Lipsticks To Bottles

I can't thank the people who have followed my blog from the get-go for all your words of encouragement and love. Thank you for pushing me to write again. It warms my heart to hear when my readers tell me they enjoyed reading my journey and somehow felt like they were right there with me too. Big love to you all.  Here i am sitting down and staring at the screen. I feel rusty. I haven't done this in a while. My last post was, well ages ago! But - hello! Seeing as i set up this baby blog of mine some 6 years ago, i felt it is only right that i continue writing in it seeing as, as most of you would know by now, i am baking baby number 2 in the oven! I'm in the last leg of my pregnancy now. I'd call it the 'uncomfortable' stage.  Where you feel like a whale,  your legs are sore,  your body's aching and the baby is kicking like there's no tomorrow.  But,  kicking is good.  Kick away baby,  so momma knows you're growing well.  So let's ...

Something happened not too long ago - the day that my daughter asked me the most painful thing.  “I want Dada..” which I said, “Well he isn’t here now but we will see him very soon bubba, just a few more days”…she cried harder and then she said what broke my heart.  “WHY CAN’T DADA STAY HERE IN MAMA’S HOUSE OR MAMA STAY IN DADA’S HOUSE SO KIARA CAN HAVE BOTH MAMA & DADA?” ( Kiara, Age 3, September'14) It wasnt easy to handle that question at all. I held back tears and just hugged her while she sobbed harder. It's never quite easy, to see your child in so much pain, and know not how to ease it.  It's hard to come to terms that it was the fault of her parents that she has to live with it. As a friend once told me, " Our children should not pay for our screw-ups but they do...but we must strive to give them better ."  Dating hasn't been a walk in the park for me. At the back of my mind, I'm constantly terrified that it may not work out ...

I've been meaning to pen this down for a while. Something rather nasty happened to me over New Years which should not have happened, but it did. Lets just say that i was told by a man (not my boyfriend, for if he said such a thing we wouldn't be together)  that "Women need to be women - and you are not" . He went on to tell me something along the lines that the Man IS the man of the house . And i don't know if what he meant was that i should bow down and let a man do whatever in the household but that was how it sounded like to me. Now, for people who know me - they know i'm a very strong woman. I have had a pretty tough time growing up. Even harder paving my way through life. And the biggest change came when i had my beautiful daughter. But some how, i have pushed through and i can safely say - i'm in a good position in my life now. It WILL only get better. Prior to having my kid, i did not have much working experience. Yes, i worked in the F&B...

In the recent months, i've had a number of people ask me "You split up with your ex and you didn't tell me?! We're friends! So hurt i had to find out from Facebook?!" I don't see how that is of importance to anyone but my closest family and friends. Even my Godfather - whom my close friends know is one of the most important man in my life - found out a month or so after! I was not legally married, but we -  the ex and i - shared 4 years together, had a baby, tried to build a home and eventually, it still turned sour and went down the drain. THAT, was pretty much a marriage to me. I wasn't proud that my 'marriage' didn't work out. I wasn't proud that the whole myth of 'people who come from broken families make broken families' was some what true. I didn't feel the need to blast it to the world that my said 'marriage' has failed. I find it somewhat shameless how some people think i owe them that bit of information. ...

It has been almost a year since i last posted anything. I appreciate all the love and messages i have received over my various social media platforms that has been nothing but encouraging and urging me to start writing (or typing) again. Well, here i am. Starting again.  I guess one could say that there has been an amazing amount of changes that has taken place in my life and Kiara's too, if i may add. So much that i don't quite know where to even begin to tell.  To get the ball rolling, i should just put it out there that yes , if you have heard the whispers, they are true. About half a year ago, i decided that it would be best for me to move forward and thus i am a single mom now. Kiara's father and i still do our very best to be awesome parents to K and that is all that really matters. Don't over read my words here, or over analyse it, it's exactly as you read it. Still being the very best we can be to our child, just doing it separately .   As with all br...

I've had writers block for months to be honest. I felt things were just getting pretty monotonous with this blog and just lost my motivation to write for a while. Then i thought, this is not only a baby blog! It's for you, the mummies, who take the time to read about my journey. I wanted to be able to write about things that bothered me as a mom. Things that not many would write about. Things that truly were embarassing or even ashamed to talk about. So you could share this part of my journey too and know that if you feel like how i do, you are not alone! :) Well, as the title suggest, i had a bout of self esteem problems right after Kiara came along. This was totally new to me! I was always very confident about myself. I loved how i looked, talked, walked etc. I loved my flaws too. I guess that was also because i somehow managed to maintain the slim figure etc. I was even very confident about myself when i was pregnant. I felt beautiful. (Note: Not all pregnant women seems to ...

This is probably one of Kiara's favourite dishes and i believe many asian kids too! It's easy peasy to make and tastes delish! What you'll need: Minced Chicken Diced Carrots Rice (Brown Rice if you want the healthier choice) Bovril (optional) Garlic (optional) Chicken Stock (optional)   For all the items that i stated as optional, it's really up to you which you would prefer. Some would rather skip bovril & garlic and just use chicken stock, where as some would do the opposite. So that part is really up to you how you would like your baby's food to be. I personally have used all 3 methods and Kiara likes them all the same. Step 1 : Add rice and carrots into a pot of boiling water (or boiling chicken stock). You can add  finely chopped garlic if you would prefer to add more flavour to the dish. I let this simmer in for about 15/20 minutes till the carrots are relatively softer. Plus rice takes a while to cook too! Once done, add in your minced chicken which cooks...

**I drafted this in the start of January and realised that i never did post it. I know it's like 2 months late, but better late than never!**   December was a crazy month for me, hence the lack of updates. I was either constantly running around to get presents or attending to something else. Christmas is such a hectic festive season. Plus, the city was a mad house with crazy human traffic. So glad it's over in a way. Though, Christmas is the only thing i look forward to celebrating each year. Last year's was extra special for both Sham and I. It was our first Christmas as a family and Kiara's very first Christmas. She's still rather young so we didn't talk about Santa much. But we did fil up her little stocking to the brim with extra gifts. :D Can't wait till this year's Christmas! She'll be walking, maybe running and definitely talking. So we can start with the Santa tradition i grew up with. You know the whole glass of milk with some cookies on the...

I left without saying a thing. But for those of you who follow me on Twitter would have known that i was studying like mad once it hit January for my exams that were at the start of February. I don't know if i have mentioned this before, but i am doing night classes to get my school papers done. They say, education knows no age boundaries. :)  Besides, after having a child, i'm move motivated than ever to get a good foundation done for myself. Aiming for my degree. With determination, i can achieve it! (And so can you if you are thinking of it too!) So my exams ended sometime last week. It was good to finally just be able to relax you know. The whole of January was hectic for me. I was constantly burning the midnight oil studying because it was near impossible to do so in the day when Kiara was awake. Even when she napped, i napped with her to catch up on the sleep i lost while staying up. It was pure madness. I was so so exhausted by the end of my exams. I'm currently wait...

You've had 'that' gut feeling for a while now. So you make your way down to your local pharmacy and pick up a box of pregnancy test kit. There's been some cases where a particular brand may not give you an accurate result so grab a few more just in case. You quickly rush home and take the test. It confirms your suspecions, YOU ARE PREGNANT!!! You jump around with much joy panting away thinking of all the great things to look forward to. Is it a boy or a girl, how will the baby look like, what will be the name, baby clothes, pram...the list goes on. And then, the sudden pause. Now, how do you share this exciting news to your family, husband/boyfriend, friends etc. (Some people say you should only start telling the 'world' once you passed 3 months.) But after all that is done, NOW WHAT? The first step, creating a PRE-BIRTH PLAN. :) Ask yourself, What kind of Doctor would you like? Private or Government? Which hospital would be great? What kind of birth would you l...

Oh another fabolous find! I found this from a friend of mine via facebook. She had posted it on her page for all mummies and i'm so glad that i clicked that link. (Ruby, if you're reading this, thank you!) So this has got to be the best online purchase thus far! This seller carries a whole bunch of dirrerent nappies you could ever want. From Drypers, Huggies, Mamy Poko to Pet Pet. She has them all! What's even more exciting is that she carries popular brands of milk powder too! You can see Frisco, Similac, Gain IQ just to name a few. So i made a purchase with her on Saturday and managed to collect my goods from her yesterday evening.(Sunday) Can you imagine? Those 3 items cost me $96! In stores, a 1.6kg of Mamil Gold Step 1 would cost about $72 while Huggies Ultra in a pack of 40 would cost about $17++ almost $18. In her store, i bought the milk for $68 and the nappies for $14 a packet!! That's about $12 in savings!!!      **She does not carry the pack of 64 for the Ult...

Eeks! I thought i had posted this last night! Sorry for the delay. (Before we jump right into this post, i'd like to apologise for the low quality of the pictures. Its 1.06am and i just took pictures of the items. But i hope i managed to tweak it a little so it comes out fine.) Anyways, i found this online shop, Munchkin Foodies Store a while ago but because Kiara was not at the age yet for snacks/chippies, i had to wait till she was. I did buy some from Cold Storage/NTUC Fairprice earlier on. In fact i started Kiara on some biscuits first. She loves this Take One Bite brand especially the crarrot flavoured version. Quite yummy! I started her on that when she was about 5 months. She now gobbles it down like a Pro! :p After that, i introduced her to Gerber Baby Puffs. She does not know how to hold them with her thumb and forefinger yet, so i help pop it into her mouth. She does however hold her bigger biscuits, that is, if she's not beling lazy. (She like to just leave the whol...

A few days ago i decided to try out a recipe i found online. It sounded delicious, well in a baby delicious sorta way! :p So let's jump right into it. Here's a list or more like pictures of the items you will need to create this dish for your bubs. I know i did not state any carrots in the title, but i did add in some, purely just for colour. Well and K loves carrots, but i added just a tiny bit. So there you have; Heinz Baby Pasta Stars (You can get this from any leading supermarkets) Potatoes Sweet Potatoes Carrots (If you want) Tuna in water or flakes if it's easier   So just chop up the items and pop them into a pot of boiling water. Chopping them up to smaller pieces makes it easier to mash up later when they're fully boiled. While your vegetables are boiling you can start doing your pastas in a seperate pot. For one serving you can just use 1 tablespoon worth of pastas. Up to you if you prefer the stars version or the spaghetti. While waiting for everything to boi...

I was looking forward to Kiara turning 7 months old with much enthusiasm. Not only did that mean she was half way through the year with only 5 more months till she turns 1, but that also meant that i could finally change her diet! Introducing texture has been such an exciting experience. Both for Kiara and for myself. By texture i mean, having more lumps/chunks in the food. Prior to this, Kiara's food has always been pureed. It has been a smooth consistency with no lumps or chunks what so ever. I started out with trying out Heinz 7-9 months premade food in the jars. In one of my previous post, i stated that Heinz goes by colour coordinating the jar tops. So 7-9 months is the red jar tops. These are just 3 flavours i am showing you. They have about 3/4 more here i believe. Kiara has very quickly picked her favourites. I really thought she'd love the Cheesy Bolognaise but to my surprise, she really and i mean REALLY, loves her Pumpkin & Couscous! Just to show what i mean by c...