I've been quite into prettying up my nails for some time now - started late last year and looks set to become an obsession! 

Here's the latest DIY experiment: 


And here's how the right hand turned out - an accidental favourite on Instagram: 


I didn't have time to finish up my right hand because C was crying, and it was about time I got started on the gazillion other chores and errands anyway. So, I decided to pretty up only the ring finger. Somehow, this turned out better than the original. I posted a picture on Twitter and many people preferred this - me too, actually.

I followed this tutorial - right down to using Essie's Lilacism (cos I liked the shade so much after seeing it here). But don't be boring like me - try it with different colours and maybe even embellishments. Go here for inspiration. 

Inspired by olimomok, I'm going to record Baby C's (and my) schedule at intervals. Just so that there's something to look back on in the future. It'll be nice to see how and what we did at each step of our journey, and marvel at how we were able to get through it all - er, I hope! 

Here's our weekday schedule at two months: 

6.30-7am: Baby C wakes up. If I'm lucky, I catch him just as he is waking up and I'm rewarded with 10 minutes of lovely baby smiles and coos. Then, the hunger kicks in and he starts fussing. This very quickly turns into desperate, very loud wails. He can only be satisfied with milk, and so, he gets his first feed of the day. 

7.30-8.30am: C takes a nap. If I'm zonked out from the night/day before, I'll rush back to bed for a catnap too. If not, I try to do some work or get ready for the day ahead.

When I'm feeling okay rested, and wifely, I make breakfast and coffee for J to take to work. If this happens, it's usually a Monday, Tuesday or rarely, Wednesday - right after the weekend when there's an extra pair of hands to help out. Poor J, abandoned on Thursdays and Fridays!

8.30am: We go for mummy's briskwalk session - this happens two times a week. C is usually quite contented to hang out in his pram and usually observes the going-ons from his comfy position, naps intermittently or continues sleeping from his post-milk nap. He gets his 9am feed outside. Sometimes, if I'm running late, he'll get his feed at 8.45am before we head out.

On days that we don't go out, I do the laundry and miscellaneous household chores. 

10am: Home. C gets a wipe down - or a bath if he is very sticky - around 11.30am. 

12pm: Milk time! He usually takes a longish nap after this feed, or he might start fussing big time (not sure why it's usually around this time) and I'll pop him into the sling. 

I work/study* till about 2.45pm when I stop to prepare his next feed. 

3pm: Makan time. Again! 

He drinks a lesser amount though, so this is more like a tea-time snack. After feeding, C naps for a short period till maybe 4.30pm. I do more work or finish up the household chores/other errands. 

Then, we interact for a bit - do some reading, a little bit of singing (I'm not good at this; end up singing freaking "Happy Birthday" a lot of the time cos it's the easiest!!), some tummy time, walk the dogs, etc. He might get a bath if there's time. 

6pm: Yum yum milkies session! He usually goes down after this or is contented to hang out in his cot.

Then, it's a mad rush to prep dinner before J gets home around 7.30pm. C gets a bath if he hasn't already. Sometimes, we even push it till after our 8pm dinner. 

9pm: C eats his own dinner. This is the last feed of the day before he, thankfully, goes into his long sleep for the night. 

We tag-team to finish up the rest of the chores, shower, have some couple or solo time. On particularly busy days, J or I, or both, do some work together in the living room. It just feels nice to be near and to chat a bit when we stop for a quick breather. 

12am: Dream feed! And C gets a change of diapers too, just so he has a fresh one on for the night. Eventually, we will gradually lower the amount of milk at this feed with the goal of eliminating it. 

J and I go to bed, hurray! (But insomniac me sometimes turn in only at 1-1.30am!)

REPEAT!

* I started doing some work from Week 4, just cos it keeps me sane and gives me something to do other than being mummy! And I also enrolled in a Chinese course (I've always wanted to learn how to read and write) in Week 3. Classes are three-hours long in the evening, twice a week. Again, lifesaver! J takes over baby duties when I'm at class. 

** I, thankfully, also get help from my parents to look after C one morning (sometimes, we get a bonus two mornings :)) a week so that I can go for yoga class. I returned to practice in Week 5. 

Of course, this schedule changes daily. There are days when all he does is cry as if his life depended on it (we just had a week of it), there are times when he wakes up at 4am all smiles, wanting to play (wrong timing, baby!!) and of course, there are the moments when he pees just as his diaper gets removed or vomits just as we are rushing out of the apartment - all these things, as you can imagine, screws up our already fragile schedule. Overall, it's a mad rush every day, and I am exhausted by the end of it.

Needless to say, not everything gets done - I have learned to snatch whatever time I can get, here and there, and to be a more decisive person - but the things that are completed, fortunately, are done decently well. Also, because we don't have help, C gets carted everywhere I go (because life has to go on!) and as a result, has adapted pretty well to sleeping, and being changed and fed, almost anywhere. I reckon that's one good thing that has come out of all this rushing. 

It boils down to this: I make sure I try my best and tell myself that that's all I can do. 

Since enjoying homecooked food prepared by the confinement aunty every day during the month she was with us, J and I have decided to try to eat at home more often. We previously ate only about 3 out of 7 dinners at home per week. The point is to eat healthier stuff so I've to remember this when cooking - I don't use a lot of oil or salt in my cooking (I season mostly with herbs) but it is still tempting to say, dump a ton of cheese on a Western dish (a sure way, in my opinion, to make it taste yummy) or to bring on the oyster sauce when preparing a Chinese one. 

But with a baby that demands most of my attention - and who always seems to want it during the most inconvenient times (when I'm cooking or when I need to go to the toilet!) - cooking regularly becomes a real effort. Something I have to consciously make time for. I mean, it is way easier to go downstairs to pack something from the coffeeshop or to order in fast food. After all, pizza is one of my all-time favourite foods. 

So, to make things easier for myself, I'm trying to start by preparing simple meals, relying on old tried-and-tested recipes and new ones gained from others. Here's something we had on Monday: 


Assembling the ingredients was a five minute job and the toaster oven took care of the rest. Didn't use my main oven for this - to save energy and really, there's no need to fire up such a big thing to bake two little parcels. Used an oldie but goldie here - added goji berries as I had it in the fridge, plus omitted the chilli and lemon because I didn't have them on hand. 

I love how the "before" picture looks. The colour combi is quite summery fresh!

Most times, anyway. It's because he's hungry. This greedy one sometimes doesn't even wait till his eyes are fully open - he just screams. Thankfully, he's a happy, smiley baby again once the bib/napkin goes on - because he knows the cue, he is assured then that milk is on the way.

He probably gets his impatient streak from me. What goes around...

I NEED to share this new discovery - Sally Hansen's Kwik Off nail colour remover. 

I've read about it but have never gotten around to purchasing a bottle to try. Then, at the recent Watson's members' sale (sorry, can't remember how much it was; will find the receipt), I chanced upon it going for some 20 per cent off. What a steal, and in time to work its magic on my just-started-to-peel nail polish. I didn't expect much, thinking it sounded gimmicky (I had read that it was truly a no fuss cleaning job). But let me tell you, this stuff worked like MAGIC!

Basically, it's a huge sponge soaked in nail polish remover. The sponge has three slits into which you place your manicured nail, one, or several if you can manage, at a time. Then, all you have to do is just rotate the container several times and voila, clean nail(s)! Totally effortless nail polish removal - no cotton pads, no pouring (no spilling!), no rubbing. 

Too bad it can't really be used on the toes - or can it? 

J and I are not the take-pix-of-ourselves sort. We have very few photos of ourselves, solo or as a couple. Sometimes, we go out for a special occasion, like an anniversary dinner for example, and we say that we should take a photo. But somehow, never get around to it.

So, it really was a surprise when I felt that I really did want to document my bump. It was a double surprise that J agreed when I suggested it. And so, we booked a Bloom session with Maryann at The Studio Loft in January and trooped down over this past weekend for the shoot. 

It was quite a lot of fun. We were quite comfortable with her, having met once or twice before at events, and being Facebook/Instagram friends. Professional and totally confident of what she was doing, Maryann put us at ease. As a result, I think we all had fun and the photoshoot was quick and painless - just the way we like it :) 


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Yesterday morning, I woke up aching all over and feeling really very tired and the first thought - make that prayer - that came to my head was "Oh God, I don't think I can give birth today!" And so, I happily counted my blessings when I went to bed at 11pm - ah, I thought, safe and sound in bed. 

At 1am today, I woke up, irritated with the heat. Okay, let's turn on the air-con and get back to sleep. 

An hour later, I was still wide awake. 

So, here I am now, hoping for the second day in a row that I can successfully get some quality rest before labour begins, whenever that may be. 

(I still can't fall asleep. But my solution for sleepless nights (I'm quite the insomniac, even before I got pregnant) is not to fuss and just treat it as some extra time to do the 1,001 things I need/want to do.)