Liebster Award

Several weeks ago I was awarded by the lovely Charlene from Teacher by Trade, Mother by Nature a Liebster Award.

10 Things Only Bloggers Would Understand

So I'm in a bit of a writers block right now. I don't know maybe because I'm on holidays at the moment, or its this time of the year when other bloggers are all over certain topics that are fitting i.e Christmas DIY's, healthy menu recipes, back to school shopping tips ... and I'm .... not. I've always just went with the flow with my blogging. I posted whenever and whatever naturally came to me. I did say I was going to be a little bit more organised this year though .... and when I get back from my holidays I'll be all over that, (do I sound like I'm trying to convince myself here?)

Anyways its moments like this when my thought process goes into tangents, that post ideas actually come to me. I was thinking about what to post about next, blogging, the pressure to come up with something interesting, first world bloggers problems and this post came to mind. Things only bloggers would understand ....

1. Writers block

Yep me right now. There could be days when you have nothing. Nothing really interesting to say, to write about. You're just at a blank. Sure little stuff comes to mind, you start a fresh new post but besides the title you've got nothing else.  

2. Post ideas that come to you when you're trying to sleep

Or when you're trying to do something that actually requires your concentration, like driving or listening while someone is sharing their problems with you ... ok maybe that last part is me. But as a blogger post ideas do come to you all the time and occasionally at moments when you're not in front of your computer to write it down. 

3. Thoughts of stopping and giving it all up

As a blogger you pour your heart and time into your little space, and there are days you question it all. 'Why do I bother?', 'Does anyone even read this?' And you think about throwing in the towel. 'I put in so much effort, and for what?' And we know some people don't understand (or respect) blogging, so its no wonder we doubt what we do at times. 

4. You feel like all you do is spam people

You're all over social media tweeting, you're hash tagging, you've set up a Facies page and trying to build a community. You're linking up, you're reading other blogs and commenting, you're replying to comments, you're following, you're applying the tips and tricks you've googled to increase your stats, you're getting involved and basically trying to "sell" people your blog and build your followers any way you can. 

5. You compare your blog to others

Another blogger covers a similar topic you have recently, and you can't help but compare posts. You're disheartened cause they articulate the topic better than you have, or you're looking for your name for any credit cause you swear they've copied you. You see a beautiful blog and have layout envy. You see blogs that you don't rate and think, 'my blog is at least 10 times better how come they have so many followers?' It's natural to compare.

6. You get press releases for products that have nothing to do with you

You know you're on some PR company's distribution email list and that's why you're getting all their spam .. I mean emails. They send you press releases for furniture, eye drops, jewellery ... products that are not appropriate or align with your blog's voice. You're still waiting for an email from the dream sponsor though so you can finally live off this blogging business.

7. Has an idol blogger and hopes to have the same success

We all have a blogger or two we just love. Whether its their success, how they write, their beautiful photos, their follower numbers or simply their layout, you want what they're having. 

8. You're always looking at your stats

You try not to but you can't help it. You see how many page views your latest published post has gotten, how many likes your post has gotten or log into google analytics for your current states. You repeat this about five times a day. 

9. You have at least a dozen draft posts 

You just upload thoughts as they come to you so you won't forget. As a result you have so many unfinished and unpublished posts in your dashboard, some only have titles. You tell yourself you will add to them when you have time to sit and write the content properly, but sometimes that day never comes and you're too scared to delete it anyways.

10. Never satisfied with their 'About Me' section and or profile photo

We can write about personal experiences but a blogger is never really content with their "About Me" page, and or their profile photo. You'd think it would be the easiest section to put together, but oddly enough its not. You'd think a blogger, who usually takes lots of photo, wouldn't have trouble choosing a photo to share, but it is. Maybe its because you have to summarise your self when you're use to sharing, or use to uploading as many photos as you like, that makes these parts of our blog ... difficult. 

I'm sure I haven't covered every predicament. What other first world problems do you think other bloggers would relate to? 

Kai's Dedication

Last month we dedicated our second son to God. 

We realised it was almost exactly two years ago we held Eli's dedication. If someone told me I'd be throwing another dedication for my second child two years later I would have laughed and never believed them.

Again we just invited family and close friends. The guest list was a little smaller this time around. I noticed as our family grows our circle tightens. 

Ian and I always stress about treating the boys "equally" so it was only fair we celebrated Kai's dedication in the same fashion as his kuya's. 

We had a lovely short ceremony at church however I didn't get to read my love letter out this time around. I dunno why not ... I just got shy? Usually the father says a prayer for the child and we agreed I would just add my bit but I chickened out on the day. 

So here's my love letter and prayer for our son Kai. 

To our son Malachi, 

Before you were even born you were in the thoughts and prayers of family and friends. You stirred our hearts with love for you even before we knew you.

As you formed in the womb clouds of uncertainty made us worry. Nothing was ever certain so we put our faith in God that you would be okay. You arrived … in the most unexpected situations but quickly, safely … and you were perfect. 

Kai know that we your parents and your kuya Eli love you. We may one day forget to say it and at times you may think we don't show it, but know that we your parents love and support you unconditionally. 

We know God has something amazing planned for just for you, as you are destined for great things. Know you are your own person, unique and set apart.

Our encouragement is that you dream big, always taking a leap of faith in everything you put your heart into, don’t be afraid to make mistakes, take risks and be different – may you live life to the fullest.

Your life is has been a blessing to our families and you bring blessings to those who encounter you.

Lord we pray that you protect our son, Kai. May you cover him with your protection and keep him not only forever safe, but in perfect health and continuously blessed. We know you have an amazing life planned for him. May he quickly realise that plan and understand to let you be the center of everything in his life. 

Thank you Lord for blessing us as parents once again. As we navigate through this parenting path we pray that you mould us into the best role models as we possible can be. Thank you for granting us another precious child, whom we dedicate back to you. In Jesus name we pray … 

Amen. 

One of the best gifts we received that day was my sister surprising us by being in the country to attend Kai's dedication. My whole family was in on it but they hadn't been planning it for very long as she only made the decision to come home the Wednesday prior. It was great surprise and best gift ever. Kai and his youngest aunt finally got to meet each other.

Some of my favourite photos from Kai's dedication with family and his god parents.

Photos taken by FT Photography

Scratch Me Not & Bamboo Sleeping Bag Review

The family was at a 1st birthday a few weeks ago and of course at these events you not only catch up with friends but with other families you don't often see. 

I've mentioned previously Kai's been diagnosed with eczema and at this party I was sharing my pain with another mother whose son also had eczema at a young age. We exchanged stories of how heart breaking the condition can be especially when they're having severe episodes and methods we have tried to control it. She recommended a product to me that he son was actually using at that moment. It was the Scratch Me Not mittens. She said she found it useful as the mittens are made of soft fabric which lessens the irritation on the skin.

Keen to try anything outside of steroid ointments and drugs I thought I'd give this product a go. I found a supplier who stocked the product and also another product I wanted to try, the Bamboo Baby Sleeping Bag. Once I received the products I used them on Kai straight away. 

The Scratch Me Not mittens are like a bolero, so it only covers the child's shoulders and arms. It can be worn over or even under child's clothing. At the sleeves there is extra fabric which can be flipped over to cover the child's hands preventing them from scratching or you can keep it as is so the child can still use their hands. 

The Bamboo Baby Bag is a zip up sleeping bag with arm sleeves to keep your child from scratching at night. The sleeves are adjustable so you can make them longer as your child grows. The bag can be used up to age two or whenever your child physically out grows the bag. 

After three weeks of using these products I can definitely see some improvements on Kai's skin. The benefits I've realised include:

• His eczema was mostly around his neck and face and because he's not rubbing these areas with his hands or synthetic fabric its not as red and irritated anymore. I realised using socks to cover his hands with probably flaring his skin up more as they are made of quite rough fabric where as the mitten are made of silk.  
• The products are of high quality breathable fabric, I'd even say resilient. Only because with a 6 month old these products were subjected to saliva, vomit, greasy ointments and regular rotation in the washing machine, and they still cleaned well and maintained their shape. And because they are of high quality material it's gentle on sensitive skin. 
• The sleeping bag is great for nights because I can put Kai into it and not worry about putting another blanket over him wondering if he's warm enough at night. On the warmer nights I'd put him in a singlet, a nappy and the bag over him. As parents of eczema kids know it better to keep them slightly under dress so they don't over heat and sweat.
• The sleeping bag has a double zipper feature so I could change Kai's nappy without having to remove the bag off his body. This was especially great as he would try and scratch his body when ever his hands had the opportunity. 
• I use the the mittens during the day and the bag at night and he seems to be sleeping much better because he's not rubbing his skin with rough fabrics or scratching his skin.

Only down side I would say is:

• I keep the mittens on him all day and as I mentioned they tend to get exposed to all elements a 6 month old would subject on a piece of clothing to. I've gotten food on the mittens, spit on the sleeping bag, its gotten greasy moisturiser all over it so be prepared to wash these items frequently or purchase another set for rotation. 
• Sleeping bags are big enough to accommodate up to a two year old which means they are quiet big for a 6 month old baby. There are pockets where you can adjust the arm length to make it shorter however I found excess material would still come out of the pockets.

Regardless, I can't rave enough about the improvement to my son's wellness since using these products. Of course you still need to be on top of your child's condition by applying appropriate creams, follow any advice your doctor has given you and constantly ensuring your child's skin is moisturised. However these products have helped me control my son's scratching and manage his eczema.

You can purchase these products and or read more about them on Bamboo Baby's web site. You can purchase these products on Bamboo Baby individually or they also have bundle packs. 

First day of using the mittens. Kai's very red and irritated face

 Kai sleeping with the Scratch Me Not mittens on

Peaceful in the Bamboo Baby Sleeping Bag

Sponsored post by Bamboo Buddy

March in Review

• 5/03 - Date night and we were able to watched a live stand up performance of comedian Dave Chappelle in town. Funny guy but I think the stuff he use to do on his tv series were funnier. 
• 6/03 - Wedding rehearsals for Eli. He was the coin bearer for one of our closest friend's wedding. He did okay although he was a bit shy on the day. I shouldn't have woken him up from his nap a few minutes before game time, he was in a bit of a mood.
• 8/03 - An awesome wedding for an amazing couple. These two people are like family to us. We've known them individually for years and shared many funny memories with them and can't wait to share more. 
• 10/03 - Another date night this time to see Bruno Mars. I'm glad we got to see him now cause I predict he's just going to get better and bigger in the music industry. 
• 14/03 - My best friend's baby is born. Their baby is ridiculously cute he has so much hair ... Kai's jealous. So happy for this couple and I don't know if other mothers feel this but, it's nice when a close friend also enters motherhood. Its like this unspoken secret society that your friend is now part of. There's like this other layer of conversation topics and emotions that you guys can now have.  
• 22/03 Kai's Dedication. We along with our families and a few friends dedicated our son Kai to God. 
• My baby sister surprised me and everyone else except my sister and mum, by coming back home to be present for Kai's dedication. It was great to have her back from the UK even if it was just a little over a week. She finally got to meet Kai!
• This month I noticed I discussed other components of parenting besides just talking about how I feel or what my boys were up to. Don't get me wrong I still do a lot of that but this month I just had other things to say. 

March was really busy for us. Almost every weekend we had back to back events to attend. It's nice to keep busy but with two young children I worry they may be getting over tired sometimes.  

The Blogging Rut

A few friends have mentioned to me they've been keeping up with my blog and I love hearing that kind of feedback. Admittedly it's kinda weird too, but encouraging none the less. Believe it or not, I put a lot of thought into my post and it's content. I double guess myself a million times, I add more content, I remove, I work on it even when I should be sleeping, I get it peer reviewed, I think about timing and then I double guess the whole post all over again. 

Some feedback I got was that I should post more often. Oh how I wish I could. There's so much I could write about on various topics but the bottom line is I don't have the luxury of time. Here are the main reasons why I don't get to blog as frequently as I would like to ...

• The boys consume all my time. Just today as an example Kai woke up at 6am and only finally fell sound asleep at 11am. Now I need to start preparing Eli and I's lunch. Then get him ready for his afternoon nap and I'm sure Kai will wake up just in time to double team on consuming any free "me time" I have. 
• There's no silence in the house to think. If I do manage to get both kids occupied allowing me probably max 30 minutes to get on the laptop, there's too much noise to allow me to gather my thoughts. There will probably be some loud banging or music in the background or "Mummy, I want milk" or "Mummy, I do a poo poo." Then when they've noticed my attention isn't on them they'll climb up onto me and distract me from what I'm doing anyways.
• During the small periods of time I do get online, social media, emails, for me SMH and other blogs I follow also fight for my time on the world wide web. 
• The house wont clean itself, the washing needs doing, meals needs to be made ... the list goes on. Over the years I've come to realise I have a little OCD with keeping the house clean. Maybe its habit but I have a list of chores I like to get through at least once a week. 
• I try and do some form of exercise when I can squeeze the time. For years I've used workout videos (goodness, that technology doesn't even exist why am I even referencing it) to help keep fit. If I can get through a workout without any interruptions is a good day for me. 
• Trying to finish my course. I have a little under 5 months to finish it and I hate doing things last minute. 

Sometimes I see blogging as a form of procrastination as it can take up so much of your time but the benefits are minimal, if anything. So when someone says they've read my recent post or checked out my blog or give me some positive comments. Excuse my surprised look cause I am honestly surprised but, I'm also cheering on the inside, cause its welcoming to see that the work I put into this small little space of mine isn't all in vain. 

How do you keep motivated to blog regularly if you are time pressed?

Hello 2014!

This first month of 2014 feels like it's flown but at the same time it's been slow. Ian's holidays have come and pretty much gone now. Those six weeks literally flew and we used the time to do pretty much nothing relatively interesting except bond with the boys and tick off a few boring "grown up" stuff. 

New Layout

Finally updated the blog layout.

I wanted something really simple, summery and clean.

What do you think?

Having a new layout is like cleaning your room or your car. I feel decluttered, organised and motivated. I'm ready to get some new posts rolling.

I've got new social media icons, you're now able to subscribe via email so you can be notified when I have a new post and see a few of my current Instagram photos.

I've updated the About section, kept the Contact info straight to the point and I've moved my blog roll on to the right side section of my blog.

Designer Blogs supplied the template.

2013 In Review

As you get older it seems the years really do just zoom past. It doesn't feel that long ago I was reviewing my 2012 new year's resolution and writing 2013 one's.

At this time of the year I like to look back on the resolutions I made last year and reflect on whether I achieved them during the twelve months, then I like to make new one's for the new year. Sometimes I keep a previous year's resolution or I tweak it to fit the person I've become since I made it.

So here were my 2013 resolutions:

December Review

If you don't follow me on Instagram yet, you should.

Here's a review of December in pictures ...

Key dates this month were:

It's My Birthday

Yep today is Cam's day! The one day I claim and accept to be the centre of attention, even if I rock your world for only 3 minutes as you think of me while you read this post. 

It's somewhat true what people say, you kinda stop counting after you reach a certain age. I accidentally once answered the age question with "twenty nine" in front of Ian. He almost gagged in laughter, but I really did forgot how old I was. Another thing people say is you're as young as you feel and I don't feel my age ... most days. 

So to celebrate Me and turning another year, I want to share 32 things people might not know about me ... 

1. I'm left handed.
2. I wear contacts or glasses (when I'm not wearing contacts). 
3. I lived in Dubai for two years.
4. When I'm not pregnant, I'm usually in basketball comps.  
5. I can play the piano and base guitar.
6. I was awarded a scholarship through the university I attended, so they paid for my first year of uni.  
7. I have a fear of being locked inside a shop / shopping centre. I start to feel anxious when I'm at a shopping complex and I can see stores closing shop.
8. I have this recurring dream ever since I was a child.
9. I'm 5'9 or 171cm tall.   
10. I have a sweet tooth and would choose a sweet dish over a savoury one any day.
11. My first job was working at Hungry Jacks.
12. Cappuccino is my coffee of choice.
13. I love organising things.
14. I lived in Queensland for 1 year.
15. I love travelling and trying to see as much of the world as I can.
16. I love reviewing things, places, restaurants, products - I like giving my opinion.
17. With help, I've renovated a complete home. 
18. My wardrobe mostly has pretty dresses and skinny jeans.
19. I exercise / work out almost everyday, even on holidays, even when I was pregnant - it's a way of life for me.   
20. I hate ironing.
21. I prefer reality shows than tv series.
22. I'm particular about how things should be done ... control freak!
23. I'm a walking GPS.
24. I plan everything onto excel spreadsheets and add formulas and macros where required.
25. I have nice penmanship. 
26. I like to keep busy, I think doing nothing is wasting time.
27. I purchased my first home at age 24.
28. I read the newspaper (hard or soft copy) everyday.
29. I get sea sick almost every time I get on a boat.
30. I have this OCD behaviour where I never finish the last corner bite of a sandwich.
31. I love Japanese food.
32. I'm allergic to aspirin.

As I reflect on the past year and how much God has blessed me with, I'm completely grateful. But this new year 32, I'm claiming to be my year. My year of .... just unimaginable greater things that will happen for me, I don't know what it is but I'm expectant. 

TBT's

Because I'm so behind with posts especially on holiday related one's, I want to dedicate Thursday's as my Throw Back Thursday's to past experiences. I want to be able to look back on this blog in years to come and revisit not just my thoughts but also the experiences. 

So from now on Thursday posts will be TBT's.

The New Family Dynamics

We've been a family of four for a few weeks and its quiet interesting the dynamics in the household now.

Firstly update on Kai. About 10pm the following night after his birth we returned back to the hospital. He had not passed urine at this point and so it was suggested we come into the hospital so they could monitor his kidneys. His early scans indicated he had dilated kidneys so it was something we needed to monitor at birth. We were instructed to go to the Special Nursery, this is where really sick or premature babies stay. It was hard seeing some of the babies in there they were so small and helpless. I know they're asleep but at times seem so lifeless lying in these enclosed glass incubators. And seeing their mothers weeping over their child. All I could do was swallow that big lump in my throat and contain my emotions. My heart goes out to them and the fears they must be experiencing.

We were given a private room to stay at over night so that I could come into the nursery every 3 hours to feed Kai. The following morning a group of doctors came into the nursery and reviewed him and his case. It felt like a scene from House, five doctors discussing his history, symptoms and coming up with diagnoses and recommendations. They conducted another scan on his kidneys and diagnosed that his dilation didn't need to be reviewed further so we were discharged that afternoon. A dilation of 7mm is considered a "red flag", Kai's dilation was only 1mm, a common result for a lot of babies apparently and is usually ignored because of the low rating.

Besides that initial hiccup he's been a dream. All he does is sleep and wakes for feeds (I hope I haven't jinxed myself now). It's the opposite from my first experience and its so refreshing to have a baby who loves to sleep. When I review all my past posts during the time Eli was a newborn all I did was complain about the lack of sleep we both were having and his unsettledness. Kai's a hungry little hippo and feeds often too. At that start I wondered whether he was getting enough milk because he was a lazy feeder but now he feeds well ... really well.

Eli well he's ... adjusting ... in his own way. Eli calls his brother "baybee k'hi" and I love it when he says it, its so cute. He loves holding him and asks to hold "baybee K'hi" often. He showers him with kisses and hugs I know he's so in love with his little brother already.

Eli is surprisingly not jealous. He doesn't seem bothered I'm holding another baby and he's more than happy to share my attention with someone else. I think it bothers me more that he's not bothered. But there was one time when my arms were free from Kai, he reached for a hug, climbed into my arms and said "I'm your baby now." You're always going to be my baby Eli, even your little brother.

We have noticed though a sudden increase in ... "cheekiness" in Eli and this is how we think he's coping with the change. Even when we instruct him not to do something and threaten him with 'time out' he still does it. Repeating instructions doesn't seem to work and he tries to push the boundaries each time. He's even more selective about when he wants to listen to us and either screams or sulks loudly when he doesn't get his way. We find ourselves tired not from the newborn but managing Eli's new behaviour. We want to correct him without the use of force or fear but it gets harder to keep your cool when we're constantly having power struggles with a two year old.

And mum and dad ... Well we're coping with the two little men. We still pinch ourselves that we have two gorgeous boys. If someone told me three years ago I'd be a parent of two, I wouldn't have believed it. These past few weeks I couldn't have survived without my husband, his presence has been a great help. It really is a team effort with the constant tag teaming you need to do. It's not hard just demanding. It will be interesting how I cope on my own once Ian goes back to work.

Admittedly having a newborn hasn't been too much of an adjustment this time around. I guess it helps that Eli's not really sleeping through the night just yet so we're still use to having our sleep broken.

Although I've forgotten what it's like to constantly hold a baby and have limited movement. When a child learns to walk on their own people say that's when the "work" starts because you have to follow them around. But when you are use to not having to carry a child and revert back to having a newborn who needs to be constantly carried, it takes some getting use to .... again. You forget how physically restrictive a newborn can be.

So that's our current family dynamics at the moment. I'm sure by the time we've adjusted to the current environment it will change again.

Malachi's Birth Story

Sunday, 22nd September 2013

Around 3pm I started feeling those period cramp pains in my stomach again. I figured they were braxton hicks contractions because I was getting them throughout my third trimester, especially after our little scare.

I told Ian I was starting to feel some pain and we joked that this could be it. He must have not taken the joke so lightly because that afternoon he started doing the stuff he was yet to do for the baby. He installed the baby capsule in the car, put fresh sheets on the cot, swapped the pram back to the bassinet and began packing his hospital bag.

That day the rest of the family were coming over for dinner. I was craving a good pork roast so my brother in law agreed to cook it for me. Family started arriving at 4pm and we told them I was feeling some contractions at that moment. Again we joked about how tonight could be the night but all agreed baby can't come until after we have some roast port. Cooking and not spoiling a roast takes time so it was 8pm by the time we dished up dinner.

During dinner I sat through strong contractions. Stopping between bites of sweet pumpkin as the waves of contractions got stronger. Admittedly I couldn't finish my meal and reluctantly had to off load the rest of my pork crackling to my sister. I went to our bedroom and tried to rest or sleep off some of the pain. By this point I had already started timing my contractions and the time between each one were inconsistent. Sometimes they were 7 minutes apart, sometimes 4, sometimes 9 - to me, although the contractions were painful was not an indicator to head to the hospital just yet. I didn't want to get there and be told to go home so I rode it out.

By 9pm my sister came into the bedroom and was giving me back rubs to help ease some of the lower back pain I was feeling. The contractions were extremely painful at this point. I recall the contractions I had with Eli I could breath through them but this time around I would tense up my whole body when I would get a contraction. I remember saying out loud "make it stop!" it was so painful.

By 9:20 Ian and my mum forced me to agree to head over to the hospital. But before we leave I wanted to go to the bathroom first. I had been emptying my bowls all afternoon. Ian watched over me as I sat on the toilet and suddenly we both heard something pop. I thought it was my plug because we literally heard a pop sound, however a midwife told me later that it was most likely the sound of my water breaking. I said to Ian "I think that was my plug" and he started getting mad at me. I think because he had been suggesting we go to the hospital for a few hours now and I'd been too stubborn to agree.

Suddenly I felt the urge to push and again told Ian what I was feeling. By now he was furious and was calling the ambulance. I decided to get off the toilet just in case I do give birth. My sister came into the bathroom and helped hold me up. I remember saying to her "I feel like pushing ... the baby's coming!". I think she suggested to remove my pants, either way she was helping me remove my tights at this point.

I felt another contraction and wave to push so I did. I was probably screaming during my contractions cause family told me I was at one point, scaring Eli ... although I don't remember. I do remember saying again to my sister "It's coming! it's coming! ... I'm scared."  

Suddenly fear and horrible thoughts entered my mind. I feared the worst and that I could lose the baby at this point. I remember my sister encouraging me to relax and reminding me I can do this and I pulled my thoughts back together.

I felt another contraction and wave to push so I did and I knew the head was out so I announced it. My mum came back into the bathroom and confirmed it. I think she even tried to push the head back in which angered me of course. My mum ran out and went to find Ian and give him the update. 

My dad comes into the bathroom, and yells "Camielle! The head is out!" Ian came into the bathroom. I said out loud to whoever was listening "You have to help me deliver this baby. You have to help me."

I felt another contraction and wave to push so I did and my dad pulled him out. I looked down and in my dad's hands was a not so tiny blue and slimy baby. A second later the baby started crying, "Thank God" I thought.

My sister in law ran into the bathroom with her iphone in her hand and the emergency help line on speaker as we all tried to hear what the lady was saying over the phone. But a second later two paramedics walk through the bedroom and they take over at this point.

They asked Ian if he wanted to cut the cord so he did, we wrapped the baby in towels and proceeded with some skin to skin action. I was still getting contractions and I knew this was because I still needed to deliver the placenta. So they loaded me, Ian and my mum onto the ambulance and proceeded to Westmead Hospital. 

There the midwife assisted in delivering the placenta, weighed the baby, administered the first round of immunisation shots and completed appropriate paper work. Being on the case load program I knew I wasn't going to be at the hospital for very long. She asked if I wanted to stay until the morning or leave that night? I opted to leave that evening so by 2am we were discharged from the hospital and headed home with our new baby.  

So there you have it my Malachi's (Kai, for short) birth story. 

It's not a very long story as the whole thing from start to finish only lasted a few minutes. Ian thinks it happened all in the span of 3-5 minutes and I probably would agree. Some of the funny moments that I can remember include:

• My brother in law running into the bedroom with a bucket of warm water after I had given birth. Not sure what it was for maybe he thought we were going for a water birth, either way I'm sure he was trying to be as helpful as he possibly could. 
• While talking to the emergency help line the lady instructed us to cover the baby in a towel. So there were five people saying out loud to each other "Towels! We need towels" and no one actually going to get one. Because I was standing up by the bathroom door and we had towels hanging behind the door I ended up grabbed one and handed it to whoever had the baby. Then seconds later my brother in law rocks up with like eight towels in his hands. 
• My mum pacing back and forth between the bathroom and where ever she went to. I guess she was scared or nervous - I know she doesn't handle high stress situations very well. Mind you she's one of my "support people" at delivery.
• My sister in law's face the whole time. I think I may have freaked her out of ever having babies. But in my defence I just demonstrated how quickly the whole delivery process thing can be done .. heeheee 

Sunday night family dinners will never be the same again.

It's pretty cool how we all have a special bond with this little guy. How many people can say they helped deliver their son, grandson or nephew at home? I'm so grateful of the outcome, grateful for my family for coming together and getting through this experience and mostly grateful God has blessed us with another healthy and beautiful baby boy.

Ambulance and paramedics arriving at our home seconds after I had given birth ... that's me riding at the back

At the hospital. Baby Kai getting getting checked, measured, weighed and immunised by the midwife.

Very proud parents

Very proud kuya

Updated Blog Roll

Firstly, you may have noticed I've added some Follow Me options on the right. You can now follow me on other social media platforms and or be updated when there's a new post on the blog. You can follow me via Twitter, Instagram or Pinterest. As well as subscribe to updates to this blog via Bloglovin'  

I've now updated my Blog Roll. My additions ...

Daily Reads

• Caitlin from Mother Down Under. American expat who documents her family life, food recipes and tips on clean living.

• Karen from Art of Nothing. Those who do know me personally would know my baby sister and her husband recently moved overseas. This blog documents and captures their adventures in the UK and elsewhere they travel to.   

• Sarah from Bump, Baby C & Me. An expecting mummy to be based in UK. Our pregnancy due dates are closely similar so I love reading what someone else in my shoes is experiencing at the same time.

• Sonia from Life Love & Hiccups. I love her writing style and overall "tone" of her blog - right mix of personal, product reviews and discussion posts. 

• Matt from Daddy Down Under. Parenting and life experiences from a humorous stay at home dad's perspective.

Inspiration

• Neil from Quick Sprout. Business blog of a successful American entrepreneur. Ignore all the ads and pop ups and his business tips are very insightful and useful. I've already gotten so much from the several posts I've clicked on, admittedly I relate more to his older "how to start a business successfully" posts than the newer posts.

• Oozos. Online store for kids clothing. I love to shop online, its worst now with kids cause I shop more for them than me. They also have a great little blog for fashion inspiration.

• Ripe Journal. Foodie blog by Roslyn who documents her culinary adventures with honest reviews and beautiful pictures.

Blog Roll

It's been awhile since I've updated my blog roll. There's a few more blog I visit frequently and deserving of being put on my roll.

This is also an opportunity for those who want to be linked up and be put on the roll to contact me on gen.y.mum@gmail.com with your blog or website. 

I'm no blog roll hoar, I am selective about who I add to my roll so I will only add blogs or sites that are a best fit me for me and my audience.

Will be doing a clean up of my roll in a few days. 

My Secret Skill

I can code and read HTML (Hyper Text Markup Language)

This blog isn't my first blog or attempt at a blog.

Actually when I first learnt how to code in HTML I was totally in love with the language. I remember staying up late at night building pages. I won't call what I use to do as websites cause they weren't official sites, but I just loved designing and coding pages.

I challenged my skills and ability by trying to copy designs of pages I liked and tried to figure out how the page was put together just by reading the page's source code. I thought I was the shiznit with HTML and considered about a career in web design.

However, like all programming languages it slowly died and programs like Flash and Dreamweaver (where are there today though??) slowly infiltrated the industry and knowing how to coding wasn't necessarily the skill you needed, but how to create pages using these fancy and complicated website builders.

This is where I got lost. There were so many features and options available in these tools which you think would be great as it cuts down the time to build a page, but I just found it more of a hinderance than be beneficial. Other reasons why I was turned off was the costs associated with buying these applications and back in the day YouTube didn't exist (OMG am I that old?) for free online tutorials, so doing a course or buying a book was really expensive.

So understandably over time my love for building websites slowly died. How could my detailed HTML code compete with fancy flash animation?  

Today online blog applications like this one I use, WordPress, Tumblr etc have also made it easy for everyday, non technical people to create and manage a page to host their blog.

I usually stick to the WYSIWYG (What you see is what you get) option. Did you like that? I snuck in another HTML lingo for you. But occasionally I press the HTML option and make some minor changes I feel that fits my blog needs more.

The other day I spent several hours trying to recall my old HTML skills to do something very simple on here. I won't go into the details but I'm so pleased with myself that I achieved what I wanted to do based on my understanding of website design, utilising the file hosting applications available today and breaking down the problem into small chunks to come up with my solution. 

I'm such an IT nerd at heart. 

If only I could still access the files on my old laptop. I kept on offline version of all the pages I built on there ... would love to reminisce and show print screens of my designs and skills. 

Hawaii Photos - Waikiki (First 3 Nights)

Finally putting some of my favourite Hawaii photos together for the blog. 

I mentioned previously I totally missed the fact that we gained an extra day when we travel "back in time" i.e to the States, so instead of thinking we were only in Waikiki for two nights on our first leg it was actually three nights ... not complaining. We managed to stay the extra night at the same hotel we booked the two nights. Location was great, you definitely paid for it but I wouldn't say it's the best place to stay with a toddler. You can read my review of The Royal Hawaiian here.

   

Here are some of my favourite photos from the first three days in Waikiki.

Theory vs. Practical

When I started telling a few friends about my blog I mentioned its purpose was not only write about my journey through motherhood but to discuss a topic that kinda comes naturally to me, money - well understanding how to manage it better.

I'm in no position to give financial advice (yet) but I know people in roles or jobs that do but I would never take any of their advice. Why? cause I know they don't practice what they preach. They're all text book and education, information you want/need to know but their lives does not reflect the advice they give. What I mean by this is, I know they've never made a risky financial decision in their life, so how do they know the practical application of what they say if they don't take it themselves.

This is why I usually seek advice or feedback from people who have done something I'm considering doing first before or even bothering seeing an "expert". The feedback from those who have "done it before" are invaluable because they have either succeed and or failed and will be able to give you advice to avoid the mistakes they made or take advantage of knowledge they've learnt. 

Admittedly since declaring that my blog will focus on the topic of money I've probably only blogged about it five times. There are many reasons as to why that is the case but the number one reason is, I write based on my personal journey with understanding and becoming better with money so I've taken the time and effort into these type of posts. 

Today I opened an email from a subscription I signed up to and the topic was 'How to Control Spending' written by Fred Schebesta, an Aussie entrepreneur (in my opinion) who focuses on Finance. 

What pleased me was reading the tips and advice he gave I too have covered in my past posts, well the same key messages. It's reassuring and validating to see the practical component I've applied in my life with money is the same as the theory these financial experts would've recommended. 

It reminds me, especially when I'm a stay at home mum, therefore at times seems like I have no control, that I'm doing something right. 

If you would like a copy of the email I received from Fred, email me and I'll be happy to forward it to you.

Exciting News!!

Post drafted 31 January 2013

I'm writing this post now but unfortunately can't publish it until up to 12 weeks time.

Today we discovered we're expecting baby number 2!! We're very excited, very happy and very at peace. 

I've been sick, even before the long weekend away. I knew I had a cold coming up cause I had that weird tingling feeling in my throat. I don't know if you guys get it ... how I would describe catching it would be when you didn't keep your body warm enough over night so the next morning you wake up with this tingling feeling in your throat. 

Other factors that I calculated that may have lead to my sickness was, prior to arriving to our holiday destination (Avoca Beach) the tingling feeling had moved into a cough, I didn't pack any warm clothing either and for most of the weekend we experienced rain and cyclone like weather. And finally Eli ended up with a case of gastro and figured I've cross contaminated myself. So when we returned and I was sick as a dog I wasn't overly surprised.

My body ached, I felt like I could not even get out of bed. Eli was still going through his gastro, I was changing a soiled nappy every 40 minutes. I had to call my mum to bring me food (arescaldo of course) and help me look after Eli while I got some rest, my mum is the best! 

The next day I still didn't feel 100% so Ian took the day off to look after both of us. While we were doing the groceries my stomach did not sit very well. I was constantly dry reaching to the point that Ian suggested maybe I'm pregnant and I'm suffering from morning sickness. The thought never crossed my mind cause the first time around I did not feel any form of sickness plus I figured maybe this new condition was part of my flu. 

That afternoon I took a pregnancy test. The results were positive ... I'm pregnant! I woke Ian up from his nap and asked him to have a look. We smiled, we hugged, we talked about the next steps. 

It's weird, I'm not working nor am I planning to work but we're not worried. The one thing we learnt from the first pregnancy is - you'll adjust and you'll be surprise how everything works itself out. Think positive, let go and let God. We (I) were so stressed about things when I was pregnant the first time and now that I look back on the stuff I use to be worried about it's so minute to me now. I think we got so focused on the issue we didn't have an objective view on options, plus hormones probably played a part. 

So what now ... well I have to buy another pregnancy test just to confirm the results. From memory I need to see a doctor about getting some blood work done so they can take a snap shot of my blood levels etc to see if there are any red flags now. Also the blood work will tell me how far I am too. We're interested to know how far I am for a number of reasons: we barely get an opportunity and we've had some massive weekends last few weeks and I hope my actions have not impacted my baby. 

I believe in the power of thought and declaring, so I claim now my baby will be a girl but either way I will be over the moon with whatever God blesses us with ... OMG Eli's going to be a kuya!!