Motherhood Week One

As in my son has been home for a week and two days. We are exhausted, sore--normal deliveries have stitches too!--and most importantly, learning about and getting to know each other.

I've been doing my best to balance my household chores with caring for my little one. Oh I'm sure there are those who will think I'm crazy for doing so. In fact, I have heard many "don'ts" that I, with all due respect, think are crazy.

The things they don't tell you in books Part 2

New mother as I am, I've picked up a few things on the road to (new) motherhood. And as implied in the first part of this theme, not all of this is in books or even easily found online.

Not all of this will be true for everyone, but this are the things I learned that I thought would be a nice little contribution to the online pool.

A very happy Christmas indeed

Just a quick one to say that, alongside the scheduled (yes, we shamelessly pre-scheduled a post) entry for the day, this is my official blog birth announcement:

My son, Llewelyn, by the Lord's Grace and Mercy, was safely delivered (normally) last 20 December 2012, making him a herald of the Apocalypse.

(Sorry, couldn't help the jab at the whole Mayan calendar hooha. LOL)

Though it is most certainly true that this is the end of our world as we know it. Parenting, here we come!

Hurdle to prepare for 3.0: Traveling with a baby

This early and I'm already thinking about traveling with Bean? Oh, definitely.

Granted, by the time this posts, I could very well already be in the hospital, waiting to welcome him into the world. If I am, then that means I will be having my first experience traveling with a baby within 24 to 48 hours.

But putting that aside.

The Year of the Household Clean-up #1: Guidelines

I don't even know how long these were marinating in my bookmarks list before I found them again:

1. How to Declutter the Closet
2. When to Donate Clothes
3. How to Organize a Closet in 5 Steps 
4. Stop Hoarding

This series of posts may well have been the reason why I began on this cleaning quest that has turned into quite the nesting monster. I bet that if I didn't feel so overheated and exhausted all the time, this house would have far less junk in it than it still does.

In the interest of the most precious parent commodity

I will bet that I will lose more of it when Bean arrives than I have already lost.

Let me say, first of all, that I do my best work late at night. That's the time when the house is completely quiet, I do not have to answer the phone, run errands, or worry about what time I need to start preparing and cooking food.

My nights involve sitting quietly at my desk, browsing the web, getting up to speed with friends and family, checking e-mail, and yes, blogging.

Hurdle to prepare for 2.0: Cloth Diapering and Swaddling

The little treasures just keep coming in as the due date looms ever closer. Of course, that is not due to anything other than the fact that I purposely waited until the last months to really get his gear ready. In fact, the only things I haven't washed yet are the bottles and related feeding paraphernalia from his older cousin.

The hospital bag has been packed, and today, the stuff I ordered online arrived!

Pregnancy Style Miles

Much of my pregnancy passed without a hitch. By that I mean I was able to still use over half of my pre-pregnancy wardrobe despite my growing waistline.

These last weeks of incubating my little parasite (I always wanted to say that, haha--if you don't know the source of the joke, I suggest the keywords "House MD Parasite"), however, has sent me on a panicked shopping spree for clothes that would actually fit.

Dear Korea, your make-up rocks

I promised a mixture of old and new posts and here's one newer cosmetics trip post.

I was introduced to Korean make-up products quite by accident, to be honest. Former students of my aunt gave her gifts of product samplers, some of which she passed on to me, particularly the fussier ones that she doesn't really use. Hence, my mini collection of BB creams:

My first shop front!

I have taken my third step and opened an online store!

I mentioned here that I do aim to work from home. Actually, make that build a personal empire from home. (Thank you, Ara Fernando, for the awesome idea of calling it that. An empire, I mean.)

Parent-to-be Conversations #1: I know he'll grow up "too soon"

Me (with much awe as I a baby shirt out of the drier): Wow these things are so cute and tiny...
Husband: Yeah well, enjoy that while it lasts. Before we know it, he's going to want to be independent.
Me: Are you kidding me? I'm already conditioning myself for that moment.
Husband: What moment?
Me: When our baby is no longer a baby.

The things they don't tell you in books Part I

Or can't tell you because it's downright unexpected or unpredictable.

Though I am not a strict believer in being able to prepare for everything in advance, you cannot blame a first time mother for trying. After all, parents will always want to do their best by their kids, right?

Daily Thanks

That the desire to keep creating things in the kitchen has not waned.

My latest project involves this:

I can't say I'll be in the kitchen full time or even in full swing again, but I am happy enough with the fact that I'm slowly starting to find my way back to where I was before.

Daily Thanks

This

Coming soon. :)

Daily Thanks

Dear World: Yesterday, I made pancakes.

They came from a box but they were good enough that my husband gave me the thumbs up--and he's my worst food critic here at home.

Daily Thanks

I've not done too many dailies lately and I know I keep saying it's because of the baby preps but well, anyone who's a first timer can probably tell you that all the research into preparations and the surprises that come with the whole journey does take its toll.

Or at least it has on me, now that I'm in my final month.

But I wanted to put together a series of posts just because there is so much to be grateful for and though it's a bit late in coming, well, there's nothing wrong with starting whenever the mood hits.

Keeping up with the times

I've raved before about the Belle de Jour planner and just recently signed up for their new project, the BDJ Box . It's their take on those boxed product samplers, pre-paid for, usually, and automatically shipped to clients so they can test samples of different products on the market to help novices (such as myself) explore new things, and introduce seekers, addicts--okay, enthusiasts ^_~--and pros to what's new.

My main purpose was to gain access to the reviews and tutorials but I'm still on the fence on whether or not I actually want to order the box itself.