where did time go?

today i received these freebies from HIPP organic. the loot consists of weaning products and i realized that soon ava will be eating semi solids. gosh, where did time go? time flies so fast and now i have to think and surf the net for recipes for her first food. i don't really want to rely on these ready made baby food. i mean, maybe the one or two every now and then. i want to make food for her from scratch and hopefully be able to give her mostly organic. they say the best thing  you can give to your child aside from education is to give her the best start in life which is giving her healthy food and i hope to do just that.
but first i want to get my hands on this, the beaba babycook. apparently it does everything when it comes to making baby food. it steams, blends, defrosts and reheats. it makes baby food making child's play according to one review. the only downside is the price tag. it retails at £60. but if i'll be able to use it for the next two years, it will just come out like spending £30 a year which isn't bad. i'm really going to have a go at making ava's food from scratch as i wasn't able to breasfeed her for long, i feel like i have to compensate somewhere and i think this is it, making healthy and fresh food for her every single day.

sunday lunch out

went to have lunch at Giraffe in MK shopping mall after sunday mass. we haven't tried this restaurant and have been really curious as to what's on offer here. but first...ava had to have her lunch first and couldn't wait anymore, so we had to make a stop at one of the benches for her to have her feed...this is my order of hot malaysian noodles. i'm not quite sold out about this. it was a bit sweet and i hate sweetness in something that is supposed to be savoury.sonny's order of fish and chips with mashed peas on the side. this one, i looove. way better than all the fish and chips that i've tasted before. i wished i ordered this one instead of that noodles.sonny didn't want dessert so it was just me who still had space in my tummy. i ordered their waffle with roasted banana and vanilla ice cream on top. it was very yummy. i really liked it. the waffle was crunchy and the roasted banana was so tasty. yum yum.
 and they still serve coke in old fashioned bottles.nice. though i don't think i would want to go back there.

delivered today

The Graco travelling cot which we plan to take with us for our vacation to Cebu. very nice looking.sturdy and comes with built in sound system. so far.so good.

baby not included.

mommy's favorites

being a mommy you only want what's best for your baby. now that i'm in the third month of being a new mom to ava, i already have my favorite stuff that i love using when it comes to her.here's a list of my favorites so far.

• silver cross 3D pram system - no regrets in getting this one. maybe a bit expensive compared to other brands but it's worth it. it is sturdy and easy to maneuver and we can use it until ava is already a toddler because the pram converts into a stroller. we always get compliments every time we are out with it. and with silver cross, you can never go wrong.
• pampers baby dry diapers -  no wonder it's very popular. i just found out lately how wonderful this is. being practical as we are, we think there's no point using big name brands as long as it does the job and half the price compared to leading brands. so we've decided to use supermarket brand nappies like asda, tesco and sainsbury's. at first, it was ok. but as she grew older and have started urinating a lot especially at night, there's always a leak somewhere. when i pick her up at dawn for her feed, she's always wet in the waist area. so we've decided to try huggies and pampers. with huggies she still leaks but with pampers, it's wonderful. i don't have to change her at dawn after her feed and when i change the nappy in the morning, it's full and heavy but her bottom is still dry.so thumbs up for pampers.
• johnson's and johnson's wipes - this is a no brainer. this brand has been around for decades. i've tried huggies and pampers wipes (samples given during our hospital stay) and they were okay but when i tried johnson's and johnson's(bought it because it was on BOGOF promo), i loooved it. it's very nice on my baby's skin. it just glides and also nice smelling too. most times, i still use cotton ball with warm water to wipe her bottom. it's gentler to her skin. i only use the odd wipes when we are out and about.
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avent feeding bottles - i always see a lot of moms around using avent bottles but i should have known, they were using it for a reason and not just because of the name. so i bought tommy tippee bottles and when i started giving ava formula that's when i realized that it's not really good. especially the teat that was apparently designed to  mimic the mom's breast. actually,  it's no good. the tip of the teat seems to get sucked into the bottle when ava is feeding and i have to stop feeding her and take the teat out so the tip will come out again. so we bought avent bottles and i've never been happier.
sudocrem - really keeps nappy rash at bay.enough said.

what's a girl to do

when you are on maternity for 8 months,internet shopping becomes your friend...

confessions of a shopaholic

finally, Shopaholic the movie (confessions of a shopaholic) is going to be released next month. it seemed like i had to wait forever for it to be shown.this is one of the three movies that i couldn't wait to watch being a fan of the book series. i was just so glad when i heard that it was going to be turned into a movie. the other two that i was so happy about was Sex and the City the movie and Mamma Mia the  movie. i must've seen the musical in london more than twice already.
i'm loving the fact that isla fisher plays rebecca bloomwood. i'm sure she'll give justice to the role. i think it fits her to a T. so come february, i'm gonna ask my husband to baby sit ava for me so i can watch this movie with my friends. one thing i don't like about the movie version is that the location is in new york when in the series, becky is based in london (author sophie kinsella is english). also, i'm not sure about the dress sense though. rebecca bloomwood was good at shopping designer clothes but didn't know she didn't have good fashion sense.

had my date with the stork

i'm back in business after a very long time. shall we say, since i had my baby and that was almost 8 weeks ago. yes, i already gave birth to my baby girl last november 24 and i can say it was a wonderful experience. i wasn't traumatized as i thought i would. she arrived a week early and i couldn't be happier.she's the most beautiful thing that ever happened to me. it was a good labor and delivery (it's all the prayers) and i was lucky to have a very good team from the midwives to the nurses up to the attending consultant. though i can never deny the fact that it really hurt (i didn't have the epidural until i was 6 cms. dilated) and was physically exhausting. i mean, they don't call it labor for nothing. but thanks to the epidural, it made things easier and pain free.
what i found difficult was the days and weeks after the birth. taking care of a very demanding newborn while you are sore all over is such a daunting task. plus the sleep deprivation was just too much. there were times when i would cry because of pure exhaustion especially when she's crying non stop and inconsolable and my husband was already back at work. so i had no one to rely on but only myself. those were the times that i wished i was in cebu where my parents and all the relatives are. you can always rely on a helping hand out there.
almost 8 weeks on, i already got the hang of it and things are a lot easier. Ava's got a routine already and she sort of sleeps through the night from 10pm-4am unlike before when i have to feed her every 2 hrs at night and every 3 hrs during the day. i am able to enjoy her now after the rough first 6 weeks. i used to tell myself that things could only get better and it truly has.