Hello there, baby Cyrus!

We apologize for being too busy to post anything the past months. However, we are back for a very special announcement:

Isn't he adorable??

Congratulations Mommy Steffi!! She gave birth last Sunday and her family welcomes its newest member, Cyrus Alexander Drake. Here's the proud daddy:

Daddy Jayson and Baby Cyrus

We wish our fellow hardworking mom a speedy recovery, good health for Cyrus, and happy years ahead for her growing family. Hopefully, Mommy Stef can share the experience herself when she's not too busy minding the young ones!

[And I hope you guys don't mind me stealing photos from your Facebook pages haha. Cheers! ;)]

10 Personal Things Moms Should Definitely Spend Money On

Mommies, there is absolutely nothing wrong with doing a bit of guilt-free shopping for yourself. After years of being the homemaker, the disciplinarian, the doting parent and the loving mother, it's always good to set aside time to get out of the house and pamper yourself.

There are plenty of things that a mom can buy for herself, but I think she should definitely spend on these 10 things as soon as she reaches the entrance of her favorite shopping center:

7 Tips to Help You Through Your Kid's First Hospitalization

August 20, 2011 – Holly's first hospitalization.

I stood there, in the pediatrics section of the ER, waiting for the staff to prepare our room. Holly's fever is at 38° already and her cough just wouldn't stop.

As I stood by our station, holding the sick baby as she wouldn't stay in bed, I listened with sadness at the outbursts and screams of the sick children around me. Never did I expect this to be emotionally draining, stressful, and just downright depressing. I went into this battlefield unarmed, thinking that this won't be any different than a regular check-up. It was a good thing I took a quick shower.

The MyLac XL Prep Promo: Get a Free Gift Pack Today!

If there's one thing I hated back when I was a little girl, it's going to school sleepy, tired, and disinterested with school. And I'm sure there are plenty of kids who felt the same way.

It's a known fact that one of the reasons why most kids don't enjoy going to school is because their bodies don't have the energy to concentrate and function. This is due to a lack of proper nutrition and a good night's rest — a common issue in today's society. In my case, being the chocoholic and junk-food lover that I was, I only ate what I wanted to eat and didn't even consider what my body truly needed. I guess that explains everything.

A Review of ProActive Parenting's Gentle No's for Toddlers

Being a first-time mom with no background experience in child discipline, I’m the perfect example of what you shouldn’t be doing to your kid. Whenever Holly shows signs of bad behavior in the house (spanking or biting), I’d scold her, call out her name, and look at her in the eye. I’d try to talk to her like how a mom would talk to a 7-year old, but if she didn’t stop her bad behavior, I’d punish her by slapping her hand and raising my voice.

What frustrates me is that this method of discipline wasn’t working at all. I couldn’t get her to stop slapping her nanny on the face, biting her aunt’s shoulder, or pulling my hair. She is a feisty 1-year old who didn’t seem to want to listen to anyone.

5 Simple Budget-Friendly Ways to Celebrate Mother's Day

I'm sure you're excited for Mother's day. It's that one special day where mothers are remembered, loved a hundred times over, and of course pampered twice as usual (think a day at David's Salon).

We especially love this day because it's an opportunity to make our own moms feel special. We want to let them know just how loving, selfless, and beautiful they are, so we do our best to make them twice as happy on Mother's Day.

But wait, do you have the budget for your planned surprise? Are you quite tight on cash right now that you can't celebrate Mother's day the way you wanted to?

7 Tips When Traveling with Your Baby

The idea of traveling sounds like a dream, doesn't it? You get to visit beautiful places, meet interesting people, experience the beauty of the local culture, and (of course) take home some rare souvenirs. Well, at least that's what the ads always portray.
Now let's put a baby in this picture. Aside from tending to all of your traveling needs, you have to consider the baby's needs as well. Birth certificate, travel documents, his own suitcase filled with clothes and diapers, his baby bottles, his large can of milk (if he's bottle fed), toys, etc.

Stressful, isn't it? Well, traveling with a baby isn't a joke even if you're only taking flights within the country. You have to consider the best times to travel, the things you need to bring, the health of your baby, and who you're flying with. I've had to fly to and fro several times back when my daughter was only a couple of months old, and the stress and work that came with the task was fun yet demanding.

What's the History Behind Your Child's Name?

Your child's life on this earth begins with his name. A name is the symbol, the identity which a person carries throughout every chapter of his life. His family, his friends, his enemies, his mentors, and up to the very last stranger he introduces himself to will recognize him by his name.

This is how important choosing a name for my daughter was to me. I wanted her name to be perfect and beautiful as it reflects how beautiful and special she is to me. The problem though is that choosing a name out of the millions of possible ones out there is just too difficult for me.

Keeping Buried Treasure for Your Children

This is a photo of a 1995 playbill of my performance in a major kindergarten play. The title is Daughters of Mohamed and I played the main role as "Kadiga", the handmaid servant of the 3 princesses of Mohamed.
Fast forward to 2011 and this playbill is still around, with the handwriting of my grandmother still intact and readable. She kept this copy in a photo album stored inside her own treasure chest in her room, and thankfully I didn't accidentally lose it or throw it away.

When Freelancing and Motherhood Isn't Always a Good Match

I'm an active freelance copywriter and blogger, and one of the things I realized only recently is that freelancing and motherhood don't always go well together.

You'd here people saying that freelancing has helped them by giving them the opportunity to be with their families while working, but what you haven't heard are the trials, challenges, and even failures that come with the ability to work from your own home.  I've experienced these failures in particular for myself and to be honest, I still haven't come up with a better solution than to hire a yaya or to cut down on your workload.

Doing Both Can Be Just as Stressful

Here's what I think:

A Special Moment with My Daughter

I've experienced one-of-a-kind moments and instances with my 11-month old daughter from time to time, which sometimes gives me an idea just what is in her heart and, hopefully, what type of personality she has as a person.

Today, I saw once again one of her most beautiful qualities that makes her lovable and special: her ability to lift my spirits and make me smile.

A Brave Little Girl

I was crying today because of a fight I had with my husband. I guess my yelling woke the little one up from her morning nap, because she was awake when I stepped out of the bathroom.

She didn't cry a single tear due to the sudden noise. She just lay on her back and looked intently at the moving figure that was sniffling and crying her eyes out on a blue towel. She then sat up and stared, wondering what was wrong with her mother.

My Plea to All Would-Be and First-Time Moms

It was a Sunday morning when my husband's little sister knocked on the door and relayed heartbreaking news.
A baby girl of about 3 months was found abandoned in her parents' house, alone with her tiny legs full of rat bite marks. Someone had informed my father-in-law, a Kagawad official of the barangay, about it, so he asked for the baby to be brought inside our home.

New Mom Blogger Steffi: Young, Tech Savvy, and Hardworking

Mommy blogger Steffi, hubby Jayson, and their little Holly

Mom Notes would like to welcome two new mommy bloggers, Steffi and Kelly, both of whom I also consider good friends, aboard! Work and duties at home make it a little more challenging for me to update and even though I vow to post something whenever I can, two new minds and two extra sets of hands should keep Mom Notes alive and kicking. We aim to inspire other moms by sharing our experiences and hopefully, new knowledge and useful/fun/practical information, too.

Let me first introduce Steffi who, like me and Mommy Kelly, is also a stay-at-home mom. We actually met at a local online community for writers and although we may no longer be active in said community, our friendship remains. The bond of motherhood and the things we go through as online writers also have a lot to do with it. Steffi is mother to Holly, who will turn 1 next month, and happily married to Jayson.