I'm a full-time mummy

Tried this yummylicious iced drink the other day while we were out for grocery shopping!

There are lots of other shops that makes bubble tea drinks like this, I think including this one, I've only tried 3 of such shops. The other was ChaTime Bubble Tea which I do not like at all. This drink is much much better, I enjoyed the bubble tea jelly and the jelly strips that came along with the drink.

Delicious? Nope... it's tealicious!

I wrote a post 1 year ago about what I did in 2010 that I'm proud of so I figured I should continue this 'tradition' for 2011 as well! Here goes (in no particular order):

* Bought myself an iPad & ventured into iPad app reviews

I finally bought myself an iPad so I could read my e-books at night after everyone's asleep and one of the factors for buying the iPad is also my plan to use iPad as a teaching tool for Ben. I'm very happy with this purchase and I'm proud of owning it too!

 * Finally making use of my blog to earn side income by accepting sponsored posts and ads

I started blogging when I became a SAHM in June 2009 and it took me 2 years before I decided to make use of my blog to earn  some side income. I ventured into sponsored posts and hosting ads on my blog since middle of June 2011 and although the income is not a lot, I am thankful for every bit of it as I earned money while doing something I like, which is blogging!

 * Potty training Ben when I was in my last trimester of pregnancy & coming up with the BE AWESOME approach

I started potty training Ben in my last trimester of pregnancy and although it is very tiring (imagine running while you are 8 to 9 months pregnant to the potty everytime Ben says he wants to pee!). From this adventure, I also coined up the BE AWESOME approach while potty training Ben!

 * Breastfeeding during pregnancy

Heck... even getting pregnant while still breastfeeding is shocking enough for people around my circles! What more, breastfeeding during pregnancy! Anyway, I am proud that I am able to accomplish this as there are a lot of nursing mums out there who have to wean their nursling when they found out they are pregnant. I did a lot of research and bought a couple of books on tandem nursing and breastfeeding through pregnancy and realised that I could continue breastfeeding Ben as there are no complications during my 1st pregnancy. Of course, if there are any risks encountered during the 2nd pregnancy, I will wean but thank God, there's none and although my breastmilk stops at 5th month into my pregnancy, Ben still nurses on right up until I delivered Alyson!

 * Family outing right up to delivery

With Benjamin, I have no problem exercising since I  could walk to and fro places during working hours but with Alyson, I thought, "Hey, I'm at home all the time and I really need some form of exercise!" so for my 2nd pregnancy, we went out for family outings A LOT! I think partly also to make Ben feels he is still part of the family and mummy and daddy still loves him very much and we want to have the memories of the 3 of us going out as much as possible too! Though I keep telling people and myself I need to slow down and reduce the family outing as my due date approaches, I just can't walk the talk!

* Natural birth with no episiotomy or pain relief

With Ben, I delivered naturally but required episiotomy and as pain relief, I used the Enthonox or laughing gas. For Alyson's birth, again, I delivered naturally, this time no episiotomy at all and though I wanted to use the Enthonox again, I could only hold the gas mask for less than 5 seconds before it was taken away from me and I was told to push right away (I was 8cm when I got wheeled into the labor room so there's no time to use the gas mask anyway)!

 * Tandem Nursing!

I initially had nursing aversion when we brought Alyson home and Ben started asking for his nen-nen (breastmilk). I wrote a couple of posts on my tandem nursing experience, the struggles and how I cope with it, surviving it, and how it goes along at 3 months after that. I'm happy to report that we're still tandem nursing (4 months now!) though Ben is down to 1 feeding daily, which is at night before his bedtime. I am happy still to know I am still able to nourish BOTH my child at the same time! Imagine nursing a 34 months old boy and a 4 months old girl!

 * Continue to help some friends, even strangers in the matters of baby care, breastfeeding and so on

Yes, even while I am busy with my 2 kids, blogging and doing product reviews, I do spare some time helping my friends, bloggy  pals or strangers. Whatever topics I get asked on, be it breastfeeding, pregnancy, baby care, product reviews, making use of blog to earn money, and so on, I am happy and proud to say I have been able to share my experience with other mums and friends all around.

 * Became Mum Center blog partner

I became a Mum Center blog partner somewhere in late July 2011 after I received an email offer from them. I don't have to do anything other than my usual blogging, what they do is they will select random posts from my blog and post them on their website and include a link to my blog. Good for me I guess as I hope it drives more traffic to my blog!

 * Finally paid someone to redesign my blog head

Yes, yes, after moving over to my own domain, I finally paid someone to redesign my blog header! After scouring around the Internet looking for good and affordable rates for someone to redesign my blog header, I finally found the right designer and it is very very affordable that I paid the guy 3 times the amount he asked for! I think his work deserves so much more! I love my new blog header so much!

So there you go, a list of things I did in 2011 that I am proud of! I hope to be able to achieve greater things be it in my blogging or parenting. I wish the same for you all out there and thank you so much for your support and following through my blog in 2011!

Welcome to the Safe Cosleeping Blog Carnival!

This post was written for inclusion in the Safe Cosleeping Blog Carnival hosted by Monkey Butt Junction . Our bloggers have written on so many different aspects of cosleeping. Please read to the end to find a list of links to the other carnival participants.

When Ben was 17 months old, I wrote a post about the Beauty of Co-sleeping with him. He's 33 months old now and yeap, still co-sleeps with us. Our 3 months old baby girl is also co-sleeping with us on the same bed.

Now, I co-sleep to:

* breastfeed BOTH my children (yes, even my 33 months old boy)

* sleep better, I don't need to physically get out of the bed in order to feed my child. All I need to do is just turned sideways (Ben on my left, Alyson on my right) and nursed them back to sleep

* provide assurance and comfort to my children

* enjoy the beautiful sight of pure angelic faces sleeping next to me!

Of course, if you googled around, there are many more benefits (and risks) of co-sleeping. What works for us, may not necessarily works for others. All I'm saying is co-sleeping works for us.

I myself co-sleep with my parents until I turned 7 years old. I remember the comfort of being right next to my parents, waking up from a nightmare and realising I'm protected by my parents who are just right next to me and feeling everything is going to be fine.

How long is this going to last? As long as we want to be next to them I guess...