Samantha's First Six Months

Our little ball of sparkle has started to learn to scream. No thanks to my yelling when her big sis decides to rebel without a cause. Or maybe it's just a phase. I'm still hoping she'd turn out to be a fine lady as how it matches her feminine beauty. Oops, how can I forget that I'm no lady myself? She does not have anyone to epitomize so why will I expect her to be one? Oh, to be a mother of girls.

Well, my baby being a lady is such a topic too far from today. Can we just talk about how her drools amuse me? Or how she wanted to fall from the bed agonize me I have actually dreamt about it? Such a magical experience to feel – this stage of having a baby after 9 years of believing we will never have a child again. It was Sophia's prayer answered in the most unexpected timing. If you haven't read my post about it, click here and please come back. Will ya?

My Girls Are the Greatest Collaborators of This Blog

Have you already seen my girls in the video we made for BabyLove Diapers? I said we because all four of us are in this blogging thing together. Well, technically, this is my blog. But they fully support this online endeavor of mine that any partnership I get, my husband R and the girls are also involved. Say, I need my signature affixed in a pdf file but I only know editing MS word file (lol) so I'd send them over to my husband. After a few minutes, as if I can already afford a virtual assistant, it's done. But since this is a mommy blog, Sophia and Samantha are my real colleagues here. They are the greatest collaborators of this blog. In fact, one of our major projects was the BabyLove video. Ate Sophia may be its main artist but it wouldn't be as fun if Baby Samantha wasn't there. After all, she's the one who uses diapers.

I'll try to expound my girls' online exposure here and there but speaking of diapers, BabyLove Philippines is giving away Similac Gainschool sample and P500 voucher that you can use on your next transaction for any BabyLove product you purchase! Hurry mommies 'cause this is from May 27 to June 2 only. SHOP HERE! And like them on Facebook, too for promo updates and more details: Click, click!

Disclosure: This post is sponsored by BabyLove but all thoughts and opinions are my own.

Top Three Essentials You Need to Spend On When You Have a Baby

I was jobless at the time I knew I was pregnant with our firstborn, Sophia, living under my mom's care as my husband and I weren't married yet then. It wasn't what I wanted for my baby but it was what I only had. Of course, having a baby is costly so we had to plan. Even if my heart was telling me to just stay at home and personally take care of her, our finances told me that I had to work. 10 years and a lot of career-shifts after, now with our second baby, Samantha, I finally decided to stay at home for as long as my girls need me. I love working but family first, always. I'm just so blessed that my blog gives me opportunities to still be at home and sometimes earn from it. And I can't thank God enough for that.

But let's be real, this isn't the case for all mothers. Others have to work two jobs or render overtime as often as they should because they have mouths to feed and a family to raise. So if you dream to have babies someday, here are some of the things that you need to financially prepare for:

Motherhood in the Time of Hashtags

I don't know about other moms who are also into social media like me but I am one of those who find joy in using a specific hashtag for my girls. #Sophiabulous for the tweenager, who knows how to work it for the camera ever since, #Samantharrific for the baby, who usually gets a great response from our followers because she's really cute and #SophiaxSamantha for all the times my girls are together in one photo. The latter also has videos, you should check it out!

#samantharrific

Well, I do that to basically collate their photos for easier searching in the hopes of having them printed out in the future. I used to include a lot of unnecessary hashtags on my posts to get likes. It used to be helpful for the community but when I started getting spammy followers and comments, I stopped doing so. I now use ones that are legit and are also used by moms I follow; like #lifewithdaughters, #thebigkidyears, #kidsofinstagram and #babiesofinstagram. I get organic likes from real people. Not that it's rewarding or whatever but I just don't like using hashtags for my kids that do nothing for the post. Unless it's a funny one like those paragraph-worth of hashtags, just use the legit ones if I were you. 

Speaking of hashtags, have you read my post about why #mybabymyway should be the official hashtag of your mom life? You should if you haven't! It's such a controversial topic among moms, especially new ones. Well, I said what I wanted to say in that post so I'll just leave you with this cute video my girls and I made for BabyLove Premium Gold Pants, which by the way has 50% off on all their products for Shopee's 05.05 sale event! SHOP HERE. You can also follow them on Facebook: Click here!

Disclaimer: This post is sponsored by BabyLove but all thoughts and opinions are my own.

5 Tips to Get Your Baby Sleep Through the Night

When Sophia was one month old, whenever I'd feel like crying because I don't know what to do with a wailing infant at 2 in the morning, my mama would be in our room to rescue her granddaughter from the crazy, clueless me. Nine years after, now with Samantha, I am practically on my own. Well, I love my baby bear so much but I have to be honest, it's exhausting! So much so that my backpain's agreeing as I write this. Sure, she doesn't wail like her big sister but gosh, putting her to sleep is such a big production number! Fine, let's be fair. It's only tough in the beginning. Once she gets in a deep sleep, she lets me sleep, too – like a true caring boss. Ha!

So how do I do it? Here are my simple but very doable Tips to Get Your Baby Sleep Through the Night that actually work! 

#MyBabyMyWay Should Be the Official Hashtag of Your Mom Life

My firstborn will be turning 10 on September. That also means, I will be celebrating my first decade as a mother. I claim no expertise on parenting yet but if there's one very important thing that I can impart with new and upcoming moms, it will be this – refuse to raise cookie cutter kids. While it is best for baked goodies, it isn't for children. There is no exact formula on how our little humans should be reared. Each family has its own way, each family is different. However, I strongly believe that our choices as parents reflect the way our kids will be in the future so I hope that we will be more careful in giving what is "best" for them.

How about I share my stories about some of the controversial parenting topics that actually caused a lot of mom battles, caused so many mama dramas? Are you ready to fight me – er, read it? Game.