3 years and 1 more baby…

Hello to this little space.

3 years is a long time and much has changed. From a SAHM of one, to a FTWM of one, being pregnant and now I’m home again with my second born.

Motherhood the second time around, while tiring as ever, has evolved in so many ways. For one, I am less hung up about the small things and am more confident in general. It’s good. I like this version of me too.

Covid sucks. Life as we know it has changed. I feel sad for my children yet I know they do not pity themselves. Aly came home with a portrait of her classmate just the other day. But of course she drew her friend wearing a mask.

“Do you know how she looks like?” I asked.

“Yes, I see her when we remove our masks to eat. But she’s seated far away from me, and we must keep 1 metre apart from the friend closest to us.” She replied, matter of factly.

My son was born in the midst of this pandemic. At times I wondered if we had made the right decision to bring another child into this chaotic world. But I know that he (and we) would be happy as long as we have each other.

Anyway, the reason why I’m back here is because I’ve been looking back on my previous posts about Aly. More specifically, baby Aly. Her brother share a certain likeness to her. When I first saw him, I couldn’t help but exclaim, “isn’t this Aly?!”

It’s interesting going through my old posts and see how things have changed and look at how my son is similar yet different from Aly.

Ok that’s all I have to say for today.

Good night world.

IUIGA Review and Giveaway! 🎊

📦 Wardrobe Organisation Bundle and Giveaway sponsored by IUIGA.

I think this will be my first and last giveaway here on Dayre. 😂

I was quite happy when IUIGA touched base with me to see if I would like to review their wardrobe organisation bundle because I’d been raving about the Belly-Good Foodie gift set I’d bought as a Christmas present for myself last year.

This was the set and I remember delivery was super speedy. I love the French casserole and use it ever so often cos it’s made of cast iron and is so versatile.

My lor bak simmering in the French casserole.

The wooden plate that you see in Aly’s foodie pics is actually the beech wood plate from this set. 😌

Guess who else is excited? 🐶

The Wardrobe Organisation Bundle I received consists of an innerwear organiser, underwear organiser, storage box, hanging wardrobe storage, 10 clothes hangers, a premium silky mesh laundry bag set in three different sizes, a microfiber 360 easy spin flat mop with refill.

Really appropriate for my CNY spring cleaning! These products also remind me of MUJI’s, with quality to match but at a lower price point.

From what I understand, this is possible because IUIGA practices transparent pricing and breaksdown the cost of every item on their website. So basically you know exactly what you are paying for. They work directly with manufacturers behind the big brands and the end result is quality products minus the huge brand premiums, hence the cost savings 😁

Premium silky mesh laundry bags

Was about to start the washing machine when I realized I should try the premium silky mesh laundry bag. It comes in three sizes S, M and L and this is L (38cm width). I placed Aly’s Tula blanket in and there’s still lots of space left.

Looks like this when zipped.

After my laundry’s done. I like how soft the bag feels and ultimately it does its job well – protecting the blanket from developing any snags. These fuzz balls are also trapped on the outside!

Two other sizes. I’ve a few laundry bags from Daiso but I like the soft silky feel of IUIGA’s. It’s also not expensive at $2.98 to $4.38 only! It’s something I would buy! 😁

Innerwear Organiser

I used to have a lot of bras, pre-pregnancy. By a lot I meant A LOT. This stash has dwindled ever since I gave birth but still it occupies one long drawer and I’m too shy to show it to you. My concern is how they would get untidy and sometimes get caught or stuck when I open and close the drawers.

It is made of cotton-linen polyester and I think the quality is pretty good. It costs $8.90 which I think is more than reasonable. I wanted to see how my bras hold up here.

There 🙈🙈🙈. Fits 12 of my bras snugly. The entire organiser also fits my drawer well and I’ll try this out for a week or so before deciding if I want to purchase more to house my other bras 😂

There is a velcro on each side and a transparent flap so you can decide whether you want it to be covered or not.

Underwear Organiser

This is the underwear organiser and it’s made of the same material as the innerwear organiser. Decided to use this to sort Aly’s socks!

Nice! Previously her socks were stored together in one storage organiser. This is so much neater! It costs $9.90 on IUIGA.

Storage box

For the huge storage box, I used it for Aly’s cloth diapers and inserts 🤗 it retails for $8.90 and comes with two handles by the side.

😌😌😌

Hanging wardrobe storage

Next, the hanging wardrobe storage. It folds flat so in the event I don’t need it anymore it’s easy to keep.

To be honest I’ve never used a hanging wardrobe storage like this before. I thought for a while before deciding it to place it in hubs’ side of the wardrobe (mainly cos my side’s filled to the brim even after throwing away a few bags of clothes 😂😂) to store his boxers lol and also hankies and face towels.

It’s $13.80 which I think is very reasonable cos it has 6 compartments!

Some of the clothes I threw out, and my 🐶🐶🐶

The aftermath but the wardrobe’s still full HAHAHHAHA seriously.

Clothes hangers

Most of my current hangers are from IKEA and I find them cheap and good. IUIGA sent me 10 clothes hangers and from the pic you can roughly see how it compares with the IKEA one in white.

I like the anti-slip grips and think it’s perfect for hub’s shirts. It’s also great for clothes that have wide necks.

How it looks like with hubby’s shirt.

IUIGA vs IKEA’s. I’ve too many clothes and too little space hence I’ll make do with IKEA’s more compact hangers. For hub’s, I will use IUIGA’s cos it really offers better grip and holds the garment better. Its $7.90 for a set of 5!

Microfiber 360° Easy Spin Flat Mop

This is the spin mop that is suitable for hardwood floors. IUIGA also sent me two refills. I have a spray mop at home and initially I felt a little weird cos this doesn’t come with the spray part 😂

It is extendable which is great so I could adjust it to a suitable height 😁

It was easy to attach and remove the mop pads and the mop pads are also machine washable.

I tried using it but I guess I am too used to using a spray mop. I usually vacuum the floor before mopping so I would prefer one that comes with a spray. I did a check and realise IUIGA has a promist spray mop! I think that would be more suitable for me 😬

This is $19.80 while the spin flat mop above is $16.80.

🎊 2x Bundle Giveaway! 🎊

IUIGA has kindly set aside 2 bundles for giveaway! Each bundle consists of:

1 X Innerwear Organiser
1 X Underwear Organiser
1 X Storage Box
1 X Hanging Wardrobe Storage

All you have to do is to create an account with IUIGA and then comment on this post why you would like to win the bundle. Do leave the email you used to register for the account as well! 🤗

Giveaway will close tomorrow night 12 Feb 2018 2359 and two winners will be chosen after! 😌

IUIGA also has a referral program – basically if you’re a new customer who signs up for a new account through a referral link, you’ll receive $10 off your first purchase over $100 and the referrer will receive $10 credits.

Pretty good if you invite your friends! I previously used my friend’s link and got $10 off cos I bought the Belly-Good Foodie Gift Set ($99) and something else haha. If you’re looking to buy home organisation stuffs or a cast-iron casserole, now’s the time! 🤗

http://www.iuiga.com/r/505971

This is my unique referral link if you’d like to use it! :)

Because we always have leftover overripe 🍌🍌🍌

Aly’s napping now, exhausted from her 2nd birthday party. It was a small one, with around 20 in attendance and I think we had a good time. Her birthday is not until the 22nd but we decided to celebrate earlier due to CNY.

We are attached to people, not things.

Dayre is shutting down and I feel kinda sad cos it has accompanied me through my pregnancy, and Aly’s early years. Thanks to Dayre, I get to read many mommies’ blogs and I feel like I know them even though we have never met in real life before. It has given me an outlet to share about Aly’s baby-led weaning and my breastfeeding journey. So yes I’m sad that it is shutting down and I really hope I get to save my previous posts cos yea.

http://www.bit.ly/saveDayre

I’ve signed this petition but idk, I don’t suppose it will help much at this stage. One thing I know, we are so sad because of this beautiful community that we are leaving behind. 😭

Thank you everyone for reading my humble little blog and for loving Aly and my simple recipes, even though I don’t blog often.

I think I would still continue to blog at my pace until it finally closes because

1. I have not decided if I’m going to blog elsewhere or just maintain my IG: theheartstones
( I’ve 2 accounts, heartstones is my personal account which i would like to keep private. So pls add ‘THEheartstones’ instead!)

2. I wish to still share about Aly’s 2nd birthday (especially to long-time readers, if you’re still here) because it’s just been that way since I was pregnant. ☹️

My friend S baked this cake. Aly’s into Hello Kitty lately. Don’t ask me why and how cos I’ve no idea 😂

Almost 2 :)

Back details of her yukata. That’s baby Laurel 💕 Aly loves her so!

Aly the Boss Girl

A little late but yay it’s February! I love February because it’s Aly’s birthday month! She turns 2 on the 22nd! We will be having a small party at home next Saturday to celebrate her big day and I can’t wait!

I don’t know if we should also celebrate her birthday in school. I’m leaning towards no but hubs feels it’s good to do so, especially as she gets older and realises her other friends get to celebrate theirs in school.

I’ll probably end up getting a cake (not sure if any of her classmates have any food allergy – will check) and send the hubs to school since he’s for this arrangement 😂

Essentially Oils

Aly had ringworm on her left cheek this week. I don’t have a close up but you can more or less see it in this picture. There was also some redness and bumps below her chin, on her right cheek and forehead. I know if I brought her to the PD, he would prescribe a fungal cream that contains steroids so I decided to try my essential oil balm first.

And guess what, it worked soooo well!!

Funny face cos she didn’t want her picture taken 😂 This was taken just this morning. Her skin has cleared up so much!!

I’ve also been using the immunity booster balm on her every morning before she goes to school. I can’t tell you if it’s good or not cos it’s meant to be a preventive measure. I use the oil version on myself twice a day too.

This is the travel balm set that I purchased and it’s a mix and match of everything. For Aly’s face, I use “Smoothe Me!”. Each balm comes with an instruction card so it’s pretty easy when it comes to application.

I’ve started diffusing and applying essential oils every since Aly started school. I still do now except I think the blended balms are much easier to apply and it doesn’t feel as oily.

Florence from Essentially Oils (you can check out her FB page) told me that they are essentially the same except oils get absorbed faster into the body and balms last longer.

She would also customize products that cater to each individual’s needs. She asked me about allergies in the family and Aly’s diet and water intake. I’ve just bought another travel set for my friend to try cos her kids keep falling sick. You may wish to try and see if it works for you too! My friends have been raving about her Ah-Choo! balm but I haven’t had a chance to use it yet 😬

Haircut!

Somebunny also had a haircut yesterday. She was so so chill about it it cracked us up. This is my stylist, Timothy! He couldn’t stop gushing about how adorable she is hehe

I mean just look at her lololol.

More lolololol. Timothy said she can totally be a child hair model and I agree 😂

Boss girl is satisfied with the cut.

Hubs was supposed to have lunch with Aly while waiting for me but she told him she wanted to wait for mama 😭❤️ so Timothy gave her some biscuits.

Marketing day. Super crowded!

十二生肖play the other night!

Didn’t have time to research on nail art but I think this is pretty nice, although it isn’t my usual colour palette (neutrals). I also like to cut my nails short so it doesn’t get in the way of housework 🤣. 💅🏻: studdedkitty (IG handle) :)

This should last us till the end of this month 🎊

Bubble wrap painting

Taking this artwork very seriously 😂

Ta-dah!

👧🏻👧🏻👧🏻