Gwyneth's magical pony 1st birthday

Finally getting my butt down to blog about G's first birthday. And i did mention in a few posts back i will be sharing where i got the stuffs for the party and all. 

(PS: none of these are sponsored. I sourced and paid everything, except for candy)

Picking a theme was never difficult. in fact i knew what theme i wanted the day she was born (or even earlier haha!) Since she was born in the year of a horse and shes a girl, My Little Pony was the theme. It was a no brainer since i love all these magical and rainbow. 

We rented some toys as there would be a couple of kids. We didnt want a party that was boring where children sat around and did nothing. And I managed to find a very affordable toy rental company. Got a small bouncy castle and a small play gym for the babies. Additional green tunnel was our own which we got from Ikea. 

Toys from: http://www.toys4rent.sg

Though they arrived a bit late to set up, it is unavoidable since it was a saturday and many childrens parties fall on that day. They did clean and sanitise the toys before leaving which I felt was good! i mean kids germs and all. And the toys were in good condition. The person in charge were flexible too. I managed to negotiate and change some of the party combos they have. So if you see toys you want and arent in the combo package, feel free to email Deborah and she can work something out. 

Customised candy from: Made In Candy (Sponsored since it is our own company) 

Ive always wanted a dessert table since my wedding but getting people to do them is so expensive. I love that companies do personalise things and all but really for the money i rather save it and do it myself. So I customised a banner with a picture of G, with her name and ponies on it. Graphics, price and quality were great!

Banner from: http://signtech.com.sg/printing-services/

All balloons from: http://www.wowletsparty.com/

Store:  69 Moulmein Road #01-81 S(300069)

Big Unicorn, First birthday bouquet, 35 latex balloons, 1 walking unicorn and 12 small foil My Little Pony. 

I got a basic balloon package from them which was $90 and added the other balloons.   http://www.wowletsparty.com/birthday-package-a/

I ordered these customised lil steam nutella cakes for the dessert table. Alot of people loved it and it had generous amount of nutella. 

Steam cakes from: https://www.facebook.com/littlesweettoothbakes?fref=ts

Old school animal, gem and alphabet biscuits from: Biscuit King 

Address: 130 Casuarina Road 

Baskets of mini breads: Four Leaves

Then we made little rainbow marshmellow balls using fruity pebbles. And then daddy made the rice krispy treats using rice krispy cereal puffs. 

Very easy to make. Just put a little bit of butter and marshmellows in a plastic bowl and microwave till it completely melts. then mix fruit pebbles or rice krispy and its done! 

Daddy hard at work 

We printed these huge MLP ponies for decor cause its just too cute! haha

This was G at the start of party when guests started slowly streaming in. She was obviously tired and totally not having fun. haha we managed to put her to sleep for a while while we waited for more guests to come. and by the time the hall was filled she was up and all ready to party! 

Lil Aiden

Finding a cake wasnt much of a challenge either as I knew i did not want to pay an exorbent amount on fondant cakes and I havent found a place which i really liked yet. I had a jelly cake once for my birthday when i was 8. So i thought of a jelly cake immediately and im thankful i did cause everyone raved about the cake!! i was super impressed that she managed to draw up the ponies in a jelly shape!! and mind you that can be eaten too! not only was she affordable but the art work was spot on!! taste was great too! not too sweet and texture was bouncy just like how a jelly should be. im happy to say i have found my official cake person if i ever wanna do jelly cakes again! 

But really the picture doesnt do the cake justice. but im glad all my guests managed to see it up close and everyone had all praises for it! 

Jelly cake from: https://www.facebook.com/BarbieJellyCake?fref=ts

G was so happy that day. Her smile lighted up the room and she made my heart sing. nothing makes me happier then seeing her happy and even though she probably wont remember her 1st party, i know she had fun! 

with my young parents clan. both who are gywneth's boyfriends! haha

Aunty and her lil bubba

Mama and Kong Kong with their Famous 5 grand children

4 generations 

Daddy managed to capture these pure sweet and happy moments of our lil angel 

Grandpa had so much fun with the birthday girl too. taking her on the castle and playing with her. moments like this im glad i have these pictures. these pictures are priceless. 

we have watched each other grow. from those wild drunk days to having families of our own...

I really felt it was my birthday! haha but since it was a magical pony theme obviously i had to dress to fit the theme right. everyone was wondering whose party it was! haha 

And finally my niece with the 2 giant ponies. 

Still cant believe G is 1 years old already. amazing how time has flown by. but then again because she is premature she really isnt 1 yet. so i get to celebrate her officially being 1 on 26th june again. I marvel at how much she has grown and how amazingly healthy she is. 

At 1 years old (corrected age 10mths) G can... 

-say 'mama, dada, nana, yaya, papa and other gibberish words'

-crawls super fast 

-climbs on the table 

-climbs out of a high chair and climbs onto the table 

-cruising 

-she loves steam egg, udon, fried rice, noodles, cakes, pao, french toast, pancakes 

-knows how to clap her hands

-feed herself using her hands 

-feed herself using a small fork 

-knows how to do the action of 'no more'

-waves 

-does a happy dance whenever she loves whatever she is eating 

-pulls the dogs ears and tail, pulls the cats fur 

-chases the cat/finds the cat 

-squeals in excitement whenever she sees the cat 

-cuddles with the dog 

-knows how to crawl up stairs 

-loves the slide and indoor playground 

-loves the ball pit 

-knows the word 'shake' and she will shake the bottle she is holding 

-knows how to play dead (she would fall backwards when we go "BANG") its really hilarious 

-she is super clingy to me (breastfeeding mother problems)

being a mother to this lil angel has been the most rewarding and my greatest achievement of my life. im truly blessed that God gifted us this amazing warrior; she fought for her life during the first 2 months and since then she has been perfectly healthy. out of this 1 year she has never really fallen sick and has taken her immunisation jabs very well too. she has only gotten slight flus and coughs which go away pretty fast. she is a blessed child and im proud that she is mine. 

Rock hard solid boobs

So it's another #breastfeeding topic. 

I always read of mummies suffering from blocked ducts, engorgement fever, engorgement, sore nipples and mastitis of all worse cases. Some are so graphic in explanation that I literally sit there cringing cause gosh I can't imagine how painful it must be!! I was always lucky cause I never suffered that bad? My first few days after giving birth yes I had engorgement but it was never that bad that it became unbearable. It was tolerable (maybe because the nurses that took care of me came back every 1-2hours to literally squeeze my boobs dry). 

So on Thursday I went to the baby fair at expo (yea no surprises there cause I absolutely LOVE baby fairs). I went to buy stuffs to wean baby G soon as she's coming 6mths (actual in December) and this is prob the last fair of the year. I normally go 6-7hours max without pumping and I can survive. I no longer wake up in the middle of the night cause I'm over producing milk for baby G and since I don't get engorgement anymore I figured I can have my sleep. 

I came home to rock hard boobs (but wasn't the hardest I ever experienced) and I went to pump. But after I pumped I noticed I had so many hard ducts and I started feeling so fatigued, chills and a slight fever came creeping in. And then I realised "oh shit I'm doomed. My worse nightmare has begun." I got baby G to latch, I massaged, pump every few hours, hand express, hot compress, hot shower... NOTHING worked!! I was in agonizing pain and my fever was getting worse. Messaged my massage lady that did my post natal massage and thankfully she could come the next day as she's super busy. 

Massage was the WORSE!! My massage lady was dam cute cuz she kept apologizing as she was massaging my boobs. I was jus busy screaming. But thankfully it did help a lil but still didn't entirely clear. 

It's now Sunday n I'm happy to say my blocked ducts are almost all clear!! Yay!! After combing my boobs... Massage... Pump.. Latch... Wah such hard work man!! Still have 2 blocked ducts so I think I just need 1 more round of massage and i should be good. 

I had the intention to stop breastfeeding after this horrendous episode of engorgement but I guess I will jus let my boobs decide. If my milk jus dries up then so be it. I love breast feeding baby G cuz I can eat whatever I want and not put on weight. And since I just established the latching relationship I don't wanna give that up yet after fighting with her during the initial phase. So we shall seeeeeeee (: 

Milk bitters

IVE DECIDED!! 

So after the constant battle of going back and forth and back and forth... And having a mini discussion with other mummies I've decided to decline the job offer. I thought I would regret my decision but after emailing them to decline I actually felt more relief. I was quite stress with making this decision. But I'm so thankful my husband is so supportive of my decision. 

Anyways on to another topic of discussion... Breastfeeding (I realise I talk aboht breastfeeding a lot on my blog. Haha) 

Yes this is a picture of me breastfeeding baby G. She has successfully latched on my right and I was so proud I had to take a picture. And she's so smart. She knows how to cover up and nurse discreetly. Haha 

So just yesterday another fellow young mummy casually blogged about her abundant supply of milk just after a few days of giving birth. And then of course the breastfeeding mummies have to have a say about it. Saying it's impossible... She's lying... She's boasting. Like seriously!!? Okay mind you these are mummies wayyyyy older than the victim and myself. Why be such a bully to such an amazing experience of motherhood? And come on we are all mummies. Shouldn't we support one another? And especially on the topic of breastfeeding. Breastfeeding is not easy at all. Be it whether you latch or exclusively pump, it takes a lot of commitment, time and effort! I know many young mummies around my age or younger who give up on breastfeeding because they can't take the pain, don't wanna give up their sleep or fear saggy boobs (yes I've asked many young mummies and these are their replies). So when a fellow young mummy who takes on the breastfeeding route... I feel super happy for them! 

Okay there are 3 groups of mothers: the young, the "appropriate" age group and the older ones. From what I know, the young mothers group has the least amount of breastfeeding mummies. And honestly these young mummies who don't go the breastfeeding route is mainly for the fear of unflattering boobs. Whatever to each it's own. And I honestly feel proud whenever my husband comes back and tell me "so and so's wife gave up breastfeeding within a few days." And these are mummies older than I am. 

Being a mother is hard as it is. Add on breast feeding can get very hectic. So we all need support and not to be put down or jealous just because another mother is producing more. At the end of the day it isn't a competition as to who produces more. As long as you can provide some form of breast milk to your child that's what is important. 

On to baby G.. She always wakes up around 7-8am in the cheeriest of mood. This morning after daddy fed her I was carrying her to pass her to my mum as daddy had to leave for work and I had to pump. She was so chatty and smiley. Then I told my husband "she's going to laugh very soon. I can feel it!! And I'm not going to miss it." Then my husband goes "you will miss it." The next instant she starts laughing!! OMG it was the oddest laughter I ever heard but it was still super cute and magical! I'm glad we both got to witness this milestone of hers. 

So I've been trying to get her to laugh all day but she just won't do it. I really don't know if her flipping and laughter are all coincidence cause she just won't do it again. Oh wells anyways she's still so young! (2mths and 29days corrected which we use to track her milestones). 

"I don't understand all the hoohaa about milk production. Who cares as long as I get fed!" -Baby G