Extra, Extra! Read all about it....KRADLE KOUTURE INC. OFFICIALLY OPEN!

Extra, Extra, Read all about it……. Kradle Kouture Inc. officially opens!!

I find this really sentimental to me…With the birth of my handsome son also came along the birth of the coolest new kids’ clothing line – Kradle Kouture Inc.

To usher in the new business and commemorate this occasion, I thought it would be wise and most befitting to have our first viewing at my daughter’s daycare center in Atlanta. The premier collection was called “Tropical Chic”.

Let’s add a little tropical flavor to our kiddie closets! Kradle Kouture Inc. provides an experience of an exciting new genre of kids fashion: a fun expression of modern styles cut out of authentic African design, textiles and themes. These are hand-made Ghanaian inspired treasures made with love for your little treasures!

Please support Kradle Kouture Inc. kids fashions as we aim to give your kid a sense of individuality, creativity and pizzazz because Kradle Kouture Inc. is where…

….”your kids are the fashion icons of the runways…”

The “Tropical Chic” Kradle Kouture Inc. debut collection Trunk Show was a success considering the number of who actually made it into the room for the viewing. Only regret is that I wish there was more participation.

Kradle Kouture Inc. hopes that if you did not get a chance to stop by for the show that you can make it at either of the upcoming trunk shows scheduled throughout the rest of the year. Please look out for all future trunk show dates and details. Most importantly, all inventory items are now available on my etsy page. See below for specific details.

I wanted to share a few snaps from the event.

PS: If you are interested in receiving up-to-date notifications of new posted articles, items and such, please state your interest by sending your email addresses to naabeasi@comcast.net.

Also, visit our online shop on Etsy at www.kradlekouture.etsy.com for complete listing of all our products and a marketplace for our customers to order their pieces.

Please support Kradle Kouture Inc. Thank you so much for your patronage! Hope to hear from you soon.

A Star is born……Kelton-Pierce Owusu-Ansah

KK Bloggers,

Sorry for keeping you in suspense once again but I believe I’m right to say that one tends to not have enough time to even breath after a birth or delivery. So after 41 weeks of pregnancy, several episodes of faint spells, excruciating labor pains and contractions, no epidural (yes you heard me right!), 2 hours in labor and a couple of ‘pushes’, the little stinker decided to make his grand appearance on June 14th 2010 at 1:15 am. Much to my amazement, the boy weighed 8lbs 5ounces, 20in in length! I never knew I could make an 8-pounder.

We named him KELTON–PIERCE KWASI ABEASI OWUSU-ANSAH

His middle name came from my father and with the first name, we decided on something that was similar to that of his father’s name – Kelvin without attaching the JNR, III (the third) or anything like that. I truly believe in everyone having their own sense of identity.

So as I mentioned before, I delivered without an epidural which was kind of disappointing since I had vowed that I would request for 2 shots of the epidural when the time came for me to get it…..lol! So you probably are wondering why I was not given the option to get the epidural. Well, long story short, after feeling 5-10-minute-intervals of intense abdominal pains, I decided to get myself to the hospital. I really didn’t think much of it then. And the last thing I wanted was to end up in the hospital only to be told they were false contractions and be sent home.

So after much deliberation, I decided to head on out. It was like clockwork after then….the pains seemed to increase in intensity. Once at a certain well-known hospital in Atlanta, we were told there were no available L&D rooms!!! How preposterous is that!!! So I ended up in the waiting room crying and in so much pain for over an hour! By the time this so-called famous hospital finally got a room for me, I was as unstable and screaming like that of a demented woman. I began to experience pain that I had never experienced before – one beyond description. I was a very uncommon ground for me. What was happening? This feels was way different. By then I was ranting and raving about something very unfamiliar happening to me and someone needed to help me quick. I began to think, ‘Am I dying?’ Nurses thought I was possessed or something. Finally they decided to stop ignoring my request for help and to be checked. After that, I remember about 10 nurses whizzing all over the room and one of them mentioned, ‘She’s 10cm minus 1’? ‘She’s fully ready’. I said to myself, WHAT? It can’t be, I need to get my epidural. My hopes were shattered when she told me I couldn’t. But the most surprising thing was that she said I had crowned – for quite a while for that matter. After that, it was mere history. After 2 hours of excruciating pain, my baby had arrived.

I remember the first thing that came into my mind was, ‘they’d better be right! I hope it’s a boy as predicted’. I found myself looking over to try to steal a peak and figure out if it was a boy or not before the nurses blurted it out.

And I thank God that indeed it was a handsome little baby boy as I had wanted! Welcome home KP!!

So even though I was quite upset about having to go past my due date, it all worked out for a couple good reasons. One of my concerns was having the nursery/toddler room finished and well constructed prior to the birth. Well I’m proud to say that we had everything in place on time. Mind you we have a 2 bedroom 3-level townhome plus a loft. It was the loft we decided to convert into a kid’s room for both the newborn and my 2 yr old daughter. Below are a couple shots of the set up. I plan to finish all decorations later. This was indeed a wonderful ending to a much wanted fairy tale.

Happy New Year, Martin Luther King Day & Valentines' Day!!! Let's bring on the good stuff for 2010...

KK BLOGGERS,

I know it's been a while but truly a lot has happened since we last interacted. Pardon me for the suspense but, I've been preoccupied with some major changes in my life - good ones of course! And the biggest major change is - I'M PREGNANT! Yup, 26 weeks and counting....Oh, and even more exciting....I'M HAVING A BOY! How awesome is that?! This only gives me confirmation that I'm officially done after this.

I find myself every now and then stealing giggles here and there at the thought of having another baby of mine to smooch on but right after that thought reality also sets in and I begin questioning myself - Am I ready for baby#2; How do I cope with another mouth to feed? My biggest fear is am I going to be able to have a life because I truly believe that 9 times out of 10, its the women/mothers who are put in a position by whoever or whatever to take care of the children like its our only job but I need a life too; I want access to the same fun and luxuries that men/fathers think they have when a baby comes into the picture too. But I guess at the end of the day, it's a blessing to have children and I'm lucky to have 2 of them!

It's interesting because I can't seem to remember how small babies come. Also, I was beginning to really enjoy not haivng to deal with diapers, lack of sleep, and constant crying but there is nothing more than seeing another one of yours and God's creation. And besides I'm excited to see what a boy version of me would look like - smashingly handsome!! lol Whenever I go shopping, I'm very conscientious about the color of items I buy for Ava-Mirre. I have to consider neutral colors if not pink.

KIDS DO INDEED.....SAY AND DO THE DARNEST THINGS, RIGHT?

I'm at the point in my life where communication with my darling baby girl just continues to get more and more interesting, simply because Ava-Mirre seems to be a 2-year old in a 32-year old's body! Sometimes I find myself thinking of talking to her like she's my girlfriend as opposed to my 2-yr old daughter. I must say that shopping with her is always a pleasure because my work is 9 times out of 10 cut out for me already. She knows what she wants - anything that makes her personify a diva, a princess - to be exact. I'm sure most of the mothers out there may share this sentiment with me that kids do indeed say and do the darnest things, right?

Just to give you a couple examples;

One night, mommy and daughter are acting silly as usual and I decide to use Ava-Mirre's toes to reiterate her understanding of how to count to the number 10. So we're counting .... first toe, 1 little piggie, then 2 little piggies, 3 little piggies and so on, right? She follows me with an intense look till I get to 6 little piggies....her expression changes instantly and she gives me a disguntled look as to say, 'okay, mommy I've had enough of this crap' and blurts out, "Mommy, stop it!, those are not little piggies, they are my toes!!!"

On another night, as I was preparing to embark on my normal routine of giving Ava-Mirre a bath after supper, I instinctively tell her, "Pumpkin, it's time for your bath so you can have a good nights' sleep". She quickly jumps up to correct me about what she wanted as opposed to what I was about to give her - She tells me no and that she wanted to have a bubble bath instead of her regular bath. I attempt to explain to her that I didn't have either the bubble bath solution or energy to make her one. She waits for me to finish my statement and blurts out again that she wants a bubble bath instead. Once again, I explain to her why she was not going to have a bubble bath. And to much of my amazement, yet again, she says, "Mommy, you're not listening to me....She gives me the 'sad puppy dog face' and continues by saying, "You don't love me anymore, mommy!" Boy, was I shocked and sad. I spent about 20 minutes trying to explain to her that I loved her very much more than anything and that she would get her bubble bath very soon.

I always find myself kissing on Ava-Mirre like crazy and calling her all kinds of pet names to express my love and affection for her. So one day, just normal routine for me, I was kissing on her and giving her hugs and the 'nine yards' and got all silly and started saying things like, 'Mommy loves Ava very much. Ava is mommy's baby waby. Oh yes she is and Mommy loves Ava cos Ava is mommy's baby' and before I was able to get my next line of short phrases in, she looks at me as if to say, 'Okay mom this behavior is played out!' she stops me in my tracks, comes up to me and looks at me eye to eye and blurts out "Mommy, Ava is not a baby! Ava is mommy's little gurl!" I couldn't help but show her I agreed with her statement.

So I presume most of you would know that as part of African tradition, we tend to eat our meals with our hands - at least with most of the old traditional dishes like "fufu", "kenkey", "tuo-zafi" and a lot more. Quite honestly, I love eating with my hands just for the simple fact that I'm driven to believe that food taste better with my hands - my hands tend to add that extra 'uumph' flavoring - lol. So anyway, last night I happen to be eating some plantains (unripe) with some 'pepper stew' because during pregnancy, the only thing I crave all day long is anything with some really hot pepper spices! So, I'm all in my zone just downing this food with my hands while sipping on some OJ - it was heavenly - then Ava-Mirre comes in looks at me with a stern look for about 5 good minutes and she finally blurts out, "No, no, no, no mummy! Stop eating with your hands! Stop eating with your fingers! You know, that's not nice! Eat with the fork" (Mind you I started eating with the fork earlier but wasn't feeling it and resorted to eating with my hands) .... And she hit my hand that was deeply immersed in my 'piece of heaven'. I just laughed so hard, I almost choked on my own laughter. Though funny, that experience made me realize that it was time for her to be fully 'drenched' with understanding of all the traditions of our motherland.

Ava-Mirre loves her men....and trust me, that's a good sign! Wink, wink, wink. She always loves to see her uncles, grandfather, little boys her age and dad and mom's male friends so she could either show off her new dress or show how she poses and is always camera-ready or demonstrate how she's a better 'Beyonce's All the single ladies' dancer and singer or just plain flirting with them - looks like I taught her well! But though that might be fun and games, she will set them straight if she sees that they're not acting right - in her terms of course. So, one day her one and only favorite uncle (my brother) comes home from engineering school for the Christmas holidays. Her uncle is so happy to see her since he's been away for so long. As we're about to climb the stairs of our townhouse to the kitchen after returning from Ava-Mirre's school, she quickly goes hurries to hold the banister and climb the steep stairs all by her self (this is her many ways of flirting - she's a complete show off). She begins to pick up her pace now as to say, 'Look uncle, I got this! And I'm only 2!'. But my brother couldn't believe her agility, sense of self and determination at such an age so proceeded to go help her out of what he thought was misery. Little did he know. So he carried her and plucked her right where we were heading to - our kitchen. Once down, she started whimpering and appeared to be upset. She started frowning and raised her right index finger up to her uncle and blurted out "No, uncle, no! Do you see my face? I'm mad, really mad! Don't touch me, don't touch me again...You naughty gurl!" And that's followed by what appeared to be a 'pouted mouth' sheraid. I'm not sure why she said girl as opposed to boy or even uncle but knowing Ava-Mirre, that was probably her tactic for hurting his feelings just like he had hurt hers so my brother was indeed hurt that whole day.....lol

A couple other interesting stories...

When Alan was little, whenever he would be stopped from doing anything that he wanted to do, just as most kids, would throw a tantrum. And you would think he would throw himself on the the floor , kick his legs, and cry like most kids right? Noooooooooooooo. Rather, Alan would sit on the floor first, and carefully lie on his back before screaming in protest of his mommy saying "no". How did he know at 14 months that throwing yourself on the floor could get you hurt? Kids are really smart!

~ Alan, 14 months, Ghana

Frimpomaa once asked her uncle this question; "Uncle Kojo, how much do they pay you as a lawyer, so I'll know if I want to do your job when I grow up?"

~ Frimpomaa, 4 yrs, Ghana

Alan was being naughty and his grandmother said she wasn't talking to him. After patiently waiting for about an hour watching his grandmother read her book, he went to play outside for few minutes and returned as his grandmother was going to the kitchen. Alan then followed her into the kitchen and said "Grandma, if you have a few minutes, I'll like to talk to you." Grandmother couldn't stop laughing and called to tell the story to his mother. The funniest part was the fact that it was as if he were an elder requesting for a meeting.

~ Alan, 6 yrs, Ghana