The best accessory a girl can own is confidence!

"Making the decision to have a child -- it's momentous. It is to decide forever to have your heart go walking around outside your body."
-- Elizabeth Stone

Being a new mom is not an easy thing.

You have to deal with so much !

Get to know this tiny little munchkin.

Getting to adjust to your new life.

Going back to work or organizing your new life at home.

Dealing with the Daddy Yos.

When you think it’s all done, there’s more!

Adjusting to your new body, the one that changed, the one that will come back to normal eventually. Or not.

Dealing with all the comments of the people surrounding you. The ones that always want you good. The ones that will tell you what to do, how to do it and what’s best for your own child.

And dealing with your new-mom-self-confidence.

I met some people who were telling me I was still quite fat after giving birth. Or wondering why I did not loose the weight yet. Well, I just ignored them. I feel amazing in my body because this exact same body gave me the most wonderful and beautiful baby girl. So if I have a few extra kilos that won’t disapear straight away, I can live with them.

No one can tell me how I should look.

Yes, I have stretch mark. And no, it is not because I was eating too much fat food or was not taking care of myself. I applied the magic creams and oils since day 1 and it did not change anything. My tummy was not even huge. And it did not change anything.

Stretch marks depend of the quality of your skin. And guess what? My skin sucks!

At the begining, I hated them!! Trying to hide them under a one piece swimming suit the first time I went on the beach.

Until my good friend Abbey told me to own it. Not to be ashame. Yes ! She was totally right ! These are our batlle scars! We are moms and this is written on our skin. I always wore two piece bikini, why should I stop now ? If carrying my daughter did this to me, then I should be proud of it !

Plus let’s get real. Who notice it the most? You and other women. Your man does not care about it!

I love getting advices from good friends who want the best for you.

My friend Heather is amazing at this. If you really ask her some advices, she will always be honest, real and give you confidence. Telling you what work for her but never pushing you to follow this yourself. She will always tell you to follow what you think is best for you and your child. To do what works for you.

But some people seem to like telling you how to raise your own child depend on their own preferences. 

Well, people. Alia is my baby and as long as I am not doing something that is threatening her life, I will follow my heart. So I will keep co-sleeping as it works for all of us. I will keep breastfeeding her as long as both of us are good with it. Thank you anyway!

Motherhood is hard on the self confidence of new moms as well.

We doubt. We are scared that this decision might mess up the rest of our child’s life. We compare ourself to other moms.

But every child is different and every mom  is too. Each of our baby require a special need, a special care. The one of his own mom.

We all have a different background, different cultures, we were raised differently as well.

Do not compare yourself to others. We all are in the same basket. Even if it does not look like. At the end of the day, we all have the same questions running in our head.

So rise your head up! You are amazing!!

And you are doing the best you can.

You brought a child into this World and you will raise her to be the best person she can be.

No one is perfect.

As long as we do everything we do with a great love, we cannot go wrong.

Love yourself and trust your way!

Alia's got her first cold!

What a week!

Now, I am totally recovered and Alia got a cold  for the first time in her life. Thanks god, not a bad one. But she has a running nose and a cough.

At least, now she can breastfeed again, she sleeps soundly at night! 

On saturday morning, when I could feed her again, we sat on the couch comfortably. She started drinking two gulps, stopped, looked at me and laughed before eating again for a long time! This laugh was priceless!!!

I don't want to give her medicines as in Boracay, the doctors will mostly prescribe antibiotics. For anything. When it is appropriate and even when it is not necessary.
A few of my friends had antibiotics prescribed to their babies when they did not even needed it.

I am not used to antibiotics for myself and I keep them for when they are REALLY needed. So at least, when I use them, they are very effective on me.
I am more of a homeopathy user for the daily "boo boos" and am using it as well for Alia (teething etc..)

So I am nurturing her and uses natural products.
A lot of milk to keep her hydrated (and water as well), cuddles, kisses... and a shower twice or three times a day as this last days are a roller coaster of hot, cold and rainy weather.

I always remember everything I am eating or drinking is passing through my milk. So I am drinking loads of water as well as ginger tea.

Ginger tea is actually great against colds. Just boil some fresh ginger in water and add some honey (and even lemon) to sweeten the drink. It makes wonders on painful throats.
It is said ginger tea is good also to relieve morning sickness while being pregnant.

A friend of mine gave me another great and delicious recipe for Alia is feel better.
It is called Sopa de Ajo (Garlic Soup):
Simply chop and sauté a lot of garlic in olive oil and add bread. When the bread is golden, add a broth and let it boil. At the end, just add a beaten egg and that's it!!

It made me feel better as I was still recovering and I believe it helps Alia feeling better as well.
So here I am, eating this yummy soup for lunch and dinner.

I also apply some Kid Med from Lawiswis farm (a Palawan based farm that makes all natural products that are sold in Boracay) on Alia's back and chest every couple of hours. This has eucalyptus, neem and other plants that will help her cough getting better.

While waiting for her to totally recover, I let her sleep a lot and I cuddle her until she cannot stand it anymore!!

Love is the best medicine!

Tonight, I will allow myself a good glass of wine to relax after this hectic week! YAY!!

Light my fire!

Thanks to my friend Abbey, we had laughter and smiles today!

Despite the awful and long night, we had a great breakfast. Babies were playing and we also got to stay over for lunch to celebrate Alia's 7th month!! Pizza and pasta party. We took a nice walk around and went home mid-afternoon.

Alia was restless (she didn't took a proper nap since 6:30 am and it was already 4:30 pm) so I decided to walk on the beach for her to fall asleep in the carrier. At least she could rest 30 minutes. Better than nothing. Two friends I met while walking told me the same thing: if there is a next time, check yourself out in a hotel or go to a friend's place for three days. Sleep, rest. It will be easier on your daughter and you'll get to recover fully to be the kicking-mom you are everyday. I hope there won't be a next time, but if ever there is, I'll think twice about this option! As you think about it, it is quite true. How can you recover fully (and go back to breastfeed at night and work during the day) while you are sick, handling almost by your own a frustrated baby who scream during the day and most of the night? You are not helpful at home as you can't breastfeed the baby and every time baby sees you, she doesn't want the bottle anymore and scream.

Anyway, today was a good playdate that lightened my week.

I love playdates with Abbey's son as Alia is always so excited so see him. Plus, she LOVES to copy him. Which is great for her to learn new tricks. Plus, I get to chat with a very good friend.

When we travelled to Malaysia with them three month ago, Alia learnt from her best mate how to play with her tongue and spread saliva all over. She did the trick over and over and still does! Her favorite time to do it? In the morning, to wake us up! A morning shower!!

Alia and I in Kuala Lumpur

When we hanged out for three days in a row in the afternoon two months ago, Alia studied how her mate would jump as a frog (to try to crawl) and tried hard to do the same. Sadly for her, she was too young to do the same as they are a month and a half apart.

Today, she was so proud to show him what she could do on her four but he was even more proud showing off his new skills: standing up by his own!!

Oh, she's trying hard to catch up with him now! When we went home, we put her in her crib for a while and she was trying to grab anything that could help her standing up. If I'd help her, she would grab the side of her crib and stand like this, trying to look over the bed (I'll show you pictures tomorrow as the camera is in the bedroom and I don't want to risk waking up my little crying monster).

Playdates are great times for babies as young as this to learn how to socialize, borrow, lend, share. It will take time for them to get this notions. But the earlier you teach them, the more normal it will become to them.

We have a big group of babies here on the island. We call ourselves the Boracay Baby Boomers. Our kids are between 2 years old and... still on the way. And knowing they will grow together is great as we can really teach them how to act in a group of kids. Patience, kindness, gentleness, politeness with others are some basic I want Alia to learn as young as possible.

But one step at a time!

Tonight is the last rough night and tomorrow, we are back to normal!! More crying from both mother and daughter will be rewarded by a tight cuddle in the morning while breastfeeding. And we will get to forget about this past dark few days!

I can see the light!

"A cheerful friend is like a sunny day spreading brightness all around!"

Today, we were off to Nabaoi for the second birthday of Alia's friend.

Amazing bamboo house near the river, good food, great company. Most of Alia's friends were there and they got to play, grab each other's hair, swim...

Anyway, let me explain more about Alia's friends. And mine, by the way.

We live on a small island in the Philippines. About 10 square kilometers. And a lot of good friends from everywhere around the world who decided to live the Life by moving here (I am one of them). We manage hotels, own restaurants, teach kitesurfing or yoga, run our small businesses, and party.

Between 2010 and 2012, quite a few of my girlfriends got pregnant (including me): nothing weirdly planned ahead but the fact is more than 10 babies were born, one after another, to create a happy bundle of playmates! And a few more are on their way... How fun you will tell me. Yes, indeed!

But being a mom is hard. And tiring. And frustrating even, sometimes. Come on, if motherhood was easy, dads would do it, right?

So, a few times a week, we meet to go out of the house, have grown-up time while our kids play together, seek for advices, talk about our joys and fears, unload our tiredness and clear our minds on the beach or at each other's place, around a drink or lunch.

Who else better than another mom can understand when you are so tired you hold it against your baby's cry for a second before hating yourself for doing so? Or how hard it can be to cope with the daddies' totally different way to deal with fatherhood (it does not make them any less amazing dads)? Or the challenge to go back to work and keep breastfeeding? The lack of sleep? The body modification? Need I keep going?

I am lucky to live in a place where everybody know each other. Where the longest ride you can take is 15 mins by tricycle, where you can even walk to any places you want to go. Where your work is never far from your house and there is always someone to help you.

I live in a "holiday-spirit" all year round.

But what makes really easier the fact of being a new mom is my group of mommies. Not only our babies already have a lot of playmates to grow up with, I have found way more than just friends. A ear to listen, a shoulder to cry and a good spirit to have a glass of wine and laugh when the babies are sound asleep!