The work-family life balance is one of the greatest challenges of men. As they tirelessly give the best to the family, they sometimes forget that they too need a break and some TLC. For this special occasion, we gave a deserving dad, no other than the father of my children, his much needed pampering and makeover.

At 29, Aga, an entrepreneur juggling two different types of businesses, managing a restaurant and fixing cars with his automotive shop, ends his day with our toddler and 6-month old baby. “Honestly, I don’t have the time to plan my daily attire. I don’t even have time to shop for a new pair of pants,” he admitted. “My go-to clothes would be a shirt in a neutral color, shorts or jeans and rubber shoes. With my line of work, there’s no need to dress to impress but an overall comfortable look that I can pull off from day to night will do.”

Now we all know that our dads give us the best, and so we want what’s best for him too. He might not at all care about his daily look but vain or not, stylish or anti-fashion, everyone will agree that looking good always leads to feeling good. So why not make him feel his best? I, the doting wife, decided to give my husband a Daddy Makeover, just in time for Father’s Day. However, this makeover did not focus on the transformation, rather more on taking him out of his everyday routine-led choices. We all know this can be a drag and don’t we all need inspiration in our daily lives? I also gave him wardrobe options that he’d never thought of wearing or buying before this makeover, which looked really cool on him after all.

The result?

“At my age, it’s not too late to experiment with your look and all the outfits that I tried on today are workable. But I’d still go for the last look since it shows a bit of my personal taste,” said Aga.

Watch below and see what happened during our makeover day:

March has been BIG for the whole family. I’ve been accepting more writing projects, shoots and speaking engagements this month and I love it! It’s like I’m back to the old busy bee Kat. But there are just moments when staring blankly in the ceiling is the number one thing that I’d like to do... AND SLEEP!

I’m tired and exhausted. Many moms might raised their eyebrows with my statement but I feel soooo tired. I almost forgot that I’m raising two kids now and I’m still recovering from my CS operation (which still hurts at times btw). My partner on the other hand started working on different projects too aside from his car business. He is out of the house most of the time- running errands and finishing business plans which puts me in charge of the house and the kids most of the time. Still not complaining though because we know we gotta hustle.

And as we try our best to stay on top of everything, there are days when we both crash- physically, mentally and emotionally. When we’re overworked, we start raising  voices at each other only to find out that we’re arguing over small stuff at home. I realized that we need to pause and decline some projects to allot more time for our kids, for ourselves. Despite roller coaster ride this month, there are many things that I’m still thankful for. March is still the best because..

1.Career-wise, I’ve managed to create a steady monthly income which i was worried about before I accepted the challenge to work from home.

2.Even if I have to work long hours, I still get to spend a lot of time with the kids-I’m still the one giving them a bathe, we still share meals together, I still homeschool the ate and we still take naps in the afternoon. Oh siesta time! my favorite time of the day when everyone’s just quiet and calm where I get to gather my thoughts.

3. Our newborn- who is able to sleep through the night without getting fussy. In fact, I’m the one who wakes up from time to time to check if he needs dede. But no, he’s just asleep like he had a long day. And because of this, I still get enough energy to work in the morning.

3.Our helpers- without them I’ll be a complete mess. They already know how I want things to be done so I don’t have to tell them everything, everyday. They’re already family to me and it’s a plus that they treat my kids as their own too.

4.My partner-it’s because of him that I’m able to do what I love right now. His support keeps me going and we continue to brainstorm for future plans-for bigger opportunities to come for the family.

If there’s anything that I’m praying for is that the Lord continues to give all of us good health to keep up with our schedule. Hustle hustle hustle.

How’s your March so far? Looking forward to the summer season? :)

I am a breastfeeding advocate. I made a promise that I will exclusively breastfeed my children and will do everything to keep up my milk supply. My daughter was breastfed for 1 year and 9 months and still continued to drink breast milk from the bottle until she was 2. I thought, “Finally, it’s over!” I had mixed emotions when she started weaning- I was happy that I don’t need to pump milk or to wear my not so fancy nursing bra but I was also sad because it became a routine for me that suddenly stopped. I’m just glad that we didn’t have to fight over weaning her. Now with my son who is almost 4 months old, I’m trying to do the exact same thing-pump, drink malunggay capsules, drink my nursing tea (not so yummy tbh) and drink lots and lots of water. I pump at least an extra 5oz a day, not bad right? So I was able to build my milk stash in a matter of two weeks! #blessed with breast milk. I happily placed everything in breast milk storage bags and would just thaw whenever I need to leave the house for a while.
I never had problems with storing my milk- I used different brands of milk bags and even had my milk brought home from Hong Kong because I knew that the bags are strong enough to keep my milk intact.
When I started using Orange and Peach breast milk storage bags, which we bought from UP Town Center, I got really disappointed. The milk was spilling! I couldn’t believe my eyes. All breastfeeding moms would know that every drop counts and seeing my milk which I pumped for around twenty minutes gone in just around 20 seconds was just unacceptable!! Maybe it was just me? Did I store it the wrong way? Maybe. But it happened again, and again and again.

See the milk spilling? We had to put it in a container so I could still salvage the remaining milk (Don’t worry it’s clean)

Having two kids made me worry about the future. In fact, I had to change plans for the entire third quarter of the year 2016 because I was pretty sure I wouldn’t be able to juggle my career and parenting with hormonal imbalance coming in and my growing tummy. But you know what? I was able to do A LOT, more than what I expected. And I wish I didn’t let fear get in the way in the first place. So now that baby #2 is almost two months old, here’s what I learned so far..

1. Enjoy the afternoons

Most moms like me try to be the super version of themselves- meaning they want everything done on time. If you think that the best time to finish all your chores is when they nap, think again. I learned that being able to tick off things from your to-do list is superb but being able to rest with the kids is beyond amazing. I get to cuddle with my toddler while marvel at my little one’s small toes. Afternoons are meant for some tea, some relaxing Spotify music and of course some Zzzs if you’re lucky to catch some.

2. Create a task force

I tried doing everything during the first few weeks- homeschooling, changing nappies, putting my daughter to sleep and pumping milk for the newborn. Needless to say, I was exhausted. I knew I was because I became irritated with my toddler who is now in the No! and I don’t like! phase. As much as I wanted to do the disciplining on my own, I asked help from my partner, my mother in law and trusted helper. It wasn’t easy because they did things differently but it saved me a lot of time and energy.

3. Sing in the shower

We’ve already been told that me-time will be cut once you have kids so the 20 minute shower time that I have is so precious that I just wanna sing my heart out and enjoy the music that I once loved back when it was just me, myself and I. Go ahead, try it!

4. Go out

And don’t feel guilty about it. Luckily, we have this small commercial place right outside the village where I can meet my friends for some coffee or dinner. I feel recharge every time I meet old faces. It feels good also getting out of your pyjamas and wearing some lipstick even if you’re just running a bank errand.

5. Clean up

Clean the house, don’t let the old and dirty clothes pile up, throw your trash right away, wash the dishes. The thing is we tend to skip duties because we are tired from taking care of the kids but once you see that everything is in order, your mind and heart clears up too making you more energetic throughout the day. But if you can’t do it because baby kept you up all night, don’t worry I understand. You can just delay or ask help.

6. Be you

People just tend to judge moms when they don’t act like moms. Just go with whatever you think is right for your baby. Don’t feel bad when you can’t be the mom you saw in your Instagram feed. Or if you can’t go back to your pre-mommy body. Remember that you carried a baby 9 months and it will take a while for your body to heal especially for CS mommies. Have fun and enjoy the treats you’ll be getting. This is the perfect excuse to eat your favorite (but healthy) snacks if you’re breastfeeding.

Breathe and don’t sweat the small stuff. This too shall pass. :)

It has been exactly 28 days since I gave birth to my second child, another baby A in the family. Few days before my scheduled C-section, I was already worrying about how in the world will I manage to make time for our older child and even squeeze in some me-time. I don’t want to jinx it but it’s been a smooth-sailing transition for my family. So how can you adjust with two kids and not be a zombie for the first few weeks? Here are some tips that actually worked for me.

Prepare.

Like in my previous post, I mentioned that we already prepped our toddler that we were going to have another baby. We told her that there’s a baby inside my growing belly and read her some books on having a sibling. Although I doubt that she understood exactly what we meant, I’m still glad we did it because it paid off.

Stick with the basics.

Pinterest was my BFF during my first pregnancy –read articles, listed down things to buy and worked on a Instagram-worthy nursery. This time around, I just went with my instinct. Didn’t buy a lot of new items because I know how fast newborns outgrow them! We bought a number of white newborn clothes and that’s about it! I also had baby showers where my friends gave essentials (wipes, clothes, body wash, pillows). Just what I wanted, basics.

Be realistic.

During the first week at home, I really wanted to have the same old routine that I had with my toddler but I realized that it’s impossible for her zombie mom to actually sing and dance in the morning when I haven’t really gotten a good night sleep. We still do some morning activities in her study area but most of the time, we just stay in her room where she plays with her toys while both of us babysit her sleeping brother. That was more realistic on my part. Afternoon naps are just heavenly where I can squeeze in some work and blogging or just go through social media and see what’s happening in the outside world.

Delegate.

Here in the Philippines, househelp are hard to find and keep but thankfully we have Daday, our trusted all around help/nanny.. I also have my MIL to thank for whenever I need extra hand to look after the kids while I fix up or have at least a decent shower time. And of course, my partner who “tries” to wake up in the middle of the night to burp baby after feeding or just get me some cold water whenever I get super thirsty (Yes, you’ll be thirsty when you exclusively breastfeed!). My parents are also happily involved in babysitting the kids. Thank God for family.

Don’t rush things.

Yes I gained a lot and I still have 15 pounds to lose. Been looking at the weighing scale every single day until there came a point when I told myself that it’s okay to see those love handles and jiggly thighs. I read that the fats accumulated in your hips, thighs and tummy are helping you build up milk supply. Yes, I wanna go back to my old body but I’m giving it some time and just really happy that I don’t look pregnant anymore! Haha!

Breathe.

I thought that having two kids will put me in house arrest but man, I was wrong. I’m not used to spending the whole day at home so taking some time off to get a haircut, do some shopping and having breakfast with friends make me feel like my old self again. I’m fortunate enough that I have enough milk supply and I was able to build a stash in our freezer so whenever I need to head out, I just ask our helper to give a bottle to my newborn. Don’t feel guilty about it because really, you need to breathe and see yourself again- the person you were before having kids. Remind yourself that you also need to recharge in order for you to take care of others- that includes you and your partner.

It’s been easy so far but let’s see the changes that will happen in the coming months. I’d also like to establish a routine for my newborn and create some activities for him in the future. Any newborn activities in mind?