happiness ...

... is a slice of cake

... or a Jollibee chickenjoy

... or a cup of iced coffee or sweet tea

... or a bowl of ice cream on a hot summer day

... or a nice cool bath or a long warm bath, depending on the season

... or a massage or better, a day at the spa.

But today, happiness is getting to change Swe-cha's diaper. He had 3 huge loads of poop and 2 w/ skid marks throughout the day. It made Mommy very happy because he did not poop the past 2 days.

Updates

We've been invited to a pool party this Saturday. Looking forward to Swe-cha's first swimming experience, hope he's up to it. We did a dry wet run last night in the tub, dressed him up in his swimsuit and put him in the bathtub. He was plenty excited - unlike the first time he was put in the tub, he cried!

I'm also glad that he's liking his suit already because when I first put it on him, he cried too! I'm guessing it must have been the tags poking him and bothering him because he didn't cry till I closed up the zipper (and the back part with the tags must've pressed on him already). I tore off the tags so they won't bother him anymore.

A few weeks ago, we met up with friends, Swe Cha was okay at first but then, some time later, he cried too!

Whenever I run errands nowadays, he shouts from the back of the car (from his car seat). He also shouts from his stroller - he used to be content so long as he's moving and so long as he hears me. But not anymore.

There's a pattern here.

My son - the happy baby that he is - is iyakin now. Hope this isn't an indication of how he will be in the future. I'm thinking that maybe he's uber lambing now because he's not feeling too well (teething).

Snack Attack!

This is a Sponsored Post written by me on behalf of ampm. All opinions are 100% mine.

Without a doubt, breastfeeding is best for babies.

What doesn't always get mentioned is that breastfeeding is a very good weight-loss tool for the mommies too. I've blogged about losing 40+ lbs since I gave birth (and only 20 lbs of that is pregnancy weight) even though I eat like a pig all the time. While I have not lost any weight in the last two weeks, I'm very happy to not have gained any weight at all so I'm happy.

I mentioned that I eat a lot, right ? You see, I find myself ravenous a lot of the time and craving a lot of different things. Sometimes, it's something healthy like green veggies or fruits, sometimes, I find myself looking for sweets and other times, I just can't get enough meat.

And during those meat-eating phases, nothing satisfies the cravings better than a huge chunk of meat in ampm's Towering Inferno as offered in their secret menu tab on Facebook. Hubby has the same favorite but he likes it without the sauce as he is not a fan of spicy foods.

Check out that page and let me know which one is or could easily be your favorite, don't forget to go back on 7/26, 8/2, 8/9, 8/16, 8/30 to check out the new yums that are coming out on those dates.

And make sure to not miss coming back on 8/2 because you get to make your own concoctions! I know I won't miss it :)

As for me, I can't wait. Thankfully, ampm is just around the corner, about two miles from where we live.

Coupon stories

Seems like I'm taking my couponing activities a lot more seriously than I thought.

The highlight of my day yesterday was when we went to the grocery store to get baby food. On the way to the baby aisle, hubby made a detour and found Chips Ahoy cookies on sale for $2 each, he bought a dozen of them.

We then went to the baby aisle, as planned, to get some jars of baby food which were on sale. We paid for our purchase and left. I knew that there was something off but I couldn't put a finger on it. We then went to the gas station to have our gas tank filled.

When we got to the station, I took out my my bag and saw some coupons I had tucked into the side pocket. Ayun! It hit me. I had picked up a mailer from this supermarket that my neighbor had discarded at the lobby and it had four $5 off a $30 purchase coupons - one for each week in July. We do not usually buy from this grocery nor were we planning to buy $30 worth of items so the $5 coupon wasn't really on my mind. It just so happened that we purchased .. okay, panic-bought... a lot of cookies and I had picked up some baby food jars that weren't on sale but were mixed in with the variety that was on sale. Add that all up and we were at $32 and change.

I wanted to turn back and try and get the $5 back from customer service. Hubby, on the other hand, was feeling so-so. He was okay if I wanted to go back, he was okay if we just gave the $5 up and just went home - it was my decision, he said.

Good sense won out and we went back. I explained the situation to customer service and the guy refunded me the $5 with no questions asked. I was happy, I felt that I was able to transform what would otherwise have been junk / trash into $. Diba?

Today, I had another couponing-deal experience. We wanted to get Swe-Cha a toy that moves around and has sounds so we went to Toys R Us to go and get one. It used to be that the local TRU in our area accepts Babies R Us and competitors' coupons, then they changed the rules and they still accepted coupons but only applied them to baby items.

Anyway, we found a suitable toy and tried to pay for it. That was when I found out that they do not accept any coupons anymore. It was only $15 anyway so I shrugged and paid for the purchase.

Then, we proceeded to Babies R Us next door, I needed to stock up on Lansinoh milk bags again. On a whim, we passed by the toys section (they have a few shelves with toys, smaller selection compared to TRU) and we found the exact same toy that we just purchased.

Seems like today is my lucky day too. So I took the toy, handed the cashier a $5 off $15 purchase coupon and happily returned the previously purchased toy next door.

Happy happy, joy joy.

Missouri

This is a Sponsored Post written by me on behalf of Hiltons of Branson. All opinions are 100% mine.

It seems like ages since hubby and I have gone on a vacation. The last trip we went to was in December 2008 where we went to California to spend Christmas with our family. It wasn't exactly an entertainment / leisure trip as we did not have any chance to go out by ourselves nor did we have any non-family-related-agenda. It was a purely spend-time-with-family trip.

Prior to that, hubby and I have only taken a few trips on our own. Once to Singapore and a few times to Boston - back when we were planning to move and needed to scout some areas where we can relocate.

However, we now have a baby to consider. With a baby in tow, it might be so easy for us to go on vacations. We should always make sure that there are adequate facilities, hotels are especially important too as we have to make sure that we'll be comfortable in our rooms at night. With that in mind, it might be time to visit my cousin and his wife in Missouri, we could always stay at the Hilton Branson Convention Center Hotel or the Hilton Promenade at Branson Landing so that we don't have to put any of them out. We could go have a picnic at the Lake Taneycomo area during the day and if we're able to get a sitter at night, we can also catch a show at the Theatre District. Mommy (me) could also have some retain therapy at the nearby Tanger Outlet Mall.

Now, I wonder how I can tempt hubby with a vacation ? *smile*

Swe-Cha and his milky

Several bags of breast milk picked up by Dr R this afternoon *whew*, this gave us some wiggle room in our freezer - which, hopefully, should give us a few more days' storage. I bagged (into ZipLoc gallon bags) the loose milkbags that I've stashed all over our regular freezer because the deep freezer was already full and I've filled up two more gallon bags. Somehow, I'm thinking that we should've given Dr R more - hubby tried to foist two more gallon bags off her but she didn't bring enough coolers to transport the milk. I'm sure she regretted not having more cooler room too.

Anyhow, I'm tallying up my son's feeding record for yesterday and his results bother me a little. He seems to have lost his appetite these past few days and his milk intake is down to 20 oz / day. Considering that his daily average is usually in the 25oz level and that on good days (growth spurts, maybe ?) he's been known to take as much as 36 oz and he gets 20 oz on his bad days, these few days are on the low side.

It's so frustrating for me to have all this milk and yet, my son is seemingly on a diet. I'm not complaining about the abundance - because I do get to share this with friends and I love being able to do that - but I'd love it if my son would drink a bit more. Thankfully, even with his meager appetite (especially compared to a friend's baby who drinks an average of 40 oz / day when she was Swe-cha's age), he does not look malnourished and while he does not look obese or siksik, he does have the requesite infant chubbiness.

Anak, what does mommy have to do ?

On demand

This is a Sponsored Post written by me on behalf of Charter. All opinions are 100% mine.

Having a 7-month old in the house and following TV shows does not mesh well together. For starters, a baby has his own schedule - feedings, naps, playtime - and your shows have their time schedule as well.

Then, it also does not help that my baby would occasionally throw a kink in my plans by wanting to nap/feed/play during the most exciting part of my show. What else is left for a Mommy to do ? Obviously, mommy has to let go of her TV and focus on her baby.

Thankfully, I still get to follow some of my shows during my 'me-time' (i.e. this is when Daddy takes over baby duties and I get an hour or two of me-time to recharge), thanks to the shows that are available via on-demand - check out the On Demand home page for a detailed list and description of the shows or You will ‘Like’ their Facebook page as well. This is also the only way I am able to catch up on movies that I've missed over the years, I'm so looking forward to seeing Avatar, Percy Jackson, Inglorious Basterds and Astroboy ;)

I'm thinking that I better get my fix of shows now while I still can, pretty soon, my son will be old enough to be watching TVs and for sure, he'll be competing with me for the TV so that he can watch his kiddie shows and cartoons on Nickolodeon.