a mommy blog. But as you can tell, I've been pretty indecisive about it all. But that doesn't mean I didn't think about blogging, I do so all the time! Truth of the matter is, I love writing these little pieces, whether I'm going somewhere with it or not.

So I'll just continue down this road and stray from the mommy stuf here and there. Just the next chapter if you will. Eventhough being a mommy is still a huge part of my life and I love my little nugget to pieces! So there will still be plenty of mommy stuff to go around! 

In the meanwhile I thought I'd share the goodies I got for Mother's day. I got this lovely little painting Charlotte made at the daycare centre and this lovely fragrance by Lacoste. I love it! Last week was actually the first time in my adult life I actually ran out of perfume! I always had plenty of bottles on my dresser and there was a time I even matched the fragrance to the outfit I was wearing that day. Oh, how things have changed! Haha! But this fragrance is perfect for spring and summer, so I don't really need anything else at the moment. I hope everyone had a wonderfull mother's day as well! See you soon! :)

Kisses,

Tessa 

OOTD - Trenchcoats!

Spring is here, and that means all kind of exciting things, The sun is coming out, we get to plan all sorts of fun outdoor activities and we get to break out those cute wardrobe pieces that have been stuffed away in our closets for the last couple of month. I'm particulary excited about wearing my trenchcoat again. It's such an awsome staple piece! It goes with everything and it suitable for every occasion!

So today I went for a turquoise trenchcoat by the brand Spoom and paired it with dark blue skinnies from Vila, a silky beige top from Broadway, suede beige wedges from Tamaris, earrings from miniinthebox.com and my speedy 30 damier azur by Louis Vuitton. This will probably be my go to outfit this spring! Here are some close ups from this outfit:

For Charlotte we went for a beige trenchcoat by H&M which is simply adorable with the little bow on it! We paired it with a printed tee and brown leggings, also from H&M. Her little booties are by the brand Ugg and the headband is from some online store, I can't remember which one, sorry! And here are some close ups from her outfit:

So these are the outfits we'll probably end up wearing alot this spring! Do you have your spring wardrobe sorted yet?

Kisses!

Humble Crumble!

I'm back with something different this week. A yummy recipe! This is one of my absolute favorites at the moment and I have been making it atleast once a week for the last couple of months. We simply can't get enough of it! It's so quick and easy to make and it is absolutely delicious! Plus it's a way better altenative than pie or a piece of cake!

Ingredients

1 apple
2 pears
1 box of frozen forrest fruits (9 oz)
3½ oz  rolled oats

2 oz plain flour
1½ oz margerine (or butter)
1½ oz light demerara sugar
1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon

Now these measurements don't have to be very exact. If you add a little more of this and a little less of that, that's absolutely fine. It's pretty much impossible to mess this one up. Make it once and you can petty much eye ball it the next time.

Recipe
Chop up the apple and the pears and mix them together with the frozen forrest fruits and the ground cinnamon. After everything is mixed up, thow it into a slightly buttered oven dish.

Take the rolled oats, the flour, the margarine and the demerara sugar and knead the ingredients into a ball. Take the ball and crumble it over the oven dish.

Pop it into the oven for 50 minutes on 350 degrees and voila! You have an absolutely delicious treat! If you eat it warm it is absolutely delicious with a scoop of vanila ice-cream. If you eat it cold it's great with a bit of whipped cream on the side or in your morning yoghurt! Try and enjoy! You won't be disappointed!

Kisses!

The 3 Different Stages of Baby Footwear!

Since Charlotte is becoming quite the confident walker, we decided it was time to have her first real baby shoes fitted. I'm quite the experienced shoe shopper if I may say so myself, but shopping for your baby is a completely different ball game. Especially if you only want the absolute best for your child. Apparently there is more to buying baby footwear than getting their feet measured and picking up some cute little shoes. Here's what we have learned about baby shoe shopping so far!

Stage one/The Prewalker
During the first few months of your babies life all you need is something that will keep those little footsies nice and warm. But when it's time for your baby to start standing and doing her (or his!) first little steps, it's time for some more serious footwear. The shoes that are ideal for this first stage have non-slip soft soles and elasticized ankles to make sure the shoes stay on. Since your baby will still be crawling alot during this stage, it can be fairly easy to lose a shoe. These shoes vary from simple booties to real full-blown shoes. An example:

Stage Two/The Confident Walker
The shoes that are ideal  for this stage have flexible thin soles that have curved edges to preferent tripping and falling over (very important!). These are already real shoes that are perfect for the first steps outside the house. During the previous stage you could still get away with a simple inexpensive bootie, but during this stage it's time to invest in a good quality leather shoe. Get them professionally fitted and expect to pay atleast 40 bucks for them. Opt for a shoe that has a removable sole. It's easier to take it out and place it on your babies foot to see if it still fits properly. Expect a shoe like this to last for an avarage of 3 months before you have to start shopping for the next size up. An example:

Stage three/The Running Arround Like a Pro Walker
When your baby really mastered this whole walking thing it's time to move on to the next stage. A normal good quality shoe with a regular light weight sole. It's very important that these shoes have a good decent footbed and offer enough stability. Since we're not at this stage yet, I can't show you what these look like, so I just photographed my own Uggs. I'm embarrased to say that these are the only shoes in the house with a normal flat sole. But you catch my drift! :) The not so good example:

I'm very satisfied with the shoes we picked out for Charlotte and the advice we were given. We tried her new shoes out in the woods today and eventhough the underground was pretty uneven, she had alot of stability! I know for a fact that I will not shop for baby shoes online anytime soon. I really recommend getting baby shoes at a real store. They can really help you determine the right size and the right kind of shoe for your little sprout. Remember that those little feet have to last a lifetime!

Kisses!

Dress for Less - Premium Outlet Shopping Haul!

Yes, we went shopping! I figured we deserved some retail therapy! I got some great deals, so I thought I'd share them with you. All items were purchased at the official factory outlet stores at a premium outlet centre. All for a fraction of the original price. If you love shopping just as much as I do, I dearly recommend checking out if there are any premium outlet centres in your area. Check http://www.premiumoutlets.com/ and http://www.mcarthurglen.com/ for a location near you. The closest one to my my home is actually a two hour drive away, but I still think It's worth to drive up there once or twice a year. Now you will find stuff that's from a previous season, but I don't mind personally. Alot of these brands carry basics that will never go out of style really. Besides, I have a one year old so I shop alot in advance anyway because she goes through sizes so quickly! She hardly ever wears clothes from this season's collection. But enough with the talking, here are our purchases! :)

For Charlotte

First item we got was this cute ralph lauren polodress for the summer! It's in a hot pink and I'll probably pair it with some yellow leggings, hot pink crocs and ofcourse some cute headband! It's a size 2-2t, and that is supposed to fit a 18 month old. I already had Charlotte try it on and it's still a bit long, but I'm sure it will fit perfectly once summer arrives! We got a great deal on this, it was 50% off!

Second item for Charlotte is this cute Tommy Hilfiger cardigan. It's a gorgeous pink and it has a gorgeous shiny silver thread woven into the fabric. I think this will look absolutely adorable paired with a some dark washed jeans and a navy t-shirt underneath. It's a size 2 years, so Charlotte won't be wearing it until next winter. And yet again, we got a great deal on this. It was also 50% off!

For Me

For myself I got this lovely soft pink wool cardigan by Guess. It has a lovely shiny thread and the buttons are to die for! So adorable! It's wool so it does feel a bit ticklish when on. I just have to get used to that I guess. Also a great deal, it was 70% off. 

The last item I got was this basic brown sweater by Tommy Hilfiger. I didn't really own sweaters to be honest, but I think this is going to be so cosy in and around the house and while playing with Charlotte. It's very basic so not difficult to pair at all, but I'll probably pair it with a some denim chino's, brown ballerina flats and my brown Burberry bag. I think this is going to be my go to outfit for the weekends! Oh, and I also got an amazing deal on this sweater, It was also 70% off!

And do you know how much I spend in total on all these items? Only 119,99! Haha! Love it! So, are you premium outlet shopping yet?

Kisses!