I'm a full-time mummy

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!

I started wearing glasses when I was 12 years old and coming from a lower class income family, we could not afford to get expensive or branded glasses. As long as it serves the purposes of making me see clearly and cost cheap, then it is good enough. Back then, there's no such thing as buying glasses according to your face frame and so on.

And then when I started working and could afford better glasses, I did get myself one of those UV protection glasses since I work in the IT line, but I am still skeptical and hesitant with getting sunglasses. I mean,  to me, sunglasses is a nice to have accessories, not a necessity. Back then it's either you get a clip-on sunglasses (which I did once) or get a separate sunglasses with prescription (which I never did) and that is expensive (for me).

Until now, I've never own a sunglasses in my life (except for that clip-on one that I mentioned) though I am curious and often throw the occasional glances of curiosity towards those designer sunglasses on display in the optical eyewear shops.

Nowadays, there are so many types of sunglasses available. Just when I thought that it's not easy to shop for a sunglasses online, I came across http://www.glasses.com, a website that sells many types of sunglasses, lenses and heck, the coolest thing is they even have this virtual try-on widget on their website which allows you to 'try' their product virtually. You just need to upload a photo of yours and go on a frenzy try-outs!

So what are your thoughts on sunglasses and will you buy them online?

Christmas is coming soon! I'm so excited! It will be the first Christmas for our family of 4 this year! Apart from teaching Ben a couple of lines to the "Jingle Bell" song (which he said 'Jingo Beow, Jingo Beow'), this year we will be putting up our bling-bling Christmas tree again on top of my simple DIY decoration using old Christmas cards and deco items which I tied with strings of wool to each staircase railings.

On the topic of Christmas cards, I do love receiving them and adding them onto our decorations. I bet these cards from Tiny Prints would look awesome hanging down from our staircase railings this year!

I was compensated for this review, however, all opinions expressed in this post are my own. Please do your own research when purchasing products, as your opinions may differ from mine.