Simple Living : What i am already doing

I shall start my simple living plans with things I am already doing, to motivate myself to keep doing them. I'm sure many ppl are already practising these things..

1. Breastfeeding – So simple, green and frugal! Of course being a working mom creates the need for pumps, but from the money I’ve saved by not buying a single tin of formula, my pumps have already paid for themselves. Lets do a simple calculation. Ok I don’t really know how much formula costs…hehe..i think Along mentioned it’s about rm55 per week, so..rm220 per month. Adam is almost 14 months old…so in total I’ve saved RM3080!!! My plan is to breastfeed him until he’s 2 years old, God willing, so by then I would have saved…RM5280!!! (btul ke aku kire ni..) So lets say I have more than 1 kid….how much can I save?? And that is just money-wise…Remember the China-formula incident?? God, that made me think how lucky I am that I don’t need to give my baby formula…just think of all the goodness of ‘liquid white-gold’ that Adam would’ve had by the time he’s 2…alhamdulillah…
   
   
2. Sewing – I’ve said time and time again how much I enjoy sewing. It is such a therapeutic and rewarding hobby. Not only do you get the soothing joy of the sewing process, you also get a beautiful craft as a result. It is the essence of a simple life. You can mend and refashion old clothes – I need to remind myself to do this instead of buying more clothes I don’t really need. You can sew your own pillows and curtains and bags etc at a fraction of its cost. Now sewing has even started to generate extra income for our family…alhamdulillah..
   
   
3. Co-sleep – I don’t know if this actually fits with simple living but I think it does. We don’t need a cot, or an expensive king-size bed, the whole family just snuggle together on the floor on natural cotton mattress. It just came naturally to us even though before Adam came we bought a cot thought we needed it. Co-sleeping compliments breastfeeding and means more sleep for me! (since I don’t have to get up to feed baby or check on him).
   
   
4. Homemade babyfood – Thank God for this website! I always suggest this website to anyone who wants to try out homemade baby food. Commercial baby food are not only expensive, they contain additives that we can’t even pronounce! I’m not sure how much money I’ve saved by preparing my own baby food…if you visit the website, you’ll see that it is manageable even if you’re busy too..
   
   
5. Babywearing – The way of life in the olden days. I’m glad that it’s now gaining popularity. And also happy that I am now contributing to helping others wear their babies too..
   

Ok these are what I’ve been practicing before I discovered, or rather was reminded of, simple living. I will share more things later on what I’ve tried out....

Simple Living - Introduction

We live in a world of consumerism. Everyday I spend my money on things I want, rather than being thrifty and spend only on things I need. Our lives are so polluted, and we don’t even know it. For a while now I’ve been thinking a lot about changing our lives slowly – to simplify, to live more naturally, to be frugal, to be greener. How?

There are so many goals I want to achieve, some of them are;

- To pay off our debts – make budget, live within budget, reduce spending on unnecessary items, reduce grocery/food bills, etc.

-To get rid of all the chemicals in the house – living with a baby and now toddler makes me realise the urgency of getting rid of so many hazardous item in the house. Floor cleaner, toilet cleaner, detergents, shampoos. These things are not good for the environment, what more if they come into contact with your baby. I’m looking into natural, green cleaning and starting to incorporate them in our house to replace these chemical cleaners.

-To cook nutritious food from scratch – prepared processed food are full of so-called ‘permitted’ additives, preservatives, coloring etc. No wonder we cancer is spreading like mushrooms nowadays. I want to start stockpiling, buying fresh staples, organic whenever possible and eat healthily, as well as saving money by not eating out anymore (or less eating out at least). I struggle on this idea because of time constraints. But I really want to achieve this. For now, only Adam gets the luxury of homemade food.

-To purge out the plastics – I would like to start using fabric bags to shop and not accept anymore plastic bags.

To try out CDs (cloth diapers) – many ppl are already doing this. But I’m still clinging on those disposables. Sigh. I can. I can. I will. Maybe next baby? Hehe.

-To start producing my own food for sustainable living – ok this is still far off but I like the idea of growing my own vegetables, fruits, or even just potted herbs. My mom and MIL has chooks, that’s even better. Or maybe cows and goats? Ok that’s too far off..hehe

-To learn new skills like knitting or repairing furniture or sewing curtains – to make and decorate my home with my own hands instead of always going to the shops and buying something ‘Made in China’.

Right, that’s all for now. Lots of things I’d like to achieve but I don’t want to overwhelm myself with too many targets at a time, that is a surefire way to failure. I’ll just start slowly and focus on one goal at a time.

Simple living is an ancient art, really. Back then, during our grandmother’s time, these things were just the way of life. They make do with what they have and they don’t waste anything. They were frugal and creative and they managed to turn their houses into homes with almost no money.

Hopefully this entry will be the start of more entries to come on this topic. I want to start recording here what i am already doing, what I am trying out, what I plan to try out in regards to simplifying my life. If there are any of you who has already practiced simple, natural living, and would like to share, pls do. I need all the motivation I can get. Maybe if I write my thoughts down I’d actually be more committed to doing them =) Although I am simplifying, taking the first few steps isn’t so simple.

Imigresen Malaysia - Cayalah!

I'm so impressed with Jabatan Imigresen Malaysia! We went there yesterday around 8am, we were worried because seemed like there was already a long q waiting outside. But there were informative staff standing around and they informed us to make passport for babies, no need to join the long Q, just go to this counter. we weren't even ready with the proper documentation at the point, baru je sampai. But everything was so quick nonetheless, after making payment, the passports are already ready within 2 hours! sempat la relax pegi bfast then collect the passports.

even the q also i notice didn't accumulate, they were very efficient. there's a machine where you could renew your passport pakai machine je. mcm atm. gile teknologi lah!

paling terkejut sekali, they have a Nursing Room!!! it's just a small tiny room, but still, it's amazing that they actually have one!

cayalah!

International Babywearing Week - The Walk

I'm slapping myself on the head now because i forgot to write about the walk before it happened...

anyway, the turn-out was great nonetheless. we walked around the Curve and Ikea. So wonderful to babywear in a big group in a puclic place, for once it felt like we're the 'normal' ones, instead of the odd ones out.

i love this pic. most ppl weren't ready/posing yet but everyone looked cool and happy wearing their babies, eventhough we were in the hot sun and squinting. notice the variety of carriers being worn.

babywearing mommies - we were really enjoying ourselves. babies looked like they're needing their nap..hehe..

babywearing daddies - awesome! don't they look great?? i wish more daddies would join in soon..hubby offered to wear Adam too, but this time he was gonna take a lot of photographs, so i'd rather wear Adam myself..


with Suryati, one of my customers..she's wearing Micah in Pink Blossom Buckle Tai..

walking happily as if we own the place..hehe..i'm sure we must've at least intrigued some ppl enough to look into babywearing in the future..

I'm hoping we'll have more gathering fun lagi...hehehe...

more beautiful photos of the walk at my husband's flikr.

Adam love pretty girls!

err awak..rambut awak ni rebonding ke...?

eh taklah, ehem, natural je rambut saya ni..

mama, hensem kan dia ni?

caaaayang dia!

oiii! nak pegi mana tu!!

and the following unrecorded scenes - Adam chasing after the girl and keep trying to hug her! sampailah budak tu balik...hehehe...

(ha tulah sape soh peluk dia dulu!heheheh)

Adam's first real word

Guess what his first real word is?

DADDY!!!

hehehe...except of course when he said it it sounded more like Daa-dih! but really cute! hehehe...once he got it right terus tak berenti sebut Dadih!Dadih! heheheh....

SOOO proud of you Adam!!!

*err..bila nak sebut ma-meh pulak ni?? ooops..no pressure..hehe..

Adam @ 13 months

He came up with the most powerful weapon – his smile! Ok, his smile has always been cute…but now he does this really bersungguh-sungguh punya smile until his eyes all crinkled up and would definitely make others smile also, or laugh! And he knows when he does this takde sape can marah him! Ayyo…nak marah pun tak jadik ok…after he’s been cheeky/naughty dia kasi flash itu smile!cis…alamak gamba kat hubby pulak..later I upload here…


Not enough with the smile, he developed lagi skills to charm people, strangers including. When we’re out in public and he sees someone he likes, mulalah dia buat skill dia..mula2 dia pegi dekat org tu (if he’s on foot), then dia stare je kat org tu lama giler…until the person look back at him…then dia flash smile dia..and buat gaya comel..kadang2 tu dia buat2 malu pastu nyorok2 main cak2..it always end up with the person completely charmed and start to come and play with him! Pernah sekali dia buat mcm ni dekat driver lori yg tgh drive dlm lori dia, yg adam pulak in our car dlm carseat dia…tgh kat traffic light! Sempat tu dia main cak2 dgn driver lori sebelah! Yg mamat tu pun layan jugak…hahaha….

senang2 je korang cair dgn Adam yer..

He likes to play with my belly button while nursing..apekah ??? geli tau! Hehe..lepas tu khayal..then terus tido..hehe..sometimes when he’s bored tgh baring2 I caught him playing with his own belly button…hehe..

He learned to wave bye-bye. Blaja sendiri ni cos I never taught him pun. He must’ve observed then ikut jer. Now asal sebut bye je dia pun wave…cute! Also waves to say Hi! And Come here! Kadang I kat dapur dia wave2 panggil I soh dtg kat dia…hehe…

Lagi satu dia belajar sikat rambut…ini I just discovered yesterday. Dia belajar sendiri jugak ler kot ni…normally I sikat his hair using his own hairbrush. Yesterday he found my hairbrush and was playing with it..normally dia cuba nak masuk mulut je..tapi smlm dia dok sikat2 rambut dia sendiri dgn my hairbrush…hehehe…klaka tgk..

I think he’s getting over his ‘put everything into mouth’ phase, finally!! (hopefully!) skang kalau dpt kertas dia bawak jalan2 atau main koyak2..kurang sikit nak masuk mulut..(tp still masuk jugak kadang bende2 kecit2 yg dia suka kutip2)

Dia sgt suka main air…asik2 berjalan masuk bilik air jer..hish..

He loves cheese! Bila nampak je sape kluarkan cheese dr peti ais…mula la dia bising..soh cepat sikit kasi dia cheese tu! Sup pun suka....rice cracker pun suka..mmg suka mknlah! Tapi badan kenit jugak...hehe..

Semenjak Adam masuk toddler class dan berpisah dgn Cikgu Fatimah, cikgu favourite dia dekat baby’s nursery...dia dok nangis je bila sampai school..dulu punyalah happy melompat terus kat Cikgu Fatimah..tapi baby’s nursery kat sebelah je..bila balik dok panggil2 lambai2 kat Cikgu Fatimah..kadang2 tu i nak amik dia, tgk2 dia dah kat rumah sebelah, berkepit dgn Cikgu Fatimah! Hahaha....

Happy 13 months birthday Adam!