I am officially a vinegar fan!

I have read about the versatility of vinegar soooo many times in different Internet sites, but for the life of me, I just don’t have the guts to give up Downy (softener) and Domex (disinfectant) for our good old vinegar. It’s just too weird, right? :D

Well, now that I have a baby and I want to live up to 100, I am slowly and steadily getting rid of chemicals at home. So yeah, I seriously looked into the vinegar alternative. But still, I didn’t get on with it as soon as I want to…for the simple reason that I don’t want to stink…hehehe!

1. Vinegar as a Softener

My dear Tita Vicky plunged head on and used vinegar for her laundry just to appease me…and viola! It really does work like magic! After that, I went straight to the supermarché and bought a liter of “vinaigre crystal”. I am not sure what it is called in other countries, I guess just plain “vinegar”. Just make sure you buy the clear, transparent vinegar, not the cloudy one which we call “sukang puti” in the Philippines. I poured half a cup of vinegar in the washing machine’s slot for softener and loaded the machine with 3 kilos of laundry. I was half expecting the whole apartment to smell sour…hehe. I was so happy that my laundry came out smelling clean and super soft! Our clothes were so easy to iron, too! I also read that chemical softeners lessen the absorbency of our towels, so I guess this is another reason to switch to vinegar. :)

2. Vinegar as Disinfectant

Another vinegar experience I have is using it as a disinfectant for our hardwood floor. I am such an OC freak when it comes to our floor because my daughter is now learning to crawl and would usually explore beyond her playmat. After vacuuming the entire apartment, I wet a rag, add a sprinkle of vinegar on the wet rag, and wipe the entire floor with it. Yay, squeaky-clean floors! I killed a gazillion bacteria, too! Promise, it doesn’t smell that bad. Just air out your home for a minute or two and all the vinegar smell will be gone.

Oh, I also disinfect my daughter’s toys by wiping them with water and vinegar. I have to disinfect everything in sight because she puts everything in her mouth!

3. Vinegar as Tub, Sink, and Toilet Bowl Cleaner

The apartment where we live in has a plain white tub, sink, and toilet bowl. So yeah, I can see well the build-up of dirt and grime…and it tortures me no end! My hubby does the toilet cleaning, and this is what he does:

To remove grime and dirt on the tub and sink, he sprinkles generous amount of baking soda and spray it with water (careful not to wash it down the drain). He leaves it for a few minutes, then wets a sponge and rubs the tub and sink with the baking soda. He rinses them with water. To disinfect, he dips the sponge in vinegar and wipes the tub and sink with it. He then finally rinse and dry them thoroughly. Yeah, sparkling white tub and sink! Even the faucets sparkle!

For the toilet bowl, he disinfects the entire thing by rubbing vinegar on it. What amazes me is how vinegar removes the discoloration in the bowl! My hubby will first push out the water in the bowl so tahat it’ll go down the tube. He does this using the toilet bowl brush. When the water is mostly gone, he will pour vinegar in the bowl, leave it for an hour or two, then flush! The whole bowl is white! No traces of any discoloration…as if the bowl hasn’t been used at all. Aaahh, I adore vinegar. :)

So there…I just wanted to share my vinegar experience in case somebody else out there wants to live up to 100! Heehee! And for only a few cents per liter, vinegar is sure a cheap, health-friendly, earth-loving way to do your usual chores. I just love green living!

Posted: August 10th, 2010 under Save Money, Series.
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When my daughter began to show interest in solid food at around 5 months, I was somewhat stressing about it because I am not so fond of cooking. I only cook when there are special occasions, and I always cheat by enlisting my husband’s help in preparing the ingredients! Hehehe! Suffice it to say that I am super fond of green smoothies because they are easy to prepare — I don’t have to cook them! But since my daughter’s digestive system is still developing, green smoothies would be too much for her at the moment. Sigh.

So because I am forced to cook, and I am alone in doing this in our little apartment, I told myself I’d better do it in style. Yeah…in pure french flair! So even though I make it a point not to buy brand new stuff whenever I can for the simple reason that it is cheaper and I could help Mother Earth by recycling, I made an exception and bought BabyCook by Baéba! Yeah, I am spolied. Call me whatever, but I love my BabyCook because it makes me a better mom. (This is my standard answer for all those people who tell me that I can prepare my baby’s meal in a simple pot…hihihi!)

BabyCook is the all-in-one super cute baby food maker that was designed by Jean-Michel Chaudeurge for Baéba, a French company. It steams, blends, defrosts, and re-heats your baby food in a matter of minutes. Since its introduction in the market in 2008, it has garnered a lot of awards from different authorities in baby products. However, like any other innovative product, it had its share of bad publicity — it was criticized for having Bisphenol A (BPA), an endocrine disrupting, cancer-causing chemical found in plastic containers. When I read this, I was almost at the brink of calling off my purchase of BabyCook, until I read that Scandinavian Child, yes the Swedish company that makes the Svan Bouncer, has conducted an independent study on BabyCook and had certified that it is BPA-free! I almost fell off my chair with relief and ordered my BabyCook pronto!

When I received my BabyCook, it was love at first sight. It looks so dainty and has soft purple accents in all the right places. It even comes with a recipe book to help me start cooking nutritious meals for my baby. They have also thoughtfully included a guide on what I can and cannot feed my baby from 4 months to 24 months. For a first time mom like me, this is heaven as I do not have much time to surf the Internet and do my research.

I initially prepared banana and apple purée for my daughter. I can’t believe how easy and quick it was! It took me 15 minutes tops. I was able fit one whole sliced banana and one whole sliced apple in the container. In just a few minutes, viola! — I have 7 servings of baby food! I also bought the Baéba Multi-Portions Container so I can easily store and freeze the extra baby food I made and just defrost and reheat them as necessary. The fruity smell it gave our small apartment was an added bonus since it had my daughter smacking her lips over and over again

I am so thankful that BabyCook was invented. It has definitely made taking care of my daughter easier, simpler, and a lot interesting too! And have I mentioned that it’s soooo cute? :)

And oh, when your baby has grown out of baby food, you can use your BabyCook to steam your vegetable side dish, or chop your garlic and onions. You can reinvent the use of your BabyCook in ways that suit your growing family.

Note: BabyCook by Baéba is now available worldwide, mostly through Amazon.

Posted: July 9th, 2010 under Mommilies.
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It was a hot summer day in Paris when we found out that we were expecting our primier bébé (first baby)…just two months after I visited the Chapelle Notre Dame de la Medaille Miraculeuse. We were pleasantly surprised with this blessing, but admittedly, we were not prepared for unimaginable French procedures and paperwork that we were about to face. As if standing for three hours outside the Prefécture de Police to apply for the Titre Sejour is not enough torture!

So, if you are pregnant in France, and with limited French at that… I hope this blog post will help you. I learned everything the hard way and it is not a pretty situation to be in when your morning sickness is in full swing. I will tell you upfront that there’s a lot to do…but all of them are manageable. I have outlined them below for you in sequence, as I know a pregnant mind is totally fuzzy sometimes and you can’t even understand why…hehehe! Here goes:

1. Confirm Your Pregnancy

2. Register Your Pregnancy

3. Register in Your Preferred Hospital

4. Obtain Your Hospital Checklist

5. Prepare for the Birth

Whew! I hope you are not overwhelmed! It is a lot of work, really, but everything is doable! You have nine months anyway…hehehe! I hope I was able to help you easily ease through the whole brouhaha of being pregnant in Paris, France in one way or another. Should you need a sample birth plan in French, just send me a message and I’ll be glad to share mine. :)

Posted: April 8th, 2010 under Paris.
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Thanks to digital photography, our laptop now holds almost a thousand pictures of our daughter, Maggie. My hubby even had to pay for an online storage system so these precious pictures are safely backed-up in case our lowly laptop conks out all of a sudden. :)

However, there was a week in Maggie’s life that we weren’t too eager to take her picture. I think this was when she was just a month old and have developed baby acne. Yup, you’ve read that right — acne! Whoever said that babies have perfect skin is exagerating. Hehehe! Baby acne are reddish, rash-like thingies that appear on your baby’s face and scares the hell out of you! When they appeared on Maggie’s face, I actually started to wonder what I’ve done wrong and if my genes were to blame! Yup, I’ve had all those silly thoughts that keep new moms awake at night. Haha!

Apparently, baby acne is quite common on newborns and usually lasts for a few weeks. They then magically subside on their own. But moms like me who want to capture every milestone that their babies make, can’t and are not willing to wait for a few weeks! And I’m not even sure if those red bumps are itchy because I can’t ask Maggie! I was so dead-set on getting rid of them as soon as possible that I dared to try a natural remedy — virgin coconut oil. Every day, I would dip a cotton ball into the oil, careful that I’m not soaking it too much. Then I would gently put it on Maggie’s baby acne, and she would sniff like crazy because the virgin coconut oil has this strong sweet smell. I did this two times a day for three days and the baby acne gradually subsided and was gone before the week was over! I can’t be happier!

So there, if you’re looking for a natural solution for baby acne, you might want to give virgin coconut oil a try. I now even use it as a massage oil for Maggie…and yeah, she totally loves the coconut smell. And I am just so happy that she’s baby-acne-free!

Posted: April 6th, 2010 under Mommilies.
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Today, the most important woman in my life turns 59 — my mom! I feel very blessed that I haven’t missed any one of her birthdays — even now that I live halfway across the world from her. What do you know, she had to come here in France to help me through the first bouts of motherhood and the timing is just right — she gets to spend her birthday here in Paris! But knowing mama, it’s not Paris that thrills her, but the fact that she’s spending her birthday with her first grandchild. :)

You see, my mom is the simplest person I know. She reminds me of Mahatma Gandhi, who owned only three things: a piece of cloth to wear, glasses for reading, and a notebook to write in. My mom doesn’t have much and has never wanted much. She doesn’t even wear earrings, nor does she wear a watch. She doesn’t have a make-up kit like all the other moms I know. She doesn’t even have a bank account on her name, nor a driver’s license. Thinking of how little she has does not make me sad for her. In fact, I envy her simplicity because it doesn’t take much to make her happy. It must be really liberating to be in such state.

I remember that my mom told me once that her only wish in life is for me and my sister to always be healthy, happy, and at peace. I jokingly told her that it will be nice if we are wealthy too! Hehe! But seriously thinking about it now, I am not sure if I actually want to have all those money. I might get used to a pampered / luxurious life and always worry how my life will be if the money runs out. Then, I would be forced to work very hard to maintain my wealth, and literally miss out on the more important things in life. I think I’d be much happier if I’m rich in experience, abundant with family time, and not lacking in love — just like my mom.

To my dearest mama…happy birthday! I wish that I will never ever miss celebrating any of your birthdays with you. This might be difficult now that we live in different continents, but I trust that the Lord have seen how you have dedicated your whole life to us, and will bless you with the gift of our company on your special day…year after year.

We love you, mama! Next year…Papa, Terry, Mike, Maggie, and I will celebrate your 60th birthday together in Canada! I just know it! :)

Posted: March 20th, 2010 under Random Thoughts.
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