Shred It

I started going to the gym last year, heck I even ran at the Shape Run in 2011 a mere 4 months after Jordan was born but I’m still fat. I know it’s a combination of me loving food, time and frankly being lazy. So the gym at lunch doesn’t work when I’m busy at work and the dogs Axl was getting fat. It’s been 2 months and I’ve woken up every Sat or Sun at 6.15 am to run, usually 5k with them. So yes, my lil toy breed poodle x yorkie can run 5 to 6km and usually faster than I can, Stomper, that crazy mutt at nearly 6 years (that’s 42 human years) can run and run and run AND RUN no worries.

Anyway, back to the point. I SUCK at diets, I hate them, but I figure I can ensure one healthy low carb, no fat meal and it’s easiest to be dinner. So I’ve got a list for this week of mostly salad based meals and I finally got my Jillian Michael’s Shred in 30. It’s short, sweet and OMG I was dying. I think it’ll work if I can get it done every single day. The only thing is, I used to go to the gym often and I loved weight based classes so I know how to stick my bum out and no knees beyond toes but if you haven’t attended a class or gone to the gym, this could be tricky and you might want to watch a few how to – lunge, squat etc first to prevent injury.

Wish me luck, it’s day two today!

Pride

Rylen from the day she was born, I thought SUPERSTAR. That’s what she is to me and Jordan is MY HEART.

Rylen has been doing well in school, she can’t read yet and it kinda bothers me a little but her teacher says she’s not expected to. She’s basically an all rounder; good at pretty much everything she’s asked to do. Her art is good (really?) and her math and fine plus gross motor skills are excellent, she recognizes her alphabets and I know she ‘reads’ by memory and learns mandarin by singing. She’s a happy, sensitive, motherly, kind, funny and generally an awesome child. I look at her and feel such pride.

 

This morning, I found Rylen in bed with Jordan and Jordan was still fast asleep at 7am. I know Ry was awake at 6.30am because I heard her singing softly on  the monitor but Jordan has tummy issues and she was up at 4.30am we had to clean her up and put her back to bed. So Rylen letting her sleep and not scream for her to wake up showed so much maturity and just stroking her hair so she’d keep sleeping…awww, melts.

Kids, they mostly make you tired but in those AW moments keep you going

The Potty Train, Part 2, Jordan

Can I say one of the reasons I don’t wanna have another child is because I hate potty training. I really hate it. I have a helper that does the cleaning up most of the time and I still hate it.

Jordan’s off diapers during the day time 100% and there aren’t many accidents but she does have this annoying habit of peeing just a lil bitty bit and then telling us before we get her to the toilet. So when we go out now I have to bring along 5 extra pairs of underwear because there are 50 cent pee patches but I’m getting better at reminding myself that she has to pee every 1.5 hours even if she doesn’t want to and will cry (I have no idea why it’s not like it hurts). So we go pee when we get to where ever, we get her to pee before we go eat, after we eat and usually before we leave but depending. At home she pees when she wakes up, before the playground, when she comes home etc… you get the idea. We also in the last month or so have let her go diaperless at nap time, personally I don’t think she’s ready, but my Mom and helper feel otherwise so I am very thankful for the Dream mat, I have 2 since Rylen doesn’t need hers anymore (YAY). These are awesome I used to get disposable pee pads and they sound plastic-ky and I have to put them under the mattress protector when many many mistakes happen, it’s not fun to wash the protector and sheets and sometimes the mattress cover. The dream mat is bigger, does not feel hot plus they don’t feel/sound all weird under the bedsheets, so win.

I think I can bring out the large carpet in my hall and remove the disposable pee pads on my sofa soon, thank goodness!

Again how fast they grow and as much as I’m gonna hate her turning 3 years old, I cannot wait to not have to buy ridiculously expensive diapers ever again!!

Time to FATTEN Jordan UP!

I know I’ve been pretty quiet and this blog has been uninspiring but I’ve been inspired to do so many things with the kids and we’ve been busy and I’ve been busy at work and tired but in a good way.

Anyway, we finally went for Jordan’s checkup and her final jab till she hits primary school. She did well taking her MMRV (2nd), I have no idea why the doctors always make such a big fuss. I just promised candy and she was like… OKAY!, Poke, Where’s my candy, Done. No tears.

However, I did speak to her doctor about her weight. Basically, she’s been around 11.7kg to 11.3 kg since December and that’s around 6 months of no weight gain at all. For a child that started out at 95% I was getting worried that she was down to 10%. We are back to full fat milk for both for now. She’s gained weight and within a week is a healthier 12kg! We’ll see how it goes and it looks like full fat might be here to stay for the year perhaps… sadness because I can’t drink much milk and when I do I prefer it skim but I cannot finish a bottle before it expires! We’ll have to see if Ry puts on too much weight as well. I read a few different sites that kids after 2 years of age do not need full fat milk and low-fat is a no no and it would be best to switch them to skim, they also have soy milk with less sugar in the afternoon and 150ml of their formula at night just in case they need all this DHA etc etc that very expensive formulas provide. Whatever it is, project Fatten Lil J up will continue till she’s at least 12.5kg. I mean, she eats nearly as much as her older sister and usually faster! Seriously, she can finish her porridge or her rice or her noodles or pasta at least 10 to 15 minutes faster than her older sister and she will eat at least 1/2 of it by herself but the mess takes it toll on us and we try to feed her the second half so of her food goes in her mouth instead of her dogs mouth. Jordan however does not like fruit as much and she’s not all that keen on cake or biscuits unless she’s hungry. If she’s full she will not make room for yogurt, cake, fruit, biscuits or even ice cream! Ry will… as would I ahahaha.

Jordan also runs around A LOT for someone her age because I know Ry didn’t really run all that much or that fast! Then again Jordan has to chase Ry around and OMG Rylen can run pretty fast, she kinda caught me off guard, I had no idea she could run that fast! Oh how quickly they grow up. Taking Ry to the playground every weekend makes my heart pound and I wanna scream BE CAREFUL like 20 times and go NO NO NO at least 100! Rylen climbs all over flings herself off and then slides down, jumps off bridges and my heart is like OMG OMG OMG but I just shut my mouth and hope she doesn’t break anything cos having a cast at any age is a really chore! I do say FOCUS WOMAN a lot ahahaha.

And just because

BAWA

Dear All,

 

I’ll be heading to Ubud in August and will be visiting BAWA, it is a special place.

 

Most people see Bali, Island of the Gods. I’ve visited the places where your driver, the maid who cleaned your hotel room etc etc etc stay and it isn’t the same Bali, there are mini buses packed so full that kids are sitting on kids sitting on kids and adults right at the bottom two to seat, they just want to get home. I’ve seen kittens struggle to cross a road, no one stops, one dies, the others cry and NO ONE STOPS, they just want to get home. Bali dogs like to have their puppies in dens, usually drains and then there is a flash flood, puppies die BUT slowly there are people starting to care.

 

 

There is another side of Bali, it’s not so pretty, tourist usually don’t bother. BAWA is still trying to teach the people who have very little to have compassion for animals, it’s a tremendous uphill task much like squeezing blood from a stone. BAWA is trying to rid the dog meat trade, something even I was not aware of, it seems there is demand. I love Bali and this sickens me.

 

 

BAWA needs help from other countries because the Balinese do not have as much. So if you would like to donate things like:-

 

-         Flea & Tick Spot on Drops

 

-         Leads and Collars

 

-         De-wormers

 

 

Please pass them to me by 16 August. I’m flying budget so I can’t take cuter things like beds and all, but smaller items are really necessary.

 

Thank you in advance! 

 

http://www.bawabali.com/bawa-news/1-latest-news/144-may-wishlist.html

 

Cause and Effect

So I’ve been working late a lot and it happens when you’re in charge of an event and it gets closer to the date. There are many changes, late updates etc and it doesn’t help that it takes me 1.5 hours by train to get home. What happened was that the kids started giving me attitude, sigh.

Event over and I spent the whole weekend with the kiddos. We went to Stef’s place for brunch, got home, napped (I sooooo needed this nap), kids had dinner, went to the airport to pick my Auntie up with kids in tow, put them to bed. Sunday, I got up for a run and then met the kids at the playground, weekly NTUC shopping trip, a 1st month party (where the hubs and I sneaked out for 10 mins to eat by ourselves ahahaha), nap, off to Changi Village for dinner w the kids, helper, hubs, aunt, Mom; fun. We also let the kids have a go with the old school car/bikes. The kids had fun… I was sweating buckets and the back of my legs and ankles got hit at least 4 times. I actually had to beg the owner to please take back the cars! It was $4 for 15 minutes but after 20 mins the kids were still going strong and they don’t seem to take the vehicle back from us!

Anyway, the kids really enjoyed themselves, I got many hugs and kisses… I’ve missed them so.

 

You and What YOU See

It took me 28 years to finally be happy with my body, my face and my hair. I wasn’t ever going to be skinny, I wasn’t meant to have straight hair, I was always gonna have to wax, shave, pluck and my face was just fine. Then I got pregnant and again and it’s taken it’s toll on my body and I don’t get to exercise as much as I used too and I’m getting old and my ego has taken a major beating. I try to ignore when people tell me I’m fat, when my husband teases me or when idiots ask if I’m pregnant again. It took me 28 years to be happy with myself and now it sucks that I’m back to feeling like … this. However, when I look at my kids and how they love lying on my squishy belly and when they are sick; my thighs bring much comfort and I realise it’s okay to be a little chunky for a little while more while I try and get a run in once a week and find the time to get back to exercising yet again just so that I’m healthy.