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!

When I saw the press release of this app from Oceanhouse Media, I immediately check out the app further. I mean, it is very intriquing to see what an app with the "Picture Me" words are all about! I am so glad to be given the chance to review this app! as it is a very very cute and personalised app! Anyway, my review as below...

* Title: Picture Me® Christmas Cutie
* Price: $0.99
* Category: Books
* Released: Dec 14, 2011
* Version: 1.08
* Size: 11.5 MB
* Language: English
* Seller: Oceanhouse Media, Inc.
* Rated: 4+
* Requirements: Compatible with iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad. Requires iOS 3.1 or later

Description from the product page:

"Add your child's photo to the first ever personalized omBook and they can star in their own holiday dress-up story! Take a picture or add photos from your library and voila, your child instantly adorns cute holiday costumes like Santa’s helpful elf, Christmas teddy bear, jolly snowman, cuddly mouse, or playful reindeer. Children will enjoy the playful sounds and interactive objects on every page as they flip through the story and see themselves in costume!

Special features include the ability to store your photos in the app and even use multiple photos within a single story. Everyone in the family can be included! Children will love the beautiful scenes on each page, the professional audio narration, and word highlighting to benefit emerging readers. These features and more create an enjoyable experience for users of all ages.

With Picture Me Christmas Cutie on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod Touch, you can make adorable holiday costume collections wherever you go! Additional Features:
* High quality artwork based on studio photography
* Professional audio narration
* Introduces pre-literacy skills with word highlighting
* Interactive objects on each page
* Encourages imaginative play as children can take on a variety of characters
* This 'Universal App' is optimized for Retina displays and the iPad "

What a cute app in time for Christmas celebration which is right around the corner! The moment I started using this app, I selected pictures of my family (hubby, myself, Ben and Alyson) and once I'm done (very fast process too!) I showed it to Ben and we went through the app together. 

You should've seen the look on his face when he saw his own face appearing on the app cover and then our faces on the characters in the app!

He was smiling and saying out our names as he saw our faces popping out on the app! Cute!

What's good?

* It is engaging and interactive and I love that we can also touch the objects in each page on the screen!

* I like how the pictures we selected appears randomly as the story goes along and got repeated again and again and again!

* The process to upload our pictures into the app is very user friendly and easy to go through.

* I am also amazed at the cool features of the app when I upload our pictures, I can so easily select, enlarge or reduce the size and even rotate the pictures!

Room for Improvement?

* I think it will be totally awesome if there is a function which allows us to EMAIL out the pictures! That will totally make a cute e-card for Christmas!

You can purchase the "Picture Me® Christmas Cutie" app from the iTunes App Store.

I received no monetary compensation for this review, I was provided with the promo code by the sponsor to redeem the application for free from iTunes Store in order to facilitate my review. All opinions expressed in this post are my own. Please do your own research when purchasing products, as your opinions may differ from mine. And if you'd like to read my previous iPad Apps reviews, you can do so by reading this post of mine called "My iPad App Reviews"

I came across the press release of this app and wrote in to request for an opportunity to review it. To my delight, the developer of the app reverted with "I really liked your website, the clarity of the reviews plus the cute site design and illustrations." (awwww... thank you!) and that he is honored to have his app reviewed by me (the pleasure is mine!!) Anyway, my review as below...

* Title: Koto Go Silence
* Price: $2.99
* Category: Books
* Released: 11 November 2011
* Version: 1.0
* Size: 107 MB
* Language: English
* Developer: Daniel Shneor & April Peter
* Rated: 4+
* Requirements: Compatible with iPhone, iPod touch and iPad. Requires iOS 3.2 or later.

Description from the product page:

"Koto Go Silence” is an animated storybook about Koto - a faithful young dog, who deals with mysterious noises during his night watch.

Have fun reading this book, at playtime or bedtime. Tap on the sentences to hear them read out loud, and then enjoy the colorful and funny animations. This App has been carefully designed, so that children of all ages can easily navigate through it and have a great experience on both iPhone and iPad.

Key features:

* CG character animation with exciting segments.

* Relatable day-to-day experiences for young children.
* Interactive texts with English read-along functions.
* Once installed, the App can be played even when offline. "

Ben loves loves loves loves this app so much! So much that it is a MUST before his daytime nap and bedtime. We will at least go through this app twice a day and without fail, this app will definitely make him laugh, say out loud and ask me questions!

What's good?

* It is such a fun app! We totally love Koto, especially the computer graphics animation part!

* I like how some of the narration goes nicely in rhymes and the narrator's voice is very good as well.

* There are some pages which got Ben laughing, such as when Koto pops out of the doggy door (screenshot below).

* I also used the opportunity to teach Ben some new words, such as ninjas, shovels, wind chimes and so on.

* The app comes automatically with the Read Out Loud feature but requires us to tap each pages (except the animation part) to move through the story, so I used this opportunity to teach Ben to tap the text himself, so that he can learn that tapping the text will enable us to know what is going to happen next and I also want him to be more in-charge when we are going through this app.

What's not so good?

* I would love to have an option for the story to auto play by itself instead of us having to tap the text to move through the story.

* I would prefer if the 'monsters' sounds played a little bit longer (or play until we tap to the next page perhaps?) so as to keep the suspense going.

You can purchase the "Koto Go Silence" app from the iTunes App Store. The Android version of the app can be found here.

I received no monetary compensation for this review, I was provided with the promo code by the sponsor to redeem the application for free from iTunes Store in order to facilitate my review. All opinions expressed in this post are my own. Please do your own research when purchasing products, as your opinions may differ from mine. And if you'd like to read my previous iPad Apps reviews, you can do so by reading this post of mine called "My iPad App Reviews"