my breastfeeding must-haves.

for those of you who know me, i'm a HUGE advocate for breastfeeding. sure, everyone has their reasons for why they do or don't but for me it was an absolute must that i breastfed my children. my first attempts with emma were a nightmare -not going to lie. i'm pretty sure my breasts hated me for all the torture i put them through, though it's a learning curve for both you and your baby so it is IMPERATIVE you get the help you need in order for it to be a success. after multiple attempts and failure to get the rhythm going, i sought out help from a lactation consultant. the doctors at the vancouver breastfeeding clinic were absolutely amazing and gave me the confidence to keep at it and sure enough i was on my way to a beautiful connection with both my girls.

i could go on and on about technique, but then you'd be cross-eyed..so if you're ever interested or need help, i'd be more than happy to give you tips. i have my sister and many friends whom i've helped establish breastfeeding and all of them became pros!

anyhow, this blog is about my absolute must-haves if you plan to breastfeed your child. they are as follows:

1. a nursing pillow. my brest friend was literally, my breast friend. it is made of a firm foam in a shape that fits post-partum tummies along with a clip to secure it from sliding off your lap. it has two raised areas for baby's head to rest on and a handy pocket for breast pads, nipple shield, cel phone -cuz once you get the hang of breastfeeding..you'll be texting a lot lol!

2. milk catchers. as you know, every single drop of breast milk is liquid gold and as your body learns to produce the right amount at the right time, they will leak. breast shells allows you to catch the milk from the breast that baby is not latched onto so that you can store it for near-future use in the fridge. the shells also allow your nipples to "air-dry" while wearing a sports bra (because they WILL get chapped). the alternative is letting your boobs hang out all day long..but that's not always practical! they ALSO alleviate engorged breasts. an absolute MUST-HAVE.

3. nipple shields. this may-or-may-not work for you depending on what shape your breast/nipple is but 2 people i know benefitted from using one. the shield which comes in different sizes will help baby latch onto your nipple especially when its chapped/cracked. my tip is to express some milk into and onto the shield so that baby gets some incentive to latch on. ;)

4. a breast pump. both avent and medela make excellent pumps -electric and manual. mine is the avent manual single pump and i love it. i used it with both girls and it definitely did the trick. my advice is to only purchase the single pump as you'll be messing with supply and demand if you're pumping both breasts at the same time. if you are doing it to create a supply for when you have to go back to work or like having it on hand, i would suggest waiting until baby is atleast 6 months old before you start "double-milking" yourself lol!

5. syringe/dropper. for the first 6 weeks of baby's life, its imperative that s/he doesn't get nipple confusion from being fed frequently with a bottle. usually your baby kit (the one that has the baby nail clipper, comb, thermometer, etc) will contain a dropper or syringe for dosing medication. use this to administer pumped breast milk or formula so that the only nipple that baby will know is yours! this will remove the frustruation of latching issues.

6. bottles. once breastfeeding is relatively established, its important to have good bottles on hand. dr. brown's makes excellent bottles with the proper shaped nipple and removes air to eliminate colic and vomiting. i suggest purchasing bottles no larger than 4oz as your baby's tummy is literally the size of a walnut when they are born. be in control of their bottle feeding as babies will typically continue to take from a bottle because it flows easily thus drinking more than they should. breastfeeding is more work for babies, so they will only take what they need!

7. lanolin.  to soothe those sore and cracked nipples, its lanolin all the way. warm some up between your thumb and index finger and apply to the nipples, areola and your breast pad. applying it to the breast pad will prevent the sticking and potential opening of a healing scab. (gross i know, but true!)

8. breast pads. once breastfeeding is in full force, the slightest thing will make you leak. hearing a child cry (not even your own!), thinking of your baby, or being emotional will trigger a let-down. you can purchase cloth ones that can be re-washed (i don't really have to use them anymore but will use these if i know i will be away from baby and miss a few feedings) or disposable ones. i like medela's and nuk's.

9. hooter hiders. at first, breastfeeding in public places will seem like a challenge. most public places, especially malls have nursing rooms in their bathrooms. using a nursing canopy will allow you to have the comfort and privacy to breastfeed virtually anywhere. not only does it have a cute name, it comes in very stylish patterns! i own the hooter hider, but the munchkin brand is comparable.

well, there you have it. most of these items can be purchased at a babies 'r' us and definitely at a tj's the kiddies store.

breastfeeding is such an amazing gift. not only does our body carry and grow this miraculous being, it creates nutrition that is perfectly designed for your baby. some mums breeze through it and others, like me, struggle. my motto is, if you can deliver a baby, you can do anything! seek out professional help if you are having difficulties. i know its easier to prepare a bottle but in the long run, you learn how frustrating that can be. breast milk is fresh, temperature correct and best of all FREE! so with that, i wish you good luck and positive vibes on your breastfeeding journey! :)

home sweet home.

the fam has spent the last week over at my parents place, while the ever-so-loving husband stayed behind to re-do our flooring in the living room. for those who know our place, you're probably thinking, "didn't you just do them last year?" and the answer to that is yes. we tried to get away with uneven concrete floors and that ended up biting us in the bum with many broken slats and squishy areas. so being the google/you-tube addict that i am, i googled self-levelling concrete and after watching a few videos on it, we decided it was our best chance at levelling the floor in a short amount of time. another twist in the game was that we were going to remove the tile at the front door area, as the style was very circa 1994 and desperately needed to be updated. needless to say..the hubby had a few (or several) choice words to say to me once he was done! LOL!

it was hard to let go of the floors we had (they cost a fortune!) so we decided to go with a more economical choice: ikea! our kitchen flooring is from ikea, so we were confident we'd be happy with the end product in our living area.

being over at my parents place felt like we were re-living last year. we stayed with them over the christmas holidays while we were renovating our home. it was different this time though because we had olivia with us...and having our littlest one there made me realize how much they needed to baby proof their home again! olivia achieved a few milestones during our stay: the first was that she learned to climb stairs..after only 2 attempts! and the second was she could pull herself up onto pretty much anything now, and she can walk with her toy walker!

olivia turned 9 months on thursday, and she had her wellness check up that same day. she's growing beautifully despite the lack of teeth (still not even one!) and her personality is shining more and more everyday!

life doesn't stop when there are glitches along the way...and having olivia show us how much she's growing puts everything into perspective. i think both the girls enjoyed seeing both grandma and grandpa..and in turn i think my parents liked having us around since it is only the two of them in a big house!

today, the floors were complete enough for us to come home..and wow..it was amazing how much brighter our place looked with the new floors. after a quick clean up session, we managed to get the girls to bed and settle into our own bed. i'm not really looking forward to tomorrow because i have a week plus worth of laundry to take care of..but the mini vacation away from all the house chores was well worth it.

~~since last week was so busy, i didn't get a chance to blog about my visit to fort langley..i had a really great time and even scored at an antique shop there! here were my buys:

pretty sweet eh!

the weekend.

after such a lovely friday at the pool, it was back to the usual saturday, starting off with emma's ballet class. rolo and i usually like to pick up something from the cafe at the community center but this time we went all canadiana and hit up tim hortons for some lunchtime goodies. strangely, emma was the only student at her class, so it was cut somewhat short. we hung around to finish our lunch and then set off to rona which is right across the way from the sport & leisure center. boy were they ever well staffed! they had a csr in every aisle and we were able to get all the information we needed for the ongoing renos at home.

when we got home...it was time to make pizza!!! making pizzas is one of emma's favorite things to do so this time around i bought individual sized shells so that emma could make her pizza just the way she liked it!

 the rest of the evening was spent catching up on chores and watching alice in wonderland..one of my favorite animated movies of all time.

then came daylight savings. ugh. we didn't get up until 10am! and i probably could have stayed asleep for another hour! lol! alas it was time to get ourselves ready for church. since it was miserable outside, we thought it would be nice to have rolo's mom and grandma come over and have a visit with the girls, and as luck would have it, rolo's mom brought all the ingredients to make pupusas!

our family has been addicted to pupusas since we started going to this little salvadorian restaurant near our church. it became a little ritual where we'd meet rolo's family there after mass for lunch and ended sooner than we hoped because the restaurant decided they would close on sundays. so it has been a little project of my mother-in-law and mine to re-create the goodness we'd been experiencing and in doing so, realized how cost effective it was to make them at home, not to mention how many we could make for so little!

it was a pleasant visit and it was nice to catch up and hang out with rolo's family. we ended off our evening by paying our respects to a friend whose family member passed. it was great to catch up and see all the love and support from everyone.

all in all a great weekend. its nice to have lazy ones every now and again because every week is go-go-go...and i know that when the girls get even older it'll be harder for time to stand still!

family swim fridays.

today, the girls had their second swimming lesson session at the surrey sport & leisure center and they had such a blast! even with just one lesson under their belts, they seemed a lot more confident in the water this time around. last week, the hubster took olivia for her first lesson and he kept saying how much olivia loved splashing around so it was nice to switch it up this week and have a chance to see her reaction for myself.

being only the second session, the instructor got serious and showed us how to 'dunk' our little ones into the water. the nice thing about our class is that it consists of two students -olivia, and my niece chloe. so we get all the attention and direction to make sure we're doing things right. so he instructs us to count to 3, give a big blow of air to their faces and dunk head first into the water so as not to get any water up their noses and then once they're out give plenty of positive remarks. this was quite funny because he was actually telling us in a high pitched tone of voice what to say...as if mothers don't already know what to say to console our children lol!

so 1st attempt: success! she was a bit dumbfounded by the whole thing, but no tears which is excellent! we proceeded to play 'ring around the rosy' and dunk them a few more times and each time was just as good as the first. since literally her very first bath, olivia has been obsessed with trying to drink the water. whether it be from residual drips after rinsing her hair with water, finding a toy that has water pooled in it, or just downright bending over to drink the water..its just been her thing. so its no surprise that since we're in a pool, she's trying to be tricky so she can drink the pool water! (yuck!) once i managed to distract her, it was nothing but shrieks and squeals from her. another water baby! yay!

once our half hour session is over, its emma and my nephew jacob's turn. i guess we picked the best time to have lessons because they also have a private class of just the two of them! its totally awesome because the instructor focuses on just them and they're actually learning rather than being distracted by other students. i could see that they were learning how to hold their breaths under water. they were definitely having a good time!

after seeing kids the same age and even younger than emma frolicking and actually swimming, i knew it was high time that i sent her to swimming lessons. with all of those horrific stories of people drowning last summer made me think how unfortunate it is that people out there don't know how to swim. i guess one could say that they don't ever go out into the water therefore knowing how isn't necessary..but you just never know and from that i knew it was a skill my children had to learn.

once the classes were over, we all got dressed and picked up some shamrock sugar cookies and chai lattes from the cafe. mmm chai lattes- an excellent way to warm you up after a swim. then we head back to our place to fill up our tummies with a polish dish called bigos (polish sauerkraut stew) that my mom came over to drop off (hi mom!) the kiddies played and i prepared dessert: some red velvet cake with cream cheese icing (leftover from a cake i made earlier in the day) and some paczkis (polish jam filled donut)..its safe to say we were in heaven!

all in all an excellent friday night..looking forward to next friday!

fast. pray. alms.

tonight the fam went to ash wednesday mass at immaculate conception. it was packed! thankfully we managed to squeeze in where my sister and fam was sitting which is nice when you've got to carry a wee one.

i love father nelson's homilies. he speaks with such a passion and truthfully gets through to me in ways a mass never has. i used to be the gal that counted the light fixtures during a homily or stare at the misbehaving child who's being scolded by his parents. i did everything in my power to fixate on the words being said but lost interest so quickly. now that i'm older and perhaps also because i am a parent, i absorb every word maybe because its something i'll be able to repeat to my little ones to reinforce what we learn by going to church.

this year i decided i was going to be involved in the season of lent and easter by actually starting it right and going to ash wednesday mass. i know, you're probably thinking, why haven't you been doing it all along. well the truth of the matter is, i was at that point in my life where i lost my connection with my faith and didn't think it was at all important to be an involved catholic. people are spiritual in their own ways -this i know is true and its everyone's own choice to decide what kind of life they want to lead.

now, i'm ashamed to say it but the whole reason why we started going to church was because emma was getting closer to kindergarten and we really wanted her to go to my old elementary, ic delta. from the advice of the experienced, it was best to sign up as a parishoner as soon as possible to secure a potential future for our child at the school. but after going the first few times, something inside of me changed. it wasn't about keeping up with appearances or 'taking one for the team'..i actually liked going. i looked forward to it. its crazy how many songs i know without even having to open up the 'glory and praise' book -all from a childhood memory! so going to church is now a regular thing -almost every sunday, but sometimes life gets in the way and i'm okay with that. i enjoy the one hour i have to reflect and listen and reset.

emma enjoys children's liturgy. she's learning songs and even singing them at home sometimes. she tells me about what they talked about or whether or not she raised her hand when a question was asked. its great to see her interest and it challenges me to figure out ways to explain why things are done the way they are during mass. so what better way to introduce the meaning of this season along with easter than by going to church on a day we don't normally go.

this year i am giving up sugary drinks for 40 days..maybe even longer. water and milk will be the staples and the occasional coffee (-anna you're right, i'd probably die without my coffee too lol) and i'm also challenging myself to exercise every day for the next 40 days. as part of my teaching emma what it means to 'give-up' something during lent (a word for whatever reason she can't say without giggling) we agreed that we'd give up some tv time to focus on being creative or to learn something new.

its interesting how my inner catholic has come out so that i can teach emma what it all means. i guess all it really takes is finding the reason why its important to you and that in itself is enough for you to want to share it with others.

so in all my catholic-y-ness, i encourage those who might not have thought to be active during lent to try it and see what 40 days can do to change your life. give up something you rely on excessively, pray or tap into your spirituality and be charitable -no matter how big or small your actions may be, they could mean the world to another human being.

and the countdown begins!

a lovey for livi.

i've mentioned in a post somewhere about the struggles i've been having with olivia getting to sleep. honestly, how hard could it be right? just let her cry for a minute or two to see if she'll settle, or ever-so-gently lay her into her crib once she's zonked out in your arms. wrong-o! after leaving her with my sister and brother-in-law for a night out with the hubster, my sister physically understood what it meant to keep that little munchkin asleep.

since it's clear olivia sufferes from separation anxiety, anna suggested i introduce a lovey to olivia. what a great idea! as a baby shower gift, i had received a box of loveys called "a pair and a spare" -literally what it holds!

i've decided to name it "gi-gi" as a simple name for giraffe and as you can see, 2 are being put to good use. one is already in the wash and the other she's currently snuggling with at mid-morning nap.

having a lovey around means i have to add another item to the list of things to remember. as if my brain isn't already crammed! referencing the book: the no-cry sleep solution, the author suggests you have the lovey around during key sleep triggers (ie. nursing to sleep, rocking) so they seek comfort in that little furry object, so that's what i've been doing. i've also brought it into the car so its beside her in the car seat, and where ever she might potentially have a nap. she resists it a bit, grabbing it and trying to toss it somewhere else, but i know persistence is key!

i remember i had a raggedy andy doll (still have it tucked away as a keepsake!) that i loved to absolute bits when i was a kid. as a thumbsucker back then, i'd find a sharp point (like an edge of fabric) and rub it against my nose because i liked how it felt. (weird! i know! lol) that doll went through a lot and once it got really raggedy, my mom tried to give me a new one. and i protested like you would've believe to the point where i guess she dug it outta the trash to give it back to me. with this pair and spare deal, you can always rotate them to keep them fresh and always have that extra one incase one gets left behind somewhere.

emma never really grew attached to anything growing up, though she enjoyed cuddling with stuffies to sleep. my main thing is that i want olivia to have a restful sleep, not one where she's up minutes after being put down. i'm hoping this will be successful, as i've had it up to here with her constant waking!

judging by this photo, i think we won't have too much of a struggle ;)

date night = success.

so saturday night, the hubster and i managed to sneak away from the girls to enjoy a mini night on the town. a mama friend of mine told me about her husband's restaurant in downtown vancouver called calabash which serves authentic carribbean food and a crazy extensive rum list. so we kept that place in the back of our minds and as soon as a free night was available we thought we'd check it out.

we dropped the girls off at my sister's place with emma spending the night and olivia just til we got back. 4 kids under one roof! (don't worry, they already know we're returning the favor!) hopping back into the car felt very strange without any of the girls because it so very seldom happens. but we knew spending time alone together would be good for us so it wasn't too difficult to get back into date mode.

we arrived at calabash and were welcomed with a charming atmosphere and great music. the host asked us if we had a reservation -we didn't, but managed to get us a table. within minutes the place was bumpin! our server was amazing, she knew the menu and suggested dishes with absolute ease. we started off with drinks and from a drink menu that has 2 pages of just rum selections, it was difficult to choose!

hubby started with a "reggae on broadway"  and i ordered a "coconut jumby" a delicious cocktail with organic coconut water, rum, agave syrup and muddled lemongrass, mint and lime -tasted slightly like a mojito but waaaay nicer!

next was the appy/entree , followed by another appy of crab cakes lol! 

we started with this yam pave with goat cheese and thyme sauce followed by seafood curry.

if we could've ordered everything off the menu we would have..it was THAT good.

hubby also ordered zacapa, a rum from guatemala, which he thorougly enjoyed!

next was dessert..it was again very hard to decide but we went with the chocolate banana trifle..absolutely perfect.

overall it was reasonably priced and the atmosphere was awesome. we'll definitely be back for more..perhaps also to check out a show in their lounge below the restaurant! (but with reservations next time!)

we ended off the night visiting with some friends whose birthdays were being celebrated that evening. although it would've been a blast to party the night away, duty was calling in the back of my mind..so it was time to go home.

our little olivia was bright-eyed and bushy tailed when we went back to pick her up (its 1am at this point..eek!) but it was good news to hear the girls were on their best behavior so that mum and dad could enjoy a little time to ourselves. after all, its important to have that time away to grow and bond as a couple!

so as the title says, date night = success. we had a great time reconnecting..with a busy life and 2 children on top of that, you tend to lose sight of all the reasons why you've built a family with your better half. the laundry piles up, the dishwasher needs emptying, a diaper needs changing or a story needs to be read. having those few little hours to ourselves recharged our batteries and we're ready to take on our world =)

letting go.

yesterday the fam attended a meeting at immaculate conception to get the details about registering emma for kindergarten this september. i can't even believe it. i knew this day would come but not this fast. i remember the exact moment i thought of her going off to school, it was our first home in vancouver. she was only a few months old and it was a time i wish i could've held onto forever. now, 4-ish years and another baby later, my first baby is ready for real school.

sure, she`s been to preschool, she attended a montessori preschool when we were living in vancouver and she learned such a wealth of skills from it. but this is school school. i only hope i`ve prepared her enough to enter that world without fear.

i remember when i started school, it was terrifying! being a child of deaf parents meant my sister and i lacked the skills to socialize in a `hearing`community. yeah of course we talked to other kids and our family whom apart from our parents are hearing, but to be pushed out of that bubble and into this world where you`re constantly interacting with others can -and was intimidating.

emma is an innocent, fun loving and silly girl. she loves princesses and can`t wait for her 5th birthday party which she`s decided is going to be a princess party. she started talking about this literally the day after her 4th birthday party which was 5 months ago! she has an amazing imagination..give her a piece of string and a sock, and she`ll turn it into a lock of rapunzel`s hair and a purse. she appreciates simplicity and i pray all of these qualities will only continue to grow and fade when they`re supposed to.

if i could be there every single day to defend her in a classroom quarrel, kiss the boo boo`s at recess or just have lunch with her, i would. but i know that i can`t. atleast not for long. she`ll have to learn to muster up the courage to do those things on her own. so i guess instead of looking at it as letting her go, i`ll think of it as preparing her for the rest of her life. i`ll remind her to respect others and share, listen and speak politely and always be her amazing self.

k someone pass me a tissue now!!

the littlest one is sick.

there's nothing worse than having a sick baby. olivia has now caught the dreaded cold bug that has plagued our family for the last month and a half. also to add to the mix is teething, not sleeping in her crib and detesting the high chair. so basically she's glued to my hip which makes the day to day slightly difficult.

two things that have helped me a lot through this has been coryzalia and camilia, both naturopathic products that help alleviate symptoms of a cold and of teething. i highly recommend it and it is available for purchase shopper's drug mart and save on foods and its affiliates.

i have resorted to bribing her with little treats like baby mum mums and those flavored puffs which for the time being works. how quickly i've forgotten how difficult things become when your little one hits the 8-12 month stage! the only thing that's keeping me going is the fact that although she's basically miserable, she still manages to put a smile on her face. her latest feat is crawling and she's getting pretty good at it. and when i say crawl, i mean olivia-style crawling which is her on her hands and knees, pulling her legs around with her arms. we have laminate flooring so the slipperyness of it makes it a lot easier for her to get around. today she managed to get from the living room to the main bathroom and even into emma's room. time to start baby proofing!

thankful to be sore.

yesterday i went to a carl c. cardio kickbox class by myself since my sister and mom weren't available. it's kinda cool, we always go to his classes on mondays and thursdays -a mother and daughter thing- and get our butts kicked every single time and love every minute of it. there's definitely strength in numbers because i certainly felt like i was carrying the weight of accountability by going alone.

carl c is amazing. one definitely goes through a series of emotions while in his class. excitement, regret, determination and relief. it's an addiction! he expects everyone to push it to the next level. i've taken community center aerobics classes and there is nothing like his. this year in his class we celebrate the law of effort. we work hard to get the end result. it's never one and done, if you did it 75% this time, he'll expect 100% from you next time.

thanks to taking his class, along with some sensible eating, i've managed to lose roughly 10lbs in the last 2 months. i can only imagine where i'll be 2 months from now! anyhow, i'm thankful to be sore because i know a goal like this takes hard work and determination. it's making a committment to delayed gratification. my goal is to be my healthy weight by the time i turn 30. i've got a year and 8 months..i know i can do it!

welcome one and all.

why did i start a blog. well. you're gonna think this is a bit silly, but for the past couple of months, every time something cool or not cool happened, i wanted to write about it. not only did i think it would be handy for me to have a channel to express my thoughts but i thought it'd be neat to record milestones and memories now that my life has changed since having two children.

here i'll post the goingson about my family along with information i think is vital for moms (be it new or seasoned) like neat products or baby facts. i'm in no way a certified or licensed anything, just someone who likes to share the wealth!

enjoy =)