Since Casa 3 (Preparatory to Grade 1) our kids are in school the whole day.  It is part of the Abba’s Orchard School practical life curriculum to train the children on table manners and use of eating utensils. As the child constantly take lunch on his own, he advances to independence. Wow, I just realized that I have been preparing our kids’ lunchboxes for 4 years now. I didn’t notice it’s been that long, probably because I am enjoying and getting much satisfaction doing it. Having to wake up at 5 o’clock in the morning every school day to prepare healthy but enjoyable lunch and snack treats for our school kids, on top of a healthy breakfast for everybody, is a challenge I am taking with pleasure.

I have been consistently preparing their lunchboxes using the following criteria:

• Variety and Nutrition- go, grow and glow foods should be well-represented and whatever is prepared today should not be repeated tomorrow. No artificial juice, only plain water and milk or choco-milk for their drinks.
• Taste and Preference- finding out their food preferences through consultations and observations, and incorporating those foods in the menu if possible. My daughter’s favorite is cooked ham so I give it to her one day a week. Another favorite is bacon, which they get to enjoy once in four weeks only because of health and cost considerations.
• Perfect Combination- combining food types and recipes that go perfectly together like fried chicken + steamed veggies, and grilled fish + buttered veggies.
• Volume- finding the right balance between how much would satisfy them and how much they should consume to satisfy their nutritional requirement is important. Neither do I want them hungry because their food was not enough nor for them to bring home left-over food for the trash bin. (The school doesn’t tolerate this as well :D)
• Presentation and Color- for most people, especially children, presentation counts. A nicely presented food gets them excited and would entice them to eat. While color contributes a lot to the presentation, it also speaks of the food’s nutritional value. A multi-colored food preparation will more likely supply the varied nutritional requirement of growing children better than a single color dish. So a fried pork chop which is colored brown will be better served with green and orange vegetables and a yellow fruit for dessert.
• Convenience and Safety- making life easier for them by preparing for them simple, easy to eat foods. Boneless and fillet for fish and breast cut for the chicken are the best. Pork or beef are sliced into bite-sized pieces or small strips. Fruits are pre-washed and sliced for them.
• Surprise Factor- often, whatever is packed is not known to them to keep them guessing and inject some excitement. From time to time, I surprise them by adding fruits they love but don’t get to eat often (like grapes) or a piece of chocolate, which they don’t get to eat often as well. With this trick, I earned my halo points

This was how my kids’ lunch looked like yesterday: Boiled Lady Fingers with Soy Sauce-Lemon Dip, Boneless Garlic Milkfish and Ripe Mango Cubes. For their snacks; Egg Sandwich, Banana and Fresh Milk.

Today, they will be having Fried Chicken, Tomato, Lettuce and Cucumber Salad in Vinaigrette, and Mandarin for their lunch. For snacks, it will be Peanut Butter Sandwich, Apple and Choco-Milk.

My kids now noticed (and their teachers, too) that among their classmates, they are the only ones consistently eating vegetables in school and they are proud of it. When they open their lunchboxes, theirs are the most varied and colorful, and yummy as well. During our daily gratitude ritual after dinner, they would usually say they are thankful to me and for the food. This signals success in my healthy lunchbox challenge, Yippee!

This year, there will be ten of us together for the Christmas Eve Dinner and celebration. Considerations made to come up with the menu are the following: (1) Budget- the ingredients should not be too expensive. (2) Preparation requirements- some procedures can be done ahead of time to avoid cramming in the kitchen. (3) Health and variety- meat-based dishes should be balanced by vegetables and fruits. There will be pork, fish, chicken, beef, vegetables and fruits. Much as I want to have prawns or crabs in the menu, the artificially high cost of these commodities during Christmas season make me shy away from them.

Christmas Embotido

I have been making embotido for its taste and convenience. My children love them for breakfast and packed lunch. This is very convenient because one preparation can last for weeks in the freezer. Adding a few ingredients will make it a little more special for the holidays. I will make this a week in advance of the Christmas Dinner and a few loaves will be saved for the New Year’s Eve. One kilo of ground pork would be enough for the two occasions. Click here for the recipe.

Sweet and Sour Fish

Sweet and sour sauce will be prepared a day before and will only be reheated before pouring over the fried fish before dinner is served. There are many kinds of fishes suited for this dish. They are the white flesh type and usually the more expensive ones. Tilapia is a more affordable option. One medium-sized Tilapia weighing about 1 kilo will be bought for this dish. You can find the recipe here.

Roasted Chicken
Pollo Iberico or Roast Spanish Chicken appealed to me but I was not able to complete the herb ingredients listed when I tried it 3 months ago. The recipe was further modified when I got tempted to incorporate other ingredients I normally use to marinate the local ‘Lechon Manok’ or Pinoy Roasted Chicken. It turned out great and everybody who tasted appreciated its unique pleasant flavor. One whole chicken will be marinated a day before so what’s left to do on the 24^th of December is to put it a broiler. I’m sharing the recipe with you through this link.

Cheesy Beef Caldereta

This is another family favorite. Kids love this dish because it catered to their preference for cheesy, sweet and not too spicy sauce. Half a kilo of beef strips will be marinated and tenderized a day before. The rest of the procedure to be done on Christmas Eve is simple. For the recipe, click here.

Buttered Vegetable

Broccoli, being a very expensive vegetable in this part of the country, is not always served in regular meals. For the Christmas Dinner, the inclusion of broccoli will make this dish so special. Other ingredients are carrot, green beans and corn kernels. My sons will surely dig in to this dish first before anything else.

Sliced and Chilled Fruits

Rather than making fruit salads or floats that would require the use of creams and sweetened condensed milk (my favorite), we will savor a variety of colorful and freshly sliced fruits. This is a healthier and cheaper option I would think…less sweet, less fat and less cost. Fruits more likely to be included are pineapple, watermelon, mango, banana and pomelo. This will be chilled in the afternoon (around 2 pm) of the 24^th.
Sliced Fruits photo: http://www.flickr.com/photos/miheco/ / CCBY-SA2.0
Roasted Chicken photo: http://www.flickr.com/photos/anniemole/ / CC BY 2.0

Now that the shopping galore for baby things is over and you have prepared your hospital bags, you might ask, what else do you need to do before your baby arrives? Actually, a lot needs to be done to make the baby’s arrival as smooth as possible. Here are some suggestions.

1. Decide your birthing option. By this time you should have an idea on how you want to deliver your baby. If not, educate yourself on the pros and cons of the various birthing options by reading books and magazines, searching from the internet and talking to experienced mothers. You might also want to consider watching videos of child deliveries employing the various options.
   
   There are lots of birthing options to choose from. You can have it the natural way without any drugs (Lamaze, Bradley, Birthworks, etc.), natural with anesthetic pain management, or C-section. If you have made the decision, then preparations toward that option should be made, like enrollment and attendance to birthing classes when applicable. Discuss this fully with your obstetrician-gynecologist (OB).
   

2. Tour the birthing site. Go to where you want to deliver your baby and have a nice tour to familiarize yourself with the place and with the procedure. Inquire on the process/requirements for hospital admission. In some hospitals, you will not be allowed to see the inside of the delivery room but at least you would know where the rooms and other facilities are. Find out if the hospital is Mother-Baby friendly that would allow rooming-in and would support breastfeeding if those are your preferences.

3. Prepare yourself physically and emotionally. At this point, your OB might advise you to increase intake of foods rich in iron and prescribe iron supplement if she has not done before. Towards the end of pregnancy, it is advisable for you to have lots of restful sleep but remain active during most parts of the day. Regular prenatal exercise is preferable as discussed in blissful pregnancy tip #5. Active mom’s usually have relatively easier and uncomplicated natural deliveries.

Enhance emotional connection between you and your baby. Caress your tummy and talk to your baby. In all my pregnancies, I usually talk to my baby about childbirth few weeks from my due date, asking for his/her cooperation and giving my assurance that anytime he/she is ready, I am, for childbirth should be a team effort and the two of us are part of the team. I also tell how excited I am to see him/her and that I will continue to provide for his/her needs even outside my womb.

While you are still waiting for the big day, try envisioning the thrill of having your child on you hands, looking at his/her tiny lips that greet you with a smile. The joy will be far greater than the fears and anxiety of childbirth and will make you endure all discomforts. While I was on the delivery table, my focal point was the wall clock, I was keeping track of my contractions, and around it was a bare wall which I filled with nice pictures of me, my husband and my baby, together as a happy family. These were the visions that I've been keeping in my mind and heart since early in my pregnancy.

4. Arrange Domestic Matters. If you have other children, start thinking about sibling care. Arrange for who’s going to be there for them, who will be in-charge of food preparation and other domestic concerns while you are in the hospital. You might want to stock up on easy-to-prepare food in your freezer. If you are a working mom and needs to go back to work after your maternity leave, then now is the time to arrange for child care. Make sure the area where you are going to receive the baby in the house is clean and tidy.

5. Start a hobby. Despite the many things you need to do to prepare for childbirth, you might still find yourself spending time on futile musings about labor pain and blood, and even death from complications. These are normal and to a certain extent reasonable thoughts, but instead of feeding your worries, why not start a hobby that will keep your mind away from all those fears. Try embroidery on your baby clothes, or crochet a pair of booties or cross stitch a symbol of happiness. Regardless of your choice, or you might choose not to do it at all, remember that your baby is worth much much more than the entire wait.
   

6. Select your Baby's Name. This is a fun part that could also alleviate the discomforts and impatience while waiting for the big day. My husband and I had many enjoyable discussions while trying to come up with our baby's name. These are the moments when we share and (re)define our hopes and dreams for our baby and the family. Each of the names of our children were picked for a reason and has special meaning to us. Baby naming sites like this one was useful to us when we were deciding.
7. Plan the Announcement. After the long wait is the big day of your baby’s arrival. It is yours and your husband’s duty to announce the arrival of your bundle of joy so that he/she can be properly welcomed by your family and friends who are one with you in anticipating the newest addition to your family. Decide on the list of people whom you want to send the announcement to. Examples of announcement ideas include a simple text message with the child’s photo, a card bearing your child’s foot prints, a mass offering, an envelope with tobacco stick for a baby boy and a chocolate bar for a baby girl, a photo or video of you child posted on the home page of your social network account and many more. You can also be creative like this overzealous father.

This stage of your parenting journey would require you to prepare two bags: one for you and the other one for your baby. These bags should be prepared on the seventh month of your pregnancy. In case of unexpected delivery, at least the bags are ready. Whenever you feel that it’s time to go to the hospital, then you can just lift your bags without any hassle. Like the checklist of baby things I posted in the previous blog, I am sharing here the checklist of items you should consider bringing to the hospital with you. These are the items that my hospital bags contained.

Mom’s Bag

• Adult Diapers (2)
• Maternity Sanitary Pads (4)
• Regular Sanitary Pads (8)
• Pajamas/Night Gown with front opening for easy breastfeeding (2)
• Panties (4)
• Nursing Bra (1)
• Set of Clothes for going home (1)
• Something to tie your hair with, if you have a long hair
• Bath towel and face towel
• Toiletries
• Candies, crackers and bottled drinking water
• Extra pillow

Putting on adult diaper immediately after birth is preferable because bleeding is more profuse. The first one is usually provided by the hospital. Bleeding should lessen the following day so you can switch to using maternity sanitary pads instead. Maternity pad absorbs more fluids, but it is very thick and wide. When bleeding is less heavy and you are up and about to do frequent pad change, then switch to your regular sanitary pad. The crackers, candies and bottled drinking water are particularly useful when you arrive at the hospital while still on early labor but advised not to go back home. Candies and water will work well for dry mouth. But once you’re done with enema procedure, you cannot take anything anymore. Labor is expected to progress after this procedure because of stimulated uterine contractions.

Baby’s Bag

• Baby Vests (4)
• Mittens (2)
• Booties (2)
• Bonnets (2)
• Wash cloth/bibs (4)
• Receiving blankets (2)
• Waterproof sheet (1)
• Cloth diapers (12)
• Diaper clips (2)
• Disposable diapers (6)
• Petroleum jelly (1)
• Cotton balls (1)
• Bath towel (1)
• Baby liquid soap (1)
• Ethyl Alcohol, 70% (1)

If you intend to breastfeed your baby, don’t bring feeding bottles and formula milk for fear of your baby getting hungry if breast milk doesn’t come at once. Mother-baby friendly hospitals do not allow these items as well. Having feeding bottles and formula milk available won’t do you any good in terms of inducing milk let down. More info on breastfeeding will be provided in a later blog.

During your blissful last two trimesters of pregnancy, you would be thinking of what your baby needs in its first months after birth. Completing these needs is an exciting part of childbirth preparations. It is a logical goal to accomplish this task before you reach your 7th month of pregnancy. Though shopping for baby things is definitely fun…fun…fun, this activity is also tiring and so you should not wait until the end of pregnancy as you would need a lot of rest by then.

Knowing the gender of your baby ahead is a real advantage that would help you on deciding for colors and motif when you shop (normally shades of blue for boys, and pink for girls). But if you prefer to leave it as a surprise until the baby is born or when the baby’s position does not allow for clear determination of the baby’s gender, go for neutral colors (i.e. generally white or green).

Baby showers should preferably be done earlier for you to consider the gifts received when you make your shopping list. Also consider hand-me-downs from older siblings and cousins. It is also advisable not to have too many clothes of the same size for the baby will surely grow fast and it will be a waste if clothes will only be worn once or never at all.

The following is a sample checklist of basic items that your baby would need after birth with suggested quantities in parentheses. This is basically the list I used to prepare for my four children. I took into consideration that cloth diapers were to be used during the day whenever the baby is at home for its first two months. You can revise this list depending on your preference but having a checklist to refer to is indeed valuable.

Beddings

• Baby Cot (1)
• Cot Mattress (1)
• Cot Sheets (2)
• Waterproof sheet (1)

Baby’s Layette

• Vest, Size M (3) & Size L (3)
• Wash Cloth (6)
• Mittens (6)
• Booties/Socks (6)
• Bonnet (3)
• Long Pants (3)
• Panty (3)
• Cloth Diaper (24)
• Disposable Diaper (24)
• Receiving Blanket (2)

Baby Toiletries and Others

• Bath Tub or Large Basin (1)
• Bath Towel (2)
• Petroleum Jelly (1)
• Diaper Clip/Safety Pins (2)
• Ethyl Alcohol, 70% (1)
• Baby Lotion (1)
• Baby Bath or Liquid Soap (Lactacyd Blue/J&J Top to Toe Wash) (1)
• Cotton Balls (1)
• Baby Oil and Baby Powder (not advisable for babies with allergies or asthmatic family line)

If you intend to fully breastfeed your baby, the following are not immediate requirements unless you need to pump and store your breast milk:

• Feeding Bottles
• Bottle Brush
• Breast Pump
• Bottle Sterilizer

You definitely would need a baby bag so please add that to your list. I choose a medium size bag with enough compartments so it is easy to carry and organize things that the baby would need when going out of the house. It should also be durable to last at least a couple of years or until both you and the baby outgrow the need.

All cloth should be made of pure cotton or cotton-mix especially in humid areas. Wash baby clothes with mild detergent without chlorine. Do not let your baby wear clothes directly from the department store. Enjoy your shopping but control the urge to buy things you and your baby don’t really need. As your baby grows, you can continuously add to his/her wardrobe plus accessories of course. You don’t have to purchase everything all at once. Prepare ahead and take it slow. Shop but don’t drop.