When I discovered Eloquii years ago, I was bittersweet. I was so excited to find a plus size brand that sold trendy, chic items but bitter because I could not afford it at the time. Now that I am blessed to be able to, about 85% of my wardrobe is of this brand. They also have the best sales! Not too long ago, Eloquii partnered with Walmart on an Elements collection focusing on everyday fashion at modest prices. What I love about this line is even though the prices are significantly lower than other pieces on the site, the quality is still there. When I saw the release, I rushed to Walmart.com, where I saw it first and picked up a few things.
This peplum jacket can be worn many ways, but I opted to wear it as a jacket in a casual manner! I went a size up in case I decide to wear it as a shirt and what I love about this outfit is that no only is it comfortable and warm, it is easy to chase my one year old!
Even though the next two tops are long sleeved, they are so comfy. Florals have always been my thing since I was a young teenager. You can get the floral top here.
Who doesn’t love animal print? Even though I’m wearing this leopard top in a casual manner, it is still versatile and can be worn dressy, not to mention animal prints are neutral
Check out their entire collection at Eloquii.com or you can even visit Walmart’s site here.
Even though quarantine didn’t give us much of a summer, I’m still trying to hold on a little bit longer and this fun, colorful dress from the Eva Mendes line at New York and Company is helping me pretty great! This is probably my favorite dress of the season and I am definitely going to hold on to it to really take it for a spin in 2021.
Click on the dress here, and use the code NYCOFANS for $15 off of your purchase of $30 or more!
We have a 9 month old guys! Well, she’ll be knocking on 10 months soon, but our baby is growing! I look at this little human everyday and just thank God that I was able to give life to such a beautiful little person. Not many make it to this moment. So it is a blessing, I tell you.
Harper’s Growth Journey
What’s Harper Up To?
She is now on her feet trying to walk. She takes a few steps and then plops on the floor, but she crawls like a ninja! Its fun to watch her explore things in our home, especially the things she sees us use on a daily basis. So the kitchen is her favorite place to be and standing up on everything. Baby-proofing is still a work in progress so we’re kind of glad that she isn’t quite up on her feet permanently.
At her 9 month checkup, we were excited that her Pediatrician cleared her for table food, but still stay formula until she is one. We still give her baby food because we don’t want to rush things with her. We learned that slow and steady wins the race, plus she surprises us when she wants to advance to the next level. Sweets are her thing and she will only eat meat and veggies, if it’s human meats and veggies. That jar food is for the birds! “Mama, Dada, Nana and Papa” are her favorite words and she loves to scream at the top of her lungs.
9 month checkup
We introduced Harper to the pool and she loved it! One of my goals is to get her in the water so we can start learning how to swim. I think swimming is more of a requirement than a privilege so it is very important she learns that. Harper thinks the swing is a mechanism for her to go to sleep so when we put her in the swing for the very first time, her eyes were getting heavy! We may revisit that a little later.
Harper’s Hair
I’m loving her hair! Her curls are starting to evolve and it’s completely different from mine. She has thick curly hair and I have about 20 minutes to wash, detangle, and style her hair before she gets upset. Currently, my favorite products to use on her are from the Auntie Jackie’s Curls & Coils Line. My favorite styles to do for her are finger coils, mini twists, and now that her hair is longer, I create small ponytails all over and coil the ends. As her hair gets longer and thicker, I switch up her routine a little bit, meaning wash days could be once a week or every two weeks. For her, less manipulation is key and also results in a happy baby and less tiresome mommy.
How are you doing as Parents?
Sleep is still non-existent! 😅 But we definitely enjoy every minute we have with her. Although we have fun, it is very challenging and we don’t always get it right. Sometimes Harper will wake up in the middle of the night crying and it takes us about 20 minutes to figure it out. There are days where we struggle to work or work on other things and she really wants our attention. Sometimes we wonder if we’re doing something wrong. But we never compare our child to someone else’s. Or compare ourselves to other parents. We all have difference journey’s in life and the more we focus on Harper and our family, we thrive. Its been less stressful, not to mention we keep “advice” to a minimum. There isn’t a handbook on parenthood and outsiders don’t have a handbook on your child.
Can we ever prepare for the upcoming years as a parent?
We can prepare as much as we want but we will never be ready. We don’t know what Harper will be like 5, 10, 15 years from now so the main thing we are doing is working on ourselves as individuals, as husband and wife so we can be the best parents for her. A lot of people are really against marriage before children, but a healthy marriage is a healthy family. But, we’ll talk about that soon. Despite COVID-19, God is still blessing me and my family and we cannot wait to see how the rest of the year plays out.
Harper is almost 8 months and Mother’s Day has passed, but I’m glad I got this post out. Happy Mother’s Day to all your amazing mothers, I hope it was a blessed one. Happy Reading!
Wow. I never thought I’d see the day where I would become someone’s mother. It seems like it was just yesterday I was showing my husband the positive pregnancy test the day before Valentine’s Day. Here we are, with this little beautiful human being that I get to call my very own.
She’s only 7 months, but she is the happiest baby I’ve seen in such a long time. She’s always smiling, no matter what time of day it is. She marches to the beat of her own drum. She’s on her own development timeline. One thing I learned early on, is to not compare her to any other baby or anyone else’s parental styles. She says “mama” so effortlessly and says “da-da” whenever she wants, not when you say. She’s crawling. Everywhere. Standing up on anything she can. She doesn’t like to be alone and she must be near mommy and daddy. Sometimes, she’s in her own world and my husband and I will just look at her and say, “that little human is ours. She’s not going back to anyone. She’s here to stay. Our arms is where she likes to cuddle in.” I find myself looking at her older pictures (which I have coordinated by month) and just sit here in amazement that not long ago, I gave birth to a whole human.
I thought we had enough to time to baby proof our home but I blinked and she’s everywhere. My husband and I had so many plans to travel with her, show her what the world has to offer, but things have altered a little due to COVID-19, something that we will have to tell her years from now. Which reminds me; there are so many things that I have to teach her. I am her foundation in how she will navigate this world. Mother’s Day made me realize that I have a lot of work ahead of me.
To my Baby girl:
I knew you were coming. I dreamt of you during a time where being a mom was nonexistent. I never thought I would experience it because I didn’t think I’d be a good mother. You know, I didn’t have the best role model when it came to emulating a mother I aspired to be. Sadly, I don’t have those fairytale mother/daughter stories.
And then your dad and I found out we were having you. The anxiety! The expectations! I spent the next 9 months analyzing what kind of mother I wanted to be for you. You deserve those fairytale mother/daughter moments. You deserve my endless support as your mother. You deserve my guidance and friendship, and most importantly, my respect. You’re only 7 months but I call you the cutest baby everyday and will later translate to beautiful young lady, then young woman, as you get older.
I can’t wait for our girl talks, trips, outings, disagreements, you questioning my reasonings, conspiring with your dad to give us his credit card to go shopping and so much more. Our relationship will have challenges but it will be beautiful. I can’t wait to be the mom to you that I needed as a little girl. One of my main prayers is to be the most exceptional mother that God wants me to be. I will lovingly embarrass you, vouch for you, brag on you, and be your biggest cheerleader. Do you like those homemade signs people make? Expect one at every graduation! And trust me when I say I have pictures of you for everything! Your father and I will do whatever we humanly can to provide you the life you deserve and where we lack, God will make up for it.
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