There is without a doubt that motherhood takes a tole on everything that is you!
From your health, to your physical standing, to your emotional state, to your eating habits, to your washroom routine, to your sleeping routine, to everything else in between.
I don’t know how many times I’ve had carpal tunnel from the repetitive work of motherhood.
I don’t know how many times, I’ve missed meals from making sure my kids are fed, and whatever I have decided to eat instead..made it into their tummies and I’m not even mad about it. Sometimes, I sneak it into the bathroom by the kitchen because I don’t have a walk-in pantry that I can lock and my bathroom in my room, doesn’t lock..just so i can take a quick min to eat something. When i say quick, i mean quick before they noticed you’re gone.
I don’t know how many times I’ve gotten sick from the germs they bring home, only to not get any rest time because, that’s not what motherhood is about (Am I right, or am I right moms)!
I don’t know how many times, I’ve had to sort of “forget” my emotions, or at least I think I’m forgetting it, only to seep in on times I’d rather not have it. AND I LOSE IT, every single time!
I don’t ever take my washroom breaks seriously, because I always have a full audience, mischievously going through my monthly stacked of pads, make-up, and other things I store in a washroom/bathroom.
Don’t even get me started on sleeping. What is that? Who does this?
Amidst all this that seem so hard to sacrifice on days when I literally wish I can just be alone for the rest of my life, my precious children who drive me nuts on the daily, are everything I can ever ask for in life. The blessing, to be their mother, their friend, their provider, their protector, the teacher of love, understanding, care, and everything we moms are responsible for on the daily, is everything I could ever want out of my life.
I am always grateful, and thankful for being able to be a mom and have the opportunity to have my own little mini-me’s to live life and to be my legacies, if nothing more.
It’s been nineteen days since my last post. It’s been crazy busy in the last few weeks, with small minor details consuming our days. It’s not very often when we get ‘down time’. There’s always plenty to do. Aside from mommy duties, there are a ton of stay-at-home mom stuff that needs tending to.
The last three weeks, seemed to have been a little easier with going out. Exactly three weeks ago, I got my license to legally drive. It’s been great to to just go when you have to. I’ve taken Apollo on ‘mommy and kuya’ dates, frozen yogurt treats with Arty, and small ventures to the grocery and Starbucks for some ‘me-time’.
Apollo was to spend two weeks at his grandparents in Toronto, but half-way through his mini-vacation away from home, he missed us and wanted to come home. We drove to Toronto, two consecutive weekends in a row. Dropping him off, and then picking him up. He, of course, changed his mind, the minute we arrived. Bribed with the thoughts of camping in the backyard with Papa, and other small adventures with the person he admires most, Papa. We didn’t end up letting him stay, because missing him was just too much. So now, the house is filled with noise, running around, and constant ‘mommy can I play on the Wii-u”, “watch YouTube”, “play NHL on the PS4”, and so on. I wouldn’t have it any other way.
The girls and I have been sick this week. In the middle of summer, it’s always fun to be sick…said nobody! Perhaps, we’re all just a little tired and then some.
Does anybody know what happened to summer? It’s already half way done. It seems like it was just last week, when Apollo finished Grade 1, and we’re excited about the summer at home. Now, it’s half way over and we’re thinking about school shopping for Grade 2. On that same note; Apollo is going to Grade 2. Whoa. Where did the time go? I can’t believe he’s going into Grade 2. It’s all too fast.
Two months from now it’s Halloween, and it’ll be Cassi’s first Halloween. Then two months after that, it’s Christmas. I’m not mad though. Christmas is the most exciting time of the year in my household. We absolutely love Christmas. Maybe it’s just me. Maybe I’m the one who gets everyone riled up about it. But hey, I can’t wait. It’s definitely exciting to decorate and have the kids celebrate this wonderful time. It puts an emphasis on Family, not that it’s not emphasized enough throughout the year. But it makes it a must! I can’t wait!
I realize this post barely has anything for you to ponder about. But then again, I said I would only share what I had in mind.
Hope you have a wonderful Tuesday…wait, it’s Wednesday!
For the sake of memories. For the sake of being able to scream, and daily, confess the love for the blessings of being a mom.
For as long as I can remember, I wasn’t a celebrated child. I didn’t have birthday parties, every year, nor had one because I meant a lot to someone. I had a couple that i recall; for the sake of photos that’ll eventually find its way to my adopted father, elsewhere in the world. I wasn’t treasured, the way you treasure someone, with tangible memories like photographs, or letters, or daily blogs of confessions about how much they are loved and cared for.
I wasn’t fussed over. I wasn’t valued. I wasn’t worth enough, for anyone to claim me. I wasn’t enough, for someone to ‘keep’ me. No one cried for me. No one hurt for me. No one would have given their life for me, the way you do when you love someone so much.
Because of this…
I am one of those individuals, who flood your Facebook news feed, instagram, twitter, and tumblr, of photographs, status’, notes, and shared articles about my children; about having children; about being a mom; about the struggle of being a parent; about the chaos of marriage, and everything in between. I AM THAT INDIVIDUAL, because I want to be able to look back at the memories I’ve built with my family. I want my children to be able to find these memories when they’ve grown, and one day they’ll wonder what, who, how, why, they are who they are. It isn’t merely for the sake of bombarding others, or attempting to show I’m better than anyone, or that my family values are better than yours. I do this for me. I do this for the legacy of my family . I do this so that my children will remember to value what is most important in our family, each other. I do this so that they remember what it means to fight for those you love, to always give heart, to always be humble, to find meaning in real life, and so much more.
One day my children will have questions. One day they’ll wonder about all sorts, one day these memories will become reminders, it may bring us together when time is distant, or when our minds have found heart elsewhere. It will rekindle deeper appreciation for one another when that is lost or forgotten, it may be a light that helps redefine relationships in each of our lives, maybe it’ll help recall values, or find comfort, bring smiles, provide happy tears, but one thing for certain, it will always bind us together, always and forever.
I have yet to do review posts on anything, since it requires a lot of research and time to put together information. That’s time I don’t really have, but I will share my experience on using a variety of different types of baby bottles, since I’ve got seven years under my belt of pass and fail with baby bottles. (*insert wink emoticon here*)
Here are five types of bottles that I have used:
1. Playtex VentAire Advanced Bottle
My son used these when he was born back in 2009. At the time, it seemed like every mom had colicy, gasy babies. So every mom was using these bottles. Apollo was a gasy baby. It seemed like he was always eating after the first few months, so we had to make sure we invested in bottles that was going to help with the bubbles, and reduce gasyness.
Cost:Walmart $16.99 / Babies R Us – Gift Set $23.17
Cleaning & Convenience: When you have a baby that constantly feeds, you cannot wash bottles enough. This bottle had 6 parts. So if you’re not sleeping through the night, and you’re exhausted, that 3 a.m. washing bottle time is not exactly fun. It’s like zombies trying to get through a door without opening the door. My husband stood by the sink, half awake several times, ready to just scream BREASTFEED instead. After washing 6 bottles x 6 parts which is 36 parts in the sink and then waiting for it to sanitize, you’re better off buying ready milk in those disposable plastic bottles. Especially, if you’re feeding your baby warm milk. That means, heating the milk in the microwave, after washing all those parts, and sanitizing them. WHO IN THE WORLD HAS 2 hours, when you’ve got a screaming, crying baby?
Gasy and Colicky Fix: It did help with the colic aspect and my son was no longer gasy. So it did its job.
2. Evenflo Classic Glass Bottle + Vented Bottles
Apollo had to use these after the Playtex VentAire bottles, because we got sick of having to wash all the parts. I mean, like my husband says, just like Coke, it taste better in a glass bottle. I don’t know how formula taste in a glass bottle and a plastic one, at that, but I would assume, like most drinks, it taste a lot nicer from a glass.
Cost:Babies R Us $11.99 (3 pk, 8 oz size)
Cleaning & Convenience: Cleaning these bottles were fairly easy. It was four parts, and no crazy crevices to tediously wash. The only negative I found was, when sanitizing them, it was a pain. You sanitize it with boiled water, that means you had to wait to cool them before touching it, unless you had super gloves. Then, you had the actual milk warming process, it wasn’t recommended to heat up the bottle, so warming the milk separately was the thing, and then having to cool down the milk was another. It was too long of a wait. Being out, it was hard to serve the baby warm milk. This meant, you had to have a thermos of warm water at the right temperature before leaving the house. So that led us back to the Playtex VentAire.
3. Gerbers First Essentials Clear Bottles
When Artemis, our second child was born. We wanted some easy to clean bottles, where we can use and go right out of the hospital. We had figured we’d use a different type of bottle after a month or so, since these Gerber First Essential bottles were tiny, plastic and small nipples, it was easy and go kinda bottles.
Cost:Walmart $5.96 (3 pk)
Cleaning & Convenience: Cleaning it was easy, it’s got your typical four parts, the only negative aspect was, you can’t really sanitize it well since it’s cheap and plastic material. The nipples wore out so quickly. It leaked at the bottom of the nipple if you close it too tight. I’ve had Arty look like she just downed 3oz of milk in 2 mins, little did I know, the bib soaked it all up. While the cleaning was easy, and not really too complicated, the convenience turned into a nuisance.
4. Playtex Nurser with Drop-Ins Liners
We switched to these for Arty, after we got fed up of the wasted milk.
Cost: Walmart & Babies R Us $19.99
Cleaning & Convenience: Cleaning these bad boys are pretty easy, because it uses liners, you really are just cleaning the cap, nipple and twist cap thoroughly, and quickly washing with soap the body part. I actually bought a microwave-sanitizer for this, so it’s quick. The only extra aspect is buying the inserts every month. The convenience is great! You don’t have to constantly clean the bottles itself. But you do have to change the inserts often, to make sure the milk isn’t gross from several usage and old residue.
Cost:Walmart $9.97 (4 oz.) $11.97 (8 oz)
5. Philips Avent Classic Bottles
With Cassi, I have decided to switch a totally new brand. With Arty just a year old, I didn’t want to have to mix up their bottles and the nipples. It would make it difficult to keep everything sanitary, with the same kind of bottles. So, the other day I picked up these bad boy. The box set I bought is currently on sale at Babies R us. It came with three of these 4 oz size bottles, and two 8 oz bottles. It also came with a pacifier, a brush, and a milk dispenser for when you’re on the road.
Cost:Babies R us $55
Cleaning & Convenience: Cleaning this bottle is pretty straight forward, it’s like cleaning the Gerber First Essential bottles. Good thing I got the sanitizer with it. Two minutes in the microwave, and bam ready bottles again. Convinient? Yeah, so far it’s good. No complains. Aside from Cassi trying to get used to the nipples.
I haven’t been able to blog the way I want to, because I seem to be in a funk. The days of Cassiopeia’s arrival is coming very close (37 days to go), and I guess my body is just preparing for it. Thus, I’ve been feeling a lot of things lately. One with aches, two sleeplessness, and three, just exhaustion from my daily grind.
I got braxton hicks the other night, it was a lot more painful that i’ve ever gotten them before. With aK & Arty, they didn’t really interfere with what I had to do physically. This time around, I had to literally lay down. I just wanted to crawl into a ball, and squeeze my stomach. It hurt so much, I literally fell asleep.
I know I’ve said a few times in my previous posts, but I’m literally starting to get really tired, I just don’t want to mommy from now until I give birth to this baby. It’s so hard to get through the day with all that I have to get through, and be eight months pregnant. It’s crazy. But, I’ve got a month and a bit left. I’m just going to have to push through this.
Apollo “the Sun God” in the books. He is many things, but we mostly stick to the very defining of his name as The Sun. His middle name, ‘Kai’ was chosen by me. I wanted a name that flowed with his first name and one that would hold a meaning that we as parent will always be proud of. Kai means Ocean in Hawaiian. Cleverly, J, came up with this very sweet definition for Apollo Kai.
“He is as bright as the sun and as deep as the ocean”. Apollo, definitely amongst other things, lives up to his name. He is kind, sweet, loving, and thoughtful. His soul shines with so much fun, witty-ness and joy.
I,Mommy 