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In case you haven’t heard, there’s a new buggy in town that’s been receiving a lot of buzz across the stroller scene: the Roddler! The Roddler is a unique and creative buggy whose designs derive from classic automobile Hot Rods; hence its name Roddler. With the purpose of standing out from the “traditional” look of strollers, the Roddler adds unprecedented style to the process of transporting the kiddies around!

So when Kid Kustoms contacted me with their latest press release, I definitely wanted to learn more about the Roddler. So I got in touch with Jamie Coblentz (one of the guys behind Kid Kustoms) and he agreed to do an interview here on Mommy Daddy Blog! It was definitely interesting to learn the history, passions, and goals behind Kid Kustoms and the Roddler! Enjoy!

How did Kid Kustoms first get started, and how did the idea for the Roddler first come about?

Joe and I have known each other for upwards of a decade and have worked on several high profile branding projects before. Joe and Iacono Designs had become a household name in the automotive industry, and I started a children’s apparel company [Pinstripe Prep] that I was developing into a lifestyle brand, so a natural product extension was the best avenue. That’s how Kid Kustoms was conceived. Wildly enough, it started off as “the Baby Bomber”. We thought we would soften the name a little when we learned that we were actually going to have to sell the product through conventional juvenile product stores…plus given its clear Hot Rod roots and the fact Bush was all over the middle-east, politically speaking it was a safe bet to opt for the Roddler.

Oddly enough, Montreal, however small and remote it is, its home to Dorel, and thus a large piece of the juvenile product business. Everyone is also 2 degrees of separation removed, so serendipitous as it be, one round of Jewish geography got me the ear of the CEO. I think I sold him on my passion so they signed NDA and executives came right over. Bear in mind, none of us have kids or had even pushed a stroller before the Roddler. His people were floored at the innovation and convinced me to beg and plead to show administrators to get into ABC Kids despite the fact we had less than a month to create our show worthy prototypes. Since you already know the end of the story, it was the most incredible experience to have a product that you pour your soul into be so well received, best yet beating them all at their own game. Having been the left hand to the owner of American apparel [I say that only because he's a righty and well if you know him, trust me you'll understand] I was part and privy to the madness. He’s a global icon and marketing genius, and I am proud to say that despite his eccentricity, he was an incredible mentor. Since the show, we have batten down the hatches and have a clear vision on how we intend on being a force to be reckoned with. We have even been consulting for some of the industry leading companies so we can help to rent our passion to beautify the conventional product offerings before we become one. When else can you harness the 3 young creative minds and industry pioneers and have them make consumer products for kids their passion. That is the formula for beautiful things to come.

We are certainly working our way through the professional sports figures and are working through Hollywood scene. Lebron James’ Roddler took an award at the Grand National Roadster Show in Pomona, CA. For those of you who don’t know, that’s the industries largest Hot Rod convention. That’s unheard of, it’s a stroller. We have one coming out for Carmelo Anthony now. I actually prefer the athletes to celebs, they are so much more down to earth and there’s never a camera around. Give it a few weeks till it heats up in Los Angeles and I’m sure we will be hard to miss.

This post has been featured at The So Called Me.

Growing up I went to predominantly African American schools. I wasn’t taught much about diversity and different cultures, just racism and segregation year after year. Of course this had some effect on how I perceived other races. I developed schemas based on textbooks, television, and my surroundings. Although we were taught Martin Luther King’s dream multiple times in school, it didn’t have much affect on me because there was no uniting races when the school made up one race. I wasn’t exposed to diversity early on so I didn’t know how to interact once exposed later in life. Of course I was always taught to treat others with respect but the subject of diversity never really popped up. I remember entering high school, it was a predominantly African American high school but there was a noticeable percentage of Caucasian students as well. At first interacting with each other was a little awkward, making sure we didn’t say anything to offend each other. I remember at a band gathering having a conversation with a group of people of different races; “no offense” was used quite a few times. Nothing said was offensive, “no offense” was just said to be courteous just in case someone did take offense, I suppose. It just tickles me now thinking about it because we didn’t know how to act around each other. This was due to the lack of exposure and proper knowledge of other races and cultures.

It is important to start teaching children early about diversity. While it is important to teach your children to embrace their culture it is also important to teach them about the cultures of other people. It will help them better understand why some people do the things that he or she may not do, why, and to certainly not be afraid of them because of it. The key is to help your children become well rounded individuals because the real world is one gigantic melting pot.

There are a handful of stores that are devoted to promoting multicultural products for children. Regionz Kidz is a great place to pick up products to help teach your children diversity and unity. At Regionz Kidz you can find SUPER CUTE culturally diverse t-shirts for infants, toddlers, and mommies! Regionz Kidz’s t-shirts feature amazing sketches of babies in different regions all over the world. There are over 104 designs to choose from. You can even have a custom sketch of your child designed! In addition to t-shirts, Regionz Kidz offers books and games as well! Some useful articles and resources can be found on the Regionz Kidz blog and free coloring sheets can be found here! Regionz Kidz was founded last year and has gotten off to a great start! I look forward to seeing what the future brings!

JT’s tee from Regionz Kidz! Isn’t it the cutest?

Over the past few years photo birth announcements have risen in popularity. Photo birth announcements are more convenient and budget friendly than purchasing birth announcement cards sold at a local department store. When purchasing birth announcement cards at the store, you have to pay for the announcements and the quantity of pictures that you are going to insert in to them. You then have to assemble and write out every single announcement; imagine how time consuming that can be. Depending on if the announcement cards that you’ve purchased have ribbons or scrap pieces attached to them, you may have to pay more than standard first class rates to mail them. Imagine having all of your birth announcements returned to you because of this issue. Now imagine the simplicity of ordering photo birth announcements. When ordering photo announcements, all you have to do is provide only 1 copy of the pictures you wish to use, pick out a design from a plethora of designs, and provide the company with the text that you’d like to add to your photo announcements. That’s it!

With the high demand for photo birth announcements, loads of photo announcement businesses are sprouting up. Some offer quality designs at high prices, some don’t put much effort in designs at all and still charge high prices.

Having an eye for photography and being a freelance graphic designer, I have pretty high expectations when it comes to the quality of photo birth announcements. I’ve come across a handful of sites that offer great designs at reasonable prices, one being PhotoAffections.com. Photo Affections offers vibrant, chic designer birth announcements that blew me away! Just by browsing through their collection of over 200 designs, you can see that their graphic designer puts in a lot of effort to perfect each and every one of them. Color schemes are unique and both fonts and accents are very crisp. Photo enhancements are done automatically and are free of charge! Announcements are printed on 5×7 Fuji Crystal Archive photographic matte/luster finish paper and come with premium 70 lb. envelopes. A minimum order consists of a quantity of 35 and special discounts are given with orders of 50, 75, 100, 150, and 200+!

Photo Affections is an experienced company. They’ve been in the printing business since 1997 and have been online since 2004. They are also in charge of the entire designing and printing process. There are no middle men involved. You can place your order, have proofs in less than two days, and have your completed order shipped off to you in another two days or less. Talk about a smoking fast turnaround!

Offering quality designs, affordable prices, extended discounts, with a fast turnaround, Photo Affections exhibits great leadership in today’s photo announcement industry!

I carry myself as a very cheery person. I am very polite, I smile, I nod, BUT it peeves me to the point of no return when people talk to me like I don’t know any better and when I am ticked off, I will speak my mind or at least let it be known that I didn’t appreciate what was said. I haven’t gotten any crazy advice from people, but nurses keep asking me if this is my first baby. I smile and reply with “yes”. I don’t know if they are just curious or asking in hopes that they could nudge me to ask questions. I’m not leaping into parenthood blindly, therefore I don’t have much to ask. Maybe I’m being defensive, but I like to consider all things possible.

Yesterday my doctor told me that my body is built perfect for having a baby and that I shouldn’t let any one tell me that I can’t have a baby because I am small. I thought about that and pictured a person saying something like that to me. Something like that would just light my fuse!

Mamas, how many of you have been given some pretty ridiculous advice while being pregnant or after delivering? How much of that advice was given by total strangers? Well have I got a solution for all pregnancies and pregnancies to come; the Unsolicited Baby Advice tee by Mommy Trends! This tee has been added to my maternity wardrobe to ensure that I don’t receive any insane advice, plus I love the humor in the tee. I also love getting attention :-). Yesterday I wore the tee to the doctor and I received some compliments. Of course I told my Dr. that he’s authorized to ignore it, lol.

If would like to shield yourself from unsolicited baby advice, pick up an Unsolicited Baby Advice tee from Mommy Trends! They offer a selection of trendy maternity tees. One size fits all from the beginning to the end of pregnancy. The tees are made of 92% cotton and 8% spandex, so they are really stretchy and comfy. I wonder why all tees couldn’t be made like maternity tees? Enjoy 15% off your purchase by using the code LOVE during checkout and free shipping when you order 2 or more tees! Expect to be hearing about Mommy Trends again on Mommy Daddy Blog because I have another tee that I will not be revealing until the time is right!

While I’m on a role with asking questions, here’s one more. What is the most ridiculous unsolicited baby advice you’ve received during your pregnancy and/or post pregnancy?

During a server upgrade we lost the comments to this post! Ooo, sorry!

Me being the preggie lady that I am, I’m always trying to find hip and trendy gear to sport during this pregnancy and pregnancies to come. I love wearing tees with witty quotes written on them. While searching for the quote “we’re hungry”, I stumbled upon 2 chix! 2 chix offers some of the coolest novelty shirts for the haute mama and baby daddy! In 2007, 2 chix won Maternity & Style’s viewer’s choice award for favorite maternity clothing designer! Check Daddy and I out sporting our tees from 2 chix!

Whenever I want Daddy to bring something out of the kitchen for me or splurge on a snack at the grocery store I frown and say, We’re Hungry. So of course I HAD to have the We’re Hungry tee! The 009 Months tee (not pictured) has also been added to my maternity collection. I’m secret agent mommy, only I can’t do the crouch and roll too well! I’ve already gotten many compliments and giggles from friends while sporting 2 chix. I can’t wait to send pictures to the family to humor them! Celebs go crazy for tees from 2 chix and I can see why! Not only are the tees humorous, but they are super soft and extra stretchy for the ever-changing body. An original size fits 2-12 and voluptuous fits 12-18. At $38 each, 2 chix tees are well worth the splurge. Celeb or not, tiny or voluptuous, 2 chix leaves no haute mama behind!

So what does Daddy have to say about 2 chix?

………………oh, am I on now?……sorry…EHEHM!……

For me, I had to go with the Look what I did tee simply because I frequently find myself staring at Mommy’s preggo tummy and saying to myself “I did that!” This tee is perfect for the guy out there (*cough*me*cough*) who loves to brag about knocking up his woman. The tee just gives off a feeling of masculinity. Whenever I put it on, I just get the urge to proceed to the living room to watch Three Stooges, drink a few beers, and scratch myself. Yep, it’s THAT powerful.

As for physical characteristics, I went with a size XL. I’m a tall person, but at the same time I’m also built like a tank skinny. So I need a shirt that’s long enough to the point where it can at least shake hands with the top of my pants, but not wide to the point where I look like Subway’s Jared trying on his old clothes. This is a common problem that I have with shirts. They’re either thin but too short, or long but too fat. Not with 2Chix. The Look what I did tee was the perfect length; not too short, not too long. It was also the perfect width; not too thin, not too wide. I also like my shirts loose and the tee satisfied that also. So all in all, I love my Look what I did tee! *runs to closet, throws on Look what I did tee* *nyuk, nyuk, nyuk* *gulp, gulp, gulp* *scratch, scratch, FART* Yep, I love it!

(I’d also like to note that in the second picture of me (fifth from the left), I didn’t intend to make that “rockstar” hand gesture with my right hand. I was pointing to the tee and somehow my pinky finger shimmied its way out. I think it has a mind of its own. I will take over the world! Bwahahahahahaha! <----- My pinky just typed that on its own, no lie!)

(I'd also like to note again that in the third picture of me (sixth from the left) where I'm holding up two fingers and two eggs (yes those are eggs), that's supposed to stand for 2 Chix. Yeah you know, two fingers are equal to the number 2. And two eggs are like chicks. Baby chicks. Well wait, chicks are babies. Well they aren't chicks yet because they're not born yet. Wait, can chicks be born once they've been refrigerated? Oh no, have I been eating unborn chickens?!?!?!...... yeah, I pretty much suck at charades.)

I just stumbled across a Sears ad and it looks like they’re having their Biggest Baby Event of the Season. All baby clothes including tops, bottoms, outfits, sweater sets, dresses, one-pieces, sleepwear, Layette Collections, bibs, bath, blankets, and outerwear (whew!) are all on sale. Mommy and I may go check out some clothes for Jayden, although a shiny, brand spankin’ new lawn tractor may lure me away from the baby section. What does a baby need clothes for anyway? Now a baby that can mow my front lawn can write his own ticket!

And speaking of Sears, I think there’s only one way to properly end this post…

Well today I’m 24 weeks pregnant and it seems like these weeks are flying by. I realized that I haven’t worn shoes that require using my hands to put them on. I just stick to my handy Adidas flip flops. I know that’s a pregnancy no no seeing how you’re not supposed to let yourself go while pregnant, but I make them work, lol. When I do go somewhere cute shoe worthy, I do make the effort. Sneezing is very uncomfortable. Whenever I sneeze I always have to grab my belly, eeek. Yesterday I felt Jayden’s heart beating! While resting my hands under my stomach, I noticed a rhythm that differed from my heart beat (I can see the vibrations of my heart beating through my shirt). I placed my hand in both locations and sure enough, the beats differed! I can feel my little buddha baby’s heart! EH MAYBE NOT, LOL, PROBABLY HICCUPS!

New photos have been uploaded and I am sporting a SwellyBelly Maternity Belly Band. The Swelly Belly is a lifesaver to women who still wish to wear their pre-pregnancy jeans, especially when it is difficult finding a form fitting maternity jean. The Swelly Belly can also be worn under shirts that have become too small with the growth of the pregnant belly. Although the Swelly Belly is available in different colors and patterns, I chose white so that I can wear it with anything. My Swelly Belly fits pretty good, it’s just a tad loose on my back since my stomach isn’t all the way out there yet. It’s really comfy to wear as it is made of a silky, soft fabric. The Swelly Belly is definitely a pregnancy must have. If you would like to purchase a Swelly Belly, use code swellybelly during checkout to receive 10% off your order at Nine Moons!

Tis all for now, until next time!

(We have been keeping weekly accounts of our pregnancy since the 22nd week. If you’re interested in reading weekly updates prior to or following this one, click here!)