Dear Divas, Babes, and other Friends,

So, you want to know all about ? Well…

Like many new moms, I struggled with being mom-me. I had to trade in my stilettos for sneakers, my skirts for sweats, and that was fine with me, no biggie. I had a beautiful baby boy, the love of my life, that’s all that mattered to me, but it was just so difficult to find clothes that were comfy and not frumpy! Looking in the mirror was getting to be a scary experience. Is that me? Yikes!

I also struggled with finding my “mommy voice”. Pre-mommy, you’re taught to be polite and tactful and then all of a sudden, you have a little one to protect and you have to become this crazy, deranged, raging lioness. You know what I mean by “mommy voice”, being able to tell the stranger at the store “please do NOT touch my baby, I don’t know where your yucky hands have been!” instead of putting on that fake smile and chuckle “he he he” while you secretly try to move a little to the left. Welcome to motherhood…what do you do?

Well, prior to becoming Benjamin’s Mommy (Mommies, you know that is my new name, no one ever calls me by my first name anymore!), I was an Assistant Professor of Management Information Systems at a local University. I decided to leave that career path to embark on a new journey that has proven to be the most rewarding and fulfilling (yet very unpredictable and extremely BUSY…I love it!) experience in my life…staying home to raise my now 11 month old, Benjamin. Of course, people would always say to me “so you stay at home…you don’t work?” or “when are you going back to work?” What?! One day I decided that enough was enough and out came that long lost mommy voice…and I screamed ”I AM AT WORK!” was born.

I discovered babewearing while doing the required pregnant mommy-to-be “read-every-book-magazine-and-Internet-web-site-in-the-world-about-pregnancy-and-motherhood” research when we were expecting Benjamin. Everything about it seemed so perfect: the ability to create a strong bond with your child, the cognitive stimulation that your baby receives from being immersed in your world and everyday interactions, the love, happiness, and security that mommy and baby experience from being together, the independent child that will eventually emerge from the attached baby, the many opportunities for fashion self-expression through coordinating your new accessory with your outfit (ok, so this one wasn’t in my research, but hey…accessories are always good!)…I decided to give it a try, why not?

Many wraps, pouches, ring slings, mei tais (no, not the drinks!), and NO stroller later, I am so ecstatic with my choice to wear Benjamin. Everything that the research said would happen happened! Benjamin is such a happy, loving, ACTIVE, CURIOUS, intelligent, independent, and healthy little guy whose premature birth (he was born 6 weeks early…4 lbs., 12 ozs., 18” long…now in the 50th percentile for weight and 90th for height!) has never had an impact on his cognitive and physical development…I truly believe that is a testament to babewearing! Enter DivaBabe Couture, my way of sharing my love of babewearing with you.

is committed to mommy/baby empowerment. All of our apparel are conceptualized and created by real mama-divas and their babes for real mama-divas and their babes. is also committed to social consciousness. Our apparel is sweatshop-free and made in the USA.

Now that you know about , we hope that you enjoy your visit! Feel free to email us at any time at info@divasnbabes.com if you have any questions or just want to chat! Please let us know if you need anything and we will work very hard to accommodate you and your request and to make you feel at home here at .

Thanks for visiting , home of the haute mama and cool babe!

Much love and many blessings,

Tonjia and Benjamin

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Acknowledgements

There are a lot of people behind and I'd like to let them know how much they are appreciated!

Firstly, I’d like to thank the Divas and Babes who are my inspiration and without whom this online boutique would not have been possible: the CBW (Crazy Baby Women) divas and their babes – Aly and Luc, Amanda and Dylan, Elizabeth and “Sticky”, Jackie and Nathan, Jennifer and Megan and Gabriel, Kim and Katelyn, Kirsten and Rylee, Kirsten and “Seahorse”, Lyndelle and Jamie, Natasha, and Tyler, and Meg and Drew. Thank you so much for not thinking that I was totally out of my mind (which I probably really am, but you’d never tell me, right?) when I first told you about the concept and for your love, support, and encouragement.

Many thanks to Lisa and Ava, Susan and Megan, and Tori and Campbell for gracing us with your presence at the (what seemed to be endless) photo shoots… you are so beautiful! Also, major thanks to Natasha for your magnificent and detailed craftmanship and for helping me to bring my sling/mei tai designs to life and share my love of babewearing (and accessories) with others!

Special hugs, kisses, and endless “thank you, thank you, thank you” go to Christine and Jinni, my friends and “Board of Directors” that were crazy enough to help me take on . You guys have been so invaluable! Without you, would still be a figment of my wild imagination instead of a reality. You are my sisters and I love you so much!

Last but not least, I'd like to thank the Daddies behind : my husband, Greg, for all of your love, support, and constant encouragement and for believing in the boutique from the very beginning...I am so blessed to have you in my corner; our graphics artist, Mike, for giving life to our words and helping people to finally hear our mommy (and baby) voices through your awesome artwork; and our marketing/web design guru, Kenny and his team at A6 Media, for helping us to make it all happen and building us a beautiful online boutique!