2009 July : Tips for Moms & Baby Websites

Dreft Available at Costco!

I visited a local Costco at my work a few weeks ago and noticed that they had the 110 ounce size Dreft available for sale for $24.99! I was really surprised to see it there because I had looked for it 2 years ago but was unable to find it. Actually, one of the guys there told me they don’t carry it.

Well, it’s finally here! Let’s do some comparison shopping. Costco prices usually beats other prices, but for the heck of it, let’s see the math.

BRU: $22.49 for 100 oz = $0.225 per oz
Diapers.com: $31.99 for 170 oz = $0.188 per oz but you have to pay for shipping
Amazon.com: $54.00 for 300 oz = $0.180 per oz (free shipping)
Costco: $24.99 for 170 oz = $0.147 per oz

Even with a $5 off coupon for BRU, it would still come out to be more than Costco’s ($0.175 per oz). So people, if you are looking for a good deal for Dreft, Costco carries it now! Perhaps someday, they will offer coupons in their coupon book for $2 or $3 off like some of their other products.

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Wednesday’s Solar Eclipse and Pregnant Women

Wow, I was amused at this article that was published by Yahoo! today. A colleague of mine sent this to me just now. There is a solar eclipse this Wednesday, July 22. Basically, it’s when the moon crosses the path of the sun, totally blocking the sun from our view. A neat phenomenon, actually. But the articles that, according to Indian superstition, pregnant women should stay indoors to prevent defects in their babies. Many women who had planned to have a caesarian delivery that day have changed their dates to avoid bringing their babies to this world on this day.

To read more on this article, click here.

I know it sounds crazy but I think I will stay indoors that day. Perhaps I will even take the day off from work! I’m pretty superstitious myself. As a matter of fact, my second delivery is a planned caesarian. The doctor let me choose a day and time for the delivery of the baby (it had to be within one week prior to the due date) so I ran to my mom asking what day and time frame is a “good day” to deliver. According to my aunts, August 29th at 5:30 is a good day and time. It’s only one day before my actual due date, but I guess the stars and moon “align” that day.

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Yesterday Was a Good Day Until…

Yesterday was a good day. I woke up somewhat refreshed, which is very rare because a good night’s sleep is hard to come by when you are 6 weeks away from your due date. I must have had quality sleep since I know I had slept for only 5 hours. I laid my head down on my pillow at nearly 11:30 pm and snoozed until 3 am for a potty break. Then woke up again to my mom’s alarm at 4:30 am. Took another potty break then. Little Mochi had a nightmare around 5 am and cried out in his sleep so that woke me up. But somehow, I still felt refreshed. I shouldn’t care how many hours of sleep I got as long as I am feeling good, right?

The good feeling could be due to the long flowy summer turquois dress and new brown strappy sandals that I wore yesterday. Now mind you, I rarely wear dresses much less wear them to work! A nice summer dress tends to make me feel happy naturally. And feminine. Yup, I felt really feminine yesterday. Or it could be the nice compliments I received from everyone all day on how great the dress looked on me. I do have to admit, however, that the dress was cute and that I was definitely comfortable in it.

Or…I felt great yesterday because I was anticipating a baby shower at work that my girls at work organized for me. I feel so lucky. When I was pregnant with Little Mochi two years ago, my colleagues (from a different department – I have switched to a different department since) at work then also threw me a BIG shower. I don’t think I’ll ever forget that one. There was probably 30 people that showed up! And everyone that showed up brought me a gift, even those that I rarely knew. They had a hilarious skit. I left work that day with a car full of presents. Literally – a car full of presents. I felt so special and so loved.

But this one was small and intimate. It was nice. Although I told Keila, the organizer, to tell everyone not to bring me a gift because in all honesty, I already have what I needed. Between all of Little Mochi’s pass me down gears and newborn clothes, all the cutesy dresses from the shower my sister threw me a month ago, I’m all set! But the people here are so nice. They all got me something anyway. Mostly more clothes, but they were all very cute.

Actually, the only thing I wanted was Keila’s condensed milk strawberry cake. But the girls went all out and planned a big luncheon. They catered food from the little family owned Mexican restaurant across the street. Lillian woke up early to cut fresh watermelon and pineapples (and boy were they sweet!). She said she didn’t want to cut them the night before because they wouldn’t be as fresh. There was a vase full of fresh cut flowers. And a box of Costco wipes. Hahahaha…crazy Carolina was wondering why Lillian had to buy the baby wipes. She thought we were using them lieu of napkins. That’s coming from someone who has never had a baby.

I was sooo touched.

It was a good day, yesterday. Until I spoke to my husband. Everything seemed to have gone downhill from there.

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Normal Weight Gain During Pregnancy

I had a check up on Monday, July 13th. I gained another 3 pounds since the last appointment, which was two weeks ago. So, in total, I have gained 29 pounds. I am definitely doing a lot better this time around. I think I was at least 40 pounds over when I was pregnant with Little Mochi around this time frame. Many of my colleagues comment on how great I look right now. Isn’t that wonderful?! I know I have put on a few pounds in places other than my belly. But hey, if they can’t tell where it’s at, that’s great!

Normal weight gain for someone my size is around 25 – 37. I may be a little over the “normal” weight gain during pregnancy, but that’s ok! At this point in my pregnancy, I should be gaining approximately 1 – 2 pounds per week. At the rate that I’m going, I’d be approximately 44 or 45 pounds. That’s still much better than 53 pounds over! Heck, I have heard of people gaining over 70 pounds during their 9 months! It’s no wonder women opt for tummy tucks and boob jobs.

How much weight gain is considered a “healthy” weight gain anyway? It really depends on your weight before you were pregnant.

If you were already overweight to begin with, a “healthy” weight gain should be around 15-25 pounds.
If you started off underweight, you should gain somewhere between 28 – 40 pounds.
Otherwise, 25 – 37 pounds is an ideal amount of weight to gain if you were a healthy weight beforehand.

Regardless of how much weight you should gain, I have always wondered where the weight is during a woman’s pregnancy? I mean, the baby is only 7 or 8 pounds. So why do women gain 30, 40, 50, or even 70 pounds? Gaining weight is very important because it provides nutrients for the baby. But it’s not like all the extra fat in our bodies are “nutrients!” Well, here is a quick breakdown of the weight you gain:

Baby: 7-8 pounds
Placenta: 1-2 pounds
Amniotic fluid: 2 pounds
Uterus: 2 pounds
Maternal breast tissue: 2 pounds
Maternal blood: 4 pounds
Fluids in maternal tissue: 4 pounds
Maternal fat and nutrient stores: 7 pounds

It’s important to note that weight gain should be steady to avoid increased risk of hemorroids, varicose veins (yuck), stretch marks, indigestion, and shortness of breath. Losing weight during the first trimester is OK since the baby does not need as many calories and nutrients as the last trimester of the pregnancy. But if you are gaining weight (or even losing weight) too fast during the last trimester, be sure you talk to you doctor as it could be a sign of preeclampsia.

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Blogging as a Career?

I recently read an article on Yahoo! a few weeks ago called 10 Great Careers You’ve Probably Never Heard Of. It’s a very interesting article considering 2 of them are internet related. What caught my attention was the Blogger.

“Hey! I’m a blogger!” I thought to myself. I didn’t realize that blogging could be a “career.” But I guess if you can make $60,000 per year from blogging full-time, it can be considered a career. Yes, according to the article, you can potentially make up to $60,000 or more from blogging full time. That’s more than what the average household income makes in one year! It’s time to take this blogging thing more seriously, eh?

What makes blogging so great anyway? For me, it’s a way out. I can use it for anything. ANYTHING. I’ve used this blog to post pictures of how my son is growing, to talk about his development, the joys as well as the concerns I have had with his development. I have used it to announce the birth of a friend/family’s new addition, to lash out my frustrations, or simply to chat with my readers. And the fact that I can write from anywhere makes it convenient. If I have something to talk about, I just open my browser and write away. AND, to think that I can make money from lashing out my thoughts? Sounds great to me!

If you don’t already have a blog, and want to get one set up but don’t know how, http://www.howtostartablog.com/ shows you step by step on how to get started. Go on, don’t be afraid! It’s actually pretty fun.

Yahoo! for making Blogging one of the 10 great ”unheard of” careers! Now, time to make some milk money for my son!

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The Traffic School Experience

It really wasn’t as bad as I thought. Although I could have used the 8 hours to do something else in my life, but I have to admit that it was quite entertaining. I even learned a few things!

My class instructor was Mr. Traffic. Has anyone of you heard of Mr. Traffic? Apparently, this guy has been in several commercials as a kid, has his own radio talk show, and is very very knowledgeable about traffic laws. And he claims he has never broken a traffic law. (Yeah right. I can’t believe that he really drives 5 miles per hour in the parking structures).

We spent the first hour and a half introducing ourselves and telling the class why we are there. The majority of the people were there because of speeding. Two of the students were there because they got caught on camera running a red light. Did you know that it is almost impossible to fight those tickets? The only way you can fight it really is to show up in court and pray that the cops that sited you tells the judge that the cameras were not working accurately that day. Then everyone who got a ticket from that camera that day who SHOWED UP IN COURT will be dismissed. Note the “showed up in court.” If you did not try to fight it and did not show up in court when the judge dismissed it, your case does not get dismissed. Interesting isn’t it?

Another guy was in there because he had an open bottle of booze under his car seat. What I learned from Mr. Traffic on Saturday was that everyone, I mean EVERYONE, that is in the car will get ticketed if there is an open bottle in the car. So kids (and adults alike), do not get into a car if you know there is an open bottle of booze!

I honestly thought that there will be a test at the end, but there really wasn’t one at all. We took a quiz and graded it. But that was it! AND, upon completion, each person in the class got 2 tickets (good for 4 people) to see an improv show! Any takers? I’ve got two more seats available!

I have honestly been a lot more careful when driving since my speeding ticket. But something Mr. Traffic said in class kept ringing in my ears. “If your child’s life is that important to you, you will never break another traffic law again.” Thanks for the reminder, Mr. Traffic. I will surely keep those words in mind when I am behind the wheel. My life and my children’s lives are very important to me. I hope others think their lives and their family’s lives are just as important.

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Traffic School

I’m not really looking forward to my day today. I’ve got to spend 8 hours in traffic school with my big belly. (I wonder if I will get the entire 8 hours worth of credit if I spend most of the time in the bathroom because I have to pee so often? )

Originally, I called the traffic schools in Little Saigon because they were close to where I live. But they don’t conduct the class in English! How silly is that? So I ended up calling Improv Traffic School. Supposedly, they use improv actors for the classes. So far, I’m impress with their customer service. The lady on the phone was friendly and very helpful. I even received a reminder phone call. I saw on their website that you get 2 tickets to see an improv show once you complete the class. Totally worth the $35!

If you want to try them out, here is their number. 800-775-5233. They offer online courses as well. It’s just that I got my ticket in Orange County and it appears that you have to traffic school in person in Orange County.

I’ll let you know how I like it later on today.

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Garlic Mashed Potatoes

My cousin recently emailed me asking for me the recipe to the mashed potatoes we made for Thanksgivign last year. Well, cos, here it is:

You will need:

10 lbs of unpeeled red potatoes, cut into quarters
1 1/2 lbs of butter (let it sit for a few minutes so it’s at room temperature)
10 ounces of grated Romano cheese
1/3 cup of chopped garlic
1 tablespoon and 1 3/4 teaspoons of salt
1 tablespoon and 1 3/4 teaspoons dried oregano

What to do:

Add 1 tablespoon of salt to boiling water. Put in the potatoes and cook until tender but still firm (approximately 45 minutes). Drain. Stir in butter, cheese, garlic, remainder of the salt, and oregano. Mash with a potato masher or with an electric mixer.

For this recipe, you can also use roasted garlic instead if you don’t like the taste of raw garlic. To roast the garlic, simply remove the skin, drizzle olive oil on top, season it with salt, wrap tightly in foil, and place in a preheated oven at 375 degrees for 35 minutes.

The mashed potato recipe serves 20.

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POW!

Perhaps it wasn’t a good idea to bring Little Mochi out to see the fireworks afterall. He got so scared of all the noise. We ended up keeping him in the car and driving around the neighborhood so that he can see the fireworks. Being in the car drains out the noise a lot. He was happy to see that. But when we brought him outside, all the pows and booms startled him!

After we put him to sleep, he woke up a few hours later crying very hard. He must have had a nightmare. I came up to him and he immediately hugged me. He would only sleep on my shoulder or sleep very close to me.

I assume next year would be too early still to take him out?

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Mason’s 2nd Birthday

First and foremost: Happy Independence Day!

I can’t believe Little Mochi’s 2 today. I woke up this morning, took a long look at the boy, and thought back on the past 730 days of his life. Where have they gone? Look at him now. He’s so grown up. I looked at some of his pictures that we took over the past two years and couldn’t believe how innocent he was last year. He’s now a little rascal! Those “terrible two’s” are kicking in.

I honestly don’t know where or who he learned this from, but he is so defiant when it comes to putting on clothes, especially after his bath. He will not let us clothe him or diaper him after a bath. He won’t even let us put on lotion anymore! He runs around naked, jumps on the mattress, and laughs. But that’s not the worse part. He’ll look at us, give us a devilish look, and runs around laughing. Last week, he pee’d on our carpet. As if that didn’t teach him a lesson to let us put on his diaper! Earlier this week, as he was jumping up and down and running around, he POOPED on our carpet! And then guess what? He looks at it, looks at us, and laughs as if it was some game!

My husband and I were so upset. But at the same time thought it was cute. Not the pooping part of course. The “looking at us and then running around laughing” part. I couldn’t help but sneak in a smile when Little Mochi wasn’t looking.

My question for you today is: How do you get your child to put on his/her clothes and diapers without having to fight with them? Obviously, I don’t want any more poop stains on my carpet…

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