My girl is growing up fast………

.......or am I slow to catch up with her growth and development? Lately KY is fond of letting her babysitter or the auntie’s dotter to tie up her hair nicely…but she refused to let me do it for her..guess cos I always do it freestyle (that is without a comb :P ) as I my intention to tie for her is the weather is hot and her hair is kinda long…..not to make her look “PRETTY” , well at least it’s not my main focus then :P…

 

So tad ah..the picture below is one of her good hair days…when she’s back from babysitter’s place with nicely tied hair…I am feeling rather ashamed of myself that I have not been spending time to make her look good and tie her hair nicely(am always doing things in a rush manner..not to mention multi-tasking style of mine…)

 

I think I have a lot to catch up with in terms of spending quality time with KY ever since my second one arrives…my time is even more packed with rush hour back from work> babysitter’s place> housework etc etc…I think most working and SAHM would agree we normally would do more than one things at one go….like how I go for shower (together with KY sometimes) and picked up the dirty clothes along the way, off I threw them into washing machine and let it washed while I do other cleaning and cooking. SO by the time I finished with the latter chores…the clothes are washed and off I am again…hanging clothes (with Shone on one of my arm or singing aloud to him in playpen).

 

This is how motherhood can be? Or it can be better….trying trying ..experimenting and learning from many wonderful moms all ever the globe and around me…

 

And soon…Mother’s Days is coming….Happy Early Mother’s Day to all! I am celebrating with my mom earlier this year as I be away during the actual day and as always..after we got married we have two moms to celeb with…

  

CHeerS to all Moms and folks!

Filing with a helper

Before I have kids, I used to do my filing every month if not every bi-weekly. But after that it’s like every two or three months only I can find time to do it.

 

Now I think I can start doing my filing regularly again with the engagement of a new helper..KY (see picture below). Last few weeks I have been trying to find time to do my filing as preparation to do my income tax efiling soon.

 

One night, after I put Shone to bed, I tried to coax KY to bed as well so that I can start doing the filling….but to my dismay she refused to sleep even though it’s nearly midnight(she normally an early sleeper, by 10 pm she would sleep soundly).

 

I do feel that regular filing and checking of our bills is very important so that we keep our budget in control as well as knowing where our $$ goes and comes from. This is true for stock-keeping of foodstuff as well so that we don’t waste any items or over-purchase anything and able to enjoy basic necessities at its freshest condition.

 

So now I can get KY to help me to punch the papers and bills while I check the accounts and receipts… am relieved and happy to find that KY is slowly able to chip in and help..

 

Cheerful Thoughts for the day!

Need Help? Steps to Creating an Ebook

Hi folks, I know some of you are interested or going into selling ebooks, you may wonder what steps are involved.

Here’s a quicky and handy checklist that will take you through what you need to do to create, publish and sell your ebook.

Go to momplrebooks.com here and download yours!

Cheers to freebies guide for the day!

Alarming news...to parents..

This morning news on TheStar Online, "Sex affair just to spite parents", really makes my heart shudder and tremble!

As a parent, it really sends trembles in my heart...and it makes me ponder again on the issue of being a full-time mother and sending my kids away to other caretaker.

 Lately, I have been talking about this with my sister and another friend who has primary school kids...It's rather sad case nowadays that having two income in a family is no longer a choice but a need. Thus many kids are left in the care of maid or some other relatives.

It has becomes a norm at least in Malaysia that kids are being sent to those care centre after primary school even...as no one else at home to take care of them after they finished school. 

I do hope a better solution can be taken to ensure our kids grow up in a more healthy condition.

 Ponder..ponder...

Stumbling upon blogs...parenting blogs....

These days my daily reading at Google Reader brings me to get to know more mommy bloggers....each with their own stories and niche. And recently I stumbled upon one particular mommy blogger residing in Down Under...

Reading her stories makes me awe...in amazement ....and also cannot help feeling the same kinda emotions...she is having juggling with multiple kids..haha....and she just added another one..which makes it 3! Bravo!

As usual...many would start asking after having my second child, will I ever try for another one? And if yes, when would that be? Guess what was my standard reply ? "I am satisfied with what I have now....not another one..at least not in another 2 years' time since I had c-section."

As what one of the mommy blogger wrote here, on "Having Multiples Without Breaking the Bank" in her blog, "Passionate Homemaking", which closely reflects what I am thinking about. Of course children are gift from God, and he'll provide what you need for your kids...so enough said...

I am still am "SATISFIED" & "THANKFUL" with what I have now..hehe..and still find it rather amazing for moms who are able to handle more than 3 kids!(That includes the babysitter of my kids)

Salute to them...and more to learn from other mommy bloggers!

Bravo!

Contest at Fabulousmom..Prize?SKII..wow..

Hi folks, just stumble upon another great contest at Fabulousmom.com, one of the online baby and mommy stores(or more specific they called it "e-boutique for moms"...)  I used to stop by quite often(you can find the links to their online store on the right side ....). Bought many of my nursing wear and baby items there. ;)

Now when you purchase items from their stores, you get SKII products for free! Wow..

Interested? Check it out here.

Cheers! Have a good weekend!

I want to fly to Taipei because…

Guys …do you all know that AirAsia will be flying to Taipei this July 2009?

Do you wish to win tickets to Taipei?

If you do, do check out their blogging contest to win tickets for you and your loved ones…

Check it out here!

Good Luck!

Earth Day…

Something was in my mind for sometime…something we have been encouraged to do for sometime now… USING recycled bags when we do our shopping…

But something which my DH often asked me “hey no more plastic bags for throwing rubbish?” ..yep my DH is often the one who helped to throw our daily rubbish….and yep we still use plastic bag to contain the dirty diapers, etc.

Of course we would like to heed the call to use recycle bags..in fact I have collected quite a few of them in different sizes(see picture below) and I used them as well especially when I go wet market and organic shops for shopping BUT sometimes at hypermarket I would turn back to using plastic bags …yea ..just sometimes..when I am buying too many stuffs….

 

 

One thing also bugs me…we still need to use plastic bags to contain our rubbish before throwing it..either we buy those black or blue ones or we used those from what we got when we purchased our goods…

So it does defeats or delay the cause of using recycled bags? I wonder how does other countries who promote recycle bags does with their Bandaraya or Refuse collection? How and What can we do if not throwing the items in plastic bags? I heard people reuse their rubbish and turned into useful washing detergens or something….I ponder on doing that too..but I fear my kids might play with it…eiks..

I really do hope to learn some alternatives people are using at rubbish management…how does our rubbish collection agency doing to help in reducing the plastic bags people are using?

I learnt that in Germany and some other countries they have specific days whereby they will collect glasses, papers and other dispose items…and people have to separate their rubbish properly…

I think I should also do this..separate them into different bins..but what about the plastic bags to contain them..anything else I can use?

What are you folks practicing? Care to share?

Hear from you all while I do some research on it :)

 

Cheers to our Earth!

 

 

Vote for SuperMummy!

Well, I must admit I don’t really feel like a Supermom yet but I do feel that all moms needed to act like one or is acting like one….

Just look at the jobs that a mom does daily, I believe many would agree with me[hands-up] ;)

Why I think I should be voted (hehe):

1. I am a mom of two adorable, active kids
2. I am a full-time working and pumping cum breastfeeding mom
3. I am working 24/7 (aren’t all of us do? :P), with no mc for mom position

So does this 3 points gather any votes for me  (hehe..) if yes, please just click [as many times] on the badge at the top right hand corner.

Thanks folks!

Have a super-duper mommy or daddy days!

 

My Love for Nursing Wear

My first encounter with a nursing wear is one month after delivering my first baby. After my confinement, DH and I got a 3 hrs off (my in-law offered to babysit for us) and we went shopping for some additional essential baby stuff at Kiddyplace located in Cheras Leisure Mall.

My first sight of nursing wear are two lovely black and turquoise green blouse (I bought two of the same design) and now they looked bit worn out as I’ve been using them for more than one year! They’ve been like my "uniform" everywhere for that whole one year of nursing life…everywhere I went with my daughter, shopping, dinner function, you named it!.

Another not-that-frequently-worn nursing wear I have is an office-like striped blouse. The striped blouse was not that easily accessible for breastfeeding (BF) with zip(which I don't quite fancy because it might hurt the baby if I am not careful), thus I only used it once and it’s been hanging in my closet ever since.

Then as I started to shopping online more often after having my baby (nope can't always leave baby with in-law as she's been taking another grandchild during the weekdays and Saturday as well...Sunday being her only Off day). As I researched and does my "ONLINE" window-shopping on nursing and baby stuff, along the way,  I bought another two nursing wear (haha..both as a "need" as well as a way to encourage myself in breastfeeding mission). 

One was a very comfortable shirt(am still using it for my second nursing journey simply because it is just so comfy) which was priced at RM12 during a warehouse sale and another one is a white spaghetti strap which was used extensively with my other non-nursing attire (this is a must have and a good buy because you can pair it up with normal attire and even use it later after your nursing journey ends..). 

And I also got another two nursing tube (black and cream white) which I used it along with my other attire as well…very very stylish and useful for BF. Easy to flip no strap or buckle or button to detach.

Then this year, I added to my collection another two sleeping bra(whoot), one orange collar shirt nursing wear(see picture on the left), another Chinese New Year like blouse (you may view it at the online shop which sells it here)…altogether how many attires I’ve got I think more than six! :P

I simply love the ease of wearing nice-looking and easy to nurse nursing wear. I am also crazy at scouting for affordable and stylish nursing wear designs.

Talking about my dream nursing wear, below are the sketches I made which is something I have in mind in terms of practical, useful, comfortable and wearable nursing attire for all occasion. 

Ta dah...may I present "My Dream Nursing Wear" design of the year 2009!

Theme - practical, stylish, wearable, baby-friendly(made from cotton) and long lasting for all-occcasion!(haha..just for fun of it!)

This is a nursing spaghetti strap which can be used along with a blouse with such zig-zag flapped design which can easily flip over to access the inner side which is the nursing spaghetti strap.

Note: Most of the nursing wear I mentioned can be found from one of those online shops which sells nursing wear listed under in my blog(see under USEFUL MOTHER & BABY ONLINE STORES).  

Reducing Grocery bills...

One of the ways recommended to reduce our grocery bills is to use the house brand, i.e., for example if you frequently shop at Tesco, Carrefour or Giant hypermarket, you’ll find a lot of items under their house (Tesco/Carrefour/Giant) and its quality are not bad at all!

Previously I been trying out Tesco brand toilet rolls which has the more sheets per roll like “C**ie” brand, and it’s quite ok too.

And lately, I’ve been trying out another must have or staple on my grocery list besides rice, sugar and oil, that is the all-time favorite Bee Hoon (or vermicelli). We used to buy the H***oni brand which cost around RM2.89 (during sales it can go down to RM2.39) which according to my dad taste better and easier to cook. But to buy that too often does add up to my grocery bill quite a bit. So I am experimenting cooking with house brand and tried Tesco and Giant ones..so far the verdict is wow…not too big difference in terms of taste..I think it’s more of the cook! Hehe…not to say I am a good cook but I did picked up some Bee Hoon frying skills by watching some aunties with superb Bee Hoon taming skills..haha…so in this way we can have more fried bee hoon in a month that we were to buy the branded ones…

Give and take we can still enjoy yummy Bee Hoon and other stuff at a more affordable price with the current economy situation….we have to make a stringent and best decision. In other words, “Be a smart & innovative consumer”!

So what other experiments you guys have taken or plan to take/heard of as ways to reduce your monthly bills/expenditure? Care to share?

Hear from you folks!

 

Happy experimenting!  =)

Homeschooling in Malaysia

Today an article link from a blog I used to subscribed and read, LittleKittie.com brings my attention to homeschooling.

Homeschooling, a topic/subject I used to ponder upon, researched, read about during my college time (yep, even before I was married with kids), as I have a cousin who faced difficulties coping the rigid education system in Malaysia. Having changed schools but still couldn’t cope and can see he really becoming withdrawn because of this made my aunt quit her job to stay and coach him for a more than a year.

Homeschooling is indeed a vital choice for some parents for the welfare of their children. At that point of time it was not even legal in Malaysia, and now although it was a bit looser legal side but see this fact (excerpt from the homeschooling article in TheStar ):

The official view

The Education (Amendment) Act 2002 states that homeschooling can only be considered under the following circumstances:

·The child must be exceptionally gifted or intellectually or physically disabled and the schools cannot meet this need;

·Family members travel abroad frequently; (wow..in other words must be rich? :P.. I wonder why this clause was included? So that the parents are considered globe-trotters and well-read?..hmm…)

·If homeschoolers are to be exempted, parents must ensure that they follow the national syllabus.

 ----------

Whatever it is, at least it is no longer considered ILLEGAL or a CRIME to make the homeschooling choice for our kids now which is an improvement but hopefully the support and legistration for homeschooling as well as the revamp and continuous improvement on our current education system can improve hand-in-hand for the future our young leaders and generation.

 

As I am pondering about homeschooling and writing this article, my aunt(who sort of applied some homeschooling method on her son) has migrated to Down Under for the sake of her children, for better education and better support. It is a sad case for Malaysia system (not in time to support the needs of many parents) but a happy one for my auntie. I wished her all the best and salute her to give up her job, and things here for the sake of her kids…it’s not an easy decision to make. But she did and I am glad for her and my cousins too!

But hopefully we in Malaysia can catch up soon....a better education and society...what can we all do(every small effort counts) to make this happens for our kids?

Cheers and ponder for the day!

 

Secret Recipes for Better Milk Supply and Rosy Glowing Looks

Well, maybe the title is slightly exaggerated, BUT, this is a recipe or special concoction shared by one of my friend who seems to be blessed with blushed rosy cheeks (minus the make-up..yep…natural rosy glow)

And her secret is…diligent daily dose of the following ever since her pregnancy, 9 month breastfeeding and till now (I think)

Tong Sum Codonopsis Pilosulae (dang shen) 黨參 – 2 long stalks

Red dates – 20 seeded/pitted= seedless (add more for sweetness and if only you are not heaty)

Black dates – 5-6 (optional)

Black Beans – two big tbsp pre-socked (3-6hrs), discard the soaking water before cooking

Gei ji  (枸子)/Chinese wolberries – 1 tbsp

Water – 1.5-2 litres

Put in slow cooker for 4-6hrs (low). Drink it hot/warm.

Note: For confinement period, they would add ginger to this concoction. ;) 

Enjoy.........lovely pinky lady and lovely drink to boost up our milk supply!

Cheers!

 

Heinz ABC Pasta Meal

Last weekend I was trying out a special recipe of Heinz ABC Pasta bought @ Carrefour(see pic below) plus the soup made from organic beet root.

 

 

And I have an assistant cum tester for the day:

 

 

 

I cooked the pasta in the beet root soup I have simmered for more than 1 hr. 

Other ingredients added are:

Baby kelps

Spinach (popeye vege)

Abalone mushroom

 

All chopped finely.

 

Another tester would be my 9mth old son….blended of course….

So how’s the outcome?

 

First,

 

Enjoying the pasta at first bite J

 

 

Next,

I guess the beet root doesn’t suit her taste (she has acquired her taste for yummy tasty tongue-enhancing flavour from her dad)

 

Then she opt to drink her 100 plus (yup one of her favourite after yakult, vitagen, milo…etc) to flush down the taste of the beet root I guess.

 

Then she preferred her other food as her lunch for the day (instead of the pasta) which is….curry cracker(see left)

Which I felt rather bad…coz the fact of trying to make a healthy meal for her with organic beet root as soup base.

 

So I tried to tempt her to eat this along…Adventist 7-Grains Sprouted Bread(see their site here) bread I bougth from the organic shop and spreaded with kaya spread from her grandma.

 Yeah…she likes it…at least something filling and nutritious other than that CURRY flavour cracker (which I bought for her dad).

 

Kids…oh kids…it really does takes two (me n her dad) to tango and build a foundation of healthier taste bud for them rite…

 

Cheers!

Opps…experimenting image upload from Photobucket

Hi folks..sorry if you found a blog entry with a large big image of a baby boy…I was playing around with Photobucket, a site which provides free image hosting, free photos sharing and video sharing. It also enable its member to upload image/files from Photobucket to networking sites like Blogger(which I tried :P), Facebook, Twitter and etc. What I did not realize is that it would actually published automatically and not into draft. I have been trying to test few tools lately, another one is to upload image I took with my phone and e-mailed it to my blog (which was saved into draft).

So well, just one of those accidents happened while doing my experiments on blogging tools! By the way I have deleted that blog entry…

My apology ya.. :P hehe..stay tune for more updates on my latest adventures and experiments!

 

Oh yes, if possible, do vote for me for “Supermummy Amazing Blogger Award” by clicking on the image on your right (yup have just to the right-side when I found it easier to click and nagivate on those links on the right…) Thanks in advance!

  

Cheers!

How to get rid of cockcroach?

How many of us faced cockcroach attacks? I know we are to be blame partly due to the fact that we let the kids eat in the car. How else would they sit still and not making a fuss throughout the journey?

I have tried putting pandan leaves in the car and it seems to work but to see the baby cockcroaches coming back again shows that they must have been nesting and egss are hidden somewhere!

Really at loss! It's so unhygienic to see even imagine(not to mention seeing) cockcroaches crawling on your child's car seat!

I am wondering should I or is there any safe anti-crockcroaches medicine I can use? 

Anyone out there have any good ideas? Hear from you folks! 

Thanks and cheers for the day!

The Benefits of having a 3 Years Gap..

There are many parents who would wait till their child is 2 years old before planning to have a second one. Me too..but hehe..God has a better plan…I had mine arriving when the jie jie is almost 2 years old.

 

Lately while talking to some of my peers, we were discussing about what is the IDEAL gap year before having another child. Both my friend(who like myself had a second one before our first child turns two) and myself inevitably agreed totally to the 3 Year Gap.

 

Why? There are some obvious benefits whether is emotionally, physically as well as FINANCIALLY:

1. By the time your first child is 3 years old , he/she would be toilet-train so you won’t end up paying for two batch of diapers (unless you are using cloth diapers) like me
2. By the time the first hits 3, slowly he/she would be switching to growing up milk and would be taking less often, thus you save a bit on monthly spending on milk powder(and of course if you decided to breastfeed your child, this can again offset a lot more on your monthly baby milk powder expenditure)
3. Seems that 3-4 years old, the child earn to be a big brother/sister, thus less sibling rivalry, and the elder one can be trusted to keep an eye on the younger one which relieve a lot on you
4. I guess for those who opt to send their kids to childcare centre/ babysitter, they can save up a bit more on childcare services as baby cost a lot more for most babysitters.
5. From 1-3 years is the golden years you won’t want to miss each point of emotional and physical development  of your child, thus by having your second one later….you have more time and energy (it’s not so when you are heavily pregnant with a demanding two years old!) to guide them.
6. For mothers who had c-section, their body will have chance and time to recover fully, thus the chances of having VBAC(vaginal birth after c-section) is higher.
7. For mothers who planned to breastfeed their child to 2 years old, this would be another reason to plan for second one after two years, well of course there are moms who can handle tandem nursing, BUT, for working and pumping mom, this is a real challenge to be able to have enough supply for both child and her own health too.
8. What else..i think there are more..perhaps moms with more than one kid out there would like to give their views?

 

All comments are welcome!

 

By the way, these are just my own views…for those who have one coming (and your older child has not turned 2), don’t worry….like my case…I always believe, God will not send you a mission which you couldn’t handle!- I think there is a better quote ..I can’t recall the exact phrase but the meaning is there! So fret not…we can and we will survive with more than one child! Mom have amazing hidden POWER!

 

Cheers to all moms!

PLR - A Cost-Effective, Time-Efficient Solution for Building Your Parent-Targeted Mailing List

By now probably some of you have heard of PLR or embark on some kind of affliates or online marketing tools in online business. PLR stands for "private label rights" and refers to ready-made content that you can purchase, edit and brand for your business. It may come in the form of articles, reports, ebooks or even pre-made sales pages, opt-in (or squeeze) pages, graphics, audio recordings and even video.
 
There are plenty of uses for PLR from adding content to your website to creating products for sale, but have you considered what an effective tool PLR can be for building your mailing list?
 
How to Build Your List with PLR
 
- Brand and publish a PLR report as an ethical bribe for signing up for your list. Your visitor signs up for your list and you give them instant access to a valuable report that helps parents become more informed or solve a problem. Make sure you include mention of the free report with all your sign up boxes.
 
- If the PLR reports include ecovers, use them to make them more attractive and tangible to your potential subscriber. It also draws the eye into your subscription box when it's on a page with other content. Parents are busy people, make it easy for them to find your great offer.
 
- Use PLR opt-in or squeeze page templates to simplify the list-building process. Many PLR providers sell ready-made templates that streamline the process of collecting email addresses. Simply modify the text, insert your autoresponder code and load up the html pages. Promote your opt-in pages in your article bylines, YouTube videos and wherever you publish content. 
 
- Use PLR banners to promote your report giveaway. Put them on your blog, invite your affiliates to use them and swap or purchase ad space to get the word out there. Find out where your target parent market hangs out and be seen.
 
- Use topic-relevant PLR articles and other content to drive traffic to your opt-in page. Include a recommendation for your mailing list as a place to get further information.
 
- Don't stop there. You don't just have to make one freebie offer to build your list. Publish other opt-in pages with offers that will attract more parents in your targeted audience. The nice thing about PLR is that it's cost-effective and time-efficient to test out a variety of free offers to build your list.
 
Key Tip - Make the PLR Your Own
 
Private label rights means you have the opportunity to make customize the content so it suits your message and your target audience. Although the terms of service with PLR providers varies, in most cases you can do things like add logo, insert case studies, comments from customers, add your own opinions and more. 
 
Parents who subscribe to your mailing list want to get a feel for WHO you are before they buy from you, so taking the time to make PLR uniquely yours can go a long way. That doesn't mean you need to rewrite it from scratch, but insert elements that will give your readers more insight into your company and what you stand for.
 
A Free PLR Package to Help You Build Your Parenting Mailing List
 
It's amazing how easy it can be to build a list when you've got ready-made tools to help you. You can actually get a free PLR list-building package right here. It includes:
 
- a free report
- opt-in page template and suggested text
- ecovers in 4 sizes
- promotional graphics
 
For those of you who are interested to learn more/ to get started. Click here to get yours.
  
 
  

Passengers Caption Contest

Hmm..what is beautiful Anne doing in male restroom? Was that a therapist's job? 

This was one of the picture in the movie "Passenger" starring beautiful Anne Hathaway (Princess Diaries, Becoming Jane) one of my favourite starlet :) ...this picture really does look like you know using a male restroom :P Pardon me if you just had your lunch ..

This is a blog for a moviecontest @AMBP. Check out more about the contest for this movie here.

My Son @ 9mth 3 weeks

This morning, my son suddenly let go of his grip and try to take his baby steps. Wow..he is not even 10 month and so eager to walk already…haha…Am I not happy (of course I am!) but just can’t help feeling amazed at how some kids grow faster that we can ever noticed/expected …

 

This post is also something to highlight some of my son development thus far which I jot down whenever I can remember to do so…talking about being forgetful…o…motherhood.. :P

 

• 1^st mth – Drink 5 ½-6oz breastmilk every 2 ½-3hrs
• 2^nd mth – Able to hold his head up
• 3^rd mth - First tooth came out
• 4^th mth - By 8mth, 8 teeth (4 top and 4 bottom) came out
• 5^th mth - Started to sit steadily
• 6^th mth – started solid food - organic sweet potatoes (stopped after constipated)
• 7^th mth – participate in CNY balik kampung trip (4-5hrs trip with brief stops in between)
• 8^th mth – Active crawler
• 9^th mth – wave bye-bye
• 10^th mth – to be continued

  

Maybe next time when he asked me when he started walking or etc…at least I am able to refer back to this post(hopefully www and my blog still exist then!) and answer him!

 

Cheers!